The Kitsune Hero, Foxfire

by ChewieCookies

Summary:

Orphaned at the age of ten by a villain attack, Akitani Izuku doesn't need to wait long for a young couple to find and adopt him, so he considers himself incredibly lucky in that regard. The only catch is, they've been torn from their home universe, and are as quirkless as he is. However, quirkless in this case does not equal powerless, and his father, Uzumaki Naruto, has just the solution to his son's quirklessness.

Enter Kurama. Big, fuzzy, and packs a punch. Disguised as a sentient quirk, the nine-tailed fox spirit, split in half a second time, will work to ensure his new partner's safety and success, and grow fond of the other meatbags he encounters along the way. Together, Izuku and Kurama will take the world by storm!

Chapter 1

The Kitsune Hero, Foxfire

 

Chapter One

 

A/N: Here we go again. Hope this one does well, too.

 

Mustafar Province, Year 2342

 

A young, green-haired, freckled teen sighed in exasperation. "Kacchan, you can't just go calling everybody extras. Quirks that are useless for heroism aren't useless for everything! Takano-kun, for example, would make a great police officer or PI with his skyseeker quirk!" the boy scolded.

 

Taking a half an instant to think, Katsuki ended up agreeing with his friend. "Fuck, you have a point. YOU EXTRAS SEE! THIS IS WHY I HANG OUT WITH THIS GUY! Friggin' nerd can out think all of us even without an intelligence quirk!" the ash-blond exploded.

 

Rather than correct his best friend of five years, Akitani Izuku simply rolled his eyes, then looked out the window. Five years ago, just about. That was when his life changed, for better and worse.

 

A terrible villain attack had taken the life of his mother, who had been out of town for business. Several city blocks had been levelled, and details about the villain and the fight itself were scarce, as if the world itself was frightened by the event. Before Auntie Mitsuki or Uncle Masaru could come take custody of him, and they'd tried, he'd found out, searching for him for weeks, he'd been whisked away to an orphanage.

 

He'd been on the roof of the orphanage, about to end it all, when he met them. He was still in awe at how casually his new parents just appeared beside him and pulled him away from the ledge, before nodding to each other, apparently deciding immediately to adopt him. They talked him down gently, even if his father was a bit bad at it, and got the paperwork filed straight after.

 

Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki were a strange couple, and a normal one. Normal in that they were just like everybody else, trying to make their way in the world and deal with the hand that life had dealt them, and different in that they simply weren't from this world. They'd been escaping from the moon of their home through a wormhole, figure that out, when the wormhole collapsed on them and spit them out here, in modern day Japan.

 

Apparently lacking a way to return to their home, they were at the mercy of the UN for a while, and still are to some extent. A power they have in their bodies, called chakra, is genetic, and could cause an upheaval similar to the one that occurred when quirks first came into being. As it is, they were allowed to live here, and given false identities to prevent people from questioning their existence, but they were restricted from making their own children until further notice.

 

While Izuku knew for sure they resented not being allowed to have kids the old fashioned way, he also knew for sure that they absolutely adored him. Their frequent requests to hang out with him, even to this day, were evidence of this. They took great pleasure in doting on him and one another, to the point that there was actually a viral video out there of the three of them just being happy and goofing off in a park.

 

It was titled 'Family of Cinnamon Rolls.' He'd never watched it, due to the embarrassment that ensued from becoming internet famous. Regardless, he adored his parents right back, and always made sure to spend time with them at least once a week. He may have kept his mother's maiden name out of respect for her, but in his heart, he is also an Uzumaki.

 

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts when a pair of soda bottles smacked him on the head, one after another, having somehow fallen from the sky. Katsuki, having become startlingly protective of the verdette after his mother's passing, naturally kicked the dang things like they'd insulted his parents, threatening to blow them up if they tried again.

 

The bottles, or rather the villain inside of them, took offense to that, and exploded at them, missing Katsuki but engulfing Izuku.

 

"Oh, thank goodness! I have a nice, medium-sized invisibility suit now! You're seriously helping me out, kid. What a hero…" the villain said menacingly as it began forcing itself into several of his orifices at once.

 

Katsuki blinked. "Dang, kinda wish I had some fucking popcorn. Dumbass villain, do you have any idea what you're doing?" the red-eyed boy asked, a feral grin spreading across his face.

 

From within Izuku's body and even his soul, a deep voice spoke. "You woke me up, vermin, and you did so by threatening this boy's life. Were I not bound by the laws of the land, you'd already be vaporized," the chilling voice said menacingly.

 

A red aura began emerging from Izuku's body, flushing the invading villain from him and burning it all at once. "What the fuck?! You burned me, you fucker! I'll kill you!" the mucousy evildoer shrieked.

 

"Good luck doing that while fighting All Might, moron," the voice taunted, before the aura turned into the form of a clawed hand and pointed upwards.

 

The villain looked up and groaned. "Not again…"

 

"Downtown SMASH!" a heroic voice roared from above, and with a swipe of a hand from above the alleyway, the villain, along with much of the trash, was flushed out into the open, where All Might quickly dealt with the former, bottling the villain up once more. "Apologies! I should have made certain this renegade was more secure when I caught him earlier! Stay safe out there, everyone, and thank you for the help, young ones! Consider a career in heroism!" the largest ham in Japan exclaimed happily before rocketing off to who-knows-where.

 

Katsuki gazed off into the distance where the leaping legend had since vanished, whistling lowly, before turning around and face palming. "Dammit, Izuku!"

 

The verdette in question was babbling a kilometer a minute, vomiting entire paragraphs in seconds as he experienced an ongoing fangasm. "Ohmypants. WegotsavedbyAllMight. Itsucksthatwedidn'tgetanautograph,butwegottoseehiminactionand-"

 

BOOM!

 

"KNOCK IT OFF, MIDORIYA! WE STILL HAVE HOMEWORK TO GET DONE!" the fusterclucking firecracker raged, bringing his friend out of his rambling.

 

"Oh, right. Thanks, Kacchan."

 

"Don't mention it, Izuku."

 

Hours Later, In A Small Home Near UA

 

Toshinori Yagi let out a tiny cough, that thankfully didn't include blood this time, as he took a seat and gratefully accepted his green tea. "Ah, thank you," he said warmly, taking a long sip before setting the cup down gently. "I nearly let down a pair of kids your age today. Thankfully, you youngsters keep surprising me. I get the feeling you're going to have your work cut out for you, young Ochako."

 

Yagi Ochako, also orphaned five years ago, nodded with an excited grin. "Lookin' forward to it, Dad," she exclaimed as she slammed her sparking fists together.

Chapter 2

The Kitsune Hero, Foxfire

 

Chapter Two

 

Months Later, At Dagobah Beach

 

Ochako wiped the sweat from her brow as she grinned proudly at the final pile of trash on the beach. "WROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!" she shouted, proud of her accomplishment.

 

"Wow! I was wondering who's been cleaning the beach! I guess we kept missing each other!" a voice exclaimed from nearby, nearly scaring the girl out of her own skin when she heard it. The brunette whirled around to see a boy with a face covered with freckles and a friendly smile. "Mind if I get the last bit? I don't get to use my quirk for much other than conversation, though thankfully, Kurama's great to talk to."

 

Ochako nodded mutely, distracted by the startling display of adorableness and hunkiness. He had to be breaking at least some laws of physics to be as buff and adorable at the same time as he was. She was brought out of her distraction when an entirely different voice spoke from what seemed like within the verdette.

 

"You just need it small enough to get into that pickup there, right young lady?" the voice said, sounding completely different from the boy who'd first spoken. Again, the hero-to-be nodded, and a red aura seemed to just emerge from her new helper, forming a vulpine shape that was far larger than the boy it came from. The pile of trash was lifted by a pair of clawed hands, and quickly compressed, before the...being...seemed to blink in realization. "Oh, right, it still weighs the same. I should break it into at least ten pieces before i put it on the truck. Also, this young whelp who just realized he's been talking to a pretty girl is Akitani Izuku. As you've probably guessed, I am his quirk, Kurama." the sentient quirk spoke before smacking his user gently.

