Chapter 1

A Diamond in the Rough

(Sorry for the update, but I just made some quick fixes to the story. In all my excitement for releasing my first fic, I skimmed it over before releasing. This left a few mistakes that while not glaring, were noticeable. I also changed up some dialogue and gave some more exposition, trying to get the story to flow a bit more smoothly. I'll remember to more carefully grammar and spellcheck for my next chapter)

Author's Note: I'm new to writing fanfiction, so constructive reviews are appreciated; however, I have a direction my story will go, so I will not take recommendations involving quirks or pairings.

I do not own BNHA

"Sorry kid, but it's not going to happen'. Those were the words reverberating through 5-year old Izuku Midoriya's mind. A few hours earlier he had gone to see the doctor regarding an x-ray he had take a week prior. The results were… disappointing to say the least. Izuku was upset, having cried an hour earlier as his mom tried to "console" him. Inko Midoriya's words had however done naught but make the already downtrodden child feel worse. He didn't want to hear that she was sorry, he wanted some form of support. He wanted to hear 'You can be a hero!'

Currently we find Izuku sitting on a park-bench alone. He had left his home an hour back, seeking to collect his thoughts. It was around 5:00 in the evening, but it was a weekday, so he didn't need to worry about too many other kids being at the playground, he could be alone to think.

'Why can't I have a quirk!' Izuku mentally yelled at himself. 'It's not fair!' At this point, tears were beginning to form on Izuku's green eyes. Izuku was starting to come to the realization that the world is not fair. Not everyone gets what they want, and not everyone is created equal. For a 5-year old to face this, it was gut wrenching.

Izuku is a plain boy, black and green bushy-curly hair, deep green eyes, and freckles dotted along his cheeks. He had hoped he could have some flashy quirk to make up for his blandness, he wanted to be just like his idol, the top hero All Might. Now though, Izuku's thoughts wouldn't stop rampaging, and he started getting a headache.

'Kacchan has a cool quirk… but I don't' *sigh*. Izuku hopped of the bench and began walking home, his mom would be worried if he stayed out too late, plus it didn't matter how much he moped, he was going to remain quirkless, and he felt his headache growing as well. Thinking more about it however, Izuku began to realize something, "Who cares!" Despite not having a quirk, Izuku knew that if he tried hard enough, he could be a hero. He would need to try harder than those with quirks, but that did not matter to the 5-year old.

However, before Izuku succumbed to his new resolve he heard a bark. Turning around he saw three dogs, and not just any dogs, these dogs were huge… and they looked angry. "Oh- he-hello d-doggies." Izuku was frightened, even the smallest dog of the group dwarfed him in size. "Pl-please stay back doggies, I-I-I-I can't pl-play right now!" Near the end of his sentence Izuku was nearly shouting, as the dogs were slowly creeping towards his position. Before they could get too close to him though, Izuku began to run.

"Somebody help me!" Tears were streaming down his face, he didn't want to die. He didn't need to turn back to know that the dogs had also begun chasing him, as he could hear the deep guttural roars of the canines still behind him. He didn't know where to run, but he knew that despite the tears clouding his vision, he needed to keep his eyes open, as the slightest stumble would leave him at the mercy of the dogs. His headache had also started getting worse the moment he met the dogs, and only got worse as soon as he began running away.

Izuku was running over bushes, through alleyways, and over fences, hoping to outrun the dogs. These things did not slow down the dogs by much, only kept them back at a distance, and they were very slowly catching up to Izuku.

Before he realized, Izuku ended up at a stream in the middle of the forest. The same forest he would go to with his friend Kacchan to catch bugs and other small critters, and it seemed that this would unfortunately also be where he met his end. Izuku turned around and saw the three dogs slowly approaching him.

"Please get away! Someone help me!" Izuku slowly backed away as he screamed for help, his head throbbing as he moved. As he was backing away, he tripped, and fell on his butt. Scared Izuku began throwing stones from the river's bank." Get away doggies! Please leave me alone!" The dogs seemed to only get angrier the more he yelled, and the more rocks he threw. Izuku's headache had also reached its peak, coincidentally Izuku didn't realize that what he had been throwing weren't rocks, but lumps of coal someone had dumped in the woods.

