A Hero's First Step (MHA)

Days Earlier...

Nagai Tesaki shivers for a moment, bringing his hands up to his mouth and breathing a heavy breath of warm steam out onto his sensitive fingers as he stands there on the side of the nearly empty streets of the Naruhata ward, all the while looking into the deep alleyway where he is supposed to be meeting with his new 'Chum'. The March air is colder than the boy likes as it is, making his fingers ache from the cold even when the sun is high in the sky, but during these early hours o the morning when the sun can't get past the aging, ill-kept buildings the cold is all the worse.

All at once, there is a single moment - The boy standing there in the cold and the shade, staring down into a deep dark alleyway where he is about to meet with a Villain and buy a dose of an illegal drug... There is a tiny part of the boy's mind that presses against the rest... Asking the quiet question. Is he making a mistake? Is this really the right thing to do?

The boy does recognize how this might look to an outsider, as he stands in the shadows of the nearly ruined buildings of the Naruhata ward, where the Villain Factory had caused chaos years ago. Or, at the very least, that is what Nagai had been able to determine, between asking his parents about the group, and his own searches online. Supposedly, the Villain Factory were the original creators of Trigger. Of course, after the events of the Naruhata Lockdown, the criminal organization was shattered, it's leaders either dead or captured when they fought against the heroes. But that doesn't mean that everything that they did has disappeared with them. No, it took weeks of searching, but Nagai found evidence of just what he was hoping to.

Even with the Villain Factory gone, Naruhata still has the single highest number of Trigger addicts in the country, only outpaced with a few regions of China, and parts of the southern United States. The cases aren't dropping either, which means that there is an actual supply here. For people to continue to become addicted to Trigger, they have to keep having access to more of it. It's basic supply and demand. The boy gets that.

But at the same time, this isn't... He isn't doing anything bad with the Trigger. He's not trying to create an Instant Villain, or even any of the Next Level Villains. It's just for a little prank. Nothing serious. He's not doing anything bad.

He's not.

Despite the fact that he continues to think that to himself, Nagai can't help but feel a pang of something bitter in his chest as he starts to make his way into the deeper shadows... The boy isn't sure what it is that he's feeling. After all, no one is going to actually get hurt from this. That pest, Midoriya might get in trouble, sure... Either with the school, or with the law, but that isn't Nagai's problem.

If anything, if Midoriya does get in trouble with the law, then that would mean that he can't try and be a hero the way that he keeps going on about. So that would be better for everyone... Right?

Maybe the reason that he is feeling as gross about all of this as he is has to do with just how much money he had to scrounge up to try and get this. Nagai doesn't even want to think about just how much money he is... well, not wasting, but spending on a simple prank that will have effects that only last a couple of hours at most.

There's absolutely no chance that anything he does here is going to really make anything different. Other than maybe show Izuku just why his place is where it is, at the bottom of the heap. Everyone has a place in the world, and the sooner that Izuku understands that, the sooner that he stops trying to be something that he isn't then the better off everyone in Aldera will be.

Yeah... That has to be it. That has to be what feels so gross about all of this.

The fact that he is spending so much money to teach Izuku a lesson that his parents should have taught him years ago. Taking one final breath, the boy stalks forwards into the shadows, confident that at the very least he has made a decision.

Even if he can't say with one hundred percent certainty that he is confident in his decision.

But what is the worst that could happen?

"Heh." The sound comes when Nagai is just about half way down the alley, from almost right behind him. It's enough to make the boy spin around, eyes wide as he brings his hands up, ready to... To... Something.
With a soft prismatic shimmer of light, like an oilspill hanging in the air that slowly peels away, revealing a tall man with shoulder length black hair dressed in red. "I'm surprised." The man says simply, grinning down at Nagai with a smile that sends shivers down the boy's spine. "I didn't think that you'd actually show, chum." The man says, eyes trailing over the boy for a moment, as if he is weighing Nagai, measuring Nagai.

And the way that he snorts makes it clear that he finds the boy wanting. "I... I'm here. Just as agreed." Nagai says, trying his best to keep the nervousness out of his voice. This guy just used his quirk. Right out in the open like it wasn't any big deal. There is a part of Nagai that wishes that he was that confident, but you never know when the police or a hero is going to be around.

To have the confidence to just use your quirk like that... That isn't something that Nagai honestly has, even if he tries to be brave. "So... The goods?" He asks, ignoring the way that his voice cracks. The man across from his simply stares, slowly raising an eyebrow, before he holds out a hand.

