Izuku Midoriya was born quirkless.
Then, like most children, he got a quirk when he turned 4.
"Happy Birthday!" The party guests - Izuku's mom, Auntie Mitsuki and Katsuki, cheered. Well two of them cheered, Bakugo didn't believe in cheering. It was Izuku's 4th birthday and the room was a shrine to All Might, Izuku's idol. There were All Might banners, All Might plates, All Might cake shaped like his head, pin the hair on the All Might, and All Might balloons. Even the birthday cards were All Might themed, except for the one from the Bakugos, who got him a Best Jeanist card instead. They meant well.
Izuku was overjoyed by all the attention he was getting on his special day, especially the gifts. Izuku liked gifts. He gave his mom a hug and thanked her, and smiled at Katsuki - who grumbled something about not being there by choice.
Izuku blew out the candles with a big smile, dressed in his new All Might costume and clenched his eyes shut as he made his wish. No prizes for guessing what he wished for.
"I've got one last surprise for you, sweetie!" Inko said as she brought out a carefully wrapped gift covered in shiny (All Might) wrapping paper. As she handed the gift to Izuku his grin grew wider and he tore into the paper.
But as the wrapping paper was shredded by his tiny hands, the pieces didn't fall to the floor. Instead, it clung to his arms and legs like it was all covered in glue. "Mommy! It won't come off!" Izuku wailed as he vigorously shook his arms trying to shake the paper off, which stubbornly stayed put. He was so scared he couldn't even register the limited edition All Might (With Hat) action figure inside the box.
"Inko, did you put glue on the wrapping paper by mistake?" Mitsuki asked, confused.
Inko shook her head, equally baffled. "No, at least, I don't think so? The tape wasn't that strong!"
Izuku tried in vain to pull the rest of the paper from his face, but it kept sticking to his hands instead. After some struggling he looked like an All Might brand mummy, and was beginning to panic. What if he suffocated under his hero's smiling face?!
"Mommmyyyyy!" He sobbed.
"Don't worry honey, we'll get you out!" Inko said, grabbing a pair of scissors, which made Izuku tremble more.
"Don't cut me!" He yelled.
"I'm not going to cut you, sweetie, just the paper!" she tried to calm him down, as she prepared to carefully cut around his eyes and mouth. But it turned out she didn't need to, because a piece of wrapping paper came off easily in her hand.
"It's… It's not even sticky."
Mitsuki gasped dramatically, "Inko! You know what this means?!"
"He needs to wash his hands more?"
"No! Izuku has his quirk!" Mitsuki exclaimed.
"No fair!" Katsuki shouted, stamping his foot. "Why does Izuku get to have his quirk first?! I want my quirk!"
"Wait your turn, you little brat!" Mitsuki shot back.
"My quirk?!" Izuku's face lit up. Presumably. It was almost entirely hidden by pieces of paper. "Mommy, I got my quirk?!" He was happy, but also confused. Oh no! What if his quirk was paper attraction?! What kind of hero would he be then, Paperboy?! That's a terrible name! And probably trademarked!
"I… I guess so?"
—
Inko sighed as she peeled off yet another cherry blossom that had stuck to Izuku's skin. She'd never realised how messy trees were until now. "Do you think things will eventually stop automatically sticking to him, doctor?"
The quirk specialist, a balding man with glasses and a confused expression, tilted his head at Izuku and raised an eyebrow. Without saying a word, he picked up a pen on his desk and stuck it to the boy's cheek, where it remained. He tilted his head the opposite way, seemingly deep in thought, before removing the pen again and checking to see if it was sticky. "...Fascinating. I'm going to have to perform some more tests."
"Well, if you think it's for the best? Are you okay to stick around- I mean, stay here for a little while longer, sweetie?" Inko asked her son gently.
"Yeah for sure! I wanna see what I can do!"
