Midorinya

Chapter 1 - The Start of it All

Midoriya Izuku, fondly known as Deku or Izukkun by his friends, pushed green locks of unkempt hair behind his ear with a groggy yawn as he sat in the stuffy classroom, paying as much attention as someone who'd spent the night playing video games with Kirishima and Kaminari, both of whom had near boundless energy, could reasonably be expected to. Despite his heavy eyes and lack of sleep, a happy, relaxed aura hung around him. Ever since the incident at the hospital with the League and the Army, villain activity ebbed away to an average, and Izuku felt content at the thought that he didn't have to worry too much about Shigaraki's actions. With both the League's leader and All for One locked away in Tartarus, Izuku could be a normal teenager for the first time in, like, forever.

As normal as was possible in the hero program, anyway.

"...And don't forget to turn in your report on what areas of combat you're lacking in," Aizawa-sensei drolled through half-lidded eyes. "Class dismissed." He promptly sat on the ground, scooted into his sleeping bag, and zipped it up. Chatter immediately filled the room as everyone began to pack their school bags.

"Man, did you see the new Pussy Cats special?" Kaminari laughed, grinning at Jirou, who now sat beside him. "It was really good! I don't know who did their editing, but it was seriously impressive!"

"Nah," Jirou said. She shrugged and gave a soft smile. "I wonder how they're doing, though? Pixie Bob still doesn't have her Quirk yet, right?"

Izuku, who also sat in their vicinity, perked up at this conversation and joined in, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stepped over. "I wonder what Kota's up to! They didn't mention him during the video!"

Jirou's eyes fell on him and her smile widened a little. "That kid who's with them, right? He seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. I'm sure he's fine." She paused, then blinked. "Hey, Midoriya, what kind of music do you like?"

The unexpected question threw the green-haired hero-in-training for a loop. "Eh? Uh, I like rock, I guess. And alternative. I'm not really that picky, though, I like everything."

Mina came out of nowhere, a wild grin on her face. "Oooo, is this about the Deep Dope concert tonight!?" She beamed. Izuku always thought her energy to be palpable. It couldn't be contained in just one, pink person, and always spread throughout the room.

Jirou got caught up in said energy, a soft smile lifting up her lips. "Yeah, it is. I have a few tickets due to my parents' connections, and I decided it might be nice to bring some friends."

Izuku considered; it might be a good idea to spend the evening training his multiple Quirks, but then, he'd done that two nights ago. "Sure, sounds like fun," he decided. He'd heard several Deep Dope songs before and he liked their sound.

"Oi, oi, oi, you better be draggin' me along with!" Kaminari drawled in faux-hurt, sliding up to the group. He grinned and jabbed his thumb at himself. "Huge fan! I have all their albums."

Jirou rolled her eyes fondly. "Of course, Bakaminari. You're like, my best friend. Obviously I'd take you."

"B-Bakaminari!? That's rude, Jirou! I'm hurt! Saddened!"

She snorted. "Right, of course you are," the girl with the earphone jacks drawled. Her eyes flicked back to Izuku and she smiled. "Well, the concert's an hour after school, and it'll be lasting all night. So let's all go together. Mina, you're tagging along, too?" she added, glancing at the pink-skinned girl in question, who nodded.

"You betcha!"

They finished packing up, then got up and started heading off to the concert together. Jirou and Kaminari bickered and teased each other the whole way there, while Mina, a nigh-infinite ball of energy, skipped cheerfully. She also winked suggestively at and finger-gunned a few of the more attractive boys and girls that they passed along the way, many of whom blushed.

The concert itself was a long one, lasting clear from 4pm to 8pm. It was a blast, though, with truly impressive special effects that had to cost a lot of money. Deep Dope's lead singer sounded as good live as he did in recording, a rarity in those days thanks to the prevalence of autotune. Kaminari and Mina cheered and sang themselves hoarse, and Jirou looked about the happiest Izuku had seen her since the school festival. She grinned from cheek to cheek, vibing with the music completely.

Izuku had to admit he'd had one of the best evenings ever, himself. Despite not knowing a few of the songs they played, he still found every single one well-written and as melodically unique as the rest of the band's music. By the time they left, Izuku was starving, but feeling amazing.

