Chapter Text
In a few short years, Toshinori wouldn’t remember what had him so upset that early autumn afternoon. It was probably a lot of little things, realistically. Just one of those days where nothing went his way and every little frustration built on the last. He walked out of his middle school two steps from exploding. But none of that would matter as long as he could make it to Shimura-sensei.
Hoodie pulled far forward, he did his best to lose himself in the crowd of other kids without a club to stay for. Though “crowd” may have been too strong a word. There were fifteen students besides him meandering out that exit. Not enough to hide in.
“Yo Blondie! Where ya headin’?” Yoshida yanked back Toshinori’s hoodie, grabbing some hair with it.
“Ow! Quit it!” He flipped around to push his hand away.
Two more upperclassmen were on him a moment later. One wrapped an arm around his neck, and said, “Hey, cool it. We’re just messin’ with ya.” Everyone else ignored them.
“Yeah,” the other snickered. “Can’t we check up on our little friend?” She fake-out punched Toshinori’s stomach, to which he almost kicked back.
If I get in trouble for fighting, I can’t go train, he remined himself. Training’s all that matters right now.
“So, where is our little golden child headed this fine day?” Yoshida continued. Guy had one of those smiles where it was hard to tell if he was being genuine or condescending. Toshinori had one of those hang-ups where he assumed he was always being made fun of.
“Going to practice, where do you think I’m going?” he sneered back.
The girl scoffed. “Oh, that’s right. You ‘train’ with ‘Septem’ after school, right?” she mocked with dramatic air quotes.
“That’s none of your business!”
The arm at his neck got tighter. “It kinda is if you’re trying to defame one of the best heroes in town.”
“Guess we should’ve expected a politician’s son to lie out his ass. Apples and trees, ya know?” All three laughed as Toshinori rolled his eyes.
“Don’t you guys have a club meeting or something to get to?”
“Oh, friend, we got time,” Yoshida said. “Choir can’t start without lead vocals.
“Now what I want to know is why you’d pick Septem for your little bullshit spiel. Ain’t shit like that ‘sposed to be at least a little believable?” she mocked.
“You coulda said some nobody we ain’t heard of and maybe gotten away with it.”
“Or just make someone up.”
“I didn’t make anything up!” Toshinori argued. “You guys stole my planner out of my bag!”
“Hey, not our fault you’re writing self-insert fanfiction in school!” Yoshida declared like it was the greatest one-liner ever uttered. His cronies seemed to think so.
“And why would Septem want to spend time with a little quirkless punk like you?” the one holding him hissed in his ear. His arm migrated to over Toshinori’s mouth so he couldn’t snap back. Any higher on his face and he would have felt the wetness forming in his eyes.
Yoshida leaned in so close he could feel his breath. “But look at it this way: better us than your mom. If she knew her quirkless kid was hero-huntin’,she’d probably d-“
“Excuse me,” the history teacher spoke over him. “What do you three think you’re doing to Yagi?” They let go of him, and he stumbled to regain his balance.
“Just a little roughhousing with our pal, Ma’am. Nothin’ by it,” Yoshida placated.
She didn’t buy it. “All three of you, inside. I heard the way you were referring to Yagi. That sort of behavior is unacceptable!” Her voice was so sharp some students thought it was her quirk. Yoshida and his gang seemed to respect that, or at least the risk to their permanent record, as they slinked away to the door behind her. She eyed each of them harshly, before turning to Toshinori with a lax (pitying) smile. “Would it be too much to ask that you come in too, so we can sort this out?”
“I-if it’s okay, Ma’am, I actually have somewhere important I need to be. Is another day okay?” he asked, not quite able to make eye contact.
“That’s fine,” she answered sweetly. “Get there safe.”
“Thank you, I will.” And he all but ran off. Breathing hard, he tried to reign in his tears.
I am not breaking down. Not right before I get to Shimura-sensei. He ducked around alleys and side-streets to avoid anyone with a uniform he recognized. Yoshida wasn’t the only person who liked to mess with him, just the most likely to get physical. And Toshinori didn’t want to deal with anything else.
Granted, the uniform thing wasn’t a completely safe bet. Most of the adults in the area knew him as well, small town and all. Most seemed nice enough on their own, and Kandor’s quirkless population was high enough that it was harder to get away with more overt discrimination like store bans.
But your generation is only thirty-nine percent quirkless! Mother’s words repeated unprompted. Toshinori blinked slowly, and exhaled. The woman built her whole career on numbers like that. He deliberately took a longer route where he knew there wouldn’t be any of her campaign posters. Again, he wasn’t in the place to deal with it. The rise of quirkless discrimination was something to be worried about, but Mother leaned towards the more extreme “purity” side of the debate. Whenever she came home from one of her fundraising trips, Toshinori dreaded she would bring along one of the psychos on TV who defended beating people with mutation quirks in the streets. Though his pro-quirk-segregation step-father wasn’t too far off.
