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IT WAS 2 PM, and parents had begun to arrive and pick their kids up. Naturally, I knew that my mother was going to come and pick me up much later than the rest due to her work and recognition issues, she had already told me beforehand as not to get me worried.

Ocha-chan had long been picked up by her parents, she gave me a long, warm hug goodbye just before she left, which was really sweet of her, but this meant that without her, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. Therefore, unlike the others who had begun packing up, I went to the craft bin and picked out crayons and a piece of printer paper, placing myself in my seat

Before I had gotten my quirk, my mother had always allowed me to watch her paint, the way the colors blended and mixed, the way every stroke my mother swung protruding an area, later forming a bigger picture, it's like magic.

She had always told me how much she enjoyed painting sunsets, describing the sense of freedom to blend the colors of reds and oranges, dabbing in cute pink clouds with a bit of yellow speckling here and there, allowing the sun to be peeking just over the horizon.

Every once in a while, my mother would let me paint something in her picture, but my clumsy hands just couldn't seem to make the strokes come together as a whole, ultimately ruining her masterpiece. Which is why later on, I would only watch in the sideline, not wanting to destroy her progress. Art had always seemed so fascinating to me. Maybe it was influenced by my mother, but either way, it had always brought my mother and I close together, up until now.

Now, my mother won't even allow me to hold her hand; she says its due to my quirk, but I know she just despise me. I know how to control my quirk, I mean, enough to not let it go rampage. I like to think I'm rather mature for my age due to my background, but my mother still refused to let me get anywhere close to her at home. Of course, to maintain her image, she would act motherly towards me in public. My mother was such a good actor, no wonder the reporters were never able to pick up on the tiny gags from my mother.

Even if it's fake, I still enjoyed the tiny moments of attention from my mother, so I always played along. This had made me gradually liking to go outside more and more, not that it was a bad thing, considering the number of times adults seemed to complain how locked in the children are now 'these days.'

My quirk had ruined everything.

If I had a stronger quirk, my mother and I would still be close, like how we used to be.
If I had a stronger quirk, I would be able to handle the press in a prestigious school.
If I had a stronger quirk, my mother wouldn't have to pretend to like me.
If I had a stronger quirk, my mother wouldn't worry about her future.
If I had a stronger quirk, my mother would be happier.
If I had a stronger quirk, I would be happier.

.
.
.

If I didn't exist, my mother wouldn't have to have any problems with any of this.
If I didn't exist, my mother would still be happy
If I didn't exist, my mother would still be a hero, rescuing innocents every second.
If I didn't exist, the world would be a better place.

.
.
.

Am I cursed? Or rather, am I a curse to my mother, or even the whole world itself?

"Matsu?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned my head around towards my teacher, Ms. Yui.

"Here?" I responded quizzically.

The teacher flashed a quick reassuring smile and began approaching me. She kneeled in front of me and folded her hands on my desk. "Ah, sweetheart, your drawing looks amazing!" She beamed.

Unconsciously, I glanced down at my paper, grimacing in disgust.

'She's only saying this to make me feel better.

"Thanks..."

Ms. Yui chuckled at my response. "It is! But can you tell me about your drawing?"

I nodded, pointing at the yellow semicircle drawn on my paper. "This is the sun, and it's holding a popsicle. And this..." I said, moving my finger towards the two stick figures. "...is my mother in a grass field and me. These are clouds, and the heart symbolizes our loving relationship. I added flowers...because I like flowers." I ended my explanation after moving my fingers around the picture.

"That's so sweet! But why did you cross your face off?" She asked.

I paused. 'Why and when did I do that?'

If I don't respond, she might think that I'm not mentally stable or something, which is not something I want my mother to worry about, considering she has so much more to worry about already.

L⃠i⃠k⃠e⃠ m⃠y⃠ q⃠u⃠i⃠r⃠k⃠.⃠

"I messed up on the face." I blurted, praying that she wouldn't find anything off. I'm a kindergartner anyways, they say children never lie, right?

"Ah, that's reasonable." She nodded. Damn, she nods a lot; this is kind of awkward, isn't it.

I turned my head back down and acted busy by continuing to fill in the white gaps in the sky with a blue crayon, thinking that maybe she'd get the idea to leave me alone. But oh nono, she decides to talk again. "Your parents are pretty late huh, is your mom busy today?"

Oh hohoho, now she's trying to dig information from me? Mhm, nice try, I might be small, but thankfully, my mother had helped me prepare for
situations like these. 'Just nod and ignore.' "Mhm."

"Y/N, honey?" A familiar, saccharine voice spoke out, seemingly a bit muffled, however. 'Probably from the face mask she always wears.'

I stood and moved to pick up my already packed backpack. I turned back around to clean up my mess, only to find Ms. Yui a step ahead of me. "Don't worry about it honey, I can clean it up." I nodded hesitantly. "Thank you, Ms. Yui."

I bowed and walked towards my mother, unconsciously moving to grasp her hand, of course, I was careful to lift my pinky away from my mother's hand. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch nor move away this time, had she forgiven me?

We walked out from the kindergarten in a calm, silent atmosphere; it was nice, to say the least, with the gentle breeze tousling our hair over our shoulders every once in a while. Kind of reminding me of the days before I've gotten my quirk. "Mom-"

"Y/N." My mother said, gripping onto my hands tighter.

"Yes, mother?" I mumbled.

"We're going to start training today, okay?"

'Huh?' "Training?" I echoed.

"Yes, sweetheart, although your quirk isn't much, you can make it up by working hard and being creative with it." She explained.

But why though, no matter what I do, I can't be anywhere like the number 1 hero, All Might ,with my lame quirk. "But-"

"Y/N" My mother cutted me off, sternly biting her jaw.

I gulped. "Yes, mother?"

"It. Is not a choice, do you hear me? You want to be happy, right? You want the world to feel glad to have you here?" She implored.

I nodded in reply. My mother halted her steps and turned around towards me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder, kneeling in front of me on the empty sidewalk.

"Well then you HAVE to be the best in everything, you HAVE to be number one, including being the number one hero. Even if it means you have to shed tears and blood, you WILL get there first, do you hear me? Not just for yourself, but for the world, mommy too, okay?"

'As long as I work hard, I can make it up to the world and my mother for my quirk? I..I can redeem myself to everyone, and make mother happy?' Tears began collecting in my eyes, making my mother's features blurry in my vision. I was quick to wipe them away and give a firm nod to my mother. "O-Okay."

"You'll become the best in everything, and become the next number one hero, promise mommy, okay?" Mother begged.

I pulled my hands away from my eyes and nodded, determined to fulfill the promise. "I promise."

My mom pulled her hand away from my shoulder and held out her pinky towards me. "Pinky promise?" she asked, giving me a motherly smile.

Without hesitation, I wrapped my pinky around hers, shaking it as an indication to seal the contract. "Pinky promise."

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