Attraction of Small Objects

by SanguinePhoenix

At four years old Midoriya Izuku awakened his mother's quirk, Attraction of Small Objects. He wants to use it to become a hero, but nobody around him believes that it's possible. But, with training and ingenuity, Izuku will find a way to use his quirk to become a hero that saves everyone. This is his journey to becoming the world's greatest hero!

"Mom, look!" an excited 4 year old Izuku Midoriya yelled from the living room.

Inko Midoriya ran from the kitchen to see her son holding one of his many All Might action figures jumping up and down excitedly.

"What is it Izuku honey?" the pretty green-haired woman asked, not understanding what her son was so ecstatic about.

In response, Izuku reached out his other hand, causing another action figure to float to him from across the room. "I got my quirk Mom!" he exclaimed "And it's just like yours!"

Inko laughed and smiled at her son's excitement and felt a bit of pride that it had been her quirk he'd inherited before his next sentence brought her mood crashing down.

"I can be a hero now, right Mom?" the green-haired boy asked, eyes shining. "I'll save everyone with a smile, just like All Might!" he said giving an impressive imitation of the number one hero's trademark grin.

"I-I don't know Izuku," Inko said despondently "O-Our quirk, it-it's not very strong. It's the most I can do to get the TV remote from the table, and being a hero is so dangerous…" The mother winced at the look on her son's face, he'd gone from the happiest she'd ever seen him to a look that hurt her to see.

"B-But I can train it, right? A-and make it stronger? If I train hard I know I can become a hero!" Izuku almost shouted at the end, pleading with his mom to say the words that he needed to hear.

"M-Maybe sweetie," Inko said, wrapping her child in her arms. "There's no harm in trying after all, and maybe you can take our quirk and become strong, l-like All Might."

But even at 4, Izuku knew the truth. He could hear it in his mother's voice, she didn't think he could be a hero.

OOO

"You can't be a hero with that worthless quirk!" Kacchan yelled at him as he lay on the ground, shirt smoking slightly from the explosion. "It would have been one thing if you could breathe fire like your old man, but Attraction of Small Objects can't do anything!"

"Th-That's not true Kacchan, if I train enough and can start attracting bigger objects, then maybe I can-" Izuku was interrupted by another explosion that didn't hurt him, but blew him back to the floor.

"Shut up!" Bakugo yelled. "If you try to be a hero with that worthless quirk, you're just gonna get yourself and other people killed, got it? So you better stop that hero talk right now. A real hero always wins, like All Might, and you're lying on the ground like a loser! You know, your name can also be read as Deku, which makes sense because you're so worthless. You better stay out of my way from now on you damn extra!" Bakugo yelled over his shoulder as he left his former friend crying in the dirt.

'Pathetic' he thought 'there's no way he could be a hero.'

Izuku walked home listlessly, ignoring his mother's greeting as he went to his room. It had been over a year since he had awakened Attraction of Small Objects and he had only been able to increase his maximum weight to 2.5 kilograms. He wanted more than anything to be a hero, but nobody believed in him. His own mother and best friend thought he should just give up.

He sighed as he put on his favorite video, the one that had inspired him to become a hero. As he watched All Might rescue all those people he felt that same inspiration he had always had, to save everyone with a smile, but it was tainted by the despair he felt.

'Is it really possible for me to become a hero' the child thought despondently.

He was so caught up in his worries that he failed to notice as the video ended and another one came on autoplay. It was a new All Might interview, one he hadn't seen before.

"Yes, that's right, children often do inherit quirks from their parents, or develop similar power sets. But the most important thing to remember is that a quirk is what you make of it, regardless of your history. You decide how you use it. That's what I mean when I say "I am here." Only you can decide to become a hero, no one else!" His blonde idol exclaimed before rushing off to turn the villain he'd just captured into the police.

Tears streamed down from Izuku's eyes. 'Thank you, All Might' he thought 'you really do save everyone, huh?'

OOO

All Might's interview had stroked a fire in Izuku. He never spoke to anyone about becoming a hero anymore, which made his mother happy and Bakugo less angry, but secretly he trained harder than he ever had. He followed a strict bodyweight fitness plan and studied what martial arts he could from the internet, all the while training his quirk. In the 2 years since All Might had saved his dream he had only raised his maximum weight to 3 kgs and his maximum distance to 10 m, but had come up with many more ways to make use of it.

