Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku’s quirk was… interesting.

That’s not to say he didn’t like it. In fact, Izuku loved his quirk. He thought it had so many useful applications for hero work, and he was certain he could save so many people with it if he just it correctly.

The only problem was its activation…

When Izuku was five and his quirk still hadn’t appeared to come in yet, his mom took him to a doctor. By all accounts, he should have displayed his quirk by then, and none of the tests done indicated that he was quirkless. He was missing the extra toe joint and everything! And yet, nothing.

At the end of it, the doctor concluded that his quirk was probably either too miniscule to notice, or it’s activation was so specific it would only become apparently once those specifications were met- if they ever were at all.

Neither were very encouraging to Izuku, but he still didn’t give up hope. He tried so many different things in an attempt to activate a quirk, to the point that his mom once had to stop him from jumping off the roof of their house once in an attempt to see if he could fly. After that incident, he was forced back down to the ground, and his mom put some rules in place to make sure he wasn’t going to die in his search for a quirk.

Never let it be said that Izuku was not determined, though. He eventually decided to look back through his family lines, detailing all the possible quirks he could receive from a mild strength enhancing quirk on his mother’s side, to a voice activated telekinetic quirk, to the countless fire quirks on his father’s side. He tested each of the possibilities to the most through- and safest, mom- of his ability.

And despite all of his searching and the countless tests he had done, his quirk activated when he wasn’t even trying.

-----

Izuku was racing around the hallway, desperately trying to grab his breakfast and rush out to the school bus, having woken up late and with barely any time before he had to get to school. He would have asked his mom to take him, but she was already at work for the day.

He quickly ran downstairs, and was about to grab his bag when he tripped, stubbing his toe against the dining room table’s leg. Immediately tears came to his eyes, but he tried to push them down, remembering Kacchan telling him to stop being such a crybaby all the time.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” he quickly bit out, trying to find some kind of outlet for the pain. Let no one ever say that a stubbed toe isn’t one of the worst feelings in the world.

He quickly stepped away from the table, bringing up his foot to try and grab it, but only succeeded in losing his balance and falling onto the ground. Once again, tears gathered in his eyes, streaking down his cheeks.

He was having a terrible day. From waking up late, to not getting to say goodbye to his mom this morning, to hurting himself in a stupid accident, he just felt terrible. He was probably going to miss the bus now, and he couldn’t bring himself to care because he knew it’d probably just get worse at school, no matter how much he liked learning!

For once, crying wasn’t helping. He was… he was just angry. He didn’t want to be sad, he wanted to face things head-on like Kacchan. If the boy was here, he’d swear up a storm and probably explode the table for good measure.

At that thought Izuku perked up, looking around. He had once actually asked Kacchan why he swore so much, and the older boy told him it was because it felt good. Maybe… maybe that would help? It couldn’t hurt to try. Izuku was always one for experimentation, after all.

Izuku looked around once, twice, and then quietly under his breath, he said the worst swear he knew.

“Crap.”

Suddenly, things felt different. Like power rushing through his veins, making him feel energized and like he could do anything.

Was this what swearing did?! Was this why Kacchan did it all the time?

No, that didn’t make sense. Someone would have said something about it before, and Izuku was smart enough to know that words couldn’t do anything unless…

Unless it was a quirk.

All of a sudden, all thoughts about this being a terrible day were pushed out of his mind. He had a quirk! He was no longer quirkless!

Izuku quickly scrambled up, about to do… something. Maybe run around to get all of his excitement out. Except, in the process he completely forgot about the power rushing through his veins, and as he pushed himself up, the tiles under his hands cracked.

“Crap,” he swore again, freezing up as he realized that that just made it worse.

Oh man, his mom was going to yell at him! He didn’t mean to crack the kitchen tiles! He was just trying to get up! But what if this energy didn’t go away? What would he do if he was like this forever?! He’d never be able to do anything!

He was snapped out of his crisis by the sound of a door slamming open.

“DEKU DID YOU MISS THE BUS?”

Kacchan stomped into the kitchen before he could reply, coming across the scene of Izuku trying to get off the ground, the remnants of tears on his face, and the cracked tiles beneath him.

“The hell…? What’d you do?” Katsuki asked, previous anger about the bus replaced by confusion.

“Kacchan! I got my quirk!” Izuku yelled, carefully pushing himself up off the ground without using his hands this time.

“What? What is it? Destroying kitchen tiles?”

“No! I think it’s a strength quirk! Although I’m not sure how powerful is and I don’t know if I can turn it off, or if I have to get rid of the energy and I’m kind of afraid mom will be mad but otherwise I think it’s really cool and-”

“Stop mumbling,” Kacchan cut him off. “I got like, half of that. Start from the beginning.”

“Oh, uh, it started when I accidentally stubbed my toe, and I was mad and then I remembered what you said about swearing feeling good, so I tried it, and then there was this kind of… power running through me?”

The younger boy stared at him, looking completely dumbfounded for once in his life.

“Your quirk is… swearing? You? Swearing?”

Izuku nodded.

“What the hell did you say?” He asked.

Izuku looked around once more, then whispered, “Crap.” He felt the same rush of power, although more muted this time. He noted that in the back of his mind, wondering if the loudness of it mattered, or the repetitiveness of using a word dampened it’s effect.

Kacchan just stared at him. “Only you would think that’s a bad swear word, Deku.”

“Well… Then can you teach me how to swear?”

“Why the hell would I do that, shitty Deku?”

There was a silence that spoke for itself.

“Please Kacchan, you’re the only one I know who knows all these swear words besides Auntie Mitsuki. I need to learn how to use my quirk, and then we can be heroes together,” he pleaded.

After a few seconds of scowling, Kacchan nodded. “You’ll still only be my sidekick, though.”

They forwent school, spending the entire day learning about Izuku’s quirk and what could actually be done with it, along with Izuku learning how to swear.

Most of the words Kacchan taught him he had heard the blond boy say before, but had never really taken in. Now he had pulled out a notebook, writing all of them down. He could probably look more up later, too.

It wasn’t remembering them that was the problem, though. Kacchan kept yelling at him that he had to really mean it. That a swear didn’t hold any power unless you wanted it too, and he found that applied to his quirk as well. The swears needed to have power to give him power. The main problem was just that the heart wasn’t behind it for most of the day, Izuku too innocent and naive to really want to swear at every little thing like Kacchan did. He did manage too several times, however, even intentionally stubbing his toe again just so he could have a good reason.

He didn’t end up breaking any kitchen tiles again, but there was a suspicious hole in the wall that led itself to a few more swears before being swiftly covered up by an inconspicuous painting. After that, they decided to move outside of the house to the backyard, where Izuku tested his strength on branches and trees. He didn’t know if their elm was going to survive, but he was too excited about his quirk to think about it in the moment.

