AN: I'll be adding notes at the end of each chapter that points out the LoZ references I used for the people who've never really played any of the games. If there are ones that I missed, just comment and I'll update the notes!
I've only played Minish Cap, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Breath of The Wild. I've played Spirit Tracks a little bit on someone's DS and I have vague memories of the first (or second) game. The rest of my knowledge is from google-fu and the different LoZ manga, so some things might be inaccurate.
Mitsuki will always be eternally grateful that her son inherited his father's personality instead of hers. An explosive temper mixed with a literal explosive quirk? It was a headache just thinking about it. She thanked whatever deity had made it so that Katsuki was more like Masaru.
He was a quiet child, preferring to let the other children invite him to play, rather than actively starting any games. He liked helping people whenever he could; helping children find their lost toys, fetching or delivering items when people asked, or even just giving someone a listening ear. That didn't change when his quirk manifested. She had been worried about it, not because he had a quirk—but because everyone else made such a big deal about it. She had never seen adults and children alike gush about someone's quirk like that.
"With your son's quirk, he could be a great hero!" One of his teachers had said during a parent-teacher meeting. She remembers having Masaru squeeze her wrist softly as a warning just so she wouldn't lash at him, physically or verbally. Just his quirk? She had wondered bitterly. That's the only reason why he'd be a great hero? Not his kindness, or willingness to help others, or even his intellect?
"Was it like that, when we were kids?" She grumbles when they go home. "Fuck's sake, we didn't even talk about grades," she huffs. "If he had kept waxing poetic words about Katsuki one more time, I'd have gotten a restraining order—so fucking creepy."
"There were a lot more passive quirks our time," Masaru says, he gestures at her and then gestures at himself for emphasis. "And a lot more quirks that weren't very useful in combat or rescue."
"If everyone's future was based on how heroic their quirk was—I'd have insisted on being a hero myself," she snorts. She puffs up her chest and puts her hands on her hips. "The slippery hero, Slip n' Slide!" She laughs.
"Oh, I don't know," Masaru says. "A beautiful woman in a tight bodysuit, fighting villains while her skin glistens with oil?" He smiles, deceptively innocent. "I would have definitely rooted for her."
She punches his arm in retaliation.
Later, they have a talk with Katsuki. How heroes were more than just their quirks, and how his quirk didn't necessarily mean he should be a hero—despite what people say. Katsuki will smile and nod, saying he already knew that.
"It'd be cool though," he muses quietly, after they've had that talk. "To be a hero, I think it'd be less lonely."
"Lonely?"
"There's so many heroes now, not just one," he murmurs. "And there're schools for it too, nobody would have to be lost and confused."
She feels like there's a deeper meaning to that, something old and bitter.
They find out that Katsuki does have his mother's temper and mouth.
He's five years old and is glaring at his teacher with so much anger and disgust that it shocks her. He's holding another boy's hand, one that she recognizes as Inko's son, Izuku (yeesh, of all things he had to get from her, it was the intense waterworks). There are three other boys in the room, looking like they've just had dodging practice with a pitching machine and failed miserably.
They're called because Katsuki had beaten them up in class. The teacher explains that her son had given the boys black eyes and bruises, and lectures them that this was not acceptable behavior. The boys' parents will be hearing about this.
She's still confused on why Izuku is here, as he neither looked injured nor seemed to have been in the fight.
Katsuki tugs at her blouse, and says quietly, "They were being mean to Deku, and he did nothing but watch."
Mitsuki doesn't know the whole story, but she remembers teachers gushing about their students' quirks. Remembers how everything else often took a backseat. How even Masaru had gotten sick of hearing the same quirk-related praises the school feeds them about their son, again and again.
Remembers how Inko had confided to her that she was worried about her son being quirkless.
If a kid having a "heroic" quirk would get so much one-sided praise, how much more if a kid had no quirk at all? It was a question that she never bothered asking, a question that never popped up in her mind.
She doesn't like the answer.
"K-kacchan, maybe y-you should stop being so mean to t-them," Izuku says one day, looking at the ground. He's trying not to look at his (only) friend. "M-maybe you s-should hang o-out with other people? I saw t-them being mean to you too," he adds quietly. "I-it's not really w-worth-"
He gets a soft bop to his head.
