The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 6: Birth of a Hero
Chapter 7: The Eyes of the Nation
After everything that had happened that day, it became clear to Detective Tsukauchi and the Heroes that they would need to come back the next day. They still needed to discuss the aftermath of the Shie Hassaikai Raid, as well as what would happen to Eri, but considering Izumi had woken her mother from a ten year coma, healed Hawks, discovered All-Might's secret, spilled her entire life story including her darkest secrets, then capped it off with an emotional breakdown, Detective Tsukauchi wasn't willing to further upset her.
Instead it was decided that he and the Heroes would come back tomorrow. As that would be Monday, and thus a school day, not all of the U.A group could come, but All-Might, Eraserhead (who'd expelled his class and thus had no classes to teach), and Nezu would all be accompanying the Detective. Ingenium had to return to his own patrols now that Hawks was healed, so he wouldn't be able to attend either, but he promised the Konohana Group that he'd stop by once they returned home, so he could reunite with his cousin and give Izumi the autograph she wanted. Oddly enough, before he left, Detective Tsukauchi asked the group not to use the internet or their phones (which they'd already been abstaining from, having been preoccupied with the slumbering Izumi and Eri). He gave no explanation, but promised it would be important. In addition, Ectoplasm was willing to postpone the healing of his legs until Izumi and Eri were allowed to go home, in the same way as All-Might had.
And so the Heroes had left for the evening, each wishing the family well and promising their autographs to any of the excited Middle Schoolers. Once they'd gone, Izumi and Hawks were given another once over by Doctor Sakamoto, who also took the opportunity to take some of Eri's blood while she was in such a deep sleep. Apparently Doctor Tanaka was still in the hospital labs and was desperate to test it. Eri woke up shortly thereafter and Izumi immediately hugged her and barely let the little girl out of her arms for the rest of the day.
The rest of the evening was spent with Izumi and Eri cuddling with their family, eating dinner, and watching the stars outside the window. It was peaceful, which was exactly what both girls needed after so much excitement and stress. Eventually, the girls fell asleep together on Inko's bed, but thankfully all three girls were petite, so they fit easily. The Bakugous went home with Katsuki (who'd been sleeping in the hospital waiting room until then) and Hawks returned to his agency, taking Dabi with him, to spend the night straightening things out after his absence. Jin also returned to his own room, which left only Ishiko, Himiko, Sakuya, and the Onikawas to share the room with the sleeping Midoriyas. Sakuya actually slept for the first time in years, despite not actually needing to as a Spirit, and shared Hawks' vacated bed with Himiko (who enjoyed having someone to cuddle with after hearing Izumi's story), while the Onikawas slept in the remaining two beds, both being too big for them to share. Ishiko stayed curled up inside one of the flowers Izumi had grown. Izumi had asked about them, but Sakuya had simply said she had some theories, but wanted to wait for Doctor Tanaka and Detective Tsukauchi before explaining.
It was a peaceful end to an emotional day, but it also served as the prelude to another day of revelations…
[Monday25thApril 2281]
[Musutafu General Hospital]
When Izumi woke up the next day, she found the room once again full and herself the last one to wake up. The Greenette smiled as she sat up and took in the scene around her.
Eri and Himiko were looking at a new batch of flowers (Izumi had managed to grow even more in her sleep, replacing the ones from yesterday with fresh ones) while Sakuya sat beside them and taught the girls what the flowers were and Ishiko idly lounged on Eri's horn, which had become a popular perch for the Poncle. The Onikawa Brothers were stood flanking the door like loyal guards again, which was nothing new. Hawks and Dabi had returned and were now quietly chatting with Jin over some bagels they'd bought on the way to the hospital. Katsuki and Masaru were playing a handheld video game together (Masaru using Himiko's system), and Mitsuki was chatting happily with Inko, catching the woman up on everything that had happened in the last ten years.
"Good Morning Izumi." Inko smiled, pausing her conversation to lean over and give the girl a kiss on the cheek.
"Good Morning Mama. Good Morning everyone." Izumi greeted. She felt so much happier and lighter after the previous day's crying session.
She received a chorus of good mornings in return, with Eri rushing over to give her a morning hug. "G'Morning Mama 'Zumi!"
Izumi beamed and stroked the girl's hair; "So! What's on the agenda for today?" she asked.
"It's only like 7:30AM, so we've got a while until breakfast. Other than the second visit from the Heroes later, we're all just killing time until you can come home." Keigo answered.
"I can't believe we got to meet so many amazing Heroes yesterday! I wish I'd gotten to talk to them all properly. If only I'd had my notebooks, I could have gotten their autographs on them!" Izumi said excitedly.
Hawks grinned; "Figured you'd say that! That's why I stopped by the Manor on the way to the agency last night, and picked up these!"
The Wing Hero reached under the bed he was sitting on and pulled out Izumi's bright yellow backpack. He flipped it open to show the insides, which included her Hero Notebooks, her Demon/Spirit Notebooks, and a few other assorted items, such as her own portable gaming system and some of her art supplies. Izumi gasped with joy and took the items gratefully.
"You're the best Keigo! Thanks!" she beamed at him, "How was everyone?"
"Relieved to hear you're awake and doing well, and excited to meet your Mother and Daughter. Doi and the Maeda Sisters are already planning to bake a cake in celebration, and the rest were arguing on if they should decorate rooms for Eri and Inko now, or wait for them to come home first. Gin was digging through chests full of his daughters' old toys for Eri, Kabuto is buying a child safety seat for the car, and Tenji is excited to talk about God stuff with his cousin. The Citruses are doing their best to keep them all under control! It'll be one hell of a party when you come home! Oh, and Master Onigiri says you're grounded from training for a month." Hawks said, grinning extra wide at that last part.
