IT'S HERO SLIME!

by jaredstar

The acquisition of a quirk on his 4th birthday changes the course of Izuku Midoriya's life Watch as backed by his parents His mentor and his quirk Izuku becomes the most powerful hero the world has ever known This is his story

4. One Day at a Slime

A/N

So here we are at chapter 4. And with a quicker turnout than usual. This is where the story starts to sync up with canon, and the changes I have made will bear fruit.

With that said, on to the disclaimer I don't own My Hero Academia or That time I got reincarnated as a slime. the are the property of their creators and the companies that make the mangas and anime versions. Please support the official releases.

Dagobah Beach, Musutafu Japan, July 19, 2217, 05:45

The silence was only broken by three things on the increasingly clean beach. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The seagulls squawked as they sought their morning meal and the sound of flesh against flesh.

Izuku Midoriya, clad in the blue student gi of the Jungle Karma Martial Arts Academy, struck a neutral stance as he faced his sparring partner of the morning, Head Teach Camille Skinner. She wore a green uniform variant and was also in a neutral stance. The last few minutes had been about going over basic moves and combinations.

Camille grinned as she adjusted her stance. "Not bad, Midoriya; you haven't been slacking off in your basics." Despite their sparring, she seemed to not be breathing hard at all.

Izuku looked back at his teacher and grinned. "Of course not, Master; you pounded into my head early on that the basics are essential and that only fools dismiss them when they start learning the more advanced skills."

Camille looked at Izuku for a moment before she responded, "That's right, I forgot that lesson at one point and had to have it and other lessons beaten into me. Thankfully you don't seem to have that problem." She thought about what she wanted to say for a second before she continued. "That being said, it's time to work on your more advanced skills. We will spar again; and whenever I say so, you will switch to one of your forms. When we get to spider, you can only use your webs. Beyond that, active quirk use is forbidden. Am I clear?"

Izuku tightened his stance as he shouted, "YES, MASTER!"

Camille smiled before she said, "Good, then when you're ready, come at me in Cat form."

Izuku nodded, putting his legs into a wider stance and adjusting his fingers to mimic cat claws; he charged. Cat form was a style that emphasized rapid claw strikes. By itself, any single strike didn't do much damage, but throughout a fight, the cumulative effect would lead to victory.

When Izuku got close, he opened with a wide left-handed strike quickly blocked by Camille's right arm. Not deterred by his failure Izuku swung with his right arm but was stopped by her left arm before he lifted his right leg up and kicked Camille in the stomach. As she stumbled back from the blow, Izuku took advantage and unleashed a combo of claw strikes on her chest and abdomen. As he moved to begin a follow-up attack, Camille recovered and came at him with a rapid combo of jabs and sweeping kicks that were the hallmark of her Unarmed Chameleon style.

In an instant, Izuku found himself on the back foot, having to dodge repeatedly while trying to find an opening. When Camille began another sweeping leg strike, he grabbed her by the calf and pushed her off balance making her fall to the ground before she rolled back into a ready stance.

Izuku sighed internally. "The problem with sparring with Cat form is that I can't turn my nails into claws, which means that the already small amount of damage Cat form does is even more reduced."

Izuku was pulled from his thoughts when Camille yelled, "Spider form!"

With practiced ease, Izuku readjusted his hands into a cupped open-hand position and waited. Spider form, at least with the restrictions he was under, was a more defensive form that was about receiving your opponent's attaches and binding them like most spiders did. If we were inside or at least in a more confined area, and I was allowed to use my other spider powers, I could go on the offensive. But she said only webs." Izuku thought to himself. As Camille began her assault.

Izuku couldn't help but be frustrated; Camille's Chameleon style was hard to deal with in Spider form. She was too quick for him to get a grip on when she jabbed at him, and she had stopped using her legs which kept him from grabbing them easily. Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration.

Releasing a web blast from his palm, he aimed for her head. He grabbed her arm while she was still focused on the failed attack when she dodged to avoid the shot. When she noticed what he had done, she attempted to hit him with an elbow strike to the head that he dodged as he moved to her other side and used the web stand he had started on her left arm to attach it to her right elbow.

Izuku was about to cheer at his success when, in a green flash, Camille was in her armored form,before a second green flash saw her return to normal, now web free. Izuku couldn't help himself as he said, "Master, that's not fair. You never said you were going to transform.

Camille looked at Izuku for a moment before she responded, "While true, I never said I wasn't going to transform. You are the one under restrictions in this spar. It is up to you to figure out your way around them. Don't whine; it is beneath somebody as smart as you are." Izuku looked shocked for a moment before he nodded.

Camille smiled before she said, "Now that we have that covered, CHAMELEON FORM."

Izuku winced; he was not looking forward to this. "Not only am I fighting Master Camille in her own style, but I am doing so at a severe disadvantage." The chameleon form was primarily a weapon style that favored sharp, quick strikes. The best weapon for that was a small knife or a pair of sai's like his Master used. The second problem was that it worked best with his camouflage ability. Still, he would do the best he could.

Weaving to her right side, Izuku peppered Camile with a flurry of rapid-fire jabs. After a few moments, Camille gathered herself, and suddenly, she was blocking his strikes with her palms. When his sticks proved useless, Izuku spun around and launched a fierce roundhouse kick that Camille caught in her arm before she pushed him to the ground.

Camille smiled as she good-naturedly mocked him. "Not a bad effort, Izuku, but you have a ways to go before you can challenge me with my style." Izuku grimaced for a moment but nodded in acknowledgment. "Good," Camille continued. "Now, before we continue, how many hours of sleep are you at now?"

Izuku thought about that for a moment. Nearly a year ago, he started noticing that he wasn't sleeping as much. It had started small; he would start waking up an hour or two earlier than usual. At the time, they hadn't worried too much. But then it began to increase. Within a month, he was only sleeping four hours a night. That led to an appointment with Dr. Uzuki.

"So, how long has this been going on ?" Uzuki asked as she took a seat in her chair. They were seated in the office Izuku had become familiar with over the last few years. Seated across from her were Izuku and Inko. Hisashi was on a business trip and had been unable to attend.

Inko and Izuku looked at each other momentarily before Inko spoke up. "It has been about six weeks, Doctor. It started in early August and has continued until today."

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment before she responded. "Has the rate of sleep loss increased?"

Inko thought about it before saying, "Not in the last couple of weeks. In fact, it seems to have plateaued in the last couple of weeks."

Sakura took some notes before saying, "As you know, sleep is essential to humans. Not just for regaining energy used throughout the day but for helping reset our minds. It is like a computer. In theory, a computer can run constantly, but after a while, errors start to pop up, and the computer starts to work slower than it usually would. With baseline humans, it is much the same. Studies have shown that cognitive functions begin to be affected at just sixteen hours of continuous consciousness. The record for such was set in 1964 by Randy Gardner, Who was awake 264 hours as part of a sleep experiment. While he came through the experience okay, he was an outlier. For most people, lack of sufficient sleep can, on rare occasions, lead to death.

A panicked Inko asked, "Is that something we need to work about with Izuku?

Sakura was thoughtful for a second. "I will be honest with you, Izuku's Physiology is so radically different from baseline that I can't really be sure" As Inko and Izuku got worried expressions on their faces, she continued. "However, based on what you have told me about how he has acted since this started, I don't think he is at risk at the moment. That said, I would like to see you monthly for a while so we can track what is happening. In the meantime, try to find ways to occupy your new waking hours. It can be anything: study, work on your martial arts or your powers, heck, just have some fun. Next month, tell me how things worked out.

Izuku had done as Dr. Uzuki had asked, and they had met once a month to discuss what he had done the prior month. Lately, Izuku had used his time to practice his martial arts, and he liked to think it was starting to show. So he responded, "Same as it has been the last couple of months, master, about three and a half hours."

Camille nodded, "Just make sure that you take time to relax. It won't matter how good you are if you are too stressed to function correctly. Now let's get back to the spar. I want you to start with Wolf form."

At Camille's prompting, Izuku switched his stance. The two fighters looked at each other briefly before Izuku struck first, charging forward and aiming for her stomach with a rising knee strike. Camille saw it coming and brought her hands down to meet his knee. As Izuku gathered his bearings, Camille responded with a series of high-speed jabs to Izuku's chest. As Izuku stumbled back, Camille pressed her advantage and spun around, striking him with a roundhouse.

Izuku took the blow and grabbed the leg at the point of contact. While she was off balance, he moved up the leg and spun around to back-fist Camille in the face. Both fighters jumped back to get some distance. Camille took a moment to rub her face before she spoke. "Not bad, Midoriya, You are improving at improvising while using Wolf form. Got anything else?

Izuku beamed at the praise. "Thank you, Master; I've been working on not being so formulaic in my movements, and I have one other thing I have been working on.

