Chapter 2: Accelerated Evolution
Page 5
A Paranormal Phenomenon Triggered By Dream
Dreams-
-What is a dream?
A succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood to this day, despite being a topic of scientific, philosophical, and religious interest throughout recorded history.
Do they mean anything?
The common theory goes that dreams don't mean anything, they're only electrical brain impulses that bring out random thoughts and imagery from our memories. Like everything else in the world, people expect things to be grounded in reality. While it would be amazing to occur, we can't live through life thinking everything we experience can be fantasized as we see in stories.
But then again, this world is full of mysteries, we can't put a definitive on a meaning as we do not know how they work or their capabilities, and one of the biggest mysteries is a person's unconscious mind. They're filled with undiscovered potential and are an enigma to understand.
Such as a certain dream Izuku has been having ever since he was a kid, the first time he had it was when he was three years old.
The eyes of the young boy opened, only to see pure black. He couldn't move, couldn't hear, and couldn't speak. He was paralyzed in an encapsulated void of nothingness, one he could not escape from. He doesn't know how he got there, how long he was in there for, or why he was sealed there in the first place. He just appeared to be in there, trapped, unable to move or see his own two hands. Forced to stay suspended there, for an incomprehensible amount of time. He wanted to scream, he wanted to yell, he wanted to fight against this crushing claustrophobic feeling he was facing and break out this anomalous borstal; it was a notion he felt a single time before then.
Like most dreams, this lasted for a few minutes and once it was over, Izuku forgot about it. Most would classify a dream like that as a nightmare and while people remember more nightmares than they do dreams, this occurrence wasn't that memorable to the fox boy. During the moment it can be terrifying to be trapped in a weird space where the only thing you're able to do is exist, once the experience is over there's very little to nothing to take away from it. No giant monster, nightmare-fueling event, or even horrible reincarnation of bad memories happened, just a trifle wait till Izuku wakes up. In a while, being in that state is basically how it is to be asleep, who'll blame him for not remembering it. So, this strange dream was never mentioned to any of his caretakers.
This dream would occur to Izuku at least once every month, very few times does he realize he's having that dream again, the rest he doesn't even realize it happened or that he had the dream before, though it does bring a sense of familiarity. Because each time it was the same thing, a whole bunch of nothing, crudely symbolic of his life and how he was existing without really doing much. He just lived with barely a purpose, no sports, no clubs, no afterschool activities that weren't going to the hero dedicated streets or market, and a dream which at the time seemed way out of his realm of capabilities.
In correlation with his life, that dream never changed, time continued to pass by uneventfully.
Until-
Like every other night, Izuku floated aimlessly in the void he was encased in. It was on its way of being another forgettable dream, destined to be an afterthought for how uneventful it is. That was until a slight cracking sound rang out inside Izuku's imprisonment, he didn't know where it came from as nearly all of his senses were nullified but it surprised him that he finally heard something. That amazement was quickly followed by another sound.
Thump.
'Is that...thumping I hear?' Izuku thought to himself, it couldn't be, from where would it be coming from.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
More cracking noises echoed. It was definitely thumping noises he was hearing, this time he could feel vibrations coming from above him.
'Is someone breaking me out? Wait, does that mean there's an outside to this place?'
Thump. Thump. Thud!
'What was that last sound? It hit differently.'
Crackle! Crack!
The cracking sound became more audible, until-
CRACK!
Suddenly from the pure black darkness that surrounded him, a tiny crack of light peered through.
'Light? LIGHT!' he cheered, he couldn't believe what he was seeing; a ray of hope!?
"My, my, look at what you did! Might've overdone it a bit that time," said a voice.
'Is that…a person's voice!' Izuku thought, there was an outside world to where he was!
A red eye poked in the crack, looking around a bit before setting its gaze in Izuku's direction, "Oh-ho, sorry about that!" called out the modest voice from the crack, "I wanted to do some work here, I'll leave if you want?"
"NO DON'T!" Izuku screams, immediately being surprised that he can now speak.
"Hm?" The voice called out again, "What did you want me to do?"
Answering quickly, Izuku knew this was his only shot at breaking out of wherever he was, "You can continue whatever you were doing, I don't mind at all!"
"Are you sure? Cracks are forming and I don't think you'll want to burst out-"
"It's fine! I kinda want to burst out of here, so please continue!"
The red eye stared at him for a while before residing from the crack and saying, "Ok!"
THUD! THUD! THUD! CRACK!
The pounding continued, creating more and more crack in his containment.
'I'm finally going to be able to see the outside.' With his return body function, Izuku started flailing around the best he could, hoping to increase the crumble rate.
Thud! CRACKLE! THUD! CRACK!
He can see the cracks spreading vertically on what was encapsulating him. The more cracks that appeared, the more of his senses returned to him! He could hear, he could see, and even started being able to wiggle his fingers!
CRACK! CRACK!
The cracks began to grow on their own, it was almost complete!
"Here it comes, prepare yourself!" the tender voice told him.
"Thank you for the help!" Izuku called out, "By the way, what were you doing here anyway?"
As the cracks reached to the bottom of the void, the voice answered him, "I was just pounding some mochi! You want some?"
Before Izuku could answer, the ground beneath him suddenly broke away, sending the boy plummeting down below. At first, he was relieved about this as it meant he had his freedom until he looked down and saw he was falling from literal thousands of feet in the air.
"Oh well, I tried to warn ya!" The voice of his helper shouted cheerful for what could be his death drop, looking up at them as he fell, he would see only a single white bunny with red eyes and a specially designed bucket in front of them. It was sitting on a bright white orb, mostly likely what was imprisoning him for so long, it had a lot of cracks from his escape. The friendly bunny waved him goodbye as he fell, calling out to him, "Come back anytime if you wanna snack, I'll have the moon fixed by then!"
'Wait moon?" Izuku thought, dread quickly followed that revelation, 'I'M FALLING FROM THE MOON!'
Screaming for his life from his helplessness in saving himself from this fall, he kinda forgot that this was all a dream. His excitement of finding out there was more to this dream brought him right back into a suspension of disbelief dreams usually have; also who would take an unexpected fall from the moon as an inconsequential event even if it was a dream. Falling through clouds can be pretty frightening.
He didn't want to look down but something caught his high, a huge red and gold palace whose tip barely reaches the clouds. He mistakenly took it as a mountain at first, from its layers and layers of different platforms, though his vision was blurry because of the fall, he saw that each layer had giant red torii gates near the edge facing the same direction. The beauty of them drew his attention away from his worries for a moment, he remembered those gates, he saw them on a family vacation once.
