Izuku punched a wall and growled softly as he took out his frustration on the bricks. "Midoriya-San," asked a voice behind him. Izuku looked behind him and saw Momo standing there, slightly out of breath. "Are you ok?"
"Oh, Yaoyorozu-Chan," he said. "I'm fine. Just… angry."
"Did you know those two back there?"
"The one who was captured is my childhood friend Katsuki Bakugou. The one who tried helping is a student at the same school as us. Kenta Bushida. And there was a time when I was almost in Bushida's place. Quirkless and looked down on like he was just now. I can sympathize with his situation. And seeing him treated like a burden is something that I don't like. I've only just met him, but I can tell I would've been in the same boat as he was."
"What do you mean? You showed two very powerful Quirks back there."
"My personal Quirk didn't manifest until I was five. I spent a year being bullied until I could use Psychokinesis to fight back."
"Psychokinesis?"
"My preferred name for Telekinesis. It sounds better to me."
"And your fire Quirk?"
"Technically my main Quirk is called Full Potential."
"Full Potential?"
"It's a special Quirk. It's a replication Quirk. My father technically had the same thing, but he only used it to learn Fire Breath."
"And why call it Full Potential?"
"Because unlike most other Quirks of the same nature, mine is more… Intuitive. Replication is only a side effect. The main ability allows me to have a full understanding of something's inner workings. Mechanical and biological."
"That's… that's incredible!" She paused. "But wait… how do you replicate Quirks?"
"Oh, that. My mind instinctively knows how something works. My uncles, Hiro Nakamura, and Peter Petrelli, have been teaching me since I was a kid to identify the emotions related to Quirks so I can understand how the person feels when using their Quirk. So far I've been able to replicate four Quirks. My mother's, Uncle Hiro's, Peter's girlfriend Emma's and Katsuki's."
"And what are those Quirks?"
"Emma's is Enhanced Synesthesia. She was born deaf. Her Quirk allows her to see sounds in the form of colors."
"And your uncle's?" Izuku smirked, fidgeting with his backpack strap slightly.
"That one I can show you. If you don't mind." He held out his hand to her. Momo smiled and took it. Izuku held up a finger and pointed to the street beside them. "Take a look." Momo turned to the street and blinked at what she was seeing. The cars, people, even animals and leaves were frozen in place.
"What the…?"
"He calls it Time in a Bottle. He's a Master of Time and Space. He can pause time, time travel, teleport, and even forward and rewind time around him. And I can do the same. And a little more."
"More than this? This is already incredible!"
"I can make you de-age or age faster in a single moment, effectively taking you out of any fight until I restore you. It's one of the scarier aspects of Time in a Bottle." Momo turned to him.
"Have… have you ever…?"
"No. It's one of those things I instinctively know I can do thanks to Full Potential."
"Honestly, that seems outright terrifying."
"It is. But Uncle Hiro keeps telling me that it's not a power that makes the hero, it's his heart and will to protect others. He tells me that as long as he keeps his mind sharp, and his heart open, such thoughts never come to mind. It's one of the aspects of training my Ability. Using empathy to learn how to integrate powers instead of… other means."
"What other means?"
"Theoretically… it is entirely possible for me to… adjust the chemical structure of my brain to mimic the physiology of someone with a Quirk. I just… need access to the person's brain."
"Their… brain…?" Izuku nodded.
"It's the more efficient, deadlier, and most dangerous way of copying Quirks, for me and the other person in general."
"I… understand why the other person would be at risk, but…"
"Three reasons for me. The first is needing to kill the person in order to gain access to their brain, unless they have an extensive cellular regeneration Quirk. The second reason is rapidly changing my own brain's chemical composition can lead to abnormal behavior when not done slowly and carefully through my normal means, leading to psychopathic tendencies and the risk of awakening the third risk for myself and others."
"That being…?"
"My family calls it the Hunger. A need to understand more and more Abilities to the point where it's the only thing I care about. It… can send me on a murder spree if it ever comes to."
"Did your father…?"
"My grandfather. From what my mother told me, I'm the third generation of this Ability. My father was aware of the risks and left when he felt himself… slipping."
"This implies your father knew more than just Firebreathing."
"It's more… his worries got the better of him when I was born. Worries about slipping and hurting my mom or showing me himself at his worst."
"That sounds very noble."
"My dad is the main reason I want to be a hero. And my uncles promised him to teach me how."
"I see." Momo thought for a moment. "Midoriya, are there any other drawbacks to your Quirk?" Izuku shook his head.
"Only in trying to combine certain Abilities. They tend to conflict with each other."
"Like how?"
