Chapter Text
Izuku was walking to school when a villain attack happened. He blinked twice as he saw Kamui Woods show up, and took out his notebook, starting to sketch a couple of notes as he tried to get closer.
“Illegal use of Abilities during rush hour, as well as robbery and assault?” The Hero said condescendingly. “You’re pure evil.” He added, making Izuku roll his eyes when this was all that stupid marketing.
“A Gigantification Quirk against ‘Arbor’, Huh?…” Izuku mumbled as someone let out a chuckle from his side.
“You know the name of his Quirk?” A man said before adding a comment about Izuku being a fanboy or something. “You must want to become a Hero, right, kid?” The man asked, and Iuzku glanced at him.
“There are many Quirks out there; it is better to know how they work before becoming a Hero-” Izuku replied, satisfied with the data he was getting on gigantification, before another variable leapt over his head. Literally.
“Canyon Cannon!!” A woman jumped over to the bridge holding the railways, kicking the mugger in the chin before Kamui Woods could use his ‘Preemptive Binding Lacquered Chain Prison’. For someone who tries to sell himself with narratives about who’s evil or not, the Arboreal Hero sure had a mouthful of names for his Super Moves.
“Today’s my debut!” The woman with blonde hair and purple horns leaned her… erm… posterior closer to the bystanders –currently, her public, meh– as paparazzi suddenly appeared from whatever dimension they were hiding in before pulling out a dozen cameras. “Pleased to meet you all! You can call me Mt. Lady!” The woman said, and Izuku frowned, trying to get her height compared to the buildings around.
“… She’s twice as big as the average Gigantification.” He mused, sketching her figure, her name and adding a “plus 20 meters” where he’ll write whatever info he’ll find on her Quirk later.
He took out his phone and started to Google whatever information he could get. Heroes usually have some social media pre-made from their debut to try and bank on a rush of popularity.
“Why is she even in Musutafu? I refuse to believe she’s just ignorant of the railing she destroyed mid-fight…” He muttered, bouncing into a cameraman who was growing a lens from his body. Well, that’s interesting. “Excuse me, sir, but how does your Quirk work?” He asked, and the glassed man gave Izuku a smile and a curious look back.
“Well, it’s not every day when a kid asks about the Quirk of the everyman.” The man laughed, taking one more picture of Mt. Lady before making the lens disappear, and then reaching for a handshake. “Taneo Tokuda. A freelance journalist, working for Juzo News.” The man presented himself, and Izuku accepted the handshake, noting that one of Tokuda’s eyes also looked like a lens.
“How about I tell you what my Quirk does, and you tell me what you’ve been writing there.” He proposed, and Izuku looked the man in the eye as he took a picture with it.
“Izuku Midoriya. Just some student from Aldera Junior High.” He raised the notebook, and the man’s eyes went to the title. “I just noted some details about the Quirks I find interesting.” He explained, and the man gleefully took a glance through Izuku’s notebook.
“ ‘Quirk Analysis for the Future’, huh?” The man opened Kamui Woods' page, and then his smile grew. “This is quite useful…”
Katsuki walked inside the classroom and noticed that a lot of students had gathered around the Nerd’s desk again. ‘Great, what did the dumbass do now?’ He thought to himself before using his Quirk, Explosion, to startle the group. “You’re blocking the way.” He growled, and Glasses gave him an unimpressed look, like always.
“There’s the other row.” She pointed out before returning to whatever they were doing. “Izuku-Kun met some famous photographer.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes as he pushed through. “The fuck are you doing nerd?!” He asked and, wouldn’t you know it, Izuku was just writing in his notebook… But that’s when he saw it. “What the fuck?!” Katsuki cursed as he snatched the picture of All Might’s debut in the highest quality possible.
“Don’t bend it, Kacchan.” Izuku warned as Katsuki was still looking at the bullshit picture, turning it around to see the name ‘Taneo Tokuda’ in the back with a phone number. “He uses that picture as his visit card, I don’t want to lose it.” He said before Katsuki glanced down at the notebook, seeing the same name and the Quirk ‘Whole-Body Lens’.
He only had to read the words written down and see another high-quality selfie of the nerd and some adult to get the whole story. “You just happened to stumble over the one guy who took a picture of All Might’s debut?!” He almost wanted to burn the picture out of jealousy, sparks coming out of his palm despite the Nerd’s warning looks.
“Katsuki. Put it down.”
