Quantity of Quirks

by Primordial Vortex

A bin for ideas and one shots that don't quite fit into one of my full stories but I still REALLY want to write. No overt slash, lots of multipairings.

8. Chapter 8

Heyoooo!

Hope you all enjoy this one. The original concept cropped up on my discord a good number of months ago, and I finally got around to making a ficlet of it. Hope you all enjoy!

And as always, hop on the discord and say hi! (Discord . gg / 3ZwnRbh) It's the best way to talk to me, since I usually have it at least open all day. You also get previews for all my batshit crazy ideas before they get refined into something readable.

-]|[-

"Your Quirk is basic telekinesis, is it not, Midoriya-san?" Dr. Tsubasa asked Inko, with her son Izuku sitting in stunned horror next to her.

"Ah..." Inko let out a little breath, "Well, I call it Attraction of Small Things." She replied, making a few pulling motions with her hand and bringing Izuku's All Might toy back into her hand in three little bursts of motion. He had dropped it because the doctor had quite rudely suggested Izuku give up on his dreams of Heroism.

"...Yes, that is basic telekinesis." He said lackadaisically, "Generally children inherit either of their parent's Quirks. He's yet to exhibit either the Fire Breath or Telekinesis you say he should, and he is very late in life now." He let out a creak, his spine audibly popping as he shifted, using a pointer to tap on an x-ray, "I suppose telling him to give up was a bit lazy and disingenuous of me." He used the pointer to tap a specific part of Izuku's foot, "As you can see here, Izuku does not have a second toe joint, meaning like the rest of the population, he currently most likely has a Quirk. It is very rare indeed for someone to lack the joint and also lack a Quirk. However, that is where the good news ends. First, there IS a possibility that he simply has no Quirk. As I said, it would be a rarity, but not an impossibility. His age does him no favors, as I'm sure you're aware."

Izuku looked both perked up and crushed at the same time. "So..." Inko struggled to get the words out.

Tsubasa shrugged, "There are three others; First, he may have an invisible Quirk. Something that barely affects his life, such as the ability to digest cellulose (which obviously most of the population lacks.) That is overwhelmingly the most likely option in this scenario. In other words, he has a Quirk, but it won't help him in anything, much less being a Hero."

Inko's teeth ground a little in her mouth, "And the other possibilities?"

Tsubasa stared for a moment, "There's hardly a point in discussing them." He said finally, "No need to get his hopes up only for time to crush them. The possibilities are low enough to nearly be considered statistical anomalies."

"Crush his hopes? Like you're doing now?" She finally snapped, an ugly look on her face. Izuku's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at her. It was so rare to see his mom angry.

Tsubasa sighed, "Band-Aids should be ripped off. Very well. The next possibility is that his Quirk is so powerful that his body can't handle it, and has instead locked it away. About a one percent chance." He said blandly, "You see why I didn't want to mention it? The chances are so low they're hardly worth speaking about." He shrugged his shoulders, "And the final possibility is that his Quirk is every bit the Heroic Quirk, but has such ludicrously specific activation conditions that he likely won't ever discover it. Hardly something to put stock in."

"Thank you for your time, doctor." Inko nearly snarled out, standing, and grabbing Izuku's hand, "Let's go Izuku."

…

Later that night, Inko wandered into the darkened room, where Izuku was tearfully watching all might save people once again. "He saves people… with a smile..." Her heart broke at hearing his tearful voice. He turned, tears leaking from his eyes. She rushed to her son and hugged him, "C-can I be a cool Hero like him, Mom?"

Inko nearly cried, "You can do anything you set your mind to, baby." She replied after a couple seconds. There was a chance. The doctor had said so himself, even if it had been like pulling teeth. It wasn't impossible. She would not be the one to crush his dreams. Never!

…

"So what, are you Quirkless or not, Deku?" Katsuki asked him.

Izuku wilted a little, "I wish you wouldn't call me that, Kacchan."

"Stop being a Deku and I might stop calling you one." Katsuki shot back with a smirk, "Well? How did it go."

"The doctor was a jerk." Little Izuku mumbled, "He said I might have a Quirk, but also that there was a small chance I don't. He said if I did have a Quirk, it might be too strong for me right now, so it hasn't shown up yet. He also said it might be an in-invi"

"Invisible?" Katsuki always did have a better vocabulary than most of them in the class.

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded, "And he also said I might have a really cool one, but one that is hard to figure out how to use."

"Hmph, stupid Deku." Katsuki groaned, "You can't make things easy, can you? A yes or no would have been less annoying."

"How do you think I feel?" Izuku mumbled, a little annoyed, "At least mom says I can still be a Hero."

Katsuki snorted again, "You better start training and trying to figure your stupid Quirk out then. Can't have my sidekick being a Deku. DON'T start crying!" He pointed imperiously when he saw Izuku start to tear up at his encouragement.

"Thanks, Kacchan." Izuku said, smiling wetly.

-]|[-

Years passed, and no Quirk ever showed up. Almost everyone had started making fun of him and being jerks, though never when Kacchan was around. Izuku had started taking martial arts and training with Katsuki; specifically Muay Thai for the first couple years. Katsuki had suggested he get a weapon as well, since he'd seen some underground Heroes with them and with the elephant in the room that was Izuku's Quirk, that would most likely be the outcome for him. Izuku had bought two bokken (Because two swords were cool, right?) and had started learning how to use them.

He never quite could beat Kacchan in any of their spars, because his best friend was just awesome at fighting with insane instincts, and his Quirk gave him an edge Izuku had never been able to overcome. The others in his class were another matter. They'd gotten increasingly nasty and had started bullying him. The first time Kacchan had saved him. The second time, he got them all off him and told Izuku to fight for himself. He could hardly be a Hero if these chumps could give him a hard time.

It hadn't taken long for both of them to realize that he had way better prospects as a Hero than any of them. For all that they had Quirks and he didn't, they were the ones guaranteed to be D-Listers at best. They didn't have Izuku's drive to improve or his tenacity; beat in by his sensei, his best friend, and his circumstances and desire to overcome his limits.

Things were looking up for him. He had one good friend, and he'd already proven to himself that he could make it with hard work. He and Katsuki were top of the class in every respect, and his Quirklessness had stopped bothering him by the time he was eight. It looked like the doctor had been right and he'd simply been unlucky. He would really enjoy rubbing his success despite his limitation in, years from then.

And then he turned nine, and everything changed.

Izuku was - as Kacchan loved to tease him about - a nerd. He studied Heroes exhaustively. He meticulously analyzed strengths and weaknesses, and passed the time wondering how he could beat Villains with this Quirk or that Quirk. He also loved older fiction from the earlier centuries. Video games, books, sci-fi, anime, he loved it all. And it was when he happened upon One Piece that he TRULY fell in love with a series. Watching Monkey D Luffy and his crew battle adversity, watching their triumphs and failures, just watching their lives had brought him to highs and lows he had never imagined fiction could bring him to.

And then it happened, "Zoro is so COOL! RYŪMA IS AWESOME!" He squealed as he read the chapter where Zoro cut down Ryūma and took Shusui for his own, "Man, that's so cool! I wish I had a Shusui of my-" The book started to ripple. His words died in his throat as the pages of his manga started to ripple as if they were water someone had dropped a stone into. His breath caught in his throat and his heart beating like a drum, Izuku reached forward and tapped the page. His finger dipped into the page.

Izuku was stunned. This… this was a joke right? NOW of all times? When he'd already long made his peace with it? Tears starting to leak from his eyes, Izuku pushed forward and his hand dipped into the book. He closed his fist around a shaft, and he yanked it out. Shusui was in his hand, and his slack fingers dropped the book, letting the sword escape the pages entirely.

Shusui was in his hand.

Shusui was in his hand.

It was heavy!

Mechanically, he put the sheathed blade down on his floor and walked over to his shelf. He grabbed some other book and tried to remove something from its pages. It failed. He pinched himself. Shusui was still there, lying innocently on his floor. It was gorgeous.

He slapped himself. It was still there. He ran over and grabbed it, "MOOOOOOM!" He almost crashed into the door in his haste to get out of the room. He heard his mom yelp and drop something, though thankfully it didn't appear to be anything glass judging from the sound. "MOM! MOMMOMMOM IFOUNDMYQUIRK!"

Inko audibly gasped from the other room and started to run towards him, "Oh my baby, that's wonderful! How did you find it?" She opened the door, "What iS THAT A SWORD!?" She screamed in shock at the item in her baby's hand.

The scream deafened everyone in a mile radius.

