Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He couldn't see anything, everywhere his eyes fell upon was nothing but pure black. The feeling of standing on solid ground assured him that he wasn't falling. No sound reached his ears, either for lack of sound or being unable to hear.

Then, he hear it.

"Come, little fox."

He should've been confused, or even scared by the woman's voice coming from all over the place, no clue of where it came from.

Yet he felt drawn by it, his legs moving by their own will towards somewhere.

Soon, his vision started to get clearer, finally noticing he was in some forest, but this one seems to be special. Plants of different color and size, mushrooms that generated light on their own and trees so tall he believed they reached the sky. He was no expert of foliage, being raised in the city and all, but even with his poor to nothing knowledge on the subject he could tell this place was weird.

Even, he dared to think, magical.

All of sudden his feet halted and all the lights were turned off. And, from the dark ahead, he heard a laugh that made him feel a spark run up on his back.

Then a small blue flame was materialized in thin air, but it did not take long for him to notice the two hands that were holding it. Taking his eyes off the flame he looked ahead and nearly jumped.

Right there were one pair of golden eyes, but that wasn't what frightened him.

No, what shaked him to his core were the pupils, instead of black dots like anyone else those resembled the slit pupils of an excited cat. He even could find expectation in them.

He looked away from the piercing glare and again towards the little flame. Then the laugh was heard again, one could feel the amusement in it.

"Don't be shy." The woman spoke again, half closing her eyes and pushing the flame towards him. "Take it."

Again, he should've backed away from her and run as fast as his legs could carry him. But, just like his legs a moment ago, his hands reached the blue flame.

As soon he touched it the woman gently took his hands in hers and the flame grew in size, engulfing the two of them but without burning or hurting.

It even felt like a loving embrace.

And finally he could see her, hair as black as the night, white porcelain skin and a red and white dress. But what struck him the most was the animal ears on top of her head, the whisker marks on her cheeks and the white tails behind her.

Nine tails if he counted right.

He could feel his mouth opening in awe, his eyes fixed on the beautiful lady before him. And then closed it the moment he heard another laugh from her.

She shook her head, amused. Then the flames surrounding them became brighter, but before his vision was filled by a blinding white light, she spoke again.

"Good luck, little fox."

Midoriya Izuku, a fourteen years old boy, woke up in the comfort of his room. A groan escaped from his lips as soon as he realized it was monday. 

A big part of him, his whole being actually, just wanted to lay down and sleep some more but soon he put that desire at the back of his brain and got up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom.

He tried to replay the dream he had. The forest, the blue flame and the lady. He could feel the heat rising on his cheeks at the memory of that laugh.

"Come on Izuku, don't be dumb, it was just a dream." Besides, nobody would look at him in that way.

There was something that bothered him about the dream.

"Why did she call me 'little fox'?" he wondered, splashing some water on his face, not looking at the mirror. "I don't have a fox quirk… or a quirk to begin with. So why-"

His thoughts stopped as soon he saw his reflection in the mirror.

His cheeks had whisker marks, his pupils resembled the slit eyes of a cat and his human ears were replaced by animal one's, they were black with the tip being green.

And the cherry on top, there was a white furred tail behind him, slowly moving from left and right.

He blinked once, twice and thrice. Not believing what he was seeing.

First he touched his cheeks, then the ears and finally he turned his head back to see the tail.

It was there, there was a tail coming from his lower back.

Slowly he looked again at the mirror, his eyes wide in pure shock. Then he pinched his right arm, thinking this was a dream.

"Argh!" The pain he felt assured him that this was, in fact, real.

He stood there for three seconds, not knowing what he should do. And then he knew, he screamed with all the strength of his lungs.

"Izuku?! Did something happen?!" Came the voice of his mom, rushing to the bathroom to see what made her son scream in that way.

"Mom!" Was the only thing he could say when he saw his mom at the door, spatula in hand.

"What the…" Inko Midoriya was shocked after noticing the new things about her baby that she was sure weren't there the night prior.

And all of sudden, the tail splitted itself to show a total of nine.

There was only one thing both Midoriya could do seeing that.

Scream.

After both mother and son calmed down, albeit just a bit, they rushed to the nearest clinic. So much was their panic that they forgot to change their clothes and were in pajamas.

"I must say… this has to be the most peculiar case I have ever seen in my life." The doctor Kurosaki, a man with slick black hair and wrinkled face, said after reading the kid's files and then looked back at the family.

"But I don't understand, my son is supposed to be quirkless and I swear he didn't have tails nor animal ears yesterday." Inko said and then looked at her son who was petting one of the tails.

"They're so soft…" Izuku whispered to himself, and when he noticed both his mom and the doctor were watching him he stopped, red painting his face.

"You said that the doctor that diagnosed him was Tsubasa, correct?" After seeing the mother nod he frowned. "That old lazy fool, most of the time he ended up giving his patient the wrong diagnosis, just using the x-ray exam and not bothering to do more." he shaked his head. "Is possible that you had a quirk all along, Midoriya-kun. But that doesn't answer why it manifested now and not before." he then stood from his chair. "We will run a blood test, and while we wait for the results, let's see what you're capable of."

And sure enough, after taking Izuku's blood, the doctor made him do some exercises to see what he could do. So far they found out that he got a boost in both his hearing and smell, he also noticed his canines got sharper and bigger but not enough to hurt him by just closing his mouth.

Another thing was his stamina and strength, while not outstanding, was an improvement from before when he couldn't go past fifteen sit ups without feeling exhausted.

He also could move the tails either just one or all of them, but they weren't strong at all. For the time being he decided to keep them together forming one big and fluffy tail.

After finishing the exercises the results from the blood test finally came.

"This is… strange…" Kurosaki murmured while reading the results.

"There is something wrong?" Inko asked, a notable worry showing in both her face and voice.

Meanwhile Izuku got back to pet his tail, but his face showed concern.

"Well…" The man started, putting the papers down. "Thanks to the advance in medicine, we can see the differences between the quirk genes of, for example, a four years old and a man in his thirties." he paused to let out a sigh and fixed his eyes on the boy. "What I want to say with this is… Midoriya-kun, not only do you have a quirk gene but also is the one I would expect to see in a boy of your age. There is no doubt about it." he paused again, letting the information sink in.

He could see so many emotions going on in the boy's face, relief, happiness, sadness, anger and so on. The same could be said for the mother.

Kurosaki was no fool, he knew how quirkless were treated nowadays and this child was no exception. And now he was being told that everything just happened because an old man was too lazy to do his jobs properly.

He stood up from his seat and walked towards the boy that was on the verge of crying. The man kneeled while putting his hand on Izuku's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze to gain his attention.

"I'll be lying if I say I know how you are feeling right now. You may want to cry your eyes out or go to the middle of nowhere and scream at the top of your lungs, but my advice is to focus on what to do now. Knowing you have a quirk, tell me, what do you want to do now?"

Kurosaki could see the indecision in his eyes, then there was a spark of determination. "I… I always wanted to be a hero…" Then it falters. "But…"

"But?"

"Is it not too late? I just got my quirk today and… everyone else has theirs for a decade now."

At that, Kurosaki nodded. "It may be true. But most of them don't get the opportunity to use it, to experiment with it, to unlock their real potential. Isn't that the point of every hero course in all of Japan? To train the heroes of tomorrow?" He reached into his pocket with his free hand to take a handkerchief and offer it to the boy who accepted it with a small thank you.

After wiping the tears Izuku tried to refute, but nothing came to his mind. "I guess… you're right."

Hearing this, Kurosaki stood up, with a little smile on his lips. "Of course, it is not going to be easy, but first we need to find out if there is something more about your quirk." he said and walked back to his chair.

"What do you mean by that?" Izuku said with confusion. "I thought my quirk was a mutation one?"

"Indeed, but I think we can agree that your quirk is peculiar. If it was just an ordinary fox quirk then why do you have nine tails and not one?" he asked. "Besides, it reminds me of a creature from our folklore."

"You mean a Kitsune?" Inko inquired.

"What is a Kitsune?"

"Basically they are spirits that take the form of a fox. They are described to be guardians of both forest and villages but also being quite the prankers towards humans. It's said that they can live long lives and the number of tails represent their age, power and wisdom. One of the things they are capable of is to transform into a young, beautiful woman."

The last bit of information perked the attention of Izuku. "You said a woman?"

This made both adults raise one eyebrow towards Izuku.

"Something in mind?"

"Well… before waking up I had a dream, a weird one. I was inside a strange forest, it looked magical, after walking a bit I stopped and then everything turned black and a small blue flame appeared from thin air. Then I hear a voice, from a woman, saying that I take it. When I touched it the flame became bigger and brighter and I could see her. She… had fox ears on top of her head, the same marks I have in the cheeks and nine white tails just like me. The last thing she said was 'good luck, little fox'." he breathed after saying all that. "Then I wake up and you know the rest."

After listening to him, Kurosaki hummed in thought and his mom giggled behind her hand.

"Izuku, dear, I know you're at that age but dreaming about meeting a pretty lady in a forest? Oh my."

It took three seconds for Izuku to register what his mom said, then his face turned a bright red and both his ears and tails standed up.

"Mooooom! Is no-not li-like that! I swear!" So embarrassed he was that his best option was to cover his face with his arm and then with his tails.

"Midoriya-san, you can tease your son about his taste in women later-"

"Ugh…" The boy groaned, which made both adults laugh.

"But I think the dream is a clue towards what you may be capable of. What about if you try to produce that blue flame?"

Slowly the tails uncovered the boy and then he lowered his arms, showing the confusion in his face. "Okay…? I don't know how, though."

"People with fire quirks have described their powers being linked to emotions such as anger and determination. The more intense the feeling, the more powerful the fire they produce. Maybe you need to try that?"

"All right…" Izuku said, not really feeling confident about if that would work. He proceeded to raise both of his hands, palms facing upward just like how the lady did in the dream. He closed his eyes, trying to think of the emotions that may work.

First he tried anger, recalling the times his classmates had mock him for his lack of quirk, for trying to achieve an impossible dream, every moment he was called a Deku.

But nothing came to him, just the feeling he was doing something wrong.

Then he proves with determination, his desire to pursue his dream, to become a hero like All Might.

Yet it ended with the same result, the feeling that he is missing the point.

"Maybe there is something about the dream I am forgetting?" he thought, then focused.

When he touched the flame and then it engulfed him, it didn't hurt or burn. If anything, it was gentle.

Like a loving embrace.

With that bit of information in his mind he thought of his mom. Of the times she played with him as a kid or when she cheered him up with a hug or a kiss on the forehead.

Of all the 'I love you'.

Then his mind went to a past memory, when the Midoriyas were a family of three.

'Dad? Do you think I can be a hero when I grow up?' asked the three years old.

'I believe you can do anything, son.' said the father while ruffling the boy's hair.

Something within him moved.

He heard his mom let out a gasp so he opened his eyes and looked down, then a wide smile started to appear on his face. There, floating above his palm, was a blue colored fire. It was small, yet the feeling within his heart told him this flame was unique, mystical even.

But above else, it meant that his dream was closer than before.

Chapter Text

"Thank you so much for your time Kurosaki-san." said Inko, bowing towards the doctor, her son did the same. "I'm sorry for us coming all of sudden… and in pajamas."

The man waved it off. "There is no need to apologize, Midoriya-san. I can hardly put any blame on you given the situation, no parent would be ready for their fourteen years old kid to manifest a quirk overnight." he shook his head. "Speaking of which, I should stress that if there is a new development of your son's quirk you must come to me or any doctor for that matter, one can't be so sure about what are his actual limits." Then he turned to Izuku, who summoned another flame and now was passing it between his palms as if it was a pitch ball. "...Midoriya-kun."

Izuku then noticed that the doctor was looking at him and made the little fire disappear, his face showing a sheepish smile. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, I understand that you feel excited for your quirk, but I recommend not to use it in public. Now, where was it?" he asked as he searched in one of the pockets of his coat, then he pulled a card of shorts and handed it to Inko. "This is a gym specialized in quirks, most of the staff there had and have experience with both mutant and emitter quirks so they can help Midoriya-kun with his own, is in the area and, while is not the cheapest, neither is too expensive and they are good on what they do."

Inko took the card and read the name 'The Kengan', besides that it was simple designed and with the contact info of the gym. "I… thank you doctor but… are you sure they could help my son?"

At this, Kurosaki nodded. "I'm positive. They are good people, and even have some heroes that attend there." 

That gained the attention of the young fox, that would be his opportunity to either ask for an autograph or fill his notebooks with more information.

"I think it's worth it, mom." said Izuku while looking at the card.

"Of course you do." Inko deadpanned, knowing very well what was inside her son's head. "We'll give a look to this gym tomorrow, it says here that they are closed on Monday." At this Izuku nodded, eager. Then both looked at the doctor with smiles. "Thank you again, doctor."

"Think nothing of it, Midoriya."

While the ride to their home was uneventful, Inko couldn't help the giggle that was coming from her, even with her eyes on the road she could see her son literally bouncing on his seat with his nine tails wagging, obviously excited to see what he can do now with his quirk and thinking of ways to use it.

Oh how she wished she could record the moment with her phone, but driving safely was a priority.

"That doesn't surprise me, he always wanted to be a hero, now he…" Her mind reminds her of that day, the day where he asked if he could and her answer was her crying and 'sorry'. "Not again, I won't commit the same mistake." she promised, her hand gripping the wheel a little tighter.

"Mom, something is wrong?" Came the voice of his son, apparently noting the change in Inko's mood.

"Oh, nothing dear," she answered, still looking at the road. "I hope it goes without saying that you must be careful if you practice with your quirk at home."

"I will be careful, mom, promise. Besides, it seems that my fire is different, though." he said, raising a finger and summoning a blue flame above it. "First, it doesn't burn nor is it hot, even fire quirks users can feel the heat they produce. The second is that it's not coming from my skin, I just make it appear in mid air… just like her." he murmured the last part, lest his mom hear him and teased him.

Her mother, however, had better hearing than he thought.

"Oh, you mean the lady of your-"

"How will I explain this at school?" He quickly interrupted her. Part of him wondered about it.

Finally Inko stopped the car in the parking lot of the complex, now having the same question.

"Well… I will call and try to explain, and remember you aren't going tomorrow, like doctor Kurosaki said, you need time to get used to your quirk. Besides, we are going to update your quirk status and check out that gym, alright?"

At that, Izuku nodded. Then both got out of the car and started to walk to their apartment that was on the third floor.

Luckily for the family, they didn't encounter any of their neighbors so questions were avoided. If one of them were looking out of their windows that was another matter.

Finally inside their home, both Midoriya were reminded of the fact that, in their rush to the clinic, they forgot about breakfast.

"I'm going to change and then make something to eat, sounds good?" Inko asked while doing a beeline to her room.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Izuku did the same as his mother and went directly to his room.

After changing his pajamas for a plain, white t-shirt and cargo pants, Izuku sat on his bed trying to collect his thoughts about this morning.

He woke up with a quirk. He, Midoriya Izuku, the quirkless kid actually had a quirk to begin with, it just so happened that it didn't manifest at any point of his fourteen years. Even if the doctor Tsubasa diagnosed him correctly, would that have changed anything? He wanted to think that maybe yes, but he knew better.

At best it would go without change, at worst everyone would call him a liar on top of all the names he has already.

Sighing mentally, he walked to his desk, sat on the chair and grabbed a blank notebook. One that he would have used as the fifteenth edition of 'Hero analysis for the future' but now he wanted to use it to write anything about his own quirk.

On the front he wrote 'Quirk: Kitsune. Notes for the future.'

And yes, he already thought about the name of his quirk. 

After eating a fulfilling breakfast, Izuku searched on the internet about what a kitsune is and what it can do.

"Honestly, I should have expected this much…" he murmured to himself looking at the wikipedia page. Apparently a Kitsune was a yokai, spirits that either protected a village or forest and had connection with the god Inari, or a mischievous being that liked to cause troubles.

And about their abilities, those were all over the place in his opinion, they could do things from transforming into young women or old men to… bend time and space? He read that right?

' I doubt I can do any of those things… it says they can use fire but just that.'

It was to be expected, while his appearance resembled the yokai there was no way he could do any of that, it's the same case as other's quirks.

Like the Dragoon hero: Ryukyu, her quirk lets her transform into a western dragon yet he was sure she can't breathe fire like one.

Instead he needed to find out what he can actually do with trial and error. But he was not sure where to start.

"Maybe if I write something I get inspired." he thought as he grabbed the notebook and opened it on the first page.

User: Midoriya Izuku.

Quirk: Kitsune (Mutant and emitter?). 

-So far it has shown to give the user a boost in strength and enhanced senses.

-Animal ears had replaced the human ears, gained marks on the cheeks (similar to the whisker of a fox) and nine tails are coming from the lower back. 

See if it is possible to make the tails stronger, if done right they could serve as extra limbs. They could be used in close combat or for grappling and submission.

-User is able to make blue flames appear from thin air. Unlike most fires produced by quirks, these don't generate any heat or show any sign of being able to burn something as flammable as a piece of paper. 

Another oddity of these flames is how they seem to float around the body/hand when most fire created by quirks comes from the skin of the user. 

They don't seem to exhaust the user or the user has yet to reach a point where he feels tired/hurt from overuse. (Try this far from home.)

See if it was possible to create multiple flames at the same time and make them bigger.

Suggestion: Perhaps mimicking other fire quirks would give an answer?

Izuku closed the notebook, the tip of his tail touching his chin while deep in thought. Before going to mimic a fire quirk he has to see if the blue flames can only be summoned or they could touch his hand at least.

With that idea in mind he made a little flame appear above his left hand, he frowned trying to focus and command the fire to go down. After three or four minutes it started to descend and finally touched his hand.

A shiver shaked his whole being, as if the temperature of his room was thrown out of the window and his mind slipped, which made the little fire disappear. He sighed at that, not knowing what happened exactly.

It felt as if he was in the middle of a snow storm but at the same time not quite that. Or rather, the storm was on his hand.

"At least I know I can touch them…" he grumbles, not quite satisfied with his find.

For the next two hours he tried again and again. And every time the sensation of overwhelming cold would lessen and reach the point where it felt as if he was holding an ice cube on his palm.

After that it was a matter of making them appear on his skin instead of above it. It took longer, but at five o'clock he finally had the hang of it, now it felt as if he was touching cold water.

That was just the first step, now onto the second: if he can copy another fire user.

With that in mind he went and grabbed one of his other notebooks and flipped the pages and stopped on Endeavor entry, the fire hero was not only known for his powerful flames but also for the ways he used his quirk.

He would refrain from copying something too big, instead his eyes went to one of the moves that Endeavor barely used.

Not named move (self dubbed 'Fire eyes'): Endeavor had shown the ability to concentrate fire on his eyes and shoot from them. While the user is resistant to fire in general, this technique could put a lot of strain on his eyeballs and risk losing sight.

Izuku wondered if he could do something like that, maybe there was less risk since his own flames had shown no sign of harming him in any way, the worst case would be feeling cold in his eyeballs and being uncomfortable.

He hoped that would be the case, anyway.

With his mind set on it, he focused on his eyes and tried to use his fire on them.

A faint cold started to creep on his cornea, and then everything turned black.

But that wasn't the only thing he saw, he could see the faint white outline of the walls, of his desk and notebooks, of every action figure in his room.

While looking around something catches his attention, beyond his room he could see another flame, it was white and in place, flickering now and then.

"That's weird..." he thought and stopped using… he would later think of a name for that move later. Now he needed to find out what the meaning of that white flame was.

Walking out of his room he went to the living room and found his mom just sitting on the couch watching the tv, a soap opera playing on the screen. He was sure he watched this part before with her, maybe a recap?

"You need something, Izuku?" While pondering about the tv he didn't notice his mother turning around and looking at him from the couch.

"Mm? Oh, actually mom… I think I found out something I can do with my quirk. Just, don't move, okay?" Before she could ask why, he used his new found move and he saw it, an outline of his mom's body and the white flame in the center, what does it mean he was yet to know.

"Izuku?! Why are your eyes on fire?!" asked his mother in panic. He could literally see the white flame flinch.

"They are?"

"Yes, they are!"

"Oh." he said simply. Still not turning his eyes off.

"'Oh?' What do you mean by that? It hurts?" she asked with worry and Izuku shook his head.

"Nope, but I can see things… differently, everything is black except that I can see an outline of the walls and other objects, and right now I'm seeing some kind of white fire inside you. I don't know what it means, yet." he then looked down, and saw another one but smaller. "Mom? I'm seeing another one but it's… smaller than yours."

"You do? I think Akira-san lives there."

"Akira-san? I wonder why his flame is so small…" Then something clicked in his brain. "Wait, isn't Akira-san quite old?"

"Well, yeah? I think he is ninety years old, why?" She wondered where her son was going with the question, and she couldn't help it but felt a little creeped out by how casual Izuku was with the fact that his eyes were on fire.

"Well," he started, putting out the fire from his eyes and looking at her. "I think I'm seeing your souls? Life force? Something like that." he tilted his head and put a hand on his chin. "Is weird, but maybe the reason why Araki's flame is so small compared with yours is that he is old, I know it is bad to say it but probably it means he is close to… you know." he winced to even think about it.

"Oh." she said simply. "That's… something." she shakes her head, trying to change the subject. "But I can see how useful that can be!"

"Oh! You're right, I cou-" he stopped on his track, playing in his mind what his mom just said. "That was a pun?" he groaned the moment his mother laughed.

"What can I say, Izuku? I eyed the opportunity and took it."

He let out another groan, both his tails and ears dropping. "I'll go to my room, I want to think of a name for this move." Can he even call it a move?

"Alright, dear. See you soon." Inko laughed again the moment she heard the third groan and the door of Izuku's room closing.

She knew her puns were bad, but Izuku's reactions to them were worth it. 

Now in his room, and trying to forget the awful puns, Izuku grabbed the notebook about his quirk and wrote.

Soul eyes: The user can concentrate the blue flames (call it 'foxfire') on his eyes, to see the souls/life forces of living beings. Apparently it let the user see through walls. 

"Wait, if I can see souls then…" A small idea came to his mind and activated 'soul eyes' again, first he looked towards the direction of the living room and sure enough there was still his mom's white flame.

He breathed in and out, trying to get ready for what was next, but he knew he wouldn't be ready.

Turning his head towards the right, the direction to his mom's room, he saw it. Another fire, a gray one, was floating there, too close to being from any of his neighbors.

There was nobody alive in the department, just his mom and he.

That would mean-

He stopped that train of thought and deactivated 'soul eyes', shoving the subject at the back of his mind, ignoring the nock that was forming in his throat and stomach.

"I'm… just tired, yeah, that is. I'll check the hero news, maybe I have missed something." he said to no one, his hands still shaking.

And he did just that, mindlessly scrolling pages and pages of hero media, not paying any attention to them whatsoever, his eyes not quite looking at the monitor.

He was taken from his trance the moment his mom called for dinner, after that he took a bath to refresh his mind and found out how taxing it was to wash not one but nine tails, their size don't help either.

"And some people deal with this everyday." It was funny how fluffy they became after using his mom's dryer though.

He also discovered he quite likes to brush his own tails. His mom helped him since he did not know how to do it.

After the whole experience, he wished his mom goodnight and threw himself to the bed, going to the land of dreams the second his head hit the pillow.

"I wouldn't call this the 'land of dreams' but… you're close enough." said a familiar voice, yet he couldn't place who it was.

"Already forgetting about ol' me? You're breaking my heart, little fox."

The nickname made him shoot his eyes open and sat up at blickling speed, finally noticing where he was. It was a clearing somewhere in the forest he dreamed of and, some meters in front of him on top of a rock, was the lady smiling at him yet he couldn't pinpoint what the gleam in her eyes meant.

He slowly stood up, not knowing what to say just yet, a lot of questions running in his mind at the moment.

But there was one on top of the others.

"Excuse me," he started, his eyes never looking away. "What is your name?"

The lady hummed at that, lifting her chin as if in deep thought but the fact that she kept her eyes on him and her smile never wavered made her look rather smug. "Of all the things you could've asked me and that's the one you choose?" An amused laugh escaped from her lips. "Very well, we should start small I guess. I'm Ahri, glad to finally meet you, Izuku."

"What do you mean by that? Finally meet me?"

The lady- Ahri stood from the rock, and started to walk towards him, her smile slowly slipping from her face for a serious frown to take place. "That is a talk for later I fear, right now I need- no, I must show you something of vital importance, a warning of short." She then turned around and walked. "Follow me." It wasn't a question, it was an order.

One that Izuku followed, walking behind Ahri not knowing what she wanted to show him.

For reasons unknown to him, he felt calm around her, safe even.

After a short while, five minutes or so, the terrain started to change. The temperature started to drop until it was cold as a winter day, while there were plants and trees, they were less than before and the ground under their feet was covered in pure white snow.

Izuku has the odd feeling that whatever this place is, they were not in Japan, or Asia for that matter.

"It felt… cold, but at the same time not? Where are we, Ahri?" he asked, looking around as if in that way he would find an answer.

"We are in the northern reaches of Shon-Xan, located in Ionia." she said simply.

That answer made Izuku stop on his tracks, both physically and mentally, just for his mind to generate more questions than before.

What is Shon-Xan? Ionia? Those names didn't ring any bells.

He then resumed his walk, still following Ahri.

"I know that you have a lot of questions right now, but I promise I'll answer all of them, just bear with me." she quietly said, meaning every word.

Though she couldn't see him, Izuku nodded. "I'll… hold you on that."

After a while Ahri stopped and so did Izuku, and what he saw made him raise both eyebrows.

Further from where they stood, a deer was galloping to escape from a pack of arctic foxes that were so close to sink their teeth on their prey.

There was something wrong with that.

"...wait, since when do foxes feeded from deers? I thought they hunt smaller animals." he asked.

"That… may or may not be my fault." Ahri said pointing at somewhere, a sheepish smile on her lips. What Izuku saw made him gasp.

Intercepting the deer was Ahri, but the difference was that this one was naked, with clear signs of desnutrition and some small cuts, bruises and dirt over her body, both her tails and hair weren't any better.

But what caught his attention were her eyes, even from this distance he could feel the sheer hunger within her that was complete with the feral grin on her face.

The deer did not stop, it kept going towards her with the hopes for the woman to get out of the way.

What both Izuku and the deer didn't expect was for Ahri to tackle the animal.

They struggled on the ground, Ahri for dominance and the creature to escape, its cries getting louder and louder. But any efforts were for naught either for the surprising strength of Ahri or because the pack of foxes finally got closer.

And after long seconds, the deer stopped fighting.

It was odd for Izuku, it looked as if the animal just forgot that it was about to be eaten by a group of predators instead of surrendering to its inevitable fate. It even moved its mouth as if it was eating something.

Then Ahri started to raise her head, her mouth wide open showing her sharp canines. Saliva dripped from it.

And she dug into the deer's throats, and Izuku had to look away but he still heard the sound of flesh being torn apart and the growls of the foxes as they feasted on their prey.

The deer made no noise through the carnage. Too calm to fight back.

"That's enough of it." came Ahri's voice, the one at his side right now, not the wild and predatory one.

When Izuku opened his eyes he expected to see the snow stained with red but, to his surprise, there was nothing, no lifeless body of a deer, or the foxes and Ahri eating raw meat. As if nothing happened at all.

"That…" Izuku started, exhaling a shaked breath, not knowing what to make of that scene. "Was something." Then turned his head to look at Ahri. "It was a memory of yours?"

Ahri nodded without missing a beat. "You are catching up fast," she smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Indeed it was, as far as my early memories goes, I was raised by a pack of ice foxes. They welcomed me as one of them."

For a moment, Izuku could hear nostalgia in her voice. Then she shook her head and kept walking.

"It wasn't the only thing I wanted to show you, follow me."

And so he did, both of them moving forward in silence.

It didn't take long for Izuku to notice something further from them that was resting against a tree. Then, with shock, he realized it was someone.

An injured man, an arrow embedded in his chest. His skin awfully palled and his breath so slow were the indications that he was dying. And there was nothing that could be done about it.

Before Izuku could formulate a question, he heard footsteps from the right and when he slowly turned he found the other Ahri warily walking towards the dying man, her eyes focusing only on him.

"You may want to turn on those eyes of yours." Ahri whispered at him, and so he did.

And he saw it, inside the man wasn't a white flame but small embers that would die soon.

But there was something that called him, telling him to get closer to those embers. So he did.

He walked without any other thought in his head towards the dying man, and finally on his side he crouched to look closely.

The other Ahri kneeled in front of him, her face only showing curiosity. And then she inhaled with her mouth.

And Izuku, with shocked fascination, saw how the embers started to float towards the woman, as if she was eating what was left of the man's life.

Then, as if his body moved on his own, he touched the man's head with his hand.

He felt pain, burning and hot pain through his whole body.

Then sorrow, deep and overwhelming sorrow. He didn't want to die, no no no no no- oh please god no.

Regret for leaving his kids behind, he should have listened to them. Regret for failing the promise he made to his now dead lover.

Coldness and the grasp of death getting tighter on his being.

So cold… why was it so cold?

From pain to sorrow to regret to coldness.

And so it went full circle. Pain, sorrow, regret, coldness, pain, sorrow, regret, coldness, painsorrowregretcoldness and-

And everything was replaced with calm, warmth, peace and joy.

He was no longer lying on the cold snow, instead he was resting on the soft grass of a meadow, the warm rays of sun were touching his body.

At his sides were his kids and lover, the people he loved the most. His happiness.

Everything was fine, everything was perfect.

Then there was nothing, just the void.

Izuku abruptly backed away from the body, falling on his back and gasping for air, his eyes wide open and his brain trying to push those emotions away.

Those weren't his, they belonged to the man that was now dead. Or was dead a long time ago since this was just a memory. 

But it felt so real. So much that it terrified him.

Then he felt a hand touching his shoulder which made his skin jump so he slapped it away and turned around.

It was just Ahri, her eyes looking at him with concern and empathy, the kind that said 'I was there too'.

He realized what he had done and looked at the ground. "Ah… I'm so-"

"Don't worry about it, Izuku." Her calm voice cut him off, it was almost a whisper. "Try to calm down, breathe in and out."

Again, he did as she said, inhaling and exhaling slowly a couple of times, his heart beating at normal rate again and his body stopped shaking.

It was easy to calm down now, way too easy.

He had an idea about the why of that, but he will hold those questions, for now.

"What…" he started slowly while trying to stand up with the help of Ahri. "What was that?"

"...It was the first thing I learned about my powers. On that day I found out I could feed from the souls of living beings, gaining their memories and manipulating them…" With a heavy sigh she looked away, and Izuku saw the other Ahri running away. "I got drunk with that power, took away lifes with prejudice, even killed a loved one."

At that Izuku looked at her again, stunned. Her eyes were distant and filled with a mix of hurt and sadness, but those slipped away for determination to take place.

"I have come to terms with who I am, my place in the world and my actions. And for that I can't let you go through the same grief as me." she spoke with resolve and looked at him again.

The deer made no sound through the carnage. Too calm to fight back.

He didn't know what to say, the revelation weighing a ton on his brain. Feed on souls? Taking the memories of others? Villains can't even do those things.

"No, those were more fit for a monster . Not a hero."

His knees felt heavy at the thought, dropping his body and Ahri had to catch him. A lot of questions were circulating in his mind.

From pain to sorrow to regret to coldness to fake calm to warmth to peace and to joy.

He was dangerous? Will he hurt someone? Even his mom?

The possibility of such a thing just made him sick.

"Izuku!" Ahri's yell came at him as a wake up slap, letting him focus on her and not his thoughts.

He saw her worry. And she saw his fear.

"Izuku…" she called his name again in a soft tone. "You're afraid and I understand, that's why I'm here, to help you. Just promise me to never take a soul, even if your whole being is screaming at you to do it, you will not succumb to the temptation, and I'll help you."

"I…" he gulped, trying to get a hold of himself.

He was afraid, terrified and confused.

The prospect of hurting someone was too much to him, even more if he thought about his mom.

But for more reason he needed to surpass those fears.

That was what All Might would do. That was what his dad would want for him.

"Ahri." he shakily called her name, his voice being carried with determination. "I promise to you, I will never take a soul… or a life for that matter."

Ahri took a moment to look at his face, trying to find any trace of doubt or lie. She found none.

Sighing in relief, Ahri helped him to stand up and patted his shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that." Then she looked up, as if trying to measure time. "We still have some time and I owe you a lot of explanation, but not here."

"Uh? So… we are walking back to the dark forest?" That made her look back at him.

"Walk? Why would we-" Then she realized something and let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, no, we really don't need to walk to get somewhere. The whole 'follow me' was just me stalling for time."

Izuku frowned in confusion. "Stalling? Why?"

"Well… I had no idea how to go about telling you everything, so I needed all the time I could get but enough of that." Before Izuku could say anything, Ahri snapped her fingers and the place just changed in one instant, without any type of transition they were already in the dark forest.

The only difference was a tree stump in the middle of the clearing, wide and tall enough to be used as a table.

In fact, it was a table as there was one wooden chair on both extremes of the stump, their legs coming out of the ground like the roots of a tree.

He raised an eyebrow seeing the cups filled with tea, cookies and other pastries. Was this a tea party?

"Sit down and get comfortable." Ahri said as she sat on one chair, grabbing one of the cookies and eating it.

Izuku did the same but didn't touch the beverage or the offered food, his posture stiff as a stick that made contrast with Ahri's that was more relaxed, with her elbow on the table and resting her head on her palm.

Both of them never look away from each other.

"We have a lot to discuss, Izuku."

Chapter Text

"We have a lot to discuss, Izuku."

A minute had passed since Ahri said those words but none of them had spoken up yet. Izuku was still trying to process what was told and his mind was plagued with question after question.

Meanwhile, the woman in front of him had done nothing but just sat on her chair patiently, not bothered by his silence. And he was a bit grateful for that.

He eyed the offered cup filled with tea, apparently still warm if the trail of steam was any indication, and finally decided to take it. He drank the beverage and relaxed his posture only a bit, it was delicious but also something he had never tasted before.

He even dared to call it alien.

"It's good, isn't it?" Ahri asked, probably trying to start a conversation between the two. "A favorite brew I would like to drink from time to time back in Ionia. I can't say the same for Bilgewater, everyone over there seemed to drink only liquor."

He slowly nodded at that, noting how that place, Ionia, was mentioned again. Izuku wondered what kind of place Bilgewater was, probably full of drunkards and bar fights.

"That place, Ionia, is- was your home." It was more of a statement than a question and Ahri nodded. "And, while I'm not someone who can name every single country on Earth, I can safely say it doesn't exist here, nor Bilgewater…" He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about his next words. "That means you're from another world, Ahri."

He couldn't help but notice how her smile widened a little. "Indeed, Izuku. Runeterra is the name of that world, but I dare to say it's located in another universe, not sure about that though." she fell silent, probably letting the information sink in.

There was nothing he could say about that. Sure, there were times where Izuku wondered if it was possible for other worlds full of life to exist just like any other person, so far from Earth that the possibility to make contact with them was a flat zero.

But another universe? It was something viewed as impossible and would just exist in fiction. Then again, humans with superpowers was once a concept that belonged only in comics and other forms of media and here they are.

Does that mean the multiverse exists? There were other timelines? Another Midoriya Izuku? Maybe-

Izuku pinched one of his cheeks to stop himself from going headfirst towards that rabbit hole. Doing so would just generate more questions with no answers.

An amused, yet short, laugh was heard. Izuku looked at Ahri and sure enough she was watching him with a smirk adorning her face. He was sure his face was as red as her clothes.

"Did I fry your brain so soon?" she asked without expecting an actual answer. "To be fair, I was no better when I came here."

That picked his attention and tried to change topics. "That's something I wanted to ask you. Since when are you here? And… how?"

Ahri leaned on the chair's back and looked up, he did the same only to find an endlessly black with no moon or sun.

"I think it goes without saying but I'm dead." That made Izuku turn his head at her in surprise, her tone was so monotone she might as well be talking about the weather.

He had thought the same thing, but didn't mention it since it might come off as rude in his opinion.

"I'm… sorry," he said.

She shook her head and looked back at him. "Don't worry about it… where was I? Ah, right. How long have I been here? Well…" she leaned on the table, her arms crossed over her chest. "The details about my death aren't of importance. But after that I found myself surrendered by darkness, I couldn't see, hear, feel or touch anything, or even if there was a thing to be aware of. Even my emotions weren't there." Her eyes wandered a bit skyward. "I'm not even sure how long it was, could have been a day or centuries, but at one point, suddenly, I could see and hear again, not through my eyes or ears but someone else's senses… The first thing I saw was a bunch of kids cornering another that was crying, kneeling on the dirt."

At that he widened his eyes just a bit, that memory was years ago but he still remembered it clearly.

Seeing he wasn't going to say anything she continued. "The moment my eyes fell on that kid I felt the desire to step in to help them, but also the fear of getting hurt. In the end I stuck my neck out for them, saying something in a language I didn't understand, then the group of three kids mocked me and beat me. Took me a while but I realized those weren't my feelings and, somehow, my soul ended inside the body of a little infant." she smiled, her eyes focused on him. "And later I learned his name was Midoriya Izuku."

"That… that was ten years ago." he whispered those words, trying to wrap his head around the fact that another soul was within him all along and just recently got to know about it.

Or the existence of souls for that matter.

Ahri just nodded. "Indeed. It was hard, and especially frustrating, to make sense of everything around you. Imagine how shocked I was after learning this wasn't Runeterra and magic doesn't exist."

Izuku did a double take at that, not sure if he heard it right. "Did you say magic? Like, actual magic?"

Ahri raised both of her eyebrows and her ears perked up. "Wait, did I forget to mention it? Magic exists in Runeterra, all kinds of it, some races are better at it than others."

He put up both of his palms in front of him, as if trying to stop something. "Now, hold on a second Ahri, what do you mean with races?"

"In the sense that you are a human while I'm a vastaya, we have a better connection with both magic and nature but all tribes are different from each other. For example I was in good touch with the spirit realm." She explained.

"...Spirit realm?"

After that question there was a silence that lasted a couple of seconds.

"I think we are getting off track here." she shook her head, her smile becoming a bit more sheepish.

"I doubt there was a track to begin with…" he deadpanned.

"Actually, there is one. Look!" she pointed to her right which he followed with his eyes and sure enough there was a path of dirt that started just one meter close to them and extended endlessly towards the horizon and through the trees.

"You have such a good sense of humor." he looked back at her, his voice carrying no emotion. "Truly one in a million."

She put a hand on her mouth and giggled. "Thanks! But in all seriousness we should focus, I can talk your ear off about my world later."

"Right…" he sighed, a bit disappointed to not get to know more about Runeterra, it sounded like a fascinating place. "So, since you have been here for ten years… does that mean you're the reason I have a quirk?"

At that she shook her head. "One of the first things I stumbled upon here was a small source of power I could feel within your soul, but what shocked me was how it seemed affected by the magic in me. Not only did it change but started to grow with time until it was ready to awake." she frowned in thought. "It makes me wonder if you're half vastaya now? I honestly don't know. But I think there is a way to find out."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Such as…?" he wasn't even sure if he was ready to find out.

She gave him a cheshire smile as an answer, which made Izuku pout as he knew what it meant.

"Let me guess, it's a surprise." he sighed seeing how the smile widened a bit. He decided it was time to change the subject. "You said your soul was put inside my body but… by who and why?"

"Sadly I know as much as you, Izuku." Ahri once again leaned on the chair's back and let out a long sigh. "The only answer I can think of is that there is some kind of superior being that did it. For what? Who knows? There might be a purpose or they were bored." she shrugged, as if the subject was of no interest. "If you ask me it's better not to think too much about it, that way we save ourselves from a headache."

At first he wanted to protest, his curiosity hitching for an answer, then realized Ahri was right. They could keep wondering all day but it would be pointless since both of them hadn't no clue to start with. "You're right." He inhaled and then let it out with a sigh. "How do our powers work, exactly? Is it normal for the fire to feel so cold?"

Ahri's smile returned at the question. "And that's where the difference between our powers begin, Izuku. I never felt that cold whenever I used my magic. Probably it has to do with how things work in this world and the fact you're getting used to your quirk. What did surprise me was your idea to use your fire on your eyes… It was a bit reckless though."

He winced and looked at his left, knowing very well she was right. Easily he could've turned himself blind if things went wrong. "I'll admit that I got… carried away with that one." A nervous chuckle came from his lips.

"It's fine, I actually encourage you to experiment with your quirk. That being said," she raised her hand, palm facing skyward, and then a blue flame appeared above it. "First lesson, as you have noticed this 'fire' doesn't behave like a normal one that burns at contact, instead it hurts the soul, so it can only work against living beings. Another thing, it also can steal part of the life force of the target and transfer it to you, which only serves to heal your injuries." Then the flame changed color from blue to green. "But you'll need a lot of practice to do that."

Izuku frowned with worry after hearing the explanation. "But it's not the same as taking someone's soul?"

She raised her other hand, index finger extended, and moved it one side to another. "Is not, actually, by taking someone's soul you take away their memories, emotions and identity, which is addictive and will make you crave for more. Meanwhile by stealing their life force you only tire them out. Of course, you should still be careful to not steal too much life force from one person, you might kill them. Fortunately 'souls eyes' can help with that."

He slowly nodded, trying to digest all the information. "I understand… still it seems quite dangerous."

Ahri waved the hand with the flame, making it disappear. "Every power is dangerous in the wrong hands, it's up to you how to use them." She put her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands, an honest smile on her lips. "But I think there is nothing to be worried about, I believe you will put these powers to good use."

That caught him off guard, feeling as if any tension on his body was erased all of sudden. "I… thanks, Ahri. I'm just… surprised that you're helping me."

"Well, why shouldn't I?" she inquired.

"Why should you?" he asked back. "You don't own me anything and you're pretty much stuck with me yet-"

"Yet I'm helping you because I want to." she interrupted him without raising her voice. "You have powers that are too different from any other so a guide is needed, which is me. Besides, we don't have to look at this as 'stuck with each other', maybe as… 'Unconventional partners'?" she offered.

That made Izuku snort. "Calling this 'unconventional' is to put it lightly but…" A little voice inside him argued to not trust her, that her intentions were unknown and he should draw as many lines as possible.