Izumi rolled her eyes, but smiled fondly at the descriptions of her family. Leave it to them to get so excited to see her again after only 8 days. She'd not even been gone two weeks yet!
"Who are those people?" Eri asked.
"The rest of our family. They're not related by blood and are technically employees who help run our house, but they're still family. You'll meet them all when we get to go home." Izumi answered.
Eri tilted her head curiously; "Home?"
"Yep! My home, and yours too now. It's a big Japanese Manor on top of a really tall building. When you go outside, you can see the sky stretching on for miles, and look over the entire city. We've also got gardens up there, and a koi pond. You'll love it!" Izumi grinned.
The little girl's eyes sparkled and she began to smile excitedly; "I can't wait to see!"
"Hopefully you won't be waiting long." Izumi smiled, before turning back to Hawks; "How were things at your Agency?"
"As good as could be expected. The Admin staff were mad at me, but what else is new. I spent half the night doing reports on what happened in Hokkaido and with the Shie Hassaikai… Still, the sidekicks are doing well." Hawks said dismissively.
Hawks didn't really have any personal sidekicks; the ones employed at his agency were all sent to him by the Commission due to them having trouble at other agencies or simply not fitting into anywhere nearby. The Hawks Hero Agency was basically a training camp for misfits, which suited Keigo just fine. He didn't have any criteria to join his agency, and no preferences for sidekicks outside the few people who manage to catch his interest.
However, Hawks had learned why the Detective hadn't wanted the family to look at the news or internet yet, and to say he was worried would be an understatement. He was sure Izumi was going to react badly...
"Oh yeah, I've got Dabi doing his college practicals at my agency for the next week, so I get to spend more time messing with him!" the blond hero grinned cheekily, winking at the burned man beside him.
Dabi rolled his eyes; "The Professors at my College Hero Course were mad at me for taking time off so early into my first year. I've kept up with the theoretical stuff with online classes, but I can't do the practicals if I'm not there, so I have to do remedial crap instead. When Colonel Sanders here find out about it last night, he sent an email to my Professors and got me assigned to his agency, so now I'm stuck there every evening and weekend until I catch up." he complained.
Izumi suppressed a giggle; Hawks' Sidekicks would be getting one hell of a show from the two men and their bizarre friendship/flirting. Still, Dabi's situation did raise a question; "I forgot all about school and college. I guess you took the time off because I was kidnapped?" she asked, a tad guiltily.
"We all did." Himiko chimed in, "You can't expect Kacchan, Dabi, and I to sit in classes while you need help. The teachers were understanding though, and we've been doing online classes while we hung around the Police Station or Hospital, so we're all caught up. I'll tutor you on some of that stuff later if you want."
"I'll help too. If I leave it to Sunny, you'll end up mistaking "Onion Rings" with "Wedding Rings" in English Class!" Katsuki smirked, making Himiko blush and scowl.
"That was an honest mistake! English is hard, and it was right before lunch!" Himiko whined.
Izumi and the rest of the room began laughing as Himiko and Katsuki began bickering. Not long later, some Orderlies came in with breakfast for everyone, and after they ate, Inko, Izumi, and Eri were shown to the showers so they could bathe (with Inko being pushed in a wheelchair), having had nothing but sponge baths until now due to them being unconscious. All three loved being able to soak in a hot bath after so much stress, and they were loathe to leave it, especially Eri, who got to enjoy bubbles for the first time. Once the three were finally clean and persuaded to leave the baths, they dressed in fresh Hospital Robes and returned to their Hospital Room.
Upon entering, they found that their Hero Guests had returned while they were bathing, and were now happily waiting for them. Toshinori, Naomasa, Nezu, and Eraserhead were all sat on one of the beds, talking with Ishiko and Sakuya about various spirits and demons.
"All-Might! I didn't think you'd be here so early! I'm sorry we weren't here to greet you." Izumi said, bowing politely.
"Not a problem, Young Midoriya. I suspect a nice bath was far higher on your priorities this morning! Young Ishiko and President Konohana were just telling us more of some of the Demons we encountered during the Raid." Toshinori greeted, flashing a brilliant smile.
Izumi couldn't help but smile back, and much to the amusement of her family, she unconsciously shifted into her Demi-God Form and began excitedly wagging her tail. It was an unfortunate habit of hers when she got too excited, and she usually controlled herself better, but All-Might was her weakness. Eager to help All-Might in any way she could, Izumi ran for her backpack and pulled out the Demon Notebooks she had and happily thrust them into the Number One's arms.
"T-These are my notes! I make notes on Heroes, Villains, Spirits, and Demons! I draw them and write down everything I can think of, and analyse them! Other than Orochi and the Brush Demons, I've only actually fought Imps, at least in this life, but I had a vision about a type of Wheel Demon called an Ice Mouth once, so those pages are the most detailed, but Ishiko and Sakuya taught me lots of things about the other Demons too, so I think I've got some pretty good analysis on them too! Actually, it's probably not that good at all… I probably shouldn't waste your time; I'm sorry!" Izumi babbled, her ears drooping at the end as she tried to take back her notes.
All-Might laughed uproariously and patted Izumi on the head, making sure to scratch behind her ears as he did so; "Calm down, Goddess of Nonsense! I'm sure your notes are wonderful."
