More than 80% of the world had changed, people began to have superpowers ranging from weak to strong, eventually, people started to call them quirks. These quirks manifested at a young age and people kept them until death.
People started to use quirks for various activities, some for good and some for bad... The good ones became what we later called heroes and the others were named villains. Some of them just stayed away from the heroes-villains business, the last 20% of the population was unlucky and got mocked and laughed because they didn't have a quirk. People started to call them quirkless.
This is the story of a guy that will become one of the greatest heroes the world ever had.
...
Shinya Kamihara was better known as the Ninja Hero: Edgeshot. Despite his desire to prioritise efficiency over popularity, he had managed to rank himself 4th on the Hero Billboard Chart. His quirk was foldabody and allowed him to manipulate the thinness of his body as well as stretch his limbs.
It was currently night as Edgeshot decided to patrol around the city. To remain as discrete as possible and have an overall vision of the city, he chose to stay on rooftops. But as far, the night was rather calm.
...Until this calm eventually had to be disturbed.
An explosion suddenly rang throughout the city and the next second he spotted a cloud of dark smoke at the vicinity of his position. The area was outside his supposed patrol perimeter, but this said perimeter was no longer of interest in the event of an extreme emergency such as the one occurring. Instantly he hopped from a roof to another at a blinding speed- actually it was to the speed of sound given his great mastery of his quirk.
It was a matter of minutes before the Ninja Hero arrived on the scene and found himself right in front of a house from which a column of flames flared up. A few heroes were already on site and citizens were gathering around the house, gazing with expressions of shock from behind the safety distance zone. Lots of them gasped at the sight of the number 4 hero and even beginner heroes stared at him in awe. "Did you get inside to look after any survivors?" Shinya asked, his voice remaining calm and his expression, thanks to his years of training and experience, focused and foolproof as he spoke to the other heroes.
"The fire his too dense! We can't walk in and I doubt anyone has survived inside that torrent of fire!"
"Our quirks won't allow us to go inside and catch the situation under control, same goes for you Edgeshot. We have to wait for someone with a better suited quirk!" Another hero retorted.
Kamihara's brows furrowed in confusion but he didn't take any time to proceed what he was told. "No time for doubting when lives are still on the line," he stated, shaping his body into a single thread and entering the burning house. 'If we don't take any risks, then what's the point to call us heroes?'
Thanks to his quirk he had no difficulty to get inside, even with the debris. Given the damage, there was no doubt that the fire started from inside. The interior was completely ransacked, and not just because of the fire. He also noted traces of fighting so it made no doubts that the fire was deliberately provoked.
After searching in up for any form of life for a while, he saw a body laying on the ground. He saw it from the back but the silhouette clearly indicated that it was a woman. She had long white hair. The hero rushed over to her and gasped as he flipped the body. She was none other than Rumi Usagiyama. Former number 5 of the Hero Billboard Chart, the Rabbit Hero: Mirko. She stood inert to the ground, devoid of all life. Shinya felt his heart clench in his chest due to the indescribable sorrow that seized him. 'N-No... i-it can't be... It can't be her. Please... no.' He kneeled on her side, tears were running down his cheeks and along his mask. Slowly and precautiously, he grabbed the body in bridal style and turned to walk to the exit.
Before Kamihara walked outside, he suddenly heard muffled cries, he glanced at the arounds and noticed a white tuft of hair protruding from behind the sofa. It was a child, a boy. Not older than 3 or 4 years old with white hair, crimson red eyes. Edgeshot's eyes went wide at the similitudes between him and Rumi. But out of all things, he noticed one more than the others.
He looked terrified.
When he saw the hero he became even more terrified and jerked back with more tears falling. "P-P-Please, d-don't *sniffle* kill me too," he said between the sobs.
'Too...' Kamihara crouched in front of him, removed his mask and tried his best to reassure the boy, giving him a smile. "It's alright kid. I'm a pro hero and I'm here to save you."
"R-Really? You w-won't hurt me like the 2 *sniffle* others did with m-mommy?" The boy replied still scared and his eyes brimming with tears. And whatever fear he saw in his eyes earlier had multiplied.
Edgeshot swallowed hard, as to contain his emotions in front of the boy. Rumi was his mother as the hero had assumed. And someone killed her in front of her son. That someone had to be a heartless monster to have the decency to kill a mother right in front of her son. "I won't hurt you. Nobody ever will. My name is Shinya, but you can call me Edgeshot if you prefer. What's your name?"