"The more obvious ones would be something like water and fire. But one most don't realize is something like a hyper regeneration Ability and an armored skin type."
"Wouldn't the two work in tandem?"
"Not really. One requires the cells to be just unstable enough to multiply rapidly in order to heal wounds, whether perfectly or imperfectly is based on biology, and the other means making the cells more durable, preventing damage, and making them more stable. Two opposite effects that require different mindsets and physiology. And your Quirk has something that it can't work well with either."
"Like wh-" a slight grumbling noise interrupted her, and she blushed before holding her hands over her stomach. "Um… sorry. I've hardly had anything to eat today and using my Quirk so suddenly for an object that size tends to make me hungry."
"I… could treat you to something to eat, if you'd like."
"Oh, you don't have to do that."
"It's fine. If I hadn't jumped in like I did, you probably wouldn't have used your Quirk, either. It's my fault you got involved. If you hadn't gotten caught up with me, you wouldn't have either."
"Then your friends would've been more in danger than they were."
"All Might was there in no time." Izuku paused as he tried to think of how the villain got away in the first place, and for that matter why All Might took as long as he did to show up. He's seen how fast All Might can move through the countless videos he'd seen so far, so why…? Izuku shook his head before turning to Momo. "Please, consider it my apology for seeing something I shouldn't have." Both teens were now blushing, the taller of the two even more so than before.
"That was also my fault. I didn't give you enough warning and I needed enough space to…"
"Don't worry…" Izuku shook his head. "It's honestly one of the better sights I've seen in my life…" He exclaimed in shock before shaking his head as she blushed and covered up her mouth in surprise. "Sorry! I don't want you to think I'm a pervert! I just find it hard to keep my mouth shut when I'm flustered!" Izuku covered his mouth before focusing on keeping his emotions under control. "Please say yes to dinner, I honestly don't think I can keep my embarrassment under control much longer if we just stay here…"
"Um… alright. I'll go to dinner with you." Izuku smiled.
'Uncle Hiro can never know acting like a dork actually worked when talking to a girl. He'll never let me live it down,' thought Izuku before he led her to a restaurant nearby, holding the door open for her.
"Oh, thank you, Midoriya-San."
"You're welcome." The two placed their orders and sat down before he turned to her. "So, in order to explain, I'd need to copy your Quirk, if that's alright."
"Oh. That… should be fine. How do you…?"
"Well, I've already seen how your Quirk works, again sorry." The two blushed once more before Izuku schooled himself quickly. "I just need you to explain the specifics and what you feel when using your Quirk."
"Alright. My Quirk is Creation. Using the lipids in my body, I can create anything that's not a living organism. I suppose…" Momo placed a finger to her cheek as she thought, eyes drifting to the ceiling. Izuku blushed lightly, thinking she somehow got cuter than before. "If I had to explain how I feel when creating, it would be calm. I need to visualize every component down to the molecular level in order to create something with multiple parts."
"Wait. You mean like if you create a gun…"
"The main frame, trigger, bullets, and every piece needs to be properly thought of in order to properly work. If I'm too flustered I'll get something wrong, and the gun could potentially malfunction."
"That… wow… in order to keep track of every single molecule… you must be a genius, Yaoyorozu-Sama."
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far. I just have a fairly decent memory."
"You're not giving yourself enough credit. In order to do what you do, that's incredible." Momo blushed and looked away slightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as it fell out of place.
"Thank you, Midoriya-San."
"Ok, using your lipids to create… but if it were just converting your lipids, your body would be more in line of Fat Gum's so it's more than just that it seems…" Momo turned to him and saw him tapping a finger to his chin as he muttered to himself and smiled slightly at the sight. "It may be your lipids act as the base while… could it be you're converting the electrons around you in order to create something? If that's the case…" Izuku blinked as he registered she was staring at him and rubbed the back of his head as their food came. "Sorry. I kind of have a habit of doing that when I think about Quirks."
"It's fine. I find it sort of amusing." She sipped her drink before looking at him. "What was that you were saying about electrons?"
"Oh. You told me you use your lipids to create. If it were only that, your body would be more capable of sustaining fat for you to make larger objects. Otherwise just making something like you did earlier would do more than just make you hungry, and your body would be more like Fat Gum who does utilize his body fat as a cushion but can dispel it if necessary. Based on how you've described it, your lipids are more the basic building blocks for your creation while your Quirk allows for molecular manipulation in order to morph the lipids into different objects of different states of matter. It's less creation and more… Molecular Conversion." Izuku opened his hand and from his palm, a red rose bloomed from the blue light emitting from it.
"Oh my…" She took the rose as the light dimmed and he smiled.
