Something Like a Star (B. Katsuki)

One: Beginnings

     To say that Takahashi Nadoka was surprised was an understatement. She had applied to UA High School completely on a whim, a bundle of emotions stretching from anger to excitement to utter fear spilling out onto her application paper and stuffing it into her mailbox before she could process what she'd actually done. Due to her familial connections, of which were undoubtedly known by UA staff, she expected to be denied by UA immediately, left to attend some public, subpar high school with a bunch of Quirkless idiots.

     Not that being Quirkless was a bad thing. She knew better than most that being Quirkless was in no way bad. It just wasn't where she needed to be— not if she wanted to be a pro hero.

     Everyone had their reasons for wanting to become a pro hero, and while most revolved around promises of fame and fortune, there were a few people she'd met in her life who had very pure, honorable reasons for desiring to become a hero.

     Nadoka Takahashi was one of them.  She had a goal in mind; an endgame to look for that she had no idea would be hurtling toward her much faster than she intended it.

     And so her application had been sent in, and high praise from her father, who until recently had been unaware of her attempts to attend the school of all schools, helped to staunch the ever-rising worry that she had made the wrong choice. She waited a few days until someone sent her a response, telling her when and where to be when she had to take the entrance exams for the school in a few weeks time.

     This surprised her.

     Nadoka lived alone with her father. Her mother was— gone. That's all you really need to know for now. Nadoka was a simple girl with a simple life and a simple father. The only difference was her Quirk.

     Nadoka's father, Haru Takahashi, was Quirkless. Nadoka didn't mind this. It was something that quickly taught her how to be kind to everybody, even those without any special powers to call their own. In her eyes, her Quirkless father was as special and as important as any of the pro heroes she saw on TV. He was an intelligent man with a wise mind, far smarter than the years he'd lived. Her mother, Akiko Takahashi, however, was different. She had a Quirk, and to her delight her daughter inherited it when she was born.

     Nadoka Takahashi made crystals. And not just some silly tarot card, psychic mind tomfoolery pieces of rock. She made pure, sparkling, solid masses of amethyst that glimmered millions of shades of a purpley red color that matched the tresses of hair that hung to just below her shoulders. She had the ability to summon them at will, in any shape, size, or fashion that she desired. In the intensive training she underwent with  her mother before she left, she learned to summon daggers, swords, and other dangerously sharp weaponry with her crystals.

     But Nadoka's Quirk also differed from her mothers. Nadoka once read in a science textbook that inherited Quirks had a tendency to obtain a sharp increase in power upon being passed down the generations, and this was exactly what Nadoka's Quirk had done. Her mother made clusters of crystals, Nadoka made mountains. The scale in which she could summon these crystals was much larger than that of her mother's. Her mother's crystals were also made of obsidian rather than amethyst, and glowed a beautiful, ecliptic black beneath the sun. Akiko had often told Nadoka that their crystals together forged a breathtaking combination of colors.

     Other than her inherited Quirk, Nadoka preferred not to associate any of her characteristics with her mother, instead insisting that she looked and acted more like her father.

     Nadoka almost didn't want to go to UA. There were so many doubts and fears rolling through her head; so many insecurities. She didn't want to be singled out by teachers or students because of her family. She didn't want to exhibit any behavior that may scare UA into kicking her out. She didn't want to fail the entrance exam and be left to wallow in the shame of knowing she wasn't good enough to be the pro hero she needed to be.