"Huh, big fan of All Might, aren't you?" Denki remarks, analyzing the plethora of star-spangled All Might merchandise.

"Y-Yeah, sorry about that, I was a bit obsessed as a kid…" Izuku bashfully admits, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment.

Picking up an All Might figurine from Izuku's desk, Denki carefully wobbles its right arm, "Oh, no sweat dude! I'm pretty sure everyone this side of Tokyo is a huge fan. Everyone had one of these!" Smiling at Izuku while holding the figurine inches from his freckled face, Denki's enthusiasm relaxes Izuku's concerns.

Placing it back down on the desk, Denki continues, "You have to come over some time, All Might's Legendary Conquest is practically calling your name!" Izuku continues to scratch his head with anxious embarrassment.

"I-I've never really had a… friend visit me before," Izuku admits out loud.

His face flushes red as soon as he finishes the statement.

Denki freezes momentarily.

Turning towards Izuku, Kaminari's eyebrows are raised in a shocked yet kind expression, amazed at Izuku's honesty.

"Well, I'm glad I can be the first," His words oozing with surprising compassion, "I just had to check up on you after the news last night. Ochaco couldn't come today, still had to make up some work she missed after Katsuki…" Shifting in place, Kaminari bites his lip before finishing the sentence.

"And Kirishima had to go to a mandatory community service course. Got in a lick of trouble for his actions a few weeks ago, him partaking in the Raid without approval landed him in some major disciplinary action. Regardless, last night, Ochaco left not long after you did. Kirishima stuck around and stayed the night, we both tried to get in contact with you when we saw the news. Helluva night, right?"

News?

O-Oh wait… That's right! That's how mom learned of what Mr. Aizawa did and where I was.

"Y-Yeah…" Izuku bows his head, unsure of how to reply. It had certainly been a hell of a night.

"If… you don't mind me asking," Denki continues, hanging upon the 'if' for a few seconds, "what's up with the eyes?" Gesturing to his own golden eyes, the suave teen leans against the wall.

Crap. He noticed!

Looking up, Izuku hides nothing from Kaminari.

Giving his friend ample time to inspect his recent anatomical developments, Izuku stands in silence.

"Well, I'll be damned… That's something… Is that-Is that new? Or has that been your quirk all along and I just… didn't notice," Denki chokes out, embarrassed at his own presumed obliviousness.

Oh crap. How do I respond to that?

Izuku stumbles in place, searching for a possible answer.

"ImnotreallysureifImallowedtotalkaboutthisbutitsreallyjustalottocoverandIdoubtyoureallywanttohearaboutitbutifyoudobasicallywhathappenedis" Izuku mumbles incoherently, his head lost within the clouds.

Denki looks at his friend with a concerned expression.

Kid's got a lot on his mind, that's for sure.

"Alright, I'll stop you there. Let's cut to the chase, okay buddy?" Kaminari clutches Izuku's arms, holding him in place in order to calm his bumbling friend. Izuku practically vibrates with nervous excitement.

"Let's try this again, okay Deku?" Denki follows up with, snapping his fingers before Izuku's eyes to spark a reaction. Shaking his head, Izuku nods in a quiet reaction.

"O-Okay, so…" Izuku's face slowly tightens, his bottom lip curling into his mouth.

Denki looks at him, their eyes matching.

"Come on Deku, I know you didn't have these the last time I saw you," Kaminari enunciates, tapping Izuku's cheek next to the sides of his eyes.

"Okay!" Izuku exclaims, huffing out a big breath.

Am I really going to…

Inspecting Kaminari, thoughts flash and vanish throughout Izuku's mind. Formerly quirkless, changed as of yesterday, trying to explain his life story to the formally enrolled UA hero-in-trainning.

Well…

Here goes nothing.

Slowly stepping towards his bed and taking a gentle seat on the blue comforter, Izuku looks up at Kaminari. Leaning against the wall, Kaminari's grey uniform, the symbol of UA, seemingly shines in the light.

"K-K… Kaminari?" Izuku asks, his voice cracking and shaking from the stress.

