Chapter Text
8:45 a.m., Aldera Junior High, Musutafu, Japan
“Since you’re all third years, it’s time for you to think seriously about your future. I’ll pass out handouts for your future plans, but…”
The blonde-haired homeroom teacher leaned forward, for once seemingly unnaturally serious. Well, of course he wasn’t, but he had to keep up appearances, didn’t he, to scare the children for what would possibly be the last time he could? And while he hadn’t quite succeeded in intimidating them, the children all still leaned forward in their desks in anticipation, holding onto his every word.
He let out a slight cough before letting a smile creep onto his face. “But you’re all pretty much planning for the hero course, right?”
“YEAHHH!” came the resounding roar of twenty-eight students screaming together, a large variety of Quirks flaring at the same time, plunging the classroom into chaos.
The teacher tried to fight it, but in the end, he smiled even wider. “Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks. But using your Quirk at school is against the rules. Counts as public Quirk usage, or something. Regardless, I’m sure all of you will make fine heroes!”
Only two students hadn’t joined the pointless display. One of them finally spoke.
“Sensei!” shouted the troublemaker Bakugou, his feet resting on the table as per usual. “Don’t lump us all into the same group. We’re not going to be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these idiots, the way they’re half-assing things!”
There was a moment of silence before the booing started. “That was uncalled for, Katsuki! What the hell do you mean by that?!”
The booing reached a height before the other of the two troublemakers, a brown haired, 6’3” tall boy, started to chuckle, causing Katsuki to start laughing as well. “Nasa, bro, at least let me intimidate them a little longer. Ruining all my fun.”
Katsuki turned back to the class. In another universe, he may have insulted them and called them extras, but in this one, he simply smirked. “I did mean that though. You’ll get nowhere, half-assing things. ‘cause the two of us? We’re going for the top.”
The teacher hmmed, consulting a clipboard. “Oh, if I remember correctly, you and Yoarashi want to go to U.A. High, right, Bakugou?”
The class stared at them, mouths agape in shock, before the shouting broke out again.
“U.A.? The national school?!”
“It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know!”
“Their acceptance rate is always ridiculously low too! Are you serious, right now?”
Katsuki chuckled, before jumping onto his desk and gesturing grandly. “This is exactly what I mean. Inasa and I’ve put the effort in. We studied our asses off and we both aced the mock test! Because Quirks aren’t everything, you know. I’m not saying you can’t ever be heroes, but you’re going to get nowhere with the amount of effort you’re putting in.”
He smirked, raising a fist into the air. “Like I said, we’re going for the top, and if any of you want to get anywhere close, you’re going to have to give your all. Plus Ultra.”
3:30 p.m., Aldera Junior High.
Inasa smiled widely at his notebook as he drew some modifications to his hero costume. Oh, might as well try and come up with a special move too! Katsu’s little speech had riled up the class in exactly the right way. More rivals for them to meet in white-hot battle! Well, maybe not rivals, he and Katsuki had all trained well beyond where they were now, but the world could always use more heroes. Though he wasn’t sure what the kid with detachable eyeballs could do. Yeah, maybe not that guy.
A voice suddenly calling him shook him out of his thoughts. “Nasa, you coming home right now?”
He looked up to see Katsuki waiting for him at the door. “Nah, thought I’d hit up the arcade for an hour or two. Tell Mom I might be a little late.”
Katsuki shrugged. “Sure. Don’t be too late though, or I’ll finish all the spicy curry she’s making for dinner.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Wouldn’t I? Anyways, see ya.”
Inasa chuckled. Katsuki could get on people’s nerves sometimes, and his Quirk only lent to his explosive personality, but he’d always channeled those explosions in a constructive way. He followed Katsuki around for a reason. He owed him everything.
