Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 115: Mortality

Shouta was an idiot.

In my experience, it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

It was like everything suddenly clicked into place. All those times that Viridian had said he couldn't be a hero, his weird insistence that he wasn't actually a vigilante, Kacchan bursting out laughing after Shouta suggested a quirk, all of it made sense. No wonder no one could figure out what Viridian's quirk was, he didn't have one!

Wait...Viridian didn't have a quirk. He'd been doing everything quirkless! He'd been fighting people dosed on trigger and modified to have multiple, powerful quirks! He was outmatched on a daily basis! That was so dangerous and he didn't have any way to defend himself and...and what was Shouta even thinking? He knew that Viridian was capable of defending himself and defeating strong opponents. He'd seen the kid fight villains three times his size and win, so why had Shouta forgotten all of that and started panicking as soon as the kid said he was quirkless?

No wonder the kid had never told anyone. Viridian had probably been met with two responses when people learned about his quirk status: hatred or pity. Growing up like that, with people rejecting him left and right just for the way he was born, it was a wonder he was as well adjusted as he was, honestly. That was, if becoming a teenage vigilante counted as being well adjusted. It probably didn't, but at least they'd been able to give him a little bit of support...which the kid was most likely, and justifiably, terrified of losing now that Shouta knew about his quirk status. His plan of enrolling Viridian in the vigilante rehabilitation program had just flown right out the window, because there was no way that the hero commission wouldn't exploit every possible loophole to keep him out of the program, but maybe if they could find a way to loophole him back into it...

Shouta was so busy reeling at the revelation that he almost missed the way that Viridian's eyes were darting around the room, searching for something. Shouta managed to pull himself out of his thoughts just as the kid found what he was looking for and he discreetly followed the kid's gaze for just long enough to see the camera before pretending he hadn't seen it at all. All for One was watching.

Viridian cleared his throat, calling Shouta's attention back to him, and there was a calculating look in his eye as he started talking again, this time loud enough for the cameras to hear, "I, uh, I think that All for One will steal my quirk first."

Shouta had no idea what the kid was planning, considering that he'd just all but confirmed that he didn't have a quirk to steal, but he'd play along. "Interesting theory, especially since he's been after mine longer, at least considering the incident that led to Shirakumo's abduction."

Viridian shot him half a grateful look before continuing, "Yeah, but my, uh... quirk will be more useful to him."

Shouta narrowed his eyes, "How so?"

"Well, think about it." The problem child sounded more certain now. "I can pick apart any quirk within seconds and almost instantly identify any weaknesses, not to mention find new uses and figure out how they might fit together. That's how we figured out that Kurogiri was Shirakumo: I was able to pick apart the quirk and figure out what quirks went into it. An ability like that would be more useful than a simple canceling ability, considering that his collection of quirks can already easily overpower any single quirk user."

Was...was the kid baiting All for One? Of all the stupid, brillient plans the Viridian had come up with, this had to be simultaniously one of the dumbest and the smartest of all of them. On the one hand, if it worked and All for One went for Viridian's quirk first, there would be a split second when he realized there was nothing to steal and if they could find a way to untie themselves, there would be an opening that they could use to fight back and maybe even escape, but if they failed and missed that opening, which they would because they were still tied up, Shouta was honestly terrified of how All for One would react to the knowledge that Viridian had done so much damage all without a quirk. They couldn't risk it, especially since Shouta was 90% sure Viridian was planning on sacrificing himself to prevent Shouta's quirk from being taken, and while he appreciated the thought, it was self-destructive and wouldn't even work.