TRIGGER WARNING: Self Harm and an aborted Suicide Attempt. This occurs in roughly the first third of the chapter. Skip to O if you want to avoid it.
The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 11: Gods and Monsters
Chapter 1: Rest and Relief
[Monday17th April 2282]
[Recovery Girl's Office, U.A High School]
After two full days of unconsciousness, Izumi finally began to awaken. She felt weak and lethargic, despite the sun streaming through Recovery Girl's window, and her head was full of fog, making it hard to think and remember where she was or why she was there. Izumi knew immediately that she wasn't in her own room; the bed beneath her feeling different from her usual futon, but her eyes were still blurry so she couldn't see very well. As usual when experiencing such a thing, Izumi shifted into her Demi-God Form to take advantage of her greater hearing and sense of smell.
The moment she changed form, Izumi knew something was wrong. Transforming was usually as easy as breathing, and felt as natural as opening and closing her fist. This time however, it had felt like trying to wade through swamp water.
"Ugh… What's going on?" she muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes and sniffing her surroundings. The familiar scent of medical supplies, clean sheets, and Recovery Girl allowed her to distinguish she was in Recovery Girl's Office, but Izumi couldn't remember why. She was completely alone, without even Ishiko for company, and her Brush Gods were curiously silent. Izumi could sense their presence within her, but they felt distant and didn't answer her call, even though their powers did.
Beginning to worry, Izumi finally worked the bleariness out of her eyes and looked down at herself, finding she was unhurt and dressed in her own sleeping kimono. Next she looked to the clock on the wall and found it was about lunch time, which explained why she'd woken up alone.
"Why am I here?" she said to herself, relaxing a bit. Did she overwork herself and that's why her powers felt sluggish? She sat up properly and crossed her arms and legs as she tried to focus and recall what happened.
"I remember… we went to the USJ for 1-A's first Rescue Training. There was something waiting for us… Villains!" Izumi gasped, piecing her memories together. That's right, they'd been attacked by Villains and Demons! The Class had been split up by that Mist Villain, and Izumi had backed up Aizawa-sensei in the Plaza. They'd been winning, but then the Villain Leader disappeared… And when he returned…!
"No…!" Izumi suddenly gasped. She remembered Tomura Shigaraki returning with blood, hair, and a horn. He had bragged about murdering poor Eri! The blood and hair he'd held… Izumi would never mistake that scent! It had been real! Shigaraki had really…!?
Izumi's eyes widened as tears began to cascade down her cheeks. She could barely breathe, and her heart hurt so much that the girl wanted to rip it out just to make it stop! She actually lifted a clawed hand to her chest, almost acting on that desire while her other hand went to her mouth.
The revelation of Eri's death was her most recent memory. There was nothing else after that; she saw only darkness, smelled only her daughter's scent, heard only her own pained howls, felt only agony, and tasted only blood. This miasma of dark feelings and sensations began to swim in the grieving girl's head and Izumi started to hyperventilate. She vaguely remembered a voice in her head, but that voice was absent at the moment. Without that voice leading her into the dark, Izumi did not become a Demon and instead remained a heartbroken and grieving mother.
Completely lost to the grief; Izumi broke down completely, sobbing loudly between desperate cries of Eri's name. She clawed at the sides of her face, her shoulders, and her forearms, carving deep wounds into herself and staining the bed with blood, all while crying her heart out in a desperate attempt to create a new pain that would distract her from the pain in her heart. After several minutes of this, Izumi lost the strength to keep going (helped by the loss of so much blood) and slumped back almost lifelessly in the bed. She looked down at her bloody claws with wet, dead eyes and acting on some dark, desperate desire to see her child again, Izumi slowly raised one of the claws to her own throat.
She relished the slight sting in her flesh as she pressed the tip of the claw into the side of her neck, feeling the trickle of warm blood flowing through the broken skin. All it would take is one more push and then a long pull to the side, and Izumi would be done. She'd be gone from this world, and be with Eri again. Astral Resurrection wouldn't work if Izumi refused to return… it would be so easy. It was what she deserved for failing to protect Eri, and for sending poor Tenya to his death. If she did this, perhaps she would redeem herself for her sins…
She pressed the claw slightly deeper… but then she stopped.
With quiet, tremoring sob, Izumi withdrew her claw and allowed her hand to drop to her lap.
