A/N

Guess who's back! A short note at the beginning because I'm ready to get writing, but I wanted to thank an *amazing person* for sending me an awesome message that made my day! Quickly though, a content warning for anyone who has a loved one who died of cancer. The main point of this chapter is kind of, sort of about cancer, but it's just this chapter. Don't worry, this doesn't set a dark undertone for the story, but you'll see what I mean by the end of the chapter. As always, please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Two: Ties That Bind

Katsuo woke up in his bed to an excruciating pain in his right arm and chest. It felt like he had been beaten to death over and over again, only to still be alive to feel even more pain. But as quickly as the pain began, it ended soon after, and Katuso was left trying to catch his breath. Katsuo peeled off the covers on his bed to inspect his body. His "missing" arm was now reattached to his body, which was perfectly fine now. Still slightly shaking, Katsuo returned to his senses and examined his surroundings. He recognized it instantly. It was his childhood bedroom, complete with posters and action figures of his favorite heroes.

I threw all of that crap out when I moved out though? How am I here?The last thing Katsuo remembered was that he died, and now he was in his childhood home? Katsuo figured it was him reliving a memory before he passed on. "Well… I might as well take a look around before I die for real." He got out of bed and switched out of his pajamas before making his way to the door. As the door creaked open, however, the delicious smell of Western-style bacon and eggs dominated his sense of smell. It caught him off guard. Who's in my house?! Who could be making brea- It hit him. He checked the calendar on the wall, which showed the day's date. March 2nd, 2137. Exactly 10 years before the city was attacked! Which means…

Katsuo slowly crept out of his room, tiptoeing over to the kitchen. As he got closer, he could hear the sound of someone humming, almost angelically in Katuso's ears. He rounded the corner and found himself staring at a woman in his kitchen. She had long, silky black hair that reached halfway down her back, and was wearing an apron with a pink shirt underneath. The sun was shining through the window at just the right angle for Katsuo to see her face so clearly. It was his mother. His mother, who had died a year ago from now, was standing in front of him making a delicious breakfast. "Mom?"

She turned around, facing her son with a smile. "Good morning, Katsuo. Did you sleep well?" Ms. Hiroki was caught off guard by her son who began smothering her in a bear hug. She was about to question his sudden bout of affection when she heard the sound of him sniffling. She shushed him gently, rubbing his back. "What's wrong, did you have a nightmare?" Her kind words were met with even more tears. "Yeah… something like that." After letting go of his mother (albeit reluctantly), they enjoyed a nice, warm breakfast before Katsuo left the house. It was a Saturday morning, so there wouldn't be school for the next 2 days, giving him the perfect opportunity to take a look around his old neighborhood.

That's where Hirota Orochi and his gang of dumbasses beat him up. There too. And there. That was their favorite spot over there. Man, this is depressing. Katsuo cut his walk down memory lane short and just decided to sit on a bench in the park, which overlooked the river. It was yet another place he had been beaten up. "What am I doing here? What's the point of showing me all this? My mother is going to die, my bullies will continue to beat me for years to come, and there's nothing I can do about it. Might as well just kill me now." As the dark thoughts slowly began to swirl inside his head once more, something caught his eye. A blue box with white letters was in front of him. It was real?!

A quest has been activated!

Title: Ties That Bind. Quest Type: Normal

Description: The system has chosen you to inherit the power of a god, but first you must overcome the ties that bind you to the ground. First objective: save your mother's life. Reward: 2,000 experience points. The result of failure: Hiroki Emiko's death. Time limit: 33 days.

Katsuo stared at the words in front of him for a few moments. There were a few people in the park, and yet none of them seemed to notice the screen that appeared from nowhere. This "system" had brought about a few revelations. One: this was not a memory. Nothing like this had happened the first time around. Second: the system was powerful enough to send him back in time, meaning those experience points were going to come in handy for something. Third: there was a chance his mother could be saved. Katuso took a moment to ponder that thought for a moment. Katsuo had the chance to save his mother. Who wouldn't take that opportunity? After a few more minutes of examining the window, he looked away, automatically closing it. Convenient.

Katsuo was now back at the house, looking at his mother watching the TV while thinking. Let's examine this problem. In 1 year, my mother is diagnosed with brain cancer, and a year later, she dies of it. I can't let that happen. After thoroughly examining the situation, Katsuo comes up with the best plan he could. Bullshit his way into convincing his mother to go to the doctor. But what should he say? That he awakened a quirk that allows him to smell cancer? That might work… okay, let's try that. Katsuo tried his best to act normally, but he was no one's actor. Fortunately, his mother was engrossed in a soap opera or something.

"Hey, mom? I think I might have developed a quirk?" Katsuo waited with bated breath as he watched his mom slowly turn to him before jumping up and hugging him while crying. "MY BABY! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Katsuo looked down in subtle disgust as his mom's snot was getting all over his shirt, but he let it slide because she was so awesome. "So what is it?" She asked, looking at him with a smile on his face. Katsuo cleared his throat before speaking. "I can… sniff out cancer." Katsuo waited for his mother's reaction. She was confused at first, but that look soon changed to one of joy. "That's awesome! You can help so many people with that!" Now for the hard part.