-]|[-

It took all of about six hours for Izuku to analyze the life out of his Quirk. He didn't even remember to call Kacchan in his excitement! First, he had immediately tried to go and get awesome items out of his other bit of entertainment. He tried everything from Mass Effect to Fairy Tail to Harry Potter. Nothing worked. The ability was solely limited to One Piece itself! He'd been a bit disheartened that maybe his ability was a fluke or a one off, until his mom had told him to just try One Piece again. He'd successfully pulled out both Nami's Clima-Tact and Usopp's Kabuto. He'd then discovered that he could put them back into the manga. The second thing that he'd discovered was that it did not HAVE to be manga that he used his Quirk on. Anything that was officially One Piece would work, including the anime and databooks! The third thing he'd discovered was that he could NOT pull out any item that was a description of something. He had to be able to see it to pull it out. However, any item he COULD see, he COULD bring to life. Because of this, he was unsure if he would be able to learn abilities from the series, as he couldn't just pull them out. Time would have to tell on that front. It could be that that aspect of his power was limited to physical items, but that intangibles took a different touch. He just didn't have enough info.

Needless to say, One Piece was firmly cemented as his favorite series of all time. And he couldn't wait to tell his best friend! "KACCHAN! I FOUND MY QUIRK!"

Katsuki flinched as Izuku screamed in his ear, "Ah, damn it Deku! What was that fo-... What did you say?!" He finally registered the words as his ears stopped ringing, "You found your fucking Quirk?! Seriously?! After all this fucking time?!" He laughed as the rest of the dumbfounded class stared in shock at the verdette and started mumbling, "What is it!? Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

"One Piece!" Izuku said cheerfully.

"..." The class was silent. "Fucker what?"

Izuku pulled out the manga, flipped open to a page, and stuck his arm into the pages, "ONE PIECE!" He cackled a little maniacally, yoinking the Clima-Tact from the pages again, this time the one Usopp made for Nami after the time skip. He casually conjured a tiny thundercloud. It crackled and drew several flinches. Then he pointed it in a random direction and made one of his bullies flinch and flip backwards over his desk by extending the Clima-Tact just shy of his nose. It snapped back into position as the stunned kids freaked out.

"WHAT THE HELL/FUCK?!" The rest of the class screamed in shock.

Izuku laughed joyfully.

-]|[-

Izuku was vibrating in excitement. He had finally finished the manga, and it had been as amazing as he had expected. He would have to give it a second read through later in more detail. He'd gone through it so fast he was surprised the pages hadn't caught fire. Regardless, he was about to try something that would be amazingif it worked. Chapter 840. Page 14. There was a very interesting item on that page, and Izuku was about to try to pull it out. He reached his hand into the page, and grinned when he felt it touch his fingers. He pulled his hand out, and another book came with it. He started to laugh, "YES!"

In his hands was The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. "...Hope this works!" He opened it up and beamed when he saw the contents, "YES!" He cheered, though as he read on, his enthusiasm dimmed a little. Yes, every Devil Fruit he could think of from reading the story was in the book. Every one of them had descriptions and known abilities. It would have been perfect… but not every fruit had a picture. It made an unfortunate amount of sense. CP9 hadn't known what fruits they had been getting and they certainly had access to the book. Plus, this was from the time when Sanji was a child, so maybe it was less filled out. Oh well, time to experiment before he got himself excited and had it ruined.

He touched the picture of the Mera Mera no Mi… and activated his Quirk. "YES!" He cheered as he pulled the fruit out of the book. He didn't bite it, and in fact put it right back into the book. Now it was time to research. Kaido's Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryū would be AWESOME to have… but he was disappointed to see that the book had no picture to it. He would be unable to take that fruit for himself. He pouted and moved on. Katakuri's Mochi Mochi no Mi would be an amazing fruit to take, and it did have a picture! He hesitated and read on, but definitely kept it on the list. There were dozens of fruits that would be amazing to have, but he could obviously only choose one. He wasn't Blackbeard after all. He really didn't consider that one either.

In the end though, after days of thinking about it, he finally had a fruit in his hand.

Well, "hand" was disingenuous. The massive beast of a fruit was in his arms and had to weigh at least fifty pounds. If he hadn't spent years training, he doubted he'd be able to lift it at all. Half of him thought he should have expected it, judging on who it belonged to in the story. He carefully sat it down and sat heavily, panting. "Izuku, are you sure this is a good idea?" Inko asked him carefully.

"It's my Quirk, mom! It wouldn't hurt me!" Izuku said cheerfully, drawing a wince from his mother. That wasn't necessarily true. She eyed the fruit like it was radioactive. It was a jackfruit obviously, though the size was the only tell. The flesh of the plant was white, and it had a massive stem that twisted upwards. There were light blue swirling designs all over it, making it look vaguely mystical. All in all… it looked like the classic depiction of a soul.

"...I'd be more comfortable if you let me try it first." Inko finally said, still eyeing it like it was going to hurt her baby.

"Okay!" Izuku chirped, and she moved forward, "Not this one!" Izuku said, holding his little arm out in a cute attempt to stop her, "Only one person can eat a fruit at a time. If you eat it, it just becomes a regular fruit." He reached for his book and pulled another fruit out. It was a pink, flower shaped fruit with a stem sprouting out of the top. The swirls on it made curly little "S" like-pattern on the petals. It looked a lot like a large pink dahlia. It was also significantly smaller than his fruit. "Fair warning mom. It's not going to taste good. Like at all. You just need one bite and it'll work. No need to eat the whole thing. If it tastes as bad as the story made it out to taste, I doubt we could eat a whole one anyway."

She eyed it even more distastefully now, before hesitatingly taking a bite. Immediately upon the juices filling her mouth, she gagged and dropped the rest of the deceptive fruit, clapping her hands to her mouth. It was the worst thing she had ever tasted, and it was filling her mouth. Her face was as green as her hair as she struggled to chew, falling to her knees as comical anime tears streamed down her cheeks. She dry-heaved multiple times before finally, she couldn't take it anymore and swallowed, not caring if it was chewed enough to go down. She hurriedly downed the full glass of water Izuku had hurried to get her, but it didn't help much. After panting for a good minute while a worried Izuku stared at her, Inko finally spoke, "Honey...I love you… but if I ever come near one of those things again, I will not be held responsible."

Izuku giggled nervously, "Do you feel different?"

"No." Inko deadpanned, "and I will not be happy if I did that for nothing."

Izuku did not like the slightly angry look in his mom's face, "T-try it out then!" He chittered nervously, "Picture your arm and try to picture one on top of my head. The character who used it would cross her arms in front of her chest to concentrate."

Inko deadpanned, but scrunched up her nose and did as her son explained. To her surprise, in a weird sound a picture-perfect replica of her arm including her wristlet appeared on top of her son's head! She let go of her concentration in her surprise and it exploded into a shower of pink sakura petals, which floated away and evaporated. "Oh my! I did it!"

"You did it!" Izuku cheered back, "AND IT WORKS! WOOHOO!" He turned to the giant fruit and got close, gulping nervously for the oncoming assault on his taste buds. Gritting his teeth, he practically lunged forward and bit down "YUCK!" He couldn't help but screech, the piece falling out of his mouth as he stuck his tongue out. He grabbed it out of the air and with a look of disgust, stuffed it back in. He turned as green as his mom had as he struggled to chew, crying pitifully like she had. Finally, he forced it down, and then lay back spread eagle on the floor of their home. "...Okay… I'm SO glad I never have to do that again."

"What was your fruit?" She gasped curiously, tossing him a bottle of his favorite juice before she continued chugging her own. Izuku grinned and ran out, before coming back with his favorite All Might toy. "Izuku?" She tilted her head curiously as he sat it down.

Izuku closed his eyes and cupped his hands in front of his body, focusing, "Noboru!" Inko gasped as a little ball of bright light exited Izuku's core and floated over to the toy. It sank in and the toy glowed. Izuku grinned in anticipation while Inko stared in confusion.

"It'll be alright!" Inko jumped and Izuku cheered as the toy started moving on its own. It talked. In a very hilariously squeaky version of All Might's voice! "Why? Because I am here!" It posed Heroically.

"What the?!" Inko gaped, "Baby what did you do?!"

"I ate the Soru Soru no Mi!" Izuku grinned, "I can manipulate souls now and bring things to life! In the story, one of the characters turned a giant fire engulfing a whole town into a cute little sun! This will be awesome for Hero work!"

"Your SOUL!? But Izuku, isn't that dangerous?!" She shrieked in panic, "Oooh you little rascal, I wish I had read that book first!"

"It's okay!" Izuku waved her off, "The soul can recover! And I can take it back at any time!" He waved his hand, "Soul Pocus!" He drained the tiny bit of soul away and put it back in his body, "See!" All Might fell silent as he did so.

Inko breathed a sigh of relief, "Izuku, you're going to give me gray hair!" She whined, crying cartoon tears again. "You ever make a decision like that again without consulting me first and you're grounded for life!" She probably would have been more convincing if she hadn't been whining.

