Chapter 1: Cursed Child

The sounds of leaves blowing, critters chittering or squeaking, and children playing were prominent in a small park in an ordinary neighborhood.

Parents of the children stood nearby, either chatting with one another or watching in silence, reminiscing about their own youth as they protectively watched their children's. The scene itself was as normal as one could expect. However, the world was as extraordinary as it could be.

The world itself was full of what was originally thought to be fantasy brought to reality. Powers, meta abilities, quirks. Whatever way the world wished to identify these science-breaking abilities, they were still as imaginary as possible. Humans being able to shoot ice out of their fingertips, children able to float objects. The world of quirks was a golden age in the evolution of humanity, as well as its darkest time.

The Government's laws began to crumble when Quirks began to become commonplace. More and more people showed signs of these extraordinary abilities. Some pursued their dreams of becoming heroes as vigilantes, and others used their gifts for petty robbery or horrific crimes.

Eventually, one quirk, a quirk that would become infamous throughout the underworld, a quirk that could steal, use, and give those very same abilities, was used to control the small few that did have such abilities and those that wanted a Quirk. Fortunately, others began to rebuild order by becoming their own Heroes, fighting against villainy.

Thankfully, after many years, the age of heroes was born when the HPSC, also known as the Heroes Public Safety Commission, was formed. Through countless lives of heroes, the tyrant who controlled the underworld was defeated by one lone hero.

One who was all-powerful, one who was like a god among men, that 'god' was the hero known as ALL MIGHT! From then on, peace was commonplace, hero work became the norm. Fights against villains became theatrics rather than threats. All was well... until it wasn't.

The sound of children echoed in a sparse forest. Shoes crunching the tall, uncut grass that spread across a small plain. Oak tree leaves rustling from low winds, the smell of humidity was heady.

Four lone children walked across the small plain. The one in the front was walking with purpose and grandeur, yelling a simple children's rhyme with as much ferocity as a five-year-old could have.

The child's blonde, spiky hair bobbed with each step, his red eyes front and center, with a wide smile splayed on his youthful face.

Behind him were three others, one chubby with what looked to be a slowly developing wing quirk and the other with a dopey grin on his face. Both were closer to the leading boy than the one in the back of the pack.

The lone boy had soft green hair that splayed in all directions, fading to black the closer it got to his roots. His youthful face was softened further by his large doe-like eyes, both holding emerald green irises. Below the round eyes were diamond-shaped freckles.

But the most striking feature of his face was the slightly raised marking around the boy's mouth. The rune-like mark had a look akin to light scratches, with raised skin and an irritated pink tone.

His green eyes stared intently at the moss-covered tree that had fallen over a small bank of water, acting as a bridge for any who wished to cross.

The three boys stopped in their tracks, even as their 'leader' continued his marching pace, only to halt when he realized the group wasn't following him. With a fury, he turned around and glared at the three apprehensive children. "Oi! What the heck are you guys doing?!"

The chubby one with the underdeveloped wing quirk rubbed his sweaty palms on his cargo shorts. "Come on, Bakugou- look at it! That thing will break if we even step on it."

All he got in return was an incredulous look before the glare returned. "And?! Are you all that wussy that something like that would stop you? I thought all of you fools were wanting to be heroes?!" The blonde turned around and started walking towards the 'bridge' "Tch- a bunch of sissies."

The green-haired boy wrung his hands together as he saw Bakugou start walking on the old log. His steps were confident and steady. Until they weren't. With wide green eyes and a panicked expression, the green-haired boy started to run after the blonde when he realized his friend was about to fall.

Unfortunately it was too late, Bakugou hissed as he landed rear first on the pebbles that layered under the water stream. Red eyes flicked up when he saw a shaking hand pointed in his direction. Crimson eyes met Emerald for but a moment, before misty Emerald widened when Crimson eyes gained a dark glare. "You think I need help from a mute like you?! Get away DEKU!"

That was the last good memory Izuku had of his childhood friend. It was also the time when the laughs and jeers began in earnest. Words like "mute" and the twisted word "dekiru" were thrown at him, then Quirks were added in. His mother was quite annoyed yet deeply concerned when he'd come home with his favorite shirts either burned or covered in dirt.