"Cash first." He says, "If you've actually got the means to pay." It is clear from the Villain's voice that he doesn't believe that Nagai actually has the money. Carefully unzipping his coat, the boy pulls the thick winter jacket free, before flipping it inside out and unzipping the inner liner. Piece by piece, the young man pulls out a dozen vacuum sealed bags, each filled with stacks of cash.

The Villain slowly hums, sounding almost... approving of what the boy is doing. "Well, you have surpassed my expectations for you, boy." The Villain says, and the approval of someone like this burns to Nagai. It is the last thing that he ever wanted. Nothing makes him feel worse than that. Nothing ever could. With little more than a snap of his fingers, the air around the villain shifts with the same prismatic light, twisting and peeling away to reveal three more men, each larger than Nagai and dressed just as sharply as their boss. "Count it." The man says.

One of the three steps forwards, placing a hand on each of the bags, not even giving Nagai the time to air up the bags. Each time the thug touches one of the bags, Nagai can see the individual bills starting to light up, one after the other. A moment passes where the man touches each of the bags, before he steps back. "Everything's good boss. Exactly as you asked."

The man in the red suit blinks, seeming almost surprised at the moment, before he chuckles. "You actually managed to get all the money. Well well, I was going to let you have it anyways if you couldn't." Nagai hisses in surprise hearing that, even as he thinks about just how much he is going to have to do to make up for the money that he borrowed, and the things that he promised to do in order to get some of the cash early. "But that would have come with debts to us. You knew better. Again, you surprise me with something approaching competence. I might have to keep an eye on you in the future."

It takes everything that Nagai has to keep himself from making a noise as the man says that, before he holds out a hand towards one of the other goons near him. The smallest of the three, who still stands head and shoulders above Nagai lifts a suitcase, before carefully opening it. The man in red reaches in, before he pulls out a single syringe, one filled with a softly glowing green liquid. "One dose of Ideo Trigger. Just as ordered." The man in red says, grinning.

This is it, the last moment that Nagai has to turn away from this course of action. The last chance to do something different, the last chance to change his mind.

Nagai reaches out. Taking hold of the syringe. Stepping back with the drug in hand, Nagai slowly lets loose the breath that he didn't even realize that he was holding.

"Pleasure doing business with you, kid. And I'm being serious when I say that. You've managed to impress." The man in red says, even as the same prismatic energy starts to flow across his body, and the bodies of his minions, the waves of light making each of the four disappear into nothing, as if they were never there to begin with. The only evidence for what just happened is there in Nagai's hand.

With a shaky breath, the boy carefully closes his hand, mindful of the still capped needle. He's done it.

He has the Trigger. The boy isn't entirely sure what Ideo means, but that's probably not important.

Right? What's the worst that could happen?

---

Now...

Your name is Izuku Midoriya... And if you are going to allow yourself to be honest with yourself, today has just been kind of the worst. To start off with, you forgot your Notebook at the house after staying up way too late last night in order to work on analyzing one of the hero fights that had been on the news.

Then you broke your favorite pencil while taking notes in class, and either Agatsuma or Kuniyoshi or Kimura thought that it would be funny to flick spitballs at the back of your head. Of course, your Math teacher didn't do anything about it. Not that you would expect Mrs. Lumiyana to actually care. And English class was...

Well, if you are going to be entirely honest, English class was English class. Sure, just like Japanese the language doesn't have gendered nouns, but there are so many rules when it comes to English. I before E, except after C. Which has an exception to the exception. Wherever there is a Q, there is a U too. Which has an exception. Naturally. That is really the first rule when it comes to English apparently - Every rule has an exception, with the exception being this rule.

Then you have to deal with the fact that English steals so many words from other languages, and most of the time proceeds to keep using the original language's rules for how to spell it or pronounce it, and it just...

English class is English Class, and it is always a headache.

Now you're realizing that along with everything else that has gone wrong today, you left your lunch sitting in the fridge at home.

So yeah... That... That is just the capstone for a terrible morning. You've got to eat the food from the Aldera cafeteria. Great. Perfect. Thankfully, there really isn't all that much that could possibly make your day any worse. You've already ran the gamut of the frustrating things that Aldera can throw at you. Anything short of a Villain attack is just going to be more of the same. So long as you avoid pissing off Kacchan for the rest of the day, you'll even manage to get out of school without having to wash any soot off your uniform.

It really is a plus when you don't have to do that. You can't even begin to explain how much vinegar you go through in order to make sure that you don't stink of smoke. Mom has to buy nearly 2000 yen worth of vinegar each month to keep the scent out of the house. So any chance you have to avoid that is one that you relish.

With a quiet huff, you turn your focus away from stupid thoughts like that, and towards more constructive things. Like forcing yourself to eat stale school pizza, and the mush that they say is some kind of mashed potatoes, but potatoes don't normally taste sour.