Camille grinned widely. "Well, then, as the old saying goes, Come at me, bro."

Izuku smiled in response, "Yes, Master!" In an instant, he charged forward, preparing for another knee strike to the stomach. As Camille moved to block it again, Izuku spun as he moved to the side, and Camille felt his knee impact with her side. As she attempted to recover, Izuku spun around again and slammed his elbow into the small of Camille's back. When she tried to turn around to meet him, Izuku had already moved, spinning around again to land a knee on her other side. Izuku was about to go for an elbow strike to her stomach when Camille regained her bearings and caught his elbow, twisting his arm around, and tossing him to the ground.

Camille looked down at Izuku and said, "That was pretty good. Izuku, but a little situational, and if your opponent doesn't react in the way you expect, it can fail. That being said, it would be very debilitating for an untrained foe. Keep it up, and you might one day be a wolf master.

Izuku smiled at his Master's praise even as he took in her criticism of his technique. He was already thinking about alterations to the move that would be able to trip her up. He was pulled from his plotting when Camille said,

"I can tell you are already planning my downfall, but before you plan out my defeat at your hands, we still have one more form for you to come at me with." The smile on her face removed any sting they might have had.

Izuku nodded and stood up before he assumed the tight stance that was the hallmark of the Mantis Shrimp form. Like the Chameleon form, it was based on rapid punches. The difference was that Mantis Shrimp's form called for quick movement around the battlefield and a staggering amount of power behind each punch. After two years, Izuku was proficient with the constant movement required and did well regarding attack speed. But he just couldn't get enough power behind each blow, Not without having Great Sage buff his striking power. While that would be acceptable when he was a hero or at least a hero in training, he wanted to succeed under his own strength.

Camille took a ready stance; as Izuku observed her, he noted that she didn't seem to have any gaps for him to take advantage of, at least not for a frontal assault. Maybe he could get around her and attack from an unexpected angle like he had while practicing Wolf form.

With a plan set, Izuku charged forward. Camille moved to defend from the attack before he bounced to the right side; she had been expecting that and quickly moved to protect that side. But Izuku had already bounced twice and was now on her left. A flurry of blows slammed into her shoulder, arm, waist, and thigh. Much to Izuku's dismay, his strikes had yet to do a thing. Not taking a moment to wallow in his failure, Izuku quickly dodged a wide back fist. Suddenly Izuku found himself on the defensive as Camille started a more concerted offense.

It was all Izuku could do to bounce back from each of his Master's rapid-fire strikes. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but notice that they had moved quite a bit during the whole spar. He started noticing larger and more significant bits of garbage on the ground. A combo that ended with a punch in the stomach brought Izuku back to reality. The change in scenery gave him the idea, "Maybe I can use my surroundings to my advantage."

Izuku used a foot to kick up some sand. While Camille was distracted, He moved behind a trash pile and circled around until he was in her blind spot. Unfortunately, she heard his feet against the sand, and Izuku was kicked back into a trash pile.

As Izuku pulled himself up, he started to feel frustrated. "Why can't I get this stupid form right? Why can't I generate enough strength to do damage?" As he made it to his feet, Izuku began a renewed charge attacking Camille from every angle he could, but she either met him blow for blow or dodged, making Izuku even more frustrated. As the spar continued, Great Sage said something about the Mantis Shrimp, but he ignored it to put all his mind on the fight before him.

As the fight continued, Izuku tried to will himself more and more power, not the power granted by his abilities but his physical strength. From Camille's perspective, it was working as suddenly Izuku's blows had much more weight behind them. She was still able to block or dodge most of them, but she was starting to feel them more. The first hint she had that something was about to happen was that Izuku's fists were starting to glow green.

As Izuku continued his assault, he felt something pressing against his mind. Great Sage was now speaking louder about the Mantis Shrimp, but he continued to ignore it. He needed to put more power into his blows. He was doing better, but it still wasn't cutting it. He was so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't notice his fist were starting to glow green.

What happened next came as a surprise to both Izuku and Camille. As his assault continued, Camille noticed his hands glowing brighter with each passing moment. She also noticed that Izuku's eyes weren't his normal focus eyes whenever he sparred. The look in his eyes and face was far more animalistic. As she kept moving back to avoid blows, she soon found her back against a refrigerator. This realization was compounded by Izuku's hands easing to go in a green flash as they were now covered by a green metallic half-boxing glove with a black strike along either side. Seeing that she couldn't move to the right or left to dodge, Camille transformed into her armored form and lept into the air just before Izuku made contact. When she landed, she was shocked to see the large appliance had been launched nearly ten feet backward. She looked over at Izuku, saw that he was breathing hard, and looked more exhausted than she had ever seen him.

In a green flash, she was back to her normal form, and with concern in her voice, she said firmly, "Midoriya, Stand down; the spar is over." As Izuku looked at her, his eyes returned to normal, and he looked like he was about to say something. When he suddenly collapsed to the ground and, in an instant, was in his slime form. Scooping the boy into her arms, Camille ran towards her car and the phone inside. She needs to call the boy's parents and Sakura.

Musutafu General, Quirk Incident Division, Observation room 2 Musutafu Japan, July 21, 2217, 13:00

When Izuku woke up, he noticed two things. The first being that he was inside. That didn't really narrow it down to where he was, but as he started gathering himself, he realized that he was in a hospital and was in his slime form. After transforming into his human form, he called out. "Hello, Is anybody here?" Instantly the door to the hallway slid open hard, and Izuku was greeted by the sight of his worried-looking Mother and Father running in, followed by, at a much more sedate pace, Dr. Uzuki and Master Camille.

When his parents made it to their son, Izuku asked shakily, "W-what happened?"

His Master briefly explained what had happened from her perspective. When she had finished, Izuku looked at her sadness clear on his face as he said, "I-i don't remember anything after kicking the sand at you." Bowing as best he could from a seated position, he said, "I'm Sorry I lost control, Master."

Camille waved off Izuku's apology. "Don't worry, Midoriya, you are not the first student I've had that lost control of themselves. I am interested in preventing it from happening again, and also in those gloves, you manifested. Dr. Uzuki said she might know what was going on."

Dr. Uzuki gave a light glare at Camille for a second before she said, "I said I had an idea; I would like to talk to Great Sage before I say anything. Could you please bring it out, Izuku? Izuku nodded and closed his eyes; when they opened again, everybody present could tell Great Sage was in control.

"Greetings, Hisashi Midoriya, Inko Midoriya. Sakura Uzuki and Camille Skinner. How may I help you today?

Camille, who, while she knew of Great Sage, had never had occasion to hear it speak, was shocked by how different the sentient quirk aspect sounded from her student. The voice was the same on the surface, but Great Sage completely lacked affect. It was disconcerting. A quick look at the other adults in the room showed they were used to what was happening. Nevertheless, when Sakura started speaking, she paid attention to the conversation.

"Izuku collapsed during combat practice the other day. Before that happened, he lost control and manifested a pair of metal half-gloves. I…We want to know if you know why that happened?"

Great Sage looked at Sakura for a moment before it replied, "I can answer your question Sakura Uzuki. Two days ago, during his combat practice with Camille Black, Izuku Midoriya worked himself into a frenzy during the part of the practice related to the Mantis Shrimp form. Specifically, his inability to provide the needed strength to use it correctly. During that time, the aspect of the Mantis Shrimp that resides inside him breached the mental barrier that all living creatures have. Some of its instincts overlaid with Izuku Midoriya's.

At the same time, Izuku Midoriya's frustration was at its frustration and the mantis shrimp presence in his head caused his quirk to create something to achieve his aim. However, the mental stress of the creation of the item, the stress of the Mantis shrimp presence, and the general stress Izuku Midoriya has put himself under as he works to master the Mantis Shrimp form caused his active brain to shut down."

While Sakura was taking notes on what Great Sage had said, Camille asked, "Does it have a name?"

Great Sage replied quickly, "While Izuku Midoriya is free to rename it at his leisure, the current name for his creation is 'Mantis Shrimp Armament."

Camille nodded before she asked her next question. "Can he summon it again? If so, does he need to go through that experience again?

Great Sage thought about the question momentarily before it replied, "Negative. To summon the Mantis Shrimp Armament, Izuku Midoriya need only, will it. However, if Izuku Midoriya wishes to create armaments from the other animals inside him. Izuku Midoriya will need to repeat the process or find a similar method."

Camille nodded; it would be something she would consult Sakura and the adult Midoriyas about later.

Sakura finished writing up her notes and spoke to Great Sage. "Thank you, could you bring Izuku back? We want to speak to him."

Great Sage didn't say anything. It just closed its eyes, and when they opened, Izuku had returned.