"When they stop being an ass to you, then I'll stop," is the blunt reply. "And I'll be friends with them if they stop being an ass to you."
Izuku looks up at that, gasping scandalously.
"Kacchan! No swearing! Your parents—!"
Kacchan gives him a look.
"… Okay, they wouldn't, but you might get into trouble again!"
Kacchan shrugs.
"Kacchan!"
Kacchan huffs, shaking his head, "Deku," he says. "If everyone had a fairy and I didn't, would you still be my friend?"
"H-huh?" What did fairies have to do with this?
"If everyone had a fairy," Kacchan repeats, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "And I didn't, would you hate me for it?"
"No?" Izuku answers, confused. "That's a stupid reason to hate someone."
"So you'd still want to be my friend even if I never get a fairy?"
"Yeah?"
"Even if there are other people with fairies?" Kacchan tilts his head. "Why? People with fairies are much cooler."
"You're not my friend because of some fairy!" Izuku protests. "You're nice and smart and cool, you don't need a stupid fairy for that!"
Kacchan smiles. "Then why should I stop being friends with you?" He asks. "Even if you're fairyless?"
Fairyless? What did he-?
… Oh.
… Oh!
"I'm beginning to wonder if you actually have a quirk," Kacchan muses, looking up at the twin water geysers that burst out in front of him in fascination. "Because I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible to have that much tears."
"It would be nice to have a fairy though," Izuku sniffles, wiping away his tears with his shirt.
"Maybe you will, just later," Kacchan says, mentally noting that he should start bringing a pack of tissues. "Or maybe you'll get something else, something just as good."
"Like what?"
"An imp or a talking hat," Kacchan shrugs. "Or a talking sword or a shiny golden hero that's usually a skeleton."
Now it's Izuku's turn to give him a look. "Kacchan, you're weird."
While Mitsuki and Masaru definitely dodged a bullet with Katsuki's mild temper (unless someone hurts Izuku), he was still without his quirks—erm, oddities (sometimes Mitsuki wonders whose bright idea was it to name quirks as quirks—and why the rest of society agreed to it).
Such as his love for exploring and hoarding.
A lot.
In extreme levels.
He had the odd habit of searching and peeking into every nook and cranny of any place he was in, going so far as to use his quirk to dig holes or create tiny child-size caves when they were around things with soil and rock. The first time he'd done that, she nearly had a heart attack.
Mitsuki had pinched his ears when she saw him surrounded by holes at the edge of the creek near his school. Masaru had just stood there, looking amused, the fucking asshole.
"Why the fuck were you even digging holes?" She asks, looking at her son's destructive masterpiece in horror and awe. "Just—why?"
"Kacchan and I were treasure hunting!" Izuku says (she mentally forgives Inko that Katsuki will probably corrupt her sweet and cute son with his stress-inducing ways—she knows Inko gets stress ulcers a lot). He drags his All Might-themed wagon and shows off said treasure. There were a few empty bottles (surprisingly not broken), a wooden slingshot, a huge amount of seeds, and a muddy glass ornament. "He said it was a good trait for a hero!"
"You won't know when you need them," Katsuki agrees, tone ridiculously solemn. "A hero is always prepared."
All in all, it was just junk—the only thing that seemed treasure-like was the heart shaped glass. If it were cleaned, it'd probably be a pretty paperweight. She looks at Izuku's earnest face and Katsuki's relaxed stance and sighs. It's pretty rare to see his son having so much fun with another kid, and Izuku deserves every little bit of happiness with the amount of shit that's been pelted at him recently.
"You're filling up those holes afterwards," she orders. "And explosions are only allowed if it's small, outside, and on natural ground."
"How about if it's on natural walls?" Katsuki asks, eyes mischievous.
"And is small like Kacchan's explosions now or last week?" Izuku asks, genuinely concerned. "'Cuz they were bigger last week, and it was bigger last-last week! It was so cool, Kacchan blew up this rock and we found this cave and-"
Yeah, fuck this. "Masaru, stop laughing and deal with your sassy child!"
She hopes he grows out of it.
(that never happens, the best she can do is tone it down—she swears if it weren't for her and Masaru, he'd probably be destroying pots, crates, and even plant life for the sake of his hoarding)
"You can keep the slingshot and container," Kacchan says, giving said items to him. "You found them, so you keep them."
