Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kirisame never expected that she would one day enjoy the luxury of tutoring in academic subjects.

Growing up in a garbage dump, Kirisame had never attended school properly. Her literacy and arithmetic were taught by Butler Grandpa. Later, after Leo came, he also taught her some things from regular classes. As for the period when she was taken by Fallen King Femto to play, the things she learned by his side were entirely beyond normal reasoning.

In short, Kirisame wasn't completely ignorant, but when it came to the upcoming exam... she truly knew nothing.

...Life is really hard, thought the thirteen-year-old, still a kid, as she stood in a daze, expressionless at the entrance of the municipal library, holding a thick stack of reference books.

"Oh, Kirisame-san, are you here to borrow books too?"

Huh, isn't that the freckled boy from next door? I heard his grades are amazing...

Kirisame stroked her chin.

Izuku Midoriya, who had come to return books on his day off, saw his new neighbor standing at the entrance with a pile of books and took the initiative to greet her.

—What greeted him was a swift ninety-degree bow, almost bumping his nose:

"Midoriya, save me!! Please tutor me, and I'll treat you to ice cream for a whole year, as much as you want!!!"

"...Huh??? Huhhh???"

"Eh? Kirisame-san wants to apply to UA too?"

Sitting on a chair in the ice cream shop, Izuku Midoriya couldn't believe this turn of events.

[I'm! Sitting! In a shop! Eating ice cream! With a girl!]

"Yeah, it's my family's wish. If I don't get in, I'll have to pack up and go back to my hometown. Do you want to go to UA too?"

The freckled boy nodded bashfully.

[Wow, his eyes are sparkling, so cute!]

"You look like a great student, so you'll definitely have no problem!" The girl swung her legs slightly and crunched down on the matcha wafer stick in her ice cream. "I'm so jealous~"

Izuku watched her movement and inexplicably felt a chill on his neck.

"Eh? No, no, that's not true," the boy's eyes dimmed. "Rather, my chances are slim..."

"Hmm?" The girl put away her smile and looked at him.

He noticed that although Kirisame-san usually seemed carefree and unreliable with a smile on her face, once she stopped smiling, her beautiful golden eyes became calm and steady, looking very reliable.

He shouldn't have complained to someone he didn't know well, especially a girl he had just met, but at that moment, looking into her eyes, the boy suddenly felt a bit aggrieved:

"Hey, Kirisame-san, do you think someone without a Quirk can still become a hero?" The boy looked down, his expression unreadable.

The question was sudden, but Kirisame had been here long enough to understand how people here viewed "being Quirkless."

"Hmm, it's still pretty tough. Without a Quirk, you'd be at a disadvantage in physical confrontations with Quirk-using criminals. But if you then only deal with ordinary criminals without Quirks, wouldn't that just make you a policeman?"

[...Oops! He's about to cry!!] Kirisame mentally slapped herself and quickly grabbed a tissue from the table to hand him.

"S-see, that's what I thought." The boy took the tissue and wiped his face haphazardly.

[Not good, this atmosphere is too bad. If it continues, there's no hope for tutoring!]

Just as Kirisame was hesitating whether to say something to lighten the mood, he suddenly looked up:

"But, but, I still want to be a hero!! I want to be the strongest hero, like All Might!!"

Although the sentence lacked a subject, his expression made it clear.

[So he's the one without a Quirk...]

Kirisame froze. She had never experienced a peer pouring out their feelings to her like this. The boy's face, smeared with snot and tears, showed an expression that was very fresh to her—a mixture of pain, frustration, inferiority, meaningless persistence, and other negative emotions that created a subtle fierceness, yet he was smiling, looking a bit embarrassed.

—In a sense, quite terrifying.

Hmm... those who look down on Quirkless people should really see this face. They'd probably be scared and unable to sleep at night. Even though he's probably extremely weak now, looking at his expression, anyone, no matter how strong, would feel a shiver that one day he might surpass them.

Kirisame stared at him, blinking hard, trying to store that expression in her memory.

The Izuku opposite her, realizing he had blurted out such embarrassing things to a girl who had asked for his help with studies, felt like he was on fire.

[Damn, she must think I'm crazy now. I finally got to talk to a girl and I ruined it. And why did I open up to her for no reason? Is this her Quirk? This Quirk is too scary...]

"No, it's not a Quirk. And I don't know why you're doing that."

"Eek!!

A trick!!!"

[His imagination is as vivid as his expressions...]

