Chapter 9: A Healers Calling
There is a career fair going on at school.
Well, not an actually fair, as Izuku is fairly certain it's illegal to hire 8 year olds. The whole thing was actually just supposed to help taking the kids minds off the upcoming tests, with food, drinks and desserts lining the halls outside of the gymnasium. The fair is set up in a similar way to a real one, meant to advertise possible career paths and options to the school's attendees.
Not that anyone cared anything about any other path other than heroics, but still.
And it's not like Izuku was any different; he wants to become a hero like the majority of his peers, so of course he waited in line for the hero booth, which even had an actual sidekick there from a local agency to talk about the job!
But as he waits in line, trying to avoid being jostled out of his place like earlier, one of his teachers walks up to him, her heels clicking against the tile flooring. It takes a second for him to realize it was the school's librarian. Her blue hair was tied up in twin buns, and she had an excited smile on her face.
"Midoriya! There you are, there is someone I'd like you to speak to!" Her purple eyes have a soft amusement in them, but it doesn't seem to be malicious as she smiles down on him. He looks at the still growing crowd behind him. Izuku likes her; ever since that one time she let him hide in the library after hours to wait out some of the students lingering for him at the front gate, he always thought she was one of the cooler teachers.
Izuku glances at the ever growing crowd behind him.
He doesn't want to lose his spot, but he also doesn't want to risk making her mad at him…
"O-Ok, what for?" He asks as he follows her, walking through the maze of brightly colored booths. There were less people here, and Izuku is tempted to try and practice his new sensing ability if he wasn't so focused on not losing sight of his teacher. She's all but sprinting, what's the rush?!
She stops suddenly, and Izuku narrowly avoids slamming into her back.
"Midoriya, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Yoriyuki!" She steps to the side, revealing a young man in doctor's attire standing in front of a table.
His eyes crinkle around the edges at the sight of Izuku, drawing attention to his bushy pink eyebrows and impressive mustache. The colors shift around for a moment, almost as if alive.
"Hello there! As you heard, I'm Yoriyuki!" He says boisterously, putting his hand on his hips for a moment.
"Even though I'm just a doctor, I was invited here to talk about the job of a Healer!" The man says proudly. "My coworker, who's an actual healer, was supposed to come, but her agent deemed it too risky."
Izuku tilts his head to the side, confused. "Uh, what?" He asks, confused. "...You mean like a doctor?"
The man laughs slightly. "Well, yeah, a little. But a healer has different responsibilities and privileges than an ordinary doctor. The main difference is that someone with a healer license is able to use their quirk on patients, while a doctor is not."
Izuku's eyes widened. "Wait, really?!" He hasn't really thought much about there being any job differences between healer and doctor, merely mistaking the two as different names for the same job. "Why's that?"
"Well, the majority of the time someone with a quirk that isn't useful in a medical setting, like setting things on fire or the like, will go down the doctor route, since that doesn't require any quirk usage. But for those with healing quirks, or quirks that can be used in a way that can help patients, that's where the healing career path comes in!"
Izuku doesn't want to say he's interested.
He really doesn't, he's been wanting to be a hero since he first knew how to say the word! Even if some people didn't think his quirk would work for heroics, he knew he could prove them wrong. Being a hero would let him help countless people, and save those who need it most, those who need a light to reach them in their darkest hour…
...But maybe it wouldn't hurt to learn more about being a healer?
"C-Can you tell me more?" He asks hesitantly, eyes shifting between the man and his librarian. She seems overjoyed by his interest, and gives the man a little shove forward.
"Fill him in Yoriyuki, Mr. Midoriya here has a minor healing quirk!"
The man's brown eyes widen. "Wait seriously?" He looks at Izuku with a new light, a wide smile on his face. "That's perfect for a healer Midoriya!"
He suddenly takes Izuku by the hand, causing the green haired boy to almost faceplant in surprise, before spinning him around and pushing him lightly into a chair, immediately going around the table to sit on the other side.
"If you're interested in the healer career it's important to get started on it as early as possible. One of the first steps you can take is through volunteer activities at local hospitals!" Yoriyuki shove a thick stack of pamphlets into Izuku arms, not even waiting for him to recover before continuing, "This gives you need experience in the going on of the workplace, but in the situation of a healer it is also useful to get disaster relief training, but you can focus more on that when your older."
Izuku stared down at his already full hand in surprise. He didn't expect the man to be thatenthusiastic about it-
"Then you're going to need some first aid training, and find a healer program to enroll into! They aren't too competitive considering how rare healing quirks are, so you'll be a shoe in! After that, you'll work towards what's essentially a minor medical degree, but less intensive so you can get to work faster! Besides, most of the time the person's quirk supplements where they don't have any experience in, and the majority of healers are a part of a team of doctors and nurses as well."
