Starting Line

Damien was cold.

Frigid liquid washing off him, and stale air quick to replace it as he struggled to breath. The remnants of whatever liquid had surrounded him was now stuck in his throat, and he sputtered in effort for what felt like an eternity before he spit it out. Realizing he was struggling against something that would not budge, for a few long moments he honestly thought he was being strangled

His eyelids were heavy, but with enough gathered effort the darkness in his vision was pulled away like curtains over a window. Damien suddenly inhaled sharply, allowing his mind that was so focused on simply surviving now having the time necessary to take in the world around him.

He noted a few things almost instantly. The first being the muted sounds of machines and voices, almost like listening to the fading music from someone's vehicle as they drove away. 

However, the sound was the soft spoken language of Japanese, or as far as he could tell since most words felt like they were behind a waterfall. 

Settling for it being Japanese, he let out a small mental exhale, not really noticing as he was forcefully moved by giant hands.

After a minute passed, and he had calmed down from his confusion, Damien went through each of his senses one by one.

The faintest smells which tingled his nose every time he inhaled stunk of blood and chemicals. His vision was blurred to the point it was almost impossible to tell what was moving and what wasn't.  Unidentifiable… figures would occasionally cross back and forth like a slideshow in his vision. Touch was hit or miss, because for what felt like hands suddenly slipped into what he could only assume was a towel, yet rough enough it could honestly be sandpaper and he would not know it.

Begrudgingly, and soaking in everything, he had come to the conclusion he both hoped and feared.

He had been reborn.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the encounter with the otherworldly being called Death was not some lucid figment of his dying brain playing a sick prank on him.

Damien was relieved.

There had been a silent doubt when he initially woke up in the void able to move his limbs and speak, something he had not been able to do for two whole years. Even then, he was still unsure that everything was real, but the lingering sense of truth by Death stopped any oncoming panic attack at the door.

He supposed Death didn't want to wait for him to get his bearings, meaning  Death could force things on him, because anyone who hadn't been able to speak for two years would freak out.

Damien did not.

'Enough, focus.'

The same focus he donned found a trickle of dread seeping into his body at what this new life entailed, which was a new feeling, since it had been awhile since something so important could be taken away from him; save for his life of course.

However, he had not particularly wanted this second chance, but there had never been a real choice for him to begin with. Death made it rather clear, no matter if Damien died on that hospital bed broken, angry, tired, and filled with regrets.

He had been barely eighteen, well sixteen when the disease took him, old enough to be a sophomore in high school and at the forefront of puberty.

Old enough, that Damien could still remember them, the memories he had repressed for so long.

They came to Damien as he just let whatever was going on around him happen, since it was not like he could do much about it anyways.

Although, he did cry out in shock and pain when he felt a sting of something on his back, continuing to do so as he realized what was happening to him. He did it just long enough to let whoever was handling him have confirmation that he was indeed alive. Though, the second he was cleaned and wrapped in what he could only assume was a blanket, Damien grew quiet again.

However, his mind did the opposite, almost like the floodgates in his head had opened and assaulted him with countless things.

The times of playing sports with faces he couldn't quite remember, constant late nights in the group chats talking about random things with names that were already faded beyond blurry faces, moments in school were Damien wanted to tear his hair out, other times when he stared wide eyed after learning about something cool, and even a spark of what he assumed was his hormones as he couldn't help but stare at his English teacher; of course not remembering much about her besides her blonde hair.

Those many memories had been crammed tight into the four years of being adopted by his parents, people who were rich actors and probably only took him in to see themselves as someone charitable. 

Damien could never complain though.

Fancy cars, lavish decorated rooms, foreign foods he had trouble pronouncing, and constant trips to places he thought he would only ever see on a globe. His parents had been good people, frivolous and sometimes vain, but they had not neglected him, brushed him off, or forgotten him.

Well, until it came, the sickness that took it all away

And as if to remind him, here he was somewhere in a crib he guessed, not able to do anything but dwell with his own thoughts.

The situation was just like those two years spent aimlessly and miserably crippled as an autoimmune disease he could not pronounce ate away at his joints, muscles, and organs till he spilled his last breath.

Unable to move, unable to talk, unable to read, unable to eat properly, and unable to live.

'Right back in the saddle,' Damien thought darkly, but quickly let the anger dissipate. He had enough on his plate right now with being reborn to focus on anything else. He wasn't even sure how long he was awake, a habit he formed during those two years bedridden which enabled himself to slip into a constant string of never ending thoughts. 

