Story1
(MHA, Quirk Izuku, no OFA at first; possibly not at all.)
Inspired by the user known as Oni_Rinku on a near-defunct forum, TFF. They provided a Quirk for Izuku, one I've taken and intend to make a plot including.
( thefanfictionforum.net )
-----
"Believe in yourself and you can manage anything you set your mind to! After all, you are a smart and capable young man, Izuku!"
As he was getting up, Izuku grit his teeth. Time for yet another day and week at school; yet another slog through boring crap and having to deal with teachers who were apathetic at best.
At least, this year, his personal trainer had cleared Izuku for some weight lifting. Izuku's classmates had even stopped bothering him with mockery to his face ever since that time Izuku's hand had 'slipped' and one of his barbells had landed on an idiot's foot.
Of course, Izuku wouldn't make a habit of it! He had regretted it soon after… though the principal's attitude had rubbed him the wrong way, so Izuku had held off on apologizing and instead mouthed off to the principal in front of his mom and the other guy's parents.
Unfortunately for the principal and their own child, the other parents had been disgusted at the man's attitude too, so they had transferred their child to another school and last Izuku had heard, the finger guy had been under strict supervision at home.
"Deku," a rather familiar voice said, "still think you can be a hero with your shitty Quirk?" Getting straight to the point, as usual.
"Kacchan," Izuku said, his lips moving to form something like a smile, more likely a mix between a sneer and an arrogant smirk, unusually for Izuku. "Still think you can ever go above number two without bothering with rescue work?"
On a good day, the banter between Izuku and his former friend was like that of- somewhat friendly rivals. The popping sound of small blasts coming from Katsuki's hands let Izuku know that it wasn't a good day for the guy.
By the time their homeroom teacher had arrived and hushed the two of them, not daring to come between them in a more literal way thanks to experience teaching her that it was a bad idea and that Katsuki didn't discriminate between sexes, the entire class had taken cover to minimize injuries in case of a meltdown.
With all the injuries caused by Katsuki, any bruises Izuku himself had inflicted on the teacher -by accident, of course- had gone unremarked. Fortunately, Izuku had managed to keep his mouth shut and in a reversal of past fare, had escaped trouble almost completely, with Katsuki taking the brunt of it.
Zoning out during every lesson, as there was no World History scheduled for his class on Mondays, Izuku somehow managed to get through the entire day without falling asleep or being called out for being inattentive.
"Deku!" Katsuki's voice said, making Izuku pause mid-yawn.
'That voice has a way of waking up even the dead, and not in a good way,' Izuku thought to himself, trying to contain the grimace forming on his face.
"Are you doing anything this evening?" Katsuki said, in a surprisingly even tone.
Izuku let out the air in his lungs in a gasp of surprise. Katsuki wanted to- spend time with Izuku? Only a few years earlier, Izuku would have jumped at the chance. "Is this because Tsubasa and- fingers guy aren't around anymore?" Izuku said, looking straight at Katsuki.
Katsuki's sudden twitch told Izuku that he had hit the nail on the head. Katsuki was bored and even lonely, so he was coming back to Izuku, all those years later. "I don't have any time for you, Katsuki," Izuku said, his tone even, "I don't know if I ever will."
Katsuki simply nodded, walking away immediately after.
What's going on with Katsuki? He's been off lately. Even with those two's absence, he is too proud to reach out like that. Something has set him off. Do I care enough to look into it, though?
That was the question, wasn't it? Izuku stopped walking for a moment and looked around, something having bothered him in the air.
There isn't often a sewer leakage in Mustafu. It's an upscale suburb, being the closest inhabited place to UA, with every train passing through to reach it.
Izuku jumped to the side, hearing a 'plop' sound from where he had been. Not bothering to check, he ran as fast as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
"You're decently fast for a mumbling brat, aren't ya?" came from behind Izuku.
The laughter that followed was coming closer and closer. 'Crap! Gotta get away-'
As if the gods had decided to laugh at Izuku, he stepped on something and slipped. He landed hands first and started running again, but he had lost precious time-
"Disguise cloak size M, possibly with a low-potency speed enhancement Quirk. You'll do!" The voice from before said, a slimy appendage gripping Izuku by the wrist.
Turning to look at his assailant, Izuku screamed- then, he gagged as another hand made of sludge grabbed him, this time by the chin and mouth. He was unable to even scream as the villain prepared to do- something.
Bam! Bam! Tink! BAM!
After some other sounds, something crashed with an incredibly loud noise.
"No. No!" The villain said.
"Young man, have no fear," a familiar voice said, "I AM HERE!"
The villain froze for a moment, then said, "I have a hostage, All Might. What will you do now? Huuuh? What was that? Gonna return to Texas?"
"Smash!"
