Boku no Hero Academia: Tales of Heroism
Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction story of Boku no Hero Academia. I own nothing of the series other than the idea I have been thinking about for weeks.
Tale 3.1: Symbiotic Hero Izuku
"Men are not created equal. That is the tragic truth of the world, especially in a world where superhuman abilities known as quirks exist."
A boy with green hair, green eyes and freckles on his youthful face named Midoriya Izuku was walking back to his home with a dejected expression on his face. He had just been bullied by his former childhood friend, a boy with blond hair and sharp red eyes named Bakugou Katsuki, again after Katsuki found out that he had applied to enter the hero course in U.A. High School, the most prestigious hero school in all of Japan. Considering that Izuku was one of the few unlucky people to lack a quirk in a world where almost everyone had quirks, especially heroes and villains, it was unfortunately expected that he would be mocked for it. In fact, Katsuki "suggested" a way for Izuku to get a quirk of his own by "taking a swan dive off a building and hope for a quirk in his next life". To make matters worse, Izuku, for all his determination of becoming a hero in spite of lacking a quirk, was honestly lacking in his ability to stand up for himself thus making him an easier target to bully and mock. The again, being ridiculed for being effectively "crippled" or "worthless" by his peers from the age of four would give anyone confidence and social skill issues.
As Izuku tried to get over Katsuki's latest act of cruelty, which he had already done countless times, he failed to notice a puddle of black tar-like goo with grey highlights and walked past it while walking under a bridge. He also failed to notice the puddle silently growing larger and forming tendrils which were obviously poised to grapple him. Inevitably, Izuku was seized by the mass of black good and was quickly engulfed by it before he could even cry for help…
"In a world where quirks exists, there are two types of people. Heroes who use their quirks to uphold justice and protect the innocent and villains who abuse their quirks for selfish gain or to hurt others instead."
--A few minutes later…--
All Might, the current number one hero and the symbol of peace, was chasing after a villain who had tried to escape by using the sewage system. Forced to follow the villain who had a sludge-like form which allowed him to "hijack" another person's body in addition to becoming effectively immune to most physical attacks, All Might was determined to find and stop the villain. The fact that the "hijacking" process would ultimately kill the host made the hero who had blond hair, blue eyes and an impressive muscular figure all the more determined to find the villain and stop him.
In a different universe, All Might would have located the villain who was trying to hide in the body of a quirkless boy named Midoriya Izuku and save him in time. However, that did not happen in this universe. Instead, when the hero came out of the sewage system to apprehend the villain, he was surprised to find a ball of tar-like slime which seemed to be pulsating like a giant heart. Quickly realising that the ball of tar-like slime was not the villain he was looking for, All Might hesitated. On one hand, there was no denying that the ball of black tar-like slime was distinctively different from the sludge-like villain he was chasing after. On the other hand, he had no idea what the ball of black slime was doing and it did not seem to respond his sudden appearance.
Facing a seemingly unresponsive unknown, All Might had a dilemma as he was unwilling to risk harming any innocents by taking the wrong action. The real question was, which action would be the correct one?
--Meanwhile…--
Izuku knew that his life was full of suffering and disappointment. Being born quirkless and getting mocked because of it by everyone else, including a former best friend who had recently suggested committing suicide as a way of getting a quirk in the next life, would be unpleasant experience for anyone. Even so, Izuku knew that his life could have been a lot worse. After all, he still had his beloved mother, Midoriya Inko, who did her best to raise him by herself and his father, Midoriya Hisashi, did his best to support him and his mother even if it meant having to work overseas most of the time. Still, nothing prepared him getting engulfed by a blob of black tar-like slime or being suddenly filled with memories that he knew were not his own while being mentally trapped in a seemingly bottomless abyss. As stated before, both his parents loved him and they most certainly did not resemble the spiteful parents who apparently abandoned their seemingly quirkless child.
Although Izuku knew that the memories were not his own, he was still suffering both mentally and emotionally due to being forced to experience them. From what little he could understand from the memories, the tar-like slime used to be a gloomy-looking girl who was abandoned by her own blood-related parents at the age of five due to being deemed as quirkless. The fact that her parents were clearly abusive towards her, in the sense that they were essentially rich control freaks who wanted her to be "perfect" and could not stand her "pathetic mediocrity" and gloomy appearance, only made the resulting abandonment due to lacking a quirk all the more tragically predictable. Wanting to get rid of the "quirkless disappointment", her parents handed her over to the first group of people who were interested in having her, not caring whether the group was trustworthy or not. Izuku, who was already familiar with the pain of being judged for being quirkless and lacking talent, felt uncharacteristically furious towards her parents for what they had down to her and swore to expose their wrongdoing at the first chance he can get.