They did this until finally his mom came home around noon, blindsided by the mess of backpacks still in the foyer and the cracked kitchen tiles with trash littering the ground.

“Izuku?” She called out, fearing the worst.

Izuku gasped, perking up from where he and Kacchan were sitting in the living room. “MOM! I GOT MY QUIRK!” He yelled.

“What?” Inko quickly ran into the room, taking in her baby boy. He looked so excited that her first thought wasn’t to scold him for skipping school. All she could see was the loving face of her son who she had watched try so hard for years finally getting closer to achieving his dreams. “Oh, Izuku, I’m so proud of you! What is it?”

“FUCKING SHIT!” Izuku said proudly, channeling all the energy he could into his words.

Midoriya Inko nearly fainted.

-----

He named his quirk ‘Expletive’.

After finding out about his quirk, Izuku did everything he could to dissect it and test all of it’s limits. He was going to be a hero with his quirk no matter what.

So far he had figured out four key things:

One, the more he cursed, the more powerful he got, but it didn’t work if he just repeated a word a bunch of times in a row, as it lost impact. Swears needed power of their own to power him.

Two, the loudness and perceived offensiveness of the swear mattered to how much power he got.

Three, if he swore multiple times in the same sentence, as a kind of chain swear with different words, it multiplied the power rather than just adding it like individual swears would.

And four, people will get mad at you and give you weird looks.

So, Izuku had taken to wearing a scarf whenever he could, covering up the bottom of his face so that no one could see his mouth. Whenever he wanted a small powerup, whether to just move something heavy, he could just mumble a swear under his breath and not have to worry about anyone getting offended.

He had learned that the hard way. When he was young and naive, wanting to show off his quirk for the first time, he nearly caused his old neighbors to have heart attacks, and his teachers would always tell him off, saying that kind of language wasn’t appropriate. His mom especially told him to tone it down on the swearing, despite the fact that she was very happy that he had a quirk, and kept saying that she was very proud of him. She just didn’t think her heart could take her little boy saying all of those things at the moment.

So Izuku stopped swearing where others could hear it. He didn’t really like the looks it got him, the shocked expressions of those who thought he was too cute and pure to ever say anything like that. The only one he really could let go with was Kacchan. Kacchan would always tell him that he shouldn’t care what others think, to just be like him.

They still had a complicated relationship, but the boy seemed to stick by him now that he viewed Izuku as less of a failure. He was still annoyed at the idea of him going into UA and stealing his goal of being the only person from their middle school to get there, but thankfully for Izuku he didn’t voice it as much as he could have.

Mostly their relationship just consisted of sparring with each other, pushing their limits and figuring out how to apply their quirks better, and then ignoring each other any other time. Izuku would have liked to be friends with him, like they were back when they were kids, but it was Kacchan who was holding back, still giving in to the inferiority complex he had built up over the years. Really, Izuku could only wait for him to make the first step if he ever wanted to.

For now though, he was fine with just honing his quirk and getting ready for anything that the hero tests could throw at him.

And all of that led him to now. The UA testing grounds.

He had already taken the practical test, which he was sure he aced thanks to countless nights of studying, and now it was time to finally step out into the testing grounds and show what he could do.

This was the part he was worried about. He knew his quirk would do well against the robots, but there was a part of him that was just nagging at his brain, saying that he didn’t want to use it too much.

He was afraid that others would hear. That it would throw them off their game, make then lose valuable time. He knew his quirk was always a bit of a shock when first heard, and he didn’t know if it was very heroic to distract other people like that.

He tried to remember Kacchan’s words. That it didn’t matter what anyone else thought, because this was about winning and getting into the hero course. That it would be everyone else’s fault if they were thrown off their game, not his.

Still, Izuku wrapped his scarf around his mouth tightly, trying to minimize possibility of anyone hearing him. He probably wouldn’t need to go all out anyway, since even softly spoken swear words gave him a considerable boost. The only reason he’d need to yell would be if one had extremely dense metal and considerable strength in order to withstand a hit, which he doubted they’d do for any of the robots considering that’d leave a lot of people unable to score any points at all. So, he considered himself in the clear.

When the test started, Izuku paused for a second, completely caught off guard, then quickly rushed forward when he realized everyone else was already running ahead and he was going to be left in the dust.

With a few mumbled ‘shits’ that he completely meant, he quickly gained back the lost ground, jumping right into the fray of robots that thankfully hadn’t all been taken yet. Sure enough, it only took a few casual swears to just disable the robots. He didn’t need to go all out and completely destroy them, knowing that he had to save his energy and time in gathering up points.

By the time almost all the robots were gone, he was reasonably certain he had acquired a good amount of points, but he wasn’t sure how it would compare to everyone else’s. He just had to have faith in his abilities and himself and pray that he was doing well enough. That’s all he needed.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a giant robot approaching, cutting off all of his thoughts of going after more robots to pad his score out.

The zero-pointer was huge, looming over the city and completely devastating the buildings around it. Just as Izuku was about to turn around and run away with the other contestants, shoving aside all thoughts about how his strength could probably at least delay the robot a bit, he caught sight of a girl trapped under rubble, and all thoughts about leaving left him.

See, Izuku had many doubts about his quirk.

He loved it, don’t get him wrong, but there was always a worried voice in the back of his head telling him to stop believing anyone would take a swearing hero seriously.

When the people in his class found out about his quirk, their bullying shifted from making fun of him for being quirkless to making fun of the fact that no hero would ever want to be partnered with him. That he’d never be able to get anywhere because his fights would never be able to air on TV. And despite the bite of their words, they held truth.

Izuku knew that his quirk was going to make everything significantly harder on him. Heroes gained popularity by their fights and defeating high profile villains, and getting their fights seen by people who would then look up to them. Unless the news was prepared to silence all clips of him fighting, he doubted they’d air it on live TV, which was where most things gained traction. Instead he’d be relegated to online videos or an extreme amount of censor bars and beeps.

He knew this. He didn’t need to hear it from the mouths of bullies to know that things were going to be tough for him, and there was a chance that no one would ever take him seriously, or look up to him because he seemed so crass. He was prepared for that.

Because in all honesty, he just wanted to save people with a smile. He didn’t need to be the number one hero like All Might to achieve that, no matter how much he might want that to be the case. As long as he was helping people, he was fine with however the cookie crumbled.

And that’s why when he saw the girl who helped him when he tripped over his own feet at UA’s gate trapped under rubble, he knew he had to do something. Even if he wasn’t sure if he had enough combat points, he couldn’t just leave her there. Otherwise, what kind of a hero would he be?

He felt his legs moving without even thinking about it, running towards the girl as fast as he could.