That’s why the world needs a symbol, Toshinori thought, standing up a little straighter. Someone for everyone to believe in. Everyone. No matter who they are, where they come from, or whether or not they have a quirk. He skipped over a puddle. And maybe have the platform to talk about quirkless issues without arguing in favor of eugenics.
Kandor was a little town nestled in a valley with only two main roads in or out. Between one of those roads and the town’s aqueduct was a small park. The orange and yellow trees swayed in the wind, dropping flurries of leaves like confetti at the end of a big race. Toshinori sure felt like it was a victory finally making it there. He lept for flying leaves as he trotted down the main sidewalk, throwing any he did manage to catch back up. Passing joggers and dog-walkers smiled at his childish indulgence.
But then, he came to a small split in the bushes. When on was looking, he ran through the opening. Checking wasn’t necessary; it was a legal path, just unpaved and so overgrown. And at the end, a wide clearing next to a little pond and a sitting area that most people didn’t know even existed. The perfect place to train.
Toshinori burst into the clearing with a big smile, excitedly scanning the place for his beloved master. Usually, she was waiting for him, though she sometimes ran a little late.
“Probably got caught up in a villain fight,” he reasoned. The benches he walked towards were worn wood and covered in carved names. His eyes were automatically drawn to where Shimura-sensei pointed out where an old boyfriend had carved her name, even though he couldn’t read it at that distance.
“Dork thought I’d be impressed by vandalizing a bench. But since my name’s on it, it’s sort of like it’s mine,” she’d told him months ago. She didn’t get into her personal life often, so that moment felt special.
He tossed his bag on the bench, took off his uniform jacket, and started to work on his warm-ups. A stray thought hit him after a few moments: what if she doesn’t come? His heart sank. Of course she’s gonna come. Don’t be ridiculous. So what if she’s a little late? She always shows up eventually.
Toshinori finished the warm-up, and started his laps around the field. What if something happened? Is she okay? I don’t get much of a signal out here, so I wouldn’t be able to check the news. She didn’t give me her number anyway. That’s because she doesn’t actually trust me. He stumbled. No. I can’t think like that. That’s Yoshida and the others taking. Shimura-sensei chose me! Why else would she be hanging around me for months? Pity. No! She chose me. She said I could be a hero. That I was the successor to her quirk! Do you really believe that? There’s no such thing. Tears clouded his vision. She just wants to feel better about herself for being nice to the quirkless kid. Same as everyone else! She probably spun that One for All bullshit because she thought I was suicidal. Today’s just the day she realized I wasn’t wor-“
“Gotcha!” A sudden force lifted Toshinori in the air and spun him around. “Hey, Sunshine! Sorry I’m late, there was this- woah, wait! Why are you crying? Did I hurt you? I’m sorry.” Shimura-sensei kneeled in front of him, her gloved hands gently holding his reddened cheeks. While she looked him up and down for injuries, he went to grip her wrists like his life depended on it. She looked back into his eyes once she noticed. Her own dark eyes’ wisdom betrayed her youthful face. There wasn’t a hint of embarrassment or annoyance. “What’s wrong?”
That broke him.
Tears burned. His throat wasn’t much better as he choked out quiet sobs. He let go of his master’s hands to try and wipe away his shame. There really was nothing more shameful than falling apart in front of the person he admired most.
But it wasn’t a shame she shared. Shimura-sensei pulled his hands down and asked more firmly, “What happened?”
“I-I thought,” he gagged. “I thought you weren’t going to come!” He barely recognized his own voice. It had been a long time since there was someone around when he cried. But by some stroke of luck, he eyes were cleared enough to see his teacher’s expression soften in a way he hadn’t ever seen.
Then she hugged him. Suddenly, but with steadfast kindness. One muscular arm around his back, the other resting near his head with a hand in his hair. She pressed him into her shoulder. The weight and warmth of another human being was not something he was used to. The way she started to rock him back and forth was completely foreign.
“Oh, Toshi. I’m here. I’m here,” she whispered. It was so different from her typical brash tone it could only make him cry more. “Why on earth would you think I wouldn’t come today?”
“… I had a bad day at school,” he mumbled into her costume. It really was stupid when he said it out loud. There were people out there actually suffering, people Septem could help, yet here she was holding him like a crying toddler because a couple people weren’t nice to him.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked, ignoring how beneath her this must have been.
“Not really…”
“Wanna go sit on the bench?”
“… Okay.”
As soon as they sat down, she draped her yellow cape and arm over his shoulders, and pulled him close. More leaves fell into the pound and where swiped at my fish. Storm clouds were rolling in the distance. When the wind stilled the faint sounds of the other park goers reached the two. After a good few minutes, Toshinori’s shoulders finally relaxed, and he sighed. Shimura-sensei squeezed him a little tighter. She took off one of her gloves and held his hand. Hers was rough and calloused, but no less comforting. The stayed like that for a little while.
