Hi, and thanks for sorting by new. I've always wanted to write a MHA story, but have never gotten around to it. Now, being in quarantine, I have all the time I need!
I came across this idea when I was thinking about what fairly OP Quirk Izuku could conceivably have, according to his parents' Quirks, and I ended up with this.
-Wishy
KEY:
'Thinking,' he thought.
"Speaking," she spoke.
Izuku had waited for this moment since he knew it was going to happen: His Quirk development. While his friends'(?) Quirks had developed five years prior, Izuku was left behind with absolutely nothing to show and nothing to protect himself with. He was unable to attend classes for children that helped develop and train his Quirk, and his mother and doctor were convinced he didn't and never would have one. But finally, after five long years of waiting, teasing, and verbal abuse, he finally developed—this? The All Might figurine floated gently above his palm, wobbling slightly.
A smile slowly began to split Izuku's face. It may not be flamboyant, but it was something. And it was his.
He rolled over in bed, still clasping the figurine, and began to think. While most quirks manifested at the age of four, Izuku, age nine, was a late bloomer to say the least. A question he asked himself countless times beforehand, often in fear that his quirk would not manifest at all, floated to the front of his mind. Why wouldn't his quirk manifest? And now, why did it manifest so late?
As he pondered, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
The manifestation of Izuku's quirk sparked a fervor to study and discover everything there was to know about his new power. His grades dropped and his sleeping pattern was utterly destroyed, but it was all worth it. His training was in the privacy of his own room, and his discoveries were told to absolutely no one. His mother, his classmates, everyone was unaware that Izuku had a Quirk… and treated him as such. Every word, every slight, intentional or otherwise only made him work harder.
Izuku chewed on his pen, trying to plan out a workout regimen for the next year. He was incredibly tempted to buy weights to further his physical training, but decided against it. As he researched what workouts would be best suited to him at his age, he discovered that too much weighted exercise could stunt his growth, which was not ideal. But perhaps… not for his body, but using weights to train his Quirk? That had potential.
Which pro heros had Quirks like him? Which villains? What were their strengths, their weaknesses? How did their outfits aid them? How did they train? What equipment did they use? There was so much research to be done, and so little time…
Izuku's room had changed. The All Might banners and memorabilia were still up, still scattered across his walls, but a pull up bar hung in his doorway, and medicine balls of various weights littered his floor. Across his once-neat-desk, thick, messy notebooks with hastily written titles occupied most of the space, their contents covering everything from his workouts to his outfit designs.
The physical and Quirk training were easy. Once he had a regimen and a place to document his progress, all he needed was motivation to work hard. The years of bullying from students, offhand comments from his mother, and remarks from his teachers made sure he had that in droves. While some were just simple mistakes that one would make assuming he was Quirkless, it drove him all the same.
Unfortunately, Izuku's hero research was not as easy as he had once hoped. There were very few heroes and villains that had weaponized their Telekinesis style quirks, and those who had managed it often played a supporting or rescuing role. Thirteen-year-old Izuku frowned, and sat up in his chair. A twelve kilo medicine ball floated gently from his bed and began to spin above his finger slowly. Glancing at the clock, he groaned. School, possibly the place he dreaded going to most. Not because of Bakugo and his former friends, he had gotten over that years ago. Actually, they rarely nagged at him anymore. School sucked because, put simply, he didn't care what he was learning about. The only class that was vaguely interesting to him were the few Hero classes he could attend, but he had uncovered most of the material from that class in his research years ago. Asian History, Math, English-they were all fine as subjects and interesting now and then, but they didn't challenge him in any way-he was expected to excel in these subjects. He was "Quirkless." The Quirkless boy who couldn't do anything but the academics, who worked out only to end up with a job in the police force.
Just thinking about it made him grind his teeth. Part of the reason he wanted to get into U.A. so badly was not just because they were the school that cranked out pro hero after pro hero, but because they expected their students to go above and beyond being just strong, challenging students in every subject. Sure, some students were exceptions and could be accepted because of their immense raw talent or intellect, but Izuku, smart as he was, did not meet those qualifications. In fact, recommendations were only one or two across all of Japan per year. Those selected were not only the top in their class or their school, but across the nation. He would be a fool to think he could get recommended on one or the other; not even Bakugo thought he could get accepted on strength alone.
