Chapter Text
Izuku was 17 when he almost died.
In the past five years, Katsuki and Izuku had both grown up to be strong, fine young men. While Katsuki had been taller for all of their lives, in the past two years, Izuku caught up, and then passed him. It wasn't that surprising, his father was huge, while Katsuki's parents were pretty average height.
More importantly for the two, they had both filled out with muscle. Especially since Stormclaw started taking it easier, the man was using his newfound free time to push his two charges even harder. It wasn't a strange thing for them to show up to school in the morning already exhausted physically.
Not that Izuku minded being worn out at school. They were still being tutored privately, so he didn't worry about falling behind. No, he enjoyed being exhausted because it made it easier to get through the day. Ever since the incident nine years ago, the other students had been much more wary of him. As he grew older, they only became more cautious around him.
No longer was he greeted by every student when he entered a room, nor did he go out of his ways to befriend everyone. They other students knew that he was the son of a former top-ten hero, owned a powerful quirk, and didn't take crap from anybody. But he was nice enough, and would help people with their homework if they asked him and always did his part on group assignments.
Perhaps they were intimidated. He was one of the taller kids in the class, and certainly the most well-built, along with Katsuki. It didn't help that Izuku had green horns poking out of his hair above his eyes and that green ridge with black spikes that came down his neck. In addition, Izuku's demeanor was much more downcast than it used to be. He wouldn't talk much at school, and would be content going through the day speaking to nobody but his best friend. He was almost a completely different person compared to his normal, outgoing self that Katsuki knew so well.
All those years ago, right when Izuku came back from suspension, Katsuki was worried about his friend. He didn't know how the other students would treat him. He was right to be worried, because as it turned out, they all gave him a wide berth. He couldn't blame them too much; It made sense to give space to the guy who knocked out a kid half-again his size with a single, rage-fueled punch.
Katsuki was worried, but he wasn't good at expressing it. He hid it pretty well, or at least he thought he did. That day at lunch, when the two had been sitting on their own, Izuku spoke up.
"You're worried about me now that I've lost all my friends." It was less of a question and more of a statement.
Katsuki just looked over, Izuku was quietly writing in his notebook about a fight he saw on the way to school.
"Don't be. I didn't lose anything of value. They weren't real friends. Not like you."
So Katsuki didn't worry; who could he trust if he couldn't trust his best friend? He let it go, and they continued in their school careers, through elementary, middle and junior high. They came to high school and nothing changed. Kids who didn't know just thought that Izuku was the quiet, smart kid with the muscular body and intimidating quirk. Kids who did know just didn't want to deal with it.
Like he said, Izuku was content with Katsuki, at least for now. He felt that desire, his 'instinct' to socialize with more people, but it just wasn't worth it to try at school. So, he found other outlets. He would spend time at his father's agency, and he would try to get over to his cousin's agency once a month as well. He would talk with the interns and sidekicks there, and the occasional pro hero that had stopped by. Otherwise, he spent nearly all of his time with his parents, Katsuki, and Katsuki's parents. It was a small group, but it was enough for now.
Sometimes, especially when he was busy with homework, he couldn't find a good outlet for his instincts. He would try anything to get them to quiet down for a bit, including socializing with random people he met on the street or in stores. Izuku didn't make any new friends that way, but just the act of socializing helped him to think straight; his father wasn't joking when he said that his family's instincts were powerful. He found new respect for his father, which was an impressive feat all on its own.
When it got too bad, Izuku couldn't resist indulging himself. He would try to hold himself back as much as he could, but he remembered his father's words, that keeping this inside would only hurt him worse. So he let them out in amusing ways when he could. Well, amusing to himself, anyway.
He had a game he would play where he would place anonymous notes around the room to cause chaos, with each note having different handwriting on it so nobody could trace it back to him. Once he got the class to believe that two of the students were secretly twins, another time he got the entire class to plan a surprise birthday party for their homeroom teacher, when it was certainly not their birthday. Then there was the one time he got two of the students who had been rude to him to get into a fight. He felt a little guilty for that one.
Which is why Izuku was so grateful that his father ran him ragged. When he was exhausted, he didn't have the energy to have his instincts bother him. Quirks are physical abilities, after all, and being tired caused them to quiet down for a while. Sometimes though, even his father's persistent boot camp wasn't enough, so he and his best friend came up with a new plan.
