𝙸'𝚖 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.

~18~

Mika had suffered grief before.
Though, they would never admit.

'Words are power', people would say. It was nothing but foolish to them, because have those people never met their mother?

For their mother, it was the complete opposite.

'You have no quirk. I'm surprised you still consider yourself the eldest sister. Might as well give your primogeniture to Miku, unlike you, she actually deserves it.
What a great hero she would become.'

Mika took those words as a competition. Something to beat right in front of their mother's eyes. They started fighting; boxing, Taekwondo, Karate, wrestling and anything you could think of. They learned the basis of every skill they laid hands on, never officially mastering them.

But why? Well, they didn't care if they won a trophy, black belt or anything of that matter. They just wanted to prove people wrong. Prove their mom that they could do something and be someone even if they were quirkless.

That maybe...someone quirkless like them could be a hero. Could save lives. Could change the world.

Oh how marvelous would it be if they saw the look on people's faces the day they were put as the best Pro-Hero in Japan.

Of course, life is unfair. That's just how it is meant to be.

'Your hands are power', they would tell themself while either boxing with bare, bloodied hands, kicking until their legs were too weak to stand or wrestle until both them and their opponent killed themselves.

Life is unfair.

No matter how hard they tried, it just seemed that the closest they could ever get to power was a brisk of fingers; a lick of its taste; a whiff of its smell. But never was Mika capable to have it in their own hands.

It seemed whenever they were so close, so damn close, society would pull them back. Back to the bottom. Way back at the start.

'You can't become a hero.'
'You can't save people.'
'You can't be strong.'
'You can't be non-binary. You're a girl!'
'You can't dress like that. Gosh, wear a dress for once!'
'You can't be strong.'
'You can't be weak either.'
'You can't.'
'You can't.'
'You can't.'

Their mother, their father who would never defend them, their classmates, their teachers. It seemed as though everybody was against Mika and only Mika. It seemed as though no matter how hard they tried and no matter how much blood came from their body, nobody would bat an eye.

Life is unfair.

So that's when Mika decided to give up. When they collapsed on the floor; sweat and tears smothering their face with only thought and nothing else.

'Words are power.'

What a satisfying feeling it was to give up. It felt so weird, relieving yet painful but also breath-taking. As if all their life they were trapped in this cycle of being their best.  A cycle that never ended and was always about proving people right.

For other people, they sensed a form of victory the day Mika didn't go to school. For weeks they didn't show up. Even months; the people from school never faltered in talking about that one student who finally gave up.

Yeah, words are power, aren't they?

When Mika finally went back to school, the guilt and shame ate them from mind to flesh alike. Silently pulling a few strands of hair every time someone would talk about how it was better for Mika to stay at home, how they should've never came back, why they should've give up.