A/N: So, this is a little project that's been floating around in my head for a while now. I love making my own characters, and ever since I watched My Hero Academia for the first time I've thought that the world was so vibrant, and the characters so much fun, that I simply had to start adding my own ideas and parts into the series. Eventually I stated to make notes about it all. Then this thing happened.

A few notes on all this though before we get started. Because I love making up my own characters so much this piece is gonna be very OC centric. We're talking main characters, side characters, characters that are dead but still have a role to play and enemies. If you just wanna read about the canon characters doing stuff, whatever that stuff might be, and you're not interested in any kind of new angles in the events of the manga/anime, you're not gonna like this thing very much. You have officially been warned.

That being said, I'm still very much in love with many of the canon characters, the whole vibrant world and the story that is given by My Hero Academia. So while this thing will be OC centric it won't completely be that. I'm a big fan of character dramas and growth and, because of that I'm going weave in my characters into the world in a way which will also highlight the main canon characters and how the two parts interact with one another. I hope I manage that at the very least. We'll see.

On a side note. Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is an amazing movie, and it really inspired me to continue to write this fanfic. I dunno, it just gave me a good vibe which jived great with My Hero Academia. Go see it if you haven't yet. I promise it'll be worth it.

Warnings for: Swearing, Blood, Assault, and Mentions of Drug Abuse.

"This means someone is talking"

These are thoughts.

"This means someone is talking in english - or español"

"This means someone is being very loud!"

"This means someone is being very loud in english - or español"

Chapter 1

Home

A hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. - Felix Adler.

Naomi Araya couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for hours. Attempting to find a way to force her mind into a blissful slumber. She had tried a glass of water. Listening to music - both instrumental and voiced. Opening a window. Reading. Counting sheep. And counting minutes. But to no avail. She felt tense. Her body pulled tight as a string ready to snap. And her mind was reeling.

Maybe it was the jetlag.

Maybe the change in climate.

Maybe it was the fact that she had just permanently moved to the other side of the earth which had her nerves tingling and her brain buzzing incessantly.

Whatever it was that was keeping her awake she decided was evil, and she wished she could call upon a hero to vanquish it. To fight the demons of her mind in a grand battle of fists and one-liners, and in the end stand victorious upon their unconscious bodies, as they did on television and in the streets every single day. But even they couldn't break the basic laws of physics. Her worries couldn't manifest themselves into forms real enough to maim and damage. They were just going to stay there. As fickle and amorphous as smoke. Still keeping her from getting any sleep.

Naomi turned and opened her eyes. She knew she was looking up toward the white ceiling of her room. Her new room. But all she saw was an abyss of darkness. She couldn't see shit with the new blind over her new window. It was impossible. She sighed. Her restlessness burned in her veins like a smoldering piece of wood about to catch fire. Before today she had at least been able to make out the slight shapes and shadows of the furniture in her space and maybe catch a glimpse of the dawn through the curtains as the sun rose over the distant horizon had she risen early enough. Now there was only a black nothing. A single black-hole out in the vast emptiness of the universe. She didn't even know whether she would be able to see the sunrise from where the house stood. This was not San Francisco.

Naomi huffed and fumbled after the clock on the nightstand beside the bed. She was feeling irritable. Tired. Exhausted. And just a little bit dramatic. Her hand was clumsy in the darkness and the buzzing in her mind grew louder. But eventually she managed to grab onto the clock's blockish shape. With a soft click the dark ceiling above her was illuminated by vivid green numbers. She blinked. Dazed. It was almost three o'clock. Just another three hours and the sun would rise. Another hour after that and her aunt would be heading to her first day of work in the new city. But she hadn't managed to even get an hour's worth of rest. Much less anything which would keep her on her feet during the day. It would be a living nightmare come morning.

She groaned. A low rumble in the back of her throat which turned into more of a growl. Then in a theatrical show of defeat she turned again and pressed her face into her pillow.