 

Breaking out of his funk a bit, Izuku blushed heavily. "S-sorry. I just realized we probably made your job harder, um…"

 

"Yagi Ochako. Nice to meet you two! And, no, this actually makes it easier, because with my quirk, this trash can weigh absolutely nothing until we get it to its destination!" the pink-cheeked brunette said with a grin, as she put a hand on the compacted waste, then lifted it like it was nothing.

 

"Amazing…" the verdette murmured softly, pulling a notebook out of nowhere. "It doesn't fly off into space, so that implies there's more at work here than just the removal of its gravity. Are there some telekinetic aspects to this quirk? No way to know unless I spend a significant amount of time with Yagi-san-"

 

"Akitani-kun? Houston to Akitani-kun! Is everything all right up there?" the brunette asked teasingly.

 

"Just give him a quick slap or something. That'll break him out. I'd do it myself, but I don't feel like it right now," Kurama said from within the boy, and Ochako got the feeling that if he were visible right now, she'd see him grinning.

 

Shrugging, the girl smacked the boy with the back of her hand, ensuring she didn't use her quirk on him. "Oh, I was mumbling again, wasn't I? Sorry about that!" the verdette squeaked, blushing heavily as Kurama laughed uproariously.

 

"Oooooi! Ochako-chan! Let's get that last piece of trash put away! Oh, and introduce me to your friend!" a skinny man in baggy clothes exclaimed from next to the pickup.

 

With a grin and a roll of her eyes, the brunette exclaimed, "Sure thing, Dad!" the girl exclaimed, then without a thought, grasped Izuku's hand in her own, pulling the suddenly red-faced boy along with her, as his Kurama started laughing even harder, having pulled back entirely inside the boy so as to not interrupt the show.

 

Upon reaching the man, Izuku was nearly shaken out of his embarrassment, only to be sent blabbering once more by the man's next line. "Ochako-chan, aren't you moving a little fast? You've just met this youngster, and you're already engaging in unprotected hand-holding! I'm not ready to be a granddad just yet, sweetie!" the man laughed, reaching out and grabbing the two teen to prevent them from floating off when the brunette buried her suddenly much pinker face in her hands.

 

In moments, the pair had their gravity restored, the taller man maneuvering carefully to ensure they didn't fall over as soon as his daughter released her quirk, the hunk of trash slamming into the ground with a loud thud nearby. "Thank you for taking time from your training to help my daughter and me with our community service! Tell me, young…"

 

"I identify as male."

 

"Young man, do you also want to be a hero?" the gaunt man asked with a hopeful grin.

 

The verdette nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! My quirk might be a bit frightening at times, but I want to be a hero who lets everybody around him feel safe, just like All Might! I'm hoping to get into UA, and my parents are already talking as if I've already made it in, but I have a pretty good chance of getting into Shikketsu as well if I fail-"

 

"Gah! You talk too much, young man! I'm glad for your enthusiasm, though! You'll get into UA just fine!" the old man exclaimed, blood exploding out of his mouth with a cough at the end of his statement, causing Izuku to panic momentarily.

 

"AH! SIR! JUST LIE DOWN FOR A MOMENT, I'M A UNIVERSAL DONOR-" the verdette rambled as he pulled a portable transfusion kit out of his knapsack before both the skinny man and his daughter stopped him, their respect for him skyrocketing regardless.

 

"I'm fine, young man. A villain attack took one of my lungs, and nearly took my stomach with it. Nothing more can be done to heal me, sadly, but I'd definitely be a lot worse off without my stomach as well!" the man chuckled warmly, patting Izuku's curly green hair. With a grin, the man continued, "Hop in, I'll drive you home."

 

The car ride home was filled with a comfortable silence, Ochako focusing on holding back nausea as she spoke in JSL with her new friend, as Toshinori hummed along with some American songs from a few decades back playing from the media player.

 

Soon enough, the trio stopped at the Uzumaki household, and dropped Izuku off. Grinning at her new friend, Ochako signed, 'See you at the entrance exams, Akitani-kun!'

 

Izuku nodded with a happy smile. 'You too, Yagi-san!'

 

Father and daughter skedaddled, and Izuku entered his home. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!" he called out.

 

"We're in the kitchen, Izuku!" Naruto called out, his grin audible in his voice. The verdette arrived in the kitchen to find his parents smiling knowingly. "We were wondering what was taking you so long to get home," the whiskered blond teased.

 

"And when I activated my Byakugan to find you, you were with a pretty young lady, with an elevated heart rate implying your first crush!" the blunette finished for her husband, a similar grin on her face.

 

Face burning with embarrassment, Izuku let out a squeak of irritation. "Not you guys, too! Her dad teasing us was bad enough! What's with parents teasing their kids!" he shouted, then sat down with a bit of a pout.

 

"You make it too easy! It helps that you're absolutely adorable like your mother!" the blue-eyed shinobi said with a smirk, swapping the teasing target to Hinata.

 

The pale-eyed woman blushed up a storm. "N-Naruto-kun, stop! Y-you're making me blush!" she exclaimed, then after a moment to compose herself, she turned to her cinnamon roll of a son. "Really, though, I'm glad you got to see more evidence of your likability. I'll let Bakugou-kun off the hook, since he and his parents tried so hard to take you in, but I'll never be able to forgive the rest of those kids in your school for doing such damage to your self esteem, or the teachers that should have stepped in!" she said with a voice like steel, her Byakugan activating unconsciously in her anger.

 

"I still kinda wanna just go over to Alderaan sometime when nobody's around, and turn it into a crater. No deaths, no school, no problem," Naruto said with a bit of venom in his voice, his eyes melting from blue to red as the half of Kurama still within him stirred awake.

 

With a nervous grin, Izuku made a placating gesture. "Now now, you two. That'd cause a lot more problems than it'd solve," he said warily.

 

The two grumbled, but dropped the idea of turning the middle school into a crater. The rest of the evening was uneventful, though dinner was delectable, as always.

 

Three Quarters Through The Entrance Exam

 

"OOORRRAAAAAA!" Ochako roared as she lifted a three-pointer that had been targeting a girl who she assumed had an invisibility quirk and threw it into a wall. "You find the weak spot on their backs yet?" she asked, hoping to help the girl who was either invisible or well-camouflaged.

 

"Yeah, thanks for the advice and the save anyway, though! Hope to see you again soon!" the girl exclaimed, before presumably running off to find more bots. She was about to go and fling herself onto a nearby building, before it came crumbling down, forcing her to dodge out of the way. A gargantuan robot, the zero pointer, emerged from the wreckage, and almost distracted her from the shout of pain nearby.

 

"My leg!" Izuku's voice cried out, prompting Ochako to make her way over to the boy, whose lower leg was trapped beneath some rubble.

 

"YOU BASTARD BOT! YOU HURT MY FRIEND!" the brunette roared as she grasped the rubble pinning the teen and chucked it at the mechanical monstrosity's head. Said giant robot then turned its sights on her, and a missile was fired from its shoulder at her.

 

With a shout of frustration, Ochako caught the missile, pushing against it with as much of her gifted quirk as she could safely use. A crack like snapping bone almost cost her her game of tug of war for keeps, if not for a red, spectral hand grasping the missile as well, helping her turn it around.

 

"I WAS TAKING A NAP, YOU OVERCOMPENSATING PUPPET! BRAT! TAKE TWO TAILS AND ANNIHILATE THAT THING FOR ME!" Kurama's voice roared as the red, bubbly aura began surrounding Izuku's whole body, a pair of 'ears' emerging from the aura surrounding his head, and two 'tails' emerging from the base of his spine, alerting Ochako to the fact that his leg had apparently been healed by his quirk.

 

With a grin, Izuku continued where Kurama had left off, helping Ochako turn the missile around. "You dropped this," he said with a slightly manic grin that was made more frightening than normal by the red, glowing eyes and the two red marks on either cheek that seemed to be openings in his flesh, beneath which that red aura was swirling along with some black stuff.

