4: New Best Friend

 Knives weren't all too hard to learn. Despite your tiny five-year-old hands, your practicing session with one of the kitchen knives was going rather well. "Hyaa!.. Yaeeh!"

 "(Y/n)!? What are you doing with the knife!?!" Your mother cried. Poor woman. Ever since you ran away about a year ago, she hasn't been quite the same with you. Her endless love for you very quickly turned into an overwhelming paranoia for your well-being. And while you were glad she cared so much, I mean... It was just a knife.

 "I'm sword training, Mom!!" You announced, striking a pose with the large blade over your head. "Gunna help Daddy conquer the world!!"

 "Dearie, put the knife down this instance." She pointed to the ground.

 "Awwh..." You pouted but did as she asked. Honestly, you'd already had almost a dozen years of self-defense training in your previous life, so there really wasn't much to worry about. You already knew the basics. Guess she doesn't know that, though...

 "...Thank you..." Mom heaved a sigh as she approached and picked up the knife. You kicked at the kitchen tile for a moment with your bare toes, mood soured but not sure what to do about it. "Honestly, you remind me more and more of my old friend every day..." Sliding the sword back into its wooden sheath with its brethren on the counter, the woman chuckled softly. "And where do you keep getting these ideas if conquering the world anyway?" She turned to you, her face returned to its calm, warm smile.

 "Daddy told me he's gunna fight all the heroes and beat 'em up!" Exaggerating every few words with a new villainous pose, you put all your excitement into this act. "He said I can help him with my powers too!" Did you really want to beat up heroes? Eh, only the bad ones. But since your dad had caught you sneaking into his room to read all the books about quirks (You had lied, saying you were there just for the pictures, because obviously what 4-5 year old could sit through reading books as thicc as his?) he opened up to you a lot more about his goals and ambitions. And though you didn't necessarily believe in the end goal, you had to admit the ambition in his eyes was contagious. And it was fun to imagine yourself from time to time as the supreme villainess, whose name would forever be feared and written about in the history books for ages to come. (It was on the same level of imagining as devious plans in your past life. Nothing to worry about. Just to pass the time.)

 Mom sighed, propping a hand on her hip. "Well then... No matter what you decide to be when you grow up, you need the proper education first. .. Are you ready for your first day of school then?

*surprised Pikachu face* So that's why you woke up earlier this morning!

 "Um-- um- yeah!! Just--!" You scurried out of the kitchen and ran into your room, grabbing everything you thought you might need for the first day. Luckily, your former knowledge of school made this easy. You rushed back out of your room a few minutes later with a change of clothes on, as well as the cute purple backpack slung over one shoulder.

 "Don't forget your lunch~" Chloe pulled an adorable lunchbox out of the fridge. :o You mean you're not just going to starve like you always did your last run-through of the public school experience?!

 After shoving that into your bag as well, you skipped with Mom's hand in yours out of the house. She was to drive you to school since she didn't trust the public busses with her precious angel. And the only reason she even trusted this school was because apparently your dad had taken up a job as the school's principal last year!

----------

 As your mom hurried with you to school, walking swiftly down the sidewalk, her high heels planted incorrectly and she tumbled toward the ground. "O-ow!!"

 "Mom!" Looked like a bad fall. Maybe even sprained her ankle!!

 "So much for trying to look nice on the first day..." Chloe huffed. You watched with amusement as the faint color which had started to spot her ankle quickly faded away. The little scrapes she had gained in the fall closed up just as quickly. This brought you back a couple years when she accidentally cut herself while in the kitchen. Though by that point you were so out of it that you assumed you were just seeing things.

 "Woa.. You healed so quickly, Mommy!" You jumped. She chuckled, having nothing to say at first until she had at last picked herself up fully.

 "..Your father gave me a fast regeneration quirk a while back... You don't have to worry about me, sweet girl.." Smiling. Your mouth fell open. So she was essentially immortal now?!?! Sweet!! You'd never have to worry about Chloe again! "Now... How about we get you to that class of yours..?" She opened her hand to you again. You grabbed it happily.

----------

 "Alright, class! Everybody get your craft supplies and sit at a table! We're going to draw a picture of our future selves today!" The teacher chimed. Oh..? This was a fun prompt. Usually school stuff was boring, especially since you already knew everything.

