It was an off day for Kugo, usually he didn't mind the way people looked at him. The way they avoided him in the streets as he went on patrol or stared at him as he passed. Usually. But as he said; today was an off day.
It started when he woke up, something not sitting right as he went about his morning routine. When he saw the papers, he realized why he was feeling so off. Front page was a picture of him on patrol with the people around him giving him far too much space, looking skittish or disgusted. The header was 'top 10 heroes that look more like villains'.
Nothing new for him, but still, it threw him off all the same. He was scheduled to speak with some of the hero course kids at UA in the afternoon, so he decided to try and calm himself with a trip to the aquarium. There were a few school trips scheduled that morning and the aquarium employees let him stop by and give tours or answer questions.
Again, things weren't much different today, teachers led the kids around him or stayed on the opposite side of the room from him, most of the kids shied away from him anyway due to his appearance and height. The few kids that didn't mind him were caught and corralled back with the others by their teachers. There were also some parents and older teens here and there, the only ones to approach him were an elderly couple and he led them around the aquarium, answering questions and naming the fish they pointed to. Two of the children snuck away from their teacher just long enough to ask him for a picture which he happily gave before being rather forcefully removed from his side by a panicky teacher.
So, yeah, his day was normal, but it hit different for some reason he couldn't name.
By the time he got to UA, he was having trouble smiling, which, granted, many wouldn't be able to tell because of his facial structure, but he still knew and it threw him off even more. He was found at the gates by the green haired boy that broke himself in the sports festival and Eraserhead. The boy lit up as soon as he saw Kugo, bouncing on his toes and smiling widely with excitement. As he neared, the boy introduced himself as Midoriya Izuku and enthusiastically asked for a picture and his signature.
Kugo was a little in shock, most people weren't this happy to see him, which Midoriya seemingly picked up on as he launched into a summarized retelling of his whole hero career with analysis on his quirk and other things that started to blur together as the boy picked up speed on his mutterings. He glanced at Eraserhead in silent question, but the man was focused on the boy, failing to either hide his fond smile or notice it.
He interrupted the boy's mumbling and posed for a picture with him that Eraserhead reluctantly took, signing the notebook that was handed to him from out of nowhere. As they walked to the gym, Midoriya continued talking, it was hard to keep up at first, but Kugo was slowly adapting to it, so he was surprised when the boy stopped talking for longer than a second.
He was even more surprised when the boy asked, after a full minute of walking in now awkward silence, "are you sad today, Gang Orca-san?"
No one said anything as Kugo mentally processed that, Eraser was side-eying him as Midoriya kept his eyes on their path. Eventually, Eraser asked for him, "why do you say that, Izuku?"
That's another thing that made him pause; Eraser called his student by his given name, what?
"Well, it's just you're not smiling today, Gang Orca-san. It's rare not to see you smile. Did something happen?"
Kugo blinked, this kid could tell when he was smiling? "Uh, nothing more than usual, Midoriya-kun."
There was a few moments of quiet as they continued walking, who knew the UA campus was so big? Before the boy said, "just because it's normal for you doesn't mean that it's alright or that you should ignore how it makes you feel."
There was silence again before Midoriya continued, considerably slower and softer than before, "see, I read this really bigoted news article this morning that mentioned you. There were also some herowatch posts people reblogged about avoiding a certain aquarium." There was a pause as Midoriya let that sink in, "you may be used to it or ignore it, but it still hurts you. You shouldn't push off your feelings about things, even if you think you can't change them."
Midoriya stopped and finally turned to look at him, "so, Gang Orca-san, are you sad?"
Kugo felt a little slack jawed at the boy in front of him, green eyes shining with something, he huffed a small laugh, "yeah, kid, I am."
The boy nodded and pulled out his phone, "hi, Ryukyu-san! Would you like to come to UA and watch our training? 'Chako-chan and Tsu-chan would love to see you again!"
Kugo glanced over at Eraserhead again, but the man was, yet again, watching the boy fondly, so he figured that it was something the boy did often. Odd he'd never heard about the boy from the other heroes. When Midoriya turned around again, he reached out and grabbed Kugo's hand and with a flash of green and a feeling of vertigo, they were no longer at UA.
Kugo looked around what seemed to be a quaint living room, a gentle looking green haired woman looked up from the kitchen like this was an everyday occurrence, then again, maybe pro heroes popping up in your house was an everyday occurrence for her with Midoriya as her son.
"Oh, dear. Izuku got you, did he? Would you like some tea Gang Orca-san?" She asked, going back to making what looked like Katsudon.
"Ah, yes, please, Midoriya-san," Kugo said when nothing else seemed to be appropriate.
She came over a few minutes later with a tea tray and offered the couch to him. Carefully, he sat down, making sure he didn't put too much weight on the rather comfortable chair, but surprisingly, the couch didn't even creak as it easily took all his weight. Midoriya-san gave a gentle smile, "Izuku kept breaking ours when he first got his quirk to work so we bought furniture that could hold up. Would you like green or earl grey tea?"
"Green please, Midoriya-san. Thank you."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all and call me Inko, dear." She waved off his protests as she poured their drinks and sat back in her own chair.
"Then I insist you call me Kugo," he replied, sinking a little more into the far too comfortable couch.
She gave a little laugh, "very well, Kugo-san. Now, if I remember correctly, Izuku was raving about you co-teaching their hero lessons today. Why does he think it necessary for you to take the day off?"
"Ah, well, he asked me if I was sad," Kugo shifted it's not unusual for him to talk about his feelings, but usually it's with his therapist and not random green-haired do-gooders.
"And are you?"
Nothing in her tone or expression was judgmental or gave the impression that she was disappointed or anything beyond curious and calm.
"Yes," he admitted quietly.
"Oh, dear. Would you like to talk about it?" She offered kindly.
And so he did. And at some point, she had migrated over to his side and was giving him a side hug and rubbing his back as she listened and gave comments when needed. He felt better by the time the Midoriya boy came back, this time with a few people in tow and walking through the door instead of appearing. Ryukyu didn't spare him more than a passing glance as she gave Inko-san a large hug, the dual haired and blond angry boys waiting their turns.
Kugo was added to the 'Izuku Finder' chat and joined monthly dinners with the Midoriya's and whatever other heroes and kids Izuku had roped into it. The reporter of that morning's article was quietly sued and every news agency was told in no uncertain terms that things like that wouldn't be allowed anymore. No one disgraces or judges a hero just on the basis of their looks or quirks without having to pay for it.
And if you did, you'd best watch out, Mamadoriya was coming for your jobs.
Chapter Question That Isn't Really A Question: Tell me how your year is going so far!
Have you kept up with your resolutions? Did you make any resolutions? Has anything changed since last year for you?
Personally, I think I'm going in the opposite direction for my weight goal since muscle mass weighs more than fat and I've been working out a lot, but I dropped a pant sized, so, there's that! I have been drawing more, but I've been slacking on my writing because I've been reading so much :/ I've decided to stay away from the TV and most social media until February because I don't want to hear about the news, so it's been a little quiet around my house lately.