Chapter 4!
It's like the one time I'm not super psyched about an action chapter. Had to get done though and it didn't feel right to just skip through it. Our regularly scheduled slow life-ing will return next chapter.
User/Reviewer NexusNex: Ah thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it so much. Pleased you brought it up because I'm really liking having Izumi open things up for Momo to learn and explore. This chapter has a few good interactions and just some what I thought was fun Izumi stuff despite being a so called 'action' chapter.
User/Reviewer Cyde: Yup, got it in one, it was BotW. I hope this chapter fills some of those other Kizaru vibes that I've been really wanting to have in the story. I too will not give up on that story cause there's too much potential in it for me to not get back to it.
User/Reviewer ben2hip80: I'd say that should Izumi hit the mirror in light form then she'd be bounced off of it. Though that's if she didn't get around it or well, did it on purpose lol.
User/Reviewer yomunot: The slice of life vibes will be ridiculously heavy in the chapters after this one. USJ means I have to do action and if I skipped too much then I would have missed out on some good Izumi moments. There's a lot of time before the sports festival so I can write a ton of daily life stuff before we get there. Thanks as always for your reviews!
User/Reviewer EndlessChains: Thanks for your review! Izumi is on the easiest of easy modes in this story haha. I definitely like to make Momo easily distractable via food and other fun things. I feel like it helps her explore more and more of life if she's able to have fun with someone. I definitely need to think of a few interesting things for Momo to make as well.
To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I don't own BNHA or the referenced power
Enjoy, more notes at the end!
Chapter 4: Duality
*Hagakure POV*
Observing people was actually the invisible girl's secret hobby considering hardly anyone ever knew if she was looking at them. She had seen and heard plenty of people who appeared as friends when together but then relentlessly talked behind the other's back so Tooru did her best to try and read other people.
Since Tooru was invisible, the only way to read her was by her voice.
Expression, word choice, tone, body language, presence, all of those things could contribute and help point towards just what someone was feeling or thinking but it was quite difficult if those qualities didn't match up.
Suffice to say, they never matched up for Midoriya Izumi.
"It was quite scary you know." Midoriya's relaxed and poised voice replied back to the class's discussion of yesterday's battle trials.
Her tone was that of hinting sarcasm but without any barbs. Her posture was that of someone enjoying themselves with a gentle smile but her eyes had a neutral feel to them. Even her choice of words were meant to receive different reactions that spurred forth conversation.
"Haha what a liar!"
"Says the person with literally the flashiest quirk!"
"I still really can't tell if you're joking..."
"YOU PICKING A FIGHT!"
Despite Midoriya's strangeness, Tooru did find the girl quite nice and was happy to be a part of the light trio with her and Aoyama. Midoriya was a good listener and was able to fill in the gaps of conversation to keep it flowing smoothly while also keeping things lighthearted and fun.
Although Midoriya was someone that Tooru couldn't read, Yaomomo on the other hand, or at least her feelings, were as plain as day.
The taller black haired girl was easily drawn in and entertained by things that Midoriya would say or show her, the look in her eyes a mix of curiosity and someone who found their new greatest source of entertainment. Beyond that though, it seemed to Tooru that the creation girl was enamored with the greenette herself. Whether Yaomomo knew it or not, Midoriya was someone that the black haired girl cherished like no other.
The creation girl acted much different with Midoriya than anyone else and most of the class had realized that by now. Originally, Yaomomo appeared very serious and some of the students were nervous to approach her, but while she and Midoriya were leaving class on the first day the greenette mentioned going fishing and the black haired girl's expression screamed 'I wanna go too'. Most everyone had found the sight particularly adorable and it made it easier to interact with her the next day.
The class conversation eventually steered away from being focused on Midoriya and Tooru noticed Yaomomo, who was sitting next to the light girl, pull out a notebook. The black haired girl scooted closer to Midoriya and opened the notebook so half of it was on each of their laps and it looked like the two began drawing in it, Midoriya quietly humming and Yaomomo's eyes sparkling in wonder.
Tooru hadn't seen Yaomomo do something like this in their first few days so she assumed that the creation girl's new found liking to whatever they were doing was something that Midoriya helped her discover. The black haired girl was growing slowly as a person with each new experience Midoriya introduced her to, the greenette never doing more than presenting the opportunity, and besides the progress Yaomomo was always delighted as well.
The invisible girl gave the duo one last look, Yaomomo triumphantly smiling and Midoriya praising her, before the bus stopped at their destination.
-break-
*Kurogiri POV*
Kurogiri quickly spread out his warp gate to ensnare the retreating students, the mist spreading out widely and obscuring their vision, but he noticed that one of them wasn't fazed by the situation. The warping villain had already transported a number of the students but a greenette who had been further towards the back of the group suddenly stopped in place as if waiting for the mist to take her.
