Full disclosure: I was high off my ass when I came up with this idea. But it was so interesting to me that I'm sticking with it.
For the first few chapters, a lot of "dialogue" is gonna just be thoughts, mostly cuz Izuku doesn't really have anyone to talk to about a lot of stuff that needs expositing.
Also, I know Sharingan means 'Copy Wheel Eye', but that doesn't sound cool so I'm using a different translation I found on a wiki page.
Speech Key:
Emphasis
Thoughts
"Bakugou"
"BAKUBRO"
"Small Might"
"All Might"
Chapter 1: Izuku Midoriya - Origins
Izuku Midoriya sat quietly in front of his family computer, his legs dangling well over the floor. He watched again and again as the hero - his hero - All Might carried dozens of people out of burning rubble and wreckage, laughing despite the chaos, destruction, and blood, even his own!
Just this morning, watching this video would've brought out the biggest smile on Izuku's face, a smile so pure and full of joy that even the hardest of villains would rethink their life choices. But unfortunately, not all men are created equal.
From behind him, Izuku could hear Inko Midoriya shuffling around, busying herself with something, anything. He knew she felt bad for her son. Pitied him even. But she was his mother, so he knew when he needed comfort, she would be the first to give it to him.
"Mom?" He called out, his voice shaky with unshed tears, "No matter how bad it is, he's always smiling when he saves you."
Izuku turned slowly to his mother, the tears finally falling like rain despite the brave smile he tried emulating, "I wanna be a cool hero like that."
His mother didn't even hesitate to run to him, wrapping her arms around her child tightly and sobbing sympathetically. "Izuku!"
Here it comes. Mom'll make it all better. Like always! Who cares if I'm Quirkless, right?
"I'm sorry, Izuku!" Inko wailed, her grip tightening around his body.
Time stopped for Izuku at that moment, almost as if the fourth dimension itself wanted to keep him trapped in that moment of hell forever. No, mom. That's not what I needed you to tell me. I wanted you to say...
Oblivious to the trauma scraping away at her son at the moment, Inko just held her son even tighter with eyes shut just as tightly, equally oblivious to the flash of red beneath her son's teary gaze.
10 Years Later
Izuku looked down at his feet as he continued his long walk home, his body hollow and numb to the outside world. The situation was almost comical, really.
In one day, he got eviscerated by Kacchan in front of the whole class, had his notebook destroyed, got violated by a sludge villain, and then learned that his idol, All Might, was fighting crime on borrowed time.
Oh, and also, he told Izuku that he couldn't be a hero.
Izuku stopped on the sidewalk and gave a sad smile to no one in particular. It's funny...I know he's right that being Quirkless would make it really hard to be a hero, but having it come from him of all people hurts a lot more than I thought. I feel like screaming and crying and curling up into a ball all at the same time. Izuku clutched his chest as he felt tears begin forming.
Then he heard an ear-piercing scream.
Huh. Yea, a scream like that.
Then Izuku felt his bones shake from the sound of a powerful explosion around the corner. He could already see people fleeing the scene. He even caught sight of Kamui Woods swinging to where the explosion came from.
Peering down the road, Izuku saw a small crowd circling some sort of commotion. He could also see Pro Heroes like Death Arms and Mt. Lady with Kamui Woods trying to either calm down the crowd or deal with whatever was causing all the havoc.
Then Izuku saw the Sludge Villain at the center of it all and his skin blanched. Him? How is that possible? All Might captured him and put him in his pocket!
Then Izuku remembered the commotion from when he grabbed the Number 1 Hero.
He fell out at that moment! That means...this is my fault!
"Apparently the villain's got a middle schooler trapped right now." A random person commented from the crowd.
What?! Why aren't the heroes doing anything?
Another pedestrian said, "I thought All Might was dealing with this villain. Where'd he go?"
"All Might's here? Where is he?"
Oh no. It's my fault All Might can't help out! If I wasn't such an idiot back then, then the villain would never have gotten out and All Might would still have time left! Dammit, why am I so useless?!
Then Izuku saw the Sludge Villain's hostage.
Kacchan?
