Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Not everyone is born equally, sometimes people are born without strength, sometimes they are helpless…

“Kid! Get back here!” Kamui Woods shouted in panic.

Sometimes…it takes a single moment to change everything.

“What’s happening to him!?” I heard Mount Lady call out, but I didn’t care, as I was running towards the slime villain holding my friend hostage.

“Think, think! He has to have a…his eyes!” I mentally snapped, throwing my bag at the Slime monster, but feeling like my arms were suddenly so much stronger as it flew into the slime’s eye as he screamed in pain.

“FUCK!” The villain screamed, recoiling and letting Kacchan go slightly.

“Deku! The fuck are you doing here!?” Kacchan managed to shout in between breaths, as I tried to pull the slime off of him, completely ignoring how my hands seemed to be getting bigger and…a lot hairier.

“I…I moved by myself…” I said, tears falling as I struggled against the slime. “I’m here…because your eyes were pleading for help!”

“I’m sorry young man.” I heard as I saw a familiar buff arm grab mine and Kacchan’s arms. “DETROIT SMASH!"

"All Might!?" I gasped in surprise.

"I'll come find you later." All Might whispered, which I somehow heard loud and clear over the sudden rain and cheers of the public at All Might saving the day as he headed off, probably to hide his 'Small Might' form.

"Hey Kid, when the hell could you turn into a bear?" Kamui Woods asked me.

"What? I'm not a bear, what do you-" I was about to continue…only to see my hands were more like bear paws, I still had opposable thumbs but…green fur stretched up my arms… "Uh…"

"Listen, while I will admit you were brave kid, it was still reckless." The hero said simply.

"But…you weren't doing much…" I said carefully, a new feeling brimming inside of me as I talked back to Kamui.

"We know…" Mt. Lady sighed. "But you have to think of what we know we can do."

I felt…annoyed by that. "Here's what you all could have done." And as I finished that I went into a fully coherent mutterstorm of what they all could have done, knowing this was a hostage situation with an explosion quirk, there were dozens of things that were labeled.

"DEKU!" I heard Kacchan shout and halted my storm of words, snapping me out of it and seeing the heroes, media, and citizens all shocked and flabbergasted at what I just explained.

"Uh…I'm so sorry, I gotta go now." I bowed quickly, noticing how my uniform was slightly ripped with more green fur. "I'm sorry!" I then bolted away after grabbing my bag and belongings.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"DEKU!" I heard once again as I turned around and saw Kacchan absolutely fuming. "I don't know how you turned into that bear thing, and I don't know how you look normal again, but I didn't ask or need your help!" He snapped. "You're still a quirkless loser that didn't do anything! So stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." My old explosive friend shouted, as he turned away and left.

"Same old Kacchan…but I changed into that bear form, but I'm back to normal…I thought I was quirkless?" I thought to myself.

"You're something much more kid." I heard someone say to me, which made me whip my head around.

"Who's there?" I called out.

"I am here!" All Might said as he skidded to a half around a corner.

"All Might!?" I yelled in surprise. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought the press would have caught up to you."

"I can easily slip away from any paparazzi, cause I'm All Mig-koff!" All Might suddenly coughed up a gout of blood.

"All Might! Are you alright?" I panicked.

"It's alright my boy." He said, wiping away the blood. "But I'm here to tell you something…as well as thank you, and apologize." All Might told me.

"You…what?" I asked, stunned speechless at what All Might just told me.

"Yes, I'm sorry about what I said…when you've been in this business for as long as I have, cynicism tends to run a bit hot." He told me, as if ashamed of that fact. "And I'm here to thank you, for showing me that, even in dire circumstances, people still have the hero spirit."

"But…I didn't really do anything…I just…"

"Moved without thinking?" All Might asked, which I nodded in agreement. "That's the true spirit of being a hero. Not hiding away because you 'don't fit the situation', but risking your life to save someone because it's the right thing to do." He said with a smile. "You have the makings of a true hero."

I was stunned, I was being told by my idol, my hero, that I could be a hero…"But…but I'm Quirkless…"

"Then what about that transformation you did before?" All Might inquired.

"I…I don't know." I shook my head. "The doctor said that I was quirkless, but that something about me was…different, like a quirk but not."

All Might gave me a look, either thinking I was crazy or something else I wasn’t sure. “Listen, Midoriya…without you, without hearing your story before…I would have failed, not lived up to my own words.” He shook his head. “I would have been all talk, flashing fake muscles.”

“But…this was my fault…if I wasn’t there…” I tried to argue, but All Might cut me off.

“But that’s just it!” He caught my attention. “Out of everyone there, you were the only one to move, the only one to act when everyone stood around and did nothing…and I also heard you chew out those heroes on live television.” He chuckled as I sputtered in realization and horror.

“Oh no…mom’s gonna-” I trailed off as I suddenly remembered…

"I’m sorry Izuku, I’m so sorry…”

My mom…apologizing to me…I…I didn’t want to hear that, I clutched my chest in pain as tears formed in my eyes as I fell to my knees.

“Many heroes' stories started with what you experienced. My body moved on it’s own without thinking.” He said, as I clutched my chest harder. “And you did the same! My boy, you can become a hero!”

“Th-thank you All Might…” I cried.

“And with that, you are going to learn something very important.” All Might said. “You are going to inherit my power, the sacred torch of old, One for All.”

“W-wait? There’s a quirk like that?” I asked in awe.

“You’d be surprised what quirks there really are.” I heard that same voice again.

“Yes my boy, this quirk has been passed down through generations., a power to transfer powers, and I choose you to be my successor.”

“R-really? You…you think I can do that?”

“I don’t think young Midoriya. I know it.” He said with his trademarked smile even in his thin form.

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Time seemed to pass by in a blur, with the exercise plan All Might gave me, my mom freaking out over the fact that I both turned into a bear but turned back to normal as well as told off at least four different heroes on live TV, and a subtle change to how I feel and cat because of my ‘transformation’, thing’s were going rather smoothly all things considered.

It’s been three months of my training as I was at Dagobah beach, before I heard my phone ring. “H-hold on…” I panted, pulling out my phone and answering it. “Hello?”

“How’s my up and coming hero doing?” I heard a very familiar voice ask with fatherly pride.

“D-dad!” I said in surprise. “It’s been three months since your last call, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s okay my boy, just getting swamped with work and it’s getting really tough here.” My dad said, which from what updates he gave me about his business in America I can imagine. “So, what’s this about you turning into a bear?”

“Uh…yeah, I have no idea how.” I answered as I started to explain what happened that day, leaving out some important details about All Might and…what Kacchan told me.

“I see…” I heard my dad say slowly, almost nervously. “I’m coming down to visit.”

“Wh-what? But don’t you have work?” I asked worriedly.

“Son, you’re going through something very important right now and you need someone that knows what’s going on…plus, I bet you’ve been eating a whole lot more due to this sudden transformation.”

That…was true, I have been craving a lot more food as of late and while Mom is always super happy to cook for me, I was worried that money was going to be tight even if Dad gives us more than enough to live in our own mansion. “Well…what do you know about my sudden transformation? Cause I’ve tried almost everything but it’s only happened when I’ve been training extra hard, and rarely at that.”

“It’s…best if I come home and show you about all that.” My dad answered. “It’s old…older than quirk’s to be honest, and many mistake it for a quirk nowadays if not it becoming a quirk.”

“Wait, you're saying that this is a mutation quirk?” I asked.

“I’m saying it evolved into a mutation quirk, my boy.” Dad corrected, which made me so surprised and…honestly excited about the implications.

“So people like Gang Orca had this ancient quirk?” I asked eagerly, wanting to know more.

“Again, best we do this in person, my son.” He said, his words holding an edge to it like we’re not supposed to talk about it openly over the phone.

“A-alright dad.” I said, only having heard dad sound like this when it was really important.

“I don’t know when I’ll make it home specifically, but I’m sure it’ll be within the next few months.”

“Thanks dad…” I said. “I miss you…”

“I miss you too…” My dad sighed. “I’ll see you as soon as I can alright?”

“Alright, love you dad.”

“Love you too son.”

I ended the call and put my phone away, smiling as I got to see dad again!

“What’s gotten you all excited, young Midoriya?” All Might inquired.

“I’m gonna see my dad again!” I cheered. “I haven’t seen him in years, but he’s been doing his best to call me and mom and help with all the bills from his job in America.”

“Depending on how long he’s here, he might also see you pass your Entrance Exam.” All Might said, which made me stop.

“You…you really think I’ll pass All Might?”

“My boy, I don’t think so, I know so.” He said, getting into his buff form to prove his point how much faith he has in me.

I immediately burst into tears at hearing such faith from my hero. “Th-thank you All Might…” I cried.

“Midoriya please, the beach doesn’t need to be flooded again!”

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“Only four more months to go…” I muttered, finishing up my homework and sighing. At school, everyone seemed to get off my back to an insane degree, some of my classmates seeing me as a hero for helping Kacchan and becoming a Bear, other’s actually now seeing how smart I am, and others still treating me like some quirkless freak even though I…still somehow turned into a bear.

Kacchan was still acting the same, though I knew him well enough that he was hiding all the boiling rage behind his more quiet temper.

But at least things were getting better for my social life I suppose…

*Ding Dong

I wonder who that could be?

“I got it!” Mom called out as I heard her walking towards the door…then I heard her gasp. “Izuku! Your dad’s here!”

Dad!? I got up and rushed into the living room. “Dad!?”

“There’s my two favorite people in the world.” I saw my dad, Hisashi Midoriya, in the same tailor made black suit, messy white hair, a smile that mom always tells me I got from him, and that same clip on tie.

“I see you still can’t put on a tie right.” Mom giggled happily as dad rubbed the back of his head.

“You know those things never agree with me Inko.” Dad said in mild embarrassment as I rushed over and hugged my dad. “Whoa there my boy, run any faster and you would have knocked me over.” He chuckled, wrapping his arms around me in a hug.

“I missed you dad…” I said, tears filling my eyes as I was just…so glad to see my dad again.

“I missed you too son.” Dad said softly. “Now, how about we go out to eat? My treat.”

“Yay!” I couldn’t help but cheer, given that we haven’t got out to eat in forever.

“Are you sure hun? I can always cook.” Mom said.

“Inko, you deserve a break.” Dad said honestly. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been around as much, but as long as I’m here I’ll make sure you are treated like a queen.”

“Cheesy as always.” Mom giggled.

“Only the highest class cheese for you my love.” He said, leaning down and kissing mom happily.

“Alright I’m out.” I said, turning to leave as mom and dad were getting all mushy, though I could still feel my cheeks hurting from how much I’m smiling.

“Oh shush, you’ll be this lovey dovey when you find yourself a girlfriend my boy.” Dad teased as I blushed brightly.

“Da~d!” I whined, only to get my dad laughing at my embarrassment over any possible dates I might magically get.

---------------------------------------------------

It was the next day, and thankfully it was the weekend so I could spend time with dad and whatever he wanted to talk about as we were just hiking around the park. “So, what did you want to tell me about my…not quirk?” I asked.

Dad looked around carefully, giving that same critical eye I remember before he left for a business trip and was coming up on the time when I was…told I was quirkless. “Remember when you were diagnosed quirkless? How the doctor said that there was something special about you even though you had the second toe joint?”

“Yeah, but that theory has been debunked as more of a coincidence right?” I asked, remembering how I did my own digging and research and it showed that the second toe joint was more so happenstance than anything.

“It has some basis, cause I’ve seen equal parts quirked and quirkless people with that specific toe joint.” Dad answered. “It’s why that brand still exists, but we’re not going to talk about that, I’m going to talk about what makes you special.” Dad said as we made it to a secluded clearing. “I’m going to teach you the history of Zoanthropes.”

“Zoanthropes? Isn’t that a medical term for non-mutant quirk users that believe they transform into animals?” I inquired.

“Yes and no.” He said honestly. “Let me ask you something, have you felt like you’ve had to keep something at bay? Like a call that you don’t understand, but it boils your blood? A primal urge to break free of chains that don’t exist?”

“How?” I heard the voice in my head say in shock.

“W-well…yeah, actually.” I said, looking at my hands and remembering the few times I was able to change…like I wasn’t bound to anything anymore…the raw power of the bear as I always managed to shock All Might with how strong I was. “It’s…strange…like a wild animal is wanting to break free…it’s so powerful…”

“Yes.” Dad said, as he walked to the center of the clearing. “Watch closely…” He said, and before my eyes saw energy crackling around him as his body changed, his more casual hiking clothes lightly tearing as muscles grew, gray, black and white feather’s sprouting all over his body, his face turning more Avian as a bone crushing beak formed alongside powerful looking talons.

“Whoa!” I said in awe, pulling out a fresh binder and already writing down everything that I saw, pointing out all the minute details of my dad’s transformation. “What kind of Avian are you dad?”

“A Harpy Eagle.” Dad said, his voice being just the same even with a beak now. “The strongest bird of prey in Mexico, Central and South America, capable of carrying it’s own body weight, if not more than it, as well as having a grip strength that can crush bones.” He explained, as I jotted down everything he said about the species.

“Fascinating. Did you choose this form or were you born with it?”

“Just like my quirk, I was born with it but it didn’t come in until I was older.” He said, lightly breathing fire to prove his point and showing he can also use his Quirk in his Animal form.

“Amazing! You can use your quirk and your beast form at the same time? Are you able to combine the two like Garuda in this one fighting game Kacchan and I play?” I asked, cause even though Kacchan was a giant jerk to me, there were still something’s we managed to do together on even footing.

“Yep.” He said. “But I’d rather not set my clothes on fire, cause while these were made with my wings in mind,” He showed off his large wings and fluttered them lightly. “I do not have them set up to be fireproof.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Izuku nodded, so now I knew that I could use One for All while in my Bear form if possible.

“Though I must warn you, while I am a master and can do this indefinitely, you will have a limited duration as you learn to befriend and control your inner beast, but thankfully it won’t ruin any of your stamina…though I do find that bit strange…”

“That is strange.” I said, though it was true the few times when I turned into a bear I didn’t feel tired. “But…how do I turn into my beast form?”

“So, there are a few ways.” Dad said. “But given your…current situation…have you been hearing a separate voice in your head?”

“H-how did you know?” I asked in shock.

“I was afraid of that…” Dad muttered to himself. “So, that voice is your inner beast personified, having been suppressed for years as it grew into a separate personality.”

“How do you know all this dad?” I asked curiously.

“I’ve…met some people.” Dad said, looking off into the distance and looking…sad. “But that’s neither here nor there, just the thoughts of an old man.” He shook his head. “So, you’re going to have to talk to them, reach a middle ground or else they’re personality will take over when you shift into a beast form.”

“It…never happened like that before…” I said nervously.

“That also depends on the specific animal…” He said. “Now, to transform, I need you to focus, feel the primal force inside of you, wanting to break free.” Dad told me.

I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to focus on this feeling.

“The primal roar of nature, the blessing of Gaia, do you think you can handle such a thing?” The voice in my head asked.

“Yes, I can handle it.” I mentally answered. “Cause if I can’t handle something I was born with, how can I be the world’s greatest hero?”

“There are many things in this world that will test your will, fortitude, and spirit. If you really believe you can, then take the power, bind it, make it your own,” The creature said as I felt myself start to change with purpose, my body growing as I heard my clothes ripping. “And let the world hear your roar!”

I let out a loud roar, which sounded like a deep bear sound…mixed with a small Panda squeak as I felt myself fully change into my beast form. “Uh…did I…hear that squeak?”

“A Panda…I’m not surprised.” Dad chuckled. “My god you are just…so adorable!” My dad laughed as I blushed.

“Da~d!” I whined…which made another panda squeak noise which made my dad laugh harder at that. “It’s not funny!”

“It’s hilarious!” Dad fell over and laughed as I felt so embarrassed.

“Well, at least I’m a Panda, so that means I can endure a lot of attacks.” I said, having read up on Panda’s in school and how they tend to fall out of pretty high tree’s and are perfectly fine due to their body fat acting like a makeshift cushion.

“T-true.” He said, getting himself back under control from laughing at my plight. “So, you remember Kung Fu Panda? That old Pre-Quirk era movie?”

“How can I not?” I chuckled. “You always brag about the ‘family collection, over four hundred years of media kept safe by the Hisayo family’. Especially when it’s movie night and you want to show me another movie from the Pre-Quirk era.”

“Physical Media is Forever, it's why VCRs still exist.” My dad said proudly, as I laughed at my dad being silly.

“You’re such a nerd.”

“And proud of it.” Dad said, puffing out his chest and…feathery chest floof appeared out of his hiking shirt…I fell over laughing at that.

“C-chest floof!” I laughed.

“Hey, your mother loves the chest floof.” Dad countered as I yipped at that.

“Didn’t need to know that!” I whined, not wanting to know about mom and dad’s love life.

“Hey, never underestimate a lady’s enjoyment for the floof.” Dad said honestly.

“Ugh…” I whined. “So…I’m a green furred Panda…” I said, trying to shake my limbs a bit to get used to my new body weight…I probably packed on another two hundred pounds at least.

“Yes, green instead of white, but the black fur is still there.” Dad said. “Now, what we’re going to test is how long you can be in your beast form, all your physical attributes, and just get a baseline on what you can do.” He said, shifting his body into what I can only assume was a Crane like stance, but he held his arm’s and new talon hands in a way that showed the real threat of their crushing grip.

“Alright, but I must warn you, I’ve been training a lot to be a hero.” I said, which was technically true but considering most of my training was literally just bulking up and not any actual combat training, I at least had muscle and endurance from all those days of heavy lifting and dragging.

“Then come at me young one, show me what you’ve got!” My dad challenged me playfully, as I rushed forward and tried using my large bulk and paws to try and strike him…though this extra bulk was cumbersome.

Dad didn’t even attempt to dodge as he caught me by the wrist and stopped me in my tracks, his talon feeling like a brick as I looked at him. “Strong, about three fifty, four hundred pounds, growing strong muscles, but doesn’t know how to use them properly.” Dad said, as he just gave a quick summary of my weight and new physique just from a single swing? “Just building muscle through strength training, must be pretty heavy stuff to also need such a protein rich diet outside of your beast form.” He said, letting me go as I hopped back.

“Need to remember, I got my analysis skills from him…” I thought to myself, one of the most important thing’s dad did besides geeking out over old school things, which I am always happy about, was analysis. “Alright, so he has more skill, he’s got experience…but I have more weight and should be able to force through his technique with my size, I don’t know how his talon is that tough but I should be able to force through.” I thought to myself, knowing that technique and skill was the enemy of bulk and power, but even skill and technique had to bend a knee to basic logic.

I rushed in again, using my weight and strength to try and swipe and push through his technique, but dad dodged and blocked the attacks I threw at him, lightly jabbing at me with what I assumed was pressure point attacks, but if this was anything like Kung Fu Panda, I should be more so immune to it due to my bulk and different nerve spots.

…

Is what I would hope for as I lost feeling in my arm suddenly. “Uh…” I muttered, seeing my arm hang limply.

“Not the first time I’ve fought a Bear, either as a Zoanthrope or a Quirk.” Dad said. “Plus, it took me a long time to master the Eagle Claw Style, especially in this day and age where martial arts in any form is a great boon to those that are willing to learn and mold it to their quirk’s, or in this case, Beast forms.” Dad said, getting back into his Eagle Claw stance. “You are correct, you are four times my body weight, with a good foot in height even though I’m fully grown and you’re still growing, under any other circumstance, even most practitioners would have trouble against you, but I am not most practitioners.” He said. “Now, get ready to defend.” He said, flaring his wings and…vanishing!?!

“Crap!” I yelped, raising my good arm up as I felt a talon grab my arm and, in one fluid motion, Dad flipped me like a playing card and I landed on the ground hard, but weirdly I didn’t feel any pain from it. “Okay…” I got up quickly, trying to swipe at Dad to get him away, only for him to grab onto my wrist again, but this time held me in an iron like grip. “Uh oh…”

“The Harpy Eagle has one of the strongest grip strength of all birds, able to crush bones and carry animal’s much bigger than it.” He said, pulling me up and pushing me away. “Come on, let’s keep going my son.”

And so it was like this for the next ten minutes. I was struggling to fight against Dad the entire time, even though I was getting used to my own weight and size, I transformed back involuntarily and was laying on my back, panting heavily as I was sore and bruised. “Okay…I’m…I think I’m good dad…”

“Ten minutes, that’s a good start.” Dad said as he voluntarily transformed back, moving his hands to his chest and neck as if he was trying to fix his tie. “Ah, stupid force of habit.” He chuckled lightly.

“You…do that everytime you beat someone so handily?” I asked, trying to get my energy back as Dad kicking my butt was a lot more exhausting than anything All Might was making me do.

“I haven’t fought anyone in years my boy, but if you’re meaning in general than yes, I do have my fair share of victory in the boardroom.” He said honestly. “So, good news, you were quick to adapt to your new physique and bulk, able to compensate and plan around it, and you have enough stamina and endurance to keep your form up for ten minutes.” He said readily, digging through his bag and opening up a bottle. “Open up.” He said, as I did as helped me get an energy drink into me. “Whoever’s your physical coach I have to give them some props…” Dad trailed off, looking down at me carefully.

“Wh-what’s wrong dad?” I asked, looking down and…noticing my shirt was ripped due to my shift and cut from the fight…”I mean…we can get a new shirt…” I said weakly.

“Son…” He said, moving my shirt over and seeing…what I feared he would see. “Explain to me…why you have a hand shaped burn mark on your shoulder.” My dad asked.

“It’s…it was an acci-” I was about to say, but Dad gave me this…bone chilling look, like he didn’t want to hear anything from me.

“I ask cause I’m your father, I love you, and if you’re mother is the very Sun that warm’s my heart more than Endeavor’s signature fire attack, than you are the stars that sparkle in the sky, shining bright no matter how far away we are and holding such boundless potential.” He explained to me. “So…who.”

“It…” I teared up. “It…” I didn’t want to ruin Bakugo’s chances of becoming a Hero…I know he’s a good person at heart. “Katsuki Bakugo.” I said unwillingly, but that voice…wasn’t really mine.

“How long?” He asked.

“Physical scarring at the start of Middle School.” The bear part of me said carefully.

“But…Kacchan can be a good hero…he’s still good at heart…” I tried to reason.

“Son…” He sighed, moving his shirt and…oh god…”Scar’s like what we have…they are not from what we’d call ‘kind people’...” He said, as I saw his torso littered with scars…and they all looked like surgical scars…and claw marks.

“H-how?” I said, tearing up even more to think that my dad suffered like that.

“Some bad people took me away as a child…then took me away again for five years…but they won’t hurt you, my son.” He said softly, putting back on his specially made hiking shirt. “I promise.”

“Th-thanks dad…” I said weakly, feeling a bit choked up. “Don’t…don’t be too rough with Kacchan…he’s been…” I sniffled, seeing my dad raise an eyebrow.

“He’s been treated like an Alpha his whole life, when he’s nothing but a stuck up pomeranian with a quirk that matches his ego.” My bear said.

“Now that, we both can agree on.” He said honestly. “And has anyone done anything to stop this?”

“No. They even encourage it against the ‘Quirkless Deku’.” They said.

“So…mind if I ask why they can talk through me all of a sudden?” I asked worriedly, super confused as to how they can say thing’s when they were technically only in my head.

“That’s because you’re more intune with your inner beast, don’t you feel lighter? Like chains were taken off of you?” He asked, which was…weirdly accurate.

“Y-yeah…I feel lighter…like a heavy weight was taken off.” I said. “But…please, don’t ruin Kacchan’s chance to be a hero…it’s better he works to be a hero than become a villain…right?”

My dad looked at me, before chuckling and shaking his head. “You know, sometimes when you talk like that, you remind me of your uncle…just the need to tell people that even the worst people can have a second chance…that there is good in everyone.”

“What…was Uncle like?” I asked carefully, trying to sit up shakily.

