#bnhaiff

“Iro!”

Akuriru groaned, his eyes struggling to open until he managed to force them to stare up at the plain coloured ceiling above him. He wasn’t certain where he was until his hand knocked on a railing of a hospital bed. At first he thought his heart stopped, that he was in an actual hospital. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the school nurse’s voice lecturing someone on the other side of the curtain separating the room.

He let out a sigh and laid back, feeling somewhat at east before the urge to launch up kicked in. He had just gotten upright when he spotted a note on the small bedside table.

Went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Will be back soon, Momo.

The quick to rise panic that had clogged up in his chest faded now that he knew that his cousin was alive and well, or at least well enough to be moving around outside the nurse’s office.

He blinked. Did this mean that they won? It had to be. If other students had been injured, or more than a couple, then he would have woken up in a normal hospital, wouldn’t he? Maybe his injuries hadn’t been so bad, so they decided to send him to the school instead? He made a mental note to ask Momo when she returned.

“You can’t keep doing this,” Recovery Girl’s voice became clearer from the other side. A minute later he found out who she was talking to.

“I know,” All Might said, not sounding happy in the slightest. Had he arrived during the attack and taken care of the villains? That had to be it. Akuriru felt like kicking himself for passing out during it and missing out on an opportunity to see All Might in action, up close and personal.

“It wasn’t-” Izuku tried to protest, only to be shut down by Recovery Girl. Akuriru smiled softly. If Izuku wasn’t careful, the rest of their class was bound to tease him over constantly getting injured by his own quirk.

“Don’t interrupt me, young man,” Recovery Girl scolded, and not in her usual, cheery voice. Yeesh, however badly Izuku had injured himself, it had to have been bad to get on her bad side.

“Ah! S-Sorry, ma’am!” Izuku practically yelped. Akuriru knew that he wasn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t take not knowing what had happened after he passed out. It wasn’t the opportune time to pull the curtain away either.

“All Might, you, better than anyone, know the consequences of what your quirk is capable of. If this boy is truly to be your successor then you cannot be so lenient on him. What will you do if he gets hurt even worse next time?”

Your quirk? Your successor? What was she talking about? Frowning to himself, Akuriru tilted his head some as if that would somehow help him to hear better.

“I… understand,” All Might said.

There wasn’t much natural light left in the room from the sun already descending in the horizon, but there was enough of one to reveal the shadows of three figures. Two of them he instinctively knew belonged to Recovery Girl and Izuku, but the third one was far too skinny and short to be All Might.

Akuriru wondered if maybe he had been mistaken when he thought he heard All Might’s voice, but Recovery Girl had said his name – well, his hero name to be precise. There was no way the school was going to tell them their teacher’s actual name. Maybe it was the way the light shone that just made him seem distorted?

Knowing that he wouldn’t appreciate being eavesdropped on, Akuriru reached for the curtain to pull it away and announce his conscious state, but before he could, a knock sounded on the door. He recognised it as Momo’s but the next minute a pop-like sound echoed in his ears, drawing his attention back to the curtain. The skinnier figure from before had suddenly gotten larger pretty fast.

“Come on in,” Recovery Girl said, and with an apology for possibly interrupting their conversation, Momo indeed entered the room. She made sure to ask both Izuku and All Might how they were feeling and with a rattled excuse, Akuriru felt the aftermath of the speed All Might used to get out of the room.

“Oh, is Akuriru awake yet?” Momo asked as if being snapped back to her current reality.

“He should be. Oh, do me a favour deary. When you and Iro leave, please make sure you take Midoriya here with you. If I see him in here again this month, I will take drastic measures.” To anyone else it would have sounded like an innocent joke, but Akuriru was certain that Izuku viewed it as nothing less than a threat. Despite her size and demeanour, the old lady wasn’t one to be taken lightly.

“I will,” Momo reassured, and must have smiled at Izuku, because the next thing he heard was Izuku thanking both women for taking care of him. Even if Momo’s grades weren’t as good as they were, Akuriru knew that his cousin would make a pretty good nurse given her natural friendly personality.

A moment later Momo pulled the curtain away with a plate containing a muffin on it. From the looks of it, Izuku was eating one too. She had probably thought it best to help the two boys regain the stamina they lost from the nurse’s quirk healing them.

“My, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Momo smiled, taking a seat on a nearby stool that he hadn’t even noticed before.