"Stop!" As Izuku screamed, he closed his eyes, and his hands glowed a bright white. And all of a sudden, all the coal surrounding the dogs formed into a clear but shiny crystalline prison, trapping them. Confused the dogs began to whine in fear. Hearing the duller sounds Izuku opened his eyes to see what had happened to the dogs only for them to open wide in surprise at the sight in front of him. In the corner of his vision he also noticed his hands fading from their bright white.

Witnessing everything around him, Izuku could only shout one thing "I have a quirk!" Never in his life had Izuku laughed so loud, or smiled so wide. "I have a quirk! My hands were losing color, which means that I made that prison. But what is that material it looks pretty hard, and it's pretty rough looking. Did it have something to do with the rock I was throwing? Wait these aren't rocks, these are pieces of coal! Maybe if I try to remember how I felt when making the material I can do it again. Let's see what did I fee…" A loud whine broke him from his long-winded speech.

"Oh, right the dogs!" Izuku in his rant had forgotten that he had trapped three live animals in a cage… and that he had no way to let them out. Izuku began to panic 'I can't leave them here otherwise they'll starve to death, and I have no idea if anyone will come help them'. "I'm sorry doggies, but you were being very mean. But I'll help you, because I'm going to be the greatest hero, and I help everyone!"

Izuku did not know how to help them though. Not knowing what else to do Izuku grabbed a piece of coal and tried to remember how he converted it into the rough material. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and when he opened them only half of the coal had turned into the rough material, shining against the white light of his hands.

Feeling upset at the little progress Izuku was seeing, he became worried that we wouldn't be able to help the dogs. He wanted to see though if he could reverse the process. He focused and felt his hands glowing a brighter white, and saw the material beginning to recede, transforming back into the black coal, unfortunately he was only able to partly turn it back. Izuku was feeling sad, and even more so when he saw the Sun begin to go down.

"Oh no! I have to g-get home doggies! I promise that I'll try to help you tomorrow! I'll b-bring you some food too after school!" Izuku was upset that he couldn't help the dogs, but he noticed that they didn't seem angry or sad, but... happy? Their tongues were sticking out and their tails wagging, almost as if they were telling him 'No big deal, we'll wait!'. Izuku smiled and returned home, hoping his mom wouldn't ask question about why he was gone so long.

'I don't think I can tell mom about my quirk, not yet at least. I want to train, and I don't think she wants me to be a hero. She was sad for my dream seeming impossible, but she didn't seem like she supported it much at all. I love her, but I can't let my mom's worries interfere. I'll tell her about my quirk when I'm at a level I'm comfortable with.'

Next Day

"Umm, mom, can I ask for something?"

"What is it dear?" Inko Midoriya, a skinny green-haired and green-eyed woman (like a taller straight-haired female clone of Izuku without the freckles), looked down on her son Izuku as he asked her a question.

"Can I have 1,000 yen?" (AN: This is like a bit less than $9)

"What for Izuku, what do you want to buy?"

"Well umm…" 'I can't tell her I need the money to but some food for the dogs, otherwise I'll have to show her them, and she'll see the result of my quirk'. "I wanted to get a popsicle in the shape of All Might's face!" 'Hopefully she buys it'

"Well alright, I know you're probably going to go with Mitsuki's son, and you two always seem to find trouble, so be careful" Inko didn't believe her son, a popsicle doesn't cost that much, but she knew Izuku wouldn't be doing anything behind her back that would get him in trouble, so she would trust him for now.

"Thanks mom!" 'I should be able to get some discount beef for a few days now while I try to figure out how to release the dogs.'

Inko smiled at her son, finding his happy smile adorable. "It's alright Izuku, now let's go home and eat."

2 hours later

It was around 5:00 again when Izuku was able to get back to the dogs. "I'm glad mom thought I was just going to the park. I have to hurry up and save the dogs. I can't just keep on making excuses this week to leave home, she'll expect me to stay and just watch T.V or something eventually." During his self-speech Izuku saw the crystalline cage in the distance and began to run faster, the plastic bag he held at his side shaking violently.