Before he knew it, Izuku had broken through Death Arm and the police's barricade and was running straight towards the villain. He heard people call out in surprise and shock.
"Get back here, you idiot!" Death Arms called out to him, but Izuku was beyond reason right now.
From the crowd, a skeletal man with blonde hair watched as the child he admonished earlier made a mad dash for the villain causing so much havoc. "What the hell?"
The villain saw the incoming 14-year-old and recalled, "It's that kid from earlier. Does he have some sort of a death wish?"
Bakugou could vaguely make out a shape through the pain, but he quickly recognized the poofy hair and lanky figure. "Deku?" he murmured weakly.
Izuku's thoughts were racing at light speed at the moment, but his gaze was locked onto one thing: those fearful eyes. It was a look Izuku knew well from personal experience, usually because of the person who currently wore it, ironically. But seeing his childhood friend-turned-bully with that look of absolute terror relit something inside of Izuku from so long ago.
I wanna save people with a smile!
Time slowed down for Izuku, as if the Sludge Villain was moving in water or something. In a split second, without even thinking about what was going on, Izuku determined the villain's weak spot and formulated a plan of attack.
He tossed his backpack with all his might at the villain's eye, managing to nail it with perfect accuracy. Then, Izuku started clawing at the slime surrounding his classmate with the speed of a possessed man.
"Deku? What're you doing?!" Bakugou growled.
Izuku looked at his former friend and flash a terrified smile, "I just couldn't do nothing!"
"Would you do me a favor and just die?" The villain roared as he made Bakugou fire several explosions to push his assailant back. Then, the villain swung at Izuku with a particularly long tendril, intent on crushing the teenager into a different type of sludge.
However, Izuku saw the villain's movement in slow-motion again. It was almost like his brain was processing all the visual information available to him even faster than Izuku's already quick brain could normally handle. What's going on?
So as the villain was preparing to use Bakugou's explosions, Izuku was in the jumping position. Then, as he was beginning to swing the tendril, Izuku was already crouched under its trajectory. Same for the next several attacks. It became increasingly clear to Izuku that despite the power and gross-factor of the villain's Quirk, he was rather predictable as a fighter.
He's getting sloppy. He keeps me away with Kacchan's Quirk, but maybe I can use that to my advantage! If this attack pattern keeps up, I'll have an opening right..."Now!" Izuku jumped over a tendril and dashed straight for Bakugou. Izuku could hear the Pro Heroes and police yelling at him again, but for once in his life, he felt good about the situation.
All Might watched the scene unfold. This kid...this Quirkless kid...Dammit! Why am I so useless right now? Then All Might saw Izuku's face and his skin blanched. Wait a minute...
"Haven't you learned your lesson? You can't get near me!" The villain lifted Bakugou's arm and prepared to fire.
"What're you doing, idiot? You have a death wish?" Bakugou grit through the pain as he watched Izuku take action. Why doesn't he just run?!
The most significant way to change the direction of an arm is the shoulder so if I grab his wrists, I can leverage them easily! Izuku ducked under the initial wave of explosions, which fired exactly where he thought they would, and grabbed Bakugou's wrists. Then, with all his strength, he pushed them up, right in time for the second wave of explosions, which fired not at Izuku but right into the eyes of the villain.
In that moment of confusion, Izuku managed to pull Bakugou out of the slime and to the wall opposite the villain. His heart was racing, and he wasn't sure about the condition of his pants, but he had the biggest smile on his face. "Don't worry Kacchan. Everything's gonna be okay now."
Exhausted and barely conscious, Bakugou could barely mutter, "Run, you damn nerd."
The villain roared, his eyes shut tight from the damage, "Enough of this!" He spun wildly, sending an absolute onslaught of tendrils in every direction at incredible speed.
Izuku paled as he tried to move but felt imminent danger at every course of action. Despite his insight, it was clear that the villain's sheer physical ability coupled with Bakugou's lack of mobility essentially removed all options. These are way faster than before! I can see them coming and I know where to go but...my body can't move fast enough! Mom, I'm sorry! Izuku shielded Bakugou's body with his own and prepared for the worst.
