- Location
- California
Bruh, Izuku says this now, but wait until he has an urgent need for materials.
Lol. Why are you embarrassed Deku?
Wait, who's speaking here? Can't be Izuku as this seems too harsh for Midoriya to sneer.
Forged Symbol (MHA Celestial Forge alt-Quirk)
- Thread starter jansky
- Start date
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I believe its Monoma, considering he's using a flight quirk of some type while his hands are shrinking.
Dolly Fail Fail
Boss Leader
- Location
- Within dreams and memories
While I will admit that this story does have its issues, I have to say, it manages to avoid one thing I feel is kind of a problem in the other Celestial Forge stories.
Namely, that it doesn't spend paragraph on paragraph explaining what the perk the character just got does, thus getting them yet closer to the next perk with literally nothing of note having taken place.
Namely, that it doesn't spend paragraph on paragraph explaining what the perk the character just got does, thus getting them yet closer to the next perk with literally nothing of note having taken place.
Easter
Laziest lazier
- Location
- Bed
Deku has this weird obsession over his childhood friend where he still thinks their friends after years of Baku at best not talking to him or at worst bullying him
- Location
- Out in the banjoes
Deku's one half of a toxic codependent abusive relationship in regards to his "friendship" with the Exploding-Sweatlord, but Bakugo could honestly completely fail to notice if Izuku here vanished because All-For-One decided that "Hey, a Quirk that just gives knowledge about making things and doesn't need any practice or training? Dibs."
Now, once Izuku starts whipping out the big SCIENCE (or magic enchantments), Bakugo's worldview may be threatened by little Deku suddenly being impressive and hopefully distance, time apart, & socializing with people completely unaffiliated with Bakugo helps give Izuku enough backbone to not put up with him.
...I kinda want Izuku to have at least ONE death ray by that point.
- Location
- Florida
- Pronouns
- He
and that's not counting if Deku gets some knowledge perk that changes his worldview
- Location
- California
I get the feeling at the current distance apart is slowly chipping away at Bakugo. He has no school lackeys anymore, and Deku is doing his own thing. We can clearly see that other people aren't going to put up with his nonsense. Just look at how Ochako uses her quirk this chapter to levitate him outside the classroom. That's not even mentioning the other students like Tenya Lida or Todoroki who will probably not rollover from Bakugo's abrasive attitude.
Oh. Bakugo survived. Yay.
- Location
- Out in the banjoes
I think that was actually Monoma, given the dissing of 1-A at the time and the massive clap plus shrinking hands after would mean he was copying Kendo's size-changing hand-Quirk at the time. Which also means that Iida wasn't the one to rally the students, and after checking back it does seem odd that Izuku was the first one to come to Iida's mind when he decided to calm everyone down.
Bakugo did yell back at him, so he contributed as much as could be expected.
But yeah,
Uraraka found him scary early on, Iida is commonly vocal about getting Bakugo to try and behave appropriately, Tsuyu never put up with his shit, Mineta is aware that Bakugo is male (making him uninterested in Bakugo's entire existence), and Todoroki was socially distant and apathetic until the Sports Festival arc (which will drastically change since Izuku has no opinion on Todoroki's unwillingness to use fire).
...Honestly, Izuku and Kirishima mostly bridged the gap between Bakugo and everyone else, Izuku because of his history/dependency and Kirishima because of... I'm going to blame it on his persona re-imagining focusing on Manliness after his backstory of prior to entering UA and causing him to gravitate around Bakugo by focusing on him in only a positive light. So Bakugo may sort-of have a single follower, except Kirishima probably wouldn't put up with bullying others (whereas in canon, Izuku would constantly reassure everyone it was fine and that Bakugo's just like that, making everyone write it off when it just happened to him).
...Huh, totally unrelated thought, but I wonder if Izuku's new piloting/driving/riding Quirk applies to the Chariot game in the Tournament arc? Quirks turn humans into pretty strange animals after all. Plus the "can very quickly familiarize yourself to the point of being able to fly through a busy battlefield" part could be handy there. I can get why people would want to switch that game out for something fresher, but adding an SI/OC/Setting-displaced MC/etc really shouldn't have much of an effect over whatever decision-making process sets up their games in the "Sports" Festival, so the canonically shown lineup seems the most likely way to go even if the competitors perform differently according to what happens in-story.
- Location
- California
Probably, however, Monoma's quirk copy ability only works with quirks one at a time, and he's described as floating. Who else did he copy?
zhuull
SB still lying to protect Racists what else is new
I think you handled it well. This should reasonably be the point where Bakugo starts to mature and show off more of why he really wants to be a hero, particularly since this version of him hasn't had to deal with the multiple traumas of Midoriya showing him up or "lying" to him.
The interaction with Bakugo was good. Honestly my only issue with the fanfic so far is his lack of intuitive understanding of his warehouse, but that can be chucked up to being too young to comprehended what it meant.
I just hope that is worked out soon, by quirk counselling Or by rolling a workshop perk.
I just hope that is worked out soon, by quirk counselling Or by rolling a workshop perk.
- Location
- Earth
No this is what he needs.
What's This Doohickey? (Campione) (200)
Ah, supernatural powers. They don't come with an instruction manual, be it the
magic of mortals, the Authorities of Gods or something else entirely, one needs
to get their exact limits and improve themselves by trial and error. Well not
anymore, this little blessing works to take care of that. Now, you gain an innate
knowledge of how to use any new powers you acquire, as well as their limitations
and advantages. Doesn't sound like much until you get a power-up in the middle
of a battle and you realize you don't know how to use it. Embarrassing.
So he will finally know whats his perks do.
Last edited:
- Location
- Out in the banjoes
He may have gotten an anti-gravity boost from Uraraka like Iida did in canon, it would be a mild twist if she ended in 1-B instead based on whatever criteria they use to sort the classes. Izuku did better in his entry test, so he wasn't frantically muttering about needing just one point with enough of an impact on Uraraka to make her ask to share her points (and they had her recorded asking about that, so maybe Nezu does a quick Psych-Profile when he sorts them instead of just letting RNG do its thing? If he's involved in divying up new students, but his intelligence Quirk should make planning the least time-intensive part of his administration duties).
