Ashes fell into the air at the sight of the incident. It was a pile of hell on earth to the girl. A girl who was just merely trying to do what she had thought was right. She had already lost so much, she was trying, and trying. Trying to obtain the hope that she could have to still save these people struggling and struggling to survive. They needed a hero. They needed someone that could bring them one step closer to the unreachable...

Peace.

But what was peace? Peace, to the Shifter or also known as Oshiro Emiko as her real name, was a world where people no longer needed to worry about losing their lives daily. People wouldn't have to know pain, violence, no sadness, no anger, nothing but prosperity. That was the world this young hero wanted for most of her life.

But now, she was suffering from anguish, sadness. The pain building in her leg as it was crushed by the remains of an abandoned house. Sweat, dripped off of her forehead, trying to use her quirk to transform into something else she needed to be. A bat, a lion, something...anything. However, she was at her limit at this point. There was nothing more that she could do at this point.

Blood came out of her mouth, vomiting it out of her. She panted and the villain towered over her. His green, reptile like legs, were in her sights. He was ready to deliver the final blow on her.

However, before he could do such things, he was gone in an instant. It happened so fast that Shifter had no idea what had happened. Her eyes darted to a man now towering over her. This one, felt happiness, positivity, and a light that something that drew her to him. She didn't know him, but she was grateful backup had finally come. This had to be the most dangerous mission she would ever face.

"Have no fear, hero. You've done well, but you will not have to shed any more blood tonight." The big man turned to her. A big grin, appearing on his face, taking a step forward, offering a hand to her, stating the words that would embed her mind for the rest of her life.

"I AM HERE!"

XXXX

-Many years ago-

"You're just a bozo, you're all talk!" A fat, chubby boy with short black hair exclaimed, glaring at the little girl with short white hair on the ground. A purple butterfly clip in her hair. Her blue polkadot sundress came down right below her knees. Long white socks went right below the knees, and she had some black Mary Jane shoes on as well. Her pale skin, was scratched up.

"Why don't you fight, Emiko?" The blue haired, skinny boy asked. His arms, coated with metal, smiling at the girl, "Or do you not have a quirk like the rest of us. Should've known you were quirkless."

"No, no, I don't have to use my quirk against you." The little girl, Emiko stood to her feet. She shouldn't use her quirk. She didn't want to use it to show it off. Her mother always told her that she wasn't supposed to use her quirk like that, and she didn't want to hurt anyone unless she was trying to save them. That wasn't what quirks were.

"Then you must be afraid then." The chubby boy laughed, "You must not have a quirk anyways if you don't ever use it in class."

Emiko found herself unaffected by the taunt, "Well, we aren't supposed to use our quirks in class." She puffed her cheeks, standing to her feet, "I don't need to prove I have a quirk or not. You shouldn't use your quirks to bully other people around." She turned away, grabbing her bag on the ground, starting to walk away.

The boys, however, weren't done with her. Who was she to think they had to use their quirks any differently? The boy, punched his fist into ice before slamming it to the ground, making the ground turn into ice before Emiko slipped and fell on the ice. They laughed, but Emiko didn't bring out her quirk still.

Days, weeks, went by where her classmates continued and continued to taunt her more and more about not wanting to use her quirk or show it off. They would resort to violence with her at times like making her fall. One student tried to use her telekinesis quirk on her before to see if she would use it, but no matter how much it hurt Emiko, she wouldn't use her quirk against them.

It continued and continued, but Emiko could not bring herself to use her quirk to fight back. No matter what, she had to keep herself from using it. She would be no different from the villains her mom and dad faced every single day.

She couldn't show her mom the scars, the pain she went through daily after school.

She came home one day and her mom saw she had a black eye. Her eyes widened in surprise, walking over to her daughter, leaning to her daughter's level, "Emiko, what happened to you?" She asked her daughter and Emiko just smiled.

"I-I just had an accident was all. I flipped over on the desk when I was swinging on it." She was lying, but it was a half truth as well. She was swinging on the desks with some girls in her class today too. The girl with a telekinetic quirk had flipped Emiko to the floor.

"Please be careful okay, honey. You shouldn't be swinging on desks like that." She urged her daughter before she grabbed an icepack quickly from the freezer, handing it to her daughter, "Rest this on your eye for a while. It'll bring the swelling down." She told her and Emiko nodded, resting the icepack on her eye before she walked into the living room, sitting herself on the black leather couch.

