Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.
Story: Izuku ends up enjoying a fan convention, only to surprisingly run into and befriend none other than Sir Nighteye. Not that she knows that. Mirai on the other hand finally found a kindred spirit, albeit someone young. These two end up traversing a friendship full of fanboyism and fangirlism, all the while tip toeing around the awkward 'other' tension between them, even when All Might himself enters the equation…
Set as an AU genderbending fic, canon-rewrite.
Spoilers: Probably the whole series, at least up to the Overhaul arc.
Warnings: Age disparity, underage, cursing and sexual situations…
Pairings: Fem!Izuku/Sasaki Mirai (Sir Nighteye)
A Fan's Guide to Heroics
Chapter Nine: What a Crazy Mess We Live For
Was he a miserable mess? Yes, yes he was.
Mirai didn't know what to do with himself. After the revelation of Izuku's actual age, he'd run away in a panic and horrified realization.
But he missed the hell out of her.
He hadn't seen or talked to her since and it's only been a week. The fact that it's only been a week was compounded by the fact that it was her turn with their shared All Might statue, and he would've been by her place by now.
As it was, he was currently hiding in his Agency and throwing himself into his work more than ever. And if he wasn't buried in his work, he was lifelessly laying on either his couch in his office or on his bed, trying not to think about her —and if he did end up thinking of her, which was inevitable, then he was running through all his memories of her; trying to think of all the little hints that revealed anything about her Quirklessness and her age that he could and had somehow missed, and then ending up thinking of their time together overall as he reminisced and just ended up missing her.
If only she were a little older, then they could…
Could what? Date? Go out in public as a couple? Be okay to just hang out?
Even if he ignored how he felt, just her friendship would make him happy. Their friendship had filled him with a liveliness and happiness he hadn't felt in so long, not since his days with Toshinori as his Sidekick…
And it was different because he did have feelings for her, which had heightened the relationship and his feelings (romantic and otherwise) for her.
"Sir?" Juzou poked his head into the room, looking for him. Seeing his friend and boss laying practically lifeless on his office's couch, well —it was a strange sight normally but even stranger was that in recent days it had become a common sight.
Mirai sighed and turned his head to face him, still (admittedly) brooding about his situation and not in the mood to talk to anyone. "Yes, Centipeder?"
Juzou gave him a considering look before he entered the room and closed the door. He walked over to Mirai and sat on the coffee table next to him.
"Mirai, we're all worried. You've been acting like this all week, and you've been working more than ever. Even if you won't talk about it, I thought I'd at least try to get you to see how you've been behaving and try to get you to acknowledge it."
"I know I've been brooding all week and trying to busy myself with work," he muttered, not looking at his subordinate.
"Then if you already know, if you don't want to talk about it, how can we help at least?" Juzou's voice was heavy with worry and Mirai felt guilty.
But help?
Find a way to age up Izuku. De-age Mirai maybe. Maybe time travel. Have his younger self travel to now —no, then younger him would get to be with her and he would be watching enviously…She could travel to the past and meet him, but that would be the same situation, only with him being oblivious and not witnessing it.
No time travel then. And she still had plenty of her life to go, so aging her up would be unfair. Then de-aging him would have to do —
"Mirai, you're muttering something under your breath and I'm not sure I understand all that?"
He hesitated but sat up finally and burrowed his face in his hands for a moment. Then he looked at Juzou miserably and explained his situation, revealing his friendship to Izuku and then the recent revelation to her Quirklessness and her young age.
Juzou hmmed. "I see. That is certainly a…situation. However, maybe it's not as big a deal as you're making it?"
Mirai blinked, turning to stare at his friend in shock.
Juzou shrugged. "I know you, Mirai. You're a good man and you have good restraint. You clearly sincerely care for her and don't want to hurt her, and she means a great deal to you. Even if you have feelings for her, it seems like she means too much to you for you to forget about her and destroy a well-meaning and important friendship."
Here though, his friend was hesitating now. "And well, you wouldn't hurt her, even if feelings were involved and something between you two happened. I've heard things about Quirkless people and how they're treated, especially females. Not a lot of good. You…you might be one of the best things in her life. I know you got scared off…but do you really want to run from an important relationship you'd eagerly developed and had made you so happy? Would you want to…abandon her?"
Mirai wrung his hands. "No, no I don't. And I did tell her how important she was to me when I found out she was Quirkless —I'd implied I'd never leave her behind for such useless reasons. I don't want to not have her in my life, even if we were just friends. I just don't know if I can let go of the age gap and my feelings…"
"It's up to you what you decide, Mirai," Juzou gave him a small smile and reached over to pat his arm in comfort. "What happens next is up to you, so think on it, alright?"
He nodded distractedly, trying to think of what to do with himself, when his door was knocked on loudly.
"Um, Sir? Package just arrived for you. Boy, is it heavy though! Lemillion-kun and I had to work together to bring it to the closest desk to your office, Sir!"