"Are you sure, Kacchan?" Izuku asks. The slingshot looked cool, and he supposed his mom would like having the heart. It was pretty, now that Kacchan wiped it with his shirt.
"Yeah—oh, that's right, you don't know how to use a container, don't you?"
"Um, the heart?" He gets a nod. "I was gonna give it to kaa-chan."
Kacchan snorts. "I mean, you could, but it's also useful for being a hero, you know?" He taps at the glowing heart. "You use it and it makes you stronger."
"Really?"
"Yeah, think of it as increasing your HP."
"That's so cool," Izuku whispers, not hesitating to believe his friend's words. He learned later on that Kacchan always said weird things, but they were always true. Like the time he showed him the tiny people in the library, or the time he played a song in his recorder that made it rain the whole day. He looks down at the glass heart in awe. "How do I use it?"
Kacchan looks away and mumbles, "It's fucking gross and weird, but it works, okay?"
"You shouldn't swear."
"You want the heart or not?"
Years later, Izuku will look back at his childhood and will wonder if it was preparation for this day at Dagobah Beach. To desensitize him from seeing, experiencing, and consuming a lot of, pardon using Kacchan's language, weird shit.
As he stands in front of his idol, who was offering a strand of his hair, he thinks it probably was.
Well, at least this was easier to swallow than a glowing beating heart.
"What're you gonna do with the seeds?"
"Plant them in kaa-chan's backyard and get more seeds—maybe even some nuts." Kacchan offers a handful of the seeds, Izuku takes them, letting out an inquiring sound. "You can use them as ammo for your slingshot, they're better than rocks."
Izuku tries them out, getting pointers from Kacchan on how to shoot better. The seeds are light and small, but they're also incredibly hard. He tries out some small pebbles near the creek, just to test out different possible ammo. He finds that Kacchan is right—the seeds are better. The pebbles are too heavy and slow for him. He wonders if he can use it with any kind of seed.
"Any seed would be shit, those are the best," Kacchan says. "They're deku seeds after all."
Izuku beams.
"Katsuki, why the fuck does this plant have a face? And why is it smiling at me?"
"Oh," her son's head pops out from the door, glancing at the new sprout in her garden. "It's not the mutant flytrap, that's good."
"That neither explains it nor comforts me in the slightest."
They find out about the games when Inko buys her son a new game console for his birthday. It comes with a few games, and Izuku drags Kacchan to his home just to play this one game he really wants to try with his friend.
"They have all the heroes of other games!" Izuku gushes, turning on the console and giving his friend a controller. "And the stages are so cool!"
"You tried this first because it had the word 'Smash' in it, didn't you?" Kacchan asks dryly, Izuku pointedly ignores it.
The opening sequence is pretty cool, and he wonders why Kacchan twitches at one scene. Izuku explains the rules of the game, and then they're selecting characters. They play a few rounds, Kacchan mostly silent beyond responding to Izuku's questions. His friend selects a different character each game, while Izuku leans towards one character—switching from either the adult or toon version of him. Kacchan notices this and asks why.
"I like him, he's my favorite," Izuku explains, gesturing at the blond man with a green outfit standing on his side of the character select screen.
"He doesn't seem as versatile compared to the others," Kacchan comments quietly. "Or that strong or fast."
"He reminds me of you," Izuku says. "So I like him."
It was the first time he won against Kacchan.
He buys the games with that character out of curiosity and loves them. And being the info geek that he was, he researches fervently about it.
"The titles are like that because it's based on some ancient journals they found written by a queen of the same name," he huffs, feeling oddly put-out and defensive for the protagonist of a bunch of fairytales. They're in Kacchan's home, studying for exams. Supposedly anyways. Kacchan's mom came in to give them a tray of snacks, and he's munching on a bowl of peanuts while sharing his findings to his friend. "Which is still stupid, shouldn't it start as 'Legend by' instead of 'Legend of'?"
"It doesn't sound as catchy," Kacchan points out.
"Then they should have just said 'Legend of Link' instead of Zelda," he grumbles. "That's way catchier, and at least it's fair—Link's the hero after all."
"Mn," Kacchan looks away and starts to fervently read his book, which Izuku knows it means he's embarrassed.
"And I look nothing like a deku scrub," he adds.
"I never said you did."