"Sorry mom." Izuku said contritely.

Inko sighed and got to her feet, "That fruit made me all sweaty." She complained, "I'm going to go take a bath." Izuku froze, and she noticed. "Izuku?"

Izuku looked meek in a way she hadn't seen in a couple years, "Uhhh….I may… have forgotten something about devil fruits." He said, sheepishly.

Inko grew alarmed, "What is it?"

He giggled nervously, "Well, they're called Devil Fruits for a reason." His voice got a little quieter, "It gives you an awesome power but you'll neverbeabletoswimagainandwillsinklikearockpleasedontkillme."

Inko stopped and went over his words in her head. Again. And again. Her eye twitched. Izuku ran away. An arm popped out of the wall and snagged his arm, "Oh Izuku~ Honey~ I just want to talk~ 💕"

Katsuki didn't see Izuku for a month.

-]|[-

"You ate the SOUL Fruit?!" Katsuki asked, gaping. "Damn that takes balls! Big Mom was a giant bitch, but she was scary as fuck. I'm impressed you were brave enough to take that one, Izuku!" Izuku almost squealed. That was the first time in months he'd heard his name out of Katsuki's mouth. The blonde had obviously started reading One Piece when Izuku's Quirk had come in.

"Yep! I even brought my All Might toy to life! It can Detroit Smash hard enough to crack wood and lift about 80 kg!" Izuku said cheerfully.

"Damn, badass!" Katsuki said appreciatively, "And you can fucking kill Villains with it as well!" He said, his teeth in a snarling grin.

"What?! Kacchan that's not Heroic at all! I can't do that!" Izuku protested.

"This is why you're still a Deku, nerd." Katsuki glared at him, "You don't have to literally kill them, dumbass. But if you don't use your powers to the fullest, then you can't be a Hero. You chose this power. You have to use it! Cuz if you just keep using your soul you're going to kill yourself, moron. Auntie Inko must have been livid."

"Yeah she was pretty mad when she read up on our fruits." Izuku replied meekly, trembling in place for a moment.

"Our?"

"Oh, yeah she didn't trust it and wanted to try it herself first. I gave her the Hana Hana no Mi!" Izuku replied excitedly.

"...Has she tried using her Quirk with it?" Katsuki asked, swallowing a little heavily.

"Yep! Her Quirk gets stronger the more arms she uses! She was even able to move a car!"

"Holy shit! Auntie is broken now!" Katsuki said in awe.

"What about you Kacchan? Do you want a fruit?" He asked curiously.

"Pfff, fuck no. I love swimming and my Quirk is already awesome. Nerd." Kastuki replied, turning his nose at the idea.

"What about a RAID suit?" Izuku asked, the idea popping into his head immediately.

Katsuki froze… "Oh fuck yes."

The two ran home, "Hi mom, bye mom!"

"Sup Auntie! Bye auntie!"

Inko giggled to herself as the two boys sped into the house and into Izuku's room. Izuku ran over to the shelf and grabbed one of the volumes. He immediately opened it up and took a few seconds getting to the correct page. He reached in but held back a grin. "Here you go, Kacchan!"

"Thanks!" Katsuki didn't suspect a thing, "Now how do they activate these things again?"

"Push the button and hold it in front of you." Izuku replied, finally letting his grin out when it was too late to stop it, the white 0 on the black can in full display.

Katsuki was engulfed in light, his own clothes disappearing somehow. A pink light engulfed him, and like Magic, cloth and armor started appearing on his body. When it was over, Katsuki was standing there, an angry vein pulsing like it was about to explode on his head… wearing a pink dress that just barely reached his knees (due to his age and height) with a split open top revealing his skinny chest. His hair had somehow been done up in Reiju's coiffed pattern. Completing the costume were the four purple butterfly wings behind him.

Izuku burst out laughing, almost crying at the sight. He fell to the floor and started rolling around in sheer hilarity.

"DEKU WHAT THE FUCK YOU ASSHAT!"

"What's all the swearing, KatsUKI?! Oh my!" Inko came into the room and clapped a hand to her mouth, stifling a snicker as she beheld Katsuki in all his… *ahem*... glory. "You look great, dear." She managed to get out, her face rapidly reddening as she struggled to keep it together.

"HOW THE FUCK DO I GET THIS SHIT OFF?!" He roared furiously,

"But Kacchan!" Izuku howled, "I thought you'd want your limbs uncovered because of your Quirk! All the other ones had sleeves and gloves!" He continued howling in laughter.

"DIE!" He lunged for his friend. In the end, Inko had to break them up. They did eventually get the suit off.

-]|[-

"I would hand out these career forms," Their teacher was saying, before laughing and throwing them over his head, "-but I assume you all want to be Heroes."

The class roared, approval dripping from every sound as they all showed off their Quirks.

"Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks, but you shouldn't be using them in class." The elder chided half-heartedly. Controlling kids was exhausting, especially when you forgot they were kids and egged them on, "Now getting into a good High School will be vital to getting into the best Hero courses in the country. Universities like Shiketsu accept only the best, and our very own U.A. accepts only the best from the entire world. You should all be focused on your studies now, rather than later."

He heard a scoff, "Stop giving these D-Listers hope." Katsuki was lounging, feet propped up on the table. Next to him, Izuku let out an exasperated sigh, "You shouldn't even have mentioned U.A. Only Deku and I are going to make it there."

"Asshole!" One of their classmates screamed, and that set off the rest of them. "Get over yourself, Katsuki!"

Izuku let out a groan, "Why'd you have to lump me in too, Kacchan?" He bemoaned.

"Oh, you think I'm wrong, eh?" Katsuki's arrogant look grew a little angry as he held up a hand, which started to crackle with firecrackers, "And when was the last time any of you lot even put a finger on me or Deku? Huh? You all even had years of a head start on Deku and once his Quirk awakened, you couldn't even hang for a month. Sorry, you life-long sidekicks, but that's all you're going to be."

The rest of the class seethed.

…

"You coming downtown, Deku?" Katsuki asked when class was over, "We're gonna hit the arcade."

"A little later, maybe." Izuku replied, "Mom wanted some help with something at home. She didn't tell me what it was, exactly."

"Tch, that's fine. We'll hit the training grounds after if you don't show up." Katsuki replied, fist-bumping with his best friend. "Catch you later, asshole." He had never forgiven Izuku for the RAID Suit gag.

Later, Izuku was walking under an underpass as he wrote notes in his Hero journal. Mount Lady's debut had been a little lackluster in his opinion. She had clearly gone for the "sex sells" approach if her costume and wiggling ass was any indication. And while Izuku found her pretty hot, that in conjunction with her stealing Kamui Woods' 'kill' spoke to some insecurity regarding her own ability.

As he was writing, he suddenly blurred into motion, leaping over a tentacle made of some dark-green sludge as his senses blared danger at him. He flipped several times even in the constrained space, before landing on his feet facing the threat.

"Damn brat! How did you hear me coming!" The large mass of goop gurgled as he flowed out from the sewers, making Izuku's nose crinkle, "Stand still! I need an invisibility cloak! I promise it'll only hurt for about thirty seconds!"

Izuku snorted. "Not exactly making me want to stand still for you." He told the disgusting man, 'And I didn't hear a thing. Thank you Mantra.' It was less of a mouthful than "Kenbunshoku Haki."

"Damn it! I have to get away from him!" The sludge exploded towards Izuku, dozens of tentacles lashing out and trying to grab him.

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes, taking his Muay Thai stance as his limbs blackened. He could see every strike coming clearly. His eyes burst open and he moved, utilizing Soru and Kami-E to dodge through every attack and getting closer to the main body. He landed feet from him and his fists flashed.

"GAH!" The sludge howled in pain as various indents formed on his body, each crater caused by Izuku's punches. "HOW!?" He recoiled in agony and fell back towards the sewers, "My body is formless! How can you harm me?!"

Izuku merely grinned toothily. A much nastier smile than normally appeared on his face, "Your body is still there, which means I can hurt it!"

"NO! GE-GET AWAY!" The terrified Villain cried out.

"Soul Pocus!" Izuku's shout came, and the world seemed to fall away into a formless mass. The universe seemed to surround them, and the terror the Villain felt skyrocketed. Pink energy seemed to leak from the formless being, and Izuku's hand grabbed at it. His other hand came up and helped tear away a chunk of it, which Izuku absorbed into his own body. The universe came apart, and they were back in the tunnel. The green mass swayed, looking a little grayer. Izuku had taken about six months of life away. It collapsed, splashing on the floor, eyes incoherent.

He let out a sigh before he stiffened, a voice he'd heard many times ringing in his ear, "My word, that was quite a dispatch." Izuku nearly squealed as he beheld All Might's smiling face, "That's quite a Quirk you have, young man. My apologies for getting you caught up in my hunt!"

