Chapter 18
Himiko was lying in her room with a dumb smile on her face. kicking her legs while holding a picture of Izuku
"Wise men say... Only fools fall in..."
She was listening to her private playlist of love songs, all sung by Izuku.
"Zuku likes me.... hehehehe" She keeps repeating it to herself as she looks at a list of things she has written on a piece of paper stuck to the foot of her bed
"Go on dates... Go on picnics... Movie nights... Slow dancing... Exchanging blood, Sucking his blood... Oh so many things to do with Zuku! When can I get a ring?"
Rina and Daichi peeped into their love drunk's daughter room
"She's so happy now... do you think we should warn Izuku?"
"Hell no. Let him see how much she loves him himself."
Izuku and Himiko were both walking down the street, both standing closer than normal. Himiko was rolling two suitcases behind her filled with food. Izuku was carrying two boxes of canned goods and two bags of food as well. They both approached the building, as they entered, the pure white interior came into view, and benches and altars were seen.
"Ah! My children come! Oh I'm so glad you're here today!" A man in a black robe appeared from the back.
"Hiii! Father Shiozaki! We brought the left over food. From the bar!" Himiko called out.
"Oh good! Truly the lord has blessed me and this church today, these donations will surely be appreciated children!"
As they started to unload the food. Father Shiozaki asked. "Hey, Midoriya?" "Yes Father?" "Congratulations on getting into UA, also to you for getting into Shiketsu Chizue, but I want to ask Midoriya, is it true you got 142 as your entrance score?"
Izuku smiled and blushed a little, "Yeah, I did, I wasn't even thinking much of it honestly, I just swung around destroying robots and saving people along the way. Why do you ask?"
"Well you see, my granddaughter Ibara got into UA as well, she came 3rd actually, and she was shocked to see your score, in fact she prayed right then and there, thinking that you were blessed enough to reach such a score. I didn't tell her I knew you of course, as per the agreement we have, and I calmed her down saying that he didn't get blessed." the priest laughed, "It is still just mindboggling to me that the person that scored one of the highest scores in the UA entrance exam is standing right next to me."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck "I just tried my best, honestly!"
Father Shiozaki smiled "Ah, humility, glad to see a hero hopeful having such a trait, truly the lord smiles upon you!"
He continued, "Actually Midoriya, can I ask a favor of you?"
"What is it father?"
"My granddaughter, Ibara, in middle school she didn't have many friends mostly from the church meet ups on Sunday, the people at school saw her as overly religious, if it isn't too much to ask, if you ever have the chance, could you keep an eye on her and maybe help her get along with her fellow classmates and maybe reign in some of her religious tendencies? He sometimes comes off as quite judging to people around her."
Izuku giggled a little, "Ah yes, I've never talked to your granddaughter, but according to the folk here, she is quite a character. Don't worry Father, I'll try to look out for her."
"Yeah Zuku'll help!" Himiko said before putting an arm around his shoulder.
"Himiko's right! If she needs to help she'll do too!" Izuku smiled warmly before kissing her hand. Causing Himiko to blush and return the favor by kissing him on the cheek.
Father Shiozaki upon seeing this, excused himself quickly, saying that he wished to speak to some of the church workers about something.
"Father? Did it happen?" a church worker whispered in excitement
"Yes It finally happened brother, It finally happened." Father Shiozaki replied, letting some of his own excitement seep through.
"I'll make sure to make a spot for them in the future."
"Yes if they ever need a wedding venue. Tell them it's free of charge. The help they have provided for this church is immense, especially with that fiasco with that gang telling us to pay "protection money". The Lord has handed them some of the hardest obstacles life has to offer and they have both survived to this day, seeing this young love bloom, if god wills it, then may they be joined in holy matrimony in the future and I will be the one in charge of the ceremony."
Izuku and Himiko looked towards the priest talking to the other church workers in intrigue wondering what got them putting on a such a giddy face.
The sounds of bottles and mixers dropping could be heard from the bar top just before it opened, him and Himiko were trying to figure out flair bartending, whoever managed to make a drink without messing up wins.
They were stuck in the room for two hours before Himiko yelled out "I DID IT!" making a non alcoholic cocktail before drinking it down
"DAMN IT!" yelled Izuku, "Well, guess I got to handle the pre orders and have to clean Michi's litter tray huh?"
"Yes you do, don't worry Zuku! You'll get it done in no time!" Himiko showed a playful grin, meanwhile I'm gonna run some errands for Bloodsmith, be back in a sec!"
Izuku smiled as he sees her girlfriend "I still can't believe I have one" thought Izuku.
"Alright let's see here... copper nails dipped in mustard? Why did Cuppie change his order to mustard? That's way worse than his order before!"