Izumi leaned into the touch, enjoying being petted while Nezu, Tsukauchi and Eraser subtly took some of the notebooks from All-Might's free hand and began reading them. Tsukauchi and Eraser read the notes with impressed looks, while Nezu began to vibrate with joy.
"These are well done. I'd usually have to pay an Analyst for this kind of work." Eraserhead said, reading an entry on the Brush Demon: Akuma-Baku, "Your artwork is amazing too."
Every entry in Izumi's notebooks, regardless of the subject, had at least two or three pages of drawings Izumi had done; usually a realistic profile picture, an action pose, and a painting done in a traditional Japanese style.
"Art is my only hobby outside of Heroics. Ishiko has been teaching me how to draw and paint since I met her. I'm still nowhere near as good as she is." Izumi blushed. She always felt shy about others seeing her art.
"If Ishiko is that much better than you, then her work must be a real treasure, as these are beautiful. They're also very useful; I recognise a few of these Demons from the Shie Hassaikai Hideout." Tsukauchi said.
Izumi frowned; "You were there? I'm sorry, I didn't really notice anyone other than the Heroes."
"I wasn't. I've been to the site after the raid however. The area is currently in lock down due to the Demons. We've managed to restrain some, but we've had to repeatedly kill and re-kill the others."
Izumi grimaced; she'd killed a few Demons during her escape, but the brunt of Orochi's forces had been taken out by the Police or Heroes. That meant they'd resurrect after about a day or so. "I'll need to go and clean that up soon." Izumi said grimly.
Eri frowned and gripped Izumi's hand tightly; "Y-You don't need to go back to the bad place, do you?"
Izumi smiled sadly and stroked the girl's cheek; "I do, but I won't be in danger. Those Demons… they aren't like Humans; I can't save them and there isn't a way to rehabilitate them. The only way to help them is to destroy them with Divine Power, and send their souls to be reincarnated. I'm the only one who can do it, so I need to go back." she explained.
An adorable pout appeared on Eri's face, but the girl didn't argue. She just held her mother's hand tighter and stuck closer to her.
Detective Tsukauchi nodded; "We appreciate it. The Corusantu Police and the Local Heroes have the situation under control, and once I send them copies of these notes, they'll be able to deal with the Demons much more easily, so you don't need to rush your recovery."
"Honestly, aside from the stuff I need to go to therapy for, I'm already back in top shape." Izumi confessed, stretching and giving a quick demonstration of her Wolf Transformation and Bloom Technique to prove it. Aside from the scars on her limbs, which were completely closed up and healed, Izumi was in the same condition she was in before the Shie Hassaikai. In fact, she felt even stronger, as if there was a new well of energy inside her.
The four visitors, as well as the rest of Izumi's family examined her with a critical eye, each one of them lingering on Izumi's exposed legs and arms. She wasn't wearing bandages any more, so her scars were clearly visible. Eri didn't like them, as she knew most of those scars were actually hers and transferred to Izumi after their fusion/possession ended… it made her feel guilty, though those feelings were lessened by the fact Izumi didn't really care about the scars.
"Still, I don't expect the Doctors will let you leave the Hospital until at least the end of the week." Nezu chimed in, finally tearing himself away from Izumi's notebooks. "But that's a good thing, as it gives us time to ensure Little Eri is placed in your care, and gives you time to deal with the changes that have occurred in your absence."
"Changes? Is something about me different? I mean, I know growing flowers in my sleep didn't happen before, but I haven't noticed any other changes." Izumi said, looking worried.
"He isn't talking about you changing, but rather the world's opinion of you." Detective Tsukauchi said.
Izumi's eyes widened and the rest of her family looked at each other with confusion and worry. Only Hawks, having been exposed to the media since the Shie Hassaikai incident, knew what was going on outside; the rest had been kept purposely out of the loop while the Government did damage control.
Izumi didn't know what was going on; her Kami of Musutafu alter ego was well known in Musutafu, but no one other than her classmates and a few people she'd helped frequently knew that Izumi and the Kami were the same person. There was also her identity as the Provisional Hero: Amaterasu, but only the Heroes she worked with knew that her Hero Alias and the Kami were the same person, as she kept her face covered while acting as a Hero, not wanting to fully reveal the connection between Izumi, the Kami, and the Hero until after her official debut, once she'd gotten her full Hero License. How had the Shie Hassaikai Incident changed that?
"Detective, I don't understand. What do you mean when you say the world's opinion of me?" Izumi asked nervously.
The Detective, Toshinori, and Nezu tried to think of how best to phrase the next part so as to keep Izumi from freaking out, but Eraser decided that it was better to just tell her straight out, like ripping off a band-aid. "The Media got their hands on a full recording of the Orochi battle. Everything from the moment Orochi attacked the Police to recapture Chisaki to shortly after you and Eri were taken away from the scene in an ambulance. All of Japan has seen the battle on the news, including the memories Orochi showed us all, and your sparing Chisaki and fighting Orochi. Everything that happened was broadcast across the country, and even to other countries. Much of the world has likely seen the fight by now."
Izumi's face went as white as a sheet as shock overcame her. Her eyes were impossibly wide, and her jaw was nearly on the floor in shock. The entire world… everyone had seen what happened! They'd seen the memories Orochi showed her, including her and Eri's torture! They'd seen her fight Orochi alongside All-Might, and ultimately destroy him by fusing with Eri!
While Toshinori and Nezu were glaring at Eraser for his bluntness, the rest of the room were trying to accept what they'd just heard. Everyone with a cellphone immediately grabbed it and began looking at various news sites, while those without phones on them (like Jin and Inko) looked over their shoulders.