But Izuku decided to push that voice to the back of his mind. Sure, the situation was unreal and he definitely would freak out the moment he woke up. But he figured that there wasn't anything to do about it and would be for the best to be on good terms with her.

With his mind made up, he smiled. "I would like that."

And she smiled back. "I'm glad to hear that. And believe me, I have met people in odd situations before. For example-" she cut herself off and looked at the black sky again then back at him. "That's a story for another time though."

"What?"

"You see, time here goes a little faster and now you should wake up."

"But-"

"No buts, you still have a day ahead. We can talk later." Before he could protest, Ahri clapped her hands two times and everything went black.

Izuku woke up and with sleep still on his mind he took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the way he was lying on the bed, curled up and his tails covering him like a blanket. The actual blanket was kicked towards the bed's edge.

At that moment he could only think about how warm and comfortable it was to be like this, if it was a saturday or sunday he wouldn't mind sleeping 'five minutes' just to wake up in the afternoon.

Sadly, it was tuesday.

Pushing the desirable thought away, Izuku sat on the bed and stretched his arms. Since he was awake he could concentrate in the conversation he had with Ahri and calmly think things through.

…

Who he was kidding? Right now his mind was anything but calm.

"Another soul inside me? Other universes? Magic? Take the soul of someone else? Being a vastaya?" One question after another came and went to his mind, never stopping and his muttering was in full force. 

"My, for being such a soft spoken kid your thoughts sure are loud." A voice that wasn't his resonated inside his head.

That made stop both his rambling and thoughts, this time knowing very well from who the voice was. At first he was about to talk out loud but decided against it.

"Ahri? Is that you?" he thought.

Sure enough she answered, but trying to make her voice sound deeper. "No. It's me, All Might! I'm here!"

That made Izuku try, and fail, to hold his laughter because for a split second he pictured Ahri but with the face of the symbol of peace.

"That's awful!" she yelled but joined Izuku in laughing about it.

It took two minutes for the laughing fit to stop and one to calm themselves down.

He heard her sigh in content. "Yes, it's me. We can talk like this wherever you are outside of the dreamscape."

"Does that mean you can read my thoughts all the time?" While he wasn't against talking with her, the idea of having his thoughts heard all day was uncomfortable.

"Do not worry, I can cut off the link so I'll stop reading your mind, it also means I won't hear or see what you do. In that way you can have privacy. "

"That's… really convenient." Izuku mused. "I guess the reason we didn't talk like this before was my quirk being dormant?"

" Pretty much, it was as if a barrier was blocking me from talking to you. The best I could do was to appear in your dreams from time to time and even then you would forget as soon as you wake up. "

A lump of guilt formed in his throat. "I forgot about you? Oh… I'm so sorry, Ahri."

Her answer was a sigh. "You don't need to apologize, Izuku. It was never your fault. Anyway, I'm going to leave you now, you have things to do and I need to prepare some stuff for later."

"Prepare for what?"

"It's a surprise, bye." she said before falling silent and Izuku knew that it was the end of their conversation. He then turned to his All Might theme digital clock and saw it was too early, like one hour before the alarm was set.

He mumbled under his breath. "Dammit, Ahri."

Well, sure his mom was still asleep so he would do good if he prepared breakfast for both of them this time.

Updating his quirk status was a simple and quick affair. Maybe too quick. There was no questioning or even weird looks thrown at him when they saw he was classified as quirkless, he hadn't expected that.

But they just went in, signed some paperwork and were out of the establishment in less than an hour.

"Mom." he called her as they were walking, his tails united as one and laying on his shoulder. "Is it just me or did that go too fast?"

His mother only hummed in thought. "Maybe it's because how early it is? We were the only ones waiting after all. I'm more worried about the staff, they looked as if…"

"As if someone took their souls?" Izuku finished for her.

For a second, his mom looked at him as if he grew another head. "I was about to say 'exhausted and fueled by coffee' but… sure?" she shook her head. "And Izuku? It's not like I don't appreciate that you made breakfast, far from it, but what gives? You usually don't wake up that early." There was a hint of worry in her tone, probably thinking he had a hard time sleeping.

"I don't know actually? I just woke up without feeling tired and… I wanted to cook something for you." he rubbed the back of his neck, both of his ears dropping slightly.

Inko's heart melted at the sight of that, she already thought her son was adorable but his cuteness went up by tenfold with the ears and tails. She was about to weakly pinch one of his cheeks as she always does but an idea crossed her mind.

"Izuku?" She called and he hummed, letting her know he was listening. "Tell me if this makes you uncomfortable."

"What-" he was about to ask but stopped the moment he felt his mom's hand reach one of his ears and softly scratch behind it. At first it was weird but then his body felt lighter, warm made way into his body and he couldn't stop himself from leaning more at the touch.

Then she pulled her hand away, he tried to lean more into it and instead lose balance but he was quick to regain his footing.

Then they stood there in silence, his face getting hotter by the second and her smile growing and glowing. The howling laughter inside his head wasn't helping a single bit.

"Ahri, please."

Unfortunately, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Does lil' foxy want scratches under his chin? Or maybe rubs on his belly?" she mocked using a baby voice while still laughing like a madwoman.

"You aren't going to let me live this down, do you?" he thought as he covered his head with both his arms and tails.

"Nope." Was the last thing she said before falling silent.

His mom was trying, and failed, to hold her laugh behind her hand. "I'm- I'm so sorry Izuku, I wanted to see what would happen but I didn't expect for you to enjoy it that much. Your reaction was so cute."

He groaned and then mumbled something that wasn't heard due to layers of tails, they were removed and he lowered his arms. His face was still red and both ears dropped. "It's fine mom… but don't do it outside, please?"

"I promise, I promise." she giggled as they continued their walk.

Going to the gym was at least more of what he expected, there were some people using the machines or lifting weights. He did notice how often he saw someone with a mutant quirk.

Signing him up was really easy, the price for a monthly membership wasn't too high but Izuku idly wondered if there was something he could do to help pay for it. Selling some of his things was an option.

That was a train of thoughts for later, though. His mother asked the receptionist if they could talk with an instructor about some concerns she has. In less than a minute they were in front of a tall man, of black hair and tan skin. If there was a word to describe him it was 'tough'.

He introduced himself as just Shinji.

Took a while but his mom explained the whole situation with his quirk and he could see how Shinji's eyes kept going wide as if not believing what he was being told even with the photos Inko had as proof. Izuku wondered if this same situation will be a general occurrence in his life.

"It's… really hard to believe someone awakening their quirk this late, and a mutant type on top of it." Shinji said in a deep voice, his hand on his chin and brows furrowed. "But if Kurosaki-kun recommends this gym to you, then there is nothing to doubt. I trust his judgment." Then he put both hands on his hips. "Probably you noticed already but your body got more strength thanks to your quirk, strength that I'm sure you're not used to which can be pretty dangerous. A bad move and you could injure yourself by pulling a muscle, but we are here to avoid something like that from happening. So you want to start today or tomorrow?"

"Well…" Izuku started, biting his lower lip for a second, his tail now wrapped around his torso. "If there is not much trouble, can I start next week? I skipped school yesterday and today and I would need to catch up…"

At that, Shinji hissed as if he was in pain. "That's rough buddy, I have been there so I know. No problem, you can start any day except monday."

After that and saying their goodbyes, both Izuku and Inko went directly home as they didn't have anything to do for the day.

Or at least that was Izuku's case, as he laid down on his bed while petting his tail he pondered his situation.

"I have to wait until I sleep to talk to her…" he mumbled. Well, not really, he could just try to call her through their mental link but something told him she would dodge any of his questions saying 'he have to wait until her surprise' or the like.

He wasn't sure if he was having the right reaction about the situation, knowing inside him rested another soul alongside his own and it was in the form of a magical fox lady from a different universe and, on top of that, she seemed to have known him since he was a child.

Oh. And not forget about that maybe he is now part vastaya… whatever that implies. He doubts that would be the way it works but, again, magic. It was a wonder what were the 'ways' that would help them to figure that out.

Maybe there was something a vastaya could do that other races in Runeterra could not. But what, he had no clue at all.

"Maybe I'll try to train with my fire?..." It was tempting, to just search between all his notes about fires quirks and try something he maybe could copy, but he also wanted to make sure he understood his powers better and, for that, he needed to ask Ahri, which more likely was the 'surprise' she talked about. So he had to play the waiting game until night.

Sure, taking a nap was an option but with his mind running wild with thoughts he probably wouldn't be able to sleep for now.

So he found himself in square one, with nothing to do but his curiosity and desire to find answers as company.

"Honestly, what does Ahri do? She has been in my body for ten years and I can't imagine you can do a lot of things while you're a ghost…" Asking her about what happened maybe wouldn't be the right action if the way she dismissed her own death was of any indication.

"But maybe…" he thought, an idea forming in his brain. "Alright, how does this work? Knock knock. Ahri? Are you there?"

"...Did you just think 'knock knock'?" said Ahri in his mind, her tone being amused with a bit of incredulity. She let out a small laugh when he pouted. "What is it? If it is about the surprise I mentioned you need to wait, little fox."

"I know, I know…" he couldn't help but sound bummed about it. " I wanted to ask you. What do you do?"

" Mm? I don't think I follow what you mean… "

"Well, you said you had been in there for a long time, right? I imagine there is not much to do while inside of my mind."

He heard her humming. "You're not wrong. Most of that time I spent it trying to figure out things from your eyes and memory, things like learning japanese or understanding this world. But now I mostly create many scenery that remind me of Ionia and take a walk. Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"I was thinking we should do something together? Like watching a movie or a series? If you want, of course." he blurted all that in before he tried to back down.

It passed exactly five seconds before she said something.

" ...Not that I'm against the idea, Izuku, but where did it come from?"

"Well… it's like you said, Ahri, we are unconventional partners and I barely know much of you so I thought we could… spend time together… if you like and…" God, now he was backing down.

His thoughts were interrupted by the snort that came from Ahri. "That is sweet from you, Izuku. Alright, what do we watch?"

"Oh. I actually don't have anything in mind. There is not something that I have watched before that you're interested in?"

"Well… I think you once saw a show about girls that transform to fight crime or the like? I want to watch something similar. "

"So, magical girls? Why am I not surprised?" He didn't mind watching that genre, most of them were about good against evil and that was enough for him. With that in mind he grabbed his phone, put on the earphones and started searching for a show they might enjoy.

After finding one he made himself more comfortable and pressed play.

He was done watching after three episodes.

" It wasn't that bad, I was starting to enjoy it."

"I saw her getting her head eaten by a clown monster, I'm sorry if I'm not as thrilled as you to keep watching it."

" Fiiiiiiiine, but we agree that little white thing was just trouble, right?"

"Oh, since its first appearance, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out the little thing was the cause of the whole situation."

Perhaps it wasn't what he had in mind but it was fun listening to Ahri either pointing out the absurdity of the argument or the small rants she had about x or y. It was the closest thing to hanging out with a friend, he thought.

After dinner it was time to sleep, which meant going to the dreamscape and finally know what was the so-called 'surprise' Ahri prepared for him.

But just in the moment his head hit the pillow he thought of tomorrow, of school.

Suddenly, he couldn't sleep. His mind was going about Aldera, his classmates and teachers. He tried to distract with other things such as his notebooks (that they tried to ruin in many occasions), with heroes (that they always told him he could never be), his own quirk (that he got so late and he was far behind) but it was futile, it just made him more ruthless and feeling both with energy and tired. The twist in his stomach was only getting bigger and hard to ignore with every second.

He turned around again and again on his bed to no avail. Sleep escaped him once again.

"Izuku?" He heard Ahri's voice inside his head. "Is everything alright?" she asked with worry.

"I'm fin-" he paused, realizing how pointless it was. And so was asking. "You must already know…"

"That is true, but may it help to talk about it."

"...I don't know what to expect from tomorrow, what they'll think about my quirk, what they'll do. It's just… I'm scared to find out I guess? I really don't know what to think of it." He made another turn, putting the pillow on his face and letting out a long sigh.

There was a silence between them, none dared to speak another word.

Izuku's insecurities and fears were well funded, Ahri thought, she knew- saw how his classmates were around him, their eyes filled with mockery or annoyance, even hate by one of them. Obviously anything she could say wouldn't help now, things like that were so deep within the mind that it would take time, and effort, to get rid of them. She would know.

Right now he didn't need a pep talk, or an inspirational speech, but a distraction.

"Very well, make yourself comfortable." She said.

"Mm? Why?" Regardless he did as she said and curled himself while his tails covered him, the blanket already forgotten. "What? Are you going to tell me a story?"

"Indeed, so listen closely." She paused, ensuring that he was paying attention. "In Runaterra, there is a land covered by snow and ice, with creatures from the friendly poro to the territorial and aggressive troll. And if that wasn't enough, due to the harsh environment people fought each other for survival, danger and injustice were something you would see everyday. 

But of course, with darkness came the light, and so there were who protected the people, and among them was a man whose strength and tenacity were only eclipsed by his heart of gold. Only with his shield and muscle he would face any odds, and overcome them, just because it was the right thing. They called him the Heart of Freljord."

Without realizing, Izuku was already asleep and now in the dreamscape, in front of him was a bonfire and around it there were stumps of trees that served as seats. Ahri sat in one and motioned him to do the same, which he did and sat on the one opposite of her.

"Of course," she continued, her voice not sounding as if she was telling the story of a legend or a champion of the people, but rather talking about someone she knew, a friend. "I know him as Braum, the most kind person you will ever meet," A chuckle escaped her lips, it carried fondness. "One that has a story for every occasion."

Always was a good time for a story, or so he said once in a while. 

Chapter Text

"And so, he sailed to the ocean, to another region in search of a cure for the illness of this kid, though it would lead him to another adventure, of dangers and unthinkable allies." Ahri finished her story, the bonfire still burning strong and in front of it was Izuku, listening attentively to her, his eyes filled with childlike wonder and excitement.

"What happened next? What's next? Did he make it? Or a storm caught him? You said dangers, it was a beast from the depths? A spirit fuelled by vengeance? Pirates? A cursed king?"

She blinked twice at that, surprised how on point his guesses were. Spirit and vengeance sounded like Pyke, pirates to Sarah and Bilgewater and finally the cursed king was Viego. Curious.

"Well, that's…" she made a pause for suspense, which made Izuku lean forward more, his interest just peaking… and that was smashed to the ground when he saw her cheshire smile, his joyful face turned into disappointment, and a bit of betrayal. "A story for another time." She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from her lips.

"You're not fun…" he whined, his right leg bouncing slightly.

"Oh please if I had a body my throat would be sore and dry from telling so many stories."

"And they were great." He said, smiling. "I know you did this to help me out, Ahri, thanks. And sorry if-"

"Nothing of that." She cut him off. "What I had prepared can wait for tonight so don't worry."

There was a pause between them and she could tell he wanted to ask something else if the drumming of his fingers on his knee was of any indication.

"Yes, Izuku? Something on your mind?"

"... You said he met unthinkable allies, I'm guessing one of them was you, what about the others? Can you tell me about them?" He asked with expectation in his eyes. Almost giving her the puppy eyes.

She thought about it, Izuku was just stalling for time, of that she was certain, but decided it wouldn't hurt to tell him more.

"All right, I think I can do that." She then turned her head a little to the right, Izuku doing the same. "Let's start with someone you already know of."

In a small flash of white, a figure appeared, it was a man of great musculature, a mustache on his upper lip and at his side the biggest shield Izuku had ever seen. The man, Braum, let out a joyful laugh and then gave them a big smile that reminded him of his favorite hero.

"Is that Braum?! He is bigger than I thought!" He exclaimed in awe. "And… is that really a shield? Looks more like the gate of some fort?" At that Ahri shrugged.

"Might as well be." And with that she snapped her fingers, the flash engulfed Braum and he was replaced by someone else.

He was the polar opposite of Braum. He was of small frame, his crouched posture with that glowing green knife screamed "hunter" and his eyes… were just two orbs of the same green as his weapon. Half of his face was covered by a red bandana with the jaw of a shark printed on it.

"He…" Izuku was at a loss of words, that man (was one to begin with?) was even more menacing with his look alone than anything he heard about the hero killer Stain.

He did raise an eyebrow when the man pulled out the longest list in the world and started to… write something on it with the knife?

The look he gave to Ahri was one of utter confusion and concern.

"Don't worry. He is harmless as long you're not on his list. His name is Pyke, pretty much the boogeyman of Bilgewater and moved by vengeance."

"I… have several questions."

"Too bad. Next!" And once again she snapped her fingers.

The next one was a woman, her red hair was made up into a braid that rested on her shoulder yet part of it was a bit messy. Her posture and uniform exuded the confidence of someone used to command an army on the daily and her blue eyes… that cold gaze filled with fury told him enough.

Izuku gulped seeing how the apparent pirate was now doing some trick with the guns she carried. "I… wouldn't want to anger her."

"No, unless you want to get shot by those cannons she calls pistols. Her name is Sarah Fortune, more known as Miss Fortune, Captain Fortune or the Queen of Bilgewater."

"Queen? So she is in command of that place? I can't imagine it is an easy job."

"You have no idea, you need eyes on your back to watch for backstabbing."

A flash later and there was another woman, a very tall and muscular one, her hair was wavy and both her eyes and green tattoos seemed to faintly glow with power. She was carrying with her right arm some round object made of, Izuku guessed, gold that seemed to have a face. While Miss Fortune had a presence of authority, this one just exuded wisdom, someone you would seek to get an answer from.

"She looks so… powerful."

"And she is. Her name is Illaoi, a priestess. But that doesn't mean she is unable to pack a punch."

"I can see that. So gods exist in Runeterra?"

"I honestly don't know how to answer that, Izuku." She shrugged. "Maybe yes, maybe not."

The next one was a man, his brown hair tied up with a high ponytail, has an unkempt beard and a scar on the bridge of his nose. What caught his attention was the sword resting on his hip. Even though he looked so calm with his posture it was obvious he was a warrior that crossed swords with a hundred others and still came on top.

"And last but not least… Yasuo."

That made Izuku turn his eyes to her, the way her voice softened saying that name and the look on her face, as if dear memories were plaguing her mind yet there was sadness for someone she couldn't reach anymore.

Just how his mom could be whenever she was reminded of his dad.

"He looks… lonely." He didn't know if he was talking about the memory in front of them.

"As far I know, he was. Going from place to place without somewhere to call home." Neither was she. "And so much blood on his hand and guilt following him." She whispered softly.

After the image of Yasuo disappeared, there was a beat of silence between the two and the bonfire burning the wood, its light giving the woman in front of him a shadow of melancholy, which he could feel. One that was broken by her long sigh.

And everything went black.

Breakfast was uneventful, his mom made holes on his uniform so the tails could go through. It was a surprise that, despite being big, he could slip it without problem. Honestly he didn't even know if those were actual tails with bones or just a bunch of fur. A mystery.

That was a train of thoughts for later (or never if he forgot about it) and decided to focus on what happened back in the dreamscape, the look on Ahri's face when she mentioned Yasuo.

Of how… lonely she was. And it hit him.

Ahri's soul had been inside his body for years now, unable to feel the real world anymore and seeing through other's eyes.

Witnessed how he was living when she could not.

And he wondered right there if being able to talk with him had helped, even if a bit. If anything he was more certain that finding ways for her to be comfortable with her situation was a priority of his.

The ways of doing that he has yet to think of, and probably he won't come up with anything in the near future since, on his way to school, there was an incident with a thief who, seeing himself cornered, activated his quirk that let him grow as big as most buildings around.

The good thing was that he had the opportunity to take notes about Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, who at the last moment appeared from nowhere and delivered the finished blow (a.k.a kill stealing) and currently she was posing for the cameras.

"Little fox, you're going to be late if you keep staring…" Ahri said in his mind.

That made him blush, "I wasn't!" And continued with his way while Ahri was laughing at his expense. 

"So Ahri," he started after calming down. "I think I should've asked this but… you said before that you will help me about taking someone's soul but… how?"

"Honestly it was irresponsible of me not to bring that up before. So you see, the Vesani, the tribe I'm from, had some ways to hold back the urge to consume souls, one of them was the use of magic gems. Of course, we can't make them since I don't know how and I doubt we could anyway. So the best next thing is for me to control your emotions-"

"Wait… you can do what?!"

"I can explain! Is not exactly "control" and more like subdued it, I can't make you feel angry out of nowhere. So if you ever feel the urge to devour a soul, hopefully that won't happen, I can subdued it and let you think clearly about your actions so you can stop."

"Allright… how did you even find out that you could do that?"

"When you were nine. You were so sad about the ending of some series, even crying about it, so I made you less sad. Since then I haven't done it again, fearing I would damage your mind by doing so. It will be more of a "last option" than anything and hopefully we won't need it. "

"I… don't know what to say about that. On one hand I'm glad we have a way to deal with it but on the other..."

"I get it, Izuku. And I wouldn't blame you for feeling uncomfortable about it but you have my word that I'll not mess with your emotions unless strictly necessary."

"It's fine, Ahri. So far you have been nothing but kind and helpful to me so I trust you."

"And I'll make sure that trust is not misplaced. "

A comfortable silence followed after that and before he knew it, Izuku was at the entrance of the school.

"So… Can you do something about the anxiety and dread I'm feeling right now?"

Somehow the sigh she made inside his head sounded utterly done. "Little fox, what did we just discuss?!"

What was both expected and unexpected was for him to meet his teacher at the door of the classroom, expected since he always gets to the room just before the man, unexpected was his reaction at seeing him.

At first he just spared him a glance and then returned to his phone, not even a second later he looked back at him now noticing the things that weren't there the last time he saw him. He blinked twice, took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief, put them on again and his face became one of pure shock, opening and closing his mouth.

If Izuku wasn't in front of a teacher or feeling how his stomach was twisting he would be laughing, at least Ahri was doing that for him.

"Mi-Midoriya is… is that you?" He asked with uncertainty, as if wondering if the boy in front of him was another student that he never noticed.

"Good morning Kamaro-sensei…" Nervousness was dripping from his voice, his ears dropped and tail wrapped around his waist. "Ye-yes, it's me, Midoriya Izuku, sir."

The teacher blinked again, still not able to process. "I… the principal did inform me that there were changes in your documents and that your mom called, that apparently you were diagnosed with a quirk… at first I didn't believe it but now… such a drastic change, I haven't seen or heard anything like this before."

"Yeah…" He let out a small, awkward, laugh. "It was a surprise to me and my mom…" All this time his eyes never met Kamaro's. "I think we should get inside… it's almost time for class to start, right?" It was better to just get things over with, he thought.

"Oh, right, right…" He coughed on his fist. "Then go first and get to your seat, Midoriya."

Izuku just nodded and, after taking a quick deep breath, he opened the door and stepped into the classroom. For the first time his seat at the back looked so far away from the door.

It didn't help that the chatter within the room just ceased the moment he took a step in, the attention of everyone now on him which made the twist in his belly more painful. For a couple of long and heavy seconds nobody made a sound and Izuku really wished he would have just skipped school even if meant to be grounded by his mom, that was a better alternative.

He wanted to move, either towards his seat or the door, but his legs didn't respond at his command. He was looking at everything trying to avoid making eye contact with anybody, but it has to be his luck that he ended locking eyes with a certain blond.

Kacchan's face could be only described with the word 'shocked', his mouth agape and his eyes clearly moving up and down, noticing the new ears, the marks on his cheeks and the tail that obviously weren't there last friday. He did seem to try to formulate even one word, but nothing was coming out.

Until he got the words.

"Deku…" It was the first time he heard that name with such incredulity coming from him. "What the fuck, are you a furry?"

Hearing that made him forget all the natural disaster that was his mind for a second and looked at him with confusion. "A… What now?"

That was the cue for chaos to start.

"What the frick?!" Screamed one.

"How did this happen?!" Was another.

"Deku, is that you?!" And the third.

Those were some of the questions that his classmates threw at him. He couldn't answer any of them since they were so loud he needed to cover his ears.

"Enough!" This time the teacher yelled, one of the few times he decided to take control of the class and his students listening to him. "We should've started the class by now, you can save up your questions for later. Now sit down! Midoriya, go to your seat."

Izuku didn't need to be told twice, in a matter of seconds he was already on his seat and trying his hardest to make himself smaller though most of his classmates were still looking at his way.

The teacher cleared his throat, calling the attention of everyone and pulling a stack of paper from his portfolio. "First of all, good morning to all of you, second of all, I wanted to talk about your application papers for the future. Some of you want to be medics, or teachers (which I don't recommend) but I know for a fact," He let the sack of paper fall on his deck making a loud 'smack'. "Most of you want to be heroes!"

Apparently that was the signal for everyone, minus two, to go wild and start showing off their quirks.

"Should I…?"

" I wouldn't recommend it, little fox. It will attract unwanted attention. "

He conceded her a point, it hadn't passed half an hour since he put foot in the school and all his energy was depleted already. He wanted to go home.

"Calm down, calm down children. I should remind you that there's a rule about using your quirk in cla-"

"Ha! Don't you dare to level me as all of those losers, teach!" Exclaimed Katsuki, cutting the teacher off and catching the attention of everyone. He stood on his seat, one foot on the chair and the other on the desk. "If there is someone in this shit hole who can make it as a hero that'll be me! The others are just no-name background characters!" His words seemed to upset the rest of the class as they started to yell at him. "Oh shut ya trap! It's true! I'll get into U.A and in no time I'll surpass even All Might!"

"Oh right, that reminds me!" Quipped the teacher, now all the eyes on him while he was looking through the stack of papers.

It took half a second for Izuku to realize, and then his stomach and heart sank. "Oh no, no, no, no! Please, no!"

"Midoriya also wants to apply to U.A." 

"That damn old fool…"

Izuku, knowing what was coming, embraced himself for the impact.

"Deku!" Came the roar of Katsuki that slammed his hand on Izuku's desk, letting out an explosion that knocked him back and against the wall. "The fuck he means you want to apply to U.A!"

He winced, for both the pain in his back and the ring in his ears caused by the explosion which was making it hard for him to understand whatever Kacchan was saying, but he could guess anyway. Wouldn't be any different than the other times.

And while he tried to curl himself into a ball, looking with fear as Kacchan leashed his words at him and everyone seemed to laugh, he felt inside a white hot flame of annoyance, but it was foreign, not his own.

"Ahri? …you okay?"

"...You should worry for yourself, Izuku. Also, it seems that he finished his rant."

And she was right, somehow the teacher made Kacchan sit on his seat and everyone seemed to pay him attention, so he didn't waste time and did the same even though his desk has a scorching mark of a hand.

Through the lecture, he kept thinking about that feeling that seemed to come from Ahri. 

Weirdly enough, the day went fast by without any incident, save for the weird looks he received from the others but nothing remarkable. Well no, remarkable was how… quiet Kacchan had been during all the day, not even a glare towards him and he doesn't know if he should be concerned or not.

In any case, he was putting his things in his backpack as it was time for everyone to go home and he was so glad for it.

But as he was about to put one of his notebooks inside he heard it.

"Deku."

"...why?"

"Don't think for a second we are done." Katsuki said as he approached, his usual scowl on his face. "There is no way you're getting into U.A. so forget it, if the rest of the trash can't do it neither could you, get that inside your damn thick skull." Saying that he took the notebook off Izuku's hand.

"Hey! That's mine and be-besides-"

"Besides what?" He spat the question. "Just because you grew a tail and a pair of ears you can be a hero? Don't make me laugh! U.A. is for the best of the best, you aren't one of them." Saying that he put the notebook between his palm and released an explosion which made Izuku gasp and without caring he threw it to the open window of the classroom.

"Why-" He tried to protest but was cut off by Kacchan grabbing his shoulder with one hand and applying force making him wince.

"Now listen to me," but he frowned when he noticed how Deku wasn't looking at him and instead found the floor more interesting. With little to no effort he ignited his palm, burning both the uniform and the shoulder, but that did the job as now Deku was looking at him in the eyes, clenching his jaw so as not to scream. "It's pointless for you to even try, so do yourself a favor, get out of my way and don't dare to show your face in the exam. Are we clear?" Without waiting for an answer he turned around and walked to the door.

Izuku tried to ignore the pain in his shoulder and the pouncing of his heart, but it was hard to do due to the intense feeling of foreign loathing inside him.

"Ahri… I'm-"

"You're not fine". She cut him off, really upset for what just happened.

She wouldn't call Bakugo evil, no, in her world there were far worse people capable of doing the most despicable deed and don't feel an ounce of regret. Hell, she was aware that there was so much blood in her hands that it was stained in her soul. So no, he wasn't evil.

But he was a cruel kid, that's for certain.

"Wait, I think there is a way for you to become a hero." Katsuki suddenly said, already close to the door.

When Izuku looked, Kacchan barely turned around, just enough to show half of his face to him, and he gulped at the sight of his serious face.

Because a serious Bakugo was worse than an angry one.

"Pray to any God out there, jump off the roof and maybe you'll get a quirk in the next life, one that doesn't come so late." And with that he left the room, not caring about the looks he received from the others few that were in there.

Izuku could only stare at the door, his hands and feet feeling as cold as if they were touching snow, his throat was dry and not able to formulate a single word but he doubted he could muster one anyway. With his mind being a turmoil of emotions he grabbed the backpack and rushed out of the room.

Ahri was calling his name in worry, but he couldn't even think of an answer.

He tried to breathe, in and out, but his lungs seemed to be locked and instead he let out some sobs on his way to the fountain.

There he picked the now wet notebook, and just stared into the words of the front. It read "Hero analysis for the future #14".

He may have been staring at it for about five minutes until he heard Ahri's voice in his head.

"Little fox…"

"He really hates me, huh…"

That made her pause, he sounded so… done, as if he already accepted something he was aware of a time ago.

"...Ahri, let's just go home. I'm tired."

"Yes… let's."

Though he feels his body as heavy as a rock, somehow he was able to make his legs move. He tried to not focus on Kacchan's words, the burn on his shoulder… or the way that red glare pierced through him.

He needed a distraction and after a moment of walking, he asked.

"You said there was a way to tell I'm a vastaya, right? I guessed it's something only one could do but, what exactly?"

"Well… we vastayas have the ability of shape shifting, short of."

"You can turn into something else?" Of all the things, he didn't expect something like that.

"Again, short of. The problem was how much time and magic it took depending on how severe the change was. For example, I once tried to turn into a fox but it took days and when I finished my reserves of mana were depleted so it wasn't long before I transformed again. That's why I barely used it to change things like my eyes or hair. I wonder if it will be the same for you."

"Uh… it sounds perfect if you want to infiltrate somewhere or blend into a crowd. But also-"

"Agh!" All of sudden he felt a putrid smell that made him gag and cover his nose with one hand, though it barely helped. "What the heck is that smell?" He asked aloud.

"This is not the bridge you pass under after school? Since this is a shortcut to your home?"

"Yeah… but I don't remember the places smelling this bad before, bad side-effects of having a high sense of smell I supposed…" Then his ears perked at the sound of something crawling from… under his feet. "What the-"

His thoughts were cut off as the manhole under the bridge went flying and from the sewers came out a viscous slime-like liquid that started to take form, the moment Izuku noticed the red eyes and mouth he realized it was a person.

With his back turned to Izuku, the slime started to talk to himself.

"Dammit, dammit! I need to lose him or else I'll go to prison. Why of all people it has to-"

In mid of his rant the man-slime turned around and noticed the kid that was now taking steps back in hope to not be perceived, but flinched when he realized he was caught.

The slime flashed a sinister smile at Izuku. "Oh, hello there, my ticket to freedom."

"Wha-"

Without any warning the apparently criminal rushed at Izuku with such speed that he had barely time to react and summon a fireball in his hand but it was too late, the villain trapped him with tendrils made out of his body and was trying to force himself into his throat.

"Such a lucky shot! Not only do you have a mutant quirk but also can use fire?! With this I'll defeat All Might!"

But Izuku couldn't listen, too busy trying and failing to get some air in his lungs, not even able to pay attention to Ahri's yell in his head and he was starting to black out.

As his limbs started to feel too heavy and his eyes were closing, a memory flashed across his mind, when he was a little kid and asked his still alive dad how his quirk worked.

He only said, "Well, I just feel the heat in my belly and then I let it out, the first time was a mess though."

With little strength left in him, he concentrated his flames inside him.

A blizzard in him.

And he let the inferno all out.

"AAAGH!" Was the cry of agony the villain let out when he felt as if his body was being frozen, worse than any winter he had to spend inside the sewers, seeing the flames he threw his hostage to the side and checked his body.

And he was still whole yet the feeling of freezing over was in him, as if the flame weren't touching his body and instead… something deep within him.

He turned his eyes towards the kid, and what he saw was eerie to him.

Now standing up with his hands on his knees, the flames seemed to dance around him and more were coming out of his mouth as he was trying to regain his breath. What he thought was a tail split itself into nine and were moving slowly yet menacing as angry snakes.

What struck him the most was when the runt looked up, meeting his eyes.

It was a deep green gaze, pupils as thin as a strand of hair that hardly can be seen and filled with fear, but not the like that make you run away or hide in a corner, the one that indicates someone was on the edge. Of a cornered animal.

Did he catch some middle schooler or a demon about to claim his damned soul?

"Hey… buddy," He nervously started, sliding back and hopefully away from him. "About taking control of your body… I wasn't being serious. So… what about I just-" He went silent as he felt how there was something behind him. And when he moved his eyes around he found it was someone.

"So first you snatch some purse, then decide to try and kill a kid." Said the newcomer that was a mountain of a man, of blond hair and showing a big smile, yet those electric blue eyes showed no kindness. "You realize it would be for the best to surrender, right?"

The villain, out of desperation, tried to rush towards the kid, to capture him again and use him as a hostage, but stopped in his tracks the moment he realized the runt was no longer there.

Izuku blinked, seeing as he wasn't in the same spot as a second ago, instead of standing in front of the sludge villain now he was behind the legend in the flesh, the symbol of hope.

"All Might…" He whispered awestruck, not believing what was happening.

"Young man," All Might looked back, his smile still there but smaller, showing shame. "I'm so sorry, when I came here you freed yourself from his bind, meaning your life was at risk and had to fight for it, all because of my incompetence. A child shouldn't face something like that. Now…" Turning towards the villain he put up a stance, ready for action. "Let a pro handle this!"

The villain was furious, any plan he had was thrown out of the window and found himself cornered.

"Damn… Damn you!" He screamed, dashing against the hero as a last, but vain, effort.

"Detroit…" All Might pulled his arm back, "Smash!" And punched with so much strength that generated a shockwave and made the body of the villain explode, the pieces esparced on the pavement.

Both Izuku and Ahri pause after seeing the scene.

"Is he dead?" She asked, while death wasn't new to her, it would be good if this day don't end with Izuku witnessing a murder. "Quick, use that thing with your eyes!"

"Is called soul's eyes!" Regardless he did as she said and summoned fire on his eyes. "You could at least-"

His thoughts were cut off as both him and Ahri were shocked by their discovery.

The villain was still alive, his soul in every bit that was his body, but that didn't catch their attention.

All Might's soul did, instead of a white flame it was a blazing yellow sphere, and around it were orbiting other orbs of various colors: white, blue, red, green, orange, purple and pink.

A sun with its own planets, a solar system as a soul.

"What. The. Hell." Was the only thing they could think of at the moment.

"And there! Now he is trapped!" The voice of All Might snapped them out of the trance and Izuku made the fire disappear from his eyes, they were so caught up that they didn't notice the hero using… a plastic bottle? As a makeshift container for the villain.

"I have several questions."

"So do I, little fox."

"Now I should get this bad guy to the nearest police station, but first!" All Might then approached Izuku and kneeled in front of him. "Are you okay, young man? You don't need me to take you to the nearest clinic or hospital?"

Izuku seemed to lose his speech capacity as he tried and failed to form a coherent sentence. It was All Might! "I-I-I I am fine, sir! All Might, sir." Hiding both his nervousness and excitement was a vain effort as it was shown on his face and wagging tails.

The sight made the man chuckle, relieved that he was fine. "Still, if anything starts to hurt, please seek medical attention. That said, is there anything I can do for you? After all, I put you in harm's way, compensate for it even if it is a small bit."

"We-well I, I don't know, sir…"

Seeing as he couldn't make up his mind, Ahri decided to push him. "An autograph."

"An autograph would be fine- Wait, where is my backpack?" He asked, noticing it was on him no longer, maybe it was dropped when the villain captured him.

"Here!" Said All Might, showing he had the backpack in his right hand. "I assumed it was yours."

"Thank you!" Izuku exclaimed, taking it, opening it, pulling a notebook and a pencil and offering it to All Might.

"So, what is your name, my boy?" All Might stood up and read the title on the front. "Your quirk is 'Kitsune'? And notes for the future? If you don't mind me asking, what for?"

"I'm Midoriya Izuku and…" At first he hesitated, but realized it wouldn't be bad to tell him about his dream, he was All Might! "I want to be a hero! And the notes are because… well the fire you saw before? It is new to me and taking notes helps me to understand things better." He explained, his nervousness gone.

"Ah, I see. Knowing about your abilities and their limits is very important for a hero." He said, writing something on one of the blank pages of the notebook and handing it over to Izuku who took it. "I think you have potential, young man. But-" Suddenly All Might covered his mouth with his fist and coughed, and Izuku caught a scent that made him worry.

The smell of blood.

"Are you okay, All Mi-"

"I'm fine!" He cut Izuku off. "But I appreciate the concern, now I was saying you should take care, all right? I'm going to get this guy to the police." Seemed in a hurry, All Might took some massive steps back and crouched, ready to jump. "Stay safe, young man!" And with a mighty leap he was already gone.

And Izuku just stood there, trying to process in his mind the events that happened on this day, school, attacked by a villain and meeting his hero. Even he got his autograph!

Opening the notebook he looked for the page and sure enough it was there, All Might signature across two pages and a message on the right corner.

It reads 'I'm sure if you put your mind and body on it, you too can become a hero, Midoiya Izuku. Plus ultra!' And reading it made him tear up, the emotions of the day finally caught up to him, and he decided.

Decided he didn't care for the words of any of his classmates or Kacchan, they hurt deep but knowing he has Ahri on his side and the encouragement of his idol, it gives him the determination to pursue his dream. He would be a hero.

With that in mind, he put the notebook inside his backpack, put it on and started walking.

"Let's go home, Ahri. We have ten months for the exam."

And inside him, he felt a warm fire of content. "Yes, let's. And hope you're ready, little fox."

All in all, both were thankful for the encounter with All Might.

Chapter Text

"Home, sweet home." Said Izuku, relieved. Finally in his house he chose to do the most important thing after a long and stressful day. Take a bath.

Because he really needs one and for so many reasons, having been caught by the sludge villain who was in the sewers wasn't a good thing.

The smell was awful .

Ahri already cut off the mental link, saying she was going to check on some things. He guessed he would find out later.

Putting his backpack in his room he went to the bathroom, quickly stripped of his clothes and stepped into the shower. Feeling the warm water on his body felt great in so many ways. And as he started to apply shampoo on his hair, he started to reflect on some things.

First off was his encounter with All Might and he couldn't help but smile at the memory, being able to meet his idol, hold a conversation and even get an autograph! That alone made his day, regardless of what happened at school.

But also, he did remember the form of All Might's soul and wondered what it meant, was it a manifestation of his quirk?

The yellow sphere, just like a sun, was All Might's own soul but the others? Those that represent planets of a solar system were also souls? They looked as such. So the quirk of the symbol of peace was composed by the spirits of different people?

Before, that kind of thought would've been thrown out of the window in an instant due to being ridiculous and going against anything he knew of quirks, but now… the possibility is low yet not zero.

Did he stumbled upon a secret not meant for him? He didn't know how to feel if that was the case.

Probably it was better to think on another matter, like what he did to break free from the grasp of that villain.

By channeling enough fire in one point he could release it in a torrent of flames, he wondered if he could do that with his hand.

It was better if he tried outside of his house regardless of how his fire was not flammable. But where? Even with the gym he doubts he would have the time and liberty to use his quirk to experiment his ideas.

There was the beach that was being used as a dumpster, nobody got close most of the time so he could be free to use his power without calling the attention of bystanders or heroes. Unless he tried something big.

Saturday, he will check the place that day and see what he could do.

With that in mind, he finished his shower, dried his body and tails, put on more comfortable clothes and went to his room to write some ideas in his notebook.

It wasn't long before his mom came into the house.

"I'm home! Izuku, are you here?" Called Inko, going to the kitchen to put the bags on the dinner table and start to organize the things she bought in their places.

"Yes mom!" He exclaimed, coming out of his room, and seeing the bags, went to help her.

"Thanks dear." After everything was in place, she turned to Izuku, her face now showing a bit of concern. "... and how was school today? How did they react to your change?"

Hearing that Izuku went still for a second, the events of the day fresh in his mind. "Well… they were surprised, that's for sure, Kamaro-sensei didn't believe it was me for a moment. But… just that." He shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing to be noted. "Anyway mom, I'll be in my room doing homework." All this time he tried to avoid eye contact, just focusing on the middle of her eyes.

"Oh." Inko wasn't sure if she should push a little more and get him to say more about his day or let go of the subject. She decided on the latter, always did. "That's alright Izuku, I'll call you when dinner is ready."

With a nod, Izuku went to his room. He ignored the feeling of his mom watching his back.

After dinner he went to sleep and it didn't take too long to get in the dreamscape, though he blinked when he noted how different the scenario was. Instead of being in the middle of a dark forest, he was standing on a field whose grass reached near his ankles and not farther from him was a small lake, sitting on the edge of the body of water was Ahri dipping her feet in it.

As he walked towards her, he looked into the sky, it was blue and clear of clouds and lacking a sun yet the place was illuminated as if it was midday.

"I'll guess you got bored of the forest." He said, looking at Ahri again and she nodded without turning around.

"Indeed, sometimes a change of scenario is good. But we aren't here to just stand and watch. I wanted to talk about your training." She moved her legs yet the water showed no signs of movement, too still.

"My training?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. Now be a dear and come closer, tell me what you see in your reflection."

He did as told and got closer to the lake, what he saw wasn't something he expected.