In this world where fantasy becomes reality, if you didn't have a quirk, then you were seen as... less. Seen as fragile and useless, seen as pathetic and disposable. Unfortunately, a misdiagnosis was all Izuku needed for the world to treat him as lesser.

A woman with pale skin and dark green hair stared pleadingly at a man dressed in a white coat and wearing goggle-like glasses. The man was short, his mustache was unnaturally large, most likely compensation for the absolute lack of hair on his wrinkled head.

With a dismissive sigh, the old man glanced at the small four-year-old child sitting next to his equally distraught mother. "As far as I can tell, you won't get a quirk. I even X-rayed your foot, and well-" he gestured to the X-rays, "you've got a small bone in your foot, specifically below that pinkie toe, which is common in quirkless individuals."

The mother shook her head in denial, even as her child dropped the toy he was squeezing for reassurance. "B-but what about the marks on my boy's mouth? Isn't that some manifestation of his quirk?!" The quirk specialist hummed and scratched his chin. "It has to be some recessive quirk gene, just like your green hair. Some quirked individuals have mutations or differences in their genes that don't match up with their quirk all the time, and this is simply the same."

The old man cocked his head to the side in intrigue. "However, the mutism is odd; none in your family history has shown any signs of extreme psychological disorders or any recessive anxiety disorders. Very interesting, ah, anyways." He shoved a clipboard in the shaking woman's arms. "Go ahead and fill that out, oh, and make sure to tag most of those quirkless boxes, don't want any misinformation!" And with a huff of clipped laughter, he exited the room.

A green-haired boy was seen panting, his legs shaking from what seemed to be after an intense run. The thing he was running from was none other than Bakugou and his lackies. Izuku thought he got away, unfortunately the sound of the classroom's door slid open with a forceful jerk.

The ash-blonde haired boy came sauntering in. "So this was where you ran off to? Not bad, Deku, but not good enough." Crimson eyes stared at the quivering form of Deku before they flicked to the extras that followed him everywhere. "Pick him up, pin him to the wall, extra." Said boy jerked at being addressed before he jogged towards the panting mute.

Izuku tried to get out of the taller boy's hold, however, his twig-like strength and lithe arms didn't help his situation. Izuku watched as a Bakugou came closer with a sneer. The boy had changed; he was still a child but was finally growing into someone truly above his grade. At eleven, he was already stronger than most of the boys in his class and even some in higher grades. Bakugou was truly going all out for his dream.

Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have such perfect genes. He was smaller than most in his age group, and it seemed he was the one who stayed stagnant in their unofficial 'rivalry' for the top place as the new number one hero.

Izuku's daydreaming was interrupted when a punch landed on his gut, spit flaking out of his mouth and landing on the floorboards. "See? This is why you aren't and shouldn't be on my level, Deku. Stay in your place and shut up about those damn notebooks. You aren't going to be a hero, and you definitely aren't going to be anything more than a damn pencil pusher!" With the last remark, Bakugou's foot landed square on Izuku's stomach, adding more spittle to the ground as the boy quakes from fear and injury.

Izuku panted, his ears were ringing, his throat felt like it was burning, everything was too much, he just wanted it to stop. He wanted his childhood friend turned bully to stop! He wanted it to stop, stop, stop! STOP!

"STOP!"

Silence. That's what Izuku heard. Nothing but silence and his own heavy breathing. He looked up and jerked in surprise at the way those burning red orbs were frozen, the same could be said about the rest of Bakugou and his gang.

Izuku slowly yet surely pulled away from the still boy's grip. It was as if time had stopped in just this room for young Izuku. He stared and stared at the frozen boy, but it wasn't long before he realized his throat was burning with pain. Izuku choked and fell to his knees.

He's never felt pain like this before; it was as if he ate something that his mom made before it cooled down, or that he ate those sharp-looking pins on the teacher's desk! Izuku had to force himself to look up; the eye that was clenched from the pain widened with his other when he saw Bakugou's fingers were beginning to twitch. 'It has a time limit?!' With a jerk, Izuku got up and began to run, passing other children and out to the front doors of his school.

It would be later when Izuku was reported about the misconduct of his quirk and bullying Bakugou and his lackies that the usually pink rune-like scratches around his mouth turned black.