"Huh. I really am pathetic, huh? I really need to practice what I preach."
Izuku's eyes shot open and he turned around slowly, feeling intense relief wash over him. The towering figure of All Might stared back at him with a smile as wide as he'd ever seen, the back of his shirt dripping with presumably the slime he shielded the teens from.
"Apologies for taking so long but have no fear. Why? Because I am here!" With that, All Might delivered the mother of all uppercuts, splattering the sludge villain, extinguishing most of the fires, and creating a freaking rainstorm.
"Holy shit! He changed the weather with one punch!" A bystander cried out in awe as the crowd erupted into triumphant cheers.
Izuku's eyes welled up with relief, almost painfully so, a sudden wave of exhaustion hitting him as adrenaline left his body. Rubbing his eyes, he stuttered, "A-All Might! Thank y-you!" He saved us even though he's injured and already tired out! He's so cool!
The Symbol of Peace flashed the teens a grin, "Don't worry about it, kid. Happy to help!" Ugh, I need to get out of here before the reporters hound me. I'm already past my limit as it is. All Might thought to himself as he turned from the slime splatter to the teens he just saved, "You two alright?"
All Might watched as paramedics and Pro Heroes looked over the kids, but he paid extra attention to the green-haired one. I know what I saw. Looks like I really need to have a talk with him.
After getting thoroughly chewed out by Death Arms and Kamui Woods for getting involved, all while Slugger and the police were practically fawning over Bakugou, Izuku decided to go home, his path illuminated by the evening sunset.
Lost in his own thoughts and the sound of his trudges, he didn't notice the sound of someone running until they called, "DEKU!"
Izuku turned around quickly, taken aback by the sudden arrival, "K-Kacchan?"
Bakugou clenched his fist as he roared, "DON'T THINK I NEEDED YOUR HELP OR ANYTHING TODAY! I HAD THAT SLIME PRICK RIGHT WHERE I WANTED HIM! FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, YOU'RE STILL A USELESS DEKU! SO, DON'T GO THINKING THIS CHANGES ANYTHING!"
Bakugou then turned and stormed off, leaving one very bewildered Midoriya behind. What was that about? Izuku gave a sad smile. I guess Kacchan's always gonna be Kacchan.
Izuku turned around, rubbing his eyes, only to fall back with a shriek as a massive figure came barreling out from the nearby alley, "I am here, Young Midoriya!"
"A-all Might? I thought you got hounded by the press! What're you doing here?" Izuku managed to squeak, his heart still racing from the shock.
The hero let out a booming laugh, "HAHA! Escaping those journalists was nothing at all! Why? Because-GAH!" All Might spat out an impossible amount of blood as he shrunk to his true form, wrapped in a cloak of steam.
"Oh my god!" Izuku shrieked again, his already irritated eyes and naturally overactive tear ducts threatening to unleash a flood of biblical proportions.
All Might wiped his mouth and cleared his throat, "Sorry about that. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about your actions back there."
Izuku looked down at his feet as tears began forming, "I know. I-I'm sorry I caused so much trouble. I just...I don't know what happened. It was like-"
"Your body moved without thinking, right?"
Izuku's head shot up to his idol and nodded, "Y-yea!"
All Might nodded in acknowledgement and spoke, "You know, all the greatest heroes showed signs as children. That they were destined to be pillars in society. And all of them share the same thing in common. They all acted without thinking about themselves. That's self-sacrifice. You get what I'm saying?"
Izuku nodded again, his heart beating faster with every word. Is he saying...what is he saying?
All Might took a deep breath and continued, "Kid, I told you that you couldn't be a hero. Yet, not an hour later, you're the only one to charge right into a villain to save someone else. And not only that, you put up a hell of a fight. And even beyond that, you inspired me to go beyond."
Tears were threating to fall, but for once, they weren't from sadness or despair. Izuku remembered the words of his mother, his teachers, his classmates. Everyone who told him that he couldn't be what he wanted to be. What he needed to be.
"Kid, you can be a hero."
