Chapter 2: Background

Six months ago

I was in the back of the dojo, like every other time I went to martial arts class. I hated being the center of attention, and the back corner seemed to be a great place to avoid attention. The teacher demonstrated the flying kick for the second time. Everyone in the class was a high belt, and had some karate experience, but as they tried to perform the kick, half didn't leave the ground, just performing a normal spin kick, and the half that did jump didn't land the kick, and most their kicks had bad form, like they were more focused on the jumping and spinning part of the kick, than the actual kick itself. When I attempted the kick, I performed it perfectly. Unfortunately our instructor saw this, and as I got into position to do another one, she turned the attention of the class towards me. I was tempted to mess up the kick, but that would still draw attention to me, so I performed another kick, same as the first. The rest of the class glared at me, as the instructor told us to get back to practicing.

While the rest of the class was preoccupied with glaring at me, they didn't see the Small green haired boy also preform a perfect kick on the other side of the room. But I saw him. He was new to the class, I recognized him from my judo class two days ago. He had performed all the moves perfectly then to.

I didn't think there was anyone else who was so committed to combat, that they took two or more different classes.

After the class, I changed into a hoodie and black jeans. When I walked out of the dojo, I saw the green haired boy talking to another boy. He was tall, well built, and had spiky ash blonde hair. As I got closer to them I realized that they weren't talking. The green haired boy was looking at his feet, while the blonde boy spat insults at him.

Fight back,

Show him what you can do.

It was a silent plea in my mind, one that I could also say to myself on a daily basis.

But the Green haired boy only stood there as the other boy continued spouting insults. Then he shoved the green haired boy, laughing as he hit the ground. That was when I stepped in, quite literally. I stepped into the space between the boys.

"Leave him alone." My voice was calm, but filled with so much malice. I didn't mean for the words to sound so threatening, but I wasn't talking them back. His insults almost mirrored the insults I hear every day, it made me upset that another kid was going through the same pain that I was. Each word like a dagger that cut deeper and deeper till there was nothing left.

The blonde looked shocked by my intervention, but he quickly recovered. Sparks, and small explosions formed in his hand,

His expression became angry, and twisted into a scowl, "You want to die extra?!"

The use of his quirk surprised me, not many people had the courage to threaten others with their quirk because of the heroes.

But threat, and assault are two different things.

So in a calm voice, I said, "no, but it would be a appreciated, if you could, please leave this boy alone."

Anger crossed the blonde's face, but before he could use an attack, I let black mist swirl around my arms. Not the most threatening, but it did the trick, a fight between two offensive quirks would most certainly draw the attention of heroes. His explosions fizzled out, as he scowled, "this isn't over Deku."

He put more emphasis on the name, but after the words were said he walked off down the street.

If I recall correctly "Deku" means unimportant, or useless, it was definitely a taunt by the blonde boy.

I reached out to the small green haired boy on the ground.

"My names Ash."

He took my hand and looked down blushing as I pulled him off the ground, "Izuku Midoria."

I smiled at his shyness, he seemed uncomfortable with the situation that had just occurred, so I tried to change the subject.

"I saw your kick in class, you've got some skills."

I smiled as I said it. Midoria rubbed the back of neck, "you really think so?"

I smiled, He didn't realize just how strong he really is. "Yeah, you were the only other person to get that kick today, and you take multiple combat classes."

He blushed, "I was hoping you wouldn't recognize me."

I laughed, "green hair isn't exactly common. And stands out in a crowd."

Midoria went back to looking at his feet blushing.

After a few seconds he looked up at me, "why did you help me?"

I smiled at him, "I'm no stranger to bullying, and I hate it when people like him with flashy quirks use it as an excuse to look down on people, or call themselves superior."

He smiled at that, "Katchan and I have wanted to be the number one hero since we were little, but I never got a quirk. I still want to be a hero, but he thinks it's a stupid dream and I'll never be popular, or good enough without a strong quirk."

My smile fell, another person victimized by the "hero" ideology. "Heroes don't really care about saving people, only the money and popularity. The only reason they help people is for the popularity, if they really wanted to help they would join the police force or become a vigilante."

I didn't realize I had said that out loud, until he looked up at me with a surprised expression.

I was about to try and fix my mistake, but he spoke first.

"I've started to realize that as well. That's why I started combat training a month ago. I—I met my hero, and... it didn't go as thought it would. He told me I couldn't be a hero without a quirk, so I thought that maybe I could get stronger, but if I can't even stand up to someone like Katchan, what chance do I have against a villain."

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That night I thought about what Midoria had said. I had taken the name Anamega as a vigilante only two months ago. I wasn't sure I was ready for a partner, much less a trainee. But I thought of my life before my family had been killed in an attack. I was never good enough. They put me in multiple combat classes, gymnastics, running, quirk training, I progressed faster than my peers, made the best marks in class, but I still wasn't enough. That was todays society, constant judgement over something we can control.

So the next day I asked him what he would do if he was given the chance to do something good, even if the heroes where against him, would he?

And his answer was yes.