Daitan'na: Hero Origin

"Well, Miss Hitsuji, looks like you can get this little anklet off," the cheery woman got her tool.

"It's an ankle monitor," I couldn't help but say in a sardonic tone.

"Yes, yes. That's true. But you wouldn't have this pretty little anklet if you hadn't broken the rules, now, would you?"

I could only sigh as my pant leg got rolled up, frowning at the chunky thing on my tan skin.

I don't think my story has been told before, the story of how I became a hero. It started with an ankle monitor, well, how I earned the ankle monitor. Or...maybe it was before then, but that was when everything changed.

I bet you're wondering how in the world I earned an ankle monitor if I became a hero, right?

Well, don't worry. I plan to tell you my hero story, from beginning to end.

There will be laughter and pain, death and new beginnings, friendship…and love.

And though there were some things I wasn't proud of…it's my story.

The story of how I became one of the best heroes of my generation.

And it begins with a bus.

D(7 ᐛ)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ𝒰𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

"The bus to take you home should be here soon, right, Aiko?"

My best friend shot me a grin, "Yep! Thanks for waiting with me."

"Of course," I brush down the pants of my uniform, "Can't have you out here by yourself."

A few passersby gave us looks, which made Aiko's smile become plastered.

"What's wrong?"

"I think they might be looking at me…because I'm…fat…"

I shook my head to reassure her, "First off, you're not fat. It's called having healthy weight on you, this country just puts a lot of pressure to look a certain way."

"Then were they judging you?"

"For my skin?" I shrug, "Who knows. But I think they were judging our uniforms, not the most traditional."

We were girls, yet our school uniforms had us wearing pants.

Which, I can admit was my fault. I'd rallied up the girls and we protested against wearing skirts in the winter last year. The school broke and offered us pants if we didn't want to wear skirts. But they didn't fold on the heeled boots, at least they were nice.

Aiko burst into giggles, "We're practically everything untraditional at one time."

Giggling along with her, my gaze trailed from her wide brown eyes to nothing in particular.

I dearly love Aiko, but there's always something off when we're together.

I feel like I don't belong like that piece of the puzzle doesn't fit where it should.

I know I shouldn't feel that way, she's been my best friend since I came to this 'Richie-Rich' middle school…but…

Maybe it's because I feel like I don't deserve any friends since I didn't save the last one I had.

It isn't her fault, she's been a good friend to me, my only friend.

"Daitan'na-chan?"

"Hm?"

Her grin was wide as she leaned forward, hands laced behind her back, "There you are! You were gone for a second! Whatcha' thinkin' about?"

"Just…trying to figure out where I belong."

Her smile softened, "We all try to figure that out when we're teenagers, huh? You think we'll ever figure it out?"

"Maybe we will once we become adults."

"I hope so."

"Your bus will be here soon, I can hear it, it's a block away."

"Man! Your super hearing is so convenient!"

Only people who don't have it feel that way.

"Yeah, but it sucks when you can't turn it off," I took out my hair tie, running my fingers through my hair to set it down.

"Hey, I see it! Thanks for staying with me!"

"Sure, thing."

"You sure you don't want to get on the bus with me? It passes by the train station you need."

"I think I'll be fine, but thanks, Aiko."

D(7 ᐛ)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ𝒰𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

I preferred the walk to the first train station. It gives me a break to relax and keep to myself...

I put in an earbud, rhythmically nodding my head, letting my feet take me where I need to go.

...It lets things feel a little slow to me.

"🎶Lowlife, yo' life, boy, we livin' it up. Takin' chances while we dancin' in the party fo' sho'…🎶"

My foot halted as I heard loud shaking and screaming.

"Get off of this bus!" a shaky voice attempted.

"You're gonna take me where I need to go, that's what the bus is for, right?" a dark chuckle followed after that.

I breathed out slowly, restraining myself, "This is a hero's job. A hero will come."

"Please…I just want to get home…" a voice whined…a familiar voice.

"Aiko…" I gasped, "Aiko is in there."

I squeezed my eyes shut, clenching my fists, "A hero will come…"

"Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion you little piggy!"

Eyes snapping open, I scowled, "Forget that. I'm going in, but I need to have a semblance of a plan, at least. I go in there with impulse, someone's gonna get hurt or killed."

I hear the bus rev up, zooming around the corner it was behind and flying past.

"It shouldn't be going that fast…"

But I need to catch up before it hits that next corner.

"Matter Blast!"

With a leap, I landed on the bus roof, keeping in mind to keep the landing light so it couldn't be heard over the chaos.

Keeping my grip tight for the sharp turn, I observe through the roof.

My hair gets in the way, blowing this way and that as I brush it back.

I can't see what's going on with normal vision, but I can see all the particles of matter, the electricity running through the body.

"Everyone's alive, good."

Stomping as I activate my Quirk, the jagged chunk falls into the bus, and I follow after it.

"Ahh!" the passengers close by back away.

"I can't say I'm surprised by that reaction," I admit.

"Daitan'na! What are you doing here?!"

"A little girl, huh? What are you gonna do, have a tea party? Can I be invited?" the burly villain teased.

"Perhaps. You can be the footrest," I shed off my uniform blazer, tossing it to Aiko behind me as the villain charges.

I conjure an energy disk as he throws the first punch.

I can't use many attacks at the risk of civilians, I have to stick to targeted, low-impact moves.

Then he flexed his pale hand, it turned a metallic grey.

Metal hand? That sure makes having a matter Quirk convenient.

"Taker."

I dodged his arm and kicked him, making him crash into the backseats from his own Quirk.

