Life changed significantly in a variety of ways for Izuku and Marris following that day at the beach. Izuku was experiencing a biological change in his body that was not typical of a teenager in this day in age. For one, he found his sense of vision, hearing and taste growing stronger, and with a little help from Marris was able to use them in a way that made him notice things that an ordinary human could not. The fish woman had done this by periodically playing a game of hide-and-seek with Izuku in the garbage jungle of Dagobah. She would use the power of the rat to hide among the junk and Izuku had to find her using a different sense. It was steep hill to climb, but by the end of a few weeks, Izuku was able to find an invisible Marris through sight, taste, and hearing with proficiency. The regenerative ability was also something that the two worked on together, and to the surprise to Izuku, Marris had displayed that there more to it than that. Izuku's initial assumption was the regeneration was passive quirk, a power that happened unconsciously, but Marris had showed him that was not the case. She revealed that it could be actively used to rapidly heal any wounds if one forces it to speed up, it was akin to changing the energy output from low to high on a generator. However, Izuku was very much warned that such an ability was not a guaranteed get-out-of-jail-free card and could actually kill himself if his wounds are too great. The fish woman had taught him to utilize this aspect of regeneration through a series of mental and muscle exercises, it was very much the way which she uses it, but was not inclined to let him hurt himself to see if he was successful.

The blue haired boy was also continuously trained in his Invisibility quirk and this was done by having him practice spear fishing in the junk reefs of the nearby ocean using his quirk. Something that the fish woman had deemed more practical than whatever the internet had to say. It served as a three-point training regimen in which he could hone his skills in stealth, swimming, and quirk usage. his skills in stealth were much to be desired but that will come with practice. So far, Izuku was not able to catch anything, but his research showed that the sport was not easy and took a lot of skill to master. While a bit disheartening that he hasn't come close to even getting the desired results, he can notice a general improvement in his attempts.

After the experience Izuku had with his manifestation, Marris took it upon herself to have a stronger hand in guiding Izuku. It was a bit like the smothering that his mother usually does, but the blue haired teen had a feeling that Marris had lost others before, and most likely due to her own carelessness and was not inclined to let it happen again. However, as of late, there have no breakthroughs on acquiring a new quirk. With only several months until the UA entrance exam, Izuku needed to be at the top of his game to make up for the years lost time.

But the outside world was not going to let Izuku's Pact with Marris go without consequences in a world as wonderous as his. That became very apparent when the two went back to the Midoriya apartment and back to Inko Midoriya. The Midoriya Matriarch nearly wrung herself out of water like a sponge upon the sight of her son. She in her half-panic half-concern believed that Izuku was going through a rebelling phase and joined some aquatic themed gang of delinquents. It took nearly an hour to get his mother to calm down, and assurance that family therapy wasn't needed, to give an explanation. Izuku's explanation went along the lines that he had been jumped on his way home by some high school aged thugs on his way home, and the experienced seemed to manifest his long overdue quirk from the trauma. This seemed to be a convincing story, after another hour of Inko crying and strong insistence that Izuku goes to the hospital.

Things went even more haywire when Izuku went to school on Monday. Teachers and students alike were in looking at him with disbelief and awe, likely to the fact that he was not dead or the fact he had a mutation like quirk. The only who wasn't fazed from the whole ordeal was Bakugou…because he was absolutely livid with what he saw. In typically fashion of a bully, Bakugou forcefully pulled Izuku aside at lunch for a 'Talk'.

"Alright, Deku, you have one minute to explain your shitty look!" Bakugou said through cracking teeth.

Izuku stared wide eyed at his bully. Bakugou's face was a light pink, from anger most likely, whilst his expression was sharp like a predator eyeing prey. One fist was clenched on his uniform's collar while the other was being flexed like he was preparing to use his quirk. While Izuku was no longer Quirkless, that didn't mean he was inclined to push the buttons of a ticking bomb. Even worse was the thunderstorm of righteous fury that was Marris, who poised herself protectively around Izuku. Her obsidian eyes mirrored the same sharpness as the blond boy whilst an invisible snarl was etched on her blank face. She was clearly waiting, almost inviting, for Bakugou to lay a finger on Izuku.

