Real life is a pain... but I managed to finish this. Enjoy :)
XV. The Foreboding Ultimatum Part 2
"What floor was she in?" Inko exclaimed in panic as she was hurrying her pace to find Izumi as quickly as possible. Behind her for just a bit with Kaguya tailing them was Toshinori who transformed into his Buffed form to keep suspicion away from them as they traversed the halls of UA. Most of the teachers had to handle the media outside who supposedly caused the ruckus in the first place. A short emergency meeting was held for those who weren't outside taking hold of the situation as the possibility of this being something was else was an issue they did not want to happen. Nezu took hold of the meeting with Nemuri and Aizawa being the key important figures along with a handful of staff to discuss about it, especially Power Loader himself who took charge of UA's defense system.
Inko on the other hand immediately tried to find Izumi as quickly as she can and because she wasn't part of the staff at UA, Toshinori and Kaguya had to accompany her in the process. The woman was very worried, as evidenced by the fact that she was basically speed-walking and that she never cared for any person that stood in her way at that point. Luckily, most of the students had returned to their classes at this hour as the situation is being fixed.
"Inko slow down! I'm sure Izumi's alright."
"Don't give me that bullshit! The last time you said that it never turned out alright!" she exclaimed as she continued along. Toshinori sighed as he looked at Kaguya who merely shrugged at his direction.
"You're not going to help me?" he asked.
"You really want me to stand in the way of a woman who can lift buildings with her head sir?" she said with a questioning look.
"What about me? You always stop me when I'm that emotional over something."
"The difference sir is, that you are my boss officially and she on the other hand isn't. Though I do seem to like Ms. Inko more." She said in a reply that made the man raise his eyebrow.
"All Might! I asked you where her goddamn room is." Inko said as she grabbed his arm with a bit of tightness and annoyance coupled into it. He had to admit, with the small amount of times when Inko gets emotional at something, she does so with extreme effect. If the girl was terrified at her mother because of her temper back in the day, he now knew why.
"It's in this floor. J-Just calm down!" he said, not wanting to back down either.
She stopped and took a deep breath to satiate her alarmed senses. The sudden alert a few minutes ago drove her into so much worry thinking that this could be related to her daughter.
"Fine. Just show me where her room is. Please."
"And what will you do after? We can't just barge in there with no reason and parents aren't exactly allowed to be in school premises during class."
"You're a teacher in this school right? You can come up with an excuse." Inko said as she placed a hand on her hip at him.
"I can but you can't just go in there and do what you want!" he said in a sudden outburst. Inko went silent as they stared eye to eye. Herself surprised that he screamed at her like that.
Kaguya watched them closely. A small grin started to appear on the edge of her lips.
"Sorry. I didn't mean that. Just… just let me go in first okay? I know you're worried for her. I am too… but you have to focus right now. Being emotional won't help you." He said.
Inko gave what looked like a pout against him but waved it off afterwards.
"Alright then. I hear you. You don't need to scream at me." She finally said as she moved to the side to let him lead her to Izumi's classroom. He nodded at her as they continued walking, but at the corner of Toshinori's eye he could see that the woman was fuming to herself.
A bit of guilt was in his eyes as he pressed on, a detail that Kaguya never missed as she smirked at the two. Thinking that the both of them acted as if they were a domestic couple. She thought about telling Izumi about this later.
A few seconds later, the large and buff man scratched the back of his head as he turned his attention towards Inko who had her arms crossed over her chest.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to-"
"Shut it. That was warranted because I acted like a bitch to you. You don't need to say sorry to me." She sighed as she doubled up to walk beside him. "I should be the one to apologize."
Toshinori had a ghost of a smirk on his face as Inko while never really changing her expression, seemed to let the childish debate out of their systems.
They were adults after all… and they had to act like it.
They turned around the corner towards Toshinori recalled as the corridor towards the room of Class 1-A. As they did so however, a peculiar sight welcomed them almost in a sudden fashion.
The two adults stopped in their tracks when they saw that outside of the classroom, Izumi was leaning on the wall with a surprised and blushing expression towards Katsuki who placed a forceful arm beside her head. He seemed to be pissed off at her, and although this was an awkward sight for all parties involved, Inko narrowed her eyes at the teens who hadn't noticed them… yet.
"IZUMI! What on Earth is happening?" she shouted as the two teens looked at their direction.
"M-Mom! H-Hey! I can explain. T-This isn't what you think it is!" the redhead girl explained as she continued to blush in deep red. All Might at that moment covered his face with the palm of his hand as Inko quickly came at direction of the two teens.
Kaguya watched it all unfold as she shared a single laugh to herself.
At the very least the previously worrisome situation had turned into something less of that.
Although, this didn't mean that they were out of the safe zone yet. As the mystery of the sudden alarm triggering a level three breach was still in the cards. As to the reason why, they had yet to know. One thing was for certain, they all knew that it wasn't a random occurrence. Not at all…
10:16 Hours, Principal's Office UA Campus School Grounds…
"Can we confirm that the alarm was indeed triggered by the media outside Mr. Majima?" Nezu said as they looked over the footage from before the alarm triggered within the school. Inside there was Nemuri, Aizawa, Ectoplasm, and Vlad King waiting for the Excavation Hero's response. The mood was a bit thin on anything positive as the alarms in school was not easily tripped nor were their defenses easily breached at all. It would take a team or something large to do such a thing, or sometimes someone with a strong quirk. Which was a possibility now that they had to consider, since the Midoriya girl was involved.
"No… that's highly unlikely sir. The systems I installed for UA don't and will never trigger at that small of a circumstance. I don't think this is a bug in the system, because if it was I would have been notified by it." he explained as he began to do a full on search for any errors in UA's network with a full on diagnosis. Nemuri started to think of this as something else.
"How the hell did the media get inside of our perimeter? The gates were tightly sealed to ward off any intruder. I'm surprised these vultures got through at all, even with a decently-powered quirk they wouldn't be able to break through that gate." Vlad King surmised.