"Annjdsdvbhuaoedbv!" Izuku squealed, making the huge man laugh as Izuku hurriedly dug around his bag for his journal, "Autograph!?"

"Ahahahaha!" He laughed, "It's been a while since a fan could hardly even speak! What is your name, shonen?"

"Midoriya! Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku managed to get out.

"Don't explode in excitement, shonen! It would be a shame to lose such a promising Hero candidate to a heart attack!" All Might laughed some more as he signed with a flourish, "I also will excuse your Quirk usage, as this was a clear-cut self-defense situation. I must ask though, what in the world did you do?"

"Ah!" Izuku finally snapped out of it at the question of his Quirk, "Well, I didn't actually use my Quirk, All Might sir!" All might Quirked an eyebrow in disbelief, "It's… It's complicated." He finished lamely with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh?"

"Well, my Quirk is a bit weird. I can bring stuff from a certain fantasy series to life, and all of those abilities were things that the characters could learn. So technically I used my Quirk, but technically not since I didn't actively use it." Izuku explained.

"AHAHA! What a bizarre Quirk!" All Might laughed loudly, "Certainly an entertaining situation for you to be in!" He blurred into motion, and within seconds had the Villain bottled up, "In any case, I'm afraid I must be off! I will watch your career with great interest, Midoriya-Shonen! I wish you luck at whichever school you choose for your future!" Izuku blinked and the man was off in the distance before Izuku could get another word in.

"All Might believes in me..." Izuku squealed, "ALL MIGHT BELIEVES IN ME!" He hurried home while texting Katsuki. His friend would not believe what had just happened.

-]|[-

"We're here!" Izuku breathed out, "We're finally here, Kacchan!"

"Of fucking course we are, stupid Deku." Katsuki scoffed as he stared at the prestigious U.A. University main building. He had never quite forgiven him for getting All Might's autograph either. Izuku was also too wound up, he noticed. He hid a grin and stuck a foot out.

"Let's go!" Izuku took a step… and promptly fell forward, 'God damn it Kacchan….God damn it, me. I should have seen that coming.' He threw an arm out to catch himself… and instead started spinning in the air, "Whoa!" The locked pack he had on his back audibly rattled and clacked a little bit.

"Ah, sorry about that." A gorgeous brunette with permanent blush marks and a (to Izuku) angelic smile apologized to him, "I thought it would be bad luck if you fell today, Deku-kun, was it?" She beamed as she righted him, and then turned to Katsuki as Izuku stood there a little stiffly, "That was rude! Why would you do that?!"

"Ah, my name is actually Izuku." Izuku told her, snapping out of it, "And if I let that happen I deserved it." He chuckled a little nervously, "I should have been paying better attention. We mess with each other all the time."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I heard him say it and I really liked it. I thought it was short for Dekiru! "You can do it!" You know?" She said, "And training even at the gates? You guys must be super serious! It's making me a little nervous." She blushed a little.

"Deku it is!" Izuku gave her a thumbs up, "I'm used to it from him anyway and I like it a lot better with that interpretation!" He smiled at her, getting her blush to deepen a little.

"Hate to cuck you two lovebirds, but we should get going, stupid Deku, round cheeks." Katsuki marched forward without them.

"Geez, he's mean." She pouted a little, though her face was redder.

"He's… an acquired taste.." Izuku agreed, his face also blazing, "What's your name by the way? My last name is Midoriya. Oh, and your Quirk is super cool! Is it telekinesis?"

"Ochako Uraraka." She introduced herself as they started to walk into the building, "And no, I call it Zero Gravity..." Their voices trailed off as they entered the building.

…

"Oh come off it, Deku." Katsuki scoffed, "I thought we were here to be Heroes, not talk to girls before we're even in." Izuku was pouting over the assigned seating, meaning he'd had to separate from his new friend. "Better not get distracted, asswipe. If you fail I'll fucking kill you."

Izuku clapped his cheeks and put on his game face, forcing the beautiful Ochako from his mind. Before he could say a word, the lights dimmed, and he almost started vibrating in his seat as Present Mic walked onto the stage. The energy and tension in the room was palpable. It almost felt like a physical force. "For every one of you little listeners, welcome to my show! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!'" The man with blonde, extremely long gelled hair swept back and upwards cupped an ear with his hand.

"HEYYYYY!" Izuku shouted in excitement! Katsuki shook his head and slapped his hand to his face as he had been the only one. Around them, other candidates started to point and laugh. Even Ochako giggled a tiny bit, recognizing his voice.

"Finally, someone with some spirit! I like you, little listener!" Present Mic said cheerfully and pointed at Izuku, who was bright red. The rest of the jeering was silenced. "This is how the test will go! You'll all be doing ten-minute-long 'dry runs' against Villains we will be providing. These are 'Mock Cityscape Battles,' so you can bring anything you want with you! After this presentation, you'll be moving to your assigned battlegrounds."

"Consecutive IDs are all assigned to different locations." Izuku mumbled, after taking a peek at Katsuki's sheet as well as the unknown person next to him.

Katsuki also realized what was going on. "That's so people from the same school can't just form a group and slay the exam together, huh?"

"Probably." Izuku replied, "We're much more unlikely to form a team with random strangers, and even less likely to actually trust them or be able to coordinate abilities with such a time limit."

"Hmph!" Katsuki snorted, "I'll just crush 'em all. And you better do the same, Deku. No mercy, you hear! I won't have my sidekick getting any lower than second place."

"Same to you, Kacchan. First place is mine." Izuku smirked back at him competitively. Gone were the days where he couldn't even scratch his friend. Now he could play for keeps too.

They started paying attention to Present Mic again, "Each site is full of three different types of Villains! You can think of it like that old retro game, Super Mario! Every type of enemy is worth a different amount of points, from one to three. And that's your goal, little listeners! You want to use your Quirks to destroy or incapacitate as many of these Faux Villains as possible and RACK THOSE POINTS UP!" he grinned and waved a finger at them, as if chiding a disobedient child, "And of course, playing a naughty antihero is strictly forbidden. No attacking fellow examinees or else!"

"My kind of test!" Katsuki had a mad grin on his face, almost salivating at what was to come.

"May I ask a question?" A tall, muscular boy stood up with his arm raised high. Present Mic agreed and pointed at him, causing a spotlight to shine down. He looked like he moved incredibly stiffly. Whether that was nerves or otherwise was unknown. He had blue-tinted black hair – combed perfectly – and square-rimmed glasses. He raised his provided sheet of paper and pointed to it, "There appear to be no less than four Faux Villains printed on this sheet! If that is a misprint, then as the most prominent school in Japan, U.A. should be ashamed of such a foolish mistake! We are here as examinees in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary Heroes!" He then whirled around, "And you two! You've been muttering this whole time! If you're just here to fool around, you should leave!" His voice was loud and prominent as he stared intensely at the pair.

"You born with that stick up your ass?" Katsuki snarked back at him.

"Maybe If you sat down and stopped interrupting, Present Mic could have already explained it." Izuku added, abruptly deciding he didn't like the guy much either.

The boy flushed and sat down quickly.

Present Mic was grinning anyway, "Good question regardless, Examinee 7111. Those are Zero Pointers. They're not worth a thing, and are meant to rampage in close quarters and cause chaos in the exam. You're better off ignoring them." He shrugged, "Course, that's if you can." His grin turned a little sinister, "That's all from me, little listeners!" Present Mic switched back to his normal, happy self, "I'll leave you with our school motto! As the great Hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "True Heroism consists of being superior to all the ills of life." PLUS ULTRA!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" Finally, the rest of them showed some life and roared back at the man.

"Break a leg, everyone!"

-]|[-

Izuku had switched out of his Aldera uniform, though he and Katsuki had elected not to use their RAID suits for this. While it would give them an advantage, they would essentially be Hero suits which the others couldn't have, which would make their victory seem cheapened. Instead, Izuku was wearing an outfit straight out of Wano Kuni. It was a black yukata with emerald flame patterns near the bottom, with a dark green jittoku haori. Crucially, he had two Katana strapped to his belt, one being Shusui and the other being the equally legendary blade Enma. It had taken him years to even be able to touch the sword while it was sheathed. He hadn't dared before unlocking his own Haki, and even after two years of hard training after unlocking the ability, his first attempt to hold Enma had still nearly turned him into a mummy.

His attention was drawn by the cute voice of his new friend, and he turned his head and smiled at the sight of her. She was talking to another cute girl, about their height with a slightly hunched posture and very long, dark-green hair. Izuku turned fully and made his way over, only being stopped by someone grabbing his arm, "And just what do you think you're doing?!" The same intense boy who had called him and Katsuki glared at him. He had switched out of his uniform as well into some skintight workout-clothes, "Are you a plant at this exam? Are you trying to throw us all off our game? I can think of no other reason for you and that other boy to have been clowning around! And now you try to go interrupt those two girls."

