Chapter Text
Izuku was lost in thought as he walked out of the school. He was writing in his hero notebook and wasn’t paying attention to where he was going so, he didn’t notice the group in front of him until he bumped directly into the chest of the boy in front. The boy shoved Izuku away and he fell back on his ass as a result. He looked up to find Takahashi and his goons towering over him.
“Watch where you’re going you quirkless freak,” Takahashi sneered.
“Sorry,” Izuku squeaked. He pulled his notebook close to his chest and got to his feet. He quickly started to back up and tried to put some space between him and the group of boys. Takahashi had been bullying Izuku since he had been diagnosed as quirkless in preschool. Takahashi was a few years older than him, but he always made sure to mess with Izuku.
Takahashi lunged forward and snatched Izuku’s hero notebook from out of his hands. “Are you still keeping up with this?” Takahashi laughed. “Aren’t you ready to give up?”
Izuku didn’t bother to say anything. Nothing he was willing to say would do anything but piss Takahashi off. Takahashi started roughly flipping through the pages.
“Geez your notes are such obvious bull crap,” Takahashi sneered. “Where do you even come up with half this shit?”
Takahashi’s goons laughed, but Izuku just stood there and took it. Takahashi didn’t want an answer. Not really. He was just looking for a way to get a rise out of Izuku. Takahashi looked down at Izuku. When he saw that Izuku wasn’t rising to his challenge he rolled his eyes and ripped a page out of Izuku’s hero notebook.
“Hey!” Izuku shouted and snatched at the notebook.
The second Izuku lunged forward though Takahashi’s goons stepped forward and grabbed his arms, holding him back.
“Oh did I finally do something deserving of your attention?” Takahashi asked in fake surprise. “My that must really be something.”
Takahashi held up his hand and activated his quirk. His fingernails grew into long harpy like talons. An evil smirk crossed his face and Izuku realized what he was planning.
“Don’t!” Izuku begged, but he was too late.
Takahashi ripped his talons down and through Izuku’s notebook. The pages fell away in shreds before quickly blowing off down the street. Izuku struggled in vein against the grip of the two boys who were holding him back. He had to stop Takahashi. The information in his notebook was too important to lose.
Takahashi continued to tear and cut apart Izuku’s notebook until he held only the front cover. Izuku sagged in defeat as he stared down at the shreds of all of his hard work. Takahashi stepped over the pile and grabbed Izuku’s chin. He brought Izuku’s face up, so he was looking at him, unaware or uncaring of how his talons cut into Izuku’s skin.
“God you disgust me,” Takahashi spat. “You quirkless assholes. You waste air with every breath you take.”
Takahashi looked smugly at Izuku and waited for his retort, but Izuku shut up. Nothing Takahashi could say now could hurt him any more than his actions already had. Takahashi’s face furrowed in anger at Izuku’s silence and he let out an animalistic growl.
Takahashi ripped his talons across Izuku’s chest. Izuku screamed as white hot pain blocked the world out around him. He gasped and tried to think of anything but the searing agony that burned him.
“Let that be a lesson to ya,” Takahashi hissed in his ear. “You’re nothing but a quirkless loser. And that’s all you’ll ever be.”
Izuku was thrown to the ground, but he didn’t have the strength to get up. Takahashi and his goons marched off laughing to themselves. They left Izuku there, bleeding in the dirt.
***
Izuku woke up there, face down on the ground. He didn’t know how long he had been there. The sky was dark, and he was alone.
Izuku didn’t have the strength to move. There was a dull ache radiating through his body. He was so cold. His every breath burned. Even through the haze Izuku realized that this was it. He was dying. Izuku closed his eyes and took a raspy break. He felt the tears begin to fall as he waited for the end to come.
“I’m sorry mom,” Izuku whispered.
He was going to die and leave her all alone. Maybe she’d be better off without him, but it still hurt that he had failed her so often and now he was going to fail her one last time.
“Hey!” a voice barked.