Izuku was at Rei's teahouse, "'Shimo Chaya" kneeling in front of Rei
"Broccoli I know this is weird but I'm here to make a request." Rei said
"What is it Frost." Izuku asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I want you to keep an eye out for Shoto, my son, I know that being recommended by the number 2 hero is a sure fire way to get into UA, so he will be there. By the way call me Rei, let's only use Frost in front of other cove members and Shimo-san in front of everyday people"
"I see, two others have came to me to watch over their children in UA, Silk wanted me to watch over her Togaru and Father Shiozaki wants me to watch over his Ibara, you must be worried about him. Are you worried about his academics... his mental health... " Izuku asked
"Well mental health yes, but I want to know about his social life. I want to see him make friends... Can you just tell me how's he doing every once in a while?"
"Of course Rei-san, I'll do my best."
Touya popped from behind the door. "Also, if you ever see any new scars, or if the flaming piece of garbage ever treats him like shit. Record that, take photos of it, anything, you hear me? Call either of us if anything involves the two!" before going back upstairs
"Will do Dabi!" Izuku yelled back.
"How's Touya doing by the way?" Izuku asked
Rei smiled softly "He's doing a lot better, he's looking better thanks to some doctors and therapists. Your notes combined with Insight's experience really helped him control his fire. He can control the temperature really well now, and can do it in smaller bursts instead of just one big fire. I know that if you ever stop being a hero, you would want to be a quirk counselor?"
Izuku nodded quickly "Yeah! Maybe it's because I was quirkless for most of my life but I am fascinated with quirks. Insight even said my notes are more detailed than some certified counselors."
Rei smiled "Oh, with someone like you, I don't doubt it, anyways, Touya has actually been doing well, law school, he got into law school and studying for some exams. All of his books focus on hero misconduct and abuse cases, I didn't expect him to take an interest in abuse cases honestly."
"Really? I never expected Touya to be the type to go after that either, maybe his experience with abuse had something to do with it."
Rei sighed "I wished we could have started again as a whole family, but for now. I'm glad he's channeling all his frustration into something more productive. Hope he can learn to open to people."
"In due time Rei, in due time."
"Zuku... can I ask for something..." Himiko timidly asked.
"What is it Himi?" Himiko pulled a needle and two small vials from her pockets. One with blood
"Remember when I said that some of the things I wanted to do as a couple were unconventional... this is one of them... this vial has my blood in it, and right now I want to ask for yours- You don't need to do it if you don't want to! "
"Why do you want to do this Himi?"
"Well... you know how I really like blood, well I especially like yours, to me, blood is something really cute to me, and I want us to keep a small vial of it with each other. Again, you don't need to do i-" Before Himiko could finish, Izuku already pricked his hand with the needle. dripping blood into the small thin vial, after a few moments. He sealed it up with a cover and handed it to Himiko and took the vial of Himiko's blood, Himiko stood there stunned.
"You mean a lot of me Himiko and I know how much blood means to you, so I want to show you that I care about you and what you like... so yeah, I'll try my best to keep it on my at all times." Izuku grasped Himiko's hands "As long as you keep your vial of mine on you~" Izuku teased.
Himiko didn't spare another moment before lunging at Izuku while mumbling "I love you" over and over again. Izuku was startled at first before he returned the embrace as they cuddled on the floor.
Izuku was at the old warehouse Hare trained him and Himiko in, alongside seven other people around his age, these people's caretakers have contacted him, wanting some help on controlling their quirks or they were rejected by quirk counselors for having a "villainous quirk"
"Hello all! You can call me Broccoli, you are here because you wanted help with your quirks, before we begin can you a little about yourself and what you need also about your quirks and what they can do and what you need help with?" Izuku asked before pulling out his stylus and tablet and ready to write notes and potential things they could do to help control their quirks
A short girl with an average figure with long black hair, covering one of her red eyes with a reddish black mark on the right side of her neck, wearing a black dress and necklace spoke in a hoarse and quiet voice.
"You can call me Nocturn, I'm 13 and my quirk is Shadow, I can turn into one and merge with shadows and change what my shadow looks like, but I sometimes get stuck in the shadow form for a stupid amount of time, and can't go out of the form unless light is shone on me, so sometimes my parents have trouble finding me, really bright light irritates my skin as well, that's why i grow out my hair. If you help me, then thanks."
A boy with six arms, each pair being a different color. black hair and sharp yellow eyes, wearing a tank top and shorts "Hey people! You can call me Tune, I'm 14, my quirk is Beats! These arms can make beats by hitting something with them and those beats can cause different things to happen to your body!. Red makes you strong, Green makes you fast and Yellow makes you be more durable! I constantly make those beats unknowingly with the smallest movements in my arms, I can't control it well, constantly making me tired, and sometimes people might get affected by the effects, in a negative way, like one time my dad didn't expect himself to go so fast, when I snapped my fingers while listening to songs, and he crashed into a wall... so yeah I want to stop that, if you can help me, I will greatly appreciate it!"