It was just one annoyance after another. Everything was just wrong. Her bed felt wrong - it was too new. Her pillow smelled weird - it didn't smell of her orange shampoo yet and instead had a fabricated odor to it; like plastic. Her room was too dark - she had never had a blind before and the pure gloom of it all seemed to set her mind into overdrive. Even more than that, despite the fact that she had her window open it was terrifyingly silent. As though all the noise in the world had been sucked dry. All sound except the low chirping of crickets in the grass. It was unbearable.

Her own pyjamas were the only things which still held onto that distinct feeling of home. But a pair of dark blue boxers and a large t-shirt with the logo of her favorite basketball team did little to soothe her restlessness. Although they might smell of smog and cheap lemon detergent - the smell of her San Francisco - everything else had a distinct flavour of new and costly - the only smell she could up until then relate to the capital city of Japan. Her aunt had spared no expenses in the move. Whatever could change became new and polished. Everything which stayed the same was reinvented or tucked away as precious mementoes. She still didn't know if she liked it all.

Naomi breathed in. It was a tedious and long-winded gulp of air. As though she had never tasted it before. And repelled by the smell of plastic - it just had to be plastic - she stretched out and pulled her feet over the side of the bed. She glanced up at the clock's projection again. For a moment entranced by the eerie light it gave off. But as soon as she blinked the moment was over and her thoughts grew restless and impatient. She frowned.

No way I'm getting any sleep tonight…

She took another deep breath. Her eyes shut tight. With three hours left until sunrise there were several ways she could kill time - but one idea in particular sparked her curiosity.

It was a stupid idea.

She hadn't conjured up something so reckless in months. But no one had ever claimed she was particularly brilliant once she was running on empty. So before she could change her mind about the whole thing, she rose from the bed.

She flinched as her feet landed softly upon the wooden floor. It was cold. A stark contrast between the warm, soft bedding and a floor without heating. It didn't help that she was naturally cold blooded and easily froze in colder weather. Although seeing as they were in the middle of may she would have thought that the spring heat from outside would have been enough to warm up the house. Naomi ignored the small chill as best as she could however and stretched out to her full length. Unwinding her tense muscles with a little bit of exercise and the prospect of some excitement. She grimaced.

Her aunt would yell at her if she knew what she was about to do. Maybe even ground her. It would be the first time in years.

She moved in a haste then. Quickly spurred on by the want not to get caught even thinking about doing what she was about to do as her spark of excitement grew steadily. Her slowly chilling feet were soon dressed in a pair of grey socks as she threw her new wardrobe open and began to rummage through her small collection of clothes - still unorganized from the move. Though she barely saw anything in the dim lime green light coming from the clock she managed to just about jank on a pair of dark jeans and a loose olive green sweatshirt. She found her phone on the nightstand beside the clock. And her bulky neon green headphones alongside them. She fumbled for a bit. Still caught between wanting to go back to the bed and finally get some sleep - she was so tired -, and knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep until right upon morning anyways. But her curiosity won out in the end. It usually did.

Naomi exited her room with bated breath. Her fingers tapping on her phone in the pocket of her sweatshirt. Nervous. Her heartbeat was growing slightly more erratic. And she found herself attentively listening for any sound other than her own deceptively calm breaths. She heard nothing out of the ordinary, so she closed the door softly behind her and began to make her way passed the hallway, then down the stairs.

It took a few moments for her to stumble her way through the darkness the whole house seemed to be caught within. Even in the places where a little bit of light would normally seep in through reflections there seemed to be no escaping the shroud of darkness. It was hard to even see her own feet but she didn't dare to turn on any lights. Her aunt was a light sleeper and could very well notice. It was almost a superpower in its own right. Only once Naomi made it into the small alcove which opened up into the front door did she dare to even consider it. She needed the light to find her shoes.

