Chapter 20: Yes, He's Quirkless

"Here you go," said an elderly woman dressed as a nurse as she finished bandaging Midoriya's finger. Her voice was kind but weary. "Well, now I'll bring all the basic equipment for you," she added, glancing at Toji, who stood with his arms crossed on the other side of the room, wearing an expression of evident boredom.

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up," he replied disdainfully, making a slight gesture with his hand. The elderly woman left the room, leaving the two of them in an awkward silence.

Izuku nervously watched Toji, who was tapping his fingers on his arm as if counting the seconds to leave. Finally, the young man gathered some courage.

"F-Fushiguro-san, right?" he asked in a trembling voice.

Toji glanced at him sideways, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?" he said, in a dry tone that didn't help calm Izuku.

The boy swallowed hard and looked at the floor. "Well... I wanted to ask you something..."

Toji clicked his tongue, visibly impatient. "Come on, spit it out already," he insisted.

"Is... is it true that you don't have a quirk?" Izuku blurted out.

Toji blinked a couple of times, surprised by the question, but quickly regained his indifferent expression. "And what if I don't?" he responded with a yawn, as if the conversation were irrelevant.

"It's just... I'd be surprised if it were true. You did inhuman things during the test..." stammered Izuku, still nervous.

Toji simply shrugged, as if the topic didn't matter to him.

Midoriya, however, couldn't hold back. "F-Fushiguro-san... I know we don't know each other, but... would you still try to be a hero if you couldn't do everything you showed during the test?"

For the first time, Toji looked at him directly. His eyes seemed to pierce through Izuku, scanning him thoroughly. After a few seconds, the man straightened up, stretching his arms and joints as if preparing for something.

"Of course I would," he finally said, in a firmer tone. "But let me tell you something... I don't need a piece of paper to tell me I'm a hero to be one."

Izuku's eyes widened in astonishment, unsure how to respond. Toji continued, now scratching his head as if searching for the right words.

"You don't need a quirk to be someone's hero either. The concept of a hero in this world is too idealized. In fact, if you knew the things I've done, you'd probably think I'm the worst scum of the universe. But here I am."

Izuku frowned, confused. "W-what do you mean? This world? The things you've done?"

Toji let out a sigh and walked toward the door. "Nothing. Forget it," he said, evading the question. However, he stopped just before leaving and posed his own question to the young man. "Let me ask you something now... When they told you that you couldn't, did you give up?"

Toji's mocking smile left Izuku even more confused. "Hahaha, don't mind me. I've been feeling a bit melancholic these days."

"Fushiguro-chan! Come, follow me!" Recovery Girl's voice echoed from the hallway.

"Well, goodbye," Toji finally said, closing the door behind him.

Izuku was left alone, with a lost gaze and a somber expression on his face. Toji's words echoed in his mind, leaving more doubts than answers.

After a while, Toji was quickly buttoning up his shirt, ready to leave the medical room. "So, what now?" he asked disinterestedly as he looked at Recovery Girl, who was examining some X-rays and reading a report.

"Well, you have both joints... how strange. But the other tests will take a while to yield results. You can return to your classroom in the meantime," the elderly woman said with a kind smile.

Toji grunted in response and turned toward the door, but not before grabbing several candies from a jar on the desk.

"You're only supposed to take one!" Recovery Girl protested, frowning.

Toji ignored her entirely, taking the sweets. She shook her head and let out a long sigh, resigned.

Hours later, the school day came to an end. Toji was leaving the building accompanied by Momo, who walked beside him with a calm yet curious expression. "So, what happened?" she finally asked, not hiding her interest. She hadn't had the chance to talk to him earlier.

"I don't know," Toji replied simply, shrugging.

Momo rolled her eyes and let out a slight sigh. "Why am I not surprised?" she said with an ironic smile, accustomed to his attitude.

Suddenly, a feminine voice interrupted them. "Wait for meee!"

They both stopped and turned, seeing Uraraka running toward them, slightly out of breath.

"Ochako, right?" Toji asked with a mocking smile, recognizing her.

Uraraka blushed instantly. "Y-yes, that's my name..."

Toji burst out laughing. "Haha, what's wrong with you? You look like a tomato with that round face," he said, poking Uraraka's cheeks lightly, making her blush even more.

A vein appeared on Momo's temple, and she quickly intervened. She firmly grabbed Toji's arm. "Toji-kun, you're making her uncomfortable," she said in a severe tone.

Toji blinked, surprised, before looking at Uraraka, who avoided his gaze with a flushed face. Finally, he sighed. "Ah... sorry."

Momo observed him with resignation, realizing she'd have to talk to him about certain things later.

The three left the school and crossed paths with Midoriya, who avoided Toji's gaze slightly. They all said goodbye, and Momo had a chauffeur take Toji home.

"That's impossible..." murmured Aizawa, sitting in a meeting room with a furrowed brow.

"Well, it seems it's not," Recovery Girl responded calmly. "All the tests came back negative. In every sense, he's quirkless."

"Does anyone have information about his family records?" Aizawa asked, letting out a sigh as he massaged his temples.

Principal Nezu, seated at the center of the table, intervened with a calm but authoritative voice. "He lives with his mother and grandmother. There's no father listed in the records. Mrs. Fushiguro never included information about him. Also, on the maternal side, they're all quirkless."

Aizawa ran a hand over his eyes, trying to process the information. Nezu continued without pause, as if mentally reading a report. "Oh, he also has a close relationship with the Yaoyorozu family."

The mention piqued slight interest in the others present, but it was All Might who finally spoke, his deep and serious voice resonating. "There's not much we can do about it. Continue searching his records for any relevant details and keep him under observation. For now, there's nothing more we can do."

Toji opened the door to his house, and before he could take a step inside, a burst of confetti covered his face. He blinked, stunned, with a completely expressionless face as he removed some bits of paper from his hair. Standing before him were two smiling women: his grandmother and his mother.

His mother wasted no time. She jumped toward him and hugged him tightly, wrapping him in her arms. "Congratulations on your first day, Toji! Tell me, how did it go?"

Toji dropped his backpack to the floor, responding to the hug with a faint smile. "Good... You could say it went well."

The small celebration was warm and simple, but for Toji, it felt special in an unexpected way. On the dining table, his mother had prepared a few homemade dishes: curry rice, freshly fried croquettes, and a small cake decorated with candles, clearly improvised but full of love. His grandmother, with her peculiar sense of humor, insisted that Toji share anecdotes from his day while his mother looked on with pride.

It was quite late when Toji stepped out of the bathroom, his hair damp and body relaxed after a hot shower. The house was silent; the party had ended a while ago, and both his mother and grandmother had retired to rest. As he headed to his room, his thoughts began to wander. "Living like this... isn't so bad," he thought while drying his hair with a towel.

Recently, he found himself reflecting more than usual about his past life. He had gone from being part of a large and dysfunctional family to having this small and loving one. He had left behind the days of killing for money, and while he still wasn't sure if he considered himself a "hero," he was at least trying to be a better person. The term still sounded strange to him, almost uncomfortable.

He let out a sigh as he reached his room. He still didn't understand how he had changed so much in fifteen years. Perhaps he never would. He dropped onto his bed, closing his eyes as the doubts and memories gradually faded, giving way to sleep.