- Location
- Earth
Ya I added that perk to the forge v2 specifically for a scenario like this.
- Location
- Florida
- Pronouns
- He
There's also the culture perk
but it is 600 points
but it is 600 points
AldariSiradla
Knight of the Fountain Pen
Young man...
You have a lot to do...
The Forge calls...
Beckons evens...
Pick up your tools...
And let the Heavens guide you.
Nice...
1-A survives their ordeal.
Battered but survived.
What other changes will this world show us?
I await that with great anticipation.
You have a lot to do...
The Forge calls...
Beckons evens...
Pick up your tools...
And let the Heavens guide you.
Nice...
1-A survives their ordeal.
Battered but survived.
What other changes will this world show us?
I await that with great anticipation.
Y Ddraig Goch
Previously Unknown Solder 1
- Location
- Terra
Your story has potential, real potential. I can practically taste it. Deku stayed in character, our protagonist doesn't have a cheat sheet towards understanding his quark. HE actually recognizes it as a quark. He doesn't automatically get any of the freebies, and the celestial forge rewards actually feel random. There is a slow but steady growth and I can't feel the power creep coming in anytime soon. No potentially meta-gaming, Honestly I'm loving this story so far. Don't abandon it plz.
He doesn't understand what his perks does, that's the biggest Plus this fic has, he doesn't have an automatic understanding of all of his perks.
He doesn't understand what his perks does, that's the biggest Plus this fic has, he doesn't have an automatic understanding of all of his perks.
Last edited:
- Location
- Elsewhere
So, fun detail about chainmail, it doesn't stretch.
At all.
It shifts around a bit, but there is no give.
Not only does that make it really difficult to put on or take off, but it also constricts around your everything when you move.
Even a loose t-shirt cut becomes problematic when you turn it into metal.
The ones you see in museums or online are about as tight as it gets, as in it takes a few minutes to wiggle your way into them.
"I brought marshmallows!"
Chapter 9: Rotation
Izuku woke up and was halfway into his school uniform before he remembered that today's lessons had been cancelled in response to the Villain attack. He slumped back down onto his bed with a huff, not sure what to do with the unexpected day off. It felt like a waste of time to be stuck in his room when he could be in the workshops, if Villains were attacking U.A. then he needed to learn faster, not slower.
[7.38 CRAFTING ARTISAN UNLOCKED - 350 STORED]
His Quirk seemed to sense his impatience: Izuku realised he knew how to use everything in half the workshops. Anything electronic he'd still have to learn, but any tool predating the industrial revolution seemed to be within his capabilities now, which would more than make up for the lost time. Why was his Quirk so much more responsive to his needs now he'd joined the Support course?
A buzz issued from his phone, then another. Remembering the group chats from yesterday, he snatched it up in case there was another incident. No, it was just a series of texts from the recently-elected class president Toya, who had something to say in his join-the-dots manner of speech and was sending every sentence as a separate message.
He went to make himself breakfast. Last night, his mom had been shocked to hear of Bakugo's injuries, and it looked like she'd already gone to bring food to the Bakugo household. Izuku realized that meant he should keep away from all his usual hangouts in the neighbourhood, because that kind of "pity" would likely send him out the house to sulk. He cared about Kacchan, admired him even, but that didn't mean he had to like him or want to spend time with him.
The sour mood from that thought was wiped away from his first bite of food. He'd made the omelette without thinking, just a few basic ingredients and some dusty spices his material sense had him pull out from the back of the cupboard, but it had an amazing combination of flavors that woke him up completely. Briefly, he wondered whether he should keep this new application of his abilities from his mother: she loved to cook, and he loved her cooking, but this was on another level entirely.
But no, he had chosen to open up with his mother and trust her, and he would stick to that resolution. She'd still want to cook for him anyway, just to give him more time for his studies, and maybe he could add some finishing touches to whatever she made so that they could have the best of both worlds.
He put together a few simple snacks for her to taste-test and left them in the fridge with a note to explain, then returned to his room to see if Toya had finished. Thankfully, he had, and Yasakani had followed it up with a summary:
"Tl;dr let's go on a class shopping trip to not trouble our parents, get to know each other out of class, and Maintain Morale (sic), meet in front of Yavin train station at half ten"
Izuku replied that he'd join them and amended his note to his mother to that effect.
-----
Getting off the train, he could see that half the class was there already, with his forming friend group being the most visible. Toya was holding up an umbrella like a tour guide for any late arrivals, but it was redundant next to the height of Akagi the redwood Heteromorph. The class president wore preppy neat clothes at odds with his rugged looks, while the latter boy had a black t-shirt large enough to hide three of his classmates and stenciled with the phrase
"DON'T LIKE ME?
I'LL GROW ON YOU"
in neon green paint. Beside him, he could already hear Haze in some athleisure clothing complaining about how hard it was to find outfits that looked good on all her different sizes.
Izuku's own outfit he'd grabbed from his closet had ended up coordinated by accident, a red t-shirt to match his chunky trainers and an unbuttoned green gingham shirt over it for his eyes.
Yasakani slouched over from the next train fashionably late and dressed in a punk outfit topped off with a pair of shiny aviator sunglasses. Izuku had to do a double-take, he'd assumed the mirrored visor was part of her. Yokote followed shortly behind, in a fashionable streetwear ensemble that looked like it had come straight from the pages of a magazine.
After waiting for the latecomers who said they'd be attending, the group hit the shops.
-----
Being a class of Support students, they gravitated towards the technical shops and started showing off their skills. Yokote was the center of attention: whenever they started debating how a product was made or the way a particular mechanism worked, he would create a temporary mirrored copy for them to tear down and look inside, having his classmates huddle around him to avoid getting caught using his Quirk in public. Izuku was a bit uncomfortable with the disregard for the law, and when he'd tried to join in he'd been quickly shut out when it became apparent that the crafting ability from his Quirk did not extend to taking apart items or reverse-engineering their workings. He'd tried to express his admiration for how much the others were able to learn, but that seemed to ring false to them too.
