So, you are probably wondering what all this is then. To be truthful, as much as I enjoy writing my current fic "Bearer of the Light", I've always wanted to come back and readjust a few things with this one. And as you can see, I cut Komori out of the OC romance plot so I could focus more on his interactions with Mina. There are some other changes I will be doing as well, such as aging up the characters to University level so the Mature rating would be more appropriate, and I can get away with some more blood and gore with the Phantasmal forces I need in a mature rating.

There will be some changes to the plot as well, But for the first chapter, it's the same as the first one, though this time, I HAD PEOPLE WILLINGLY WANT TO EDIT IT! :D

So a BIG thanks to Raef Darksbane and Slow Monkey over on the Hoard Discord server!

The update for this story will be very sporadic, unlike "BotL"'s more weekly schedule. (Chapter 46 is being worked on I swear! but these last two weeks what with Endwalker coming out and rushing through the MSQ to find how/if I can fit the ending into my story or not... and I can :D)

In the meantime, hope this story will suffice for now. :D You can still view the old one as it currently is... mostly unedited and cringeworthy!

[I do not own any copyrights to My Hero Academia, Dungeon & Dragons or Warhammer 40k, they belong to their original owners.]

Chapter 1

"Change is Inevitable"

"Is he... s-safe in there?" asked a short, green-haired young man as he very slowly stepped into the room of his, for the most part, only friend over the last fourteen years of his life. Emerald eyes slowly scanning over the incredible sight before him, a notebook opens in his hand as his pencil takes notes upon the strange object, analyzing the height and size of the thing before him, muttering up a storm of the possibilities and speaking his mind to utter glee, he slowly reaches his hand out and gently presses his palm and fingers against the outer silk casing. His curious eyes frowned as he continued to mutter, much to the delight of a shadow coming from a doorway that leads to the room.

"Mutter mutter mutter… It's warm to the touch, and it pulses like a heartbeat? Perhaps mimicking his own… mutter mutter mutter…" he said in a low tone, but still audible, now sketching out the strange object that occupied his friend's bed, silk webbings connected from the walls towards the giant cocoon. His musings halted as a gentle giggle behind him could be heard as the shadow from the doorway could be seen trying to stifle the laugh.

The green-haired boy's cheeks with freckles forming a diamond pattern on each cheek flushed to a light pink hue as he rubbed the back of his head, making his way back so as not to disturb the "nest." The door to the bedroom shut gently as the boy looked up to the adult woman, smiling warmly at him with eyes of the purest black sclera and bright snow white iris. While that in itself was a striking appearance for the older woman, what was most displayed was her chitinous skin with fuzzy antennae that rested against her bob-cut pale white hair. She gently placed her hand down trying to stifle her earlier laugh onto his fluffy head, further embarrassing the boy, "Oh little Izuku…" she said with a tiny trill to her voice that made it sound like it was vibrating in her throat at a high pitch, smiling warmly at him, "it is alright to worry about my son. Not many know of the metamorphosis that comes from my side of the family, as it would seem strange to many for a mutation-type quirk to make such a drastic change to a person." She removed her hand from his fluffy hair, sliding it in front of her and clasping both hands where her deep red kimono hid them. The boy, now identified as Izuku, then began to rub his chin in deep thought.

"Um… Auntie, i-if you don't mind me asking... " Izuku said to the woman as she soon looked down at him, her eyes looking directly into his as if reading his mind; he was, of course, used to it given how many times he had come over to hang out with his friend when they were younger, though there were times when she still spooked him if the room was darker (which she loved to do from time to time.) "I-is this why N-Naoki was eating so much a week before? I mean, he usually eats a lot and—oh my goodness. Iwasnottryingtoberudeorcallhimfator-muttermuttermutter…" Izuku blushed crimson as he went back into his 'mutter mode.'