Sakura smiled at her charge and asked: "Did you hear what we talked about, Izuku?" When Izuku nodded in reply, she continued. "Good. Now, Camille and your parents must step outside for a few minutes and talk about something. Can you wait for a bit?

When Izuku replied, "Yes," the four adults left the room, leaving Izuku to think about what he had heard and what he might be able to do with his new ability.

Several minutes later, the four adults stepped back into the room. All of them had serious looks on their faces. When they made it to Izuku's bed, Dr. Uzuki spoke for the group, "Izuku, the four of us are proud of you for the work you have put into your quirk and your martial arts abilities. However, what happened the other day highlighted a problem we should have noticed. Namely, the fact that you are overworking yourself.

Izuku opened his mouth to argue, but Inko interrupted him, "Honey, I've spoken with Mitsuki, and she told me that while you hang out with Katsuki at school, you have barely spent time together outside it in the last year, and he misses hanging out with you."

Sakura took up the conversation. "I believe that we missed what was happening because, as a Slime, you don't get tired the same way baseline humans do. If you weren't, we would have noticed the physical signs. However, your mind is still human and prone to the same weaknesses as anyone else."

Sakura braced herself. What she was about to say would be hard for somebody as driven as Izuku to hear. "With that in mind, we have decided that since the summer holidays have just started, you are barred from training of any kind until school resumes in August. If necessary, that can be extended depending on how you are doing come September.

Izuku rose up to argue, "What? Why? What did I do wrong?""

Faster than thought, Hisashi had his arms around his upset son and said in as calm and soothing a voice as he could manage, "Izuku, you did nothing wrong. We did. We should have noticed how you were overworking yourself and what it was doing to you. Great Sage told us how frustrated you were about not being able to use the Mantis Shrimp form correctly. But buddy, you're twelve. Great Sage ensures that your human form is growing ideally, but at the end of the day, you are still a twelve-year-old boy with all the limitations that come with that. Look at this as an opportunity to enjoy your childhood while you have it. Hang out with your friends, read manga, and explore the city. I hear the theater will have a marathon of all 120 MCU movies. Why not go see what people considered heroes before quirks.

Tears started to fall from Izuku's face as he absorbed what was being said. Inko moved in to join her husband in hugging their son. "We are so proud of you, honey, but we want you to be healthy in mind, body, and soul, so please for us to take this time to recover, to regain your strength, and then when you are ready, return to training to become the best hero you can be.

After a few more minutes of family hugging, Sakura coughed into her mouth to remind them they weren't alone. "So Izuku, are you going to do as we ask?" she asked with concern. Izuku looked at his parents for a moment before he nodded.

Sakura clapped her hands as she said, "Wonderful, now I would like to see you once a week for a while so that we can help keep track of your mental health and hopefully prevent something like this from happening again."

Izuku nodded, and Inko moved away from the hug to talk to the Doctor about setting up an appointment. Izuku couldn't help but wonder what he would do this summer.

Todoroki Compound, Musutafu, Japan, July 22. 2217, 17:30

Fuyumi Todoroki stood slumped over, exhaustedly gasping for air. She was almost drowning in sweat, even in her red tank top and blue bicycle shorts. Standing before her with his usual impassive look was her father, Enji Todoroki. Known to the world as the hero Endeavour. He wore the same clothing type as she and had his arms crossed over his chest. After a moment, he spoke, his voice booming through the courtyard they stood in.

"You did well today, Fuyumi. Your ability to generate larger and greater amounts of fire has increased quite a bit recently. As a reward, you will only have one hour of alternating between your fire and ice to boil and freeze a cup of water. After that, you may do as you wish. We will resume training tomorrow at 9:00. You will work on increasing your ability to generate ice. If you continue to do well, I will allow you to take the weekend off."

Fuyumi was stunned at the uncharacteristic generosity of her father. Although, as she thought about it, he tended to let up a bit around this time of the month for a few days before he returned to being the taskmaster he usually was; Fuyumi mentally slapped her cheeks. That wasn't a good thing to say about a man taking the time to help her become a hero. After she remembered where she was, Fuyumi bowed slightly to her father and said, "Thank you, Father, I will make you proud." She walked away to clean up and get changed. She would work on the task her father had given her when she felt human again.

Half an hour later, a fresh and redressed Fuyumi entered the kitchen and grabbed a metal cup before filling it with water. When she sat down, she felt a tinge of pain in her chest, passing after a brief moment. She put her hands on the cup and began. As she alternated between boiling and frozen, she thought back to what had caused the burn mark on her chest over six years earlier.

Fuyumi walked into the kitchen, where her mommy stood in front of the stove while a teapot sat on the fire. She was on the phone and sounded sad. Fuyumi could only listen as her mommy talked, "I can't take it anymore. Every day the children seem more like him, and Fuyumi, she looks so much like me, but when I look into her eyes, all I see is him. I can't raise her anymore. I want to run away, Mom"

Hearing her name used made Fuyumi announce her presence. "Mommy?" She didn't recall much of what happened next, but the look in her mom's eyes when she saw Fuyumi would stay with her forever. That and the pain that followed.

Even now, Fuyumi didn't know everything. But from what she had been told by her older brother Shoto, their mom had suffered what he called a psychotic break and had thrown the teapot full of boiling water at her. From what Shoto had been able to figure out, she had moved to get out of the way and had been caught in the chest by the hot water. Her screams had gotten the attention of Shoto, who had rushed in and prevented their mother from cooling her burns incorrectly. According to her brother, she was lucky it had hit her on her clothed chest instead of exposed skin, preventing the worst from happening. Nevertheless, she had a significant pink mark across her chest that sometimes affected her.

That had been bad, but what had happened next had been worse. Her father had been furious with her mother and had put her in a mental hospital. Fuyumi had desperately wanted to see her mom, but every time the opportunity arose, she chickened out.

After that, Touya ran away from home and died. Following these events her father changed. He had always been severe, mainly when it came to her training, but after her brother's death, he had taken her training up a notch. He had stopped allowing her to go to quirk training facilities and had instead put everything he had into training her personally. Her days had become school, training, and Sleep with minimal variation. During the summers, it was almost all training.

"Bastard!" The thought rang through her mind as she sat there. She didn't notice that she had stopped alternating at some point as she got lost in her thoughts. "Bastard, son of a bitch!"

Almost immediately, she caught herself and slapped both of her cheeks. She said to herself, "No! I shouldn't think like that. Dad is doing his best to help me become a hero. Yes, he is abrasive, but I know he loves all of us."

She would repeat that to herself until the evil thoughts went away.

Air above Musutafu, Musutafu, Japan, August 5, 10:30

If Izuku was honest with himself, he would admit that he loved flying. Of all the animals he could become, the bat was his favorite, purely because it could fly. His only problem with the bat was its poor vision, but thankfully, his enhanced vision took care of that particular issue. He hated to admit it, but his parents, Doctor Uzuki and Master Camille, had been right about taking a break. He hadn't felt as good as he did since the camping trip over two years ago. As he approved and confirmed his target location, Izuku went to an alley where he transformed into a human.

Today he wore a white t-shirt that said 'pants', a green pair of cargo pants, and a red pair of sneakers. Today he was on a mission, he was headed to the bookstore. Aunt Mitsuki was still committed to helping him design his first hero costume, and he wanted to get some inspiration for the design he wanted for himself. Like almost every kid, he had dreamed of wearing a costume based entirely on All Might, but a conversation he and Master Camille had not too long ago had changed his mind.

Wanting to kill some time while waiting to be picked up from the academy, Izuku pulled out a sketchbook. He flipped through the pages and stopped on one of his early costume designs. This particular design was labeled 'All Might Jr'. While the costume design wasn't too bad, if a bid derivative, Izuku couldn't help but think, "What was I thinking with that name?" He was shaken out of his thoughts by Master Camille walking up behind him. When she got close enough to look over his shoulder, she said. "Is that a design for your future hero costume?" Izuku flushed for a second before he replied.

"It's something I created when I was younger. Mom's best friend is a fashion designer and has offered to help me create my costume if I get into a hero school." He left it unsaid that he was aiming for UA.

Camille nodded as she looked over the image with a critical eye. After a moment, she asked, "I can see All Might's influence on your design. But can I offer you my opinion?" When Izuku nodded, Camile continued.

"It almost goes without saying that All Might is an outstanding hero. He has been active for nearly forty years, and his effect on the world in general and Japan, in particular, can't be overstated. Understandably, you and many other young people wish to emulate him, and as far as following his example, that's fine. However, a part of being a public hero is standing out and being a beacon. It is hard to be a beacon when you are covered in the shadow of another. Even a hero like Star and Stripe in the United States, who fashioned herself after All Might, still has her own style that differentiates her from him."

Izuku couldn't help but feel a little bit downcast until Camille continued. "Don't look so sad; like I said, it is good to follow his example. To follow in his footsteps. Just don't get so caught up in doing so that you forget to make your own."

