The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 5: Eight Serpents

Chapter 3: Endure

[Saturday 16th April 2281]

[Police Station, Musutafu]

Sakuya Konohana had never been a worrier before. She was an Immortal Spirit whose power was fuelled by the Cherry Blossom Trees of Japan, each of which had been spawned from her original (now cut down) tree; she was tough. In fact, excluding Amaterasu, the Evil One, and the Demon Generals, she was the most powerful spiritual being in Japan, maybe even the world. But that had all been before she found herself with a family. Spirits didn't tend to have families; they were born from natural energies and spiritual power and had rarely formed close attachments, even to other Spirits, but Sakuya had defied that by forming a lot of them, which was dangerous. Many Demons were born from Spirits that grew obsessed with their attachments, or fell to despair upon losing them.

Sakuya was a fairly easy going woman by nature, on account of being a Nature Spirit, and had fully embraced raising Izumi as her Foster Mother following the poor girl's terrible year in Foster Care. It wasn't an easy job, especially since she was also the President of the Hero Commission, which was high stress by itself, but Sakuya certainly didn't regret it. She'd taken Izumi in for the sake of the world, preparing her to become a Hero and the World's Saviour once again, but it hadn't taken long for the Wood Sprite to stop seeing Izumi as just the Reborn Amaterasu, and start seeing her as her own child. Of course, things got more hectic as Izumi fought more Demons, grew stronger and added more people to her family, which added new worries to their already crucial mission and more attachments to Sakuya.

Sakuya wouldn't change a thing (except that business with Nagant) but she definitely thought she'd earned the right to become a worrier! If Poor Inko had been awake, she'd have been in a constant state of panic!

So when Izumi hadn't come home on Friday, Sakuya had naturally panicked. Himiko had gone with Dabi to search Dagobah Beach, in case Izumi had lost track of time cleaning the place, while Katsuki and his parents went around all the areas Izumi liked to visit, such as the pawn shop and library. There had been no sign of Izumi anywhere, and Himiko had mentioned that Dagobah Beach was no cleaner than the previous day, implying Izumi had never arrived there. Sakuya, Himiko and Katsuki began calling all of Izumi's classmates and a few local families in hopes of getting a sighting, but no one had seen Izumi since she left school on Friday. The entire Konohana Household began a citywide search for the missing girl, and Jin was allowed to leave the hospital for a bit to use his clones for assistance, but their efforts bore no fruit. Only Hawks was uninvolved in the case, as he was currently up in Hokkaido helping with a huge Drug Bust that he'd been helping investigate for the last few months.

Naturally, Sakuya had flitted between wanting to burst into worried tears, and wanting to erupt with anger over something potentially happening to her child. She went to the Hospital in case Izumi had been hurt, but upon finding no sign of her there either, she went to the Police. Normally, the Police wouldn't be interesting in a teenage girl not coming home on time, especially when the girl in question had been missing less than half a day, but Izumi was well known in the community and had a reputation for being well-behaved, so Officer Tashigi and a few other officers got involved. Sakuya also contacted the Commission Board Members who knew of Amaterasu and began trying to find Heroes that could help search discreetly, just in case the whole affair was blown out of proportion. It would be bad for Sakuya, Izumi, and the whole Commission if it turned out to be nothing at all.

That had been yesterday evening. It was now midday on Saturday, and Sakuya was sat in the Police Station with Himiko, Dabi and Katsuki. She'd been called in by Officer Tashigi just an hour ago, and from his tone, it wasn't good news.

Their little group was led into a private conference room by Officer Tashigi, and what they saw inside nearly made Sakuya's heart stop with worry… Musutafu's Chief of Police was waiting, along with another important looking person in a suit, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, a skinny man with wild blond hair… and a Pro Hero.

Sakuya, as President of the Commission, naturally knew just about every Hero in Japan (at least by reputation) but she was especially familiar with Musutafu's local Heroes, so she immediately recognised the blond cockatoo style hair and leather jacket sported by the Voice Hero: Present Mic.

He was NOT one of the Heroes that had been called to subtly look for Izumi. The Voice Hero didn't DO subtle.

"Oh my god… What's happened? Did you find Izumi!?" Sakuya exclaimed as she laid eyes on Present Mic.

The Pro winced and reluctantly shook his head; "I'm sorry to worry you, Ma'am. I was asked to attend this meeting as a representative of the U.A Staff."