His views of the gates were quickly cut off by tall bamboo trees!
'This place has bamboo trees as well?' Izuku wondered, this was certainly an interesting place he ended up in. It entices him until he realizes that falling down past trees means that he's almost reached the ground. There was only a split second for Izuku to turn and see the ground before the hard surface filled his entire and-
"WAH!"
Katsuki would enter into the room the two shared, only to see our adorable fox boy on the ground, tangled in his bedsheets.
…
The two stared at each other in silence before Katsuki bluntly says, "The fuck!?"
"B-bad dream!" Izuku replied quickly, he stumbled to get out of his entangled sheets to make his bed. His mind still wandered about what he just saw in that dream, what was it? Did he roll all 6 and got an alternative route or something? That never happened before in the dream and he doesn't know what sparked it!
"What kind of FUCKING bad dream were you having!?"
"OI, KATSUKI! DON'T THINK I DIDN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU, WATCH YOUR DAMN LANGUAGE!" Shouted Mitsuki from downstairs, it's amazing how she went years without realizing her hypocrisy. That's parenting in a nutshell.
"WHAT YOU HAG, I DIDN'T SAY NOTHING!" Katsuki yelled back, it's really just a vicious cycle.
"YOU THINK I'M DEAF!"
"IF THE BOOT FITS!"
"DON'T GET SMART WITH ME, YOU WANT TO ADD ANOTHER TWO WEEKS TO YOUR GROUNDING!"
"..."
"THOUGHT SO!"
The blond mumbled something under his breath before turning his attention back to Izuku, "Anyways, breakfast is ready nerd. Come get some."
After finally freeing himself Izuku nodded, telling him he'll join them once he made his bed and brushed his teeth.
A week passed since he had that dream and the day he got attacked by a villain, then get saved by a bunny girl, then get attacked by another villain that was slimy, then get saved again by All Might, then get attacked by the slime villain again, and then get saved by All Might again! The most frightening part was how that was the simplified version of what happened that day. Both boys were promptly grounded almost as soon as they got home, being baited into a false sense of security by saying how relieved they were that they came home safe, and then severely scolded them till the sunset.
Most of the chastise were toward Katsuki since he was responsible for both of them, which was why he was going to be grounded till the end of the school semester but Izuku stepped in, trying to take some responsibility for his part in the whole mess. Two of the three times Izuku got attacked by a villain wasn't even directly Katsuki's fault or intention, one of them was the greenet willingly jumping into danger, and the occurrence where it was Katsuki's fault wasn't brought up because Izuku thought it was best not to unnecessarily add more fuel to the fire by telling them about it. Partly out of guilt, and partly as payback for the day Izuku wanted to run away. The blond made some excuse for Izuku's disappearance from the house to their parents to ease their worries without a need for confrontation.
In the end, Izuku got his first-ever grounding from someone that wasn't even his mother, it would last a week with the additional duty of having to help do the dishes and setting up the table. Compared to his contemporary, this was a slap on the wrist.
Mitsuki was extremely harsh in punishing her own son, unlike his usual behavior problems that could get ignored, this occasion could've had horrible physical repercussions which were only avoided by pure luck. He was grounded for two months, his allowance was cut, he was banned from playing video games, and had to help his dad in the man's weekly 'house renovations'. It convinced Izuku that Katsuki's paranoia of what his mom would do to him wasn't such an overreaction, she might've actually killed him if he did come back home completely fine.
Silence defined the current relationship between Izuku and Katsuki, they haven't talked once they got home. The only time they had something close to a conversation was Katsuki telling Izuku about seeing his ears and tail move during the slime villain attack, sadly since then Izuku seemed to have lost the ability to move them, he wasn't saddened by this as it meant that there was a chance for him to awaken them again. He even started letting his fox ears hang out of his hair in public, only keeping his tail tied up as it did get in the way. Outside of a few words, they've gotten even more tight-lipped with each other, a direct contrast from what you'd expect two people who sleep in the same room would have. Izuku easily understood why Katsuki wasn't in a talking mood, he got slapped with four times the punishment Izuku got, it'd be stupid to think he would. The greenet had his reasons as wells, his mind dwindled on what the explosive blond said to him that day. Every time he looked at him, those words echoed in his head, driving him away. It irked him every time he's reminded of it, the blond's insults usually don't hinder his day, this time was different; those words were laced with a rage unseen before. It did its job screwing with him, he couldn't get it out of his head. It wasn't as if they were all baseless accusations, he admits that he has a lot of issues that need to be worked on, it's more on the delivery of it.
Shouting at him was one thing. Izuku was fine with that, considering how he ended up in a villain attack because of his obsession, that didn't excuse hitting him in the stomach or destroying the notebook he spent years working on. Only exhaustion and almost dying three different times, four if you count losing consciousness when he was holding onto All Might's leg without his knowledge high into the air, kept him from bringing up the topic again. Such an act was deemed a bit too petty by the fox boy to do at the time, now a week passed and he wished he didn't wait. The appropriate timing for such talk has passed since everyone was moving on from that day's event, that didn't mean this was the end of the road for what happened, at least Izuku wouldn't let it end like that.
For now, Izuku had other things to do. With him finally being able to leave the house again, there was one person he had to meet. He brought out his phone to text someone.
Izuku: I'm heading out in a few minutes, where do you want to meet again?
Mr. Number 1: Dagobah Municipal Beach Park!
Since the day All Might told him that of his belief that he can become a hero, Izuku has been dying to be able to leave the house again as the number 1 hero promised to train him. As soon as he got permission to leave home he went straight to the beach, where All Might told him the details of the current plan of how the training would go.
"Your goal is to get into the hero top hero school in the country, UA University! You've got a little under four years before the entrance exam, by then I'll make sure your body will be able to handle the quirk I'll give you." All Might explain, "Which is good timing since it'll take a couple of years to build up your body to handle One for All's stockpile of power. Before I give it to you, I'll need to make sure your body is ready first."
His first task toward this goal, clean up the entire beach in ten months. While the task was daunting, Izuku was proud of him that he was committing to working toward his dream.