What Eraserhead said was completely true; Izumi, Orochi, and the Shie Hassaikai were all over every Japanese News and Social Media site on the internet, with videos of the battle being posted from multiple official and unofficial accounts across a dozen websites. Even American, Chinese, and European News Sites had stories on it.
"Holy crap, look at some of these headlines! "Tortured Young Heroine teams up with Number One Hero to stop Villain behind the Reaper Attacks!" and "Kidnapped Provisional Hero saves Corusantu from Yakuza and the Reaper!" How the hell did all this get out!?" Dabi demanded, torn between anger and shock.
"A certain annoying Journalist is responsible. Her quirk allows her to turn portions of her body into small flying camera drones, which can record information and interface with any USB enabled device. She saw the Raid Team driving past with Hawks and All-Might, so she sent her drones to watch the event. Since they can fly, they were even able to see what happened inside the barrier after Orochi lifted it into the sky." Detective Tsukauchi explained, "She sold the story to the biggest network in Japan, and the other news sources picked it up almost immediately after."
"The whole world saw me… they saw that fight..." Izumi gasped, having to sit down to calm down.
"Is her secret safe!?" Sakuya asked urgently; "Do people know the truth about her!?"
Nezu shook his head; "No. The News seem to believe that the talk of Gods and Demons was just a part of Orochi's delusions. They believe he focused on Izumi due to her choice of Hero Name, which his madness interpreted as her being the actual Shinto Goddess. Since it's believed he had multiple quirks, most news outlets are taking the opinion that his talk of "corrupting" Izumi into a Demon was him trying to weaken her will so he could possess her, the same way he possessed the Shie Hassaikai's former boss. Speculation is rampant, but no one believes anything supernatural actually occurred."
Hearing that relieved Izumi and Sakuya greatly, allowing Izumi to take a deep breath and calm down properly…
...until Katsuki suddenly swore loudly.
Izumi turned to scold him for using such language, especially in front of Eri and the Heroes, but Katsuki silenced her with a serious look; "Izuchan… you've been completely outed. They don't just know what happened, they know your name and BOTH your aliases!"
"WHAT!?" Izumi screamed, rushing to read the article over Katsuki's shoulder.
While Izumi read it silently, Katsuki read it aloud for the benefit of the others; "According to an anonymous comment from a member of the Corusantu Police, the young hero involved in the Major Villain Incident is in fact Izumi Midoriya, 14, a resident of Musutafu. Midoriya was reported missing last Friday evening, and was confirmed kidnapped by Yakuza Group: the Shie Hassaikai, during an investigation by Corusantu and Musutafu Police. In the video taken from the scene of the incident, Midoriya was seen changing her hair white, and gaining wolf ears and tail via her quirk, which has been listed as Classified. Her transformed state is identical to that of a helpful youth that had been performing good deeds around Musutafu for the last ten years, known locally as the Kami of Musutafu. In addition, the abilities she demonstrated in the battle with the Villain known as Orochi, AKA the Reaper, are identical to abilities wielded by the second youngest ever recipient of a Japanese Provisional Hero License; Amaterasu, who gained the license at Age 13. Our investigations have uncovered conclusive proof that the Kami of Musutafu, and the Provisional Hero: Amaterasu are in fact, aliases of Izumi Midoriya. Midoriya and the White Haired Child rescued from the Shie Hassaikai (name withheld for legal reasons) are both currently in hospital recovering from their ordeal. Currently, there has been no comment from Midoriya, her guardians, the Police, or the Heroes involved in the case."
Sakuya and Inko were both enraged; "Those Bastards! Why not report her address and phone number too while they're at it!?" Sakuya shouted.
"Izumi is still a minor. Reporting her name without parental permission is illegal. I smell a lawsuit." Inko added coldly, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It's not quite that simple; Izumi is a Provisional Hero and like all Heroes, that technically makes her a public figure. It is considered immoral but not technically illegal to print her name. It's an ugly side effect of certain media laws and the grey area that Provisional Heros exist in." Tsukauchi regretfully informed her. There WAS illegal activity involved in the story though, which he'd get to to later.
"How did they discover all this?" Himiko asked worriedly. She was looking a little green, having watched a clip of the Orochi Battle. Hearing how Izumi had fought the Monster was one thing, but witnessing her being smacked around while protecting Eri was quite another!
Katsuki was too angry to keep reading, so Masaru quickly finished reading the article and summarised it. "According to this, once they had Izumi's name and linked her to the Kami of Musutafu via her appearance in Demi-God Form, they were able to link her to her Hero Alias by searching her name in various government records. Her entry in the Quirk Registry is classified now, but they were able to find an archived version from an online database that listed most of her powers, excluding only her Quirk Taking Power. They were also able to check the records of Hero Licenses and Exams, and find the entry for Izumi's provisional license, which included her Hero Name. Once they knew the basics of her quirk and that she had a license under the name Amaterasu, they were able to prove Izumi, the Kami, and Amaterasu were all the same person."
"Now that can't be legal!" Izumi cried.
Tsukauchi nodded; "It isn't. Only Law Enforcement and other Heroes have access to those records, and it's against the law to give that information to an unauthorised person. I've been working with some members of Internal Affairs to investigate; it's either the work of a hacker, or an insider. We just need to figure out which, then who the culprit is. I've been interviewing members of the Police involved in the Raid, but have had no luck so far."
Izumi groaned and hid her face in her hands. She was afraid her identity might come out someday, but not like this! The entire world knew who she was now! The only way it could be worse was if they had also discovered her Divine Identity. "This is a nightmare..."