Over the years his classmates have stopped bothering him. Kacchan looking them in the eye, raising his hands, and letting out a few small ominous explosions while saying nothing can be very good motivation to, as Kacchan often says, not be an asshole to him.
It doesn't get worse, but it doesn't get better either. Nobody wants to befriend the quirkless kid. The best classmates he can get are people who can tolerate him. Only Kacchan has remained his friend, and only he has remained Kacchan's friend. The blond won't give the time of day to anyone who doesn't want to be friends with him. He feels guilty for being the reason why Kacchan doesn't have friends who he can hang out with at the end of class. Why Kacchan only visits his apartment during weekends, and not anyone else's.
He feels guilty but he can't help feeling relieved too, because he'd expected to live life a little lonelier and harder the moment his doctor said he was quirkless. Being quirkless was so rare, he's never met another person in his life who was quirkless. And always, life never missed the opportunity to point out how his dream seemed impossible. His mother never answered his question, his classmates made fun of him for wanting to be a hero, and his teachers practically discouraged it by looking at him with pity.
Kacchan had just looked at him oddly and said simply, "Well, you won't be a hero if you don't start."
"Start?" Izuku had repeated, wondering if Kacchan was mocking him too. Start what? Getting a quirk? Giving up? "How?"
"Dunno, it'll happen as long as you don't stop—fighting, living, doing things, collecting items," he scratched his head. "Just… start on your adventure, don't do bad things, and everything else will happen…?" Kacchan looks unsure himself, his face looking like he was reflecting his life choices and staring at them incredulously. It's something he sees in Kacchan's parents sometimes.
It was a half-baked explanation, too vague and too much like a corny line you'd find in a fortune cookie. But it made Izuku happy, because it had nothing to do with quirks. There was no mention of working harder, or it will be difficult with your disadvantage, or you'd need to compensate—you're smart so maybe you can be in support, or even the blatant you can't be a hero without a quirk.
"I can't be a hero without an adventure," he had murmured. And it made sense. Even heroes like All Might had to have gotten their experience from somewhere, right? That's why hero schools exist. "H-how do I start?"
Kacchan blinked.
"An adventure," he had said, clenching his fists. "How do I start?"
Kacchan hummed, tapping his chin. "Wanna go treasure hunting near the woods? You'd be surprised how much shit there is in tall grass," he tilted his head. "Then we can help that old lady who runs the tea shop."
"Kacchan, don't swear!"
"I'm not as bad as before, you know."
Izuku meets All Might by nearly suffocating via random sludge monster. It's a pretty good first villain encounter in his books, and he'll take every bit of advantage in not dying. That's what Kacchan always told him.
"Luck is a thing everyone gets," he had said. "Knowing that it's luck and milking it for all its worth is the difference."
Izuku is lucky to be alive, is lucky to be alive and meet All Might (and get his autograph, oh god, this will be a family heirloom), and he sure as hell will push his luck even further.
He grabs All Might's leg as he jumps, he discovers a secret, and he gets his heart shattered. His idol, his inspiration for wanting to be a hero, tells him he can't do it. Try another occupation, something safer and possible.
He wonders if he misinterpreted this, that this was unlucky instead of lucky. It feels like it.
He doesn't have time to ponder this as he finds that the sludge villain escapes and has taken Kacchan as hostage. He wonders why Kacchan isn't doing anything besides making explosions because he knows his friend has a lot of things for every—his bag is far away and he can't move, that's why. Oh god, this is his fault, isn't it? He made All Might drop the bottle when he tackled his leg.
He runs.
Don't stop.
He pushes through the crowd, frantically looking in his bag for his slingshot. His mind quickly scans through his mental notes of his journals. Find weakness, exploit weakness, get Kacchan out. He doesn't have to defeat the villain, but nothing will happen if nothing is done.
He's out of the crowd and rushes towards the villain.
Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop.
He loads his slingshot with seeds and fires at the villain's eyes. The villain howls in pain, momentarily stopping his suffocation hold on Kacchan. He grabs some deku nuts from his pocket and aims at the ground near the villain. There's a flash and the villain is paralyzed, though only temporary.
"Kacchan!" He gasps, trying to dig out his friend from the layer of oozy gunk covering him. "D-don't worry! I'll get you out—this is so gross, ohmygod," how thick was this sludge? How does this quirk even work? He throws another nut as he notices the villain starting to wiggle.
