IMPORTANT NOTICE, PLEASE READ! OR SKIP IF YOU DON'T CARE!

I've got 5 points to go over, so please give them a look so you know what to expect!

1. This story is written as a crossover between My Hero Academia and the video game Okami. Elements of Okami, and some from its sequel Okamiden, are used in this story. However YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF OKAMI TO ENJOY THIS STORY! Everything you need to know is explained in the story and some point or another as it becomes relevant, so no prior knowledge is needed. However, I do recommend the game for anyone curious; it's HD release is available on most consoles I believe and is well worth it if you like Zelda-esque exploration and adventure.

2. Due to the nature of the story, Izuku Midoriya has been gender-swapped and is now Izumi Midoriya. I felt it better suited the role I have planned for the character. However, Izumi shouldn't be too different in personality from Izuku, and any major differences are caused by in-story events.

3. Izumi will be VERY overpowered by most standards. I know that doesn't appeal to some people, but hear me out: while she will be far above the level of her canon counterpart, it is explained within the story and the opponents she faces are also of a much higher level. In addition, her strength comes more from strategy and working with many different abilities, so the battles should still be entertaining.

For those unbothered by spoilers, read this next part too.

WARNING! SPOILERS! SKIP TO THE NEXT PART IF YOU WANT TO AVOID IT!

Izumi will have all the powers that Amaterasu has access to in the game (adapted to better suit a more dynamic world) as well as other abilities that are logical for her to possess (such as enhanced senses when using her Amaterasu power). More importantly, Izumi will end up with All for One and One for All via different methods. I'm guessing that made some of you roll your eyes and think; "Oh, it's one of those stories" but seriously hear me out. They come into the story in the latter half of the first and second Acts respectively, and function fairly differently from the versions we see in Canon, so don't expect Izumi to go around stealing quirks or having All-Might level power. Both acquisitions are explained in the story so please give it a chance.

SPOILERS OVER! SAFE TO READ FROM BELOW!

4. I'm a British person, so some of my spelling may be different from American English (expect extra U's lol). This work is a labour of love for my friend and I, who are writing it together so constructive criticism is welcome, just please don't be rude or outright insulting.

5. This story will contain some nasty stuff at times, but it should be fairly canon-typical. Still, expect instances of Child Abuse, Torture, Extreme Violence, and Vulgar Language. Warnings will be posted at the top of the chapters with the more serious instances.

With all that said…

I hope you enjoy! Please comment and review to let me know your thoughts! I try to reply to everything I can!

The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 1: Origins

Chapter 1: Darkest Before the Dawn Part 1

People are not born equal. Few people knew this better than Izumi Midoriya, who at only five years old had learned how unfair life could be. Anyone aware of what she'd gone through in those five years would have wondered how one child could have such terrible luck… it was like she was cursed.

Before she was born, her mother Inko Midoriya was on her way to becoming a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Tokyo, and she was married to the man who would become Izumi's father: Hisashi Midoriya, who was a wealthy businessman. When Inko fell pregnant, they thought their little family and their perfect lives would be complete… but it all went wrong.

Days after Izumi was born, the law firm Inko had been set to work at had become the centre of a massive fraud case, in which the upper echelons of the firm worked with corrupt cops and politicians to frame their rivals as Villains. Almost everyone working with or connected to the firm was arrested, and Inko only escaped prosecution due to her being ignorant of the fraud and being on Maternity Leave through the whole thing. Still, she was named in connection with the case, which ruined her career.

Inko had to settle for any job she could get, and it wasn't until Izumi was 2 years old that the woman got even close to her old position, when she was offered the position of secretary at a smaller law firm based in Musutafu. It was nowhere near the heights she once aimed for, but it at least meant she could help support her family and not leave it all to her husband.

Then, when Izumi was 3, her father disappeared. Hisashi said he had to go to America for a business trip and then simply never returned. No call, no letter, nothing. Money would just appear in the Midoriyas' bank account every month, but no one had seen Hisashi again. When Inko investigated her husband's business, she found it didn't truly exist; it was just a shell company that owned a single empty lot in Tokyo and an office in the middle of nowhere Iowa. Hisashi was never heard from again, leaving both Inko and Izumi heartbroken.

