The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 11: Gods and Monsters
Chapter 2: Astral Debriefing Part 1
[Monday17th April 2282]
[Teachers Dormitory, U.A High School]
There was a great deal of excitement among Izumi's family and the Teachers of U.A as they waited in the lobby of the Teachers Dormitory. Nezu had gathered them all as Izumi had requested and upon learning they would be visiting the Astral Plain to speak with her Brush Gods, the teachers were all excited and fascinated. Detective Tsukauchi was also invited along, seeing as he was currently visiting U.A with information relevant to the USJ. Izumi's family had joined them in the lobby too, waiting for Izumi to finish healing Thirteen, who was the only one still injured after the USJ. Thirteen had wanted privacy, so Izumi had asked the others to leave and turn out the lights so she could heal Thirteen in darkness. Only Eri was allowed to stay, since Izumi refused to be parted from her for even a moment.
Not long after the last of the teachers had arrived, Izumi, Eri, and Thirteen came down to the lobby. Thirteen was now fully healed and had a bit more pep in her step. Izumi was wondering why exactly Thirteen was against being seen, but she didn't ask in case it was embarrassing and had instead healed away with her eyes closed even in the darkness, using her nose to find and heal the injuries. Joining the others, Izumi bowed respectfully to her teachers.
"Good afternoon. I'm sorry to have called you all away from your work during such a busy time, but I believe it is important." Izumi said.
The teachers smiled and waved off her concerns; "We could use a break anyway. The Press and the USJ rebuilding has been a pain." Power Loader said kindly.
"Are you doing okay, Izumi? You had a much harder time than the rest at the USJ." Midnight asked with some concern. Between dying, turning into Akuro, and the beating she got from Kurogiri, Izumi had been the most badly injured person involved in the attack.
Izumi smiled; "I'm fine. Now that I know Eri is alive and well, I feel wonderful." she assured them, squeezing Eri's hand lovingly.
"You're one tough girl! Keep on rocking, Ammy!" Present Mic cheered.
Izumi giggled, feeling warmed by the use of her nickname. Ishiko hopped over from Himiko so she could sit on Eri's Horn again, then looked up at her partner.
"So, are we all going into the Astral Plain then?" the Poncle asked.
"Yes. I hope this isn't inconvenient for all of you, but there are things we need to discuss regarding the USJ and the Brush Gods will have a unique perspective, especially involving Akuro and my transformation into her." Izumi explained, "I feel it would be best if all my allies took part in the meeting."
She looked around, mentally checking off all the Teachers and her friends and family from her mental checklist, frowning slightly when she noticed that neither Dabi or Jin were present. Seeing her expression and guessing the reason for it, Hawks and Himiko explained.
"Dabi is stuck at college. He's doing important extra credit work so he can take the Final License Exam early and be a full Hero faster. He was really mad that Endeavor was the one called to back me up at the USJ, even if neither of us did anything." Hawks said with a small smirk.
"Jin wasn't allowed to come. The Doctors at the hospital said it would be bad for his mental health to let him come to what was probably a high stress environment, 'cause of the attack." Himiko explained.
Izumi nodded in understanding, disappointed that two of her biggest allies and friends wouldn't be present, but decided not to dwell on it and instead visit them on Sunday. None of the Konohana Household servants were present either, but Izumi hadn't expected to see them there so she didn't mind.
"Alright then. We've got all the U.A Teachers, excluding Lunch Rush, as well as Mama, Mom, Himiko, Kacchan, Fumikage, Keigo, Eri, Ishiko, and Detective Tsukauchi. That's everyone. Are you ready to go to the Astral Plain?" Izumi asked.
She was met with an enthusiastic cheer, so Izumi smiled and focused on her light. Her inner light rushed forth, shining out of her body until it appeared Izumi was made of shining gold, and she gave off warmth that made each of the others feel as if they were standing in the light of a pleasantly warm sunny day. The light eased their stress and calmed their minds, filling them all with a sense of immense relaxation and relief. They all closed their eyes, unable to stare directly into the living embodiment of the Sun, and felt the world around them shift. The ground beneath their feet became spongy and soft, and when the light dimmed to a safe level, everyone opened their eyes.
Izumi smiled as those who hadn't visited before gasped at their new surroundings.
"Welcome to the Astral Plain; the Realm of Gods and Spirits." she said, waving an arm out towards the scenery. Ishiko, Sakuya, Katsuki, Himiko, Keigo, and Eri (who had all visited the place before) smiled contentedly at the familiar peaceful surroundings while enjoying the reactions of the others.
"To think, I have entered such a holy place even as a creature of the Dark. I am humbled." Fumikage breathed, Dark Shadow looking around inquisitively beside him. Curiously, the light of the Astral Plain and the light used to bring them there hadn't bothered the shadowy being (at least not as much as expected).
"This place is beautiful! It would be a wonderful place for a picnic!" Inko gushed, holding onto Toshinori's hand.
"A-Ah! Yes, it would be quite wonderful! But there is a time limit on how long normal Humans can be here, correct?" All-Might asked, blushing profusely. Even after dating Inko for quite a while, he was still easily flustered by her.