“COVER YOUR EARS!” He yelled at the girl. Even if he was saving her, he’d rather she not hear what he was about to do if he could help it. Luckily the girl quickly covered them, probably thinking he had some kind of vocal quirk like Present Mic.

Izuku took a deep breath, tensing up his legs and yelling, “FUCK!” As loud as he could. It didn’t matter if anyone else heard him, what mattered was making sure this girl wasn’t going to get hurt.

He felt the power run through his body, channeling it towards his legs and launching off the ground. He held up his hand, forming it into a fist and channeling his inner Kacchan.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKING ROBOT, YOU BITCH ASS MOTHERFUCKER BETTER NOT THINK YOU’RE HOT SHIT!”

Five swear words yelled at maximum volume in a chain. That was more than enough power that when he launched his fist right at the robot, it went right through, plowing into the inner workings and destroying the complex circuitry keeping it together.

He had never gone that hard before. He had never had a reason too, and was always too afraid of gaining too much power and having nowhere to expel it without breaking something that was definitely not meant to be broken. So completely destroying this robot like it was nothing was honestly a huge shock. He had faith in his abilities in theory, sure, but to come face to face with it was another.

A smile crossed his face. He really could be a hero. No matter what, he could save people with his quirk because he wouldn’t let anything get in his way.

He was content.

And that’s when he realized that he had no clue how to land. Sure, strength could get him up to the robot, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to help him get down.

“AHHHHHH!” He flailed wildly in the air, plummeting to the ground and trying to calculate just how he could possibly land without breaking every bone in his body, but before he could try anything, he was slapped. He was floating.

The girl he went back for, she saved him.

And now she was vomiting.

Frankly, Izuku was too exhausted to care about that in that moment, but he was grateful all the same.

For now, he just wanted to sleep.

-----

Apparently he had suffered from quirk exhaustion. He had gotten an earful from the Youthful Hero Recovery Girl about keeping his limits in mind and not pushing himself to the point of passing out, but also a nod from her in acknowledgement of what he had done.

That one small motion filled him with hope. With the knowledge that he had done something good, and was worthy of being a hero. Maybe even worthy of getting into UA.

Kacchan was there right when he got out to yell at him about passing out, and then swearing that ‘stupid Deku’ better have got in, or else he’d make Kacchan look bad. It was his way of caring.

Obviously Bakugou was going to get into UA. From what he had said about his test, he had practically aced it, exploding every single robot in sight. From what he had calculated, it was 72 points in total.

It made Izuku’s 35 points seem paltry in comparison.

It still didn’t dampen his spirits however, because he always knew that Kacchan was a cut above the rest. He’d skew any curve greatly with any score of his simply because he would never be content being average. That’s just who he was.

And sure enough, when Kacchan called him up asking if he got his letter, he had bragged about getting the most points in the entire class besides one ‘fucking extra’ that he swore to beat the next chance he got. He then hung up when Izuku said he was too scared to open his, getting a few choice words and threats thrown his way that he better not chicken out.

Izuku carefully set down the phone, taking a deep breath and looking at his envelope.

The key to his dreams was started right back at him in his hands, and he was too afraid to take a look and be disappointed.

Because really, even if he was secure in the knowledge that he did well on both exams, there was a voice in the back of his head that hold him that UA would never take him, no matter how well he did. That they would never take a student whose quirk was swearing. He had made it readily obvious when he destroyed that zero pointer, and it was written all over his forms. There was no way they would miss just what he had to do to activate his quirk.

He knew it didn’t make sense, that UA had never on record disallowed anyone from joining their school because of their quirk, but that didn’t make the tiny voice in the back of his head quiet down any more.

Finally, he gathered enough courage to tear open the letter with a quiet ‘fuck’, spilling out the disk inside.

A holographic projection of All Might showed up, telling him that yes, he had gotten in. And even more than that, that he had gotten rescue points for saving that girl. He was the one that scored the most points in the class, not Kacchan.

This was his hero academia.

He was finally here.

...Fucking hell.

-----

A quirk apprehension test…

Izuku didn’t know what to do.

He knew he was going to have to use his quirk- obviously this was a school for honing their quirks and learning to use them inside and out, but he thought maybe he’d have a bit more warning before he had to go swearing it up in from of his mentors for the next three years.

He had at least wanted to talk to his teachers first, and make sure they were all fine with it. He didn’t know what they would say if he just started cursing up a storm. He didn’t want to be expelled on his first day of hero school! He had worked so hard to get here, and he wasn’t about to jeopardize it now.

Kacchan obviously didn’t have those kinds of apprehensions. From the second he was at his desk he had no kind of filter, completely secure in his position and the fact that he was going to become the number one hero. Izuku wished he could have that kind of confidence, that security. Instead he was left worried at every second that he could blow it all. He felt like he was constantly hanging on a frayed thread, and at any point someone would tell him that clearly he wasn’t fit to be a hero.

He knew he was, but he didn’t know if the world would respond in kind.

That’s why when Aizawa told them they were all doing a quirk apprehension test, and the person in last place would be expelled, he made the decision to not go all out. He’d mumble under his breath like he always did, and secure himself a nice place in the middle. He wasn’t going to get expelled, but he wasn’t going to try and beat out someone like Kacchan again. Not unless he wanted to make a bigger name for himself than he already did.

Just that morning when he walked into class, Iida Tenya, had accosted him after lecturing Katsuki.

“Why are you wearing a scarf? That’s not part of the school uniform,” Iida harangued him. Izuku had flushed, but thankfully it was hidden by the scarf. “And I heard the language you used during the Entrance Exam. You should clean up your act in order to better represent this school.” Everyone already in the classroom was staring at him. He could feel their stares examining him up and down, wondering how someone who looked like him could offend this boy. Thankfully he didn’t have to stutter through an explanation before the class was interrupted, but the entire thing left a bad taste in his mouth.

Already people were going to start forming opinions about him, and he really didn’t want that to happen before he had a chance to explain himself.

So, he stayed mediocre for the tests. He kept track in his head, and he was pretty sure that he was staying in the middle of the pack, not doing anything to stand out but definitely not being the worst. His small bouts of power were more than enough to get him through things like the long jump and fifty meter dash.

Finally, he was at the end of all the tests, ready to throw the baseball like Kacchan did and then go and hide.

He mumbled a quiet ‘shit’ under his breath- his go to swear word- and threw as hard as he could.

The baseball didn’t go anywhere. He couldn’t feel the power that he had accumulated anymore.

All of a sudden, Izuku’s body was bound with cloth, constricting him, and suddenly things made sense.

“You’re the Erasing Hero Eraserhead!” He yelped, staring at their teacher with wide eyes.

Oh god, he looked angry. Did he hear him? Was he going to expel him? A thousand thoughts ran through Izuku’s head.

