MHA: SHADOWS IN UA

"What did you just say?" I asked, unsure of what I just heard.

"We are your parents." The man repeated, his voice heavy with regret. "We didn't mean for it to turn out like this. We thought we could make things right"

He turned to the lady, who put a hand on his shoulder for reassurance although her face appeared more troubled than his.

I stared at them. I couldn't say anything, rather I had nothing to say.

Parents?

Everything in me wants to reject the idea. It doesn't make sense. It can't be true. I've never known them. They've never been a part of my life.

I mean, I know my parents. My father is an engineer while my mother, a teacher. I can still remember my parents face, voice. Everything about them.

So why do I feel a pint of familiarity as I'm speaking to them right now?

"I'm so sorry, Azaria," the woman says, her voice desperate. "We didn't know it would come to this. We never wanted to hurt you."

I'm silent, staring at them, trying to process what they've said. I can't bring myself to say anything, I don't even know what to feel.

I close my eyes and force myself to breathe, trying to put two and two together. I had to think about it as I felt trapped, confusion and fear creeping on both sides.

I recounted all the events leading up to here—from dying to being in the cell at this very moment. If I was sent to live in this world as a character, I'm guessing I was given a new identity.

I still had my first name, the pigment of my skin, height and sadly, my terrible build. The texture and length still felt the same so I could guess my face was the same.

In short, I was brought here as me but since I entered as a new character into the world, a lot of things had to be created as well.

It did bring a bit of happiness to still know that I was brought here as myself, not put in another body.

I had read many mangas that did that and it was weird for me, like they were living double lives.

I searched my mind, going through the knowledge I had of MHA. I know AFO did a lot of terrible things but I don't really remember it that he kept some people as prisoners or hostages.

The incidents that revealed how he terrified people never showed something like this or any scenario similar to this situation I'm in.

That probably means what was going on here had no connection to the plot. So I could call myself and these people who are to be my parents background characters?

That means anything could happen here and since it won't affect the story, it might die here.

AFO could kill us and that would be the end of our lives. Or we could be here forever and no help would come.

A chilling sense of dread crept down my spine as I shuddered at the thought of being hopeless.

I opened my eyes again to two people, still there, watching me with that same regretful, sorrowful expression.

The man speaks again, his voice laced with regret. "We didn't mean for this to happen, son. We just wanted to protect you. But now... now we're trapped in this nightmare, too."

"What happened?" I asked, my tone quite flat. "How did I end up here?"

I had to ask, I was quite curious to know how I ended up in this horrible place. What sort of thing had happened to be in this situation?

The only way to get the answer would be to ask.

"We were desperate, Azaria." Her voice trembles, and I can hear the weight in it. "You know your father and I... we as a family were living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet. I couldn't stand seeing you suffer like we did."

Suffer?

'What did you mean by that?' I asked inwardly, not wanting to interrupt her.

"The world's a cruel place when you don't have money," she continued, her voice wavering. "When we heard about the man who could give people quirks, we thought it was our only option. We thought we could give you a chance."

The man exhaled slowly, glancing at the woman before speaking. "We... we thought we were doing what was best for you, Azaria. You... you know you were born without a quirk and we wanted to change that."

"We went to him, Azaria," the lady said, her tone shaky as she almost chokes on her words. "The man who could give you a quirk. He promised us power. He told us he could make you into something someone strong. We... I thought we were doing the right thing. We thought that with his help, you'd finally be someone who mattered. We didn't know what he truly wanted. We didn't understand what it would cost."

The man bows his head, not able to look me in the eye. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, Azaria. We didn't know he would do this to you. We just wanted you to be strong, to have a shot at a better life... to not be like us."

Fuck.

My head is buried in my hands as I just stare, unable to respond. I don't know how to feel. I don't know what to do.

I want to say something but I can't find the words. They're strangers, yet they are my parents.

They're the reason I'm here, in this mess. They are the reason my life was ruined before it even started.

I glanced at them, they were consoling each other, the woman wailing on the man's shoulder. They looked so weak, so pitiful.

So was I at this moment.

It wasn't when their fault. They were struggling, the only child they had was quirkless and they sought for help, only to end up regretting that decision.

Sounds like most parents would have done to have their kid have a good life. Besides, the reason why they are in this situation was because they were made to fill in the role of a parent.

So I could say the problem stemmed with me being in this world. The thought of it all sent a pang of sadness across my heart as I thought of my parents.

Were they missing me? Was my mum crying her eyes out? If they were in these people shoes, they would probably do the same.

I sighed as I remembered what the ethereal being told me. You would spend the rest of your days in their work as your punishment. She already told me from the beginning that it won't be easy or nice like I thought it was.

My jaw tightened in anger as I clenched my fists hard. I'll show that bitch and those that put me here that I'll survive and come out on top.

"You said I was quirkless, right?" I asked the man, who was still whispering to the lady, trying to calm her "Do you know the quirk he gave me?"

"No, I don't." He shaked his head, his voice bitter. "He said only you would know, that you would feel it."

"Feel it? How would I be able to do that?"

"I don't really know. He said your process was abnormal, as if you were defective. According to him, people would be able to use their quirk on that spot but you couldn't even though he felt it in you."

I scratched my head, trying to think of anything since I came here. I had nothing but just a weird dream.

Weird dream. Nah, it couldn't be more than that.

"To be honest, I can't really feel anything or I haven't felt anything." I said, watching his face fall with that. "But I had a weird dream, I don't actually know if it's my quirk. Just saying it in case, you know."

I tried to give him some faith as I saw his reaction. It was something even I wasn't sure of, there's no way a quirk would come in form of a nightmare right?

I forced myself to get up, my muscles protesting, my bones aching as I stood on my feet. The man stretched raised his hand, trying to stop me. "Please Azaria, don't move like that, you were unconscious for a long time"

"What do you mean?" I asked, panic seeping in those words.

"When they brought you here, you were all bruised up. Your mother cried so hard once she saw you." The man fist tightened as his face flushed red with anger. "He said it was for training, the bastard said it would bring out the quirk"

I saw the woman's reaction to those words, she was visibly shaken, hiding in her husband's arms. I glanced up, the dim bulb weakly glowing. Except for this pitiful thing, there was no other source light so guessing how long I was unconscious is impossible.

My gaze landed back on the couple, their state was a harsh reminder of the situation I'm in and possibly what more that could happen.

Hopeless, weak, a pitiful thing, I'm not the type of person to want to fit that description. Getting into this situation was something beyond me but it doesn't mean I'll be dancing to their tunes forever.

I don't want to spend my new life locked in a cell or as someone's toy. Death, angels, higher powers, AFO, all of them treating my life like I'm some play thing. Nah, I'm not taking that.

I stretched my palm out to the man, my body aching in protest but my face hardened with determination and seriousness. "We'll get out of here, I promise" My palm slowly turning to a tight fist. "No one would fuck us over in this life or another."