 

Spun right round, much like a record, the missile flew at its owner, who shot it out of the sky with a minigun that looked absolutely tiny on it. The pair of hero trainees were masked from the machine's vision by the explosion, through which a large hand of red aura emerged, grabbing the zero pointer and holding it in place. "Get it, Yagi-san!" Izuku screamed skyward, where the girl had leaped.

 

From the heavens, she plummeted, her arm flashing with pink lightning. "Thirty G...Gravity... SMAAAAAAASH!" she roared, punching a hole straight through its head, and shaking the ground on impact. Seconds later, with a triumphant shout, she tore a hole open through one of the treads and emerged, her right sleeve completely gone, with the arm beneath bright red from the strain of the punch.

 

Izuku grinned cheekily at his temporary teammate, and held up a slightly singed right arm with a slight wince. "Look at that, we match," he said with a chuckle.

 

"Sorry about that, kid," Kurama said from in Izuku's head.

 

"Don't worry about it, Kurama. I know you can't control that aspect of your power yet," the verdette said with an appreciative smile.

 

Ochako blinked. "Wait, Kurama-san can talk to you inside your head?" she asked, figuring out what was going on seconds after the boy seemingly spoke to himself.

 

Izuku nervously poked his fingers together. "Ummm, y-yeah. He and my parents have been acting like your dad, and they're teasing me nonstop about you. My mom saw the three of us with her quirk, actually, and wanted to extend an invitation to you and your father for dinner. My dad, and my best friend and his parents will be there, too," the boy offered nervously.

 

The bob-haired brunette blushed as she grinned at the boy in front of her. 'He's so cute getting all flustered like that!' she thought to herself before shaking herself out of her silliness. "Sure, I'll call my dad after-OHSHIT, THETESTISN'TOVERYET-"

 

BAAAZZ!

 

"THE EXAM'S OVER, LISTENERS! GET CHECKED OUT BY RECOVERY GIRL IF YOU GOT INJURED BEFORE YOU LEAVE! LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYBODY WHO PASSED IN A WEEK! YYYYYEEEEAAAH!" Present Mic screamed over the intercom...Wait, no, he was just standing on a tower in the center of all the training areas and using his quirk.

 

The pair turned to one another and laughed nervously before heading to the bus that had brought them there.

 

That Evening, At The Uzumaki Household

 

After a feast of katsudon, spicy curry, and some homemade ramen for Naruto, the group made idle chatter. "Ah, that was delicious, Uzumaki-san! It's a pleasant surprise to see you again after all these years! If not for you, my stomach wouldn't even be here for me to enjoy this meal!" Toshinori exclaimed with a smile.

 

"Wait, they were-" Ochako began to shout before the questioning looks from everyone reminded her where she was. "Sorry," she said quietly with a blush as she quickly sat down.

 

Hinata smiled pleasantly. "I'm only sorry I wasn't able to save your left lung, apparently, Yagi-san. Our little Izuku lost his biological mother in that attack, coincidentally enough. I thank the stars that Naruto-kun and I gave him a good home, and as always, thank you, Masaru-kun, Mitsuki-chan, Katsuki-kun, for being there for Izuku when work keeps my husband and myself away," the young woman said quietly, her face turning dark before she continued. "If not for the suddenness of that explosion, we could have saved so many more…"

 

Mitsuki, not noticing Toshinori's nervousness or Ochako's growing tears, continued with the conversation. "Yeah, I still hate that those social workers got to Izuku before Masaru and I could, but he's got parents that would definitely meet sweet Inko-chan's approval, I know that for a fa-Honey, why're ya poking me?" she said, interrupted by her husband's gentle prodding, the man gesturing at the brunette in tears. "Oh, fuck. Sorry, sweetie. Someone you love died there too, huh?"

 

Toshinori gently kissed the top of the girl's head before signing to Izuku to take her out back. Soon enough, all three teens had left. "Young Akitani isn't the only orphan who was made that day. My sweet Ochako-chan used to be Uraraka Ochako. Her parents were both nearby for business when that incident in Mandalore City went down," the thin man said mournfully. "As one of the survivors, I wanted to do my part, and sought out any kids who lost parents in that attack who had nowhere to go. Thankfully, there were almost none, and by the time I was out of the hospital, Ochako-chan was the only one not already adopted."

 

The quintet of parents sat in silence for a moment before that silence was interrupted by a feminine shout of rage from the backyard. Toshinori was about to go see what was up when Naruto gestured for him to calm down, as Masaru explained. "Katsuki-kun probably told her how he deals with grief. It's...surprisingly effective, if loud. They'll be fine," he said quietly, Hinata nodding in agreement as the skin around her eyes settled down as she deactivated her Byakugan.

 

In the backyard, where Ochako had started screaming, Izuku and Katsuki joined her, roaring at the setting sun until their bodies tired and their tears dried out. The ash blond ensured his new friends made it back inside, the two having cried and screamed themselves to sleep eventually.

A few tears fell from Katsuki's eyes as he gazed at the two smaller teens. 'I won't let you down, Auntie. And I won't let this girl's parents down, either. I'll be a hero powerful enough that no more orphans will ever come from villain attacks!' the explosive teen thought to himself, his fist turning white as it clenched with the rage of a thousand suns before relaxing and pulling a small blanket over the pair.

Chapter 3

The Kitsune Hero, Foxfire

 

Chapter Three

 

First Day At UA

 

Izuku shuffled his feet nervously as he made his way to Class 1-A, head filled with nervous thoughts. 'What if I can't make any other friends? What if I have to show off what Kurama and I can do at full power? What if they get scared of us?'

 

The hero trainee didn't like to think about it, but when his father had first used the power of Kurama, he had been frightened, and his fear hurt his father horribly. It didn't take long to understand that, even with the blood red chakra cloak, the inability to speak in that form, and the haunting, glowing eyes and mouth, that was still his father and his friend, both of whom cared for him dearly, and they'd taken that form to protect him and the other innocents around them.

 

His father had a stronger form that was also less frightening, but since Kurama had recently split himself to give him a 'quirk', that form was inaccessible at the time. Even with the haunting roars spilling from his maw, and the terrifying form, Naruto and Kurama had worked like a well-oiled machine, stopping many attacks from hitting civilians and tripping their opponents up time after time.

 

The freckled teen didn't fear Kurama one bit. What he feared was the reactions of his classmates when they inevitably saw his most powerful form. He'd eventually be able to take on a golden form like his father's, but until Kurama finished creating a chakra network in his body, his most powerful form was one that wouldn't reassure the people he was saving at all.

 

"Kid, I hear all your worries. Quit it. You'll be fine. I don't know if they'll be in the same class as you or not, but you already have two friends here who have laughed with you and wept with you. If no one else, you'll be able to count on those two to stick by your side. As for the others, persevere, and your actions will speak to their hearts. Remember, I chose to bond myself to you because of the kindness in your heart. Until your dying breath, I will always be your friend," the ancient fox spirit said with an oddly comforting rumble, as if he were purring. "Now, don't forget the cover story for us. If you start fumbling over your words, feel free to have me take over for a minute."

 

Izuku nodded to himself, taking a deep breath and making his way forward again. His partner, no, his friend, was right. "Well, let's break a leg," he said to himself quietly.

 

"Been there, done that, then I healed it. Go get 'em, kid."

 

The verdette opened the door before him, and stepped into his future.

 

"I must insist you remove your feet at once! Our senpais once sat at these desks, and your rudeness dishonors them!"

 

"They're UA senpais, you sorry excuse for a battle droid! They've got thicker skin than that! Hey, Izuku! Get your scrawny ass in here! This fucker's insulting our senpais!"

 

The curly-haired boy sighed in exasperation. 'At least Kacchan's already making friends,' he thought to himself, hearing his tenant chuckle in his head. "Kacchan, stop making fun of him, he's probably as nervous as I am!"

 

The bluenette whirled around, arms chopping robotically as he focused his eyes on the freckled boy. "You're friends with this ruffian?!" he asked incredulously.

 

"Hey, B1! Izuku's got anxiety out the ass! Don't freak him out, or I will punch that perfect jaw of yours crooked! Capisce?!"

 

"Kacchan, cool it!"