“You’ll just throw it inside your notebook like all your notes!” Katsuki was accused, as he still held what was probably a picture worth a couple of thousand dollars. “You don’t even like All Might! You just collect shit for the sake of doing it!”
“Katsuki…” The nerd’s eyes turned cold. Izuku suddenly raised himself from his chair. “Put. It. Down.”
There was a moment of uneasy silence before Katsuki yielded, dropping the picture onto the table. “Shitty Nerd.” He grumbled before getting back to his desk.
“What’s gotten into Katsuki today? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?” One of the other extras asked, but Katsuki tried to ignore them.
Shitty Nerd, getting everything like he always wants.
After school was over, Izuku made a detour as he heard All Might was in Musutafu for some reason. “–And you say that he was capable of creating lenses from everywhere on his body?” Dad asked, and Izuku let out a hum.
Hisashi Midoriya is always busy with work, but when it comes to a call from his son, the man never misses it.
“Yep. Katsuki was jealous when he saw I got the pictures of Mt Lady, and the one from All Might’s debut.” It was obvious that the explosive boy wouldn’t care about the selfie Izuku got with the man, so it wasn’t much of a variable. “I wonder how valuable that photo is.”
“If it has Taneo Tokuda's signature…” Dad mumbled as he was probably making some calculations from the top of his head. “I guess it could be sold for at least twenty thousand dollars in the US? The prices of old merchandise have already skyrocketed. Also, getting All Might’s signature would increase the price tenfold, especially with the pristine quality.” He explained as Izuku walked into an underpass. “But what about Katsuki? Is he becoming a bother again?” He asked, and Izuku let out an awkward laugh.
“You know how he is…” Izuku sighed, thinking of Dad’s more extreme side. “He’s always angry at something. It’s not worth getting into an argument with him.”
“I still cannot comprehend why you try to align yourself with such an uninteresting individual, Izuku. There’s nothing special about that boy outside his Quirk… And even that is debatable… ” Dad grumbled the last part as a similar discussion came to mind.
After all, Izuku got into his habit of looking into Quirks from his father. It was interesting to see what makes them tick. Dad would also go on tangents on how he or Izuku could make better use of them if it were in their hands. The thought exercise was always nice, even if it was only daydreaming that he could use someone else’s power.
Just as Izuku was about to leave the underpass, there was a slouchy noise behind him. “A medium-sized body…” A mass of sludge towered over Izuku, a pair of eyes and unnatural teeth looking down at him before it leapt.
“Help!” Izuku screamed, dropping his phone as the muddy liquid swirled around him, pulling him back into the dark as it tried to shove itself down Izuku’s throat.
“Izuku?! IZUKU!!” Dad’s voice came from the phone before it was doused in the living liquid.
“Don’t worry, Kid.” The Villain said as the liquid tripped him over. “It will take 45 seconds or so, and everything will be over!” It laughed, and Izuku tried to reach for his taser. Dad pestered him to get it, but there was no way he could reach it in his backpack.
Izuku’s lungs hurt as the sludge made its way into them. He could feel faint when he saw a hand appear out of thin air. “Freezing. Propagate.” A distorted voice came from somewhere as the world was turning dark.
There was a sudden feeling of cold as the sludge was turning solid, freezing before a sound was heard behind them.
A loud *clang* was audible before a deep voice rumbled against the walls. “Fear not, Kid! I Am Here!! ” Izuku was almost lights out when he suddenly heard– “Texas SMASH!!” –and the now crystalline mud shattered into a million pieces, the shockwave hitting him hard enough to put him to sleep.
Toshinori felt his blood go cold as he caught the kid from falling. “Wow, there…” He said, realising that the child was knocked out. “This… is bad.” He said, looking around for any of that sludge, If there was any moving, then he-
Suddenly, a foreign ringtone was heard, and Toshinori saw the phone on the ground, opening it only to cringe at the word ‘Dad’ on it.
“Oh boy…” He sighed, contemplating whether or not to answer the call and tell the father in question what happened. Toshinori carefully placed the kid on the ground and slid his thumb over the screen, opening the call. “Hello, good sir–”
“Is my son alright?!” A voice shouted from the other side, and Toshinori cringed even harder. The man must have been talking with the boy a moment ago… Why does this voice sound familiar, though?
“He is uninjured–”
“Is he breathing properly?”
Toshinori listened using his enhanced hearing. “A bit raspy and his heart beats a little faster from the rush.” He explained, hearing a groan that he is more than used to from irritated parents. “… He is also unconscious.” He lamely said, hearing a louder groan turning into a sigh.