He had learned he could control the speed of the attraction, eventually, he wanted to be able to attract things at the speed of a bullet or so slowly that they appeared to freeze in place, but right now that was far beyond him. He'd worked on attracting more than one object at a time, right now he struggled to move two at all but one day he hoped he could attract a bunch with ease. He had found that he could attract objects not only to his hands, but to any part of his body, and could switch the part of his body that the object was being attracted to at will. Cutting off a big enough chunk of his hair had shown him that he could also attract things to parts of his body that had been removed. He had two and a half notebooks full of ideas for how he could use his quirk, and he kept thinking of more all the time.

"Mom, a couple of friends at school have started studying martial arts," Izuku said to his mother one night over dinner. "I'll be a little behind, but I'd really like to join them!"

It was a lie, he had no friends at school, he was mostly left alone, but nobody wanted to associate with the boy that star student and future hero Bakugo Katsuki glared at and called Deku.

Inko Midoriya looked at him suspiciously, she had started to put on some weight for the year after he had awakened his quirk but had lost it after it seemed he'd given up. 'Could it be? Did he ever give up on being a hero at all?'

The prospective hero saw his mother's look and moved to reassure her. "It's not for anything like you're thinking," he said rubbing his head sheepishly. "It's just something they've been doing and I feel a little left out, you know?" Which caused his mother's eyes to soften.

He felt bad about lying to his mom, but he knew that if he was going to be a hero with his worthless quirk he would need to work 10 times harder than anyone else. 'I'm sorry, mom. But one day, I'll make you proud.'

OOO

A thirteen year old Midoriya Izuku sat bored in his class. The school day was almost over along with the end of his time at Aldera Junior High. He'd trained hard all these years, and gotten stronger. His sensei had trained the bad habits out of him, and there had been a lot of bad habits, and he felt that he was as trained physically as any other emitter quirk user could be that would be taking the test with him.

'U.A. High' he thought to himself 'I've trained so hard, but is it really enough? Can I really get in and become a hero?'

The thought of All Might's video reassured him from his doubts and he smiled, though he'd seemingly manifested talk about the nation's top hero program as his teacher had begun talking about high school plans.

"Hey teach," Bakugo started smugly, "don't lump me in with this bunch of losers, I'm the real deal but these guys will be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some busted D-Lister." he finished with a grin as the rest of the class loudly complained.

"Huh, you've got impressive test results, maybe you will get into UA High" their teacher mused as the class started muttering about acceptance rates.

"I aced all the mock tests, I'm the only one at this school who stands a chance at getting in! I'll surpass even All Might and become the number one hero, famous worldwide, and it all starts with UA High!" The Explosion quirk user yelled victoriously.

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, don't you want to go to UA too?" A silence fell across the room at their teacher's casual question before the class erupted into laughter.

'Tch,' the green-haired teen thought to himself 'None of it will matter once I get in. I will be a hero.'

His musings were interrupted as he flipped backward out of his desk to avoid an explosion that left broken wood where he'd just been sitting. The class looked at him, stunned by his acrobatics, but it had only made Bakugo angrier.

"Listen up Deku," he yelled with rage in his eyes "you're even worse than the rest of these rejects, I thought you'd learned your place when we were kids but I guess I'll have to show you again!" He finished, palms sparking with heat as Izuku shifted his stance.

"Now, now," their teacher said calmly, "fighting and quirk use are strictly prohibited at Aldera, and I'm sure they won't help your chances at getting into UA."

The mention of UA seemed to make Bakugo see reason and he sat back in his seat with a grunt, but not before shooting Izuku a look that said 'we're not done here.'

OOO

Izuku sighed as class ended, putting away his materials before taking out his fifth notebook on his quirk, seeing the shattered wood from the explosion had given him an idea about attracting objects as a single wave rather than individually and he wanted to write it down but he was interrupted by a hand that snatched it away.

"What do you want," the green-haired teen asked. "Bakugo?"

"What the hell is this?" Bakugo asked, his smirk shifting into an angry frown as he examined the notebook. "Attraction of Small Objects Analysis for the Future Volume 5? How the hell did you fill four notebooks on your worthless quirk Deku?"

Izuku sighed and summoned the notebook back with his full force, making his former friend glare at him with sparking palms. "It may have seemed like I'd given up on being a hero, but I've been training this whole time. As hard as I possibly could, every day. I'm going to get into UA and I will be a hero who saves everyone with a smile, just like All Might." He finished with a grin before jumping back to avoid the explosion that would have burned his face.

"SHUT UP DEKU!" Katsuki yelled "You're never going to be a hero with that worthless quirk, and I'm going to be the only one from this loser school to get into UA, got it? So you better withdraw your application right now, or else!"

Izuku just walked away from him towards the door. "Someone is probably already coming to see what the noise was, you really don't want a fight on your record if you want to go to UA. Besides you're acting more like a villain than a hero right now."

