After taking a bath, the first thing Isshun heard was—
"Shun-chaaan!"
He teleported his dirty laundry into the basket, then walked into the living room, where Genzai was still watching TV.
"Dad, I'm heading over to Nejire's."
"Have fun!"
Genzai waved lazily, and Isshun teleported away.
As always, the moment he appeared in Nejire's room, he was immediately glomped by a hug.
"Shun-chan! How was your first day of school?!"
"Well… I'd say it was pretty okay?"
"Really?!"
"Yeah. What about you?"
"It was great! So many people in my class have such cool Quirks!"
'Hmm…this is kind of giving me a bad omen.'
"Nejire," Isshun said, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't go around asking everyone about their Quirks, did you?"
"Hm? No?" She shook her head enthusiastically. "I was planning to ask tomorrow!"
'...Thought so.'
Isshun wasn't particularly good at enthusiastically making friends, but he was somewhat familiar with the mindset of middle schoolers.
Rather, it was actually common knowledge, due to mental and bodily changes.
Even before he had reincarnated, it was common to be insecure about one's height, change in voice, or even just the appearance of acne.
Isshun believed it was the height of when the community mentality of elementary school kind of devolved into smaller independent groups.
And in a Quirk society, where people had an extra trait to compare, judge, and brag about, it became even easier to be singled out.
As they say, the nail that gets stuck out gets hammered down.
While this wasn't as extreme in Hero culture, middle school was a place where everyone was supposed to be equal. Overly curious personalities like Nejire's tended to draw the wrong kind of attention.
Isshun, who definitely, one hundred percent wasn't worried about Nejire's social health, thought it was necessary for a small lesson.
After all, even if Nejire had mellowed a bit thanks to a certain someone, that didn't erase how volatile kids could be.
"Nejire."
In a blink, Isshun teleported onto Nejire's chair and gently relocated her onto the bed.
"Hm…?" She tilted her head.
"I think we need to talk about how you present yourself in middle school."
"Don't worry—" Nejire started.
"Better safe than sorry," Isshun interrupted. "Also, if you listen properly, we can go to an event with a lot of Pro Heroes. Like. A lot."
"…!"
Nejire immediately sat down, miming a zipper over her mouth.
"Okay," Isshun began. "This might not apply to you specifically, but kids your age are usually really self-conscious about their Quirks."
Nejire raised her hand.
"Yes, Nejire?"
"Shun-chan-sensei! Why would they be self-conscious if everyone has such interesting Quirks?"
"This is conjecture," Isshun said flatly, "but that's just how Hero Society works."
"But how?"
"Look, Nejire." Isshun teleported a whiteboard and an expo marker into his hands, sat down on the floor, and motioned for Nejire to join him.
"What's the job almost every middle schooler wants?"
"To be a Hero!" Nejire said instantly.
"Correct. And while people used to argue everyone was equal before Quirks, in this society, no one really is."
"Uh-huh…"
"So—what makes a Hero?"
"Saving people!" she said confidently.
"…Correct," Isshun said, sketching a tiny All Might and circling it. "But to Hero Society, that isn't the whole picture."
"Why not? Isn't the entire point to save people?" Nejire asked.
"That's the definition," Isshun agreed. "You'd get along with a guy who really likes swords, by the way. But practically speaking, what is a Hero?"
"Um…a job?"
"Exactly."
He drew three arrows branching out from All Might.
"And jobs make money."
Isshun added rough doodles: a podium, merchandise, and civilians being rescued.
"I'm fuzzy on the details, but Heroes earn money through popularity, merch, and some kind of activity quota."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. Like all the All Might hoodies you see at Don Quijote. But you're probably more familiar with the popularity part."
"Oh! Like the Hero Rankings!"
"Mhm." Isshun nodded. "And unfortunately, most people don't have Quirks suited for Hero work unless they train really hard physically. These days, someone could probably throw a car if they exercised enough."
"Oh! Shun-chan, we should start exercising again!"
"Sure. But most people don't have the mentality for that, especially when they already have a Quirk to rely on."
"Why not?"
Isshun shrugged. "Who knows?"
He capped the marker.
"So here's the issue. Imagine you had an extremely specialized or a hard to use Quirk. Then someone in your class, who seems perfect, with a Hero-suited Quirk that's flashy and all that, starts asking you tons of questions about it."
Nejire hummed. "I'd ask tons of questions about the Quirk they have!"
"…Don't change, Nejire," Isshun muttered, rubbing his temples. "But most kids would feel jealous. They'd think things like, 'Why is she bragging?'"
"But aren't you still in elementary school?"
"Yeah," Isshun said flatly. "But I'm smarter than you."
"Dang it…" Nejire pouted, then tilted her head. "So if you say they're going to be jealous… how do I make friends?"
Isshun paused.
"You're not wrong for being curious about other people's Quirks," he said.
"I just don't want people misunderstanding you, cause it's annoying."
"Just take this as advice," Isshun continued. "If the thing they're most insecure about is their Quirk, and yours stands out, just don't lead with it."
"Whaaaat?!"
"Let me finish. Get closer through hobbies first. Games, food, whatever, what you get close with isn't that important." Isshun proposed.
"The important part is that if they understand who you really are, they're way less likely to misunderstand your intentions."
"Well… if you say so, Shun-chan." Nejire nodded. Isshun was her main source of information most of the time, and more often than not, he was right.
"Thanks for listening."
"So!" Nejire leaned forward. "What's the event with all the Pro Heroes?"
"Oh. It's kind of like a concert-slash-farewell party for a Hero named Captain Celebrity."
"Oh! I know him!" Nejire pulled out the new phone her parents had gotten her, complete with a vanilla-themed case.
She showed Isshun an ad with Captain Celebrity and Ingenium.
"…Wow," Isshun said. "This guy looks really pretentious."
"What does that mean, Shun-chan? Pre…ten-tee-us?"
"...You remind me of a friend I made today."
"You made a friend, Shun-chan!?"
"...Haaaah."
--<>--
A/N: Action coming up i stg.
Hope it didn't come off as mansplaining.
Also gah damn how did we hit the second goal on friday?
4advancechapsasofnowatp@tr30n/cypresss
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2700PS - Complete
4900PS - Complete