"I-I can't! As much as I want to, I can't abandon everyone else! If I die, the Evil One will be able to do whatever they want! I can't doom the entire world for my own selfishness!" she cried, before shakily using Rejuvenation to heal her self-inflicted wounds. Hurting herself had felt good, but she couldn't do that now; Izumi existed for the sole purpose of defeating the Evil One, so she couldn't do anything to jeopardise that.
In the middle of her grief and misery, Izumi came up with her final plan. She would leave U.A and devote her time entirely to training and hunting down the remaining Brush Demons. Once she was at full power, she would hunt and destroy the Demon Generals, purge the world of Dark God Yami, and then put down the Evil One for good. Nothing else mattered; she would do her duty… and when the Evil One had breathed their last, only then would Izumi indulge her final desire and end her own life.
"Eri… my beloved Pup… please rest in peace, and wait for me just a little longer. Mama has some work to finish, but then I'll come and be with you again… I promise! I hope you and I can be reborn together… and you can be my child again! I won't fail this time…" Izumi said, speaking up at the Heavens. Izumi hoped Eri didn't hate her for failing her.
O
Deep within her, Izumi felt the Brush Gods pulsing with power. She was sure they were trying to speak to her, but she couldn't hear them. It was like she'd become deaf to their voices. No doubt they hated her plan and would try to talk her out of it. Izumi tried to transmit her thoughts to them, reassuring them that she'd take care of them. Perhaps Sakuya could find willing hosts for them after she died, so they'd be safe until her Fourth Incarnation came for them?
Izumi didn't want to think about her Mothers, or her siblings. They'd never accept her plan (not that she blamed them), and Izumi hated herself for inevitably causing them more grief, but she couldn't continue on now that Eri was gone. Not only that, but Izumi had no memory after learning of her daughter's death, so for all she knew, the Villains could have killed more of her classmates/students! They could have killed Eraserhead and Thirteen, or perhaps even All-Might! They could potentially all be dead because Izumi blacked out!
Before Izumi could spiral any further into depression and despair, her nose twitched as some familiar scents began to approach. As she was still not feeling 100% and her nose was stuffy from crying, Izumi lifted her ears to listen for the voices of the people. She could hear both her Mothers, chatting quietly with Recovery Girl, while the voices of Katsuki, Himiko, Fumikage, Keigo, and Ishiko followed a few paces behind the women. Izumi could also vaguely smell Toshinori and Aizawa-sensei as well, so they were likely coming along too. Izumi sighed and rubbed her eyes; she was about to get several visitors and she looked a mess… her eyes were raw, her nose was running, and both her face, arms, and bed were covered in blood from her recently healed self-inflicted injuries.
Izumi didn't want to imagine their reactions… but that thought was wiped from her mind when another voice reached her ears. It was soft and shy, barely audible even to Izumi's ears, but it was painfully familiar.
Eyes widening, Izumi quickly got out of bed and almost fell as her legs were still partially asleep. She slapped them to get the blood flowing and began desperately staggering for the door as a new hope bubbled up within her. That voice… she dared not believe it… Izumi feared it was all a cruel trick of her imagination… but she had to see it for herself! She had to see the source of the voice for herself!
She stumbled as she reached the door and struggled to open it as her impatience and desperation grew. Eventually, she growled ferociously and slashed the door to pieces with a few Power Slashes, before turning into a Wolf and fleeing into the hallway. She ran like a hound of hell, weaving through the empty halls towards the source of the voice. She skidded around a corner and was suddenly faced with the crowd she'd heard coming.
Her mothers; Sakuya and Inko, looked at her with worry and relief. Recovery Girl looked ready to scold her, as did Aizawa-sensei. Toshinori and Keigo waved, smiling brightly as they saw her awake. Katsuki and Himiko gasped at the sight of her and began to run towards her. Fumikage gave a small smile of his own, and said something to an excited Ishiko, who was jumping up and down.
But Izumi didn't care about any of it. She turned back to her Demi-God Form, paralysing her friends and family as they looked at her bloody arms, and the almost insane look in her silver eyes. Izumi took one shaky step forward, eyes firmly on the person she'd thought she'd never see again; the person whose horn Ishiko was currently hopping up and down on.