Izuku stayed completely still, knowing what was coming. The artificial wind made by All Might's Texas Smash blew away the villain, leaving Izuku almost unharmed.
All Might gathered the villain's parts in a tin can, with Izuku helping by scooping pieces up using a notebook he hadn't started writing into yet.
"Thanks a lot, young man," All Might said, his smile as blinding as usual, "you might have a future as a hero. Please consider my alma mater, UA, if you are at the appropriate age!"
Izuku had frozen in place. He said, "Do you really mean that, All Might?!"
"Of course!" All Might said, asking for Izuku's full name and absent-mindedly scrabbling his signature into the contaminated notebook.
"Thank you, All Might! I'll treasure this forever!" Izuku said, putting aside his disgust at the sludge on it.
Before All Might could leave, Izuku said, "I have a final thing to say, All Might."
All of a sudden, All Might froze in place.
Izuku took that as acceptance, so he said, "At school, everyone has tried to dissuade me from being a hero. And yet- and yet, it's the one and only career I've considered!
"You see, my Quirk isn't exactly the most powerful. It increases all my physical stats by a factor of 1.05 according to the Quirk analyst, 1.1 if I'm actively trying. I've tried to improve it at home and exercised my body and mind, but my Quirk hasn't grown stronger. What do you think?"
Lifting his head to look at All Might, Izuku started at the completely serious look in his eyes.
The man said, "I think that keeping your options open won't hurt. Firefighters and police officers do amazing work and you should be able to slot such academies in as secondary options. As far as I know, a middle school graduate is allowed to pick eleven institutions as alternatives, for a total of twelve."
"That said, you are a determined and talented young man; I can tell that already. Maybe you will find new aspects of your Quirk; maybe you'll manage with it as is. I think that you already know the answer deep inside, or at least should, but I'll still say it: you can become a hero, young Midoriya!"
Because All Might had left hastily, he most likely hadn't seen the tears going down Izuku's face. And yet, they were there, along with the sobs Izuku was letting out. He hadn't expected such a roaring endorsement, from his hero of all people.
Izuku reached home just in time, with his mom greeting him-
"Izuku! What's wrong?! You're positively filthy!" His mom said.
Izuku explained how he had encountered the sludge villain, how he had delayed him until All Might had arrived and finally, how All Might had supported Izuku's dream.
His mom's lips thinned, as they usually did when Izuku talked about becoming a hero, but to her credit, she said nothing.
"…Mom! I'm fine!" Izuku said, but she insisted on marching him to the hospital after he had his shower.
-----
"Is he fine, Doctor?" Izuku's mom said, worry in her voice.
"Not to worry, not to worry Midoriya-san! Midoriya-kun has a clean bill of health. There was something unexpected, though. His lung capacity has increased significantly and he is noticeably stronger and faster now," the doctor said, "would you like us to bring in a Quirk specialist?"
Izuku looked at his mom at the same time she turned to look at him. She nodded, then said, "Yes, please."
When the Quirk specialist announced the results of the next set of tests, Izuku was left bug-eyed.
"Your physical stats have increased in every way, young man! If your Quirk's passive boost was five percent, it now is forty five percent and when using it actively, you become ninety percent stronger than your baseline!" The Quirk doctor said.
The specialist had Izuku run through the tests again. Strangely enough, the stats had increased above the margin of error, to fifty percent and a hundred percent, respectively.
"Did anything strange happen recently? Spare no details," the specialist said, biting his lip.
Izuku went through his encounter with the sludge villain once again.
"Hmmm…," the Quirk specialist said, "I've formed a hypothesis, but I won't tell you what it is. Please go through the tests again, Midoriya-kun."
Izuku did as told. For some reason, he felt like he had grown even stronger and faster though.
As soon as Izuku finished, his mom hugged him and said, "Izuku! I've decided to support your dreams at last! Doctor Yodashi is right: I've been half-hearted about my contributions to your chosen career!"
"While this is a tentative theory that I've formed, it does seem to explain everything we've seen so far," Doctor Yodashi said, fixing his glasses. "Midoriya-kun gets a boost to his Quirk according to how many people believe in him. For some, like me and All Might, one meeting is enough. For others, it could take years upon years."
Izuku's mom was letting out silent tears. She said, "So, I've sabotaged Izuku all this time, weakening his Quirk, because I was a fool that didn't believe in him?"
Izuku moved to hug his mom immediately, assuring her that it wasn't too late and telling her that he loved her.
"My theory doesn't explain why All Might made such a huge difference unless there were others watching, but it's All Might; he's an exception in many ways, so I'll just call the fact he counts as eight people a mystery for now," the good doctor said, clearing his throat. "So, what would you like to call your Quirk, Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku separated from his mother's embrace, feeling embarrassed. He considered the doctor's question, then said, "Believe in Me. I want to call my Quirk 'Believe in Me'."
