An Eclectic Catalogue of Ideas

Izuku listened as Uncle Masaru spoke to Inko. "Sh-she was in a car accident. Katsuki is devastated." There was an unspoken 'So am I' that Inko understood. "He has always liked you, could you take care of him for a few days while I put things in order?"

"Of course," Inko said to the shattered man. "I'm so sorry, Katsuki," she said, kneeling next to the six-year-old. The blonde-haired boy stared at her, his red eyes suddenly tearing up and he hugged her, beginning to cry.

Masaru knelt by his son, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Katsuki, I'll be picking you up in a few days. I need to...need to arrange things, all right?"

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Bakugou nodded. "Okay," he told his father, still half-clinging to Inko, "Can I stay with De--Izuku?"

"Of course, dear," Inko said, slowly leading him into the apartment. "Izuku, Katsuki will be staying with us a few days."

"All right, mom," Izuku said, looking at Bakugou quietly. They'd not been close the past two years, with the red-haired boy starting to bully him. But he couldn't imagine losing his mom. "Come on, Kacchan. I found a new All Might figurine, it's a rare one! I managed to get two, so you can have one if you want."

Inko and Masaru watched the pair. They'd known about the tension between the two, if not how bad things were getting. Perhaps it would be all right.

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

The years rolled onward.

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"Oh come on, Izuku," snapped Katsuki, as he walked home with him. "Look at yourself. You're quirkless. If you wanna be a hero, you gotta move your fucking ass. You're a twig. Even Nighteye can fight. Your notebooks are a good start. You're smart, but you have to do more than that."

Izuku looked thoughtful, "I guess you're right, Kacchan. How about we both start taking lessons in a dojo? I'm not sure which martial art to take, though."

"You'd be fuckin' helpless without me, loser." Katsuki snorted, "You want one that also has weapon stuff to make up for not having a quirk. Krav Maga is a good choice. It's brutal, and more designed for efficiency than lookin' good, and has weapon-based stuff in it." He'd spent a night doing research for his friend. He knew Izuku was smart, but he sometimes missed the big picture.

"You just like the idea that it's brutal," teased Izuku.

"Hell yeah," Katsuki said with a savage grin. "There's a place a few stops down from Auntie Inko's place. Why don't we go and see how much it'll cost."

"Deal."

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

"Something's wrong," Izuku said to Katsuki as they walked home. "All Might hasn't been seen in a while. What if he got hurt, Kacchan?"

"Nah. What asshole could hurt All Might? All Might never fuckin' loses." Katsuki said. "I'm going to be staying over again. Dad's working late again." Masaru had been working a lot since Katsuki's mom's death. Inko had become almost a second mother to the red-eyed boy.

"Again?" asked Izuku. "Not that I mind, but it's the third time this week, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I think dad is saving up, he wants to move to another place closer to your apartment," Katsuki said with a shrug.

"Huh. Well, it'll be nice having you closer. You're not too far away as is, but it is a few stops down on the train," Izuku said.

"Yeah, then I can stop in and eat Auntie's dinner every night. She cooks a lot better than my dad," Katsuki said with a smirk.

"Be nice," Izuku chided, laughing.

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

"Fuck this shit. I hate the teachers. You did just as well as I did, and they marked you off for bullshit reasons!" Katsuki complained.

"Kacchan, it's all right," Izuku told him, "I don't really care as long as I learn the work and they don't drop my grade too far. They're idiots, and don't want a 'quirkless loser' to have the best grades in the class."

"You're not a fucking loser," Katsuki glowered, "Hell, you manage to kick my ass whenever we fight if I don't use my quirk. Even with my quirk, we're pretty even, that damn staff of yours hurts!"

"So do your explosions," Izuku noted with a laugh. "I go through more tee shirts when we're practicing, mom has been noticing a lot more since we started really upping the sparring."

"Yeah, well, I'll apologize to Auntie. Have to push you as far as I can, loser. You want to be a hero, you need the work," Katsuki said with a smirk. As they turned to head down the block, Katsuki started to jog ahead, "Let's go," he said over his shoulder, "We need to get home before Auntie, or she'll ask questions."