Instead of himself he saw an adult version of him, lacking the ears, tails and the whiskers on his cheeks, way bigger in both height and muscles and wearing what was pretty much All Might's hero costume. With his face tainted red he looked at Ahri who just gave him a smile.

"Is it about my admiration for All Might?" He asked in a low and embarrassed voice.

"Part of it. Don't get me wrong, looking up to him is not a bad thing, it is what makes you well… you! But you also dream to be just like him, even in the way you want to fight." Seeing how he wanted to protest, deny her accusations, yet nothing came out of him made her continue. "All Might is the kind to throw himself towards battle headfirst, enduring any blow and win by sheer force, he is a brawler- no, a juggernaut, you need a lot to bring him down." Then her face became serious, looking straight into Izuku's eyes. "Now, take into account your powers and answer this: Do you think you can fight like that?" 

"I…" Izuku thought for a moment, sure his quirk had given him more strength and endurance, but he doubted he could endure a lot of direct hits. And with his flames and enhanced senses he has power and utility if he trained them. Reaching to a conclusion he sat on the ground with his legs crossed. "No, I couldn't. But what about you, Ahri?"

She shrugged. "When I have to fight I prefer to sneak, don't let my enemies know I'm there, wait for the right opportunity to strike and make sure it counts. Hit and run is my strategy and is what I'm good at. I can teach you how to be the most sneaky fox out there but the question is, you want to learn?"

There was a beat of silence, and Izuku reflected on what Ahri said. The idea wasn't really bad, while a lot of heroes try to be the most flashy to appeal to the public, others decide it was better being unseen and work in the shadows, it made sense since most crimes happen in the night.

With that in mind, he nodded at Ahri. "I do want to learn from you."

"Good!" She clapped her hands and then stood up. "For the moment we're going to work on a little trick you can do with your fire. Is one of the first things I learned." She snapped her fingers and a few meters from them appeared a practice dummy. For some reason it had a green hat. "Observe."

She then summoned a fireball on her hand and threw it to the dummy, but failed to hit its mark and keep flying past it.

"Uh… you missed."

Ahri turned to him, flashing a smile. "Did I?"

To Izuku's surprise, the fireball seemed to move on its own and turned around without losing speed and hit the dummy, flames covering it whole and then disappearing, no real damage made.

That made him stand up, his jaw hanging and eyes wide open. "That was so cool! A homing effect?! How do you do it?"

She couldn't resist giggling at the sight of him bouncing on his heels, excited to learn. "Calm down, little fox. First, cast a fireball." He did as she said, an orb of blue flames on his right hand. "Now, you need to focus on the target and you'll feel as if both the fire and your mind are being pulled." That earned her the confused look of Izuku.

"Pulled? What does that mean?"

"Well…" She clicked her tongue. "It was the best explanation I could come up with, it is something I have done so many times that is as easy as breathing." Actually, all the things she knew about her powers were self taught with a lot of accidents and sheer luck, especially luck. "If it is not the way it works for you then we'll find it."

Izuku nodded at that and tried to focus on the dummy, in his mind he made the trajectory he wanted for the fireball to follow. He felt as if something tugged his hand and head, taking that as a sign he drew his arm back and threw his attack.

As expected, the fireball failed to hit the dummy and kept going past it, then changed its trajectory into a wide arc upward and going back… but missed the target by a lot and instead it hit the lake behind them.

"Aaaw." Izuku wined, dropping his shoulders at the sight of him failing.

"Don't feel too bad, honestly you did better than I thought." Ahri said, hands on her hips. "I was expecting for your fireball to keep going into a straight line, not even changing its trajectory one bit. The fact it did is a good thing. Remember that nothing was made in one day, so I'm not waiting for you to be an expert right off the bat, alright?"

"Alright." He understood that it was a bit foolish on his part to expect to be good or get things down from the let go, but still sting a little to fail. "Should I keep practicing?" When he saw her nodding, another fireball was summoned and he tried again.

It took many tries, even some close calls as his fire nearly hit Ahri two times but she was able to dodged with no difficulty, but finally his attack struck the dummy on the back and he didn't hide his excitement.

"I did it!" Izuku exclaimed, throwing his arms to the hair just to lower them and hiss in pain, doing the same motion so many times made his limbs feel the most sore they ever felt in his life.

He will refrain from thinking about the fact that feeling pain inside his own mind made little to no sense.

"Good job, Izuku." She gives him a thumbs up, smiling by seeing his progress. "You're learning fast, which is good. Now the next thing I want to teach you should be more difficult but also will be important for you to get the hang of it." That made Izuku put all his attention on her, clearly ready for more. "Sadly we don't have much time before you need to wake up."

He frowned at that. "Oh come on, can't you just keep me asleep?"

She in turn squinted her eyes, an eyebrow raised, hand clasped together and then pointed at him with both indexes. "I could, but do you realize how much your mom is going to freak out if she finds you still asleep and unable to wake you up, right?"

"On the other hand, waking up early is a good habit to have!"

"Good boy. So I'm going to demonstrate this and you're going to practice the next time you come here." Then she crossed her arms, looking at him with accusatory eyes. "And I hope it goes without saying you're forbidden to even try it out there until I think you're ready, are we clear?"

He nodded at a fast pace. "Crystal, ma'am!"

"Glad we are on the same page." She took a few steps back, closed her eyes and then took a deep breath.

When she let it out, a blue aura started to form, slowly evolving her body whole and it expanded towards all directions. When it touched him, Izuku could feel the strands of hair of both his head and tails standing up, and there he wondered how powerful Ahri was.

The moment Ahri started to levitate off the ground, seemingly unfazed by any kind of gravity, and opening her eyes to show them glowing in a bright white light, Izuku realized.

This was the tip of the iceberg.

"Impressed?" She asked, her voice coming strong and from all places at once. She grinned seeing the dumbfounded look on Izuku's face who could only nod in answer.

But the show was far from over, she proceeded to fly through the field at great speed albeit always close to the ground, doing spins without getting dizziness from it. Even if it wasn't the outside world, even if she was dead, even if the sensation of wind hitting her face was subdued, she could still find a bit of fun in doing this.

If anything, seeing Izuku getting excited with eyes full of child-like amazement was a great plus.

After going at it after a minute or two, she decided that enough was enough and landed in front of Izuku, hands on her hips and head held high.

Yes, she showed off, so what?

"What do you think?" She asked as if the look in his eyes wasn't an answer on its own.

"That… was… so cool!" He exclaimed, his whole being bouncing- no, vibrating by pure awe. Then started to fire questions away. "How did you do it?! How does that work?! I know you use magic but there should be an explanation to why you are able to fly when by all rights it should be impossible just how? I notice you were close to the ground all the time, why is tha-" He was cut off by Ahri putting her finger on his lips.

Due to her being in his mind for almost a decade she was very aware of that particular habit, always finding amusing the reaction of whoever that sparked Izuku's curiosity for then being bombarded by questions after question.

It wasn't that much fun when she was on the other end.

"Little fox," She said slowly, a small smile on her lips. "I should remind you, the way my previous world worked was a lot different than this one, should you try to make sense using your logic will only give you a headache. Besides I'm not sure how I do things exactly, I just do." She finished, shrugging.

He dropped his shoulder on hearing that, a bit disappointed. "Really? That's too bad." After a thought, he added. "And we can't be certain that I can do that, right?"

"That too, even with what I know about my tribe and magic, it is still unknown if the effects will be the same on you. The circumstances around your quirk - or magic, I can't tell - are so peculiar that we can only guess."

Izuku couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that. "You can't tell? What do you mean by that?"

"You see Izuku, like I explained before it was the magic in my soul that changed your quirk but I don't know where one starts and the other ends. Both of them are merged, which turn you into a hybrid of human and vastaya, something I never heard of. Sure, there are half breeds in Runeterra but they are born as such. We can't be sure of the limits of your abilities, good thing you can practice here, that's why I can't stress enough how important it is for you to experiment with your powers here, then we'll see if you can use them outside. Fortunately, you thought about going to that beach to train, so you can use a lot of practice targets there." She then looked up at the sky which made Izuku do the same. "Now is time to wake up."

He sighed at that and then looked back at her. "Fine, we'll talk later." He waved with his hand and then disappeared in a white flash.

"Bye," She said with a smile, waving back. Standing there, her eyes on the spot where the boy was, she reflected on some things, still unable to wrap her head around the whole situation.

Putting the fact that her soul was inside the body of a teenager of another world aside, the prospect of teaching someone was… she didn't even know how to put it.

On one hand, it was kind of thrilling, being able to help someone to be better, having a hand on their growth. And she would be lying if she said the way Izuku looked so attentively at what she had to say wasn't warming, regardless of not having an actual body. It helped that he was a good student.

On the other hand, she had her doubts due to having next to no experience in teaching anything, period. She remembers Yasuo talking about helping out a young woman called Taliyah (though he calls her Little Sparrow) which sounded more like he tutored her, guiding her to be better. Hell, she knows that Yasuo would be a better teacher for Izuku than her, regardless of how troubled he was with his past (he was getting better), he always had this air of wisdom around him and knew what to say to point you in the right direction. Same with Braum.

They point you towards somewhere, but you have to walk toward it with your own feet.

But what if where she pointed was the wrong choice? Guiding Izuku towards his doom?

She was fond of him, she will admit it. Either for watching his life through his eyes or how he looked now. Almost as if…

She reprised the urge to let out a heavy sigh, even if there was no one to hear it.

When she was on her quest to discover her past, she hoped there was someone like her out there, longing to have a family. That feeling became more dim with the pass of time but it was still there.

And maybe, unintentional or not, she started to look at him as the young sibling she never had. And wondered if the feeling was mutual, even if in his perspective they have known each other for less than a week.

Does she want him to see her like that? Time will tell.

He didn't know what was more overwhelming to his nose, the saltwater or the mountains of trash littered around the beach. This idea of his was turning from 'good' to 'stinky bad' real quickly.

"Sometimes, we must make sacrifices to achieve what we want." Ahri shared her wisdom with him.

"Easy for you to say…" He muttered under his breath, covering his nose and breathing from his mouth, which barely helped since his sense of smell was getting through his hand.

Careful, very careful, he made his way through the piles and prayed he didn't get anything on his tails.

What? He always made sure they were clean and brushed, for some reason he was starting to put a lot of care into them.

Anyway, after five minutes or so he reached the shore and noticed a small pier, on it there wasn't any trash which was a surprise. He made one step, unsure if the structure was safe for someone to walk on it, and after testing a bit with other harder steps, he deemed it secure enough and walked to the end of the wood platform.

For a moment he took in the sight of the ocean and the feeling of the wind on his face. Inhaling deep and letting the air out.

He turned to see behind him and, as he expected, all the trash blocked his vision. Which means it would be the same for anyone at the entrance. Perfect.

Facing towards the ocean once more, he took another deep breath, his mind playing the moment he was being suffocated by the sludge villain.

He was grateful for the dreamscape, thanks to it he could skip any nightmare he could have gotten by that experience.

…Now wasn't the time to think about it.

Once again he felt the coldness of his flames inside him, in his belly, it remained for a moment there to get used to the feeling. Not unpleasant, nor it bothered him, if anything he was starting to feel comfort from it and embrace it.

But he let it go, a stream of blue fire shot out of his mouth and hit the surface of the water, it lasted a few seconds albeit he tried for it to last longer.

Letting out a huff of air, he thought about his next move. His mind went to that moment where he wasn't quick enough to summon a fireball and throw it, whether or not that could have made any difference in that situation wasn't the point.

If he wanted to become a hero, he needed to be able to stand by himself.

So, for the next half an hour, his time was used in making fireballs as fast as possible and throwing them with his hands and then the other half summoning them in thin air and shooting them without moving his body.

The only tiredness he could feel was within his arms, still not sure how it would feel using too much of his foxfire. Waiting five minutes, he went ahead with his idea.

First he put his left foot in front, then positioned his right foot behind him, after he drew both of his hands to his right side, cupping them together. Between his palms another fireball appeared and then he started to pour more power into it, its size growing and the light getting intense.

Finally, he thrust both his hands forward, releasing the ball of energy and a wave of blue flames came from it, he guessed it was ten meters long and he could only maintain it for fifteen seconds. Regardless, he had a big smile on his face.

"Impressive, so what are you gonna call this move?"

Standing now straight, he thought about it. "Maybe I should call it 'Soul Wave', I like it."

"Everything is going to have the word 'soul' in it? Aiming for a theme?" Her tone of voice indicated she was amused.

"Why not? It's something that revolves around us quite a lot."

"Fair point."

"I must say, that was a very impressive move, young man." An unknown voice came from behind him that made him jump as he wasn't expecting it. Turning around he saw a frail looking, yet tall blond man, and another blond young man of blue eyes, for a moment he thought he saw him before. Probably they were related?

No, a better question should be how he didn't sense them before?

"You were too focused with your move to notice and if you don't sense something, I won't either."

"Dammit."

"Language."

Trying hard not to roll his eyes, he addressed the unexpected duo. "Hello? Sorry, I thought I was alone here…" he laughed nervously and scratched his cheek.

The tallest blond chuckle, and for Izuku's ears it sounded somewhat familiar yet he wasn't able to tell from where. "It's alright young man, it seems we had the same idea. I just hope you don't mind us here." Even his use of 'young man' was familiar.

"I-I don't mind, sir. Besides, this is a public space, I won't tell you to leave. And about my use of quirk…"

"Mm? What you're talking about, my boy? All I saw was you looking towards the horizon, nothing more." Then he winked, letting him know he wouldn't be reported, which was a relief. "Anyway, where are my manners? Name's Yagi Toshinori and the gentleman at my side is Togata Mirio, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." The one at his side, Mirio who he recognized as a U.A student from the previous sport festival, nodded his head and waved at him.

"Nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet the both of you, my name is Midoriya Izuku." He waved back, a small smile on his lips. Then he walked towards them.

"Hey, Midoriya, what were you doing just a minute ago? That was cool!" Exclaimed Mirio, a bit excited.

"Oh! That. Thanks, it was a move I just invented. It was to prove a theory I had about my powers and wanted to test it here."

"I assume you're training to be a hero, right?" Asked Toshinori, and Izuku answered with a nod. "That's good, knowing about your abilities and their limits is very important for a hero."

Hearing that made Izuku stiff, and he could feel Ahri doing the same, that sentence was the same All Might used. But that was ridiculous, maybe he was tired and his head was playing games on him.

"T-that's why I'm here, to train my quirk for the entrance exam, it's only ten months away so I need to start somewhere." He tried no to think about it, such a silly notion shouldn't occupy his mind. Yet it keeps bothering him.

Even with all the things that have happened this past week it was impossible for Yagi to actually be All Might, no way.

"Then I wish you all the luck, Midoriya! I know how hard the exam can be." Mirio said in good spirit.

"Thank you, Togata-san." He nodded, grateful for the older boy's words. "And are you here to train too?"

"Indeed, young Midoriya." Toshinori said. "I wanted for young Togata to build up more muscle, while that could be achieved by going to the gym, I thought it would be excellent if he does something heroic in the process." Then he gestures to the mountains of trash. "Most people think heroics is about beating the villain until they surrender, but it's actually about helping the people, the community, and what more helpful than cleaning this place? Turning this beach from a dumpster to what it once was?"

Izuku could only stare at him, then he blinked twice and, somehow, knew that Ahri did the same.

"What?!" Somehow, instead of just his voice, Ahri was heard as well. Shocked, he covered his mouth with both hands.

"What was that?!"

"Hell if I know!"

Both Toshinori and Mirio looked at Izuku surprised, trying to understand what just happened.

"...Young Midoriya? Did we just hear a female voice from you? I have been referring to you as a boy, did I misunderstand? If so I apolo-"

"Wait wait wait!" Izuku cut him off, his face feeling like it was burning. "I'm a boy, really. That was… actually I don't know what that was, it never happened before." His voice dropped to a whisper at the end.

"...I have seen weirder things when it comes to quirks… assuming it was the effect of your quirk, but perhaps you want to check with your doctor."

"Will do…"

"Well, I think it is better if we let you do your training in peace, young Mirio and I will be over there. See you around, young Midoriya."

"Yeah, good luck with your training, Midoriya! And if you need a sparring partner I am your man."

"I'll think about it, Togata-san! Thanks!"

"Use your 'soul eyes' on them, maybe your theory is not that far off…" Suggested Ahri when both men turned their back to him, walking towards the beach.

"What makes you think that?"

"While you were talking with him, I was comparing his voice and how he talks with your memories of your meeting with All Might. Not only that, but the color of their skin, hair and eyes matched too well. Either we found by chance All Might's brother or…" She let her words hang. "Seeing his soul should answer any question and I'll be lying if I say I'm not curious."

With a nod he accepted her words. Taking a deep breath he made his fire appear in his eyes and the world around him turned black.

And he saw it, the same sun, the same seven planets orbiting around it coming from Toshinori (All Might?), there wasn't any doubt. But that only raised more and more questions.

It was worse when he laid eyes on Mirio and saw another star of yellow tone but somehow it looked transparent, as if you tried to grab it your hand would go through it. And instead of seven planets he counted eight. The octave looks too much like Tosh- All Might's sun, if a bit dim in light.

"Wait…" Izuku's voice called the attention of both Mirio and Toshinori, who turned around.

"Something w-' He cut himself off, seeing the actual fire in the young man's eyes. "Young Midoriya! What-"

"What…" His voice was trembling, in both disbelief and worry, not believing what he was seeing. He looked at All Might directly in the eyes and the man for a moment thought his own soul was being watched by those flames.

Because it was.

"What happened to you, All Might?"

Chapter Text

Astonishment, confusion and overwhelming dread were some of the many things Yagi Toshinori was feeling at the moment, many questions forming in his head (What? How? Why?) but he was only drawing dead ends. What else can he do when this child seems to know his actual identity without having been told? Bluffing was out of the question with how serious his eyes (covered by eerie blue flames) were. There was only one thing that could be done in such a situation.

He coughed blood.

Rapidly wiping that with a handkerchief he looked at Izuku with stern eyes. "That's a bold statement, young man, clearly you can see I'm not him. What made you think such a thing?" Mirio shifted at his side, not sure what action to take in this situation. He couldn't blame him.

Visibly, Izuku gulped as the fire in his eyes disappeared, letting those nervous yet focused green eyes to be seen. "With my power, with my fire, I can see the souls of people… I have yet to fully understand this but… when I saw you when you saved me, I could see yours, it was like a sun surrendered by seven planets of different colors, but those planets looked like souls, different from each other…" Then his gaze went to Mirio. "I can see the same in Togata-san, but instead of seven there are eight planets and the octave looks just like your sun, All Might. What does all of this mean?"

That only made his shock run deeper within him, and he didn't need to look at Mirio to know the same was happening to him. This student of middle school now knew about his identity and he was just a step to know about One For All. What could he do?

There wasn't a way to fool him, he knew that.

He sighed internally, both Gran Torino and Mirai will kill him after they get to know about this.

"Young Midoriya," All Might looked at him in the eyes, showing the heaviness of the matter. "I want your world that everything, everything of what you know now and I will tell will be kept a secret, not even your close ones should ever know about this! Can you promise that, boy?"

Even with his fragile form, All Might's presence was impotent and let it known that now wasn't the time for jokes, not that he was planning on fooling around.

He clenched his hands in the form of fist and looked at his idol with a determined gaze, then inhaled deeply. "In the name of my late father, Midoriya Hiashi, I promise you, All Might, that your secret is safe with me."

There was a beat of silence, a tense silence, All Might evaluating Izuku's words. After a few eternal seconds, he answered with a sigh, somehow looking older.

"Very well, young Midoriya, I'll start with why I look like this…"

And so, for the next hour and after making sure nobody else was there, All Might tells the tale about his injury (Ahri could tell he was hiding some key parts) and about the quirk passed onto him and then onto Mirio, One For All. Before, Izuku would have been too shocked to believe such a thing existed, but again his suspension of belief was changed.

"This… is a lot to take in…" He mumbled, hand on his chin and his nine tails moving around slowly. "A quirk passed down from one person to another… it explains the souls inside both of you." Perhaps they can communicate with them just like how he does with Ahri?

"It took us almost a decade for that though, probably this quirk, One For All, needs to grow first before the user can talk with the previous holders."

"Perhaps, but by what All Might told us it has been growing for how long? One, two hundreds of years almost? Besides, what if there is more after it reaches its peak? Could Togata-san or All Might have access to the quirks of the other seven? Just like how I got powers thanks to you."

"It's a possibility, but we can't know now, can we?"

Izuku sighed internally. "Indeed." Then he realized both Mirio and All Might were staring at him, that alone made his face turn red. "Ah… I'm sorry, I was lost in thoughts."

"Don't worry, young Midoriya, but I have to admit that you're more… accepting this more than I expected. I thought you would be freaking out, rightfully so. This is beyond normal."

"Yeah, are you really cool with all this?" Asked Mirio, tilting his head at the side.

"I mean, there is still a lot to digest, you know?" Especially the fact that All Might will have to retire in the near future. He couldn't picture such a scenario.

"Should I tell them about you? They let me in on one of the biggest secrets of Japan, probably of the world."

"Second to me, of course." Ahri said, oddly sounding proud of herself. "And is your call, little fox, can't really stop you from spilling the beans. But after this, consider telling your mom too, she deserves to know."

"I know… I'll think about it, and I'm going to still ask you first, we're partners, remember?" He then focused his attention towards the blond duo. "I did say about how you have the souls of the previous holders, right?" After receiving two nods, he continued. "Well… turns out I have another soul inside me… thanks to her I have these powers."

"...Come again?"

"...Her?"

And, with another half an hour thrown out of the window, Izuku explained the origin of his powers, the existence of Ahri but leaving out the part he apparently can eat souls, there is no way he could say that in front of his idol.

When he finished, both All Might and Mirio were left with wide eyes and open mouths.

"So…" All Might started, drawing a deep breath. "I guess I have to congratulate you, kid, I have seen and heard a lot of weird stuff so far in my career but… this just took the cake and ate it in one go." He shook his head to clear his shock. "The voice from before, was this lady Ahri you talked about?"

"Tell them I say hi~. "

"Yes the voice was her, I did say the truth about not knowing what was that and she is saying 'hi'"

"Hello?" Mirio waved awkwardly with his right hand and Izuku could hear Ahri's amused laugh.

"While that's good and all…" All Might really didn't know what to say about the whole situation, not only did someone else know about his secret but now he was told about other worlds and magic (he still can get his head around it). "We need to move on, young Togata has to train to get a better handle of One For All and I am sure you want to practice your quirk, right young Midoriya?" He grinned when both boys nodded. "Very well then, we'll be on our way and, don't worry, we are going to keep your secret under grasp."

"Good luck trying to say a thing about this without sounding crazy." Izuku hears her mumbling, not like they could hear her. He idly wondered if there was a way for her to interact with the rest of the world, though.

After bidding each other goodbye, Izuku was left (not) alone on the pier, thinking about what he had learnt today.

About All Might's quirk, One For All, and the state of his body.

How the Symbol of peace, his idol, the number one has his day as a hero counted and that notion was foreign to him. It should be expected, he was a human as any other and at one point or another he would retire.

But was Japan or the world ready for a future without All Might?

Mirio is supposed to be the next, but will he be ready?

…Anyone is even ready, for that matter?

And there he realized, nobody was.

He raised his hand, palm facing upwards, and created a blue fireball on it. He looked at it, his mind replaying all the events of the past week and the one eighty his life made the moment he woke up on Monday.

And so he made a silent promise, that he will get stronger with his new found powers and become a hero not only like All Might.

But one that will surpass him.

With his mind made up and spirit fire up, Izuku continued with his training by forming once again a Soul Wave but putting more energy in it, he still needed to find out how much he can use before running out of fire.

The exam was ten months away, and every day counted.

On top of a hill where red roses were in full bloom, Ahri sat on the ground and saw her disciple (can she call him that?) with watchful eyes while he was trying to use 'Soul Rush'.

She rolled her eyes thinking in the name, amused by his imagination which can be either too simple or too colorful, there wasn't a middle ground.

A month had passed since that day they found All Might's secret and Izuku had been doing nothing but training, either his power or his body in that gym, many times he ended up too exhausted but was getting used to it. Even in the dreamscape he kept practicing this one move until she approved of him using it outside.

He was able to figure it out by watching his mom using her quirk one time while activating 'Soul eyes' and noticing how flames appeared on her hand and on the object she was holding, after that it was a matter to realize he needed to let his power flow through his body. That was step one.

Step two was to master it.

Izuku grunting in effort made her shift her attention back to him. From head to toe an aura of azure covered him, blue embers flickering here and there around his body and when he opened his eyes she saw how they changed into a turquoise color.

She stood up and regarded him with a hand on her hip. "Ready?" His answer was a nod and a smile on his face. "Then…" In a blink she was in front of him, hovering over the ground and pocked Izuku's forehead with a finger, the bright white eyes and her own aura being the telltale of her using the same move. "Tag!" In another blur of speed she was gone from the hill, Izuku in hot pursuit yet he was slower in comparison.

Even then, Izuku knew she was holding back just to give him a bit of possibility and that was barely one percent.

While they were at their little game, she hovering above the ground and he running, Ahri change the scenario in random intervals, first was down the hill where he pick up a lot of speed, then across a rocky terrain in which he had to be careful on his footsteps, later they were in the middle of a jungle where he used the trees to bounce.

Point was, Ahri was forcing him to be mindful of his surroundings and thinking on his feet if something came out of nowhere.

Changing velocity, climbing, jumping and so on were involved in these 'games' and drove Izuku in a state of near exhaustion, every fiber of his being feeling the burn.

Yet the smile on his face did not wave, feeling the rush of the wind hitting his body, seeing everything from high altitude if he jumped far enough and the adrenaline pumping in his being was…

It felt just right. And he could help the laugh of pure excitement from coming out, once again forgetting the point of the race.

Ahri did hear his joy, and she smiled fondly, content knowing he was enjoying this.

She stopped in the middle of another forest where the branches of the trees twisted in uncanny ways, their leaves of magenta and white bark helped sell the image of a cursed terrain.

After a moment, Izuku came into the clearing, sweating buckets and gasping for air, taking barely one step and then laying on the floor. It was amusing to see him getting tired even if they were inside his mind.

Obviously he didn't gain anything physical with this kind of training, but rather mentally, by working his reflex and decision making.

They also worked on his sneaking skill, and boy he was clumsy sometimes, but the moment he got the gist of it he was able to understand better and now knew the basics. His school was a good testing ground for this, if he was able to hide his presence even with his tail drawing the attention from others it meant he had the basics down.

Her smile dropped and a frown crossed her face, she had been thinking about a method for him to gain experience in combat.

That kid, Mirio, did make the offer to spar with him any time, but between their own training and Izuku's fear to hurt someone unnecessary he never took it.

He needs to get rid of that hesitation in using his powers to fight back, it wasn't really his fault, everyone it's like that at first, especially someone like Izuku who values life a lot.

Ironically enough, she was hesitant in putting him through it, most likely he would be upset at her. But it was a needed step for him.

Taking a deep breath, she talked while walking towards him, seemingly he was getting his energy back, now standing up on shaking legs and hands on his knees. "You have been doing well so far, Izuku." She commented, and then smiled at him. "I'm proud of you."

That made him raise his head so fast he almost dislocated his neck, both eyes opened wide, mouth agape and words falling to form in his head. "Do… Do you mean that?" He asked in a small voice, the suddenness of her words caught him off guard.

She then crouched, their eyes at the same level, and he could see the seriousness in her face though the smile never wavered. "I do mean it, Izuku. You have been working yourself to the bone this past month, always enthusiastic in learning more about your powers and you made good progress in our stealth lessons." She spoke in a soft tone and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I admit I had my doubts about my teaching abilities, it's the first time I do this sort of thing, but with you as my student it has been a lot more rewarding than I expected at first. I don't get what's wrong with your teachers at that school, you're an excellent student."

Pride wasn't a concept Izuku was familiar with, never felt he had given someone else a reason to feel that about him. He never did anything outstanding for someone to tell him something similar.

He vaguely remembers his dad saying something familiar years ago.

So, for that, the bubbling feeling inside his chest was unknown to him, but the moisture in his eyes was not.

Izuku tried to form a sentence but it only came out as his words tripping over others and a sniff at the end, then he tried to wipe away the tears with his arms.

"I'm so-"

"You don't have to apologize for having feelings, Izuku." She gently cut him off. "I'm not going to berate you for showing them, either."

That made him stop his actions, letting some tears run free down on his cheeks, and for a moment there was silence between them. Until he broke it.

"Can…" Izuku spoke, hesitant about what he wanted to ask her. He extended his arms a little towards her, his eyes looking at the ground. "Can I?"

That caught her off guard, really not expecting such a request from him and for a second she felt locked in place, not knowing how to react at all.

She wasn't exactly a stranger to show affection through contact but the only times she did that was with Yuisah and Yasuo, and that was a time ago. But seeing Izuku in need of comfort and, on top of it, he was asking her, brought a bit of warmth to her soul.

"Of course, I don't see why not." She spread her arms to welcome him, and without thinking too much about it, he got closer and embraced her, face on her shoulder and let some tears out. And she didn't mind rubbing circles on his back with one hand and ruffling his hair with the other, their tails surroundings them joining in the hug.

He kept forgetting he was still a kid, so doing this was good for him.

She wondered, if this action was for his comfort and need, why did she feel her eyes getting a bit wet? Her throat closing a bit and the warmth inside her being more intense? As if she got a piece she missed all this time?

Maybe she did need a hug, too.

After they calmed down, Ahri decided to bring up what she had in mind the moment they broke the embrace.

"Izuku," She called and he looked up at her. "Remember that time when I talked about Yasuo, Braum, Illaoi, Sarah and Pyke and showed you how they look through my memories?" He nodded and she pressed on. "Well, it turns out we can interact with these projections rather than just looking at them, and you could use them to get a bit of fighting experience here."

"Wait, really?" He asked, surprised by this new found method.

"Indeed, this will be a test of sorts, understand? There is no 'failure', the only thing I want from you is to put into use everything you have been learning this past month. After I deemed you ready enough, I'll teach you a move that's like my signature." She then proceeded to raise her hand and something started to form on her palm.

Backing down, Izuku noticed how Ahri was gathering her magic into an orb of energy. This blue sphere of power keeps spinning in place, hovering over her palm up and down. It was as big as a head and he could tell it was way too different from the normal fireball.

Did he just imagine it or there was a fox made of this energy inside?

"Like it?" She asked with a smug smile, to show off she started to bounce the ball on the ground as if it was a basketball, then did an arm roll and to finish off she started to pass it between her tails.

As he watched fascinated, Izuku made a mental note about how the sphere seemed more physical than the fireball.

She then made the sphere disappear. "This one will be a hard one, since you need to honed your flames into a sphere like the one I just showed you. But it is one of the most useful things in my arsenal, in any case, I have to talk about the test and who you will be fighting."

Both his enthusiasm and shoulders slumped. "Oh, right. So… Against wh-"

His answer came as the sound of an explosion going off from a distance, and for a second his whole body was locked into place. The strands of his hair standing up as well as the fur of his tails. His flight or fight instinct kicked in.

Obviously running away was the more tempting option right now.

Ahri felt guilt groping her the moment he looked at her with fear in his eyes, the pupils barely visible. "Listen, Izuku, I get you're scared right now. But you can't always run away and living in fear is one of the worst things you can do, I know that myself." She didn't flinch when another explosion went off, it sounded closer, but he did. "I'm no hero, but anyone set to make good in any world will have to face the darkness of it. How can you confront it if you let fear control you?" A third explosion was heard and the light from the blast could be seen far in the trees. "I'm not asking you to be fearless,"

The fourth explosion went off and somebody came from it into the clearing like a bullet, he landed on his feet while crouching and smoke was coming from his hands.

"I want you to be able to stand up when the time is needed."

Izuku took a step back the moment his eyes landed on the figure of Kacchan, though he looked a lot different from the one he knew. This one was wearing some sort of light plate armor, enough to cover vital points over his body but it didn't get in the way of his movements and wouldn't weigh him down. As if he was a soldier instead of just a student from middle school.

Even with those differences, the angry crimson eyes of his remained.

Ahri didn't miss the raised eyebrow. "Honestly, if he was born into Runeterra with his powers he would be clearly from Noxus, of course that is my very biased opinion." She shrugged.

Izuku, forgetting for a moment the fear gripping his body, blinked twice at that. He knew the meaning behind Ahri giving Kacchan an association with that nation. It wasn't good but there was nothing he could do about it.

His mind snapped back towards the angry blond as a battle roar was heard from him, the fifth explosion going off and Katsuki went towards Izuku at neck breaking speed. "Deeeeeeeeeku!" He shouted, right arm raised for the first attack.

Thinking quickly, Izuku gathered enough fire inside him and shot the stream of blue flames towards Katsuki, but mainly to cover himself.

Katsuki used another explosion to propel himself upward in an arc, avoiding the attack by a hair and keeping his original objective of demolishing his opponent with a blast.

But his eyes became wide when he noticed how his target was gone. "The hell?" He cursed the moment his feet hit the ground, the same place the nerd was a second ago. Where did he go?

Behind one of the twisted trees, Izuku stood there, back against the bark and trying to regain his breath.

"Calm down, Izuku, just think." He did not dare to try and peek to see what Kacchan was doing, the possibility of him looking this way was enough to cross that off. He needed to formulate a strategy.

A frontal assault would be suicide, that basically Kacchan's playing field. What Izuku needed was to force his own terms on the battlefield, or so Ahri had said.

"Remember, hit and run, either look for an opening or force one and end the fight with a decisive strike." His breath became more controlled, finally able to think with clarity. Putting his hands together, he created a fireball and let it float in place.

Something Izuku discovered about his flames was that he could control if they stayed in place or not, and even could power them up at distance (and doing so make them generate a bright light). That gives him an idea.

"Show yourself, coward!" Taunted Kacchan in a scream while blowing up a random three with one hand. The fact he was being loud was an advantage for Izuku.

With silent steps, Izuku moved to another tree and summoned three fireballs and let them there, and did so with four more behind the first tree.

Instead of hiding behind another tree, Izuku decided to climb until he reached one branch and use the leaves as camouflage. With his mind he put more power into the first fireball he made and it started to grow and glowed a bright blue.

As he expected, Kacchan noticed the light coming from behind the tree, and with an explosion he launched himself towards it, hand ready to blow something to pieces.

"Gotcha n-" Katsuki cut himself off when noticed what was the source of the light.

At that moment, he realized he fell into a trap.

By instinct he used another explosion to launch himself skyward and in the moment he looked back he noticed how that one fireball split itself into three smaller ones and started to fly towards him.

"Fuck!" Katsuki swore. "Fucking fuck!" He shouted seeing more of those fireballs to his right. "Fucking fucked fuck!" He cursed, noting more projectiles to his left, he was surrounded.

His only option was to keep going upwards.

"Idiot, idiot!" Izuku chastised himself, still behind the leaves while watching Kacchan being chased by the fireballs, the sound of explosions getting more and more far away.

The plan was to hit Kacchan while he was still distracted which would stun him enough to then bombard him with the rest of the fireballs. But no, he chickened at the last second.

"Ahri was right." He muttered under his breath, hands clenched in fists. How can he face the darkness if he lets himself be paralyzed by fear?

He inhaled and exhaled, trying to formulate another plan. The same trick is not going to work twice but he still had the advantage of not having been found, yet.

Yes, this can still work.

"Die!" Was heard across the forest and it was followed by one of the biggest explosions Izuku had ever seen in his life, for a moment any shadow was banished by the angry light of that blast and he was nearly knocked over by the wind it generated.

"Did he really need to make that for some fireballs?" Izuku hissed while he covered his ears, the ring he was hearing being the most unpleasant thing in the world, he still wasn't used to loud noises but doubted he would ever adapt to freaking explosions.

But there was a good side to this, the more Kacchan used his quirk, the closer he was to his limit and his arms would start to hurt. That's the theory he thought after searching about some emitter quirks that were focused on the arms.

The bad (and honestly painful) side is, if he was right, it meant that Kacchan would produce more sweat due to the overwhelming pain and his explosion would be a lot more deadly.

A double edge situation.

Deciding on a course of actions, Izuku channeled 'Spirit Rush' through his body and leaped from branch to branch leaving very small fireballs in his wake, they will work as metaphorical crumbs of bread for Kacchan to follow.

It was two minutes exactly when Izuku started to hear explosions getting closer and the angry swears of Kacchan. Did he swear that much or was Ahri's 'very biased opinion'?

In any case, Izuku pumped more power into his body to go faster and, hopefully, force Kacchan to use his quirk to its limits.

The disadvantage of this move was that it burned through his reserves more than any of the others in his arsenal, just meant he still needed to work on it.

"Deku!" Came the furious shout of Kacchan, in hot pursuit and getting closer by every second it passed. Each explosion was bigger than the last.

Izuku clenched his teeth in pain, his ears starting to feel as if they were about to bleed at any moment. Worse was the fear clenching his heart but despite all of that he carried on.

Once his feet touched the next branch he put more power into his body and started charging flames inside his belly.

But instead of keeping running, he turned around, facing Kacchan, and leaped towards him with his right fist raised.

Due to not expecting the action, Katsuki wasn't able to avoid the punch at the face he got, stopping both boys in the middle of the air.

In any other circumstances, Katsuki would have come on top by instantly using his quirk to blow Izuku up, but the moment he tried to use his arms he found himself meeting a world full of pain and the palms of his hands being the center of it.

Taking advantage of it, Izuku opened his mouth, and from it came a stream of raging blue flames that hit Kacchan at point black range, covering his whole body.

After a second the flames dissipated and there wasn't a trace of Kacchan, logically the projection just disappeared after taking a critical hit.

As gravity took place and Izuku started to fall towards the ground, he made a mental note about not using that attack on anyone unless necessary.

Instead of hitting the hard dirt below, Izuku fell, back first, on a big pillow filled with feathers. Feeling the softness (and specially the coldness) of it made him groan out of pure relaxation, the adrenaline of the fight leaving his body but mental tiredness took place instead and for that he closed his eyes.

Without having to turn his head, Izuku knew that Ahri was also there. He took a deep breath. "So?"

Ahri was with her knees on the pillow, smiling softly. "You did good, actually. While your initial strategy failed, which can happen as many first plans don't survive the encounter with the enemy, you adapted to the circumstances and even used the strength of your opponent against him. Your last action was a bit of a gamble and I would call you reckless but as long as it works…" She shrugged at the end.

Izuku chuckled at that, not having words to argue against that.

"But I meant it, Izuku, you did good. I'm proud."

That made Izuku open his eyes and saw her smile, which he answered in kind.

"I have a good teacher, after all."

After waking up, Ahri suggested -more like, ordered- that he take this Saturday easy and just relax which he agreed strongly. The fight against that noxian version of Kacchan exhausted him beyond belief. 

He spent the day by writing a bit in his notebook, taking a walk with his mom in the afternoon, and after dinner he was getting ready to watch another series with Ahri, one about a pink haired guy that seemed to use magic and was a 'dragon slayer', whatever that implies.

But before he could lay down on his bed, Ahri spoke.

"Izuku, is it just me or there is something weird around here? "

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, yet he tried to sense things around his room, and it felt as if someone was watching him but obviously couldn't see them. His window was closed with the curtains covering it so that option was out.

Izuku narrowed his eyes and then activated 'Soul Eyes', finally seeing the source of their discomfort which made him take a step back and put his guard up.

In front of him was floating a white fire that indicated there was a soul in his room.

Izuku quickly looked towards the direction of his mom's bedroom and to his surprise there was only her soul, the other white flame he assumed belonged to his dad wasn't there.

Realization struck him, then he slowly looked back at the soul -his dad?- in front of him, trying to think about any other possibilities to avoid the twist that is starting to form inside his belly.

But he drew none.

With a trembling hand, Izuku reached to touch the soul and the moment his finger made contact the flame started to grow in size and change shape, starting to look more humanoid.

After a few seconds, in front of Izuku was a man of black hair and sharp green eyes, only wearing a plain white shirt and pants, flickers of white flames could be seen around his body.

And Izuku couldn't believe his eyes, in front of him was a man he thought had gone a time ago, that he couldn't never be able to see him ever again.

Yet, he was here.

"D-dad? Is… is that you?" Izuku asked in a shaking breath, his own heart trembling at the possibility of all this being a sick joke.

Hiashi smiled fondly at him, there he knew it was actually him. "It's me, Izuku. I'm home." 

Chapter Text

Even if Izuku can see him, his own mind was still slowly processing the fact that his dad was in front of him, many emotions crossing his mind and as many words to say, but those were stuck in his throat and his mouth refused to cooperate with him.

"I-dad, you- wha?" Izuku tried to breathe, his chest feeling heavy and constrained, eyes burning but nothing would stop the tears from running free down on his face.

With shaking hands, Izuku tried to touch his dad's shoulder but it went through him, a grim reminder that he was still dead.

A reminder of the night when a police officer knocked on their door with bad news, the despair and sorrow his mom and he felt that kept echoing to this day, the empty third seat in birthdays, Christmas and new years.

All of those times they went to visit his grave and put flowers on it.

The empty hole in their lives.

Regardless, Izuku put both his arms around the ethereal form of his dad to simulate an embrace.

"Dad… We missed you, mom and I…" He choked with the words he was unable to tell, too overwhelmed by his emotions to do so.

"Shh Izuku… I know… I know. I saw how much it affected my passing, so don't even try to apologize. Just let it out." Hisashi said in a soft and soothing voice, the one he used whenever Izuku was scared by a nightmare as a child.

And it made Izuku feel so small, so fragile, as if he could barely hold himself together yet it meant he was with someone he loved, someone who wouldn't judge or berate him. Because his dad was a pillar he could hold for support.

One he missed for so long.

So he let his sadness, sorrow, relief and joy in the form of his tears and cry.

Worrying about your child is what a parent does, or that's what Inko believed in that moment years ago when she saw the small form of her baby, the second she had him in her arms and noticed how fragile, yet precious, he was.

So, the moment she heard the cries of her teenage son coming from his room, the alarm inside her head went off and threw any idea about sleeping through the window to check on him and comfort him.