"Those two are going to kill each other, and I will be caught in the middle!", Izuku thought nervously, "I need to think of something!"

Izuku gulped an apple sized lump in his throat, and silently prayed that the gods had gave him blessings in luck and charisma today, "I-I woke up like this a-after our t-talk on Friday. I don't know how, but I t-think you managed to knock a quirk into me?"

He was so dead.

"I-It's not cool and flashy like your quirk in the s-slightest. Its j-just that my quirk made me look blue and f-fishy" Izuku sputtered through his sharp teeth, "It's still useless"

Bakugou raised an eyebrow at the explanation. Izuku wasn't sure if he had bought it or thought that Izuku had been smoking some hard drugs. But whether he believed it or not, he could not explain Izuku's quirk in any logical way, except that Izuku was given it. And that was crazy talk, a quirk that gives other people quirks. Well it seems that the explanation, or rather the useless implications of Izuku's quirk, appeared to calm the blond boy down significantly. With brutish grace, the blond boy let go of Izuku's collar, and let the blue haired boy fall to the floor. Without ceremony, the blond boy began to leave the deserted classroom. Bakugou stopped before the door, and turned back to Izuku, his usual sour expression on his face.

"Yeah, that's bullshit, Deku. But whatever, just make yourself useful for once and stay out my way. I got a UA exam to focus on, and I don't have time to pound that in your stupid skull. Got it Deku?" Bakugou said with a veiled threat.

Izuku nodded his head furiously while a slight tingle emerges in his chest. With a snort, the blond teen left Izuku alone with his invisible friend. Marris relaxed from her striking stance and repositioned herself to help Izuku up. Izuku left in silence as he subconsciously rubbed his chest.

Bakugou would become a local legend at Aldera Junior High as a kid who was so strong that he could beat a quirk into the Quirkless. On the bright side, the school body decided to ignore the now quirked Izuku for remainder of his year at the school.

…

"That will be enough for now, little minnow." Marris said monotonously

It was at the end of another fruitless session of quirk manifestation, and yet the sun wasn't even setting over the horizon. Izuku turned his head towards the fish lady and raised an eyebrow at the rather the tone of her voice. It had been four months since he first heard Marris' voice and had learned quite a bit about the behavior of his longtime friend. She was by and large very emotional and expressing, despite the physically limitations, and it was rare for her to even use that tone. Except when she is trying to hide something from Izuku. Being the altruist that he is, Izuku decided to see if he could do anything to help her.

"Marris, what's the matter?", Izuku prodded, "Is something this bothering you?"

The hair of the fish woman begun to squirm in embarrassment, and promptly turned her head away, likely to avoid Izuku reading her expression.

"I-It's nothing, little minnow, I am just tired" retorted the flustered mermaid

Throughout his time with the fish woman, he never ever once saw her tired or even sleep. In fact, when he younger he once pretended to sleep to see when Marris would begin sleeping, she never did, and spent the night staring out the window. Even so, this only made Izuku push the subject further.

"Marris, you and I both know you never get tired.", Izuku replied, "Just, tell me what is bothering you."

Marris was silent for a long time before weak chuckle came from her nonexistent mouth.

"I remember when you couldn't understand me at all, it made hiding things so much easier. Now I forget that you can understand me with familiarity like a predator does his prey", Marris reminisces, "I-I simply desire something, but I do not want to get in the way of your preparation"

"You had done so much for me, Marris, so I would be more than happy to help you", Izuku retorted

"Little Minnow, I do not understand much about your kind, but I do know that they place emphasis on trivial matters. It always seemed pointless that one needs to do things like 'take a test' just to be able to fit their role in the food chain. Why can't they wait to grow up and either succeed or fail like every other creature on this world?" ranted the fish woman

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, she was clearly trying to deflect away from her "Okay, I understand your reasoning, but don't be stubborn and make things hard. So just tell me what you want what you want, and we will go from there?", Izuku half scolded half pleaded.