It was at that moment that they heard an explosion. Turning, Izuku saw a large vehicle was flying through the air, thrown by a bulky man who seemed to be literally made of muscle. The car slammed into a building near them, and it started to collapse, most of the rubble heading straight for Katsuki. It was going to crush him!

"Look out!" called Izuku, who moved forward, pushing Katsuki as hard as he could.

The good? news was when the rubble hit, Izuku found himself on the outer edge of the collapse and was only struck a few times. He winced, feeling the sharp pain of a broken bone in his leg.

The bad news was Katsuki was still caught by the falling rubble, half-covered with debris up to his back, blood pouring from the back of his head.

Izuku began to move towards his friend, brother in all but name, the pain in his leg excruciating as he neared him.

Then, darkness claimed him.

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

"[[Izuku! Get the fuck up! Damnit, you better not be hurt too badly. What the fuck is all this?]]" Izuku heard a familiar voice.

Eyes fluttering open, Izuku saw a strange green box in front of him. It said:

[[Gamer System: loaded.]]
[[Sheet Setup: Complete.]]
[[Personality: Loaded.]]
[[Welcome, Gamer!]]

"Gamer? What the hell?" muttered Izuku.

"[[Izuku! You're fuckin' awake!]]" came Katsuki's voice. Even as Izuku looked around, not seeing the other boy, he heard, "[[I woke up and you were unconscious. Which was fuckin' boring as apparently I only can see and hear what you can. Let me tell you, sucks.]]"

"Uh...what the?" Izuku blinked, "Kacchan, why am I hearing your voice?"

"[[Because apparently, I'm part of your fucking quirk now. What the hell?]]" Izuku couldn't help but laugh as he heard Katsuki continue to swear. "[[The last thing I fucking remember, a building fell on me.]]"

"Are you okay, Kacchan?" Izuku asked worriedly.

The door opened suddenly, and Inko came rushing in, "Oh, my baby!" she said, hugging him. Izuku was slightly distracted by the hovering box over her head.

[[Inko Midoriya(Title: Super Mom)]]

"Mom!" Izuku said, hugging her tightly.

"My baby boy, I'm glad you're okay." Her face fell, "But...you need to know."

"What?"

"Katsuki was hurt badly," Izuku's mother said gently, "The paramedics said if you hadn't pushed him out of the way, he'd have been crushed. As it is, the debris shattered his spine, and he's not woken up yet. He's in a coma."

"Can I see him?" Izuku asked as he levered himself to a sitting position, looking at his mother.

"In a little while. The doctors are still examining him. They say there's unusual brain activity. This is a good thing in some ways they said; it means the concussion didn't do damage to his brain. But they say his brain is acting like he's awake," Inko said with a frown.

"[[Oh bullshit. So I basically get to hang around as your quirk's interface while I'm in a coma?]]" Katsuki began to laugh. "[[It could be worse, I suppose. I'll wake up and get better and kick your arse.]]"

Izuku wanted to laugh at Katsuki's words, but he knew it'd sound strange. "Okay, mom. I'm a little tired, so..."

"I'll leave you alone, dear," Inko said, rising to her feet. "I'm going to go speak to poor Masaru."

When she left, Izuku sighed, "This is fucked up."

"[[Finally! I got you talking like me!]]" Snickering, Katsuki said, "[[But you're right. Take a look at your sheet. I don't know how I know this shit, but I do. Just think 'Sheet'.]]"

Sheet, Izuku thought.

[[Izuku Midoriya (Current Title: None)

Health: 198
Stamina: 206

Strength: 24
Vitality: 28
Agility: 34
Dexterity: 30
Intelligence: 39
Perception: 39
Charisma: 30
Willpower: 47

Skills:
Analyst [Expert], Artist (Drawing) [Skilled], Computers [Novice], Diplomacy [Trained], Dodge [Skilled], English [Novice], History [Novice], Investigation [Novice], Japanese [Expert], Martial Arts (Krav Maga) [Skilled], Math [Novice], Parkour [Novice], Running [Skilled], Science (Life) [Novice], Science (Physical) [Novice]

Perks:
Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, Gamer's Vision, Heart of a Hero
]]
[[Attributes: 5, Skills: 1, Perks: 3]]

"I, uh, have no clue what the numbers mean," Izuku noted.

