Page 10
Underside
There's more than one way to achieve a goal. While there's usually a clear cut path one could take to get where they want to go, sometimes it's better to take a shortcut to arrive there faster. Not underhanded cheats, or illegally bypassing certain requirements to get an unfair advantage, but a gnarly detour that results in you beelining toward your goal in exchange for higher difficulty.
"I...zu...ku."
Those were the soft words spoken by the maiden.
"You're cute when you're so vulnerable."
With his back against the gray bed sheets, Izuku stared up to the black sky, watching the stars that hung above them before drawing his attention back to the woman that had mounted him.
He couldn't see her face, it was covered by the strands of her lavish white hair, yet, Izuku still found her immensely attractive. From her glossy poise lips that utter the most seductive of words, to her silky brown skin that marvelously contrasts with the snowy color of her hair, and the shapely figure of her nude body that was grinding against his own. The term 'a fine woman' would be an unforgivable insult to describe the person who was on him, she was nothing short but an exquisite gem.
It was electrifying being near her. Her smooth motions and grinding only served to invigorate the boy. She softly planted kisses on the boy's defenseless neck, each one had an absurd level of care put into them that added an extra layer of intimacy. At the same time, she was stroking his midsection with one of her legs, the circular motion she did it in slowly stimulated him. He swore when he looked down he saw a marking of some kind on one of her thighs that reminded him of someone, but he wasn't sure who. Not like he had the time to think about it, there were more alluring things that were taking away his attention.
After a long lick along Izuku's neck, the woman sat up, looking down at Izuku. The only thing he could see now looking up was the enticed smile she formed with her beautiful lips.
"Come on, Izuku. I want to play with you some more."
Her voice continued to be angelic to hear.
"Don't you feel lucky?"
"Oi!" shouted a familiar muffled voice.
With the energy of someone who thought his house got broken into, Izuku jumped to his feet, eyes constricted and fear-stricken. He scanned his surroundings, expecting to see the usual yellow-painted walls of his room at Nezu's estate. Instead, he faced the wild thickness of a huge forest.
Each tree had its unique shape, through many twists, weird turns, strangely aligned branches, over-exaggerated curves, and grotesque conjunctions that somehow held it together. There was a thick mist embedded in the depths of the forest, colorful with its wide variety of shades such as purple and blue, but white was the majority. From the trees he could see, all of them had decorated shimenawa(stocky helm rope that is usually used for ritual purposes for certain religions) wrapped around their base.
"Where am I?" Izuku mumbled to himself, taken back from the scale of it. He stumbled back as an unexplainable feeling of dread and regret filled him.
That was when the voice that had awakened him called out to him again, "You're outside of course."
Izuku looked to his side and saw Lai sitting there looking at him, he knew he couldn't see his face because of the mask but he looked completely calm despite what's in front of them.
"Finally you're up, always troublesome kitto, there's a mess to clean," Lai continued.
Despite the unhelpful answer, Izuku knew that seeing him here meant one thing.
"I'm in the DREAM world," Izuku mumbled to himself again, "Wait, have it been a month already? It doesn't feel like it."
"Time moves regardless of one's feelings, that's why it's important n to make the most of your life. If you're not careful, a lifetime will pass off before you know it," Lai answered, being unnecessarily poetic as usual. He turned away to attend to the teapot he had set up before the boy had awakened.
"Right...so where are we?"
"Outside."
"I meant this place! What is this forest in front of us?"
"We're at the outskirts of an essential landmark in this land. The Forest of Zaiaku Kodama or Zaiaku Forest if you wish to shorten it."
"Zaiaku, doesn't that mean guilt?"
"Yes. What you are looking at is the place where all your guilt lay, from the past and present, dead or alive."
Izuku took another look at the forest, taking a deeper look into this new place he found out about. Abnormal trees, thick strange mist, all these attributes combined to form something distorted. The trees that were deeper in the forest were covered by the mist and their silhouettes took the form of what looked like a deformed monster straight from hell itself. He didn't know what to make of the sight he witnessed, it seemed like the essence of a specter was amalgamated with nature.
The fox boy's chest felt heavy just by looking at it, how vast this forest is was intimidating.
Trying to escape the eerie feeling, Izuku turned toward Lai and asked, "Wait, you said this was essential. Does that mean we'll be returning here?"
"This will be one of the multiple places you will train when we can finally begin."
'Training?' Izuku thought to himself.
Lai flinched at his slip of the tongue, it only lasted for a moment before he relaxed. Exhaling, he scratched the back of his head before muttering, "Maybe a bit too soon to mention that? Oh well, there's a time where a secret becomes trivial to hold and unnecessarily destructive to the bearer. Judging from our last discussion, you know this place holds more importance to you than just a dream and my discussions with One For All are progressing smoothly, we should be coming to an agreement soon. You'll start getting some answers soon."
"Take your time," Izuku tells him, sitting on the ground as well, "As I've said before, I got a lot on my mind right now."
"I can tell."
"It wasn't easy learning how to take care of myself but it was during the darkest of times that I found one of the priceless treasures of modern society to assist me and-"
"Oh, I wasn't talking about that."
"Huh?"
"What I was referring to was that erotic fantasy you were having with that maiden a few moments before I woke you up."
Like most dreams, Izuku didn't remember all of his after waking up, it took him a moment to realize what he was referring to. Better said, it took a moment for Izuku to remember being with that white-haired woman.
…
"YOU SAW THAT!?"
Izuku's mighty shout echoed throughout the field, its volume was only equaled by his embarrassment.
The masked man calmly rubbed one of his ears to take care of the ringing in them, saying, "You...do remember what I said about us being connected here? Not to mention the 'I art thou and thou art I' part. I know I pushed you into the lake after but I still expected you to remember at least that part."
"But that was-"
"A dream. A very indecent dream that says a lot about your desires, but, still a dream. And I am your guardian who is supposed to look after you in a place called the D.R.E.A.M. World. Of course, I'm going to know what you dream about, I could always look into what you dreamt about. Why wouldn't I, especially since it can affect this place so much."
