Prologue Final Part: The Smiling Hero

"Cough, Cough…*wheeze*…*wheeze*…*wheeze*…" The woman groaned, curling deeper into a ball, clutching her side. 'Is this…how I'm going die?' She wondered. 'Having achieved nothing? Alone…' Her shoulders subconsciously trembled, as the cold crept on to her — her limbs feeling increasingly numb.

"Hey hero onee-chan, aren't you feeling cold?"

The woman's seared bangs rustled, "A…kid?" She weakly muttered — her hollow grey eyes regaining some of its light. She pulled what was left of her cape closer to her side.

Grunting, she forced herself up against the metal frame of the bin, ignoring the dampness on her palm. "A-are you lost sweetheart? Where's your mom?" The woman asked, squeezing out a smile as she forcefully swallowed the blood back down her throat.

The boy's eyes widened, nodding his head, before just as quickly shaking it — his pupils darting from side-to-side.

The woman chuckled, 'how cute'. She thought to herself despite her current situation. "What's your name, son?"

"M-Midoriya Izuku, m-m'am!"

Gripping the side of the bin, she propped herself up. "Then Izuku-kun, is there…a bathroom nearby?"

"Uh-huh!" The boy's expression brightened, "Right over there!" He chirped, pulling her free hand forward.

…

Drying her face with a paper towel, she tossed it in the trash can before picking up the object laid on the sink top in front of her. A few seconds passed as she stared down at it, pursing her lips together, before breaking out into a bitter laugh. "At this point, it's just a matter of time anyways. I'm sorry for having you make this Chiyo…"

Taking a deep breath, she felt her arm up for a suitable vein, before pressing the needle down. A portion of the porcelain sink shattered under her fingers, as the veins on her forearm bulged all the way up to her neck.

Breathing heavily, the woman leaned forward against what remained of the sink, as the sweat rolled down her chin. Reflected back from the mirror was a pair of ruddy cheeks, and glossy pink lips.

The woman faintly smiled, cleaning herself up, before walking out onto the street. Standing under the shade of a lamppost, as the snow slowly fluttered to the ground, was a boy of around 3 or 4 years of age with messy green hair gasping in awe at the scenery around him. For a brief moment, the silhouette of another young boy overlapped his.

'No, I can't.' She shook her head. 'It was for his own protection but, I still gave him up.'

Still, she couldn't help but wonder about his life. He obviously wasn't the little boy she had in her head anymore — if anything he was probably preparing for his college entrance examinations by now. Was he healthy? Was he happy? Does he have a girlfriend? Does he res—"

"Wow hero onee-chan, you look so pretty now!" Izuku gushed, gently tugging her hand with an awkward look on his face. The woman blinked twice, before getting down on one knee and playfully pinching his cheeks.

"Ow, ow, ow, it hurts onee-chan!"

"It's supposed to you cheeky brat! Who gave you the courage to make a pass on an old woman like me?"

"B-but my dad said that if girl looks sad, you should tell them that they're pretty. A-and onee-chan really is pretty!"

"Sad?" The woman's face blanked, lowering her hands from Izuku's cheeks.

"Y-yeah hero onee-chan looked like she was going to cry, so I…"

"You, really!" She said ruffling his hair. "Hey Izuku-kun, could you close your eyes for a moment?"

"O-okay." He nodded his head, nervously closing his eyes only to feel something soft gently pressed onto his palm.

"You can open your eyes now Izuku-kun."

"An omamori?" In his hand lay a jade green pouch.

"Mhm!" He looked up at the grinning woman, only to quickly turn away blushing. She giggled at his reaction before continuing, "My foster mother gave it to me when I got my hero's license, and now it's yours."

Izuku's eyes widened. "T-then wouldn't your kaa-chan get really sad if I—"

"She wouldn't." The woman said with conviction. "If anything," Her lips curled into a soft smile, matching her gaze with Izuku's. "She'd be super pissed at me if I tried to shortchange my hero."

…

"You really are life-saver Kenji." The woman said, shaking hands with larger man in front of her.

Kenji however, shook his head. "I can't have you thanking me for doing my job, Shimura-san."

"Ken~jiii, what did I say about calling me Shimura-san?"

The older man gulped, stepping back while placing both of his hands over his ears. "Well, that's…while I'm on duty I can't just—"

"Captain! We got ahold of the boy's parents — they'll be here in a couple minutes!"

"Ah, good work Tsukauchi-kun! I'll meet them with you." The police captain said, taking that opportunity to escape a most terrible fate (in his eyes).

As Nana watched his receding back, she coughed into her hand. "Looks like I'm out of time." She said while staring at Izuku's sleeping visage in the police car. 'I would've liked to have at least told him my name, but I guess being remembered — if he remembers me at all — as hero onee-chan is more than I deserve.'

Wiping the blood off her palm, she started walking in the opposite direction without a particular destination in mind.

…

"Here, huh."

Nana wasn't sure how long she had been walking, only that she had somehow found herself in a secluded part of the park with nothing but trees for miles to see.

She sat down on the viewing bench. 'Toshinori…while it's a shame I won't be there to see you fulfill your dream — at the very least, he'll still have Chiyo and Sora to keep him in check. That boy can be too overzealous sometimes.'

The clouds in the sky parted, allowing the full moon to illuminate the wintery landscape.

'Koutarou…I know you probably hate me, and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. But to keep you safe, I'd do it all again.'

The petals on the trees slowly unfurled.

'Izuku-kun…I was glad to have—'

Under the moonlight, the pink petals fell to the ground.

As the title suggests, this is the last of the prologues — part 1 was about the future and this one was about the past. The actual plot will start from the next chapter onwards. Lastly, thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this story so far. Happy New Years!

Edit: I'm still undecided whether Lady Nagant should be in the harem. What do you guys think?