Page 7
Choices and Decisions
Life will always throw curveballs at you, whether it's from the world around you or the people you meet, as we continue to learn every day, something will take you by surprise. Sometimes it'll be discovering an interesting fact about how the world works, other times it's finding out that the girl you've been periodically hanging around with for the last eight months having a father who isn't even human.
You just never know what to expect.
The worst part is trying to have a conversation after the fact. While the extremely skinny man talked with the tiny animal in the lavishly decorated living room, the two teens had settled themselves against the wall on the side of the room. Izuku stood straight up with his back aligning with the wall, extensively making sure that he wasn't scratching or damaging any of the valuables in the room, he didn't want to make a bad first impression as he just entered the house. Miruko on the other hand gladly leaned against the wall with her hands behind her back, her usual fierce red eyes seemed to be traveling around the room aloof of the current situation, uninterested in anyone or anything currently in the room. The fox boy took multiple glances at the bunny girl next to him, trying to read any visible message she left on her face to see what she was thinking but got nothing, his curiosity was going through the roof and who can blame him; entirely by accident and a hint of luck did he find out that she was more then he had expected her to be.
"Sooooo…" the greenet uttered in his attempt to break the ice, his heart tightened and his chest felt heavy as he racked his mind for words to say.
"Sooo?" replied the vital girl, her insouciant response was way too casual for someone that had just been caught lying about her identity. He wasn't expecting her to have some massive mental breakdown before laughing maniacally followed by revealing that she was the main villain and had planned this situation from the very beginning, nothing like that at all. More wondering what was the point of going through the trouble of lying for so long if having it revealed wasn't such a big deal.
"I see your dad is uh-"
"I'm adopted obviously."
"Oh thank god," Izuku had to exhale extra hard from the amount of relief he had, "I can't even express how happy I am to hear that."
"You're...happy I'm adopted?" Miruko responded, she finally decided to look at the fox boy but her face was slightly scrunched up from his low-thought out comment.
"N-no I didn't mean it like that! I just didn't want to wonder how your current dad managed to…" conveying his point, Izuku gestured to her father who was just a plain animal before bringing it back to her fondly shaped body, "Y'know."
"So you'd rather me experience some circumstance in life that caused me to be separated from my birth parents so you didn't have to think about some broad having zoo fever?"
"...I mean-"
"Why was that the first thing you went to anyways? Seems kinda weird considering we're in a world where quirks can make people turn into mythical beasts like dragons and heteromorphic users can permanently look like a boss from an adventure video game."
"What else would I think off of first impressions? There wasn't much to go on."
"That his quirk made him look like an animal, better yet, maybe I'm actually some random animal that got the quirk 'rabbit human girl' to look the way I do."
"That's possible?"
"Yeah, didn't you know that animals can get quirks as well? It's extremely rare to happen and is usually regulated to being rumors and myths. Of course, you see one of the real ones in front of you, he got one that makes him as smart as he is now," Miruko explained.
"Incredible," Izuku muttered as he stared in amazement at the intelligent creature in front of him, "You were kidding about the whole not being human thing right? Like you are human, where if something took away your quirk you'll still be the way you are?"
"Oh-ho, somebody sounds worried!" she teased, her once tense face was now sporting a smug smile, "Why ya wanna find out, doing some scouting are we?"
"I-i'm just curious is all, you put the idea in my head and now I can't get it out."
"Mhm," She went as her complacent attitude spiked to the highest he's seen so far, he didn't know but she spotted his tail moving anxiously as soon as she brought the idea to light. Regardless, she turned her attention back to the adults that were talking.
Izuku followed suit, he needed to aim his focus on the reason he was here in the first place, getting help with his newly awakened animalistic instincts. He didn't have time to waste on whatever he was doing, it was going to be heard ignoring all the interesting thoughts that were swarming his mind but he needed to do it, no matter how much his curiosity gets to him.
…
"But you were kidding, right?"
Amusingly rolling her eyes, Miruko told him, "Yes I was, happy now fox boy?"
Izuku didn't reply but he did take another sigh of relief, and his tail began wagging normally again.
"And that's why we're here," All Might said after finishing the explanation at an extremely perfect time.
"I see," Nezu says, looking over at the fox boy before calling out to him, "Don't be timid, come sit over here with us, the subject is about your well being anyways. I promise I won't bite."
"Oh, my apologies," Izuku told him, making his way over.
"It's fine, you two may be the same age but you don't need to join my daughter in being standoffish to the discussion," He lightly jokes, giving off a few chuckles.
"Hahaha funny," the girl sarcastically replied, mumbling a seething comment afterward, "you fucking rodent."
"How about some tea as we chat?" Nezu offered, not giving him a chance to answer before he began making the brew, "I know refreshments and snacks always make me calm. By the way, have you eaten yet? If you haven't, we got some crackers and cookies you can munch on."
Though he wasn't much of a tea drinker, Izuku didn't refuse the tea to not feel like a rude guest, "I'm fine, I ate before we came here," he said, accepting the cup once the tea was made.
Once Nezu finished serving his guest, he settled back down on his chair before continuing the discussion.
"It's a good thing you came when you did, by the sound of it, the way your rapid growth occurred made you skip over important phases of your development."
"That's an understatement of what happened," Izuku muttered as he tried his best to look at the...man...animal...person...thing? He was struggling to look at his conversational partner and think of the proper way to address him while keeping his focus, choosing to keep his eyes down at the tea, "It went from my fox features being so latent that people often mistook what animal they were supposed to be based on, to looking like I've been growing them out for years over a single night."
"Of course, that's why you have such a lack of control over your body, not just physically but mentally. Mutation quirk users such as yourself need time to adapt to their changing bodies, you've essentially skipped your mutation's adolescence, a destructively deadly occurrence for a young one such as yourself to experience."
"Destructive? Ain't that a bit excessive?"
"Not really, there's a reason why psychologists usually find the problems or issues a person is facing in the current day to have roots in their childhood, it's the most important stage of the development of a living being. As you know quirks have many mysteries to them we've yet to discover, so far we've managed to pin down the basic concept to that of genetics. As we build our bodies we build our genetics as well, basically that saying of how you make your own bed-"
"Can we skip the science lesson!" Miruko loudly interrupted, "He's here to get help not get a lecture! Send a memo or recommend a wiki page or whatever, he can read it later, just get to the point."
A sweat dripped down the face of Nezu from being chastised, Nezu muttered under his breath, "I just thought taking the opportunity to educate people as they're listening would do some good, but hey, you don't listen to me and your marks are so great."
"What was that!?"
