Chapter 8: Dead End To A Dead Man Walking
The first few nights after the sludge villain incident were difficult for Midoriya. The school had given the students a couple days off, considering that two of their students were so directly involved in the attack. Of course, the boy knew they were more worried about Bakugo, but it didn't bother him as much as it would have in the past. He definitely could admit, it was hard getting adjusted to the fact that those outside opinions didn't matter anymore. Before, the teen would have been upset, and rightfully so, that the school wasn't concerned about his well being. Or I guess, more concerned about Bakugo than him. But now, he wasn't as focused on what Aldera was saying or what they did. If they didn't care about him, that was alright.
That was ok.
Tonight was a late night for the duo, and as tiring as they were, Midoriya favored them over the nights he got his sorting done early. These first nights after the attack were emotionally draining on the boy, but he enjoyed the conversation Gami eased him into. It helped him forget the amount of trauma he went through on that day. He could never remember how the conversations would start, or what they would be about. All he could really recall was just the sensation of talking, the feeling of a smile blooming on his face or a short giggle that he would have to muffle so his mother didn't wake up. He would always go to sleep feeling at peace with himself. Maybe not exactly happy, but content in the moment.
He never knew what Gami did while he was asleep. If the spirit slept along with him or just floated off into the night and returned before he got up. Whatever it was, it was comforting to see the spirit messing with his blinds or looking at one of his notebooks when Midoriya woke up.
He really couldn't have asked for a better companion to be stuck with. He was so grateful that the ghost put up with his emotional crises and teenage angst.
But he really didn't have the time to be contemplating his lucky relationship with the spirit, not while running to school in hopes of making it on time. This was the only downside of those fabled late nights; the dreaded risk of oversleeping.
"How much longer until the bell?!" Midoriya panted.
"About 9 minutes," Gami replied calmly, casually floating next to his successor as he ran. It was an odd sight to witness if anyone actually could: a spector flying next to a sprinting child. "You can make it if you cut through the alleyway ahead."
The teen shuddered. He wasn't too fond of alleyways as of late. Ever since he watched Bakugo so close to death in one, he was particularly keen on avoiding them. But he also couldn't afford to be late on the first day back to school from the mini break, so he sucked up his complaints and skidded to a turn.
The alleyway was dark, despite it being early morning. He could pick out some discarded boxes and overflowing dumpsters that leaned against the building walls, but nothing out of the ordinary. That reassured the middle schooler as he flew down the path, holding onto his backpack straps to ensure that it didn't fall off.
He knew this alleyway though. Midoriya used it all the time as a shortcut to school when he was late. And he wasn't about to let a single bad experience stop him.
As he approached the end of his shortcut, he could make out a thick wooden fence. Considering he had decayed the old one when he was about 8, it didn't surprise him to see it the first time he did. At first, getting over the fence was a bit time consuming and made the boy nearly stop using the path, but like all things, he eventually figured out a way around the problem.
Stepping firmly on his right foot, he used his momentum as a springboard to launch himself onto one of the dumpsters. He used to stumble the first few times he attempted the jump, but now, it was just instinct. He ran across the top of the trash bin and made another leap of faith off of it. The bin was always just close enough that he could make it over the fence.
As long as he didn't hesitate, that is.
He'd learned that lesson the hard way for the first month, but after enough scratches and bruises, he could now make the jump with ease.
Besides, it felt relieving to just take that leap. It made his heart skip a beat when he felt himself soar over the fence like he had a jumping quirk or a strength enhancement one. The breeze that rushed through his evergreen hair gave him the sensation of flying. It always made him proud to know he could make the jump, even without a quirk.
Landing steadily on both feet, Midoriya continued his mad dash for the school. But because of that shortcut, he was confident he would make it on time. He hushed out a short cheer of relief and shook his fist in delight.
Gami chuckled at his successor's antics. Despite being a teenager, he knew that the boy acted more like a bubbly child than anything else. Many would disagree, claiming that the teen was way too reserved and quiet to be referred to as bubbly, but the spirit knew he was one of the few that really got to see the boy's true nature. When he was witnessing one of his favorite heroes in action or analyzing an interesting quirk, Midoriya was comparable to an excited puppy in the spirit's opinion.
It made him wonder why the world was so bent on crushing him and his dreams.
"We're here!" the teen whispered gleefully, "Time?"
Gami snapped to attention at the question. He hadn't noticed that they had arrived at the school during his internal reflection. "6 minutes until the bell."
"Oh that's good," he sighed out with a smile on his face, "but the hallways are oddly full for so close to the bell."
The ghost looked around, but his observations only confirmed Midoriya's statement. The hallways were pretty packed with students, all whispering and sneaking glances at the boy. The man realized fairly quickly what they were likely talking about. Looking back over to his successor, he knew the boy realized it as well.
The green haired teen squirmed uncomfortably. He never liked being the center of attention. And he definitely knew he was with the amount of stares on him. Sure, he wasn't surprised considering that the local news was just one of the many platforms that did capture his image during and after the attack, but that didn't make him feel any less awkward.
He knew that returning to school after the incident wouldn't be too pleasant. He was worried what his peers might do once they realized he was the sole individual who acted to save Bakugo. Gami did his best to comfort the teen during his time off from school, reminding him that their opinions didn't define him anymore, but no amount of schooling could prepare him for that uncomfortable feeling that crept up his spine.
