-now, whether or not somebody decides to take the chance at grasping the opportunity to be something great while being Quirkless is up to them. The only one who could truly make life meaningful would be the one in control themselves, not those around them. Just because somebody is Quirkless doesn't mean that they are meaningless. We were all born during this specific period of time for a reason.
Ragdoll sighed as she placed the book onto her desk, looking out of the open window that she sat in front of. It was a beautiful sunny day with an abundance of clouds dancing above in the atmosphere and the perfect combination of heat to breeze. The baby blue sky was colorful as per usual, or at least to Ragdoll, it didn't feel colorful. Not anymore.
Ever since the loss of her Quirk Ragdoll's life had taken the form of a downwards spiral that just went down, and down, and down, and down. Never to see an end in it's descent to whatever sort of bottom awaited it if any at all. While there was no feeling of what it truly felt like to have her Quirk stolen from her it still felt as if she was missing some part of her body. Whether it be a leg or a hand or an arm or an eyeball, it felt like one of those parts was missing except they weren't. It was just her Quirk missing and nothing more. But, she still felt like a handicap had been placed and one of her limbs was somehow gone.
Aside from her close friends and Kota, nothing really seemed to have any importance. Or at least feel important in her perspective. There was no drive to go exercise like she used to, go for walks through the forest listening to the chirping birds and the nearby river like she used to, partake in activities with the rest of the Pussycats/Kota like she used to, there was no desire to do any of that. And mainly due to her thinking now that she's Quirkless she's not that same person anymore who used to do all of that on her free time. She felt different, foreign in this world. Obviously she was still identified as Tomoko Shiretoko but a small part in her mind was stuck on her thinking that wasn't her name anymore. She didn't know what to think for that matter.
The rose for example, sitting prettily in a pot right on the window sill. It was indeed a rose but the popping red color that it's known for wasn't so 'poppy' anymore. There was no vibrance to it no liveliness no excitement, it just felt like a plain old flower to Ragdoll. Which is a shame since in the past she absolutely adored roses, their fragrance and beauty was something that she enjoyed whenever stumbling across them. Now however, it was different. She took a look at the rose and the feeling of being happy about it was no longer there. Thrown into the wind.
From the open window came a butterfly fluttering from outside, it's purple and blue colored wings grabbing Ragdoll's dull attention. The insect landed on the very top of the rose with wings slowly opening out and closing back in to rest. It was a beautifully colored butterfly no doubt, the black edges around the more colorful purple and blue were astonishing to look at it's design. But while it was indeed a pretty thing to look at it just didn't feel so pretty anymore for the woman. In her childhood years she used to enjoy everything about butterflies, how they looked how they flew around elegantly, if it was butterfly related she was all for it. Now, there didn't seem to be anything in the insect that made her feel excited for it anymore. This feeling of emptiness was dreadful.
While she was so mixed in with these feelings of loss and what many might consider depression, there was something that did pique her curiosity. A very certain incident at the supermarket regarding a student has led her to what might, juuuust might be considered a strand of hope that she should hold onto. Nowadays she isn't the type of person to reach out and grasp for straws but if somebody was able to go through majority of their life being like she is now and still find something to fight for, it probably isn't too crazy to say she might be able to do the same. Key word might since there wasn't any real motivation for wanting to try anything honestly. If she wanted to have a chance of rekindling that heroic spirit of hers then she'd like to have a possibility of speaking with them once more. She was curious, and curiosity will either kill this cat or save it.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Come in."
Ragdoll answered the trio of knocks at the bedroom door and not even bothering to turn at the sound of hinges turning. She did turn to the door shutting soon after, finding Mandalay in a navy blue T-Shirt with leggings coming towards her with a brown paper bag in her left hand. The brunette plopped herself onto the bed that was nearest to Ragdoll and gestured with a subtle head nod. "Heyyyy Shiretoko. You doing okay?"
"Fine." Ragdoll glumly answered. "Nothing's happened."
"Cool, cool. Hey listen we were just at the donut shop near the pier and Kota picked some out for you since you always loved going there. Do you want me to set them here or do you prefer them just in the kitchen? I can bring some milk for you if you'd like."
"No. Just leave them on the desk I'll get to it later. Thanks. Why do you have on that shirt? I thought you were going to give it back."
"Ugh. I was but I just keep forgetting to do so, and for some reason this shirt is like the missing puzzle piece to all my outfits. This simple, basic navy blue T-Shirt seems to just fit right in with all of my other clothes my leggings my jeans my shorts like, it's perfect. I need to ask him where he got this so I can buy my own and give this one back, no wait. I'll buy him a new one to replace this old one. Yeah that'll work."