Inspired by the user known as Oni_Rinku on a near-defunct forum, TFF. They provided a Quirk for Izuku, one I've taken and intend to make a plot including.
( thefanfictionforum.net )
-----
"Believe in yourself and you can manage anything you set your mind to! After all, you are a smart and capable young man, Izuku!"
As he was getting up, Izuku grit his teeth. Time for yet another day and week at school; yet another slog through boring crap and having to deal with teachers who were apathetic at best.
At least, this year, his personal trainer had cleared Izuku for some weight lifting. Izuku's classmates had even stopped bothering him with mockery to his face ever since that time Izuku's hand had 'slipped' and one of his barbells had landed on an idiot's foot.
Of course, Izuku wouldn't make a habit of it! He had regretted it soon after… though the principal's attitude had rubbed him the wrong way, so Izuku had held off on apologizing and instead mouthed off to the principal in front of his mom and the other guy's parents.
Unfortunately for the principal and their own child, the other parents had been disgusted at the man's attitude too, so they had transferred their child to another school and last Izuku had heard, the finger guy had been under strict supervision at home.
"Deku," a rather familiar voice said, "still think you can be a hero with your shitty Quirk?" Getting straight to the point, as usual.
"Kacchan," Izuku said, his lips moving to form something like a smile, more likely a mix between a sneer and an arrogant smirk, unusually for Izuku. "Still think you can ever go above number two without bothering with rescue work?"
On a good day, the banter between Izuku and his former friend was like that of- somewhat friendly rivals. The popping sound of small blasts coming from Katsuki's hands let Izuku know that it wasn't a good day for the guy.
By the time their homeroom teacher had arrived and hushed the two of them, not daring to come between them in a more literal way thanks to experience teaching her that it was a bad idea and that Katsuki didn't discriminate between sexes, the entire class had taken cover to minimize injuries in case of a meltdown.
With all the injuries caused by Katsuki, any bruises Izuku himself had inflicted on the teacher -by accident, of course- had gone unremarked. Fortunately, Izuku had managed to keep his mouth shut and in a reversal of past fare, had escaped trouble almost completely, with Katsuki taking the brunt of it.
Zoning out during every lesson, as there was no World History scheduled for his class on Mondays, Izuku somehow managed to get through the entire day without falling asleep or being called out for being inattentive.
"Deku!" Katsuki's voice said, making Izuku pause mid-yawn.
'That voice has a way of waking up even the dead, and not in a good way,' Izuku thought to himself, trying to contain the grimace forming on his face.
"Are you doing anything this evening?" Katsuki said, in a surprisingly even tone.
Izuku let out the air in his lungs in a gasp of surprise. Katsuki wanted to- spend time with Izuku? Only a few years earlier, Izuku would have jumped at the chance. "Is this because Tsubasa and- fingers guy aren't around anymore?" Izuku said, looking straight at Katsuki.
Katsuki's sudden twitch told Izuku that he had hit the nail on the head. Katsuki was bored and even lonely, so he was coming back to Izuku, all those years later. "I don't have any time for you, Katsuki," Izuku said, his tone even, "I don't know if I ever will."
Katsuki simply nodded, walking away immediately after.
What's going on with Katsuki? He's been off lately. Even with those two's absence, he is too proud to reach out like that. Something has set him off. Do I care enough to look into it, though?
That was the question, wasn't it? Izuku stopped walking for a moment and looked around, something having bothered him in the air.
There isn't often a sewer leakage in Mustafu. It's an upscale suburb, being the closest inhabited place to UA, with every train passing through to reach it.
Izuku jumped to the side, hearing a 'plop' sound from where he had been. Not bothering to check, he ran as fast as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
"You're decently fast for a mumbling brat, aren't ya?" came from behind Izuku.
The laughter that followed was coming closer and closer. 'Crap! Gotta get away-'
As if the gods had decided to laugh at Izuku, he stepped on something and slipped. He landed hands first and started running again, but he had lost precious time-
"Disguise cloak size M, possibly with a low-potency speed enhancement Quirk. You'll do!" The voice from before said, a slimy appendage gripping Izuku by the wrist.
Turning to look at his assailant, Izuku screamed- then, he gagged as another hand made of sludge grabbed him, this time by the chin and mouth. He was unable to even scream as the villain prepared to do- something.
Bam! Bam! Tink! BAM!
After some other sounds, something crashed with an incredibly loud noise.
"No. No!" The villain said.
"Young man, have no fear," a familiar voice said, "I AM HERE!"
The villain froze for a moment, then said, "I have a hostage, All Might. What will you do now? Huuuh? What was that? Gonna return to Texas?"
"Smash!"
Izuku stayed completely still, knowing what was coming. The artificial wind made by All Might's Texas Smash blew away the villain, leaving Izuku almost unharmed.
