Chapter Text
When Midoriya Izuku woke up that morning, he had already known it was going to be a bad day. He could tell because when he glanced into his bathroom mirror, it promptly shattered into a cracked and distorted image of himself for no reason.
Almost absentmindedly, Izuku checked over himself while brushing his teeth. Not only was his quirk producing an unusually high amount of energy today –though it would be unfelt by anyone that wasn’t him– breaking the mirror caused it to increase even more. He would have to be careful while he let it trickle out of him, or he might seriously hurt himself. A quick check on his phone proved his suspicions as to why his quirk had been so active– the horoscope said that Cancers should watch out for bad luck.
Sometimes Izuku really hates that astrology wasn’t complete bullshit when it came to him. No one else gets their day ruined just because the horoscope said it would happen…
But there was still a smile on his face, as he looked into the broken mirror. Seeing it reminded him to keep his spirits up.
“Mom! I’m leaving for school now! And, uh– the mirror broke again. Sorry… ”
“It’s okay sweetie, that’s why we bought so many extras. Have a nice day!” His mother stopped in the middle of her morning prep to give him a quick kiss and soft smile. “I love you dear.”
Izuku smiled back at her brightly. “Love you too, Mom.”
Despite the earlier omen, it was just another day for Midoriya Izuku on his way to school.
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The grass at the edge of the sidewalk was just so green, it almost made him want to stop and smell the flowers. The smile on his face was just as bright as his surroundings.
But then he just barely dodged out of the way of falling bird poop, gifted graciously to him by the aforementioned singing birds. And in his attempt he stepped on a wayward rock, which caused him to trip and hit his head on the concrete.
Sitting up from his fall with a groan, Izuku felt the back of his head. It didn’t seem to be bleeding, and he succeeded in missing the bird poop. So overall, he’d call this one a win. The smile returned to his face.
It was just another day for Izuku, but sometimes navigating through his life could get difficult. That’s just how it is when luck isn’t on your side.
Izuku had learned many lessons when his quirk first appeared. The first was that all men were not created equal. The second was that some people were born into this world lucky and others were born into it unlucky. Or as the more common saying went; some were born lucky, and some were just lucky to be born.
The third thing that Izuku had learnt was that he was born unlucky.
And that wasn’t him being dramatic, he was quite literally born unlucky. That’s what his quirk turned out to be. His quirk, Jinx, produced a constant amount of “bad luck” which he could either inflict on himself, specific targets, or just let permeate the area around him like he was a cursed charm.
He preferred to keep his quirk inflicted on himself, rather than accidently cause trouble for or hurt other people.
This led to him facing a constant stream of various but small misfortunes in his everyday life. Tripping, stepping in animal droppings, oversleeping, missing the train, broken mirrors, glasses, plates, electronics– the list was endless, so it was better if he just didn’t keep track of it all. Sometimes, he felt like his quirk might be affecting him even when he turned it off.
His mother swore up and down that he wasn’t the reason why Dad never came back, but he’s pretty sure that was a lie. No one wants a child that’s essentially cursed
No one except Mom, that is. And it was only her existence that reminded Izuku that there was still fortune in his life, even with having a quirk like Jinx.
It’s not even the misfortune caused by his quirk that gets to him, it’s just everyone else’s reaction to his quirk that does. If everyone accepted it like his mom did, then he would be happy even with all the bad luck he had to deal with.
But even through all of this, he kept a smile on his face. Most of the time it didn’t feel like a real smile, but sometimes it was, like when he was with Mom. He didn’t let the misfortune, both from his quirk and his lack of positive social interaction as a consequence of it, cause his smile to fall.
–Because if he did, then he would simply never smile at all–
The thing he loved most about All Might was the way the hero could smile in even the most dire of situations. Izuku wanted to be a hero like that too. Though, everyone around him thought that it was impossible for him to be a hero.
“Sensei… When I took this test, I was next to Midoriya, you know we always do worse when we’re by him– Can I get some extra credit points to boost my score?”
From his seat in class, Izuku pretended to not hear the conversation. His teacher just sighed in annoyance, “And you know that Midoriya always turns his quirk off during tests so that his own scores don’t get affected. If you guess an answer wrong, it’s not because of his quirk.”
“But you don’t really know for sure if he’s keeping it off! What if it was on and that’s why I did bad?”
In the end, his classmate was given a small amount of extra credit in an attempt to compromise, just as most of the people who were by Izuku during tests got. The teachers didn’t believe it was worth the effort to put up with their needling in the name of Izuku’s honor when they could just put a stop to it by giving up a couple of points. It usually didn’t change their grades by much, but they still went through the motions just to get their boost. The only person that didn’t was his childhood friend that was no longer a friend, Kacchan, who seemed to think being placed next to Izuku was just an extra challenge for him to overcome. Maybe that was why Kacchan was always placed by him in seating arrangements...