Seriously, where does he know that– “Call an ambulance or something. I don’t know his exact location to do so.” The man ordered, and Toshinori gave an automatic nod, trying to forget the sense of deja vu.
“Very well, sir. Do you want me to keep you in the line?” He robotically said at that point, getting back into the routine as he stepped into the light, opening his phone to see his current location and ping it on the Hero Network…
*Woosh* There was a sound behind, and Toshinori glanced at the boy. Nothing. “Did you call an ambulance already?” The man asked, and the Hero returned to send a proper message… only to realise something was odd.
“Give me a moment sir.” Toshinori said before going to the boy, crouching next to him as his breathing got clear all of a sudden. “… Sir, may I ask what is your son’s Quirk?” He could have sworn half of the Villain was frozen a second ago, light still sparkling over the shards of ice spread all over the street from his move.
“He’s Quirkless.” The man said, and Toshinori paused.
Sure, the Number 1 Hero isn’t a doctor, but he could have sworn that… “Your son might not require an ambulance. His breathing and heartbeat levelled to normal. No bruises or cuts…” Peculiarly unharmed.
“Will he be able to walk it off?” The man asked, something in his voice not sitting well with Toshinori, but it probably was that deja vu.
“I think he can.” He confirmed. “A shower would be needed after the foul smell left by the Villain but I do not think that he will be left with more than a scare.”
“… Thank you.” The man didn’t seem to be pleased saying those words. “Go open his backpack and sign the picture he has in his front-most notebook, All Might.” He instructed, and the Hero let out a laugh.
“Oh, so this was it about.” Toshinori’s uneasiness faded a little as he carefully moved the boy, checking for any injuries for the third time before taking a notebook with an interesting title: ‘Quirk Analysis for The Future’. He paged through it and found an entry about himself and a one-of-a-kind picture held by a clip on the page. It was All Might carrying multiple people away from the unfortunate events that acted as his accidental debut in Japan.
Toshinori took out the picture and flipped it, letting out another small laugh as he saw the photographer’s signature. He covered the remaining white space with his own before pushing it back in its place, then sliding the notebook with interesting contents back into the backpack.
The boy started to groan, slowly waking up as Toshinori held himself taller. “Your son is getting up right now.” He announced the worried parent over the phone as All Might leaned forward. “Young man, you have a worried father waiting for you.”
“A-All M-Might?!” The boy yelped as a long sigh was heard from the phone, making the boy grimace as he swiftly took it back. “Dad?… I’m fine, I think?” The boy kept talking with his father, and Toshinori took that as a cue to leave.
Toshinori used his speed to pour the contents of one of the bottles he had before going around and scooping all that sludge and frozen shards. He gathered it all up and screwed back the cap before reading to leave, stretching a little before crouching– “W-Wait, All Might!” –The boy shouted, but the Hero was already tensed up, leaping into the skies, ready to wave goodbye… before realising that the boy wasn’t there anymore. “CRAP!!”
Oh. Oh no! “Young man, what’s the meaning of this?!”
Izuku… For the past hour or so, Izuku’s life turned into a blur.
Clinging to All Might’s leg and almost falling. His childhood Hero tells him that being a Hero is too dangerous for someone without a Quirk. Katsuki gets attacked by the same Villain that attacked him earlier, and now…
And now THIS. “No!” Izuku said as he stared All Might in his weakened form straight into his shadowed eyes.
“P-Pardon?” The man said, genuinely surprised.
“You told me not even two hours ago that I cannot be a Hero.” Izuku said as he pointed back at the Symbol of Peace, looking more decrepit than anyone would even believe him. “Now you tell me that your Quirk can conveniently transfer itself to someone else?!” He asked, baffled by the statement even more. “What’s more? You can take and give Quirks to people?! ”
All Might coughed up some blood, and Izuku felt a little bad. “That’s… not something any living man can do…” He trailed off, but Izuku was more interested in that line of thought than anything else. “However, young man. Such an event is not something that comes back a second time. I can let you think about it… How about you give me an answer in two days? I will be around Takoba Municipal Beach early in the morning. Give it a thought until then.” All Might suggested, and Izuku gave a hesitant nod.
His parents wouldn’t be too pleased to hear about such revelations.
“He. Has. WHAT?!” Dad shouted over the phone, and Izuku flinched. “You didn’t accept such a proposal, right son?!” He desperately asked, and Izuku decided to just hold his phone away from his ear.
