October 18th, 2096

"We interrupt this program to announce that beloved Pro Hero Kinetic, also known as Nakano Masa, was killed in action tonight on the grounds of Chikara High, where he served as a teacher. The alleged suspect is in custody. Hado Koushi is a recent graduate of Chikara High and had just made his official debut in April..."

"Hado Koushi remains in a comatose state. The trial will be postponed indefinitely until he is able to wake up and confess. He is being treated for multiple injuries, but is expected to make a full recovery..."

"Chikara High's principal, Ogawa Mio, has refused to make a statement until Hado wakes and gives his statement. She has apologized for the uproar that this has caused, and has offered to take over funeral expenses for Kinetic's family. The memorial service will be held in the hero's hometown of Akita on Wednesday..."

"...But the question still remains – how could Kinetic have been killed by an eighteen-year-old kid? And better yet, why did it happen in the first place?"

January 23rd, 2097

Koushi was told that he'd been unconscious for just over three months. As it turned out, picking a fight with the Number Four Pro Hero was not something one could accomplish without receiving at least some injuries in return. Not only that, but apparently he'd gotten off quite easy for the situation. Kinetic had been a strong hero, and if Koushi hadn't resorted to some form of dirty tricks to get in that first mortal blow, then he would've certainly lost the fight – and likely his life along with it. A traumatic brain injury, eye damage, and some scarring from those lethal energy swords wasn't too bad, considering.

When he had woken up, restrained, in a hospital bed, Koushi hadn't initially believed what had happened. In fact, he'd protested it and maintained his innocence until they'd shown him the security footage. Chikara High had cameras in every hallway, so it wasn't surprising they'd caught the fight on camera.

It wasn't surprising to see Kinetic walking down the dark, empty halls. The man was a teacher there, after all – he had been one of Koushi's favorites, actually. What had been more surprising was to see himself skulking along behind the hero, quiet and stealthy.

Kinetic froze in place on the screen, staring at something ahead of him. Of course, the cameras wouldn't pick up the illusions that Koushi's Quirk created, so whatever Kinetic was seeing would remain a mystery. While it was impossible to see his facial expression from this angle, the man's body language was tense and afraid, if Koushi read it correctly, and he took an uncharacteristic step back. Kinetic was known to be a brave hero, unflinching and brazen, so it must have been something horrifying indeed to cause him to flinch so.

The cameras did not pick up sound, which was probably for the best, because during that one step back, the Koushi on screen lunged forward, pulling a large knife from his coat pocket and driving it ruthlessly into Kinetic's back – just beneath his left shoulder blade. Presently, Koushi could feel the phantom sensation of the hero's hot blood coating his hands. Until that moment, he still hadn't understood that this was actually something he had done. But for those few heartbeats, it was as though he was transported back in time to that hallway, staring at the knife he'd buried into Kinetic's broad back.

That had really happened.

On the screen, Koushi ripped the knife from Kinetic's back. He could tell by the amount of blood splattering on the clean white floor that he'd hit something important. Still, Kinetic didn't go down immediately. The hero spun around, manifesting his energy blades in his palms and slashing diagonally across Koushi's face. For his part, past Koushi tried to put up some form of fight, but hand-to-hand combat was not his forte. Koushi was not large or strong, and his Quirk wasn't offensive, so he'd gotten by on mind games and strategy before that point. Kinetic was a brawler, and he was easily able to overpower Koushi, even as he was bleeding out.

The fact that he was losing so much blood so quickly was likely the reason why Koushi was still alive to watch this video in the first place. Kinetic's movements slowed further and further until he collapsed in a heap on the floor alongside Koushi. The entire fight had only lasted two minutes, but Koushi felt as though he'd been watching it for hours. Days. Months. Years. The weight of what he'd done was overwhelming – chills coursed through his body, causing him to tremble from where he was sat on the clean hospital sheets. There were police standing around him, and a detective sat in the chair beside his bed. Koushi's physical condition wasn't well enough to leave the hospital yet, which was the only reason why they weren't keeping him locked up at the moment. Though, with this video, and the mountain of evidence stacked against him, he expected it wouldn't be long before they did just that.

The detective leaned forward in his chair after the video ended, cool brown eyes unreadable as he looked Koushi over. It made Koushi want to crawl under the sheets and never come back out, but he forced himself to make eye contact with the older man, as difficult as it was to do so.

"You did it, didn't you." It didn't sound like a question. Koushi suspected that it didn't have to be – he could still feel the sensation of tacky blood on his hands and the pounding of his heart as he trailed down those dark halls after his former teacher.

There was no point in lying. Not when he knew the truth, deep down. But he couldn't bring himself to say it outright just yet. His voice sounded strained and wobbly when he spoke. "Was I... could I have been under the influence of a mind control Quirk?"

"I'm afraid not, son. We had the hospital check for evidence of that when they brought you in, but there was nothing that would've suggested that." Of course that was something that they would've thought of. The whole situation was so bizarre – it would've been the first thing they'd look for. "The actions you took that night were of your own accord." His gaze remained steady, locked onto Koushi's own. "Now, I'll ask again. Did you kill Kinetic?"

Koushi and the detective were both silent for the next several moments. It hung over the room like a ton of steel about to drop – Koushi hadn't stopped shaking since the moment they'd started the video, but he was oddly still now. He wanted desperately to deny the accusations and defend himself, but there was something building in his chest, stirring and flooded with guilt, and he found that he knew the answer.

After a few moments, he offered the detective a small, strained smile. "Yes, sir. I suppose I did."