 

The ash blond rolled his eyes. "Fine. Consider yourself lucky, Threepio!" he said before sitting down properly, causing Izuku to release a sigh of relief.

 

"Oh my god, you're from that viral video! One of the three cinnamon rolls!" a pink-haired and pink-skinned girl exclaimed, rushing over to the verdette and glomping him, causing him to freak out more than a little bit. "I must've watched that video, like, fifty times the day it was posted!"

 

Blushing heavily at the sudden hug from someone, Izuku stammered, "Y-yeah, that was me with my parents. Th-they'd just adopted me a few months ago when that video was shot. They...still haven't gotten over the newlywed phase, honestly. It's really sweet."

 

"Oh, that makes so many things make more sense! They seemed way too young to be your parents, but if they'd adopted you, your age difference stops being a factor in figuring you guys out! You guys still do stuff like that?"

 

Izuku nodded excitedly. "Yeah, any time they have off, they spend some time with each other, then they hang out with me! I've inherited my dad's quirk, long story there, so he and I practice sometimes. Oh, speaking of, say hi, Kurama!"

 

"Hi, Kurama."

 

The horned girl blinked in confusion. "Did your stomach just sass you?"

 

"I've been around for centuries, and now I've finally achieved my dream of being mistaken for a stomach. No, human, I'm his quirk. And his father's quirk. I kinda just jump from person to person, and now I'm in two people at once, which took a bit of getting used to, believe me. Let me just poke my head out," the centuries-old entity said. Following this, a second, vulpine head made of red chakra emerged from Izuku's left shoulder. "Hi."

 

From a bird-headed boy nearby, a similar entity emerged, formed of shadows and topped with an avian-shaped head. "FUMI! FUMI! LOOK! THERE'S ANOTHER SENTIENT QUIRK IN THIS CLASS!" the shaded being exclaimed.

 

"Revelry in the dark," the brooding teen attached to the excited quirk responded quietly.

 

Kurama looked at the pair for a moment, then grinned. "So, if someone defeats you, does that count as killing two birds with one stone?" he joked with a rumbling chuckle.

 

Boy and bird-quirk blinked as one. "Hey, Fumi! I like this guy! Kurama-san, let's be quirk buddies!"

 

"Sure, I've never hung out with a disembodied bird before," the fox spirit said, then rotated around to look at Ochako, who'd just walked in and was pointing at them.

 

"THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND! NOW THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!" she shrieked, getting chuckles out of several of their classmates.

 

As if summoned by the screaming, a yellow sleeping bag that had remained unnoticed at the front of the room rose, revealing its sleep-deprived inhabitant. "Sit down and shut up," the voice said quietly with such authority that the students simply obeyed out of momentary fear. The man, now fully emerging from the bag, scowled at the class before him. "It took you six seconds to make it to your seats. Sloppy. We'll have to work on your reaction time. My name is Aizawa. I'm your homeroom teacher. Now put these on and head out to the track and field area."

 

At this, the scraggly-haired man produced several bags of gym clothes. "Let's try to get these exercises done quickly."

 

Half An Hour Or So Later

 

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he scored a respectable four hundred meters on the ball throw. 'Thank goodness I was able to get by with just the chakra shroud. If I'd had to get Kurama's cloak involved, or heaven forbid, version two, I would have-'

 

"Do it again. You've got more power in you than that. I wanna see it all."

 

Izuku gulped audibly, and Kurama, always having his back, emerged from it partially. "Our full power form right now is downright terrifying, and he's been freaking out all day about how his classmates will view him when they see it. Have them turn around, and we'll do it," the chakra entity spoke irritably.

 

"No."

 

Boy and tailed beast blinked at the swift response.

 

"It will be good for his classmates to learn sooner than later that a quirk is neither good nor evil, terrifying appearance or no, and Akitani needs to get over that fear of his," Aizawa said, glaring right back at the centuries-old entity.

 

Kurama snarled. A short, silent conversation later, and suddenly, Kurama slammed a massive fist onto the ground between Izuku and his classmates, sending up a swirling cloud of dirt and dust.

 

1-A turned away momentarily, before looking to see their view mostly obscured by the impromptu smokescreen. They heard their verdette classmate scream in pain for a few seconds before a second explosion sounded, with him at the epicenter. A beam of black and red energy sped upwards, and the screams became less human, and more animalistic, sounding almost like a kaijuu. Cracking sounds were heard, and a girl with long earlobes ending in jacks nearly vomited as she quickly got out earplugs.

 

"Why do I hear bones cracking?! Is he okay?!"

 

A loud thud was heard and felt, as a crater formed around where the boy remained obscured, knocking several of the other students off their feet. A clawed hand emerged, covered in crimson and black pulsing energy that gave off a feeling of wrongness. It held itself open before their teacher, who stared impassively at boy and beast, grateful that his student wasn't actually as scary as he'd thought.

 

It wouldn't do well to shatter such a promising student's self esteem, and the glowing eyes and maw that gazed back at him would be a great hit on Halloween. Eraserhead simply handed the ball to the hand with a smirk. The face glowered at him and let out a shriek, before another loud thud was heard, this one a sonic boom from the ball being thrown.

 

The mass of swirling tails, energy, and skeleton swiftly retreated back into the boy, who let out a sound of discomfort as the raw skin on his hands pushed him back to his feet. Turning to his homeroom teacher, the verdette simply asked, "Satisfied?"

 

Eraserhead nodded. "Yup. Two scores of infinity in one class? I'd be stupid not to be. Go see Recovery Girl when we're done."

 

Ochako, who was blinking back tears as soon as the dust settled, went to hug her friend, before a heterochromatic boy with white and red hair stopped her. "His skin's raw. Whatever he did messed it up pretty bad. Touching him right now would be a bad idea," he said softly in response to her glare. He decided to clarify his statement. "You can be near him if you want, but don't touch him."

 

Not wasting a second more, Ochako nodded at the white and red haired teen, then ran over to check her friend over, Bakugou following at a more sedate pace. "Look at the balls on you. You weren't scared at all," he said as he passed the half and half teen.

 

Shoto looked at the back of the ash-blond's head as he passed. "Should I have been? He and his quirk both seem to be nice enough people," he stated matter-of-factly.

 

Katsuki let out a bark of laughter. "The fucking best kind of people, man. Sucks that he's not my type," he responded, then grinned at the fussing brunette hovering around his best friend. "Probably for the better, though, if I'm gonna be fucking honest."

 

In the end, only one of them, a purple-haired boy named Mineta, was expelled.

 

Later

 

Izuku sat at his desk at the end of the day, disheartened that he probably freaked some of his classmates out. He was just lost in thought, somewhat catatonic, when an explosion from Katsuki brought him out of it. "Ah! Sorry, I was thinking to myself. What did I miss, Kacchan?" he asked, only for Katsuki to turn and yell at the small crowd that had gathered at his desk.

 

"See? Fucking morons, I told you it'd work! It always works! Now you dumbasses can talk to him properly!" he snapped, before pretending to get back to his work.

 

Izuku shrank in on himself a little bit before he felt a hand with familiar finger pads gently touch his, giving him a bit of reassurance.

 

The girl from before, with the long earlobes, started off. "Okay, I gotta ask, are you okay? I heard bones breaking when you had your hardcore death metal transformation sequence, and you'd been screaming a bit at the start of it," she asked with a concerned look.

 

Nervous, but cautiously optimistic, the verdette nodded. "Um, y-yeah. You weren't hearing bones breaking, you were hearing them forming and connecting. Th-the transformation actually heals any injuries I have at the time I undergo it, b-but it gradually damages my body after it's healed. That being said, it also damages anybody who touches it, and those people wouldn't have the natural resistance I have, so...if I sprout more than three tails, I'd suggest not touching me…"

 

The rocker girl blinked. "Oh, okay. Oh, I'm Jiro Kyoka, by the way."

 

"Kirishima Eijiro!"

 

"Iida Tenya."

 

"Tokoyami Fumikage, and Dark Shadow."

 

"Asui Tsuyu. Call me Tsu-chan."