"Your father is on the news again, Emiko." Miren smiled at her daughter from the corner of her eye, drying up some dishes she had used the other night before resting them on the drying rack, "Rescued a bunch of people from the disaster in another country."

Emiko happily smiled, rocking back and forth as she watched the news, seeing her dad save people from disasters with his super speed was incredible. She wanted to be like him.

"It's good to see I could help the catastrophe here in America. Myself, along with the other Pro-Heroes in America have been able to save multiple of thousands of people in just minutes."

The TV showed her father, standing there outside of a place called Los Angeles, California. His slicked up white hair and blue eyes showed his compassion, and his happiness in his eyes from saving multiple. He was amazing. He had on a yellow mask on along with a yellow hoodie, baggy yellow pants, and brown boots.

"Your father is amazing, isn't he? He'll probably be home shortly. He's only got one more hour of use of his quirk from the looks of it." Mirren stated before walking over to her little girl, taking a seat next to her, handing her daughter a glass of water, smiling in appreciation of her husband's work. He made her proud daily, "He may be better at rescuing others instead of fighting all those bad guys, but he's definitely amazing."

"Yeah." Emiko closed her eyes and smiled happily, rocking herself back and forth lightly, "I wanna be just like daddy! I wanna save people just like him! I want to be the hero he is." She took a sip of her water, "You're amazing too, mommy, the way you knock back opponents with their own attack." She rested the water on the wooden nightstand next to her, "Like." She stood on the couch, pushing her palm ahead of her, "Hyah!" She tried to mock her mother and Mirren laughed.

"Having that power isn't all nice though, Emiko." She had hurt others with it on accident growing up, after all. That's why she had been teaching Emiko to use her quirk by studying all the animals in her textbooks she would get to learn in her classes, after all, "Your shifting quirk is why I wanted you to read those textbooks. How much have you gotten through?" She asked her.

Emiko pointed at her purple backpack, "Well, I got two of the books done that I got from the library. My textbook, I just keep getting ahead on. I'm almost finished with it and the class is only halfway through it." She smiled. Although, it was starting to get to her how much those people would keep bullying and bullying her. Why did it have to seem so bad that she didn't want to show off her quirk?

She couldn't lie to her mother like this anymore. It was getting harder and harder to do so.

"Mommy, why do the kids get upset when I don't use it as much as everyone else in my class?" She asked while Mirren was thrown off by her daughter's question. Her eyes, widened, but Emiko continued, "Why-Why do the kids hate me so much?" Her eyes began to water and her mother hugged her eight year old girl, "I just don't like abusing my quirk." She sobbed into her chest.

"Have they been bullying you, Emiko?" Mirren asked a rhetorical question. Her eyes, filled with concern as she pulled away from her daughter, putting her hands on her cheeks. Emiko nodded before Mirren sighed, "You shouldn't of lied to me about your eye. How long have they been doing that to you?" She asked.

"Months and months…" Emiko muttered, sniffling, "Why do they hate me so much, mommy?"

"I don't know." Mirren shrugged, "Have you talked your teacher about them?"

Emiko shook her head, "No, I haven't." She wiped the tears from her face, "I'm afraid the bullying is going to get worse if I do."

"It will get worse if you don't do something about it, sweetie." Mirren put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't be afraid to tell the teacher to try to free yourself from it. You don't have to take abuse." She smiled, "You can do that well without your quirk. Be the better person."

"You think so mommy, but what if…" She trailed off before her mother embraced her again.

"I can't help you with this, Emiko. You have to learn to handle bullies like that, but not in the way your other classmates handle their bullying. Don't fight back, be strong, but don't use your quirk to fight back. Stand up for yourself, but don't stoop to their level. Got it, sweetie?" She booped her nose and Emiko nodded slowly, "It'll be okay, kill them with kindness okay?"

XXXX

Another day passed and Emiko was running to class before she suddenly slipped on some ice and fell to the ground again, feeling herself get suddenly lifted up into the air.

"Look, you going to show your quirk yet, midget." Harukaze Tomoki asked her. A girl with long black hair down to her waist and purple eyes, beaming to see what her quirk was. If she even had one, "Or are you just a quirkless girl? Admit it, you probably are."

"No, I'm not!" She shouted before she was let go of falling to the ground. It was painful, she wanted to fight back, but her mother told her she could stand her ground without her quirk. She could stand her ground. She couldn't...stoop to their level.

She tried to get up before she slipped and fell on the ice again, hurting her head now. She rubbed her head in pain before the chubby boy kicked her repeatedly, "Stop!" She gasped before he laughed at her.

