Chapter Text
Kaitou was, for all intents and purposes, completely average.
Sure, he was smart, but not to any noteworthy extent. He tended to be the kid who'd be ranked second or third in class; not anything to be scoffed at, but nothing meriting a double-take. He considered himself pretty dull - he was serious and quiet, less out of shyness and more out of a preference to keep to himself. Holding his cards to his chest was far more his style.
When he was in preschool, the other children would play with action figures, staging battles and declaring that once they got their quirks, they'd be heroes, "just like All Might!". Silently, Kaitou would sit on the sidelines with building blocks he'd claimed from the toy box.
He wasn't the type to hate heroes and rant about the flaws and superficiality of hero society (especially not at age four) but he wasn't a hero fanatic either. He appreciated them but didn't particularly care for them. However, the boy didn't want to be ostracised from the group, and so if anyone asked if he wanted to be a hero too, he'd smile and nod.
Four was a tender and tumultuous age for kindergarten children. Most children, other than those with mutation quirks from birth, started discovering their quirks around then - most commonly on their fourth birthday. For the most part, his classmates would take a day off school on their birthdays and come in the next day with their own little superpower. Kaitou remembered the day a particularly rowdy boy with spiky hair and a too-loud voice came in boasting the ability to crawl across walls and ceilings; his clammy preschooler hands sprouting little suction cup appendages. A couple of weeks later, a mousy-haired girl who liked to draw quietly during playtime shyly showed off her ability to bring origami to life, a dog-eared crane lazily flapping overhead.
Kaitou was, though he'd never admit it, excited for his own quirk to come to light. His older sister had had hers for a couple years now, and hers was a very versatile inheritance from their dad that she was determined to use to become a hero. Despite not wanting to be a hero, Kaitou wanted a special quirk of his own. Something that he could show off.
Something that would make his parents proud.
It was a Thursday. He vividly remembers it. Cloudy but not raining, the sky was the same colour as his eyes. Optimistically, he took this as a sign that today was going to be special for him (he should've known better than to be optimistic, in hindsight). Busy with work, his parents weren't able to take the day off but he didn't mind too much. Today would be the day he finally found out what made him special and he wasn't going to let anything dampen his spirits. Before she had to leave, his mom got up earlier than usual to make pancakes! A few presents waited for him at home but he wasn't as excited for them as he'd usually be (he should've known better to get his hopes up).
Hopping out of the backseat of the car, he waved goodbye to his dad and sister, before sauntering into preschool. He had a bounce in his step today and his smile seemed to be infectious. He didn't speak more than usual, but there was something more bubbly in how he held himself as he built a little castle out of building blocks. Every so often, the caretakers would flash him knowing smiles.
As the day wore on, however, Kaitou started to worry. He didn't feel anything new or different today. Was he doing something wrong? What was a quirk meant to feel like? Did he need to try to activate it?
Evidently, a caretaker had noticed his sudden shift in mood, because she wandered over to kneel beside him. She knelt a little too close, and he could feel her long hair tickle against his arm.
"Is something wrong, honey?" she asked, her voice like fizzing soda.
"I... I'm meant to find out my quirk today, but I don't think I'm doing it right."
"Ah, it's your birthday? In that case, don't worry about it too much - your quirk will activate itself, no need to force it. It might even be one of those quirks that are activated by touch, or by doing something specific! It'll come in time."
"...Oh. Okay."
With a last probably-meant-to-be-reassuring grin, she stood up and walked away to watch the other children. Humming, Kaitou pushed the thought of quirks from his mind. If his quirk was going to be stubborn and not show itself, Kaitou would out-stubborn it and wait until it did.
It turned out he'd be waiting a lot longer than he'd thought.