"...what is your relationship with Midoriya?"
"Relationship? I mean, it's a bit confusing." Mandalay explained. "He's a student and I'm a pro hero but I gave him my phone number in case he ever needed to speak to somebody about some personal stuff. When U.A was here I overheard him say some personal info to Kota and I approached Midoriya telling him if he would like somebody to talk his mind to then he could always talk to me. I'm not his therapist, Kami knows he'd kill me if I ever said I was his therapist, I've been in his position before so a therapist isn't in our, friendship? The best thing I could call us would be friends I mean he and I get along pretty well I like speaking with him. I text him whenever I'm bored and he seems to be okay with it. Why do you ask?"
"Back at the store, he ran into me." Ragdoll answered. "We um, or, it was mostly him since he had to leave right after but he had a talk with me about how he was Quirkless for majority of his life and since I'm Quirkless I guess he wanted to speak to me on the topic. Has he ever mentioned anything about that to you?"
"Sometimes. I could tell that it's a sensitive topic for him so I just let him say whatever he needs to say, I can't imagine what it must be like to go so long without one only to develop a Quirk so randomly at the entrance exam. Which definitely explains why his performance at the Sports Festival was pretty scary for a lot of people to see but looks like he's come a long way since those times. Good for him, I think he'll be a really good hero when he gets older, and you can still be a hero with the rest of us too Shiretoko. We'd still like to have you out there with us if you want, just because you lost your Quirk doesn't mean that you lost your value either. You still mean so much to us."
"Without my Search what good am I to you? Tell me that Sosaki, the reason why I was able to work so well with you three is because of my Quirk and now that my Quirk is gone so too is my efficiency to help. If I'm not able to find the hikers out there like I used to do you understand how many lives are now at risk of being lost? Physically I'm not the strongest one either you have Chatora for that, Tsuchikawa can move the landscape around to your advantage and you can give mental instructions to anybody who would need your guidance. You three already have what you need to make the perfect team I'm just going to be in the way if I go out there."
"Shiretoko. You, are the reason as to why this team exists in the first place. If you weren't there at the very beginning the Wild Wild Pussycats wouldn't exist today and who knows where all four of us would be if it didn't. Just because you lost your Quirk doesn't mean that you lost your place this is your team, this is YOUR heart that we want to continue. The three of us have agreed not to move forward in our operations until you have decided what you want to do as a member of this team. Whether it be that you're out there with us or you're supporting us here or whatever it is that you want to do you will always be a Pussycat just like the three of us. You are an invaluable person to us with or without your Quirk."
Ragdoll sighed, her fingers fiddling with the back cover of the book on her desk as the butterfly took flight once more, returning to it's rightful place in nature. Mandalay could say all of that but words meant nothing to the Quirkless woman if she herself didn't feel any meaning to them. How did Midoriya do it? That was a question that's been in the imaginative hamster wheel of her mind that was constantly going and going and going. How did Midoriya do it? That's what she wanted to know so badly right now. And were it not for the knowledge that Mandalay and Midoriya kept in contact with each other, she would've continued to wonder that question for who knows how long. So perhaps this little inquiry of hers may be solved.
"How, often do you and Midoriya talk to each other?" Ragdoll asked.
"Every day we're talking, whether it's just general conversation stuff or if he needs somebody to speak his mind to." Mandalay answered. "Again sometimes I text him whenever I'm bored so I'd say we talk on a regular basis."
"I have questions, and I'm looking for answers but I prefer if it was in person instead of over the phone."
"I already know where this is going, don't worry." The brunette happily pulled out her phone from a small pocket on the side of her left thigh, tapping away at the screen to send a message.
*tap tap tap*
*Tap*
*BZZZT*
"-and that's when I went all out and just went POW baby! Boobs all over the face!"
"That's, certainly not a story I hear everyday." Uraraka chuckled after Ashido had finished with her anecdote. Beside the brunette Midoriya reached into his right pocket to take out his phone after it had vibrated from an incoming message as he, Uraraka, Iida, Yaoyorozu and Ashido sat with each other during lunch period. "You've got all kinds of crazy stories don't you Ashido."
"Oh you bet, though now that I think about it, it may have been more effective if it was Yaoyorozu instead of me." Ashido hummed with a hand going up to her chin. "I mean would you look at the size of those cannons holy crap what do you feed those things."