“He…” Dad sighed. “He was a sickly man, always having to fight against a genetic disease…but even though he was constantly in a fight for his life, he always had this twinkle in his eye, the drive to be better, to help others…to be a hero.” He said, looking down at me with a sad smile. “Just like you do my son.”

“Is…” I tried to ask.

“No, he died years before you were born…” He sighed. “But I’m sure he would try and spoil you more than I do.”

“That’s just factually impossible, dad.” I chuckled, gently taking the energy drink from dad and taking another swig.

“While I will be…lenient with Bakugo, the school is another matter altogether.” He said bluntly. “I will be bringing this up with your mother, and we both know how scary your mother is.”

I shuddered, The Stare…”I don’t want Mom to be that upset…never again.”

“And you only had that happen once.” Dad said nervously. “Me…I’d rather not say.” He shuddered nervously. “Cause she was quick to remind me…what falls under her quirk’s range’.”

I immediately crossed my legs in sympathy pain. “Yeah…that doesn’t sound fun at all…” Dad looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped and blushed. "Da~d!"

"I didn't say anything!" Dad said defensively.

"You thought dirty things about mom!" I accused.

“I did no such thing.” Dad said defensively.

The two of us glared at each other…before we both laughed loudly and happily at how silly this really was. “Alright, I’ll give you another five minutes, then we’ll get back to increasing your time limit.” He said. “And while we do that, I’m going to teach you the Bear Style Kung Fu.”

“There’s a Bear style?” I inquired.

“It’s small, but it’s a Subclass of Tiger Style, and takes what Tiger style does and tries to crank it up a bit.” He said honestly.

“When did you have the time to learn martial arts dad? Aren’t you like 40?” I asked, thinking that martial arts training took almost a decade to become a obtain a master rank, and there was even higher ranks than that.

“I’m a quick learner and was able to get my black belt in Eagle Claw when I was fourteen, at seventeen I got my grandmaster status in it, then I branched out to become black belts in the rest of the schools I could before work took all my time, and dating your mother took the rest.” He explained. “And that was…three years before you were born.”

“So you were about twenty nine when I was born?” I asked.

“Correct.” He nodded. “Now come on, let’s get back to training.” He said, and while this was my day off on training with All Might, I’m pretty sure Dad could help me pad out something’s that I would need.

Little did I know that this single training day would start a change in both my future as a hero, and my life as a whole.

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A week later…

“It’s been Five years, Hisashi!” Auntie Mitsuki Bakugo said in honest surprise as she saw Dad.

“Yeah, it’s been a while, Mitsuki.” Dad nodded. “Mind if we come in?”

“Sure, come on in.” Mitsuki said readily, stepping to the side as the three of us walked into the apartment. “Masaru, Katsuki, the Midoriya’s are here, and Hisashi’s back!”

“Hisashi’s back?” Masaru asked, looking up from the newspaper and seeing the man in question. “Holy crap, you are back!”

“I see you’re as good as ever Masaru.” He chuckled, walking over as the two shook hands.

“Oh great, we got the nerd, and then we got the turbo nerd now.” Bakugo grumbled.

“Hey, being a Turbo Nerd is a badge of honor back in my day.” Hisashi said proudly, which made auntie laugh at that.

“Same old Hisashi.” Mitsuki shook her head. “Come on, sit down, I’ll make us some tea.” She said. “And Katsuki, ya better be nice.”

“Fine…” Katsuki grumbled, and it still surprises me how much of a change goes through him when he sees my dad…having learned more about Zoanthropes and my inner animal…it looked like Kacchan was intimidated by dad…afraid of him for some reason.

“So, what did you two want to talk about?” Masaru inquired.

“It has to do with our kids.” Inko said, looking more professional now ever since…dad told her about everything I admitted. “And I want to know if you two knew anything about what we’re going to talk about.”

Mitsuki brought over a tray of tea for each of us. “That depends, cause if you’re talking about Katsuki swearing up a storm when Izuku beat him at a fighting game that we know is just harmless banter.” Mitsuki said honestly.

“He still cheats…” Katsuki grumbled.

“I read the move lists, not button mash when I start to lose.” I countered with a growing grin, knowing I can at least get a one up on him with that small thing.

“Yeah yeah.” Bakugo rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what I’m talking about…and that’s one of the thing’s that confuses and saddens me…” Inko sighed. “Do either of you know about Katuski’s bullying?”

I saw both auntie and uncle straighten at that, getting serious looks on their faces. “We know about his anger issues…get’s it from me, but bullying? To who and how severe?” Mitsuki asked carefully.

“Izuku…if you’d please…” Dad said.

“Do…do I have to?” I asked nervously, as I looked worriedly towards the Bakugo family as they all looked concerned…but for different reasons.

“Please…show us…” Mitsuki said slowly. “You can trust us…I hope…”

I sighed. “Just…just know that this isn’t…fully Kacchan’s fault.” I said, taking off my shirt and showing some of the burns I’ve gotten, and the gasps I got from my aunt and uncle were…painful…but…I thought I heard Kacchan gasp as well.

“Bullshit! I never used my quirk that hard on you!” Kacchan said without thinking in a fit of rage.

“You used your quirk on him!?!” Mitsuki snapped. “The hell is wrong with you!?”

“What do you mean by ‘not that hard’?” Misaru asked.

“The damn school and all the extras let me use my quirk there, on anything or anyone.” He stated, only to get slapped upside the head by Mitsuki. “Damn Hag!”

“How long have you been hurting Izuku? How long have you just been…pretending that he’s your friend?”

“I haven’t been pretending shit you bitch!” He snapped.

“Kastuki Bakugo!” Misaru snapped, quieting Kacchan immediately. “You know…I am a mild mannered man, I don’t raise my voice, and feel uncomfortable when you and Mitsuki start getting into a fight…but this…this is not one of those times.” He said, staring at his son. “How long?”

“For…a while…” Katsuki sighed, looking over at me…as if asking for help again.

“Here…we can both explain…” I said, as before I knew it me and Kacchan were talking about everything, how everyone was basically putting Kacchan on a pedestal, how they all basically encouraged abusing me because I didn’t have a quirk, and while Kacchan explained his side of events, how his ego, anger problems, and all the encouragement basically gave him two faces, one for public that he believed was what people wanted, and here, where he was still a grumpy jerk half the time, but he could at least control his anger better than before…and a lot of this came from when I helped him out of the river, our friendship clashing with what he was practically raised with at school and everywhere else but home and with us.

When the two of us were done, it felt like the room dropped a good ten degrees as everyone slowly looked over to Mom and Dad…why are their eyes glowing like that?

“We’ll be back.” Inko said.

“Uh…should I call the police, the hospital, or All Might?” Mitsuki asked worriedly, fearing that All Might might not be able to handle these two.

“Oh no silly.” Mom said with an innocent smile. “We just have to make a few calls is all.” She said, getting up with dad as they walked out of the house.

“Uh…I think I should go…” I said nervously.

“Before you go, what’s this about you turning into a bear?” Mitsuki inquired. “I know it’s still a sore subject but weren’t you diagnosed as Quirkless?”

“Oh! W-well…it’s really complicated.” I said nervously. “See, it’s something on my dad’s side, something from generations back…it’s technically a Mutation Quirk but I suppose it mutated into a Mutation Quirk since the dawn of quirks?”

“Get to the point nerd.” Kacchan growled.

“Well…just bear with me.” I said…only to groan and put my hands into my hands. “Oh no, I’m becoming Dad…”

“Your father does like puns.” Mitsuki chuckled.

“Well…here I go.” I said, taking a deep breath before shifting into my beast form. “So…I’m a Panda.”

“You…are adorable!” Mitsuki said, moving over and starting to pet me and just enjoying the mountain of fluff I just got.

“Auntie~!” I whined, but when I did the panda whine Kacchan started to laugh at me.

Misaru chuckled. “Alright hun, no need to embarrass the fluff ball anymore.”

“No, he’s fluffy.” She said, hugging me like some stuffed animal as I blushed brightly.

“Is…this what dad meant?” I muttered worriedly. “But…yeah, this is something I got from Dad’s side of the family…though it’s a little weird, Dad is a Harpy Eagle and I’m a Panda…maybe it’s something on Mom’s side?”

“Listen, you were diagnosed quirkless yet you can shapeshift into a Panda, do you really think genetics is the answer?” Auntie Mitsuki asked.

“Well, dad said that this has been going on since before the Dawn of Quirks so I don't know…” I said nervously.

“So…I’ve known Inko forever and Hisashi for long enough…why were they kind enough to us when we talked about…this?” Mitsuki asked worriedly, pulling away from me.

“Because…I still see Kacchan as a friend, he’s not a monster…even if he did terrible things, it was because everyone kept encouraging his ego and anger…”

“Can you shut up, you bleeding heart?” Katsuki grumbled.

“Nope.” I shook my head.

“So, how long can you hold that form?”

“For about an hour.” I said honestly. “Dad says if I keep up my training I’ll keep it up indefinitely, kind of like a Mutation Quirk.”

“Doesn’t mean you’ll be better than me.” Kacchan said. “I don’t care if you could transform into a god damn T-Rex, I’m going to be the Number 1 hero ya got that!?”

“I don’t know, I doubt people would want your unbearable attitude, being Endeavor to my All Might would fit better.” I said, seeing Kacchan fume at that.

“You made that shitty pun on purpose!” Kacchan shouted in anger, his hands starting to pop.

“What was that? I think my parents are calling bye!” I said quickly as I bolted away.

“Get back here ya nerd!”

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Two months have passed, and only two months to go before the entrance exam. Ever since our talk with the Bakugo family, my school life seemed to be a lot better…though when i heard 'government investigation' and how ninety percent of the faculty were taken away on charges ranging from negligence to encouraging illegal quirk usage for bodily harm, I was more surprised that the school didn't have a line of demolition equipment considering how pissed mom and dad were and still are.

Which also helped me cause the new faculty, which was sponsored by the new board of education, as well as Principal Nedzu himself, totally overhauled the school, from how things were taught, to rules actually being enforced, to everyone getting a fair chance, and then everyone glaring at me as the new staff did an aptitude test and posted it to everyone…I got first by a wide margin, while Kacchan came second, and everyone else just lagged behind. The scores weren't entirely based on passing the year or not, but it was a final testament that everyone had to work harder.

When I got home…I saw mom and dad scheming again, over a table of papers. “Alright, what are you two planning?” I asked worriedly.

“Well, currently we’re compiling all the evidence that’s against every teacher in Aldera, the school board, and even finding evidence about it being apart of an organization I thought long dead.” Dad sighed.

“We’re also finalizing the demolition of the school.” Mom said as well. “Can’t do it now, gotta wait till the end of the year to have someone rebuild it.” Mom added.

“There we are…” I muttered. “I was wondering why the place wasn’t already a burning pile of ash.”

“No no, that would have been about as public as possible, dealing with scum like this needs to be…thorough.” Dad said, which sent a shiver down my spine.

“Uh…right…” I said worriedly. “And…mind if I ask how you got Principal Nedzu to support your…systemic take down an entire school board?”

“Oh, me and Nedzu are actually friends.” Dad said, which made me stumble a bit.

“What!?!” I said in panic…only to notice the laptop…and the special person in question was there.

“Ah, I can immediately see the resemblance Hisashi.” Nedzu said. “It’s nice to meet you Izuku Midoriya. Am I a rat? A bear? Doesn’t matter, for I am Principle Nedzu!” He said with flourish.

“How long are you going to keep up that catchphrase?” Dad asked.

“For as long as I live.” The principle answered readily.

“S-so…wh-when did you two meet?” I asked in shock.

“It was…a trying time.” Dad said, as I noticed the both of them getting this…far away look and that made me extremely worried.

“Let’s just leave it as we both owe each other a life debt, that might never be repaid.” Nedzu answered, which shocked me even more.

“R-right…so I got a perfect score on my Aptitude Test.” I said honestly.

“That’s my boy.” Dad said proudly.

“My, a perfect score you say?” Nedzu said. “I helped design that test, so if you got a perfect test…then you are someone to take interest in.”

I don’t know why…but I felt a shiver run down my spine in fear as the principal admitted that.

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It was a week before the entrance exam, and I finally…finally cleaned the entire beach, and I screamed in joy and strength.

“Holy…stinking…Super Crap!”

I looked over and smiled. “Hey All Might…I’m done.”

“I can tell young man, and let me say, I am proud of you.” All Might said warmly, bringing up his phone. “Here, this was you before we started.” All Might showed me a picture and…wow, a lot can happen in ten months. “And this is you now.” All Might said, as he apparently took a picture of me as I looked shockingly jacked…now sure, I did look in the mirror sometimes to see how I got, but this felt…different.

"Wow…that's quite a difference." I said in shock.

"Yes, now, we have a week before the exam…now, its time for me to give you One for All."

"I'm ready sir." I said with a smile…but then he pulled out a strand of hair.

"Eat this!"

…

"What?"

"Listen, you need to take some of my DNA, and it would be weird or dangerous if you got anything other than this." All Might said in a flurry of nervousness at how weird this is.

"Uh…okay…" I said, equally as nervous if not more so as I grabbed the hair…and ate it…

"Midoriya please, don't vomit!" All Might pleaded as I nearly choked on the hair.

"Ugh…that…could have done better…" I groaned.

"They are here…" I heard my inner Panda growl, but I didn't know who 'they' were as I felt…something, coursing through me, like a fire was suddenly lit in my core and was wanting to be used.

"S-so…" I coughed. "How…do I use this?"

"Well, first, you need to feel the power, have it course through your body." All Might said, as I nodded and tried to do as he instructed, using my Kung Fu training to help feel and guide the energy through me.

"The power…there are others with it." Panda me said, which confused me again even as I felt the power coursing through my very being…and then more power…oh no…

"Midoriya! Pull the power back…like the volume on a TV!" All Might shouted, sounding unsure of himself as I tried to lower my power output drastically.

"This…is a lot…" I muttered, seeing the red lines of power starting to dim as a more gentle green light.

"Too much for now kid." I suddenly heard someone, as I whipped my head around to see who spoke.

"Who said that?" I questioned worriedly, looking around to see who spoke.

"What's wrong?" All Might asked, having turned off his buff mode to conserve his energy. “Are you alright?’

"I…think so yeah…" I said slowly, carefully moving my arms as I felt the increased power…even if it was only a percent or so. "Man, this is…quite something..”

“Yes, One for All is quite a lot to take in so suddenly.” Toshinori said honestly. “So, what you're doing is…what I can only assume to be like my ‘Buff Mode’, just instead of looking like Superman, you’re more…cloaking yourself in energy.”

“Huh…that makes sense.” I said honestly. “I always did wonder how you could go into that Buff Form if One for All is what you explained it was…”

“Yeah, though it never happened with my teacher but eh.” Toshinori shrugged. “So, just gotta do some training while we still have time…so you don’t have any…side effects…”

“What side effects?” I asked nervously.

“So remember when I brought up that your limbs would explode off your body if I gave it to you too soon?” He asked, which I nodded. “So…instead of the whole arm leaving your body, it’s just your bones will be turning into pop rocks in soda.”

“But…but I like my bones.” I whimpered.

“And that’s why we’re going to work on this so you don’t turn your new quirk into Bone Hurting Juice.”

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A week later of me almost breaking my bones involving One for All, and some very concerned looks from both my parents, it was the big day.

“You sure you’re ready for this son?” Dad asked me.

“Yes dad, I’m sure.” I said, even though I was about as nervous as he was. “Everything is…going to go well…”

“Just remember, being a hero is more than just beating up bad guys.” Dad reminded me.

“Yes dad, I know.” I nodded, having been given the rundown on being a true hero by both All Might, and Dad who decided to teach me what heroes were like before Quirks, like Superman, Spider Man, Captain America, and all the old classical heroes that showed what true heroics was…but also showed when it was right to be a hero, with morals and ‘being a better person’, and when I should drop the theatrics and take things seriously.

“Alright son, knock em dead.” Dad said with a warm proud smile.

“I will dad.” I said, giving my dad a hug before getting out of the car and taking a deep breath. “UA Academy…here I come…” I muttered with a smile, before taking my first few steps towards being a hero…and then immediately tripping over something. “Crap!” I yelped, ready to duck and roll but then I felt…weightless?

“Sorry about going crazy with my quirk,” I heard someone say, before turning around and finding…a really cute brown haired girl.

“Already falling for a girl!? That’s my boy!” I heard my dad laugh from the car as he apparently didn’t leave yet, causing me to blush brightly.

“Da~d!” I whined as I was put down even though this new brown haired girl was also blushing like mad.

“W-well, I just wanted to say that it would have been a bad omen if you just tripped on your first day.” She said sheepishly, which I nodded. “Today’s got me all nervous, I bet you’re feeling just as nervous huh?”

“Uh…y-yeah…”

“Well, good luck!” The brown haired girl said before jogging off to the campus building.

“I…I talked to a Girl!” I mentally cheered.

“I’ll tell your mother the good news son!” Dad called out again with a laugh.

“Will you get out of here dad!?” I whined as he laughed again before driving off. “Ugh…this is so embarrassing…”

After that embarrassing moment, I headed down and got to my designated area to be briefed on what the test would be given, and then we got a presentation from…Present Mic! I was super excited to see the pro-hero and favorite DJ as he gave the explanation on how the test should work.

After a quick briefing and a minor interruption by a rather stern looking teen, I made my way to the actual testing area and took a deep breath. “Alright, just need to remember, One for All like the volume on a TV, the louder it is the more it burns away the speakers, but the quieter the less chance of damage.” I thought to myself.

“I’ll also make sure to keep you from breaking your bones since we haven’t had much training with this.” My inner panda told me.

“Thank you…well, let’s hope for the best.” I thought as I tried to let one percent of my power flow through me, seeing the red lines hit my hands before fading into a soft gentle green glow. “Alright…just need to keep it at this level, and I should be strong enough to break the robots.”

” I heard Present Mic shout as I bolted past everyone, catching everyone off guard.

“I need at minimum of 60 points to pass, so this should be simple enough.” I thought to myself as I rushed to the nearest One Pointer and leaped up towards it, using the Bear Style of Kung Fu that was worked into both my Zoanthrope form and my own body type, and used my well trained shoulder and hip rotation to slam my fist into it’s head, and with the help of One for All 1%...I noticed it proceeded to be flung into 2 pointer as they both got crushed and exploded. “Oh…” I said in surprise. “Okay…” I said weakly, not realizing how strong I could actually punch. “Good to know…” I muttered, jumping back as a two pointer tried to step on me as I grabbed onto it’s leg and shoulder threw the thing straight into the ground, crushing it’s head and hearing it deactivate. “Alright, that’s five points already, just a couple dozen more robots to go.”

I kept moving swiftly through all the bots I encountered, having some minor trouble against more designed 2 pointers and 3 pointers, but so far I’ve been able to take down at least 10 one pointers, 4 two pointers, and 1 three pointer as well as helped a few of the other examiners by either deflecting their attacks or helping take down more difficult robots together. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly…

“Something big is approaching.” I heard my inner panda warn me, as I felt the ground rumble and…

“What in the world is that!?!” I heard someone shout at seeing a skyscraper sized robot walk through a building like it wasn’t even there.

“That can’t be right…” I thought to myself in a panic, thinking that no one here could beat this thing.

“Ah! Owww~.” I heard someone say, looking over and seeing that brown haired girl from before stuck underneath some rubble.

I moved without thinking, I felt my track suit start to rip as I shifted into my Panda form and starting to use more power in One for All, as I leaped up high.

“When using One for All, to truly use it, you must clench your ass, and scream from the deepest parts of your heart!” I heard All Might’s words as my arm glowed ever brighter.

“Ursa…SMAAAAASH!” I shouted as I slammed my Panda fist straight into the thing’s head, seeing it suddenly cave in and fly back and it practically folded into itself. “I…I did it!” I mentally cheered, before starting to feel the sudden weight of gravity. “OOOOOOOH!” I started to panic. “Wait! I’m in my Zoanthrope form! I can use more of One for All without hurting myself and I’m tough enough to probably not get too hurt!” I thought quickly.

“Both your legs are fractured.” My Panda voice said, as I immediately felt the blinding pain. “You won’t be able to land properly without getting even more hurt, especially since you broke your right arm.”

“Uh…”

“Panic!” I heard another voice in my head yelp as I tried to look around for literally anything to help my fall, but then a sudden touch made me feel that similar feeling of weightlessness before.

“R-release…” I heard as I fell to the ground without any pain, and then the immediate sound of vomit was accompanied by it.

“Sh-she saved me…w-wait! I didn’t get enough-” I immediately thought before I heard those dreaded words.

“THE TEST IS OVER!”

“So…much pain…” I whined, hearing people run over and check me.

“His bones are broken!” I heard someone call out. “Fractures everywhere!”

“My poor bones…” I mentally whined as I slowly passed out from the pain.

[One week later]

I was sitting at the dining table, feeling dead inside as I thought that I failed my exam even though I beat quite a lot of ‘villains’.

“Are you okay Izuku?” Mom asked me worriedly, as I snapped out of my funk.

“U-uh, y-yeah, I’m fine.” I said weakly, starting to eat the rest of my food.

“It’s alright son.” Dad told me. “I saw the whole thing, and I know you passed.”

“Is it because you are friends with Principal Nedzu?”

“Nope, because I saw the entire thing.” Dad said honestly. “And let’s just say, rescuing your girlfriend was indeed heroic.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” I whined, blushing brightly at dad’s words. “I don’t even know her name…”

“Well, it’s still a good thing that you’ve found someone you like Izuku.” Mom said warmly, which only made me more embarrassed as I finished my lunch and went to the couch to watch some TV, but also using a very strong hand gripper to keep up my routine.

The day more or less sped by as I was with my own thoughts, thinking of how I could have done better, how I failed All Might and dad…but then…

"Izuku! A letter from UA is here!" I heard mom call out.

I immediately rushed over and grabbed the letter, but before I could rush to my room my Dad grabbed me and put me down on the couch. "Oh no you don't, I want to see your acceptance with my own eyes."

"W-well…alright…" I said carefully as I opened up the letter and out popped a holographic video of…ALL MIGHT!?!

"Apologies, there has been much to deliberate on." We all saw All Might in an orange and white striped tailored suit bowing to us. "But if you are wondering why I am speaking it's for one reason and one reason only, I'm teaching at UA Academy!"

“R-really!?” I asked in shocked.

“Onto your score. You aced your written exam, one of the three people that got all questions right.” The video of All Might explained. “But I’m sad to say that you did not defeat enough ‘villains’ to pass your practical exam.” He explained, showing that the score I got, which was forty five points when I needed Fifty…”But! Before you get down and believing you failed, I must inform you of your Rescue Points!”

“Of course Nedzu wouldn’t have let that be known by the students…” My dad grumbled.

“You see, from the many instances of you rescuing and helping others,” All might then showed off video’s of me helping others defeat or run from some of the more tougher bots. “It was this instance that truly cemented your Practical Exam.”

Suddenly, another video on a screen near All Might came to life and showed…that same girl from before…she was trying to share her points with me thinking that she stopped me from passing…

“You had absolutely no right to leap to help this young lady, but you did anyways! And the judges were looking for that! As you also helped your fellow candidates as well, so I am happy to award you with Eighty Rescue Points!”

“B-but then that means…!” I gasped in realization.

“That means you, Young Midoriya, have passed! Come on down, cause UA is your Hero Academia!”

“YES!” I cheered in glee as mom and dad cheered for me and were beyond happy and proud of me.

Chapter Text

It was later in the day, but I made it to the beach where Toshinori was standing there as I rushed over to him quickly. “Hey kid, congrats on passing.”

“It’s…it’s thanks to you and dad that I passed.” I said with a smile…though it dropped into a frown as I looked at my hands. “One for All…it’s…it’s rough…even in my Panda form, I broke my arm and fractured both of my legs…”

“Remember, you’ve only had One for All for only two weeks, and only had a bare bones grasp on even how to reel it in.” Toshinori told me. “The only reason you were able to hold that much back is most likely because of your Zoanthrope side, and when you went all out your Panda form was durable enough to make sure your bones didn’t shatter.”

