Early update cuz my acad break started. This is my first time doing this kind of chapter, so hope yall like it.
Chapter 7: the squads want to sleep, man
Todoroki Shoto had a big job compared to all the other gods in Japan. He was overseer, after all.
Not that he chose it, no. The job was a little consequence from obliterating his father's existence into nothingness and nudging his eldest brother into a one-way trip to the 10 courts of hell.
The good thing he got out of it was the big mansion.
Well, particularly, the intricately beautiful zen garden he had spent millennia creating, with each pebble coming from various eras.
Really, it was Shoto's pride and joy. Nay, he could say it was his baby, his second-best favorite thing in the world (right after his mother's cold soba).
So coming home to see it wrecked, with various gods and demons sprawled all over it, was not the most ideal situation.
Kaminari's foot shifted and toppled over a rock tower.
...Scratch that. This was Shoto's personal nightmare. He was furious, and he approached them, ready to show precisely how angry he was.
"What are you all doing." Shoto spoke in a deadpan voice, not that different from his usual tone.
(The dual-element god contends that he added a slight frown to show his anger)
A mop of brown hair popped out from the pile, revealing the patron of Nagasaki who had– very dark circles under her eyes?
"Oh. Todoroki-kun. You're back."
Shoto was only slightly impressed by how Ochako's deadpan voice almost rivaled his (emphasis on the slightly)
"...Yes. I am back," He frowns. "And you are all here. In my mansion. On my zen garden."
Was today 'point out the obvious' day? The overseer would have to check his calendar. He sometimes missed events, amidst popping in to visit his siblings in Hokkaido, after all.
Someone/something tapped on his shoulder.
Turning, he blinks, surprised. "Momo?"
The art goddess smiles, carrying a tray containing an assortment of drinks. Shoto notes that there was a steaming cup of green tea for him.
"Ah, you're back early, Shoto-sama. We didn't expect you."
"Early? Expect? I... live here."
Yaoyorozu just gave him a slight bow and skirts around past him, leaving the overseer with a cup of green tea in his hands. He was sure it wasn't one of his cups because everything he owns ranged from white to red. So the light green pottery was probably another one of the goddess' works.
"Alright idiots, get your asses up and off the garden!" Shoto didn't even bother being surprised when the music goddess popped up right beside him, voice booming. At this point, he'll just focus on enjoying his tea and start planning for a new zen garden. Maybe he'll try for sculptures this time?
Some groans erupted from the pile as some pushed and wiggled their way out, feet kicking some in the face. (That one was Izuku's attendant who didn't look the least bit guilty in stepping on Mineta's face)
Slowly and very reluctantly, every god and demon from the pile got up, shuffling over to Yaoyorozu, who handed out drinks. Now, Shoto usually wasn't one to judge. Still, he was very concerned about Aoyama's choice of a black hole in liquid form with an espresso.
That just looked like a recipe for a stomachache.
By the time Shoto had drained the rest of the perfectly brewed green tea– sencha, he had noted– everyone else seemed to be coming out of the mysterious haze.
He set the cup down.
"So."
17 pairs of eyes swiveled to him.
"What are you all doing here?"
At asking the question, Shoto expected them to at least look embarrassed for intruding upon his sacred space and ruining his zen garden (No, he cannot let that go)
He didn't expect them to start groaning, complaints spilling out in waves from their lips as if it had been building up for years.
"Dude, you have no idea how much we went through–"
"It's been months, months, and I can't take it anymore–"
"Sacre bleu, they are giving me a tummyache every time we talk–"
"I just want to tear my ears out. Permanently. "
"Second that. Maybe even pluck my eyes out too, because sheesh–"
"Actually, how about we pull their tongues out and feed it to the everlasting darkness?"
They stopped and stared at Tokoyami with his rainbow drink and swirly straw. The darkness god shrugged, sipping at the milkshake.
Looking at the divine and demonic beings dumbstruck into silence, Shoto sighed. Really, he wonders why it is during his rule that he encounters problems like these. At least his father had an uprising.
What does he get? Gods and demons destroying his zen garden and raiding his kitchen, that's what.
Still, they did look distressed (even if it were for the wrong reasons), and Shoto was their boss. He wasn't anything if not a listener to problems and mediator of conflicts.
He snaps his fingers.
They were in one of the bigger rooms of the mansion. In the past, Todoroki Enji– Endeavor, the bastard's divine moniker– used them to hold obnoxiously extravagant balls and performances.
Now, Shoto thinks his father would be proud for how he used it (not that he could care any less for that waste of cosmic space)
The previously empty room was brightly lit, lanterns at the corners. Cushions and blankets woven from the softest fabrics Fuyumi and Natsuo made were scattered across the floor, the gods and demons deposited haphazardly on them.