With that out of the way, his teacher could finally begin homeroom. “You guys are third years now– it’s time to start thinking seriously about your futures! I would hand out these future career forms, but…” His teacher tossed the papers aside with a smiling shrug. A stray paper rode an air current across the room to slap Izuku in the face, blinding him with white for a moment.
“I assume you all want to be heroes!” The classroom broke out into cheers as people started to haphazardly show off their quirks. Izuku, of course, kept his reigned in to its normal amount of “slightly bad luck”.
“Yes, you all have wonderful quirks, but you know it’s against the rules to use them in school!”
“Sensei, don’t lump me in with these extras!” Izuku leaned away slightly when Kacchan, started yelling, “As if I have anything like their crappy quirks!”
“Ah, Bakugou– you’re applying for UA, of course,” the teacher commented in an impressed tone.
The muttering around Izuku continued, “Did you hear how high the cutoff is this year?! They barely accept anyone…”
When Kacchan slammed his foot onto the desk, Izuku jolted in place. “Shut up all of you! I aced the mock exam, and I’m the only one that has what it takes to get into UA! I’m going to surpass All Might and become the top hero! Not to mention becoming rich at the same time!”
Well, it was only natural that Kacchan felt that he could accomplish all those things. After all, he was born lucky. What else can you say about a person that’s born with a flashy quirk perfect for being a hero, born to good, loving, and fairly well-off parents?
“Come to think of it, Midoriya’s also trying for UA.”
Kacchan froze as Izuku felt his stomach drop into the floor. The joyful atmosphere became tense, as his classmates stole looks at him only to quickly look away. There were no jeers or laughs, but he could hear them whisper amongst themselves.
“Unlucky Izuku, trying to be a hero?”
“Even more than that, trying to get into UA? You need luck to get into a school like that…”
“Who ever heard of a hero that’s bad luck? That’s a villain’s quirk…”
Ah– there it is. It always comes around to that eventually. Being a bringer of misfortune is a bad quirk, so it could only be a “villain’s quirk”. That’s how they all think.
Kacchan didn’t say anything, but Izuku knew it wouldn’t last for long. As soon as the day was over and the small protection the teacher provided was gone, he made his move. Izuku leaned back when Kacchan slammed his hand onto his desk. Only to go back too far and tip his chair over in a clatter of noise and pain.
Kacchan just scowled down at the pitiful sight of Izuku on the ground. “What the hell do you think you’re playing at, Deku! You’re cursed! You can’t possibly be a hero or make it into UA! Forget crappy quirks– Your quirk is a hindrance, even less than useless!”
–Don’t let it get to you, don’t let it get to you. He just feels that way because he knows firsthand how people around you get hurt. Don’t let your smile fall–
As Izuku picked himself up, he gave Kacchan an awkward smile. “I know it’s unlikely, but there’s no harm in trying…”
“No harm in trying, get a load of this guy! He says that like he doesn’t tip over in his chair once a day!” one of Kacchan’s friends chuckled to the others. They never tried to antagonize Izuku when it was just themselves, probably wary of being cursed by his quirk, but Kacchan always made them more arrogant.
Kacchan swiped Izuku’s notebook off his desk. “What do we have here? “For my future”? Be real, Deku! What are you gonna do– win fights by making the villains trip over themselves?!”
The notebook was fried to bits in the middle of Kacchan’s small palm explosions. Then, it was thrown out the window only to land in the water fountain. Izuku’s smile dropped a fair amount, but he managed to keep the ends of his mouth tensed up into an almost smile. The sight of it just made Kacchan scowl harder.
“That smile of yours is so fake, it makes me want to blast it off your face! Who the fuck do you think you’re fooling?! A creepy, miserable person like you can’t be like All Might, so just give it up! I’m a perfectionist– I want my hero origin story to be perfect!” Kacchan pointed to himself with his thumb. “I’m going to be the first and only hero from this crappy public middle school, so don’t even dare try getting into UA!”
Scoffing a bit, Kacchan’s sneer turned into a mean smirk. “Though, I shouldn’t say that you can’t show up in my story at all– If you end up being a villain I take down in the future, there’d be nothing wrong with that.”
Kacchan knew as well as Izuku that he would never turn to villainy, but he said that anyway because he knew it would hurt. Izuku felt himself flinch at the comment.
After seeing that Izuku didn’t plan on fighting back, Kacchan tsked and turned around to walk out the door of the classroom. Only to stop, and give Izuku one last smirking glance over his shoulder.
“Oh, but if you want to be a hero so badly, there’s a quick way to do it. Believe that you’ll be born with a good quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!”
Izuku flinched hard, but any words he could make died in his attempt to stuff his pain back into the box he kept inside himself. The smile fell off his face, causing him to bite at his lip.