I shook out my leg as it changed back to normal, "Nifty Quirk," I called out to the passengers sitting on the side seats, "Everyone, to the front of the bus, if it's a squeeze, let it be."

Like mice, they scattered.

"You little brat! You think you're something? This ain't the movies…You're gonna die!"

He touched the metal poles, they creaked and snapped from their places, stabbing at me.

As I dodged, I kept in mind that there were civilians behind me. I throw up a shield for them.

He cackled, "I can manipulate and use metal any way I want by absorbing some ahead of time. It looks like you just copy Quirks, lame."

Yet, he doesn't realize he's making things easier for me…

"Oh? But it seems you didn't realize I moved deliberately…I think that's pretty lame."

"What?"

The last pole of metal stabbed into the ground, and the bus split in two as the driver made a hard left.

"Power Eater," I kicked the villain, using the momentum to shoot into the other side of the bus.

The back of the bus was now crushed by the rolling impact. Sitting in the empty street.

But he was still alive, just weakened, I made sure of that.

Landing on my hands, I smoothly move to my feet and rush to the driver.

"You're the driver, right? I need you to do something for me—"

"The brakes aren't working!"

"I know, I can hear them, but—"

"I don't know what to—"

Everyone was panicking, I couldn't get the driver to calm down this way.

I rose my voice to everyone on the bus, "All of you need to calm down. Panicking like this will not do you or any of the other passengers good, I know this is scary, but you need to do your best to have a clear head right now!"

"We-"

"I-"

How could we possibly-?"

I hold up a hand, glancing them all over, "Breathe slow, deep, and try to relax your tense bodies."

They all take shaky breaths in and out, calming down some after a few times.

The driver's face turned solemn, "Okay. Thank you, kid."

"Now, I think I can stop this. The next stop that has open space is Koneji, right?"

He gave a sharp nod.

"All right, you were smart to stay on the normal route. It makes it easier to notice something's off. Keep doing that and I'll meet you at Koneji—Can you open the door for me?"

"What?!"

I give a saccharine smile, "Please?"

With the opening of the doors, I jump from the railings and land on the roof before leaping into the air.

I grunt when I land on a building's roof and with haste, jump between rooves.

This isn't the time for Candy Shop to be playing in one ear...I sigh...Anyway...

If I calculated right, at this rate, I should get there twenty seconds before the bus.

With a rough landing, I post myself in front of a water fountain.

As I collect matter for a shield, I can feel my breathing getting heavier.

"...15, 14, 13, 12, 11..."

I hear a screech before the bus turns around the corner, 150 feet in front of me.

"9, 8, 7, 6..."

I hear gasps around me as it gets too close.

"...3, 2...1! Light Shield!"

BAM!

I breathe heavily as the bus smacks into the clear shield I made, stopping its long pursuit.

The shield drops and I fall back in relief, "I've really got to work on my strategies, they could be better..."

I need to train more if I'm this out of breath from barely using my Quirk. All I did was jump around, attack that guy, and rush here to stop a bus.

"Daitan'na!"

I grunt as a body slams into me, Aiko.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I was so scared!" her shoulders shook.

"It's okay, you're safe, now. It's over."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"You saved our lives!"

"You're so strong!"

I turn my head to the left; all the passengers are in a group.

My breathing is still heavy, and I give a quick laugh of assurance, "No need to thank me, no one else was there in time."

"No!"

An elderly woman stepped up, she must have been the one who spoke.

"You, young lady, saved us all. There were no heroes there fast enough; you took a brave step and stood up to him. From one woman to another, I admire your strength and you've earned my respect. You executed this well for your age, calming us down, taking down the villain, and keeping us safe! You're a true hero, thank you!"

I gasped as she bowed in thanks, "No, no! You don't have to do that, ma'am. It's no big deal!"

I blinked, surprised when the rest of the passengers followed.

The applause snapped me out of it, a crowd surrounded the bus, some with phones.

"...I didn't do anything special...anyone would have done it..." I whispered.

That's how it all started. I saved a bus from a villain.

Then how did I get the ankle monitor, you wonder?

"A little girl like you shouldn't put yourself in danger like that!"

"What if you influence other girls to do impulsive things like this?"

"Why didn't you leave it to the heroes? A young lady shouldn't-"

"You could've gotten hurt, do you understand that, girl?"

Girl this, girl that.

"Why does it matter that I'm a girl? I saved them, didn't I?"

That question always shut them up.

I admit, yes, I did break the rules.

But…last time I checked, that kid who jumped into the middle of a battle a few months back, didn't get all of this.

So, what made it different for me? That I was a girl?

In both situations, there was no help.

In one, heroes were there, but helpless.

In the other, no hero was to be found until everything was said and done.

We get yelled at for breaking the rules when the people who can freely use their Quirks didn't help at all.

The boy gets a slap on the wrist and I get a new friend to live on my ankle, I can't leave my neighborhood for two months—which means my school work gets delivered home—I'm stuck.

The only thing I get out of this is not having the 'horrendous crime' put on my record.

"Why is this world fairer to boys?" I whispered into the air, I had this question in my mind since I was a little girl.

It was the reason I wanted to be a hero.

I wanted to save people, yes; I wanted to show the world why women deserve fairness.

I wanted to be a better hero than the ones we had.

I wanted many things.

Back then, I dreamed to change things and make things better.

But I had no clue that one day, I would.

But let's not get ahead…I mean, that's not how stories really work, right?

A/n: Bold Underline with "" = "English"

Question of the Chapter: What vibe do you get off Daitan'na? Drop your answer in the comments! :)