Clearing his throat, Nezu continued clearly, "Basically, mutation quirks develop with the user like a child. While they're young they have a parental figure to guide them through the world to get the benefits of it without all the strain so they can focus on learning it, giving the person time to learn of all its capabilities and how their body triggers them at a reasonable pace while it's still weak. By the time they grow up and their abnormalities have grown to their strongest, they'll already be prepared both mentally and physically for it from their years of progress. You on the other hand skipped that part, your quirk seemed to have lagged behind your body already causing a disconnection between the two, which would explain why you've had such a difficult time with it growing up. Now it's fully grown and your body is having a hard time dealing with it since it had practically no time or experience to adapt to it, your quirk went from being a baby that can barely open its eyes to a full-grown man in the blink of an eye, inside the body of a teenager."
While Izuku was processing this information he phone vibrated in his pocket, he took a moment to who it was and discovered he had gotten a text message from All Might. It confused him why he would send a text when they're in the same room, regardless, without a word he took a quick look.
Mr. Number 1: I know this may be a little confusing for you since your condition isn't a quirk, but since we don't have much to go on and to our knowledge, it shares similarities to mutation quirks. It's best we follow it and hope enough things align for you to get help. At least they have the resources to see what does and doesn't work for you.
A huge amount of joy filled Izuku's heart, he knew he made a good choice telling his secret to All Might without fear that he'll be too loose lipped with it. After sending a quick reply back that he understood, Izuku got back to the conversation, still not making eye contact with the person in front of him.
"Talk about never getting a break, even when I get a miracle, life still finds a way to turn it against me."
"Fear not, it's not all doom and gloom. By the sound of it, it's just suppressing and controlling the many instincts and habits that'll emerge. Despite being a late bloomer, it's still a decently ideal time to deal with the predicament, seeing as you're still young and at that age where hormones are flying everywhere. To us, you'll just be another patient to help."
"I am?"
"Mr. Yagi brought you here for a reason, we've dealt with many cases similar to your own before. Aside from my job as principal at UA, I do invest in institutions that deal with problems like these constantly. That's why I served you the tea I did."
Hearing this made Izuku immediately stop all actions, did he just get drugged, "Uhhhhh-"
"It's a special mix of black tea. You've been having a hard time looking at me, hopefully it'll clear up any thoughtsthat've been distracting you. Unless what's bothering you was the kind of animal I was, if so then you can just refer to me as a mink."
Testing out his claim, the boy finally looked up at the mink. What he's been fearing was the sudden occurrence that happens when he looks at someone seemingly weaker than him that he didn't know. He could feel it, his eyes sharpened, teeth ache, nails extended, mouth began producing excessive amounts of saliva then it usually did, and he started seeing the provoking bold blue words floating around the still Nezu.
PREY! FOOD! OPEN! POUNCE!
They repeated over and over again endlessly while his symptoms got worse, this was exactly what he wanted to avoid, he didn't know what he might do next. Then he remembered the tea, could it really help him out? He already was taking periodic sips from it and nothing seemed to have changed. The mink still held a lot of confidence in it, meaning it should have some effect on him. He ultimately decided to trust that confidence and took a large gulp.
Wasn't his smartest idea doing that since the tea was still hot and he promptly let out a blood-curdling scream from his scalding mouth.
Watching the boy roll on the ground in pain, Nezu decided now was the time to say, "Of course it won't work immediately, it needs time for the nutrients to flow throughout your body, better take your time with that since it's not something you can rush."
"I whisp I'd tekken that inta considtaration beforehand," Izuku groaned barely able to speak, insufferable pain filled his mouth making it hard to move, he hated his new cat-tongue. His eye twitched as he still recovered from the pain.
"Rumi dear, you mind getting him the aid he needs," Nezu called out.
Izuku was escorted out of the room with Miruko to the kitchen, where she went into the fridge and handed him a green popsicle.
"Here suck on this, regular ice chips could work as well but these are my dad's favorite treats, and fuck him," She says him, conveniently getting an orange colored one for herself.
Izuku thanked her but still felt a bit awkward about her reasoning for it, causing him to only loosely hold his own. Watching Miruko enjoy the frozen treat she had acquired, licking and slurping with such a casual but unintentionally bewitching face, certainly made him stiffen his grip.
Eventually noticing the fox boy's zany face, Miruko popped the popsicle out of her mouth before saying, "I swear if you're thinking this is carrot flavored I'm kicking your ass thirty times over."
"N-no!" The boy blurted out after being caught, quickly turning away to hide his blushing face, 'What the hell was I thinking?'
He quickly moved to change the topic.
"My mind was dwindling on the fact that your dad is the principal of UA."
"You mean because I've never told you about it before or because he's an animal?" Miruko asked.
"Yes."
"Well, I'm still surprised that you were a fox, guess we're both full of surprises."
"Hey that's not fair, my own wasn't even completely my fault, I couldn't help that they looked small."
"I also remember you always referring to them in vague terms because you were too embarrassed to flat out say what they were supposed to be. Honestly, I didn't say anything because I worried it'll crush your spirit if I made a guess."
"What animal did you take me for anyway!?"
Miruko stayed silent for a moment, her face puckered up as tiny noise leaked out as if she was preventing herself from laughing, "Best I don't say."
"Was it a cat!?" He persisted, he knew often that a cat was usually the number one guess people had for him. Dread only came when she shook her head, meaning she must've thought he was something much worse than a cat. He hid his face by slamming it against the table so she wouldn't see it be so red.
Miruko halted with the teasing for a moment, allowing Izuku time to apply the frosty delight to his searing tongue. Only later did she start back up the conversation.
"I guess all that training you did really paid off, despite everything, I know you must've freaked out as soon as they appeared."
"Actually my mom fainted when she saw me."
"She did!? Ha, no lie she just dropped?"
"She has a habit of being...dramatic about things. She almost died the day I came back from that slime villain's attack all those months ago."
"Pft, with a mother that faint of heart I wonder how you're able to pursue a dream of being a hero."
"Well, I've had help."
"Oh yeah, her lesbian partner must've helped out."
"Yeah she was- THEY AREN'T A COUPLE, THEY'RE NOT EVEN LESBIANS!"
"You know they can hear you?" Miruko told him with a smile, cocking her head toward the room they'd previously left causing Izuku to cover his embarrassment again and lowering his voice.
"They're just long time good friends."
"I'll love to see how good they are but whatever, I'll-," she was sure to use the quotation sign with her hands as she said this word, "believe it. Regardless it's a good thing she was there for you."
"Auntie Bakugo helped cool my mom's nerves when she worried too much or at least will do her best to stop her from being too restricting because of it. That didn't mean my mom discouraged me, she just didn't do much to support me… at all... in terms of my dream I mean. She is warming up to the idea more now since my tail grew out."
"Oh, so she's allowing you to take the entrance exam?"
"...Well, she didn't say I can't take it, I have four..ish years to convince her. I just got to build myself up enough so she feels confident enough to let me go. I got a plan."
"I call it hampering."
"It's not hampering just… delaying till I'm in a proper position to maximize my chance of getting a yes."