“No. Of course not!” Izuku tried to reassure his father. “I told All Might no, but he said to think about it for a day.”
Dad sighed. “Let’s just say that purely hypothetical, what he says about One For All is real, then such a Quirk would, by nature, put a target on your back with the sum of every single person that wants All Might gone. If that information gets out, every single criminal would either want you dead or try to kidnap you in hopes of taking the Quirk from you.”
“… But?” Izuku prodded, and Dad let out an even longer sigh.
“No buts, Izuku. Such a Power is a death sentence.” Dad said, but Izuku knew this wasn’t a real depiction of what could happen.
“But what if no one finds out?” Izuku asked, and his Dad sounded even more annoyed on the other end.
“But… If we get to silence All Might and have you use it how you see fit… There is an off chance that no one will catch on that a kid completely unrelated to the Hero has a Quirk that is maybe too similar to a Quirk.” Dad grumbled, and Izuku’s lips perked up a little. “BUT no ‘Symbol of Peace’ Garbage! That would attract the exact kind of attention you don’t want and draw the parallel. Not to mention that only All Might has a worse work schedule than mine. Blegh! ”
Izuku smiled. “So you’re letting me meet All Might and try to get his Quirk?”
“… Yes.” Dad sounded defeated. “You’d be a fool not to snatch that. General Enhancers are one of the best Quirks, and he has the best. Period.” He lamented as the sound of rhythmic tapping came from him. “But the problem is your mother… You know how she is about Quirks… and lack thereof.” He grimly added, and Izuku’s mood also turned gloomy, finally pulling his phone closer to his ear.
“So we don’t tell her?” Izuku asked.
“Not until the Quirk is a guarantee.” Dad confirmed. “She’s too weak of the heart sometimes. Giving her hope only for it to go null… I wish she’d review her mentality about Meta Abilities.”
There was a knock on the door, and Izuku got off the bed, walking to the door as his Mom’s voice was heard. “Izuku. Dinner is ready!”
“I'm coming!” Izuku replied before he heard Dad say one more thing.
“And keep quiet about the… incident with the Villain. Katsuki can get all the attention on the TV for all we should care.” Dad urged, and Izuku couldn’t disagree with the idea, closing the call as he went to eat.
The kitchen was quiet as always; Mom already sat at the table. “So how was your day?” She asked as Izuku took a seat.
“I saw a Hero debut in the morning.” He replied, and Mom kept quiet. “I also met a photographer who could grow camera lenses out of his body.”
“Quite the Quirk.” Mom swiftly said as she started to eat. “Nothing interesting at school?”
“They gave us the High-School Choices Survey.” Izuku replied and saw his mother brighten up. “I put UA as my first option.”
And suddenly that glint in her eye was gone. “And the second one?”
“Shiketsu?” He replied, and Mom only kept the nice smile, making him uncomfortable despite her not saying what was bothering her. “I also talked with Dad and someone else. I’ll go meet with someone to see how I can train to become a Hero.”
“Is that so?” Mom replied, and Izuku started to eat.
He knew it for so long that his Mother didn’t want Izuku to be a Hero without a Quirk; she always fussed over him being hurt, talking about how dangerous things can be.
At least Izuku can talk with Dad about it. He isn’t a fan of Izuku being a Hero either, but his reason was always different. ‘Wasting Potential’ and all, but at least he was entertaining the thought, even if he expects Izuku to do something else when he grows older.
It was better than the feeling that he was talking to the wind.
Rokuro Nomura was walking the streets of a city in the Chiba Region of Kanto, scratching his head as he tried to find the new Headquarters of the Springer Agency. “Why did they have to move office just as I had to assassinate him?” He grumbled before he saw a black-haired kid, skulking over a piece of paper. He was also dragging a school bag behind him, so he was a local. “Heya, kid, mind if you point me to Springer’s Agency?” He asked, and a pair of red eyes looked up at him, a little confused.
“O-Oh… Uhm…” He pointed down the street, and Rokuro’s eyes followed. “Turn at the first corner and then go down the left avenue. It should be a 15-minute-ish walk. There’s a bus station nearby that heads there, but you’d complicate yourself with it.”
“Thanks, bud, you’re my Hero.” Rokuro patted the kid on the shoulder and got a glimpse at the page he was mulling over. “UA? Do you want to be a Pro?” he asked, and the boy gave a sheepish look.
“Yeah… but my Quirk is just a Hardening-Type.” He explained, flexing his arm, and the skin took on a rough texture.
