It was quiet. Something Midoriya had forgotten about life was the original silence in his head. He had to admit, in hindsight, he had missed hearing the birds chirping without the side of commentary quite greatly. The world was much calmer without One for All’s previous successors surrounding your mind and dictating your whims. He could almost scoff at how much they had taken over his life for nearly two years. 

But now the treatments were working wonders and he felt better than ever. Of course, he did have relapses and not everything could be controlled to a T, but between Quirk-Therapy, Single-Gene Infusions and medicines to help lessen the serenity of his illnesses, improvement was prominent. 

He looked out over the horizon, smiling to himself, feeling how weightless his shoulders seemed to be. The sunset was upon Japan, leading into the dark perils of night time and heightened crime rates. But the clouds were quite lovely today. 

Very lovely indeed. He smiled to himself, once again relishing in the soft breeze as it blew across the sky, ruffling his hair as a byproduct of its presence. If he had more time, Midoriya would simply close his eyes and fall asleep right there. 

Almost immediately after having that thought, his right leg twitches, bumping into the wall below. And he was reminded of his almost precarious position sitting on top of the edge of a considerably larger building in the area. A thump sounded from behind him, but Midoriya paid it no mind, not scared in the slightest. Afterall, he was dressed in a full black casual outfit that had the purpose of hiding his form-fitting hero costume from view. 

“For someone so ambitious, you sure are lazy.” Comments a deep, cynical voice with a hint of amusement. The owner of the voice stalked forward towards the perched Midoriya. As soon as he got close enough, he placed one of his hands on the smaller adult’s shoulders. 

Midoriya noncommittally hummed in response to his closest coworker, Shinso. The purple haired adult looked out over the sunset, watching the scene that always seemed to captivate the now quirkless man before him. His soft grip on Midoriya’s shoulder tightened slightly and he found a frown grazing his face. 

Midoriya had never truly recovered from all the trauma of UA’s first year. His body had gone through so much in such a short period of time that it required a lot of hospital visits and check ins. Not to mention, the mental strain during that time. So now, even at almost twenty years of age, Midoriya was very thin. Not to be confused with weak though. The green haired man’s form was lithe and slim but held some muscles gained from rigorous training and nimble movements garnered from his heroic night shifts. But his body definitely went through waves of sicknesses that took over his life from time to time. Some seasons are worse than others, causing the teen to be only a part-time hero. 

Oddly enough, Midoriya had been fine with the change and decrease in patrol times. Shinso chalked it up to the freshman year scare, where Midoriya had felt he was losing everyone around him and the successors were pressing the subject incessantly. It would scare him too, if he was a teen thinking everyone around him was dying and he couldn’t save them. 

Shinso shivered at the thought, pulling out of his mind. “How were the kids?’’ He commented instead. 

Midoriya finally looked away from the sunset, looking up at Shinso with a smile that was genuine yet also somehow didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Mostly decent, though some of the littles aren’t recovering too well.” He spoke softly, eyes wistful as he mentioned the local children’s hospital he volunteered at. “They really enjoy Hero Nights and when more people come into play and visit. You should come again next time.” His smile dropped slightly, tears welling up in his eyes. “You should visit Kenui again. He isn’t doing too well.” He whispered. 

Shinso stiffened, feeling as if he was becoming dizzy. That meant Kenui’s last surgery didn’t work as expected. He concluded, vowing to see the kid again. 

When Midoriya first showed him the hospital and kids, Shinso had noticed how one of the kids opted to play quietly by himself. Midoriya had spoken to the other adult about this and concluded the kid needed someone with a closer match to his personality. So Shinso agreed and continuously sat and talked with Kenui for a few weeks. At first the child didn’t respond, but after warming up to one another, they began to grow a bond. Shinso became so close with the kid, he even helped pay for all the surgeries his parents couldn’t afford. Because he saw himself in Kenui and felt as if it was cruel for the kid to not have a good chance at living life to the fullest. 

Apparently though, in the couple of days he had been unable to visit, Kenui had gotten sicker. Swallowing thickly, Shinso felt the need to see the kid as soon as possible. Which would be after dinner or tomorrow morning if dinner was extended. “I’ll visit him tomorrow.” He spoke, easing Midoriya’s nerves. He could tell the other man was filled with nervous energy. “As for now, we have a thirty minute patrol scheduled before dinner with your gang.” 

Finally, Midoriya snorted in laughter and turned around, tapping his fingers on the wall three times, he easily slipped down from the ledge and onto the building’s floor. “They aren’t a gang, and they’re your friends too.” He smiled at his training partner turned coworker. 

Shinso smiled too, watching his quirkless counterpart take off his hoodie and showcase his underlying hero suit beneath. Because even though Midoriya had never become like All Might and had the quirk stripped from his cells, damaging his body beyond immediate and full repair, he was still a hero in more sense than one. 

“Ready?” Midoriya snapped playfully, bounding to the rooftop door with a new round of energy. 

“When you are.” Shinso grumbled, rolling his eyes.