Chapter 02: Sawada's Will
-OOOOO-
Izuku picked himself from the hot concrete as he sniffed and came to a horrifying realization. He was crying in front of this stranger. Granted, the stranger knew his na- HOW DID HE KNEW HIS NAME!?
Izuku put up his guard again, finding his mind weirdly focused. "How do you know my na-"
"Hisashi left me some letters for you and your mother." Reborn reached into his pocket and brought out two battered letters. "I believe we should hold this conversation somewhere more private."
Izuku's heartbeat rose. His eyes focused. His body moved-
And his escape was cut off by the killing intent Reborn was leaking.
"Seriously, does every Sawada I get to tutor have to be so flighty?" He heard the man mutter. "Look Izuku, I've been looking for you and your mother for the last ten years to deliver a letter I can only deliver in person. Do you want to this the easy way or do I have to force you to take me to your home?"
Izuku thought hard about this. He couldn't in good faith lead this… danger. That's what his instinct was yelling at him. Reborn exceeded any Villain and Hero in his danger scale, bar maybe All Mi-
"You can't become a Hero without a quirk."
His heart throbbed.
"Then they are wrong. Izuku Midoriya, you can become a Hero."
His heart eased.
The stranger told him those words he had dreamed of hearing ever since he was diagnosed as quirkless. It made him feel good, made him feel specia-
No! That's what he wanted, he said those words so he would lead him to his home.
But then again… could he stop him from getting his answer?
No… but he could try.
"I won't take you to my home." Izuku looked at him in the eyes. "I can't risk my mom like that."
Izuku was prepared to be beaten into the ground… when Reborn smiled.
"Good answer, Hisashi would be proud of you." Reborn's eyes were gentle as Izuku realized the killing intent was gone. Reborn turned and walked down the street. "You passed my test, I already found out where you live."
Izuku let go of the breath he had been holding and cautiously followed Reborn.
-OOOOO-
As Izuku opened his door he heard his mom cooking. "I'm home." He called out. "And… I brought someone with me."
"Welcome home honey!" She called out. "Dinner will be ready in a bit, set the table for three."
Izuku nodded as he entered their apartment followed by Reborn. He took out his shoes and put them at the shoe racket and he saw Reborn do the same. He quickly set his bag at the couch and went to set the table.
A few minutes later his mother set three plates of curry on the table.
"Good evening ma'am." Reborn bowed at his mother. "My name is Reborn. I was Hisashi's tutor during his youth."
Izuku clenched his fists as he saw his mother's eyes tear up.
"W-what?" Inko Midoriya asked, her voice about to break.
Reborn simply took both letters out of his pocket and handed one to each Midoriya.
"Hisashi asked me to deliver these personally to you before he…" Reborn tipped his fedora, letting it cover his eyes.
Izuku clenched his hand and opened the letter. Messy handwriting and… tear stains covered the letter.
"Dear Izuku…
Uh… hi… it's me, your father… I'm sorry for never being around during your childhood. I had to take care of some business so you and Inkoko could live a peaceful life. If you received this letter then it means I managed to defeat those bastards… but I couldn't come back home. I'm sorry I can't be there. Are you eating well? Are you happy? Did… did the doctors say you were quirkless? If so… I'm sorry, you are probably quirkless due to my side of the family.
You see… we don't have a quirk. We have Flames. Dying Will Flames to be more exact. You can treat it as a quirk if you want to, people will believe you. That's what I did. Yours are probably Sky Flames, like my grandpa's… Izuku, we descend from a family of powered individuals from before the age of quirks… we descend from Tsunayoshi Sawada, the Vongola Decimo… and if I'm correct you are the last one of us. Reborn will be able to tell you more.
I just want to say… no matter if you are quirkless… no matter if you never develop your flames… I'm proud of you son. No matter what you want to be, you can do it. Actor? Your mom's beautiful genes will make you the most charming actor. Police officer? Your intuition will carry you far. Hero? Son. YOU CAN BECOME THE BEST DAMN HERO IN THE WORLD!
Take care of Inkoko son, I believe she will be destroyed after she reads her letter. Keep the flame alight and keep going forward Izuku. I believe in you. I love you.
Goodbye son."
As he finished reading the letter he realized he had started crying. He felt himself fall to his knees and hug his crying mother. He barely registered Reborn leaving the house.
-OOOOO-
After crying and eating the now cold curry they saw Reborn walk into the house, carrying a suitcase with the word 'Vongola' written on the side.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Reborn told them solemnly. "Hisashi was a good man."
"Yes." His mother sniffed. "He was… he mentioned you would tutor Izuku."
"And I will." Reborn sat down and ate his cold curry in silence. "That was very good." He pushed his plate to make space and he set the suitcase on the table. "I… spoke with Aldera's principal. Your tutelage will be managed by me. I will home-school you until you are ready to go to the high school of your choosing." Izuku nodded. It was nice not having to go there anymore.
"I… I want to go to U.A. I want to be a Hero." Izuku replied.