When Haze started pulling the group towards Velvet and Iron, Izuku hung back. He didn't want to make his classmates feel even more overshadowed, so he waited outside with Akagi (too large to fit inside comfortably) and Toya (already blushing from hearing the descriptions of the costumes and not wanting to embarrass himself with his reaction to seeing them up close).
Unexpectedly, Kokonoe showed up while they were waiting outside, wearing a very businesslike outfit of a blouse, blazer, and pencil skirt.
"Hi vice president, did you have a shift at a part-time job or something?" He asked.
"Yes." She said succinctly.
"Uh, the rest of the class is inside already if you want to join them," he offered.
She walked in wordlessly.
Izuku exchanged glances with Akagi and Toya but neither seemed willing to comment.
-----
Between the different food preferences and the growing tensions within the class, the 1-F students split up for lunch. Izuku's friend group went for ramen, but Yasakani spent most of the meal complaining about how nobody could handle her pointing out their lies which dampened the conversation.
Yokote tapped his chopsticks against the edge of the table in a complicated drumbeat. "So, what do you all want to buy this afternoon?"
[13.29 RAPID GROWTH UNLOCKED - 250 STORED]
Izuku started mumbling to himself. He could… make trees grow back faster? But it felt like something was missing. Was it to do with his proximity to Akagi?
"Midoriya? You kind of zoned out there."
"Huh? Sorry, it's a Quirk thing. Um, I wanted to go get some wood and cloth, I got better at crafting this morning and I thought I'd remake some of my furniture. Oh, and maybe get some houseplants too." He pointed in the direction his material sense compass tugged him for the first two items.
"I know a good shop for that," Akagi said. "I don't have much to buy so I can help you carry your stuff too."
"How do you two ladies feel about hitting the clothes shops?" Yokote asked. With that, their little group split further for the afternoon.
-----
Izuku's shopping was easy thanks to Akagi, and soon they were walking back to his house with a couple of saplings the boy had said would be easy to care for and more materials than he'd originally planned to buy. With such a strong assistant, there wasn't any point not stocking up. The tree Heteromorph had been a quiet presence and a good listener during the shopping trip, so he found himself sharing more and more.
"I don't know, it feels like I kept messing up today and now half the class doesn't like me," he concluded.
Akagi clicked his fingers - although "clacked" would be a better onomatopoeia for the sound his wooden digits made. "I used to do judo, you know. Had an unfair advantage, since I was twice the size of anyone my age. What's more, there weren't many people like me in the judo scene, so even at competitions I'd still be bigger than most of my opponents. My first instructor paired me up with adults to practice, who could make up the size difference with skill, and that was a bad time for everyone involved. The second one spent all her time teaching me personally, said I was a worthy successor to her dojo."
"What happened next?" Izuku asked. This was the most he'd heard him speak at a time.
"I quit. One, I wasn't making any friends and two, I was too strong to learn anything from my opponents. Three, being better than the kids who practiced non-stop was killing their passion and making them mean. Instead I got into grafting." He gave a craggy smile. "Nobody's got pissed off at me for being better than them at that."
"So you're saying, rather than showing up the other students at skills they've earned and I haven't, I should find what I can do that no-one else can and stick to that?" Something felt off about that to him, but he couldn't put a finger on what.
"I said nothing of the sort," Akagi made a broad gesture. "Just sharing my experiences, planting a seed."
"Thanks, and thanks for carrying all this," Izuku said, as they reached his front door. "Would you like to come in for something to eat? I've got really good at cooking lately too."
Akagi looked at the narrow wooden stairs up to the Midoriyas' flat as he gently stacked the planks, bolts of cloth, and potted plants his friend had bought. "How about you pay me back with something to wear, if you have enough cloth left over?" He tugged at his shirt for emphasis. "There isn't much fashion to be had for people my size, and my bark wears through it all too quickly."
-----
Midoriya woke up the next morning to a room that had transformed again. His curtains blocked the light completely, so he had to pull them open to see the horizon just starting to glow with pre-dawn light. His new bed was incredibly comfortable, he'd fallen asleep almost as soon as he got in, and it seemed he'd slept more efficiently too. Getting dressed and ready for school, he discovered various other little benefits his recently handmade furniture offered to make that routine easier.
With an hour to go before his alarm would even go off, he decided to head to U.A. early. If he could find some workshop supervision, maybe he could finish off his bike ahead of schedule by not building it all from scratch and make a start on some Support equipment that would be useful to Heroes in a fight.
-----
He was in luck: a wire-haired third-year and a girl with pink dreadlocks were already at work in an assembly room, so he took the frame of his bike from the locker and finished it off with some wheels, pedals, and brakes selected from the storeroom.
His focused work wasn't to last, though. As he was spray-painting the bike in a ventilated area to complete it, he felt a presence rise up behind him.
"That looks super cool! Is it meant to be collapsible? But how do you maintain the - ooh, I see! I'm Hatsume Mei, do you want to make some babies with me?"
Izuku looked to the third-year for guidance with pleading eyes. The lanky boy shrugged unhelpfully and turned back to his work.
"Uh, hi, Hatsume, I'm Midoriya Izuku. Yeah, it's designed to fold up like this -" he gave the handlebars a precise shake, making the frame collapse down to pull all the off-the-shelf components together. "By "babies", I'm… assuming you mean Support items?"
She nodded absently, fascinated by the mechanism. "Do that again!"
He complied, shaking the bike back into shape. "Um, I think I'll need to ask my teacher about any partnerships or collaborations, I don't know what the rules are, but -" his mumbled response paused as he remembered his conversation with Akagi "- hey, until he gets here, why don't you show me what kind of thing you can make?"
The girl squealed and dragged him out the room to her lockers. Izuku found himself feeling grateful to have a childhood's worth of experience dealing with strong assertive personalities - or, well, one such personality in particular.
-----
The whirlwind sequence of demonstrations of Support equipment Midoriya barely understood was brought to an end by the sound of the school bell and the arrival of Snipe. He extricated himself from Hatsume's exuberant presence and retrieved his bike to show his teacher.
