Fanfic / brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hand i'll reignite them)

aka: Brilliant Lights Will Cease To Burn

"The moon, the sun, the stars – all in harmony with one another - What’s your wish? What will you pay for it?"^note All credit for the image belongs to its original owners

"Becoming a Cardcaptor wasn't on Izuku's bucket list, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make the best out of it."

—The story's Tagline

Izuku Midoriya has always been Quirkless. The useless "Deku" who will always be on the bottom rung of the totem pole solely for being unfortunate enough to be born without a cool superpower. But he always clung to his dream of becoming a superhero like his lifelong idol, All Might. In one story, he runs into All Might by chance after nearly getting killed by a supervillain. While his dreams were crushed that day, they were soon restored when a burst of reckless heroism impressed the hero enough to bequeath Izuku his power, putting the once powerless boy on the path to becoming the world's greatest hero.

This is not that story.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines, watching and waiting for any sort of information that could help him become a hero, the Izuku Midoriya of this story is far more proactive. He begins taking note of everything in his hometown of Musutafu. Every alleyway, every store, every ladder. The park, the police station, the libraries, the schools, the soup kitchens and every other hole in the wall imaginable.

He may be an awkward kid, but it was easy for a nerd like him to strike up a conversation over heroes. After all, who didn't want to talk about them? Bit by bit, he starts doing good all around town, walking dogs, volunteering at hospitals, translating Latin scriptures for college students, and so much more. He may be Quirkless, but he's far from useless. Heck, even his bullies at school stopped bothering him when he worked up the nerve to punch Kacchan in the jaw before sprinting home.

This may not have been what Izuku had in mind when he said he wanted to be a hero, but life is good.

But one night, while he's helping Professor Miki translate a Roman tablet that arrived at the university, he sees something glint in the corner of his eye. Reaching inside a crate, he discovers an ornate book filled with strangely detailed cards. Out of curiosity, he reads the name inscribed on the bottom of the first one.

"Windy?"

Suddenly, the cards are all ejected from the book by a massive gust of wind, scattering them all throughout the city. Then a little talking plush toy named Kero (who assures Izuku that he's not insane) cheerfully informs him that it's now Izuku's job to collect all 52 Sakura Cards as the newest Cardcaptor.

From there, Izuku's busy yet idyllic life begins to fall to pieces as he's dragged into a world of ancient magic, sleepless nights and some accidental vigilantism.

brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hand i'll reignite them) is a My Hero Academia and Cardcaptor Sakura story written by novalotypo on Archive of Our Own. It follows Izuku's story as the Cardcaptor in a world where magic is scarce and Quirks are commonplace.

It hasn't updated since 2018.

It can be read here.

brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hand i'll reignite them) provides examples of:

