Chapter Text
SUNNY SUZUKI looked around at the wacky new world he found himself in. A place with denizens almost as fantastical as in HEADSPACE, a place where people walked around with impossible mutations and crazy hair colours as though that were completely normal.
The last thing SUNNY remembered happening in his old world was the confession. He remembered the gentle smile he shared with BASIL, and the shock and betrayal on his friend’s faces. Despite that, he felt… happy. He did it. He was free.
Clearly, the world agreed. A few hours after he admitted the truth, when he was resting in his hospital bed, a bright light began to fill his vision, like the headlights of an approaching car. The world started to sound like it was submerged in water, until he was eventually engulfed in white and silence.
The next thing he knew, he was standing in the street of some kind of city.
At first, SUNNY thought this was some new type of HEADSPACE. After HEADSPACE collapsed, he supposed it made sense that something would replace it.
But wasn’t this a bit too… realistic? After wandering about for a few hours, his stomach began to growl. That wasn’t something that happened in HEADSPACE. There, he only ate to restore HEART or JUICE.
And, when he looked down at his hands, they weren’t white. In HEADSPACE, as OMORI, he knew his hands were supposed to be monochrome white. Right now, he wasn’t OMORI. He was SUNNY.
Aside from the strange inhabitants of this place, everything seemed to point to this being a new reality, rather than a mental construct like HEADSPACE. And SUNNY didn’t know what to think of it.
Though, it was surprisingly nice to walk around under the light of the sun. For some reason, it made him feel… energised? It felt like it absorbed into his skin and pooled in his body, as strange as that sounded.
Still, that was far from the strangest thing about the entire situation.
“Kid,” said a gruff voice from behind.
SUNNY turned around. He looked at the man, wearing black from head to toe. He wore a grey scarf around his neck, and a pair of yellow goggles around his neck. His patchy stubble made him look almost homeless, and SUNNY subconsciously tensed like this man was an enemy.
“… Yes?” SUNNY responded, hesitantly.
The man looked SUNNY up and down. “What are you doing wearing a hospital gown and a medical eyepatch in public?”
“I… woke up like this?”
The man stared at him, unimpressed.
SUNNY looked down and sighed. “… I don’t know what happened. I just woke up like this. I’m completely lost right now.”
SUNNY could have lied. But, after everything he had been through, he had enough of lying. From now on he vowed to be more truthful, even to suspicious men like the one before him.
“… Kid,” the man said eventually. “What’s your name?”
“SUNNY,” SUNNY said. “SUNNY SUZUKI.”
“SUNNY, if you are truly as lost as you say you are, would you care to follow me to the police station?”
SUNNY shrugged. It wasn’t like he really had anything to do.
The man sighed. “Alright kid. Follow me.”
-=-
The pair walked through the city. Despite their odd attire, they attracted little to no attention. Though, considering the appearance of the average citizen, maybe that was to be expected.
SUNNY continued to follow the strange man, wondering if he was being led on. Was be about to get kidnapped? The man hadn’t even introduced himself. He certainly seemed shady at first glance.
Thinking about it, SUNNY figured that as long as he stayed near the populated areas and avoided dingy alleyways, he would be safe.
Though, maybe he wouldn’t be safe, considering the screams of terror in the distance.
“What’s going on?” SUNNY asked out loud.
“… Stay here, kid,” the man said. “I’ll check it out.”
SUNNY stared as the man began to run towards the screams.
“… What?” SUNNY asked, delayed.
Did that man have no common sense? Why would he run towards the screams, rather than away from them?
Stay here? Screw that. SUNNY needed to make sure the man didn’t kill himself.
With that, SUNNY began to run towards the source of the commotion.
-=-
SUNNY wheezed, winded from the exertion. A crowd surrounded the scene, full of spectators just as stupid as the man who abandoned him. Seriously? Did they think this was some kind of game?
SUNNY tried to shoulder his way through the crowd, but with his light weight he found himself being jostled around roughly. Eventually, he found himself at the front of the crowd, and what he saw shocked him.
“… BASIL..?”
To his horror, he saw BASIL covered in some kind of living sludge, writhing and clawing for breath. He was struggling weakly, still covered in bandages from his fight with SUNNY. Vines and tree roots erupted from the ground, flailing ineffectively against the viscous monster.
SUNNY, to his own shame, froze.
But luckily, someone else didn’t.
A freckled boy with green hair leapt into action and ran towards BASIL and his slimy assailant. He heard people cry out for the boy to stop, but he seemed like he was possessed, sprinting towards danger without a single consideration to his own well-being.
A boy, who had no idea who BASIL was, acted first.
SUNNY cursed and began to run too. BASIL, poor BASIL, the boy he had abandoned for the past four years, the one he just reconnected with… he didn’t know what he planned to do, but he knew that he couldn’t just watch.
