Burn

1 - manifestation

It all began in Qingqing City, China. Ever since the report of a baby who gave off inhuman light without reason was made known, suddenly, superpowers known as "Quirks" showed up simultaneously throughout the entire world. The cause of these Quirks remains identified, while the entire happening of these abilities appearing is now referred to as the Phenomenon. In the modern day, now 80 percent of the world's population has some sort of Quirk. What was once only dreams became reality, a reality now accepted into society.

But with the advancement of what humans could do also brought about a tremendous spike in crime rates. Fortunately, a new career emerged-- heroes. A new way to suppress crime arose and successfully shot them down. Being a hero was officially a government-recognized livelihood, the income being determined by how well the hero performed, collateral damage, et cetera.

Now, enter four-year-old (l/n) (y/n) of the fourth generation of the Phenomenon, aspiring hero-in-the-process, with a bright future ahead of her. It's just that.. she was never the daring type. But she wasn't what anyone would label as coy. She could be defined as.. complicated, always one to act briskly and in the spur of the moment.

Suppose.. "passive-aggressive" is the most accurate term. (y/n)'s father was always one to put the little girl through skill-developing challenges. Climb the tree fast, my girl! I won't acknowledge you unless you can beat me in spitting watermelon seeds. Wow, (y/n), can't run any faster, can ya? This naturally molded (y/n) into a quiet, competitive, warrior. The rest of the aggression resulted from bullying due to the fact that she appeared "Quirkless" for a while, her superpower only being able to emerge months after her peers' did.

Wow, Mumei-san, what happened to you being so great?

You're really not as awesome as we thought, huh?

Looks like we're better than you now!

Since the start of the teasing and taunting, (y/n) would sit in the bathtub for hours on end, ignoring the pleading of her parents, ignoring the water becoming chilly, ignoring the prune-like texture and numbing feeling her fingers adopted. She was inventing each situation in her mind again, what it'd be like if she had just spoken up for herself that one time, what might've been different.

They say the late bloomers are the greatest, greater than you guys.

You haven't seen the best of me, idiots. Just you wait and see.

Looks like your idiocy still hasn't gone through your thick skull yet.

Doctors simply said that variation in the time Quirks manifested was okay, she just was a bit unordinary. The first time (y/n)'s special trait did appear was when she was with her mother near their house during summer break. It would be nice to have some fresh air every now and then, is what (y/n)'s mom said. It would be harmless, (y/n)'s mom said. For both daughter and mother.

"(y/n), my dear, please don't kick away the ducks, it's scaring them. (y/n)," her mother warned again. "stop messing arou--" --she turned-- "Ara ma!!" she cried out in an alarmed voice. What surrounded her child was a shock to the mother. It was.. water. A large, billowing bubble of water encased her daughter. Motherly instincts kicked in after a moment of stillness-- (y/n)'s mom quickly leaped over and utilized her Quirk. She swiftly touched the outer shell of the sphere, freezing it in midair and giving it the property of glass as brittle as morning frost. A strong blow to the material instantaneously shattered it.
"Her Quirk.. Water Manipulation?" (y/n)'s mother's hopeful smile quickly faltered as she held her sleeping daughter in her arms carefully, a subconscious, quivering tear leaking from her eyes. "It's a combination of my Quirk and her father's...."

"Endeavor's."

*boku no hero academia advertisement transition*

"Wow, Bakugou," his kindergarten teacher gushed in pride, "Your quirk just developed, huh? It's pretty amazing!" No one else's quirks had manifested yet, so the young Bakugou was the talk of the entire class.

That's it, Katsuki thought in newfound awe, I'm just awesome and everyone else just isn't. And that was only the beginning of his infamous superiority complex.
Combine acidic, combustive sweat with glycerin and you get the Quirk known as "Explosion", which revolved around forcibly secreting nitroglycerin from the palms of one's hands that would explode.

I'm better than everyone here, came about Katsuki's daily mood. Even when it's not about Quirks.

"Whooaaa, Bakugou, you can read?"
"Yeah, you can't? And see, Izuku's name can also be pronounced Deku, which means 'can't do a anything'!"

With that remark, Bakugou's friends burst into a fit of laughter. Little Izuku only stared half toward Katsuki, half down at the ground, slightly hurt. He mumbled a careful, "That's mean, Kacchan."

...

"You're so lucky, Kacchan! Your Quirk's so amazing. When I get mine, I hope it's as cool as yours."

"No matter what Quirk you get, you'll never be as great as me!"

...

"Hey, did you hear? Endeavor's second daughter, (y/n), just got her Quirk. She can control water!"

"Oh, really? You'd only naturally expect any child of Endeavor's is a strong one!"

...

Whispers... can only mean something spoken is not meant to be heard.

"Endeavor's wife... mental hospital..."

"Shouto Todoroki... Quirk..

"Boiling water... burn... only a little boy..."

"(y/n) Todoroki...

traumatized... injury..."

...

Katsuki laughed at Midoriya, holding the ball tauntingly. "Deku, you really can't do anything!"

Izuku simply stayed on the ground, shaking his head wistfully, a sad frown on his face.

...

"S-stop it, Kacchan! Can't you see he's crying? I-if you continue... I'll n-never forgive you!" Izuku bravely raised his fists in a fighting stance, involuntary tears squeezing out.

"...you're pretending to be hero, Deku?"

"even when you're Quirkless?"

an; I hope this prologue-y chapter makes sense. For clarification, I'm displaying two perspectives happening at around the same time-- Katsuki's and (y/n)'s.

(y/n) is the younger sister of Shouto Todoroki. I will elaborate on her trauma later on. Both Shouto and (y/n) were injured by their mom.

i promise i will add a degree of humor in the next chapter hehe :)