• A Boy and His X: A boy and his magical talking plush toy/guardian beast.
• Acceptable Breaks from Canon: This fic was written during the time where the Clear Card arc is still in it's early stages of the story, and thus, did not include The Reveal that Syaoran had stolen and transferred the Sakura Cards to his control due to the titular Clear Cards being created from Sakura's own magic.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Izuku has gotten far more combat training than his canon counterpart thanks to meeting Zing. He easily beats up several delinquents with nothing but the baton Satoshi gave him and later defeats the likes of Bakugou twice, once outside of school and once while the latter was possessed by Sword. He's also colder and more calculating when dealing with villains, managing to scare the crap out of several of them.
  • All of the Sakura Cards are a step up from their previous power as the Clow Cards. Fly can easily bat multiple pro heroes away with her wings and Watery would have been unstoppable if not for the presence of a hero named Absolute Zero who could freeze her. Watanuki mentions that the cards' power scales to the world they reside in. In a world full of superpowered heroes, it would only be natural that they're stronger than the average pro hero.
• Adaptational Personality Change:
  • The constant sleep deprivation, physical and mental exhaustion, and the crushing weight of his responsibilities as the Cardcaptor eat away at Izuku, making him much more prone to bitter snark and negative feelings. He's still ultimately a Nice Guy who can't stop himself from trying to help people, but he's far more of a Knight in Sour Armor when people's lives aren't directly in danger.
  • Several of the cards are more docile than in canon. For instance, Rain is depicted as being gentle, willingly allowing herself to be sealed by Izuku, a stark contrast to her mischievous portrayal in the original series. The Jump is also more stupid than malicious, instantly knocking itself out by jumping into the path of a truck.
• Alternate Universe: The story takes place in one that's an alternate universe to the both the original Cardcaptor Sakura and My Hero Academia series, with an abundance of Quirks in place of magic. Because of this, Kero has no idea what Quirks are and Izuku explains them to him as Kero explains magic to Izuku.
• And Then What?: Eventually, Deku agrees to an interview with an amateur reporter, who asks him how long he's going to be a vigilante. Izuku is rendered speechless as he hadn't thought about it at all.
• Appropriated Appellation: "Deku" is a name Bakugou gave Izuku to emphasize his uselessness and powerlessness as the sole Quirkless kid in his class. After becoming the Cardcaptor, it becomes his bestowing name and his go-to alias in the magical world. Not long afterward, the name "Deku" makes waves as Japan's newest and most popular vigilante. Lampshaded by Kero.
  Kero: You took the name your childhood bully gave you and made it into your official bestowing name. [doubles over laughing] If you can do that, you can face anything!
• Badass Boast: Izuku thinks of one as he prepares to fight Float.
  Izuku: With his hand of mine, I will twist fate into whatever shape I like!
• Bad Liar: Izuku sucks at keeping secrets and the only reason why his Secret Identity hasn't been exposed yet is because he knows practically everyone in Musutafu and they all like him too much to out him.
• Barrier Warrior: Izuku begins learning spatial magic from Watanuki and Yorihiko, allowing him to tie down space-time to trap others or shield himself from attacks. There's also Shield, which can produce similar effects, and several of Izuku's cards, including Windy, Watery, and Wood, can form impromptu barriers from their element.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Izuku is usually terrified out of his wits and flying by the seat of his pants while acting as a vigilante. You wouldn't know it from his interactions with the faeries, police, and criminals, as he puts on a mask of irritating all-knowingness to make him seem more in-control than he actually is and throw people off guard. He lets the mask slip when he sits down for an interview to set the record straight, showing far more of his natural humility and shyness.
  • Watanuki puts up a front of being an ancient, all-knowing Troll. But Ms. Yuko shows that she still knows how to press his buttons when she possesses Izuku to tell him Something Only They Would Say, reducing Watanuki to sputtering as Izuku runs out the door.
• Big Eater: Kero is able to eat unnerving amounts of food for such a small creature, particularly when sweets are involved. He once eats an entire American cheesecake that's three to four times his size by himself. The only time he's completely stuffed is when Rin throws a feast for Izuku after Deku successfully breaks up an underground fighting ring and the human trafficking operation that accompanied it. As a growing boy with a lot of stress, Izuku also eats a ton, taking free food from an entire restaurant full of people after the above mentioned incident at their behest. He has to loosen his collar a bit afterward. but doesn't feel uncomfortable
• Blow You Away: Windy can create massive gusts of wind at will and bind others in chains made from the air itself. Sylvie, also known as the Tempestuous One, possesses similar abilities.
• Born Unlucky: Izuku wonders what he did in his past life to be born Quirkless and get dragged into his chaotic mess of a life.
  Izuku: [right before breaking into a museum to seal Libra] Kero, have I done something horribly wrong? Am I the reincarnation of a serial killer?
  Kero: You – uh, no, I don’t think so. Are you okay?
  Izuku: I’m absolutely wonderful. It’s just – after a certain period of time, you have to ask yourself, what am I doing with my life? Was I born under an unlucky star? Have I wronged the gods?
  Kero: Izuku –
  Izuku: What sort of events lead up to pulling off a heist in the biggest museum in Japan, Kero? What sort of life am I living if I’m literally breaking into the nation’s most famous museum to steal – to steal a pair of scales? Aren’t you curious? I sure as hell am.
