Notes from the author:

First off, thank you to everyone who's made this far. I will say it is both exciting and nerve wrecking waiting to see the view count go up. If anyone is impatient let me tell you now:

This is the final background chapter. I'm conflicted because it seems rushed but I don't want to bog readers down with too much unnecessary information. Feel free to tell me your honest thoughts.

The Quirk of Solitude by ShadowAlchemy

Warning: This chapter contains details of death that might make certain readers uncomfortable. Look for the SCENE END if you prefer to skip it.

Chapter 2

The Mustafu Orphanage's current oldest teenager finally turned 14. Her name was Hinamori and she was a skinny brunette that kept her hair up in a short bun. She was excited because there was a small family who owned a private hostel wanting to hire and let her live on site. Of course she would've enjoyed having been adopted by now but this city was known for its low adoption rate. Still, even an occasional aspiring family to visit or interview with didn't sound unreasonable. Right?

That thought struck a chord in her head: Wasn't it odd that this place almost never got visitors for interviews?

She shook her head because ultimately she decided it wasn't worth caring about. After all, she was leaving this place to start being able to accrue some income. She smiled at that thought and finished packing all of her things into one suitcase and personal memorabilia into a small backpack. Girls at this orphanage have their own room for privacy and Hinamori took one last look at it. A complex mix of feelings swirled in her mind. She wasn't going to miss this place but it couldn't be helped she spent a majority of her life here. She was young when she was admitted. Her mother traveled for work and it required relocating to different parts of Japan sometimes.

Hinamori was never sure of her mother's true intention but to her it felt like her mom dropped her off at daycare and never bothered to come back. Whatever the case, Hinamori had a resolve to show the world and her mother that she could make it on her own. Entering the upstairs main hall that connected to the different bedrooms Hinamori noticed Izuku walking up the stairs with some books under his arm. She noticed his eyes were distant and they barely shifted to look at her. Neither one said anything to each other as he simply walked past her and eventually down to the end of the hall where his room was. Normally the orphanage would pair similarly aged boys together but ever since his quirkless diagnosis the caretakers moved him to his own room and this is where he spent most of his days.

Always alone, thought Hinamori. She gazed briefly at Izuku's closed bedroom door as some memories came to the surface of her mind. She remembers being specifically told to let him be and ignore him because he was causing some issues at school and this was his punishment. Another gut feeling told Hinamori something was amiss but it wasn't her problem to deal with. She never really cared for that guy because he was scrawny, weird, and didn't really fit in with any of the other kids. Without another thought she made her way downstairs to meet Ms. Jiruga at the exit with her documents and left in a taxi to her destination.

It took almost an hour to arrive at a small looking hostel at the far corner of the city. It looked normal from the outside but she didn't see any type of sign to indicate it was a business. She squashed down her small growing nervousness after the cab driver unloaded her suitcase and gave her a small bow of gratitude for her patronage. Deep down she wished the driver would've stayed a bit longer. She approached the main door with her documents in a manilla envelope under her left arm and knocked three times.

A small rustling could be heard and footsteps approached the door and opened it. An approximately looking 60 year old man greeted her with a welcoming smile and beckoned her inside the building. Something was bothering Hinamori and her nervousness kept climbing. When she entered the interior looked like a typical hostel with a large common room with a front desk position by the far wall. The old man got her attention by speaking

"Welcome young one! Thank you for accepting my invitation to work and stay here."

The old man still had not introduced himself but at least he bowed after addressing Hinamori and then continued,

"Your room is the last room on the left of this hallway. It has its own bathroom and you are welcome to set up your stuff to your liking."

Hinamori nodded in acknowledgement and followed the man's information to her assigned room. The hallway was lit but she didn't hear any noise from any of the rooms she passed by; nothing besides her own footsteps. It was also odd to her that there were not any room numbers or signs. The fact she did not know the gentleman's name who hired her was still bothering her and her gut was on the verge of screaming out loud that something was wrong. She reached the correct door and opened it. A swirling black misty portal was waiting for her and before she could react something reached out and pulled her in.

