Even Without Power

Why did it feel like the sun rose earlier on school days?

Aitsu rushed through the house, snatching up her bookbag and heading for the door. She had overslept again. 

“You should probably get something to eat!” her mom called after her, and her expression communicated that it wasn’t a suggestion. 

“I’ll grab something at school,” Aitsu promised.

“No you won’t,” Kimiko muttered under her breath. She was waiting by the door tapping her foot impatiently.

“You know, you could walk to school without me,” Aitsu teased her little sister. “You’re a big girl now.”

Kimiko raised an eyebrow, as if that was a ridiculous request. Aitsu knew the real reason Kimiko always waited for her: she didn’t think Aitsu would be on time if someone wasn’t there to nag her. Which was totally, 100% untrue and not based on reality at all. 

Sometimes it feels like everyone thinks I can't take care of myself because I'm Quirkless.

Even though Aitsu knew her family loved her, that her parents were proud of her and her younger siblings all looked up to her, sometimes it felt like everyone was secretly worried about how poor little Aitsu would manage in a hostile world without a Quirk.

Kimiko was quiet on the walk to school, letting Aitsu stew in her thoughts before finally peeling away to her elementary school. Her little sister's influence meant Aitsu got to school early enough to catch the rumor mill in action.

"I heard that the police didn't know the full extent of his Quirk, and that's how he escaped," Tomoko whispered. She was buzzing with excitement. Literally, since her Quirk produced vibrations the more riled up she was.

"How do you cage someone who can turn to water and drip away?"  Kagemaru asked. "Man, I wish I had a cool Quirk like that. Casting two shadows is totally useless."

"Oh, but it's cool!" Tomoko reassured him. "Besides, at least you have a Quirk."

When Tomoko's eyes fell on Aitsu, they widened. Blush redder than raw meat, Tomoko rushed, "I didn't mean you, Aitsu!"

"No, you meant some other poor unfortunate soul with no Quirk."

Tomoko's blush deepened, and she stumbled her way through an apology before fleeing back to her desk. Kagemaru shot Aitsu a look, not of scorn but trepidation, like he was afraid she'd shift her agitation onto him. Instead, Aitsu made her way to her own desk and slumped down. 

Even after class began, her brain was still stuck on the situation. She knew Tomoko was a kind girl, and that she often spoke without thinking. She truly hadn't meant harm. So why did it bother Aitsu so much?

Sometimes it feels like my classmates walk on eggshells around me. Like they expect me to be defensive about being Quirkless.

She knew she was likely projecting. As much as Aitsu didn’t resent other people having powers and abilities beyond her own, she hated being treated with kid gloves. 

By the time lunch rolled around, Aitsu was in a worry-induced funk, and both her friends noticed. 

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Emiko asked, her lip already wobbling. It was useless to try and hide any of her feelings from her friend with the literal empathy Quirk.

“I’m just having one of those days,” Aitsu replied. “You know, the kind where you feel empty.”

Shinji looked up from the book he was reading and said, “Have you tried eating something?”

“Not that kind of empty,” Aitsu shot back. “The...ugh, look, I’m feeling a little self-conscious about the whole ‘Quirkless’ thing today, you know?”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Emiko grabbed her hands and reassured, “Oh Aitsu, you know that doesn’t mean anything! It’s not like having a Quirk automatically makes a person better off.”

“In Emiko’s case, it might actually make her worse off,” Shinji pointed out.

Aitsu sighed and forced out an agreement. She knew it was true, but her heart was still at war with her brain. 

“I know what will cheer you up! What if we go to the park after school?” Emiko proposed.

Aitsu had no reason to refuse, so the final bell of the day saw them heading towards their usual hangout spot: a local park complete with duck pond. Her and Emiko had been coming here since they were kids, often smuggling leftover pieces of their lunch to toss to the waterfowl. These days, it was mostly a tranquil place to bask in the sun and chat.

Except today the peace was shattered before they even stepped foot on park grounds. Aitsu heard the distant wail of a child, echoing through the trees like a wounded animal. Beside her, her friends tensed. 

“Stay here with Emiko. I’ll go see what’s wrong,” Shinji instructed, darting past them. 

Aitsu just sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. Really, it was classic Shinji to rush ahead without thinking.