"T-that's an invasion of privacy!" Izuku exclaimed, jumping to his feet again. He stammered over his words as he tried to hide his shame, "W-what you saw wasn't something I usually dream about, i-it just happened and was a poor representation of who I usually am! I'm not a pervert, I try to strive away from any such action that would imply it. I haven't even touch myself before just to keep myself from falling into the addictive nature of-"
It wasn't long until Lai tuned Izuku's words out, baffled he told the fox boy, "Why are you making excuses to your own cognitive being about some lewd dream you had? I honestly don't care since I know the answer regardless of what you say! I'm surprised you're not questioning how you just woke up from a dream into a dream."
"...Oh...right…...how does that work? Wait, shouldn't I be in the lake right now? Why are we just standing here anyway!?"
"Took you this long? Baka. Let's see," Lai scratched his mask as if he was doing it to his cheek, "Nana got mad at me for tossing you into the lake again so she made me fish you out."
"Thank goodness for her, honestly I have no idea the limits this body of mine has in here but, I don't think it's healthy spending so much time in the water. At least I know someone will make sure you'll pull me out."
"I didn't pull you out, I fished you out. Hauled you out of there like a fish, pole and everything. It was immensely humorous, Nana was furious about it which only made her look more adorable in my honest opinion."
"...Why do you love tormenting me so much?"
"Consider it my payment for keeping me waiting for so long!" Lai abruptly shouted. Steam eroded from the side of his mask and a single comedic teardrop leaked from one of the eye holes as he continued, "You know how horrible it is being created to be a guardian but then having no one to guide because they decided not to show up here for nearly a decade?"
"Wha- I was trapped in the moon! What else could I do?"
"Heh, that's what everyone says."
"How is that even a thing!? THERE'S ONLY ONE MOON...AND I BROKE OUT OF IT!"
"My belief in that story is slimmer than a strand of hay."
"How do you not believe that? You live right under-"
Izuku calmed himself, even with context, the discussion being had was too ridiculous for him. The kettle began blowing out steam, signaling that it's ready.
"So then, why are we here?" Izuku asked, looking around the area but he couldn't seem to find the familiar Sankei house, "We're pretty far away from the house."
"Your perverted dream unleashed a yokai on these lands, I managed to chase it off and it ran into this forest," Lai explained, calmly bringing out a cup and pouring himself some tea, "Seeing a perfect opportunity, I dragged you here to face it so you can become accustomed to fighting in this place but Nana objected, going in herself. We're waiting on her to return."
"A completely separate dream can cause something like that? Wait, and Nana went in by herself!? Shouldn't we go in and back her up."
"She'll be fine," Lai states, taking a sip from his tea.
"AAAAHHHH!"
"OH FUCK!"
…
The mouth of Lai's mask curled a bit into a smile, putting down his cup and getting to his feet.
"Maybe not."
Dumbstruck, Izuku pointed to the forest as he asks, "Was that-"
Before he finished, being flung out of the forest was Nana herself, back in her hero outfit. She skidded against the ground before coming to a rough stop panting heavily.
"Nana!" Izuku shouted, running over to her.
Calmer with his approach, Lai walked over as he spoke.
"How are you doing there Miss Nana? Taking care of it in a five minute flat just as you said you would?" he was sure to add an extra form of obnoxious to his voice when repeating Nana's own words to her. He took a taunting glance at her body top to bottom, nodding before saying, "Seems to be on the right track."
Nana grunted as she tried to pick herself off the ground, giving an annoyed stare at Lai she said, "You know all the other predecessors of One For All find you annoying, that's why they constantly make me be the spokesperson for them."
"For a bunch of heroes you guys are incompetent at dishing out justice, having you around more is more of a reward than a punishment."
The curled lips of Lai's mask continued to grow into a wide grin. Nana was about to say something back but then something shot out from the forest, a giant yellow tentacle(similar to one an octopus would have) wrapped itself around the woman before yanking her into the air. Slithering to the outskirts was the being that had grabbed her, a beast with snow fur in a humanoid form. Its multitude of razor-sharp teeth seemed too many to be contained by its mouth, exhaling smoke with every breath it took. Its eyes were only red with no pupils insight, looking blind to the world around it and only rushing toward his goal in a frenzy. It didn't even have hands, instead they were replaced with nearly a dozen of its weird tentacles.
An unholy amalgamation.
As it stepped out from the forest, it wrapped one of its legs around the base of one of the smaller trees and crushed it just by flexing its muscles. A black shadow emerged from the tree before quickly dashing away deeper into the forest. Its tentacles clenched themselves before they began wildly whipping around, slamming the ground and trees in the area. The strikes rumbled the ground Izuku stood on. Looking up to the sky, the monster unleashed a ferocious but abnormal roar.
"AAAAAAAAAAA!"
Seeing the monster that towered over him, Izuku's eyes widened as he stumbled back onto the ground. He turned to Lai for answers.
"HOW DID A WET DREAM CREATE A RAMPAGING MONSTER!?"
"I feel like you're not getting the concept of this being a cognitive dream world," Lai tells him, gesturing about the lack of connection Izuku is having, "What goes on in your mind affects here!"
"To this extent!?"
"Lust is considered a deadly sin for a reason," Lai says, holding his chin, "The mind is a powerful weapon that is often underestimated due to our shallow ideals. Every thought can be used to create something grand, whether it's good or bad is up to the beholder…..That includes our more indecent thoughts as well."
"What kind of monster is that thing!?"
"Hentai Yokai."
"A what!?"
"A Hentai Yokai, a demon made out of pure lustful desires."
"Are you sure!? I'm not questioning your knowledge, I just don't think that's a thing!"
"No, trust me they exist. Don't you see the tentacles? The fact that this has anything to do with a wet dream makes it obvious that it's a Hentai Yokai."
"Whaaaaaat eeeeeeven caaaaaaaaaused thiiiiiiiiiis!" Nana shouted, being swung around in the air elongated her word.
Lai called out to her, "I told you before, it was the boy's dirty dream! Remember, when he suddenly got a boner in bed and you asked why!"
"That happens here too!?" Izuku asked, his face turned red extremely quickly.
"Yes...when are you going to get it? Things in your mind can manifest here!" Lai shouts, aggravated at the boy's refusal to accept such a simple concept that was explained many times. He continued to scold the boy.
"YOU GET A BONER IN REAL LIFE, YOU MOST LIKELY GOT A BONER HERE, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOUR DAMN BONERS THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH THIS HENTAI YOKAI!"
