"Wait, back up. Katsuki said Izuku's Quirk came in, but you think it'll react to the crystal in my pendant?" Mitsuki asked, looking at her friend and her husband.
It had been a couple days since Izuku's Quirk Awakening, as the family had wanted to wait until the weekend to experiment with his new Quirk.
"From what we've been able to figure out, his Quirk relies on those crystals. According to Izuku, these crystals are alive and his quirk gives him the unique ability to awaken them." Hisashi said, rubbing his temples.
Admittedly, it had been a lot to take in. His son had somehow landed the genetic lottery and got not his Quirk, not Inko's Quirk, not a mix of both, but something entirely different. He had dreamed of teaching his little boy all about his Quirk when it came in but this?
As much as he hated to admit it, Hisashi Midoriya was WAY out of his depth this time.
And yet, he couldn't be prouder.
Masaru frowned in thought. "It probably wouldn't hurt to let Izuku try, dear. Katsuki has already had a year to train his Quirk, which means that Izuku is already so far behind. We both know that Katsuki would help if he could."
Mitsuki sighed. "I know he would, thank god. I'm so glad he turned out more like you when it came to that boy, 'Saru... It's just a lot to take in." She took off her pendant and handed it to Inko. "But I'd do anything if it helped Izuku get closer to his dream."
With that, Izuku stood in front of his parents, his godparents, and his best friend, looking at the pendant in front of him.
"So how exactly does this work, Pyra?" Hisashi asked the Blade, who was standing next to Izuku, ready to guide the young boy.
"All Izuku has to do is touch the Core Crystal and he will begin to resonate with it. From there, whatever Blade is inside the Core Crystal will wake up, binding itself to you." Pyra explained.
"How many of these Blades can he use?" Katsuki asked, folding his arms as he watched
"From what I remember, a Driver can handle having 3 Blades at a time, but can only use one Blade at a time."
"So he can have 3 Blades basically "equipped" and can hot swap between the three." Katsuki nodded in understanding, having gotten really into RPGs lately, so he dumbed it down a little bit so that he could understand.
"Wait, you said from what you remember? What is that supposed to mean?" Inko asked.
"Right..." Pyra bit her lip, wishing she didn't have to bring this up. "The relationship between a Blade and it's Driver is symbiotic, in a sense." She said softly. "While we as Blades give our Drivers incredible power, in return, the Driver allows us to live. Truly live. Otherwise, we're just crystals. Inert, in a coma, I suppose you could say. And when a Driver dies, be it in battle or through natural causes, we revert back to Core Crystals, with one catch..." Pyra said with a sad smile.
"You lose your memories." Mitsuki realized, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "All those experiences, all those memories... You don't get to keep a single one?"
Pyra shook her head. "In a weird way, it's kind of a blessing. Could you imagine being functionally immortal, spending most of your life asleep, waking up and forming a bond over and over again in an endless cycle? That level of grief... I am glad I don't have to experience it. Though I do mourn the countless good memories I have no doubt lost along the way."
A somber silence filled the room as reality set in. Izuku's Quirk is what allowed him to become a Driver in the first place. The only Driver, as far as they knew. Meaning that when Izuku died, be it as a hero in the line of duty, or passing away having lived a long and full life, that was it for any Blades in the universe. They would never be able to wake up again, trapped eternally in their Core Crystals, waiting for a day that would never again come. The enormity of the situation was beginning to set in. It was a lot of pressure for anyone to deal with...
...But not Izuku.
"Then I know what I have to do." Izuku said as firmly as an 8 year old could. "I'm not just going to be a hero," he declared, "But I'm going to awaken as many Crystals as I can! That way, when I die, I can do so knowing that as many of you guys lived as long a life as you could!"
With that, a tiny hand reached for the Core Crystal, and the house began to shine with an etheral blue glow...
7 years later...
"Come on Kacchan, we're going to be late!" Izuku yelled at he ran through the streets of Musutafu, Katsuki Bakugo hot on his heels. Now at 15 years old, the two friends had been training day and night for the upcoming Entrance Exam to UA High School, one step closer to their dream. A big part of that was enrolling themselves in a dojo led by their master, Sensei Jīku, a master not only in hand-to-hand, but also with all manner of weapons, making him the perfect teacher for Izuku, who's Quirk obviously specialized in the weapons he summoned with the help of his Blades, but also for Katsuki, who was far more of a straight up brawler.