The black portal closed and left nothing but the old gentleman gently humming a tune to himself while he picked up the suddenly dropped baggages and envelope. Making his way to behind the building the man tossed everything into a ready to use fire pit and lit it ablaze with a normal lighter. Once satisfied that the intensity of the fire had enveloped all the stuff the man nonchalantly walked back into the building and locked it up. A little ways next to the property was a car parked on the side of the road and the man took off in it all while still humming pleasantly to a radio tune.

Meanwhile Hinamori hit the ground of a concrete floor in a nearly completely darkened room. She breathed rapidly while looking for any sign of an exit or anything useful in the room.

She didn't notice the man wearing an expensive looking suit gazing at her from his large chair which could easily be mistaken as a throne. One of the games All for One likes to play with his donors is seeing their desperation, panic, and creative responses to this event. If he liked what he saw there was potential merit to be considering serving him in his vast criminal empire. So far he was not impressed.

Hinamori finally took a deep breath and exhaled to activate her quirk creating twin fireballs that orbited her like small comets. The light from their fire helped illuminate the dark room and her eyes finally landed upon the man silently staring at her. Going completely wide eyed she let out a small yell of surprise and moved back away from him. So many questions formed in her head but she couldn't say anything. This man had a massive cold intimidating presence and she felt like death did his bidding on the regular.

"Well?" spoke All for One in a bored tone "You may ask one question before you die." His left hand moving up in an upwards palm like he was ready to receive something.

The first part of the game tests the victims problem solving ability and quick decision making skills. This part tests the will and intelligence to come up with something interesting or bold. Hinamori trembled almost uncontrollably while still looking at him with an absolute look of fear. She couldn't get over his statement that her life was in great peril.

"UH-UH-UM-w-who, I mean w-what, I mean…umm WHY ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME!?" Hinamori screamed in panic as tears started to form in her quivering eyes.

Wrong. Thought All for One while getting ready to activate his quirk.

"I never said it was me to be the one to kill you." He answered unsympathetically and one of his most used quirks came out his now pointing left hand.

Hinamori screamed as tendrils of black and red grabbed her and pulled her right in front of him outside the orbit range of her fireballs. She didn't have time to draw breath for another scream before All for One had his right hand palming her face. She was frozen on the spot and felt an unknown unpleasant sensation like if she was vomiting fire up out her body before collapsing back to the concrete floor. While Hinamori trembled in fear she felt something was missing. Like a hole had been punctured in her somewhere above her stomach and she was silently pouring out tears while trying to understand what just happened.

"Hm…" contemplated All for One and twin fireballs appeared and began to orbit him. "Not nearly what I anticipated. I expected these to give off more light and heat or atleast orbit faster if given concentration…what a disappointment."

All for One looked dismissively at the girl still cowering on the ground before him. Perhaps it will yield better results after some combination experiments. "Kurogiri. You may take her away."

Hinamori couldn't believe that a black misty portal appeared right underneath her and sucked her right in. She appeared in a strange laboratory filled with severally lined small capsules feeding into a large vat before being piped into fewer but larger capsules. A large inhuman creature with gray skin and an exposed brain immediately grabbed Hinamori and began to drag her despite all her protests. No amount of yelling, hitting, or pulling even garnered the monster's attention. She desperately called on her quirk to activate but nothing happened.

The struggle continued before Hinamori noticed something in one of the smaller lined capsules. She suddenly stopped struggling which caused the monster, known as Noumu, to check if she was still alive. Inside all the capsules were floating articles of clothing. The one Hinamori stopped at had a set of clothes that she recognized from one of the kids from the orphanage. The bright orange tee shirt had puncture holes in the fabric when she saw the kid use his quirk for the first time. It was his special shirt after getting his quirk diagnosed and wore it on the day he left the orphanage to celebrate leaving.