 You sat down in a random chair, Already, you were halfway through your first day and there were still too many heads to count. Quite a few kids were getting their quirks around this time too, so it was a little chaotic with the teachers giving you kids plenty of lessons on quirk activation safety.

 You didn't necessarily have to draw yourself as whatever profession you wanted, but all the kids took it as that. Because you were really curious to see how everyone would react, you started to scribble yourself as a supervillain.

 "Wooaah, that's a cool hero costume!!" The kid next to you leaned in to get a better look at your crayon drawing. Despite your attempt to stay on the same artistic level as the rest of these kids, some of your former talent did shine through.

 You scoffed and laughed at the brown-haired kid beside you. "This isn't a hero costume! This is a villain costume!~" Followed by a dark chuckle.

 "Wait, so you want to be a villain?" The voice across from you whined worriedly. "Why..?"

 "Because it would be funny!"

 "Hurting people isn't funny..." He sounded genuinely concerned. So much so that you looked up to be sure he wasn't acting. You gasped instead.

 Before you sat a young boy with black hair and bright red eyes. Most distinctly, a few wrinkles gathered around his eyes and forehead. The boy turned his head bashfully, noticing your stare immediately. Oh no. You didn't want to offend the little Tomura-- Tenko!

 "You have awesome eyes!!"

 "Huh??"

 "They're like lava!" You smiled to see his head perk up with a hint of excitement.

 "Is that..a good thing?"

 "Totally!!"

 Tenko smiled. "..Thank you." Boy, when those heavenly beings said they would be giving you favor, they really did mean it, didn't they?!

 Guess you finally knew exactly where you existed on the timeline now too. You had about one year to turn this kid's life around.

----------

 For obvious reasons, you quickly befriended the boy. He was a rather outgoing child. Moreso than you, meaning he was the one who invited more and more kids into the friend group. He easily drew kids to his side; a natural-born leader. All of these traits impressed you, considering how he was destined to turn out.

 But you had the power to change destiny now, didn't you?

----------

 "Ughhh!.. Stupid rash!" Little Tenko scratched at his face feverishly. He was too preoccupied with sitting on the park bench doing this to enjoy recess with the rest of the kids, which only made him angrier. Now was your chance. You'd been prepping for this for a while now! Hopefully, it'll work!

 "Can I help you??" You jumped up onto the bench beside him, opening your backpack on your lap. "I have cream my mommy gave me!"

 "My Mom already tried everything.." Tenko pouted, but he slowed his scratching to watch you pull out a small container of basic face moisturizer. The label had been scratched off, though.

 "This stuff Mommy says is super special though! Can I try it??"

 "...Mhm..." He timidly nodded. You scooted over the bench toward him while dipping your fingers into the cream. The moment your fingers touched his face, your quirk activated and the small hole in your palm lit up and started to consume his yet to awaken quirk.

 Your dad had mentioned something about quirks before. Sometimes kids will think their quirk hasn't activated yet, or that they have no quirk at all! However, this can be attributed to some quirks being powered by emotions. The person has always had the quirk...but it had just taken a while to activate. This was why sometimes people went their whole lives quirkless until they are one day involved in an accident. The stress or whatever other emotion required is what awakens their quirk.

 Very interesting...considering he told you this the day before your first day of school.

 Your quirk worked much faster this time as you rubbed the cream over his face, repeatedly warning him to keep his eyes shut in the process. That tingling sensation from before was twice as strong now, rippling all the way up your arm.

 "Hehe, it tickles!" Tenko remarked, proving your theory that he could feel the same thing.

 "Yeah, the cream is funny like that!" By the time you were done with both stealing the boy's quirk and rubbing the cream all over his face, your hand and arm were overtaken by a pleasant warmth. You drew your hand away and giggled. "All done!!"

 "Woah.." Tenko touched his slimy forehead. "I... I feel better! I feel better!! Thank you!!" The black-haired boy wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug, drowning you in a warm embrace. You could feel your heartbeat thumping in your right hand still. Excitedly, you hugged him back.

 "I can give you the cream if you want. But... I don't think you'll need it anymore."

----------

 'Hmmm... What quirk should I give him..?'

 You paced back and forth on the rug in the living room, hand caressing your chin as you thought this over.