The fish woman remained silent for a while before softly speaking, "I just…remembered what this beach used to be like before all this filth made it their home.", Marris looked in the direction of the ocean before hanging her head down, "I just wanted to be able to see the ocean again."

It was quite possibly the first time Izuku had ever seen Marris seem so meek and small. Izuku almost forgot that Marris was probably the most lonely and sad creature on earth. She was like a ghost in many ways, unable to be seen except by rare number of individuals or have effect on the world around her unless the circumstances were extreme. She certainly takes pleasure in things that most take for granted and was probably used to having her pleas heard on the deaf ears of a world that was ignorant of her existence. Perhaps this wasn't always the case, but he cannot deny the fact that a creature as powerful as Marris wouldn't tie itself to a five-year-old kid unless she was desperate for companionship.

The blue haired boy said nothing to the fish woman and got to the first steps to cleaning up a section of beach with what little daylight he had left. Ignoring her pleas to not worry about her and to focus on himself, he continued until the sun disappeared. Izuku would continue to do this every time he went to Dagobah for training. The hero-in-training resolved to clean up the beach for his oldest friend.

For many nights' afterword, he would have dreams in which he sees a far-off figure in the white robe that Marris wears, but they would always be out of reach.

…

Of all the days in which Izuku finally succeeds at spear fishing, it has to one of the miserable days of the year. Despite the fact that it was midday, there was a strong chill in the air with an overcast sky dripping a light sprinkle of slush. It was that limbo period in the year in which spring was still rubbing its eyes while winter was not yet inclined to leave. For Izuku, this left him with very little time to practice his invisibility quirk, lest he turn into an ice cube in the freezing waters of the Pacific. So, his activities were restricted to cleaning up the dirty beach, at least until the first thaw began. Almost at once, he resumed the task that was given to him by the fish woman, though he was restricted to an hour and traded his trunks for an insulating wetsuit.

However, to say Izuku was proud of his catch was another story. The fish itself was not that big, almost the size of his forearm, and looked rather meek and tired. He had found it in a small cropping of appliances, and was completely unaware of its surroundings. It appeared that the winter was harsher this year than usual, and it was not strong enough to survive an attack from a predator.

"I was not so different from this fish not too long ago. Would have I shared its fate if Marris was not there to protect me?" Thought the blue haired teen.

The successful hunter mechanically swam back to shore past the reef of appliances and onto a barrier of garbage that bordered the ocean. Eventually, his thoughts of negativity evaporated he wanted to show his oldest friend his small victory.

…

The day of the UA Exam

It had been some of the most grueling nine months for Izuku. But on this spring day, he can finally take in all the fruits of his labor. For one, his body was no longer scrawny and twig-like. It was now lean with slim muscles as the result of months of swimming and trash collecting. Another was his proficiency of his quirk, despite being behind many others in that department by a number of years, Marris' rather unique style of teaching more or less enabled him to use his quirk with adept familiarity. He probably wasn't as good with it as Bakugou was with his own quirk, but he is sure UA will help with that.

The final fruit was Dagobah Beach itself. When Izuku first arrived at the beach, it was nothing more than a cesspit of trash and filth. Now the beach was noticeably a lot more cleaner, with only the larger things remaining scattered along the sands. With the white sands and the teal waters places against the rising sun, the beach was once again a beach. Izuku stared in wonder at the sight, sitting atop a car, waiting for his oldest friend to arrive.

It wouldn't be long before he sensed the presence of the lamprey mermaid nearby, and with haste jumped from his spot from the car to greet her. To say that the fish woman was ecstatic would be an understatement, and in typical fashion of Marris, she proceeded to bear hug Izuku like there was no tomorrow. Izuku was just glad no one could see this.

When she finally let go of the blue haired teen, did she finally speak.

"Well done, Izuku, you went beyond your promise and were able to make it on time with the customs of your kind" Marris said with pride in her voice.