As SUNNY followed, the green-haired boy twirled and threw his backpack at the sludge monster with all his might. Purely by chance, a notebook flew out, the corner striking the monster in the eye, causing it to recoil in pain.
That’s it! The eyes! SUNNY might not have a FOE FACTS! entry for this kind of opponent, but he knew he would be writing one afterwards.
SUNNY ran towards the monster, the scene and the fire searing into his eyes, blurred by the tears. Helpless frustration bubbled in his stomach, and he was reminded of when BASIL was pushed into the lake by AUBREY. But this time, there was no HERO to save the day.
Now, if you asked SUNNY how he had managed to do what happened next, he wouldn’t have had an answer. As though guided by a phantom instinct, he pointed his finger at the monster’s eyes. He drew upon the solar energy that he had been collecting throughout the day, and channelled it through his body.
At his command, a beam of sunlight fired from his fingertip, bright and luminous. The beam struck the eyes of the villain, blinding him. The beam was powerful, but not dangerous—enough to blind, but not hurt.
Though useful, his unexpected powers were unrefined. If SUNNY could, he would have put more power into the attack, uncaring for the harm he could cause. This wasn’t like the altercation against BOSS—he could tell that this criminal had seriously bad intentions towards BASIL.
“Gah!” The sludge villain cried, his grip loosening. The movement allowed BASIL a moment of respite, gasping desperately for breath.
SUNNY had bought BASIL some time. But, against an opponent he could not harm… what could he do? SUNNY tried to rack his brain, but a moment later it proved unnecessary.
“I really am pathetic.”
An incredibly muscular man, with tufts of blonde hair, was suddenly standing before them. His musculature was on par with PLUTO (EXPANDED), and he almost expected him to flex right then and there.
“All Might…” the green-haired boy muttered in awe.
“Even though I admonished you, I wasn’t putting what I said into practice!”
SUNNY stared.
“Pros are always risking their lives! Detroit Smash!”
The man threw a punch that hit even harder than the LIFE JAM GUY, a tempest of wind literally blowing everyone away. All the fire and chaos was immediately quelled by the sheer might of the strike, and from across the city people could see the vortex.
As the scene cleared up, the sludge monster was gone. BASIL lay on the ground, wheezing. SUNNY ran towards BASIL, who weakly looked up at him.
“BASIL, BASIL, BASIL…” SUNNY repeated, as though speaking the name would keep him from disappearing.
“… SUNNY?” Basil groaned. “Is that really you?”
“It’s me, BASIL,” SUNNY said, sniffling while wiping away his tears. “I’m here.”
BASIL smiled warmly. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me. Not anymore.”
The two sat there in silence, as people yelled and surrounded them.
SUNNY turned to the green-haired boy, who was getting scolded by two shameless bystanders, dressed in ridiculous clothing. He almost wanted to insult them over it before remembering…
… Right. He and BASIL were still wearing their hospital gowns.
“SUNNY,” BASIL said. “Do you know where we are?”
“No clue,” SUNNY replied. “I’ve only been here for a few hours.”
“Me too,” BASIL said. “We must be so far from home… I don’t understand a word of what anyone is saying.”
“Right,” SUNNY said. “You don’t speak Japanese…”
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them. SUNNY turned and looked up at…
“You didn’t listen to me,” the gruff homeless-looking man growled.
“I didn’t,” SUNNY replied simply.
“I only wanted to bring you to the police station to help you,” the man said with a sigh. “Now I have to bring you in as a possible vigilante.”
“What about him?” SUNNY asked, pointing at the green-haired kid. “He ran in first.”
The gruff man looked over at the green-haired kid, still being scolded heavily by the useless bystanders.
“We’ll bring him in too,” he said reluctantly.
SUNNY sighed. He didn’t regret what he did, but apparently his actions came with consequences. What a headache…
SUNNY explained the situation to BASIL, who appreciated being kept in the loop. The gruff man started talking to the green-haired kid, and SUNNY knew that they were all about to be subjected to a scolding.
-=-
SUNNY, BASIL, and the green-haired boy sat in the back of a police cruiser. The gruff man sat in the passenger seat, while a police officer drove. There, SUNNY got to talk to the boy who had run in first, the one who had broken his freeze response and possibly saved BASIL’s life.
He didn’t know what to expect, but a nervousness beyond even BASIL’s was not in the cards.
“N—no need to thank me!” The boy said with a stutter. “I—I probably didn’t do much, I might even have made things worse…”
“Without you, BASIL might have died,” SUNNY said seriously. “You were a hero.”
“H—hero!?” The boy cried, way too loudly. “N—no, you’ve got it wrong…”
“I know what I saw,” SUNNY said simply, crossing his arms. “Just accept the gratitude.”