"You finished that there steed quickly, Midoriya," the gunslinger said, pushing up the brim of his hat as he leaned in for a closer look. "Looks like a clever mechanism, I'd warrant that's enough original work to qualify for the Sports Festival, and in plenty of time for the registration."
"Huh? I made this to ride to school, what do you mean about the festival?"
"You weren't planning to compete? You know that Support students can bring items they've made in with them, right?"
Izuku recalled watching the festival on television one year and seeing a student in the third-year competition wearing power armor. "Oh, I see, that explains it. But, teacher, do you think I should take part? After the USJ attack, I just wanted to finish this off so I could start making proper Support gear instead."
Snipe leaned against the workbench. "Well, remember how I told the class that the first year's all about learning to learn, and the second year you learn what to learn? What I meant by that was, the second year you should have the skills to make changes to your gear on a short turnaround, so we throw you in lots of sparring classes and the like to give you a feel for how it all holds up in fisticuffs and firefights. At your pace, though - you've worked metal before?"
"I learned to use everything in the machine shop and the welding shop this week, and my Quirk gave me the skills for most of the low-tech rooms yesterday," Izuku said, mumbling slightly.
His teacher whistled. "Then you'd gain a lot from getting some combat experience ahead of schedule, so you know what helps in a real brawl, not to mention the chance for sponsorships or internships. Now, there are rules to be followed: register your gear beforehand, nothing you haven't mostly made for yourself, and no modifications once it's registered - I trust I don't need to tell you again why another stunt like the entrance exam would be a disqualification, if not an expulsion?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, sir. But what about collaborations?"
Snipe seemed to frown, then plucked a long pink hair off of Izuku's shoulder from where Hatsume had draped herself for a demonstration of some night vision goggles. He tried to suppress his blush through force of will, but his teacher didn't comment. "Collaboration's out too, ever since - it was before your time, but one year a whole class of Support students built themselves an honest-to-goodness tank. Believe you me, that did not go down well."
He made a mental note to look up the video for that competition. So taking part in the festival would give him a chance to test out whatever he made, and forestall a collaboration with Hatsume for two whole weeks?
"I'll do it, sir."
-----
All Might would not be joining them that afternoon. His class schedule was being rearranged to allow more tutoring of small groups of the third-year students, supposedly because it fit his teaching style better. It was a disappointment, but Izuku could understand the true reasoning: if Villains attacked again, he would have fewer students to defend and they would be more capable of defending themselves at the same time.
-----
"Come in, Midoriya." A voice called from inside as soon as Izuku had started to hesitate at the door to the guidance counselor's office after lunch.
[8.29 PRECISION TOOLS UNLOCKED - 150 STORED]
In fact, Izuku's hesitation was less to do with apprehension about the discussion and more the new ability he had just received, which he knew was going to take some testing to figure out. It reminded him a little of the IFF tag printer Hatsume had shown him that morning, but felt more arbitrary like his tool-improving power. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and walk on in.
The Pro Hero Hound Dog was sat with his legs out on an oversized cushioned windowsill, basking in the sun and looking out on the wooded U.A. grounds. He was in civilian clothing, and without his muzzle his canine face seemed oddly delicate.
"Midoriya, take a seat," he said. The room had places to sit scattered all around, from office chairs to beanbags. Izuku thought for a moment, then took the other cushioned windowsill. It was probably a test of some kind, but he had made the sunlight look very inviting.
"Um, sir, should I call you Hound Dog or something else, as you're not in costume…"
"Mr. Inui will be fine, please. I know how my Heroic persona can intimidate." He had an odd habit of tilting his head down and facing Izuku directly when he spoke, perhaps to hide his teeth. Izuku could imagine how those could scare people too.
"There's a tape recorder near your seat. Take it when you feel comfortable. It's confidential and only to help me remember things, there are a lot of U.A. students with a lot of worries to keep track of," he said, turning his head to show a closed-mouth doggy smile. "Nothing will be shared unless you ask me to, and you can pause it if there's anything you want to say off the record."
Izuku enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight for a moment, taking in the room properly. There were motes of dust - and not a few dog hairs - floating in the sunbeams, and another wall had several secure-looking cabinets beneath a bookshelf full of toys and props. He got up, took a recorder, sat back down, and pressed it on.
"I'm ready, Mr. Inui."
"Alright. There are routine questions I like to ask, but first, is there anything troubling you, Midoriya?"
"Well… the Villain attack on Wednesday was really scary. I could see the USJ out of the classroom window, and watched you and the other teachers go there to help, and I hated feeling like there was nothing I could do. But that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about." Izuku took a deep breath. "My mother's Quirk pulls in small objects from nearby. My own Quirk seems to pull in items, skills, and powers from… elsewhere."
Mr. Inui blinked slowly. "Can you tell me more?"
He unzipped his rucksack and pulled out his notebook, along with a sheaf of the Mars canal papers. "Here, I've been making notes on my Quirk since it first emerged. It started when I was standing up to some bullies, when I was four, and I got a key that would always come back…"
-----
"Could you make your key come back now?"
"Ah, it doesn't work like that, I haven't lost it because I know exactly where it is at home."
"Hmm. Mr. Aizawa, the 1-A homeroom teacher, also has a lockpicking class for second-years. If you make a booking with him, he might be able to identify it and has a room full of locks you could test it out on."
-----
The Hunting Dog Hero sniffed the pages of advice on how to build canals on Mars curiously. "They do smell strange, but I've yet to sample all the paper in the world," he said with another doggy smile. "Tell you what, with your permission I could ask Power Loader to run a sample through some tests while he's checking the equipment for his third-year Forensics classes."
"Yeah, that sounds good. I want to know where it's all coming from too. I mean, my current theories are alternate timelines and parallel dimensions!"
He huffed a laugh. It sounded slightly nervous to Izuku's ears.
-----
"Is that everything?" Mr. Inui asked, head cocked.