A boy took off a muzzle, earning a sympathetic look from Izuku, he had gray hair and timid eyes, wearing a T-shirt and pants whispering "Y-you can call me Hushed, I'm 14, P-people think my quirk is v-villainous, my quirk is called Terror. If I speak to someone, the more I talk with them the more I learn about their fears and I can see replays of the memory... and I can sometimes accidentally make them feel scared sometimes by making the memories come to their minds, that's why I live with this muzzle... please help me control this!" Hushed bowed.
A girl with yellow slightly moving skin, with multiple black glossy eyes similar to a spider, with a horn sticking out her forehead like a rhino beetle, with small flesh colored wings sticking slightly out of her back showing through the button up she wore, and small bits stuck out the back of our leg, showing through her pants. "Hello Sir! We are called Hive! I prefer if you called us by "We" We have existed on this earth for 13 years now. People have called us villains due to our looks, but in honesty, we are not! We simply want to live our lives as we choose! Our quirk is called Hivemind, this body you see is made up of 500 bugs, We can break ourselves apart, we can fly like flies, and bite! Our bites have venom but it is weak, even if say half of us bit you, you will only feel some numbness, but if any of us were killed, it will take some time for our colony to reproduce and grow back to original strength! Sometimes, some of us will break up in reaction to different situations, such as sudden rush of water, or heat, we have many more weaknesses, if you can help us solve this dilemma, and find ways for us to keep our cohesion, we are forever in your debt!"
A girl with white hair, smooth blue skin, gills and a fin poking out of her back, while also having a wide grin and sharp teeth came forward. "Hi y'all! I'm Mako, I'm 13, but I turn 14 in a few weeks! my quirk is shark, I think it's pretty self explanatory, but yeah I'm here to train how to be faster and actually fight, my aim is to be a marine biologist! And I want to save all the animals getting hurt and get all the people who mess with the ocean, I'm a Mako shark according to my parents, and they swim fast! So I want to learn how to do that! I lived in Kokai before our family got out so I know how to swim well!"
A boy with thick round glasses, came forward, having brown short hair and in a brown cardigan and black pants, while holding a book, fitting the academic type to a tee. "Greetings, I'm Noton, aged 14 it's a play on Newton, and my quirk is gravity manipulation I can control an area around me to make it so that gravity goes a different direction, for example I can touch an apple and it will be pulled upwards, sideways or downwards with more force, my foster parents heard about this place and hope you can help me control this, I don't want a repeat of what happened in my last home, I couldn't control my quirk and then I destroyed everything by making them fall upwards, so yes... Please help me."
Lastly, a boy with spiked black hair and white eyes wearing what seems a lab coat while wearing a long sleeve shirt and and pants, One of his hands seem to be able to turn into a sharp spike, while the other one looks like it can emit a soft white light, he spoke up with a grin. "Hey there! You can call me Fuse! my quirk is Cut and Fix! It's not really a creative name but yeah, anyways my left arm can turn into a spike and cut with speed and precision, and my white light can fuse things! But the only problem is, it only works on organic materials. like animals and human flesh and stuff. Strangely, the things I cut don't seem to feel pain when I cut them open, At the same time, my other hand lights up! I think the light has something to do with them not feeling pain or dying, people called me a freak when I tried to do dissections an animals that are living and breathing, I tried fusing their arteries into different spaces, or fuse bits of their bodies to their lungs, I even cut myself open once! It felt weird! but I want to be a surgeon dammit! If I can't use humans then of course I had to to use animals. The quirk counselors say I need to "not use my quirk" but thankfully my parents understood my potential and genius! So please help me Broccoli! You're looking at Japan's future number 1 surgeon!"
Izuku looked on and nodded, "Fascinating... Alright I already have some ideas on how I can help, Nocturn I will first try to have you try to activate your quirk. You need to use your quirk in order to better control it. I will be there, if you ever get stuck I want you to hold up a V symbol with your fingers and wave it, that is when I actually know to activate my fire and create light, these experiments will let me see what things you need to do or think in order to get out of shadow form at will."
"Tune, I can get someone to make you bracelets that can absorb vibrations, you will then try to control your quirk's effects, if you can do that then we will use weaker bands, until you can learn how to control your quirk without it."
"Hushed, as for you , since it's a mental quirk like mine. I think mental strength is a part of your quirk, I will try to learn more about it, in the meantime. I will find you people for you to experiment on, you need to use your quirk if you want to control it, don't worry, they will have to consent to it before hand and people like me can watch if things go out of hand. I think you need to mentally imagine a literal wall to block out the memories and if you actually want to send out the memories then you need them to be imagined as projectiles and throw them, at them."