It is what it is when you have a day as bad as this one. Even so, there is a long moment where you sit there at the table, spoon in one hand as you carefully stare at the strangely sour mashed potatoes.

You need to eat. Food is important. Not eating is bad for you. But at the same time... This is just...

It's sour. Potatoes should not be sour. Are those mashed potatoes even made with potatoes or-

Before you have a moment more to think about what that might mean, you hear a series of rather loud steps from not too far behind you. That... That doesn't make sense. You sit at one of the tables furthest from anything so that you are left alone, and Aldera is a small enough school that there is only a single lunch period for your year. That way if you leave your class last, there wouldn't be anyone able to come up behind you.

But even as you try to turn and find the source of the footsteps, you feel something cold press against the side of your neck. "Let's show them all just what an animal you really are." That! You know that voice. That's the voice of Nagai Tesaki, but before you have a chance to ask one of your most common bully's what he means, there is a Pssh of escaping air and you feel something sharp press jab into the side of your neck. You've been... Something cold starts to spread from your neck, like Tesaki has somehow managed to dump ice right into your veins. You can hear the long fingered boy start to laugh, but only for a moment.

Cold.

It is so cold, even as the boy's laughter starts to get further and further away. You try and breath, but your lungs don't seem to want to answer you. Your chest stays still. You try to raise a hand, but your limbs aren't responding either. The sound of boy's laughter continues to fade, even as the rest of the room seems to be getting darker and darker.

What is happening? What did he just do to you? You don't know, and you don't know what to do. There is a part of you that wants to scream, that wants to cry, but the room is just there, and it takes a moment before you realize that everyone that you can see doesn't seem to be moving either. Everything is going slow.

Everything is going dark.

Everything is getting cold.

The only thing that you can hear is some kind of distant drum, off in the distance. It beats quick and fast, two quick beats before a moment of silence, over and over again. The beats start to slow, even as the sound gets closer and louder.

Ba-bump, ba-bump. Ba-bump, ba-bump. Ba-bump, ba-bump.

There is something about the sound. Something almost calming and familiar, like you've heard it before, even if you can't at the moment seem to remember where. The sound of Tesaki's laughter cuts out, even in the quiet distance, replaced for a moment with something more. You hear things, but everything is so far away, so distant and quiet that you just can't...

Baa-bump, baa-bump. Baa-bump, baa-bump.

It feels like you've been like this forever, and yet it feels like it's been no time at all. The only thing that you know for certain is that you are getting colder and colder.

Baaa-bump. Baaa-bump. Baaa-bump.
That... You don't like being cold. You've never liked being cold. When you were younger, you and Bakugo used to huddle under the same cover during the winter when the heat went out at your place and you had to spend a few nights with Bakugou. That...

You've not thought of that day in a long, long time. That was so long ago. Before you learned that you were without... something.

There is something that you are missing. Something that you needed to be. Something you needed to have.

Ba. Bump. Ba. Bump.

What was it? You can't remember. You are cold.

So cold.

Ba...

---

Izuku slumps forward, hitting the table hard enough that several of the groups around the room notice the way that he collapses. With a shudder, Izuku Midoriya's limbs writhe as the boy lets loose a long keening wail. More and more people start to turn towards the sound, and just like that more and more people see Nagai standing behind Izuku, the empty syringe still in his hands.

All across the cafeteria, there is only a single person who isn't frozen with shock. All teachers and the students and the staff are worthless, paralyzed with shock and completely unsure of what to do.

Izuku's head rolls back, and his eyes go wide. Looking down at the boy, Nagai flinches as he sees what the drug has done to the quirkless boy. Izuku's pupils are contracting, collapsing down so small that they seem entirely invisible. The whites of Izuku's eyes are bloodshot, with a dark pool of green in their center now that there are no pupils to break the color. The boy with the syringe wants to take a step back, but in this moment he seems utterly frozen, unsure of what to do.

With a roar of "What the FUCK?!" Bakugo kicks back against the floor, sliding his chair back even as he leaps up onto the table in front of him, crossing it's width in two heavy steps before he throws himself up and into the air, over the heads of the other frozen students, his hands sparking and popping with explosive force. Hitting the ground nearly half way across the room, Bakugo lands and rolls, tumbling once to rise back up, his feet already moving as he closes in towards Nagai.

That is nearly enough to brake the boy's panicked lock up, as Nagai drops the syringe to the ground. Yet, at the same time, Izuku's eyes change again. His pupils start to expand, first to normal sizes, then large enough that they seem to fill the whole of his iris, the green of Izuku's gaze entirely gone, before the darkness expands yet more. It takes not even a quarter of a moment for the darkness to fill the whole of Izuku's eyes, and as his eyes become black as night, the boy's mouth drops open, as a blinding light pours out of Midoriya's eyes and face. Nagai Tesaki falls back with a scream of pain, his hands covering his face.

And Izuku begins to rise.

He isn't standing, but full on rising out of his seat and into the air. That is enough to finally break everyone out of their stupor, watching as the quirkless boy hovers, his entire body starting to turn the same pale red that you see when a light shines through the membrane between a forefinger and thumb, the pale reddish glow of an internal light is made all the more obvious as shadows start to appear along the inside of Izuku's body.

Shadows that Bakugo knows enough to be able to recognize as... Bones. Every inch of Deku, the quirkless little bug that Bakugo has had following him for years is now glowing with an internal light.

There is a part of the boy that wants to say that this is impossible, but before he has a chance to, Midoriya lets loose another long scream, and as the sound tears free of Deku, there comes a sudden wave of heat that roars across the room, fast and hard enough that Bakugo feels his lips chap and split in a moment. It's like he's all of a sudden standing in a desert.

What the fuck did that long fingered idiot go and do? Whirling to try and get an answer from the boy, Bakugo nearly flinches when he finally sees what Deku has done to the idiot. The whole of long finger's face is already turning a shiny, almost wet looking pink.

That's second degree burns all over his face, from his eyelids to his lips and even down on the bottom of his chin. That... That isn't something that you'd normally get just from light, even if Deku's eyes and mouth are stupidly bright from even where Bakugo is standing, having to look up, now that Izuku Midoriya is hanging there in the air, floating like some kind of idiotic balloon.

There has to be something Bakugo can do, but the boy just isn't sure of exactly what it is that he should be doing. Taking a moment to blink, he growls and lifts long fingers up, making sure to carefully keep the boy's face from moving too much. "EVERYONE OUT!" He roars, nearly hacking a heavy cough as he feels the heat in the room get stronger. Already, the metal right next to Deku is starting to glow a soft yellow, and it is only getting brighter as the soon-to-be-hero starts to move. Bakugo doesn't know exactly what is going on, but he isn't going to stand by and do nothing. Not that he's going to go and punch someone who is making the air around them that hot. That just sounds like a recipe for annoying burns, the kinds that might do something very bad with his sweat.

The boy's shout finally gets people moving, and Bakugo can't help but scowl as he takes long fingers out towards the front doors. In the time that it takes for Bakugo to carry long fingers to the other side of the room, the heat is getting worse, and everyone else has already started to flee. Then comes a click, and the fire suppression system goes off, water pouring down out of the sprinklers in the roof.

What's worse is that Bakugo can see the way that the water landing on Deku is starting to steam, bubbling and boiling off of the quirkless...

Off of the boy floating there in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by metal glowing white hot, even as the sprinklers continue to go off, trying to fight the heat. There is a part of Bakugo that wants to rush back in there, to just... Just remind Izuku that he is quirkless, and worthless, and below him. Not...

Not...

Not this. Not flying in the air, and giving off insane levels of heat and light and..

And... At the moment Bakugo has so many fucking questions. There are so many things that he is trying to understand, but just...

Everything has turned on it's head as Izuku has done something that makes no sense. Izuku is quirkless. He has the extra toe joint and everything, so that means that he doesn't have powers.

The cafeteria would like to disagree.

If there is one thing that Bakugo is smart enough to know, it is that the things that he has been told can be true or false, but the things that he experiences are real. What that means right now, the boy doesn't have the slightest idea. Thankfully, it doesn't take long to get out of the school, even with everyone else panicking and trying to get out as well. Hopefully the heroes are on their way. The fire fighters too.

There is a short moment as Bakugo stands there, carrying an unconscious long fingers, unsure of what exactly he is supposed to do with the idiot, but even as he thinks that, the boy can hear the sounds of sirens getting closer. Good. Someone called the cops, and hopefully an ambulance. Definitely also fire fighters.

---

There are no words to try and describe anything that has happened over the last...

The last...

All sense of space and time have left you at the moment. The last thing that you clearly remember is something cold against the side of your neck, and then pain. with a soft groan, your eyes blink open, before you flinch back. Everything is so bright, like someone went into the settings of the universe and turned up the gamma all the way. Hissing as you reach up and cover your eyes, you can't help but notice that you...

You feel warm. Different warm than the warm that you normally feel. Plus... This isn't your room. "What..." You barely manage to croak out, your throat feeling drier than any desert.

