This'll be my own version of "Midoriya Izuku. Quirk: Cuteness" by AceMe, written with their permission, found on AO3 with the following attached to the standard URL: /works/17330426/chapters/40771925
This story is rated M right off the bat, for future Bakugou.
That said, let's get this show on the road.
Prologue: Adorable Anomaly
At two years old, Midoriya Izuku was adorable. This was nothing out of the ordinary, granted, since he was still young enough to be considered a toddler. But his mother was given pause at just how cute he could get and for how long. While her best friend's son, Bakugou Katsuki – known as "Kacchan" by Izuku – could make some rather angry faces for his age, her own seemed to be downright photogenic to the point where her heart fluttered more than once at his displays of sweetness and/or joy. And the sheer number of pictures in the family albums could testify to how often Izuku managed to create those moments.
While a little out of the ordinary, Midoriya Inko could admit to herself that she was probably biased since this was her son. He would be adorable to her even if he had a body from eldritch mythos. But that view changed one day when, rather than wait for Mitsuki to bring her son so they could go to the cinema, Inko took Izuku to his favorite park to pass the time until they would meet.
One moment of not looking, and her son was missing from the playground he'd been at two seconds ago.
Inko jumped to her feet and looked around frantically, seeing a large villain with an octopus quirk, tentacles hanging from beneath the hood obscuring his face as multiple tentacles with membranes between them stretched out to grab anything in the man's way to toss aside, steal, or keep as leverage. In one of his limbs was a green-haired toddler.
Inko chased after the villain, screaming for help from any heroes who could be nearby, "Help! Please! He has my baby!"
It didn't take long for a hero patrolling nearby to respond, pursuing the tentacled man while calling backup. More heroes joined the chase and a small crowd of civilians followed at a slower speed. Inko had tears running down her face as she desperately tried to catch up to the villain that was out of her sight now.
'My Izuku must be so frightened right now! How could I have let this happen—I should never have left his side!' she mentally screamed in panic.
As she arrived at the scene where the villain had been cornered, she expected a hostage situation and pushed her way to the front of the crowd that had gathered. There was a standoff, but not what she expected.
Instead of the villain holding Izuku aggressively with a threat of violence towards the boy, his tentacles had turned into four membraned arms that were wrapped around the boy in a full-body hug as he sat out in the open. The thief's face, visible now under the hood, wasn't very handsome since it resembled a cephalopod with no visible mouth fused to the shoulders of a human body, two tentacles hanging from the front down to his chest like a bizarre mustache. But his protruding eyes only radiated calm joy as he let out a gurgling coo and tickled Izuku's face with the tip of a facial tentacle, getting a giggle out of her son. The valuables he had managed to filch so far – a purse, two necklaces, a gem-encrusted bracelet, and a gold ring – were forgotten on the floor as he doted on the toddler.
Despite the surrealness of the situation, one of the heroes stepped forward, "Leave the kid out of this, Innsmouth! Your fight is with us!"
The other heroes present snapped out of their daze from the abnormal scene and got ready to use their quirks. The octopus thief hissed in irritation and readied two arms on one side without letting Izuku go as they split into multiple tentacles. But tightening his hold only tickled the little boy more and got another round of giggles, drawing attention back to him.
Inko's heart nearly stopped when the villain looked at Izuku for a long moment. But his grip loosened, and the thief lowered his other limbs.
"I surrender," Innsmouth replied with a garbled voice. Releasing Izuku to be taken by one of the heroes, he reverted his tentacles to a pair of arms as he let the other heroes bind all four of them in zip-ties. "With such a pure smile in this world, villainy is pointless."
"Mama!" Izuku happily called when he was led back to her.
Inko picked him up in a strong hug, "Izuku, my baby!"
"Didja see?" he asked eagerly. "The bad guy stopped bein' bad!"
The hero who had brought Izuku back chuckled, "Seems your son is quite the little hero already, ma'am. I've never seen anything like that."
"Yes!" Izuku agreed happily. "I wanna be the bestest hero!"
QCQCQC
Two years after this unforgettable event, Inko found herself as shocked by the doctor's words as her son was. He appeared to be giving a tired and overused speech about how being a hero was an unattainable dream for a quirkless boy, citing an extra toe joint from Izuku's x-ray as undeniable proof.
She was unable to speak at the time, but not from despair. Instead, she was incredulous and indignant behind the aghast expression on her face. Didn't this man have eyes?! Was his sight going in his old age?!
While her son had always been adorable, his current age where quirks typically manifested had only increased the effect he had on other people. From her limited knowledge on the subject, Izuku must have had a mutant aspect to his quirk since it was active from birth. How else could he have stopped that villain with only his precious laugh?