Fresh tears began to flow thickly down Izumi's cheeks, and the most unbelievably relieved and overjoyed smile split her face.
"ERI!" she cried, before running towards her child.
Eri was right there, completely intact. Not a hair out of place or the slightest scrape; exactly as she'd been when Izumi last saw her. In the blink of an eye, Izumi had passed by most of her friends and family without even a second glance and gathered Eri up in her arms, holding the child to her chest and hugging her as if afraid she'd suddenly disappear. Toshinori was impressed; that was the kind of speed his All-Might Form could reach!
"Eri! Oh Eri! You're here! You're alive! Oh my god, you're really alive! I was so terrified! I thought… I thought you were really…! Oh my child!" Izumi cried, sobbing her heart out even as she smiled brilliantly. Not once in her life had she ever felt this happy! Nothing could beat the joy she felt in that moment.
Izumi's family and teachers looked at her with sad smiles; they hadn't realised that Izumi memories had been impaired by what happened. If they had, they never would have left her alone. Deep within Izumi, the huge amount of light flooding her soul allowed the Brush Gods to finally reopen the connection with her, and each began to softly comfort their mistress and reassure her that everything was okay.
Eri simply smiled and cuddled deeper into her mother's arms; "I'm okay Mama. The bad guys lied. Me and Tenya got to the school and got help from Nezu-sensei! I wasn't hurt at all! See?" she said cutely, pulling up the sleeves of white blouse to show her unblemished arms.
Izumi reluctantly pulled away from Eri and held the little girl at arm's length. With the critical eye of a mother, Izumi looked Eri up and down for even the smallest hint of something amiss, then began to gently pat her arms and sides (almost like she was doing a frisk search). Once she was satisfied, Izumi gently cupped her daughter's face and rubbed a thumb over her cheek as she leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"My precious pup…. You have no idea how grateful I am that you're still alive. I owe Tenya one heck of a debt for getting you to safety." Izumi said, smiling lovingly at Eri before gently hugging her again.
The rest of the small group stayed quiet for a bit longer, allowing Izumi to enjoy her reunion with Eri, but as they waited, the reality of what they'd just seen began to kick in. Izumi genuinely hadn't known Eri was alive, and considering the blood on her arms and claws…
"Izumi, darling…" Inko said softly, putting a hand on her daughter's back.
"Oh, Mama. I'm sorry; I've been ignoring you and the others. That was rude of me." Izumi apologised. Now that Eri was with her again, everything was okay as far as Izumi was concerned; she felt like everything was right with the world. Unbeknownst to her, these feelings were partially because the Brush Gods were flooding her with their own positive emotions, having been terrified by how close to death Izumi had been due to her previous depression.
"It's alright Izumi. You've been through such a horrible ordeal… What do you remember?" Inko asked.
Izumi frowned and held Eri a bit tighter; "The last thing I remember before waking up was Shigaraki showing me Eri's blood and horn, and telling me he'd murdered her… I don't remember a single thing after that… other than echoes of something dark and painful."
The rest of her family gasped, while Recovery Girl and Aizawa-sensei shook their heads with pity.
"So when you woke up, you truly believed Eri was dead?" Himiko asked.
Izumi nodded, shuddering at the memory. With that fact confirmed, everyone began to look at Izumi's bloody arms with dread. Sakuya slowly knelt beside Izumi and gently took her daughter by the chin, tilting her face so they were looking one another in the eye.
"Izumi, please tell me the truth. When you woke up, thinking Eri was dead… did you harm yourself? Is that why there is blood on you?" Sakuya asked, speaking softly yet seriously.
"Yes." Izumi whispered, unable to speak any louder at that moment. She felt shame burning in her cheeks.
Sakuya's eyes widened and she swallowed hard, before asking the most difficult question she had ever asked; "Izumi… did you attempt, or consider attempting suicide?"
Biting her lip, the Greenette nodded reluctantly. Her family's reactions were immediate.
"Holy shit… Izuchan…" Katsuki breathed.
"Lil Pup… you really…?" Keigo said, his usual casual expression replaced by horror.
"To feel such anguish that you would end your own existence… it is beyond my understanding." Fumikage muttered, mostly to himself while Dark Shadow nuzzled against his side for comfort.
"Oh my god, and we were off having lunch while you were going through that!?" Himiko yelled, openly sobbing at the revelation. She only held back from hugging Izumi because she didn't want to squish Eri, and Inko and Sakuya had taken all other sides.