"Well, there are the two other abilities I got that I haven't tested yet, and two more things my Quirk pulled in that I haven't written down in there, but they're even more outlandish -"
"Even more -" the canine Heteromorph barked out in shock, then coughed. "My apologies, you were saying?"
"The other thing is, I'd have to ask someone's permission too. Can we come back to those later?"
"Could they endanger anyone?"
"No! If anything, -" 'he's thriving,' Izuku wanted to say, but stopped himself.
"Then of course. Only share what you feel comfortable with."
-----
Mr. Inui and Izuku had moved to a pair of armchairs once the angle of the sun changed enough that it was getting in the counselor's eyes rather than warming his golden fur. They had come back to the USJ attacks, and Hound Dog had shared how he too felt troubled by his inability to help everyone who needed it, and how he tried to focus himself on the changes he could make instead. Finally getting to the routine questions, Izuku had brought up how his inexplicable leaps in ability upset his fellow students, too, and the counselor compared it to his experiences working with the police to track down criminals.
"The way I see it, sometimes it's just a fact that you're better at sniffing out perps and clues. You can make it easier for them to accept that fact, but it's on them to do so, and the sooner they do the more they benefit too. Be open to meeting someone beyond you, though - one time I was partnered with a boar Heteromorph on the force, and he had a snout for drugs that was uncanny."
They were interrupted by the ringing of the school bell.
"That'll be the end of school, I had it set up so my office wouldn't get interrupted by the class bells."
"Huh? But - I missed a whole afternoon!"
"Relax, kid, the teachers know that these chats can overrun. They'll go easy on you. Besides, it sounds like you've made some good friends already who can help you catch up. Go on, take yourself home, and you can book another session with me whenever you need it."
Mr. Inui took the tape recorder and stopped it, gave it a sniff, and locked it away in one of the cabinets as Midoriya left.
-----
On the train home, Izuku's Quirk reached out again while he was still thinking about the last two he'd received.
[9.18 SEWING AND SHOWCASING ROOM - INSUFFICIENT CHARGE - 350 STORED]
He felt almost grateful that this one came to nothing. He didn't want to be stuck receiving new deliveries faster than he could figure them out.
-----
Word count: 3881/24074
A/N: Yup, it's another roll that Izuku lacks a suitable power source for. I'm starting to see why the original Forge had the freebie rule, but I won't be changing my approach for now.
This chapter got away from me a bit, the last workshop scene with Hatsume and Snipe isn't as polished as I'd like.
We only see Hound Dog when he's being a disciplinarian. Here's my take on him under more normal circumstances, a guidance counselor with a side of therapy dog. I think it's canon that he loses control of his voice when he's agitated, so I thought his office environment would be as much for his comfort as for his students.
Crafting Artisan (Demon the Fallen) (100): When it comes to the manufacturing of physical goods, such as blacksmithing, woodworking, basket weaving, etc, you are an expert in dozens of fields. More than that, you have a certain artistic flare to your work that others can't help but notice.
Rapid Growth (Final Fantasy XIV) (200): You can't afford to wait years for a forest to regrow! By the time that forest grows to a state where it's ready for harvest, you won't even need the lumber to build your house anymore! No, in order to make it in time for harvest this season, you're going to need to draw on some more potent forces. It might be a little bit dangerous to use Aether in such a fashion, but by imbuing the saplings with concentrated Aether, you've successfully sped up the growth rate of the trees - to a point where you can harvest them again. Well, unfortunately, the trees did grow a bit bigger than normal, but you expect that's just a normal side effect from using concentrated Aether to grow things.
Precision Tools (MtG New Phyrexia) (200): The exarchs, elite of the Core Augur's creations, managed to create a thought field specifically attuned to the Mirran resistance's minds, disabling their will. While you might not be as versed in the neuroscience involved(yet), you have found a way to attune your creations to a certain group of "targets"- ensuring they will not damage your own allies. This also lets you make your own creations useless against you, ensuring they won ́t be used to fight you... not for long, anyways.
[7.38 CRAFTING ARTISAN UNLOCKED - 350 STORED]
His Quirk seemed to sense his impatience: Izuku realised he knew how to use everything in half the workshops. Anything electronic he'd still have to learn, but any tool predating the industrial revolution seemed to be within his capabilities now, which would more than make up for the lost time. Why was his Quirk so much more responsive to his needs now he'd joined the Support course?
A buzz issued from his phone, then another. Remembering the group chats from yesterday, he snatched it up in case there was another incident. No, it was just a series of texts from the recently-elected class president Toya, who had something to say in his join-the-dots manner of speech and was sending every sentence as a separate message.
He went to make himself breakfast. Last night, his mom had been shocked to hear of Bakugo's injuries, and it looked like she'd already gone to bring food to the Bakugo household. Izuku realized that meant he should keep away from all his usual hangouts in the neighbourhood, because that kind of "pity" would likely send him out the house to sulk. He cared about Kacchan, admired him even, but that didn't mean he had to like him or want to spend time with him.
The sour mood from that thought was wiped away from his first bite of food. He'd made the omelette without thinking, just a few basic ingredients and some dusty spices his material sense had him pull out from the back of the cupboard, but it had an amazing combination of flavors that woke him up completely. Briefly, he wondered whether he should keep this new application of his abilities from his mother: she loved to cook, and he loved her cooking, but this was on another level entirely.
But no, he had chosen to open up with his mother and trust her, and he would stick to that resolution. She'd still want to cook for him anyway, just to give him more time for his studies, and maybe he could add some finishing touches to whatever she made so that they could have the best of both worlds.
He put together a few simple snacks for her to taste-test and left them in the fridge with a note to explain, then returned to his room to see if Toya had finished. Thankfully, he had, and Yasakani had followed it up with a summary:
"Tl;dr let's go on a class shopping trip to not trouble our parents, get to know each other out of class, and Maintain Morale (sic), meet in front of Yavin train station at half ten"
Izuku replied that he'd join them and amended his note to his mother to that effect.
