A / N: Hello, welcome to my first fanfic for the BNHA fandom! I'm Mel and I used to write on this website for the Yugioh fandom way back when. In recent months however, BNHA has really taken my fancy and this muse struck me damn hard. I've always wanted to write within a historical setting and tbh I'm a huge Hakuouki fan as well, so I thought about crossing them over in some way. You don't need to be a Hakuouki fan nor a history buff to understand this fic, so dw about that!
I don't want to give too much away, but I hope you enjoy!
FANFIC SUMMARY:
Izuku Midoriya is on the search for his missing father after being exiled from his home village of Aldera. He has to keep on the move as his power is sought by many, but he hopes that Hisashi Midoriya will provide him with the answers needed. On the fateful night of 4th April 1864, Izuku crosses paths with members of the Yoikusa, a secret faction linked with the Shinsengumi, who deal with matters of the supernatural kind in order to protect the shogunate. This meeting will change Izuku's world forever. He is forced into the midst of unrest in Japan, as the Isolationist Period is reaching its end and the nation will never be the same. However, Izuku Midoriya will find himself with the potential to change everything.
(An ensemble cast fic with a historical fantasy setting. Lots of drama, tragedy and angst mixed in with friendship, comfort, romance and moments of joy. Ships include TodoDeku (slowburn), Kacchacko, KamiJirou, TodoMomo (pre-established), MidoTsuyu, onesided KiriBaku and others.)
...
prologue: revival.
"Please, I am begging you!" a middle aged woman cried out in agony, trying to free herself from the grasp of two village elders restraining her. She was protesting the leader's decision, though it drew no sympathy from the eyes of onlookers. Cutting whispers and piercing eyes made up the company that came to witness this departure. "He's just a boy! I'll make sure he gets trained, he can be controlled!" But the villagers did not see the boy at all, only the knife that plunged into the peace of Aldera and left paranoia in its wake. The boy knew that. "Please, don't take my precious son away from me..!"
The boy looked to the guard who was escorting him to the gates. He wondered if a moment of weakness would reach his mind, granting some minutes of hesitation. It then occurred to him that if he really was allowed to farewell his mother, the leader of Aldera would have already made it happen. Still, the knowledge that his mother would not give up on him when everyone else did brought the slightest of comforts. He knew the reality was less kind than that. If his father was anything to go by, he knew that with this exile, he would never see his mother again.
There was a pause at the gate, but the boy would not get his hopes up. His eyes were directed to the ground, and his mother's cries abruptly ceased. The boy did not dare search the crowd for the cause of her silence. He already knew.
Addressing the crowd was the leader of Aldera Village, a stern old man with a rough, gritty voice. He was firm with his next words and the village knew that defying them would be treasonous. "It has been unanimously agreed upon by the Aldera Village Council, that due to the nature of his power, Izuku Midoriya must cease to exist in our society. This village must uphold the peace and all threats must be eliminated immediately. There will be no appealing of the decision made, not even by the boy's mother."
"Ha! Why would we appeal it anyway?" a particularly outspoken member of the village crowed out, though his friend elbowed him for the insensitivity. "Come on! He takes after his father and you all know it!" The onlookers descended into murmurs, especially the older villagers who remembered Hisashi Midoriya.
Izuku bit his lip at the mention of his father. He never knew much about him, and yet here he was, sharing the same fate.
One of the whisperings of the crowd reached his ears and plunged into his heart. "It's the mother I feel sorry for. Abandoned by her husband and then by her son? How cruel."
Before Izuku could even protest or apologise or even begin to justify the situation, the leader spoke again. "Silence! Whatever your respective opinions may be, this young man is a danger to us all. There is no place for him in our midst." The village gates are pulled open, exposing the dense forest ahead. "Izuku Midoriya, you are henceforth banished from Aldera Village. Leave, and never return."
...
April 4, 1864
Izuku was jolted awake by the rapping at his door. Jumping up, he ran to the window. The sunlight was almost blinding to his dreary eyes, which told him more than he needed to know. He was supposed to have cleared out of this room by now, and the rapping on his door must be the innkeeper's wife reminding him of this.
"I-I'm very very sorry!" Izuku called out as he tried to throw his few belongings back into his bag. "I will be out of your way soon!"
