Chapter Text
Katsuki has lived with Deku on his head since he was nine, which wasn’t bad per se, just tiring some days, and that he needed to eat the double he already did. His parents were concerned at first, but after the doctor said that his quirk might have evolved silently and now he needed double nutrients.
The truth was that Deku made him stronger than before, and that needed more nutrients than before, also because Deku still needs to eat to be alive. They both could communicate just fine with their minds, thankfully being able to decide when they wanted to, and they had experimented so much with their strengths combined.
Enough that the first time Katsuki had grown wings, they both panicked as it wasn’t planned, but they ain’t regretting it. Turns out that Katsuki can feel with the wings, can feel when they’re going to move, can feel what he has to do, but he can’t control them. They aren’t his, they’re from Deku, and Deku has the pure control. It had taken time to master it, more so when they couldn’t show it to anyone as he will probably be chased by at least one crazy doctor for his blood, but they did it. They found out that Deku could give him the ‘parts’ of his body, like his wings, his talons on his feet, or a beak if Katsuki wanted, but what they couldn’t control were the feathers slowly growing on Katsuki’s hair.
He didn’t tell anyone the truth, he never said anything as the previous status of ‘quirkless’ from his best friend made him legally dead, and the police wouldn’t give a shit about a quirkless person.
But he also wasn’t going to just make Deku be ignored from existence just because he can’t be seen, so he chose to have the pronouns ‘they/them’ so everyone can refer to him as them, even though it isn’t the actual meaning for everyone else, for them is the only thing it matters, that Deku still has a persona, even though it’s just a pronoun.
Deku has been so happy when everybody (There were some exceptions along the way, but they don’t care about them) started calling them as them/they. They were practically one body, since Deku’s owl form is as big as Katsuki, maybe even more taller, they couldn’t afford being seen (Who knows what people would do for a quirked ‘animal’). Deku has been living rent-free in his mind for years, without being seen, without being heard. Now, they’re both 15 and ready to take the entrance exam of the prestigious school UA.
They went in for the first part of the exam, not almost falling at the gates as Deku thought they would. The exam was easy, as Deku always gathered as much information as he could and Katsuki was not behind, it was a very easy test for the both of them.
Then the gates for the practical part of the exam opened and they flew with explosions, destroying robot after robot, getting so many points that they weren’t worrying about anything at all. Until the Zero Pointer sliced into the arena, they were going to ignore it, but they both heard the cry for help from a brown-haired girl. They rushed to her, and the Zero Pointer was so close, and he couldn’t explode the rubble, and he needed more-
When he felt wings sprouting out of his back, he faked a cry of pain, his hands were talons in second, allowing him to have a better grip on the rubble, and with both of their strength combined, it wasn’t a problem. The problem was the robot almost on top of them, so they grabbed the girl in bridal style and flew as fast as they could until they landed carefully with their talons on the roof of a building. They let the girl down, and immediately they fallen on the ground, pulling their knees close to their chest.
Katsuki felt his feathers on his head stand up, the feathers on Deku’s wings also did, almost as if they were panicking, which totally they weren’t.
It was a lie, Katsuki was totally panicking.
The heroes in the watching room were panicking really hard, when they heard Shouta ask if the explosive boy had two quirks, everyone assumed that it was a yes, but when the file appeared in the monitor and they saw just Explosions , they started panicking. Because they just made a child have a forced quirk manifestation under their care, the child felt like his life was on a thin line and his body responded with one of the worst and most painful solutions.
Nedzu was mad, as Majima did a bad job with the Zero pointer which didn’t stop even after pressing the emergency stop button when the normal one didn’t, but he was also happy, as now he had the perfect excuse to terminate the exam the HPSC proposed in the first place. This exam was dangerous and so discriminatory, Nedzu has been trying for years to change it, but the HPSC wouldn’t budge.
Let’s see if a lawsuit works.