-----
Getting off the train, he could see that half the class was there already, with his forming friend group being the most visible. Toya was holding up an umbrella like a tour guide for any late arrivals, but it was redundant next to the height of Akagi the redwood Heteromorph. The class president wore preppy neat clothes at odds with his rugged looks, while the latter boy had a black t-shirt large enough to hide three of his classmates and stenciled with the phrase
"DON'T LIKE ME?
I'LL GROW ON YOU"
in neon green paint. Beside him, he could already hear Haze in some athleisure clothing complaining about how hard it was to find outfits that looked good on all her different sizes.
Izuku's own outfit he'd grabbed from his closet had ended up coordinated by accident, a red t-shirt to match his chunky trainers and an unbuttoned green gingham shirt over it for his eyes.
Yasakani slouched over from the next train fashionably late and dressed in a punk outfit topped off with a pair of shiny aviator sunglasses. Izuku had to do a double-take, he'd assumed the mirrored visor was part of her. Yokote followed shortly behind, in a fashionable streetwear ensemble that looked like it had come straight from the pages of a magazine.
After waiting for the latecomers who said they'd be attending, the group hit the shops.
-----
Being a class of Support students, they gravitated towards the technical shops and started showing off their skills. Yokote was the center of attention: whenever they started debating how a product was made or the way a particular mechanism worked, he would create a temporary mirrored copy for them to tear down and look inside, having his classmates huddle around him to avoid getting caught using his Quirk in public. Izuku was a bit uncomfortable with the disregard for the law, and when he'd tried to join in he'd been quickly shut out when it became apparent that the crafting ability from his Quirk did not extend to taking apart items or reverse-engineering their workings. He'd tried to express his admiration for how much the others were able to learn, but that seemed to ring false to them too.
When Haze started pulling the group towards Velvet and Iron, Izuku hung back. He didn't want to make his classmates feel even more overshadowed, so he waited outside with Akagi (too large to fit inside comfortably) and Toya (already blushing from hearing the descriptions of the costumes and not wanting to embarrass himself with his reaction to seeing them up close).
Unexpectedly, Kokonoe showed up while they were waiting outside, wearing a very businesslike outfit of a blouse, blazer, and pencil skirt.
"Hi vice president, did you have a shift at a part-time job or something?" He asked.
"Yes." She said succinctly.
"Uh, the rest of the class is inside already if you want to join them," he offered.
She walked in wordlessly.
Izuku exchanged glances with Akagi and Toya but neither seemed willing to comment.
-----
Between the different food preferences and the growing tensions within the class, the 1-F students split up for lunch. Izuku's friend group went for ramen, but Yasakani spent most of the meal complaining about how nobody could handle her pointing out their lies which dampened the conversation.
Yokote tapped his chopsticks against the edge of the table in a complicated drumbeat. "So, what do you all want to buy this afternoon?"
[13.29 RAPID GROWTH UNLOCKED - 250 STORED]
Izuku started mumbling to himself. He could… make trees grow back faster? But it felt like something was missing. Was it to do with his proximity to Akagi?
"Midoriya? You kind of zoned out there."
"Huh? Sorry, it's a Quirk thing. Um, I wanted to go get some wood and cloth, I got better at crafting this morning and I thought I'd remake some of my furniture. Oh, and maybe get some houseplants too." He pointed in the direction his material sense compass tugged him for the first two items.
"I know a good shop for that," Akagi said. "I don't have much to buy so I can help you carry your stuff too."
"How do you two ladies feel about hitting the clothes shops?" Yokote asked. With that, their little group split further for the afternoon.
-----
Izuku's shopping was easy thanks to Akagi, and soon they were walking back to his house with a couple of saplings the boy had said would be easy to care for and more materials than he'd originally planned to buy. With such a strong assistant, there wasn't any point not stocking up. The tree Heteromorph had been a quiet presence and a good listener during the shopping trip, so he found himself sharing more and more.
"I don't know, it feels like I kept messing up today and now half the class doesn't like me," he concluded.
Akagi clicked his fingers - although "clacked" would be a better onomatopoeia for the sound his wooden digits made. "I used to do judo, you know. Had an unfair advantage, since I was twice the size of anyone my age. What's more, there weren't many people like me in the judo scene, so even at competitions I'd still be bigger than most of my opponents. My first instructor paired me up with adults to practice, who could make up the size difference with skill, and that was a bad time for everyone involved. The second one spent all her time teaching me personally, said I was a worthy successor to her dojo."
"What happened next?" Izuku asked. This was the most he'd heard him speak at a time.
"I quit. One, I wasn't making any friends and two, I was too strong to learn anything from my opponents. Three, being better than the kids who practiced non-stop was killing their passion and making them mean. Instead I got into grafting." He gave a craggy smile. "Nobody's got pissed off at me for being better than them at that."
"So you're saying, rather than showing up the other students at skills they've earned and I haven't, I should find what I can do that no-one else can and stick to that?" Something felt off about that to him, but he couldn't put a finger on what.
"I said nothing of the sort," Akagi made a broad gesture. "Just sharing my experiences, planting a seed."
"Thanks, and thanks for carrying all this," Izuku said, as they reached his front door. "Would you like to come in for something to eat? I've got really good at cooking lately too."
Akagi looked at the narrow wooden stairs up to the Midoriyas' flat as he gently stacked the planks, bolts of cloth, and potted plants his friend had bought. "How about you pay me back with something to wear, if you have enough cloth left over?" He tugged at his shirt for emphasis. "There isn't much fashion to be had for people my size, and my bark wears through it all too quickly."
-----
Midoriya woke up the next morning to a room that had transformed again. His curtains blocked the light completely, so he had to pull them open to see the horizon just starting to glow with pre-dawn light. His new bed was incredibly comfortable, he'd fallen asleep almost as soon as he got in, and it seemed he'd slept more efficiently too. Getting dressed and ready for school, he discovered various other little benefits his recently handmade furniture offered to make that routine easier.
With an hour to go before his alarm would even go off, he decided to head to U.A. early. If he could find some workshop supervision, maybe he could finish off his bike ahead of schedule by not building it all from scratch and make a start on some Support equipment that would be useful to Heroes in a fight.
