Mustafu Juvenile Correctional Facility

It was a gigantic complex, holding some of the craziest, cruellest and outright evil kids you could find. The Musutafu Juvenile Correctional Facility, or MJCF, was built to resemble real prison life for the child inmates, though the environment was much more tame compared to the real thing. But, life in juvie was still absolutely boring, since all you could do was sleep, eat and study all day.

But one kid, though confined to his small room of a cell, created another option for himself.

Train.

"97...98...99...100!" A young man grunted, as he quickly completed his last rep of handstand push ups.

His name was Mira Kagemaru. Around 15 years old with jet black spiky hair. Though he wasn't overly bulky, his physique easily displayed signs that he had undergone some form of intense training. As he wiped the sweat off his face, he looked at himself in the mirror, and inspecting the serious face that stared sharply right back at him with dark purple eyes.

"It's not enough..." he panted, as he cooled down with an icy bottle of water. The bottle crunched in his hand as he squeezed it, "let's increase it to 5 sets of 150 pushups next time."

A loud knock on his metal door alerted Mira's attention. He opened his door to another boy,

about the same age as Mira, a little smaller and a lot less bulky, but still althletic. With messy curly brown hair, vibrant green eyes, and a huge contagious smile plastered over his face - he was Hayate Yuso. A jokester, pervert and Mira's best friend in the MJCF. "Sup Mira!" The kid beamed, "the cafeteria just opened up, wanna come with?"

"Sure thing Hayate" Mira replied, "just finished my upper body workout for today, so gimme a sec."

"How much this time?" Hayate asked.

"5 sets of 100" Mira replied nonchalantly, as he tossed his towels and clothing into the laundry basket.

Hayate almost slipped off the door he was leaning on! "Eh?! 100? Mira... dude, you've got to cut back on all this training, otherwise you'll end up all macho with a damn babyface!"

"No way. Can't stop, won't stop!" Mira exclaimed with a big grin, "besides, this training is important - especially for what I'm gonna do once I'm outta here."

Hayate shrugged, "well, don't say I didn't warn you, when all the chicks just look at your roaring muscles."

The two laughed, "I'll meet you there" Hayate stated, as he slid the door shut behind him.

Mira slipped on his dark blue MJCF jumpsuit, and closed the sliding door of his cell shut, ready to meet up with Hayate. But just after he left his cell, a slim hand quickly grabbed him from his collar.

Mira turned to see who the hand that dared touch him belong to. It was Jack, a lanky kid who was infamous here because he was one of the few people here going straight to actual prison once his sentence at the MJCF was finished due to killing his own parents. He had a face like a mantis, his bulging yellow eyes staring intensely at his prey. "Slave, bring all your lunch to cell 786" Jack accompanied the request with a smile that demanded respect, and fear, "please no sodas, my body gets bloated after one of those, ehheheehhe."

Mira stayed quiet, just staring at Jack with a dark intensity that made him flinch. Mira chuckled a bit, and just turned around to continue down the stairs. "Buzz off" he muttered.

Suddenly, a quick, stinging sensation sprung from Mira's back. Immediately he turned and saw his blue jumpsuit had a large red patch growing on the centre of his back. His eyes snapped to Jack, who cackling with blood dripping from his elongated fingernails, "you know, slaves are supposed to respond to their master's every request..." Jack's face deadpanned as he glared right back at Mira with a similar intensity, "do you want to find out what happens to those who don't?"

Mira sighed, unfazed by the threat. Though he really wanted to cave in Jack's face right now, he wasn't stupid, knowing well that attacking him now would just alert the guards, resulting in even more trouble.

So with no reply, Mira made his way to the cafeteria. "Remember slave, no sodas!" and Jack's horrible cackling continued, while Mira walked away gritting his teeth.

MJCF Cafeteria

Mira walked around with his tray of curry. He scanned the room for Hayate, spotting the boy standing and waving at him with a seat reserved.

"What took you so long?!" Hayate asked as a he shovelled down a huge spoon full of curry, "I almost thought you and Jack had another scrap or something."

"We almost did..." Mira replied, "but, I was able to get away without anything happening... this time."

Hayate saddened, "What happened bro? When you first got here, you didn't take any crap from Jack. But now it's almost like he's turning you into another lackey of his!"

Mira sighed before taking a big bite, "yeah, that was almost a year ago. I've got to get out as soon as possible, and fighting everyday with the next person who pissed me off isn't gonna shorten the 2 more years I got here. Besides, no way I'm I going back on kitchen duty."

Hayate teared up laughing, "I remember that, 'Aaaah the dishwasher's alive!' right?" he joked, causing Mira to join in on the laughter.

"Yeah" Mira replied, "I just wish there was someone I could just... escape all this." He poked at the rest of his curry and looked at Hayate, "I mean, you're great! But, if you weren't here, I don't think I could have lasted a week, let alone a year here."

"I feel you man, I do" Hayate replied, "but don't worry about anything, I'm sure something good will come our way, you know... karma and the universe and stuff."

"Right..." Mira said skeptically as he took his last bite, "well, I'm gonna head back to my cell now, Jack's probably already harassing someone else." And with a small smile on his face, he returned to his cell.

MJCF Cells

As he returned to his cell, Mira dwelled in his thoughts, reminiscing on simpler times.

It was all because of that.

A month ago

Mustafu City

It was the summertime, school had nearly finished and Mira was just getting ready for the holidays. More time meant more training, and he was returning home from his usual running route, taking a quick shortcut through an alleyway.

But as he reached a junction he heard something. It kinda sounded like a whoever was saying it was crying, but had no energy to cry.

