The first time her quirk manifested it was an accident. Sakura was frightened of her moms new boyfriend. He was drunk and high, complaining about the fact that she was four, almost five, and still didn't have a quirk.

The long, slender drug dealer who had recently inserted himself into her life was far too invested in the little girl and her quirk. Her mother had met this bum on the streets. He had obviously liked the young prostitute for her body, and she had liked him for his drugs. It seemed like a good match for the two. Only problem was Sakura. A little kid was "a buzz kill" as the drug dealer frequently told the child, and "worth nothing" if she had no quirk.

"Leave her alone," her mother would slur, not even bothering to look at her emaciated child. "She will probably be quirkless like me."

This pissed him off. In the past month of this scumbag being in their lives, the girls mother had developed a nasty drug habit and her bitterness towards the little girl increased as well. So, when the talks of paying his supplier started, the prostitute didn't blink an eye when he mentioned selling Sakura.

Turns out, scumbags are sometimes really bad at math, and this one in particular was not turning enough profit and began taking too many loans from his supplier that he couldn't repay.

At least, not yet.

He would weave grand stories about how he and the girls mother would run away together. The 20 year old woman would fawn over the idea of reclaiming her youth. Sadly, it didn't take long to convince her. She had dragged the child along for years out of obligation, but made no effort to show affection or real attachment to her. In fact, she had no problem reminding the little girl that she was the product of some villian raping the mother when she was fifteen. Sakura was her painful reminder of what happens to lost little girls who sell their body on the streets.

Unfortunately, the little girl didn't understand the danger she was in because she was so young. Sakura was innocent and didn't see the danger coming, because the scumbag had told her that she needed a quirk to be worth enough cash, and so far she didn't show one. In her mind, she was convinced she was quirkless like hrr mom, and that she was safe.

Sakura was wrong.

On that fateful night, her mother was passed out on the couch with the scumbag. He was watching the child play with some old discarded batteries. She had no real toys, but she made due with the garbage. She was currently pretending the cylinders were little people, and she ignored the creep staring at her. It was usually safer to not engage.

"Fucking worthless" he slurred as he got up from the couch, and wobbly walked into the kitchen. He returned moments later with a large kitchen knife. Sakura sat on the floor and watched in horror as he walked over to her mother. He slid the knife under the sleeping prostitutes earlobe and slurred "you better get a quirk and fast or I'm gonna cut mommies ear off. You have five seconds."

The woman was too far gone to notice the blade begin to cut into her flesh. A small drip of blood slid down her neck.

"Five," the scumbag sneered, obviously frustrated but otherwise emotionless.

"But I dont have one," the girl trembled. She was in shock and didn't know what to do. Up to this point, the drug dealer had simply bitched about her quirklessness.

"Four."

The small child was panicking. She dropped the batteries and stared into the monsters eyes. There was no love or compassion for her or her mother there.

"Three."

She closed her eyes as hard as she could, tears streaming down her face. Why was this happening?

'Please,' she thought to herself, 'please show a quirk!'

"Two."

Sakura clenched her fists and tried to push anything to manifest. Just something to stop this monster from hurting her mommy.

"One."

In that final moment of panic, she begged her soul to save her. Sakura didn't know what prompted the initial thought, but it came out almost laced with light from the very pit of her being. 'SAVE ME! TAKE ME WAY FROM HERE!' The thought echoed in her head, and the light that surrounded the thought permeated throughout her whole body.

She heard her mother's blood curdling scream, but it was cut off. Suddenly, she was cold, and instead of dirty carpet beneath her knees, she felt cold concrete. Her eyes shot open. She was no longer home, and though it was supposed to be a warm summer night, she currently found herself in a snowy alley during the day.

Frightened, she did what any four year old would do. She cried. Loudly. Her wailing startled a small orange cat that had been sleeping by a dumpster. It jumped up and sprinted away from her.

"Hey, calm down." A gentle male voice came from above. Through red swollen eyes, the little girl looked up to see an old man crouched above her on a fire escape.

Sakura screamed and scurried to the opposite side of the alleyway.

"Woah, woah! Wait a sec! I didn't mean to scare you," he laughed. "I'm a pro hero. I'm not here to hurt you."

Somehow, in the girls panicked four year old brain, she was able to process the word hero. She knew what heroes were. They were the people on TV who helped people.

Hesitantly she calmed, and looked up at the strange old man crouched above her. He wore a green body suit, and had wildly curly white hair.

He jumped down in front of her and leaned down to be more on her level.

"Hello Sakura," he said, a reassuring smile creasing his skin around his eyes. He looked gentle and friendly, and the lost childs tears began to stop. "Welcome to the future. You can call me Deku."