Izuku's temper boiled over instantly, and he jerked his arm out of the boy's grip. Only the boy had such a hold on him that he damn near threw the boy. The boy stumbled a couple steps and barely managed to keep from faceplanting. "What is your problem, asshole?" Izuku snarled, "Am I not allowed to speak with someone I met earlier? Who the hell are you to be grabbing random strangers?! Maybe you're the plant here!" The boy looked so surprised that some wondered if Izuku hadn't punched him in the mouth quicker than the eye could see. He was starting to stammer out apologies.

Off to the side, Ochako let out a little gasp as she and the other girl stared at the commotion. Before she could say a word to try to de-escalate things, Present Mic screamed out the start of the exam.

Mood totally soured, Izuku drew Enma and Shusui and didn't spare a glance at anyone else. He blitzed forward without a second glance at anyone else. His Haki responded to his anger as both his blades blackened. His Mantra sought out enemies, though he grimaced as he realized the non-living robots were nonentities in his senses. Hard way it was. He came upon a trio of three-pointers with several other bots behind them. "Nitōryū:"

"Target Acquired!" The lead three-pointer's missiles started to lock on, "Extermin-"

"Tōgen Shirataki!" Izuku roared, vanishing in a blur of motion with the darkened wisps of Haki surrounding his body. He appeared behind the three pointers, all of which were bisected horizontally. A shockwave blasted out, cracking the ground beneath them, and cratering the street, even as the enemy bots exploded behind him. His slash continued flying, not even scratching any of the cars in the street but annihilating the two pointers at the end of the street. In one fell swoop, Izuku had already claimed seventeen points in his anger.

Behind him, the rest of the examinees stared in abject horror as they realized that not only were they competing with that, but they'd almost all been jeering at him. "WE NEED POINTS" They roared in panic before splitting up.

"Deku-kun! Are you okay?!" Ochako called out as she and the other girl landed near him, "I heard what that jerk was saying to you..." She trailed off as they continued to jog, looking for points. She put a hand on a piece of robot and threw it with all her might, before clapping her hands together and allowing the large piece of metal to pierce through three three-pointers.

"I lost my temper." Izuku said, somewhat ashamed, before shaking his head and focusing up. "Not important right now. Let's go get some points! I already have seventeen." He said, watching as Ochako lightened another piece for the other girl to grab with her… extremely long tongue? (Izuku blushed a little.) The girl spun it over her head like a lasso before using it as a bludgeon to take several more bots out.

"Kero, that guy was out of line, Deku-chan. My name is Tsuyu Asui, by the way. Please call me Tsu." The froggy girl introduced herself, in a rather flat tone. Izuku hoped that was just her style and not anything he had done. Her words seemed to indicate the former.

"Nice to meet you Tsu." Izuku smiled at her, "My name is Izuku Midoriya though. Deku is a nickname."

"A nickname already?" The three hadn't been idle, moving through the city and searching for enemies, as well as anyone who was getting overwhelmed. They had just naturally formed a team, without really considering the fact that they were supposed to be competitors, and dispatched dozens of the Villain bots together. "I thought you told me you two had just met. You work fast, Ochako-chan." Her deadpan delivery was as even toned as the rest of the conversation.

Ochako didn't have time to float off in embarrassment because someone called for "HELP!" The guy had been surrounded by two and one pointers while tunnel-visioning on a three-pointer and definitely wouldn't be able to escape.

"Tsu, throw me!" Ochako barked out, her game face on. Tsu obeyed immediately, wrapping her tongue around the now light-as-air woman, and flinging her forward. Ochako sped forward like a rocket, far faster than she could have jumped. Her hands flashed out, her fingertips touching each of the robots in quick succession as she pinballed herself on all of them around the frightened candidate.

Every one of the bots started to float in the air; a total of six lifting off the ground. Izuku leapt faster than most eyes could see and sliced two of them apart in a blink. Tsuyu wrapped a tongue around one and sent it hurtling to the ground. It impacted and flew apart in a shower of sparks and flying bolts. The other one she kicked as hard as she could, launching it into a car and causing it to also shatter. Ochako decided she had enough height and tapped her fingertips together, the pads coming into contact as she called "Release!" The robots hurtled down and blew apart from the impacts.

"Th-thanks!" The terrified examinee managed to get out, "You guys are real Heroes! I'm going to go hide! I guess I just wasn't cut out for this." He finished sadly.

"Don't be like that!" Ochako shouted at him, "You get out there and you get more points! Even if you fail, you still gave it your all! Everyone gets overwhelmed and everyone needs help at times! Don't give up!"

"She's right!" Izuku agreed, with Tsu nodding in time with him, "Believe in yourself man, you got this!"

"Y-you got it!" He yelled back, invigorated. He ran off to find some more opponents.

"That was a good thing you did, Ochako-chan." Tsu commented, smiling minutely.

She blushed, "Heroes are supposed to inspire too, right?"

"And you inspired beautifully!" He grinned at her. She clapped her hands to her face and started to float off.

"No time to float off! We have an exam to crush!" Izuku laughed as he sheathed Enma and grabbed her leg. She mumbled something unintelligible before shutting her Quirk off. She looked a little bit green, getting both of her new friend's attention. "You okay?"

She nodded resolutely, "Using my Quirk on myself is weird. I'm nowhere near as heavy as my max, but it makes me queasy."

"Maybe it affects your inner ear disproportionally?" He mumbled out loud, already starting to analyze her Quirk.

They were interrupted by the hideously loud rumbling that erupted near them. "Holy crap!" Ochako cried out in horror as they stared at the gigantic robot that was rising in the city, crushing buildings like they were toys. "That's the Zero Pointer?!"

"Good thing we don't have to fight it." Tsu said pragmatically, "We should keep getting points." Izuku blasted forwards, running towards the enemy rather than away from it, "Midoriya-chan!?" She cried out.

"Izuku!" Ochako did as well, before following, rushing past the people running away from the danger, "Izuku! What are you doing?!"

And then they heard it, "H-Help!" A weak voice coughed out through the smoke and dust. They landed next to Izuku and watched him bend over and grab a massive slab of concrete, "I-I can't get free. It's too heavy! It's squeezing!" The girl they abruptly realized was invisible cried out. They watched as little puffs of dust rose, indicating where her hands were. She was scrambling to get free but totally incapable of it.

Ochako rushed forward to lighten the load, but gasped when Izuku roared and simply flung the gigantic bit of rubble off of the girl. The gasp of relief the girl let out felt palpable. Ochako and Tsuyu helped out, idly noticing how bits of the rubble had landed in such a way that the girl had been squeezed but not crushed. The rubble had prevented the full weight from resting on her. She had been far too lucky, and the two girls breathed their own sighs of relief; both that the girl would be okay and that they hadn't been witness to such a grizzly sight. Even despite that good luck, the poor girl would probably be bruised and unable to sit properly for a while if U.A. didn't have a good healing Quirk.

"Th-that's too much!" Ochako complained, "You could have been seriously hurt!" She glared at the Zero Pointer.

The girl hiccupped, tears of relief flowing as she cried into Tsuyu's shoulder, "I...I guess that's UA..."

"We should get out." Tsuyu said, before she noticed Izuku had drawn Enma and Shusui again. She let out a meek 'kero' as she noticed the apoplectic look on his face, and the two other girls 'eeped' as well when they noticed.

Izuku exploded with a purple aura, "Nitōryū..." He jumped at the Zero Pointer with a roar, "Tōgen Totsuka!" A flash of light nearly blinded them, and then they looked back, their jaws dropped. An 'X' shape had been gouged along the entire robot, separating it into four sections. But the robot hadn't merely been cut and blown apart. Parts of it seemed to have literally disintegrated as the parts of the enemy falling to the ground were definitely smaller than the Villain bot as a whole. The parts were sparking and crackling before exploding, shattering windows nearby and again moving buildings slightly off of their foundations.

"...Midoriya-chan is a little scary." Tsu's voice wasn't quite her normal deadpan as she stared at the sight of him walking back to them.

"A little?!" The invisible girl squeaked, "Is he nice? Please tell me he's nice. Remind me not to get him mad at me!"

"Deku-kun is amazing!" Ochako couldn't help but beam at her new friend as the exam was declared over. As he reached them, he instantly put the invisible girl at ease with his kind attitude as he fussed over her, making sure she was okay. He soon had his arms full of emotionally overwhelmed, crying invisible girl.

As Recovery Girl went around administering healing to those who needed it and the four new friends got to know each other better, the blue-haired boy who had been so rude to Izuku throughout the day couldn't help but stand nearby awkwardly, stewing in self-doubt and recrimination.