"Thank you, Marris, I couldn't have done it without you" Izuku replied humbly

Marris took her gaze away briefly away him and towards the scene behind him. The was a strange longing in her eyes that he just couldn't fathom.

"I would normally attend with you on your hunt, but I think you should go alone to prove yourself", said the fish woman, " I will meet you later, but for now, I-I think I wish to be alone"

Izuku didn't want to do this by himself, but he was reluctant to go against his friend's wishes. Resigning himself to the task ahead he preceded to head home and get his stuff ready for the exam. But before he could even set foot of the sands of Dagobah.

"Ah, but before you leave, I have something for you" said Marris

With a snap of her long fingers, cool water enveloped Izuku and he found himself in the world of stars where he drank Marris' blood. Only this time, he wasn't relegated to the floor. This time he was to discern that the floor was reflective and had the appearance of polished marble. However, before he could lose himself in the beauty of the cosmos, Marris shot from the black void between the starlight causing it to ripple. Before any words could be said between the two, the lamprey mermaid proceeded to take off the white robe she usually wears while wearing a large smile.

"Here, a gift to you little minnow.", Marris said whilst presenting the robes, "They will help you in your quest to become the apex of your kind"

It wasn't bad a gift, in fact he was flattered that she would give something so personal. But there was a caveat to the gift…

…He saw Marris' bare chest as a result. Izuku's face turned red and he attempted to take the gift without looking but he unable to do so without catching a glimpse. To his surprise, the blue skinned lady's torso held a vague outline of a human female with none of the details of one and held characteristics of many aquatic life forms. For example, the skin there was white rather than blue, and she had no belly button or any nipples on the breasts. Buts that doesn't make it any easier for Izuku to look at. As averting his eyes as best as he could, Izuku grabbed hold of the white robes and held them in front of him, blocking the view of his underdressed friend. He blinked.

In the split second that he blinked, Izuku found himself back at the shrine to Marris. This time, the marble sitting in the hands of the crude statue was colored a burning white hot. Subconsciously, Izuku reached out to touch it as he did before. When flesh met the white hot marble, a blinding light overcame all his senses.

…

It appeared to be a farm, but one that had seen a great strife. The crops were burnt, the animal pens were destroyed, the farmhouse collapsed in on itself, and the bodies of the farmers hanging from ropes in a large tree. Among the ruins walked a figure in the robe that Marris wore, only it was newer and more pristine. They walked carefully and slowly, like they were looking for someone. Suddenly the white figure stopped and looked towards a section of the farmhouse that had a puddle near what was once a wing of the house. Slowly they made their way towards the building and stopping just before it. The figure kneeled and pulled off their hood, but they were faceless. The figure reached out towards something in the shadows of the house.

"Are you cold?" said gentle voice of a woman, "Don't be afraid. I have been looking for you."

The sound of bells ringing shattered the vision.

…

Izuku opened his eyes to see Marris' face in his, and lucky the robe was blocking everything from the neck down. Her expression was puzzling for but a moment, but then it was erupted with a light chuckling.

"It seems you have a pendant for being full of surprises, little minnow. I guess you got two gifts instead of one." Chuckled the fish woman

"Did I get another quirk?" Questioned Izuku

"It appears so, but I'd rather we practice it when we have time. So, don't even think about trying it, if it is the same as this mark" warned Marris whilst pointing down.

Izuku looked down at his left arm and saw a new mark had appeared beneath the red octopus symbol. It mirrored the circular structure of the red mark but was colored white, like Marris' robes instead. Within the circle was a swirling tribalistic depiction of a crab with a Christian crucifix in the heart of the animal.

Izuku was speechless and did not even know to begin with the little amount of information that he had. Marris herself was being quiet about any further details, but he did not like the silence that he was getting from Marris.

"We will talk later when your test is done, little minnow." Marris said with an unrecognizable tone.

Without a warning, Marris pushed Izuku to the ground so quickly that he didn't even have time to cry out. A sensation of cool water quickly past through Izuku's senses before he was met with the city street. Izuku landed on his rear on the sidewalk outside his apartment complex.

"What was that all about?!" exclaimed Izuku