"U.A? If you guys are getting involved, this must be big. Where the hell is Izumi!?" Katsuki demanded.

"That's what we're here to inform you about. We're already doing all we can for Izumi." the Musutafu Police Chief said. He was a very old man in his eighties, but his was also extremely buff and fit for his age. His expression was gentle, and he had a long, dignified white beard. He was bald and had silver eyes and wore a black suit. "My name is Tetsuo Ojiyama. I am the Chief of Police for Musutafu. Allow me to introduce my friends; you already know Officer Tashigi, and Pro Hero Present Mic." he said, speaking in a deep voice as he pointed to the familiar officer and hero.

Next, he pointed to the other person in a suit; a woman wearing a dark red business suit. She appeared to be in her late fifties, but was almost as buff as Ojiyama. Her hair was silver and tied back into a neat pony tail while her eyes were an almost glowing yellow. "This is my colleague; Akane Seido. She's the Chief of Police over in our neighbouring city; Corusantu."

Chief Seido nodded stiffly while Ojiyama moved on to the detective. "This is Naomasa Tsukauchi, one of the best detectives with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. They were kind enough to lend him to us."

"The Detective and I are already acquainted. He collaborated with the Commission and my Foster Daughter, Himiko, to aid in the arrest and interrogation of the Villain: Twice." Sakuya said, nodding politely to the man, who received a much friendlier wave from Himiko.

The Detective merely smiled politely to the group. Mildly surprised, but undeterred, Ojiyama then pointed to the last person; the odd man out in the group of Heroes and Law Enforcement. The man was skinny to the point of being almost skeletal, while his eyes were sunken into his angular face, to the point they appeared black save for the burning blue irises. His hair was golden blond and wildly unkempt, with two scraggly bangs that framed his face. His clothes consisted of a yellow pinstripe suit that was about ten sizes too big for him; Sakuya had no idea why he'd chosen to wear something so oversized but it made it look like the poor man was drowning in his own clothes.

"This is Toshinori Yagi. He is the personal aide and manager for All-Might."

"A-All Might!?" Himiko squeaked as Katsuki gaped.

Sakuya was shocked too; she knew the truth about All-Might and his injury, and the fact that Toshinori wasn't the Hero's aide, but the Hero himself… being Commission President came with a lot of insider information. What she hadn't known was how badly his injury had affected him! If All-Might looked this bad in his Civilian Form, his time limit must be getting awfully low… perhaps it was time to involve Izumi, once they found her of course.

Unlike the teens, Dabi wasn't as star struck by the mere mention of the Top Hero, so he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why would All-Might want to be involved in this? What do you want with Izumi?" he demanded.

"Nothing at all, Young Man. All-Might has recently moved to this city for his own reasons, and upon learning of Young Midoriya going missing, he offered to assist in the situation." Mr Yagi said politely.

Sakuya gulped; "Situation? What exactly is going on? I knew something was wrong when Izumi didn't come home, but why have Heroes and two Police Chiefs already gotten involved? Is my daughter in real danger!?" she asked, beginning to panic. Somewhere down the line, Sakuya had stopped adding the word "foster" before her daughter… she had no intention of replacing Inko as Izumi's true mother but a person could have more than one Mom in this day and age!

"I'm afraid so." Chief Ojiyama sighed, "Officer Tashigi was convinced that your daughter's disappearance was more serious then a fourteen year old girl running off in some teenage rebellion. With Izumi being a Provisional Hero AND well known as the Kami of Musutafu, a lot of us agreed. He investigated the area around Dagobah and found that while the area was mostly uninhabited right now, there were still a few security cameras operational."

Ojiyama reached into his pocket and pulled out three photographs. The first showed Izumi talking with a man with blond hair and wearing a peculiar bird themed mask while they stood just outside of an alleyway. The next showed Izumi walking into the alley with the man. The last one showed two men carrying an unconscious Izumi out of the alley and bundling her into a parked car. One of the men was the blond guy Izumi had been talking to in the first picture, while the other was bald and had the same strange bird mark.

"Oh my god! Someone kidnapped my child!" Sakuya shrieked, a mix of horror, panic and fury in her voice. Someone had managed to capture Amaterasu the Sun Goddess! Who knows what could happen to her, and the world!

"How the hell did they nab her!? No way Izuchan would get taken down by two punks like that!" Katsuki yelled.

