A/N: I finished this chapter earlier than expected, so I decided to post it early. I'm so giddy to share this with you all, so I do hope you like it. Buckle up for this one, fellas!

(No manga spoilers for this chapter)

CHAPTER 5: THE STORY OF THE BOY WITH THE MAGIC QUIRK

It's late night at the UA dorms. The students are all fast asleep but Aizawa, of course, is up late working. Aizawa gets a text from All Might, asking to meet with him and Tsukauchi. Their first meeting didn't exactly go very well, but maybe with just the three of them, things will feel a little less confrontational.

Despite his better judgment, Aizawa decides to meet with them.

"This gonna take a while?" Aizawa asks, rubbing his head.

"Hopefully not," Tsukauchi says, gesturing for Aizawa to have a seat. This meeting is a lot less formal than the first one they had. A little less defensive than before, Aizawa decides to sit, and hear what they have to say.

"Sorry to blindside you like this." All Might tells him. "Tsukauchi?" He turns to his friend to begin the conversation.

"I'll cut to the chase, Eraser. We're well aware of your connection to Yukio Adachi. Whatever your reasoning for keeping that from us, it really doesn't concern me. What matters is that The Paradox Council is incredibly dangerous and with the activity we've been tracking, there are a number of concerns we have."

"Such as?"

"There's been another kidnapping. It happened a few hours ago, in Taito. A ten-year-old boy with a Mind-Reading Quirk. As I stated before, we don't know what these villains are after, but considering they're taking children now…" Tsukauchi pauses for a moment. "Well, I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to stop them. If there is any information you have about Adachi, that could help us tremendously with our investigation".

Aizawa lets out a long, quiet sigh. "I guess I have no choice then. I wasn't honest with you before because I didn't think I had anything that could help. That was my mistake. And truth be told, I didn't really want to relive all of this again. But I suppose what you're asking of me is completely rational. So, I'll cooperate. What do you want to know?"

All Might is surprised to see this reaction out of Aizawa. Calm, apologetic, vulnerable.

"We know that you and Adachi grew up together at that orphanage in Ueno. But what exactly was your relationship to him?" Tsukauchi asks.

"He was my friend. I was the new kid there, and I wasn't exactly well liked. Growing up, I couldn't really control my Quirk, and I couldn't fight worth a damn, either. Yukio taught me both those things. He'd always protect me when we were kids…" Aizawa's ashamed to admit it, but… "He's the reason I became a hero."

The kids in the orphanage all gather around for lunchtime. The kids that prepared lunch for the day all stand behind the tables with little aprons and gloves on, passing out food. Shouta stands quietly in line, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone as food is put on his tray. When he gets to the end of the line, the young boy on the other side of the table grimaces.

"Hey there Quirk Thief," the boy sneers. Shouta keeps quiet, hoping to avoid further torment. "What's wrong? You got a problem with today's lunch?"

"No…" He murmurs.

"No?" The boy hocks a loogie and spits it into Shouta's food. All the kids nearby burst into laughter. "How about now?" Shouta grips the sides of his food tray, trying to suppress his emotions. "Aww, what's wrong? You gonna cry, Quirk Thief? You gonna cry for your mommy?" Shouta is hit with a memory from when his mother was still alive—this sets him off. If only he had been able to protect her then, he wouldn't be here now. All the pain and ridicule he's experienced; he can't help but think it's all his fault. Unable to control his anger, Shouta grabs his tray of food and slams it in the face of the boy. Before the boy can retaliate, a teacher steps in between the two of them.

"Children! What is going on?" The teacher asks.

"Shouta's so mean! He just threw his lunch at me for no reason! I didn't even do anything!" The boy fake-cries.

"That's not true!" Shouta retorts, desperately.

"Shouta, did you do this?" The teacher asks him.

"… Yes. But—"

"No excuse. Out into the hall!" The teacher orders.

Shouta stands in the hall, holding up two buckets filled with water. His fingers are pale, and his arms twitch, struggling to keep the buckets from dropping. The teacher enters the hall, with Yukio right behind her. Yukio stands next to Shouta, with a pout on his face. The teacher hands Yukio another two water-filled buckets and sighs.