All Might gathered the villain's parts in a tin can, with Izuku helping by scooping pieces up using a notebook he hadn't started writing into yet.
"Thanks a lot, young man," All Might said, his smile as blinding as usual, "you might have a future as a hero. Please consider my alma mater, UA, if you are at the appropriate age!"
Izuku had frozen in place. He said, "Do you really mean that, All Might?!"
"Of course!" All Might said, asking for Izuku's full name and absent-mindedly scrabbling his signature into the contaminated notebook.
"Thank you, All Might! I'll treasure this forever!" Izuku said, putting aside his disgust at the sludge on it.
Before All Might could leave, Izuku said, "I have a final thing to say, All Might."
All of a sudden, All Might froze in place.
Izuku took that as acceptance, so he said, "At school, everyone has tried to dissuade me from being a hero. And yet- and yet, it's the one and only career I've considered!
"You see, my Quirk isn't exactly the most powerful. It increases all my physical stats by a factor of 1.05 according to the Quirk analyst, 1.1 if I'm actively trying. I've tried to improve it at home and exercised my body and mind, but my Quirk hasn't grown stronger. What do you think?"
Lifting his head to look at All Might, Izuku started at the completely serious look in his eyes.
The man said, "I think that keeping your options open won't hurt. Firefighters and police officers do amazing work and you should be able to slot such academies in as secondary options. As far as I know, a middle school graduate is allowed to pick eleven institutions as alternatives, for a total of twelve."
"That said, you are a determined and talented young man; I can tell that already. Maybe you will find new aspects of your Quirk; maybe you'll manage with it as is. I think that you already know the answer deep inside, or at least should, but I'll still say it: you can become a hero, young Midoriya!"
Because All Might had left hastily, he most likely hadn't seen the tears going down Izuku's face. And yet, they were there, along with the sobs Izuku was letting out. He hadn't expected such a roaring endorsement, from his hero of all people.
Izuku reached home just in time, with his mom greeting him-
"Izuku! What's wrong?! You're positively filthy!" His mom said.
Izuku explained how he had encountered the sludge villain, how he had delayed him until All Might had arrived and finally, how All Might had supported Izuku's dream.
His mom's lips thinned, as they usually did when Izuku talked about becoming a hero, but to her credit, she said nothing.
"…Mom! I'm fine!" Izuku said, but she insisted on marching him to the hospital after he had his shower.
-----
"Is he fine, Doctor?" Izuku's mom said, worry in her voice.
"Not to worry, not to worry Midoriya-san! Midoriya-kun has a clean bill of health. There was something unexpected, though. His lung capacity has increased significantly and he is noticeably stronger and faster now," the doctor said, "would you like us to bring in a Quirk specialist?"
Izuku looked at his mom at the same time she turned to look at him. She nodded, then said, "Yes, please."
When the Quirk specialist announced the results of the next set of tests, Izuku was left bug-eyed.
"Your physical stats have increased in every way, young man! If your Quirk's passive boost was five percent, it now is forty five percent and when using it actively, you become ninety percent stronger than your baseline!" The Quirk doctor said.
The specialist had Izuku run through the tests again. Strangely enough, the stats had increased above the margin of error, to fifty percent and a hundred percent, respectively.
"Did anything strange happen recently? Spare no details," the specialist said, biting his lip.
Izuku went through his encounter with the sludge villain once again.
"Hmmm…," the Quirk specialist said, "I've formed a hypothesis, but I won't tell you what it is. Please go through the tests again, Midoriya-kun."
Izuku did as told. For some reason, he felt like he had grown even stronger and faster though.
As soon as Izuku finished, his mom hugged him and said, "Izuku! I've decided to support your dreams at last! Doctor Yodashi is right: I've been half-hearted about my contributions to your chosen career!"
"While this is a tentative theory that I've formed, it does seem to explain everything we've seen so far," Doctor Yodashi said, fixing his glasses. "Midoriya-kun gets a boost to his Quirk according to how many people believe in him. For some, like me and All Might, one meeting is enough. For others, it could take years upon years."
Izuku's mom was letting out silent tears. She said, "So, I've sabotaged Izuku all this time, weakening his Quirk, because I was a fool that didn't believe in him?"
Izuku moved to hug his mom immediately, assuring her that it wasn't too late and telling her that he loved her.
"My theory doesn't explain why All Might made such a huge difference unless there were others watching, but it's All Might; he's an exception in many ways, so I'll just call the fact he counts as eight people a mystery for now," the good doctor said, clearing his throat. "So, what would you like to call your Quirk, Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku separated from his mother's embrace, feeling embarrassed. He considered the doctor's question, then said, "Believe in Me. I want to call my Quirk 'Believe in Me'."
Last edited:
-
Approve
1
- Show all