'I'm never telling anyone about these dreams...ever!'thought Izuku, he didn't want to say anything else out of fear that the situation will become even more insane.
"Guuuuuuys, I'm stiiiiillllll waaaaaaaaitiiiiing on aaann annnnnnnswerrrrrrr!"
"I just told you, the kitto's dick was the problem!" Lai told her, "Is everyone hard at hearing today?"
Not feeling comfortable about how his manhood is being discussed, Izuku stammered, "Can you guys not talk about my...thing that way."
"I meant what caused that!" Nana stopped, luckily getting a moment of clarity as the monster stopped shaking her.
"Ooooh that," Lai says, giving a tiny chuckle before turning toward Izuku, "All you kitto."
"I-i don't want to say," Izuku said, flustered about the whole thing and the girl who caused it.
Lai shook his head, stating, "The ugliness you want to hide is already out in the open, we see, we know what it is, and it's affecting us. Why still hide it? Ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Might as well come clean and be honest."
"Ok, ok!" Izuku cried, he took a breath before blurting out, "A girl...kissed my forehead."
…
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" shouted Nana, she wasn't angry at Izuku, more so mad about the catalyst that led to the position she's in.
"This is honestly the best way to sum up puberty," Lai added, "Unexplainable and devastating."
"You can say that again," Izuku sighed, taking another look at the monster.
Each breath the monster took looked like it was panting heavily, and the red coloring across its face made it seem like it was constantly blushing. The weirdest part was how human the form was, at least the lower sections. The body looked extremely feminine, with a gracefully humongous chest, and strangely marbled legs that were shown to break a thick tree in half.
"Why do I strangely find that thing attractive!?"
Lai shrugged, saying, "Hey, they're your kinks so you tell me."
Izuku looked at the top of the erotic monster's head, seeing the long white ears he mutters to himself, "I'm going to have a hard time looking her in the eyes later."
"Judging from the yokai's appearance, you probably weren't looking her in the eyes all that often."
"Can I get some help here!" Nana called out again, "This thing is sticky and is reaching everywhere!"
"I mean, it's called a Hentai Yokai for a reason," Lai nonchalantly states.
While the two were talking, the monster tightened its grip on Nana. The way the tentacles were wrapped around her were suggestive, to say the least, it tightening itself only served to look more erotic then it already was. The slimy appendage squeezed her, making her breast look like they were barely being contained by her costume. Something the two males paid real attention to instead of helping.
"Stop watching and help!" Nana shouted, a tint of red was appearing on her face.
"Right!" Lai states, snapping out of his perverted distraction and turning toward Izuku, "Go get them kitto."
"Me!?" Izuku exclaimed, shocked at the vague command of his so-called-guardian.
"Yes, that was the reason I brought you here in the first place. What's the matter?"
"What's the matter!? I expected the first thing I'll do here was some kind of spiritual bodybuilding training like in those old martial arts movies, not fight a giant tentacle monster."
"Hentai Yokai."
"Does it matter!?"
"I know we technically don't exist in your world but even demons don't like to get mislabeled. Now go strike that monster! It'll be easier to scale your abilities after witnessing you in combat."
"...yeah...about that."
Before Izuku could finish speaking, Nana seemed to have flown up in the air, carrying the monster with it. Worried, the monster released it's grip on Nana so it wouldn't go airborne but Nana grabbed onto its tentacles herself, lifting it high into the air. With a quick toss-up and a heavy punch, the Hentai Yokai was sent flying back into the forest at high velocity, disappearing into the mist.
"Damn it woman," shouted Lai, shaking his fist in the air, "Now what can I use to test the kitto's abilities. The Byakuya Chamber is only useful for practicing technique than anything else! It'll just be a waste of a hundred days."
'A hundred days?' Izuku repeated in his mind, at this point he was in no mood to question anything any further. He was getting a headache from all this.
Lai continued to berate the raven-haired woman, "First you ignore me and go in alone, now you ruin a great opportunity. It's like you want to ruin my life here."
"Be quiet," Nana demanded as she softly landed on the ground. Her eyes were stern and form was dominant as she strode past Lai, he knew it would not be smart to comment. She went over to Izuku, picking him up with a word before flying away.
"Oh, and you're taking away the kitto as well!" Lai exclaimed, "Your obnoxious attitude is getting on my nerves!"
Ignoring him, Nana continued to fly away from the masked person. Once Lai was sure she was out of earshot, another smile appeared across his mask as he spoke his mind.
"Such a fetching woman."
Back with Nana and Izuku, they were silent for a while. Izuku didn't even bother asking why Nana can fly, he felt terrible since it was his fault this happened. Nana was the one who broke the silence in the end.
"You know, I'm not mad at you. You're a growing boy after all and your body is changing in ways you don't understand."
"Sorry about...all that," Izuku says looking down, he wasn't sure why he waited so long to apologize, he was always a quick apologizer even if it was completely unneeded. Yet this time, true guilt made him think it wasn't.
"No need, no one was prepared for today. Except for Lai of course."
Soon after, Izuku started to see the Sankei house off in the distance.
"Can you do me one favor, Izuku?" Nana would ask looking down at him.
"What?" Izuku answered, wondering what she wanted him to do. Some advice or wise words of wisdom to his endeavors?
"Save us all the trouble next time, just masturbate."
With those words, Nana dropped Izuku. Having a feeling where this was going, Izuku looked down.
There it was, that dastardly lake.
At this point, Izuku should start greeting this lake like an old friend.
SPLASH!
Walking out of the convenience store, Izuku was carrying a little under half a dozen store bags, each filled with the raw materials used to create meals he'll be enjoying that night. Yes, enjoying is the word being used here! This was not going to be the usual vegetarian meals he reluctantly ate for the last couple of weeks. With what's in these bags, tonight, he's going to be eating meat!
'Meat, meat!' Izuku cheered in his mind, a giant smile grew on his face, 'Ohhh, how long I've craved for the savory flavors of this stocky treat. It's been far too long!'
The fox could barely contain his excitement, skipping in broad daylight like a little schoolboy as he hummed a tune.
"Oooooo niiiiikuuuuu Suki suki! O niku suki suki! Suki suki, o niku suki sui!"
