Smashing Down Your Problems! by Deku

Like all great things in life, it all began with anime.

Four-year-old Izuku watched with confusion as a cartoon yellow-haired ninja made yet another enemy his friend by beating the crap out of them. He didn't understand.

"Miss Komori? Why does the bad ninja like the good ninja after getting beat up by him?" Izuku asked, puzzled. He never liked it when Kacchan beat him up. Why would anyone begin to like someone after fighting them? Fighting shouldn't make people like each other, right?

"Oh, he's just using his Therapy no Jutsu," his babysitter responded, hiding a grin behind her hand.

"He's using what?"

"Therapy no Jutsu. He makes his enemies remember their past and regret their actions through punching them," she said, barely able to contain her laughter.

"Oh," Izuku said. He thought for a moment. "Can heroes do that? Or is it just ninjas?"

"I'm sure they can, dear," she told him before turning around and laughing as quietly as she could into her palm. She usually didn't abuse her influence over small children like this, but she couldn't help herself. It was just too funny how seriously the boy took this.

The simple babysitter had no idea that in that very moment she unintentionally planted a revolutionary idea in the mind of the future Number One hero.

Ten years later, Izuku ran towards a villain holding Kacchan hostage, his legs moving as if on their own.

"Stop, you idiot!" called out one of the heroes.

"He's going to get himself killed!" exclaimed another.

But Izuku ignored them. Even after speaking with All Might his hope for becoming a hero had been crushed, he just had to try to do something. Without thinking about it, for the first time he put a move he'd been cultivating ever since kindergarten to the test.

"THERAPY..." Izuku swung his backpack directly at the villains face "...SMASH!"

"AAAH! MY EYE!" the sludge villain cried out in pain. Suddenly he was experiencing the most peculiar flashbacks from his childhood; he remembered how he was bullied by the other kids because of his slimy body. He remembered leaving wet spots everywhere on the floor and getting laughed at for it. He remembered getting rejected on the Valentine's Day by his first crush.

What the hell was this...?

"DETROOOIT SMAAAASH!

Before the sludge villain had a chance to recollect himself, All Might's fist struck and split his molecules apart.

Later that day, All Might told Izuku:

"...It was because of what you did back there, that I was able to act," said Toshinori, thinking of how the villain became inexplicably paralyzed for a moment after getting hit by Izuku's backpack. The Number One hero wasn't sure how that happened, exactly, but it gave him enough time to transform and come in to save the day, so Midoriya deserved recognition for the feat.

"Huh?" The boy stared at him, confused, no idea what his idol was talking about.

"Yes. Top heroes have stories about them from their school days, and most of them have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had a chance to think." All Might looked at Izuku knowingly. "It was true in your case, wasn't it?"

Izuku's tears were a mixture of crushing doubt, pain and hope he had been storing in his soul for an entire decade. "Yes!" He sobbed, clutching at his heart.

And then the person Izuku admired most told him:

"Young man, you too can become a hero."

The boy cried shamelessly, falling to his knees.

"You are worthy of inheriting my powers."

Izuku lifted his head, looking at All Might with incomprehension. "Huh!?"

And that's how All Might chose Izuku Midoriya, a quirkless hero fanboy, to inherit the power of One For All. However, Toshinori had a single lingering doubt. Not about whether Izuku was the right choice or not, oh no. All Might was confident this young man was the perfect person to become his successor, especially after observing his progress over the months. His doubt about Izuku was...

"Young Midoriya, are you sure that you are quirkless?"

Izuku blinked at him like he wasn't sure if he heard correctly. "What?"

"I'm just making sure. You're absolutely positive that you've never developed a quirk?"

"Yes, why? I mean, the doctor took a scan of my feet when I was four and I have an extra joint in my pinkie, so..." Izuku shrugged, looking away in discomfort. "Yeah, definitely no quirk."

"That's strange."

"Why?"

"I could have sworn you used a quirk against the sludge villain back then."

Izuku watched him with huge eyes. "What?"

"When you attacked him. You threw a backpack at his face, remember?"

"Y-Yeah, I did. My notebook hit him in the eye and he loosened his hold on Kacchan enough to let him breathe..." He frowned. "What about it?"

"Did you not notice how the villain became still and unresponsive after your strike?"

"He what?" Izuku gaped. He hadn't noticed that at all. "You mean... my move actually worked?"

"What move?"

