Tonight was one of those nights for Izuku.

He understood the risks of taking Dream Premonitions. A quirk that gave very vague but helpful information about the future was useful, but it just wasn't controllable. You couldn't choose when the quirk triggered, you couldn't choose what time it would predict, and you couldn't choose if the quirk would even predict anything at all.

Tonight was one of those nights where the quirk showed Izuku the past.

He only got to see his mother for a split second, but it was enough to sear its way into his memory. A hole went straight through her chest, the dust that once was her ribs, some of her lungs, and her heart pouring out in a mixture of oozing blood. The look of horror on her face didn't scream of someone afraid to die, but of someone afraid of being unable to protect what was most important to them.

She never even got the chance to scream.

The police had been very adamant about making sure Izuku didn't get to see the body until the funeral, but he snuck into the morgue anyway. Just to say goodbye. He got to choose a spot to put the ashes, once she was cremated. In the end, he had ventured into a small forest area the two would stroll through from time to time and found the small cave they'd "camp" in when he was young.

Using his quirks to make a small hole, he set the vase inside and set a rock over it. Her quirk, Subtle Telekinesis, was throbbing the entire time, wiggling around in his quirkspace. Sometimes it'd activate completely by itself, wrapping Izuku in a telekinetic force he could only guess was supposed to be a hug.

He hugged back, a telekinetic force creating a suitable shape to grasp onto. He cried onto the force's "shoulder," listening to the sounds it tried to make by pushing wind in exact frequencies. If one were to listen close enough, one could probably make out the faint words "I'm still here."

Her body may have perished, but in the last moments of her life Inko Midoriya had poured everything she could into her quirk.

The two had theorized on whether or not quirks were anything more than biological superpowers, given the fact that Izuku could feel a personality within them, but never once did he try to test this hypothesis.

What a cruel way to learn that a quirk can contain a soul.

[XXX]

As Ochako delved deeper into her insanity, the more she realized just how empty she felt before meeting Deku-sama. It was like she was born soulless, an empty husk meant to be used as a mere pawn in some bigger scheme. A faceless, personality-less, background character.

Filler.

But then, once she received her blessing, she just felt so alive! It was like Deku-sama had infused her with individuality, uniqueness, and purpose! She had finally pushed her blessing to its absolute limits, now gaining mastery over gravity itself in addition to telekinesis and mass manipulation!

Now, anything under the influence of her quirk can have the effect of gravity altered or become the center of a gravity field! This one really got her to lose a lot of lunches, but that would be a hurdle to overcome with time. She was ready.

In the nine months since receiving her blessing, her quirk was finally powerful enough to go toe to toe against All Might himself! She had ascended from a pathetic mortal to a demi-god! All she needed now was proper training. Technique and skill aren't something you're born with, after all. It has to be molded, forged with experience.

Experience she could only get at U.A.

In Ochako's free time, she'd visit an old site she held fond memories of. . It was a site made by the quirkless for the quirkless and those abused because of their quirks. She often debated whether or not she'd reveal Deku-sama's identity to them. She had let it slip in a blog post about how she met someone who could give quirks, but she debated on whether or not she should let loose the entire story.

After all, a god needed followers, right? But in revealing that tidbit of information, one blogger by the name of KrumbleKitty gave her a lead on a man named All for One, a crime lord with a very similar quirk to Deku-sama's. At first, she was panicked. Her god couldn't be such a vile and twisted man! It just wasn't possible!

And as she dug deeper and deeper, sifting through the legends and facts about the man, she came to understand that if Deku-sama was God, then All for One was The Devil. A man who abused his gift, who forged an empire of villainy. In his prime, he had a head full of pure-white straight hair, trimmed short, and an honestly kind of handsome face and the most stunning onyx eyes she had ever seen.

Now, his head more resembled a potato than a head, his eyes completely covered by scar tissue and his hair absolutely missing. That didn't make the man any less terrifying. This was what Deku-sama was capable of. She needed to spread the word about Deku-sama to save as many people as possible, to make sure that he never found himself turning into that monster.

She needed to create a system where as Deku-sama saves people, those very people help push him further from that dark path. So, cracking her knuckles, she got to work writing The Declaration of Deku, and a little pitch to perk some heads.

{XXX}

It wasn't every day that Shiozaki Ibara browsed the internet out of boredom, and among those times she would occasionally visit sites meant to unite God's less gifted.