"Now, now, just show me if you actually have a quirk, and I'll stop." He told her while Emiko still didn't want to give in.

"No, I told you I have one!" She winced, feeling herself getting kicked again.

"Stop it, Ikki, we don't want to get in trouble if you accidentally kill her." Tomoki told him while he shrugged, smirking.

"Don't worry about it, Tomoki-chan. I won't hurt her much." He lifted his leg up to kick her again, but this time, Emiko caught his leg, "Oh, so sweet, innocent, snot nosed, spoiled Emiko actually has a backbone."

"Stop it!" Emiko exclaimed, "What does this prove to you? That you're better than me?" She demanded, pushing him back before she slowly got back on her feet, "It doesn't! You use your quirks to push me around, but you're no different from the villains in this world! You can't bully me and think you'll work your way to become a hero! That isn't how it…" She trailed off before she was kicked, flying backwards.

"How dare you. Who says you get to judge us huh? Your parents are so well off and we just have scraps. You don't know what it's like to be like us. Everything Is handed to you, you spoiled brat!" Ikki told her while Emiko struggled to get up.

"No, you're right," She slowly stood to her feet. Her small body was cut up with scratches, and her lip was bleeding as well, "I don't know how you feel. My parents are well off, but you shouldn't punish me for that." She retorted before she concentrated. Her mom said she didn't need her quirk against them, but she could use it to escape. She could use it to save herself right?

Hawklike wings sprung out of her back, remembering the notion of the wings and their uses. She flew up in the air, shocking her fellow students before she stood above them, "I won't let you bully me further, but I won't stoop to your level either. If you hurt me again, this will go straight to the teacher. The rules are if you use your quirk in the classroom, you will be punished. I'll do it too. It might ruin your chances of ever becoming a hero if they get information." She told them before they gasped before she transformed into a hawk and flew off.

That day forward, they had stopped picking on Emiko and for years and years, they grew and it was nearly about time for them to decide which school they were going to.

Emiko's white hair had grown down to her waist. She still had the butterfly clip in her head even as a fourteen year old. She wore a white blouse with a blue denim jean jacket that went to her waist. She had on jean shorts that reached a few inches above her knee. Thigh black high socks were also an attire to her color and her blue converse shoes were blue, showing off her love for the color.

She sat at the table in the living room, sipping a glass of water while writing down the ideas and what program she wanted to go into. She looked over at the news playing in the background.

"There's many dead in the wake of the attack in Japan north of Tokyo. According to the news, there's a victim that survived the attack that the villainous All for One had done. His quirk however, is gone now."

Emiko gulped at the words of such things. A guy, who could steal people's quirks? Wasn't that impossible?

"We have no knowledge if the famous villain All For One is actually the reason for the loss of quirks but the Hero Association will be investigating this case."

Emiko turned the TV off in an instant, not wanting to hear the negativity of that news especially since she was just choosing which hero school she wanted to go to. She sighed, wondering how her mother could fight on the front lines like that. Emiko had decided she was mainly going to use her quirk to save others and not for her own, personal gain. She's seen the news and the history of many villains starting out with the abuse of their quirk. That's why she swore it upon herself to never use her quirk for anything but to save others. Not for anything else. She wanted to try to assist other heroes from the rear.

She didn't know if she could kill someone. She couldn't, she couldn't do it. It was what made her immediately strike off the Hero course as such. It just wasn't for her. She couldn't stomach killing people if she had to.

The next one down her list seemed like it was probably going to be the one she was leaning towards: the Department of General Education. She certainly had the grades for it and she also could focus her movement on assisting other people in the rear. It was like a dream come true to her. Not that she wasn't a coward, just that she knew she didn't know if she could stomach having to kill anyone if she had to.

Besides, wasn't heroes supposed to represent peace? What type of peace was it if she had to kill? She would be no better than the villains.

She would have to choose the General Education course then. That seemed better.

She yawned, stretching herself out. It was near twenty-two hundred now. Where were her parents at? They didn't say that they were heading on some type of long mission. They said they would be back two hours ago.

She should call her dad.

She pulled out her phone before dialing his number before hearing her phone ring a few times before it went to voicemail.

"Hi you reach Oshiro Nada's cell. I can't get to the phone right now, so just leave a message at the tone."

"Hey dad, it's Emiko, I wanted to know where you and mom were. It's not like you guys to not check up and let me know that you'll be delayed with hero work. I made some dinner for you guys when you got home. Don't worry, I put it away, but call me and let me know you guys are okay. Love you." She hung up before walking into her room, throwing her bag to the left side of her room by her closet before flopping onto her bed. She groaned, feeling worried about her parents. They'll be okay. They're one of the best heroes she knew. This on top of school stress was getting to her. She better get to bed, she had to turn in her forms tomorrow for her hero school of choice.

