Chapter Text
Your muscles are screaming as you tear through the frigid torrent of the sea , you've made it this far, and refuse to die now. The prison you were in began to crumble when a vigilante group raided it and released as many people as they could , they told you to run as quickly as you could and as far away as possible. By the time you had made it to the ocean a large cloud of fiery smoke erupted into the sky , the prison was gone , but so was anyone within a wide radius. Despite that place being a hell on earth it was all you knew...All you knew since you got your quirk. It's all a blur before a certain point , your parents faces now empty blank slates , your home reduced to four plain walls , you do recall that your mother was devastated when you showed her your cute tail and ears. She was wailing at your father to bring you back , to hide you away from the militia , from the real monsters...Everything past that point was nothing but pain and trauma.
That was years ago , three years give or take , within those years you had lived in....Well , an alley , a forest , and anything but a house unless you count a tent as a house. Homelessness aside it was paradise compared to your former situation , the people you stayed with weren't fond of quirks either but they weren't trying to kill you so you stayed. On a few occasions thugs with little to lose would show up trying to rob those who already had nothing , but when your claws would meet their skin , it would shred like paper. Anyone you slashed was gravely injured , some even lost limbs , somehow you had forgotten just how brutal your fighting style was. Killing people was a way of life for you in the past but doing it not for the sake of having to , didn't feel right , it made you sick. At that point in time you were around ten , three years since escaping , after getting shunned by most homeless communities and being targeted by other thugs for accidently killing their members , it was time to migrate to a new area.
Not being the best at directions was a big downside , half the time you ended up in the same area , the other half at the ocean again. Deciding it was time to take a risk you took to the sky , flying was rather easy but landing not so much , while coasting around a small park came into view. It was right next to a forested area which was preferable to the concrete walls of the city. The surrounding houses were better built , newer at the least , all things considered your scraggly clothes and hostile demeanor may turn a few heads. It would be a good idea to observe some other kids , how they act with each other , how they use their quirks. Still gliding through the sky , you failed to notice the small group of kids pointing up at you , one of them seemed to have wings as well but couldn't get himself high enough to truly fly , more like hovering.
Circling around wasn't getting you any closer to landing , probably due to the wind being so unpredictable that high up. The next method of landing was more like a method of crashing , violently , tucking in your wings you immediately began to plummet towards the earth like a missile. About twenty feet or so from impact you painfully spread your wings to act as a parachute , the pull back was phenomenal , it still wasn't enough to stop you from rolling into a tree though. Through blurred vision you would assume these kids were around your age , if not a little older , hard to tell given the possible concussion.
"Are you okay?!" A green haired boy ran up to you.
Out of forced habit you attempted to back away only to stumble , falling clumsily. He looked harmless , of course looks are deceiving.
"That was awesome!" The boy with red reptilian wings hovered closer , excitedly observing you.
"If I had done that I probably would've ended up dead." Fair enough , he was a bit wide for having wings.
Somewhat off to the side three other boys were laughing , hysterically, one had extended fingers, another sharp teeth and the third looked normal in comparison as his quirk didn't seem to be physically apparent. Mustering up the courage to talk all you could really squeak out is.
"I-I'm fine!" This at least calmed the hysterical laughing slightly.
"Um what's your name? I haven't seen you at school before?" The green haired boy seemed genuinely concerned. You didn't really have a name , you were mostly called a monster or freak.
"Y/N" The name sputtered out without much thought.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya , do-" Before he could finish with another question the boy with the normal appearance despite the spiky blonde hair interrupted , by pushing Midoriya out of the way.
"Katsuki Bakugou. You don't wanna be friends with a quirkless NERD right!?" There seemed to be an established hierarchy here , one in which this kid was in charge.
"I-i've had quirkless friends before...They weren't that bad." Eye contact was not had in this conversation , or any conversation really but this was different. You were defending people that had kicked you out without a slight bit of remorse.
"Had? So you ditched them right? Weak people will slow you down!" His words held venom within them , seemingly towards that Midoriya kid who you had now assume was the quirkless nerd. The next words you chose would end the encounter in violence and in hindsight was the worse thing you could've possibly said to him.
"Everyone is weaker than me though..." In a hushed tone you spoke , muttering into what you thought was nothingness but was instead the ears of Bakugou. Instantly a switch was flipped , a look of pure anger came across his face and explosions emitted from , his hands?
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY! YOU WANNA GO!" Before he could get any closer you shifted into dragon form , doing this so quickly was painful but necessary , the thick scales on your wings would shield you from most of the attacks.