"I don't know what to do with the two of you anymore. You've both been nothing but trouble since you came here. I just wish you'd behave more. Maybe then, someone will find a home for you". The teacher sighs and heads back into the classroom, leaving the two boys alone in the hall.

"What does she know?" Yukio growls. "We're not the ones causing trouble. It's all those other kids' fault." Yukio turns to Shouta, who is promptly ignoring him. "Ain't that right?" He doesn't respond. "Shouta?"

"You shouldn't be talking to me. We're gonna get in more trouble."

"So? I can take it! These buckets aren't even heavy."

"What are you talking about—" Shouta looks over and realizes Yukio doesn't seem to be having any trouble holding the buckets up. "How are you…?" Shouta is surprised to see how easy it is for Yukio.

Yukio's face grows serious. "Besides… I can't stand bullies. They're the same as villains. What gives them the right to hurt people who haven't done anything wrong? It isn't fair. Heroes are always helping others, even if there's risks involved."

This makes Shouta smile, albeit just a little.

"I had never really thought about becoming a hero before. It wasn't something I thought was actually possible for someone like me. It wasn't until I got to see Yukio's Quirk in action that that started to change."

While all the other kids in the orphanage sleep soundly in their beds, Yukio and Aizawa sneak away, heading outside.

"Come on!" Yukio whispers, holding Shouta by the arm as they run outside. On the way out the back door, he grabs a lantern in his other hand. Shouta is barely able to keep up; being dragged by Yukio.

"Hey, slow down!"

They make their way into a wooded area behind the orphanage. The sun has completely set, and the only light that surrounds them is that of the stars and a single lantern.

"We're not supposed to be out here. What if we get in trouble?" Shouta asks, more afraid of the dark than getting caught, though he'd never admit that. "What are we doing here?"

"You'll see." Yukio says, the childish grin still plastered on his face. Yukio sets the lantern on the ground and kneels with it. Shouta watches, not sure what to expect. Yukio takes his right hand and places it directly in the flames with his palm facing up.

"Stop, you'll burn your hand!" Shouta reaches out to stop Yukio but pauses when he notices Yukio is still calm as ever. Yukio stands and faces Shouta. The flames still roar in the lantern, while more fire rests in his palm, though not burning him.

"Hold out your hand," Yukio says with that pesky grin of his still on his face.

"Why, what are you-?" Shouta does so, confused. Before he can finish his sentence, with his free hand, Yukio grabs Shouta's other arm and a third, smaller, flame appears in the palm Shouta is holding out. "S-stop, stop it!" Shouta screams, trying to break free of Yukio's grip. Shouta stops for a moment and realizes the fire on his hand is not burning him at all. In fact, he feels nothing. Once Yukio sees that Shouta knows what's happening, he lets go and the flame disappears from Shouta's hand.

Shouta steps back in amazement, trying to grasp what Yukio's Quirk really is. It can't just be fire manipulation since he extended his power to Shouta's body. So how? Just what is his Quirk?

With his hand still on fire, Yukio lifts his arm in the air and thrusts the flame upward. Shouta gasps in shock, seeing that the flame is floating in the air. With careful gestures of his fingers, Yukio makes the hovering flame spin in a circle, almost creating a fiery cyclone.

"Whoa…" Shouta whispers out loud, unable to hide his fascination with Yukio's power. Then, with one snap of the fingers, Yukio's floating flame turns into a blue light. "What… is that?" Shouta says, his confusion turning into wonder.

"It's my Quirk." With one last flick of the wrist, Yukio sends the blue flame upward again and watches as the flame starts bursting into sparks and explodes like a firework. Both the lights from the fire and the sound from the sparks fade out, and both boys are left in the darkness again, with only the flame from one lone lantern.

"That was incredible… How-how did you do that?" Shouta asks, amazed.

"I don't really know," Yukio chuckles, with a smile on his face.

"You mean, you don't know what it is? That didn't just look like fire resistance. It didn't burn me either, after all. A-and you made it blow up. I've never seen anything like that!"

"It's not just fire. I can do lots of stuff with my Quirk." Yukio steps forward to a nearby stream and leans down. He takes a stick and starts swirling the water around with it. "I figured it out on accident. I was playing where I shouldn't have been, and I fell from really high up. I remember thinking how much I didn't want to hit the ground. So, I kept thinking 'don't hit the ground', 'don't hit the ground'. Then I started falling slower and slower. And I was able to land on my feet, without hurting myself."