“I know…but it still feels like I can’t do much with my powers…” I sighed bitterly, only for Toshinori to put a hand on my shoulder.

“Listen young Midoriya, you have a month before school starts, you have a month to get everything set for your first day at UA.” He explained. “The more you strengthen yourself, strengthen your ‘base’, the stronger you’ll be and the more resilient you’ll be against One for All’s drawbacks.”

“Th-thank you.” I said with a warm smile.

“Right, now let’s get to work.” All Might said as he went into his buff mode and started to jog off, with me immediately going after him. “ It’s a long and difficult road Midoriya, but I believe in you.”

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It’s been a week after my talk with All Might about my acceptance, and also learning that I was number one out of everyone by a rather comfortable margin. As I was practicing my Kung Fu against a wooden dummy my dad made for me, I heard a knock on my door. “Yeah?”

“Hey Izuku, mind coming out to the living room?”

“Oh, sure dad.” I said, grabbing a towel and lightly rubbing away the sweat on my forehead as I walked out into the living room. “What’s wro-” I was about to say, before I saw two…individuals, one that looked like a well dressed waiter with a head made of some unknown mist helping mom cook, and a gray haired teen around my age covered in…severed hands… “UH~.” I looked at dad as I was furiously motioning to the both of them.

“Oh, right.” Dad said like he forgot something. “Son…let me introduce you to your adopted brother, Tomura.” Dad said, even as I looked between him and the teen that was busy playing on a model of the Nintendo Switch with what I could guess were specialty made gloves that stopped a possible contact based quirk from going off, especially since he seemed to subconsciously keep one finger from both hands off of it. "And that is my friend Kurogiri." He motioned to the mist man.

“Huh?” I asked weakly.

“I’m…also confused dear…” Mom said nervously, even though she seemed to be enjoying having another set of hands helping her cook.

“Please…believe me when I say these things…” Dad said as he took a deep breath. “Tomura here lost his entire family due to his quirk going out of control, his father was an abusive horrible person as is, and I’ve had some associates of mine help take care of him, especially my close friend Kurogiri over there.” He motioned to the Mist man.

“Without Hisashi, I wouldn’t be alive.” Kurogiri admitted. “I owe him a life debt.”

“You’re not the only one…” Dad sighed.

“Is he…also from the same people that kidnapped you dad?”

“Well…they’re related, but I can’t tell you the specifics yet.” He said carefully.

“Hey, I heard you’re good at games…” Tomura said, which made me jolt up a bit.

“U-uh…y-yeah, I dabble.” I said carefully.

“Can you help me with this stupid level?” He said, bringing up the switch and showing me it was…Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn?

“What’s wrong?” I inquired, gently taking the Switch model and checking it…only to see that he only had half his units, and only two characters were even bothered to be leveled. “Oh no, you have to restart the whole game.” I said honestly.

“What!?” Tomura asked petulantly.

“You apparently haven’t played a Tactics game before, and while I am impressed you’ve gotten half way through the game…no.” I said while closing out of the game and reopening it to make a new save file. “And while yes, I know Radiant Dawn is a little…unbalanced to say the least, you need to take a step back and not get all your units killed.” I said carefully, sitting down next to him. “How many times have you reset a battle cause your lord died?”

“Eight…” Tomura grumbled.

“Alright, time to teach you about Tactics games.” I said readily. “But…back on track, dad…why didn’t you say anything sooner about this?”

“Because I was swamped with work and…other things.” My dad said vaguely, getting that same vacant but…angered look on his face.

“Honey…” Mom tried to say, but seemed to cut herself off like she knew it wouldn’t help.

“It’s…it’s alright Inko…” He sighed. “Things…will hopefully get better…just have a lot of paperwork to file…”

I frowned, wondering what my dad had in mind with all that. "Well…why did you bring him here now?"

"Because I'm going to be doing something… very special soon." The teen said, his semi gravely voice making it sound more menacing than it probably should have.

"That…sounds ominous…as long as people don't get hurt…"

"Don't worry, he knows very well what'll happen if he does." Dad said carefully.

"Right…" I said slowly, hoping what dad has in mind wasn't too dangerous.

"Well, as long as Tomura follows the family rules, it should be fine." Mom said readily.

"Oh, by the way…what's with the hands?" I asked carefully.

"They're…what remains of my old family…" Tomura said carefully, scratching at his neck which I could only guess is more of a nervous tick than anything.

"I see your wearing specialty gloves and held your hands in a specific way, what kind of contact quirk do you have?" I inquired.

"Decay…" The gray haired teen said, which now concerned me a lot.

"His gloves are specially designed for quirks like his, the fabric acts like quirk nullifying cuffs many heroes and police officers use, but more for style and everyday use." Dad commented. "One of the more up and coming brands I've been working on."

"That's really cool." I said with a smile, knowing my dad was always one step ahead of other businesses as this was the first time I've heard of it and I'm always looking into those sorts of things.

---------------------------------------------------

It’s been two weeks since Tomura moved in, and from all my interactions with him…he…was alone, shoving his head so deep into bitterness and video games that it felt more like the hands of his family were there to hold him together than any sign of symbolic ‘holding him back’...I mean, it was also proven when he had a nightmare last week and mom was there to help him get past his panic attack…he looked so…broken…

Kurogiri was the assistant Mom could only dream of. He was calm, collected, a great cook, and thanks to his Warp Quirk, he helped mom do some of the thing’s she thought she couldn’t due to having to take care of the home and me by herself, though sometimes when I saw her drag dad through said portal I felt pity as he gave me a pleading ‘help me’ look…I don’t know what those two get up to…and I really don’t want to know why the two of them have a limp half the time they come back.

So today, me, dad and Tomura were out walking the same trail he brought me when I first started my beast training. “Alright…so there’s another reason why I have adopted Tomura, now that we’re in a secluded area.” Dad told me carefully.

“Does it have something to do with him being a Zoanthrope?” I inquired.

“Correct…as I was in a… confrontation when I found Tomura here.” He said carefully. “It was covered up quickly when the HPSC stepped in.”

“Wait, the HPSC got involved?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, and while it was all labeled an accident, what really happened was…a ‘recruiter’ appeared, that I had to step in and fight back.” Dad said carefully.

“Damned robo mole…” Tomura said angrily.

“That’s strange…” I hummed. “So, you’re saying a villain was trying to grab Tomura before you got to him?”

“Yes…the same people that did all the…terrible things you saw.” Dad said carefully. “So, reason I’ve brought you two out here is so you two can do some training together, cause while I have trained the both of you in some ways, it’s best for you two to diversify your fights, where you two can learn from someone else’s imperfections and emotions instead of a master that can beat your ass soundly.”

“That makes sense, we need experience against different opponents instead of expecting them to be only one individual.” I said honestly.

“You sure sensei?” Tomura inquired, taking a few steps away from me like he was preparing for the fight anyways.

“Of course I am, but no quirks involved, so keep your gloves on Tomura…and Izuku, none of that ‘super power’.” Dad said, which when he said that I…had a bad feeling about it, like he… knew about One for All.

“Alright…” Tomura said as he turned towards me, and slid his right foot forward and bent his knees into a wide stance that would belay a lot of long sweeping strikes, bringing his arms down to the side’s with bent elbows and open hands that were more for either palm strikes or quickly grasping into strong punches.

“Whenever you're ready.” I said, getting into my own bear style stance.

“Alright…” Tomura said, before dashing forward with a surprising amount of speed.

“So fast!” I mentally yelped and dodged a fist aimed at my head and jumped back as I didn’t have enough time to counter, but Tomura was on top of me again as I dodged and blocked his strong attacks the best I could. “How is he this fast? I thought his quirk was by contact with all five fingers?” I thought to myself, dodging another swing as I stepped forward and rammed my shoulder with all my body weight into his chest.

But when I shoulder checked him it felt like he moved with it and spun around and tried to hit me with an elbow strike, but I stepped forward into him and stopped a lot of the momentum and punched his stomach, which caused him to leap back and get back into his stance. “Ya got some skills…” Tomura said carefully.

“So do you.” I admitted, deciding to take the offensive and rushed towards him and throwing out strong attacks, which he was also dodging and blocking but always trying to take a swipe at me with his hands, either as a swing from his martial art or from some force of habit of using his quirk, which his uncovered face showed some mild aggravation that I always managed to slip away before all five fingers connected. Our clash lasted about two minutes before we broke apart and lightly panting from the clash.

“Alright, kiddy gloves are off.” Tomura growled, as I saw the same electricity form around him as he shifted into his beast form…which was extremely concerning because he was a honey badger, his fur was black with stripes of pure white wrapping around his body, his gloves were thankfully still there, but overall he was still one of the most aggressive animals on the planet.

“Oh dear…” I said, before shifting into my Panda form and preparing myself for what he could do. And while Tomura was indeed faster, I was a lot bulkier and took his hits without much of a care as he kept trying to evade my strikes or grabs, and funnily enough I did manage to do a ‘panda style’ attack as I literally slammed my stomach into Tomura’s face after he missed a swing and was knocked back. “Right…never underestimate the stomach…” I chuckled and lightly patted my big stomach.

For the next hour it was me and Tomura sparring, the both of us facing each other the best we could but…something about this felt…different to me, like everytime I blocked or took a hit from him it felt…hollow, like a plea for help masked by precision and anger, and near the end of the fight I grabbed Tomura and just…hugged him. “I’m sorry…”

“Ugh~, feelings!” Tomura whined, squirming around in my bear hug. “I don’t need your sympathy, kid.”

“You need love and support.” I answered. “And I’m here to help…brother.”

I felt Tomura stop squirming in my arms when he heard that. “I’m not your brother…”

“You’ll be my brother, not because you want it, but because you need it.” I told him, keeping him in my hug to reassure him that things will be alright.

“I’ll…I’ll just destroy everything I touch…again…” Tomura told me bitterly.

“You have a family that believes in you…you won’t destroy anything that you truly care about.”

“Gloves also help.” Tomura added weakly.

“That too.” I nodded. “But you’re not alone anymore…dad saved you for a reason, and brought you to me and mom cause he trusts us and trusts you…”

Tomura looked at me…his eyes flickered for just a moment…and sighed. “If you say so.”

It’s at least a start…

---

“Did you pack your tissues?”

“Yes mom, I made sure to pack everything you and dad both double and triple checked everything.” I said, and even though I was about to panic about the time, Dad was quick to remind me that Kurogiri has a warp quirk and I could get to School immediately so I didn’t have to rush.

“Izuku…” Mom said, and when I looked over she had this look of…pride…”You look mega cool right now.” She said in pure joy, on the verge of tears.

“And you call me cheesy.” Dad teased which made me chuckle at her pout.

“I’m trying to give our son encouragement.” Mom told him.

“I know I know.” He chuckled warmly. “But go on, we’re proud of you son.”

"Thank you." I said, giving mom and dad another hug as Kurogiri brought out a portal. "I'll be back." I said with a smile, running through the portal to start my brand new life at UA.

As I walked through the school…I…I started to lightly panic at the fact I didn't know where class 1-A is! "Crap! I forgot where class 1-A was!"

"The nose knows. Follow the smell of caramelized banana's and ego." My panda self told me, which I almost forgot that, due to me being a Zoanthrope, I have heightened senses and…yes, I did smell the nitroglycerin like smell Bakugo tended to have…

"He really needs to invest in stronger deodorant…" I mentally grumbled, cause while caramelized bananas smelled fine, it could be a bit overpowering if he's producing it a lot. When I got to the class I was already hearing an altercation between Kachan and someone else. "Come on Kachan…" I mentally groaned, opening the door to see Bakugo with his feet on his desk and a more well kept student with blue hair and glasses was chopping the air and scolding him.

"We are in class, you should be more respectful than this blatant disregard to your status as a student of UA." The spectacled student said, as I stepped in my senses immediately kicked in…someones watching us.

"And what school did you go to thinking 'this' is disrespectful four-eyes?" Katsuki asked with an arrogant smile.

I kind of tuned out their conversation as I looked around…the feeling of being watched was making me uncomfortable. "Where are you?" I thought to myself, as they smelled like lack of sleep, stupidly strong coffee, and…a tad bit of animosity. After another moment I looked down near the teachers desk…how long was that sleeping bag their?

"Hey," I was snapped out of my staring contest with the world's most tired caterpillar to see…the same brown haired girl that I saved during the exam. "I'm glad to see you passed." She said with a warm welcoming smile.

"S-same to you." I stuttered a little. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"I'm Uraraka Ochako." She introduced happily. "And hey, how did you turn into that Panda? Is that your quirk or something?"

"No, actually." I said, still feeling the teacher's eyes on me.

"Excuse me." I turned over to see the tall teen looking at me. "I want to apologize for my rudeness during the exam." He said while bowing to me.

"Pl-please, no need to bow." I said sheepishly.

"My name is Iida Tenya, and I apologize because you knew the true intentions of the exam when I only ran…"

“W-well…” I said sheepishly. “I just moved without thinking.” I answered. “I had absolutely no idea that there was a rescue point event…” I thought to myself nervously. “But we need to get to our seats quick, the teacher’s been staring at us since I walked in…” I said, making Uraraka and Iida both look panicked.

“Wh-where is he?” Uraraka asked quickly, as the entire class went silent as I pointed towards the man who was…now drinking from a pouch.

“You noticed I was here before anyone else was, good.” The tired man said as he started to slither out of his bright yellow sleeping bag. “Get to your seats, and feet off the desk. This is the Hero Course, no time for ‘buddy buddy’.” He answered, as we all got to our desks. “I’m your teacher, you can call me Aizawa.”

“Wait, as in the underground hero Eraserhead?” I asked in surprise, which made the tired man look at me, either in surprise or tired bitterness I honestly couldn’t tell.

“Well informed…” He muttered, pulling out another bag. “Put these on now and get to the P.E. Grounds.” He told us all as he held up a UA tracksuit.

After we all got dressed and were out in the P.E. area, Ochako pointed out something rather important. “What about the opening ceremony or the Guidance Counselor meeting”

“No time for frilly nonsense.” He answered simply. “While you all know our reputation for freedom on campus, the same can be said for the teachers.” He answered, giving us a sidelong glance at all of us, which made me gulp. “Now, remember all the exercises you did in Middle school, barred from using your quirks? Well today your going to be doing those with your quirks.” He answered simply, grabbing a ball. “Bakugo, stand in the circle.”

“Yeah yeah.” Bakugo grumbled, walking over into the circle and catching the ball.

“Now, how far could you throw it without your quirk?” Aizawa inquired, which Bakugo answered with ‘sixty seven meters’. “Now, I want you to use your quirk when throwing the ball. And don’t hold back.”

“Got it…” Katsuki said, clenching the ball tightly before he leaned back and hauled off throw. “DIE! ” He screamed as he threw the ball with a more shock wave based explosion.

“Die? Really?” I mentally groaned.

“Now, why we’re doing this is to know what we’re starting to work with.” He said, showing off a monitor that said ‘705 meters’.

Everyone started to talk, sounding eager and saying this was all ‘fun’ and excited about what Bakugo was capable of doing. “So, you all think this is fun huh?” Our teacher asked, making me shiver as his aura felt…completely different. “If you’re planning on spending the next three years believing this is only going to be nothing but ‘fun and games’, then I have a brand new rule.” He said, turning towards us while lightly grasping his scarf. “Whoever comes in last will be deemed ‘Hopeless’, and will be immediately expelled.”

“Oh come on!” I mentally panicked as everyone else started to slowly panic.

“Our ‘freedom’ means we dispense with students how we please.” He said, pushing his scruffy hair out of his eyes to show sleep deprived, manic eyes staring at us all. “Welcome to this Department of Heroes!”

“It’s our first day though!” Uraraka was the first to call out. “Don’t you think that this is too unreasonable for our first day?”

“Are natural disasters unreasonable?” Aizawa asked. “Massive Accidents? A psychotic villain? Doesn’t matter if it’s day one or day one thousand, calamities can happen when we least expect them.” He answered. “Japan’s now positively drenched in ‘unreasonable’, and our job as heroes is to reverse it, and restore reason.” He stated. “If you expected this to be some casual chit chat with friends at McDonalds after school, you’re wrong. For the next three years it’s going to be one hardship after another. This is ‘Plus Ultra’, and I expect you all to overcome these trials and climb to the top.”

“Right!” We all said at once. “This isn’t going to be fun…” I mentally added to myself in pure worry.

“And Izuku,” I heard Sensei call out. “I want you to do each test with and without your Zoanthrope form, before you ask, Principle Nezu and your Father contacted me about it.” He said simply.

“Y-yes sensei.” I nodded, hearing some mutters about ‘Zoanthrope?’ and wondering if it was a quirk or not.

“We’ll explain after the test, now let’s get going.” Aizawa told us.

And so, for the next thirty minutes, we all did our very best on our exam, and while I was a bit sore because I had to do everything twice, I am proud to say that with my at least bare bones knowledge of One for All, I was actually shockingly in the top three when it came to all the tests, and when in my Panda form I was easily number one in everything. Though one thing I really didn’t need was how many of my fellow classmates, especially every female, talked about how ‘fluffy and adorable’ I was…accidentally broke the grip strength monitor in my Panda form when that happened. Though Bakugo…he looked very upset.

I took a deep breath, now onto the ball throw…I grabbed the ball and tried to reign in my quirk so it would be strong enough to make a good distance but not strong enough to break my fingers. I felt energy sparking off of me as I took a pitchers stance before throwing it as hard as I could with One for All.

“Seven hundred and five meters.” Aizawa said.

“That’s bullshit!” Bakugo snapped. “When the hell did you get a Quirk De-Izuku!” He tried rushing towards me with Explosion…though the way he stopped himself from calling me ‘Deku’ was honestly a step I never thought he’d make in the public light. Before he could get close to me, the ‘scarf’ Sensei had was suddenly wrapped around Bakugo quickly as he struggled against it. “The hell is this?”

“This is my Capture weapon.” Aizawa said, his hair standing straight up as his eyes were a piercing red. “A steel wire alloy woven in Carbon Nanofibers, now get back in line Bakugo.” He growled, which Bakugo…thankfully did, even though his face gave a conflicted look of both anger and concern…I should probably talk to him later. “Now, Izuku, Zoanthrope form.”

I nodded, turning into my Panda form and getting a new ball. “I can use a bit more of my power in this form…” I thought to myself, letting more of One for All out for this, as I was pulling back and threw the ball…but somehow, it barely flew more than a hundred meters. “Wh-what?” I asked in confusion and shock.

“Hey, I thought his quirk was his panda form.” One of the students, Kirishima I believe, questioned. “It had the same lightning effect when he shifted into it so what the hell?”

“My Zoanthrope form isn’t a Quirk, my dad explained that this was a thing for far longer than Quirks ever existed.” I answered. “It’s a whole thing that’s very complicated and…sometimes I can’t even imagine how big this really is.” I said honestly.

“I used my Quirk, Erasure, to stop you from breaking your arm again like in the Exam.”

“I…I know…” I said carefully, catching another ball.

“Now, even though you're the best of the group, there is a problem when you injure yourself.” He told me. “If you can still move after you used your quirk, you'll stay, but if you can't move your arm you're expelled." He said. "If you cant control your powers and only harm yourself, your no good for anyone out in the field, the real field."

I gulped and nodded. "Just…how strong can we do this?"

"We can use ten percent power as we are now…I'll keep the power level as you throw." Panda me answered.

"Thank you." I nodded, taking a deep breath as I felt my power, that was only one percent before be raised up to Ten…it felt like night and day with how strong I was. I took another deep breath, pulled my arm back and threw it as hard as I could without hurting myself.

The resulting shockwave startled me as I saw it going…and going…and going…

"Two thousand meters." Aizawa sensei called out.

"Beat All Mights record believe it or not." I heard a womanly voice tell me.

"Okay, so am I going insane or does One for All also have weird spirits in them?" I asked incredulously, cause this is the second, or possibly third time since I heard someone young gag when mom and dad were getting all 'lovey dovey'.

"Yes…but they don't want their true selves revealed just yet. Our body is too weak for the truth." Panda me answered.

"And how many voices are in my head?"

"There are Seven, while the Eight's spirit is here he isn't bound to our Quirk like the others."

"And how do you know this?" A new voice asked grumpily.

"Gaea's Gift transcends Quirks, it's not DNA, but the Soul that I was made."

I blinked and shook my head, shifting back to my human form as everyone was gawking at me. "I-I'm sorry…" I bowed nervously.

"Oh cut the crap dude." Bakugo growled. "You do this every time you win handily, grow a spine Deku."

"That was awesome!" Kirishima cheered as the entire class erupted in applause and cheers at how great I did.

"Good job kid." Aizawa nodded, before clapping his hands and getting everyone quiet. "Alright, now, after putting everything up, here are the results."

As we all looked, I was in the top five, or first because of my Zoanthrope form, while at the bottom was Mineta…

"Please dont expel me!" Mineta pleaded immediately, on his knees and about to start crying…even though I knew he was lecherous with the looks he gave the female students…that plead…his tears were so genuine, but I didn't know if it was because he truly wanted to be a hero or something else.

"Stop your crying. Nobody's getting expelled." Aizawa answered readily…

Excuse me!?!

"It was just a logical ruse to get you all to go beyond your limits and show me what your really made of."

"Only half of what he said was correct, the part about it being a ruse is total bull." My Panda half answered which made me stare at my new teacher, seeing the tired eyes have a sudden mischievous glint to them.

"Oh dear…this is not going to end well…" I thought to myself worriedly.

---

The entire day became a bit of a blur to me, especially when Uraraka complimented me and was just…too cute….

But I did manage to make new friends which was always a massive plus, and when I brought that up with mom and dad they were ecstatic, got Katsudon for dinner too in celebration!

It was the next day of school, and today I was given a note by one of the teachers telling me I was going to a special class that was just created this year, which surprised me cause I was sure I was on top of all the classes this year. “I wonder why there’s a new class all of a sudden?” I thought to myself.

“The principle is a crafty one, his scent is practically everywhere in this school and it reeks of self contained malice and dealings.” My panda half told me, which made me really nervous to hear that…what did Principle Nezu and Dad get into when he was gone?

As I entered the new classroom, I immediately noticed that it was a rather small class, but it held at latest three of my classmates, Tsuyu Asui, Mina Ashido, and Mashirao Ojiro, but then there was six people I didn’t know, three male and three female, the first one that caught my eye was one of the males, a long silver haired teen with ice blue eyes, but his smile looked warm and welcoming like a friend even if his eyes felt piercing.

The next was a female with a mutation quirk, her entire body being that of what I can assume was a South China tiger given her black stripes were thicker than an average tiger’s stripes, her forest green eyes had a more calm and reserved look as she just nodded towards me.

The third was another male, black hair and more tanned skin, probably another transfer student if memory serves, as they looked up from their phone and looked at me with…lizard like eyes, but they gave me a nod and went back to their phone, what they were looking at I wasn’t sure but…I also noticed they had a rather sizable lizard like tail jutting out behind his chair.

The fourth was another female, she had blonde hair but cloudy gray eyes that seemed so…mysterious, but her face held a smile, a faint one but it was their still, she gave a small wave and I waved back.

The last man was a mutation quirk as well, but he was a King Cobra, his scales ranged from a dirt brown to a grassy green like he'd be at home in the wilderness, he looked over at me and inside his hood were two piercing eyes as his reptilian eyes looked at me, but the smile he gave showed me he didn't mean any harm as he curled the cobra hood to not spook me again.

And the last girl was…bulky, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, her green eyes felt piercing but friendly, her build was…well, now that I think about it she reminds me of Zarya from Overwatch just…younger and more 'filled out'...

" If you want a Harem then go for it." I heard my Panda tease but I shook it off real quick.

"Hey Izuku." Mina said immediately with a smile.

