It had been a week and a day since Izuku's stunt at the Abbey's outpost and currently the greenette could be found in the living room with Kyo, as he was trying to get used to calling her.
It was a little difficult with it being instilled into him all his life the importance of manner's though, but her simple plea made it a little easier to go along with.
"Jirou, sweetie, is there anything you are allergic to?" Inko asked sweetly, leaning over the couch and fixing the girl with a heart-warming smile rather similar to her son's own happiest ones. "Or anything you don't particularly like?"
"Nope, I'm fine, misses Midoriya! I'll eat whatever you make, wouldn't want to be rude." The girl said simply, face slightly red from just how doting the woman had been the whole time. From what the marked boy had seen though, his friend was absolutely loving it even if she tried to pretend otherwise.
"Oh nonsense, sweetheart! It would be rude of me to serve something you aren't able to eat!" The plump woman waved away, still smiling brightly. "Is Katsudon alright?"
"Yes please. Thank you again!" Kyoka said, before looking down to Izuku with a small smirk. He missed the way her face lit up just a little more. Izuku was caught off guard for a moment as his empathy once more overwhelmed him. 'there's that odd feeling again.' "So, dude, what do you normally do for fun?"
"Oh, w-well normally I analyze heroes or t-that." He scratched the back of his neck, cringing at how dull he sounded. "I do have some movies and one or two games though. I also kind of have a lot of music, so if you wanted to just listen to something together…"
"I think that could be fun." The purple haired teen hummed, her eyes constantly darting between him and his mother for reasons beyond his comprehension. Before he could bring it up however, she fixed him with a cocky look. "Six hundred yen says I'll whoop your a-"
She stopped for a moment, looking over to Inko as if realizing what she was about to say, much to the green haired boy's amusement before she changed course to something more family friendly.
"Your butt at any racing games you have."
He thought on it for exactly three seconds, before shrugging with a smile of his own. It wasn't that much money really, and it seemed more like an excuse to play anyways. "Sure. No risk, no reward, right?"
"Heh, no reward for you either way." She said confidently, as he stood up to go get the console and the games. On his way past, he turned his gaze to his mother.
"Hey mom, can me and Jirou set up in the living room or do you want us to stay in my room?" he asked. He'd never had friends over aside from that one impromptu visit from Hagakure and Kyoka. She just gave him a saccharine smile.
"Go ahead sweetie! Just be sure to tidy it up after."
"I will, I promise!"
With that, he walked into his room and closed the door behind him, failing to note his friend approaching his mother nervously behind him.
He looked around, trying to remember where he kept the games console since it had been so long since he'd last used it until he spotted it down in the corner of the room.
He reached out to grab it, and suddenly the entire world felt as though it shifted. Cold air hit his face immediately and he let out a semi-frustrated side. "Why is it always at the worst possible timing?"
"That's kinda just how it happens Kiddo." Nana's voice spoke before anyone else, and he turned to see all the holders gathered together for once. The Outsider wasn't fair off, staring off into the void. "So… before we get on with it, you gotta tell me now!"
Huh?
"Is it Jirou or Hagakure?! I mean it's getting ridiculous at this rate." The raven haired woman complained, sending a wave of confusion through Izuku.
"I… don't understand?" he said, tilting his head to the side. His confusion only continued to increase when literally every single holder, even the usually reserved Eito face palmed together. "Can you guys not see faces here or something? No wait but that wouldn't make sense…"
"Yeesh, you're Toshinori's kid alright." Nana said with an exasperated tone, before waving it away. "We'll explain later if we have to cause this is getting ridiculous, but we probably shouldn't keep you for now."
"Yeah dude, the G.O.D dude needs to talk. Then after, Imma have to tell you about the birds and the-" Ruki didn't manage to finish, Aneko's hand covering her mouth with a light glare as Izuku blushed madly, already figuring out where she was going with that.
"Now, now. Let's leave that to people who are actually qualified unlike yourself." She said, kind tone in harsh contrast to the surprising burn she just dished out, causing many of the other holders to laugh while the usually bombastic woman looked sheepish. The marked teen rolled his eyes at his predecessor's antics, heading to the Outsider's side, face still red.
"Such loud pains…"
"You let them in and you let them stay." Izuku pointed out with a small smirk.
"Yes, I did. You are lucky I like you." The god said with a smirk that was terrifying upon his face.