"We believe she was lured out of sight by the first man and then ambushed and knocked out before she could defend herself." Chief Seido frowned, "We investigated the scene already and there are no signs of a struggle, and from the camera's recordings; the Young Miss Midoriya was unharmed."

"Who are those guys?" Himiko asked with narrowed eyes.

"They're names are unknown, and while we traced their vehicle, it was only a rental that was hired with cash and a fake ID, so the chances of identifying them are slim. However, the masks signify they are members of a Yakuza Group based in my city." Chief Seido said grimly; "They call themselves the Shie Hassaikai, also known as the Eight Precepts of Death."

Sakuya almost fainted. The Yakuza!? If the Yakuza had the young Goddess, who knew what they could be doing to her! In the modern day, the Yakuza were mostly small time criminals than ran illegal businesses like quirk fighting rings, illegal casinos, drug smuggling rings and brothels! For all Sakuya knew, the Reborn Sun Goddess could be forced to fight other kidnapped children, or turned into a drug mule, or sold into prostitution! "This is a nightmare..." she said, nearly collapsing and having to brace herself against Dabi. If Izumi was forced into any of those situations, or worse; Demons were involved, then there was a good chance that Izumi's resolve would slip and she'd be corrupted! Between the abuse of Himiko and Dabi, Izumi had already had two brushes with Demonic Power!

Chief Seido bowed her head in shame; "I am deeply sorry. The Shie Hassaikai are known to operate out of Corusantu, but we've largely ignored them due to Villains being a higher priority."

"And now you're here to clean up the mess your laziness left." Dabi said coldly, "I take it you've teamed up with the Musutafu Police now that this scum has pulled something here too, and you brought in the Heroes to help fix your screw up. Am I right?"

Seido scowled, but didn't deny it. That was when Present Mic piped up; "Principal Nezu of U.A has volunteered the Heroes working there to help with the investigation. The Little Listener was kidnapped in Musutafu, right under the nose of U.A. We Heroes can't tolerate that. Plus, with the Little Listener being a Provisional Hero and a future U.A Student, we have a personal reason to get involved too."

"All-Might feels the same." Toshinori said seriously.

Toshinori and Present Mic shared a brief glance, which Dabi caught. Of course, the Heroes would work hard to bust the Yakuza now that they'd kidnapped someone, particularly a child, but it didn't take a genius to figure out why they were treating this so seriously… they knew about Izumi's Quirk Taking Power from the Quirk Registry (before it was made classified) and would do anything to get it back under the control of the good guys. Criminals with the power to take quirks would be a catastrophe.

Sakuya managed to get herself under control, taking a few calming breathes and accepting the soothing pats to her back, kindly offered by Himiko, "Okay… so Izumi is being held by these Precept People. What can we do to get her back?"

"We're currently investigating every lead we have to find the gang's base. They're a small group, but very secretive. They've never done something this outrageous before. We believe they have only one base, so we're putting all resources into finding it. We tried using security footage to follow the car, but it drove through multiple blind spots and was eventually abandoned in a security dead zone on the edge of Musutafu, likely due to the Criminals changing vehicles to escape being tracked. We're talking to people who live in the area in hopes of a witness, but it will take time to solidify a lead. In the meantime, we've put together a strike force to attack the base and will launch the attack the instant we get confirmation on the base's location." Chief Ojiyama informed them.

Present Mic gave Sakuya, Dabi, Himiko and Katsuki a smile and a thumbs up; "Every Hero working at U.A, including the Principal himself will be taking part in the raid. With us, the Musutafu and Corusantu Police Forces, and All-Might, there's no way we'll fail. You'll have the Little Listener back safe and sound before you know it!"

"You better. If you guys don't find Izumi soon, then I'll go looking for her myself! I'll smoke them out and show them not to mess with my little sister!" Katsuki growled, punching his palm and making a small explosion.

Himiko's lips rose in a terrifying smile; "I'm going to stock up on knives. If I find a Yakuza, I'll deliver him to the police all tied up with a nice red ribbon… they might be missing a few bits though."

The adults gulped. These teenagers were far too intense! They were so serious about their threats that the Police Chiefs and Heroes forgot to tell them not to get involved. Thankfully, as worried as Sakuya was, she still knew how to handle her wilder daughter and honorary nephew.

"Neither of you will do anything. If you go off as vigilantes, it will interfere with your wish to be Heroes, and Izumi wouldn't want that." Sakuya told them, making both teens frown and look at their feet, unable to argue.

