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Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya did not have what one would call a "normal" childhood. His mom always encouraged him to be his most authentic self. His mom followed her own advice to a T, having been called many things in her youth. "Free spirit" was the nicest way people have described her over the years. 

Because of her free range parenting techniques, Izuku was free to express himself however he wanted. Which is how 13 year old Izuku, clad in piercings and an oversized Slipknot tank top, found himself in a 7-Eleven holding a can of Monster Ultra and a box of strawberry Pocky. 

Little did Izuku know, but this odd road trip snack run would change his life forever. 

But since Izuku doesn't know this, he hops back in the car with multiple bags of snacks in hand. He passes out all the food, handing a Mountain Dew and a bag of Takis to Bakugou. A truly heinous combination, but Izuku is not one to judge. 

Handing off various other treats and drinks to his mother, and Katsuki's parents, the group set off once again. 

This camping trip had been a tradition between the families for as long as Izuku can remember. Even after Izuku had been diagnosed as quirkless, the Bakugous showed up as per usual, their van loaded with tents and sleeping bags ready to go. The act of kindness, that was truly just the bare minimum, brought both Midoriyas to their signature tears. 

So even 9 years later, they've continued the tradition. It's kept all of them close over the years, and they always come home happier (even if Katsuki won't admit it, Izuku and his mom see how light his aura is). 

The only downside is that they have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn, as Masaru the resident driver/dad wants to get to the camping grounds as early as possible. Hence why Izuku bought his first ever monster. 

Now, Izuku has had caffeine before. He really thought he knew what to expect. The extra awareness, the sharpened focus, the feeling of buzzing bees in his skull, and the ability to slightly crush small everyday household objects in his grip. All completely normal. 

What he wasn't expecting was to completely rip the van door off its hinges, as he slid it open for him and Katsuki to get out. 

"Uhhh.. Uncle? I think I just broke the rental," Izuku's voice came out with a broken chuckle. There was no way that actually happened. So, he just set the door down, hoping to be in denial a while longer. That is, until he looked up and found Katsuki staring at him, slack jawed, as if Izuku had just punched a baby in the face. 

"You have a quirk?!?" Katsuki yelped. 

"You broke the rental!, " Masaru screamed. 

Izuku stood in stunned silence for another beat. He was more shocked than anyone there, yet the only words he could muster up were, "Uh.. Whoops?" 

Unfortunately for Izuku, the camping trip was not canceled because unlike normal people, a member of your camping group spontaneously developing super strength has no true sway over group activities. At least when the Bakugous and the Midoriyas are involved. 

And although Masaru seemed to die a little inside everytime he looked at the rental van duct taped together, he powered through the trip. As did Izuku, just more literally. He definitely enjoyed the camping trip as per usual, but he did have to come to terms with the fact that no, it is not normal to crush staplers and door knobs in your hand after one cup of coffee. 

Needless to say, when the party returned home, Izuku was taken to a local quirk doctor. It was confirmed that he was indeed falsely diagnosed by a negligent doctor all those years ago. 

It seemed that while he has the anomaly of the extra toe joint it didn't affect this ability to have developed a quirk. If that wasn't enough, he was encouraged by his doctor to drink more energy drinks (never something he expected to happen, what doctor prescribes energy drinks tf??), to see if different flavors had different effects on his quirk. 

So all of that, is how Izuku finds himself, just a few weeks before his last year of middle school in a quirk training gym with Kacchan and an arm full of different monster flavors. 

"Come on pin head, we've got shit to do," Kacchan said in his usual, charming demeanor. Kacchan was there when Izuku got a majority of his piercings, saying as how all of them were done with an at-home piercing kit, no hours of sleep, and minimal adult supervision. 

Of course, Izuku talked to his mother before getting each one. Inko said that as long as he was safe, and happy with how he expressed himself, she was fine with it. Inko always encouraged Izuku to do what made him happy, and being what Kacchan called a 'pin head' made him happy. 

So far, he had gotten his septum, snake bites, both nostrils, and he had piercings all the way up his ear to his industrial. He was by far one of the more intimidating 14 year olds when he had all his piercings in. 

Today however, he had no piercings in. Since they were trying his rather unpredictable quirk, he didn't want to take any chances. He felt anxious without them, as they've always acted as a shield for him. They make him seem older, and more intimidating than his soft cheeks and delicate freckles make him out to be. 

Plus, his snake bites have acted as a sort of fidget he didn't know he'd miss until they were gone. Regardless, he and Katsuki trained the entire afternoon. Izuku would try a monster, they would figure out its abilities and then improve said abilities. 

They had a good rhythm going until they got to the one Izuku had been dreading most. Monster Energy Assault. 

"What a horrifyingly hyper masculine concoction. I bet it'll taste like gunpowder and ax body spray," Izuku smirked, knowing full well Katsuki could never resist a bet. Competitive shit head he is. 

"Psh- No way. I bet it'll taste like beef jerky mixed with deer musk," Katsuki gave a cocky smile at the laugh that Izuku gave at the ridiculous imagined flavor profile. 

It had become an inside joke every time they tried a new monster, for them to guess what they think it'll taste like. Unfortunately, the answers just get more and more unhinged the longer they play. Good for Izuku, since he keeps winning the bets though. It's how he's paid for half of his hero merch since his quirk discovery. 

Cracking it open, Izuku gave it a quick sip, decided it wasn't poison and downed half of it. A skill that has quickly become essential for his training. And for fun. 

Not a single person was prepared for how this monster would affect him. It was as if someone made steroids taste like coke Zero and sadness and added an assault rifle for funsies. 

Because once the effects became clear, Izuku was standing there now at around 6'5", all rippling muscles with an assault rifle in hand. His new rippling pectorals were naturally decked out in camouflage. 

Both he and Katsuki nearly popped a blood vessel from laughing so much. 

"W-why did it make y-you into a life sized G. I. Joe, " Katsuki wheezed. 

Izuku just shook his head, unable to respond from his uncontrollable laughter. 