"But that doesn't explain what you did just now."

"Yeah, it does. I have a magic Quirk. I just think what I want to happen, and it does."

"That's incredible. So, you can do anything with it? Like, you could put out fires or stop buildings from falling! You'd be such an awesome hero!"

"I can't use it forever though. Like… hmmm… okay, think about this. If you cup water in your hands, you can hold it, right? But eventually, it will trickle through your fingers until it's all gone. And if something knocks the water out of your hands, you'll let go of it all at once. That's what happens if I don't concentrate, my Quirk sort of shuts off."

"But still! You can do a lot more cool stuff with a Quirk like that!" Shouta's excitement quickly turns into disappointment. "Not like me. I'm just a Quirk Thief." Without warning, Yukio smacks Shouta in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't say that. You're not a thief. You've got a cool Quirk too, Shouta. You can take the powers from the bad guys and then beat 'em up! In fact, we'd make a great tag team, you and me! You've got what it takes to be a hero, Sho-chan. Never forget that."

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Sorry, kid," Yukio chuckles, rubbing the back of his head.

"That too!"

"Old habit. Ha ha."

"Despite everything I had always been told, Yukio made me believe that my power could be used for good. That I could help people. And we made a pact to achieve that goal together. That's how I ended up applying to UA."

"Me, go to UA? You're joking right?"

"Nah, man, I'm serious! Think about it! With a Quirk like yours, you can take out all kinds of enemies with surprise attacks. They'll never expect it."

"Maybe, but I still can't control when my power activates. It's unpredictable. There's no way I'd pass their entrance exam. It'd be impossible."

"Heroes don't worry about what's impossible! All we have to do is figure out what triggers your Quirk and learn to control it."

"Hmph. You make it sound easy."

"We won't know until we try, ha ha!"

"How are you always like that?"

"Hmm? Like what?"

"Happy?"

"It's just in my nature, I guess."

"That's how he always was. Always praising heroes, working hard to become one. He worked harder than anyone I ever knew. I'm sure the only reason I managed to pass the entrance exam was because of all the stuff he taught me. All the training we did together."

"Do you know why Yukio was expelled?"

"Class B's teacher was always wary of Yukio. He didn't like that a kid with an unknown Quirk was accepted into the school in the first. I don't know that I blame him; it's hard to teach a student with a mysterious Quirk like that. He tried to have him expelled from the start, but administration wouldn't support the motion without reason. Anyway, we had a joint-training exercise one day with both the classes. It was supposed to be a rescue exercise, but Yukio ended up going a little overboard…"

"What's the matter with you, Adachi? You nearly got Sensoji killed, pulling a stunt like that." Class B's teacher yells at Yukio.

"Nah, he would've been fine. I trust my power."

"Right, this 'magic' Quirk of yours. You don't even know what it is, how can you possibly say you can control it? I don't care what scores you got in the entrance exam. If you can't bother to learn your own Quirk, then a kid like you has no business being at this school. With that careless attitude, someone like you can never be a hero".

Yukio's smile fades, and his eyes go dull. Something's switched in his mind. Yukio's eyes burn with rage. He's never looked like this; at least not to Shouta. Yukio clenches his teeth. His fists tighten and his eyes close shut, trembling with uncontrollable anger.

The teacher's unamused expression quickly turns to shock. His eyes open wide and he suddenly reaches for his throat, choking and gasping for air. The students clamor, unsure of what's happening.

"Sensei?" A student asks, meekly.

Shouta watches, realizing Yukio is intently focused.

"Hey… Yukio…?" Shouta steps forward, cautiously. He remembers when Yukio told him 'I just think of what I want to happen, and it does'.

Is Yukio doing this? Is he trying to kill him?

Shouta steps forward again and places a hand on Yukio's shoulder. "Hey, c'mon, man. Cut it out." Yukio's eyes stay closed, ignoring his friend's presence. He persists; fists clenched so tight that his palms start to bleed. The teacher's face starts turning blue as he falls to his knees and collapses to the ground. Class A's teacher rushes over to help but isn't sure what to do.

"Someone! Get some help!" He shouts. Class B's teacher starts writhing on the floor, still struggling to breathe. The students are all too afraid to move.