There was a beach in town that they decided to adopt. Dagobah beach used to be beautiful, but was now covered in mountains of garbage and scrap piled dozens of feet high. The plan they hatched was a solid one, and it kept them busy when Stormclaw was working and had the afternoons off.
"Dagobah is such an eyesore." Katsuki had said as they were driving past the beach on their way to his house from school.
"Yeah," Izuku sighed. "It's a shame that the city seems to have just forgotten about it. Nobody even attempts to clean it up."
"We could."
Izuku stared at him for a second, he was so tired that he needed to make sure that he heard correctly.
"Us? A whole beach?"
"Sure," Katsuki shrugged, "All Might is always going on about being a hero to your community by doing service like that. He said it in an interview last night, did you not watch it?"
"I fell asleep as soon as we got done training. I was gonna watch it when I got home."
"Well, what do you think?"
Izuku thought for a moment. "I bet I can clear more trash than you can, Kacchan."
Katsuki put his competitive smirk on. "Oh you're on. We'll have that beach clean in no time."
"Besides, carrying all that junk will be good training. I'm glad I thought of it."
"You thought of it, huh?"
Izuku smirked. "Yeah. See, I was watching this All Might interview yester-"
Izuku was interrupted by a backpack flying at his head, and then Auntie Mitsuki yelling at them to calm down.
In the end, they decided to go to Dagobah after school when they could and clean it up. They couldn't go every day, but a couple times a week let them make swift progress, especially with two of them working. Izuku's father proudly supported their initiative, and contracted a local company to take the trash off once the boys loaded it onto trucks.
Today was one of the days that they had free to go to Dagobah, as it turned out. The final bell rang and the two boys walked out a bit behind the rest of their classmates, as Izuku was finishing up some notes in his notebook. Katsuki stretched his arms as they walked, still sore from their morning training. The boys left the school grounds and suddenly were walking in different directions. They both stopped.
"Kacchan, this way is faster." Izuku sighed; he couldn't believe they were having this conversation again.
"Your 'shortcuts' are dumb, this way is way more direct."
"But that way is-" He sighed. "How about we settle this? We race. Whoever loses has to admit defeat and go the other way until we've cleared the beach."
"Deal." Katsuki immediately took off running.
"I didn't say 'go' yet!" Izuku's words fell on deaf ears. He grumbled as he bolted off in his chosen direction.
Izuku's path was more winding than Katsuki's, that's for sure, but it avoided the high traffic areas and major villain hotspots. On a perfect day, Katsuki's was faster, but Izuku's was more consistent. He would just have to run fast and hope that Katsuki got caught in a crowd.
He was so focused on keeping up his speed that he didn't notice the manhole cover in front of him oozing slowly with slime. He ran right over it, accidentally stomping into the sludge. His foot was immediately snagged, tripping him and slamming him face-down onto the concrete path. His backpack flung off of him and scattered everywhere and the sludge started oozing up his leg, engulfing him.
Izuku began freaking out, which wasn't unexpected. He looked down in horror as the sludge covered his other leg and creeped up toward his waist. Struggle as he might, he couldn't break free. He quickly turned his hand into a green claw with deadly-sharp points, and slashed at the sludge. It cut through, but the sludge just reformed and kept moving, unabated.
Just when he thought he couldn't get any more horrified, an eyeball popped out of the manhole, followed by another, and then a sinister looking, tooth-filled grin as well. The twisted face of the villain came into view, grinning wide with malice.
Izuku reached up and tore his shirt off, then managed to lift himself upright. He strained as two dappled green wings sprouted from his exposed back. He tried with all his might, but even with his wings, he couldn't pull himself free.
"I like it when my invisibility cloaks have a lot of fight in them," the villain sneered as he engulfed the rest of his body, beginning to suffocate the teen, "and it looks like you've got a hell of a quirk, kid. Thanks ."
Izuku let his wings fade back into his body, wanting to conserve energy. The sludge was forcing its way down his throat, but he was fighting back. His body strained and struggled the entire time, never submitting. Izuku let his power well in his chest, and exhaled mightily, forcing the sludge out of his throat as a roar of thick, green gas poured from his mouth.
He took a great gasp of air, coughing and hacking. The poison flew into the sky, away from the villain and dispersed.The villain seemed angered, but amused. "Just stop fighting. It'll make it easier for the both of us."