Five minutes later, after he’d finished up his drawing and notating, he made his way out of the school, pulling out his phone to look at the news. There had apparently been a villain attack in the morning, some guy with a gigantification quirk. Kamui Woods had been there and some new hero called Mount Lady had stolen his thunder to make her debut. Damn it! He’d missed a white-hot battle! Maybe another time.
“Hey kid, don’t keep looking at your phone, you’ll bang into somebody.”
Inasa looked up and scowled at the interruption. He’d been doing this for years; he’d gotten walking without looking up to a science! He had only crashed into people twice in seven years.
And then he immediately crashed into someone’s back, tumbling to the floor. He looked up to see a well-built, blond, middle-aged man wearing glasses, looking at him in alarm. He was wearing an All Might hoodie, two bangs framing his face, and he seemed to be carrying a bag of meat buns. Which smelled delicious and made Inasa hungry. Wait, what was he doing?!
Inasa immediately used his Quirk to jump back up to his feet and bowed deeply, his head almost touching the floor. “I’m so sorry, sir! My deepest apologies!”
The man simply laughed, before picking up Inasa’s phone and handing it back. “Ha! It’s alright, young boy. That’s definitely not the first time that’s happened. Next time just watch before you run at people, eh?” He pointed at the phone. “I see you’re looking at the Hero news. Planning to be a hero?”
Inasa nodded vigourously. “Yes sir!” He looked at the blonde man curiously. He definitely didn’t have the build of a typical civilian. “Are you a Hero, sir?”
The man laughed again. “I am indeed, though I doubt you’ve heard of me. Well, I have to go. I hope to see you again someday, young boy.”
Inasa nodded vigorously again. “Yes sir! See you, sir!”
It was 6:00 p.m. by the time Inasa made it out of the arcade. He had a lot of pent-up energy from the day that he poured into getting a ton of tickets. He’d also gotten a limited-edition Overhaul hero figurine that he knew for a fact Katsuki didn’t have, since his birthday was coming up in a week. He’d asked the shop months ago if they were going to house figurines of the No. 2 Hero, and it had paid off. He now had one! Now he only had to get back home before their Mom got mad.
He walked past the shop he had passed earlier, his eyes closed, humming, practically even skipping. It was a good day, as usual. For the past seven years, the bad days had almost entirely disappeared. Every day was a one good day after another, but today seemed something special. A bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds, the sun shining brightly, strong smells of food and smoke filling his lungs as he breathed in deep…
Smells of smoke?
His eyes flew open. There seemed to be a plume of smoke rising in the distance. A villain attack? On the path he usually took to get home?
Inasa unconsciously made his way towards the incident, his smile slightly dimmed but still on his face. He often watched battles like these, to get him fired up on the days Katsuki and he trained. He was feeling a bit drained now, but hey, why not watch one anyway? He could always use it as an excuse for why he was late.
He walked up to the crowd of people that seemed to be watching the scene, to see that they were being held behind by water shaped like guardrails. That meant…yeah. The heroes were already here. He spied Death Arms and Backdraft, as well as several minor local heroes. Even Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady were on standby. And yet…
He looked to the center of the street, and there it was. There was a villain made of what looked to be sludge from the sewers, and if not for the fire that was raging, would probably also smell like that. And amongst the folds of the sludge, he saw…WAS THAT A PERSON?
The fuck? There was clearly a person struggling, from the looks of it being choked to death! Why weren’t the heroes doing anything about it? Right, the fire. Must be the trapped person’s quirk, either being controlled by the sludge, or being used in an attempt to escape. The heroes were waiting for a hero with a better quirk, then. But that could take too long! Maybe he should volunteer himself? As long as the heroes allowed him to use it, public Quirk usage would be forgiven.
Then again, there was a chance it wouldn’t work, and he’d only end up pissing off the villain. That would make things worse. Should he? Or should he not?
And then…
Then something made the decision for him. The struggling figure managed to free the top part of their head, enough to open their eyes, and Inasa froze.
Those red eyes.
The eyes he owed everything to.