"I'm so sorry. I should have stayed by your side! It was my duty but I…" Ishiko almost began crying there and then. Unlike Himiko, she was small enough to hug against Izumi's neck without trouble.
Inko and Sakuya couldn't say a word, at least not until embracing their daughter as tightly as they could. They murmured comforting words of love to their daughter, which quickly had all three of them crying in each other's arms, with a mildly confused Eri in the middle. Eri did the only thing she could think of, which was to turn into her Puppy Form and give plenty of puppy kisses to her Mama and both Grandmas.
Recovery Girl tutted sympathetically and reached for her phone, using it to send some texts to Hound Dog; Izumi would be spending a great deal of time with him in the future… along with most of 1-A.
Aizawa remained silent off to the side, feeling out of place in the familial scene. His heart went out to Izumi; in the past he'd been in a similar place emotionally, and his arms had the scars to prove it. When things calmed down a bit, he'd approach Izumi and offer some support of his own, but for now he'd leave it to the girl's family.
Toshinori was the last of the group to react, and he genuinely had no idea what to do or say. Izumi had been completely broken by Shigaraki's little trick… he'd played with her feelings all to turn her into a monster, no, a tool! He and his League of Villains had done one of the cruellest things possible to the girl, and very nearly drove her to take her own life. That was completely unforgivable. Toshinori (who was still in his All-Might persona since Fumikage was present) clenched his fist; he would make the League pay for doing this! Seeing Izumi's tears of sorrow burned the Hero to the core, and he would insure every single one of those tears was repaid.
Once Inko and Sakuya finally released Izumi, All-Might walked over and scooped the girl up, carrying both her and Eri in his arms. Eri burst into giggled as All-Might declared it the "All-Might Taxi Service!" while Izumi couldn't stop herself from giving a bashful smile, even if she was blushing crimson. Having her idol All-Might carry her like a princess was another thing she could tick off her bucket list! All-Might began carrying the girls back to Recovery Girl's office, with the rest of the group following closely behind, feeling slightly better now that Izumi was smiling.
When they arrived, Izumi briefly looked down in shame as everyone gasped at the bloody sheets on her bed (it looked like a murder had taken place), not to mention the destroyed door, but Recovery Girl quickly stripped the sheets away and had All-Might place the girls on the other bed instead while a pair of robots took the bloody sheets and replaced them with clean ones, all while ignoring the door (which Katsuki and Fumikage picked up and put off to the side for Izumi to fix later). Izumi and Eri were gently placed on the other bed, and Recovery Girl brought over a basin of water and some clean towels.
"Use these to wash that blood off yourself, dear. You're a Hero, young lady; we can't show you to the rest of the students all covered in blood! They'd be terrified." Recovery Girl said gently.
Izumi nodded and began to carefully wash off the blood (with Eri doing her best to help). As she worked, she looked to Eraserhead and her siblings; "Can you please tell me what happened? After my memory stopped?"
Ishiko hopped onto Izumi's shoulder; "I'll tell you… I saw it all. Just remember that no one is dead or seriously hurt. Most of the injured were treated by Recovery Girl and are fine now; you've been unconscious for two days." the Poncle said. She needed to tell Izumi that first, or else she'd be worried again. Considering her reaction to Eri, it was best to make sure she knew they were safe.
Izumi nodded, sighing with relief that everyone was alive and well. With that, Ishiko told the full story; Izumi's transformation into Akuro, the battle with the Nomu that possessed the Spider Queen's power, the defeat of most of the class followed by the defeat of the Spider Nomu, All-Might's arrival and revelation about Eri and Tenya, Izumi's partial purification, the defeat of the Anti All-Might Nomu, the revelation that Kurogiri had a Brush Demon, Izumi's defeat by that Demon and subsequent capture, and the arrival of the U.A Heroes, Eri's saving of Izumi, and finally the escape of Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
After the story was finished, Izumi was completely horrified; "I-I became a Demon like that!? The Akuro we were warned about… it was me!?"
"It was a pretty big shock for all of us. You were huge, and you could transform parts of your body into giant black versions of the Brush Gods to use the Brush Demon powers. It was scary, but even while transformed you were crying and looked so miserable. Everyone in the class was determined to save you!" Himiko said, stroking her little sister's back.
