A/N: Beta-ed by RottedKarma and Kamil the Awesome (22.02.20). I cannot thank them enough, but I certainly can try.
16 May, 22XX
01:12 p.m. in Dr. Tsubasa's office
"Peculiar", Dr. Tsubasa muttered, flipping through the files that contained the results of Izuku's Quirk examination. "Utterly peculiar."
"Excuse me, Tsubasa-san," Inko interjected. "What exactly do you mean by 'peculiar'? There isn't anything wrong with Izuku—is there?"
"No, nothing like that," assured the doctor. "On the contrary, actually."
He put the files down and looked at his visitors through thick goggles. "Your son developed what is commonly known as a 'Quirk mutation'. You are familiar with that term, I presume?"
Inko hesitated. "Roughly, but could you maybe…?"
"Of course, of course." Tsubasa gave a polite smile. "Surely you know," he began, "that commonly a Quirk will manifest as a version of one of their parents' Quirk, or as a combination of both. The Quirks of the grandparents can play in, as Quirk inheritance runs in accordance with Mendelian genetics, but this mutation is, well, different.
"Your son's genes didn't seem to care much about how Quirks commonly manifest." The doctor shrugged for emphasis before elaborating, "He seems to be one of those odd cases you get sometimes. This," he held up one of his files, "is your family's genealogy, Quirk registry included. 'Protuberance', 'Heat Transmission', 'Pull', 'Uproar'; I could go on for some time. However, none of the Quirks in here fit his in the slightest."
He tapped his chin "Proceeding on the assumption that you were faithful to your husband-"
Inko's expression darkened rapidly, and the doctor quickly backtracked. "I didn't mean to insinuate anything, Midoriya-san; my task only concerns clarification." Inko nodded, lips pressed together.
Tsubasa continued, choosing his words very carefully. "Well, proceeding on… …that assumption, I would conclude that your son developed a completely original Quirk, one that's not related to the rest of your family at all. He is, for a lack of a better work, unprecedented."
"But what exactly can I do with my Quirk?" Izuku eagerly asked. "Can I become a Hero with it?" He really needed to know as much as possible about this. After all, one's Quirk was one of the most important things in their life, and if you wanted to make the most of it, you had to know it backwards, simple as that. He swung his legs under the chair nervously.
"Well, let me explain," said Tsubasa. To be honest, this was one of the more interesting cases he had come across over the last few years, so he was content to take his time. "Based on your examination, we can conclude that your Quirk is a transformation-based type that enables your body to 'adopt' the molecular makeup of anything you touch, with the exception being living things. For example, you could 'adopt' the material of a wooden chair, but not that of a tree that's still living."
Izuku nodded hesitantly. He didn't completely understand everything the doctor said, but he guessed he got the core idea.
"Furthermore, the effect of your quirk is affected to some extent by the state the material is in."
"'To some extent'?" Izuku parroted. Tsubasa seemed to be up to something.
"Well," said the doctor. "That is, actually, the second reason why I think of your Quirk as 'peculiar'. You see, when I gave you a marble made out of tungsten and told you to activate your power, your whole body turned into solid, immaculate tungsten even though the marble actually had a hidden streak of rubber on it. Basically, you were focused on adapting a metal and your Quirk reacted to it – the rubber was assessed as unfit and therefore left out, even though you didn't know there was a rubber streak on it, or that the marble was made out of tungsten."
Izuku felt pretty overwhelmed, but tried to remember as much as possible of what the doctor said.
He should have thought of bringing the notebook Kacchan gave him. Izuku swore to carry it with him all the time from now on. Thoughts were so much easier to contain on paper than having them all pent up in his head.
While he couldn't have possibly guessed about it at this point in time, that vow laid the foundation of what would later become one of the standard works of Quirk theory, a small library's worth of Quirk studies, strategy patterns, costume designs, gadget ideas and other Hero related analysis, all neatly sorted in dozens of notebooks by content, date, and utility.