Whenever she read a blog on , she would immediately pray for their salvation. While the quirkless population dwindled more and more with each generation, the suffering those very people had to endure was growing exponentially. Being quirkless was already like God had turned his back on you, but the subjugation those people had to endure was more like a taste of hell.

And to think that those even with God's gifts would sometimes find themselves lumped into the same category as these lost souls were frightening. One blogger, Insomniac, had a quirk that every one of his peers deemed as villainous. Another, Steamy, was part of a family that had been forcefully bred through a Quirk Marriage until the ideal quirk was made, and then subsequently molded into something powerful while the child possessing the quirk was taken along for the horrid ride.

It was stories like these that inspired Ibara to become a hero.

While she was powerless to stop the problem as a whole, she could at least help treat the symptoms. Give the lost a purpose, inspire confidence in the shunned, and free those enslaved by their powers. And then she read a blog made by one "PinkTea" claiming she had met someone with a quirk called Transfer, which let them give and take quirks at will.

She claimed she had received a quirk from this man, that he was applying for U.A., and that he was worthy of being worshipped as a god. Ibara scoffed at the idea. First, a quirk that can give and take quirks, now the idea that this man should be worshipped? Sure, a quirk that could reshuffle the balance of power and redeem God's neglected was pretty close to godly, but it wasn't shaping the universe godly.

But something nagged at her. She claimed that this man was going to apply for U.A., meaning he'd undoubtedly enter the Hero course. Assuming she got in, then their paths would most definitely cross.

Maybe it'd be a good idea to keep an eye out for God's Shepherd?

[XXX]

Bakugou Katsuki is many things.

A bully?

Yes.

Competitive?

Very much yes.

Unreasonably angry all the time?

Absolutely.

A borderline villain? Nobody's ever dared to accuse him of such for fear of finding out they're right.

But one thing Katsuki isn't is heartless.

Auntie Inko's death shook him to the core far more than he'd dare let his exterior show. The woman was just so kind, peaceful, and docile whilst hiding a determination and will to rival All Might's. On the few instances he got to see Mom and Auntie Inko interact, it was like watching a trained dog obeying their master.

He didn't know why Mom was so obedient to her, but he knew it was for a damn good enough reason to not warrant an explanation. That's why Izuku terrified him. Even when he thought he was quirkless, he held a fire of determination that Katsuki just couldn't seem to match.

No matter how many times he had kicked the little shit down, he just kept getting back up! What once started as childish bullying of the weak turned into a necessity for Katsuki to stay relevant. Even quirkless, Izuku would've found a way to outshine him eventually. And then he discovered Transfer.

Katsuki should've known better than to start bullying the shithead. Karma and all that, but for shitty quirkless Deku to develop the power to steal quirks? That was dangerous. All of the years of abuse spent creating an enemy when he could've made a strong ally. But now? The damage was done. He needed to break Deku's spirit and kill his desire to do anything with his life.

A quirk like his could shake the very foundation of society itself, and a quirk like that in the hands of a psychologically damaged individual? Katsuki wasn't stupid. Deku was a villain in the making. He needed to snip that bud off before it could bloom, for the sake of the world.

He had created this mess, so he'd damn well fix it.

Auntie Inko's death was just proof that Deku couldn't be trusted. No way in hell did some random ass villain just teleport in and kill Auntie! That was fucking staged by Izuku and the cops were paid off, no fucking doubt! He had killed her! Deku was a monster, and the best way to kill monsters… Was with explosions.

[XXX]

The gate to U.A. seemed just so… daunting to Izuku.

He knew he would pass the exams, both written and practical, but the fact that he was about to take his first steps on campus just felt so surreal. It took Kacchan bumping into him whilst uttering a classic "Shitty Deku" to knock him out of his awe.

As he took his first steps on campus, a loose bit of concrete caught on his red hightops and sent his head hurdling for the ground. The time it'd take to activate Balance was too long, so he resigned himself to his fate of faceplanting. Then he felt something touch his shoulder, and all sensation of gravity left him. He fumbled around for a bit, using Transfer to spot out the essence of a very familiar quirk right next to him, and the audible giggle from its holder confirmed his suspicions.

Uraraka-san looked so… lively! When he last saw her, she was pale, had bags under her eyes, and was always just so hunched up. Typical behavior for someone who was rejected by society. But now, he could fully appreciate her chocolate brown eyes, the permanent blush that dusted her cheeks, her innocent smile, and the silky looking brown hair.