But taking that out, Present Mic shouted the end of the exam and rushed out to the arena to try and help the little listener who was flapping his wings repeatedly and gave the famous ‘defensive’ pose many owls have. Nedzu by the moment was looking at which type of owl the boy was, which turned out to be Barn owl.
Present Mic landed on the same roof the two little listeners were, the girl ran to him, while the boy spread his wings by his sides and kept bobbing his head side-to-side to try and ‘intimidate’ him. He would coo at the sight but the little listener was probably very scared.
See Kacchan, he looks worried, they for sure think you just had a forced quirk manifestation.
I can’t concentrate on looking scared if you talk to me right now.
Oh please Kacchan, I know that’s not true, you just need to look pretty! And you need to see the bright side! Now you won’t need to hide my beautiful wings, talons, feathers-
Keep yapping and I will explode your ass.
You can’t do that Kacchan.
Ninininini.
“Hey little listener, I’m sure this is scary and new, but you need to come with me, I’m the Pro Hero Present Mic if you didn’t know. I, and the whole UA, will keep you safe, what about you eat and Recovery Girl checks you out?” He offered, hoping that the teen would listen to him and they wouldn’t need to get Midnight just to scare him even more.
The boy tilted his head, which reminded him of the fact that the boy was more owl than before, before slowly retracting his wings, still keeping him in check while his talons -both from hands and feets- dug into the concrete below them. After some (painful) minutes, the boy flapped his wings to help him get into two feets, his legs bending on what Present Mic could only think of as an awkward angle but the teen looked as if he wasn’t in pain. Probably his legs were also slightly bird-shaped.
Present Mic landed on the same roof the two little listeners were, the girl ran to him, while the boy spread his wings by his sides and kept bobbing his head side-to-side to try and ‘intimidate’ him. He would coo at the sight but the little listener was probably very scared.
See Kacchan, he looks worried, they for sure think you just had a forced quirk manifestation.
I can’t concentrate on looking scared if you talk to me right now.
Oh please Kacchan, I know that’s not true, you just need to look pretty! And you need to see the bright side! Now you wouldn’t need to hide my beautiful wings, talons, feathers-
Keep yapping and I will explode your ass.
You can’t do that Kacchan.
Ninininini.
“Hey little listener, I’m sure this is scary and new, but you need to come with me, I’m the Pro Hero Present Mic if you didn’t know. I, and the whole UA, will keep you safe, what about you eat and Recovery Girl checks you out?” He offered, hoping that the teen would listen to him and they wouldn’t need to get Midnight just to scare him even more.
The boy tilted his head, which reminded him of the fact that the boy was more owl than before, before slowly retracting his wings, still keeping him in check while his talons -both from hands and feets- dug into the concrete below them. After some (painfully) minutes, the boy flapped his wings to help him get into two feets, his legs bending on what Present Mic could only think of as an awkward angle but the teen looked as if he wasn’t in pain. Probably his legs were also slightly bird-shaped.
Something like this, give or take.
By the time Katsuki had gone down, everyone who took the exam were out of the facility and his parents had been called and were in the infirmary waiting for him.
Present Mic walked with him, even though Katsuki had been in this form from time-to-time, it was still hard to walk with his legs shaped differently. But the Hero was patient as he helped on not letting him fall when it seemed that he lost balance. It was strange not actually controlling his legs even though he knew where they were going to go.
Don’t worry Kacchan, you got me.
Was that supposed to make me feel better?
It’s impossible with you.
When they finally reached the infirmary, Katsuki was exhausted just from thinking of his parents' reaction. His father was clearly worried, looking as if he was about to cry at the opportunity, while his mother looked as angry as he felt.
The Principal Nedzu was also there, quietly sipping from a warm cup of tea, the moment he stepped into the room, Recovery Girl was guiding him to a bed right there in front of everyone. She started poking at things that made his (his?) wings flap or puffle. She also took notes on his grip with both of his talons, his feet were more strong than his hands, which wasn’t a surprise as he already knew it.