Midoriya slinked himself into his homeroom class, clutching his backpack straps carefully. Despite the mass amount of students that wandered the halls so close to the bell, he could tell that all of his classmates were in the room, almost waiting on his arrival. The boy paused in the doorway, looking around at the other kids in the room. They were all acting similarly to the ones in the hallways, peering at him with hushed murmurs. But he noticed one major difference separating his classmates from the other kids he'd seen in the halls.
His class was snickering.
His brows furrowed at that realization and Gami tensed, alerting him that the man had spotted the same thing. What was so funny?
The teen took slow steps into the room, towards his desk, but his eyes were anywhere but. He turned his head to meet the stares of the kids he walked past, but the minute he looked in their direction, they lurched away and giggled harder. He knew that there would be an adverse reaction to his presence, but Midoriya was definitely not expecting laughter.
He looked in the general area of the teacher's desk, but was surprised to see no one there. It wasn't odd for the teacher to come in close to or even after the bell rang, but he was certain that the teacher would want to be in the room early on the first day back. The boy just sighed and moved his gaze elsewhere. He really shouldn't be shocked at the teacher's behavior anymore.
His eyes settled onto a large, spiky head of blond hair, but his stare wasn't met by another. After looking around, Midoriya realized that Bakugo was the only student not looking at him. Actually, it seemed that the angry teen was purposely trying to avoid making eye contact. That didn't surprise him, after all, he was sure that Bakugo hadn't gotten over the whole sludge villain incident yet or the fact that he had technically saved his life. But he could definitely tell that the blond was listening to everything going on in the classroom by the way his head was tilted.
Midoriya's slow steps came to a halt once he approached his desk. Strangely, so did the snickers and whispers. Both he and the spirit gazed around again, and this time, all eyes seemed to be on him. His classmates were watching him intently, waiting for him to react to something. His gloved hands let go of his backpack straps and moved towards his desk. He figured that someone in his class had done something to his seat in an attempt to embarrass him. Maybe someone had loosened a screw or put some gum on the chair, nothing too out of the ordinary. But as his eyes finally laid on his desk to search for whatever was making the class laugh, he felt his hands go cold.
On the top of his wooden desk, a vibrant red spider lily lay almost daintily across.
Midoriya took a step back in horror, his throat running dry. His hands stayed raised in front of his chest, unsure of whether to go back to his straps or to his sides. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from the flower, as much as he willed himself to. He could hear the laughter pick up from all corners of the classroom.
He and Gami did their best to prepare the boy for all sorts of situations regarding his return to Aldera, but both were surely not expecting this.
"Just hope for a quirk in your next life and go take a swan dive off the roof!"
Midoriya's classmates always made it painfully obvious how much they relied on the blond for guidance, especially when it came to confronting the green haired boy.
Once Bakugo started calling the teen "Deku," so did the rest of his peers.
Once Bakugo started verbally bullying the teen, so did the rest of his peers.
Once Bakugo started physically attacking the teen, so did the rest of his peers.
But not even Bakugo had gone as far as to tell him to kill himself.
His classmates always waited for Bakugo to take the first step, before rushing to follow him. So now that he had, the rest of the students figured they had free reign as well.
Midoriya wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, but Gami finally snapped the boy out of his head. He refused to meet the glances of his classmates and give them any more satisfaction than they were undoubtedly receiving.
"You saved a life, Izu," the man ushered him to move, to react, to do something, "You are a hero, despite what they believe."
The boy could only nod subtly, eyes still stuck on the flower and glazed over. He made no move to sit down at the desk.
Gami turned to observe the class in secret. They were still snickering and eying his successor. The spirit shook in rage, just wondering who was the little brat who decided to leave a spider lily on his friend's desk. He looked over to the two kids who joined Bakugo that fateful day after school. The kid with the long finger quirk was grinning widely and whispering to a few other kids around him. The ghost was sure it was him who left the unwelcome present. He strided over in that direction, focusing his fury in hopes that he could flip the kid's desk once he arrived, but a sudden creak of the classroom door drew all the attention away from the stunned teen.
"Midoriya, what are you doing out of your seat?" the homeroom teacher inquired, immediately focusing on the only standing student, "Just because you involved yourself in a villain attack doesn't give you any excuse to disrupt the class."
The class turned back to him and quiet giggles could be heard, but Midoriya still struggled to react. His head was spiraling further and further into darkness, and his hands were still shaking. But it wasn't until he felt the ghost put his boney hand on the small of his back was he able to will himself to move to his desk. He flung his bag off his shoulder and sat down in his chair, still not having moved the flower. The class and even the teacher watched and waited for the boy to do something.
His hand hovered over the long stem and his fingers rattled in uncertainty. Ever so slowly, his gloved hand wrapped around the flower and gently lifted it off his desk. He didn't even spare the plant a glance as he almost carefully placed it into his tattered backpack. He then pulled out his school books and positioned them neatly where the lily once laid. He rested his hands softly on the edge of his desk and waited with a blank, empty stare, for the class to start. He was sure his peers, nor the teacher, expected such a lack of a reaction, but the man finally began the class.
