Leo Simon
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All For Myself Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2023-04-26 23:47:10 +0000 UTCI've always been a guy that liked helping people, I volunteered at a soup kitchen every week, spent more than my fair share of time picking up rubbish on the side of the road, and I made sure to always give money to the less fortunate wherever I could.
It just felt good to help another human being, to know that someone just feels that little bit better because you took a moment of your time to do something for nothing in return. I'm also a believer of good karma, that if you are kind to people then you yourself won't have especially bad things happen to you. I'm not expecting for my life not to have its ups and downs but I also believed that I'd eventually be rewarded for my good deed.
If only I knew how wrong I was.
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Walking yet again through the doors of my classroom I didn't bother trying to talk to anyone, not that anyone wanted to talk to me anyway, and quite frankly I didn't want to talk to anyone.
Quirkless. I was reborn in an anime world that I watched in my last life and by pure bad luck I was Quirkless. I had no superpower in a world full of people who do.
That on its own was an extremely bitter and tough pill to swallow but I could live with just that on its own, if sulk about it occasionally, however being just a normal human being in this world made me a nobody to anyone. Because nothing was unique about me, its a simple fact that anything I could do someone else could do better simply because they had the Quirk for the job.
What's the point of being super smart when somebody has a Quirk that increases their IQ? What's the point of having a good memory when someone else has a Quirk that gives them a flawless one? What's the point in having good stamina when someone else just has a Quirk that can let them run forever?
The simple answer is sadly that no matter how talented or bright I am someone else will be better at what I can do simply because they were born that way.
I'm unashamed to admit that I'm jealous, and quite frankly who wouldn't be? If god exists then he must have given me this second life just to watch me bitterly crawl along as everyone else finds it normal to be able to fly or breath fire or control the fucking weather. He must be a sadist.
Many of my classmates looked at me with disgust, like I was less than dirt to them, that it was an insult I was using up the very oxygen that we were all breathing in the air. I was used to the treatment though, and as an adult that had long ago passed my original teens it wasn't all that difficult to ignore the opinions and judgements of a few snotty brats that think they're hot stuff.
I was about to pull out my chair and sit down when suddenly a strange light yellow wall of air and as I try to sit down my head smashes against the wall of compressed air causing me to fall backwards holding my head slightly to help with the bump that my white hair did little to shield.
"Whoa there, you better try and be more careful Saito." A condescending voice called out and I didn't even need to look up to know who it was. Several members of the class laugh at my situation.
Ken Daiki, a stereotypical Quirkist bully. He had a Quirk called Air Wall that allows him to use the air particles in the air to create hard walls that I had to, begrudgingly, admit were impressively durable. What wasn't durable however was his ego.
He aspires to be a pro hero, like everyone seems to these days, but whenever someone so much as questions him he gets angry and bullies them relentlessly. No matter how strong I am physically he has superpowers and for that reason alone could beat me into the ground, and he has many times, but even then I never give him the satisfaction of seeing me back down or shrink into myself.
The throb in my head recedes and I get up from the ground and glare at the bully who suddenly loses all the enjoyment he has and meets my red eyes with his own arrogant gaze. He doesn't like it when someone shows objection to his bullshit.
"Are you done punching down to someone who doesn't have a Quirk or are you gonna move on and try find someone who will put up with your bullshit Daiki?" My voice had a dangerous edge to it that many undermined for my Quirklessness.
He actually scoffs at my words." What is a Quirkless loser like you gonna do to me?" His words actually make me see red and I was a few seconds away from taking a swing at this asshole but the teacher, Mr Rias, cut in.
"Both of you sit down, oh and Mr Saito? Try to start a fight in my class again and you'll have detention for a week, understood?" He spoke sternly.
This is Mr Rias, one of my teachers in school, his Quirk is 'Obey', it allows him to make people more submissive to him. Whilst it's definitely not the strongest mental Quirk it is very subtle and you can't get in trouble for illegal Quirk use if there isn't proof that you used your Quirk now can you?
I clench my fists but do as I'm told and Daiki sits right behind me.
God I hate this school.
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Behind a junior high school in there were four fifteen year olds that were thoroughly enjoying themselves as they beat down a Quirkless boy their age using their various Quirks, or just using their fists.
"You think you can talk back to me? Quirkless trash!" Ken Daiki spoke as two of the boys held said white haired teen in place as he threw a fist that caught his victims left cheekbone.
I did my best to hold out, I certainly didn't cry, I wouldn't give them the pleasure, but try as I might to fight back I was out numbered and overwhelmed as four boys beat me black and blue in various ways, as though it were a sport to them.
I managed to shake my way out and throw a fist that caught the nose of the guy on my right before lunging for Daiki himself but all I accomplished was making my fist throb as a wall as hard as steel got in the way as my feet were swept from under me.