"Hey Mina, Asui, Ojiro." I nodded.

"Please, call me Tsuyu kero." The frog girl said politely.

"So, what do you think we're here for?" Ojiro inquired.

"I'm not sure, this is a whole new class that came up this year." I admitted, which was strange, that there would be a new class with so few students.

"That is because this was done at the last minute between your principle and the Ambassador." An old, gruff but wise voice answered, as we all turned to see…what I can only describe as a Hindu sumo wrestler.

The man looked like he was in his mid fifties, with tan skin and whitening hair, both on top and his rather well kept mustache, his entire body was bulky like that of a sumo wrestler, which was accentuated by his Indian style ceremonial garb, the saffron pants having stripes of blue, green and yellow. “Hello Class, my name is Golan Draphan the third, but you can call me Ganaesha.” He said politely.

“W-wait! You’re the Ganesha!?” I asked in shock, noticing half the class look at me. “He’s the number two hero in all of India! Said to have been the number one till he helped train his star pupil, the Phoenix Chronos!” I said giddily.

The older man chuckled warmly. “Always happy to hear someone is excited to meet an old man like me.” They said warmly. “Now, this is your first class on Zoanthrope.”

“Um, excuse me sir.” Mina said with a raised hand. “How can some of us be Zoanthropes when we can’t shapeshift like Izuku?”

“I will explain in a bit, Ojiro?” Ganesha pointed to Ojiro who also had his hand raised.

“What are you doing in Japan sir? Wouldn’t India want their number two hero around in case of emergencies?” Ojiro inquired.

“That is a good question, and currently India is in a state of peace, my pupil Cronos is keeping everything safe, but as I brought up before, this was a decision made by your Principle, and the Ambassador of the Zoanthrope Kingdom.”

“W-wait, I thought the Zoanthrope Kingdom disappeared during the Dawn Wars?” I asked, seeing our teacher give me a look of surprise at my own knowledge.

“You are well-read young Midoriya.” He nodded. “But the Kingdom sealed it’s borders and made sure we had nothing to do with the war, and it helped that everyone was so preoccupied with everything else we stayed secret, figuring out very important things.” He explained. “So, anymore questions before I begin?” He looked around, seeing everyone shake their heads. “Alright, so first I would like all of you to introduce yourselves, what your Quirk’s are and what your Zoanthrope spirit is.”

“I’ll start.” The silver haired teen said, his voice smooth and stoic like a hardened warrior. “My name is Isley Gin, my quirks is Yoki and my Zoanthrope form is that of a Horse.” Isley said, as he pulled up a sleeve and showed a stylized marking of a horse.

“W-wait, you have that birthmark as well?” Mina asked in surprise, pulling down her collar to show the symbol of a Slug on her collarbone…even though I was blushing like mad at the fact Mina had no reserve with showing skin like that.

“I thought it was just some weird mark…” Ojiro said in surprise, lifting his tail and showing what I can guess was some kind of dinosaur.

“Yes, that is correct.” Ganesha said. “Each one of you has the Mark of Gaea, in the form of your Animal Spirit, now next please.”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, my quirk is Superpower and my Zoanthrope is a Panda.” I answered, shifting around nervously as I raised my shirt up and showed that…the tattoo was on my stomach.

“Holy crap you can grate cheese on those!” Mina gasped, which made me pull down my shirt quickly as I felt steam billow out of my head.

“K-kero…” I heard Tsuyu croak, seeing that she was blushing.

“U-uh…th-thanks.” I said sheepishly.

“My my, shy, cute and a hunk? Well, it sounds like my time here will be well spent~.” I heard the weirdly mature and sultry voice of the blonde teen say, making me cover my face in embarrassment. “Oh you are just a treat.” She giggled. “My name is Taresa Carter, I’m an exchange student from England, my quirk is also Yoki and my Zoanthrope form is a Swan.” Teresa explained.

“How are you speaking Japanese that fluently?” Mina asked, surprised in her voice at how well Teresa’s speech was.

“And are you and Isley related?” Ojiro inquired. “You both have the same quirk so I’m just curious.”

“We’re cousin’s actually.” Isley said. “Father and Uncle are of English/Japanese descent, my father wanted to learn more about Japan and our ancestry here, Uncle wanted to stay in the United Kingdom’s and understand our heritage there.”

“So what is your Quirk? I don’t think I’ve heard of ‘Yoki’ before.” I asked, eager to learn about a brand new quirk.

“Yoki is…special…” Isley said carefully, trying to think of how to best explain it.

“Let me show you.” Teresa said readily, her eyes changing from the mysterious gray misty eyes to…yellow animalistic eyes as I felt all my hair stand on end, a sudden force pushing against me and everyone else. “Yoki is a special energy that me, my cousin here, and my little sister, Claire, can produce at the cost of our Stamina. It increases our strength, speed and senses depending on how much energy we let out. The force you feel and my eyes changing is from around five to ten percent of mine and Isley’s power, at twenty to thirty percent our face distorts as our mouths start to break open and we grow fangs, our face is covered in bulging veins and the like.”

“At fifty percent, our body starts to morph, either growing more muscle or we start to get mutations.” Isley said. “At eighty percent we are at our theoretical limits of what our bodies can handle without some…weirdness happening.” He said nervously.

“And at a hundred percent…we can only do a hundred percent in our Zoanthrope forms, because it would either send us into a mindless rage until we’re knocked out or…worse…” Teresa said carefully.

“That is very interesting.” I said, having pulled out a notebook and was already writing down everything that was being said.

“My name is Tsuyu Asui, but please, call me Tsuyu kero.” The frog girl said. “My quirk is Frog…and I suppose my Zoanthrope would be that of a Frog kero.”

“I’ll explain after we finish introductions.” Ganesha said with a raised hand to Mina raising her hand.

The lizard eyed teen stood up…which now that he stood up I noticed he was actually a lot…bigger. “My name is Gojo Yamada, my quirk is Toho, and my Zoanthrope form is that of a T-Rex.” Gojo said. “And before you ask…yes, my dad is Godzillo, please don’t.”

“Huh…didn’t expect that today.” I said honestly. “And the tan skin is most likely from your mom’s side?”

“Yes, my mom is of Spanish Descent and moved to Japan for a foreign scholarship…given her quirk was something akin to Mount Ladies…” Gojo waved a hand to let us immediately figure that out.

“R-right.” I said sheepishly.

“Well, I’ll go next.” Mina said. “My name is Mina Ashido, my quirk is Acid and…I believe my Zoanthrope would be a Slug?” She asked, looking to Ganesha as he nodded 

“My name is Aoi Tora.” The tiger girl said next. “Yes, I know my last name is a bit on the nose for my mutation quirk, but it’s also my Zoanthrope form, as I’ve seen the tiger tattoo on my left breast when I had to get that part shaved one time.” I blushed at how…casual she just talked about her own breast…which I actually noticed how…big the tiger girl’s and even Teresa’s and the big girls breasts are…

“If you want a harem just be true to yourself you horny teenager.” My panda part mentally teased me again, which made me blush even brighter.

“Can you please not!?!” I mentally screamed as I’m trying not to focus on mammaries right now.

“My name is Mashirao Ojiro, my quirk is Tail and…well I don’t know what kind of animal my tattoo is.” He said, bringing up the tail and showing the same stylized symbol, but it looked familiar.

“That looks like a Brachiosaur.” 

“A brachiosaur huh?” Ojiro hummed. “That’s cool.”

“Next isss me…” The king cobra said, and I wasn’t sure if the elongated ‘s’ was because of the quirk or them just doing it for fun. “My name isss Kenji Orochimaru, and yessss, that isss my lassst name, I can’t control my ‘sss’, and the Serpent God wantsss me to be friendsss with you all.” The Cobra said with a sly smirk.

“Uh…I hope you're joking about the Serpent God part…” I said nervously, because while back during the Dawn War’s Quirk’s were considered ‘God like’, none of the actual heavy hitters were alive today besides maybe five.

“Mom would disssagree.” Kenji joked.

I gave a nod, knowing that mom’s can be a tad scary when they want to be.

"Lastly is me." The last girl said, standing up and…wow she was tall. "My name is Anna Medvedeva, my Zoanthrope form is the Urrsui Brown Bear, and my quirk is Mama Bear, my quirk allows me to gain a great physical boost when I’m protecting those I care about.” The teen said, which I noticed her Japanese was fine but it still had a strong Russian accent. “I’m an exchange student, told by my father to be a part of a brand new era of Zoanthropes and to socialize.” She said, but when she looked at me in particular I felt a little flush and I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Good, now that introductions are out of the way, let me explain the reason for this class.” Our teacher said readily. “You ten have all been blessed by Gaia, the World Mother with the power of Nature, your Birthmarks being the trigger for your awakening.” He answered. “Gaia works in mysterious ways, but the advent of Quirks is something Gaia…didn’t plan on.” He explained, clapping his hands as a projector came out of the ceiling and started to project a slideshow for us.

For the entire class, we learned all about the history of Zoanthropes, and went over thing’s Dad told me about Zoanthropes, how the ‘trigger’ created by Gaia was changed when Quirk’s became a thing, where the more animalistic mutation quirks, or for Mina’s case the pink skin, the yellow antenna and the different eye color, could be the trigger for such a fusion of Quirk and Zoanthropes which would make certain individuals even stronger, like Gang Orca as an example which surprised all of us that Mutation Quirks and Zoanthropy kind of stacked like that, while others that had quirks like mine or Isley and Teresa can use our quirks to enhance our already enhanced bodies or our Zoanthrope forms.

As the class was winding down from all the knowledge about the Zoanthrope Kingdom, our origins and a whole host of other things, and lunch from the Cooking Hero, Lunch Rush, me Mina Tsuyu and Ojiro were heading straight to our Heroic Class. “Man…that was…really heavy.” Mina said honestly.

“Yeah…I never expected there to be so much history behind our birthmarks.” Ojiro admitted.

“I wonder if our parents know about this Kero.” Tsuyu pointed out. “Genesha sensei said that the ‘trigger’ is also passed down through genetics, so would our parents know?”

“I know my Dad does, but while the trigger is passed down and sometimes the same animal, there are chances the child’s animal can be different.” I said, which now that I think about it, my Zoanthrope strength’s might have actually helped make the brutal training from both of them a whole lot easier. “Like my dad, who’s a Harpy Eagle, and me being a Panda for instance.”

“Do you think me or Ojiro will be able to get a Zoanthrope form?” Mina inquired.

“Or do you think Tsuyu will be able to fully morph?” Ojiro brought up.

“I’m not sure, from what was talked about this Gift and Quirks both go together too well but also don’t…” I said. “It’s still a lot of unknown territory for me.”

The four of us made it to our hero class and got seated. “So what class were you four in?” Kirashima inquired.

“Zoanthrope Class.” Mina answered readily.

“Really? I didn’t hear anything about a class like that.” Yayorozu said in surprise.

“Yeah, apparently it was last minute with the Principle and the Ambassador of the Zoanthrope Kingdom.” Ojiro said honestly.

“I thought they disappeared at the Dawn of Quirks?” Iida said in surprise.

“I asked the exact same thing.” I admitted. “But they went into isolation to learn more about Quirks and how their Zoanthrope abilities work.”

“Doesn’t matter what your fancy past is, you're not going to best me Deku.” Katsuki stated simply.

I really need to get him to a Therapist…I’m scared he might be getting a split personality due to what he believes people want to see and who he really is, and his Ego getting bruised because of my quirk and me beating him in all the physical tests was getting me more concerned that he’ll try and double down.

“I am here!” We all heard the most well known voice in all of Japan.

“All Might!?” I said in surprise.

“...Is coming through the door like a normal person!” He said, even though he came in holding the sides of the door like he was trying not to make a grand entrance. Everyone started to mumble about it being amazing to see All Might in the flesh in his newest hero costume, but it was obviously based on his Silver Age costume… ”Foundational Hero Studies! For this class, we’ll be building up your Foundation through a series of Trials, so let’s jump right into it with The Trial of Battle!” All Might said as he brought up a flash card with a stylized ‘Battle’ written on it.

“Trial by battle!?” I thought to myself in mild panic.

“Good.” My panda half said eagerly.

“Now before we get down to brass tacks, I need you all dressed for success!” All Might said, as he raised an arm and the room shifted and brought out many different walls with shelves on them each with box’s filling them top to bottom. “They say clothes make the man, but it especially goes for Heroics, as your costume is like a second skin, your new persona, a Statement to everyone as you step outside in your costume saying ‘I am here!’.” All Might went on proudly as we all got into our Hero outfits.

I grabbed the box with my costume and opened it, seeing a note on top of it as I opened it up.

“We believe in you son, and no matter what happens, you’ll always be our Hero.

-Mom and Dad”

I teared up a bit, seeing the belief my parents had for me, and that I will always be a hero to them, I wiped away the tears and got my hero costume on, and I remember how much me and dad worked to get it to fit well…I lightly chuckled remembering my dad’s incredulous look when I wanted the head piece to be like All Might’s hair, only to be told it looked like Rabbit ears, so with some help from Dad with the costume idea and resources, and with mom tailoring it since she was really good at it, I put on my hero costume and was prepared for the future.

My Costume was still more like the green and black jumpsuit that I originally designed, both for comfort and for practicality, my facemask was still created to be a makeshift smile while the mask was more like a hightech respirator, the ‘rabbit ears’ as Dad called them were slimmed down to look more like bear ears…really didn’t help that when some of the girl’s saw it they thought it was adorable, and some parts were added to give my jumpsuit more of a ‘martial artist’ look to it, and to finish it off Dad thought it would be good to have the Zoanthrope Kingdom symbol on my chest as I ran out to join the others.

"Alright everyone! Now that you're out and dressed for success, it's time to explain the trial." He said readily. “This will be an Indoor Battle Trial!” All Might said, before he raised his hand as he immediately saw everyone try to throw questions at him. “Now before you all throw questions at me all at once, yes this will be in one of the buildings, this will be a Heroes vs Villian’s test, and lastly we are going to have you all randomly picked partners as well as opponents.”

“Is that because when we’re heroes we won’t know who we’ll be working with and who we’ll be fighting?” I inquired.

“Correct Young Midoriya!” All Might answered readily. "Now, each one of you will be partnered up with someone randomly and then randomly selected to be a hero or villain, the villain team must protect a practice explosive while the heroes must capture the explosive or both Villains."

We all nodded as we saw the screen do a little roulette wheel to see who was with who and who was in the villain and hero group…

“And the first match is going to be, the Heroes of Uraraka Ochako and Izuku Midoriya, vs the Villains of Iida Tenya and Katsuki Bakugou.” All Might said as we saw our names.

“Crap…” I thought to myself carefully.

“Time to show his ego isn’t allowed in this world.” My Panda half said readily.

“He…he’s been making strides to be better…” I mentally argued with my Panda, wanting to hold out some hope that Kacchan can be better, that this wasn’t some weak jest on his end and he’ll go back to being a terrible person when it’s convenient for him.

“Only way to find out is to fight him.”

I sighed, as I looked over to Uraraka. “So, we’re gonna be working together huh?” She asked me.

“Y-yeah…” I said nervously.

“So what can you tell me about Bakugo? Since you two seemed to be friends?”

“Well…we have a bit of a history…” I sighed. “But with this…Kacchan is going to be focusing me hard …I’m scared this is going to be a fight between his personal life and his ‘public image’...” I sighed. “So…he’s going to fight me personally, to see if his public image is the right way, or…” I shook my head. “Just…when we start, get to the bomb as fast as you can, I’ll handle Kacchan.”

"Is Bakugo okay?" Uraraka asked worriedly.

"I…I don't know…I'll figure it out when we fight." I shook my head. "In private he acts like a good enough friend but…in public…" I motioned to Kacchan who was currently snubbing Iida.

"Yeah…I'm having a bit of a hard time believing Bakugo has any good side…” Uraraka said carefully.

“His good side is in there…I just…have to prove that his ‘public appearance’ is doomed to fail…I just hope it won’t break him…” I sighed.

After a bit more brainstorming on how we’re going to win we were all set and in our positions, the ‘Villains were set up and I saw Bakugo in one of the window’s, glaring down at me as he moved back into the building.

“And begin!” We all heard All Might say as me and Ochako rushed into the building.

“Remember the plan, I’ll handle Kacchan and you get to the bomb.” I said, which my partner nodded and we split up as I went after the smell of caramelized bananas. “Seriously, even with his hero costume he still needs to figure out that body odor problem.” I thought to myself, moving around carefully as he could be anywhere and could pop out at any time. My instincts flared as I jumped back from an intersection as Bakugo slammed his fist into a wall while using Explosion, turning it into rubble.

“It’s about time Deku…” Bakugo growled, looking over at me…that look…

“He’s going for the kill…” My Panda self told me carefully.

“H-He can’t be trying to kill me! That’s insane! He’s smart enough to know his ego isn’t worth the chance to become a Villain!” I mentally panicked, dodging out of the way of another swipe.

“Come on Deku! Show me that new strength of yours!” Bakugo roared. “I warned you about what would happen if you lied and held back!”

I was hard pressed, his frantic but instinctively great fighting along with the sneak attack made me have to go on the defensive…but having seen and felt Kacchan’s fists enough I knew I just had to bide my time, as I dodged, parried, and blocked all the attacks, until he threw his favorite, a wild right haymaker infused with Explosion, but as he was mid swing I shoulder checked him, causing him to gasp in surprise as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, grabbed his wrist and did a shoulder throw against him seamlessly. “You may be throwing frantic attacks, but you always love using that big right swing.” I said, looking down at him as he was sitting but glaring up at me. “Those notes and drawing’s you blew up, it was all analytics of all the heroes I watched, especially you.” I snapped. “I know all your moves, all your tactics, and I’m no longer the ‘Worthless Deku’ you believed I was, now I’m Deku who’s never giving up!” I shouted at him.

“Now I’m really pissed!” Bakugo shouted in anger, getting up quickly and using Explosion to propel himself into a dive kick.

I side stepped, grabbing his leg and redirecting his energy. “Predictable!” I taunted and slammed him back into the ground, but he used Explosion as a cushion and put his hands on the ground to keep himself from getting slammed into the ground.

“You did not just quote Geese Howard on me you asshole!” Bakugo shouted, trying to kick me with his other leg as I swayed back and he got back on his feet.

“Maybe, maybe not, but you are predictable either way.” I admitted, hearing him roar in rage as he lunged at me, swinging wide and hard as I dodged and parried his swings…it was almost like he was in slow motion compared to Tomura nee-san and Dad, his strikes were strong but not even close to what Dad or my step brother have thrown my way.

“Why are you holding back!” Bakugo shouted, trying to use his quirk but I parried it to the side, him blowing up another wall as I rammed the side of my shoulder into Bakugo again, him gasping and being knocked away. “Use…your powers you bastard…” My explosive friend coughed.

“No.” I said, seeing him glare at me. “I don’t need a quirk to take you down, I don’t need my Quirk or my Zoanthrope form to take you down.” I said. “And you want to know why Kacchan ?” I asked, putting acid in my use of his pet name.

“Don’t you dare say it…” Bakugo growled.

“Because I need you to realize that your ‘public image’ is bullshit!” I snapped, seeing Bakugo’s eyes widened. “Your Ego, your Superiority Complex, your incessant need to believe your great while everyone else isn’t, it’s all just a petulant child that got spoon fed success suddenly throwing a tantrum that someone is not only comparable to you, but better than you, with or without powers.” I growled, taking a step forward as Bakugo…flinched. “You are better than this Kacchan, I know you are, what will it take for you to realize it?”

Bakugo looked at me, his eyes looking so conflicted, like his will to fight was warring against his want to be better…but the roar of anger he let out as he raised his Grenade arm and…held a finger on the pin. “The only thing I know is that I’m going to beat you, you piece of shit!” Bakugo snapped, as he pulled the pin…

As the massive explosion rushed towards me, I felt my pulse quicken, my eyes dilate, as I let out an actual roar , not that Panda squeak, but a powerful, bestial roar as I shifted into my Zoanthrope form, the explosion’s force brushing past me from the transformation acting like a cushion to spread it past me, the wall behind me being destroyed and shaking the ground. “You want to know something Bakugo?”

“Wh-what?” Bakugo asked in horror.

“Izuku Midoriya believes in you, he truly does. From the first day he helped you out of that river as a kid, to when he brought about his true strength to save you from that slime, all he wanted to do was help , no strings attached, no thought’s of glory or reward, just to genuinely help someone in need…you are not above Izuku, you are not above me, and your Ego will shatter and your soul laid bare.” ‘I’ said, stepping forward and grabbing Kacchan by both his arms with my sizable paws and wrapping up his wrists. “ You are strong, you are a capable fighter…but you lost, well and Truly, as your final attack that could have severely harmed Izuku was blocked by him shouting .”

“Wh-what are you?” Bakugo asked weakly, his entire body trembling, his eyes in disbelief.

“I’m Izuku’s Inner Beast, his Zoanthrope Spirit…I am not a vicious beast, I am not a Wolf, or a Lion, or a Tiger…I am but a Big, Fat, Fluffy Panda that embodies his will and drive to help people and be seen as a Symbol of Peace.” He said carefully.

“...You’re still a giant nerd…” Bakugo said weakly.

“Yes, yes he is.” The Panda nodded.

“Can you please warn me before doing that?” I asked through my body, seeing Kacchan tilt his head. “That felt weird going from shifting into you controlling my body.” 

“No.” The Panda said simply.

“Come on…” I whined…but then I started to hear Bakugo chuckling.

“Still the same nerd…” Bakugo said, moving over and sitting down  “Whatever, I don’t know what Four Eyes is doing, the moment I heard him monologue I gave up on trying to work with him…he really needs to learn to both shut up and get some acting skills.”

“Like your one to talk Kacchan.” I chuckled.

“I can act better than him ya shitty deku.” Kacchan huffed, but that small twinge of a grin…hopefully I'm right that this will help him.

“Alright, you are captured so you should stay here while I go help my partner.” I said. “Where is it?”

“Top floor to the right.”

I nodded and went to the exploded window, doing some quick parkour even in my Panda form and got to the top floor real quick…and I heard monologuing… bad monologuing…"Ochako…how long?" I asked over our shared comms.

"T-to long." I heard her stutter a bit as if holding in laughter.

I sighed, deciding to cut the formalities cause I was emotionally drained from Kacchan, as I marched in the room in broad daylight, as Iida was making a decent attempt at doing a villain speech…but I put a paw on his shoulder and the bomb. "You're adorable." I said to Iida in a tired, condescending way. "Bombs secured."

"The heroes win!" We all heard All Might declare, as I could feel Iida pout.

"I was practicing for a good speech…" Iida grumbled…but then we heard Uraraka burst out laughing. "It wasn't that bad!" Iida defended.

"I'm sorry, but it was." Uraraka laughed.

"You're a little confused on monologues Iida, but you got the spirit." I chuckled. “But come on…let’s get out of here.” I said, as I was tired and wanted to be done with this.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

“Fuck…paper work…”

“Do you need a drink sir?”

“No…when I start to drink, I’ll drink more…and then more…and I need this shit done before we set things in motion so it’s completely legal and can’t be traced by our…true enemy.”

“Oh come on, can’t we just ignore the paperwork and just kill the heroes Sensei?”

“No, part of this plan involves all this legal nonsense cause if it’s purely illegal then our plans will have to take a lot longer and the true enemy will track us down.”

“Wouldn’t they track us down regardless if we did go through the proper channels?”

“No you idiot, if we’re public knowledge then if those chucklefucks try to attack us out of nowhere then that’ll raise all sorts of hell.”

“Thank you. Now I just need one more paper to sign and file this out…I really hate Bureaucracy…”

---

It was another day at school, as I was in the Zoanthrope class with everyone else, but today we were outside in our gym clothes. “Alright students, today we shall test your ability to shift into your beast form.” Ganesha stated.

“I thought some of us couldn't shift?” Ashido was quick to ask.