"D-Don't do that." The greenette requested, shuddering as he looked away. "And your being friendly."
"Is that not a good thing?""
"I mean I like it when you're being friendly but usually It means I'm about to find out something about demon's or magic I won't like." He sighed, having an inkling to what he was about to find out. "So?"
"…The truth demon will more than likely strike tomorrow. A place you know all to well, Dagobah beach. Go there when the moon falls and search for a man with purple hair like your friends and a muscular build. Teika Hatano, I am confident he is the next victim." The deity explained, conjuring up an approximation statue of the man's build for Izuku to take note of. "As for the demon… all I can tell you is to keep an eye out for shady characters."
"Well, it's better than knowing nothing." The greenette hummed, making sure to memorize as many details as he could about the supposed victim.
"Once you have dealt with that, we must have a discussion about that trinket you found in Naozumi's possession. It is… interesting to know they exist here now." The black eyed god said, making Izuku tilt his head in confusion. Before he could inquire any further though, the man disappeared in a flurry of black crystals. "For now though, I suppose is should return you to your date."
"H-huh?! It's not a-"
And then suddenly, he was back in his room, everything coming back to normal. A knock on the door caught him off-guard. "Midori? You in there? Been a little bit. Get scared I'm gonna beat you?"
He smiled despite himself, picking up the console. "You wish! I just was having trouble finding the game, but I got it now."
"Then let's play, dude!"
He smiled wide as he walked out, blushing slightly without realizing as they two spent their time together.
Not to surprisingly, Kyoka kicked his ass hard in the game. When dinner rolled around, it had been a quiet but pleasant affair, the two kids more focused on the food at the moment thanks to Inko's spectacular cooking skills.
Once they'd finished up, it had been time to see the girl off and Izuku had walked her down to the local bus stop. He didn't like leaving her to go alone, having heard tales of a few creeps who had followed his mother around a few times in the past.
They'd said their goodbyes, the purple haired teen pulling her friend into a tight hug and catching him off-guard. She had never exactly been one for much physical affection so it had certainly been surprising, though he wasn't complaining at all.
It meant he had a rather dopey smile on his face when he walked back up to his apartment, walking inside to see his mother cleaning up the dishes with quiet happy humming.
"I'm so glad you have like her and that Hagakure girl now."
Her sudden voice as he moved to unplug the console had made him jump, and he whipped around to see her looking apologetic. "O-oh, yeah.."
He smiled quietly to himself.
"Yeah, I'm really lucky to have those two as my friends."
For some reason, that actually made his mother frown. "Just friends…?"
"H-huh?"
"Oh, nothing." She waved away, heading back for the kitchen. "Just treat those girls right, ok!?"
"I will, I promise!" He said with a small laugh, but it faded along with his smile as he took his console back to his room.
He didn't have his sword anymore. The fight tomorrow was not going to be one that was easy or in his favor…
Izuku sat on a bench overlooking the sparkling beautiful coast of Dagobah, unable to help but smile as he recalled the fact that this beauty could only be seen because of his own hard work.
It was a nice thought to counter the more concerning ones that had been rattling around his head. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his green hoodie, partially to keep him warm in the cold breeze and more importantly, to hide his mark from anyone passing by in case they recognized it.
The sun was setting over the horizon, lending to an absolutely breathtaking view Izuku had taken in many times before, training with his mentor.
Gorgeous was an understatement really. He didn't have time to focus on that however as a voice reached his ears.
"Alright, Yuuma! I'll see ya later man, thanks for the tip." A masculine voice called, drawing Izuku's attention. His eyes widened when he realized it was the would-be victim, Hatano.
He did his best not to look suspicious while keeping an eye on the man. Kind of hard to do, accidentally making himself the exact spitting image of a delinquent like Bakugou.
Body slouched, hands in his pockets, hoods hiding his glaring eyes. Said blonde would either find it hilarious or incredibly annoying. Probably both.
Either way, the marked teen was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he spotted another figure not to far away. He stood tall but lanky, with simple black hair and a hole around his neck that one could see right through.
It took only a moment for Izuku to sense the malicious magical energy pouring off of him.
So the game of cat and mouse begun. Standing up, the greenette ducked behind a nearby building out of sight and heading for a fire escape. He'd just have to hope he could move fast enough to avoid any pro's spotting him.