Gami had hoped that this would be a one time thing, but as the days passed, the two kept finding more and more lilies waiting for him on his desk. That first day, it had only been one, but now, Midoriya could expect to find two or three flowers each day when he got to school. But unlike that first day, the teen barely made a face at the sight. He simply would walk over to his seat, put the flowers away in his bag, and sit down. But that didn't deter the students from leaving them.
Today was the first day the flowers came with a note though.
He got a better look at the letter on his desk as he got closer. It was folded over, contents completely hidden unless opened. The note was also tied to the small bouquet of spider lilies with a silky red ribbon. It looked so elegant; Midoriya figured it could have been mistaken for a love letter if not for the choice of flowers. But he knew it was most certainly not a confession of passion. He was convinced that he would never be lucky enough to receive one.
He could feel the eyes on his form as he opened up the paper, but he made no confirmation of that acknowledgement. Inside was writing, scrawled in messy, black marker. The lettering was thick and large enough for the sloppy handwriting not to be a problem, concerning legibility.
'Finish what that villain started.'
Midoriya took a shaky swallow before pocketing the note, then putting the flowers away as he normally did. He did his best not to react and urged Gami to do the same, despite no one being able to see the spirit. Said spector reluctantly followed his successor's instructions, although eager to tear apart the classroom. The man never viewed himself as a violent individual, he just insisted that this middle school brought out the worst in him.
As for the contents of the note, the boy knew that it wasn't a rogue call to villainy. The flowers alone confirmed that. Besides, even if it was, he was too far deep into achieving his dreams of heroism. One singular note wasn't going to be the final push after he'd survived 10 years of pain and hate.
It was a call for his end.
But as nice as it might have been to answer that call, the teen knew it wasn't even possible. So he continued on with his day as normal, tuning in and out of lessons. He was eager to leave the school and enjoy some time alone. And by alone, he meant with Gami, watching whatever hero cartoons were airing. Unfortunately, he figured there may be some complications with getting home as early as he wanted to.
And by complications, he, of course, meant a group of Bakugo's lackeys.
The kids had gotten the chance to ambush him by his usual way home, since the teacher had held Midoriya back for some miniscule issue. But the boy was quick on his feet and attempted to run in the opposite direction to lose them. The group didn't give up chase though, and hastily followed after him. He figured that among the group must be the writer of the letter, and they might not have been happy over his calm facade. The note was probably an attempt to stir some sort of reaction out of him.
Making a split second decision, he ducked behind an alleyway dumpster and held his breath. He could hear a stampede of footsteps rush past his hiding spot, but luckily, they didn't stop. He didn't reveal himself right away though, just in case the group came back in his direction, but after a few minutes, he eventually left the alleyway. Wandering the afternoon streets, Midoriya realized he didn't recognize the area he was now at.
"Hey Gami, do you know where we are?" he asked the spirit.
"I do not."
"Hmmm…" the teen hummed out, taking his phone out of his back pocket. He typed in his address into the search bar. Almost instantly, a set of directions popped up on the screen, so he hit the "GO" button and started walking. He had meandered a bit far from his house and was about a 20 minute walk away, but he wouldn't complain if it meant avoiding his pursuers until tomorrow.
As he followed his phone, and Gami followed him, they passed a beach covered in what looked to be trash. If it weren't for the sight of the ocean, they would have had a hard time figuring out that it was indeed a beach. But the ghost seemed to recognize it and stopped abruptly. When the boy didn't feel his mentor's signature air behind him, he also stopped and turned to see what made the spirit pause.
"What is it, Gami?" he questioned with a curious expression, "Do you know this place?"
But the man made no response. Instead, he floated over to the entrance and stopped near a large stone right before the slope. Midoriya continued after him and walked over to the stone as well. He watched as the specter ran his hand over the top of the rock, but after closer inspection, he realized that it wasn't a rock that Gami was pondering, but actually an extremely weathered chunk of concrete. He moved to stand next to the spirit and finally got a look at the front of the slab.
It was heavily graffitied, but he could still make out the plated sign pressed into the concrete.
'Dagobah Municipal Beach Park'
Huh. Midoriya hadn't heard of this beach before.
"What… happened to this place?" Gami whispered so hoarsely, the boy almost didn't hear it.
"What do you mean? Do you know this place?" he repeated again.
"I…" he paused, unsure of how to continue, "I used to come here."
The teen's head swung towards the man in shock, "What? I don't understand."
By the ghost's reaction, Midoriya figured he didn't really get it either.
"I think I used to come here before I was a Death."
That comment really made the boy's head spin. Gami had a lot of difficulty recalling his life before becoming a Death, so much so that the teen was afraid he'd forget details of his own life as well. For the man to feel such a pull to such a desecrate spot had to mean something, so he pressed the specter to continue.
"Can you remember anything more?"
The spirit didn't respond immediately, still staring blankly at the battered sign. He then motioned to grab at the small grey stone that hung limply around his neck.
Midoriya had tried to help the man figure out why he had such an item tied around his neck. It was really the only defining feature concerning the specter. Gami could never remember why he had it on himself, but couldn't shake the fact that it was important.
"This… this came from here," he gestured to the stone and then the trashed beach.
And now he was sure that his brain was doing somersaults in his skull. Never had the ghost remembered so much in so little time. So he tugged on one of the man's long sleeves urgently.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" he cried out, "Come on!"
