Chapter One: Ryoma Tanabe: Origins

I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia.

A boy was walking down the playground of his elementary school, looking for something to play. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small explosion pushed him to the sand. When he looked up at his offender, he saw Katsuki Bakugou, malicious grin and all, as well as his goonies, quirks out on display.

"W-What the. Bakugou? Why are you doing this!" the boy's words stammered due to his fear as well as the sand that had partly entered his lungs when he fell.

"Why else? Because we can! What are you gonna do about it, huh?" he responded, prompting his goons to laugh.

"Oh no! We better watch out, Kacchan, or else he's gonna turn into a spinning top!" One of them laughed, sarcasm highly evident in his tone. The attacked boy was about to cry when he saw another kid his age, with green hair and freckles on his cheeks.

"Kacchan, leave Ryoma alone!" The boy yelled.

"Wow, I'm sooo scared. Guys you gotta protect me before quirkless Deku attacks me," Bakugou mocked. He emitted some small explosions from his palms and proceeded to slap Deku with them, pushing him back.

After beating them both to the ground, Bakugou smirked.

"Kacchannn," his other goon moaned in fatigue. "This is boring, quirkless and Beyblade are so unfun to be around, so much so that even making fun of them makes me wanna lie down on my bed and sleep,"

"You can say that again…" Bakugou chuckled as he and his entourage left the area. Before completely deserting them, Katsuki turned to the two kids and flashed a malicious grin "Aww, don't be like that. When I become the next number one hero, you two losers will be thanking me a million times over when I save your asses, haha!"

"Well fuck you too!" Ryoma jolted into a sitting position on his bed, supporting his sweating body...except his bed wasn't where it was supposed to be, it was now on it's side with the teen now taped to it. As he pulled the tape of -and after a few winces of pain- he got up and repositioned his bed. Repositioning complete, he looked to the rest of his room. It was like everything was hit by a mini tornado.

Fixing everything in his room, Ryoma looked to a mirror that was enclosed by a glass box. Slowly lifting the box away, he took the mirror and looked into his reflection. His brown hair, usually slicked back, was in several twists and turns. It looked cool, he had to admit.

"Ugh, ten years in the making and I still haven't made significant progress with this hell-send of a quirk!" he complained as he leaned against the door, slowly sliding down due to the absence of will to support himself. "Maybe that'll change if my application to Yuei gets accepted, I doubt it though."

Finally reaching the desire, Ryoma got himself up and exited his room. It was the last day of middle school and he hoped that even with the fact that he had a bottom of the barrel education, U.A would still accept him into their ranks. One could only hope, though.

Around thirty minutes into his run since he exited his house, he was almost near the building when he saw a crowded road, full of people with shocked looks on their faces. Beyond the crowd, Ryoma could see flames that were stopping anyone from traversing into the scene. Curious, the boy made his way to the area of the -he could only guess to be a villain on a rampage- and tried to get a better feel of what was going on.

"Alright everyone, stay back! Let me put the fire out, and we'll get some more heroes to deal with this villain!" Ryoma overheard, now in the middle of the crowd. Making his way to the front, he could now truly see what was going on, but it was not what he expected. Not at all.

There was a villain on a rampage, but he was rampaging via the use of another person's quirk. And as it turned out, that 'other person' just happened to be Katsuki 'Kacchan' Bakugou.

"Well would you look at that!" he remarked in an escalative tone. "Now, if I could just find Izuku in this crowd, we could both share a laugh at his expense...is what I would say if I had no soul, which I do!"

"Holy All-Might, is that Kacchan!"

Hm?. Ryoma turned behind to see Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya, one hand over his mouth to prevent himself from screaming and the other hand holding a notebook and pen.

"Wow, okay universe. Hmm…" Ryoma hummed in thought as he turned back around. "Well I'll bet that Izuku will come to save Katsuki in 3...2...1, and-"

"What the hell! Kid, I said stay back!" the hero at the utmost front of the crowd exclaimed. There he was, Izuku, freckles and all, going into the flames to save his childhood bully. This action got a rather confused Ryoma's eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets.

