The purple mist—enveloping my body—quickly dissipated as I felt the cold embrace of the night air quickly surrounding me. The smell of cedar and pine filled my senses as my eyes took in the sight before me.

The cold, night sky—full of stars. The forest—partially chard. The mountain-side—still crumbled in parts—and the red hat of the child I had saved, shinning in the light of the full moon.

"Hey." I beamed from the silence, announcing my presence to the child that sat, watching the stars in an awe-filled gaze.

The black-haired kid jumped a little as I spoke—breaking the silence he had been sitting in—and turned to face me quickly. Seeing my smile, he stood up and ran towards me, wrapping his little arms around my torso.

"Agony! It's you!" Kota spoke, smiling up at me with joy. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again..." He spoke, burying his face in my stomach.

"Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that I had planned on dropping by sometime to check up on you. My bad." I smiled as I rubbed the back on my head.

"Come watch the stars with me!" He spoke happily whilst dragging me towards the spot he had been sitting previously.

We sat, watching the stars and caught-up for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was probably only thirty minutes. We talked about video games, then about his care-takers, then he asked me a different type of question that caught me off-guard.

"Hey... Uhm... Agony..?" He asked, causing me to turn my head from the sky to look at him.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Uhm... I just wanted to know..." He began, as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt—obviously anxious and nervous to ask his question. "Were you really... Y'know... All Might's son?"

"Hmm..? Oh... Yeah, I guess I was..." I answered back, shifting my gaze from him to the sky above us.

"Was All Might really as bad as you said he was on T.V?" He asked, still sounding nervous as I noticed him lowering his head in my peripheral vision.

"No..." I replied softly. "He was worse..."

He looked back at me noticing a small, sad smile forming on my face as I thought back to every birthday, holiday, and family vacation he—along with his wife and daughter—had neglected my existence during.

It hurt more than I had led on.

It's like, I'm not good enough for their affection. It felt like I wasn't even human in their eyes. Even now, I still feel like I'm invisible to them. That I'm not good enough to breathe the same air as them.

My past will always follow me. Even if they all die, it'll still stick with me.

"Although he hadn't physically abused me, he left mental scars..." I explained, losing volume in my voice. "I don't think I'll ever truly be free from the pain I felt for almost my entire life. It'll always follow me around, like a ghost. Bruises and breaks may heal overtime, but words and the feeling of being ignored like some eye-sore or broken, old toy never heals." I spoke, raising my voice as I clenched my fists.

Kota watched my features carefully, scanning and taking note of every movement I made.

"The future heroes are no better. All they care about is money and fame. My sister and past tormenters are in U.A's Class 1-A, y'know..." His eyes widened as I mentioned that detail. "Yeah, they're trying to become heroes. The people that abused and bullied me from the age of four have ambitions of becoming heroes..."

"That's stupid! How could U.A accept such terrible people into their hero courses?!" He interrupted my speech in anger while clutching his knees.

"Because they're strong..." I answered. "They have incredible powers. U.A doesn't care about whether or not they have the hearts of heroes, U.A only cares that the next generation of heroes has enough firepower."

"What does U.A even get out of that?"

"Money, fame, stuff like that. When top heroes emerge from U.A, they only get more applicants the next year. More applicants lead to more money."

"That's messed up!"

"I know, right?" I laughed at how worked up he was getting. "This society is full of corrupt, and sick people that are driven solely by their lust for money. That's why I do what I do. I want to show everyone that I'm strong, and I want to save society. Save society from the corruption of the heroes. Save society from the heroes and abusers. I want to save humanity from itself."

"I want to help!"

I glanced at Kota in shock. I was hoping he'd want to join, but I hadn't expected him to ask me now. I can't be sure that he truly wants to join though. It's a big choice for a five year old to make. He could back out after a year or two, and realize this wasn't the path for him. Honestly, I've grown attached to the kid, and I wouldn't want to have to kill him because he chose this life too soon.

"No." I said sternly.

"What? Why not?" He asked with irritation. "I want to help you fix humanity!"

"If you joined and then one day realized this wasn't the life you wanted, you wouldn't be able to back out." I explained.

"But, this is the life I want!"

"Right now it seems that way, but in one, or two years from now, maybe you'll think otherwise."

"Please!"

I want him to join us, yes, but he's too young right now. Besides, it'd pretty much the same story as with Eri.

We're not in the position to raise and nurture a child right now.