 

"Kaminari Denki!"

 

"Ashido Mina!"

 

"Hagakure Tooru!"

 

Pretty much everybody in the class introduced themselves to him before Ochako gently grasped his shoulder. "Akitani-kun, are you crying?" she asked gently.

 

With a grunt of annoyance, Katsuki stood up and went to move to Mineta's former desk. "He's not used to positive feedback from anybody other than my family or his. Scrawny punk was abused by quirkist asshats for a really long time, and I'm ashamed to say I was one of them," he said grumpily, then pulled their former classmate's seat over and moved his friend so his head was against his shoulder, proceeding to run his fingers through his hair. "He's just overwhelmed to find that the world isn't as full of assholes as he assumed."

 

Upon seeing the pda, Momo blushed a bit. "Oh, a-are you two a couple? Congratulations on your relationship, then," the ponytailed girl said softly.

 

The explosive teen rolled his eyes. "I already said this to half-and-half over there, he's not my fucking type. He just calms down quicker with a bit of physical affection," the ash blond explained, before grabbing a hesitant Ochako and putting her fingers in the bushel of green hair instead. "If you're gonna be friends with him, get used to crap like this."

 

The brunette blushed heavily, but proceeded to run her fingers in Izuku's hair in Katsuki's place, eventually moving to sit where the red-eyed boy had sat prior.

 

Tsuyu blinked, then gave a confused look. "You said he was tormented by quirkists, kero. Don't they go after quirkless people, though?" she asked curiously.

 

"I'm an inherited quirk, remember? He was quirkless until I bonded with him, and I'm not passed on genetically. If he ever has a kid, it's very possible they'll also be quirkless," Kurama's voice rumbled from within the verdette, before he emerged and snaked around, giving the boy a shoulder rub.

 

Koji smiled kindly. 'I'm glad he's around people who will treat him well now,' he signed, hoping one or two of his classmates understood.

 

Kurama smirked, and grew an extra pair of hands. 'I am too, kid,' he signed, getting a smile from the quiet golem-headed boy.

 

Izuku shook his head softly, making to get up. "T-thank you for being so understanding. I'm sorry I made a scene," he said softly, as his new friends smiled and went back to their seats, getting their stuff together as they all prepared to leave. Ochako, having already packed her stuff up, stuck around, as Katsuki grumbled and got up, ruffling the brown and green hair of his friends.

 

As the trio walked to the gates, they saw their homeroom teacher sitting at a bench, sipping some coffee. The scruffy-looking man turned to look at them, then locked gazes with Izuku and asked, "Are you satisfied?"

 

Shocked a bit, but understanding what he was getting at, Izuku nodded. "Yup. I'd be stupid not to be," he replied with a silly grin.

 

The rough-around-the-edges teacher nodded. "Good. I expect you to bring your A-game out more frequently. Your quirk isn't as scary as you make it out to be, even if it gives off that weird feeling, and you have to build up your resistance to whatever it is it does to your skin, and reduce your transformation time. I'll have lesson plans for all you kids by tomorrow," he said, then went back to his coffee as he booted up a laptop.

 

Izuku couldn't remove the smile from his face until he fell asleep that evening.

Chapter 4

The Kitsune Hero, Foxfire

 

Chapter Four

 

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I had issues getting the chapter I was working on to get out of my head and onto a document. Chapter seven, for those of you wondering. I've got a few in reserve, and it will stay that way. Hope you all enjoy chapter four!

 

"Normal speech."

 

"Buff Might/Kurama/Kacchanese speech."

 

"Internal Kurama speech."

 

'Thinking speech.'

 

"Internal talking to Kurama speech."

 

'Sign Language.'

 

The Next Day

 

Izuku was trembling with excitement. 'Our first heroics class is today, and All Might will be there! I mean, he won't be in charge or anything, he's just the assistant teacher, but the actual teachers are heroes I've been looking forward to meeting as well! Gentleman and Lady Love are an odd couple, but their ability to reduce casualties and collateral damage with their Gentle Arena super move is absurdly high tier!' the teen thought to himself as he awaited the appearance of one of his heroics teachers.

 

He was not disappointed when All Might entered like the ham he is. "I am...ENTERING THE ROOM LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" he shouted as he entered the room quite oddly, his cape somehow fluttering despite the lack of wind.

 

On the opposite side of the room, Ochako couldn't help but start laughing. "Oh my god, All Might, you're such a himbo!" she managed before utterly guffawing.

 

The man in question rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You're not wrong, Yagi-san. That's part of why the public loves me, though!" he said, appearing nervous for half an instant after he said Ochako's name, confusing Izuku and the one or two other classmates who noticed.

 

"Yes, and a proper entrance to improve mood and morale is also important, young heroes-to-be," Gentleman said as he entered the room behind All Might, his gait giving off an aura that was somehow simultaneously menacing and camp. Lady Love walked in next, her forehead adorned with a red mark, as if it had taken damage.

 

Blinking, Katsuki, having also noticed this, called out, "Hey, Lady Love-sensei? Your friggin' forehead's looking a bit worse for wear. What the shit happened?"

 

The woman sent the human armory an unamused stare. "Dealing with a himbo that isn't my husband is taking a bit of getting used to," she said simply, only for the pair of himbos to start laughing in sync, causing the small woman to slap her forehead, adding to the damage already dealt.

 

"My dear wife will be right as rain soon enough. She's quite adaptable, I'll have you know! Now, our first class will be a battle simulation! Change into your costumes, my students, and head over to Ground Beta," the mustachioed former petty criminal said with a flourish and a bow, as slots on the wall opened up and pushed out suitcases marked after their seat numbers.

 

It didn't take long for Izuku to change into his costume. It honestly wasn't much, just a green jumpsuit with some armored bits, and a utility pouch where he kept some medical equipment, his portable blood transfusion kit, and a few granola bars. His signature red shoes were replaced with an armored variant, and a pair of red gloves with armored knuckles completed the outfit. A trio of black stripes, reminiscent of his father's whisker marks in his golden merged form, adorned both of his cheeks.

 

Izuku was startled after he'd walked out to meet the rest of the class by a pat on his shoulder. He turned around and looked up into the bright brown eyes of the girl he totally wasn't crushing on. He was relieved to see that her outfit wasn't skintight like several of their classmates'. Hiding his 'excitement' in the locker room had been a bit of a nightmare, since he was a complete and utter pansexual mess.

 

Her wrists were covered by heavily reinforced gauntlets, with a few circular spots on the outside that looked like closed holes. The brunette's torso was fairly well-armored, though it was light enough that she wouldn't have many issues moving indoors, with a slightly loose one piece outfit that didn't have any visible openings from the front, and ended somewhere inside of the armored boots that covered her legs nearly up to her knees, that looked capable of crushing a villain's hand, or even head, underfoot. A visor on the front of her almost completely open helmet mostly failed to hide her happy face behind it, while Izuku could see the telltale signs of a HUD he couldn't properly read from the outside of the visor.

 

"You look really cool, Akitani-kun!" Ochako exclaimed with a grin and a thumbs up. Internally, she was wincing at how much of a dork she sounded like. She couldn't help but pat her friend on the shoulder, though! She was naturally physically affectionate, and he was right there, being his adorable self! What was she supposed to do, not pat his shoulder and act like a geek?

 

The verdette grinned nervously. "You too, Yagi-san. Very heroic," he responded shyly, reciprocating her thumbs up.

 

Before she could reboot her brain to respond, they were interrupted by a suit of armor chopping its arms in a familiar manner. "Come along, now, you two! The quicker we get the class activities done, the sooner you can get back to socializing! I'm pleased, though, that  Akitani-kun is getting over his shyness a little. Thank you for that, Yagi-kun!" Tenya said, apparently the wearer of the armor.

 

The two blushed heavily, but followed their stiff classmate nonetheless. 'Is it just me, or does he give off Class Rep vibes?' Izuku signed to his pink-cheeked friend.

 

Ochako barely held in a giggle. 'He does! Oh my god, he really does!' she replied with a silent snicker.