He had done this to her. He had helped her so much, and he could see it plain as day, and his heart swelled with pride. He had truly saved her. "Hey, Uraraka-san! Thanks for saving me from that fall! I owe you!" Izuku smiled at her, and her expression seemed to flash for a moment. It was just a moment, but her eyes went wide and her smile went manic, but it was quickly contained.

"N-no, that was just me paying back a bit of my debt, don't worry about it!" She looked off to the side, shifting from one foot to the other and rubbing her legs together as she touched her finger pads together, causing gravity to return to him. Of course, she was worried about debt. With her financial situation, he should've guessed she'd perceived his generosity as an investment or something.

"Hey, it's fine! You don't owe me anything, honest." Izuku tried to insist, putting up his hands and waving them to show no ill will, but she instead shook her head. "No, can do, Deku-sama!" Deku-sama? "You gave me the chance to actually be something! I can't just sit idly knowing the only reason I'm worth something is because of charity!"

Ah, so she's just trying not to be a charity case. Alright, at least it's not starting a cult or something weird like that… "Oh, I mean, sure, but I don't really have any idea what to 'charge' you, ya know? I know money's tight for you and I think quirks are worth far more money than even All Might can afford, so that's right out; but I also don't wanna take advantage of your situation and make you do something you're not okay with, ya know?"

Ochako smiled, and for a moment he could've sworn her pupils turned into vibrant pink hearts before she spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm sure whatever you come up with I'll be fine with! Anyway, let's hurry to the auditorium! Don't wanna be late for the exams!" Then she skipped off, a seemingly lighter bounce in her step.

He never got to ask her why she was calling him Deku-sama, but something about it felt… nice. He had told her about how it was a nickname meant to belittle him, to call him worthless, but adding "sama" just turned that definition on its head, like a verbal middle finger to its original meaning.

Izuku didn't know why, but something told him this was gonna be a looooong year.

{XXX}

Ochako was ecstatic.

Deku-sama had tried to call off the debt, but that little tidbit about not being a charity case did the trick! Ochako didn't like to admit it, but she was scarily good at lying without actually giving misinformation.

It was simple, really.

Just tell the right amount of truth at the right time. She always hated taking handouts, yes, but handouts had helped her survive so many cold nights that she still held a deep respect for them.

Her blessing wasn't a handout.

Her blessing was so much more than that! Her blessing was what gave her life! Her blessing was what got her to stop staring at razor blades and wondering what it'd be like if she brought them to her arms! Her blessing was what let her get her bills paid so she didn't have to hang out by burning trash cans during the winter! Her blessing was what let her finally experience happiness!

No-fucking-way was she gonna take that blessing without returning the favor in any capacity she could.

Her lust told her to offer her body, but that would come later. Deku-sama was too chivalrous for his own good, after all. He'd need to be eased into the reality of his situation: he was a god. After all, the true Messiah would deny the fact that they were the Messiah. Her mind wandered to what Deku-sama would come up with as she took her seat in the auditorium, her mind bringing images of him spreading her legs with a desperate hunger in his eyes, leaning in next to her ear, and whispering "I know how you can pay me back, my little-"

She slapped both hands on her cheeks to stop that train of thought right there. Making a scene would only separate her from Deku-sama, and plus Deku-sama would get creeped out if he wasn't eased into the fact that she was irrevocably broken.

She looked at her hand, eyeing the strand of hair she had "accidentally" yanked off of him. The hair of a god. His DNA. A part of her wondered if she could take quirks by ingesting DNA, but she quickly snuffed those thoughts. After all, only Deku-sama and All for One had the kind of power to transfer quirks… Right?

She leaned back in her seat and watched the presentation that Present Mic was so desperately trying to instill enthusiasm into. As he started explaining the point system, she noticed a soft muttering somewhere behind her. Glancing towards the disturbance, she was greeted with the sight of Deku-sama so lost in thought and muttering up a storm. If she wasn't sitting, she would've swooned.

But then this tall dumbass with blue hair and glasses stood up.

"Excuse me, sir! But on the pamphlet it said that there would be four kinds of enemies, not three! If this is a misprint, then U.A. should be ashamed! And you!" He said, pointing to Deku-sama. "You've been muttering the entire time, and it's distracting! If you're not gonna take things seriously, then please leave!"

That got her blood boiling.