"I'm nowhere near smart enough to remember the composition of more complicated machines, but I understand how biology works for plants and animals. Can't make a sentient being, that would require an electrokinetic Quirk in order to create an electrical signal for the neurons, but plants like this I can do."
"I can't even create life in general!"
"And that's understandable. Creating cells is difficult, I had to pause for a moment to get it right, but after realizing the chemical makeup for plant cells was a simple mixture compared to animal cells, it was a simple solution without needing mitosis. Understanding chemical compounds is one natural perk to Full Potential."
"I have to say, your Quirk is truly incredible. If a little bit scary."
"I know what you mean." He took a bite of his katsudon and looked at her. "When Mom first told me of everything Dad had told her, I was… scared of myself is putting it lightly. Luckily, Uncle Peter was able to help me learn the safer portion of my Quirk."
"And what's his Quirk?"
"Peter actually hasn't named his Quirk. It's Empathic Mimicry. He feels the scientific name does the job well enough."
"Is this how you learned?"
"Yeah. Though his is more a direct copy. Mine is evolving as well as copying. I'm honestly waiting to meet him in a couple of months."
"Why?"
"Cause he promised to let me learn one of his copied Abilities from his brother."
"That being?"
"Flight." Momo looked at him as he seemed to beam.
"He can fly?"
"Without wings, too."
"That's so rare!" Izuku chuckled.
"It's why he doesn't do it a lot. Attracts way too much attention. He prefers keeping a low profile when he helps people."
"So is he a Vigilante?"
"You could say that." Izuku smiled, quickly changing topics. "I feel like I've heard your name before."
"Probably from the news. My family is well known for making hero support items. Perks of our Quirks being what they are. More than simply helping heroes, I wanted to be one myself. I even got a spot in the recommended exam."
"That's incredible! But that just shows you're as talented as you are pretty." Izuku covered his mouth as Momo blushed before smiling.
"Thank you, Midoriya." She are some of her ramen before looking back at him. "So, what would be the Quirk my own wouldn't be compatible with?"
"It would be two things. The first is something requiring dispelling cells from your body for their Quirk to work. The other would be something that requires heightened emotions to work. Like this girl I met not that long ago. She attends Seiai Academy, just started this year. Her Quirk increases her IQ when she drinks tea. Based on how I understand it, she needs the slight high she gets from drinking tea to activate her Quirk."
"High?"
"Tea is a stimulant, like coffee. It heightens the senses to a small extent and there is a slight high that comes from it. It's just not as prominent as some recreational drugs, coffee, or my mom's weakness of chocolate."
"I never knew that. I drink tea all the time."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. My favorite is Gold Tips Imperial Tea." Izuku smiled as she seemed to visibly brighten at the thought of tea. "Izuku, do you need any help in learning how to use my Quirk?"
"I would like that. I have to take things a few steps at a time to learn how my Abilities work so I can fully adapt to having it. My mom told me to keep my list short so I can easily remember how each one feels and to avoid any memory based Quirks. It would keep me sane, at the cost of a large number of Abilities at my disposal."
"I suppose limiting yourself would be another downside of your Quirk. If a self-imposed one."
"When you put it that way, I guess so." Izuku smiled. "Yaoyorozu-Sama. If you don't mind, I'd love to go over your Quirk with you until the exams start. It'd give us both a chance to expand what we can do and get used to using it in combat scenarios, if you're up to that, I mean."
"I would love to. I was honestly worried about how I might do in a stressful situation. I've only ever sparred against the men my father hired and I think he paid them to go easy on me. He… doesn't really think I should be a hero. He said it's too dangerous."
"Of course it's dangerous. Putting your own life on the line for others? Potentially fighting people looking to hurt others? It is dangerous. But if today proved anything it's that we've got the hearts to be heroes. Screw what Death Arms was telling Bushida. He does as well."
"And Bushida… is he really… Quirkless?"
"He is. He told me and… I can feel it."
"Feel it?"
"Me and Kenta already have a sort of… symmetry, I guess you could say. The want to be a hero. Emotionally we're very similar, save for his timid demeanor. But there's… nothing there. No Quirk. I know what he's feeling. How in that moment he was afraid, but determined. But there was nothing to copy. Our Quirks are very much tied to our emotions. In times of stress and emotional highs, Abilities come through easiest. For Kachan, Katsuki, when he's excited, angry, and especially when he's afraid, his Quirk comes through. Something like what just happened should've been enough to make something come through, if even only just beneath the surface. But there was nothing."
"It would be incredibly difficult for him to be a hero."
"Difficult, but not impossible. You seem to forget there are plenty of heroes in the field who don't have a Quirk suitable for combat but have trained since school to overcome that. He can do the same."