“I could say the same for you. Thanks,” Akuriru said, feeling his own lips pulling into a smile as he accepted the plate. It wasn’t until the plate was in his hands that he saw how Momo looked. Every part of her still seemed normal, save for a band aid or two. He had always thought of his cousin as someone was pretty, so it hurt seeing any part of her freshly wounded, even if it was something their homeroom teacher had warned them of being an all too real possibility if they intended on completing the hero course.

She must’ve noticed him staring because one moment she was sitting patiently, and then the next she had her fingertips gently brushing alongside one of the band aids. The playful colours and patterns led him to believe that they were of her own creation.

“Oh this? It’s nothing, really. You had it far worse I’m afraid.”

He wasn’t sure if it was fear or just general unease as he swallowed back the lump that had formed in his throat as he looked at his cousin and asked the one thing he should have been conscious for.

“What happened?”

Boku No Hero Academia/My Hero Academia, All Might, Recovery Girl, Izuku Midoriya and Momo Yaoyorozu © Kōhei Horikoshi

“You… what?”

Momo flashed him that charming smile she always wore on her lips. “Exactly what I said! I talked to Principal Nezu and Mister Aizawa, and it’s still possible for you to re-join U.A.!”

If it had been a couple of months ago, he would have jumped at her words and celebrated to the point where the café’s other patrons would have given him an odd look. Instead, he only slumped back in his seat.

Getting into U.A. had been hard enough with the physical test that came along with their recommendations, so much so that he had nearly tripped and fallen face first on the ice trail Shoto had left behind.

It had taken him about a week after the official first day of school to realise it had been Shoto’s quirk that had nearly caused him to fail that day. Of course Momo had been set up to compete with other females, so he had no idea of knowing whether she met any of their – or his previous – classmates during the test.

When he didn’t return her excitement, her face fell, disappointment setting in soon after. “You’re happy about it… aren’t you?”

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. “Of course I’m not, Momo. I practically got kicked out. There’s no way I can show my face around school ever again.”

Her face fell even more.

For a moment he considered simply getting up and walking off to let her know exactly how he felt about her offer, which in retrospect, had probably been done in good conscience.

All he had to do was say thanks but no thanks, get up and leave like the conversation never happened in the first place. After all, there were plenty of other high schools around the city.

It would be so easy. Just one, single step.

The self-shaming look on her face was enough to make him feel like complete and utter shit for not even hearing her out fully.

He sighed.

“What do I need to do?”

He didn’t want to do it. Not at all. Not one bit.

He wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard it. He wanted to make a run for it, hoped that someone else would do it for him. It wasn’t asking for too much, was it?

Knowing what he did, it was asking for the impossible.

Letting out a pained groan, Akuriru slid his thumb up against the green answer button with Momo’s name flashing at a steady pace on the screen. He half expected her to go on a rant about how long he had taken to do something so basic as answering a phone.

Luckily she knew that he wasn’t glued to his phone like most people their age, so she wouldn’t hold it against him. Hopefully.

“Aku?” the hopeful note in her voice was nearly enough to bring tears to his eyes. He hadn’t heard her voice in so long that he was afraid that he’d nearly crumple in on himself to the point that she’d need to come over just to try and get a word out of him.

He swallowed, trying to keep control of himself. “H-Hey Momo. What’s up?”

A relieved sigh echoed through the phone’s speaker. “Thank goodness. I was starting to wonder if you were still alive.”

Now that was comforting. Sort of.

“I am.”

‘Disappointed yet?’

How he managed to keep himself from blurting that out, he didn’t know. It scared him how close he had been to asking it though. What would she have thought if he did? Would she have laughed it off or true to her nature, been concerned and tried to get him to open up to her about what was really running through his head.

He fisted his hand against his t-shirt, trying to keep control of himself. As long as she didn’t ask him if he were okay, he would be, well, okay.

“Are you-”

No. He wasn’t. He couldn’t let her finish. He just couldn’t.

“Fine. I’m… fine,” Akuriru said with a nonchalance he definitely didn’t feel. But he couldn’t let her know. If she did then his parents would know and if they knew… He shook his head. He’d rather not deal with any of that, least of all not now.

Momo didn’t answer him. He didn’t need to be anywhere near her to know that she didn’t believe him.

Akuriru let out a deep, painful sigh.

“What did you want to talk about?”

This time it was her turn to go quiet. For a moment he thought she had simply hung up, not wanting to deal with him anymore.

Pulling his phone away from his ear, he looked at the screen, eyes trembling as he watched her name remain. He didn’t know whether it was a comforting or worrisome sight.

“I want to meet up. How does the usual café sound? My treat.”

