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Chapter 2: Accord

Notes:

Chapter 2: Accord

A/N: And hello again! I'm back with this story's second chapter. For anybody that's curious, it's going to take a bit until we reach canon. For now we'll be focusing on the way Izuku's newfound powers of snuggles and hugs are going around and changing things up. Oh, and a few alterations were made to chapter 1, but nothing too major that would really garner a reason to backtrack. Anyways, enjoy!

P.S. Sorry I took so long to post again on here. Not exactly focusing all that much on AO3, but to offset that I'll post a couple all at once. I'll try my best at s consist rate in the future!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

 Izuku awoke from his slumber. Groggily, he yawned and pulled his sheets over his body, rescinding back to the comforting grasp of sleep. That is, until memories of last night resurfaced. Flashes of chitinous bodies and the chittering of insects came to mind. He shot straight up after that.

To his relief, Izuku found the room empty. Aside from the various All Might merchandise that littered the walls and shelves, nothing in particular caught his eye. He was safe.

But... then he felt it. The soft, effervescent buzz that lingered within his mind. It wasn't as strong as it was last night, however; in fact, it was almost non existent.

Wonder why that is?

But the inner workings of the buzzing didn't matter right now. What did matter was that it was still there. Taunting him, begging to be used, rather than to be hidden away and scorned. It plead and plead, constantly striving for Izuku's attention. He sat there trying to ignore it, wishing it to go away. It didn't, despite his best wishes.

And so, Izuku had made his decision. He got up to his door and locked it - he didn't want a repeat incident like what happened last night, after all. He then turned back around and sat at the foot of his bed. He felt for the foreign presence in his mind; he thought of what occured last night, and considered what it meant. Again, he relieved the buzzing in his mind.

Instead of the invading swarm of the night prior, there came a single household centipede - a gejigeji, as he recalled mom calling them - from his room's air vent. He flinched back for a bit, reeling in the sight of the creature. But then noticed the insect had stopped moving halfway across the ceiling to where he sat. He considered what he saw.

It's almost like... it's responding to my thoughts?

He sat forward, and took a deep breath. He willed it to move. It complied. The centipede crawled its way across the ceiling and down atop his bed, it's very many legs skittering away until it laid in front of him. Izuku stared at the creature, its many appendages and antenna stiff and standing, awaiting for an order. He still held a bit of fear, especially when remembering last night's event. He took another breath.

I've gone this far, I can't back out now.

He closed his eyes, and set his hand down. He felt the centipede crawling up his outstretched fingers, slowly making its way to his palm. He opened his eyes.

To his surprise, he creature didn't bite. In fact, now that he thought about it, the centipede displayed no outward characteristics known of the species. Nor any insect at all, really. He prodded again at his power, focusing on the organism that lay on his palm. The centipede responded to his commands: rearing up like a horse, running around in circles, and giving a 20 armed wave. The display swirled amuck in his mind. It could only mean one thing, after all.

This is… I… I have a quirk! A quirk! I'm not useless! I could prove Kaachan wrong. All those times he had been brought down, shoved, beaten. It didn't matter anymore. He could be like All Might. He could… he could be a hero.

He spent a few minutes daydreaming about his future, shooting his arms in the air and heading to his computer, opening his favorite video of his idol, watching it over and over again in celebration.

But then he came off of his high. A bad feeling was growing his in stomach. There was something in the back of his mind that he couldn't shake off. Something that he just knew was true. He thought again of last night. The fear he felt if his mom were to discover him covered head to toe in a living mass of insects. He imagined, the fear in her face if she were to see her boy covered in insects.

He… couldn't. This quirk, this power…

It was a villain quirk.

The insects, the bugs… People would never accept it. Accept him. Insects were feared by everyone. They would fear his quirk, be feared of him. He… He couldn't face that again. The rejection. The isolation. Kaachan was already enough. He couldn't bear any more than what he already faced. He began to sob, a quiet gasp emitting from his lips.