Izumi shuddered at the thought and turned to All-Might with an expression of guilt; "All-Might, I'm so sorry! I attacked you and could have really hurt you!"
The Number One just smiled and patted her head, scratching behind her ears since she was still in Demi-God Form. "There's no need to apologise; you weren't yourself and even while mad with grief, I don't think you were truly trying to kill me. With all your powers and those claws of yours, not to mention the speed I saw you move at… I think if you truly wanted to kill me, then I'd have died. It's hard to admit, but Akuro Amaterasu was stronger than me."
That was worrying for all of them; the idea that Izumi could turn into a Demon stronger than the Number One Hero… no one present doubted Izumi's strength, but only Eri genuinely thought Izumi was stronger than All-Might; no one else believed the girl was even close yet.
"Akuro… something about this whole thing is worrying me. I thought I turned into a Demon before, but it was totally different. With the Shie Hassaikai, I didn't change shape and only my hair and eye colour changed, but this time I gained an entirely new form. I don't understand what the difference was." Izumi frowned, trying to focus on analysis so she didn't lose control of her emotions. She was no fool; she knew she'd be in therapy for a while after this, so she wanted to save her emotional outbursts for then. Izumi was good at compartmentalisation by this point; she'd had enough trauma to practice a lot.
"Ishiko told us that it was because Akuro Amaterasu is your true Demon self, like Akuma-Yomi was Yomigami's Demon self. The forms you took before were only Half Demon forms, like the dark counterpart to your Demi-God Form." Keigo explained since Ishiko was taking a drink after telling the long story. The Wing Hero was angry that he hadn't been able to help with the USJ until it was all over; he'd been in the middle of stopping a bank heist in the next prefecture and hadn't even learned of the attack until Sakuya called him on her way to the scene. By the time he arrived, it was all over.
Izumi nodded and pulled on her lip in thought; "There's still so much we don't know about my nature… I'm the only confirmed Human-Divine hybrid, so we don't know exactly which rules apply to me and which ones don't… Putting that aside for now, I want to know about the others. You said there were no serious injuries, but how is everyone in class?" she asked, subtly looking over Katsuki, Himiko, Fumikage, and Aizawa-sensei for signs of injury.
Recovery Girl answered her; "There were some injuries, but most were relatively minor. Over half the class was knocked unconscious during the fight with the Spider Nomu, and both Kirishima and Yaoyorozu had their arms broken while defending their classmates. They have all been completely healed by my quirk after a day's rest. They're back at the dorms right now. The only one still injured is Thirteen, who had her quirk reflected back at her by the Mist Villain. She's currently resting in her apartment on campus until she has enough energy for the next dose of healing."
"There is trouble brewing though." Fumikage said, his arms crossed; "The rest of the Class don't know the truth about you, but they witnessed and heard everything. They're asking questions, and have been speaking to the students of 1-B. Not only that, but those powerful third years; the Big Three, have been helping everyone out, and have picked up enough to be asking questions too."
The others frowned, wondering how they were going to deal with this. Izumi's secret had virtually already been exposed. Disguising all her powers as a single quirk had already been difficult, but how were they going to brush off her Demon transformation, or her connection to the other, real Demons? They all put their heads together to think of a way to deal with this.
Recovery Girl and Aizawa-sensei planned to leave it all to Nezu, seeing as he was the master strategist and manipulator. Ishiko, All-Might, and Inko were trying to come up with a believable lie that would explain everything. Himiko, Keigo, and Fumikage were wondering if they should just explain it all as "Quirks are crazy" and hope that worked, while Katsuki was planning on just telling everyone to mind their own business. Meanwhile, Sakuya was trying to remember if she had an employee or hero in her Cherry Blossom Corps that had a memory manipulation quirk.
Ironically, the only ones not concerned were Izumi and Eri. Izumi had already made up her mind on what she'd do, while Eri just trusted her Mama.
"Let's not worry about that for now. We need to talk about what happened properly; the attack, the League of Villains, and my corrupted form. I want to get a better idea of everything that happened, so we can make plans." Izumi said, having calmed down greatly after reunited with Eri and having a moment to process everything. Truthfully, the nature of Akuro worried her greatly, but the girl needed to keep it together for the moment. Going mad with anxiety would only cause problems.