Noumu resumed pulling her and Hinamori was having a revelation: She and the other kids were just part of some underground quirk stealing villain…like groceries…or livestock.

When an empty capsule was reached, Noumu pressed her front against the back of the glass forcing her to look to the side and she heard footsteps approaching them. They didn't sound heavy or rushed and eventually Hinamori could roughly see the distorted reflection of the quirk doctor she saw years ago.

"You! Why are you doing this!?" She desperately croaked out.

"Yes yes be silent please." The doctor ignored her question and stuck a syringe into Hinamori's backside near the base of her spine.

It hurt a lot and whatever was in the syringe felt really hot and began to course through her veins. Noumu let go and stepped out while the doctor closed the entrance and sealed it. Hinamori was starting to sweat and her vision was starting to fade in and out. She barely registered the doctor's name tag before both walked away: [Dr. Daruma Ujiko] before her vision started to fade closer to herself. She lay there on the capsule floor holding herself for whatever comfort it could offer.

I'm going to die here alone aren't I? She thought as a hum and vibration started in the capsule indicating the vat pump was getting ready to come online.

I don't want to be alone like this….She lamented letting her tears stream down her face. I hate being alone! I don't want to die alone! And then as her vision was fading fast a last thought came to mind of her fellow orphan Izuku. Is this how you feel everyday Izuku? Is this similar to the result from the treatment we were told to give you? Izuku…I know it doesn't matter from someone terrible like me…but from the bottom of my heart… I'm sorry.

Her thoughts ceased and was no longer registered to be alive. The capsule began to flood with an unknown viscous liquid and Hinamori's body dissolved into the foul mixture without protest. The only true indicator that she was ever there to begin with was now her garments floating up and down the tank like some awful flag of distress and regret.

END SCENE

The distant looking eyes of Izuku Midoriya bore down into the book he was reading. This was one of the few and precious activities he was permitted to engage in. Everyone around him avoided him like the plague. Even at school he was told to eat lunch alone and stay behind everyday in an empty school to clean it. That just meant his schoolyard bullies could do whatever they wanted to him and not a single teacher was on site to save him. Not that Izuku believed they would if they were present.

For some unexplained reason he couldn't fathom why he got in trouble when his notorious classroom tormentor, Bakuguo, would be doing all of the aggression. Flipping Izuku's desk onto its side, incinerating parts of Izuku's homework and books with his explosion quirk, and most loudly and repeatedly of all: calling him a deku. A worthless, quirkless, and abandoned deku. The teachers would only ever chide Izuku to quit antagonizing the school's pride and joy because Bakugou would be applying to UA when he was old enough and be the first the school ever successfully sent.

That wasn't going to happen for a few more years. They were roughly the same age of 10 and just started attending Aldara Junior High School. Izuku hated the school's behavior. He hated the feelings of being so weak and pathetic. Day after day and night after night only given a choice between torment or isolation. It nearly broke him. Izuku did pour a lot of his time into his studies. Neither the school or caretakers found a reason to deny him study materials and he took advantage of that fact. Of course he didn't tell or ask anybody when he read more advanced subjects from the school library but had a strong feeling not to trust anybody.

Studying was a viable and essential cover to hide two of Izuku's favorite past-times. First he enjoyed hearing about the quirks of heroes and villains and enjoyed writing them down in his notebook. His first notebook got incinerated by Bakuguo so Izuku adapted by quickly writing the essentials first and during some of his alone time diving back into them with a lot of hypothetical quirk usages and improvements.

Izuku's second secret pastime was discovered a couple years ago while reading a pre quirk era manga series with an English title. He used a basic Japanese to English book to find out what the title meant and came up with a type of laundry detergent. There was no correlation between the title and the contents. Izuku even double checked to see if any laundry scenes used bleach but couldn't find anything. The manga novel he found on his school's library shelf for manga wasn't even close to the beginning of the series but he opened it one day to skim through it and found something interesting. There was a character, an enemy character who was given the title 'Primera Espada' and was the aspect of solitude.