Immediately, she stood up to defend her god. "Excuse me, but U.A. is the finest hero school in Japan for a reason! Mic was probably about to get to the fourth robot or explain if there were any last-minute changes! Additionally, everyone here has their own methods of internalizing information! It's rude to interrupt someone's train of thought like that, especially when it's barely even audible!"

She sat back down in her chair, scowling directly at the boy. She hoped she was conveying just how much she wanted to maim him through her gaze, pouring in every ounce of fury and hatred she could muster. Were it not for the laws of the land, she would have slaughtered him. The boy sputtered before making a series of apologies and sitting down, and she couldn't help the satisfaction she felt when he glanced at her and had a mini heart attack when she met his gaze.

Once everyone was shuffled onto buses, she couldn't help but internally squeal as she saw Dekusama, and with an open seat too! Immediately she took her rightful spot next to him and smiled. "Hey, Deku-sama. Hope that guy didn't bother you."

"O-oh! Uraraka-san!" He looked at her, waving his hands in a form of social surrender. "No, it's ok. I've been meaning to curb that habit for years now but it's never gone away." She frowned, looking down at the hem of her skirt. "Hmm… that's a shame. I find it kinda cute, actually."

She looked back up, giving him a smile she could only pray matched one of his. He sputtered, his arms flailing about before finally settling to shield his beet-red face. "I-it's not cute! It's creepy and distracting, and-" She cut him off, shoving a finger past his defenses to press against his lips. "Those were the opinions of bullies and jerks who wouldn't even give you the time of day because you didn't know you had a quirk."

This seemed to calm him down, but the adorable blush didn't leave him. "Is that why you call me 'Deku-sama'?" She could only smile brighter, nodding once before saying "Yep! Deku itself sounds kinda cute, and it also sounds similar to Dekiru which gives it a 'you can do it' vibe! I added the 'sama' part to better punctuate the meaning in case people get the wrong idea."

This seemed to brighten up his mood considerably, albeit at the cost of making his blush even more adorable. A cost she could live with. The rest of the ride was silent, and she took that moment to think about her written test scores. One of the few benefits to being born quirkless was that they had an above-average IQ by default, and a quirkless person's definition of being stupid was basically a quirkless person's definition of average.

Nevertheless, the test was hard. Generalized? Yes, but the broad range of topics meant that she had to deal with curveball after curveball of bizarre questions she never even expected to be there. Deku-sama probably did pretty well. While he didn't have many intelligence quirks, she could tell it was enough to make him a certified genius. She was feeling confident about the practical, though.

Sure, robots were heavier than people, which meant more tummy aches, but she now could go all out. And, a thought just occurred to her: Deku-sama would probably be stoking out the competition. He did mention how he loved seeing people push their quirks to their limits, and here she could show off all she wanted and earn some sweet, sweet praise from him!

She watched in the corner of her eye as Deku-sama was about to walk up to her to say something, but was rudely interrupted by the same blue-haired prick from earlier. Before she could intervene, Present Mic shouted something and the gates opened. When she looked out into the field, Deku-sama had already appeared a ways behind the first wave of 1-Pointers and was taking out the tougher opponents.

Steeling herself, she applied her quirk to her body and clothes and jumped, using telekinesis to move herself to the large buildings in the back. Deku-sama had already made quick work of a sizable chunk of bots but was moving as far away from the crowd as possible, probably to collect points in peace.

She made sure to drop down and apply her quirk to some of the bots in his path, launching them into the sides of the building she was once perched upon. He looked at her with wide eyes, and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest from the look of sheer awe and intrigue on his face, but then he gave her a thumbs up.

She was really glad she wasn't in a skirt right now, her sweatpants easily hiding her nectar's glistening moisture, and she gave a silent prayer that Deku-sama would fix her impure urges once everything was over. He fired a bolt of green fire behind her, launching a 3-pointer a few meters away before he continued on his path.

Ochako decided to return to the roof, applying her quirk on as much debris and robot scrap as she could to chuck at any unsuspecting droids she could spot. All-in-all, the exam was child's play. All she had to do was add some mass to her ammo, bash bots with them from far away, then return to the ground once her ammo depleted to gather more. She never even got to use her gravity manipulation! Meanwhile, Deku-sama was attacking everything with all his zeal.

He had experimented with some of his quirks, first using concussive fire blasts for blunt-force trauma, then applying crystals to his fingertips to shred his opponents, and finally electricity to simply short-circuit the bots with no effort. Just like her, it seemed he was bored with how... simple the exercise was! All you need is the right combat-oriented quirk and it's a cakewalk!