–Don’t let it get to you, don’t let it get to you, don’t let it get to you, don’t–
Kacchan and the others that hung out with him were gone for a fair while before Izuku started getting up to leave. Before he left the classroom to pick up his notebook and leave, he gave a long look at the classroom window next to him.
After a stretch of silence that wasn’t even filled by his usual muttering thoughts, he turned his back to it and left.
He thought that was the peak of it, that that was the worst his luck that day had to offer him. But it wasn’t.
His next string of misfortune was a double hit– just as he was about to go through a tunnel on his way home, he got a phone call from the Musutafu General Hospital, saying that his mother had been admitted due to an accident. As one of the people listed on her emergency contacts list, they called him as soon as she arrived.
However, as he started a panicked run through the tunnel to try and get to the hospital as fast as possible, a villain of all things appeared from the sewers. The villain, who had a slimy body that he was using to suffocate Izuku with, said something about how he wanted to use Izuku’s body to walk away free.
Izuku was about to be murdered, but he didn’t even think about that. All he could think about was the fact that Mom was hurt, and this villain was the only thing keeping him from getting to her.
He had never purposefully inflicted Jinx on anyone before, but it was easy enough for him to focus its energy on the villain. He couldn’t chance just its normal amount of emitted energy to be enough though. With a bit of a struggle, Izuku abandoned fruitlessly trying to clutch at the hold around his neck in order to free his right hand.
He snapped his fingers, and the sound echoed throughout the tunnel. It catalyzed the release of Jinx’s partially built up bad luck, inflicting the villain with a heavy curse instantaneously.
At that very same moment, one of the dim lights in the tunnel broke off from the ceiling with its wires still attached to land directly on the villain’s fluid mass. Its electric current wasn’t too potent, but was enough to make both the slime villain and Izuku, who was still stuck in contact with him, shriek in pain.
The villain let go of Izuku to dissolve into an unconscious puddle, and Izuku blacked out.
When he woke up next he thought he must be dreaming, because there was no way that he’d ever be lucky enough to have All Might personally save him.
His hero went through the motions of making sure Izuku was alright and trying to ask about what had happened to the villain, when Izuku suddenly jolted with the memory of what he was doing before.
“Oh gosh, this– it’s really great to meet you, All Might-san, but I’ve gotta go!” Izuku quickly gathered his things and stood up as he was stuttering. He’d have time to freak out over how All Might had signed his notebook later. “M-My mom is in the hospital, and I have to go there right away– ”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that young man…” After a second where All Might glanced to the side to mull over his thoughts, he looked back to Izuku to give him a grin and thumbs up. “Since the villain was already taken care of by the time I got here, I’ve got a little extra time. If your mother is at the hospital in this area, then I can drop you off in no time before I drop off this guy to be arrested by the police!” All Might shook the bottle holding the still unconscious slime villain in demonstration.
Izuku’s mood instantly brightened up, a real smile lit up his face. “R-Really?! That’d mean so much to me, thank you so much!”
All Might simply laughed it off, before taking hold of Izuku. “It’s a hero’s duty to help people in need, no matter how big or small that need is! Now, I’m on the clock so there’s no time to waste!”
With that said, they bounded through the air. In only a minute or two, Izuku was placed down in front of the automatic doors of Musutafu General Hospital. And with one last bow, Izuku parted from his hero to check in with the receptionist.
Considering his turn of luck in meeting All Might, Izuku had been hopeful about his mother’s condition.
He shouldn’t have been
He was still born unlucky– One fortunate thing happening didn’t make that go away…
After a long couple of hours waiting, the doctor treating his mom brought him to a private room. She looked down at him with guilt heavy in her eyes. Izuku’s dread increased ten-fold.
“What happened to your mother was a random incident –a drunk driver swerved into the road on a red light when she was in the middle of crossing. Midoriya Inko was still alive when she was brought in, but her condition was bad. We did everything we could, but… the extent of our techniques and quirks can only go so far; whether a patient makes it through or not sometimes depends on luck. And in this case, luck wasn’t with us today…”
The doctor placed a gentle hand on Izuku’s shoulder, and she quietly said, “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Izuku wasn’t smiling at the time, but he still felt his smile shatter into a thousand pieces. Just like the mirror from that morning.
When Shinsou Hitoshi woke up one morning, it had started out as a normal day for him. The foster family that he lived with –which consisted of three other foster kids and the foster parents, the Harukas, who decided to open their home for fostering due to lacking their own children– made friendly but wary small talk with Hitoshi during breakfast. Then he and the rest of the kids walked to school, with the two kids around his age and headed to the same middle school as he was. They walked ahead of him in their own separate group of friends while he walked alone.