"This was really fun, Jirou!" Kaminari said with a wide grin as they left the venue in a sea of attendees. He gave her a huge grin and thumbs-up. "Thanks for bringin' us along!"

She smiled at him and shook her head. "No problem. Thanks for coming, it wouldn't have been as awesome without friends."

Kaminari fist-bumped her, and Mina giggled. "Don't mention it, Jirou," she said, hugging the smaller girl, who blushed a bit under the strong hug. "Anyway, I guess it's time we head home now, huh?"

"Yep," Jirou agreed with a nod. "Unless you all want to grab some food?"

"Anything Sado makes is way better than, like, most of the stuff you can get from a restaurant," Kaminari pointed out.

"Fair point."

Izuku's mind wandered away from the rest of the group as he thought back on the night, a smile on his face. He really was lucky to have wonderful friends like these. He smiled fondly, just watching them chatter. He used to be so alone…

His train of thought derailed as he saw someone's hand—belonging, Izuku noted, to a tall woman with periwinkle hair and pink eyes—slip into Jirou's pocket and take out her wallet. The pickpocket deftly slipped into the crowd, Jirou completely unaware of what had just occurred. Izuku's eyes widened, and he tensed his muscles. "Hey, stop, thief!" he shouted, the crowd and his friends haltering. The three glanced at him, blinking in confusion.

"Thief?" Mina repeated, tilting her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone just pickpocketed Jirou!" Izuku, veins glowing as he surged One for All through them, told her. His friends gasped, and Jirou's hand shot into her pocket. Her eyes widened as she felt the emptiness there, but before any of them could say anything, Izuku had already burst into the crowd, shoving attendees aside as quickly as he could. His eyes roamed through the crowd for the thief, trying to find someone who looked like her. His eyes landed on a person who looked halfway between a man and a woman, but who had the same color of hair and shade of irises as the person Izuku had spotted moments ago.

Actually… while he watched, the person grew progressively more and more male, with rabbit ears that he'd only just now noticed shrinking down to nothingness and being replaced with human ears. Some kind of transformation quirk? The person also grew about a foot in height, their shoulders broadening and face becoming more hardlined. Izuku's eyes narrowed. That was the perfect kind of Quirk for thievery.

...And, crap, she—uh, he was running toward an alley.

Izuku leaped into the air over the sea of heads and towards the alleyway, landing with a roll that he gracefully rose out of. Surprised gasps from the crowd followed him as he dashed forward into the alley after the thief, who froze and glanced over his shoulder at Izuku.

Before the hero-in-training's eyes, the man's body suddenly and rapidly changed into that of a cheetah's. The thief turned cheetah blasted off with impressive speed, sprinting down the alley at a rate no human without a speed-enhancing Quirk could hope to catch up with. Luckily for Izuku, One for All did boost his speed, and he sent a surge of 30%, his current limit, through his veins. The world blurred a bit, and Izuku chased after him as fast as he could. The cheetah turned a corner, and the young hero hopeful followed, leaping into the air at the transforming thief.

Izuku tackled the thief to the ground, but as he landed, realized that he wasn't actually touching anything; a quick search around found a bird with a pink plumage down its back flying away from Izuku.

"So your Quirk allows you to transform your body into different animals or give it different animal attributes," Izuku muttered. "Okay." He leaped up into the air, kicked off the nearby wall, and spun before roundhouse kicking. "SAINT LOUIS SMASH!"

The kick was strong enough that it sent a shockwave through the air, a shockwave that slammed into the bird-thief and knocked him out of the sky with a squawk of surprise. The bird transformed into a cat and landed on all fours, but Izuku landed alongside him, grabbing it and holding him up.

"Gotcha," Izuku said, panting a bit. "Now transform back and return Jirou's wallet, and let me turn you in to the poli—Ow!"

A yelp escaped his throat and he shook his suddenly hurting hand; the cat had bitten him, hard! His hand burned, and Izuku gasped, "Let… go…!"

Oddly, the burning in his hand seemed to not be just limited to his hand, and it quickly began to spread throughout his arm, up into his main body. Before long, his whole body burned, and he writhed in agony, quickly letting go of the cat. "What… just…" Izuku, bending down and curling up into a ball, groaned, panting a little as his heart rate quickened. "Owwww…" It felt like his whole body was under pins and needles… but thankfully, the pain seemed to ebb away. When he glanced back up, though, the thief was gone.