Solitude. The word resonated deep inside Izuku. He was alone like this fictional character that he read about but there was a striking difference. The Espada named Starrk was strong. So strong that his presence killed off weaker things if they stayed too close to him. A person who felt so alone that he ripped his own soul into two different bodies so he wouldn't be alone anymore. But when Izuku read the line that Starrk wished he was weak so that he could have comrades…Something snapped inside Izuku. He wanted to be weak!?

The sentence appalled Izuku. To him this was a huge slap in the face, balls, and being told his favorite music sucked all at once. He gripped the manga tightly. He read and watched a climactic fight scene as Starrk nearly 1 vs 3'd incredibly powerful opponents losing his 'other self' to an attack that wiped out all of the wolf looking soul bombs at once.

This man has no idea what he's talking about! With clenched teeth and tears threatening his eyes Izuku was getting mad.

If I wasn't weak I wouldn't get picked on. Maybe I could fight back or even defend others from such awful treatment…Maybe the teachers and staff wouldn't dismiss his concerns and treat me like an actual human being…If only I had that kind of strength…If only I wasn't always ALONE!

The tears were slowly streaming down his face. Izuku yearned for so much strength that he could metaphorically punch his aching solitude away and it would never threaten to return. He even briefly imagined being Starrk's friend even if it meant it would accidentally destroy him.

Izuku got so mad and upset at this fictional character. While he was reading he started to yell at the manga inside the school library causing him to be immediately reprimanded and forbidden to read anything else besides study material but Izuku didn't care.

From that day forward his thoughts about the agony of his solitude bore down on him. Constantly in the back of his mind he dwelt on Starrk and everything about him. He even went as far to create a page for him in his quirk analysis notebook. Daily Izuku would revisit Starrk's page and try to add or explain something more. Imaging him in costume variations and giving him names for his moves.

The sheer amount of desperation to feel a morsel of delight became an unconscious obsession and a slow permanent change had already begun inside Izuku's body.

Quirks are a pandora's box. They can follow the rules of genetics but sometimes don't. Geneticists can only make theories or declare axioms but never scientific certainty.

The quirk factor gene from Izuku's mom Inko was a mental based one from her quirk telekinesis. The gene was declared dead after being analyzed by Dr Ujiko years ago but that technically was incorrect. It actually was simply dormant. Quirk genes either needed the correct pairings or stimuli to manifest or could theoretically be forcibly spliced together. In this case Inko's telekinetic genes did not pair with Hishashi fire breathing ones and neither could be correctly labeled dominant or recessive to the other. It was like apples and broccoli.

Quirks are not sentient but Izuku's dormant telekinetic gene started to respond to the incredible amount of mental stimuli that was passing through his thoughts. Every detail on every nerve synapse was being collected and converted into quirked genetic makeup. Everything on one topic: the fictional character Starrk.

Responding to the massively growing pile of quirked genetic material, Hisashi's physical based fire breathing quirk also became active and began to bond with them. New quirked genetic code was added to Izuku's DNA completely overwriting the 'dead' parts with an active quirk gene .A new subconscious space was being made inside Izuku and in the very center was a glowing ball of blue flame like substance.

Physical based and Mental based quirks do not like to combine but it was like they were compromising with each other. The mental part was like a harddrive with every detail stored in it, and the physical part gave it a shape and the ability to form itself based on what the harddrive told it to look like.

Poetically it could be seen as Izuku's parents giving him one immense and thoughtful collaborated gift. Something he wished he had years ago and with certainty can declare is his now.

The newly formed subconscious had the appearance of a moonlit desert with sand dunes for as far as could be seen except for a small square platform with white tiles where a ball of blue fire began to twist and contort in the center of it. Slowly the fire took the shape and appearance of a man. When the fire subsided there, in his Los Lobos Resurrección form, the fictional being known as Coyote Starrk stood with a serious expression on his face.