"It would have been possible with a different kind of quirk, but as for how it goes right now we haven't seen any indication yet that the outside defenses were tampered with." Aizawa replied.
"Even if it was technology-based ability, the firewall defenses I installed wouldn't let that kind to easily breach the main system, however if it's an EMP based quirk the networks would instantly freeze and would reroute into the auxiliary power source. It'll automatically lock down all defenses preventing anyone from accessing the main grid, except for me…" he said as he took out a specialized key from his pocket and showed it to everyone. "if such an event occurs, I'm the only one who can return everything back to normal."
"So even with the defenses ironclad as you stated, this little event does concern me. We have not factored in all contingencies should a drastic event happen in the future and with the special child who is in our care at the moment, I think we need to recheck everything starting from now. The risk is too great for us not to do anything." Nezu said.
They all agreed as discussions continued.
Within the middle of it, Nemuri wanted to raise a point.
"What if it wasn't a breach?"
Aizawa blinked as he turned and then everyone diverted their attention on her.
"What would it be then?" he asked.
"Think about it, if this was a breach, supposedly a villain who tried to enter UA then why would he or she attempt to involve the press in this?"
"To add collateral damage? Or alternatively, maybe they want to send a message." Ectoplasm suggested.
"Those are very apt theories, but I don't think that's the main point here. Look, there is no indication of damage or anything. We don't even know what exactly happened. The only thing that was certain is that the media got in through unknown means. I don't think this is an attack at all. I think this is a precursor to an attack that's about to happen."
"If it's what you say, then what was the point of this small distraction?" Vlad King asked.
Nemuri pressed further.
"I think this was a test. They're testing the defenses of this school. If an alarm triggered precisely the moment the media came in, then there is a large possibility that someone inside that group or someone inside the campus deliberately made an effort to see how far our response goes."
"Are you implying that someone inside the school is a traitor?" Aizawa asked.
Nemuri blinked. The accusation was large, and unsupported.
"No. But I do think that whoever did this is trying to see what the school does when a threat does arise. I could be wrong, but I think what I'm saying makes sense." Nemuri said in her defense.
Aizawa and Nemuri looked at each other. While the woman wasn't that active in detective work with her hero license, she was still knowledgeable enough of what the current breed of criminals were. Power Loader then continued to run his diagnostics as Nezu deliberated with the others about this. The moment the scan was finished, he noticed an odd occurrence in the logs.
As well as a small fluke in the CCTV cameras.
"That's odd." He said.
"What's odd?" Aizawa asked. The Excavation Hero turned the monitor of his laptop and showed them. Both the results of the diagnostic and the CCTV feeds during the alarm trigger. What was presented posed a surprise and a shiver of worry from all of them. Even Aizawa managed to frown from the findings.
"A person managed to break a small opening into my firewall. I can't pinpoint exactly where the breaking commenced, but it seemed like it was timed perfectly with the alarm. As you all know, when the alarm triggers a direct feed to where that portion of the breach is documented to let us see how it occurred. Yet, the camera feeds on that very moment are in static. It continued for about five minutes before it turned back on."
"Five minutes you say?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes. In the time elapsed, that small opening was made. It was too small and I don't see anything that could indicate what damage it did to the system overall, but it did something and I'm a bit worried as to what it is. I'm not that well-versed in networking compared to some of my other colleagues… but I am suspicious as to what that small opening means." Power Loader said.
"Are the students safe Aizawa?" Nezu said.
"They're back to their classrooms, mostly in thanks to Midoriya and that Iida kid. They managed to repel the panic in the lunch hall pretty well for the most part. Even the third years weren't able to dispel the event, we're lucky she and her classmate managed to stop it before it became worse." He said, drawing eyes of most that were present. It was rare for him to compliment anyone at any situation, and hearing him say it towards the girl where he was very reluctant in taking in said so much about how he thought of her.
"Aizawa… is that being proud I hear?" Nemuri teased.
"No. It's was a simple observation. It was a warranted compliment to those two." He said to them. Nemuri continued to smile as the man rolled his eyes.
"The girl shows leadership skills then? That could be useful for her future." Ectoplasm suggested.
"Dangerous too. She would proactively make herself the vanguard for her classmates at this situation. Which to us, who know of her condition in the grand scheme of things… is a bad idea." Vlad King added to which most of them agreed.
"We need to double our efforts in watching her this time. If this event was caused by someone who wanted the girl, then we need to make sure to secure the school and herself in the moment of a sudden, real attack." Aizawa suggested.
"That reminds me… where are All Might and Inko?" Nemuri said.
"They've gone to see the girl last I checked. For her protection I don't think we need to worry that much, as those two seem to respond at the ready whenever something happens to her." Nezu replied.
"Still. We need to keep tabs on everything in the school starting from now on." Aizawa said.
"I agree Mr. Aizawa. Starting from now, the entirety of the school is in a tight lockdown whenever classes are in effect. Like prior adjustments, this needs to be kept from the students. We don't want to insinuate panic. Ms. Kayama, I need you to inform Ms. Midoriya and All Might about the contents of this discussion." He said as the woman nodded. "For now, I suggest we get back to our work. Classes should have started fifteen minutes from now. It's best we don't manage to scare our students since their teachers haven't returned yet. Understood?"
All of them nodded as the meeting was adjourned. Power Loader remained as Nezu wanted to speak to him a bit further.
"Contact your colleagues. I want to know what exactly happened with this small breach to our network servers. Should this be a large concern, knowledge about it will surely help us."
"I'm on it." he said as he stood up from his seat, carrying his things.
"Oh… and one more thing."
"What is it sir?"
"Double check the school's perimeter walls just to be safe. Take Hound Dog with you after classes are over. Should there be an issue or something worth noting of, contact me directly."
The Excavation Hero nodded once more with a greeting as he left the room.
Nezu then pulled out his phone and dialed a certain person that he needed to talk to. The wait for that person he called to wasn't long as the call was picked up after a few seconds. The familiar voice of a certain Detective Naomasa was heard and Nezu began talking with him.
Mainly about the known criminal activity surrounding areas near the UA campus.