“Oh, I can feel how upset someone is,” Emiko said, delicate fingers bunching in Aitsu’s sleeve. “It’s just...oh, why does everyone have to be so mean?”

At the last part, Emiko began to cry. Her Quirk was in full swing, overriding her own emotions with whatever she picked up from the ambient atmosphere. As much as it pained Aitsu to see her friend cry, she knew that until the actual source was resolved, Emiko would keep channeling the distress. There wasn’t much Aitsu could do to help.

“I’m going to see what’s the matter. Can’t let Shinji get into trouble by himself, can we?”

“No! Don’t leave!” Emiko wailed, holding her tighter. She let out a hiccup fierce enough to rock her body. Aitsu spent a few seconds rubbing her back and wondering what to do, before resigning herself to dragging Emiko along. She didn’t have good judgement when she got like this, practically inebriated on excess emotion. Together, they delved deeper into the park where they quickly found the epicenter of upset.

Shinji stood squared and resolute against a trio of highschoolers. Behind them, a couple of little kids were crying beside the playground equipment. It didn’t take a genius to do the math and see what had happened. Some punks, thinking it would be fun to push around elementary schoolers.

Above the crying, Shinji’s voice came, flat and calm as a waveless pond.

“I don’t see why you can’t both share the equipment.”

Aitsu smacked her forehead in disbelief.

Really Shinji? That’s your attempt to talk them down?

“They’re just a bunch of stupid kids,” one of the high schoolers said. “They can play in the dirt and they wouldn’t know the difference.”

Completely unaware of how badly he was bombing this encounter, Shinji continued, “I don’t believe that’s the case-”

“What do a bunch of high schoolers like you want with a jungle gym anyways?” Aitsu interrupted, stomping up. 

The trio of boys turned to look at her, all three sets of eyes scornful.

“Oh, so he brought his girlfriends to back him up,” one of the boys sneered. “Hope you have a Quirk powerful enough to make up for your boy’s stupidity.”

“Oh, she’s not my girlfriend,” Shinji corrected, as usual oblivious to sarcasm.

“And I’m not going to stop you,” Aitsu explained. “Play on the equipment all you want. I’ll just be over here, taking pictures and uploading them to Instagram. I can tell what school you go to by your uniforms. Do you think if I tagged the school everyone in your class would see you sitting on swings like a bunch of babies?”

At this, the older teens exchanged glances. Aitsu could see the wheels turning in their heads, debating on if they cared enough about their reputation. She was willing to bet that they did. After all, she was a teenager too. She knew the risk of shame outweighed the reward of being a jerk. 

Finally, one grumbled, “This isn’t worth it,” and then they were all stalking away. Aitsu watched them go, doing her best not to gloat too obviously at the victory. When they were finally out of sight, though, Emiko didn’t show the same restraint.

“That was amazing!” she said, tackling Aitsu in a big hug. “Oh my goodness, I could feel how scared you were, but you stood up to them anyway!”

“It was no big deal,” Aitsu replied, but she could feel herself flushing all the same. Over Emiko’s shoulder, she met Shinji’s gaze. He gave her a slow, approving nod. Behind him, she could see the kids still sniffling, so she shrugged off her friend to check on them.

“They didn’t hurt you or anything, did they?” she asked, crouching down so they were on eye level. The two kids both shook their heads, and one was even recovered enough to offer her a watery-eyed smile.

“Th-thanks for standing up for us.”

This made Aitsu return the expression, mouth going wide in a confident smle. Behind her, Emiko fished around in her bag and retrieved a packet of tissues. Of course Emiko, with her frequent bouts of empathy-induced crying, would carry tissues with her wherever she went. She offered them to the children with a teary grin of her own.

After only a bit of encouragement, the children returned to their playing. Strife was forgotten in an instant as the exuberance of childhood took over. The trio watched them play for a while before deciding they had probably had enough excitement for one day. 

“I think we should probably do something a little less intense. Like work on our Biology homework,” Shinji suggested.

“I don’t know, that’s pretty intense for me,” Emiko said.

Aitsu laughed, the bubble of tension popping under a sudden wave of mirth. She was here, she was with her friends, she had saved the day today. Quirk or no, she was capable of a lot more than people gave her credit for. In fact, it seemed she was capable of more than even she realized. Satisfied with the discovery, she led her friends on to their next destination.