This pattern of partial social inclusion where people would superficially interact with him without being interested in risking further contact continued throughout the day.
It was hard for people to want to talk to him. They had the mental barrier of being constantly aware that any amount of conversation could potentially lead to him brainwashing them, despite the fact that he’d never use his quirk for bad reasons like that. He’s already accepted that that was just how people reacted to his quirk, though.
But then things changed up a bit when Hitoshi returned to the household, and the Harukas brought all the kids together for a discussion.
“We’re going to be accepting another foster child soon, as we’re the closest family available to where he’s going to school. However, there are some… details about him you should be aware of,” Haruka Nori explained hesitantly, before glancing at her husband to cue him in.
Natsume, who was in the same grade but not the same class as him, eyed the two suspiciously. “That’s almost exactly what you said when Shinsou joined. Is this another kid with a villain quirk?”
Hitoshi perked up at that, even as the other two children –a boy who was a year younger than him, Fuyuki, and an elementary school girl, Aki– became visibly nervous.
“Ah– Natsume-chan, you shouldn’t say stuff like that– ” –in front of Shinsou, Hitoshi mentally finished for Haruka Naru when the man took a quick glance at him. He cleared his throat and continued where his wife left off, “Midoriya Izuku was only just recently put up for fostering, he’s been going through a lot lately so you shouldn’t be rude to him. It’s just that he may bring some additional difficulties due to his quirk. It’s called Jinx, and it makes bad luck.”
“There’s actually a quirk that makes bad luck?! Man, that’s… unlucky?” Fuyuki looked apprehensive at his own accidental pun.
Haruka Nori picked up the conversation again, “It’s unfortunate for Midoriya-kun, certainly. But what’s important here is that all of you are aware that accidents may be more prone around him. And if what happened to his mother is any indication, these accidents may become quite dangerous if we don’t approach this cautiously.”
Hitoshi thought about the warning carefully, until he understood what they were implying. Midoriya used to have a mother, but very obviously did not now, or he wouldn’t have been put up for fostering.
Outrage broiled in his gut.
Eyes sharpening into a glare, he shouted, “You can’t seriously be blaming this kid and his quirk for– for whatever happened to his mom!” He couldn’t even speak aloud about the chance that a kid would be the cause of their own parent’s death just because they had a “villain quirk”, let alone consider it as a legitimate possibility like these two were.
“We’re not saying it was his quirk, there’s no proof of that!” Haruka Naru held his hand out as though in surrender, trying to appease Hitoshi. “But the fact of the matter is that his quirk causes accidents, and what happened to his mother was a major accident –a car accident is an awful lot of bad luck. If it was his quirk, it certainly wasn’t intentional on his part. But regardless if it’s just a coincidence or not, we want you kids to be safe around him.”
“Why would you accept someone with a quirk like that in the first place then?!” Natsume complained while crossing her arms.
“Because someone has to take him. In the end, he’s just another child in need like the rest of you.” Haruka Nori tried to give them a kind smile. “We’ll work around his quirk just like Shinsou’s, things will be fine.”
Hitoshi couldn’t handle it anymore, he abruptly stood up from his seat in one of the dining room chairs to slink back to his room. Little Aki shied away from him in her own seat at the sight of his simmering anger. He muttered to himself while leaving, “There’s no way things will be fine if you’re talking shit like this behind his back…”
About a week later, Midoriya Izuku was brought to the family.
He had fluffy green curls that matched eyes, and wore a bright smile on his lightly freckled face as he cheerfully introduced himself. Even though they must’ve met Midoriya a couple of days ago at the very least, the Harukas still seemed relieved at the positive demeanor Midoriya carried himself with. Especially when compared to Hitoshi’s personality. The rest of the kids seemed to look over him with new considerations in their minds, wondering how a boy like this could have a “bad” quirk.
Hitoshi himself hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up that Midoriya might actually want to hang out with him unlike everyone else in the family, but they still formed in his mind anyway. At first the positive attitude had disappointed him, since he assumed it was a sign he was more of a “normal” person than a “villain quirk” person. But when Midoriya jumped into an enthusiastic conversation on Hitoshi’s quirk as soon as it was mentioned to him, those hopes returned. Midoriya didn’t even seem to hesitate when it came to both mentioning Hitoshi’s quirk and talking to Hitoshi, like everyone else usually does.
He didn’t even mind that he had to share his room with someone now due to the limited number of bedrooms, since it was with someone like Midoriya. Midoriya decorated his side of the room with a few different pieces of All Might merchandise and numerous books and notebooks, but other than that it was fairly plain. Hitoshi’s side had more character surprisingly, being covered in random cat items combined with Eraserhead merchandise. Overall, it seemed like Midoriya was just another average boy.
Then the household got to see Midoriya’s quirk in action, and the mood towards him soured.