(Yes, he was still bitter about his garden. Destroyers of his baby did not deserve a good landing)
Yes, Shoto nods. He thinks Endeavor would be proud of turning the room into a slumber party.
"Now," Shoto picked up a hot pink cushion, hugging it to his chest. "Tell me, slowly, and one by one, why you're all here."
And why you wrecked my Zen garden.
"–and what the fuck was with his eyes, ha? Who told him he could use those and look at me? I'm betting he does it on purpose, that fucker. Yeah, I bet he made a deal with the sun god to make the light hit his eyes and make them shine like jewels."
"Uh-huh," Kirishima grunted, eyes drooping. At the corner was Sero, who pulled off a Weekend at Barney's trick (that smartass), and Kaminari, who was zapping himself to stay awake.
Someone beside him squealed, making the shark demon wince.
Oh, right. There was someone who didn't even have to pretend that they cared. Because they did– way too much.
"I don't think Mirio accepts requests like that anymore, Bakubaby. Buut!" Mina grinned, fangs on display. "I do want to hear more about how annoying Izuku-kun was."
Kirishima liked the demon general. She was one of the few that weren't stuck up or high on the power of her position. Plus, she was a good drinking partner, so there was that.
Right now, he wants to chuck her back to hell, though.
But looking at the fire demon-god stupidly rising to Mina's bait, he's torn between which of the two to drop to hell.
"You know another thing that's so goddamn grating about shitty Deku? His fucking smile that looks like a thousand suns combined and exploded."
Kirishima inwardly groans, Kaminari zaps himself again, and Sero slumps forward when his neck stretches, head thumping on the floor.
All the while, Mina uses one of the mortal smartphones to record everything.
Shoto slurped up the rest of his soba, the last cold noodle going in his mouth. He chews the most remarkable creation of mankind before swallowing, setting down his chopsticks.
"So what you're saying is... that you're all here because of Bakugou complaining about Izuku?"
That conclusion sounded right, Shoto thinks. He had a good feeling about finally knowing who to pin the murder of his zen garden to–
"What? No, bro!"
–or not.
"Yeah! We're here to brainstorm how to trick Bakubaby into making a move!" Mina grinned, practically vibrating in excitement, some of the cushions under her melting slightly.
"Wait, what? I thought we were here to get Bakugou to shut up?" Kaminari looked at Kirishima, the shark demon pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"Well, that was the plan, but," Kirishima just gestured to the pink-haired demon, as if that was enough of an explanation. Which it probably was, judging by the green and orange bandanas she was distributing, showing bold letters of 'KatZuku.'
Jirou groaned from the cushions, head popping up. "Dude, you're not the only ones who had to endure Bakugou's 'complaining.'"
At her side, Sato frantically nodded, the ape-demon's dark circles prominent. "You have no idea how many times Katsuki-sama popped out of nowhere and shook Kyouka-sama out of bed. Just to complain about Izuku-sama's... freckles."
As both groups exchanged groans and sympathetic nods, Shoto was halfway into the box of namagashi that he had bought on the way back. He stopped mid-bite into a sakura-shaped one when Yaoyorozu cleared her throat beside him. The overseer god looked longingly at the sweet before setting it back into the box.
"So what exactly is the problem here? Is Izuku not recipient to Bakugou's 'complaining'?"
Once again, as Shoto expected more groans and complaints to pop up, he failed in his prediction. (He quietly notes that he should attend lessons for this kind of thing)
Instead of groans, there was laughter that was almost– no, most definitely manic in nature. It was further disconcerting since it came from the air goddess.
"Ha.. I'm sorry Shoto-kun, it's just," She wiped the corner of her eyes, the dark circles making her look all the more frazzled. "What you just said was too funny."
"Izu-kun, if you don't stop sighing, I will literally call Mineta over."
It wasn't the first time Ochako used the lust god as a threat to the greennette, but it worked all of the time when she did. After all, even with the rain god's pleasant personality, even Izuku couldn't help but hate someone after being groped.
So the threat was one of the sure ways to push the rain god into doing or stopping something.
When Izuku just let out another deep sigh, green eyes staring off into the distance, fiddling with his dragon necklace, Ochako knew something was different.
And that it involved a particular crimson-eyed hothead who kept flooding the little rain god's shrine with gifts and trinkets that made Izuku glow.
"Ochako-sama, I advise you to stop trying," Tsuyu shuffled beside her, an exasperated tone in her voice. "Izuku-sama's been like that since Katsuki-sama stopped coming by a few days ago."
Oh right. Yaoyorozu did mention a minor scuffle in Tokyo that needed the fire god's help a while back.
Izuku sighed again, looking longingly outside. He moved over to Ochako, resting his head on her lap. Emerald green eyes looked up forlornly at warm brown ones.