Because his own senses knew that this was only the beginning.
19:21 Hours, Toshinori Yagi's Residence...
Izumi was drawing plans on a group activity given to them by their teacher Cementoss, the presentation was for this week, detailing a visual report on a book that was assigned to them. The group that she was in was comprised of Kyouka, Sato, and Kaminari. She had already drew plans for their report and they all agreed to do a video chat for tonight to act as their first group meeting.
Izumi was excited as she tried to fix a summary of the jobs and tasks that she suggests their group to do during the duration of their preparation. At first, she only wrote it on her notebook before making a soft copy. She was thrilled to do this and the entirety of her preparation was done so (in her humble opinion) in a well-managed manner. Back then she wasn't a leader of any group in any school activity, nor was the class representative.
So to have those things now was an enriching experience and a rewarding one knowing that while she wasn't the best at this stuff, she was good enough that most of her class trusted her to be. She liked the feeling of being given such a responsibility, but deep down it did make her feel a bit overwhelmed knowing that a lot of things were now in her hands and that she had to take care her whole class alongside it. The thought was intimidating, but with the support and love of people close to her, she knew that she could pull it off.
She surely hoped so.
She was checking in as well to the group chat her classmates created for themselves from time to time. While not really that active in-chat, she found it quite a treat reading what most of her classmates were up to. A chuckle was made every so often when a topic came to notice. In that sense as well, she did participate when she was being asked of or if she was the topic itself.
Her best friend Himiko seemed to enjoy her time in the chat too. It was great seeing her so social towards other people in class, as back then they always talked about how Izumi was the only one to accept because of how other people reacted to her quirk.
She smiled knowing that, and while they didn't talk as much as back then she was happy that most of the time spent was placed in her having a good time with new friends. Kyouka mostly came as a surprise to both of them, the tomboyish girl became quick friends with both of them, and while Izumi had met her prior during the Entrance Exam, it didn't stop Himiko from clearly making the girl her new closest friend.
They were so close in fact, that the two were chatting non-stop in their own chatroom. A fact that was shared to her by Himiko who kept on asking Izumi to join their chatroom. The redhead agreed, only on the condition that she bring Momo to the table. The blonde girl had accepted the request, but that chatroom was still dominated by the two, as Momo and her were kept on the side most of the time.
Momo on the other hand, was a gem for Izumi. The girl was so supportive, smart, and kind that she really loved it when she and her made conversations with each other. Add the fact that she was the vice representative, it gave Izumi someone to trust on when it came to decisions for their class.
Their conversations were well-placed too, to the point that that their talks managed to confuse their classmates as to what they were referring to in some cases.
In summary, she really liked this new school of hers. More so than any school she's been to. Sure, her week wasn't exactly the best in terms of how everything played out, but with these new classmates, teachers, and places to explore… she couldn't think of a better place to study for her hero course.
A sudden vibrate of her phone was felt on the desk she was working on. This spare room All Might gave for her and her mom wasn't that stylish nor had anything inside to speak of. It was a guest room after all, and what lacked of taste inside this room was made up with how big it was.
Kaguya lamented that while the whole house was mostly kept by herself, this particular room was sealed off in preparation for 'future kids' her boss would have should he have a wife. Kaguya lightly smirked at her when she told her that and even added that it was a secret, implying that her boss himself was clueless to the true reason. She wondered why at first, but the woman simply gestured towards her mother and All Might inside the car as they drove home together.
Izumi was a bit surprised that Kaguya caught wind of it, although at this point her mother was a tad bit obvious that she really liked this 'old friend' of hers. The two then made a silent agreement towards each other to possibly push those two forward in their relationship. Possibly even more with that.
Izumi smiled when she recalled that as she took her phone.
As her screen opened up, she noticed that Kyouka was trying to message her about something. With a quick open of the app itself, she saw what the message contained.
PurpleBlues: Have you seen the chat?
FireFlower: What's wrong?
PurpleBlues: You have to see it. Just… don't be embarrassed okay?
FireFlower: Why?
PurpleBlues: You'll see.
Izumi moved to the main group chat of Class 1-A and saw a very peculiar topic being talked about.
One involving her own mother of all people.
Izumi's eyes widened when she what the chat was talking about in regards to the sudden appearance of her mother in class after the alarm incident.
Static: Yea... how is her mom that beautiful? I mean look at her!
CutiePie: Hey! My Izu isn't ugly you duck!
Book: Uh, guys I don't think you should talk about Izumi's mom… in this chat.
ThighsForLife: Why not? We're only celebrating because of how hot her mom is.
WhipLash: Dude, Seriously… that's gross. Have respect for her mother man.
ThighsForLife: Being Hot is a compliment Sero! Don't fight me over it!
PurpleBlues: You guys are the worst. You do know that Izumi can read this chat right?
Io: Is this really how male students in Japan think?
Book: Oh God. Guys! Please stop, you may ruin our reputation with Sylvia here.
SeeThrough: But I have to agree that her mom was really beautiful. Even I felt a bit conscious of myself seeing her.
CutiePie: Toru! Don't be on their side.
SeeThrough: I'm not… just stating what I really felt earlier.
Shoto Todoroki: Why am I part of this chat?
ThighsForLife: Todoroki! Back us up here! Don't you agree that Midoriya's mom is hot?
Shoto Todoroki: Why would I answer that question?
SugarPunch: I agree with Todoroki here… asking that question is weird.
ThighsForLife: GUYS! Come on!
KingExplosion: Shut it you little clown.
FireFlower: Uh… can I say something to you guys? Especially you Mineta…
CutiePie: Oh… I think I know what she means. XD
ThighsForLife: What is it?
Book: Her mom has a temper.
FireFlower: Yep. What Momo said. There was an incident back then where a rogue villain nearly attacked me, and she managed to beat him faster than I could ever see it happen.
ThighsForLife: Say what?
Izumi had a large grin on her face when the chat went into a small uproar after hearing that. The story was true after all, her mother's telekinetic abilities amazed even her who already knew that she had those set of abilities. While she wouldn't become angry at what her classmates were saying, Izumi just made sure so that the topic was shelved. It was awkward hearing them talk about her mom.