His emerald tail swayed side to side in a fluent motion, going along with the tune of the song. Each syllable was followed with his ears twitching, hitting each beat perfectly. Soon his entire body was pulled into the motion, twisting and swaying like his tail to perform a sort of dance as he bounced. Every cell of him was ecstatic with joy.
"Suki suki, o niku suki suki! Suki suki, tabetai nikuuuuu-"
"What the hell are you doing?" asked an intrigued Rumi.
The gates of hell might as well have busted open when Izuku heard her voice, that would describe the state his mind was in. When he turned around he saw his totally-don't-have-a-crush-on friend Rumi. Rumi was not far away from him, she was standing behind him with a hand filled with grocery bags against her hip, cocking an eyebrow at him with an amused expression.
Stammering, Izuku replied, "S-singing- when did you get here?"
"What do you mean?" she states, letting out a few chuckles at his strange question, "I came with you when you left, actually scratch that, that would imply I asked you to let mecome along. I specifically remember you begging me to take you along whenever I go out grocery shopping...or going out in general."
"Oh...right."
Rumi let out another snicker, this time being courteous enough to cover it up a bit, "I swear it felt like a little brother that didn't want to be left home alone so I had to drag him along all the time."
A blush spread across Izuku's face, of all things, why did she need to make the little brother comparison. That's a nut shot to any boy with a totally-doesn't-have-a-crush-on friend and sank his heart a bit. He quickly tells her, "That was only because I wanted to get used to where all the stores were! And you didn't even take me all that often."
Shrugging, Rumi began walking in the same direction Izuku was going as she said, "Got my own life to attend to. I can't always be guiding you through the streets, you might end up being too scared to walk the streets at night without holding my hand?"
Following her, Izuku responded, "It would never get to that point."
Looking back, Rumi gave the boy a wide smile that was as cocky as she was aggressive. She said her next few words in an exceedingly suggestive voice, "You sure about that, big guy?"
It almost feels like taunting when she says the last part, considering the fact that she's still taller than him. She's been acting like this for a while, it felt like she was constantly testing him, almost like it was a game to her.
"You wouldn't take the chance to hold my hand."
Izuku glanced at her before quickly looking away, memories of a certain dream made it hard to look her in the face for long periods. Her current outfit didn't help either, seeing her fluffy rabbit tail sticking out of her blue jeans with a long-sleeved yellow crop top was overkill already. With how she moved, the way she looks at him, and the tune in which she speaks toward him, Lai and Nana better be prepared to deal with a lot more H-Yokai's(Izuku resigned himself to this name to save himself the embarrassment).
YES! YES! YES!
"No," Izuku replied, going against the words he was seeing.
"Ah, I'm just messing with you," she laughed, "Though you did do that look-away thing you do to my dad. Did those red words pop up again?"
"They weren't red," the boy muttered.
"Hm?"
"N-nothing."
"Heh, don't tell me you're starting to think of me as viable prey?"
"Of course...not," Izuku told him, 'Prey isn't the word I'll use.'
"Are you going to pounce on me one day?"
YES!
"No!"
"Good," Rumi states, puffing out her chest in a proud matter, "I never let down my guard, so don't think you can pull a sneaky on me. Cause you think what my dad did to you was painful, you'll be in a whole new world of pain if you try it with me."
"I wouldn't expect any less from you."
"Though, I wouldn't mind if you tried to mount me, at least once."
"What!?"
"Just to see what it's like, of course. It'll be fun seeing what happens if we fought each other."
"...oh….right of course…..fighting," Izuku mentally kicked himself for his hormonal brain.
"What else would I be referring to?"
"Nothing!"
"...you're a strange one," Rumi states, still smiling.
"I'm not that strange."
"You wash your bedsheets like every other day. Who else does that?"
"M-my mom was a huge clean freak," Izuku lied, a trail of sweat dripped down his face, "And I only do it twice a week, three at most!"
"Whatever," Rumi replied, not caring about the details, "Then there's how you jump out of bed sometimes-"
"I had a bad dream!"
"After hearing about just one of your dreams, I'm not surprised. It sounded like an acid trip without the acid."
"You have no idea."
"Now you're jumping around singing over buying some meat? What was that anyway?"
"It's a meat song I heard a bunch of times whenever I went grocery shopping with my mom when I was younger before we moved in with Kacchan. The store played it endlessly around the meat section and it got stuck in my head ever since."
"That is adorable to hear, I would honestly kill to see that!"
Izuku began to feel his blush coming back, "It's never going, I'm almost embarrassed to think about it. I only did a shorter version this time because I was so happy. I managed to scrape together enough cash to buy something for myself and the store just so happened to have a great deal on meat today! Now that I learned how to cook-"
"Sorta," Rumi interrupted.
"It'll do. Regardless, I can finally eat meat again!"
"I'm still surprised it took you so long to realize you can just youtube everything nowadays."
"You guys didn't tell me! I'm ashamed of myself as well, but, you and Nezu watched as I starved!" Izuku yelled, a tear dropped from the painful memories.
"You didn't starve," Rumi states, rolling her eyes as if he's being overdramatic.
"I lost nearly fifteen pounds!"
"Losing weight over meat deprivation is completely different from starving."
"It felt like the same!"
"Drama queen."
"I honestly could've died or gotten worse from that! Don't you know how dangerous-"
"Drama queen!"
"A-..."
"To be honest, we thought you would get it after like a week or two. Boy was we wrong! When you didn't we wanted to tell you, but, then we didn't know what to make of us having to tell you how to look up something. I mean, the internet was so vast, if you needed to be told to use that to look for something as simple as cooking, I don't know what to tell you."
…
"Fair point," Izuku said, "Either way, I learned my mistake and now I'm getting rewarded for it! Nothing can ruin today!"
"FUCKING STUPID MACHINE! DIE!"
The rainbow died instantly. Being savagely shot down, stabbed to death on the ground, and buried with cement. He was in heaven for quite a while but was cruelly dragged back down to the earth, all from a single voice.
"Oh hey, I recognize that screaming!" Rumi cheered, searching to see where it came from, "It's your blond brother friend guy! Man, it's been a while since I last saw him! I was wondering how he's been doing, you stopped mentioning him a while ago. Then again, I guess when you don't live in the same house anymore you boys tend to stray apart because you're too tough to keep in touch right?"