That conversation had stuck with Izuku, and so he had started looking at other sources of inspiration. Initially, he had looked at other pro heroes but had decided he was risking falling into the same trap that he might have fallen into, mimicking All Might. So he started looking for inspiration from further back. There had been interesting Heroes closer to the dawn of quirks that he had made some notes on, but nothing he could say inspired him. That was why he was going to the bookstore today. That particular bookstore was well known for its supply of pre-quirk media books. Guides for old games or even north american manga. "I'm sure that I can find something here."

Once Izuku had made it to the bookstore, he made a beeline for the pre-quirk-era media section and poured over the old books. As he looked through them, he immediately discounted the armored-looking costumes. Given his powers, he had almost no need for support gear, and given the skills he was developing, the bulky armors would make it hard to move the way his martial art styles would require. Likewise, he rejected the skintight outfits he had seen in many comic books. While he was sure they would allow him freedom of movement, he didn't want his body's contours on display for all to see. While looking at a game guide, he found that he liked the outfit used by the Fight Mistress class. But had rejected it as it was too feminine for his taste. Fortunately, that had sent him down the martial artist rabbit hole.

Izuku had been at it for nearly ninety minutes when he finally found what he was looking for. The picture he was looking at was of a fair-skinned female with bright red hair, and black eyes. She wore a primarily bright red, sleeveless, knee-length Chinese-style martial arts coat with flared shoulders. A line of white contrasted with the yellow fasteners. Beneath that was a form-fitting black bodysuit that covered up to the neck and the wrist. A Purple martial arts style belt wrapped around her waist. Beneath that was a pair of black, billowing Gi bottoms that fed into a pair of purple and black boots. Underneath the picture was the title Ultimate Turtle School Uniform.

"This is perfect. I wonder if Master Camille would allow me to put the school's emblem on the chest where the Kanji for turtle is?" It would be a question he would need to ask when he could return to the school. He couldn't help but imagine himself moving about in the uniform he had picked. In his vision, the colors were more to his preference, but Izuku still saw himself saving the day wearing it.

Izuku was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a feminine cough behind him. When he turned around, he saw a girl who looked about his age. She had long raven black hair with a long bang on her right side. The rest of her hair was tied into a stylized ponytail that fell to the back of her neck. Her eyes seemed as dark as her hair. She was wearing a red tank top, a white capris set, and a pair of black sandals. Izuku also noted that she was a few inches taller than him and was mature for her age. Although he forced himself not to think about that last part, "Mom taught me better than that!

Izuku quickly got out of his head and asked, "Can I help you?"

The young girl looked at Izuku appraisingly for a moment before she said, "Yes, I want to know if they have any Marvel Comics books available?"

Izuku turned around to look at the bookshelves before finding what he was looking for. After a moment, he turned to the girl and responded. "Yes, right over there near the end of the shelf." He pointed towards a spot a few feet away from him.

With a nod and a "Thanks," the young girl headed toward where Izuku had pointed. Izuku returned to his book and used his phone to take a picture of the outfit before he continued looking through the book, trying to see if he could find any other sources of inspiration. The pair stood silently, engrossed in their task, until the young girl spoke up. "So, what brought you here today?"

Izuku thought about how to answer the question momentarily before he replied. "I was looking for inspiration for my future hero costume."

The Raven-haired girl nodded before her eyes opened wide. "You're going to base your hero costume off a fictional character?"

Izuku mentally faltered for a moment before he responded, "Why not? After all,, back at the dawn of heroes, the early heroes fashioned themselves after the Manga heroes of the time. The American number one hero Star and Stripe, while she bases at least some of her look on All Might, also bears more than a little resemblance to the Superman archetype.

The girl looked thoughtful at that comment. "Okay, I see your point. "She stepped over to him to look at the picture he had taken. After a moment, she said, "Do you have any plans to change any part of the design?"

Izuku thought about it for a few moments before he responded, "I am thinking of adding some black fingerless gloves and switching the boots to something tougher than what the boots on the character look like… That and change the color scheme to something I prefer. My aunt can alter the design a little bit for a male frame."

The young girl looked thoughtful. "You have given me a lot to think about, thank you." a sudden beeping from her pocket interrupted the conversation. She pulled out a phone, and after a few moments, she said, "That's my mom; I need to go. It was nice talking to you. I'm Momo Yaoyorozu"

Izuku nodded and replied, "It was nice to meet you, Yaoyorozu. I'm Izuku Midoriya." Izuku noted that the girl's eyes widened just a bit. But he didn't ask why. As the girl walked away, Izuku couldn't help but think, "Yaoyorozu, why does that name sound so familiar?"

Yaoyorozu Mansion, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, August 7, 2217 11:45

Momo pored over the books in her parent's library. The boy she had talked to the other day, Izuku Midoriya, who seemed to not have recognized her name, had lit a fire inside her. When her family had returned home last night, Momo had immediately made her way to the library. Currently, she is in their collection of manga from throughout the last couple of centuries. Thus far, she hadn't found anything that spoke to her. She had one more section she wanted to look through before she stopped for lunch. The section had the label read Fate/Stay Night.

Several hours later, a slightly haggard but excited-looking Momo entered her parent's sitting room. Akira and Azusa Yaoyorozu were enjoying a quiet evening. When their daughter came up to them in such a state, Azusa helped their daughter into a chair.

"Momo dear?" The woman asked her daughter. "What's gotten you into such a state."

After calming down, Momo looked at her parents and said, "Mother, Father, I want combat training."

Akira thought about it for a moment before he said, "I assume this is for your desire to be a hero." At Momo's nod, he continued. "Very well then, what sort of combat training?"

Momo responded with a voice full of conviction, "Knife training, short sword training, and archery."

Tori's Arcade, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, August 20, 2217, 15:00

Izuku was bored, and considering that he was standing in the middle of a rather large arcade, that was saying something. He and his dad had come here because his dad had a consulting meeting with a heavy industry firm that was headquartered in Chiba. The plan was that after his dad had finished up with the meetings that were happening today, the two of them would take the next seven days to go on a boy's trip. The problem was that today was full of meetings. So his dad had brought Izuku to an arcade near the company's office, and had given him his credit card after making him promise not to go too crazy with it.

Izuku smiled. He knew that his dad had stepped back from his work years ago so that he could be around to help raise him and that his career had slowed down a bit. Still, he had heard his parents talking, and Izuku knew that his father had been doing very well lately and was considering opening his own consulting business. Izuku didn't know any particulars, but he was very proud of his dad.

Still, all that was in a possible future. Today, Izuku was in an arcade trying to figure out what to do. He had played most of the games that were of any interest to him and a few that he didn't have any interest in. The most interesting had been a hologram tactical battle game that he had spent a fair bit of time on. But it was pricey, so he had only played a few rounds. Beyond that, he had mostly stuck to fighting games, particularly those featuring All Might as a character, like Street Fighter 9 and Tekken 12. But even that had gotten boring. He was about to go for another round when he heard a loud electronic voice yell, "LETS DANCE!"

Izuku made his way toward where the voice had come from. When he arrived, he saw a large dance platform in front of an equally large screen. On the platform were a boy and a girl about his age. The boy was a little bit taller than he was, was fair-skinned, and had black hair that fell to his shoulders. The most striking thing about the boy was when he smiled, and Izuku noticed his teeth sharpened into points. He was wearing an orange Crimson Riot t-shirt and burgundy cargo shorts. As he moved around the pad, his movements were stiff. The girl standing beside the boy on the pad was far more striking.

The first thing that Izuku noticed was that she was pink, not in the way that people talked about when they talked about Caucasian newborns, but really and truly pink. She had equally pink hair that was as fluffy as his own. Beyond that, she had a pair of small horns on the top of her head. Her eyes had a striking, black sclera surrounding her yellow irises. She wore a white t-shirt with some band name that Izuku had never heard of. Beneath that was a black skirt with a pair of longer bike shorts. Her movements were far more fluid and graceful, and her dance moves were more dynamic. Filled with spins, flips, and, in the end, a spinning handstand!

When the game ended with the girls' apparent victory. Izuku heard the pink girl talk to her companion. "C'mon Kirishima, if you keep being stiff like that, you'll never even get close to my score" Izuku looked at her screen and saw that she had scored a massive 850,000 compared to her friend, who had scored only 150,000.

The boy, who Izuku now identified as Kirishima, let out a little whine. "Minnnna, nobody can get close to your score. You've put more time into this machine than any five other kids."

The girl, who Izuku now identified as Mina, responded quickly, "True, but that's no reason not to do your best. That's… what is it you like to say … not manly!"

Izuku noted that Kirishima looked insulted at that statement." Mina, we've been out here every day all summer. I want to do something else."