Sakuya turned back to the adults and bowed deeply, "Izumi is strong. She'll survive, no matter what the yakuza do. But please… find her soon." the Tree Spirit begged. She knew Izumi would be okay… she just hoped she'd still be Izumi when they found her.

The call of Corruption could be very tempting to those in need of help...

The gathered adults nodded seriously and got back to work, organising the investigation teams while Sakuya and Dabi took the teens home. Through the entire trip back, Sakuya could only think one thing.

"Please Izumi, stay strong. The Heroes are coming."

[Later that day]

[Shie Hassaikai Compound, Corusantu]

Izumi found herself being laid carefully on the bed in Eri's room by one of Overhaul's men. Eri was beside her, crying silently and hugging her tightly as Izumi tried to get comfortable despite her pain.

"Ugh… Either I'm a wuss, or Eri is a lot tougher than I imagined. How the hell did she take these experiments?" Izumi thought, not strong enough to speak to Eri. She dearly wanted to comfort the crying girl, but her body simply didn't have the strength left. The cursed restraint was back around her ankle too, not that Izumi could have used her powers in her current condition.

"Eri is a five year old girl. She likely went into shock and disassociated to deal with the trauma. She is also used to the abuse; the video we saw was the most recent experiment she was subjected to. If it had been her first experience, I believe she would have reacted more… viscerally." Yomigami said.

Izumi frowned at the thought. Overhaul had been vicious with Izumi, not giving her a chance to catch her breath at all through the torture he called an experiment.

It was the most harrowing experience of Izumi's short life… Overhaul had cut her with all the precision of an experienced surgeon, slicing through the skin and fat of her arm with the first cut, and then while Izumi was reeling from that, he'd immediately cut again in the same spot, going back to the top of the initial incision and using it as a guideline to slice deeper into her arm, severing through the muscle. Izumi had whimpered at that cut, but then Overhaul had repeated the cut a third time, slicing through what little muscle remained between her bone and the open air… Izumi was sure he's actually scraped the bone. That was when Izumi had started crying… she felt Rewind kick in to begin reversing the damage and that wasn't a pleasant feeling either; the painful electrical current she'd first felt when taking the quirk from Eri appeared again, but instead of going from her arms to the horn on her forehead, it went from the horn to her injured arm. Izumi had looked at the wound and immediately regretted it; her exposed muscle fibres twitched and danced with the current passing through them and began to thread themselves back together.

That was when Overhaul had suddenly grabbed some of these fibres with some tweezers and cut them out with a tug and a slice of the scalpel.

Izumi had finally broken and begun screaming. Even with her pain reduced by the Brush Gods' calming auras, this was a whole new level of torture. Overhaul placed the harvested flesh into a Petri dish and then drained some of the blood that had pooled in the open wound with a large syringe. Then he repeated the process, cutting out more of Izumi's flesh and draining more blood until Izumi felt the veins around her horn pulse and the current get stronger, signifying that Rewind was kicking it into the next gear. That was when Overhaul decided to call it quits on that cut, as it would heal too fast for him to gather more cells. Izumi had sighed with relief and used Rejuvenation to heal the wound… Rejuvenation used less stamina than Rewind, so it let her recover more easily than Eri had.

But Overhaul wasn't done… Izumi could still think and function, so he kept going. He made another cut and the process repeated. In the end, Izumi wasn't sure how many times Overhaul sliced into her arm; all she remembered was a constant pain that linked the horn that came with Eri's quirk to the entirety of her arm. At some point, Izumi either passed out or was too incoherent with pain to speed up her healing with Rejuvenation.

That was when she experienced her first "reset" at Overhaul's hands.

From what Izumi remembered of the video showing Overhaul's last experiment on Eri, the reset was the most awful looking part, as while the cutting was terrible, the sight of the little girl being literally obliterated; reduced to nothing but a bloody stain had been so much worse. Now that Izumi had been on the other side and experienced it for herself, the actual reset wasn't as bad as the cutting. It was still a horrid experience, as it felt like every atom of her existence was being torn apart, but it had been very quick on account of the fact she couldn't feel pain if she didn't have nerves any more…

After being reset, Izumi had regained some clarity and awareness… which meant Overhaul could continue his cruel work. The only bright spot were the Brush Gods, who on top of helping numb the pain, where whispering reassurances to her through it all. Thankfully, the Resets didn't have any negative effect on the Brush Gods, as Overhaul's quirk couldn't effect her spirit. It also didn't effect her Astral Resurrection, as while Izumi technically died, she was reconstructed too quickly for the Resurrection to be needed.

