Level of (Dis)Association

Chapter 2 - Eri (Origin)

"I've been running now so long, I'm scared, I've forgotten how to stand"

It had started on this very spot, truly started anyway. Izuku Midoriya's dream to be a hero formed when he was a child, but it didn't start till he was brought to this very spot to train. He'd not dwelled much on it, but before that moment he'd never actually broken free of the mentality that he would not someday be a hero as he had wished back then. A weak bodied boy who spoke lofty ideals but never put them into practice. Sure he had above average stamina and he had unknowingly developed a decent pain threshold from the constant bullying, but he'd never seriously put any effort into training his body. Thinking back now, in this moment of solitude while waiting for his companions to arrive, it filled him with shame.

He was expected to carry the embodiment of peace and justice upon his back, and yet that very weight he'd been handed had been given to a boy who could barely lift his school bags.

This very spot though, this beach that had once been an illegal dumping ground for lazy people to shove their trash and foist blame onto ocean currents, he'd truly started to work towards obtaining his dream here. It was here he'd finally cast aside his old mentally, the one that he subconsciously held tight that he could never be a hero like All-Might, and took his first unsteady steps. Hours upon hours of sifting through trash, pushing himself further and further each day, collapsing once or twice (or several times) but refusing to stay down. Yes, this spot that signified the beginning of his new life, this once disgusting beach that now shone in the rising sun of a Saturday morning, this is where Eri's new life would begin too.

Izuku Midoriya spent the hour until Eri arrived with Momo and Mina, the girls having all but demanded that he and Mirio use their first names if they were going to help support little Eri, cleaning up the small bits of refuse that had washed ashore. He wouldn't allow even a single speck of rubbish to hinder this wonderful view. He didn't mind that he'd been sent off to prepare for their arrival, and Mirio was ecstatic about being in charge of food (Izuku had a feeling the elder boy would empty his bank account if he could just so Eri had top quality meals and sweets for this day out). They'd both been somewhat reluctant at first, Eri hadn't wanted either of them to leave her side after the night she'd had, but the girls wanted to get a little closer to Eri themselves and neither he or his upperclassmen could really argue against people trying to form more connections with their charge.

He smiled slightly as the memory of early that morning came back. They'd all ended up staying the night in Eri's hospital room, even though it was against hospital rules and the tiny girl was supposed to be in form of quarantine. The Doctors and Nurses had been unable to withstand Eri's requests to let them stay so they'd dragged in a few chairs and a sofa from one of the Staff Rooms for them to sleep on. Eri had woken first and, after waking him and Mirio, had proceeded to wake Mina by poking at her cheek in that adorable curiosity that only children could have. After the energetic girl had woken up, both set to work on Momo. Izuku had immediately decided that a half awake Momo Yaoyorozu was something he'd like to see again if only for the fact she was so far removed from her usual elegance that he'd struggled to hold back giggles.

He sighed and collapsed backwards onto the glistening white sand, a hand reaching up towards the clear blue sky. He felt as if he was reaching towards a bright future, and as he slowly closed his hand he could almost imagine all the previous wielders of One For All doing the same. All of them reaching out to grasp that same future where a single girl was able to smile brightly. He'd been certain of his decision the very moment that girl had leapt out from that alleyway and clutched at him, but that image that found its way into his mind built an iron fortress around that decision. He felt like the very essence of One For All was behind him.

"IZUKU! IZUKU LOOK!"

He turned his head to the side, catching sight of the barely two foot tall child running towards him with a too large white Sun Hat on her head, with matching white dress and sandals. He smiled widely, got to his knees and held his arms wide ready for the embrace that was coming. He saw Momo and Mina a few hundred feet away in their usual prefered casual wear. He could hear his pink-skinned friend laughing, but was swiftly distracted when Eri finally reached him and slammed against his chest. She was speaking too fast for him to understand even a single word, wriggling in his grip so to find the perfect way to purchase herself upon one of his knees. Short arms grasping at the fabric of his shirt, because they weren't nearly long enough to wrap around his chest.