The green haired boy pulled Gami down the beach's sloped entrance onto the warm sand. They carefully stepped over lone pieces of discarded trash as they made their way to the water. The specter seemed to still be in shock though, struggling to grasp this newfound information.
"I do not remember this place looking this way. I do not think it was this… dirty."
Curiously, Midoriya pulled out his phone. He opened a new tab and typed in the name he had read on the sign. Within moments, he was met with a numerous amount of articles all referencing that specific name. Scrolling through some of them, he got a pretty good idea about the beach's late history.
"Well, it looks like this section of the beach has been like this for years," he informed, Gami suddenly finding interest in his successor's words, "Turns out a lot of the currents around here lead to this shore. People use that knowledge to dump their trash here illegally, but it's hard for law enforcement to track down those who do."
"Oh…"
The teen could hear the dejection in his mentor's voice. This place had obviously meant something to the man, and it saddened both of them to know it had gotten in such disrepair after who knows how long. He looked around at all the trash. There was such an array of items to be found, from household garbage to large kitchen appliances. The piles of stuff stretched high above the beach, blocking out any view from the above sidewalk. A sudden idea popped into the boy's head.
"This place isn't a bad area to practice DT," he observed, shortening the name of his signature ability, "I could really get some training done here."
The spirit perked up.
"The piles of trash are tall enough for me to practice with my scythe too. I wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing me."
Midoriya pulled up the beach's official address, and after a few taps, he saved it into his phone.
"I think we'll be coming back here for a good while."
And unexpectedly, Gami hugged the teen from behind at his last statement. Unsure of what to do, he smiled and burrowed his face into one of the sleeves wrapped around his upper chest, hoping it would be enough of a gesture for the man to understand his action was acknowledged.
Midoriya knew there were only about 10 months until the U.A. entrance exam, so finding a place to train was very much a necessity. Discovering Dagobah Municipal Beach Park was like a little gift from Lady Luck herself. Sure, the boy was ecstatic at identifying a secure, isolated place to practice his abilities, but at realizing the true meaning of the obscure coastline, he could feel his excitement stem from a different source.
It made him feel bubbly with pride at seeing the normally stoic man so genuinely…
Happy.
Midoriya made frequent trips to Dagobah Beach after school and on the weekends. At first, he was unsure of how to balance training his decay rate and his scythe skills, but Gami revealed that he could do both at the same time. Upon finding out that he could share DT with his weapon, the teen felt he just tackled two birds with one stone. Although, there were a few specifics that made for interesting moments and funny fails.
First off, it was made painfully obvious that he couldn't decay his own scythe. It was probably the only thing DT couldn't destroy, which was pretty advantageous. But during incidents where Midoriya got extra frustrated with his weapon, he couldn't break the stupid thing. Chucking it at the ocean was the best he could do, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as it sounded.
Second, he could share his decaying ability with the scythe, but the weapon could only decay what it cut. Trying to practice this turned out to be a pain in the boy's behind. He was initially excited to swing at the refrigerators and large cuts of metal, but after having his scythe bounce off the first fridge he struck, he realized the amount of force needed for him to cut the metal was going to leave him sore each morning after.
But other than that, the teen quite enjoyed practicing with his new signature weapon.
He got some good pointers from Gami too, but the man liked to spend his time sitting right by the shore. The way he longingly stared at the sea made Midoriya's heart pang. He would clean up this beach before the entrance exam, he would make sure of it.
For Gami.
But right now, the boy wasn't working at the municipal beach park. The two were coming from that exact place actually, and headed towards home. The green haired teen was sweaty and sandy, which was not a comfortable combination, and looking forward to a cold shower.
He walked inside, and as expected, there was no one inside. He shuffled over into his bedroom groggily, his muscles aching in distress. But right as he entered, he momentarily forgot all about his stiff limbs.
It had been about a week and a half since the sludge villain incident, but the teen still had his face plastered all over his walls.
"I still can't believe he said that to me," he stated to no one in particular. Maybe it was to himself? The spirit wasn't sure to be honest.
"It was a shock to us both," he responded in hopes to ease his successor, "but you can succeed without his approval."
"Yeah I know, but that doesn't negate the fact that the number 1 hero is some quirkist bigot. I hear those things all the time, but never would I have expected to hear it from All Might of all people."
The teen scowled at the sight of the hero's signature smile. That smile now churned his insides. He really couldn't stand looking at all of this crap anymore.
He approached the wall where All Might smiled back at him. And despite being ungodly dirty from his workout, he ripped the poster off the wall. Well, it was more of a forceful pull as to not damage the merchandise. Sure, Midoriya was angry at the man, but he had enough common sense to realize that the amount of merch in his room would add up to a nice sum of cash. He continued taking down the posters on his wall, and once he finished with that, he moved to stripping his closet of any All Might themed clothing he could find, which was the majority of everything in there sadly. But pretty much all of the clothes were in good condition, as the boy had been careful to not dirty them when he did wear them in the past.
Then he moved on to cleaning his bookshelves of any other miscellaneous merchandise, including figures, headbands, charms, and pens. All in all, he was able to fill the corner of his room thoroughly with stuff, and while he was disgusted that he had owned so much of the man's merch, the amount of money it was inevitably worth did make owning it somewhat worth it.