Mina, Izuku noted, looked a little bit contrite. "Fine, I'm sorry, but I want to do one more round before we leave." Noticing Izuku, she said, "Hey, Kid, you wanna play a round with me? My treat."

Izuku thought about it for a second. He had never played this type of game before, but on its face, it didn't seem all that difficult. At its core, it was a matter of matching your foot placements to what the screen told you to do, and doing so quickly enough to score points. So it was a game of coordination and reaction speed. Noticing that the pair were looking at him expectantly.

After a moment, Izuku responded, "Sure, why not." As Kirishima stepped off of the platform, Izuku stepped on. As they passed each other, Kirishima said, "Good luck."

As Mina explained the game's rules, Great Sage asked him if he wanted it to make predictions, but Izuku turned it down as it would be cheating. As the game started, Izuku found himself always a step behind while Mina swiftly pulled ahead. After a few moments, Izuku caught the rhythm and started to gain ground. Mina began to pull some of the same types of moves as earlier, and her score shot forward at an increased rate. Izuku did his best to block out her actions to focus on his game. His response time was getting better. As the timer dropped to single digits, Izuku's timing plateaued. When the timer hit zero, and the round ended, Mina had won by a wide margin, scoring slightly higher than last time, 875,000 to Izuku's 300,000.

Taking several deep breaths from her exertions, Mina said, "Not bad, kid. Is this your first time playing?

Izuku quickly responded, "Yeah, I don't spend much time at the arcade in my hometown.

Kirishima raised an eyebrow and asked, "Hometown? Where are you from?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I'm from Musutafu in Shizuoka."

Mina's eyes widened. "Musutafu? Isn't that where UA is? Have you seen a lot of Heroes?"

Izuku smiled, "Yes, yes, and sometimes. There are a lot of local agencies in the city, and more than a few graduates get fed into them every year."

Izuku was about to say more when he heard his father call out. "Izuku, I'm done with my meetings; it's time to go."

Izuku turned around and said, "I'll be there in a moment, Dad," before he turned to the pair, "Sorry, but I have to go. My name is Izuku Midoriya; it was nice to meet you."

Mina smiled and said, "Nice to meet you too, Midoriya; I'm Mina Ashido, and this is Eijiro Kirishima," she pointed to the boy, who waved at him. "I hope we see you again someday. I'd like to have a rematch with you and see if you improve a bit next time."

Izuku smiled, "You're on! Next time I will give you a run for your money." With one last wave, he turned around and headed toward his dad.

When the two Midoriya men had returned to their car and started down the road. Hisashi asked his son, "Did you have fun at the arcade?"

Izuku smiled back at his dad and said, "Yeah, I had a lot of fun."

Hisashi nodded. "I saw you talking with some kids when I came in. Do you think you will see them again?"

Izuku nodded. "I really hope so. They seemed really nice."

Dagobah Beach, Musutafu, Japan, September 20, 2217,08:12

Izuku sat cross-legged in the sand with his eyes closed. Sitting across from him was Master Camille. Izuku had returned to training recently but had been informed that he would be monitored to ensure he didn't suffer another breakdown. In practice, this led to a reduced training schedule. Particularly when school had resumed. Currently, he met with Master Camille on the weekends. Part of it was sparring. Working on helping him flow and improvise rather than just fighting by rote. The other half of any given session was spent meditating. He remembered when she had brought it up to him.

"It's good to have you back with us, Midoriya," Camille said as they sat in her office. "Was your vacation relaxing?"

Izuku nodded. "It was nice. I hung out with my friends, made new friends, and traveled with my dad.

Camille nodded and said, "That's good. Moving forward, your parents, Dr. Uzuki, and I will watch you to help keep your mental health in check." Izuku nodded, his parents, and Dr. Uzuki had said the same thing. "That being said, I have been thinking about your Mantis Shrimp Armament since that day and wondered if you can replicate it. It is not unlike my armor, but I never went through what you did. So from now on, we will work on bringing out a new armament during every training session."

That had been over a month ago; getting into the right mental state had been relatively easy. Getting any of the animals within him to cooperate had been something else.

The chameleon didn't seem interested and just sat there when he tried communicating with it.

The spider ignored him entirely and just worked on its web. His most progress with it was getting it to listen for more than five minutes.

The wolf was downright hostile. It couldn't hurt him, but having a full-grown wolf attempt to bite at you was still disconcerting.

The cat, on the other hand, did listen. Izuku wasn't sure if it was actually understanding him, but when he spoke to it, it would lay in front of him and occasionally nuzzle into his mental lap. But things had been that way for the last couple of weeks, and there had been no progress. Izuku had taken to trying to commune with the cat during the weekdays to help speed things along. But nothing had happened.

Today was starting to seem like more of the same. Master Camille had decided that he would spend the entire session in meditation. So far, it had been more of the same. Suddenly the cat climbed out of his lap and stood before him. As Izuku stared at it, the feline put one of its paws on the ground and tapped it several times. "Does it want me to get down to its level?"

Without better ideas, Izuku got onto his stomach, putting him at eye level with the cat. Idly wondering, not for the first time, what he was actually sitting on. The cat stared at Izuku for a long minute before it walked up to him and put its forehead against his.

In a flash, Izuku found himself watching a vision he hadn't seen in eight years. Izuku brutally forced down the urge within him to run, to get away from the thing that had scared him so much as a small child. "The cat is showing me this for a reason; I need to figure out why!"

The vision continued until the thief had been caught by the police and their mask had been removed. Suddenly the vision stopped, and Izuku heard a loud howl that seemed to come from everywhere. Izuku tried to understand what the cat wanted. "What is it? Do you want me to recognize this man?"

A second howl indicated that it was indeed what the cat wanted. Izuku took a very long look at the man, trying to commit it to memory. When he had a chance, he would ask Great Sage to remember the man and attempt to sketch him when he had time.

As the vision faded and Izuku again looked into the cat's eyes, he asked gently, "Do you want me to try to find out what happened to that man. Who killed your family?" The cat gave him a nod. "Okay, I will, but there isn't much I can do right now. I am just a kid, but if I can get into a hero school like UA, I can learn more. But to do that, I need your help. This sounds like I am making a deal, and maybe I am, but I need you to help me, help you." Izuku had tried to remain calm, but when he had finished speaking, he felt breathless despite the impossibility of that.

The cat looked at him for a moment before it nodded. It made its way to each of its hands and put one of its paws on each of his hands before it put its head to his. Before Izuku knew what was happening, the world turned a bright white, and he heard Great Sage say

"EQUIPMENT CREATION: 'CAT ARMAMENT' COMPLETE"

Camille sat in front of her student. Izuku had been in a meditative trance for a while now, but nothing had happened since he had started. A part of her wondered if Izuku could summon a new weapon and if he could, how far he would be able to take the whole armament ability. Would he be able to form armor like she and her husband had been able to? Izuku's powers were far different than what they used. After working with the boy for nearly two years, she still didn't understand exactly how his powers worked. But then again, a very common saying these days was that quirks were bullshit.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she saw Izuku tense up, and the air around him started to feel heavy. Izuku stayed that way for nearly five minutes before his hands began to glow green again. His hands glowed for another minute before he opened his eyes, and suddenly, the glowing stopped, and on his hands were a pair of black, fingerless, metal gloves, and on each glove were three silver-colored claws. Each was nearly a foot long and looked wickedly sharp. When Camille looked up from the weapons to look at Izuku's face, she saw that he was looking at his hands in wonder.

Deciding to shake him out of his thoughts, Camile clapped Izuku on the shoulder and said, "Congratulations Midoriya! You did it!"

Izuku looked at his Master and replied, "Thank you, Master! I can't believe that I managed to do it." He tried and failed to keep tears from falling. After a couple of minutes, he managed to stem the flow. When he had calmed down, Camille started speaking.

"Once again, congratulations, Now that you have managed to summon an armament on purpose, we know it can be replicated with your other animals. That said, we should wait to actually get them until you have learned how to use the weapons you have."

Izuku gulped.

Midoriya Residence, Musutafu, Japan, May 9 2218 11:00

Izuku sat with crossed legs on the floor of his room. Today he was working on his meditation. Master Camille had canceled their session for today due to something coming up that Izuku hadn't felt the need to ask about. So after going through his forms for an hour, he had settled down to focus inward. The Spider, Chameleon, and Wolf were still uninterested in dealing with him. So he decided to spend some time just focusing on meditation. He was broken out of his trance by the voice of his mother.

"IZUKU!" she screamed; in half a second, Izuku's eyes opened, and he was on his feet. In another three, he was at his mother's side as she pointed at the tv screen. The newscaster, a young woman with four striped black and red spider legs, coming from her back, stood with matching black and red shoulder-length straight hair. The woman had a distraught look as she fought to maintain her professionalism.

