Hey guys! This is my first foray into the My Hero Academia world, and I hope you all enjoy it! Please please please, if you have any criticisms or questions, review or shoot me a pm! I love to hear feedback!
Now onto the story! (Also, I don't own anything except the concept of the story, all characters are out of my price range!)
The discrepancy between men and women in society had been a point of contention for as long as history could track. Patriarchies became the norm during the start of most industrialized civilization, and had continued in most countries even once the world reached the 21st century. Certain countries, including the United States and several of the larger European countries, had made major steps to bridge the gap between the two sexes. Most other 1st world countries had made similar, though smaller scale, attempts to do the same.
As the world finally began to accept the equal rights of the two sexes, a new issue arrived on the scene to further shake up the issue.
A baby was born in China with the ability to glow. Before the world could even begin to extrapolate the reasoning behind this phenomenon, other abilities began cropping up around the world. Children with wings, the ability to control the elements, those born with super strength and many, many more abilities were quickly becoming the norm in society. However, as the years passed and research was conducted, one thing quickly became apparent.
These new abilities were only appearing in babies born with XY chromosomes, in other words, only boys could get this particular mutation of the genes. Further study into the science of it quickly uncovered that the simple explanation was that the gene that mutated in order to instigate these abilities could only be found on the Y chromosome.
This new discrepancy between the two sexes quickly brought back every seemingly closed issue that had previously been fought over. Women were facing newfound sexism, as society told them they were lesser than the men. The argument seemed to be that, without the possibility of gaining these abilities, women could not protect themselves in the face of an evolving society. Many believed that they should go back to the days of women staying home and taking care of the kids, never leaving their houses for sake of "keeping them safe".
Another issue that was cropping up was reminiscent of the days in which China had limited the number of kids a couple could have to 1. During those days, the female population quickly dwindled, as households only wanted males in order to carry on the family name, as well as the belief that only a boy would be able to support their parents as they got older. That same belief seemed to be spreading across much of the world, as families wanted boys in order to start a line that held what the world was now calling "quirks".
Luckily for the world, women began quickly fighting back against the beginning of oppression. They held rallies, pushed petitions and generally stood up for themselves. It seemed that the past instances of segregation between the two sexes had left the women gilded and unwilling to sit back.
These quick thinking and passionate responses from the women of the world quickly began breaking down any inklings of sexism that had begun to sprout.
This was, surprisingly, assisted by the creation of a new line of work. "Heroes" had begun cropping up around the world in response to an increase in crimes caused by the new Quirks people had acquired. As men began diverting from the normal occupations, such as health care, law, public service, construction, and many other industries, a need grew to fill those positions. Many stereotypically male-dominated careers were seeing a decline in population, one that women were quick to advantage of.
Female doctors and scientists were more and more common; it was no longer strange to see women on a construction site. Large corporations saw an influx of female CEOs, and many governments saw a much heavier influence of participation from the fairer sex.
Now, several generations after the first Quirk had manifested, society had settled back into a semblance of peace. Women retained their rights through their own unwillingness to give in, and men found a new niche within the realm of hero-dom. The precarious balance that had been found was, at least for now, keeping both sides happy.
The perfect personification of this balance could be found within the confines of a middle school in Japan. Aldera Middle School, found in Musutafu, Japan, was currently holding a gym class for its 3rd year students. Within this gym class, a game of dodgeball was taking place, girls vs boys style.
Most would find this unfair, especially with the presence of quirks, but said abilities had been almost completely banned from all schools by the Japanese government. Some would say that even with those limitations, the girls were still at a general disadvantage, but watching this particular class clearly showcased how untrue that sentiment was.
Most of the students were standing around the edges of the gym floor, watching the event unfold before them. On the boy's side was a blond, intense looking teen. He was shouting expletives even as he threw the red rubber balls at the other side with almost violent force. The other side was a complete dichotomy to that violence. A girl with green, flowing hair was calmly and quietly dodging from side to side, missing each throw that came near her.
