Best Laid Plans

Izuku Midoriya knows his quirk isn't the most flashiest or exciting, but he knows it's strong enough to get him into U.A, to get him one step closer to being a Hero. Of course the path to being the Number 1 Hero isn't the easiest, not when the League of Villains are on the move and especially not when all his female peers are proving to be a distraction! Izuku x Harem.

Chapter 1: New Faces, New Starts

"Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans."- Allen Saunders


Aldera Middle School-Last Week of School:

"You honestly think you can get into U.A. with a quirk like yours?" Katsuki questions behind him, sneer and contempt in his tone making him sigh.

His voice echoes out into the quiet of the library, shaking the pile of books next to him. At this time of day there are only a few students mingling about, sun dipping low in the sky as evening approaches.

It isn't the first time he's asked him this, nor will it be the last.

Izuku barely picks up his head to glance at him, eyes narrowing. "And do you think a quirk like yours will?"

'Crap, what am I doing?!'

Mocking Katsuki to his face is a good way to exhaust him, force him into using his quirk once more.

The blast about to melt his face is sucked up with his index finger, releasing the fire in the opposite direction into the brick wall scorching it black.

"You can only absorb so much of my explosions before you get tired out Deku!" Katsuki remarks, red eyes dancing with mirth.

He's known the limitations of his quirk for years now and it's only since finding out they both want to attend the same High School does he insist on testing out all the potential it has.

Crimson falls to his opposite hand then, Izuku stiffening at realizing where his attention has gone.

His Hero Analysis Notebook.

Today was the day he should've brought along a decoy notebook for him to destroy, should've at least taken out the most important pages even though all of them mean too much to him, should've kept it hidden and buried in his backpack out of his or one his lackeys sight.

Should've, could've, would've…

None of it matters now that it is Kacchan's new focus.

"Go for it Bakugo while the teachers aren't around! I'll lookout for Yamashita-sensei!" Nakano chortles by his side.

'Do I have enough time to get energy from anything nearby? Will it even be strong enough?' Izuku clicks his tongue, thinking quickly.

All that surrounds them is concrete and brick, materials that would take far too long to gather enough power from.

Even then, it wasn't going to stop Katsuki from moving forward.

It's easier to attack when the opponent strikes first.

Still, that didn't mean he would go down without a fight, give Kacchan the satisfaction of besting him again. There's a reason he's been spending such long hours in the library, why his notes are a mix of actual lecture notes and his own studying of the capabilities of his quirk to truly be prepared for U.A.'s tests.

'Time to see if this energy sourcing and absorption will work.' Izuku decides.


Midoriya Household:

"Oh honey, what happened? Bakugo again?" Inko questions at seeing Izuku's appearance, taking in a slow breath.

It doesn't look as bad as past skirmishes, no tell-tale bruises lining his cheeks or his arms though she can see it in emerald eyes so much like her own that today was worse than those days.

Her eyes flicker over the slightly torn notebook in his hands, of his vice like grip on the paper as ink bleeds and runs along his fingertips…

"I managed to save a good chuck of the pages; I think I did well for 3 against 1! Kacchan shouldn't mess with me for a while!" Izuku finally speaks, weak grin marring his face hoping to put his mother's fears to rest.

Inko's frown only deepens, patting at the violet blue mark she notices on the underside of his arm. Izuku sure enough winces, recoiling from her touch.

"I'll need to speak with Mitsuki again, you both fighting like this only harms your chances of getting into U.A." She whispers under her breath.

"Kacchan just wants to prove his strength to me, you don't need to do that on my behalf Mom!" Izuku mentions quickly, grabbing her hands before they can reach for her cellphone.

'It isn't like he'll listen anyways.' Izuku notes to himself, nothing anything the teachers or associates have said at Aldera have changed his attitude.

The only person who could probably change it is All Might himself.

Inko gestures for him to follow her to the kitchen, smell of katsudon wafting in the air as they grow closer. Outside the sun is nearly completely gone, only a faint hue of orange left in the blackening sky. He's been out later than he thought, losing Kacchan somewhere in the winding roads of Musutafu's downtown.