"Hivemind, for you all, people like you with mutation quirks, typically share some similarities with the animals they got their mutations from. If you don't mind I would ask for you to sacrifice some of you so I can send them to someone to analyze what species of bugs you all are, that might help with your cohesion, or strength, since some bugs react strongly to different scents or chemicals. For now, I want to slowly take you through some situations to train your cohesion, we will take it slowly, in the case of you I will slowly increase my fire temperature and see how you adapt."
"Mako, I'm gonna call upon some people I know with aquatic quirks to help me train you, for the mean time I want to learn more about the Mako shark and the mutation it can give you, like spinal structure, skin, all of that, to see how you can use your body effectively to reach high speeds."
"Noton, I will place a bunch of things in a room and I will try to train you slowly but surely I will make you move small things, and see if you can stop them whenever you want so I can gauge your abilities, and focus on shifting your gravity subtly, my advice would be to really concentrate."
"Lastly for you Fuse, I think you would benefit from learning from an actual medical professional or at least have great anatomical knowledge. I know a doctor near here. Called Necra, she's on the third floor of the building behind us. Tell her Broccoli sent you and give her this paper for proof and tell her why you're there. That's all everyone, before we begin, any questions?"
The children slowly clapped their hands at the sight of a boy their age, breaking down and thinking of ways to help them with their quirks.
"Thanks, I guess..."
"Yeah! Thanks man! No surprise you got into UA!"
"T-Thank you so much Broccoli!"
"Good sir! We are glad that the rumors spoke true of your mind!"
"Oh heck yeah! Actual doctors! Thanks Broccoli!"
"Alright let's begin!"
"Peek me, do it coward." said a woman with eyes with spider web like patterns on it while having web like appendages.
They were currently having an in house match of a game they found called CSGO after the initial find of the suitcase back at the warehouse, shooter games have been a favorite amongst the patrons and within the cove. Right now, with the ten PCs installed in the rooms upstairs. People are listening to the communication. It's been a while since they found a more realistic shooter game, now a woman named Arach is trying to snipe someone hiding behind a wall. It was Tetsuchi, turns out he was surprisingly good at shooter games.
The rest of the bar was watching the match on a TV on the ground floor Izuku was shaking a drink and Himiko had Michi on her lap while looking at the chat.
After some digging, they found that people who used to play these pre quirk era video games will broadcast them or put them on as videos on online platforms. Such as Youtube and Twitch, instead of things today like HeroLive, with the help of Tinker, there is a twitch stream broadcasting the match, there's no actual camera footage of the people, just the audio of them talking and the bar's reaction but it has garnered quite an audience, all of them being part of the TFC, since no one in modern society uses these platforms anymore.
It happened in the blink of an eye, Tetsuchi threw a flashbang and after it went off, peeked from the wall he was hiding behind and shot off Arach's head.
The bar yelled in hype as they heard a shriek of "DAMN IT!" coming from Arach. The live chat also came alive at that moment, spamming random emoticons that they had no idea what it means.
Michi jumped from Himiko's lap as she jumped up in excitement, Izuku almost dropped the drink he's mixing at the sight of that play.
Days later, it was the night before both of them will officially start their high school journeys, Tetsuchi had already managed himself to take on more of the info work given that Himiko and Izuku had less time to spend, and the patrons thankfully understood if they didn't get to see them sometimes. Right now, they were both at the Izuku's room, both said they had something to reveal to another.
"Ok... I'll go first Zuku!"
Himiko revealed a simple necklace made of thread, but at the bottom hung the small vial of Izuku's blood.
"So yeah... this is what I came up with..." Himiko said. "I'll hide it under my shirt of course! but yeah I get it people might find it strange to have someone's blood around your neck, but I feel safe, knowing that some part of you is with me..."
Izuku smiled. "I think it's a beautiful sentiment Himi, I also have this." Izuku revealed a watch. "Tinker made it for me, it also serves as a voice recorder and there's a camera, and it can send a GPS signal and distress call to a bunch of people in the cove. Including some regiment leaders, but the most important thing is this." Izuku flipped the watch over to open the back of it, inside was a small, thin and long space and in it, a vial of Himiko's blood was put there. "I thought of a watch not just because it's inconspicuous but also because if I'm going to spend time on this earth, I want to spend it with you by my side, no matter how small "you" is" Izuku looked away blushing, after trying his best to be smooth.
It seemed to work though as Himiko embraced Izuku, Izuku didn't resist, she just sat there for a while, cuddling him, while purring like a cat, Izuku just sat there also, stroking her hair.