After they (barely) managed to compose themselves, they actually discovered that Izuku had perfect accuracy with an assault rifle, courtesy of the monster. The camouflage abilities were taken to a quite literal sense as he could blend into his surroundings perfectly, and on command. 

The two returned to the Midoriya apartment for lunch, and for the rest of the day as Izuku had already consumed enough caffeine to cripple a horse. 

These two were ready to take on anything after the summer they shared.  They were both black belts in jiu jitsu, masters in hand to hand combat, proficient in emotional warfare, and prodigies in acting (and karaoke, though Izuku swore to take that one to his grave). 

Except for the one thing that loomed over them, like a burial shroud in the depths of the night. 

Middle school. The most dreaded place on earth. 

Because people sucked, the pair had grown close. Bakugou had many formidable companions, but most were simply the dirt on which he stood. Some of these 'extras' as Kacchan called them, were assholes, and enjoyed many hobbies. Such as, hunting Izuku for sport, vandalism of Izuku's personal property, destruction of Izuku's personal property, and wasters of perfectly good insults.

Seriously, these Neanderthals wasted good comebacks and insults on Izuku, to which none properly applied. Izuku is perfect, no doubt about that in his mind, his mother mind, or even Kacchan's mind (though he won't admit it aloud). All of that was their current excuse for why the two of them only had one friend each. Each other. 

Regardless, because of all these new and old factors alike, the school year began with a bang. Well, actually it was a monster, but alas. Technicalities. 

So, on that first day, of their last year of middle school, Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku walked into Aldera Junior High side by side. Izuku wearing Versace sunglasses and holding a Monster Ultra in hand. Yes, both things went against school regulations. No, Izuku did not care. 

Bakugou just gave a feral grin at what was about to come. Izuku matched it in stride. 

They were going to start this year off with a bang for sure. 

Or with a Monster, as the case may be.

Chapter Text

As a middle schooler, Tsubasa likes to think that he knows what he's doing. In his last year of middle school especially, as a 'top dog', he was expecting the usual. 

The bullying and harassment of his classmates. What any kid does in their spare time. Especially bullying those who are too weak to defend themselves. 

Which made Midoriya Izuku the perfect candidate for such attacks in his eyes, even if he had gained some muscle, he still didn't fight back. The only issue was that Bakugou was always around during the day to defend him. Ever since that day at the river, the two had been stuck together like rats in a glue trap. 

Their superb dynamic often put a wrench into Tsubasa's plans. But this year was going to be different, he could feel it in his bones. 

So, when he slammed open the door to his classroom at Aldera Junior High, he was met with something a tad unexpected. 

Midoriya sitting in the seat behind Bakugou, a Monster in hand and yet another piercing in his face (both of which are probably against school regulation). The piercing was not that uncommon considering Midoriya had been getting them since the last school year, but the energy drink was unusual. As was him sitting in Tsubasa's seat. 

"Move it shit head. You're in my seat," Tsubasa grunted, his wings flaring a bit as he tried to intimidate his way out of the situation. 

Unfortunately, Midoriya had the gull to theatrically look at his nails and utter a singular word that rewrote Aldera history. 

"No."

"W-what do you mean no?!" Tsubasa sputtered, his shock and rage evident by his face reddening and the involuntary flap of his wings. 

Midoriya just smirked, the sun from the wall of windows casting a dramatic glimmer off his piercings. His eyes promised trouble, not the glazed look Tsubasa had come to enjoy during their usual beatings in school years past. 

"I mean no, I will not move. This is my seat. If need be I can say no in 17 different languages. Although I'm sure you wouldn't be able to comprehend most of what I said in any language so I'll try and keep my words small for you. I'm. Not. Moving," Midoriya stated each word in a calm and well articulated manner, leaning forward slightly to articulate his point before relaxing again. Tsubasa was anything but calm. 

As he threw his temper tantrum, Izuku simply took an impressive gulp of his monster. He looked unimpressed with Tsubasa which further enraged the boy, and simply studied the details of the white can. 

That was when Tsubasa made a mistake. He recoiled, bringing his arm back into what would have been a rather impressive punch to the gut. His plans were thwarted when Midoriya caught the punch, his green eyes subtly glowing with rage, and what appeared to be a small amount of amusement. 

'This freak is enjoying this,' Tsubasa realized, horror taking over his features much too late. The thing is, when one comes to terms with another's amusement before the fact that they now have god-like strength, it typically does not end well. 

Tsubasa realized this as well. After he was already thrown against the wall. Or more accurately, flicked. 

It was then that Izuku came to some of his own realizations. The first being that the entire class was now present, and looking at him with a mix of fear, shock, and the occasional wonder. 

The second being that Kacchan was laughing hysterically. And obnoxiously. 

Izuku just rolled his eyes and took another swig of his monster, completely unbothered. 

The teacher said nothing, and began class without a single word to Tsubasa, his face having paled considerably. Tsubasa, with the only bruises being to forehead where he was flicked, his back, and his ego, slunk to his seat in embarrassment. 

☆ ☆ ☆

The week following was standard in the academic sense, but in every other way it was far from normal. 

For example, where Izuku had previously blended into the crowd, he was now the center of everyone's attention, once the news had spread through the gossip channels like a wildfire. 

He felt eyes sticking to his back wherever he went without any true reprieve. Even at lunch people were speaking in hushed tones and looking rather boldly at Izuku and Katsuki. Nobody had dared approach Izuku. Not until the kid with the blade quirk came up to the pairs table, interrupting their heated debate about escalators that had morphed into a more heated debate about previous middle school experiences. Most of the heat had come from Katsuki. 

“No, I’m just saying that I appreciate you letting me fight my own battles,”Izuku said casually. 

“I LET you get BEAT UP NEARLY EVERYDAY last year!” Katsuki said, less casually. 

As Izuku went to respond he was interrupted. 

“Excuse me, De- uh..Midoriya?,” Blades tentatively spoke up. Izuku rolled his eyes and set down his chopsticks, pausing his conversation with Katsuki. 

“Yes?,” Izuku’s voice was not unkind, but his slight irritation clearly bleed through. 

