Chapter 17: The Past
When Izuku woke up, he realized he was laying in someone's lap. When he looked closer, he realized it was Magne. He wasn't really sure how he got there, but he found that he didn't really mind. To gain Magne's attention, Izuku let out a small, "Hi"
Magne looked down, and greeted Izuku back.
"Any chance you wanna rant about what happened?" Magne questioned.
Izuku wasn't really sure what he wanted. No one had ever asked him to rant about his problems before. They all just assumed he was fine because he always plastered a smile on his face.
Would talking about his problems really help? Would she even believe him? Or would she automatically dismiss him like everybody else?
Even if Izuku did tell her about his problems, what good would it do him in the end? What good did Magne even get out of listening to him anyway?
Quietly, Izuku said, "Why do you care?"
It was silent for a little bit, before Magne gently responded, "Sometimes people just need to rant, and I've found I'm a good listener" and then she smiled at him.
It seemed that she was truly being genuine, but Izuku just wasn't sure what he should do. Would talking make him feel more self-conscious, or would it help lift the weight off of his shoulders he didn't even know he was carrying?
Maybe he should just take the offer, it wasn't like there was any harm in it really. And God knew that he probably needed to talk to someone anyway seeing as he hasn't talked to anyone at all.
That was the hard part, actually talking to somebody . Heck, Izuku hadn't even told his own mom what had been happening. It's not like his mom really cared, but still.
For a little while Izuku just sat there contemplating what he should do. Analyzing all the pros and cons of the situation. He found that there were a lot more pros than cons, which was reassuring. There was only one thing he wanted to make sure of.
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else"
Magne hummed. "I guess I could comply with that, since it's good to talk about things that bother you"
Izuku sighed. That was the one thing he was anxious about. Since he had never talked to anyone before, he didn't feel very strong about many people knowing why he was upset. This was also because it had something to do with why he was so tired.
Slowly, Izuku started off with, "So you know how I abruptly stopped and immediately dashed out of the room?"
"I do. The League was worried since you left rather quickly," Magne replied.
"That's because bad things happened to me in the past when I talked trash about heroes"
"Bad things?"
Izuku shuddered. He didn't like thinking about what had happened before, but he slowly pushed through. "Yeah...when I talked bad about heroes before all of my classmates and teachers would get mad at me. They would all yell at and degrade me. Some going as far as..as far as...beating me up to a pulp"
"Some days I would be left half dead, and others I would go home with emotional wounds. Whenever I talked bad about heroes and how they could do something better, the people around me would always say I didn't deserve to talk bad about heroes"
"Why would they say that though, it was just your opinion?" Magne questioned.
"W-Well, it was mainly because of B-bakugo" Izuku stuttered.
"That explosion kid we kidnapped?" Magne asked to confirm.
"Y-yeah. We were in the same class. He always said that I w-wasnt half the worth of the h-heroes, and t-that I didn't deserve to t-talk bad a-about t-them." Izuku shyly stated.
"I always thought he looked and acted like a brat, but why the hell would he do that? No offense to you or anything sprout, but you have a strong quirk and he seems like the type to idolize those with strong quirks," Magne stated.
Izuku's breath hitched. He didn't want to have to tell anyone about his previous quirklessness, but he had basically just gone and dug his own hole. He couldn't get away from spilling the secret now. All he could do was try to deflect it for as long as possible.
"W-well, he just didn't l-like me, a-and saw me a-as competition," Izuku deflected.
"Hmm, that doesn't explain why he called you useless though," Magne said.
Izuku hunched into himself. He was scared. Scared that someone else would leave him after he let loose that he was originally quirkless. Everybody else had left him, so what was stopping Magne and the rest of the League from kicking him to the curb as well?
"Hey sprout, you good? You look like you're panicking. If you don't want to say why he called you useless then you don't have to," Magne reassured him.
Izuku shook a little bit. "N-no, I-im fine, just h-havent told anyone t-this b-before"
Magne softly patted his head. "No worries, it takes a lot of strength to tell someone what's wrong, so you're doing great. Just take your time, we have a lot of it."
At that, Izuku relaxed a little bit, and allowed himself to breathe. That's right, he didn't have to say anything, but he could if he wanted to. He wasn't being forced to share his secrets like with his classmates at U.A. He could make his own choices here.
Gathering up the courage, Izuku quietly muttered something.
"What was that sprout? I couldn't hear ya," Magne questioned.
Izuku took a deep breathe in, and a deep breathe out. Slowly, he said, "He hated me because I was q-quirkless"
After Izuku spoke, he immediately tensed himself, preparing for any type of blow that he might face. He also mentally prepared himself for being thrown off of Magne's lap, but it didn't happen.
Magne just looked down at him with a questioning look on her face and said, "So?"
So? That was it? She didn't have anything else to say? No, get off me, or you're useless. She didn't even hit him. Izuku was heavily confused.
"S-so? T-thats i-it?" Izuku stuttered out.
Magne, still looking confused, said, "Yeah, why would he think that you're useless because you were quirkless?"
Izuku gaped. He was not expecting this at all. "W-well quirkless people are u-useless, w-worthless, and w-wastes of spaces b-because they don't have q-quirks"
"Who told you that?" Magne questioned with a frown on her face.