Across from Midoriya, Iida began to spout words about refraining from talking about a classmate's bosom as the former instead had his attention directed to his phone.
Mandalay: Yo 🤙
Midoriya: Hello. How are you today?
.
..
...
*BZZT*
Mandalay: Just fine, kicking back and making sure the fort runs smoothly. I ran into Enorma Stits today he was pretty cool. What a weird name try saying that out loud.
"Enorma Stits?"
"WHOAAAAA. Midoriya!" Ashido exclaimed with looks of shock and surprise on his surrounding classmates. "For a cute looking face that is some potty mouth behavior from you. Naughty naughty no presents for you this year."
"What?" Midoriya asked. "I was just saying something out loud was it bad? Enorma Stits."
"Midoriya. Sound out those words."
"Okay. E-nor-ma S....wait a minute....E-nor-mous Ti-...."
*TAP TAP TAP TAP*
Midoriya: HEY!
Mandalay: 💀
"Aughhh! Sorry about that guys I was talking to Mandalay and she told me to say that out loud. Crap."
"Mandalay?" Yaoyorozu questioned. "As in the Pussycat Mandalay? Why do you have her phone number?"
"Cause he's a spicy player that's why."
"No, nothing like that Ashido that's not right. As for why I have her phone number um....let's just say she's interested in taking me as a Work Study student. Yeah, that's why, and I've been thinking about what it would be like to work under the Pussycats since they specialize in search and rescue operations."
"Ohh, what a wonderful idea! I never even thought about establishing connections for the upcoming Work Studies how smart of you Midoriya. I suppose I might ask around and see if anybody has any prestigious heroes in mind."
*BZZT*
Mandalay: How'd the name sound out for you? Pretty weird huh.
Midoriya: Explicitly weird Sosaki, thanks, and while I'm in middle of lunch with my classmates too.
Mandalay: Oops, I feel bad for them knowing that you had to share your dirty language with them. Not very good behavior coming from a hero in training you know.
Midoriya: Ha ha. Hilarious, really.
Mandalay: Listen, I wanted to talk to you cause I have a really big favor I'd like to ask you. If you can't go through with it I understand but it would really mean a lot if you could do this for me.
Midoriya: What's up?
Mandalay: Shiretoko, or Ragdoll if you didn't already know, she asked if she could speak with you in person some time today. She told me about how you encountered her at the supermarket the other day and told her that even though she's Quirkless she could still hold her position as a hero, and you told her a little bit about how you used to be Quirkless too. Do you think it's possible if we could arrange some sort of meet-up today for you to speak with her? If not it's fine but she's asking for this personally. She just wants to ask a few questions.
The student had to take a breath, a deep one at that as he re-read the request that Mandalay was asking of him. To think that he would be requested in speaking with a pro hero about the topic of being Quirkless almost sounded like he was being asked to play the position of therapist.
*BZZT*
Mandalay: And no this isn't some therapy so stop thinking that it is.
Okay well, cancel that therapist part then. That made him feel much better.
Still, what's a person like him going to be able to offer that a professional speaker or a certified person to discuss about this topic can't offer? He's 18, Ragdoll's 33. Are her teammates really unable to provide for her the answers to the questions that she has? He's not immediately turning down the request no not at all he's just worried that his advice and words of help may not be what Ragdoll is looking for. That, or he might end up saying something that could be taken out of the manner that he originally intended for it to be taken. Putting it simply he's just a bit scared that he'll say the wrong thing.
It's not like he had that many plans later today, it's Friday, and unless he was somehow dragged into a weird portal leading to a separate dimension then his schedule's open. When he first spoke to Ragdoll he wasn't expecting her to try and reach back to him in hopes of sitting down and speaking about this again. He knows what it's like to go for so long without a Quirk then to get one but to go your entire life with a Quirk and having it stripped away is a completely different story. But, he took up this road to become like All Might, making people smile through his own efforts. If going through with this means that Ragdoll will be able to smile again then what good of a hero would he be if he turned this down. Not the kind of hero he'd be happy with.
This is something that is way out of his comfort zone but then again, he's training to be a hero. A comfort zone is something that will repeatedly be broken down over and over again throughout the years. Guess now's a good time to start as any?
Midoriya: Just a few questions?
Mandalay: Yeah a few not that much, only about 500 of them but that's nothing I'm sure you'll be fine.
Midoriya: Looking forward to answering all 500 questions then.
Mandalay: Joking joking, but seriously I doubt it'll take too much of your time. She just wants answers, I want answers too.