"Fascinating! I would love to study this place one day! Amaterasu, would you consent to bringing me back here one day?" Nezu asked excitedly.
Izumi nodded; "Of course. It's mostly just a sea of clouds that connects the different godly realms; like an ocean connecting continents. Or Space dividing planets."
"Different realms… We sure ain't in Kansas any more, right Toto?" Snipe asked, elbowing Hound Dog.
"You realise that makes you Dorothy, right?" the Dog Hero scowled, "But this really is mind-boggling. Life is never boring with the Midoriyas."
"I wonder if this place is the inspiration for depictions of heaven." Recovery Girl mused. She was getting on in years, but she wouldn't mind spending her afterlife in a place like this.
Thirteen raised her hand to get Izumi's attention; "Do you think my suit would allow me to survive here for longer than the others? It can survive extreme temperatures and has its own oxygen supply."
Izumi shook her head; "Sorry, but the lack of air wouldn't be the problem. Humans are Material Beings, so you can't survive outside of the Material Plain for long."
The Space Hero bowed her head in disappointment, wanting to explore this vast ocean of clouds in hopes of finding other lifeforms. They couldn't be the only ones there after all!
The other Heroes were all silently taking in their new surroundings. Power Loader was digging at the clouds curiously, wondering how deep they went. Cementoss and Ectoplasm were watching him, while Ectoplasm sent a few of his clones running in different directions to see if he could find something interesting. Unusually, Aizawa-sensei, Present Mic, and Midnight were silent too and watching the clouds with wistful expressions.
"He'd have loved this place." Mic whispered, just barely within Izumi's hearing.
She wondered who "He" was… by the looks on the trio's faces, it was someone who had passed away. Izumi decided not to ask about it; having experienced the grief of loss for herself now, she had no intention of upsetting them further with unnecessary questions.
After a few minutes, Detective Tsukauchi (who'd been watching Toshinori's flustered answers to Inko's questions with great amusement) turned to Izumi; "This place really is incredible, but we should get to the meeting. If our time here is limited, then we shouldn't waste any."
Izumi nodded; "Good point. Allow me to summon out the Brush Gods."
Focusing on the presence of the Brush Gods within her, Izumi allowed her light to shine freely once again, causing the Orbs she had once absorbed to gain their powers to re-emerge from her chest. The process drained her, but Izumi remained standing and soon there was a collection of glowing orbs around her. They were marked with the Kanji: Yomi, Baku, Tachi, Saki, Hasu, Tsuta, Moe, and Nure, and they floated around Izumi in a ring, with the three orbs representing the Hanagami also spinning around one another.
The orbs floated away from Izumi, then began to grow in size until they were large enough to contain the Brush Gods' physical forms, then shattered to reveal the shining white bodies of each god. Yomigami roared as he soared over the amazed Heroes, joined by Moegami and the trails of flame he left with each wing flap. Sakigami, Hasugami, and Tsutagami began to play a beautiful song that sent flowers flying around their audience. Bakugami and his children threw their explosives high above them to create an amazing fireworks display, while Nuregami (still inside her water bottle) manipulated her water out into the shape of butterflies and birds, which mingled with the Hanagamis' flowers. Lastly, Tachigami leapt up and unleashed a flurry of sword slashes, splattering Nuregami's water constructs and causing the resultant water droplets to catch the light Izumi was still giving off, creating a rainbow.
Izumi giggled at the antics of her Brush Gods, who all came to stand or float grandly behind her now that their display was finished. The others were looking at the Gods with awe, while Eri was giggling and clapping enthusiastically, which made the Brush Gods puff their chests out proudly.
"We are the Celestial Brush Gods; Vassals born from fragments of theSun Goddess's power! Gaze upon our glory and praise the name of the Great Mother: Okami Amaterasu!" Yomigami declared, his voice rumbling like thunder as he gazed down upon the Humans (plus Ishiko and Nezu).
Ishiko, Sakuya, Katsuki, Himiko, and Keigo (who'd known Izumi and the Gods the longest) tried to stifle their laughter as Inko and the U.A Heroes looked worriedly between themselves, wondering they were supposed to bow or applaud.
Seeing that Present Mic was about to throw himself to the ground in worship to appease her Brush Gods, Izumi quickly put her hands up; "Everyone, it's okay! You don't need to bow or worship; they're just showing off."
The Heroes looked relieved, while the Brush Gods pouted. "Aw, Great Mother! Couldn't you have let them grovel at least a little bit?" Hasugami whined.
"No, now stop putting on airs. You're my friends the same as they are, so you don't need to act superior." Izumi said, crossing her arms.
The Brush Gods looked at one another for a moment, then Bakugami spoke; "In that case, may we have permission to act in a less formal manner?" he asked.
Izumi tilted her head in confusion; "Uh, sure? You know you guys can act however you want around me, right?"
Bakugami and the others nodded. "Thank you, Great Mother. With that being the case…"
Each and every Brush God's eyes began to sparkle with affection, before they all rushed forward and grabbed Izumi and Eri with a loud cry of "MISTRESS!"