It took even more fumbling to find the lightswitch on the wall. She was slowly but surely getting tired of stumbling around blindly in the dark. And as the lightbulb above her head came alive in a flash of brilliance she had to blink trice before her eyes adjusted to the brightness. After that it was laughably easy to find her asparagus green sneakers amongst the blacks and reds of her housemates shoes. She was really the only one in their household who held an adoration for the color - no matter what shade.

Naomi easily slipped into the shoes and tied the shoelaces in a messy knot. She was just about to head out the front door when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror embedded in the door. She stared at her reflection. What looked back at her was a young girl just passed fourteen with tawny brown skin and green eyes. Although she really believed she shouldn't be; she was short. Her partially hispanic blood hadn't helped her at all in gaining some height. It was something she thought was incredibly unfair - especially considering that her older brother had turned out tall enough to rival anyone back in the states. He hadn't moved with them.

Naomi frowned. She tugged at a strand of pastel pink hair as she studied the mess it had become overnight. Her dark brown roots had begun to show - which meant she would have to dye it again soon. It wasn't cheap to buy that stuff back in the states, and she couldn't imagine it was much cheaper in any of the stores here either. She always felt bad using her allowance on such a frivolous thing. But…

She liked the color pink. Almost as much as her cherished green.

Naomi grabbed the green baseball cap which hung on the wall hanger just aside the front door and turned the handle. She was out the door before she could give it all a second thought.

Takoba train station lay in a veil of silence. It was empty. Almost deserted this late in the night save for a few silent stragglers and a single station agent who was practically asleep on his feet. It was as though the whole place was holding its breath. Waiting. Wordlessly anticipating the morning when it would be bustling with life again. Naomi had never seen anything like it.

San Francisco was always full of life - night or day didn't matter. It was just the people who changed.

Naomi bit at her lower lip as she browsed the timetable for the upcoming trains. It was a godsend she knew the language fluently. Her aunt had insisted she leaned it already early on - it being a part of her blood as well. But she had never been as thankful for that until the move happened. Otherwise she would have been a blind man walking - this time for different reasons. It had been hard enough to find proper signs in english at the airport and out there in the suburban areas no one had thought it was necessary at all. Naomi didn't blame them. What kind of tourist would want to wander around a residence area?

There's one heading to central tokyo in ten minutes… She was lucky. Had there been no night trains this whole endeavour would have been pointless. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through its contents until she found the train ticket her aunt had bought her at the airport yesterday. It was supposed to last all year long. She scanned the ticket and passed the turnstile.

It was a short walk up a couple of stairs to the platform, and as she walked, she pulled the baseball cap upon her head further down and adjusted the headphones resting around her neck. She was almost certain that her plan could still be considered extremely stupid. But she couldn't help but to feel a little sense of victory as she was slowly approaching her destination. Her excitement hadn't ebbed away at all during the short walk from the house. She was thankful for it.

Naomi walked out onto the platform with a smile growing upon her lips. The fresh air away from the house was good for her - despite the train station's slight smell of dumped cigarettes and what could only be forgotten garbage. It chased away some of her exhaustion - left her wanting more. As though it could chase away her homesickness too.

She still had a few minutes to wait before the train came. So to pass time she scrolled through her phone. Checking what kinds of forums and gossip sites were popular in Japan. She had always liked those about heroes - but then again everybody did. Since the quirk factor was discovered in china - a mutated gene in the human body which granted individuals extraordinary powers -, and it spread throughout the world, the once dream-like profession only contained to comics and movies became a reality. It had at first really only been a publicity stunt to quell the chaos which arose after people began to misuse their mutation - their quirks. But the governments all around the world became desperate enough, and the initiative popular enough, that it became a state funded profession. Heroes were a dime a dozen nowadays. Naomi had watched them battle on the streets more often than in movies and shows in her childhood. Moreover the most popular heroes were treated like celebrities. And gossip sites always loved to talk about celebrities.