"[[Eh. Twenty's about average. Fifty is peak human. Y'know, bastards who train a lot like pro-heroes and shit,]]" came Bakugou's answer. "[[You can't go past fifty without getting a perk. Skills are easy. Novice, Skilled, Expert, Master, and Grand Master.]]" Katsuki paused. "[[You actually have an awesome Analyst skill, which isn't a fucking shock. Perks give you cool shit. You can break the limits of your attributes, gain a quirk-like power, and some shit like that. This gamer thing means you'll advance a lot more quickly. You're a fucking video game character, Izuku. I hate you.]]"

"Wait, why?" asked Izuku in shock.

"[[Think how fast video game characters level up. This is a bullshit quirk and I'm jealous, okay?]]" Katsuki snickered. "[[You also have an inventory. You can view it by thinking 'Inventory'. It's a fucking inventory mini-game grid. Like in those old video games we used to play.]]"

Inventory, Izuku thought and saw a set of green boxes appear in his mind's eye. There were apparently twenty-five of them, in a five by five grid. "Interesting," Izuku said musingly.

"[[Yeah. Some big things will take up more than one box, but that'd be like, a bed or something. Most shit takes up one, and things can stack. So if you put empty notebooks in there, they'd all take one inventory slot.]]" Katsuki added, "[[By the way, you have a quest. Think 'Quests'.]]"

That reminds me, can you hear me when I think at you? Izuku asked, before continuing, Quests.

[[Quests
THE PATH OF A HERO
Gain a Power Perk: Reward: 3 Skill Points
Limit Break an Attribute: Reward: 10 Attribute Points
Note: Attribute points are automatically assigned
Pass the UA Examination: Reward: 1 Perk Point, ???
Optional: Get First Place: Reward: Power Perk, ???
]]

"[[I can hear you fine, yeah. So that's your quest. Get yourself ready for fuckin' UA, basically, and pass. You better get first place if I'm still unconscious and can't.]]" Katsuki demanded.

"Well, what power perks can I take?" Izuku asked after a moment's thought.

"[[Right now, there's only a few available. Maybe you'll unlock more. Right now, you have various Elemental Controls, Telekinesis (Basic), Teleport (Short), and..."]] Katsuki snorted. "[[Hell, what am I doing? just think 'Perk Tree' and look for yourself.]]"

Hrm, I could take Healing and help Kacchan! Perk Tree. Izuku thought.

"[[Don't you fucking dare. I can wake up on my own. I won't let you hurt your chances to attend UA for me,]]" Katsuki snarled. "[[Not that you could, anyway. If you look, there's no Healing tree. I don't know if you'll be able to learn that sort of thing in the future, but you sure can't right now.]]"

Healing quirks are really rare, though; it would be nice to help people. With how rare they are, I guess it makes sense Healing isn't something I can learn off the bat, if at all. I know! How do I learn a perk? Izuku asked.

"[[Just think 'Learn' and then your perk name.]]" Katsuki answered.

Learn Teleport (Short). Hmm, that opened up some nifty additional stuff. Learn Spatial Vision, Izuku continued, then winced as his head started to hurt.

[[THE PATH OF A HERO: Update
Gain a Power Perk: COMPLETE: 3 Skill Points gained
]]

"[[That was the Spatial Vision kicking in. You're not used to it yet. Spatial Vision is fucking awesome, though. I mean, seeing in the dark and no one can sneak up on you?]]"

"It only has a radius of around twenty meters, but that's not too bad," Izuku added. He paused, "Should I tell mom and your dad about you being a park of my quirk?"

He could almost feel Katsuki's indecision. "[[I'm not sure. Maybe wait until you can prove it. You better tell Auntie about your quirk, though. At least the teleporting, as you won't be able to prove the gamer crap yet.]]"

