"What do you mean someone broke in?!" Kiruka shouted.
"I mean what I said." Keigo replied, trying his best to not look terrified as the woman held him up with one hand on his shirt's neck, "Someone broke in, knocked out the guards and then just walked in."
"How did they get knocked out so easily?!"
"You expected this?! The guards were there primarily to sedate the people with the Crest if they woke up!" He argued, and Kiruka gritted her teeth.
"What happened? Did they take everyone?" She felt the need to ask the worst option first. It would have made their whole mission… not pointless, but certainly far less successful, and would have put all those people back in danger.
"Not all." A new voice said. She glanced behind Keigo to see the Izuku called Paladin step forward, "Just a few."
"Two." Keigo nodded, "This guy here felt a disturbance in the Force, or something like that, and decided to investigate."
"I'm a Paladin of the God of Protection. Knowing when people around me are in danger is my duty."
"And you weren't out cold, just missing a hand, right." Kiruka nodded. Paladin was the only Izuku that hadn't been carted out unconscious from the battlefield, aside from the few that fought Izmird and weren't knocked out, "So…"
"I grabbed my sword and shield and rushed there, found the guards knocked out, and entered the room. It was Itsuka Kendo. Well, an Itsuka Kendo. Dressed like a witch, and she clearly didn't expect a fight, because she clearly put on a plate the option of fighting or running and chose to run." He sighed, "Good thing too, because I don't know what my odds were."
"Right." Kiruka put down Keigo and glanced at Paladin's left hand, that looked pale and was bandaged, clearly still in the process of reconnecting properly. Magic and science did a lot, but they couldn't just instantly reattach a hand, usually. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. It's my duty." Paladin replied, "And frankly, without you I'd have been stuck away from home forever."
"Still, thank you. But who did they take?"
"Darth Verhaul and the Stormlor- I know, it's bad!" Keigo shouted when she made to grab him again, "I swear, the President is just as sorry."
"It's also my fault. I think whatever power she has can only carry one person at a time. If I was in better condition, she would have taken only the Stormlord, but as I was, she had an easy time grabbing Darth Verhaul too."
Kiruka sighed. If Paladin acted like this, what was she supposed to do? She couldn't stay angry at him. "Who is guarding them right now?"
"We sent fifty guards in the infirmary now, all ex-fighters. No more risks. It's basically impossible for them to get in again."
Kiruka sighed, "What about the other people with a Crest?"
"Mostly fine, but we can't know if they were given orders." Keigo replied, "Frankly, I suggest you find a way to free them soon."
"Thank you, Keigo, you are an inspiration for people stating the obvious everywhere. Skilled magic users are hard to find."
"What about Richard Satter? I thought he was one of the best magic users in the Multiverse and a League Founder." Keigo asked, pretending to not be offended?
"He is particularly hard to find." She replied, "The man has so many anti-detection spells even Izzzuku or Canary can't reach him directly. I guess that's what happens when your enemies keep sending monsters and assassins after you via magic, you get a little paranoid. He usually leaves behind a trail for us to follow, but the problem with those is that they tend to vanish…"
"So what's the plan then?" Paladin asked.
"I will ask the Zuzus if they can look up some universe with magic users experienced in seals, and maybe in godly powers, since apparently those work." She looked at him eloquently, and he chuckled sheepishly, "I've had Izzzuku memorize the shape and form of the seat, so he can just replicate it. Then we had Dekirn destroy it."
"Good thinking." Paladin nodded, "I take he is also robbing the rooms above- Oh, you don't look happy…"
"I don't know if I'm happy or not. Someone burned every document in the rooms that seemed to be Izmird and Arkin's labs. Optimistically, this was Izmird making sure we couldn't sneak around him and grab the counterspell from their notes…"
"And pessimistically, this was somehow the so-called True League for All taking what they needed and burning the rest to hide the theft." Paladin hummed, "Quite the difficult situation."
"You tell me again…" She passed a hand through her hair, "On a brighter note, Dekirn says there are a ton of valuable magic items and treasure in the tower, not to mention that the city itself has been almost completely cleared and the Demon Lord should be too busy with the northern campaign to occupy it again in time. We will get half the treasure and Colfire gets a new fortress."
"And you are telling us because…" Keigo asked.
"I need to share some good news." Kiruka replied, "Because since I'm the only League founder that can even stand, right now, I'm the one that will have to deal with the Battlemaster, the Director and 'President Yotsubashi'. Not my idea of fun."
-x-
In the end, Kiruka didn't have to walk alone in Yotsubashi's office. Merino's injuries were light enough he was already deemed capable of leaving the infirmary. He wasn't happy about it, because it meant that he could have fought on if he was just a little more lucky in his landing and didn't hit his head at an angle, but Kiruka assured him that considering a normal person – or sheep – would have died, he was more than justified.
