SNAP

Another pencil burst in Izuku's hand. He looked down at his hand with comfort as he realized he hadn't accidentally launched wood splinters into his hand again. That was the longest the pencil had lasted being strengthened. The amount of focus needed for something like this was frankly getting absurd. After all, it was only…

Izuku looked up from his seat.

The classroom was staring at him and the small chips of wood on the table. Whispers filled the room as Izuku looked around and up at the teacher standing with his hands on his hips, as if he was waiting for him. The teacher's voice was a bit deeper than usual as he spoke.

"Midoriya, are you going to join us or continue your crusade against the pencils in your backpack?" His words drew a chuckle or two out of the room, but everyone quickly lost interest and began whispering to friends as the teacher scoffed and continued the lesson. Izuku wasn't as embarrassed compared to the first time this had happened, but it wasn't like he was getting any other time to practice. It wasn't like history class even gave much knowledge, considering it was all lies anyway.

Quirks started a few generations ago and got more complex as time progressed. The lie mainly came from the association continuing to try and hide magecraft after all this time. Izuku didn't like the fact that he had to keep his magecraft a secret, and the way everyone treated him didn't make it any more bearable. Because of factors outside of his control, this was his only path towards becoming a hero.

'Enough loafing around though,' He thought to himself as he began to write down notes to help him with the 'answers' on the test. The school life was bearable but he disliked the fact he still had highschool next before he could really start his journey towards becoming a hero at UA's university campus. Even so, his plan seemed sound. The only thing he had to do now was work and wait.

The teacher said his usual words and wrapped up for the day as Izuku began to quickly get his things together, If he was fast he could avoid… nevermind.

Before he even got his notebook inside, the blond brute had entered the room with a few friends. Izuku had been wary of them ever since he was a child. The boy standing there, Bakugo Katsuki, had a powerful quirk because of his mutations. That was one thing mages could never replicate. Almost all quirks worked on the fundamentals of magecraft outside of the mutations that develop like his. He had nitro—

Izuku's train of thought was stopped by a booming voice. "Can you hear me?!" Bakugo spat out as the green-haired boy came out of space.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Before he could get another word out, the blond grabbed the notebook detailing Izuku's magecraft training. Izuku grabbed it with a hand tightly as Bakugo smirked. Izuku knew what was coming next as he pulled it out of Bakugo's hands and shoved it in his backpack. He quickly put the backpack on and walked past the quirk user, slightly pushing him aside. He was sure for a second that he was dead, but all he heard was a simple, "Later, Deku" called out casually. Izuku stayed silent and left.

The walk home was oddly normal.

Well, it felt the same as every other walk to practice. Except for the fact that a few hundred meters away was someone making all the same turns. Izuku wasn't scared, but he did know the association sent people if you caused trouble or attempted to expose magecraft. His family was on the lower end of magical families, so it made no sense for anyone to be following him. For now, it was probably a coincidence, so he would ignore them.

After about thirty or so minutes, he finally reached his destination, a small building in his neighbourhood where he could practice his magecraft. Due to the possibly destructive nature and his mother's distaste, he knew his apartment wouldn't do. The image of an apartment window shattering wasn't a pleasant one. So here he was in what seemed to be an old indoor furniture store. He looked around the area for broken parts of various furniture.

Sometimes he would rip off a handle for a desk or cabinet and collect them as he headed towards the indoor shed. The light from the outside seeped into large holes in the building's roof almost illuminating the shed like it was some kind of a save point from a game. The shed itself had a makeshift roof with holes that allowed small rays of light to enter the dusty interior. Izuku reached for the electric lantern he kept around and turned it on to get a better look around.

Inside was a large dresser with various objects Izuku had been working with. It was familiar to him and felt nice to make sure everything was in place. The shitty roof, the broken mirror on top of the dresser, the silent eyes watching from the corner, the smell of the…

Izuku's eyes went wide as his head whipped around and he saw a girl sitting in the corner with a metal stick half-buried in her arm. His brain stopped working as he attempted to do anything besides stare at the sight before him.

She looked about his age with jet black hair tied in a ponytail. She had the same surprise in her eyes. Izuku cautiously asked, "Are you ok?" He wasn't sure what else to ask or where to start outside of the massive stick in her arm.

"I'm ok," she said in almost the same tone as the rod came out of her arm and fell to the floor. It looked like a stabbing happening in reverse as Izuku put the electric lantern on the ground and sat down on the carpet a few meters away from her. "I'm Momo," she said quietly. Izuku felt the name burn into his mind as he tried to remember where he heard it before. "I'm hiding," she whispered with maybe a hint of a smile on her face.

Almost on cue, Izuku heard footsteps. It sounded like one person. Izuku could only sit there and wait as he tried not to stare. Izuku noticed her sundress maybe a bit loose on her body. She didn't look very girly, at least compared to the ones at his school. Maybe she wasn't from here? Unlike most other people he knew she seemed a bit more animated.

She was sitting very neatly as well, almost like she practiced it. Well, outside of the giggles she held to herself as she heard the footsteps get frantic. Maybe this was some kind of game?

A few minutes went by and the footsteps faded. The girl smiled. "Thanks for staying quiet," she said as she stood up and patted off her yellow dress, shaking her hair and tightening her ponytail. The way she did everything was calm and flowing; well, except her face and its catlike smile.

"No problem…" his voice trailed off as he got a better look at her. The sunlight beaming down from the broken roof of the building and the shed illuminated her.

