The streets of Musutafu were lively as usual, filled with civilians heading toward work, students chatting with one another, and heroes patrolling from above.
In the middle of that ordinary scene, two boys walked side by side while talking amongst themselves.
One of them was a tall blonde-haired teenager with bright blue eyes and an almost blinding smile plastered across his face.
The other boy walking beside him had dark blue hair and a constantly nervous expression, his shoulders hunched as if he wanted to disappear from the world itself.
"I am telling you, Tamaki," the blonde-haired boy said enthusiastically while throwing an arm around his friend's shoulder, "we should totally go check out that new movie releasing this Friday! It's called Godzilla Minus One! The trailers looked amazing!"
Tamaki Amajiki immediately looked down with a gloomy aura practically radiating from him.
"There will be too many people there, Mirio," he muttered weakly. "What if someone talks to me? Or stares at me? Or worse… what if the theater is packed?"
The blonde-haired boy, Mirio Togata, laughed loudly and patted Tamaki on the back hard enough to nearly make him stumble. "You should man up and stop being sad all the time!" he declared dramatically.
"Plus, if it gets crowded, I'll just drag you through the crowd myself!"
"That makes it sound even scarier…" Tamaki whispered with dead eyes.
As the two continued walking and bickering like usual best friends, neither of them noticed two tiny strands of hair drifting away from their heads.
The strands fluttered through the air unnaturally before vanishing in a ripple of blue light. High above them, standing silently on the edge of a building, Arata watched the scene unfold through the glowing lenses of the Novabel mask.
The two strands of hair materialized directly into his hand through the power of the Space Stone. Calmly, he placed each strand into separate tubes before sealing them carefully.
"One for permeation," he murmured quietly while looking at Mirio's tube. Then his eyes shifted toward Tamaki's. "And one for biological manifestation…"
Blue energy swirled around him, and his body vanished from the rooftop through a portal.
Elsewhere in the city, inside a narrow alleyway covered in graffiti and trash bags, a blonde-haired girl wearing a school uniform suddenly stopped walking.
Her yellow cat-like eyes narrowed sharply as instinct screamed danger at her. Without hesitation, she swung her arm backward and released a knife behind herself with frightening speed.
Clang!
The knife was effortlessly deflected by a glowing white hand.
The girl's eyes widened slightly as she spun around and saw a winged figure standing calmly behind her.
White metallic wings stretched outward elegantly while an angelic mask hid the woman's face completely.
"The second in command of Nova Genesis…" Himiko Toga murmured softly.
Melissa—currently in her identity as Novangel—lowered her glowing hand slowly before speaking in a calm voice.
"Himiko Toga. Fourteen years old. Quirk: Transform. The ability to become another person after ingesting their blood." Her voice remained flat as she continued, "The downside is that your quirk naturally creates psychological cravings for blood consumption."
Toga's expression darkened instantly. More knives slid into her hands from beneath her uniform as she glared cautiously at the revolutionary.
"Don't worry," Melissa said, raising both hands in a non-threatening gesture. "I'm not here to fight you."
Toga remained tense. "Then why are you here?"
Melissa's metallic wings folded slightly behind her. "I'm here to recruit you to Nova Genesis," she answered directly. "Our leader is interested in you."
For the first time, genuine shock crossed Toga's face.
Melissa continued before the girl could speak. "Our leader already investigated your background. He knows exactly what kind of abuse and rejection you've gone through because of your quirk." Her voice softened slightly. "He believes that if you join Nova Genesis, you won't have to hide who you are anymore."
Toga's grip on her knives weakened slightly as Melissa stepped forward slowly. "You'll be accepted for who you are," she said. "And you'll also have the chance to help people who suffered the same way you did."
For a long moment, Toga simply stared at her silently. She couldn't see Melissa's expression beneath the angel mask, but strangely… the words didn't feel fake.
"…I'll think about it," Toga finally said quietly.
Melissa flicked a small card toward her. Toga caught it instinctively and looked down at it. Written on the card was a date, a time, and a location.
"Be there at that exact time," Melissa said while slowly spreading her metallic wings. "If you show up… we'll know your answer."
With a powerful flap of her wings, she shot into the sky and disappeared.
Toga continued staring at the empty space Melissa had left behind before lowering her gaze toward the card in her hand.
"Nova Genesis…" she whispered softly while disappearing deeper into the alleyway.
Far away from there, inside a rundown apartment filled with snack wrappers, game consoles, and scattered clothes, a masked man sat cross-legged on the floor while aggressively mashing buttons on a controller.
"Take that! No wait, dodge! WHY WOULD YOU BLOCK THERE!?" Jin Bubaigawara shouted at the screen before immediately replying to himself in a different tone. "You're just trash at games! No, I'm amazing!"
Knock knock.
Jin froze. "…Huh?" The knocking came from the window.
Slowly turning his head, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a winged figure standing outside his apartment window several stories above ground.
"The hell!?" he yelped as he stumbled backward. "That's Novangel! Wait no, maybe I'm hallucinating again! This is definitely a dream!"
Melissa calmly opened the window and stepped inside.
Jin backed away immediately. "Don't kill me! Actually wait, if you're here to kill me then at least make it cool!"
Melissa ignored his panicked rambling and tossed something toward him.
Jin caught it clumsily before blinking at the card in confusion.
"It's a date, time, and location," Melissa explained calmly. "Our leader is interested in you."
"This is a scam! Wait… are you serious?" Jin blurted out, the first sentence filled with suspicion while the second carried genuine hope.
Melissa didn't react at all. Arata had already warned her about Jin's split personality caused by his quirk and psychological trauma.
"Our leader knows your history," she said simply. "He knows what happened to you. He believes your abilities could help Nova Genesis… and society itself." Her gaze remained fixed on him through the mask. "If you join us, we'll help you. And in return, you'll have the chance to stop others from suffering the same way you did."
Jin stared at the card silently as Melissa stepped backward toward the window. "If you want to join," she said, "be there at the exact date and time."
Her metallic wings expanded behind her. "Have a nice day." Then she disappeared into the sky.
Jin stood frozen inside the apartment while staring at the open window. "…This has gotta be a dream," he muttered weakly. "No, it's real! Wait no, maybe we're crazy!"
He grabbed his own head and shook it repeatedly before finally lowering his gaze toward the card in his hand.
For the first time in years…Hope flickered inside his chest.
Meanwhile, inside U.A. High School, Principal Nezu calmly sipped tea while reviewing paperwork in his office.
The peaceful atmosphere suddenly shifted when a swirling blue portal appeared directly in the middle of the room.
Nezu's eyes narrowed slightly as he pressed a hidden button beneath his desk.
Nothing happened. The alarm system had been disabled. Despite that realization, Nezu didn't panic. Instead, he calmly watched as a figure wearing a demonic mask stepped out of the portal.
Arata walked forward slowly before sitting down in the chair opposite Nezu's desk as if he belonged there.
"Well," Nezu said while taking another sip of tea, "this is certainly a surprise."
His intelligent eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What can I do for you, Novabel?" he asked politely. "Would you like some tea?"
Arata leaned back slightly in the chair, the glowing eyes of his mask fixed directly on Nezu. "I came here to talk."