despite the scars

chapter 7 - Raconteur

Present day

Izuku jumped from building to building, in the past year he had spread out his patrol area, his skills have improved, and he was now Eri's big brother. He's improved greatly, not only physically and emotionally, he now understood his quirk to the fullest. He is able to create elaborate, sentient beings out of the energy he collects.

Pulling a few strings, Izuku was able to enroll Eri in school, she was currently waiting for him to pick her up, him running a few minutes late after stopping a robbery. He ran over roofs, still in his vigilante gear, before he arrived at Eri's school.

Stuffing his mask and glasses into his pocket, Izuku jumped into the alley by the building he stood on. A small white, slightly translucent, dragon cushioned his fall before disappearing into the slightly lighter alley. Pulling his hood down, Izuku started towards the school. There he saw Eri standing outside waiting for him.

Walking up to her, he was greeted with a hug from her. Manipulating the sounds around him into a purple parrot on his shoulder he started a small conversation to fill the walk home. After a considerable amount of talking they settled into a comfortable silence, the parrot was now a parakeet flying around his head, Eri stared up at it in wonder.

Walking towards them were two U.A. students, one with blue hair, the other a brunette. The blue one made chopping motions with his stiff arms, the other nodded along and smiled. When the blue haired male spotted Izuku, who was eying them warily, he speed walked over. Izuku grabbed Eri's hand in his, subtly taking a step forward in front of Eri, he widened his stance slightly and readied himself to use his quirk, though it all went unnoticed to the male.

"Excuse me! I noticed that you are using your quirk! I'd like you to know that quirk usage in public is considered illegal activity! I'd advise you to stop immediately!" the parakeet once again grew into a larger bird, this one being a falcon. Izuku used the pause to think of a fitting answer. 

"No" Iida's frown grew, "I use this bird to talk, notice my mouth not moving." he motioned to his mouth. Picking Eri up, Izuku started to walk away before the boy spoke up again, "I don't see why you don't use your voice! It's very improper to use methods like that bird to communicate!" Izuku turned to face the male, pulling down the collar of his sweatshirt.

The male sucked in an audible breath at seeing the scar that mared Izuku's throat, the scar looked hideous, he could see the indent it left in the boy's skin from where he was standing, there was discoloration around the cut, mostly pinks and reds, but the occasional yellow came in here and there, it almost wrapped completely around his neck, the middle being about as thick as the length of his thumb.

To say Iida was shocked would be an understatement, to know that he openly insulted someone with a disfigurement that probably not only hindered his social abilities and confidence, but that permanently took away his ability to speak normally, he just told a mute person to speak.

Stuck in his mind, scolding himself, Iida didn't notice when the green haired boy walked away, not when his sensei snuck up behind him and Ochaco.

"Iida, is it?" his teacher asked him, snapping him out of his trance. He nodded yes to his teacher, a sour look stuck on his face. "That was highly irresponsible, not only assuming someone's situation, but addressing someone in public about using their quirk, that boy happened to be a dangerous and wanted vigilante, I hope you have learned your lesson." his teacher's words shocked the boy, no words would escape his mouth "Go home, and please, think about your actions."

Iida did just that, he stayed abnormally quiet throughout the remainder of his day, worrying his family. They kept egging him on to describe his day, but he responded with flat, one word answers until, finally, they asked him directly what's wrong. 

"There was a boy" he responded "using his quirk in public. The quirk looked like a small bird on his shoulder, it was talking. I went up to him and told him to stop, public quirk use is illegal." he was strangely downtrodden during his story, "he told me 'no' through his bird, when I told him it was improper to do so, he showed me a hideous scar on his neck, that I assume hinders his capabilities to speak. Then Aizawa-sensei arrived. He said that the boy is a vigilante, I assume sensei was trying to catch him, I guess I just never thought that a vigilante could look like him." his mother nodded in understanding, "you've had a long day, you realize your mistakes, the only better thing to do is apologize. try to not let it eat you up, ok honey?" Tenya nodded before murmuring a small thank you and heading to his room.

the only thing on his mind was the need to apologize to the boy, vigilante or not.