Speaking of dreams, he had that weird dream again. This time, things were drastically different. He didn't start trapped in a black void, instead the first thing he saw was the moon he broke out of, the hole he left behind was still there. It was hard to see, but there was still a tiny outline on the moon showing the person who freed him was still pounding some mochi. He must've fallen into some kind of vast swamp as he found every step he would take sluggish, to the point where he got as little done in the dream as he was doing before, the only difference was that at least he had a bunch of bamboos to look at. It was quite disappointing that breaking out of one tedious chamber only led to a second tedious slugfest that went nowhere. Was the swamp endless?
Two days into his training, he was currently on a jog. Outside of his main goal, he was also given many workout routines to do on his own, one of these included a daily run. Right as he was passing by a park, another unexpected encounter with a certain person.
"If it isn't broccoli kid- I mean Izuku, you're just showing up everywhere aren't ya?" Miruko told him when they noticed each other, she was seated on a park bench in a wonderful black leather lace-up jacket, and a red plastic bag was resting at her side.
"M-miruko! Ah, I didn't expect you to be here," Izuku stammered, stopping in his tracks when he reached the bench for a breather.
"I was supposed to hang out with someone here but they're running extremely late because of traffic, what a bust! Now I'm here on my ass doing nothing for the next hour!" she exclaimed, aggravated as people who don't keep promises are always a pet-peeve of hers. Her beaming red eyes then turned its attention directly on the fox boy in front of her and a wide smile appeared on her face, "But since you're here, you can be my entertainment till then."
The boy shivered down to his tail, the way she glared at him was the kind of attention he hasn't gotten from a girl that didn't live with him since he was ten and it was just her being interested in his small fox tail. This bunny girl, she wanted him personally, and that's something Izuku never thought was possible.
Knowing that his responsibilities should be on his training, Izuku replied, "I-i would like to but I'm on a jog right now."
"You can take a quick break!" Miruko insisted, patting the spot next to her, "Besides, you're the only one in a hundred-yard radius who I have an interest in talking to."
"Yeah but, but-"
"Come on," She interrupted, using her left hand to grab him and pull him toward the bench. While Izuku was mentally fussing over their legs tapping against each other once in a while, Miruko told him, "We can catch up over some snacks, I got some mochi ice cream," as she pulled out two orange colored dough looking balls from her bag and offered one to the boy.
"Did you finally find the carrot flavored ice cream?" The greenet asked, looking at the mochi's color texture as he accepted it.
"Y'know just because my animal quirk like carrots, doesn't mean I'll always go for it."
"Of course, I just usually associate carrots with bun-" The fox boy stopped himself before he went too far.
"Did you just call me a bunny!? Oh because you think I'm a bunny that means I must love carrots and can't get enough of them?"
"NO!" Izuku quickly replied, remembering what happened to the last guy who called her a bunny. He was smart enough to only call her that in his head and not out loud unless he wanted her refined legs that once saved him to be the ones that end him as well, "Buns, I was going to say buns, w-when I was a child my mom always got me carrot flavored buns and I loved them! That's why I ask so much about it!" He quickly ate the one given to him to make his lie more believable, to show a sense of delight in the flavor and would get a nice surprise, "...you actually got the-"
"You're just lucky that I happened to pick the carrot flavor today." Miruko interrupted again a bit embarrassed, she curled her lips into an aggravated pout as she nibbled on her own, "I guess even a broken clock is correct twice a day, so what have you been up to?"
All Might would shake his head in shame knowing the boy would put his training on hold just to speak to a girl but at least he tried, besides, she was pretty persuasive in getting to stop. After Izuku filled her in on the last week of his life, Miruko chuckled happily.
"Only a week? Damn you got off easy!"
"I guess, it barely felt like a grounding anyways since I could still watch TV and they didn't even take away my cell phone."
"They didn't? Huh, why haven't you called me then?"
"...about that-"
"You lost it?"
"No...well yes, more like it got destroyed with the rest of my school clothes the day you gave it to me."
"Oh yeah, honestly didn't know what I was expecting after you were having your epic battle against that slime freak shirtless."
"It wasn't that impressive," Izuku's eyes drew itself toward the ground as he scratched his head trying to wave off the comment.
"Who wouldn't be impressed seeing a five-foot fox boy lunge himself into danger to save his brother! I practically saw the crowd's jaw drop as they witnessed your feeble body fly in the air, it was practically like watching David and Goliath live!"
A pink blush quickly spread across his face, it was a lot rougher but it felt like he was being pampered by Katsuki's mom again. He began doing his bad habit of mumbling nonsense as he tried to figure out a proper response to what's going on, after a while, he finally said something comprehensible, "He's not my brother."
"He's not?" Miruko repeated, leaning against her hand as her interest increased, "That's strange, ya acted like- wait you're telling me you did all that crap for someone who's not even a part of your family?"
"What's wrong with that? Our mom knew each other for a long time and we have lived in the same house for years! I wasn't going to let him die there without doing anything!"
"I see, that makes sense now. Your lesbian moms would be pretty disappointed if they lost one of their boys."
"Wha- no! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! My mom isn't a lesbian, she got married to my dad!"
"...And?"
"Isn't that enough!?"
"No! In fact, that might even make her more guilty! What straight woman goes from a 'husband and a son' to 'living with her long time female friend in the same house' and not like some tribbing here and there!?
"I-i don't even want to know what that is."
"Trust me it's fine, I don't judge! We all get what that 'roommates in a single bedroom apartment for years' thing go. I know a few girls who swing that way as well."
"AHHH stop! I don't want that image stuck in my head! My friend's mom is still married...to a man happily!"
"...I mean, some couples can be freaky like that."
"Oh my god."
"And at best that only clear your mom's friend's name, that doesn't mean your mom doesn't want to joust some clams."
"OH MY GOD!" Izuku's tomato face was completely buried into his hands, switching rapidly between covering his face so a girl wouldn't see how flustered he was or his ears so he wouldn't hear any more of what was flustering him, trying his best to keep out the very haunting images Miruko was slowly stuffing in.
The dark-skinned girl hunched over as she bellowed out in laughter, her round hips were centimeters from slipping off the bench and she told him that her hitting the floor hard would've made her stop.
"Thank your god that we met today, I needed a good laugh!" she cried, slapping the thigh of the boy who she just permanently stuck a cursed image of his mother in his head. She threw her body up against the back of the bench as she caught her breath, letting her well-endowed chest be on display through a fine outline through her jacket and white t-shirt. Izuku caught a glimpse of this and quickly snapped his head away before she noticed, not wanting anything else erotic to fill his mind before his brain melts. Finally recovering from her hysterical laughter, she spoke again.
"I'm kidding, though I'm betting a cold twenty that it was at least on the table at a time."
