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Shouta was walking home one evening, tired from all the paperwork he’d been filling out after the last villains he dealt with. It was a quiet evening, yet as he turned the corner on the street he heard muffled groans and quiet sobbing. As he continued walking, interest piqued, he looked into a shallow alleyway to find a young child, trying to bring himself up off of the ground while holding his left shoulder with his hand. The kid couldn’t have been much older than 9 or 10, he had slightly singed dark green hair and was wearing a burned hoodie and shorts.
Upon seeing this poor kid, Shouta didn’t hesitate to run over and help him up, while saying, “You need to go to a hospital, kid. I’ll take you to the one a few blocks from here.”
The kid looked up at him, he really had to crane his head from his hunched position, “No thanks, I’ll be-” his words were cut by him coughing up blood. This can’t be good. “I’ll be fine, just let me go and I’ll find my way.” There was no way that this severely injured kid just said he was going to be fine. Un-fucking-believable.
“No. I’m taking you to the hospital and that’s final, you won’t make it more than a few steps before you pass out!” The kid just looked up at him in confusion, before a wash of realization seemed to hit him. Good, maybe he’ll accept his help.
“They won’t accept me at that hospital, so I’m sorry but I have to refuse. Please go away.” He tried to brush him off and walk away, but his steps wobbled before he fell, Shouta catching him before his head hit the concrete.
“Ok, I don’t understand why they won’t take you, but tell me a hospital where they can. You need medical attention. Now.” He looked at him and sighed.
“Take me to the old convenient store, the one that closed down a few years ago. In case I pass out, tell them you have a patient; a quirkless patient.” Shouta stared at him, mind boggled that he found someone his age without a quirk. Sure, he had heard about the 20% of the population not having quirks, but he’d never actually met someone without a quirk. It was irrational to keep thinking about this, though. The kid looked like he was going to pass out, and he needed to get to that abandoned store asap.
Shouta quickly scooped the kid up and into his arms before rushing to the store. He always assumed that it was a run down place for the homeless, so why bring a quirkless kid there? Whatever it was, he obeyed as he felt him become limp, passing out. He could feel how scrawny he was, small and light. Was he being fed enough? Surely his own parents wouldn’t mistreat him for how he was, right? The thought of parents neglecting their own child made him grit his teeth. It wasn’t logical; the kid couldn’t help being quirkless. Nothing in the world could help him.
After a few minutes of running, he found the place. He walked up, slightly out of breath, and knocked on the back door inside the convenient store. An older woman cautiously opened the door, looking up at Shouta judgingly, asking “What brings you here?”
He said, unfazed at her judgement, “This kid. He’s been injured- He says he’s quirkless.” The woman’s eyes grew large, filled with worry.
She opened the door more, revealing a run down clinic. “Bring him in, and set him on an empty table. We can take it from there.”
He stepped through the door and set him down on a table with parchment paper on it. He looked at her as she motioned for him to leave. He stood up straighter, “I’m not leaving this child here. I am staying and you can’t stop me.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off, activating his quirk as his hair started to float. “I. Am. Not. Leaving.” She shut her mouth, seemingly resigned. He walked over and sunk into a foldable chair set up by the wall. It was one large room with a few tables scattered about, cabinets lined the back as he could see lots of run down supplies. This is, to say the least, not what he had expected.
Soon, a young man comes and strips the boy of his ruined hoodie. What Shouta saw shocked him. The kid had a burn mark on his left shoulder, close to a third degree burn. He had several similar to that all over his chest and arms. Who would do such a thing? And to a child no less? Thinking about this made Shouta visibly angry. His hair lifted up, not directed towards anyone in particular, but he felt so angry. Sure, he knew this world was fucked up, but it didn’t really hit him until now. A hand on his shoulder breaks his concentration.
It was the lady before, sitting down next to him. “I guess you’ve never seen someone be so abused because of the quirk-or lack thereof- before?”
He looked at her, “Yeah. I didn’t know… You would think, that after being in the hero business for so long you’d understand this, but no. I had no idea it was this bad.” She looked at him, shocked for a moment.
“You’re a hero?” Her eyes found his, full of fear and concern. “Please, sir, I beg of you to not say a word. This is all the boy has. Others like him come here because we are refused service at regular hospitals. Without this clinic, this boy surely would have died by now.”
Her words hit him like a ton of bricks. They were refused service? He had to collect his thoughts. It’s irrational to be this angry. It’s irrational to be upset at this. Emotions do no justice, he told himself. “I won’t tell anyone, I now understand the situation.”
He stood up, looking at her calmly. She was tearing up. Had no one shown her this kindness before? “I trust you to help the boy. Don’t tell him I stayed, or anything about me. In return I won’t say anything.” He knew his negotiation wasn’t the best, but he’d rather not let it get out that the stoic underground hero Eraserhead didn’t know the state of the world.
She silently nodded, “Thank you for taking him to us.” He looked at her one last time before closing the door behind him, leaving him to his thoughts.
--5 Years Later--
Shouta had never told anyone about the clinic he found all those years ago. Turns out, they’re all over the place if you look hard enough. Bad parts of town, abandoned shops and back alleys were all a part of one big system of illegal clinics. It wasn’t often that he saw them, and he never needed to go to one before. Every time he thought of those who needed the clinics, he remembered that little boy. That’s why he never told anyone.