Izuku’s eyes snapped open and he watched as a large figure rushed towards. They ran with their arms on the ground, but somehow the action seemed almost natural. The man closed the distance between them in almost no time at all.
“H-help,” Izuku pleaded.
The man had some sort of muzzle covering his face, and a giant fluffy coat on. Izuku thought he looked familiar, but Izuku wasn’t sure from where.
“I gotcha pup,” the man assured him.
He bent down and scooped Izuku up into his arms and cradled him into his chest. The pain in Izuku chest flared as the man moved him, but Izuku didn’t have the strength to complain.
“Dear god,” the man gasped under his breath when he saw what Izuku was sure was a bloody mess decorating the front of his uniform. The man didn’t admire it long before taking off at a breakneck pace. “Don’t worry,” he told Izuku gently, the incredible pace didn’t seem to affect him at all. “Everything is gonna be okay.”
Izuku was overwhelmed by the warmth of the man. He burned like a furnace. He also had the distinct smell of wet dog. Izuku didn’t mind though. It was better than the smell of blood that had been in his nose.
Izuku leaned into him, trying to absorb his warmth and cling to the new scent. Izuku felt like his body was shrinking. The man was so large he felt like his arms would overwhelm him. He closed his eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.
***
The next time Izuku woke up he didn’t know where he was, but he could recognize it was a hospital room. The white walls, gross white lights, and the beeping of machinery meant it couldn’t be anything else. Izuku looked around. The room was a muted blend of white, yellows, and blues. Sleeping in the seat next to him sat the man who had rescued him, only now Izuku could recognize him. He was the Hunting Dog Hero: Hound Dog!
Woof, Izuku barked.
He shook his head and tried to figure out what just happened. He’d tried to call out Hound Dog’s name to get his attention. Why had he barked?
Izuku turned his head and stared in disbelief at his body. It wasn’t his. It wasn’t even human. It was the body of a medium sized curly haired yellow dog. Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe.
“Whoa,” Hound Dog soothed him.
Izuku whipped his head around to find the hero awake and with his hands raised and reaching slightly towards Izuku.
“It’s okay pup,” Hound Dog said.
I’m not a dog! Izuku screamed, but he only let out a loud howl. A pain in his side cut him off, a whimper escaping him as he flinched.
“Careful now,” Hound Dog cautioned. “You have a number of stitches. Sudden movements could tear them.”
Izuku looked down to see Hound Dog was right. A white bandage was wrapped around his middle, he wasn’t sure how he had missed it earlier.
“We’re gonna need you to transform back to your human form so we can get some information,” Hound Dog told him. “But let me get the doctor first in case the transformation causes any discomfort or pulls at the stitches.”
Izuku stared after the hero as he got up and headed into the hall. Transform back? Izuku wasn’t even sure what was happening. It wasn’t like he had control over this! He was just a quirkless loser. How was he supposed to do anything about this?
Hound Dog walked back into the room followed by two men, one was a doctor in a long white coat and the other was a cat headed police officer with a bell around his neck.
“Hello there,” the doctor greeted him gently. “I understand that you’ve been through quite the traumatic event, but we need you to return to your proper form.”
Izuku whimpered in shame. He wished he could, but he didn’t know how. He shrunk down onto the bed and looked away.
“Please son,” the man with the cat head said as he sat down on the foot of the bed. “We need to make sure your okay and let your family know you’re safe.”
I can’t, Izuku told him, the sound of the whine a sad reminder that Izuku was trapped.
“Why not?” Officer Cat asked.
I don’t know how, Izuku answered instinctively. He felt like he would break down into tears at any moment. He wasn’t sure if dogs could cry. Given how quick he was to cry he was guessing not or he would likely already be tearing up.
Wait! Izuku realized as he bolted to his feet. He crumpled as the sudden movement and weight felt like a knife had stabbed into him.
Y-you can understand me? Izuku asked, or maybe whined.