"Hey, you do you, you got a good chance anyways. Knowing my dad, whenever he and Mr. Yagi get together like this, it's usually to get some kid into a program."
"What kind of program?" Izuku asked, he usually doesn't hear much about All Might's activity outside of his standard-but-amazing hero duty and fame.
"A training program of course," Miruko answered, "To help teens improve their quirks so they have a better chance to pass the entrance exams for hero schools all around."
'Could mean I wasn't All Might's first candidate. Most of these training programs I've heard are basically government regulated martial dojos but for quirks. While open to everyone, a lot of them have a harsh acceptance rate since they only want people who have the potential of being a hero. Finding people he wants as a good successor can't be easy for him so scouting potential people through those training programs won't be a bad idea.' Izuku thought, "You think they're going to enroll me in one?"
"In your case, it'll probably be one my dad is more involved in, he usually saves his facility for cases like yours where people have trouble controlling their quirks regardless of if they're planning on becoming a hero or not. Preparing you for the test will be no problem either, he's pretty ok at it, he trained me after all."
"You mean if I joined the training program he's involved in I can be like you."
"Pft, no! First off there's only ever going to be one of me, second, my training with my dad is completely different than those training programs. I can kick a person's ass thirty times before he hits the floor, the government doesn't want to encourage an image of teens using their quirks against others, so these programs are structured to help the person hone their quirk's abilities then actually fighting people."
"Oh, wait so does that mean you physically fight your dad or-"
"Wha- no! You've seen him, you think he ever threw a punch in his life?"
"I was just making sure, you gave me something to think about."
"Don't think too hard, trust me you'll do just fine in a program."
Despite the encouragement, Izuku's mind seemed to wander elsewhere as he mutters, "Yeah, just fine."
After the pair finished their business in the kitchen they returned to the lounge, meeting back up with the adults in the room.
"You're back," Nezu announces once seeing them, "So tell me, how do you see me now?"
Another look at the white mink gave Izuku his answer. The words still hovered over Nezu, they didn't appear. They were more transparent and evoked his body less, it was easier to ignore what they were telling him to do.
"I'm seeing you a lot clearer," Izuku told him.
"Then the treatment works, perfect!" Cheered the furry creature, "Now, Mr. Yagi has to tell you."
"Actually, I wanted to ask something first," Izuku interrupted, approaching the two adults.
"What is it?" All Might had asked, internally he prayed it had nothing to do with the conversation that happened in the kitchen. He's helped many people of all kinds of backgrounds before but he didn't want to get involved with whatever this deal was with his possibly lesbian mom, sounded too complicated for him to have any input.
Before he spoke Izuku took a deep breath, he knew the options and opportunities that were being offered to him, yet they didn't truly feel satisfying, just filling. Maybe if this were before that day all those months ago he would've easily accepted it just to get to the next day with a quick fix, but that kind of thinking no longer matched his resolve. He needed to strive for what he wanted, not wait for it. With the room's attention on him, he announced his resolution.
"I want to personally train under you Mr. Nezu for the hero course entrance exam!"
…
"Ok," Nezu answered calmly, sipping his tea.
"That easily!?" Izuku shouted, flabbergasted to how quick his request was accepted, "You're not even going to object a little to it? I kinda had an entire retort speech planned out and everything!"
The fluffy round fingers of the mink waved in the air as he replied, "There's no need, I already overheard you two in the kitchen. You see Izuku, I'm trying to change how society grows its heroes so we can flourish a generation of better quality heroes both physically and mentally to assure our safety and continuation as a society. So of course I'm always looking for people with a special kind of mindset that's different from your average person and encourage them to join a hero course. Believe it or not, you're the first person besides my daughter who has asked specifically me to train them and not just recommend them to a training program. Though I guess you've had the advantage of knowing my daughter's capabilities with all the trouble she gets into. Either way, you sought out help from me even though I don't look like the most capable person for the job because you know I can personally help you way more than any program, you're clearly striving to be the best you can."
Not knowing what else to say Izuku just went, "Oh."
"I wanted to suggest it," All Might muttered under his breath, feeling down from having his already small spotlight swiped from him a second time in this story.
"Prepare your shit, you're moving in with us!" Miruko told him.
"I'm doing WHAT now?" Izuku stated out loud.
"You're doing what now?" Was how the BakuFamily reacted in unison when Izuku told them after finally returning home.
"I got accepted into a preparatory quirk training program that helps mutation, more especially animal, quirk users like me get used to their new bodies," Izuku explained to them, "They suggest that I live in with them to help boost the efficiency of my progress and because they already have the proper equipment needed to tend to my special needs."
"We heard it just sounded too good to be true," Mitsuki says, "You've only grown out your quirk less than a week ago yet somehow got accepted into any kind of thoseprograms so quickly, not to mention they're giving you a free dormitory pass including food and other essentials. You sure this isn't some scam and we're going to be paying some Russian mafia ransom money for you?"
"I gave my mom the owner's number, she's talking to him right now upstairs. He's a person with a record of being involved with this stuff."
"Hmm," Mitsuki went as her suspicions weren't quite satisfied yet, her motherly institution was telling her something was off about this but she wasn't sure what, "You sure this is something you need?"
That was when Masaru spoke up, "If we're being honest he's been having trouble with his quirk since childhood so maybe this could be good for him. Also, he already tore through 215236.18 yen worth of stuff so this'll save us a fortune and save me some tears."
That last comment earned him a very stern look from his wife, smart as always he knew his best options with as little trouble as possible would be to leave. He already said his input. Raising his hands and walking away while muttering under his breath, "There's only so many times I can buy a new mattress, we still haven't finished paying off that TV either."
"Anyways," Mitsuki says turning back to Izuku, "I guess it's fine if Inko is ok with it, she'll probably quadruple background check this guy to make sure he's legitimate. I'm just going to miss having you around."
"I'm not bound to be there forever! I can come back and sleepover anytime I want, I promise I'll come visit," Izuku assured her.
"Please do, it's too soon for me to lose your fluffiness! Without you I'll only be left home with that troublesome bundle of rage and discourtesy I call a son," She heartlessly exclaimed.
"Oi! I'm still in the room!" Katsuki shouted at his mother.
Instead of responding Mitsuki embraced Izuku in a tight hug filled with sentiment, one the boy secretly enjoyed a lot more than he let on.
"Don't ignore me!" The blond continued to yell.
It took a while before Izuku managed to slip through the woman's grip so he could start packing. He sighed, relieved that they were believing the story, that made things a lot easier. If push had come to shove, he might've had to take more drastic measures to convince them, even if that meant a sudden leave of absence. He truly loved his family and wished them all well, he just needed to do this. His desire goes beyond just wanting to be a great hero or being All Might's successor, he wanted to improve himself. For that to happen, he needs to make a few changes in his life.
This wasn't just for him but for the important people in his life.
"Oh Izuku," His mother called out, she had just exited her room right as the boy passed by it.
