A/N: Heya! It's your favorite (not really) fanfiction author Firebrand1612! When I watched the anime Boku no Hero Academia, I always wondered why they never gave a deep explanation of how the Age of Quirks started on earth. All they say is a glowing baby was born somewhere in China and people suddenly started getting powers. They didn't give an in-depth explanation as to how the luminescent baby affected humans on earth and gave them superpowers (if it's even related to the beginning of the Age of Quirks, which it most likely was, and which may have been withheld for reasons know the author, but still.). Therefore the beginning part of this fanfiction chapter is my explanation of how the Age of Quirks started and then the rest features an O.C. that descended from the baby. One thing I want to make clear though: what I write is simply speculation and imaginative writing. I have no idea if what I'm writing is true or not. I'll try to deviate from canon and make this story interesting. Also, I used a lot of elements from Chinese Mythology, though some are tweaked a bit.
Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia nor do I own the myths that I used in this story. Do you think it's possible for me to find a time machine and start those Chinese Myths, and then go forward a little bit and give Kohei Horikoshi the idea to start My Hero Academia? Then I would technically own both, right?
Chapter 1: Debut!
Happiness. Ecstasy. Elation. Combine those three words together and multiply the result by ten, and that would still be inadequate enough to describe how a certain student felt standing before the entrance of U.A High School, the most prestigious in Japan. The student had sapphire colored hair with black highlights in the shape of a palm tree and eyes of the same color as his hair and stood at 5'8.5".
This was Kotaro Okimoto. A boy that was born quirkless, but discovered a different, powerful ability he'd been granted. So good, that he'd been considered for U.A High School. But before we get into that, let's go over a little history, and how it relates to Kotaro and the beginning of the Age of Quirks.
Long ago, when gods, mythological creatures, and human being still interacted with one another, there lived a very beautiful woman, by the name of Ming Hua. She was described as a young fair-skinned woman with hair as dark as night, flowing like a river, eyes browner than chocolate, and a figure rumored to be the embodiment of perfection. One day, the king of all gods was walking about checking up on the human people, making sure they were okay and no conflict had arisen, when his sight fell on the lovely Nü Kwa, and he instantly fell in love with her. He courted her and eventually married her. In time, they had intercourse with each other and gave birth to a son. But something was different about the child. Now back then gods didn't usually have children with mortals because their young bodies could not handle divine power and it would usually cause the child to die young. So, when the baby was born it glowed with a bright light. The mother worried about her child's safety, as she feared his divine power might destroy his body. But something unique happened. Instead of the boy's body to spontaneously combust, the energy expelled itself out of the body of the child and into the air.
The humans absorbed the excess energy which, in turn, caused them to demonstrate superhuman abilities. Soon after it was common to see humans born with these strange powers. Something that was once seen as nothing more than science fiction and the stories of anime and mangas was now a reality. The public eventually dubbed these powers "Quirks".
The gods and mythical creatures saw nothing wrong with mortals gaining supernatural abilities; in fact, they saw it as something fortunate as now humans being would be able to fend for themselves. Before long people forgot about the existence of gods and others mythological creatures and focused more on the development of quirks. However the gods and creatures of myth, both good and evil, didn't completely distance themselves from mortals, and every once in a while they took a liking to humans. Usually, from the line of Xhu Zheng, the luminescent baby who began the Age of Quirks, but sometimes from outside the line. The mythological creatures also made sure to give their powers only to mortals born without quirks, as they did not wish to give any human being too much power, as even the purest of heroes could become corrupt when wielding too much power.
In the case of Kotaro, a descendant of Xhu, a few mythical creatures had seen from his birth that he had a pure heart, but was unfortunately born quirkless, a phenomenon that was seen as rare in the Age of Quirks. But these creatures wished to see him become something great in his lifetime, so four of them gave him a portion of their power: Jiuwei Hu, the fox with nine tails and the ability to manipulate both light and darkness, Pixiu, the lion with dragon wings making him an extremely fast creature along with his monstrous roar, and Xiao, the four-armed monkey said to have incredible strength. However, in order to prevent a repeat of what happened to Fai, and to prevent his body from destroying itself from the immense power, the creatures gave him two rings and an amulet that would prevent him from using his power until he was four, and even then he would only be able to access six percent of his power.
