Chapter 3: The Start of Hellish Training
[With the Bakugous and Inko]
Their search for Izuku was infuriatingly frustrating. Every time they assume the places Izuku would go always resulted the same, they just couldn't find him. To make matters worse, when Inko desperately ask for the nearest authorities to help search for her missing son they ended up refusing due to the fact that they don't have enough resources to take up their case. Now enraged, Inko demanded to know why they're not upholding their duty to help find her son. She hoped that their explanation held something legitimate. Regrettably, the reason was enough to make Inko and the Bakugous even more livid. To them, searching for a quirkless kid isn't worth looking into. They just won't have enough recognition compared to helping someone with a strong and flashy quirk. The receptionist even has the gull to call in security and push them out of the building when they find their persistence to be annoying.
The three adults are still in a state of shock from what just happened to them until Inko is the first to recover. She raves at such an atrocious attitude from this police force. "How could they?! How could they refuse to do their job when my son is still out there all alone!" Inko dropped to her knees and began to tear up covering her face. Her own heart couldn't bare the pain of having to witness such a horrid display of negative bias and prejudice towards her son. She finally understood how much her son changed so maturely. Nobody wants anything to do with him and he had to adapt quickly in order to cope from all of this unnecessary anti-quirkless mentality.
Mitsuki attempted to sooth her longtime friend from going into a deep state of depression but what she got is for her hand to be swat away by Inko. That took all the bakugou's off guard. Inko slowly got up, her hair shadowing her eyes while walking towards the tiny red eyed boy. "Oi Inko! Don't do anything stupid please! You need to calm down!" Mitsuki pleas were met on deaf ears when Inko slowly approaches the youngest Bakugou. Katsuki involuntarily steps back in fear, he really screwed up big time. But his prideful and arrogant thoughts refuse to accept his mistakes and constantly tells himself that this isn't his fault. His young undeveloped mind continued to believe that all of this happening is due to two quirkless losers. Without thinking Katsuki said something that made things even worse for him and Inko.
"A-Auntie Inko! Why do you defend that quirkless idiot?! If anything, he should be tossed out like the garbage he is…" Katsuki frantically said while pacing his eyes to look at his parents and back at his aunt.
Mitsuki and Masaru were left stunned at what their son just said. "No... you fool!" Mitsuki whispered in fear knowing full well on what would transpire next if Inko is pushed to her limits from her emotional barrier.
There was an underlying sense of dread surrounding them all, the air grew cold, the atmosphere darkened, the sense of danger skyrocketed to abnormal proportions, and all of this is pointed straight towards the frightened red eyed boy. Inko is slowly generating an ominous amount of green energy around her, her eyes began to illuminate the darkened area, while the ground below her cracked into a miniature crater. If one could describe the situation happening here, it's one that you'll never live to talk about it. And Katsuki is the driving force of Inko's cold fury. The poor boy never knew what true fear felt until it's presented to him by his own aunt.
The enraged Inko places her hands up pointing right at the boy as she made a claw motion. This triggered her hand to glow a menacing green energy thus causing Katsuki to be lifted up in the air pull ever closer towards her. "You...little punk...it's bad enough that I allow myself to leave you alone because my son insisted to deal with the problem you created. And yet you have the nerve to say that in front of me?! He's my son for kami sake!" Her clawed hand slowly clutches into a closing fist causing the young Pomeranian to gasp for air and holding his throat with his two small arms. Katsuki's eyes widen with his teeth clenched tightly as the young boy battle his aunts grip flailing his body desperately in order to catch what little air could get.
Immediately Masaru and Mitsuki attempted to restrain Inko with whatever strength they still have to pry her grip off of their son but nothing they did would quell her ever increasing powers of her telekinesis quirk. It's as if their struggling has only fueled the enraged mother of Izuku to unleash more of her quirk's powers to new heights. They have never seen her awaken her quirk like this and it absolutely frighten them. The two parents hopelessly begged Inko to stop before she ended up killing their son, but she isn't listening it's as if her state of mind changed.
Inko is close to ending the young boy but soon enough a yellowish transparent dome appeared out of nowhere encasing the greenette. The parents of Katsuki are surprised at this and soon turn to their left to see a man extending his arm towards the direction of the offending telekinesis user. The individual is wearing a black visor over his eyes attached with mechanical ear buds on each side to cover his ears. His attire consists of a sleeveless shredded caped overcoat with two yellow lines going down from each side of his coat, his arms sports two bracers with similar metallic material like his ear buds and chest armor plate with an initial for MG in the center. He also wears a baggy black cargo pants along with brown steel toe boots. Overall, the article of clothing might as well be a cross between a hero and vigilante costume combined.