This was the first real bit of misery that Izumi felt for herself, but more would be heaped on her soon. Her dream was to become a Pro-Hero alongside her childhood friend, Kacchan (real name: Katsuki Bakugou) and to do that, she needed one of the super powers that 80% of humans possessed; a quirk. Katsuki had a powerful Explosion Quirk, so no one doubted he'd become a Hero, but by age 4, Izumi still hadn't manifested one. A trip to the Doctor confirmed her worst fear…

Izumi was one of the 20%… she was Quirkless.

Her dream was crushed. As much as Inko loved her daughter, she couldn't bring herself to tell her she could still be a Hero, instead apologising as if she had failed her child. Izumi didn't give up exactly, still determined to be a hero somehow, but the idea of becoming like her idol and the Number One Hero: All-Might, became impossible.

Being Quirkless, Izumi quickly found herself being bullied. She was always the shy, bookish type, so she hadn't been popular, but she hadn't been disliked either. She was fairly cute, with a few freckles on each cheek, big sparkly green eyes and mossy green hair that fell in soft curls down to the centre of her back. She was tomboyish enough that little boys hadn't minded her, but girly enough that little girls were okay with her too, but that changed. Now that she was considered Quirkless, she was the bottom of the pack, as everyone viewed her as either something pathetic and to be pitied, or something deviant and to be driven off. Kacchan had taken it hard, believing Izumi would become his sidekick one day, and while he never directly hurt Izumi or allowed others to hurt her, he still belittled and bullied her verbally.

Izumi gained a new name from him… Deku. Their mothers were as close as sisters, and when the two had been a little younger, they'd been told what the other's name would have been if they'd been born the opposite gender. Katsuki would have been Katsumi if he'd been born a girl, and if Izumi had been born a boy, she'd have been Izuku. When Katsuki saw Izuku written down, he misread it as Deku, which was a kind of wooden puppet. Now that she was quirkless, that's what Katsuki called her; Deku, the useless wooden puppet, good for nothing but playing with and then tossing aside.

In another world, that would have been enough… but the universe wasn't done toying with Izumi yet. She hadn't truly lost everything, and so still had hope.

So the universe went for her mother.

[Monday 25th July 2270]

[The Streets of Tatooin Ward, Musutafu]

Izumi walked hand in hand with her mother as they made their way home. It had been another rotten day at preschool, but Izumi was determined not to cry. Crying made her mother sad and Heroes didn't make their mothers sad! Izumi had to keep smiling no matter what, like All-Might!

Inko smiled down at her daughter. It had been a tough day for her too, but it made her happy to see her child's smile. "Izumi dear, how about we stop by the supermarket and pick up the ingredients for Katsudon?"

Izumi looked up at her mother with sparkling eyes, a little drool slipping out from the corner of her mouth; "Really?! We can have it?!" Izumi exclaimed excitedly. Katsudon was her favourite food!

"Yes really. Can you be a good girl and help Mommy pick out the ingredients?" Inko asked with a smile.

The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically; "Uh huh! I want to help make it too!"

Inko giggled at her enthusiastic daughter; "Okay then! Let's go!" she said, leading Izumi by the hand to the supermarket.

Things were looking up! The Midoriyas headed for the supermarket, but just as they turned the corner a block away from the store, they found the way blocked by a large crowd of people, as well as police and ambulances.

"Oh my, what's happened?" Inko asked, approaching the crowd.

"A Villain Attack?" Izumi thought aloud, a little afraid.

An Elementary School Boy at the back of the crowd turned to look at them, "It was the Reaper! They got a couple of ladies from the coffee shop over there." the boy said, pointing to the ambulances. Inko gasped and Izumi gulped fearfully.

The Reaper was a mysterious villain whose quirk could steal a person's soul, leaving them comatose. Dozens of people had suddenly collapsed into comas over the last year, and there was never any evidence pointing to who was committing the crime, leading to the theory about the Reaper's quirk stealing souls. The victims were all still alive, but no one knew how to wake them up, as physically there was nothing wrong with them. The only connecting thread between the victims was that they were all women between the ages of 16 and 40, and were generally considered beautiful.

Inko frowned; "I'm sorry, Izumi, but it looks like we'll have to have Katsudon another day. We can't get to the store through all this."

Izumi nodded sadly. She was disappointed, but she was more sad about the people who'd been attacked.

Before they could turn and head home, the Elementary School Boy who had spoken to them suddenly called out; "Hey, Ma'am! If you want to go to the store, I know a shortcut around the crowd. It's real short; just down that alley." he said, pointing down an alleyway on the edge of the crowd.