It mattered little to him and he willed the mist at her, the cloud of it surrounding the green haired girl before she disappeared.
Stopping his quirk momentarily, Kurogiri peered around, "Now for the other students," the mist villain turned away only to hear a curious tone behind him.
"My...I've been left all alone," the voice called and Kurogiri whirled in shock to see the greenette.
"How?" The villain began in surprise, the green haired girl gazing from side to side.
The girl suddenly gave him a friendly smile, "Excuse me?" she drew his attention in a wondering tone, "would you happen to know which way my friends went?" she asked, further confusing the mist villain.
Kurogiri was still slightly bewildered by the green haired girl but he knew he couldn't let her interfere, "I'll have to ask you to-" He tried but was cut off by the greenette's smile morphing into a more relaxed expression, perhaps the smallest hint of confidence in her eyes.
"You seem to have an actual body so will this hurt?" The greenette questioned just before Kurogiri suddenly felt what could have been a roundhouse kick crush his side.
He didn't understand, the girl had to have just been at least 5 meters away from him but she'd sent him flying without him realizing that she'd even moved. Still sailing through the air, Kurogiri felt a shiver as the he saw that the girl was moving in the air alongside him.
"Do you know anyone else that could help answer my questions?" The greenette posed another strange question at the villain and Kurogiri activated his warp gate on himself, not having time to be caught up with her.
As he teleported, the last thing he saw of the eccentric hero student was her gaze trailing up towards the ceiling.
-break-
*Momo POV*
Momo knew that it wasn't right to get distracted now but a small flash of light caught her eye.
She had been sent to the mountain zone with Jirou and Kaminari and they were currently taking cover behind some fallen rocks. They had managed to avoid most of the villains and even taken out a few with traps that Momo devised but they had no clue on how many enemies there were. However, following back to what caught the creation girl's eye, the brief light had trailed towards the ceiling of the USJ and Momo quickly created a pair of binoculars to spot Izumi standing on the structure beams.
The greenette was situated just about in the middle of the USJ and she turned her eyes towards the mountain zone. Taking her left hand, Izumi touched the tips of her pointer finger and thumb together to form a circle while the other three were extended. Positioning the hand horizontally above her chest and then making the same gesture with her right and placing it above the left, the two circles began to glow and rotate before light bullets fired from them.
The storm of light shots rained down on the zone and Momo heard Jirou and Kaminari's yelps of surprise at the sudden attack. The bullets were nowhere close to them but the pained shouts and groans from the surrounding villains rang out as the hail of projectiles met their marks. The assault eventually stopped and Momo peered over the rocks at the devastated villain force, all of them unconscious or unable to move.
Quickly rising, Momo pulled her companions to get their attention, "Come on, Izumi's taken care of things here so we could regroup," the black haired girl explained, remembering that the mountain zone was one of the furthest from the entrance.
"W-wait Midoriya did all that just now?" Kaminari wondered aloud, probably incredulous at the scale and speed that the greenette cleaned up.
"It doesn't matter right now," Jirou chimed in, the trio already moving out, "we need to head for the entrance."
Another scatter of light bullets came down, this time aimed at what looked like the area of the flood zone, and Momo thought of the USJ layout.
"We'll head for the central plaza," the creation girl directed the other two, "we have to almost pass through it if we take the quickest route to the entrance and that was also where Aizawa-sensei is." Momo informed her classmates who nodded in response.
That wasn't the only reason to pass through though, the central plaza was also a place that most of the students could converge at after escaping the zones they were sent to as well as the area slightly below and off to the side from Izumi. Hearing a splash to their left as they neared the flood zone, the trio turned to see Tsuyu and Mineta slowly making their way through the water.
"Yaomomo," the frog girl croaked in relief as she caught sight of them, "it'll be less noticeable if we go through the water," Tsuyu suggested and with a nod, Momo, Jirou, and Kaminari joined their two classmates in the waves. It would help cover some of the sound as well as had a bit of a wall to hide them unlike the exposed flat ground.
"Izumi is likely keeping watch somewhere above us," Momo relayed, unsure if the light girl was now assisting elsewhere, and Tsuyu made a noise in acknowledgment as the five of them continued creeping towards the water's edge.
Having successful made it, Momo was sure that everyone's hearts dropped a little as a monstrous looking villain sat a top their teacher's bloodied body. Although, that feeling was soon replaced with astonishment as Izumi was now standing face to face with the creature. Even the leader of the villains was left speechless as Izumi stared at the hulking thing.
