Pepper had a very normal life. Stupid life choices as a kid that taught him valuable life lessons, school problems, the occasional bully or bad joke, nothing special, really. His powers awakened at a spicy food challenge with some friends. It was by far the worst experience in his entire life. Finding out that it was hereditary did not make it any better, but at least his parents walked him through it, showing him how to keep it under control and how not to accidentally burn himself with an unfortunate cold.

In high school, he stumbled by accident on a shy kid recently transferred from another city. Feeling bad for the guy without any friends, Pepper decided to at least talk to him and keep him company. This led to Raijin clinging to him like a life line, eventually becoming close friends. After a school trip at the beach no one was going to speak of ever again, the two ended up meeting and slowly befriending Aqua.

After graduating from high school, Pepper and Aqua brought up the idea of renting an apartment together in a far nicer and better city than their small town. Raijin agreed, and the trio moved fairly quickly, now busy between work, college and keeping their powers from hell from absolutely ruining their lives. They're managing so far.