XXXX

Beep beep beeep.

She turned her alarm off, yawning, checking her phone on her nightstand, noticing she didn't have anything from her dad. Text messages for Chimari though, her classmate and best friend.

Look at the news? It's pretty bad, Emiko.

Next message below was.

Emiko, are you okay? Please tell me you're alright. I'll see you at school this morning.

What happened exactly? Emiko felt a pit in her stomach. Was her parents there in the All For One incident? She hoped they were okay. It worried her if Chimari texted her like this. She should reply to her quickly.

What? I just woke up, Chimari. What happened?

She got dressed for school before hearing her phone buzzed again.

You didn't see the news? Let me send you a link.

A news article link popped into her text message immediately before Chimari sent her yet another text.

Emiko, I'm so sorry. Call me if you need to talk.

Emiko didn't like the feeling of this at all. She clicked the link of the article titled: "Four heroes among the dead. Two in critical condition, one managed to get out with minor injuries."

She scrolled down to notice her dad was among the names of the dead.

Anguish fell into the pit of the stomach, dropping her phone instantly, sinking to her knees. She couldn't believe it. Her dad was dead? Her father one of the fastest heroes out there? Was dead? Why? Why? Why did he have to die? What in the world? How could All for One outspeed him?

Is her mom okay? Is she okay at least. She had to dial up her mom. She couldn't lose her too.

She called and called her mom. She wasn't listed among the dead. She wasn't listed as one of the injured either. Finally, she had an answer.

"Emiko?"

"Mom, mom." Tears were watering out of her eyes, "I'm…."

"I'm sorry, Emiko, I'm so so sorry…" She could hear Mirren's voice breaking through the phone. It stabbed her heart so much. Her mom was going through so much pain, "it's my fault your dad's dead."

"What are you talking about mom?" A sob went out of Emiko's body. She was trying her hardest not to cry too much due to her mom's state, "It's not your fault…"

"Yes it was, Emiko-chan. I'm sorry." She wasn't going to be much help her now. Not after what just happened, "I'm unharmed, but just please, please just stay with someone today. I won't be back till tomorrow morning."

Mom sounded scared. What was going on? "Mom, you're scared, what's going on?"

"I can't tell you. You're in danger though. Please go to Chimari's house. Tell her and no one else…" She trailed off before Emiko slammed her hand on the table, "They're gonna have security on your school today." She sobbed, "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to get you involved in all this…"

A knock came from the door. Her heart pounded. Did she mean that All For One was after her? Why? Why would he be interested in a girl that hadn't even been in the Hero course? How did he even know her...

He couldn't of wanted anything from her. She was just a middle schooler.

"Mom, I'm freaking out." She was scared, worried. What happened out there? Knocking continued to follow again.

"Don't worry, sweetie it'll be okay. Just listen to the pros." Her mom hung out and Emiko found herself terrified of what was going to happen. There were villains after her, but she still didn't know why. It probably had to do with the incident from yesterday…

She took a deep breath and walked towards the door slowly, hoping it wasn't someone she didn't need to see today that might hurt her. She opened the door slowly before realizing it was Chimari's mother in her outfit.

"Emiko-chan, I'm sorry for scaring you, but I need to get you to safety. I'm gonna take you somewhere. We can't guarantee your safety here now." She told her while Emiko nodded in understanding, still worried about this.

"Okay, is everyone in the school going to be okay?" She asked, not wanting anyone else gets involved in this.

"They should be, but you should probably worry about yourself right now. You're the villains' primary target. We don't know who they'll send after you, but I doubt All For One himself will be around here." Satori wondered just what the hell happened on that mission last night? She should've been with them, not standing around in her home last night.

"Right, okay." Is this was what she was going to have to deal with when she's at UA? She couldn't be much of a chance if she applied in the General Education course. She needed to apply for the Hero course instead if she survived to see it.

Either way, she wasn't expecting her day to go like this. It looked like she had no other choice at this point. She wasn't strong enough to fight any villains yet. She was just a middle schooler. Especially if one of them is rumored to take someone's quirk.

That moment, made her realize just how dangerous it was to be even related to a Pro Hero. Your family and friends could be targeted if you tipped off a villain too much and didn't kill them. It was just sad she only realized this right before applying for UA.