 

The trio made their way to the rest of the class, where Lady Love was eyeing the two pining teens with a gleeful expression. "Now that those two are done flirting, we can move onto the meat and potatoes. Today, you'll be teaming up with and against each other, in an objective-based scenario. You're already a man down, thanks to Eraserhead, so one of you kids can volunteer to go a second- Oh, that was quick. Sure, Bakugou-chan. You can have the spare spot. 

 

"Anyway, there will be hero teams and villain teams. Villains gotta defend a bomb for fifteen minutes, with five minutes of prep time, or capture the heroes within the time limit with capture tape we'll be handing out. Students with quirks that allow for restraining foes can use them as well, so long as it's a method of restraint that will stick around without you being there to watch it. Hero teams have to either touch the bomb, or capture the villains, within the time limit. Same rules apply for capturing here," the fuschia-haired woman explained as All Might and Gentleman handed out the aforementioned capture tape.

 

With an eerie flash of his blue eyes, All Might struck a pose. "I shall now draw lots! It will take but a-" If you'd blinked, you'd have missed it. At most a quarter of a second passed between Gentleman holding out a box and the buffer of the two hams placing balls with the class's names on them down in pairs, where the mighty hero was now crouched, looking at them. "-second! Now, here are your teams!"

 

Izuku gulped as the teams were listed off. 'Somebody must be watching out for me.'

 

Minutes Later

 

All Might didn't show it, but he was a little upset at his daughter's randomized partner. 'He's a good kid, and they'll definitely cooperate well, but that's the problem! Young Ochako needs a challenge, and young Akitani needs to grow closer to his other classmates if he's going to come out of his shell! At the very least, young Bakugou and young Iida will not hold back, and both have fairly powerful combat quirks. I just hope she doesn't think I set this up on purpose, or dinner's gonna be really awkward!' the number one thought to himself nervously as he walked with the four students in question to the test site.

 

Before Izuku and Ochako could walk into the building, Toshinori explained an extra bit of info. "I will be watching the footage from the adjacent building. If something goes wrong, I will be there to help in a flash! Good luck, you bunch of newbies!" he announced before heading into the aforementioned building, returning to his skinny form when he was away from any windows and sitting in front of a group of monitors.

 

Meanwhile, Izuku and Ochako were setting up their evil lair, a plan having been developed fairly quickly. "It'll also allow for a bit of roleplay, getting into the mind of a villain. I won't really have to try all that hard, since I'll just growl like a beast. Maybe you could act like you're the mastermind and I'm the muscle?" the verdette suggested with a quirk of his eyebrow.

 

With a giggle, Ochako got into character as much as she could. "Get to work, demonic spirit! I didn't sacrifice all those puppies just so you could loaf around," she commanded, only to groan when Izuku started tearing up.

 

"You sacrificed puppies to summon me?!" he asked sadly. It was a good thing the ninth inheritor was able to calm him down quickly. Five minutes wasn't much prep time to set up an evil lair.

 

With Katsuki And Tenya, Five Minutes Later

 

The blue-haired speedster kept nervously quiet as he searched room to room, Katsuki watching his back. As soon as the pair had entered the building, they could feel eyes on them, that odd feeling from the quirk fitness exam seemingly permeating the building. Shortly after the duo had made it to the center of the first floor, en route to a set of stairs leading to the second, the sprinkler system went off.

 

"FUCK! AKITANI, I KNOW YOU HEAR ME! FUCK YOU!" the ash blond roared, then stood still and shivered when he heard the wall rumbling with a growl. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. FOUR-EYES! WE GOTTA GET TO THE BIGGEST ROOM IN THE BUILDING PRONTO! DON'T STOP FOR SHIT, HIS QUIRK IS IN THE FUCKING VENTS!"

 

The building itself seemed to shriek with that kaijuu-esque sound as the pair booked it, clawed hands occasionally bursting out of the vents to attempt to grab them.

 

"Why the largest room?!" Tenya shouted over the sounds of the building turning against them.

 

"The fucking sprinkler system in this building will keep going until it stops sensing smoke! They're OP as fuck, but they need to breathe just like the rest of us! They're definitely watching over the fire to keep it under control, and the best place to do that and still breathe would be the largest room in the building!"

 

"Very astute of yoOOOOOUUUU!" Tenya shouted, before he was yanked into a room by one of the clawed hands, the door shutting behind him.

 

Startled, Tenya got up, only to find all of the walls, as well as the ceiling, covered by the strange pulsing red and black energy that covered the hands that had attacked him. Tenya kicked at the substance, only to find it would not give.

 

In the end, he ended up having an impromptu sign language lesson when the wall sprouted hands and began non-verbally communicating with him.

 

With Katsuki

 

"Y-you...you absolute a-asshole...H-how dare you use y-your n-nerd brain to wipe us o-out," the red-eyed teen stuttered, his body chilled from the water he'd been running through. He put up a fight, but he was quickly subdued by Ochako then brought over to the fire they'd started to warm up. Izuku signed something to him, but Katsuki didn't respond.

 

Blinking in confusion for a second, the brunette behind him decided to translate. "Izuku said-"

 

"I kn-know what the f-fucker said. Y-you think he d-didn't teach me s-sign after he learned it? F-fuck you. If you w-wanna win, you're g-gonna have to p-properly restrain Four Eyes!"

 

The single-tailed boy shrugged, then passed capture tape to the part of his quirk stretching out into the vents. Not long after, the Villain Team was named the victors.

 

That Evening

 

Izuku smiled softly as he read through the class groupchat that Mina had quickly set up. A significant portion of it thus far was his classmates describing their quirks for him, since they hadn't had much time to use it yet. He could tell that it was quickly getting inundated with shitposts from several of the more outgoing members of his class. He grinned at one of the sillier ones as he finished the summarized edition of his notes on his class's quirks, making a mental note to obtain a new notebook exclusively for his classmates.

 

"Izuku! Come out to the living room for a moment!" his mother called. The verdette shut his notes and hopped out of his chair, making enough noise for them to know he was coming without verbally replying.

 

The aspiring hero was surprised to find that not only his mother and father, but Kurama, letting off a soft golden glow, were waiting for him, the latter projecting out of Naruto instead of his own body at the moment. Izuku sat down, his smile not leaving his face. "What's up?" he asks, just a bit nervous despite knowing logically he'd not done anything wrong.

 

Kurama let out a growl. "That alarm in the afternoon wasn't just the press. An actual villain was in the building."

 

Izuku blinked. "There was...an actual villain in my school?" he asked, sounding a bit irritated.

 

Kurama nodded. "I was worried you'd go off and attack them if I told you. In the middle of an evacuation, where there were a bunch of panicking students, the potential for collateral harm, regardless of your intentions, was unacceptably high. Also, I like you kids. I didn't want any of you to try something foolish so early in your career and end up dead because of it. Sorry for keeping that from you, regardless," he explained.

 

"It's fine. You're right, I might have done something stupid, or caused somebody else to do something stupid, if I'd been aware of that. And we were in a school filled with pro heroes. There wasn't any need for us to risk our lives at that point," he responded quietly, before turning to his parents. "Do the staff know?"

 

Naruto nodded. "I called them about it not long after Kurama told me the event was over. I was almost to the gate, and your mother had almost gotten a bead on the villain, when he ran off through a warp quirk we think an accomplice was using," he explained calmly.

 

Hinata interjected with a cough. "Ano, I can show you what the villain, as well as the warp quirk, looked like, just in case. Shall we perform ninshuu?" the blunette suggested.

 

Izuku nodded eagerly. Normally, he and his parents didn't perform ninshuu to exchange information, rather, they would use it to show each other what's in their hearts. As his mother would sense his intent while he senses the relevant info, he was confident he'd come out of this knowing his mother's love, and letting his mother know his love. It was a wonderful feeling that was difficult to explain in words.

 

Soon after the information was exchanged, all four of them performed ninshuu to express and know their love, pride, and adoration for each other. It had been a happy day, shortly after Izuku's thirteenth birthday, when Kurama announced that he'd finished enough of his chakra network's construction that he'd be able to perform ninshuu.