"Ochakooo, what is this? Am I sick?"
The air goddess frowned, placing a hand against Izuku's forehead. "What are you talking about? How are you sick, Izu-kun?" She didn't understand where this was coming from since it had been decades since the last meteor shower that messed with gods' invulnerability.
The rain god frowns and placed her hand on his chest. "Here. This place aches, Ochako. Like, there's a pulling feeling? And it sometimes feels like I've been punched."
Confused, bright emerald green eyes look up at her. "Am I sick?"
Oh, this adorable beautiful boy. The universe must have been in a good mood when they created Midoriya Izuku.
She could see Tsuyu hide a smile behind her hand at the corner of her eye. But as she was a good friend, she schools her face into a concerned look (even though she wants to cackle out loud).
"Yes, sweetie. You're sick."
Lovesick, specifically.
"And I gather," Shoto sets down his half-eaten sweet, encasing the box in an ice dome from Mina's wandering hands. "That Izuku was completely clueless?"
Ochako sighed, plopping a stolen rose-shaped sweet in her mouth. "Uh-huh. It was cute at first, but then it made me want to tear my hair out later on and just– ugh."
Iida pats her back consolingly as she remembered the sleepless nights spent with the rain god writing hundreds of scrolls worth of theories about his 'sickness.'
"At least you only had to stay up with him, Ochako-chan," Koda intercepted, his soft voice riddled with exasperation. "Me and Tokoyami-kun had to do experiments with him."
The darkness god nodded. "I was very close to letting the shadows of the underworld swallow him up when he asked for 'one last thing.'"
"In Izuku-sama's defense though," Hagakure piped in, the translucent outline of the ghost flickering in and out amidst the lanterns. "You all weren't that obvious about it to him."
"I don't understand. I clearly explained things to him."
"Tokoyami-sama, telling Izuku-sama that he should pursue the desire of the darkness in his heart was not a clear explanation."
Silence.
Ochako thumped her head on the cushions, Tsuyu joining in, patting her back consolingly.
Shoto hummed and sipped his refilled green tea, relishing in the refreshing taste of the freshly picked and pressed leaves. He had just melted a section of the ice dome and reached into the box of sweets when Yaoyorozu cleared her throat again.
Really, can't he just spend one day free from these trivial concerns and enjoy his sweets?
He looked down at the small table before him, the surface of the wood transforming into elegant strokes of letters strung into the answer to his question:
'No, you cannot.'
Seeing as he couldn't finish his sweets, Shoto decides he might as well end this whole affair.
"Well, I think–"
"Non, I do not agree with all of you! The two of them have been so doux in courting each other!"
"Doux?! Yuga-kun, I love you but it's not sweet at all. It's sooo annoying and I don't think they even know they're halfway married already! I mean, Bakugou can't even get past one sentence without insult-flirting!"
"Hey!" Mina slammed her hands down on the floor, the Yggdrasil wood creaking. "You callin' my boy Bakugou dumb? Well, Izuku's not any better with his incessant 'Oh, Kacchan's such an amazing friend'!"
Shoto wasn't sure who threw the first cushion that hit Ochako's head, but he did see a small purple-haired grinning god at the corner.
But no matter who started it, the first hit ensued the start of what mortals called a 'pillow fight.' Shoto thinks the whole affair's childish, and that he should take the higher ground and take control of the situation.
Right after he rescues his box of sweets that was smack dab between the three sides, of course.
If Shoto's memory served him right, the gods and demons were split among those who were 'Team KatZuku', those who wanted to strangle the fire and rain god, and those who tried to defend the honor of both.
The overseer god wasn't aware that a pillow fight was a sure way to defend a god's honor, but there were many things he didn't know nowadays. (So, of course, he makes another mental note to check on it)
At some point in their fight, Mina's side looked to be winning, with Shoji using his multiple limbs to execute a barrage. Then Ojiro takes a wrong step, the monkey demon's tail swinging wildly right onto–
The box of sweets.
"Alright, that's enough." Shoto growls, fire and ice spreading in an instant at his feet, enveloping the whole room. Icicles formed on the ceiling, the floor becoming scorching to the touch. The gods and demons were frozen in place by shackles of ice and ropes of fire, their bodies shivering and sweating.
Though Ojiro was the only one wholly encased in ice, the jagged edges of the frozen water jutting out from the monkey demon.
Shoto's breath came out frosted, steps leaving fire and ash in his wake. He picked up the squashed box of sweets, silently wishing its soul to rest in peace in the afterlife.
After setting it aside (he'll plan a burial for it later), the overseer god sat back down on the cushions.
"If you," Pointing at Team KatZuku, which comprises Kaminari, Sero, Yuga, Jirou, Sato, and surprisingly, Mineta. "Want to get those idiots together, play to their weaknesses. Taunt Bakugou that he can't do it, and force Izuku into a situation that wouldn't suggest anything else but romance."
