Chapter 1 - Origin Story

"J-just leave him alone, please!"

I still remember that fateful summer day, almost as if it had happened just a few days go.

"He didn't do anything wrong!"

The crackling sound resulting from a chemical chain reaction.

The foul smell of nitroglycerin.

But most of all…

"Please stop hurting him, Kacchan!"

The pain of taking an explosion to the face.

Why did I let things get to that point? I was wondering the same back then.

Ah, but you must be wondering who I am, right?

Shinka Yuuma. Currently one of the many students of Aldera Junior High.

But back then, in that playground, I was just a child who had yet to develop his quirk. Just like everyone else, I dreamt of becoming a hero. But who could blame my lack of originality? In a world where about 80% of the population possesses incredible and unique powers called quirks, the desire of children stopped being that of becoming an astronaut or a famous sportsman. Indeed, nowadays everyone with a decent quirk dreamt of becoming a superhero. These amazing characters stopped existing solely on the pages of comic books and jumped right into reality. Who wouldn't grab that opportunity, right? Of becoming a symbol of justice and peace. Save billions. Become famous. All those wonderful things everyone seems to desire these days.

Even so, past Yuuma didn't much care about such things. Honestly, most of those things went right over his young mind. The only thing he cared about was helping people and getting along with everyone. Kinda naïve in my opinion, but that's just how hindsight works. Not like I had much social experience back then, if I did then I'm sure things would've gone differently.

Either way, I was in the playground on my own, watching an ant colony do its thing.

"What the heck are you doing?" An unnecessarily loud voice called out to me.

The booming voice belonged to a blonde boy with spiky hair. Behind him were three other kids.

I didn't answer. Not because I was some silent badass protagonist. No, I was scared shitless. I didn't need to be a genius to recognize a bully when I saw one. After all, I already had experience with them, even at that tender age. And not to give that kid any sort of recognition, but he was known around the neighborhood.

Katsuki Bakugo was his name.

"Cat got your tongue?!" He boomed once again. "Don't tell me you're just sitting there watching those crappy ants?!"

Slowly he started approaching me.

"Y-yeah…" I answered in an almost inaudible manner, afraid of making the local bully mad. "What about it?"

"Hahaha, that's so lame!" Katsuki said with a grin on his face. "Wait, don't tell me you're another nerd like Deku here!"

He turned towards one of the kids behind him. Not the one with the wings. Nor the one with the creepy long fingers. The one further in the back, watching silently and warily.

The green-haired kid shrank as he was called out. His large green eyes closed in fear.

Luckily for him, it seemed Katsuki wasn't done with me yet.

With a couple of confident steps, the bully made his way closer to me and the ants. Afraid of doing anything stupid, I just watched as the blonde raised up his foot and started stomping on the ant colony.

I was shocked.

"K-Kacchan," The boy in the back called out almost in a whisper. "You shouldn't do that…"

Katsuki turned back. His eyes filled with rage. Just like any other bully, he didn't like being challenged.

"What did you say, you useless Deku?!" He screamed in anger.

In a sudden sprint, Katsuki made his way towards the so-called Deku, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

Meanwhile, I just sat on the floor, looking at the location of the former ant colony. Some were still alive, but everything they were working for had been destroyed. What had they done to deserve that? Nothing, they were just doing their best to survive. I know that it might sound strange, why did I care about the ant's survival? About their presupposed pain? In retrospect, it's somewhat difficult to say. But having witnessed the bully's act of aggression against the innocent creatures made me angry.

But do you know what made me lose my mind?

Seeing him violently push the green-haired boy into the ground.

"Don't you know who the boss is here, Deku?!" He said whilst kicking the defenseless kid.

Why did people like that exist?

Why did no one do anything to stop him?

Why wasn't I doing anything to help?

In that moment of realization, something in me broke.

I got up and run towards the bully as fast as I could.

The other kids didn't have time to do anything.

In what seemed like a flash to me, I was behind Katsuki.

He looked at me with a surprised expression.

Not even giving him a moment to think… I punched him in the face with all I had.

"Gah!" Despite being caught off-guard, Katsuki remained standing. "So you wanna fight, huh? Ok, let's fight!"