"...Don't get so worked up," Kirisame stuffed a dumpling into her mouth, squinting in satisfaction. "I'm not a god, and even if I say something, it doesn't mean things will turn out that way." Remembering Leo from another world, she added:

"But based on my years of life experience, if you want to do something, there's always a way."

"...!"

Izuku had a strong ability for mental imagery. At that moment, he selectively ignored the fact that this girl didn't seem to have many years of life experience. Many images flashed through his mind: All Might's "I am here!" video, the doctor's enlarged face when he said he had no Quirk, Katsu's gloomy expression, the laughter of many people, his mother holding him and repeating "I'm sorry"...

—Finally, it settled on the girl's eyes, with their floating golden specks.

Although the girl opposite him had her mouth stuffed full of dumplings, making her words slurred, Izuku still felt he had seen an angel. With such a plain tone, the angel had spoken the words he had most wanted to hear for ten years, though no one had ever said them to him. It wasn't even a direct affirmation, but—

"Hey, why are you crying again?! Are you a leaky faucet?! No, tissues aren't stopping it!!"

Because Midoriya Izuku cried so much in the ice cream shop that he looked like a kidnapped child and attracted a lot of attention, they had to take their unfinished snacks and quickly move to the swings in the park.

"I told you, you're too much. What kind of hero cries like that at the drop of a hat..." Kirisame finished her snack in a few bites, pushed off the ground, and swung her swing high into the air.

Izuku thought for a moment, then sniffled and answered her: "There is one. Weeping Hero Tierella, whose tears have strong corrosive properties. Interestingly, even though she herself is very prone to crying, she can't meet the daily combat needs, so she has to carry tear-inducing substances with her. A petite woman who apologetically cries while eliminating enemies is her selling point, very popular among otaku. The keyword 'Tierella's Tears' even sparked a phenomenon-level discussion, replacing the famous saying 'crocodile tears'..."

[...So there really is a hero like that! And doesn't the corrosive effect damage her face? Also, 'crocodile tears' isn't a good phrase, is it suitable for describing a hero? And hey, once he starts talking about topics he's interested in, he gets into it immediately!]

Kirisame was momentarily speechless, feeling that there were so many points to critique, she didn't know where to start. So she changed the subject and took his notebook.

—She was shocked at first glance. It was filled with detailed notes about many heroes, including their fighting styles, personality traits, ability limitations, and even hand-drawn illustrations.

"Oh, a handmade modern hero databook! You're so cool!!"

Izuku felt embarrassed but also a bit pleased: "No, no, it's nothing special. I just jot things down in my spare time."

“Huh, you just wrote that casually? Then give it to me~”

“No!!”

...blurted out

Realizing what he had said, the boy quickly tried to salvage the situation: “I mean, this notebook has been used for a long time. If Kirisame-san wants to see it, I’ll copy a new one for you.”

Kirisame didn't say anything, just looked at him with a smile.

Izuku Midoriya was puzzled by her stare, and it took him a while to understand.

The green-haired boy smiled shyly, revealing a hint of the pride he had been desperately hiding.

“…It's not just casually written. This is my secret weapon!”

A wave of pure adorableness hit him.

[I really want to pat his head, but I have to hold back.]

“By the way, how are you at fighting?” Kirisame asked. “You don't look very physically fit. Are you the type that hides their true ability…”

Kirisame figured Leo didn't learn fighting techniques because he probably felt that against three-meter-tall monsters, truck-sized beasts, and Zapp—who had no qualms about using his abilities to bully the weak—learning would be useless anyway.

The boy was stumped.

“No matter how important brains and information are, if you want to be like All Might, you still have to be able to fight, right?”

Izuku Midoriya had no reply.

He hadn't trained much. Even when he practiced occasionally, it was only in his imagination, and he never considered it something he needed to work on.

It wasn't that he didn't know the importance of it; it was just that deep down, he himself believed that no matter how much he trained without a Quirk, it would be useless. He could never catch up to All Might, not even Katsu.

“…Without a Quirk, no matter how much I train, it's useless, right?”

[…With that mindset, are you expecting a Quirk to fall from the sky?]

That “Super Lucky Abrams” had told her before that outside of HL, everyone had to be reasonable and fair. To gain someone's friendship, you had to have something equivalent to exchange.

Thinking of kk's tearful admonition before she left, ‘Little Kirisame has to make good friends~~~’, even though Midoriya looked a bit scary, Kirisame decided to give it a try.

“That twisted logic came from you, didn't it?”

Kirisame jumped off the swing, walked to an open area, and waved at Koku.

The boy walked over, confused.

“I'll wait thirty seconds. After that, I'm going to hit you.”

“Huh?”