 

There was knowing the love of another, and then there was knowing the love of another. It was a very special, if strange, feeling.

 

Slowly pulling his hand away, Izuku rested his palm against his chest fondly. "I'm just sad I can't do this with my friends," he said quietly, smiling despite the sorrow the thought brought him.

 

His mother took a sip of her tea with a reassuring smile. "Your friends are very special. While this is unique to the four of us, I'm sure you'll find other ways of expressing your hearts to one another that are just as impactful as ninshuu. Your actions will speak for you, just as your words will. Be the Izuku that we all know and love, and you'll find love in all the right places," she said quietly.

 

The freckled verdette nodded, getting up. "I should get to bed soon. I wanna be ready for Arithmetic tomorrow. Ectoplasm-sensei's a real taskmaster!" he said with a grin, before returning to his room.

 

The night was uneventful, and the following morning was hopeful.

Chapter 5

On A Bus With 1-A

 

Izuku smiled happily as he spoke with Koji, enjoying helping the other boy out of his shell. His selectively mute classmate had been delighted to learn that several of them knew sign, and Izuku had been pleased at the opportunity to practice. It helped that the boy was very interesting to talk to, having plenty of interesting stories to tell about the animals that most people take for granted around them.

 

'Wait, the honey badger did WHAT?!'

 

'I KNOW! I don't know if it's just that honey badger, or if they're all like that, but HE JUST DID. NOT. CARE!' the golem-faced boy replied.

 

Izuku sighed, then joked, 'I guess that pre-quirk era video was right. Honey badger doesn't give a fuck.'

 

Koji's response was interrupted when, next to Izuku, Tsuyu popped her head up to speak. "So, Ochako-chan. I saw what you did to that building yesterday in training. I didn't know your quirk could turn you into a mini All Might-kero," the amphibious teen noted.

 

The brunette blinked, apparently caught off guard. "Oh, yeah. I've, um, learned to increase the weight behind my punches through my quirk. It's a bit of something I've been working on for a while, along with some crazy strength training!" she stammered, getting her rhythm back at the end, before becoming a bit quieter, her expression turning a bit pensive. "All Might's getting on in years, as far as pro heroes go. I figure that, if enough of us try hard enough, he'll be able to retire in a while without society suffering as a consequence. If we're lucky, this generation will churn out a few heroes comparable to him."

 

Izuku nodded thoughtfully, and was a bit surprised when Kurama's head formed on his shoulder. "Power like All Might's needs to be wielded carefully, Yagi-san. Izuku's power is also dangerous at higher levels. As somebody who doesn't want you kids killing yourselves, I'm gonna have to insist you not practice such techniques without one of the teachers supervising you. As it is, it's a smart idea to prepare for when All Might is no longer patrolling the streets. I bet your father is proud of you. I know, at the very least, Izuku here is more than a little in awe at your dedication," he finished with a chuckle as his partner swatted at him in irritation, a blush adorning his cheeks.

 

Ochako, her face turning slightly pink, gripped the legs of her hero costume in nervousness. "Is that true, Akitani-kun?" she asked, a bit of a silly grin appearing on her face.

 

Refusing to meet her eyes for the moment, Izuku nodded. "I hadn't thought about that eventuality, but it's admirable that you not only realized we can't rely on All Might forever, but already started working to pick up the pieces when he's gone. It's really sad to think about, but...I think I'm okay with that kind of future, with people like you taking All Might's place," the verdette replied quietly, poking his index fingers together.

 

"Oi, Izuku. Don't forget, you got infinity on the ball throw, too, and you aren't even at full power yet. Also, if you think I can't help with picking up the slack, I've got a knuckle sandwich to feed you later, dumbass!" Katsuki growled, his palm fizzling with micro explosions as he restrained his constant rage.

 

From next to him, Denki laughed nervously. "Y-you're joking, right? There's no way he was holding back! He sent that ball into orbit!" the electromancer stammered.

 

The ash blond turned to his seatmate with a sneer. "His quirk's the same as his dad's, and unlike Izuku, Uzumaki-san's fully merged with Kurama. I crunched the numbers myself, and quadruple checked them. He's capable of WMD levels of destruction. Good thing Kurama's too smart to try it, Uzumaki-san's too friendly to consider it, and Izuku here's such a fucking softie that that kind of power makes him uncomfortable even thinking about it," the human armory explained, chuckling at how red his friend was turning at his teasing.

 

Mezo tilted his head in thought, one of his hands changing into a mouth. "What's the name of your quirk, if I may ask?" he queried curiously.

 

"It's called Fox Spirit Possession, and it's not something you should be focusing on right now. We're here," Aizawa called from the front, rising from where he'd taken an impromptu nap. "Get off the bus. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

 

He had no idea how right he was.

 

A Few Minutes Later

 

As Izuku found himself dumped into a large body of water, he thanked the forces that be that he hadn't started hyperventilating at the sight of the villains. He was startled out of his thankfulness when he heard a loud thud, and a cry of pain to his left. Turning to look, he found that Kurama had punched a villain that had apparently been lying in wait. A pink appendage suddenly wrapped around the teen's torso, and Izuku quickly found himself lifted out of the water by his new classmate, Tsuyu.

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Izuku turned to his classmate and his partner. "Thanks for the saves, Kurama, Asui-"

 

"Call me Tsuyu-chan."

 

"-Tsuyu-chan," Izuku finished, startled a bit by the girl's insistence at what to call her.

 

Crouching, the girl tilted her head curiously. "Don't thank me yet. We're still in the middle of a bunch of villains-kero," the frank and friendly girl said cautiously, eyeing the villains in the fake lake at the base of the boat they'd taken refuge atop.

 

"They aren't even a threat. The real problem is that biological weapon they've got in the courtyard," Kurama interrupted, startling the pair with his wording. "Yes, I know what I said. I have an odd ability to sense the darkness in the hearts of beings capable of intelligent thought. Even infants, upon being irritated by something like bright light or hunger, have darkness in their hearts. That big black bird-brained musclehead doesn't have an ounce of darkness in its heart, and considering these guys intend to kill All Might, I'd have to guess I'm right on the money-GO AWAY, VERMIN! WE'RE STRATEGIZING!"

 

A villain that had attempted to engage them on his own was quickly flung away, screaming as he fell. "WILHELM!" another one of the villains below cried out in despair.

 

With a roll of his eyes, Kurama continued. "Izuku and I will merge, and defeat the villains here. Follow behind us at a distance when we leave. We will be heading to the courtyard to see if we need to back your teacher up. Regardless of our need to reinforce him, you will escape to where we were warped from. Several of our classmates, along with Thirteen, are there as we speak. If Aizawa is injured, we will create an opening for you to extract him. Do NOT touch us after we've transformed, unless absolutely necessary. You will be burned if you do," the ages old being commanded.

 

Placing a finger to her lip, Tsuyu looked Izuku in the eyes. "Do you trust his advice? You've seemed to be the smarter of the two of you thus far, so…"

 

Izuku nodded. "I'm smarter in some ways, but he's seen enough combat for several of my lifetimes. He knows what he's talking about," he said confidently, then took a deep breath, and added, "Try not to be afraid of me. This other form is...very scary, if you're not used to it."

 

Tsuyu smiled comfortingly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You really are a sweetheart-kero. You and Kurama-chan are my friends. You may look scary, but I know we'll be safe, and that's good enough for me. Now, let's kick some villain butt, okay?"

 

Letting out a happy squeak, Izuku nodded, then gestured for her to move away a little. Tsuyu watched in curiosity as her new friend dropped down to all fours, his fingernails elongating a bit and digging into the wood of the deck, before he let out a shout that gradually became more animalistic. Holes in his flesh opened, and a dark liquid-like material, pulsing red and black, emerged and began covering him, forming a dome.

 

The feeling of wrongness was there, but it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been that day. Pieces of the roof that had been pierced by the ray of energy that had shot upwards fell around them, and one or two may have hit her, had boy and beast not grabbed them and flung them away. White glowing eyes and mouth smiled at her, but she could tell from his body language he was still nervous despite the smile. Fearlessly, Tsuyu smiled back. "You look like a Jack-o-lantern, Akitani-chan," she said happily. The boy gave her a thumbs up, then attempted to tell her something in JSL before she interrupted him. "Sorry, I don't know Sign. I'll get on that soon, though."