Watching Principal Ogawa's statement the following day was possibly one of the worst experiences of Koushi's entire life. She'd gone on the news in person, which was relatively rare. The old woman preferred to stick to her office, away from the cameras and press. In the three years that Koushi went to Chikara High, she'd only made two public appearances – one for the death of an old teacher, and one to address a relatively bad screw up during one of the students' internships. Nothing too notable, though – nothing like this.

She looked beautiful, for a woman of her age. Long, straight silver hair fell over her shoulders, and she'd worn a solid black dress with heels to boot. But the expression on her face was just as stern as ever – there were more stress lines than Koushi remembered between her eyebrows and beside her mouth. He wondered, briefly, how many of those he'd caused over the years.

"I was aware of some risks when I accepted Hado Koushi into Chikara. Neither of his parents were Pro Heroes, his Quirk was nothing overly special, and to be frank, he was a bit of a wild card. His grades were incredible, though, and he seemed to have the right amount of drive to become a hero, so I personally went out on a limb to take him in." Her voice was steady, but tired.

The newscaster was a sleazy-looking guy with slicked-back hair. He was younger than Principal Ogawa by a good thirty-five years or so, which would place him somewhere in his thirties. "Were there any signs that he would've turned out this way? That he had the capacity to murder someone in cold blood?" he asked, obviously stirring the pot. Koushi wanted to hate the guy, but it wasn't like he didn't deserve it.

Principal Ogawa took a deep breath before she responded. "I could not have anticipated that Hado would do something like this. His behavior was... mischievous. Capricious, proud, arrogant. He broke many rules and caused trouble quite often, but he was among our top students, and from what I saw, he seemed to want to do good in the world." She paused for a moment. "But I suppose he was a good actor. He had us all fooled, including myself."

Koushi ignored the sting in his chest and said nothing. He was lucky he was even allowed to watch some of the news stories and wasn't left completely in the dark as he awaited his trial. Besides, it wasn't as though she was wrong. He'd been a bit of a nightmare in school – he could admit that. Rules and restrictions weren't really his style, and he wasn't exactly the most well-liked person around. His classmates found him polarizing – generally, people either loved him or hated him. But he'd made friends, regardless. Briefly, he wondered if he'd ever see them again. Would they even want to see him, if they were able?

He shook his head, bringing himself out of his reverie. Principal Ogawa had continued speaking, but he'd zoned out and missed quite a bit of it. It seemed she was wrapping up her statement, now. The woman bowed her head to the camera, and Koushi felt dread build in his stomach.

"I would like to personally apologize for the actions of Hado Koushi, and for the damage this has caused. I will do my best to make amends for this mistake, and I will personally ensure that it will not happen again."

March 28th, 2097

The day of his trial came sooner than he thought it would. Koushi felt as though he would crumble under the unforgiving weight of the Quirk-canceling collar around his neck. Not that he really needed it; he wasn't positive he could still use his Quirk at full capacity anymore. His left eye had been badly damaged in the fight, and he needed his vision to create the illusions properly, so he could imagine it would be difficult to do so.

Besides, what good would his illusions do in this situation? His own actions put him here, after all. It wasn't like this wasn't what he deserved. It didn't stop his body from burning under the gaze of everyone in the courtroom, as well as the countless observers that were watching the live trial from the comfort of their living rooms.

It went by pretty quickly, if he were honest with himself. Though it probably had something to do with the fact that his head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. He could barely feel himself move up to the stand to make his testimony, and he certainly couldn't remember what he'd said. It was like a terrible dream.

Finally, the judge addressed him. She looked like a nice lady, Koushi supposed. Her eyes were soft, a little sympathetic, maybe, but still professional. He wondered how pathetic he must look for even the judge to look at him like that. "How does the defendant plead?" she asked, and Koushi stood up again.

He could still feel the blood on his hands, but when he looked down, they were clean – settled in a pair of too-tight handcuffs. He wondered if that sensation would ever leave him, but he suspected it probably wouldn't.

"Guilty, your honor."

Hello and thank you for reading! The prologue here is set in 2096-97, but the actual story will be picking up in the year 2100. It will be following the lives of Koushi's former classmates, as well as Koushi himself, as they deal with the fallout of everything that has happened so far, as well as the curve-balls life will throw at them in the future.

Koushi will be serving a life sentence, but will he remain in prison for its entirety? And was the situation as cut-and-dry as it seemed in the first place? Things aren't always what they seem, after all.

I'm going to need seven former classmates and a couple of other characters – heroes and villains – for the main cast. I'm hoping to cap out at ten or eleven characters for the main cast, but I've got tons of room for side characters!

RULES

1. This is an AU, so there should be no relation to any canon characters. Quirks have been around for about a hundred years or so in this universe.

2. Please do not make your characters overpowered. Strong characters are fine, but no one is perfect.

3. Give me a ton of details in your form. I love having a lot to read, so it's totally fine if it takes two, three, or even more messages to send in the entire thing.

4. Please send me a PM with the idea for your character before you fill out the form. I want to work with you guys with the Quirks and personalities to make sure the characters fit well with the story.

5. There is no deadline at the moment, but I will likely set one after I post chapter two.

6. Please title your PM "Guilty – [Character Name] – [Quirk]"

7. Have fun! Be creative! And PM me if you have any questions or comments, please.

After you submit, please do not send me repetitive messages to get my attention. If you have amendments to make to your character, or have questions, please let me know, but don't send messages that are just spamming to get me to reply to your character. It might take me a little bit of time to respond to your form, but I will definitely get around to it. When this happens, it kind of kills my motivation for doing so. Of course, if it's been several weeks and I haven't responded, feel free to message me! I might have forgotten to message back, or the PM might've gotten buried at that point.

Thank you guys again for reading! I'll be posting the form on my profile soon.