The reason for that sudden shift of conversation in regards to her mother was because of what happened earlier in school. A rather awkward turn of events that made Izumi all the more embarrassed. She didn't know that she would live the day to see her mother embarrass her in front of everyone in such an awkward manner.
The first thing that happened was when she accepted Katsuki's request to talk to her alone outside the classroom. While this drew attention, it didn't really mean much as the class already knew that she was the only one who could talk to him eye to eye without any problems at all. He was serious at the reasoning of this request, so she agreed to it. The start of it was pretty usual and even with the dominating arm over her shoulder as she was pressed on the wall, they were interrupted abruptly before their conversation even started. In a rather precarious position, Izumi had to explain to her mother what happened and what exactly was going on.
Her mother was so surprised and annoyed that she accused her of 'having a boyfriend that she didn't tell them about'. Their voices may have attracted a few attentions from inside their class. Add the fact that All Might was there, it turned into the most talked about topic of their classroom even after dismissals.
She still sighed in shame after letting her classmates see that. This also stopped Katsuki from talking with her alone about something. She was curious of that too.
I can't really blame mom from acting like that.
Classes resumed after the initial incident in the cafeteria was fixed. They all learned afterwards that the alarm was triggered by the media after all. It did make her wonder how the hell they managed to get through the main gate, as seeing it up close when it was sealed shut really made her question that odd occurrence. Fortunately, her aunt explained that it wasn't anything to be afraid of or concerned about when her class came.
She had to admit as well that while she did like being in this place… the home of her mentor and teacher All Might, she did miss their old apartment. She missed her aunt even though they saw each other every day. Things really changed for her life in a rapid pace this week, and she hoped that she could keep up with those changes as time went on, because as it stands now…
She knew that everything was changing around her.
Even her quirk.
Izumi looked at her hand as her vision turned in a small ounce of red throughout its edges. She had her headband on keeping the power in check. It did make her wonder how her quirk actually works to tis full extent. She had the general idea of the abilities it possessed, but at the current state with the various sudden spikes and misuse caused by her inability to completely harness it, it did make her scared not knowing what her full capabilities are.
A flicker of her red energy sputtered to life on her hand.
That was 5% of her power as she dubs it.
The peak of her strength was about 46% in the Entrance Exam…
And it was already that strong that she couldn't remember most of it. She did feel deep inside her that she could go pass that… but what happens to her when she does?
Will she lose control again?
Another vibrate from her phone stopped her from contemplating that thought further. It brought her back to reality as she remembered what she was trying to do tonight in this room.
The message was from Kyouka, asking her if they were ready to start.
Izumi fixed herself with her light green pajamas and replied to Kyouka that they should start.
Besides… she had nothing to worry about tomorrow anyway. Her quirk was in an okay spot, a few assignments of hers was due for tomorrow and a special training regimen was to be hosted by their homeroom teacher and two other guest teachers.
Everything will be fine she said to herself.
Just… fine.
A FEW MINUTES LATER…
"So… how'd I do?" Inko said as she tried to take off the apron she used from a small baking project a few minutes earlier. Supper was already finished and it was Kaguya's cooking that got all of them full. For dessert tonight, Inko volunteered to make them chocolate muffins, a favorite dish of her daughter whenever they had time back in the day. Toshinori had allowed her to make them the delectable treats as he was curious himself of how that would taste. Kaguya as always managed to help in the baking process and she studied the woman's style carefully, trying to make note of it should she need to mimic it someday.
The muffins were taken out of the oven with Inko's quirk, and she levitated them towards the table where Toshinori was waiting to take the first bite. He took one and examined it for a few moments before smelling it after.
"Oh come on. I'm not going to poison you. I thought that part our relationship was gone by now." Inko said as she rolled her eyes. Toshinori gave a chuckle as he took a bite out of the treat. Kaguya did so as well as she was seemingly transfixed at the muffin in her hands. She took a large bite out of it, bigger than Toshinori's. Her eyes glistened for a moment with surprise and pleasure as she looked at Inko.
"Wow." She said.
"I have to agree. This is delicious." Toshinori added as Kaguya continued to eat her muffin. Inko smiled smugly at she placed the apron neatly on the table. She sat on one of the chairs and stared at her judges.
"This reminds me of my mother's cooking. Maybe I can borrow the recipe the next time I visit home." Kaguya lamented as Inko nodded at her.
"Sure… it's great seeing other people enjoy it. Izumi's the only one who likes it best, as Nemuri wasn't really a fan of sweets. She gets annoyed that she'll get fat one day."
"Heh… I can imagine why. You're not bad yourself, you're pretty well-built in your age."
Inko frowned at his remark.
"So if I was a fat bitch you'd care less for me huh?" she said with an eyebrow raised. Toshinori spat a few bits of the muffin in reflex as he tried to explain what he said.
"N-No… I didn't mean that! I was just saying that you look good all things considered! Better than me actually!" he said as he waved his hands around in his defense. Inko gave a playful smirk as Kaguya watched them both in this interaction.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood. Otherwise I would have done something drastic." She threatened lightly as the man chuckled in a nervous way. Not that he was scared of her, but more so that he didn't want to be in the bad side of Inko.
"Anyway… Have you already mailed the list to our contacts?" Inko said as she shifted the tone to a more important one. Toshinori changed in a more serious tone too as the list they made earlier in his office at UA was completed after they ran most of the names of those who died fourteen years ago in the tragedy. This also included the numerous other people exposed by Izumi's red energy and the quirks they possessed. Especially 'One for All', although to be more precise they were only able to get certain quirks from all eight holders of 'One for All' as some of them were lost in time due to secrecy. Even Gran Torino wasn't told everything when he and Nana back in the day talked about this quirk.
