The revival of a dream!

"It started when I was already nearing my daily limit," Toshinori started slowly, taking a seat himself and taking a deep breath. "I had been out getting myself some groceries, when a Villain with an amorphous body had robbed someone. Naturally, I took on my muscle form, and went after that Villain. Of course, he fled, and with his slippery, malleable body, he was able to escape me initially. However, I tracked him down while he was trying to hijack the body of a young man in his final year of High School. Naturally, I subdued the Villain, and stuffed him into a soda bottle."

Melissa snorted a bit at that mental image. "That sounds pretty unceremonious," she remarked, and he laughed a bit as well.

"It was, but it was a convenient way to deal with the situation. At any rate, the young man was a mega fan of mine and had a burning question he needed to ask me. So badly, that he actually grabbed on to my leg just as I was leaping away," Toshinori admitted. If Melissa had been drinking something, she would have done a spit take at the absurdity she envsioned. "At any rate, once we had landed safely on a rooftop, that young man told me that he was Quirkless. And he wanted to know, whether I believed that despite lacking a Quirk, if he could be a Hero..."

"...and you told him the same thing you told me, didn't you?" Melissa inquired, and Toshinori flinched. It was subtle, almost nonexistent, but he could tell, there was the barest hint of resentment in her tone. "...it's not your fault, you had to tell him the reality of it," she added, seeing the flinch, and realizing that he felt guilty. She shouldn't be mad at him for telling her the truth. Without a Quirk, she couldn't be a Hero, and neither could the young man he was talking about. It was as simple as that. She shouldn't shoot the messenger, regardless of how she had felt about the message.

"I did... after I lost my muscle form, and was **** to admit my weakening state. Regardless, I shot down his dream at that moment. Then, when I left to put the Villain in the hands of the police, I realized that I had dropped the bottle with the Villain in it during the confusion that had happened during my leap to that rooftop. And he had gotten out, and hijacked the body of another young man, with a powerful Quirk. And with me at my limit for the day, I... stood by, certain I could do nothing. Other Pros couldn't get close, and lacked the right Quirks to deal with the Villain," Toshinori sighed.

"...so what happened?"

"...that young man who had been hijacked, was a classmate of the first, Quirkless young man... and he had also arrived on the scene. The moment he recognized his... acquaintance, he did something that shocked everyone there, myself included... he ran straight at the Villain, determined to save his classmate's life. He didn't even think about it. It was as if his body had moved on its own. That single, weak, Quirkless boy... was acting more like a Hero than any of the Pros there. It was then, I realized... my limit was nothing more than a liability. So, despite my body's limitations, I **** myself past them, took back my muscle form, and managed to intervene. I got the classmate out, and defeated the Villain once more."

Melissa was silent for a moment. "...why... are you telling me this?" she asked slowly.

Toshinori stood. "...because, Melissa, I am going to tell you something I told Young Midoriya after he did what he had done, just as I had initially told him what I had told you before then," he replied.

"Wait... the person in your story was Deku? But didn't he ultimately turn out to have a Quirk, despite it being thought otherwise for a while?" Melissa asked.

"Yes... but that's not the point," Toshinori coughed evasively. "Just as Young Midoriya risked his life that day, despite not having a Quirk... you did the same tonight, without hesitation. I realized that day, that Quirks... they are nothing but tools a Hero has to utilize. They're not what makes a person a Hero. A Hero is someone who puts their own life on the line to help and save others. That's what truly makes a Hero."

Melissa was frozen, staring at her honorary Uncle in desbelief. She started to shake, tears barely held back. Was he... about to say what she thought he was? The words that she had yearned to hear from him from the moment she had discovered she would never have a Quirk?

"Melissa... you too... can be a Hero," he stated. The dam broke, and Melissa broke down, lowering her head as tears flowed freely. The dream... the dream she had thought she had given up on, had moved past... it suddenly seemed attainable again.