A Talk with Midoriya

"Even though Mr. Aizawa said U.A. High School wasn't a place to make friends, after an intense competition, it really is great to talk about it with friends!"

Mina Ashido took a big bite of her hamburger, looking completely satisfied.

"I'd like to know why all of you came along..." Jilan Jiyu said helplessly. After he had accepted Izuku Midoriya's invitation, Kirishima had happened to overhear them. He had come over and shouted, "The class president's going? I'm coming too!"

Soon, everyone nearby had heard and expressed interest in eating together. Jilan Jiyu had only been invited himself and had no say in the matter, so he could only watch as Midoriya tried to say something but never got a chance to object, and the group of four grew to more than a dozen. Aside from Katsuki Bakugo, Toru Hagakure, who had left injured, and Shoto Todoroki, basically everyone had come.

"I'm quite interested in a restaurant for ordinary people like this too," Momo Yaoyorozu said, carrying a tray over to sit on Jilan Jiyu's right. She gave a restrained smile. "I never had any friends before, so I couldn't find anyone to come here with me."

When the owner heard Jilan Jiyu say they were all U.A. High School students, he enthusiastically led them upstairs and told them they would have the second floor to themselves. In effect, the Class A students had booked the whole floor.

"Who says you have to come to KFC with friends? I come by myself all the time," Denki Kaminari said without looking up, his fingers flying over a handheld game console.

"You just don't get it." Minoru Mineta knelt on the chair beside Denki Kaminari, leaning forward to watch the game. "A guy like you, who buries himself in a game at KFC and has no sense of the atmosphere, could never care about it. But if anyone else comes here alone and sits all by themselves at a single seat with nobody across from them, the lively atmosphere around them attacks them. They think the people who came in groups must be laughing at them, and every glance they catch from the people around them feels hostile. Before they know it, they want to run away."

"This place is a forbidden zone for the lonely!!!" By the end, Minoru Mineta had climbed onto his chair and was pounding Kaminari's shoulder as he burst into tears. "I'm so glad you all came with me!"

"I get it, so let go already!" Kaminari kept his fingers moving as he tried to shake Minoru Mineta's hand off his shoulder. "At this rate, I'm going to die!"

"Ah... I died."

Paying no attention to how Kaminari dealt with Grape, Jilan Jiyu went over to Izuku Midoriya's table and tapped on it. "Interested in having a talk? About your Quirk and... Katsuki Bakugo."

Jilan Jiyu keenly sensed that Midoriya seemed surprised and instinctively wanted to stand up, but he used sheer willpower to keep his expression calm and forced a smile. "S-sure."

Jilan Jiyu sat down as though he hadn't noticed. Seeing Midoriya's somewhat nervous expression, Ochaco Uraraka stood up and said, "I'll go take a look over there," leaving her seat first. Tenya Iida also said he was going to buy another hamburger and went downstairs.

"Now it's just the two of us," Jilan Jiyu said softly. "I don't usually like prying into other people's private affairs, but I'd like to know what's going on with your Quirk. Bakugo said before that you were Quirkless, and you still seem very unfamiliar with using it. Did your Quirk only awaken recently?"

Seeing him hesitate, Jilan added, "Of course, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I'm just concerned as a friend."

On the night the results came out, Jilan Jiyu had gone to the seaside park and witnessed a deal firsthand. In the end, though, All Might had caught the man before he could ship the goods out, and the courier had destroyed the goods, leaving no evidence behind.

But from their conversation, Jilan Jiyu could roughly guess that the drug probably had the power to enhance Quirks. In other words, it might also be able to give Quirks to people who were Quirkless.

Although Jilan Jiyu didn't think that was the case, Izuku Midoriya's unusual Quirk and its powerful side effects meant it was possible he had used the drug.

"There's nothing I can't tell you. I actually used to be Quirkless. You can ask Kacchan about that." Midoriya clenched his fists. "My Quirk was given to me by someone else."

"Who?"

"...I can't tell you exactly who." Midoriya lowered his head.

"That's enough." From his words, Jilan Jiyu could tell that the power had probably been given to him by someone he respected deeply. It was possible that person's Quirk was giving Quirks to others. In any case, as long as he hadn't used that unknown drug, it was fine.

Jilan Jiyu was very interested in the drug. Although he knew it might have side effects, if it could make the urge to kill that Yoshikage Kira had brought him disappear, he could accept any side effects.

Midoriya looked up at Jilan Jiyu. "Actually, I've always wanted to thank you, whether for treating my injuries or stopping Kacchan..."

"It was no big deal. We're friends, aren't we? If you keep bringing up little everyday things like that, I'll be the one feeling troubled. I might even hesitate over whether to help you next time, you know?"

"Sorry!" Midoriya smiled and rubbed his head. "We're friends!"

Jilan Jiyu didn't know that, even though Midoriya said that, he still kept a firm memory of every time someone helped him. He was surprisingly stubborn about that.

"There's one more thing I'm wondering about." Jilan Jiyu squeezed out some ketchup and brought a french fry to his lips. "...What exactly is going on between you and Bakugo? I know you went to the same middle school, but he doesn't seem to see you as a friend at all, does he?"

Jilan Jiyu knew Bakugo had a violent temper, but whenever Bakugo spoke to him, intentionally or otherwise, he could always hear his dislike for Midoriya. Bakugo seemed to harbor an emotion toward him that could be called "hatred."

Izuku Midoriya gave a rare, helpless smile. He didn't seem to mind Katsuki Bakugo's attitude toward him, as tolerant as a mother with a child throwing a tantrum.

"As for me, I've been in the same class as Kacchan since kindergarten. Even back then, he was amazing. He could easily do things other people couldn't. Kacchan grew up surrounded by praise from adults and admiration from kids his own age, so he came to believe nobody else was as capable as he was. Little by little, he became a bit full of himself and didn't want to accept any kind of help from anyone. As far as he was concerned, he was the strongest, and everyone else was, at most, someone for him to help."

Izuku Midoriya fell into his memories and said with a smile, "But even someone like him could find himself in danger, and even he could look like he was asking for help..."

"Are you talking about... the Sludge Incident?"

The Sludge Incident had happened when Katsuki Bakugo was in his third year of middle school. Heroes who went on to become famous generally left behind extraordinary exploits in their youth, distinguishing themselves from the crowd, and Katsuki Bakugo was one of them.

At the time, a villain had trapped him in an alley. Even the Pro Heroes who arrived were at a loss against that kind of villain, but Bakugo had held out on his own for more than ten minutes without anyone's help, an achievement that would put even adult Pro Heroes to shame. In the end, All Might had rescued him.

"That's right." Midoriya nodded. "Kacchan is someone I admire very much, so I'm going to defeat him."