His favorite meal can only mean one of two things: Celebration or Bad News.

There's nothing to celebrate for today really except that Katsuki is taking his quirk just a bit more seriously for now.

"So you've learned a new trick for your quirk, huh? Now that I know about it I'll be prepared next time." Katsuki growls, holding at his bloodied arm.

A wedge settles into his throat, sitting himself down.

"I got a call from Hisashi earlier this afternoon, seems his job will be bringing him back to Japan temporarily." Inko begins.

Rice sticks to his tongue as the words fall into the air, heavy and circling in the quiet that follows.

'Dad is coming back?'

"…For how long?" Izuku manages to ask after swallowing down a gulp of water. It chills going down, doing nothing to ease the heat he feels trickling up or the thundering of his heart in his ears.

His father consists in his mind only as hazy fragments, of same green-black hair and scattering of freckles. Appearances is where their similarities end, he knows nothing of his goals, of his likes/dislikes, of what it is like feeling his quirk won't be enough to be a Pro-Hero...

Even though his work requires him to be overseas frequently, typically for a majority of the year he rarely if ever has made contact with him or Mom. He is more like a ghost than his Father really, only appearing in to make sporadic phone calls for birthdays or anniversaries before disappearing once more. Surely his job hasn't been so busy over all these years that he couldn't take at least one vacation back home...

Inko shrugs, tacking on a grin as she reaches to pat his hand. "I'm not sure yet sweetie. He couldn't stay on the phone for long since it was morning there when he called. This will be a good chance for you two to catch up though, you can talk to him about your goals involving U.A. and the future! He…He really does want to try and know you better dear, you can try at least a bit to interact; right?"

"Sure." Izuku lies through his teeth, taking a larger bite of pork and rice to keep from saying anything else.

He'll do no such thing.


U.A. Faculty Lounge/Offices:

"I'm telling you all now that I believe he's one to be on the lookout for!" Toshinori remarks excitedly to his fellow co-workers as they calculate out the final scores of the practicum.

Young Midoriya, considered an underdog in comparison to his peers has come out in the top 5.

He nudges at Aizawa, but his eyes don't stray from the screen. Eventually, even he will have to admit that this year's freshman class is quite unique in terms of skill.

"Well, you were right to say we should keep an eye on him. He even won hidden Hero points rescuing that one girl without most of the students realizing that was a factor." Principal Nedzu notes giving him the satisfied response he wanted.

"I second that! This year's freshman class has a wide variety of quirks!" Yamada agrees while swerving in his chair.

Aizawa turns to look at him then as the cameras click off, arching a brow at his high energy and praise for this boy in particular.

He waits until most of the faculty has filed out, lowering his voice.

"Did you change your mind?" He inquires.

He doesn't need to ask what he means by that.

Mirio Togata is supposed to be his successor, the perfect candidate picked out of all the 3rd years to carry on his legacy...

"I haven't. It's just something about Young Midoriya sticks out to me." Toshinori answers easily.

For him to not give up despite the mocking sneers and questioning of his ability is admirable to him.

He can feel Aizawa's stare rooted on him before he scoffs. "You make a good point I suppose. His quirk seems to play into energy absorption and energy sourcing based on how he attacked the robots. It will be interesting to see how he uses that skill in various exercises and further drills if I happen to become his instructor."

Aizawa leaves him there on that note to his thoughts.

'Why he's been so harsh on each new batch of freshman is still a mystery to me. Though I don't think his same tactics will work for this year's class, no matter what he tries to do.' Toshinori determines before turning to leave himself.


U.A. Entrance-(Morning):

"Hey, wait! Hold on!" A girl yells out from behind him.

Izuku's first thought is this girl must be referring to someone next to him or up ahead, but her stare is directly on him!

And instantly at seeing short brown hair and rosy cheeks do the memories resurface, this is the nice girl from the other day! The very same one who prevented him from falling face first into the concrete while he hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking, the one who had been trapped between the robots.

