Chapter 12: The Trip To Tokyo
Getting the permission to go to Tokyo wasn't particularly hard. His mother was not there, and so Nezuko had signed off on it, with the demand that should anything come up he immediately call her. Tokyo wasn't that far away from Musutafu, in the end it depended on the (always terrible) traffic and the train lines.
In the end, no teacher had joined him on the trip. While U.A. had paid for the train tickets, and he only had a bag of things with him, it still felt kind of surreal to go to central Tokyo in the middle of a school year to visit his teacher in the hospital.
Nobody had told him what was awaiting him there.
Izuku walked into the hospital room and found himself starting, holding back a gasp at the sight of his teacher. Aizawa had ended up bandaged almost from head to toe, and Izuku could have sworn that he heard a doctor talking about an arm being reattached.
He sat in the bed with a laptop in front of him, typing up something. The left hand was slower than the right hand, forcing him to correct himself repeatedly, though he typed at a speed that was still quite impressive. Against the wall next to his bed he could see an all too familiar sword. Aizawa-sensei had taken it on his first day at school, after all.
When he noticed him walk in, he looked over, both eyes visible under the bandages. Bloodshot, tired, Izuku could hear him curse under his breath as Aizawa closed the laptop and pushed it aside. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, Aizawa-sensei," Izuku said, taking out a small box from his bag and bowing in greeting. "The class sends a get well gift."
He handed him the box, but Aizawa didn't even give it a second glance before he pushed it to the table as well, giving Izuku a once over. Izuku swallowed, wondering what he was looking for.
"You teacher, she descends from Tanjiro Kamado, correct?" the man asked. Izuku blinked, nodding slowly. It was the most sensible choice considering her existence as a demon was kept a secret from everyone, to give her brother the title of her ancestor instead of her brother. "I had an ancestor in the corps as well, Iguro."
Izuko opened his mouth and closed it again. He knew that name of the man who used the Breath of the Serpent. If he remembered right, he married a woman, Kanroji? Shaking his head, he focused on his teacher, letting him continue.
"My family passed down the stories of my ancestors, who had given their lives in the fight against demonkind," Aizawa explained. The bandages over his face muffled his speech somewhat, but he was still quite audible to Izuku. He reached out, and Izuku tried not to flinch at the pale hand near his face. "They also passed down stories about these. They mark the descendant of the Breath of the Sun."
"No," Izuku said, pursing his lips. He leaned away from the hand, frowning. "I'm not a descendant."
"Regardless, you know about them," Aizawa continued. "The person who taught you, they're a demon slayer, correct? Nezuko Kamado."
"No," Izuku said again, this time more resolute. "She is not. She knows the Breaths and the Nichirin blades, but she has explicitly told me she would never consider herself a demon slayer."
Aizawa sighed, shaking his head. "I need you to promise me you will not share anything I say with anyone outside of this room except perhaps the principal."
"I promise," Izuku said. Aizawa took his word without hesitation. "If it's something I can help with, and you must be certain that I can considering you've called me all the way to Tokyo, then please let me help."
"Someone has been creating demons." Aizawa's words were a low growl in the back of his throat. Izuku felt his heart stop for a moment. "The wounds, that wasn't a villain. It was a demon. My quirk didn't work on it, it nearly carved out my heart."
Aizawa raised his left arm and pulled at one of the bandages, revealing torn skin scarred skin. Izuku already regretted his words.
"And he nearly took my arm. Just bit it right off."
"But that's impossible," Izuku whispered. The original demon, Muzan, was gone. Nobody could recreate the freak circumstances that lead to his creation. "There's no way that's true, right?"
"I'm afraid it is, and it's killed three children already, as well as a pair who were looking for their missing child," Aizawa said. Izuku could see the frown under the bandages. "The existence of demons isn't quite lost to history as you may think. Of course, many of their deeds have eventually been attributed to various warlords who had been fighting during the unification all the way to the Meiji Restoration."
Izuku nodded. Nezuko-sensei had given him that lesson before. He mustn't be surprised if someone recognizes what he does from the stories, though Aizawa-sensei's family clearly must have had a more direct stake in these matters considering his knowledge.
After the Meiji Restoration, only the Shinsengumi and the Demon Slayer Corps were allowed to carry swords. After the Shinsengumi was disbanded, only the Demon Slayers were left. While the demons themselves weren't written into the history books, the demon slayers had various names that were still taught today.
"I have to ask something of you. Something a teacher should never have to ask their student." The growl in Aizawa's throat had diminished into something of a frustrated whimper. Izuku looked at him, meeting the man's eyes and giving a slow nod for him to continue. "If I asked you to kill him, could you do it?"
The words were accompanied by Aizawa reaching out for the sword on his right. It had been drawn, from the looks of it, likely in a desperate attempt by Aizawa to finish the demon off.
"I don't know," Izuku said, his voice a low whisper. Aizawa shook his head, as if rejecting that answer.
"He's a demon," Aizawa said with a confidence that made Izuku feel sick. "You're a demon slayer."
Izuku took the offered sword with shaking hands. The sheath had been stained in now dried blood.
For the first time since he had received her number, Izuku called Nezuko. He knew she had a phone, though it was an old thing she rarely if ever had reason to use. A few seconds of ringing later, she picked up.
"Nezuko Kamado speaking," she said. "Do you need something, Izuku-kun?"
"A demon is in Tokyo," Izuku said, whispering. He knew he had promised Aizawa not to share that information, but the loyalty to Nezuko was heavier, and if anyone would know what to do in this situation, it would be her.
"No," Nezuko said, her voice cold. "That's impossible."
"Aizawa-sensei confirmed it, he said his ancestors had stories and books, he knew about the Nichirin blade and your brother's earrings," Izuku said, swallowing a lump in his throat. "If anyone would know besides you, I would at the very least trust him to get the details right."
"He asked you to kill it." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Izuku nodded before realizing that she couldn't see him. Nevertheless, he did not have to say anything for her to continue. "Has it killed already?"
"Yes," Izuku said. "Three children and a couple."
Silence. For just one moment, utter silence. And then, the one question he could not bear to hear.
"Will you do it?"
"Why are you asking me?" Izuku asked, trying and failing to keep his cool. "I can't just kill someone, I wanted to ask for advice, or maybe you could come and… and do it."
"I could," Nezuko said. He could hear the frown in her voice. "But it isn't I who wishes to be a hero. I cannot fight your battles for you."
Izuku sighed. "This isn't my usual battle, is it? It's a demon, it's…"
"If you think that you cannot kill it because I am a demon, Izuku-kun, then I must state once again that I cannot fight this battle for you. If someone has found out how to create demons once more, then you will not be able to avoid fighting. You and Momo-chan both."
Izuku's blood froze. A shiver ran down his spine. "She can't-"
"Selfless as your words may be, you might wish to avoid disrespecting her dedication to the blade in your childish attempts to keep her out of danger," Nezuko said. Though her voice was even, Izuku knew that she was angry. "However, I will not disrespect your kindness in the same way. Talk to the demon. Find common ground. If you can, send them to me. If you cannot, cut their head off. And if you cannot do that either, capture them, and leave them to dry in the sun. While you may think that you're being cruel, believe me, you are doing them a favor."
"I…" Izuku began, unable to keep his voice as steady as hers. "I don't want to do it. Just last week you had called me a child who shouldn't be ashamed of losing a fight."
