By the time they realized it, it was much too late. The ground shook, and people began running and screaming. 'It's a villain!' They said. 'Where are the heroes?!' They said. Traffic was backed up to the max, people escaping their cars to try and get away from it. The villain before them was a towering giant; for some reason it didn't look remotely human. It didn't feel human. To Yuuma, it felt... like a monster. There were already a few casualties from the people who weren't fast enough to get away. Mrs. Kageyama closed her eyes, turning around to her husband.

"Honey." His wife looked at him, the red in her eyes glowing as she was readying herself for the fight ahead of them. "Get Yuuma out of here and run. I'll buy time until someone more suited gets here." She got out of the car, looking back at her son loving. "Mommy..?"

42%

"Aimi, you know I can't do that. We're partners, remember." He got out with Yuuma, sitting him gently on the ground as it continued to shake from the chaos. "Daddy..?"

54%

His mom sighed, not able to argue with him further, she turned to her son, her gaze firm and calm. His dad leaned down to him with the same expression. "Yuuma, I know you're scared, buddy. But everything's gonna be just fine. Mommy and Daddy just got a little work to do. Do you see that shelter over there? I want you to go there okay?"

67%

"C-come with me! I don't want to go alone, please...!" Yuuma was in tears, but this time they weren't cute. They clutched at his mother and father's heart in a way that made them want to cry. They knew what they were doing, and it was heartbreaking when they look at their young son. He was squeezing the fabric of his parents' shirts, his tiny hands gripping as tight as he could. "D-don't leave... You don't have to fight that monster..."

"Yuuma," His father said, standing up. His mother stood up too, standing beside him. "What is a hero?"

"A person that protects people and their futures." He answered, sniffling as he felt his body lift from the ground. It was his mother's secondary power. She was using the energy in him to make him move, floating him into the air and far away from the scene. "Mommy?! What are you doing?! No.. No! Come with me! Don't leave! Please don't go!"

"We're going to protect you, Yuuma. You, and your bright future." She said, tears in her eyes. They went to fight the villain, and his father turned to him using his own power on the boy. The scene changed from a disaster zone to a field of white. A clear, calm white. The images of his mom and dad started to fade away.

"Daddy... don't make me... go to sleep... please stay..."

97%

The blonde male gave his kid one of his signature smiles, walking over to him and placing a hand on his cheek. He closed one of his eyes giving a wink that would on any other occasion complete the look... if he wasn't crying. The tears fell silently as he gaze one last time at his son. "I'm sorry buddy." He said, his voice cracking. Yuuma's eyes were closing, his dad's touch began to fade away as they both moved away from him.

"We love you, Yuuma." The last thing he saw was his parents racing off to face the scary villain. His mother used her power to gently whisk him away to the shelter where he'd be safe. Everything faded from view, and his mind was whisked away to an endless void of nothing.

But as Yuuma succumbed to to the darkness, he could of sworn he saw someone standing in front of him. They didn't have any real features he could discern, and their eyes were a milky white. It was a small figure no bigger than he was, completely shrouded in shadows and unfocused. 'Who are you?' Yuuma thought. Their mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. What was it trying to say? Why did it seem so sad? Yuuma strained to hear it, but he was too tired, too out of it to focus. He wanted to make this being feel better, he didn't like it feeling sad. But why?

The scene became nothingness once again, but Yuuma thought he could faintly hear a broken, sad voice at the back of his mind. If Yuuma could think straight, he would've thought that it was crying.

'Why are you crying?' Was the last thing Yuuma thought before he again lost touch with reality and let sleep take hold of him. The entity, which was fading from view once again, opened its mouth to answer the 5 year old child. It was small, faint, broken, but Yuuma thought he could hear its small echo in the back of his mind.

"ᴵ ʷᵃˢ ᵗᵒᵒ ˡᵃᵗᵉ. ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ"

When he woke again, he felt extremely hazy. Parts of his memory were completely blank, and other bits and pieces were blurry at best. He was disoriented by the bright lights and white walls of the room he was in. A hospital? Did he faint?

That day was supposed to be happy... He got an A. He got his quirk. He was getting his vanilla ice-cream. So why... Why? Why was he now in the hospital all alone? Where was mom and dad? They were just in the car together, so why?

What happened? Why couldn't he remember?

Why did he feel the need to cry if today was happy?

"Yuu-chan, you're awake!" A lady came into the room. She had the same red eyes as his mom did and deep brown hair . Her older sister who people swore was her twin because of how similar they looked. But Yuuma could always tell them apart. "Aunt Airi? Why are yo-" She didn't wait for him to finish before she tackled the poor child in a hug. She was crying, holding on to him tightly. "It's gonna be okay, Yuu-chan. Everything's gonna be just fine."

'I know you're scared buddy. But everything's gonna be just fine.'