Needless to say, the rather shady group was not trustworthy and was in fact a front for a villainous organisation that ran illegal experiments on unlucky victims to create monsters that possessed multiple quirks known as [Noumu]. To Izuku's horror, the girl was selected to be one of the said victims and had multiple quirks forcefully implanted into her young body. However, unlike all the other noumu which were basically brain-dead humanoid monsters which could only obey commands like biological machines, the girl still had her mind and will but at the expense of having her body slowly disintegrate into a pile of slime with each new quirk added into her body. Izuku did not know if the different reaction was due to the girl lacking a quirk or if the girl actually had a quirk which protected her mind and will at the expense of having her body deteriorate in its place. Regardless, the process was horrifically painful as Izuku found out the hard way by experiencing her memories of it. The fact that the girl was somehow able to stay sane in spite of the horrible treatment she received from both her own parents and the villains was nothing short of a miracle. He also quickly realised that the noumu were being designed to terrorise the common people and to kill heroes, especially All Might who was both the current symbol of peace and his favourite hero.
After what seemed to be an eternity of agony and lonely despair, the girl was able to somehow free herself due to a sudden mutation of her multiple quirks which made her able to move about quickly and solidify her slimy body into hardened blades and spikes. Fleeing for her life, the girl did not dare to stop fleeing until she basically collapsed from exhaustion while hiding inside a sewer. Alone, starving and frightened, the girl was desperate for help and sought for the first person she saw who happened to be a certain green-haired boy with green eyes and freckles on his face known as Midoriya Izuku.
Suddenly, Izuku was blinded by a bright flash of light and then found himself standing in an empty white void. Looking about in confusion, Izuku noticed a small puddle of quivering black slime with grey highlights. Realizing who the slime really was, Izuku, cautiously approached her and asked, "Um… are you… Yuushuna Yuuyou?"
Upon hearing a name she had not heard for seemingly forever, the slime timidly peeked at Izuku with large watery grey eyes and asked, "A-are you… Midoriya Izuku?" She looked almost nothing like the pale girl she once was who had long black hair and grey eyes.
Nodding in affirmative, Izuku knelt down and tried to reach out for the slime who was originally named Yuushuna Yuuyou. Seeing the slime back away in fear, and far too concerned for her to care about the irony that a being with multiple potentially dangerous quirks was scared of a quirkless loser such as himself, Izuku implored, "Please, don't be scared. I'm… here."
Looking into his imploring eyes, and having seen his memories, the slime timidly approached Izuku until she was close enough for him to gently pick her up and hug her tenderly. It did not take long for the both of them to start crying…
--Back to the real world…--
While All Might was wondering what to do about the situation, the ball of tar-like slime suddenly started to melt away. Coming out of the ball of slime was a boy with green bushy hair who was apparently consoling someone who was sobbing and apologising to him. Upon closer inspection, All Might realised that the boy was consoling a football-sized ball of slime which had apparently engulfed him earlier. Seeing that the two had not noticed his presence and were clearly not villains, All Might decided to quietly back away from them and then assume his true form, a sickly skeletal man with sunken blue eyes. Unknown to the general public, All Might had suffered a grievous injury due to fighting against a terrible villain who took out one of his lungs and his stomach. As a result, his health declined and he was unable to maintain his muscular powered-up form for more than three hours a day. All Might, whose real name was Yagi Toshinori, had a feeling that he would need some time to get any answers from the two sobbing children.
After the green-haired boy and the slime finally calmed down, Toshinori approached them and calmly asked, "Excuse me, may I know what is going on?"
Startled, both Izuku and the slime quickly assumed a defensive stance, seemingly acting as one as the girl created tendrils of slime tipped with sharp spikes and blades while Izuku looked ready to run or fight at a moment's notice. Realizing that the two children did not trust him, Toshinori raised his hands to show that he was not a threat as he explained, "Wait, I'm not here to hurt either of you. I just saw you two coming out of that ball of slime crying your eyes out."