"Yeah?"

"I am… was… I was quirkless. Born without one, never inherited one, never grew one. Completely… A-Average."

Kaminari's eyes widen, pushing his back off from the wall.

"Quirkless? Then… How?" He asks, gently raising a finger as an inquiry to Izuku's eyes.

"I… Was quirkless… As of last night, I am now… Quirked?" Izuku raises his head, inspecting Kaminari with his quartered vision.

Taking a step back, Denki furrows his brows in confusion.

"So you never developed one, right? That's what you said? So… This whole thing, this whole… Octuplet deal, isn't just a late onset quirk? Cause I hear that can happen, ya know? Somebody wakes up, finds a new toe or somethin', bam! Quirked!" The blonde teen rambles, speaking with heavy hand movements and enunciated syllables.

"N-No… I know what this is from", Izuku curls his fingers into his palm, clenching it into a fist.

"So, what was it then?"

"I only learned of this this morning but… Have you heard of the... the drug Trigger?"

Kaminari's eyes widen again, eyebrows raising.

"Drug? Izuku, what does this even mean!" Kaminari exclaims, clutching his head in his hands, confused at his seemingly bashful friend admitting to be a hard-drug user.

"N-No! Not like that! It…" Izuku stumbles in his words, realizing the scope of what had just happened to him.

Biting his lip, Izuku blankly stares forward.

Chiyo's words flash within his mind.

"With your son being quirkless, and the amount he was forced to take in by the villain…"

Forced.

Head in his hands, Denki looks up, mouth agape with shock at the sudden ceasing of information.

"Is that the Trigger kicking in?" He asks, only semi-joking.

"N… No." Izuku turns his gaze towards Kaminari, tears bubbling in the corner of his eyes.

"I was… Forced," is all Izuku can blurt out, his voice choking into itself.

Kaminari's gaze turns towards the ground, his expression turning from one of disgusted shock to one of sudden sympathy.

Forced.

Craning his head towards Izuku, Kaminari studies Izuku from head to toe.

Stepping forward, Denki approaches Izuku as he chokes back tears. Sitting next to him, Kaminari wraps an arm around Izuku, pulling his new friend towards him.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, it's okay. You're fine kid, trust me! Ain't no judgement from me, not anymore. I didn't know the situation, I'm sorry for leaping to assumptions," Kaminari offers with sympathy, trying to address Izuku's concerns.

Biting his lips and turning to look at Kaminari, Izuku nods.

"Hey! Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all," Kaminari continues, "I know the circumstance behind your quirk… Frankly sucks, sure, but who's to say you can't make light of a bad situation!" Denki's sparkling smile cheers Izuku up, eliciting a chuckle from the freckled teen.

"Quirks tend to have shaky starts anyways, you heard Kirishima's story, practically sliced his own head open," Kaminari states before standing up from the bed.

"And based off the amount of All Might memorabilia located within one bedroom, I'll run with the assumption somebody here wanted to be a hero!" Kaminari exclaims, throwing his arms open as if to envelop the collection of action figures, posters, and films within his grip.

"Y-Yeah! I mean, yeah, I always did want to be one," Izuku sheepishly smiles to Kaminari.

"Well, what do you know about your quirk so far?"

"Uh…" Izuku's mind races for options to show off, "I got these funky new eyes? I can see four images at once, kind of like eight eyes, speeding up my reaction time apparently," Izuku explains.

Kaminari puckers his lips and nods, "Interesting, interesting… Is that all?"

"N-No! I can also – uh – I can also do this?"

Izuku leaps into the air, propelling himself from his bed, attaching himself to his ceiling. Clinging to the ceiling, Izuku's vision wobbles.

Oh god, oh crap. Never tried to do that by choice before!

Kaminari stares at the ceiling, now adorned with his friend.

"Holy crap dude! That's freakin' sick!" Kaminari explains, a smile breaking across his face.

Filled with enthusiasm, Izuku lifts his head, pointing his gaze downwards towards his friend.