• Broken Pedestal: As Izuku continues his adventures, he becomes disillusioned with the hero system as a whole, as it glorifies those who beat up villains with flashy, powerful Quirks without actually trying to change the world for the better. This comes to a head when Izuku begins criticizing the entire profession to All Might's face after disrupting a human trafficking ring.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Izuku has to recite a short chant in order to transform the Sealing Staff into its usable form. On some rare occasions, he can skip this, usually with Ms. Yuko's help. He also shortens it to the first line after he gets used to using it and the phrase tends to get glossed over entirely as the series goes on.
  [original] Key that hides the power of the moon, show your true form before me. I, Deku, command you under our contract. Release!
  [shortened] Key that hides the hidden power of the moon, show your true form before me!
• Chekhov's Gun: Izuku begins learning boundary magic from Yorihiko, but never finds a use for it in most his adventures because Shield and Lock can perform similar roles. It proves to be the only thing standing between him and All Might when the latter comes crashing in after Izuku tipped off the police to a human trafficking ring.
• Child Mage: Although Izuku is significantly older than Sakura when she became the Cardcaptor, Izuku is still a minor wielding magic that he doesn't completely understand to devastating effect.
• Christmas Episode: Around Christmas time, Musutafu has a big charity parade to celebrate the holiday. It's also prone to an event called the "Christmas Curse", in which something strange and unexpected happens every year on Christmas, like a small army of heroes and villains clashing on the rooftops above the city that's mistaken for a Tokusatsu performance or a float lighting on fire and being used to roast marshmallows. Izuku himself ends up being the Christmas Curse when he puts on a massive show of light, ice, and magic as a favor to an information broker named Plume who helped him find Shadow.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Izuku is so consumed by his desire to be a hero in any way he can that he simply can't say no when someone asks him for help or makes him an offer, even when he has no idea how exactly he's going to help them. Because of this, he basically becomes Musutafu's errand boy, constantly bouncing from place to place with little time for rest after he became the Cardcaptor and inadvertently makes himself the spirits', faeries', Watanuki's, and Yorihiko's personal gopher. This gets deconstructed over the course of the story, as Izuku soon finds that he's running himself ragged with all of these responsibilities and pulls several all nighters a week to keep up with them on top of school.
• Civvie Spandex: Initially, the only thing hiding Izuku's identity is the hood of the sweater he brought with him on his first few Sakura Card captures. Later on, he gets an actual jumpsuit courtesy of Mei and Sasha that includes a One-Way Visor and a mask to keep his identity hidden.
• Color Motif: Izuku's is green. Green hair, green eyes, green staff, green costume e.t.c. Shinsou follows suit with a purple motif and Satoshi gets blue.
• Comes Great Responsibility: Izuku says this of his role as the Cardcaptor.
  Izuku: [to Tsukauchi] I’ll put myself in danger, because if I don’t, people will get hurt. It’s impossible for anyone except for me to put a stop to the fake villain attacks, and the only way to put a stop to the fake villains is to seal them as I do. [stares directly in Tsukauchi's eyes] And because I’m the only one who has the ability to prevent harm from befalling innocents in these situations, I’ll throw myself in the line of fire.
• Combat Parkour: Izuku learns some from Zing, who runs a gymnasium. It comes in handy when he's hopping across rooftops.
• Cool Sword:
  • The Sword takes the form of a sword. Its magical ability makes the user an expert swordsman for as long as it remains in hand and Sword itself can cut through almost anything for as long as Izuku wills it so, including Shield, Lock, and Shadow, though it can't deal much lasting damage to the latter.
  • While subduing Fight, Watanuki hands Izuku a long, heavy Chinese jian. This sword is all but stated to be the same one used by Syaoran Li.
• Cosmic Plaything: The sheer amount of craziness and misfortune in Izuku's life makes him feel like he's this.
  There is no god. Except there is a god, and not just one god, and they’re all laughing. Izuku’s life is just one poorly written sitcom, and everyone’s having a good time except for him.
• Cryptically Unhelpful Answer: Watanuki gives these to Izuku in part due to the nature of the Wish-Granting Shop and in part because he loves getting under Izuku's skin.
  Izuku: Can you please be straightforward for once.
  Watanuki: There’s no fun in that.
• Deadpan Snarker: The only way Izuku could cope with the zaniness around him is by constantly snarking at everything in sight.
• Death Wish: Izuku sardonically wishes for death throughout the story because of how he's constantly exhausted, in pain, and busy because of his duties as a Cardcaptor. Played for Laughs, of course.
• Defector from Decadence:
  • Sasha is a graduate of U.A.'s Support Department but never really liked the hero industry, instead becoming a freelance equipment designer and game shop owner.
  • Zing is a retired pro hero who quit because she wanted to hold on what was left of her idealism after realizing that she had become fixated on becoming the Number One Hero instead of actually saving others.
• Didn't Think This Through: When he sees someone in need of or asking for help, Izuku tends to say yes before he's even finished processing what they're asking for.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Izuku's gymnastics and martial arts training under Zing made him more than capable of handling himself against bullies so long as he has a baton in hand. After becoming the Cardcaptor and learning magic, he's able to take on threats that can easily overwhelm multiple pro heroes, like the Sakura Cards and the Eight Precepts of Death.