Speaking of Bakugo, the dynamic of their relationship had changed drastically in the past four years. No longer was he a bully, but more of a silent observer that watched him carefully. As Izuku packed his school bag and headed to the train, he thought back to a particular encounter.
Izuku, age twelve, had stopped raising his hand in school. Completely, in every class. He would silently take notes, often not regarding the subject matter, and yet often got the answer correct when called on. While he had previously been prone to getting emotional when bullied or picked on for his career choice, his confidence slowly climbed with his mastery of his Quirk, even if no one knew but him. He did his best to take insults from students in stride, and rather than tearing up, had to visibly clamp on his anger and prevent himself from taking a swing. Unused to having the power to strike back once he saw how petty his classmates were, what was once fear and frustration changed to anger and a need to stand up for himself.
People noticed the changes he had made to himself and his attitude. But as he continued to fade into the background, they forgot. Except, of course, Bakugo. Ever since Izuku stopped bothering to respond to his remarks about his lack of Quirk, Bakugo began to move on, taking his lack of response as acceptance. But Bakugo wasn't stupid, despite how his large ego might make him seem. He began to recognize that Deku was not the same Quirkless kid he used to bully just years before. There was a quiet determination and anger that bubbled just below Izuku's surface, and Bakugo wanted to know why.
If he was trying to bully Izuku into answers, he might have walked up to him and slammed his hand on Izuku's desk, using his Quirk for some extra kick. But this was not Deku. He would not cave to some scare tactics like he would before. Instead, during lunch, Bakugo slunk out of his seat and approached Izuku.
"What are you planning?"
Izuku blinked. Bakugo hadn't spoken to him in a little less than a year, and never in such a neutral tone. And yet, here he was, standing in front of his desk.
"What do you mean?" he responded, genuinely curious as to what the spiky headed boy thought he was doing.
"You're clearly planning something. What is it?" Bakugo growled, leaning forward slightly.
Clearly, not everyone had simply forgotten about him, and Bakugo was plenty observant. In fact, by trying to disappear, he had probably sent alarm bells ringing in Bakugo's head.
Refusing to back down, Izuku raised his head slightly.
"I'm doing what I've always been," Izuku said simply. His eyes narrowed. "Why do you think I'm planning something, and why do you care?"
Bakugo scoffed. "I don't care. I just want to make sure the Quirkless kid isn't getting any ideas since he's been so quiet." Walking back to his seat, Bakugo called out again.
"U.A. is my future school and mine only. So forget whatever it is you think you're doing and stay away."
As Izuku processed what had just happened, a smirk pulled at his lips. Perhaps Bakugo wasn't so observant after all.
Bakugo knew something was up and that Izuku was probably still gunning for U.A., but he didn't know exactly why. The past year hadn't been too different: Kids and teachers mostly ignored him while Bakugo watched with the occasional comment. But at school, there was nothing to watch, since all of his training was at home. And even though Izuku might be a little paranoid about the whole situation, he checked every day to make sure no one was following him home or could see through his window.
Izuku didn't know exactly why he was still hiding his Quirk-maybe it was for the satisfaction he would feel when he finally proved everyone wrong, that he wasn't Quirkless or useless-but over the years, his thought process around that had changed. If he proved himself to be strong after his Quirk had appeared, so what? They would simply attribute his strength to the fact that he had a Quirk. Since he developed his Quirk, his mindset changed. It was not to prove that even Quirkless people could be heroes (because that might lead to a lot of unfortunate deaths), but that you did not need a Quirk to be a hero in just one moment or for just one person, and that your worth was not defined by your Quirk or lack of one. Ever since people started getting Quirks, self-worth was based on how useful they were. The workers, heroes in their own right in the police force, detective agencies, and support and business agencies never received proper credit-doubly so for those who were Quirkless.
Izuku snapped back to attention, feeling eyes on him.
"..would we solve this quadratic equation, Izuku?"
"Completing the square, sir."
"Well… That's correct for this equation Izuku, but class, the quadratic formula should normally be used on…"
Izuku's thoughts wandered again, longing for a challenge and a chance to prove himself. With the summer rapidly approaching, he knew his chance was coming. Soon.
"...You're all pretty much planning on going into the hero course, right?"
Shouts and yells and notebooks thrown in the air. Quirks displayed and excited chatter. Izuku felt like he was going to throw up. None of these kids besides Bakugo actually had the work ethic to make it past being second-rate.
