10 A Career In Progress

Kia strolled along a bustling street, hoping her journey to the local municipality wouldn't be hindered by another villain attack.

With the number of times the main characters of the show got caught up in their first year of being in U.A, Kia would think that Japan would eventually fall to anarchy.

'Not like that's ever gonna happen, the protagonists always win anyway.'

She wasn't well-versed in the MHA anime. It was outdated during Kia's lifetime, but she held an appreciation for the classics, especially since the anime medium had slowed down after a global economic disaster.

"I should stop worrying about the possibility of a villain attack," Kia chuckled. "It'll probably end up with me— mmph!"

From the shadows of an alleyway, hands covered Kia's mouth. Her feet kicked, and her fists searched for her attacker.

Before a blow landed, a familiar voice whispered, "It's me. It's me."

Relaxing for a moment, Kia scrutinized the man who pulled her into the alley. "...Gouger? What the hell? You don't look like... well... you!"

"I wear a wig to cover my glorious mane," Gouger lifted a section of his plain black hair, revealing the hair cap forming the base of the wig. "See?"

"That's actually smart... dressing as outrageously as you can makes it harder to associate you with— hold on. Why are you even here?!"

"My queen, I bear a gift at your request..." Gouger began kneeling and retrieving something from a bag on his back.

It was an ID.

"Is this... mine?" Kia took the card Gouger held out. "Last name: Osorezuki, first name: Kia. This is the same name the doctor got from my DNA. How did you know who I was... and what I looked like?!"

"Fate!"

"Tell me how you did it, or I swear to G O D I'll find a gun and shoot you with it."

"I felt it!"

Kia gave a disapproving look. "Tell me."

"I woke up in the van and took a peek at your face! Don't worry, I'll never reveal your true identity because I would rather tear my heart out if you asked me to."

"This doesn't tell me anything about how you know my name, though."

"I felt it."

"I told you already to stop using... wait a minute." A theory crossed Kia's mind. "Describe this feeling. In detail."

"I will, my queen. I was lost in my thoughts after the day we fought together. I couldn't help but notice something was missing. When I woke up in the van, I felt anguish... no, I was angry! You needed an ID, and what was on it came to me naturally. I've never felt that kind of pain, and it made me angry. I wanted to fix it because I want your well-being to be my pleasure."

As the explanation continued, Kia realized what was happening. 'I didn't know that I used my quirk... it's as the doctor said. That was the night I knew that I talked to Prophet about my plans for living off welfare.' She quickly turned her attention back to the ID. "Then how did you get this? I was supposed to ask for the requirements for a renewal. After that, I'd go around getting them and get an ID. It's why I guessed that would take the longest time to complete."

"Not exactly, my queen. Nowadays, you only need some DNA for the issuer to find your documents for you. It's easier and puts less strain on the bureaucracy. Although, since legally, no one else can renew your ID for you, I took some of your hair and went to the Darknet to find someone who fakes IDs!"

Kia closed her eyes and knelt on the ground, internally screaming. Finally, she got back up and yelled, "YOU WHAT?!"

"Well, it was the only choice."

Her brow raised, finding the justification ludicrous. "What do you mean only choice? I was planning on doing it by the actual process today!"

"Then you'd be arrested."

"Huh?"

Gouger took a step back and explained. "The person I paid said you had no public information available. He had to make everything from scratch because apparently you're an illegal, and apparently you shouldn't exist."

Forget having a fried brain; Kia's mind would've exploded if it could at the revelation. "Explain."

"Well, you're in a missing person database in Ireland. It was registered 15 years ago. The DNA I gave in person turned up nothing but someone from Ireland, so I had to fabricate most things. I made a lot of them up, but you're officially a ripe 21-year-old woman. You look and have the body of one, so I believe that is that. As for your birth date, I made it April 1st."

"Oh, haha, of all dates to use, you made mine a goddamn joke!"

"It was the only date I could think of at the time. If I contacted you, it would take more time since the man I have on the Darknet only operates in certain months and specific days. Coincidentally, it was the day after our robbery. Their service is fast, and their work hard to detect; otherwise, they would have been caught already if they weren't good at their jobs."

Kia had differing opinions on the situation. On one hand, she had a fake identity, and on the other hand, if she did pursue an ID, she'd be arrested. "I don't know if I should thank you or not."

"It doesn't matter if you thank me or not. As long as you are happy with what I did. If not, I will gladly kill myself for upsetting you."

"No need!" Kia panicked. 'This quirk is scary... I'll try not to use it again accidentally.' She started to ask Gouger about the money she was given because of her quirk. "Hey, what do I owe you—"

"Say no more! You've earned my money and favor."

"But this feels unfair," especially considering Kia used her power to influence Gouger, even if it was by accident. "I can't explain what I did, but all you've done isn't for free. I have to at least give something back."

"Then can I have a strand of your hair?"

"...Seriously?"

"Yes, I want it to be a family heirloom."

"Please don't bring your current or future family into your antics."

"They will love you too."

"That's not the issue here."

"I will kill them if they don't."

Kia was tempted just to use her quirk to end the conversation there but decided to convince Gouger instead. "I'll give you two of my hair strands if you don't bring your family into your craziness."

"Deal! You're so generous, my queen!"

"Don't call me that in public; just use my first name. I inadvertently made you learn it anyway, so you may as well."

Gouger smiled as wide as he could. "Oh my god… I'm so happy I could die."