After a gulp, Blades- whatever his name was, Izuku should really figure that one out- began in a deep bow, "I am truly sorry for how I treated you last year. I- I uh.. I was forced to, by Tsubasa! He made a lot of us join in and stuff, but.. Yeah." 

Izuku stared at him for a beat, then burst out laughing, Katsuki joining him a second later. Blades- seriously what is that dude's name- snapping up right again looking offended and extremely confused. 

Wiping a stray tear, Izuku regained his composure. Katsuki did not, unfortunately but Izuku chose to pretend that he had.

"So sorry Blades, that was simply the most poorly executed apology I've received in my life. Truly a pathetic attempt- Katsuki, it was not that funny you can stop now-" 

He and Bakugou then divulged into a spat of bickering, Izuku chastising him for still laughing all while Bakugou muttered barely legible words while wheezing and banging a hand on the table, spurred on by Blade’s dazed look. 

Blades simply stood there, now more offended than confused. Izuku turned back to him shaking his head like a tired mother, and began to address his apology. 

"Look, I'll level with you here. As far as apologies go, that was pretty shit. However, I do appreciate it. It's far more effort than anyone else has made, and I'm grateful that you either respect or fear me enough to attempt an apology. Unfortunately, I will not be accepting your apology, unless you can either take back the scars and insults, or apologize better. Enjoy your lunch, and try to ignore Kacchan, he's easily entertained,” the last bit was tacked on much more gently than the rest of Izuku’s words had been. 

Blades walked away in a confused daze, leaving Izuku and Katsuki to continue their debate on varying ridiculous topics. The main topic being manners, given Midoriya’s chastising tone and the mention of a Mrs. Bakugou. 

☆ ☆ ☆

Izuku had never really had to deal with.. Infatuation? Attraction?( Izuku truthfully had no idea what to call it) from others. In previous years, the girls all sneered and scoffed at him, muttering insults or rude comments under their breath at him. It had never particularly bothered Izuku, as he could care less about dating or romance of any sort at the moment. 

Unfortunately, Izuku was now ill equipped to handle the random confessions he was now receiving from the girls in their class. It seems that once your quirk is strong enough to put someone through a wall, people start to find you attractive? It’s truly a wild concept. 

Girls from different grade levels came up to him at least once a week, apparently drawn in by his ‘bad boy’ exterior. Unfortunately, for quirk training Izuku has to take out his piercings and that just made the girls swoon even more. The piercings did good work on covering his baby face, so without them the girls claimed to have uncovered his ‘soft boy’ side. As if he had always had piercings, and thus there was something to uncover? People are odd. 

Which is how Izuku ended up here, by the shoe cubbies, cornered by a trio of girls, one of which was bright red. She's a girl in his class that Izuku had never really learned the name of, but she was practically (literally) thrown onto him by her two friends who were giggling in the corner, very indiscreetly. 

“Uh- oh hey- hi Midoriya!” She managed to squeak out, regaining her balance from being shoved with Izuku's help. 

“Hello?” Izuku said, very confused. “Are you alright?”

The girl dragged her eyes away from where her hands were holding his forearms for support, and squeaked, releasing his arms from her near iron grip. 

“Oh, uh- hey Midoriya! I’m fine, sorry for falling for you like that,” The girl realized how poorly she had misspoken, as if in a cringy coming of age romcom, and began yet another round of profuse apologies. All of which, Izuku just accepted, his head tilted slightly to the side, his confusion evident. The boy was truly clueless. 

The girl shook herself, her face red enough to rival an emergency exit sign any day, and powered through her sort of pitch. After a minute long rambling session, she managed to ask the question she was thrown into his lean arms for. 

“Would you maybe like to go out with me sometime?” She inquired, her voice full of hope. 

Her hope was then mercilessly crushed when Izuku replied. 

“Didn't you call me slurs last year? Why would I go out with you?” 

The girl blanched, going through a mini crisis while her friends finally emerged from the corner they had been hiding in to grab their shell shocked friend and carry her away. Quite the sight to see, as Izuku sipped his monster ultra unaffected. 

It was then that Katsuki chose to saunter over, lazily draping an arm over Izuku’s shoulders. 

“What was that about?” 

“I think she wanted to go out with me or something. Don't know why though,” Izuku shrugged, finally managing to pull on his shoes uninterrupted. 

“Really? You have no idea?,” Katsuki said, clearly amused. He sure seemed to be finding a lot of things funny recently. “Your nonchalant aura, your funky little piercings and perfect skin have nothing to do with it?” 

“I wouldn't really describe myself like that. Besides, I would have expected girls to go for you instead.” 

“Oh really? Why’s that?” Katsuki asked, as they exited the building, a shit eating grin on his face. 

“Oh I don't know,” Izuku began, a facetious lilt to his voice. “Upon occasion, in really good lighting and an actually pleasant expression on your face, you might be considered attractive. But then there's your shit personality-” 

Izuku was cut off by a bit of friendly fire, as Katsuki punched him maybe a tad too aggressively on the shoulder, the two of them laughing at their own antics. The pair walked like that all the way to their usual quirk gym, joking and laughing with matching smiles plastered on their faces. 

They had started their last year of middle school a few months ago, and had decided to start prepping for the UA entrance exam. 

It was sure to be a banger.

☆ ☆ ☆

Chapter Text

Besides the continued spontaneous love confessions from girls who had hated his very existence last year, Izuku was quite enjoying his last year of middle school. Now that the teachers had stopped falsifying his grades he quickly rose to the top of the class, beating (and enraging) Katsuki for the #1 spot. 

Izuku unfortunately did not make many friends. He still had Kacchan, but between the two of them they had exactly zero idea of how to make friends, let alone appear approachable in public. When training at their local quirk gym, it's a lot of them booking it to private training rooms and then leaving immediately afterwards avoiding eye contact with everyone on the way out. In a very cool and suave way, of course. 

This is how they found out that Izuku could control his quirk in a way. After he drank the G.I Joe monster, he refused to leave the gym like an unfortunate All Might cross over episode. 

Katsuki, ever so helpfully, said, "Just stop looking like that then." 