"KA-CHAN NO!" Ka-chan? Cute nickname for an angry ball of rage. Midoriya stepped in between you and Bakugou , he was of course thrown to the side within seconds.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY DEKU!" These two had a weird relationship. That's coming from someone that's never had a lot of same age interactions. Doesn't Deku translate into puppet? Your thoughts were interrupted once more by shouting.
"FIGHT ME DAMMIT!" You were charged at clumsily , clearly he wasn't that much of a threat. Dodging his attack was easy , dodging again even easier , this only increased his anger if that was even possible. Finally you blocked with a wing , the explosion stinging slightly but not causing any real damage. Since both hands were on said wing you flung him back with a swift movement , he came to a sliding stop about fifteen feet away.
"Are you done yet!" It was frustrating to say the least , you yelled this to him with a near snarl in your tone , you didn't want to hurt anyone , not anymore. You looked to the others , his friends seemed to be concerned but not concerned enough to help out. The one he called Deku was still to the side , sitting up now but scuffed up head to toe. Using this moment as an opening Bakugou managed to get his hands on both of your shoulders before you could defend from a distance. In that instance you had to fight your own instincts and not gut this kid like you had done before , this wasn't a fight to the death , ringing filled your ears as both of his hands produced explosions. You fell to your knees , mostly due to the sudden burst of sound but also to get out of the smoke, using your wings you swiftly but carefully used the spiked tips to pin him against one of the trees. There may have been yelling or protest but the ringing hadn't died down yet , after shaking your head and popping your ears a few times you could hear again. To clarify you weren't stabbing him , just his school shirt , although his friends had ran and Midoriya was on the verge of tears.
"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Was he serious. He cannot move yet he's still acting like the fight is still going.
"Ka-chaaaan , she could kill you! Look at her! She could be a villain!" Once again a fair point , tattered dark clothing , fighting experience at a young age , little to no communication skills. After a few seconds of staring each other down he spoke.
"We'll call it a draw..." Were you hearing him right? What world did this kid live in!
"NOW LET ME DOWN!" Back to yelling , seems like his normal tone , it should be expected at this point.
"I'm sorry , I didn't mean to get that rough with you..." Once he was down you noticed red stains on his shoulders , you must've scraped him with the spikes.
"Don't apologize!"
"Wha-"
"I said DON'T APOLOGIZE!" The whole exchange happened too quickly to really process , when you thought of something else to say Bakugou was already gone and Midoriya still terrified but also leaving. This place wasn't going to work , most of your energy had been used up , your dragon form takes a lot out of you. Shifting back into cat form you shambled your way past a fence that lead deeper into the woods , scavenging was your primary source of food so this worked out pretty well.
For awhile you hung out in the woods , at least for three years once again , occasionally seeing the same group of kids in which you had grown semi close to. Close enough to use the nicknames at least , but as they transitioned into high school they did their best to...Avoid you. The truth had come out that you were homeless and not part of the school system , they began to train for college , UA an elite school for heroes , a school in which you had no chance of attending unless a miracle happened. You had hoped that Ka-chan would've tried to fight you again in a rematch but he couldn't fathom the idea of losi- 'Coming to a draw' again. They had never seen your base form , or the cat form , you stayed in constant dragon form just in case the rematch ever happened. It was safe to assume that their parents were concerned and told them to stay away , especially after the very first encounter.
As the memory of good times began to fade you wracked your brain trying to figure out how to keep them going , one of the homeless women taught you how to read and told you about libraries. Places where you teach yourself since school wasn't an option, most around this area need an ID card or a library card , both in which cost money. The one place that is always hiring is the red light district... Most places would kill to have a shape shifter as a worker , quite literally , but this place seemed , decent? A strict 'look but don't touch' kind of place , if anything they seemed , honored? Unbeknownst to you shape shifters of your caliber were really rare , most other forms of shapeshifters needed a sample of someone or something to change into it , you only needed basic knowledge of said creature or person. Everything went rather smoothly for a good while , maybe two years , no incidents , no stalkers , a decent amount of money saved up , and a room at the 'establishment' to stay at. Some of the guys that would show up wanted you to turn into some really bizarre things , the most complicated was an octopus girl , to be able to produce that many limbs that could function independently was exhausting. The second most tedious was a lamia , all of those muscles and vertebrae! You weren't able to shift into any form for a week after that.
