A short chapter to start things off, that way if I bitch o... Errr... decide I don't want a certain change based on reader feedback, I can easily go fix it. Also, a warning for Anime watchers, this has minor spoilers for the manga, nothing absolutely earthshaking, but I figured it best to warn you.

This is also technically a Warhammer cross, but knowledge of that is completely unrequired.

-X Izuku X-

Midoriya Izuku was five years old when his Quirk first manifested, wandering through the forest near Kacchan's house, he sniffed the air. There was a strange smell, like when you left an apple out too long or something…

Wandering towards the smell, Izuku watched the trails of purple and green light begin to swirl around him, all coming from the same direction as the smell. Izuku's small fingers reached up to touch it, watching the light explode with a giggle of excitement. Whose Quirk was causing this?

The light twisted around his hand, then…

Erupted, yanking at his skin and twisting within his hand. Izuku yelped, trying to pull back as the energy wrapped around him. What… what was going o-?

Izuku whimpered as his hand ached, the green light ripping at it, up his arm and across his body, while the purple formed a shell around him. Where was a hero when-?

"Need a hero?" A voice said, "Don't worry, kiddo. It might be stealin' Eight's phrase, but I am here."

Black energy exploded through the shell, wrapping around Izuku and pulling him out. A shadowy figure stood, hand stretched out and caught Izuku, "Who… who…!?"

"Calm down," the man said, plopping his hand on Izuku's head, "You're gonna need to calm down to control the Quirk."

"Who are you?" Izuku asked.

"Me?" The shadow said, becoming more and more visible with every second. He was wearing an open jacket with one of those things holding bullets under it, a pair of goggles around his forehead and a short beard around his square chin, "You can call me Lariat."

-X Daigoro X-

Banjo Daigoro was used to odd looks, it had come with the territory of being a Japanese man over six feet. And sixty plus years of being dead didn't get rid of that experience. So he was understandably calm at the look the kid had given him upon waking up, even if he wasn't quite used to the reverence in it. He had never cracked the top three hundred before All For One had found him, and their fight hadn't been quite as cataclysmic as some of the other Torchbearers had been. Certainly not like Seven or Eight, but he was pretty sure he had taken out at least a kidney.

At least he had hoped he had taken out a kidney before going down. He hadn't expected to win against the bastard (he didn't think anyone entered a fight with All for One who knew who he was expecting to win), but he hoped he had at least caused some injuries.

Eh, that was off topic. Real off topic, he should probably get to know the kid who had accidentally pulled him here and let him touch the real world again. Because wandering around the closest thing you had to a tomb wasn't exactly pleasant, "So, you got a name kid?"

"Midoriya Izuku," the kid said, staring up at him with eyes, "Thank you for saving me, Lariat."

"Unlockin' your Quirk can be a scary thing," Daigoro said, "Especially when you don't know what your Quirk is and how to stop it. It sure scared the cra- er… crud outta me when it happened."

"What's your Quirk?" Izuku said, eyes wide.

"My Quirk?" Daigoro said, holding out his right hand and letting Blackwhip out. It felt different, stronger, each tendril of black was tougher even as it wrapped around Izuku with a gentle touch and lifted the boy into the air, another wrapping around the purple crystal the size is Izuku's head that had formed where Izuku had been, "It's called Blackwhip, and it's a top tier Quirk. Mobility, restriction, offense, defense, it's everything you could ever want as a hero."

"Wow…" Izuku said, green eyes sparkling, "How much can you lift? How many Black Whips can you make? Is it just your," Izuku stuck out is tongue, weighing both hands, "right hand or can you do it from both? Or your whole body? Do you have any super moves? What are they like? How-"

Daigoro planted a hand on Izuku's head, stopping the boy in his tracks, "Slow down kiddo. You'll have plenty of time to ask questions. Let's get you back home for now, eh?"

"I'm not at home," Izuku said, blinked up with wide eyes, "I'm visiting Kacchan today."

"Then let's go get you where you're supposed to be," Daigoro said, "you can trust me, I'm gonna be your personal bodyguard for now!"

"Thank you, Lariat!" Izuku said, trying to bow in the grip of Blackwhip before Daigoro reeled him in, planting the young boy firmly on his shoulders.

"Now lead the way, kiddo!" Daigoro said.