Kotaro learned about his heritage when he was four, and spent eleven years learning to control his powers. But it took him a while to completely master the portion of the power he'd been given, and he could not attend any hero academies until did. But alas, his desire to become a Pro Hero drove him and now he was standing before the gates of U.A. High School, which explained his uncontainable joy. So, Kotaro walked toward the entrance of the school, ready to take on the entrance examination and whatever it would throw at him. As he walked towards the door he noticed a peculiar looking kid.
The boy was very plain looking, having messy green hair with black highlights and four identical freckles on each of his cheeks. He sported a light grey suit over a white dress shirt and dark green dress pants, along with a red necktie that he didn't tie properly, making it shorter than it should be. He also wore red shoes that were clearly oversized. As Kotaro watched, the emerald haired boy ran forward… and tripped on nothing. As he fell, Kotaro briefly considered, the boy before he hit the ground but before he could come to a decision Kotaro noticed girl step forward and touch him. She was a petite slender teenage girl with big round brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair which sported two long locks beside her face and a short bob at the back. She wore a brown sweater with a skirt that reached her mid-thighs, a pink scarf and leggings with brown shoes. Along with that she had a black backpack on her back.
However, Kotaro was surprised at the fact that the green haired boy that was previously about to fall face first onto the ground was now floating in the air. Said boy freaked out at being suspended in the air by absolutely nothing, before the brown haired girl pulled him down to the ground. He noticed the teenage girl strike a conversation with the boy, who said nothing and stared at her. But it was clear from the color of his face, which was so red that tomatoes would have been jealous, that he was tongue tied and embarrassed. The girl finished whatever she was saying and walked away.
The green haired boy stood still, watching the brown haired girl walk off. Kotaro noticed his spaced out look, and walked over to him.
"Um… are you okay?" Kotaro asked, waving his hand in front of the green haired boy's face. The green haired boy recovered from his daze and looked at Kotaro.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that. I kinda spaced out a bit." The green haired boy said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Kotaro let out a small laugh. "I can see that." He stretched out his hand. "I'm Kotaro Okimoto."
The green haired boy smiled and took Kotaro's hand in his own. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."
"Do you mind pointing me in the direction of the exam orientation hall for the hero course?" Kotaro asked.
Izuku's smile grew wider. "Yeah. I was actually on my way there until-"
"You tripped on the air." Kotaro finished, letting out a laugh and causing Izuku to look away in embarrassment, muttering something about a repeat of middle school. "Don't worry. I'm just messing with you. Based on your uniform, I'm guessing you graduated from Orudera Junior High School?"
"Yeah."Izuku answered as the two began walking towards the orientation hall. "I'm one of the two students that applied for U.A High School. The other student is a friend of mine. His name is Katsuki Bakugo. Between me and you, though, he's a bit temperamental, so be careful around him."
"Is that so? Wait a minute. Isn't he the guy from the Sludge Villain incident? And weren't you with him?"
"Y-yeah. But don't let him here you say that. He hasn't really gotten over the whole incident, and he really dislikes it whenever someone brings it up."
"Wow. I think what you did was cool, though." Kotaro complimented.
"Thanks. It was partially unintentional. My body kind of moved without thinking. Besides, I just distracted the Sludge Villain. All Might did most of the work." Izuku said.
"You know I had a friend who graduated from there as well. But he had a different high school choice in mind. He's already been accepted into the school through recommendation, though if he took the entrance exam I'm sure he would pass. His name is Mikumo Akatani. Heard of him?"
"That's your friend? I…" The two continued talking until they entered the school. Upon entering the school, the duo were given separate exam tickets and were directed towards the examination orientation hall, although Izuku already knew where it was. They were given further instructions to sit according to their Examinee Number, and as luck would have it, Kotaro was given 2233, while Izuku was given 2234.
The examinees took their seats, were Izuku noticed that the person sitting to his right was none other than Bakugo, who gave him an angry look before rolling his eyes.
"That's Bakugo. Though I mostly call him Kacchan." Izuku whispered.
"I recognize him from the news report." Kotaro whispered. "But why do you call him Kacchan?"
"He's my childhood fri-" Izuku started, but was interrupted by Bakugo.