‘Why? What did I do wrong?’ Akuriru practically whimpered as his hand curled in on the fabric even more.

He swallowed.

“S-Sure. After school?”

Her smile was nearly visible to his eyes.

“After school.”

“A-And then I’m g-going to be a great h-hero, just like All Might!” Akuriru cheered for himself as he stood at the top of the stairs at the age of five. His quirk had manifested only a couple of weeks ago, and already he had big plans for how he could put it to use.

“Oh that sounds absolutely wonderful Akuriru!” Momo grinned at him from her perch at the bottom of the stairs, her hands clasped together with that look of wonder she always seemed to possess for as long as he’d known her.

With a grin of his own, Akuriru wished that he had his first tattoo already so that he could use it as a way to slide down the railing and make an epic landing like he had seen his favourite pro hero do on TV multiple times. Instead he settled for the safe route by walking down instead.

“What about you Momo? What do you wanna do when you become a hero?”

His cousin smiled to herself as she tilted her head back in thought, “well… I would like to help as many people as I can.”

Akuriru nodded his understanding. If Momo’s parents had been nearby at that moment, they would have praised her for her admirable answer. Not that he disagreed with her choice in answer. Lots of heroes helped out whenever they could. It was part of their jobs after all.

Sitting beside each other, the two of them patiently waited on Akuriru’s mother to call them over to the dining room for lunch. In the meantime the two of them still had about half an hour left to play or do whatever until they lost interest.

With nothing else on his mind, Akuriru’s eyes drifted to the book Momo held on her lap. Because of her own quirk and the need to know she needed in order to use it properly, Momo needed to know a lot, which was why her parents had encouraged reading from a young age. Now she claimed that it was her favourite past time when she couldn’t spend time with him.

“What book is that?” Akuriru asked, eventually won over by his curiosity. As expected, Momo grinned from ear to ear as she opened the hardcover to the first page that showed a picture of someone with a fish tail as their quirk.

“It’s a fairy tale about a fantasy creature called a mermaid,” she said proudly as she pointed at the woman illustrated in the picture.

Akuriru tilted his head at the picture, trying to get a good look at it, “is that her quirk? The tail.”

Momo blinked as she looked at the picture, frowning some in thought. “I don’t know. I don’t think they had quirks back then.”

That caught Akuriru’s attention. “You mean it’s from before then?” he asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Then was a time where people lived without quirks. A time where quirkless people existed, unlike their current time where about eighty percent of the people on the planet possessed quirks. It was even believed that some animals had developed quirks within the last couple of years.

Having grown up with parents that both possessed quirks, and living in a neighbourhood where everyone had one, Akuriru found it hard to believe that someone could exist without something so basic. So ordinary. So normal.

When he first learned of it in elementary school, he thought that his teachers were simply pulling his leg. It wasn’t until he asked his parents and they confirmed it that he looked at it with a new perspective.

Given the world he grew up in, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not have a quirk. Before his was confirmed, he couldn’t wait to get it. As he was nearing his fifth birthday without a quirk, he had begun to panic that maybe he was quirkless. That had scared him to the point where if he saw someone using their quirk, he’d try to escape from the room faster than someone with a speed quirk.

When his quirk finally manifested itself, he had broken out in tears from the relief he felt. Of course his parents simply thought that he had been so excited about it that he didn’t know how to control his emotions. To that day he still hadn’t told them the real reason behind it. Not even Momo knew, and she was the first person he told about his quirk, after his parents witnessed it happen.

Momo nodded, “back then they said it couldn’t be done. That humans couldn’t have quirks.”

A sneaky smile crossed Akuriru’s lips over what he knew now that humans hadn’t thought possible all those years ago. “Do you think they would be surprised if they saw it today?”

A playful smile appeared on Momo’s face in return. “I bet they would have.”

Giggling to themselves, the two leaned back against the staircase as Momo turned to the first page and read from the book for them while Akuriru was content to listen, wishing that the moment could have lasted forever.

Whatever the doctor had given him to deal with the throbbing in his hand, Akuriru had to admit that it was strong.

Pushing himself up, Akuriru’s eyes took their time to adjust to the lightning in the room, soon falling on a covered breakfast tray. How long had he been out that his mother had felt the need to take his breakfast to him?

Smiling at the action, Akuriru pushed himself up further until he was sitting up straight. Clapping his hands together in thanks for his meal, Akuriru got to work on devouring the cold egg and bacon sandwiches and orange juice that accompanied it.