There was no stopping these waterworks. His heart was positively bursting. His idol and the world's greatest hero had just told him - Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya - that he could become a hero! Finally! Someone believes in me! I feel like nothing else matters right now. I just want to remember this moment forever and ever. He looked up at his hero and smiled as widely as he could.
All Might looked at the kid with a smile before noticing the other thing he wanted to talk about, "Oh, speaking of which: kid, I thought you told me you were Quirkless."
"...huh?"
All Might looked at the kneeling boy curiously, "You told me you were Quirkless, but you clearly have a Quirk. What gives?"
"...huh?!" Izuku just stared at All Might, his eyes wide.
"...Don't tell me you didn't know about it? Like here, look." All Might quickly took his phone out and snapped a picture before showing the screen to Izuku.
"...HUH?!" In the picture, Izuku's bright green eyes were gone, replaced by a glowing red. What's more, his pupils appeared to be surrounded by a black ring with two comma-like symbols spaced evenly apart. Meanwhile, his real eyes reappeared, the red glow vanishing.
All Might was a loss for words, "Umm...congratulations? I'm at a loss for words here. It's pretty late to manifest your Quirk. You're what, 11? 12?"
Izuku squeaked, "I'm almost 15."
The Symbol of Peace spat up a waterfall of blood, "SO SCRAWNY!"
He barely registered All Might's words as he continued gaping in awe at the picture. I have a Quirk? It makes sense. I noticed my perception and analysis was a lot faster than normal, but I thought that was just adrenaline. Although I also had a degree of insight too, which I suppose is just a higher application of analysis but for me to have used it so well in the middle of my first villain fight...I should've realized that something was up, although how could I when I was so focused on not dying and saving Kacchan. Speaking of Kacchan, I wonder if he'll stop calling me Deku now that I have a Quirk. But speaking of that, how come it just manifested? AndIthoughtthedoctortoldmethatIhadtheextrajointsoIshouldn'thaveaQuirkfactor,althoughIthinkthat'sjustcorrelation,whichisn'tcausationsomaybeI'mjustanoutlierfromthenormwhichcould-
"STOP!" All Might briefly transformed and lightly chopped Izuku's head, "You're giving me an aneurysm!"
"Gah!" Izuku exclaimed before he bowed continuously, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know I was saying that out loud! Please forgive me!"
All Might sighed as he rubbed his temple. I picked a weird fanboy. This just comes with the territory. "Look kid, there's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. The fact that you weren't even aware of your Quirk when you rushed in to save your friend just makes me more sure about this."
"Hm?" Izuku was even more confused now. What could be bigger than telling me that I have a Quirk?
"I believe you are worthy to inherit my Quirk."
"...WHAT?!" Izuku quickly began a new muttering storm as he fervently tried to decode All Might's verbage.
Sighing, the hero continued, "My Quirk is called One For All."
Izuku's eyes widened and he felt the air grow thicker as if the wind itself knew the significance of what All Might was saying. "One...For All?"
All Might nodded, "Yes. It's a Quirk passed down from person to person. Master to student. It's the crystallization of all of our combined strength, stockpiled throughout the generations and focused into one person. Anyways, you know about my injury, yeah?"
Izuku nodded quietly, recalling the ghastly sight on that rooftop.
"Well since I can't use this power to its fullest, I need to pass it on to the next generation. And who better to be my successor than the not-so-Quirkless boy who rushed into the heat of battle before anyone else?"
"W-wait. You're offering me...your power? I'd be as strong as you?!"
All Might chuckled at the boy's awestruck expression, "Yes, you would be as strong as I am. Stronger, actually. Eventually. Plus, having a Quirk might create some interesting effects too."
Izuku tried to open his mouth, but all that came out was a squeak. His mind was racing faster than he thought possible. Then he heard a small ringing sound and momentary itch in his eyes.
"Oh, hey! It's back." All Might commented.
"Huh?" Izuku gasped, only to feel that itch again and hear another, lower pitch ringing tone.
"And it's gone. Weird. Anyways, I don't expect an answer right away, but-"
"I accept." Izuku's eyes shone not with the power of his Quirk, but with determination.