It was late that evening, he had spent the last two hours filling out more paperwork for his students. When he finally left the campus to get groceries, the sun was beginning to set, coating the sky with a violent red hue. As he rounded a corner in the suburbs, he heard people’s voices. They were arguing, yelling at someone as someone else begged them to stop. He peered over and saw 3 men dressed poorly backing a young man into a wall. “There’s no reason to be afraid, buddy” one man says, “If you just give us your extra cash, we won’t have a problem. It’s not like you could stop us so why bother resisting?”
The young man hit the wall, “Please, I need this money. I’m behind on my rent, next time I promise you I’ll get you the money. Please, let me go!”
The other man’s eyes lit up as he brought up his hand. His palm suddenly grew a blade, and with a smile said, “Have it your way then” before stabbing the man’s shoulder.
Without thinking, Shouta’s legs moved on their own. He ran and punched the ringleader in the face before using his capture weapon to bind his two lackeys together and slamming them into the ground. The man who was stabbed slumped down to the ground, grasping his shoulder and groaning in pain as the blood spilled down his shirt. The ringleader got back up and yelled, “You bitch!” as he produced another blade in his palm. As he started running towards Shouta, he cancelled his quirk before kicking him back to the ground.
“You can’t escape me, thugs. Now why the fuck did you stab this man? Answer quick before I get angry.” It wasn’t a bluff, he truly did get angry at them. Picking on the weak was one thing that really got him going.
“M-Miyazaki’s quirkless, so we use him for extra cash! Please don’t hurt us!” One of the lackeys spouted fearfully.
“If you ever think about hurting someone without a quirk again, know that I personally will find you.” He was mad. Ever since that kid, he felt obligated to help the quirkless. They can’t help who they are, it just isn’t right. He glared at them one last time before helped the man-Miyazaki-up. He stopped his quirk and released the two before taking him away.
“Please, s-stop. I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry yourself about me” Miyazaki said weakly. He was barely able to stand, even with Shouta’s help.
“No, I’m taking you to a place where they’ll patch you up” He saw the worry strike Miyazaki’s face. “Regardless of how you are.”
He remembered that the old convenient store was close by, so he headed in that direction. He made it there and knocked on the door, reminiscent of the first time he went there on behalf of someone else. An older woman looked at him, “What do you need?”
He motioned to the injured man, saying “He’s quirkless. He got stabbed by some thug’s quirk.” Quickly, she went and helped Miyazaki into the room and set him on one of the beds. As Shouta looked into the room, he saw a young teenager start removing Miyazaki’s shirt to reveal a deep stab wound. “Bring me clean damp cloths, antibiotics and some bandages, Konuma-San.” The boy said, in a familiar voice. The woman got up and quickly grabbed what the teen had requested of her. Soon, he started treating the wound and Miyazaki laid there, swimming in and out of consciousness.
The woman sat down next to Shouta, extending her hand to greet him. “I’m Rino Konuma, and I help out around here.”
Shouta shook her hand, “I’m Shouta Aizawa. Who is that boy, helping out Miyazaki?”
She looked at the teen, then back at Shouta. “That’s our Izuku, a boy with a heart of gold. Without him and his surgeries, who knows how anyone would get by around these parts?” She laughed a small laugh, then looked at Shouta, only to see his surprise written all across his face.
Then it clicked. Messy hair, familiar voice and frame, everything. The problem child of class 1-A was an illegal doctor? What? And he performs surgeries? Shouta had never thought of this before. Why would Midoriya be volunteering here? “I had no idea Midoriya volunteered here. Does he sympathize with the quirkless?”
Rino looked at him, kind of shocked, “Didn’t you know? Little Izuku’s been helping out for years, since he was 9. Without a quirk, he had to make himself useful with all the injuries he sustained from bullying. He started cleaning himself and others up, and when he was 12 we couldn’t keep him away from surgeries any longer.” She sighed as she looked at him, “I truly don’t know what we’d do without him. I wish I could pay him, but he refuses any form of payment. He works hours on end, helping others.”
While she was talking, Shouta was confused. What did she mean, without a quirk? Everyone gets a quirk when they’re 4, and Midoriya definitely has a quirk. “What do you mean, without a quirk? I’ve seen him use his quirk before; I’m his teacher.”
Her eyes widened once again, “You’re his teacher? That’s where I know your name from!”
He looked at her, “You didn’t answer my question. He has a quirk, why would you imply otherwise?”
“Because he didn’t have a quirk. He didn’t have a quirk until he was 14, and until he was 14 he was constantly getting bullied. I thought you knew, because you’re his teacher.”
Shouta buried his head in his hands, “No. I didn’t know that my fucking student was quirkless until a few months ago.” Silently, she patted his back for a moment. It was then that Izuku was finished wrapping up Miyazaki.
“A-Aizawa Sensei? Can we talk?” Izuku walked up to him and was fidgeting with his hands, staring at the ground.
“Sure thing. Let’s go outside.” Shouta stood up and they walked out the door. The began to walk around the area, Izuku fidgeting with his hands and avoiding eye contact. “So you haven’t had your quirk until like, 10 months ago?”
Izuku looked up, laughing nervously, “Closer to 8, but yeah, I got it the morning of the entrance exam.”
“The entrance exam? That’s some bad timing right there. Are you going back to the dorms? It’s getting kind of late.”
“Yeah, I’ll be going back to the dorms, I’ll make up for my lost time at the clinic tomorrow.” Shouta nodded, as they walked back to the UA Dorms in silence.