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Page 26

First Day Pt.3 - Grim Reminders

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU! I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S MAKING MY HEAD SPIN MORE, THE UTTER SHIFT IN STYLE OR HOW YOU WENT FROM A MID-SEVEN TO A HIGH NINE!"

That's what Izuku wanted to say to his newly reunited froggy goth friend, but courtesy and self-consciousness stopped him. This is what came out of his mouth instead.

"You looked… different."

"Was that all you wanted to say?" sassed Tsuyu, nonchalantly raising an eyebrow at him.

"No!" immediately squeaked Izuku, "I mean yes- no, I mean yeah… what I'm trying to say is, yes but in a good way."

Rolling her eyes, Tsuyu turned from him before stating, "I bet -ribbit."

With a moment to think to himself, Izuku slowly recovered from the whiplash of finding out who this person was, 'I'll be honest, while she wasn't on my mind that often I did always wonder what happened to her. Never thought she'll go down this route! Like of all options, why punk goth!? Back in Yasei Alley she always seems put off or straight out disapproving of the many juvenile acts the group did there. Now she's fully embracing the genre that defines juvenile habits.'

He was practically watching a vegetarian eat meat… well that has happened before, Rumi was excellent in a lot of things but by god was she a horrible vegetarian.

'Wait does Rideru dying have something to do with this? I don't wanna assume because she could actually be into this, acquiring certain tastes or attitudes as you grow up isn't anything new. I'm pretty sure my relationship with Rumi has slowly converted my taste to loving thighs."

As he was thinking, Tsuyu called out to him, "Anyways, we better get going. Our teacher doesn't seem to be fond of his students taking too long."

"Ah, right," went Izuku, he already got what he came for so he's ready to go.

As the pair walked down the highway, the silence between them was tense, at least for Izuku to stomach. A whole bunch of what, where, and why were bubbling inside but fear kept the lid shut on this can of worms. In the fox's mind, any question he may ask could be the trigger to a giant explosion, and he's not willing to step on that landmine so carelessly.

Trying to ease his way into it, Izuku said, "It is nice to see you again."

"Likewise, it's nostalgic. You seem to be doing a lot better since I last saw you."

"Really?" chuckled Izuku, being a bit bashful from the compliment, "What makes you say that?"

"Your posture, the way you speak, and how you're composing yourself. It's different, like you're more sure of yourself," Tsuyu explained.

That made Izuku smile, while it's nothing new to what Izuku knew it was serene hearing it from other people's mouths unprompted. Like hanging out at a library and having a rather attractive person give a comment indicating that they think you're appealing to them. It seals that you're doing something right.

Then the goth frog added, "And you're considerably better at talking to girls. It's magnificent to witness the difference."

"What does- I wasn't that bad!"

"Kero- Sure, around the time we last saw each other you were improving but before that it was horrifying. I wouldn't be surprised if someone speculated that you never knew there was a second gender that existed in this world."

…

'She seems to have kept her periodic cold comments,' Izuku thought to himself, he would've taken it harder but strangely he found himself slightly amused, "That bad huh?"

"Yeah, but as I said, you've greatly improved. We didn't meet properly but when I got a glance of you during the day of the entrance exam, I got a feeling you would pass."

Izuku chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "It was… a lot more uh, stressful than I thought it'll be but at least it's over. I am surprised that you're here, you never mentioned wanting to be a hero."

"We were in Yasei Alley, it wouldn't be smart to let the kind of people there know too much about my personal life. Especially depending on who you might talk to over there," stated Tsuyu, she remembered hearing a few stories about house-breaking incidents that were often committed between friends of someone who lived in Yasei Alley on a member who didn't.

"Yeah, a bit of privacy would be useful there," laughed Izuku, "We were around quite a few shady people who weren't the best people."

"Even the small group we hung out with had things to hide."

"Yeah, Yogi and Simba being drug dealers was one thing but I still can't believe what happened with Rideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

It was at this moment, Izuku knew, he fucked up.

"-eeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"

Tremendously fucked up. The slow head turn Tsuyu gave him had a synesthesia effect of nails grinding against a chalkboard.

"-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuu….." trying to unwind from the cringe, Izuku performed the greatest of inhales before nonchalantly curving the conversation, "Did I mention how I like your new look?"

