BNHA: Force Within

Anakin sat alone during lunch, just like he had for the past three months at Mandoru Middle School. He'd gotten used to eating by himself, using the time to practice controlling smaller objects with his quirk. Today he was moving his pencil in small circles above his notebook, keeping the movement subtle enough that other students wouldn't notice.

"That's a cool quirk!"

The pencil clattered onto his desk. A boy with spiky blonde hair stood next to his table, grinning widely. Anakin recognized him from Class 1-A - Togata Mirio, the kid who kept falling through his chair during lessons.

"Mind if I sit?" Mirio asked, already pulling out a chair. As he went to sit down, he accidentally activated his quirk, phasing halfway through the seat and stumbling backward. "Oops! Still working on that. Happens about twenty times a day."

"I guess misery loves company," Anakin said, using his quirk to steady Mirio's chair.

"Hey, I'm not miserable! Sure, I fall through stuff all the time, and yeah, sometimes my clothes don't come with me, but that's just part of growing up with a quirk, right?"

Anakin tensed, waiting for the usual fear or mockery that came when people noticed his quirk. But Mirio just looked genuinely interested.

"It's... hard to explain. I can feel the energy around things and move them."

"Like this?" Mirio picked up his own pencil and pretended to make it float with exaggerated hand movements. The simple joke made Anakin smile despite himself.

"Not exactly."

"Show me?"

Anakin glanced around. A group of students at the next table were watching them, whispering. He'd heard what they said about him when they thought he couldn't hear - about his weird quirk, about how he could probably hurt people if he wanted to.

"Come on," Mirio said, either not noticing or not caring about the onlookers. "Please?"

Anakin sighed and held out his hand. Mirio's pencil rose smoothly from the table, spinning in a perfect circle before landing back in front of him.

"That's amazing!" Mirio's eyes lit up. "Way better than falling through everything you try to touch."

"Hey, Togata!" One of the boys from the next table called out. "Better be careful. You don't know what that freak might do."

Mirio turned to face them, still smiling but with steel in his voice. "You're right, I don't know what he might do. But I do know what I might do - like accidentally phase through this table and cause a huge scene. Anyone want to see that?"

The other boys looked away, uncomfortable. Anakin stared at Mirio in surprise. No one had ever defended him like that before.

"Sorry about them," Mirio said, turning back to Anakin. "People get weird about quirks they don't understand. You should see how my classmates react when I sink through the floor during math."

"That happened yesterday."

"And the day before!" Mirio laughed. "I'm getting better though. Only fell through my bed twice this week."

They spent the rest of lunch trading quirk mishap stories. Mirio described how he once got stuck halfway through a wall, while Anakin admitted to accidentally launching his textbook across the room during a sneeze.

Over the next few weeks, they started eating lunch together regularly. Mirio's constant accidents with his quirk somehow made Anakin feel better about his own control issues. At least he didn't have to worry about falling through his chair during class.

"It's funny," Mirio said one day after managing to sit through an entire lunch without any incidents. "Everyone thinks having a powerful quirk means you've got it made. They don't see all the work it takes just to do normal stuff."

"Yeah," Anakin replied, carefully setting down his juice box after using his quirk to lift it. "Dr. Nakamura says quirks are like learning to walk - everyone stumbles at first."

"Exactly! Though in my case, it's less stumbling and more falling through the floor." As if to prove his point, Mirio's quirk activated unexpectedly, sending him partway through his chair again. "See what I mean?"

Even Kenji's comments didn't bother Anakin as much anymore. It was hard to feel like a freak when sitting next to someone who regularly phased through solid objects by accident.

"You know what I think?" Mirio said one day, after successfully remaining solid through an entire conversation. "Having a quirk that's hard to control just means we have to work harder than everyone else. Makes us stronger in the end."

"Is that why you're always smiling? Even when you fall through things?"

"I smile because what's the point in being sad about it? Plus, my dad says if you can laugh at yourself, other people laughing doesn't hurt as much."

Their quirks might have made them different from their classmates, but at least now they were different together.