Katsuki was burning with rage. His palms were sparking uncontrollably and he looked like he wanted to kill his former friend.

"DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME DEKU YOU LOSER!" the blond teen roared "A HERO ALWAYS WINS AND THE VILLAIN ALWAYS LOSES. WHEN YOU FAIL TO GET INTO UA WE'LL SEE WHO'S THE VILLAIN AND WHO'S THE HERO!"

Izuku didn't bother to respond as he made his way outside. 'That could have gone better' he thought with a sigh. 'Only I can choose to be a hero, no one else.'

He was so lost in his thoughts on his walk home that he didn't notice the sewage grate pop open beside him.

"A medium-size invisibility cloak, perfect." Izuku turned to see a slime monster rushing towards him and flipped backward into the alleyway beside him.

"Nice moves, some kind of enhancement quirk?" the sludge gurgled at him. "In any case, I'll be sure to put your body to good use before he gets here."

Izuku dodged backward but the slime villain was surprisingly quick, he attracted a couple of bottles nearby that flew into the sludge with enough force to displace it but the villain wasn't even phased.

"Oooh a telekinesis quirk" the monster laughed as it rushed forwards "you really will be a great vessel"

Izuku tried to dodge again but he'd hit a dead end. As his back pressed against the wall his life seemed to flash before his eyes. 'All my training… was it worthless? Is this? Is this… the end?'

He was shocked out of his thoughts by a huge gust of wind that slammed him bodily against the wall as the sludge villain was scattered in pieces. The last thing he saw before his head injury put him to sleep was a tall figure quickly scooping up sludge into a bottle.

OOO

Izuku awoke with a groan as he sat up.

"Good, you're awake!" a familiar voice boomed "Sorry about that, I was worried he would grab you if I took any longer."

It couldn't be. "A-All Might?" Izuku stuttered incredulously at the sight of his hero.

"Indeed," the number one said with a grin. "There's no need to worry now, because I am here!"

"Wow!" the green-haired teen exclaimed, reaching for his notebook. "Could you sign-You already did!"

The Symbol of Peace laughed before preparing to jump. "Yes, but I really must be going. I have to turn this one into custody." he said, holding up the bottle that contained the sludge monster.

"Wait!" Izuku yelled, rushing towards his idol. "There's something I need to ask you!"

"I'm sorry, but I really am in a hurry." All Might said before leaping away, only to notice the boy clinging on to his leg.

"Look I love my fans but this is ridiculous!" All Might said as they flew through the air. "Let go!"

"IF I LET GO I'LL DIE" Izuku yelled over the roaring wind.

"Oh yeah." All Might said with a sweatdrop before landing them on the roof of a nearby building.

"Look," All Might said as he moved towards the building's edge "I really do have to go."

"CAN I BE A HERO?!" Izuku yelled before the number one could leave, causing him to pause. "It's always been my dream to become a hero and save everyone with a smile, just like you. But my quirk was weak, it's called Attraction of Small Objects. Nobody believed in me, not even my mom, but I saw your interview where you said that a quirk is what you make of it. I've trained my whole life to be a hero, and I've thought of a lot of applications for my quirk but my weight limit is still only 8 kgs and I can only control 4 objects at once. So, did you mean what you said? Can I be a hero?" Izuku asked the last question quietly, almost afraid to know the answer.

All Might looked at him stunned but before he could give an answer a plume of smoke erupted around him and he shrunk into an emaciated gangly man, almost causing Izuku to faint for the second time that day.

"Wh-who are you?" Izuku stuttered "Where's All Might?!"

Toshinori Yagi sighed before he answered. "I am All Might, kid."

OOO

"So you've been like this for the last five years?" Izuku asked in disbelief. "I'm like your biggest fan, I can't believe I didn't notice."

"We worked very hard to make sure nobody did." Yagi said "But this is what happened to me, the number one hero. I can see you've worked hard, and I do think that it's possible for you to become a hero."

Izuku felt his heart fill with joy before he heard the next word that came out of his idol's mouth.

"However, being a hero is incredibly dangerous, especially if you don't have a powerful quirk. It is still possible to save people without becoming a hero, you could be a policeman, a firefighter, or even a doctor." The number one said before sighing at the look on the kid's face.

"I'm just trying to let you know that you have options, Young Midoriya. You don't have to do things the same way I did to help people." All Might said, causing Izuku to nod before he turned to leave quickly, causing the blonde man to sigh.

'Maybe I was too hard on him,' he thought to himself 'but it's better for him to know now, and be sure that this is what he wants. Anyways I still have to turn in-' He stopped in panic, realizing that the bottle containing the villain was gone.

'When?' he thought 'Damn, it must have been when he grabbed my leg'

His thoughts were interrupted by smoke rising in the distance.