"Then don't fight," Nezuko said. "Come back to Musutafu, attend school, continue living your life as you did. But I know you, I know that within a week it will have eaten your thoughts, within a month it will have eaten your heart. Within a year, you will wake up every morning looking at the names of people that this demon killed in the time you could have spent fighting it."
"You would let it happen." This time it was his turn to make a statement rather than ask a question. "You would just let people die to teach me a lesson?"
"No," Nezuko said. He could not see it, but he could hear her head shaking. "But I cannot be everywhere. If I take care of this demon, and ten more appear. Will you let them kill until I have time to take care of them all? How many more lives do you think it can take by the time I'm in Tokyo? It's not a short trip, after all."
Izuku held the phone with clenched fingers, to the point that it made noises of discomfort. He knew that she was trying to push him for his benefit, but it was something he could just not accept in the same way that fighting a villain with a blunt sword was. It wasn't the same as fighting a few robots for an entrance exam. The sharp blade at his side was not a borrowed one, it was his, and if the first action he committed with it were to kill a demon, then it would still be a killing.
No.
A slaying.
"I will do it," Izuku said. Resolute and resigned. Disgusted and desperate. "I-I've expected better from you, Nezuko-sensei."
"I know," she said, as unapologetic as her cruel beauty. "I'm sorry."
"If you were sorry, you wouldn't make me do this."
He hung up, noticing small cracks in the display of the phone from the tight grip. He sighed, falling against the wall of the hospital, the sword at his side as he sat down and watched the sky turn from a soft red into a starless void.
Last week, he was a child, but Nezuko had always held steadfast in the belief that she was teaching him something that did not care about age. Those who slayed demons did so at his age, after all.
In a way, that was something that put a certain sense of pride in him, laced with the desperate fury at being left to do something he did not want to do. He was no longer a child to her, she was a demon slayer.
She would look into the reemergence of demons. He knewshe would. It was something that, regardless of his task that Aizawa-sensei had asked of him and Nezuko all but demanded he did, would take her focus for the future.
And she was right.
Today, it was one demon.
Tomorrow, it may be more.
He stood up, walking back into the hospital.
Aizawa was not quite healed, but considering the opponent he was likely going to handle a supporting role anyway. It was fortunate that the demon had a rather specific pattern, which allowed Aizawa and another hero to track him down. He would attack every third night on a playground near a school in one specific district. As there were only two playgrounds near schools in this district, and demons were (as Nezuko had put it) creatures of habitual stupidity, the next attack would be here.
"It's serpentine," Aizawa explained. "I don't know if that's part of the… blood demon arts, or the quirk it had while human."
Izuku swallowed at the reminder. Demons were humans before they were turned, after all. A hero would save humans, the strongest heroes were defined by their ability to keep casualties to a minimum. Even when fighting the worst villains, the courtesy of taking someone alive to stand in court for their crimes was common.
Izuku could hear it.
The distinct heartbeat that he had only heard once before.
Inside the sand of the playground, rumbling. Izuku knew it was the demon, because it could not be Nezuko. Aizawa looked at him, receiving a nod in return.
They stepped forward, and the demon, as if surprised by their bold approach or too happy to meet his previous wayward prey, appeared. It rose from the ground and looked exactly how Aizawa had described it.
Serpentine. Slicked back white hair and glowing yellow eyes. There were scales on his skin, from head to toe, and a split tongue that came out every few seconds tasting the air.
"Yer back!" it said, hissing a laughter. "I missed you, Eraserhead. How's the arm?"
Aizawa's left fist clenched. Izuku stepped forward, pursing his lips.
"My master has told me that if you wished to avoid a fight, you should go to her," Izuku said. Aizawa looked at him, but let it go with a shake of his head. He should have known that at least the master had to know. "She knows the struggles of demons. She can help you."
The demon lunged without hesitation. Izuku drew the sword, but he wasn't the target. Aizawa's capture band was held in two hands, stopping the brutal roundhouse kick from doing too much damage. Aizawa flew through the air.
Then it turned to him. Izuku raised his sword as the demon clawed at him. It grinned fanged teeth at him, it glared with slit yellow pupils.
Izuku struggled to hold the demon off, pushing against it with all his power, one hand on the hilt and the other on the flat of the blade. The demon's arms twitched and bulged as if things were crawling inside the skin.
"Please, don't make me do this," Izuku said, begging. Though monstrous in appearance, it was not more so than Mina. He couldn't just commit to a kill. "I don't want to kill you."
"Please, scream more!" the demon mocked, grinning through blood-laced fangs. "What a pussy, look at ya, yer trembling in yer boots. Ya think ya get to cut my head off like that?"
Izuku dodged a swipe from its serpentine arm, gathering himself. The sword cut off two fingers, which regrew faster than he could do his second swing. A demon did not run out of breath. They did not have the same struggles as humans.
Second Form.
Izuku breathed and swung the sword around him, the blade cutting into the demon's arms. The cut was too shallow. The sword was stuck in its bones. Using the moment of hesitation, the demon twisted its body around and delivered a kick into Izuku's stomach. This time, he was ready for it. It would leave a bruise, but the air stayed in his lungs. The breath kept going.
Aizawa wasn't quite so lucky. The earlier attack had left the man on the ground, clearly still not fit enough to deal with the fight, but desperate to participate because he knew that leaving the demon alone would lead to more deaths.
"Should've called All Might, huh?" the demon mocked again. Its body twisted into a snake-like form, the sword falling onto the ground as it slithered forward to bite Izuku as he lay on the ground. Izuku dodged, using the wide bite of the demon to kick off its head and grab his sword again.
Somehow, it felt different than the fight against the yakuza. The demon was… softer. Easier to cut. It was not just the difference of having a sharp blade and a blunt one. It did not have a quirk that was made to fight swords.
That didn't make the fight easier by itself, however. The demon jumped at him in the snake form, turning back into a humanoid one to deliver an axe kick from above. Izuku swung, cutting off the leg with an upwards swing.
It tripped, but not before it lashed out with its arm, one of its claws reaching his arm as he brought it back down and cutting deeply. The pain was dulled from the breathing, but he could still see way more blood than he was comfortable with seeping out.
So they came to another clash. The sword would cut, and the demon would regenerate. Izuku could not commit to a slash at its neck, and the demon fought fiercer because it knew.
Aizawa stood up, which added another angle to it. Now that Izuku was fighting back properly, it couldn't just make a break for him to take him out. The demon jumped around, avoiding the capture band while Izuku pushed it back.
If he could hold out until sunrise.
He could not.
He knew he could not. His breath was already running out. He couldn't keep it up forever.
Third Form.
The Striking Tide cut off the demon's limbs. It fell down, howling in pain as the regeneration began. It wasn't quite as fast now. It couldn't regenerate multiple limbs at once. "Aizawa-sensei, now!"
He did it. The scarf grabbed the demon and pushed it onto the ground, the fibers screaming as the demon struggled, the regeneration continuing. But he wouldn't be able to hold him. It was struggling against it with howls and screeches. One Aizawa's grasp loosened, it could turn into a snake and get them both.
"Midoriya, do it now!" Aizawa shouted, his voice strained, wounds under his bandages re-opening. Izuku hesitated. "Five dead and two more if you don't stop him now! Midoriya!"