Staring off in the distance of the park, Izuku's eyes looked mortified as he muttered, "I hope I never get an answer to that."
"Meh, who knows, best to find out about your parent's skeletons early. Knowing an issue exists helps kill ignorance and make it a hell of a lot easier to know what to improve in yourself, though you seem to already be doing that. It's not much but at least you seem to be attempting to build your body a bit, maybe if another villain attacks it'll be less David and Goliath and more Goliath vs...I don't know Bruce Lee? No too skilled, a Hobbit? Something small but with average to above-average strength."
"Thanks, I guess."
"Yeah, yeah," Miruko responded as she quickly checked her phone, "That was my friend, they'll be here in a few minutes. About time, you can continue your run, thanks for staying with me for the wait."
"I couldn't say no with you," he gave a chunky laugh while standing up, the second time she had dragged him into socializing with her had some humor to it.
His open mouth laugh gave the bunny a chance to see his fangs which reminded her of a question she wanted to ask. Calling it out to him just as he turned around.
"By the way, why are you hiding the fact that you had an animal quirk?"
His body instantly stopped in its tracks and stiffened, he took a breath before looking back and calmly answered, "I kinda found them awkward to deal with, they get in the way of everything."
Nodding her head, she replied, "Gotcha, getting used to your new animal quirks, pun not intended, once it really starts manifesting was always a struggle. If you ever need advice or someone to talk to about those issues, you got my number again, try not to lose it this time!"
"I promise I won't!"
Having that number became useful to the reynard's esteem, while he couldn't ask about much seeing as most of his animal limbs don't work, hope was at a high knowing there was a contact with someone who can sorta relate to him on dealing with animal-like biology. They never talked long or about anything important since Izuku didn't have a relevant problem that he didn't already have a solution for, yet, it was something he made sure to do at least once a week or two. It blew his mind that he was talking to a girl so often, that wasn't through some forum that was arguing if All Might's body is setting an unrealistic expectation on men and whether it was a good or bad thing.
It was the thought of wanting to be as strong as she was with the end goal of getting to All Might's level which made Izuku work way harder than he was supposed to, going beyond the regimen given to him. This took a heavy toll on his body to the point where he almost destroyed it and needed to take a full day of rest to recover. With an inability to go outside because of his sore muscles and not being on speaking terms with the only person his age,
he spent a good chunk of the day texting his new furry friend.
Miruko: u rlly fucked up your body?
Izuku: I tried to get stronger way too soon so I overdid my workout, my whole body is sore!
Miruko: pffft, pussy! XD
Izuku: Hey! I'm in real pain here, I can barely move!
Miruko: slap sum ice on dem boys and u'll be :ok-hand:
Miruko: also did u ask bout the mom thing yet?
Izuku: OMG NO!
It went back and forth between Miruko trying to convince him that he's being overdramatic and should have more steam in him, with Izuku insisting that he doesn't. The most memorable part was when later she sent him a picture of her in jogging clothes with the caption 'And my route today was passing by your area, we could've met if you were lucky.'
That was the day Izuku almost killed himself just to go jogging with a girl. He didn't make it far, in fact, he almost fainted just getting to a place he knew she'll pass by. He luckily got there first, giving him time and a profitable situation to make an alibi to give once she arrives.
"You made it, I thought you wouldn't show. Did you really want to see me that badly?"
"Well y'know, I just realized you were right that I did have steam left for a short run."
"Uh-huh, sure. So you ready to go on that 'run'?"
"Actually I just finished my run, like a few minutes ago and I just stuck around because I was wondering where you were."
The fallacy of his lie seemed more obvious than he originally thought as Miruko stared at him for a while with a smug grin stretched across her face.
"W-what? Izuku asked, a nervous sweat dripped down his face.
"You're so full of shit dude!" She exclaimed before bursting out in laughter.
She was kind enough to give Izuku a stick to use as a cane for his walk of shame back home as she continued with her jog, streams of tears flowed out of his eyes, both from the pain and the humiliation. The next few months were filled with many hardships but pleasant moments were sprinkled in here and there. That dream he's been having were the same but as time went by, it became easier and easier to move through the swamp. While technically he hasn't accomplished much or learned any new skills that weren't how to work out, he felt much more alive now than he has been for the last decade.
Then the day happened, surprising even the expectation All Might himself, he cleaned the entire beach. His first hurdle has been overcome and as promised, All Might deemed his body worthy of receiving One for All.
"EAT THIS!"
"Excuse me, what?"
He ended up choking on the hair. Izuku kinda wished he was told ahead of time about the method he was going to receive it through, then he could've brought a snack or at least a water bottle. It would've been quite the tragic but laughable thing if the worst happened, All Might's chosen successor died receiving his power by choking on the thing that gave him it.
He didn't feel any different after eating it but All Might assured him that he had gotten it. It was a bit vague but Izuku just thought it meant he had to sleep it off. Drifting off into a dream again.
The boy's eyes snapped open again, the first thing he did was look up to see if the moon had been fixed yet, it wasn't. He wasn't sure if that meant that barely any in-dream time went by since he broke out or if that rabbit was a world class procrastinator, then again repairing a moon doesn't seem like a task that can be done in a school year; but then why did he make it sound a facile task. Overconfidence?
Either way, he can't spend all his dream time thinking about it, he has to make as much progress as possible to get through this swamp. While it may be hopeless now, he thought the exact thing back when he was enclosed in that moon, it may take a while to get somewhere but as long as he can reach it, he'll be happy.
Unlike before the swamp barely slowed his process, the only issue was finding a goal to head toward. He was sure he headed in the way he saw the red gates but he couldn't check, the bamboo that infested the swamp were too tall and thick to see through yet, they would always break when he tried to climb them. He is doing this blind.
But then a tiny but bright rainbow light peered through all the bamboo.
In such an aimless place, this may have well been a godsend calling to him. He felt alluded to it as if someone was calling to me and without literally no other goal in sight, he followed it. It was all a dream anyway, at worst he'll just wake up.
He wandered endlessly for what felt like hours, thankfully the light never moved or went away. It was always there, radiantly brimming such a calling presence. The next thing he knew, he stopped feeling the swamp at his feet, he looked down to see if he just lost the feeling in his legs but no he was no longer in the swamp. He looked back to see if he could find the swamp but the bamboo blocked all view and he couldn't find it anymore. Something to investigate at another time, he continued his pursuit of a life as it slowly led him out of the forest of bamboo. It felt great walking on grass again after spending so long in a murky texture, soft blades of grass might as well have been a massage chair.