At that moment though Izuku, who didn't yet have the faintest idea of this oeuvre Pro Heroes would one day pay vast sums to study, felt proud. Proud, because his Quirk hadn't just aroused attention, it was 'peculiar'. It was a Quirk the doctor saw fit to praise. A Quirk that just had to be suitable for Hero work.
Izuku would listen carefully.
"But," Tsubasa continued, unaware of Izuku's thoughts, "When I gave you a handful of sand, something unusual happened. After what you displayed before, I expected you to turn into a big block of quartz, which is what sand consists of. However, instead your whole body turned into… …living sand. Little grains."
Inko looked at him in confusion. "Do you mean…"
"It seems as if you, to some degree, were able to influence what state you would transform into." Tsubasa explained carefully. "Presumably it has to do something with your subconscious and knowledge, though this is something you should look into with a specialist. My best guess is that you saw metal as something singular; therefore the condition you turned into was a consistent, singular one, too. The sand, though, you likely saw as an amorphous mass, so the condition you turned into was one that matched that idea. If your Quirk really does work that way, I would advise you to pursue studies in science."
Izuku didn't understand what exactly that meant. He'd have to ask his mother after the appointment was over.
Tsubasa continued, "I would recommend you to experiment with your Quirk, but!" he added, seeing Izuku's face light up with excitement. "You must be careful. Extremely so. Do not attempt anything that has to do with liquids or, perish the thought, gases, before you are at the very least thirteen years old and, most importantly, well informed in chemistry and physics and under capable supervision. Otherwise, you might well risk rendering yourself incapable of reassembling your body. It would be unfortunate to lose someone with your potential."
Izuku nodded, a little intimidated.
"I can, though," Tsubasa offered, much more pleasantly, "give you the addresses of some capable counselors who are better equipped to deal with such an uncommon Quirk than me. What do you say?"
Izuku nodded without hesitating. Inko felt much more subdued, but agreed after looking at her son's determined expression.
18 May, 22XX
08:56 a.m. at the big cherry tree near the woods
"About time you showed up, Deku!"
Even though Katsuki seemed as combative as ever, there was little real menace in his voice. He looked just as excited to start the 'HEROES' as Izuku was, and, to the green-haired boy's amazement, had brought some supplies with him.
"Kacchan? What's that?" Izuku asked without answering the blonde's 'greeting' — —Katsuki was obviously eager to show off, and Izuku knew better than wasting time when he was about to preen.
And it seemed as if it was perfectly justified, because hanging from one of the lower branches of the cherry tree—
"Is that a punching bag?" Izuku was positively flabbergasted. How in the world did he talk Aunt Mitsuki into buying a punching bag like that?
"Well, duh," Katsuki answered with obvious satisfaction at Izuku's reaction. "I mean, if we want to be heroes, we'll need to get our bodies in shape! Just look at yourself, Deku."
Izuku pouted, but he knew quite well that no person with functioning eyes would ever describe him as wiry, let alone muscular.
"Okay, Kacchan…and what exactly is that?" He nodded to the long rod Katsuki held in his right hand.
"That's my motivational tool, Deku," he stated in his isn't-that-obvious-voice.
"Did you try to 'motivate' Yubi and Tsubasa with that?" Izuku asked, somewhat anxiously.
Katsuki remained silent, though his grin was much wider.
16 August, 22XX – four years after HEROES started
02:44 p.m. at Utapau primary school
Midoriya Izuku was bored.
It wasn't that he hated primary school or didn't understand why he was there. He knew everyone had to learn the basics—reading, writing, and arithmetic—and he finished his tasks both dutifully and precisely. But honestly, sometimes school seemed really disappointing to him. Most of the other kids were so… …so slow. He didn't blame them for it; he knew different people had different thought speeds, but that didn't mean it had to be to his liking.