Aizawa glared at him. “Why aren’t you using your quirk to its full ability? I saw you destroy the zero pointer during the exam, I know you can do better. If you’re not going to go all out, you don’t deserve to be here.”

Izuku was sweating. Okay, this wasn’t the way he expected, but it was better than the worst case scenario. If only he could stop shaking.

“I… I d-didn’t know if you’d want me to,” he defended himself weakly. Even saying it outloud it sounded stupid. He wanted to explain himself, but he also didn’t want to dig himself into an even better hole. He didn’t want to get expelled on the first day just because he was too afraid to use his quirk! This was hero school, and he had to get over his fears of what other people would think or he’d never be able to be a pro.

Aizawa seemed to agree, giving him an unimpressed glare. “Everyone here is going all out. Don’t disrespect them by not trying.” The teacher then released him from the cloth prison. “Throw it. Don’t hold back or I’ll believe you don’t have any potential and I will expel you.”

Izuku nodded shakily. He gripped the ball tightly in his hand, taking a deep breath. Everyone’s eyes and ears were on him, and the familiar fear of accidentally offending someone like Kacchan did so often came back, but he knew he had to push through.

“FUCK!” He yelled as loud as he could, not letting himself second guess it. He threw the ball as hard as he could by channeling the power through his entire body.

Aizawa stared at him for a few seconds, then showed him his score. It was 809.7 mph.

He felt a sigh of relief go through him before he caught the sound of a gasp behind him, causing him to look back at all of his classmates who were staring at him.

“I’m so sorry! I have too…-” He started to explain, waving his hands rapidly.

“Holy crap, that was awesome!” A red-headed boy called out. Then suddenly the rest of the class started talking all over one another and it was hard to make out any words.

Aizawa just turned his gaze to Izuku, saying, “Good. You can’t not use your quirk, Midoriya. People’s sensibilities will not matter during the heat of battle.” Aizawa gave him a hard stare, but there was a gleam in his eyes.

All of a sudden Izuku felt stupid. Of course their homeroom teacher had already read all about his students quirks and knew about Izuku’s swearing. He wouldn’t just go into class on the first day without knowing anything about his students, seeing as he was going to be their homeroom teacher for three years.

The tension leaked out of him. He wasn’t going to be expelled. Aizawa knew about his quirk’s activation and didn’t seem to care. Hell, he was even telling him to use it! Midoriya knew he should have seen this coming, that UA was never known to discriminate against quirks, but it still felt like a huge weight off his shoulders.

Aizawa called order back to the class, telling them that the shouldn’t delay and that any questions could be asked later, and everyone immediately quieted, cowed by the threat of being expelled looming over their heads. So the rest of the class went on without interruption, but it was clear that people still wanted to talk to him.

Finally after the results were put up and Midoriya got in the middle of the pack like he wanted, Aizawa revealed that it was all a logical ruse. He left them to their own devices, and suddenly several students were crowding around Izuku, completely enraptured.

He guessed that a kid who was able to swear in front of a teacher without repercussions would seem cool to any teen, no matter that they lived in a world with all kinds of awesome quirks.

A thousand questions were shot at him at once, and he looked around several times, completely unsure where to start or what he had to explain. It was just his quirk, he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Not unless they were analysis nerds like him.

“Can’t you dickheads see that he doesn’t like being crowded around?” Kacchan called out, breaking through the crowd of students. In an instant everyone was aware that they were crowding the kid, and took a step back.

“Is that why you were swearing during the entrance exam?” Iida called out. “I sincerely apologize, Midoriya. I had no idea, otherwise I would not have scolded you.”

“Is that why you asked me to cover my ears?” Uraraka piped up. “You were swearing to destroy the zero pointer?”

“Damn, Midoriya, what did you say?” Someone he didn’t know the name of asked.

“I… I’d rather not… say.” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, dipping his head further into his scarf to hide the blush on his cheeks. “And it’s okay, Iida. It was a bit much during the exam… I don’t blame you for being offended.”

Izuku didn’t blame anyone who didn’t like his quirk. He knew how many people believed swearing was inappropriate and how different people had different sensibilities, and he couldn’t judge them. That would just be rude.

“No, it was out of line for me, Midoriya. Discriminating against someone for their quirk is never acceptable, and I am sorry I did not take the time to realize you were swearing for a reason.” Iida bowed at almost a perfect ninety degree angle.

“It’s really okay Iida!” Izuku waved his hands around, trying to stop him. “I’ve heard it all before.” Iida straightened up and looked like he was about to protest more, but was prevented from doing so by the other questions lobbed at Izuku.

“I can’t believe that came out of your mouth! You look so innocent and then- bam!” Kaminari spoke up. “I never would have expected you would say that- and in front of the teacher.”

“Oh, it’s… not a big deal.” He tucked himself further into his scarf, peaking Uraraka’s interest.

“Why do you wear a scarf?” Uraraka asked. “Is that part of your quirk?”

“It’s to hide my mouth. I, uh, mumble my curses most of the time and I don’t want people to hear me saying them. That way no one gets offended. Some people don’t really want to hear swearing when they are just going about their day. I get a lot of stares if do it. It’s embarrassing.”

“Dude, you have the coolest quirk, why would you be ashamed of that?” The red-haired kid- Kirishima- asked.

Izuku glanced up, shocked. He had never had his quirk called cool before. Sure, kids thought that it was interesting, and strength enhancing quirks were always appreciated in the age of All Might, but his quirk was always called wrong for him. Like he wasn’t fit to have that kind of quirk when all he seemed like was a pure and innocent beanstalk of a kid. Even his mom worried about his quirk, despite how many times she said that she supported him. He had never gotten a pure compliment without some kind of modifier before.

“Thank you,” Izuku replied honestly. “It’s just kind of… habit.”

“Well don’t be. I just have a hardening quirk,” Kirishima showed off his quirk, harding the skin on his arm for effect. “It’s not that flashy. Yours… You could do a lot of good with that.”

Izuku was sure he was going to cry.

A lot of good…

He had told himself that so many times, but it was so relieving it hear it from someone else.

No matter what, he was going to use his quirk to save people. He had already decided that even if he had to go it alone. Here now, though, he couldn’t say it hurt to finally have people in his corner.

He couldn’t wait to see where it went.

He was going to be a hero.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s costume was pretty simple. He had designed it with his quirk in mind, and kept an homage to All Might in it, but overall it was not nearly as glamorous as some of his other classmates chose for their costumes.

The main component was a simple dark green jumpsuit gifted to him by his mom. It was supplemented by a metal mouthpiece that he could move up and down, covering his mouth or leaving it open for any kind of situation where he might need to swear depending on if he could be loud or not, and prevented his lips from being read. Along with just being a common courtesy, it also allowed him to gain an edge on the villains, since they wouldn’t know what swear he said, and how powerful it made him. He figured he would never be able to keep his quirk a mystery, so instead he decided to hide other parts of it, keeping the inner workings secret.