He stood on the rooftops, stalking his victim's stalker and choosing to put aside the small headache that was that sentence.
It continued for several minutes, Midoriya constantly having to duck out of the demon's line of sight as if he was aware he was being followed while Hantato seemed completely unaware of the danger he was in.
Eventually though, they reached an apartment complex, where Izuku took the roof entrance and used his dark vision to trail the other two, coming down to the fifth floor and hurrying around the corner.
The truth demon disappeared from his sight, worrying him for a moment as he rounded the corner while Hanato closed his front door. The greenette only took two steps towards the apartment before suddenly a quick and harsh blow impacted his stomach. "Crap!"
He fell to his knee's, clutching his stomach and looking up to see the black haired demon looking down at him unamused. "You really aren't good at this whole tailing business, kid."
"W-well, first time." He coughed out, trying to push himself up only for a foot to land hard on his back, making his eyes widened as he let out a pained cry. "I'm inexperienced."
"Ignoring your choice of phrasing, who the fuck are you and how did you know I'd be here?" The demon demanded, pointing a hand at him. His body felt warm for a moment as he looked up with a glare.
He intended to deliver a sarcastic remark about just how suspicious the demon appeared catching his interest and nothing else. Instead…
"Izuku Midoriya, I found out where you'd be from the Outsider himself." He said, unable to stop himself. Wincing, he formed Far Lance and tried to strike true quickly but the demon dodged. "I'm here to kill you."
"Dammit, so you do exist. I was hoping that the others were just paranoid bastards." The demon sighed, before forming an energy ball in his hand and throwing it at the greenette, who sliced it out the air and faced his opponent. "You don't even feel worse after confessing, do you?"
'Is that what normally happens then? Maybe my mark is keeping me safe to a degree.'
"No? also seriously! why do I not get those and you do? So not fair." He complained, shaking his head as he glared down his opponent. It seemed the truth demon was more amused than anything as he summoned another energy ball.
"Well then, let's get this over with brat. I'm hungry." The demon laughed cruelly, throwing the energy ball. Izuku swiped it out the air again, but two more came at him and he very temporarily dropped into his Shadow Walk form to avoid it, before swiping the demon's legs and letting his corporeal form return, aiming for another Far Lance strike. The villain grabbed it, pulling the greenette down and kneeing him in the face, before throwing him against a wall. He went for another punch but Izuku jumped out the way, heading for the stairs.
"You know, you're not the first demon I fought and I know you won't be the last!" he said simply, hoping to demoralize his opponent. Instead it just seemed to bemuse him. "Want to know how?"
"Oh sure, I'd love to hear about your life. tell me everything about you!" He said, sarcastically but his hand glowed at the same time. He froze for a moment, confusing Izuku as the demon looked at his hand. "Ah shit."
"Well I'm fifteen, I attend U.A. high with my friends and have my mentor All Might there who is really a skinny dude named Yagi Toshinori." His eyes went wide as they could, but he couldn't stop himself from talking as he had to defend against multiple strikes from the demon. "I also have my best friends Iida and Urachan. Then there's Kyoka and Hagakure and I have no idea what we are really, it's kind of confusing cause I feel like we all want to be something that isn't quite friends but I don't know what that is."
"I- is that not obvious?" The demon asked, taken aback for a moment before shaking his head and teleporting behind the greenette in a flurry of fire, tripping the marked teen up and almost having him fall over the railing to the bottom floor. Barely, Izuku managed to use Far Reach to launch higher up to safety. "Whatever, just shut up now and die!"
"No! I feel guilty about a lot of little actions most people probably don't even care about!" 'Need to end this fast if his power Is being used on me! I mean it doesn't stop until everything is out and you want to die right? But how does that…' "I once crossed the street without waiting for the lights!"
"Oh my god shut up!" The demon roared, kicking the teen without enough force to throw him back through a door and onto the building's rooftop. 'Second fight in a row to end up on a rooftop.' "No one cares!"
"I don't like my mentors hair in his smaller form! I sometimes tell my mom little white lies about my school life because I want her to be happy!" Izuku confessed with a blush of guilt as he ducked beneath a strike and took a swipe at the villains legs, pulling him down for a moment but once more being screwed by the fact that it seemed every demon was capable of teleportation of some kind. "Hagakaure and Jirou make me feel odd but in a good way and I have no idea what it means."
"For fucks sake JUST DIE!"