Morosely getting off his couch and moving with Juzou towards his door, he opened it and peeked through. Mirio was curiously prodding at the box while Awata had still been standing by his door when he'd opened it, so he inwardly sighed and walked out. Heading towards the box, he furrowed his eyebrows and experimentally tapped the top.
"Seems innocent enough?" Mirio said hesitantly.
Mirai grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk the box was on and began to cut it open, before peering into the box. He stiffened up and stared, breath caught in his throat. Carefully reaching inside, he grabbed the heavy statue and he brought it into view, laying it onto the top of the desk gently.
"Holy shit, Sir, that is amazing," Awata actually cursed, gazing in awe at the custom statue that had been gifted to Mirai.
He swallowed heavily, feeling numb as he stared at the flawless, beautiful creation that had been worked so hard on for him. He tentatively reached out and touched the statue, looking over the careful detail and obvious attentive love that had been put into it.
And he couldn't help crying over it, burying his face into his hands.
"Sir?!" both Awata and Mirio cried out in worry, but he paid them no attention. He vaguely heard Juzou quietly shuffle them away to leave him be, which he was grateful for.
Because he really, really missed the one person who'd managed to make him happy again.
When Izuku heard the loud banging on her door instead of the usual buzz of her door buzzard, she was caught off guard and more than a little wary. She did remember how she lived in the warehouse area, where many of the buildings were prime locations for robberies because of what they had inside, though thankfully each of them had around the clock security. It was why she opted for the camera on her doorbell and another extra, hidden camera by the entrance, aside from her own security system.
She just didn't expect Mirai to be outside her home, especially after what had happened last time.
Hesitantly opening the door to him, she was surprised by his appearance. Not meticulous as Sir Nighteye was known to be, or even how he mostly was in his disguise (he also wasn't even in disguise either), he looked disheveled and his eyes were red like he'd been crying.
He was also holding tightly onto the statue she'd given him, tentatively shipped to his Agency and probably having arrived that day.
"M-Mirai-san —Sir Nighteye, is something wrong?"she stammered, glancing at the statue then. "Is there an issue with your statue? Something you wanted corrected or —"
"It's perfect," he interrupted firmly, blinking rapidly. "It's absolutely beautiful and I love it. I just don't deserve it."
What?
"What kind of friend am I to run away and stay away from you like a coward? Especially when I'd just told you I wouldn't leave you behind for such petty reasons. I still don't care that you're Quirkless," he expressed strongly. "I just…I just have to get used to the idea of the age gap and how old you are. Because I still adore you and our friendship too much to let it go. I value it more than you can know…so if you had it in you to forgive me, I'd very much like to continue our friendship."
Oh. This was…this was a lot. But she had expected his reaction when he would inevitably find out how old she was and had tried to brace for it…It had still hurt when it came and even more so when it seemed like he was staying away and would probably never talk to her again. So him coming here and saying all that too was surprising and a lot to handle.
But the biggest thing she could feel was happiness that he was there and that he still did want to be friends with her (even if a part of her hadn't minded the kiss and would've wanted to be more…).
"Come…please come in, Sir Nighteye," she said faintly, thinking it was best to continue this conversation inside her home.
"I would prefer if you stayed casual and call on me familiarly," he insisted and she bit her lip.
"O-okay, Mirai-san," she smiled shyly at him.
He gave her a smaller smile. "Is it okay if I still refer to you as Izuku?"
"Please do," it even made her heart flutter, just thinking of it.
They moved further into her workshop and she cleared a space for him to place his statue there. Then she led the way to her elevator and they rode up in silence, only talking once they'd sat at her couches.
"Honestly, I expected your reaction," she confessed to him, fidgeting on her seat. "My age had never concerned me before because I was mostly used to how I was regarded as a Quirkless. I just finally became a little more conscious of it when I met you and realized sometime together that it might actually bother you."
"That's part of what I don't understand," Mirai furrowed his eyebrows. "How can being Quirkless have anything to do with anything?"
She gazed at him, keeping quiet. She thought on it, trying to find a way to explain all of it simply to someone who was probably mostly ignorant of the kind of life those like her had to deal with.
"Do you know anything about Quirk Laws?" she asked him curiously.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Somewhat. As a Pro-Hero, I'm required to know them to be able to function within the law and deal with those who are acting against."
Izuku hmmed, idly tapping against her knee. "What about Quirkless Laws?"
Mirai blinked. "There's no such thing."
She laughed bitterly. "Not openly and they're not broadly discussed or publicized, especially since there's so few of us left. You wouldn't be familiar with them since you actually have a Quirk and probably haven't dealt with a lot of Quirkless, have you?"
He shifted uncomfortably but shook his head.
"First thing we Quirkless have to know and acknowledge…and live with, is that once we become 10 years of age, we're legally adults," she said simply.
He looked taken aback. "What? That makes no sense. How does that even work? A 10 year old can't even hold a job."