-----
He was in luck: a wire-haired third-year and a girl with pink dreadlocks were already at work in an assembly room, so he took the frame of his bike from the locker and finished it off with some wheels, pedals, and brakes selected from the storeroom.
His focused work wasn't to last, though. As he was spray-painting the bike in a ventilated area to complete it, he felt a presence rise up behind him.
"That looks super cool! Is it meant to be collapsible? But how do you maintain the - ooh, I see! I'm Hatsume Mei, do you want to make some babies with me?"
Izuku looked to the third-year for guidance with pleading eyes. The lanky boy shrugged unhelpfully and turned back to his work.
"Uh, hi, Hatsume, I'm Midoriya Izuku. Yeah, it's designed to fold up like this -" he gave the handlebars a precise shake, making the frame collapse down to pull all the off-the-shelf components together. "By "babies", I'm… assuming you mean Support items?"
She nodded absently, fascinated by the mechanism. "Do that again!"
He complied, shaking the bike back into shape. "Um, I think I'll need to ask my teacher about any partnerships or collaborations, I don't know what the rules are, but -" his mumbled response paused as he remembered his conversation with Akagi "- hey, until he gets here, why don't you show me what kind of thing you can make?"
The girl squealed and dragged him out the room to her lockers. Izuku found himself feeling grateful to have a childhood's worth of experience dealing with strong assertive personalities - or, well, one such personality in particular.
-----
The whirlwind sequence of demonstrations of Support equipment Midoriya barely understood was brought to an end by the sound of the school bell and the arrival of Snipe. He extricated himself from Hatsume's exuberant presence and retrieved his bike to show his teacher.
"You finished that there steed quickly, Midoriya," the gunslinger said, pushing up the brim of his hat as he leaned in for a closer look. "Looks like a clever mechanism, I'd warrant that's enough original work to qualify for the Sports Festival, and in plenty of time for the registration."
"Huh? I made this to ride to school, what do you mean about the festival?"
"You weren't planning to compete? You know that Support students can bring items they've made in with them, right?"
Izuku recalled watching the festival on television one year and seeing a student in the third-year competition wearing power armor. "Oh, I see, that explains it. But, teacher, do you think I should take part? After the USJ attack, I just wanted to finish this off so I could start making proper Support gear instead."
Snipe leaned against the workbench. "Well, remember how I told the class that the first year's all about learning to learn, and the second year you learn what to learn? What I meant by that was, the second year you should have the skills to make changes to your gear on a short turnaround, so we throw you in lots of sparring classes and the like to give you a feel for how it all holds up in fisticuffs and firefights. At your pace, though - you've worked metal before?"
"I learned to use everything in the machine shop and the welding shop this week, and my Quirk gave me the skills for most of the low-tech rooms yesterday," Izuku said, mumbling slightly.
His teacher whistled. "Then you'd gain a lot from getting some combat experience ahead of schedule, so you know what helps in a real brawl, not to mention the chance for sponsorships or internships. Now, there are rules to be followed: register your gear beforehand, nothing you haven't mostly made for yourself, and no modifications once it's registered - I trust I don't need to tell you again why another stunt like the entrance exam would be a disqualification, if not an expulsion?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, sir. But what about collaborations?"
Snipe seemed to frown, then plucked a long pink hair off of Izuku's shoulder from where Hatsume had draped herself for a demonstration of some night vision goggles. He tried to suppress his blush through force of will, but his teacher didn't comment. "Collaboration's out too, ever since - it was before your time, but one year a whole class of Support students built themselves an honest-to-goodness tank. Believe you me, that did not go down well."
He made a mental note to look up the video for that competition. So taking part in the festival would give him a chance to test out whatever he made, and forestall a collaboration with Hatsume for two whole weeks?
"I'll do it, sir."
-----
All Might would not be joining them that afternoon. His class schedule was being rearranged to allow more tutoring of small groups of the third-year students, supposedly because it fit his teaching style better. It was a disappointment, but Izuku could understand the true reasoning: if Villains attacked again, he would have fewer students to defend and they would be more capable of defending themselves at the same time.
-----
"Come in, Midoriya." A voice called from inside as soon as Izuku had started to hesitate at the door to the guidance counselor's office after lunch.
[8.29 PRECISION TOOLS UNLOCKED - 150 STORED]
In fact, Izuku's hesitation was less to do with apprehension about the discussion and more the new ability he had just received, which he knew was going to take some testing to figure out. It reminded him a little of the IFF tag printer Hatsume had shown him that morning, but felt more arbitrary like his tool-improving power. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and walk on in.
The Pro Hero Hound Dog was sat with his legs out on an oversized cushioned windowsill, basking in the sun and looking out on the wooded U.A. grounds. He was in civilian clothing, and without his muzzle his canine face seemed oddly delicate.
"Midoriya, take a seat," he said. The room had places to sit scattered all around, from office chairs to beanbags. Izuku thought for a moment, then took the other cushioned windowsill. It was probably a test of some kind, but he had made the sunlight look very inviting.
"Um, sir, should I call you Hound Dog or something else, as you're not in costume…"
"Mr. Inui will be fine, please. I know how my Heroic persona can intimidate." He had an odd habit of tilting his head down and facing Izuku directly when he spoke, perhaps to hide his teeth. Izuku could imagine how those could scare people too.
"There's a tape recorder near your seat. Take it when you feel comfortable. It's confidential and only to help me remember things, there are a lot of U.A. students with a lot of worries to keep track of," he said, turning his head to show a closed-mouth doggy smile. "Nothing will be shared unless you ask me to, and you can pause it if there's anything you want to say off the record."
Izuku enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight for a moment, taking in the room properly. There were motes of dust - and not a few dog hairs - floating in the sunbeams, and another wall had several secure-looking cabinets beneath a bookshelf full of toys and props. He got up, took a recorder, sat back down, and pressed it on.
"I'm ready, Mr. Inui."
"Alright. There are routine questions I like to ask, but first, is there anything troubling you, Midoriya?"
