Izuku abruptly opened his eyes—seeing the black sky stretching over him—and gasped.
He was on his back, the wet sand sticking to his body, the chilly air of summer nights making the sweat of his body uncomfortably tenacious.
"Oh, you've finally woken up." The voice was familiar to Izuku. He looked around, his vision blurry and his eyes wet from the stinging sensation he felt all over his body.
"W-what," said the green-haired boy, his voice trembling and sounding as if he just started puberty again. The cracks of his voice surprised him the most. His eyes widened.
"I wasn't too far off with my assumptions," said All Might, the voice belonging to his smaller, frailer form…
And it hit Izuku. He remembered everything that happened to him the past few days, from meeting his idol to being gifted a quirk and becoming his successor.
With it came a searing memory. The sight of a beautiful white pearl in the sky, and with it, the call of the moon.
"The moon…?" Izuku whispered, shifting his body to watch the glorious star once more. He stood up, almost expectant. The rush of power that erupted inside of him before he blacked out had been almost addicting, even if he couldn't exactly recall what happened.
"I would stop doing that if I were you," called out a voice from behind. Izuku, flustered, turned around quickly. His cheeks were pink from the embarrassment of having ignored his mentor.
"I'm sorry…" Izuku paused. His eyes widened in horror, his throat parched. The sight of his mentor's state made his heart come to a stop. His ample T-shirt was ruffled, stains of mud scattered across its surface. It was also shredded to pieces, each tear accompanied by a deep red coloration.
The color of blood.
"W-what h-happened?" Izuku's words were weak, his mind sent in disarray at the view of his idol being injured. The man with a bright smile, the invincible hero that saved everyone, All Might, dripping blood from his body and breathing with difficulty. It was like a nightmare tugging at his mind.
Admittedly, the sight of the wound he sustained from his fight against Toxic Chainsaw was more gruesome—the macabre scar had mangled his side into a dark, puckered skin.
But these were recent. Izuku could see the red liquid dripping from All Might's torso in his de-transformed body. The gashes reminding him of the dragging of a claw against the skin. Jagged claws penetrating the flesh, slowly making the prey bleed out during the hunt…
Izuku choked, his body falling backward.
All Might's grim expression didn't change as he followed the distraught boy with his eyes. "You don't have to worry, young man."
"B-b-but, I'm the one that-" Izuku was hyperventilating.
"... Yes." All Might looked into his eyes. "That is true… I guess congratulations are in order first, you've finally found out what your quirk is," All Might said, letting out a long and pained sigh, the cold and unforgiving breeze making him remember the aching lacerations on his body.
Not that Izuku's frightful gaze tracing the wounds hadn't already done that.
"These wounds will heal in no time, young man." His words were smooth and his deep voice pierced through the frantic mind of the green-haired boy sitting that fell on the sand.
He gulped, his eyes still drawn to the bloodied skin of his idol and his breathing coming back to a normal rhythm. That these weren't permanent calmed him down. He wouldn't be able to live with the fact that he had permanently injured the greatest hero of this era, thus took the right to be saved from future victims of villain attacks.
H-how? What happened? How could I hurt him so much?
But all these questions festered in Izuku's mind. Injuring All Might was a feat that he thought impossible until a couple of weeks ago when the number one hero explained to him the reason the Symbol Of Peace could not perform correctly.
"S-so, a quirk?" That was the only reason Izuku could see that would allow him to hurt All Might. A quirk that hid from him since his birth. A quirk powerful enough that it could reach All Might, but one that he couldn't control.
Izuku's lips quivered as his fist as his self-disgust skyrocketed. Not having a quirk was better than having one that would make him a danger to society.
"Yes, a quirk." All Might's words were curt, but he was looking at the young man with a softened gaze. "I have to admit that I rarely dealt with people that were unaware of what their quirk was for their whole life…" In fact, I never did, thought All Might, keeping this to himself.
Izuku's current feeling was crystal clear on his face, after all.
He sighed and looked around, seeing the remnants of his fight with his disciple. He also rarely dealt with people with quirks that they utterly could not control, but he withheld this information from him as well.
Even children had an instinctive understanding of what made them unique. His disciple might be the only one that never had an inkling of an idea about what his quirk was.
Suffering injuries because of not understanding the limits of your quirk was one thing—it was a natural process that every child went through.
But losing control over one's body completely was another.