Izuku glared into the villain's sadistic eyes with defiance, his own eyes were glowing a bright shade of green, irises entirely invisible. Scales were forming and vanishing all along his body as he struggled and fought. Rending claws split the villain open but proved futile in the end as the sludge just flowed back together.
'Funny how things work,' Izuku thought as his vision blurred, 'The first villain I encounter and he's basically immune to my quirk. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…'
He tried to use his breath attack again, but the villain was ready for it this time and didn't give him the opportunity.
'It feels like I've been struggling for a while, it must have at least been several minutes!' He was struggling to stay conscious. 'Why isn't anybody helping me? I think… I'm... dying…'
Suddenly, Izuku found himself flying into the air. His blurred vision could make out the roofs of the surrounding buildings shrinking below him.
'Oh, I'm dead. I guess I'm going to Heaven, though. That's good.' He was too delirious to think clearly.
A large hand grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him free from the sludge. He vaguely comprehended that none of his other sense were working, as even his vision had stopped responding. He only remembered the faint sensation of being held when consciousness left him.
Izuku slowly awoke, his head pounding. 'This doesn't feel like heaven. This hurts. Oh, I must have gone to Hell instead. Mom's gonna be so mad.'
A faint noise entering his barely-functional ears made him open his eyes groggily. Above him, a little close for comfort, was the wide, confident grin of... 'All Might ?!'
Izuku shot up and began to hack violently, coughing up pieces of sludge as his brain and senses roared back to full capacity.
"Young man, I'm glad you're okay. I thought I lost you there for a bit," All Might spoke loudly, "What's your name, do you know who you are?" All Might was checking for signs of concussion.
Izuku hacked up a few more pieces of sludge. "C-ca-," another cough, "Can I have your autograph?"
"That's a strange na- huh?" All Might's smile fell slightly for only a moment, before returning, brighter than ever as he began laughing uproariously.
Izuku took several deep breaths, making sure his lungs were fully clear. He stumbled to his feet shakily. "I'm serious! Y-you're my second favorite hero of all time! Right after my dad, sorry."
This caused All Might to laugh again. "And who is your father, young man? He raised a strong kid."
"Stormclaw, A-All Might, sir."
"You're Hisashi's boy?!" The surprise was evident on the hero's face. "I know him well!"
Izuku threw his arms wide in frustration."I know you do! I keep trying to get him to get your autograph, but he always forgot to do it!"
All Might's voice faltered as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we are busy men... sometimes you, uh, forget things."
Izuku took a centering breath and then bowed deeply. "Thank you for saving me, All Might. Can I ask you what happened?"
"You are welcome, Young Midoriya," All Might gave a big thumbs up, "and certainly! Let me regale you with the tale!" All Might stood tall and gestured as he recounted the events.
"I encountered this villain earlier, but he slipped into the sewers. It turns out that this city's sewer system is rather confusing to navigate!" he laughed once, "It seems that in his effort to escape me, he attacked you. So, you have my apologies, Young Midoriya. I am thankful that you are alright."
"Thank you for your concern, All Might," Midoriya bowed politely again, not believing that All Might was apologizing to him, "b-but what happened next? I kinda blacked out. Where's the v-villain that attacked me?"
"Well, you were engaged with the villain on top of the manhole. Once I located the villain, I jumped into action! You two were blown into the sky... along with the manhole cover." He pointed over his shoulder to where Izuku saw the cover embedded halfway in the side of a building. "Once airborne, I pulled you free and blew the villain away!" He flexed impressively, and threw a punch to illustrate his point.
"After I got you safely to the ground, I collected the villain in these handy bottles!" He proudly held two soda bottles aloft, both filled with green sludge.
"Woah, that's so cool!" Midoriya's eyes were wide in admiration and awe. He came back to earth as he remembered his earlier question. "Oh! Uh, about that autograph…"
All Might smiled and tossed him his notebook labeled 'Hero Analysis for the Future No. 15'. Izuku quickly opened it, flipping through to find a blank page. Once he was about halfway through, he was stunned to see a giant 'ALL MIGHT' signature covering two pages.
"Finally!" He literally jumped for joy. "Thank you, All Might!"
"Not a problem, Young Midoriya," All Might's said with his smile shining in the sunlight. "Always happy to meet a fan, especially if he's Stormclaw's son!"
"Oh, I should let Kacchan know where I am. He's probably most of the way to the beach by now." Izuku pulled out his phone and sent a text, followed by his location.