Well, there were some exceptions. Kacchan was great as always, and even better in ignoring the tedium that filled the class after lunch break at the latest. There were also a quiet boy with some sort of fume Quirk and a girl with blue dotted skin who were pretty smart (and appeared as bored as Izuku was), but apart from that…well, suffice it to say that Izuku didn't have all that many social contacts.
"Now you take these five cupcakes over here, and subtract…" Izuku unwound as the teacher turned math class into nap time.
He knew he might regret not paying closer attention later on and genuinely tried to stay aware, but with just ten minutes left before heading to the cherry tree to start Quirk training with Kacchan, he had quite the hard time staying focused, especially after indulging in an online forum about All Might yesterday. The one he'd chatted with apparently didn't need any sleep at all. As a result, it had been far past the scheduled time when he'd finally gotten to bed.
"Midoriya? Midoriya? May I at least ask you to keep up a pretense of awareness?" The teacher stood right before his desk and tried to get his attention.
Izuku yelped and flung back into his chair, bolt upright. "Y-yes, Saito-sensei!" he exclaimed. The class dissolved into giggles.
Saito Inemuri sighed, feeling too old for this job. Way too old. "Alright then, since most of you barely seem to be able to focus on my presence, let alone my words, and considering that classes will end in a few minutes either way, consider this a free period. Just be quiet."
With that said, he slumped over. Maybe he should ask his cousin Shota how he managed to keep his class under control when he wanted to take a nap.
When it became apparent that their teacher was not going to wake in the foreseeable future, the students started chatting quietly. Izuku took out Hero Analysis for the Future, Nr. 5, and started comparing the fighting styles of Best Jeanist and Edgeshot.
He really wondered how Best Jeanist would fare against an opponent who fought in armor. He couldn't recall any incidents where something akin to that had occurred, but he noted it down anyway as a potential weakness of Fiber Master–for that matter, why had no one thought of this before? No fibers, no attacking points. On the other hand, maybe it was just difficult to get your hands on an actual armor nowadays. What exactly were the properties a material had to fulfill in order to count as "fiber"? Could Best Jeanist capture someone like Edgeshot if the latter had his Quirk activated? If yes, that'd mean that Fiber Master was able to influence Fibers already affected by a matter-changing Quirk. In that case, he could theoretically…
"Oi, Deku? You started word vomiting again. Shut it."
When Midoriya looked up, the room was nearly empty, except for three worried-looking kids, a still sleeping Saito and—
"Kacchan! You startled me!"
"Well, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Now get your ass in gear and…" Katsuki looked at the bystanders in irritation. "What the hell are you doing here, extras? Piss off!"
The trio shot him a glare, but left nonetheless. After two years in the same class, most people had learned not to provoke Bakugo. Midoriya was only able to mellow him to some extent.
"You know, Kacchan," Izuku reprimanded during their walk to the cherry tree, "you really should try and break that habit of calling other people 'extras'. They didn't even do anything!"
"Exactly!" Katsuki laughed. "Not doing anything is just what makes an extra an extra!"
Izuku sighed. While Katsuki had mostly stopped getting physical (unless provoked), he seriously doubted there was anything that could be done to cure him from his foul mouth.
"Anyway," Katsuki proceeded as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Today, we're gonna focus on your defense. You're still way too slow when it comes to adapting at single spots."
"Yeah," Izuku admitted somewhat sheepishly. "But it's difficult to exactly focus the transformation instead of doing it throughout my body…"
"Oh, difficult", Katsuki snorted. "If it's too difficult for you to get some damn iron onto your noggin, you can still quit. Besides", he continued, as Izuku wanted to object, "your Quirk won't be of much use if you can only transform into one material at a time!"
Izuku wanted to answer, but was distracted by a commotion down the street. Izuku's "Hero Radar" deflected–that was definitely a Pro Hero on patrol.
"Hey, Kacchan! Let's look who's over there! Maybe we'll get an autograph!"
"Oh, come on", Katsuki grumbled. "You don't even know if it's a fucking Hero in the first place." However, he still followed the suddenly quite awake Izuku towards the crowd, reluctant as he was.