Izuku's eyes being stuck on the Symbol Of Peace's face, he followed All Might's sight and observed the scenery. The beach looked like a battlefield, with craters, chunks of the ground simply being missing. Claw marks decorated the scenery everywhere and the garbage—whether or not metallic—was not spared of the damage.
Izuku spotted a few steel debris of varying sizes layered against the ground.
"W-what happened here," Izuku asked, his tone flat and the words hollow.
"We fought. You are not the first one I've met that has a hard time controlling their quirk, but you might be the first one that involves a full body transformation."
"So… So these injuries, I-I'm really the one that-"
"Yeah… Once you transformed, you immediately attacked me. While I was unwilling to use substantial force against you and tried to wake you up, it caught me off-guard when your… feral form used One For All instinctively." All Might pointed to the various injuries on his body. "These, are the results."
Izuku bit his lower lip. He balled up his fists even tighter, and tears of frustration pooled in his eyes.
So, not only I cannot use All Might's quirk normally, but when I do, it ends up injuring him?
Izuku's eyes went to the ground, escaping from his idol. He ignored the sound of the footsteps on the sand because of the bitterness he was feeling.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and shook it gently.
"Didn't I say to not worry about it? You need to be the stone that everybody relies upon, even in times of distress—an authentic hero. If you are going to cry and lament whenever something bad happens to you, how can anyone trust you to save others?" All Might's words made Izuku pause and pursed his lips.
All Might's words resonated with his dream, the light of his path that All Might himself lit back up when he told him he could be a hero.
"Are you going to back down at every obstacle, or are you going to stand up and fight back?" All Might, even in his smaller form, seemed to be tall when in front of Izuku.
Izuku's eyes flickered to his idol's frame.
His hunched back reminded the green-haired boy of the legend of Atlas, carrying the world. The confidence and the gentle smile prompted Izuku to stand back up and breathe deeply. His hands went to his eyes, removing the wetness—he even tried to smile.
"I-I'm sorry, I just didn't expect things to go like this…"
All Might observed him, his deep gaze—the black and blue eyes—judging Izuku's response.
"I thought so," he said, grinning at his successor. "Nobody expected this, certainly not myself." He let go of his shoulder, walking back towards the relatively clean fridge he had been sitting on this whole time.
Leaning on the metal furniture, he continued, "But now, you must make the most out of it." His hands were trembling at the itchy sensations building up around his wounds.
Izuku's sharp mind zeroed on All Might's expression. "S-shouldn't we go to the hospital?" The cracks in his tone and the trembling voice made All Might chuckle.
"Don't worry, someone I know and trust should be here soon. After all, I can't exactly show up to any hospital with this injury," said the Symbol Of Peace, exposing his terrible scar to the air once more.
Despite having already seen it once, the crumpled dark skin, laced with red lines of failed surgeries, made Izuku recoil all the same. However, that didn't deter the green-haired boy from wondering who this trusted person was.
As his mind went over every hero All Might ever appeared with or even mentioned to have a relationship with, displaying his impressive ability to mumble dense and quick streams of information—uncaring of the outside world—a short, elderly woman arrived at the beach.
"Um, young man…" All Might felt his sweat drop at Izuku's display.
"I see that you always have the nasty habit of getting yourself into trouble, Toshinori. From the fights you pick to the successor you choose…" The person was soft-spoken.
All Might turned around, watching the tiny figure of Recovery Girl going down the partially destroyed, from his fight with the transformed Izuku, stairs.
"As always, you are on point, Chiyo." He didn't deny her accusations. As the number one hero, it was his duty to get into trouble.
Despite the beach that Izuku had to clean being in a relatively unpopular region of the city, neither All Might nor Recovery Girl wanted to out their hero identity while dressed in their civilian clothes, thus the use of their real names to talk to each other.
It would be even more problematic for All Might, as the Symbol Of Peace. His role in modern society could be easily undermined if his true state entered the public eye.
Especially by his nemesis.
"I didn't want to reveal my successor to you until he was ready but…" All Might said, ignoring the wet and sticky spot left on his arm once Chiyo worked her magic. Her way of healing people had been the reason her popularity soared when she was younger and still beautiful.
Now, however…
Chiyo frowned, making All Might blink in confusion. "W-what?"
"You were thinking about something rude, I know it."
"..." All Might didn't comment any further, frightened by the old woman's deductive abilities.