“Hm. That’s tough… no pun intended.” Rokuro crouched a little to inspect the kid’s arm, arranging the baseball cap on his head to shade his eyes more. “I bet that it will grow stronger but it’s one of the easiest Quirks to counter. Not to mention the health problems.”
“H-Health problems?!” The kid got suddenly startled, and Rokuro straightened up.
“Eh. It’s not something that you need to worry about if you make bank and retire early.” Rokuro waved his hand dismissively. “Wasn’t that why… I forgot his name. Crimson… red?”
“Crimson Riot?” The kid corrected him, and Rokuro gave a thumbs-up.
“Yeah, him. As it turns out, joints really don’t like to turn solid. If they snap, they won’t heal as muscles do.” He tried to remember some details. Boss had that Quirk stored somewhere. “There was one of those retirement interviews; his Hardening did a number on his health when he grew older.”
The kid let out a sound that could only be described as confusion and disappointment as Rokuro left. He activated his Quirk, and his whole body started to get overclocked; the world around him started to slow down as Number 6 had a mission to accomplish. The dreams of a Hero-wannabe were crushed, and in 5 minutes tops, Springer’s Agency will be crushed too.
If the Boss wants Spring-Like Limbs, then Six must procure the Quirk.
2 Days Later
Izuku walked to the entrance of Takoba Beach, looking around until he saw a skeletal man deeper into the hills of metal. He didn’t know much about the place before, so he looked it up and saw news articles about the dumping of trash in the area.
The pictures didn’t do justice to how dirty the place was.
“Ah, young man.” All Might’s weakened voice was heard as he approached Izuku. “Did you think about what I asked?”
“Yeah…” Izuku replied as he got a bad feeling about the area, the wind blowing as it made the towers of scrap wobble. “I talked with my Dad, and he said I should try getting One For All.”
“You talked with your parents?!” All Might said with a perturbed tone. “Didn’t I tell you to keep it secret?!”
“Um, no?” Izuku replied, and the Hero paused. “You told me not to tell anyone about your current form. I can’t hide from my parents that I’ll magically manifest a Quirk either.” He pointed out, and the man gave an awkward nod.
“… Fair enough.” All Might coughed. “I doubt I can get something like that past that man either…” He looked away for a second as a hurr was heard from deep in the illegal dumping area. “Speaking of which. What does your father do? He sounded familiar but I couldn’t place my finger on it.”
“He has a Pharmaceuticals Company in the United States.” Izuku frowned a little. “He hates showing up on the news too, his company makes Quirk Boosters so there’s always some controversy, so no interviews or anything.”
“That sounds like a lot of politics.” All Might commented, and Izuku nodded. “Now that you mentioned it, I would have half-expected him to come too if he knew about it.”
“He would have been here if he could. He’s still in the US with work.” He explained before realising something. “Um… How should I call you, sir? It’s not like I can call you All Might if someone shows up.” And also, how awkward would it be for Izuku to just say ‘Sir’ over and over?
All Might smiled before flexing, his muscles expanding as that odd One For All Quirk was at full display. “You can call me Toshinori Yagi, young man.” He laughed as he deflated again, like it was some punch line to a joke. “But what should I call you ?” He lightly poked Izuku in the chest. “Neither of us was keen on introductions with our odd meeting. Your notebook was signed ‘Midoriya’ if I remember correctly.”
“Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry for not giving a name… May I ask you a question about your Quirk?”
“Shoot.” All Might –Yagi– encouraged. “You’re gonna need all the information you can get if you want to wield it.”
“Were you capable of buffing up before you got One For All?”
Yagi opened his mouth to answer, but paused, his eyes growing distant for a moment. “Huh… Now that you mention it. I don’t think it ever came up before? It was 40 years ago, but I think it began like a gig in the changing lockers at UA. We all tried to flex to show our muscles after training and… it sort of happened.”
“Almost like a Quirk.” Izuku pointed out.
“I…” Yagi’s eyes slowly opened wide. “I was Quirkless before, and I never thought to check with some DNA test of a before and after.” He mused, and Izuku hit two rabbits with one stone.
First: All Might was Quirkless before he got One For All.
Second: There’s a chance that One For All can cause Quirk awakenings!
Once the day was over, Hisashi 'Midoriya' got a message from his son about what kind of training the Blonde Idiot was trying to put Izuku through.
The only reason the phone didn't meet with the wall at the speed of sound was that he needed it to call competent people to fix the conundrum.