Chapter Text
Over two hundred years had passed since the first Quirk appeared, and now it was almost impossible to walk down the street and not see someone with an ability of one kind or another. While some went about their daily lives with said abilities, others, especially those with strong and/or impressive Quirks went towards becoming Pro Heroes or villains.
Unfortunately, while it was normally a good thing that heroes tended to have powerful Quirks, it happened so often that, more often than not, this was taken for granted. Some became heroes because others saw their Quirks and expected them to go that route. Assumptions, peer pressure, even being forced into it played a hand in decisions for some.
A rare few, however, refused to let that happen to them. Even if they considered hero work initially, that choice was soured for them by unwelcome presumptions from others so they went their own way in life.
This is the story of one such person; a boy by the name of Izuku Midoriya.
“Whoa! What’s going on!?”
“Isn’t that the Dagobah junk yard?”
“I thought it was a beach!”
“It’s all floating!”
The slowly growing crowd was mesmerized by the sight; one by one the huge mounds of scrap and junk that covered what once was a pleasant beach were dismantled onto floating masses and brought down to waiting trucks.
“Hot DAMN!” One of the truck drivers, an employee of the salvage company that’d been hired to try and cart off some of the refuse, laughed as he watched the sight. They’d figured it would take hours, if not days to get the first loads out of there. At least, until the greenette came up asking if he could get a job helping them load up. They were ready to tell him they appreciated the gesture, but this was too dangerous for a kid.
Until he showed his Quirk. The supervisor on duty couldn’t ask him to sign a temp form fast enough!
“Gotta hand it to you, Ma’am.” He said, taking a swig from his thermos. When they’d come to discuss her son’s pay, Inko Midoriya nearly fainted at the zeros she saw, but managed to insist she be around just in case. “Your boy’s saving us a ton on equipment here. Dunno what the boss offered, but he’s worth every cent; we already got another batch of trucks on route for another load. What kind of Quirk is that, anyway?”
“Oh, the doctors said it’s a boosted version of mine.” Inko replied over the low rumble of junk settling onto truck beds. “I can pull small objects towards me, as long as they’re something I can hold with one hand. Izuku, well...you can see for yourself. They wanted to name it something flashy, but he’s happy just calling it what it is: telekinetics.”
“What I don’t get is why he even offered when he should be in UA.” Another spoke up. ”He needs to be a-YIE!” The name screamed when he was suddenly yanked towards the now stony-faced boy.
“No.” Izuku said coldly, dropping him to the ground before resuming his work.
“The hell I say!?” The man yelped, scrambling away from the now less than cheery boy.
Inko sighed. “You made the same mistake more than a few others made. Izuku doesn’t react too well to people thinking he should be a hero just because of his Quirk.”
“But that’s what most kids his age go for, especially with a Quirk like that.” The first driver replied, looking confused.
“That’s the problem.” Izuku spoke up. “Soon as it showed, the doctors started going on about my ‘heroic quirk’, a few even asking my mom which school she planned to enroll me in. Sure, I played with the idea, but I found a lot more practical uses for it. Makes it way easier to clean under the fridge and stove when you can float it up. I even learned how to dismantle stuff with it. Think I could take a car apart for a mechanic in about five minutes, give or take.”
There was a loud crunch as a rusty bed frame was twisted up. “But did they even consider that? No! It was all ‘you have to be a hero, Izuku.’, ‘Of course you’ll be a hero, Midoriya, what else will you do with that kind of quirk’, ‘it’s your destiny Midoriya.’ They think they have the right to tell me I’m not allowed to be anything else.” There was another crunch, this time from a crumpled up dishwasher. “Not to mention how many so-called ‘heros’ would rather showboat and mug for cameras! I don’t have to tell you that soured the idea for me. It’s MY Quirk, dammit!” A car chassis met the same fate. “If I wanna get a nine-to-five job, then that’s what I’ll do, and they can’t do a damn thing about it!”
“P-point noted.” The second drive gulped, scurrying back into his cab.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku sighed and looked at the unnerved drivers. “Look, I’m sorry about snapping like that. It’s just...I’m so sick of all the attempts to pigeonhole me into that position. Much less the ones that have the gall to get mad at me for wanting a regular job. Heck, I’ve already planned out what I’m gonna do with the money from this.”
“A...coffee shop?” Inko sounded honestly befuddled. It wasn’t until after they’d finished for the day that she learned what her son had in mind. She’d initially been worried about the Quirk Use laws until the supervisor said the company had the needed permits that allowed their employees to use theirs, since they relied on people with fire abilities to melt down the metal. They even had a lady with a magnetism Quirk who sorted out the ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. As a bonus, there was a loophole that, since he was temping for them, he fell under those same permits for as long as the job took.
“Why not? You remember the one we went to before the owner had to move away.” Izuku replied, several plates and glasses hovering around him as soapy rags scrubbed away at them and the counter. “It was relaxing, and the smell always made me hungry.”
“Yeah, but...a coffee shop?”
“Well, a coffee shop bakery combo to be exact. I find baking relaxing anyway, so why not put it to use.”
“I guess...I mean, it IS your money, but where would you even find an empty place to build it?”
Inko blinked. “Izuku, this is the…”
“The Brew and Bagel, yep!” Izuku grinned as they looked at what was once a coffee shop. A clean spot on the window allowed them to see only the dark, empty interior. Only the counter, a few shelves, and the bar stools remained inside. “I’m reopening this beauty! After a bit of renovating, of course.” He held up a narrow piece of paper and gave it a flick. “And, I got paid enough to buy the shop as well as the former owner’s apartment upstairs.”
“Apart...Izuku, you’re going to move in?
“Well, yeah. I can have all our stuff over here in a day or two. Remember, Mom, this is gonna be our business.”
Inko couldn’t help but smile at how he seemed to be perking up after everything he’d had to put up with. He looked like he’d done a complete one-eighty, given the way he was smiling.
However, there was one lingering worry: more than one person they’d ran into was adamant that Izuku was meant to be nothing else but a hero. When word got out - and it would - then he was getting a regular job…
Her worry must’ve been showing on her face, because he lightly nudged her “Again, remember, Mom; those idiots THINK they have a say in my choice of work.” He pointed to the faded sign on the door.
‘We Reserve The Right To Refuse Service’