The strange man sets his full focus on the enraged greenette and increase the potency of his quirk. Soon enough Inko's quirk slowly becomes suppressed the moment the man's dome like quirk gradually compresses ever closer to her. The result astonished the Bakugou's, the man was able to calm Inko down with just his quirk alone and he doesn't seem to feel winded. In fact, he looked to be more energized than a few seconds ago. Whatever happened with that yellow dome he conjured must have something to do with it. For now, their priority is on their son and Inko.
Masaru lifted his son up to stand while checking any injuries from his neck all the while Mitsuki sets Inko into a sitting posture and placing her hand on her shoulder. "Inko are you back to yourself?" The motherly ash blonde asked softly hoping she's back to normal. She had known this would happen to her best friend when her anger grew. That day of where Mitsuki's teasing went a bit too far, it got her a whole dose of ground, dirt, and furniture when Inko furiously put a stop to it unconsciously with her dormant quirk. That was enough for Mitsuki to stay clear of that side of her best friend. To see her go at it again with her son truly understood how scary her quirk becomes when her anger spiked to dangerous levels.
The greenette slowly came to and looked around to know what happened after she blacked out. "I-I... Did I lose control again?" Inko muttered lowly feeling extreme shame for letting her emotions get the better of her. Her friend sighed and nodded not sugar coating what she almost did. "You lost control and nearly killed our son." The mother of the ash blond boy said still shivering. Inko felt sick at that, she may have the right to be upset and angry at Katsuki for his despicable treatment towards her son, but she wouldn't even consider ever hurting him the way Mitsuki described it. Then it got her wondering, who stopped her?
Answering her question, Mitsuki motion her head towards the man whose leaning on one of the trees the left of them. The greenette noticed the clothing he's wearing and immediately assume he's a pro hero. Izuku's mother got up and approaches the bored looking Pro Hero to say her thanks. "T-Thank you for stopping me, if you weren't here on time, I wouldn't even know exactly what damage I've done to Katsuki." She humbly bowed her thanks to him while the pro hero let out a sigh and nodded.
"It's fine but please consider restraining yourself from hurting anyone next time alright?" The unknown pro hero said while Inko nodded rapidly. The pro hero looked at Katsuki with a frown and the young boy notices it and scowled still rubbing his neck where he felt the chocking. "What the heck are you looking at?!" He growled out. The pro hero narrowed his eyes trying to get a read on the boy but decided to ask the boy an extremely important question. "What's your thoughts on quirkless people?" Masaru, Inko, and Mitsuki eyes widen on that question and immediately guessed who this hero is. Is that Mirror Guard?! The parents thought in shock and realized what quirk he used on Inko. That was definitely his absorb shield quirk. The three mentally pointed out in unison.
Katsuki scrunches up his nose at such a question and acted as if it was the stupidest thing anyone would ask to someone with an amazing quirk like his. "Really?! You want me to know how I feel about those usel-" Before the angry Pomeranian could finish his sentence he flinched and stopped himself from saying anything that would further anger his aunt. He hated having to play nice with any extra's, but he'll make an exception with this one since he did save his life even though he doesn't need it anyway. "Well, I don't know, and I really don't care. In fact, if you want my upmost honesty then I don't see them getting by." Bakugou vaguely said without getting too specific or risk endangering himself by very scary Inko Midoriya
Mirror Guard narrowed his eyes at the boy and grimace knowing what made the mad bomber this way. "That's your answer huh?" So, the bad side of the quirked society created another thorn to keep the quirkless from reaching their true potential. The pro hero lamented internally and proceeded to take his leave. But he's been stopped by one Inko Midoriya who went up to the pro hero with pleading eyes. The pro hero raises an eyebrow at the woman. "Is there something you need ma'am?"
The worried green haired woman clasps her hands together in a praying motion and stared directly at the eyes of Mirror Guard. "Please, Mirror Guard, please help me find my son…" Inko could barely keep her tears from letting loose and finally crack from all the built-in frustration and stress she kept inside her slowly shattering heart. "We've tried so hard to convince the local authorities to help us find my son, but they blatantly ignored our cries for help. I... I just couldn't understand why! Shouldn't they be doing their jobs?! Why does it matter if my son doesn't have a quirk?!" Inko continued to wail unable to grasp the amount of burden being placed on her son. Mitsuki by her side held her closest friend in a secured embrace calming her down.