"Yukio! Yukio, stop!" Shouta orders.

But Yukio won't listen. Shouta has no choice but to use his Erasure. Shouta turns off Yukio's Quirk, and class B's teacher can finally take in air.

"Huff, huff, huff…" Class B's teacher tries to get his bearings, seeing only the ominous figure of Yukio standing over him. "You…"

"Yukio… what did you do?" Shouta asks, stunned by what Yukio just did. Shouta puts his hand on his friend's shoulder again, and Yukio recoils quickly.

"Don't touch me!" Yukio yells, smacking Shouta's hand away. Yukio looks around at the other students, frightened by him. "What?! What are you all looking at?! I'm not a villain! He is!" He points dramatically at Class B's teacher, nearly foaming at the mouth.

"Yukio, what's gotten into you?" Shouta asks, afraid to touch him again. Yukio lunges forward and grabs Shouta by the shirt collar.

"Shut up!" Yukio makes a fist and punches Shouta in the face. The students all gasp. Yukio pauses for a brief moment but then proceeds to hit Shouta again, and again, and again. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

"That's enough!" The class A teacher shouts.

Another pause, and then one last punch before Yukio releases his grip and Shouta falls to the ground. Yukio looks to all the other students who are staring at him, then down to Shouta who has blood trickling down his nose. Shouta looks at him, weak and afraid, while Yukio looks back at him with disdain.

"Yu… ki…" Shouta tries to reach out to his friend but finds his consciousness slowly slipping away.

"That was the last time I had seen Yukio."

"What on Earth would cause him to snap like that?" All Might asks.

"I don't know. And I can't understand why he would end up joining the side of the villains. All he had ever wanted was to be a hero. For something so simple to change all of that… I just don't understand it. I never have."

"Do you have any idea why none of this is on record at UA?" Tsukauchi asks.

"I don't have any proof, but I do have a theory. Class B's teacher had a Quirk that made people forget things. Similar to mine, in a way, he could erase things from peoples' memory. That's the most logical explanation I have for it anyway. They had reported he had been expelled without including any of the details. The faculty held an investigation into the mishandled paperwork, but nothing ever came of it. They brushed Yukio's file aside and his seat in Class B was filled with a new student just a few days later."

"If everyone's memory was erased, then, why do you remember all this?" All Might asks.

"I'm not entirely sure. I lost consciousness shortly after that altercation, but I remember waking up in the nurse's office and my memory was a little fuzzy at the time. My best guess is that it wasn't as effective on me because I was already unconscious at the time. A few days later, it all came back to me. I was too afraid to confront the teachers about it, thinking they'd expel me too. I couldn't risk that. I tried contacting him to figure out what really happened, but I could never reach him."

"And what about Adachi's Quirk?" Tsukauchi asks.

"In all honesty, I still don't know what his Quirk is. I had always tried to figure it out back then, but it's been in the forefront of my mind these last few weeks. Nothing I can think of explains the kinds of things he could do with fire, or levitation, certainly nothing that could also cause the loss of another person's Quirk."

"And you don't know anything about his parents? What their Quirks might've been?"

Aizawa shakes his head. "He was in the orphanage a few years before me, so I doubt he knew much about them either. That kind of information wouldn't be accessible to someone like me. Maybe it's something you could look into."

"I have people looking into it already, but I was hoping we'd be able to cut some corners here. Time is precious after all."

"Is all of that enough to help you?" Aizawa asks, a bit of sadness hidden in his voice.

"It's more than what we had before. Thank you." Tsukauchi stands, followed by All Might and Aizawa. "We'll continue to do what we can on our end, and we'll let you know if we find anything."

"When you do track him down, just… maybe put his past into consideration? He was a good kid. Wanted to be a hero more than anyone I've ever met. I don't know what caused things to turn out like this, but the Yukio I knew still exists somewhere in there."

"Of course. And when we get him, we'll be sure to let you speak with him again."

"No," Aizawa holds his hand up. "That's alright. I trust you'll do the right thing with him, when the time comes."

Aizawa makes his way out of the room, leaving just Tsukauchi and All Might together.

"He give you anything useful?" All Might asks.

"Well, I don't feel good about it," Tsukauchi begins "but I think he might have. I'll have to do some more digging, but I think we're getting closer."