Mind Over Matter [BNHA OC]

Brothers No More

Hiro had been refreshing his knowledge about nuclear physics up until the school day had come to an end. The tickets he'd received would grant him special access to the conference, and there was a growing chance the boy would be able to personally question his idol regarding the enigmatic invention he'd spent the last few months designing - and surely, Hiro would hang on every word the man spoke. He'd exited class that afternoon completely lost within his own thoughts, unresponsive to the usual jibes and piercing comments his peers took pleasure in directing at him.

"I .. feel a little tired," Izuku had said, upon being cornered by Hiro outside the school's gates. The blackette had been given two of the passes to Hisato's unveiling, and there was of course no better choice to accompany him than his best friend. However, there was something unusually distant about Izuku's behaviour as the students of Aldera filed past them and out into the open streets; a smile appeared on his freckled cheeks, but Hiro had picked up an element of .. sadness. "I think I'll just head home for today."

"Aw, what? You dunno what you're missing," huffed Hiro. "Serious stuff. This works, and we're talking about unlimited clean energy for the entire city - take it a step further, and Professor Takahashi's changed the world!"

"I can't. I know this is important, but I'm really not in the mood to go anywhere right now."

"Alright," Hiro replied finally, taking a step back. He'd been aware that Izuku's final class of the day had been shared with Katsuki, and this usually did not bode well for his mood after school; especially now that the year was approaching it's culmination, and it was time for Aldera's students to express their interest in available career paths - which of course meant that Katsuki's disposition would be at it's worst. Anyone who even thought of contesting him on his path towards conquest of the hero's profession would be torn down without mercy, especially those like Izuku - who bore aspirations in the same way that he did, but hadn't even an inkling of the power necessary to support them. 

"I'll go ahead and leave you alone," he said, turning his gaze away from the other and adjusting his glasses. "Look, Izuku. School jerks were here long before you, and they'll be around when you're gone. If they're the ones making you like this .. "

"Hiro?" interrupted the greenette, voice shaking slightly. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Hiro's sapphire orbs found Izuku's emerald ones, which were lighted with suppressed emotions. 

"You know what I mean," sighed the shorter boy, moving a hand to card through his messy curls. "It's just Kacchan. He basically told me to - to kill myself earlier, and I can't get it out of my head. And I know he acts the same way with you, but it's like you don't even notice .. how?"

Hiro's shoulders drooped slightly, as he shook his head at the words spoken by his best friend. Izuku's dream was one of great importance, and Hiro had entertained and encouraged it despite the fact that he was quirkless - up until the two had reached a certain age, and Hiro had forsaken his All Might posters for science journals. From that point onward, the aspiration to become as influential as the number one became an unspoken wrench in their relationship - and in Hiro's eyes, it had gone too far. He refused to allow his friend's mind to be damaged permanently over an illusion.

"No," he murmured. "It's because I woke up. Nothing he says can hurt me 'cause I got outta the way, Izu .. I held it up, and thought about whether or not I was being true to myself. And the answer was no."

"You mean .. you agree with him and everyone in class?"

"Maybe they're right," Hiro spoke, lips curled. "To be a hero, you gotta have a Quirk. That's heroing 101, the first thing they ever taught us in school. I've been through it over and over, man. There's no avoiding it."

"You stopped trying," Izuku said, fists clenched tightly. "That's why you're going to Mr Takahashi's unveiling, right? So you can forget about your dreams?"

"Hisato taught me that I can be somebody without a quirk. Without a stupid costume," Hiro's expression creased at the accusation, those words cutting into his soul like knives. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. Hiro was just ahead of the curve, just ahead of Izuku - that's how it had always been, and if the greenette couldn't accept that, then it was his cross to carry.

"There's no hope for people like us, okay? This is why I wanted you to come with me. Maybe if for once in your life you saw things how they really were .. " Hiro's voice had risen, and he let out a frustrated noise. "I'm sorry, man. It's time to grow up .. time to move on."

Izuku's gaze was one of disappointment, possibly even greater than anything he had ever come to know. His entire life, those around him only ever had rejection to offer. From Katsuki, to the piercing words of his own mother herself, it was as if nobody held even the slightest belief that he might achieve his dream; and the only person exempt from this had been Hiro. 

"I guess I have been pretty stupid," he spoke finally, his curls hanging loosely over his eyes. "I mean, who am I kidding? You're just like Kacchan, only I let myself think you were my friend because I don't have anyone else."

Hiro clenched his jaw in indignation. "Izu .. "

"You know what, Hiro? Maybe it is time I moved on. I don't care how many times Kacchan yells at me. I don't care how many facts and statistics you bring up. It doesn't change anything," came the strained words of the greenette. "I'm gonna be a hero one day, even without a quirk. And without you if need be."

With that Izuku turned on his heel, stalking away from Hiro and fading away into the general bustle of the students exiting the grounds. The genius uttered a curse, disengaging his skateboard and pushing himself forward through the side gates and into the streets. He was done living in Izuku's fairy tale - he was attending the conference, and by extension discarding fantasy for the betterment of his future. Izuku needed a reality check above all, and Hiro simply hoped someone would be able to make him see reason before it was too late.

Damn it.

It was absurd in the mind of the teenager, and as he tried to stop the flow of distractive thought with earphones in his ears, he felt a buzz at his side. He'd been moving for not much longer than twenty minutes, and if Izuku thought he'd entertain a sudden change of heart, the greenette had another thing coming. The first vibration passed, and it wasn't until Hiro felt a second that he fought down his reluctance and slipped out his mobile. If this person was persistent, then it would be likely that whatever they wanted needed his attention.

"Hello .. ?"

"Hiro?" came a deepened voice, one which Hiro cherished above all other things. "You should've been home a while ago. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Soichiro," the younger male replied, now a shorter distance from the train station. When Hiro was born, it wasn't his father who cared for him; nor his mother. Both disappeared under circumstances anyone had yet to understand, and as far as the boy was concerned, Soichiro - the older brother of his father - was really the only one in Hiro's life worthy of being called a parent. Hiro's lack of a quirk was reason for the man to be concerned about his safety, but today there was an odd .. urgency in his voice.

  "I won the science fair, and get this: the prizes were these last minute tickets to Professor Takahashi's un-"

"That's all well and good son," Soichiro interrupted. "I need you to come back. There's something you and I need to discuss, and it has to happen as soon as possible."

"What? The conference is in half an hour, and I'm headed there now."

"I'm serious, Hiroto. I can't say any more than I already have, so just do as I'm telling you. Please."

"I've been waiting for this for so long," protested the boy, features contorted. "You can't just - Uncle Soichiro?"

Hiro pulled the reciever from his ear to see that the man had hung up, and he drew a sharp breath in through his nose. What was wrong with everyone today? Surely he couldn't expect the boy to simply forgo the event, even if that meant he'd only be there for a short time - Hiro was simply too invested in this particular case, and with the knowledge that he may have lost his closest friend over the occasion; it was clear to him that it would be folly for him to turn back now.  

"One hour, uncle," he said, stepping onto the newly arrived train. "Just one."