Izumi had no idea how long the whole session lasted as it all blended together in her memory, forming a miasma of pain and suffering. When she hadn't been able to take any more, Overhaul had ordered Chronostasis to snap the quirk suppressor back around her leg and then had Rikiya Katsukame remove the shock/explosive collar from Eri's neck. The Brute was then ordered to carry both her and Eri back to their shared room, where he laid Izumi on the bed and left, locking the door behind him.

That had been quite a while ago, and Izumi was slowly getting a hold of herself. After a few minutes of struggling, Izumi was finally able to drag herself into a seated position and look down at Eri, who looked back at her with watery eyes.

Izumi smiled weakly and petted the girl's hair; "It's alright, Eri. You're okay." she said softly.

"I-I'm okay… but what about you? T-They hurt you. You screamed a lot!" Eri asked, on the verge of tears again.

"I can take it. You were brave and took that torture for months and months; I have to make sure I never let you take it again." Izumi said, hugging Eri.

Eri sniffled and hugged back, holding Izumi as tightly as she could. "I love you..." she whispered.

Izumi's heart swelled; "I love you too, Eri."

The two girls looked each other in the eye, and Izumi felt something warm and loving settle into her heart. She didn't know it yet, but Izumi and Eri had just become connected by something that ran deeper than blood.

Eri blushed and a spark appeared in her eyes. "Um, your name… it was Mido… Midori..."

She began to struggle, not quite able to pronounce Izumi's name. Izumi could see shame beginning to creep into the girl's expression, so she grinned and kissed her cheek. "My name is Izumi Midoriya. Mi-dori-ya. It can be a bit hard to say for small children, so you should call me Izumi, okay?"

Eri's blush returned and she nodded, her lips making a cute little quiver, as if she was trying and failing to smile. A short time later, the door opened and a pair of men came in, carrying trays of dinner for the girls. They left the trays on the ground beside the bed and then left without saying a word to either girl, locking the door behind them. Izumi stared at the food disdainfully; it was convenience store ready meals, the kind that came in the plastic containers with disposable cutlery and got microwaved…

"Tch, I hope Overhaul still plans on letting me use the kitchen. I can make better than this in five minutes." Izumi thought angrily as she lifted the trays onto the bed and passed one to Eri.

Eri didn't seem too bothered by the food, not likely knowing any different. She was hungry and dug in, eating in sections like Izumi had done when she was little. Izumi smiled at the girl and began eating herself… the food didn't actually taste that bad, but it wasn't the kind of thing a growing girl should be living off.

Once they'd eaten, Izumi wanted dearly to sleep off some of the fatigue of the day, but in order to try and maintain some normalcy for Eri (and hopefully find a chance to talk to Ishiko, who was still in the vents), she stayed awake until the little clock on the wall read 7pm. Then, she took Eri into the bathroom and bathed with her, an experience that the much younger girl found much more fun than just sitting in the bath while some crook washed her hair. Izumi even let Eri wash her own curly green hair, which the little girl found very interesting. It occurred to Izumi that Eri might not have ever met another girl before.

The poor girl had whimpered while washing Izumi's hair, as she had lifted the green curls up to clean them, only to expose Izumi's back and the scars that went from her shoulders to her backside. The remnants of Roku-Ju's whipping and Izumi's first ever encounter with a Demon. Izumi briefly wondered if Roku-Ju was somewhere in the base with them… the imp served Orochi, as did the Precepts, so there was a good chance he was here somewhere.

Pushing that thought aside, Izumi turned to Eri with a gentle smile; "It's okay Eri. I got these a long time ago, when I was as little as you. They don't hurt, so you don't need to be careful." she said kindly.

Eri's lip quivered sadly; "Didn't someone protect you? Like you protected me?"

Izumi smiled sadly; "My Mother… she tried to, but her soul was taken by a monster."

"Like the Green Monkey things?" Eri asked innocently.

Izumi's eyes widened; "Eri… you can see the Demons?"