Raising her right hand, the greenette repeatedly tapped the creature on its forehead with her pointer finger, "Hello? Anybody there?"
"N-Nomu kill that brat!" The hand covered villain managed to shout out.
The Nomu quickly shot out its right arm to grab her but Izumi didn't even seem to acknowledge that it was attacking her. Instead, the Nomu's arm phased straight through her.
"Hello? Hellooooo?" The light girl continued to call, still prodding at it with the offending finger, and this time the Nomu went for her head, it's left arm aimed to kill.
Once again, the creature's limb went right through the green haired girl but was stopped by her suddenly raised left palm as the Nomu's punch went out the other side of her head. The monster dove at her but Izumi's body swiftly turned into particles of light and zoomed around it, the greenette reforming back in place and facing the Nomu's back. Izumi raised a foot and her leg quickly glowed before the limb turned light sent the bulky beast rocketing off.
Had anyone else shown such a display, Momo wouldn't have believed it even if she was witnessing it with her own eyes. In fact, part of her still didn't believe that Izumi was capable of such things, from so openly taunting the villains to fighting them with hardly any effort at all, but at the same time it was in line with never knowing just why Izumi did things the way she did. It wasn't as if Momo felt that she didn't know the girl, it was more so that she didn't understand the greenette's reasonings. The black haired girl's thoughts were interrupted as the Nomu tore its way back towards Izumi.
"Oh my, that's strange isn't it?" Izumi hummed, her left hand raised to her face in thought, "Say, this monster is quite something." Izumi turned her attention to the leading villain.
The man clawed at his own neck in seething rage, "that's because that Nomu is an artificial weapon made to kill All Might you brat!" His visible eye wide in frustration as Izumi launched the Nomu once more with a kick.
"That's quite a tall order huh?" Izumi mulled the thought over, "I wonder who suggested such a silly thought, it isn't as if he's become weaker." Izumi hummed and Momo saw her gaze scan the villain curiously.
"Sensei didn't lie to me!" The villain screamed in an outburst and Momo shuffled the information that Izumi was gathering away. "Sensei had that Nomu made just for All Might, he said it'd kill him!" The villain continued on, becoming more and more belligerent.
Whatever the Nomu was was no longer something that could be considered really living Momo realized and Izumi likely had as well. It made another useless attempt at the light wielding girl and Izumi pointed at it, her fingers making the general shape of a gun. The tips burned brightly and a beam came from them as usual but the tip of it was shaped like an arrowhead. The attack effortlessly pierced through the Nomu's brain and it dropped to the floor mid charge.
"Perhaps that was a bit much," Izumi smiled lightly and the hand covered villain was about to scream something but was suddenly swallowed by the warping villain's mist from earlier. "Would you all help me with sensei?" Izumi tilted her head to Momo and their four other classmates who were still stunned by what transpired.
Momo was the first to move, rapidly creating necessary first aid materials, "of course!" she exclaimed while the others scrambled out of the water.
"Sensei? Not feeling too bad?" Izumi crouched beside him and helped turn him over.
"The only thing that hurts is having to deal with you you problem child." He responded flatly, "really, using me as your excuse," and everyone turned their gaze to Izumi.
"Oh, but it was either I incapacitate a doll or let six people die." Izumi reasoned, "you were here and heard it yourself sensei, I didn't have much choice did I?" The light girl assured and their injured teacher was reluctantly forced to relent.
"You've escaped more trouble this time." The exhausted man told her gruffly.
"Of course, I'll keep it in mind." Izumi replied in appreciation and Momo sighed.
She really needed to have words with Izumi.
Notes and Stuff
I'm gonna write so much daily life before we get to the sports festival. The 'action' in a Slice of Life should be fun yet mundane things!
I really have Izumi treating fights like a point and click game huh? It's a weird story too in which I need to give the villains plot armor, though not a lot.
I have been laughing so much at the image of Izumi tapping on the Nomu's head asking if anyone is there. It was the first thing I wrote in this chapter and I thought about it so much that I was able to make the whole chapter in one night. I mean really, what a little shit she is in this story.
I definitely think that Hagakure could be good at or at least enjoyed reading/observing people. She's invisible, they aren't gonna know. I always wanted to write how Momo viewed Izumi from an outside point of view since Momo doesn't quite know it herself. Momo's growth is also easier to see from an outside point and since I haven't given Izumi a POV then we needed someone else.
This is one of those small times in which there are restrictions for Izumi. Unless it's necessary I can't have her sling her quirk around because of in universe rules. It shouldn't be too much of an issue cause this isn't an action heavy story but I can only have her do some things if the situation allows her too. The example this time being she used Aizawa as her means to circumvent some rules.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!