"To repeat, Keitaro and Mei Izumi, better known as the Hero team WaterHose, have been killed in battle today. The duo was slain while trying to stop the villain Goto Imasuji a.k.a Muscular. Who managed to get away in the chaos of the battle. Local and Prefecture law enforcement have begun a manhunt for Imasuji and are being assisted by heroes nationwide. The Izumi's are survived by a young son being taken to the care of relatives."

Izuku stood stock still as the reporter continued, but he had stopped listening as he tried to process what he had heard. To his side, he heard his mom saying something but ignored her. Ever since the wolf attack nearly four years ago, He had maintained a pen pal relationship with the deceased couple. It mainly had been light stuff, occasionally some insight into the world of heroes, and, more often than not, some tips on his water powers. Katsuki had been pen pals with them as well, although in his case, it had been how to avoid getting his sweat washed out by a villain with a similar power set to them.

"Kacchan"

Izuku turned around and ran for the front door of the apartment. When his mother tried to call out to him, he yelled back to her, "Mom! I've got to talk to Kacchan!" As soon as he was outside, he jumped over the ledge and transformed into the bat as he fell. Once he had righted himself, he winged it towards the Bakugou residence. A few minutes later, he arrived. Just as he transformed into his human form, Katsuki ran out of his house.

"Kacchan"

"Izuku"

"Did you see the news"

"Yeah"

"I-is it true?"

"I think so."

The two boys collapsed in the Bakugou front yard. Katsuki was the first to speak, "How did this happen? Heroes aren't supposed to lose!"

Izuku looked at his friend, responding sadly, "I don't know. They had a baby, what's going to happen to him? How many other heroes have died like this? What happens to their families?"

As Izuku and Katsuki sat there, they didn't hear the footsteps behind them. What they did hear was the voice that said, "Boys."

The two boys looked up to see the grim face of Masaru Bakugou. "We need to talk."

As the boys sat up to listen to the older man, he sat on the grass to meet them at eye level. After taking a few deep breaths, Masaru began. "I know you've both seen the news report by now, and you both have a lot of questions. I heard a couple of them just now. Now I'm not a hero, so I can't answer your questions from that perspective, but Katsuki, your great-grandfather Hiroshi Bakugou was a cop, and when I was a little bit older than you, he told me about what that life was like."

As the two boys focused all their attention on him, Masaru continued. "During his career, quirks were becoming more common, and many would use them to commit crimes. The first heroes had emerged, but they were few and far between, so the protection of the people came down to the police. Many of them, like the WaterHose, had their own families. Much like you boys, I asked him why they did what they did if they had families to take care of. Do you know what he told me?"

When the two boys shook their heads, Masaru answered. "What he told me was that somebody had to, and if standing up to people with powers that could crush men like him in an instant kept even one more person safe from harm, then it was worth it to him. I've heard about men like this Muscular, and to borrow from a movie I'll show you boys someday, men like him just want to see the world burn. The WaterHoses beat him back and prevented him from harming many people."

As the boys tried to understand what he had said, Masaru continued. "Now as to your second question. That is a bit tougher to answer; some of it comes from your great-grandmother Hanabi. From the news report, Izumi's child will be taken care of by their family. From what you have told me Katsuki, Mei Izumi, was related to Mandalay of the Wild Pussycats. So they might put the child in her custody."

Masaru took a moment to stretch and collect his thoughts before he spoke again. "Now, as to the larger question of what happens to the heroes' families. That is more complicated. In an ideal world, the police or the HPSC looks after the families and ensures they are taken care of, but in reality, those groups can only do so for so long. Eventually, they cut off the financial support. They might offer other forms of support, but it is left to the families to pick themselves up. At this point, it falls to the communities they are a part of. From what she told me, your great-grandmother was part of a charity group run by the spouses of policemen and women. If an officer was lost in the line of duty, the group would provide the widow or widower with supplies and, if needed, pay for some of their utilities. Sometimes things got tight, but the group survived for decades."

I don't know if heroes have something like that in place, but I hope they do." Masaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he prepared for what he would say next. "Now I know you boys are wondering what all this means for you. Well, one thing that Grandma Hanabi told me was that she always feared that one day when her husband would head out to work, he wouldn't return. That some punk would get lucky. I will be honest with you, boys. If you both become heroes, that will be a fear that the people who love you will also go through."

As Izuku and Katsuki opened their mouths to say something, Masaru raised a hand to silence them. "I'm not saying you shouldn't try. As far as I am concerned, you both have the potential to be great heroes. But you need to be aware of the reality of the future you want. You need to ask yourself if you are willing to take that risk and what you can do to minimize that risk. For instance, don't just run into a situation without a plan. Even if your plan is literally made up on the fly ."

The boys sat there, trying to comprehend what he had just said to them. Masaru decided to finish up. Now I'm sure you boys have a lot to talk about. If you want to talk more, I'm just inside."

As Izuku and Katsuki watched Masaru walk away. They looked at each other, and Katsuki spoke up first. "Izuku, I want to be a hero, and I'm sure you do too." When Izuku nodded, Katsuki continued. "If we don't want to make our parents suffer the way the Izumi's families are, we need to make some rules."

Musutafu Overpass, Musutafu, Japan April 09, 2219, 16:15

As Izuku Midorya and Katsuki Bakugou made their way home from school, Izuku couldn't help but think about the last year. After the death of the WaterHose duo, the two boys attacked their training with a fury that had seen both boys have a session with Dr. Uzuki to ensure they were not pushing themselves too hard. Izuku had dedicated himself to his water manipulation training, specifically working on his constructs. While he was still unable to make anything elaborate, he had learned how to make water shields. They were simple and spherical, but he had learned to make them dense enough to stand up to a baseball fired by a machine at foul speed and even hold up against Katsuki's explosions. His work on his wind manipulation had not been as fruitful as the wind speed needed to act as a shield tended to have a devastating effect on his surroundings.

Katsuki, while his quirk didn't lend itself to defense, had taken what the fallen heroes had taught him and had learned how to make small counter explosions to block projectiles. While it didn't work against a sustained attack like Izuku's 'Water Gun,' it had repeatedly proven that it could stand up to single strikes or even barrages.

Taking a page from Izuku's book Katsuki started working on hand-to-hand combat. While he wasn't learning any one martial art, he had focused on grips and palm strikes. Things that he could add an explosion to at the point of contact. He had also worked on using his explosions to aid in movement. At the moment, he could give himself a boost but nothing sustainable long term.

Finally, with Izuku and his mom's help, he helped design some support gear that would help him if he ran out of sweat. To that end, they had designed a series of mini mines and grenades that he could load with his sweat beforehand and trigger at his leisure.

They had taken great care to create rules that would keep them safe. The first was, of course, Don't Die. On its face, it seemed almost farcical, but as they explained to their parents and Dr. Uzuki when they had inquired, If you are alive, you can regroup, replan and strike back. A dead hero couldn't do any of that. A dead hero couldn't save anyone.

The second rule was that everyone dies. Like the first rule, this one almost seemed farcical and insulting to all the heroes who had died in the past. But as they had explained when questioned, Heroes, no matter how powerful, were not gods, and sometimes, no matter what they did, failure on some level was inevitable. They could, and certainly would, try their best to save everyone, but sometimes, someone would die. If necessary, they would make those deaths theirs instead of innocent civilians.

The third rule was never to go into a situation alone and always have some form of backup. As the two boys had put it, it was an excellent way to keep from violating rule one. They admitted that following rule three was sometimes impossible, but that didn't mean they couldn't try.

The last rule was one that they had learned from Masaru Bakugou. Always have a plan. Even if it was one you had just made up in that instant. It would help keep rule one and keep rule two to a minimum.

As they made their way through the small tunnel, they discussed how they would train for the UA entrance exams in just over ten months.

"So Slimer got any training plans for the next year?" Asked Katsuki with his trademark smirk on his face. Izuku mentally facepalmed at his friend's nickname for him. But quickly replied.

"Yeah, Kacchan, I talked it over with Master Camille, my parents, and Dr. Uzuki, and we all decided that I would spend the rest of the year refining my abilities. I really want to work on my offensive water constructs. At the moment, I can form a water blade out of my hand, but when I try to hit anything, it falls apart. What about you?"

Katsuki looked uncharacteristically thoughtful for a moment before he grinned. "Well,, besides bigger and better explosions to blow some fuckers to Hell. I'm going to work on my hand-to-hand, low-yield explosions. When I hit some bastard, I want them to remember it long after the fight is over."

Izuku smiled at his friend's antics. In all the years they had been friends, Katsuki had always been the one to end a fight … and start them more often than not. Izuku liked to think that his influence at least ensured that the people Katsuki started fights with were deserving. Both boys were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't hear the sound of sludge behind them.