The others agreed, though they all looked worried for her. Izumi smiled brightly at them to ease their fears.
"Everyone, I'm not going to lie and say I'm completely fine, but I've cried enough for now. I'm sick of wallowing in negative emotions; I am the Sun Goddess; Okami Amaterasu! I need to act and make up for my mistakes at the USJ." Izumi said determinedly, before looking to her teachers and mothers; "I'll go to therapy later. For now, I want to go heal Thirteen and get to work on preparing a counter to this League of Villains!"
There was a moment of silence as Izumi's friends and family exchanged looks, before they smiled and nodded. Izumi was accepting her own issues and was promising to address them, so they would trust her.
"Thirteen should be at her apartment. Shall we go together?" Toshinori asked.
Izumi nodded and hopped out of bed. Her Hero Costume had been cleaned while she was sleeping and was waiting for her in a cabinet beside her bed in Recovery Girl's office, so the Wolf Girl took it and slipped into the bathroom to change. Eri followed closely behind; neither girl wanted to be away from the other for even a moment.
The moment Izumi was in the bathroom, the faces of her friends darkened. Sakuya summed up all of their thoughts; "Izumi was truly willing to die because she believed she'd lost Eri… we must protect them both with all we've got. If we lose either one of them, then the Evil One will prevail."
They all nodded at Sakuya's declaration; the sight of Izumi's broken expression and the sounds of her cries would haunt many of them for years to come. They never wanted that to happen again!
Unaware of this quiet pact, Izumi returned a moment later and handed her bloodied sleeping kimono to the laundry robots from before, then joined the others as they left the room.
Since all classes were cancelled until the following Monday, the main building was almost completely empty. The students were either at their dorms, or in Valour Village, so Izumi wouldn't be running into her classmates before she was ready to face them all (something she was very nervous about).
As they headed to the Teachers' Dorms, Inko smiled as she watched Izumi walk hand in hand with Eri, remembering when she had once done the same with a little Izumi. "The parents of most of your 1-A Classmates have come to visit and check their children are alright after the attack. Your Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru were here this morning, but couldn't stay thanks to their work. Only a few couldn't make it, but poor Shoto wasn't too happy to see Endeavor. He was part of the Hero Team that arrived with the Commission after the Incident was already over." Inko explained.
Izumi bit back a scowl; "He didn't cause trouble did he?"
"No. Once he saw Shoto wasn't injured and the Villains had all been captured or escaped, he left. Even without knowing what we do about him, I'd still dislike him; he was very rude and boorish!" Inko huffed.
Within Izumi, Bakugami snorted with amusement; "My Lady, please tell your mother that we Boars have much better manners than that walking sparkler."
Izumi giggled and passed along the message, making the others laugh. Even Eraserhead and Recovery Girl gave wry smiles; few people who knew or worked with Endeavor could say they liked him.
"Which parents couldn't come?" Izumi asked.
"My parents didn't come, but I asked them not to. I thought it was best to not add the complications of the Raven Clan to everything that happened at the USJ." Fumikage informed her; "I did assure them I was alright though, and we had a video chat so they could see I was fine."
"Ochako and Hitoshi's parents didn't show either. Ochako's parents were super busy with a construction contract and couldn't afford to come; they tried, but Ochako talked them out of it. I'm not sure about Hitoshi though; he just said his folks weren't going to come and refused to say more." Himiko added.
The situation with Hitoshi's parents made Izumi frown as she wondered what the story was there. The situation with Ochako's just made her sad though; Izumi knew Ochako wasn't well off but to think her parents couldn't even afford to take a day off to visit her… Izumi hummed in thought; maybe she should consider using some of her money to have a property built, and hire the Urarakas to build it. A vacation house somewhere on the coast would be a great place to take Eri!
Putting that idea on the back burner for now, Izumi and the others reached the Teachers' Building and followed Aizawa to Thirteen's apartment. There was too many of them to use the elevators, so they took the stairs.
"Speaking of parents, Froggy's folks are sticking around for a few days. Brought their other kids with 'em too." Katsuki said.
Izumi smiled; "Tsuyu's parents? And her little siblings?"