Sensing that the man was not lying, the slime which was riding on Izuku's left shoulder looked at Izuku with an apparently uncertain expression on her face. Izuku on the other hand was not fully convinced as he spoke, "A-as much as I would like to explain what had happened, I can't." His voice became firmer as he explained, "What happened between Yuu-chan and I is something I can only tell to a professional hero who is at least directly connected to All Might."
Surprised by the boy's statement, Toshinori was both concerned and relieved as he knew how to convince the boy to tell him whatever trouble he and the slime named "Yuu-chan" had experienced which warranted his ironically direct attention. Taking out his name card, Toshinori said, "Well, it just so happens that I am a retired hero who works as All Might's secretary." Showing the card to Izuku, the man introduced himself, "Yagi Toshinori, at your service."
Yuu-chan cautiously took the card from Toshinori's hand with a slimy tendril and passed it to Izuku whose expression changed into shock as he immediately recognised All Might's written signature on it. Realising that the man was indeed All Might's secretary, Izuku bowed as he spoke, "I-i-it's a pleasure to meet you, Yagi-san. S-sorry for doubting you!"
Well aware how most people would react to meeting All Might's "secretary", Toshinori waved his hand to reassure the boy and chuckled as he spoke, "That's quite alright. I don't show myself to the public much and I tend to prefer it that way." Toshinori's statement was technically correct as he hid his true form from the public as much as possible. His expression quickly became serious as he asked, "Now, about what you wanted say to someone who is directly connected to All Might…"
--One explanation later…--
Toshinori was close to showing his hero-form due to the sheer fury that he felt after hearing what had happened to the girl named Yuushuna Yuuyou and to the boy named Midoriya Izuku. Just thinking about how Yuuyou had suffered such mistreatment from villains and even her own abusive parents made him want to punch their faces. There was also the matter of Izuku's own situation as someone who was abused due to being quirkless and wanting to be a hero in spite of it. While Toshinori was willing to admit that quirkless people should not become heroes, at least not without having a whole lot of courage or fighting ability since they would be facing arguably superior quirked opponents, he was disgusted by the implied degree of bullying Izuku had experienced ever since the age of four years old. The fact that both children were quirkless, or at least suspected to be quirkless in the case of Yuuyou, only made Toshinori angrier as it made him remember his own past as a young man who wanted to become a symbol of peace. Even worse, the idea of forcefully inserting quirks into helpless victims to create mindless monsters was something a certain evil villain who was supposed to be dead would gladly do.
Noticing that Izuku and Yuuyou were both intimidated by his anger, Toshinori took a deep breath to calm himself and said, "Sorry, I'm just very upset by the fact that you two suffered so much and we heroes did nothing to help either of you."
Still not used to being apologised to others, barring a few exceptions such as his own mother, Izuku was flustered as he replied, "T-that's alright, Yagi-san, you don't have to apologise for that!" His expression then changed into one of worry as he asked, "More importantly, what's going to happen to Yuu-chan, Yagi-san?"
Noticing Izuku and Yuuyou's worried expressions, Toshinori easily guessed what they were worried about as he replied, "Well, I certainly need to contact All Might and the other heroes and I'm quite certain that the police will be involved. There is also the matter of you and your mother's safety to consider, Midoriya-shounen. With that said, I think I can convince the heroes to let Yuuyou-shoujo to stay with you at least for the time being."
Hearing Toshinori's reply made both Izuku and Yuuyou feel relieved. Izuku turned his attention to Yuuyou and smiled as he spoke, "Thank goodness we don't have to be separated from each other, Yuu-chan." The slime-girl nodded in agreement with him.
Smiling at the strangely adorable sight, Toshinori suddenly felt like he had forgotten something important when everyone suddenly heard an explosion. Rushing out from under the bridge, Toshinori, Izuku and Yuuyou saw smoke rising into the sky. Suddenly remembering whom he was supposed to capture, Toshinori swore, "SHIT! I completely forgot!" He was so caught up with rushing to the source of the smoke, and hopefully finding the Sludge Villain, that he forgot who was standing beside him as he transformed into All Might and said, "I need to get back to stopping that villain before…!"
Realizing what he had just done, Toshinori turned to face a comically shocked pair named Izuku and Yuuyou and said the first thing that came to mind, "Oh, crap…"
--Meanwhile…--
Bakugou Katsuki was not having a good time. Considering that he was basically drowning in disgusting living sludge which was able to make use of his quirk [Explosion], to fight off the incoming heroes, it was rather understandable why he was not enjoying the experience at all.