• The Fair Folk: The faeries Izuku meets are somewhere in between the modern portrayal and the classical portrayal. On one hand, they can be just as nasty as their folklore counterparts and mainly try to butter up Izuku for his power, mentioning that they would have spirited him away already if he wasn't the only magician on the planet. On the other hand, they're usually quite cute in appearance and can be genuinely helpful and reliable when called upon.
• The Fettered: Izuku starts out as this, insisting that he should leave problems to the pro heroes because it would be illegal for him to intervene. Kero convinces him that there's no one else who can seal the Sakura Cards, which forces Izuku to act. His morals become looser and looser over the course of the story, to the point that he verges on Pragmatic Hero in his dealings with criminals by locking them in a room with Shield and threatening them with the tip of Sword. He acknowledges this and laments the fact that he's become this way, even though his desire to help others and overall kindness remains.
• Flying Broomstick: The Fly sprouts wings from the Sealing Staff to allow Izuku to ride it and take off. When he needs additional speed, he can ask Windy to give him a boost.
• Friend to All Children: Even while putting on his showman act as Deku, Izuku never hesitates to put his life on the line for kids and gets along with them quite well (as exhausting as they can be). When a child he's rescuing asks if he's there to help them, he instantly assures them that he'll always be there to save them.
  Child: Are – are you here to help us?
  Izuku: [without hesitation] Always.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Mei is able to make powerful and clear communication devices (which are as small as and resemble an earring) called DekuComs that are effective up to 80 km. She also designs all of Izuku's other gear, including enough flash grenades and smoke bombs to incapacitate several squads of policemen. She gets all she has from scraps she and her aunt Sasha nab from scrapyards and junk heaps.
• Gone Horribly Right: Izuku picks up on and manages to disrupt a human trafficking ring, calling the police to have them cleanup once he's finished. He did not expect the police to send All Might of all people and realizes he just cut off his own avenue of escape.
• Good Feels Good: Izuku wants to be able to help others and be a hero however he can, constantly doing odd jobs for others for the warm, fuzzy feeling he gets for doing them. At least part of this drive is his desire to feel helpful and give his life worth, as he's absolutely miserable when trapped in a "Groundhog Day" Loop for seven days by Time.
  "Maybe it’s because Izuku throws himself into helping others without ever looking back. Maybe it’s because the reason he busies himself everywhere and anywhere at once is to keep his mind off the fact that if he ever stops, he won’t be worth anything."
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: As the Cardcaptor, it's Izuku's job to collect all 52 of the Sakura Cards he scattered to the winds.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: Izuku gets trapped in one off-screen, forcing him to relive the same day over and over for an entire week until he finds and puts a stop to The Time at the start of Chapter 7. Izuku ends up weaponizing this when the Eight Precepts of Death attack a hospital, placing all six members present into a constant, ever-looping moment to subdue them long enough for the hospital to be evacuated.
• Head Desk: Izuku is tempted to bash his head against the wall for his inability to say no to people and his increasing infamy as a vigilante numerous times in the story.
• Hero Does Public Service: Izuku is constantly running errands for people, the fae, Watanuki, and Yorihiko, which chips away at his well-being overtime. Even after being officially recognized as a vigilante, he still refuses to stop helping people because that's what gives him purpose in life.
• Hero of Another Story: Sakura and Watanuki were the protagonists of Cardcaptor Sakura and ×××HOLiC, but here they're mainly playing a supportive role to Izuku.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Izuku uses Sword more than any other card after capturing it because of how useful it is. He later acquires Syaoran's sword as well.
• Heroic Fatigue: Izuku's constant run-ins with the Sakura Cards, frequent errand running for his associates, and trying to maintain his grades in school eat away at Izuku's physical and emotional well-being, becoming far more snarky and jaded in the process. He eventually agrees to cut down on his errand running at Kero's behest, having just one errand a day instead of multiple errands for multiple associates a week.
• Heroic RRoD: Due to his inexperience with magic, Izuku frequently ends up with splitting headaches and whole-body muscle aches that incapacitate him and make him miss his appointments after a hard day's work as the Cardcaptor.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Izuku is extremely popular among Musutafu's locals for being everyone's errand boy. His popularity only grows even more after becoming a vigilante, even as the police brand Deku a dangerous criminal.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Even after stopping six of the Eight Precepts of Death's Eight Expendables, the police assume that Deku is working with them as well as an underground fighting ring. Subverted when Deku boasts widespread popularity among Japan's youth, who compare him favorably to most other heroes, including All Might.
• Holding Out for a Hero: In his interview, Izuku criticizes the fact that heroes like All Might have made people complacent and reliant on pro heroes to save them.
  Izuku: Heroes aren’t invincible, they aren’t always right, and as they are right now, they won’t always save everyone. So we, as the people, can’t always sit back and say, well, it’ll all be okay, because they are here. Complacency has never worked.
• Hour of Power: All Might can only operate as a hero for three hours a day. Because of this, Deku is forced to intervene when villains or the Sakura Cards attack because there's no else strong enough to handle them.
• Humble Hero: Even after showing up the police and pro heroes time and again and earning a wide fanbase, Izuku doesn't think much of himself and just wants to do the right thing.
  Natsuki: Another very meaningful, very memorable P.A from our very own Deku. You’re the pride of our nation, you know?