Nuregami freed herself from her bottle and then wrapped herself around the two girls, binding them together while nuzzling against Izumi's cheek. Tachigami leapt onto Eri's shoulder and nuzzled her other cheek (seeing as Eri and Izumi's unoccupied cheeks were currently squished against one another). The Hanagami Monkeys surrounded the girls and joined the group hug with cheers and cries of joy and relief. Bakugami and his children rubbed against Izumi's unbound legs as if they were affectionate cats, while Moegami added another layer to the hug by wrapping his wings around them. Lastly, Yomigami wrapped around all of them with his own serpentine body, essentially trapping them all in one big Divine Hug.
"Mistress! We worried for you and your pup!" Yomigami declared loudly.
"My children and I cried when we thought the little Mistress had been stolen from us! We cannot properly express how happy we all are!" Bakugami cried, his children oinking and squealing with agreement.
"We ended up locked inside your Heart again to stop ourselves being corrupted. Forgive us, but there was nothing else we could do!" Tachigami apologised.
"But because of that, we also remained trapped until you were purified, so we couldn't tell you when we discovered the Little Mistress was alive!" the Hanagami Monkeys said, switching which was speaking with every alternate word (making it a bit hard for Izumi to understand them).
Moegami gently lifted a tail feather to tickle Eri's face; "Little Mistress, we must thank you as well! You saved your mother and perhaps the entire world when you cast Sunrise and purified her. Without that, we wouldn't have been free to leave her heart either."
"We are all truly blessed to have you both alive and well! We are so sorry we couldn't reach you to inform you of the truth earlier, Mistress. The fog in your mind after your corruption and purification prevented us from connecting our minds to yours, leaving us essentially mute!" Nuregami explained.
Izumi smiled with tearful eyes as she enjoyed the embrace of her Brush Gods, while Eri giggled at being held by so many different creatures! Nuregami was smooth and cool, Tachigami was soft and fluffy, Moegami was warm and comfy, and the others (who weren't directly touching her) felt strong. Since the Brush Gods were arguably the children/fragments of her Mama's first incarnation, Eri liked to think that they were like her cousins! She liked having a big family!
"You guys… I'm sorry. You all suffered too. I bet I scared you earlier, acting like I was going to commit suicide. I'm truly sorry, but I'm also really grateful to have you all with me! You're all my precious friends and family!" Izumi declared.
The Brush Gods promptly burst into noisy tears, which naturally had Izumi sobbing right along with them, crying away more of their stress and replacing it with familial love.
Ishiko, Nezu and the Humans watched with amusement and amazement at the display. Katsuki couldn't resist making a joke either; "Tch, these Brush Gods cry almost as much as Izuchan! They're definitely honorary Midoriyas!"
That earned a few chuckles from everyone, including the Brush Gods. After calming down, the Brush Gods ended the hug and separated. Izumi then asked everyone to sit so they could finally begin the meeting they'd come to the Astral Plain for. Once they were all seated in a rough circle, with the Brush Gods behind Izumi, the girl cleared her throat.
"Alright, now that all the greetings are out of the way we should begin." she said.
Midnight raised her hand; "Sorry to interrupt already, but I just thought about something. All the U.A staff members other than Lunch Rush are here in the Astral Plain, where normal people can't reach us. What if something happens and we're needed? We won't get visitors or hear alarms here." she pointed out.
The other teachers nodded in agreement, looking worried. Izumi simply smiled however and gestured to Yomigami, who lifted one of his claws to reveal one of his four crystal spheres. "This is a part of my personal Divine Instrument: The Dragon Orbs. While they don't possess much in the way of combat potential, they can be used as windows between the Material and Astral Plains. So long as we remain in this spot, we will be able to witness what is happening in the corresponding location in theMaterial Plain, which would be the Human Realm, or planet as your people call them. Should an alarm sound or someone come looking for you, I will be able to see and hear through this orb."
Nezu smiled; "I see! A very useful tool for spying. Can you also use it to scout locations? For example, if you were to move to another spot, would you be able to see the Human Realm equivalent?"
Yomigami nodded; "Indeed. However as I said, this ability merely acts as a window and like any window, it can be covered or obscured. I cannot use it in areas with too much Demonic Power. Mistress and I already tried to use it to find Demon hotspots in the past. Thanks to the Evil One's presence casting a darkness over all of Japan, it didn't work very well." the Dragon admitted reluctantly. "Only the cities of Musutafu and Corusantu are unobstructed thanks to our Mistress's power holding more influence there than the rest of your nation."
Nezu looked disappointed, but he'd half expected that answer. If Izumi had such a useful spying method in her back pocket, she'd have told them about it sooner. "I suppose that makes sense. Now we know that we'll have a warning if things go wrong at the school, let us get on with the meeting."
Izumi nodded; "Right. We need to go over everything that's happened with the League. Now that we've had confirmation that they're working with the Evil One, we have to go over every encounter we've had with them with a fine tooth comb."
She was met with murmurs of agreement, and Himiko raised her hand; "The first encounter was the Entrance Exam, right?"
"That's right. After seeing him with my own eyes and connecting him to the bizarre, stitched together Demonic Energy I sensed before the Entrance Exam, I can say for certain that Kurogiri was behind that incident. He used his Warp Gate quirk to get inside the heads of each Zero Pointer and plug in the USB Drives containing the Viruses that overwrote the robots' combat programming. Thanks to that, we have an answer as to how that was done." Izumi said.
