Nonchalant

Chapter 9

The pharmacy was farther away than he thought.

The day was unbearably hot, the sun was beating down on the city. It was gray and smoky just two hours ago, and Izuku wondered where the clouds ran off to. He wished they would come back, the heat was getting his uniform sweaty.

Izuku spotted a tunnel and rushed towards it to take shelter. He ran his hand over his forehead and flicked the sweat off in an attempt to dry his face, which obviously didn't work very well.

He heard a faint rumbling sound, but dismissed it as the heroes fighting some villains in the city. Izuku was glad he wasn't in the middle of it; he didn't want to bother about quirks at the moment. He'd have to watch the news later.

The sound was getting closer. Why was it getting closer?

Izuku didn't think much of it, until the manhole cover shot upwards and slammed on the road. He jumped at the sound and stared at the the hole. Something dark and gooey slid out. It was the color of sewage and smelled like it, too. Two piercing eyes swirled in circles before setting their pupils on him, locking on him like he was a target.

He most definitely was.

"A medium-sized invisibility cloak...." the stranger murmured. Izuku took a step backwards and tried to run. In a flash, the goop wrapped around him and began slamming itself into his nose and mouth, suffocating him. "Don't worry. I'm just going to take over your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds. You'll feel better soon."

That didn't make Izuku feel any better. He clawed at the sludge in an attempt to get it out of his nose, but it only slipped through his fingers. The stranger laughed, amused by his pathetic struggling. "You can't grab me. I'm fluid!" Izuku knew that much by now.

 "Thanks for your help. You're my hero." 

Izuku halted at those words.

What? What did he say? That's impossible-I'm useless! How could I have helped him in any way?

The stranger must have noticed the lack of movement, the flow of sludge had slowed. But then it went even faster. Izuku choked and coughed at the goop in his mouth. He was ready to pass out and accept his fate. 

Finally, god dammit. 

After months of failed attempts, this could be it.

"Texas Smash!"

He was hallucinating. Dang. He watched too many All Might battle clips, he was hearing things.

Izuku passed out.

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He was dreaming. There was absolutely no way this was real.

Towering over him was no other than the Symbol of Peace himself.

All Might.

 Izuku could have backpedaled into China. 

"Hello there, young man!" All Might greeted with a friendly smile. "Are you alright?" Izuku nodded as he stood, brushing the dust off his pants and bowing politely, murmuring a quiet "Thank you," in response.

Izuku wasn't a people person, and he was really trying his best to hold back his fanboy behavior. 

The hero smiled again, flashing his bright pearly whites. "It's good to see that you're all right!" He held up two soda bottles. Inside was green goop and two eyes; it was the currently unconscious villain from earlier.

Izuku wanted to ask this man a question.

He usually dismissed it because of the fact that meeting All Might was practically impossible.

But now that he was here, in the flesh, maybe he could...

"I have a question."

All Might glanced at him as he shoved the bottles in his pocket. "Yes?" Too late to turn back now.

"Can someone quirkless like me become a hero?"

There, he said it. All he had to do was wait for a response. He hoped All Might wouldn't laugh in his face and tell him to dream on.

The hero frowned. "I'm sorry, young man. Hero work is much too dangerous without a quirk," Izuku's heart dropped into his stomach as All Might continued. "Dreams are good, but they must be realistic." 

Izuku clenched his fist, staring at his feet. He wanted to sink into the floor. "I-I see," he whispered, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking. "Thank you."

He turned and fled, not wanting to look back. He didn't want to see the disappointment on All Might's face.

It might have been rude, but Izuku couldn't care less. 

 Izuku didn't stop running until he reached the pharmacy, huffing and shaking. He was out of breath.

He knew his dream was a lost cause; he shouldn't have asked All Might about it. It just proved that he really was incapable of anything.

Izuku grabbed the bandages he came for, paid the cashier, and quietly made his way home. He had to consider other career paths for now. Maybe he could be a teacher; he was good with kids, more or less. Some didn't care if he was quirkless while others jeered at him.

Or he could be a corpse, six feet under. That sounded much better. 

Izuku pulled open a drawer and placed the package next to the first-aid kit before sitting on his chair. He needed to find different future jobs, so he browsed his computer.

Lawyer, doctor, engineer...

None of these were for him. Izuku continued to search.

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An hour of endless scrolling was for nothing. He found nothing of interest to him, though the coffee shop barista seemed plausible to him.

A flick of the wrist landed him into an article about vigilantes. 

Vigilantes, those who use their quirks illegally to bring justice.

He laughed on the inside. If he were a vigilante, he wouldn't be able to go to jail; he didn't have a quirk to break the law with. Izuku kept scrolling.

The more he read, the more invested he was in. It was an interesting idea, and he half-joked to himself about being a vigilante. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it-he couldn't hurt a fly to save his life. Izuku smiled at his own self-deprecating joke.

Izuku pulled out a sheet of paper and scribbled 'Jobs' on the top, listing 'Teacher', 'Barista', and 'Vigilante' as a joke.

It wasn't much, but it was all he could think of for now. He pulled his drawer open and set the paper next to his bandages. 

Izuku pulled out another location from his phone and left in silence.