Other than that, he kept it pretty simple. There was a recurring motif of black bars as a subtle reference to censorship bars just to keep the theme going, but other than that there were no major design elements. He kept a few essential heroing items on his belt that pretty much every hero needed to keep on them: handcuffs, flares, etcetera. The only thing out of place was a larger box with a button on the side that allowed it to fold out and become a megaphone, all thanks to the support department. It was the one item he was a bit concerned about, but he argued to himself that he needed to use his quirk to its full potential, and doing otherwise would be disrespectful. There were those out there who didn’t even have a quirk, who were ridiculed because they lacked something. He had felt that for the first few years of his life when he couldn’t figure out what his quirk was. To not go all out with what he had now- that would be disrespecting everything he worked towards. He couldn’t afford to skimp out now.

Who knew what the future could bring?

-----

The future brought a whole lot of shit.

The USJ was a complete and utter shitshow, and Izuku didn’t say that lightly.

“YOU SHITTY HANDJOB BITCH BETTER FUCK OFF OR I’LL BEAT YOUR ASS SO HARD!”

Izuku didn’t know what he was doing. All he knew was that Tsuyu was going to disintegrate before his very eyes from Shigaraki’s touch if he didn’t do something. Aizawa couldn’t keep erasing his quirk forever, not with all the blood and the nomu right behind him. Izuku needed to step up, to be a hero. He couldn’t stand by and watch a friend die. So, he pulled out all the stops, cursing with as much vigor as he did in the entrance exam. He didn’t even stop to wonder what that kind of power would do to someone at such a short range, or that his cursing was probably going to draw a lot more attention onto him than he’d want.

And then his punch stopped short. He felt it make an impact, but there was just a feeling he had never felt before. All the power that Izuku brought about was just… completely absorbed, like he didn’t even swear at all. That didn’t make sense though, because he had never been able to get rid of the power without destroying something before

As the smoke cleared the Nomu came into full view, and Izuku’s stomach dropped, puzzle pieces clicking into place. Shock absorption. It had to be. Nothing else could have just completely gotten rid of his power without a scratch like that.

Realizing that made Izuku feel completely powerless. Like he didn’t even have a quirk at all. If something like this could brush it off so easily… It was a terrifying thought.

What was even scarier was the look the villain gave him after he said that. Shigaraki just looked at him like he was examining him, picking him apart. The villain even wondered aloud if he was one of All Might’s disciples, with a power like that, but dismissed it.

Then the Nomu grabbed him, and he knew there wasn’t a single thing he could do. He was powerless to stop this monster from destroying him just like he did with Aizawa. In the face of this monster, his quirk meant nothing.

Everything was happening all at once, and Izuku was sure that this was the moment he was going to die.

His last words would be calling someone a ‘handjob bitch’... He prayed that no one put that on his tombstone.

Thankfully, the myriad of curse words running through Izuku’s brain at that moment lamenting the situation and hoping that no one heard him so at least his death wouldn’t be as humiliating, was interrupted by an explosion at the gates of the USJ.

Everything stopped.

All Might was here.

And then everything was happening so quickly.

The number one hero began fighting the villain, but Izuku knew… He knew that no matter how powerful All Might was, this monster was engineered to beat him. He knew he couldn’t do it alone.

That’s why when the warp gate villain had him in his grasp along with the Nomu, Izuku couldn’t stand by. He knew he couldn’t do much, but he knew that he couldn’t stand idly by either and watch his idol get cut in two by this villain.

He ran as fast as he could, yelling consecutive ‘shits’ in the hopes that he could get there quick enough, preparing in his head the perfect combination of swear words that might just give him the edge he needed. He was thinking something with ‘bird bitch’ or maybe ‘dick muncher’. The more obscure curses would give enough shock that he hoped he could pull off a miracle.

That all went to shit as the warp villain Kurogiri appeared in from of him, and he was about to go right through his portal. Once again, he hadn’t thought ahead, and he was powerless. His momentum was carrying him forward to his doom, and all he could think was that he was so stupid. How did he think that would work, when All Might couldn’t even do it?

The only thing that prevented his certain death was Kacchan flying in out of nowhere, exploding the villain with enough force to knock him down, letting Izuku fall to the ground ungracefully, but unharmed.

From then on, it was the heroes’ turn. Todoroki managed to free All Might, and in a matter of minutes the Nomu was flying out of the USJ like it was nothing, All Might’s consecutive punches more than the monster could handle.

Shigaraki was running towards All Might though, and it almost seemed as though the number one hero was getting tired, steam running off his body. And despite the past attempts all failing, Izuku couldn’t- wouldn’t stand by and watch if he could do something.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” He yelled, jumping up at and the villain. He aimed right for Kurogiri’s metal collar just like Kacchan did, before he was met with the sight of Shigaraki’s hand coming right at him through a portal.

Without a moment to panic or even consider the consequences, he yelled, “FUCK OFF HANDJOB!” His fist connected with the villain’s hand, and by some miracle all five fingers didn’t manage to touch him before the hand was completely broken, shattered into a million pieces.

He didn’t even have to worry about the second hand, as right as it happened all the other pro heroes burst through the door, giving Izuku the time to finally let out his breath. Within seconds, the heroes decimated the remaining villains, and Shigaraki was shot and then warped away.

Izuku practically flopped on the ground, taking deep breaths. It was over, and now he had time to realize just how close he actually was to death. How close he had come to not being able to help out when people were in danger.

How close he had been to being powerless to stop any of the villains.

For as much as Izuku doubted his quirk sometimes, he couldn’t imagine a world without it. If he hadn’t had the opportunity to break Shigaraki’s hand, he would have died. He would have disintegrated.

He hoped he never had to go against something like the Nomu again, that could just shrug it off like it was nothing. He didn’t know what he’d do if that happened.

For now all he could do was organize his scattered thoughts, and finally rest.

...And then All Might suddenly became impossibly skinny.

“What the fuck .”

-----

After everything that happened at the USJ, Yuuei was having a sports festival.

At first, Izuku was ecstatic. He had grown up watching the sports festival on TV, and he dreamed of the day when he might be on screen using his quirk just like all the people he had seen grow up to become great heroes.

That was the problem though. Because it was his quirk. On live TV…

Not the best combination.

“Um, Mr. Aizawa?” Izuku asked tentatively after class.

Aizawa was still completely covered in bandages and almost looking like a mummy. It was kind of cool, and kind of terrifying. Izuku didn’t know if he could ever be the type of hero that would willfully get right back up without letting himself get fully healed like him. He was thankful that his own quirk didn’t have any backlash to it, other than storing up too much energy and having to release it without breaking too many things.