Nobody in the class seemed surprised by the scene in front of them. In fact, several of them were placing bets. "How long do you think this is gonna take?" One boy asked another sitting next to him.
"I dunno, as long as it takes for Bakugou to explode."
They both laughed, before another chimed in. "I bet 500 yen that Midoriya-chan decides to forfeit before then. You know how much she hates making Bakugou angry."
The first boy quickly grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously. "I'll take that bet! Look at how riled up he already is!"
Everyone turned back to the two in the center of the gym. Sure enough, Bakugou's hands were sporadically making popping noises as he fought to control his explosive quirk despite his irritation with the girl across from him.
As he sent one final ball at the other side, Midoriya Izuku sighed before finally stopping, throwing a hand out to make contact with the ball as it passed her, officially putting her out of the game and giving victory to the boys.
Contrary to how most would react in light of a victory, Bakugou grew even more angry. He stormed over to the much shorter girl, getting in her face as he yelled, "Dammit Deku! What do you think you're doing?! I was gonna win without you giving up like the wimp you are!" His eyes flashed with the anger he made no attempt at controlling.
The aforementioned girl merely sighed again and took a step back, slightly hunching in on herself. "The class ended 10 minutes ago, Kacchan, it was time to stop. And you never want to stop so-"
Bakugou cut in before she could even finish her sentence. "I don't give a shit-" a quiet admonishment slipped past Izuku's lips, ignored by the blond "-about the class ending! I was gonna finally prove, once and for all, that I'm indisputably stronger than you!"
Izuku had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, as she knew that that would only make him more irritated, impossible as that seemed. "Kacchan, you know you're stronger than me. Your quirk is awesome! I'd never win in a real fight against you!"
Despite what she had intended to be comforting words, Bakugou's temperature seemed to spike at her words, his hands sparking as he revved himself up for more yelling.
Luckily at that moment the teacher finally decided to step in, grabbing the angry boy's attention away from Izuku who had begun shrinking back even more at the look her friend was giving her. As the disruption settled down, all of her classmates seemed to lose interest, dispersing towards the changing room.
Bakugou, while still obviously angry, begrudgingly made his own way out of the room, shooting a scathing look at Izuku on his way. She chose to ignore it, knowing he would calm down by the time he was done changing.
The two had been friends for as long as she could remember. She had followed him around in pre-school, had cooed in awe in kindergarten when he got his quirk ("Kacchan, that's so cool! I bet you'll be the best hero ever!"), and had been in every class with him since the beginning of elementary school. Their principal had learned early on that, although Izuku was often the cause of his outbursts, she was also one of the only people who could calm the hothead down once he got going.
With one final sigh, she began walking towards the girls' changing room which had quickly filled while she stood in the middle of the gym.
The second she entered the humid room, she was surrounded by the rest of the girls in her class. "Oh my gosh, are you okay Midoriya? Did Bakugou hit you again?" "You're so cool!" "I can't believe how long you lasted against him!" "Bakugou is so mean, but so cute!" "You're so lucky to have such a cute, strong boyfriend, Midori-chan!"
She had been passively listening to the words swirling around her, but at the last statement she froze in the middle of undressing, flushing a bright red even as she spun around to confront the girl who had made such a bold statement. "He is not my boyfriend! We're just childhood friends!"
One of the other girls giggled, nudging Izuku's bare shoulder with her own. "There's no need to be so shy! After all, he's always trying to find excuses to hang out with you!"
"If by 'hang out' you mean 'fight with', then I suppose you're right, but that definitely doesn't mean we're dating! Or that he's interested!" Izuku was almost desperate in her insistence, knowing that if she didn't make herself very clear the other girls would continue their harping, and it would eventually get back to the boys. Even the thought of Bakugou hearing about this conversation had her blush receding, leaving her already fair skin even more pale. Bakugou was likely to explode the school in his anger if anyone even insinuated that he liked 'Deku'.
The girls seemed to sense her desperation and quickly backed off. Many of them were still giggling, but at least had dropped the topic.
