A/N: Re-written as of 07.02.20; now Beta-ed by RottedKarma and Kamil the Awesome! Without them, this would seem less like a coherent story and more like the babblings of a madman, trust me.

15 May 22XX

10:34 a.m. in the Midoriya household

Midoriya Izuku was confused.

By itself, that wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Being four years old, he had a naturally strong curiosity that frequently left him confused from day to day.

Admittedly, this trait had caused him some difficulties already. Kacchan would probably never let him forget that one time where he'd wanted to test whether bees could be tamed and leashed.

They couldn't.

However, this confusion was special with regard to its source not being some new phenomenon around him, but rather…

"Mommy? Mommy, I'm jelly!"

Midoriya Inko was crying.

By itself, that wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Being someone who naturally turned on the waterworks quite easily, she found herself crying frequently about anything sad or joyful.

However, this crying was special in the way that its subject was not something she'd come across on a daily basis. After all, there's only one time your son manifests his Quirk.

And the fact that her Izuku basically looked like an enormous gummy bear did little to dampen her spirits.

"Izukuuu!" she squealed, scooping up her son and spinning him around in excitement. "That's wonderful!"

Her son blinked in puzzlement, looking slightly dizzy.

His whole body, including his eyes and teeth, was vibrant green and slightly translucent, yet his clothing had remained unchanged. He inspected his hands unhappily.

"What's happening to me?" Even his voice sounded a bit jellylike, if such a thing was possible. "I feel strange."

Inko had to physically restrain herself from fully bursting into tears, just in case this substance reacted with water. Heaven forbid that she accidentally dissolved her Izuku out of excitement. Instead, she smiled and hoped that her smile contained even a fraction of the giddiness she felt right now.

"Everything is fine, sweetie." She crouched down and gently ran her fingers through his unruly, gelatinous curls. "That has to be your Quirk!"

Seldom had the face of her boy lit up like it did now. It made her heart go as light as a feather. "I…I…I have my Quirk!" he exclaimed, elation accompanying understanding in the blink of an eye.

Izuku was past excitement and joy, and had arrived in the realms of pure and utter bliss. He had his Quirk. He had his Quirk. He had his Quirk, and his four years old mind was quick to draw the conclusion.

Because obviously, having a Quirk meant one thing.

"I can be a Hero!"

Izuku jumped up and down, so full of energy, ready to take on the world…and let go of the sweet in his palm he'd been holding.

Instantly, the green color vanished, and Izuku flopped onto the floor. Then his skin turned into bright, slightly grained wood. The exact wood that said floor was made of.

Inko's eyes widened as she tried to process what had happened.

That… What…

"Iiizuukuu!"

Her voice sounded even higher than before when she plucked her son from the floor and squeezed him tight, making him squeak. "You know what," she said, determined, "I'm booking an appointment with Dr. Tsubasa right now!" Her face hurt from how wide her smile was, little flowers of joy blossoming in her heart to lift her spirit higher.

Her son had not only gained a Quirk, but an ability like this… Admittedly, she didn't fully understand it nor could she trace it back to anyone in her family. It was bound to open hundreds of possibilities to her son.

She was relieved. Izuku was a late bloomer. Most children in his kindergarten had already discovered their Quirks, and she'd grown more and more anxious when nothing had happened. Her son finally activating his own was something she had wished for since the son of her long-time friend, Mitsuki, had developed his Explosion Quirk.

Katsuki had, according to both his own mother and Izuku, become somewhat abrasive lately, viewing his peers as inferior due to being less powerful than him. Still, now that Izuku had a Quirk himself, surely they would grow closer again. She also held the hope that maybe Izuku would be able to mellow the sweet, but slightly brash Katsuki a bit.

Speaking of which, Izuku, practically bursting with pride and glee, had grabbed the phone. He obviously wanted to tell "Kacchan" about his newfound ability. However, Inko had another idea.

"Izuku?" Reluctantly, he son tore his eyes away from the screen. Inko held up his shoes. "How about we go and visit Aunt Mitsuki and Kacchan? Do you want to show them your Quirk in person?"

Izuku's smile was as bright as the sun.

11:13 a.m. in the living room of the Bakugo household

"…and if I let go of it, I instantly get back to normal!" Izuku proudly demonstrated his Quirk using a cotton bag. "I can do it in just a part of my body, too!"

"That's…pretty fucking great!" Bakugo Katsuki's fiery eyes lit up. "Can you do that with anything? Like, you think you could transform into a diamond?"

Izuku hesitantly nodded. "Probably. So far I only did it with a WakuWaku and the floor. And the bag of course."