 You were six now and Tenko would be over for a sleepover any minute. And here you were still trying to figure out what quirk to give him.

 You had taken a couple cool ones from random strangers already. People who were just your normal civilians, who had no plans on using them for much anyway. And you couldn't just let your friend go quirkless forever! He had big dreams of becoming a hero someday, after all! Oh and what fun it would be to see him achieve that!

 It had been a year since your friendship began. The two of you weren't the only ones in class known for being quirkless (you never knew which quirk to claim was yours, and afraid you would make a mistake switching them up at some point just claimed to have none) but since you and Tenko were like an inseparable duo at this point, you were teased together as the quirkless twins, or whatever else their juvenile brains could come up with. You couldn't care any less, but the teasing was steadily getting to your friend, you could tell.

 This was his first time sleeping over. Hopefully, it would become a routine. So be'd always have a place to go to escape his troublesome home life.

Ding-ding!

 Your mother opened the door before you could reach it. "Why hello~!.. You must be Mrs. Shimura! Come on in!" Your mother's voice was so cheery as she invited in both the boy and his brown-haired mother. Since extinct animals had been the last topic of discussion between you two, Tenko pulled out a picture book from his bag the moment you found each other and flipped through it to show you what prehistoric sloths looked like, since you had determined they must have been really fat b######s.

 Your father had subscribed to a hero magazine ages ago, and by now he had stacks of old to new magazines featuring modern heroes and their quirks. Such a find you just had to tell Tenko about! Though your friend wasn't quite as excited about their quirks as much as you and your father were, he was really excited to learn about heroes from both the past and present, as well as read stories about their lives.

 "Over here over here!" Tugging his hand behind you, you led the boy into your parents' room. Across the room from the door was a large filing cabinet. You wanted to know what kind of a quirk he wanted, so this was a two-for-one deal as far as you were concerned. Watching the excitement light up Tenko's red eyes was another grand reward.

 "Woah! These are ALL magazines?!?"

 "Yep!" He had been collecting them for twenty years now.. You opened one of the drawers and pulled some out. "These ones are really old, but I can't reach the newest ones yet!"

 "That's alright. I bet the old heroes are just as interesting." Ten sat down beside you and opened one of them up, flipping through the pages to look at the pictures.

 After an hour of skimming through different magazines and talking about different quirks and heroes, you leaned back on your hands and stared at Tenko while he was too invested to notice.

 "Hey, Tenko..?"

 "Yeah?"

 "What kind of quirk would you want?"

 "Huh? I-I- I don't really know. Any would be nice!"

 "Okay but would you want to fight people from afar or hit them up close?"

 "Mmm... Probably punch them in the face!"

 "Ah." You didn't have very many quirks on your arsenal for that. But, guess if he wasn't going to be picky or anything, what was the harm in just giving him the coolest one you had?!

 "What kind of quirk would you want?" That question kinda came out of the left field! You visibly flinched hearing it. Not that you were necessarily triggered, but..for a moment there... You remembered when Chloe asked you that...quite a while ago now.

 "Um... Well... I guess.. I don't know..." You already had the quirk you always wanted, and now an entire world lay in waiting for you to be the great hero of it!

----------

 "You can have the couch."

 "Oh- okay!"

 It was time for bed. After dinner and a movie night, your mom wanted the two of you to not stay up super late, so into bed you went. You laid down in a little sleeping bag on the floor, a mat under you.

 Despite being pretty tired and ready for a good night's sleep, you waited a little while longer, tossing and turning on the floor. Finally, you heard your classmate's gentle snores, stirring your mind further awake.

 You stood up and stared for a moment at the boy sleeping on the couch, his back facing you.

 It was a very calm and quiet night. Faint blue light slipped in through the windows. Since it was an uncomfortably warm night, the fan overhead rocked; the one constant sound of ambiance.

Tk, tk, tk, tk..

 You mentally scrolled through the nine quirk options at your disposal.