The goth frog sighed before telling the fox, "You don't need to dance around the topic with me."

"I'm not dancing just-... trying to keep the mood up. I am curious why you chose this style, I never knew you were into that stuff."

"If you meant when did I first get into it, I've had a niche taste for it since I was younger when a friend first introduced it to me. But, if you were referring to when and why I decided to start expressing it, the answer is quite obvious."

"Hmm," grunted Izuku, cursing internally at the slope the conversation fell down.

"You know the answer to it right?" asked Tsuyu, catching Izuku a bit off guard.

It was quite obvious, why would she even question if he knew.

"Y-yeah," responded Izuku, his voice slowly dying down as he spoke, "I know who you're talking about."

"...Then say it -ribbit."

"Wha-"

"Say his name!"

"Why?"

"Because I want to hear you say it," ordered Tsuyu, giving a steely stare.

'Why is she pushing this so hard,' thought Izuku, this was a far cry from the direct but usually mellow-toned person he once knew. Regardless of the aggression she was showing, he gave in to her demands, "Rideru."

"And don't ever forget it," she huffed, her voice starting to settle down again, "I won't either because it's what reinforced my desire to dive into the swamp pit to become a hero."

"...Swamp? I know we're at a school but that's a little harsh."

"Not that -ribbit!"

"Oh."

"I meant society, hero society! It's broken beyond all belief and needs to be fucking dismantled."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. How did we get there?"

"How!? What do you mean how? You can't act as if nothing happened two years ago, you were there!"

"I know but, I think you're inflating the takeaway."

"Kero- Inflating!? Izuku, you got caught up in the literal center of a drug ring! With an actual leader of a crime family. This wasn't even a faction of the group but the actual leader of the operation, it's a miracle what you dealt with was somewhat manageable with who you brought."

"I get it."

"You all almost died! People did die!"

"I said I get it!" snapped Izuku, killing the flow of the conversation and leaving the pair to muddle in a brief moment of silence. After a sigh, Izuku spoke more empathetically, "Tsuyu, I'm sorry. I know you're upset but I really did try to save-"

"Don't apologize," Tsuyu sternly told him, cutting him off mid-sentence. The smaller stature woman stepped in front of Izuku to stop him in his tracks, "I don't blame you for what happened Izuku. It'll be pointless for you to say sorry, not like you could've done anything about it. Which is why I'm here. A society like the one we live in, where there are all these heroes everywhere but no one could've helped a single child. Talk about a bunch of fakers."

"There were a lot of mistakes that led to what happened. Choices were made and opportunities were missed that could've stopped what happened. Everyone had their part to play in the cause."

"And one of them are the 'heroes' not doing their job. What's the point of heroes or government if the one thing we need them for, they can't do when we need it the most! Yasei Alley was the literal carnation of their failures. All these rules, regulations, and taxes yet they couldn't even prevent it from getting that bad!? No, the best they can do is just ineffectively shut the whole place down without even solving the core issue and going 'oh my bag'. Fucking useless bunch of bureaucrats, the French had the right idea with the guillotine."

"Ok let's not go that far."

"Just think, while they were going on commercials and doing all this other sell-out crap like celebrities, remember what happened two years ago and where they were."

…

The hallway became silent once again.

"Anyways -ribbit, as I said, don't worry about it," Tsuyu told him, turning back around, "It's not our fault, just this shitty system. Gotta stick it to the man to get things straight, which is what I'm here to do."

She went to a nearby vending machine, purchasing two cans of soda and nonchalantly tossed one to Izuku for the boy to catch. Getting his attention, she waved for him to come along as she continued, "Come on, let's not be late."

Looking at the can, Izuku exhaled before cracking it open and following behind, "Sure."

In the girl's changing room, Rumi mentally groaned to herself when she realized that Ochako was at the locker next to her.

'Why of all the lockers did she have to be at this one,' Rumi thought to herself.

"Oh hey, nice to see you again," greeted Ochako, giving one of her shining smiles.

Returning the gesture, the bunny gave a much less energetic, "Yeah, good to see you."

Thankfully the conversation didn't evolve from there.

Despite it, echoing in Rumi's head were some words Setsuna teased her with.

"In less than an hour, she already got the privilege to play with his tail. How long did it take for you to do the same? Yeesh, seems like someone is already better at running the leg race than you."