He laughed aloud but managed to speak through those laughs.

"You look cute there Eri! Did the girls help you pick them out?"

The tiny blonde nodded vigorously as she began recounting how Mina had taken her clothes shopping while Momo had gone to fetch the Sun-Cream. The way she could hardly keep still from her excitement, the way she glanced around in awe even as she told her story, the way she smiled. Izuku Midoriya came to the conclusion that even if his hero career ending right this second, he'd be happy because this girl in his arms had been saved. She'd been saved and the smile she wore now was beautiful and so very, very amazing.

It only reaffirmed his decision to tell them the story behind this beach, the meaning it held and why he'd chosen this very spot for Eri's first jaunt into a free life that was all her own. Edited, of course, so as to not reveal his connection to All Might and his Quirk. He'd reveal to them, these people who sought to protect what he was trying to protect, the smile of a small child, how he'd began. How the hero Deku become someone that can protect. His very own Origin.

Mina Ashido couldn't keep the grin off her face the entire day. Though they could be exhausting, even to her high energy levels, children had a habit of making even the grumpiest of people smile. Well, unless they didn't like kids, which was fair enough because there are some that are absolute brats, but that was beside the point. Eri's enthusiasm towards everything from sand castles to rock-pooling, even to the experience of having to wear Sun-Cream, had put the pink-skinned girl into a blissfully relaxed state. All kinds of motherly and sisterly feelings had shot through her all day, to the point of getting inordinately angry at a gull that that swooped down and stolen food from Eri's paper plate. She'd shouted and threatened that bird with her strongest Acid attack all while Eri giggled and laughed as the bird ducked and dived in the distance.

Not a single beach activity had been left out, each one they had all participated in whole-heartedly. Even Momo, who was generally a bit more reserved, lost herself completely to Eri's infectious joy. Mina glanced to her right, taking in the small but pleased smile of Izuku as he reclined on the sand. Smiling softly as Momo and Mirio played Keep Away with an almost exhausted but still playful child. She'd had a lot of respect for her classmate for a long time and his accidentally troublemaking personality was amusing. Seriously, he was possibly the gentlest and most soft-spoken guy she knew but he always seemed to be causing trouble somehow. What she'd previously respected about him though, was different to what she did now.

Before she'd respected his drive and determination, his pain threshold and the sheer bullheadedness it took to challenge Stain and win. Yeah, no one was really supposed to know about that but Jirou had overhead Iida and Todoroki discussing it with Izuku and then all the girls pretty much knew. Such was the way of female classroom gossip.

Stain had killed so many professional heroes, but he was taken down by three new recruits. Some of the best of the best sure, but the pros were still leagues above them. So it had been Iida's speed, Todoroki's adaptability and decisiveness and Izuku's insane tactical mind and comprehension (as well as that devastating strength) that lead to their victory. That was how the girls puzzled it out anyway, the three of them were both the perfect foils and the perfect compliment to each other. The whole story was still unknown, so they could be wrong, but hearing Todoroki's disdain over the fact it had been Endeavor who'd gotten the credit and not any other hero had pretty much cinched it for them. Those three had taken down the serial killer who'd changed the world with his twisted ideals.

It was funny, hearing about that hadn't really come as much of a shock. In hindsight she'd felt Stain and Izuku were almost destined to fight, considering that the Ideals of that serial killer could well have been the same one's their boy developed if he'd slipped even once upon his path to heroism.

Still, as she watched him stare out upon the bay she felt herself relax even more. There was something strangely calming about Izuku Midoriya, the entire class felt it but not a single one of them had any clue how he managed it.

"What ya thinking?" she asked him suddenly, eyes bright with curiosity.

"Just a story" he replied distantly, his smile and gaze still on the three in the distance "One I think Eri will like"

She felt her breath catch suddenly when he turned to face her, his smile so wide and reassuring it reminded her of something that was just out of reach.