Inko eyed the boy and the alley carefully, but didn't find anything suspicious about them. The boy was fairly normal looking; his eyes and hair were both brown, and he was wearing a light green hoodie and dark green shorts. On his head was a funny little paper hat with the katakana "i" written on it in red ink, and he carried a plain black backpack with a recorder sticking out of it. As for the alley, it wasn't particularly dark or shady looking, so Inko just shrugged.

"That's very nice of you, Young Man. Please lead the way." Inko smiled.

The boy grinned happily, revealing his teeth. The lower canines were longer than normal, and Izumi couldn't help but be nervous of this older boy. He wasn't much older, probably only being about 8 years old, but something about him just felt off. As she and her mother followed the boy down the alley, she would soon learn how right she was…

They walked a few feet into the alley, turning a corner and then walking a little more, then turning another corner… right into a dead end.

"Kihihihi, sorry Lady, but your soul is mine!" the Boy suddenly said, turning around with a manic grin.

Inko's eyes widened as she pulled Izumi behind her, protecting the girl with her body as the Boy began to breath out a thick cloud of black smoke. The smoke engulfed him, and when it disappeared, the "Boy" was no longer human. Instead, he became a strange ape-like creature with green hair all over its body, a pale yellow horn sticking straight up from the top of its head, and long, thin limbs. It wore a dark green waistcoat with a red dot on each of its pointed shoulders and long light green sleeves. The rest of its body was naked, but genderless, and its face was covered by a slip of paper with the katakana "i" written on it in red ink, just like the "Boy"'s paper hat. The backpack was gone, but the recorder was now a long yellow flute.

As soon as the transformation was complete, Izumi felt a fresh wave of terror, as well as an odd sense of familiarity. She was sure she hadn't seen this creature before, but it felt like she had.

Inko wasn't interested in sticking around to see what would happen next, and instead picked up Izumi and made a run for it. Before she could turn the first corner out of the dead end, two more of the same green creature appeared in front of her.

"Kihihi, no escape!"

"You look tasty! We'll take your soul with the others!"

The first creature, the one that had been disguised as an Elementary Schooler, walked menacingly towards them; "Kihihi! Sorry Babe, but we've got orders to steal the souls from pretty women, especially if they're young and strong. You could see me, which means you've got a lot of Spiritual Power! I couldn't let a tasty snack like you run away!"

Inko gasped; "You're the Reaper!?"

"Kihihi! Me and all my Demon Buddies! We've gotta get fresh souls for the Master!"

Izumi's eyes widened; Demons!? Was that why no one had seen the Reaper? Because you needed a lot of Spiritual Power? She and Mommy could see them though, and that made them prey to these monsters. Inko was trying to be brave for the sake of her child, but she had no real combat abilities and her quirk wasn't strong enough to pull the Demons' flutes away, leaving her with nothing to fight them with. The Demon was a bit smaller than the average human, but Inko was also a small lady, so she'd be unlikely to overpower one Demon successfully, let alone three of them.

The Demon that had lured them into the trap pulled the yellow flute from its back and brought it to its mouth, lifting the paper tag just enough to reveal it still had larger lower canines. "Since you're strong enough to see us, I'll give you a nice prize and tell you my name: I'm Roku-Ju the Green Imp!"

Roku-Ju suddenly blew on the end of his flute, causing it to extend rapidly and pierce into Inko's chest. The woman gasped from shock, and Izumi screamed, watching the flute impale her mother through the heart. The Green Imps behind them began cheering and dancing, while Roku-Ju retracted his flute. As the bamboo left Inko's body, it took a small white glowing orb with it, and Inko fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Izumi began to cry and knelt beside her mother, shaking her and trying to make her wake up. Inko didn't have a wound; the flute had passed through her flesh to suck up her soul, like it was some kind of straw, but now that she had lost her soul, Inko was left comatose, just like all the other victims.

"Mommy! Mommy wake up! Please wake up!" Izumi sobbed, shaking her mother and trying to copy the CPR she'd seen on TV. She did chest compressions and mouth to mouth, but her mother's body was physically fine; her heart was beating and she was breathing… she just couldn't wake up.

"Uh, this soul is pretty small actually. Not much more Spiritual Power than normal." Roku-Ju complained, plucking Inko's soul from the end of his flute and examining it; "Still, it's pure white, and that lady's a real looker. Master should still be happy with it."