Naomi scrolled through a couple of those sites. She read a couple of articles about this hero being in that scandal and this hero resolving that conflict. It was no different than what was written about the professionals in the states. It made her feel a little bit more at home - even if the heroes over here had a bit more funky names from time to time.

She had just about enough time to consider joining a forum site which discussed active heroes and their mutations when the train arrived. Naomi closed down her phone and watched the sliding doors open. Her heartbeat quickened as she walked into the wagon and the doors closed behind her. Almost there…

The train ride into central tokyo was nothing to speak of until she saw the first couple of skyscrapers. She had found a good unoccupied window seat amongst the few passengers which rode the train and spent most of the twenty minute ride scrolling through the forum site she had discovered earlier. But as soon as the city lights came over her window she was slack jawed. Her eyes grew wide as she gawked at the city which would be her new home for the foreseeable future. San Francisco had nothing on nighttime Tokyo. At least in terms of flashiness.

It was as though she were looking out into a nebula in outer space. A bursting nebula full of galaxies, stars and supernovas. Vivid. Bright. Glorious. It was a show of neon signs, vibrant advertisements displayed on enormous screens and reflections upon the glass encased buildings. A spectrum of colors encased the city in a living, breathing, blanket. Naomi pressed herself closer to the window. In the distance she could see Tokyo Tower. Looming proudly over all other buildings and ignited by a thousand more lights. It was the center of the city. A beacon of light amongst a mass of confusion and wonder.

She couldn't get enough. It looked fantastic.

As soon as the speakers called out her stop and the sliding doors opened; she was out the doors again. She passed pedestrians, travellers wanting to catch their train ride home or forced into working too early, bumping shoulders as she almost ran through the train station - this one much larger than the one nearest to the house, and certainly not deserted. She turned a corner, and jogged up a couple of stairs. Until finally a shopping district opened up before her eyes.

She stopped. Catching her breath.

It was amazing. Tall buildings rose on either side of the busy street, reaching for the stars above their heads with little regard to either the ant sized people walking by on the ground or the cars speeding by like small comets. The people talked with one another, repeating rumors, yelling into their phones and whispering secrets to their lovers. Naomi grinned as advertisements in all shapes and colors blinded her eyes.

This was what she had wanted.

She hadn't even been able to explore the city before she had moved. It had all gone too quickly. A phone call. Some mails. Then a week later she was on a flight to the other side of the earth. Everything she knew and considered home gone with the wind. She didn't blame her aunt for taking the opportunity with the job. It was good money. They needed it. Her aunt's girlfriend needed it. There was even an opportunity for herself in the form of a prestigious school in the package. But with a move as large as this there were adjustments to be made. Naomi hadn't been able to adapt to the change before it happened - she hadn't gotten a chance to meet the city proper before she became part of it.

This was the kind of meeting she needed.

Naomi took a deep breath. Her green eyes glinting in excitement. She gripped her phone tightly in her sweatshirt pocket, and moved onward. Her mind set on exploring as much of the city as she could before sunrise.

She browsed closed stores as she passed them. Admiring the colorful storefronts. Breathing in the the distinct city air which tasted of smog and burnt concrete. It wasn't too different from San Francisco - the systems were the same. She looked on as people passed by, and marveled at the skyscrapers which stood so tall they seemed to go on forever. She read posters. Listened to the traffic. Found a store which sold badly written english sentences on t-shirts. And saw a hero walk out of his office to go on patrol.

But she was also mindful of herself. Her head kept downward whenever she wasn't gawking at something or another. A fourteen year old girl wandering the streets this late at night was a recipe for trouble worse than anything she could cook up herself. All kinds of criminal activity still persisted in the dark corners of society. Heroes couldn't be everywhere at once.

Still she watched on eagerly as the city just lived.

And before she knew it an hour of exploration passed her by.