"Why the hell are you talking about me, Deku? Who are you even fricking talking to?"
"K-kacchan! I d-didn't k-k-know you could h-hear me! T-this is K-kotaro Okimoto!" Izuku stammered.
Bakugo took one look at Kotaro, sizing him up.
"Whatever." He scoffed.
Kotaro took this opportunity to come to his own conclusions about Bakugo. Suffice it to say, they were not positive. Before he could voice them, the light in the room came on, and the black screen in the orientation hall lit up, displaying the school's symbol, which consisted of an A within a U.
Standing in front of the screen was a peculiar looking man. He was a tall, slender man, standing at 6'1", with long, spiky blonde hair and a small mustache. He wore a pair of headphones with the word "HAGE" written on the headband and a pair of sunglasses. His outfit consisted of a black jacket with an upturned collar complete with studs. He sported tan, studded shoulder pads, black pants with a red studded belt, black boots, and black fingerless gloves. Completely covering his beck was a directional speaker.
"How is going, U.A. candidates? Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ. Now let me some noise!" The man said, only to be met with silence.
"Keeping it mellow, eh? It seems we have some eager candidates today, to let's just move this along. I'm the one who's going to instruct you on how this practical exam is going to go down. Are you ready?!" Only to be met with silence once again.
Izuku, however, had gone into fanboy mode. "OhmygoshitsPresentMic! 185cmeyecolorisgreenbloodtypeisBquirkis-"
"Shut up."Bakugo said, resulting in Izuku immediately clamming up. While Kotaro didn't approve of the relationship between Bakugo and Midoriya, especially since Midoriya said the two had been friends since their childhood days, he couldn't help but be surprised, amazed, and slightly freaked out at the behavior Midoriya was displaying. He took being a fanboy to another level.
"Like your application said, today you rocking candidates will be participating in a mock battle in a suburban setting for ten minutes!" The screen immediately changed to a diagram, informing the candidates of their current location, which was the school, and also highlighting seven other locations, all lettered A to G.
"When I'm done with this presentation, you be taken to the battle center highlighted on your examinee ticket. Isn't it cool? Yeah!" Present Mic finished, clearly expecting a response, only to be met with silence for the third time as everybody proceeded to look at their examinee ticket to identify which battle center they were going to be taking the entrance exam at.
"I get it now," Bakugo spoke up, catching the attention of Izuku and Kotaro. "They've already gone through our applications and recorded which school the candidates have gone to. Then, for candidates that are applying from the same school, they've them to different battle centers so that no one can work with their friends to help the other pass." Both Izuku and Kotaro looked at their examinee ticket. Izuku's ticket revealed that he would take the entrance exam at battle center B, while Kotaro would be taking his at battle center F.
"Your right, Kacchan. We're both from the same school, and our examinee numbers are right after each other, but we're still being sent to different battle centers." Izuku said, looking at Bakugo's exam ticket, much to the latter's annoyance.
"Don't your fricking dare think about looking my ticket, Deku!" Bakugo snapped.
Kotaro, however, wasn't paying attention to the interaction happening between Izuku and Bakugo. He focused on the person to his right, examinee number 2232. The person was a guy with blond hair, very small eyes, and a muscular build. Behind him was a large tail with a hairy tip. According to the ticket his name was Mashirao Ojiro. He was also being sent to battle center F.
"Okay! Now let's check out your targets. We'll be sprinkling an enormous number of 'villains' over the battle center. They'll appear in three different varieties, with point values scaled according to difficulty! Using each of your individual quirks, dispatch as many 'villains' as you can! Your goal, listeners, is to keep defeating the 'villains' in order to increase your score! You're also welcome to bring any items you desire! However, don't think about attacking any of the other competitors or any nasty anti-heroic actions, because that's against the rules, capisce?" The students began muttering amongst themselves quietly.
"Excuse me sir, may I ask a question?" Someone hand shot up into the air. It was a tall and muscular young man. He had black hair and wore rectangular half-rim glasses. His eyes were also somewhat rectangular, as was his jaw.
"Hit me with your question!" Present Mic said as a spotlight shone on the boy.
"On the handout, there are clearly four different types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top tier national academy of U.A.'s caliber! The reason we're seated here today is because we seek guidance on the path to become model heroes!"