This cushy in comparison life was about to come to an end , and at the same time , dawn a new beginning , ironically this all happened on your sixteenth birthday , or what was assumed your birthday anyway. The entire place was buzzing with excitement , a high paying client was coming in tonight. Every woman there was informed individually that they are not to speak of him to anyone outside of this 'establishment'. Imagine our surprise when this individual was a hero , the second place hero as matter of fact, you hadn't really bought into the whole idea of heroes despite that being the main theme everywhere you turned. To you this was just another client , but fear began to surmount when he walked into the building , flames covered most of his body, including his face. He was a lot taller than you would've guessed , majority of the ladies you worked with were no taller than five foot five , this guy seemed like he was seven foot. It didn't take long to realize that he was absolutely hammered , the scent of booze was overwhelming , it wouldn't have been a surprise if the entire place went up in flames due to spontaneous combustion. He lumbered around each woman before , of course , stopping at you , you were their advertised shapeshifter specialist so it made sense. Motioning to the owners to speak with them went unnoticed , you usually asked if they knew the rules but a concerned look on the others faces should've been an indication of what was to come. Carefully you led him to the VIP room , a suite with a large chair , large stage and a massive fish tank , that was the most luxury the place could muster.
"Welcome to-"
"Quiet." His voice was steady , deep and stern , no hint of emotion to be found. Without another word he handed you a picture , it was a silver haired woman that you assumed was his dream woman or late wife. You had encountered sad cases like that before , they usually only wanted to talk with their love one last time , you wished this was one of those cases. Configuring a form to replicate this woman wasn't that difficult she was standard in build with the only unique factor being the hair color.
"Is this good enough?" You chose each word carefully and spoke slowly in case you silenced you again. A simple nod was all you got in return. The usual slow dance routine was your go to , this was all that was supposed to happen , a seductive dance , maybe some talking but the eerie stillness of this guy worried you greatly.
A single blink is all it took , that split second was enough of an opening for him to rush you , he grabbed at you roughly , this has happened to your co worker once but she was fine. This man was still using his quirk , flames seared into your back through his fingers , burning the flesh away nearly to your core.
"GAH!" A short airless scream was ripped out of you. The form of the silver haired woman was dying , from what you understood with your quirk as long as your base form was untouched you wouldn't die in a different form. As fast as you could you tried to shift forms to stop the flames from consuming you whole , to your relief the fire stopped once you broke free of his grasp , but to your horror the pain didn't stop. The fire wasn't gone from that silver haired form , it was still burning to death within you , in a now feeble dragon form a miserable attempt to shield yourself was halted with a single swipe. The wings of the dragon form were broken from that single swipe , your most powerful form defeated in mere seconds , bones twisted beyond recognition. Your body forcibly reverted into your base form , due to the amount of energy it was taking to stay alive it was skin and bones , skin was hanging off of your small frame as if it would slough off at any second.
"I....am.......not.....-"
"SILENCE!"
"...her..." With that last forced word it seemed to have clicked in his hazy mind that he was about to kill you. As your own mind began to fade into the fog you heard yelling and a loud crash , it appeared he had burst the wall off of the place to escape. Everything went white for awhile.....
You woke up violently , gagging on a tube that was down your throat for who knows how long , seconds later doctors and nurses rushed in to assist you. It seemed like you were in the hospital , you'd never actually been in one before so this was not a comfortable situation , plus the whole almost dying thing. The moment of awe from being in such a clean place was shattered by the intense ache from deep inside of your very existence. One form cremated , the other crippled , and you base form scarred through and through. Talking was still out of the question , so through coughs and sputters the doctor took the hint that you were wondering what exactly happened.
"You've been here for a month or so Miss. When you recover a bit more we'll get your information , but for now please try to relax." The surrounding nurses looked upset to the point of nearly crying , you didn't know why.
"M-Miss we took c-care of you this whole time so-" She was choked up by a sob.
"So we're really glad you're awake now!" A more cheery nurse finished her sentence.
The whole scenario was uncomfortable for you , being cared for by people , having people worry about you. You realized that the entire time you were 'out' you were in your base form , the base form covered in scars , these people felt bad for you , sympathy for something they knew nothing about.
After twenty minutes or so , and a lot of water , you could speak again , not very loudly but it would work. The nurses had gone back to their jobs by now , all except for whoever was assigned to you at that given time.
"Who brought me here?" This was the most pressing question in your mind.
"We don't know , you were driven into the emergency bay and pushed out of a car , it was gone before we could even try to know who was driving." The owners threw you out like a piece of garbage , you're not going back there , not even for the money , not even if they show up and beg for forgiveness. A knock at the door stopped your livid thoughts.