I didn't have time to react. The rage-filled bully punched me in the guts, taking me to the ground in one swoop.

Who was I kidding, thinking I could actually fight back against the biggest bully in town?

As if it wasn't enough already, Katsuki continued kicking me. Soon enough his goons joined in, throwing rocks, dirt, and dust in my direction. Well, not all of them, the broccoli looking kid was nowhere I could see.

That was good, at least I had spared the kid from the beating I was taking.

At my lack of response, the bullies started to slow down and soon stopped their attacks. If I had learned anything from the wildlife documentaries I watched at home was that predatory creatures didn't find a non-responsive prey fun to hunt down. Very much like a cat plays with a mouse before killing them, these bullies wouldn't put me in the hospital just yet.

"I hope you learned your lesson, nerd!" Katsuki said in triumph.

I should've just kept silent and immobile.

But I guess the adrenaline had to go and mess with my already fucked judgment.

I got up and stared the bully in the eyes. I'm sure I didn't look one-bit threatening, due to the sheer amount of tears streaming down my face and blocking my view. Not only that, but I almost couldn't stand straight.

In a last attempt at revenge, I charged towards him but was thrown back into the dirt with a swift kick.

Even at that age, Katsuki Bakugo was a merciless brawler.

"So you've still got fight in you, huh?" He said with a spat. "Ok, how about I give you a taste of my Quirk?!"

At that moment, I knew things weren't going to end well.

Katsuki brought up his right hand and pointed his palm at me. Small crackling noises started to come from it. If I had known back then that his Quirk was Explosion I would've stayed put or run away.

As I closed my eyes, getting ready for the pain that was coming, something blocked the sun. Or someone, I should say.

"J-just leave him alone, please!" Said the green-haired boy who I had thought had already left. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Anything wrong?" Katsuki replied with a smirk. "He was the one who started!"

Pushing the kid aside, the bully made his way towards me.

Slowly, he placed his palm right in front of my face. The smell of nitroglycerine was strong. And so was the growing heat that seemed to approach.

Once again I close my eyes.

"Please stop hurting him, Kacchan!" The kid screamed to no avail.

In less than a second, I took an explosion to the face, went flying and crashed against a random tree in the background.

Strangely enough, I didn't feel any pain.

That being said, my face didn't feel right. I brought my hand towards it and carefully touched around.

It felt… mushy? I wonder if that's the right word.

As I slowly attempted to open my eyes, I could see how red my hand was.

It seemed like I had blood all over my face.

"Huh…" One of the goons said. "Maybe we went too far…"

"Let's just get out of here, Bakugo!" The other one encouraged.

"Tch, he got what he deserved," Katsuki said as he turned away from me. "Let's go."

Soon enough I had been left all alone.

Which I suppose was good, better to be alone than in bad company.

I don't know how much time I spent laying there, but by the time I heard someone running towards me, the sun was already setting.

"There he is, Mom!" A familiar voice called out.

It was the kid with green hair.

"Oh, dear lord!" A woman exclaimed, most likely the kid's mother. "What happened to him?"

"He and Kacchan got into a fight and… well…"

"And what Izuku?" She pressed on, trying to get her child to speak up.

There was no way a kid could end up like this just from a normal fight.

"…a-and Kacchan used his Quirk on him…"

"Katsuki's son? So that must be why he still has steam coming off of him." The woman said in realization, once she got home she needed to have a very serious talk not only with her son but also with Miss Mitsuki. "Never mind that, let's get him to somewhere more comfortable."

Suddenly, I felt myself being held up by some sort of force, but it didn't feel like anyone was holding me.

Opening my eyes, I could see that I was, in fact, floating. A strange green energy seemed to surround me.

Not like I paid much attention to it.

After all that time wading between the conscious and the unconscious, I finally passed out.

Next thing I remember after that whole ordeal was waking up.

Somehow I had gotten transported into a white room and was laying on what seemed like a hospital bed, covered by some comfortable blankets.

"M-mom?" My voice was hoarse and tired.

"Yuuma?" I felt myself getting calmer just from hearing her voice. "Thank god, you're finally awake!"