Even with a quirk, I'm of no use. Kaachan… Kaachan was right… He could never be—

A slight tingling sensation spurred him from his thoughts. It was the centipede, rubbing its body against his palm.

Almost like a puppy…

He smiled, and let his finger slide over the length of the insect's body.

"Thank you," he sniffled.

He watched the centipede in fascination, and then his mind had a realization. Even a centipede - with all its many squirming legs and generally creepy appearance - had found a way to comfort him. To make him smile.

He — He could do the same, couldn't he? His quirk didn't have to be what defined him as a hero. There were other ways to being a hero. I just need to use my quirk as a secondary measure, is all.

The computer suddenly let out a line of laughter. "It's fine now. Why?" asked the virtual All Might.

Izuku looked down again at his new friend. He smiled again.

"Because I am here!"

"I'll name you… Rikai. How do you feel about that?"

The arthropod didn't respond, of course. But it didn't matter; the creature - a male, from what Izuku found when he checked - had done something miraculous, pulling him from his saddened state. It was responsible for his epiphany. Izuku owed the insect — Rikai — a whole lot.

He let his control over Rikai go. The centipede retreated away under his bed, no doubt looking for other insects to feed on. Izuku let him be.

Everything can still work out well. A large grin had taken over his face. I can do this.

"Mom!" he yelled. He jumped off his bed, unlocking and pulling his door open. "I wanna start practicing martial arts!"

I was going to be a superhero.

Izuku had been going to a dojo for the past few months. His mom was worried when he first mentioned the idea, bringing up the effort he would have to commit if he were to go through with his wishes. He assured her that this was what he wanted to do to become a hero.

But then came the topic of money. Izuku knew that he and his mom weren't all that well off in terms of income, and had thought real hard when for when the topic would be mentioned. He proposed selling some of his All Might memorabilia, and for his mom stop getting him anymore presents for his birthdays or the holidays. His mother had outright refused the notion at first, but Izuku assured her that this was what he wanted. She eventually relented. Izuku jumped in joy and suffocated his mother in hugs.

It took weeks of strained searching, but he and his mom eventually found a joint dojo that fell just barely within their budget. While the place normally taught Silat and Eskrima as separate programs, the dojo's sensei, one Kage Kawabata, sympathised with Izuku's situation when he heard about the quirkless boy's desire to become a hero. Kawabata-sensei, as he would be called from that point on, gave the Midoriyas a discount, but only so long as Izuku promised to show up to each meeting on time, placing great focus on how difficult it would be for Izuku to become a hero if he didn't. Izuku immediately agreed.

The first martial art style was taught on Mondays and Fridays, the latter delegated to Wednesdays and an alternating schedule between Saturdays and Sundays. The setting did wonders for Izuku. He truly enjoyed it there; the thrill he found training amongst his various peers a bonus when considering all he was learning.

And so, there stood Izuku Midoriya one evening as he left the dojo, heading home from one back-breaking session of Eskrima. Although his body was extensively tired, he still felt up to testing out his quirk. Thus, he pulled up his pack. From inside he took out some shaded glasses, and promptly put them on. He also got out one of his grandmother's canes that he found deep within his mom's closet, extended it to its full length, and let his mind fade into the background. In an instant, he felt the reach of millions of organisms within a two block radius. The feeling was freeing - a refreshing reprieve from his day.

What he had found out with his quirk was that he could hear and see through the insects. That particular ability he had discovered in the middle of the night when he was falling asleep. Again, another experience he wouldn't want a repeat of considering what is was that he saw that night. As such, Izuku made it one of his goals to ensure that he was a master in seeing and hearing to the best of his ability. He was able to focus his sight and hearing through the insects now, though the hearing still needed some work.

However, so far the ability only worked if he concentrated really, really hard. Enough concentration was needed, in fact, that that he loss focus on most - if not all - external stimuli that wasn't connected to his bugs.

