The blanket of darkness that shrouded the room was shattered as light bursts forth from the display of a Fujitsu 15.6" Lifebook E559 laptop. A video of an extremely buff man with his silky golden hair slicked back nicely, wearing a blue skintight suit with red and white lines intricately woven into the suit, creating an odd yet nice design. One could easily see his chiseled body through the tight suit, his bulging muscles strained against the fabric. His boots and the suit around his wrist was dyed yellow, complementing his hair nicely. But his most noticeable traits are the two distinct tufts that stuck up and his large smile that flashed his brilliantly white teeth. In his arms and on his shoulders were many passed out civilians he had rescued from the disaster. And out of the blue, he gave out a booming laugh and sounded out in a deep voice, "it's fine now! Why? Because I am here!" His shining bright blue eyes stood out in all of the fire around him, like a ray of hope in times of crisis. His name, All Might, forever remembered in the halls of fame, as the world's strongest superhero.
A young boy with wavy green hair and bright green eyes quirked his lips upwards into a sad smile as he watched the video on repeat. Warm tears flowed down like a river as he stared at the computer screen for hours. Life's not fair. Young midoriya izuku learnt that at a young age. All he wanted was to have a quirk like his idol and save people. But as reality would have it, he was diagnosed as quirkless a few hours ago. A young slim woman by the name of midoriya Inko kneeled next to her son and hugged him tightly, trying to comfort him. "Can I become a hero too?", his voice hoarse and weak as he shakily pointed his finger towards the screen.
Her heart was broken as her mind registered her son's question. She knew that reality was harsh and that her son would not be able to become a hero without a quirk, but she didn't want to crush his dream. She tried and tried but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to lie to her own son and give him false hope. Just like that her own tears bursts forth as she clutched izuku closer to her, "I'm sorry izuku! I'm sorry!l"
A few years passed, and despite the constant bullying and harsh comments he received from his childhood friend, bakugou katsuki, izuku was still determined to become a hero. No matter how many times people have crushed his dream and hopes, izuku only came back stronger, set on following his dream.
One day, izuku was taking a stroll in the park while scribbling furiously in his notebook, titled "Hero analysis for the future no.4". He was writing down notes of the newly debuted hero, death arms, when he heard a scream emanating from a nearby field. He rushed over to see what was going on, only to see bakugo ,along with his two 'friends', picking on a boy.
He didn't even realised his feet started moving on their own until he was in front of the boy, his arms wide open, shielding the boy from bakugo and his lackeys. "Kaachan, that's enough! A hero is supposed to help people not harm them!"
Bakugo's face contorted into a snarl as he threatened izuku,"step aside Deku! Stop trying to play hero, you quirkless weakling or you will end up just like that extra behind you!" Bakugo's hands lit up as numerous small explosions danced across his palms threateningly. Years of praise about his quirk has made bakugo disillusioned and arrogant, he enjoyed looking down on others to make himself feel superior.
Izuku did not relent,"didn't you want to become a hero who was going to surpass All Might! How can you become a hero if you are going to hurt others!", pouring all of his emotions into those words. Bakugo only responded by letting loose a roar and launched his fists towards izuku. Izuku raised his arms in defence, attempting to block the painful blows that rained down upon him by his assailant. He did not know how long he laid in that curled up fetal position on the ground, his hands trying to shield himself, but when the blows finally stopped, he just laid on the ground, his body racked with pain.
"These are some very detailed notes, you have been gifted with a rather bright mind", a voice caught his attention. He turned his head to the side to see a man with long black hair with burgundy tips tied into a long pony tail that reached all the way down to his waist and two locks of hair flowing down the sides of his face, framing it. He had dark red eyes that spoke of many years of experience and wore a gentle smile on his face. He had a large marking on the left side of his forehead, a scar shaped like fire, and had Hamafuda earrings on his ears. He was dressed in a white robe and brown pants with a checkered green and black haori draped over his shoulders. Izuku's train of thought was disrupted as the mysterious man spoke again.
"So kid, you want to be a hero?"
Izuku could only give a small nod as he continued to lay down on the grass. The corner of the man's lips quirked upwards into a gentle smile as he spoke, "A great hero is one who is willing to protect others, I think you will make a great hero".
"Even...wi-without..a...quirk?"
The man's smile only grew, "one does not need to have a quirk to be a hero, it's the heart that matters most. Keep your heart burning and don't give up on your dream!" The man stood up from the bench he rested on and signalled for izuku to follow him.
"Where...a-are...we..going..", izuku managed to get out as he painfully crawled to his feet.
"I'm going to train you to become a hero", the man replied before taking off towards the mountain just outside the city. Izuku sprinted after him, his feet aching, his muscles crying out in agony and his lungs burning. It took izuku everything he had to keep the mysterious man within his sight. They ran for a full hour until the reached the foot of the mountain, the man not even breaking a sweat and izuku on the verge of passing out from exhaustion. The mountain was shrouded in a mysterious mist that have baffled scientists till this day as they could not find a reason to why the mist was there.
"H-how...do...y-you...run...s-so..f-fast..?", the words struggling to get out from izuku's mouth as he slumped against a large nearby boulder.