SEVEN YEARS AGO
Seven-year-old Inasa Yoarashi was, by his own admission, having a normal day. Waking up at the orphanage and preparing himself for school. Tackling everything it threw at him with a passion equivalent to the heat of a thousand stars. And now, standing in an alleyway off Aldera Elementary School, being whaled on by bullies. His head hung low, thankfully free of injuries. Like he said, a normal day, no matter which school he was at.
As per usual, the bullies were older, in this case ten-years-old and about to enter into junior high. They generally tended to pick on their weaker under-classmen (two of whom were Quirkless). As per usual, despite his strong Quirk, Inasa couldn’t beat them when it came to strength (despite his already considerable height), so he had stepped in to offer up himself to be beaten instead. However, not as per usual, were the bullies running for their lives, mere minutes later. He looked up, vision hazy, to meet his savior’s eyes.
They were bright red, staring at him curiously. “So you’re the one, eh?”
“Huh?” Inasa asked, still out of it. He saw a hand being offered and managed to grab onto it.
The owner of the hand pulled him up before continuing. “I said you’re the idiot leading them away to different places. I just transferred in this term, and a couple of the students told me that the bullies usually had a set spot where they beat up kids, only changing it every now and then. Been looking for it every day, but couldn’t find it. Until today, that is. So now it’s okay, because I’m here to help! I’m Katsuki Bakugou.” The hand offered up a high-five, before putting it down, confused, as Inasa simply picked up his bag and started walking away.
“Thanks, but I’m good” he said, sounding distinctly ‘not good’.
It wasn’t the boy’s fault. It was just that Inasa had heard that phrase too many times, foster family after foster family, before they all abandoned him. Some hit him for being too loud, some simply ignored him, and no one ever put any effort in for him. This boy would be gone soon too, just like everyone who said they would help.
It was hours later, around 6:00 p.m. (late as per usual, just how the staff were used to), by the time he got back to the orphanage. He walked, head held low, straight back to his room…
…only to find his bags weren’t there. What the hell?
He looked around in a panic. He still had some stuff from his birth family in those bags. Stuff that was more precious to him than his life. Where had they gone? The other children wouldn’t steal it. They had tried once, when he was younger, as a good-natured prank. They did not try it again after he had burst into tears.
He rushed out to the reception area, to see the usual black-haired, wooden armed man sitting there. “Kurokiba-san!”
“Ah, Yoarashi-kun, you’re still here! How can I help you?”
Inasa stopped short. “What do you mean, I’m still here?”
The man frowned at him. “Did Kiyoko-san not tell you? You’ve been adopted. They’ve already taken your stuff, and are waiting in Waiting Room 2.”
Inasa’s jaw dropped. Adopted? Most people fostered the children in the orphanage for a while, before making a decision. Somebody had jumped the gun and adopted him already.
He ran as fast as he could, his Quirk spurring him on even faster, before he threw the door to Waiting Room 2 open…
…and stared into the same red eyes he had just a few hours earlier. “YOU?!” Inasa screeched in shock.
The boy, Katsuki if he remembered correctly, in question jumped up and walked towards him, flanked by who Inasa assumed were his parents. “Hey! Buzz-cut dude! Didn’t even introduce yourself, just ran off! At least you said thank you, so we know you’re polite.”
Inasa closed his eyes and shook his head, as if trying to dispel a mirage. When he opened them the people were still there. “How? What? How are you here?” Inasa asked, still dumbfounded.
Katsuki chuckled for a second before his face took on an unnaturally serious expression. “You looked like you didn’t believe me when I said I was there to help, and you told me you were okay when you weren’t. Uncle Zu always says that people who get hit a lot, or let down a lot, say things like that. So, I asked Mom to find out about you from school. And once we got here, we asked the reception man about you. Mom got so sad when she heard what he said that she decided to adopt you immediately. I don’t even know how they got the papers made so quickly.”
