Channel my energy, visualize the flame moving.

Izuku held the Kirin's pendant in one hand and the lighter in his other. The small yellow-blue flame flickered lazily, unaffected by his efforts. Izuku glared at it trying to visualize it moving to the left. Nothing.

He released the lighter and watched as the flame died. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could do this. The pendant was like a preset spell Bill had said.

"Just like running numbers through a calculator," Izuku muttered.

He tried again, still nothing.

He set the lighter and pendant down with a sigh and reached for his notebook. He had to be doing something wrong, but what? The whole channeling energy thing was so vague. Whatever it was it seemed to be as natural as breathing to Bill, so the triangle's explanations weren't really helping.

Energy…

There were different types of energy Izuku knew. Thermal, chemical, gravitational to name a few, but Izuku doubted it was one of those. He wrote them down anyway. Absently he pinched his lip, as he reread his notes.

Bill was using some of his energy. Was the energy that Bill was taking from him the same type as what he was supposed to channel into the pendant? Now that he thought about it, did Bill taking some of his energy affect his ability to use magic? It seemed like it would… He sketched Bill on the paper next to the list of energy types. He stared at the picture for a moment. A chill crawled down his spine. He erased the triangle's pupil and redrew it looking away from him.

"Any luck yet, Mumbles?"

Izuku jolted. Speak of the devil.

"Not really," He said with a sigh. "I just don't get this whole energy thing."

"It's probably because you're stuck in a fleshbag. All that meat clouds your thinking."

Izuku shuddered.

"And what do you suggest I do? I can't exactly leave my body."

"Hmmmm."

An image of Bill tapping the top of his cane flickered through Izuku's head.

"Actually I might be able to help you with that."

"How?" Izuku asked.

Goosebumps prickled on his arms and something twisted in his gut.

"It would be something like how I helped you enter the mindscape: just a little one time deal to help you get the feeling for it."

"What would that involve?" Izuku asked slowly.

"Basically I would pull at your mind again, but instead of pulling you into your mindscape I'd just pull you out of your body into the general mindscape."

"Out of my body?" Izuku squeaked, arms wrapping around himself instinctively.

"Relax, kid, it wouldn't hurt you any. It would help you to get a better feel for energy flow."

"No. No, no, no." Izuku shook his head rapidly, fists clenching into his shirt.

"Your loss," Bill said lazily. "Let me know if you change your mind."

Izuku's gaze fell on his alarm clock and he jolted. He had five minutes to get out the door or he would be late for school.

Minding his injured arm, he quickly grabbed his school bag and bolted out of his room.

Izuku could feel the other students staring at him as he struggled to write with his left hand. His cheeks heated up and he ducked his head. Fortunately no one seemed inclined to investigate. The day was going by peacefully.

Izuku suppressed a sigh of frustration as he tried to focus on what their English teacher was saying. Unfortunately they were going through review right now, so his attention kept drifting back to the pendent sitting warmly against his chest.

It felt as if he was just one little clue away from figuring it out, like a puzzle missing one key piece. So what was it?

Bill had said to push his energy into the pendent and then he would be able to use it to affect the fire. So something like charging a battery?

Izuku pinched his lip and scribbled that down into the margin of his notes. His thoughts drifted back to the Kirin's cave and the feeling of power he had gotten from the ruins… As if it was an excess radiating off of them… almost overcharged…

So maybe magic worked something like electricity? Izuku tapped his pencil on the desk, leg vibrating madly as he wrestled the idea into place.

It was certainly worth trying… So how did he go about building up a magic "charge"?

Izuku focused on imagining something like the pulsing feeling he had gotten from the cave. It took a few tries, but slowly he felt his body start to tingle as if he was building up a static charge. Once he felt like he had a decent amount he grabbed the pendent.

It worked. Izuku could feel the charge transfer from his body into the pendent. He bounced a little in his seat, a smile forming on his face. He ignored the feeling of exhaustion that swept through him. Once class let out he was going to…

"Stop your creeping muttering!"

Izuku's head shot up and, almost in slow motion, he saw Bakugou's hand coming toward him. It was glowing faintly as it always did before he let off a blast.

Izuku screwed his eyes closed and curled in on himself, hoping with all his might that the blast would miss him.

BOOM!

The sound hit him, but no pain or heat. Izuku waited expecting a second explosion, but none came. In fact it was quiet. Silent.

Hesitantly Izuku opened his eyes. Everyone in the room, teacher included, was staring at him as if he had just grown a third arm. Even Bakugou was wide-eyed and pale. Izuku looked around, confusion mounting with every second. He shifted and the chair creaked under him.

The spell broke and everyone, except Bakugou, was moving and talking.

"Did you see?"

"No way!"

"Did he just…"

"Impossible… way too late…"

"I've never heard of one appearing at our age…"

Izuku frowned and shrunk farther into his chair unable to make heads or tails of what he was hearing.

What just happened? He thought.

Cacophonous laughter filled his mind and he flinched.

"What just happened? Why you just tossed aside Sparky's explosion like it was a cheap sparkler."

What?

That meant they had all just seen him doing magic, but… they didn't seem to realize. Instead they seemed to think… They thought he had a quirk, Izuku realized. His eyes widened.

No… That wasn't how he had wanted it.