Still, having most pieces of the puzzle made it easy for them to know what exactly they were dealing with. After they finished, they sent the resources to all of their known contacts that know of the girl's real condition. Nezu bid the faculty staff to discuss these findings at a later date, as normal classes were always being interrupted because of this reason and various other events that took place this week. Toshinori agreed to that in a full sense, as he himself was not keeping up with the classes under his tutelage. Thankfully, it didn't seem like it would draw suspicion since it was still the first week of class.
"I've already double-checked the moment we arrived. You don't need to worry about it." he reassured. Inko tapped her fingers on the table as her thoughts were racing on something else.
"What about Gran Torino and your detective contact? Have they gone through the names yet?" Inko asked. The reason being was that when they sent out the names, Inko made a suggestion to run any known connections or persons in relation to the various villains that died trying to get Izumi during that night. Both of them agreed that if such people exist, then they may have a clue or two as to the whereabouts of the man or group of people that wanted her extracted fourteen years ago. Inko was given a third-party contract when she set out to find Izumi, so she had little to no clue as to who those people were. The request also included verification on the two people that were hiding the girl on that night. Inko wanted to know how they came upon the girl in the first place, and if they were her real parents.
If they were… then they had to know what the clear origins of Izumi are.
"I haven't gotten a reply yet, but I'm sure he's on it. He's never let me down in the past before, so I know he won't this time."
"Yeah… I hope so." Inko said as she clasped her fingers together. The topic of Izumi's origin was something that weighed a lot on her. While she was happy being a mother to the girl now, it did make her question who the girl's real parents were… and why she found her that way during that night.
"Inko… I can't promise that we can get to the bottom of this soon, but we will in time. You just need a little bit of faith."
"Faith from who? You?"
"From the people that are willing to help you… and yes, you could add me to that list too." He chastised with a small smile as Inko smiled back.
She sighed as she let herself to calm down.
"Faith huh?" she said. "I'll hold on to you on that."
They both shared a small chuckle towards one another as the minutes pass with light conversations. Kaguya had left the scene a few minutes in as she had a phone call to make. Izumi was still upstairs doing her homework.
In the middle of their conversation, Toshinori's phone had buzzed to life.
He took it out as he saw that the caller was Gran Torino. Inko nodded at him to take the call, he did so expecting there to be good news.
"Toshinori? Are you there?"
"Yes sir. Is there any news from our inquiry?"
"There is… is the kid's mom there near you?"
Toshinori looked at Inko who was waiting in anticipation. He replied with confirmation.
"Then put this on speaker. I think you both need to hear this."
Toshinori put his phone in speaker as he placed it in the middle of the table. Inko was sitting across where he sat and they were waiting for what news the old man was going to give them.
"Ms. Inko can you hear me loud and clear?"
"Yes Gran Torino I can. Has there been any leads to our inquiry?"
"The names on the list you gave me didn't lead to a lot of people. It seemed like most of the closest relatives or people they were contact in are either dead or behind bars. Some don't want to comment or have no contact with the people on this list for about a few years before they died in the tragedy… leading us with little to really scrape information from."
Inko bit her lip when she heard that.
"Even those two corpses of what you both theorize as the parents of the kid don't really say anything else about their profiles. The male was named Hiachi Saigo and the female was Koharu Ameno. Both of which are poverty-stricken individuals that have no prior relationship with each other that's been recorded. They have a few felonies under their name, especially the woman but that's where the file stops. As to what you allegedly saw or heard from them at that night, we can't confirm specifically."
Inko felt a sense of guilt recalling those two. Especially the woman, who pleaded so much for her to take Izumi into her care. She never forgot that face that took hold of her close before her final moments. A blind promise that Inko never thought she would uphold even now, yet that change of heart allowed her to be part of Izumi's life. A life that she would never give away.
"Shit." She cursed.
"Is there anything else you want to say to us sir?" Toshinori said.
"Look, I know you two are desperate for any morsel of information, most the names on this list are like I said, gone or don't have anything related to them that we can use today."
"Then why did you call?" Inko asked.
"Well, the reason is simple. While there are no current leads, we do have one person who recently got out of jail after he was 'reformed'. He had contact with one of the names on the list briefly but he never took the job as it seemed. He took an alternative job all the way to Okinawa on the night of the incident. My best guess is he may hold a clue to who this mystery client you told me about is."
Both of them looked at each other in reaction to the news.
"I can send you both the details of his address later. Good luck with what you can find from him."
It was good news. It may not be exactly what they needed, but both agreed that this was a good head start. Toshinori took the phone as he changed it back to a normal call while Inko had a sigh of relief with what was found.
"Thanks Gran Torino. We'll make good use of this." He said before the phone call was ended.
Toshinori pocketed his phone as he looked at Inko.
"What's the plan?" he asked.
"If we're given the address, I think we should visit him as soon as possible."
"Alright. I'll call Nezu tomorrow to tell him about it. We should leave as early as possible, we'll talk to the guy and make sure he gives us at least a clue as to what we're dealing with."
Inko nodded as she tried to take in all of this information given. She was close to this mystery of the past, and she wished that it would be solved so that Izumi's situation would turn out okay.
Toshinori caught wind of this and placed a hand on her shoulder.
They smiled at each other as things were set in motion yet again. Until they were interrupted when Izumi seemingly screamed from upstairs. Both of them looked at each other before they bolted up the stairs towards the girl's room. They were surprised to see Kaguya there who looked calm rather than panicked. That's when they saw through the open door was the redhead girl in question.
Worry and panic in her face as she awkwardly looked at her mother, All Might, and Kaguya.
"H-Hi mom, All might… heh, I-I'm floating." She said as she tried to balance herself in the middle of the air, failing while doing so.
"Can anyone please help me down?" Izumi said as she was getting uncomfortable of this new aspect of her quirk. Kaguya walked towards the girl as they tried to make her settle on the ground. Inko felt a bit of fear in her senses as she realized that Izumi's quirk and the reason it was having drastic changes was because it was evolving at a rapid pace. The time in those years they spent on suppressing the girl's quirk was biting back at them, the remainder of that six thousand or more abilities were starting to emerge as Izumi continued to use her quirk.