And this man was dismissing that on account of a factor that might not even be directly linked?! Sure, neither her own quirk nor her husband's matched what Izuku was showing, but it couldn't be anything but a quirk of his own.
Taking her son by the hand, she left while the doctor didn't seem surprised at her abrupt departure. The drive home was quiet at first, but Inko steeled herself and said, "Don't you listen to a word that man said, Izuku. Call it a mother's intuition, but you do have a quirk and it will be unbeatable."
"Does… Does that mean I can be a hero?" Izuku asked tentatively, almost appearing scared to hope.
She smiled at her son with tears at the corners of her eyes, "I know you can be a hero, my sweet Izuku. Not just a hero, but easily one of, if not the best."
His own eyes welled up and sparkled, and Inko hurriedly had to turn her attention back to the road lest she nearly rear-end someone like the last time she got distracted behind the wheel. Though it was a hard-fought battle to not try snapping pictures of her son's happy tears as he sniffled in his seat. Even his crying was cute while it made her want to immediately make the sadness go away! Happy tears were definitely photo material!
Given that Inko was running out of shelf space for the photo albums, she should really pick out her favorites from each one and try to consolidate them into fewer books. Someday.
QCQCQC
A six-year-old Izuku was crying into his mother's shoulder and asked, "Why is Kacchan so mean now?"
Inko held him lovingly as she thought about what her son had said through his sobs. The Bakugou family knew of Izuku's "invisible quirk" even though he was registered officially as quirkless. It was hard to deny the evidence of him drawing crowds of well-wishers literally anywhere he went, along with the villain he'd stopped at two years old.
During a trip in the park's more forested area, Katsuki had apparently taken a fall off a mossy log into a river. Izuku had tried to help him up, but the blond slapped his hand away and accused him of "looking down on him."
"Izuku, that sounds like something that should have come up before now," Inko said. "Have you and Katsuki been having problems?"
Izuku shook his head, "I don't know! His face gets really red whenever he starts shouting at me, and he'll push me around when he thinks I'm in his way. But the one time somebody else tried making fun of me, Kacchan beat him up so bad that the student took the next day off to recover. He keeps complaining about me following him, but will look for me if I'm on my own…"
His mother processed all of that information, the contradictions and what it could mean. The conclusion she drew was both reassuring and worrisome as she gave an uneasy smile. If Katsuki was slightly precocious and had a crush, even if he didn't know what to do with it, then she could tell Mitsuki and let her try to funnel his feelings towards something positive. But Izuku wasn't ready to enter the world of love at six years old, especially with Katsuki being knee-deep in denial and trying to push him away while keeping him in sight.
"I think that it's not as bad as you believe," she reassured Izuku. "As you both grow older, then new feelings might grow. Katsuki's probably just confused right now, and I'll have Mitsuki talk with him."
It would probably help if Izuku could turn down his quirk. While his body was the base, she'd personally witnessed people be more affected when he got emotional. Not that she was one to judge, since she had to fight tooth and nail to not give in anytime her son pouted about not being able to get the most recent All Might merchandise.
Still, being able to turn it down and up would help when they made their case to get his registry changed…
QCQCQC
A year later, Izuku was only making slight progress on his quirk, but Inko describing her own emitter quirk helped. Attraction of Small Objects was hardly eye-popping, but it was the same kind as she suspected Izuku's could be. By focusing on her hand, the conduit for using her quirk, energy gathered from within and typically pulled an item she was looking at.
Meanwhile, Izuku and Katsuki's friendship was still a little strained, especially since he started trying to force Izuku to give up on his dream of being a hero. They never came to blows, and Katsuki still viciously attacked anyone who tried to give Izuku grief, but the emotional distance between them was worrying. Inko was hoping that Izuku's natural goodness would wear down Katsuki's defenses, just as soon as he could stop unintentionally stirring up feelings in the explosive boy.
Back to her impromptu lessons, Izuku managed to figure out that if her quirk is focused on her hands, he needs to try finding what his focuses on. An offhand comment from Inko about how everything about him was adorable made his eyes light up in a way that had her take out her phone and snap a picture.
"That's it!" Izuku realized with glee. "If I'm the source, and my whole body is the channel, then I need to feel for the energy all around me—not just in parts!"
The very next day, her son had managed to pinpoint the feeling of his special aura and suppress it, but only for a moment. Yet in that single moment, Izuku only looked cute instead of irresistibly precious.
QCQCQC
After getting a handle on his quirk over the years, able to both keep a lid on the output and even increase it, Izuku and Inko managed to get it registered at a Hero Public Safety Commission office with a practical demonstration. While not a directly destructive quirk, the officials were impressed with the effect after Izuku turned it back down and let them reclaim their mental faculties.
While a bit embarrassing, Izuku went with the accurate name of "Cuteness Supreme" as suggested by his mother.