1. Blueflame - (previously Touya's)

2. Decay - (previously Tenko's)

3. Butterfly Touch - no one can hear your footsteps or feel your touch while active

(previously your preschool teacher's)

4. Iron Fist - gives your hands the properties of iron when you ball them into fists

5. Grande Kick - explodes whatever object you kicked exactly six seconds after while active; doesn't work on living beings

6. Wind Breath - allows you to blow even large objects away with your breath while active (previously a middle school bully's)

7. Telekinetic Hold - a lot like Uraraka's quirk, except you can actually control where the objects float to; so far only works on small objects

8. Target - in case of an emergency, while activated Target can single out the top ten most hostile people in a room to avoid

9. Hair Color -- by touching a color, you can make your hair the exact same color.

 These were the quirks you had accumulated so far, and like a game of Pokemon, you planned to never have too many at once, instead swapping one move for another in the future when it was time for an upgrade. That way they would be a lot easier to keep track of. You also had a little notebook you hid under your bed that kept track of and categorized all of them so you could better visualize how to use them and when.

 It was a dear quirk to you, but so was this friendship you had formed. So...you decided to give Tenko "Telekinetic Hold."

 You placed your hand on top of Tenko's hair, your hand starting to glow faintly. Unlike when you stole a quirk, your limb stung as you handed the boy a power, pricking at your hand and fingers possessively, angrily trying to keep the power it had so obtained. You pushed through the pain until it at last started to fade away. When your eyes opened again, Tenko had turned his head some and was staring at you with the most horrified look through the corner of his eyes.

 "...(Y-y/n)??" After the quirk had been transferred, you stumbled back a few steps, tripped over your bedding and fell onto your bottom on the floor. Your right arm was the first thing you rubbed, as it stung, an intense heat at its core. "(Y/n)!?!"

 "Oow..."

 "Wh-what are you doing?" Tenko sat up, staring at you still with bewilderment and fear. You hissed through your teeth as the pain subsided. What kind of excuse could you use to put the boy at ease?! He'd never trust you...if you didn't tell him the truth.

 "Giving you...a quirk?" It was perhaps the riskiest move you ever made in this life, but it was worth that risk. Besides..maybe it would even prove beneficial if you let him in on your secret a little...

 "You...what??"

 "He-ere!" You stood up again and ran to the nearby lamp to turn it on. Under it was a pen and some paper. You grabbed the pen and handed it to him. "Touch it with all five fingers and think 'float!'" You whispered hoarsely, not wanting to wake up your parents in this crucial moment.

 "But-but-"

 "Just try it!"

 "Okay..." Tenko held the pen with all five fingers and pulled his eyes tightly shut. After a few seconds of trying hard, the pen started to rise on its own, rising into the air. The boy's eyes flung open, a wide smile capturing his features before he could even think through what was going on. "Woah!!"

 "Sh-sh!"

 "Sorry.." Tenko marveled. Where his eyes wandered, the pen followed their path. He started to use his imagination, making the pen twirl around in the air and do a few flips. "How did you give me a quirk???"

 "That's my quirk!" You smiled up at him. "It's called Give And Take!" According to yourself about five seconds ago. "I can take people's quirk and give them to other people!"

 "Woah! That's so cool!.. Wait, who had this one then?!"

 "Some bully who kept using his quirk to throw rocks at people!" You crossed your arms and huffed. In reality, it was a construction worker you saw use his quirk to pick up the hammer he'd just dropped. But of course, you couldn't go around looking morally grey to a six-year-old like Tenko.

 "Woah.. That's an awesome quirk!! A-and thank you!!" Your classmate's eyes were all wet now. It made your smile even bigger.

 "..No problem, Tenny."

 "Why didn't you tell me about your quirk sooner?"

 "I was...kind of worried everyone would be afraid of me... Afraid that I would steal their quirks.."

 "Oh..."

 What a brilliant lie. Of course, every good lie is dipped in a little truth.

 "What about your other quirks?? Can I see them?!?"

 "I- I can't use any of them, sadly.." You had to nerf your own quirk at least a little bit in front of Tenko. Or else, if word spilled, people might track you down and find AFO through your mistake! Too soon, as well. The heroes might not be prepared to face him.

  "You-you could be my sidekick!"

 "Huh..?"

 "We can train to become heroes together, a-and you can give me whatever quirks I need to finish a fight!" His enthusiasm, just like your dad's, was so contagious. That sounded like...a really fun idea.

 Strange... In all of this.. you never even thought about becoming a hero...

 But now, it was your dream too. Why not??