The innkeeper's wife sighed a little, but responded with a gentle voice. "Please do not push yourself too hard, Midoriya-san. It is the hour of the horse, and our next guest arrives at the hour of the monkey." Izuku knew that what she really meant was for him to hurry up and get out so she can clean in time for the next arrival. "I will prepare a meal for you before you go. The first meal of the day is very important."
He exhaled in relief – she wasn't too mad at him. Izuku quickly decided to himself that he would offer to help with the clean-up by way of thanks later.
Still, it was rare for Izuku to dream of the past. Not that he didn't think about it. He thought about his mother every single day, dedicating every prayer to her health, her happiness and overall wellbeing. His own heart was left in fragments the day he was forced to leave her, just like his father did so many years before.
However, he understood his position. After spending so many years believing he had nothing, that he was nothing… only for him to wreck everything. It was better for him to walk alone, Izuku knew that more than anything.
There was only one person in this world who could possibly grasp what he's been going through.
Hisashi Midoriya, his father.
Yes, the years Izuku has spent outside Aldera he was searching for his father. If anyone could provide answers, it must be him.
Entering into the year of 1864, Izuku finally had a lead to work with.
Later he would arrive in Kyoto.
...
Late April 4, 1864.
The busy streets of Kyoto had died down by the time Izuku Midoriya arrived, and he was starting to regret the hour he spent helping out with the cleaning at the inn in the previous town. Izuku tried all the accommodation he could find on the main street, but they were all fully booked. Nothing he could say or do convinced anyone of opening their doors to him. He was low on money too, which didn't help matters in the slightest.
Even though he had slept out in the cold before, no roof over his head, the concept still frightened him. Izuku came from an isolated village to a world where all sorts of turmoil and threats existed, and he was late in the uptake of it all. He did his best to research the current situation and couldn't place himself within it. Where does he fit in the Japan that was starting to deal with the outside world? Where people were now more divided than ever on the right path to take? The Izuku of Aldera never had to worry about these things. Nothing touched the village, not even the nation surrounding it.
Izuku had every reason to worry now, more than ever.
Despite the frost of winter dying down and spring going through its awakening, there was a chilling bite in the air as Izuku wandered the streets. He rubbed his hands together, fighting the cold that seeped through the fabric of his clothing.
In sheer desperation, Izuku tried knocking on the front doors of houses in the hopes of a kind soul, but there was no such luck. It was so strange though. A city like Kyoto he expected to be bustling with activity, even at this time of night. He thought hard, pulling out a map someone drew up for him while he was travelling through Nagasaki. That's when the solution to his problem finally appeared.
"Shimabara, that's…" Izuku narrowed his eyes, slightly embarrassed by what he was reading. The entertainment district of Shimabara. If any district in Kyoto was still lively, it was bound to be Shimabara. Izuku was never a fan of the nightlife itself. He didn't drink, nor did he want to engage in the pleasures that men raved on about. Not to mention the drunken brawling and the treatment of the women. It all felt so wrong in his mind. Nevertheless, staying somewhere in Shimabara was a preferable option to being out on the streets. It's bound to be noisy over there and he'd be unlikely to get peace and quiet until the hour of the tiger, but Izuku could not think of any other plans. This was the best he's got.
He steeled himself to head in the direction of Shimabara, following the map to a T. But even as he drew nearer, the sounds of the night barely increased in volume. What was going on?
Maniacal laughter burst from the shadows, followed by a gut-wrenching scream.
Izuku's eyes widened as he jerked his head in the direction of the sound. Instinct told him to stay away, but the scream lurched out and coiled around his arm. He locked eyes with a middle aged man, but dripping red snatched his attention and the source wasn't far away. One hand clung to Izuku like his life depended on it, but the other was missing, the limb cut at the wrist.
"Help… help me..!" the man cried out in desperation. Izuku couldn't breathe. Pulling away was the only idea that came to mind, but the stranger's hand chained him in place.
"Please," Izuku begged, unable to summon any other words.
He didn't have to.
Blood sprayed his freckled face as his arm was released, the stranger cut down by a vicious blade. He didn't want to see any more of this. The one who severed this man's ties to the world of the living; the final twitches and gasps as the life drained from his being. Izuku tore himself away and sped into a sprint. He didn't have to look back to know he was under violent pursuit. The cackling continued, but it was breathy and several different pitches blending together. With the heavy footsteps, Izuku knew there had to be at least four or five of them.