He pointed a finger at Izuku. "Moreover, you three. The one with the curly hair, the one the spiky hair and the one with hair like a palm tree. You three have been doing nothing but discussing among yourselves since you first arrived. If you think that U.A. is some sort of pleasure jaunt, then you can leave at once and stop distracting those of us who are here to learn." The tall kid finished, shooting a glare at the trio.
The three candidates each reacted differently to the accusation. Bakugo muttered something along the lines of "piss off"; Izuku hung his head in a mixture of embarrassment and shame, while Kotaro's hand shot up into the air.
"Excuse me, Mr. Present Mic, do you mind if I speak?" Kotaro asked.
"Of course, examinee 2233. Also, it's just Present Mic. Mr. Present Mic was my father."
Kotaro stood up as a spotlight shone down on him."Rectangle eyes, first of all, you automatically jumped to the conclusion that there must be some sort of mistake on the handout which is why there were four different types of villains. But you were quick to call out this mistake, but you didn't allow our instructor to finish explaining the rules to us before you voiced your grievances. On the printout you hold in your hand, it states that the point value for the last villain is zero points, which I'm sure our instructor was going to explain before you interrupted him. Moreover, you called out certain people for speaking aloud and distracting others. Yet you are surrounded by people who are discussing and muttering different things, but you chose to openly embarrass and shame a few students you believe are unserious? This is not at all the proper attitude of a model hero." Kotaro turned to Present Mic and bowed. "Thank you, sir."
"You know, I didn't think that was necessary." Izuku told Kotaro.
"I know, Midoriya. He doesn't seem like a bad person or anything. Just a bit uptight." Kotaro replied.
"Hey, tree top," Bakugo called out. Kotaro turned to face him."I don't need you to fight my battles."
"Not at all my intention. You do look like the type that could easily win a fight. I do question your intellect, however."
"What the hell are you saying? You calling me an idiot?!" Bakugo almost shouted.
Kotaro opened his mouth to respond, but Izuku cut him off. "G-g-guys, P-present Mic is talking again." he said hesitantly.
Reluctantly, the duo turned their attention back to the instructor, who indeed began talking again.
"Thanks for sending in your requests, candidates! As examinee 2233 previously stated, the last villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just and obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. We've already planted one in each battle center. Think of it as a hurdle that would be easier to avoid than to engage. It can be beaten, but there's really no point in engaging it. I recommend my listeners avoid and focus on the ones that actually matter!"
"Thank you very much, sir." Examinee 7111 said as he bowed. He turned to Kotaro and bowed as well. "Thank you very much as well, 2233. I acknowledge what you've complained about and I apologize for being rude." His eyes narrowed. "Although, I would appreciate if you don't call me 'rectangle eyes'. My name is Tenya Iida." He said as he sat back down.
"Well, that's all for today! I'll sign off with a little sample of our school motto. As a 'hero' by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte one said, 'A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes of life!' Now, let's go beyond PLUS ULTRA!"
Unlike the previous times, Present Mic received chorus of shouts in approval. Kotaro smiled as he joined in the shouting.
Annnnnnd… Cut! I should really get out of my habit of planning on writing long chapters, only to cut them short. I really wanted to fit the entrance exam into this chapter as well, but in the end as you can see, I decided otherwise.
Well, here is chapter one of Heroes and Myths! Ever since I first found out about My Hero Academia, I've wanted to write a fanfiction about it. I'm a big fan of mythology, although I don't believe in it, I think it's fun to read about. I've read about so many different types of mythology from different cultures. Truth be told, I actually planned on writing this story using elements from Japanese Mythology, but I started reading about Chinese myths, and they really intrigued me, so I decided to go with that instead. Besides, my O.C. is descended from the luminescent baby who was Chinese, so it does make some sort of sense that creatures from Chinese mythology would be interested in him.
By the way, what did you think about my explanation for how the Age of Quirks started? I just something I thought of sometime, and I think it sounds believable. But let me know what you guys think about it!
I still can't believe I'm writing a My Hero Academia fanfic! I wanted to post a My Hero Academia crossover I was working on first, but I finished this one first, and I'm really excited to see what people think about it! So don't forget to read, review, favorite and follow!
Firebrand1612, signing out! Till next time, my beautiful writers and readers!