"Now, is he the rumored successor you were talking about?" Said Chiyo, pointing towards the star-struck young boy.
All Might nodded. "Yeah, he is."
Chiyo's eyes roamed over his body. "Are you sure that it was a good idea to give him your Quirk so soon?"
"When I received All For One, I was very similar to young Midoriya here."
She gave him a look.
"In terms of physical fitness, of course…" All Might coughed in his fist, blood splattering against his palm.
With the same flat gaze, Chiyo spoke, "But you were- no, you still are a freak. Your body isn't the same as others, even if they look the same."
"I know, but he improved at a faster rate than I expected."
"So you thought it was okay to give him a Quirk that could destroy him because of his… Improvement rate?"
"N-No, not exact- Yes…"
Chiyo frowned, but only gave All Might a disappointed look before looking over the green-haired boy who didn't know whether to laugh or cry that the number 1 hero was getting chewed out by an old lady.
Not any old lady, however.
Izuku, the hero nerd that he was, had recognized Chiyo's identity the moment he saw her method of healing.
A famous hero was one of the few ways to wake him up when he went into his analytic mode.
"Re-re-recovery Girl!" The usual squeal of excitement came out of Izuku's throat, making even the calm and compassionate Chiyo step back.
"Oi, Stop that, young man." All Might's words made Izuku self-aware of his babbling, and he apologized as the pink dusting on his cheeks grew stronger under the amused gaze of Recovery Girl.
"Well... at least he's lively," she mumbled.
"I don't think I have to make an introduction, but this is Chiyo Shuzenji, also known as Recovery Girl."
Izuku nodded, admiring someone who essentially was a modern legend. Because of the flashier and more powerful quirks always being put on display, people often underestimated how valuable heroes like Recovery Girl—those with healing quirks—were.
They handled the burden of extending the careers of most heroes, helping them get past a potentially nasty injury at the hands of dangerous heroes after all.
Not only that, but they also healed the regular population when a villain attack occurred. Izuku held a special place in his heart for people like the old lady in front of him.
"I'm flattered by your reaction," Chiyo said, her tone serious and her eyes narrowed. "But now is not the time for that."
Towards Izuku.
"... Indeed." All Might followed her gaze, and Izuku found himself under the pressure of two professional heroes at the same time.
"Y-yes?"
"Now that we have found that you have a quirk, we need to change a lot of things. Especially in your training regime." All Might hummed. His brow furrowed as he tapped his foot repeatedly on the ground, already thinking about ways to better Izuku's training, considering the recent event.
Izuku nodded. Chiyo would do more than just affect All Might's recovery, he guessed. Despite the appearance of one of his favorite heroines and the state of All Might, the tension in the air came from something else.
His Quirk.
The moon was a big hint that his mind couldn't let go of. It had left such a deep and lasting impression on his mind that Izuku felt—no, knew that everything revolved around the satellite. The word that appeared at the top of his mind was…
Werewolf.
It was a Quirk, so surreal, that Izuku had a hard time believing he could transform into one of these creatures. Yet, the nagging feeling at the back of his mind, the way he could always tell where the moon was, the way his body heated as the ray of moonlight crashed onto his back…
It was very much real. His quirk made him into a werewolf.
Or at least something very similar to it.
"I'm sure you of all people already know what kind of procedure people with transformation quirks have to go through," said All Might. "While Chiyo here doesn't have an analytical quirk, hers allows her to peer slightly into the biology of others. It's like a side-effect of her powers. With it, she's easily able to deduce a couple of things from anyone she heals, especially since she is an actual doctor…" All Might scratched the back of his hand, giving the stage to the small lady.
"I've been told by Toshinori that you have some sort of werewolf form," she said, making him nod after a brief pause.
"I-I think?"
"I see. I may not get a lot from you. People that have weird biologies from their Quirk are always hard for me to understand. But if it's something akin to a werewolf, then I should do the trick."
Izuku wondered if All Might didn't have anyone to call late at night to perform extensive scans, and Recovery Girl was the only one able to make it, or if All Might didn't want to do so.
After all, he was appearing in his frailer form, therefore he must have restricted the help he could get to people that knew about his secret.
Shaking his head, Izuku tried to call out his power. He closed his eyes and focused on the weird sensations that assailed him ever since he woke up.
But he received no answer.