Oddly enough, her mind went to all those times. The same scene happened when Izuku was old enough to sleep in his own room but cried due to nightmares or just wanted to sleep with them.

And she found herself in front of Izuku's room door, about to knock on it and ask what was wrong. But stopped dead in her tracks when she heard him saying some words.

"Dad…? I don't get it… how? I mean… how is it possible I'm talking to you now?" Asked Izuku between sobs.

For a second, she felt as if her own heart stopped, her mind trying to process what Izuku said. 'Dad'? Does he mean Hisashi? But he died years ago in that car accident (she couldn't stop her eyes from getting wet whenever she remembered that) so what was he talking about?

With many questions in her mind, Inko abruptly opened the door, only to see her son facing empty air with puffy eyes that also were ablaze with those flames of his.

She did remember what that meant, that he could see the souls of others, so that included…

She shook her head, not wanting to hope just to have it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

"Izuku?" She internally cursed the trembling in her voice, emotions always got the best of her even if she needed to be strong for her son. "Were you crying? What's wro-"

But her words were cut off by Izuku hugging her tight and she quickly returned it. They rocked back and forth, any questions could wait, her baby needed her.

"I'm fine, mom, it's just, let me show you." He said, then proceeded to touch her forehead with the tip of one of his tails.

She was about to ask but that was interrupted by the figure that appeared out of nowhere, gray clothes and a blazing image.

Her late husband, father of her son and love of her life was in front of them, smiling at her in that loving manner he always did, one she missed so dearly.

There was only one thing she could do.

Just before she fainted, she heard the voice of both her husband and son calling for her.

"Honestly? We should've expected this to happen." Ahri commented dryly as Izuku carried his mom and put her on his bed, apparently seeing her husband as a ghost wasn't something her heart could handle.

"I know! But I just wanted-"

"Calm down, Izuku. I understand, I really do." She soothed him. Seeing a loved one again after their death wasn't something many get a chance of so of course emotions would be all over the place.

Izuku let out a long sigh, trying to organize his thoughts. "All right… first off," he turned to his dad who was also checking on Inko. "How?"

Still keeping his eyes on the unconscious form of his wife, Hisashi answered. "I honestly don't know, when you discovered that trick with your eyes I figured that you could, in some way or another, interact with the souls of the dead." He then brought his hand to his chin, in thought. Apparently death couldn't rid old habits. "Probably you should ask that guest of yours."

"Yeah, Ahri sho-" Both his words and mind were cut off for a moment when Izuku registered what his dad said. "How do you know about her?" His confusion was evident in his voice and inside him Ahri was feeling the same.

"So her name is Ahri? Curious." Hisashi shook his head. "I, obviously, didn't know before my death, in a way we ghosts can see the souls of others and I could see within you two souls instead of one. I got nothing by asking around, just 'when he was four a stray soul went inside him'. Not even a hint about what that meant, then you grow some ears and tails for reasons nobody can explain." He shrugged.

"Asking around? So there are other ghosts?" Izuku asked, looking around to find them.

"Indeed, if a person dies with regret in their hearts, their souls will wander the earth until they resolve those unfinished business and pass to the other side. Whatever that implies, nobody really knows. About the others, they have been keeping their distance from you."

"Why?"

"Because they are wary. Your situation never happened before and not even death will ride the human nature of fearing what is unknown." Hisashi then finally turned towards his son. "But don't worry, eventually they will warm towards you. Regardless if we lack a body to begin with."

Izuku wasn't sure what to feel about the dead seeing him as some kind of oddity that required wariness.

Before Izuku could ask another thing, they heard Inko grunting and apparently about to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed she wasn't in her room but instead in her son's bedroom.

"Wha…?" Inko blinked twice then looked towards Izuku, his eyes still on fire. "Izuku? What happened? Why am I in your bed?"

"Well… uh." Izuku really didn't know how to approach this. "Do you remember anything before you fainted?"

"I… I remember coming here because you were crying and then you showed me…" Inko trailed off at the end, her brain playing again what happened just a few minutes ago and her eyes widened in shock. "That… that wasn't a dream, was it?"

Instead of answering that question, Izuku moved the tip of one of his tails towards his mom, but stopped just before touching her forehead, his face showing a frown of concern as if asking a question.

Inko, understanding her son, slowly nodded at him.

The moment she felt the fur of his tail touching her forehead, Inko could see the flaming figure of Hisashi, still standing there and smiling at her.

Seeing him again made the tears return to her eyes, and many words stuck in her throat.

Except for one. "Hisashi…?" Her trembling voice was able to ask.

"It had been a while, Inko." Hisashi said in a soft tone, bringing up his hand towards Inko's face, but unfortunately he couldn't touch her as he used to.

Regardless, Inko understood the action all the same. She raised one hand to 'touch' Hisashi's hand while looking at him with both tears and love in her eyes. "It really had been a while."

And Izuku watched his parents being reunited once again, wanting to say a lot of things but the way they looked at each other was more than enough.

"I'm happy this happened… but I still didn't understand how this is possible…" Were Izuku's thoughts about this phenomenon.

"I think I know why this is happening, not entirely sure mind you. But if I'm going to explain my theory I need you to tell your mom about me, about everything." And before Izuku could argue, Ahri added. 'Your dad is already aware of me, so either he tells her or you will. There's no way to postpone it."

Izuku could only sigh internally. "Is not that I don't want her knowing you, but how can I explain this without sounding crazy? Sure dad could back me up, but it would be much better if they could talk with you."

"Mmm…" Ahri hummed, and Izuku heard the snap of fingers as if she got an idea. "If we bring them to the dreamscape?"

For a moment, Izuku's brain stopped working. "Can we do that?"

"Well, not sure but why not? Just make sure you are touching them before I try this, alright?"

"I hope this works." Then he shifted his attention towards his parents who were still watching each other with those eyes full of love.

Izuku idly wondered if he would find someone who looked at him in that way.

Pushing that unnecessary thought aside, he tried to call for his parents though he felt as if he shouldn't.

"Mom, dad?" Izuku said, and both his parents flinched as if they forgot, even for a second, that their son was there as well.

Apparently they did if the sheepish looks from them were anything to go by.

Before they could say anything, Izuku spoke again. "There is someone I want you to meet… just, promise me you're not going to freak out and let us explain everything, alright?" He rubbed his neck with his right hand, not entirely sure how his parents would react to the revelation.

"Someone? Who?" Asked Inko, worried that it was some kind of big secret and she was sure her heart wouldn't handle another surprise.

"It's a long story, but I will explain everything! I promise, just beard with me." Izuku said, the tail that was touching his mom's forehead wrapped around her wrist and another one went to 'touch' his dad. "And again, please don't freak out."

"Izuku, you should know that telling her not to freak out is going to make it worse." Hisashi said in a deadpan tone, getting a glare from his wife which only made him smile.

Just before they could start with their playful bickering, Izuku closed his eyes and gave Ahri the signal.

"Alright Ahri, we're ready."

And for the family, everything went black.

When Hisashi opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of a field, flowers of various colors and forms in full bloom at his feet. He breathed and smelled the sweet aroma in the air.

"...Wait." The word was whispered, and he could feel the action of speaking in his throat, something he hadn't felt in many years. Then he proceeded to touch around his body.

The softness of his clothes, his hand pressing his chest and the touch on his face, Hisashi could feel it all again. And that realization only made his shock greater.

He put his arms down, mouth agape and eyes widened, and he was able to feel every single move his body made.

He was supposed to be dead, his body had been buried years ago so… how?

"Hisashi?"

Hisashi heard the voice of his wife calling him, and it was like music to his ears. Turning around he saw her walking towards him, looking at him as if he grew a second head.

"You look… alive." Inko said with hesitation, not sure if that was the right words since she knew for a fact he was dead.

Yet, Hisashi felt as if he was among the living once again. But he needs solid proof of that.

Without much thought, Hisashi cupped Inko's face between his palms and could feel the softness of her skin.

As well the heat rising from her cheeks.

"Hi-Hisashi?!" Inko shrieked in embarrassment, startled by the sudden action of her husband.

"I can touch you…" Hisashi whispered those words, surprised and hardly believing it, his eyes wide open. Then a huge smile appeared on his face as he hugged her and picked her up. "I can actually touch you!" He exclaimed while spinning around and laughing.

It took a second for Inko to realize what he meant and hug him back, tears of joy starting to come out of her eyes.

Hisashi finally stopped in place, looked at her face once again and did something he hadn't done in so many years.

He kissed her.

It was just a small peck on the lips, but for the two of them it meant a lot more.

Izuku watched the scene unfold with a smile, feeling happy for his parents. Ahri was at his side, smiling just like him.

But he could tell the longing she was feeling behind her eyes.

"And what with the new clothes? First time I see you wearing something different." Izuku asked, noticing the white jacket and the long pink skirt, she even had her hair made up in a braid falling on her back and some pink ribbons as accessories.

Ahri turned her head at him, her smile turning more mischievous. "Well, it's the first time you're presenting a girl to your parents, the last thing I can do is to be presentable for the occasion. How do I look?" By her voice, it was obvious she was teasing him.

Izuku rolled his eyes at that. It was funny in a way how used he got to Ahri's playfulness, before something like that would have turned him into a stuttering mess.

"You look pretty."

Ahri crossed her arms, head high and smiling with pride. "That's the thing little fox, I'm always pretty. But in any case you may want to call your parents over, I set up a table and the food is going to get cold." True to her words, there was a tree stump surrounded by four chairs, tea cups and various pastries can be seen on the improvised table.

Just like when they meet for the first time.

"The food never gets cold in here, though." Izuku remarked, but all the same he walked to his parents still in their little world. "Mom, dad?"

And both of them flinched, turning at him looking like deers caught in headlights and faces red as tomatoes.

For some reason, he found the situation a bit ironic.

"Izuku! Ah, well- your mom and I…" Hisashi fumbled with his words while putting Inko down.

"Dad, you're acting as if I'm going to scold you for kissing mom." Izuku chuckled while shaking his head. "Come on, she is waiting." He turned around and walked again towards the table.

Both Inko and Hisashi followed him, not before sharing a look as if asking each other what's going on.

Then they found themselves in front of a tree stump being used as a table and apparently had been set up for a tea party, on one of the chairs sat a black haired woman. She had fox ears on top of her head and nine tails behind her.

Just like their son, which shocked them greatly.

Before any of them began with their questions, Izuku spoke. "Mom and dad, her name is Ahri." Then turned towards her. "Ahri, they're my parents Midoriya Inko and Midoriya Hisashi." With that said he sat down on one of the chairs. "I know you two have a lot of questions, and I'll answer them so please take a seat."

"It's nice to meet both of you properly, Inko-san, Hisashi-san." Ahri said in a polite tone.

Once again the couple shared a look before sitting on the chairs, confusion evident on their faces.

"I'm sorry if this sounds rude of me but… where are we?" Asked Hisashi, not shy of hiding his weariness.

"This place is Izuku's dreamscape, basically a space inside his mind."

"If this is inside Izuku, why are you here to begin with?" It was Inko's turn to ask.

This time Izuku answered. "Why she is here it's also the reason for my powers awakening a month ago, it goes like this…"

And so Izuku told them about everything, Ahri being from another world where magic exists, her soul being put into his body for unknown reasons ten years ago, the fact he was apparently half vastaya and what comes with it and explain in detail about his training with her.

And even, with a little insistence from Ahri, about how he could eat the souls of people although he hadn't done it nor hadn't felt any kind of carving so far.

When everything was told, Inko had her eyes wide open, mouth agape trying to say something about it meanwhile Hisashi furrowed his eyebrows and was biting his lower lip.

Izuku himself was feeling nervous about how his parents would react to this, he cast a glance towards Ahri and she wore a blank expression, waiting for their response. Somehow that eases him a bit.

The first to say something was Hisashi. "This… is a lot to take in." He whispered, then narrowed his eyes at Ahri. "And how can we be sure your intention to help my son is true? For all I know you would want to take over his body."

"Or something else." Inko added with a frown. "Sorry but the idea of you being alone with my son while he sleeps is…"

Izuku stood up from his seat. "Dad, mom! That's not-" But he was cut off by Ahri who raised her hand.

"It's fine Izuku, they are concerned about you so it's understandable if they are suspicious about me." She lowered her hand as Izuku sat back. "Truthfully I can only give my word, as meaningless as it is for both of you, that my best interest lay in guiding Izuku to handle his powers the best he can because I know how troublesome it can be by experience." She took a sip from her cup. "In the end, I'm the only one who can teach him as the situation is… abnormal."

"She is right." Said Izuku. "She had been nothing but kind and helpful to me, besides, what could have been the other option? Ignore her?" He shook his head, that would've been cruel on his part and was thankful he didn't choose that. "In all honesty, meeting her is one of the best things that has happened to me."

"What?" Asked both of his parents.

For her part, Ahri did a double take thinking she misheard him, sure, she did know that Izuku was grateful to her and enjoyed her company but hearing him saying it out loud was another thing.

Uh, maybe Izuku was rubbing off on her if the wetness in her eyes was of any indication.

"It's true." He said as he turned his head towards Ahri. "It has been only a month but… since meeting you, I feel… stronger, not only because I'm getting better with my powers but also I start to believe in myself and in my dream. Before it looked too far away and many times I almost gave up. Now I know I can actually do it and that's thanks to you, Ahri, you give me hope." His smile was as sincere as his words, holding nothing but the truth. Turning his head towards his parents he added. "I know this whole situation is unusual, and that's an understatement, but I just want for you to get along with her since she is important to me."

When Izuku finished, there was silence, Inko and Hisashi taking his words in.

Inko did notice that after Izuku got his quirk he started to look content, happier even, and she crossed as him being joyful to finally having powers just like everyone else. But now it seems there was more to it than she thought. 

The woman- Ahri, she corrected, seemed to care for her son and Izuku was trusting her. Besides, what can she do? It's not like she could forbid Izuku to ever see her again or something, what with their souls being practically linked and all.

She cast a glance toward her husband who looked back at her and nodded, then both looked back at Ahri and bowed their heads. "We apologize for our accusations towards you, Ahri. It wasn't kind of us to jump to conclusions."

"Apologies accepted, but like I say before I understand where you two came from, so no hard feelings." She took another sip of her tea, after putting it down she continued. "Let's put that behind us, shall we? Now I'm sure you have questions about why Izuku is able to interact with the dead, I think it is due to the nature of our powers and the role vastayas play in Runeterra. We are a 'bridge' between the realms of spirits and the living, but you could say there was always a bridge to begin with since even a human could look for ways to interact with the spirit realm, regardless of how dangerous it is to use such power.

But here? As far as I can tell there wasn't a bridge to connect both realms." She turned to Izuku, his attention on her. "Until you awaken your powers, a never seen combination between a genetic mutation and the magic of another world, turning you into the bridge between both realms of this universe. Talking with the dead is a part of it."

Izuku could only nod, eyes wide open and mouth agape, to that explanation.

"I…" His words were lost inside his mind, his eyes fell onto his hands as if he would find the answers by doing so.

He didn't know how to react at all to that, does that mean he played an important role? But what was he supposed to do? There were rules he needed to follow? He did say he felt more confident in himself but that was starting to be crushed by the weight of a, seemingly, important responsibility.

"Hey." Ahri said in a whisper, putting a hand on Izuku's shoulder, calling his attention. "You're feeling overwhelmed, right? And it's fine that you do, it means you're actually taking it seriously. Just remember you aren't alone in this, and I'm not talking about me." She nodded towards the other end of the table and Izuku looked at his parents who were smiling at him, the tension that started to build on him disappeared.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Wanting to change the topic, he looked toward his dad. "Dad? I wanted to ask, since I imagine you have been watching over us since your death, but you seemed to not know about Ahri or, at least, her name before this night. Whenever I'm alone I tend to talk with her out loud and have said her name more than once, I thought you might have heard me." And Izuku wondered if his dad was aware of All Might and One For All.

"I mean, you're not wrong but since you learned to use your fire on your eyes I tried to not get too close, I wasn't sure if you actually could talk to me and… just didn't know how to approach you, I couldn't just say 'hey son, it has been a while, how are you?' you know?" He shook his head. "And whenever you went to school or that beach I would stay in the house instead to follow you."

"Izuku? When you talked about being a… 'vastaya' you said something about shape-shifting, how does that work? Can you just turn into anything?" Asked Inko.

"Sort of? It's very limited since it takes a lot of my energy and takes a lot of time if I try something too radical." Before their eyes, the black of Izuku's hair took over completely, not a sign of any green and the color of his eyes changed to amber. "I found out that by knowing more about what I want to change, like what makes hair have a certain color, I can speed up the process and save energy." Then he changed back to his normal self. "I was planning to search about the skeleton, bones and its structure so I can turn my hands into claws. And also about vocal chords, I'm curious if I can change my voice." His excitement was obvious if the wagging of his tails was of any indication.

Both Inko and Hisashi blinked twice at the same time, not knowing what to say about such ability.

Well, Hisashi had something to tell. "Son? Your powers are kind of all over the place."

Izuku shrugged at that. "You're telling me. But I like them."

Suddenly Ahri looked up, Inko and Hisashi watched her with curiosity while Izuku already knew what that meant.

"You see, mom, dad, time in here work in a different way than outside, Ahri can tell how much it has passed since we came here and probably is already morning." Izuku explained.

"Indeed it is," said Ahri, looking back at them. "We can talk later but for now." She raised her hand to snap her fingers.

"Wait-"

But before Inko or Hisashi could stop her, everything went black.

Izuku snapped his eyes open and discovered the inconvenience of going into the dreamscape without making sure he was in a comfortable position. He was still standing when they went there and now half of his body was laying on the bed, sideways, and the other was hanging.

And it made him feel so sore. Groaning he pushed himself up to see his mom was also getting up from an uncomfortable position too, he could still feel his dad being around. Stretching his limbs he activated 'Soul Eyes' and could see his dad's soul floating at his side, now back to his flame-like form. Then he touched him with one of his tails and another went to wrap around his mom's wrist.

"We should do this more often from now on." Commented Izuku.

"Please tell me you didn't mean about the bomb you and Ahri threw at us with all of the revelations." Said Hisashi with an eye roll, both arms crossed.

"She sure is something, it would be good to talk with her in a more casual context." Said Inko, also stretching.

"We can do this again every Sunday if you two are alright with it?" Asked Izuku and both of his parents nodded.

"I would love that. Meanwhile I'll ask the others if they know anything about what 'bridge' Ahri was talking about." With that and saying goodbye, the form of Hisashi went through the floor as if it wasn't there in the first place.

Sighing, Inko gave Izuku an arm-hug while her eyes were on the spot her husband was a moment ago. Izuku on his part leaned more on his mom. "This was really a crazy night, Izuku. But we could see your dad again so I can't complain." They remained like that for a few moments until she broke the hug and started to walk out of the room. "I'll make breakfast, you get ready for school." Izuku nodded at that while he deactivated the fire on his eyes.

Even hearing that he had to go to school wasn't enough to put a dent in his good mood, being able to see his family reunited once again and them accepting Ahri, even if a bit, it made his heart soar.

But before he could prepare for the day ahead, Izuku felt another presence just like his dad, but it wasn't him.

"What the…" He thought and activated his 'Soul Eyes' once again to see another flaming soul in front of him, without giving it much thought he touched the floating flame with his hand.

In a matter of seconds the image of a fourteen years old girl was formed, she had short brown hair and freckles all over her face and she was wearing the same shirt and pants as his dad.

"Hello?" He tentatively asked.

"So it was true, you can talk with us." Said the girl, looking at him with both surprise and… hope for some odd reason. "Hi! My name is Sayori, just Sayori and I want to ask for your help!" She blurted out.

Izuku blinked twice at that, not expecting that. "Uh… help with what, exactly? I would gladly assist you but I need to know how I can." He was training to be a hero after all, helping people is what he should do.

Probably helping the dead would be one of his duties as a 'bridge'.

"Did Hisashi-ojisan tell you about how we will be on Earth until we finish our business?" After receiving a nod, she pressed on. "I want your help with mine! You see, I was killed and the killer hadn't been caught yet and I want that to change."

Izuku gulped at that, either because of the severity of her situation or how… casual she was talking about it.

"And… who killed you?"

Sayori frowned but Izuku could see in her eyes both hatred and betrayal.

"It was my… father." She replied with venom in her voice.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt the cold in his hands, the fire once again forming on the palm and fingers and taking the form of a ball, flicks of blaze showing now and then. He focused and tried to force the flames to take another form, a sphere to be more precise.

But instead he put more power into it, making it bigger and brighter, and once again he forced himself to dissipate the fireball and start one more time.

Izuku remembered when Ahri showed him the technique, she made that orb with such ease it was another reminder how big the gap between the two is, but the thought made him want to perfect this move instead of feeling frustrated with himself.

This time the fireball changed its shape and started to look more like an orb, but way too small. Ahri's orb maybe was the size of a basketball and this one was a pinball or even smaller.

With a grunt Izuku tried to push more power into it, thinking that maybe it would grow.

The moment it exploded on his face, sending him flying towards a tree and making his back feel a lot of pain, he realized he made a grave mistake.

"Fuck…" Izuku hissed under his breath, his body falling to the ground, why did progress have to be so painful?

Slowly he stood up, the aching pain in his back fading away. "Was that supposed to happen?" His question was to Ahri who was walking towards him.

"I think so, yes. The first time I tried this was when I was cornered by some people that had a… vastly opinion about vastayas, it didn't end pretty for them I can tell you that."

"What do you mean with-"

"Anyway," She cut him off, sitting on a log that formed in thin air while Izuku sat on the ground. "At least you are able to form an orb even if it's small so try to first get used to it, the less you take to make it the better. After that it is a matter of putting more power into it slowly otherwise it's going to blow up on your face again. And I'm being serious about the last point, you can bet your tails that I lost count of how many times I got blown away trying to make this."

Izuku did not even try to hide his chuckle at that mental image which made Ahri narrow her eyes at him.

"Yeah, laugh it up, hope you keep that when it happens to you a hundred times." That made him stop. "In any case, I want to talk about something else. Do you remember that memory I showed you for the first time? The one with the deer."

Hearing this, Izuku straightened his back, frowning a bit. "Yes, I do. What about it?"

For a moment, Ahri only looked him right in the eyes, as if trying to tell his future reactions. "What I did with the deer, manipulating its emotions to stop any actions, I want to teach you this since it's the first step to learn other two techniques." She leaned forward. "Izuku," She called since he averted his gaze. "I get that you're weary of this aspect of our kind of power, I won't force you I promise, but I need you to understand that you aren't a bad person for using them."

Slowly, Izuku looked back at Ahri, his frown deepened. "I understand that Ahri, my actions are what defines me and I want to learn but… give me a bit of time?"

Ahri smiled at that and nodded. "Just wanted to make sure, and like I say I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want. On another note, are you ready for tonight?"

"I believe so?" Izuku said as he stood up. "Never in all my life had passed through my head that I would act like a vigilante so I can send someone to jail and help a ghost."

"That's life for you."

It had been two weeks since Izuku's first encounter with Sayori, and when he asked how he was supposed to find her father he didn't expect her to reveal everything she knew about him.

Apparently, being dead didn't stop Sayori from checking her father's whereabouts, if anything she used that fact as an advantage since he couldn't sense her.

His name was Kusuke Yu, in his forties and working as a run of the mill salary man. His late wife, Yamada Kana (Sayori insisted on using Kana's maiden name instead of Kusuke), died giving birth and he didn't take it very well leading to pretty much ignoring Sayori almost all the time and killing her when she started to look too much like her dead mom.

Where did he hide the body? In his backyard of all places, buried under the dirt and make it look as if the little girl was kidnapped without leaving a trace which wasn't so far fetched since at the time there were reports of kids disappearing in the same way.

But it was a murder this time.

And Izuku had an idea of how to reveal Sayori's fate and who was the one that ended it.

It was risky and a bit reckless, even one could argue that Izuku didn't need to do it since he could use his powers to help Sayori to talk with an officer but he believed that the words of a ghost wouldn't be enough proof.

Sayori came to him for help and it was his duty to lend it.

To Aquamarine night patrols were a part of the job that truly raised his nerves and stress. No matter how many times he did one or walked the same route, still he felt on edge, always on alert for good or bad.

He almost jumped the moment his companion clasped a hand on his right shoulder.

"Man, you're a lot more tense than usual and that's saying something." Said Obsidian at his side, a shit-eating grin being visible unlike the rest of her face thanks to her helmet, which probably was a good thing in this moment because her expressions could get into his nerves a lot of times. He never knew why though.

"Just- never liked to walk around here at nights," Aquamarine said in a whisper. "I lived in this neighborhood with my parents while in high school, one day the daughter of one of the neighbors just… disappeared." He snapped his finger. "Just like that."

"Shit." Obsidian murmured, her smile dropping. "Poor kid, how old was she? I'm… assuming they never found her."

He nodded at that, frowning. "They didn't, and I think she was around eight… but there was something telling me it wasn't just any kidnapping." Noting her silence, he continued. "I had seen the girl from time to time on my way to school, just in passing and barely waving at her just like I did with everyone… but she looked… unhappy? I don't know… as far I knew the mother died giving birth and the father kept working and working, and after I heard of the kidnapping I couldn't help but think…"

"That the father was behind it?" She completed for him.

"Indeed, just a hunch but even after they dropped the case that man just… keep like usual, working and working, you could say it was his way to cope with such loss but…" He sighed deeply. "To me, it was as if he never cared." He shook his head, at the end of the day it was a baseless accusation. "His house is around the corner, actually."

But what they found wasn't just another empty street where at best a car passed through, in front of the house Aquamarine was talking about stood a figure cladded in black, or at least dark color since they couldn't tell, whoever they were had their sight on the house yet they didn't moved a muscle.

Giving his partner a side look, Aquamarine decided to get closer to the strange, might as well be just some drunkard. He got the better look and they seemed to wear a hood over their head but by the shape it was obvious this person had animal ears of some kind but he couldn't tell which one. And they seemed to be a bit chubby.

"Excuse me-"

Whatever he was about to say died in his throat as the stranger turned at him, the person was wearing a white mask, one red line under the orifices for the eyes and nothing else and black, too black, hair could be seen under the hood.

And the eyes, they were yellow- no, golden eyes were looking back at him and worse were the pupils, black squares practically pointing at him then those same squares turned to the right making them look like diamonds which unsettled him to no end.

And the cherry on top was the voice coming from this stranger.

"You're Aquamarine," They said, a voice so deep that for a moment he felt it on his bones, it was more like a rumbling. "And that's Obsidian behind you," Now the voice was more high pitched, almost sounding like a little kid. "You may be aware what happened in this house, a little girl disappeared and nobody was able to find her, correct?" Somehow they were changing their voice, currently sounding like a woman.

"Ah… yes." Aquamarine said, unsure where this stranger was going with this. "Sayori was her name, I think." There were no procedures for someone that was just talking with you, regardless of how weirder out you were, even claiming they were using a quirk to change their voice wouldn't be enough since the stranger wasn't doing anything illegal with it. For now.

"It wasn't a kidnapping."

"Huh?"

"It wasn't a kidnapping." They repeated, nodding. "Sayori never left the house, nobody took her, no. Rather, she faced a fate that no child should face… death by the hands of one she was supposed to trust."

He felt as if a cold hand grabbed his spine, sending chills up to it, his brain understanding where they were going with this.

Little Sayori looked so unhappy, as if no love was in her life.

She was presumably kidnapped, no trace left behind.

The father that continued with his life as if he didn't care about his daughter.

Aquamarine was able to breathe again, cold sweat already covering his face. "That's… what?" But he wasn't able to form a coherent sentence, so Obsidian did it for him.

"How…" She started, carefully watching the stranger. "How would you know what happened to her?"

"Because she told me." Such a sentence would guarantee the laughter of many, but even with the voices changing they could feel the seriousness in it, as if they spoke nothing but the truth. "People think the dead speak no tale, but they do. They tell, yell, whisper and scream at the top of their non-existent lugs but nobody would hear, won't listen. Except for me."

Both heroes took a step back in disbelief, for a second believing this stranger was nothing but crazy. That the little girl spoke to them? They could hear the dead? It was nothing but absurdity.

But again, the way they spoke was as if there wasn't no doubt, no uncertainty, just facts.

Obsidian scoffed. "I call bullshit, even if you were right, where did he hide the body?"

"The backyard." Was all they said for them to run like a man possessed, faster than any of them had expected, and jumped over the door that led to the backyard of the house.

"Wait!" Aquamarine yelled in vain, probably waking up the people living nearby. He turned to Obsidian. "I'll follow them! You call the police to report trespassing and get Kusuke-san, he is the owner of the house!" After barking the orders he did as he said and sprinted towards the backyard in pursuit of the stranger.

After jumping over the door and advancing more, he found the stranger with a shovel (where it came from was answered by looking at the shack with an open door) in hands, in the process of digging a hole.

"Stop right there!" Aquamarine yelled when he got closer to make sure the stranger heard him yet they didn't stop and kept digging, and he knew he couldn't do nothing since, again, no quirk has been used and he would be damned if he used his without provocation.

Or a part of him wanted to get at the bottom of this situation.

"I said stop!" He tried again. "Why are you doing this?"

"I did tell you." The voice of an old man answered back. "Sayori wasn't kidnapped, she was killed." Those words once again sent shivers down his spine, once again he remembered the face of the little girl. "Her body buried under our feet in the hopes of never being found again. I heard her call for help so I'll lend my aid." The contempt in their voice was palpable.

"This is-"

He was cut-off by the door of the house being open and the voice of the owner being heard.

"What is this-" Yu gasped in the moment his eyes registered the scene in front of him. "What are you doing?! Stop! You, hero, stop them right now!" He started to sweat and scream in desperation, Obsidian right behind him.

"A bit of a huge reaction, don't you think? I'm digging in his own backyard, sure, but that makes me think he has something hidden. Wouldn't you agree, Aquamarine-san?" The stranger asked the question that was in his head, the voice sounding like a little girl.

And Aquamarine was confused on what to do. On one hand, he should stop this stranger and make sure they didn't escape, treat them as another criminal.

Sayori's face flashed in his mind.

On the other-

From his hand materialized a weapon, a spear made of aquamarine crystals and pointed the tip towards the stranger, finally making them stop and look at him. He stared back with severity.

Then he noticed the black gloves the stranger was wearing.

"Keep digging, and hope you're right."

There was a pause and then they nodded, those square pupils spinning once again.

"What?!" Asked Yu, by the tone of his scream Aquamarine could tell he was at the edge of panic. "What are you doing?! Stop them now!"

But he kept silent, not letting his eyes off the stranger that resumed their digging.

"Aquamarine, this-" He cut-off Obsidian by raising his left hand that was free.

"Crazy? I know, but there is something fishy in here and I'm set in finding out. I'll take full responsibility so, please, trust me on this." And she did, if her silence was anything to go by.

"There is nothing there! I swear! Just stop!" Yu went back to yell, but nobody listened to his pleas.

After three long and agonizing minutes, the stranger seemed to hit something with the shovel and then cleared the ground around it a bit, enough to see clearly what was in there. They retrieved the shovel and looked at Aquamarine again. "There she is."

For his part, Aquamarine grabbed the lantern that rested on his utility belt alongside his smoke bombs and flash bangs. There was no law against carrying those on you.

Before turning it on, he gulped, reflecting that if the stranger was right it meant the man behind him was a murderer, killing his own child for whatever sick reason without an ounce of regret or shame.

With that in mind, the lantern was turned on and Aquamarine could see Sayori, or rather, her body -the torso to be specific- a dirty pink shirt covering it but he could clearly see the sign of decomposition.

For a brief moment he saw red and his chest felt cold, a dark part of his mind wanting- no, needed to turn around and stab the killer right where his heart was.

Instead, he pointed the flashlight at Yu, snarling at him. "How could you?! She was your daughter! Obsidian, update the police on this, we have a murder!"

It seemed that the twist of events got to her, enough shocked to not grab her phone in an instant but when his words sank in she did it. "On-" She gulped. "On it!"

"You…" Yu growled, all his desperation turned into rage directed towards the stranger. "You ruined it! She took my wife from me, she killed her! What I did was retribution!"

They dropped the shovel. "...Retribution?" The stranger whispered, so low yet the disgust in their voice was clear as day. "What you did was kill the only thing Yamada-san left in the world! The culmination of her past love to you!" They yelled, the voice changing with each word, each syllable but the fury was right there. "And she believes it's her fault this happened, blaming herself for dying!" Then they settle in one voice, a woman, a mother. "But the actual monster was you, Kusuke Yu. You let the loss corrupt your heart and now there is nothing but the shell of a man."

At that moment the sirens were heard, a clear signal that the police arrived.

With their words said, and letting Yu dwell on them, they turned their head and attention towards Aquamarine. "I'm grateful, Aquamarine. Thanks to you both Sayori and Yamada-san will be able to be at peace."

"It's true then, you really can talk with the dead?" Aquamarine tried to push down the bittersweet feeling that was trying to form in his chest at the praise, he would rather focus on the stranger. "Regardless, you know you're a vigilante now, right? And we should stop you right here."

"It's my duty to help the dead after all and stopping now it's not between my plans." They said, quickly pulling something and… taking the pin off.

It was one of Aquamarine's flash bangs.

"What!"

There was a blinding light, and in the middle of the night it was as if a second sun formed out of nowhere. Worse was the strenuous bang that followed it, almost breaking his eardrums. It took him a few minutes to recover from the pain and finally see that the stranger was gone, he also saw there were a couple of policemen with them, surely they barged in after seeing the flash of light.

Aquamarine signed internally, his gaze falling again on the hole in the dirt and where Sayori's body was. His mind was occupied by the words of the stranger.

"Duty, uh?"

Finally inside of his room, Izuku quickly closed the window from where he got in and stood there immobile.

He breathed deeply, taking off his mask with a shaking hand.

He couldn't believe he did it. Good thing Aquamarine or Obsidian hadn't excellent hearing otherwise they would've been able to hear his heartbeat that was running crazy all the time.

Izuku threw himself onto his bed, facing the ceiling and going over the plan.

The fact Aquamarine was there wasn't a coincidence. Thanks to Sayori they could gather the route of his patrols, who he usually partnered with and so on, but it was a huge gambling of whether or not he would cooperate even with information of his personality and how he acts normally.

Hiding his identity was a must, the mask to conceal his face, his tails were hidden under the hoodie and wrapped around his torso and his ears were tapped by the hood.

There was an idea of using his shape-shifting abilities to hide them but, by what Ahri said, doing so would be the most unbearable and uncomfortable experience ever. Apparently she did try one time with one of her ears and, while it wasn't painful, there was a sense of wrongness in doing so. And since he was practicing changing his voice he would let that idea rest aside for now.

Izuku got carried away by what Kusuke said, almost using his actual voice to yell at him. While both Aquamarine and Obsidian would attribute that with the whole changing voices, he didn't want to take any chance.

Being able to modify his body came with a small (but also big) blessing when he was thinking about using one of Aquamarine's stun grenades to cover his escape since the bang would also stun him. Growing cartilage to block his eardrums.

Another thing was how he would take one of those grenades without Aquamarine noticing it, the answer came in the form of Ahri revealing she used to steal so she could survive. It shouldn't be surprising considering her story (or at least what she had told him so far) but even then he wondered if it was immoral for a hero (or vigilante in this case) to know how to take away something from someone's pocket without them noticing.

"As long as you apply that to villains it should be fine." Was what Ahri said.

Heh, it would be a useful skill to have if he needed to take away a weapon from a villain.

Good thing Izuku never told All Might or Mirio about the whole 'I can see the dead and talk with them', he may have known about One for All but there was no way he would said 'I'm planning to act as a vigilante' in the face of the number one hero.

Hopefully they never connect the dots between seeing souls and talking with the dead.

About his parents, Ahri did convince him in tell them the truth and what he was about to do, at first they wanted him to give up in such idea since if he was caught there wasn't a way for him to become a hero, but they understood when Izuku told them Sayori's story. His dad was completely enraged by the idea of a parent killing their child and his mom was in tears.

He also hoped he could get his dad into this since Sayori had demonstrated an excellent skill in information gathering by the sole fact that nobody could detect her, no risk of getting caught. With that they could reveal a lot of crimes that went hidden in plain sight. Or maybe Izuku was getting ahead of himself.

He got up from his bed the moment he sensed two presences in his room but already knew who they were. Activating Soul Eyes Izuku could see the souls of Sayori and her mother Hana and after touching them their image appeared, flickering forms and white clothes.

"Everything is okay?" Izuku asked.

His answer came into the form of both of them embracing him into a hug, or at least attempting to do it. He got the message though.

"Thank you…" Whispered Hana. "If it wasn't for you that… man would have kept the facade for so long."

"We saw everything," Sayori continued. "They actually arrested him! Oh, also you looked completely creepy by the way."

"That was the point." Making his vigilante persona so different from him was something Ahri stressed. "So I take that as a compliment." Sayori giggled at that.

Then both mother and daughter separated from him and held each other's hand, the flickering flames of their bodies started to consume them slowly. At first Izuku felt panic seeing that but when their faces showed nothing but peace, he knew it was time.

"We're eternally grateful to you, Midoriya Izuku. Risking your own future as a hero because my daughter asked for help, I hope you know that to us you're our hero."

"You heard that? We will be cheering on you from the other side, whatever that is! Bye, Izuku-nii-chan!"

They waved and Izuku did the same, tears in his eyes yet he smiled as he watched them disappear completely.

"You did a good job, Izuku." Izuku heard Ahri say in his mind, a feeling of warmth, of pride not his own, made its way into him.

"Yeah… we did." He agreed.

"Let me get this straight… a mere child, not only found out about your injury but also you told him about One for All."

"...To be fair he is in middle school."

"Yeah, that makes things so much better, you oaf."

Toshinori was cowering on his seat, more afraid of his teacher's fury than any reaction coming from Mirai to tell the truth.

'Stop shaking, legs!'

He meant to tell them about the fact that someone else was into the secret of One for All but between his and Mirai's schedules and postponing it as much as possible they were having that talk now in the office of his ex sidekick, his ex teacher at his right, frowning, and Mirio on his left looking a bit awkward.

"You said the runt found out, but how? His quirk?" Gran Torino asked, apparently wanting to focus on young Midoriya first before kicking his butt.

"Ye-yeah, young Midoriya's quirk is… peculiar to say the last, first it gives him characteristics of a fox but he has nine tails instead of one. Then there is the blue fire he can use, for what he told me it doesn't burn like an actual flame instead, and a quote, 'burn the soul of living beings'." Toshinori ignored his ex mentor's snort and commentary about brats. "A few days ago before that day at the beach young Midoriya was attacked by a slime villain that I was chasing. By using that fire he was able to hurt the villain but I swear he didn't show any signs of burning or anything."

"But it doesn't end there, apparently he can channel that fire in his eyes letting him see the souls or the life force of people, he did it after I saved him and at the beach. It was then he realized I was All Might and also saw how similar mine and Mirio's souls were. It was either telling him and making him swear to never tell the secret or denying and finding out on his own."

"That does sound like a very strange quirk," Mirai mused at the words of Toshinori. "But are you sure we can trust him?"

Toshinori frowned at that. "I can see why someone knowing about One for All could be bad, but after spending time with the young man I can say with certainty that he is a good kid and will be a great hero in the future."

"You have his number?" Suddenly Gran Torino asked, catching him off guard.

"Huh? Yes, I do. Why-"

"Call him." He ordered and stood up from his seat and started to stretch his body. "Even if the kid had a way to figure out your secret, it was still stupid of you to tell him. That means he is at risk just like any of us even if All for One is dead. I'll see if he can even defend himself."

"But he's just a middle schooler-"

"That didn't stop you from letting him in one of the biggest secrets of Japan!" Gran Torino cut him off, smashing his cane against the man's shin making him cry in pain. Then with the same stick he pointed at Mirio. "Does the brat know how to fight, at least?"

For his part Mirio raised both of his hands as if he was being held at gunpoint. "Uh, we have sparred two times so far, without quirks, and Midoriya-kun seemed to still be figuring out his style but I can tell he is leaning more into hit and run tactics."

Lowering the cane, Gran Torino nodded. "Good, now call him over."

"Please, not in my office at least." Mirai said, knowing very well not to go against Gran Torino words. "Better in one of the training rooms here."

"Yeah yeah, I don't want to ruin your precious merchandise you fanboy."

"I'm so sorry, young Midoriya, I can only pray you don't get beaten too badly." Toshinori thought as he pulled out his phone and called Izuku's number.

Good thing it was Saturday.

Izuku didn't know what to feel after All Might called him saying to come over to Nighteyes' agency. For one instance he was excited at the prospect of meeting All Might's first sidekick, the notebook with his entry (also Bubble girl's and Centipeder's) in his backpack ready to get an autograph. But he also dreaded why All Might called, probably about One for All. Mirio did comment about Sir Nighteye knowing about it and also was the one who helped him to control his quirk.

His train of thoughts was stopped by Ahri.

"Izuku, are you really going to just stand there? It has been five minutes."

"Oh right, sorry."

"You're excited that's all, let's see what they want."

"Any guess? I can only think this is about One for All."

"Definitely is that, probably that Sir Nighteye wants to meet the other person who knows about it."

Izuku got into the building and went to the reception desk where there was a blur skinned woman, apparently bored out of her mind if the fact she was scrolling on her phone with a straight face was of any indication.

"Um, excuse me miss?" Izuku asked when he was in front of her.

"Uh?" She mumbled, finally looking up and noticing him for the first time, she immediately hid her phone behind her back and sat straight. "G-good afternoon! How can I help you?"

"I'm Midoriya Izuku and I was called by Togata Mirio to come over here, he is an intern here, correct?" Mirio wasn't the one who called him but they agreed on that white lie since nobody else should know about All Might's injury.

"Ah, yes, Sir Nighteye did tell me he was expecting you. They're at the back in one of the training rooms with a couple of guests. I'll take you there. My name is Bubble Girl by the way."

"Nice to meet you! Also if it is not much bother," He reached for his backpack and pulled one of his notebooks. "Can I have your autograph?"

For her part, Bubble Girl blinked twice.

After getting her autograph, Izuku was guided through the building but it wasn't long before they reached the entrance of the training room and he went inside after saying goodbye to Bubble Girl.