Although he had no idea how things had turned out this way, since Kirisame didn't seem to be messing with him, Koku started moving. She said she was giving him time to think, but he knew nothing about her Quirk or attack methods, so he had no way to defend against them. With only thirty seconds, he couldn't run far, and turning his back to her might cause bigger problems...

So after thirty seconds, Izuku Midoriya stood still, facing Kirisame, and assumed a sideways defensive stance.

“Wise choice.” Kirisame snorted and leaped up.

Izuku's eyes followed her only as she jumped.

A shadow flashed before his eyes, and at the same time, a powerful impact hit him. The next second, he was kicked and sent flying, landing heavily on the ground.

It was a very direct and rough move, downright crude, but the speed and power of its user made it look exceptionally cool.

Kirisame walked over and pulled him up. “See? It's still useful, isn't it?”

He was crying again.

“I didn't use my Quirk just now. What you felt was just the speed and strength an ordinary thirteen-year-old girl can achieve through training,” Kirisame explained quickly, feeling a bit guilty.

“Isn't it a bit more useful in a fight than a pretty weak Quirk?”

Even though she tried to hold back, Kirisame—never good at holding back her strength—saw tears streaming down Koku's face from the pain, and guiltily handed him a lollipop.

“Why not give it a try? I think Quirks like 'having an extra arm' can only provide limited help in a real fight. If your body stays this weak, even if you suddenly get a Quirk one day, it'll only drag the Quirk down.”

“…”

[Kirisame-san really thinks I can become a hero and is earnestly giving me advice.]

Izuku Midoriya felt like crying again.

The gentle glow of the setting sun spilled down, bathing the boy in warm light. The sound of his heartbeat was thumping loudly in his chest.

He took Kirisame's outstretched hand, stood up, and bowed to her: “Thank you! I'll think it over carefully!”

[Nice try, Kirisame!]

[…! A girl's hand!! I held a girl's hand!!]

The boy's face flushed as he thought of something, and he quickly took two steps back. Thinking it was rude, he stepped forward again.

“If you don't mind, feel free to ask me whenever you don't understand something! As long as I know it...”

He gave a big smile.

“…That's a big help!!” Remembering why she had come out today, Kirisame also felt like crying.

The two stared at each other tearfully for a while, then Kirisame remembered something.

Izuku Midoriya had seen others use their Quirks before—powerful and direct like All Might, flashy and eye-catching like Katsuki Bakugo—but he was still shocked by Kirisame's Quirk.

Like a drop of thick ink falling into a pool of fragments of gold, in the instant the girl blinked, black flames formed a clover pattern in her right eye—a stark contrast, making that eye look incredibly eerie. She took a step forward, and as she moved, her originally loosely clenched right hand suddenly grabbed something and pulled it forward, drawing a blade from an invisible sheath. Black flames raced from the hilt to the tip.

—A wakizashi, Monoyoshi Sadamune, its blade pointing straight at him.

Koku was completely dumbfounded, his legs weak from fear.

Kirisame was also helpless; every time she did this, even if she was saving someone, it made her look hostile, even when she was trying to help.

In the boy's terrified expression, she gave him a quick slash, then patted his shoulder: “It's fine. I didn't mean to hit you. See, there's not even blood.”

“This is my Quirk. It can bring you a little bit of good luck, but I can only use it very rarely. Before, when I was really broke, I'd do this to myself and then go buy a lottery ticket. It worked really well.”

[…Kirisame-san!! That's illegal!!!]

Koku's first reaction was to reach for his notebook, but Kirisame threatened him by pressing the blade to his neck, so he had to give up with tears in his eyes.

“Don't worry, people who persist in their dreams will always encounter a bit of good luck. Think of it as a thank-you for your notebook.”

Kirisame went home satisfied. She had slacked off all day, but holding the junior high study notes generously provided by the honor student Midoriya, she still gained unexpected rewards.

In the ancient Japanese-style courtyard, the pink-haired wakizashi Mononobe Sadamune was sitting under the largest cherry blossom tree in the Honmaru, whispering with a smile to the white-haired tachi who had come over:

"Lord Crane, did you know? Our Lord has made a new friend~"

"Eh~ That's quite a surprise! If we tell Hikaru about it, there'll be a feast tonight, right!!"

Scattered petals drifted down, gently landing in the tachi youth's hair, his golden eyes, identical to Kirisame's, sparkling with curiosity:

"Ran's drawing skills are really bad; I still don't even know what our Lord looks like. I heard her eyes look like mine... I really want to meet her soon."

"When that happens, I'll definitely give her a big surprise!"