  Deku: I – I – sorry, what?
  Natsuki: You said it yourself. That kindness, that dedication to do good, that unwavering belief in the human spirit – you certainly walk the walk. You’ve become quite the hero yourself over these past few months.
  Deku: I mean, I’m not really a hero. More a vigilante than anything, really, technically.
  Natsuki: And modest, too.
• I Gave My Word: Along with his Chronic Hero Syndrome, Izuku can't back down once he gives his word that he'll do something, no matter how uncomfortable it makes him.
• Ignored Confession: Izuku gets captured by the police at one point and tells them in no uncertain terms that he's Quirkless and that he's using magic to make all of his abilities work. He also says that the "fake villain" attacks are not his fault and he's working to contain them as the only one who can. Unfortunately for him, even the open-minded Detective Tsukauchi continues to try to rationalize Izuku's abilities as a Quirk, bringing in Eraserhead to try and subdue him and not taking Izuku's testimony seriously.
• I Know Your True Name: Ms. Yuko advises Izuku against revealing his true name to the fae due to what they can do with it, instead giving his bestowal name, Deku. Izuku learns this power of names, particularly when the Tsukauchi gave him his name.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...:
  • Izuku tries to say that he isn't a true hero when discussing plans for his equipment with Sasha and Mei, but Sasha quickly assures him otherwise.
    Sasha: [after Izuku agrees to get his equipment from her and Mei] I’m really happy you decided to trust us. I hope you continue to put your trust in us, because we’ll never let you down. [grins] We might not be heroes, but we’re always supporting heroes like you from behind.
    Izuku: [stunned and rubs his eyes with one hand as he glances down at the floor] I – I’m not a hero.
    Sasha: [patting him on the back with a wide smile] You've always been a hero, Izuku.
  • He does the same thing again when being interviewed by an amateur reporter, who waves him off as mentioned above under Humble Hero.
• Jack of All Trades: Izuku is this by necessity due to all the odd jobs he's taken up over the years. He's a skilled dog walker, mechanic, Latin translator, storyteller, skateboarder, baton twirler/cheerleader, gymnast, mechanic, chess player, martial artist, and hospital caretaker, among other things. He's also an unusually talented magician, an excellent tactician, and a smooth-talking negotiator after becoming the Cardcaptor and a vigilante.
• Kid Hero: Izuku had just turned 13 when he becomes the Cardcaptor and a nationally famous vigilante.
• Killing Intent:
  • After realizing that Izuku broke through the Wish-Granting Shop's barrier by accident, Watanuki emanates so much killing intent at once that Izuku is completely paralyzed until Ms. Yuko helps him calm down.
  • The tension between Kero and Yorihiko is so thick that Izuku momentarily forgets to breathe when they're both busy exuding ill intent towards each other.
• Kill It with Water: Izuku finds Watery rampaging at a local beach, nearly drowning the people she captured and laying waste to her surroundings. She's far more docile once she's sealed.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Izuku will always want to do the right thing, but he can't help but complain about the Sakura Cards' ability to constantly disrupt his life and make him cross moral barriers that he never thought he would (i.e. breaking into the largest museum in Japan to seal Libra).
• Kung-Fu Wizard: Izuku got some combat training from Zing and Satoshi prior to becoming the Cardcaptor, using the Sealing Staff as a weapon when necessary. After Bakugou gets possessed by Sword, Izuku declines to use magic and ends up putting him into a hold to pin him before knocking Bakugou out with a tug on his lifestrings.
• Lunacy: Unlike Sakura, Izuku is attuned to Moon Magic. Because of this, Watery becomes one of his most used cards due to his affinity for her.
• Magical Incantation: In addition to By the Power of Grayskull!, Izuku has to recite a short incantation whenever he seals a card or invokes one for the first time. He can skip right to names and orders in each subsequent use.
  [sealing a card] (Insert name of card), I command you return to your form confined. Seal!
  [invoking a new card] (Insert name of card), heed my call! Under the name of your new master, Deku, (insert task here).
• Magic Staff: The Sealing Staff, of course! It's the most powerful magical artifact in existence and the only thing that can seal away the Sakura Cards. It also does double duty as a handy melee weapon when combined with the baton twirling skills Izuku learned from Satoshi.
• Magnetic Hero: Because of his constant gophering, Izuku knows pretty much everyone in Musutafu or knows someone who knows someone. His caring personality and constant desire to help others wins over nearly everyone he meets. After years of voluntary public service, he's showered with gifts and freebies from all the people he's helped when his eleventh birthday rolls around and the pile grows larger and larger with each passing year.
• Mentor Mascot: Kero is cute, cuddly, and supportive of Izuku while also acting as his Exposition Fairy for most of his early adventures. He's also the Beast of the Seal and the Clow Guardian of the Sun, so he's willing to throw down with Physical Gods when necessary.
• Mission Control: Mei becomes this for Izuku, offering him critical field info and making his costume and gear.
• Mundane Utility: Izuku sometimes uses the Sakura Cards for mundane tasks like using Sword to slice up garbage at Dagobah Municipal Park for Sasha to collect or having Rain water community gardens.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Mei is feeling Izuku up the minute she meets him in order to take measurements for his costume, despite her aunt Sasha's complaints. Mei openly admits that destroying someone's sense of privacy is her next favorite hobby after inventing.
  Mei: Invasion of privacy! My second favourite hobby, after inventing, of course!
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Izuku seals several of the Sakura Cards, including Time, Libra, and Erase, off-screen, with the story only showing the prelude or the aftermath of the sealing.