“At first viewing it would seem that way, but I'm here to make sure if you are capable of shifting.” Ganesha answered. “Now, first up will be Isley.”

“Yes sir.” Isley nodded, walking out to a designated spot. “Now do you want my normal shift or my… other shift?” He asked. “As well as for my cousin?”

“Yes.” The Indian hero nodded. “It's to show that Quirks have a way to change and even improve on said transformation.”

The stoic teen nodded and took a deep breath, before he transformed with a rather strong whinny like a war horse…and he practically looked like one too. His breed looked like a Shire horse, due to the fluffy feathering around his wrists and now hoof-like feet, he was easily two feet taller with the build that promotes such a breed, though strangely his fur and mane were silverish in color.

“Huh, a Shire horse…” I hummed.

“Now, please use your quirk.” Ganesha said. “And don’t worry, this area is secluded so you have total anonymity. Only the eleven of us are able to witness this.”

“Yes sir.” Isley nodded, as they took a deep breath.

I felt the ground start to shake as he activated his quirk, his Yoki looking like a purple aura around him as his body started to change, his body cracking and the fur falling off, turning more into a strange looking bio-metal as he started to grow, his body elongating as his top half looked more like a strange mannequin with his head but no mouth and his eyes were pure white, his back growing wing like protrusions that looked more like they were meant to stab someone than flight, his lower half becoming that of a mythical centaur, as all around his body was pure silver. “Whoa…” I muttered.

“ This is my full release form, the Silver King. ” We all heard Isley ‘say’, his voice much deeper and reverberated even as we had to stare up at a twenty five foot tall creature.

“This is… amazing !” Ashido said in shock and awe.

“What does this form do for you?” I asked. “You explained before that Yoki can increase your physical capabilities, but what does this form do?”

“ I can only control myself as long as I am in my Zoanthrope form, but this form gives me the full totality of my Yoki abilities, as I am capable of shapeshifting my arm’s into whatever weapon I so choose, ” He started, as he changed his left arm into a kite shield and his right arm he grew a greatsword that he wielded one handed. “ I am also capable of using my ‘wings’ as piercing weapons, I gain a rather strong healing factor, and overall I am at my strongest and…most vulnerable.”

“Why vulnerable?” Ojiro inquired.

“It’s because we haven’t mastered this ability yet.” Teresa answered. “It has a horrible stamina drain on us, as well as if we use this power without our Zoanthrope form, or if our timer runs out, then we’ll become mindless monsters that…causes some problems.”

“ Plus being twenty five feet tall can be a bit…imposing as it were. ” Isley answered.

“I mean, it could be worse.” I brought up.

“Alright, Isley, you can turn back now.” Ganaesha said, as Isley slowly turned back into his Zoanthrope form, then back to his human form, the teen lightly stumbled as he got his bearings.

“Still need to train so I don't get exhausted…” Isley grumbled.

“Next, will be Tsuyu Asui.” Ganesha stated.

Tsuyu nodded and walked over to the circle. “So, how am I supposed to do this kero?” The frog girl asked curiously.

“I need you to close your eyes and feel your inner beast.” Ganesha said, as she nodded and did just that. “Feel the spirit within, the energy, the power, imagine your in your natural habitat and let the world know your strength.”

As Ganesha finished that, Tsuyu let out a rather strong frog croak that kicked up some dirt as sparks did fly, and while Tsuyu didn't change into an animal like me or Isley…she…uh…

“Thunder thighs with hips that don't lie!” Ashido cheered, as…that was true, Tsuyu’s body did grow maybe half a foot, her upper body seemed a bit more toned but her legs…legs for days , her ‘beast’ form making her legs thicker, stronger, hips wider, all made for what frogs do best with leaping.

“Izuku, you're staring~.” Teresa teased as I blushed brightly and looked up, seeing the frog girl also blushing and poking the tips of her fingers together bashfully.

“T-this is…new kero.” Tsuyu said bashfully.

“The strength of a frog is in their tongue and legs, and you exemplify that proudly young Tsuyu.” Ganesha stated, looking proud that she could do it. “Now tell me, what did you feel when channeling your animal spirit?”

“A pond, like the one my family goes to often, kero.” Tsuyu said. “Tranquil…buzzing with life and I just…let out a loud croak.”

“Good, to understand your beast you must understand the nature surrounding them, even just the area they live in.” Ganesha nodded. “Now, next up is Teresa.”

“Right.” She said with the same faint smile as she walked up to the circle past Tsuyu who managed to transform back to normal. As she got to the circle, Teresa transformed into her Swan form, her body covered in pristine white feathers, her wing’s were apart of her arms unlike dad’s who had his arms and wings separate, her neck wasn’t long but she did have a rather…elegant and pretty face. “And here I am, the lovely Swan.” She said with an equally dramatic flourish with her wings.

“Hmm, that's strange, how come my dad has his arms and wings separate?” I asked, looking to Ganesha.

“There are some factors that can make that happen.” The teacher stated. “The kind of animal, or the mastery of your inner beast.” He answered, and the straightforwardness of it made me think there wasn't much after it.

“Now I will give a minor warning…my full Release form is…strange.” Teresa admitted as she let out her own Yoki…but this felt different, it felt a lot stronger than Isley’s, as the ground started to crack as she changed…but it wasn't like Isley’s, she was reverting back to her human form as she grew two rather angelic looking wings along her back, her legs seemed to look more toned but the backs looked like the skin was being ripped off to show the muscle.

She looked…Angelic…Divine even…

“Be on your guard Izuku.” My panda half told me, which caused me some concern because this was supposed to be a simple training exercise…so why did I feel…scared?

“H-hey! How come you look like an angel?” Mina asked in surprise.

“No idea.” Teresa answered honestly, as she clenched her hands lightly. “My sister has the same Awakened form, even though her ‘mutations’ were hock jointed legs that give her incredible speed, and her left arm became a grouping of six blade arms.” Teresa admitted, raising a hand and a claymore appeared in her hand, the same shape as Isley’s. “And this sword…the true sword is a family heirloom but we copied it with our powers…” Teresa mentioned, as I felt something off…as I looked at Ganesha and he looked… concerned about something.

“You will learn that blades History when the time is right.” Our teacher stated simply.

“So, while I don’t have any of the ‘shapeshifting’ like my cousin there…my fighting capabilities are through the roof.” She said, as a fly started to buzz around her as she raised her sword up…then some strange gray mist appeared and fell to the ground. “Like my ‘Quick Sword’ ability my sister named…anything I choose to use the full strength on becomes naught but dust.” She said, holding her blade arm lightly as that was probably not a good thing to do.

“...I…that shouldn't be possible, you'd have to swing with such force, speed, and precision to cut something at the molecular level!” I said in shock and mild horror.

“Like those HF blades in Metal Gear?” Gojo asked.

“Exactly.” I answered. “She would have to be vibrating her arm and sword at such a high frequency…how was there no shockwave?” I asked, scratching my head in confusion.

“No idea.” Teresa shrugged as she carefully de-morphed into her human form. “It's just…something I can do, and that's probably not even half of what I can do.” She said, trying to walk back but staggering just like Isley.

“Next up, Mina.” Ganesha stated.

“So, it’s just the same as with Tsu?” Mina asked, walking over to the circle as she took a deep breath, her body started to cover itself in a more viscous form of acid as she let out a weird warbly noise that sounded like a leaf being crunched under water, as Mina’s entire form changed into weirdly that of a lamia like form, her legs morphing into that of a slug, her entire lower half showing the telltale sheen of slime, her upper half was still humanoid but bulkier, stronger…and why did it have to be more filled out!? “Huh…this feels weird.” Mina said, looking over herself as she…wagged her slug lower half like a tail. “Oh this is so cute!”

“It’s just two times…it’s a coincidence, their beast forms just boost their physical attributes when they get bigger…” I thought to myself quickly. “Should her legs have fused together like that sensei?” I asked Ganesha.

“There are some Zoanthropes that do have forms like these, either through them being sea life or creatures that wouldn’t normally have legs.” The indian hero nodded.

“Will I also be slow as a slug?” Mina asked. “Cause while I do feel bulkier and could take a punch, I don’t think I’m able to move fast…”

“Well, Slug’s move based on the muscle movements and the amount of mucus they create, so depending on how well you move your lower half, plus how much you use your quirk as more of a lubricant.” I explained, tapping my chin as I thought about it.

“Alright.” Mina said, as she was already trying to move her new lower half. “This is gonna be tough…”

“We will focus on movement and adjusting your physical capabilities soon, right now we are seeing each of your Zoanthrope forms.” Ganesha said. “Now, please revert and next will be Gojo.”

“Alright…” Mina said, as she tried to revert back and with a quick flash she was. “That felt weird…also really glad my clothes weren't ripped…”

“Your training gear was designed by both the Zoanthrope Kingdom and Hidayo Inc.”

“W-wait, Dad’s company works with the Zoanthrope kingdom!?” I asked in surprise, feeling everyone suddenly stare at me.

“Wait, your dad is Hisashi Hisayo? The CEO and Director of the biggest company in history!?” Mina asked in shock and awe.

”Curiouser and Curiouser…” Isley hummed.

“L-listen, can we not have this spread out? People will think I just bought my way into the school or something worse…. gold diggers .” I shuddered, remembering one time I mentioned my dad’s business and so many people wanted to be my ‘friends’...little did I know they immediately abandoned me when I mentioned me and mom only get enough to live comfortably and for me to get one piece of All Might Memorabilia if it was my birthday or did really good at something.

Ganesha clapped to get all our attention. “Next, Gojo.”

“Right boss.” The son of Godzillo nodded as he walked over to the circle and took a deep breath. “Don’t expect too much from my form guys.” Gojo stated as he let out a roar as a gust of wind slammed into all of us, Gojo’s form bulking up tremendously, as he gained probably two feet taller, he grew a lot bulkier as the spines and spikes along his back and tail grew more defined. “Again, not much of a difference, just looks more like dad.”

“Still cool though.” Mina stated.

“Next up, Ojiro.” Ganesha said, as Gojo reverted and walked back to his spot as Ojiro stepped up.

“So…Brachiosaur huh?” Ojiro hummed, as he took a deep breath. “Gonna be a bit difficult cause we’re not in the dino periods…”

“Just take your time, Dinosaur Zoanthropes can be difficult when dealing with such an ancient and primal animal.” The number two Indian hero answered.

Ojiro nodded, taking a deep breath and getting into a ‘ready’ stance that most karate practitioners used, sparks forming around him as a deep, strange bird song erupted from Ojiro as he shifted, his new form growing at least four feet tall, one and a half feet being pure neck, his tail elongated and his entire form bulked up considerably, a light plumage of gold, red and green fur-like feathers dotted across his body. “Wow…” Ojiro said, his voice sounding deeper than before as he looked himself over.

“Awesome! I see that Dinosaurs really did have proto feathers.” I said in excitement.

“This certainly feels different.” Ojrio admitted, looking over himself and lightly clenching his fists.

After Ojiro turned back, the others went, Orochimaru’s form was more or less a Lamia form, though his Cobra Hood’s eyes managed to look even more intimidating, Aoi’s form was just her normal form but bigger, and… bigger… and Anna’s form was the Ursui Brown Bear… a rather large and bulky Ursui Brown Bear…

“ Hormones aren't something to be ashamed of.”

“Can you please not!?” I mentally whined.

“Alright, now I want you all to practice your form changes at home and during your hero practice.” Ganesha stated, handing each of us a sheet of paper detailing our training regiment. “Your parents and teachers have been notified about these changes to accommodate anything that might change your diets or behavior.”

“How can it change our behavior or diets, Sensei?” Ojiro inquired.

“When first training with your inner beast, there can be changed, with people like Tsuyu and Aoi for example, their Mutation quirks wouldn't affect them at all, but for someone like you or Ashido, two who aren't accustomed to the inner beast, you'll start to feel more of their instincts, wants and needs, it's good that both of you would be Herbivores… some carnivorous ones over the years have been… trying to say the least.”

“I understand Sensei.” Ojiro nodded as the bell rang.

“Now off you go, I hear there's something special planned in your class in particular and you don't want to miss it.” Ganesha said vaguely with a smile, as we all collected our belongings and headed off to class.

“What do you think the surprise is?” Mina questioned.

“I don't know, but it must be something important kero.” Tsuyu stated simply.

All I had was a weird, and bad, guy feeling about this…

-----

“Who are they?” Kirishima asked me as he motioned to my Zoanthropes classmates, who were sitting together and chatting amongst themselves.

“Those are the Zoanthropes exchange students.” I answered. “Why they’re coming with us on this field trip I'm… not entirely sure…” I admitted carefully, looking at each one of them in their hero costumes.

Teresa and Isley had more or less the same costume, a form fitting full body jump suit with armor plating around key points of their body for both defense and mobility, the only differences being the stylized sigils on their collar bones, Isley having more of a specially designed number one in a horse head, , her symbol was the same stylized one in the middle of a swan.

Gojo’s costume delay reminiscent of his father's, but the specially designed glasses made me think he was going for more of a ‘Gurren Lagann’ reference.

Kenji’s looked more like a mix between a Montsuki and a tracksuit, the Montsuki part giving off an air of a peaceful monk with his foldable straw hat that, in it's ‘folded’ state looked like a Tengai-Gasa, which makes sense as he wanted to be more of a ‘stealth and surprise’ kind of hero.

Aoi’s suit looked kind of like Ojiro’s, where it was more or less a martial arts Gi, but with it being a mix of orange, blues and blacks in pretty sure I knew the inspiration for it.

And Anna’s… well, she decided to take her Father's hero costume, the ‘Red Tornado’ which is the fourth ranked Russian hero and me mildly geeking out about that, as inspiration, the Ushanka with a red bear symbol on it, her outfit looking ‘poofy’ like Russian wear but that was actually a well designed, breathable suit that wouldn't make her overheat when not in Russian weather.

“Well, I hope we can be friends with them.” Uraraka admitted as she looked over to them, Teresa giving a quick smile and wave.

“Who cares.” Bakugo grumbled, as a combination of him also being a fan of Gojo’s father and Isley was very swift to show that Bakugo’s pride didn't mean anything… wish it didn't have to come to that, Bakugo's been doing so well…

“Come on man, you gotta admit this is a little weird.” Kaminari admitted.

“It's just a bunch of new people that won't stop me from being number one.” Bakugo stated simply.

“Still…” I muttered, looking back to them all as Teressa saw me, giving a quick smile and a wink as I looked away quickly.

“We’ll answer your questions when we get to where we’re going.” Aizawa sensei answered, not in his sleeping bag but looking over a folder filled with papers, probably to double check the Zoanthrope class but… something about it made me feel antsy, those grumbles and glares I noticed made me think there was something more going on… “Now settle down! We’re almost there!”

“Yes sir!” Everyone said readily.

---

“Whoa! Is this Universal Studio’s Japan!?” Kaminari called out in surprise as we all saw a rather large and filled dome, filled with a forest, mountain range, waterfall and so much more… though the demolished buildings was a concern.

“Flood Wrecks, Landslides, Fires, etc, etc,” We all turned to see… holy crap is that Thirteen!? “This is a Practical Training Area I created, to simulate all kinds of Accidents and Disasters, and it’s name is the Ultimate Space for Jams!” The space suited hero said proudly.

“... Was that a Space Jam reference?” Gojo asked carefully.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Thirteen deflected as easily as she breathed.

“Oh my god it’s Thirteen! My hero !” Uraraka squealed in pure joy, as I was also nerding out over meeting the best Rescue Hero there was.

I saw Aizawa and Thirteen talk for a moment, Aizawa sighing and walking over to a railing and Thirteen got back to it. ‘Now, there’s one or two things you should know… or three… maybe four…”

“... I’m concerned…” I thought at how she kept increasing the number.

“She seem’s to… space out a lot, don't ya think?” I heard one of the other voices say… he punned …

“One I will slap you!” I heard a female voice shouted.

“Can’t slap shit if we don’t have hands!”

“I’ll show you these hands!”

“My quirk is Black Hole, and as the name suggests I have the power to destroy anything with it.” I was brought back to reality after their fighting was sent into the back of my mind as I paid attention again. “And you know I’m a Rescue Hero, so it’s fantastic for getting rid of Debris of any kind to save people, yes?” We all nodded. “But with this power, I can also cause immense harm, killing anyone it comes across if I’m not in total control…” Thirteen said. “Aizawa’s strength test, you learned to respect your Quirk’s true powers, with All Might’s Trial of Battle, I believe you all understood the true dangers of using your quirk against another living being in such a dangerous situation.” Thirteen said, though if she noticed Bakugo stiffen from that statement I’m not sure. “But right now, we’re going to give you a fresh start and have you all learn how to use your powers for the sake of Human Life!”

We all nodded, as I felt rather giddy to learn how to use all my powers to-

“Something’s coming.” My inner beast warned me, as I looked around worriedly, only to see the Zoanthrope class looking over the railing and…

…

Wh-wh-what? That’s Kurogiri’s Warp Gate!?!

WHY’S TOMURA COMING OUT LIKE A HORROR MOVIE MONSTER!?!

“Huddle together and don’t move!” Aizawa shouted immediately, but I didn’t move as I saw… dozens of people walking out of the Gate and… and some black skinned… monster , it’s brain exposed for the world to see as it didn’t look like a human…

“Tomura… why?” I asked sadly as all the Villains… there was at least fifty of them, all probably D list but… but…

“Ah, Master Midoriya.” I stiffened as I turned to see… Kurogiri… with a… “Your mother insisted I bring you a spare lunch if I saw you.” The dapperly dressed mist man said as he handed me a bento box.

“You ruined it, Kurogiri!” I heard Tomura shout angrily. “What Boss Entrance are we supposed to have if you give him a bento!?”

“U-uh…” I stuttered, shakily reaching over and taking the bento. “U-uh… th-thank you?”

“What the hell…” I heard the entire class say at the same time.

“What are you doing here?” Aizawa asked carefully, having put on his goggles before hand and readying his Capture Scarf.

“I have come from my Master to give you these.” He said, pulling out two folders and handing it to Aizawa and Thirteen. “Everything you need is in there… Code ‘Apple Not Far’.”

The two pro-heroes took the folders and looked them over carefully, before they both groaned loudly and sighed. “Alright students… we have a problem…”

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“And why aren’t we just rushing in and kicking these Villains asses?” Bakugo asked.

“Because we have an impromptu lesson on Hero Law.” Thirteen answered. “Now, there have been times where Family members have been a hero and a villain, and depending on the situation it might either be because of a friendly rivalry, or a soul burning hatred for one another that has caused a state or two in America to not… be states for a couple years.”

“So what does that have to do with now Sensei?” Iida inquired.

“Well…” Thirteen looked to Aizawa, who just sighed.

“Because this man here is more or less a butler to Midoriya’s family, and that kid…” He pointed towards Tomura. “Is Izuku’s newly adopted brother.”

“Excuse me what !?” Kirashima asked in surprise.

“I didn’t know you had an adopted brother Izuku!” Mina said in equal surprise.

“Why does he have all those hands?” Ochako asked nervously.

“Enough questions.” Aizawa said. “While Kurogiri and Tomura are safe, we still have fifty C list Villains, two B list and… that monster.”

“Wh-wh-what’s going to happen to us?” Uraraka asked.

“I am sorry, but you will have to endure.” Kurogiri said, as he raised his hand up…

My eyes widened. “Don’t!” I shouted as I lunged and knocked over Thirteen.

Snap!

Everything went so fast… I heard everyone scream, Iida’s quirk igniting as he ran, hopefully to get help, and everything went dark…

…

…

Why is everything suddenly wet and cold? I opened my eyes and… why am I underwater!?

“Don't panic.” Panda me said quickly, as I tried to calm myself down, only to feel something suddenly wrap around my waist a few times and started to pull me up and out of the water, I gasped for air as I looked over, seeing Tsuyu in her enhanced form holding a panicking Mineta.

“Wh-whats going on? Why is Asui so buff? How do you have a butler? What's happening!?” Mineta said in quick succession, the poor guy hyperventilating at this situation… this is probably the first time real danger was thrown his way.

“Calm down Mineta, the worst thing you can do in a situation like this is panic.” I stated, sadly a little harshly but he really needed to stop before he gets himself hurt.

Tsuyu retracted her tongue off of me. “There's a boat there.” She stated, swimming swiftly towards the rescue boat as I swam after her and Mineta.

“Below!”

I looked down, seeing two shark men, one a hammerhead the other a great white, swimming towards us. “Get Mineta to the boat!” I said, taking a deep breath and diving down. “The Shark Twins… the older brother endures the bulk of attacks while the little brother uses his signature ‘Hammer Headbutt’ that can shatter concrete… how did Tomura get these two?” I thought, as these two were actually an and coming Villain Duo.

“Hey bro! The kid of the hour wants to tussle!” The younger brother laughed, how I was able to hear them clearly underwater I'm not sure.

“Then let's see if he's got his sea legs!” The older brother said, darting towards me and throwing a punch towards me.

“Really glad I learned to fight underwater!” The thought cut through my head as I managed to block the attack, but was still pushed back. “Crap, still really strong!”

“We can do four percent without causing injuries to ourselves or our opponents.” The Panda stated, as we were underwater and vibrations could be highly dangerous for anyone, as I started to feel the power coursing through my body as I swam forward and punched the shark, knocking them away, but that grin made it seem like he wasn't affected at all!

“Nice punch kid.” He grinned.

“But are you strong enough for me?” The hammerhead shark shouted, colliding with my gut as I struggled not to gasp underwater, feeling myself launched out and, coincidentally, fell onto the boat, coughing and feeling the sweet intake of air into my lungs.

“Midoriya!” I looked up, seeing Tsuyu rush over to me, her boosted form disappearing as the frog quirked girl staggered a bit. “A-are you alright?”

“Better question, are you alright?” I asked quickly. “This is the first time you've morphed in a combat scenario.”

“I-I'll be fine kero.” Tsuyu answered shakily, as I got up and… oh crap!

I immediately lunged past the two, slamming my elbow into the villains solar plexus, hearing him gasp for sir as I stepped past him, grabbing his arm and doing a complete shoulder throw, landing him on his back as he was sent into a coughing fit. “We need to move, hopefully before the Shark Twins show up.”

“The Shark Twins!?” Tsuyu asked in surprise.

“Wh-who are they?” Mineta asked worriedly.

“We're your worst nightmare kiddies.” We all flinched and turned around, seeing the two getting on the boat with toothy grins.

“Don't expect to get away that easy.” The hammerhead said with a sly grin.

“Keep Mineta safe.” I said, shifting into my fighting stance and letting the energy of One for All, Full Cowling as I’ve come to call it, spark around me. “I don’t know how Tomura recruited you two, but you’ll be stopped here.” I stated.

“Aw~, the kid thinks we’re only working for the brat.” The hammerhead said tauntingly, before the two lifted up their shirt sleeves…

…

Zoanthrope marks… on their left and right arm…

“There’s more things than you know kid.” The great white said, whipping around and smacking me hard with his tail, causing me to step back and cough in pain. “But you’ll learn more when you deal with that group.” He proceeded to jump away with his brother as half the boat got cleaved in half.

“What in the world was that!?” Mineta panicked as I rushed to the side, seeing a dozen villains in the water.

“More villain’s, crap there’s too many of them…” I frowned, looking between Tsuyu and Mineta, Tsuyu was still recovering from her sudden transformation and Mineta… started to get a glint in his eyes even if he still looked panicked. “Mineta, is your quirk Waterproof?”

“Y-yeah, Pop Off can stick to literally anything in any situation.” He said, to prove his point he pulled one off his head and stuck it to the side of the ship. “Only I’m immune to it’s adhesive and it acts more like a spring for me.” He said, as he patted the sphere quickly to show he wasn’t affected.

“Alright, here’s the plan, Mineta I need you to throw as many of those things as you can into the water, Tsuyu, you get us both to safety on my mark.” I explained quickly, charging up Full Cowling.

“And what are you going to do?” Mineta asked, already grabbing off the orbs on his head.