"Least you didn't fucking eat it," Kacchan rasps, trying to pull himself out. "How many-?"
"I dunno," he throws another nut to keep the villain in place. "I lost a few when I, uh-" clung onto All Might like a koala. "-fell."
"You what? What happene-nevermind, get out of here! It's dangerous!"
He throws another nut. "Like I'd leave you here!" He shoots back, pulling out more chunks of sludge. "What kind of hero would I be if I just stopped helping people in front of me?!" Almost there, almost there, he just needs a few more seconds and Kacchan could probably free his arm and blast himself out. Ah, the villain is wiggling again, he reaches for another nut and-
Finds his pocket is empty.
"Shit," he hisses, pulling at Kacchan. The villain roars, free from the paralysis, and aims his sludge at him. He keeps pulling and digging, even when he's smothered by sludge and all he sees is darkness. Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, d-
"DETROIT SMASH!"
Kacchan drags him away once he's done giving his statement, the heroes scolding him sputter as he shoves them.
"C'mon, Deku."
"Now wait a second, we're not done-!"
"No, you're not done," Kacchan gives them a blank stare, red eyes cold and unforgiving. "But we are, go bitch somewhere else."
There's more sputtering, but Kacchan ignores it. He grabs his hand and tugs. "Let's go, Deku."
"Y-yeah."
"You know they did their best, right?"
"I know that, it's the bullshit they spewed after that pisses me off," Kacchan huffs. "They were gonna praise you, y'know? I saw it," he shakes his head. "Then you said you were quirkless and it was like you killed a bunch of puppies, fucking hell, they should make up their mind."
Izuku remembers his conversation with All Might, the pain and exhaustion in his face as he showed his scar. "Maybe they were-"
He doesn't finish his sentence, as the man himself literally slides in front of them.
"I AM HERE!" He declares loudly, grinning.
"A-All Might?!" He exclaims, backing away. "How are you here? How did you escape the reporters?" He sputters. "Why are you here?"
Kacchan just stares, Izuku immediately translates it as I should be more freaked out but I'm just mildly surprised and that worries me.
All Might laughs, strikes another pose and jovially explains that he can escape reporters easily. Why? Because he's—suddenly deflated, spewing out blood, and looks like he's about to keel over any second now.
Izuku screams, panicking as All Might coughs up more blood and also at the realization that another person knows his secret.
Kacchan stares again, looks up and takes a deep breath, looks back down and rummages through his bag, frowns, then sighs—disappointed at not finding what he wanted. He gets his box of tissues and offers it to the coughing man.
Explanations about his appearances are given to Kacchan. Hesitant in All Might's part, as he hadn't expected Izuku to be with someone. But Izuku insists that Kacchan can keep a secret, is in fact, one of the best people who can keep a secret. So the man decides to trust his word and tells Izuku the nature of his quirk, a brief history on its users, and his decision after seeing him rescue his friend without hesitation.
"You can become a hero," All Might finishes, and Izuku believes him. Despite what he had said just a while ago, about the dangers of hero work and how he couldn't say with full heart that he could become a hero even without a quirk. Despite having his idol break his hopes and dreams, he believes him. Because the blue eyes staring at him has a familiar look to them, one that his best friend had given him long ago. Eyes that told him that it was possible, that he had potential, that he can do it. Just as long as he didn't stop.
Kacchan is behind All Might, giving him a thumbs up. He's a trustworthy guy, his expression says. So take the chance, go for it, do it.
He slumps to the ground and clutches his chest, alternating between sobbing and laughing so loudly that it's too much.
This is his start, isn't it? His real start to becoming a hero, his big adventure.
AN: I will not be listing down every reference I made, just the ones that are blatantly obvious. I will list down the games I'm referring to, so if you're curious, try them out or read about them.
Specific games mentioned: Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, Super Smash Bros.
Items mentioned:
Heart containers - This is how you increase your health in the games.
Slingshot - Use it to shoot things.
Deku seeds - Ammo for slingshot, was never used for planting (at least, in the games I've played).
Deku nut - In OoT they can be used to stun and paralyze an enemy for a few seconds. The Sheikah also use it to disappear in a ninja way?
Deku scrub, sprout, baba - They're creatures in the games. Scrubs usually spit out nuts to attack (they make a cute squeak sound when you attack them in OoT).