While the bunny girl continued to look around for where Bakugo's voice came from, chuckling over her own joke, as usual, Izuku was sweating bullets. Of all the things Izuku had told Rumi about, from his crazy dreams to some embarrassing stories of his school life and a few snippets of his early life, he has yet to tell her about the short but colossal confrontation he had with Bakugo before he moved in.
Izuku quickly went to draw her attention away, saying, "Anyways, about my meat. If you want, I can show you how to do it-"
"There he is!" Rumi exclaimed, pointing across the street.
Shouting at a vending machine that had dared malfunction and not giving out its delightful snacks after being fed money was the blond ball of anger, Katsuki Bakugo.
Izuku rushed over to grab Rumi's hand to stop her from calling out to him, telling her "Lets not-"
"HEY! BLONDIE!"
'Fuck.'
Only then did Rumi acknowledge that Izuku had grabbed her hand, giving him a smug look as she held it up and said, "I thought you wouldn't jump at a chance to hold my hand?"
'FUCK!'
It was right at that moment when Rumi was holding up their hands, did Bakugo turn around and saw them.
'FUCK!'
The blond recognized him instantly, for the first time in over two months, the two made eye contact with each other.
…
…
…
…
…
That was it, they just kinda stood there and stared at one another. As the world around them continued to move, they remained frozen in a single moment. People who were once like brothers now stood far across from one another, distance as if they were common strangers, yet still, a ghost chain tied them together. Human beings do have the strange ability to unknowingly attract one another, even if we both mentally and physically don't want to, our spirits will to as it pleases. Sometimes to our benefits, other times to our detriments. The results of either are up for one to decide.
Izuku's been avoiding the topic between him and Bakugo for quite a while, it was a touchy subject to get into that he didn't have the time or mental fortitude to deal with. He doesn't regret his actions or the fact that he told Katsuki off for his attitude, from all the uncertainties he had in his life this was one of the few hills he'll die on. Yet, culpability still filled his stomach, a slimy ooze that sits there and makes him feel sluggish.
Was it because he felt bad about how he went about calling out Katsuki? He immediately left after greatly criticizing him, not even giving him a chance to react or so if they COULD even work things out. Then again, knowing Katsuki there was a great chance he would've just yelled back or had left himself, and then nothing would've gotten solved. Not to mention that Izuku only snapped at that moment because Katsuki was trying to convince him not to go with Nezu and stay home to train with him.
Maybe it was because he felt like he didn't do enough to Katsuki that day. Telling him off was one thing, but that couldn't cover years of frustration from him. Yet, Izuku was never one whose malice can grow to spill blood.
It could be their kinship. Regardless of their current feelings for one another, they can't easily sever their connection with people they were once close with. They've lived together for nearly six years and have known each other for longer. Izuku wasn't going to lie to himself and say that the entire timeline was horrible, a rotten apple had to have been ripe first before it became rotten. The sweet taste of that ripe apple can leave a long-lasting impression as a bite from a rotten one. The self-determined sensation of doing anything that harms that special red thread that connects the two might be what's overwhelming the boy.
Such as life, it is all mysterious. Sometimes something bad feels good and other times something good feels bad. A clear action on which to take can never be given, not when there's never a certainty of what path you walk until after you walked it.
Which brings us back to the two boys. Does Izuku hate him? Does Katsuki hate him? Should they hate each other? What is their current status? Could it be made better or should it be put to rest?
It was something that Izuku didn't want to touch on because he didn't know what to do about it, judging from the expression Katsuki had, he didn't either. In a typical fashion, Katsuki just scoffs at Izuku before snapping his head straight as if he was looking at someone who wasn't worth his time and walked away.
"The hell is his problem?" Rumi states after seeing Bakugo's reaction. She propped her fist against her hips and tilted her head as she said, "Was a 'hi' too much?"
"He...always was someone who did whatever he wanted," the fox told her, diverting his eyes away from the direction the blond went off to.
"If I didn't know any better, I would assume that you two had a fight or something and aren't talking to each other like a bunch of stupid petty schoolgirls," she casually says, putting her hands behind her head.
"...yeah...about that."
"Are you kidding me!? I was half-joking!"
"I wouldn't call us schoolgirls though."
"What happened between you two? After seeing the way you two fought that slime thing together I thought you two would bond closer."
"It's…a lot more complicated than just that. Some hatchets can't be buried after a single occasion."
"Gross complications, give me a TLDR."
"A T-...what?"
"Too Long Didn't Read. It means an extremely shortened explanation of something, give me one in like ten words or less."
"I don't think I can condense the entirety of it in ten words! There are so many history and events to span over nearly a decade."
"That's why I'm asking for a TLDR, don't get all day to listen to your backstory. Hurry up and figure out a way to convert it into a TLDR before I get bored."
"Uhhhh."
"Aaaaaaand my interest is quickly dropping," Rumi told him with a yawn.
"Ok, ok! You can sum it up as he spent a lot of time putting me down and our argument was that issue peaking."
"Argument? Oh, so it wasn't like a fist or wrestling match?"
"No. Despite all the bullying Kacchan did to me, I could never bring myself to physically fight him, I'm not sure why. Even on that day, I really was angry at him, but I just couldn't bring myself to want to do physical harm. So instead I settled on telling him off," Izuku explained, unknowingly squeezing Rumi's hand from his mixed thoughts.
Feeling the tension in his hand, Rumi eyed Izuku with her fierce red eyes. She frowned seeing his conflicted face, a look she was unfamiliar with, nor was it one she'll ever like to see on him. Seeing the benevolently feeble look grim then uplifting, it digs deep to make her uncomfortable. She thought to herself, 'People like you should always glimmer with hope.'
With determination, she tightened the grip of their held hands and dragged Izuku along as she rushed off.
Surprised, both from Rumi's sudden movement and him realizing that they've been holding hands for over a full minute, he stammeringly asked, "Where are we going!?"
"Finding Katsuki!" Rumi proudly declared.
"What!?"
"Trust me, I know what to do!"
Before Izuku had any other time to react, they suddenly came to a halt. With a quick look, both were easily able to spot Bakugo, he was doing one of his broadish strides down the street.