"U-um, everyone. The doctor, m-my mom, even though she didn't outright say it, m-my classmates, and my teachers" Izuku replied with a brief stutter.
Magne didn't like this. All of the signs and things the League had seen over the past day from the kid were starting to fall in place. The puzzle pieces were clicking into place, and Magne did not like the picture it painted.
The stutter in his voice, his lack of care for himself, him thinking nobody cares about him, his flinches at certain gestures. All of it painted the picture of abuse. Verbal and physical abuse. Not pretty at all.
For a child, to have to learn the truth of the world for something they couldn't control, was revolting. Magne hated it, hated this world so much.
Hesitantly, Magne asked, "Sprout, do you think you're useless?"
"W-well, yeah. I mean, other people are more important than me. What could a quirkless person do anyway?" Izuku questioned with confusion on his face.
Magne wanted to cry. The kid truly believed he was useless. He'd been living his life thinking that everyone was always better than him, just because he didn't have a quirk. Magne had been through some hard things, but she never had to live quirkless. She could only try to imagine what the kid had to live through based on the things he had already said. She had to at least try to convince him that he was wrong.
"Sprout, nobodies useless. Especially not you. Not having a quirk doesn't make you lesser than everybody else, you're still human after all"
"Oh...you don't hate me then?" Izuku questioned.
"Of course not! I could care less about your quirk or lack of thereof, I only care about the person. And that they support trans rights of course," Magne supplied.
Izuku searched Magne's face for any hint of a lie, but couldn't find one, so he let out a small laugh.
"Of course I support Trans rights, someone would have to be crazy not to" Izuku said with a small smile.
Magne grinned. "Yes! We have another firm believer!"
The two continued to laugh and debate about Trans rights and how anybody that disagreed was stupid. It felt good to get away from the depressive mood that had been clouding them before.
A little while later, the two of them were sitting side by side after finishing up another random conversation.
"I don't mean to dampen the mood," Magne said, "But is there anything else you wanna get off your chest sprout?"
Izuku contemplated the question. There were a lot of things that bothered him on a daily basis, but was there something he could say to remove a little weight?
After sitting in silence for a little bit, Izuku figured out what he wanted to say.
"The worst day of my life wasn't when I was diagnosed as quirkless, no. The worst day of my life was near the end of my third year of middle school. It was the end of the school day, and Bakugo and his lackeys decided to stay behind and make fun of me. When they were about to leave, Bakugo turned to me and said, 'If you really want a quirk that badly, there might just be another way. Pray for a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of the building' Even though I had been suicde bated before, that time still hurt the most because it was my previous childhood friend who said it"
"That's not even the end of the day either. I was on my way home, when I was attacked by a villain made out of sludge. I thought I was going to die of suffocation, but All Might came and saved me in the end. He went to jump away, but I latched onto him because I wanted to ask him a question. I asked him if somebody quirkless could ever be somebody like him."
"Please don't tell me he…"
"Yeah Magne, he did. He told me no, and to be more realistic. Then he left me alone on the rooftop. I got suicide baited and my dreams crushed in the same day, and it still haunts me. Even though I'm not suicide baited anymore, I still have to face the two people who crushed my entire world daily, and that hurts"
"Thanks for trusting me sprout, I promise I won't tell anyone this," Magne said while turning her head towards Izuku.
Izuku put on a small smile. "Thanks Magne,"
"No problem sprout. Now, how did it feel to rant?" Magne questioned.
"It actually felt better than I thought it would, but I can't really change what happened, so it's still gonna be a part of me," Izuku replied.
"Well, at least it helped a little bit, right?" Magne said.
Izuku let out a small huff. "Yeah, you're right"
"I'm going to guess you don't want to face the others right now, so if you want to go in my room and play on my computer you can," Magne said while starting to stand up.
"You sure?" Izuku said while standing up, "I don't want to impose if I don't have to"
"You're all good sprout, just follow me," Magne replied while walking towards the bathroom door.
And that's how Izuku found himself following Magne into her room. Her room was pretty basic, with a normal bed and brown accents here and there. Overall, it looked pretty comforting.
Magne then went off to the side to grab her laptop, while Izuku plopped himself down onto the bed. When Magne came back, she settled the computer down onto the bed, leaving it open for Izuku to do whatever he wanted.
"Thanks Magne," Izuku said.
"No problem sprout, and you can just call me Big Sis," Magne stated.
"Ok Big Sis," Izuku replied.
"Alright, well you can have fun in here and I'm going to go hang out in the bar with the others. Is that okay?" Magne asked.
"Yeah that's fine. Thanks for spending time with me Big Sis," Izuku said with a smile.
"Of course sprout, and I'll only tell them that you're okay and want to be left alone for now. How's that sound?" Magne questioned.
Izuku laughed. "Perfect"
Magne smiled. "Alright, just come down to the bar if you need anything"
And with that, Magne left Izuku alone in the bedroom. Izuku then took the liberty to explore what he could play on the computer. There were a lot of different things he could play, but the thing that called his attention the most was the hacking software.
No Izuku, no. You broke out of that habit, he thought.
Slowly shying away from the hacking software, Izuku spent the rest of the night playing a multitude of games on the computer. After he had spent a long time on the computer, he eventually fell asleep in Magne's bed.
The bed was comfortable, and Izuku once again found himself enjoying his sleep.