[MHA Characters are test subjects in a secret, underground lab (part five) Ojiro lacks confidence because his ability is weaker than others.]
Obviously, all the children in the lab were special, extraordinary even, but though everyone around them could clearly see that, the children themselves did not. Their only frame of reference was each other, and with exceptional as the standard, anything less was lame and boring. At nine years old, Mashirao Ojiro, subject 06, was, in his mind, far below the standard of exceptional.
In the world that Ojiro was a part of, small as it was, 'special' was a word reserved only for the most powerful, like Bakugo or Shinso, the only two of the kids who consistently ranked in the top third in all three skill categories: academics, athletics, and use of their unique abilities.
Yaoyorozu was special; she could memorize entire textbooks and encyclopedias and pull anything anyone needed out of her body in moments, not to mention she could beat anybody in an eating contest without breaking a sweat.
Even Kaminari and Aoyama managing to rank in the bottom third of all three skill categories could be considered special. But Ojiro was right in the middle of the pack, not really good or really bad at anything. He was reminded of this every time the children went to sector 1B for their training and lessons.
Sector 1B had three digital ranking boards on the wall directly to the left of the entrance. They were labeled ACADEMICS, ATHLETICS, and ABILITIES, and updated every time an instructor input new information into the lab's computer system. Every test score, every sparring match result, every random observation instructors tacked on at the end of their reports, all of it was factored into the rankings, and the children could see the rankings every time the entered or left the instruction ward, sector 1B.
Currently, Bakugo was frustrated to no end by his inability to overtake Yaoyorozu in academics, but was managing to hold onto his lead for ability use, and was far enough ahead of the rest in athletics that he wasn't worried about losing his top spot. Kendo and Eijirou were fighting for second place in athletics, as they always were, their positions switching almost daily, but Togata was slowly climbing the ranks for athletics, as well as abilities.
Ojiro was the only one who always managed to be in the middle tier on all three boards, every single day. At that time, he was twelfth in both academics and athletics, and fourteenth for his ability. How he managed to get even that high was a mystery to him. His tail was just a tail. It didn't shoot lasers, it couldn't lift a car, or turn to steel, or morph into other things like Shoji's extra limbs did. It couldn't even hold things properly. It wasn't an arm. Tails didn't have fingers, let alone thumbs. It served as a decent seat when he was tired, and the end was fluffy so Kaminari like to pet it, which was weird when he thought about it, but it felt kinda nice, comforting even, so Ojiro didn't mind.
The kids were working on training with their abilities one day when Mister Hizashi walked in for no discernible reason. Mister Shota walked up to him the moment he entered, asking why he'd come.
"I finished early for the day, and I wanted to hang out with you and the kids," Mister Hizashi said. "There's not a problem is there?" Mister Shota frowned at him.
"He is technically our superior," Mister Vlad pointed out. "We cannot exactly tell him leave."
"Fine. Just stay quiet and don't get in the way," Mister Shota said, and turned his back on the interloper to observe the children.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Mister Hizashi said, but they all knew there was a better chance of a freak seismic event bringing the lab up to the surface than there was of Mister Hizashi being even relatively quiet for more than six consecutive minutes.
When it came to training their abilities, Ojiro only had basically two things he could work on improving, strength and dexterity. He didn't have to work on aim like Aoyama or Sero, or complex formulas like Ashido or Yaoyorozu, or power like Todoroki or Kaminari. He either had to move heavy things with just his tail, or he had to perform simple fine motor exercises with his tail.
On the day Mister Hizashi walked in, Ojiro was trying to swing across monkey bars using just his tail. It was only hard the first couple times, figuring out how much force he needed to swing with in order to go the right distance forward, swallowing down the anxiety when he had to let go and free fall for just a fraction of a second before he grabbed the bars again, accidentally moving too slow and hitting his tail hard against a bar before falling fifteen feet onto the three-inch mat because he failed to grab the next one properly.
He ended up with some nasty bruises before he got it right, but soon enough he got the hang of it. He didn't even need to look up to get it right, and it became muscle memory, simple, and boring, just like him.
Mister Hizashi walked at Mister Shota's side as the trainer traversed the massive, concrete gymnasium, watching the kids, checking their progress. Mister Hizashi managed to make it almost four whole minutes before he spoke up. "Mashirao, looks like you've mastered those monkey bars, huh, kid?"
"Yeah," Ojiro answered simply, moving to the next bar, and then the next, swing after swing, release, grab, realease, grab. Don't fall off.