"... Kacchan, that is not how this works. " 

"How would you know?" Katsuki responded, one eyebrow cocked and a shit eating grin on his face. 

"Oh gee Kacchan I don't know, maybe because it's my quirk ?" Izuku said incredulously, flailing around his new assault rifle a bit too casually. 

"I don't know, sounds like a skill issue to me, "Katsuki said, a challenge clearly laid out for the taking. Katsuki then took a sip of the Assault Monster himself, without the added side effect of looking like walking steroids. 

“Fine, fine, yeah I’ll just ‘turn off my quirk’. But if I actually do it, then you owe me a shit ton of money,” Izuku responded with maybe a bit too much sass. 

“I’m not sure that's how bets work Izu, not if you’re betting against yourself that is,” Katsuki replied with an equal amount of sass in order to match Izuku. 

“Oh whatever, if you believe in me for real, then you’ll willingly allow me my monetary gain for having done the impossible,” Izuku said all of this rather seriously, but due to his quirk it would periodically switch to English instead of Japanese. Neither boy particularly noticed or cared, both being fluent in English, but its still relevant to the plot later on. Regardless of what language it was said in, Katsuki conceded, and promised to pay for Izuku’s next hero figurine that he desired. Izuku promised that if he won, he would have to go onto the train in his muscle form, which was incentive enough for him. 

So the two sat on the floor, cross legged, waiting for something to happen. Then Izuku made this face, as if he had discovered the true meaning of life, and poof. No more rippling pectorals and questionable automatic weapons. 

Katsuki squeaked. "HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!?"

Izuku, after a moment of rolling on the floor laughing, said very smugly, "Through the power of spite and imagery, bitch." 

From then on Izuku could try any monster he wanted, and then just poof the powers away. That was, until the ultra fiesta mango monster. 

Turns out, all quirks come with drawbacks, and as the saying goes, the bigger they are the harder they fall. 

After the first sip of the mango flavored concoction, Izuku immediately felt different. Judging by the look Katsuki gave him, it must've been very different. 

Izuku then doubled over in pain as something began- make that two somethings- to sprout from atop his messy curls. 

Were these fucking antlers ?!?

Izuku, through his wonderful and astounding powers of observation, would be correct. He was now growing antlers. If he had a mirror at his disposal, he would realize that they were the least of his worries, as he was now forming a very pretty exoskeleton of sorts, decorated in marigolds and other such colorful flowers, all while glowing a demonic sort of green. Izuku just had to be full of contradictions it seems, and Katsuki got to bear witness to all of them in shocked fear and wonder. 

“Izuku, turn that shit off! We have SEVERELY UNDERESTIMATED THIS ONE!” Katsuki attempted to roar, but it came out in more of a hoarse shout, his throat suddenly very dry. 

Izuku let go of his hold on the quirk, and everything faded to black. 

☆ ☆ ☆

“Well good morning sleeping beauty,” a cocky voice said as Izuku roused. 

Blinking the stars and sleep from his eyes, he turned to meet Katsuki’s red eyes, as well as the watery green of his mother’s. 

“Mornin’,” he replied, dazed. “‘Was happening?” 

“Oh nothin’. You’ve just been conked out for the past couple of weeks. No biggie,” Kacchan supplied, momentarily placating Izuku with the casualness of his voice. Unfortunately, Izuku thought about it for more than two seconds and realized that he had been sleeping for the past two weeks.  

“wHAT?! I can’t have been sleeping for two weeks! What about my homework, oh my god I’ve missed so much school that you could have actually surpassed me! Oh shit, oh god-” 

A small smack to the back of the head ceased Izuku’s panic, and forced him to stop his hurried flailing in an attempt to detangle himself from what he now noted to be hospital blankets. 

“You’re okay Izuku honey,” his mother began. “Everything is all sorted out, you had just overused your quirk somehow. From what the doctors can guess, it seems that the new, er- quirk you tried was just too much power for your body to deal with, without a recovery period.” 

With that, Izuku let out a breath of relief, while the three parents present began to argue about letting Katsuki wake him up and how Mitsuki ‘knew it was a dumb fucking idea’ but ‘the brat wouldn’t let up’. 

All the while, Izuku tried his best to prepare himself for school the next morning, considering he had missed two weeks of scaring bullies with his now sullied strength. He just had to take a long ass nap to deal with his big boy quirk. Getting lost in thought, Izuku absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, the group still apparently waiting for the doctor? Izuku wasn't sure, as nobody had filled him in on what was happening, but he felt two hard bumps in his scalp. 

No fucking way. The antlers are still here?!? 

“Well of fucking course this is happening,” Izuku muttered. Inko threw a half hearted ‘language’ his way, more out of habit than actual reprimand, while the adults now looked confused at the green-headed child. 

“What's wrong kid?” Mitsuki asked first. 

“I’ve got fucking antlers! THAT'S what's wrong!” Izuku himself was very vindicated by this fact, while everyone else seemed to snicker at him! 

Before Izuku could make his betrayal known the doctor came in to go over his file, and soon enough Izuku was trying to prepare himself for the school day that lingered in his future. 

☆ ☆ ☆

Apparently, taking a long ass nap did nothing to damage his street cred. Instead, people were suspiciously welcoming? Whatever, Izuku would take whatever lie the rumor mill had spun in order to keep his dignity. 

The apparent truth was that while all of his other classmates learned algebra and English, Izuku spent his free vacation sleeping off what his parental units called ‘cute baby deer antlers’. Seriously, if one more auntie cooed over the bones that grew out of his skull in a socially appealing way despite the amount of blood that had been at the scene, and because his eyes happened to have a certain deer-like innocence, then he was going to scream. 

At least with his piercings and after school detention Izuku could cling to the remnants of his edgy exterior. Unfortunately, the after school detention was just a time period for him to make up the work he missed while napping off his stupidly adorable baby deer antlers (he was currently hiding those under a beanie, thank you very much). 