Naomi frowned as she checked the clock on her phone. She barely had two hours before sunrise and her exhaustion had started to kick in again. But she didn't feel finished. Not by a long shot. She hadn't even managed to see a proper hero battle it out with a villain. And though it was maybe in bad taste to want to see something like that, she wanted to know which heroes were most active where, what their quirks were, and how they operated. She was an admirer of the kind of work those professionals were doing and even back in the states she had always wanted to know as much as she could about the specialists. It was important; because she desperately wanted to be a hero too.

But it seemed she was out of luck.

Naomi came to a halt in front of a storefront. It was an electronics shop. A small place probably privately owned and maintained. It was nothing special. But it had a smart presentation. A pyramid of televisions in all sizes and shapes stood at the window. All of them displaying the same program in perfect synchronization.

Isn't that a waste of electricity for such a small place though? She thought so but found herself transfixed by the display at the window. It was showing an old rerun of a famous interview with a certain man. She knew because she could distinctly remember watching it live with her aunt when she was twelve and being moved by the enthusiasm of the interviewee.

He was massive. The interviewee was a man of monumental size and undeniable grandeur - standing at an imposing two metres and with muscles as large as an adult head. None of the screens could properly accommodate for the man's build in comparison to the interviewer. But despite his intimidating presence he was always laughing and smiling. Kindhearted. Always looking out for others and their wishes over his own. He was a blonde haired pillar of society. The greatest hero of them all.

All Might.

The legendary Symbol of Peace.

Naomi read the subtitles fondly. He was talking about a recent conflict with a group of villains who had taken a whole school as hostage in exchange for money. The famed hero had come and saved the day. He always did.

The interviewer asked the hero a lot of questions throughout the interview. What was his daily workout routine? What had he been thinking as he saved the school? Did he like any recent movies? But none of the questions asked could compare to the charisma and passion the hero exuded all by himself. He was like a single star, ablaze in the night.

At the end of the interview the renowned hero spoke two words...

"Plus Ultra…"

Naomi whispered the words to herself. Almost as though they were an important secret to be kept from the rest of the world. A prayer. A wish. It was something special. She couldn't stop the delighted grin from spreading upon her lips. It trailed a pleasant thrill from her head to her toes. It always did.

Naomi turned from the screens once the program was over and a commercial started to play instead. But the grin didn't falter. She felt invigorated by the sight of the greatest hero and the catchphrase he had populated was always a successful way to get going. It encouraged people to go beyond their limits. As she walked on it was as though her feet felt lighter. Her exhaustion all but forgotten.

She did however come to a stop not long after as she came face to face with a darkened alleyway. It was again nothing special. A thousand more alleyways just like it existed all over the city and a million more again all over the world. It had garbage bags gathering along the walls, cigarette dumps littering the ground and an awful smell like piss in the air. But there was something there she hadn't seen yet as she'd been travelling across tokyo. It had a stairway going all the way up to the roof of one of the buildings.

Naomi narrowed her eyes. She scanned the area for any stragglers who could possibly cause her trouble, but there were few along the road she had taken. Most of them too absorbed in their own business to notice the young girl. So she walked into the alleyway and began to climb the stairs.

In a few minutes time she had reached the very top of the building. She breathed through her nose as she looked over the place. It wasn't the tallest building in the area - it was far from it with its mesley four stories. But it did have a rather nice view over the shopping district and the rest of the city.

Naomi sat herself down upon the ledge of the roof and took out her phone. She snapped a few pictures of the scenery. And proud of the result she then closed her eyes. Humming the tune of one of her favorite songs.

She mouthed the lyrics of the chorus to herself. Her legs swinging back and forth over the side of the building. It was a feelgood song. She tapped her fingers against her phone in tune to the melody. Content.

"Hmm...you're a sunflower".

"Stop!"

Naomi's eyes flew open. The song died in her throat as her pulse quickened into overdrive by the sudden noise. Her heartbeat instantly goaded into a heavy pounding. What was -.

Another yell.