Izumi looked over at the Imp, her eyes reddened by her crying. "Give it back… give Mommy her soul back!" she screamed, getting to her feet and charging the Imp. Roku-Ju shrieked like a monkey and jumped out of the way, making Izumi stumble and fall with a yelp.

"Kihihi, this girl's got a lot of Spiritual Power too!" one of the other Imps laughed.

"Let's take her soul to the Master!" the other added.

Izumi whimpered, but she was still determined and tried to get to her feet so she could get her Mommy's soul back. Unfortunately, Roku-Ju stamped his ape-like foot down on her back, making Izumi cry out in pain as she was pushed hard into the ground.

"Nah, this brat's too young. Master wants souls from pretty women, not little girls. She's kinda cute though… maybe he wouldn't mind if I snack on it myself..." Roku-Ju said menacingly, poking Izumi's face with his flute and using it to wipe the hair from her face. Izumi shuddered; was this her fate? To fail to save her mother and then be eaten by this monster? Was she truly cursed?

One of the other Green Imps shook his head vehemently; "No way! If you eat a soul, Master will find out and eat you! We're not allowed!"

"Yeah, only the Boss Demons are allowed to eat souls whenever they want. We gotta wait 'til the Master gives us some." the third Imp said.

Roku-Ju tutted; "Tch, fine… this little morsel isn't worth getting eaten over. We'll comeback for her when she's all grown up. If she looks like her Mommy, she'll be pretty." he said, taking his foot off Izumi's back.

Seeing her chance, Izumi rolled onto her back and kicked upward with both feet, hitting Roku-Ju hard in the crotch. Apparently, despite being genderless in appearance, the Imp really was a male, as he promptly shrieked and fell to his knees, dropping his flute and Inko's soul. Izumi immediately scrambled onto her hands and knees, trying to get the soul before one of the other imps, but the demons were too fast. One grabbed Inko's soul and stowed it inside his clothes, while the other jumped on Izumi, slamming her hard face down into the ground of the alley and pressing her shoulders to the floor, leaving her unable to move as she screamed and kicked. The Imp that picked up Inko's soul grabbed her legs and held them down too, leaving the 4 year old face down on the floor and unable to do more than wriggle in vain.

"Little Brat! I maybe an Imp and a Demon, but I'm still a man dammit!" Roku-Ju snarled as he recovered. He grabbed his flute, as well as one of his cohort's, then walked to Izumi's side. "Kids like you get harsh punishments! How about a little caning to teach you some manners!" he declared, extending the duel wielded flutes until they were the length of the bamboo sticks used to tie plants to.

Izumi cried out, but she could do nothing to break free from the Imps or stop Roku-Ju, so she was forced to lay there weeping and screaming as the evil creature lashed her over and over again with the bamboo flutes. He struck hard from the back of her neck to the back of her ankles, taking delight in her pain. The poor girl had no idea how long this lasted; it felt like an eternity, and before long she had lost even the strength to scream or cry. When Roku-Ju was satisfied, her entire back was a mess of welts and bleeding cuts, her yellow dress nearly shredded by the rapid strikes.

"That'll learn ya!" Roku-Ju laughed mockingly, as he and his fellow imps ran off, leaving Izumi bleeding on the floor beside her now soulless and comatose mother. With what little strength Izumi had left, she dragged herself over to her mother's body and put her face in the woman's hand, trying to get whatever comfort she could before finally blacking out.

Izumi awoke the next day in hospital. Apparently, her screams during the caning had been heard and someone had managed to find her and her mother after the Imps had fled. People were shocked to learn Inko was another victim of the Reaper, but even more so when they saw the brutality inflicted on her daughter. Kacchan and his parents; Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou had come to see her in the hospital, and were devastated by what had happened. With the Bakugous there to comfort her, Izumi was able to give her account of what happened.

The Policeman taking her statement was doubtful, but in the Age of Quirks, just about anything was possible, so he didn't dismiss her account. Izumi's account led to the Reaper being connected to the new villain "Roku-Ju the Green Imp", and copies of her drawing of him were put on wanted posters and on the news. No one believed the Spiritual Power angle though, and believed that the Villain could somehow hide himself from his victims, create monsters, and steal people's vitality.

For Izumi though, it didn't matter. She wanted to go find Roku-Ju and get her mother's soul back, but Katsuki bluntly reminded her that she was quirkless, and thus useless, and that she'd gotten beaten by the Imps because of that fact. Mitsuki had been furious with her son for being so callous, but that didn't change the boy's mind.