"Well, if there's nothing else," All Might asked, "then I'll be off."
"Wait!" Izuku held out his hand to stop the man. "I have something I need to ask you!"
All Might stopped and thought for a second. "Sure, I have time. But only if you put a shirt on."
Izuku blanched. In his excitement, he forgot that he had ripped his shirt off. "S-Sure!" He pulled out a spare shirt from his backpack as All Might sat down on the curb.
Katsuki was almost to the beach when he heard Izuku's notification sound go off on his phone. He was initially furious that he had somehow lost the race, and whipped out the phone to see what taunt his friend had sent. To his surprise, the message read 'Villain attack delayed me, trust me, you NEED to be here!' The message was followed with Izuku's location, barely five minutes away from where their race began.
He turned around and started jogging back. Katsuki let out a short sound of exasperation. Knowing Izuku, it was probably some small-time thug that got taken down by one of the local heroes. They knew Izuku by name at this point, with how often he found himself at crime scenes. If nothing else, Katsuki needed to go back and drag his friend by the ankle away from the hero or they would never get to the beach today.
"So," Izuku began nervously, "I uh, um."
"Come, Young Midoriya, spit it out."
"You…" he took a deep breath, "youfoughtTerrorflameallthoseyearsagoandIwanted-"
"Woah, woah!" All Might held his hands up to stop the boy. "Slow down! I don't have super hearing. Halfway between those two speeds would be great."
He took another deep breath. "Sorry, All Might, sir. I wanted to ask you about Terroflame."
"Oh." All Might's smile faltered for a second, "He's related to you, is he not?"
"Yeah. He's my father's uncle. My great uncle. And…" Midoriya was hesitating. This was All Might, the number one hero. He was the greatest. He wouldn't judge him, right?
Midoriya sighed and braced himself. He held his arm up and let it grow his green scales. Over the years, they had changed from a dark, nearly black color to a vibrant green the same color as his hair. He sometimes admired them; he liked to think they were beautiful, but what they represented cast a dark shadow over him "And I'm like him." He sounded defeated, ready to have the hero rebuke him.
All Might didn't react with fear or hesitation, nor anger. He barely reacted at all. "What do you mean by that, Young Midoriya. I see you have your father's quirk, and he is a great man."
'Oh,' Izuku thought, 'He doesn't know. That's why he didn't react.'
"I have the dragon quirk, yes, b-but I don't have my father's quirk." Midoriya considered stopping while he was ahead, but figured that he was already committed. "My family quirk is divided into two categories."
He held up one hand. "Metallic dragons are people like my father, and his father. Heroes like Silverlight. The other half is called chromatic." He held up his other hand, the one covered in green scales. "Those are people like Fulgurite, Terrorflame… and me."
"And you're worried that you're going to end up like them?"
"Yes!" Izuku exclaimed, "I am trying my hardest but sometimes…" He sighed again. "You knew Terrorflame, right?"
"Er, In a sense. We did battle three times before I finally brought him in. But that was over twenty years ago, young man."
"What was he like?"
"What was he like?" All Might repeated the question, confused. "Well, he was- is- exceedingly arrogant and full of himself. He refused to submit, even when beaten. He was cruel and terrifying; even those poor souls that he cowed into his service were nothing more than expendable pawns to him." Regret and revulsion was palpable in his voice.
"He was a fearsome foe, and fought with a fury and a spitefulness that is rarely matched. He is one of the most truly evil men I've ever had the displeasure of meeting."
"All Might," Izuku said, voice cracking, "I… I have a villain's quirk, like Terrorflame. Nobody alive knows him better than you, and I'm just… I'm trying my hardest, and all of my friends and family have done nothing but support me, but-"
"Young Midoriya," All Might interrupted, "you seem to be dancing around your point. What are you asking me?"
A single tear escaped his eye. "...Can I still be a hero if my quirk wants me to be a v-villain? If I have a quirk like Terrorflame's?"
All Might paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to be a hero?"
"Yes! More than anything!" Izuku's voice was full of teary-eyed conviction.
"Then of course you can!" All Might started laughing his triumphant laugh. "Young man, being a hero comes from the heart. I know that your family's quirk is... unique in many ways, but it is still just a quirk. You make the choices in your life, not it. So, yes. You can be a hero."