Yoriyuki smiles widely. "Also, almost every healer program offers some form of protection when you get enrolled! I've heard the top one's at major hospitals even offer hero escorts depending on your quirk's strength, free of charge!"
A hero escort!?! That sounds amazing! Izuku realizes his mother would love this, especially since she's always been more… hesitant about Izuku's aspirations to become a hero. Not to his face, she's way too nice to do that, but Izuku's noticed the lack of enthusiasm about the topic when he brings it up to her.
A healer… maybe this could work?
He would be saving people after all… just not in the way he intended. After all, emergency responders and doctors were called heroes in the time before quirks. With the Iris, there is no telling how many people he could help, especially if he were to work somewhere like the emergency room.
He thinks back to the cat, and how he might have been the only one who could have rescued it from the brink of death.
How many people would he have the potential to save just like that? When all hope was lost?
He feels the Iris flowing within him as he thinks, almost as if reacting to his internal turmoil, but Mr.Yoriyuki hasn't stopped talking so he pushes it aside for now, focusing instead on the man's words.
He wishes he brought his notebook.
__________
Izuku walks out of the gymnasium in a daze.
He ended up talking to Yoriyuki for two hours, missing the sidekick's presentation entirely. He would feel sad about it if he wasn't so focused on his current dilemma. He purposefully walks home slightly slower than normal, hoping the silence will help clear his mind.
Hero… or Healer?
Which does he pick?
Both let him save people in their own ways.
Either way, he would be doing what he wants to do, right? Help people who need it most, who have lost their hope?
And the healer path almost seems like a godsend; formal training, protection and experience all starting in his early highschool years? And without the worry that comes with a villain attack? How can he say no? With his quirk, is there truly any other choice?
But the thought of becoming a healer makes his stomach do an uncomfortable flop, almost as if his body is warning him against the decision. Izuku frowns.
Something about becoming a healer just feels… wrong. Or maybe that's the wrong word for it.
More like… incomplete.
Don't get him wrong, he understands that either way, healer or hero, would be accomplishing his dream, but the thought of only becoming a healer just doesn't seem to fit him. Izuku wants to do more than be ready to save the lives of those injured and dying; he wants to prevent that from happening in the first place.
So… that would mean being a hero, right?
He pauses for a moment, eyes scanning the road before him for any cars, then quickly crossing. A quick glance at his watch reveals he need to be home in five minutes, so
The thought of becoming a hero doesn't sit right anymore either, and Izuku has to resist the urge to shake his head in frustration. Why does the dream he's had for so long suddenly feel so, so wrong?!
As soon as he arrives home, Izuku pushes his thoughts aside. Helping his mother prepare dinner distracts him from the internal dilemma, and it's only after he's finished with his homework and laying in bed do the thoughts resurface.
Hero… or Healer?
The questions bounce around in his skull for what seems like hours, until Izuku finally sits up in frustration. Ugh, why can't he decide?!
Crossing his legs, he leans back against the wall and shuts his eyes, running through the steps to start meditating. As soon as his mind is blank, and Izuku feels the first hints of the Iris welling up inside of him, he embraces the feeling.
The now familiar falling sensation overtakes him, and when Izuku opens his eyes, he is greeted with the Iris, the landscape melting and reforming around him until he is standing in the middle of the Zenyatta's monastery, their new favorite meeting point.
"Zenyattaaaaaa?" He calls out, immediately setting out across the empty courtyard to head inside the main building. Before, he might have felt nervous about venturing in by himself, but it slowly built to a point that any reservations about wandering the monastery were gone, the his worry of overstepping his welcome almost completely gone now.
Sometimes the monk wasn't even there when he meditated, which raised the question as to how the monastery was still there, but the familiar environment now helped him to focus on the Iris.
Basically home away from home for Izuku, except portable!
And only in his head.
But, eh, Izuku's not about to stress himself on the details.
"Zenyatta? Zen- Oh hello!" He calls upon opening a door, revealing the omnic monk standing before a small table full of potted plants, turning once he hears Izuku walk in. The room is darker than normal, the only sources of light coming from the bundle of red candles set on an empty table near the entrance.
"Midoriya!" He greets amicably, setting down the flowers and taking a step forward, nodding in acknowledgement. "I thought you were going to take a break from visiting for a week until your tests were done? Didn't you say something about wanting to study?"
Izuku frowns slightly. That had been the plan, but he was too restless to study for the most part, mind preoccupied. "Well, yeah… but, uh, can I ask you a question?" He fumbles with his words for a moment, trying to find the right way to phrase his thoughts.
"Um… Can… What do you do when you're given two choices you really like?" Izuku rushes, looking down at his hands. "Like, both are basically perfect, so you're not making a wrong choice with either, but you can only pick one? A-And what if after you pick, it feels wrong?"
Zenyatta tilts his head to the side, the grid on his forward brightening for a moment.