Almost as soon as he got out of the forest of bamboo did the glowing light disappear, which worried Izuku but he decided to continue going in the direction he last saw it. His trailing of the light finally brought him to what looked like a Sankei-en styled house, right behind it, a giant red torii gate. He finally made it.
Looking around he saw the clear dark blue lake by the house, the many different kinds of plants that filled the garden, and even the aroma was pleasant to breathe in. Approaching the house, the door was already open leaving anyone the ability to look inside. There he saw the back of a man in a green kimono hakama sitting down, there was a symbol on the back in the shape of three claw marks, and his hair covered by a kind of scarf that was wrapped around his head. The most eye catching of them all was the fluffy black tail wagging behind him.
"To be clear Yugen, you can stockpile power huh, that's interesting?"
He spoke with a vigilant, strong yet, caring voice. Izuku couldn't see his face but he could see that the man wasn't allowed, across from him was an albino person with barely any form, he radiated the same kind of rainbow light that led him out of the swamp.
"Hello?" He says, trying to get their attention to get included. His heartbeat became rapid, years of anticipation and desires were bubbling up in his stomach and was raring to burst out.
It seemed to have gotten the one brimming with light's attention, the one in the kimono didn't immediately turn around. Instead, he reached to his side to pick on a mask shaped like a fox before turning toward Izuku, the blue marking on it displayed the same three-line cheek design that was on his face. The masked man left his seat to approach the boy, mumbling under his breath, "A troublesome boy, you have kept me waiting here, now you brought a gift. I've waited a long time for you and now it seemed like you brought quite the troublesome guest to my doorsteps, he already caused quite a lot to happen."
As he got closer Izuku noticed how he couldn't see the color of his eyes through the mask and his tail seemed to have resided itself hidden inside of the kimono. When he got close to the boy he placed a hand on his chest, continuing, "Sorry kitto, I'mma need you to go for a while as I have a nice conversation with this little prowler. Kinda excited to reach the onna, you can come back once we're done."
"Wait!" Izuku called out, "Can I at least know who you are first? I might get lost again and need to know who to search for."
"That's an easy one," the masked man replied, he gets on eye level with the boy, revealing a pair of green eyes behind the mask before continuing, "We are the exact same, you and I have forged a path, to project our needs."
"What?"
"I am thou, and thou art I, from different realms we are bonded. Forming a bridge that connects reality from the supernatural in our cognition. What is needed will form here, created on this land, a safe space for you and me. A representation that's real but non-existence."
"...What?"
The masked person sighed before pushing Izuku off into the air with a single strike, as the boy fell the man called out, "Don't fear being lost, we will always meet again, we're connected here….Also, learn what a fucking Haiku is baka!
That was the last thing he heard before his body crashed into the lake.
Izuku snapped awake.
He sighed to himself, while he was happy to finally get past the swamp, he was immediately hit with what seemed like another roadblock. A frown came across his face, the next time he'll be able to go back will most likely be in a month, such a long wait to have after finally seeing the treasure box.
"Oh well, I've waited longer for less."
Getting out of bed he felt his throat was quite dry and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. The aftereffect of finishing that beach was killer on his body, every part of his body was sore and stiff, the most annoying was how jittery his jaw felt. On the way, he scratched his head that has been itching him ever since he woke up, perhaps a bit too hard as he winced in pain, his nails suddenly jabbed into him and they felt sharper than before.
"Morning mon, morning auntie Bakugo," He said, passing by the two ladies that were chatting over a cup of coffee.
"Oh Izuku, I told you before, you don't need to keep calling me aunt-"
Inko screamed and the shattering of a cup against the ground was heard. Hearing this snapped Izuku out of his morning, turning toward his panting mother.
"What!? WHAT!?"
"Y-your tail!"
"My tail-?" Izuku repeated, he hated it when something got caught on his tail. Since it couldn't move, he had to basically break his neck to get a good look at it. Thankfully it was easier to see his tail as it moved to his side when Izuku thought about checking it out, "What are you talking about it's fine-"
It was at that moment that Izuku realized both that he had naturally moved his tail, but that his tailpiece had grown a considerably great amount and was now fully covered in green fur. It was just as fluffy and big as his dad's own from a photo he saw of him during his schooling days.
"MY TAIL!"
"YOUR TAIL!"
"MY TAIL!"
"YOUR EARS!"
"MY- my ears?" Izuku reached up to touch his ears, just like his tail they seemed to have fully grown out as well, "What's wrong with- MY EARS!"
"YOUR EARS!"
"MY EARS!"
"OI WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH ALL THE YELLING IN THE FUCKING MORNING!" Katsuki shouted from upstairs, in a couple of angry stomps the explosive blond was in the kitchen as well and his eyes widen like a deer in headlights when he saw an Izuku with his fully grown tail, ears, nails, and fangs; his account testified that they were not there yesterday, "T-THE FUCK!? W-WAS THAT WHAT ALL THE ROLLING AROUND GROANING LAST NIGHT WAS!? I THOUGHT YOU WERE THROWING JACKS!"
"KATSUKI, I TOLD YOU BEFORE TO WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Mitsuki yelled at her son.
"Why does this house always have yelling going on?" Masura Bakugo, Katsuki's father, asked as he entered the kitchen. He only tilted his head slightly to the side to see it would most likely be Izuku's newly formed assets, "Oh...well that's interesting."
"I KNOW, I'M CURIOUS TO HOW IT HAPPENED!" Mitsuki continued to scream.
"YEAH THE FUCK HAPPENED?" Katsuki asked, ignoring his mom's earlier warning.
"YOU'RE ASKING ME!?" the spotlight boy replied, "MOM WHAT'S GOING ON!? DID THIS HAPPEN TO DAD!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Inko confessed, tears streamed out of her eyes but a wide smile was across her face as she tried to fan herself, "I'M JUST SO, SO-!"
THUD
The room went silent as everyone stared at the proud mother who fainted on the ground.
"MY MOM!" Izuku shouted, trying his best to keep the running gag alive.
Sadly, or thankfully in the case of Masura, the shouting had run its course. Everyone was too focused on the boy's revised fox look or wondering if his mom might need to work on her over dramatics.
Page 6
Reverberations From Flourishing
Growth, a two-edged sword
Each inch gained has a drawback
Nothing comes weightless.