"The Therapy Smash!"

Toshinori listened in complete stupefaction as his student described the technique he'd been working on years. Izuku soon began muttering to himself:

"That would mean that my calculations about the proper psychological response from the target is dependent on the hit placement just as I suspected... it makes sense it would be the eyes with the sludge villain, he lacked any other constant organs aside from his eyeballs, I wonder what exactly he remembered to make him stop trying to take over Kacchan's body..."

"Uh, young Midoriya?" All Might asked, perplexed. "Where did you get this idea from again?"

"From an anime."

Toshinori found himself at a loss for words.

Ultimately the topic was dropped, the Number One hero arriving at the conclusion that as long as Izuku's move really worked - and who he was to say that it didn't after witnessing it in action for himself - then he had no reason to question the boy about it any further. Even if it didn't make much sense to him.

But hey, they lived in a superhuman society where people could bend the laws of physics to their will as easily as making dinner. Perhaps the idea wasn't as far-fetched as it seemed.

After training for ten months, Izuku finally received One For All from All Might, passed the UA entry exam and got into the school of his dreams. And on the first week, he finally had a chance to test his special move on another target.

"The first match will be: group A versus group D! Hero Team: Midoriya and Uraraka, versus Villain Team: Bakugo and Iida!"

Izuku felt like an anime protagonist himself, being put in a situation where he was forced to fight against his childhood friend and tormentor. But there was a bright side to it. If he could replicate the success of his first Therapy Smash, not only did his team have a chance to win, but maybe, just maybe...

"Begin!"

Izuku sensed when Kacchan was about to sneak up on them, yet he still barely managed to avoid getting harmed in the explosion. His mask wasn't so lucky though.

"Come, Deku! Don't dodge."

The time has come.

When Kacchan swung his right just like he'd predicted, Izuku grabbed his arm and used the momentum against him.

"THERAPY..." Izuku yelled as he slammed his rival against the ground "...SMAAASH!"

For a moment, Kacchan didn't move, and Izuku almost thought his technique worked. But then…

"What did you think you were doing just now?" Bakugo said angrily. "I know all about your crappy secret move, Deku!"

He stood up.

"Too bad for you… I've been having childhood flashbacks this entire time!' he yelled. "They only made me hate you more! Your move is useless against me!"

Oh, crud.

In the end group A won, if only just barely. But Izuku wasn't discouraged by the failure. His move did work, except it wasn't effective on Kacchan due to external circumstances. In other words, Therapy Smash wasn't unstoppable.

It was fine. He still needed to work on it some, anyway. And the awareness that he couldn't become overly-dependent on it to get him out of trouble was a good lesson.

However, the third time Izuku attempted Therapy Smash - during the USJ incident - it didn't work at all. At first he was very confused. Was there something wrong with his technique? But later, he found out that Nomus' brains were messed up to the point of having no memories and thus were incapable of having childhood flashbacks. Another good things to know for the future: Therapy Smash didn't work on brainwashed people.

The fourth time he decided on using it, was during the Sports Festival.

After hearing Todoroki's backstory, Izuku was in shock and full of concern. But he also realized this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for his entire life.

Shouto Todoroki was in pain. He needed help and Izuku's new, improved version of Therapy Smash was perhaps exactly what he needed.

"IT'S YOURS!" he screamed at the scarred boy with all his might as he applied his secret move. "IT'S YOUR POWER, NOT HIS!"

It was amazing how he could see in real time the effects his move had on Todoroki. The boy froze for a short moment, his eyes widening and going out of focus. Then, no more than five seconds later, he burst into flame.

"I want to be a hero too!" Todoroki told him, smiling widely.

Izuku grinned back.

Once again, Therapy Smash was a smashing success.

Author' Note:

I admit, I never actually watched Naruto…? But the "Defeat Means Friendship" TV trope and "We Got Some Sense Beaten Into Us By Naruto Club" memes are hard to miss. And when I watched the Tournament Arc in My Hero Academia I couldn't help but notice how… Naruto-ish it was?

Even this comic I found and used as a cover by Keirookie on Tumblr reflects it so perfectly it actually inspired this fic… xD

Anyway, apparently the Best Way to Turn Your Enemies Into Friends is to beat the crap out of them and invoke a tragic childhood flashback in them…? At least that's what anime teaches us!

Thank you all for reading, please review and follow and favorite if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :)