Fiery Hearts: A MHA Fanfic Tale

Awakening and Determination

As Mr. Aizawa begins to go over attendance, Katsumi can feel everyone's eyes on her. It's like a pressure on the back of her head that keeps reminding her that she is not wanted. She tries to ignore the stares, but she breaks; she slowly turns her head to meet the eyes of everyone in the class, peering into her soul. Katsumi smiles nervously, trying to break the tension how her mother usually does, but everyone sneers back. Sitting behind Katsumi is a pretty girl, with a long black ponytail. She taps Katsumi on the shoulder.

"Just wanted to let you know that I thought it was brave of you to stand up and tell everyone the truth. Right now it seems like everyone in class is a bad person, but trust me, there are some good people here. Stick to yourself, and you'll be winning them over soon." The pretty girl smiles sweetly as Katsumi turns back around. Maybe there is hope for Katsumi after all.

As the day wears on, Katsumi doesn't realize that it's time for lunch. She's heard stories from her older brother about the cafeteria and how great the food is. The bell rings, and everyone stands up. Katsumi waits behind so she doesn't have to be the center of attention walking down the hall. Uraraka and the pretty girl call Katsumi over.

"Come with us!" Uraraka says. She grabs Katsumi's hand.

"I'm Yaoyorozu Momo. Pleased to meet you, Takeda." Yaoyorozu begins to walk beside Katsumi, with Uraraka on the other side.

"Please, call me Katsumi. You two have been the only nice people I've encountered. Might as well be casual with me." The other two girls smile, and state that Katsumi can be casual with them too.

As the group of girls begin to walk down the hall, whispers can be heard swirling around the mouths of the other students; not just other first years, but upperclassmen too. "Hey, have you heard the rumors" they spout. Katsumi blushes and puts her head down. Already, on her first day of school, she's the topic of conversation. She excuses herself from her newfound friends and finds the nearest bathroom. Once Katsumi finds herself alone, she breaks down. Not once in her life has she been humiliated like this, and she doesn't know how to react. She starts to doubt why she's there in the first place...

Growing up, Katsumi was always regarded as the leader. Cooking? She led. Cleaning the house? Her. Deciding what to play with her friends? She was the one everyone listened to. So why now, when she needs to lead herself, she falters? This moment of weakness is something she isn't used to, and to be frank, it's something that she is starting to not like. Weakness and embarrassment are the two things she was not taught to feel. Katsumi's thoughts led back to the day her quirk awakened.

The neighborhood Katsumi lived in was very peaceful and secure, but at night, the villains went wild. Her parents always told her to never go out at night without an adult, but on one particular night, she broke that sacred rule. Katsumi was hungry and wanted to go to the corner store for a snack. She decided to go down the alleyways, so no one could see her out past curfew. All of a sudden, this rank smell filled the air. She stopped in her tracks and heard a yell. Instantly, she ran to the source of the noise, without any thought of the possibility of danger. The next image that filled Katsumi's mind was that of utter disgust. This... creature emerged from the shadows, holding on to what looked like a bag of garbage. A girl, just a few years older than Katsumi, was cowering in the corner.  The creature did not notice Katsumi right away but when it did, it turned around with a wicked grin on its face. Katsumi knew that she had to run and get someone, but she also knew that it would be too late; she had to do something herself.

Without a quirk to protect her, Katsumi was out of luck, but her determination to save the girl was stronger than her fears. She quickly looks around for a weapon that she could use against the garbage creature. There were a couple of pipes on the ground that she decided would be good enough. She started clanging the pipes so all attention would be on her and not the girl. The girl got the idea and started to get up to run.

"Run, get out of here and get help!" Katsumi screams. The creature starts to reach for the girl but Katsumi throws one of the pipes at it. "Oh no you don't. Just me and you." The garbage pile sneers. "You think you can beat me? Why, you don't even have a quirk!" The villain starts to laugh, and hot tears form in Katsumi's eyes. It's true, Katsumi didn't have a quirk, and she thought it would never appear, but that didn't change the fact that there was a villain in front of her that needed to be stopped.

Suddenly, Katsumi starts to laugh. It starts out quiet, but begins to grow louder. The creature looks in astonishment and asks why she's laughing. "You think I don't have a quirk? Of course I do!" In reality, Katsumi didn't even know if she had one or not, but the villain didn't have to know that.

"You're just a little girl who is out past curfew. You're weak and you'll amount to nothing. Because I'm so nice, i'll give you a chance to run," It laughs. It readies its bag of garbage, and it aims it at Katsumi. Katsumi just stands there, feeling a deep found anger that she's never felt before. How dare this... thing insult her like that? Heat bubbles up in Katsumi's core, building to the point it's almost unbearable. The energy flows through her hands, and flames lick her fingers. She balls her hands into fists and two blades made of pure fire spout from her hands.

"What was that about me not having a quirk?" Katsumi says quietly. The creature looks in fear at this mere child with the power of an adult. Katsumi charges at It and wields her swords with mastery, like this is just another ordinary day. The flame swords pierce the gut of the creature, and It's entire body gets engulfed
in fire.

That's all Katsumi remembers of the fight, since she passed out from exhaustion but she does remember one thing: that no matter how weak people call you, always do your best to defeat evil. Since that day, Katsumi has vowed to become stronger each day to protect those who can't protect themselves. And right now, she knows that she needs to go out there and face everyone. She wants to tell them that she is just like them, and show them that she is strong.