When he got to the dogs, they seemed to smell whatever Izuku had in the bag, and began wagging their tails. "Here you go doggies". Izuku opened the bag to reveal three cheap steaks that he had bought for around 300 yen at the supermarket. He opened the packaging and threw the steak into the cage. 'I only have enough money to cover two more days, hopefully I can release them by then'

Izuku went towards the river bank and picked up another piece of coal, and found it easier to turn it into the crystal-like substance, however he found it hard to continue past three-fourths of the mineral. Not feeling content with his progress, Izuku began on reversing the process, and saw that he was able to almost revert the process completely. Ecstatic at the new development Izuku continued the process of crystalizing and de-crystalizing with vigor, until he was able to complete the process with an entire piece of coal.

"I did it!" Izuku couldn't help but shout in rapturous glee, and the dogs seemed to sense his happiness and began to bark happily along with him. Izuku realized he may not really need to stay all three days now to free the dogs, He walked towards the cage and focused on reverting the bars. He was only able to revert one side of the cage, turning the bars into a black coal, but that was enough for the dogs to break the bars and jump out and land on top of Izuku, furiously licking him.

"Hehe stop it guys, that tickles!" Izuku stood up and pushed the dogs aside, happy that he was able to release them. He looked to the cage however and was sad to see that he was unable to revert the entire cage. 'Well I guess I still have some training to do'. Izuku petted the dogs before running back home.

While running Izuku noticed the dogs running alongside him "Well, moms going to get a surprise" he smiled as he ran home.

30 minutes later

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*. Inko Midoriya turned away from the television and looked towards the door. Walking to the door she thought, 'Must be Izuku. 'Opening the door Inko could not help but blink in surprise at her son and the three very large dogs behind him, a Doberman, a Tibetan Mastiff, and an abnormally large Shiba-Inu.

"Mom I made some friends!" Izuku Midoriya yelled covered in what looked like dog-slobber.

"I see..." Inko Midoriya fainted on the spot when the Doberman licked Izuku

"MOM!"

7 years later

7 years had passed, Izuku is now 12, and he had learned so much about his quirk since the day he discovered it. We can find Izuku on a jog followed by three familiar large dogs. Inko at first had been worried when her son had come back home ,with what seemed to her, three small bears, but upon seeing their sweet treatment of Izuku (and hearing his adorable beg) she let him keep the dogs, it was fortunate their apartment had no rules against pets.

Inko did set up some conditions though: first off Izuku would have to take care of them: walking feeding and waste care: second off he would groom them (bathing and trimming): and finally, he would play with them (that was more for Inko's sake, as she found the sight of Izuku playing with the three large dogs too cute to comprehend).

Izuku hadn't complained as the conditions had also given him the perfect excuse to go work on figuring out his quirk. The dogs were also good protection against his bullies, which was good for Izuku as his friend Kacchan started getting angrier and more violent towards Izuku once he found out that Izuku had been named quirkless. They drifted apart, upsetting Izuku who had lost his only friend.

However, Izuku wasn't quirkless, in fact Izuku probably has one of the strongest quirks he has ever seen. Having been able to practice using his quirk, Izuku found that what he was making wasn't just any crystal, it was diamond. He found that out after he was practicing at home and accidently scratched his mother's wedding ring before subsequently repairing it. This diamond was also tough, tougher than regular diamond for sure. He also had yet to tell anyone about his quirk, and was he sure glad most dogs couldn't talk. Izuku didn't think he was strong enough to come out to his mom just yet.

Izuku had also found out that he could turn almost anything into diamond, not just coal. The higher the carbon content, the tougher the diamond. He has even been able to turn the air around him into diamond, and it had been some of the toughest he could make, not as strong as the coal, but pretty strong nonetheless, he still had trouble forming it though. After learning about some of the elements two years back Izuku concluded it had to do with the carbon dioxide in the air.

Izuku had also been curious about the cage he formed, and after intense training he found out that he could manipulate the shape of any diamond he formed, although the more complex the object, the more tired he felt. He could make a lot of diamond without manipulating shape though, he estimated that he could make around 600 acres worth of diamond, and only feel slightly out of breath. He also believed that his quirk had been activated from the stress of believing he didn't have a quirk, and the continuing dog-chase.

Izuku did realize hat his quirk was most likely thanks to his parent's quirks combining into a level that was quite extreme if he did say so himself. His father's fire quirk and his mother's telekinesis-like quirk combined into a quirk that transformed any object into diamond through extreme pressure and heat, but at a rate too fast to be comprehended by the human mind, and less wasteful than the natural process. And just like his mother's quirk however, Izuku did not need to touch an object to have it be affected by his quirk, and Izuku could even turn his exhales into diamond, better than he could the CO2 around him.