It wasn’t until he wiped his mouth free of crumbs that he saw the note his mother had left for him beneath the plate. Oddly enough, he felt a sense of dread when he read the message.

Gone out shopping. Momo called. She wants to talk to you. Please call her back. Love, mom xoxo.

Normally he would have cringed at his mother’s old style of leaving notes for him, but at the same time it warmed his chest so much that he couldn’t bear to get annoyed by it. At least she still cared enough to let him know where she went.

What took that warm feeling away though was the sight of his cousin’s name. After the festival he had tried his best to avoid even talking to Momo. Of course he knew that it wasn’t her fault for what had happened to get him in the General Studies class, but that didn’t take away the sense of shame he carried over his head each day he was reminded of U.A.

Granted, he could have chosen to ignore the message, claim that he never saw it, but she didn’t deserve that from him. She had only tried to help him and how did he repay her? By shoving that kindness right back in her face.

Curling his fist around the note, Akuriru eyed the stitched up would on his opposite hand. Who would have guessed that after spending all that time trying to get into U.A. in the first place that he’d be terrified of even the thought of saying the school’s name again?

He only hoped that Momo would forgive him one day.

‘What should I do? What should I do? If my parents find out about this… mother would kill me! Oh Aku, I’m so sorry for dragging you into this!’ Momo thought to herself as she shifted about in the waiting room just outside Principal Nezu’s office.

After the incident at the festival and Akuriru avoiding school like the plague, Mister Aizawa had begun to distance himself from Akuriru’s desk. At first she thought it was the pain over losing a student, but the more attention she paid to it, the more she realised that he had been avoiding her as well.

Pretending that she hadn’t noticed it at first was easy, until Asui – Tsu – made a comment on how she had noticed it as well. It wasn’t long until Uraraka and Todoroki joined suit. It all led until where she was right now, waiting on her homeroom teacher to walk through the principal’s door.

She had never been this nervous before when she was called to the principal’s office during her time at other schools because it usually meant that she was to receive some praise or instruction about handling a classroom situation. But now, she dreaded it.

The only thing that went through her mind was that Principal Nezu and Mister Aizawa had finally found out that Akuriru’s acceptance into the school was nothing but a lie. To be frank, she was surprised that it took them this long to figure it out in the first place. Even with her quirk, copying and altering her acceptance letter with Akuriru’s had taken quite a bit out of her, even with all her quirk-based training she had done before attending U.A.

The moment the door opened, Momo nearly jumped right out of her skin. For a moment she feared she had created a duplicate of herself out of fright, even with her quirk’s restrictions. As expected, Mister Aizawa stood in the doorway.

He nodded for her to go in. Lowering her gaze, Momo followed him into the animal professional hero’s office. It was fairly simple despite its inhabitant with a cup of freshly poured tea resting in front of one of the chairs.

“Ah Miss Yaoyorozu, please, have a seat,” the principal hummed, his soft, furry hands resting on his desk. As her etiquette instructors had taught her, she thanked him and did as she was told. He held one of his hands towards the cup in front of her. “Please, don’t be shy.”

She thanked him again and took a sip of the tea. It wasn’t too sweet, nor was it too bitter. It had just the right fraction of sugar and warm water. When she put her cup back down on its saucer, Mister Aizawa had joined her, sitting on the seat beside her.

“I assume that you know why we called you here,” Principal Nezu hummed, his hands returning to their earlier spot, his tiny fingers interloping with each other. Any other day she would have found the action cute. Today she found it terrifying.

“I… have a couple of suspicions, sir,” she said as politely as she could, directing her attention back to his rodent-like face. ‘Never stare at someone, for not only is it rude, but it might make someone awfully uncomfortable especially in this day and age,’ her mother’s words reminded her. She found herself straightening up in her seat, not so as to seem intimidating, but to let the principal know that she was wholly paying attention to his words.

A small, relaxed smile crossed his lips. “Good, but to clarify Miss Yaoyorozu, it’s about your cousin, Akuriru Iro.”

She nodded once, unsure of where he was planning on leading the conversation.

“I assume that you’re aware that he hasn’t been attending school as he should, correct?”

“Y-Yes sir, but I believe that-”

“That it has to do with him being moved to General Studies instead of staying in the Hero Course, correct?”

She gave a disheartened nod.

“And I believe your teacher has explained the reason for it?”

She nodded once more, not possessing the courage to even look at Mister Aizawa. After the incident at the festival and given what Mister Aizawa had said about the rules, it hadn’t taken long to put two and two together.