Izuku put his hands together, the sword back in its sheath. Nezuko was right. She wasn't always right, she was occasionally cruel and unkind, she would push buttons she knew would provoke the worst out of others.
But she was right.
Izuku breathed and a prayer came from his lips. The sword was out of the sheath and the demon stopped struggling. The technique which he had practiced the entire week bore fruit. The sword was stabbed in the ground when the prayer was over, like a gravemarker as Izuku put his hands together once more.
The demon's head slid off slowly. It looked with wide eyes as its body dissolved into nothing, the Nichirin blade taking all his regenerative vitality with one solid swing at his weak spot.
"Yer praying, slayer?" the demon managed to get out, his neck turning black as death came to claim him. "Funny that… never thought someone would pray for me."
Izuku opened his eyes, watching the content look on the demon's face as its head vanished completely, scattered with the wind.
Aizawa walked up to him, the capture band hanging off his shoulders loosely as he pulled it back. He reached out, putting a hand on Izuku's shoulder.
"If you tell me I did a good job, I will cry," Izuku said, his voice cracking. Aizawa said nothing, instead putting both his arms around Izuku and hugging the boy tightly. Izuku hugged back, ignoring the wetness of the seeping wounds. "I'm sorry."
Every battle is a learning experience.
Whether you're a hero aspirant, or a demon slayer.
Izuku now understood the prayer at Shisui's lips. It was not a mourning prayer at all. It was one of forgiveness.
To forgive those who had done evil and to grant them a merciful death.
The sky was cloudy. Izuku could smell the first summer rain in a long time on the ground.
Chapter 13: The Blessed Rain, Petrichor
Izuku sat in the dojo, a bandage around his arm.
After being taken care of at the hospital, Aizawa had grabbed him and dragged him back to Musutafu. The actual trip back was quiet, Aizawa had slept in the train leaving Izuku to his thoughts. Anger and sadness were consuming him, and he had to purge it. A hundred prayers were uttered on the way back.
It was strange. He wasn't religious whatsoever, but somehow the use of what he would call his new breath, inspired by the strange dreams he had, made him feel strangely spiritual.
The prayers to the dead demon and his victims stood against the dread in his chest.
"I've done you a disservice," Nezuko said, bowing. "Your parting words were clear."
If you were truly sorry, you wouldn't make me do this.
Izuku's face twisted in shame. There was nothing to be gained from having her bow in apology. There was no vindication. Though she had pushed him into it, she had already given her justification.
"Right or wrong, it is in the past now." Izuku looked away, unable to hide his expression from her. "If we could move on, that'd be for the best."
"I am cruel," Nezuko said, making it clear that she would not move on. "But in this case, I believe it would have been more cruel to be kind."
"You don't need to justify yourself to me," Izuku said. He was tired. His voice reflected that, as did the bags under his eyes. He hadn't slept. "I don't think you're cruel."
"But you've lost respect for me, something I can't earn back." Nezuko wasn't asking a question. He didn't get to deny it, as the hesitation was more than enough of an answer for her. "Do not misunderstand, I will kill demons if the need arises. Sending you to fight was not meant to torture you."
"I know," Izuku said, the word dragged out just a bit too long. "I know it wasn't, I know there's meaning in everything you do, because you're so much older and smarter than anyone. I know."
She didn't seem to mind the sarcasm. Instead, she accepted the words at face value, moving on.
"What is upsetting you so much then?"
"Nothing ever seems to faze you," Izuku said, sounding more bitter than he had intended to. "Because you have had over three hundred years to come to terms with who you are, and then you can't forgive the one moment of selfishness of a fifteen year old moron with delusions of grandeur. I'm not a demon slayer. I never wanted to be one."
"Neither did my brother."
"Your brother did what was necessary for you. I don't think I can make the same sacrifices he did."
"We have to play with the hand that fate deals us." She shook her head, something akin to a shrug moving through her body.
"Is it fate if your hand guides mine?" Izuku asked, frustrated.
"Perhaps it is fate, to become my first apprentice at a time when demons re-emerge."
"I don't understand," Izuku said. He sighed, his voice raw by now. "I really don't understand."
"Perhaps there's nothing to understand in it. I may tell you many stories, but not everything has meaning. Sometimes a story is simply a story."
"You've suffered so much to save your family and now someone is creating demons again. Why doesn't this upset you more? Why do you take everything in stride?"
"Because Muzan is dead," Nezuko said. "And something like him will never exist again. It took one thousand two hundred years for him to amass the power that he had. I am not worried, or upset, because I know I will leave behind a legacy that will crush this new demon age in its infancy."
"You're too confident, I'm not the person to do this."
"Is that right?" she asked, a soft smile on her lips. "I've told you long ago when you first took up the blade under my tutelage, that I would teach you how to slay. Is there any other meaning to swing the sword?"
"People have their own reasons!" Izuku insisted. "When I did it, there were no demons! I wanted to be a hero, I used a blunt sword. Is it wrong to seek meaning in that?"
"What meaning you seek is yours alone, all I have taught you was the one I have found," Nezuko said. She looked towards the western window. The sun was sinking into the horizon. "But as you proclaim your meaning, things are stirring which will force you to put it aside for the needs of the many. Let me correct you, Izuku Midoriya."
He blinked at the use of his full name, looking at her serene expression.
"You did not want to be a hero, you are a hero already," she said. His heart skipped a beat. "You have saved not just your teacher, but avenged the people killed, and stopped any more blood from being senselessly spilled."
"A killer can't be a hero," Izuku said, the warmth in his chest turning into a rotten cold. Every breath he took burned in his nose.
"Do you regret it then?"
"I would never regret learning from you," Izuku said, his bandaged arm coming up, his fingers digging into his shirt as he hunched over. "You're like a mother to me. I don't regret a single minute under your guidance."
"What do you regret?" Nezuko asked. Something in her voice was different. He looked up. Though her expression was like that of a statue, her voice spoke of a fear that he had never heard before. "Because I know it is not the demon you've put down. You're not stupid enough to think that was a mistake."
"Why can't we come to an understanding?" he asked, his voice cracking. He tried his best, but he couldn't stop the emotions from bubbling to the surface. The tiredness in addition to the frustration he felt came to sting in his eyes. "Why can't I understand you?"
"Because I'm not human," she said. Her eyes were closed. The words cut deep. That disconnect between them, that line in the sand which he would never be able to cross. "Because you are not a demon."
He opened his mouth to speak but found no words to add. When he closed it again, Nezuko opened her eyes.
They were no longer that beautiful pink. From the slitted pupil came cracks, slowly reaching over the white of the eyes onto her skin, expanding outwards until they reached her cheeks.
And out of her forehead bulged forth a horn that grew in size until it was as long as his entire hand.
"The demon you've slayed, in its final moments, was it unhappy?" she asked. Her voice was distant. Like an echo, or perhaps it was the heartbeat that now echoed in his ears that made it harder to focus. Izuku shook his head. Nezuko nodded. "Perhaps it would have been easier if it was."
"There's no other way, is there?" Izuku asked. Nezuko shook her head. "If I don't do it, you'll convince Momo."
"You say it like I would use her safety to convince you to continue."
"Wouldn't you?"