"You have faith he can do it?"
"I do. Because if my Quirk hadn't come in, I'd have to do the same thing. Granted it would also require my mom to not helicopter and worry herself around me and stand by my decision to be a hero no matter what."
"Do you think she would've?"
"Knowing my mom? She'd probably blame herself, worry when I still want to be a hero, and stress eat as the years went on. She almost did just that when I…"
"When you what?"
"I… may have, and don't quote me on this… teleported myself to the top of the Empire State Building just to see if I could once Hiro taught me Time in a Bottle." Momo, having been taking a sip of her drink, snorted in surprise and covered her face in embarrassment for doing so.
"Sorry! That was so embarrassing!"
"No, it was my fault! I should've saved that for after you were done drinking. That story is way too surprising." 'At least I didn't mention it was the Empire State Building in an alternate world. I think that would've killed her.'
"Yes, it is. But at least I know why your mom would worry so much if that's you testing your Quirk." Izuku shrugged.
"I mean, if it's not noticed, it doesn't count. Mom only found out because Hiro told her. Authorities never knew I was there."
"That's extremely reckless."
"I know. But you can't blame me. All of Time and Space at my control? Why not test what I can do? I'm sure you've done something insane testing your own Quirk."
"Well…"
"See?"
"Nothing as insane as jumping halfway around the world. But I did create a cannon in my backyard. Fired it into our pool house by accident." Izuku nearly choked on his katsudon before hitting his chest to make sure it went down and looking at the smirking girl in front of him.
"A cannon?"
"Yes. Consider that payback."
"Mine was an accident, you did that on purpose." Izuku wiped his lips clean with his napkin before looking at her. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you own a pool house, given your family name. But at least I have a sense now of what you're used to." Izuku paused before looking around. "And it's definitely not at places like this."
"It's fine. The food is actually very good."
"Good. Might come back for a second date then…"
"So this is a date?"
"Well sure. I did offer to buy you something. We're getting to know each other. And we stopped a villain together."
"Oh yes. Nothing screams romance like that." The two chuckled before she leaned forward in her seat. "Seriously though. Is this a date?"
"If you want it to be. Could just be a simple lunch date between two future friends."
"Hmm…" Izuku looked at her.
"Good 'hmm' or a bad one?"
"We'll see." She looked past him and frowned slightly. "Darn."
"Something wrong?" Izuku turned around and spotted a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses leaning against the entrance to the restaurant.
"My driver found me."
"Seems more like a bodyguard."
"Driver, bodyguard, butler, Domovoi does it all."
"Miss Yaoyorozu," said Domovoi as he walked over. "Your mother's worried."
"Let her know I'm fine."
"She'd rather you return home as soon as possible. Given the recent events, you're liable to receive some fallout regarding your spot in the recommendation exam." Momo frowned. "While she's impartial about it, she'd rather you try and leave of your own volition rather than be forced to. You know how she is." Momo turned to Izuku.
"I'm sorry, Midoriya-San. I'm afraid I must be going."
"Don't worry about it," said Izuku. "As long as we can still talk and train together, I'll be fine." Izuku smiled at Momo who blushed and quickly turned to hide majority of her face.
"She would like to make sure herself. Your efforts in helping earlier has her more worried about your image going forward. Especially after she found your initial… hero uniform."
"Was there something wrong with it? I designed it to optimize the use of my Quirk." Izuku thought for a moment before shaking his head at what he might've thought up in her position.
"Um," he muttered, catching her attention. "If it's optimized to your Quirk, and how it works… I think I can understand why your mother might have some… problems with initial designs given you need a wide enough surface area in order to make something large, like the container from earlier." Both teens blushed before Momo cleared her throat and turned to Domovoi. "It's fine if you have to leave, Yaoyorozu-Chan. I understand. I'd still like to train together if it's alright with you." Momo stopped glaring at her driver before turning to him.
"I'd like that too, Midoriya-San." Domovoi crossed his arms, waiting for Momo to move behind him. Izuku met his gaze and calmly sipped his drink.
"Have a good day." Domovoi grunted in response before following Momo out of the restaurant, Momo having stopped to pay for the food. Izuku chuckled softly before finishing his food and leaving. As soon as he left the building, he clenched his eyes and opened them to find himself outside of his apartment. Before he opened the door, he felt his phone buzz. Checking it, he saw a message from Momo.
Momo: We can meet up at my home over the weekend, if that's alright with you, Midoriya-San.
Izuku: Sure. I'd like that.
After Momo texted him the address, Izuku smiled before moving into his apartment, bracing himself for the frantic storm that would be his worried mother.