"M-My name is Y/n. Y-Y/n Usagiyama," he said, voice trembling.
"Okay, Y/n. I'm going to get you out of here, but I need you to trust me. Would you?" Shinya asked kindly. The boy shyly nodded as he gripped at the hero's vest. Edgeshot put his mask back on and they went out of the house.
....
It took quite the time but the fire was eventually put out, only for the media to invade the place and try to get the smallest hint of a scoop. Notably trying to get an interview with the number 4. Of course, since he favoured discretion, there was only so many times he answered to the media.
But tonight wasn't one of these times.
Kamihara could hear the continuous calls of his hero name directed to him, but he didn't care and even, ignored them. In fact, he didn't even consider the journalists. He was gazing at the dead body in front of him. It took all he had to not let the few tears he retained flow down his face and staining his mask in the same way. His sadness, deep sadness, manifested by the blank gaze he orned. 'Forgive me. I wasn't there for you...'
Next, the body was taken away in front of Edgeshot's eyes. "It's a tragedy what happened to her," the hero whipped around and, standing a few feet on his right was the police detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi. "How are you proceeding that entire stuff?"
"I-I didn't know she was still alive... let alone she had a son," Edgeshot looked down, guilt overflowing him as he clenched his fists.
"Do we know for sure the child is her son?" Tsukauchi brought the question.
Edgeshot nodded. "The boy names Y/n Usagiyama and Rum- Mirko had no family. Plus he referred to her as mommy. I think that's plenty enough to say she was his mother."
Tsukauchi tilted his head down as he put a hand on his chin. "Hm, okay. That always makes one step forward. Do we have any information other than that?"
"Not that I know of. And Y/n was the only one to witness the scene," Edgeshot responded.
"That means we'll have to question him. It doesn't please me at all but it's our only lead," Tsukauchi said and looked over to an ambulance not far away with Y/n sitting at the back of it. Meanwhile, the two were speaking, he never stopped staring at the hero that saved his life.
"The loss of a loved one is always hard to deal with, let alone at such a young age. He's only a child and traumatised from the death of his mother. Are you sure it's the right time to question him?" Edgeshot remarked.
"Yes. We'd better talk to him while he still remembers about every detail. Also, you should come with me, as far as we know you're the only person that Y/n is comfortable around. Which leads us to another issue we need to discuss," Tsukauchi said, changing the topic.
"Which is?" Edgeshot raised his brows.
"Where's Y/n going to live?"
"Let's question him first. One thing at a time, we'll figure out where he is going to live then," Edgeshot responded, the question not escaping a corner of his mind though. Tsukauchi nodded and the two began walking towards the ambulance.
Reaching it, Tsukauchi gestured to the police officer standing nearby to walk away. And so taking his leave he did, thus leaving Y/n to his fate with the two adults. Y/n saw Shinya and his expression softened. The pro hero sat next to him, for the boy to instinctively nuzzle onto his lap. He was surprised, to say the least, but in a good way as he looked down to the white tuft of hair, the ghost of a smile gracing his features under his mask.
"Are you okay?" Y/n didn't really answer the question. He just gripped tighter on the fabric of Edgeshot's outfit.
Tsukauchi crouched down to eye level with Y/n as he spoke out, "Hi Y/n. I am the detective Tsukauchi. Firstly, I'm really sorry for what happened to you. Also, I'd like to ask you a few questions about what happened. Is it okay for you?"
Y/n was at a loss, for lack of better words. He didn't really know what to do. He looked at Kamihara who softly spoke to him, "You don't have to be afraid. Not anymore. Nobody here wants to hurt you."
Y/n looked back to Tsukauchi and addressed him a very shy nod.
The detective smiled and continued, "Can you tell us what happened, you can take your time don't worry."
"T-Today w-was my 4th birthday. Mommy and I were celebrating it. But someone knocked at the door. W-When she opened the d-door, there two guys... and-... and-" His breath went loud and irregular.
"Shhhh... it's okay, take your time," Edgeshot said softly as he ran his arm along his back and rubbed it, in some attempt of comforting him.
"What happened next?" Tsukauchi demanded.
