Izuku had dreamed of being a hero for the longest time. Ever since he had seen that first footage of All-Might, the greatest Hero alive, rescuing all those people, he knew what he wanted to do. He was hooked. All-Might was incredibly popular, but for Izuku especially, it was a life-changing experience. Unfortunately, so was the revelation that he was born without a quirk and would realistically never be a hero. He hadn't given up on his dream though. He still wanted to save people. He still wanted to help others. He still wanted to make people smile. However, he had more than just being quirkless to contend with. He was an outcast.

Nobody really wanted to deal with him outside of his mother. His childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugou, became his worst bully and, upon developing his powerful explosive quirk, set out to destroy both the competition and any self-worth Izuku might have had left, reducing it to cinders. He called the young green-haired boy Deku. He was worthless, good for nothing, and would never amount to more than a pebble in the blonde boy's path. Izuku took it, still clinging to his memories of that childhood friendship and his admiration for Bakugou's awesome quirk.

Still, even if he was too browbeaten and powerless to stand up to his former friend, he still vowed to become a hero, taking notes on heroes, villains, and quirks whenever he could. He was observant, dedicated, and studious, even if others found him creepy and pathetic. What's more, even he had his limits to how much abuse he could take. However, he didn't believe he could do anything to stop the boy he still called Kacchan (if he even should do anything), so he opted to escape now and then instead. Tired of being harassed by his former childhood friend, Izuku decided to take the train elsewhere for a weekend. He was currently thirteen and was turning fourteen in a month or so.

"Maybe Kacchan is right. Maybe I am worthless. He's incredible and has such a powerful quirk. Everyone has such amazing abilities, and I…" Lost in thought, Izuku barely heard the sound of wheels on pavement when he heard "WHOAH! HOLY" and then collided with a girl on a skateboard. Both fell in a heap on the sidewalk, with the girl on top of him. She brushed herself off.

"Are you ok, dude?" a feminine voice called out. It was somewhat pained, as one would be after colliding with another person.

Izuku was about to speak and apologize, when he looked up to see who was speaking. It was a girl, around his age, wearing a black and pink helmet (with holes in the top, where horns were visible.), matching elbow and knee-pads, pink and black rollerblades, jean shorts, and a black t-shirt adorned with the movie poster for John Carpenter's the Thing. Her skin and hair were also pink and the clear of her eyes were black, with yellow irises. She looked like an alien, and was also very pretty. Even if she didn't look exactly human, there was just something striking about her, whether it be her vibrant skin or her even more vibrant smile. Izuku froze like he had been hit with an ice quirk, his mouth struggling to form words.

"You should probably watch where you're going." The girl spoke matter-of-factly, but also with kindness and concern.

"Y-yeah. Probably." he sighed finally managing some composure. "S-sorry." He bowed.

"No harm no foul. I wasn't really watching where I was going either, so I guess we're both kind of bad at it." She smiled. "My name is Mina Ashido."

Izuku slowly smiled as well. He was incredibly nervous, especially because "HOLY SHIT! A GIRL! AN ACTUAL GIRL! TALKING TO ME!", but her warm demeanor seemed so genuine that he was able to relax a little. Something about her seemed genuine, and he wasn't used to that. "Izuku. Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Ashido-chan."

"Pleasure's all mine. Mind if I call you Midori?"

"N-no. Not at all…. but why."

"It's cuter." She winked.

Mina had to admit, he was an awkward boy and kind of weird, but he was cute. His freckles were just adorable and his hair rivaled hers in fluffiness. Plus, the way he got all flustered was a little bit adorable. They moved over to a nearby bench to sit down. Mina had a messenger bag draped over shoulder, covered in sci-fi buttons and adorned with a familiar visage.

"Sorry for impeding your way, Ashido-chan. I'll let you get back to your day."

"Hey, dude. You're not impeding anything. I'm in no hurry. Why don't you come with me? I'm going to meet some friends."

Izuku was not at all used to this kind of attention, especially not from girls who weren't his mom. He was kind of suspicious of it, especially given how he had been treated by the other kids he knew ever since he learned he was quirkless. Heck, how would this girl react if he revealed that? Probably pity, or disgust, or a lack of interest. He had little to no reason to expect anything better than that. His childhood friend treated him like dirt. Why should some stranger treat him any better, Still, she seemed nice to him so far, and even if he had no confidence, he really did want to talk to her.

"So, you're from out of town, huh. Visiting a friend?"

"…not exactly. It's not anything important."

Mina could sense that it was bullshit and that he had something on his mind but was too lacking in confidence to say it. She had been accused of being a bit of an airhead, but she had a pretty good people sense. She was outgoing enough to be able to read people, at least a little bit.

"You seem sad. I mean, I just met you, so it's cool." She shrugged but still feeling a twinge of worry for this sad boy with his freckled cheeks.

Before Izuku could speak, however, he heard something that filled him with dread.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Deku?"

"Looks like he's talking to a girl"

"She's probably just doing it out of pity for him being a quirkless loser. Hey Raccoon eyes. Word of advice. Stay clear of Deku there. He's useless and you don't want to catch loser disease." The cocky blonde spoke, disparaging his childhood friend.

Izuku was ready to just slink away and go about his business, hoping he could catch some heroes in action to record in his notebooks and not get embarrassed or treated like garbage. "Sorry" he whispered as he prepared to get up. However, something caught his arm. He was panicking, ready for this girl to turn around and mock him too. He was hoping at the very least she would lose interest. At least then, he could slink off and maybe find some heroes to observe. At least then he could distract himself from the pain of being called worthless. However, he was in for a surprise.

"Who are these guys, Midori?"