"I'll tell you what, if you really want to join us, you need to learn how to master your quirk first." He looked at me in confusion as I began to get up. "You'll need to train with the Pussy Cats until you've learned to master your quirk. Then, if you can get accepted into U.A—when you're old enough—and still want to join, I'll welcome you with open arms."

Truth is, I'd still accept him even if he couldn't get into U.A, but if he'd go to such extreme lengths, just to fight along-side me, then I'd know that he's truly serious. As well as that, he'd have to push himself to his limits to get accepted into such a school.

"Then I'll get into U.A with the highest score ever!"

I smiled as he stood up and pumped his fist in the air.

"I'm gonna go ask Mandalay to train me right now!" He exclaimed while hugging me again.

Before he ran off, I reminded him not to tell anyone that I'd been here. Calling Kurogiri, I felt my body being surrounded by his mist, then I was in the base.

Now I just have to wait.

As I walked through the halls, I felt the gaze of everyone's eyes falling on my form. Maybe it was from the bags under my eyes or the redness and puffiness around my eyes, or it could have been the pitiful expression I wore as I walked. Maybe it was the complete inversion of my personality, or the most likely answer...

They all knew.

The day of the rescue mission was bad enough, but the week following was worse. Uraraka's death was all my fault. I just stood by and watched her die. Her even being there was my fault. If I hadn't recommended her to Ryukyu's agency, she would have been in the dorms, safe.

If that wasn't enough, just days later my...

"Nejire!"

My head jerked to the side as my puffy, red eyes glanced to the direction the noise had come from. As my gaze landed on Mirio, I sighed and continued walking to class. I felt his hand on my shoulder—stopping me from walking—so I looked up at him.

"I heard what happened..."

Thinking about the events of last night only made tears well up in my eyes, which in turn, made Mirio frown. He retracted his hand from my shoulder, giving me space, and I continued walking with my head bowed down.

I didn't like ghosting my friends, nor did I like making them frown, but I didn't have the emotional capacity to talk to anyone right now.

I still vividly remember the phone call I had received last night. The words the man—on the other end of the line—spoke seemed so fresh in my mind. The cold touch of my parents' hands as I listened to the electrocardiographic heart monitor flat-lining. The dead-look on their faces as they died, right in front of me.

_______________

I was watching T.V in the dorms with Mirio and Tamaki when my phone began vibrating. I checked the caller-ID and didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway.

"Hello, is this Hado Nejire?" Spoke an unfamiliar voice. "I'm calling about your parents."

"My parents, is everything ok?"

"No, they've both been stabbed. We don't know how much longer they have left, and they have been asking for you."

I felt the heat and colour in my face drain immediately after hearing about my parents' condition. Quickly standing from my seat, I ran to the door and put on my shoes. Bolting from the room, I ran for my life—or rather, my parents' lives—trying desperately to reach them in time.

Tears were streaming down my face as my brain processed the fact that my parents were dying.

First Uraraka...

Now my parents...

It was a miracle the police and paramedics had arrived in time, a moment later and my parents would have died before I could speak to them. It's crazy to think that all this happened because of some long-term land-dispute.

It never even crossed my mind that those sorts of things still happened. In an age of superhuman abilities, people would murder over land. I wish I could have been there. I could have saved my parents.

I should have been there for them.

The school day dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. I usually loved to learn, but right now, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and mourn for my parents. Some of my peers tried during the day to cheer me up, while other maintained their distance.

I can't blame them though.

It's not exactly the most uplifting of times, and I didn't exactly want to talk to anyone.

As the school-day came to a close, I quickly stood up from my desk and bolted out of the room. I didn't know where I was going, but I wanted to escape the judgmental stares and pitiful gazes of my school-mates. I wanted to escape the harsh words of the other students in the other courses.

'She's one of the big three, yet she failed to save her parents from some neighbour with a knife?'

'She couldn't even protect her family, why would she be able to protect anyone else?'

People can be mean.

People can be judgmental.

People can be cruel.

As I ran, I found myself outside what looked to be an abandoned building on the outskirts of Musutafu. I sat down outside the building and cried. I needed to let it all out, but I didn't want to do that in front of anyone.

As I cried for what felt like hours, I felt a hand on my shoulder—patting me gently.

"Hey, it's ok..."

Those words...

That voice...

My head shot up as my mind processed the words and actions of the person trying to comfort me. There, sitting next to me, was a familiar face.

His hair was green and fluffy, his eyes were both cold and sympathetic, he wore complete black, and his face was lightly dusted in freckles. One thing that stood out to me though, was the smirk, present on his face—full of evil and malicious intent.

I stood to my feet as soon as my brain processed who he was.

"It's you!"