Solstice and Eclipse: Part I

Chapter IV: Combat Training

"Mommy." The young boy cried out in the dead of night, clutching his eyes as he tossed and turned in his bed. "Mommy, please. It hurts."

The lights in his room flickered to life as his parents entered, hair disheveled and dressed in their sleep things, yawning as they drew nearer their son.

"What's wrong sweety?" His mother asked tiredly.

"It hurts, mommy." The boy cried again. "Please make it stop."

"What hurts?"

"My eyes." The boy cried. "My eyes, they hurt."

The boy's father sat on the bed next to him. "Here, son." He said, gently taking the boy's hands away from his face. "Let me take a look."

"Please, daddy. Please, make it stop."

"I will, son. I will. But first, I need to see what's wrong. Can you open your eyes for me? Just, open your eyes."

The black sky came alive as a light powerful enough to drown out the shine of the stars and moon chased away the darkness of the night. A light so strong it could be seen for miles around, shooting into the sky like a beacon and causing clouds to disperse as it emanated into the heavens. Dogs barked and cats meowed, the wild wolves howled, and the deer took shelter, retreating deeper into the forest. And when the light finally disappeared, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared, the young boy lied crying in his bed, the remains of a house crumbling around him, and two dark shadows etched into the splintered wood, like burn marks of ghosts long past.

(L/N)'s hands curled into fists around the fabric in his hands, his knuckles turning white. All Might's words, though powerful, had done little to change his mind. He had no desire to be a hero. It was all just some make believe fantasy world, complete with the ridiculous outfits and stupid notions of grandeur. He had no intentions of playing dress up, so why was the fabric of a costume he'd never asked for bunched up in his fists?

Apparently, the principal had deemed it appropriate to submit a design on his behalf, seeing as how he never filed the proper paperwork himself. The Symbol of Peace assured him that the outfit was the embodiment of the noble virtues befitting of a future hero. His words stirred a sense of resentment within (L/N). Principal Nezu and All Might seemed so determined to set him down this path, trying to persuade him with inspiring speeches and colorful words. It was all a pile of bullshit. He didn't belong at UA Highschool, and nothing would ever make him think otherwise. But despite this, he had decided to stay. He would walk this road towards becoming a pro hero. A path towards fighting evil and saving those in need. Because if All Might had been right about one thing, it was that he had a responsibility. A responsibility to control his quirk. To repay his debt to society and ensure he never hurt anyone else ever again.

He could hear his classmates already gathered near the exit of the long dark tunnel down which he walked. He could feel the warmth of the sun coming from the other side, the wind funneled through the tunnel causing the black mantle he wore to flap behind him in the breeze. His grey hakama was exposed to sunlight first, followed by the white of his kimono, and finally his face as the shadows crept up his body, retreating in the presence of the sun.

"And I see young (L/N) has just arrived." All Might's brazen voice called.

The whispers and hushed conversations reached his ears, his classmates quietly voicing their suspicions that he had quit the hero program before he'd even started, wondering where he had been. They asked each other where they thought he'd gone and why he'd come back. At least they were trying to be discrete in their gossip, unlike one Katsuki Bakugo, who didn't even attempt to hide his disdain at (L/N)'s arrival.