“Yes, Midoriya?” Aizawa asked, looking like he’d rather be sleeping. It was amazing how emotive he could be through only his eyes.

“Uh… I was just wondering… Will I be allowed to participate at the sports festival?” Izuku looked up with wide eyes, awkwardly fiddling with his scarf.

“Why wouldn’t you be?” Aizawa gave him a half lidded stare.

“Well, y’know, the swearing and stuff… I wouldn’t want the school to get in trouble because I had to use my quirk, and I’m sure it might offend some people to hear that kind of language, and it might cost you a lot of money,” he mumbled.

“Listen problem child, no one is going to disallow you from being in the festival, no matter what. We’ve already plan to cut the audio if you get into the one on one rounds, just to be safe. Usually the sound doesn’t reach the stands anyway. I’m not going to say that you won’t get hate from concerned parents who might hear it, or gossip magazines trying to get a scoop, but I’m sure teens and young adults will love your quirk.”

“What?” Izuku blinked, taken aback. Love his quirk? That was such a foreign concept to him.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “A quirk that lets you swear as much as you want in front of teachers and on live TV? I know plenty of teenagers that would love a quirk like that,” he explained. “Of course they’d just use it to goof off. It’s a good thing you have this quirk and are actually conscientious of it rather than using it as an excuse. Although you are too conscientious. You need to stop worrying so much about how others may perceive you, and start worrying about how you can apply yourself. Otherwise you won’t get anywhere in the festival.” The teacher gave him a long look. “I expect you to go all out. Everyone else will be. Remember, being a hero comes first."

-----

“Parents, cover your children’s ears because this might get vulgar! We have Midoriya Izuku from Class 1-A. His quirk? Expletive! Any swears he says give him more strength, letting him pack an extra punch!”

When Izuku made it to the third round of the sports festival, all without using his quirk all out to save its power, he was equal parts ecstatic and terrified. After Present Mic announced him, giving anyone the opportunity to save their children’s innocence, everything went by in a blur. He was almost certain that he wasn’t going to win after Shinsou used his brainwashing quirk on him, but he had sworn when responding to him, and that excess energy flowing through him allowed him a gateway to breaking through the brainwashing, releasing a powerful blast into the ground as he stepped, causing him to trip and break the hold. Without that, there wouldn’t have been a chance. He was extremely lucky, all things considered, and he told Shinsou just as much.

All throughout it, however, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Todoroki had told him. The boy had pulled him aside, asking him if he was All Might’s secret child or something given they both had strength enhancing quirks, and then spilled his entire life story.

It made him want to throw up.

Izuku was lucky to have grown up the way he did. He had a mother who loved and supported him, no matter how much she wished her baby could stay pure and innocent, and a stable support net surrounding him whenever he was sad. He had never felt like he was being forced into anything, instead he had the freedom to follow his own dreams and make choices for himself. To hear that Todoroki had been pushed into this at such a young age, to be forced to see so many horrible things before he could even understand them, it was heart wrenching. Izuku really didn’t know how Todoroki managed to get through it all and still have the heart of a hero. It was truly amazing.

But that wasn’t going to stop Izuku from going all out during his fight with him. He knew he couldn’t continue coasting along without maximizing his quirk use. Not against Todoroki. It wouldn’t be fair, and it would just prove to Todoroki that he could win even without using his fire, despite the fact that that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Unless he went all out, he wasn’t going to progress. Everyone in this competition was going all out, and they would continue pushing themselves throughout their entire schooling. Todoroki would be left in the dust if he didn’t force himself out of his comfort zone.

That’s why when Izuku stepped into the ring, he was prepared to do anything to get that through to him. He wasn’t going to let Todoroki throw away his potential, just because he was associating his quirk with his father’s. That wasn’t true.

“IT’S YOUR FUCKING QUIRK, NOT HIS!”

He was shouting loud enough that he was sure people in the stands could hear it.

Five minutes into the fight and they were at a stalemate. Izuku could feel the energy sapping from him, begging him to stop calling the power to his body so rapidly that the muscles struggled to handle it. He wouldn’t stop, though.

“When you don’t use your power to its full potential, you’re underestimating everyone here! I’m here using my fucking quirk as much as I can even though we’re on live TV because I know I have to go all out! Otherwise, what’s the point of being a hero?!” Maybe this wasn’t just about Todoroki. Maybe it was about getting it through to himself as well.

They both had a way to go in accepting their quirks and making them their own, but it wasn’t something they could ignore. It wasn’t something that could just been thrown aside and passed up. That’s how lives were lost. If they truly wanted this, then they couldn’t let anything get in their way.

He slammed into Todoroki with as much force as he could muster, hoping it would finally convince him that there was no other way. That no matter what, there were battles he needed to use his quirk fully for, to prove to him that he needed to make it his own.

And then, Todoroki was using his fire.

Izuku smiled.

“IS THAT ALL YOU’VE FUCKING GOT?”

-----

Izuku hadn’t gotten any internship requests.

He knew that it would be a long shot, that not many agencies would want his quirk associated with them, but… not even one? He had gotten to the third round of the sports festival, had nearly beaten Todoroki. He would have beaten him if he wasn’t determined to get his fellow student to use his fire. It wasn’t like he was defenseless. He had thought that maybe one person would see past all of that and realize he was a valuable hero-in-training.

He was wallowing in his despair all throughout class with Ms. Midnight, knowing that he’d get over it and find a perfectly fine internship from one on the pre-approved list, but for now he wanted to just mope.

All his life he was told his quirk wouldn’t be able to make him a pro-hero no matter how powerful he was, and it seemed like this was just throwing that back in his face. That no matter what, he was unsuitable for hero work because of his quirk. He just wanted to shove it back in their faces one time, say that yes, he could achieve his dreams. He wanted to show that a quirk was just what you made of it. He just needed someone to believe in him.

“Midoriya, I’d like to talk to you,” Midnight said as the class filtered out. He gave her a curious glance but dutifully stayed behind praying that she wasn’t going to call him out for not paying attention in class. He waited until everyone was gone before shooting her a questioning look.

“I heard you didn’t get any internship requests.” Izuku looked down, an embarrassed flush to his cheeks. Did everyone hear it by now? He knew that most of the class noticed his desk empty of any paper signaling internship requests, but it had already gotten to the teachers? Great, just more reasons to be embarrassed.

“Hey, don’t look so down,” Midnight reprimanded. “I know it’s hard to hear at first, but a lot of hero agencies care about their image before anything else. That’s just the way it is right now, and there isn’t much we can do to change it when being a hero is a largely public job… That’s why I’d like to offer you an internship at my agency.”