“Yes,” Officer Cat nodded. “My name is officer Tamakawa Sansa. Hound Dog called and asked if I could stop by in case you weren’t able to transform right away.”
Izuku looked over at Hound Dog who was standing in the corner with his arms crossed. Guess he wasn’t as hard a man as he seemed.
“Why don’t we start simpler then,” Officer Tamakawa offered. “Can you tell me your name?”
Midoriya Izuku, Izuku barked.
Officer Tamakawa nodded as if he’d already known that. “We thought so,” he told Izuku. “Your mom called the station last night when you didn’t come home. Hound Dog had already found you by then, but without the possibility of ID we couldn’t let her in.”
Officer Tamakawa went to the door and opened it. Izuku’s mom rushed into the room, though Izuku hardly recognized her. Her beautiful dark green hair was now a dark brown, but her face was still the same. She looked around between all the people inside before scowling.
Mom! Izuku barked excitedly.
Inko’s eyes darted to Izuku where he lay on the hospital bed. She stared at Izuku and recognition dawned on her face, her eyes going wide in shock.
“Izuku?” she whispered.
Izuku barked in confirmation. He could feel his tail wagging and banging against the bed. That was something that was gonna take some processing.
Inko threw herself at the bed and hugged Izuku around the neck. She was an instant mess of tears and blubbering thanks for his safety.
Izuku felt like he should be crying too, he was so relieved to see his mom. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. The two of them embraced until Inko had managed to calm herself. She ran her fingers through his fir, the feeling was indescribably nice.
“What happened Izuku?” she whispered.
“I believe I can answer that,” the doctor told them. Inko and Izuku both jumped, having forgotten that they were not alone in the room. “Apologies. But if I may I believe Izuku has developed what we call a force manifested quirk.”
“Force manifested?” Inko asked.
“Yes,” the doctor confirmed. “A force manifested quirk is one that develops during a time of great bodily distress in someone otherwise thought to be quirkless. They are versatile hard to define quirks that more often than not have no relation to any known relatives.”
A quirk? Izuku wondered. It was hard to believe. He had hoped and prayed for one for but it had felt like a far off dream for a long time.
“That’s right,” Officer Tamakawa nodded.
So what I’m just a dog now? Izuku barked in panic. He could feel his breath catching in his throat. How could he go to school? How could he live a normal life? Oh my god! What if he aged in dog years now!?
“Midoriya calm down,” Officer Tamakawa instructed him. “I need you to take deep breaths. Come on do it with me now. In, two, three. Hold it. Now out, and out, and out.”
Officer Tamakawa coached Izuku through deepening his breathing and calming back down. It helped, but Izuku still felt like the world was falling down around him.
“We don’t know if you can transform at will or not,” Officer Tamakawa told him. “But the only way for us to find out is for you to try.”
Izuku nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine himself as he was. A ten-year-old boy with curly green hair and freckles. He opened his eyes and found that all the adults in the room were staring at him expectantly. He hung his head and let out a sigh.
“That’s okay Izuku,” his mom assured him. “Your body is still healing. It may take time before you can do it.”
Izuku curled up into a ball and tried not to panic again. His mom ran her fingers through his hair and before Izuku even realized it he had fallen asleep again.
***
The next few days Izuku stayed in the hospital as his wounds healed. Every day he tried to turn himself back into a human, but he didn’t feel like he was making any progress. He had wanted to stay in bed and wallow in his failure, but his mom and the nurses had pestered him to move around until he had started wandering the hall just to get them off his back.
The world was a lot more dull through the eyes of a dog. He missed the color green. It was the color of his mom and of the trees. He missed the color red. It was the color of setting sun. Now the world was only yellows and blues. Izuku missed being human.
Even if Izuku didn’t love being a dog lots of patients were happy to see a dog wandering the halls. They would give him snacks off their plates and pet him. It was demeaning, but Izuku didn’t have the heart to disappoint them. If he was being honest it was really nice to have people smile when he walked into a room. It made his heart move up into his throat and made him feel like he needed to cry.