She walks right into his personal space with no regard and he averts eyes at seeing just how well U.A.'s girls uniform fits to her body as her breasts bounce at her shifting.

"It's you! The one with that suction-vacuum like quirk! Looks like you got into U.A too! That's great; I wanted to properly thank you for what you did though I never did catch your name! I think that one friend of yours called you Deku though, right?" She states in one breathe before pausing and stepping back at seeing his beet red look.

"Sorry, I'm just rambling away here and I didn't even introduce myself! I'm Ochako Uraraka." She exclaims.

His breathing even outs now that Uraraka isn't so close to him, nodding politely in greeting. "My name is actually Izuku Midoriya...Deku is actually just a insult Kacchan uses for me. He's never thought much of my quirk's use for being a proper Hero..."

Ochako blinks before huffing, waving off the very idea. "Nonsense! Your quirk certainly wasn't useless when it helped me out during that challenge! That's what it means to be a Hero anyways right, helping out those who are weaker or caught in a pinch."

Izuku simply nods along, falling into step with her.

Maybe he's still sleeping, he's never talked this long to a girl without becoming completely tongue-tied. Really, no one paid him much attention at Aldera and in spite of U.A. being a completely different environment, he doesn't expect much to be different here either.

'Well, if this a dream at least it's giving me good talking points for the real world!'

"I hope we're in the same class, it would be great to do more Hero exercises and drills with you! You never really got to see my Zero Gravity quirk in action!" Ochako emphasizes with a punch to the air.

Luckily, they both are in Class 1-A.

'Uraraka makes a good point; I'm going to see a lot more unique quirks here than ever before. Ones that may be more difficult to deal with than even Kacchan's...' Izuku realizes.

The thought is both exciting and terrifying.


Midoriya Household-Evening:

Leather shoes at the door next to his mother's when Izuku gets home instantly tell him his Father is home much earlier than expected. What was supposed to be his arrival tomorrow night has somehow turned into today.

'You could've warned me Mom.' Izuku frowns, wondering if either of them heard the familiar click of the door opening.

He sees ruffled black-green hair come into view out of the kitchen, tired eyes of Hisashi Midoriya regarding him with a faint smile.

"You've grown taller." Hisashi states by way of greeting and Izuku pauses, unsure what to say to that.

Of course he would be taller, the last time he saw him he was perhaps in kindergarten, maybe even younger than that...

Inko pops her head in after her husband, directing them all to take a seat instead of just stand around awkwardly.

"Dear, take a seat, you as well sweetie! Dinner will be ready shortly, catch up with each other!" She states, emerald eyes shifting between the pair. Her stare lingers on Izuku, silently pleading with him not to make the evening a painful ordeal.

He does as his mother asks though, plopping down onto the sofa opposite his father. In the years that have passed he no longer looks like the photos of his baby album or from his memories, specks of gray dotting his hair to stress lines marring his cheeks.

Hisashi notes his staring, rubbing at his eyes. "Sorry, still have a bit of jet lag. A non-stop flight from L.A. to here is over 12 hours plus the added hours of the layover in Osaka taking the train here. My body hasn't completely adjusted to all the time zone changes."

Izuku shakes his head, turning his attention to his hands. What can they even talk about to make these minutes go by faster? Where to even start?

Hisashi coughs, getting the conversation ball rolling.

"So, Inko tells me you managed to get into U.A.; congrats! I know that remains one of the toughest Hero schools to get into." He remarks.

Annoyance slices through him before he can help it, eyes narrowing. "I didn't 'manage' to get in Dad. During the last days of middle school I studied how to better use my quirk to make sure I could do well enough on the entrance exams and practical portions."

Hisashi holds up his hands then in mock surrender, frowning. 'I guess I'm already starting this conversation off on a bad note.'

"...I didn't mean it that way Izuku, you know that. Your quirk is plenty strong to compete with the best of the best, even the upperclassmen! When we first saw signs of you having your grandfather's ability as well we knew you were going to go places to be-." He explains softly.