"Mama?" Eri said quietly, gently pulling on Izumi's sleeve; "Are you okay? What's happening?"
"I'm okay Eri, just… processing." Izumi patted the girl's head, "As for what happened… you remember how Orochi showed us memories of what Chisaki did to us?"
Eri nodded grimly, not wanting to think about it.
"Well someone else was able to record everything he showed us, as well as everything that happened once we got outside of the Bad Guys' hideout. The whole wide world has seen it, so they all know what happened." Izumi explained, trying to make it easy for Eri to understand. The girl seemed to grasp what she was being told, but wasn't sure why it was bad.
"Is something bad going to happen?" she asked fearfully.
"I don't know. You don't need to worry though, Eri; no matter what, I will protect you." Izumi replied, hugging Eri to reassure her.
In truth, whether things would be good or bad from now on depended entirely on the opinions of the people and the Government. Izumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down, then began to analyse the situation. Many of the acts she'd committed could be considered good or bad depending on the individual's perspective. She had escaped captivity, saved Eri, defeated Chisaki, spared his life, helped save Hawks from Orochi, worked with All-Might to fight Orochi, and ultimately defeated the Villain with Eri's help, before saving Corusantu from the falling arena the Snake had created. All those were good points.
But people could view them badly too; she hadn't gotten Eri out of danger fast enough, leaving her in the thick of the battle. She'd spared Chisaki, but she'd also put a gun to his head and very clearly struggled with choosing to spare him. She might have gotten in All-Might's way while they fought together, or distracted him and lowered his combat ability. She'd had to use Eri as a host to defeat Orochi for good, which would likely confuse the viewers, since they wouldn't understand Possession, or necessarily realise it was an accident. She'd also technically killed Orochi, severing his heads and rewinding him out of existence, which would almost definitely get her criticised at the very least. Even saving the city from the falling arena could be viewed poorly, as she'd had to grow a monstrous tree, which could have caused a lot of property damage and cost the city millions to repair the damage and remove the tree. Some people could be extremely critical of a Hero who did anything less than capture the villain impeccably with no damage to them or their surroundings, and Izumi's fears weren't unfounded.
Legally speaking, she was covered for most of what happened. The only things that might get her in official trouble would be involving Eri (Child and Civilian Endangerment) and killing Orochi (Manslaughter or even outright Murder). If she could justify those two acts, she'd be safe from the law, but the Court of Public Opinion could be even harsher…
"S-So… how are people reacting to this?" Izumi asked nervously.
Tsukauchi and the Heroes began to smile; "Oh, I'd say they're reacting… passionately." Toshinori grinned.
Izumi and her friends began to look at the man with hopeful expressions; "I-It's going well?" Izumi asked.
"The vast majority of people have responded with very high praise. The Media, the Government, the Heroes, and the Public have almost universally fallen on your side." Nezu happily reported.
"Really!? They're not mad?"
"Well, it is a majority, but there are still detractors." Eraser cut in, "Some paparazzi have been stirring up trouble, but they've been mostly ignored. A few fringe elements within the Government have been critical too, citing the death of Orochi and the property damage caused by the fight and your tree, but they've been mostly ignored and dismissed."
"Percentage wise, you have roughly 90% approval, with 7% remaining neutral and the remaining 3% disapproving." Tsukauchi said, "All-Might, Ingenium, and Nezu have all given statements of approval to the press too, after the article Bakugou read was released of course, so your approval rating has soared. In fact, since your connection to the Hero Commission, as one of their experimental Junior Heroes, is now known, your approval rating has increased the Public's satisfaction with the Hero Commission to new highs!"
"R-Really?" Izumi gasped.
Nezu grinned and nodded; "Oh yes, check some of the comments on Social Media."
Katsuki switched from the article to Twitter, and found Izumi was trending under the hashtag; #Izumaterasu (which happened to be Izumi's username on Twitter). The responses were varied, but mostly positive;
"Holy Shit what the fuck!? Corusantu has a big ass tree with an island on it! #Izumaterasu"
"LOL All-Might got yeeted. #Izumaterasu #YeetMight"
"Can we talk about the tiny child who just killed a fucking Yokai!? What kind of messed up science experiment made either of those two!? #Izumaterasu"
"Wait, if All-Might lost but the Wolf Girl won, does that mean she's stronger? #Izumaterasu"
"So apparently all that shit in Corusantu was because a kid got kidnapped, and the kidnapped kid was the one to beat the villain? Is that true or fake news? #Izumaterasu"
"Praise Amaterasu the Lorax Hero! She speaks for the trees! #Izumaterasu"
"i shit you not, I know this kid! My bro lives in Musutafu and she just runs around? Like? Helping and shit? #Izumaterasu"
"She crashed my cousin's wedding in Musutafu once. Just showed up and gave people some flowers and let the Flower Girl ride her down the aisle, then ran off. #Izumaterasu"
"Ah, the Musutafu Cryptid. Is it weird that like no one from actual Musutafu is commenting about her? #Izumaterasu"
"Okay, so can we talk about how the fucking news just posted a video with two little girls getting tortured!? What the actual fuck!? That's super fucking traumatic! #Izumaterasu"
"I know right!? That's messed up. Hope Izumi and the little kid are doing okay! Best wishes! #Izumaterasu"
"Why the fuck didn't she shoot that Chisaki bitch? Now our taxes gotta pay for his child abusing ass! #DeathPenaltyforChisaki #Izumaterasu"