"Don't think of your power. It has to be an instinct. You don't think about moving your arm, you just do." He could hear All Might's advice while wandering in his mental space. Recent memories surfaced once called upon much strongly than the older ones.
Don't think, don't think…
"A mental image related to your quirk also helps. Transformation quirks are the hardest to control for a reason… Try to think of anything related to your quirk, wolves, the moon…"
The Symbol Of Peace continued to list increasingly interesting things related to werewolves, making Chiyo turn her head towards him suspiciously. "... You sure seem to know a lot about werewolves, Toshinori."
All Might paused and sighed, "I was quite a fan of them when younger…"
Meanwhile, Izuku zeroed on a word, the moon. The beautiful moon… The eye of the night sky, the beacon of the stars, the guide of the hunt…
Everything changed.
The rush of power came back stronger than ever. The pulsating blood in his veins made him grin, high on the superior biology he morphed into.
He felt like he could destroy mountains.
The smell was the biggest change. Everything was just… more.
The transition was painless and nearly instant. Lost in the wonders of the world, Izuku experienced through his nose the totality of reality. An old phrase came to his mind.
The sense of smell of a wolf is 100 times stronger than a human's, they said… And Izuku agreed.
He could navigate through the landscape just with his newly upgraded sense of smell. Pinpoint objects, imagine depth, understand distances… You name it, he could do it.
However, it would have been an addicting feeling that he could have enjoyed if he wasn't currently on a beach filled with garbage.
The scent of the putrid waste around him… Made him almost want to retreat into his weaker and smaller form.
Izuku opened his eyes, having to stop himself from puking. His crumpled nose made for a very intimidating view, as it revealed part of his sharp teeth. The first thing he realized was how… small everything was.
"How does it feel, young man?" All Might's voice broke him out of his reverie. The number 1 hero was ready to intervene once more if Izuku wasn't able to control himself. He hoped that—judging by the transformed young man's passiveness—this time his successor wouldn't attack him, but All Might wouldn't have become the best hero in the world by being careless.
He also had transformed into his muscular form the moment Izuku accessed his quirk.
The dark green-furred—a hunter-green—beast did nothing other than look around for a few seconds. Being gifted with a superior sense of smell, I am also cursed with a worse vision… Izuku realized.
He had a hard time observing colors. Figures seemed to blend, and if he wasn't moving his head around, he couldn't pick up details as much as he remembered being able to with his human vision.
It was to the point where he didn't know if he recognized a color because he knew what tint the object he was looking at through his memory or if he truly could see it.
"It feels we-" Izuku said before pausing. His voice was much, much deeper. It felt bestial, even to his ear. The words sounded slightly off, probably because of the different mouths, the werewolf reasoned.
His speech habits as a human didn't carry over perfectly to his werewolf form. No matter, he would have to get used to it.
But the most staggering change was his instinct. The moment the muscular pro hero entered his vision, Izuku involuntarily took a step back, away from him.
DANGER.
MENTOR.
Izuku felt disoriented by the influx of information that the Symbol Of Peace generated in him. When he glanced at the tiny old lady next to him, something very different happened.
HARMLESS.
HEALER.
Was his quirk able to tell other people's powers? No- It wasn't able to tell All Might's, but it provided a sense of security and admiration when thinking about him, while the underlying fear of his power was always there. Meanwhile, Recovery Girl appeared as a non-threat to his quirk, but still useful because of her healing power.
Did his quirk know about her powers because he knew, or was it able to know, by itself? Is the reason All Might's power not listed because he doesn't have any power other than his insane strength, or beca-
Chiyo's cane tapping on a metal edge created a resonating dull sound. "You're doing it again," she remarked.
She hopped off the fridge with a surprising display of dexterity for her age. Yet, the next second she sauntered towards the green-haired boy, using her cane for support at every step. "Alright, I'll see what I can do," she spoke in her quiet voice, arriving next to the enormous creature Izuku had transformed into.
Nearly eight feet tall, if Izuku had to guess, his line of sight being slightly above All Might himself, whose height topped at seven feet two. And large, very large, in the bulging muscles category.
Chiyo showed no fear. But then again, it probably comes with the territory of being a professional hero...
Her lips stretched unnaturally.
Izuku would have never guessed that an old lady so soon would kiss him on his path to become a proper hero. After all, receiving kisses from a woman you saved was a well-known cliche in the hero community.
Chiyo hummed after retracting her lips, pondering over the information she drew from her quirk.