"No, because you've already decided." Nezuko's eyes were focused on his side. He looked down, his hand clenched around the hilt of the sword without him realizing. "Hold your breath, Izuku. Slay a hundred demons with the Nichirin blade, and pray for their souls. Observe how their kind shrinks away from you in terror."
Izuku let go of the hilt, the first clenching at his side. She was right. She was always, stupidly, ridiculously, obnoxiously right. And because she was right, she was such a liar.
"You say I can't understand you because you're a demon, but I don't think that's right at all," Izuku said. The conviction in his voice made Nezuko visibly pause. "You build this wall around yourself because you're too afraid to get really close to anyone. Because you know you'll outlive them. I think you understand humans better than they do, that scares you."
Nezuko nodded. After a moment's hesitation, she spoke up once more. The demonic features slowly shifted away, back into a more human look.
"I will one day ask you something," she said. "Something no teacher should ever ask their student. I want you to be prepared for that day."
He grimaced at the wording. Aizawa-sensei had said the same, and look at where that got him.
"I'm not a tool, Nezuko-sensei. I can't mindlessly do what you ask of me every day."
"I don't want you to be a tool, I want you to be prepared," she said, her voice rising slightly. "You will fight a hundred battles. You will bleed from a thousand wounds. You will save ten thousand lives. You will hear a hundred thousand prayers. You will pray a million more. That pain you're feeling right now, the regret that causes you to doubt your path, it is nothing compared to the regret you will feel when you fail to save someone."
"All I ever wanted was to be like you." Izuku punched the floor, a sharp sting rising in his fist. "Like you and All Might!"
"You will never be like me, Izuku-kun." She reached out, grabbing his hand before he could punch the floor again. He looked up. "You will be better than me in every way."
For a single moment, he believed her. "You're…"
"You're right," Nezuko said, interrupting him. She shuffled forward on her knees, her arms coming to wrap around Izuku's back as she embraced him softly. She wasn't shaking, but her skin was cold to the touch. "I'm a coward."
He felt the anger drain away. He remembered Tenko's words. He was too angry, but he couldn't be angry all the time.
He was too sad, but he couldn't be sad all the time.
Izuku breathed.
And from his lips came a silent prayer.
The doorbell rang.
Izuku frowned, the prayer interrupted.
The doorbell never rang.
Unpleasant.
That was the only way to describe the man in front of him. Dressed in a neat black suit with a distinctive pin, the middle aged man with short red hair gave off an aura that made Izuku consider whether he truly was a government agent as he had introduced himself.
He certainly looked the part, sleazy and uncanny with his smile. Izuku was preparing tea, looking over to the table where Nezuko and Tenkai, as he had introduced himself without a full name, were sitting.
"Your student has done the country a great service," Tenkai said. Izuku twitched, gathering himself as he poured the tea into the cups. He took the cups over to the table. "Of course, there's nothing less to be expected of the great Nezuko Kamado."
"You've been briefed on me," Nezuko said, shaking her head. "But it seems that a lot of information has gotten lost in the time."
"Of course, three centuries is quite a lot of time," Tenkai said, bowing his head slightly. Izuku gritted his teeth, grabbing his own cup and sitting down near Nezuko. "According to our investigation, the now designated 'Serpent Demon' has been an isolated incident. This does not exclude the possibility of it being an intentional incident, as the likelihood of someone just stumbling on a demonization drug are… slim."
"I could name a hundred ways this country will fall before an accident like Muzan appears again," Nezuko said. The wording was deliberate. Tenkai did not react visibly, but Izuku could hear the man's internal anger. "Again, no courtesy. I do not appreciate being led on when you clearly have something to say. Please get to the point."
"As the possibility of more demons appearing is not zero, the Diet has requested to establish contact with Nezuko Kamado and request her aid."
"I refuse," Nezuko said simply. Izuku sighed through his nose as Tenkai nodded. He knew that if she fought, she would not do so for the government. She had no kind words for politicians. As someone who had lived through the second great war, she had a unique view on the matter, of course. "Unless you are willing to let me set the terms, of course."
"I'm afraid that is something I haven't been granted permission to do."
"Not entirely lost to history, then," Nezuko said, almost satisfied. "Then go back to your masters and request permission. Until then, I will keep refusing."
"So many people depend on your assistance-"
"This, Izuku-kun," Nezuko said, her voice cold and her eyes colder. "This is what it looks like when someone considers you a tool."
Tenkai tried to laugh it off, but as the temperature in the room went up, he began to sweat and look as uncomfortable as he made Izuku with his laughter.
"I apologize, I have come to realize that my life as a recluse has caused my social skills to somewhat deteriorate," Nezuko said. She pulled something out of her sleeve, as if she had been prepared to have this conversation today, putting it on the table. It was an old document, with her name on the top, and an old imperial seal at the bottom. "You have no authority over me."
"Of course," Tenkai said, smiling that uncanny smile of his. She looked at him, knowing full well that he would not have brought it up if he hadn't considered the possibility of strong-arming her. "You'll have to forgive my impudence, I am merely making a suggestion. We would like to resolve this quickly, after all."
"Not quickly enough to blow the whistle and equip your heroes," Nezuko said. Izuku heard the man's throat constrict for a short moment, a harsh swallow that he hid easily with whatever strange quirk he had. "In accordance with the decree of the Imperial Diet, I shall not interfere with your affairs. I understand that three hundred years is a long time, so let me reiterate, these were not restrictions placed on me by people who could control me, these were concessions I've made so that the post-War reconstruction of this country where my brothers and sisters have bled could continue in peace."
"Would you not say that the matter of demons would be in your jurisdiction?"
"My jurisdiction," Nezuko said, stressing the word. "Is to live a life in peace and in return leave you in peace. If you wish to lift the decree, please tell the National Diet to subpoena me so we may discuss the new terms."
Izuku wasn't sure what was going on. He had a rough idea, based on the stories that Nezuko had told him in the past. It was something akin to a non-aggression pact. But instead of being between two nations, it was between one woman and an entire country.
"I see." Tenkai nodded. Another strange twitch in his throat. Frustration. "Of course, ma'am. I will be sure to let them know."
Tenkai stood up, and Izuku could see him trying to walk towards the door as if he wasn't currently sweating through his clothes.
Nezuko did not walk him to the door. He walked out with his head held high.
"He didn't seem very smart," Izuku said. "In comics and TV shows the sleazy government people are always… I don't know, more subtle."
"I do not believe that the government is stupid or malicious, I believe they are desperate," Nezuko said. She was frowning, but her voice was as even as ever.
"Desperate?" Izuku asked. "But not desperate enough to give heroes Nichirin weapons?"
"The actual Nichirin supply is… limited," Nezuko said, as if she herself were unsure of the word. "And the wisteria, which is poisonous to demons, has troubles growing on this soil."
"Wisteria?" Izuku asked, frowning. "The poison that Shinobu Kocho used?"
"Enough wisteria can halt a demon's regeneration and eventually kill, though some regenerate too fast for it to take hold."
His frown deepened. She hadn't gone into detail about that at all. Was she hiding it? Or did it simply not come up? He knew that wisteria was almost extinct on the Japanese islands now, as if malediction had struck them and made it hard for them to grow.
"Either way, this isn't finished," Nezuko said. "They lack the tools to make me their puppet, they will use you."
"I won't help them."