Once he calmed down, Toshinori spoke up. “Shimura-sensei?”
“Hmm?”
“Did you ever get bullied in school?”
“Did someone hurt you?” he snapped suddenly.
“No…”
“Do I need to beat someone up?” a little lighter.
“No, no,” he chuckled a little, to which she smiled. “But did you? Ever get bullied?”
“Mhmm. I think most people do at some point.”
“What happened?”
“It was mostly just making fun of me. I don’t remember anything physical.” She sighed, rubbing circles with her thumb on Toshinori’s shoulder. “They got me for being short, my mole, my crappy handwriting, my fashion sense… Actually that last one is kind of justified, there’s a reason I only meet with you in costume.”
“Pfft!” He could help but laugh at that.
“There he is! There’s the Toshi I know!” She looped an arm around his neck, though not at all tight, and rubbed his head with her knuckled. He laughed with her.
“Th-thank you,” he whispered a little after, unsure of what else to say.
“No trouble. You hear that? You are not an inconvenience to me. I’m here because I want to be,” she said, poking his chest.
“But why?”
“Because you’re my successor. My apprentice. I promised I’d help you be a hero, and that makes you my responsibility,” she explained with her trademark smile. “You made the pitch, my little Symbol of Peace. My job is to see that you get there.”
“Do, do you really think I can do it?” he asked, looking up at her for the first time since sitting down.
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been training you for what? Seven, eight months now?” His master leaned her head back. “Has it been that long already? Wow… And you? You’ve come a long way.” She gave his steadily thickening arm a squeeze. “I’m proud of you, Toshi.”
His lip curled and he looked back down.
“No, no, none of that! We’re done crying,” she said, shaking his shoulder. This time, when he pulled him in, he leaned towards her right way. For the first time all day, he felt relaxed.
“Thank you, Shimura-sensei.”
“… How about Nana?”
“Huh? Really, your given name? Is that really okay?” he questioned desperately. Of all the directions he thought the conversation would go, that wasn’t expected.
“Sure. I’ve been using yours for how long now?” she replied nonchalantly.
“B-but is that really okay? You’re my master and a hero and I’m just a, a-“
“A future hero,” she stated. “At the rate you’re going, you’ll be my equal by the time you get out of high school. By college? Maybe my better.” I’m looking forward to it, her smile said. It was contagious. “And I’ve never been much for formalities anyway.”
“Okay… Nana-sensei.”
She snickered. “We’ll work on it.” Nana ruffled his hair.
Thunder cracked in the distance. The two jumped, the arm around him tightening protectively.
This is nice, he thought. But too soon.
“Looks like that’s our cue to turn in for the day,” she said, pulling him to his feet.
“But we’ve barely done anything!”
“And we won’t be able to do much more if we get dumped on. No Sunshine of mine is getting sick or struck by lightning on my watch!” Toshinori laughed a little and grabbed his stuff. “You wanna lift home?” she offered knowingly.
Toshinori’s face lit up. “Uh? Yes! Obviously!”
His master leaned down and he jumped on her back. “Hang on tight!” And just like that, they were in the air. They dropped just as fast only to leap again. It was hard not to cheer. The wind was too intense for Toshinori to open his eyes most of the time. But during those brief pauses at the top of their arc, he could see the whole town. Nana took more jumps than necessary to get him to where he lived, and he was beyond grateful.
This is what it’s like to be a hero!
Nana landed on the suburban street a couple blocks down from his destination. She held him up with a smile while he tried to get his bearings.
“Why are you panting? I’m the one who did all the work,” she teased. Toshinori just laughed some more. “That’s gonna be you in a little while. I think you’re almost ready to take my quirk… Then we can race home!”
That sobered him up. “What? Are you serious!?” A few hours prior, he would have been embarrassed by the grin that split his face.
“I am serious. I’m also serious about those kids picking on you,” Nana shifted. “If you want me to come in and straighten some fools out, I will.”
“No thanks, that’s okay.”
“You sure? I can bust through the windows during class. Make and example,” she joked. Toshinori bumped her shoulder slightly, and she bumped back. “I also meant it when I said I was proud of you.”
Toshinori exhaled. “Thank you, Nana-sensei. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“You’re welcome.” She stood proud and smiled down at him. “Come on, one more hug!” She tackled and spun him in the air again, only this time he laughed with her. “Now get going, before we both get rained on.”
“Bye, Nana-sensei.” Toshinori turned to run. The moment he looked away, he heard her jet into the air.
It wasn’t until he was digging for his keys to his aunt and uncle’s house that he realized: Has Nana-sensei ever hugged me before? The vague feeling of her arms around him lingered. It was so kind. She was so kind. He couldn’t remember the last time someone held him. Really held him. He smiled until it hurt. That was the moment he started to forget everything that had been wrong about that day.
Nor would remember the news report on the TV warning that a villain was threatening to take the whole town hostage.