His body's sight of his surroundings didn't really matter, however; he could just place a couple bugs on his head to see where he was going and that specific problem would cease to cause him trouble. But, the constant collisions with random pedestrians was, and often disrupted his concentration, spurring him out of the moment. Thankfully, the people around him generally wove their way around a young boy with some shaded glasses and a cane.

Wouldn't want to cause to blind kid to fall down now, would you?

A few minutes into his walk, and Izuku stumbled upon something unusual. He stopped in his tracks. Some sort of powder had killed one of the hornets he was using to observe his surroundings. He sent a couple more bugs in and set his mind to viewing the run-down building he sent them into. Through the eyes of the bugs he found stacks of money and an abundance of guns. Further surveillance revealed a table of the powder - white, he noticed - that had killed his hornet. His eyes widened at the discovery. There was no doubt about what it was he found.

It's a yakuza hideout. What are the chances of finding one of the last safehouses of a dying organization? Well, no matter. The place looks like a good chance to test out my fighting skills, huh?

Izuku shook his head. What kind of thoughts are those! I'd get myself killed thinking things like that! Not to the mention it being illegal! Izuku continued to berate himself over the mere notion of barging into a yakuza hideout and expecting to come out alive without being riddled with bullets. He continued walking on.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that him walking away was just wrong. The yakuza were criminals, causing harm and destruction in many places even with the heroes that were running about. Innocents would be hurt if he just let what he saw be.

I'll… I'll think over it for tonight. No need to rush into anything. It's not like they won't be there tomorrow.

The next week found Izuku two blocks away from the yakuza hideout. He thought over what he could do for the last seven days, spending hours over the possible ways he could take down the hideout without being outed himself.

As it was, he was within a rather comfortable ice cream parlor. A place that acted not only as a place to concentrate his focus, but also had great ice cream, from what he had heard.

So there he was, just digging in to his mint chocolate chip, when his surveillance bees picked up on a disturbance in hideout.

"Gre… thin… drugs ar… ready for ano…"

He was still working on picking up audio with his bugs, but what he had heard had been enough. There were people in there just asking to be arrested. He then enacted the second part of his plan.

In a discrete alleyway, Izuku found a payphone with his bugs. The various insects began to dial up a number. The phone rang, and then a voice came through.

"Hello? What's your emergency?"

Then came the hard part. Again, like his audio receptiveness, the next part of the plan relied too much on something he was having trouble mastering, but he pushed away his worries in place for action.

His bugs came together, and began to create sound.

"Yakuza… hideout… found..." relayed a harsh cacophony of chittering insects. Izuku ensured that the voice was as feminine and light as possible, while giving a sense of authority - something he thought up to keep the faceless mass of bugs as far from his own identity as possible. He thought up the ability just last week, deep within his planning session regarding the yakuza. He had trouble in getting the syllables to sound well enough together to form words, but a week of constant attempts brought him able enough to form individual words he had practiced hour on end.

Hopefully, the conversation doesn't deviate too much from what I predicted. I don't have many terms mastered that wouldn't just sound like a chittering of bugs, after all.

Izuku continued with his bug speech, giving the operator the address of the yakuza hideout he had found, and the loadout of the twenty or so yakuza members inside.

"Drugs… money…" he added. Over the phone, the operator voiced her thoughts.

"Uh, ma'am," looks like the voice masking worked , "would you please stay where you are? The authorities are on their way."

Uh, nope. He wouldn't get caught up in all the action. "No," the bugs responded in kind, and then they dispersed into nearby dumpsters and storm drains, leaving the phone hanging from its cord. Thankfully he didn't have to say anything more than what he practiced.

Izuku waited, ordered another ice cream—chocolate chip cookie dough this time. About five minutes later, the bugs picked up on the arrival of someone one the rooftop across the hideout. The figure in mention wore a red and black costume, a scarf billowing in the breeze and two sharp headpieces jutting out from his head.

Is that… the up and coming hero Edgeshot?

It indeed was, as shown when his body stretched to the likes of string and slipped under the door of the hideout. A minute or so later, the hero arrived out through upper window of the building and reshaped himself on the roof. He spoke into his headpiece then, and crouched as if in wait.