"Careful. Careful." Someone says, and you feel something cold pressed into one hand. "You've been through a lot just now." The voice says, and barely cracking open your eyes, you see a tall nurse standing there, her eyes bright and shining and a kind smile on your face. "You're really lucky too. I wouldn't go gambling any time soon. You've probably used up all your luck for the time being." She says simply.

Carefully, you put the cup up to your lips, tilting back and drinking softly. The water is cold, but ever so refreshing in the best way, like you haven't had anything to drink in days. Little by little, you slowly start to open your eyes more. The world is still bright, but while it hurt a moment ago, it seems to be getting better with each passing moment as you adjust. "Where?" You ask, voice still straining.

"You're at the Musutafu City Hospital." The woman says softly. "Someone at your school injected you with Trigger." She says softly. "It caused your quirk to go out of control. Thankfully, there were only a few injuries, none of them terribly bad."

That woman has just said words. Those are all words, and they are even words that you recognize. However, they have been put into an order that make absolutely no sense to you. What she just said is impossible... "I... Don't..." You cough a little, and the woman takes your cup, before refilling it with water and returning it to you.

"I know that you didn't have a quirk registered on your medical forms. You really are supposed to do that when your quirk first manifests, even if it is something as simple as your eyes."

"Eyes?" You ask, and the woman blinks. She reaches over, picking up a clipboard at the bottom of your bed, and flips through the pages.

"You are Izuku Midoriya, right?" She asks, before pausing. "Wait a second, this picture... Oh dear. Uh... Hookay. I'll be right back." She says, popping up to her feet, and almost running out of the room, before she pauses, and turns back to you. "Right! right rightright right. You've only been unconscious for a little over an hour. Your mother has been contacted, but we are on the other side of Musutafu, so she should be here soon." She says. "Now, I really need to go. If there is anything wrong, you can hit that button there on the side of your bed, and it will bring a nurse. I'll be right back with your doctor."

Everything about this situation makes no sense to you. But with a soft groan, you pull yourself up into a sitting position, before carefully swinging your legs out of bed. Something... strange happens as you do that, like the whole room turns. It almost makes you feel nauseous, but as you push yourself up to your feet, everything shifts again and the world makes sense, the horrible feelings disappearing. Carefully walking around to the foot of your bed, you grab hold of the same clip board, and flip through the pages. There, on the second page is an image of you. Everything looks just right.
That is you. Izuku Midoriya. That image would have been taken only a couple of months ago, so you aren't sure what it is that she saw that spooked her so much. Finishing off the last of the water in the little cup that the woman gave you, you can't help but still feel thirsty, and as you walk over towards the sink, you notice the mirror above it.

She said something about your eyes.

Stepping up, you drop the cup, eyes going wide as you see your own reflection.
That... What has happened to your eyes?

What happened to your hair? It's glowing at the tips.

"What..." You say softly. Struggling to understand just what it is that you are seeing.

But that isn't the only thing that is catching your opinion. Every time that you take a step it feels like the room is rocking a little, it is the strangest sensation, one that you are very much not used to.

Then there is the heat in your chest, a rumbling that has somehow managed to fall back into you almost forgetting about it, even though it is there at every moment.

Finally... there is something almost like an itch that runs along the insides of your arms. Not like... The side of your arm facing your body, but the inside of your arms, just under the skin, and just past the point of being able scratch at it.

There is only a short amount of time before your mom arrives, and once that happens you're probably going to have a lot of difficult conversations ahead of you. But for the moment you are on your own, and you...

You have a quirk.

That seems impossible, like this might be some kind of dream, but at the same time everything feels... righter now. Like before you were always half a size too small, bumbling around in skin and bones bigger than you.

Now you feel full. Now you feel free.

But you've only got a little bit of time at the moment.

[ ][Quirk] Choose two. These two aspects of your quirk will start with a Moderate buff.
- [ ] Tumbling Room
-- Every step you take the room seems to tilt just a little, like you aren't sure that you know which way you are going to fall. What is going on...? It is a good thing that you spent a lot of time trying to understand quirks before. Time to try a few things. {Gravity}
- [ ] Rumbling Chest
-- Your chest rumbles and roars, quietly enough that if you aren't actively listening for it you can't catch it. But every time you think about it you can feel something at the back of your throat, ready for you. What is it? {Fire}
- [ ] Itching Arms
-- The insides of your arms itch with something that you don't understand, and you just... You need to move.. You need to do something, and that will help. {Magnetic}
- [ ] Bright Gaze
-- The whole of the room is stupidly bright, like someone turned up the Gamma on the world, and there has to be something that you can do to make things less obnoxiously bright. Even if that is just turn off the light in the room. {Light}