He wanted to improve for her.
Stopping dead in his tracks Izuku looked back, "Hm? Did you finish your phone call?"
The older woman's eyes dragged from the ground before meeting his, "Yes, I just got off the phone with him. He sounds like a really interesting man and talked so formally."
"Well he's more of an animal than a man," Izuku instinctually corrected.
"What?"
"Nothing, I was just mumbling some mumbo jumbo," He quickly lied, he doesn't know how much was going to be said on the phone call because he forgot to ask back when they first made the plan and didn't want to accidentally extinguish or delay the approval by adding in unnecessary information.
"Oh, well anyways we talked for a bit, discussed a few things, and I was able to look up the facilities he worked at. He seemed to know his stuff. You sure you want to do this?"
"Yes I do, this place can give me exactly the training I need to-."
"To take the hero entrance exam for the hero course of a school?"
Her voice remained calm but her words were what struck him, the small amount of dread he felt about the situation displayed on his face. Did she see through the facade? Was she trying to test him? Or did Nezu decide to tell her everything?
"It was a bit obvious," She states, her voice sounded almost patronizing that he would think she wouldn't consider this an option, "You were able to plan all this in such a minuscule amount of time without talking to us about it first, there's no way you would've done it if it didn't involve being a hero."
It was Izuku's turn for his eyes to be staring at the floor, his guilt for lying catching up with him. He rubbed his neck awkwardly, of all the people in his household he didn't want to argue on this was her, yet he knew from the start she'll be the hardest to convince. She is the only person there that knows the truth about his quirk. Which is why he wanted to convince the Bakugos first, with enough luck Mitsuki would be able to butter Inko enough for the idea by pointing out the benefits it can have on him. Trying to explain himself he said, "Mom I-"
"I know you'll do it because you're passionate about it," Inko interrupted, "You're such a reserved boy, I take partial responsibility for it as a parent for not pushing you more to explore. Despite that, whenever I see you in something you're passionate about… well, we both know how reckless you can be, like that one time I took you out shopping and you ran into the streets because you thought you saw All Might."
"It wasn't my fault! Why was someone cosplaying when October was a month away?"
"Point is, you're willing to do anything when you love something. Even if that meant trying to be a hero without a quirk, despite all your disadvantages. I don't know if you always had that mindset or your recent growth spurt gave you newfound confidence, I'll just pray that whatever your father gave you will protect you. I know this sounds a bit abundant to say but, be safe out there."
Hearing those words come out of his mother's mouth riveted his soul, not only did he get the permission he wanted but genuine encouragement he hadn't felt from her in years. With a smile appearing on his face, Izuku looked back up to face his mother before making a promise to her.
"I'll do my best training and work hard to make sure nothing happens to me to make you worry, when I return you'll see just how much of a hero I can become!"
The two embraced in a hug, with uncertainties and secrets still plagued both their conscious, they were able to set it aside for neutral trust.
'I have to work hard for her.'
Later, as Izuku was packing his things, he was almost finished when he realized there was one more thing he needed to settle.
"So dork, you manage to get in some training program huh?" said Katsuki, who was leaning on the doorway watching him.
"Yup," Izuku responded, keeping his focus on his task.
"Weird they accepted you since you got almost no control over your quirk."
"I was just lucky they thought my quirk had the potential to grow."
"You're a fox, how much can you grow?"
"I don't know, guess that's why they want to find out."
…
"That's an unreasonably dumb mindset they have."
"It is but it's benefiting me and I'm taking it."
…
"I've heard those training programs have all their kids train together. You know you're going to be among a bunch of people who had more robust and groomed quirk then yours?"
"I know, I think that's sorta the point."
"Whatever, I guess you're used to feeling outmatched so you probably wouldn't mind it. Wouldn't be surprised if on day one they won't make it a habit of taking your lunch rations or whatever."
"I'll be fine."
…
"Honestly most of those programs are a waste anyways, I heard they don't even teach any person on person combat. What a joke! We're trying to become heroes, we need to learn how to kick a villain's ass! Ha, am I right?"
"We?"
"Well er- Knowing your dumb ass you're still going to try to wiggle your way into the hero course and the only way in is the entrance exam. You know if you want, instead of wasting your
Time on some half baked program, you can just train with me."
"...Why?"
The sudden change in his voice surprised even Katsuki, "Y'know, so I can-"
"So you can keep me close to continue shitting on me?" Izuku interrupted, "Or insult me, or shout at, or to have someone you can constantly put down?"
"I-Izuku-"
"I'm trying to better myself so I can train to become a hero and not be berated whenever I breathe. Why would I ever want to train with you?" He states, picking up the bag he just finished packing. As he headed out the door, no more words were exchanged between the two boys.
Changing something, whether it's fate or a situation, can't always be done by keeping everything the same. When you make changes to yourself and your decisions, your life can change. Sometimes it can happen in good ways, other times bad, and others it'll be in a way where you aren't sure how to take it. Regardless, people must always make changes to their life for the better as time moves on, nothing is ever stagnant for long. A lesson many young people should learn before it's too late, as both caution and hope, life will always change and you can't be the same person forever.
Which is just fine, because Izuku Midoriya never wants to be the same as he once was again.
He was prepared to face the new world, as the stepped toward the familiar estate.
Chapter 3: Jungle Book
Page 8
A New Life, But Got A Lot To Learn
For most people, their morning starts with waking up to the sunshine. For Izuku Midoriya, his morning started with a dream.
Emerging from the lake, the boy gasped for air as he paddled his way to land. As soon as he secured himself he frantically looked at his surroundings, trying to understand what was going on after suddenly waking up underwater. He recognizes the well-kept garden, forest of bamboo he was lost in for literal months, and most important the Sankei house. It was all coming back to him, he knew where he was.
"Yes, I'm back in that dream again!" Izuku cheered in excitement, he's been waiting for this to happen ever since his last visit when it was cut short by that mask fellow. The masked fellow who he just remembered threw him into the lake in the first place, he's gonna remember that next time they meet, he just got finished distancing himself from one person who fucks with him a lot and will not be dealing with that again so soon.
Crawling out of the water, he did his best to wring his soaked clothes as dry as he could get it.
"I'm so lucky I can pick up right where I left off in these things," Izuku stated, thankful about that advantage or else he might've drowned, 'Wait, can I die here? It is a dream after all. If I do die here what'll happen? I hope it's not one of those you die here, you die in real life situations! Considering all the things this place put me through, I won't last long.'
If he wanted answers for anything there was only one place he knew of where he could get them. Approaching the house, Izuku paused at the door again, remembering his last encounter here. Last time, it didn't seem as though The Masked Man wanted him to hear the conversation he had with that other person, he wasn't sure if they were still talking but to be safe it'll be better to not make his presence known.
