"Thank you again for joining us in 'What's under the cape?' the show where we take a look at the every-day lives and history of our favorite heroes! I'm your hostess, Hinata byuā, and I hope you're as excited as me!" A young woman with flowing brown hair and thick-framed glass proclaimed in accented English. This woman was known as Hinata byuā. A rising star in the world of journalism thanks to her upbeat attitude and her ability to captivate the audience even when presenting the dullest of stories, earning herself the title of the hostess of one of the most-watched talk shows in Japan.

Or should she say: the most-watched talk show in the world? Seeing as her current guest was sure to earn her show that title.

Hinata faced away from the camera and turned instead towards the young man who was currently sitting on the bright yellow chair next to her. He was in his early twenties, rather short, but well built nonetheless. Curly and unruly green hair rested on his head like a mop, undoubtedly his most well-known feature. He flashed a bright smile to the audience that radiated confidence, only betrayed by the terrified glimmer in his eyes 'Why did I agree to do this?'

"Avatar Izuku!" Hinata called the man's attention, "Before we left for our break, we talked about your recent escapades in South America. And while I can agree that it was fascinating to hear about what you are doing these days, that's not the focus of our show."

Izuku let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry about that," he spoke in perfect English, "I can get really passionate about things like this and lose my sense of time. If I go rumbling again, feel free to stop me.".

Chuckling herself, Hinata rested her interlocked hands on her wooden table and began to speak, "Before we begin. I wanted to thank you again for doing this. This is your first time doing something like this, isn't it?"

"It is," Izuku answered back, shifting his position on the chair and tugging at the collar of his dark green suit.

"Now then. While your time as an internationally recognized hero and political authority is rather well documented and known to the public, as well as your late teenage years in U.A, not much is known about what happened before that. Looking back on it, you took the world by storm rather quickly. After all, most heroes your age, save for a few, are still sidekicks. Many speculate that you got a 'headstart' so to speak to achieve it. What do you have to say to that?"

"They would be right, I guess..." Izuku hummed in thought, " Mastering my abilities was of utmost importance once I discovered I was the Avatar. Unlike quirks, bending doesn't come with an instinctual guide for how to use it. It took me years of practice and learning just to match what most people are capable of doing with their quirks instinctively. Nevermind surpassing it."

"So you trained your powers in secret, then?" Hinata questioned, "Were you aware that such a thing was forbidden in public without the proper license?"

"Are you trying to imply I broke the law?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.

.

.

.

The moment of silence was soon over when the two burst out laughing. "To be fair," Izuku defended while still chuckling, "Bending is not a quirk. So, technically, my practice was 100 percent legal."

Hinata silently congratulated herself for getting the Avatar to lose some of the tension around him before moving on, "So, that's how you spent your childhood? Practicing your bending non-stop? Doesn't it sound like a bit much? Even for you?"

"I wasn't just practicing." Izuku denied the accusation, "I think those years were some of the most fun in my life. Getting to be a normal kid before the whole Avatar thing got dumped on me."

"But were you normal? I'd think that a kid with four 'quirks' would garner a lot of attention, don't you?"

"I didn't have all four elements at the beginning. Back then, when I only had earth, I was just your run-of-the-mill, shorter-than-average, kid. I didn't have anything that would give me such attention. I wasn't related to any heroes. I wasn't related to any villains. I wasn't rich. I wasn't poor. My parents didn't have strong quirks. I didn't have a strong quirk. I was just some kid who found an unusual friend while being lost in the woods."

"You're going that far back?" Hinata raised an eyebrow, "Weren't you five when you gained your first element?"

"A bit younger than five, but yes," Izuku confirmed. "Looking back on what happened, a large part of my life was affected by what I did back then. Some of my fondest memories come from that time. But not all of that was great..."

Izuku gained a faraway look and frowned into the distance, "Some of my greatest regrets also come from back then..."