Fifteen minutes later, Izuku found himself in a game of "What can stick to Izuku's face and arms." The doctor was on a roll, close to a new high score in Izuku buckaroo (Izuckaroo?) Pens, paperclips, pieces of paper, coins, batteries, a stapler, anything he could find in the room was now a very daring fashion accessory. Izuku wasn't enjoying himself very much, but the doctor was finding the whole situation rather entertaining. He stuck a marker pen on Izuku's forehead like a unicorn horn.
"Doctor, this is not helpful at all!" Inko scolded, growing more frustrated by the minute.
He then proceeded to take out his phone and snap a few pictures. "Don't worry, this is for science," he claimed, as he opened his social media apps. "Hashtag…stickyboy. Hashtag…lol." he mumbled out loud as he slowly typed on the screen. He didn't notice the angry glare from Inko or the sad look on Izuku's face as he waited for the likes and comments to pour in.
Izuku, ever optimistic, looked up at the specialist with his big, green eyes shining with childlike wonder. "Do you think I can be a hero like All Might? With a quirk like this?"
The doctor's lip wobbled as he looked down at the small child covered in more garbage than that one town you don't like, you know the one. "A…a hero?" he snickered, "L-like All Might?!" He tried to keep a straight face, but it was hopeless. "Pff…Bwahahaha! A hero like All Might?! Kid, you're sticky! What are you gonna do, gross out the villains?!"
Inko stared daggers at him, "Doctor! I assumed these tests must have had some merit, but this seems wildly unprofessional!"
"Hold on, hold on, I gotta call the nurse in," the doctor said, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried to regain himself. "Nurse! Nurse, get in here, you gotta see this!"
"Doctor, that is quite enough!" Inko shouted once more.
The nurse entered the room, curious about the commotion, "Yes doctor?"
Still chuckling, he managed to force out, "This kid's quirk is being sticky, and he wants to be a hero… Like All Might!"
The nurse almost immediately joined in the laughter, even throwing in some pointing and mock crying expressions at the distraught Izuku.
"Well, if being a hero doesn't work out, you can always be a lint roller!" she howled.
Inko had reached her boiling point. She peeled the objects off Izuku's face, clenching the stapler in her hands
"Hey, look on the bright side, you'll never lose your phone, it'll be stuck to you!" The doctor cracked up at his own crappy joke.
Inko marched around the desk to where the doctor sat, and he looked up at her, still smiling. "Huh? AHHH!" his thoughts were suddenly not on Izuku, but on the staples Inko just slammed into his forehead.
"Oops!" She said mockingly, "I guess my son's quirk is a bit stronger than we thought!" The doctor clutched his head in pain.
"Owwww! Whyyyy?!" He whimpered.
"You're right, I'm sorry," Inko said sweetly, "that was a waste of staples." Then she grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and stapled it to the side of his head. "There we go!"
"I'll… I'll call the cops!" The nurse shrieked, backing away into the wall and reaching for the landline phone on the wall.
Inko's eyes flashed with righteous fury as she pointed threateningly at the nurse, " And I'll call the morgue ."
The nurse put the phone back on the hook.
"Come on Izuku, let's go home." She smiled kindly at her son, leading him by the hand.
On their way out, passing by the other terrified patients waiting to be seen, she kicked the door down instead of opening it. "Wow, that is a powerful quirk, isn't it dear?"
"Yes mommy." Izuku said with a smile.
—
"Mommy…is it true what that man said? Can I really not be a hero with a quirk like this?" Izuku looked up at her with giant watery eyes.
"Izuku, with the aliens who gave us these quirks as my witness, I'm going to help you follow your dreams just to stick it to that bastard at the clinic."
"What's a bastard?"
"You'd have to ask your father. Now give me a hug. …ow ow ow hair HAIR!"
—
Katsuki Bakugo REFUSED to let Izuku beat him at anything! There was no way that sticky loser was getting his quirk first. He was gonna get his quirk, show everyone at school first, and he'd be the coolest kid at kindergarten! This was the most important weekend of his entire life .