Rumi released her hand from Izuku's(which the fox boy promptly looked disappointed about) and points toward Bakugo, nonchalantly saying, "Now, go punch that guy in the face."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm serious."
"WHAT!?" Izuku shouted, after having a mental reboot from the bunny girl's request, her confirmation of it allowed him to have the proper reaction.
"Yes, go punch him in the face as hard as you can!" Rumi commanded again, this time propping a fist against her hips to look more demanding. She has yet to know how weird Izuku's mind was right now and her trying to look more commanding in that outfit only served to almost ensure that another H-Yokai was going to appear.
Dragging his shriveled mind out of the grand canyon sized gutter that it fell into, Izuku told her, "No, why!?"
"Because it'll solve you guys issues with each other!"
"How? Randomly punching someone just because I have a problem with him isn't going to solve all our problems!"
"The Frail Little Lion!"
"The what!?"
"It's a kids' story that was read to me as a child. It was about a bunch of baby lions in a den and the youngest of them was always bullied by the others for being the weakest. Until the day he fought them over a piece of meat because he was sick of getting scraps. Since then the other lions treated him with equal respect. This story was made for you, you're frail and I'm pretty sure baby lions are called kin. You're a fox so uh, yeah."
Rumi gestures to the comparison between the two before, again, pointing toward Katsuki and continuing, "Now go earn your right to eat quality meat and punch your brother in the face!"
Taking a deep breath first, Izuku replies, "First off, I'm going to look into that baby lion being called kin thing later because I'm not sure. Second, Kacchan is not my brother. And third, I'm not punching him in the face!"
"Punch him in the face!"
"No!"
"Do it!"
"I don't want to!"
"Of all the times I've seen you be so passive about something, I'm surprised you're so adamant here of all times. Ironically, it's against doing something adamant instead of being passive. You're adamantly being passive here Izuku, it feels weird to see and that feeling is pissing me off!"
"I just don't want to hit him."
"Why? It's one punch, he's not going to die from it, and in return, he'll respect you forever. Why not do it and see what'll happen? Not like you guys have much to lose with each other considering how you're currently treating each other."
"I just...feel like there's a better way to handle our issues."
"Look, I won't waste my time marshaling what you guy's past is and how you feel about it or whatever. All I know is that you've never tried solving it through punching him in the face. What's the worst that can happen?"
"...I mean…..does it have to be now?"
"Why not now?"
"We're shopping and I'm carrying all this stuff-"
Rumi quickly moved to take Izuku's precious bags of meat away from him, grinning as she says, "Your hands are free now."
Izuku sighed, "I'm surprised you're getting so involved between us, always took you as someone who wouldn't bother herself with that kind of stuff."
"Good, keep that mindset because it's true. I'm just making an exception this time."
"What luck."
"Go get em tiger!"
With a final deep breath, Izuku let out a battle cry and set off. Dashing down the street and crossing the road at the appropriate crossing, just because the boy was going to punch someone in the face doesn't mean he needed to jaywalk over it.
His mind was racing, he had yet to ever throw a punch at someone in his entire life but now he was going to do it toward one of the most violent people he knew. He thought back to what All Might told him when he first got One For All.
"How do I use it?"
"What do you mean young Midoriya?"
"Is there a special technique or kind of punch I have to do? Because I don't feel any different."
"It's going to take a while before you can use it but when the time comes and you're determined, you'll know-"
Izuku shook his head, 'No, it was something after that.'
…
"You're still curious about how-"
…
"-A good stepping stone is how you throw a punch."
"A punch huh?"
"Right! Show me how you punch Midoriya."
…
"That's not how you throw a punch, it lacks any sense of wanting to accomplish something. An aimless punch won't help anyone, no aimless action will do any good. When you throw a punch...it should have a determined goal in mind!"
As Izuku closed the distance between him and Bakugo, he yelled out, "Kacchan!"
The blond only had enough time to look back when he saw Izuku with a cocked back fist. Like instructed to him, Izuku grit his teeth, clench his buttocks and yelled those famous words.
"SMASH!"
His fist collided with Bakugo's cheek, the feeling of hitting bone vibrated throughout his entire body. A unique feeling he hasn't experienced before, the searing pain stung but it wasn't the same feeling he felt from the multitude of times he's been in pain. There wasn't any angst in his pain. It was different, exhilarating to put it into words. Finally confronting someone he viewed as so strong he could never come close to and should never bother trying. All of Izuku's training and hard work had built himself up to this moment, accumulating strength in his body which gave him the power to not just disorient Bakugo's balance, but launched him off his feet and slam into the wall of a nearby building.
As Izuku came to a stumbling halt, he looked down at his fist in awe.
'Did I really do that?' he asked himself. the excitement from what just transferred made him want to chuckle, "I actually did it!"
"Wry."
His victorious shine didn't last for long, a eerie cold voice grunt rang out that sent a shiver down the boy's spine. He didn't realize that Bakugo had already recovered. With a big mark on his cheek, he staggered back onto his feet, still feeling the shock from the hit but wasn't close to staying down.
The eyes that looked at him might as well belong to the devil for how ferocious and red they were. With his quirk erupted in his hands, he let out another frightening growl.
"WRRYYYY!"
BAIL, GETAWAY, AVOID, FLIGHT, RUN!
The yellow bold words surrounded themself around the enraged Bakugo.
Stepping back, Izuku tries to talk to the Fuming Katsuki, "Uhhhh, let's not get crazy here K-kacchan. I only meant to give you a light hit to show how much I've grown haha, I guess I didn't know my strength."
His nervous laughter showed how much he was panicking.
To his surprise, Bakugo did stop using his quirk. Stating, "You're right."
…
'Did….did that actually work? Rumi was right in this!?' Izuku thought, he was almost relieved he managed to come out of this unscathed.
…
Almost.
Cracking his knuckles, Bakugo gave him a crooked friendly smile that looked innocent enough at face value, but the demonic aura radiating off him would tell you a different story. Izuku felt chills when Bakugo opened his mouth and spoke in such a calm cool voice as the blond stepped toward him.
"Let's see how much you've grown."
RUN! RUUUUUUUUUUN!
Izuku called out behind him, "Rumi help! What do I do!?"
"What do you mean!?" She shouted back.
"We didn't plan past this!"
"Fight!"
CRACK!
"OW! That wasn't part of the agreement!"