Midoriya: You do?
Mandalay: Yeah an answer as to why you're so short 🤭 🤏.
Midoriya: Oh. Thanks. That really made me happy about myself.
Mandalay: You should be, the shorter you are the less you stick out as a target if you're in a group. Ever think about that?
Midoriya: Can we not talk about my short height please? Where is this going down?
Mandalay: The beach except this time you won't be going into the water. Shiretoko loves to stare out into the horizon whenever the sun's going down so the beach will put her at ease a little bit. I'll send you a text when you're done with school for today to know what time to show up.
Midoriya: Got it. I'll be there tonight.
Mandalay: Later 🐊.
-
Nervous, as evident by the fidgety tapping over his left knee, very nervous. What Midoriya is about to do in a short moment isn't something that he ever saw himself doing but then again he never saw himself having to fend off a group of villains at the early beginning of the school year either so, perhaps there are weirder experiences yet to come. Just as he agreed to Mandalay earlier he was at the beach, sitting by himself on one of the benches on the sidewalk where it then dipped down onto the sandy terrain. It was late afternoon, the sun about a quarter of the way set in the horizon with a beautiful reflection given from the ocean waters. Looking at it for himself he could understand why somebody would enjoy being out here and watching it set down in the distance. It felt peaceful, tranquil.
5:53 PM, only seven minutes or so until Ragdoll arrives or even Mandalay as well if she decided to tag along. Honestly Midoriya was hoping for the latter of the Pussycats to be around for the duration of this because with her nearby he could have some support to back him up. If she didn't well, this was going to be fun. Not that it was any fun to begin with. Dressed in a solid black long sleeve with jeans and his signature red shoes the student patiently, and nervously, waited for this ordeal to be over and done with.
"Midoriya."
A quiet voice appeared out of the blue from behind, spooking him a bit whilst turning around. Standing behind the bench and a little ways off came a very glum looking Ragdoll, a yellow colored sweater with white pants and matching shoes. Her appearance was sunny and bright but it heavily contradicted her current personality and the way she carried herself. He would know. "Ragdoll, hey."
The Pussycat joined Midoriya on the bench by seating herself on the right side, silently removing a white handbag from her same side shoulder and placing it onto her lap. She took a deep sigh before turning to the student and putting on a smile, a fake one at that, after all who would know how to spot a fake smile better than he would. "How have you been?"
"I'm good, school and all. Did you come alone?"
"No, Sosaki is here too but she's doing her own thing for now, wanted to give us some privacy and all. I told her that wouldn't be needed but she didn't listen so, just us. Sorry."
"It's okay, not your fault to begin with so no need to apologize. Uh, soooo, you had questions for me?"
Ragdoll tossed and 'played' with one of the handles on her handbag, sighing when she quickly grew bored. "How did you do it?"
"Do, what exactly?"
"Do anything. When you were Quirkless, and you were different than majority of the other students in your class or in your neighborhood, how did you find something to keep you going?"
"Well, for me it was All Might." Midoriya started. "I was Quirkless for nearly so much of my life and for majority of that time I had a dream of wanting to be like All Might, I mean who wouldn't. Putting it into your head it's silly to sound out that a Quirkless boy wants to be like All Might knowing how strong and amazing he is as the number one hero. A Quirkless kid being as strong as him? It sounds dumb, stupid even now as I think back on it but that was my life back then. Thinking about All Might and how he inspired me.
There were bad days for me but to be honest I'm pretty sure everybody would have bad days every now and then. When I mean bad days I mean that nothing seemed to really click for me anymore, there wasn't anything that seemed to grab my attention. One of my favorite hobbies growing up was to study and analyze the different Quirks that I would see either in heroes or in my classmates. Some days I would be really excited to write down new information but on other days I didn't feel that excitement. It just felt, bland or dead to me and I think it's because that I'm a Quirkless kid writing about Quirks and how they work it would get to me. It would dawn on me again and again that I wasn't born with this kind of gift like others were.
I think what really matters is having somebody, or something to go back on and make you remember why you should keep going. Growing up to be a hero was one of my biggest reasons to keep going and I knew that if I could just keep remembering what I wanted to be when I grew up I'd be able to have a reason to keep going. You're an adult now so you probably won't experience this but I'm a kid and growing up as a Quirkless kid was difficult."
"I can imagine that." Ragdoll commented. "Bullies?"