With a groan, Izuku collapsed back, nursing his bleeding hand.

Footsteps echoed through the alleyway, and soon, Kaminari, Jirou, and Mina had met back up with him, eyes wide.

"Dude, what happened?" Kaminari asked Izuku, glancing down at him. "You look pale… and is your hand bleeding?"

Izuku blinked. "I'm pale? ...Huh. But, uh, yeah, the thief bit me."

"He bit you?" Jirou repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"His Quirk apparently lets him transform... into animals. He used that... to escape my attempts to restrain him and get away." Izuku closed his eyes and took a few breaths, shaking his hand. God, it hurt, even if the pain in the rest of his body was mostly gone.

Mina pursed her lips. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked worriedly. "You sound kinda short on breath."

"Fine," Izuku insisted, wincing and getting up. "I'm… I'm fine."

"If you say so," Kaminari huffed with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow.

"Did you get Jirou's wallet back?" Mina asked.

"N-No. Sorry, Jirou," Izuku apologized, frowning.

Jirou waved his concern away. "Don't worry about it," she told him with a soft smile and a hug. "I was needing a new one anyway, and besides, I didn't really have anything important inside it. Thanks for trying, though." Izuku blushed at the hug, drawing an amused snort of Jirou, who released him and dug around in her other pocket for her phone. She pulled it out and called her parents. "Mom? Yeah, I'm gonna need you to cancel my credit card and get me a new one…"

Izuku still felt bad, though. Kaminari must have realized this, because he draped an arm over Izuku's shoulder. "Hey man, you tried your best," he assured him. "It's not your fault the thief stole her wallet or get away. Besides, thanks to you, we can get the police a description of the thief and their Quirk, and then they'll be able to find him."

A smile lifted up the corner of Izuku's lips. "...Thanks, Kaminari."

"No sweat."

While Jirou finished up on the phone, Izuku pulled out his phone and called the police, reporting the incident that had just occurred. With that done, the quartet headed back to U.A.'s dorms. The whole way back, however, Izuku felt… strange. His body just seemed… different, somehow. On a fundamental level. He couldn't really describe it, but it was an uncomfortable sensation. Jirou kept glancing worriedly at him the whole way back to the dorms.

When he finally got back into his own room and collapsed on his bed, he went out like a light.

The night passed without a dream, and Izuku awoke groggily, body feeling… heavier than usual. He got up, rolled out of bed, and still in his sleeping shirt and shorts, grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and stumbled out the door. It was kind of a hard process, because for some reason, he felt… really off-balance. He kept almost falling over and having to use the wall to correct himself. His center of gravity kept feeling lower than normal, and it was hard to get used to, but for some reason, despite going to bed at about nine, he felt too tired to try to find out why. He wandered into the men's bathroom, his vision—still blurry from sleep—making out Kirishima, Shinsou, and Iida.

"Hey, guys," he murmured, voice sounding kinda higher than it usually was as he stepped up to the sink and started brushing his teeth.

"Hey, Midor…" Shinsou started to greet sullenly, glancing over to nod to him before freezing. His voice grew confused and shocked. "...iya…?"

Izuku blinked and groggily tilted his head Shinsou's way. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Kirishima and Iida now stared at him too, slack-jawed.

"Uhhh… Midoriya… that is you, right?" Iida said slowly.

Izuku blinked and nodded. "Well, uh, I mean, yeah, nya?" Wait, had he just nya'd? What in the world?

Iida blinked rapidly. "Um. You may want to look in the mirror?"

Izuku did.

He stared for a while. His hand reached up and poked at his reflection. His reflection poked back. It was definitely him standing there, but his body… Paling, he looked down and saw too rather impressively sized protrusions on his chest. Paling even more, his hand shot down to grope at his waist. Meanwhile his other hand shot upwards to rub at the twin triangles atop his head, and the hand that groped his waist moved around back to feel up the fuzzy addition coming up from above his butt.

"I-I'm a…?" Izuku squeaked, swallowing.

"Catgirl…?" Kirishima finished, toothbrush falling out of his mouth and hitting the floor.

Silence filled the bathroom for a moment. Then, several screams burst out at the same time—

"NYAAAAA!?"

"EHHHHH!?"