“I’m going to create a whirlpool that’ll drag all the villain’s in with your Pop Off to lock them in.”

The two nodded and we quickly got to work, thankfully the plan went off without a hitch, the villains were all stuck together in the buoyant spheres as Tsuyu grabbed us away from the sinking vessel and leaped us away to safety, and I looked over and while… Mineta was currently bleeding from his scalp since he mildly panicked about everything, he had a look of determination that showed that, past his perversion, was an actual hero with the drive to do the right thing that didn’t involve his perversion.

But… what we saw after getting to safety… was Aizawa Sensei beaten to a bloody pulp… Tomura’s quirk having been used on one of his arms… that… thing overtop him…

“Well well well,” I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as… I saw Tomura kneeling in front of the three of us… h-how was he that fast? He was standing near that creature a second ago! “Sorry ‘brother’, but I need to make a statement for the world…” He said, raising his hand up and slowly, threateningly reaching out to Tsuyu.

“No…” I thought, my body feeling like it was moving in slow motion as I shifted into my Panda form. “No No No No No No No No!!!” I repeated in my mind, but as his hand made contact it… didn’t work.

“Focus Izuku!” I heard my Panda self snap as I threw a ten percent Full Cowling punch against him.

…

W-what? I looked up to see… that beast was standing in between us, it’s stomach where I hit it unfazed…

“Oh no…” I muttered, as the beast grabbed my arm and tried to squeeze my arm, as I gasped at how physically strong it was that I felt my bones strain under the pressure. “How the hell is it this strong!?” I thought in a panic, cause it tanked my ten percent Panda Smash so that would mean it had some kinetic absorption quirk but the only one that’s done this was Dad or All Might…

“ALL MIGHT!!” I heard Mineta cry out in joy as I saw All Might appear… he was… frowning .

I saw All Might suddenly vanish and take down over twenty villain’s in almost an instant, knicking Tomura and getting the Nomu off of us while securing Aizawa.

“The only reason you got nicked young man is because you are related to Young Midoriya.” All Might stated threateningly. “Now go, get Aizawa to a doctor quickly.” He ordered the three of us as we nodded, I picked up Aizawa in a One-Person Lift as I was still in my Panda form and could carry him easily.

“We’ll get to safety right away All Might.” I nodded, as we made our way quickly to safety… but… I looked back and saw steam coming off of All Might just barely… Thirteen held up her hand… he’s at his limit, he was using too much of his power from all those other incidents…

We barely made it halfway before we suddenly heard a rather loud explosion from back where All Might was. “I'm sorry guys…” I managed.

“Go.” Tsuyu said, taking Aizawa from me and Mineta held up his legs the best he could.

“Go, you're the only one I can think of that could handle this.” Mineta managed.

I nodded, seeing them taking him off as I bolted towards All Might and that monster.

“He’s beyond his limit and forcing it.” I heard one that made the dumb pun state carefully.

“Toshi never was one for half measures or doing the safe option.” The woman sighed bitterly as I lunged through the trees and tried to attack the beast that was piercing All Mights wounded side, but Tomura turned into his badger form and blocked my strike.

“Sorry ‘brother’, but we need this statement.” Tomura growled, the hands over his body… again feeling more like it was holding him together as his eye showed… a mix between malice and sadness.

“Why?” I asked sadly, as we started to circle each other.

“There are more important things at work.” Tomura growled, trying to lunge at me but a sudden wall of ice appeared between us.

“Deku! Get your shitty ass out of here!” I whipped my head around and saw Bakugo attacking Kurogiri, as the creatures arm was gone, the flecks of it's frozen and shattered ar-

…

What do you mean it can regenerate!?!

“Brother… what have you done?” I heard one of the voices question weakly.

“I never said kinetic absorption was the Nomu’s only quirk!” I heard Tomura laugh.

“M-multiple quirks!?” I shouted in panic, cause… while technically quirks can have multiple facets to them that it seems like multiple… this…

“Monster…” I heard Todoroki say in horror.

“Given I have an audience.” We all turned to All Might who was getting up, that wound in his side was… rough, but the strength he radiated was… awe inspiring

But… everything seemed to go in slow motion, as I saw All Might and the Nomu lunge at each other… except…

“Five no! His body can’t handle it!” I suddenly heard one of the voices shout in panic.

“His Panda form can handle it for a short burst! We need to stop that thing!”

W-wh-what thing?

Out of nowhere, it felt like my entire being was screaming that something was very wrong , as I felt my right arm lift up and shoot out black etheric tendrils that ripped out of my arm, I let out a panicked yelp as my arm felt like it was on fire ! “Wh-wh-what’s happening!?”

“No time Izuku, we need to stop that thing!” Panda-san snapped quickly, as I felt the weird vines latch onto…

…

WHAT IN THE SILVER AGE COMIC BOOKS IS THAT!?!

“Wh-what is that !?” I heard Mineta shout in panic as I had to agree…

The weird tendrils were wrapped around… what I could only describe as a ‘robotic ninja mole’ as it looked… genuinely like a Zoanthrope Mole, dressed in accurate ninja gear that seemed to have some strange scale like color shifting, but it was all… metallic, but weirdly they didn’t really ‘shine’ like metal… “Wh-what is going on?”

“There you are.” Tomura growled. “Nomu! Kill that bot!”

The creature roared and lunged at the apparent robot, but something felt… very off, as without any warning,  I saw the robot above the Nomu and the thing just… cleaved off both of the Nomu’s arms, it roared in pain as it’s regeneration tried to work, but it was faster, the robot was…

Was…

I heard Mineta throw up and Tsuyu gag at the visceral way it just… destroyed the thing that was made to fight All Might !

“That’s impossible!” Tomura snapped, lunging forward to try and grab onto the bot, but it vanished into thin air as I looked… wh-why was there a the vines!?

Why…

What’s… happening…

“Izuku!” I heard Tsuyu call out but… everything started to get blurry… then everything went black…

---

“You’re lucky your quirk didn’t destroy his arm!”

“His Zoanthrope form let me use it safely without any damage to him!”

“It was reckless either way!”

“What was that Robot? I’ve never seen anything like that…”

“... The Zoanthrope robot, Koryu…”

“Oh god damn it, we’re on that bullshit again?”

“Sadly… they’re on the move, and… with what Tomura said, brother is creating those… Nomu to counter them…”

“Fat lot that did.”

I… I wasn’t sure what was going on… seven people, with another figure of flames flickering in and out. They all turned to me…

“Sorry kid, it’s not your time yet.”

“And… sorry for using my quirk when you weren’t ready.”

I… I don’t know…

Everything faded to black again…

---

I woke up with a start, getting my bearings real quick as I realized I was in a medical bed. “Wh-what happened?”

“A lot happened young Midoriya…” I turned around and saw All Might in his ‘unbuff’ form.

“A-All Might! Where are we? What happened? Is…” I trailed off at All Might raising a hand.

“We’re in a secluded medical room, and… after you passed out, your new brother… threw a tantrum, shouting about the ‘Hidden Boss shouldn’t have been that strong’ and warping away with Kurogiri to talk to his ‘Sensei’ about it… but…” Toshinori trailed off with a sigh.

“But what?” I asked.

“That… was a Bakuryu Bot…” He answered, rather reluctantly by his tone. “I… I don’t know much besides they are based off the ancient Zoanthrope Bakuryu, and they are of such insanely high detail and technology that even I-Island’s top scientists haven’t come close.” He explained.

“How… how do you know that?” I asked nervously.

“I… it’s better I not say when I learned of them…” All Might said carefully, reluctancy thick in his voice as he had this… far away look like he witnessed something terrible.

“Oh…” I said carefully.

“Do you know what that… energy vines were?” All might asked.

“I don’t know… it just came out of my arm without really much of my control…” I said, looking to my right arm and seeing there were bruises were it appeared. “... All Might… have you… ever had voices in your mind? Like… seven distinct ones that seem to know stuff?”

All Might looked at me in confusion. “Um… are you well young Midoriya? I know that your… inner beast already speaks through you sometimes but…”

“No no, it’s… uh… I think one of them mentioned ‘he can’t handle your quirk at this level’...”

“I’m… not sure Midoriya…” All Might managed. “I know it’s a Stockpile Quirk but… I don’t know the length’s of the Stockpile, if past users quirks were also tacked on or not…”

I looked at my hands, wondering what… really is happening here?

“Oh good, you’re both awake.” We both looked to the door and… wait, that’s not Recovery Girl… wait… I’ve never heard of an Axolotl Doctor being around UA? “I’m Doctor Amitsu, it is a pleasure to meet both of you.” The female axolotl doctor said happily, and… well I think the name was a bit on the nose given that the lizard woman did have peach colored skin with red accents on her gills, which had specially made wires filled with water to help her breath since while she clearly did have a mutation quirk to help her live on land, Axolotl’s still needed water to fully breath.

“It’s nice to meet you ma’am.” I nodded.

“You’re not our… regular.” All Might said carefully, gripping his bed sheets.

“I have been informed by all parties involved with your special circumstances.” She said, but what shocked us both was how fast she was, appearing near All Might in a second before she-

“All Might!” I shouted in panic as she literally shoved her fist through his wounded stomach.

“Regrowth Panacea.” The doctor said as they cut off their hand at the wrist, shocking the both of us more as it… her hand regenerated almost instantly!

“Wh-wh-what did you do?” All Might struggled to speak as he coughed up blood.

“Gave you a second chance.” She said vaguely, as the wound she made… was sealing up, All Might suddenly looking… fuller, less skeletal but still thin.

“What!?” I asked in surprise. “Axolotl regeneration shouldn’t work that fast and… and it shouldn’t work on other people right?” I asked in confusion, trying to wrap my mind around what’s happening.

“You’ll learn in time.” She said vaguely, looking over her tablet to get readings. “Hmm, while my Regrowth Panacea is working well, it will still take time for your internal organs to fully regenerate, I’ll give it two days before you’re back to full health.”

“Wh-what? B-but the best healing quirks in the world couldn’t fix this.” All Might said quickly. “Even Regenerative Quirks…”

“That’s because most, if not all, Regenerative Quirks involve the injured person’s own regenerative properties, humans have really slow but really stable regenerative properties to at minimum heal minor to moderate injuries given enough time, Healing Quirks here would take it up to Serious or sometimes Life Threatening, but your injuries were beyond life threatening and your quirk plus the advancements of medical technology have kept you going when the other half of your organs that were salvageable were still beyond healthy.”

“How… how bad were the damages really?” I asked worriedly.

“Enough that it is genuinely a miracle that he’s still standing, let alone working as hard as he is.” She said. “My Quirk does make me an Axolotl, but a funny thing happens with Quirk Factors every few generations, and that is where I have an increased healing factor that I can give to others if given a good portion of my body.” She explained, looking over to me as I flinched.

“Pl-please, it’s just the arm, I’m fine really.” I said nervously, knowing I shouldn’t be scared but… she did literally punch a hole in All Might…

“Have you and your inner beast been working together well?” She asked me.

“Y-yes, we’ve been working together well… still something I need to… figure out with effectively another voice in my head…” I said sheepishly.

“Good.” She nodded. “Now, if you have questions as to why I’m here, because of two reasons, one, is due to your specific needs Midoriya, and two, to fully heal All MIght of his Condition.” She stated, which I suppose was right but… something about it sounded wrong, like she was omitting something.

“That’s… fine enough…” All Might managed, holding his wounded stomach carefully. “Thank you Doctor… does Recovery Girl know?”

“About my abilities? Yes… she was my inspiration after all.” The Axolotl doctor admitted. “Toshinori, you’ll have to stay here for a few days as we check the full affects of my regeneration, while Izuku, you’ll be here for a few more hours to check and see how your arm heals and you’ll be discharged soon.”

“Wh-what about everyone else?” I asked quickly.

“Everyone else is fine, Hound Dog is talking to the students that witnessed the… ‘display’...” She explained carefully.

I shuddered at remembering… how even though the Nomu had a Regeneration Quirk it… it was torn to absolute shreds… “B-but… about the… other thing that happened…”

“We’re looking into it.” She answered. “With what we’re allowed to know… we’ll figure something out.”

I sighed, scratching the back of my head. “I’m sorry for making this complicated ma’am.”

“It’s alright, besides, your dad wanted to make sure you were completely safe and healthy after the event.” She stated, which peaked my interest.

“Dad knows about the incident?” I asked in surprise.

“Yep, and that’s all I can tell you about.”

“Why is that?” All Might asked, just as curious as I was.

“Because of things that are… sadly a bit beyond even the Number 1’s paygrade.” The doctor said, which surprised the both of us. “But that’s neither here nor there, All Might, get your rest, Izuku, you’ll be met with Recovery Girl in a few hours to get your arm checked and discharged, then off to Hound Dog with you.”

I nodded, as I just… had a lot to think about… what were those vines? Why did I have that feeling of pure danger that… wasn’t like my normal senses or even my Panda senses?

“They are the other voices.” The Panda admitted.

“Listen, it’s not time for you to understand kid, Five was really desperate to protect you and Four jumped the gun.” I heard the youngest, One I think, tell me carefully. “If it wasn’t for your Panda half, you wouldn’t have an arm… you aren’t ready for the Truth.”

“But… why can’t I know?” I mentally asked.

“Because your body can’t handle the strain, it’s a miracle my Black Whip didn’t rip your arm to shreds.” I heard the more gruff voice tell me. “So drop it kid, you won’t learn until you can use… thirty percent by yourself.”

“... When did this get so complicated?” I thought worriedly.

“That’s the life of being a hero kid.” The woman from before said softly. “Especially one that rushes into danger to help others.”

---

An unknown location

“They’re moving too fast.”

“I didn’t think they’d send a Bot this soon, they should have stayed in the background.”

“What caused them to suddenly show up?”

“Either they were personally interested in the USJ or they were aiming for someone.”

“Izuku was the one that ‘caught’ that thing but it escaped easily and tore the Nomu to shreds.”

In the hidden room, unknown to so many, there was a man who was more focused on the video of the Panda… reacting as if he had a quirk and the quirk that caught the Bakuryu Bot… the man felt a twist in his heart as he knew those quirks… he knew them all too well… “My son…”

---

I was… honestly really distracted, my mind on so many things as I tried to figure out how to use more of One for All without hurting myself and… what all this is about…

“You okay Deku?” I flinched as I looked over, seeing Ochako looking concerned for me.

“Y-yeah, I just… have a lot on my mind.” I admitted nervously.

“Yeah, what we were told about what we missed… it must have been awful to witness.” Sero admitted.

“It… it was…” Mineta said nervously.

“But… we’re working with Hound Dog to work through it.” I admitted.

“And those weird vine’s kero?” Tsuyu asked, which earned me a quick glare from Bakugo.

“Um… I’m still trying to figure that out…” I sighed. “But my arm is doing okay thankfully, Dr. Amitsu is a really good doctor.” I admitted.

“Dr. Amitsu?” Kaminari questioned.

“She’s the new doctor for UA.” We all turned to see Aizawa Sensei, who was wearing a double cast and had at least some bandages on his face where he was most injured. “If your wounds are more serious that even Recovery Girl can’t handle, she’ll be there.”

“What quirk does she have that it beats Recovery Girl ?” Kirishima asked in surprise.

“She’s an Axolotl Mutant, but her specific mutation has increased her regeneration capabilities that she can insert her own body parts into a patient to heal them.” I answered, which earned an eye from everyone.

“How did you know that?” Ojiro inquired.

“W-well uh… the injuries All Might sustained from the Nomu were a bit worse than Recovery Girl thought.” I said, which was technically true.

“But enough of that, we have more important things to focus on, and that’s the UA Sports Festival coming up soon.”

Most of the class cheered in excitement at the prospect but I raised my hand. “Sensei, are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked. “After the USJ and the… extreme events…”

“While you have a point Midoriya, this is to show that UA isn’t affected by the events and we’re as strong as ever.” Aizawa stated.

“Hey, what event are we talking about?” Kirishima asked. “We heard about the incident but… what was it?”

“That is something only the Zoanthrope class is privy to at the moment.” Aizawa stated.

“What? Why can’t we know?” Jiro inquired.

“It involves the Zoanthrope Kingdom and it’s investigations, and I will leave it at that.” Aizawa stated, which concerned me even more that this was a pure Zoanthrope problem… though it was a Ninja Mole…

“It must be really important to the Kingdom if they want to keep this more or less a secret.” Jiro admitted carefully.

“So you have a month to prepare yourselves for the Festival, and with that means none of you should be slacking off.” Aizawa stated bluntly.

And with that the day continued as normal, though a few things I did learn was very important throughout the day, from Ochako’s dream of providing for her family was such an incredible and wonderful dream of hers that me and Iida applauded for her, and also how it involved her determination to win the Sports Festival, and I had a talk with All Might about his condition, how even after recovering and looking a lot more healthy, on a specialty diet to get his brand new organs working, One for All was still dwindling, he could only use it for barely an hour at this point which concerned me greatly…

All Might’s body was finally recovering, but the quirk was still fading?

“Sadly it’s due to how much he used it during his weakened state.” I heard… I believe ‘One’ explain. “Plus with the transfer, the ‘core’ of the power was removed so, even though he can buff himself up and have more or less super strength, what he used to do is going to be long gone if he overdoes it too many times.”

“Really? Is it… that simple?” I mentally asked.

“More or less, that battle with the Nomu was still really rough on him, he overstepped his powers and if he kept going it would have been worse… the Doctor’s actions may have put a bandage on the real issue but it’s not going to last.” One explained to me.

“Sadly, infinite stamina does not exist, we exist because Mother Gaea believed herself weak and necessary to give Humanity the power of Zoanthropes.” Panda me explained.

I sighed again, as so much has suddenly hit the fan that I’m not entirely sure what to do.

“Best thing you can do is train kid.” The gruff voice, I think from Five, told me. “Depending on how you do this, you might be able to use my power by the time of the Sports Festival.”

“Are you sure? It’s honestly… a miracle I can even use One for All as much as I can now, without my Panda I would have shattered my bones too many times.”

“I know a guy, and you’re going to need All Might to help.” The woman stated. “Just hope the old geezer isn’t moping about all this.”

“Who do you have in mind?” I inquired, as I was walking home and pulled out my phone.

“Ask about a man called Gran Torino.”

“Hello?” I heard All Might answer his phone.

“Hey All Might, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Nonsense, just grading some work, what do you need?”

“Do you know someone by Gran Torino?” I inquired… though I heard him suddenly coughing I honestly thought that the treatment reverted and he was coughing up blood again. “All Might! Are you alright?” I asked in a panic.

“ Y-yes, I'm fine Midoriya, just… how did you come by that name? ”

“Uh… I'm not sure how to explain… uh… ghosts?” I asked nervously.

“It's… not the worst explanation…” I heard one of them say carefully.

“ Right… I'll… try to get in touch with my old master… and soon I better hear a better explanation cause Ghosts don't… technically exist.”

Right, I remember one of All Mights foe’s Skulker, a man who got inspired by an old ore quirk era cartoon, he was a decent hunter and his ‘ghost like’ abilities helped him in illegal poaching, and Hero hunting…

“Right, I'll… figure out how to explain it without coming off as crazy.”

“ I hope you can young Midoriya, I’ll call you later when I get into contact with him. ”

“Thank you All Might.” I nodded, hanging up as I headed home. “So what’s Gran Torino like?”

“Well, depending on if he changed or not while I’ve been… dead, he is most likely a crotchety old man that will try to screw with you in any capacity, as he is also really tough on students like Toshi.”

“Oh dear…” I thought nervously. “But… he taught All Might so… you gave it to him… will I learn any of your names?” I mentally asked them all.

“Not yet.” The woman said softly. “While I’d love to tell you… you’ll learn in time, there are certain things at play we need to abide by.”

I sighed, guessing that was fair as I got home after the long school day.

“Again, I don't know why that Mole was there, dad.” I heard Tomura say again.

“Did you even sense him?” I hear dad ask.

“No, I didn't know he was there, even in my Zoanthrope form…”

“This is too soon…”

I carefully opened the door. “I'm home…” I said carefully, poking my head in and seeing Dad and Tomura sitting across from each other.

“Oh, hello son.” Dad said, looking a bit more disheveled than he did two days ago when the Incident happened. “Your mother is out with Kurogiri to get something.”

“Do you know what those Nomu are?” I asked carefully.

“They are death row inmates or some of the worse in Tartarus that the government stopped caring about.”

What… shocked me was how… open and blunt dad was. “But… but how did you-”

“It is imperative that you don't know, son.” Dad said, looking me in the eyes with those tired, but caring eyes. “This is on the side of the law that is where the ‘Apple Not Far’ falls under, you stay the hero, Tomura stays the villain until you both work things out.”

“Does Mom know?” I asked.

“Yes, your mother does know, she is the last one I want to upset, trust me on this.” He said, those red eyes getting a far away look as if he's seen things. “There… was never a defined point on what ‘small’ meant…”

Me and Tomura both subconsciously winced and pressed our legs together in sympathy to whoever pissed off mom. “Right…”

“Now, can you tell me what that new quirk of yours is?” Dad asked, making me go stock still.

“I… I genuinely have no idea dad.” I said, which was the truth I genuinely had no idea how or why One for All could do that.

Dad looked at me, those eyes… they looked… older than I thought…

“... This isn’t the brother I know…” I heard One say, which shocked the hell out of me.

“Wait what!?” I yelped, accidentally saying that out loud as I earned a look from dad and Tomura. “Uh… sorry just uh, Panda me said something.” I said sheepishly, lying about who told me a thing but it was still technically true.

“Alright.” Dad said, I’m sure he didn’t buy it but I sighed.

“So the Sports Festival is next month, and I’ve heard from one of my teachers someone who can help train me.” I admitted.

“Who is this person?” Tomura asked.

“His hero name is Gran Torino.” I said, but when I said that the air… felt like it shifted.

Dad stared at me again… getting this steely look as he looked me dead in the eyes… before sighing and getting up. “Hold on, I have… something for him.”

“You know Gran Torino?” I asked in surprise.

“There are… things I’m trying to get set for you my son…” He said, moving over to a wall and… wait, when did we get a secret cabinet!? As he pulled out a blank envelope and brought it over to me. “Give this to him… and… Izuku…” Dad said, putting the envelope in my hands and a hand on my shoulder. “The star’s surrounding the sun that is your mother… no matter what happens, no matter how fast events go… know that I truly love you and your mother… you and your mother are life changing…” He said, tears filling his eyes as he struggled not to cry.

“... Brother…”

“This… this has to be a trick…”

“There’s no way in hell we’re seeing this…”

“I mean… he did try to rescue me…”

I gently hugged dad. “I love you too dad.”

To be continued...

Chapter Text

“Um… I’m not entirely sure this is a good idea all of a sudden…” I said nervously, starting to get cold feet over meeting the teacher of All Might himself.

“Trust me, he knows exactly what he’s doing.” Dad said. “I’ll come pick you up around dinner time, don’t want to have Inko disappointed that you missed eating properly.”

Considering it’s eight right now… that’s twelve hours of being with Gran Torino over this weekend and next weekend… considering what All Might and Seven told me, he is a grouchy old man that will make this really difficult for me. “Well, let’s hope for the best.”

“Love you son, stay safe, and remember to give the man that letter alright?” Dad said, as he and Kurogiri warped away.

I took a deep breath and walked up to the front door, gently knocking on it. “Hello?”

There was a moment of nothing, then the sound of something crashing as I panicked and barged into the unlocked house, seeing-

OH GOD!

I saw the short, white haired old man on the floor, a broken plate next to him and blo-

I sniffed the air, catching a scent out of nowhere.

…

“Ketchup?” I asked in confusion.

“Aw, you ruined the joke.” I heard from the old man, his voice sounding… about as grouchy as I was lead to believe, as he got up and grabbed a rag from the coffee table and wiped away some of the ketchup off his hero uniform. “So, you’re the kid that brat Toshi talked about?” He asked.