Not that there weren't still hurdles as more oddities about his quirk came up. He cut his finger on one of his notebooks and bled a few drops of chocolate. His… natural processes were either muted or made unscented and less noticeable. He didn't even really want to think about what happened when he inadvertently copied one of Katsuki's swear words.
And while he no longer released his aura unwillingly except under duress, Izuku was still a very cute boy that gave his peers and even adults protective and at times suffocating instincts towards him. Not to mention downright odd behaviors such as a local baker hesitating to sell him a cinnamon roll because "That would be cannibalism." And anybody who heard his dream to be a hero seemed torn between indulging and trying to dissuade him—nobody ever took it seriously.
On top of those issues, as Inko would later learn, Katsuki never stopped trying to make Izuku give up on his dream. He was less volatile without having the object of his affection(?) let out his aura, but insisted that Izuku's quirk wouldn't be any good for hero work.
That being said, he couldn't bring himself to even try attacking Izuku to "show him the dangers." The green-haired boy's scared face and control slipping stopped him in his tracks. In that state, Katsuki couldn't lay an aggressive hand on Izuku without guilt eating at him, much less use his quirk as a villain would. Which didn't really help his case, giving his friend the idea that he could disarm with cuteness.
Izuku would continue to increase his control as his quirk likewise grew. Especially since his peers at school became able to experience innocent romantic feelings that could easily grow out of control. If ever in trouble of them trying to grab him, he released that hold to make them either distracted enough for him to flee or – more regrettably – start fighting each other for the right to be his friend. Only Katsuki wasn't part of these mobs. Because he "knew better than to corner a kitten" and had experienced it himself, even if he'd never admit the latter.
The friction between them over Izuku's dream reached a head when he finally cornered Katsuki and demanded an explanation of his actions with all the frustration a ten-year old could muster. He also intentionally let a trace of his quirk out to try forcing Katsuki to answer, making his cheeks flushed and his already mesmerizing pout more eye-catching.
The explosive blond demonstrated some creativity, though, when he detonated an explosion in his own face and then grabbed Izuku by the collar before reversing their positions. With his eyes still shut and only a minor burn at the impact point, Katsuki felt and covered Izuku's mouth with his free hand while hissing out his response.
"You may have a better quirk than the rest of these garbage extras, but what if it doesn't work?" he growled without opening his eyes. "Looks? Useless against the blind or wary. Voice? Gag you. And those are just the basic weaknesses. If I was a villain, I could kill you right now."
With that, he let Izuku go and opened his eyes as he turned away, "My quirk's made for battle. Yours could get you killed or worse. And stop calling me Kacchan—we're not little kids anymore."
As Katsuki shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away, Izuku spoke up, hesitantly yet with iron conviction.
"I'm not giving up, Tsuki," he retorted, the new nickname making Katsuki pause. "Not on my dream, and not on you. You're trying to be the bad guy for my own good, but I will be a hero. You'll be number one in battle, no doubt about it. And I'll grow this quirk and make it worthy of the Top Ten so I can see you there."
Clicking his tongue in irritation, Katsuki left without another word.
Izuku stared at his departure, understanding what his mom meant about his friend's intentions not matching with his actions. While it had been phrased like a threat, it was clearly a warning that there were people out there worse than Katsuki could be.
Tightening the reins on his quirk to hopefully be less noticed and thus avoid getting held up as he left, Izuku resolved to look up some workout routines with his mom. His quirk's mutant traits practically molded his body to be healthy and lithe with little effort on his part, neither fat, scrawny nor particularly bulky. But if he needed more strength then he would make it happen.
'This is the quirk I've been given, and making it work for me will just be my first test to be a hero!' Izuku vowed.
As you may have been able to put together, I've taken a few liberties with my version of this story, which I also talked about with AceMe.
Rather than be ashamed of his quirk, Izuku was encouraged to embrace it and get a handle early. And he succeeded, instead of just assuming it couldn't be turned off. Yes, there's mutant aspects that make his body as cute/attractive as possible, but he's managed to make a "masked" state without actually needing the translucent mesh from the original.
Also, I've kept a few of the gags from the prologue and first chapter as I expanded on the former. He'll still give a more detailed explanation of his quirk to All Might later, but the oddities are still there.
I actually put the characters in Katsuki's first name through Google Translate and got "moon" when I took off the first one, which I felt was fitting since another fic I read had Inko call Izuku "sunshine." Probably going to use that too. If anybody has any tips for how this should translate, I'm all ears.
As for Innsmouth's presence, this was – what – twelve years before the start of MHA and the Internship Arc. And given that the original story highlighted how it was on a whim that Inko and Izuku were in that park, it could've easily happened in canon. So, that'll be one less criminal if the change sticks.
Signing out,
King-of-Seven-Hearts