"God, could you guys be more annoying? It's not like any of you are going to end up as anything other than extras," Bakugo yelled from his chair.
Izuku started in his chair. Bakugo had taken the thought right from his head, nearly word for word.
"Ah, Bakugo… You're planning to go to U.A. next year, aren't you?" the teacher asked.
It still caught him off guard at times how similar he and Bakugo were. If he had grown up in the same environment, if his Quirk had developed a little sooner and he had been praised left and right for it, they might have been one and the same. Izuku chuckled to himself, thinking about the temper he'd acquired after becoming stronger.
As the class lost their minds over the craziness of Bakugo applying to U.A., Izuku sat back in his chair. He knew what was coming.
"Oh yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A. too, right?"
Izuku idly wondered if Bakugo's Quirk could literally make him snort steam.
Bakugo slowly turned around.
"What?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Izuku, who was calmly sitting in his chair, shrugged.
Stalking towards Izuku's desk, Bakugo was practically frothing at the mouth.
"I thought I told you to stay away from my school you Quirkless piece of sh-"
"Who said I was Quirkless?" Suddenly standing, Izuku's pen pointed underneath Bakugo's chin stopped him dead in his tracks.
Before Bakugo could respond, Izuku tucked his pen away and slipped his bag over his shoulder. School wasn't over, but he didn't particularly care.
"What you think I should do is of no importance to me. I have worked hard for years for this coming moment, and you're stupid if you think I'm not going to reach for even the slightest chance at my dream."
Izuku reached the doorframe and turned to the stunned classroom.
"Bakugo? I'll be waiting for you at U.A."
With a final nod to a former friend he still respected if only for his strength, Izuku left Aldera Junior High for the last time.
"Stupid, stupid temper. Why the- ughhhh," Izuku groaned to himself. If Bakugo hadn't been on edge about Izuku having a Quirk, he sure was now. Thinking about it further, it didn't really matter, since he was planning on using his Quirk on the entrance exam anyway. Regardless of that though, he seriously did have to get his emotions under control. Even if it seemed like he was perfectly calm, when "Quirkless" was used as a synonym for "useless" it really set him off.
Throwing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes, Izuku sighed. If he was going to be revealing his Quirk at the tryouts, he may as well tell his mom about it, maybe she could give him some valuable info…
As Izuku planned for his first day of summer, a green glob of liquid sped towards him, entirely unnoticed. The hairs on the back of Izuku's neck rose, and that was all the warning he got. Suddenly, the villain was surrounding him, choking him with their liquid body.
"Sorry, kid," the villain growled. "At least you'll have some use as a temporary skin suit."
Fear. Panic. Shock. The feelings burbled up from his stomach and lodged in his throat-or maybe that was just him being possessed.
Thinking quickly, Izuku tried to use his Quirk; to push everything, anything he could touch away from his mouth.
'It's not working?'
His consciousness quickly slipping away, Izuku needed to try something, and fast.
'This can't be how I die… Not before I reach my dream!'
Reaching for the pen he had just threatened Bakugo with, he yanked it out of his pocket and stabbed upward.
Squelch.
"My fucking EYE!" the villain screamed, yellowish green blood bursting from the wound. The pen was lodged firmly in the villain's eye socket, and stuck there.
Izuku fell to the concrete, gasping for air.
'I need to run. I can't win, my Quirk doesn't work on him. I need to get out of here, now.'
Izuku scrambled to his feet but before he could take his first step, something cool and wet wrapped around his ankle.
"You're not getting away, you little shit. Your body is mine and I'll use it 'till it rots."
Izuku was trapped, out of breath, and against a terrible matchup for his Quirk. He turned around and fell to his knees, his head hung low. Slowly, behind his back, he reached in his bag for a different, more damaging object.
Before he could make another move, a voice behind him spoke.
"It's alright now, young man."
Izuku froze. No way.
"Why? Because I-"
A massive gust of wind flew over his head, nearly toppling him over. He looked up just in time to see a visible blast of air rip apart the once petrified villain.
"Am here!"
Holy shit. All Might.
Falling onto his ass, Izuku began to babble. The near death experience, the adrenaline, and the shock of meeting his idol and number one hero All Might was literally frying his brain.