"A Quirkless 10 year old can," Izuku shrugged, watching his face look troubled. "I'm 14, Mirai-san, but that's four years where I've lived mostly on my own and have paid bills, made decisions, and acted in my interest without a guardian because I am my own guardian."
Mirai's face showed his frustration. "What about your parents? You said you have them as your emergency contacts, so obviously they care. They wouldn't just…just let things be like this, would they?"
"Ah, but that's where things get a little…convoluted for me," she smiled a little, but it was resigned and tired. "Once Quirkless reach age of majority, because they're legally an adult, parental rights become void. Now…the rest of the world is handled differently. If you're 18 and have a Quirk, your parents or guardians can still claim you as a dependent and take care of you. It's stricter for Quirkless.
"'They' want the Quirkless to not become sheltered and not be able to function well on their own if they're 'crippled' by the copious amount of help. So a Legal Quirkless cannot be claimed as a dependent, can't be claimed under parental insurance, etc."
Izuku took a deep breath. "I have…insurance, but insurance offered to Quirkless people are shoddy, so I'd rather go to the free clinic. Or if I'm desperate and it's serious, I'll just pay out of pocket. That's more difficult since most places still wouldn't take me in, no matter the money. I could try to help out the clinic, but donations given by Quirkless to anywhere is a lot of bureaucracy bull to make it difficult.
"My father works overseas, where Quirkless people are treated a little bit better by people and the places there, but the laws still apply. He wouldn't be able to bring me over without a lot of issues regarding visas because of my Quirkless status, but he did manage to set up an account for me —it's what kept me afloat in the beginning, before I could get my own money going. He paid for this warehouse and I converted it and now maintain it."
Mirai began tapping his finger against his knee in agitation and she noted how similar they really were. Even with simple habits like that…
"What about your Okaa-san?" he frowned.
"She travels frequently —probably assigned all over, especially far away cases, because her job knows that she has a Quirkless daughter. Dad was the same way —he was 'promoted' to an overseas position when I was younger. They're a little more lenient with him over there, so I guess it really is a better job for him though…Anyway, Okaa-san lives in Musutafu in an apartment complex, in a middle-class area. It's a 'everyone knows everyone, and everyone's business is known to everyone' kind of place. Her having a Quirkless daughter is also a well-known thing and the apartment complex, supported by the law, is stingy about letting an extra 'adult' stay in the apartment with her. I would be considered a roommate and have to pay rent too. Hence why I just came to live here, to just ease the burden on Okaa-san socially and in regards to the landlord. If I stay there on occasion, they'll look the other way, but only if I'm not actually living there."
His jaw was visibly clenched and she could see him struggling.
"That's fucking bullshit."
Holy cow, she actually got to see and witness Sir Nighteye actually curse. Sure, he was also the friend she'd made over the past month-ish, but it was still Sir freaking Nighteye, and the fact he was capable of cursing like that was so weird. Even Mirai, as the person she knew, just cursing was strange too.
"I could look up the laws and show it to you?" she offered, knowing it was all very insane sounding.
"I believe you," Mirai told her with a scowl. "It's the whole thing that's bullshit. How can these laws exist? They don't even sound archaic —they sound like the government just wanted to do their best to wash their hands of their Quirkless without outright declaring you all inhuman."
Having him be all fired up and indignant on her behalf made her feel warm and like someone really did care about her. It was why she'd easily come to care and become attached to him.
"Anyway, that's really how life is, Mirai-san," she told him. "I've already had almost a handful of years to live my life like this and make my own decisions, so please continue to treat me as you had and don't suddenly decide to act as if I can't think or decide things myself."
He still looked chagrined but he nodded. "I would still like to talk to your Okaa-san."
"Whatever for?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.
Mirai hesitated. "I…Forgive me for being old-fashioned and stubborn, but you are still 14 and much younger than me. I'd like to at least reach out to one of your parents to ask permission to continue meeting with you…"
Fondly, she reached over and took his hand, whose finger had still been tapping away all this time.
"If it'll make you feel better," she smiled a little.
It was returned by a small one from him.
Started 2/10/23 (12:53 am) - Completed 2/27/23 (12:11 am)
A/n: Heyo! Lookit, the drama lessened and they reunited :D Aren't you guys happy? My sister's graduation is today, so I'm rushing to update this for you guys, since I'll be busy later. Hope you guys enjoyed!
Quick Points:
1. Centipeder is supportive and a good friend. And I may or may not, in the future, do something about writing a deaged Nighteye and some time traveling shenanigans stories.
2. Quirk/Less Laws have now been officially, explicitly introduced and explained a little! Also, I hadn't meant to, but somehow it became a plot point in here, once I thought on it and wrote it more. Welp.
3. Also Mirai thinks 10 year olds can't have jobs? Tell that to Pokémon trainers lol ;D (No, seriously, why are they running around the world without a care and they get paid after winning battles?)
4. Anyone else think tapping is some kind of tic for Nighteye?