All Might looked stunned for a moment, but grinned soon after, "Good answer."
"Umm, All Might, where are we going?" Izuku asked his companion as they walked down the Musutafu streets. It was the next day and Izuku received a text during lunch to meet All Might after school. After fanboying over how his idol was personally messaging him, Izuku agreed and promptly got on a train the second the bell rang.
All Might chuckled, in his true form so as not to attract attention, "Well I know you must be excited to start training to receive my power, but I think you should learn about your own Quirk first. Also, I haven't finished your training plan yet." All Might muttered that last part quietly.
"Oh. But where are we going for that? My doctor's office is the other way."
All Might shook his head, "If he couldn't recognize that you had a Quirk then, I doubt he'd be much help. No, we're going to see the world's greatest physician and an expert on Quirk physiology. Besides, it's always good to tour your prospective school."
"My prospective...no." Izuku began trembling with both nervousness and excitement.
This continued even after All Might took him past the UA gates and to the nurse's office.
"Ah, All Might. I got your message. So, this is your successor?" Little young, isn't he?
"Yes, thank you for meeting with us." He waited for a moment before nudging his protégé and hissing, "Introduce yourself."
"I'M IZUKU MIDORIYA, MS. YOUTHFUL HEROINE: RECOVERY GIRL, MA'AM!" Dammit! So uncool.
Sighing, All Might tried to salvage this first impression, "Young Midoriya here is actually taking the entrance exam next year."
Oh, so he's just wimpy. Got it. Recovery Girl smiled at the boy, "Nice to meet you sonny. Would like some candy?" She held out a small handful of gummy bears, which the hero-to-be took gratefully. "Anyways, let's try to figure out your dilemma."
She led him to a chair and rapidly took his vitals, measurements, and a blood sample.
"While that's getting scanned, why don't you try to show me your quirk?"
Izuku nodded and tried to turn it on, only to realize something crucial, "Umm...how do I activate a quirk?"
All Might rapidly announced in his muscular form, "Clench your buttocks and yell-"
"Shut up." Recovery Girl hissed, prompting the now-dejected Number 1 Hero to nod and sulk in the corner, "Anyways sonny, just try to reproduce whatever feeling triggered it in the first place. Do you remember what it felt like to use your quirk?"
Izuku thought about it and smiled after a moment, "Yea, it felt...itchy when I turned it on. And I could hear a ringing sound. And then it was like WOOSH and everything was slower and I could tell what was gonna happen and it like BAM!"
Recovery Girl gave a forced smile and made notes in her binder. He's certainly as weird as All Might, I'll give him that. "Okay, now try to recall your emotional state when that happened."
"Got it. My emotional state." Izuku remembered how it felt to see Bakugou struggling and in need of a hero or when All Might told Izuku that he could be a hero. And then:
Izuku's eyes shot open, now red and outlined with two tomoe.
Recovery Girl smiled, "Well done. Now let me make some notes and I'll pull up the Quirk Registry and see if I can find any similar cases such as yours." She spent some time on the computer before gesturing Izuku and All Might to the screen.
"Now, there are only about 10,000 cases of people with late Quirk manifestation since we began recording this information. That's a pretty small number of people considering there are over a dozen billion people with Quirks in this registry. However, there are over a hundred cases where people with late Quirk manifestation also had red eyes like yours."
All Might rubbed his chin, "Hmm. That's pretty rare."
Recovery Girl shook her head, "That means 1 out every 100 late bloomer has or had a Quirk that changed eye color to red. That's incredibly specific. If I had to guess, I'd say your Quirk is caused by a recurring mutation. It's almost like convergent evolution."
She pulled up another page and showed it to her guests, "Now, this is Midoriya's maternal family tree from the National Registry. Their Quirk history goes back four generations. But nobody has a Quirk remotely similar to Midoriya."
Recovery Girl closed out the web page and pulled forth another family tree, "His father, on the other hand, reportedly had glowing eyes when he breathed fire. So that's at least a hint to a hereditary history."
Izuku's eyes widened, "Really? Does that mean I can breathe fire?"