-]|[-

"Deku-kun!" Ochako waved as she saw her new friend, a bright smile on her face. Tsu and Tōru (the invisible girl they rescued) were already there as well.

"Hey Ochako-chan, Tsu, Tōru!" Izuku greeted each of them, "Good to see you again!"

"Kero, kero, where is Bakugō-chan?" Tsu asked curiously.

Izuku snorted, "Not coming. He was too busy training harder."

Tōru giggled, "Is he still mad you beat him in the entrance exam?" The other two joined her, though Tsu was far quieter.

Izuku rolled his eyes, "He's always been super competitive, so it was a huge blow to his pride." Indeed, Katsuki had come in second place with a grand total of 123 Villain points and 24 Hero points. A record-breaking entrance exam for U.A. It had been just his luck that Izuku himself had ended up with 89 Villain points and over a hundred Hero points.

Ochako shook her head, "He's WAY too serious." She let out a giggle. She had gotten third place, with Tsu just behind her. Tōru had done well as well, her invisible but very well-trained body making the difference. She had come in 17th place, and it really had only been bad luck that she had gotten caught up in a situation she couldn't handle herself.

"Dude needs a girlfriend." Tōru let out a little giggle.

"Kero, you volunteering?" Tsu elbowed her playfully, though her expression didn't change much beyond her upturned lips.

Tōru gagged a little, "No way! He's way too much!"

Ochako giggled again, imagining the look on her face, "Anyway Deku-kun, you still haven't told us about your Quirk! You promised you would when we got together!"

Izuku smiled, "That's because it's one of those "see it to believe it" Quirks." He chuckled, "It's really weird. And you guys haven't told me much about yours either!" He shot back playfully.

"Kero, is it not a superhuman body?" Tsu tapped her chin with one of her abnormally long fingers, "That's surprising. You moved faster than that speedy guy."

"Nope!" Izuku playfully flexed, and all of the girls blushed at least somewhat, though obviously you couldn't tell with Tōru. Izuku didn't really notice, "THAT is just hard work, just like Tōru-chan." The invisible girl blushed harder, "Anyway, let's go get some lunch!"

…

"Ugh, I just hate how weird my Quirk is!" Ochako pouted. They had started talking about them during lunch, and while Tsu had a simple but powerfully versatile Quirk (that she hadn't fully tapped into yet, in Izuku's opinion), Ochako lamented how she hardly ever seemed to improve with her own. "I can lift literal tons and it only makes me queasy after a while of using it! But thirty seconds floating around, and my stomach is already screaming at me." Pouting Ochako was adorable.

Tōru sighed, "At least you don't have to use it. I love invisibility. It's extremely useful but..." She sounded really down on herself, "But I can't turn it off!" Her clothes emoted, visibly moving like she was flapping, "It's SO frustrating! I can see myself but no one else can! I can't even look in a mirror, so I don't even know what I look like…"

"Tōru-chan..." Ochako looked like she was about to cry, having not known that about her friend and feeling really bad. Her own woes paled in comparison!

But Tōru built up a head of steam and just kept going, "And...and even though I did well in the exams, I just… I couldn't do anything against the stupid Zero Pointer! If Izuku-kun hadn't seen me, I could have died before U.A. realized something was wrong! I just-" She was cut off as her friends engulfed her in a hug, and she started to sniffle, "Damn it! I swore I wouldn't cry again!" She was obviously failing at that oath, "But I even had to be my own doctor most of the time! I got a real bad cut one time three years ago and I had to stitch myself up because the doctors couldn't see what they were doing and the hospital didn't actually have any healing Quirks! And obviously I can't show anyone any visible injuries! I just keep thinking I'll never be good eno-"

"You ARE!" Tsu cut her off in a no-nonsense tone, "You made it into U.A. You made it straight into the Heroics course! And you did it all on your own! You ARE good enough! Kero, kero!" Her angry croaking would have been adorable if the situation had been different.

"That's right!" Izuku said earnestly, "You were put in a situation where your Quirk was not an immediate benefit and you still made it in. You are amazing, okay Tōru-chan?"

"Guys..." She hugged them back, even harder.

"Man, I feel like such a jerk." Ochako mumbled, "Here I'm complaining about Quirk nausea when Tōru-chan has to deal with that..."

"It's okay Chako..." Tōru mumbled, "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Sorry for ruining our day..."

"You didn't ruin anything!" The three chanted at her, and Izuku continued, "In fact… hmmmm..." He rubbed his chin, "Come on girls. Let's go find somewhere private. I don't exactly want people to know about my Quirk."

…

"So, what IS your Quirk, Izu?" Tōru asked curiously. They had made their way to Dagobah beach, which Izuku and Katsuki had cleaned out. They hadn't cleared the entire thing because of how good it was to train in, but most of it was gone.

Izuku grinned, "It's REALLY weird."

"You've said that. Kero." Tsu said flatly.

"Yeah, so time to spill the beans, buster!" Ochako pointed at him imperiously.

Izuku smirked, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you!" He reached into his backpack, "BEHOLD!" He pulled it out, sticking it into the sky where somehow, a spotlight seemed to shine on it.

"..." The girls deadpanned, "That's a manga, kero." Tsu said, her tone somehow even flatter than normal.

"Yep!" Izuku grinned, enjoying their expressions.

"...Deku-kun, I like One Piece as much as anyone, but what the heck does it have to do with your Quirk?" Ochako asked, looking totally confused.

"One Piece?" Tōru asked, "Never heard of it."

"It's pretty old, but I'm glad you asked!" Izuku laughed, before the three girls jawdropped when his arm vanished into the pages. He pulled out the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and repeated the process, Ochako's eyes nearly popping out of her skull when she read the title.

She yelped when Izuku tossed something at her and fumbled with it, eyes going super wide when she saw it. It was a deep, royal purple fruit with swirls all over it, shaped like a pineapple. All of the swirls on the fruit seemed to converge on a central point. "...No fucking way!"

Tsu and Tōru gasped, "The cinnamon roll swore?!"

Ochako ignored them, "Deku-kun?! IS THIS REAL?!"

Izuku grinned, "Yeeeeep!" He laughed, before screaming towards the sky, "Indra!" The girls watched in awe as a loud shriek rang through the air, and then the sound of galloping. An ethereal-looking beast was descending, one they all recognized that should not exist. It had icy blue skin that looked leathery, and it's mane and all of its fur looked like literal lightning. Clouds drifted around its hooves, and it's horn seemed to glow with an inner light, pulsing with energy.

"Oh my GOD!" The girls could scarcely breathe.

Izuku chuckled, "Meet Indra, girls!" He smacked the large Kirin beside him on the flank, "Don't be rude! Say hi!"

"Hello!" Despite the Kirin's fearsome appearance, it was as cheerful as its master. "You must be Ochako-chan, Tsuyu-chan, and Tōru-chan! Nice to meet you!"

"Deku-kun, you didn't TELL us you were so totally AWESOME!" Ochako was sparkling, "You ate the Soru Soru no mi!"

Izuku laughed, "Yep! And that one there…. well I'm sure you'd like it!"

"Can SOMEONE tell us what is going ON!?" Tōru stomped her feet, "This is crazy! Why didn't you use this th-" She cut herself off, "-Indra during the exam?! What even IS he? It?"

Izuku laughed, "Not One Piece fans I take it?" Tōru and Tsu looked stumped, "Not surprising. Like I said earlier, it's old! Three-hundred years old, as a matter of fact! I'm surprised Ochako knew about it." The two gasped in surprise, "My Quirk is One Piece! Basically, anything physical from the series, I can pull OUT. And I can also learn…" His voice dropped to a bare whisper, "And teach skills and powers from it. Both of my swords were legendary blades the series, and there were also these mythical fruits called Devil Fruits. They give you an amazing power, but you're forever rejected by the sea if you eat one. So, it would be an extremely BAD idea to give one to Tsu. No matter how good of a swimmer she is now, anything deeper than her thighs and she'll lose energy and start sinking." Tsu recoiled and took a step away from the fruit still in Ochako's hands. The other three started to giggle, "Yeah, I figured!" Izuku chortled, "But I'm sure I could find a different present for you, Tsu. Don't worry! Anyway, I ate the Soru Soru no mi, which gave me the ability to manipulate souls. Indra here is PART of my soul! I created him out of a thunder cloud. Me, Kacchan, and our parents went to the stormiest place on the planet for one of our vacations and I spent all week first making Indra and then making him stronger. He loves eating storms!"

"Holy COW!" Tōru looked starstruck, "That's AWESOME! Again, WHY didn't you use him in the exams?!"

Izuku shrugged, "It was a self-challenge. I had him with me just in case. He actually lives inside Shusui's sheathe most of the time. But I wanted to see how far I could get off of just my swordsmanship." He smirked, "I'm sure you girls can imagine just how difficult it was to figure out WHAT my Quirk was."