"Where's Mom and Dad, Auntie?! Where is this? What happened?! I can't remember what happened Auntie—I'm scared—I want my mom, I want my dad! Please bring them here. Please?! Tell me what's happening!" All of the haze and dizziness had all but gone away in that moment. Something was very wrong, very very wrong.

She squeezed him tighter before letting him go. He was very confused, scared. His memory was foggy at best, and his Aunt who's supposed to be in Seasoning City a few hours away is here. She was a police officer, not a hero like his mom and dad were. She released him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she slowly started to talk to him.

88%

"Yuuma, what can you remember? Try to remember as much as you can, but take your time." She said gently, and he tried. The events came flooding back to him, giving him a massive headache. He winced as the images became clearer.

"T-the villain! Mom and Dad went off to fight a villain and Mommy made me float to the shelter and daddy put me to sleep... they ran after him, that monster thing... Where are Mommy and Daddy, Auntie? Are they okay?! Can I see them, Auntie?!" Everything in the room began to rumble and shake violently, Airi pulling Yuuma into a hug to try and calm him down. "Yuuma..."

"They made it, didn't they Auntie...? I wanna see them, please..." The walls of the room began to crack, as well as the floor. His eyes became bright like white light as the tears began to float in the air. Everything in the room including them was floating, and no matter how scared his Aunt was of this predicament, she didn't let him go. All she could do was hold on to him, to pull him close as her tears began to fall once again.

97%

"I'm so sorry, Yuuma. I'm so sorry..."

That was all she had to say. Even though he was only 5, Yuuma knew what those words meant. He'd never get to see his mom's warm smile again. He'd never get to see one if his dad's wacky illusions again. They'd never tell him stories about their cases at work again, or tuck him in with a kiss at night.

They'd never again be by his side when he got sick, or make him laugh when he was sad. He'd never get to see them when he got home, they'd never go out for ice-cream, they'd never give him advice or be there for him.

98%

They weren't there.

They wouldn't be there ever again.

99%

They were gone. And they were never coming back.

100%: Sadness.

Airi held on to her nephew tightly. Even as the room began to tear from his sorrowful cries. He was scared, sad, and hurting. The doctors quickly rushed in, putting the sedating medicine slowly into his IV. "Let it all out, Yuu-chan. Cry your heart out if you must. I'll be here for you from now on, okay? Auntie is going to take care of you."

As he calmed down a bit, too tired to let his power go wild anymore, he simply continued to sob into his aunt's shirt. All she could do is rub his back, she had already mourned their deaths to an extent, even though the pain was still fresh. She didn't say anything else, letting him cry until the medicine finally put him to sleep.

Her mind replayed how she'd ended up there. Yuuma may not of realized it, but he'd been asleep for two weeks after the incident.

-2 Weeks Prior-

"Pro Hero Touch and her husband, Pro Hero Replay were together known as Dual Omniscience. It is today that we honor their noble sacrifice, and send our deepest condolences to their family. They will be remembered for their bravery as—"

On the news, his parents were being praised for their bravery and sacrifice. Without them holding the villain off, a lot more people would have died. Airi got on a plane as soon as she heard the heartbreaking news. But the police didn't want to give her all of the details until she'd gotten there, and she didn't know why.

She drove to the police department, ignoring all of the lights on the way. She stormed in, tears in her eyes as all of the police officers had to hold her back from going to the holding cells. "WHERE IS THAT BASTARD? I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL DESTROY HIM!" She stops when she notices two figures standing on the other side of the precinct: Eraserhead and All Might. There were no smiles on their faces

"Shota, Yagi." She calmed down a bit, shaking the police off of her. She walked over to them, a deep and teary scowl on her face.

"Airi..." All Might almost whispered, "I'm so-" The little woman grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, bringing him down to her level to meet her distraught gaze. "Tell me what the hell happened and where the fucker who killed my sister and her husband are."

"He's already dead, Airi." Eraserhead answered, Airi letting All Might go. All of her anger now had nowhere to go. Both of them could visibly see her crumbling in front of them, but the only thing they could say was "I'm sorry." They took her to a private room in the back where they could talk. Just them and no one else. Knowing that only her old friends were watching, she collapsed to the ground in a heap of tears.

They let her cry in silence without interruption. Once that was done, they were able to talk to her rationally again. "Where is Yuuma, my nephew? Was he injured at all?"

"Your nephew is currently at the hospital near here, under intense surveillance."

"Surveillance? Why, he's a victim in this why are the police watching him like he's some criminal?! He's five for crying out loud!"

"We understand your concerns, but let us explain." All Might started, sitting the young woman down. There were videos of the scene which were confiscated from civilians and reporters that were on the scene. "What... is that...?" She whispered, shocked by what she was seeing.