After closing the door he was about to turn around and greet All Might and Mirio, expecting them to be there, but instead his instinct told him, no, it screamed at him to duck immediately.

Which he did, avoiding whatever thing slammed on the door without breaking it, it was a person if the curse he heard was of any indication. Not committing the mistake of looking up, he jumped further into the room and turned around to see who was attacking him.

Dropping on the floor and standing where Izuku was moments prior was an old man, a very short one wearing a gray suit, yellow gloves and a cape, a black mask resting around his eyes.

"What?" He heard Ahri say in a flat tone, probably as shocked as him.

"Good reflex, brat, the other brat did tell me you were training on your own and it seems you are taking it seriously." The old man said, though Izuku doubted it was meant as a praise.

"Why are you attacking me?" He asked, quickly dropping his backpack and getting into a stance. "I thought Togata-san and Yagi-san were here."

"We are here young Midoriya."

Izuku turned his head and saw Toshinori, Mirio and Sir Nighteye standing on the other side of the room, the first two waving at him and the third observing him.

"Sorry, young Midoriya, but my mentor Gran Torino wanted to test you after I told him that you know about One for All."

"Test me?" He asked as he returned his attention to Gran Torino. "A retired hero, I presume? But why… test me?"

"Yep. The idiot over there never thinks things through so he thought it was a good idea to let a kid into one of the biggest secrets of Japan, and I'll be damned if I don't make sure you could fight on your own or need proper training."

Uh, he never thought it would put him at risk to know about One for All. "But-"

"Fight now and talk later, you can use your quirk by the way!" Gran Torino yelled, then activated his quirk, launching himself and started to bounce on the ceiling, walls and floor.

Some kind of propulsion quirk? Probably on his feet.

For his part, Izuku stood there and rather than try to follow him with his eyes, he decided to wait and use his ears to keep track of him. Meanwhile he also let his power flow through his body, the cold resting in his stomach.

"What's this kid planning?" Gran Torino thought to himself, watching the fox kid. "If you're not going to do the first move, then allow me!" With that he bounced on one wall and shot straight towards the teenager, aiming a right kick at his torso.

Gran Torino expected the runt to jump away from his attack, or even attempt to dodge, then strike him.

Instead, Izuku turned with his mouth filled with flames and shot a stream of fire towards him.

Thinking quickly he used his left foot to shoot air, change trajectory and went towards one of the walls, avoiding the burst of fire. But it was closed.

"Toshi was right, even with how close I was I didn't feel any heat coming from his fire." Were Gran Torino's thoughts.

Deciding it was his turn, Izuku summoned one fireball in each hand and threw them at Gran Torino one after the other.

Not waiting to find out the effects of that fire, the retired hero once again activated his quirk and bounced from the wall to the floor and to the ceiling. He was about to fly towards the brat again but at the corners of his vision he noticed something.

The fireballs, instead of colliding with the wall after he avoided them, made a sharp turn and were flying towards him again.

"Those things are like guided missiles or what?!" The kid seemed to have a couple of aces under his sleeves. And if that wasn't enough, the brat summoned another four fireballs.

Gran Torino was too old for this, even if he asked for this.

So he decided to finish this.

To Izuku it happened too fast, for a moment he thought he had Gran Torino figured out and was about to go for the offensive and the next he felt something colliding with his back, sending him flying and rolling through the floor as if he was a ragdoll.

After stopping he tried to stand up, 'tried' being the keyword here since the pain on his back was unbearable and he hissed.

"Let me guess," Gran Torino said, at one point he walked towards Izuku and was now in front of him. "You were analyzing my movements, trying to come with a sound plan and planting traps along the way with those fireballs."

Again Izuku hissed. "Ye-yes, that's right… I took too much time, right?"

"Exactly, don't get me wrong, making plans according to the situation is fine and dandy but you should do it faster, no villain with a functional brain will let you have any room for breathing. But besides that you did better than I expected from someone that is not a hero-in-training." Gran Torino nodded, turned around and walked away. "At least this one has brains in that head unlike some people."

"Are you okay, Midoriya-kun?" Asked Mirio who walked to him and offered a hand.

"I'll be fine but it hurts a lot." Izuku mumbled but accepted the hand and was helped to stand up. "Ahri, do you think I can fight Gran Torino in the dreamscape? I believe his style of fighting can fit me."

"Yes, but for next week."

"Noted."

Ahri deemed it better that Izuku get to fight once a week against the projections she can set up, in that way he has time to train and then put that training into test.

"Uh… Sir Nighteye is going to test me too or…?" Asked Izuku, unsure if he wanted to go through another 'test' again, one was enough. Thank you very much.

"While I don't plan to test you, per se, I have some concerns about you." Mirai said, walking towards Izuku and Mirio with Toshinori at his side, his face unreadable. "While not impressive, you have shown skills I wouldn't expect from the average middle schooler. Reacting in time to Gran Torino's surprise attack at the beginning and the control of your fireball being what piqued my interest. Not only that but the fact that you are capable of seeing… souls, apparently, and saw All Might's own soul not once but twice it's too much of a coincidence." That made Toshinori turn his head at his sidekick, a frown on his face.

"Mirai, are you-?"

"Implying I'm some sort of spy, right?" Concluded Izuku. "I can get why you would think that, and anything I say wouldn't be too much of a proof… so I can prove to you in only one way, Sir Nighteye."

"And that would be…?"

"I know your quirk can see the future of someone, it wasn't never clear how. So I propose you see into my future."

Mirai's eyebrows shot up, not expecting such a bold statement from the young man. "Are you sure of this? I could very well see your death."

"I'm certain."

"...Give me your hand, and look directly into my eyes while I'm holding it." He said as he took off his glasses.

And Izuku did as told, letting Sir Nighteye hold his hand and maintained eye contact with him. After a few seconds Mirai's eyes turned completely purple, even his sclera, cogs of a machine could be seen in them.

Izuku raised an eyebrow when Mirai furrowed his eyebrows, as if he was concentrating on something he was seeing but seemed harder the longer he tried.

Scoffing, Mirai's eyes turned back to normal and let Izuku's hand go. "That was… strange."

"What did you see?"

Putting back his glasses, Mirai answered. "Usually when I see the future of someone, it's as if I was in a theater watching a film. But now it was as if I was watching through someone else's eyes, and on top of that I could only see one thing: a grave. Now that doesn't mean you will die soon but that at one point you will visit someone's graves, the problem is that I could only read the year of birth and the year of death…" he took a breath of air. "Whoever that person was will be born someday in two hundred years in the future."

"What?" Asked Izuku, not sure if he understood what that meant.

"...Fuck." Ahri swore in his head . "I'm an idiot I can't believe I forgot about that!"

"Forgot about what?"

"I'll tell you later, just give me some time because I don't know how to approach this just- it's not bad per se, but probably, surely, will shock you."

"..."

After everything was said and done, Izuku got to be back to his house with also the autographs of Sir Nighteye, Gran Torino and Centipeder so he believed it was a productive afternoon. But he couldn't dwell on the joy of meeting heroes and get them to sign his notebook with that conversation with Ahri still in his mind.

She reacted like that after Sir told him about the grave, but why?

Everyone else brushed it off as something impossible, even Sir though he seemed upset at the prospect of one of his visions being so unclear, or more than usual.

He tried to call Ahri but she was radio silent so the only way to find out was to sleep and get into the dreamscape.

After wishing his mom good night (and had explained he went before to hang out with a friend he met at the beach) he went to sleep on his bed.

Upon entering the dreamscape Izuku found himself in the same dark forest he and Ahri properly met, there were also the chairs and the table with tea and pastries ready.

What caught his attention was Ahri's eyes being fixed on the cup she was holding between her hands, almost as if she was… nervous.

And that didn't sit well with him.

"Ahri, are you okay?" He asked as he approached and sat on the other chair, his face showing clear concern.

For her part, Ahri tore his eyes from the cup to look at Izuku, an uneasy smile on her lips. "Not really, it will sound silly but I forgot to tell you an important piece of information about us vastayas, and I kind of feel like an idiot for it."

"That's not true, besides you said it wasn't something bad."

"True, but at the end of the day we see things differently. It's not a big deal to me but for you it might be." She took a breath of air, as if to try to order her thoughts. "First, tell me Izuku, how old do you think I am?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow, completely caught off guard. "What? Why-"

"Humor me. And don't worry about the whole 'never speak about the age of a woman' I honestly didn't mind it at all."

Seeing she was actually serious, he decided to answer honestly. "I'll say you're in the middle of your twenties. But taking in consideration what you have told me so far about your life… almost forty?"

"Are you suggesting I look younger than I am? You flatter me." It was obviously an attempt to lighten the mood, but she sighed when it clearly failed. "You're… wrong by a long shot, actually."

"Huh?"

"You see, when I was alive I think I was five hundred years old… At one point I stopped counting." Her lips formed a tight line after seeing how Izuku's eyes got wide open. "Vastayas can live longer lives than humans, to the point I wouldn't be surprised if there are ones that have seen the rise and falls of complete civilization in their life."

"That means…"

"It means that you, Izuku, will live longer than any human."

And Izuku didn't know how to react at all, his eyes lowered to his cup of tea, his face being reflected at the surface of the beverage.

Longevity? As if he will outlive any person he will meet from now on?

It sounded… lonely, to say the least. Seeing people around him withering by the hands of time while he barely changed.

The vision Sir Nighteye saw was about that? The grave was from someone Izuku will meet in the future and watch as they age until death takes them too?

The idea pressed both his stomach and heart, but it wasn't too strong.

Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder and looking up he saw Ahri, her face showing concern.

"Are you okay, Izuku?"

"I…" He felt his throat dry and put a hand over Ahri's. "I'll be fine just… I don't know how to feel about this."

"It's… alright for now, just remember I'm here."

He smiled at her words. "I know… Ahri?"

"Yes?"

"You mentioned manipulating emotions before… Can we start with that today?"

"Of course, little fox." 

Chapter Text

A tired sigh escaped from Izuku's lips, but instead of leaving his phone on the nightstand and going to sleep, he hit the reply button once again and watched the video.

Of course one of Yu's neighbors would have heard all the shouting and instead of doing something to make themselves known they recorded the whole thing with their phone. On top of that they seemingly share the video with a friend, that friend with another and so on, that was why Izuku found it posted in all the forums he usually frequented.

The reason why he was watching the video on repeat was quite simple: making sure there was nothing that would connect the 'mysterious vigilante' with Midoriya Izuku.

So far? There was nothing that could lead someone to think that, but he wanted to make sure.

After finishing it once again (the explosion of the stun grenade was edited out), he looked at the comments under the post but ignored the usernames, most of the time they were random characters or nonsense.

Almost all of them were kind of the same, wondering who this vigilante was, noting how creepy they were (and like he told Sayori, Izuku took those as compliments) and theorizing about their quirk. Was it a quirk that let them change their voice or was it one that actually let this person speak with the dead? The majority leaned more on the former than the latter, mostly because the idea of someone being able to communicate with ghosts was absurd, quirk or not.

Izuku could only think it was fair enough, one was more of a realistic option than the other and obviously nobody would dare to think the vigilante had both things.

Other comments were wondering how this vigilante should be called since they didn't claim to be called anything and Aquamarine dubbed them "The Stranger" which everyone (Izuku included) thought was lame.

Whisper, Spirit, Shaman and Shinigami (a bit over the top if you ask him) were names that were being thrown around and voted the most, but Izuku didn't think he should choose a name at the moment.

He could imagine it now, whenever they ask if the vigilante has a name he will say: 'I have no name, no face and no voice' which would add more to the mystery he believed. The thought made him smile a little.

…Maybe he should watch the video again.

"Izuku."

His thumb stopped, about to press the replay button. "Yes, Ahri?" Izuku asked, but he knew what she would say by her tone.

"Go to sleep, now."

He quickly left his phone on the nightstand. "Yes ma'am."

It wasn't long before he was pulled into the dreamscape, this time the landscape was a simple plain, it was night but there weren't any clouds, stars or even a moon in the sky and Izuku could see some kind of palace in the distance and a forest surrounding it. Ahri was sitting on a rock with her arms crossed and a foot tapping on the ground.

She was looking at him with a blank stare.

"...Sorry if I was up late when I had school."

"And?"

"And sorry for keeping you waiting even though you told me this was important."

"Good boy. Now what I wanted to talk about." A wooden log formed on thin air which Izuku used to sit on. "First, I believe you're juggling a lot of balls in the air."

"What?"

"I meant that you, currently, have a lot of things to work with both your powers and skills, let's count." She raised both of her hands, closed in fists, then raised a finger. "Your fire, which includes the fireballs and your training to expand your reserves. Your 'soul rush' and implementing Gran Torino's style while using it. The orb, you have made significant progress. Your stealth, we should get started with how to sneak into buildings even if it's guarded. Your shape-shifting, we need to work with your use of the claws and how fast you can change. The control over the emotions of others which you just started. Your own physical training and hand-to-hand skills. And there is the green fire and one other technique I haven't taught you yet." She ended up raising nine fingers.

"Uh… when you put it like that… It seems like a lot."

"It doesn't seem like a lot, little fox, it's a lot. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud that you've been taking your training in stride, most would have burned at this point, but it would be counterproductive if you start adding more and I say this knowing you have been thinking in ideas, the more you have to work on the less time you spend in honing each skill and I have to remind you the entrance exam is in eight months."

Izuku widened his eyes and sat straight, Ahri's words finally sinking in his head. "You're right! With everything that has happened lately I forgot about the entrance exam!"

"My point exactly, you already have a lot on your plate with only your training but when we add your idea of being a vigilante to help any soul that asks for it?" She shook her head. "We need to focus on what you know now, improving these skills instead to keep adding to the pile otherwise you're going to be overwhelmed and burnout, which is the last thing I want to happen to you."

Izuku nodded at that, his face showing that he realized he was going overboard. And even if he wanted to do more he knew Ahri wouldn't approve it. "I understand… I wonder if it will be enough for the exam." They didn't know what the practical would be about, at best they can guess the focus of it using the many posts of people complaining about it.

"Given what we know about it, which is not a lot, it seems they prioritize how good at fighting you are. I'll say you have a lot of chances in getting in if you keep working on your current skill set. After you get into that school then you will have time and places to experiment with your powers. At the pace that Mirio kid is cleaning the beach it will be sooner rather than later that the place turns into a famous public space." Then Ahri stood up from the rock and walked towards the palace, signaling Izuku to follow her.

"That too… I don't think that I wouldn't be able to use the beach again…that's what people call tunnel vision, right?" He too stood from his seat and followed her.

"Exactly, you tend to focus on one thing a bit too much. Glad to see you realize that, better when training instead in the field." She stopped when they were about to reach the forest. "Another thing I wanted to talk about was that you should get a hobby."

Izuku looked at her as if she grew another head. "A hobby? What do you mean by that? Besides, you just said about how we should spend time wisely, not those exact words but still."

She turned at him. "I know what I said, but you have been training non stop and studying, nothing else. As I fear you would burn out by doing a lot of things at once I think the same will happen if you keep focusing too much in your training. That also is tunnel vision, Izuku. And before you said it, watching shows with me doesn't count since you started doing it for me. Don't get me wrong," She put her hand on his shoulder, showing him a warm smile. "I truly appreciate that, but you need to do something that you enjoy and doesn't have to do with being a hero or training."

Izuku put his hand on her own, returning the smile. "I do enjoy our time together, but I get it, what should I do as a hobby then?"

"Can be anything, really, but we will think of something later. It's time for a class on 'how to break into a palace and not get caught'."

"That's a mouthful."

"Say the little fox who wanted 'Small Might' as a hero name."

"I was five!"

In the morning, when Izuku was eating lunch on the roof of the school (being stealthy has its advantages), Ahri talked about something that caught him off guard.

"We need to do something about your fashion sense, or lack thereof."

"Wha-" Izuku almost said, but choked on the food he was eating and went into a coughing fit. While he drank his cup of water he thought only one thing. "That was on purpose!" An 'innocent' giggle was his answer.

After Izuku calmed down he asked. "What do you mean with that? What's wrong with my clothes?"

"The fact you can't see it proves my point. Your normal clothes are literally a shirt with the name of another article of clothing on it and some shorts. You're really wasting your look."

He rolled his eyes at that, from where this was coming from? "First, I like the shirts. Second, what look are you talking about?"

"What look he said…" He heard how she clicked her tongue. "Even before you got the ears and tails and the marks you were a cute thing, now? You could be a very pretty boy and no one would resist asking you out."

Izuku chuckled at that. "Good one." He thought, thinking it was a little joke from her but after she went silent he started to doubt. "You were joking, right?"

"Why should I joke about that?" Izuku could picture her shaking her head in disapproval. "Little fox, I get that you were told things a lot of times by these harpies you have for classmates, things that make it hard to believe my words, but they wanted to hurt you, drag you down." At this point he kept silent, the food forgotten. "Your mom, your dad and I? We want what is best for you. That's why I have been bothersome about how much you have been training, how less time you spend relaxing and now the way you see yourself. It's because I care about you."

He kept his eyes on the bento his mom made, but not exactly looking at it, memories about his interactions with the rest of the class playing out in his mind. Izuku knew that Ahri was right, that her words should matter more to him than the ones coming from his peers.

But it was hard to either forget or ignore.

"I understand that… It just-" He sighed, brushing his hair with one hand. "I don't know, it's as if my brain takes what you're saying as a lie…" A snort escaped him. "It's funny, I did break the law to help Sayori yet I can't take a compliment…"

"Different things take different times, little fox." Izuku felt the warmth of a fire inside him, as if he was hugged and he welcomed it. "Let's take small steps, alright? Maybe two today?"

He smiled softly, once again being grateful to have Ahri with him. "Fine, what it's the first one?"

At that moment, Izuku pictured her having that cheshire smile on her face. "Admit you're pretty. Out loud."

…

"Really?"

"Really."

Izuku looked at the sky and sighed one more time, exaggerating a bit. "Fiiiiiiiiine…" He kept that position for almost a minute, reflecting if he really should.

"Well?"

"No pushing." Izuku answered, going back to look forward to watch if there was someone else on the roof with him, seeing he was alone he murmured in a very low voice. "I'm… pretty…" It was a fact that his face was as red as a tomato, his ears dropped and he wanted for the earth to eat him right then and there.

He could feel Ahri's smile widening in his head. "See? Not too hard, wasn't it?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say… so what's the next step?" He might as well get this over with.

Izuku was sure if he had Ahri in front of him, he would've seen the mischief in her eyes.

"...Really?"

"Really."

Izuku didn't know how he ended like this, inside of one changing booth in a clothing store with two sets of shirts and jeans of different styles. He thought Ahri's idea was ridiculous but she was able to convince him of doing it anyway so after school and going to his house for money he went to the closest clothes store and chose the clothes by Ahri's instruction.

He also messaged Sinji that he wasn't going to go to the gym today which his instructor replied with "I'm glad you decided to take a break, you have been working out a lot. It would be good for you to relax once in a while."

It amused him that two people told him to relax.

Once again he looked at the clothes they chose, one shirt was a white v-neck with some kind of orange flower of nine petals that covered the upper back meanwhile the other was of a dark red color (wine, he thought) polo shirt with black accents. The jeans were quite simple, one blue and another black but this one had a chain on the right hip. Both of them had holes for people with tails like him.

Ahri did say they were a bit basic but 'he needed to start somewhere'.

He wasn't sure about these, but then again he recognized to have absolutely no sense in fashion.

"Call me when you are ready and tell me if you like them, okay?"

"I will, Ahri." With that the link was cut and Izuku was alone with his thoughts.

Probably he was over thinking things as usual, it was just putting on clothes that are meant for going out to social activities that he never does and more than likely will be collecting dust inside his closet-

He shook his head in an (futile) attempt to stop that train of thoughts, he was already here so he might as well do this. Maybe it would be better to hop into another train.

As he took off his clothes (a shirt with the kanji of 'robes', and some shorts) his mind went about that power Ahri has been teaching him as of late.

Izuku still has reservations about controlling the emotions of others, but nonetheless the concept intrigued him due to its potential. So far it has been only theory and recalling some of Ahri's memories of the times she had used it for Izuku to have a better idea of it.

The more he thought about it, the more he concluded that the power was to trap a living being in an illusion through manipulating the brain. He recalled how that deer seemed to think it was eating instead of being eaten by a pack of foxes, not even getting its flesh torn apart was enough to take it out of it.

What Ahri did was mold the perception of reality of that deer as how she wished. If he was right then with that power he could even mold the perception of time of someone, making them experience hours when in reality it has been minutes or even seconds-

Izuku hummed, seeing his reflection after putting on the white shirt and blue jeans. He turned a bit around to see the flower on his back. He was supposed to feel something that tells him 'I like this'? Because he wasn't feeling anything at the moment, not sure if he disliked the clothes, either. Maybe he will have more luck with the others?

Where was he? Ah, yes. There was a big 'but' about the ability (they really need to come up with a name) and that it's less effective against sentient beings like humans due to them having will power (or so he and Ahri theorized) and take effort to use unlike when the target was an animal.

That's why he has yet to practice it, there was no way he could use it against Ahri and the projections in the dreamscape aren't actually sentient, so he has to do it towards an animal to start, maybe a bird or a fish.

…Maybe this weekend.

Izuku frowned, seeing himself again in the mirror, once again feeling dull inside. He sighed internally, feeling bad that this ended up being pointless since he knew Ahri was trying to help him, and he really appreciated it.

After changing clothes again, he called her. "Ahri."

It wasn't long before he heard her voice. "Yes, Izuku? Are you done?"

"Yeah and… I don't think I like the clothes, nor do I dislike them, it's just…" He leaned on one of the walls, his gaze alternating between the clothes on the bench and his reflection in the mirror. "I don't know, they don't fit me? I didn't feel something that tells me I like them. If that makes sense."

He heard Ahri humming, as if she expected this. "That's alright, but maybe you should take the white shirt and black jeans, just in case you ever need it."

"You think?"

"You never know when someone will ask you out, can you?"

He rolled his eyes at that. "A very big if."

Preferring no to argue further, she changed the subject. 'By the way, it's just me or your hair has grown?'

That caught his attention and focused on the mirror, noticing that his hair, indeed, has gotten longer. The bangs were almost covering his forehead and it also was reaching past his neck. "Uh, why did I never notice? Or my mom hasn't said anything?"

"Who knows? Do you plan to cut it or grow it?"

"Usually my mom cuts it whenever it gets like this but…" He considered the idea of having long hair, and for some reason he has a more vivid image of it. Unlike Ahri's straight down style his would be a lot curly and wild.

For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt a bit of warmth in his heart by the idea.

"Maybe I'll let it grow? I don't see why not."

Again, he heard Ahri humming. "I think it would look good on you."

"Biased opinion?"

"A very biased opinion." She remarked.

Izuku chuckled at that, his mood improving a bit.

It was Friday, two days after he went to the clothing store and Izuku had no luck in finding a hobby yet. They tried with drawing, due to his tendency to draw in his notebook but he seemed to only do that when it comes to his analysis, trying to draw something else only left him stuck.

Ahri suggested he tried magic tricks, even something as basic as moving a coin between his fingers would be a good start, and Izuku thought it was a good, but also pretty ironic, idea.

She, a magical fox lady, was suggesting he, an hybrid between human and a vastaya that was a magical race, start doing street magic. The fact it amused him was enough to give it a try, after school of course.

The last class of the day was history, specifically about the Edo period which for some reason their teacher, Arashi, was too passionate about but Izuku didn't mind it though since it made the lessons a bit more enjoyable.

He couldn't help it but hearing about the history of his country made him wonder how things will develop in the next century or two, how much he will witness by the fact he will live long.

It wasn't the first time that his mind went over that fact since the revelation, it made him think things over and questioned briefly what he will be doing, would he keep being a hero for years to come? At one point that bit of information would be impossible to keep under grasp, how do you explain that you're sixty but look like twenty-five? What would be the reaction of the public or the government?

Thinking about the future filled him with something akin to dread, of what will become of him after living so long.

What of-

"De- Midoriya?"

A voice coming from his right stopped that train of thoughts and he blinked, finally noticing that school ended and some of his classmates had already left, even Bakugo which was a good thing.

Izuku turned his head to where the voice came from to find it was Yubi, a brown haired boy whose quirk was to extend his fingers… oh and also the oldest follower of Bakugo and, by proxy, someone who participated in all the times he was 'taught' a lesson.

For some reason he looked… nervous? Was he imagining things?

With the most neutral expression and tone he could muster he said. "Yubi-san? Can I help you?"

Izuku could tell that Yubi was trying very hard no to look him in the eyes. "He-hey Midoriya, sorry to bother you," That made him raise an eyebrow, did he just apologize to him? "I was wondering if, ah, if you are free after school?"

…

"What?" Both Izuku and Ahri thought at the same time and he was sure his face expressed his shock if Yubi flinching was of any indication.

Izuku opened and closed his mouth a couple of times until he was able to find the words. "Excuse you?"

Yubi raised both of his hands in front of him. "Look, ah, I know I haven't been the best person towards- okay alright I have been a complete asshole since we were kids and, well, uh, I wanted to say sorry?"

Once again Izuku blinked, really not knowing what to say to that. "Ahri? Are we still in the dreamscape and this is an over complicated prank?"

"I'm offended you think I would pull something so lame like this. On the other hand, it's this brat being serious?"

"Let's find out."

Returning his focus on Yubi, Izuku furrowed both of his brows. "Sorry? What gives? I wouldn't have expected that coming from you, Yubi-san. Or anyone for that matter."

Once again Yubi flinched, as if he didn't expect something like that coming from Izuku. Where did the scary cat go? It feels as if he was talking to someone else. "Well… after what Bakugo said to you months ago I started to think about… things and… realized some things." He scratched the back of his head, a strained smile on his lips.

Izuku internally winced at the mention of that moment, Bakugo's words and the attack from the slime villain flashed through his mind. But he brushed it aside. "And you wanted to know if I'm free after school because…?" He really didn't know if he should believe in him, what if it was a trap and others were waiting to beat him and humiliate him? He was sure that Bakugo wouldn't participate in something like this at least, he was someone more direct.

"I, uh, wanted to ask you if you would like to, y'know, hang out? Go to the arcade or anything? And it wouldn't be just me and you, Kuroki and Kaede-chan are coming too!"

Izuku's faces almost, almost made a sour expression by hearing the name Kaede.

Chitose Kaede, or 'Kaede-chan' by almost everyone (except for Bakugo and Izuku, the former don't giving a damn about it and the latter due to a combination of being impolite and Chitose herself didn't wanting the 'quirkless loser' to call her by her given name), was the popular girl of the class, the majority of the girls followed her and more than half of the guys had a crush on her. Pretty, bright and had a good fire quirk. That's her.

Also the one who that, since their first year, started 'pranking' Izuku by writing love letters (or having any of the others girls doing it), making him think there was someone interested in him (romantically or not it was better than nothing) and then laugh in his face, saying he was a fool for expecting that.

After the sixth time Izuku didn't even bother with opening the letters yet Chitose kept leaving them in his locker every Friday like clockwork. Talk about being persistent.

Feeling the fierceness of hell being raised inside him made him think that Chitose was lucky that Ahri didn't have any way to interact with the living world.

Then there was Kuroki, another boy of dark hair and his quirk let him grow his muscles, who was a bully through and through.

Why would they even want to spend time with him?

Suppressing a sigh, Izuku slowly said. "But why would they want that? Let's be honest here, none of you are even acquaintances with me and I have more reasons to think this is just another prank than not." And he didn't want to trust them again, having his heart crushed one more time.

But Yubi's words seemed sincere, not a front which made him doubt.

"And I get that, I completely do! Of all people you have the most right to punch me in the face if you want to and I would deserve it."

"Now that's-"

"Point is, I understand if you don't believe me and I can't blame you for that. But I'm being serious here! About Kuroki and Kaede-chan, they didn't tell me why but I think they may also want to apologize. Just this once, alright? If after this you don't want to talk to me ever again then so be it." His tone indicated he was begging a bit which surprised Izuku to no end.

Izuku turned his head to the left with a frown, thinking about Yubi's words.

He sounded actually sincere, as if he really meant every word and Izuku couldn't help but consider giving him one opportunity.

"What do you think, Ahri?"

He heard how she huffed and clicked her tongue. "It's your call, little fox. But keep on your toes and the smallest signal of danger, run, I know for a fact you're faster than any of them."

With that he turned to Yubi who was waiting for his answer.

"Fine, I'll go." Izuku finally said, which made Yubi sigh in relief.

"Thanks, dude, I promise you won't regret this."

"Please don't call me 'dude'." Maybe it was that he was used to being addressed as 'Deku' by him, but it was weird.

"Ah, yeah, Midoriya-san."

Still weird but better.

"This is the weirdest day of my life."

"So far."

Izuku couldn't still wrap his head around what's happening, walking along with Yubi, Kuroki and Chitose was nothing sort of unthinkable before.

While Yubi was talking everyone's ears off, Chitose and Kuroki were content with nodding and making small talk, but Izuku could tell they felt awkward which was something he was sharing with them.

"So Midoriya," Yubi said. "You still want to go to UA?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow at that, before Yubi would've asked that with an undertone of mockery but right now it seemed curious about it. "Well, yes. It's the best hero school in the country and I have been training for the entrance exam." He has to remind himself that they didn't know about his fire or even that he has nine tails instead of one, he always has them united at school.

To them, his quirk was a fox mutant type and nothing else.

"Right, your quirk." Remarked Chitose. "It was a huge surprise honestly, never heard of someone getting a quirk so late."

"Yeah…" He wasn't sure what to say to that. "The doctor wasn't exactly sure why."

"Wait," Yubi suddenly said. "This is not the way to the arcade, is it?"

That made him pause and noticed that it was a Yubi said, between the awkward atmosphere and Yubi's chit-chat he didn't notice they weren't going to the arcade.

"Oh sorry, I should've mentioned it." Said Chitose, turned to both of them. "My uncle wanted to meet him where he works so I can take what he bought for my mom's birthday and hide it. It's supposed to be a surprise and he fears he might get too caught up and forget it somewhere. After that we can go to the arcade, right?" She then winked at them, an ember with the form of a heart coming out of her eyelash.

"Of course, no problem!" Yubi exclaimed, obviously charmed by her. Even Kuroki was blushing though the wink wasn't directed at him.

Izuku, on the other hand, noted her control over her quirk. It may be something small and not flashy but even that requires certain control.

He heard Ahri groan inside his head. "Please, don't compliment her. She is so basic." Apparently she has a low opinion on Chitose. "A very negative one, actually."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with that, let's go." Izuku said and they continued on their way, Chitose leading this time.

After ten minutes of walking, Chitose stopped in front of an alleyway which made the rest halt and she took her phone out, tipping something on it. "My uncle will come at any moment, so let's wait."

Kuroki and Yubi nodded absently while Izuku hummed. "What's the work of your uncle, Chitose-san?" She did say he could call her 'Kaede-chan' but he declined.

"Oh, he's part of the 'Animal rejection clan' actually." She said nonchalantly.

"Oh, I-" Then his mind clicked about what she just said, but it was too late. Izuku felt as if someone grabbed him from his backpack with force and threw him into the alleyway. He quickly regained his footsteps in time to dodge a jab from Kuroki who had his quirk activated.

"Keep still!" He yelled as he continued to throw punch after punch but missed all the marks as Izuku was dodging them, but he was being forced to get more into the alleyway.

Izuku noted how Kuroki was too sluggish with his movements and was easy to read. After dodging yet another punch he quickly wrapped one of his tails around Kuroki's head, blinding him and then sucker punched him on the jaw, stunned him enough to get some distance from him.

"What the hell, guys?!" Shouted Yubi. "What are you doing, Kuroki stop!"

"Chitose and Kuroki seemed to be working together but Yubi didn't know about this?" Izuku thought as he looked at Kuroki with an annoyed frown. "The animal rejection clan? Are you out of your mind? They-"

"They get rid of pests like you, I know." Said Chitose as she joined Kuroki while taking off her jacket and then putting her right arm behind her. "It was already bad you were a creepy quirkless, but then a filthy mutant? Give me a break." Flames started to engulf her arm, a cheerful smile was on her face. "But that can be fixed."

"I want to gut her."

"First I should avoid being grilled alive."

Chitose trusted her arm forward, from it a fireball shot towards Izuku.

Thinking fast, Izuku summoned his own fire in the palm of his left hand and trusted it forward, a stream of azure flames clashing with Chitose's projectile head on and both attacks canceling each other.

There was a beat of silence after that, both Chitose and Kuroki looked at him with mouths agape and wide eyes.

"What?!" Chitose shouted, shocked seeing Izuku using fire like her. "Since when-"

Izuku doesn't let her continue talking, nor does he want to keep listening to her. "You're crazy." He only said as flickers of embers surrounding him and an azure aura covered him. Instead of engaging in a battle he jumped to the wall and bounced towards the other, only wanting to get out of this mess.

He should have seen this coming.

But when he was about to reach the other wall, he felt as if something metallic wrapped around his right leg and, before he could see from who, he was slammed against the floor, hard.

He falled on his right side, a flare of pain exploding through his body but before he could scream more of that metal started to wrap around his body and mouth.

Chains, he was being chained down.

Clenching his teeth he looked up to see a tall figure, a man to be exact who looked down at him with cold and uncaring eyes. The chains were coming from his right hand and on his left hand there was an artifact of some kind.

Without giving a word, the man slammed the object on the chains and Izuku felt as if electricity coursed through his body, pain he never felt before engulfed his mind but couldn't scream, or do anything for that matter.

And in seconds, Izuku saw black.

"Izuku!"

When he opened his eyes he saw Ahri over him and realized he was in the dreamscape, laying on the floor.

"What? What happened?" Izuku asked as he tried to sit up, but for some reason he felt sluggish doing it.

"It was a trap." Ahri helped him to stand, a face full of worry but also anger. "Point it's, you're in danger right now. I can wake you up but you have to find a way out of this and for that you need to use everything, no holding back, alright?"

Izuku looked down at the floor, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I should've expected something like this to happen but I… I was an idiot to believe in them."

Ahri's features softened by hearing that. "We'll talk about that later, but know this, little fox." She put a hand over his head, ruffling his hair. "I don't think it's bad to want to give people second chances or give them the benefit of the doubt. It's on them if they decide to bite an offering hand." Her expression turned severed. "And in those cases you have to give them hell for biting you."

Izuku was about to answer that with a 'I will' but before he could, out of thin air and behind Ahri a metal chain shot up, piercing her from the back and coming out of her chest and anchoring itself into the ground they were standing.

There was a beat of silence, Izuku looking horrified at the bloodless wound.

"A-ahri? Wha-"

"Don-don't worry, it doesn't actually hurt me, dead remember?" She was as shocked and shaken as him, but tried to assure him she was fine. If anything, seeing him so terrified hurt her more. "This never happened but-"

Before she could end her sentence, the chain going through her body started to move forward as if it was pulling something and, as if an invisible force was controlling her, she was slammed face first against the ground. "Wha-"

"Ahri!" Izuku screamed and tried to grab the chain to try, but failed, to break it. "What the hell is going on?!" He tried to summon his fire in an attempt to do something, anything, but nothing came out. "I-I can't use my powers!" Desperation was clearly clinging in his voice.

Whatever it was happening, Ahri seemed to sink more and more into the ground. "It seems… as if this is affecting your-"

Out of nowhere, multiple chains started to appear in thin air and each one pierced through Ahri's body, arms, legs, neck and even her head and tails making her sink more.

"Dammit!"

"Ahri!" Izuku crouched at her side, grabbing her right arm and trying to pull her out, but to no avail. He tried to think of something, but only could draw dead ends and dread filled him.

What was happening? Ahri will be fine? Why can't he do anything to stop this? This was the inside of his own mind yet he was useless! Training to be a hero yet he couldn't help his own sister! A De-

"Izuku." Ahri said softly despite the fact that half of her body was already in the ground. Both of them made eye contact and she could tell the despair in him, tears streaming down his face. She wasn't any better, she was afraid, scared that she may won't be able to see him again and worried sick of what will happen to her little brother out there. She wanted to assure him everything will be fine but how could she if the situation was so dire?

She smiled at him. "Stay safe, little fox." Was the only thing Ahri said before her entire body was engulfed by the earth, the chains sticking out.

And Izuku could only scream at the top of his lungs.

Izuku woke up to the feeling of cold water splashing on his face, getting whiplash by the change of scenario. He could tell he was sitting on a chair, hands bound behind the back and by the extra weight on his wrists he deduced instead of rope they use more chains.

His body ached in pain, his heart hammered in worry for both himself and Ahri (please be fine, please) and his mind was too cloudy to tell where he was.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, little one."

A deep voice was heard and Izuku's being was filled with fear.

Chapter Text

"Welcome back to the world of the living, little one."

Izuku gulped, his mouth feeling dry as sand and a cold sweat ran down his face, his vision was fixed on the floor and saw that his ankles were bound to the chairs legs with rope instead of chains. He wanted to look up and face the one who was keeping him captive yet he didn't dare to do it, his mind was screaming at him with fear that he shouldn't.

He heard the man humming, low and deep. "Haven't your parents taught you that, when someone speaks with you," Then Izuku's chin was forcefully grabbed by a silver hand, the finger digging into his skin, and making his head tilt back. "You should look them in the eyes?"

Izuku clenched his teeth through the pain, a growl coming from his throat as he had one eye closed and the other barely open. He felt shudders under his skin by the contact of the man's hand, it was a combination of human skin and metal that just felt wrong to him.

"Atta, boy. Being fierce won't help you, nothing will in fact." Opening his other eye a bit, he focused his vision to see the man. He was tall, with short brown hair and sharp gray eyes, clad in a ceremonial dark green robes and a smirk spread on his lips.

After a brief while, Izuku's face was released and the man took a step back. At that moment he took his surroundings, the white wallpaper, the roof and floor made of wood, Chitose, Kuroki and Yubi at both sides of the door-

He wasn't able to not glare at the first two, causing them to flinch, probably not expecting such a reaction from him. However Chitose seemed to recover quickly and glared back at him, muttering something about freaks.

Yubi on his part kept his head down, refusing to see anyone.

Izuku felt pain soar in his right ear as it was pinched with more than necessary force, a scream tried to make its way to his mouth but he pushed it down. Instead he glared at the man again.

"Do you really think you are in a position to glare at any of us?" The man said, face emotionless yet his eyes have a clear glint of amusement. His hand was still gripping Izuku's ear.

He couldn't help it, the image of his sister being impaled by chains was still fresh in his mind and his heart was still bleeding in worry, was she fine? Would he see her again?

Since both of them met months prior, Izuku could feel her presence within him even if the link was cut. But now there was nothing, did that mean she was…

He looked down at the floor again, his ear set free from the man's hand. Faintly he heard the man humming in curiosity.

The thought only made him sink in despair, not hearing her voice again, or her quips, not being able to talk with her, not being taught by her.

Never heard 'little fox' again.

His heart couldn't bear it, losing a loved one once more. First his dad and now his sister? And on top of that, he was aware of what the animal rejection clan was, their hatred towards people with mutant quirks and the stories.

Did this mean it was the end of him? That he will not see his mother again? Or accomplish his dream?

His throat closed in itself, he felt the sobs escaping him and the tears running down his face.

Izuku wanted, wished, to use his flames and break free, but he couldn't. No matter how much he tried to reach for his power, it felt empty, as if trying to take water from a dry well.

He felt useless.

"Stay safe, little fox." He remembered the last words Ahri told him before disappearing, and they ignited a spark of hope in him.

And he decided to latch onto it for dear life.

"What…" He tried to say, but words were hard to come by. Izuku raised his head, looking at the man in the eyes through the tears. "Why am I here?"

The man hummed again, the amusement in his eyes a bit stronger. "Not an introduction? My, what a rude child. No surprise there knowing your kind." He didn't even try to hide his disdain. "I'm Chitose Kuma, leader of the animal rejection clan in this city. Usually I wouldn't have bothered with you and just threw you with the rest in the basement. But maybe you will be of… use, so to speak."

"Of… use?" Izuku repeated those words, disliking the glint in Kuma's eyes, it was as if he was seeing an object and not a person.

He didn't miss the mention of the 'rest' in the basement, meaning there were more people in the same predicament as him.

"Indeed." Kuma nodded. "While I appreciate the companionship of my comrades, they tend to be so short-sighted. They would have outright killed you instead to think of the opportunities you present for us. A problem that's persistent in leading a group are resources, and money. It's not easy to come by when most of us don't have a job so we need to use different methods to get it."

"Ransom? Is that why you're holding others hostages?"

"Clever child." Kuma nodded as if he was teaching a lesson and one student got most of the answer. The notion made Izuku scoff. "But in your case, no." Kuma started to walk around the chair, and stopped behind Izuku.

That made Izuku blink twice, his guts telling him this was bad. "What?" He tried to turn his head around to see Kuma, what was he do-

(**Here the start of the CW**)

"I have plans for you, child."

And before another question could be asked, Izuku felt one of his tails being grabbed and the sensation of metal and skin coming back tenfold, crawling and climbing from his lower back to the rest of his body.

Repulsive. Unbearable. Sickening.

He felt how his stomach turned at the sensation, twisting worse than any time his anxiety spiked up and made him want to throw up.

Instead he struggled against his binds, shaking in his chair wanting to run away. A futile attempt.

"What are- Stop that!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears and Kuma kept touching the tail. Izuku could feel the rough touch of his hands in every strand of fur. "Stop-"

"Quiet!"

He yelped as a jolt of pain ran through his spine, feeling it in every vertebra as his tail was pulled roughly.

"You seem to still not understand your situation, do you? You're in no position to request anything, so shut that trap of yours."

But Izuku did not, as Kuma kept stroking every single tail, he would keep struggling and yelling at him to stop and each time his captor would tug with an iron grip.

And the sensation did not lessened, if anything it got stronger with each brush of his hands, each caress of his fingers. It came in hot waves, traveling around his body making him feel nauseous and dirty… tainted.

Kaede and Kuroki watched all with uneasy faces, Yubi was facing the wall and covering his ears with both hands, wanting but failing to block the screams.