Why isn't there a system to rack up points without needing to fight?

She was shaken from her thoughts when a loud rumbling shook the entire testing area. Looking to the source of the destruction, she came face-to-face with the biggest robot she ever saw: the zero-point. "WHAT THE FU-" were the words she uttered before the behemoth bulldozed through the building she was on top of, sending her straight to the ground.

She was able to save herself from harm via her quirk, but then a loud crunch and sharp pain in her leg made her expel a screech of agony. She tried to reach for the offending piece of concrete, to graze her finger pads on it, but no matter how hard she reached she just couldn't touch it. To make matters worse, the zero-pointer was tearing back its mechanical fist and was preparing to flatten her.

I'm so sorry, Deku-sama… I wasted your gift… I'm so sorry… mom… dad… I'm so sorry for being such a failure… She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact. With luck, she'd be reborn as Deku-sama's daughter or something, but for once she didn't want to pass on to the next life. She had a reason to stay now, and she couldn't help but shed a tear that she never got to pay back her debt.

But then, a familiar flash of green made itself known, and she looked in awe as Deku-sama sucker-punched the droid so hard its entire head came clean off and entered another testing area, destroying the zero-pointer over there.

Unbeknownst to either of them, one Katsuki Bakugou was about to unleash his first ever AP-Shot when all of a sudden the head of a Zero-Pointer went straight through his target.

Ochako stared at her savior, taking in every drop of detail she could. His exposed muscles glistening in sweat, the determined look on his face, the way his arm and legs fizzled into sparks-

Wait.

She immediately snapped out of her haze to see the panicked look on her God. Technically he could fly with Emerald Ignition, but he needed at least three limbs to be stable. Apparently, he had exerted more damage than his endurance quirks could handle, and she quietly thanked whoever donated Conduit that the loss of three limbs wasn't a permanent setback for him, but that raised the question: How would he land?

Without thinking, she applied a field of anti-gravity to her body, repelling the rock that once pinned her helplessly to the ground whilst also launching her skywards. She then created a field of normal gravity to pull Deku-sama into her arms, used her quirk on him, then used telekinesis to lower the two back down to the ground.

Once they were sitting on the cold hard concrete, she immediately shuffled back away from the warmth of Deku-sama to puke into a small crater someone had made before passing out.

{XXX}

Izuku dragged himself to the limp form of Uraraka-san, grunting as his arm and legs slowly began to reform.

'That was the first time I ever used more than fifty quirks in the same slot. Wish I had just as many Endurance quirks to compensate, though.' He checked her pulse after rolling her onto her back, relieved to feel the strong pulsing of blood and see the subtle rising and falling of her bust.

Izuku couldn't help but sigh and let himself collapse onto the dirt, taking his time to think about the quirks he had spotted. The blue-haired boy had exhaust ports in his legs, giving him a boost that easily outclassed five speed quirks. Izuku spotted a boy that appeared to be covered in glitter and speaking broken french, reflecting beams of light off of his body to attack foes at range and even reflecting some attacks onto other bots.

There was also this girl with pink skin that secreted a potent-looking acid. The last one he could remember was this deep-purple-haired girl with headphone jacks for earlobes, firing off sonic blasts. The hero course was looking to have some interesting candidates. Transfer panged in his chest, making its desire to take known.

He had stopped visiting nursing homes after being adopted by Endeavour… maybe it was time to continue gathering his hoard while he waited for the results. At the bare least it'd scratch that ever-present itch that demanded he continues collecting, and the presence of so many quirks being used at once just made that sensation so much worse.

So many quirks with so much hidden potential, squandered by the ignorant. While he'd never get to use all of them, he knew he'd be able to master them far quicker than their original owners, and that was what truly made him itch deep down. So much power, wasted.

He didn't like that.

His quirk didn't like that.

The quirkless didn't like that.

He looked to Uraraka-san's sleeping body and felt his itch die down. Her quirk, which was once a tiny pale swirl of energy, now pulsed a bright pink. Her quirk had developed more than some pro-heroes he had bumped into, definitely more than Endeavour's, and he couldn't help but smile at her.

Reaching out his arm, a soft green glow radiated out of his hand and to her leg, repairing the damage the debris had caused. Healthcare was its name; the ability to put organic matter back into a healthy state at the cost of its user's stamina. He felt exhaustion take hold and fell asleep next to her.