"You will," Nezuko said. Izuku blinked. "They will blackmail you, or threaten you, or they will do the same to your mother. Desperate, cornered animals are dangerous. They have nothing to lose. Fight or flight turns into fight and fight until someone is dead."
"So I'm supposed to let them do that?"
"The plan was to slay demons anyway," Nezuko said. Izuku's shoulders sagged at the reminder. "Check their offer, if you don't like it, demand twice that. Make them think they can pay you so they don't need to go for something more malicious."
"Wouldn't that make me their tool?" Izuku asked. "Just taking the pay… couldn't I go to the heroes?"
"These are the people who hold the control over the heroes. Legislature is a fickle mistress, Izuku-kun. Go with the flow until you can swim to the shore or you will drown."
"I don't like it."
"You don't have to," Nezuko said. Her smile towards the door was almost… predatory. Izuku did not like that smile at all. "Use it against them."
Izuku didn't even have the time to get to his classroom before the teacher at the gate, Midnight today, stopped him. The rather not safe for work r-rated heroine frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"The principal wants to see you in his office," she said, her voice low. "You need me to come with you?"
"No?" Izuku said, blinking. "Thank you, Midnight-sensei. I'll go see him."
Izuku could guess what it was about. In the end, though he had gotten permission to go to Tokyo, his mother wasn't even aware of what he did there. Maybe they wanted to talk to him about what he should tell her?
However, it was not meant to be. The first thing Izuku saw when he entered the room was a black suit. Tenkai turned around, giving him a large smile and bowing in greeting.
"Midoriya-kun," he said, with a familiarity that made Izuku consider turning around and leaving the room immediately. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Tenkai-san," Izuku said. Principal Nezu sat at his desk, while Aizawa stood next to him. Izuku could hear his heartbeat, fast, something had upset him. Nezu was more calm and collected, but there was still the distinct sound of the principal's claws scratching under the table as if to hold himself back.
"Tenkai-san has come to speak with you about the incident," Principal Nezu said, nodding at Izuku. "Please listen to what he has to say."
Izuku did not sit down. He walked up to the desk, turning to Tenkai and looking up. The man was not very tall at all, despite his advanced age. Izuku met his eyes, waiting for him to start.
"Due to your contributions to society, the Hero Public Safety Commission has decided to grant you this," Tenkai said, holding out an ID. Izuku could see his face printed on it, the confident smile looking so far away now. "A special provisional hero license. It will allow you to use your quirk for law enforcement reasons outside of school grounds."
"But?" Izuku asked. "I know there's a but."
"If public safety requires your assistance with certain… individuals," Tenkai said. Nezu and Aizawa knew, so Izuku didn't understand why he was still going out of his way to avoid the topic. "You will assist."
Izuku gritted his teeth. Of course. But as Nezuko-sensei had told him, it was something he had hardened his heart for.
"Will I receive any further help?" Izuku asked. Tenkai raised an eyebrow. "As you know, my weapon is unique, and thus requires expensive maintenance."
"We can of course organize that maintenance costs be paid to you in full," Tenkai said, suddenly more than willing to negotiate the terms compared to last night. "Kind of a quid pro quo, if you understand."
Izuku was still hesitant. Tenkai knew he was. And because of it, the man went for the kill.
"Of course, if you'd rather not take it, that is fine as well," Tenkai said. A low growl vibrated in Aizawa's throat, but Nezu's hand on his arm stopped him from going any further. "There is of course still the matter with illegal quirk usage without a license, as well as the violation against the Sword and Firearm Act which will need to be resolved."
There was the blackmail, Izuku realized. Nezuko had warned him, and she was right. Tenkai stood there with all the confidence he could muster after the embarrassing display from last night.
If he refused, they would simply make sure he would neverget a hero license. Even if the courts threw it out, his reputation would be destroyed by the inevitable media circus of an U.A. student being charged.
Aizawa and Nezu both looked ready to accept whichever decision Izuku would make.
Izuku reached out to take the license.
"You should consider yourself lucky, young man," Tenkai said, smiling. "Only one other person has had this honor before, the current number three hero. Maybe Hawks will take you for an internship?"
Izuku glared at the man, taking the license card with his name on it out of his hands. Nezu and Aizawa shared a look of understanding. With one last smile, Tenkai left.
"Fucking asshole," Aizawa said once Tenkai was gone. Nezu frowned at him.
"Mind your language around the students."
Izuku would have a hundred more curses to say to that man. Instead, he put his hands together and counted to ten.
Chapter 14: The Second Breath
Aizawa was on sick leave for the rest of the week. Though he was on school grounds, Nezu had forbidden him from teaching in his state and forced him to take a rest. Recovery Girl all but hauled the man off to her office when she caught sight of him.
This meant that the USJ trip with Class 1-B and their teacher, Kan-sensei, or rather Vlad King as he was in his costume, was still on.
It was strange to think that things were winding down just a bit after the rather busy past few weeks. Nezuko had told him that certain people were just going to attract trouble, and it seemed that he was fated to be such a person.
To be a person who cannot be controlled by the whims of fate, one had to make their own fate. For that purpose, he would need to grow stronger.
He wasn't sure what blowing into a gourd until it popped would do for that, but he was sure she would tell him eventually. It was weirdly exhausting, and her expectation to use his new breath for it, if the bastardization of two other breaths could be called that, simply added to that exhaustion.
The USJ itself was… impressive. A massive playground of all the places one needed to practice rescue maneuvers in. It was domed with glass panels that could dim themselves to emulate a night sky, he had heard.
Momo looked almost giddy at having so much space. He knew she wanted to practice more with the weapon, though her main issue was that she couldn't create something that could hold out under the pressure of her Breath. The chain was solid, but there have been more than a few times when axe and flail met each other and exploded into shards of iron.
"What's the matter, Monoma?" someone in the 1-B group asked. Izuku's ears twitched. It was a girl, someone he hadn't heard speak before. She was dressed in… scales? The costume seemed a bit too form fitting, but as she moved, Izuku could hear the weak links between, as if it was ready to be ripped off. Perhaps she had a quirk similar to Midnight's.
"Nothing," Monoma said. Izuku shook his head, continuing to walk down towards the center with his class.
"Sure doesn't look like nothing," the girl said. "Usually you'd say something like 'what a drag, why do we have to share this time with 1-A? Just because their teacher isn't as dedicated?'"
Izuku had to resist the urge to snort. Her impression was, both in voice and mannerism, quite spot on. Monoma didn't seem to find it as funny, though. Rather than retort or get otherwise loud, he scowled, and Izuku could feel him looking towards them.
It was Jirou who ended up falling into step with Izuku, her eyes half-lidded as she attempted to hide a glare towards the 1-B crowd.
"Your fan looks like he might start something," she said. Izuku glanced towards him, shaking his head.
"I don't think he will," Izuku said. "They made Bakugou into an example, nobody would risk doing what he did."
Rather, it seemed that Monoma's heart beat with something akin to shame. But he knew the kind, the people who couldn't quite see what they did wrong, too proud to consider the consequences of their actions and words. That was fine by him, he didn't have to be friends with everyone.
Vlad King ended up stopping in front of a suited hero. Thirteen, the Space Hero, and another member of the U.A. staff greeted them with wide arms and a loud voice.