"Someone... help me... please... anyone."

He moved towards the cry, walking down the other alley he never took. Eventually he could see a large grey car, windows tinted black, parked in a spot hidden from the public eye. The sounds of terror were now very prevalent. Mira could barely see that the source of the sounds came from a woman around her mid-20s. Her screams of fear and agony rang loud as she attempted to fight back her assaulter! 'What the fuck?!' Mira repeated in his head again and again. He wanted to do something, but his body was as still as stone, held back by his thoughts.

He was only 15, what could he do? Could he call the heroes? What if the guy saw or heard him and killed them both? Was he strong enough to fight? Sure he trained, but this was a fully grown adult, what if his quirk was stronger? Could he win?

"Help... me..." she mouthed, and Mira's heart was moved.

Instantly his body began moving on its own, as if it rejected all the fear and doubt that had been spewing from Mira's mind, and focused in on one simple thought...

"I GOTTA SAVE HER!"

He quickly picked up a metal pipe... and activated his quirk. A dark, shadowy matter began consuming the pipe, it twisted and lengthened to a sharp tip at the end; the metal pipe, had become a black blade.

Mira vaulted on to the top of the car hood, spotting the criminal, as he turned his evil face towards the boy.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" he screamed.

Fuelled by adrenaline and instinct, Mira rammed the blade straight through the car windshield.

CRASH! The sword pierced straight through the windshield... and into the criminal. Everyone screamed. Sirens wailed. And the police drove off... with Mira in the back seat.

Present

MJCF Cells

Mira's mood soured after reliving the memory, but just before he could enter his cell he received a forceful thwack to the side of his head. After slamming on to the floor he could see that the one who dealt out the punch was one of Jack's right hand men, a behemoth of a kid who look like a weird cross between and ogre and a gorilla. Jack stood menacingly behind the lackey, as he looked down at the dazed Mira. "Looks like you disobeyed me, slave!" Jack's face now displayed a crazy, untameable fury, and was probably exactly what his parents had seen just before they were murdered. "Allow me to teach you why that was absolutely the wrong choice!"

Jack's fingernails grew into sharp talons... he drew them back like an assassin readying his dagger for the kill, and...

"Inmate 999 Mira Kagemaru, get your ass over to the interview room!" a loud, commanding voice blared over the speakers.

"Looks like you're safe for now slave, your owners want you." Jack said, "you are a lucky one, I guess I'll give you a second chance." Jack's signature cackle filled the air, "but next time you try to be disobedient with me I'll kill you. Ehehehehhee!"

MJCF Interview Room

Mira entered the bleak white room - it was small, with only 2 stools and a large window screen protecting the interviewer from the interviewee. Across the pane sat a middle-aged man, oak brown hair and dark brown eyes, hidden behind sharp spectacles. He was overflowing was charisma, with a warm smile glued to his face.

"Good afternoon Mira. I'm Lt. Kebou of the Mustafu Police Department" He stated, but stopped, as he inspected the boy for a couple seconds. "Did something happen before you got here? You've got a bruise on your right cheek."

"Quit your babbling and hurry it up, old man" Mira hissed, annoyed by the mention, "what do you want with me?"

"Old man?!" Kebou replied, slightly hurt by the comment, but regained composure quick. "I'm sure you know why you're here. Unlicensed usage of a quirk and involuntary manslaughter. We may be living in a more peaceful time, but at the end of the day your actions killed someone. And now, you're stuck here."

"Tch. Is that why you're here, to kick me while I'm down?" Mira spat. "all I wanted to do was help! Who knows, by the time the damn heroes arrived, that guy might've had his way with her and killed her!" He erupted from his seat, and stormed up to the glass, "I tried to help... I tried to achieve my dream and look what happened. The judge and jury was merciless, they locked me away!"

"And just what was your dream?" Kebou asked.

Mira heated scowl turned to a bitter smugness. "Heh, might as well tell you. After all, it's not like you can increase my sentence just for dreaming." He sighed...

"Vigilante" he mumbled, "I wanna protect people."

"Why not just become a pro hero then?" Kebou inquired, growing more interested in the kid's story.

"No way, heroes aren't the preservers of peace and justice, just their own egos" He replied, "They don't care about looking out for the people, they only care about looking out for the news teams to boost their wealth and fame. I don't wanna be considered a part of those people."

Kebou placed a hand on his chin as he absorbed all the information. "I see, you believe that all heroes are only in it for government pay and fame, but you still want to be one."

"Ding ding, we got a winner" Mira mumbled sarcastically.

Kebou sighed. 'Just what kind of trouble must you have faced to end up like this?' He thought.

He stood up and approached Mira, towering over him and looking him dead in the eye, looking much more serious. "Mira you're only 15. You've still got your whole life ahead of you! When I got to the scene, I could see you had potential, the victim was completely unharmed by your attack."

Mira kissed his teeth, "what good is it praising me now?"

Kebou's smirk returned, "Mira, I'm here to help you, I want to give a second chance to achieve your dream! If you think that heroes are greedy gluttons, then why don't you become a true hero, a 'Beacon of Justice'?" Kebou's words were different this time. Instead of ripping Mira apart, they sparked something - a new flame not of anger, but of hope.

"Become the 'Beacon of justice'" A wide smile grew on his face as Mira repeated Kebou's words, his heart had been moved to action once again! "Fine... you've sold me, I'll take your second chance and use it to become a real hero, and expose all the fake heroes the world adores!"

Kebou's confident smile grew even wider, "well then, welcome to the 'Juvenile Rehabilitation Program', Mira Kagemaru."