+Disclaimer: The universe and characters of My Hero Academia belong to Horikoshi and his talented team, I own only the plot.
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Evolution. Such a lofty word to throw around, and yet, it occurred - evolution of Homo sapiens had already been rapidly accelerating due to all the interference said species had made; with its inhabited planet and everything on it. At the advent of the 22nd century, mutations across the globe began noticeably appearing, with increasing residue in DNA, and finally resulted in the next genetically different human. A bioluminescent infant born in an eastern Chinese coastal city, the first Homo temere. The original classification had intended to be Homo melior - superior man - yet the sporadic and patternless nature of these mutations left professionals and scientists both baffled and underwhelmed.
An in-joke between Japanese geneticists, on how "quirky" these aberrations were becoming, was then quoted by an American undergraduate for their dissertation, and somehow, gained popularity, before becoming the globally recognised, temporary, scientific term - until further research could be done. The single most impactful word in the last century; 'Quirk'.
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A child, barely three years old, fumbles his way around on the ground. His mother, beaming yet keeping a very close eye, watches from the park bench, turning to chat with a rather abrasive-looking woman. They giggle when the child reaches his hand up, green eyes following it to the sky. Unbeknownst to them, the child sees so much more than they do. A single pixel of nothing and everything, an atomic dot of the universe, is floating peacefully down into the child's hand. His eyes sparkle in wonder, grasping and yet failing to grasp, what is resting in his palm. Lowering his hand, he crouches over it, primordial knowledge of the universe pulsing from an infinitesimally miniscule point; as if only something so small could paradoxically hold so much. So lost in its tiny wonder, he doesn't notice a rather abrasive-looking child approach, but when he does, he smiles, and clenches his fists in righteous cheer, ready for some game or other – the cosmic fleck forgotten, but not forgotten. It is a beginning meeting the remnants of a beginning.
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Izuku was an odd child. Academically gifted, his intellectual abilities were fields above classmates, and Inko only wished institutions had developed a more reliable I.Q. test since the 21st century, if only to brag about her pride and joy to Mitsuki. While he possessed a natural charisma of knowledge, it was undermined very heavily by his reclusive and awkward nature – something born out of ostracization and the consequential social inexperience. Despite that there was a certain energy and cheer Izuku possessed, some drive that Inko couldn't explain, yet made her swell with pride at his unbridled optimism. He used that passion to almost devoutly dedicate his time to one of his two most prevalent hobbies; heroes. Even with an inconclusive quirk testing when he was 4, that didn't stop Izuku from researching heroes and their quirks, fanatically planning out his own future as a hero, especially in reference to his number one role model, All Might.
The other hobby of his – arguably the more note-worthy one - was an almost morbid fascination with life and death. Inko would often see Izuku playing with insects when he was a child, and she only hesitated to interfere or reprimand because she always felt like her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Didn't he just pull off one of those butterfly's wings?" But she would blink and it would be flapping about Izuku again, almost happily, before settling on his outstretched finger. Or she could've sworn Izuku had stepped on a trail of ants, but there they were, alive, gratefully picking up crumbs Izuku sprinkled out, him kneeling just to the side of them.
As he grew up, he was always insistent on taking care of class pets or sheltering strays, and Inko couldn't help but be proud again, even if her apartment now had a dual function as a veterinary clinic and animal sanctuary. Transitioning out of primary school, while Inko would still see Izuku move the occasional snail off the sidewalk, or bring mashed up food to an abandoned nest of hatchlings, his interest became much broader, expanding to all kinds of life - even types of Bacteria and Archaea - but the focus was steadily clear to still always be on eukaryotes – specifically; Animalia, and especially, humans.
When a parade was held for Japan's late 113rd Prime Minister, Inko could vividly recall a curious-eyed Izuku looking up to her as they watched the television broadcast, and asking;
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"Why are they doing that?" Inko would've been startled. But not with Izuku. She had come to learn to be able to encompass anything for her peculiar child. She took a moment to put some serious consideration into her next words.
"They're celebrating his passing. He was a good leader – he helped deal with a lot of the rising issues with quirks."
"Celebrating…" Izuku repeated, seemingly lost in thought. Again, he looked up to his mother with a furrowed brow, "Wasn't death a bad thing?" This time Inko was startled. That was a very heavy question. She couldn't approach such a thing lightly. She took longer this time, and she was grateful that Izuku had taken her lessons on patience to heart.