The boy who's face met my fist chuckled lightly as his nose bled profusely. He looked at me slightly unhinged." This bastard actually thinks he can hurt us."
I have no idea what kind of society can allow, and even encourage, people to act like this to the Quirkless population. Though I suppose it gets less surprising the more I think about it. Humans are violent and sadistic creatures, it's easier to dehumanised and beat down people who are weaker or that we deem inferior than to simply embrace that we are all different, sometimes greatly, sometimes not, and that it doesn't matter, that it doesn't have to matter, that we don't have to derive joy from the suffering of others, that we don't need a scapegoat to focus all our violence on to unite and work together.
But I guess humans aren't rational creatures.
I try and scamper up with haste only to be brought back down to the ground when a fist meets my face.
The pain isn't too bad all things considered, I've had worst, but I was not a moment later met with a painful barrage of kicks all over my body as they converged and beat me down.
One caught my forehead and my world felt fuzzy as dots entered my vision and caused the outside world to blur and the last thing I saw was a boot that hit my face.
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Many people looked at me with concern but didn't do anything or make any effort to help me. Why I have no idea, perhaps they didn't care enough, perhaps they assumed a police officer or a hero would come and help me, perhaps they saw my bruised face and saw me as trouble. Either way I know what I would have done.
The old me anyways...
I just... don't have it in me to help anyone anymore, the humans of Japan are just not worth helping, at least to me, they have Quirks. They have power. They have people that care about them. Why should someone like me even need to help them?
It's pathetic really, what's the big deal about being Quirkless when most of the population don't even use their Quirks most of the time anyway?! If your being held at gunpoint all they will do is yell and beg that a hero will come and save them, that someone else will do the hard work for them. It's pitiful.
The worst part? The government encourages that sort of behavior, the idea that the people are powerless against those which want to hurt them, they do that because what's the need of heroes if people can actually defend themselves against the bad guys?
Oh and these 'heroes' it actually makes me want to scoff at the sheer audacity that so many of them have to actually try and take up such a title. Is someone like Daiki a hero? Is someone like Bakugo a hero?
The word hero has become a fucking profession, a fancy title that someone wears for the attention and fame that it brings, hell they're more like celebrities competing for attention and the most likes than public servants!
I'm just so tired of this society. Tired of the way it treats me. Tired of how my 'parents' abandoned me the moment that they learned that their son is nothing special. Tired of how in my future I'm inevitably going to face undeserved prejudice and discrimination that will make it difficult to even find a stable job, or any friends, let alone start a family, and have a somewhat normal life.
I'm so tired of it all.
I would change it if I could but... how am I meant to change the world without power?
I looked at my hands and sighed at the sheer hopelessness and hardship that my second life has and will bring me. The only way I could feasibly gain any power is through All Might at this point.
One For All. A Quirk that stockpiles power and can be passed on to someone else with the power increasing each time its transferred. I've thought about coming up with some elaborate scheme to get All Might to give me the Quirk but ultimately decided against it for a few reasons.
Number one, it's a sentient Quirk that can likely read my thoughts, the idea of a Quirk learning of my impossible existence and the high likelihood of a multiverse makes me incredibly uncomfortable and I have no idea how I would even begin to explain that.
Number two, I'd have to become the next symbol in the hero world and the prospect of becoming part of such a system that thrives on the suffering of others makes my skin crawl. Plus I'd have to fight All For One, even if he is half dead he is an existence that scares me beyond relief.
Last but not least Number three I'm just... not interested in helping people anymore. I don't know when I stopped being that person but I did.
I'm not a hero. And I'm not talking about those idiots dressed in cosplay.
I don't want to help people. Not these people.
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Walking into my Foster home my shoes felt heavy and my bones brittle from the beating that I sustained earlier that day.
My Foster mother Annie was a surprisingly kind woman, she was fourth three but looked surprisingly youthful for her age with long shiny blue hair and pink lips that would make any woman half her age jealous. She was kinda sexy for a woman nearly three times my age.
She gasped in horror at the state I was currently in. I'd cleaned my face and most of the blood off but not much can be done about the bruises, regardless I highly doubt its a pretty sight.
"What happened Ryoto?!" She yelled my name in horror at seeing my current complex full of welts and bruises.
There's no point in lying to her, I'd long since learned that lesson.
"Some guys at school beat me up, I tried fighting back, gave em hell, and in response they beat me unconscious." I'd like to think I made them work for it but in all honesty that's highly unlikely.
Annie looked about ready to cry as she hugged me tightly in her arms and whispered words of reassurance in my ears that I was long since used to at this point.
We've been through this one hundred times before, she asks who did this, it's usually the same people, we talk for an hour and then she uses her healing Quirk to help me.