"Yeah, hmph. Definitely had to deal with a good number of those growing up. Every day it was a hassle in trying to deal with kids who for whatever reason felt like they had this goal to make it known that I would always be at the bottom of the pyramid. 'You're Quirkless this you'll always be Quirkless that', a cycle that I just fell in line with really."
"Did you ever feel like you were done? Like just done with everything?"
"Yeah. A good number of times I've felt that way." Midoriya agreed. "Sometimes I would wake up, lay in bed and stare at the ceiling asking myself if I even wanted to move from this spot. I mean I knew I had to since I had school that day but in the back of my mind I was contemplating on just laying there forever and ask myself why I'm still doing what I'm doing. If it all felt pointless then, was there a reason for me to even put in anymore effort? Guess it'd be like trying to fill up a cup of water but there's a hole at the bottom.
Unlike me, you have people that are actually there for you Ragdoll people that I'm hoping that you can rely on. Sosaki, Pixie-Bob and Tiger? The four of you have been together for so long I'm certain that you all see each other as near siblings or something similar to it. My relationship with my mom is complicated to say the least and that's mainly on my end. Whenever I told her about my past issues it felt like I was just being a bother in her day and one of the things I hate most is bothering people. I say this even though I sometimes have talks with Sosaki about my past but Sosaki....I don't know I like talking to her, she's fun and easy to speak to unlike if I were to speak to my mom it would be awkward since she didn't know about her son's issues.
I'm not a licensed professional or anything like that, I'm just somebody attending a hero school in Japan but if you're willing to hang on to what you hope for most then, isn't that what matters in the end? Purple will feel like grey and the sun won't feel so sunny anymore but in my opinion as long as you have something to hope for then that's what really matters. You just can't lose it."
"Thinking back to when you were Quirkless versus now, did you ever feel like a part of you was missing?"
"You mean like a piece of your body feels missing?"
"Yeah."
"I can see that." Midoriya shrugged. "You've gone your entire life with a Quirk and using that Quirk on a daily basis and now that it's gone you feel like something is missing. But even without your Quirk I'm certain you'll still be able to contribute to the Pussycats more than what you think you can contribute. You're still physically fit to be out there, no doubt you'd still know how to conduct operations like any other time. You're still Ragdoll, nobody can take that from you. Only you can."
"Midoriya. My Quirk? It may very well have been the sole reason as to why I was really any good with the others." Ragdoll argued. "I had the ability to search for people who may have been lost or trapped under something and now that it's gone? What do I have that the others already don't?"
"You're right about that, your Search Quirk was an invaluable asset for the Pussycats and I'm sure that it really solidified your spot on the team as a great member. But when people think of Ragdoll of the Wild Wild Pussycats they didn't think of your Search Quirk they thought of you as a person. They picture a bright smile with an energetic behavior that makes it seem like it's a once in a lifetime experience to be a member of a veteran hero team. Ragdoll has been mentioned several times throughout the web as a hero who has done a service to the community outside of common hero work you've been to charity events you've been to the hospitals visiting sick people you've been in sponsorships advocating for important movements. That, is who Ragdoll is to the people. They don't care about your Quirk they cared about you as a person.
You're still, Ragdoll. And, you'll always be Ragdoll if you so choose. I understand it must be difficult growing accustomed to your new life as a Quirkless person now but trust me when I say that being Quirkless shouldn't matter to somebody who has made an impact in the community. You've inspired people, and you'll continue to do so even if you don't think that you do. That's who Ragdoll is. That's who YOU are. As for what you have that the others don't? I can't answer on that matter, that might be something for you to figure out."
The woman nodded with her right cheek scrunched, tearing her moody gaze away from Midoriya and towards the floor. The student couldn't make heads or tails on what was going through her mind right now due to the expression on her face being difficult to give an evaluation. He hopes that whatever thoughts are in her head currently are thoughts that invoke some sort of good spirit from deep within. It was already bad enought that he was secretly freaking out mentally thinking that the next word to come out of his mouth would be the one to ruin this little talk, so any facial expression she showed he had to carefully study it and proceed cautiously. Was Mandalay listening nearby? If so he certainly didn't mind if she popped into his head to give him some word of advice.
There was a prolonged period of silence that seemed to last forever, Ragdoll continuing to be mute as Midoriya had to suffer from the quiet atmosphere. So many bad scenarios were running through his head right now that anymore and he might just pop like a balloon from the stress. He almost had a heart attack when Ragdoll suddenly sighed and rose up from her seat with the boy following her action. She looped her handbag back around her right shoulder and gave another faux smile to him.
