1 Infusion

"How far did I have to go," he wondered to himself, "to get all the way here?"He marveled at his progress as he looked down at his body. No longer the scrawny weakling. No, now he was akin to an Olympian athlete of the past. All the struggle and pain was worth it. For his dream, it was a small price to pay. He had started so small...Izuku Midoriya wasn't the tallest, nor the fastest kid in his elementary school. He was bright, always focused on his studies. Whether his focus was on schoolwork or the latest hero to make an appearance was just a question of what time of day it was. He wanted nothing more than to be a great hero. He knew that to be one, you had to be smart, fast, and brave. What Izuku didn't know was that you had to be strong. He glossed over that fact often, especially when All Might was in the spotlight for the latest hero action. All Might made anything possible. He was always smiling, like nothing was ever wrong and everything was going to be right as rain."See that, Mom? He's always smiling!" Izuku said that to his mother more times than she could count. But she was worried. More so than normal these days. Izuku was approaching 5 years old and had yet to show any hint of a quirk. His biggest dream was sitting on a knife's edge. Inko prayed that his dream would come true; she would hate to deny him his dream, it would crush him. Little did she know those dreams would be answered in spades."S-stop it, Kacchan! You're making him cry! I-I'll stop you myself!"Izuku bravely defended a boy against someone he didn't think he needed to: his best friend turned bully."Get out of the way, Deku, you can't be a hero!" Katsuki Bakugo retorted, causing Izuku to flinch and whimper. Katsuki lunged at Deku, hands open, sparkling with smoke and light, ready to blast the little nerd into next week. But what happened next stunned both boys. The explosion went off with a bang right in front of Izuku's outstretched hand, as he hid his eyes, it was expanding outward, and then suddenly shrunk and collapsed into Izuku's open palm. No heat, nor light. Not even smoke. Just...gone.Izuku was cowering, waiting for the next explosion, but none came. He looked up at Katsuki with

frightened eyes but staring back into his and at his open palm was the look of disbelief on Katsuki'sface. Izuku blinked."W-what happened, Kacchan?" Izuku sputtered.Kacchan just stared, then a look of anger shot across his face."Get up, Deku. Do that again." Katsuki spat at him. Izuku shakily got on his feet and looked at his friend. "D-do what?" Izuku asked."That thing with your hand, Deku! You did something to my explosion! I want to see it again!"Katsuki barked."O-oh, uh, o-ok, Kacchan."Izuku raised his hand again, and hid his eyes, expecting to feel pain.Katsuki lunged at Izuku again, this time faster and with more power in his explosion. Right as he got to Izuku's palm, he let loose with all he could. Izuku heard the explosion and felt some heat, but then...nothing else. He looked back up at his hand and then to his friend."You absorbed it, Deku. It just went into your hand!" Katsuki said quietly, then yelled excitedly, "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"I-I don't know! I just held up my hand, and it went away! Let's try again!" Now Izuku was excited.' This is it! This is my quirk!'Katsuki pulled another explosion out of his hands, and Izuku watched this time. Just like Katsukisaid, the heat, light, and fire were quickly absorbed by his skin, glowing faintly, then fading. The only thing Izuku felt was a little heat. He looked up at Katsuki, a wide smile on his face and gleam in his eye."I have quirk now! I can absorb your explosions!"Izuku was practically over the moon now, and he began to come up with ways to test his newfound power.Katsuki, however, was thinking about Izuku.' He stood up to me, and now his quirk made him tougher.' Katsuki didn't like where this was going.' No pain, not even fear.' He turned to Izuku who was mumbling a little bit."Deku! Hands up! We aren't done yet!" Katsuki said with a mad gleam in his eyes."W-why, Kacchan? I don't want to fight!" Izuku said while backing up slowly."No, Deku, we need to test your quirk. Mine will still beat yours, but let's keep testing!"