Not even waiting for their response, he vanishes the bindings around their wrists and ankles. Then he turns towards the other side. "And if you lot still want to murder two of the most powerful gods in existence, by all means, try. I'll make sure to save a spot in the upper realm for your souls."
Tokoyami grumbled, with Koda looking sheepish and ashamed. Shoto didn't want to admit that he hesitated for a second when he was about to release their side from the bonds.
(Okay, he was kind of bitter about the death of his sweets, so what)
As if somehow sensing his split-second hesitation, Yaoyorozu kicked him in the back.
Really, what did Shoto do to deserve such treatment? He mulled over retirement plans as he released the Tokoyami, Koda, and their assistants (which sadly included Ojiro).
Finally, he turned to the most volatile bunch, who were still spitting fire and glares.
"Okay, time to settle this," Shoto cleared his throat, blue and brown eyes glowing. "Bakugou and Izuku both suck. Bakugou has constipated emotional faculties with his flirting turning into insults, and Izuku has the emotional capacity of a 4-year old child who can't understand his own feelings. There."
He thinks he hears Yaoyorozu slow clap behind him, and the music goddess was miming the dropping of– something?
Whatever it was, Shoto was too tired and exhausted from dealing with this problematic batch of gods and demons.
"A–achoo!"
Katsuki stopped and looked behind him, frowning.
"Ha? You sick, Deku?"
"Mhm, no, Kacchan," Izuku rubbed his nose, sniffling softly. "I think someone was talking about me!"
"Ugh, of course you would feel happy about that."
Izuku tilted his head to the side, the satchel across his chest bouncing slightly. "Why wouldn't I, Kacchan? Isn't it great that someone remembers me?"
Katsuki groaned and held out his hand to the rain god, who happily slotted his fingers into his, intertwining them. Making sure the next step was stable, he pulled Izuku along, making sure the nerd didn't stumble.
(And to have an excuse to keep holding hands, maybe)
"That's not– shitty Deku, you're really stupid, huh?"
Izuku puffed out his cheeks, which made Katsuki really tempted to pinch them (or kiss and bite them).
"I'm not stupid!"
"Ha, sure, nerd. Keep tellin' yourself that."
Katsuki chuckled as he guided them up the mountain, tuning out the rain god's muttering and poorly-attempted hits.
When he came back to the shrine and found the greennette waiting by the gates, playing with some of the unusually tame zashiki-warashi, Katsuki didn't expect they'd end up on a nearby mountain trail– one he frequented enough when his shrine got too many visitors.
While it was suspicious that both their shrine attendants were nowhere to be seen, the fire god didn't mull over it.
Because why bother thinking about useless extras when he could spend his time alone with a particular god with bright green eyes and freckled constellations that filled his dreams?
"Kacchan, what's this– Ah!"
Izuku stumbled over a tree root, eyes distracted by a unique plant breed that caught his attention. Rather than meeting the dry earth, warm, firm arms wrapped around the rain god, making him stumble into a partially bare chest.
For a moment, Izuku thought he died and followed after his father in the stars. Then in the next, he thought he somehow triggered an earthquake because his ears rung with a rapid thrumming emanating from Katsuki's chest.
"Be careful, shitty nerd."
The rain god shivered at the warm breath against his ear and managed to catch himself before the whimper passed his lips when Katsuki pulled away.
Still a bit dazed, with a weird warm feeling in his chest, Izuku didn't even notice that they were nearing the peak. Not until the fire god tugged on his hand– their still intertwined fingers, oh my god.
"Hey, we're here."
They took the last step up, and Izuku was breathless.
Red Lion looked divine, with its architecture and landscape bathed like a sea of fire rocking against the waves of humanity. The touch of modernity with its glass skyscrapers only served to spread the caress of the sun's farewell kiss onto the land. From as far as the eye can see, the sky greeted the sun its awaited slumber, hues of purples, oranges, and reds heralding its leave.
"It's beautiful, Kacchan."
"Yeah," Katsuki whispered, eyes locked on the rain god. As Izuku looked with wonder at the town, so too did the sun reach out and greet its child, bathing him in an ethereal glow– an explosion of green and red that melded into something utterly divine.
"It really is."
Katsuki being a tsundere with Izuku and one of those stereotypical friends who rant way too much about their crushes with Bakusquad is my fav trope
Character/Vocab:
(1) Literally everyone in 1-A, except for Shinso (sorry baby)
(2) Namagashi 生菓子 - trad. JP sweets filled with sweet bean paste
(3) Zashiki-warashi 座敷童子/座敷童 - childlike house spirits
Reviews are like zoba soba is to Shoto: they're the best