• Outside-Context Problem: As noted, anything magic was considered Quirks. Despite evidence to the contrary, the authorities and Heroes truly believed they were fighting powerful Quirk-users instead of magic beyond their imagination and understanding.
• Open Secret: After a certain point in the story, "Deku" is nationally famous for his deeds thanks to social media spreading his name like wildfire. While the authorities struggle to wrap their heads around who exactly "Deku" is, pretty much everyone who knows Izuku instantly figures out it's him and it's only through their faith and trust in him (or in Bakugou's case, his Inferiority Superiority Complex) that it remains a secret. After a certain point, Kero gives up on secrecy and just hangs out on Izuku's shoulder.
• Original Generation: Most of Izuku's contacts in the story are original characters. They include Satoshi, a baton-twirling boy who teaches Izuku the tips of the trade and introduces him to Zing, who in turn teaches Izuku some gymnastics and parkour. Some others include Miss Kino, an elderly lady who loves to garden and ride her motorcycle Hermes, Rin, a noodle shop owner who needs help taking care of her dog Hiro due to how busy her shop is, and Professor Kimi, a Latin professor at a local university who enlists Izuku's help in translating ancient texts with college students.
• People Puppets: By pulling on the "lifestrings" of people, Izuku can instantly knock them unconscious. By tugging on these strings again, he can put them in a trance that will make them follow his orders and even utilize their Quirks on command.
• Physical God: Yorihiko is apparently the name of one of the last remaining patron gods of Musutafu back when the area was first settled over a millennia ago. Few people still believe in his existence and he's delighted to learn that Izuku can see and interact with him. Izuku ends up becoming Yorihiko's gopher in exchange for learning how to utilize kekkai (boundary) magic that even Watanuki has trouble utilizing.
• Posthumous Character: Both Sakura and Ms. Yuko are both long dead by the events of the story.
• Power Misidentification: Even after admitting to the police that he's Quirkless and using magic, the police continue to believe that Izuku has an extremely odd Quirk even after Eraserhead failed to stop him. In their defense, they had no way of knowing that magic is actually real.
• Power-Strain Blackout: Subverted. For some reason, Izuku rarely blacks out from magic overuse, skipping right over to intense muscle aches, debilitating exhaustion, and painful migraines. He isn't sure if this is a blessing or a curse. He does risk knocking himself out immediately while using more powerful cards like Erase and Time. Played straight when he puts up a massive boundary wall to lock out All Might while asking the faeries to get him and his friends out of there.
• The Real Heroes: In his interview, Izuku encourages people to go out and make change in their communities any way they can. Whether they have a hero license or not, they can still do good as doctors, marketers, coordinators, engineers or whatever else they're passionate about.
  Izuku: Do good for others, but understand that people won’t change just because you have. If you want, get involved in heroics in whatever way you like, whether it’s as a hero, an engineer, a marketing coordinator, a doctor, whatever you want. Ask questions, raise problems, propose solutions, speak up for what you know is wrong. Don’t let others do it for you, and don’t let others think for you, because to lose yourself is to lose everything. Plus ultra, right?
• Red Baron:
  • Due to his role, Izuku is frequently referred to as the Cardcaptor and the "Master of the Cards".
  • Ms. Yuko is referred to as the "Witch of Dimensions".
  • Zing was called Charlathan the Untouchable in her days as a pro hero.
• Retired Badass: Zing, Izuku's gymnastics teacher and Satoshi's aunt, happens to be a retired pro hero who went by Charlatan the Untouchable. Izuku refers Kirishima to her when the latter wishes for someone to help him become a hero. As soon as she learns about Izuku's own "extracurriculars", she takes it upon herself to train him, Satoshi, Shinsou, and Mei to keep them from getting killed through their activities.
• Righteous Rabbit: The costume Mei designs for Izuku's escapades as "Deku" explicitly evokes a moon rabbit in its design, giving it a hood with bunny ear-like flaps. Doubles as a Mythology Gag to his canon counterpart's cowl.
• Rousing Speech: Izuku spouts one on video while fighting Float in hopes of getting people to stop Holding Out for a Hero and lessen the burden on All Might.
  Deku: No future is set in stone! A pillar of peace is only human! Throwing the weight of all your hopes onto a single person is cowardice! [looks up into the night sky] At the end of the world, the only way to keep moving forward is to become your own hero. You can wait forever for someone to save you, or you can save yourself. So stand up. Be brave. Become heroes in your own way. Don’t force the weight of the world upon him and then leave him to die. And no matter what happens, keep walking forward.
• Secretly Selfish: At least part of the reason why Izuku can't stop himself from helping people is because of the sense of purpose it gives him when he's usually the Quirkless, useless Deku.
• Shadow Walker: Izuku figures out that he can use Shadow to do this, surprising Kero when he does.
• Shout-Out:
  • The title of the story is an excerpt from the second verse of "This Will Be The Day", the first opening of RWBY.
  • Izuku's ever-expanding list of contacts, escapades as a wildly popular vigilante who criticizes the status quo, and down-on-his-luck backstory make his tale a giant Shout-Out to Persona 5, which gets lampshaded by the author.
  • Izuku places his hands in the air while being stared down by several squads of armed cops with their weapons drawn. He then gives them the slip by blinding them all with the powerful flash and smoke grenades Mei cooked up for him before making his getaway with Fly. This scene is heavily reminiscent of Frozone's escape from a police officer who had pointed a gun at him and Mr. Incredible.