Recovery Girl shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure to be honest. It's not mentioned that he had increased perception like you do, but it's certainly possible."
At that moment, the machine where Recovery Girl placed the blood sample started beeping, "Well, that'd be the analysis. Let's see...Hmm."
"What? What is it?" All Might asked.
Izuku gripped his school uniform. Please be good news. Please be good news.
Recovery Girl smiled, "Well, you definitely have a Quirk factor. That much is certain."
Izuku felt a lightness in his chest. I mean, I knew I had to cuz of the picture but just hearing it said out loud...
"As for why your doctor couldn't diagnose, I'd say it's because the mutagenic factor affects your eyes and optical nerves exclusively, not any other part of your body. So trying to use a marker, like the toe joint, wouldn't do much good."
Recovery Girl then rubbed her chin, "Hmm. It appears that your Quirk factor affects a series of marker genes."
Izuku hesitated before asking, "Umm, Miss Recovery Girl? What does that mean?"
She chuckled, "Sorry. Those are genes that every human has. Some other species actually have this one too. But this would explain why there are multiple Quirks with similar characteristics popping up under mysterious circumstances. From all the information I have, which really isn't much, I'd say your quirk is the result of a rare, but recurring mutation. It's not unheard of, but I'll see if I can find anyone on that list from earlier that's still alive for comparison's sake."
All Might thought before asking, "How do you think One For All would interact with his Quirk?"
Izuku blanched before realizing. Of course, she'd know about One For All. She knew I was his successor, didn't she? She probably treated All Might for his injury so she'd know about that, too.
Recovery Girl shrugged, "It's hard to say. I'd say to just use it as often as you can, in a safe and legal setting, of course. Learn its capabilities. Test it out. Push yourself. That's the only way Quirks grow: if you break them down, they'll build themselves up."
"Speaking of growing," All Might grew into his muscular form, "Let's begin our training tomorrow. 6 A.M. at Dagobah Beach. That work for you?"
Izuku grinned and nodded furiously, "Yes, sir!"
"HAHA! Now that's what I like to hear! See you tomorrow, Young Midoriya!" With that, All Might dashed out of the nurse's office at breakneck speed.
Izuku stood there dumbfounded for a moment before murmuring, "H-he was my ride."
It was a cold April morning as Izuku pulled a refrigerator with every fiber of his being.
As one is prone to do at 6 in the morning on an abandoned beach.
"It sure is comfy on this fridge!" All Might taunted while perched on the kitchen appliance like an oversized bird.
Izuku gave one last heave before collapsing on his back, panting heavily, "W-why do I need to pull this refrigerator?"
"To put it simply, you're an insufficient vessel for One For All."
"W-what?! Y-you said I was worthy!" Izuku began the waterworks as All Might tried desperately to calm him down.
"Right now! Only for now! Your spirit is great but if you tried to use my Quirk as you are, physically, your limbs would explode!" That made Izuku start screaming as he imagined his arms bursting.
That's why we're training! After you complete my 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan', you'll be a proper vessel." All Might slyly snapped a picture on his phone as he said that.
Izuku nodded in understanding, "So I'll be as strong as you then?"
All Might sweatdropped, "Um...in a way, yes."
"...what does that mean?"
"You'll...have my power, but..."
Izuku was starting to get worried, "A-all Might? Is there something I should know?"
All Might was now sweating profusely, "W-well...You might have some "kickback" when you use One For All for the first time."
"K-kickback?!" Izuku was now imagining his arms ricocheting off his body as he tried to punch something. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction!
All Might tried to comfort his student, "Don't worry about it! For now, let's just work on getting you into shape and fixing this place up!"
Izuku raised an eyebrow, "Fixing this place? What's wrong with it?"
"I did some research. Apparently, this place used to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. But now it's little more than a junkyard." All Might gestured to the miles of trash littering the coast.
Izuku nodded in understanding, "Yea, I heard the currents bring trash from the ocean onto the shore. Then people started dumping stuff here since it was sorta dirty anyways."