Time had no meaning when he did this, minutes slipping into hours, hours falling into days, and days blurring into weeks.

Things were quite boring in his life… new life?

His life, he hadn't really lived long enough to call it new, seeing as he did mostly the same things.

However, each time sounds became clearer, the scenery became crisper and smells stronger, he couldn't help but feel a rise of hope in his gut.

Soon, or well after ew months to a year, he would finally be able to walk again. He would be able to talk, experience the world personally, make friends, and maybe even meet parents that wouldn't forget about him like last time.

He would have spent all his time as a baby relishing in the idea, but there were also the other things he had discovered with his exchange with Death, things that were quite troubling indeed.

My Hero Academia.

A once fictional world, now real, and the place Damien would reside in till the day came in which he died again. The whole situation was surreal, bizarre, bewildering, and countless other words he couldn't quite think up on the spot.

He would see the story firsthand, see Izuku Midoriya and his struggles, witness the untold destruction All for One could bring, and maybe even stop it himself.

He wasn't a hero, not yet at least, but Damien would give it his best shot.

He didn't want others to suffer as he did, to be forced against their will to be hurt by raging villains who had daddy issues or ideals that simply had civilians as casualties and not glorious chess pieces in their grand game.

No, he would keep the peace, hold onto it with an iron grip, no matter how much his hands might bleed from doing so. There would be no unnecessary suffering, and to guarantee it he would need to train, both mind and body till he could help stop what was to come.

Sure, to him this was a world that wasn't originally his, it shouldn't merit the selflessness and self sacrifice, but Damien was sure he would meet people he cared about. He wasn't some stone cold emotionless bastard, he knew himself well enough to understand all he wanted was to love and be loved. 

To eventually live a quiet life with a family, a dream he had, and one he would achieve at all costs.

However, before he could even start to climb that mountain, he needed to don his climbing gear or hell, even go shopping for the equipment in the first place.

So, as more time passed and his senses grew sharper and he gained an understanding of where he was, his short but concise plans he once started to make may be harder to realize than he initially thought.

"Hello Kai, my name is Hina, I'm your Handler."

The sweet voice of a younger woman speaking English entered Damien's ears, his eyes widening slightly at the mention of his new name and his supposed guardian.

'Handler? What does that mean? Where am I?' Damien swallowed hard, straining his head to stare up at the black haired women whose eyes sparkled like green jade. She looked happy with the current tilt of her head and the small smirk that adorned her pretty face.

She held Damien tightly, swaying him back and forth until the sound of the door opening brought her attention elsewhere.

"Hina, I see you are already acquainted with your Agent." A male voice spoke in a lazy and calm tone.

"I did, or as much as I could be Chairman Yasu." Hina began. "Not like he can respond anytime soon."

"I suppose." The male voice drew closer until its owner was revealed.

He had balding blonde hair, a face aged from probably countless years of stress, lips thinned and held tight to silence his want to complain constantly, and finally golden eyes that glowed as they met Damien's in earnest.

"Fascinating, truly it is. To think there would be someone born with such a strong Quirk Factor."

Damien's mind short circuited, dozens of worrying thoughts coming to him as he heard those words.

"Luckily," the man smiled, the gesture looking odd on his worn face. "We will ensure to make him a great Professional Hero."

The worrying thoughts ceased, Damien simply staring absently while also making baby noises out of habit as he weighed those words.

Being All for One's protege was ruled out because of the use of the word Agent, but the next idea was that he was perhaps at a testing facility taking advantage of his biology, but then again why would they want to make him a hero? As sick as it sounded, if he was their subject, then by all means why would they even think of letting him free? No, he should be deep underground where he could be tested thoroughly without worry.

A troublesome thought if there could ever be one.

The door opened again, and Hina and the man slipped back into talking Japanese to whomever appeared, Damien slightly miffed he wouldn't be able to gather more information about his predicament.

Fortunately, he was patient, and he had to be when he had been forced to stay bedridden by the disease for so long.

So steadily like clockwork, time marched on, a whole year practically passing in a blink of an eye.

In the time that had transpired, Damien finally got his answers, as difficult as they were to swallow.

The Hero Public Safety Commission.

His parents had died shortly after his birth in a villain attack that devastated the rural village he would have grown up in if nothing went wrong. After the tragic incident, Damien—well Kai now he supposed—, went through a screening to weigh how strong his Quirk Factor was through an initiative done by the Hero Commission to find Agents just like Hawks was in the anime.