It was a comfortable form, it felt more free than his other form, it was strange for the first hour or so, as his brain tried to comprehend what was happening, then their brains melted together. He could hear Deku more clearly like this, he had instincts telling him to cover or be in his ‘defensive’ position, he could hear what Deku thought, and they could think the same things at the same time with the same reaction. It made this much easier, when his wings should flap were interlinked by two decisions on their brains, only to transform in one and not lose their momentum in the air.
As if they were just one body, as if they always had been.
Recovery Girl is trying to talk to you, Kacchan.
“Kid, you’re still with me?” The woman asked kindly, he felt his feathers go flat on his skin when he noticed he hadn't been paying attention. “Don’t worry about it, you just experienced a traumatic event and your body is trying to cope, don’t worry about it . I asked you if you feel in pain?”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so” He replied calmly, accepting the excuse made by the woman without fuss.
She hummed, not quite believing him as she kissed his forehead and sat on a chair more in the middle of all the persons present. “His reflexes are excellent-” “Their.”, his mother cut harshly. Recovery looked taken aback, but quickly shook herself out of it.
“Their reflexes are excellent, their wings are in good state and are of a perfectly sane Barn Owl, which are mostly gliders, that’s why their wings are so big compared to Katsuki’s body, owls fly silently with gliding and flapping at minimum, which is perfect for his career as a Hero. Their talons are sharp and have good strength, but I’m nervous about the fact that his hands seemed to have turned into talons too, which don’t sweat, and that’s how his old quirk Explosions works.” Almost everybody turned around to see him, only his father keeping his head on his hands.
“Actually, wait for me a second..” He tried to look as if he was trying something really hard, then Deku changed his hands slowly, they morphed back together to what was before, and immediately an explosion went off, making everyone flinch.
“How did you do that?” Nedzu asked, quite curiously too.
“Before, my hands were the same, but I wanted with all my will to clung to the floor and they.. Morphed into sharp talons, so I guessed it would happen the other way too.” He explained, preening softly at the end.
Recovery Girl chuckled a little, but went back to talking. “They will have new instincts, and their diet has probably changed with their body. Try giving them cooked meat, and if that doesn’t work well, try giving them raw meat. And maybe let them hunt it, it will probably make them feel better.” With that, the woman got him some painkillers if at some point he felt pain and a chubby hand on his hair petting him, which felt soooo good.
“Oh!” She exclaimed, her hand retracting with speed from his hair.
“I know it’s spiky, but why the sudden pain?” His mother asked with amusement.
“There are feathers here, in the middle of a mold.” She inspected him closer, parting his spiky hair and letting white, not yet fully grown feathers exposed. Mitsuki came closer, also inspecting his feathers, which felt a little funny but he didn’t like it, so he tried to bite the hands on his hair. Both women giggled at his antics, so he puffed himself up as much as possible, it wasn’t funny!
“Okay, okay, we’re not touching them.” RG said calmly, putting her hands up as if talking to a hurted animal, which in this case, wasn’t far from the truth.
As if he was hurting, he’s The Best! He isn’t in pain.. It just felt bad.
It’s alright Kacchan, you’re allowed to feel bad.
Shut up! He’s the best, he doesn’t feel bad for a hand on his hair.
After some more minutes of the adults talking, Nedzu cut all and bowed at him and his parents. “We, as UA, apologize for making your s-... Child feel that his life was in danger and failing to protect them, the Zero pointer had a malfunction and that made a huge disaster. Don’t worry for their application as even if all of this didn’t happen, they would have still made it into the Hero Course, but I assure you that they have a reserved space in Class 1-A. I also want to thank you all for the opportunity to finally end this type of exam as it’s too dangerous for kids."
Finally, after what felt like ages, they got to leave the facility and go home. His parents bought them a good piece of meat, and cooked a little bit of it, not even as big as his hand, then asked him if he could eat it cooked.
He tried, but it felt too different. In the end he asked for a piece of the raw meat, and it felt significantly better, so now his mother is just relieved that she wouldn’t have to cook that much meat daily.