Izuku froze when Great Sage yelled in his head, "IZUKU MIDORIYA, DANGER!" Izuku looked behind him and saw a wave of sludge coming at him and Katsuki. As quick as a thought, Izuku grabbed Katsuki and pulled him close before he spread his arms out. The two boys were surrounded by a giant rotating water ball just before the sludge made contact. Katsuki was about to ask his friend what the Hell was going on;, but the sludge retracted and reformed into an amorphous blob.

Soon an angry eye and a mouth formed, and the blob yelled, "Damn kids, I didn't realize HE would be in town. Now I need to get out of here, so why don't one of you be my hero and let me use you as a meat suit!" Both boys were absolutely disgusted. Uncouncitly, Izuku increased the amount of water and the speed of the rotation, making the ball denser and firmer. When the villain brought a giant hand down on the ball of water. When it made contact, it was diverted to the side and hit the tunnel wall with a splat. The villain attacked the water ball several more times to the same effect. After a few moments, the villain moved back to regroup, and Katsuki had a moment to ask his friend.

"Slimer, What the hell is going on?" Izuku couldn't help but notice the combo of anger and a little worry in his friend's voice. Still, he knew his long-time friend well enough to understand that the question was rhetorical. After a moment, he said.

"Kacchan, we need to get out of this tunnel. From the looks of it, this guy could surround us, and I haven't tested this shield against a sustained multi-directional attack." As they moved slowly toward the open air, Izuku had a sudden thought." Kacchan, Take a look at his eye; notice anything?"

Katsuki looked at their assailant as the duo moved back slowly. "The damn thing is staying still. You think that sludgy as the rest of him is that at least a few parts of his body need to stay solid?"

Izuku nodded. "If this shield collapses, I want you to throw everything you have at his eye. It should disable him long enough for us to get away."

Katsuki cursed. He hated the idea of running away. "Fine, just keep moving." The two boys were just a couple of feet from the entrance to the tunnel.

The villain seemed to realize what they were doing and surged forward to attack. Izuku and Katsuki made one giant leap back, and suddenly, they were in the open. Before they could cheer their success, they found themselves surrounded. As Izuku feared, the villain was now striking them from all angles, and the shield was starting to buckle. With each successive hit the shield took, Izuku felt his ability to hold it waver. He tried to add more water to reinforce it, but the constant barrage of blows was eating at it faster than he could repair it. After another moment, Izuku yelled to Katsuki, "KACCHAN, NOW!"

With a mental push, Izuku expanded the ball with as much force as he could muster. The sudden blast of water stunned the villain for a second. That was all the time Katsuki needed as he brought his hands forth and released two large explosions, both of which struck their target. The surrounding area was filled with the villain's wails of pain as it moved its hands to cover its eye from another attack. The boys cheered at their success. This cost them as in his blind rage. Izuku and Katsuki were thrown several feet back, landing on their backs with a pair of resounding thuds. It was only by sheer luck that the boys managed to maintain consciousness. As the boys lay on the ground groaning in pain.

The villain, his eye now a furious red, glared at the two boys. "You wanna be hero brats caused me a lot of pain. Now I'm going to show you what happens when you try to play the hero!" The villain raised its sludgy hand, ready to pummel the two boys. Izuku tried to form a water shield to protect Katsuki and himself but couldn't concentrate.

As the villain brought his hand down, the moment was interrupted by the loud sound of a sewer top flying into the air. Despite the situation, the boys and the villain looked at where the sound had come from. Standing behind the villain was a towering silhouette, and after a moment, it spoke.

"Have no fear; you are safe." The silhouette slammed its foot to the ground. "Now that I am here, that is!" The villain recognized the voice because it, in an instant, abandoned the two boys to swing wildly at the heroic figure. The figure dodged the blow and the second attack that came after that. Before bringing his right fist up and shouting, "TEXAAAAS… SMASH!" As the figure brought his fist forward, a torrent of air blasted forth and struck the villain like a truck.

"I can't… hold … together!" the villain screamed as it was torn apart.

Before Izuku passed out, he could take in more of the figure that had saved him and Katsuki "Is… that. All Might?"

When Izuku came to, he had two realizations. The first was that he was in his slime form. The second was that All Might was lightly slapping what amounted to his cheek while a concerned and amused Katsuki looked on. In an instant, Izuku transformed back into a human and sat up. "All Might?!" he asked excitedly.

All Might grinned at Izuku. "Thought we lost you there for a moment."

Izuku had to force himself into his headspace to prevent himself from screaming out loud. As it was, he looked at the hero with wide eyes. A look shared by Katsuki now that he knew his friend was safe.

"I didn't mean to get you caught up in my justice. Usually, I try to pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but it turns out this city's sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!" All Might laughed.

All Might continued as Izuku tried to form thoughts to speak with his idol. "Your friend told me about what happened before I showed up. Pretty good work, you two!" All Might continued as the two boys beamed at being praised by their idol. That said, try to not make this a habit. While the government has eased up on power use in cases of self-defense, you boys should leave dealing with villains to the pros." As if to prove his point, All Might lifted a plastic bottle to show the villain that had assaulted them.

Izuku realizing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, struggled to voice his thoughts "cou-could you please sign my notebook!" he all but screamed out. In answer to his question, Katsuki pulled out two notebooks; the first was Izuku's Hero Analysis for the future volume 13 notebook, and the second was a largely blank notebook that belonged to him. He opened them both to reveal All Might's large signature on both of them. At that moment, Izuku promised himself that short of any wife or children he might have, if Katsuki needed anything, it was his.

"Welp! I need to get this guy to the police so they can take care of him!." He put the bottle into one of the pockets of his cargo pants." Again good work, you two. Keep it up, and one day, I may see you in the field! Till next time!" Before either of the boys could say anything else, All Might lept high into the air.

As they watched him disappear in the distance, Katsuki spoke up shakily. "Slimer… Did that just happen?"

Izuku looked at his long-time friend and, with an equally shaky voice, "I-I think it did, Kacchan."

Katsuki nodded. "Good, I just wanted to make sure I haven't gone crazy." Katsuki was silent for a moment before he asked. "How do we tell our parents about what just happened?"

Izuku was dumbstruck.

Dagobah Beach, Musutafu, Japan, September 25, 2219, 09:45

Master Camille was busy today; she had said something about a birthday when he had inquired, and her tone of voice had told him not to question further. So Izuku had talked Katsuki into helping him with his training. Frankly, after the incident with the sludge villain, they had been lucky to get their parents to allow them some unaccompanied training time. When their parents learned what had happened to them, they had been justifiably freaked out. For two months, the boys had been required to have at least one parent with them at all times. When not at school or a training facility. Katsuki and Izuku had to work overtime to finally convince them that they would be okay. Even then, they needed Masaru and Hisashi to speak up for them to finally make Inko and Mitsuki give in, particularly Inko. Even now, five months after the fact, they were expected to have the GPS on their phones active at all times and to check in when they went anywhere other than where they were.

Today's training session was to help Izuku work on a new skill he had been developing for himself. He wanted to create some melee water skills but had hit a wall when making constructs. He could create constructs well enough, but they had no solidity. The closest thing he had to a solid construct was the 'Water Shield,' but that was less a solid construct and more a ball of rapidly moving, continuously fed water. His thoughts were interrupted by Katsuki grunting out, "Slimer, not that I don't enjoy some time on the beach in the morning. But why aren't you asking that sage of yours for advice?"

Izuku looked at his friend for a moment before he responded. "Because this is something I want to do for myself. Great Sage is a fantastic resource. But I don't want to become so reliant on it that I can't think for myself. When I was younger, Dr. Uzuki made me take notes on Heroes and write them myself. I was allowed to use Great Sage to help with the wording I didn't quite understand, but the notes were mine. I like to think that this is an extension of that."

Katsuki nodded before he spoke up again. "How do you make those constructs solid?"

Izuku had a blank look on his face for a moment before his eyes widened. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it would work. If it does, at least at first, the constructs won't be all that detailed."

Intrigued, Katsuki asked excitedly, "How would you make it work?"

Happy with his friend's interest, Izuku replied, "I was thinking about my 'Water Shield,' and I just realized that I could use the basics for that to give the blade mass. That's the first part. The second part is particular to the water blade skill I am working on. Do you know what water cutters are? When his friend shrugged, Izuku continued, "Water cutters operate by releasing a stream of water at extremely high pressures. Get the pressure high enough, and you can cut steel. I think that with enough control, I can feed the high-pressure stream back into myself to create an edge. I might be able to make more complex constructs later on, but simple shapes like rods should be within my abilities right now."