It came from the alleyway. The sound echoed off the walls like something recorded in a bathroom. It was a woman screaming. Her vocal chords cracked but high pitched and hoarse. Desperate.

Naomi jumped to her feet. She ran over to the side of the building with the stairway and looked down into the darkness below. It was too dark. She could barely see anything. What was going on?

As the thought barely registered in her mind she finally managed to make out two shadows struggling with each other at the far end of the passage. One was large. Moving clumsily. As though drunk or injured. The other one was smaller and pushed into a corner. It looked like it was shaking. As though terrified.

Shit.

Someone was being assaulted.

Naomi looked around herself. As though her surroundings would give her the answer to the situation. Her mind whirling. This was why being out in the city so late was dangerous.

What do I do?

...

Call a hero you idiot!

She fumbled with her phone. Her fingers finding the number pad only with a lot of difficulty. She began to furiously push a couple of number. She was going off of instinct but...

...What was the emergency line in Japan?

Naomi paled. She hadn't bothered to memorize it yet. Too caught up in her own worries about the move she hadn't even thought about looking it up online or anywhere. She hadn't even asked her aunt. How stupid can you -.

It was then she saw something glinting in the dark. It moved along with the larger shape though it was small and concealed. It took her only a glance to know what the thing was. There were still idiots running around with them everywhere back in the states. Attempting to look intimidating. Acting stupid. It was a knife.

Naomi gripped her phone tightly in her hand. The plastic groaned beneath her fingers. Even if she called a hero...would they get there in time?

Naomi saw the larger shape lunge. It tackled the smaller shape onto the ground.

A scream was muffled.

Naomi's body moved of its own accord. Within a fraction of a second the area around her flared up as sparks of dense green neon travelled up her body and caused her hairs to stand on end. It seethed with a sound much alike the buzzing of electricity. Then she jumped off the roof.

She quickly pummeled toward the ground. As the baseball cap flew off her head from the force the air pushed and pulled roughly at the strands of pink hair and the wind howling in her ears grew louder and louder. She grit her teeth and braced for a fast approaching impact - feeling lucky that the building wasn't too tall. She landed on top of a garbage can and the metal buckled beneath her weight. Her legs screamed out in protest as pain raked her body for but a moment. But her mutation - her quirk - worked quickly after a day of inactivity. All the pain was gone as fast as it came. It was never more than a brief thought.

She lunged instantly at the larger shape.

Her fist caught the gruff man in the jaw. He was sent sprawling onto the ground beside the woman he had been attacking. Overwhelmed by the sudden strike.

Naomi meanwhile managed to just about balance herself before she could land on top of the woman - and unintentionally cause her harm. She stumbled to her feet. Her quirk still working on properly healing her legs. She planted her foot firmly on top of the knife the man had dropped in the onslaught. And checked the woman for any injuries.

She was a middle aged woman, with brown hair and wide haunted eyes, and despite the relative warmth in the air she was wearing a thick fur coat - of the expensive kind you could only get in certain stores. Her whole body was shaking terribly. But save for a bloody gash upon her arm - which she was clutching to her body - she seemed fine.

Naomi reached a hand out toward the woman. Smiling.

She recoiled. Frightened.

"I-I'm sorry", Naomi said, surprised at the woman's reaction. She didn't know what she had done wrong. "I just wanna help. Are you alright?".

The woman shook her head furiously.

Then Naomi realized she was still glowing in a kitschy green light. Stupid. It would have been a rather startling sight even in this day and age where people had tails and could breathe fire - especially in a situation as temperamental as this one. She quickly deactivated her quirk and held her hands up in surrender.

"Look, here, I'm not so scary, right?"

Naomi smiled again. Kindly.

The woman looked at her. She looked at her hands held in surrender. At her face. Up and down. She looked at the fourteen year old girl who had just saved her from something undoubtedly terrible. And slowly nodded her head. Her brown bangs bouncing with the movement.