-X Izuku X-

Izuku rode on Lariat's shoulders as they swung through the trees. Blackwhip sprouted from each arm with each swing, wrapping around the branches. Well, that answered that question!

"Rush of a lifetime, ain't it kiddo?" Lariat asked, landing at the edge of the river on the forest floor and launching Backwhip from both hands, wrapping around two trees in the distance while more wrapped around Izuku, "Hold on tight, this one's gonna be wild!"

Izuku reached down, wrapping his hands around Lariat's big chin. Suddenly, they were launched forward, an explosion of pebbles and water flying wide as they flew across the river and up the edge. They flew past the trees as Blackwhip let go of them and vanished, flying high into the air. Izuku couldn't help it, an excited laugh came out of his mouth as they fell back to the earth close enough to see Kacchan's house, Blackwhip slowing their fall.

"Wow," Izuku breathed, letting Lariat put him back on the ground. "That was…. Was…"

"A rush, right?" Lariat said, "I know, right? Like I said, top tier Quirk."

"I hope my Quirk is like that," Izuku said, "Something that lets me fight like All Might but move like that!"

Lariat chuckled, a deep booming thing as he planted a hand on the top of Izuku's head messing up his hair, "Maybe, kiddo. But from what I saw, you've already got a pretty good Quirk. Let's go call your Mom and Dad, I got somethin' to talk to them about."

"Ok?"

"I-zu-ku!" Izuku span, eyes growing wide as Kacchan stared at him from the top of the slide, red eyes narrowed, "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't leave the yard for hide and seek!"

"...Your parents own the forest?" Izuku defended weakly, hiding behind Lariat as Kacchan huffed.

"No they don't," She said, "Which means I win! Who's this guy?"

"Me?" Lariat said, pointing his thumb at himself "I'm Lariat, and I'm this little guy's bodyguard for now. Can you get your parents, Kacchan? I need to talk to them about talkin' to Izuku's parents."

"Auntie Inko is already here," Kacchan said, pulling open the door, "Mom! Auntie! Izukun's back with some weird guy! He wants to talk to Auntie!"

"Is she…" Lariat said, "is she always like that?"

"Yeah," Izuku said, "That's Kacchan. She's really passionate."

"Just gotta make sure it doesn't go out of control," Lariat said.

-X Inko X-

Inko watched the tall man step into the house, eyes taking in the black coat over a bare chest. A pair of black goggles with red lenses sat on his bald head, and his wide jaw was set into a cocksure grin, "Hey! You must be Izuku's mom, right?"

"Yes," Inko said, bowing slightly, "Midoriya Inko."

"Banjo Daigoro," the man said, waving, "I am..

I was the pro hero Lariat. It's a bit of a long story, do you mind if I sit down?"

"Sure," Mitsuki, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, "I've never heard of a Lariat before."

Banjo laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he took the seat, "Yeah, I don't blame you. I was never really high on the charts before I was forced to 'retire'. Happens, ya know?"

Inko blinked at the air quotation marks he put around the word retired. What? "Um…?"

"Sorry, sorry," Banjo said with a laugh, "I must sound like I'm talking nonsense, right? Let's start… Well, not at the beginnin', but where things started today. Alright? Alright."

"You-"

"So," Banjo continued undaunted, "Izuku's Quirk manifested, so, uh… congrats on that. Big day, I know, and I probably shouldn't be takin' up your time when you should be going out to eat to celebrate or something, but it's kinda weird so I guess I should talk to you about it."

"Weird in what way?" Mitsuki asked for Inko, who was too busy staring out at Izuku playing with Katsuki.

"This is gonna sound wild," Banjo said, "but I've been dead for sixty years."

Inko's eyes snapped to him, "What?"

"Yeah," Banjo said, laughing, "sounds like I made it up right? But if you check my identity of any of those sites that track heroes… those are still around right? You'll see my death date listed… assumin' anyone bothered to put it, or even noticed I died to begin with."

Inko wanted to break all decorum and reach out to hug the man as he seemed to deflate, eyes plunging down as he bowed his head, "Surely someone-?"

"I lost a lot of friends before me," Banjo said, "and there was only one person around when I died, and they didn't get my name. People might think I just retired for all I know, or got my license pulled after not renewin' it for so long. That happens too, sometimes."

"But how are you here, if you died?" Mitsuki asked.

"Izuku's Quirk? Inko said immediately, connecting the dots. Banjo nodded, eye jumping back up.