“Do you believe that we were wrong to recommend he join a new class?”

The principle in which it had been done? Most certainly she did, but the festival had been a test in and on its own. If the festival had been a real crisis, then Akuriru wouldn’t have succeeded either. And whoever had been caught in the crossfire would have paid dearly for his failure. It was the harsh, cruel reality of the profession everyone in class one-A was working towards.

If they slipped up in training, they could just as easily slip up in the field. The only difference would be someone else paying the price for it. To anyone else, their reasoning might seem dramatic, over the top even, but both she and Akuriru knew the ultimate price of failure in what they aspired to be.

“No, sir,” she said and meant it. General Studies meant that Akuriru couldn’t put as much focus into becoming a professional hero as the Hero Course did, but the school held more than one festival. Surely there might be a way for him to earn his spot back in class one-A again. There had to be.

“I’m glad you understand Miss Yaoyorozu. Now, I believe we can get to the real matter at hand,” he said as he reached into the desk drawer closest to him. She didn’t even need to look to know what it was.

As she expected, it was the form Akuriru had filled in to apply to the school under the recommendation that he join U.A. and become a hero in the making like the rest of their class. Shame coloured her cheeks as the principal’s words cut through her.

“I assume you know what this is?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Do you know that forgery is against the law, Miss Yaoyorozu?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you realise that if we choose to report this to the local police, you could earn a stain on your permanent record, correct?”

She almost teared up as she repeated the two words that were starting to feel like a curse on her ears. “Yes, sir.”

“Then could you tell us why you, a respectable young woman with a bright future ahead of her, chose to do something that can be described as nothing but foolish?” Despite his question, Momo knew he wasn’t condescending her. He sounded genuinely sympathetic, maybe even worried.

Her hands curled into fists on her lap as she tried keeping her calm under their gazes. “I… I only wished to help him. A-Akuriru told me once that all h-he wanted was to be a hero. He thought U.A. was out o-of the question, so I thought since I h-had gotten in through a recommendation, p-perhaps I could have done the same for him.”

“Which you did?”

“Y-Yes.” She looked at the principal, trying to keep the emotions she felt from her face. “But I swear, he tried to stop me when he found out what I did. I… I forced him into going through with it.”

“Do you regret it?”

This time she sat up so much that she could feel the chair’s back against her own. “No. I only wish that I could have done more to help him.”

The moment she realised what she had said, Momo felt the energy she had in her reply drain from her as if Recovery Girl had just heled a wound for her. A big one. She half expected Mister Aizawa to grab her by her arm and escort her to the police, but instead Principal Nezu only nodded.

“I understand your reasoning Miss Yaoyorozu, and frankly, I do wish there was something we could do to help, but as it is, we cannot do anything unless Mister Iro agrees to co-operate with us.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Does this mean-”

He nodded once more. “Despite his methods of getting into the school, his willingness to try is what had gotten most professional heroes as far as they got. It’s an unorthodox method, but nonetheless a determined one. I’ll tell you what Miss Yaoyorozu, if you can get your cousin to attend his classes, then we will simply… turn a blind eye to this incident. Of course he will need to meet the minimal requirements to pass, but if he is truly willing to become a hero, then we will give him that opportunity.”

She nearly ran from her seat to hug the furry being and hug him as tightly as she could. He lifted a hand – or paw – to stop her from reacting.

“However, we cannot simply ignore what you and your cousin have done. Because you both are under age and aspiring to be heroes, Mister Aizawa and I have decided that you will both be punished for your actions. Normally this would possibly be suspension for a while but considering that your cousin has already failed to attend class and the fact that it’s the first time either of you two have committed an offense to the school, you will both be receiving a verbal warning, as well as cleaning duty for an entire month.”

‘If it means that Akuriru can stay in school, I’ll gladly accept cleaning duty for a whole year!’ Momo thought to herself as she stood from her chair and bowed as low as she could as a form of respect for what the principal was doing for both her and her cousin.

“Thank you sir! I promise, Akuriru and I will strive to make you proud!”

The Principal’s smile widened as he nodded his approval. “I would hope so indeed Miss Yaoyorozu. For now, I think it’s best if we discuss how we’re going to handle your cousin’s training for now.”

With a nod of her own, Momo sat back in her chair, smiling down at the cup in front of her. Perhaps there really was a chance for Akuriru in the hero society.

“That should do it. I’ll go hand in his prescription.”