The Heroes had guessed that much already after learning of Kurogiri, especially as Izumi had identified him to Eraserhead as the source of the strange energy during the USJ Incident. Inko frowned worriedly; "What exactly was the point of that attack though? Did the Villains know Izumi and Tos- I mean, All-Might would be involved in the exam somehow?" she asked, quickly correcting herself before spilling All-Might's real name in front of Fumikage.
"Yeah, and how did these bast- I mean, Villains know about the Zero Pointers and how they worked?" Katsuki asked, correcting his language after remembering Eri still held in her mother's arms.
"We already discussed this among the teachers after the attack." Nezu said, "We believe that initial attack was just intended as a Declaration of War; a way to spread some fear and chaos among us and our future students. Perhaps also to discourage some candidates from attending here. As for how they got the information; Kurogiri may have broken in before, or got the information from an Examinee from the last exam." the Principal explained.
The Principal quickly went over everything that had been said during the meeting after the Zero Pointer Attack, for the benefit of those who hadn't been there. Now that they'd seen the Villains themselves, they knew that the Declaration had been intended for both All-Might AND Izumi. Since Kurogiri and the League were working with the Evil One, the Heroes now knew why Izumi was one of the targets, and considering Tomura's vitriol regarding All-Might, it seemed the Villains themselves targeted him.
Detective Tsukauchi frowned; "We tried tracking Kurogiri and Tomura Shigaraki via their quirks and names, but came up with nothing. Neither of them cropped up in any records; the last person with the Shigaraki name died over a century ago, and we've had no records of a Kurogiri as either a real name or an alias. Their quirks also weren't registered. We could potentially connect Kurogiri to dozens of crimes involving the sudden disappearance of people, but we've no way of confirming it since Amaterasu wasn't present at those crimes so her senses didn't identify him."
That was another lead cut short. If neither of the escaped Villains had any records then chances are they were either using aliases and Demonic Power disguised as quirks to hide their true identities, or they didn't exist in the records for some reason, which would imply an unnatural origin. Considering Kurogiri had given off the same feeling as Nomu, only more refined, it made sense for him to be artificial too… though Ishiko pointed out that he'd claimed that wasn't the case when he confronted Izumi directly. In addition, Tomura had given off a huge amount of evil and malice too, but it had all been the same kind rather than the chimera-like feeling of Kurogiri and the Nomu, and Izumi hadn't sensed anything Demonic in it.
Seeing as they weren't getting anything more out of the first attack, the Heroes moved onto the second; the Press Invasion.
"Regarding the Media incident last week, the Villains confirmed they were behind that too. They used the presence of the Media as a distraction while Kurogiri or someone else snuck in and stole information from us." Eraserhead stated, remembering the Villains bragging about it when the USJ attack began.
"The damage to the U.A Barrier was identical to the effects of Shigaraki's Decay quirk too." Izumi pointed out. The others didn't like to think about that; Izumi had been turned to dust by that power, only coming back with Astral Resurrection. If that hadn't happened, Izumi wouldn't have recovered her energy and might have been too weak to transform into Akuro after fighting for so long, and would have had a safety net when Kurogiri threatened her life at the end of the attack.
Again, the Heroes shared what they'd learned/discussed directly after the invasion with those that hadn't been a part of the conversation, so they were all on the same page.
"If I understand it correctly, Kurogiri opened a warp gate that allowed Shigaraki to touch and destroy the gate. If neither came through the gate completely, that would explain why Izumi didn't sense anything." Fumikage said, his fist against the bottom of his beak in thought; "Then the Press invaded and the Villains used the distraction to warp into the Staff Room and steal a schedule. That's how they got what they needed to plan the USJ attack."
"That's correct." Nezu agreed.
"But in addition to our schedule, they somehow got info on the Principal having Overhaul, and Hitoshi's Brainwashing too." Himiko said.
Midnight and Present Mic looked guiltily between each other, before the former confessed something. "It's our fault they knew about the Principal's quirk…" she admitted ashamedly, "Mic and I were exchanging memos with one another about how we'd convince him to stop popping out of the vents with Overhaul. Kurogiri, or whoever he warped into the staff room, must have seen the memos…"
Eraserhead facepalmed and the other Heroes looked moderately amused. Principal Nezu simply chuckled in response; "Oh my friends, there is no way you can convince me to stop. It is simply too amusing! However that does explain how they knew that. I am worried that they seemed to exclusively know Shinso's quirk however. Considering the slapdash way they sent the other students to the various Disaster Zones, Kurogiri clearly didn't know the quirks of any but Shinso."
That was an uncomfortable thought, as there weren't many possible explanations. Hitoshi wasn't well-known and hadn't been involved in any incidents before; Nezu checked as he did with all new students, so it was unlikely Kurogiri heard about it through rumours and the like. Either one of Hitoshi's old school mates had spread the nature of his quirk and the fact he was in 1-A and that had been enough to warn the Villains, or someone who knew intentionally informed the Villains. But it would have to have been someone who knew Hitoshi and not the others, or else they'd have passed along all of 1-A's quirks.
It had to be someone connected to Hitoshi… or perhaps Hitoshi himself.