Izuku finished the work in no time, most of it being English homework after all, and sulked home without his blonde friend. Izuku had declined the very chivalrous offer to wait for him to finish his makeup work, but Izuku promised he would be alright. Katsuki was now waiting at the arcade, while Izuku tried to make his way home swiftly so he could change out of his uniform. Deciding to take a short cut, he went under what was likely some sort of ravine or sewer for water run off, and tried to hurry through this area. 

Unfortunately, Izuku seemed to be a magnet for trouble, and he received very little warning for what happened next. One minute Izuku was drowning, a manically laughing slime man having wormed his way like hot magma down his throat and nostrils, his lungs burning from the effort it took to keep himself alive. The next, a giant gust of wind sent his head colliding against the wall with a sickening crack . 

Everything had happened far too fast for Izuku’s liking, and he was soon being stirred out of his foggy dreams by a large hand smacking his face. Izuku’s body responded to the new addition of oxygen into his lungs by pumping out slime in hideous puddles of bile and slime. All the while the large and entirely unhelpful hand, kept patting his back as if it helped. 

Whenever Izuku thought that he could look up without more slime, sewage, and bile coming out of his mouth, he sat up and made eye contact with the number one pro hero. 

To say that this was a biggie, would be an understatement. 

“Oh good. You’re alive… Well I’ll be going then,” All Might, the number one pro hero of Japan said. To Izuku. The number one fan of the number one pro hero All Might. 

Wait, was he leaving?! 

Now, when one realizes that your idol, who can fly, and is leaving presumably meaning that they intend to fly away, then ideally one should not grab onto the arm of that person for stability after almost eating shit after almost drowning. 

Unfortunately for our deer (its funny) narrator, he was not in an ideal situation and had been stumbling around much like a baby deer on fresh legs (I promise it's okay to laugh). 

After a very odd argument in which Izuku, the fourteen year old, had to convince the at least forty year old man, that if he were to let go, he would die. At that point Izuku was willing to give his hero the benefit of the doubt. It would surely be annoying to anyone to have a random teenager clinging to your arm for deer life (these puns cannot be stopped). 

Even whenever they landed, and All Might had tried to immediately fly away again, Izuku was willing to give him a second chance. 

However, whenever All Might the seasoned pro hero listened rather impatiently to Izuku’s story of discovery of his quirk and how much he admired All Might, and all the man had to say was ‘Sorry son, but I’m afraid your quirk sounds too volatile for a battle field yada yada’, Izuku realized that he was just a dick. 

After he flew off, Izuku noticed that he had left him stranded on a mother fucking roof with no way to get down. If not for the very sweet and confused cleaning lady let him into the building, Izuku would likely still be up on that roof stewing. 

Izuku then had to retrace his steps to go and retrieve the stuff that had been left behind, and found the most obnoxious signature on the cover of his notebook in permanent marker. Cocky, lacks common sense, rude, ignorant, a dick, a fucking ass hat, the cons of the pro hero grew and grew, and Izuku got progressively more pissed. 

Fortunately for the mental All Might that Izuku had been planning on taking his rage out on, there was a painfully familiar explosion from far off in the distance. 

“Great. Now I’ve got to go get my dumbass now too. Fantastic,” Izuku muttered to himself. 

Finding that his best friend was in the exact same predicament he had been in moments prior, Izuku swiftly kicked a random brick wall, and downed whatever monster had been in his bag. It was truly a sight to see for those around him, a random fourteen year old literally shotgunning an energy drink after taking out what seemed an unnecessary amount of rage out on a helpless brick wall. 

Said witnesses became even more confused when the teen then sprinted with inhuman speed towards the villain attack taking place, cutting through the gathering crowd. Izuku on the other hand was pissed. The number one pro hero had dropped the fucking villain ? And now Izuku’s best friend was paying for this reckless behavior. 

These thoughts fueled his nimble fingers in raking through layers of sludge and slime, clawing at the monster of a man towards Katsuki. Izuku locked eyes with him, and could see his fear and overall relief at seeing Izuku, and at any other time Izuku would have been touched. He was just a tad preoccupied at the moment, and it wasn’t until he had yanked his friend from the villains clutches with a wet squelch, that Izuku actually bothered to take note of his surroundings. 

The five pro heroes (seriously, how long had Kamino Woods been here?) who had been staring at the scene unfold in shock, made fairly quick work of the slime villain, while an EMT wrapped a shock blanket around Katsuki’s shoulders. The woman tried to lead Katsuki away from Izuku, but the two had death grips on each other's hands and seemed to have no intention of letting go, so the pair of them went to the ambulance. 

After a lot of arguing with the first responders, and promising to seek medical attention if certain symptoms arise etc. etc., the boys were able to walk home together in relative peace. A bit of sidestepping reporters, and they were scott-free. 

It was on their peaceful walk home, hands still glued together, that they met what appeared to be some sort of shriveled corpse of a man, huffing as if he had been chasing after them. 

“Excuse me gentlemen, but-” the man stopped with a pitiful wheeze. “Could I- talk with you for- a moment…?” 

After a shared look of confusion, the pair turned back to him and nodded. 

Releasing a relieved huff, the man righted himself and began his spiel. He talked on and on about how he was All Might's assistant, and how All Might himself wanted to train them to be heroes and so on. The more he talked, the more hopeful he seemed to get. 

“Yeah, no thanks,” Izuku responded lazily. Suddenly, he was very tired of learning about All Might. 

The pro hero's assistant balked, seeming genuinely shocked that the boy had so easily refused his offer. Izuku simply bade him a good evening, grabbed his equally shocked friend and threw a pleasantry at the man behind him. 

Izuku was done having people hand him disappointment. He was going to earn his spot at UA himself, alongside his best friend. But ultimately, Izuku wanted to have fun .

Chapter Text

Okay so turns out getting into UA is not as simple as Izuku thought. In his head it was just: sign up, written portion, physical portion, go home. This is not the case, as Izuku and Katsuki sit at the Midoriyas’ dinner table filling out packets that could rival phone books (a truly ancient relic), and a brutal weapon. 