"Oh, oh! It's the Bamboo Hero, Bamboo Grove! An aspiring hero who saved 14 people during the Balewind incident! Real name: Takeshita Yasashi! Ranking: In the high 600s of the Japanese Hero Billboard chart! Favorite food: Yakisoba! Graduated from Isamu High at age 17! Currently residing in-"
"Oh, shut it, Deku!" Katsuki hissed. "You're seriously starting to freak me out! Let's just get your shitty autograph and…"
Izuku, with the one-track mind of a Hero enthusiast, had already started barging his way through the crowd. He came to a stop in front of the Hero, who wore a bamboo-themed costume, including bamboo bracers and two swords with hilts made of bamboo, bamboo stalks over the ears and a belt with bamboo-like segments. "Excuse me… …Bamboo Grove-san?" he asked and hesitated.
The hero smiled amiably. "An autograph, huh?"
Izuku nodded timidly (Katsuki had to pull himself together to not start laughing at his abrupt change in demeanor). "In my notebook, please?" He opened the book and skimmed through the pages until he'd found the one about Bamboo Grove.
The hero's eyes widened when he saw the detailed notes this boy – who he was pretty sure wasn't even ten years old – had made about him. "You did all this on your own?" he asked, flummoxed. Another nod. Then Bamboo Grove gave a high, clear laugh. "You're a fanboy, huh?" he asked genially and took out a pencil (made of bamboo, of course). "Well, if you took so many notes on a small-scale hero like me, who am I to deny you an autograph?"
Izuku beamed as he saw Bamboo Grove's signature right next to his sketch of the hero.
"You know, you seem to have the right mindset for hero work," Grove stated. "Well, good luck anyway! And remember to be on guard; after all, we're still searching for an escaped villain." He grinned.
Roughly five minutes after Katsuki had managed it to tug Izuku away from the patrolling hero, he commented dryly, "You still didn't get rid of this tic of yours to start transforming yourself when you're happy, did you?"
Izuku looked down at his body and realized he had taken on a bright red. Not the natural shade he took on if he was embarrassed, but the exact same red as his shirt. Izuku squeaked and changed back to default mode.
"I didn't do this in front of Bamboo Grove, did I?"
Katsuki just laughed. Deku had started with that shortly after Grove had said Izuku was hero material, but not with his face. That he'd done after their departure.
Not that he planned on telling Deku any of that.
When they arrived at the cherry tree, Katsuki fetched three rings from his pocket, one being made of rubber, one of wood and one of iron.
"Alright, Deku, so here it goes. Today's starting condition is wood. Metal for explosions, rubber for the rod. Questions?"
Izuku just slipped on the rings and shook his head, expression determined. Katsuki gave him a feral grin, and Izuku had barely time to transform his right arm into metal before a barrage of explosions shook him to the core, and left an unpleasant tingling between his ears. Then he quickly adapted rubber in his chest, just in time for the rod stroke, and started to match Katsuki's movements in quick succession, fully concentrated on the material of the three rings and adapting as fast and precisely as he could manage.
An explosion–to metal. And back to wood, as soon as it was over. His shin to rubber, his left hip to metal. Right hip to rubber, left to wood, then his shoulder to rubber, his wrist, too–a tad too slow, Izuku hissed in annoyance when the rod hit his wooden joint right before he could transform it, but quickly shook it off. Katsuki wouldn't stop just because of one mistake.
Two successive explosions, right elbow and left side, a quick stab with the rod towards his stomach, metal, metal, rubber, back to wood. A kick to the thigh, wooden default. A sharp whip with the rod towards his neck, rubber, quickly. A swift explosion to—
"Kacchan! Not the face! We had that!"
"Tsk." Kacchan breathed heavily, dropping the rod while unleashing a salvo of punches, some accompanied by explosions, some without. On the bright side, Izuku didn't have to worry about transforming into rubber. Cold comfort, though. It was more than compensated by the problem that his respond time was suddenly cut in half, as he was to only transform into iron to absorb explosions, not for normal punches. Kacchan became faster and faster, making it more and more difficult to toggle between iron and wood, until—
BOOM!