"Oi, shut up or I'll make your head my new soccer ball!"

"I'm just playing. Honestly, Izuku ain't the person to do such a thing out of fear since you were the best thing to ever happen to him."

"Cause I was."

"Though boys are still boys, and having a girlfriend they're committed to doesn't mean they stop finding other women attractive."

Rumi gritted her teeth, 'Stupid Setsuna making me worry over nothing. Izuku have been infatuated with me before I even started giving him a treat to taste, as if any random piece of tail would steer him away.'

…

'Right?"

Taking a look to the side, the bunny watched as the cheery girl was dressing. Then she thought back to how they're no longer in Yasei Alley. While Izuku was adapting well he was never truly inheriting all the hardcore aspects of Yasei Alley like she was being a rough delinquent. That applied to his taste as well.

What if he preferred a softer woman, they did start to become closer romantically when she began letting him in on her lighter sides.

'Nah,' Rumi thought to herself, trying to build a wall of confidence made out of smoke, 'Besides, stuff like that is swallowed and surface level. Like people who only like a girl because she got a big ass or tits. As if at this point our relationship would be shaken up by that.'

…

…

…

…

…

'Although some insurance wouldn't help,' Rumi told her, 'Never go without plans for a rainy day.'

As she glued her eyes on Ochako as she started to take off her clothes, Rumi thought to herself, 'Alright she got herself some ass not gonna like but I think I beat her out in thickness. Damn it, it'll still be an arbitrary win. Izuku is a boob guy, he can't stop staring at them and he's constantly groping them whenever we make out. I should be good as long as my girls are more appealing.'

With intense eyes, she watched as Ochako dropped down her bra to reveal her assets. After getting an eyeful, she pulls on her shirt so she could look down at her own and compare.

…

'Shit, I can't tell! Too close to call!'

"What are you doing?" questioned Nana as she looked on at the strange actions of Lai.

The bundle of mystery with a mask had set up a shrine and was dressed in an exquisite costume. Even his mask had more face markings than usual.

After performing a few gestures that looked like a dance, Lai told her, "I'm preparing for the next step for my young master. Hm, on second thought, I shouldn't refer to him as a young master anymore since he's growing."

Lai giggled to himself from the thought.

Crossing her arms curious, Nana asked, "I thought all that other stuff you were setting up in the back was for that?"

"It was but that's for all the physical stuff," explained Lai, taking deep breaths with slow motions, "Now I'm getting myself spiritually ready."

"For what? What will your… spiritual preparations do with whatever is happening because Izuku visited here twice in a month."

"Strictly speaking, nothing."

"What!?"

"But this is important, I need to be in peak condition. I've waited literal years for this, my birthright has unfairly avoided me for years but now it is mine to fulfill!"

"Are you referring to how Izuku was supposed to have met you years earlier but didn't?"

"Yes, while I care for the kitto, he hurt my feelings considerably by being so tardy. And a lie on top of it as well."

"I mean I do see the moon is still broken and I swear I saw a bunny up there one night."

"Hearsay!"

"Whatever. What was supposed to happen if Izuku did come on time?"

"What's supposed to happen is I'll meet with the kitto before the age of five, I would be a lot younger to match the young master's."

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Nana, putting her hands up as something caught her interest, "Are you inferring that you were once a baby!?"

"I suppose."

"Show me!?" squealed the older woman, rushing up to him on the shrine.

Annoyed that she was desecrating the precious structure he built, Lai yelled at her, "Hey watch your step Onna!"

"Please tell me you have baby pictures or at least a drawing," requested Nana, so intrigued with the idea of Lai being a child at one point that she didn't even care that he didn't use her name again, "Any would do, I just want to see it."

"No, I have nothing of the sort. I might've if the kitto was there to suggest doing some drawing but in this reality, such events never happened."

A disappointed look washed over Nana, puffing her cheeks as she groaned, "Aww."

"Now where was I?" Lai mumbled to himself, trying to continue his story, "That's right, the way my relationship with the young master should be. Meeting very young we get a chance to create a special bond in this world and trust in each other. Then as he grows, I grow as well, at an exponential rate so I can have the proper knowledge and wisdom to guide him during his development years."