'Them'… Izuku could not begin to define these beings who were undoubtedly men, yet had the disposition of starved beasts. What could he do against the hunters as their targeted prey?
He already knew his capabilities, but he feared the consequences of bringing out such a power. The katana at his side would never be enough to handle these monsters. No one was going to step outside and join this madness. All doors closed, all alleyways leading to potential dead ends, all options begin to shrivel in the wake of the oncoming thirst for blood.
Izuku had to face reality. He didn't want to have to do this, but a clean getaway was impossible.
"Silence! Whatever your respective opinions may be, this young man is a danger to us all. There is no place for him in our midst."
Remembering such words only tightened his resolve.
With a turn of his heel, Izuku drew his katana and clashed with the nearest of the pursuers. Providing such a halt caught him off balance as the grip of his sword loosened. Izuku managed a side step to cut his opponent down, incapacitating him.
The remaining four blades plunged into his flesh from varying angles. Izuku gasped, before he tumbled to the cold, unrelenting ground and drenched it with red. Out of the corner of his eye, he knew that these beasts weren't satisfied with this. As the light in his eyes began to fade, Izuku knew only a few things.
One; the pain would leave him soon.
Two; the beasts weren't content with just the kill.
Three; the fifth blade was not out of the picture.
"Aizawa-souchou, I have a situation to report."
Shouta Aizawa, vice-commander of the Yoikusa, rested a hand on the hilt of his katana as he turned an eye to the shadows. A low, feminine voice had spoken from the shadows of the nearest alleyway and Aizawa knew it, as did his two companions. Their postures tensed slightly, all aware that tonight was not going to be another regular patrol. The arrival of Kyouka Jirou, kunoichi employed under the Yaoyorozu clan, told them more than words could.
"Which district?" he replied, cutting to the chase.
"Almost into Shimabara, northeast entrance side," Kyouka responded, "Five of them, all in the bloodlust stage. I incapacitated them, but in their current state it will not last."
"Understood." With that affirmation, Kyouka disappeared into the night. Aizawa turned to his companions and simply nodded, signal enough for the three to make their way to the scene. Shouto Todoroki, captain of the First Division and Katsuki Bakugou, captain of the Second Division. Each capable in their own rights, and Aizawa knew they would get the job done.
That being said, they each came with their respective quirks.
"What the fuck was Shitty-Hair doing?!" Katsuki complained, disappointment in his comrade well and truly clear. "I told him to let Droopy Face or someone cover for him!"
Shouto side-eyed his fellow captain. If he recalled correctly, Eijirou Kirishima had boasted loud and clear that he was ready to resume his duties only to be shot down by Katsuki. It was clear that Eijirou wasn't in his best state, but there was only so much fussing one could do over a man who could no longer be swayed. Shouto regretted not having spoken out against him before. Fumikage could have easily covered for him tonight, and they wouldn't be in this predicament
"Lower your voice, Bakugou," Aizawa warned him, though he knew no one heard something they shouldn't have. He felt a withering look thrown in his direction, but the Second Division captain didn't press it further. "We will handle it, and all traces of evidence will be removed from the scene. Understood?"
"Ryōkai!"
It did not take them long to arrive at the location Kyouka had indicated. What they were met with was of little surprise – five men, manic with bloodlust, drinking up from their latest victim. All five blades stuck into the corpse, unwavering against the bumping of monsters at their feast. Aizawa could only be thankful for the fact that nobody dared come close to the scene. Normal people stumbling upon these five would not escape alive.
But Shouta Aizawa, Shouto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugou were not normal people.
"Stand back, I've got this. I've been waiting all fucking night to deal with bastards like these!"
Katsuki, the rash of the three, charged for the group while they were distracted with their thirst for blood. He knew where to target, easily sticking his blade through their hearts. With their katanas sticking into the corpse, they were unprepared for a counterattack. All five of these men had been taken care of for good.
Shouto scrunched up his nose. While this thick, heavy scent of death wasn't a stranger to him; the sight of men who had once shared uniforms with them, shared living spaces with them, shared morals and aspirations with them… that was a burden he was used to bearing. He looked to Aizawa to give the next order, but the Vice-Commander of the Yoikusa was not moving a muscle. Shouto followed his senior's gaze to Katsuki, who was staring at the corpse with an unreadable expression.