"Welcome to the USJ," she all but shouted. "As we're a larger group than usual, I would like to begin with splitting the groups up into smaller focus groups. As not every quirk is beneficial to search and rescue, I want the class representatives to put together teams of rescuers and teams of fighters. You're what, thirty nine?"
Vlad King glanced over to them for a second and then nodded. "Thirty nine students."
"Hmmm," Thirteen crossed her arms, tapping a foot on the ground. The space suit swayed back and forth a bit. "It would be easier if we were even. I want seven groups of five people and one group of four, then. Each group will compete with one of their class and one of the other."
"Isn't there supposed to be fostering relationships between classes?" Iida asked loudly, raising his hand. "Wouldn't it be better to have students of the two classes work together?"
Izuku would have commended Iida, but class 1-B looked apprehensive at the idea. Perhaps Monoma's opinion on class 1-A wasn't entirely his own.
Thirteen and Vlad King shared a… glance? If it could be called that, considering her lack of actual eyes. When Vlad King nodded, she turned to Iida and gave a nod as well.
"That's not a bad idea at all, there's something of a competition between classes in their first years but having to accept the help of heroes you haven't worked with before is also an invaluable experience."
The groups were being created by the class reps. In the end, Kendo had made sure that Monoma and Izuku would not end up in the same group by pairing him with Uraraka and Hagakure. As he stood alone, waiting for Momo to finish up the grouping with her 1-B counterpart, the boy in question approached him.
"Midoriya," Monoma said. Izuku twitched, turning to him with a suspicious look. "You don't have a quirk, do you?"
Izuku's suspicious look would have turned into one of fury. He breathed, finding solace in the feeling of prayer. "I have no idea what you mean."
"My quirk, it's Copy," Monoma said, raising his hand. "I can copy the quirks of people I touch, there's a spark of something, intrinsic understanding, even if the quirk isn't usable, I know it's there. You don't have that spark."
"Or my quirk is unique," Izuku said, frowning. "What's it to you?"
Monoma shook his head, turning towards his classmates. Izuku could see Kendo give him a glare that wordlessly shouted 'behave'. Monoma behaved, crossing his arms.
"I shouldn't have said the things that I did, it was not appropriate."
"Because you think I'm quirkless?" Izuku asked. Now Monoma was the one frowning.
"Because you were right. I still think that there seems to be a bias in the faculty, teachers speak highly of not just you but Endeavor's kid and that girlfriend of yours. That doesn't mean I should've been insensitive towards someone who had survived a horrifying injury."
"Apology accepted, I guess," Izuku said. The fact that it wasn't worded like an apology whatsoever, rather than an admission of wrongdoing that stood on its own, could be put aside. Izuku glanced towards Kendo, who was still looking at them as if she was ready to jump in. Turning to Monoma properly, he raised a hand. "How about we start this again? I'm Izuku MIdoriya, Little Town Samurai."
"Neito Monoma." He grasped his hand, shaking on it. His grip was just a bit too tight. Izuku's was tighter. "I'm going to crush you."
Izuku grinned a grin that he might have stolen from Aizawa. "Please."
Thirteen and Vlad King were speaking with each other when it happened. Izuku could hear the air tear. Splotches of black fog and sludge appeared a considerable distance away. Despite that, a voice echoed so loudly it might have been right next to them, humming a melody to a scratchy song.
It was the voice of a young woman. She stepped out of the black mist with a smile on her face.
Dirty blonde hair, bright yellow eyes, and a small princess crown on her head. Her clothes clashed with any kind of princess look she might have wanted to go with. It was a bulky, almost armor like scarf with a large fanged grin engraved into it, over even more bulky clothes that showed little.
But Izuku could hear it all. Many, many bits of metal were hiding under those clothes. Knives. Likely her entire body weight in knives.
Then, right after her, came a monster. Long, thin limbs, large claws instead of fingers, an exposed brain and an absolutely pained look on its face.
Izuku could hear it scream. Its heart yearned death, and yet it lived.
She looked over them, until her eyes found her target. She gave a curt bow, the crown falling off her head and into her waiting hand.
"Izuku-chan, I've come to pick you up," she said. Her eyes danced over his form, unconcerned about the teachers. Vlad King looked ready to launch an attack, while Thirteen shouted for them to get out.
The girl grinned, her entire body screamed 'wild beast' instead of 'human' and yet she wasn't a demon. She didn't sound like one. Her heart beat at a normal rhythm, her heavy breathing was very much needed instead of something to keep up appearances. Her fingers twitched. Her fanged teeth glinted in the morning sun that came from the glass panels that made up the USJ dome.
A strange black sludge appeared under his feet. Izuku couldn't get out fast enough. He saw the rest of the class affected as well. Momo threw her chain towards him, but before he could grab it he was already dragged in, drowning in the darkness for a second before he appeared on… the roof?
The girl appeared from a portal as well.
Momo landed with a thud. As far as she could tell from a look out of the window of the building she was in, this was still the USJ. Shinso and Tsuyu were with her, quickly scrambling to get onto their feet.
Something was wrong. She could feel it, trembling in the earth.
"Duck!" she shouted. Tsuyu and Shinso didn't hesitate to listen, bending down as a blade of wind ripped over them, carving itself into the interior of the already half broken simulation joint building.
"Aw, you dodged," a man said. It looked like the girl didn't just bring that strange monster with her. She could feel the steps of more than just this man. People surrounding the building, ready for them to attempt an escape and fall into their trap.
"Yeah," Shinso said. "Look at you fucking moron, not even able to hit a surprise attack on a bunch of school kids."
"You-"
The man cut off. Shinso grinned as his quirk took effect. While the girl came prepared, she did not know all their quirks from the looks of it. This was a distraction more than an attack, her target was Izuku. Momo had to get out and help him.
"Bash your head against the wall," Shinso ordered. The man resisted the order. Momo was more than happy to help him. The Breath of Stone weapon replica chain wrapped around his legs. She pulled hard, ending with the man's head bashing against the ground. She winced when she heard a loud crack
"... he didn't die, right?" Momo asked. She knew he didn't, but that didn't preclude brain damage, though she supposed it was self defense…
Shinso shook his head after walking up to the man and checking his pulse. She could feel his heartbeat and groans in the vibrations on the ground. Tsuyu looked around.
"We have to get out and get help," Tsuyu said. Momo stopped her as she moved towards the stairs.
"There are people outside, they'll ambush us," Momo said. They didn't ask how she knew, simply nodding along. "Your quirk isn't physical, so we'll be at a disadvantage. Here."
She created a sword, handing it over to him. He looked at her like she was crazy.
"It's sharp," she said, her voice grim. "We can't hold back if they won't. We have to regroup with the class and evacuate."
"How many?" Tsuyu asked. Momo closed her eyes, touching the ground.
"Ten," she said. "Excluding any that might be able to fly. Do you think you can take them?"
Tsuyu glanced towards the sword, then back to Momo. Momo simply nodded, making one for her as well. It was one of the things that she could easily make, strangely enough. A bat would take more out of her. Tsuyu grabbed it with shaking hands.
The came down from the window. Tsuyu struggling to hold them both as the made the first move.
The surprise attack was a success. Two of the villains looked more like punks than anything else, immediately hitting the ground after they landed on them. Shinso raised the sword in a grip that made Momo feel the need to correct him, but it would do for now. With the formation broken, and the area being wide enough. Momo took the lead.
