The first incident was in Qingqin City, China, with news of the birth of a miraculous child who radiated light. Shortly thereafter, similar phenomena popped up all over the world. The tigger for these newfound powers was never determined, but as time progressed, what was once extraordinary became ordinary. Dreams became reality. Of the planet's population, around 80% have developed unique abilities, or 'Quirks'. We have entered a new age, a society of superhuman. In this world whirling in chaos, a certain profession that used to exist only in daydreams has stepped into the limelight. That of the Hero.

But honey, you do still want to be a hero, don't you?

My father, the flame hero Endeavor, is the #2 hero. He's been the 2nd place forever. Always one step behind the #1. All Might. The world's greatest hero. He's made a name for himself, nonetheless. And with his power, he was able to devise a plan to finally surpass All Might, once and for all.

You may have heard of quirk marriages. Most people treat them like some outdated model of power that nobody does anymore. But among the elites, there are some people who still practice them. Choosing mates just to create powerful offspring. Like old-fashioned arranged marriages, forcing people into relationships.

My mother was one of these people. My father easy bought off her family and got his hands on her powerful ice quirk. He hoped to create a perfect hybrid. A hero powerful enough, with ice and fire perfectly balanced, to one day surpass All Might.

It's OK, Shoto. You…

I was five years old, kneeling on the floor of the training room, and vomiting. He was standing over me.

"Stand up. If you go down to a blow that size, you can forget about beating All Might, or even some small time thug."

Her touch was on my back. Her soft hands were the tiniest barrier, the shield between me and the onslaught of rage and power that came from hime.

"Please, stop pushing him! He's only five years old!"

"He's already five! Get out of my way!"

My tears kept coming as his hand slapped across mom's face and she fell backwards.

Later on that day I was in her lap as she held me, over my bed.

"I hate this, mommy. I - I don't wanna be the kinda guy he is. I don't wanna be someone who bullies mommy." I can't stand the thought of ever being anything like my damned old man. He's a monster, I believe. Sometimes, I look in the mirror at the flaming red-haired and blue-eyed side of my face and I see a flash of him. Like if even for a moment I see myself looking angry, it will be the start of something, and my face will twist into that awful mask that is his awful face. That hateful man.

"But honey, you do still wanna be a hero, right?" She asked me. Hand on my right hand side. When I see my right side in the mirror, I see her. Her grey, kind eyes. Her long soft white hair, the ice powers she uses from time to time. Her gentle smile and kindly, sparkling goodness. All the things that I want to be, on only one side of my face and one side of my body.

I have three older siblings. He tried three times before he finally got me. He calls them his failures. And I'm not allowed to speak to them. I know their names - Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Toya - but I don't know anything else about them.

One day I saw them playing ball in the yard of our home, through the window. I wanted nothing more than to go out and join them. He saw me, sneaking that forbidden look, and seized my arm, his hand like a vyce-grip, and dragged me away from the window.

"Don't look at them, Shoto. Those things, your older siblings…they live in a different world than the one I'm training you for."

That's what he calls his older children. And I actually envy them. I'd rather be one of 'those things', one more failure, than what I am. The perfect student. The dream child who he spends all his time training.

"Mom, I - I think I might be going crazy. I can't take it anymore. Every day, the children look more and more like him."

It was nighttime. I wandered out of bed, crying already from the memories of today's training, hoping to find mom. She was in the kitchen, making tea, on the phone with grandma. And I heard her say those words.

"Shouto…that child's left side sometimes looks unbearable to me."

Those words hit me so hard…so badly. I always feared - deep down, I was afraid that she saw me, that side of my face, the same way that I did. But I'd hoped this was just my imagination. I was just paranoid, right? She didn't really see me that way…she couldn't….right?

"I can't take care of him anymore. I'm afraid - "

Can't raise me anymore. What did she mean? Was she going way? No no. I couldn't - I knew I couldn't stand life without her, if she left us, if she went away. Even when she sometimes went away on weekend trips, those few days without mom were terrifying. There was no relief at all. I had to finally say something.

"Mom? What are you saying?!"

She turned to look at me. There was a look in her face, like I had never imagined could be on it. She was looking at me then like I was my father. No, worse than my father.

She'd seized the boiling water and thrown it on my left side before I could say a thing.

All I really remember was a burning pain. I was lucky enough to pass out before too long. When I woke up, I was in a hospital and I couldn't see out of my left eye. My face was covered in bandages. He was there, watching over me. But she wasn't.

I remember tossing and turning in nightmares for a while, until he finally got me back to the house. I kept waiting and waiting for mommy to come. And she didn't come. So I finally asked him.

"Where's mommy?"

Hm? Oh, she hurt my masterpiece, so I sent her to a hospital. For crying out loud, this is a critical time…."

The last of it just flew by me. I didn't hear the rest. All that mattered was that first part. "I sent her to a hospital." A hospital…he meant then, that he'd sent her away. She wasn't coming back. I wasn't going to see her again.

Why wasn't I angry at her for scalding me? Because….because that was not her fault. Nothing that had happened to mom was her fault. Everything - everything - was his fault. She was innocent. And I told him so.

My left side. I have a scar across it now. My fire quirk. Everything in me that I got from him…I reject it all. I will never be like him. I will never use my fire side. I will be a hero - the greatest hero in the world - using only my right side. My ice side. My mom's side. I reject him completely.