"Since my powers speed up a person's healing based on their capacities, and especially, their stamina, I can immediately get an estimate on someone's stamina. And, you have a lot of stamina."
"Nice! We shall double your training, in both intensity and time!" commented All Might, his signature smile on display. "The entrance test is only eight and a half months away after all."
"... That is true." Chiyo sighed, looking too used to Toshinori's antics. "Now, I feel obligated to tell you this, even if it's likely that it will make you embarrassed."
Izuku blinked.
"First, when I said you have a lot of stamina, I really mean a lot. Get rid of this extra energy each day, otherwise, it will probably affect your mental space and make you more prone to… impulsive actions."
"So… A dog?"
"... Exactly," said Chiyo without looking at All Might. "Now for the other part. This excessive stamina will extend to your sexual activities…"
All Might's brow furrowed, and Izuku's face stopped functioning.
But Izuku's reaction wasn't only because of his natural awkwardness. There's no way this is happening…
This form's instincts were acting up at the thoughts flaring up in his mind.
For a moment, the only sound on the beach was the cold breeze washing over the ground of sand.
"... W-what?" Izuku's stammer in his werewolf form—with his deep and rumbling voice—would have made All Might erupt in laughter if the conversation happening did not mortify him. Feeling self-conscious, the green-haired boy inside the monster's skin retreated, scratching the back of his wolf-like head with one of his claws.
"Yes, exactly what I said," spoke Chiyo, ignoring both men's reactions. "Young man, are you sexually active?"
Izuku's body froze, but his face felt like boiling lava. "N-n-no," he said with difficulty, abash.
"Wait a minute, Chiyo…"
"Then I suggest you search as soon as possible. Masturbation will only go so far. Until you can find an appropriate outlet for your lust, you might want to not transform completely unless you need to." Chiyo's gaze was as calm as the river behind them, even though her words sent Izuku into a loop. "You will probably experience a period of heat from what I can tell, so be careful of this as well. Whether you make it into U.A., I'll update your Quirk registration so that any faculty you enter in the future knows of your… particularities."
"... Thank you?" Izuku didn't know what to say.
All Might cringed, already knowing how the introverted and shy Izuku Midoriya would act with women.
He felt his heart go to the young man, despite being reticent about helping him with this topic.
He certainly didn't remember signing up for this when he became a mentor.
Izuku's hero academia was bound to be complicated.
The moon did not discriminate.
While it shined down upon the next torchbearer of One For All, it also blessed the rampant darkness with its presence.
The buildings in Musutafu were tall because of the urbanization of the city that exploded when the high school specialized for training heroes, U.A., moved their establishment in the hills around the town.
It resulted in the otherwise rural parts of the town coexisting with the more modern city. The town, known for its vibrant vegetation and its wooden houses, against the cold concrete of the apartments, next to each other. Two completely different areas, sharing the same name—Musutafu.
On top of one of these tall buildings, a man stood.
They were high enough to satisfy the man's desire to supervise.
Sporting a dark combat suit, plated with metal armor, holding multiple daggers, swords, and other weapons, the man overlooked the busy city.
From the bright lights in the popular streets to the dark alleys hidden away from the populace's view, he watched it all.
A blood-red and ruined scarf floated around his body because of the chilly breeze of the night. Matching that, a similar colored bandana separated his messy, long hair from his head. Under it, a tattered cloth—the same color as the bandages wrapped around his arms—covered the upper part of his head, with just two holes for his eyes.
Perched over the edge of the building, one step away from a sure fall and a sure death, he held a piece of paper in his left hand. A picture.
This man had followed All Might's track. His idol was in this city and had performed once more his noble duty.
As expected of him, this man thought with a twisted rictus on his face.
However, that was not the reason for his presence. The picture he was holding depicted a certain woman.
Young, beautiful, blonde… And extremely tall.
The man gritted his teeth. Just like All Might would continue his duty as the only authentic hero, he would fulfill his by cutting down false idols relentlessly.
They named him after the very thing he removed from society. He looked at the moon and smiled.
Time was ticking.
There is an advanced chapter on my Pat re on if you'd like to read it a week earlier. Feel free to check it if you'd like to support me: Pat re on .com (slash) HiddenSword
I have finally created my own discord, for my two ongoing stories, here's the link if you want to come and chat: discord .gg/UQ4YbqphM9
A/N: There goes the second chapter, and things start to move already.