Izuku knew it wasn't that simple. The dragon quirk affected his mind and emotions, how could he ever truly be free of it? He had once thought it was that simple, but over the past five years, his instincts have done nothing but get stronger. Every day he doubted himself more, every day it was harder to resist.
All Might saw that doubt in his face and spoke again. "Nothing can change the desires of your heart, Young Midoriya. As long as you stay true to that, nothing will keep you from your dream."
He had been told things like that before, but hearing it from someone that wasn't his family, someone like All Might, someone who knew Terrorflame… it made all the difference in the world.
Izuku started to cry. He had really hoped to keep that from happening around All Might, but he's his mother's son in the end. All Might was right. He wanted nothing more in his heart than to be a hero, and nothing would change that. He would take this damn quirk, and do as his father told him. He would bend it to his will, and make it work for him , and not the other way around.
"T-thank you, All M-Might."
It took Katsuki a good ten minutes to jog back, and by the time he arrived, he was confused again. If there was a villain attack, where was the crowd? He was almost to the street corner that Izuku had sent in his message and there wasn't a single person around. He wheeled around the corner, seeing his friend casually sitting on the sidewalk.
"Oi, Izuku! What the hell are you do-"
Katsuki stopped. Izuku wasn't sitting alone. In fact, he was sitting next to someone that he recognized.
"Oh hey, Kacchan!" Izuku called out to him, "Come meet All Might!"
This was probably a dream, Katsuki reasoned. Why else would he come around the corner into some forgotten walking path to find his best friend casually sitting next to the number one hero and his idol, All Might.
"So, I figured out that the villain was hiding on the third floor..." All Might was apparently telling Izuku stories, because sure, why not?
"Oh! Hello, young man!" All Might called out to him. Him . "You must be Young Bakugou."
'Okay Katsuki, act cool.'
"Yeah."
'Nailed it.'
"Young Midoriya here was telling me that you two are hoping to become heroes! It's always good to meet the aspiring champions of our future."
"Come on, Kacchan, don't just stand there!" Izuku waved him over. Katsuki looked at his friend, and noticed that it looked like he had been crying.
This got Katsuki to finally move his feet. He slowly walked over to the two, doing his best to look aloof. He was pretty sure All Might would be fooled, but he had doubts about his friend.
"Come on, sit down! All Might was just telling me about that ice villain he took down last month." Izuku's smile was in danger of coming off of his face.
Katsuki plopped down next to his friend. He tried to keep his scowl on, but his face wasn't having it. Eventually he just gave in to the smile.
"Right, where was I?"
In the end, they spent almost an hour talking to All Might. Eventually the hero had to go and turn the sludge villain in to the police, so he stood up to leave.
"It was a pleasure talking to you young men," All Might gave them his big thumbs up, "I'm sure I'll be hearing great things about you very soon. I assume you two are aiming to attend UA?"
"Yes, sir!" Izuku responded with eagerness.
"You went there," Katsuki said, smirking, "so there's no better place for the next top two heroes to go."
"Oh?" All Might raised an eyebrow. "Those are lofty goals. You boys better be ready to try your hardest."
"Every day of our lives." Katsuki said confidently, punching his hands together to set of a small puff of smoke.
"Oh, one more thing before you go, All Might," Izuku knew he was pushing it, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, "Why are you here in Musutafu? Your agency is in Minato, Tokyo and-"
"Young Midoriya," All Might stopped him before he got started. "You know as well as anybody that there are some things you can't tell others, especially when you're a hero."
"Yes, of course." Izuku quickly bowed in apology. "I can't thank you enough for what you told me and the time you spent with us."
"It's the least I could do, Young Midoriya. It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Young Bakugou." He gave them a salute, before gripping the bottles with the villain in them firmly and leaping into the sky, soaring off over the skyline.
"Woah," was all Katsuki could say. His smirk failed to contain his grin again.
"Yeah. Woah." Izuku was also smiling like an idiot. Part of him was wondering why All Might had been so willing to spend time with him; perhaps it had to do to that mysterious event five years ago. But in the end, most of him was just glad to have met the man in person.
Izuku stood tall, remembering what he had said to him.
"Nothing can change the desires of your heart, Young Midoriya."
Notes:
Whew, the longest chapter yet! Once again, I can't thank you guys enough for your support. I love all the comments that I receive, keep them coming!
Next chapter we finally get to UA, or at least the entrance exam. See you then!