Now, his room was almost completely blank, his two bookshelves empty except for the plentiful notebooks he had. He had written 13 analysis notebooks, but those were only on heroes. The teen had tons of other books pertaining to interesting quirks, quirk theory, and his own abilities. The vast amount of notebooks he did have filled a good portion of one of the bookcases, but that still left one bookshelf completely empty, and another one only half full.
His walls were now completely bare, having once been covered in All Might paraphernalia. Midoriya could tell where his posters had been, the walls now two-toned due to the difference in light exposure. He figured he could just get other hero merchandise to cover the blankness, but he really wasn't feeling all too hyped about heroes as of late. Maybe he'd look into some Eraserhead merch, but the man was so secretive, he doubted he'd be able to find enough to cover all the spots where his All Might posters had gone. He filed that Eraserhead idea away for later. Maybe he might not find any mainstream stuff concerning the underground hero, but there was bound to be handmade merchandise created by individuals. Sure, it might end up being expensive, but that just went to show the mass amount of time and effort that went into each product.
His desk was looking pretty clean for once. Storage had always been a problem for Midoriya when he collected All Might items, but now that he was getting rid of them, the desk looked strangely organized. Maybe he could invest some of the cash he would get from selling his All Might stuff into some storage options. He would need it considering the size of his room, especially if he found an obsessive passion again.
Though, the boy knew he would have to go shopping for clothes. The percentage of his clothing that was All Might themed was well over half, and now that it was finally out of his closet, he would need some new wear. All he really had now were a few pairs of shorts and some shirts that had English statements in them. He enjoyed wearing those shirts out, since most people wouldn't understand what they read. And for the people who did, they got a good laugh. Of course, they were nothing offensive or perverse, just stupidly obvious statements. Because who didn't get a kick out of a t-shirt saying "t-shirt" on it in English?
But now that he was done with his mini tantrum, Midoriya was off to take a shower. He especially needed to wash the grime and the All Might off him for good.
A fresh, new start was just the thing he was looking for anyway.
Midoriya walked down one of the suburban streets on his way to Ishihara's home. It had been a few days after he cleaned out his room, but the teen still hadn't found anything to redecorate with.
As for the All Might merchandise, he had been able to sell a good chunk of it online successfully. At first, the boy didn't look forward to meeting up with the individuals interested in purchasing something from him. Those meetings were very short and just consisted of giving the item and taking the money. But now, Midoriya had gotten more comfortable with confronting the strangers, even going as far as to make some small talk. Gami was proud that his successor was finally stepping out of his shell, even if it wasn't by much.
The merch was more valuable than he had expected. When he began selling the stuff to the highest bidder, the teen really wasn't anticipating anything to go over the initial price he posted it at, nor for mass amounts of people to fight for it. But it turned out that his stuff was worth much more than he thought, not that he was complaining. The teen put away most of his extra cash, but he did use some of it to get a new backpack.
He'd had his yellow backpack for almost 8 years and it was definitely obvious. The bag was worn and torn from years of use as well as abuse by the rest of his classmates. Midoriya has grown out of the obnoxious yellow, but really didn't have the money to be spending so frivolously. At least, not until now.
His new backpack was black, made of leather instead of polyester. At first, he wasn't too sure about the leather, but considering that his polyester one was barely hanging on by a thread, he decided that a change from the norm was necessary. Gami had suggested investing in a leather one, and he couldn't deny, his bag felt more sturdy and secure. He'd grown to like the feel and look of his new bag.
Holding said backpack's thick straps, Midoriya walked up Ishihara's front steps and rang the doorbell. Like clockwork, the older, brown haired man opened up the front door and let the boy inside.
"Ah Midoriya," the man called, "It's so good to see you. How are you holding up?"
This was the first visit since the sludge villain incident. The teen wanted to take some time away from the older man to pull himself together after the attack. Ishihara was rightfully worried about the boy, but respected his wishes. He still kept their meeting dates, but made sure that Midoriya knew he wasn't obligated to come.
"I'm doing ok."
"Well that's good to hear."
Ishihara motioned for him to sit on the couch, so he did. The teen shook off his bag and relaxed into the sofa as the man left for the kitchen. It wasn't long before he came back with a tray of cookies and two cups of tea. The man placed the food and drinks down onto his coffee table before sitting next to Midoriya on the couch.
"So I only saw bits and pieces of the fight on the news," he cut right to the chase, "but I could definitely pick out your trademark green hair anywhere."
Said green haired child shuffled on the couch, not really knowing how to respond, "Yeah… that was me."
There was a bit more awkward silence after that. Gami stood by another chair across from the two. He tried sitting in it, but fell right through, to which the boy stifled a giggle. He immediately felt more comfortable and made a mental note to thank the ghost later, whether the move was international or not.
"Do you… want to talk about it?"
"... Yeah, I kinda do."
And so, over the course of a few cookies and the occasional breaks for tea, Midoriya spilled the events of that day in its entirety to Ishihara. Starting with the confrontation with Bakugo in the classroom, to the fight beneath the underpass, to the conversation with All Might, and finally ending with the fabled fight from the news. He obviously left out a few of the details of how he took down the sludge villain alone that first time as well as his premonition minutes before saving Bakugo. And he didn't even mention that final confrontation with All Might, much less talked about the man's quirk, keeping his promise to the number 1 hero.