The woman gently laughed again, hiding her smile at her son's inquisitive friend. "Oh, never change, Izuku. You're so cute when you do that!" she giggled loudly, then gently cleared her throat as the boy soon silenced himself. "As to your question and possibly more, yes, his increased appetite was indeed due to his body preparing itself for this. He's been like this since Friday evening just after you left for home, and by my estimates given to me by my mother and father, my family has had to learn to adjust to the metamorphosis. He would need about a week before he emerges. And if you could do him a small favor…" she said, reaching towards a small table just outside of her son's room, taking a small device and hands it to the green-eyed child, who looked over the simple recording device slowly before placing it into his bag, "could you please record the lessons for the week he will have missed? It's one of the recorders my darling uses for his own mutterings and ideas, so it should last for a week." She smiled down at Izuku, who gave her a determined nod of his head.

"Now, it's almost time for school; thank you once again for your help, Izuku." The insectoid woman bowed her head to him gracefully as he did the same before heading to the main door, slipping on his iconic red sneakers and dashing out the door, heading to his middle school of Aldera.

Once he was gone and the door shut, she sighed gently, slowly turning to a picture hanging in the hallway towards the bedrooms; she smiled softly as she ran a cold finger along the edge of it, reminiscing of the times Izuku and her little caterpillar, looking upon a younger Izuku beaming with his bright smile, along with her son, who was pudgier and rotund compared to the green-haired cinnamon roll, with bright blue eyes and a wide grin with two rather large canines protruding from his bottom lip, ebony hair tufted on top of his head that revealed the few characteristics of his father. She sighed as her lips formed a gentle smile; perhaps he'd take more after his father after his "changes." Regardless, he was still her little caterpillar and would always remain such, even if he got her darling husband's "monstrous" appearance. She sighed, walking past her son's room, going to get ready for her day.

It was hot. His body felt like a heatwave cascading over his limbs and torso, curled into a fetal position as he breathed slowly.

'How many days has it been? Why does this hurt so much? Why can't I use my quirk—OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!'

His inner thoughts interrupted as he could feel extreme pain coming from the top of his head; he bellowed loudly though muffled by his self-made prison of silk. His mother had warned him of the changes that may occur and to do his best to "stay the tide;" think of good thoughts and don't panic. Stress could cause issues and health problems for himself as he was changing. Singing or songs weren't helping as his body ached, so he thought of the next best thing.

Memories.

"S-Stop it, K-Kaachan! Can't y-you see he's crying?" shouted a four-year-old Izuku Midoriya as he stood before Katsuki Bakugo and two of his lackeys. On the ground was a little Naoki Gensou. Parts of his clothes were burnt with a few bruises scattered along his large head and pudgy arms. One of his eyes was swollen shut, but the other soon opened to see the more petite green-haired boy defend him from the onslaught of the explosive child. Naoki soon dashed away from the boys as he heard Izuku proclaim that he would stop Bakugo. His gut hurt him, not from being attacked there (though that was also the case), but from seemingly abandoning the boy to the three bullies.

He hated it, feeling powerless, even if his quirk could cause small illusions that could trick those that looked at them, but he wasn't strong enough, and most people could figure out they were tricks in the first place. But he had to press on, had to reach where he was going as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, he had to save the boy that had defended him, just like his dad did! Naoki came crashing down out of the bushes from the forested area in the park, grunting in pain before looking up and smiling. His slight "tusks" showed as he called out a name.

Izuku was laying down on the ground, Kaachan and his lackeys having been gone for quite some time. He groaned as he slowly tried to get up, turning his head to the left to see that the other victim had left him behind. 'He looked like a caterpillar; I wonder what else his quirk allowed him to do?' he thought as he struggled to lean up but then collapsed back onto the ground, breathing harshly. He was about to continue his inner monologue when the bushes started to shake again. Izuku's eyes went wide, thinking Bakugo was coming back to "finish" the lesson, but then he relaxed slightly as he saw the boy that looked like a caterpillar pointing at him and holding the hand of a taller woman with a clear snow-white chitin skin, or was it a carapace? Still, her eyes went wide with worry as she rushed over to Izuku's side and gently lifted him onto his behind, the other boy right beside her.