"Yet?" asked Izuku.

"[[Yeah. I have a feeling that there's more to this gamer shit than just stats and inventory and stuff.]]" Katsuki noted.

"Well, you're the quirk," Izuku said dryly, "Or at least, part of it."

"What are Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, and Gamer's Vision?" asked Izuku.

"[[They make you a video game character, duh,]]" Katsuki began to explain. "[[With Gamer's Body, you heal completely after sleeping. You also won't be severely physically injured until you reach zero health, nor can you be maimed. Well, unless some bastard has a special power or specifically attacks to cause it. Gamer's Mind helps you not be a fucking wimp. You are always under control in emergencies and are resistant to mental quirks and fear. Gamer's Vision is basically a video game nameplate over everyone's head.]]"

"And Heart of a Hero?" asked Izuku.

"[[You, obviously,]]" snarked Katsuki. "[[Seriously, though. If you are hit with an attack, you can either avoid the damage or avoid the consequences of the attack. You can do this shit once per fight. So, either a big hit or an attack like Midnight's can be ignored. Once. You basically fucking hero it up and ignore it.]]"

The pair talked for a little while, before Inko came in again, "Izuku, if you want to see Katsuki, the doctors said you can." Izuku nodded and slid off the bed, staggering a moment. "Izuku, not so fast. You did have your leg broken. One of the doctors had a minor healing quirk, so the break is mostly repaired, but you can still hurt yourself!"

"Yes, mom," Izuku agreed as he headed across the hall. Katsuki was in the room opposite his, and when he walked in, he saw him lying on the bed, covered in bandages. To the side sat Uncle Masaru. He approached him, noting the nameplate over the man's head, "Uncle Masaru..."

[[Masaru Bakugou]]

"Hey, Izuku," the man said, his voice a little husky, "I wanted to thank you. The doctors said if you hadn't pushed him, he'd have died."

"I had to. He's like my brother," Izuku said as he leaned in and gave the man a hug. "He'll be all right. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," he said. "It's just hard, I think of Mitsuki, and I..."

I really want to tell him, Izuku thought with a sigh.

"[[I know, but again, no fuckin' proof. At best he'll think you're upset and not thinking clearly,]]" Katsuki said to him.

"He really will be fine, Uncle Masaru. I know it," he told him.

"I hope so," Masaru repeated, giving Izuku a brief squeeze before letting him go. Izuku moved towards his mom and slipped an arm around her.

After a little more time in the room, Inko tugged Izuku towards the door, murmuring, "The doctor said we can check out, we should do that. I tried to invite Masaru for dinner, but..."

"...he said no," Izuku said with a sigh. "Yeah, figured."

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

The next day, Izuku walked up to Inko as she was preparing breakfast, "Mom, I have something to tell you. I would have yesterday, but it didn't seem right with Kacchan hurt."

"What's that, honey?" asked Inko as she placed rice into a bowl.

"I have a quirk. I noticed that when I was trying to get to Kacchan to push him out of the way that I just suddenly ended up right next to him. I tested it out this morning, and..." Izuku teleported, blinking from one side of her to the other.

[[Deception->Novice]]

"Oh my! You have a quirk! This is amazing!" Inko hugged him tightly. "I can understand not wanting to bring it up in front of Masaru, though."

"Yeah. I also needed to figure out if I was right, it could have just been the adrenaline, you know?" Izuku asked with a shrug, hugging his mother.

"[[You are such a fucking liar,]]" Katsuki said with a laugh.

"Well, then," Inko said, straightening. "I know you and Katsuki were looking to go to UA. You'll have to practice your quirk."

"Yeah," Izuku said. "I was planning on practicing at Mon Kalamaru Nature Park. It's out of the way and as long as I'm careful, I won't get in trouble for public quirk use."

"That makes sense." It was almost as if Inko were speaking to herself. She shook her head, "I'm just a little surprised. Happy, though."