There were tears and much needed hugs between the two throughout the entire chat, but Ishihara never spoke a word. The older man just let the boy talk, but never pushed for more. The last thing he wanted to do was make him uncomfortable.
"I know I don't need All Might's approval, but hearing that from him hurt so much…" the teen sniffled, rubbing at his puffy eyes.
"I can only imagine," Ishihara replied, "The nerve of that man."
He took a small sip from his cup, before turning his gaze directly at Midoriya.
"And what about the kids at school?" he questioned, "Are they giving you any trouble? More than usual I mean."
The boy broke eye contact and fiddled with his gloved fingers on his lap. He opened his mouth as if to respond, but didn't actually say anything.
The older man frowned. That wasn't a good sign.
"Well," the teen started, "sorta."
He looked over to Gami for reassurance, but the spirit just stared at him. The man made no move for Midoriya to continue, but didn't tell the boy to stop either.
Ishihara continued, "More physical or…"
"No, no. It's actually a little less physical. Since the incident, it's more… words than anything."
The man hummed, taking in his words. Less physical violence was definitely good, but based off of the teen's reaction, it wasn't that good of change overall.
Maybe the other children felt threatened by Midoriya's new display of skill, but he didn't think that was the case. From what he took from the teen's descriptions, his classmates never felt threatened by him because of his quirkless status, it was actually quite the opposite. Ishihara didn't think that this one exhibit of ability would change the years of bullying he suspected the boy went through.
It could be that the kids thought that he was just playing hero, since they obviously didn't think he could be an actual one. Maybe that's why they were having such a volatile reaction to his escapade with the villain, despite possibly seeing his skill on the news. They were trying to dash any hopes of him succeeding as a hero without a quirk, and upping their ante due to his recent success. Maybe they didn't exactly view it as success, but it was enough of an increase in Midoriya's confidence that they were eager to stop it.
"Well, less violence is good…" he finally responded.
"Yeah, I guess."
"As for the words… maybe use them as motivation?"
The boy looked confused, "Motivation?"
Ishihara stood up from the couch and placed his cup onto the coffee table, "Well I'm not saying you have to prove them wrong, but maybe try not to associate their words with negativity."
"So like… use their words as a motivator?"
"Exactly, but don't feel compelled to prove them wrong."
Midoriya messed with his hands. He wasn't totally sure if he got the older man point on the dot, but he thought he understood enough to give the solution a try.
"I'll try."
The two strayed away from that topic, but continued to munch on the snacks that his friend provided. After some more talk and a couple extra refills of tea, it was time for the boy to leave. Each time these meetings ended, he was reluctant to go home, but this ending in particular was rough.
But like all times, Ishihara handed him some extra cookies and opened the door for Midoriya to leave. And he did, gripping a backpack strap in one hand and a container of sweets in the other. Like usual, Gami followed him out, trailing behind a bit.
This time though, the teen's mind was elsewhere, compared to where it usually roamed. He was frozen on the older man's words. He wasn't comfortable letting him know about the spider lilies, but he figured the man's advice would work either way. He was still puzzled about how exactly to apply it to his situation, but he'd figure it out.
This was not going to be his breaking point.
The next day, Midoriya was not late for school. Actually, he was 15 minutes early. Normally, he wouldn't give up his precious sleeping time for anything, but he was hoping to catch the person flowering his desk. He knew it wasn't just one person in particular, but he wasn't sure if his classmates took turns dropping off lilies or one student took charge in buying and placing the flowers. Either way, he had given up some of his free time this morning to try and catch the individual in the act.
He hurried into the classroom, but to his dismay, the flowers were already there. Only about half of his class was currently present, not including the teacher of course, so it could only be one of them, but without seeing the person doing it, he could only make assumptions.
His classmates still seemed to enjoy watching him react to the spider lilies. The teen figured they would get tired of it after the first few weeks, but it was never ending entertainment to them. And it wasn't like the teacher made any move to stop them, so until they were reprimanded, he wasn't sure when they would stop. He had tried his best to remain stoic after that initial day with that first flower, looking to Gami for example, but even that didn't deter them.
But today, he didn't attempt to go stone faced at the flowers as he usually did.
"As for the words… maybe use them as motivation?"
The boy walked in with a little skip in his step, not pausing at all at seeing the state of his desk. He didn't even spare a glance at any of the kids in the room. He just acted as he did before in the hall.
"Motivation?"
He could feel everyone turn to look at him, clearly not expecting the change in behavior. Even he himself was a bit shocked at his newfound confidence, but he wouldn't let his doubts weigh him down.
"Well I'm not saying you have to prove them wrong, but maybe try not to associate their words with negativity."
The flowers didn't actually mean anything bad. His class was just trying to get him to associate the lilies with their desires for him to be gone, but it didn't have to be that way. He didn't need to prove them wrong, but that didn't mean he had to give in to their ideas either, which included their outlook on the flowers.
"So like… use their words as a motivator?"
Ishihara was exactly right. He just needed to view the flowers in a different light. Not as a symbol for him to end his life, but maybe as a symbol to start his life. To start living without relying on outside opinions to feel confident in himself or giving his class the satisfaction of their words getting to him.