The stronger the Quirk factor, to no one's surprise, the stronger the Quirk that would manifest. Not necessarily in strength, but potential in application or scale. Someone with a weak Quirk factor whose Quirk allowed them to sense bodies of water in a certain distance may be only able to observe an area of a few feet. 

With how strong Kai's QF was, the Quirk could cover Tokyo, something practically unheard of save for a few.

He was snatched up immediately.

It was rare for most children to show signs of a Quirk Factor so early on as well, as they usually developed enough of the cell to be observed when they turned three. The fact that not even one year after his birth Kai's Quirk Factor was already present did him no favors.

Kai could only helplessly agree to their eagerness, seeing as the Quirk he had rolled for his reincarnation was as powerful as One for All. Although, he would be getting them in reverse order.

[Gear Shift], [Fa Jin], [Smokescreen], [Danger Sense], [Float], [Blackwhip], and lastly he assumed the One for All strength portion Izuku handily used as a way to soothe his masochist tendencies. Kai had plenty of time to come to terms with the oddity that was his future Quirk, along with the final decision Death had seemingly made for him.

On the tablet screen in front of him, a tall muscular woman with flowing blonde hair resting on broad shoulders smiled brightly, her figure tightly clad in a red, white and blue skin tight outfit along with a silver cape which whipped in the wind. Her laughter echoed through the tablet's speakers almost like a song, loud yet soothing and as enticing as a lullaby. 

All Might was a female, and surprisingly she was hot, like top of the list of MILF material.

Kai would not lie, the second he began to be able to crawl he had been overcome with the idea of being able to move on his own volition, he had thoroughly skipped over an important detail about how this world was different from the one he knew and loved.

[Mutator selected: Rule 63- all living and will be living beings' genders have been flipped.]

Kai wasn't sure how to feel about it, since originally he picked the world for the fact that with a super power he could make more of the difference he was looking for; not necessarily to see and meet the characters.

He was a fan of the show, so except for Aizawa he liked most if not all the characters and their motivations.

As a result, disappointment was not quite exactly what he was currently feeling at the discovery.

The most obvious feeling was confusion, because watching a female Endeavor use sex appeal like a well placed dagger to disrupt Villains and burn them was something entirely different to what Kai expected.

Moving on from the previous, because it gave him goosebumps, he was not particularly worried about the fact all of the main cast were gender swapped. The evidence of their personalities from the way All Might and other Pro Heroes acted seemed to be the same from the show and manga.

Canon was thankfully still a thing.

He hoped.

On a more stressful note, Kai had other more important issues to take notice and react to. Specifically, the fact all the media he was allowed to consume was only Hero related, as if they were conditioning him to like them.

A horrible thing to do to a child, but Kai could take a guess and say he would have been doing it anyways if he was in a more normal setting.

Super powers were just cool.

The place he was growing up in looked like a family home, but on the scant few times they brought him out when he was still a baby, he could see that the house was not in an actual neighborhood in a city, but instead in a small cul de sac in a huge facility yard with the constant roaming of important looking individuals who definitely weren't true civilians going about their day.

Also, there were other children, who Kai would see being taken through different types of training for a plethora of Quirks.

Some were scarily young, however thankfully Kai seemed to be the youngest but still, making child soldiers was wrong no matter which way you spun it.

They were preying on children's dreams of heroism, though Kai believed it was more of an exchange, no matter how hard that pill may be to swallow.

Like Hawks, they were giving children who would have been stuck in an orphanage or foster care where every step they took would be as challenging as the last, a second chance at a more straightforward life. He knew both of those lives well enough to understand how volatile and prone to crime they would be otherwise.

Here, with the Hero Public Safety Commission, they had a purpose and would be given enough skills to live out their dreams of helping people or simply having power to exercise their Quirks. This world was different from what Kai thought, a side of the show no one had seen before, There had been only small glimpses from the occasional moments of Hawks' flashbacks and perhaps Lady Nagant's as well.

All in all, it was an opportunity, one for Kai to excel in given he was essentially a teenager mentally, an eighteen year head start of sorts. Well, maybe sixteen, because two years learning nothing and rotting away in agony wasn't exactly an advantage.

So, Kai was studious, calm, observant, perhaps stubborn when they forced him to play with figurines of Heroines he found too important to his future to make them do anything.

Although, most of all, he was patient.

However, he did find fun in being witty with his Handler.

Hina, the black haired green eyed woman that was as close as Kai would get to a Mother in this life, frowned deeply upon looking at his drawing.

"Is this supposed to be me?" She asked with hidden irritation.