"What are you doing? Put up your guard! Haven't you been in a fight before?"
"...About that-"
CRACK!
"-OW! OWWW! AHH!"
"Fight back! Do something! Don't just take it!"
"Rarawl!"
"FUCK! Let go Deku!"
"Why are you biting him!"
*Muffled* "I don't know what else to do! OW!"
"Ok, now this is just embarrassing," Rumi stated, staring at the chicken scrap in front of her with disdain, "Alright I'm coming."
"Why didn't you tell me you've never been in a fight?" Rumi asked, bandaging up Izuku's bruised face with equipment she brought from the store.
"It was embarrassing! It's not easy confessing to someone that the entire time you were bullied you never once fought back," Izuku answered, looking down at the ground, "It was a lot easier making it ambiguous on what happened."
"You said that you didn't have bullies anymore. Unless they had the greatest character redemption arc ever, I doubt they just decided to leave you alone. Who took care of them?
"Kacchan."
"Fuck, are you kidding me?"
"I know and I'm not."
"Talk about there's always a bigger fish. Either way, I call this a success!"
"...how?"
"If I'm being honest, I expected you to get knocked down or flat out lose…...just not like that."
"So you purposely sent me to get beat up?"
"I was testing you, you wanted to see if you were brave enough to do something when you're not in a forced life or death situation."
"So you confess!"
"It worked out in the end. You took a hard loss but that punch is going to leave a mark on the blondie, he's not going to forget that feeling any time soon. The biting part was a bit weird though."
"I couldn't think of anything else! No one taught me how to fight yet, they just kept telling me to work out."
"How did you do so well against the slime villain? You weren't perfect but for a guy with no training you made it pretty far."
"I don't know! I just kept flailing and it kept working! It still amazes me that I didn't die either time I ran into that thing. I swear something happened to me that day that gave me a godly amount of luck."
"Probably me, that was the day you first met me and I saved you with these bad boys," Rumi states, slapping one of her mighty thighs, "must have the ability to bestow extreme luck with them."
"As if!" Izuku exclaimed, "And I thought girls usually call their muscles girls?"
"No, a lot of us call them boys as well," Rumi answered, she then directed Izuku's attention to her chest, "These are my girls!"
"Ah!" Izuku went, looking away with a blush.
"Admit it, meeting me was basically the best thing to happen to you! My thighs changed your life forever!"
"That's impossible, way too much happened that day that you weren't even there for."
"That's why it's called luck!"
"I call it a coincidence."
"You can tell yourself whatever you want but we both know what happened."
Izuku didn't answer but he did a mental eye-roll at her boastfulness. No matter what happens between them, she was a blessing to his life and he'll never forget that. But he couldn't believe her assumption. Can a girl's thighs really change someone's life?
In the silence between them, Rumi took the chance to hum a tune.
"Suki suki, o niku suki suki!"
Izuku's face immediately turned red, covering his face as he stammered, "Oh my god!"
"It's catchy ok!" Rumi laughed, trying her best to remove his hands so she could continue treating him.
Sighing, Izuku said, "I feel like life loves putting me up with hope only to slam me back down and crush my pride."
"They do say struggle builds character. Seeing you, I can believe it."
As Rumi said this, she took the hand Izuku used to hit Bakugo and bent down to plant a kiss on his welt knuckles. Looking up at him from his hand to say to him, "With my Lucky Kiss, next time you punch someone, they should stay down."
With a goofy smile on his face, he rubbed the back of his head, chuckling, "I'll try my best."
That was when something hit the boy.
"Wait, where's our bags?" Izuku asked, noticing how the only bag Rumi had on her was the one for first aid.
Rumi looked confused as she answered him.
"Of course I had to drop them when I broke up the fight," She says, turning around to where she placed them, "They're right over….."
They were gone.
The bags were gone.
"-...Uh oh."
"M-my meat…." Izuku shuttered, his body was shaking as if he was about to cry.
Rumi was more casual about the whole thing, stating, "Damn, whoever did it must be fast and I'm kinda impressed. I'm still going to kick their ass thirty times over if I find out who did it."
"Please do! Those thieves won't get away with stealing my meat!"
That was when a porky shaped police officer approached them to talk.
"Were you kids victims as well?" the officer asked.
"Oh god, not this pig again!" Rumi groaned.
"Rumi!" Izuku shouted, surprised at her rudeness.
"No, no, it's ok son," the officer said putting a hand up, "I knew what I was getting into when I joined the police force with a warthog mutation quirk, that was an insult just waiting to happen."
On the second look, the man did have a lot of resemblance to a warthog. He had the snout and tusk to match and despite his porky shape, Izuku's instinct has yet to consider him easy prey. He must have more to him than just his shape for that to happen.
Izuku continued, "Well, sorry anyway for my friend's rude behavior Officer…..Ol-Inks."
"...It's pronounced Oinks," Officer O'inks explained, "Don't let the fancy markings fool you, it's literally just saying oinks. Honestly, I question why I ever thought this career path was ever a good choice."
"Oh uh...ok Officer...O'inks."
"Anyways so you kids got robbed as well?"
Rumi doesn't answer, she just gave one of her more steely looks. Izuku on the other hand, immediately answered, "Yes, yes! Someone stole the meat I bought!"
"We've been getting reports of a lot of thieves in the area," the officer explained, "Someone is yanking a bunch of people's things and disappearing before anyone can get a look at them. Nothing dangerous has happened yet, but, based on witnesses we're suspecting the culprits are a group and have some sort of snatching or invisibility quirk. That'll explain how they were able to make as many hits as they did while still not being seen, so please be careful with your things."
"I will sir," Izuku told him.
The officer then turned toward Rumi, giving a friendly bow as he said, "Bye Rumy, give your father my regards."
"IT'S RUMI, MI!" the rabbit girl shouts, for the first time in his life Izuku witnesses a blush come across the girl's face, "I told you to stop calling me by that name!"
"You were the one who called yourself that first."
The fox boy looked between the two before asking, "Wait...do you two know each other?"
"He's some fuck my dad knows," Rumi begrudgingly answered.
O'inks answered the question properly, "I was an associate with her father and babysitted her a bunch of times when she was younger."
"Worst time of my life!" Rumi rudely added.