The white haired child nodded; "They're mean and scary… The Green Monkey ones tease me and say I'm going to be their Boss's lunch when I grow up! Sometimes the Bad Man makes them come get me, and take me to the bad place…" Eri shuddered in fear, "I tried to hide in the wardrobe once, but one of them found me and spanked me really hard with my hairbrush! I don't like those Monsters..."

Izumi's mind immediately summoned the memory of her own beatings at the hands of the Green Imps, back when she was only four years old. However, the memory twisted in her head and instead of remembering herself being beaten, Izumi saw Eri in her place, crying and screaming under the Imp's lashes. Hatred filled Izumi and her eyes flashed red again, before she smothered those thoughts.

The Demons' Corruption was so thick in the yakuza base that it was getting to her more and more.

Shaking the feelings off, Izumi stroked Eri's hair; "Don't worry Eri, I will never let them hurt you again. I promised, didn't I?"

Eri nodded, a happy spark returning to her eyes. She still couldn't seem to smile, but Izumi could understand that. It would take time to make Eri feel safe enough to smile.

Once their hair had been washed, the two girls enjoyed a soak, during which Izumi felt some of her energy returning. The Brush Gods was giving up their own energy to restore Izumi's faster. They didn't normally do it, as if they ran out of power themselves, then they couldn't speak to Izumi and her ability to use their Brush Technique was greatly weakened. Still, with the fear that a weakened Izumi would be easily corrupted, they decided it was safer to give up their powers… it wasn't like Izumi could use them anyway while restrained by the Cursed Band! By the time Izumi was done making sure Eri was clean, she had regained enough stamina to function semi-normally, though Izumi maintained a facade of exhaustion. If Overhaul were to learn how quickly she could recover, he might force her to stay in the lab all day.

Once the bath was done, Izumi briefly checked the vent, only to find that Ishiko hadn't returned yet. The Greenette wasn't worried; Ishiko was stealthy and could look after herself. The Poncle would find Izumi when she returned and wouldn't expose herself, so things would be okay.

Leaving the bathroom, Izumi changed Eri and herself into new off-white dresses, brushed their hair carefully (after assuring a fearful Eri that she wouldn't ever use the brush to spank her, like the Demon had), and rewrapped the little girl's arms and legs in bandages to cover the scars, which Eri was shy about. As she wrapped them, Izumi counted each and every one… there were forty two different scars in total, some thicker and/or longer than the others. Izumi guessed that those were places Overhaul had cut Eri multiple times, as she was sure Eri had been subjected to more than forty two cuts… Izumi had suffered over twenty today alone.

When Izumi finished wrapping Eri's limbs, the white haired girl held up a roll of bandages and shyly pointed at Izumi's left upper arm. Izumi frowned and looked at the point Eri was looking at, her eyes widening as she saw them; a collection of four thin scars, each roughly two inches long and a millimetre thick.

"You have been scarred again..." Yomigami said sadly. Izumi had been injured a lot since Roku-Ju's attack, but any scars she should have gained had been prevented by the power of Rejuvenation, which didn't create scar tissue. For the Dragon of Restoration, a scar on the Sun Goddess was a mark of shame.

Izumi was quick to assure him that it wasn't his fault, before beginning to wonder why she was scarred in the first place.

"I guess Rewind doesn't heal scars like Rejuvenation does. These cuts are probably the ones that finished healing under Rewind's effect, not Rejuvenation. They were both active at once, so whichever finished first would determine if I was scarred… I wonder why Rewind leaves scars anyway, shouldn't it simply reverse the cut? Maybe because the quirk isn't activated fully?" Izumi muttered, half responding to Yomigami and half theorising. She began to descend into a full on mutter storm, consumed momentarily by her habit of quirk analysis.

"Despite being named Rewind, it is unlikely that the quirk actually has an effect on time itself. More likely, it simulates the effects of reversing time by causing biological processes to work in reverse. This is why it only works on Organic Matter. If it truly effected time, then Inorganic matter would be effected too. In the case of these wounds, the process of injury is reversed, becoming super-fast healing instead and thus leaves a scar. Rejuvenation is special in that it "repairs" rather than truly heals, replacing the missing or damaged parts with new ones created from the ink, hence why it doesn't leave a scar."Izumi muttered.

"Izumi?" Eri asked, looking up with curious eyes. Izumi had been muttering and then suddenly staring into space… it worried the little girl.