"Oh wow!" Ochako's eyes bugged out.

"You're right! Kero!" Tsu looked dumbfounded as well, "Such an absurdly specific Quirk for such an OLD series… you must have found it by sheer dumb luck! Kero, kero!"

"That's right! Until I was nine, I assumed I was unlucky and had NO Quirk. But there was always a chance and unlike everyone else, Kacchan still believed in me despite me being "Quirkless." He pushed me to be strong despite it. He was the reason I started taking martial arts, and I started with two bokken. And that was what I was going to do; be the first big Quirkless Hero! Of course, then I found One Piece and..." He shrugged, "Of course, I was WAY stronger than I would have been because of One Piece, but it was still a challenge I set for myself." He grinned, "But now it's time to stop holding back! I hope you girls are ready!"

"What is this one, Deku-kun?" Ochako had a determined look on her face.

Izuku smirked at her, "Eat it and find out… You only need one bite!"

She pouted, "...Does it really taste as bad as in the story." Izuku turning green was her answer, and she paled. "..." The other two girls looked on in morbid fascination, wondering if she'd really do it. Ochako took a breath, steeled herself, and bit down. "YUCK!" She stuck her tongue out, an utterly disgusted look on her face.

She dropped the rest of the fruit and sank to her knees, anime tears pouring from her eyes. Her entire visage was green as she chewed as fast as humanly possible and swallowed it. She then proceeded to dry heave several times, just barely avoiding puking another rainbow. The other two rubbed her back comfortingly.

Tōru looked shaken, "...That's kinda scary."

Ochako wiped her mouth and stood up, taking several deep breaths, "...What did you just have me eat...?" Izuku grinned and walked up to her, whispering in her ear, "...Deku WHAT?!" She recoiled, staring at him as if he was the most precious thing on earth. "NO FUCKING WAY!" She shrieked, looking like she was about to vibrate out of her clothes in excitement.

Tōru and Tsu gasped in shock again, "TWICE?! Izu, what did you do to our cinnamon roll?!"

Ochako raced out and held her palm towards the sky. Three concentric purple rings formed around her palm and Izuku paled. The rings shot towards the sky, and Ochako paled when she realized what she had just done in her excitement.

And then the sky darkened.

"OCHAKO!" Tsu and Tōru shrieked as the goddamn meteor broke through the clouds!

"Send it back Ochako!" Izuku roared, readying Indra just in case Ochako couldn't figure it out.

The brunette panicked but flung her arm into the air again, and more purple circles shot out at the massive immediately stopped falling and sped back up out of the atmosphere.

Tōru and Tsu collapsed back, landing on their backs, and breathing hard, "...Please never do that again!" The normally placid Tsuyu yelled at her friend.

Ochako collapsed next to them, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It was the first thing I could think of!"

Izuku started to laugh. The rest of them couldn't help but follow.

…

"Jeez Deku-kun, I can't believe of all the fruits in the series, you just gave me the one that was "my Quirk but better." The Zushi Zushi is AWESOME!"

"Mouuuuu, now Ochako-chan is even MORE awesome!" Tōru pouted, "You got a cool present for me, Izu?"

"Hmm…." Izuku tapped his chin, "You said you had to diagnose and treat yourself sometimes. How good would you say your medical knowledge is?"

Tōru blinked, "Uhhh, well… I was actually planning on being a doctor if the Hero thing didn't work." Her head dipped, "No matter how hard I trained, there was always that doubt, you know. So, I always had a backup."

"Recovery Girl would love you!" Ochako and Tsu both patted her at the same time, and she perked up.

"Hey, you're right! I probably have a massive head start on everyone with my EMT training!" Tōru cheered up.

Izuku grinned and opened up the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. He reached inside and pulled out a red, heart-shaped fruit.

The girls gasped, though Ochako also recognized it. Tōru was blushing hard, "Oh my, is this a confession, Izu-kun?" She tried to play it off, but they all could tell she was blushing bright and hot.

"You won't be saying that after you taste it!" Ochako immediately shot back, blushing somewhat as well.

Tōru paused, "Okay you're not getting me! What is it and what can it do?" She asked Izuku expectantly. Instead, he just handed the DFE to the girl, who took it and started reading it. The trio couldn't see her, but if they could, they would have seen her eyes get wider and wider. She didn't get very far at all before gasping and immediately stuffing the entire fruit into her mouth.

She very obviously regretted it.

The other three panicked, helping the invisible girl choke it down, "Tōru! Why did you do that?!"

The girl was gasping for breath, "...I...it was small so I hoped I could just swallow it and not taste it." She admitted, noticeably mortified. The other three groaned, slapping their faces. "I...I just hope this works!" She took a deep breath, "Room!" She breathed out, and to her, a small bubble formed. The others didn't really notice a thing. Then… she faded into view.

The other three (even Izuku) gasped, "What?!"

Ochako started fumbling around in her back for a mirror while Tsu just looked stunned and overjoyed. Izuku reached over and grabbed Indra, the massive beast shrieking as it shrunk into Shusui and its sheath. He drew the blade, and Tōru used its polished, mirror-like shine to look at herself.

She looked nothing like any of them would have expected. Rather than being extremely pale due to her Quirk revolving around unconscious light manipulation making her invisible, she was instead dark-skinned. Not super dark, but noticeably darker than any of their skin tones. Her hair was also black, and it fell in front of her right eye. It was long and fluffy. Her ears were also pretty big, like Elf ears. They were pointed as well just like them too. Her eyes were a pure, molten gold.

"Why do you look like a Dark Elf!?" Ochako cried out in shock.

Tsu blushed a little, "Tōru-chan you're so pretty!"

Tōru ignored them and started to cry as she touched her own face. Izuku sheathed Shusui and set it to the side as Tōru started to full-on sob. The other two girls began to cry too, in joy for their friend. "I… I'm not invisible!" She started to blubber, "I'M NOT INVISIBLE!" She shrieked, and dove directly at Izuku! "Thank you!" She cried out before kissing him full on the lips. Izuku's eyes widened, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She didn't even take a breath and just continued kissing him all over his face as the other two girls blushed. Izuku looked stunned.

Ochako – feeling a little bit of jealousy despite her friend's happiness – cleared her throat, "T-Tōru-cha-"

She didn't even get a chance to finish because Tōru stopped kissing Izuku and lunged for her. She only managed a surprised squeak before Tōru's lips sealed hers and knocked both of them to the sand.

Tsu was a solid red as she watched their two friends make out, "Kero, Kero!" She croaked, before she looked at a still-stunned Izuku in determination. She quickly hopped into his lap and started kissing him as well. Izuku reflexively grabbed her and pulled her closer, but it only lasted for a few seconds before Tōru pulled Tsu away and a beet red Ochako's lips and tongue replaced hers. The foursome kissed for several minutes, regularly swapping partners, until they were all laying in the sand as closely together as they could be.

Izuku was silent, "...What just happened?" He finally croaked. The three girls looked at each other and started to giggle.

...

"I don't get it?" Tsuyu mumbled later, "What did you even do? How did you do it? I thought your Quirk didn't HAVE an off switch?"

Tōru smiled brilliantly, eyes still shining, "It didn't, but the Ope Ope no Mi is something that can create medical miracles according to the book. It doesn't really care if something is impossible."

"It's true." Izuku followed up, still red but smiling as well, "There was an incurable disease in the series. Every doctor Law ever saw nearly ran him out of town, fearing it was contagious. It wasn't. It was genetic. Law was able to cure himself once he ate the fruit."

"I remember, but..." Ochako trailed off.

"I gave my Quirk an off switch." Tōru explained, beaming in happiness, "I didn't know if it would actually work, but when I read some of the descriptions I just knew I HAD to try it. Of course, I need the fruit to use the off switch, so I can't help others like me but..." She signed, "I'm just… I hope this isn't just a dream, and I'll wake up in the infirmary at UA-"

"It's not." The trio interrupted her, pulling her in for another hug.

"That's what dream Izu, Chako, and Tsu would say!" She laughed, hugging them back tightly as well. "I'm so glad I was in your testing group! I can't imagine not having met you guys!"

"Hmmm, I am feeling a little left out though, kero, kero." Tsuyu tapped her chin.

Izuku grinned, "Don't worry Tsu! I have ideas for you too. It just needs some…tweaking, and sadly, it took years for me and Kacchan to get ours right. We need to find someone who can work with them who is actually good at it,"

"Kero?" She croaked in confusion, "Get what right?"

"It's a surprise!" He smirked at her disappointed look, "But in the meantime, I can certainly show you a few tricks! Actually, because of your Quirk, you might actually be good at using a certain fighting style!"