Mirror Guard stood there staring down on the broken woman with an unreadable stare. One could say that the hero standing there taking in the story presented to him doesn't seem to care, yet his clenched hands told otherwise. Deep down the pro hero understood the pain of betrayal and abandonment just because of the difference in power and identity solely based on the quirk a person manifested.
When his absorb shield quirk manifested, he's been showered with surreal amount of praise and admiration. This sort of attention from his peers grew annoying to the pro hero very quickly. However, he's seen a huge difference in behavior of the same crowd when a former classmate of his turned out to be quirkless. Their actions were instantaneous, they were cruel, spiteful, violent, even others going too far by attempting to kill the poor soul without anyone noticing. The worst part is the fact that said quirkless classmate took his own life through a noose over his neck and hanging himself at his own home while everyone who bullied him mocked his death. He could never forget that incident. Hence why he is the few numbers of heroes who stood up against the quirkless discrimination.
The man kneels down to the sobbing woman and place his hand on her shoulder that wasn't covered by the currently hugging ash blonde woman. "Midoriya San…can you tell me what he looks like?" He asked her respectfully.
Inko shakily look directly at the pro hero and gives him a clear description of Izuku through tears and hiccups between her words. "H-He has freckles, m-messy green hair, and eyes l-like mine…" She answered with a broken tone.
Mirror Guard snapped his fingers and got up quickly. That was enough for the others to understand that he may have the lead they needed to find Izuku. It gave them hope and rightfully so. "Ah! Now that you mention it! I happen to get a text from my wife that she came across a boy similar to your description! And I got a hunch she's looking after him at our home deep into the forest from Musutafu!" The pro hero let out a charismatic smile.
Mitsuki chimes up. "Really?! That's great!" She turned to Inko with a big smile and hugging her best friend even closer. "You see Inko! Nothing to worry about! We'll be seeing Izu Chan much, much sooner!"
Finally, her worries are drowned out and is replaced with overwhelming gratitude and hope. "T-Thank you! Thank you, Mirror Guard San!" She magically took out a tissue box from out of nowhere and wipe a few tears from her eyes. She stood up with sheer determination in her eyes, preparing herself to find her baby boy.
[Outside of the Cabin, Within the unknown forest]
Within a vast array of forest trees and shrubbery, a wandering Falsha while holding a still unconscious Izuku is currently scanning through the area to see if she can find a potentially acceptable spot to set up a small training base. After making a swift turn to her right she came across a unique view. Standing before her is a fairly clear grass field along with a small river to suffice ample amount of clean and fresh water. "Ah this is perfect!" Falsha grinned widely.
That bubbly outburst is enough to wake Izuku out of his knocked-out state. When his blurry vision dimmed and come into a clear view, he observes his surroundings. Why am I in a grass field? Izuku thought but at the corner of his eye his jaw dropped when he saw Falsha carry him piggyback style and ended up falling right out of Falsha's grasp consequently face planting onto the grass patches. "Oh…" Izuku muffled groans gave Falsha a hearty chuckle while helping him up.
That was embarrassing for the young broccoli boy, sure he can be confident despite his quirklessness, he can still put up a stoic front to show he wouldn't be affected by the harsh insults and unnecessary hate. Yet there is one thing he just couldn't find a way to bypass, it's being in a close proximity to a pretty and beautiful girl/woman. He's never had any experience in talking to a girl his age or any woman who isn't his mother. After that awkward exchange, Izuku sat up in a cross-legged position and stared at the grassy scenery in awe. "Wow...This place looks peaceful…"
Falsha sat beside him and nodded lucidly. "Yeah…" The former heroine said with a dull and reminiscing tone. "It's been such a long time since I'm here of all things again."
Izuku turned to stare at his soon to be sensei and raise an eyebrow until he could tell by her facial expression towards this place. "Utobe San? If I may ask? Did you...uh train here that allowed you to unlock your powers? If so, then is this where I'll be training? I'd like to know what that power you used that's not considered a quirk." The green haired boy knew it wasn't fair to be barraging her with so many curious questions that one of them could rub the heroine the wrong way. But in defense of Izuku, Falsha hasn't been up front with him, and it was obvious she's holding out valuable information about her that will help the freckled boy further understand Utobe San.
To his surprise she did answer some of his questions. "To put it simply, yes this will be your training field to hone your fighting skills and body physique. However, that will be after when you do your first phase in your training and it's no better time than now." She said quite vaguely. After all, she needed Izuku to experience the power he'll soon unlock and once he does, she'll inform him everything about mention hidden power.