"I remember a little bunny crying whenever I couldn't babysit."
"T-that was because the replacement was always the worst! It was this guy who looks like he wanted to die that always complained about his eyes and his stupid girlfriend who never shut the hell up with jokes! And I'm not a bunny!?"
The officer chuckled, "Oh little one, despite your mysterious resentment toward me, it warms my heart to see you're well."
Officer O'inks then checked his watch before stating, "I have to get going, you kids be safe now. Keep your things well secured until we take care of this snatcher business."
"Yeah whatever, go eat some donuts you fatfuck," Rumi told him, crossing her arms and looking away. Her face has greatly decreased in tension since O'inks' arrival, now sitting at a more childish pout than anything.
When the officer had left, Izuku turned to Rumi and asked, "He seems so nice, why were you so hateful toward him?"
"Because I hate authority."
"That'll explain a lot."
"Ok funny guy. Come on, let's redo our shopping."
…..
"Crap!" Izuku shouted, his tail spiraled out of control.
"What!?"
"I can't!"
"Can't what?"
"Rebuy the meat, I'm all out of money!"
"...Oh...ok you made it sound like it was the end of the world."
"It is to me!? I'll die if I go another week without meat!"
"Hmm..." Rumi thought to herself for a bit before asking, "Can you survive another few hours?"
Izuku looked at her confused, "Y-yeah?"
"Good, then let's go out tonight!" Rumi tells him, giving him a coy smile.
7:49 PM
"Rumi, are you sure we should be here?" Izuku asked, looking around the area the bunny girl had brought him, 'Why does she know of a place like this?'
It wasn't some nice house or fancy street, every building on this street looked abandoned. The street lights were crack and crooked as if something busted them but no one bothered to repair them. Windows were broken, brick buildings that looked like they were falling apart, and the streets themselves were littered with the most random of things like a busted washing machine.
"You have two problems right now," Rumi told him as she continued casually walking forward, "You can't fight and you don't have any meat to eat. I took you to a place that'll provide both."
"I don't think I want anything this place is offering."
"Oh you'll be fine, this place is awesome! Almost when we're here, never call me Rumi, only Miruko."
"How-"
"One second," Rumi interrupted, stretching out her legs as she turned toward a building.
Confused Izuku asked, "Why are you-"
CRASH!
Without warning, a brown cow with flowing blonde hair burst out the window from one of the buildings!
"A cow!?" Izuku shouted, more shocked than anything of a rampaging cow here of all places.
"Yup," Rumi calmly says, bending down into her bunny sighting stance and facing the approaching monster, "Sit back, she's mine."
'She?'
Preparing herself for the stampeding cow, she walked until it was less than a few feet away before acting. Using her foot as a pivot, she spun her body around and delivered a strong kick to the side of the cow's head. While it didn't stop the beast, it did knock the cow off course, sending it away from Rumi and ramming into one of the light poles. The impact with the pole seemed to have been enough to finally make the cow stop and it drop to the ground.
"Ru- Miruko, let's go," Izuku states, grabbing onto her arm, "This place isn't safe!"
"Of course it's not safe, that's the fun of it!" Rumi replied, resisting him, "Don't worry, Cassidy's rashness is her best trait."
"You named a cow?"
"I ain't just a cow," a voice called out from where the cow was. Slowly the body of the brown beast began shrinking as it morphed into another form, "I'm the best darn stampeding beast out there, if you need something destroyed hun, just give me a call."
A red-faced Izuku covered his face when he saw her form.
Sitting there on the ground was a blonde girl with blue eyes in her birthday suit, causing the fox boy's reaction. She spoke informally but upbeat in a weird accent, sometimes saying words in English instead of Japanese. Despite her indecent appearance, she nonchalantly greeted them, raising a friendly hand as she said, "Howdy, I'm Cassidy Gozu! You can just call me Cassidy, Cassidy The Cow Girl at ya services."
"Sup Cassidy," Rumi says, walking up to her.
"Hey, Miruko, whose the greenhorn?"
"Just a friend of mine."
"A friend, are you getting soft on me now? I didn't take you to be friends with someone who seems like a yellowbelly."
"Me, soft? Ha, you fucking wish! Do I need to give you another kick to prove it?"
"Maybe you should, you've yet to challenge my charge head-on before. You've always been avoiding it by hook or crook" Cassidy states, confronting Rumi by getting up in her face, "You got da guts for it?"
Meeting the brashness with her own, Rumi bashed her forehead against Cassidy's and gave the blond a close look to her aggressive smile.
"I got the guts for anything," she growled.
It was similar to watching two bulls charging at each other, heads repeatedly hoping one would give an inch only to be left in a stalemate. Lightning sparked between their eyes as they stared each other down and the trash-talking began.
"You're going to get trampled!"
"The only person who's going to be slammed on the floor is you, CowGirl!"
"I'll send you flying into next week!"
"I'll smack that stupid accent out your mouth."
"It's sweet you think you have a chance against me."
"It's funny you think your bloated beefcake of a body can do shit."
"At a dime, I can stomp you out."
"Why not right now? You scared of a little rabbit like me?"
"Are you going to scurry away again?"
"I'm right here!"
"Can you put some clothes on!" Izuku shouted at the busty blonde, trying his best not to peak through his finger to get a look. He was failing horribly but it's the effort that matters.
"The new guy is right," said a voice behind Izuku, causing the fox boy to look behind him.
Walking past him was a boy a bit taller than him. His green hair was lengthy and messy, with most of its length being put into a braided ponytail he left hanging on his right shoulder, most of the right side of his face was covered by his hair as well. He took one lazy passing look at Izuku, staring at his cold blue eyes that seemed to sparkle before turning back to the girl without so much as a greeting.
He wasn't the only one who appeared. From the other buildings around them, four people stepped out from the shadows to approach them. Unlike the guy before, each one seemed to have some animal-based mutation quirk or dressed similar to an animal. A normal-sized girl who was dressed like a lizard, a much bigger guy with the ears and look of a bear, a girl with a frog-like face, a dark-skinned girl dressed like a sheep, and a guy with a lion's mane.
"Oh great, the whole gang's here," Rumi states, pulling away from her and Cassidy's little contest. Turning toward Izuku, she gestures to present everything to him and says, "Welcome to the Yasei Alley."