She could picture Juno right now, smiling at her with how big of a responsibility she was holding.
She frowned at that. She then looked at her side and saw Toshinori a bit perplexed and shocked at this new development. Putting a hand on his shoulder, he snapped out of it and looked at her.
"What is it?" she said.
"She's floating. T-That was… that was my master's quirk."
7:23 Hours, UA School Campus Grounds…
Izumi was waiting by the cafeteria of the school for someone. Lunch Rush and his staff were preparing breakfast meals in case any of the students, staff, or teachers would like to take a bite before classes start. Most of her classmates were at their classroom by now and she was specifically waiting for one blonde boy who wanted them to talk face to face…
Without any interruptions.
Now seemed like the best time before classes would start and Izumi was ready. The fiasco last night in regards to the floating enigma of her quirk, it did scare her a bit. It again made her wonder what her quirk really was, because as it states now it seemed like she had multiple quirks all together inside her system and it felt like it didn't stop there. Like more was to come.
She did however think that this could be the result of All Might's quirk. While 'One for All' was seldom really used by her (to which she thinks is the strength enhancement, speed enhancement, etc.), it did make her rethink if this was really a quirk from 'One for All'. If it wasn't then she was a bit scared at the prospect of having multiple quirks. As losing control over herself like last time could bring danger to anyone around her.
She sighed at that thought as she sipped the chocolate milk drink she was holding.
She had a small meal that consisted of Lunch Rush's noodles, and while she indeed liked the dish, she gravitated more towards her mother's katsudon than this.
Looking around for any sign of Katsuki, she began thinking of what exactly the guy wanted from her. He was too serious about it, and she yet again thought that maybe this was because of her 'efforts' of showing off towards the class.
It was unintentional at best, she didn't want fame nor attention but the world seemed to reject that notion entirely.
"DEKU!" a voice shouted as Izumi turned her attention towards the angry-looking Katsuki who continued to storm towards her. He took a seat just across her on the table and grumpily stared at her as Izumi felt yet another feeling of awkwardness.
There was a soft silence at first as they looked at each other face to face. Izumi tapping her fingers on the table reflexively in anticipation (like her mother).
"Uh… are we going to talk or-
"Just making sure no one can interrupt us." He said to answer her question in a rapid reply.
"Oh." She said as he looked around.
"Hmph. Looks like there's no shmuck to stop us from talking."
"Y-Yeah…" she looked around the cafeteria, there wasn't a chance whether her friends, mother, or anyone was going to interrupt them. "Seems like it."
"Good." He said in a grumble.
"So… what're we talking about?" Izumi asked.
The boy crossed looked at her with a challenging expression, the girl didn't know why exactly but she figured that he was expecting that she knew the reason why they were talking at all.
"Uh… is this about my-
"What's going on with you Deku?"
Izumi blinked at the question.
"What do you mean?"
He narrowed his eyes at her as he leaned forward for a bit, resting his elbows on the table as his serious look overtook her completely. She felt a bit nervous as to how serious he came upon her.
"Your quirk. I want to know what your quirk is."
"Kacchan… look, my quirk isn't something that you and I can simply talk about." She replied, she did call him by that name to hopefully take him out of his serious tone and back to his usual annoyed self, but he didn't. He only continued to examine her with those piercing red eyes of his.
"Why is that exactly?" he asked.
"Well… it's complicated. In truth, I don't understand much about it myself. I only know a few details that are consistent. But as it stands… I'm not entirely sure what it is, or what to call it for that matter." She explained as she let out her hand and a portion of Black Whip manifested on her palm as they waved there. Back then, when these tendrils manifested themselves they used to burn in pain with prolonged use. Now, it was merely a small sensation that wasn't worth noting of.
Katsuki watched her as the headband glowed faintly in red. Her eyes were glowing the same as well. She sat there like nothing bad had happened from the days prior until now.
"You can't control it can you?"
Izumi's eyes widened I surprise at his statement.
"Why would say that?"
"I've seen it. Specifically the time you and that half-colored bastard fought in the battle trials. You weren't in complete control were you?" he said.
Izumi didn't know how to reply. She did know that some of her classmates noticed that detail, but he seemed far too in-depth with his questions that she knew that he had other reasons as to why he was asking them specifically.
"I wasn't. Especially at the end… Katsuki, why are you asking me this? Is this the entire reason why you wanted to talk to me?" she admitted with a question.
The boy exhaled deeply and wanted himself to get straight to the point.
"Before the Battle Trials at lunch… what exactly were you doing at that time?"
"Sitting with Himiko and the others…"
"You left right?"
Izumi looked downwards in shame and fear in admitting it. It was a terrible memory, and her quirk not functioning the way she wanted it to was scary in her perspective. Having that much power to lift and destroy the zero pointers would considerably do large amounts of damage towards people around her. She didn't want that.
"I did. I excused myself to the restroom."
"Where exactly did you go?"
Izumi looked at him.
"W-Why are you asking?" she said.
"Because I saw you Deku. I saw you crying outside the school's gardens beside a tree. You didn't see me there but I saw and heard what you were doing. You were crying there… as to why exactly I want to know. Because I'm sure as hell that I'm not the only person who noticed how you nearly killed half and half there at the end of the simulation."
Izumi stood there frozen as he laid it down.
"What's going on with you?"
"W-Were you the only one who saw?" Izumi asked.
"Yeah. I was, but answer my question first."
At the very least he was the only one and she knew that she could trust him on not telling anyone about it. She looked at him with a pale expression, knowing that someone was aware in some capacity that she had no total control over her quirk that kept on changing as days continued to pass.
"I don't know Katsuki… I'm scared of myself actually. I'm scared of hurting anyone around me. I'm trying my best to hold it in, and even though this…" she touched the tip of her horned headband. "This helps me from completely unleashing it all, but it can only do much… and it wasn't strong enough to stop me from losing control momentarily during that day. I'm thankful I managed to pass out before I did any real damage."
"So you were crying about that huh?"
"Y-Yeah…"
He sighed as he stood up. Finally resting his case on the conjecture though he still wanted to say something to her.