Izuku looked up with a gasp, searching her completely sincere eyes. Out of everything he expected her to say, he never could have guessed that. Midnight rarely took on any interns, and her agency was already small to begin with, only consisting of her and the ‘Midnight Boys’ as they were called. Sidekicks who followed her around acting almost like a fanclub along with being sidekicks. He had almost never heard anything about her taking on an intern, especially because she was a teacher, and they rarely ever chose to take someone under their wing in fear of favoritism.

If anyone, though, he’d have expected her to take on someone with a more defensive quirk that would work well with hers and allow for more knowledge about defensive fighting to be passed on.

“Why me, Ms. Midnight?” He asked, going for the first question on his mind.

She sighed. “Do you know when I first came onto the scene, Midoriya?”

He nodded. Of course he did. She made a huge splash on the hero scene, her first costume causing regulations to be put into place about proper costumes and how much skin could be shown. It was all across the news for a while, to Izuku’s confusion. He was too young to really understand it at the time.

“A lot of people wondered if I was fit to even be a hero back then,” Midnight confessed. “They said that I was just a slut and a whore, and I was just being a hero so that I could get more attention. And while yes, I do enjoy attention, that’s not my reason for this.

“Let me tell you a secret. A lot of people say that my quirk works better on guys than girls, but that’s just because my quirk works better on those who are more attracted to me. A gay girl would be just as effected by me as a straight guy. The better I look, the better I am at apprehending villains. That’s all there is to it. Of course I enjoy being a sex symbol- I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it- but that’s not all I am. First and foremost, I’m a hero. Some people don’t understand that.

“There’s nothing wrong with being sexual when there situation calls for it, Midoriya. Just like there’s nothing wrong with cursing when it is needed. Society will always be prudish when it comes to these things, but we can’t let it get in the way of our jobs, okay? No matter what, we’re heroes. That’s why I want you to intern under me. I want you to understand that you can be a hero to anyone.”

Izuku nodded, tears coming to his eyes.

“Thank you, Midnight. It would be an honor to intern under you.”

-----

Taking the internship with Midnight might have been the best decision Izuku ever made- besides applying to UA, of course.

Everyone was surprised when he told them about the internship, just like he had been, but they congratulated him all the same. A lot of them even thought it made sense when they actually thought it through, which surprised Izuku. It had taken a whole speech from the teacher to get him to understand why she chose him, but his friends all realized it pretty quickly.

It made him wonder if there was a lot he was missing by being so absorbed in how he was perceived, that he didn’t take into account how others were perceived as well. He made a mental note to look at that later.

He hadn’t really thought about how Midnight was sometimes perceived as a lesser hero because of her sexual attitude. It just wasn’t something he ever gave thought, because he viewed all heroes from almost the exact same lens, not often thinking about their societal impact at large. Sure, he accounted for it when he was doing analysis and picking apart what made some heroes more popular than others, but he never really thought too deeply about that, far more invested in quirks. That was an oversight on his part, he now realized.

Heroes lived and died on their image. If a hero wasn’t popular enough, it would be almost impossible to find work and get more high profile cases. The only ones that didn’t matter to were underground heroes.

Overall, the system really wasn’t the greatest, and Izuku recognized that. It was a popularity contest where those with lesser quirks were discriminated against, no matter how useful they might be in a given situation. It was always bound to happen, because society and mob mentality played a big factor in how heroes were perceived. If they weren’t popular, they never would have been allowed to work with the government in the first place, and they’d be back to the days of vigilante justice. That’s why Izuku had to work twice as hard at everything he did, just to get over that barrier. To prove himself to the world. And Midnight was giving him that chance by letting him into her fold, lending him her credibility.

She had gone through the same thing, and had come out all the stronger for it. That was one of the most admirable things Izuku could imagine. And here she was lending what she had built up to him, and he promised himself that he would not waste the opportunity he’d been given.

When the first day of internships came around, Izuku was silently shaking with nerves. He had no clue what to expect, no idea what an internship would entail. He and Midnight had quirks on completely opposite sides of the spectrum, so he didn’t know how much help she could give him combat wise. Someone like All Might would actually be the best person to help him with his quirk competitively, although that mental image nearly gave him three heart attacks in a row. Since he found out about All Might’s secret at the USJ- and dear god was that a mind bending thing to witness. His favorite hero becoming a skeleton in front of him? He was pretty sure he was dreaming for a while there- he had had several conversations with the Number One Hero, but his utter hero worship for him was still in full effect, and he doubted that would ever go away, no matter if he was a skeleton or not.  

Anyway, he could only assume that Midnight had an idea of what to do, or she wouldn’t have given him an internship. It could be all knowledge based, passing on what she learned as a hero with a mixed public reception. He could definitely use some help there, and Midnight was a qualified teacher. This wouldn’t be like an internship some of his classmates most likely got where they were stuck with a hero who had no clue how to teach. Midnight would know exactly how to get her point across in a lesson. In preparation for that, given Izuku assumed it was the most likely option, he had packed his backpack up to the brim with his notebooks, writing utensils, and books. He shoved his hero suit in there too, just barely having enough room before it was full to bursting.

Midnight had asked him to come to her agency only about a thirty minute train ride from Yuuei, and the entire time he was anxiously rocking back and forth on his heels, itching to finally get started on this huge milestone to being a hero. From the train station, it was just a quick five minute jog to her agency. It was an unassuming building, which Izuku knew was for a reason. Midnight had quite a zealous fanbase, and it probably wouldn’t be the best to have them swarming it just to catch a glimpse of her. Instead, it was better to keep it on the down low while still keeping an active presence in the neighborhood.

Izuku pushed the door in carefully, unsure if he should knock or not, and nearly tripped when he caught a glimpse inside. He really shouldn’t have been surprised that the 18+ Hero was already waiting for him just inside the building’s cramped lobby, already decked out in her costume, but he wasn’t prepared for her to be right in his face.

“Ms. Midnight!” He called out in shocked.

“What are you carrying that bag for?” She questioned. “Come on, get your costume on and let’s go for a patrol. No time to waste!”

Izuku blinked, caught off guard, but the pro hero was already walking away, expecting him to follow. After a few seconds he finally got the idea and skittered after her, catching up with a quiet swear to boost his run. “Ms. Midnight-”

“Drop the Ms. We aren’t at Yuuei anymore. From now on it’s just Midnight, alright, Expletive?”

It took him a few seconds to remember that that was his hero name. He had chosen it after being stumped the entire class, wanting something that encompassed who he was without actually being offensive in itself. He refused to try and obscure his quirk like he had done previously, not wanting to say that a quirk was something to be ashamed about. In the end, he just decided to go with the name he had already given his quirk: Expletive. It was clear and to the point. Actually, he added on a tagline as well, so in full it was The Swearing Hero: Expletive. Thankfully Midnight didn’t reject it, giving him a nod when he showed it to the class.

