Run. I've got to run. I've got to run I've got to run I've got to run! They'll catch me - what if they catch me they can't catch me! I can't go back there - they'll kill me! No, they won't, they'll continue testing, I don't understand what do they want with me why don't I remember anything I can't take anymore Quirks! No more, no more Quirks. Leave me alone, I want to go home where is my home I don't know where I am who am I?!

Kill kill kill kill kill.

Run. I just need to run. They can't see me like this, it's too dark. Shadows. I'm good in shadows, they can't find me there. Run. Run run run. Kill kill kill. Run.

I've been running for ages. First there was my cage, but they didn't prepare it for my new Quirk, so I ran. Then there were corridors, white, bright, confusing. They almost caught me there. Then trees, lots of trees. I remember trees, I don't remember seeing them before, but I knew they were trees. How do I know that? Why can't I remember?!

Now buildings. They started small, spaced out, but now they rise up, blockish, grey and navy in the moonlight.

Run. Run run run.

~¥.¥~

He looks out over the cityscape. Never one to take to the high-profile life of a televised pro, he keeps mainly to the shadows, working with stealth to take out villains.

Pat pat pat pat pat.

Footsteps? Down below, on the floor. They're light, not a heavyweight villain, most likely female…

Pat pat pat pat pat.

They're very light actually. He pulls his goggles up over his eyes and jumps down to the alleys below to investigate.

He waits just around the corner, the alley being illuminated by nothing but a moonbeam. Here, he can catch the person off guard and block off their rou-

Oof.

He tumbles to the floor, rolls, and stands back up again. Something hit him from behind. How did they get there? An ambush? He spins around, to see not a villain, but a child, no older than ten.

She looks angry.

He straightens his posture as he looks down at the girl: a mass of matted, blonde hair with a pair of bright, blue eyes poking through, dressed in nothing but an oversized, tattered, grey T-shirt.

"Hello."

She breathes heavily, teeth bared, ready jump again.

"I'm a Pro Hero, you don't need to fear me."

"You're going to take me back!" she hisses.

The man looks confused. "What?"

"I'm not going back! You're not going to take me - kill kill kill - you're not taking me back!"

His surrounds feel...different, like the walls are moving whilst staying still. That's when he notices the floor, the shadows cast by the moon, start to move towards him. All the shadows are. They curl into jagged points around him and start to enclose…

He can't be having this.

His eyes flash red, his hair flares up and the Quirk is disabled. The child looks confused, angry.

"What did you...no…no! I'm not going no!" she screams as she suddenly lunges towards him with a feral animosity.

He catches her by the scruff of her shirt. She tries to claw and kick and bite him, but he just holds her out until she exhausts herself. She looks very tired, dark bags have formed under her eyes.

"Where is your home?" he asks softly.

"I'm...not going back…"

"Where are your parents then?"

"I...don't re...don't have any…"

The man continues to hold the girl out in front of him. How do you deal with small children? How is anyone in their mid-twenties meant to know, least of all him?! At least she's not a completely reliant toddler, he'd have no idea then.

"Do you have a name?"

"0687."

"'0687'?" Who is this child - what is this child? Where did she come from? Part of him doesn't want to know. "Well, that's not a very good name...tell me, what's your Quirk?"

"Too many...Quirks...too many...shadows…"

"Shadows hmm?" The man thinks. "Kurono. That's your name now."

"Don't take me...back...ki…"

"I'm not going to take you back." He brings the child in and carries her gently in his arms.

"I'm...not going ba…"

"No, you're not. You're safe now, kid."

~¥.¥~

The man took the girl home, gave her food and a room to sleep in while he and a few people he knew tried to find out where she came from. The nights she stayed soon turned into months, then years, as the search got nowhere.

Her Quirk's interesting to say the least. In the earlier days, she'd go on about having 'too many Quirks'. The man didn't understand this until he started training her. From what he could tell, she'd been infused with multiple shadow-related Quirks.

Training her was difficult. Her wildness and ferocity didn't die down for a while, and for her age, she could easily subdue an enemy, but would then proceed to try and kill them.

"Kurono!"

"Yes, Mr Aizawa…"

"Heroes do not kill."

But as she grew older, she learnt. She learnt fast. While still holding a deep fear of the place she ran from, buried away, she developed not only efficient fighting skills, but also a sharp wit and a sense of humour.

So far, he's identified what appears to be two shadow-related Quirks in her. One is stealth-based, the other is more offensive. Wherever she came from, whatever they did...were doing...they were making a weapon.

But for now, she's gotten used to the fact she has more than one Quirk - adapted

quite well actually. She'll do fine at U.A.

If they accept the recommendations…

Hello everyone! 'Tis I, the author! I hope you liked this little prologue. I implore you to stick with it and get to know Kurono - I have a lot planned for her.

More OCs are being introduced, the next two being all the way over at ch 120, and the rest coming in with less of a gap. As well as exploring the BNHA plot line through Kurono's eyes, I've got my own arcs and ideas lined up and woven into the story, showing her own development, relationships with members of the League of Villains, and delving into her past and the place she has just escaped from.

In addition to this, I have been working in collaboration with another author, Iamadedicatedwriter, and her fic, Illusion. We both have a few crossover events between Shadows into Light and Illusion: where the events of SiL happen six years later in the Illusion universe, and the events of Illusion happen six years earlier in the SiL universe. Where I'll be looking later at an older Etso, Seiko, and their ties with underworld, she'll be revealing more of Kurono's past before she escaped.

And finally, I like to draw a fair bit, and I often post art of BNHA and SiL on my tumblr ellabonjella-art, so feel free to have a look.

Thanks for giving this a read. Take your time if you want, but please do stick with it. I'm honestly very proud of this story and am sure you won't be disappointed.

Until then, enjoy the rest of your day :D