"Even becoming a Pro-Hero, did you think that?" Izuku cuts him off.

He knows growing up he wasn't the most confident child, Hell he still isn't. His quirk manifested so late into his elementary years that gossip and rumors persisted from both his classmates and teachers he was going to grow up to be quirkless.

That is until the summer before 3rd grade when he was by the river with Kacchan that he sucked in the burst of fire he was about to use on a boy that had dared to say his quirk wasn't all that exciting or special.

'So looks like you aren't a completely worthless loser then Deku, not that your quirk can do much up against mine!' Katsuki boasts.'

That fateful day, that conversation he's long since memorized and repeated over again in his mind sticks with him. From the heat of the sun prickling at his back leaving him with a sunburn by the time he got home, to the chill of the teal colored river soaking his clothes when Katsuki pushed him in for attempting to fight him back.

After that, it was playing the catch up game to be on the same level as his peers.

Most at Aldera didn't see his quirk as much, but U.A. is what matters, the connections he makes there will truly make the difference in him reaching his dream.

Hisashi folds and unfolds his arms, Izuku squirming at recognizing that is a nervous habit he's picked up from him as well.

"Being a Pro-Hero, Dad did say someone in our family would probably go for it as the World keeps changing. Your Mom and I have basic quirks that help with some day to day tasks at times, but nothing on the grand scale of the Heroes we see on the news stopping the Villains and rescuing individuals from crisis or hostage situations." He hums, voice trailing off going into his own memories of childhood.

"Dinner's ready boys!" Inko yells from the kitchen, smell of spices and chicken wafting in.

Izuku moves to stand, Hisashi following after him. He hears his muttering quickly under his breathe of some type of verbal pep talk (Great, another tic he picked up), wishing it didn't make his stomach churn as he repeats it to himself. Years of being gone isn't going to magically make them all chummy-chummy.

Still, his words repeat over as he passes out the utensils.

'I can do this; I can be there for my son through this journey.'


U.A. Class 1-A (Afternoon):

"So both you and Bakugo went to Aldera Middle School then? Huh, the way he talks I would've figured he went to some ritzy private school instead of a public one!" Mina notes, crossing her arms thoughtfully.

Izuku laughs weakly, shaking his head. Mina Ashido is just as bubbly as Uraraka, perhaps even more so in seeing her high energy despite most of their classmates getting sleepy after finishing up lunch.

Right now they are conducting in ice-breakers, giving simple introductions to each other across over their likes/dislikes and a little bit about themselves.

"Your quirk is pretty neat as well, I don't think I've met anyone with an acidic ability before." Izuku mentions.

Ashido waves off the compliment, shrugging despite the grin on her face. "Eh, it's no big deal really! I heard Bakugo yelling something about your quirk being related to energy sucking or something, right? That sounds more interesting to me than anything I can do."

'Everyone here has been so nice, it's like night and day in comparison to middle school!' Izuku grins as the alarm up front beeps indicating they switch and move to their next peer.

That happiness is short-lived though when he sees Bakugo plop down in the seat across from, anger pouring off of him in waves. This will be their first time interacting as classmates now at U.A...

"What are you doing here nerd?" He questions.

Well, he'll edit his last thought: Almost everyone here is friendly!

A/N: Hey, yes you reading this! Hello, I'm SaturnDewdrops; that guest that finally decided to create an account and let out all my inner perversions for you all to enjoy and read! I liked the idea of Izuku having an energy absorption/sourcing quirk, gives me a bit of nostalgic as it's sort of like how the spirit bomb is used in Dragon Ball Z.

Never thought I would make a harem be my first story, but hey it's 2020 as of writing this and I wanted to bring some enjoyment out of the year before it ends! Not sure who I'm including in the old cinnamon roll's harem but I do know as of right now it will have: Ochako, Mina, Momo, and Tsuyu. Send any more suggestions if you feel like it!

Alright, Saturn out for now, expect slow-ish updates depending on response/feedback I have work and a life too!