"Well… the Villain attack on Wednesday was really scary. I could see the USJ out of the classroom window, and watched you and the other teachers go there to help, and I hated feeling like there was nothing I could do. But that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about." Izuku took a deep breath. "My mother's Quirk pulls in small objects from nearby. My own Quirk seems to pull in items, skills, and powers from… elsewhere."
Mr. Inui blinked slowly. "Can you tell me more?"
He unzipped his rucksack and pulled out his notebook, along with a sheaf of the Mars canal papers. "Here, I've been making notes on my Quirk since it first emerged. It started when I was standing up to some bullies, when I was four, and I got a key that would always come back…"
-----
"Could you make your key come back now?"
"Ah, it doesn't work like that, I haven't lost it because I know exactly where it is at home."
"Hmm. Mr. Aizawa, the 1-A homeroom teacher, also has a lockpicking class for second-years. If you make a booking with him, he might be able to identify it and has a room full of locks you could test it out on."
-----
The Hunting Dog Hero sniffed the pages of advice on how to build canals on Mars curiously. "They do smell strange, but I've yet to sample all the paper in the world," he said with another doggy smile. "Tell you what, with your permission I could ask Power Loader to run a sample through some tests while he's checking the equipment for his third-year Forensics classes."
"Yeah, that sounds good. I want to know where it's all coming from too. I mean, my current theories are alternate timelines and parallel dimensions!"
He huffed a laugh. It sounded slightly nervous to Izuku's ears.
-----
"Is that everything?" Mr. Inui asked, head cocked.
"Well, there are the two other abilities I got that I haven't tested yet, and two more things my Quirk pulled in that I haven't written down in there, but they're even more outlandish -"
"Even more -" the canine Heteromorph barked out in shock, then coughed. "My apologies, you were saying?"
"The other thing is, I'd have to ask someone's permission too. Can we come back to those later?"
"Could they endanger anyone?"
"No! If anything, -" 'he's thriving,' Izuku wanted to say, but stopped himself.
"Then of course. Only share what you feel comfortable with."
-----
Mr. Inui and Izuku had moved to a pair of armchairs once the angle of the sun changed enough that it was getting in the counselor's eyes rather than warming his golden fur. They had come back to the USJ attacks, and Hound Dog had shared how he too felt troubled by his inability to help everyone who needed it, and how he tried to focus himself on the changes he could make instead. Finally getting to the routine questions, Izuku had brought up how his inexplicable leaps in ability upset his fellow students, too, and the counselor compared it to his experiences working with the police to track down criminals.
"The way I see it, sometimes it's just a fact that you're better at sniffing out perps and clues. You can make it easier for them to accept that fact, but it's on them to do so, and the sooner they do the more they benefit too. Be open to meeting someone beyond you, though - one time I was partnered with a boar Heteromorph on the force, and he had a snout for drugs that was uncanny."
They were interrupted by the ringing of the school bell.
"That'll be the end of school, I had it set up so my office wouldn't get interrupted by the class bells."
"Huh? But - I missed a whole afternoon!"
"Relax, kid, the teachers know that these chats can overrun. They'll go easy on you. Besides, it sounds like you've made some good friends already who can help you catch up. Go on, take yourself home, and you can book another session with me whenever you need it."
Mr. Inui took the tape recorder and stopped it, gave it a sniff, and locked it away in one of the cabinets as Midoriya left.
-----
On the train home, Izuku's Quirk reached out again while he was still thinking about the last two he'd received.
[9.18 SEWING AND SHOWCASING ROOM - INSUFFICIENT CHARGE - 350 STORED]
He felt almost grateful that this one came to nothing. He didn't want to be stuck receiving new deliveries faster than he could figure them out.
-----
Word count: 3881/24074
A/N: Yup, it's another roll that Izuku lacks a suitable power source for. I'm starting to see why the original Forge had the freebie rule, but I won't be changing my approach for now.
This chapter got away from me a bit, the last workshop scene with Hatsume and Snipe isn't as polished as I'd like.
We only see Hound Dog when he's being a disciplinarian. Here's my take on him under more normal circumstances, a guidance counselor with a side of therapy dog. I think it's canon that he loses control of his voice when he's agitated, so I thought his office environment would be as much for his comfort as for his students.
Crafting Artisan (Demon the Fallen) (100): When it comes to the manufacturing of physical goods, such as blacksmithing, woodworking, basket weaving, etc, you are an expert in dozens of fields. More than that, you have a certain artistic flare to your work that others can't help but notice.
Rapid Growth (Final Fantasy XIV) (200): You can't afford to wait years for a forest to regrow! By the time that forest grows to a state where it's ready for harvest, you won't even need the lumber to build your house anymore! No, in order to make it in time for harvest this season, you're going to need to draw on some more potent forces. It might be a little bit dangerous to use Aether in such a fashion, but by imbuing the saplings with concentrated Aether, you've successfully sped up the growth rate of the trees - to a point where you can harvest them again. Well, unfortunately, the trees did grow a bit bigger than normal, but you expect that's just a normal side effect from using concentrated Aether to grow things.
Precision Tools (MtG New Phyrexia) (200): The exarchs, elite of the Core Augur's creations, managed to create a thought field specifically attuned to the Mirran resistance's minds, disabling their will. While you might not be as versed in the neuroscience involved(yet), you have found a way to attune your creations to a certain group of "targets"- ensuring they will not damage your own allies. This also lets you make your own creations useless against you, ensuring they won ́t be used to fight you... not for long, anyways.
Last edited:
- Location
- Florida
- Pronouns
- He
Great chapter
also with rapid growth, Deku could buy some fruit trees and make some fresh ones every day to save costs with his mom
also with rapid growth, Deku could buy some fruit trees and make some fresh ones every day to save costs with his mom
Another great chapter!
Precision tools seems like an incredible thing to have to avoid injuries to civilians or teammates.
Looking forward to what happens next.
Precision tools seems like an incredible thing to have to avoid injuries to civilians or teammates.
Looking forward to what happens next.
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Is it even possible to get Aether? I mean, Aethertapping is a thing but that's a different kind of aether. Probably some energy substitution perk I can't find though.