After a few days, Izumi was fully recovered and allowed to leave the hospital as most of the cane wounds healed over perfectly, though a few had been deeper and left her with scars on her back. Since Inko was comatose in the hospital, Izumi had no home to go to and was offered a place at the Bakugous, but as they weren't actual relatives, Izumi was instead taken to an official foster home until the Bakugous could complete the necessary paperwork to become foster parents themselves.

Foster Care was a new challenge for Izumi, but it taught her two important lessons. First, her mother had been a better person than most for not treating her badly because of her lack of a quirk… Second, there were a lot of cruel people in the world. The first Foster Home she was placed in treated her well physically, but were cold towards her. They were stricter with Izumi than the other kids in their care, and showed her no warmth, but they didn't hurt her and they kept her fed and clean, so Izumi felt she couldn't complain. Izumi was a good girl, and did her best to obey their every command, especially as they hadn't asked to take her in. She did all the chores and didn't whine about the other kids' bullying, which at least made the adults tolerate her.

Izumi remained in that house for three months, while the Bakugous arranged to become her foster parents… only for their petition to fail. The Government didn't tell them the exact reason why they'd been rejected, only that their family had failed at the final interview stage. When the petition failed, they had to wait six months to apply again, and Izumi learned why her first Foster Home had kept her for so long; they were expecting to hand her off to the Bakugous. Once they realised it would be another nine months before the Bakugous could take Izumi (six months to wait to try again and then another three months of paperwork and interviews) they demanded she be sent to another home.

"Three months is more than long enough! Don't send us any more quirkless kids!" the husband had yelled as Izumi was led, crying, into the social worker's car.

It got worse from there. People treated the quirkless like they had some sort of incurable disease; they were to be pitied or disgusted by, nothing else. The second Foster Home lasted a week, until the wife got violent with Izumi and sent her to the hospital with a broken rib. The third Foster Home turned out to be child molesters that had managed to slip through the vetting process; they were the nicest of all Izumi's Foster Parents, past and future, which only made Izumi feel worse. They were grooming her, but thankfully Mitsuki had exposed them during a visit after stumbling on some inappropriate images of Izumi in the bath. Aside from being pressured into naked photo shoots, Izumi hadn't directly suffered any abuse, but she hadn't been the first Foster Kid sent to the family...

That taught Izumi another important lesson; the only reason someone would love her was if she was useful to them. Her Mommy was different; Inko had been a saint, and the Bakugous were looking out for Izumi for her mother's sake, or at least that's what Izumi thought. At four years old, with three terrible foster homes behind her, Izumi decided what she should do…

Heroes were loved because they helped people. The only people outside her family that loved her had been people who had a use for her. That meant that if Izumi wanted to be loved and a Hero, she'd have to prove how useful she could be!

She started at her preschool. Instead of reading alone or playing alone or just sitting alone, Izumi would run around the playground helping the other kids. She picked up things the other kids dropped, put band aids on their scrapes, picked flowers to give to girls who were sad, or let boys play with her prized All-Might action figure. When another kid was getting bullied, Izumi would run in and defend them, then stand there and bare the insults and occasional smacks. She never complained to the teachers, and even helped them where she could by carrying their things or handing out supplies. The teachers and other kids all looked at her strangely at first, but she never complained or caused trouble for any one but bullies, and by the end of the first month of Izumi's plan, she'd gone from "The Quirkless Kid" to "The Helpful Quirkless Kid". It wasn't a big change, but it was enough.

The teachers, other children and their parents didn't look at her with disgust or pity any more. They didn't love her or particularly like her, but it was enough. Izumi had been useful, and so their opinions of her improved! Izumi's plan was a success!

For almost half a year, Izumi stuck to her new plan of Heroism; doing good deeds to make people happy. It had started very small and local; Izumi would do little chores to help her foster parents as well as her teachers. It had been hard at first, as other kids at school called her a Teachers Pet as well as Quirkless, and Kacchan had begun calling her Deku again, apparently having run out of sympathy for her predicament. Still, Izumi didn't give up and kept working for others to the point that Katsuki no longer teased her, instead ignoring her and simply calling her Deku like it was her real name. Izumi liked to think it was because he respected her efforts, but she'd never dare say that to him. Oddly, Katsuki ensured that the other kids kept their bullying to strictly verbal, as he wouldn't allow anyone to physically harm her, claiming it was what a "Real Hero" would do.