So he spent the whole weekend trying to force his quirk out of himself. He tried yelling as loud as he could, punching walls, kicking trees, he jumped off a super-duper high wall in his backyard (almost 2ft!), anything he could think of that might make something happen. He ate the spiciest food he could find, he spun around in circles, he held on to a box of matches and stared at them intently before deciding against it. He watched hero videos, he looked at the pictures in hero magazines, he said the word hero outloud 100 times (the biggest number Katsuki knew), but nothing seemed to work.
Until finally, on Monday morning just before school started, he did it. He got so hyped about a new episode of Captain Celebrity that he clapped his hands and blew up a window with the resulting blast.
He couldn't wait to get to school and show everyone his quirk, especially Izuku! Katsuki had a REAL quirk, he was gonna be the hero and Izuku would have to just follow him around carrying his things!
Katsuki strutted into school early that day, already basking in the attention from his classmates. Just as he was revelling in it, Izuku showed up. Katsuki smirked and thrust his palms forward, creating a show of sparks and mini-explosions.
"Wow!" Izuku gasped, eyes wide with genuine excitement. "Kacchan, you got your quirk too!"
"That's right, and it's way better than anyone else's!" Bakugo boasted. "I can blow stuff up and I can even fly!"
"Fly? Seriously?!" Izuku's jaw nearly hit the floor as he inched closer.
"...Not yet, but I will! Just watch me!" Bakugo declared, drawing gasps of admiration from the other kids who couldn't believe their ears or eyes.
But leave it to one of the teachers to play the role of the party pooper. She turned to Izuku and asked, much to Katsuki's annoyance, "You got your quirk this weekend too, didn't you, Midoriya?"
"Uh huh!" he said with a smile. "I'm gonna be a hero like All Might!" and he started punching the air.
"Wow, hear that Bakugo? Maybe you and Midoriya could team up and tackle villains together!" the teacher suggested optimistically.
"Fat chance! His quirk is being sticky, it's dumb." Bakugo crossed his arms and looked at Izuku disapprovingly, "He'd just get in my way."
"My quirk isn't dumb!" Izuku protested, his cheeks turning red. "My mom says it's super strong!"
The teacher tried her best to prevent an argument, "Oh come on Bakugo, I'm sure it's more than just being sticky. Right, Midoriya?"
"Um, I dunno… But I'm gonna find out!"
"That's your quirk, you're sticky?! That's useless!" One of the other children shouted.
"How's that gonna help anyone?!" Another yelled.
Bakugo smirked with his arms crossed. "Yeah, Sticky Izzy, how are you gonna be a hero, huh?"
One of the other boys laughed and said, "Yeah, Sticky Izzy, why don't you stick around and find out!" Which didn't actually make a whole lot of sense in context, but it was still a fairly clever piece of wordplay from a 4 year old so credit where it's due.
Izuku clenched his little fists tight and angrily shouted back at the other kids "My mom says she's gonna get me into a martial arts school! And I'm gonna learn how to fight, then you'll all feel really bad when you see me fighting villains with All Might!"
—
Life with Izuku's quirk turned out to be quite the learning experience for both Izuku and Inko. They soon discovered that his stickiness had a mysterious on/off switch, but neither of them could figure out how the hell it worked. It was like an enigma wrapped in some glue.
The stickiness, for example, would take a nap itself whenever Izuku fell asleep. Izuku's clothes also never seemed to be affected by his quirk, as they never got stuck to his body and his hair would never stick to his face.
His baths were a nightmare, because the water would cling to him like a second skin and there was no way to dry him off. Inko would have to wait for him to fall asleep then change the sheets, which gave a whole new meaning to wetting the bed.
He also needed help with almost everything. He couldn't eat or write without someone else pulling the fork or pencil off him. There was no way they could find for him to let go of things himself, because it would just stick to his other hand. For some reason he couldn't use a table edge either, because the item would stay firmly attached no matter how much he tried. But conversely, he had no issues using door handles. It was a very temperamental quirk at the best of times.
Inko did eventually manage to enrol Izuku in a dojo that both accepted children and was quirk counsellor certified to help kids whose abilities required quite a bit more patience from instructors. The holes burned into some equipment tossed to the side of the training area actually made Inko feel good about choosing this place, they clearly had some experience with complicated quirks. She felt even better about it when the instructors treated her son very sweetly the first time he tried to hit a punching bag and got stuck.