“Alright, M-Midnight,” he said, quickly catching himself before he called her Ms. again. His nerves were going to kill him before the end of this internship he was sure.

“Good. Now, here is my agency. It’s not much, but it doesn’t need to be. Some agencies will spend a lot of money getting a fancy building with tons of space and high tech items, but don’t be fooled- you don’t need any of that to actually have an agency. Something like this when you’re not housing guests, and you don’t have a huge team is just fine. Most of the time as a hero is spent out in the city, anyway, where you have a presence. Think of your agency as a rest stop,” she lectured. Izuku had already pulled out his notebook, jotting everything down. He hadn’t heard much about small agencies like this before, but he supposed that was the point. They were meant to be just another building, unlike some place like All Might’s agency where it stood as a monument to heroism and protection.

“Here’s the changing room.” Midnight motioned to a door on her left. “So how quickly can you get your costume on?”

“Uhh… I don’t know?” Izuku said, coming out as a question more than a statement. “I haven’t really worn it much yet.”

Midnight pursed her lips. “Well, in the future, time it. You want to get it down as quickly as possible. My costume takes me a minute to get on. I’d want it to be faster, but getting skin tight material on does not lend itself to quickness very easily. Yours should be pretty simple, given it’s a jumpsuit. Just make sure not to put it on backwards. A lot of pros learn that the hard way.” Izuku nodded vigorously, jotting that note down quickly before stuffing his book back in his pack and slipping into the room.

They eventually got outside, patrolling the sidewalk side by side. A few people waved to them, some teenage boys coming up for autographs from Midnight, all of them getting some kid of wink or eyebrow wiggle in return, but for the most part it was quiet, thankfully no villains running amok and causing havoc yet.

Izuku did want to get a piece of the action, the itch to help people in his blood, but he would never wish villains would appear just so he could beat them. Just thinking about that brought him back to the USJ and trying to defeat the nomu with no success. It was terrifying to look back on just how close he was to failing, and he never wanted to feel like that again. He’d have to ask Midnight at some point about how to deal with things like that. The idea of not being able to rely on his quirk was one of his greatest fears.

“So I know you’ve dissected your quirk down to it’s bare essentials, but have you applied it in all the ways you possibly could?” Midnight asked after they were walking for a while, getting to a quieter part of town where people were minding their own business and weren’t going to swamp Midnight if they caught a glimpse of her. Izuku tilted his head in questioning in response, confused. “Have you tried swearing in other languages?” She asked.

“Yes.” Boy did he ever. When he thought of that, his mom’s computer’s search history was filled with pages upon pages on them. “It doesn’t work because it relies on the power I give the word, and the power other people perceive the word has. If I swear in another language I don’t really know, I wouldn’t know all the cultural norms and the weight that word carries in that culture, so it’d pretty much be like me shouting any random word.”

Midnight nodded. “What about sign language?”

Izuku frowned, then quietly held up his middle finger. Both of them looked at it expectantly, but nothing happened. “I guess not. It has to be spoken.” Midnight hummed.

“Well, the most important thing I’ve picked up on is that you don’t want your swearing to lose its power. If you say a swear word too much, its loses its punch, as I’m sure you know. If you use your quirk too much in one time, eventually it will just completely lose it’s power in that time, given it’s not shocking anyone.” Izuku really wished he had his notebook on him so that he could pull it out and start writing all this down. “So you need to learn how to fight without your quirk. At some point in your career, there will come a moment where you will be unable to speak. In that moment, you cannot lose yourself. A hero needs to know what to do even without what makes them special. For me, I may come across the gayest villain who ever lived, and he wouldn’t be affected by my quirk for a long time. But I still know how to fight one on one, and I can still kick his flamboyant ass.”

It was a bit of a weird example, but Izuku got what she was going for. It was exactly what he was thinking about earlier, really. But…

“What if I just become completely numb to the swears I’m saying? What if by using my quirk too much, I prevent it from ever being using in the future?” Izuku asked.

It was a fear that had been creeping up on him for a while. When he was young, saying ‘damn’ had a lot more power than it did now. Like a drop of water compared to a bucket. He feared that one day all swears would be like that to him, as being a hero might numb him to the fact that he was swearing. He was only so secure now because he was afraid of using his quirk too much for fear of what others thought. Now that he was combating that, those old fears were coming back.

Midnight took a deep breath. “Well, your quirk is unique, so it’s tough to say. But I don’t think that will be a problem if you keep in mind that no matter what, swears have impact. You’re a sensitive boy, Midoriya. You will always care how others feel, and that will be your greatest strength. These words will never lose their impact like they have for someone like Bakugou, because you understand the weight of them in relation to others. As long as you keep that in your heart, I don’t see you having problems there.”

Izuku smiled. It was an amazing feeling to have people who believed in him. Who were there to give him advice about his quirk, and not vice versa. There were so many things he still wasn’t sure about with his quirk just because he literally couldn’t test them, but it was nice to get some kind of outside opinion of it to distract from the worst case scenarios he concocted in his mind. The idea of his quirk losing its power forever was a paralyzing fear because it meant losing his dream, but if Midnight was assured that that could never happen, he felt more secure. He was never going to lose his care others.

“Do you see all these people, Midoriya?” Midnight motioned out to everyone milling around the plaza they ended up in, going on with their daily lives. “One day they’re all going to count on you. Not just to save their lives, but also to be someone they can look up to. There are people out there who need someone like you, Expletive. Someone who can show them that no matter what their quirk is, it is theirs. We don’t have a lot of heroes like that right now, but that will change, and I truly believe that that starts with people like you and me. You can make a difference to people who feel discriminated against because of an ‘undesirable quirk’ just by being yourself. That’s one of the most heroic things you can do, I think.”

The people around them in the plaza began to notice Midnight standing there, some of them coming up and asking for pictures once more, and she once again let out her more flirtatious side.

Izuku looked on, digesting her words in awe. This wasn’t just about him, it was about anyone with quirks deemed inappropriate. He’d seen it time and time again, children being shunned because their quirk didn’t fit someone’s standards. Like they had a choice about it. But Izuku could make a difference. By being a hero, he could be a hero to them.

That’s what Midnight was trying to tell him by taking him on as an intern. By bringing him out here. To see the people whose lives they could effect, rather than being in a classroom just hearing about it. To realize that no matter how much society pushed them down, there were people who were worth saving. That’s why people loved Midnight, despite how the uptight press that slammed against her from time to time. She was loved because she made a difference to them, and that was something no quirk could dictate.

No matter the quirk, anyone could be a hero to those who needed it. A lot of things made a lot more sense in that moment, and Izuku knew that he had chosen the right path.