Chapter 1: Introductions

I envied people.

It was the simple truth I had come to realise at a very early age.

I didn't envy people based on their quirks, I had one of my own although a simple quirk it was still powerful.

Simply called Reinforcement I could improve any aspect of my body at will, strength, hearing, eyesight and if I focused hard enough I could increase the durability of objects for a certain amount of time making a ceramic cup as strong as steel for about an hour.

When my quirk first materialised many of my teachers and classmates were quick to sing my praises and tell me I could become a great hero. For any other child they would experience sheer bliss at this, to be praised at such a young age would no doubt cause many to become arrogant in their own belief of superiority.

However I felt nothing. Where praise and encouragement should have brought esteem and happiness I felt strangely hollow to it all. I knew the proper thing to do was to smile at them all and re-affirm their belief in me and so I did and yet the smile always felt alien to me, itchy.

As the years went by I noticed this hollow feeling grow until I came upon the realisation of what it was.

What other people called happiness did not bring me any joy.

This sudden realisation left me burning with questions.

Was I born flawed?

Am I broken?

Is there something out there that could bring me happiness?

I looked to my father, the Bishop of the Local Church, Kotomine Risei and I threw myself into the faith to follow in his footsteps to see if I could find peace in the light of God and while my father took great joy in his only son following in his footsteps I could not say the same and so again I plastered on my itchy smile, perfected over the years, and I told him I was fine.

I continued my search for joy inside and outside of school as well. Joining club after club with the desperate hope that I would find something, anything, that would bring a genuine smile to my face and yet time and time again I was left disappointed.

I was still young I realised and by the time I got Junior high school I realised I had an avenue open to me and one thing I hadn't tried.

Heroism.

Even without trying it, the word felt. Strange to me, like trying to slot a square in a circular hole I knew it wouldn't fit and it was all due to my reason for wanting to become a hero being inherently a selfish desire to find some joy in life which contradicted the point of being a hero being a traditionally selfless role and yet I had a strong quirk that could be used for heroism so it was expected of me to aim for the Hero Course for highschool.

And so I set to work training my quirk for the expected route of crime fighting. My father had virtually expected this and saw fit to teach me Bajiquan which suited my quirk well in that a reinforced fist designed to damage the inside rather than outside would naturally end the fights quickly. I was by no means a master at it but I was certainly a fast learner.

At the age of 14 my father decided to move us from Hosu to Musutafu at the beginning of my second year so I ended up a transfer student to Aldera Junior High. It was also here that I found the one thing I had searched for all this time and yet I could not be more disgusted with its discovery.


I was waiting outside the classroom for my teacher to introduce me, through the door I could barely make out the muffled noise of my peers in the midst of their own conversations.

"Alright class!" the teachers voice attempted to cut through the chaos of the students with little success but unperturbed by this the teacher continued anyway "We have a new student joining us this year." and suddenly there was silence. From outside the classroom I raised my eyebrow before taking that as my cue to enter.

I stepped through the door and was immediately greeted by my fellow classmates staring at me as I entered. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising seeing as I was generally taller than my peers at 180cm although there was one student here who appeared to be taller than me although that was only because of his neck being elongated. Aside from the strange discovery that a majority of my classmates had a mutation base quirk one thing that caught my eye was the blonde haired red-eyed boy in the front row eyeing me up. This was not a look of innocent curiosity but more a look of fighting analysis.

'He's studying me as if I were an opponent? Curious'

I was brought of of my musing by the teacher getting my attention "How about you introduce yourself to the rest of the class."

'Ah, yes.' I thought to myself 'first impressions'

Standing at the front of the class I plastered on my normal itchy smile and went about introducing myself to my fellow classmates.

"Hello, my name it Kotomine Kriei and I hope you will take care of me." I finished off my introduction with practised bow before turning to the teacher.

The teacher clapped his hands together before turning to the rest of the class. "Now before I find you a seat Kotomine-san have any of you got anything you would like to ask your new classmate?"

Instantly there were a flurry of questions aimed at me by the students all aiming to get some meaningless detail about my life.

"Where did you live before moving here?"

"Do you have any hobbies?"

"What's your favourite food?"

"Why are you so tall!?"

"What's your quirk?"

'There it is. The question which determines a persons value'

I turned to the teacher who quickly quieted the class down so that I could at least answer some of the questions.

"Answering your questions in order…" I began "I lived in Hosu before moving here, I practice martial arts, my favourite food is mapo tofu, I don't know and it's called reinforcement." The majority of the class nods at my answers except the blonde haired boy who seems to narrow his eyes at me. I soon pick up something with my my enhanced hearing which sounds like someone whispering something, turning to look at the source I spot a green haired boy who appears to be talking to themselves while making a series of notes in a book. 'Hmm, how strange'.

With introductions and questioning out of the way I turn to my new homeroom teacher to find out where I am sitting.

"Lets see here…" teacher quickly scanned the room before his eyes fixated themselves on something "There's a seat next to Midoriya that you can use" he gestures to the green haired boy who was mumbling earlier. I nod to him before making my way to the desk next to right of the newly named Midoriya.