"This isn't too far from where I died. I think… The kiddo was scared when he unlocked his Quirk, I know that much. Didn't know what was going on or how to control it, so I think it's got something to do with necromancy-type stuff. You'll need to take him to a Specialist for more, but I guess it grabbed onto the nearest person and brought them back to help him. Lucky it was me, my Quirk is a bit hard to control, so I knew to calm him down to get it under control."

"I'm sorry," Inko started, bowing, "He-"

"Dragged me back from the afterlife or something?" Daigoro said, waving his hand, "I was wandering the place where I died before he called me, maybe because I didn't have the best death. Regrets, you know? Savin' someone, even just one more person, that's a weight off my heart. And if the kid wants me to stick around, I'm fine with it. Anything's better than just wanderin' the forest bored out of my mind."

"We should get him to a Quirk specialist," Inko said, standing and pulling out her phone to begin to dial the Mustafu General Hospital.

"Always a good first step," Banjo said, "...You do know they're gonna want me along, right? If I'm a product of his Quirk now, they're gonna want me around to run the tests."

"You don't mind do you?" Inko asked.

"I said I'd stick around if the kid wanted me to," Banjo said, "He likes Quirks, doesn't he?"

"And heroes," Inko said, "He's wanted to be one since he was a toddler. A lot of his clothes are All Might the- you wouldn't know who that i-"

"Oh, I know Eight," Banjo laughed, "not my story to tell, but I've seen him before."

-X Katsuki X-

Katsuki sat in the back of the car between Izuku and Auntie Inko, trying not to pout. It wasn't fair, she was older than Izuku by two months, why'd he get his Quirk first? Still, it was fun to watch him play with the purple and green lights that showed up when he activated it.

Or it was, until his hand exploded into a pale green fire. Her mom said a bad word, car swerving while Auntie reached across Katsuki to bat out the fire. The Pro Hero, Lariat, just looked back at Izuku, "Calm."

Izuku breathed in, and the flames pulled back, stopping as a ball in his hand. He closed his hand, crushing the fire, which returned to green light, "That's cool."

"Still," Lariat said, "You might wanna wait until we get to the hospital to test your Quirk, before you give your mom a heart attack."

Izuku nodded, dropping his hands while the lights disappeared. He clenched them, shaking, "I'm just… I got my Quirk!"

"Big day, I know," Lariat said, "but we're almost at the hospital… I think, we are, right?"

"Five minutes out," Mom said, "Ten if there's a villain attack."

"Right," Lariat nodded, looking back at Izuku, "So save it for then. You'll be able to go all out so they can figure out your Quirk."

"Ok," Izuku said.

"Gotta say," Lariat said, looking out the window, "Whole lotta stuff has changed since the last time I was in Mustafu. It's bigger, much bigger. Look at UA! Wasn't that big when I visited from Shiketsu, let me tell you."

"You went to Shiketsu?" Katsuki asked, "That's dumb, why not aim for the best school?"

"Was closer to home," Lariat said, shrugging, "So I figured I might as well save some money. Shiketsu was fine, even if the teachers were a pain in the aaahh- backside. Sticks in the mud, all of 'em."

Izuku looked around as they walked towards the testing area. There were more lights here, like a lot more lights. He had read something in a book about an abora… something, that happened at the north pole, and this felt like a mini version of that. Purple and green lights streamed everywhere, with the occasional stream of red.

A pair of huge doors swung open as they walked up to them, so big that Izuku had to tilt his head straight up to see the top when they passed through. Were these for people with Quirks that made them giant?

Sitting down next to Kacchan, Izuku quietly waited for his name to be called, pulling out a journal and marking it.

Power Notes for the Future Vol 1.

- X AN X-

Next time, we get a look at what Izuku's start line is.

So, the female Katsuki thing is aforementioned 'bitching out'. The problem arises that, while this is obviously a long way off since they're five, and we'll have several chapters dedicated to childhood (with them luckily becoming increasingly verbose as time goes on. Let me tell you, nothing about this hurt more than trying to keep Izuku and Katsuki at a level that a five year old could reasonably have) it feels like I'm locking a ship in. Ask my Beta, I tend to swing back and forth on ships several times before making a decision. Even just considering things for the future, I'm not sure I want that (something about Izuku and Mei works, considering she's gonna be helping with support gear, for example).

Thoughts, questions and opinions? Good? Bad? Meh?