Izuku tilts his head and run his hand on the back of his head. "I don't think I'm following Utobe Sensei." He didn't want to sound rude but the way his sensei is being koi is starting to make the freckled boy slightly doubtful. Now it got Izuku thinking about this place, when he narrows his eyes at a particular location north of him, he notices a sign that has danger zone in the center. "Um, where exactly are we and is this a safe place to train Utobe Sensei?"
Falsha crossed her arms while looking ahead at the same location Izuku is currently staring at. She shook her head which is enough to answer his worrying question. This made Izuku to tense, but he sees the look from his sensei. That look, is the look of someone who is putting her all her faith in him to succeed despite the dangers he'd soon come to deal with in the coming future. "This place was originally supposed to be a new training ground project from U.A."
Izuku eye's bulged while he stared up at Falsha in total shock. "W-Wait?! Are you saying that this whole forest belonged to U.A. The U.A. The prodigious hero high school?!" The greenette stuttered out until realization struck him. "W-Wait doesn't that mean we're trespassing onto their property without any permission?!" The young boy panics not wanting to hurt his chance of applying the same Hero Academy only to be rejected because of this action he unknowingly stepped into. His self-inflicting panic soon came to an abrupt stop when Falsha firmly grasp her hand on his shoulder keeping him in place.
"Cool your jets kid, this battle ground is a scrapped project. Meaning this place has been abandoned for a long time." She simply explained while removing her hand away from his shoulder once the greenette finally calm himself down.
That got Izuku curious. "W-Why is that? What exactly happened that made the staffs of U.A. to leave this training ground without any test run?" He knew something big happened here and it only got worrying when his sensei paused to think of a way to explain it without traumatizing the young boy. But then again that will happen anyway during his hellish training here. What Izuku got from his sensei is a dark sigh and it truly unnerved the young boy.
Falsha gave Izuku the much-needed intel but without sugar coating it. "The thing is Izuku… They did test it out, but the result was...gruesome." Falsha said darkly. "This place was supposed to be called Train Ground Alpha and its sole purpose is to be used for survival training sessions in hopes to build up future heroes resolve and quick decision-making capabilities when under pressure."
That cause Izuku to raise an eyebrow. "Huh? But I don't understand? If that's the case, then why on earth would they scrap it? The idea of pushing yourself through intense survival training sounded like an excellent way to harden a heroes resolve to fight at his fullest without worry or doubt! Right?"
Falsa shook her head and explained the gritty and disturbing details. "The problem is not the training itself Izuku…The actual problem is what's lurking within these forest locations." She stated grimly. The green haired boy could only gulp at the implication of that statement. Falsha continued. "Yes, some U.A. staffs thought it was a good idea to add in live animals to simulate a real-life five-day survival process. What they didn't count on is the fact that these elected animals are genetically modified to fight with heroes and their quirks. But in doing so these creatures had found their way to develop their own quirks. You name it, a snake with a gigantification quirk, a slug with a speed quirk, even a jaguar with a camouflage quirk. Thus came the Bloody Forest Massacre."
"The bloody forest massacre...? I never heard of such an incident…" Izuku said while feeling a hint of fear of what came next from his sensei.
"That's because it was never brought up to the public for obvious reasons. That incident was the lowest point that U.A. had indirectly caused during that time. Many of those student heroes who had partaken this training exercise through voluntary means lost their live by the creatures who now rule within the forest. Some were mauled, others eaten alive, even more who died from starvation after being trapped somewhere deep within the forest." Falsha said solemnly.
"Did the parent's ever find out what happened to their kids?" Izuku asked.
"Unfortunately, the staffs who currently worked on this project didn't bother to address this to the victims' respective parents about the massacre. Simply put, they just shoved the problem right under the rug and acted like nothing bad had happened." Falsha growled while remembering the betrayed and helpless looks from the victim's parents.
Completely shell shocked at how highly irresponsible U.A. went about the situation, Izuku felt like his entire view on attending U.A. slowly lost any form of excitement. The heroine seeing Izuku's reaction understood his frustration, but he shouldn't place all the blame entirely on U.A. in general. "I know it's horribly tragic, but the parents did get the justice they needed. Principle Nezu found out about the massacre and the use of experimented creatures as tests subjects. That part made him take the case extremely personally. He took all the time he needed to locate and find the perpetrators who were involved with the experiments, along with those who allowed those poor kids to go through such brutal fates without diligent supervision. Their punishment was severe yet justified. Most were executed while those who are involved through accessory are taken to life behind bars in Tartarus. As for those who lost their loved ones were able to extract their corpses and proceed to their proper burials." Falsha lamented.