All Might nodded, "Now, even the locals won't come here. Heroes today are all about fame and glory and riches. But being a hero used to mean helping out the community. And what better way to help out the community than by volunteering service?"
Izuku cheered, thoroughly pumped up, and prepared to start hauling trash again, only to remember something and freeze.
"Why the hesitation, Young Midoriya? Don't you want to be a real hero?"
"Y-yea, of course, but I had a question. See I told my mom about my Quirk and she told me I should get it registered, but..."
All Might smiled, "You don't know how to, do you?"
Izuku looked down sheepishly and nodded.
All Might clapped him on the shoulder, "Not to worry, Young Midoriya! Everything with be 'All Might' with me here!"
Izuku chuckled politely at that, but inwardly, he was questioning ever idolizing this man for that pun.
"But truth be told, you might want to hold off on registering. Your Quirk, as it is, is fairly different from what One For All can do. Going from Quirkless gives you the chance to basically put anything on the form that you want, but once you're registered as having heightened perception for a Quirk, it'll be difficult to include super strength, speed, and endurance in that."
Izuku thought about it and nodded, "Okay, I understand."
All Might asked, "But speaking of your Quirk, have you found anything interesting about it?"
A bright look overcame Izuku's face, "Oh yea! I wrote down a bunch of info about it in my notebook. Wanna read it?"
All Might nodded and was subsequently handed a badly burnt notebook titled "Hero Analysis for the Future: Volume 13." 13? What a fanboy.
He flipped to the last written entry and nearly fainted at the sheer number of notes. Okay Toshinori, just focus on the important stuff.
Subject: Izuku Midoriya (I HAVE A QUIRK!)
Quirk: To Be Determined
Known Abilities: Increased perception, predictive ability, insight, and analytical skill. Allows for rapid reaction and strategy against physical threats. Also enables replication of physical moves by observing target. Telescopic vision (range: unknown). X-ray vision?
Activation Method: Triggered by emotional stress. Activates by recollection of that stress (takes a while to activate because of this).
Notes: Can only maintain for ~5 minutes continuously before exhaustion. Recharge rate unknown. Physical mimicry is limited by subject's own ability and requires heavy focus. When active, iris glows slightly. Tomoe spin around pupil when using special skill.
"Young Midoriya, this is very impressive! I think this will greatly assist Recovery Girl in determining more about your Quirk's origin!" He did this all in just one night?! "What do you mean by "replication of physical moves" though?"
Izuku suddenly blushed and looked down, "W-well..."
Last Night
"Welcome back to 'Japan's Got Talent'!" Izuku watched the TV excitedly as the announcer got the audience pumped up for the next performance.
"...mistakes were made."
All Might sweatdropped. I feel like I should have doubts now. "Regardless of that...escapade, the ability to mimic movements has a lot of potential. Like learning a martial art just by observing it. Luckily, our training regimen includes some calisthenics and aerobics to hopefully increase your ability to perform the moves you copy, but I'm glad to see this enthusiasm! Just the kind of thing I want to see from my successor!"
Izuku smiled, "Thanks All Might. I really appreciate all you're doing for me."
This kid's gonna make me cry. "Nonsense! I'm happy to nurture the next generation of heroes, especially when it involves my successor!" Wait a minute...I'm a genius. "Actually, I just thought of something else I can do for you!"
Izuku waved his hands in front of his face, "N-no seriously, All Might! You've done enough for me!"
"Sharingan!"
"...huh?"
All Might explained "Your Quirk doesn't have a name yet so I'm giving it one! Copy-Wheel Eye: Sharingan!"
"Sharingan, hmm." Izuku mulled it over and grinned, "Sharingan! It sounds great!"
All Might smiled at his student. Then he looked at his watch and nearly vomited, "SO MUCH WASTED TIME! Come on, Young Midoriya! We've got a lot to make up before school!"
With that began Izuku Midoriya's 10 months of hell.
And with this, it ends because timeskips are a thing.
10 months later
All Might locked his truck as he adjusted his scarf. While walking towards the beach, he heard a scream. A villain? Here? At this hour?
Taking off a sprint, All Might prepared to transform, only to stop dead in his tracks.