Groaning, Izuku sat up, only to be intercepted by an obnoxiously mean headache.
"Six…minutes, and…forty-four seconds," Katsuki panted, looking at his wristwatch. "Could've been…worse."
Izuku was proud of his effort, since Katsuki not criticizing something about his form was a rare experience. He himself tried to readjust his throbbing head while simultaneously blending out the upcoming repercussion effects.
This sort of intensive training made him suffer the drawback of his Quirk much earlier. His body had already started to ache slightly, though thankfully it kept within limits for the present time. Apparently, this effect was caused by his body cells having trouble adjusting themselves to constant reshaping, which led to micro-injuries similar to muscle soreness…in his whole body, all at once. It spared his vital organs, which he was quite grateful for.
"Oi, Deku! Get the fuck up, will you? We've got to catch up 'cause of your fanboying earlier, so don't conk out now!"
Izuku sighed, got back onto his feet, and took a swig from his water bottle. As soon as he'd regained at least some of his focus, they both adopted fighting stances and started going through basic katas. Katsuki had joined a Karate club, which clashed with Izuku's Quirk counseling appointment/science class. He was currently trying to beat some techniques into Izuku, often quite literally.
"No, Deku, damn it!" Katsuki erupted. "Do you want to suck at this or are you really that stupid? Your left arm isn't a club. Now stop fucking around! Be more focused. Like this!" Katsuki yanked Izuku's arm strictly forward, then snapping, "And your legs have to be stable, too! If you…glue your feet together like that, there's no way in hell you wouldn't fall over if someone shoved you!" He demonstrated that by pushing Izuku in the back, causing him to stumble until he'd regained foothold. "See?" Katsuki asked smugly.
After an hour filled with more katas, reps, two sparring matches that Katsuki dominated even though Izuku managed to get the better of him as soon as he ceased his efforts, running, interval training and another session with the three rings, both of them were exhausted beyond measure.
"You know what, Deku?" Katsuki said between huffs. "You are getting better at this. When we got started, you were a lot less…"
"I can imagine what you want to say" Izuku answered wearily. "Do you want to come over today? We're having Katsudon."
"Of course you have," Katsuki scoffed. "It's a miracle you don't completely consist of the stuff already."
"Maybe I am," Midoriya teased, "and I'm just constantly transformed."
Katsuki smirked. "Yeah, well, whatever. Let's go. Can't say your mother doesn't know how to make the stuff, after all."
As they headed towards the Midoriya apartment, chattering about possible hero names for them—Katsuki despised the idea of "All Matter" and said that Izuku should "quit being such a fucking copycat"—they were completely unaware of what fate had in store for them on that day.
A/N: So, as you'll probably have noticed by now, Katsuki is a lot nicer in this. That's due to him not abruptly becoming that unpleasant, abrasive guy he's in canon, but developing into it. If you'd change something big (like Izuku having a Quirk) that development would go differently, hence the shift. Though I don't plan to make Katsuki super-nice, just slightly less harsh towards Izuku and maybe a few others.
Names:
Saito Inemuri: "Inemuri" (居眠り) refers to the practice of napping in public, literally meaning "present while sleeping". "Saito" (斉藤) is the most common Japanese surname.
Takeshita Yasashi ("Bamboo Grove"): Takeshita is a Japanese family name. "Take" (竹) also means bamboo. "Yasashī" (優しい) translates into "friendly" or "kind".
P.S: Takeshita is NOT an OC. The selected few of you who know where he appears may be able to predict which character is going to enter the stage next time.
Thanks to ILiekFishes for explaining the problem with Tsubasa's inflationary "You see".
Constructive criticism is welcome, flames aren't.
Remember to go beyond ...
PLUS ULTRA
Ramses, over and out