Akuriru didn’t so much as lift his head as he listened to how the doctor that had just stitched up his hand leave the room with his mother thanking him for his effort. Akuriru nearly huffed at the thanks. He was simply doing what he was paid to. Why did they need to thank him for taking their money?

‘He wouldn’t have taken your mom’s money if you hadn’t been an idiot and smashed your hand in.’

Akuriru narrowed his eyes at the tone the voice inside his head used. Granted it was simply his subconscious lecturing him on his actions and lack of gratitude, but somehow the mere thought of it infuriated him. It sucked when your intrapersonal thoughts had a point.

From past experience for times whenever he got a bad cold, Akuriru knew that the doctor would take at least fifthteen minutes to get everything ready. Maybe he could avoid his mother’s questioning during that time.

Moving to rise from his seat, Akuriru felt the cold chill of his mother’s hand resting on his shoulder as she pushed him back down. Right, Mrs. Iro wasn’t simply going to let this one go.

Stifling a sigh, Akuriru looked to the side, not wanting his mother to see the clear disappointment he felt in himself. Maybe if he had waited until he was in his room, he would have been able to muffle the sound. Perhaps by then he might not have had the urge to hit anything anymore.

The moment his mother’s fingers touched his chin, Akuriru felt her disappointment seep into him. His uninjured hand curled into a fist. As long as he didn’t look at her, he’d be fine. He’d be fine. He’d be-

“Akuriru?”

He wasn’t fine.

The concern in his mother’s voice was enough for a tear to prick free in the corner of his eye. Luckily he was able to catch it with his arm sleeve, but the second that one was dealt with, his other eye broke another one free. Before he knew it, his mother had him in her arms and his head resting against her chest.

She hadn’t held him like that ever since he was old enough to claim that he was too old for mother-son hugs. How foolish he had been back then. Nearly each time something had gone wrong at some point or another, he had craved a hug from his mother more than anything.

Usually she would have asked him what had upset him so, but a part of him felt as if she already knew all too well. With his shame welling up in his tears, Akuriru buried his face into the crook of her neck as his own body began to tremble and shake from keeping a whole week’s worth of distress to himself.

He wept for the failure he accomplished at the sport’s festival.

He wept over the fact that he had been unable to help Mashirao when the League of Villains attacked.

He wept that he had to rely on his cousin’s help to get into U.A. in the first place.

He wept for being incapable of being a hero.

But most of all, he wept for being born as himself.

He didn’t stay to watch the rest of the news coverage. He didn’t even know where it took place, but knowing the news, they were bound to repeat it at some point.

When he got home, no one was up. His parents must have thought he was still locked in his room, not that he had told him he went out in the first place. Usually it didn’t bother, but after not seeing someone waiting for him, an ache began in his chest. Why, he didn’t know. Only that it hurt. It hurt a lot.

Closing the door behind himself, Akuriru headed up the stairs to his room, ignoring the pictures of their small family smiling and happy, back when they believed a young boy to be capable of something great. When everything still seemed possible.

Pausing halfway, Akuriru felt his steps become heavier. Right across from him was the very first picture he drew with pride. A design he had recreated probably a hundred times, claiming that once he got good enough with his quirk, that it would be his ultimate move. His U.S. of Smash.

Now that was nothing more than a pipe dream. A distant ember in a hope that was no longer a flame. Curling his hand into a fist, Akuriru shot his hand out, smashing it clean into the glass that was meant to keep it safe.

Keep it safe just like he was meant to do when he finally earned his license. When he believed that he still stood a chance. When he believed that he was able to amount to something.

When he wanted to be a hero.

He hadn’t even realised his hand was bleeding until he heard his name.

“Akuriru!” his mother’s voice cut through his ears sharper than the glass in his fist. Blinking out of his dazed state, he pulled his hand back, looking over the shards digging into the side. One of the shards had cut through his palm, not enough to expose what was beneath the skin, but enough to let the blood pool out.

The pain wasn’t even the worse part. That was his mother rushing to his side and clutching onto his hand as if he might lose it. He wanted nothing more than to rip his hand free and tell her to just leave it. To hell with it if it was his dominant hand. To hell if it was the hand he used to design his tattoos with. To hell with it that he took pride in his hand once.

Before he had the chance to take his hand back, his mother was already leading him back downstairs. Before he realised it, they were in the car and heading for the nearest emergency room.

The knowledge of that only angered him. Now he was going to take time away from someone that genuinely needed it. Tilting his head back, he watched a single tear roll down the side of his cheek, his lips forming that one word that he seemed to excel at these days.

Failure.