It started with the lights in their room going out. Midoriya just glanced at it, then pulled a handheld flashlight out of nowhere with practiced ease
“T-That was probably me, sorry. I know how to fix the wiring, so you can just stay here, Shinsou-kun…”
“It’s no problem,” he replied casually. It was nothing more than an inconvenience, really.
Then there was the first dinner that featured the crash of a plate breaking on the ground. Midoriya winced while pulling out a dustpan and brush to sweep it up. After failing to recognize the set, Hitoshi realized that it was Midoriya’s pan and brush instead of the Harukas’.
“Ah! I-I’m so sorry! I try to use plastic plates instead occasionally, because of that…”
Haruka Nori frowned at the broken shards, giving Midoriya an apprehensive glance. Hitoshi could tell she was displeased, but she didn’t mention it. “It’s fine, just– be more careful next time, Midoriya-kun.”
Then Natsume did poorly on her homework, and honestly there was no way that was Midoriya’s fault, but she yelled at him for it anyway.
“I-I’m sorry, but I really make sure to avoid you guys when you’re doing school stuff, so that wasn’t me– ”
“Bullshit! I’ve never done this bad on an assignment in my life! It has to be you!”
“It– It really wasn’t…”
Hitoshi put himself between the two of them before the girl could go on any further. “Lay off him, Natsume! It’s not his fault you suck at algebra!”
“Don’t talk to me like that, creep– ” Natsume cut herself off and stared aimlessly in Hitoshi’s direction when Brainwash kicked in.
He forcefully pointed towards the hallway that connected the living room to the bedrooms. “Go back to your and Aki’s room.”
Natsume did an about-face and followed his instructions.
“Woah…” Hitoshi turned his head back to see Midoriya looking up at him with shining eyes and a grin. “Your quirk is so great, Shinsou-kun! It’d be super useful for a hero to have– you would be able to resolve conflicts without any physical confrontation! In a time where collateral damage is such a major cause of concern for the industry, that’s a huge advantage– ”
“What did you say…” Hitoshi could hardly hear the rest of Midoriya’s rambling, he was too focused on how he must’ve heard that wrong–
“Uh… You mean what I said about the hero industry? Resolving conflicts? How your quirk is great and suited to hero work– ”
“That– ” Hitoshi cut Midoriya off without even knowing what he wanted to say. All he could do was avert his eyes from Midoriya’s. “No one else thinks that way about it…”
“Oh… I understand that.”
A hand reached forward to gently hold Hitoshi’s. “But really, your quirk does have great potential for good, Shinsou-kun. It’s not a hindrance like mine is…”
When Hitoshi turned his eyes back to Midoriya, he was still smiling, but it wasn’t like it was just a moment ago. It was a smile that didn’t match the dulled, empty look in his once bright green eyes.
It was the smile he wore when Natsume yelled at him, or when he dropped his plate, or when the lights went out. It was the same smile he wore on his face every day, even that first day when he first joined the house. The only time he had seen the smile that Midoriya had been wearing previously was when they had that first conversation about Hitoshi’s quirk.
Oh… It’s not that he’s actually happy, it’s that he’s lying. Hitoshi was only able to notice after seeing what Midoriya looked like when his smile was honest.
Things continued like that with minor bad luck for a few weeks. Then one morning, Midoriya looked into their bathroom mirror.
The mirror completely shattered for no reason.
Midoriya’s smile changed as he looked into his distorted image. It looked so strained that a person with a knife stuck in their gut might have given a better effort.
Haruka Naru came running at the sound of the mirror breaking. “What was– Midoriya!” After seeing no obvious injuries and assessing what happened, the man glared at the still frozen Midoriya. “Do you know how much those mirrors cost?! Even if you can’t help the other stuff, at least try not to do this much damage to our house– ”
Haruka halted his rant when Hitoshi roughly lugged the man out of the bathroom by his arm. When he looked at Hitoshi in surprise, Hitoshi quietly hissed at him, “Does it look like he’s in the right state of mind to be getting screamed at right now?”
The man glanced back to Midoriya, who was still just staring into the mirror without any sign of noticing that someone had been shouting at him, and winced. “I… I suppose not.”
“I’ll take care of him, so just leave.”
“ …Okay, Shinsou-kun. You’re the one that knows him best.”
Hitoshi hadn’t thought about it like that, he just wanted to get the man out of the way before he could upset Midoriya any further. He hadn’t the faintest idea on what to actually do to help him now.
When Haruka left, Hitoshi hung in the doorway of the bathroom and called out to Midoriya. When the other didn’t acknowledge him, Hitoshi crept into the room to stand beside him and carefully tapped his arm. Midoriya jolted in place and whipped his head to the side to stare at Hitoshi. He dropped his smile and started nervously stuttering, “I– I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to break it, I know it’s expensive– ”
“It’s fine, Midoriya. I’m more worried about how you were acting weirdly just now.”