"I know the feeling. I was so shocked when I managed to teleport this morning. I have so many questions. How far can I teleport? Can I teleport with someone else?" Izuku muttered this to himself, his mother smiling at him.

"I'm sure you'll find that out, Izuku," his mother said. "Let's have breakfast, then you can go test things out at the Park."

"All right, mom."

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

As he jogged through the woods, Izuku asked, "So, what should I spend these skill points on. Any suggestions?"

"[[Getting a skill to Novice is easy, really. Just try it a few times or study a bit. Save the skill points to raise them to Skilled or above, I'd say. I'd put at least one more point into Dodge and Krav Maga for sure,]]" Katsuki suggested. "[[Do that with 'Raise' and then the skill name. Or attribute name, if you decide to raise those, though I wouldn't yet.]]"

Raise Dodge. Raise Martial Arts (Krav Maga), Izuku thought. He felt a rush of energy and warmth, that slowly faded. I suddenly want to say 'I know kung fu'.

"[[Ugh. Don't start spouting century-old fucking memes,]]" Katsuki complained. "[[We'll have to work hard. We need to limit break one of your attributes before the examination.]]"

"Which one do you think?" Izuku said after a moment.

"[[Definitely Agility.]]", Katsuki stated, "[[It not only will let you dodge better and help your fighting, but it determines how fast you move and how quickly you'll be able to teleport. Get it high enough, and you'll put Ingenium to shame. You'll eventually want to limit break them all, though.]]"

"Easy enough then," came Izuku's response. "I'll practice a lot of parkour, run and teleport around, and so on."

"[[Don't forget to keep practicing other stuff. You don't want to be a one-trick pony,]]" came Katsuki's response.

"I suppose you're right," Izuku agreed. "Well, might as well get right to it. Only ten months until the entrance exam."

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

The next morning, as Izuku woke up, he saw a new text box floating in front of him.

[[Quest Received!
TRAINING FOR UA (Weekly)
Goal: Train for four hours every day for a week. Reward: 1 Attribute Point
Note: Attribute point must be spent before this quest may be completed again
]]

He smiled. This would make his training easier.

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

Over the next few months, Izuku trained.

Testing the limits of his teleportation as well as improving his body, the young man visited the nature park every day. It was hard, grueling work, but he pushed himself to do as well as he could. Every time he gained an attribute increase through sheer effort and training, he knew his training was paying off. The weekly quest helped a great deal as well. The funny thing was, no matter how hard he exerted himself, he woke up the next morning completely refreshed.

As Katsuki said once, "[[Gamer's Body is fucking hax, man.]]"

He picked up a few new skills along the way, including Medicine for first aid, Stealth, and Swimming. He'd never really thought about having never gone swimming before. It was also nice when a skill or two raised without him having to spend points on them, due to constant use and practice.

Near the end of the ten months, as UA approached, Izuku finally hit fifty Agility. When he did, he smiled, and thought, Learn Limitless Agility.

[[THE PATH OF A HERO: Update
Limit Break an Attribute: COMPLETE: 10 Agility gained
]]

Even so, as time passed and he trained, it was difficult to deal with Katsuki being in the hospital: especially when Uncle Masaru would visit them. Izuku often found himself asking Kacchan if he could tell his father. The response was always the same. "[[Don't be a fucking idiot. You can't prove it right now, he'd think you're nuts.]]"

Izuku promised himself that if no one else could help his friend, he would do it. Somehow.

HOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYEHOTYE

Stat Updates
[[Strength->38]]
[[Vitality->44]]
[[Agility->60]]
[[Dexterity->34]]
[[Intelligence->40]]
[[Perception->40]]
[[Charisma->36]]
[[Willpower->50]]
[[Dodge->Expert]]
[[Martial Arts (Krav Maga)->Expert]]
[[Medicine->Skilled]]
[[Parkour->Skilled]]
[[Running->Expert]]
[[Stealth->Novice]]
[[Swimming->Novice]]
[[Perk: Limitless Agility]]
[[Perk: Spatial Vision]]
[[Perk: Teleport (Short)]]