At least, that was the plan. Before he even had a chance to touch the door handle the entire door was flung open and once again he came face to face with The Masked Man. Like last time he had his fox-like mask with blue markings and a green Kimono on, but his eyes couldn't be seen and the tail he had when he first saw him was gone.
"I knew you were back!" He exclaimed, grabbing the teen by his shirt and picking him up.
Izuku didn't have time to resist, only managing to shout out the question, "How?"
"All the noise you made coming out of the water, why did you think I sent you there in the first place?" the man states, stepping a bit outside facing the lake, "Still too soon for us to properly talk, sorry kitto."
"You're going to throw me into the lake again!?"
"No! Last time I pushed you into it, this time I'm tossing. It's a subtle difference."
"Oh come on, please! You have no idea how long I'm going to have to wait till I can come back here!"
"If you want something to blame for that, blame your lack of control over your powers. Now away with you!" states The Masked Man about the throw Izuku.
"Stop!" Called out a voice, making the man stop in his tracks.
Suddenly Izuku felt his body being snatched out of The Masked Man's grip, judging from the context, it was this other voice that was his savior. Was it the same shining albino who saved him?
Couldn't be, for one he didn't even notice one brim of light coming from the house or even when whoever came to save him. The voice was more tender as well and unlike the shining albino, this one spoke with a lot more vigor in their voice.
Izuku's savior embraced him with a hug before stating, "Don't treat a child in such a harsh way! For a guide, you sure treat your clients with little respect."
The teen couldn't help feeling safe in his current position, this person just had a presence that would make anyone feel protected from any danger while also relaxing them with a warm aura from their soft embrace. If his dreams could feel like this all the time, then he would never want to leave, he'll just stay there till the end of time. Or at least until he awakens which would be quickly followed with an ocean of disappointment.
The audible sound of teeth grinding against one another could be heard from behind The Masked Man's mask, he declared, "I told you not to call me that woman?"
'Wait, did he just say woman?" Izuku thought as soon as he heard him, not sure if he heard him correctly.
"And I thought I told you, my name is Nana!" the woman replied, Izuku felt her grip tighten from her annoyance with not being called the right name.
'Nana?' the boy repeated the name in his head, despite hearing an interesting bit of information his mind was elsewhere, 'Nana is usually a girl's name. Then does this mean...I'm-'
Distancing himself from the woman that calls herself Nana, he took the small space he had to get a glimpse of the woman. Her raven hair was kept in a well-maintained bun except for the bangs she left above her forehead and the only thing she was wearing was a sleeveless black bodysuit. She felt the boy inching away from her, looking down and giving him a bright smile when she saw his face to assure him that he was with an ally.
Despite the warm greeting, Izuku wasn't paying attention to that either, something else was more pressing on his mind. It's what kept his eyesight so low that he didn't notice the small mole Nana had under her lip. Nana's high collar bodysuit was partially zipped down, revealing the milky white skin of her chest. Which would mean when she pulled Izuku into a hug, that soft fuzziness he was basking in was from being pressed against her-
'B-BOOBS!'
He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why was he so distracted by a woman's breasts? Before this kind of thing only happened with Mitsuki and that was during the rare occasions where he accidentally got an extensive look at her poise body. Usually during the early morning on days she doesn't have work or during the late nights of the ones she does, her clothes will be worn a bit more loosely than usual in her exhausted state, sometimes leaving the opportunity for a curious youth to get completely not on purpose glimpses of her cleavage and other admirable features.
Opportunities that had a sharp spike of appearances that Izuku 'stumbled' onto.
It wasn't his fault that sometimes Mitsuki will forget that there's a horny teenager 'growing adolescent boy' that's not her son in the house and won't lock/close the door. Making it a lot easier for the boy to accidentally walk in on her when she's changing or whatever else she might do that might 'interest' a teen whenever he comes in to get some bandages for his hand for training or ask her a question.
It was his fault that he never fully learned his lesson about always knocking before you enter a room, not that there was any incentive to not be a recidivist, he never suffered one bit from it.
"You can easily say my name, right little one?" the beautiful black-haired woman asked him, petting his head, "Nana ain't a hard name to remember, especially for someone who seems to take a liking to literature."
"You speak so highly, yet ignorant to yourself, what a complete bitch. The boy wasn't paying attention because he's too distracted engulfing himself with the company of your immense chest," The Masked Man pointed out.
"I guess that makes two of you."
"A- Hey! You're the one who started taking off your clothes not long after you appeared?"
"It was stuffy in there. I don't think I'll need my hero costume on here anyway and I'm not going to wear those gloves and boots for no reason, try wearing those things for hours straight and see how sweaty they'll get."
"Whatever inbeda."
"Stop calling me that!? I'm a guest here, not an invader."
"An inbeda will continue to be called an inbeda as long as they keep doing inbeda things."
Izuku cut into the conversation, "I'm so confused right now."
"This is why I want you to wait till after I handle everything before speaking," The Masked Man stated, reaching for the boy again to complete his earlier intention.
Nana was quick enough to pull the boy away before telling the man, "No!"
"Come now!"
"You already threw him into the water once, he's not going to spend another month floating like a corpse."
"I what now?" Izuku interjected again, "But I didn't drown!"
"Yeah it was a bit uncomfortable seeing your unmoving body drift around, sinking and popping back up once in a while, but he assured us you were fine and will be back up in a month's time," Nana explained, "I personally didn't take his word for it at first but I had to concede since we weren't able to put up a resistance at the time. Seeing you safe at least tells me he doesn't want you dead."
The Masked Man scoffed at her words, replying, "Of course I wasn't going to do anything that'll kill him, that'll be performing seppuku. Now that you see I have good intentions, let me take care of him so I can get back to business."
"What is with you and wanting to throw children in lakes!?" Nana exclaimed, holding Izuku tight to her which he had no objection to.
"I-i just want to know what's going on here," Izuku manages to stammer out, he wants to defend for himself as well, 'How am I still alive after being in water for a month?... Wait a bit, they just acknowledged that time went by in a dream, while I wasn't in the dream. Has that been happening the whole time? Does time even stop moving here!? Do they even know this is just a dream to me? Is this just a dream!?'
"Because there's already a lot that needs to be said but with you guys coming in here made it more complicated, I need time to make sure you're a non-threat, compile everything he needs to know together. and get things arranged for later," The Masked Man explained, with the annoyance of a worker being told how to do his job by the customer.
"You can do that later, we have an entire month to discuss whatever you want and the boy can only come here for a single night. He can't stay here forever right?" questioned Nana
"...No," the man answered.
'Oh my god they know this is a dream, it's a dream that acknowledges that it's a dream and found a way to exist outside of dreaming. A runaway dream! I hope they don't stage a revolt and somehow take over.'