By the time Kuma was done, Izuku was with his head hung down and panting, barely with energy to utter a word or move a finger.

(**Here it ends the CW**)

"Obviously you keep good care of these things. They will fetch a hefty price I'm sure." Kuma noticed how Izuku flinched at his words, probably getting an idea of what his plans were. "That's right, my idea was to chop each of your tails and sell them in the black market, I have some connections you see. But that's not all. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that your quirk not only makes you look this hideous, but also grants you the use of fire and some kind of energy that you used before I caught you." He walked around the chair, now in front of Izuku once again. "Thankfully I'm able to change the properties of my chains, turn them into different metals as long as I know their composition and was so lucky to get my hands on those anti-quirk cuffs the police use. Otherwise this next part would've been impossible without you making a ruckus every five seconds." With no gentleness in mind, Kuma grabbed Izuku's chin and forced him to look him in the eyes.

"Tell me, child, do you know what quirk marriage is, no?" Kuma smirked seeing the fear appearing in Izuku's eyes, the realization of his words sinking in like a knife. "Of course, they're illegal and what not. Didn't mean they don't happen. In your case it will be more selling you to some rich parent wanting to get their daughter or daughters pregnant and get a grandchild with a powerful quirk."

Izuku wanted to say something, do something, but deep down knew there was nothing in his reach, as long his wrists had those damned chains his possibilities of escaping this were null.

Kuma let go of Izuku and turned around. "But that's for later, we have a reunion and I'm getting late. Kaede, your and your… friends, keep an eye on this one, alright? I won't be gone for long." He ordered as he walked out of the room.

Izuku, for his part, hung his head low and kept his eyes fixed on the floor, trying to reach his power once again but it was for naught.

So he could only sit there, fear gripping his heart and uncertainty hanging above his head.

A soft sob escaped him.

"Ahri… help me…"

But his only answer was silence and emptiness.

The concept of feeling contact was a bit confusing when you're dead, or so thought Ahri.

Since she lacked an actual body, she couldn't bleed nor feel pain, yet if she got punched in the face she would feel the impact but it won't make her skin turn purple or break any bones. It was dull.

Same could be said for almost everything else, she couldn't completely feel the heat of the sunlight, or the cold of the snow, the rush of wind or the touch of grass. It was dull.

That was why she could feel the chains piercing her, wrapping around her 'body' like a cocoon. It was so mute yet persistent all the same.

She was feeling so weak, as if the bonds sealed away her magic in the same way they were blocking Izuku's quirk.

Or both were the same due to their souls being linked.

Maybe it wasn't the time, but she couldn't help her mind to go back when she suddenly found herself surrounded by a blank landscape and could see the outside world through the eyes of a child.

Nobody should blame her for thinking it was her own hell at that moment.

Nothing made sense, the world or the words spoken by the child nor the woman she guessed was the mother, neither the abilities these humans were using.

It wasn't long before she realized she could change the place at her will which was a bit of a blessing, otherwise Ahri was sure she would have gone insane by being surrounded for that much white.

Then she was able to look through the memories of the child (it took a lot of time to realized that his name was Izuku) and due to no understand a single bit of the language, she thought that he was diagnosed with some really bad illness to warrant such reaction from both him and the mother.

It was also the first time seeing that video of the hero rescuing people that Izuku liked so much, and it was too easy for her to draw comparison between All Might and Braum. (She wondered if he got to know about her death and his reaction.)

At first she wasn't interested in her host, uncaring of what happened with him. But with the passing of days, weeks and months she started to check on him from time to time.

She thought it was because of boredom, but the more she watched the more it became clear she got attached to him.

Ahri saw how Izuku was shunned away by the other kids, ignored by other adults except for his mom, as if he was a pariah meant to be avoided at all cost.

She could feel his loneliness, small at first but growing with each passing day.

She didn't need to understand his language to know that feeling very well. Even if their circumstances were totally different.

Slowly but steadily she understood about the world, about the quirks and the almost obsession these people have for it. About heroes and Izuku's dream.

The more she watched, the more she wanted to help him.

Ahri wasn't entirely sure where that wish to protect him came from, again probably was for getting attached, or some maternal instinct within her that she wasn't aware was there. Probably she saw a kindred spirit in him.

So she tried to reach for him, she thought it wouldn't be too hard to talk with him since she was basically in his mind. She was wrong.

It was as if she was trying to break a wall. Made of steel. With only a wooden spoon.

The reason became apparent, or so she thought, when she sensed a source of power within Izuku, faintly at first but growing slowly all the same.

Turns out he did have a quirk, but the magic in her soul was affecting it.

Ahri wasn't sure at the moment what it meant, or maybe dreaded the answer and the consequences. The hunger for souls, the cravings, that wasn't something she would wish even to her worst enemy.

Even less to a child.

She still persisted, looking for a way to communicate with him. When he turned nine she was able to appear in his dreams while sleeping.

She still remembers it, the little Izuku was afraid she was someone who would berate him at first sight, literally his first action upon seeing her was to hide behind a tree.

It took a bit but she was able to assure him she meant no harm, playing it off as if she was someone lost in the woods and needed help getting out, that made him more trusting, wanting to help her.

They walked and talked. Well, Izuku did the most talking by shooting away a lot of questions about her 'quirk' and what she could do. It was kind of cute seeing his curious nature in action, wonder sparking in his eyes.

It stung a bit that he seemed to forget anything related to her and her visits, but that didn't stop her.

Maybe it was because she wanted to talk with someone, or that Izuku needed a place where he could feel safe besides his house.

Each time he would be wary of her, and each time she would gain his trust. It only made her strongly wish she was able to talk with him more freely, without him forgetting her existence.

Then Izuku's power awakened, and she was able to talk with him, warned him about the dangers of his abilities and taught him how to use them.

It would be futile to deny that, to her, Izuku became the brother she never had. Family. Another home.

And for the third time, her home was being taken away from her and she couldn't do anything about it.

First time, it was burned away by her own hand.

Second time, when she dared to think she could be happy, death claimed her.

Maybe, just maybe, this was her punishment all along. Having even a bit of happiness held in front of her, trying to reach it by all means and then snatched away while the universe laughed at her.

If only Izuku wasn't paying the price.

"Ahri… help me…" Ahri heard faintly and knew it was from Izuku, she could feel the distress in his heart, his fear.

And again, she could do nothing about it no matter how much she wanted to.

"I'm sorry, little fox, I'm no hero after all…"

When she told him about Viego, the ruined king, and how Braum, Illaoi, Sarah, Pyke, Yasuo and she defeated him, Izuku was quick to call her a hero for saving the world. Of course she was quick to put down that notion, Ahri wasn't a hero.

But he insisted, looking at her with admiration in his eyes and a bright smile. He said. "But it's true! Besides, you have saved me even if you don't realize it. You're my hero, Ahri."

…

Remembering those words, an ember started to ignite in her.

"What am I thinking?" She thought with an internal scoff, frustrated with herself. Fire started to grow and spread on the chains and the binds tried to seal it away.

Too bad she was stronger. She must be stronger.

"Giving up?! Am I that pathetic?!"

Flames were engulfing her being and she could feel the chains starting to undone themselves. Slowly. Steady.

Izuku needs her! The only family she has was in danger and what was she doing?! Feeling sorry for herself?!

An inferno surrounded her, forcing the chains to retract from her body. But it wasn't enough, not until those damned things were out of her sight.

"I don't care if it's the universe, God, or some racist assholes! Mess with me, mess with my home, I'll burn them all down to ashes!" Her own fury was comparable to a giant sun.

The flames keep spreading, now consuming and erasing the chains as if they were nothing but paper.

Then, she finally was able to feel the link between her and Izuku.

"Izuku!"

With a jolt Izuku raised his head, eyes wide open, as he could sense Ahri's presence once again. And he couldn't help the big smile from appearing on his face.

Kaede, still leaning on the wall, raised an eyebrow. "Why are you-"

Her answer came in the form of blue flames bursting from Izuku's wrists, where the chains were. The fire surrounded his body in a vortex.

For the other teenagers, they could have sworn that amidst the fire there were two yellow eyes watching them. Judging them.

Izuku felt the coldness of the flames once again, but he embraced it, finding comfort in it. They were akin to a blanket that protected him, but also that gave him strength.

"Izuku!" He heard her in his mind and relief washed over him.

"Ahri!"

Thinking quickly, Izuku shrank his hands and wrists, enough for the chains to slip off of him, they fell with a loud thud.

When his hands turned to their normal size, the nails started to grow larger and sharper. Reaching down he ripped the ropes from his ankles.

He was free.

"What the-" Kaede tried to say, but due to her surprise the words got stuck in her throat for a moment. Orange flames started to appear on her left arm and was about to throw a fireball at Izuku. "What the hell are you-"

She was cut off by Izuku's fist impacting on her face, on her right cheek and the force behind the hit was enough to send her flying towards the other wall.

In a blink of an eye, she was knocked out.

"Kaede-chan!" Yelled Kuroki seeing the girl being taken down that fast, when he turned to face Izuku he took a step back, shocked by seeing him already there. "Wha-"

Kuroki's words died in his mouth as his face got grabbed by Izuku's hand and he was lifted with ease. He was about to punch him but stopped in his tracks by how Izuku looked.

A profound frown on his face, a snarl showing his fangs, flames dancing on his skin and his eyes-

They were covered in fire, it was a look that pierced him deep within his being, making him second guess the decisions he had made to this point.

And in the next instant, Kuroki could only feel a coldness he had never experienced in his short life as a burst of blue flames shot up from Izuku's hand. It was as if ice was being injected into his body- no, into something far deeper than that.

After three seconds, Izuku let go of Kuroki's face and he falled on his knees, eyes lost into the ceiling and taking fast and shallow breaths as if he was about to pass out. He was, in fact.

Without giving a second thought, Izuku kicked him right in the jaw, knocking him out.

Turning around, he saw Yubi cowering on one of the corners of the room, far from him, and he flinched the moment his eyes landed on him, probably thinking he was the next.

Instead Izuku asked as the flames around his body disappeared. "Did you know this was a trap all along?"

For his part, Yubi shook his head. "I didn't know! I only mentioned to them I wanted to apologize to you and hang out with you and then they told me they also wanted to be part of it. I swear I don't-" He was cut off by Izuku who raised a hand, signaling him to stop.

Rather than say anything about that, Izuku turned around once again and breathed in and out. His body was aching in pain and felt heavy, between being slammed against the concrete, the binding holding his hands behind his back for a while and his hasty actions against Kaede and Kuroki made him tired. But there wasn't time for rest.

That man, Kuma, mentioned there were others being held hostages in the basement.

"Ahri, are you okay? What happened? I thought…" He didn't want to end that sentence.

"I'm fine, little fox, just full of wishes for these bastards to suffer at my hands." Izuku smiled a bit at that. "And you? Did they do anything to- what happened to your face? What did they do to you, Izuku?"

"Uh?" Izuku touched his face and winced, due to Kuma grabbing him with such an iron grip it left the skin bruised where the fingers touched him. "It was Kuma, the one with the chains and he…" He shook his head, trying to push away the memories of what happened moments ago. "Can we talk about that later?"

"...Fine." He heard how took a deep breath but all the same could feel the anger coming from her. "Let's get out of here." She wouldn't want anything but pulling him into the dreamscape and checking on him, hugging him, but now it wasn't the time.

"Not yet." Before she could refuse, he continued. "There are more people held against their will in this building, I can't leave them here. What if Kuma and his followers do something to them when they notice I'm gone? Even if I call the police and the heroes, it will be too late."

Izuku heard her sigh, and he felt bad knowing he was putting himself in danger while Ahri would want nothing more than to get the hell out of here. But he can't for the life of his entertain the thought of abandoning those people to their luck.

"...Okay, but let's be smart about this, understand? First, do you have a way to communicate with someone? We know Mirio's number so call him and he will call Sir Nighteye."

It was a good idea. He felt bad for not thinking in calling his mom, but it was better if she got worried because her son was in the hospital injured, but safe than to have the uncertainty of him being alive or not hanging over her head.

"We have the advantage that they're unaware I'm free, I don't know how many of them there are but they should be a small group, plus, none of them should know how to fight."

"We aren't looking to start a fight, little fox, at least not yet. We also need proof that this group is operating here, recording a video with your phone should be enough- right, they probably took all your things after kidnapping you."

Izuku felt the pockets of his school uniform with his hands, they were empty. "They did. We can do something about it though." He then turned towards Yubi who was fidgeting in place, looking at the ground. "Yubi-san, do you know where they took my things? My phone to be more specific."

Yubi raised his head to look at him. "Uh, they took your backpack somewhere in the building, not sure where though, Kae- Chitose just handed it to a guy with a mask when we were walking towards this room." Then he shoved a hand in one of the pockets and took his phone out of it. "I have mine, so we can call the police!"

Izuku shook his head. "Don't call them, even if this is serious I don't think they will believe a couple of teenagers that the animal rejection clan is here, and we don't have time to waste. I will call a friend, he is a second year student of the hero course in UA and he is interning with a hero, it would be faster if I call him." He walked towards Yubi, a hand stretched.

"How did you- nevermind, then what?" Yubi asked as he handed his phone to Izuku. "And my phone doesn't have a password or pattern by the way.'

"You? You're going to stay here, make it as if I knocked you out just like I did with Chitose and Kuroki. First I will record them as evidence they are here, then I'll go to the basement to make sure the others are… as fine as they can be." Izuku said the last words with bitterness, not wanting to imagine the state they were in.

"Are you insane?!"

"Maybe."

"Uh-" For a moment, Yubi looked at Izuku as if he grew a second head, was this the same Midoriya? "You can't be serious! They were almost twenty, I think! Why would you risk your life like that?!"

"People's lives are on the line, that's enough reason for me."

Yubi was left shocked by such a simple yet strong sentence, the look in Izuku's eyes were of someone whose mind was set and nobody would change it.

He let out a long exhale, shoulders dropping. "We were wrong about you, Midoriya-san, even Bakugo. Just, try to stay safe."

Izuku nodded at him. "I will." With that he marked Mirio's number and called him, hopefully he wasn't busy.

After the second beep he answered. "Hello, Togata Mirio is here."

"Togata-san, it's me Izuku, it's an emergency!"

Izuku heard the shuffle of papers and the voices of another boy and a girl asking what's wrong, he believed those were Mirio's friends he mentioned before, Amajiki and Hadou? "Midoriya-kun? What's wrong?" It was clear he was getting worried.

"I'll be quick, I was invited by some classmates to hang out at the arcade, but it was a trap and the uncle of one of them is the leader of the animal rejection clan-"

"The animal rejection clan?!"

"Yes. They kidnapped me but I was able to break free, I'm still in the building and apparently they are having a reunion downstairs. Call Yagi-san or Sir, both of them. That's not all, Chitose Kuma, the leader, said they have more in the basement so I'm not the only one. He also has a quirk that lets him create chains from his body and somehow he can nullify others' quirks. I'll send you the location."

"Allright, I'll call them. Nejire and Tamaki heard you too so they will call Ryukyu and Fatgum. Please, stay put."

"I can't."

"What do you mean-"

"Didn't you hear me? I said there are people in the basement and I can't just do nothing. Not only that, I will record a video and send it to you, that will serve as proof to the police that they are here."

"Midoriya-kun, I respect that you want to help them but it's dangerous."

"I know, and I will keep myself safe. Sooner or later someone will check this room and I will need to fight anyway and the last thing I need is to be captured… or worse. We don't have time, Togata-san."

He heard an exasperated sigh from Mirio. "Just- stay safe, okay?"

"I will." With that he cut the call, sent a message to Mirio with his current location with the maps app and started to walk to the door, before opening it he turned his head to see Yubi. "I'll give you your phone later."

"Don't worry about it, okay? Just stay out of danger."

Izuku nodded at that, then facing the door he activated 'Soul eyes' to make sure there wasn't someone close by, and with relief he confirmed that the hall was clear, looking down he saw a bunch of souls were reunited below, if he wasn't wrong he was in the third floor while they were in the first.

After turning off the fire, he took a couple of deep breaths.

Izuku knew he was being reckless, he was very aware of it but there was no way he would sit idle while knowing there were people as much in danger as him. He needs to do something.

He felt a comforting warmth inside him, one that showed him support.

"As long as you are aware of the dangers ahead and act smart around them everything will be fine." Somehow, Izuku pictured her with a feral smile after saying that. "For you, of course. For them? I hope you can punch a couple of them in the face."

And he mimicked the smile. "Why only the face?"

With that he opened the door and walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Stealth was something almost all people wouldn't think Izuku was adept at, even himself before being trained by Ahri, what with him being clumsy and his muttering habits and all that.

But again, that was before Ahri showed him the ropes of mute steps, of merging with the shadows, of listening attentively at any sound but being silent himself.

It was weird and yet fascinating to move without making a noise, as if he was in another state of mind where everything was a bit clearer and he minded each step he took.

Considering he was in enemy territory, Izuku should mind his steps.

The building seems to have been built as a department as the rooms were more spacious than the one he was held in and some of them had beds and other furniture but not decorated beyond that, at least in the third and second floor as far as he could tell.

Either the building was abandoned and occupied by them or it was bought by one of them, seeing the not so good state of the walls and windows (some of them were blocked by planks of wood and nails), Izuku thought it was the former rather than the latter. Or even a group of people wasn't enough to take good care of it.

Izuku stopped in his tracks when he reached the stairs that led to the first floor, there was a dim orange glow that he assumed came from candles and he heard Kuma's voice preaching and then his followers agreeing with him.

How they will purge the world of impurities.

How they will save humanity from monsters.

How they will prevail if they stay strong.

And Izuku didn't know if the burning inferno of loathing inside him was from Ahri's or himself. Maybe both.

Shaking those feelings aside, he made the fur of his tails turn from white to black and kept them together.

Ahri did say that changing his tails was a pretty no-no but that was for drastic changes (making them disappear for example) but swapping colors was fine, he still liked them white though.

Taking another couple of deep breaths, he walked down the stairs and he found the animal rejection clan in the middle of… whatever they were doing, while Kuma was chanting to some sculpture they have on the wall far on the other side of the lobby while the rest of his followers were kneeling with their foreheads on the ground. Luckily they weren't aware of his presence and the candles around them made the whole lobby have enough shadows for him to hide.

Looking quickly, he noticed the spandrel under the stairs that, at best, had one box. His head turned towards the group again and, without making any noises, walked towards that small corner and crouched. With one tail he covered his shoes so as not to call attention.

Then Izuku took out Yubi's phone from his pocket (he previously made sure to set it as silent as possible and deactivated the flash of the video app and put the brightness as low as possible, the last thing he needed was to be caught because of it) and started to record them.

He heard once again how they will free society from evil, from the monsters, from the one that should be beneath them. He wanted to scoff at the idea but decided against it, there are more important things than to dwell in the hate of others.

After ten seconds he turned the phone around to record himself and mouthed a 'come quickly' for then stop the recording and send the video to Mirio's number.

Putting the phone in his pocket, he looked around to try and see where the basement was and saw it. Across where he was positioned there was a hall that took a turn to the left, barely lit. He didn't dare to use 'Soul eyes' for the chance of being found.

With that in mind and not seeing another option without risking it, Izuku walked as silent as possible towards that hall and kept an eye on the group. It took him five, but long, seconds to reach it.

When he got into the hall Izuku kept his back against the left wall and activated 'Soul eyes' with the least amount of output he could muster so as to not create a strong light. Turning his head to his left he saw a flame just standing and past it there were three others, a bit dim in light and if he was correct those three seemed to be in a room below the floor.

Bingo.

After turning off his eyes, Izuku took deep breaths because his next move should be perfect. Otherwise things would get messy.

He felt the sense of cold under his skin, it was calming, comforting. Embers started to appear on his skin and a dim aura of azure surrounded him.

"You can do it, little fox."

Yes, he can.

Then he walked further into the hall and faced the guard who was caught off guard by seeing him.

Before they could muster even a vocal, Izuku blitzed towards them and shoved his left fist into their diaphragm forcing the air out of their lungs, only a gasp came out of the mouth.

The guard doubled in pain, hugging their torso. Izuku then grabbed their face, his palm covering their mouth, and, as he did to Kuroki moments prior, he unleashed a wave of flames upon them.

They tried to escape from his grip, clutching his wrists as hard as they could, but it was futile.

After five seconds Izuku released his grip and stopped the flames, the guard dropped on their knees and the mask slipped off, revealing the face of a woman.

"What-" She didn't get to end that sentence as Izuku kicked her in the jaw, knocking her out and the body falling like a sack of bricks on the floor.

Was he going overboard with these punches and kicks? Probably. Did he care? Absolutely no.

"Should I care?"

"Nah."

With that, and making sure once again that Kuma and his followers haven't moved yet, Izuku reached for the handle and turned it slowly, it was closed.

Good for him.

He crouched close to the guard and started to check for any pocket or a key, it was on the right pocket of her jeans.

Carefully, Izuku opened the door, got into the room, and closed it. As he expected it was too dark to see so he summoned a fireball to give him some light. He noticed that at both sides of the door's frame there were handles and then at his right a plank of wood, making the obvious choice he put the plank to serve as a last resort to buy time. He also turned his tails to their usual white, no point in wasting energy now.

"Who is there?" He heard someone say, it was a rough voice, both defiant and on edge.

Walking down the stairs and making the fireball a bit bigger and brighter, Izuku finally was able to see the people that were being held in the basement.

Four of them sitting against the wall with their legs and arms bound in ropes and with blindfolds covering their eyes, a man with characteristics of a wild boar who was growing at him thinking he was someone from the cult, an old lady that looked like a butterfly whose shoulders were tense, a young man with a reptilian appearance (a basilisk mutant quirk, he guessed) his head hanging low and clenching his teeth, and finally a woman covered in feathers of black and brown, for the looks of it she was sleeping.

They were in bad shape, he could see the bruises across their bodies, and the old lady's antenna was bent in the wrong way and one of her wings was ripped.

Letting the fireball float in the middle of the room, Izuku approached the man first.

With as much of a soft tone he could muster he said. "I mean no harm, sir." He crouched in front of him and about to take off the blindfold.

"A kid? What are you doing here? Are you a memb-" His words died in his throat when the blindfold was taken off and could finally see, his eyes widened in shock. "No." He said softly in disbelief, a contrast with his previous tone. "They took you too? They have no limits?"

"I don't think they do. I was kidnapped some hours ago but I was able to break free." Then the nails of his right hand got sharper and proceeded to cut out the ropes binding the legs. "And I intend to do the same for all of you. Help is coming."

"Help? The heroes?" Whispered the old lady, her voice carrying a shaking hope of things turning for the better.

"I was able to call a friend, he is a student from UA's hero course and he called the hero he is interning with." Izuku explained quickly, freeing the legs of the man and continuing with the arms. "I also sent him a video as proof. It's a matter of time for the police and heroes to come knocking at their door." Finally done with the ropes of the man, he approached the lady and took off her blindfold too. He tried to give her a soft smile. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

"You- you're so young- how, how old are you?" Asked the lady in disbelief, her voice was soft yet it was clear that she hasn't been drinking anything lately.

"Fourteen, ma'am." He said as he ripped the ropes off the lady's legs, he needed to be both quick but careful to not injure them by accident. "Turning fifteen next month."

"What?" Exclaimed the young man, his head sharply turning to Izuku's general direction. "You aren't even in high school! Yet- yet you decided to help us? You could've escaped by now, why not?"

"Because you needed help, and I was worried of what could happen if they found out I was gone and thought I called the police. They could have used you as a way to escape from the heroes, for example." He replied, trying to maintain his voice as calm as possible. "I couldn't just… leave, knowing there were people in danger."

"My sweet Hana is of your age, yet you're so brave." Said the lady, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of her family.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you can return to your family." He said with certainty as he ripped off the ropes from the lady's arms and moved onto the young man and took off his blindfold. "All of you."

"You are something else kiddo." The man said as he slowly stood up and helped the lady to stand. "My name is Takeshi."

"Mine is Nori." She said.

"Kozue." The young man tried as best as he could to stretch his legs after the ropes were taken care of. "Thank you, seriously."

Izuku paused for a moment, realizing that all of them introduced each other with their given name instead of their full names. Looking up and at each of them, he saw their smiles, not big ones full of happiness but small that carried something else.

Hope.

And he returned the gesture. "I'm Izuku, a little fox." Finally he was able to free Kozue's arms and moved to the avian woman who was still sleeping. "Wake up, it's time to go." He reached for the shoulder with the intention to gently shake her.

Takeshi panicked at seeing this. "Wait kid, no-"

And Izuku stopped on his track, his smile wiped out of his face as he realized there was something off, something wrong when he touched her shoulder.

It was cold, too cold.

He couldn't hear her heartbeat, nor her breathing.

Quickly he raised the blindfold only to meet her unmoving, half opened eyes.

She was dead.

With horror he recoiled back, sitting on his butt and looking in shock at the corpse. Then he remembered.

Back then, he only saw three flames in the room.

"What-" He covered his mouth with his hand, not looking away. "What happened to her?"

Why was he now smelling the scent of blood?

Nobody replied to that, the other three looking at the dead woman with a mixture of sadness and pity.

Kozue, still sitting on the ground, talked. "They… use her for their 'entertainment' for days, the bastards. And she… couldn't take it anymore, hours ago talked to us about her family, of her siblings, kids and husband and… how sorry she was for never seeing them again." He grabbed one side of his head, his voice starting to crack. "Then… I think she bit off her tongue, since she said she would. We couldn't do anything."

Nori sobbed. "She was so young…"

Takeshi could only shake his head, making an internal prayer for her soul.

Izuku keeps watching the corpse, her image burning in his memory.

Why? Was the only question he could repeat inside his head. Why do this? Why inflict suffering to others? Why treat people's lives as if they were mere things they could toy with?

They were that blind due to hate?

Slowly with shaking legs he stood up, his eyes still no leaving her. "What…" He gulped down the knot that was forming in his throat. "What was her name?"

"Masami." Kozue answered.

"Masami…" Izuku repeated, making sure not to forget that name. He shouldn't, he won't.

With a shaking breath, he took out the phone from his pocket and marked Mirio's number again. After one ring he answered.

"Midoriya-kun! Are you alright?! I'm with Sir right now, the police and heroes are on their way!"

"I'm… fine." He wasn't feeling fine. "Is it Sir listening?"

"I'm listening, Midoriya." Answered Mirai's voice.

"...I was able to get into the basement, where I found Takeshi, Nori and Kozue. They were bound in ropes but I helped them with that… And…"

"Midoriya? Something wrong?"

"I also found the body of Masami… she… committed suicide."

There was a silence after he spoke those words and Izuku didn't know what to feel, or how to feel.

It wasn't quite sadness, nor fury, nor calmness or fear.

It was not something he could put into one word.

Yet he felt the inferno inside all the same, wanting to spread, to burn, to suffocate anyone in its path. But waited with patience, remained quiet, because its objective wasn't on sight.

The silence was broken by the sounds of someone slamming the door with their whole body but weren't able to open it, then more voices were coming from outside. Izuku could hear Kuma barking orders and cursing at the 'foxy brat'.

"What was that?"

"The animal rejection clan." Answered Izuku, for some reason he couldn't explain he didn't feel the need to cower in fear as the others did, his eyes still locked on the body of Masami. At this point his voice was monotone, too monotone. "They are trying to break the door and I don't know how long it will last."

"The police are on their way!"

"I don't think they will come in time… I'll need to fight them."

"Absolutely no-"

He snapped.

"Someone is dead, goddammit!" Izuku yelled at the phone, his face showing clear anger and blue embers started to pour from his skin. "Takeshi, Nori and Kozue are too injured and tired to defend themselves, I'm the only one who can! Do you think they will not kill us in sight?! We are nothing to them, less than dirt! Like it or not, illegal or not, I will fight!"

"Do you realize the-"

"Consequences?! Then fine! Give me as many black marks as you want, it won't change my mind!"

Before he could end the call, Mirai said. "Wait!" Then a very exasperated sigh was heard. "I will grant you permission to use your quirk, Midoriya, but that's until a hero gets into the building."

There was a law that let heroes grant permission to citizens to use their quirks in case of emergencies, it was still unheard of that ever happening. And now they were pushing it.

He took a deep breath.

"Thanks." Izuku said and hung up, then he gave the phone to Kozue. "It's not mine, it's from a classmate called Yubi, he too got mixed into this mess without wanting."

"Are you crazy?!" Asked Kozue in shock not believing that a middle schooler has intention to take on a cult by himself, both Takeshi and Nori were sharing his expression.

"Yes." Giving a last look to Masami, he walked towards the stairs, he stopped before reaching the first step and saw how the door was starting to break from the punishment.

"Ahri." He called her while blue fire was surrounding his whole body and drew both of his hands to his right side, cupping them together and a fireball forming between his palms.

"Yes?"

"Before we meet I would be scared about the idea of fighting, I knew it wasn't avoidable, sooner or later I would get into a fight and hurt someone if I wanted to be a hero, yet I was afraid. Scared that I would start to enjoy it. Childish, uh?"

"There is nothing childish about it, little fox. You have always been someone who cares about life, about others."

"Yeah. But now… I now understand that, when the lives of others are on the line, there is no room to doubt, no room to hold back." The fireball between his hands was starting to get bigger, brighter, fiercer. He felt the cold of his power embracing him and wanting to be free, to run wild. "I won't hold back against them." He thought, a wild smile adorning his face.

And Ahri mimicked the smile. "Give them hell!"

With a last push, the door was broken.

"I will!"

And Izuku trusted both hands forward, a blue inferno being unleashed upon his opponents.

Could only see blue flames, could only hear the screams of his comrades, could only feel the forsaken cold creeping on his body.

After they were able to break down the door, they saw the brat, that damned fox, sending a wave of fire toward them and everyone panicked, thinking they were about to be burned alive.

Kuma didn't know if the actual result was better or worse.

His followers and he scramble to get to the lobby as fast as possible, of the six that went to open the door (him included) three were unconscious yet not injured, not burned.

What in the hell was that child? He was even a child to begin with?

Kumiko, who he put on guard duty, was also down and still hasn't woken up but they knew she was alive.

The hall that led to the basement was lit up in blue flames but no smoke came from it, as if it couldn't interact with the environment. 

Kuma heard the steps of someone, slow yet firm. It was him.

"Someone take them away from here. Those who can still stand, fight with me!" He barked his orders and the rest got ready, some more steady than others.

Between the flames they saw his figure, the nine tails moving slowly like serpents, face obscured by the shadow his flames were making but not those green eyes that were looking directly at him.

Unforgiven. Merciless. Fury.

The child- the demon walked out of the hall, the flames dancing around him harmlessly.

The fox eyed every single person in the lobby, a neutral expression on his face. Then it settled on Kuma himself again.

"What the hell are you?!" He asked in defiance, chains sprouting from his right arm and covering it.

The only reaction coming from him was the little twitch of his ears. "Me? My name is Midoriya Izuku." His voice was low, unmoved, on edge. Then he bent both of his legs, not breaking eye contact, more fire coming from his body and also his eyes. "A kitsune."

And then, he moved.

It was fast, too fast for him to follow, the next thing Kuma knew was pain shoving into his groin as he got kicked-

Cold, too cold. Freezing inside him. As if winter itself pierced through his body.

And he was sent flying, his body hitting the stairs.

Izuku didn't stop for a moment, the instant his feet touched the floor he was on the move again. He jumped, bounced on every wall, his eyes glancing at each member of the cult.

Fifteen in total. Some bare handed, others with melee weapons, a few reading their quirks.

They were confused, not able to follow his movements, their heads turning this way or another, trying and failing to swing either their fists, bats, metal pipes and even a chair at him.

Not form, not technique, not skill whatsoever.

Izuku almost felt pity for them. Almost.

Bouncing once again on a wall, he punched one right on the face, cracking the mask and a burst of flame came out of his fist, engulfing them. The person fell on their back, out cold.

Fourteen.

Izuku noticed a lasso coming his way, he grabbed it with one hand and looked at the one who threw it, the rope was coming from their palm.

Probably the same who tied up Takeshi, Nori, Kozue and Masami.

His fire shot up from his hand and spread on the rope towards them, in seconds they were engulfed in flames. They yelled it was cold, and yelled for him to stop.

Izuku stopped the fire, but not his attack. He blitzed towards them and delivered an elbow blow on their stomach, pushing them back and falling on the floor. Even if they were still conscious he doubted they had the energy to continue.

Thirteen.

He jumped to the side as two more rushed at him, failing yet again to hit him, one with a baseball bat and the other with a metal pipe. They tried again with three members joining them in the attack but Izuku simply dodge every single attempt as he gathered fire inside his belly.

Grabbing with his hand the incoming swing of a baseball bat and halting the one using it, he let out the flames inside at point black range, a torrent of fire trapping the five that were attacking him.

After five seconds of screaming for the cold to stop, the flames died out and on the floor they were either kneeling or sitting, breathing quickly as if they had run a marathon. 

Nine.

The one in front of him raised his head, shaking, trying to form a sentence.

“What-” The voice was of a young man, he gulped. “What are you?”

Izuku, on the other hand, threw the bat at the side, hitting the floor with a thud. He took off the mask from the young man's face to look him directly in the eyes.

“Like I said, I'm a kitsune.” He said, no emotions showing through his eyes or face. Then he turned around, seeing the others that remained still standing but now any will to fight has been put out. They were whispering between each other if they should attack it when everyone else, even their leader, wasn't able to land a hit. He saw how one of them made a run for it and tried to go to the basement.

To find that his flames were still there, impeding the pass for anyone.

“Going somewhere? Was your idea to take them hostage?” Izuku asked, not moving from his spot just yet. He was starting to feel exhausted by how much he was using his powers, but forced himself to bear with it.

That one member turned around, clearly angry and frustrated with him if their body language was anything to go by.

“You…” Izuku heard, but it came from someone else. Turning his head to the stairs, he saw Kuma trying to stand but clearly his attack from before made a lot of damage. “You… you!” He yelled with fury, the chains from his right hand wrapping around his wrist but for some reason they kept falling to the ground. “Monster- no! You demon! I should have killed you when you were in chains! Like an animal, like the pest you are!”

“Bold of you to call me that, I'm not the one with blood in my hands, or the one that has kidnapped people, or the one that is threatening a fourteen year old with killing.” Izuku answered, still not changing his expression but his eyes showed a clear loathing towards the man. He raised a hand, a fireball appearing above his palm for then to change forms and look more like a smooth orb of energy, its size as small as a pinball.

It was enough.

But his ears caught the sound of something, something that made him stop his attack, something that made him smile in relief.

He heard the flapping of wings.

Kuma scoffed at seeing his smile. “What are you smiling for, demon?!”

“You were struggling so much against a little fox, but what about a dragon?”

After he said those words, someone came crashing through the wall where the sculpture was. Pieces of it and rubble of the wall went flying to reveal a woman of blonde hair, red dress and ashes wings coming from her back. Her body and face looked more animalistic, more dragon-like than usual.

She was the dragoon hero, Ryukyu.

Scanning the scene, she was quick to move and put herself between Izuku and Kuma, she spread her wings threateningly.

“Stand down and surrender. The building is surrounded by the police, it's over.” She stated, her voice carrying nothing but seriousness.

Hearing that, Izuku was tempted to drop dead right then and there. But thought against it, as long as Kuma and his followers were here, Takeshi, Nori and Kozue weren't safe, he still needed to keep up the flames surrounding the hall.

Meanwhile, the members of the cult went into panic, two of them trying to make a run for it and tried to get out through the door that led outside, when they opened it they found a big man wearing a yellow hood standing there, policemen behind him.

“Surprise!”

Kuma, for his part, scowled in fury. “This cannot end here! Not until the corpse of the demon is beneath my feet!” He yelled, then he trusted his right hand at Ryukyu and chains shot up from his palm with the intention of piercing her.

Acting quickly, Ryukyu batted her wings with force, a burst of winds came forth stopping the chains and sending the man flying, his back hitting the wall hard enough for him to be knocked out.

Ryukyu then glanced at the remaining members that were in shock by how easy their leader was taken out. “Anyone else with funny ideas?” Then they dropped the weapons they had and raised their arms high in the form of surrender. Seeing the police getting in and arresting them, Ryukyu wings went into her body and looked more human. She turned around to see Izuku, he was clearly exhausted and was sweating, his breath was more elaborate.

Ryukyu turned her head at the hall lit in blue flames and then went back to the kid, remembering what Sir had told her. She crouched down and looked him in the eyes. “Midoriya, right? That fire was you, no?”

“Yes…” He breathed. “Takeshi, Nori and Kozue are in the basement… I didn't want those bastards to get to them and do… something.”

Ignoring the language, she nodded. “They are being arrested as we speak, the hostages are safe- thanks to you, Midoriya. And they need treatment but the paramedics won't be able to treat them as long those flames are there.”

“Can… can you promise me they will be alright?”

Ryukyu smiled at him. “I give you my word, Midoriya, that they will be safe.”

Hearing that, Izuku made the flames disappear, both from the hall and around his body. He felt the complete exhaustion of his body, how it was aching from the pain that he had been enduring and his consciousness slipping.

“Thank you.” He said, before closing his eyes and falling to the ground but was caught by Ryukyu.

She quickly carried him in her arms and stood up, looking at everyone that was on the ground either knocked out or too tired to stand on their legs.

Ryukyu looked at his face, a peaceful expression resting there that showed his age.

“Yet he did this.” Was her thought before jogging to the door, the kid needed to be checked up.

Izuku opened his eyes, immediately knowing he was in the dreamscape. He ignored that he was resting on a bed made of flowers and looked to his right.

There was Ahri, sitting on the floor and watching him, a soft smile on her face.

He sat up abruptly. “Ahri-” He was cut-off by her pulling him into a hug, he was quick to embrace her.

“I'm fine, don't worry…” Her voice was shaking, relieved at seeing him being fine.

For his part, Izuku rested his face on her shoulder, tears starting to come out. He sobbed. “I thought… for a moment… that you-”

“Shh… it's fine now.” Ahri said, tightening the hug and caressing his hair with one hand. She was also tearing up. “I'm here now, little fox.”

And he was so glad to hear that nickname.

Chapter Text

Anzai heard the knock on his door, yet he didn't move nor acknowledge the person calling for him, he kept lying on bed on his right side and touching the vacant space of the other half of the bed with his left.

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since his beloved Nori was reported missing. She was invited to the house of one of her friends for their weekly book club. His Nori has always been an avid reader since he had met her in high school, devouring books left and right as long as she had interest in what they were about. Even with the years, he never got tired of seeing her enjoying a book, always listening after she was done and wanted to talk about it for hours.

And with the passing of days, his heart was dreading that he would never hear her sweet voice again.

Hours had passed and when Tamado, his son-in-law, called they found out she never went to the friend's house. They got worried and started searching. It wasn't like her, Nori never got lost and instead she was the one who would find you if you got lost.

He remembers that time when little Hana got lost in the mall, Ayano and Tamado were worried sick until Nori found her in minutes. That and many other anecdotes he has.

They asked, they walked, they looked around the neighborhood. But nothing, the police didn't find anything either, as if she disappeared in thin air.

But they didn't give up, he didn't dare to give up. Everyday Anzai would search for her, in the hopes to find any clue, anything of her whereabouts.

But with the passing of days, the fire was starting to dim out.

He heard the door opening a bit. “Dad?” Said Ayano, her daughter who inherited Nori's quirk but the red on her wings seemed to come from him and his reddish skin. Her voice was off, lacking her usual energy. “Dinner is ready.”

“I'll…” He paused and took a deep breath while closing his eyes, trying to muster the strength to get up from the bed, his body felt as if it was made of metal. “I'll be there in a minute.” He didn't need to turn around to know she had nodded and walked away but still left the door semi-open for him.

It took him five minutes to get up and another five to walk to and sat at the dinner table, where both Tamado, Ayano and Hana were sitting too.

They ate in silence, the news playing on the TV but none were paying attention, something about the heroes and the police raiding into a building and that there were hostages.

Anzai glanced at the vacant chair, and no longer felt the need to eat.

He heard Ayano gasp and when he raised his head he noticed why. The police were arresting members of the animal rejection clan and were taking them inside the trucks. One of them was screaming his head off about a demon.

Anzai scoffed at seeing them, they deserved it and he strongly hoped they rotted in jail. The sight of their robes and mask gave him bad memories.

Then from the entrance of the building came a hero with someone in her arms-

“A kid?” Asked Tamado in surprise. Indeed, the hero was carrying a kid, as young as Hana, who had the characteristics of a fox but with a lot of tails for the look of it and was unconscious.

“Those bastards…” Anzai said under his breath. Poor lad, probably was kidnapped by them but the heroes were able to rescue him. One could only hope they didn't do anything to the child.

Then the paramedics went into the building, apparently the little one wasn't the only hostage. His heart went for them and their families, nobody should go through such things because some people couldn't tolerate the existence of others.

After a little while the first of the hostages was out of the building… carried by one… of the…

Everyone on the table gasped.

“Mom!” “Grandma!” He heard both Ayano and Hana scream in shock at the same time.

“Nori-san…” Whispered Tadano in surprise, not believing what his eyes were seeing.

For a moment, for an instant, Anzai thought his heart and mind stopped working, his respiration halted too at the sight of his wife on the news.

He saw the bruises, the broken antenna and ripped wing but it was still her.

Tears rolled down from his eyes, a trembling hand went up to his mouth and a sob came out of him.

Tadano stood from his seat, catching the attention of everyone. “To the car, now! Nori-san is waiting for us!”

Inko once again looked at the clock on the wall, her heart filling with worry with each second passing by.

It was getting closer to nine p.m yet her son had yet to come home, he wasn't even replying to her messages or calls.

Izuku told her about going to the arcade with a couple of classmates after school, something that did surprise Inko a lot, but he believed it wouldn't take too long and that he would be at home before dinner.

At this time she usually made dinner yet there weren't any signs of him.

She knew that Izuku was able to take care of himself thanks to his training with Ahri, but even if he was as strong as All Might she would worry for his safety all the same.

Inko tried, and failed, to get herself busy with anything around the house, any chore would do, but she already did everything and even then her mind couldn't help but lean in bad scenarios.