The entire beach practically sparkled with a complete and utter lack of trash and litter. And atop a large mound of garbage on the edge of the sand stood Izuku Midoriya, screaming - no, roaring - his head off to the heavens above.
All Might was at a loss for words, "He cleaned up outside the area I told him to, and just in time, too! Oh my...oh my...GOODNESS!"
The fully transformed All Might dashed towards his protégé in time to catch him as he fell.
Izuku looked at his mentor and weakly stated, "All Might...I did it."
All Might set Izuku down and shook his head with a massive grin, "No, Young Midoriya. You did even more that. You thoroughly exceeded my expectations! And now I can say with the utmost certainty that you're a proper vessel! Just look at yourself when we started!" All Might pulled out his phone and showed the picture he took 10 months ago featuring a crying, scrawny boy lying in the sand.
Now, that same boy was...well he still wasn't a man, but he definitely wasn't scrawny.
Though he still cried a lot.
But he wasn't lying down in the sand!
Baby steps.
"I know I worked for this, but...I still feel like I cheated somehow." Izuku commented while tiredly juxtaposing his muscular figure to his previous one.
All Might lightly chopped his head, "Nonsense! There's a monumental difference between being born with a silver spoon and working your butt off for it! Now, the time has come for you to inherit my power!" All Might plucked a hair from his head.
Izuku smiled and nodded, "I'm ready." Finally, after all that work...it's finally paying off!
All Might held out his hair and exclaimed the three worst words in the best possible way, "Now, eat this!"
Well that was chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed it. If you have questions, let me know in a PM or review.
Sorry if it moved too fast for your liking, but I really wanted to avoid splitting the origin story into several chapters like a lot of stories do. I'll try to slow down the pace in the future but I really wanted to knock as much of the origin story as I could in one chapter.
After all, everyone here's read/seen MHA so I just want to focus on the stuff that's different instead of the same, at least for the most part.
Also, if you can/want to beta read and you're quick about it, PLEASE let me know. I want my writing to always get better.
Now for some general housekeeping:
I'm not going to have jutsu or plot threads from Naruto in this story. I might adapt some techniques from Naruto into a format that fits in MHA. But Izuku's not gonna be doing hand seals or molding chakra. It's just the Sharingan and its associated abilities cuz I feel like the insight and analytical aspect works so well with Izuku's personality. Also it's fun. Maybe I'll throw in some more dojutsu though. We'll see.
(If you do want to see Izuku do jutsu for realsies, there's one where he's a jinchuuriki on this website. It's Izu/Mina and pretty well written. I recommend it.)
Izuku is NOT gonna be OP. He'll be more capable for sure, but I don't want him to just constantly fuck shit up. OP stories tend to fizzle out anyways cuz there's no challenge. The way I see it, adding the Sharingan gives Izuku and edge in analytical abilities and the like, but also makes it into a crutch for him. In the same way that Aizawa can kick all the ass with his quirk but is then just a regular guy without it. Everything balances out.
Also, Izuku is NOT gonna become some cocky fuck. I feel like a lot of stories turn Izuku into some standard wise-cracking Shonen protagonist, but his whole character is so great on the meta level BECAUSE he's not a typical Shonen protagonist. Like I almost feel like authors that turn Izuku into an overconfident, womanizing, sarcastic character are just disguising their OCs as Izuku rather than building around the character. Just my two cents (those stories are still fun to read tho).
Pairings: No harem. Don't get me wrong, they're fun to read and all, but I can't write them. I feel really strongly about organic character interactions, even on a Fanfiction, and I just can't figure out a way to make a harem work in that regard, short of making everyone Mormon.
HOWEVER, I am undecided about pairings. I'm sorta partial to Uraraka or Momo, but I've also found Izu/Mina stories to be fun to read. Even Todo/Deku to an extent (although I also like Todo/Momo a lot). Just no Baku/Deku. Kiri/Baku is a maybe tho. POINT IS: Tell me what pairing(s) you want to see and I might do it.
Anyways, thanks for reading this TRAVESTY of an Author's Note (or just skipping it) and thanks for reading!