"Oh, sorry Sweet Heart. I got distracted. Do you want to try and wrap them up?" Izumi offered, holding her arm out for Eri. Eri nodded shyly and did her best to wrap the scars. It was messily done and used more bandages than was really necessary, but it was a valiant effort.

"Well done, Eri. Now let's get you to bed. I think we're both tired." Izumi said, beaming at Eri.

There was only one bed, but it was more than big enough for both girls, so Izumi tucked Eri in and then switched off the light before climbing in beside her. Eri immediately cuddled up to Izumi.

"Night night." she said sleepily.

Izumi smiled softly and kissed the girl's forehead; "Good night Eri."

Eri dropped off to sleep almost straight away, but Izumi stayed awake a little longer as she was deep in thought; categorising and analysing everything she'd learned that day.

First; she'd been kidnapped by the Shie Hassaikai, a Yakuza Group working with the Demon General Yamata no Orochi, more commonly known just as Orochi. Overhaul and Orochi were working together, but they had different goals.

Overhaul wanted to use Eri's Rewind Quirk to create a drug that rewound the biological evolution that resulted in Quirks. His motives seemed to stem from a psychotic belief that Quirks were a disease, with Heroism and Villainy being both diseases themselves as well symptoms of the "Quirk Disease". He was clearly insane, and he tortured Eri, so Izumi didn't give a damn what he wanted or why. He wanted Izumi to accelerate his research by having her use Rejuvenation to let him hurt Eri more, though that was unnecessary now that Izumi had taken Eri's quirk.

Orochi wanted what he always did; his own power. In both battles Izumi had with the Serpent Demon in her previous lives, Orochi had sought to rule the world by devouring the souls of 100 beautiful women, with the 100th being the sacrifice of a Pure Virgin Maiden. The problem Izumi couldn't figure out was why Orochi was working with Overhaul… the Yakuza had nothing to offer aside from Eri as a potential sacrifice, and Orochi would certainly be able to simply take her if he wished. Orochi wanted Izumi for one of two purposes; to either corrupt her into a Demon to serve the Evil One, or to devour her as his 100th sacrifice to gain power to wrest control from his own master and become the new Evil One. The Snake didn't seem to care which option she took, since he was allowing Overhaul to place the choice in Izumi's hands.

So that was the core of the information Izumi had managed to put together; Overhaul was nuts, Orochi had bizarre and unknown motives, and they were both working together to keep her captive. Other than that, Izumi had discovered that the Shie Hassaikai's Boss (presumably the one from before Overhaul) was being kept alive by Orochi somehow, implying the man was very ill or injured, and that Izumi's quirk taking power was enough to make the Yakuza believe she was connected to someone or something called All for One… That name seemed familiar, but with everything that had happened, she couldn't recall where she'd heard it...

Izumi huffed as her eyes grew heavy; this was getting complicated. She had too many questions that still needed answering! Where did Eri come from? Who was her family? How did she come to be in the Yakuza's hands? Why was Orochi helping the Yakuza? Who, or what, was All for One? Why did they think Izumi was connected to this person/thing?

Eri was sound asleep, and Izumi wasn't far behind her… there would be more experiments to endure tomorrow, but Izumi would survive. She'd take all that these Yakuza Scum could dish out, and then she'd find a way to escape. All she needed was a single chance to use her quirk without Eri being in danger, and she was sure she could get them out.

Izumi finally succumbed to sleep, the beginnings of a plan in her head.

There was a silver lining to all this hardship; not only would Izumi be able to save Eri, but she might just be able to slay Orochi and release the souls he'd devoured! If Izumi could pull this off, all the victims of the so-called Reaper would wake up!

Including Izumi's mother.

Next Chapter: Hell Days

To be Released: June 27th 2021

Another chapter down! This time we got to see inside Sakuya's head for a bit and see how the outside world is reacting to Izumi's kidnapping. Also, it looks like All-Might and U.A are getting involved! The rescue will be hectic! And of course, the less fun part; Izumi enduring the experiments. She's having one heck of a tough time at the moment, but she's keeping her promise and Eri is as safe as possible. Izumi also has a secondary goal now; taking down Orochi!

Next chapter will have Izumi begin plotting her escape, as well as some much needed fluff and cuteness with Eri. That little scene of affection between them is a lot more important than you might expect. Also, I'm sure a lot of you are crying out for blood from the Yakuza, and while I agree, remember who Izumi is as a person. She isn't the type to kill unless she has no choice.

I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!