Sitting myself down I quickly notice that the boy is quite nervous by my presence. Although it is perhaps because I am a new student and he is not quite used to me yet. I turn to the boy which immediately causes him to freeze and look at me wide eyed, I offer him my most practiced smile and extend my hand to him "Nice to meet you, I'm Kotomine Kirei and I'll be in your care."

The boy almost robotically extends his own hand to clasp mine in a handshake while stuttering through his own greeting "I-I'm M-M-Midoriya Izuku. Uh s-s-same here" before quickly disengaging from my hand as if it were on fire and turning his attention back to the front.

I internally raise an eyebrow at him before mentally shrugging and turning my attention back to the front of the classroom.

The day passes without incident with a few more or my classmates coming over to greet me although I did notice that a majority of the students seemingly ignore the Midoriya boy next to me as if he didn't exist at all and those that do pay attention to him only do so to fling insults at him. Apparently his is one of the few quirkless people that still exist and yet I find myself jealous of him all the same but I focus myself on the right thing to do and avoid picking on him and doing my level best to try and mitigate the damage done to him.

Most of this comes from the blonde haired boy who I have found out is called Bakugo Katsuki with very clear aspirations of being a hero although I find it to be an exquisite contradiction that someone so focused on heroism is a natural when it comes to cruelty.

The bell signals the end of the day although I stay behind in order to finish up some last minute classwork before heading home. I turn to corner to find Midoriya being hounded by a couple of our classmates. I recognise them as the ones that hang around Bakugo or 'Kacchan' as Midoriya calls him, I sense history between the two given Bakugo referring to Midoriya as 'Deku' but it's not my place to pry.

I see them push Midoriya around a bit and empty out his bag onto the floor, I had already assumed that Midoriya was a victim of bullying given his rather skittish nature and the fact that he was quirkless would make him a relatively easy target. For a few moments I observed Midoriya's rather hapless struggle against my classmates before taking it upon myself to save him from further harm. I had recently been experimenting with reinforcing my vocal cords and found I could deepen them significantly, while not practical it was certainly useful for intimidation, I silently moved myself to within a couple metres of them before announcing my presence.

"That's enough."

The effect of my announcement being immediate in that all three individuals jumped at my voice and were somehow startled by my newly discovered presence. The two who were bullying Midoriya clicked their tongues and proceeded to march off, something about 'the quirkless loser not being worth it' while Midoriya was staring at me with wide-eyes laced with confusion as if he had not expected anyone to actually help him.

Seeing to two disappear down the hallway I turned my attention to my desk neighbour who was currently collecting his scattered possessions from off the floor, staring at his somewhat pathetic being I felt something tingle in the back of my mind. Some small warmth in my chest which I quickly ignored in favour of aiding my classmate.

"Here, let me help you gather this up." I say while crouching down and getting to work gathering all the loose papers and pencils from off the floor and handing them back to their owner.

Once again Midoriya was staring at me with confusion as if he hadn't expected me to stick around and help him.

"Ah! N-n-o, i-its no p-p-problem K-K-Kotomine-san! I can g-get t-this by myself" he frantically began to stutter and wave his arms at me however I cut him off before he could attempt to deny my assistance any further.

"Nonsense, this will get done much quicker with my assistance"

Once again confusion found its way into the boys eyes but was very quickly replaced with happiness. The new look was vexing to me but Midoriya had no way of knowing that he was doing to me what people with quirks did to him therefore being angry with him was illogical.

The two of us worked in silence before I came upon the last item, a small booklet which I had seen him writing in during the breaks at school. I picked it up and examined it while reading out the title "Hero Analysis for the Future. Volume 12?" I raised an eyebrow and handed the book back to a nervous looking Midoriya while standing up.

The boy nervously took the book back while beginning to flush out of embarrassment while stuttering through an explanation.

"A-ah y-yes, I l-like to r-r-research q-quirks as a h-h-hobby" I had to reinforce my hearing as he gradually got quieter and quieter. Nodding at his explanation I waited for him to pack the book into his back before he put his rucksack back on.

"Come on Midoriya" I spoke, slightly startling him "I doubt either of us want to be late home"

I began to walk away gesturing for him to follow which he seemed surprised about before promptly rushing to catch up with me.

"Eh? Y-you're okay w-with walking h-home with m-m-me Kotomine-san?"

"Truthfully I don't care either way but if you want to walk home with me I won't stop you."

We continued on in relative silence before Midoriya started to ask me questions.

"So Kotomine-san can I ask you some questions about your quirk?"

I stopped for a few seconds before turning to him and replying "There's no harm in it I suppose."

"Okay! So you said that your quirk was 'reinforcement' but what does that actually mean?"

"It means that I have the ability to enhance myself at will, say if I were to reinforce my eyes I would be able to see up to a kilometre away or reinforce my sense of hearing or smell I would be more sensitive to sounds of scents. If I were to reinforce my body it would become more durable and increase my basic strength a significant amount."