When the moonlight shone upon Katsuki's face, Shouto could have sworn he saw something resembling misery, maybe even regret. But as quickly as his face became clearer, the clouds shifted and the expression was shrouded. Shouto couldn't decide whether he would commit that face to memory or not.
"Do you know him?" Aizawa asked, almost a rhetorical question, but it snapped Katsuki out of it.
Looking to the Vice-Commander, Katsuki finally spoke up again. "Years ago, before I joined you guys, my family took this idiot in for a while. He was kicked out of his home or some shit, but it's not like he stayed long enough for us to be friends." Shouto knew the lie within this mostly accurate account. "Fucking hell, Deku. Useless right until the very end."
Shouto finally took some steps closer to the corpse, a little more humanised by Katsuki's words. "If you knew him, then perhaps we should organise a proper burial. A letter to your parents as well, perhaps?"
Katsuki shook his head, narrowing his eyes. "They've probably forgotten him." He reached to pull the five blades from the aforementioned body. Shouto felt his fellow captain's walls go up, not wanting to go in depth with the subject. "There's no point. He was nobody important and if he's anything like before, he's got nobody who will miss him."
As Katsuki replied to Shouto, Aizawa changed his focus from his companions to the subject matter himself. He went closer for further inspection, sensing something incredibly off about this 'Deku'.
"He must have been important enough if you remembered who he was," countered Shouto.
"And how about you mind your own fucking business, Half-and-Half—"
"Be quiet, the both of you," Aizawa cut in between the two, pulling them back from the victim of the slaughter. Before Katsuki could snap, the Vice-Commander pointed a finger to make them examine 'Deku' properly.
None of them had seen anything like this.
A body, that had been cold and dead as the night, began to stir, a glowing light enveloping him. Spilled blood seeped into wounds, sealing over and becoming untouched flesh. Bones snapped as though they were realigning themselves within the flesh. Just when they thought they had seen enough, the body sat up with a start, inhaling the first breath of air in what felt like hours. The glow became a flame that spread out, turning the surrounding five corpses to ash. 'Deku' gasped, a hand over his lungs as he tried to steady himself, let his heartbeat return to normal.
In that moment, Aizawa could also sense Kyouka's presence nearby. Even the kunoichi, a master at making her presence unknown, could not have foreseen any of this. That being said, her recovery was swift and he could no longer sense her. Perhaps the kunoichi was surprised, but not at the same level of shocked that most would be. Katsuki and Shouto on the other hand, couldn't gather their thoughts quickly enough to even react. Especially Katsuki.
The golden flames began to die out and 'Deku' coughed loudly, choking up some dirt he'd accidentally almost swallowed before. He wiped at his chin, before grabbing for his bag and his katana in a hurry. Perhaps he would have made a run for it, had he not locked eyes with Katsuki Bakugou of the Yoikusa.
"… Kacchan?" he enquired, his voice just above a whisper.
But Katsuki was not having any of that. What was confusion, almost fearful, turned into anger at the unknown. "Don't 'Kacchan' me! What the fuck was that?! One moment you're deader than dead and the next… the next fucking moment you're 'Kacchaning' me and just—"
Shouta Aizawa stepped between the two, raising an arm so Katsuki couldn't get any closer. With his other arm he brandished his finest blade, the tip nearing 'Deku's throat before the boy could even flinch. "Drop your belongings and show your hands. You are a key figure in our investigation and so we would like for you to come with us for questioning. Show any sign of resistance and we will be forced to incapacitate you completely and put you under arrest. State your name."
'Deku' gulped thickly as he set his bag and katana down once more. Once he was up on his feet, he raised his hands where Aizawa could see them. His entire body was shaking nervously, a far cry from the unmoving corpse of before. "My name… my name is Izuku Midoriya, um…"
Shouto's eyes widened at the specified surname. His expression darkened, no further hesitation. "Aizawa-souchou," he spoke with a sense of urgency.
Aizawa glanced briefly at his companion, understanding what the concern was. "Change in plans. Todoroki, go ahead."
Before Izuku could question anything further, the young man referred to as 'Todoroki' had already come up behind him and delivered a powerful blow to the back of his neck. The wind knocked out of him, Izuku collapsed into an unconscious heap.
...
A/N: Thanks for reading this far! I will post the next few chapters over the next couple of days. Reviews are love - also yes this fanfic is cross-posted to AO3, so some of you might have seen it there already. Until next time!