He's waiting for backup before actually doing anything. Smart.

Eventually, a whole squad of police rounded up around the corner. Edgeshot came upon then and began to talk. Izuku listened in with his bugs.

"Info… righ… round twenty-sev… you rea…"

"Trap?"

"Don't thin… scoute… no likes of… anywh..."

They're getting ready for a raid then.

The brave men and women readied themselves, surrounding the building. Edgeshot again shrunk down under the door, this time unlocking it and allowing the police to come in. The insects inside watched in wait from their perches on the ceiling. The yakuza members never knew what hit them, a good majority of them being knocked out by Edgeshot's "Thousand Sheet Pierce." The remaining few surrendered to the overflowing police upon seeing their comrades subdued.

No holds barred, eh?

Izuku continued to watch as the police began to take in the criminals. Just in time too, as he had finished hs ice cream. A large smile was planted on Izuku's face. The store's cashier noticed the huge grin on his face.

"That must have been some good ice cream, seeing as your smiling so much about it."

Izuku broke out of his thoughts and began panicking at the prospect of being found out, no matter how ridiculous it was to think the cashier knew what he was truly doing in the first place. His bugs buzzed slight out of control, but immediately ordered them back into stillness. He quickly thought up a response. "I, yeah. I gue- guess you could say that." He got up to leave.

Best not to stay at the crime scene, after all.

"Well, that's good then!" continued the cashier. "A few scoops of ice cream are a must to a happy and joyful life! I hope you have a great day!"

Izuku smirked a little. "Yeah, a good day. I really am having one. Thanks for the ice cream!" He exited the shop, and headed off towards home. His insects slowly lost sight of the hideout. Edgeshot and the police began to head off to the station. There was no doubt that they would be investigating the strange voice they heard over the phone. His first actions as a hero, masked in the reigns of vigilante action.

But that didn't matter. The yakuza members were utterly defeated and taken in without any deaths or injuries. The yakuza were twenty-seven members short, their already diminishing numbers becoming ever so smaller. All because of his quirk; he wasn't the useless Deku that Kaachan — Bakugou — always called him.

He thought back on the police. He would be careful, of course, if he planned on continuing to use this newfound ability to find criminals.

"Give me a debrief."

"Of course," responded the officer. "Two days ago, on the intersection of Sonkyo and Kaigancho, we received a call regarding a supposed yakuza hideout. Edgeshot arrived on the scene five minutes later. He checked the payphone where the call was made, and found the phone hanging from its cord. The phone was checked for prints later on, none were found."

"Mhm."

"And then," continued the officer, "Edgeshot scouted out the building. He found everything as the voice had said it would be. He later raided the building with our officers, the operation going off without a hitch. Twenty-seven individuals were arrested, eleven being repeat arrests for prior charges. Nine of them were wanted for escapes and similar crimes."

"And the anonymous caller? What do we know of them at this point?"

"Not much. Aside from their apparent attempt to distort their voice, there isn't much we know. We believe that the caller was female, but then again, that could just be because of the methods used to hide their voice. Heck, for all we know it could be their quirk, or that's just their natural sounding voice."

"I see. Well, I'll keep this incident in mind. For now, I'll being looking around for similar events on my patrols. I'll keep you up to date, officer."

"Thank you, Eraserhead. I know you're still fairly new to this and all, but I believe you're best suited to solving our problem. You have my thanks."

Eraserhead nodded. "Of course. No worries, officer. We need to see what else this anonymous caller may know, after all." They both bid each other farewell. The Erasure Hero walked out of the station and into the night.

Notes:

And there we have it! Chapter two of this fic and here we take a glimpse into Izuku's newfound aspirations and the changes it has brought on his life. How'd you all like it? Good? Bad? Meh? Again, I'm open to any thoughts you guys might have. Even so, I hope you all enjoyed this addition of Flight of the Dragonfly.

'Till next time!