Izuku was wandering the halls and trying to find his way back to his room. He’d been out long enough that no one would bother him about going back to bed. Izuku came around a corner and found an incredibly dramatic scene unfolding before him.
A man in a hospital gown was clinging to the wall as he struggled to walk away from four others behind him.
“This is too much, All Might,” the tall man in the back called. All Might! Izuku stared at the man weakly pushing down the hallway. It really was the number one hero, but he looked like he had been put through the ringer. His hair was a mess, he was covered in bandages, and he seemed a lot smaller than he did on TV. “You need to retire.”
“Haven’t you…seen the news?” All Might panted. “They’re all…looking for me. They’re waiting…they need me.”
Izuku could see the pain on All Might’s face as he pushed down the hallway. He was grimacing, but beneath the shadows and the bandages Izuku could still see the fierce determination that All Might was famous for.
Izuku knew that he shouldn’t be there, he knew he shouldn’t interfere. This was something serious, something secret. But he also knew that he had made more people smile in the last few days then he had in years.
Izuku steeled his resolve and marched forward. The sound of his nails on the hard tile floor announced his presence clearly to the others in the hallway. Everyone froze as Izuku walked towards them. They stared in disbelief at Izuku as he headed straight for the number one hero.
Izuku stopped directly in front of All Might and sat down, blocking his path. He looked up at the towering figure and did his best to smile. This hero had let his smile give hope to the nation. He was a hero Izuku looked up to in the highest regard. If there was anything he could do to help him then Izuku wouldn’t hesitate. Trying to inspire him with a smile, the same way All Might had inspired him, felt like the least he could do. He felt his tongue lull out the side of his mouth as he started panting.
All Might stared at Izuku for a moment, before a weak laugh bubbled out of his lips. He slowly sank to his knees and offered Izuku a hand. Izuku didn’t hesitate to rub his head against his touch.
“You need rest,” the tall man told All Might gently. He had approached from behind and now Izuku could recognize All Might’s side kick Sir Night-Eye.
Izuku barked in agreement. All Might was the number one hero, the symbol of peace, if he needed rest then he should take it. That way he could come back stronger than ever.
“He may be gone Night-Eye,” All Might sighed, “but it won’t be long before a new paragon of evil rises to take his place.”
“I understand,” Night-Eye assured him. “But worry about that later. For now you need rest.”
Izuku followed as Night-Eye helped All Might back to his room. Once inside the number one hero laid himself down on the bed. He looked so small and hurt right now. Izuku just couldn’t leave him. Izuku gently hoped up beside All Might and curled up at the foot of the bed.
“What a strange little dog you are,” the small white mouse like man chuckled. He reached up and scratched behind Izuku’s ears. Izuku leaned into the touch. He really was getting addicted to pets. The mouse-bear-dog leaned in close and whispered. “Thank you for your help. But I must ask that you leave before All Might wakes up and that you keep this to yourself. Understand?”
Izuku looked at the knowing eyes that were staring at him, eyes that knew that he was more than the dog he appeared. He felt his mouth go dry, but he nodded gently to him.
The strange man turned away then and took a seat near the window without another word.
Izuku waited until All Might was gently snoring before he got up and made his way out of the room. He didn’t have the courage to look at the reactions of the others. He just left as quietly as he could.
It didn’t take long for Izuku to find a hallway he was familiar with and make his way back to his room. His mom was waiting for him inside. She smiled gently at him as he climbed up onto the bed.
It was a lot to process, seeing the number one hero and having to comfort him. It wasn’t something Izuku ever would have thought he’d do, much less as a dog. Izuku closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself. When he opened his eyes, he found his mom staring at him with tears in her eyes, her green hair shining in the setting sun light.
Izuku looked down to find his human body had returned. His mom tackled him into a tear-filled hug before he had time to process much more than that.