Naomi reached out her hand again, and this time the woman accepted her help. She pulled the woman to her feet by her uninjured arm, and once the woman stood steadily upon her own to feet she took a step back to give her some space.

She looked over to the gruff assailant. He was still laying on the ground, his hand clutching at his wounded jaw. Whimpering. Muttering unintelligible things. He must have been drunk. Or worse. Naomi hoped he would stay that way. It hadn't been on her agenda today to fight someone so intoxicated they could barely string together coherent sentences.

She looked back at the woman. And more precisely at the woman's injured arm. It was dripping blood onto the concrete. No doubt it hurt badly.

"Can I take a look at that?".

Naomi regarded the woman patiently. She watched the woman twitch. Startled. As though she hadn't heard her the woman looked at her arm in such a way that it seemed like she was confused by its existence before slowly reaching it out to the young girl.

Naomi gently took ahold of the arm and examined the injury. It wasn't deep. Luckily. The man had cut a clumsy gash into the woman's skin but barely touched any of the delicate veins there. Had he done so there would have been a lot more blood.

Naomi smiled. "I'm gonna use my quirk, okay?".

She looked up at the woman and waited for a reply. It was important to ask for consent before using a quirk on somebody. Her homeroom teacher back in the states had drilled that into her brain with an iron fist.

The woman nodded carefully. She eyed the young girl as though she was going to explode at any minute. Naomi absently thought that it looked quite funny.

"It looks flashy, but I promise I'm not gonna hurt you".

Naomi breathed in, and activated her quirk again, and for a split second her whole body flared up - the air around her buzzing like tiny invisible bees. But another second went by and all the green, fizzling, neon gathered in her hand. She slowly moved it over the wound. Her eyes narrowed. Concentrating.

A moment passed.

Then Naomi breathed out a sigh of relief and deactivated her quirk. All the light faded from her person and the alleyway was shrouded in a deep gloom again. But she could still see the wounded arm clearly. Or what had been a wounded arm. It was now clear of any damage in any way. No tearing. No gash. Not even a single bruise. It was as though there had never been a wound there at all - save for the dried blood remaining upon the woman's skin. She in turn was staring wide eyed at her arm as though it had suddenly grown several inches. Her hand flexed.

"It...it's gone"

Naomi nodded. She smiled brightly.

"You…", the woman gasped. Unbelieving. She looked at the young girl with wide eyes. "It doesn't even hurt anymore…".

"Good", Naomi said. It would have been embarrassing had it still hurt. Her healing was her speciality after all.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You're not a hero, are you?".

Naomi laughed. "No, not yet at least".

"You're studying?"

Naomi shook her head. She recalled the letter of application she had sent just a week ago to one of the schools in the country. It was a work in progress; her studies. She knew what she wanted to be and where she wanted to study in order to walk down that path. Once the move was set in stone there was really only one choice after all. But she still had an eight month period of mediocre school sludge to drag herself through. It could very well murder her ambitions if she wasn't careful. "I've applied to UA though".

"That prestigious school?"

"Yeah".

The woman nodded. As the pain cleared from her arm and the shock slowly wore itself down her head seemed to clearing up as well. It was good.

Naomi looked over to the assailant again. "Do you know why he attacked you?".

The woman faltered for a bit. She glanced at the man over her shoulder. Frowning.

"He's...he's my ex".

"Oh".

"He's not usually like that though!", the woman exclaimed. She bit at her lip and rubbed at her previously injured arm. "I think he took something. He used to be so sweet".

"Drugs?".

"Yeah".

Naomi frowned. She despised the stuff. It was the worst kind of thing you could put in your body to harm it. But still it was everywhere. She shook her head.

People are stupid…

"I think I'm gonna call the cops…"

Naomi looked up at the woman. She was still gazing at her assailant. It sounded like she was slightly lost on what to do - which was understandable. No one should have to experience something like she just did. No one.

Naomi nodded. "I think you should call an ambulance too".