Izuku didn't know what to say about that. But then another thing popped out of his mind and realized something. "Wait you're not planning to leave me out here surviving on my own in a dangerous place like this are you?!" Izuku called out while sweating profusely at what he said himself. "I know I should get stronger but not when my literal life is on the line here!"
Now, Falsha could only stare blankly at him while placing her hands on her hips. "I didn't say I'll leave you out there alone to survive, I know how very dangerous it is out there and compared to a quirked person, your chance of survival is extremely low. However, unlike someone with a quirk you have the best chance of adapting to your surroundings and work through it. After all, I participated into doing it too! And like I said you're not alone in this."
"Gee thanks for the vote of confidence Utobe Sensei…" Izuku said sarcastically while his arms slumped. "So, who exactly is going to be there as my bodyguard?" Izuku asked wondering who he's going to meet. That is until Falsha took out a strange looking device and proceeded to blow it. There was no sound coming from the whistle, but he could hear faint rustling from behind him then it got louder and louder as it closes in.
Out of nowhere a shadowy creature jumped over the two as Izuku could glance up in pure shock and awe. The creature landed gracefully at the other end of the field until it approaches them, close enough for Izuku to identify the majestic animal. The beast is definitely a feline resembling a tiger, yet the difference is its size. The ginormous feline is 3 times bigger than a normal tiger and its fur is black with white strips. The most notable feature are the red slits from its eyes. If there is one thing Izuku could express while staring at the beast right in front of him, then it would surely be him pissing his pants in total fear.
Unlike Izuku, Falsha gave the black tiger a wide grin and waved at it. "Hey, it's been a while Pascal!" The silver haired woman spoke happily and placed the small boy beside him. "Izuku meet Pascal, Pascal meet my newest pupil Izuku Midoriya."
The large tiger narrowed its eyes and took a quick whiff at the frozen Izuku before she took a quick glance at her friend. "He seems quite puny and weak willed Falsha Sama…Are you sure he's the one?" The tiger said with an alluring feminine voice.
The broccoli boy blinked once, twice, thrice until he shouts out while pointing at the female tiger with bulging eyes looking at his sensei and then back at the amused black tiger. "She can talk?! That tiger can actually talk...why did she sound so…pretty."
The tiger let out a flirty grin showing off her impressively sharp teeth. "Ah flattery won't get you nowhere for your upcoming survival training young one." Pascal seductively said.
Falsha rolled her eyes at her friend's obvious flirting nature as she explained her friends unique quirk to the furiously blushing Izuku Midoriya. "Well, if you must know Izuku, Pascal's quirk is a mutation variant that allows her to take on the characteristics of humans. That should be self-explanatory there, I wouldn't go into details…"
The dumbfounded boy nodded weakly while mustering up his will to keep his focus onto important matters. "So, Sensei how will we do this survival training?"
The silver haired woman was about to explain until her phone started to vibrate. She proceeded to check the call and notice the contact belonging to her husband. "Hmm I wonder what my sweet darling is calling me for?" With that, she answered. There was a long pause as Falsha's expression turned serious. "I see, I'll let him know they're coming. Okay thanks sweetheart. Love you." Falsha turn to look at her pupil.
The freckled boy felt uneasy at how his sensei is looking at him with a hint of nervousness. "Is there something wrong Utobe Sensei?"
The former Heroine took a deep breath and told him briefly. "Well, I just got a call from my husband. Turns out he came across your mother and is planning to bring her and the others here so she could bring you back."
After hearing that, Izuku couldn't help but feel excited about introducing his mother to his new teacher/role model Morally. Yet, his musings stopped when the greenette caught wind of his sensei's underlying tone. Luckily for him, he understood the conflict of convincing his mother of letting him get some training done at such a young age. She would definitely be opposed to this decision. Now, he and Falsha needed to find a way of getting Inko Midoriya to agree to Izuku's intense training plan.
Author's Notes:
The next chapters will be all about Izuku's harsh training and a small side story regarding to the true perpetrator of the Bloody Forest Massacre. These future chapters also will reflect the growing bond between Izuku and Akane during their joint training and survival skills.
Don't worry, the story will go straight within the canon arc stories from mha. And like I said it will change to a different route due to Izuku's change in personailty and goals.