A villain attack? He got kidnapped? Got into a fight? Don't tell her he was again doing vigilante stuff-

Her thoughts were halted as she heard the ring of her phone that she left on the table as she was watching a soap opera on the television.

Picking it up, Inko saw that it was a call from Naoko, one of the few friends she has but it was weird, at this time she was busy working as a nurse at the hospital and she was the kind of never calling while at work unless it was an emergency.

“Hello, Naoko?”

“Hi Inko, I'm not… interrupting something, right?”

She raised an eyebrow at that, why did she sound so… nervous? “Um, no, no really. I was watching the TV while waiting for Izuku to come home he… was supposed to be here before dinner but I don't know where he is and he hasn't replied to my messages and calls and is worrying me…”

“Uh… about that…”

Inko could tell something was off, Naoko usually wasn't the type to beat around the bush. “What's wrong?”

“Just, don't freak out, okay? Recently we got a couple of people in the hospital. Apparently they were kidnapped by the animal rejection clan but the heroes were able to rescue them and one of them is unconscious and… is a kid, in a black uniform, with green hair, nine tails and fox ears-”

Inko did, indeed, freak out. “Why is my son at the hospital?! Unconscious?! The animal rejection clan?! What happened, Naoko?!”

“I'm not sure! That's all I know, I swear. I was told to check on him and I wasn't even sure it was your son, I thought he was quirkless?”

“That's for later! How is he?! Is he hurt?!” She stood up from the sofa and quickly went for her purse in her room and then to the door where she put her shoes on and rushed out of her house, not before closing the door and locking it.

“Well, first he got a ugly bruise across his right arm but I can't tell how he got that. His face… It looked as if someone grabbed it a bit too hard. Then he also has some bruises on his hands, his knuckles to be more precise.”

“What else?” Inko asked as she got out of the building and was lucky for a taxi to be there and free, she got in and told the driver the direction to the hospital.

She wasn't going to drive when her mind was too occupied with worrying about her son. It sounded as if he got into a fight? With who? And was that about the animal rejection clan?

“Besides that he is showing signs of having quirk exhaustion, but so far nothing that we can't fix with a healing quirk. Though it is worrying how he hasn't woken up yet…”

“Right, probably he is in the dreamscape with Ahri and she wants him to rest.” Inko thought, but she couldn't say that. “Don't worry about that, since he got his quirk it has been hard to wake him up in the mornings as if he needs more time to rest than before.”

“Uh, alright. Right now he is resting in room 209 and just now they brought his backpack. I have seen police officers around but when I tried to ask they say that they don't know either, they will wait for the victims to heal and then interrogate I suppose, that also includes your son.”

Inko sighed, her foot tapping on the floor of the car as the taxi got closer to the hospital, the nerves she got at first calmed down a bit. But she knew the moment she stepped into the room where her son was resting that she would worry all over again. “Something else?”

“No, besides your son being stable there is nothing else of note. I'll wait for you in the reception to take you to his room without problems.”

“Thank you so much, Naoko.”

“Don't mention it.”

Both finished the call, just in time for the taxi to arrive outside the hospital. Inko quickly paid the driver, got out of the car and walked into the reception where Naoko was waiting for her.

Naoko made a signal to follow her which Inko did, each step only made her anxiety go up.

“Izuku is fine.” She thought to herself, trying to keep her composure through breathing in and out. “He is fine.”

Naoko, sensing Inko's distress, tried to come up with a conversation. “Since when Izuku had a quirk?” She was curious, too.

“Uh?” Inko said as she was pulled out of her thoughts. “That- it was a surprise to us honestly, one day he was still the same and the other I found him in the bathroom with fox ears and nine tails.” They took the stairs to the first floor. “The doctor was confused too. Apparently Izuku did have a quirk but it was dormant this whole time until now. Sorry if I didn't tell you.”

“You don't have to apologize, that must have been a shock to both of you. Besides, I haven't sent a message or called you these months either. Job has been a pain in the ass.”

“Language.”

Naoko barked a laugh. “Yeah, that's rich coming from you.”

“Oh hush, we were in middle school when I was that bad.”

“Sure, that was only in middle school. I believe you.” She ignored Inko's glare as they took the stairs to the second floor. “We should hang more often Inko, I have been doing nothing but work.”

And Inko believed her, she would even bet that Naoko was hiding her eyebags with makeup. “I would like that, Naoko. After all of this is shortened out and I make sure my son is fine.” Because something was telling her this wasn't simple at all.

“And if you need anything, I'm here. Got it?”

“I know Naoko, and thank you.” And she meant it.

It wasn't long before they reached Izuku's room, Naoko said she would wait outside if she needed anything, which Inko was grateful for.

Without wasting time she opened the door and a knot formed in her throat at what she saw.

There on the bed was Izuku, curled up with his tails covering him like a blanket and the hospital blanket on the floor, probably was kicked out by him. He was lying on his left side this time.

She walked closer and couldn't help but notice the bandages wrapping around Izuku's right arm and skin patches on his face.

What happened? Is the question she kept asking on repeat since Naoko called her. Who did this to her son? She was told he showed signs of quirk exhaustion and bruises on his knuckles so that meant he had to fight back? He was only fourteen, about to be fifteen, and was forced to defend his life?

She breathed in and out, already feeling the tears coming out of her eyes. She was getting upset but how couldn't she?

She reached Izuku's face with her hand and caressed his cheek a little which made her son murmur in his sleep yet it didn't wake him up.

Inko knew that Ahri was with him in the dreamscape, so she won't be getting an answer right now. Better let him rest.

Would this be a recurring occasion? She walking into a hospital room while her son was injured on the bed?

She knew it was a possibility, more so when Izuku talked about being a vigilante. Scratch that, she was aware when the ears and tails and blue fire appeared.

She knew she tended to worry a lot, but it was impossible for her to bear the thought of Izuku getting hurt and act as if it didn't affect her.

What was Inko supposed to do? The last time she acted on her feelings to protect him she was hugging him and sobbing and screaming ‘sorry’ over and over. Even if Izuku hadn't said it, she knew that was a mistake on her part.

But it's not possible for her to be just… fine with Izuku getting hurt now, she was expecting some time at least, that her son would train, then get into UA and graduate and right then he would face villains and be a hero.

She doesn't want to see him hurt.

She doesn't want to see him suffer.

…She doesn't want to see him dead.

That was her greater fear, to lose him just as she lost Hisashi. That one day she will hear someone knocking at her door and there will be a policeman delivering the news that Izuku died after fighting a villain or rescuing civilians.

Was it selfish for her to wish that? To want her son to be safe?

Because seeing Izuku like this made her realize how… powerless she was.

Again she asked with tears overflowing her eyes, what was she supposed to do?

“Inko?” She heard and knew it was Naoko, Inko didn't hear her opening the door or her steps. She felt her friend's hand over her shoulder and her tears finally were running down her cheeks.

“Sorry I- I'm… upset. I know he is safe now but- I just… I wonder if this will happen again, if he will be more injured or… worse. And I-” She clenched both of her hands, still looking at the sleeping form of Izuku. “I can't. I can't bear the thought of it but neither I can't do anything and I-”

And in the dark corner of her mind something was whispering to her, questioning, making her doubt if Izuku actually needs her. If anything Ahri had been doing a better job in taking care of him.

After all, what she has been teaching him for these few months sure helped him to defend himself. Meanwhile Inko could only offer her worries.

“I don't know what to do…”

“Oh Inko…” Naoko whispered, hugging her friend with one arm and trying to comfort her as best as she could. She believed it would be best for Inko to step out for a moment, getting fresh air but she knew it won't happen seeing Inko’s emotional state.

Good thing Naoko thought of that.

But she waited first for her to calm down enough, to let those tears flow out of her system.

When she felt Inko starting to shake less and her crying became sobs and sniffles, Naoko talked again. “Inko,” she heard a low murmur, one that told her she was listening. “I think we should leave for a bit, get you some fresh air- Izuku will be safe I promise.” She quickly added, seeing how Inko was looking at her now as if wanting to protest. “It would do you good to step out for a moment, besides… in this floor there is one of the people that were rescued alongside your son, and they're awake. I was thinking you could ask them what happened.”

Inko pondered over Naoko’s words for a bit. “I could but…” She shook her head a bit. “No, that would be too selfish of me, they went through something horrible and I’m not going to bother them with questions.” She exhaled and inhaled, to calm herself. “I will walk for a bit… and clear my head.”

Naoko nodded. “Do that, I will be here keeping an eye on Izuku.”

Inko sighed in relief. “Thank you.” She whispered and broke their half hug to then watch Izuku once again, reassuring herself that her son will be fine. Putting once again a hand on his face, she said. “I’ll be back, Izuku.”

Maybe it was a good idea to go back home so she can get clothes for Izuku.

But her thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of someone from the hall.

“Let me see the kid, dammit! Is he okay?!”

“He has to be in one of these rooms.”

“Again I’m asking for both of you to return to your respective rooms! I’m sure this kid is fine!”

Inko, with an eyebrow raised, looked at Naoko as if asking what's going on but received a shrug in return.

With curiosity, Inko walked to the door and opened it, for then seeing two men, one with boar characteristics and the other with reptilian like appearance (a basilisk she guessed), arguing with a nurse and a doctor in the middle of the hall.

She noticed how both of them had bandages and band-aids on their bodies.

Walking towards them and wiping out her eyes as best as she could, she heard their conversation.

“We will go to our rooms after making sure the kid is alright.” Said the boar man with a serious tone, the kind that demonstrates how adamant he was with his choice.

“I agree with him. The kid saved us! The last thing we can do is to make sure he is fine.” Said the basilisk young man, his arms crossed over his chest.

The doctor pinched the bridge of her nose while the nurse rolled his eyes, possibly too tired to keep arguing.

“Please listen, I’m sure this kid is fine, if anything they would be resting by now and the last thing they need-”

“Excuse me.” Inko interrupted the doctor and all the eyes of the group were on her. “My apologies if this sounds rude but can you lower your voice? My son is resting right now.”

“Of- of course ma’am and I’m sincerely sorry for disturbing you and your child. I’m sure the gentlemen here will now go to their room.” Said the nurse while looking at the patients, the last sentence was carrying a scolding tone.

The boar man seemed to shrink for a bit by seeing Inko's state and looked down in shame. “I’m sorry ma’am for bothering you.” He said in a low voice and bowed while the basilisk young man did the same.

“Still.” The young man started to say. “Have you seen a boy of fourteen with fox ears and nine tails? His hair is green. He saved us.”

Inko opened her eyes in surprise, he was describing her son. Then she remembered the words of Naoko. There were other people in the hospital that were kidnapped like Izuku.

“Kozue!” The man whispered in a harsh tone. “We shouldn't bother her, for all we know she didn't see the kid.”

“But Takeshi-”

“Actually.” Inko interrupted the start of an argument. “You just described my son, Izuku. He is sound asleep and by what they told me he was fine.”

Hearing that both Takeshi and Kozue, Inko made sure to remember their names, sighed in relief and their shoulders relaxed.

“That's good to hear…” Said Takeshi, then looked at Inko right in her eyes. “That kid… if it wasn't for him we would still be held against our wills and fearing what would be of us, he is our hero.” But instead of smiling he shook his head while closing his eyes, as if ashamed.

Kozue, with a look of worry, put a hand on Takeshi’s arm.

“And I’m grateful, I don't think I can thank him enough in my life but… I just- it feels wrong, he is just a kid! He should be playing video games, worrying about his homework and no- not putting his life on the line for us.” His hands were balled in fist, trembling with impotence. “I did nothing but stand back while he fought for our sake, what if he got injured? What if the heroes didn't arrive in time? I-”

“I feel the same as you, Takeshi-kun, Kozue-kun.” A new voice said and Inko saw an old lady with butterfly characteristics walking towards them, at her side with his arm interlocked with hers was an old man with red skin and greyish black hair.

“Nori-san!” Exclaimed both Takeshi and Kozue in surprise. “I didn't know you were on this floor, shouldn't you be resting?” Continue Kozue.

“Right back at you, young man. Both of you should be in bed instead of arguing with the doctor and nurse.” Said Nori with a shake of her head and an easy smile. “I could hear you from down the hall and wanted to check what's going on.” Then her smile was replaced by a frown. “And I understand your worries, but right now we can only wait, rest and then we can give Izuku our thanks. I doubt he would be happy to see us neglecting our health, don't you think?”

Hearing that, Kozue put a hand on his neck and Takeshi hummed deeply.

After a second Takeshi let out a long sigh. “You're right… I'll be going now, take care Nori-san.” Then he looked at Inko. “You too ma’am.” Then he walked towards the stairs.

After bidding his goodbyes, Kozue too followed Takeshi as their rooms are on the same floor, meanwhile the doctor and nurse thanked Nori for convincing them to rest and went their own way.

Then Nori addressed Inko with a nod. “I heard you're the kid’s mother. My name is Satoya Nori and here is my husband Satoya Anzai.” Both bowed at her. “Wish we could've met in better circumstances.”

Inko bowed in return. “I'm Midoriya Inko, nice to meet you and…” She trailed off, she wanted to ask something, to know more about what happened to her son but held back. “My apologies if this seems abrupt and rude from me, but I was on my way home to get clothes for my son. Besides, I'm sure you should be resting, Nori-san.”

“Before you go, may I ask how he is doing?” Anzai asked with concern in his voice, with his left hand he touched Nori’s elbow as if trying to make sure she was there. Meanwhile his wife put her hand on top of his to assure him. “Thanks to that boy my Nori is now with us… There are no words to express how grateful I am. My family and I owe him a lot.”

A small smile appeared on Inko’s face when she saw the old couple, a part of her wondering if that could've been her and Hisashi. “He… For what I have been told he will be fine and only needs to rest for now.” She shook her head a bit. “And knowing him, only thanking him will be necessary. My Izuku would say that anyone would have done the same and that you don't owe him anything.”

“Is that so?” Nori let out a small chuckle. “Still, I hope I can thank him properly. And Midoriya-san?”

“Yes?”

“I hope I’m not overstepping boundaries here but, if you need someone to talk to, we can lend an ear.” Nori said with kind eyes but her tone was nothing but serious.

“What?”

“We are parents, grandparents too. And I can only imagine what you're going through right now.” Nori shook her head. “No one should be seeing their own child hurt on a hospital bed.”

“I…” Into didn't know what to say to that, once again her desire to know what happened crawled to the surface, but she refrained once again by biting her lip and balling her right hand into a fist. “I’m thankful for your offer, Nori-san, but right now is not the time.”

Nori nodded. “That's understandable, Midoriya-san. Just let me know if you need something.”

With that said, the couple bid their goodbyes and they went back to Nori’s room. Meanwhile Inko let out a sigh, knowing this night and the following days will be long ones.

There was so much she needed to think over.

Both Izuku and Ahri had calmed down a bit but they haven't broken the embrace yet, preferring to stay in each other's arms. From time to time she slowly moved from side to side, the movement comforting him.

Izuku spoke after a while. “I’m so glad you're fine Ahri… I couldn't feel your presence and I thought… that you were gone.” He tightened the hug, burying his face on her shoulder. “I was scared…” He confessed.

“Oh Izuku.” She whispered, running her fingers through his hair and with her other hand doing circles on his back.

“I was scared I couldn't see you again, scared that I won't see mom again…” he was crying, the events of today falling on him heavier by the more he thought of it. “I want to see mom…”

Ahri could feel how his body was trembling against hers, and hear the shakiness of his voice. She pulled away a bit, enough for her to see the tears still running down his face which she started to wipe away with one hand and then put her palm on his cheek, caressing the zone where his freckles and whisker marks were with her thumb.

It broke her heart to see him like this.

Izuku didn't take long to lean on her hand, closing his eyes and sighing to calm himself.

“I was afraid too, Izuku, of not seeing you or what would happen to you.” She admitted softly.

“Of what happened while our connection was cut.” Was her thoughts, remembering how she caught onto the bruises on his face. But that wasn't all, she felt the myriad of negative emotions running through his mind the moment the connection was restored.

Anxiety, hopelessness, fear, hatred, disgust, shame and so more.

And those feelings were… too much, they had an intensity that she never saw from Izuku in her time with him. Even in his lowest.

Between that and the great pain she registered on his tails she could get a picture of what happened.

A picture that terrified her to her core.

She wanted to ask what happened but it wasn't the time for that. Not yet at least.

“But we are here now, you're safe and I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” She watched how Izuku put his hand on top of hers and nodded. Then Ahri got an idea. “Hey, let's walk a bit.”

“Walk?” Izuku opened his eyes to give her a confused look. He furrowed his eyebrows. “To where?”

“Anywhere.” She answered simply. “Remember this is still your mind, so you can change the scenario as you please.”

“That… makes sense, actually.” Izuku realized. “I guess since I have seen you do it I just… don't see the need to try it?” He shook his head, feeling like he was getting off track. “But why walk?” Regardless he stood up from his position on the ground, Ahri doing the same.

“So we can talk.” She said, starting to walk through the field that was adorned with flowers of many colors.

Izuku walked too, both being side by side. “About what?”

“Anything.” She chuckled, knowing without looking he was pouting. “Anything you want, Izuku. Or nothing at all and we can just enjoy our walk in total silence. The choice is yours and yours alone.” She said, turning her head at him and showing a smile yet her eyes showed concern. “You are not fine, my little fox, I can tell. There is a lot going on inside that head, things that you need to process.” Then she offered her hand to Izuku. “I’m not going to force you to open up, nor will I look into your memories. I only want you to know that you shouldn't bury the events of today in hope they go away, they won't and it will only hurt you in the long run. Take your time, and remember your mom and I are with you.”

Izuku looked at her hand, thinking deeply about Ahri’s words and he found himself being hesitant. Not because he didn't trust her, far from it. But thinking even for a second regarding today left him… with dread.

The image of Ahri's body being pierced by chains was still fresh in his mind.

He could clearly remember Kuma’s metal hands caressing his tails.

And the dead eyes of Masami burned through his soul.

Yet he decided to take her hand.

“Yeah…” His voice was low, contemplating. “I would like a walk.” And showed a little smile at Ahri who answered in kind.

They keep walking but in silence, Izuku combing through his mind and considering what he would want to talk about or if he was better off staying silent.

"There is nothing childish about it, little fox. You have always been someone who cares about life, about others.”

He remembers those words from Ahri, but there was a thought or rather a feeling that was present while he fought the cult. One that he didn't know what to do with.

The scenario shifted all of sudden, both of them were walking on a path made of glass while everything from right and left was nothing but an endless ocean with no life and no waves, too still. The night sky was above them but there wasn't any star or a moon.

Izuku looked to his left without slowing down, his eyes only being able to see the blackness of the abyss.

And the abyss spoke back.

“I wanted to kill them.”

There was a beat of silence, none of them slowing or stopping but Izuku felt his hand being squeezed by Ahri, showing him he had her complete attention.

He balled his left fist, took a breath and sighed.

“I wanted to kill them.” He repeated, as if tasting the words in his lips. They taste like ashes. “Especially the leader, Kuma. And I didn't. I didn't do it… and not because heroes don't kill or for thinking they will be punished by the law. I didn't do it because…” He trailed off, furrowing his brows trying to find an answer or the will to speak it. “Because I… thought it would be a bother. Since I can see the dead I don't want to see them again, and also to not deal with the consequences of taking lives even if they were the scum of the earth. I don't…” He closed his eyes. “I don't even think of the promise I made to you, Ahri, of not taking any life.”

He opened his eyes again, looking at his fist where blue flames started to appear.

“So instead I punched them, I kicked them, I blasted them with my fire and I was even going to use the orb against Kuma. I felt how hard I hit them, heard them screaming due to my flames and I’m aware I may have gone overboard. Broken bones and scarred minds… that's what I cause yet I can't even start to feel a tiny bit bad about it, and…”

He let his hand rest at his side, the fire snuffing out.

“And I don't know what to think about it. You told me I’m the type to value life a lot but right there I don't feel like I did that. I regarded their lives as nothing but nuance to me and didn't act upon my hatred just for the reason it would be inconvenient to me…” He trailed off, trying to find an answer in the depths of the ocean beneath him, and when he found none he turned his head to his right, to Ahri who was looking at him with furrowed brows. “And I fear I will feel the same again, first it was the Animal Rejection Clan, then… what? Will I feel that immense hatred again and act upon it at one point?”

Ahri waited for a couple of seconds, trying to formulate an answer while caressing Izuku's hand with her thumb. Then she looked up at the starless night sky.

“I have killed a lot.” She confessed. “Many times due to my hunger, others for self defense, a few because I genuinely believe they deserved it which makes me a hypocrite. I have felt that hatred you are talking about, it burns inside you and it wants to spread, then what's left are the ashes of others and yourself…” She shook her head. “And you will feel that hate again, Izuku, there is no other way around it. Today it was because of what those people have done, and there are a lot like them out there and you will see the worst side of your world again and again. You can't ask yourself to stop feeling nor you should force yourself to get used to it.” She looked at Izuku again. “What matters is your reaction to those feelings and showing restraint, and that's what you did today and I’m proud of you, like always.”

He smiled at her, yet his eyes went to the path of glass. “I get that, it's just… not something I want to feel ever again.”

“It will be hard, Izuku.” She gave another squeeze to his hand then she sighed. “This is something that shouldn't be treated lightly and I think if you talk with a certain someone you may get an answer.”

That made Izuku perk his head and ears up, looking at Ahri with curiosity. “Who?”

“All Might.” She said simply. “It makes me feel bad that I have said you have me and your mom to talk with about these things yet here I am saying you should go to him for an answer. But I think talking about this with a veteran hero will help you.”

“But I don't think All Might has ever…”

“Want to kill someone?” Ahri inquired. “Izuku, he is still human and the way he talked about the guy who gave him that injury makes me sure he tried or actually did it.”

Izuku ponders about it for a bit. He did think Ahri was right about All Might being a good person to talk to for this issue in particular.

Food for thought. And that was the reason they were walking side by side, right?

“I’ll think about it…” He mused. “But now I want a change of scenario.”

In a blink they were no longer walking on glass but on a path through a forest, the maple trees surrounding them had leaves of diverse colors, yellow, brown, orange, pink and red as if they were in fall season. Said leaves were slowly falling to the ground and filling their path but they kept walking nonetheless.

And Ahri couldn't help but realize how this was the same forest she had met with Izuku in his dreams before he awoke his powers. He was the one who changed the place but she knew he had forgotten about those moments so the fact he chose this forest was most likely a coincidence, right?

“I have been in this place many times before, and I could meet with this kind lady that always needed help with getting out of here.” Izuku said as he looked at Ahri with a knowing smile and she turned at him with a look of surprise. “Most of the time I would be talking her ears off with questions about her ‘quirk’ and heroes and anything that came to my mind.”

“You remember…” Ahri whispered. “I thought you forgot.”

Izuku squeezed her hand a bit. “I did, but it seems I got these memories back if that even makes sense.” Maybe it was due to the stress of today or their connection being cut by that bastard’s chains. “And I’m grateful I got them back because they show me that you were looking out for me even before I awakened my quirks, sure you told me but now I know and it makes me happy.” His smile widened. “I told you this but you have become someone important to me, like the sister I never had, Ahri-neesan.”

And Ahri was speechless, her mouth went agape for a moment for it to turn into a wobbly smile. With her right hand she whipped the tears that were starting to show up while looking at the side.

“...You sure know how to strike a lady’s heart, little fox.” She joked, trying to regain her composure. She didn't expect for Izuku to tell her that of all things yet it made her soul feel warm. It was… nice to hear that from him. Looking back at him she showed a smile. “I’m honestly happy you think of me that way, Izuku. I do think of you as family, too, like the little brother I never had.” With their hands still linked, she raised them a bit over Izuku’s head to make him spin in place and his giggle could be heard.

“What are you doing?” He asked between chuckles.

“Having a bit of fun it's all.” She said with a laugh of her own.

Izuku rolled his eyes yet his smile didn't waver. “Then what about this?” Letting go of her hand he jumped in front of her and poked her nose with his index. “Tag! You're at it!” And when his feet touched the ground he ran in a random direction.

And Ahri noticed how he wasn't using his powers to be faster.

Without wasting any time she gave chase, even without the use of her magic she was still faster than him.

“Tag!”

“Oh come on!”

Izuku slowly opened his eyes and then closed them again due to the sudden light above him. He blinked a few times to get used to it.

God, his throat felt so dry and his stomach was too empty. What hour is it, even?

“It's almost seven I think.” Ahri said in his mind and he acknowledged it with a hum.

Quickly he realized he was in a hospital in one second, in the next he saw his mom asleep, leaning on the left side of the bed while sitting on a chair.

Izuku couldn't help but notice how exhausted she looked, her hair a bit messy and undone, puffy eyes no doubt due to crying, and her hand was reaching and holding his left hand.

“Oh, mom…” He whispered, seeing her like this filled his heart with worry but at the same time with relief by having her at his side.

He gave her hand a squeeze. His mom was with him. His sister was with him. He was with them.

And that's what mattered the most.

Still holding her hand, Izuku sat up on the bed and put his right hand on her shoulder and gave her a light shake.

“Mom.”

With a hum she opened her eyes and took half of a second for her to recognize that her son was awake. She quickly stood up, her eyes wide and already with half a question about his well being out of her.

“Izuku you're awake! Are you feeling-”

Inko was cut off by Izuku who pulled her into a hug that she immediately accepted, his head was buried on her shoulder and his nine tails were surrounding the both of them.

“I’m fine now, mom…” His voice was starting to shake. “I’m- I’m so glad to see you.” It was inevitable for his tears to start to show up and dampen his mom’s shoulder. “...I was scared.” He confessed and felt how his mom tightened the hug. “S-scared of not seeing you again…”

And that shattered her heart, to hear her baby so hurt, so vulnerable.

Inko planted a couple of kisses on Izuku’s head. “It's-” She breathed in and out to get her emotions in check, right now her son needs her. “I’m here, okay? And you're here, you're safe…”

They remained like that for a while, with Inko whispering reassuring words into Izuku’s ear and both trying to calm themselves.

“Son…” Inko started. “Yesterday I met the people that were kidnapped, Nori-san, Takeshi-san and Kozue-san.” That made her son pull a bit away from the hug.

“How- how are they? Are they alright?”

“For what I know they're fine, I even saw Nori-san with her husband. They were so worried about you and wanted to let you know how grateful they are to you.”

That made Izuku relax his shoulders and let out a sigh of relief. “That's good to know…” Then he shook his head. “They don't need to thank me though, I just did the right thing.”

With her thumb Inko whipped away the tears that were still there and fixed his hair. “To tell the truth I don't know exactly what you did, I could've asked but I felt that it would be too inconsiderate of me to do that when clearly they went through something horrible and wanted to focus on making sure you're fine.” Then she rested her hand on Izuku's cheek, caressing the zone where his freckles were and he leaned on the touch with half opened eyes. “But to them you're their hero, thanks to you they are able to see their families again. So at least accept their thanks.”

“I… guess you're right.” He sighed. “What now?”

“Now I’m going to call the doctor so they make sure you're fine, get you cleared, then we can see if you can visit the others and finally we get home to eat something, I’m sure you're famished.” Saying that, she used her quirk to levitate a bottle of water and offered it to him.

“Yeah… I would like that. And you too, no? Did you even eat something?” For his part he grabbed the bottle, opened it and started to drink a bit of water.

“That's not-” She was about to dismiss her hunger but was interrupted by the growl of her stomach.

And Izuku chuckled at that, which Inko shared albeit with a bit of embarrassment.

“Alright, maybe I’m hungry too.”

It didn't take long for the doctor to get into the room and check on Izuku, his injuries were totally healed but he still felt a bit sore on his right side which the doctor told him that it was normal and will go away in a day.

“Very well, young man.” Said the doctor Hamamoto. “You're good enough to get cleared but there is something we have to do first.”

Inko furrowed her brows. “What would be, doctor?”

Izuku, who already took off his bandages and changed his hospital gown for a red shirt and black shorts, wondered that too.

“You see, I need to notify the officer that you're awake so they can interrogate you. However,” He raised a hand, interrupting Inko who was about to protest. “You must know, Midoriya-kun, that in no way they can force you to talk about what happened. If recalling the events makes you uncomfortable then you can decline and choose a better time.”

Izuku hummed and turned to his mom. “Mom?”

Inko sighed. “In my opinion, we should schedule this for another date since I want to make sure you rest better at home.” Then she shook her head. “But it's your choice dear, I’m only asking to be here if you do.”

“I was about to ask if it was fine for you to accompany me.” Then he closed his eyes and hummed, to make it look as if he was thinking about it but actually he wanted to ask Ahri.

“Ahri-neesan?”

“Yeah? Sorry I went silent but wanted to give you and your mom privacy.”

“That's fine, thanks. Just wanted to ask what you think about me getting interrogated.”

“Are you sure? What did your mom say?”

“That I should do this later and focus on resting.”

“And I agree with her a lot.” He heard her sigh. “But like always is your call, little fox. Though if you feel uncomfortable at one point please say it, alright?”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

He opened his eyes. “I’ll do it.”

Hamamoto looked at him up and down and then nodded and went out of the room to look for the officer.

Both mother and son didn't have to wait long before a police officer entered the room followed by a woman of blonde hair and red dress who Izuku recognized instantly with a gasp.

“The Dragoon Hero Ryukyu?!” He exclaimed with a wide smile, both of his ears perked up and his tails started to wag from left to right.

Yeah, he remembered she was there before he passed out but at that moment he couldn't process it.

Inko rolled her eyes with a fond smile and reached for his son’s backpack that was brought yesterday alongside his phone. She opened it and took one of his journals and one pen and offered them to Izuku who took them immediately.

“Can I get an autograph?”

Ryukyu for her part blinked twice, caught off guard by the kid’s reaction in seeing her. Sure, she was hoping to cheer him up by visiting him and checking on him, like she always does after a rescue operation.

But a reaction she welcomed, in any case.

“Good morning, Midoriya-san, Midoriya-kun.” She greeted the family with a nod and the officer at her side did the same.

“Ah- oh how rude of me to ask something after seeing you, I’m so sorry.” Izuku lamented, his face showing a blush of embarrassment and his ears and tails dropped. “G-good morning Ryukyu-san, officer.”

“Good morning.” Inko said, but she was showing a small smile of amusement. “Not that I mind you being here, Ryukyu-san, since seeing you made my son so happy,”

“Mom, please…”

“But one would think with being a top ten hero you would be too busy.”

“It's all alright, Midoriya-kun. I won't mind giving you an autograph. And Midoriya-san, I make a habit to visit the people that are rescued in operations I participate in… especially considering the ones behind the kidnapping in this case.” The last part she said with a bit of venom in her voice and a frown.

“Saying that,” Interrupted the officer before the mood went sour. “I believe we have something to do.”

After receiving nods from everyone, both Ryukyu and the officer were sitting on chairs close to the bed while Izuku and Inko sat on the bed.

“First off, I want to introduce myself properly. My name is Ibarashi Hajime, from the police station in the Shizuoka prefecture. Second off, I’ll clarify that if at any moment you feel uncomfortable or if it starts to be hard recalling the events of yesterday then we can stop the interrogation. Finally, I’ll be recording everything.” He said while pulling out a phone. “Only audio.”

Izuku nodded at that. “I understand, officer Ibarashi. I have to ask though, from where should I start?”

“Preferible from before the kidnapping happened, recall what you were doing and with who you were, more for the sake of context.” After receiving another nod he started the recording and stated things like the reason for the interrogation, his and Izuku's name, date, place and time of the recording. “Very well, Midoriya-kun. What happened?”

And that is not a loaded question?

Izuku breathed in and out, feeling the reassuring warmth from his sister within him and his mom's hand grasping his own.

“... Yesterday, at the end of the school day, Yubi Momoru -he is one of my classmates- approached me to ask if I was free after school. I found it weird, since we aren't on the most… friendly terms so to speak,” he could feel his mom’s gaze on him yet he focused his eyes on the officer’s phone. “he recognized that, saying he wanted to amend things and say sorry even if I ended up not accepting his apology. He said he wanted to hangout and that both Kuroki Masao and Chitose Kaede -other classmates I hadn't… the best history with- would join us. I honestly was about to refuse, but since Yubi-san seemed so sincere I wanted to give them a chance…” He shook his head. “After that we went to the arcade corner a couple of blocks from the school or that was what we planned. On the way Chitose said her uncle wanted for her to go where he works so he can give her a gift for her mother's birthday.”

Then he sighed. “That was a lie, of course.”

“She led us until she stopped in front of an alleyway, tapping on her phone. Then I asked, out of curiosity, what was the job of her uncle…” He looked at his lap, a frown started to form on his face. “She casually answered me that he was part of the Animal Rejection Clan. I was too late to react and Kuroki grabbed me by the backpack and with ease he threw me into the alleyway. I was quick to regain my footing and dodge his punches, he had his quirk activated which gives him more strength and muscular mass. After evading another hit I wrapped one of my tails around his eyes and sucker punched him so I could give myself more space.” He raised one tail, showing which one he used.

“Meanwhile Yubi screamed for him to stop, there I knew he wasn't part of this while Chitose and Kuroki planned it. I asked them if they were mad and I was about to say what the do but then Chitose said, and I quote ‘they get rid of pests like you, I know.’ ” Izuku couldn't help clicking his tongue at that. “And used her quirk, a fire one, to throw a fireball at me. To not get hit by that I use my own flames to cancel it out.” Raising his right hand he summoned a wisp of blue fire as a demonstration.

He put it out and continued. “After that I wanted to run, so I used my quirk again -I can give myself a boost of speed which I found out not long ago- to jump from one wall to another and reach for the roof of one of the buildings. But before I could think I was out of danger I felt my leg being grabbed by something metallic and the next thing I knew I was being slammed against the floor.” He flexed his right hand, even if he was healed he could remember that pain very well.

“A second later my body was being wrapped in chains and noticed the man from where it came from.” He closed his eyes and whispered. “It was Chitose Kuma.”

The atmosphere around the room felt heavier after he said that name, his mom squeezed his hand once again and he could feel more warmth inside him thanks to Ahri.

Izuku once again breathed in and out.

“He said nothing and I saw him hitting the chains that were coming from his right hand with something, the next thing I felt was how electricity was coursing through my body, it was painful, and passed out.”

He paused for a moment, trying hard for his mind to not wander towards what happened in the dreamscape.

“I’m here, little fox.” Ahri said in a whisper, her tone reassuring. The warmth he was feeling was now located in his right hand, as if she was holding it. “I’m not leaving.”

“Thank you.”

“...I don't know how long it was since I passed out until he woke me up by splashing water on me. I was bound to a chair, my hands tied with more chains while my legs were tied with ropes. I keep looking at the floor… I was terrified. But that seemed to anger him, saying something about looking into someone's eyes when they're talking with you and he… grabbed me by the chin, hard, forcing me to look at him.” He raised his right hand to touch his own face, the sensation of Kuma’s metal hand was still fresh on his skin. “I wasn't able to use my quirk, I felt so… empty.

“Kuma let out a bit after and I could see the room, then I saw Chitose, Kuroki and Yubi at the door, Yubi was looking down. I… glared at Chitose and Kuroki, angry at them.” Now with his hand he touched his right ear. “It was the wrong move. Kuma grabbed my ear with too much strength, asking me ‘Do you really think you are in a position to glare at any of us?’ and… that's when everything settled into me, bound to a chair and powerless. I knew about the Animal Rejection Clan, I heard the stories and… I genuinely thought it was the end.” His voice cracked, right fist clenched so hard that his knuckles went white.

And Inko couldn't take it after hearing that from him, wrapping him in another hug which he accepted.

Izuku tried to calm down, focusing on the embrace of his mom and the warmth that was starting to course through his being thanks to Ahri.

“...Sorry for that.” Izuku said, his voice more steady. His mom pulled away from the hug but still had her arms around his shoulders.

“Don't be, Midoriya-kun.” Ibarashi looked at him with sympathy. “We can stop now if you want.”

He shook his head. “I’m fine. I can continue.”

Ibarashi acknowledged that with a nod but mentally decided that if Izuku had that same reaction, or worse, then he would put his foot down.

“Very well, then what happened?”

“...I asked why I was there and he remarked that I didn't introduce myself, how rude of a child I was and that ‘he wasn't surprised knowing my kind’ ” Izuku and Ryukyu huffed at that while Inko and the officer frowned. “Then he introduced himself, saying he was the leader of the group in this city. He said that normally he wouldn't have bothered with me and just threw me in the basement with the others, he didn't do that because he thought I would be of… use.” He frowned, clearly angered. “He saw me as nothing but an object…”

Sighing, he calmed down a bit. “He explained how hard it was to come up with resources and money, and since most of them don't have a job -no surprise there- then they need other methods. Such as ransom. But…” He trailed off, starting to feel chills on his back and taking short breaths. “I… was a different case.” He gulped yet his throat felt too dry, his eyes were looking at his lap.

“He… then walked around the chair… and stopped behind me…”

Faintly he heard his mom and sister calling out to him but the pounding of his heart drowned their voices.

“And he… and…”

And then he heard it.

“I have plans for you, child.”

He was again on the chair, bound with chains and ropes like a wild animal.

He could feel them, the hands, their metallic, rough, gross, bone-chilling touch all over his body and he wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream, to yell yet he couldn't, his voice was muted and nothing came out of his mouth.

But he needed to scream.

And he did. He howled for help, for anybody, for his mom and sister.

That seemed to be the wrong choice, as the incessant touching now was focused on his tails, they caressed and pulled and it hurts it hurts it hurts please make it stop-

His soul feels nauseous, dirty, tainted.

And suddenly a growing pain pierced his right shoulder, it burns it burns it burns it burns-

“DON'T TOUCH ME!”

Ryukyu was starting to get worried when the kid started to trail off in every sentence, then his breathing was too fast and too short, she could see his face sweating without the room being that hot and noticed his hands trembling.

His mother was trying to comfort him but he seemed to not hear her.

Ibarashi had already paused the recording and, before she could warn him, reached with his left hand to touch Midoriya on the shoulder.

“Midori-”

“DON'T TOUCH ME!”

Ryukyu acted quickly, she grabbed Ibarashi by the collar of his uniform and pulled him behind her, avoiding the swipe from Izuku’s arm. She was certain that would have broken the officer’s arms.

Even if it's a teenager, the strength given by mutant quirks wasn't a joke.

But that wasn't the end as she had to quickly pull out her left wing and shield the officer and herself from a burst of blue flames.

And she felt the sheer cold anyway, it wasn't like any coldness she ever felt in her life and worse than when she trained to be more resistant to it. It was like it pierced right through her body and into something deeper within her.

She understood now how this kid was able to take on a bunch of adults by himself, if it wasn't for her experience as a hero to keep her wits even in the most dire situations then she would be in shock.

But lucky for her Izuku didn't try to unleash more fire so she made her wing get into her body and looked at the scene in front of her.

He was now on the far end of the bed while hugging his mother, but instead of being one out of love he was looking at them with eyes filled with fear, weariness and anticipation. His pupils were as small as strands of hair and flames were on his right arm and his tails were moving slowly.

He was even baring his fangs at them.

“So Ibarashi touching him triggered his fight or flight response, and sure he is ready to fight. Not only that, he is acting as if he is protecting his mother from something .” Those were Ryukyu’s thoughts seeing the situation.

“I-Izuku? What's wrong? Ryukyu-san, what happened to my son?” Asked Inko, clearly confused.

She was about to answer but then Izuku’s ears started to twitch, his face changed from one ready to strike to one confused and was blinking while the flames were put out. He looked first at them and then at his mother.

“Mom? What happened?” He asked, pulling away a bit.

“Ahri-neesan? What happened?”

“...You were recalling what happened and then started to breathe too quickly, your heart was beating too fast and you were sweating a lot. Then… is hard to explain, but all your feelings were all over the place and too intense so I don't know exactly what happened. But it worries me.”

Before he could say anything to that, Ryukyu spoke.

“It seemed that what you were recalling left you with… mental scars, so to speak. And then officer Ibarashi tried to pull you out of it by touching you on the shoulder, which set you off as if you were in a fight and flight situation and also acting to protect your mother.”

Hearing that, Izuku's ears dropped and his face showed horror. “I- I didn't do anything? I didn't hurt any of you, right?”

Ryukyu felt her heart clenching at the sight, clearly the idea of hurting someone by accident terrified him. So she has to tell a half-truth. “You did try to swipe away Ibarashi’s arm but I pulled him away in time. Besides that you did nothing else.” When Izuku closed his eyes and sighed in relief she turned her head towards the officer to give a look that said to play along to which he nodded.

Izuku then stood up from the bed and bowed towards Ibarashi. “My most sincere apologies for my actions, officer Ibarashi, I don't meant to harm you.”

“Midoriya-kun, there is no reason to bow and apologize, it was my fault to do that while you were in clear distress.”

He stood up. “But-”

“But nothing young man. I’m the supposed professional here, so I’ll owe up for my mistakes, alright?” He sighed. “Also, I believe we should stop the interrogation here. And that's final.”

Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but then closed and sighed, slumping his shoulders. “Alright…”

“I'll be on my way then. If you feel ready to continue later then please go to the station in Shizuoka, alright?”

“I'll be here for a while, I want to discuss some things with them.” Said Ryukyu.

After nodding and waving the officer walked out of the room.

“Of what you want to talk about, Ryukyu-san?” Asked Inko as his son sat again on the bed and she put a hand on his shoulder, and it was tense.

For her part, Ryukyu sat on a chair. “First, I believe I promised you an autograph, no?”

That seemed to cheer him up, even if a bit. His ears perked up as he mumbled. “Oh, yeah…” Then he reached the journal and pen that were on the bed and handed them to Ryukyu. The journal was open in one section in particular.

She took them and read what was written, it was some kind of analysis about her. It was about her quirk, strength, weakness, and so on.

“Oh so you like to do analysis.” She noted as she turned a page and found an unwritten space at the end of the page and signed it.

“Ah, yeah… since I was a kid I was fascinated by quirks and heroes and started to do these analyses. I think they will help me to be a hero.”

Ryukyu nodded at that. “I can see it, having a sound mind and being able to think in many situations is a trait I believe that a hero needs to be a good one.” She gave the journal back and he took it with a wide smile, his tails showing how content he was.