"The thing is… after I discovered this new quirk of mine… your smell changed." Ms. Hiroki's smile faded. "Oh," was all she could say as she sat back down. "Mom. You need to go to the doctor." Ms. Hiroki looked up at her son. His face was dead serious, and his eyes were full of both sadness and determination. Ms. Hiroki believed in her son greatly, so she took his words to heart and went to the doctor, with Katsuo following her. Soon, they were at the hospital, and the doctors began examining Ms. Hiroki. The wait was maddening. Katsuo must have spent two hours waiting in the lobby. He couldn't stop shaking.

The time limit to save his mother's life was 33 days, but why? Was that when the cancer would become deadly? Maybe the system was even real, and it was just some kind of hallucination. But even so, that theory doesn't explain the whole time travel ordeal. Katuso wanted to test something, so he whispered, "System, open." As he did, the window opened up again. It's here. It's still here. I guess learning about this thing is the best way to take my mind off of the current situation. There were different "buttons" on the screen that led to different sections of the system. However, most of the functions seemed to be locked, the only exceptions being the quest list and the inbox. I swear, if this thing starts asking for my credit card information…

Katsuo examined the inbox first. The only message present was the one that popped up before he died. It seemed the quest alerts were part of the quest tab, so Katsuo checked there next. 3 tabs on the side of the window read Active Quests, Side Quests, and Finished Quests. The current active quest was "Ties That Bind", with a time limit of now 32 days. Ample time to complete this quest I suppose.There were no side quests, but what caught Katsuo's eyes was the finished quest.

Quest Title: Returner's Trial. Quest Type: Secret

Description: Only he who is worthy may inherit the power of Ibris. While your body may be weak, the soul of a hero can still rest inside of you. Prove that you can be a hero and that the power to save people is yours. Reward: The System. The result of failure: Death.

Ibris? The strange name was foreign to Katsuo, so he jotted down a mental note to do some research about it later. What caught his eye however was the "clear condition" set by the system. Prove that you can be a hero.After reviewing the final moments before his death, he came up with the reason for being chosen. I may be wrong, but I think helping out that girl despite being weak and quirkless proved that I had a "heroic soul". After closing the window, Katsuo looked at the time. It was still only 2:30 pm, barely half a day had passed and yet it felt like it was years.

As he finished that thought, the doctor came into the lobby and called Katsuo's name. After confirming his presence, the doctor led Katsuo to one of the rooms, where his mom was sitting down in a chair with a… puzzling look on her face. I can tell she isn't sad or scared, but it feels like she's worried about something. The doctor pulled out his laptop and read something on it before turning to Katsuo. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, we found a cancerous tumor in your mother's brain."

Katsuo tried his best to look surprised, but he didn't have to act sad. The memory of this happening a year from now was burned into his memory. "You said there was a good news?" Katsuo asked, praying to whoever up there would listen that he was successful. His prayers were answered. "The good news though is that your quirk caught the cancer early. It's small and benign, and our scans show that there are only 3 spots. With a quick surgery, your mother will be good as new."

As Katsuo was processing these words, a notification from the system appeared off to the side. Quest Completed! Claim the reward in your inbox when you are ready! Just barely remembering he was in a hospital, Katsuo kept the noise to a minimum while he celebrated. After calming himself down, the doctor proceeded to speak again. "Because of the location of the tumors and their benign status, the surgery will only cost around $30,000." And just like that, everything clicked for him. His mother wasn't scared because she knew she could get the surgery, but she was still worried because of the cost. Ms. Hiroki looked at her son with a guilty expression that said, please forgive my selfishness. This look was promptly returned with a determined smile and a thumbs up.

The two Hirokis, now feeling relieved of their stress, returned home with a scheduled appointment for the surgery the following Tuesday. When they got home, it was Ms. Hiroki's turn to give her son a bear hug while crying. "Thank you so much, baby. If it weren't for you, I might not have found that cancer in time. You're my hero!" Katsuo simply smiled and hugged her back before telling her to get some rest. The day's stress had accumulated, and they both needed to take an eight-hour breather. After his mother was tucked away in bed for the night, Katuso retreated to his own bedroom.

That bedroom, which used to hold the memories of him crying into his blanket after his mom died, was once again a place of relaxation and safety for him. As he got down into his bed to sleep, he remembered the notification from the hospital room talking about checking his inbox. It's whatever. I'll check it first thing in the morning. Just… gotta… sleep… And with that final thought, Katsuo drifted off into slumber. It was the first time in a while that no nightmares found him. His dream was peaceful, but things were not going to be easy from then on.

A new quest has arrived!

Title: Train to Become the Symbol of Peace!

—-

A/N

Writing is so hard! I swear I thought I had a least 10k words at the end of this, but it's only 2091! Even so, I'm extremely happy with myself right now, and I hope you all thought this chapter was good. Once again, this is my first story, so I'm sure I could have done better, but I'll improve over time. For now, the plan is to insert Katsuo into the main MHA timeline and change it accordingly, but If anybody has any good ideas for plot points, please leave a review. I read every review I get (and am very happy when I get one), so don't feel afraid to express your opinion about the story (positive or negative). I have some important information that I'll save the A/N at the beginning of the next chapter so until next time, stay safe!