"Then allow the boy to have his monthly day of grace, he's curious about all of this, and forcibly kicking him out every time is only going to make it worse. Just tell him some basic things and allow him to roam the area a bit to get used to it so he has something else to do than listen in on us," Nana suggested, she had her own curiosity about the situation and maybe this kid can help open up some things this person was hiding. Things always leak when a party clashes against itself, 'Hopefully what gets said will show if they have any devious intent, anything that restricts One for All on this level like he did in such a short amount of time needs to be looked into.'
The Masked Man looked between Izuku and Nana for a moment before he grunted.
"Fine, get in! I'll get you a change of clothes as well," he tells them, making his way toward the house. Nana kept her guard up the entire time he walked past them.
When they entered the house, it was exactly how Izuku had expected it to be. It had a similar design to the house he visited back at that festival, it had a very traditional style to it but unlike the one he visited it had a bunch of modern luxurious that he didn't expect to see. Things such as light bulbs, a working toilet, refrigerator, and he were pretty sure he saw the shape of a box TV. He wasn't going to attempt understanding if this is the work of electricity or dream magic bullshit.
He went with The Masked Man in a room away from Nana, who compromised to secretly stand by the doorway in case any interesting conversations occurred when they thought she wasn't there.
"What color do you want?" The man asked Izuku once they were alone and the teen put aside his wet clothes.
"What? Izuku replied, not sure what he meant as he gave no context on what he specifically meant.
"The color kimono you want, what else would I give you?"
"Oh, sorry. I guess, green."
"Tch, talk about unoriginal. Alright fine, here."
When the man first said that, he expected there to be a fresh pair neatly folded in front of him. Instead, the man began grabbing at his robe and began slipping it off.
"Uhh, what are you doing!?" Izuku asked, he was visibly concerned.
Within a second The Masked Man had pulled off his robe with one hand and swung it around like it was a magician's cape, the cloth spread out looked like a huge curtain had surrounded the man. The more it was spun around the larger in scale did it appear to have become until it became a spiraling spherical ball that took up a half the room. The entire time the man's hand moved in a swift motion, perfectly wielding the fabric with great finesse by showing how he can willfully change the shape and speed of the ball.
It was one of the most amazing displays of control the boy had ever seen up close before, he wouldn't mind learning this kind of skill as a party trick. Then he remembered that he has no friends to show this trick to, excluding Rumi but knowing her she might find it to be a bit too ballerina to find enjoyable.
Hearing the objects inside the room clatter because of the rushing wind The Masked Man was creating, Nana broke her self-agreement to only listen from the doorway and opened the door by a pinch to gander a peek into the room. Though she had little knowledge about the start of this performance, she had enough context to get the situation, it wouldn't take much to piece together what came before.
Suddenly a voice boomed from the center of the sphere, "Henkan Gijutsu:-!"
Stunned from the voice alone, Izuku didn't think of moving out the way when The Masked Man began to move toward him. With a stomp, he commanded the entire array of clothing to flow into a single direction, following the wind turbulence his hand left behind. With a swing similar to a speedball pitch, the wave of fabric flowed through the air before crashing into the teen.
"Doresu!"
It took a moment for Izuku to realize what happened.
He looked down to see that the kimono The Masked Man wore was put on him. Except, it wasn't the same Kimono the man had on. The past wearer had over an entire foot on him in height and even under his clothes, Izuku could tell the man had more bulk than him.
That's why it's strange it fitted him perfectly, a single Kimono being able to fit the two different body types of a man and a teenager the same way was impossible. Even if this was a dream there had to be a limit.
The design of the kimono was even changed, being made to look more stylish with a few splashes of golden-colored sketches. Through the use of a nearby mirror, he saw on the back of his new outfit was the three claw mark symbol that The Masked Man had on his own.
"What did you do?" Izuku asked, this had to be magic. This was a dream after all, anything can technically exist here even if it doesn't exist in reality.
"I dressed you of course," The Masked Man answered, "What else did you think I did?"
"N-no I meant-"
"Seriously, you had a front-row seat watching me. Why do you have so many questions?"
"Because so many things are happening without explanation and the more I find out, the more interested I am, but also a bit concerned!"
Walking over to the window, The Masked Man sighed, "This is why I would prefer doing things my way, that way I could tell you everything as it is at once. Sadly because of the inbeda, One For All was the name right, everything here is mostly screwed up and the landscape has changed to something new. I need to understand it as well before I'm able to explain it, which I'm taking seriously with a proper amount of time I feel is needed. It may seem fine now because you've only ever seen the base of this world but when we eventually go outside you'll see what I mean, and this was after I stopped it early."
The entire time he was speaking, he had opened the window and plucked out a few leaves from a tree branch nearby before closing it. During this time Izuku noticed something was missing, while The Masked Man still had that scarf wrapped around his head that hid his hair, his tail was gone! The black tail that he saw when he first arrived here was nowhere to be seen. He knew that after the initial glance at him the tail resided itself into his robes but he assumed that was just him hiding it, not making it disappear like a trick. Unless he was hiding it under his fundoshi, which is something he'll never think about checking, the tail has completely disappeared.
Izuku was going to ask about it but then suddenly Nana completely opened the door she was hiding behind to say something.
"That's a neat trick you got there, I knew tons of ladies that would kill to be able to dress themselves up like that. You mind doing the same for me? I think a kimono would fit the environment here better anyways, plus they look quite stylish compared to everything else we have to wear here! Not that there's a problem with walking around in a loincloth." taunted Nana, she did love the designs they had but her main goal was seeing that technique again from the beginning up close, 'I just need to egg him on enough to do it again, this should give me a hint to how his powers work.'
"I just prefer something that'll cover enough without looking and being so...well compacted."
"To be demanding is to be annoyingly consistent with requests," The Masked Man mumbled to himself before walking toward her, "Choose a color."
"Well if you're being so generous, I'll take something… yellow with flowers on it. Don't be afraid to spiff up the design a little, I'm not that old. Is that too much to ask?"
"Not at all."
Nana watched him closely, waiting to see what he does first. When he walks by she decides to give one more taunt to make him lose focus, saying, "That's a surprise to hear, after being so begrudging with everything I'm surprised there isn't an issue with this request."
When she turned around to continue tracking his movement, she was shocked to see that the man was fully clothed in a new black and white kimono.
Stunned, Nana went to ask "When did he-?"
She instantly dropped when she realized two more things, the first was that she was placed in a yellow kimono like she specially requested, and the second was that her bra was gone.
"Doresu!"
The words rang out as the man continued to walk away, his hands were held above his head in a fluorescent motion, in one he was holding the stolen clothes of Nana up in the air.
"Why would I have trouble doing something as easy as flipping the page of a book?" He cockily replied to Nana's earlier remark.
She didn't answer back as she was still stunned from the event to care about the petty conversation. She only had her eyes off of him for a second, maybe even less than that and yet he was able to simultaneously change both of their outfits. The feeling was shared by Izuku as well, he was watching the entire confrontation from not that far away and even he doesn't know what happened.