Gradually, Izumi began to expand her efforts; she'd go door to door in her foster parents' neighbourhood and offer to help anyone who needed something small done, like taking out their trash or caring for pets. She would always refuse payment, so she quickly became popular with her neighbours. Then she'd start climbing trees to rescue cats and reclaim balls and kites that got stuck there, then she'd do grocery shopping and clean the streets for some of the elderly residents of the neighbourhood. It got to the point where everyone in Tatooin Ward knew her and she was nicknamed "The Fairy of the Green Valley", a reference to the meaning of her surname and the fact that she was like a helpful fairy, especially when she began to help people with gardening.

Finally, Izumi began to feel loved. She was useful and the people loved her for it. Izumi scampering about helping people became a common sight in Tatooin Ward and gradually, people stopped caring that she was quirkless, with adults and children alike greeting her in the streets and being friendly to her, their smiles and praise warming Izumi's heart.

Izumi would go through three more Foster Homes for a grand total of six. The fourth home had been an elderly couple, who had to give her up after one of them passed away; Izumi liked them best, as they had been the nicest home after the molesters (which was sad in its own way). The fifth home had been the opposite; a young couple that became pregnant, so gave Izumi up to focus on their own child; Izumi didn't mind that though and wished them well. Her helpful reputation had begun to overshadow her quirklessness at this point, so life had been easy with that family. The sixth and final family to foster her had been a bit like the first; they were cold and stern, but not cruel and had only agreed to take Izumi in because the Bakugous' second attempt at fostering her was nearly complete.

It looked like they would succeed this time too, and Mitsuki was excited to take her in. Izumi actually began to believe that the Bakugous wanted her for her, and not as a favour for her Mom!

It didn't stop her from keeping up her helpful work though; Izumi wanted to be loved, wanted to be a Hero, and to do that, she had to be helpful!

And so it seemed that Izumi had found her purpose in life at only 5 years old… at least until a fateful day in the park.

[Sunday 3rd September 2271]

[Park, Tatooin Ward, Musutafu]

Izumi was just wandering through the park, looking for someone else to help, when she heard a familiar crackling of sparks followed by a whimper. With a pit forming in her stomach, Izumi looked around and spotted the source of the noise over by the sand box.

A boy about her age was on his knees, crying and holding his hurt arm while three other boys stood over him with cruel smirks. Izumi was horrified to see that one of them was Kacchan, his fist smoking against his palm. On his sides were Ryuji Tsubasa (Doctor Tsubasa's Grandson) and some kid with a finger extending quirk whom Izumi didn't recognise. Swallowing her fear, Izumi ran and stood between them.

"Enough Kacchan!" she yelled, holding her arms out to protect the hurt boy, "You've already made him cry! I won't let you do more!" she cried, shaking in fear.

Katsuki growled; "Tch, the Quirkless Deku wants to play Hero again… how you planning to stop us?" he asked, making an explosion that made Izumi flinch.

"I-I know I can't fight you, but I'll stand in your way!" Izumi declared. Kacchan had never hurt her or let anyone else do so either, so she hoped this would be enough to make him back down.

The boy just grit his teeth; "That guy was talking a lot of smack about us! We've gotta show him his place!"

"You can't hurt people just for saying stuff you don't like, even if it's really mean! If you use violence first, it makes you the bad guy!" Izumi said. Katsuki growled again, but it was clear that the fight had gone out of him and he was only keeping up this act as a show of pride.

Seeing this made Izumi smile kindly at him, feeling the warmth in her chest building again. Katsuki dropped his hands, but the Long Fingered Kid just rolled his eyes. "Come on Katsuki, you can't let that brat get away with badmouthing us just 'cause your girlfriend gets whiny!" he said, rearing his hand back to slap Izumi with his extended fingers.

Katsuki, Tsubasa and the bullied kid all looked on in shock as Izumi's eyes widened, the slap seeming to come at her in slow motion, but her body was unable to move. It struck her hard across the face, knocking her over. Her head was whipped to the side by the force of the slap and her eyes stung with tears, but all that faded as she hit the ground and her temple struck the corner of the sandbox. Black spots appeared in her vision and Izumi felt her senses fading away. The last thing she saw was the horrified face of Katsuki, and the blood on the corner of the Sandbox. Then there was nothing at all.

Next chapter: Darkest Before the Dawn Part 2

To be Released: TOMORROW!

So that's the end of the first chapter! Since so much set up is established in this first story arc, I'll be posting a new chapter every day!

Let me know what you thought!