"Wait, doesn't that mean you're eighteen?" Nana asked, starting to rethink many of their past interactions.

Rolling his eyes, Lai replied, "I don't have an age, just a form that changes over time."

"It changes over time by growing and getting stronger, that's essentially what aging is."

"I don't have all day debunking your stubborn conceptions of me?" Lai told her, turning away as he was trying to go back to focusing on his preparations.

"Oh, now it's wrong to bother people when they're busy," retorted Nana, remembering all the time she was messed with, "Fine, fine, I'll leave you alone soon, just a few more questions."

"Such as?"

"I assume the point of you and Izuku meeting early to bond has something to do with him and his Kitsune powers."

"You would be correct. It's supposed to help us cultivate it at a steady pace. As you can tell, developing such power can be lengthy. Any other interruptions or side quests can slow down the process as well."

"Seeing as only recently he formed two tails, although for a limited amount of time, what should he be at by this point?"

Focusing on his balance, Lai told her, "Under the current circumstances, he's on schedule, maybe a bit early even. But if he was here when he should've been, he would be able to form his third tail at his age. Or if he was a very slow learner, at least be able to form his second tail and maintain it like it was breathing."

"Yikes, then we got to speed things up. He doesn't have all the time in the world to learn what he needs."

"I'm working as fast as I can, which is why I'm focusing. Now please, let me prepare!" Lai told her, prompting Nana to let the theater kid have his stage.

After a few moments of ceremonial movements, he chanted.

"Let My Power Flow, To Whom I Have Sworn To Guide, When He Speaks My Name."

Directing his hands toward a wooden post in the middle he called out!

"Bless my master with the power of Foxfire, Shinra-Lai!"

…

…

…

Nothing but the wind could be heard.

"Did- did you do the thing?" questioned Nana, not sure if she was preemptively speaking or missed something.

Slowly to respond, Lai looked bizarrely at the untouched post before saying, "I-i don't know. Something should've happened."

Looking at his hand, the masked person gave it one more try, "Shinra-Lai!

Nothing.

"Shinra-Lai!"

Still Nothing.

"Shinra-Lai, Lai, Shinra-Lai! Foxfire Shinra-Lai!"

Not a single thing.

Curious, Nana floated up to ask, "Are you doing it wrong?"

Lai snapped at her, "Of course not! The activation is my name, it's the reason behind my name. One of my first memories and thoughts was that the activation of foxfire would be my name and that we can start using it when my master first forms his second tail."

"Maybe you misread the situation and Izuku didn't actually get his second tail. He has teetered on the edge of getting more power before he actually achieved them before, that boy is full of surprises."

"Impossible, you can fool the mind, you can fool the body, but this isn't a place you can so easily fool. The kitto being able to enter his D.R.E.A.M. World twice within the same month can only happen after the appearance of his second tail."

Cursing under her breath, Nana said, "Shoot, that is unexplainable. And I don't know much about this place to think of any loopholes."

"By the Stars and Heavens, my life is a deception, could it be the truth," Lai mumbled to himself, a grave look appearing across his face, "Is my name not Lai?"

Nana covered her mouth at this revelation.

"What am I?" Lai asked himself.

Izuku felt off as he entered the locker room, obviously part of the fault lies with his conversation with Tsuyu but something instead of him was feeling abnormal as well. Hoping he wasn't sick, he just carried on, going to his gym locker.

As he arrived he was greeted by one of his classmates, someone with yellow hair with a black thunderbolt mark on it which he couldn't tell if that was his actual hair or if he dyed it.

"Oh hey what's up," the yellow-haired boy greeted him.

Not wanting to be rude, Izuku greeted him back, "Oh, uh hi."

His classmate was already midway through getting his gym clothes on when he said, "I'm Kaminari by the way, you?"

"Izuku Midoriya."

"Great to meet ya."

"Likewise, let's have a good year."

Kaminari gave a nod of acknowledgment before putting his focus back on getting dressed.

As Izuku started to undress so he could put on the gym suits the school sent to all the student's homes, he began to think to himself.