"And… This!" He exclaims, attempting to prevent the dizziness from getting to him.

Curling his middle and ring finger towards his palm, the spinneret on his wrist blasts a stringy strand of silk, smacking against the All Might figure on the desk. Pulling his elbow back, the figurine goes flying towards Izuku.

Startled by the speed of the figurine, Izuku throws his other arm out, grabbing the sticky figurine. Holding his hand out, clutching his childhood toy, Izuku fails to realize that his arms are no longer supporting his grip on his ceiling.

Looking to his feet, Izuku crouches, the concept that he is simply squatting on the ceiling momentarily evading thought.

Wait...

I can do that?

Izuku chuckles with excitement, studying how his toes clutch to the plaster of the ceiling.

Kaminari stares upwards at Izuku, flabbergasted.

A few seconds pass.

"HOLY SHIT!" Kaminari exclaims.

At the sudden scream, Izuku's balance wobbles, his feet detaching from the ceiling. Tearing chunks of plaster from the ceiling, he falls towards his bed. Now chipped, two footprints have torn sections of the white plaster off the ceiling's surface.

Plummeting towards the bed, Izuku's mind races with sudden options.

We don't want to repeat another crash like in Recovery Girl's house!

Looking towards the ceiling, a thought blasts into Izuku's head. As Kaminari watches with astonishment, within milliseconds of Izuku's initial descent, the nimble teenager shoots another silky strand of web towards the ceiling, grabbing onto it with his hands.

THWIP!

Coming to a sudden, jolting stop centimeters above the bed, Izuku dangles from the ceiling, hands and feet clutched around the naturally produced silk.

Turning his gaze towards Kaminari, Izuku goofily smiles, suspended vertically in the air.

Kaminari stands, dumbfounded.

"This… This is a quirk alright… That's… Wow!" Kaminari, for once, stumbles on his own words, unable to act cool.

"I've seen plenty in my brief life but that… That can take you somewhere!" Kaminari continues. "It needs a snappy name, something good, whatcha got so far?" He snaps his finger, sparks of electricity jolting between his thumb and finger.

"We've dubbed it 'Arachno-Sensation'!" Izuku happily boasts, brimming with energy.

"Oh, that's good. Sounds scientific but 'sensational'. But uh, 'We', huh? Who's the other?" Kaminari curiously asks.

Without thinking, Izuku enthusiastically marches on, "Mr. Eraserhead! He's the hero who saved me and helped me figure out what was happening to me! Exciting, right?" Izuku flashes a toothy grin at Kaminari, pulling his hands off of the silky strand to accentuate his excitement. He continues to dangle from nothing but the strand.

Denki stares back in disbelief, jaw agape.

"Why is it that every time you add an addendum to this story, more questions get raised?" The blonde responds.

Confused, Izuku furrows his brows.

"Izuku… You do know Eraserhead is no longer a hero, right?" Kaminari squints.

What?

"What do you mean?" Izuku asks, still perpendicular from the ground.

"He lost his hero license, pretty recently in fact. None of us know why but he suddenly dropped from UA and none of us have seen him since. You met Mr. Aizawa?" Kaminari asks with concern.

Dropping from the strand and onto his blue bed, Izuku shoots back up.

"Y-Yeah. He was…"

Considering Chiyo's reaction to learning of Aizawa's presence at Kacchan's funeral, Izuku changes his response.

"He saved me, found me in the alley where I had been drugged," Izuku elaborates. It's all clicking now, all the weirdly ambiguous wording regarding Eraserhead by Aizawa and Chiyo, how he couldn't be a legal sponsor for Izuku.

"That's… Interesting," Denki considers, furrowing his brows.

"Well… Regardless, it's a good name. Snappy. The old man has that at least still going for him," Kaminari settles.

"So, you found this out… What, this morning?" Kaminari asks.

"Yep, pretty sudden stuff," Izuku responds, looking up at Denki.

"Well… I hate to break it to you but…" Kaminari stops in his tracks, looking at Izuku with concern. Izuku squints his eyes in response.

"Well, what?"