The villain responsible for the incident was a giant beast, a strange looking monster that had lost all humane intellect. It was indiscriminately destroying everything in it's path, and that included people. It had multiple, heinous abilities, but it was severely unstable. What was it? No one knew. That is where the video cuts off, and Eraserhead puts on the next bit of video that was able to be captured from the incident.

Tears began to overflow again. It was her little sister fighting alongside her husband and partner. They were getting civilians out of the way while trying to lead it away from where they were all fleeing to. Every attack they threw at the monster was for naught, but they managed to draw its simple minded attention. Once it had concentrated on them, however, it became a very one-sided, brutal battle. The video, which was a live footage of at the time, cuts off abruptly.

The person who had inadvertently caught it on their camera was killed running away.

Airi knew that the next footage would be after her sister and brother-in-law were already... She braced her heart, her mind, and tighten her fist until her knuckles were white. Eraserhead sat beside her, putting his hand on her trembling fists. All Might puts a strong hand on her shoulder, and they both give her time before they continue.

"They fought with everything they had. My stupid, idiotic sister and her equally stupid husband. You did well, you dumbasses..." She said, the tears resurfacing when she thought she didn't have any left to cry. "I'm guessing that this next video is why you have Yuuma on surveillance."

The heroes nodded, a still confused and angered Airi looking up at the screen to find something she didn't expect to find. "B-but..." She looked to the heroes with a worried, confused, and scared look on her face.

"That villain was determined to have been made up of pure energy. It wasn't even alive to begin with. One could even dare say that it was a spirit. But something intervened right as the heroes got there, and the villain or whatever it was... there was nothing left of him. It had been one-sidedly pulverized and its lingering energy, from what this video shows, was absorbed into the entity that defeated it. When the threat was gone, the entity landed on the ground from where it was hovering between Touch and Replay. Almost protectively."

The dark, expressionless, and small entity. Even from the screen, the presence of the entity was clear. It was something that should not be touched, but... it seemed only half awake. It wasn't fully there, or hostile. It was like something that was dormant was awoken too early, and had only come out because it was needed. But once that need was fulfilled, it became dormant again, and slowly who it was became clear.

Passed out between the bodies of his parents was the one who truly defeated the strange creature; a young, preschool aged child who'd only just got his quirk.

"Yuu-chan..."

"Yes." Eraserhead confirmed. "And to top it all off, my power didn't do anything to him. At All. We had to wait to approach him when his quirk deactivated on its own just minutes after. This is the reason he's being monitored, Airi. And it was decided that since you are both a police officer and his aunt, you would be the best person to continue keeping an eye on him."

The room was silent. An unbearable, deafening silence.

The video was paused on the screen. Airi was only staring at it. It was blurry, but the entity her nephew became, could be almost clearly seen. It's lack of features made it impossible for anyone who weren't close to Yuuma to recognize who it was. Everyone else may have thought that this being displayed no emotions, that it was lifeless and unaware.

But Airi could see it.

The overwhelming sadness in its hallow eyes as it knew that it had gotten there too late. If she was in the right mind, she would've said that it looked to be crying invisible tears. 'What are you, no... who are you?' She thought to herself. So many questions racked her mind, but she didn't have an answer. After the reports were finalized and the case was closed officially, Airi continued to question everything.

The villain.

That entity.

But the only lead she had was vague. After visiting her still unconscious nephew in the hospital, she went to her sister's home. It was quiet now, the usual warm and fuzzy atmosphere replaced with a bitter emptiness. There was a room in the back where they kept their family history. It was an idea of one of their great great great great great somethings to keep a record of it after quirks began manifesting.

She flipped through the pages, book after book after book. The more she looked, the more worn and torn they became. Being as old as they were, she was surprised by how well kept they were. Then she found it, the one and only lead she could think of.

"Shigeo Kageyama, one of if not the first heroes produced by our family. Our too many greats to count grandfather. His brother is who I named my son after, Ritsu. Grandma said that all of our quirks were just a branch off of his own. But there was something else... Where is it?" She flipped through the pages, they were worn, and some of the words were too faded read. Then she got to the story she was looking for, it was only a small entry, but she remembered her grandma telling her about it before she died.

It read "The Unknown". Very simply, plainly. But the ominous feeling she got from it was far from simple. It was written by Great Uncle Ritsu himself, and was one of many that he'd written about his elder brother's powers.

"It had no name—no mercy when I first witnessed it. It wasn't Ni-san—something else entirely—buried—'that' incident. It—power—subconscious. I fear that one day it might return—descendants—But then again, maybe—Protector—help them—need. I saw it again in Ni-san's grand-daughter—different—more aware—sentient?—"

Beyond that it was impossible to read. What this could mean Airi could only guess. She studied through the rest of the books, but there were even less mentions of "The Unknown". Going back to the hospital after finding nothing else, only one question lingered in her mind.

'What could this mean for Yuuma?'

[A/N] Yep. This one hurt. But the hurt isn't quite over yet.