"Wait, do I secretly have a clairvoyance quirk!" Ryoma exclaimed at the top of his lungs. Quickly replacing his joke with a troubled "tch", Ryoma tried to get the attention of any heroes that were on the scene. "Why are you all just standing there, help him!"

"We'd try if we could, but we can't. That sludge villain is making the boy he's captured use his quirk in an area-damaging fashion. Further confrontation could lead to a lot more collateral damage," A firefighter who had arrived recently explained.

"Well then where are the pro heroes, where's All-Might!" Ryoma continued. "Surely someone had to have known that there's a villain loose in Musutafu!"

"From what I heard from Powerwash, they're requesting back-up right now-" He was about to respond when the kid he was talking to raced towards the supposedly suicidal teen.

"If you guys aren't gonna lift yer' asses off the ground, then I will!" He shouted passionately. Using his quirk, and at the cost of burning his fingers slightly, Ryoma was able to make some of the fires spin upwards and disperse after forced contact with the air

Ryoma "Ryo" Tanabe: His quirk, "Spin", allows him to paste his fingerprint on anything and make it spin. One thing to note is that the heavier the object, the slower but stronger it spins and generates wind pressure! However, overuse of his quirk makes him dizzy, so he can only spin something for a very short amount of time.

"I need to find something heavy to use against that villain," Ryoma mumbled his plan to himself as he looked around, looking back, he saw a 30lb dumbbell on the ground, most likely from someone on a daily jog dropping it from shock and running away. "Perfect."

Running back as fast as his legs could carry him, he grabbed the dumbbell and was about to throw it towards the villain when he saw Izuku frantically trying to rip the sludge away from Bakugou. "Dammit, Izuku! You just made this ten times harder than it needed to be,"

Not trying to waste time, Ryo dropped the dumbbell and ran back towards Izuku and the Katsuki and pushed the former off, grabbing a pen and sticking inside a layer of sludge. The pen began to spin violently upwards as it struggled to rip through it. Clearly annoyed at the attempts at his prey, the sludge villain turned to Ryoma with a glare.

"How dare you! You think you can stop me with some spinning pen!" He roared as sludge in Bakugou's mouth as well as the sludge coating his arms and fingers shifted, forcing the boy to release a flurry of sparks that both Ryo and Izuku knew would only result in a powerful explosion. Just as they feared for the worst, Izuku and Ryoma were suddenly tossed back into the crowd.

"Detroit…!" They heard a familiar voice. They both turned to see All-Might preparing for a devastating punch to the sludge villain.

"Wait, but what about Katsuki-"

"What about me…" Ryoma looked behind him to find Katsuki, just as bewildered as they were, plopped on his ass and covered in sludge residue.

"SMASH!" The shockwave from the punch was enough to clear the remaining flames -without causing any collateral damage mind you- and split the sludge villain apart. The punch was so powerful that rain started to fall from the sky, the clouds over pressured by the force of the blow to continue to store vapor. Grabbing its remains and storing it in a bottle, the No. 1 hero approached Katsuki and grabbed the excess sludge that was on the blonde teen.

"Are you boys alright?" He asked in a worried tone, examining the three teens, all looking to be around 14.

"So fast! Buthowthatshouldntbepossibleconsideringonehastobegoingatma-" Midway through his fanboying, a sense of shock came to Izuku's face, as if he just noticed his surroundings. He looked to his right and saw Ryoma looking off into the distance, and then behind him where Bakugou was.

"Kacchan...Ryo…!" He addressed them before remembering that the Number One Hero in Japan just asked if he was okay. "A-a-ah, yes we're fine, right guys?"

The two others nodded in affirmation. In response to this, All-Might let out a relieved sigh before focusing his attention onto Ryoma with a stern yet maternal look. "What's your name?"

"Ryoma Tanabe."

"Ryoma Tanabe, huh." He sighed before continuing, "Well Ryoma, as much as I appreciate your act of heroism, as well as this fellow,"

He turned to Izuku, causing the latter to flare up in embarrassment and bring his head down. "I need you to remember that quirk usage without a Hero License is illegal. I have a friend in the police force, and I can try to talk to him to see if he'll let it slide, but for now, keep that in mind, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Ryoma said begrudgingly. All-Might then turned to Katsuki.