"I'm Momo. It's nice to meet you." Her voice was bubbly, and she had a goofy grin on her face as she put a hand out to shake with the boy. He didn't exactly expect to be on a first name basis with someone he just met but she didn't exactly give him much choice. Izuku stood up and shook her hand, realizing the girl was a hair taller than himself, with a body that looked about as flat as he was.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Izuku Midoriya," he said, a little shook but still sane as he felt her soft hands for a moment. Maybe she was a foreigner? "I guess you ended up in my workshop." Izuku paused for a moment. "I practice my quirk here," he lied. He was going to have to lie about this later if he wanted to be a hero, so starting now couldn't hurt.

"Why practice it here?" she asked with a tilt of her head. In all honesty, he only did it here because it reminded him of his old house and shed from when he was a child. It was also mostly so his mother wouldn't find out he was practicing magecraft. Non-mage spouses were often frowned upon, so she had a bit of a distaste for it. "I just enjoy it here," he blankly said before looking around. He wasn't as confident in that lie but it wasn't going to be too important for now.

"I can show it to you," he offered as he motioned towards the carpet and pulled out a sheet of paper from one of the drawers. He rolled it up and tapped it against his hand.

"It just looks like paper," she said as she watched the paper roll bend and sat herself a little bit closer for a better look.

"Yeah, but my quirk can make it a bit more than that," he said as he closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind. In almost an instant, he felt a burning sensation in his spine, almost like molten metal had been poured into his body, sending his body into a burning pain as he felt the mana course through his system.

The human body was never meant for magecraft or power like this, so old mages had to force themselves to change. Izuku felt the molten metal spread around his body, entering his nerves from his spine as they acted like circuits to send the mana from his fingers into the roll of paper. Mages built systems into their bodies to conduct mana, and unluckily for Izuku, his weren't very powerful. He filled the empty space of the already-completed object to strengthen it. His eyes open and small lines of blue can be seen on the roll of paper and his hand as they wrapped around the object. A mage's potential is determined by their birth and family. How many years had been spent modifying their bodies to a genetic level.

He carefully maintained the output and struck his other palm with the paper again. Instead of crumpling, it instead acted as a solid rod. A few hits against the ground and it made a clunk like it was another rock. He looked to his side and saw the girl sitting a bit closer with a light in her eyes and a look of interest. Izuku seemed to have lost focus when the paper in his hand suddenly cracked and shattered with a blinding blue light, the hard paper shattered with a burst everywhere before they floated back to the ground as soft, regular paper. Momo let out a panicked sound before realizing she was fine.

Izuku sighed with a smile. "I hope that I'll be able to stop that from happening next time. If I put in too much, it likes to cause problems." He rubbed the back of his head as he felt something wet on it. He looked at his hand and saw red. Momo saw it too and stared at it wide-eyed.

"Ah! Ah! Oh my god. Oh my god!" Momo shouted.

Izuku tried to calm her down as he reached towards some drawers. "It's just a papercut. It's fine, I'll just…" his voice trailed off as he watched a bandage come out of the girl's arm just like the metal rod. He instantly knew what her quirk was and for a moment he forgot about the pain and just felt jealous.

"Give me your hand," She commanded, breaking him out of his thoughts, and he gave the girl his hand. She began to carefully wrap it in the bandage, getting a few drops on her sundress. "Just hold it up like this." He did as she said, still thinking about the implications of her quirk. "Thanks… Was that your quirk?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"Ah, yeah. I can create objects if I know the atomic structure. I use my body's fat cells."

Izuku paused for a moment and thought. In a way, she was doing close to the same thing he was doing. Izuku was tracing objects and filling them with mana, compared to her tracing in her mind and creating them using her body.

The main problem with mages using projection (also known as creation) magic is that the constructed objects disappeared without being actively fed mana. By making the objects inside her, she can make them permanent because they essentially become real. He was about to explain this before he remembered he could't disclose magecraft to anyone else.

"That sounds like a powerful quirk," he said, being careful of his wording. "You would have to memorize the objects then, right?"

"Well, yeah, I have to memorize the make-up of the objects before I make them, but as a future hero I'll make it work." She seemed so determined when she spoke about her future. "Do you want to be a hero too?" She tilted her head again as she asked the boy.

"Of course! I just need to practice with my quirk to make it consistent. After that, I'm gonna try and become the number one hero," he confessed, feeling a little embarrassed about getting this passionate in front of a girl. Normally he would avoid talking about things like this, but she seemed interested.

"Maybe we could help each other!" he said, coming up with an idea, "You can create objects for me to reinforce and I can help you memorize how to create new objects," he offered as she listened. He wasn't exactly sure how to read her, but she didn't seem opposed to the idea.

She nodded and took out her phone. "Sure! Gimme your number and we can meet next week when I'm back in town." That, at least, confirmed to Izuku that she wasn't from around here. Which made him wonder why she came here often. For a moment he wondered why he was thinking about that when he basically just got a friend. One who not only shared his goal but who was interested in working together.

They exchanged numbers and before he could say anything else, she stood up and headed towards the door. "It was nice to meet you, Midoriya., I hope we can work well together." With that, she was gone. He was about to ask for her last name before she left.

Izuku looked around for a moment to make sure that that had been real and he wasn't just dreaming. His suspicions were calmed when he heard her loud giggling echoing in the warehouse. He had a feeling that after today his fate would be changed forever.