  • Izuku has a moment over how complicated his life has become, remarking, "I’m not the hero this city needs, and I’m sure as hell not the one it deserves."
  • After finishing his show of magic, ice, and lights for Musutafu's annual "Christmas Curse", Izuku waves as he flies away and drops this line:
    Izuku: From your friendly neighbourhood vigilante, Deku: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
  • Izuku notices a monkey's paw among Watanuki's wares. He wisely chooses to stay far away from it. Doubles as a Mythology Gag to the story about the paw in ×××HOLiC.
  • Miss Kino and her motorcycle Hermes are a reference to Kino's Journey
• Skewed Priorities: The only thing Izuku can think of when he's staring down the barrels of several squads of armed cops it that he doesn't have time to get arrested because of all the things he has to do.
  There’s no time to waste. Izuku has homework. He has school tomorrow. He has so many errands to run. He doesn’t have time to get arrested.
• Sleep Deprivation: Izuku suffers from intense Sleep Deprivation over the course of the story between his Triple Shifter tendencies and inability to say no when someone asks for help. His sheer Heroic Fatigue makes him profoundly sarcastic and bitter to the point of joking about wishing for death practically every chapter.
• Slippery Skid: Due to being clearly outmatched by Fight, Izuku has Flower and Rain cover the ground with wet petals. Sure enough, Fight loses her footing and slips when she moves to attack, leaving her open to being knocked out with a swift strike from Izuku.
• Spirit Advisor: Izuku has two. The first is Sakura Kinomoto, the previous Master of the Cards, who offers Izuku plenty of encouragement in her sporadic appearances and gives Izuku a glass flower he can crush should he need her aid. The other is Ms. Yuko, the Witch of Dimensions, who offers cryptic hints to Izuku and guides him in dire situations.
• Super-Empowering: Izuku accidentally does this to Shinsou when Izuku temporarily bestows Windy upon him to protect him from The Freeze's attacks. This turns Shinsou into a powerful wind magician who can see and talk to spirits like Izuku can, eventually joining Izuku's efforts as "Hijack".
• Super-Senses: As a side effect of becoming the Cardcaptor, Izuku's senses have been honed to perceive things in a way others can't by hearing the song of the universe. Trouble sounds like drums and shrieking while the Sakura Cards come across as a buzzing sensation.
• Superior Successor: Sakura declares Izuku to be this for not only being better at using magic than she was at his age, but for finding a way to change the world and make people's lives better with the help of the Sakura Cards.
• Symbiotic Possession: The consciousnesses of both Sakura and Ms. Yuko reside in the depths of Izuku's mind. Both of them are eager to give him encouragement and guidance when needed, with the latter sometimes possessing Izuku to lend him a hand. Izuku can also temporarily merge with a fairy through a contract to temporarily access their abilities.
• The Paragon: Izuku deconstructs this because he knows how hard it is for All Might to be the Symbol of Peace on his own. He instead asks everyone in a Rousing Speech to be their own heroes and support him rather than simply waiting for rescue.
• Training from Hell: Izuku regularly pushes his magic to the point that he feels like a bulldozer ran over him several times over. While training with Zing, he also pushes himself extremely hard to the point that he ends up sore in places he didn't know could be sore.
• Trickster Mentor: Watanuki delights in making Izuku squirm and writhe by constantly trolling the young magician and making him run errands. While Izuku does learn about magic and the magical world under Watanuki's tutelage, the experience is so aggravating that Izuku threatens to murder the shopkeeper on multiple occasions.
• Utility Belt: Sasha makes one for Izuku as thanks for helping her grab scrap parts from Dagobah Municipal Park on top of years of free help. It's apparently extremely lightweight with plenty of compartments for storage, which is particularly handy for keeping the Sakura Cards in place when he's not using them.. The sight of this brings Izuku to tears.
• Victor Gains Loser's Powers: How Izuku's card capturing antics look like to outsiders. The police mistake him for having connections to All For One because of this.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Izuku struggles to keep up with all the responsibilities he's given himself as he runs around to gather the Sakura Cards. This gets deconstructed in time, as the time he spends stopping criminal and capturing the Sakura Cards takes huge chunks out of his schedule and forces him to pull all nighters if he doesn't want miss his appointments. That's not even taking into account his magical and physical exhaustion.
• Weakened by the Light: Izuku defeats Shadow by luring it into the Sports Festival stadium and sealing all the exits with Lock. Kero is then able to switch on all of the lights at once, weakening Shadow to the point that it can be easily sealed.
• Weirdness Censor: Izuku's identity is further protected by a form of silver magic that obscures his features and renders them indescribable should he ever be unmasked. The world of spirits and the fae are also invisible to mortals and even normal magicians, as it takes Izuku stepping into the Wish-Granting Shop to begin seeing them.
• Weirdness Magnet: Izuku somehow manages to encounter several Sakura Cards a week and attracts all sorts of oddballs into his ever-expanding circle of friends. Lampshaded by Kero.
  Kero: [Facepalms in annoyance] How are the cards popping up so quickly? I swear, you’re some sort of trouble magnet!
• Well, This Is Not That Trope: The first chapter references the opening chapters of the original My Hero Academia before assuring the reader that none of this happens in this story.
  Midoriya Izuku is born Quirkless. This is a fact that he hates, detests, abhors for the majority of his adolescence. Kacchan certainly doesn’t help, and neither do the rest of his classmates. Luckily, Izuku accepts his Quirklessness rather elegantly. He doesn’t give up his goal of becoming a hero, mind you, but he does throw himself into his hero research with a newfound vigor.

