Chapter 20: Quirk Marriages
"Quirk Marriages, though outlawed by the government and shunned by the public, are far more common than statistics say. The standard definition of quirk marriage consists of "a quirked individual or couple who marries for the reason of producing genetic offspring that will have a desirable quirk." This definition is lacking and outdated. Genetic research has shown that there is a genetic predisposition to find someone attractive if an individual has a quirk that would genetically match the user's quirk. This finding in genetic research bolsters the common academic theory of Quirk Singularity but also alters the definition of quirk marriage due to the inherent attraction deep-seated in the DNA of those who have quirks that would be compatible with the genetic makeup of their quirk.
Therefore, the genetic predisposition for attraction inherently accidentally creates many unconscious quirk marriages that are generally acceptable. This can be taken a step further and highlights an important component of genetic equality amongst quirked individuals and quirkless as once an individual gets past the average age of the increased quirkless suicide rate, quirkless individuals have the highest rate of long-term successful marriage and consistent birth of quirked children in the entire world. This fact again changes the definition of quirk marriages because it shows that one does not need to have a quirk to be part of a quirk marriage. This is compounded by the fact that quirk marriages with opposing quirks are more likely to have genetically quirkless offspring.
As the human genome has evolved since the birth of the glowing baby, the commonality of quirk marriages is something far more casual and deeply romantic than the barbaric process that is forced or the uncommon, arranged marriage. The current definition of Quirk Marriages may accidentally encompass many more people than the law could prosecute.
-Chapter 6: On Good and Evil: What We Have Lost with the Dawn of Quirks
(Inari POV)
-2 Days Before the Sports Festival-
The tension in the debate room is palpable as I enter. All the chairs are filled, and the students are sitting quietly waiting for the debate to start. The syllabus and chapters are read for the conversation. Todoroki looks ready to jump out of his seat.
"Today's debate: QUIRK MARRIAGES" is written on the board at the front of the class.
Since the release of my book, the law has been changed to better reflect the depth of the problem and the debate on the quirk marriages and it is much more reflective of the context of each case.
"You could cut the air with a knife in here." I joked while cutting a small blue construct in half with my hand. It slowly disappeared. Everyone at least relaxed slightly as I chuckled.
"Sensei, I think some of us are a little uncomfortable with the chapter is all," Yaoyorozu mentioned with a raised hand. "I think it hits a little close to home for too many people."
I chuckled again. "It probably does. The idea that there are probably a lot of you in this very room who find it possible that your parents may have been subject to the law until it was changed recently for quirk marriages is a tough thing to deal with. Let's start with this, if you are comfortable sharing, who of you in this room feels as though under the old definition of Quirk Marriage, your parents may have possibly been subject to the law?"
Multiple hands went up around the room. Amongst them were Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Ochaco, Ashido, Hagakure, Shinso, Bakugo, Ojiro, Asui, Iida, and Jiro.
The hands that went up did not surprise me, in fact, I probably agree with all of them looking back at my memories. "That's quite a lot of you. If you feel comfortable with sharing this next question, and only if you feel comfortable, please keep your hand raised. Do note that you cannot be prosecuted for something 'ex-post-facto' so there is no fear of retribution from me or the law in sharing. Who among you feels as though the current law could have applied to your birth or your parents' marriage/birth?"
The only hands that stayed up were Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Again, I am not surprised but the courage of both is immense and respectable. I knew Todoroki was more confident with his mother around but his willingness to share shows a lot of personal growth.
"Thank you for sharing, both of you. It takes a lot of courage to share that kind of thing. Do both of you feel as though your parents have a happy relationship at this point?"
Both nodded their heads 'yes.'
"Good. That makes this discussion far easier. Today's debate is on the ethicality of modern quirk marriage. We will not be using the old definition. There is far too much up in the air with the old definition and far too many holes in the law. So instead, we will be debating the ethical dilemma that is the modern arranged marriage."
"Our government in Japan is one of the last few countries in the world that has yet to completely ban arranged marriage. The fear of quirked marriages and what they could do to the social hierarchy was enough for most nations around the world to ban arranged marriages at least at face value. Countries that still have historic monarchies and Japan are amongst the remaining nations that have not banned the arranged marriage."
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(Sports Festival Day)
It was obvious to me that the festival was far more normal than the show portrayed. Midoriya and his group made it through the second round along with all the normal teams from the original story. Shinso managed to get through the second round without using his quirk on his team which was a nice improvement. That scene always seemed sketchy to me.
Someone who caught my eye during the 2nd event of the sports festival and who would be receiving an internship offer from me is Kosei Tsuburaba who I figured I could teach my fighting style too at least a little bit. His air walls could be used similarly to how I use platforms to fight in a 3D space and he could benefit from the offensive training.
Midoriya had his moment with all of the visages and escaped with just a broken finger which gave him his victory over Shinso. Iida left after an emergency phone call which I assume was the Stain call. I'll have to offer to heal his brother so Iida won't go hunting for Stain.
Eri cheered like mad and passed out by the end of the second round only to wake up to Midoriya vs Todoroki where she cheered her heart out again and then fell asleep in his non-broken arms after Midoriya lost his fight.
Frankly, Todoroki having someone to help him train both his ice and fire without getting abused every day made the boy a powerhouse and he swept through the competition and quirks that just needed too much finesse to use. Bakugo was similar but this time he got stomped by Ochaco. That girl turned into a demon during their fight picking up large chunks of the stadium and chucking them around like they were meteors.
The only reason that Ochaco lost to Todoroki was that he chose to use his fire to prevent her from getting in close contact after creating a thin layer of ice over the entire platform to prevent her from picking up the tiles. He played it much smarter than any of us expected and the healthier home environment helped him grow. Not to mention the extremely skilled ice quirk tutoring from his mother's side.
It is obvious that most of the tension that Todoroki carried has been washed away and he was one of the most advocate voices against arranged marriages during the debate. He was willing to share his own experiences and brought tons of outside data including a court order that included massive fines against his father and his mother's parents.
His family occupied one of the boxes and his mother was one of the most vocal individuals in the entire stadium, which showed on the usually stoic boy's smile as he accepted a gold medal from a youthful-looking All Might.
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Thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoy the chapter. It has been a while since I posted an actual chapter but it's finally here and I have a clear image of the upcoming chapters. This Arc was the one that bugged me the most but with it finished I can finally focus on