"Then I'll also train you to fight and use your flames." Reborn nodded. "Now, I believe you two are wondering what Vongola is." He received two nods. "Vongola started as a Vigilante group made by the Vongola Primo, Giotto, and his friends. They started a tradition. The leader had Sky Flames and his Guardians, his most trusted allies, had the six other Dying Flames of the Sky. Storm, Rain, Lightning, Mist, Cloud and Sun. They commissioned Rings so they could prove their affiliation." And with that Reborn opened the suitcase, revealing a bunch of colorful rings separated in seven compartments.
The blue compartment had a ring with a blue gem with the image of a water drop on it. Beside it a ring with the shape of an octopus rested. The indigo compartment had a ring with an indigo gem with the image of lines flowing on it. Beside it two rings rested. One on the shape of an owl and the other of a snake eating its tail.
The red compartment had a ring with a red gem with the image of a gust of wind on it. Beside it a ring on the shape of a cat rested. The yellow compartment had a ring with a yellow gem with the image of a sun on it. Beside it a ring with the shape of a kangaroo's head rested.
The purple compartment had a ring with a deep purple gem with the image of a cloud on it. A ring on the shape of a hedgehog rested. The green compartment had a ring with a green gem and the image of a lightning bolt on it. Another ring rested beside it. It had a bull's head on it.
What really caught his attention was the orange compartment. It was on the center. Three rings rested atop a set of black gloves. One of the rings had the words 'Vongola Famiglia' engraved on it. It had red, purple, yellow, indigo, green and blue highlights on him with what Izuku assumed to be the Vongola symbol engraved on its center.
Two other rings rested beside it, almost like they were flanking it. One had a miniature lion head on it… and the other had a bunny's head. He… he felt like they were calling him. The rings and the gloves.
"These are the Vongola Rings. Each of your guardians will have their corresponding ones. Yours." He pointed at the orange compartment. "Are those. The original Sky Ring, the Sky Lion Ring… and your father's Sky Bunny Ring." Izuku's hands trembled as he picked up the ring. It felt pleasantly warm on his hand. "Your father also left you his weapons, his gloves."
Izuku nodded as he took both gloves and held them close to his chest with the Sky Bunny Ring.
"Due to the emergence of quirks, Dying Flames quickly disappeared, as they could only manifest normally on quirkless people… like you and your father." Izuku nodded, giving him his full attention as his mother reached across the table to pat his arm. "But quirked individuals can manifest flames by spending a lot of time with a Sky like yourself… and by expressing their will to fight by your side. You may choose your guardians as they express their loyalty to you."
Izuku nodded. "I-I guess I-I'll have to start looking for friends."
Reborn nodded. "When Giotto and his Guardians stepped down… their successors turned Vongola into the strongest mafia family on Italy." Izuku's eyes widened. "It continued like that until Tsunayoshi Sawada took over… I'll admit. At first I hated that brat. He was a useless coward… but then he showed me his resolve to help his friends." Reborn looked down. "He would have liked to meet you. Anyways, he took over Vongola and started reforming it. At first he hated the idea of leading the mafia, but then he realized he could save a lot of people by taking over Italy's underworld completely, preventing them from committing crimes outright." Reborn smiled. "Damned brat, never paid me for that wine."
Izuku sat quietly for a moment. "Vongola started as a force of good before turning into a mafia until Tsunayoshi Sawada reformed it." Izuku nodded to himself and looked at Reborn, eyes full of resolve. "I'll turn Vongola into a name which strikes fear into criminals and fills the innocent's heart with hope."
Reborn smiled at him.
-OOOOO-
Izuku exhaled as he ran through the bad part of Musutafu. Part of Reborn's training involved this. Running through this zone while weights on his arms and legs. He also wore his gloves with his rings over them. He had a high risk of getting mugged but Reborn said that was the point. He had to build a reputation by beating up anyone who attacked him to make sure nobody would try again.
Izuku reflected on the last two months. Two months full of training. At first Reborn started by accommodating to his own work out schedule. And then he improved it. Izuku had never felt so tired during their first two weeks together. By the third week Izuku had acclimated to the exercises and that's when the real training begun.
Reborn would take him to an empty warehouse to take part in combat training. Or at least that's what Reborn would call it. He would just release some killing intent and rush at Izuku so he could learn how to fight for real.
At first it went as you would expect a fully grown and trained man with more experience than the top two Heroes going against a kid only used to getting beat up for getting in the way of bullying.
At least Izuku never complained.
By the start of the second month Izuku finally entered what Reborn called 'Hyper Dying Will Mode.' Izuku just called it 'Hyper Mode' for short. The first time he entered it he felt as if his body was breaking apart, but his instinct and his awareness rose significantly. He could also tell his gloves had changed, turning into more combat-ready gloves as his hands were engulfed in Sky Flames. He fell out of Hyper Mode almost as soon as he got it, panting heavily. Reborn was pleased as he started being more brutal on his training, releasing even more killing intent and making him fight using his Hyper Mode as long as possible.