"We generally have to come up with a new exercise for Mashirao every session because he masters them so quickly," Mister Shota remarked beside him.
"It's just because they're so easy," Ojiro said, doing his best not to stop while he was talking. It added an extra layer of challenge which he somewhat appreciated. "My tail isn't all that great, so there are only so many different kinds of things it can do."
"Don't say that. I think it's cool," Mister Hizashi argued. "I wish I had a tail."
Ojiro did pause then, and, hanging by his tail, turned himself to look the man in the eyes.
"Be honest Mister Hizashi," he said, frowning. "If you could have any one of our abilities, would you pick mine?"
For once, Mister Hizashi was silent.
"I didn't think so. Why would you want a tail if you could control minds, or be invisible, or make anything you wanted in an instant?" Ojiro sighed and returned to his training. "My tail's not that useful, or strong. It's not cool looking like Tetsu's ability, or Fumikage's. It just looks weird and unnatural, and it causes a lot of trouble for the people who make my clothes. I know I'm just a freak. We all are."
He realized he'd started rambling then, but it was like with his mind focused on the monkey bars and not his mouth, he could just say what he was thinking. The anxiety that usually accompanied every word he said, wondering if it was correct, or if it would get him in trouble, just wasn't there. He felt like no one was listening, even though he knew someone was always listening, no matter what. But then he reached the end of the monkey bars. He stood at the top of the ladder and turned, prepared to start again in silence, going the other direction.
"Hey, Mashirao, come down here, I wanna talk to you for a sec," Mister Hizashi said.
Ojiro climbed down the ladder while Mister Shota grumbled about interrupting training and Mister Hizashi pointed out that Ojiro had already mastered the exercise in response.
"Alright, listen Mashirao." He knelt down in front of Ojiro and put a comforting hand on his arm. "Everyone has their quirks. You kids just so happen to have quirkier quirks than most. I can talk all day without getting a sore throat. Shota always has stubble even when he shaves. You have a tail, and that's okay. It's just a part of who you are, and whether or not other people like it or envy it shouldn't matter, because, big or small, quirks like that are a part of you, and life gets a whole lot more bearable when you can accept them. Everyone's a bit of a freak, kiddo, but all that really means is that no one is."
"A quirk?" Ojiro echoed. "I thought a quirk was like, wiggling your eyebrows or something."
"Ha, only when it's a verb, as in to quirk something, curve or twist," Mister Hizashi explained with a chuckle, quirking his eyebrows in demonstration. It was easy to forget that they were still young kids and didn't know everything yet, despite their advanced lessons. "As a noun, it means: a unique or peculiar trait, whether it's a physical feature, mannerism, habit, skill, a way of speaking. It's just something that sets you apart from everyone else—something that makes you special, that makes you you."
"So my tail is my quirk?" Ojiro said, and Mister Hizashi nodded. Mister Shota nodded too, and he even smiled, but Ojiro wasn't looking at him. "And it's an important part of who I am? And it makes me special?"
"Exactly."
"I like that." Ojiro grinned brightly.
"I'll help Shouta and Mister Vlad come up with more creative uses for your quirk, so you don't get stuck doing monkey bars all the time," Mister Hizashi promised. "Sound good?"
"Yeah!"
"Until, then, you'd better get back to those monkey bars," Mister Shota ordered. "Try doing some tricks or something if you're that bored."
"Do a backflip!" Mister Hizashi suggested enthusiastically.
"OK!"
After that day, Ojiro started calling all of their abilities quirks, and he had to explain it a few times, but the word quickly caught on, and within just two weeks, all twenty of the children used it.
Shortly after that, the heading on the third ranking board was changed from ABILITIES to QUIRKS, though no one would admit to being the one who changed it. Miss Inko got mad and changed it back, but the next day it had been changed again. After the fifth time, she gave up and left it that way. Mister Hizashi wore a smirk on his face every time he saw it.
True to his word, he helped the trainers come up with more creative uses for Ojiro's quirk, and the training became more challenging, pushing him to his limits, and moving him from fourteenth to eleventh in quirk skill ranking by the end of the year. The added difficulty also helped him move up to tenth in athletics by the same time.
Self-acceptance can make even the darkest situations more bearable. Unfortunately, it doesn't make them less dark.
[This was considerably more positive than the other installments so far, so I hope you liked it. Had to add that line at the end tho, just in case any of you were erroneously beginning to think this was a happy story. Love y'all.
<3 Raaor!]