"Don't worry, since the villain forced you to use your quirk, you won't be fined or sent to any juvenile center."

Just then, Kamui Woods and Backdraft arrived at the scene and approached All-Might. "It seems he's beat us to it, not that I'm surprised," Backdraft noted as Kamui went to talk to the savior of the day.

"All-Might, I'm going to need you to give me that bottle so I can store it properly this time," he ordered. The man in question gave the bottle to him, and Woods enlarged his finger in a way that would wrap the cap around in woods. "I'll carry this to the police, they'll know what to do with it."

"Alright, that's good to hear."

Backdraft had already evacuated all the injured civilians and got the ambulance on the scene. Using that as a distraction, All-Might hurriedly ran off, knowing his quirk would timeout soon.

Before they knew it, it was already noon when all the cleanup was handled. Izuku went into the direction of his home, Ryoma went into the direction of his school, and Katsuki ventured off to who knows where.

After school, Ryo was about to go home when he saw Katsuki kicking soda cans angrily. With a smirk, he approached his childhood offender.

"'Aww, don't be like that. You'll be thanking me a million times over when I save your asses'," He quoted with a mocking smirk. Capturing the attention of the explosive teen, Ryoma continued. "Ten years later, me Izuku, and the No. 1 hero -who isn't you- all save your ass. How the tables do turn."

"Shut the hell up, spinning-top," Katsuki remarked coldly as he approached Ryoma and held him by his collar. "Or else."

"Or else what, slime-grenade?" He struck back, prompting Katsuki's glare to sharpen into daggers. Sparks started emitting from his hands, burning Ryoma's collar, as he drew his hand back. "Or else this-"

"Uh..nope." Ryoma cut him off by grabbing his wrist. "No antagonizing with your quirk if you don't have a hero license, remember? So I say again, or else what, slime-grenade?"

"Tch, smartass bastard!" The ash-blonde exclaimed as he let Ryo go, returning to kicking cans, even more angrier than last time.

Katsuki "Kacchan" Bakugou: Katsuki's Quirk, "Explosion", allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the palms of his hands and ignite it on command, allowing him to create strong explosions! The more Katsuki sweats, the stronger his explosions become. If Katsuki overuses this power, his forearms will start to ache...

Relaxing his shoulders, Ryoma got home, did his homework, had a mental breakdown over how he might be sent to juvenile detention for illegal quirk usage and lost his chances of getting into U.A, and then went outside for his second jog of the day.

"Was telling my mom I used my quirk a good idea? No. Will it help me a lot more in the future, I'm not sure," Ryoma mused to himself as he stretched his arms. He was about to begin jogging when he heard two voices behind him. He approached the voices before quickly returning to the corner as he saw Deku and a blonde man talking.

"But that's just it!" The man exclaimed out of nowhere. Izuku had a look of wonder in his eyes as the man continued. "Of all the people at the scene, only you, a cowardly, quirkless kid, made the difference. You're the one who made me and that Ryoma boy act!"

"What the…" Ryoma thought aloud as he continued spectating the scene. Was the man trying to encourage Izuku? Possibly a spectator, or even a lesser known hero without their suit?

"Y'know, there's something that's said about top heroes when they're still students. Most of their stories are linked by the following line: 'My body moved on its own before I could think!'" The thin man declared.

From Ryoma's perspective, Izuku had held his chest like he was in pain and knelt to the ground. Wait what? Was the man attempting to hurt him? His words deeply contradicted Ryoma's doubt, but just in case, he grabbed a pencil in his pocket, getting ready to throw it.

"And you did the same thing!" The light from the sun highlighted the two, as the win softly blew. The scene could only be described as something out of a movie. "Young man, you too can become a hero!"

Izuku was now in full-blown sobs as the message went through. Ryoma put the pencil down and warmly smiled at nobody in particular. Every day, every single elementary school day, Ryoma would hear Izuku talking about his dreams to become a hero. He didn't understand why this man's words impacted him so much, but he was happy to know that his former protector was told he could turn his dreams into a reality.