Her Quirk is called 'Healing Touch', she can heal others and herself by making physical contact with them, how well it works depends entirely on her own stamina.
Her Quirk makes her a fantastic nurse who was given a licence which essentially translates to 'you can use your Quirk but only in the workplace'. It's ridiculous, why should a law stop a nurse from helping people at any time she chooses?
After having my bruises healed Annie looks a little less energetic and a feeling if guilt rises for a moment but I quickly suppress it, she chose to heal me so she can deal with the consequences. That's how the world should work, you reap what you sew. Too bad I don't have the power to reap.
It's a pipe dream for me to be anything in this world obsessed with power, there's no way for me to gain a Quirk unless I become a 'hero' or I pledge allegiance to All For One, which isn't likely to end well for me, I could be turned into a Nomu for all I know.
Casting aside such thoughts I tried to enjoy the chicken soup right in front of me by sipping from the spoon however instead of helping me organise the thoughts it only annoyed me and suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore.
Once my Foster mother was satisfied that I'd eaten her mediocre soup I trudged back to my room to hide away from the world and brew with my thoughts.
My room wasn't anything special, it had a laptop, a table to do my homework, a comfortable bed for me to sleep on. To say that this is the best place I've ever been a Foster child at is an understatement.
I had nothing to do in this cold, dark winter night, no homework, no plans, no friends to hang out with. I had nothing to do.
Slipping into my pyjamas I crawled into bed and for a while simply stared up at the ceiling, my thoughts were clouded by the plainess of white in my vision that seemed to get darker the more I stared at it.
The more I thought of my bad luck, the more I felt like just forgetting my problems and allowing the relief of slumber to wash over me, to save me from my own cynical thoughts until tomorrow, to not think of how unlucky I was to be born into the less than Five percent that dont get any kind of enhancement in this world, to not think about my own misfortune and misery. To forget it all and allow the darkness to-
The last thing I heard before my vision was cut off was the feeling of hotness against my face.
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I gasped and breathed heavily as my sluggishness quickly faded and my body entered 'fight or flight' at the sight of burning wood and waves of fire that surround me.
Picking myself up with immense difficulty, and ignoring the sting that was felt at the above my right cheek, I became panicked at seeing that my house layed in ruin around me.
"Annie! Annie are you here?!" I yelled as the full gravity of the situation hit me head on and I couldn't help but worry about my mother and if she was even still alive.
Knowing that it was unsafe to remain in a burning house I started to make my way both slowly and cautiously towards the place I recognise as my houses exit.
"Ryoto!" A familiar feminine voice called out.
Hearing the sound of her voice I knew that Annie was nearby and chose to forego the possibility of leaving her behind and ran into a burning room that once resembled our living room to see Annie-
With her legs buried under a piece of rubble.
Looking at her legs, or the pieces that stuck out, it wasn't hard to see that they were broken. She wouldn't be able to run away even if I did manage to get her out.
Logically I should leave her and save myself, rationally speaking I should guarantee my own future, save my own life, that risk my own just to try to save a woman that is, in all honesty, probably not going to make it.
But I never said I was rational.
With extreme work and effort I grabbed the rock that pinned her the the ground and just started to push with everything I had, however no matter how hard I lifted the large piece of rock just wouldn't budge and it eventually twisted in a way that causes her to cry out in pain.
"Ry-Ryo listen to me. Run." She tried yo steady her breath at the enormous amount of pain that she is likely in however she couldn't hold it all back.
I felt tears streaming down my face." No, I'll lift this thing and help yo-"
"Will you just do as your told and run!" She yelled in anger, frustration and pain.
The feeling of hopelessness I felt at being stuck in a world that centered around power and crushed the weak crashed down on me with a force so strong that it made me feel dizzy.
Some flaming wood crashed behind me but I payed no attention to such trivial things. How am I meant to make it in this world without strength? I can't even help the only person I love.
Cursing my own powerlessness and weakness my lips trembled as Annie's breath became weak and sweat dripped down her face.
"I can't mum, if I live because I had to abandon you then... then I-" I couldn't finish as my mother cut me off.
"Please... no parent should die with their child." Her voice was both quiet yet strong. She clearly didn't want to see me die.
The way that she looked at me pleading and almost begging me to save myself nearly made me want to break down and just die then and there, to die with the only person who ever loved me.
But as much as I'd like to lie to myself that death would be better, would be easier I was selfish and couldn't deny her request to simply save myself. I was so pitiful.
How much is this world going to take from me before I have nothing left to lose?
With tears staining my cheeks and seeing the limited options in front of me as the Fire spread with great vigor I made my choice.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." I spoke with a cracking and pained voice like a coward before I left the living room, and my mother, to be consumed by the blaze that the world decided to set on our home.
I never felt such immense shame and hopelessness in all this second life. Never before had I hated being so weak.