“That’s– It’s just that…” Midoriya trailed off as he glanced back at the broken mirror. “Breaking mirrors causing bad luck… when it comes to my quirk, it’s more than just a superstition. It’s a bad omen. The last time it happened was when– it was the day that Mom…”
Hitoshi caught on. Sympathy welled inside him as he involuntarily winced.
He gently wrapped his hand around Midoriya’s wrist before Midoriya forced himself to say more. “It’s okay. You don’t need to explain the rest.”
Midoriya stared at him with a still strained expression, before leaving to head back to their room. Hitoshi followed and got there just in time to see Midoriya rummage through a large black box that had been hidden under his bed, and pull out an artificial-looking, fuzzy, light purple ornament of some sort that was attached to the chain of a necklace.
He presented it to Hitoshi with a fake smile. “Can you wear this for the day, Shinsou-kun?”
Hitoshi accepted the strange necklace, turning it over in his hand as he figured out what it was. “ …Is this a lucky rabbit’s foot?”
“Yes! They actually do work. Or at least, they help mitigate the misfortune from my quirk a bit.”
“The last time it happened was when– it was the day that Mom…”
His chest constricted at what hadn’t been said. He grabbed onto Midoriya’s upper arms as though to shake sense into him. “Midoriya, you didn’t– I don’t need this! Nothing’s gonna happen to me! Your quirk won’t– ”
“You don’t know what’s going to happen so don’t say that!” Midoriya immediately shut him down with a scream.
It was the first time Hitoshi had ever heard him raise his voice or express anger. He looked like he was about to cry.
But soon, Midoriya visibly collected himself once again, and Hitoshi couldn’t look away from his dull, dull eyes and fake smile. “There’s no way to know, that’s just how it is with things like luck and chance. So… just in case, can you wear that for me, please?”
Scowling, Hitoshi relented after a long moment of silence, pulling the chain up and around his neck to tuck the rabbit foot charm under his school shirt. “Fine. But only for your peace of mind, not because I need it.”
Midoriya’s wilted expression livened up a bit at that. “Thanks, Shinsou-kun! I just don’t want to take the risk.”
But then, as Midoriya turned away from Hitoshi to walk out of their room and head towards his middle school, Hitoshi heard him mutter under his breath, “Still, it’s fitting that that happened today of all days, since I already decided that it was going to be a bad day for me…”
Those words rang through Hitoshi’s mind the entire day.
–What the hell does that mean? Why is he planning on something bad happening?–
They gave him such an awful feeling, it put him on edge thinking that tragedy was just around the corner.
As soon as the last bell rang, Hitoshi rushed out his classroom and out of the school. But instead of heading towards the Haruka house, he pulled out his phone to look up directions for Midoriya’s school and headed straight there. He was so on edge that he felt like he just had to see Midoriya for himself as soon as possible. Waiting at the house wouldn’t cut it.
By the time he got to Orudera Middle School, it seemed like everyone had left already. There were no straggling kids or teachers leaving from the front doors that Hitoshi could see as he went past the front gate.
Then as he got closer, he was able to see a figure on the roof top. It leaned over the edge with one leg already past the safety barrier.
It was impossible to see any features, but Hitoshi could see the color green on them.
As soon as he realized what he was witnessing, Hitoshi felt shock cut like a knife through his gut. That was Midoriya, Midoriya was going to jump, he’d never make it up there in time–
With a gasping breath, Hitoshi cupped his hands around his mouth, turned his quirk on, and screamed at the top of his lungs.
“MIDORIYA!!!”
He’s not going to answer. They always hesitate, they’re always aware of what his quirk can do, he won’t–
Hitoshi was too far away to hear any response, but his quirk clicked into place with the feeling of a successful brainwashing.
The relief that Hitoshi felt was so immense his legs almost gave out. Now that the do-or-die moment had passed, he could feel himself trembling and heaving from shock.
But it wasn’t over yet, Midoriya was waiting for him.
Making sure to keep his quirk in place, Hitoshi sprinted into the building and up flights of stairs that he didn’t bother to count. By the time he reached the roof, he was heaving from exhaustion more than he was shock, but that didn’t matter. The sight of Midoriya still in the same position halfway over the roof barrier pushed him to continue his sprint onto the rooftop.
“Get away from the ledge right now! Stand in the middle of the roof!”
Midoriya moved to comply. Lifting his leg back over and walking with steady steps to the center of the roof where Hitoshi met him. It was only after Hitoshi grabbed onto both of Midoriya’s wrists –he didn’t know if the boy would try to make a run for it over the edge with Hitoshi right there, but he sure as fuck wasn’t risking it– that he released Brainwashing’s hold over him.