He blinked and it was over.
"You didn't need that whole flashy spin display?" that was the question Izuku had to ask even though the answer was obvious.
The Masked Man stopped in his tracks and turned around, telling him, "Nope, doing all of that wasn't necessary. That'll be way too annoying to do every time I want a change of clothes."
"Then why did you do it the first time?"
"I don't get company here, I just wanted an audience to show off to once in a while."
…
It really was just a party trick after all.
"To be entertained is to discover new things, which breaks present norms," he continued, spouting another haiku, "I never expected you to be one who wears lingerie under a hero costume."
Hanging off the man's pinkie was a black bra that looked too thin to be effective for combat.
Seeing this made the once collective Nana blush, a long time secret of hers was outed, "H-hey!"
"Don't worry, the bra was the only undergarment I took. Didn't want you to feel too compacted but by the looks of it, you were already hanging loose for a while."
"They just feel better so- give me back my bra!"
When things calmed down the trio had seated themselves back in the living room but the mood was different from how Izuku envisioned it. He expected it to be a tense, standoff between him and the woman that called herself Nana against The Masked Man. Instead it's him still being baffled from everything that had occurred, Nana seemed more flustered then her previously calm state, and The Masked Man… he stayed the same but it became obvious that he's not all strict and rules.
The Masked Man started the conversation, "I'll allow you to ask three questions, make them count till next time you're here."
'Three questions?' Nana thought to herself, 'Giving him only three questions is equivalent to giving a dying man in the desert a bottle cap filled with water. It's going to be impossible for him to indulge himself to satisfy his curiosity, much less even know what to ask first.'
The older woman sought to help out the boy, thinking of the perfect combination of three questions to get as much information as they can. The Masked Man obviously won't answer any question seeing as he still wants to hide knowledge of this world from them, they had to be discrete enough to bypass his threshold of willing to answer but complicated to get a detailed response.
"What's your name?"
That was the first question Izuku asked.
"Eh?" was Nana's reaction.
"Shinwa-Lai or Lai for short," Lai calmly answered.
Izuku replied to his introduction with his own, "Nice to meet you, I'm Izuku Midoriya. Who are you or more specifically what are you?"
"I can't fully answer that."
"That's fine, just answer as much as you want to. I remember there was something mentioned about being a guide?"
"Hold on-" Nana tried to interject once again, 'Why is he just tossing away questions like this.' The first one was completely trivial while the second one is too upfront, of course, it'll get denied.
"I'm not a guide," Lai responded, talking over Nana's comment as she wasn't the one allowed to ask questions, "I am a guardian, your guardian. Whose purpose is to guide you through this world."
For his final question, Izuku said, "And what is this world? Actually no- what is this place called?"
Nana had to ask, "Are you serious?"
Lai was surprised that this was how the boy was going to use his question but it's not his place to complain, he told him, "I have no idea what this world is officially called, I'll just refer to it as your Desired Realm for the Edification of Abilities Manifested. Or the D.R.E.A.M. World."
"That's awfully convenient, at least I know what to call this place now," Izuku replied, getting up to leave, "I guess I'm out of questions now, I'll be leaving then Lai."
"Take care."
Speechless, the raven-haired woman just looked back and forth between the two, wondering if she just witnessed the greatest throw of the opportunity in her life. Or afterlife. She wants to be mad but she can't get angry at a child for making bad questions, she wants to investigate on her own but Lai's presence is preventing her from getting anything outside of what he wants her to know, for the time being, she has to accept it.
The only compromising thought she had was the slight assurance that no evil influence is involved here. The boy's innocent presence and Lai's alleged role of being an honest guardian who has good intentions but are just a jerk about it, they seemed to be decent people to be chosen as a One For All Successor.
"If you have a minute," Lai called out before Izuku reached the door, he rose from his seat to walk with Izuku, "I wanted to know why you would ask such simple questions? I know the rules of what would be answered made what could be asked as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack but it seemed too easily accepted."
Izuku smiled as he replied to him.
"I was thinking about what to ask you the second you said you would tell me some basic things, by the time we got to the room I already had a hundred questions I could ask. I wanted to get answers for all of them but then I saw how you spoke about dealing with One For All's inclusion in all of this and realized that regardless, I'm going to find out what I want to know eventually."
Once they stepped outside of the house, Izuku looked up to the clouds in the sky and still broken moon before continuing.
"Either from you or my own discoveries. No need to bombard someone who, like me, had a sudden rush of new changes to their lives and is trying to figure them all out."
"You're fine with only having so little information?" Lai inquired.
Izuku nodded, "For now, typically speaking whatever this place can give me if there's something here for me, I can wait a while for it. I've got my own things to work on for myself and this isn't something I'm going to rely on for anything, we got a lot of time to get ourselves together."
A snicker came from behind Lai's mask as he said, "I guess you're right. I'm going to take my sweet time talking to the fair maiden."
"...Fair maiden? That's an awfully nice thing to say about her coming from you, I thought you disliked her."
Lai looked behind him to make sure Nana wasn't trying to listen in again before whispering to Izuku, "I dislike the concept of One For All being an inbeda as I should for my role of a guardian. I will keep up the act in front of them so they know they can't take things here for granted, outside of that, it's not wrong to admire their company as long as I keep to my duties no?"
To add to Izuku's confusion, Lai broke out into another haiku with an interesting subject.
"Wish me all the luck,
To complete my desire,
And rest on her rack!"
After getting a long stare from Izuku, Lai felt like he was being judged by the teen and reminded him of his momentwith the woman's bosom that he in no shape or form tried to resist against.
Quickly trying to change subject Izuku asked, "A-anyways, I want to wake up or at least have this dream end for me. How can I do that?"
"..."
"..."
No words were exchanged but Izuku knew he had misspoken, he swears he saw the mouth of the fox mask Lai had on curl into a smile.
"Just following your requests."
"No wait don't!"
"Good-bye kitto!"
"Ahhhh!"
In the seconds leading up to hitting the water after being flung, Izuku had enough time to think about something he noticed. It was about Lai, he has a good heart no doubt, and works hard for his goals. But, he's also lonely, obsessed with boobs, and despite being a hard worker, is pretty terrible at his job at the moment with only a few golden moments. Relatable, yet that doesn't excuse the most important thing.
'He's pretty immature for a guardian.'
SPLASH!
Izuku gasped as he shot up from his bed.
Unfortunately, when that happened, Rumi was already in the room and had a front-row seat of seeing the body randomly wake up as if he was being attacked. She was only in a white t-shirt that covered all the way down to her thighs, it displayed the words 'If life pushes you down, don't be a bitch and go kick its ass'! One can tell her surprise with how wide her eyes were when she stopped in her tracks, she wasn't fearful of anything, more of a mixture of confusion and awkwardness. That last part defines Izuku's emotions after seeing her in his room as well, except to replace confusion with embarrassment. They stayed dead silent for a minute, Rumi seized him up to make sure he wasn't going to do something else unexpected, and Izuku was trying his best to act as nothing happened.