More energy bolts, Far Lance exploded into smaller tendrils grabbing them all and launching every single one back at their originator, who threw himself to the ground before rolling over and striking Izuku right in the eye.
"Ah fuck! I pull things of Aizawa's desk when he's not looking sometimes with Far Reach as petty revenge for our first school day."
A would be punch to the gut, blocked just in time and the villains hand cut off with Far lance.
A series of blows, more in the demon's favor as Izuku could barely hurt him, but he still put up a good fight all the same until he could jump back and get some distance to prepare himself.
"I think my powers gave me a tentacle fetish!"
"Wait WHAT-UGH!"
Izuku charged One for All into his leg with full cowling, a desperate plan in his head as he poured his latent magical energy into his leg instead of his hand and stuck. To both their surprise, the villain let out an actual cry of pain at the attack.
A way to level the playing field had just been made clear to Izuku, making him grin even as his face heated up, mouth running a mile a minute. "I was going to try and force myself to lie despite your power and pretend that was just a distraction but it isn't letting me."
"I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT!"
"I AGREE!"
They rushed each other, yet more punched and kicks being traded but this time they were much more evenly matched, the marked teen deliberately letting his opponent push him closer to the building edge before dodging out the way.
The demon almost fell over the edge, throwing him off balance as far Reach wrapped around him and pulled him back so Izuku could deliver a swift and powerful kick to his face.
The demon actually seemed winded now, a nice change of pace from the way the greenette had expected this too go.
"I once told my mom 'no' right to her face!"
"Kid, PLEASE STOP!"
Another fist to the face.
"NO! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU LIVE WITH IT!"
A much weaker energy ball than the previous came at him, the demon clearly being quickly tired out now that Izuku had found a way to reliably hurt the villain.
"THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT, THE MORE I THINK I MIGHT LIKE JIROU AND HAGAKURE?! IS THAT A THING, CAN YOU LIKE TWO PEOPLE AT ONCE?!" He asked, not even sure why he was still shouting. Maybe it was a side effect of the truth power. The demon's face contorted as if he'd just been told a grave insult.
"YES AND ARE YOU NOT EVEN FOCUSING ON OUR FIGHT RIGHT NOW?!"
"NOT REALLY! YOU ARE SO WEAK."
"FUCK YOU!"
"THAT REMINDS ME! I ONCE PULLED BAKUGOU'S SEAT OUT FROM UNDER HIM AND HE SMASHED HIS HEAD AGAINST THE WALL! I FELT SO GUILTY BUT FOR SOME REASON HE NEVER BEAT ME UP OVER IT, I THINK HE WAS TOO STUNNED!"
"STOP, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" the demon practically pleaded, aiming tired strikes at the teen. This incessant continuous stream of banal confessions really starting to wear him down mentally as this fight was physically.
"YOU KNOW, I THINK I'M STARTING TO GET BETTER AT UNDERSTANDING MY FEELINGS! THOUGH, I GUESS THIS MEANS I NEED TO TALK WITH THEM THOUGH?!"
"WELL I SUPPORT YOU WITH THAT NOW PLEASE JUST FUCKING DIE!"
"I SAID NO!"
Finally, one last desperate measure, the demon teleported behind the greenette and grabbed him from under his arms, forming two energy balls. Izuku dropped into shadow walk again however, escaping and once more swiping the villain's feet like right at the start of the fight, reforming and pointing Far Lance right at the demon's chest.
He didn't teleport, seemingly having been run down by the whole experience. Izuku himself also finally managed to calm down a bit, pulling back his voice and preventing himself from yelling.
"Any last words?"
Eyes wide as if realizing there was no escape, the demon just said the first thing that came to his head.
"I support you in your love life with those girls you mentioned."
Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. "Uh thanks?"
"Any last confessions of your own, asshat?" The demon asked, presumably sarcastically but one did bubble up before the greenette could stop it.
"…I think my PTSD began because of an event before I even had my mark."
With that, he forced the magical weapon straight through his opponent, ignoring the blood-curling scream and explosion of black goo he barely avoided getting coated in.
With that, he looked down at his shaky hands. Finally, he'd ended a demon with full intent and no outside factors playing a role…
And it… wasn't as bad as he was expecting it to be, in all honesty. It was still horrible, but somehow less so than the previous times.
As he looked around, he voiced the only thought he currently had.
"What in the void just happened?"