He lunged for Izuku, but Izuku threw his fist at his friend, trying to stop him. But instead of stopping him, a ring of light started orbiting his arm, traveled down to his fist, and then out in a huge concussion of air that forced the explosive boy back and threw him a couple of meters, landing on his back. He struggled to breathe for a bit, the wind getting knocked right out of him.He clambered to his feet, staring at the once-helpless nerd. Izuku was stunned, switching between looking at his fist and at his friend, for just a split second. Then he rushed over to Katsuki."Kacchan, are you alright? I'm sorry, I don't know what happened!" Izuku said frantically."Deku, what was that? That wasn't an explosion, that was a blast of air." Kacchan looked so angry that Izuku trembled."I-I don't know, Kacchan. I-It felt like energy g-getting pulled out of my arm. A-and then...I don't know!" Izuku kept stuttering."Hmph, so you can fight back now too. Good."Izuku looked up at his friend, incredulously.Katsuki's mad gleam was still there, but there was something else behind it.' He's still mad, but also scared?'Katsuki grabbed Izuku's arm, and said, "C'mon, Deku, Auntie will want to know about your quirk.You know she's going to worry about it."Izuku started to smile slowly, as he followed his friend. 'Maybe, just maybe. He'll help me.'"Mom is going to be surprised", Izuku chuckled.From that day on, the two friends became closer than they ever had before. Katsuki's lackies started leaving Izuku alone after Katsuki stuck up for him, claiming that Izuku could beat them up worse than he could. They went exploring together, running through the area like demons straight out of hell, always fighting imaginary villains and putting on a good show to prove they were heroes.It wasn't until Izuku could outrun Katsuki and was sleeping less and less that Inko was starting to get worried. She scheduled an appointment with a quirk specialist and doctor, just to be sure Izukuwas healthy."You have a very special boy there, Midoriya-san, he is the picture of health. In fact, based on our tests, he is going to be a very strong and healthy man when he gets older.", The doctor said while looking at her notes. She looked back up at Inko and Izuku sitting next to her, smiling widely and holding his newest All Might action figure."It seems that his quirk is Energy Absorption, but it's much more than just that. His cells absorb all electromagnetic and kinetic wavelengths and store it within themselves. He is also showing

increased muscle and bone density, as well as slightly faster than normal immune response time.He will need to start eating a lot more, as his body starts to kick up the production of new tissues. This kind of quirk adaptation isn't unheard of, but it's one of the more curious cases I have ever seen."The doctor took another look at her notes, raised her eyebrows, and then continued, "It also appears that there is the second part of his quirk, Energy Release. He mentioned that he threw a punch and it caused a small blast of air as if the energy stored inside himself was released. This is a very powerful quirk, especially for someone so young." She glanced down at Izuku, "Please be very careful with your quirk, despite how amazing it is, it is also very dangerous."Izuku's smile faltered a bit, his mind going back to the first fight. He didn't hurt Kacchan at that time, but if he got stronger, it would end up hurting someone.Izuku was quiet on the car ride home, giving his mother one-word answers while he seemed deep in thought. Inko was concerned that the doctor had been a little harsh."Izuku, what's on your mind?" She asked carefully, as she pulled into the apartment's parking lot."Mom, do you think I can still be a hero with a dangerous quirk?" Izuku said in a small voice."I think so, honey. Look at Endeavor or even All Might! Their quirks, if used wrong, are very dangerous!"She put on a smile while pulling her son up for a hug."Remember, it's all about how you use it. Learn to control your power, and you'll make a great hero! Can you think of all the ways you can help people with your quirk?" She let him down at the door, while he started rambling about all the ways his quirk could help people. Putting out fires by absorbing their energy being his favorite reason; his mother was worried about that one.But Izuku was the type to come up with all possible plans, and she knew he would find his place.Given enough time and the proper training, his dangerous quirk could be beyond anything she could imagine.Izuku and Katsuki spent the next couple of years just being themselves, exploring, playing, and constantly pushing each other further and harder. Elementary school and Middle School passed without incident, each boy getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Their friendship forged in their rivalry to be better and be the partner the other needed. Kacchan and Izuku had taken to running together in the mornings before school, and then basic weight training and quirk training at a local gym that let them practice. Their parents were just glad for them to have a place to burn off extra energy, doubly for Izuku.Katsuki fed off his energy, but Izuku was an Energizer Battery. His quirk made him a living solar panel, with more energy than he knew what to do with, even to the point of only sleeping for a couple of hours a day. And that was only after his doctor told him he had to sleep; his brain needed

rest to function properly. So, he studied and did extra workouts in the free time he had, and it was paying off in spades.In the ten years since having gotten his quirk, he had changed drastically. Gone was the scrawny runt, replaced with a body that most athletes would kill for. Toned, fit, and tall. Now 15, he was180 cm tall, far taller than Katsuki, and had more power in his muscles than he knew what to do with. His rapid growth caused him no end of troubles with controlling his power. He had to concentrate to make sure that he didn't accidentally let out stored power in the house or around other people. He even took to swimming in a nearby bay and releasing stored power into the water, just to make sure that he didn't overdo it.His training was preparing his body and mind, as well as his spirit. But there is no greater test than the heat of battle and when someone's life is on the line, he would need all of his training to stay in control.

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