'I know she told me not to worry about it but Tsuyu seems really mad at what happened in Yasei Alley. I don't blame her for having a heated opinion on the subject, but for it to birth a desire to tear down an entire system… or guillotine people. I know the world we live in isn't perfect but is flushing the whole system the answer, mass-murdering people is of course off the table. Wasn't it that kind of thinking of tearing everything down over its flaws which lead both Simba and Rideru to take the path they did,' Izuku thought, removing his shirt, 'But maybe, she's onto something?"

A shout caught Izuku's attention.

"Holy Shit Dude!"

The fox quickly found Kaminari and a few other classmates nearby staring at him.

"What's the matter?" he asked them, wondering what brought all their attention onto him. It was making him feel embarrassed, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"How did you get that scar!?" Kaminari pointed out, pointing to Izuku's right shoulder.

Izuku looked and saw the jagged scar from when his shoulder was mauled by Simba. Thankfully Merrie's treatment helped with the healing but it still left a nasty scar afterward, with his shirt on most of the time he almost forgot how big it was.

The only time he ever worried about it was when he was home and had to hide it from his mom and aunt. He doesn't want to give his mom a heart attack by showing her he got a scar over his entire shoulder that makes it look like he got attacked by a wild shark or lion; which wasn't that far off from what happened. He's going to need to survive at least one semester or a year before he can start coming home with scars without immediately freaking out his mom. At least then it would be a bit expected that he won't come out of hero training completely flawless and he can pin the whole thing off as an accident.

Looking at his classmates, Izuku told them an answer that'll hopefully end the discussion early, "Ah, I got into an accident two years ago."

"Was the accident a bear!?" exclaimed one of the students.

"No, a Nemean Lion."

"What!?"

"E- joking!"

"Holy shit dude, that looks bad! Does it hurt?"

"No, I mean it did when I got it but now it's just there. It doesn't bother me except a few times when it gets itchy."

That was when a red-haired classmate of his stated, "That's so damn manly!"

Being bashful, Izuku backed up away from them a bit saying, "It's nothing really guys."

Though he tried to stay humble about it, his scar did bring a lot of unwanted attention to him. Thankfully his will stood strong and eventually, while his classmate's wonder didn't end, it did subside enough to where everyone went back to dressing so they could leave.

Finally able to get back to his business, Izuku strangely chuckled at the thought of his shoulder scar bringing the attention. If they had asked him honestly, he would've said the other scar on his body, the one near his gut where he was stabbed. That was one that still burned time by time because it was laced with the poison of betrayal, and that was something that doesn't heal easily.

Clutching this wound, Izuku thought, 'An imperfect system continuing to exist can lead to devastating results, and those will leave scars that won't go ahead.'

To destroy or maintain, order or chaos, glorification or deconstruction.

What choices to go into the future with for the best results? Things that are easier said than done.

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Time Teaser: As their quirk gets assessed, the conflict between students starts to bubble as old grudges come to life.

((I'm back as soon as I'm gone again, lol. But it's good to be back before I'll have to spend a bit of time taking care of IRL stuff. So enjoy, a thoughtful piece with Goth Tsuyu and Izuku, some lighter stuff with Rumi and the thing we all love and care about(ass, tits, and thighs), and some interesting concepts with Lai. We getting into the good stuff now for this Part of the story.

Hope you enjoyed the story, follow it if it interests you, and leave a review on what you thought of the chapter.

For those curious, on my discord. I do post additional information and concept material for many of the elements I introduce in this story. So check out my discord for that stuff and chat with other fans, /XunT8bu

I also got a youtube[where if I timed this right, I would've recently uploaded a new video] and twitter you can check out: Hero DarkyDark ))

Hey y'all as I've mentioned, I've now started working on my own original novel. Check it out if you're interested

Repent In Purgatory

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Action, Adventure

Description: "We all die eventually, that's when we have to see what lays beyond that door at the end of our life; and how our actions in the living may affect our afterlife."

After an early death, a young man finds himself in purgatory. Being greeted by an angel, he was surprised to find that they were impressed by his work during his life and wants to hire him as a case/social worker for the souls in purgatory. While it's better than hell, many are still chained by their sins during life and can fall victim to being completely corrupted by them. From fighting demon monsters to helping people who regret stealing a candy bar, someone has to help these lingering souls as they repent. Seems like some work is never done, even after death.

You can find this story on
WEBNOVEL book/repent-in-purgatory_21497398106689305

WATTPAD story/289280662-repent-in-purgatory