She breathed.
And with it came the rumbling of the earth. She threw the flail into the air, drawing the attention of two villains who had attempted to flank her. When she stomped down on the chain, cracking the earth under her feet, it came back down far further than they had expected.
"Breath of Stone," she announced, more to herself than to the villains. "Second Form."
She missed, of course. With the force the flail came down, it would have been a slaying instead of an incapitation. The flail hit between the two villains. One of them tried to dodge using his quirk, his body turning gelatinous, but the force of the impact sent so much of the pavement into the air that bits and pieces of it got stuck in him. The other one simply fell over, his legs shaking, scared.
"T-these kids are monsters!" he shouted. Their morale was broken. One of the villains who had approached Shinso ended up running away when Momo turned towards him. Tsuyu had it easier, taking the high ground from a villain with a wolf-like appearance and simply swatting at him by holding the sword with her tongue.
Momo pumped her fist, her eyes shining as she grinned at Shinso, who gave her a shaky thumbs up.
Five villains to go. It seemed there were no surprises around anymore. She had to hurry.
Izuku held his sword, ready for whatever the girl might throw at him.
"I'm Himiko Toga," she said. "Hi-mi-ko. But if you want to change my last name to Midoriya, that's fine too!"
Izuku swallowed, resisting the urge to take a step back. "I don't think I'm ready to marry yet, I'm sorry."
"I love you!" she said with an almost childlike glee. Were it not for the increasingly toothsome grin, he would have assumed she meant it like a normal person. Her heartbeat accelerated. She moved, way faster than he had expected. "Please go out with me!"
The shout was accompanied by a two-handed stab. The knife dragged along the length of his sword, until she stopped at the hilt. She was now so close he could feel her breath on his skin, holding him off with one arm. Her eyes vibrated with a sense of wonder that made his stomach churn.
Izuku heard another knife. He pushed, quickly taking two steps back as her left arm came up with a slash and a second knife. She spun on her heel, taking the miss in stride. Izuku made the next attack, breathing and swinging the sword wide at her wrist.
Her spinning increased. Izuku had to stop his swing when she bent her knees, swiping at his feet with a practiced low kick. He jumped up, deflecting another uppercut with both of her knives by holding his sword up. It was enough to launch him backwards.
By the time he hit the ground again, the glass of the roof-like dome over the USJ cracking loudly as his feet came back down, Izuku had come to a realization.
This girl was dangerous.
He felt more outmatched than he did against Yu. Despite being maybe one or two years older than him, she must have had a multiple of his own battle experience. Despite her relatively small stature and bulky outfit, she moved with a strength and speed that made him look like a child stumbling about on the playground.
He put his sword back into the sheath. The motion itself gave her moment to pause. It was when he turned the sheath upside down, the blunt edge aimed upwards, that she realized what he was doing. He was in front of her with all the speed he could muster, all his Breath strengthening his legs and allowing him to shatter the glass under his feet as he rocketed forward.
The mourning prayer connected. The first sword swing hit her right shoulder, shattering bone and forcing her to drop one of the knives. The other one hit her stomach, causing her to scream in pain and hunch over.
The ringing in his ears screamed at him to move. He didn't follow up on the opening. Instead, he rolled to the side and rushed away from her. He could hear the sounds of fighting under him. His teacher was taking care of the villains with the other students-
The true terror was here. Izuku froze. Himiko, from her hunched over position, raised her face. She looked pleased. Disgustingly so. He hadn't hit her hard enough to do internal damage, but somehow she was bleeding from her mouth.
No.
Under that absolutely psychotic grin he could see shards of glass. She had bitten down on something, and the blood was not entirely hers. Some of it was a different color, mixed with something to keep it from coagulating.
Her face twitched. It was like worms were writhing under it, forcing themselves under her skin and changing it. Slowly, she began to look like someone else. Something was strange, dread rose up in his throat, knocking all breath out of him. The ground under him shook.
Whoever the eldely man she looked like now was, he must have had a quirk she was able to copy with hers. Control of glass? No, the vibrations were too precise. Sand. Even modified?
At the amount of glass that built the dome around USJ, all of it shattering at once would likely crush everyone who wasn't in a simulated building. Izuku cleared his throat with a roar, rushing forward once more.
He wasn't fast enough to stop her entirely, but the vibrations didn't reach further than their surrounding area. They both lost their footing, tumbling the considerable distance towards the ground.
Izuku heard her laugh. Loudly. Gleefully. He reached out, trying to grab her and brace himself. He could survive this impact, but he wasn't sure about her, and he wasn't going to end this day with yet another person's blood on his hands. She grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards her. Her other hand still held a knife.
"You've lost my number, haven't you?" she asked, shouting in the face of the wind as they fell. Her face was twisting itself, changing slowly into one of a familiar young woman. The girl who had given him her number during the dinner with Momo. The tip of her knife was digging into his collarbone. "You must have, or else you'd have called. Right, right?"
His sword was tumbling with them. He wouldn't be able to reach it. In the distance, he heard Momo shout his name.
He had to improvise. His hands came together in prayer, his breath was short and desperate. The loud clap was not unlike that one did to approach a shrine. The loud noise made her flinch back, holding her ears. He clapped once more, and then slammed his hands onto her chest, shoving her away before bracing himself for impact.
He was fairly certain one of his knees was busted. He landed on his feet, bending his legs as he used all he had to reinforce his body to a point he was sure his lung might burst again. Fortunately, it didn't. Unfortunately, he still fell down, pain shooting up his leg.
Toga slowly floated down, looking like a middle-aged woman now. When she touched the ground, her face returned back to normal.
The sword fell down next to him. He grabbed it, quickly raising it when she lunged at him. This time, it was without knives. Her hands wrapped around his neck, blood and saliva were running down her lips as she began to choke him. He didn't have the strength to fight back.
"Get away from him!" Momo shouted. Both Izuku and Himiko looked towards her. The girl had to jump away as the flail end of Momo's Breath of Stone weapon replica came sailing towards her. As the axe followed up, Izuku stood.
"Ah! Momo-chan!" Himiko said, smiling as if greeting an old friend. She dodged the axe, one of her many knives coming down in the chain link and pinning it to the ground. "Long time no see~"
"Careful," Izuku warned, standing up. His one leg was completely limp, forcing him to use the sheath as a crutch to hold the sword with one hand. "She's strong."
Momo nodded, pulling on the chain. The axe did not come back. The knife in the ground did not yield. Momo breathedand ripped it straight out of the ground, both flail and axe back in her hands.
They stared each other down. As if waiting to see who would make the first move. If she pushed them, there was a chance she could take Izuku out and then turn on Momo, but from the sounds of it, the reinforcements were already on their way. USJ was large, but not that large. Himiko knew that.
The end buzzer rang with a loud smash. The door to the USJ exploded, revealing All Might who had crashed into the entrance with the usual heroic valor. He was not smiling.
Himiko pouted, shaking her head. A portal appeared behind her. "Playtime's over, then. Ugh. We'll see each other again soon, Izuku-chan!"
"Himiko Toga!" Izuku shouted loudly. She turned around from the black portal, smiling at her name on his lips. "Why are you here?"
"To get you, I told you already, silly," Himiko said, holding her still broken arm. She hadn't given any indication that it actually impaired her, but somehow she held it like something to cherish. "We're overdue for a date, after all!"