"That's right. They heard that you saved Tsuyu's life at the cost of your own at the USJ, and now they're refusing to leave until they've spoken to you. Principal Nezu is allowing them stay in one of the unoccupied rooms at the 1-A Dorms, beside their daughter's room." Aizawa explained, "They're good people. They'll be happy to see you."
"Yeah!" Eri cheered, "Tsu has a little brother named Sami, and a little sister named Satsuki! They're both really nice and play with me! Sami is older, but Satsuki is the same age as me!" she chirped happily.
Izumi smiled happily, while Himiko whispered that "Sami"'s real name was Samidare, but Eri couldn't pronounce it properly. Izumi was happy her daughter had made some friends; she'd have to ask Tsuyu and her parents if the children could visit each other from time to time.
They soon arrived outside Thirteen's door and before they could knock, it opened to reveal a smiling Nezu.
"I knew you were coming. I've been watching." Nezu said with a mysterious smile, holding up his phone. The Principal really did have cameras and bugs in all public areas!
The Principal allowed the group inside and they were welcomed by Thirteen, who was wearing her spare Hero Costume since her first was still damaged. Thirteen looked at Izumi and sighed.
"I'm guessing you're here to heal me?" the Rescue Specialist asked.
Izumi nodded; "I am."
"You've not been awake more than an hour, have you?"
"I've been awake long enough. More importantly, I've been asleep far too long. Healing is a part of my job, so please allow me to heal you and make up for my mistakes at the USJ!" Izumi begged, bowing deeply.
Thirteen frowned behind her helmet; "You didn't make a mistake, Amaterasu. What the Villains did to you-"
"That is no excuse." Izumi cut Thirteen off, looking at her with fiery eyes; "I am a Hero! A Hero can't lose control like I did!"
Thirteen was shocked into silence, while Nezu was pleased by the fire in Izumi's eyes. He'd watched the recordings from the USJ Cameras, and had seen Izumi's dead eyes before she transformed. It warmed his heart to see the girl had bounced back.
Ultimately, Thirteen couldn't refuse in the face of Izumi's determination, so he merely nodded. "I'd like to do this in my room, preferably in the dark so you can't see me. I know your nose will be enough." she said, getting to her feet and leading Izumi to her room. The Space Hero was surprisingly shy when it came to her appearance, though Izumi wasn't sure if that was normal or if she wanted to hide her bad injury.
As Izumi passed Nezu to follow Thirteen, she paused and spoke to the Mouse/Bear/Dog/Thing. "Principal Nezu, please gather all the other teachers and ask them to meet us down in the lobby of the Teacher Dorms. We need to have a meeting; all of us."
Nezu raised an eyebrow; "I can do that, but wouldn't the meeting room from before be better?"
Izumi shook her head; "We won't be having the meeting in the lobby, I just need everyone in one place. The thing I became at the USJ… Akuro Amaterasu… there are questions we need to ask about that. So for this meeting, we're going to the Astral Plain. It's time for all of you to meet my Brush Gods."
Next Chapter: Astral Debriefing Part 1
To be Released: March 7th 2022
And there goes the last of the depressing stuff for now. We have a few chapters before anything sad and traumatic happens! To those who messaged me during the last few days, I'm sorry I didn't reply but I was on vacation, so I didn't see most until I was already half asleep. I'll get back to everyone I can!
I hope everyone who decided to read the first few paragraphs aren't too upset by it, and to anyone who has harmed themselves, attempted suicide, or had the urge to do either one of those things, remember this: The world may be a pretty shitty place, but it would be worse without you in it. No one has to suffer alone, so if you feel like you need help then reach out for it. Believe me, I've been there so I know how hard it is.
Now on to more cheerful subjects! Well, partly. For those wondering why Izumi didn't turn into a Demon again since she thought Eri was dead, the answer is that now that she's awakened Akuro, she can only become a Demon if her Akuro side desires to be free, and her Izumi/Okami side desires to hide away from the world. While Izumi was overcome with despair, Akuro still remembered what happened and had no desire to transform, so they remained human/Divine. Akuro and Izumi also have a kind of mental wall between them, which is why they are two distinct sides of the same person and why they don't necessarily share memories normally.
Next chapter the U.A Staff meet the Brush Gods, the group discuss how the USJ Attack happened and some of the consequences of it, good and bad, and Izumi points out an unfortunate truth that hides something far more sinister…
Thank you all once again, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on this chapter and the ones to come!