As for the surrounding heroes, they were not able to get near to the Sludge Villain who had taken over Katsuki's body and was using his host's quirk to keep them away and cause a lot of collateral damage. None of them had a quirk which was suitable for the situation and they were all at a loss about what to do.
Just as all hope seemed lost, All Might suddenly appeared with a boy clinging onto his back. Katsuki's shock only grew when he realised that the boy riding on All Might's back was actually Midoriya Izuku whom Katsuki often mocked as a worthless "Deku" due to lacking a quirk or even the courage to stand up for himself. Even more shocking, Izuku was coated in some sort of black tar-like slime which grew black tendrils that wrapped around All Might's impressively muscular frame. On a minor side note, Izuku looked just as shocked as Katsuki was although it was hard to tell if it was because Izuku was shocked to see Katsuki in trouble or simply did not believe the fact that he was literally holding onto his long-time favourite hero, All Might.
Seeing the incoming hero, the Sludge Villain was confident that he could take out All Might who was charging towards him when some sort of black sticky webbing suddenly got onto one of his large yellow eyes. Blinded by the unexpected attack which came from the one of the tendrils of the black slime on Izuku's body, the villain was open to All Might's attack who punched with enough force to literally blow his body apart and free Katsuki in the process.
After the villain was defeated, the villain's still-living fragments were collected by the heroes to be sent to the police station. As for All Might himself, he quickly left the scene after briefly explaining that he was in the middle of sending some very important witnesses of a terrible crime to the nearest police station. All Might did not stay long enough to explain what he meant by "some very important witnesses" but Katsuki was certain that Izuku did not suddenly gain a quirk but instead met a quirked individual who, much like the Sludge Villain, could inhabit another person's body albeit in a more mutualistic manner. As aggressive and cruel as Katsuki was, he was no fool either and he knew that Izuku had gotten himself involved into something big to warrant All Might's direct intervention. The real question was, what exactly Izuku had gotten himself into.
As Katsuki half-listened to the praises of some heroes who were praising him for having such a powerful quirk, he could not help but wonder, "Why did All Might's smile falter after he found out about my name?"
--A few days later…--
Katsuki and his classmates were shocked to hear that Izuku would stop attending middle school and would instead be sent straight to U.A High School. Granted, Izuku and his mother were being sent to U.A High School mainly for protection due to Izuku being a key witness to the terrible deeds of a villain organisation. In fact, a group of heroes led by All Might himself had recently attacked one of the villain organisation's hidden labs which was attempting to create villains who possess multiple quirks. Considering that villains were not above using quirk-enhancing drugs to combat heroes, the idea of villains trying to obtain multiple quirks was certainly plausible if considerably more difficult to achieve.
Despite the reasoning, Katsuki was infuriated that Izuku had somehow gotten into U.A. High School before him. Even worse, the person who delivered the news, some scruffy underground hero named Eraser Head, stated that Izuku was already deemed as eligible for taking part in the entrance exams to get into the hero course of the high school. Consumed by anger, Katsuki suddenly got up and made small explosions in his hands as he yelled, "What the actual Fuck?! Why the fuck is that quirkless loser even allowed to go to U.A.?!"
Unimpressed by Katsuki's angry outburst, a hero with messy black hair and half-closed black eyes named Eraser Head said, "Didn't you pay attention to what I have just said?"
"I know that Deku is being sent there with his mom for witness protection, but why there? Why can't he be sent to some other place for witness protection and WHY is he even eligible for taking part in the entrance exams for the hero course when he does not have a fucking quirk!?"
Hearing Katsuki's response, Eraser Head sighed irritably and said, "To answer your first question, U.A. High School is one of the most secure places in Japan and, as you yourself have already said, Izuku and his mother will be staying there mainly for witness protection. As for why he is deemed as eligible for taking part in the entrance exam, Izuku has shown a surprising amount of potential to become a hero thanks to both his keen observational skills and compassionate nature which allowed him to bond with an escaped victim of the villain organisation who is also now a key witness." Eraser Head's black eyes started to glow an eerie-red colour as he coldly added, "And the last time I checked, one does NOT need a quirk to be smart or kind to others."
Everyone in the classroom, even Katsuki, flinched at Eraser Head's cold statement which left no room for argument. Katsuki also knew that U.A. High School did not have any official rules stating that quirkless individuals were not allowed to take part in the entrance exams for the hero course. Forced to accept the bitter truth, Katsuki sat down with a furious expression on his face.