"Oh my! What horrible beatings! Oh, don't worry, my dear; we can bring you to our house and clean you both and my son up. It's the least we can do for you after you defended him like a hero!" she said softly to Izuku, whose eyes went wide again before the caterpillar boy helped his mother lift Izuku onto his feet, moving a scrawny arm around his side as he didn't have a clear definition of shoulders, per se.

Izuku looked at the boy as they walked towards a moderately sized, two-story house, his green eyes looking over him "W-Why did you come back? You had g-gotten away, and they c-could have c-come back," asked Izuku softly as the taller boy looked at him with his big blue eye, before smirking brightly at him.

"Well, you were a hero that was defending me when that bully was about to finish me, and I ran, knowing that I had to get someone like my mama to help you! A hero never tackles a threat alone, and I wanna be a hero!" Naoki said with a bright smile and determination in his voice.

Izuku gazed at him with brilliant emerald eyes before looking down and sighing. "But I don't have a quirk, and Kaachan keeps saying I need one to be a hero," Izuku said in a low voice, though not low enough to escape the boy holding him up, nor the mother behind them listening to the children in silence. She watched as her son slowly scowled and growled before speaking.

"That doo-head doesn't know what he's talking about! A hero helps people, not bully them or hurt them for no reason! You're more of a hero than he will ever be!" Naoki said with a grunt as he hefted Izuku up a little more with a grunt of pain from both of them. Behind him, his mother looked fondly at the two boys. Her son's words of encouragement to the smaller child gave her such pride. Her son then asked what his name was, to which the green-haired child said it was Izuku.

"Well, Izuku, I'm Naoki, and let's show him that we can be better heroes than him! Saving people and stopping the bad guys like him from hurting people!" Naoki beamed brightly. Izuku matched it and giggled. The adult behind them laughed silently and watched the beginning of a friendship.

Naoki gasped loudly within his silk enclosure as he could feel a stinging pain coming from his spine. He writhed within carefully, adjusting to make it less painful. He panted hard, sweat dripping down his face. "H-hope this ends sooner than later. G-gotta get to UA with Izuku…can't... not show up 'Explosion for Brains' and that damn school for looking down on us," he said softly, his mind reeling to other memories with his best friend, like birthdays together and Naoki teaching some basic punches and kicks he had learned from his self-defense class, as Auntie Inko didn't want Izuku to get hurt in them, nor could afford it, despite his mother trying to pay for the lessons for both of them.

"I-I wonder how he's doing?"

Today had started out great, what with seeing Auntie Gensou and helping Naoki with the recorder to catch up as soon as he came out of his cocoon. However, as soon as he stepped into Aldera Middle School, Izuku's day went from great to possibly the worst day of his life. First, the teacher "outing" both he and Naoki applying to UA, which of course, got Bakugo angry and violent. Then, after classes, Bakugo destroyed his latest hero journal and basically told him to jump off the roof to get a quirk! And he just stood there and took the abuse, his shoulder hurting slightly from the burn the explosive teen left.

As if things couldn't get worse, he was making his way home under a tunnel and then got attacked by a villain made of sludge! He could still taste the sewage in his mouth and the aching of his body. But, as if by some divine circumstance, Izuku was saved by his all-time favorite hero, All Might, who even signed his burnt-up notebook! Naoki would be so jealous! But then All Might had to leave to continue his hero-ing, but he had so many questions! He latched onto All Might's muscular leg and held on for dear life, bugs and such getting into his mouth and eyes as they flew high into the sky. After they had landed, Izuku watched as All Might was about to leave again!

For the longest time, Naoki had tried to convince him that he didn't need a quirk to be a hero, helping him learn some basic defense skills that did help him out dodge some of Bakugo's explosions at times, but still, Izuku needed that one last validation for his dream, so with as much determination and courage he could muster after this shitty of a day, he asked All Might a crucial question…

"Even though I don't have a quirk, can I be a hero?"