"T-Then mommy told me to hide until she'd come back. A-And then I only heard muffled voices and... then screams... and..." At that point, tears were streaming down his face as he began to sob profusely, "Mommy..."
The two adults looked at one another. Their expressions, ones of sadness. Edgeshot kept rubbing Y/n's back in a desperate attempt to soothe him. Eventually, Y/n stopped crying.
"Y/n, why didn't your mother use her quirk?"
"H-Her quirk? Mommy didn't have a quirk," Y/n spoke out innocently. Shinya and Naomasa were flabbergasted and couldn't hide their confusion. And now that Edgeshot was just told that, he remembered not seeing any trace of Rumi's rabbit quirk earlier. Though he had not granted it any importance. "A-At least, not anymore. I-I-I know mommy u-used to be a hero. But she couldn't use her quirk anymore," Y/n said, his blank gaze devoid of any form of joy.
Obviously, there were missing a few parts of the puzzle but they would not dig deeper for more information. Not now. Not tonight. The boy had been through his fair share of trauma for a long time.
"D-Detective Tsukauchi?" The two adults focused back on Y/n as his small and quiet voice interrupted their train of thoughts. W-What is going to happen to me now?"
Tsukauchi stood up and scratched his neck, "Well... we've already been discussing your custody. Unfortunately, since you don't have any family to take care of you, so foster care might be our only option."
Before he could even think, his words escaped him and rolled off his tongue, "I'll take him in."
Need to say, he took everyone, himself included, by surprise. Y/n's eyes widened at his statement and Shinya looked away. He didn't mean to say that sentence out loud but now he couldn't turn back. "I was just trying to say that in case you wanted to come with me, I-"
"Can I?"
"Only if you absolutely want to go with me," Edgeshot responded.
"Yes. Please," Y/n's quiet voice came out in a whisper without a moment of hesitation.
"Fine! I'm glad to see it ends this way. I'll take care of the adoption papers and bring them to your agency," Tsukauchi said, looking at Edgeshot before he nodded to him and walked away. Edgeshot picked Y/n up and placed him back down on the back of the ambulance.
"There's something I need to discuss with him," Edgeshot said and as he turned came the voice of the child to his ear.
"You will come back?"
Edgeshot's heart clenched at the sentence. He spun around and crouched down in front of the boy. "I promise. I'll be right back," he spoke softly to him. He then speed walked over to the detective, "Tsukauchi?"
"Is something wrong?" The detective asked.
"Actually, I'd like nobody to learn I'm adopting the boy. With as many villains as I'm exposed to if they ever learned they would target him. I don't want that to happen," the hero spoke his mind.
"I'll try my best. For now, nobody knows that the found body is Mirko but people will eventually learn. However there's nothing about the fact she had a child," Tsukauchi said.
"Good. Let's keep it that way..."
...
*Time skip to Edgeshot's house*
"Here's your new house, Y/n," Edgeshot said as they stood before it. Not so surprisingly, Y/n remained completely unfazed before the greatness of the house. The main door opened only for Shinya to outstretch his hand and beckon him to walk inside, "Don't be shy, come in. It's your home too now."
Y/n nodded weakly before he stepped in. Given the late hour, both of them didn't waste time and went directly upstairs to the bathroom where Y/n took a bath since he was still covered in soot. Then the hero guided him to what would be his future bedroom, "There we are. For now, it's only a guest room and is quite empty, but we'll quickly get you your own stuff to decorate.
Y/n walked further inside, crawled onto the bed and finally slipped under the covers. "You should sleep, kid. It has been a very long day," Edgeshot said, sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Why did it have to be her?" This was probably the worst question he could've asked Shinya. He had been asking himself this exact same question for the past hours now. He faltered a moment before he responded, "You see, there's..." Shinya paused. "...I have no clue. It could've been anyone else but it had to land on her. But you shouldn't be sad, what we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. The memory of your mother will forever be engraved in you. The only thing you can do now is living for her... Anyway, goodnight Y/n," He stood up and walked to the door.
"Thank you." Y/n's voice was heard one last time by the pro hero before he gave him a weak smile and closed the door. Shinya went to his bedroom to try to get some sleep. But sleep never came. All he could do was thinking about Rumi. He just had told Y/n to not be sad but he could not bring himself to follow his own advice.
'Rumi, I promise you I'll take care of him as my own child and would give my life to protect him.'