"Dude, not cool. Can't ask a kid to kill someone! That's messed up. I mean I lowkey get it, but like, it's not her fault? #Izumaterasu #DeathPenaltyforChisaki"
"She DID kill that Snake Villain. But that was really fucking sad too. #Izumaterasu"
"She gave him a flower crown. Is she a fucking fairy? That shit was mad cute but also really sad. #Izumaterasu"
"What's her quirk anyway? All the reports say its classified, but she turned into like two different wolves and had a mirror and a bunch of other stuff. And fused with the little girl? How that work? #Izumaterasu"
"She's called the Kami of Musutafu and her Hero Name is Amaterasu right? Maybe her quirk gives her kami powers or something IDK #Izumaterasu"
"Can quirks like that even exist? I heard of a Norwegian Guy whose Quirk made him like Baldr or something, but that's weird. #Izumaterasu"
"Orochi was weird too, he got his heads cut off but still lived; I bet that both of them were science experiments. Midoriya IS adopted kid of the Commission President. #Izumaterasu"
"Couldn't care less about most of this shit, but the fact that Orochi was the Reaper and his victims woke up when he died was great. Finally an end to that bastard. #Izumaterasu"
"My sister woke up from her Reaper Coma! Thank you Izumi! #Izumaterasu"
"Reporting her real name was a dick move. Still, I've got my niece back after Orochi attacked her, so thank you Amaterasu! #AmmyForNumberOne #Izumaterasu"
Himiko read through some of the posts, especially the memes, and smiled wide; "This is kinda cool. It sucks that they outed you, but almost everyone is really supportive. Plus the memes are hilarious; they dug up that old "this bitch empty, YEET!" video from like a hundred years ago, and made an Orochi and All-Might edit." she laughed, showing Izumi a video with a girl with Orochi's face edited over her own tossing a photoshopped All-Might down a crowded hallway (with his signature "I AM HERE!" line playing and getting quieter as he flew away).
"So it looks like Izumi's popular and not being criticised much, so that's nice." Katsuki relented, still angry on his sister's behalf.
Izumi was glad about that at least. She wasn't super thrilled by her own popularity; it was enough for her to simply not be in trouble, however she was happy that her popularity was making things easier for the Commission. They tended to get a bad rap since they had to police Heroes, and almost no one liked thinking about their heroes being dragged before a Government connected organisation to answer charges, even if they were guilty.
"You're increased fame is likely the reason for these flowers." Sakuya said, gesturing to all the plants filling the Hospital Room.
"Really? How?" Izumi asked.
"It's because of Praise!" Ishiko cut in excitedly, "Normal people grow stronger by working out and using their quirks to their limits in order to improve them, but while your body and quirk can likely do the same, your Divine Powers can't be improved just by using them. Divine Power isn't like a muscle y'know, so it instead gains power by absorbing the prayers and praise of others! That's why your powers have steadily grown stronger through the years; your good deeds have made people praise you, and thus your powers have increased."
Izumi nodded along, having been told the gist of this years ago, "So because I'm receiving a ton of Praise for what I did, my powers are growing stronger?"
"In a manner of speaking." Sakuya cut back in, glaring half-heartedly at Ishiko for interrupting her, "Praise will remain inside you as a form of Energy until you channel it to a specific power. In your Past Life, you improved your durability, how much ink you could produce, and even how fast your Astral Resurrections refilled, to the point you could use it four times in one day back in your prime! I also suspect you could give the energy to your Brush Gods to improve their techniques. As for the flowers growing around you, this is a natural side effect of your existence as Amaterasu, but previously you didn't have the power to make it happen. The flowers prove you've returned to the average level of strength you possessed in your previous life!"
"That's awesome! So I can direct all this power into improving myself… It's kind of like upgrade points in a video game! The more stuff I do, the more I get, which makes me stronger, which lets me do harder stuff and get even more Praise! The only problem is how do I stop the flowers from growing? I imagine this'll cause a problem at the Manor or the Bakugous' house." Izumi wondered aloud.
Sakuya thought about it for a moment, then shrugged; "I imagine the Hanagami could stop it, if you ask."
Izumi nodded and closed her eyes to communicate with the Monkey Gods; "Sakigami, Tsutagami, Hasugami; did you three hear that?"
"We got it Divine One!" Sakigami replied cheerfully.
"You want us to stop the flowers growing wild while you sleep. We can handle that." Hasugami promised.
"Glad to see you're happy! Yomigami said you'd be getting even happier soon, but told us not to spoil the surprise! Have fun Great Mother!" Tsutagami finished with a cheeky grin, before allowing the connection to drop.
Izumi giggled, always feeling happy after speaking to the monkeys. She wondered what the surprise they were talking about was… they said it would make her happy, so it had to be good! The Brush Gods understood her pretty well after living inside her for so long, so they knew the things she enjoyed.
Putting that aside for now, Izumi happily reported her success; "The Hanagami Monkeys have promised to restrain the flowers. No more growing flowers everywhere when I sleep."
Most of the room looked relieved at that (cleaning the flowers out of the Hospital Room before they left would be a daunting task) but Eri looked a little disappointed, and showed that with an adorable pout.
"No more flowers?" she asked sadly.
Izumi grinned; "No more accidental flowers. I can still grow them on purpose whenever I want, see?" she said, demonstrating by casting Bloom and making a small patch of bluebells grow from the wooden table at the end of the bed the Heroes were sat on. Eri beamed and gently touched the new flowers, smelling them as she did so.
