Chapter 407

An Exceptional Child (超常遺児) is the four hundred and seventh chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
Back during the era before Quirks existed, a sex worker had been suffering from hardened growths on her left arm for over a year. She wasn't aware of her pregnancy for the first eight months, both due to her unstable lifestyle, and just not being able to feel the twins that had resided in her uterus, and began to sap away at her life force. She gave birth to the twins on a riverbank, dying on the spot, with her growths on her arm mysteriously vanishing. Rats showed up to gnaw on the newborns and their mother's corpse, but the flooding river swept the babies away.

One year later, the Luminescent Baby was the first of many worldwide reports of emerging Meta Abilities, which not only presented at birth, but also started to appear after the fact in young people going through puberty. A research group hypothesized that a "novel disease" was to blame, announcing that those with Meta Abilities were a subbranch of humanity with new genetic factors. This announcement proved to be reckless and premature as this statement divided people, and caused chaos to grow.

A group of masked soldiers discuss amongst themselves about some "meta freaks" who clashed with them the previous night, stating they should take them out before they can regroup and rise up, when suddenly, a young boy appears. They recognize him as "an exceptional child", saying they should leave him be since the kids are most likely to be carriers. The boy then sprouts an array of "Spearlike Bones" from his body, killing them all; this was the Meta Ability he stole from his mother.

The child was imbued with a hubris and a disrespect for others from the moment of his birth, viewing all within his reach as his own possessions, and those who wouldn't turn to look at him when he cried, or those who couldn't provide him with anything, he viewed with utter distrust. The boy proceeded to rampage about, killing anyone and stealing their Meta Abilities, when his younger brother shows up, telling him to stop hurting people. Most of the nutrients from the mother went straight to the older child, causing the younger brother to grow up small and frail.

The older brother kicked his brother down in response, as while he provided him with nothing, he was still considered one of his possessions, and one he would not release. While news broadcasts reported in on the grown up Luminescent Baby taking the charge to return to a peaceful society and gaining more supporters, the older brother approaches the younger brother, asking what he is reading. The younger brother says he's still learning so he's reading Captain Hero comic books, which he considers amazing, since they tell you the hopes and dreams in people through the drawings. He says one day he would like to be a hero, still having hope for his older brother, because in his faint memories, he recalled a hand that held him and wanted to believe that his brother's grip had been gentle and kind.

Three years later, the older brother states how the Luminescent Baby reached ten million sympathizers, calling it weird why they should be the one to become so popular just because they were the first recorded, especially with 50 babies being born with Meta Abilities in India two weeks ago. He arrogantly reveals that the child didn't have the right to mobilize so many, so he killed them and stole their Meta Ability, causing the younger brother to react in shock, asking why. The older brother repeats what the comic said, "One for all" and "All for one", with the Hero hiding his identity and fighting in solitude, while the Demon Lord was paid tribute and rules out of fear. He says just as his brother was inspired, now he wants a world solely for his own sake, having found his dream.

The older brother then sees a glimpse of his younger brother running away, confused why he's leaving even after granting him a power of his own. He then sees another person running away with him, demanding to get away from him since he's his. As he thinks about how if he refuses to be his he will have enough of it, he sees his brother's hand surrounded by a puddle of blood.

Chapter Notes

 * More of All For One and Yoichi Shigaraki's backstory is revealed:
 * Their mother was a prostitute who died giving birth to the twin boys. She possessed the Spearlike Bones Quirk, which her older son stole from her upon his birth, and became the first Quirk stored within the All For One Quirk.
 * A year later, the Luminescent Baby was born and Meta Abilities began to become well known and widespread which quickly resulted in mass hysteria and fear.
 * As he grew, All For One would kill and take from anyone who couldn't provide for him, believing everything belonged to him.
 * Yoichi was born frail and weak from his brother absorbing more nutrients in the womb and was treated poorly by him for it.
 * Yoichi learned to read through comic books, which inspired him to want to be a hero, even still believing in the good within his brother.
 * Three years later, All For One killed and stole the Quirk of the Luminescent Baby out of discontent over them being so popular despite not actually being the first Quirk user.
 * Before their death, the Luminescent Baby had been calling for a return to a more peaceful society and coexistence with Meta Ability users and had gained many supporters.
 * All For One declared he too was inspired by Yoichi's comics, not as a hero but instead as the Demon Lord who ruled over everyone through fear.
 * All For One later learned of Kudo freeing and escaping with Yoichi, followed by his brother's supposed death.

Characters In Order of Appearance

 * All For One
 * Yoichi Shigaraki
 * Luminescent Baby
 * Kudo (Fantasy)

Author's Comment
"One sip of alcohol and my heart almost exploded, and I was so weak. Booze is scary."

- Kohei Horikoshi