"Deku… I don't know what the fuck is happening with that ridiculous quirk of yours. But you promised me that you and I would compete for the spot of the number one hero soon in the future. I can't have you go all weak and crying over something that I know you can fix. So do you fucking best in making sure you control yourself. Your quirk is strong, so is mine but that doesn't mean it's easy to control. You're better than that… and I fucking know you're not a pussy to back out of a fight."
As he said those words, he left the table and looked at her one more time as her expression was a mix of surprise and shock at how he said that sentence. It was a challenge and a compliment rolled into one, and what stood out was that he believed in her and trusted her to do better.
She didn't know how to react to that.
"See you in class Deku. Make sure you think about what I said."
Izumi smiled a bit as she looked at the time. Class was about to start, and she smiled knowing that one more person counted on her to be strong.
And of all people, it was him.
As she walked back to her classroom, her phone buzzed to a notification. She was surprised to see that her homeroom teacher managed to text her a message, she wondered where he could have gotten the number, but she shrugged it off as nothing important.
What the message however gave her excitement as her whole class was about to go on a rescue simulation at a designated area in the school campus. Aizawa told her to ready her classmates when the time comes so they would be prepped for what was in store.
She smiled knowing that this day may in fact go her way this time.
11:13 Hours, Somewhere in Aldera City…
"This is the place?" Inko said as she looked at a rather-drab looking apartment building in the middle-class portion of the city. There was a flurry of activity around them as it was still early in the day were people were bound to their jobs. Toshinori parked the car in front of the address given to them and he wondered the same thing as he looked at the place.
He looked at his phone to see if this was the address Gran Torino gave them.
"It's the place alright."
"So he's living in an apartment, at what room and floor?" Inko said as she closed the door of the car. They started to walk towards the main entrance of the building side by side as they readied themselves to meet this person. The person in question was a former villain named simply as 'Starchild', who had a quirk that allowed him to cause a blinding flash that would disorient anyone who looks at his presence. He was not that much of a nuisance as he was quickly apprehended after three failed attempts at a job. To know that he was living here after getting out of prison made them both think that the guy did not have a job still to work on.
"It says here he lives at door 21 of the third floor." Toshinori replied as they entered a less than usable elevator that was slowly creaking from their weight. She considered stairs at first, but Toshinori said that he was only given enough time before he could return to UA.
But the elevator ride in itself was slow… and hot.
It didn't help that it was tightly packed for both of them. Leaving them to be so close to each other as their sides stuck. Thankfully, Toshinori's frame wasn't in his powered form. Should that have been the case, the elevator ride would have been far more awkward between them.
Although, she a bit of her kinda liked this. It reminded her of the old apartment back when she was young, and the numerous trips she and Hisashi used to do. Right now it was Toshinori beside her, and she didn't think ill of that.
"Open already damn it." he said as the elevator finally arrived at the floor they needed to go to.
"Would it have helped if there was music?" she teased.
"I would have loved it more if we manage to get out of it quicker than what I would have liked it to be." He complained. Inko smiled as the doors opened.
"So you didn't want to be close to me then?" she teased.
Toshinori went speechless as she walked out with a wink.
This woman's gonna be the death of me. He thought as he caught up to her. They walked along hallway that had their destination at the end of it. The scenery was bland for the most part. Some of the wallpaper was hanging on some certain areas, and the very few people that were in this place only gave them a short glance before moving on.
"Have I ever told you that this reminds me heavily of my old apartment?"
"The one you and Midnight shared?"
"No… not that. The one in my younger days."
"Oh. That." He said as he recalled the conversations about Hisashi and her old life.
"What's with the long face?" she asked, seeing him a bit too concerned with what she just told him. She smirked when he simply waved the thought off just as they arrived at the door of their supposed informant. Inko put all other thoughts aside as Toshinori looked at the door.
"This is it. Door 21" he said.
"Should we knock first? Or do we barge straight in?" Inko asked.
"Really? We're in a public place Inko, and I don't think it'll roll of the news that All Might seemingly broke down someone else's apartment."
"Heh… you're no fun." She said as they shared a chuckle. Toshinori then made a knock on the door as softly and courteously as he could muster. Inko stood by as they waited.
No response.
He tried knocking again and called out the real name of the person they desired to talk to.
Still nothing.
"Maybe he isn't home?" Toshinori suggested.
"Hmmm… let me try something. I don't want to leave her empty handed after all." Inko said as she expanded her sensory field.
"Hey, I thought we agreed that we shouldn't do anything drastic here."
"Relax Toshi, have a little faith in me. I won't do anything stupid." She replied as she felt the surrounding area around her. She noticed something odd with the lock on the door. It wasn't locked nor was it barred from the inside. A red note already flew at that direction as she felt a tinge of something fishy on the onset of that revelation.
"The door isn't locked." She said.
"It isn't?"
Inko tried to make sense further of what the room in front of them was. She then felt random objects strewn across the floor, and one small fact made her feel suspicious.
"Inko?"
"There's nobody inside. At least what I can sense of that is…"
"What does that mean? We can't just barge in there without a warrant. It's illegal."
Inko frowned at that statement.
"There's another thing inside that makes me feel like something's wrong with the place." She explained as she tried to expand her sensory field further, until she noticed something else within the apartment room.
A body, or someone lying on the floor.
"Toshinori… there's someone inside." She exclaimed.
"And?"
"He's not moving. Neither is his heart beating."
The man instantly widened his eyes in realization as to what that meant. He knew that it was illegal to do such a thing, but if there was a dead body inside then it would be warranted somehow. He looked around the hallway to see if anyone was there and buffed himself up to his powered form. Readying himself on any possible outcome that would occur in the next few seconds.
He looked at Inko as they agreed to enter the apartment together.
Both of them felt that something different was going on here, and if there was a body, they wanted to know why the man died.
Toshinori placed his large hand on the door handle and opened it slowly. The door creaked forward as they got a good view of the place. True enough, the entire apartment looked like it was ransacked. Objects and other appliances were thrown across the floor like someone had broken in and caused such a mess.