"It's all a learning experience, little one! Don't feel bad at all." The translucent instructor ensured him, hesitating slightly before she ruffled Izuku's hair. She was quite glad to not get stuck to his head. Then turning to Inko, who was sitting in on their first session, she added "His quirk is fascinating, is it genetic?"
Inko pondered for a moment, "Well, I never really thought about it, but yes, I guess it must be. My quirk attracts small objects, so I suppose Izuku is doing something similar, but all the time."
The instructor nodded in understanding, "Ah, that makes sense. Kids do seem to take after their parents, just amplified!"
As the training continued, Izuku found himself fascinated by the unique abilities of his see-through sensei. He wished he could take notes, but he couldn't write yet so that would have been a challenge. Nonetheless, he mentally filled an entire notebook with everything he observed about her quirk.
"Do you have any children yourself?" Inko asked, as Izuku slid on a pair of gloves and took renewed aim at the punching bag.
The instructor smiled and replied, "Just my little Toru. She's somewhere around here, probably getting into some trouble as usual."
A voice chimed in from an unseen source, "Hey! I'm not causing trouble!"
The sensei rolled her eyes, "Toru, dear, please put on some clothes. We've been through this." She said, looking down at nothing.
"Why? It's not like anyone can see me!"
"You know that's not the point! Now go put something on."
Toru grumbled and, presumably, wandered off. Mrs Hagakure turned to Inko and shrugged, "Kids. Okay then, Izuku!" she clapped her hands, "Let's see what you can do!"
—
Six months had flown by since Izuku began his weekly training sessions at the dojo, and the progress he was making made it worth the effort. His confidence in his quirk was growing stronger by the day, and he was even beginning to get some control of activation and deactivation - the secret lay in relaxation techniques. He'd made good friends with some of the other kids at the dojo, including his invisible companion Toru and another acidic friend named Mina. He still went to regular school as well, of course, and he was positive he was close to a breakthrough when it came to Kacchan's friendship.
One sunny afternoon, he and some of his other kindergarten classmates were playing heroes vs villains in the park. Izuku was playing the villain, like always. But that's okay, really! It just meant Kacchan got to practise at being a hero, so it technically meant Izuku was saving people in the future! Even if it did sometimes just feel like an excuse for them to chase Izuku.
Today, the other boys seemed to be extra mean, and were chasing Izuku around the playground throwing sticks at him. The teacher 'watching' their playtime took a sip of her soda and kept looking at her phone. "Don't be too rough."
"You'd better run, Sticky! Or I'll blast ya!" Kacchan yelled.
Izuku ran as fast as he could, but he was outnumbered and outmatched. Soon enough he found himself cornered by a wall, with no way out. Kacchan was closing in on him grinning wickedly, explosions popping on his palms like miniature fireworks. Their other friend started to stretch his fingers, while another flapped his bat wings ominously.
Panicking, Izuku turned on the spot only to be met by bricks. There was no way out! …Unless… Looking up at the wall, he breathed heavily and closed his eyes tight, and pressed his palm against the brickwork.
It was rough, but he felt his quirk activate. He lifted the other hand and moved it higher, clumsily removed his velcro shoes using his heels and stuck his foot to the wall too. This might actually work!
Repeating the process, he slowly but steadily began to scale the wall. He wasn't being quick about it, but the other boys made no attempts to stop him.
"Hey! How are you doing that?!" Kacchan shouted.
"I don't know! I just can!" Izuku shouted back. After reaching the top of the wall he looked down at them, feeling a giddy rush of adrenaline and excitement. He laughed out loud, smiled and waved down at the others, who actually looked pretty impressed. Even if Kacchan hid it well.
He'd escaped them without a scratch! It didn't even seem that difficult to climb the wall, the training must be doing something for his upper body strength after all. This clinched it, he really could be a hero after all!
The hard part now was getting down off the roof.