Plus the two of them were going to need a lot of extra training. Like a lot. Which is what led the pair to the beach near to Izuku’s apartment building. Izuku had been thrilled at the prospect to both improve physically while also bettering their community. Katsuki had been less thrilled, as he is a fancy bitch and didn't like to get dirty. Unfortunately for him, Izuku didn't care one bit. Izuku had also changed his mind on what kind of hero he wanted to be, since his role model had gone and became an asshole, so he started to focus less on sheer muscle building as much, and set his sights on flexibility. 

This is how Izuku found the love of his life. Yoga <3. This also improved most other aspects of Izuku’s self view, as although he lost some muscle definition, it was worth it to be a bit less ‘clunky’ feeling as he had described it. Plus he could once again touch his toes, which was very convenient when one was trying to do the “Formidable Face Pose”. It's as bad as it sounds, look it up. 

But it was worth the carpal tunnel and months of sore muscles (and smelling like trash) to be standing in front of the intimidating tower of glass, preparing for whatever was about to come their way. Unfortunately, Izuku immediately ate absolute shit, or he would have if not for Katsuki grabbing the back of his jacket with an unnecessary eye roll. 

Double misfortune for one Midoryia Izuku, as apparently a girl had been reaching out to help, and instead just slapped him right in the face. Immediately, regret and apologies began falling from her mouth, to which Izuku easily dodged with placations and near sincere statements about his embarrassment and so on. After she left, Izuku let out a sigh of relief. 

“Damn, you have got to stop it with the sudden spouts of being, as my dad would say, ‘a lady’s man’,” Katsuki snorted, still holding him up by the jacket. 

“That was not me being anyone's ‘man’, that was me embarrassing myself,” Izuku rolls his eyes, and grabs Katsuki by the sleeve to drag him towards the exam room. “Besides, she very obviously was just trying to be helpful, Kacchan.” 

“Whatever you say Izu.” Izuku couldn’t win with him it seems. Katsuki was too smug about this. 

They found their way to their seats, and bickered while waiting for their tests to arrive. Students around them didn't seem to mind, except for a dark haired prick in the front who kept turning to stare at them as if they had just skinned a puppy alive and used the skins as a bowl for soup, or something equally horrifying. 

The written exam itself was concerningly easy, to the point where Izuku was the first one done with an hour on the clock. He used that time very wisely at first, checking and triple checking all of his work. The rest of his time was then used to sketch Present Mic who happened to be sitting up front as the exam proctor (Izuku isn’t freaking out, you’re freaking out, shut up). 

The occasional glance at Katsuki, who wasn’t done yet, only seemed to freak out Izuku even more so he just stuck to sketching until one of the other exam proctors/ robot helpers came and took their packets from them. 

It was at that point that the practical would start. Present Mic strolled up to the front of the room, dramatically grabbing a microphone (the irony lost on him) as he began his presentation. Literally Presentation Microphone. Pointing that out elicited a barking laugh from Katsuki, and another glare from the same random guy a few rows ahead of them. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALRIGHT! Let's get into it, kids! We’re legally obligated to give you this presentation, so make sure you pay attention, otherwise we might have another lawsuit on our hands,” the man was entirely too cheerful to be starting a presentation that way. Regardless, he began to talk animatedly about robots and being crushed to death unaware of the donning horror on the children in his audience. 

“Sounds like a regular Tuesday to me,” Katsuki whispered, to which Izuku gave a startled laugh. 

“Light work, honestly,” Izuku joked back, the two now trying to contain their laughter and mostly succeeding, equally stupid jokes and quips being whispered between them. 

Unbeknownst to them, the dark haired boy at the front could no longer contain his ire or his questions. He had apparently been in the middle of talking to (yelling at, really) Present Mic when he turned on the pair of them. 

“-and YOU TWO. This is a prestigious hero school and you two are back there laughing and mocking it! Why I never-” Cue some rather impressive sputtering,”-have you no respect? This is UA and you two aren’t even paying attention!” the more he spoke, the more upset he got so the last bit came out as an indignant squawk more than anything. 

Katsuki turned to Izuku with what can only be described as a shit eating grin plastered on his face, that when mixed with his usual sneer to make something truly unsettling. Luckily, Izuku was used to it and settled in for the verbal beating that was about to go down. 

“I'm surprised you can actually talk through the stick that's up your ass. I had assumed it would’ve gotten stuck in your throat by how far up you’ve shoved it,” Katsuki reamed into him, the other boy going red with shock and vexation. A fair share of gasps and giggles broke out throughout the room. 

“Plus, I'm sure that if you had just let Presentation over here Microphone, he would’ve gotten around to explaining the zero point robot. Instead you opened your mouth, full of stick, and got onto us for whispering between ourselves. You stopped the entire presentation, so if you would please allow Presbyterian Ministry to continue to talk to us about lawsuits and life insurance, it would be most appreciated. I for one would like to be home in time for dinner,” Izuku said this all very calmly, in a deceptively sweet voice, while Present Mic cackled in the background. 

Very slowly, the boy sat down, Present Mic taking a moment to finish his wheezing and then continued to explain the zero pointers to the now distracted students. 

Once the presentation was completed, the students were sent off in waves. Those from the same school were split up, and lucky Izuku got put into the group with the dark haired boy. With a weary sigh and a tug on his beanie, he went to the boys locker room to change into the gym clothes that he brought with him. 

Once Izuku and the other students were changed, he got on the shuttle to their battle arena. He sat close to the back, and tried to stare out the window, take deep breaths (which is very difficult when your heart is beating insanely fast), and drink his monster, but the dark haired dingbat kept staring him down. So, very maturely, Izuku shot him his best ‘I’m crazy so don’t mess with me bitch ’ sort of look. The boy just looked scandalized, his mouth agape, and faced forward for the rest of the ride. 

Once they were let out, they had time to stretch while they waited for whatever proctor was supposed to be watching over their exam. While Izuku was stretching, his left leg perched on his shoulder, when he happened to see the girl that bitch slapped him that morning. She looked queasy, Izuku thought that it might help if he went and talked her off the ledge. That was the goal, at least. 