How will the boy who spent his entire life with a part of him stuck in an embryonic state deal with its sudden rapid growth and all the issues that'll come with it?
Currently, a lot better than one would think after that misleading beginning!
"So cute, so cute!" were the words a gleeful Mitsuki repeatedly shouted. She was aggressively cuddling with the newly enhanced fox boy with more affection than a little girl getting her first teddy bear. "Oh my god, you're so adorable!"
The busty blonde woman was always the most consistently encouraging figure to Izuku concerning his special quirk, effectively making him have some sense of empowerment by his abnormalities. It wasn't much and was the size of a toothpick made out of balsa wood, but it was more than what his mother had managed to do for him. She had always hoped that the boy would one day come into his own, even with his condition, able to live happily and freely without worrying about what others thought of him or forcing a superficial standard on himself. Maybe one day his ears would grow out completely, but by then he wouldn't be dependent on getting it. She had gotten her wish and was happily enjoying it.
"I can snuggle with you all day long! Please let me do it, please! AHHH!"
The amount of absolute joy leaking from her voice would make you think that a teenage girl had just gotten a new car for her sixteen birthday. It was that 'I'll do anything you want right now' kind of happiness. Masaru took a mental note on what to get her in case he was ever short on time for their anniversary.
Izuku was also enjoying himself involuntarily, dubious due to her excitement. The grown woman didn't realize she was smothering the young fifteen year old's head with her bosom. Her rosemary scent intoxicated him as his red face was pressed firmly against her bountiful chest like a pillow. He could've fallen asleep right there if it wasn't for the fact that he had recently just woken up… and the suffocating feeling… also, the shock from having his tail and animal ears grow l overnight kept his blood pumping! Though that could be from other factors.
Long story short, the boy was having a divine experience.
As Izuku discovered that heaven can be achieved through the loving and caring embrace of a glamorous mother, the rest of the Bakugos are left to tidy up the mess made by the faint-of-heart Inko.
Following her collapse, shattered bits of ceramic, brown muck that adults call coffee, and the unconscious body of the mother littered the floor. The BakuMen looked down at the heap left to them as if they were a demolition cleanup crew eyeing their next project, tackling every minor house chore as a home renovation. The elder of the two spoke first about their plan of action.
"It seems quite the dilemma has appeared on our hands. All right, so while I safely extract the civilian, you cautiously pick out the obvious hazard material before clearing the remnants and mopping up the fluids. If you can get that done, then I should be able to make a final round trip to make sure nothing was left behind."
"Old man, can you fucking stop?"
"W-what did I do?"
"I'm still mentally recovering from that month I spent fixing the house with you, acting like we're construction workers. You make everything sound bigger then it is, throwing in a bunch of stupid lingoes! It's cleaning up a broken cup and you work at a fucking advertising company, speak normally!"
"I just wanted to spice things up, add a bit of excitement to things."
"Then take your ass to the movies! You wanna know what it sounds like when you make everything sound so dramatic? You sound like those delusional roleplayers that try to hide how much of a virgin they are by speaking like they're Shakespeare all the time."
"..."
Masaru was once again reminded how hard controlling Katsuki would be without his iron-willed wife. Honestly, with his soft heart, if he didn't have Mitsuki, then his belligerent son would probably have caused him to curl up in a ball from his words alone. Unfortunately, she was too distracted indulging herself, leaving him to deal with the eruptive teen alone.
"Duly noted. Let's just work on cleaning the clutter," he stated, picking Inko up off the ground.
"I thought I was supposed to pick up the mess?" was Katsuki's snarky reply.
"Katsuki, have some restraint. This is someone's mother. You know your mother always says that one day someone is going to punch you in the face when you least expect it if you keep that up, and while I don't support it, I won't be surprised if it happens."
"That'll be the day," the teen mumbled under his breath as he left to go find the cleaning supplies. His father also left to put Inko in her room.
Mitsuki took the time she had alone with Izuku to calm herself a bit in order to probe him with questions.
"You sure you don't know what caused this, Izuku?"
"Yes I'm sure, it kinda just happened."
"Well this is a very colossal thing to just happen, you didn't take anything strange, did you?"
"'Course not. I wouldn't be as surprised as I was when it got pointed out if I knew I did something to cause it."
Thoughts about eating All Might's hair came to mind, but there was no way in hell that Izuku would attempt to explain that situation, even if he wasn't bound by a promise to the Number One Hero to keep a secret. Not to mention that dream he had, too many unsolved questions with that one, and he'd been having it for years before he even came into contact with All Might. Speaking about it now would only serve to make the entire situation seem even more ridiculous, even if it did have something to do with it. He would keep the events close to his heart for now.
"You sure you didn't do anything that might be related to this? You don't have to keep secrets from me."
"Yes!"
"Hmm," the more mature blonde thought to herself, 'he's usually a terrible liar when it comes to me unless he grew out of that as well. That last one was obviously a lie, meaning he remembered something he did that could've induced his rapid growth, but judging by the looks of it and when he started to lie, whatever he did was in no way supposed to trigger this. Then again, what did cause this?'
Her concern spawned from recent topics that at the moment had been pretty overlooked on the news. There were talks about a possible resurgence of a certain supplement from the underground that low-grade villains usually used to bolster their relatively weak quirks. It wasn't a stretch by a mile to suspect a boy who lived over a decade with a weak "Underdeveloped Quirk" might turn to a more desperate means to get over the hurdle.
Mitsuki eyed his mouth, it was hard to see into it as the boy made it a habit few years prior to speak and position his mouth in a way to hide as much of his fangs as possible, ironically this caused a hilarious phase were his pronunciation of many words got skewed till he mastered the technique. Luckily his flustered face left his lips parted enough for the woman to peer through and see what she wanted, his tongue was its regular light pink color, he was clean.
Glad that theory was debunked, a soft smile spread across her face. It wasn't as if Mitsuki saw Izuku so lowly to seek such a desolate answer, she knew he was a good kid who didn't have much guidance in life, she feared that a bad influence could've easily stirred him on a bad path by disguising it as a viable option by using his dreams to become a hero against him. While her fears were warranted from what she knew, it was ultimately unneeded. Since Izuku knew at a young age that his hybrid traits weren't the effects of a quirk mixed with the feelings he has about his birth, he never bothered with any of those quirk improvement based propaganda. Ironically, his uncensored upbringing and paradox thoughts kept him from falling into this trap. If this information was kept hidden from him or if his condition was an actual quirk, it would possibly be a different story.