"...Ooooohhhhh!" Ochako looked like she was sparkling, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Probably!" Izuku laughed, "But in the meantime, let me show you two things I think Tsu especially would love to learn. Tōru-chan too, but a bit less so." He hopped to his feet, "Watch this!" He hopped into the air… and then hopped again. And again. Jaws dropped as he showed off his Geppō, and Tōru especially had a gleam in her eye. "Tsu, I know you want to be a rescue Hero and not a combat Hero, but being well rounded is the best possible option. So watch this! RANKYAKU!"

Jaws dropped as with his last air hop, he spun in midair and let his leg lash out. A blade of wind ripped itself from his limb, and it flew towards the ocean. The girls could only gape as a gigantic rip carved itself into the water, before the waves clapped back together and exploded upwards, throwing a massive geyser into the air.

As he stared at their awed looks, he had to bite back a grin. They were awed now...but when they got down to training…. probably less so.

-]|[-

"And done!" Izuku finished making his bed, and gazed around his room. One shelf was completely filled with every single manga volume of One Piece, the next was filled with all the anime series and the movies, the next with miscellaneous stuff like databooks and his Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. The rest of the room was filled with Hero merch; posters of his favorites, some figurines of his favorite Heroes, and some other trademarked knickknacks. The rest of the room was a bit plain. Emerald sheets with black comforters and pillows, regular blackout curtains, a plain rug.

It was a good thing UA was a university and not a high school, otherwise he definitely would have been super embarrassed if any of his girlfriends came in. Speaking of which!

"DEKU-KUN!" Ochako yelled joyfully as she barged in, leaping into his arms. He had a bit of a deer-in headlights look for a moment before he laughed and spun her in his arms.

"Hey Chako..." He smiled warmly as his girlfriend pressed her lips to his. He blushed a bit, seeing as he was still holding her up and her legs were around him, "Missed you." He chuckled when they broke apart.

"Clearly!" Tōru was giggling behind her hand. Tsu had a look of amusement as well, but said nothing.

"Ugh, I missed you all so much!" Ochako hopped off him and kissed the other two girls in the room as well, "It sucks so much that I only had two weeks here and then had to go back home! I mean, I love my parents and wanted to spend time with them too before U.A, but I missed youuuuu!"

"Kero, we missed you too." Tsu hugged her back tightly, before hugging Izuku as well, giving him a quick kiss. "Any idea why they're having us gather at 5pm?"

"We have to wear our gym outfits too." Tōru tapped her chin, "Do you think U.A. is going to hit us with a surprise test or something?"

"I mean, it is U.A..." Izuku trailed off, "Wouldn't really surprise me."

"Hurry up nerd." Katsuki growled, having opened the door without a care in the world. "You can play with your girlfriends later. Let's see what they want so we can go train. You better not be slacking."

Izuku rolled his eyes, as his girlfriends greeted his best friend with half-annoyed, half-amused tones. "Yeah, yeah, let's get going before you explode out of your pants."

"It was one ti-" He cut himself off, as Izuku's three girlfriends burst out laughing. "Let's just fucking go!" He snarled, stomping away.

They followed, eager to greet their classmates, and all of them went downstairs. They curiously eyed the yellow...thing in the middle of the room, but forgot about it when someone called out to them. "YAHOO! Looks like everyone's here!" A pink girl exclaimed cheerfully. She had extremely fluffy hair a slight shade darker than her skin. She was waving cheerfully at them.

"Hiya!" Ochako and Tōru waved back cheerfully, while Izuku and Tsu smiled. Katsuki didn't, but he froze.

"Kacchan don't be a stic- Kacchan?" He paused, looking a little bewildered at the red on his childhood friend's cheek. He followed his eyes, and smirked. Katsuki was staring at a girl with spiky red hair who was talking animatedly to one of the other girls, a black-haired girl with a stoic expression. The redhead had a big grin on her face, and unlike the rest of them simply had a tank top on, rather than the gym jacket as well. That was around her waist...which exposed her exquisite musculature. She was short, and that just made her muscled frame that much more apparent. And not only was she cute, but she was rather stacked up top as well. "Ohohohoho!" Izuku laughed evilly, putting his best friend in a headlock, "What was that about not chasing girls, Kacchan?"

"Wha-" The spell was broken, "Fuck you Deku, gerrof!"

"So that's your type huh. Should have figured from all the Miruko merch." Izuku teased, while his girlfriends giggled evilly.

The pink haired one had sprung up to them, "Glad to meet you all! I'm Mina! What do you think we're here for? I hope they're not about to give us a test. I totally forgot everything from the last semester already." She stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Maybe one of those 'get to know each other' games?" Tsuyu suggested, though she didn't look like she really believed it. They were in college after all.

"Tch, I doubt it. They wouldn't have us in these gym outfits if that was the case." Katsuki dislodged Izuku's arm and elbowed him in the side, making Izuku let out a little grunt. "This is UA. Our teacher probably wants to test us himself or some shit."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, that sounds about right when you think about it."

"Hmm, I'm down for that!" Mina cheered, "But we could still get to know each other later! Some of us were thinking of having a room competition. You guys in?"

"Waste of time." Katsuki stomped off, determinedly not looking in the redhead's direction.

"Jeez, who shit in his cereal?" Mina questioned with a frown on her face.

Izuku chuckled, "He's an… acquired taste, I suppose."

"Ah, so his personality is asshole. Got it." Mina nodded, causing all of them to burst out laughing. Izuku spent a while looking everyone over. There was another redhead in the group, though she was slenderer than the other redhead and a lot bustier. She looked just as intense, and had her hair done up in a spiky fashion, but not gelled the way the other redhead did. It looked like the headband she was wearing was keeping it styled. She had an intense look in her blue eyes as she talked to a very tall young lady, with black hair done up in a spiky ponytail and a shorter, purple-haired girl with what looked like headphone jacks for earlobes.

A girl with green hair was speaking with two other girls; one with candy-cane hair (and by that he meant that half of it was red, and half of it was white.) and another with dark blue hair.

And then the clock struck five, and his observations were cut off by the yellow thing they'd all been ignoring sitting up, making half of them jump back in shock. It fell apart, revealing itself to be a sleeping bag hiding a... hobo? All of them had 'what the fuck?' looks on their faces. The guy looked exhausted.

"Hurry up and group up." The hobo grunted, and his eye twitched when no one moved. "You kids aren't very rational are you? Hurry up before you start the year with punishment."

"Ah, who are you?" One of them asked cautiously as they all went to stand before him.

"Your homeroom teacher." Their jaws dropped at the bombshell. Who the hell was this guy? Weren't all their teachers supposed to be pro Heroes? "Shōta Aizawa. Nice to meet you, I suppose."

What a lazy introduction!

"Don't bother getting all friendly. You're here to be Heroes, not to make nice. We've got three years to make something of you all, so if you were planning on fooling around you came to the wrong place." He said, glaring at them, "Now seeing as the principal is demanding that I allow my class to attend the orientation and welcoming ceremony for once, we're starting now so as to not waste that time. The entrance exam is far too irrational. It lets students who had potential fall through the cracks and allows students who are only here for frivolous reasons in just because they happened to have a fancy Quirk. All of you will be performing an Assessment, so I can see your strengths and weaknesses. And whether you belong here."

Almost everyone sucked in a breath of shock.

"Let's go. You have ten minutes to get to the field. Get any equipment you might need that will help you excel, because if not you'll be moving to a different dorm before the day is out." The implication was not a fun one. "Dismissed." And with that, he walked out. The only thing he didn't do was a mic drop.

"Oh." He stopped, turning around, revealing a positively diabolical grin that almost had some of them pissing their pants, "And welcome to U.A. Let's see how long you'll last." Okay, now the mic dropped.

-]|[-

Death to the slow burn!

I have a large part of this one planned, so it might be one of the next full fics. Maybe. If my cunt of a muse will fucking make up her mind.

For those of you waiting for an Emerald Phoenix update… I have to say, it's been a struggle. Next chapter is nominally finished but not yet ready to post. It's honestly been a slog. I vastly underestimated how difficult it was going to be to write both 1-A and 1-B together when there are some OCs to deal with, fucking 40 students with a whole lot of them just… Being kinda meh honestly. But I'm in too deep now. I have to finish what I started and then I can hopefully just not deal with it again.

I wonder how many of you will know who the surprise characters were in the ending section? Like with the Wukong snip, I did a wee bit of crossing over along with some composite character creation for a bit of fun.

Hope you liked this ficlet! Again, I have a lot of it planned and have some pretty fucking amazing ideas for it. And again, hop on the discord and say hi! (Discord . gg / 3ZwnRbh)

The NEXT QoQ is… going to be a little batshit. Not going to lie. Aizawa on suicide watch over his Problem Child. Capitals necessary.