Moegami looked to his mistress; "Great Mother, forgive me for casting doubt on your friend, but is it not possible for this Shinso to be an enemy or spy? Perhaps unintentionally through Demon possession?"
Himiko looked indignant at the implication, but Izumi was unable to dismiss the theory. Upon seeing her younger sister's expression, Himiko gasped.
"Izumi! You can't possibly suspect Hitoshi! He'd never betray us! It makes no sense; Why would he only inform the enemy of his own quirk and no one else's!?"
"Perhaps he has been unable to contact his allies in the League? Humans can track communications through those "phones" of yours, correct?" Nuregami asked.
Nezu nodded; "We can, but we don't. It would be a gross invasion of privacy to wiretap someone's personal phone, not to mention illegal without a warrant and a very good reason."
"I don't believe Shinso is a traitor. His life was at risk at the USJ and he actively did everything in his power to disrupt the enemy. Uraraka and Kirishima would likely have died in the Flood Zone without his help, and he also assisted in defeating the Spider Nomu." Eraserhead said firmly. He didn't like aspersions being cast on his students.
"I don't believe he's a traitor either." Izumi agreed, having thought about it a bit more; "Himiko and Aizawa-sensei make good points, and Hitoshi is definitely smart enough to be able to contact the Villains if he was really on their side. I'll check him for Demon Possession when I have a chance, but I trust my friend."
"Thank you, Izumi." Himiko smiled with relief, while Aizawa and the U.A Teachers nodded with approval.
"From what I was told of the attack, we don't even have solid proof that Kurogiri knew Hitoshi's quirk anyway." Inko pointed out. As a lawyer, she was trained to spot potential holes in testimony, and situations were people are making assumptions and presenting them as fact. At the looks she was getting from the others, Inko elaborated; "The only proof we have is that Hitoshi attempted to use his quirk and Kurogiri looked at him without answering, right? While that may well imply he knows, it's also possible that he was simply unimpressed with Hitoshi's attempts to goad him and his reaction was nothing more than a show of disdain. A kind of "I won't dignify that with a response" look. Believe me, I saw a lot of those in Law School when people asked stupid questions."
No one could deny that. Aside from Izumi and the Pro Heroes, Kurogiri hadn't directly spoken to any of them. He'd addressed them as a group, but that had been while he was warping them away. Was it all a coincidence? Izumi's instincts were telling her that it was her Mama who was incorrect here, but seeing as she trusted Hitoshi and no other information they had could explain the situation, Izumi decided to put that thought aside.
"I'll keep the Hitoshi situation in mind, but I don't think we'll glean anything new from it right now. Let's move on to the USJ Incident itself." Izumi said.
All-Might frowned; "That began with the Attack at Tartarus. Kurogiri warped most of the remaining Shie Hassaikai members past the first line of defences and they began to cause chaos while trying to break out their Lieutenants."
"That was just a distraction to get you and Amaterasu separated though. The Villains knew that if you both fought their invasion together, they'd never stand a chance." Sakuya pointed out.
"I have no memories of you coming back from Tartarus, All-Might. Can you tell me what happened there?" Izumi asked. The others already knew, but Izumi had been unconscious for two days.
All-Might nodded and told her what happened. Truthfully, there wasn't much more to say; the Prison had called for help from him after they discovered the Shie Hassaikai trying to sneak past the second layer of security after seemingly ghosting past the first. Since each line of defence is supposed to be foolproof, the guards were rightfully worried they were dealing with real elites and so had called for help. By the time All-Might arrived however, most of the Shie Hassaikai had already been beaten and captured, and the guards were confused how such low level thugs had gotten in. From what the captured Yakuza had screamed as they were arrested, they hadn't known they were merely a distraction and seemed to think the League of Villains was genuinely helping them bust out their imprisoned bosses. They hadn't known about the attack on U.A either, otherwise All-Might would have returned a lot faster.
Izumi tilted her head in confusion; "Is that truly the case? Rappa implied that he and the seven Yakuza that joined Tomura at the USJ had been at Tartarus too, and that Demons had been assisting them."
All-Might shook his head; "It appears to have been a lie. No signs of Demons were spotted anywhere within Tartarus. Rappa and his seven subordinates from the USJ had apparently been there, but disappeared at some point."
Detective Tsukauchi nodded; "I interviewed them myself. The seven from the USJ had been intentionally kept at the rear of the group with Rappa. Rappa himself said that Shigaraki told him the truth about the Tartarus attack and he went along with it and hung back so he and the other seven could be warped away when it was time."
"But then why did Rappa say the Demons had been at Tartarus?" Himiko wondered.
"I believe it was part of an attempt to rile Amaterasu up and make her more willing to fight him at full force." the Detective speculated, "The important parts are that the Demons were never there and Rappa was the only one to know the attack was fake, proving he has no loyalty to the gang."
"So they were just pawns, sacrificed to keep us apart. Couldn't have happened to a better bunch of scum." Izumi grinned viciously. She'd never forgive the Shie Hassaikai for what they'd done to Eri.
"Including Rappa and those arrested at the USJ, we now believe we've captured 99% of the remaining members." Tsukauchi smiled, "The final few stragglers likely went into hiding and gave up crime altogether."