"Exactly, but don't feel compelled to prove them wrong."
Maybe the spider lilies represented the death of the old, submissive him, to which a new, confident him rose from the ashes. He agreed with that outlook, and even wanted to cultivate that. To him, the flowers symbolized freedom from his past burdens and the start of something new.
"I'll try."
Midoriya got to his desk, his peers still unsure of what to do at his new mojo. He picked up the three lilies carefully with one gloved hand, making sure not to decay them and his glove by accident out of stress. Opening up his new leather bag, he put away the flowers as he did every day, before sitting himself down in his seat.
The class eventually recovered from their shock at the ringing of the school bell, but just enough to get their work done. The way Gami observed a good majority of them shift nervously around proved to him that their minds were still stuck on his successor.
But looking back at the green haired boy, the spirit could tell he didn't have a care in the world.
Midoriya went through the whole day without any problems, surprisingly. The flowers weighed in the back of his mind as well as his bag, but he kept Ishihara's advice in the foreground. The boy didn't even have to avoid any of his peers cornering him today. They were all too stunned from before.
The two were walking down the busy street, weaving in and out of civilians. School had ended without any issues, so the teen's mood was pretty high. They were close to home, but as they got to the door, Midoriya continued past. Gami stopped in bewilderment, but hurried to catch up to his successor.
"Uhh Izu, we passed the house…"
He turned to face his ghostly companion, "Yeah I know."
The boy gestured for Gami to join him at his side so he didn't have to shout. The specter did, although still confused.
"I need to pick some stuff up at the convenience store before we go home, if you don't mind."
The man nodded in confirmation, "No, that is alright. What are you getting?"
Midoriya giggled, "It's a secret!"
Gami huffed, "Will I understand once I see it?"
"Maybe, but I don't think you will."
"Is that a challenge?"
"If you want it to be," he laughed quietly.
Their secretive conversation carried them all the way to the local convenience store, which was only a few blocks down from his house. Midoriya opened the door, hearing the familiar jingle from the bell attached to it. He held open the door for his invisible friend, but Gami simply shook his head, so he let it go. He had to smother a chuckle at watching the spirit opt to pass through the door instead.
The teen walked to the back of the store, ignoring the shop owner's piercing glare. The only reason that the owner hadn't banned the boy from the store yet was because he was a good source of revenue. This convenience store was the only one relatively close to his house, so he came here often. But his frequent business didn't negate the fact that he was societal scum in the shop owner's eyes. So he treaded lightly each visit, including this one.
He approached the refrigerated section and opened the glass door. Reaching inside, he grabbed three glass bottles of soda pop, then closed said door. Gami looked at him strangely, but Midoriya just eyed him with a smirk. He brought his haul to the counter, where the owner also looked at him weirdly, but nonetheless rang up his three drinks.
"That'll be 450 yen," the man grumbled.
The boy pulled out a few coins from his backpack's side pocket, since he never felt safe keeping things in his uniform pockets. He was attacked and cornered way too many times for him to feel comfortable keeping anything of value on himself. Besides, this money came from his All Might merch, he didn't want to lose it to one of his classmates.
He slid the money onto the counter and flinched as the man greedily snatched it from him. The shop owner shoved the bottles into the teen's arms and he stumbled to make sure he didn't drop them.
"Could I get a bag please?" he asked.
The owner narrowed his eyes, so Midoriya motioned towards his full arms. The man still made no effort to move.
"Please sir?"
He huffed angrily, but left the comfort of his counter to get a plastic bag from the utilities closet. The closet was way into the back of the store, leaving the counter far out of sight. Midoriya looked around and noticed a camera covering the area right above the register.
"Gami," he whispered under his breath, "can you see if you can grab his alleyway key?"
The ghost looked at him almost in a shocked manner.
"I just need to access the dumpster. I'm not going to do anything stupid."
The alleyway right next to the store was always locked by a chain gate. The teen really didn't understand why the owner locked it, since all it held was the store's dumpster. But the gate and fence ran high, with barbed wire at the top, so as easy as it normally would be, there was no way he could scale this fence without getting seriously injured.
The specter hesitated, unsure of where his successor was going with this. But on hearing the closet door creak shut, he hovered over the counter and grabbed at the key hanging on a drawer knob by the register. He was surprised at the fact he could actually touch it, but didn't waste anymore time and hid the item in one of his sleeves. Returning to the teen's side, he held onto the key as the store owner came back with a crumpled plastic bag in his hands.
"Here," he heaved snappily, thrusting the bag into the boy's arms, where the bottles also were. Midoriya took a moment to spread his stuff on the counter and shook open the bag. He then placed the three glass bottles carefully in before picking the plastic up by its handles.
"Thank you sir," he cheered, "Have a nice day!"
He swore he heard the man mumble a "whatever" under his breath, but didn't pay it much mind. He pulled open the entrance door, the bell at the top of the frame ringing again, and walked out, Gami in tow. Together, they walked to the alleyway entrance and towards the gate. Midoriya looked around, making sure no bystanders could see him from his spot, before gesturing for the key.
"The cameras didn't catch you, right?" he wondered. He knew that the ghost couldn't be caught on film from the times he attempted to take pictures with him. But he was afraid that the cameras might have captured the key moving on its own.