  In another universe, Izuku begins his collection of hero notebooks, running to whatever villain fight he can. In another universe, Izuku stands on the sidelines and lives his life, quietly nursing his ambition. In another universe, Izuku unknowingly sets himself on the path that crosses with All Might’s.

  In this universe, that’s not exactly how it goes.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Rin's Quirk just allows her to reheat cold things. But she refuses to let it get her down. Plus, it's helpful when people linger around in her noodle shop.
  Rin: You might be Quirkless, but you’ve helped a lot of people. And me? I got a dumb Quirk that lets me reheat stuff, but I’m not going to let it bring me down.
• What the Hell Are You?: Watanuki has this response when Izuku accidentally steps into the Wish-Granting Shop without a wish.
  Watanuki: [angered] Who are you? What are you, and what do you want?
  Izuku: What am I – are you kidding me? I’m – I’m human, and I walked in here by accident.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Izuku's exposure to the magical world has jaded him to the point that he calls Kirishima, a boy the same age as him, "kid", "child", and "boy" while giving him life advice. It's heavily implied that he's being funneled knowledge from his future self from an alternate timeline, as he quotes Bakugou's future self when the present Bakugou confronts Izuku about his activities as a vigilante.
• Wrong Context Magic: Izuku's new magical abilities are instantly attributed to a strange Quirk by the authorities, who have obviously never seen magic before. Even after he straight up tells the police that he's Quirkless, they don't buy it and continue to believe that he's using some kind of Quirk.

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