The woman blinked. She looked back at the young girl and seemed slightly confused by her suggestion. "Oh, yeah".

Naomi smiled. She rubbed at the back of her neck and sighed. A yawn quickly worked its way passed her mouth. She blinked. And looked down at the phone in her hand. She had almost forgotten it was there in all the excitement. But she was glad she hadn't in some way dropped it. Speaking of…

Naomi checked the time on her phone.

...

Shit.

Naomi paled. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She double checked the time - and then again a third just to be sure. But there were no three ways about it...

Her aunt would wake up in ten minutes.

And all hell would break loose.

"Oh no, no, no…".

Naomi turned her head toward the heavens in a vain hope that her phone had glitched in one way or another. But sure enough the once star adorned blackened sky had turned slightly indigo as the sun slowly approached the horizon. She swore. All kinds of colourful spanish curses flew out of her mouth as she began to look around for her baseball cap. She had no idea where it had landed in her flight from the top of the building. She wanted it back.

The woman looked at her oddly.

"Are you alright?"

Naomi nodded frantically. "No, yes, sorry. Mierda!".

She cursed again. Perfect. The baseball cap had fallen right on top of a puddle beside a heap of garbage and debris. It was dirty. And had started to smell. She refused to put it on and simply held it in her free hand instead. At least she had found it.

"I gotta go".

Naomi gave a last glance toward the assailant before she walked up to the woman again. He hadn't moved at all. Still rambling incoherently. Disorganized. As though some piece of him had been stolen away. Naomi frowned at the sight. As a precaution she bent down and picked up the knife from the ground. She handed it over to the woman - who took it awkwardly.

"It's not gonna bite you", Naomi tried to reassure the woman. She watched her eye the sharp weapon with barely concealed disgust. "Call the cops. Get an ambulance. Just keep it as a backup in case that guy tries anything again".

The woman nodded slowly.

Naomi smiled. "I gotta go. But be careful".

Again the woman nodded.

Naomi watched her for but a moment still. Wanting to make certain that she wasn't going to break down from the trauma of the situation. But after a while of complete silence she looked up from the knife and a genuine smile graced her lips. She nodded for a third time. Naomi turned and rushed down the alleyway.

She was just about to turn the corner into the main road once more when the woman called out to her again. Her voice clearer and stronger than it had been during the assault. It almost sounded melodious.

"Hey!"

Naomi looked over her shoulder. Confused. Did something happen again?

"I'll be cheering for you, hero!"

Naomi sucked in a breath. Her feet slowed down to a halt. Awed. She was caught in the smile the woman sent her. It was something overwhelming. Genuine. Something she had never been privy to seeing before. Something the professional heroes kept a monopoly on which she desperately wanted for herself as well. It was gratitude.

It was a giddy warmth which settled into her stomach. It rushed all throughout her body and made her toes tingle. Her cheeks flushed. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

Naomi grinned.

"Yeah!"

She waved at the woman. And turned the corner.

While she was running back through the shopping district and toward the train station, her heart pounding in her chest and an ever present grin lighting up her face, Naomi began to realize something.

Tokyo wasn't San Francisco. It could never be. But she found herself not caring too much anymore. Home; that was wherever she found herself wanted, and she could imagine it working out well enough here too. As long as she managed to get into that hero training program everything would be fine.

In the end Naomi managed to get home before her aunt left for work.

But she was already awake; and the young girl was promptly grounded.

A/N: Well, that was the first chapter. A quick introduction to our main character, her home situation, her quirk, and not to mention her recklessness. It'll undoubtedly bite her in the ass later. We'll see.

Quick props to my little sister who kept bugging me to finally get this fanfic going. Without her I probably wouldn't have had the energy to write even this first chapter, much less plan ahead for more. So thanks for that sis, I hope you like what I have planned out for the future. This thing is gonna be a doosey.

More chapters will be coming soon!

Please R&R!