"Thanks for the ID, but please don't do anything illegal that could make me more of a target for the police."

"Your will is my command!"

<>

Kia returned home, deciding to set up whatever she needed before starting her side job.

The world decided letting her roam around and live off other people, ironically funded by taxes, was too easy of a life.

Kia was not ready at all; she knew how to use a laptop but had never attempted a live stream or video making in her past life.

No one would watch Kia before… maybe now that she was a girl, it would actually work for once. Before all that, though, Kia needed one fundamental aspect.

A gaming setup.

"Plastic white chair, laptop, microphone, webcam… ah, shit, I forgot to buy a mouse."

After taking a decent look at the state of her table, it was safe to say it was barebones. Never mind that, as long as she earned stuff from it, it would be fine.

"Now… how the hell do I stream? Is there a Twitch in this alternate universe?" After a quick search using the laptop, she found out the fate of the company. "Ah, it was bought out and fused with Youtube. Wow, this is such a weird alternate reality."

Quickly looking at the site, it changed a lot. There was a dedicated section for active live streaming, and most of the popular channels were reaching tens of thousands of concurrent views. Sorting by region, Kia discovered a multitude of other people streaming in Japanese.

"They're all V-Tubers?"

This revealed a lot, mainly that people watch a lot more virtual people than actual people… which made the most sense.

"How do I even start? Seeing the categories is a good way to see what's the meta."

Gaming. IRL. Chatting.

"All pretty normal. What specific games are people playing right now?"

Results showed a hero-shooter, some MOBAs, RTS, Survival Games, and the rest are a variety of other games numbering thousands of views per category. It genuinely surprised Kia that old or at least recognizable titles weren't there.

Companies existed in the same world; surely games and references to said games also existed. Even in the MHA world, there were references to real-world people and brands.

Doing another quick search to satiate her curiosity, she finds the fate of all the games she knew in her past. "They're still here! Not being sold anymore, though."

It all started during her junior high school days back in her original world. Being born to a young couple of Gen Alpha parents was… special.

Rebellion was part of every kid's life; Kia's way of opposing her mother and father was to bash everything they liked. Which meant Kia looked at something beyond their generation's culture.

The result was Kia insisting on playing older games… that is until the economy crashing led to everything going downhill for her.

"Urgh… I'd rather not remember all that." Kia shakes her head. "As for what I'll stream, I'll just pirate these old games. I think it's better to replay them for old time's sake."

The download was quick, and Kia found herself staring at a game she enjoyed with friends.

Among Us.

Just kidding.

Minecraft.

Kia had no idea why it wasn't being played anymore. Was it just people moving on again? Did it get eaten up by corporate incompetence? Or was it a peaceful death that people simply grew out of?

This was a world full of superheroes; there'd be a massive shift in the kinds of games that came out. Heroes and villains were more interesting; it's probably why the Chatting section of livestreams contained popular people just talking about their opinions on heroes.

"This world is definitely missing out if it decided to abandon this game. Anyway, how do I even start a stream?"

A small session of researching and googling goes by, and Kia gets the hang of adjusting how her stream would look.

Although the effort she put in was particularly lackluster. A simple square on the bottom left and her webcam output overlaid. That was it.

Kia didn't even have a chance to get a second monitor for chat. Why would she anyway? Kia would justify that it didn't matter, as long as she plays something and looks pretty, would it matter what an audience has to say?

Making an account was pretty easy, but an unexpected hurdle for her to overcome was making a name.

[Username: ]

A simple username was going to be shared. It was more than just an identity; it'd be a brand to be recognized by.

"Hmm… maybe a spin on my name? Ika? Kai? Iak? No, how about something about my appearance? Akai? Or any other synonym for red?"

Thinking of a name was harder than she thought.

"I'm thinking too much about this. I'm just going to use a single letter."

[Username: K ]

[Taken!]

"Oh whoops, I forgot that it needs to be special."

[Username: K12345]

[Taken!]

"Wow, people took that? Alright then, I'll keep trying…"

[Username: K69420]

[Taken!]

[Username: K0000001]

"Finally."

[Username must not contain five sequential and repeating characters!]

"What the fuck."

[Username: K02937911]

[Username must have at least 1 special character/s. Applies to accounts made after 2127!]

"This isn't even a password! Who cares if my name needs special characters!"

[Username: K@23127]

[Taken!]

"HAH?!"

[Username: KKK@6969420]

[Available!]

"Oh wait, that name looks like I belong to THAT group. I'll just remove a K."

[Username: KK@6969420]

[Taken!]

"Son of a bitch."

[Username: KK@6969420Youbitchassgoddamnwebsitestopaskingmeforabetterusername.]

[Username too long!]

"Fine! I'll actually think about my username this time!"

[Username: K-Tari1773]

[Available!]

"That took more effort than expected."

It took a combination of the first initial of her name and a part of home in her name. Originally, Tari would be Tally, but Kia realized it would be hard to pronounce for Japanese people, so she changed it to Tari. No one would read her full tag, so everyone would just shorten it to K eventually, she hoped.

After confirming the name and navigating to the streaming section, she takes a deep breath to prepare herself. "Alright… here we go."

[Live]

"Hm… I don't know what to do after pressing live, so I guess I'm just gonna ignore it and play. I've forgotten how to play this; I have work tomorrow, so I'll sleep after a few hours."