"Thank you for taking the time out of your day to speak with me Midoriya. I really appreciate it." Ragdoll said. "You'd probably like to spend the rest of your time out here with Sosaki so, I'll just take a walk. I'd like to think about some stuff by myself for a while. Have a good night."
"U-Uhhh..." Before Midoriya could speak his next word Ragdoll turned, and began to walk away from him to disappear into the flow of nearby civilian traffic. Only when she was gone did he manage to find his words. "Good night to you too? Odd way to finish out a conversation."
"BOO."
"AHH! God," Midoriya turned around to see a giggling Mandalay standing behind him, a plastic cup of a caramel coffee mix with whipped cream raised to her mouth. Her choice of attire consisted of an unzipped multi-pocket black bomber jacket with same color leggings and shoes, and boldly enough his navy blue shirt worn under the jacket. "Darn it. That's the second time now."
"Well you certainly handled it a lot better than the first time that's for sure." Mandalay commented. "The first time you decided to play bird and splatter yourself onto the window of the shoe store. That was pretty funny even now."
"Yeah. Sure must have been for your point of view. Is that my shirt?"
"Yes, yes it is my shirt. You like it?"
"I mean, it fits your outfit so, not really much to complain about it."
"How come you've never asked for this shirt back?" Mandalay asked. "This shirt is super comfortable there's no way you don't miss this shirt."
"It's just a basic shirt that I could find at any other store." Midoriya shrugged. "Doubt that's the only one in existence."
"True that BUT, I am gonna pay you back for this shirt though so don't think this is something that's going for free. Mind if I take a look at your shiner?"
"Shiner?"
"The beauty mark around your eye.
"Oh uh sure go right ahead."
"I just wanna see if I managed to take care of that cut is all since that thing was super dry. Stay still for me." Mandalay approached him and gently, took a hold of his lower jaw while squinting to inspect the small cut under his left eye.
The brunette hummed as she tilted and moved Midoriya's head to her liking in order to get different angles. She smiled in seeing that the cut was a lot better than it was yesterday, then taking to the eye itself and it's surrounding areas. The skin was a dark color as per usual with a black eye but there didn't seem to be any outstanding injuries than what would normally come from an injury like this which was good for sure. She patted his jaw and pulled away from him. "Seems pretty clean to me thankfully, kinda worried I may have messed up yesterday but I didn't so, ten outta ten for me."
"Mmm I dunno." Midoriya joked. "Think even I was able to do better but if you feel like you did a good job then who am I to take that away from you."
"UH. Look at you, Mr. Snarky over here. Where was this when we first spoke to each other?"
"I think it's you starting to rub off on me. Don't know if that's a good thing though but I guess we'll see?"
"Oh we definitely will." Mandalay commented. "Along with seeing how many other names I can get you to say out loud. You like Enorma Stits?"
"Not when you say it out loud like that." Midoriya chuckled. "I was lucky I said it at lunch instead of in class, I probably would've gotten in trouble for it."
"If you did I would've been at home laughing while you take the walk of shame to the principal's office with the slip saying what you got in trouble for. Ahh I could see it already, dammit I should've waited until you were in class to send you that. Come on let's go for a walk."
"Ragdoll?"
"She's fine, more than likely she just needs time to think over what you said to her don't worry. If she needs anything she'll let me know. So, how was school today?"
"Good, or at least good in that I didn't get ANOTHER black eye." Midoriya answered in walking alongside Mandalay down the strip of shops near the beach, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. "We're preparing for the upcoming exam that's taking place next week so training is a bit tiring."
"Excited?"
"Yeah, and a little bit nervous. Our teachers can't tell us what's going to happen in the exam so I have all these scenarios playing out in my head of what might happen. I really need this provisional license."
"Oh it's gonna be fun trust me." Mandalay commented. "Well actually I don't know if the exam itself will be fun but the license sure will be fun, you can ESSENTIALLY do whatever you want without the supervision of heroes. I say essentially but the government still has a hissy fit whenever noobs with a license jump into action without a pro hero around, it's weird."
"A little bit but I can see why the regulations might be a bit complicated. Probably just don't want a bunch of unprepared heroes running around the city doing whatever they want without guidance from a pro."
"How was that letter from your mom by the way? Everything okay?"
"Letter? Oh yeah the letter. Yeah everything's fine." He assured. "Mom just wanted to send a letter since I'm going to be living at the dorms instead of my apartment. We'll be separated for the first time in a long time. She said she just wanted to have that experience of writing me a letter and sending me one, also while telling me good luck have fun and all that stuff."