Kai used his four year old legs to waddle over and point at the notepad she held, especially tapping the forehead he drew that was especially longer than normal.

"Yes, isn't it great, it looks just like you Hina."

The woman's mouth twitched, "Why thank you Kai, I will keep this for… a while."

Kai tried to hold back a chuckle, keyword 'tried', as he gave in and laughed while he pointed at her.

Hina got the memo, "Guh! You! I swear you and Agent Red Wing would get along well, both of you have to be related with that grin."

Red Wing?

Hawks he supposed, just without his infamous moniker, since he was only thirteen if Kai's math checked out.

Also, apparently, he- well she, he was still getting used to the switch- was already the snarky bastard she was known to be.

Kai stifled more laughter, much to his Handler's irritation, readily accepting the notepad that was practically shoved back at him.

"You need to work on your coloring and um, facial structure, but other than that you get a pass Kai, good job."

Kai beamed at the words, hiding deftly his slight urge to eye roll. This was all training for face recall and memorization, he wasn't a complete idiot after all.

They were training him in subtle ways, each 'game' he played or assignments for his homeschooling all somewhat revolving about the possibility of his future.

The times he was urged to draw the personnel of the Hero Commission that would only come see him for a minute or so, reading children's books that spoke of teamwork and how doing things alone was a big no-no, or even the cartoonishly dressed up board games that were just Clue and to make Kai think laterally if he wished to win and earn the sweets promised as a reward.

He took it all in stride honestly, noticing that possibly because of his young mind he was actually learning the things they were slowly teaching him.

The realization made Kai wonder how much a growing body would affect him, which also came with the existential dread of going through puberty again. Luckily, the disease in his first life had stunted it and made anything down stairs rarely work, so puberty would be both familiar but also entirely new.

"Now Kai, let's go through the Quirk rounds again, you are almost five afterall." Hina seemed proud at the statement, as if it was a miracle he had made it this far.

He wondered where it stemmed from, seeing as he had done some stealthy information gathering to see that the Hero Public Safety Commission wasn't entirely black or white, just a lighter shade of gray.

If any child was deemed without potential or were not mentally going to mature for what came in their line of work, they were put back into the system and even expedited to be adopted into good homes. It gave them brownie points with Kai, seeing as he knew the hardships of an orphanage and being so hopeful for a better life.

Although, child soldiers and all that stuff, so Kai would still always approach everything with caution.

However, he did find some hidden childish glee in trying to make colorful building blocks tip over with his mind, trying to lift heavy weights, running along a obstacle course, meditating in different environments, completing scarily complex number games, or even doing the occasional odd thing like singing or dancing.

They were just trying to stimulate a reaction for his Quirk to manifest. Kai himself understood how futile it was since he totally already knew his Quirk, but he couldn't just up and say it. The manifestation had to be natural, seamless, or extremely abrupt to show genuineness.

Kai went for the latter, since he had his Quirk for over a week and was itching to start a form of training. The week-long secrecy was because he wanted to understand it a bit himself before it was dissected by others without his input.

As a result, as he threw tennis balls at moving targets that looked like generic robbers with ski masks and carrying big bags with a dollar sign, one tennis ball sped up significantly, impacting the cardboard cutout hard enough to snap it off its holders.

Hina's breath hitched at the sight, and with a look shared between her and Kai, her face blossomed with a beautiful smile.

"Well Kai, you got your Quirk! I'm so proud of you." She ruffled his black hair, locks of midnight annoyingly falling into his vision. "Just…"

Hina grew silent.

"What's the matter?" Kai asked in faux innocence.

"We won't be seeing each other as much anymore but, I'll make sure when we do to make it count. How about ice cream, maybe we can go to that park you like, or you can play with the other kids again?"

Kai grinned ear to ear, "Ice cream."

Hina mirrored his enthusiasm. "Ice cream it is."

They left the practice range, though Kai's thoughts were occupied as they did so, and he raised one of his stubby hands to look at its palm; the same one he had used [Gearshift] with.

He would be a Hero, and he would definitely become stronger, both for himself and others.

Maybe, in the end he was a bit selfish, because he promised himself then and there he would be the number one.

Not for some convoluted sense of cradling his insecurities like Bakugou, or out of obligation like Midoriya, or fame as others might want from the position.

No, it was to prove to himself that his conviction was right, to prove to others and possibly Death who was watching that everything he was fighting for was not in vain.

Although, second life or not, he did still love Vanilla Bean.

He hurried after Hina with a noticeable pep in his small step.