I pause as I hear the sound of scribbling and turn my head to notice Midoriya furiously making notes in the analysis book I saw earlier. He notices my stare and suddenly freezes, I raise an eyebrow and him and he proceeds to chuckle nervously.

"Ha ha, sorry. Sometimes I get too into my studying you know?"

"Indeed."

"But I assume that you can't keep up your reinforcement indefinitely?"

"You would be correct doing so places a good deal of strain on my body, If I reinforce an individual sense like my eyes I can keep it up for about 10 minutes before the strain becomes noticeable but if I want to reinforce my body I can only do so for about 4 minutes right now before I have to cancel it."

"I see that would certainly pose a significant problem for you if which means it would have to be used sparingly more designed to finish fights quickly or if-"

"Buts that's only if I use it only my body"

"Huh?" This time it is Midoriya's turn to pause as I turn to him with a slight smirk on my face "Does that mean that your quirk isn't limited to your body? That you can reinforce other things?"

I nod to him "To an extent and it's actually much easier to reinforce inanimate objects than it is to reinforce myself. I can typically reinforce objects for about an hour before they return to their original state, during practice at home I found I could make a ceramic cup as durable as steel or if I wanted too I could make your school coat as tough as kevlar."

Midoriya is now staring at me with something akin to child like wonder and I'm reminded of that hollow feeling I get when I receive praise.

"Wow Kotomine-san! That sounds like a really strong quirk!"

"Hmm, I had to practice a lot and it takes a significant amount of concentration. I lost a few tea cups practising it."

"Huh? What do you mean?" He pauses his note taking and looks at me with an analytical eye, gone is the stuttering mess of a boy who was at my side a moment ago and in his place is this somewhat clinical researcher. The contrast between the two is as jarring as it is amusing.

"It means that while I can reinforce the durability of the teacup if I were to reinforce it too much or lose focus during the process it would shatter. I assume you would imagine what would happen if I were to do something wrong while reinforcing myself?"

Midoriya seems somewhat unperturbed by the possible graphic image and notes down what I just said as if I were asking him to write out a shopping list, truly the boy is amusing. We fall back into a comfortable silence before Midoriya speaks again.

"Kotomine-san, are you planning on becoming a hero?"

"It...was a possibility I was looking at. Why?"

"I-its j-just...n-nevermind."

"Midoriya, you have already begun a question. You should at least continue it to get my answer."

"A-ah y-yes. Kotomine-san do you think someone without a quirk can become a hero?"

I stop. Midoriya stops. I turn and stare down at the boy while he stares up at me. There's that look in his eye, as if he already expects me to laugh at him and yet I find myself struggling for an answer. Midoriya had already found what brings himself joy in life. His dream, impossible as it may be is what brings him happiness. Heroism is what makes him happy so he will pursue it, I want to obtain happiness so I will pursue heroism.

I sigh and turn away from his gaze.

"Truly Midoriya? I don't know."

"Huh?" He blinks clearly not expecting my answer to not come in the form of either an insult or a bout of laughter.

"There are different types of pro-heroes beyond the likes of All-might and Endeavour. Do I think you could become a top hero? No and you shouldn't delude yourself into thinking that but if you were to ask me if you could become a hero in the same vein as some of the local ones then I suppose. Truly you would be better off asking a pro-hero whether or not you could become a hero but my answer to you is that I simply don't know."

Midoriya continues to stare at me wide-eyed for a good few seconds before his eyes start to tear up and he gets a small smile on his face.

"Thanks Kotomime-san."

"I very much doubt I have done anything to deserve a thank you."

"Regardless thank you."

I let out a quiet 'hmm' before continuing on. I try to ignore the fact that when he asked me if he could become a hero without a quirk for a very split second I considered insulting his dream. To tell him that it was impossible for him to achieve no matter what he did and that if were that determined to die then there were easier ways to kill himself. I ignored that thought for the same reason I ignored that feeling when I saw him being bullied.

I refuse to believe that such cruelty brought me joy.

I appear to have let time slip by me as Midoriya quickly draws my attention.

"A-ah well. T-this i-is my stop." he points to a rather large block of apartments with a number '2' painted on the side.

"Hmm, it appears we are also neighbours of a sense."

"Huh?"

"My father and I live in the apartment complex just there" I point to the large building slightly further along with a number '4' painted on the side. "I suppose I shall see you tomorrow Midoriya"

"Y-yeah! See you tomorrow Kotomine-san" he runs off after shouting he farewells to me as I turn and make my way home.

AN

So, we begin our little journey into the life of one Kotomine Kirei. Professional hero. Sounds pretty alien when we know him but at this point he's only just begun to realise he's a little different to everyone else and while I still intend for him to realise he finds joy in the despair of others but it will be gradual process with little snippets of his true nature dotted throughout the story. I will attempt to update this as often as I can but don't expect something like weekly updates and remember to leave me some reviews on what I could do better.