"That's cute. And what'd you say?"
"I texted her that I got the letter and that I thank her for it."
Mandalay stopped with Midoriya stopping soon after as he turned to see the brunette standing still, her right hip jutted out while standing in place. Her facial expression had dropped down into a 'Seriously?' look with a hand on her jutted hip. "...what?"
Two fingers motioned for the student to come closer to which he did and-
*THWACK*
Received a solid flick over the forehead. "Ow! Hey!"
"Are you kidding me?" Mandalay asked. "You TEXTED your mom?"
"What was I supposed to do? Write her back?"
"Uh-DUH. It's part of the experience you get a letter you should've sent one back remember what I told you before? To you it might not be that much but to your mom it means everything. You really didn't think about writing one back just for fun?"
"No, not really." He admitted. "I thought it would be a lot easier to just send a text message saying I got the letter and all that, didn't really think about writing one myself. What would I even write in it?"
"Anything you want it's your letter. You could talk about the dorms, what it's like living under the same roof as all your other classmates, anything. It sounds silly I know what with technology being advanced enough now a days that writing a letter instead of calling or texting would seem pointless. But you'll see. Sometimes the silly things for Moms mean the best things."
"I'll, think about it. Only reason I say that is because it's been two days now since I got the letter and replied back so I feel like it might be too late to write one. Plus with the text saying I got it and all."
"True but you know, I would still send one. Plus if it would make my mother happy I wouldn't miss out on the opportunity. You should go through with it. Also before I forget because something tells me I'll definitely forget, thank you for tonight Midoriya. I wasn't close enough to hear what you said to Shiretoko but it still means a lot to me that you took time out of your evening to do this for me. Thank you so much."
"It's no problem, really." He said while eyeing a couple near the beach wall that they passed on the right side. "Being a former Quirkless I know what it must be like for Ragdoll now that she's Quirkless, life can suck to say the least. If she can manage to hold on to something that would give her hope then I'm sure she'll be able to pull through. Least she didn't have to go through what I went through when I was younger."
"You're strong for sticking around even when you were a Quirkless kid, you know that right? The death rate for Quirkless people before the age of 18 is....it's not comforting. The fact that majority of those kids thought that the only way to fix the pain was to end it is heartbreaking. Makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong as a hero."
"That's not exactly something you can control Sosaki."
"I know that but still, for heroes it's difficult for us to see the suicide rate of Quirkless teenagers." Mandalay commented. "Heroes are meant to help people and seeing how many people we weren't able to help before they decided to take their own life is shattering to us. I just wish I was able to speak to one of those kids and see if I could change their mind to stay and enjoy life."
"I mean....you already are."
Mandalay rotated her vision towards the student, a small tilt of her head adding in to the questioning look. "What?"
Midoriya sighed as he ran a hand around the back of his head, stopping on their walk and instead opting to lean onto the small wall on their right. Mandalay quickly joined the student on his left thinking that he may have been...thinking of leaving recently. "Hey, hey you're not-"
"Nooo, I'm not." Midoriya interrupted. "I know what you're thinking and I promise you that I'm not that low. But, let me explain. Talking to Ragdoll and waking up this morning with this black eye reminded me of those days, you know? Those days where I get treated badly by my classmates the day before, wake up the morning after not wanting to do anything or even feel anything for that matter. It just reminds me of those days and I can assure you that I'm not that deep anymore. But, I won't lie when I say there were a few times in the past where I felt like clocking out for good. Some nights more frequently than others.
Sometimes I would have thoughts of what it would be like if I did actually, you know, go through with it. Not thoughts of actually doing it no but thoughts of what the world would look like without me. The lives of my friends, teachers and classmates, they'd all be so different compared to now. All because of the way I was back then."
Mandalay nodded, reaching into her handbag to fish around for a stack of plastic cards. She pulled out the stack and sifted through them before stopping on the one she wanted, placing the rest back into the bag and fidgeting with the card she pulled put from the rest. "I've told you before how the girls in my class would always make fun of me due to the way I looked and days just seemed pointless for me to even be a part of. I know what you've experienced as a target of bullying, I know what the bottom of the well looks like. People never believed me when I said that my looks seemed to be a bully magnet but that's because they never saw what I looked like back then. Which is this."
Midoriya curiously hummed to the card being held out to him, taking it in his left hand and flipping it long ways going up. It was an old provisional license except the photograph ID was a full body picture of the student unlike a traditional mugshot, and the picture was none other than 17 year old Shino Sosaki. His eyes bulged at the difference between now and then such as the much more skinny physique of her body and the entirely different hero outfit she had at the time. It was a basic red and white one piece suit with white gloves, same color boots and a utility belt going around her waist.