After Katsuki sat down, Eraser Head's glare became even colder as he asked, "Now, allow me to ask you all this, what right do YOU lot have to be considered as potential heroes?"
Everyone in the classroom as caught off guard as nearly all of the students, especially Katsuki, wanted to be heroes after they graduate high school. Before any of them could answer, Eraser Head explained, "From I what have heard about Izuku, he had been bullied for most of his life after the age of four years old due to lacking a quirk and that a certain former childhood friend of his was the ringleader of the said bullying."
Hearing Eraser Head's statement made Katsuki's blood run cold as he realised that the hero had somehow found out about the bullying. Recalling All Might's faltered smile on the day he rescued him from the Sludge Villain, Katsuki simply stated, "Deku told All Might, didn't he?"
Seeing that Katsuki had realised the fact, Eraser Head nodded in confirmation and said, "To be more precise, Izuku told All Might about what had happened to the escaped witness of the organised crime and then told his own part of the story to explain how he was able to gain her trust even though she had no reason to trust anyone." Eraser Head glared at Katsuki as he added, "Which of course included a glossed-over story of his own suffering as a victim of discrimination due to being quirkless."
Upon realising that All Might himself was now aware of the bullying Izuku had experienced, everyone in the classroom, including the homeroom teacher and especially Katsuki, felt cold sweat running down their necks and spines. As uncaring as they were about the quirkless boy, they all knew that no hero would want to be associated with a known school bully and it was increasingly apparent that at least some of the heroes did not share their cruel opinion about quirkless individuals in general.
While Katsuki was partly furious that Izuku would actually "go so low" as to actually tell All Might about the bullying he had suffered just to gain his sympathy and possibly enter U.A. High School, he was mostly afraid that his own chances to enter the said high school may be crushed in the process. Even worse, Katsuki suddenly recalled his last words of "advise" to Izuku and his fear grew tenfold as he knew that letting the heroes know about it would completely ruin any chance of him ever becoming a hero.
Seeing the growing fear and panic in the eyes of the students and their homeroom teacher, Eraser Head coldly said, "To be perfectly honest, I am tempted personally lead a thorough investigation of the matter and make sure that anyone who bullied Midoriya Izuku or did nothing to help him in spite of knowing the bullying are either barred from the hero course of every school in Japan or have their teaching careers terminated permanently." Before everyone could panic or protest, Eraser Head added, "However, we have a far bigger issue to deal with since that villain organisation is still at large. So consider yourselves extremely lucky that my colleagues and I will be leaving this whole mess to the police and lawyers to handle by themselves." Left unsaid was that Izuku had actually pleaded to the heroes who found out about the bullying to give his former classmates and homeroom teacher a chance to turn over a new leaf before doing anything that would affect their futures. For a boy who was so determined to being Yuuyou's abusive parents to justice, he was honestly far too forgiving towards the people who had wronged him for his own good.
Seeing that everyone was quiet, most likely due to being too afraid to speak up, Eraser Head said, "Back the question about you lot having the right to become heroes, let me rephrase it for you. Forget about quirks, about talent or even becoming a hero. Instead, ask yourselves this, 'Who has the right to be called a good person? The powerful bully who torments those weaker than himself, the uncaring bystanders who do nothing to help the tormented or the weak victim who still has the compassion to help others?'"
When no one dared to answer the question, Eraser Head spoke as he started to leave the classroom, "I hope for your sakes that you all give that question some serious thought before you even try to pass the entrance exams of any hero course. We need heroes who care about helping others and are brave enough to do it regardless of the odds stacked against them, not bullies or bystanders who happen to be labelled as 'heroes'."
When Eraser Head left the classroom, no one dared to move or make a sound until homeroom was over…
"However, this begs the question of who has the right or authority to decide that a person is a hero to be admired or a villain to be reviled. While personal opinions can be biased even in the best of times, society as a whole is anything but free of bias or prejudice."
--About ten months later…--
Katsuki glared at the entrance into U.A. High School as he angrily recalled what had happened over the past ten months. Soon after Eraser Head announced that Izuku would be staying at the high school for his own protection, a police investigation took place at his old middle school. Apparently, Izuku was not the only tormented victim at the school and the middle school was almost completely shut down as a result. Nearly all the teachers were replaced and a significant number of students were either expelled or had their misdeeds recorded on their student records. Katsuki was one of the students who had his misdeeds recorded on his student record and was dangerously close to getting expelled.