"Good. Justice for Eri." Izumi said, petting her daughter's hair. These conversations were too serious and high-level for the little girl, so she was currently making flower crowns with the Hanagami and giving them to Bakugami's piglets.
"Speaking of Eri, we discovered something sinister. She was never supposed to be at the USJ; the Villains set it up so she would be there." Nezu said.
Izumi bared her teeth as an involuntary growl rumbled out from her throat. Immediately, the Brush Gods were on guard and both Nezu and Hound Dog scooted back a bit, their ears flat against their heads as their animal instincts warned them to be careful. Izumi alone was enough to make most animals and those with animal quirks nervous, due to her Wolfish mannerisms and Divine Presence, but the Brush Gods' presence magnified this tenfold.
Seeing the effect this was having, Sakuya used her own powers to create a soft, sweet-smelling breeze that gently ruffled Izumi's hair and filled her nose with the smell of flowers. While the smell had no actual calming properties on its own, Izumi associated it with quiet, comforting afternoons spent with her Mom and that was enough to calm her down.
Taking a deep breath, Izumi exhaled slowly; "I'm sorry about that. Please continue, Principal Nezu." she requested, bowing her head apologetically.
Nezu straightened up and smiled; "Think nothing of it. As I was saying, the enemy plotted to have Eri present and managed to hack into our communications to arrange it. Eraserhead tells me he showed you a message from me?"
Izumi thought about it, vaguely remembering the man doing that after she'd asked if taking Eri to the USJ was a good idea. She nodded, and Aizawa-sensei showed her his phone again with the message. It was a fairly simply text informing Aizawa about Tartarus, All-Might's departure, and the need for him to take over for All-Might as the teacher for 1-A's Rescue Class. At the end was the post script; "Please take Eri with you to the USJ for her lesson, it's no problem."
"Okay, I remember you showing me this. So it was a fake message?" she asked.
"Not entirely." Nezu said, offering his own phone to show Izumi what he'd actually sent. It was the same message, but without the post script. There was no mention of Eri at all.
Izumi furrowed her brow; "Someone was able to hijack the message and add to it before letting it go?"
"Not once, but twice." Aizawa said, showing Izumi a second message.
It was a simple "Got it." he'd sent to Nezu, but on Nezu's phone the same message read; "Got it. I'll take Eri with me to the USJ."
The Sun Goddess sat back with a frown; "Is that the work of a quirk, or a skilled hacker? I don't know a ton about how tech stuff works."
"It was the work of the Villain that was responsible for jamming communications at the USJ." Tsukauchi informed her; "He was captured by your siblings. In the interrogation room, he explained that his quirk allowed him to intercept and freely edit all forms of digital communication. It's how he was able to change the contents of the texts, jam communication within the USJ, and stop the signals that set off the intruder alarms. According to him, Kurogiri dropped him off in the USJ's control room in the early hours of the morning and he was there the whole day."
"While it wasn't a part of his quirk exactly, that Villain was also good with technology. He used the USJ's systems to close the gate after you killed the imps, and lock us all in, as well as activate the various disaster simulation systems in the Conflagration, Downpour, and Flood Zones." Thirteen added.
Izumi sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose; "And all that was to ensure Eri ended up at the USJ? I'm guessing it was so the plan to corrupt me would have a higher chance of working and so Shigaraki could trick the Shie Hassaikai members he brought along, as their goal was capturing Eri. There was so much meticulous planning behind this attack…"
"Which means whoever Shigaraki's "Sensei" is, they're formidable." Sakuya frowned deeply; "That person is the partner of the Evil One, which means he is likely responsible at least partially for the Demon Possessions of Torikago, Katsuki, Himiko, Jin, Dabi, and Muscular."
"We all know the rest of what happened." Keigo said, "The Villains attacked when 1-A arrived. The Jamming Guy sent the signal to let them know you'd all turned up and summoned the League."
The appearance of the League had been the Heroes' first face-to-face meeting with their adversaries. Thanks to Kurogiri, the students and teachers of 1-A had been divided between the six disaster zones, the central plaza, and the entrance. The students had defeated the Demons and Villains sent to kill them, which led to another question.
"When the scrubs showed up, they were possessed by the weakling Demons. But the Demons popped out to fight directly instead of making their hosts stronger. Why do something like that?" Katsuki asked.
"Possession is not as simple as you think." Tachigami squeaked, "While any Spirit, Demon, or God can use any Human as a vessel, the compatibility of the vessel is important. Poor compatibility makes it hard for both the possessor and the possessed to move and utilise their talents. Even if both sides are fully cooperative, if their compatibility is poor than they'll be stiff and weak, as if they were resisting each other."
"Wait, does that include you Brush Gods too?" Midnight asked curiously.
Yomigami nodded his massive head; "Indeed, we Brush Gods are more compatible than most, as we can sync with those who possess our powers or our inverted powers while we're Brush Demons. Bakugami with the power of Explosive force became Akuma-Baku and possessed Katsuki Bakugou with the Explosion Quirk. Tachigami with the power of blades became Akuma-Tachi and possessed Himiko Midoriya who has an affinity for blades. The Hanagami who are one being in three bodies became the Akuma-Hana and possessed Jin Bubaigawara who is multiple beings in one body. Moegami with the power of fire became Akuma-Moe and possessed Dabi with the Cremation Quirk. Lastly, Okami Amaterasu herself, with overflowing love and light, possessed the Little Mistress Eri Midoriya who was also filled with love and light for her mother. In each case, the result was a being with more power than either of the individual parts."