Her desire to find out the cause of his flourishing was immense but without any solid proof that devious play had taken place, she couldn't push for an answer, at least not with Izuku. While he's terrible at lying, he'll stick to it till he willingly gives up.
'That must be from hanging around Katsuki too much, they always cover each other's asses whenever they do something they know is problematic, that boy can never be influential when I want him to. As a mother, I should be disappointed that he's teaching such an innocent kid to be a better liar but personally, I'm kinda happy that the brat, in an unethical and unintentional way, helped the boy get better at sticking to something instead of giving up as soon as a plan goes awry; even if it is for lying.'
For now, Mitsuki is going to take this phenomenon the same way everyone else in the house was, as an unexpected miracle to be enjoyed.
But if one print of foul play is found, the gates of hell will rise and drag in any and all people involved in it.
Picking the foxy boy's tail that's been minding its own business being alive, the older blonde stroke it a pet.
"Ok, as long as I get to play with this I'm happy!"
Her eloquent finger glided through the green fur, each velvety hair brushed against her soft skin as he felt the warmth radiating from her hands wrap around his furry limb.
"Please don't mess with my tail!" Izuku pleaded
"Whyyy I'm only petting it, I promise I won't squeeze it!"
"It's not that!"
It must be an effect from it just being grown as every nerve in his tail sent an electrifying sensation throughout his body at even the tiniest of touches, his bones slowly become ungodly sensitive as if they might collapse under his weight despite being seated, and he shivered like a child outside during winter. During his endeavors, an uninvited moan that sounded awfully like a purr was created, this noise was the kind that sounded like an exhausted salaryman experiencing his first professional massage. It was muffled as he had his mouth close but it wasn't enough to escape the sharp hearing of the termagant woman.
…
The room went silent for a second.
'DID I REALLY JUST DO THAT!?' Were the rightfully dramatic thoughts of the fox boy.
Surprised herself, a grinning Mitsuki asked, "Was it because you were enjoying yourself?"
"No!"
His tail wagged excitedly in the blonde's hand, a dog who's been given its first treat and wanted to get another right after.
"I take this as a yes then?" the older blonde asked with a smug smirk after seeing the tail's reaction.
"Traitor!" Izuku immediately calls out his rouge appendage, this amount of betrayal had only been felt once before when the McAll Might Nuggets he had at a carnival when he was young was average at best and not PLUS ULTRA like the advertisement said, "I take back all the wishes of prospering I made for you!"
"Don't be too hard on it, it can't help being what it is," the mother stated, stroking his tail slowly.
"This is why I wanted you to stop!"
"That's it? Heh, that's not even bad, trust me I've made more come out of people."
"No but-...wha-...I just don't like how ticklish it is."
"Come on please, just let me do it a bit longer. Don't take this away from me so soon?
"N-no, it's my tail!" replied Izuku as he snatches his tail out of her hands to prevent any more pampering.
Something felt off though, did he hear something tear? Almost as if someone ripped a piece of paper. His eyes quickly glanced at his surroundings for a cause but found nothing, it wasn't until he looked at his current company did he realize the mistake he made.
His nails were always sharp, they weren't like razors but more than once did he encounter a situation where they caused him some trouble. Since he learned how to forcibly retract his nails he's been able to manage them, greatly reducing complications they could cause. Unfortunately today this spark of growth also affected how his nails extend and retract, so when he went to snatch his tail back they extended at quite literally the worst time ever to exist in his lifetime. His swift movement caused them to easily slice through the fabric of Mitsuki's morning top.
"Are you ok!?" Izuku asked with dilated eyes, his agitated voice, ragged breath, and shaking fingers that were being hidden behind his back were apparent, 'Please not again.'
His sincere reaction was quickly followed by a polar opposite dopey red face. Thankfully Mitsuki's skin would still be as flawless as ever, it was nothing short but a miracle that none of his nails dug deep enough to graze her body at all. When he took a closer look to check and see if he had hurt her, his concerns were gracefully rewarded by the universe with a great view of the bountiful rack she had, peering through the tears he made.
This would be a good time to mention that Izuku has a slight crush on Mitsuki.
If this was an anime, the couch would be soaked with blood.
"I'm fine, lucky this was the worst that happened," replied the blonde as she examined her shirt, "Not like I liked this shirt anyways,"
"That's good!" Izuku muffled, covering his mouth to hide the goofy looking on his face, he struggled to keep his eyes up when they were being magnetically pulled down.
His efforts were in vain as Mitsuki instantly recognized what was going on, this wasn't even close to her first rodeo with this kind of thing. Putting a hand over the tear to cover it up so Izuku can both physically and mentally get back control over himself, she got off the couch. Turning toward the stairwell she tells him, "Oh well, I was going to get changed eventually since I have work soon, guess now would be a perfect time. See ya!" before walking off with a smile on her face.
Izuku sighed as soon as she left, fortune saved him this time but it was only the beginning of issues he began having since his growth.
Those nails of his made it difficult to come into contact with anything, they kept on extending and retracting on their own at random intervals, he couldn't handle a brush without issue. He accidentally shredded his bedsheets one night when he turned too much in his sleep, hordes of his clothes got ruined and he had to avoid wearing any of his favorite stuff, hero garments aren't cheap especially if you get the ones made with good quality material. He had to constantly remind himself to be mindful whenever he's at the dinner table to avoid unconsciously scratching up the table and wrapping duct tape around his fingers before bed quickly became a norm.
A new ability Izuku noticed he had gotten from his rapid growth was a more sensitive sense of smell, it wasn't too great but he noticed that certain scents were affecting him in ways they weren't before. Taking out the trash was torture and being around Katsuki when he returned from the gym made him feel like he was at a carnival thanks to his nitroglycerin sweat, he smelled like cotton candy. The worst of all was when he discovered he couldn't stand the smell of garlic when the family was eating garlic rice, a favorite of his, he almost wanted to cry.
"What do you mean you can't stand it!?" An enraged Katsuki shouted at the table when Izuku explained why he was covering his nostrils, "I made it the same way I always do!"
Izuku quickly pleaded his defense, he knew how much pride Katsuki had in his cooking, "No I didn't mean the food itself, just the smell makes it hard to eat."
"You've been periodically begging me to make this damn thing for weeks now, you're not going to back down now that I made it!"
It was a bit of an exaggeration to say that asking, "Oh are you making garlic rice?" every time Izuku saw that it was Katsuki's turn to cook and he brought out a bag of rice but that was nothing new for the explosive teen.