"Hello Miss...?"
"Y/N" The same name you had given Ka-chan and Deku was the name you gave the new comers. At the 'establishment' you didn't use names so that wouldn't come back to bite you in the future.
"Miss Y/n we're the police and we have a few questions for you. Like how you got here , and how..." The man hesitated before continuing.
"I'll take it from here." Another officer came into the room reassuring the others that they could leave.
"Sorry about that , I know it can be overwhelming when a bunch of random cops show up and start asking a million questions. I'm Naomasa Tsukauchi." His tone was light , you were pretty sure he thought you were a child due to your height.
"What do you need?" You wanted out of this place , it felt too cramped , too enclosed , the sooner you talked to them the sooner you could leave, back into that wooded area if you could find it.
"We need to know who did that to you." He pointed sideways towards your back.
"If they've threatened to hurt you or something we can protect you." This was all an act , he used light tones to mask the serious nature of the questions.
"I'm not a kid , I could've killed them a long time ago but they died with their sins." His eyes darkened with shock , mouth slightly agape. That was the most you had told anyone about the prison since you arrived all those years ago. The words came out like lava , venom laced each syllable , a slight snarl gracing your face.
"The reason i'm here now , in this hospital , is because of one of your 'Heroes' almost killed me! As for my back the bastards that did that died years ago in a fiery inferno of there making." The officer gulped before speaking.
"I-I see. Now that's a serious allegation you're making can you prove it?"
"Its been a month , the only evidence is the new burns on my back and my word which is worth less than dirt! I know how this'll go , nothing will happen if I name names-" You were spiraling into a deranged rambling , when the door opened again but a short mouse man came through instead of an officer.
"Oh well that doesn't sound good. Mr.Tsukauchi I would suggest you come back here for a moment." His voice was very proper , he had a tidy little sweater vest on , the sudden absurdity of it all broke the tension. After ten or so minutes the little mouse man came into the room , sensing your confusion he introduced himself.
"Hi there , I am Nezu , dean of the UA college. This may seem sudden but I would like to take you under my wing so to speak."
"What?" This thought couldn't be contained. This little guy ran an entire college , you're sure he has help but still that sounds complicated.
"Yes I stumbled upon your case when our good friend the detective here asked if we knew you or not. Then I got the great idea that I should help you not become a villain."
"Sixteen is a bit young for a college isn't it?"
"Well yes but if I start teaching and training you now you should be caught up academically by the time you're eighteen. As far as combat training you merely need to stay aware , from what I heard you are already a skilled fighter , more skilled than most of those who are to enroll in two years." This was a way out of poverty , a way into a stable environment , a way to meet people your age. If you had said no what would happen? Straight back onto the streets , countless targets on your back , and just as many shallow graves under garbage bins. An education , a place to live , a safe place at that.
"I'd be stupid to reject your offer Mr.Nezu but what's in it for you exactly?" Always a catch.
"Oh nothing much , I am merely trying to save a lost soul that may have gone through something similar to what I went through. Although I only have minor scarring."
"And?"
"And it would be a good reputation boost for UA if we took in those that have not had the same luxuries afforded to others." There it is , the real truth , a charity case to boost looks. Still an amazing offer nonetheless.
"I accept your offer , I do have a question though. What if....What if i'm not good enough for your school? Too stup-"
"No , no , I won't have that kind of talk." He hopped onto the foot of the bed , it took him a good minute but it would've been rude to try and help.
"My quirk is high intellect , so I am sure you are worth the effort! From the few reports we do have on you , your fighting abilities are already superb , studies are your only issue! You'll still have to train to stay sharp though!"
"Reports?"
"Well you see.....In some cases where you defended yourself-"
"The people I eviscerated?"
"Yes. They all had criminal records , they all were dead upon discovery , and your the only one in that area with a predominant claw based quirk. I personally helped the investigation and believe you are worth saving." For some reason those words hit harder than they should have. Tears began to stream from your face , this little mouse guy believed in you , saw you more than just a piece of garbage.
After a few more days the hospital deemed you fit to leave , once you told them your base form is all that needed to be cleared they focused on that form alone , speeding up the process. All you really needed was nutrients and water since that helps you keep each form present. For future reference you told them to treat you like any other food based quirk haver that over did it. Nezu brought you to this massive building , it was kind of scary at first but you had arrived before any other teachers or students were there , as to not freak you out too much.
This was your new life , and in two years you would be coming here to train , to become a hero.