"A-all Might? I.. what? How did you?" he managed to get out, standing up and gasping for air.
"Please, don't worry yourself young man. It was my duty as a hero to track down this villain and prevent him from crime. Ahahaha!" the hero laughed, grabbing several two liter soda bottles from the side of the street.
Looking at the mess he had made of the villain, the pro hero groaned.
"Um, would you mind helping me scoop him up? I wasn't really thinking of how I was going to bring him in when I used my Texas Smash." All Might threw a hand behind his head, a tad embarrassed.
His senses returning, Izuku quickly grabbed a bottle from the legend, happy to be around the hero for even a minute longer.
"Yes, of course! Uh, you wouldn't mind if I asked a few questions, would you?" Izuku asked hesitantly.
"Yes, yes, of course!" All Might responded, his back already turned.
"Alright then." Bending down to pick up a large glob of villain, Izuku's mind raced.
'What to ask? There are so many things I could say…'
Deciding on one that was most important to him, Izuku stood up straight, the cleaning job temporarily forgotten.
"Do you need a Quirk to be a hero?"
All Might continued to pick up the remains of the villain.
"To be a hero? Of course!"
Izuku frowned. That wasn't quite the answer he had been expecting.
"No, no, I think you misunderstand. Not a hero, as in, the profession, but a hero. Someone special."
All Might turned around, his eyebrows knit together.
"You can't go out and fight villains and crime when you're Quirkless, kid. I know this little spat with that villain might have made you feel excited about some of that, but it's really not for you," All Might said, frowning.
'Kids get anywhere near a villain nowadays and start thinking they can become a hero," All Might thought absentmindedly.
"No, I'm not trying to- I'm not Qui-" Izuku began, fumbling over his words.
All Might raised his hand to stop him. 'Shit, timer is almost up. I need to leave, and quickly!'
"Quirkless people have no place on the front lines! There are plenty of jobs you can get in the detective agency, and the police force where you'll be much safer. While they might not get very much credit, they work very hard and should receive more credit. With that, young man, I'm off! Thank you very much for your bravery and for helping me collect this villain-see you on the other side of the screen!"
Quickly grabbing the bottle from Izuku, All Might was gone in one mighty leap.
Izuku remained frozen in place, his hand still outstretched. Did he really just say that?
"They work very hard and should receive more credit," Izuku repeated tonelessly.
He dropped his hand and went to collect his wet, villain soaked bags.
"Asshole. You're the one who decides if they're credited or not. Don't you know everyone listens to you?"
Not wanting to head home just yet, Izuku decided to take a walk in the city first while thinking about everything that had just happened.
"A real encounter with a villain," Izuku muttered to himself.
He hadn't done too horribly, considering the poor matchup with his Quirk, but he had been caught with his pants down and his weapon not within reach. Setting his bag down, he dug around in a side pocket until he pulled out a small metal dart. As he wasn't a hero yet, he couldn't really get his hands on anything professional. As a result, he settled with a lightweight, blunted dart. It wasn't built to do damage, really-Izuku didn't have anyone he wanted to hurt-but now that he'd been in a life or death situation, having this in his pocket was a necessity.
Pondering the situation further, he wondered about what kind of damage he would have been able to do to the villain with his Quirk and dart. Pulling a notepad from his bag, he wrote down semi-tangible enemies as a potential weakness. However, that sludge villain's eye was a weak point; he might've been able to just fling the dart right through it.
Landing in front of the police station, All Might checked his pockets.
"Fuck."
Slipping his dart in his pocket, Izuku continued with his walk towards the Tatooin Shopping district.
'Maybe I'll pick up some bubble tea…'
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the street, and smoke billowed from somewhere two blocks down.
Izuku frowned, looking up at the smoke.
"Another villain?"
Heading towards the explosion zone at a light jog, Izuku couldn't help but get a little excited. Maybe this time he'd get to help out, as long as it was kept low-key.
Rounding the corner, Izuku nearly ran into the massive crowd that had gathered. This… did not look low-key.
"What's going on?" Izuku asked a middle aged man beside him.
"This sludgey villain! He's captured a kid hostage and is keeping the heroes at bay!" The man exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of the scene.
'Sludgey villain? It couldn't be…'
Ignoring the dirty looks, he shoved past the crowd, his heart pounding.