Said bag rested in his arms, looking every bit as unassuming as it was. Izuku concentrated and awaited the tickling but definitely not unpleasant sensation that came with the activation of his Quirk. He had practiced during the drive, giddily giggling to himself while changing between cotton and jelly repeatedly. A moment after, his arms had taken on the exact same dark brown of the fabric they were holding.

"So, you emulate the molecular makeup of the material you touch and then reproduce it in your body?" Mitsuki inquired. Izuku blinked. Laughing, she rephrased, "Your body becomes a copy of the material that you touch?"

The boy nodded excitedly. "I think so, Auntie. Well, I don't know yet if it's as strong as the original is, but…" He pulled at his left arm, and it stretched slightly. "I became cotton!"

Katsuki grinned, his eyes filled with fire. "Alright, Deku! Then you'll become my sidekick when I've got my own Hero agency! Then you carry a diamond with you everywhere and get everyone out of a collapsing building while I kill the villains!"

"You won't kill anyone, brat!"

"Don't tell me what to do, old hag!"

"Not in this tone!"

"Shut your trap! I talk how I want to!"

Taken aback by the sudden change in the two Bakugos, with a resigned Masaru trying to reconcile them, Izuku whispered, "Mommy? Do you think they will change, someday?"

"Well," Inko answered hesitantly, "I got to know Mitsuki at college, and she remained more or less the same over the years…"

"Anyway, Deku," Katsuki continued as if he hadn't just shouted at his mother. "I hereby demand you as my future sidekick! So from today on, we'll prepare for our Hero routine!"

"Okay, Kacchan!" Izuku agreed, eyes sparkling with admiration. He felt nearly overwhelmed by Katsuki's change in demeanor. The way he was looking at him and suddenly saw more than just the useless Deku, looking at him with something like appreciation, looking at him exactly the way he'd always wished him to.

"Boys…" Inko cautiously interrupted, "Don't you think it's a bit early to…"

"Oh, c'mon, Inko. Don't be such a spoilsport," Mitsuki chided good-naturedly – well, as good-naturedly as Bakugo Mitsuki could get. "Besides, it's not as if they'd listen to you right now."

True. Katsuki had already started to drag Izuku towards his room, announcing that they'd now think up one hell of a training regimen – and don't be such a crybaby, Deku! Inko, suddenly quite tired, rubbed her face. "I can't escape the feeling that this won't end well…" Masaru seemed inclined to agree with her.

"Ah, rubbish," Mitsuki said dismissively. "Don't you remember the bee incident? They quickly stopped making leashes after Izuku came home looking like a bubonic plague sufferer, didn't they?" The blonde woman grinned. "And besides, Katsuki's so fixated on being a Hero, I'd be a fool to try and stop him."

"Yes, but Izuku…he discovered his Quirk barely an hour ago, for heaven's sake!" Inko looked at her friend with worry in her eyes. "And it seems fitting for Hero work, you know? It's a Quirk that suits him and his dreams. And now they want to do a training regimen? They're four…and have somewhat naïve imaginations about how Hero business works, and—"

"No." Mitsuki said in a tight voice. "Inko, they are young, okay, granted. But…well, you probably did notice that Katsuki started to rebel against me?"

Her dry tone could have come off as funny, but Mitsuki's tense posture bespoke her seriousness. "He's dead set on becoming a Hero, and really, why should I discourage him? I wouldn't be able to. The little fucker is as stubborn as they come. Inko, I know you view the whole Hero business somewhat skeptically, but at least in this regard you should try not to patronize Izuku. Let him make his own decisions."

Seeing Inko's hesitance, her expression softened. "I'd never insinuate that you don't want the best for Izuku, Inko. I really wouldn't. But if it turns out that this really is his dream, then don't sway him away from it. Support him. Push him, if he starts slacking off! Well, that's what I'd do anyways." She grinned before continuing, sounding a bit wistful. "And I saw that look on his face, too. Every time he starts rambling about Heroes, he just looks so fucking happy. When he scrawls his notes in that little notebook Katsuki bought him 'so he would stop plastering his room with these fucking post-it's'. That was so adorable, Inko. I wonder where Katsuki got that foul language though…" Inko wisely kept her mouth shut, but Mitsuki did have a point with what she was saying, as much as the worried mother in her wanted to prove her wrong.

"Anyway, I guess what I wanted to say is that if he sets his sights high, then don't make him look at the ground. Buy him some climbing gear and encourage him with everything you've got." Mitsuki laughed. "Who'd have thought it? I actually did a metaphor. So stop being a worrywart, and get yourself some nachos!"

Inko glanced at the crisps bowl and took a few, though she was careful to avoid the salsa. With the Bakugo family's taste for spicy food, it'd probably be extract from some exotic chili breed she had never heard of and likely wouldn't want to become acquainted with more closely.