"Do you always wake up like this?" Rumi had asked him, gesturing a finger over his body to signify that she meant his prior actions that looked like he had a spasm.
"W-would you believe me if I said no?" Izuku answered, giving his own inquiry.
Rumi shrugged stating, "I have no reason not to."
"Then… no. I just had a weird dream."
"What kind of dream could've caused… well that. By the way, you should warn my dad about that before he sees it for himself and assumes you're possessed. He's very paranoid about that stuff and trusts me, he will exorcise you."
"Good...to know. And this dream is kinda crazy to explain."
Rumi walked over to the edge of his bed and sat down to help take off the tape he put around his hands so he wouldn't claw through the sheets. Crossing her legs to get comfortable, she said, "Well I'm now invested, so try me."
"Uh, ok I'm going to need to give a bit of context because it's kinda like a long-running dream."
"Oh those are rare, now I am actually interested."
"Ok you see, it starts with me being trapped."
"It started with you already being trapped?"
"Yes, on the moon."
"On the moon!? Like on some sorta secret sci-fi base?"
"No, the literal moon was like a birdcage. I couldn't see or anything."
"Oh, then how did you get out?"
"A rabbit just happened to be pounding something on top of it and broke me free."
"A rabbit?"
"Yes."
"On the moon!?"
"Yes."
"Broke you free?"
"Yeah."
"A random rabbit got on the moon and through pounding it with its tiny fucking paws… or legs, or whatever it has, broke THE MOON in half?"
"I know, well I actually didn't get a chance to see the size of the rabbit but I guess that doesn't matter. Honestly, I don't get it either."
"And then what happens?"
"I fall down to earth."
"All the way from the moon?"
"Yes and ended up in a swamp covered by a forest of bamboo that was so dense I couldn't see an exit even if I climbed upon them. After waking from blacking out, assumingly from the fall, I then got lost in there for the betterment of like 6 months worth of time. Luckily a rainbow light shined one day to lead me out of there and I found one of those old Japanese type homes that only the rich can afford."
It was at this point, the look of interest and wonder that was on Rumi's face had disappeared to be replaced with disbelief and confusion as the story continued to get more ridiculous. Yet, she just couldn't stop listening, it was so bizarre she wanted to know what kind of insane ending it would come to. She continued to egg him on with telling the story.
"Go on."
"So I go to the house and there's this guy with a fox mask that had a black tail who was talking to an albino person that was glowing that rainbow light from earlier. Except for the fox mask guy, his name is Lai by the way or Shinwa-Lai but he says calling him Lai was fine. He had a black tail at first but then suddenly later he just didn't have anymore, I know because I saw him nearly naked after he got me a change of clothes. Wait, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself sorry. I needed to get a change of clothes because Lai decided he didn't want me to listen in on his conversation, so he pushed me into a lake and my body was apparently left there for an entire month floating like a corpse."
"...Uh-huh."
"So when I woke up again, I went back to the house to try again. Instead of the shining albino man being there, it was this raven-haired girl dressed like a hero. This was weird because everything else in that world seemed to be more traditional japan stuff, except the moon is broken in half and the rabbit is probably still there. Anyways, Lai tried to throw me back into the lake but this new woman named Nana saved me, and then the two argued over whether or not I should be tossed into the lake again. Lai finally considered and led us inside. That was when he took me into another room and threw his kimono onto me which somehow changed its shape, size, and even design to fit me perfectly. That was when he went on a rant about how hard his job was right now because Nana and her company screwed everything up. Then Nana came into the room and demanded to get a kimono as well."
"..."
Rumi's silence kinda hinted to Izuku that he was losing her completely, her face had turned from 'man this story is strange I wonder where it is going' quickly to 'Oh my god what goes on in his head'. The perplexed stare she was giving him said all that was needed. He even felted stupid saying his dream out loud and regretted mentioning it.
"So….he uh...walked by her and...in a fraction of a second...dressed...both of them…."
He coughed awkwardly before saying, "Yeah it's a really stupid dream where things got out of control quickly."
This is why some people prefer keeping their dreams to themself.
The absurdity of it was so high that Rumi got on her knees to shift close to him just to check his temperature. Placing a hand on his forehead and checking to see how warm he was.
"Hmmm?"
"A-uhh, wh-why are you checking my temperature!?"
"I'm making sure you didn't have a fever dream, cause it's looking like you had a fever dream. Now hold still."
It was a bit hard for him to be still, as Rumi was focused on making sure Izuku didn't trip balls last night, she didn't pay attention to how close she was getting. While her chest wasn't right up to his face, they were close enough to completely occupy Izuku's vision. A pair of dark-skinned tiddies being presented to him, that t-shirt did not do any favors in hiding her features, what a way to start the morning. Of course, Izuku couldn't stay there for long, not with his new body, he had to physically hold down his tail one it started to wag so she wouldn't notice.
"I-i'm fine, it was just a dream."
"I know, doesn't mean we shouldn't check. You just moved into a new place and could be suffering from homesickness. Trust me, it can suck if it's not taken care of."
"I just need a shower!" Izuku told her, 'A cold shower.'
"Hmm, alright you don't look sick," Rumi replied, stepping back and getting off the back. Allowing Izuku to breathe again and have the blood in his body disperse again, "Anyways my dad wanted me to wake you up. He doesn't want it to be a habit for you to wake up late, at least until after training starts."
"Thank you."
"It's whatever. Come on, we got some breakfast," she told him, walking out the room.
Before she was gone, Izuku called out, "I'll be there, just gotta… take care of something."
When she was out of sight, he sighed, 'I gotta learn how to wake up better, she's going to think I'm a psycho if I keep on waking up like this.'
With the peace he had, he looked out the window to think. Here he was, waking up into his whole life. He has so much to learn and so much to do ahead of him, it's both intimidating and exciting. But, that was the choice he made for himself, he gotta live by it.
'I should text my mom to let her know that I slept fine,' he thought, pulling out his phone. He had texted her the night before to let her know that he settled in ok and had promised to text her when he had woken up.
His jaw almost burst through the ground from how hard it dropped when he saw he had four missed face-time requests, twenty phone calls, and forty-five text messages all from his mother.
"Oh dear Lord Jesus," Izuku mumbled under his breath as he went through each message she sent, it got worse the more he searched through. By the end of it, she straight up thinks he's dead now. He instantly went to call her before this goes any further.
When she finally answered, he was met with the sobbing voice he expected.
"I-i-i-izuku!?"
"Hey mom… just woke up and saw your message."
"WAAAHHHHHH!"
"Uh mom, you should be at work by now, you sure you should be crying!?"
Despite the crying bit, Izuku still appreciates that he can enjoy some of the lingering aspects of his old life.