Without much time to react, I found myself in my mother's warm embrace.

"What happened?" She asked me, seeing her worried expression made my heart feel like it was being pierced. "Miss Midoriya told me that you got into a fight."

"Am I in trouble?" I asked innocently, I never liked to worry my mother.

"For getting into a fight? Definitely." She answered firmly. "That being said, I do have good news."

"Good news?" I wondered, confused. "What do you mean?"

Before my mother could provide me with an answer a doctor came into the room. He was a tall man and seemed to be around his thirties.

"It seems like our little trouble child has finally woken up." He said with a kind voice. "So, how does it feel?"

"How does what feel?"

"To finally have your Quirk!" The doctor exclaimed. "If it hadn't activated you would've been in a far worst shape, young man."

A Quirk? Me? Since when?

"So Doctor," My mother started speaking once again. "Did you manage to pin down what his Quirk is?"

"It took me a little time to figure it out," He explained. "But it seems he got a mixture between you Regeneration Quirk and his father's Environmental Adaptation Quirk! At first, it seemed to be just a slightly more powerful version of your regeneration, but once we examined the cellular structure of your son's facial skin, we noticed how it had hardened and gained a resistance to fire. But honestly, the final nail was when we attempted to have your son react to pain."

"React to pain?" My mother questioned. "How does that have anything to do with his Quirk?"

"Well, madam, this is merely a hypothesis I've come up with." He said, seemingly adding a moment of silence for dramatic purposes. "But first, let me ask you a question, Yuuma. When you were fighting, did you feel any pain?"

"Hmm…" Pain? It would be a lie to say that I remembered everything that happened during the fight, but I definitely remember how I just stopped feeling pain after some of Katsuki's kicks. "N-no, I didn't feel any pain… Only in the beginning."

What could that mean? Did I have some hidden secondary Quirk?!

"Absolutely amazing!" The doctor exclaimed with excitement, catching both my mother and me by surprise. "I all makes sense now, your Quirk, it allows your body to reactively adapt to any situation!"

"I'm sorry Doctor, I'm not sure I'm following…" My mother spoke, apparently sharing the same thoughts as I.

"Let me explain," He declared. "Your son got into a fight, right? As a means to keep him from passing out, his body somehow made his nervous system reductant to an extent. Well, at least to the point where he wouldn't feel any pain."

"I see, so once that was out of the way my body could focus on healing and adapting to the damage I was taking," I suddenly said in realization. "That's… incredible."

"So…" The doctor looked at me once again, with an expectant expression plastered all over his face. "What shall we call this fascinating Quirk of yours?"

A Quirk capable of not only healing me but also of forcing my body to adapt to the damage I take and the environment surrounding me?

How overpowered is that?! No, really? This meant I could actually have a shot at becoming a hero!

But a name… What should I call it?

Hmm… Evolution? No, it doesn't easily roll out of the tongue.

Maybe something foreign?

Survival of the Fittest? No, not that either, sounds way too long.

"Oh, I know!" I finally had made my choice, there was no way I could go wrong with this. "My Quirk will be called Adaptation!"

Yes, Adaptation.

Simple, easy to say and something I had never heard before, which meant it was most likely not currently being used.

"That sounds great, honey!" My mother happily declared, hugging me with energy. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Adaptation, huh?" The doctor said as he made his way towards the exit. "That is a good name. Tell me, Yuuma. Do you want to become a hero?"

I didn't even need to think about the answer.

From the moment I had first seen a hero in action, I knew what I wanted to become.

The answer just flew out of my mouth.

"Yes!" I declared. "I'm going to become the strongest hero around, and then I'll save everyone!"

No longer would the weak be picked on by the strong.

No longer would I have to just stand in fear when faced with bullies.

For I knew, at that moment, that I had the power to change my reality…

"Well then," The doctor said just before closing the door. "I can't wait to see Yuuma, the Adaptable Hero, in action!"

On that fateful summer day, my world changed.

Little did I know what was waiting for me down the line.

New friends.

New enemies.

New adventures.

This was just the beginning of my story, so I hope you'll join me as I brave the mysterious future that lies ahead of me!