Dead Circuits

Chapter 1

Denki awoke with a jolt, scrambling to shut his alarm off before it could wake up either of his parents. He hit the "dismiss alarm" button on his phone and got quiet, listening for any noises throughout his house indicating if anyone was awake. He didn't hear any movement, so he quickly swung himself off the side of his bed and started getting ready for school. Looking in the mirror, he took notice of the green and purple knot over his cheekbone while grabbing his concealer. His "Dad" would probably just beat him later for wearing makeup and call him a "fucking faggot," but that mark probably wasn't going to fade on it's own anytime soon and he couldn't have anyone at school noticing it. When he was satisfied with how he looked, he threw on his uniform and left for school, stopping to cover his mom with a blanket and pulling the needle out of her arm from where she was laying passed out on the couch.

His life might seem fucked up to most people, but this was his normal. It had been this way for as long as he could remember. Or at least since he was little and his mother had met his step-dad. He could barely remember his real dad, but his mother said that he was an exact replica of him, with the exception of the blonde hair he got from her, and the electricity quirk from his mothers side of the family, that had somehow missed her entirely. Denki didn't know what ever happened to his real dad, just that he hasn't been there since Denki was four. He just knew that one day his dad was gone, with his stepdad standing in his place, and that he was to call his stepdad "Dad" from there forward.

Things had started out okay at first. But Denki was too young to understand, and would cry for his real dad a lot, missing the man who had made him and helped raise and love him the last four years. He was also a very shy child who hid behind his mom a lot, and wouldn't seem to warm up to his "new dad," Shun. Shun lost patience with him very quickly, and what had started as small spankings when he cried for his daddy, turned into punches over minor things. His step-dad began drinking, eventually starting to spend the entire day, every day, drunk. Both when he was intoxicated, or when he was out of alcohol, he would progressively become more and more agressive, habitually beating Denki and beating and raping Denki's mother, Ayame.

Around the time the small-blonde was 6 he accidentally used his quirk on Shun. When Shun's fist came down onto his ribcage, hard, sparks came out and shocked his abuser. That was the day Denki found out what his quirk was, and both him and his mother almost paid for it with their lives. Shun had made it clear after that, that if Denki were to use his quirk against him again, intentional or not, that he would beat Denki's mother for it. His mother had no quirk or way to defend herself from her husband. And despite everything, Denki loved his Mom; Even if she let his new dad hurt him. Because even as a child, Denki understood his mom was just scared of Shun and that she was also afraid to leave him and be alone, and he couldn't bring himself to hold it against her. He would just have to suck it up and be good so his Mommy could be happy and so his new Daddy wouldn't hit her. Denki would take all the beatings if it meant his Mommy could be safe and be happy. So that's what he did. He took all of his beatings "like a good boy," as Shun would say, and would never dare to tell a soul a word about it. But the guilt of it ate his mom up, and she started abusing drugs to cope with everything. She got addicted to heroin, which later led to her prostituting to be able to pay for it. Shun didn't care, and long as she gave him the money to buy more beer and whiskey with.

Everything led to where he was today, years later walking to school, trying to stay afloat while living in a state of constant fear. All he had to do is do well in school and keep his grades up and one day him and his mom can escape this. He let out a breathy sigh, swung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked into his homeroom class with a goofy fake grin on his face, ready to begin his day.