"Whoa." He awed, repeatedly switching back and forth between the license and the woman next to him. "That's you?! You look so much, smaller."
"Well the angle of the picture didn't help but yeah. I was pretty tiny compared to my classmates." Mandalay admitted. "My body was always being compared to a guy's body since I didn't have much to offer in terms of the assets department and girls made sure to pick at me for it. 'Pencil body' among other names."
Looking at the image on the license, he really wasn't thinking of himself too greatly when thinking about this but Midoriya had to admit. Current Mandalay? Was definitely a lot more voluptuous than past Mandalay and he could see why her figure was similar to a guy's. Now however it was a different story given her very sizable bosom, curvaceous hips, and a big rump that he's guilty in saying that he took a peek at once while out here. Dammit to hell with Mineta and his infectious perversive behavior. If it wasn't for the fact that Kaminari and Mineta existed Midoriya probably wouldn't even have thought about checking the brunette out like that. Then again, it was hard not to given her beauty and appeal. His 'thing' for older women was starting to become a cold hard truth.
"So, you're saying that you've been in my shoes before because your class made fun of how you look?"
"Yup." Mandalay confirmed with a pop of her lips. "Every single day I would go home, look at myself in the mirror and think that I didn't look any better than dog poo on the side of the road. I never thought of myself as good looking or beautiful thanks to them. Thinking about it back then, I really was in some dark places mentally. Now I'm a lot happier and I'm content with the way things have turned out in life, and I couldn't care less about what the other girls had to say about me."
"That's good, at least you're happy with your grown up self." Midoriya gave the old license back to Mandalay who placed it back into her handbag. "Me on the other hand, I'm not so sure I could say the same. I still look basic and unattractive by today's standards."
"Who died and laid out standards for what's considered to be attractive?"
"More than likely Midnight's great-great grandparents."
"That's....actually a really valid point Midnight is pretty good looking. You going feral for her?"
"What?" Midoriya chuckled. "Feral? She's my teacher."
"Like that's ever stopped the internet from writing about students being in relationships with their teachers." Mandalay replied. "Just like the story about Holden Tudix and Jack Mehoff."
"Holden Tudix, Jack Mehoff...Holdin' two di- HEY! No not this time."
Mandalay chortled into a fit of laughter, leaning over to her left with a hand up to her mouth as Midoriya couldn't help but smile at his gullible self. Almost, but no cigar for Mandalay. Were it not for his earlier experience in saying that explicit name in front of his classmates he probably would've said these other two without even giving a thought to their secret pronunciations. She was clever, the funny kind of clever he never thought he'd enjoy either. Something about Mandalay's behavior was resemblant to the word tomboy but not entirely.
"Ohhhhh, hooooo boy. Dammit. I almost got it that second time."
"I had to think about that one for a moment not gonna lie." Midoriya admitted. "If it wasn't for earlier I would've said it out loud but not this time heh. How do you even come up with these?"
"The internet is a funny place, just as long as you know where to look." Mandalay answered followed by a toss of her short beautiful hair. Her left elbow propped onto the top of the wall with head resting onto the palm, directing her gaze to the student on the right. "Listen, Midoriya. I know that you know, that I know, that you know this but should there ever be a time where you feel, you know, that far down again..."
"I know, Sosaki. I'll talk to you first since you've been there too. Thank you by the way for doing that for me. I don't know how Mom would be able to handle it if I told her that kind of information and knowing you also went through bad stuff back then is comforting to me but not in a bad way. Makes me feel like I'm not alone in this world."
"You and me both. Just as you like to relieve your mind about your issues to me, I'm in the same boat. It's rare that I get to speak about my past troubles with somebody even with the others but if it helps you get through your days then I'm okay with it. And I should be the one thanking you for this, you helping Shiretoko is a great deal to me. What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Uh, Saturday soooo, I do have my morning warmup routine and I don't really think I have anything else after that. Why?"
"Dinner, to pay you back for tonight. Interested?"
"Do I have to suffer by watching you destroy the plate like you did last time?"
"First off I was hungry, secondly I warned you for what you were about to witness so don't blame me, thirdly I spared the plate so technically I didn't destroy everything. Might wanna check your facts before speaking your mind. Yes or yes?"
"I don't get a chance to say no?"
"No."
"Then yes."