"You missed your time to apply. You're 16, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Well, there's an age limit on when you can apply to an academy like UA. Almost nobody gets a quirk past the age of 15 so your…. Outlier situation puts you at a disadvantage… But with a quirk like that!" Kaminari rambles to himself, amazed by Izuku's development.

"No doubt you can find a sponsor, you just need some training and a proper title…" Kaminari continues to murmur to himself.

Stopping in his tracks and turning his attention firmly to Izuku, Denki stares at him, his lips slowly curling into a devilish smile.

"W-What?"

"You want to train, right?"

"Well, if it means I can become a hero, sure!"

Kaminari licks his lips, pinching his chin as he thinks.

"I got an idea. How 'bout this: I have access to the greatest hero training grounds in the nation at any time I want, I find a way to sneak you in, you can train with me! Bam! Two for one training! We both get better, together!" Kaminari snaps his fingers, forming two sizzling finger guns as he smiles.

"What do you mean? Training grounds?" Izuku replies.

Cocking his head in disappointment, Denki stiffens up. Gesturing to his uniform with an open palm, he stares at Izuku with a blank expression.

"UA. I can find a way to bring you to UA."

Upon hearing the words "I can bring you to UA", Izuku's eyes widen with excitement.

"NO WAY! I can go to UA?"

"Well, not as an official student you can't," Kaminari cuts through his freckled friends joy.

"But, a friend of mine owes me a favor and I think she's our best bet to get you in. Leave it to me, I can handle this," Kaminari coolly explains with a smile.

"You sure about this?"

"Sure! Probably easy as cake! Besides, somehow the press got in this year, and if a few crummy little journalists can sneak their way in, how hard could it be to get a genuine… Spider… Boy? Spider-Boy?" Kaminari stops to consider a possible title.

"Yeah, we'll just run with that for now," He settles.

I guess it's different enough from Spider-Man, Izuku considers.

KNOCK-KNOCK.

Izuku and Kaminari both turn their heads as the door suddenly jolts with sound.

"Izuku? Is your friend good? Does he need any snacks? I have celery and peanut butter if he wants anything!" Inko kindly exclaims, her maternal instincts kicking in.

Kaminari squints at the door.

Do I want celery…

Turning to Izuku, Kaminari checks his phone.

4:34 PM.

Looking at Izuku, Kaminari shrugs.

"Sorry Deku but it looks like I gotta head back now, dad mandates I get back before 5. Worried I'm some kind of varmint if I'm out past that. Here, let's make a plan!" His eyes briefly squint, determined to have his plan come to fruition.

"Uh… I'll probably be out of class for a few days.. What's today?"

"Tuesday"

"Okay… So, I'll probably be back in school by Friday, if that helps."

"Perfect! Friday it is!" Kaminari explains, heading towards the door.

"W-Wait! What do I do?"

"Just head to my house at… Let's go for 7? Yeah, 7!" Kaminari responds.

"But didn't you just say your dad gets mad at you if you're out past 5?"

"Yep! It'll all make sense soon, don't worry! Just, my house, Friday, at 7! Got it?" Kaminari chaotically finishes his thought, opening the door and stepping into the hallway.

From the open gap between the door and the hallway, Izuku can hear his mother talk to his new training buddy.

"I'd love some celery Mrs. Midoriya! I'm famished!"

Leaning back and spreading himself across the comforter of the bed, Izuku sighs.

What else could today bring?

KNOCK.

Something knocks against his window.

Turning his head, Izuku tries to inspect the area outside.

KNOCK.

Standing up, Izuku curiously approaches the glass pane, looking over his shoulder to see if his mother is nearby.

Is this Kaminari's doing? Already?

The strand of silk above his bed continues to dangle from the ceiling.

KNOCK.

Approaching the window, Izuku slowly pushes the pane open with a ceramic Pop!

Crouched outside his window, leaning on the concrete frame surrounding the glass pane, Mr. Aizawa gazes at Izuku, his eyes bloodshot and red.

"Young Midoriya, I have some words for you."