"No, I hid the key before I moved it," he replied, practically reading the boy's mind. The spirit pulled the key out from his sleeve and pressed it into his successor's hand.
"I'm surprised you managed to stay solid enough to hold that for so long," the teen pondered, "You feeling any different? Anything stand out?"
"Just an overwhelming sense of curiosity for the current situation."
Midoriya hummed, but noted that for later. He gripped the key and pushed it into the gate's lock. With a small twist, the lock clicked and the gate swung open. He rushed in towards the dumpster, hoping the store owner didn't realize his key was missing just yet.
He was prepared to lift open the dumpster lid, only to find it already up. The teen propped himself up on his toes and peered inside. Careful not to get anything on his uniform, he scoured through the bin and pulled out each and every glass mason jar he could find. He set them off to the side on the ground and noticed his mentor's puzzled look.
"The owner has a tendency to bring in snacks in mason jars while he works. I figured he'd throw them out here when he finished with them."
"But… why do you need them?"
"Well, I can explain that better when we get home."
"Alright then, I will keep watch."
Midoriya stuffed as many jars as he could into the plastic bag with his soda bottles. He wasn't too keen on putting any in his new backpack since they'd just come out of the trash. After forcing in his 11th jar, he figured he had enough.
"Alright, I'm done," he quietly said, picking up the plastic bag again by its handles. He could hear the glass rattle around, clanking against each other.
The boy walked through the open gate, Gami waiting for him on the other side. He closed the gate and locked it shut with a small groan, but instead of taking the key with him, he left it in the lock.
"I'm sure when the store owner realizes his key is gone, he'll check the cameras. But since he won't see anyone take it, he'll come out to check the alleyway next," he explained, "He'll just think he left it out here in the lock by accident. No harm, no foul."
He exited the alleyway, but not before checking the store entrance to see if anyone was coming. When he confirmed no one was, he left with his true haul. Reaching into his plastic bag, he pushed past the jars on top and pulled out one of his soda bottles. Putting one of his fingers on the top, he slowly decayed away the metal bottle cap. Once it was completely gone, he brought the bottle up to his mouth and took a sip.
"You are getting really good at that."
His successor moved the soda away from his face, "What? You mean the whole bottle cap thing?"
"Indeed, that was very precise."
"Well I guess my work at Dagobah is really paying off," he shrugged.
Gami made a small noise, and Midoriya swore it was a chuckle. He hadn't really noticed how good he was getting with DT. Looking down at the bottle, he realized how exact the decay was. There was no remnant of the metal cap at all, but the actual mouth of the bottle wasn't damaged. He smiled with pride before taking another swig of soda pop.
It wasn't long before the duo arrived back home. The boy unlocked the front door and made his way directly into the kitchen. He dropped off his leather bag on the couch, but brought his plastic bag to the sink. He placed the now empty soda bottle on the counter next to him, and the two full ones in the fridge, before dumping all the mason jars into the sink.
He turned on the water and started rinsing the jars out, hoping to rid them of any grime they may have collected during their time in the dumpster. Generously pouring some soap onto the mass of jars, he let them soak in the water. The teen grabbed a towel hanging off of the oven handle and brought it over to the sink. Popping open the drain, he watched the water whirlpool its way down, eventually leaving the sink empty except for the wet jars. He took each jar and dried it thoroughly before setting it off to the side. After all 11 were completely cleaned, he placed them on the counter next to his empty bottle.
Turning on the water again, Midoriya rinsed out the soda bottle quickly, much less concerned about the cleanliness of that particular one. Once he dried the exterior, he moved the bottle back under the faucet and filled it halfway up. He put it back on the counter next to the mason jars, before doing the same with said jars.
"What… are you doing?" Gami questioned while watching the boy fill all 11 jars.
"You'll see…" the boy said in a sing-song tone, then grabbed an armful of jars and brought them to his room. He put them down on his desk before going back for the others, and then his leather bag.
After all the containers were placed on his desk, he moved to his desk drawer and pried it open.
"So that is where you have been keeping those…"
"The flowers? Oh yeah, these are the more recent ones. But any from before this week have already wilted."
He pulled the flowers out carefully by their stems. Sure his gloves were on, but he was just being cautious. If he managed to decay through his gloves even slightly, the flowers would disintegrate instantly.
The teen then placed two or three each in a jar, making sure their cut stems reached the water, before moving the bouquets onto his empty bookshelf. Of course it was the completely empty one, and not the partial one that had his notebooks. He would never take the risk of one of the jars tipping over and ruining his work. He even gave one of today's flowers from his backpack its own container, as the soda bottle's neck was too small to house more than that.
Obviously, most of the jars didn't get filled, so Midoriya took those to the bathroom to dump them, before bringing them back and placing them on the shelves anyway. His room was still a little bare, but the bright red spider lilies did bring a pop of color.
Finally realizing his successor's master plan, the specter inquired, "Are you sure about this Izu?"
"What? The flowers?" God his friend was a bit dense today, "Yeah, I'm sure."
He turned back to stare at his work. The flowers almost seemed to sway from a nonexistent breeze, like they were waving to him. He couldn't take his eyes off of the elegant shade of red that they were.
"I think they look nice."