"F-friends." He shook. He wasn't totally lying. He still clung to Bakugou as a friend, like he did his dream of being a hero. One thought in the back of his mind did cause some conflict: "You have a better chance at being a hero than you do earning Kacchan's respect."

Mina fished absentmindedly through her bag at this. Izuku was confused, but then assumed she had lost interest and was getting ready to leave.

"Huh. Not enough…" she said to herself. She then turned to Izuku with a softer smile than before. "Sorry. Not buying it."

Izuku paused, then sighed. He really was that obvious. She placed a hand on his shoulder and got up.

"Leave Midori alone. What did he do to you?"

"He was born." Bakugou laughed. In his mind, it was a joke. In the minds of his tag-alongs, it was a particularly funny one. In Izuku's mind, it was another foot grinding him into the dust. In Mina's mind, it was enough.

"What's your issue? Bitter that he's talking to a girl?"

Bakugou's backup dancers ceased their laughter and stood still, as if they had just witnessed a horrible car crash. Their blonde ringleader looked like he was about to suplex a tree at these words. Instead, he scoffed.

"Fuck off, Raccoon eyes. I can reduce you to cinders.

"Like I would want to talk to some monster bitch like you." Bakugou stormed off. "Come on"

"K-kacchan. Apologize to her…please."

Bakugou stopped. If someone coming to that shitty Deku's defense didn't piss him off, the same worthless nerd standing up to him clenched it. Bakugou was ready to put that mouthy loser in his place, at his feet.

"Looks like Deku grew some balls. Not like it means anything. You're still useless. If you really want to be a hero so much, why not jump off a building. Maybe you'll get lucky and fly. "Bakugou walked away. He was angry, yes. But what the fuck could anyone do? Deku was quirkless. He couldn't do shit. Even if he got in the blonde boy's shoe, he was just a pebble and could be kicked to the side of the road easily, here he belongs.

Mina was ready to intervene. She could not stand bullies. Izuku stopped her. "It's not worth it."

"How can you let him get away with that?"

"He's right. I…I am quirkless. I wanted so badly to have a quirk. To be a hero. To help people. But I will." The boy clenched his fist, tears streaming down his cheek. He sat down on a curb, feeling dejected, even if Bakugou had subjected him to far worse.

Mina didn't know how to react at first. This cute, awkward boy opened up to her, despite barely knowing her. If he hadn't been called worthless and essentially told to kill himself, she would have been a bit weirded out by the tears, but between that and having no quirk? She could see why. She instinctively reached out for Izuku's hand to calm him down. However, the realization that their hands were touching made both kids blush.

"I can't imagine what not having a quirk is like. To feel powerless. But thanks for standing up for me." She smiled. "I get a lot of looks because of…well, the way I look. I'm used to it, but I appreciate you telling them to knock it off."

"Oh…. N-n-no problem, Ashido-chan." Izuku was surprised. She seemed like she could have taken them herself, but he couldn't stand by and let someone else take the abuse that he had taken.

"Call me Mina." The pink girl spoke kindly, flashing her smile again. It didn't seem forced or fake. Izuku got the feeling that she was genuine in the way she conducted herself.

"W-what? N-no. I couldn't. I just met you." The green-haired boy protested.

"It's fine. Formality isn't my thing."

Izuku couldn't. He was so new to this kind of thing: talking to girls, being treated with actual kindness by his peers, and speaking informally to anyone except Kacchan. He couldn't.

"….H-how about Ashi? S-since you call me M-midori." He smiled sheepishly.

Mina thought on it for a while, giving the impression from her facial expression that she would shoot it down. She flashed a smile.

"It's cute. I'll allow it, Midori…. though it does make me question where your attention has been." She winked, flirting casually with her new friend. Izuku became an incomprehensible mess, red as a tomato.

"Come on. I promised you I would introduce you to my friends." She grinned, offering her hand as she helped Izuku up and they went to meet these friends of hers.

"B-by the way. I love your bag! Is that…" Izuku's attention, trying to divert itself from the thought of this new girl's toned pink legs, focused on her bag and was glad he did.

"Yeah. All-Might. He's not my fave but he is awesome!" she cheered, almost losing balance as she mimicked his movements. "DELAWARE SMASH!" she shouted in a deeper voce, trying and failing to imitate the greatest hero.

Izuku did something he was not expecting to do today: he genuinely laughed and smiled. This girl was silly, confident, and outgoing. She was his opposite. And he was enjoying her company.

"All-Might's the one who made me want to become a hero. I want to help people and save lives. I wat…I want to bring a smile to the faces of those who feel powerless." He spoke, quivering, but offering a smile towards the sky, tears welling in his eyes. Mina had her doubts this wimpy kid with no quirk could be a hero, but from the way he spoke now, she was convinced.

"Here. Check this out." Mina stopped skating and paused in front of Izuku, producing a liquid in her left palm as she held it up. Izuku observed in awe.

"W-whoah! You can produce fluid from your palms." He moved his head closer to her palm.

"Not just fluid, silly. It's acid. I can produce it from my feet too, so I can skate around without these." She gestured to her blades with her free hand. "I can adjust the acidity of it a little, but I still need practice."

"That is so cool!" the boy crowed! He was getting excited now and pulled out a notebook, but quickly reeled it back. "S-sorry." He shuffled his feet and looked away bashfully. "I-I was about to take notes, but that's probably weird."

"Ok. This boy is fucking adorable and he needs a hug!" Mina thought to herself. She discarded the fluid on the ground. Luckily, it was too weak to do anything.

"Let's go meet my friends, Midori. Then you can take some notes on all of us." She giggled.

The two headed away from the park, the sun shining brightly in the sky.