Midoriya flinched back in surprise once he was in control of himself. After a few seconds spent staring with his mouth agape at Hitoshi, glancing back at where he had been about to hop off the roof then glancing back at Hitoshi, Midoriya’s face screwed up into a somber grimace and he kept his eyes averted.
“How did you know…?”
“I didn’t. What you said just gave me a bad feeling.” Hitoshi glanced down at where the necklace Midoriya had given him was still hidden under his shirt. "I guess that thing really is lucky; I got here just in time.”
“Or I’m still just unlucky,” Midoriya deadpanned, grimace twisting up into a sardonic, unhappy smile.
Hitoshi’s frown deepened. “Midoriya… I don’t even know what to ask. Just– Why?”
Midoriya still wouldn’t look at Hitoshi, dead green eyes and empty grin focused squarely on the bleak ground beneath them, even as he eventually answered, “ …The day that my mom died, one of my classmates, Katsuki, said that if I wanted a good quirk, I should “take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a better one in the next life”.”
Outrage couldn’t even describe the mix of fury and disgust that erupted in Hitoshi upon hearing that, but Midoriya didn’t give him a moment to think through it before continuing, “I had no intention of killing myself when he actually said it, but after I got to the hospital and they told me what happened to her… That it was an accident, and that she needed luck she didn’t have to survive– ” Midoriya broke down even further, unable to keep even a smile of sarcasm as his face visibly fell into despair. Tears began pricking at the corner of his eyes. “I knew it was my fault, my quirk’s fault!”
“It wasn’t your fault!” Hitoshi immediate replied, “You weren’t with her, right?! Does your quirk even let you affect things when you’re not there?!”
“It doesn’t, but she’s lived with me her my whole life– I must’ve surely cursed her!”
“That doesn’t make any sense! You’re just assuming the worst because that’s what people have told you!”
Midoriya finally glanced up from the ground, only to give Hitoshi a watery glare. “You think it was just a coincidence that a horrible accident happened to the mother of a child who literally brings misfortune everywhere he goes?! That she just happened to be at that specific intersection, where that specific drunk driver was going through?!”
“That’s how it’s like for every other person whose parent died like that. I heard Aki’s parents died in a car accident also, do you think that’s not a coincidence? That someone cursed them?”
The sudden revelation threw off Midoriya. After processing what he was told, Midoriya’s anger died down to be replaced with sympathy. “N-No, of course not. But, in this case my quirk– ”
“Is completely irrelevant! You weren’t there, so your quirk couldn’t have affected anything. End of story! Shit like that just happens!”
“But that’s the thing– my entire life is just shit like that happening! Because of my quirk!”
Midoriya’s voice broke, and the dam holding back his tears broke with it. The wrist Hitoshi was still holding trembled violently.
Midoriya’s next sentences came out more like sobs, “It’s just one bad thing after the next! It gets in my and everyone else’s way! No one wants to sit next to me during tests, no one wants me on their team during contests or competitions– everyone knows I’ll just sabotage them if they interact with me! Even Katsuki didn’t want anything to do with me after he got hurt in an accident caused by my quirk! And the only person that wanted to be with me –the only person that loved me– died in an accident that was probably caused by my quirk! I don’t think I’ll be reborn and get a different quirk if I jump, I just can’t handle it anymore! It’s too hard!”
Watching the sobbing and grieving boy in front of him break into pieces, just like the mirror from that morning, Hitoshi’s heart echoed Midoriya’s pain.
He wasn’t a touchy-feely person, but pulling Midoriya closer into a firm hug came naturally. Face pressed into Hitoshi’s shoulder, Midoriya shook in his arms
Hitoshi couldn’t stand seeing him like this, he needed to do something to help. But how do you give back someone’s will to live? That kind of thing just can’t be given…
“I’m sorry for everything, Midoriya…” Hitoshi tried to find something, anything, that Midoriya could latch onto. “Isn’t there anything you want to do with your life though? Any dream you have? And don’t discount stuff people say you can’t do.”
A cracking hiccup answered him, “ …I– I wanted to be a hero, if I just use Jinx on villains instead of myself then it’d be fine. But I– I can’t even save myself! I can’t be a hero and save other people! And even more than that– It’s just not enough anymore…” Midoriya’s fingers grasped hard at Hitoshi’s back. “Being a hero was everything I ever wanted, but that’s not enough. A fleeting hope isn’t worth this; it can’t fill the loneliness or the hole where Mom used to be. I can’t use that as a reason to want to stay…”
He can’t find his own reason, fine. Hitoshi will have to give him one for now, so that he can be sure Midoriya won’t try to off himself as soon as he looks away. Midoriya finding his own reason can come after that.
But what is there for Hitoshi to give him? He doesn’t have anything to give in the first place.