"Take a seat Midoriya. You have a lot on your mind, don't you?" He gestures to an empty seat, almost hidden by the amount of plants almost overflowing from the table.
Izuku nods sheepishly, sitting across from his teacher.
"So, I take it you're having an issue making a decision, right?" Zenyatta asks gently, "Do you want to talk about what it's about?"
Izuku hesitates. "...It's about my future job I guess." He offers after a moment.
Zenyatta sits back in his chair for a moment. "Well, it is a bit early for you to be worrying about this don't you think?"
Izuku shakes his head. "I've... always thought I was meant to be a hero, it's been my dream for so long," he says softly, knowing Zenyatta understands what he's talking about given the amount of hero based rants Izuku has given the omnic. "But now I'm not sure."
"I take it you found another job that interests you just as much?"
Izuku nods miserably. "Yes, and I don't know what to do! I feel like if I pick one, then I'm just… abandoning the other!"
He puts his head in his hands, closing his eyes in frustration. A hand reaches over and pats him on the back, a sympathetic sounding humm making its way to his ears.
"Decisions like these are not the easiest to make in a day, Midoriya." Zenyatta warns, and Izuku looks up with water eyes.
"I know..."
"Besides, you look tired anyway." Zenyatta pokes at his cheek, and even though the omnic has no visible eyes, Izuku gets the feeling he is staring at what must be impressive eyebacks under Izuku's own. "Go home and get some rest. Once you're refreshed, try looking at your problem from a new angle."
Izuku huffs, feeling more drained than he should be considering he is back at square one. "Ok, ok. See you tomorrow Zenyatta." He relents, standing and giving the omnic a little wave which is returned.
"Sleep well my student!" Zenyatta calls as Izuku taps into the Iris, the comforting glowing energy reaching out and wrapping around him.
"I'll try!" Izuku just manages to yell back before his vision is overtaken by the golden haze, cutting off sight of both the omnic and the monastery. After a brief sensation of falling, Izuku opens his eyes and is greeted with his empty, dark room.
Sighing, he falls back onto his mattress with a thump.
The Iris flows in him tonight, even more active than usual as it shifts and swirls inside him, just under the skin. Izuku calls it out without hesitation, the glowing orb lighting up the room in a way done hundreds of times before. He stares at the energy, eyes half lidded.
Hero or Healer...
Ugh, why does he have to pick?
He shifts to his side, staring out blankly across his desk. In the faint light, he's barely able to make out the new figurine of Present Mic he had gotten for his birthday, the voice hero situated right beside his notebooks.
Out of nowhere, a thought pops into his head.
Present Mic has two jobs.
He sits up, eyes still trained on the small Mic.
Two jobs.
...
Why… does he have to pick?
After all, there's nothing stopping him from doing both… right?
Plenty of heroes have other jobs. After all, every single teacher at UA is a testament to this! In fact, if you count the radio show, doesn't Present Mic technically have three? If so many other hero's could do it, then so could Izuku!
He can be both.
Hero and Healer.
He smiles, calling away the light of the Iris and rolling onto his back once more, pulling his blankets up around him.
Never has a thought felt so right.
__________
The next day, when Izuku and the rest of his classmates are asked to write about their experience with the career fair, Izuku knows exactly what he's going to say. He writes so fast he's a little disappointed in his hand writing, but he still proudly turns in the paper, plopping it down on the teacher's desk with a smile.
"Wow, you got that done quickly Midoriya." His teacher drawls, seemingly disinterested as he picks up the paper, lazily. Izuku sees him skimming it with his eyes, an interesting expression growing on his face. Just when he decides to head back to his desk, his teacher starts talking.
"Healer? Well, at least one of these makes sense for you Midoriya!" He jokes with a chuckle, looking up from the paper with a smile. "You'd be perfect for a job like that, you know? Keeps people like you out of danger."
Izuku's polite smile turns a little more strained.
"But d-don't forget the hero option please. I still want to get the in-information packet about that!" He reminds, since he wasn't able to see the hero booth yesterday. The school at least had the hindsight to prepare little packets, filled with descriptions and FAQ's about heroics, for the inevitable students who were unfortunate enough to miss the hero booth.
The teacher's smile drops.
"Yes, well, we do have a limited number of those Midoriya."
Izuku nods slowly, turning back and going to his seat.
He doesn't end up getting the packet. It's not that big of a deal, and he does get a whole new folder filled with healer information and opportunities, which Izuku thinks is probably for the best right now.
After all, Izuku's been a hero nerd for so long, he knows that the packet probably isn't going to give him any new knowledge on the job that he can't find while looking on the internet.
And he just discovered what a healer was the other day, so it makes sense to give him more information about something he knows little about. They probably knew that, and that's why they didn't give him a hero packet.
At least, that's what he tells himself when he watches the rest of his class tear eagerly into their own packets, reading about the hero's stories with star struck eyes.
Yeah, it's- it's for the best.