Yui Andenryū was a lot of things: quiet, detail oriented, intelligent; what she wasn’t was impulsive. Until today at least. Finding a sniffling little boy at Dagobah Beach with wild viridian curls and doe like emerald eyes with freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks akin to stars, she just knew those wide, teary eyes were going to be the death of her.

It wasn’t that Yui was a bleeding heart, it’s quite the opposite; but for whatever reason, instinct was demanding she protect the boy a few years her junior, skinny arms and legs with little starburst scars and clothes that haven’t been washed in a few days.

“Why are you sitting in a dump?” her voice came out sharper than she meant, and she winced, trying to remember how kids were supposed to interact.

The kid sniffed, “I…I'm just collecting scrap,”

She stared at him for a solid minute, watching him squirm and fidget under her gaze while he looked anywhere but her. She sighed, “Look, if you’re going to lie, you need to get better at it.” She pointed to an area that was cleaner than the rest, right in front of a bus door. “Are you living in there? Please tell me you’ve had a tetanus shot,”

“It’s really okay! It’s better this way…” He stuttered, still looking away from her.

She tried not to sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose. She had a few hours before she had to be back, it’d be fine. “You want to come with me to that café close by? I don’t like eating alone, too many creepy men get ideas about a girl eating alone,” she tilted her head and leaned down, trying to look at his eyes.

Eyes that went wide at the offer, and a loud grumble from a stomach, gave her the answer before he nodded, the green curls bobbing from the force. “A-Are you sure?”

“I asked, didn’t I? Come on,” she held out her hand, waiting until small fingers interlaced with hers before she led the way down the street to a cat café that she liked to go to. Her parents would never allow her a pet, so she got her fill of warm, purring disasters, and the best coffee in town. Plus the chocolate chip muffins were amazing enough to tempt her from her diet, especially if she gave puppy eyes at Yuki for one right out of the oven.

She pulled him into a corner booth, “what would you want? You can go nuts, I get a generous allowance, they serve American food here but it’s good and they give big portions,”

He gulped, looking up at the menu, worrying his lip between his teeth. “Could I get the chicken sandwich and fries?” his voice was almost a whisper.

She nodded “Do you like chocolate?” He blinked at her before giving a hesitant nod. “Good, you’re not a heathen, we'll get along just fine,” she left him to pay for two hours of time and to place their order. She bought a fruit basket and six chocolate chip muffins. Taking the bottles of milk, she walked back to the table. Three cats were already swarming over the kid- a calico kitten was laying on top of his head, a black cat on his lap and a Maine coon was on the table, tapping a paw on his nose until he scratched between its ears.

Yui couldn’t stop a smile, if the cats liked him, he couldn’t be a bad kid. Well, they liked her, but she didn’t count herself. She slid a bottle of milk to him, “I’m Yui by the way,” she slid into the booth, putting the basket on the table. “To commemorate our new friendship, I got you this. I hope you like fruit,”

If anything, she expected a quite thanks, maybe a smile? What Yui got was bright green eyes filling with tears and overflowing down his cheeks with such force she thought he had a crying quirk. She shot upright, her own teal eyes wide as she rushed to his side, reaching out but too afraid to touch him.

“Oh Kami, please don’t cry! I swear I was just trying to be nice! Are you allergic? You don’t have to eat it! You can throw it at the people who give you shit! Oh fuck, why am I such a fuck up?” She rambled, looking around for any clue for what she did wrong but they were the only ones in the café, Yuki having gone to the back to make their food.

She only turned back to the kid when she heard a sniffle as he rubbed his eyes “Y-You’re so nice, I'm so happy…thank you,” he hiccupped.

She blinked before she grabbed the box of tissues from the counter and offered them to him. “Oh thank Kami, I thought I hurt your feelings…is that your Quirk? Excessive Tears?” she tried to joke. Her smile fell when he stiffened, his shoulders hunching up and he pulled in on himself.

“I'm…I’m actually Q-Quirkless…” he whispered, looking down at the cat in his lap.

She blinked, staring at him before she slid into the booth beside him. “Wow, you’re really Quirkless? You’re a rarity,” she said, her arm against his.

Only twenty percent of people were Quirkless, but most of that were older generations. It was almost unheard of for someone in their age group to not have a Quirk. Especially in Japan, which had a high percentage of Quirked individuals even back when they started to appear. To be born Quirkless in Japan now, you’d probably be in a one percent or lower bracket.

Yui wasn’t stupid, she saw the news, knew how people with Quirks considered weak or villainous were treated, but if you didn’t have one at all? You’d be treated like scum, like you were diseased. There was a reason this kid had scars, and it couldn’t have just been an accident.

She slowly reached up, making sure he saw her move and put a hand on top of his curls, ruffling them as she smiled. “you’re one of a kind, you’re really special kid.”

And just like that the waterworks started again, the boy turning and wrapping his thin arms around her and hiding his face on her shoulder as he cried, the cat jumping off his lap so it didn’t get trapped. Yui couldn’t even get mad as the material on her shoulder got soaked, she just wrapped her arms around his thin frame and rubbed his back, trying to be a comfort to the kid.

He didn’t slow until their food was put in front of them, he pulled back to dry his eyes and blow his nose.

“Yui, you really need to stop making boys cry, how are you going to get a boyfriend?” Yuki asked, her lips curled up in a smirk.

She growled as she glared at the older woman “I was actually trying to be nice! And don’t be gross he’s like half my age!”

“I’m nine….”

She blinked, turning to look at the kid, he had his head angled down but he looked up at her through his bangs. “You’re nine?” At his nod she pushed her milk toward him, “You need more milk, I thought you were five,”

“I can’t help that I’m short!” a lower lip pushed out in a pout, and dammit his eyes were all bright and damp from crying. She looked away, huffing at him.

“Drink the damn milk, bean sprout,” she grumbled as Yuki laughed and left them alone. “Damn lady, butting her nose in,” she took a bite of her wrap.

The kid giggled before he started to eat his food. “I’m Izuku,” he said softly.

Yui blinked before she smiled, “It's nice to meet you, Izuku.”

"It’s nice to meet you too, Yui-nee!” He chirped, before he took another bite of his sandwich.

If Yuki started to cackle as Yui started to choke on air and Izuku started to flail his arms and apologize, they would be the only ones to know.