Izuku also realized that to further his abilities he would need to train his body, so he actually ran with his dogs, and even wrestled with them. Overall Izuku wasn't what one would call buff, but he was very well toned, and had developed stamina well beyond the average child his age. Although he did feel the summer heat hitting him a bit harder than he would like, and he had been running for a while, so he stopped at the next park bench for a quick drink of water, his dogs following suit.

He poured some water into a few bowls he brought with himself as well, he was wearing a backpack with a few weights to further intensify his training, along with some supplies for the dogs such as the bowls or some bags just in case they had an… accident, yeah, an accident.

They deserved some water, they had after all been running for him for about twenty miles now. He finished pouring the water and took off his bag, falling against the bench as he sat down. "Man, I'm beat, thank whatever god placed this tree near this bench, otherwise I'd be barbecuing in the sunlight!". Izuku sighed as he relaxed on the bench, closing his eyes as he basked in the shade.

"Hey Deku! What the fuck are you doing here you quirkless loser!"

'Fuck' Izuku would never say it out loud, but he was getting annoyed of his former friend Katsuki Bakugo. He admired him, and thought that he will one day make a great hero, but he wished he would stop picking on him.

"H-hey Kacchan!" Izuku forced a smile, nervous at seeing Bakugo. He hoped he wouldn't see him until the summer ended when they started their first year at middle-school. He got even more nervous when he heard his dogs beginning to growl. His dogs were generally not as nice as he'd like them to be, but they never bit anyone, and were rather sweet with smaller children, so he forgave them for their aggressive natures. They seemed to always be particularly defensive of him when Katsuki was around though.

"Shut your mutts up Deku! I was hoping that I wouldn't have to see your face until school started up again, but here you fucking are!"

"I-I-I'm just running Kacchan. I'm n-not doing anything that should bother you!" Izuku hope Bakugo would just leave him and move on. He had been bullied for most of his life, but gaining a quirk helped him maintain some confidence, but he nonetheless sought to avoid confrontation.

"What did you say fuck-face! Are you talking back to me!" His dogs were getting angrier, he hoped the situation wouldn't escalate too much. Katsuki was enjoying watching Izuku squirm a bit too much.

"I didn't say anything Kacchan. Just p-please leave me al-alone!"

"You know what Deku, just hearing your voice pisses me the fuck off! Get ready to taste some heat nerdy-boy!"

"Just stop it Kacchan! Pl-please, you know the trouble you got in last time you used your qu-quirk on someone!"

"They were weak! Not my fault they couldn't take a beating! Now come here you annoying piece of sh-!" Bakugo was interrupted by a hand smashing down on his head.

"You moron what have I told you about threatening others with your quirk!" The voice came from an older woman, similar looking to Bakugo, his mom Mitsuki Bakugo. "Sorry my son is causing you trouble again Midoriya-chan, I'll take him home and teach him some fucking manners!" Mitsuki grabbed Katsuki by the ear and began dragging him home as they continued to yell at each other and she occasionally hit her son's head. The dogs calmed down as Bakugo left.

"God I'm glad that's over wi- "

"Excuse me"

"Aahhh" Izuku jumped in the air as he heard another voice behind him. He turned around and saw a girl his age, with brown-hair, brown-eyes, and rather prominent blush circles on her round face.

"So-sorry I didn't mean to startle you like that." The girl put a hand behind her head as she blushed in embarrassment. "I'm Uraraka Ochako, nice to meet ya'!"

"Don't worry about scaring me, it-it's fine. Oh, I'm Izuku Midoriya by the way!" Izuku looked down, despite his slight amount of confidence he still felt shy around girls, the fact that he found this girl attractive didn't help combat that.

"Yeah, nice to meet ya'! Uhmm… I wanted to ask if I can pet your dogs? If that's fine with you of course!" Ochako seemed embarrassed at asking the question, as she also found the freckled boy cute, her pink cheeks going a tinge redder; the sweaty white t-shirt showing off his toned body did not help the already growing heat on her face.

"S-sure they're not always the friendliest dogs tho- "Izuku was taken aback, as soon as he said sure, she started to pet the dogs, and they didn't seem to mind. "Huh, would you look at that, they usually take longer to warm up to someone. I've only seen them warm up to my mom that fast. They didn't even seem to like me the first time we met!"

