Harder to Love

So it Begins

There was a constant theme in the life of Kirishima Eijirou, and that was the colour red. It had been with him since he was young, since his quirk developed, becoming the only colour in his sights. 

It was there when he lost his first tooth to an apple, when he skinned his knee the first time he rode a bike, and when he first met Ground Zero. Crimson was everywhere, from his own clothes and hair, to those eyes...those fiery little eyes. 

***

The flames could be seen from blocks away. It wasn't hard for him to find it. They lit up the night sky like a sunset, drawing people from all angles. He ran toward it, making sure to stick to the shadows in case any cops drove by. He had changed into his costume the moment he had seen the fire truck drive by. He doubted he could help, but it was important that he made an effort to show up to tragedies.

If he could only prove that quirks were helpful, he wouldn't have to see his friends struggle to hide who they really were.

"Somebody help!" A woman's voice called out. Kirishima turned toward it.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he approached the woman.

"My son is still in there!" The woman cried out. "The firemen won't help because he's..." She wiped at her soot covered face, blending the black mess into the streaks her tears had left.

"Because he's like me?" Kirishima put a hand on his hip. The thing about having a quirk was that emergency services were allowed to throw you away in an instant, to write you off as a lost cause simply due to your powers. Kiri was somewhat glad that his ability was easy to hide, or else he could have been left for dead many times as a child.

Simply having quirks wasn't entirely illegal, but using them definitely was. Normal people figured they were doing the world a favor and stopping future quirk use by letting people like him die. This was why he had to fight like this. If people realized that Quirks could help, then they wouldn't be so quick to get rid of them.

"He's on the third floor. Please help!" The woman wept.

"I got this." Kirishima's feet moved on their own, carrying him into the building where the heat seared his skin.

He found the staircase without trouble. It was right next to the door. Getting up the first set wasn't a problem, but the third one was missing the entire bottom half.

"Shit." He muttered, looking around for a way to solve the problem.

"You shouldn't be in here." A voice said behind him. He turned around, jumping in surprise at the male figure who had somehow appeared. His hair was blond, sticking out at all angles like straw tossed into a pile and he wore a black mask that lead to a pointy accessory in the back of his head. He had to be a hero as well. Only somebody with quirks would dress in a disguise to save people like this.

"There's a kid on the third floor I need to save." Kirishima explained.

"Can't the fire department do it?"

"They won't."

"Oh." This stranger seemed to understand what he meant.

"What quirk do you have? Do you think it could get one of us up those stairs?"

The other male extended his hand to the side. A ball of red flame formed in his hand, shooting forward and collapsing a wall. The recoil barely seemed to bother him, rippling through his shoulder with ease.
"Wow! That was amazing!"
"It's not helpful. If I tried to launch myself up the stairs, I would only break the floor."
"Why don't you launch me?" Kirishima suggested.
"I'd kill you, idiot!"
"I can harden my body to protect myself from the impact." He explained.
The other hero squinted, thinking for a moment. "Fine. That works."
"Let's go save a child, then."

Here's chapter one! I hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, just ask!

Edit: I didn't like how it flowed so I went back and edited it. I still don't really like how it turned out, but what can I do?