“Y-yes sir, and my dad wanted me to give you this.” I said, handing him the letter as he took it rather quickly, but the moment he saw the symbol on it he seemed to go stock still.

I… I don’t know what he said, but I knew it was cursing as he opened it up and read it. The expletives in this foreign language grew to a fevered pitch as he walked over and put it away with the utmost care even if he looked like he wanted to rip it to shreds. “Tell your dad the moment I see him, I’m shoving my foot up his ass and using my quirk!” He shouted angrily at me.

“Wh-what’s wrong sir?” I asked worriedly.

The old man took a deep breath, before sighing and rubbing his temples. “Sorry just… your old man and I go way back… farther than some would think.” He admitted. “So, you're here to train with One for All huh? Only got a month to do it before the sports festival… alright, how much of your power can you use?”

“Um… I’d say about ten percent normally, thirty or so percent with my Panda form.” I stated.

“Surprised you’re a Panda considering…” He said, undoing one of his gloves and showing that he had a Zoanthrope mark, that of a Mole.

“When the hell was he a Zoanthrope!?” I heard Seven shout incredulously.

“I didn’t know you were a Zoanthrope sir.” I said in surprise.

“Well, there’s a lot I haven’t told people about me.” He said. “Names Sorahiko Tornio, or Gran Torino was my old hero name.”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya.” I said readily. “I… haven’t come up with a hero name yet.”

“Hmm, well you’ll figure it out later.” He said. “So, how did Toshi poorly explain your power?”

“Well… he said it was like the Volume on a TV, where I can lower or increase it at will.” I answered.

“Well, better than what I thought he’d say.” Torino admitted. “Now, show me.” He said as I nodded, charging up Full Cowling for Gran Torino.

Gran Torino hummed. “Well, you seem to have a better grip on it than I thought.”

“Also helps that dad was training me in Marital Arts.”

“Oh really? Well then, get your costume on and we’ll see how good you really are.” Gran Torino said with a menacing grin, making me feel like this was a bad idea again…

“A-alright.” I said, rushing to the bath to change quickly.

After changing into my hero outfit, I walked ou-

I reflexively raised my arms up to protect against the strike thrown my way, blocking the kick aimed at my head but I was still pushed back. “Heh, good reflexes kid.” The old man said, slowly falling to the ground from air jets in his feet.

“A propulsion quirk?” I asked. “With compressed air that your feet can generate?”

“Well, less ‘compressed’ and more the air I breathe.” Torino said. “Quirk’s Jet, let’s me ‘fly’ for a limited time and move faster than the eye can track.” He explained. “Now, good reflexes, but can you keep up?” He said, before he immediately shot around the room like a speeding bullet, I rushed to the center of the room cause cornering myself wouldn't be good with such an experienced fighter.

“I can't corner myself, he's probably use that disadvantage to his advantage… alright, he can push air out of his feet at high rates, he can probably turn on a dime if he's still flexible enough to move his legs.” I thought quickly, trying to keep track of him as it seemed he was moving in an erratic way, but everyone has a-

I reflexively dodged with a yelp as he dive-kicked above my head. “Nice tracking, but if you're lost in thought you're gonna get a boot to the head kiddo!” He shouted, already back into his routine jumps.

Those jumps, he's making sure not to connect with anything on the walls… I got it! I immediately turned around and tried to swing at Torino with Full Cowling, but Torino dodged as if expecting it and drove me into the ground. “Quick eyes, analytical, and fast reactions, all good, but no experience.” He said, getting off if me as he went back to bouncing around the room like it was a bouncy castle.

This is… not going to be a fun month…

—

Two weeks passed, and through school, Zoanthrope classes that just restarted in earnest after the Koryu bot incident, and Torino’s training, I'm exhausted .

While sure, I did learn about Danger Sense when I got to 20% power, a quirk that acted kind of like a Spider Sense from the old pre-quirk comic hero, it still was a headache cause I'm so not used to it that even passing by some angry or upset people makes the alarm bells of that quirk go off.

Though… through the weeks, somethings been bothering me, like I felt a spider thread over my hand but nothing was there… though it always felt warm, caring and light, kind of li-

“Mom!” I yelped as I heard her gasp in surprise on something, dropping her knife as I scrambled up from my chair, reaching out in hopes I could reach her before the sharp end of the knife could cut her. The spider thread feeling from before became a lot more apparent, as the knife…

…

…

Uh… why is the kitchen knife floating? “Uh… mom? Are you using your quirk?”

“N-no honey, I was spooked by a fly and I… dropped it.” She said, raising her and and using her quirk, but the knife looked like it was being pulled two different ways…

…

Uh…

“Relax your arm Izuku.” Dad said, rather… sternly as I tried to relax my arm, and as I did one side of the knife started to droop.

“Uh… that… that should be impossible…” I said weakly.

“This isn’t possible…”

“You had a quirk before One for All? How!?”

“This quirk doesn't… feel like his mother's though…”

“I… uh… I don't know…” I said slowly, looking at my hand… it didn't have Full Cowling but… I still felt that thread… I still felt connected to Mom…

“Son, breath.” Dad stated, as I didn’t realize I was hyperventilating… I took a deep breath and relaxed. “What do you feel?”

“I… I feel a thread, like a spiders when you walk past a pillar but it's not there.” I said. “I… feel moms warmth, kindness and love in it and… I don't know how I… I did that.” I tried to explain to the best of my ability cause I sure as hell was panicking at this.

“Does this have something to do with your… quirk?” Mom asked, though that pause did… mildly concern me.

“I… I don't know mom.” I said worriedly. “I was… told I was quirkless before…”

“Did they test your quirk factor?” Dad asked.

“The second toe joint hun, that's all we were told.” Mom said.

Snap!

I whipped my head around and saw the pen dad was holding snap in half. “So they… only trusted the toe joint? That’s becoming less and less of a thing the more Quirk’s crop up, I know at least four people with Quirks that have a second Toe Joint… you always look for the Quirk Factor, even if the Toe Joint is a sign , it’s not perfect!” Dad groaned and put his face in his hands.

“That’s true, like Best Jeanist right?” I asked.

“Yes, there’s a correlation between the toe joint and quirks, but it’s not a causation.” Dad answered. “Details are the make or break when it comes to our lives… now more than ever…” Dad sighed.

“Honey, it’s going to be alright.” Mom said, as I felt like I was… missing some silent conversation between mom and dad.

“... I hope so, love…” Dad sighed. “Well son, looks like we got a new quirk to investigate.” He said readily.

“Right!” I said readily, wanting to move past this… rather tense and sad feeling in the room.

---

And so, the next week was even more murder on me! As me and dad have discovered, my new quirk, Ties That Bind as we’ve come to call it, is a quirk that allows me to use other people’s Quirks if I have a good enough bond with said individual, like Mom’s levitate, Dad’s fire breathing, and Tsuyu’s Frog quirk but only with her increased leg strength which seems strange at first but given this is a brand new quirk and Tsuyu’s is a mutant quirk beggars really can’t be choosers.

With my training in Martial Arts, learning One for All, my new Quirk and all the school work… I was exhausted …

“Alright, we’re taking a break.” Gran Torino said, as I panted heavily. “You’ve been working your ass off these three weeks and the Sports Festival is next week, can you use those ‘new quirks’ you had in mind?”

“Well… kinda…” I said, bringing out Black Whip and carefully wrapping it around my arm. “It’s… a lot different than my other quirk… so much is happening all of a sudden and I don’t get it…”

“Sadly that’s what happens in our line or work, things outside our control just suddenly cropping up one after another.” He admitted. “Your quirk showing up, even after you were told you were quirkless cause the Toe Joint, getting your Zoanthrope abilities, One for All… and I’m scared it might not be enough at the end of the day.”

“How could all of this not be enough!?” I asked in shock, as this feels like I’m a part of some OP Isekai series with all these powers popping up on me over the past year.

“Can’t really say at the moment cause of… important obligations I need to uphold.” The elder hero said vaguely, looking back at the table with the letter I gave him from dad. “Trust me when I say, there are things… monsters out there that are trouble.” He said, but something about those words… he sounded like he had experience.

“... Can I know about one of the things in my near future?” I asked.

Gran Torino looked at me… and sighed. “The Koryu Bot you’ve been told about…” He sighed. “Long ago… way before the Dawn of Quirks, there was a line, Bakoryu wasn’t really a name as it was a Title, passed down through both Ninja Clans, as well as the Mole Clans…” Torino looked at his arm where he had his mark. “Koryu was once said to be such a man… but he joined… villains to get more power, so they did tests on him and before long, rumor has it he was nothing but a liquified corpse…”

“B-but then…”

“The villain’s decided to just create a robot of him, shoved the remains and battle data they had on him and just… went on from there, and soon… we learned of the villain’s… production …”

“There’s… more of them?” I asked, worry spiking in my heart at that.

“Of all sorts of animals… you’ll learn who they are soon enough if they decided to make a move this early.” Torino stated.

Something in my gut told me that… this wasn’t really something Gran Torino wanted to talk about, like this was extremely personal to him and it was some obligation that he was under than for himself. “Things are getting… a lot more complicated than I thought…”

“I never thought I’d see the old man so secretive and… discouraged before.” Seven said sadly. “Tori… what happened to you?”

---

The next week I spent resting, but while physically I was resting, my mind was always ready for studying. I already made three new books about how my new quirk might affect me, how I can activate it, how it really worked and… I’ve been looking up a lot of ‘Social Link’ type things, from Like a Dragon to Persona and Shin Megami Tensei to see if those things had grounds into what I could be doing to make my new Quirk better… and then I also have to figure out how in All Might’s cringy bronze age I’m going to explain this to everyone!?

“Ugh!” I face planted in my desk as it was the day before the Sports Festival and I’m still not sure how to do things.

“What’s wrong, kero?” Tsuyu asked, given that we were in the Zoanthrope Class but we finished the ‘class’ and are using it to study.

“My life is getting more complicated…” I groaned.

“Oh come now darling, it can’t be that bad.” Teresa admitted, though the ‘darling’ bit was a bit of a tease at my expense.

“Because I figured out that I’ve been… confusing quirks.” I admitted, cause I’m sure I’m not allowed to tell people about One for All here. “And that is… my Quirk, my real Quirk, is Ties that Bind.”

“Wait, don’t you have a second toe joint?” Ashido asked.

“Me and my cousins do but we have quirks.” Isley stated.

“Wait, really?” Ojiro asked in surprise.

“Yeah, just because the second toe joint is the more common way to dictate if someone’s quirkless or not, it truly depends on the Quirk Factor that’s in everyone due to how genetics work.” Teresa admitted.

“But my Quirk is Ties that Bind, or Bonding, we’re trying to figure out a good name for it.” I admitted. “But the Quirk works by… basically the bonds I share with either friends or Family, and I’m able to use their quirks.” I admitted.

“Then what was all electric glow you got?” Tsuyu asked.

“That’s from All Might who has been… well, been a personal trainer for me, he’s the one that helped me get strong enough to join UA for an entire year.” I admitted. “The other three quirks were Mom’s Levitate, where I can only levitate small objects,” I demonstrated it with a pencil. “Dad’s Fire Breathing,” I lightly blew out a small lick of flame to demonstrate. “And uh… I’m not sure if it’s due to how new the bond is or not but… I got a part of Tsuyu’s quirk.” I said, getting up and activating Tsuyu’s quirk, seeing my legs get more defined in strength.

“... Dude, what the hell kinda Persona Social Link bullshit are you on?” Gojo said in confusion.

“I don’t know !” I whined.

“Can you crush me with your thighs?” Mina asked, causing me to blush furiously and deactivate that part of my quirk.

“Mina no! Bad!” I whined, chopping the pink skinned girl like Iida would.

“Owe! Izu-chan you betray me!” She whined and held her head.

“But to get back on track…” I took a deep breath. “How I know my quirk is… Active, is by feeling threads on my hands, like those spider threads you sometimes get when walking around.”

“Again, you're not really beating the Persona Protag allegations here.” Gojo admitted.

“It just means he gains strength from those close to him, like me.” Anna said, a tinge of pride in her tone that we have something in common here.

“Yeah but… it’s been driving me up a wall with how things are going, and I don’t know how or why I’ve been doing that one ability, Black Whip that I’ve come to calling it, and little did I know that while training I also learned I now have a Spider Sense, through the Quirk Danger Sense!” I threw my hands up in the air to show how… so confused and done I was.

“Sssoundsss rough buddy.” Kenji admitted.

“Could be worse.” Aoi admitted with a shrug.

“I mean… yes, it actually can be worse…” I sighed, scratching my head. “And tomorrow is the Sports Festival and… I don’t know how my new quirk will react to this…”

“Going to be super fun to show off.” Teresa said with a smile. “You think the crowds would enjoy our full release forms Izy?” Teresa asked with a warm smile to her cousin.

“It’ll depend on how we display it, cause our powers can be rather frightening to those unprepared.” Isley admitted.

“There’s also a small rumor that there will be four extra slots for the battle tournament, to let us demonstrate our talents.” Gojo said. “In case we don’t make it into the actual make it that far.”

“Why would they do that kero?” Tsuyu inquired.

“I think it’s to help display the new Zoanthrope class?” I suggested. “This was a brand new class for the year, so it would be a good way to spread the word, both for the Zoanthropes out there, and also to give a demonstration that there are other heroes out there from other countries that are just as good.” I explained.

“Well either way, we’re not going to let all the other classes off easy even if we’re the only ones in this class.” Gojo stated readily.

That got everyone riled up as I just went back to being lost in thought, drowning out everyone’s chatter as… I wasn’t sure what to do.

I flinched as I felt a hand on mine, looking over and seeing… Teresa? “Come on, none of that overthinking you silly boy.” Teresa said with her signature smile.

“There’s a lot to overthink about Teresa…” I sighed. “So many things are happening all of a sudden and… I’m being warned that it might not be enough.”

“Oh pish-posh.” Teresa said with a wave of her hand. “Me and Isley have been warned about our family history for years but we haven’t thought about it for a day.” Teresa said, which made me whip my head up to look at her. “The point is Izuku, focus on the here and now, there’s no need to worry about what could be, should be, or to be,” She said, before slipping something into my hands. “Focus on what you can do, who you're with,” She said as I looked at the thing… it was a note with… with…

…

Teresa’s Phone Number!?!

“And if you're free this weekend~.” Teresa said teasingly as I felt my face turn bright red as I covered my face in embarrassment, hearing her giggle and walk away.

“What up Izuku?” Mina asked, swiping the note away from my hands. I heard Mina gasp. “You got a date!? Well I can’t have that.” She said, hearing some scribbling and putting the note down, making me peer out and…

…

WHY DID MINA GIVE ME HER NUMBER AS WELL!?

“Mina what in the world!?” I asked incredulously.

“What? Teresa gave you her number, why not mine?” Mina asked, as I felt like… two more people staring at me…

I looked over nervously, and seeing Anna and Tsuyu… walking over and giving me there numbers…

“Are we sure that Izuku’s quirk isn’t Attracting Hot People?” I heard one of the ghosts ask.

“I mean, casanova here apparently got four girls numbers without even trying, so probably some side effect of his quirk?” Another questioned.

“... Why~????” I wheezed in embarrassed based pain.

“Because you’re cute.” Teresa answered.

“You have the Ursine Spirit that I adore.” Anna stated.

“You’re super smart, have helped me make sure my grades are good and are just fun to be around.” Mina said happily.

“... You’re my hero, kero.” Tsuyu said, which made us look at her, causing the frog girl to… cutely blush.

“That is so cute !” Mina giggled.

“B-b-b-but I can’t just choose one of you! That feels rude and… uh… P-plus a-a-aren’t Harems illegal!?”

“Within reasssson, Haremsss are legal if you have around eight, maybe ten.” Kenji said, which made us all look at him. “Pride’sss are legal for Zoanthropesss, and the Harem Lawsss were laxed due to the Dawn Warsss when Japan desssperetly needed the country to have increasssed birth ratesss.”

“And… you know this… how?” Isley asked.

“My mother isss a Marriage Lawyer, ssshe hasss helped many a polyamerousss relationssship work out when hope wasssn’t there.” Kenji admitted.

“And… eight to ten you said?” Mina asked.

“Yesss, within reassson.” He said, opening up his bag and pulling out… wow that is a big binder! “All partiesss mussst agree to these lawsss, be consssensssual to all partiesss involved, and ssso much more.” He said, opening it up and basically giving us a crash course on Harem Laws…

… Today’s weird…

“Lucky! Back in my day Harem’s were still outlawed in Japan even when the Wars were happening.” I heard one of them complain.

“Well, at least the women here were forward enough to make sure you understood there feelings.” Panda me stated.

I hit my head against my desk and groaned loudly as I tried to think about… all this now…

---

Today was the day of the sports festival, today is the day that I have to focus hard on what is to happen, not focus on how Ochako also gave me her number when she learned Mina and Tsuyu gave me them… I also… didn’t hear the end of it from Mom being all excited about how many girls like me and… dad had this far away look like him imagining having more than just Mom would have been a nightmare…

There were thousands of people here in the stands, cameras pointing towards me as I was at the podium to do my speech as I was the ‘Number 1’ in my class and the number one from the entrance exam.

I took a deep breath and started. “I learned early in my life, that people are not created equal, that there are just individuals that are different, stronger, faster, with Quirks or, as I have learned, are born as Zoanthropes.” I started. “But through that, I have learned that it doesn’t matter how flashy or strong your abilities are, how you brand yourself or what have you, it’s about what you do.” I stated. “For most of my life, I was told I was quirkless, and treated wrongfully for it… but there are Heroes that are basically Quirkless, that are risking their lives everyday to protect the people, some for the fame, some for the wealth necessary to help others, and others because that is just the right thing to do.” I stated, earning some murmurs from the crowd.

“My Classmates could be considered Quirkless, as one was born with a Tail , and yet he is still in Class 1A, his dreams and aspirations to be a Hero outweighing the thoughts of his quirk not being ‘Flashy’ or ‘Powerful’, and let’s look at Pro Heroes, like Mirko, EraserHead, even All Might could be considered quirkless because Mirko and All Might just hit things harder, and EraserHead is the world's most dangerous Staring Contest competitor.” I said, earning a round of chuckles from that. “But look where they are, it doesn’t matter if your Quirk isn’t special, or even if your Quirkless , because being a Hero isn’t what your powers are, it’s not about the fame or glory with sponsorships, it’s about what’s in here,” I lightly tapped my chest where my heart was with my fist. “It’s what’s in your Heart that matters, where you move without thinking to aid those in need, to do the Impossible, to be the Heroes you and others truly believe in! To Go Beyond!” I shouted as I shifted into my Panda Form. “PLUS ULTRA!” I raised my fist into the air as I heard the crowd erupt shouting Plus Ultra and earning a round of applause as I deactivated my Panda form and gave a wide smile, heading off towards the others.

“Nice speech kid, are you sure you didn’t get an Aurator Quirk from someone?” One asked.

“OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO SCARY!!!!”

“Nope, he’s just gotten the adrenaline rush like Toshi did back then.” I heard Seven chuckle as I was currently trying not to have a panic attack over saying such things in front of millions .

“I called All Might effectively Quirkless. What is wrong with me?” I whined out loud as my class surrounded me.

“You just called All Might Quirkless!” Kirishima said immediately. “And you used it as a positive ! Manly!”

“You gave all the classes Hope to be even better, from Gen Ed to the Support classes.” Momo stated readily.

“Where did you get that confidence?” Mineta asked. “And how do I get some?”

“I said All Might was practically Quirkless…” I said. “I mean, technically it’s true, he’s got super strength but he still has to throw punches like the rest of us, Mirko… oh god I called Mirko effectively quirkless! She’s going to hunt me down for sport!”

“And the nerd is muttering.” I heard Bakugo as… I kinda was as I muttered so many worries about what the hell I just did.

“S-sorry…” I said sheepishly. “But… it’s more of a ‘spur of the moment’ Mineta, when you are in a situation where you need to be serious and focus hard, you will gain the confidence.”

Everyone nodded as we went off to start the first part of the event, the Obstacle Course, and it was… a lot, considering that at some points people were literally unable to continue either from the giant robots, the actual freaking landmines , or the massive chasm that people have to tightrope over, to the point where sadly Aoi and Kenji were knocked out of the running due to how they were having to save and protect some… over excited students that I riled up…

But there were a lot of teams for the next part was a Cavalry battle, while I had Tokoyami, Hatsume, and Ochako… it was hard fought when everyone was both gunning for me because I had the Million Point headband… and Isley just showing off his Silver Knight form to everyone which caused some small panic due to someone because able to just turn into a massive centaur creature but… well that gave him, Teresa, Anna and Gojo a free win… while I just barely managed to get the win for my team.

As the teams were compiled, Ojiro and a Class 1-B student, Shoda, both decided to step back from the upcoming tournament and two other 1-B students, Ibara and Tetsutetsu, stepped in for their spots, and while Isley was recovering from the Cavalry battle, we had to do a Recreational Games, just a bunch of light hearted games to get the tension out of the air and more or less just… have fun I guess, though what I did to help was basically play up some Circus animal stuff in my Panda form, balancing on a giant ball and doing tricks that made everyone cheer with joy and got all the kids watching excited about it like… hearing people’s happy cheers made my heart swell with joy that even this could bring smiles, like I always dreamed of doing but less ‘villain fighting’.

Though when it came to the battles, it was said that there would be some preliminary rounds, as due to the Zoanthrope Class basically needing the extra slots, they decided to have the four students fight four others, which was Ibara, Sero, Momo and Tetsutetsu.

To say it was one sided was… an understatement, as the matches were Ibara vs Teresa, Momo vs Gojo, Sero vs Isley, and Tetsutetsu vs Anna, and all of them were sadly demolished, from Isely being much faster and stronger than Sero who did his absolute best, Momo not able to create anything that could really stop Gojo’s immense bulk and headrush style of combat, Tetsutetsu was… okay so apparently Anna’s father was a descendant to the once famous Russian Hero ‘Red Tornado’, a bulky man who had a Balance Quirk that let him pull off insane wrestling moves that normal people wouldn’t be able to, as she just put him in all sorts of wrestling throws and grapples that the poor steel quirked teen couldn’t handle.

And Teresa…

I didn’t know Ibara was religious, but considering the ‘crown of thorns’ motif she had and all the praying stances she did while she let her Vine Quirk do the rest… Teresa decided to take that religious part and flew into the air as her Swan form, then balled herself up as best she could before transforming into her Released Form, acting the part as some Angel descending onto the ring, the slow wing beats that let her land on solid ground, the Vines making a path for her as Ibara knelt and praised her as some divine being… only for Teresa to pick her up like a sack of potatoes and put her outside the ring was a tad funny but still…

As I was heading to the arena for my first fight, Shoto stopped me and pulled me to the side, though I’ve never had a one on one conversation with Shoto… his demeanor and how he held himself up made him feel intimidating in a way that Kacchan could never do. “You saw my flames…” Shoto said, holding up his left hand like it was some cursed object.

“Y-yeah, I didn’t know you could use Ice and Fire, that’s a pretty awesome quirk to be able to counter the negatives of overusing one side or the other.” I admitted.

“I was overwhelmed.” Shoto stated. “I broke the promise I made to myself… of not using my flames… but when you used your Quirk, that ‘Full Cowling’ you’ve said… it reminded me of something, when I saw All Might use his quirk on that Nomu, before the… mole bot killed the thing…” Shoto shuddered, which I couldn’t blame him to be honest…

“Uh… back to the quirk comparison uh… why do you say that?” I asked nervously, really hoping that Todoroki wouldn’t figure out the secret here cause that would be super bad !

“The power that came off you was the same as All Might’s, just a little different.” Shoto stated, which made me flinch. “So, Midoriya, tell me…”

“Crap crap crap! This isn’t good!”

“Abandon Ship!” I heard One shout.

“We’re not on a ship, you ass!” Four stated, but then I heard a splash like someone jumping into water.