Until, who else but butt rod himself would have intervened where literally nobody had asked? Jaw slack in disgust, he trotted in front of Izuku, hands outstretched as if he was a criminal about to go slaughter that girl instead of sharing a few pleasantries..and maybe some stomach meds. She looked green now. 

The death look from Izuku did nothing to slap the audacity from the boy's robot face. A look that only became more determined after he opened his mouth, “There is no need for you to go around ruining other students' chances with your meddling. She is obviously trying to focus, so it's best to leave her be.” 

Izuku really did try his best to be civil. He really did. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually have that much self control when BITCHES are involved. 

“Okay, I was trying my best to be civil..sorta. But now you’ve gotten on my last nerve. Do you even know her? How do you know that she’s trying to concentrate?? Cause to me she looks like she's about to be sick, so I was going to go see if I could offer some encouragement or medicine, but you had to go and run your mouth again! God, can you go more than two minutes without stroking your own ego?! It would serve everyone around you some brain cells if they didn't have to listen to you blather on and on about rules and some bullshit that you’ve probably been parroting  since you were able to walk. Lighten up, and mind your own goddamn business… Please.” 

And with that small monologue complete, Izuku stomped away from the stunned boy and towards the equally stunned brunette a few feet away. Putting a much more pleasant look on his face, he made sure that she was doing alright, and offered any medication if she needed it. 

That shook her, and the other students around him from their shock at the second verbal beating that Izuku was responsible for in one afternoon. 

“Oh- um- you’re so sweet, but I’m..quite alright. It’s just nerves and my quirk’s side effects mixing in an unfortunate way. I’ll take something after the exam,” she gave him a polite smile, and bowed in thanks. As the pair were introducing themselves and warming up, Present Mic. popped up out of nowhere and opened the doors to the arena. 

After a beat he yelled, “WHAT Y’ALL WAITING FOR, AND INVITATION? HEROS DON’T NEED TO BE TOLD TO GO STOP THE BAD GUY YOU GEESE!” 

And with that, Izuku and the rest of the students shot off for the most difficult portion of their exam. 

☆☆☆

Izuku was panicking. Mostly because he wasn’t panicking as much as he should have been in this situation. Surrounded by chaos and carnage, fires and screaming, some explosions in the distance. It honestly just reminded him of the weekends he spends at the Bakugou household. 

Being so in his element, Izuku took to battling robots left and right, driven by his previous anger and the need to be better than Katsuki (ooOoo pulling out the first name so you know it's serious). The explosions and chaos became background noise, as Izuku zips around with his enhanced speed, taking out robots with his strength, and scoping out his surroundings with his enhanced senses. 

Izuku thought he was doing pretty good. He was even helping other contestants as he went, pulling kids out of collapsed buildings, or helping a cornered (and sparkly??)  blonde boy fight off the robots that were overpowering him. 

That was until the zero pointer came out. 

If Izuku had been paying attention instead of firing off excellent quips to a certain uptight private school attendee, he would have noticed the fucking tank wheels on the robot. Unfortunately, having been busy, that key detail was missed, and the size of the godforsaken robot was heavily underestimated. 

The thing was a beast, easily 15 meters tall (which is apparently ~50 ft? Or about 150 hamsters) causing teenagers to flee in the opposite direction of the path of destruction. Izuku would have done the same if not for the familiar head of brown hair that caught his eye trapped under a chunk of concrete. 

While running towards her, dodging terrified teens, it was evident that attempting to take out the robot was a suicide mission, even with the major stat upgrade that the Monster gave him. So instead Izuku focused on rescue and recovery. He slid to a stop in front of the girl (Ochako she said her name was) and began trying to dig her out of the rubble. 

“What's trapped? Is anything broken? Do I need to be careful of further rubble or can I use my quirk without hurting you?” His rapid fire questions didn't seem to phase her as she updated him on her situation. 

“Nothings broken, but I think my ankle might be sprained, and I tried using my quirk to lift it off of me, but it's too heavy for my limits. You should be able to use your quirk without much issue though,” the words came out in a rapid fire and breathless voice, as the concrete continued to do its best to crush her. 

With that, Izuku had to act fast, the robot steadily approaching, currently about five minutes away from crushing the both of them. The smaller rocks were no issue, but the slab Izuku had to get both hands under to lift off of Ochako. A small burst of power had the concrete being launched somewhere near the robot. Without skipping a beat, Izuku scooped up Ochako- being careful not to jostle her ankle- and sprinted in the opposite direction of the zero pointer. 

Right when he was sure they were going to be run over, the timer buzzed and the robot screeched to a halt. The exam was over. 

☆☆☆

Chapter Text

There was silence in the viewing room. Near silence, if not for Present Mic’s voice being heard over the walkie talkie hooting and hollering for his new apparent favorite student. The student that had been running around with inhuman speed and strength, saving the other students the entire exam. He had been genuinely helping students who were cornered or injured, convincing a couple that their lives were worth more than getting into UA. 

And then to top it all off he nearly went head on with the zero pointer, barreling toward it with the speed of a bullet locked onto its target. But the target had not been the robot as expected, but instead he dashed towards the girl pinned under what was easily an almost full ton of rubble on top of her and freed her from it easily. 

He didn’t immediately go to attack the robot as one would have expected from a teenager with such a powerful strength enhancement quirk. 

Aizawa decided to break the stunned silence of his coworkers. 

“What's the boy's name?” He drawled lazily from his spot sprawled on the floor. 

“Midoriya Izuku!” Nezu replied far too cheerily. With sound once again permitted in the room, Midnight resumed where she had left off with her popcorn. 

“‘Wafs ‘is quirf’?” She asked over a mouthful of frankly obnoxious crunching. She only did it to piss off Shota even more if the smirk on her face was any indication. 

Nezu’s pleasant voice interrupted any threats of violence that would have been thrown her way with a contemplative and confused noise. 

“It seems his quirk isn’t a strength enhancer.” 

“WHAT!?!” All the teachers seemed to shout over each other at once, demanding answers. Even Shouta had to admit that his interest was peaked. How could a boy that just tossed a metric ton like it was nothing more than a paper weight not have a strength enhancement quirk? 