"I know! If it wasn't for that damn giantess being such a glory hound, we would've been there by now!" Katsuki growled in annoyance. He wasn't exactly wrong, either. Both boys had made a routine of getting up early so they could make it to Sensei Jīku's Thunderbolt Dojo on time (or early, if they could get away with it). However, that didn't account for the fact that a villain attack delayed their train, made worse by the fact that while Kamui Woods had the situation handled with minimal damage thanks to his signature Lacquered Chain Prison, Mount Lady couldn't help but be a glory hound and take down the villain with her Canyon Cannon attack, which did prove successful... at the cost of more than a few (thankfully) empty buildings.
"I know, I know..." Izuku muttered, turning a corner as he stopped in front of the Dojo. "But at least we got here." He said opening the door and bowing to Sensei Jīku, Katsuki doing the same.
Sensei Jīku smiled at the two boys, returning the bow as he looked at his students with a smile. "Damn, you two must've hauled ass to get here on time with the villain attack." He chuckled, nodding at the TV in his office as he pushed the tufts of grey hair out of his face, fixing the two boys with a one eyed stare. Neither Izuku nor Katsuki knew the circumstances as to how Jīku lost his eye, and at this point, they were too scared to ask. "Well, seeing as the Entrance Exam is in two weeks, that means you two won't have the time to come here to train anymore." The old master said with a grin, grabbing a replica of his favorite sword, known as the Big Bang Edge. "Meaning that I suppose that it's time for your final test. You two know the rules. If you are off the mat, you are out." The grizzled swordsman said with a grin as he stepped onto the mat with a grin. "Whenever you two are ready."
The two boys grinned in response, Katsuki's hands popping with tiny explosions as Izuku summoned the Aegis, Pyra being allowed to stand outside the mat to maintain her affinity to her Driver. "You go high, I go low?" Izuku asked, glancing at his friend.
Katsuki nodded, his grin never leaving his face. "You got the sword. Keep him focused on you and I'll land the hits." He said confidently.
The two nodded and stepped onto the mat, getting into a fighting stance as Izuku rushed forward, bringing the sword down hard on his master, who blocked with ease, his smile never wavering as Izuku ducked, letting Katsuki leap off his back to land an exploding palm strike on Jīku, forcing him to stumble back. Izuku then followed up, jumping into the air.
"Rolling Smash!" He yelled, flipping through the air as he used the momentum to slam the dull part of the Aegis Sword down onto Jīku's chest, pushing their sensei further back and disorienting him with the force of the attack. "Kacchan!"
"On it!" Katsuki yelled, rushing their master, who had no time to react as Katsuki used a Kenpo Double Punch to finally force Jīku off of the mat.
Jīku couldn't help but laugh as he got to his feet, bowing to his two students. "Well done! I could not be prouder of you two." He said, heading to his office to grab three root beers and handing one each to Izuku and Katsuki respectively. "To two incredibly gifted young men who are well on their way to becoming great heroes." He said, raising his soda in a toast. "Izuku, Katsuki, you will always be welcome in this dojo."
And with that, the two boys knew that they were finally prepared. They could handle anything that the Entrance Exam throws in their way, and nothing is going to stop them!
Next time: Something stops them.
In all seriousness, this was a really fun chapter to write! I really wanted to try my hand at writing a Bakugo who just... wasn't unlikable? And I think I pulled it off pretty well.
I know that I probably could've made the fight between Izuku, Bakugo and Jīku a little longer but that wasn't really the point of the chapter so I decided to leave it as is. Don't worry, next chapter will give you a proper fight instead of the spar that happened here.
Now the point of this chapter was to showcase that for this fic, the Midoriya's and the Bakugo's are much closer than they are in canon. I mean, sure, Mitsuki and Inko are already childhood friends in canon, but I wanted to take it one step further by having the respective parents be the godparents for the other's kid (so Inko and Hisashi for Katsuki and Mitsuki and Masaru for Izuku) to further explain why the two boys are so much closer here than they are in canon. They're basically brothers at this point, of course they're going to be on much better terms.
And for those of you who caught on to who Jīku is a reference to, first of all kudos for catching my 2nd favorite character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but also let me make this clear (because I do read the reviews and take them to heart). This is not a crossover story. With the exception of Blades, no other characters are going to be making appearances in their canon forms. That's partially why I went with the name Jīku instead of his canon name here in America: Zeke.
At this point in time, Zeke would be and is long dead in Xenoblade canon. What Jīku is is a simple little cameo for fun. That's really it.
That out of the way, thank you all so much for reading I'm sorry it took a couple of days to post this chapter, and as always:
Drive The Speed Limit, Drink Some Water, and of course, love one another. Pizza!