"Oi, leave him alone!" Mitsuki yelled at her son, coming to his defense, "He doesn't have to eat it!"
"No it's fine," Izuku said trying to calm the situation, "I'll just pinch my nose and-"
"You don't have to force yourself!"
"But...I'm not."
"Yes, he does! He's going to eat it and he's going to like it!"
"I do like it, it's not the taste my nose is just acting up."
"And what gives you the right to decide that!"
"I cooked the damn food, if I remember it's 'whoever makes the damn food can make the fucking rules'! And I declare that no one is allowed to leave this table until they get rid of every bit off their plate!"
"You dare use my own words against me, brat!"
"The future is now, old hag!"
"I was going to eat it anyway, I don't see why there needed to be a fight over it." Were Izuku's despondent mumbles after seeing no ways to stop them.
Katsuki's father looked at him with a confused look, wondering why he was acting like this was his first time dealing with this and he lives here.
Luckily the feud ended when Mitsuki flipped the table, using Katsuki's trick of using wordplay to get around the rule. While Masaru was able to save his own and Inko's plate, everything else went with the table as the food was scattered all over the kitchen.
Izuku was unfortunate enough to be covered by the very thing that caused the issue and had to take a shower or else he couldn't breathe. When he returned to his room he found Katsuki was also there, having retreated to his room after the joint effort of cleaning up the mess he and his mom made, it was one of the few times a suggestion from his father was listened to.
Feeling a little guilty that the meal he made was mostly wasted over a simple argument over something stupid, Izuku tried to flatter him.
"If it means anything, you guys made me taste great."
…
He's new at this.
A deadly death stare from Katsuki quickly told him that, turning away from him as he decided it was best to leave him be. Unbeknown to him, while he was back was turned to his roommate, Katsuki was still looking in his direction but for a different reason. The blond's attention was directed at the furry things twitching on top of the Greenet's head. He was inexplicably drawn to them, casting a spell that took away his will. Before he knew it, the ears were within his grip, and his thumb carefully brushed them.
'Soft.' was the only word that came to mind.
"Kacchan, what are you doing?" Izuku queasy asked, he was trying his best not to purr like before.
Realizing what he had done prompted Katsuki to react quickly, flicking the spot behind his ears shouting, "You idiot, you had some rice stuck behind your ears, learn how to fucking clean your hair better Deku!"
"Ow! Ow! Ok, ok, I get it! OW!"
It was only later that day when Izuku went out and had a few more mischiefs that he decided to have a private phone call with All Might to discuss what happened.
"All Might there's trouble, I think One For All did something to me."
"Oh my god, Izuku I'm so sorry! I thought your body would be ready for it but don't worry, I know some of the best doctors in the country, we will get you fixed just don't tell-"
"Get me fixed? Nothing is broken, my fox parts just rapidly grow overnight."
"Oh thank god! For a second I thought some of your limbs might've been blown off or something."
"...Why would they explode? I didn't even use the quirk, wait was that an actual possibility!"
"We don't need to concern ourselves with trivial things right now, what about your tail again?"
There Izuku explained his bizarre day to the pro hero.
"Was something like this supposed to happen?"
"Kinda, I am able to maintain my muscular form through the power of One For All but when I first got it nothing like this occurred."
"Could this be because of my condition?"
"It wouldn't be impossible but from what I heard from my master, each user of One For All usually had their own unique experience with the quirk as it develops over time. I heard a few...interesting stories from my master that supposedly didn't happen to the other, I got my muscular form, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say this is your own version of it. Still a bit strange that it manifested the literal day after you got it but hey THAT'S THE WONDERS OF LIFE!"
"You're so calm about this that it's quite scary seeing as this concerns something that can make me explode!"
"I THOUGHT YOUR BROTHER WAS THE ONE WHO CAN MAKE THINGS EXPLODE?"
"He's not my brother and don't change the subject! I'm very worried about this, I've been-" Izuku took a sorrowful pause, "experiencing some troubling things, One For All isn't just accelerating my physical biology and I fear what might happen next."
…
All Might froze as well.
It was obvious something was mentally haunting him but the number pro hero was better at physically saving people while assuring them with his smile, there's a reason why he's out in the field and not a psychologist. He didn't want to accidentally make Izuku's problems worse by giving the wrong advice on a subject he might not be too familiar with. So he came up with an idea.
"Don't worry Young Midoriya, I KNOW SOMEONE!"
A FEW DAYS LATER.
'You gotta be kidding me!' Izuku thought as he came face to face with no other then Miruko once again!
"Izuku, you're a fox!...and you're here?" She said as soon as she answered the door, instead of a warm welcoming she seemed more peculiar about his arrival at her doorstep. What made it worse was that All Might currently wasn't with him, he was paying off the cab they took but told him to go on ahead, "How...did you find out where I live?"
Immediately realizing the implications of the situation, Izuku with a panicky voice stated, "Oh I didn't know you lived here, I mean I came here for something but not for you, it just so happens that my destination was at the place you were at."
Miruko stared at him with uneven eyes as if his words only made things more awkward, one can hear the faithlessness in her voice as she responded, "Riiiiiiight."
Thankfully All Might came at that moment, stepping in to say, "Sorry for the intrusion, he's a guest of mine. We came here to see your father."
"Oh, the anorexic man? Welcome back,"
"Please stop calling me that."
"Yeah, whatever. Hey Pops, you got visitors!"
Taking a deep breath, All Might turn to his student and told him, "The man we're meeting is called Nezu, you might be a little surprised once you see him but trust me he can help you with your situation. He's the principal of UA for a reason."
Shocked Izuku turned to Miruko, "You never told me your dad was the principal of UA!"
Miruko shrugged her shoulders, "You never asked."
"Wait, you two met?" All Might asked.
"Yes!" The two said in unison.
"Who is it Rumi!" A light orotund voice from inside called out.
"Whose Rumi?" Izuku mumbled.
"Me," Miruko answered.
"Your name is Rumi!?"
"How do you not know that? It's the only name she goes by." All Might told him.
"Don't worry about it, she has a habit of giving out fake names to others." Came the high-pitched voice again, soon a silhouette of a figure crept out from behind the girl.
"Lies," Miruko muttered under her breath.
Izuku was prepared to call her out on her comment but then was stopped dead as the features of the figure behind her became more clear and the appearance of her father was revealed. His jaw dropped, luckily he had enough consideration to not say what he was thinking this time.
'Her dad is a giant mouse!?'