Not that the precaution measure would have achieved anything, as the unfortunate Inko learned that the salsa was not the spicy component this time. The nachos were.

Upstairs, in Katsuki's room

"Alright, so at nine in the morning, we both meet at that big cherry tree near the woods," Katsuki summarized, scribbling a crooked timetable on his board. The blonde boy had donned a military-style cap and black sunglasses, thoroughly enjoying his role as Sergeant K. "We can take the two extras with us—Fingers and Wings, though they're hardly Hero material. Maybe we should take in one of them as secretary later on." Katsuki laughed.

"You know," Izuku objected tentatively, "they do have names."

"Do they?" Katsuki made a point of exhibiting his disinterest. "I never bothered to learn them."

"Come on, Kacchan. That's mean."

"Oh, please," he drawled. "Fingers got as much character as you'd expect from someone with a Quirk like his, and Wings would be much more interesting if he wasn't so fat that he can barely fly. Now stop being such a deku, Deku."

With that topic resolved—in a Bakugo-esque fashion—they continued fine-tuning Katsuki's "HOMICIDAL EXCERSIZE ROUTINE OF EXPLOSION SUFFERING" or HEROES Plan, which had Izuku vibrating in excitement.

Actually, excitement was an understatement; Izuku was delirious with joy. Not only did he get his Quirk (he had a hard time restraining himself from starting to analyze it here and now), but it actually seemed really cool—changing his body to things he touched was something he hadn't heard of before at all.

And, most importantly and the main source of his happiness, his relationship with Katsuki was restored, practically overnight, which was something he'd never have dared dreaming of. And he genuinely seemed interested in his Quirk. There was no sign of the conceited bully-like Bakugo; he was almost acting like he did before his Explosion Quirk manifested.

"… and after that, we also have to work on our Quirks," Katsuki announced, scrawling "Quirk training" in three of the six afternoon columns. "When's your doctor's appointment?"

"It shouldn't be long until it's due," Izuku explained, trying to remember his mother's exact words. "Tomorrow or in two days, I think. Mommy said the doctor was curious about my Quirk, since it's 'mutated' or something."

"Alright, Deku. You better tell me what you got from your appointment so we can plan our Quirk training," Bakugo insisted. "But we'll start physical training tomorrow anyway, understood?" Izuku nodded fiercely. "Good, because we both want to go to U.A., don't we?" Katsuki proclaimed boldly.

"Yes!" Izuku squealed, on the brink of tears once more.

"But seriously, quit being such a fucking crybaby, Deku. It's a pain in the ass to deal with."

A/N: Alright, this is the first chapter of my first fanfiction. I've been in this fandom for a good while now and decided to try and contribute something myself. I really hope I did the characters justice so far, and I'll try to keep anyone in character. If you find grammar mistakes or typos, please alert (English = not my first language ;-) ).

A/N 2:

Quirk!Izuku

LessAssholy!Bakugo

NoBashing (Save for the occasional Monoma or Earlyroki)

Altered DekuSquad

This story is also about…

a) Giving some of the smaller characters the place in the spotlight they deserve.

b) Not rehashing canon. In my opinion, that's just boring. I mean, come on! This. Is. Fanfiction. We can do what we want. There's a whole sandbox to play in, so why should we walk the beaten path? If you create an AU, you create an AU, so expect alterations and deviations from canon events and backstories.

c) Some chiefly minor OCs, mainly on the Villain side (as we don't have that many villains to work with).

d) Not a quick romance. Romance plotlines are alright, but they can be exhausting to read if poorly executed, and also somewhat impede the main plot if used too extensively. So while I probably will include one at some point in the story, don't expect it in the near future, and don't expect it to be particularly fast-paced.

e) No Slash for Izuku himself. Ties in with d), but I want an eventual romance to feel realistic, and I'm not all that experienced in writing slash, so it'd probably feel awkward. Gay characters in general, though? Will probably happen, but not in the somewhat excessive amounts you see in some other fics, which, in my opinion, is a bit unrealistic.

f) No. Harem. At. All. There is hardly anything I despise more than blemishing female characters by flanderizing them to the point of [insert appropriate label]. Literally every story I've ever read that had a harem in it was written by authors who did not have any idea about how polyamory works, and as I don't possess sufficient knowledge about it, either, it's just not an option. So much for that.

Also sorry for this utterly lengthy Author's Note. Future ones will be a lot shorter.

Constructive Criticism is welcome, flames aren't.

So that's it for today, and remember to go beyond ... PLUS ULTRA (sorry, I love that catchphrase)

Ramses

P.S. Thanks to ILiekFishes for pointing out the problem in the paragraph structure of the dialogue.