Unbeknownst to the occupants of the room, Eraserhead had experimented to see if his Erasure Quirk would work on Izumi, and while he definitely felt her quirk factor switch off while she was producing the flowers, her Divine Powers were unaffected, proving they weren't quirks. It was the final bit of proof that really hammered it into Eraserhead that Izumi was different… though still a Problem Child.
After the momentary detour to discuss the flowers, the topic of Izumi's new fame came up again.
"Okay, so Izuchan's famous now. Aside from her privacy taking a major hit, what else is gonna change for her?" Katsuki asked, noticeably surlier after reading the news. He was honest enough with himself to acknowledge he felt some jealousy towards Izumi's newfound fame, but he was primarily worried over it. Izumi needed to become popular eventually to achieve her goal of becoming like All-Might, but Katsuki knew she wanted to achieve that on her own terms, not the media's.
"Put simply; Izumi is going to have to make a statement and answer some questions. A Press Conference will be enough for now, but depending on how things go, she might need to make some interviews with reputable news outlets. Eventually, the fervour over this situation will die down. I take it that media training was a part of this Junior Hero Program?" Nezu asked.
Izumi nodded; "Yes sir. It's one of my weaker areas, but I know enough to know what I should and shouldn't say."
"Good. That will satisfy the Public, which leaves only two groups; the Government and Child Protective Services." the Mouse-like Principal said.
Izumi subconsciously held Eri closer to her; "What do I have to do there."
Detective Tsukauchi cut in smoothly; "Well the Government will be two fold; the first will be a simple report of what happened, the sort you'll have to fill out after any Heroic Operation. The second will be more problematic; you'll have to face a Heroic Tribunal."
Izumi grimaced, but she wasn't surprised. Inko, Sakuya, Hawks, and the Onikawa Brothers looked furious however, while Toshinori and Eraserhead also looked displeased. Seeing the fury on their faces, Dabi asked what he, the Bakugous, and Himiko were all thinking.
"What's up with this Tribunal thing?"
"I-It's basically a disciplinary meeting. Heroes who have potentially committed a crime have to face a Tribunal of three unbiased officials; one Hero, one Government Employee, and one Commission Employee. They listen to your story and the evidence, kind of like a court hearing, and then decide if you are innocent, justified, or guilty." Izumi explained shakily.
"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Katsuki roared, "WHAT FUCKING CRIME DID SHE COMMIT!?"
"Killing Orochi." Tsukauchi stated emotionlessly. He wasn't happy about this either, but it was unavoidable.
Seeing that Katsuki was about to erupt with rage, and the rest of her family weren't much better, Izumi reached over and took the Explosive Boy's hand; "It's okay Kacchan, I was kind of expecting this… the rest of the world saw me kill Orochi, and they don't understand what he really was. To them, he was just a crazy powerful villain, one that I killed." she said, trying to sound more confident than she really was.
Inko and Sakuya were seething; this wasn't what Izumi needed right now! She was supposed to be mentally recuperating, not worrying about some trio of uninvolved halfwits judging her for things they could never understand. Sakuya could already foresee her receiving a notice from her contacts inside the Government that the Commission representative on the Tribunal would likely be replaced, due to her connection to Izumi, and it only angered her further.
"How the heck did so many people see that anyway!? I thought most people couldn't see Demons!" Himiko cried.
Sakuya groaned and rubbed her temples as the stress got to her; "Orochi was strong enough that his power and presence can be sensed even by people with no Spiritual Strength. Yami, the Evil One, and the other Demon Generals are likely the same. They're the only Demons that everyone can see… That's also why Izumi's Divine Form can be seen too while other spirits can't."
Izumi's family groaned, but it was too late to be complaining about it. What's done is done, and now they had to figure out how to deal with it.
"How are we going to deal with this?" Hawks asked, looking specifically at the Detective; "What is the official story the Police has been handing out?"
Tsukauchi flinched as Hawks eyes bore into him. The Hero definitely did his namesake justice, as his gaze made Tsukauchi feel like a small animal about to be swooped down upon and devoured. Gulping nervously, Tsukauchi gave the group the same story that the Police had been giving when asked for comment.
Izumi Midoriya was ambushed and kidnapped by two members of the Yakuza Group, the Shie Hassaikai, and taken to their base in Corusantu. There, she was forced to participate in painful and torturous experiments with the caveat that her refusal would result in pain for Eri. The purpose of these experiments were largely unclear, but was believed to be related to the production of Quirk-based narcotics like Trigger. Naturally, any mention of the Quirk Destroyer Drug, Eri's Rewind Quirk, or Izumi's ability to give and take quirks was purposefully kept out of the story to avoid painting a target on either girl's back. The story of how Izumi escaped and called for help was heavily abridged to keep Ishiko's involvement a secret (so as not to muddle the issue, as the Poncle would be hard to explain), but it was stated she fought Chisaki and defeated him, but destroyed his lab in the process, preventing any data from being retrieved from his computers (to explain why the Police couldn't figure out Chisaki's real motives). Following that, Orochi appeared and attacked them, and the rest was recorded and shown to the media. Orochi himself was explained as being the Reaper, with Quirks that allowed him to transform into a Snake Demon, produce smaller Demon clones that could only be seen by strong willed people, possess people, manipulate eight different elements, produce and control burning red barriers, regenerate almost infinitely, and steal a person's vitality to leave them comatose. His bell, which provided him with invulnerability, was explained as experimental and highly dangerous support gear that produced a golden barrier.