"Really? They seem friendly to me, although they didn't seem to like that other boy very much"

"Oh, you heard our fight" Izuku looked down in embarrassment, he had a long history with boy with the explosion quirk, and having someone unfamiliar see that fight… well she might as well have seen him naked!

"Sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it's just that I saw your dogs, and I really wanted to pet them, so I headed over and accidentally overheard your conversation!"

"It's alright!" Izuku threw his hands up in defense, face further flushing. "Kacchan is an old friend, we just don't get along like we used. But who are you, I've never seen you around the area?"

"Yeah I'm new around here! I'm just staying for the summer though. My parents own a construction company, and they were able to sign a contract that'll give them work from a bigger company for the next few summers." She kept on petting the dogs throughout, until the very last sentence where she stood up and began looking at Izuku.

"Huh, that's pretty cool!"

"Ya' think." She rubbed the back of her head slightly embarrassed again. "I don't really have nay friends in the area, so I came to the park hoping to meet some new people."

"Well you can be my friend if you'd like." Izuku looked down again, cheeks turning red. He hadn't talked to a girl this long before, and he had just asked her to be his friend.

"Really!" Ochako seemed excited at being able to make a friend on her first day "You wouldn't mind being my friend?"

"No n-not at all! You seem like a nice person, and… I don't really have any friends either." Izuku look downtrodden for a second before instantly looking back up smiling, he didn't want to depress the girl in front of him.

Ochako became somewhat upset at hearing Izuku had no friends, but then upbeat at hearing that she would be his first friend in a while. "Awesome, then let's be the bestest of friends Deku!"

"De-Deku? Not to make you feel bad Uraraka-san, but Deku is an in-insult that Kacchan calls me." Izuku had never really liked the nickname Deku, he had simply acquiesced to it being a part of him. He hoped Uraraka didn't become upset at hearing this information, it's not like she said it with any ill-intent.

"Really, I overheard him calling you that, and to me Deku has this sort of 'I won't give-up' kind of vibe." She looked down, she had genuinely though that Deku was a good nickname, but if it bothered her new friend, she would stop calling him that.

"You know, when you put it like that, I kind of like Deku. It's always meant something really negative, but I like the way you're changing the meaning into something nice. So, you know what, call me Deku." Izuku felt happy that she saw the name like that, maybe being called Deku doesn't have to be something so bad. She also began smiling after hearing him talk, Izuku was glad that he could get her to smile like that.

"Alright Deku! Also for your information, I'm not your only friend" Izuku tilted his head in confusion at her statement" …you have your dogs!" The dogs seemed to bark in agreement with this.

"Yeah, I guess you're right!" Izuku smiled even wider than he was before, more than happy that she would point this out.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Deku, I should probably start heading back before my parents get worried. Here, let me give you number!" The two exchanged numbers, and began to leave only to realize they were heading in the same direction.

"Hey, Uraraka, did you perchance move to an apartment building just four blocks away from here that has three identical buildings near it, with all buildings housing five floors with five apartments per floor."

"Y-yes" Ochako was somewhat creeped out by how nonchalantly and automatically Izuku described where she just moved too.

"Sorry for creeping you out! It's just that my mom told me about some family moving into the apartment right next to ours!"

"Really! So, we're going to be neighbors, that's awesome!" Ochako was excited that she would be easily able to keep in contact with her new friend, maybe the summer wouldn't be as bad as she initially thought it would.

Izuku and Ochako talked on the way back to apartments, saying their farewells when they arrived. Each left with a smile and went to bed with the same happy thought 'I made a friend!'.

Most of my Chapters are going to be around 3500-5500 words, I'm hoping to get this fic to 100,000 words. The characters will be somewhat OOC, but will stick close to the original character types. If you hadn't guessed it, the main pairing will be Izuku/Ochako, since I like it and it does seem sort of canon-ish. The pairing will help in pushing Deku and Uraraka forward as characters. The dogs were also just meant to help push Deku to discovering his quirk, and giving him some way to improve physically that isn't Dagobah beach, I'll expand upon Izuku's "Diamond" quirk throughout the story. I'll try to upload weekly as well, keyword "try". So, until next chapter, see ya my dudes, and thanks for reading.