Then she reached for her utility belt she was wearing over her dress, put her hand in one of the pockets and took out a card.

“Midoriya-kun, Midoriya-san, what I wanted to talk about is something I talked with the others that were kidnapped too. And what happened just now makes me certain that you will need this.” Then she offered the card to Inko. “This is the contact info of the psychologist I have been going to for quite a while.”

“A psychologist?” Inko asked in surprise, yet she took the card.

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. “But I-”

Ryukyu looked at him with seriousness. “Midoriya-kun, I’ll be blunt so forgive me but you aren't fine. It's clear that the events of yesterday affected you mentally, so I’m only asking the both of you to think about it, alright?” She sighed as she pressed her back into the back of the chair. “You said you wanted to be a hero, no? Unfortunately what you saw yesterday you will see in the future, and even worse, if you keep on that path and that… takes a toll on you. It becomes heavier to continue if you keep everything bottled up and it's better to know when to seek help.” Then she stood up and gave them a small bow. “Again, I’m only asking for you to reconsider.”

“We…” Started Inko, looking first at Izuku and then at the heroine. “We'll talk about this, and thank you.” She shook her head, now realizing she had to ask something that was important, damn her tired mind. “Wait, what will happen with my son? He clearly did everything in self-defense so I can hope he will not be charged with illegal quirk use, right?”

Hearing that, Izuku flinched and he also remembered what he said to Sir before fighting the cult. In his defense he was under a lot of stress.

“I wouldn't worry about it, your son's actions were indeed in self-defense and, on top of that, I doubt there would be any charge considering the public’s opinion.”

That confused them, including Ahri. “The public’s opinion? What do you mean?” Asked Izuku.

“Well, understandable you don't know but apparently one of the members of that cult had the great idea to stream live what was happening while on top of the stairs, perhaps thinking to show everyone what their group do to people that have mutant quirks but instead it shows how a kid manage to beat their leader and others members single handedly. Needless to say a huge majority of people see you as a hero.”

And that made Izuku's mind go blank.

“What?!”

Chapter Text

After Ryukyu said goodbye to them and the doctor cleared Izuku, mother and son went to see if Nori, Takeshi and Kozue were still in the hospital. 

First it was Nori since she was on the same floor, all of her family was present at the moment too. Needless to say she was happy by seeing him being fine and healthy, thanking him for what he had done. Her family did the same, all of them with faces full of gratitude. 

And then Anzai, Nori’s husband, asked him if he wanted to be a hero, “With guts like yours I bet you will go far.” He had said. When Izuku told him he indeed wanted to be a hero and enter U.A. high school Anzai flashed him a big smile.

“The sports festival is next year, aye? Then believe we will be cheering you on. Do your best, hero!”

And that almost brought him to tears, his dream being encouraged. 

When he visited Takeshi, it sure was a surprise to find him surrounded by very tough looking men and women but all of them were wearing faces of concern and always asking every now and then if Takeshi was fine or if he needed something, which only served to annoy him but the kind you are fond of since it's the people you care about.

They were part of a bike gang.

Apparently none of them have blood family, a bunch of orphans that grew together and upset at the world so they formed a bike gang and, in Takeshi’s words, were “puny misfits that cause troubles for the hell of it”. 

That was until their gang was targeted by another Animal Rejection Clan group, at the time they had more numbers but also it was when they started to act more violent and losing public reputation. Of course, Takeshi’s gang fought back as all of them were quite hot headed. Before things went south for them the hero Crimson Riot showed up and beat the one leading the group and others members until the rest decided to run. 

After that, and the kindness shown by Crimson Riot, they decided to change their ways for the better and help where they could, be it in giving a hand with some handiwork or in the community kitchen. 

Takeshi was the one in charge and called by everyone as “Takeshi-aniki”, so when the members of the gang were told that it was thanks to Izuku that their leader was rescued they got on their knees and thanked him, such a display was surreal for Izuku.

Hideki, who was kind of like Takeshi’s right hand, even offered to give Izuku a motorcycle as a gift which Takeshi quickly put down.

“He is only fourteen, what is he gonna do with a bike when he can't even get a license?!”

“Then a bicycle?”

“That's better.” 

Of course, they ignored Izuku’s protest about how he didn't need any gift. 

Later he met with Kozue who was accompanied by his younger sister and father yet the atmosphere felt a bit heavy, as if both Inko and Izuku entered the room right after an argument. Which seemed to be the case giving their faces.

Kozue did cheer up a bit when he saw him, thanking him and asking how he was feeling.

Yet the visit was short, Kozue insisting that Izuku should be resting and at home. 

Feeling the tension, both of them decided to listen to him and walk out of the room after bidding their goodbyes.

They took some steps before they heard a door opening. Turning around, Izuku saw Kozue’s dad walking towards them, his shoulders too tense. His gaze fixated on the floor.

“Midoriya… I…” he started, his voice struggling to let out what he wanted to say. Then he sighed, his shoulders dropping and hands relaxing.

He bowed, a perfect ninety degree bow.

“Thank you for saving my son…” His voice was starting to shake. “Before he was kidnapped… we had a fight, I said unforgivable things and pushed him away and… I’m a horrible father since it took my son being in mortal danger to realize it…” The man was crying, his tears falling to the floor. “So thank you. Thank you for saving him. I can at least amend what I have done… even if he won't forgive me…”

Before Izuku could say anything, Kozue's father turned around and walked into Kozue’s room. His piece being said.

After that, both Inko and Izuku walked in silence through the hospital to the exit. His mind filled with these events.

When Izuku was little, when the grief and the fact his dad was no longer with them settled in, his reason to be a hero changed. He wanted to be still like All Might but also to save people so they can return safely to their families. 

He wished for people to not experience that crushing loss as he did, regardless of how childish and naive that desire was.

And he did that with Nori, Takeshi and Kozue, their respective families reunited again instead of having the fate of a loved one hanging over their heads. 

Masami’s lifeless, half-opened eyes flashed through his mind.

Except for one.

And Izuku knew there was nothing he could've done, likely she took her own life before he was kidnapped. Yet that feeling lingered in his heart, that he could've done more.

Perhaps there was something he could do.

“Hours ago, she talked to us about her family, her siblings, kids and husband and… how sorry she was for never seeing them again.”

To help them to heal, to process, even if a bit. 

That's for later, as he very well knew they needed the time to grieve.

“Home sweet home…” Inko sighed as she opened the door to their apartment, her mind and body feeling more tired than she had been in a while. “I’m beat.”

And Izuku couldn't agree more with her, even if he was able to rest his body his mind was exhausted and he wanted nothing but sleep and maybe try to find out if he can sleep in the dreamscape.

He was pretty hungry too. 

“I will go and make breakfast, you go to shower.” His mother said as she tried to make a beeline to the kitchen but she was stopped by Izuku who put a hand on her shoulder.

“I can make breakfast, mom. You go to shower.” 

She turned around, lightly raising an eyebrow. “I appreciate it, Izuku. But you need to relax and taking a bath will do good for you.”

“Maybe.” He conceded. “But the same goes for you, mom. You must be so exhausted, how many hours have you actually slept?”

“That's irrelevant.” She looked at the right to avoid the blank stare her son was giving her. 

“... Besides,” He continued, raising his nine tails. “I take too long in the bathroom thanks to these, I can just take a bath after eating.”

“Or you could not wash them as thoroughly as you do today.” She deadpanned.

“Out of the question.” He said almost too immediately.

“Fair enough.” She thought with her own blank stare. After her son awakened his quirk she went to read about people with fox quirks, specifically teenagers, to know if she needed to expect some kind of change in his behavior or diet. Well, he did start to eat more fish and chicken and various fruits -nothing too extraordinary- but what changed and took her by surprise was how… attentive Izuku became with his tails, always keeping them well groomed and cleaned. 

Sure, she did read that people with tails were a bit too careful with them, but there was a difference between knowing and seeing it.

“Alright.” She said, raising her hands in sign of surrender. “I’ll go first, you start making breakfast and when I finish and change clothes I will help you, is that okay?” 

With a small smile Izuku hummed and nodded, agreeing with her.

After Inko was done with her bath and helped Izuku to make breakfast, both of them sat down on the dining table.

While eating, Inko mulled over what she wanted to talk about, whether it was to make sure her son was actually fine, over his reaction during the interrogation or what he thinks about the psychologist Ryukyu recommended, but ultimately she decided not press any of these issues at the moment since it's too soon. 

Then she remembered someone and Inko once again cursed her tired mind.

“How is Ahri-san?” She said, catching Izuku’s attention. “I’m sorry I should've asked this sooner but…”

Izuku heard Ahri’s voice. “Tell her to not worry, that I understand you were her priority.” Somehow he felt as if she shrugged. “In any case I’m fine and both of you need to rest today.”

“Ahri-neesan says that you don't need to worry and she understands you were more focused on me. And that we should relax.”

“Oh that's a relief-” She cut off herself, realizing something. “Wait, ‘neesan’?” She asked as she tilted her head, a bit of confusion on her face.

At that Izuku’s face tinted a bit with pink, slightly embarrassed he let that slip. But honestly it wasn't a huge deal. “Well, I decided to start calling her that since she has become like family to me, like a sister.” 

“Oh, is that so?” She smiled at him. “It's kind of cute honestly.”

After that Izuku went to take a bath, which almost took one hour as the hot water made him relax his body almost to the point the option of sleeping was too tempting, he didn't however as he needed to clean himself and specially his tails.

Maybe he wanted to wash the dirt away or perhaps that feeling of metal hands that keep lingering on them.

Already with a fresh set of clothes and a brush on his hand he sat on the sofa in the living room, one of his tails (all of them very puffy due to the hair dryer) on his lap and about to get to work until his mom approached with a brush of her own. 

“I thought you would want some help.” She said as she sat with him.

“I would appreciate it, mom.” He said with a smile, moving another tail to lay on his mom’s lap. 

And for the next half hour they stayed in silence brushing. Sometimes Izuku would pause for a moment, close his eyes, and feel the touch of his mom’s hand on his fur. It was soft and tender, almost like a hug from her that made the muscles of his body relax.

Opposite of the touch of metal hands. 

And Izuku would restrain himself from sighing and scoffing in frustration, his mind not letting him push what happened yesterday away.

Although he wanted to not think about yesterday, he was curious about the video Ryukyu mentioned and he has yet to see it.

With that in mind, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and-

“Oh.” He said as his eyebrows shot up.

“Something wrong?” Asked Inko, still brushing one of his tails.

“It just… I haven't checked my phone since yesterday and now I’m seeing all the missed calls and texts… almost all of them from you.” And some from Mirio, he will call him later. “I’m sorry for-”

“It's not your fault, Izuku.” She interrupted him, stopping what she was doing and looking at him. “There is nothing you have to apologize for, as your mother I will always worry about your safety, alright?” 

He sighed and nodded. “Alright…” Then he focused on his phone and started looking into the forum he usually frequents to look for the video. “I wanted to see that video Ryukyu mentioned.”

“Is that really fine with you?”

“I think so? It would be weird to see myself fighting though.” 

His mom just hummed. It didn't take him long to find the video as it was the most popular post of the day, his eyebrows shoot up again seeing the amount of comments and likes it has and how quickly it was going up. 

It was titled ‘14 year old beat a cult by himself.’

“Well look at that, you're popular now, little fox.” Ahri remarked with a whistle. 

Rolling his eyes, he pressed play on the video. For some reason the post had a timestamp and he wondered why-

The first thing he saw was one of the members of the cult recording themselves. “Heeeeello people! What you will see I hope it serves as a warning for those filt-”

And he paused the video immediately with a scoff and his mom let out an ‘ugh’, now understanding why the timestamp.

After fast-forwarding the video until the 50 seconds he pressed play again and then it showed that the cult member was recording the hallway that led to the basement, many other members standing there.

“Now you will see how my leader pun-” 

Whatever they were about to say was cut off the moment the hallway was engulfed by azure flames, screaming could be heard and the ones that were in the hallway running as fast as possible to get away from the flames. 

“What the-”

The last one coming out was Kuma who started to yell orders about getting the ones unconscious away and the rest to get ready and fight with him.

Then a figure appeared behind the flames, nine tails moving slowly and menacingly, eyes filled with flames as well as his body. The fire was dancing around him.

Izuku hummed seeing himself like that. “I kinda look scary…”

“‘Kinda’?” Inko repeated. “Izuku, you look terrifying!” It was weird to her seeing her son looking so menacing, as if she was seeing another person.

“I take that as a compliment.” 

Then the Izuku in the video walked out of the hallway, clearly seeing and seizing the people in front of him with a neutral face for then his eyes to land on Kuma.

“What the hell are you?!” Yelled Kuma as chains were covering his arm.

And even with how low his voice was, the video caught what he said. 

“Me? My name is Midoriya Izuku.” They saw how he bent his knees and fire kept coming out from his body. “A kitsune.” 

In the next instant Kuma was sent flying against the stairs by a kick to his crotch.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He heard Ahri laughing hysterically.

Izuku wasn't any better as he had a big smile of satisfaction.

Inko on her part barked a small laugh. 

Then the Izuku in the video pressed his attack the moment his foot touched the floor. 

And Izuku had to be honest with himself, he knew he was fast but he was practically a blur in the recording, darting from here to there and taking down the members of the cult with ease. 

“Wait!” Into exclaimed after seeing Izuku spitting a wave of fire from his mouth. “You got that from Hisashi’s quirk, don't you Izuku?”

“Ah, yes.” He admitted with a small smile. “I remembered when he explained his quirk to me and wanted to recreate it somehow with mine.” Obviously he let out the part where he did it to not get suffocated by a slime villain.

“Awww, I’m sure he will be happy knowing that.” 

“Talking about dad… I don't feel his presence around here, I wonder where he is.”

Inko was about to say something but then her attention was caught by what was happening in the video.

“You… you… You!” It was Kuma who was trying to stand up. “Monster- no! You demon! I should have killed you when you were in chains! Like an animal, like the pest you are!” 

“I’m so glad he was captured.” Inko commented dryly, her son was no demon. 

“Bold of you to call me that, I'm not the one with blood in my hands, or the one that has kidnapped people, or the one that is threatening a fourteen year old with killing.” Izuku said, raising a hand were a fireball formed and then it transformed into a blue sphere as small as a pinball. 

Then he paused the video, knowing very well that Ryukyu showed up. He wondered what would have happened if she didn't intervene and Izuku did use the orb against Kuma.

“It wouldn't have been pretty, for him of course. It's good to know you can use the orb outside though. And don't think about apologizing for using it!” She said the last part knowing too well what Izuku thought, link or not. “This was an emergency and you needed everything in your disposal.”

“Alright…” 

“Izuku…” He turned towards his mom, she was looking still at the phone with an uneasy look. “What did you mean with ‘blood in your hands’?” Then she looked at him. “What did you see?”

And he gulped, remembering he has yet to tell what happened in the basement.

“Wait, no.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “That’s too pushy of me to ask you that. I can wait until you're comfortable.”

“Mom it's-”

“It's not fine. And before you say something like ‘It would help me when I tell the police the rest’ that can wait, alright?” 

“Alright…” Izuku wasn't sure what to say seeing his mom and sister had read him like a book.

“I’m curious though.” She said as she looked at his phone again, wanting to change the subject. “What do the comments say? I hope it's good things about you.” 

“Let's see…” He went to look into the comments of the post.

The first was really… something.

“Hello everyone, I can't say who I am obviously but I can say that I’m best buddies with Midoriya! We are classmates at Aldera so you can ask me anything!”

Izuku was sure he was showing how unamused he was feeling reading that, his eyes slowly went towards the name of the account to see if that would give him a hint of who this was.

‘LuckySpikeKnuckles777’.

“Sano, what the fuck.” Was his thought upon reading that name, everyone in his classroom couldn't be more far from being amicable acquaintance with him let alone best friends then why was he saying th-

Then he saw the amount of likes and replies the comment was getting. Now he knew why considering how much of an attention seeker Sano was.

“In other words, an attention whore.”

“I’m right to guess this guy is lying and is not your best friend…” Inko said, her eyes darting between the comment and Izuku’s face.

“He isn't… just reading the name I know who this is and he has always been someone that seeks attention.” He rolled his eyes. “And the replies don't help at all. My favorite color is not cyan but red. My favorite food is not tonkatsu, it's katsudon. I don't even listen to jazz. Mirko? My favorite hero is All Might! You couldn't even get that one right?!”

Well, she was in his top ten list but that wasn't the issue.

Then there was a reply that, while calling out Sano, soured Izuku’s mood.

“Fuck off dude, I bet you're just lying to get attention. Since this video was up we had six people claiming they're best friends of his, four supposed cousins, three allegedly girlfriends, two boyfriends and one fiancee. So either this guy has the most fucked social life I ever seen or y’all are lying bastards wanting for five minutes of fame. Shame on you.”

“I knew people on the internet could be shameless due to anonymity but this is…” Inko commented with a frown.

Izuku groaned while throwing his head back and turned his phone off, if there were good comments he would read them later but right now he decided he had enough.

“Izuku.” Inko called him and he turned his head to see her, noticing her face painted with worry.

“Mom? What's wrong?”

“...You have been bullied.”

That made Izuku sit straight, looking at his mom with surprise.

“Wha-”

“At the hospital you said you didn't have the best relationship with three of your classmates -two of them that helped in kidnapping you-, then whoever that wrote that comment it's another classmate that is shamelessly lying about you and… when the police brought your backpack I wanted to make sure you had everything, like your phone, and saw one of your journals burned. I doubt that was recent.” She put a hand on his left wrist. “And every time I try to ask how was your day at school you're hesitant to tell me. Meanwhile you told me about that friend you made at the beach.” She sighed. “I’m not asking you to tell me everything in detail, but I need to know if it's the case.”

And Izuku didn't know what to say to that, or if there was even something he could say. Denying would be pointless, he knew that, but telling his mom that he has been bullied yet he never said anything was hard as well.

He gulped, closing his eyes and sighing. No, his mom deserves to know.

“I… yes.” He finally admitted, opening his eyes to look at his lap, his ears and tails dropping. “I’m sorry for never telling you…” 

“Oh Izuku…” she said, grabbing both of his hands. “Why didn't you tell me?”

His eyes looked first at their hands and then at her face. “Because I didn't want to worry you… things weren't that bad at first, just name-calling and them being mean towards me, then… dad died, you had to support the both of us so I didn't want to trouble you and…” His gaze then went towards the floor. “I guess it became a habit.”

There was a beat of silence, and the next thing Izuku heard was his mom taking a shaking breath, the kind she does anytime she wants to maintain her emotions in check. “...First then, you aren't going back to that school, and that's final. Either we find another school or you study online, we’ll see. And more importantly, I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Izuku made a double take, believing his ears were failing him and then looked at his mom with raised eyebrows. “Apologizing? Why? I was the one who said nothing.” 

“And I’m the one that didn't do anything. The more I think about it the more I realize the signs were always there… yet I didn't act on them, I let you suffer-”

“But you didn't!” He interrupted her, almost yelling. Immediately his face showed regret by his action even if his mom didn't seem fazed about it. He sighed. “You didn't leave me to suffer mom… I just…” He averted his gaze to the side. “I didn't think it was worth the effort.” 

Or that he wasn't worth the effort.

“Izuku…” His mom called, giving his hands a squeeze. “A parent’s job is to be there for their children, to be someone they can trust with their problems.” Izuku went back to face her, his face showing a bit of guilt. “And obviously I failed at that if you believed you would've ‘trouble’ me. I failed as a mother for not realizing and acting sooner.” Her eyes fell to their hands, her voice a whisper carrying her shame. “That’s why I’m apologizing to you, and I can only promise to do better from now on.” 

And Izuku didn't know what to think or say to that because he didn't believe his mom needed to apologize to him, if anything he felt as if it was his fault for not telling sooner.

“Mom…” He said softly, his mom looking at him again. “Then… I apologize for not telling you anything, and I promise to be more open about what's happening- I know what you're going to say, that you feel is only your fault but I don't want this to be about who is to blame.” Sighing, he brought his mom into a hug, one of many since he woke up. “Maybe it's not the best way to go about it but… what I want is to move on, to not let myself be dragged down by them.” 

Inko hugged back, letting a sigh on his shoulder after listening to him. “I'm not happy… no matter how I see it, it's my fault, Izuku…” She shook her head. “And what about your classmates? Or school?”

“... You won't like this but I’d rather not do anything to them-”

“Oh you're so right. I don't like that at all.” She said as she pulled away from the hug to look Izuku in the eyes, her face showing disapproval. “Izuku why-”

“I know I’m asking a lot.” Hell, he could feel Ahri’s disapproval in his mind. “But I believe nothing will come out of it and it will be a waste of time.” He sighed. “I want to focus on my training, on the people I love- like you and Ahri, and not on them…” 

It was Inko’s turn to sigh, her shoulders dropping. “I-... Ah-... Okay. But-” She raised a finger. “When I go to that school to tell the principal you will no longer go there and he tries to convince me you're fine staying I will not hesitate to rip him apart… verbally of course.” She added the last part after some thoughts.

“That's… fair.” Izuku almost felt bad about principal Nagumo when he saw the glint in his mom’s eyes. Almost.

He was aware the topic was far from over, but at least it's a start.

Izuku hummed as he leaned on the couch, something tells him the next few days will be draining.

It has been a week since his kidnapping and Izuku found himself standing on the small wooden pier at the beach, both Mirio and All Might weren't there as the former needed to study and the latter was busy.

When Izuku finally called them to assure he was fine he got bombarded with question after question, especially from Mirio. It warmed his heart to know they worry over him.

Sadly he wasn't able to leave his house for most of the past week.

Apparently Izuku underestimated how popular the video would get, thinking that after a few days things would quiet down, but no. A whole week and the events are still being talked about, the video of him fighting the cult was trending on social media and in the forums where it had been posted gained so much attention that the admins needed to close off comments because it was getting out of hand.

And the opinions he saw about it were positive.

Overwhelmingly positive. 

Comments praising him, calling the video an early debut for a Pro Hero (even joking about how he should have a hero license right away), others videos of people reacting to it, even his favorite YouTube channel that makes breakdowns about hero fights did a video about him which was so surreal.

Talking about things being surreal, his mom told him she found a couple of posts that had drawings of him. That alone left him floored, his heart filled with both embarrassment and joy. Sure, he knew heroes get this kind of attention, specially popular ones like All Might, but Izuku getting the same spotlight was nerve-racking and a mountain rush of emotions that he wouldn't have imagined even in his wildest dreams. 

As he sat on the edge of the wooden platform, his legs hanging and letting himself be hit by the heat of the sun and the smell of the sea, Izuku reflected on the past week. 

While the media opinion on him was good, the reaction towards the events of that day was totally different. All news channels across Japan were going on and on about how shameful was that such a group as the Animal Rejection Clan were still operating on Mustafasu, that the fact they were defeated by a fourteen years old showed a “clear decline in heroes’ priorities” and basically bashing the heroes while barely talking about the victims.

Some did, one even interviewed Masami's husband and it was heartbreaking listening to him talk about her. His words at the end dug deeper into Izuku.

“I… wanted to say something to Midoriya Izuku, the young man that fought those… monsters. Thank you… It hurts, it really hurts knowing she is not here anymore, but so many people go missing and more often than not their families never get to know what happened to them. At the very least, thanks to you we know, we can hold a funeral, we can mourn. And… since you brought her killers to justice, we can get comfort that maybe Masami will rest in peace.”

He let out a sigh, the more he thought about it the more he wanted to approach the family and let them interact with Masami’s soul, but currently she wasn't close enough for him to even ask her if she was fine with the idea.

Probably Masami was watching over her family the same way his dad has been doing all this time.

Laying on his back and watching the sky, Izuku let out another sigh, he was enjoying the outside after being in his house almost all week.

Sano, for some insane reason, decided it was a great idea to reply to a comment asking where Izuku lived. With his actual address.

As far as he knew, none of his classmates should know where he lives. Except for Katsuki and at least Izuku was sure he wouldn't be divulging that kind of information. 

The point was, thanks to that his mom and him have been getting reporters knocking at their door every now and then wanting to have an interview with him because he was the ‘hero of the hour’.

Or basically wanting to strike the iron while it was still hot.

Izuku said no to every single one, even after giving his own perspective to the police he just didn't want to deal with them and had no desire to have more attention on him.

That was the reason he had been cupped up in his house almost all week and it nearly drove him crazy since he had gotten too used to being outside and training, especially running on the beach. It was as if every cell in his body was getting restless.

At least Shinji, Mirio and All Might visited him, clearly worried about his state. 

His idol, after listening to his problem with the reporters, assured him he was doing the right thing by declining any interview.

“I get that they're doing their job, but those people are the type to look for a weakness to exploit and make a headline of off it, so many heroes fall in their traps and we're talking about grown adults, I don't want to think what will happen if they try to put pressure on you.”

He also mentioned that they will soon grow bored of the topic and jump to the next, the wink he did after saying that gave Izuku a clue about his idea. 

Coincidentally enough, it was reported that night that the Symbol of Peace stopped five villains, three heists and one jailbreak. 

He got another visit, someone he didn't expect at his door.

It was Wednesday in the afternoon and Izuku couldn't do anything but lay on the sofa while watching the ceiling.

He got bored of seeing the one in his room.

A sigh escaped from his lips for the… honestly he lost count, that usually happens when you do something over and over in the course of the day. 

Mentally he cursed again his ex-classmate for putting him into this predicament, and he is sure the guy won't feel a bit of regret over this. 

Another sigh, this time from frustration. 

Izuku couldn't be outside, since reporters may see him and pester him with questions. One would think he was exaggerating but one look at the streets from the window and he could spot a couple of them waiting. They weren't subtle.

Sure, he would try and sneak around to not be spotted, sadly he tried that and there would still be one able to catch him.

This annoyed him greatly because he wanted to train, run, do something else instead of being locked in his house. Trying to do analysis of quirks was becoming tedious and both him and Ahri weren't in the mood to watch something. At least he could train in the dreamscape but still, his body craved for some exercise. 

Then there was a knock, and Izuku could at least tell it wasn't from a reporter since this one was almost… hesitant? As if whoever it was would turn around and walk away in any second.

With another sigh he stood up from the sofa and went to open the door.

And to his surprise it was Yubi.

“Yubi-san?” 

“Heya, du- I mean, Midoriya-san.” He greeted, clearly nervous.

After a pause, Ahri spoke. “...Yeah, good luck dealing with this awkwardness, little fox.” And she cut off the communication between them.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Izuku raised an eyebrow. “What brings you here? Oh, and did you get your phone back?” 

“Oh yeah I got it back from the police, so don't worry.” Then he put a hand behind his neck, eyes now on the floor. “And, look, I know it sounds weird but I… wanted to check on-”

“Get inside.” 

“What?” Yubi asked, head snapping at him and noticing how Izuku wasn't looking at him but past him. Turning his head to look back he saw a group of three, two women and one man dressed in formal clothes with notepads on one hand and phones on the other.

“Young man, please, we only want a few minutes of your time!”

“What the-”

“Get inside. Now.” 

Not needing to be told a third time, Yubi walked into the apartment and Izuku immediately closed the door and locked it.

After hearing their groans and a bit of silence, he asked the question while pointing at the door.

“What the hell was that?” 

For his part, Izuku sighed. “Reporters, they want to have an interview with me about what happened the past Friday and I have turned down every single one of them.” Then, with a bit of bite in his voice, he added. “You can thank Sano-san for that. Since he divulged my address.”

To that Yubi did a double facepalm. “Come on duuuuude, why the hell he would- for attention, is it?”

“Yup.” Saying that he went to sit on the double sofa. “Take a seat, Yubi-san, what do you want to tell me?”

The brown haired boy sat on one of the other sofas, hands clasped together. 

There was a moment of silence, as if Yubi was getting ready to talk.

“I- well, I wanted to say… sorry.” His voice was a blend of both shame and effort to get those words out.

And Izuku was surprised by hearing those same words, ears and eyebrows raising. “Sorry? For what? It wasn't your fau-”

“The fact that you were there in the first place it's my fault, man!” He raised his voice, his hands trembling and shoulders tense. “I asked you to hang out, I was the one who invited them and… and I could only stand there when that… that man tortured you.” Lowering his head, voice started to crack. “It's because of me that you suffered, that's why… that's why I want to say sorry…” 

“Yubi-san…” Izuku whispered, his eyes soft at seeing him so… distraught, ashamed.

“Look at me, please.” And he did, raising his head, showing tears starting to form in his eyes. “It is not your fault nor I resent you for it, I truly don't. You… you just wanted to amend things between us, even knowing I might not forgive you. The ones at fault were Chitose and Kuroki, for taking advantage of you… then that cult.” Once again he sighed. “Even with everything that happened I’m glad… glad that I’m here, glad that Nori, Takeshi and Kozue are free, glad that you didn't get hurt.” 

“But-” Yubi sobbed, paused and breathed, whipping his tears with his hands. “Why would you be glad for me? I… I hurt you, man. I have done it since we were little kids. I'm not different from Chitose, Kuroki, Bakugo or the rest.”

Izuku nodded while humming. “Yes, you did yet… you're different from them.”

“Uh?”

“You're the only one who tried to make things right, even if you needed to hear Kacchan… saying that, and right now you're in front of me asking for forgiveness. I can't say that they would do the same thing.” He pressed his back against the couch, giving Yubi a small smile. “I… to be completely honest with you, Yubi-san, I don't think I can forget everything and I’m unsure if I can forgive you but… seeing that you're trying, well, I appreciate it.”

“I…” Yubi inclined his body forward, arms on his knees. “I actually thought you would be more… aggressive. I deserve it and… yeah, I’m not expecting for us to become friends or for you to forgive me.” He sighed, shoulders relaxing. “So, you aren't going to Aldera anymore.” Seeing that Izuku nodded, he added. “I thought so, since your mom went to the school yesterday and we could hear her arguing with the principal… actually it was more like she was scolding him and he couldn’t say anything back.” 

“I knew she didn't have a “calm chat” with him like she said.” Izuku rolled his eyes but his smile didn't leave his face. “And how are things there? I’m guessing Kacchan is pissed that people are talking about me.”

“When he is not pissed? But yeah, dude really wants to blow you up… Say, can I ask something?”

“Uh? Sure.”

“Why do you keep calling Bakugo ‘Kacchan’?” 

“Wha-”

There was a moment of silence, Izuku blinked and his tails twitched. 

“I… I really don't know… I guess it's out of habit or because… I’m still seeing him as a friend, or at least I’m hoping the same Kacchan I knew is still there.” He looked at the side. “Believe me, I know it is… stupid to keep thinking like that.”

“Well, yeah, it's stupid.” Yubi huffed. “Dude, he has been nothing but a bully to you since we were four, he even told you to kill yourself! Yet…” He breathed. “I know I’m being a hypocrite, and by all rights is none of my business since that's between you two and I’m not your friend, but… you deserve much more than to keep chasing a friendship with someone that hates you, and he certainly doesn't deserve your friendship.” He then stood up. “Just… think about it, ‘kay?”

Standing up, Izuku mulled over Yubi’s words. It wasn't the first time he ever thought about it, even Ahri questioned many times why he was still trying. 

Maybe they're right. Maybe it was time to burn what's left of that bridge. 

But there was something he wanted to do before doing that.

“Hey, Yubi-san. Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Hm? Sure, what is it?”

“Tell Kac- tell him I want to settle things between us.”

“I'm still saying this is a bad idea.” Said Ahri in his mind. “Don't get me wrong, I agree he needs to get punched in the face but I don't understand what made you want to challenge him now.”

“...I thought about it and since we were kids, since his quirk manifested, everyone around showered him with praises. The teachers, classmates… even me. That gave him the idea he was the best, the one on the top, it didn't help that anytime he did something wrong nobody actually showed him that, as if his action didn't have consequences.” Izuku watches as the clouds pass by, then starts to get up. “Of course, that doesn't mean it excuses everything he has done, not at all. It's just… I believe what he needs is to be proven wrong, something that will crack his view so to speak.”

“That could happen if he gets therapy.” She sighed. “Then what's exactly the plan?”

He snorted as he turned around and walked towards the beach, eyes on the sand. “Maybe. But as he is now I doubt he would accept it. And it's not much of a plan, just annoy him and try not to get blown up to smithereens.”

Sure, Izuku had fought him in the dreamscape but even with that experience he still felt dread setting in his stomach with each second passing. 

“You're scared.”

“I’m terrified. I challenged him, Ahri-neesan.” He inhaled and exhaled air, trying in vain to calm his heart down. “And on top of that? He is definitely angry at me, more than usual, for getting the spotlight.”

“You can use that in your favor.”

“Yeah, but I have to be careful because the more pissed off he is, the bigger the explosion.” 

His ears twitched, catching the sounds of footsteps, only a pair and coming towards him with a purpose. 

Again he breathed, in and out.

“He is here.” Looking from the sands towards the piles of trash, he saw him. 

At first neither spoke, Katsuki kept walking towards him, his eyes glaring at Izuku.

“Deku.” Katsuki said as he stopped a bit further from Izuku. His tone calmer than usual but the fox could tell there was an under layer of fury.

For his part, Izuku gave him the smallest of smiles, right hand clenching.

“Bakugo-san.”

For a second, an instant, Katsuki’s eyes went wide but as soon they returned to glare at him, if anything with more intensity. 

“Oh, so no more of that stupid nickname? What? Do you think you're hot shit for beating some racist assholes?!” He clenched his left hand, pops bursting on his skin.

Izuku didn't dare to ask what was the connection between the two things, so instead he shrugged. “Not at all, I just thought it was time to stop calling you that nickname, after all we aren't friends and you've asked many times to cease with it so, there.”

A ‘tsk’ came from Katsuki. “Yeah right! You haven't stopped doing that shit since we were kids and now you do? Don't think just because you played the hero one time you can look down on me.” 

That made Izuku drop his smile, yet he laughed. It was dry, hollow. “Play the hero? I knew you would say something like that but hearing it… Four people were kidnapped, one of them took their own life, I was kidnapped and the only thing you can say it's that I was playing?” He shook his head, and if Katsuki’s face dropping a bit and looking at the side meant he was rethinking what he said, Izuku didn't care. “And no, I’m not looking down on you. If anything I looked up to you since we were kids-” That made the blonde snap his head back at him, glare returning yet there was a hint of confusion.

“What-”

“But now I’m not doing either.” Again, in and out. Blue embers surrounded his body. “What I want now is to fight you, here and now.”

At the mention of a fight, Katsuki scoffed. “Huh?! A fight? More like you're asking for a beat down.” Despite his words, he got in his usual fighting stance ready to rush at his opponent. 

“It won't be the same as the other times. What about we make this interesting with a bet?” 

That seemed to catch the blonde’s attention. “The fuck you mean?”

“It's easy, if I win” He ignored Katsuki's eyeroll. “Then you will stop calling me a Deku. If you win then… I will give up on being a hero, I will not go to UA, Shiketsu or any other hero school. You will not see me ever again.” He bent down and took a pebble laying on the sand. “Are you in?”

“Fine by me.” If beating him again means Deku stops getting in his way then by all means he will indulge this bet.

With the pebble in his hand, Izuku looked at Katsuki and the embers around him started to get brighter, an aura of azure surrounded him. 

Then he let it fall from his hand.

And Katsuki sprung to action the moment the rock hit the ground.

BOOM!

Like a rocket he launched himself at Izuku, right hand ready to strike. A move that the fox was expecting and counting for.

“DIE-”

The moment he swung his fist at Izuku, his arm got grabbed and his opponent spun around trying to use a judo throw.

And in the middle of the spin Izuku’s hand ignited in blue flames-

Katsuki's mind could only sense the cold, but it was different. Invasive, overwhelming, chilling to the core. His core-

What he felt next was his body hitting the ground.

Another explosion, creating smoke and sending sand flying and Katsuki stood up again. But why did he feel tired? As if he used his quirk as much as he could in ten seconds yet he only used it two times.

“What the fuck is that fire?” Growled Katsuki, more to himself than anything.

Yet Izuku heard him, standing further from Katsuki. He has to leap away before that explosion. “Like it? I call it Foxfire,” he raised a finger, fire appearing on the tip. “It drains the energy of any living being, making them tired and that energy is given to me, making me stronger.” 

His eyes widened a bit hearing that. “Bullshit!”

“Yup, it is!” Izuku was giving him a cheshire smile. “After all, I just told a lie. You're a bit gullible, Bakugo-san.”

…

And for a second Katsuki’s brain went blank.

First, the nerd didn't show up at school for the whole week.

Second, the idiot challenged him to a fight.

Third, the wimp didn't even shutter and made a stupid bet.

Fourth, not only he dodge his explosion but this useless piece of shit has the nerve to-

“How dare you-”

BOOM!

Katsuki created another yet bigger explosion and shot himself at Izuku.

“TO MOCK ME, DEKU!”

He was flying fast, so much that Izuku was barely able to put up both of his arms in cross guard to block the incoming knee strike that pushed him back. Hissing from the pain he ducks in time as Katsuki creates another explosion and flies above him. 

“Tsk.” Katsuki turned in midair, shoes touching the ground and about to blast again but quickly rolled to the side, three blue fireballs going past him. “You missed ya damn nerd!” Yet he saw how he looked a bit at the side, behind him with a small smile.

“Did I?”

And Katsuki turned around, expecting for the attack to somehow come back but only saw the mountains of garbage. Then he heard the sound of someone holding back a giggle which made him turn back at Izuku, now a vein popping on his forehead and murder in his eyes.

“I made you look~.”

“...You're dead mea-” 

He was cut off as he felt again that cold hit his back and covering his body whole, as if the concept of frostbite went through his body-

Gritting his teeth, he refused to let this overwhelm him. He immediately released another blast, stronger than before that sent him flying at Izuku, and this time he wasn't able to react in time, getting hit by another explosion coming from Katsuki's left hand and sending the green fox rolling across the sand. 

When he finally stopped, back on the sand, a groan of pain escaped him.

Katsuki, ignoring how his body was feeling on the verge of exhaustion, started to run, his sights on the other boy, a hand ready to blow him up.

But then Izuku abruptly sat up and opened his mouth as a stream of fire came out of it, making Katsuki use another blast to dodge to his right.

He made the mistake to turn his head a bit back, checking if the fire would come back to bite him, but instead he received a fire coated fist on the face-

Like an arrow, a blizzard went through his head, his brain-

“Cut that shit out!” Rage was practically fused with his voice, throwing away the idea of using his quirk and instead answered in kind by punching Izuku’s stomach, making him recoil, then another punch to his face- 

And flames resurge from Izuku's body, making Katsuki jump back trying to avoid being touched by it yet a fireball was shot at him hitting him right on his chest-

Ice, ice formed around his lungs, his heart, he couldn't breathe-

That was for a second, in the next his knees buckled on their own and he almost hit the ground if it wasn't for his arms. He tried to get up yet his limbs were shaking and his body felt as if it was about to give up on him. 

“Deku did this to me…?” Was his only thought, barely being able to process what was happening.

He was on his knees. He was shaking. He was about to lose the fight.

And Deku was the reason for all of it.

The fact that his brain realized that just made him rage even more, yet it served him nothing as he couldn't move a finger.

“Guess it's time to end this.” 

Katsuki tried to raise his head, to see him and blast him.

Yet he only saw blue fire and then darkness.

…

Katsuki woke up by water being splashed on his face, he sat up, coughing, and still felt as if his body was made of lead. 

“...If you wanted to know, you were out for five minutes.”

He glanced at the side, to his right, to see D- the nerd, sitting on the sand, drinking water from a bottle, his eyes looking towards the sea and the horizon. Looking down he noticed there were two energy bars lying there, close to him.

“You need the energy.” 

“...Fuck off.”

“Hm."

There was a pause, then Izuku looked at him, his face unreadable. 

“I have a question.”

This time his gaze went to him again, glaring daggers. “...The fuck do you want?” 

The only reaction at his words he got was the flicking of ears. “What were you thinking? When you told me to kill myself I mean.” 

And Izuku saw how the glare was turned into a wide eye stare, as if now he realized what those words meant but at the same time he was lost. 

After another long and heavy pause, Izuku stood up from his spot, sighing.

“...Guess it doesn't matter.” he said as he started to walk away from him, as if he didn't have anything else to talk about.

“...See you at U.A, Bakugo-san.”

And Katsuki was left there, with nothing but the sound of the waves and his thoughts.

“This is so booooooooooooring.”

Mentally he sighed, his companion’s whining ringing inside his head. “We just sat here, my friend. I can only hope you won't be complaining all the time in class.”

“I can and I will! School is so boring, why can't we just, I don't know, get out of here and train or anything! That's better than freaking math!”

“For your information, math is really interesting in its own way.”

“Ha, nerd!” 

Fumikage almost rolled his eyes, they always have this conversation every Monday and he has no idea why he kept indulging his companion's chit chat, although Dark Shadow has been restless lately, more than usual.

He knew the reason, of course, even he would admit to sharing the same feeling since they watched that video.

Of blue flames, members of a cult falling like flies and in the center of it all there was a boy. 

A boy of the same age as Fumikage, a boy that was kidnapped, a boy that broke free and decided to risk his own life to save others. 

And he couldn't help but feel admiration, such bravery and heroism did nothing but lift Fumikage’s and Dark Shadow’s desire to become heroes. 

And maybe, maybe one day their darkness will walk alongside that azure light. 

His musings were cut off by their homeroom teacher, Okuma, walking into the class.

“Good morning everyone.” He said, standing in front of his desk and, after receiving the greetings from everyone, he continued. “Today I have an important announcement, from now on a new student will be joining us,” he paused to let that sink in and murmurs started, even the ones that weren't morning people are very awake now. “Now, while surprising, I trust that everyone behaves, alright?” After receiving “yes” and nods from his students, the teacher turned his head at the door. “You can come in now.”

Opening the door, the new student walked in, closed the door and then went to be at the teacher’s side, facing the class with a small, polite, smile.

And Fumikage kinda recognized the green hair, fox ears and the white fluffy tail that was wrapped around the body. He believed most of his classmates did.

The boy’s eyes darted a bit around, exuding nervousness, then he breathed in and out. “Goo-good morning everyone,” he bowed, his ears folding. 

“I’m Midoriya Izuku, I hope we can get along.”