“When the hell did we get a pool in here!?” Seven shouted, as I was now beyond confused.

“Are you All Might’s Secret Love Child or something?”

I… I stared at Todoroki, his stone face not showing any emotions but… those eyes had the glimmer of coming up with a plausible theory that dad had sometimes… “... The… WHAT!?!” I thought incredulously, hearing all the vestiges and my panda laugh as I remembered a previous conversation we had. “... Wat!?” I asked incredulously. “No! My dad is Hisashi Midoriya, the owner of Hisayo Industries.” I stated, cause while I understand why he would come to that weird conclusion, like… why !?

“Hisayo Industries?” Shoto asked in surprise. “You’re his son?”

“Yes, and please don’t tell the other’s, I don’t want them to see me differently or… some people might become gold diggers because of it.” I sighed.

“Well… my father is the Hero Endeavor, the number two hero, and while All Might might not be your father , you are still connected to him in some way, which gives me even more of a reason to beat you.” He stated, giving me a glare of pure determination and… there was something else behind it… it felt… almost territorial in it’s intensity.

“Todoroki, I think you’re… taking this a bit too far.” I said carefully.

“... Have you heard of Quirk Marriages?” Todoroki asked, which caught me off guard. “Endeavor… he claims it was necessary, that if me or my siblings did get quirks, we wouldn’t suffer from the cold or the heat alone, that his own experience with the Flames wouldn’t cause impromptu harm or damage to us like it did to him… but I know better, he has the drive, the power, and the money to throw around and buy out whatever family he needs…”

“And what if he wasn’t lying?” I asked, earning a glare from Shoto. “I… I don’t know your family history, Shoto, but what if he did genuinely want you and your siblings not to suffer from any side effects that your quirk would have normally?”

“Because of my scar…” Shoto said, putting a hand over his left eye. “Every… every time I saw my mother… she cried, saying that my left side was a curse… and then she poured boiling water on my face… she scared me because she couldn’t stand that I looked like that… that monster …”

“Wh-what?” I asked in shock.

“I was told that Endeavor did care about my mother, from my siblings before… whatever truly happened, then I was told some vague ‘grief breaks people, especially when it happens twice in one life time’...” Shoto shook his head. “That doesn’t excuse his horrible treatment to us…”

I… I wasn’t sure what to say really, if Endeavor was abusive to his family then there’s… a lot to unpack there, but if Endeavor was grieving over something then there has to be a reason for this? There have been a lot of Villains, even Heroes, that did severe things due to Grief… I wasn’t sure what to really say… but… “Todoroki, that quirk is yours , I know there is… a lot of problems surrounding your flames, but if you want to be the best hero, you need to use it… or you’ll only be holding yourself back for no reason.” I stated. “It doesn’t matter if you try to prove your father right or wrong, what matters is that your drive to win is yours … I’m sorry that your life has been horrible, but like I said before… people believed I was quirkless and treated me… worse …” I put a hand on my shoulder, remembering one of the burn marks that thankfully recovered thanks to my doctor… “So Shoto… I’m sorry for your history, but you need to make your own future, if you want to be the hero you want to be, and to work past your father.” I stated, seeing him have a look of contemplation as I started to walk off…

I had… a lot to think about, as we all made our way into the main area and… the less I say about Mineta’s action’s for the cheerleader outfits the better… while they weren’t as terrible as I thought they would be, they were still a bit… too form fitting, and Teresa made it worse by having them do a routine for me … ugh! All I was so embarrassed and only Tsuyu, Mina and Teresa weren’t embarrassed, the rest of the girls from my class and a few others from 1-B were super embarrassed.

But the first round was me versus Shinso Hitoshi, a purple haired teen that… kinda looked about as sleep deprived as Aizawa sensei, I don’t know what his quirk is but Ojrio might have given me a hint, cause he wouldn’t tell me ‘don’t talk to him’ without good reason, he’s not that kind of guy to think he’s better than his peers.

I heard Present Mic tell us the rules of this ring based combat, whoever is knocked out, surrenders or is rung out loses, as I started to stretch in the ring before we started.

“Must be good, having the strength to say whatever you want without any repercussions.” Shinso stated, as I looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t speak Izuku.” Panda Me informed.

“How you got everyone all fired up with that speech, saying that everyone has the right to be a hero even if their quirk isn’t flashy…” Shinso shook his head. “Idealism at best, blatant narcissism at worst cause you truly believe you’re better than everyone because you have a strong quirk.” He stated.

“What’s his problem?” One asked.

I heard the call to start fighting as I started to walk carefully up to him.

“What? Can’t talk all of a sudden? Or are you afraid that all that high and mighty talk was complete bullshit?” Shinso asked, his voice filled with spite and anger but… his eyes were full of pain and loneliness…

I grit my teeth, trying not to talk or be goaded into getting angry as I continued to walk.

“Oh, because your strong you don’t have to talk to us lowly quirk users that are seen as villains, while you get spotlight and desire from everyone .” Shinso spat out.

“He’s wrong! I’m not doing this because I’m popular!” I called out.

“Furry says what?”

“Wha-” I was about to question what he just said before I felt myself go stock still.

“... There is no way in high holy hell you fell for that…”

“I can’t move! What the hell?” I thought quickly.

“Pathetic, acting all high and mighty but then falls for the most basic things cause you’re just a liar .” Shinso growled. “Walk out of the ring.” He told me, and my body shuddered as I turned around against my will and stockily walked to the other end of the arena.

“No, I can’t just lose because I fell for such a stupid phrase!” I mentally shouted, struggling against whatever hypnosis quirk he used on me.

“Look.” I heard one of the vestiges I haven’t heard before, as I looked up and saw seven phantom figures by the doorway, all staring at me menacingly.

“Wh-why can’t I see you?” I thought.

“Your body may be able to handle One for All, but your Mind is barely keeping up with it. Only reason you can use it to such a degree is because of your Zoanthrope biology.” They explained, as I felt enough will power as I shakily raised my fist, using twenty percent of One for All and punching down into the ground, destroying part of the ring and knocking up a bunch of dust and debris.

I gasped for air as I felt myself under control as I rushed out of the cloud, knowing Shinso would be too shocked to do anything, and the expression he made showed I was correct as I immediately grabbed his hand, spun him around and put him in an arm bar behind his back and put a hand over his mouth. “A voice based hypnosis quirk, probably only capable of simple commands.” I said, feeling Shinso’s body tense up as I called him out. “... What a fantastic quirk, made for heroics.” I said, starting to push him towards the edge of the ring. “A power that can help in hostage situations, to de-escalate fight’s, even just having a thief give back what they stole… there’s so many things your quirk can do that so many heroes can’t, and I know you’ll be a great hero Shinso.” I said, before letting go of his arm and pushing him out of the ring.

“Wh-what would you know!” Shinso snapped, turning towards me and glaring, though now that I could tell, he wasn’t using his quirk.

“Because I know you want to be a hero, and I know you will.” I said with a warm smile. “You have a great quirk Shinso, and I trust you’ll use it for good.”

Shinso ‘tsked’ and turned away. “Just another hopeful sap that thinks they know better…” He shook his head and walked off.

“Talk to Aizawa Sensei, I know he’ll turn that frown… well hopefully it doesn’t turn into a coffee addiction.” I said carefully.

Shinso just waved me off as I headed off as well, to give people room for their turns. “... I will never live down falling for the ‘x says what?’ thing am I?”

“Nope.”

“Never.”

“We will remind you constantly.”

“You are a furry.”

“Technically.”

“All of you can suck it.”

The next group of matches were… rough. Mina beat Aoyama rather handily, Mei forfeited her match against Teresa after what basically amounted to a massive infomercial for how good her support items are, even against the strongest person here, Kirishima got piledrived by Anna like TetsuTetsu, Denki didn’t even last a minute against Isley, while Gojo had a tough time against Tokoyami it was still Gojo’s win… and Bakugo won a hard fought battle against Ochako, where everyone was claiming that Bakugo should have ‘taken it easy on her cause she’s a girl’, though… sadly Ochako was going to lose no matter what, cause Bakugo had her hard counter in that his explosion also self-propel himself, but she did her absolute best and that’s what truly counted.

I watched all the fight’s intensely and went through all of it in my mind, wondering who I’d fight and if I should use all my quirks, cause Danger Sense and Black Whip are still something I haven’t mastered yet but are still usable, the quirks with Ties that Bind… well, mom’s quirk might come in handy against Todoroki if I can break off small enough ice chunks, my fire breathing might not fully help, while Tsuyu’s frog quirk just makes my legs stronger but… there was another thread on my hand, but the thread felt… off , something… old, dangerous… hungry .

“Boy.” I suddenly jolted out of all my thought’s as I looked up and… and…

“Endeavor!?” I yelped, seeing the number two hero in front of me staring down at me, his fire ‘facial hair’ lowly flickering.

“... Save my son.” He said coldly.

“S-sa- what?” I asked in confusion.

“Shoto is… in a dangerous situation, with his quirk and… other factors you will learn if you succeed.” He said, starting to turn and walk off.

“H-hold on! I have some words for you!” I said, standing up straighter to talk to him and get some answers.

“I know you talked to Shoto.” He said, turning back to me and staring right into my eyes. “You think I am a terrible person, that it was all about my wife’s quirk… when it’s far from the truth.” He shook his head.

“Then what is it? Why does Shoto hate you and blame you so much?”

“Because he should.” Endeavor answered bluntly. “I may be the number two hero, but I am a terrible person, powerless when it truly counted, and I witnessed my father’s death at your age, and…” He grit his teeth. “Shoto hatred for me shouldn’t lead to him hurting himself, he should be grasping his powers and using them for himself, not this petty game he’s playing that’s slowly killing himself.”

“Why are you a terrible person?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“... Grief does terrible things to a Man, to a Son… and to a Father…” He managed vaguely. “I needed my family to know I’m a terrible, powerless person so that I could work harder to fix my mistakes.”

“But abusing your family isn’t right! Even if-”

“They would forgive me if I didn’t!” He snapped, his flames rising in his anger, but… but his eyes… they showed such deep sadness… he looked on the verge of crying . “And that’s fine , so you need to save Shoto, show him the error of his ways and have him finally be done with me so that he can be the hero he deserves to be.” He stated, turning away and walking off. “And be warned, Shoto may seem emotionless, but he has the Heart of the Lion.” He added as he continued off.

…

“That motherfucker, he’s pulling a Miss Marionette!” I heard Seven shout in anger.

“Miss who?” I mentally asked.

“Same as The Divider.” Fifth stated.

“The Mathematician as well…” Fourth added.

“What silver age villain names are those!?”

“These three have suffered great loss and had grief blind them into doing terrible, terrible things… Something about this Era of Quirks has made grief based action’s sky rocket to the point where so many villains are just normal people that went ape shit because nobody would listen to them or their plights.”

“But… grief shouldn’t be…”

“Kid, Grief already made people do insane things in the past. What do you think people with powers are going to feel when all that power means nothing to what’s causing their Grief?” I heard… I think Three, answered.

I stayed silent as I looked to where Endeavor left… he lost his father, and his son… hmm…

I shook my head and headed to the Arena, knowing that the only way to do this properly was to fulfill Endeavor’s wish and save Shoto from what plagues him. As I entered I heard the roar of the audience met my ears as I stepped onto the stadium, watching Todoroki step in as well, Midnight standing in between us. “I will defeat you Midoriya.”

“... You won't.” I said, slowly getting into a horse riding stance, and readying for my punches. “Because I'm going to save you from your own grudges.”

Todoroki stared at me, his eyes trying to make sure I wasn't lying as he just took a few steps back… and when the battle started…

BOOM!!

I threw my first Full Cowling punch, destroying the glacier that Todoroki tried to throw at me. “He's fast, but his tell is too obvious…” I thought, as every time he tried to use his Ice Quirk his body had this small sheen of frost covering him and the area around him. He threw out another glacier and I just threw out another punch, destroying it as well.

“It's a good thing you learned martial arts, your control is enough to throw out air blasts like Toshi.” I heard Seven comment.

“Yeah, I thought I would need to use more but my training with Gran Torino sure paid off.” I mentally answered, as I kept up my punches and destroying more glaciers thrown my way. “Is that it?” I called out to Shoto, seeing him shivering as frost was covering more of his body.

“Wh-what?” Todoroki asked through his cold, visible breath as I started to walk towards him.

I clenched my fists, knowing I… I need to do this, for Todoroki’s sake! “Do you want to injure yourself this badly to show up your dad or just to placate yourself?” I asked bluntly, punching a forming glacier on the ground so hard I cratered the arena underneath me. “Do you want to overcome the faults of a grieving man, or just be another tally to his dead family?”

“Wh-what?” Shoto repeated in shock, as I moved over swiftly and slapped him.

“Are you going to be a coward and freeze, losing your chances of being a hero, or are you going to show life that you are in control!?” I shouted at him, grabbing onto his freezing hand that he tried to use against me. “Are you going to waste your life on a petty grudge? Or are you going to make your life your own?”

Shoto struggled against my grasp. “You know nothing Midoriya!”

“I was seen as quirkless for fourteen years, treated worse than dirt, and I still made it to where I am now!” I snapped, punching Shoto in the stomach, hearing him gasp for air as I tossed him into the middle of the arena. “It's your Quirk, it's your flames! Stop damning yourself because you can't handle someone else's grief!”

As I shouted those last words, flames exploded from Todoroki, as he lifted himself up and… wait… I immediately shifted into my Panda form as a torrent of ice and fire swirled around us as I heard the loud roar of a Lion .

“You… know nothing !” Todoroki roared in his Lion Zoanthrope form, lunging at me as he swung at me with feral intensity, using his quirk just as messily but I was hard pressed against this all, even with Danger Sense his frantic swings and flaring quirk halves were pushing me really hard. Each swing from his new clawed hands rending the air and always letting out either small blasts of flames or ice at me.

  “Crap, this isn’t good, he looks like he’s lost control!”

“Black Whip kid!” I heard one of the vestiges say, as I raised up my arm quickly and the black tendril rushed out of my hand, slapping Todoroki across the face, stunning him at the sudden blow as I swiftly made my move, shifting into the Bajiquan chinese martial art, sliding my foot forward. “Chan!” I shouted, grabbing onto his feral left and twisting it, earning a yelp of pain from the sudden action. “Sorry about this Todoroki, but I have to do this.” I said, palm striking him in the face strongly, sadly hearing a small crack as I most likely broke his nose, as I let them go as they staggered back, giving me the space to stomp down and do a powerful lunging spear elbow straight into their chest, hearing another crack as I injured their rib cage. “Tetzuzanko!” I shouted, doing another powerful stomp, feeling the ground cracking under the pressure as I pooled energy from Full Cowling and did a powerful Iron Shoulder slam directly into Todoroki, sending him flying straight out of the ring and straight into… cratering the far wall… “Ow…” I muttered nervously.

“And the winner is Izuku Midoriya!” I heard Midnight call out as I let out a breath and demorphed, seeing paramedics rushing over to Shoto and getting him to the infirmary.

“Just… one more battle for me…” I muttered, heading off to get some rest after that nonsense.

“You did good Izuku, I know Shoto will be better after this.” I heard Seventh tell me.

“I… just hope this will help Shoto…” I thought sadly.

“You did the best you can, telling him what he really needed to know… the rest is up to him.” Second stated.

“I hope you're right…” I thought, heading off myself to let the next battle happen, which was Anna and Bakugo…

I winced and held my arm, feeling like the entire thing was cracked. “Maybe I should see Recovery Girl…”

“You have several hairline fractures along your arm.” Panda me stated

“Yeah, Recovery Girl… at least it doesn't hurt as much as I feared…” I thought, heading straight to the infirmary.

---

It was now the semi-finals, me versus Teresa, and Bakugo versus Isley, and I still… kind of gushed over the fact he beat Anna with a Kinniku Buster counter on her Bear Form of all things, and he dubbed ‘Claymore Buster', which was him using his explosions to propel himself and his opponent down faster, and the shock of the explosion makes the opponent flinch in surprise… it was really cool.

But what scared me the most was Isley and Teresa, where Isley and Gojo’s fight looked like a clashing of Titans, and while Teresa’s ‘fight’ wasn't much of a battle, Mei’s support gear was top notch and could have taken out several of the contestants here and she just… played along, breaking out of each with minimul ease even after the elaborate explanation of its strengths, like she was part of the infomercial…

The first ones to go was Isley vs Bakugo, and at first it seemed like Bakugo had the upper hand, with Isley genuinely looking like he was on the back foot… but then Isley started to use his Quirk and flipped it, as Bakugo was suddenly hard pressed as Isley showed a rather… frightening display of martial prowess, using the physical boost his Yoki quirk in tandem to his fighting skills he did not show off against Sero, Denki or Gojo…

Just how strong are they really?

I saw Bakugo get downed again and again, barking something at him as I could clearly see he was getting angrier, and all Isley did was shrug and did something… I saw the ground crack as he started to shift, I to his zoanthrope form, and then into his Silver Knight release form.

We have seen it before, this is my third time seeing it, but… I saw Bakugo’s face… it was the face of someone who got in way over their head, that having such an intimidating and powerful force giving you its unbridled attention isn't something I can even imagine facing… Bakugo… surrendered …

“He’s learning.” Panda me said.

“But… but he gave up! That’s not Bakugo at all!” I thought, seeing him stand up and with his hands raised.

“Sometimes you have to know when to hold em, and know when to fold em.”

“B-but-”

“Izuku, sometimes there are battles you quite literally can’t win, no matter how hard you try, and Bakugo is smart and skilled enough to realize that. He’s proud and stubborn yes, but he’s not stupid and suicidal.”

“I know but… still, seeing him surrender feels… wrong …”

“It means he’s growing as a person.” Seventh said. “It shows that he’s growing, that he’s not letting his ego get in the way of his will to be a Hero and get himself, and others, hurt in the process.”

I sighed, scratching my head in thought as I tried to comprehend this.

“But let’s be real here,” I heard the user of Black Whip say. “He deserves it.”

“Oh yeah, no doubt about that.”

“Agreed.”

“Without a doubt.”

“Why are you all saying that!? Bakugo is-”

“A complete jackass that let his public image get to him and literally torture you in front of people because he thought that’s how he should be, I don’t care if in private he was your ‘friend’, friends don’t do that shit.” First stated bluntly.

I wanted to argue, cause Bakugo has gotten better… he really has…

“Sometimes being better doesn’t excuse their shitty actions kid.” Blackwhip stated. “Forgiveness is a lot more difficult then you’d think, but enough feeling sappy for the blonde brat, you’ve got to face Teresa next.”

“And that scares me… a lot.” I thought worriedly, taking a deep breath and heading to the Arena to face the scariest person I’ve met next to mom and dad.

I went through my head on battle strategies, as I had Black Whip, Danger Sense, Full Cowling, Frog, Telekinesis and Fire Breathing, and my martial arts training… but Teresa probably has equal martial training and her Yoki powers that I… still don’t fully understand. “She has her Swan and Angel form… how the hell am I supposed to actually fight her when I barely know her strengths or weaknesses?”

“Flirt/ Flirt .”

“Why did you all say Flirt at the same time!?”

“Because she’s into you and maybe flirting with her will distract her enough to get some shots in?” First suggested.

“You two look cute together.” Seventh said.

“Dominance you horny teenager.” Panda me stated

I groaned and facepalmed as I stepped into the arena, seeing Teresa in the same tracksuit as everyone else. “Why hello there Izuku.” Teresa said with a smile.

“Hello Teresa.” I said, sliding my right foot back and readying myself for the battle.

“Oh come now, no need to be so serious.” She said, that smile not leaving her face as she stepped back into a weird fencer stance.

“You are a lot stronger than me.” I said, already activating Full Cowling immediately.

“Ready?” Midnight said. “Fight!”

I immediately took the first action, lunging forwa-

“Gah!” I yelped as I immediately ducked to the side and rolled, Teresa somehow having appearing in front of me while I was lunging at her and trying to punch me. “H-how the hell?”

“What? Did you expect me to take it easy on you cause your cute?” Teresa winked at me, getting back into that stance which… now that I looked at it.

“Ballet?” I asked in surprise, seeing her stance was that of a Ballet dancer but somewhat different.

“After one swing and my stance already told you half of my style? My, how observant ~.” She said teasingly.

“C-can you stop?” I asked with a blush, as it felt less like we were fighting and more her trying to flirt with me.

“You’re cute so~, no.” She said, skipping and spinning around towards me, before throwing a strong kick towards me with that centrifugal force.

I dodged quickly, seeing the ground break underneath her foot as she pulled it out. “Her kicking strength is absurd! And she’s not even using her quirk!” I thought, looking back into her silver eyes and seeing they weren’t the feral animal eyes that her quirk had. I immediately restarted Full Cowling and started to throw a flurry of punches and kicks, trying to throw her off balance and get the rhythm of the battle from going completely her way.

But even with my increased power and speed, all I got was a faint smile as she dodged and blocked all my attacks, hell she even tried countering through it all, if it wasn’t for Danger Sense I would have been knocked out dozens of times by now as I jumped away and tried using Black Whip, wrapping around her body and holding her tight.

“Oh my~, I didn’t know you were into bondage my sweet little bear.” Teresa giggled, making me blush furiously only for that to turn into dread as her eyes shifted into the feral look of her activating her quirk and snapped Black Whip like it was nothing.

“Oh… uh…” I muttered, before raising my arms up and feeling her punch my arms and sending me stumbling back. “That hurt like hell!” I thought, feeling like my bones were about to break from that punch.

“While I love what your trying to do hun,” Teresa said simply, as she shifted into her Swan form. “I think we should end this.” She said as she released more of her Quirk’s power, turning into her ‘Awakened’ Form.

“I… suppose so…” I said, turning into my Panda form and using Full Cowling. “How much damage would I take if I use 100%?”

“You will shatter your arm still, we can only use 50% without injury.” Panda Me stated. “Are you sure?”

“I… need to prove myself here, even against someone that is so much stronger than me.” I mentally answered.

“Remember when we were telling you that Bakugo giving up against insurmountable odds wasn’t a bad thing? That there are fight’s you can’t win!?” Black Whip told me incredulously.

“It’s like staring death in the face dude! Don’t!” First stated.

“This isn’t a time to do something stupid Izuku!” Seventh stated.

“It’s the perfect time… especially when she wants to date me, I need to prove I’m strong enough.”

“My guy, women that can kill you is hot I know, but let her kill you with her thighs or tits, not with the fucking Claymore!” First stated as she brought out said Claymore from thin air.

“Still gonna try!” I snapped, trying to ignore the horny words as I charged Full Cowling up to 100%, and stepped back to get a proper punch going. “Ursa…”

“How cute.” She smiled, raising her blade up in the air.

“SMASH!” I roared, throwing my punch as hard as I could…

But…

There was now explosion, there was no blast of air towards her… I looked at my hand as it was… held by Teresa’s hand as she whistled. “Wow, needed my whole hand to block that, not many can say that while I’m like this.”

“H-h-how?” I asked in horror.

“Sometimes I ask myself that.” She said honestly, but that same faint smile… “But you are strong my sweet bear, don’t break yourself before things get really fun.” She said before disappearing from my sight, Danger Sense screaming at me that everything is going wrong .

I felt… pain … as I heard fabric tear apart and my own body getting hit repeatedly as I was forced to demorph, but I… I stayed standing even as I coughed up blood, the taste of iron hitting my tastebuds. “... Ow…” I managed.

“My my~, I thought that brief look at your Zoanthrope Mark was good.” I managed to hear Teresa through the pain induced ringing in my ears, looking down and… seeing I was currently shirtless in front of…

“... Why must you hurt me like this?” I groaned, struggling to stay standing even as I felt my entire body turn beat red in embarrassment.

“Because you are adorable, and your embarrassment amuses me to no end.” Teresa giggled.

I groaned, before I fell to my knees as all the pain and cuts finally got to me…

Everything went Dark…

To be continued...