A Blind Hero [My Hero Academia]

5- Still Friends?

"Yes, I'm blind."

The sight of blank eyes, devoid of a pupil, seemingly absorbing all light into their dark mass was an easily intimidating sight, let alone the myriad of scars adorning my face.

It only took a second for the information to process through Midoriya's mind, I could almost sense his brain whirling, recalculating his assumptions of me and my abilities to take this into account. "Oh- well, uh, I don't really see what that changes! You passed the entrance exam, and haven't shown any weaknesses as a result of that! I don't see any reason for us to treat you differently! Thank you for sharing, though," he smiled genuinely.

"R-really? You're just carrying on? Just like that?" I stuttered, shocked by the reaction.

"Yep! Why, is there something wrong?!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"N-no, it's just that normally people pity me, or, or, tell me that I'm not worthy of being in a hero school... or at least, the kids at Seijin did..." yet again I found myself fiddling with my hair, the familiar texture calming.

"Well, from the esteemed viewpoint of class representative, I see no reason to pity you! You have proven yourself capable of doing everything we can! If anything I am in even more awe of your ability to overcome such obstacles, both physical and also social!" Iida declared, conscious of his volume in the crowded room.  Uraraka and Midoriya nodded frantically in agreement, both smiling at me, and my heart filled with warmth. This is the first time I've revealed my disability and not a single person was put off!

"Thanks guys, I really do appreciate it,"

Ten minutes later, and the conversation had returned to the afternoon's activities, but not before Uraraka could tell me that my eyes actually looked really cool. My eyes had been described as many, many things- but never cool. It was a refreshing change, and I couldn't help but believe her. In a school like UA, everything that had set me apart from my peers in middle school was a unique opportunity to rise to my potential, that was just the kind of school UA was.

The remainder of lunch passed relatively quickly, though I had managed to get Midoriya to give me a run down of the classes quirks, and he seemed overly enthusiastic to tell me everything. I learnt that the most powerful students in the class were Todoroki, who I had expected due to his famous parentage, with his ice and fire quirk, Bakugo, who could use chemicals in his sweat to create explosions, Yaoyorozu, who could create anything she knew the molecular structure of, Iida, who protested but explained that he had engines in his calf which greatly boosted his speed and mobility, and Midoriya, who again protested, but nervously explained his quirk as a power-up type, though he said he wasn't particularly great at using it. Honorable mentions included Tokoyami, who sat in front of me in class and controlled a shadow monster, Uraraka who could manipulate gravity to some degree, Kirishima, who could harden his whole body, Shouji, who had multiple limbs protruding from his back, amongst other names like Kaminari and Sero.

It was a lot of information, and Midoriya certainly knew a lot, but I did my best to memorise it all, even those who Midoriya had classified as 'low threat' though he said he couldn't perform a complete assessment until knowing more about my quirk. He didn't press for answers though, so I refrained from telling him. He wouldn't really understand my quirk until he saw it in action anyway.

Again startled by the bell signalling the end of lunch, I recalled Aizawa-sensei's instructions to meet at gym gamma in sports uniform, and began to stand. We all took our trays to the bins, and I was led by Midoriya to the boy's changing rooms, Uraraka going into the room next door.

—Half an hour earlier, Todoroki's POV—

I sat quietly in the back of the hall, watching the other students. Yaoyorozu had offered me a seat at her table, with the rest of the class, but I preferred to watch the crowds, with my back against the hall. From where I sat I could see the queue for food on my left, the main building corridors on my right, and the quickest route to our homeroom opposite me. I'd gotten here early, so already had my food, and ate it slowly, preferring to people-watch.