'This is bad.'

OOO

Izuku walked home morosely. 'Even All Might doesn't really think I can be a hero. I know he wanted to be nice about it but I could tell. He thought Attraction of Small Objects was worthless too.'

Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts by an explosion, noticing a group of people watching some kind of fire.

'What's going- No!' he thought, seeing the slime villain free with the heroes unable to contain him. 'How? It must have been when I- This is all my fault!'

Then he saw something that had him running instantly. Bakugo Katsuki was caught by the villain and he was losing control quickly.

'My- my legs' the green-haired teen thought as he rushed towards the monster 'they're moving on their own.'

As he approached the villain he realized that he didn't have a plan. 'Gotta think, gotta think. There!' he thought stretching his hand out wide and attracting two bricks that had come loose in the explosions towards him. 'Now!' he thought as he released them from his control and sent them hurtling towards the villain's eyes, causing him to rear back in pain.

He grabbed on to Bakugo's shirt collar and pulled with all the strength his body and quirk could muster, making little progress but getting the blonde teen's head out of the slime.

"What the hell-" Bakugo said, coughing "Do you think you're doing Deku?"

"I don't know," Izuku replied breathlessly "My body just moved on its own."

Just as the sludge villain was reaching towards Izuku to deal with the pest that had ruined his day he froze hearing a familiar voice.

"Honestly it's shameful," All Might said, having saved the two teens from the villain in the blink of an eye. "There I go lecturing you about what it means to be a hero and I can't live up to my own words. Thank you, Young Midoriya, for moving me to act!"

Izuku looked on stunned as All Might pushed past his limits.

"As for you," the symbol of peace said to the shaking sludge villain "Detrooooit SMASH!"

With a single punch, the villain was scattered again in a huge vortex that caused the very weather to change. Meanwhile, Izuku was being lectured on how irresponsible his actions were as Bakugo was getting praised for his strength.

'I guess nothing changes, huh?' Izuku thought with a bitter chuckle.

When he finally got away and started making his way home Izuku fell into an even greater depression thinking about what had happened.

'I was useless again!' the teen thought to himself 'Save everybody? I couldn't even save one person, or myself for that matter.'

Just as he was on the verge of giving up on his dreams forever he heard a voice.

"I AM HERE!" Izuku turned to see All Might in all his glory before he let out a cough of blood and shrunk down.

"All Might? Are you here to grill me too? I already got it from Death Arms and Kamui Woods." Izuku said quietly. He didn't think he could take a lecture from his idol at this point.

"No, Young Midoriya" Yagi said with a bony grin "In fact, I'm here to apologize."

Izuku froze, stunned as the hero continued.

"I tried to dissuade you from pursuing heroics, but in fact, between the two of us you were the one who displayed the heroic spirit today, Young Midoriya." All Might said, holding up a hand to stop Izuku's frantic denials.

"All great heroes have a story that starts with the same sentence," the blonde man said to the shell-shocked teen. "Do you know what it is?"

At Izuku's silent shake of his head, he responded. "They all say, 'my body moved on its own.' That's what happened to you today, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes" Izuku stuttered "but I couldn't do anything, I was totally useless against him!"

All Might laughed at this. "No, in fact, if it wasn't for you inspiring me to move I don't know what would have happened. You displayed a perfect example of the most important quality for a hero- the heroic spirit! I was wrong for trying to dissuade you, Young Midoriya." All Might said to the teen who couldn't believe his ears.

All Might puffed back up to his muscle form and gave the green-haired youth a thumbs up. "Young Midoriya," he exclaimed, "you too can be a hero!"

Izuku felt like he was dreaming. He felt a tear leave his right eye as he looked at his idol, the number one hero, validating his dream, but he was shocked once again.

"In fact," All Might said with his trademark grin, "I've chosen you to be my successor! So, will you inherit my power?"

OOO

"Unbelievable," Izuku said "A quirk that can be passed on. I know there are a lot of quirks out there but this is crazy"

"Well believe it!" All Might said to the stunned teen "One for All is a sacred torch that has been passed from generation to generation gaining strength and I have chosen you to pass it on to. So, Young Midoriya, will you be my successor?"

"Y-Yes!" Izuku said, still half thinking he was in a dream. "I swear to you, I'll become the greatest hero ever, and make you proud!"

"An answer with no hesitation," the number one hero said with a grin "Just as I expected. Meet me at Dagobah Beach tomorrow at 6 A.M. and we'll begin your training."

Izuku exchanged contact information with the hero half in a daze before making his way home.

'This is it!' he thought to himself 'The start… of my journey to becoming the world's greatest hero!'