The entire group's eyes widened with realisation; no wonder the Brush Demons sought out hosts with similar powers to their Brush God equivalents! They'd previously believed it was solely so they had both their normal and inverted powers at once, but it turned out the reason was deeper than that! Even Izumi's possession of Eri made more sense now, and it explained why Izumi hadn't been able to repeat the process with anyone else.
"But wait, what about yourself and Nuregami?" Inko asked.
Nuregami hissed quietly; "There was no special reason for my Demonic form to possess that thug Muscular. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have worked at all, but my flexible and adaptive nature as both a Serpent and a God of Water allows me to work with almost any host. It was a pain to deal with him though; it is the one thing both my God and Demon selves agree on."
"As for me…" Yomigami said, "It is actually a fairly mundane reason. Torikago's first name: Ryuko, is written with the Kanji for "Dragon Child". Names carry power among spiritual beings, that's the reason I was chosen to possess her."
Bakugami nodded; "He's right you know. Under normal circumstances, Katsuki Bakugou would have made the ideal host for me due to both our shared power and the "Baku" in his name, but his willpower was incredible even as a child. His wrath was also incredible, which is actually the antithesis of my own calmer temperament. Without those traits, Akuma-Baku would likely have been the strongest Brush Demon you faced, Great Mother."
Izumi giggled; "Well now I can honestly say that Kacchan's anger issues actually saved my life!"
That had Himiko and the rest of Izumi's family laughing, while the teachers tried to hide their own smirks and smiles. Katsuki rolled his eyes and huffed good naturedly.
"Hardy ha ha. Very funny. Can we move on now?" Katsuki asked.
His Wolf Sister eventually calmed herself down, enjoying the laughter after such a stressful afternoon. She nodded, briefly highlighting the last three things that needed to be discussed; Akuro, how the League had Eri's blood, and the Brush Demon within Kurogiri. Himiko also offered a fourth important piece of information.
"Something unusual happened in the Mountain Zone when I was sent there with Jiro and Shoji." the blonde began. She gave a fairly detailed summary of the events of the Mountain Zone battle, including the encounter with the Dogu, the fact that she, Katsuki, and Eri had been ordered captured and not killed, and the strange circumstances surrounding the Dogu's demise. While Izumi, Ishiko, Sakuya, and the Brush Gods were impressed that Himiko and her comrades had defeated a Dogu, which was a fairly powerful Demon, they were far more interested in the idea that the Dogu had released a soul upon dying.
Nezu added fuel to that fire by stating; "During the reconstruction at the USJ, we've captured and restrained every Demon there. The only ones that didn't reform after being killed by the students were the Crab Demons that Akuro devoured, and this Dogu creature."
"Wait, are you saying Himiko was able to permanently kill a Demon?" Inko asked, "But I thought you needed to have either Divine or Demonic power to do that!"
Izumi nodded; "You do. The soul released from the Dogu must have been the Dogu's own soul that had been purified upon death. I often see things like that when killing Demons." she explained. "When a Demon is slain, the soul of the Demon is fully purified and returned to the cycle of Reincarnation. If another Demon kills them then I think they can recapture and corrupt the soul again to birth a new Demon, but I've never seen that myself."
The closest Izumi had come to seeing such a thing was in Orochi's memories, where souls were torn away from the cycle of Reincarnation and intentionally corrupted so the resultant Demons could be harvested for materials.
Before anyone could ask her how she did it, Himiko revealed the odd purple crystal fang she'd been holding on to; the same one that had dealt the final blow to the Dogu. The instant they saw it, all the Divine and Spiritual Beings (other than Izumi and Eri) gasped in surprise.
"That's a Demon Fang!" Sakuya exclaimed, gently taking the crystal from Himiko.
"What, like a Demon's tooth?" Power Loader asked.
"No. A Demon Fang, contrary to its name, is a crystal that forms in a Demon's body on occasion. They are formed when a Demon accumulates enough darkness and corruption that it begins to condense within them, eventually crystallising. They are usually destroyed when the Demon containing them dies, but it is possible to coax them out by using special techniques that differ from Demon to Demon." Moegami explained, "These fangs are literally crystallised Demonic Power! Using one as a weapon would definitely slay a Demon!"
Ishiko looked excitedly at the crystal; "Oh man, Issun wrote about these in his journals! The Ammy of the past would gather them and trade them to collectors for all kinds of rare goodies!
"I've never seen one before and I've killed a lot of Demons." Izumi said, eyeing the crystal but not getting too close. She could sense the Demonic Power and her instincts urged her to destroy it, so she stayed back in case the thing could be of use.
"Unless you use the special techniques Lord Moegami mentioned, there is an astronomically low chance of a Demon Fang surviving the destruction of its host. One of the Demons dispersed by Himiko, Shoji, or Jiro must have dropped it. We are very lucky." Sakuya smiled.
