Chereads / My Hero Academia: The White Violin / Chapter 2 - Exposition and All for One

Chapter 2 - Exposition and All for One

3rd Person POV:

Quirks. The first documented quirk appeared on March 23, 2042. Some argue that it was a disease passed from mice that infected humans. Others believe it is merely the next step in human evolution. Those of faith debate on whether it is a blessing or a curse from whichever deity they believe in. There were claims by individuals prior to the advent of quirks that they repeatedly witnessed 'mysterious' gold particles in the sky although this has never been confirmed by any reputable historians.

It began with a single child whose name was lost to history who was born in a quiet corner of Qing Qing City, China. The Luminescent Baby. No one could have predicted that this glowing infant would change the course of human history. The first quirk had appeared. At first, people saw it as a bizarre, isolated event—an anomaly that sparked curiosity, fear, and fascination. But the world soon learned it wasn't an isolated case. Across the globe, others began to manifest diverse sets of abilities. 

Regardless of how quirks came to be, it was evident that society wasn't ready for such a change. Humans already struggled to co-exist with one another and the existence of an essentially brand new class of humans destroyed what little social order existed. Panic rippled through governments, families, and communities as they struggled to understand this new age of superhuman power. The quirkless were still the majority causing mass violent protests against these individuals with powers which at the time were referred to as 'Meta Abilities' and heteromorphs were persecuted especially harshly. A woman gave birth to a son named Chikara Yotsubashi, the first Destro. His mother supported him, stating that her son's Meta Ability was "just a Quirk of his". Although at the time, her message was scorned and even led to her murder, decades later, "Quirk" became the most common term for such Meta Abilities, and she retroactively became known as The Mother of Quirks.]

As chaos and unrest ensued due to the outbreak of Meta Abilities, ordinary civilians decided to take matters into their own hands to bring order to society, and thus the first "Heroes" appeared in the form of Vigilantes.

In response to the new status quo, the Police Force made the decision to prioritize leadership and uphold the existing order, refraining from using Quirks as weapons. This gap was filled by the emergence of Pro Heroes, crime-fighting Quirk users, which began in the United States resulting in the gradual decline of Vigilantes. The initial authorisation of such dangerous powers was met with widespread criticism, but it eventually gained acceptance as a legitimate profession. Hero schools were created throughout the world to train those with so-called 'heroic' quirk to become Pro-Heroes. By modern times, 80% of the population have quirks and Pro-Heroes are treated like celebrities by the masses.

However, although the Luminescent Baby was the first documented quirk user, the first person to mutate was a woman called Kaori Shigaraki with her quirk known as Spearlike Bones. She was an ordinary sex worker who died in childbirth, not even being aware of her pregnancy. Nothing about her is of any particular importance other than the two children she gave birth to: Akuma Shigaraki and Yoichi Shigaraki, both of whom's actions would shape the destiny of the world forever. Akuma was one of the rare few born with their quirk immediately active as he stole his mother's quirk.

Akuma became synonymous with his quirk All for One, and ruled Japan from the shadows. He created an army of loyal followers through his ability to grant quirks to other people. However, All for One decided to grant an energy stacking quirk to his 'powerless' brother Yoichi. Unbeknownst to both of them, the energy stacking quirk merged with Yoichi's ability to pass his quirk to another, creating One for All. Yoichi would pass his will on to various others, hoping that one day One for All would become powerful enough to defeat the Demon Lord that his brother had become.

But Yoichi couldn't have known that a child with incomprehensible power would be reborn due to the whims of the gods and would end the cycle of hatred himself.

All for One POV (Year 2215):

All Might is truly a thorn in my side.

Number 1 Hero. What a joke!

As long as I exist, you will merely be a footnote in history. Another dead hero that thought they could prevent my ascension to divinity. Playing demon lord has been fun but with my power, being a god is merely inevitable. One for All is merely my brother's cheap attempt to reach a semblance of my power. All Might may be able to destroy cities but my dominion over biology is unparalleled. Science is true power. Brains over brawn as they say.

Perhaps I should contact my friend, Garaki? He was doing some interesting research on quirk cloning but I have not had the time to read much of the data he has sent me. Although, the idea of the Nomu does intrigue me.

RING! RING! RING! RING! RING!

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the screen as Kyudai's face flickered into view. The grainy image did little to hide his eagerness, but I kept my voice calm, measured.

 "Garaki my good friend, how have you been?''. I have known him for quite some time. Decades in fact. Friends aren't something I particularly care for but Garaki is the closest that comes to it. Providing me with his Life Force quirk certainly puts him in my good graces and his intellect in the scientific field is even higher than my own, although my knowledge in practical combat applications of quirks vastly surpasses his own.

Kyudai has an overly eager expression on his face and exclaims in happiness, ''MY LORD!!! Thank you for contacting me! My research has borne fruits I did not expect for at least another decade or so. The Nomus... they'll be our ultimate creation, a new frontier in the evolution of Quirks!!! I've already started experiments with some of the subjects you provided. The bodies are more resilient than I anticipated, and the Quirk integration process is progressing... albeit slowly. But in time, they'll be perfect, exactly as you envision. HUMANITY WILL BE RULED AS IT SHOULD BE BY YOU!!!''

Well, well, well. Garaki is not one to boast baselessly so his experiments must have provided some useful data.

''You are as excitable as ever, Doctor. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.We still have our plans with the Shimura child. Also Garaki as a professional courtesy, I should remind you that biological experimentation, especially in fields as complicated as cloning should not be rushed. Please inform me on the progress of the current subjects.'' 

Kyudai takes on an embarrassed look, ''Apologies, my Lord. I conducted the experiments with 20 subjects. 8 have died but the rest have shown some degree of success. In particular, Number Six and Number Nine. I would like to ask for permission to increase our acquisition of children with powerful quirks to test the effects on them but it is not strictly necessary. The main issue is that if we are going to mass produce Nomus, I may need some assistance from you or another quirk specialist.''

Hmm. My fight with All Might soon approaches. He has become more daring in attacking bases he knows are affiliated with me so my time may be better spent obtaining more powerful quirks to guarantee the death of that blonde rodent.

''That may be an issue. Are there any other quirk specialists that may be willing to join our cause? One does not become an expert in quirk biology without a bit of interest in exploring it to its utmost potential.

Garaki contemplates for a few seconds and hesitates before speaking, ''Well… there is Dr Reginald Hargreaves who recently moved to Japan for some reason. He is well known to be eccentric and there were rumours that his ape friend Pogo is not a natural born ape with a quirk but one of Hargreaves experiments. However, he also has ties to Principle Nezu of U.A High and high profile heroes like Stars and Stripes so the risks may not be worth it. I am fully capable of operating this project on my own if I create a Nomu with the appropriate specs to assist me.''

Good. Garaki can do it himself even if it is less efficient. I'd rather not take unnecessary risks when I am on the precipice of victory.

''Then that is what shall be done, Doctor. Continue updating me with data and I will arrange for another meeting between us in the coming months.''

(A/N: MC is reborn in the next chapter. Felt that it was necessary to give some quick exposition on the world. It was originally going to just be the exposition part but I got the idea to set up Reginald Hargreaves by having the main villains mention him. Leave some advice in the comments if you have any!)