As if to prove his point, Izuku raised his right hand with his fingers and thumb pressed together. With a look of concentration, water started to gather on his wrist and move up his hand slowly, making its way up his fingers until it rose a few inches above his middle finger. With a bit more concentration, he forced it into a blade-like shape that covered his whole hand. It was small, but this was a proof-of-concept attempt. He could make it bigger when he got the creation down. As he looked at his hand, he was glad that the shape he was going for was correct. Inside the blade, water was swirling in all directions. At the moment, he was controlling it manually. "I can have Great Sage take care of that part once I get this down."

As if in response to his thoughts, Izuku felt the mental strain of manipulating the water cease even as it moved. Izuku wanted to protest but, after a moment, decided to let it go. If Great Sage was taking care of the movement, he could focus on what came next. Focusing all his thought on the blade's edge, Izuku focused on keeping a continuous line of pressure from one side of his hand to the other. While it was invisible to the naked eye, he could feel it as the water left one side of his hand and entered the other. "This feels kinda weird." was his thought as he continued to build up the pressure of the output. After a few moments, he looked for something to cut. "Kacchan, can you help me find something I can try this thing on?"

The two boys looked around, and after a moment, Katsuki found a pipe on the ground. Its green color told Izuku that it was likely copper. After handing the rod off to his friend Katsuki stood back to watch the show. Izuku took the pike in his free hand and, after a moment of thought, brought the nascent water blade down on the pipe. When it made contact, Izuku felt the pressure lower, and the pipe began to buckle in his hand as the water pressure hit it. Izuku pulled his hand back before he focused on upping the water pressure. Tripling the pressure from what it had been before. As he brought his water blade down again, the boys watched in amazement as the blade slowly moved through the pipe before the part not being held fell to the ground.

Katsuki shouted, "Slimer! You did it. That was awesome!" Izuku looked at his hand and then at his friend before smiling. "Thanks, Kacchan! The pressure needs some adjusting to make it more effective, but you're right." Izuku was about to say something else before Great Sage spoke up inside him.

"UNIQUE SKILL 'WATER BLADE LEARNED,

'WATER CONSTRUCT SKILL TREE ACQUIRED."

Izuku had a stunned look that Katsuki immediately took notice of. "What the Hell just happened, Slimer?"

Izuku looked at his friend and, in a quiet voice, said, "Apparently, figuring out 'Water Blade' opened up a new water construct skill tree."

Katsuki nodded with a smile before he asked, "Why now? Why not when you figured out 'Water Shield'?"

Katsuki watched as Izuku got a faraway look in his eyes. Years of experience told Katsuki that Izuku was talking with Great Sage. After nearly a minute, Izuku's eyes refocused. With a smile, Izuku replied, "Great Sage said that what I learned when I created 'Water Shield' was only part of what was needed to open up the construct skill tree. I needed to figure out how to make a solid construct for the other parts of the tree to open up."

Katsuki nodded for a moment before he smiled and said, "Did you ever think your life would become a damn video game?"

Izuku let out a short laugh as he responded with a smile. "Every day since I turned four."

The two boys' laughter filled the air.

Camille Skinners Office, Jungle Karma Martial Arts Academy, Musutafu Japan, February 19, 2220, 12:30

Izuku sat nervously in his Master's office; Aunt Mitsuki had nearly finished the final design for his costume and had asked him if there was anything he would like to add. That had led him to ask for this meeting with his Master. He was about to make a big request and wanted to do so appropriately.

Across from Izuku sat Camille; she was finishing up her lunch. After a few minutes, she moved her food containers out of sight and looked at Izuku. "Before we get started on why you are here, how are you feeling?"

Izuku smiled. It was the same question all the important adults in his life had asked him for years. It was part of how they ensured he wasn't on his way to another break from overworking himself. It annoyed him at first. But he had come to appreciate it. "I'm doing fine, Master. Mom and Dad have been helping me make sure that I don't overwork myself."

Camille nodded, "That's good; I know the UA entrance exam is next week, so you will be in deep preparation. But it is important to take some time to rest and decompress."

Izuku nodded. "Yes, Master. Thank you, Master."

Camille smiled at her student. "So, what brings you here today?"

Izuku stood up from his seat and looked Camille in the eyes. With a voice that was as serious as she had ever heard him use, he said, "Master, My Aunt, who is helping me with my hero costume design, is almost finished and asked me if I wanted to add anything." Camille noticed that Izuku's voice cracked, and he started to speak fast. "Iwouldliketoweartheschoolemblemonmyherocostume!" When he finished, he bowed deeply.

It took Camille a moment to figure out what Izuku had said, and her face became much more serious. "Well, Izuku, that is quite a request. I have to ask why?"

Izuku took a moment to calm down before he answered in a much more measured tone. "Master, You and the school have done so much for me the last five years. I wouldn't be where I am in my skills or understanding of my quirk if not for your help. My costume design has a section where an emblem can be placed, and I would like to honor the school that helped me get to where I am."

Camille nodded and sat silently for nearly a minute, deep in thought. Meanwhile, Izuku stood at attention, waiting patiently for his Master to give him some sort of response. Finally, she replied, smiling warmly, "First off, I want to thank you for your desire to honor the school. I've been at this a long time, and hearing one of you kids say that warms my heart." Her face became more serious. "That said, what you are asking is no small thing. To wear the school's emblem on your hero gear means that you represent the school. Sure, your successes reflect well on the school, but what of your failures?."

Izuku nodded and bowed his head in disappointment. He wasn't happy, but he understood where his Master was coming from. His thoughts were interrupted when his Master continued.

"But." She said with a smile," I've seen how you have grown over the last five years, and I have no doubt that if you get into UA, your growth rate will increase by leaps and bounds. So I am going to make you an offer."

Izuku was as still as a statue. His Master was going to give him a chance. Whatever it was, he would do it. Even if she told him to climb Mt. Fuji multiple times without the active use of his quirk.

"If you pass the entrance exam, We will have no holds barred fight. I want to see everything you've learned, everything you have. If after the fight is over, I think that you were holding back. Not only will you not get to wear our emblem, but you will be removed from the school." The dead serious look on her face told Izuku that His Master wasn't kidding. That she would follow through on her threat . Izuku gulped audibly.

"Tell me, Izuku Midoriya, Do you have the courage to fight for what you want even with the risk involved? As Izuku moved to speak, she put up a hand, "Don't answer me now; the UA entrance exam is in a week, and test results tend to come out the week after that. So you have two weeks to decide." When Izuku raised an eyebrow at what she had said, she clarified, "I have complete faith that you are going to pass the entrance exam."

Despite his worry about his Master's challenge. Izuku couldn't help but smile at her faith in him. Bowing deeply again, Izuku said, "Thank you, Master. I won't let you down!"

Camille smiled at him. "I know you won't."

UA Testing Center, UA High School, Musutafu Japan, February 26, 2220, 08:30

Izuku stood in front of the massive gates. While the testing center was on the outskirts of the gigantic UA campus, this was as close to being inside the school as he had ever been. As he moved into the facility, he couldn't help but people-watch. Near where he was walking was a blonde boy with a puffy shirt who seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Not too far from him was another very short boy. But the most striking thing about him was the balls on his head. The boy didn't seem to be paying attention to where he was going; when Izuku followed where he was looking, he saw a pair of pretty girls. The first with shoulder-length brown hair cut into a bob cut. She seemed to have a permanent blush on her face. The second girl she was talking to had dark sea-green hair that fell to the small of her back, tied into a bow that made it seem like her hair was much longer. The most striking feature was the tongue that hung out the side of her mouth, but that didn't impede her ability to talk. Izuku couldn't help but wonder what her quirk was. "Maybe I will get lucky and be able to see it during the entrance exam." he thought hopefully.

Izuku was shaken from his thoughts when he heard a loud familiar voice. "Get your damn head in the game Slimer!"

Izuku looked at where the voice had come from and saw Katsuki Bakugou standing there with a savage smile.

Izuku had the grace to look embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Kacchan. There is just so much to see here."

Katsuki didn't miss a beat. "You can look at it when we get accepted and start our path to become the number one and two heroes!"

Izuku couldn't help but grin at his friend's confidence. "You're right, Kacchan."

Katsuki grinned at his friend's agreement. "You're damn right I am! Now let's get inside. Time is wasted!"

Izuku moved to follow. It was time to get to work.

A/N

As usual, thanks to the members of TFF, USS ITANO, EPSIS HORDE, AND R/FANFICTION for their help with this story, including proofreading and the title of the chapter. Without them this story wouldn't be near as polished as it is. Up next in my writing rotation is chapter 2 of Kingdom Hearts (Re) Destiny, and after that, chapter 2 of Pokemon: the Story of Us. That being said I am going to try concurrent writing instead of consecutive writing, so hopefully, the release of chapter 5 won't take too long. If you want to go kill an hour, go give those two a read.