One of the few reasons why Katsuki was even allowed to attend the entrance exam into the hero course of U.A. High School was because of his exceptional abilities which only grew in response to his desperate efforts to be accepted. The other reason would be that the principal of the school, a quirked animal named Nedzu, was willing to give him a chance to prove that he could change for the better as not all heroes were necessarily heroic from the start. Left unsaid was that Nedzu's comment about not all heroes being necessarily heroic from the start made a certain "grape-haired" pervert sneeze while taking a peek under a woman's short skirt which inevitably led to him getting a kick in a face by her for his perverted act.
Thinking about his desperate efforts to be accepted into U.A. High School made Katsuki remember the bitter memories of how he was ostracised by everyone else in school ever since the police investigation took place. Being the ringleader of Izuku's bullying, it was all too easy to realise why he was singled out as target to everyone else's frustrations. Granted, no one dared to actually attack him directly due to both the presence of police officers during the first month of investigation and Katsuki's willingness to fight back but not all forms of bullying required direct confrontation.
Just thinking about the bitter memories made Katsuki's foul mood even worse as he swore to himself that he would find Izuku and somehow make him pay for the humiliation he had suffered over most of the previous year. While Katsuki knew that attacking Izuku directly without exceptionally good justification would get him expelled, no one said that he could not "beat the fucking shit out of him" during a combat lesson or competition. Katsuki failed to notice a certain grey-eyed boy with short slimy black tendrils for hair who was subtly spying on him while lying down on a tree branch as though he was taking a nap.
Looking away from the explosively aggressive blond boy, the grey-eyed boy who was actually Izuku in disguise sighed softly as he thought, "I should have known that it would take more than a police investigation to make him stop thinking that he is better than everyone else."
"I think he needs a punch in the face from Yagi-sensei to make him lose that huge stick in his butt," said a certain childish voice in his head named Yuuyou. Izuku still found it quite amazing how much the young slime-girl had changed over the past few months. Granted, finally having people whom she could trust and love allowed her personality and will to naturally flourish. There was also the fact that Yuuyou was symbiotically bonded to Izuku in both the physical sense and the mental sense thus allowing them to share their thoughts and emotions with each other.
Smiling ruefully, Izuku mentally replied, "I suppose that it's true, Yuu-chan."
"To be perfectly honest, I'm still not really sure what a real hero really is. Most of the time, I just do the very best I can, if not more, and hope that it would be enough to protect and save the innocent."
Getting down from the tree, Izuku wore a bright smile as he mentally asked Yuuyou, "So, ready to be the youngest student in U.A.'s history, Yuu-Chan?"
"You bet I'm ready, Izu-niichan!"
"This is a story of how I, along with my classmates and "little sister", became some of the greatest heroes of our time. This is a story of heroism and being the best we can be to save and inspire others."
--End Chapter--
Author's Notes:
This ends my take on an alternate version of Midoriya Izuku as a quirkless individual who is bonded to a symbiote-like OC character. I will be working on the other versions when I am free and motivated enough to get them done. On a few side notes:
1. I recently had an idea of a version of Izuku who has a quirk but was functionally quirkless for most of his early life until he underwent a metamorphosis which caused his body (and possibly personality) to change drastically. As for when the metamorphosis happened, I planned it to be after Izuku's first encounter with All Might in an alternate universe where All Might did not drop the Sludge Villain by accident thus giving Izuku no reason to risk his life to save Katsuki. I also planned to have Izuku wander into Dagobah Municipal Beach Park to undergo his metamorphosis under a pile of junk. The interesting thing about this version of Izuku is that it opens up a variety of "options" for Izuku's future development through his metamorphosis, especially his personality. For example, I can leave his personality mostly unchanged (but with the very possible burden of managing his new body/quirk), make him a cynically bitter person who has no love for the current system of society (thereby making it possible for him to become a vigilante or even a villain) or even make him a mentally-regressed beast due to losing most of his memories (which I imagine are mostly bad or tainted by bad memories after he found out that he had no quirk). Heck, even a gender change is possible as certain animals do change gender as they age.
2. I may start posting continuations of the previous stories soon so expect at least a few sequel-chapters.
Until next time, go beyond, plus ultra!