 

Izuku nodded, then roared, as the singular tail flowing behind him was joined by three more, and the boat cracked from the sudden boost in his power. He leaped down at the villains below, and Tsuyu nearly missed the biggest cannonball she'd ever witnessed in person, as the flood zone was suddenly bereft of much of its water.

 

As soon as the water calmed down enough, the frog-like hero jumped off of the piece of boat she'd clung to, following after her friends who were doggy paddling away.

 

Meanwhile, At The Courtyard

 

Ochako was NOT having a good day. First, the rescue lesson she'd been looking forward to for days was interrupted by an actual villain attack, then one of her favorite pro heroes got hurt when their quirk was turned against them, then her sensei, who had taken the fight to the villains, had been injured, and the need to help him, to save him, had burned inside of her brightly enough that she launched into action without really thinking it through.

 

'Stupid Ochako! You knew they were planning on fighting All Might, so why did you think you could beat them with All Might's quirk?' she thought to herself irritably as she dodged yet another strike from that screaming...thing. At the very least, she'd stopped it from killing Aizawa, and she was good enough with One for All that she was able to prevent that handsy villain from finishing her teacher off. However, it was only a matter of time before the screaming, bird-beaked villain caught her off guard and killed her.

 

'If I just had some reinforcements-' her thought was interrupted when she took a blow to the everything, the nomu's fist sending her flying. 'Yeah, I've got cracked ribs. Ooooh, those are definitely cracked ribs. Well, fuck.'

 

The brunette rose to unsteady feet, glaring at her foe as he stomped closer to her. The monster let out a scream that, suddenly, was overcome by an even greater shriek from nearby, and suddenly, her opponent didn't have feet, a red and black clawed hand slashing them off.

 

A red and black being with hair in a very familiar shape approached her, a concerned frown on their oddly glowing face. They rumbled in a way that sounded like purring, and Ochako came to a sudden realization. "Izuku-kun, you look like a jack-o-lantern faced puppy," she said with a slight giggle.

 

A sound like a huff of breath emerged, and the being she'd correctly identified as Izuku signed, 'Are you okay?'

 

The brunette winced at her ribs, but nodded. Her eyes widened in alarm, though, and she pointed behind him. "Look ou-"

 

THUD

 

To Ochako's credit, she'd only winced for a quarter of a second before reopening her eyes. Izuku was still standing before her, crouched on all fours, but there was...a second upper torso, complete with arms and a head, emerging from his back and grappling with the creature that suddenly had its legs again, before throwing it away, chopping its legs off once again for good measure. Izuku took to signing at her again.

 

'Regeneration quirk and super strength quirk? This thing has more than one? Is there anything else you can tell me?' he asked quickly.

 

Ochako nodded. 'Shock absorption. Can't flatten him like a building. You got a plan?'

 

A feral grin formed on Izuku's face. 'I'll distract it, and obscure the enemy's view. Remove its weight when you see the chance, and I'll finish it off,' he replied, before the two nodded, and set their plan into motion.

 

Further away, the handsy villain scowled. "Damnit, Eraser got away, and they just swapped in a fresh party member with way too much DPS. Nomu! Do your job and destroy them!" he shouted, before leaping away in alarm when pillars, no, arms made of that black-red energy began sprouting out of the ground like weeds, forcing him away from his underling. "Dammit, Nomu! I said destroy them!"

 

Several of the hands exploded upwards, thrusting the Nomu up into the air before grabbing and holding it in place by its limbs. The really powerful brunette from earlier jumped up and tapped it, doing something, though Shigaraki couldn't tell what.

 

It didn't take him long to find out. "Fuck, she cast Zero G on him?! Kurogiri, get him down from there!"

 

"Sorry, young master. I'm having my own issues at the moment," the mist man said, having been pinned down by one of the hands himself, his casing steaming from the contact. The man screamed as his body was dragged underground by the aforementioned claw, his scream vanishing not long after.

 

Whirling around, Shigaraki snarled. "Guess I have to do this myself," he said, only to be flattened by a punch from a very pissed off brunette.

 

"Sit yer ass down, punk!" she snapped before flinging the man into a piece of the fountain that had once stood in the center of the plaza. Before she could admire her handiwork, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge as she felt something behind her.

 

An orb of energy, nearly the same color as the pulsing red and black cloak that covered Izuku, was hovering in place before him, aimed at the floating, struggling villain. Suddenly, it was fired off, making an odd sound as it pushed the nomu creature up, up, into the sky, going straight through the roof and travelling for a bit before detonating, making it appear as if there was a second sun above the school for a moment before the explosion dissipated.

 

Ochako spun around, suddenly remembering the villain she'd tossed, only to growl in irritation as a portal opened up beneath him, allowing the unconscious fiend to escape. The hero in training let out a huff of annoyance, then went to speak to her friend before she was interrupted by an explosion at the entrance of the building.

 

"Have no fear."

 

The villains around the pair, who'd been gradually regaining consciousness, were suddenly reintroduced to the ground as their savior knocked them out in a hurry.

 

"I am here."

 

Izuku let out a roar that, for all Ochako knew, might have just been a cry of joy that was poorly articulated, before signing like mad at All Might, apparently giving him the locations of the remaining villains.

 

All Might nodded, his uncharacteristic frown turning once more into a grin. "Thanks for the intel, young Akitani. I'll deal with these foes post-haste! For now, join your other classmates on the stairs."

 

And with that, the unreasonably buff hero sped off, the sounds of combat quickly quieting as he quelled the villains. Ochako turned to her friend, and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Don't you think you should turn back to normal?" she asked with a bit of a grin.

 

The boy who was verdette until a few minutes ago shook his head. 'Best to remain like this until we get the all clear. The less frequently I transform, the less cracked ground that will need to be fixed. Also, the transformation hurts a little. I'm told my final form doesn't, thankfully,' he explained, relieved that his appearance didn't seem to frighten her all that much.

 

The pink-cheeked girl grinned cheekily. "So, are you saying this isn't even your final form?" she joked, fairly certain he'd get the reference.

 

The boy blinked, then a string of yelps escaped his glowing maw, and she realized he was laughing. "You goof, it wasn't that funny," she giggled, relieved that he was in good spirits.

 

"As far as dumb jokes go, that was actually pretty good, Yagi-chan!" a voice called to them from up the stairs. The pair turned to see Mina waving down to them. The pair smiled and waved at their classmate, before panicking upon seeing her run down to, presumably, hug them.

 

"Wait, Ashido-chan! You'll be burned if you...touch...him…" Ochako called out in warning, only to blink upon realizing Izuku had essentially teleported off to the side, furiously signing a reminder that it was not a good idea to touch him in that form.

 

"Oh, come on! You were able to grapple that big stupid brain villain just fine!"

 

'That was a biologically engineered weapon with multiple quirks and the intelligence of a spork. It was burning, it just regenerated quickly!' he signed emphatically.

 

Frowning, Ochako took a step towards her friend. "But...aren't you burning under there as well?" she asked softly.

 

Izuku let out a huff of breath that might have been a sigh, before the red-black shroud melted back into him, revealing flesh that appeared to be sunburnt. "All Might just took out the final villain in the facility, and the others should be here soon," he said quietly. At seeing the worry in his friends' eyes, he explained, "These burns will be gone within the hour. On other people not accustomed to Kurama's energy, though, they can take months to heal, depending on how much power I'm giving off.

 

Ochako smiled hopefully. "But your final form won't be like that, right?" she asked.

 

The freckled teen smiled. "No. That form...It's like the warmth of sunlight on a nice day. When I've got access to that form, I'll finally be able to reassure the people I save, and I'll be able to touch them without hurting them," he said fondly, recalling the time his father showed him that form.

 

In the end, the only Thirteen, Eraserhead, Ochako, and Izuku were injured in the attack on the USJ. The villains would have to try harder if they wanted to keep 1-A down.