He had kept up with his studies and was excelling even more than before. Reborn was an amazing teacher and from what Izuku could tell Reborn was pleased by his progress.
The sound of something hitting flesh brought him out of his thoughts and he traced the sound to an alleyway. As he got closer he heard more hits and two people laughing. Peering over the side his blood started boiling.
Two men were laughing as they kicked another on the ground. The fallen man had a paper bag on his head and looked to be passed out… the other two didn't look like they planned to stop. One had the constitution of a bear while the other had a trunk for a nose.
His body moved as it entered Hyper Mode.
The two men had reared back a leg to kick the Paper bag man as Izuku closed in on them. Seeing the biggest threat he kicked the back of the knee of the supporting leg of the Bear man, making him fall down as Izuku punched him bellow the ribs with a Flame infused punch, shoving him back into the trunk guy with a crack, knocking him to the ground as another, louder crack could be heard. It seemed like the Bear man had fallen on Trunk's supporting leg.
They fell down and Izuku let them… let Bear man get up. Trunk was screaming out in pain but in this neighborhood nobody would interfere on a beating… unless they were Izuku Midoriya.
He calmly sidestepped as Bear man lunged at him, connecting a quick punch to the back of his neck, knocking him out. He walked up to Trunk to see him trying to run away and got down to press on a pressure point on his neck, knocking him out.
He went out of Hyper Mode and walked over to Paper bag man, putting him over his shoulder and walking through a shortcut towards his apartment.
'I wonder if Reborn can teach me how to treat his wounds.'
-OOOOO-
Toshinori Yagi looked at the ramen stand and then down at the card... and sighed.
He had gotten that card when the white-haired man dropped it as he simply walked out of view… on a straight alleyway. The card only had the directions to a ramen stand. He needed some answers. He hadn't felt any ill intentions from the man before, only… weirdness and an odd sense of trustworthiness. Like he wasn't talking to a human, but something that learnt what being human is.
He rubbed his temples and entered it, sitting down next to the white-haired man and found a bowl of ramen in front of him.
"The miso ramen here is very good Yagi-kun, I recommend it heavily." The white-haired man smiled at him. "Kawahira, tentatively at your service for information and the like."
Toshinori sighed. 'Of course he knows.' He snapped a pair of disposable chopsticks and began eating quietly. Kawahira was right, it was good ramen.
"I believe you are wondering about why I invited you here." Toshinori nodded. "Well, I believe you have questions I can answer."
Toshinori swallowed his ramen. "How do you know about One for All?"
"Ever since quirks first appeared I've been keeping an eye on the interesting ones, that includes One for All and All for One."
"How old are you?"
"Certainly older than you Yagi-kun." Kawahira laughed to himself. "And certainly older than that kid All for One."
"What can you tell me about him?"
"I can tell you he is alive." Toshinori stiffened. 'Oh god no.' "He is also recuperating, not yet at one hundred percent, but then again, you also aren't… I noticed you haven't passed down One for All yet."
"I've been thinking." Toshinori admitted. "I believe there's another who should inherit it." He thought of young Melissa.
Kawahira hummed as he slurped his ramen. "Any other questions?"
"I've been feeling dread lately… do you think Japan will survive this?"
"Yes." Kawahira told him. "Even if the Heroes fail to protect this country… others will rise up."
Toshinori felt oddly encouraged by this. "Thanks for the information. Do you mind if I come back to ask you more questions another day?" He asked as Kawahira drank the rest of his ramen and got up from his stool.
"Sure, as long as you pay." And with that he walked off to nowhere, leaving Toshinori with his part of the bill to pay.
-OOOOO-
Well, that's episode two… hope you liked it. Sorry in advance to dump all that lore on you guys. Who do you think will be Izuku's Guardians? Leave it in the reviews!
Reviews:
The Ancient Irish Viking: To be honest… I hadn't even noticed until I read your review. I haven't paid attention to Too Far Back ever since my RWBY burnout. Sorry if it seemed lazy. And I don't have it in crossovers because I want people to see this. To give it a chance. I don't want my story to rot in the crossover tag where no one who isn't looking for it will even try and check. If they don't like what I write, that's fine, but at least they gave it a chance. And about the All Might thing… he hasn't really given up on his suspicions yet, he still needs his answers. And Izuku realized what he did, don't worry. And I've been pretty busy lately, mostly doing paperwork, thanks for sticking by.
Alvevnor: Yeah, I'm sorry. I just don't feel the same love for the setting anymore. I'm glad my Jaune was your favorite, that means a lot to me. And I probably won't really even watch volume 08.
Necrogod: You are welcome, I hope you stick around!
HikariHoshinoAsakura: I missed your broken English. And yeah, if you don't like Katekyo Hitman Reborn then don't force yourself to read this, I don't mind, this is more of me just wanting to write something I like than anything else.
MacNCheazy: Glad to be back really, it's nice to write something I enjoy.
So… uh… yeah. I hope you enjoyed this.