However, after that, the two were oddly silent for a bit. Realizing that they weren't going to talk anymore, Ryoma put some earbuds on and once again prepared to jog. Just as he was, the man, who had a particularly long neck, turned the corner to see him. As they made eye contact, the man examined Ryoma. Realizing he was listening to music, he went back to Izuku.

Deducing that what he was about to say next was a family secret or something, Ryoma went in the opposite direction and started his jog. Making a mental note to thank the green-haired 8th grader, he let the music take forefront in his ears.

Around an hour into his jog, Ryoma decided that would be enough for the day. He stopped by a bodega and bought a large tub of ice cream to take from later. Arriving at his home and plopping down on his bed, Ryoma went to his laptop and opened it.

"Now that I think about it…" He mused as he scrolled through his social media. "Isn't it so weird that an asshat like Katsuki Bakugou gets told that he'll be a great hero pretty much all the time, yet a kind guy like Izuku has to go through shit just because he doesn't have a quirk? It's really not fair. Then again, I guess that's just society being a mess of opinions that don't mix,"

Putting it aside, he went to his email and saw he had a notification. Excitedly, he clicked on the bell icon and read what had been presented to him.

{ Dear Ryoma Tanabe,

We have read your application form and are happy to announce that you are permitted

to take the U.A Entrance Exam! This exam will be in 9 months time, and you will receive

information on the exam later. All that is needed is for your parent/guardian to send an email

that permits you to be a part of a test where you might get seriously injured. With that aside,

train your quirk a remember, Go Beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

Signed,

Yuei High School }

As Ryoma read the letter, he couldn't believe his eyes. After three more re-reads, his shocked expression was replaced with an eccentric grin. "Mom, dad, sis! I got in, I got the okay!"

His parents and younger sibling all entered the room at his calling as he showed them the letter. After reading it, they all laughed happily and celebrated him.

…

"And...there! Email sent!" his dad cheered. Ryoma was already out of the house, looking for a place to train his quirk to the best of his ability. He stumbled upon a trashed beach. It had a lot of trash, dare he say too much trash for a beach. But hey, it would be good practice AND community service, so why not?

"The line between heroes and villains, not as thick as we like to think…" Ryoma mumbled to himself as he spun multiple objects into a trash bag he had brought. He wanted to see just how far his limit was, test the waters, if you will. "That's an interesting topic to study about."

Then he spotted a decayed cooler, and sparks of imagination replaced Ryoma's previous thoughts. According to his 7th grade science teacher, a thumbprint could last on metal for almost three years. Theoretically speaking, Ryoma could simply touch all the metal trash, train his body for a few months, come back, and then clear it all at one go. The only problem was that it was theoretical. For all he knew, someone else could be training their quirk on this beach and clear it by the time he finishes his bodily training, voiding him of all his practice targets.

He placed his hand on the cooler and activated his quirk. As it began to shift against the trash, Ryoma noticed that through some form of moss growth, the cooler was connected to a mound of destroyed metal and spare parts. Moss was strong, but strong enough to handle wind pressure generated by a mound of alloy, not possible. However, that was the entire point, so he went through with it anyway.

"C'mon, I believe in you, quirk!" Ryoma said through aching temples. "5 seconds…"

"10 seconds…

At the 11 second mark, the mount has successfully spun and generated enough wind to lift itself slightly off the ground. Unfortunately, Ryoma's head was hurting too much, as the world was starting to spin. He released his quirk and let the sweat glands do their things as he rested on a 3-legged chair.

"Now that I think about it, what makes a hero a hero?" Ryoma asked himself. "If a hero is one who saves people, could a villain who saves others and makes them his lackeys be considered a hero? If a villain is one who harms others intentionally, could a "hero" who sacrifices someone else in order to beat the bad guy be considered a villain?"

"Wonderful questions. Come with me, and I can answer them for you…" a mist-like voice responded. Ryoma turned to the origin of the voice -in the sky- as his worst nightmare descended upon him.

"Sometimes what you're looking for comes when you aren't looking at all"

Who ever thought it would come in the worst way imaginable.