Inasa simply stared at the three people in front of him, two of whom were apparently now his parents, and one his brother. “But…but why?” he asked, his voice cracking. “Why are you doing this?”
The blonde boy cocked his head, confused. “Because it’s the right thing to do. I want to be a hero, and heroes always do the right thing. They always try their best to help people.”
Present day.
Inasa was running towards the sludge villain, roaring in anger, his feet and hands moving of their own accord. His hero was in trouble, and something in him had snapped. When he would normally standby, something spurred him on. Even as the heroes around him screamed for him to stop, a gale shot out of his hands, straight at the sludge villain. He moved his hands in circles, trying his best to create a concentrated vortex to blow the villain away, since he couldn’t afford to make it too strong and damage the already damaged buildings, or too weak and accidently feed the flames that were still roaring.
The villain seemed annoyed at the interruption. “The hell?! Who the hell are you, brat! Go away, I already have an invisibility cloak!” The villain raised a sludge tentacle towards him. Inasa saw the telltale signs of an explosion forming and dove to the side, rolling into a crouch.
“So, the guy can actually use the quirks of the people he’s taking over.” Inasa thought, as he used his Quirk to distract the villain while reformulating his plan. Physical attacks would probably not work on the guy, since most of him seem to be made of liquid. The only visible human part of him was his eyes.
His eyes! That was it! He turned back to the villain, only to see Katsuki fall unconscious. Shit. No. Nonononono…
He had no time left. He immediately used his quirk to pick up a bunch of the smaller pieces of debris around him (most of it courtesy of Katsuki’s explosions). Time for the special move he had started developing in the morning.
With as much power he could, he sent out a concentrated gale force wind, shooting and guiding all of the debris at the villain at high speed.
“OW! WHAT THE FUCK!” the villain roared, doubling over in pain. “You think that’ll be enough to stop me, bRAT?!”
Of course it wouldn’t be enough to stop him. But stopping him had never been Inasa’s goal. His goal had been to free Katsuki at least enough to breathe, and in that he had succeeded. Inasa roared back, his volume matching that of the villain, and channeling all his might and control into his Quirk, he pulled.
The moment Katsuki tore free of the villain, Inasa jumped over his brother, covering him. The villain had already recovered, and was going for the boys again. But Inasa would gladly give his own life it meant that his brother would survive. He had a debt to repay after all, to the boy that had taught him that it was not just enough to survive. He had to save the boy that had taught him to live.
He lay down and closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come.
But it didn’t. Instead, all he heard was a loud laughter. He opened his eyes and couldn’t help but gawk. Whatever he had expected from running in to save his brother, it certainly wasn’t this. He had absolutely not expected to see the Symbol of Peace himself standing over them, holding the villain at bay.
All Might noticed Inasa’s eyes open, and smirked. “Ha! My hero instincts must be dulling, because I admit that I didn’t sense this villain at all. He must have learnt that I was here and used the sewers to evade me.” He shrugged. “Well, no matter. It’s fine now. Why? Because I am here!”
“DAMN IT!” roared the villain. “ALL MY STEALTH GONE TO WASTE. DAMN YOU ALL MIGHT‼!” The villain seemed to expand and as a last ditch effort tried to cover All Might’s face and suffocate him.
All Might simply sighed and chuckled. “Well, you asked for it, villain! DETROIT SMASH‼‼”
An air shockwave emanated from the No. 1 hero’s fist, blowing the Sludge Villain into bits, probably alive but definitely in pieces. He then turned to the boys he had saved, looking right at Inasa. “Are you alright, young bo–YOUNG BOY!”
Inasa had no energy left, as evidenced by the fact that his eyes could barely focus and that he was falling towards the asphalt. A hand reached out to save him from injury, and as his eyes closed to unconsciousness, Inasa looked up to his and his brother’s savior, glasses still perched over his nose.
“Meat bun man?”