"Your being here means the world to her Mina, thank you"

Mina Ashido wasn't one for embarrassment, but being thanked so sincerely for something as important as Izuku and Mirio's desire to keep that tiny girl smiling? Well, she was thankful her skin was already pink and that it was already so warm out.

"Yeah" she ended up mumbling back, the boy watching the now returning figures and no longer paying her any attention "anytime"

It was embarrassing, because she truly meant it.

"For a long time, I didn't really believe I could be a hero"

Izuku started, eyes resting on Eri with a soft gaze. The others in a small circle with him at it's head and Eri upon the lap of Mina at his left. They each sat enraptured by his melancholic tone and the serious line of his lips. Though eyes had saddened slightly at the opening, they didn't dare interrupt.

"My quirk never manifested, but my dream was to be a hero. I spent all my time thinking on it, analysing the quirks of others to help me in the future, but deep down I didn't really think it was possible. I mean I was quirkless, at least I thought I was, as much as I forced myself to believe that it didn't matter the truth was that it did. That's how the world is, a powerless kid wouldn't be able to stand up against those with powers. But I focussed on my dream anyway, just not in the most productive of ways. I never actually trained, you see. I was weak, I was bullied and scared of everything"

He let out a sigh, shaking away the feelings that rose up in reminiscence, the vestiges of awful days that still bothered him. He smiled genuinely when he started up again.

"Until, someone acknowledged me. They didn't think I could be a hero either, at first, but they saw something in me. So they trained me, made me see that my dream wasn't so impossible. He helped me find my quirk, but body wasn't used to it. That's why I get so hurt when I use it at full power, my body never had chance to adapt and by the time I found it the backlash was far worse than it would've been if it had manifested normally. He took me to a place that people had been dumping trash at for years, with no care. He taught me that a hero shouldn't just focus on fighting bad guys but genuinely helping communities. So for the months before the U.A exams, I cleaned that place till not a scrap remained"

His eyes went to the horizon and he gestured with his chin for the others to look out as the sun rested upon the horizon. It's light causing the sea to glitter and the reddening sky to flare like fire.

"It's beautiful now, don't you think?"

Eri gasped in shock and awe, the others equally surprised but they'd already had an inkling about the revelation from knowing of the beaches state beforehand. The news that some anonymous person had cleared the entire shore had been near national considering the feat had been done without anyone noticing.

"Eri" Izuku brought her attention back to him and reached across to take both of her tiny, fragile hands. "This is where I began. I'll never forget my past, the good and the bad will always be apart of me and nothing can change that. It's true for you too, right? It's scary having all those memories, right?"

The girl nodded shyly, her eyes tearing up slightly as all her nightmares flashed briefly in her mind. The presence of her two saviours on either side of her doing more than she could ever articulate in calming her though. Izuku gripped tighter for a moment, a gently squeeze to show he wasn't done yet.

"You can start her too, you know? I don't know if you've got a dream yet, I don't know what you want to do with your future, but this beach already saved me. Would you like it to save you too?"

He didn't so much get a yes as he did a girl shaped ballistic missile to his stomach and a shrunken horn repeatedly stabbing into his chest. Still, he smiled and looked to his friends. Mirio was beaming with his thumb up, Mina grinning but her arms awkward as they wondered what to do now they weren't hugging Eri and Momo had her eyes closed and head turned slightly away. The smile was small but obvious, and he pretended he didn't see the small tear that had gathered in the corner of one eye.

Honestly, i've been struggling with this. I knew how I wanted it to go, but I don't think it comes across very well.

All the major points are there, at least, but I'm don't think I wrote it well enough to really bring out what was in my head.

To be fair though, i've never been good at continuing stories. I'm alright at single chapter things (whether that good single chapter is the first or not is sometimes debatable) but I'm more an impromptu, suddenly in the mood writer and not someone who is verbose or skilled enough to really complete an entire story.

Eh, whatever. I hope this wasn't too disappointing a follow up.

Probably won't be a third chapter unless I have a really great idea.

Kind regards,

Yourfellowwriter