"…Death is… death isn't always a bad thing. It's a natural part of life, and sometimes it is unfortunate or horrific but. Death makes life worth living. Death is mostly sad, but we celebrate because we know that before they died, their life was something worth celebrating. Death is a marker, a commemoration of the life lived."
"…Hmmm…" While she knew he couldn't have understood all her words as well as he wanted to, there was an air of acknowledgement in his hum. What she also knew was that his thoughtful pout was adorable, and so she proceeded to fawn over and cuddle him.
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The word 'animal' in day-to-day use implicitly excluded humans, and yet humans are through and through animals. Very little differentiated animal species genetically, and even less so instinctually, habitually, physiologically. The genus Homo presented many fascinating subjects for Izuku to study, particularly Homo sapiens and Homo temere, which represented approximately 80% and 20% of the global population, respectively. Even while Izuku would pore over more and more human biology text-books and quirk gene research documents, domesticated animals could capture his attention every now and then, since they were the most closely linked animals to humans - besides maybe livestock. Specifically, he had started to visit a stray Akita dog which had made a home out of the park in between his home and school.
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"There there." Izuku gently whispered, offering out the pork cutlet from his half-finished lunch; katsudon. The dog was tall and lean-built, but slouching over from exhaustion and seemingly, hunger. While suspicious, it was all too tempted by the fried food. Hunger won out in the end, and the Akita sat in front of Izuku and opened up its maw. Izuku couldn't help but let out a small laugh at that - he complied, and settled on petting the dog as it eagerly chewed away.
"Is this your supposed quirk, Deku?" Izuku sighed at that voice. He could at least compliment the persistence. "Talking to wild mutts, huh?"
"I told you not to call me that, Bakugo." Izuku turned around fully, to face a smug boy with ashen blond hair and a ruffled uniform, flanked by two very vindictive looking cronies. He stood up to properly face them, and the Akita stood up next to him, apparently eager to defend Izuku.
"Since when could you tell me anything? Isn't it about time you admitted you're just a pretending nobody!?" Bakugo Katsuki all but sneered at him, and he received some jeers of agreement from the two on either side of him. They all approached Izuku, and Bakugo raised a crackling palm close enough to be threatening. Before he could react though, Izuku's hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist. "Oi! Let go you quirkless freak!"
"I'm not going to be a stepping stone for your ego. Leave me alone." Izuku spoke firmly, stressing the last sentence, but he bit the inside of his cheek, betraying his uncertainty. Bakugo's wrist hurt under Izuku's iron grip, and Bakugo only stopped short of attacking or retorting when he looked into Izuku's eyes.
The anger in your heart warms you now, but it will leave you cold as you die.
An eldritch knowledge hid behind Izuku's eyes, and Bakugo knew he was being shown a reflection of the future. At the passing horror on Bakugo's face, Izuku loosened his hold, which Bakugo used to pull his arm free, trying to hide the forming bruise or the cold sweat. He clicked his tongue and left, leaving his confused lackeys to follow up. The dog at Izuku's side didn't stop growling defensively until the retreating party was out of sight, and Izuku let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.
"Thanks for sticking up for me pal." Izuku said, kneeling to properly pet the dog. "Here," he got the rest of his katsudon out and offered it to the dog, who happily starting eating, "you earned it." The teenager sat down heavily, taking a moment to relax his tense body, and enjoy the serene moment; a chill spring afternoon, the sun close to setting over the park – only broken by the eager chomping by the dog next to him. But it wouldn't last. He knew that it never lasted.
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One of the many, many, quirk theories Izuku read, was "Quirk Singularity". The belief that the prolonged survival of a species, coupled with increased randomisation in gene sequences – such as what was currently happening to the human population – would result in drastic mutations far beyond anything natural selection could have brought about. Typically dormant or unused pieces of DNA now utilised, insanely chaotic and artificial human environments, and an unprecedented focus on bringing out the full potential of mutated genes, resulting in the most rapid evolution of any species, past or present.
To be fair, the 'theory' had already been proven – very much apparent in today's quirked society – and yet the question remained; how far and drastically would this singularity develop?
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Tally:
1 death point
1 reset