10 minutes later, all the other girls had finished dressing. Each of them waved to Izuku as they passed by, sending greetings to the still changing girl. "See you later, Izuku! Tell Bakugou we say hi!" This seemed to send the whole group back into a fit of giggles as they left. Izuku fought to keep her face from flushing even as she sent a weak wave back, refusing to comment.
Just as Izuku put on her last piece of clothing following a quick shower, the room's door banged open. She jumped with a squeal, spinning in place with her hands clutched to her chest. Quicker than she could think her upper arm was grabbed, her brain scrabbling to catch up with what was happening.
Finally, her mind settled enough to realize the one grabbing her was none other than her childhood friend, Bakugou, and she quickly grabbed her bag off the bench beside her before he could drag her completely out of the room.
"Kacchan!" she all but screeched at him as she pulled her arm from his grasp, falling into step next to him. "What would you have done if I was still changing? Are you trying to make everyone think you're a pervert?" It became quickly apparent that he wasn't even half paying attention to her yells.
Obviously there was no point in trying to get through to him on this, so instead she focused on where they were going. After a look around it was clear that they were walking towards the school's outdoor gym area, where their class often held games of soccer, baseball and other such sports. She didn't even need to ask him why he wanted to go there, this wasn't the first time it had happened.
"I can't today," she said simply.
He growled in response, but otherwise said nothing, continuing in the single-minded nature that seemed to inhabit every action the blond made.
"I'm serious, Kacchan, I have capoeira class today! I can't spar with you; I'm already running late!" She desperately tried to get him to listen, knowing that he would have no compunctions with attacking her unprompted just to get her to fight with him.
She didn't know where his need to beat her in fights came from, but it had been going on for several years. Ever since she had started taking martial arts classes, in fact.
Her mom decided that, in a world full of villains and men that could easily overpower, especially considering her petite frame, she needed to know how to defend herself. Bakugou thought the whole thing was ridiculous, saying that she would "never been strong enough to beat a guy". However, after sitting in on one of her kick boxing lessons simply out of boredom, he had become fixated on fighting her.
She had asked him in the past if he wanted to join her classes, as several of them were mixed gender, but he had quickly, and caustically, declined. In his own words, "only wimps needed someone to teach them how to be strong." Despite this, he seemed to believe her a worthy rival. They had a spar at least once a week, more when he was feeling particularly angry.
She could perhaps understand if she won some of their spars, and so he therefor had something to prove, but she had never won. Sure, she could hold her own for a while, but she had yet to truly beat him. Despite her many losses, he continued challenging her, insisting that he needed to prove that he was "without a doubt" stronger than her.
But right now was really, really not the time for this! She was already running late for her class because of how long it took her to change after gym, and if she showed up more than 5 minutes after class started, her teacher would make her stand outside and hold a bucket for 30 minutes as punishment. The strain wasn't even the worst part, the class took place in a building in the middle of town, so she would have to bare the punishment in front of everyone shopping.
Just as she opened her mouth to try and dissuade him, he whirled around, glaring at her for one heart stopping moment. Before she could even cringe away from what she was sure would be a vicious attack he began walking in the opposite direction, back towards the front of school.
His gruff voice huffed out as he passed her, "I'll be in town when you finish your class. You better spar with me then!"
She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Kacchan, I promise I'll see you when my class is done!"
He huffed again, continuing to walk away as though he hadn't even heard her. She knew he had, though. If there was one thing that was bound to catch Bakugou's attention, it was a good fight.
Content in the knowledge that she could still make it to her lesson, she quickly left the school, walking alone towards the town through an alternate route she had discovered just the year before. It took her through a quiet, secluded part of town not far from the water, giving her time to relax before focusing on whichever class she had that day.
As she thought about the class she was jogging towards, which happened to be her favorite, she didn't notice the quiet sound of liquid whooshing beneath the manhole she had just stepped over. When the metal cover burst open with a clang, she squeaked in shock before throwing herself forward and away from what she assumed was an explosion.
A glance behind her quickly disproved that notion. Where before she had been completely alone on this stretch of road, there was now a large, amorphous blob. A blob that had just spotted her.