In a polite -and subtly predatory- voice, Nezu spoke up, “Ahem, if you’d let me continue, I will happily explain!” 

All the adults hurriedly apologized to the creature like they were the students, and his little smile returned to his face. 

“Thank you. As I was saying, Midoriya seems to have a different and far more powerful type of quirk than that of a simple strength enhancement. It seems to be categorized as an Accumulation and Transformation-type mix. Midoriya can drink different forms of caffeine and gain varying powers from them, the most commonly used being his strength enhancement. His file also states that he was a late bloomer, having only developed his quirk a little less than a year ago. It is named ‘Jack of All Trades’ and his quirk specialist couldn’t seem to decide which category to put it in since he can both accumulate power, and transform his body depending on the drink.” 

The silence was back in full force, beating down on Shouta even as he stared at the ceiling from the confines of his sleeping bag. 

“Well shit,” was all the disgruntled man could respond with. He just found his newest problem child. 

☆☆☆

Izuku’s heart was beating like a jack rabbit as he carried the now unconscious girl to the infirmary tent set up outside the arena. He was so worried about her, he almost forgot to worry about himself. 

Had he managed to take down enough robots? Did he waste too much time by helping the other students? Oh god, what if Katsuki beat his score? He’d never live that down. He was also decidedly ignoring the other options, the ones where he didn't get into UA…

He shook his head to get rid of his worries as he set the very green looking girl down on the cot he was directed to by a rather stern looking old woman. He immediately recognized her as Recovery Girl, but decided against going full fanboy. Izuku instead began filling her in on what he knew of her condition, describing the setting, rock, and her quirk overusage. 

She seemed pleased with all the information he gave her. “It’s not everyday that kids your age help each other out like this, especially in such a competitive atmosphere. You’re going to make a fine hero some day, I’m sure of it,” they shared bright smiles as Izuku thanked her profusely, his eyes not at all watery, and she pulled something out of her pocket. “Care for a lollipop dear?” 

He accepted gratefully, and sat in the waiting area of the tent, hoping to be there when she woke up. Or whenever Kacchan finds him and drags him home. 

It ended up being the latter scenario, but with the added berating and mother henning from Katsuki. Izuku tries his best to placate him, but Katsuki just isn't having it, and continues to drag Izuku away from the med tent ranting all the way. 

“-I really thought you had pulled some idiotic stunt or something and got yourself hurt, but you were just hAnging out in the medical tent?!?!? For a random stranger? God you’re a dumbass. You dropped her off there already, quit being so nice and trusting to random people you meet. It’s going to get you killed one day I swear to the gods! And another thing-” This went on for basically the entire way home, only stopping on the train to avoid annoyed glares. 

By the time they reached their street Katsuki had finally lost steam and gave up on lecturing Izuku about stranger danger. They split ways to go to their respective homes to shower and change, with a promise to meet up at Izuku's house for dinner as soon as they were done. 

When Izuku walked through the door he was hit with the familiar scent of lavender, linen, and incense (a combination of his moms doing). Inko was in the living room doing some yoga, but hopped up and engulfed him in a warm lavender infused hug the moment she saw him. 

“How did everything go honey? Are you hurt? What about Katsuki? Oh, I know how much he tends to over do it. Are you hungry sweetie? I was planning on making your favorite for dinner tonight, I’m sure you’d like that. Although if Katsuki is going to be joining us then I’m sure he’ll complain about the lack of spice,” she thought for a moment, tsked, and continued. 

“He’ll just have to deal, I'm afraid. Although I’m sure he could find some spices to add if he really wanted to… I got a bit side tracked, sorry baby.”

Izuku gave a little chuckle at his mothers usual tendency to ramble (a genetic trait) and proceeded to answer all of her questions, “Everything went fine actually. The written portion seemed suspiciously easy, Kacchan and I didn't get any injuries, although I did have to help this one girl who hurt her ankle. And a few others. But we can talk about all that over dinner. I need a shower.” 

“Yeah I figured as much. No offense sweetie but you stink,” Inko replied in a cheery tone. 

Without any more bravado, Izuku got cleaned up, taking extra time to take care of his curls and put all his piercings back in, if only to upset Katsuki for being a bit late. He knew how upset the boy was, because as soon as the boy showed up at his doorstep, parents in tow, he dragged Izuku to his bedroom to yell at him some more for “not owning a fucking clock”. 

After a few rounds of Super Smash Bros, the pair were called down to dinner to regale their family with the tale of the exam. Katsuki spared not a single curse word as he described how many robots he exploded, while Izuku got side tracked talking about how cool all the heroes were and how fascinating some of the students' quirks were. 

By the end of the night Katsuki’s parents left the boys to their sleepover, far too full to protest any further. They bade Inko goodnight (and goodluck) both parents planting kisses on the fuming boy's head before leaving. 

Inko encouraged the boys to head to bed soon after such a long day, giving her son a tight hug and whispering to Izuku how proud of him she was. After the fanfare was over and the pair was ready for bed, they gathered back in Izuku’s room. 

Izuku's room was one of his favorite places to be. His walls were a soft blue that paired nicely with his dark green bedding. He still had a few hero posters, but none of the gaudy colorful All Might posters he used to have. A Miriko poster, plus one of Present Mic. and one of Gang Orca as well as the occasional band poster, picture, or piece of art. 

Katsuki plopped himself on Izuku’s bed as if he owned the place, pulling out two controllers for them to continue their game. When Katsuki turned to give Izuku his controller, the boy was already passed out, soft snores coming from his mouth. 

Katsuki let out a soft sigh, and moved to tuck in his passed out friend. Although, his version of tucking him in was to shove him over so he could sleep too. 

Izuku didn’t protest too much, just gave a sleepy squawk and muttered something that sounded like “dumb baby antlers” before drifting back to sleep. It wasn’t long before Katsuki was also asleep, the long day full of emotion and hard work finally catching up to him. His overprotective anger must’ve been the only thing keeping him standing upright. He muttered a barely conscious goodnight before catching up to Izuku and falling into a deep sleep. 

☆☆☆