…Other than himself
It’s probably not a healthy solution, but it’s the only thing Hitoshi had to offer at the moment.
“ …I always wanted to be a hero too. That’s why I’m applying to UA, even though a person with a quirk like mine becoming a hero is such a long shot. It’s gonna be a hard road for me– outnumbered by hero-in-training kids with flashy, good quirks, having to prove myself twice as much as them… You said before that you think my quirk would be a good quirk for a hero, do you think that I could be a good hero? Do you want me to be a hero?”
Those questions, seemingly unrelated to Midoriya’s mental state, helped to calm him down. Midoriya only had a slight sniffle when he answered, “Of course! I think you would be a great hero, so I would want you to be a hero if that’s also what you wanted.”
Hitoshi pulled away slightly, so that Midoriya was forced to look up at his hard stare. “Then if you really don’t have anything else to do with your life other than give up on it, if you don’t have a good enough reason to stay– why don’t you just dedicate it to me instead?”
Midoriya furrowed his brows in confusion. “H-Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean that, with all the problems I’m going to have to deal with trying to be a hero, it’d be nice to have someone by my side to help me out. You can be a hero, so even if you can’t believe in your own dream anymore… This wouldn’t be just about that, you’d be helping me reach my dream if we both helped each other out trying to become heroes together. And if we’re together facing similar prejudice, then you won’t be alone anymore either. Let me be your reason.”
In the end it didn’t matter what exactly Midoriya stuck around for. As long he was alive, he could eventually live for himself as he should. But Hitoshi almost couldn’t believe what he was saying.
He’s never been confident about his chances for becoming a hero, he hasn’t been worth much to anyone since his dad died, and yet here he is claiming that helping him become a hero is worth something. That even if Midoriya didn’t value his own life, Hitoshi’s was something he should value enough to live for– How much more conceited could you get?
He’s never asked this much from anyone before, he’s never been so bold before, and yet here he is. All because he didn’t have anything better to give Midoriya.
“You…” Midoriya’s still watery eyes started to shine. “You would really promise so much to me? Commit to staying with me, when you could just hand me off to be put on suicide watch instead?”
Hitoshi gained a slight but dark scowl. “I don’t trust any of the authority figures we usually have to deal with to actually inspire you to want to live, rather than just physically keeping you from dying. Society doesn’t deal well with people who have the kind of quirks we do. I don’t know how much of a better job I can do, but surely I’d do better than that.”
“But– you really don’t need to do any of this at all! You barely know me, so why would you go so far for me?!”
“I think whether or not you know a person is irrelevant when you’re trying to save someone. And I… I don’t like that you want to die. You understand me and actually talk to me, I’d miss you if you were gone,” it was embarrassing to speak so honestly, but it needed to be said.
Midoriya needed to know that there was at least one person who’d mourn for him. That wanted him to stay.
Midoriya stared at him with something close to bewilderment. Then after a long, nervous moment of silence, he smeared away his tear streaks and gave a wobbly, “ …Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay as in, I’ll– I won’t try again. And I’ll help you become a hero,” the last sentence was declared with pride. Midoriya stood up a little straighter, earnest determination filling him. “If it’s for someone else’s sake, then– then I think I can do it, Shinsou-kun!”
Hitoshi sighed in relief, “That’s good… Also, you can call me Hitoshi.” If an extremely personal situation like this isn’t enough to elevate someone to a first-name status, then nothing is.
“Then you can call me I-Izuku!” Midoriya– Izuku glanced away before looking back awkwardly. “ …Does this mean we’re friends now?”
“ …I was under the assumption that we were already friends.”
“ …Oh my god– I’m so sorry! I think of us as being friends too, I– I just didn’t want to assume– ”
“Calm down, it’s fine. I get what you mean. Not a lot of people want to be my friend either.”
“Then they’re missing out on a lot…”
Izuku almost seemed to pout at that, turning his nose up at the theoretical people in question. The corner of Hitoshi’s mouth quirked up at the warm feeling those words gave him. “They’re missing out on a lot with you, too…”
Despite the dour circumstances, by all appearances it was just another day. The sun was shining. The birds in the distant trees were singing. The leaves of the treetops that could be seen from their spot on the bland roof were so green, it would make some people stop just to appreciate them longer.
–Maybe the reason why Hitoshi had been able to get here in time was because Izuku had done just that–
In any case, the brightness of their surroundings didn’t match their moods. Izuku may have been stopped, and may have agreed to not try again, but that didn’t mean he still didn’t feel suicidal. It didn’t mean he felt any better or didn’t blame himself for things that weren’t his fault. It didn’t mean that any of this was over. On the contrary, it was really just the beginning.
But even though Izuku wasn’t smiling anymore, the more natural, neutral expression he now had made his face seem brighter than it had been before.