"If you wanted to kidnap me, you'd just have waited for me to be alone and sent that teleporter," Izuku said, ignoring the pain in his leg as he raised his sword towards her. "So stop lying! What do you want?!"
Himiko's batshit playful persona slipped for just a moment. Izuku could hear her heart skip a beat. His own sunk into his stomach.
"I was wondering if you'd show me those eyes again if I killed your friends," she said. Izuku blinked as she shivered in pleasure. "Those broken eyes, that choked bleeding, that beautiful appearance."
Izuku swallowed. Everything about her seemed to be deliberately made to cause disgust in him. But she was still hiding something. If she truly wanted to cause him pain, she would have brought more serious villains with her. From the looks (and sounds) of it, no one in both classes was seriously hurt. The sound of battle had died out once All Might appeared.
"See yaaa," she said, waving as she stepped into the black portal. As it closed behind her, Izuku let himself fall. Momo was at his side to stop him from crashing onto the ground, but the angle of his fall just saw her join him on a heap. She had a few scratches on her, likely from the fight she had participated in before rushing to help him with the psycho.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're attracting the worst kind of attention all the time," Momo said. She didn't seem in a hurry to stand up, too tired from her own overuse of the Breath of Stone. Izuku raised a hand in answer and put it down again. He couldn't speak. "Izuku?"
He took a deep breath, trying to find his words. Instead, he put his hand on her shoulder, patting it. She looked up at his face, where she must have seen the pain that he was trying to hide. He pointed down, towards his legs.
She pushed off him, looking towards his leg. Inside the clothes it looked fine, but as she ripped them open it revealed a prodding bone he clearly made worse by forcing himself to stand on it. It stuck out of the skin, causing her to gasp.
"How are the others?" Izuku asked, his breath coming back slowly. Momo shook her head.
"I don't know, I came here the second I saw you fall," Momo said. "What were you thinking? You couldn't have known you could take a fall from that height-"
"I didn't really have a choice," Izuku said. "I guessed, with my trajectory and the wide uniform I-"
Momo clenched a fist over his shirt. He wisely shut up.
Vlad King walked up to them, being held up by Thirteen. He must have had a fight with the monster, the thing that was neither human nor demon. Three of its claws were stuck in his arm, held in place by the hardened blood of his quirk.
"You alright, kid?" Vlad King asked. Izuku nodded. "That leg looks pretty banged up. All Might is taking care of the villains right now, so let's get you to the infirmary."
"You need one as well," Thirteen said. Vlad King shrugged.
"I'm not going to bleed out, am I? Kind of immune to that nowadays." Vlad King sounded almost childish, and certainly a bit delirious from what must be quirk overuse and subsequent blood loss. "Aren't you a bit young to have a stalker, Midoriya?"
"I… don't know," he said. Momo stood up after doing what she could for his leg, grabbing him and lifting him up. She was using the Breath to reinforce her body, helping him avoid putting any weight on the messed up leg. "I was told I have a habit of attracting misfortune."
"We can debrief later, lets just-"
"She could copy the appearances and quirks of people," Izuku mentioned. Vlad King's words died in his throat. "If she knew we would be here today, she might have infiltrated the school before."
"Aizawa will have gate duty until she's captured then," Vlad King said, shaking his head. "Infirmary, now. We can talk later."
The infirmary would have been overflooded if everyone's injuries were treated there. In the end Vlad King and Izuku were the only ones who needed serious treatment, everyone else received a short trip to the nearby hospital. Momo initially refused, but his assurances that she should get herself checked out were enough to make her leave.
While Vlad King was sleeping, Izuku was restless. His mother wasn't home, so they only reached Nezuko, who had told him to stay at U.A. for the night. It wasn't quite late enough, and though Recovery Girl's quirk took a lot from him, he couldn't fall asleep.
Still, it was likely smarter to stay here, considering the large target he painted on his back. Himiko Toga would be more dangerous in his neighborhood. He stood up, walking out of the door to get some fresh air. The sun was setting, and the breeze was comfortable as he opened a window in the hallway.
"Young Midoriya," All Might said, walking down the hallway towards him. "You're still awake."
"I can't sleep," Izuku admitted, nodding.
All Might stood next to him, watching the sunset.
"Is there something on your mind?" he asked. Izuku shook his head. "Your actions today were commendable, both classes did well. Yet you look like something gnaws on you."
"She was strong and skilled, if she wasn't messing around I was sure she could have won," Izuku said, frowning. "I think she came to send a message of sorts."
"What kind of message?" All Might asked, leaning on the windowsill. "That U.A. isn't safe? Or perhaps it was more personal?"
"That thing she brought with her, the monster-" Izuku said. He shook his head. "The villain. It… it wasn't human anymore, something was done to it, as if it had been filled with more than it could handle and broke it. I think the point was to show it off."
"Filled it with more what?" All Might asked. Izuku gritted his teeth. The screaming for release in its throat still echoed through his mind. All Might shook his head when he saw Izuku's hesitation. "You're right. A good educated guess on your part. From what we can tell from the quick autopsy, it was likely a monster made with multiple quirks and a healthy dose of Trigger."
"Multiple?" Izuku asked, frowning. "I thought it was…"
Something akin to demons, maybe. But it wasn't, then. Shaking his head, he looked up at All MIght with tired eyes.
"Is it fine to tell me?" Izuku asked. All Might smiled, but somehow Izuku found no solace in it.
"I wouldn't if it were a normal case, but the villain's obsession with you might escalate. You're on the target list of a yakuza group and a villain who was able to infiltrate U.A. with an army, albeit a weak one, without raising the alarm."
"I also have a license," Izuku said. All Might nodded curtly, a look of dissatisfaction on his face. "You know the circumstances."
"The gist of it, I do not like the government arm of the public safety committee, but they are what one might consider a necessity. Some countries are… more laissez faire when it comes to heroics and public safety. This is not always a good thing."
"Can… can I ask you a question?" Izuku asked. All Might nodded without hesitation. "If you had to kill a villain to defeat him, because there was no other way. Could you do it?"
All Might's body made a strange noise at the question. Izuku looked away, but All Might's hand on his shoulder made him look up again.
"It's not a question I have to ask myself, because I have already done so," All Might said. "Heroes have a certain responsibility, to use their quirks appropriately and never with overproportional force. However, quirks are volatile. People more so."
"Sometimes there's just no other way?" Izuku asked. His voice wasn't cracking, but something in him made it hard to speak. "Not even for you?"
"While the chances of actually reaching that point are slim for any given hero, someone who maintains a position at the top is different," All Might said somberly. He looked down, his hand squeezing Izuku's shoulder. "You fight thousands of battles, sometimes you meet people like Crucible and the Decimator, villains who would not just fight to the last breath, but aim to take the entire world with them."
"Why aren't people going all out against villains all the time, then?" Izuku asked. "Wouldn't it stop more of them from cropping up?"
"To win over a villain, you shouldn't aim to kill them. You can't continue spilling the blood of a fallen foe. While not every villain is capable of rehabilitation, a lawful country depends on treating people with that respect. Even villains. Nurse them back to health, shower them with kindness. Though it has become less likely, there used to be many villains who changed and became heroes after being defeated."
Izuku nodded slowly. All Might's hand was shaking as he let go of his shoulder.