They moved in slowly with caution, hoping not to tamper the crime scene further so that they would get an explanation as to what happened. Toshinori moved on ahead as he examined the living room, Inko on the other hand looked around seeing what little evidence she could find. Possibly a notebook? Maybe names or something close to that.
They found nothing worth finding at first as they arrived at the doorway to the room where a supposed body was sensed by Inko. Toshinori nodded at her to open the door with her quirk slowly, in case something was inside.
Inko's focus drifted towards the lock quickly and opened it with haste before moving the door open in a slow and methodical pace. When the entire room was revealed to both of them, they saw that a man indeed was laying on the floor, and his blood was spread across the section of the floor where he laid himself on. the body looked fresh, as the blood was still in a very lively color of red.
This lead both of them to be way of what was going on here.
Inko bent down as she examined the corpse. There was an incision on the neck that got her attention and it was there where most of the blood came from. The attack was sloppy at best, but it got the job done to completely render the victim in a severe blood loss.
Toshinori decided that they needed to call this in.
However, something made him sense that there was more to this than just that.
"Inko… I think we need to get out of here. I don't like where this is going." He said.
"We need to make sure we don't leave empty handed first. Can you help me find something that can be useful from him? Maybe something with information? All the scraps of paper back there weren't helpful, nor were the notebooks I found."
"Do we really need to?"
"Toshinori, this man could probably be the last lead we have of Izumi's hunter in the past. If we don't find any information that he knows of from that night, we will never know the full picture of Izumi's past." She said as she started to pat the man's pockets and any other places he would keep something valuable in his person.
"Fine… let's just do it quickly before I call it in. Just-
They both froze when heavy footsteps were suddenly heard from outside the small room they were in. Toshinori clenched his fist when the footsteps stopped. He couldn't see who it was yet, but hearing such things in the situation where they were sure that they were the only ones inside the apartment made them feel on edge.
Inko tried to expand her sensory field to sense what it was…
But her senses came back with a blank result.
She widened her eyes in realization as to what it was… as she had encountered such abilities before.
"Shit." She whispered.
"What is it?"
"Whatever's outside… it's dampening my quirk." She whispered back as Toshinori felt the gravity of the situation they were in. He readied himself in the event of a fight, and if it was villains then he would make damn sure to end the fight quick.
There were far too many innocent people around to fight in. Casualties would be an issue should they prolong it. Thankfully, he was sure that Inko would back her up, and with her experience she could minimize the damage completely.
Unless…
"DUCK!" Inko shouted when a large black arm broke through the wall and grabbed Toshinori in the neck. The arm then pulled him forward outside of the room as concrete and dust blew over the place. Toshinori coughed from the smoke as it cleared. He then saw right in front of him, a towering large figure with black skin, a beaked mouth, and its brain exposed at the top of its head. It was sneering at him with an agitated expression.
"VILLAIN! DID YOU KILL THE OCCUPANT OF THIS PLACE?" he shouted as he threw a punch.
THOOM!
A small shockwave erupted as their hands met. The towering figure managed to catch his fist just in time, without taking any damage at all. This surprised both of them as the building shock under the weight of the small shockwave.
"WHAT?" he said as the being pulled his other arm to make a fist… and punched him as hard as he could.
BWOOSH!
Toshinori was blown out of the building through a large hole as he crashed down on the streets in front of the building. Inko stood there mortified and shocked at what just occurred, because in all out strength battle, there were little to no people that could match Toshinori's strength when he was All Might, and this thing managed to catch a strike without flinching.
She focused on the floor under it and tried to rupture in hopes of subduing it, but as she did so, she found that her quirk did not work as intended. That's when she noticed that the body in this apartment… was not a dead body after all.
The appearance of the body was an illusion and as the form shimmered, it revealed a similar looking villain with pale gray skin, an exposed brain along with serrated teeth. It grabbed hold of her neck in quick succession and forced her to the nearest wall. As it did that, its partner jumped out of the newly broken hole to combat All Might who was recovering down there.
"Ack!" she gagged as the villain leaned forward with a grin. His grip tightened, ready to kill her. Inko was blacking out, until she took out her trusty lighter and lit it the moment she opened it.
FWOOOOMMMM!
A pillar of fire crashed on the villain as he got smashed into the farthest wall from her. Leaving a small crater as it was knocked out temporarily. Inko tried to regain her breath as she stood up after being nearly choked to death…
She was going to press her attack further when she felt her phone vibrate.
She didn't want to see it at first, but after peeking what it was, she saw that it was Nemuri who was calling and there were messages saying that it was urgent. She then saw what the message said.
"Answer the damn call and get back here! There are villains attacking the UA! We've lost contact with Aizawa, Izumi and the other are there with her!"
Inko now understood whatwas happening.
She looked at her opponent who was just coming back from being knocked out earlier and it began to sneer at her with a growl.
Inko realized that this was all a set up…
And Izumi was left back in UA with no one strong enough to protect her.
"Oh no." she said as the villain lunged at her.
TO BE CONTINUED…
AN: Oohh... a cliffhanger. Haha. I hope you stay tuned as next chapter's USJ event will be radically different than canon. I'm still planning out some last few details so that the action will be splendid, glorious, and most of all tragic... (hahahaha yep, something bad will happen next chapter and it will serve as Izumi's slow descent into understanding what her volatile quirk is). Hopefully my schedule doesnt get messy as I try to write this and one other story that I'm writing currently.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed and see you in the next update! Oh and uh, leave a follow and review too if possible!
NEXT CHAPTER: "THE RED DEMON" - The finale to Izumi's New Beginnings Arc commences as her will is tested when a villainous forces come for her, setting the stage for something sinister to happen. The redhead girl struggles to keep herself under control as she and her classmates fight for their lives without knowing that the girl was the whole reason they were in this fight in the first place. With odds stacked against them, Izumi is forced to unleash what her quirk's real purpose is... and her true colors are revealed to the people around her.
SIDESTORY 12 Coming Soon!