Nezu nodded enthusiastically; "That is an understatement. Previously we needed to rely on Amaterasu to kill the Demons, with some back up from President Konohana and perhaps Eri, once she's older. Now we have a weapon that can potentially kill any Demon permanently! What's more, we have a whole facility full of captured Demons to extract more fangs from."
"Do you think I could experiment with this one and try to reshape the material? Making Anti-Demon weapons would take a huge load off your back, Amaterasu." Power Loader asked, looking eager to get his claws on the Demon Fang.
Izumi looked to the Brush Gods for confirmation, and received a nod from them all. "It shouldn't be dangerous, but I'd recommend experimenting only with our Mistress is present." Bakugami stated.
Power Loader looked ready to dance with joy as Sakuya handed him the Demon Fang, and Izumi promised to find the time to observe his experiments with the fang, as well as bring him more. The rest of the group were giddy too; finally they had a way to deal with Demons that didn't require Izumi's intervention! The Villains' attack had borne a very pleasant fruit for the Heroes, and essentially taken the burden off of Izumi's back! She was no longer solely responsible! She could have assistance that was more than distractions and moral support!
Izumi intended to make the USJ her first stop tomorrow, to gather the necessary fangs. She wanted her friends, family, and classmates all armed with Anti-Demon Weapons at the first opportunity.
While everyone was excited by this development, Eraser cleared his throat. He hated to be the buzz kill in this case, since he was genuinely glad about these potential new weapons, but he wanted to get back to U.A soon to look after his students (and make Izumi get some real rest before she inevitably threw herself back into work).
"We're on a time limit in this realm remember? We should get a move on and discuss the things we need to." he said.
No could really disagree with that; they'd already spent about an hour recapping and going over everything, so the effects of the Astral Plain on normal Humans was starting to set in. The air was beginning to seem thinner, and every movement was taking more effort. With that in mind, Izumi decided to move on to what she considered to be the most important subject.
"I have to ask; do we have any clues or theories as to how Shigaraki got a hold of Eri's hair and blood?" Izumi asked. Eri shifted uncomfortably, knowing her blood had somehow been stolen without her knowledge.
"We believe they were able to get some from the remnants of the Shie Hassaikai, perhaps even before Chisaki was defeated." Detective Tsukauchi said, "The Shie Hassaikai was backed by Orochi, who despite his attempts at rebellion, was still subservient to the Evil One, who oversees the League of Villains. The blood and hair used in the attack was likely taken and preserved, ending up in the hands of the League."
Everyone nodded, having heard this theory already (it had been everyone's biggest worry after all). However, their confidence soon vanished as they saw the look on Izumi's face. She was scowling hard and not directly looking at anyone. For a few moments, the air in the Astral Plain was tense, before Izumi finally spoke.
"You're wrong." Izumi said seriously; "Remember, I destroyed the samples of Eri's blood that was in the Shie Hassaikai's lab."
"But if it had already been smuggled out-" Ectoplasm began, only to be cut off by a shake of Izumi's head.
"That's not what I mean. I know that more samples could exist from that time. My point was, I was exposed to a lot of that blood when I destroyed it. I remember the scent very well. The blood Shigaraki used was different; it was the blood of the current Eri." Izumi darkly revealed.
That was met with some confusion, before Nezu realised what she was getting at; "The blood at the lab was from before you possessed Eri, and her blood changed after you essentially mixed DNA with her! So the blood of Eri Chisaki and the blood of Eri Midoriya would be different."
Izumi nodded seriously as the others looked horrified by the implication; "It was definitely Eri Midoriya's blood in Shigaraki's hands, which means it had to have been obtained AFTER she was rescued. Considering the Villains had far more blood than I've ever allowed to be taken by a doctor, we're left with one of two options."
The Wolf Girl raised a finger; "First, the Villains were able to recover some tiny amount that wasn't destroyed at the Hospital and used a quirk or similar power to replicate more of it…or…" Izumi's eyes flashed silver as she raised a second finger "...they were given it by someone from the Konohana Household or U.A Staff; the only people with enough access to Eri to potentially take blood without us knowing."
Izumi may not have been in her Akuro state, but at that moment she was giving off an Aura of Fear that was almost comparable to the Demonic Wolf. Her silver eyes, with pupils like slits, carefully scanned the faces of those present; "Which means we may well have a Traitor among us."
Next Chapter: Astral Debriefing Part 2
To be Released: March 10th 2022
Dun dun duuuuun! Sorry to end it on a cliff hanger again, but the Astral Debriefing section was getting long enough that I had to split it into two, and this was the best spot to do it.
A lot of stuff happened in this chapter, and most of it was admittedly exposition, explaining how things happened in the recent arcs and how the League's plans have been working out. Next chapter will be exposition heavy too, but the stuff in it is important for later.
Not much more to say here since most stuff was spelled out in the chapter itself, so I'll leave it with the next chapter preview!
Next chapter Izumi and her friends discuss the possibility of a traitor, the U.A Teachers get a crash course in the nature of the soul and spirits, and the Brush Gods theorise on what Akuro truly is.
Thank you all once again, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on this chapter and the ones to come!