There was a rustle beside him and Izuku flinched. Bakugou seemed to have finally gotten himself back together. His hands were clenched into shaking fists and his face was turning an alarming shade of red. Izuku leaned back bracing himself.

"Everyone to your seats or I'll give you all detention!" The teacher yelled.

Izuku felt his shoulders loosen with relief, as Bakugou snarled but sat down.

"Midoriya, please report to the principal's office."

He winced, but gathered his books up and made his way to the door.

"What am I going to do?" Izuku whisper-screamed as he paced back and forth in the bathroom.

He wasn't ready for this. He didn't know enough magic. He didn't have enough practice. He wasn't…

"Relax, kid," Bill said, sounding amused.

"H- How can I relax at a time like this?" Izuku asked tugging at his hair.

"This is probably for the better actually."

Izuku stopped pacing and blinked.

"How?"

"Well you know how dangerous magic is. Think about it… If you had tried to pass your magic as a quirk, people would have been aware of the words. Now adults wouldn't be a problem, but the kids… What do kids do when they idolize someone?"

Izuku's brows furrowed.

"They try to act like them, they…. Oh."

"Exactly. Kids might try to do your magic for themselves and they would actually do it thinking it would work. Now what happens if a kid with magic potential tries to copy a powerful spell he saw his hero doing fully believing it will work?"

"Oh." Izuku paled, he hadn't thought of that.

"So why not go with this? Pyrokinesis is pretty much a perfect mix of your parent's quirks, yeah? You can use your other spells on the sly. As a bonus you wouldn't have to worry about teaching any villains magic."

He was right.

"Okay, but I should at least tell Mom the truth."

"Should you?"

"Yeah. Of course! Why would I lie to her?" Izuku asked, indignant.

"Weeeelllll. Telling here the truth will bring up the question of where you learned about magic. Do you really want to tell her about the little voice in your head?"

Izuku winced at that. It was true; Bill was not exactly the sanest sounding thing that had happened to him.

"Okay."

"Good, I knew you were bright enough to see sense."

Inko wasn't sure what to think when she was called to the principal's office in the middle of the school day. Worse case scenarios flickered through her head. She was about ready to cry when she pushed open the door to see Izuku sitting in a chair unharmed. She gave him a quick hug before taking a seat beside him.

"I imagine you're wondering why I called you here, Mrs. Midoriya," The principal began.

He broke into a wide smile.

"It's my pleasure to inform you that your son has finally developed a quirk."

What?

Inko turned to stare at her son in shock. He didn't return her gaze, but instead shrunk further into his chair.

He didn't seem particularly excited.

"What happened?" She asked.

The principal gave a very brief summary of events. According to him Izuku and some the other kids had been roughhousing, when young Katsuki had set off an explosion and Izuku's Quirk had manifested allowing him to draw the sparks away.

Inko frowned. That didn't sound quite right to her, but experience had taught her that that was all she was going to get. She would ask Izuku later.

"Are you okay, Izuku?" She asked turning away from the principal.

Izuku was staring off into the middle distance. He jolted suddenly, mouth opening for a moment as if to say something, before he shook his head and turned to look at her. His lips formed a rather wobbly smile.

"Yeah," He said. "I'm just a little overwhelmed. I think it will take a little while to sink in."

Inko's heart clenched. He looked so nervous. It must be a huge change for him to suddenly have a quirk after spending so long thinking he would never have one. She pulled Izuku in for a hug.

"I'm so happy for you," She whispered in his ear. "I'll be cheering for you."

"Thanks, Mom," He replied in a slightly choked up voice.

If Izuku thought it had been awkward showing up at class with all the injuries from the cave incident, it was nothing compared to showing up at school the day after his "quirk" manifested.

Everyone was staring and whispering and Bakugou looked as if he had been personally offended. Izuku tried to keep his head down. Eventually, though, lunch time struck.

Before Izuku could escape his desk was surrounded.

"So what's your quirk?" A girl asked.

Izuku smiled shakily, unsure how to handle the sudden attention.

"Pyrokinesis," He said.

"A bit generic, but cool. So how does it work?" A boy on his left asked.

"Well…"

The rest of lunch break continued like this. By the time his next class rolled around Izuku was about ready to hide in the gym storage.

After school a couple kids approached him again, inviting him to come study with them.

Izuku stared at them. Just a week or two ago they had been laughing as Bakugou had cornered him up against the classroom wall.

Why? Why now?

"You know why."

"Sorry," Izuku said out loud, forcing an apologetic smile onto his face. "I already have plans."

"Like what?" They seemed almost offended by his refusal.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, shoulders hunching. He tried to be as polite as possible even as something in his gut curled painfully.

"Come on, Mumbles," Bill said.

Izuku laughed nervously.

"Well now that I have a quirk, I have a better chance of getting into UA, so I'm going to have to train really hard to catch up. I don't really have a lot of time if I want to be ready for the entrance exam."

One of the boys stared at him for a moment. His lip curled.

"Fine," He turned and walked away, friends trailing behind him.

"Ungrateful creep," Izuku heard one of them mutter before they are out of earshot.

Izuku stared after them painful feeling persisting. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"Let's go, Bill," He said out loud.

Author note:

Originally I was going to have Izuku pass off his magic as a quirk that allowed him to use words to channel his energy, but I decided that this would make more sense and open some interesting possibilities.