The man gave him that same gentle small smile and replied, "focus on your breathing and if you can master the correct to breathe, you can dance forever." Izuku only looked back at him with a confused expression, 'what does he mean focus on my breathing? Dancing?' With that, they both began their slow trudge up the mountain side. Izuku lost count of how many times he tripped and stumbled on his journey up the mountain, he received numerous cuts and bruises from his falls. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it to the summit, where they got to see the setting sun. The hues of red blending with orange, purple and crimson, stretching far and wide. The colour of fire hearths and tangerines spread into a grateful sky. The sight was absolutely mesmerising, and izuku could have spent forever staring off into the horizon, but of course the sun eventually disappeared below the horizon, and with the setting of the sun, came the caliginous sky filled with an endless amount of stars. The milky speckles twirled and danced across the sky in various patterns, tugging at the corners of his lips in a way that nearly made him smile.
"Here", izuku turned in time to see the mysterious man throw a katana towards him. Izuku tried to catch it, but he was too injured and tired, causing him to collapse under the weight of the blade. The man gently placed a stack of books next to him, "study well, practice hard, set your heart ablaze and I know one day you will make a fine hero."
With that, the man slowly walked off into the mist that shrouded the mountain, izuku used all of his energy to get one last question out, "wait! What's your name?" The man did not bother stopping while replying, "Tanjiro, Kamado Tanjiro". And with that, Tanjiro disappeared into the mist.
On the uneven ground where he lay, sleep soon pooled on his eyelids and izuku drifted of into the realm of unconsciousness. That night, he dreamt of a man, he resembled tanjiro is appearance but it was clear he wasn't tanjiro. Yoriichi. He didn't know how but he knew that man's name was yoriichi. Izuku didn't understand why he was dreaming of this man, but just as he as was about to wonder why, yoriichi unsheathed his katana. It was a long blade, coloured a brilliantly bright red. That was when he started dancing, blade igniting with searing hot flames that seemed to be burning brighter with each passing moment. "No, not dancing. Those are sword forms", izuku realised . Izuku watched closely, burning them into his mind so not one escaped. The forms were so strikingly beautiful, izuku forgot to breathe. When yoriichi performed the forms, he looked more like a spirit than a person. Izuku was captivated by the plumes of flickering white,red and orange flames that twirled and danced along with yoriichi's blade before cascading down onto the earth, scorching the ground.
When it was over, izuku soon found himself slowly waking up. He cracked open his eyelids to find himself back on the summit of the mountain, the bright blue sky above him, he laid that for a few moments, witnessing the serenity in which the clouds sailed by, before eventually crawling to his feet. Somehow, overnight, most of his injuries had healed, but it did not help with the dirt that covered his clothing and body. Shoving those thoughts aside, he picked up a book from the stack that tanjiro had given him, it was labelled, "breath of water".
"How peculiar", izuku thought. He flipped the book open to see that there were many different forms for the breath of water, steps to learn and perfect them. There was too much information to take in, it would take a while to read through it. He quickly closed the book and decided to read it when he got home. That's right! Home! Izuku had completely forgot to remind his mother who was probably worrying back at home. He took out his phone to see numerous missed calls and text messages from one very distressed inko midoriya. Izuku quickly grabbed all the books and the katana gifted to him and hurried back home, but also making sure not to trip and drop any of it.
His journey home was not a quick one, he stumbled many times down the mountain and the walk all the way home was slow and exhausting. By the time he reached the doorstep of his home, he collapsed onto the ground, the books scattered across the ground and the katana hitting the concrete floor with a resounding clatter that probably would have attracted the attention of many in the area. He took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the blade, the sheath was made of wood, the shining coat of lacquer made the sheath look so simple yet elegant and beautiful. When he squinted hard enough, he could make out tiny kanji letters and patterns on the sheath. How peculiar, he decided he would try and read the kanji later. He gripped the handle hesitantly, unsure if he should unsheathe the weapon in broad daylight. If anyone passed by and saw him, they might assume he is a villain. Deciding to risk it he unsheathed the blade, and the momentarily flash of light that reflected off the gleaming silver blade blinded him. When his vision cleared, he got to marvel at the beauty of the blade. The craftsmanship rivalled that of master sword smiths, it could probably even qualify to be a museum exhibit.
The blade was slightly longer than a standard katana, the handle long enough to accommodate a two-handed grip. The tsuba was a bronze rectangle with four other hollowed rectangles at each corner. There even a habiki(blade collar) right above the tsuba. That was when the blade slowly started changing colour, right from the tsuba all the way to the tip of the blade. The colour transitioned from a shiny silver to an obsidian black colour. It was as dark as the caliginous sky, sucking in the light from around it. The only thing going through izuku's mind was beautiful.
Just then the door slammed open, and a worrying inko midoriya rushed out of the house screaming izuku while charging straight at him. She wrapped him in a suffocating embrace while rivers of tears flowed from her eyes. He could feel the warm tears as it slowly seeped through the fabric of his clothing. "Izuku, I was so worried about you!! Where were you last night?!? When you didn't come home..." his mind zoned out and he stopped processing whatever inko said as he took on her tears and dark eye bags from lack of sleep. Mom must have been really worried. He cut her off with a hug and apologised for worrying her.
With inko's help, they hefted all the books inside his room. It was a miracle he managed to carry all the books back from the mountain. After taking a nice long warm shower and tossing his dirty clothes into the wash, izuku made his way into his room, where he sat down at his desk and reached out for the closest book. It was time for him to begin his training to become a hero!