The boy flushed red, completely overwhelmed.
BASIL smiled. He didn’t speak the language, but he understood enough through context. He bowed as best he could while seated, before speaking in English. “Thank you!”
The boy somehow turned even redder.
“What’s your name?” SUNNY asked.
“M—my name is Midoriya Izuku,” he stammered.
“I’m SUNNY, and the boy you saved is BASIL,” SUNNY said, patting BASIL on the shoulder.
“I—It’s nice to meet you!” Midoriya said. “I actually wanted to ask you two a question..?”
SUNNY nodded for the boy to continue.
“Y—your quirks… they were really cool! S—SUNNY, you blinded the villain with your light! How bright can you make it? Can you only fire it through your finger, or can you release it anywhere on your body? Where does the energy come from?”
“Um…” SUNNY responded, unsure how to reply to the boy muttering up a storm.
“And you, BASIL!” he cried. “T—That was you controlling the plants, right? They kind of made it hard for the heroes to help you, but even so that quirk seems really strong! How many plants can you manipulate? Do you create plant matter or do you just control it? What’s your range?”
SUNNY felt a need to interrupt. “Midoriya, BASIL doesn’t speak Japanese at all.”
“O—oh! Really?” The boy said, before switching to English. “I—I can speak English! I know a little!”
BASIL’s eyes widened, before waving. “Hello!”
Midoriya brightened up. “I—I wanted to ask about your quirk?”
BASIL seemed confused. “What’s a quirk?”
Midoriya tilted his head. “D—did I mistranslate that..?” He muttered quietly.
“You didn’t mistranslate that,” SUNNY said in Japanese. “We don’t know what a quirk is.”
“Y—you too!?”
While talking to the kid, SUNNY noticed the gruff man in the front look over in slight surprise, clearly eavesdropping.
“A—A quirk is your superpower!” Midoriya explained succinctly. “Y—you two both used your quirks, didn’t you?”
“…” SUNNY thought back to the fight. “My ‘quirk’ is that I can store sunlight and re-emit it later. I think.”
“Y—you think?”
“I didn’t have it until today.”
“Y—you’re a late bloomer?” Midoriya asked.
The gruff man in front decided that this was a good time to join the conversation. “That was your quirk manifestation?”
“Yeah..?” SUNNY said.
“… You should tell the police that. Using your quirk like that was vigilantism, but the police are lenient on quirk manifestations.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” SUNNY said. “So, Midoriya, what’s your quirk?”
“M—my quirk?” the boy stammered with a wince. “I—I’m… kind of… quirkless?”
“So you’re just a normal person?” SUNNY replied.
“I—I’m actually abnormal…” Midoriya said quietly. “Most people have quirks, you know..?”
SUNNY filed that information away. This conversation was the most enlightening he had since he had been sent over to this world.
“I’ve always wanted to be a hero,” Midoriya said, wistfully. “But a hero needs a quirk… I realised that today.”
“That's nonsense,” the gruff man in front said.
“E—Eraserhead?” the boy squeaked.
“You recognise me, kid?”
“O—of course!” Midoriya exclaimed. “I recognised you right away! Your fighting style is so interesting! There’s not many videos of you fighting online, so whenever I see one I always save it! I—I was just too overwhelmed to say anything…”
The newly identified Eraserhead looked uncomfortable.
“S—so… what did you mean by nonsense..?”
“… Since you know me, kid, I don’t have to explain,” Eraserhead said. “But as you know, I effectively fight quirkless. My quirk is only an equaliser.”
“B—but even that is a huge advantage, isn’t it?” Midoriya said.
“Do you think I could fight even without my quirk?” Eraserhead said with a raised eyebrow.
“O—of course!” Midoriya said. “Your skill with your capture weapon is incredible!”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Eraserhead said simply.
“…” Midoriya’s eyes widened. After a dozen seconds, SUNNY waved his hand over his face, to no response.
“Y-you really think I could be a hero, sir?” Midoriya said in a whisper, as though speaking too loudly would change the outcome.
“No,” Eraserhead said bluntly.
“N—no?” Midoriya squeaked. SUNNY also tilted his head at the seeming contradiction.
“Not as you are right now,” Eraserhead explained. “Tell me, what kind of training do you do?”
“I—I don’t train, sir…” Midoriya responded ashamedly.
“Exactly,” Eraserhead said. “Even if you had a quirk, you couldn’t be a hero as you are now. But I think a quirkless hero isn’t as improbable as you think it is.”
Midoriya looked at Eraserhead with hope-filled eyes. SUNNY almost felt like he was somewhere he shouldn’t be, witnessing an incredibly personal moment.
Then, Midoriya began to sniffle.
“Kid…” Eraserhead said, sounding uncomfortable. “Ugh…”
Midoriya began to weep.