Once Izuku made it to the front, he stopped dead. Of course it was the same villain. Of course.
Glancing around at the heroes present, Izuku was shocked to see that none of them were taking action. Mt. Lady couldn't get in due to the lack of space. Backdraft was handling the fires, and Death Arms couldn't get close due to the explosions and the sludge villain's sweeping attacks. And... explosions? Izuku didn't remember the villain pulling anything like that previously.
Until Izuku caught a glimpse of the hostage.
"Bakugo?"
His legs tensed. Without even thinking, he had been about to jump over the tape and take a shot at the villain, but his rationale held him back.
He grabbed the shoulder of the person next to him, a young lady.
"Miss, I need to know how long has that boy been held by the villain," Izuku all but demanded, the desperation leaking into his tone.
His heart was pounding. He bounced lightly on his feet, unable to stay calm and fidgeted with the dart in his pocket. Luckily, the woman was too engrossed in the action to notice.
"About a minute. Oh, that poor child," she said, a hand over her mouth in shock.
A minute? Izuku was floored. There was a hostage situation where a kid was being choked out right in front of them and the heroes could do nothing about it for a full minute?
Izuku's hands began to shake. He spun the dart in his pocket, and after a moment, put it back in his bag.
Fifteen seconds passed. Thirty.
Explosions rippled from Bakugo's-No, the sludge villain's hands. The possession was almost complete.
'Goddamn it.'
Bounding over the caution tape, Izuku flew at the villain, slipping his bag off into his hand as he ran.
"Hey-Kid! Stop! You're going to get yourself killed!" Death Arms yelled, somewhere behind him.
'You don't think I know that?'
The sludge man turned, sensing a new opponent.
"YOU!" the villain bellowed.
He was getting closer. Almost in range…
Big right hand. Sweeping over the ground like he did earlier.
Izuku timed his jump well, but the massive hand clipped him on his foot and he tumbled over onto the asphalt. Scurrying back up and at the villain, Izuku measured the meters in his head.
'Twelve, eleven… ten!'
Just as the villain wound up for another shot, Izuku hurled his backpack right at his face. Not stopping to see if it would go where he needed it to, he reached out with his Quirk, and pulled.
With a sickening plop, Bakugo's unconscious body flew towards him.
"AHHHHHH!" It sounded like he had time. Maybe ten seconds at most to get the hell out of there.
Throwing the blonde boy over his shoulders, Izuku booked it towards the opposite end of the street, away from the civilians and potential victims if the villain went nuts. The focus should be on him. It needed to be.
Making it to the end of the street, Izuku wheezed and panted, completely out of air and unable to move his feet any longer.
"Deku..?" Bakugo muttered, floating in and out of consciousness.
"We need to move…" Izuku choked out, desperately crawling forward.
He turned around only to see the sludge monster already nearly upon them. With the backpack pinned to his eye and the broken off pen lodged in another, Izuku might have laughed if it was any situation other than this.
The villain's tongue rolled obscenely from his mouth, drunk on adrenaline, power, or both.
"I can taste you in the air, your strong Quirks… But forget you skinsuits, forget possessing you... I just want… to KILL."
Izuku looked up to the sky. He had done everything right. He had tried his hardest. Now he just needed to wait.
SQUISH.
"Damn," Izuku whispered to himself. "That is one big lady."
The crushed, blind, and now completely incapacitated villain had been turned into a pancake, courtesy of Mt. Lady. Or her foot, more precisely.
"God. Finally," Izuku gasped, unceremoniously dumping Bakugo to the floor and collapsing next to him.
"Lay off the chips, would you Katsuki?" Izuku chuckled to himself.
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he heard the cheers from the crowd and felt the sting of the explosions from when he ran at the villain. He felt the sprain from his ankle when he hit the ground.
But for now, he just basked in the feeling of doing something right.
Until Death Arms marched in front of him, hands on his hips and a furious look on his face, and a camera crew behind him.
"What do you think you were doing?" Death Arms hissed, before the reporters could get to him.
Izuku really did not have the energy for this right now.
"Your job," he spat, before promptly passing out.
And that's all for the opening chapter, folks! Please let me know your thoughts and what should happen next with a review below. :)
I'm going to be uploading a chapter every three days or so, so a follow and a favorite would be greatly appreciated and would help you stay up to date on new chapters!
Thanks!
-Wishy