The majority of the story was true, it just disguised the supernatural elements and made Chisaki's exact motives questionable. Since the memories Orochi had shown, as well as his own words had muddied the issue, no one knew if he wanted to destroy quirks, produce a drug to give and take them at his will, or just cure his ailing boss, or something else entirely. Most people just said he was insane and few people cared what he was planning after learning how he was torturing Izumi and Eri to achieve his goals. They only cared that he'd been defeated.
"Are people really going to believe that Orochi had so many quirks?" Himiko asked.
"For the most part, yes. After Izumi told us her story yesterday, I reported that Orochi wasn't human. We've had some trouble with artificial life forms that wield quirks; namely the Bombers involved in the Sky Egg Bombing a few years ago. They were artificially created by a group calling themselves the Villain Factory and were created with quirks implanted into them via genetic sampling." Tsukauchi explained.
"I remember that incident. Fat Gum and I joined the raid on the labs that made the Bombers." Eraser mused.
"I saw it on the news. All-Might helped Captain Celebrity and saved everyone. I remember thinking at the time that those Bombers were Demons, but Master Onigiri pointed out that everyone could see them, so they couldn't be." Izumi added.
"So you're framing Orochi as an artificial monster just like those Bombers?" Dabi asked.
"That would be the most logical plan. We can frame the Shie Hassaikai as the true culprits behind the Reaper Attacks, using this beast they created to do the deed and bolster their forces. Several of their quirks actually line up with the "quirks" Orochi had; Hekiji Tengai's Barrier Quirk and Rikiya Katsukame's Vitality Stealing Quirk for example. If we link his Possession ability to Mr Bubaigawara's famous possession case, we could even say Orochi's Demon creating power was a modified version of the Double Quirk. Chisaki's Overhaul Quirk could be blamed for the creature's monstrous appearance, and his established experiments on quirks would add credence to the theory. We can even tie in the fact that Orochi was an eight headed monster to the "Eight Precepts of Death" that the Shie Hassaikai were named for." Nezu said, outlining his faux theory to give to the public.
That story put the group at ease; Izumi would be found innocent at the Tribunal in an instant if they could prove Orochi wasn't human, but an experiment gone wrong. Most of the loose ends in the story could be tied down by saying that the missing contributors of Orochi's other quirks were actually fused into him as part of his body, a feat possible with the Overhaul Quirk. Jin's possession story would also be tied up nicely, and even the scar on his forehead and his insanity could be explained away by claiming he was one of Chisaki's experimental victims. It assured Izumi's safety, added credence to Jin's story (which hadn't been fully accepted by some elements of Law Enforcement), and further nailed Chisaki out to dry for his crimes.
"It seems like the perfect story, but there's one major flaw; how can we pin it on the Shie Hassaikai without charging them for crimes they didn't commit? By all means, toss them in Tartarus for what they did to Eri and I, but I don't want them going down on false charges. Besides, they'd deny it and their lawyers will smell a rat, since we don't have evidence." Izumi frowned. Being complicit in the torture and experimentation of two minors likely meant the leaders of the gang were going to be in Tartarus for life anyway, but Izumi still wanted it to be completely just.
Nezu shrugged; "We'll fabricate some documents and state that Chisaki did it all himself in secret, and didn't reveal the true nature of Orochi to his underlings. It's believable, since other than his right hand man, his general manager, and his Eight Bullets, no one in the group knew what he was doing to you or Eri."
"That doesn't address the main issue, which is adding false charges. Even if Chisaki is evil to the core, I don't want him being charged with things he didn't do." Izumi reiterated.
The Mouse-like Hero's face fell into a strange, pensive expression, which was matched eerily well by Tsukauchi, All-Might, and Eraserhead. Seeing those expressions immediately put everyone on guard, especially Izumi, who felt the cold hand of dread creeping up her back.
"What aren't you telling us?" Izumi asked nervously.
Tsukauchi sighed; "You and Eri might want to sit down..."
Izumi gulped as she sat down on the bed opposite the Detective, pulling Eri gently into her lap, where the scared little girl could cuddle with her her. A dozen different scenarios began flooding Izumi's mind; had Chisaki escaped? Had he been rescued? Did the other Demon Generals decide to make use of him like Orochi had, and freed him from the Police? Was he now hunting her and Eri down, looking for revenge?
As it turns out, the truth was far from what Izumi was expecting…
"Izumi, Chisaki's transport was ambushed by an unknown culprit while on-route to Tartarus… in the aftermath, Kai Chisaki was found murdered."
Next Chapter: Eri the Pup
To be Released: August 13th 2021
Before I say anything, I have to give credit to AO3 User: Crazy_Little_Lover for inspiring a portion of this chapter. She gave me the idea for the Social Media section, so a big thank you to her!
Hehe back after a fairly long break and I have another chapter for you! Not as long as the last, but still pretty long. Sorry for ending in another cliff hanger but I promise it's not as big as it might seem.
This chapter had a bit of fluff with the notebooks and everything, but the rest was a bit stressful for poor Izumi. I was debating how I'd have the world react, but in the end, I think postively suits the situation best. There was limited collateral damage, no one but Orochi died, the Heroes supported Izumi, All-Might fought beside her, and the defeat of Orochi woke up the Reaper Victims. All of that combined with her positive reputation as the Kami, and the sympathy she'd get from her ordeal has combined into a mostly positive response.
The clean up of the Yakuza Base, the Tribunal, and the public statement/press conference will all be in this arc, and will make up the majority of it after three chapters of other stuff. And of course, the cliff-hanger…
You didn't really expect me to let him live, did you? Izumi is merciful, but I am not :D
I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!