Chapter 1 – A Peculiar World
CCity of Kiyokawa, year 22XX.
In a small orphanage located in the central area of the city, a group of children played in the backyard of a large house while being supervised by some adults and older children.
"I'll be All Might!" shouted a blond boy, no older than seven, wearing a red cape.
"No, you were All Might yesterday! It's my turn today!" protested a little girl of the same age, with pointed ears and reptilian eyes.
"You can't be All Might, you're a girl!" the blond boy said, snatching the cape from the girl, leaving her on the verge of tears.
"But... but... sniff, sniff..." the little girl began to whimper, her eyes filling with tears, but just as she was about to cry, the cape was taken from the boy's hands.
"Here," said a boy, no older than twelve, stretching out the cape to the girl. "You can be All Might today."
"Hey, Kata, give it back—Mhmm!!"
"Be quiet, Shino. I'm talking to Miori," Kata said as he stuffed a dirty sock, which he pulled from his pocket, into Shino's mouth. He then turned back to the girl and helped her put on the cape while Shino spat out the sock in disgust.
"Kata, you idiot! That sock belongs to Sota!" Shino yelled, charging at his opponent as his body began to take on a rocky, stone-like form.
"Pfft, idiot," Kata mocked as he easily dodged Shino's attack and tripped him, knocking down the stone-skinned boy.
"Shino and Kata are fighting again!" someone shouted, and soon a group of children stopped playing and ran over to watch the fight.
Shino stood up, furious, his rocky, childlike face filled with shame after being knocked down in front of everyone.
Kata, meanwhile, remained still, arms crossed, a faint smile on his face as he occasionally glanced at Miori, who clapped on the sidelines.
Around them, children of all ages cheered and encouraged the fight—not because they enjoyed violence, but because it was always fun to see Kata's quirk in action.
A little further away, a group of older children, aged between 14 and 16, were tending to a playpen where toddlers, no older than three, played with toy heroes and other trinkets.
"Should we step in?" asked one of them, a boy who resembled a wolf-like furry, as he bottle-fed a baby girl.
"No. Let them play a bit," replied a girl with red skin and small horns, sounding bored as she helped a little boy change clothes.
"But they might get hurt—"
"It's Kata. He has a good quirk and can control it well despite his age. He'll undoubtedly become a great hero in the future," the girl said calmly, though the wolf boy still noticed a subtle trace of envy in her voice.
In this society, having a strong quirk was essentially a ticket to a prosperous future—and for orphans like them, it might be the only thing capable of lifting them out of their current situation.
Kata, for example, possesses a quirk called Ultra Acceleration, a form of super speed that, when activated, basically allows him to slow down time around him, granting him an extraordinary advantage to act with precision and speed.
However, although it is a powerful ability, the impact it has on Kata's body is equally heavy, causing him to collapse if he fails to control it properly.
To prevent this from happening, Kata was very dedicated, always studying ways to improve the use of his quirk and training his body with different methods to withstand the adverse effects of his ability.
Thanks to that, Kata was basically the strongest among his peers, and even stronger than some older kids at the orphanage. Even if he didn't pursue a career as a hero, his quick thinking would still be a major advantage in the job market.
Finishing dressing the toddler, the red-skinned girl put a tiny romper on the little boy and smiled as she watched him, now clean, staring back at her.
"Aren't you a sweet little boy? You never cry or cause trouble for your Onee-san. Kuroda really is a good boy."
Cradling the baby, who was no more than three months old and had arrived just a few days earlier, she smiled while rocking him gently, enjoying his powdery baby scent as she watched Kata knock down Shino three more times before the caregivers finally arrived to break up the fight.
Watching Kata being praised by his friends, the red-skinned girl couldn't help but squeeze the baby a little tighter in her arms.
'Why not me?' she thought bitterly, not noticing that the tiny baby in her arms was quietly watching all the commotion, his gaze blank and confused—but unmistakably aware of his surroundings.
"What the hell is this?"
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Three Years Later
'The first recorded phenomenon occurred in 2014 in Qingqing City, China, where a glowing baby was born. Since then, people with powers began appearing all over the world, with no explanation other than this being a new evolutionary step for humanity.
Over time, individuals with unique abilities—quirks, as specialists called them—became increasingly common. And with that, the fragile balance of the pre-quirk world was shattered.
More and more people started using and abusing their abilities for personal gain, nearly collapsing the entire system.
HHowever, when all seemed lost, a few with powerful quirks and a strong sense of duty began to fight—not to gain something, but to protect those who could not.These people became the first heroes.'
"WELCOME TO THE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL!"
"It started. Azawaka, bring the popcorn."
"On it."
Hearing the muffled voices coming from the room, the four-year-old boy closed his history book and headed downstairs to join the others to watch the spectacle on TV.
"THE HERO COURSE STUDENTS, CLASSES 1-A AND 1-B!"
"STUDENTS FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES COURSE, CLASSES 1-C, D, AND E!"
"There! That's Kata and Shino!" Sitting in front of the TV, Miori pointed excitedly at the screen while the other orphanage kids smiled, seeing their friends on TV.
"Calm down, Miori," another girl said, pulling her friend down to sit.
"They really made it, huh?" one boy said, with a tone of slight jealousy but clearly happy for his friends.
"Kata and Shino really worked hard to get into U.A.—and even though it's just as general studies students, being at U.A. already puts them ahead of most people," another said as he brought popcorn for everyone.
Seeing the nearly 20 kids and teens crowded together in the living room watching the TV, the little boy quietly joined the younger kids sitting in the front.
"A festival where hero trainees compete and showcase their skills to the world… What a perfect way to become a target for villains." the boy thought as he watched the beginning of the competition. "What a peculiar world."