Aesthete

Chapter 1.

- "'You're weak. We're going to have to fix that."

Those words became a constant soliloquy in my life. I'd chant them like a mantra every morning before training with the U.S Quirk Assessment Personnel. I was determined to make sure the words were engrained into my being, until they became a reality.

I shifted from one foot onto another, carefully watching the way Myra, my fitness mentor, tiptoed around the rock shield molded around my body. Immediately, I felt her Muscle Manipulation quirk target me, shaking my limbs until I collapsed along with my shield. Sighing, I heard her announce, "Okay, that's it. Get up and go get ready, he should be here within the hour." With that, I fled to the nearest locker room, showering in a rushed manner until I scrubbed off every inch of dirt from my body. As I shuffled back to the storage cubicle housing my clothes, I caught my reflection in the mirror.

Tossing on my clothing, I scrutinized my caramel brown skin tinted with burning pink patches because of the intensity of the frigid, cold water. My plain brown eyes portrayed no emotion, I had perfected the blank stare since I was twelve and I refused to resort to fake pleasantries. My classmates from middle school used to tease my appearance, reminding me that I was ugly whether my demeanor was happy or hostile. Since then, I kept the same stale look, ignoring the way my mother would scowl and yell at me to stop looking like my father. "All done?" I turned to find Myra standing by the door, a bored expression donning her face as she studied my body. It was littered with mild-looking scars, bruises, burns, and scrapes to signify the year's worth of horrid training I had to endure to mold my body to their preference. 

"Yes," with my response, her blue eyes found a crevice to look at while she droned on about how I needed to dedicate my mind, body, and soul to becoming one of the greatest heroes the world has seen. Their sole purpose for facilitating the usage and strength of my quirk upon its late discovery was because they placed their faith in my success; they "needed" America to have representation in the surplus of amazing heroes that stemmed from Japan. When they realized the potential of my quirk, the U.S government officially attempted to label me as one of their very own apprentices to the line of hero work and with that, a career was chosen for me without taking my opinion into consideration. I despised the idea that I was on this professional path only because the Assessment Personnel saw my potential, but I couldn't lie and say that becoming a hero wasn't my dream. It was. I longed for the moment that I could save others from what I needed to be saved from. I continued living to see if my dream could become a reality, despite it seeming so out of reach, so when the opportunity presented itself, I found myself simply agreeing with whatever they offered. That explained why I would abandon my life and family to attend UA High School and enroll in the best hero course this world has seen. I found myself detesting the idea at first, leaving everything that was familiar behind to please the American government was not something I imagined doing for the rest of my life, but one thing solidified my response and resolve: my mother's look of relief when they told her I needed to move to Japan.

I realized then that I placed so much of a burden on her, that this would be her escape from me even if she denied it to the grave; it was the chance to prove to my mother that she didn't have to secretly long for a different life that excluded my existence. I couldn't blame her, her paranoia and grief of having me as a child took away the happiness she deserved. Raising multiple children on her own with a low income proved to be difficult, but she handled it graciously as she would try and say how everything would work out in the end despite our struggles. I couldn't believe her though because the look in her eyes told me otherwise. When U.S QAP also added monetary benefits for my family because of what I agreed to, I was certain that this would benefit them in the long run. If leaving the country could allow her to lower her guard and experience peace while removing financial anxiety, then I would accept the solution with no complaints.