As she walked in, she found herself glad of some moral support.
"What do you mean you are retiring from the Tournament?!" Yotsubashi shouted, slamming both hands on the desk.
"I feel like my lack of one arm is pretty self-explenatory." The Battlemaster pointed out, "I need to get it fixed."
"Our implants-"
"No offense, Rikiya, but it will take time to adapt to any implant, and if I have to get any, I want the top of the line. There is a Cyberpunk world where I'm quite famous, and they have some state of the art prosthetics I want to get. Then I need to talk with that guy, Paladin, to see if he can tell me where he found the magic items he uses. They can channel One for All, it's… intriguing."
"How do you know?" Kiruka interjected, "You weren't there."
"Why, of course I provided mister Rappa with a tip." The Director replied with a small, elegant bow, "It's only fair that I look out for an actor of such exceptional talent. I already foresee 'The Dragonlord of the Multiverse' to be an astounding success in my larger cinematic universe. And once we add this idea of new cyberpunk aesthetics added to the character… Yes, that is promising."
"Enough of that, Director." Yotsubashi said, glaring at Kiruka. Oh fantastic, this was the tone of their talk. "You costed me-"
"Let me stop you right there. We asked permission. You agreed, the Battlemaster agreed. He knew the risks of a battle to the death with a dragon, and you were also aware of the enemy we were facing. I understand that seeing the Battlemaster in this condition is a shock, but that just means we were right in asking his help in the first place."
"You costed me my Champion, is what I was going to say." Rikiya replied, "Did you assume I was going to demand compensation?"
"Frankly yes. I don't expect this will be a light loss for you. The sponsors will riot, not to mention what will happen to all the ongoing betting…"
"We will deal with that. There will be backlash, but we will spin the story so it's clear it was a noble sacrifice for the greater good. What I need to know is how every other fighter is doing."
"I'm not sure about Arsenal." Merino interjected, "I asked the nurses. Curing a gun arm is a bit more complicated than curing a normal limb. They might have no choice but to request her retirement from this year's tournament."
"Fantastic…" The man passed a hand through his hair, and Kiruka noticed a few hair strands clinging to it, the man quickly patting them away under his desk. It seemed the stress was catching up to him. "That's two top 16 fighters out, and both of them in the Top in the same section. This pushes Izumi Midoriya and Koichi Haimawari directly to the quarter finals…" He sighed, "My PR team will have to deal with a lot of stuff in the upcoming days, I just know it."
Kiruka sighed. She really didn't care about the Arenaverse's Tournament, considering the headache-inducing event it was, but she knew they needed a good relationship with them, so she looked at him. "Can we help in any way?" She asked.
"Well, if we could assure some star presence for next year, that would go a long way in…"
"I will ask the Founders. All of them, except Uraraka of course."
"That's nice, but I need some assurances. A minimal number, at least."
"I will say yes, and I promise at least three others." She replied. Itsuka, Mariah and Mel would likely agree, anyway.
"And that Canary guy. His fights are quite spectacular."
Kiruka sighed. 'Siren will pluck my eyes out for this. Sorry Canary.' "Fine."
"Excellent! Yes, this will calm down the press a bit, even if it's still a difficult situation." The man sighed, and Kiruka groaned discreetly. At least this mean the Arenaverse had some stakes on them not being destroyed by the other League.
-x-
"So, two wounded men and a beast is the whole result of your little project?"
The witch looked up at the invisible woman. Tooru Hagakure, the Unseen. The last witch of the West to not have bent the knee to the might of Midoriya the Archwizard and his followers. "It's more than that." Kendo replied, "I now know the idea works. All I need is the magic circle, and I can recreate that through trial and error."
"Someone beat you to the notes?"
"The dragon burnt them all. Smart of him, but a pain for me." She sighed, "I will have to recreate the spell using only those two's Seal as a point of reference, so it will take a while, but it should be doable."
"Is it even worth the effort?" Another voice asked, and Itsuka turned, looking at herself. Itsuka Kendrick, the League defector that had joined them. She was honest in her hatred for the League, their constant failure at taking her home. Understandable, even if Itsuka felt Kendrick's motive was overall a bit shallow. One could blame the League for All for their complete passiveness, but they were trying to get those people home at least.
Not that it mattered, in the face of the fact they didn't even try to deal with the Multiverse scourge that were All for One and Izuku Midoriya. "Yes. With this spell, we can both fish Midoriyas from the Multiverse and kill them, and find new warriors for our cause."
"Unwilling ones."
"We can just use it to fish for them and then convince them to cooperate. It doesn't require much effort to make the offer palatable, if they are already Midoriya or All for One's enemies." She chuckled, "At least, it won't take a lot of effort for our leader."
"She did convince all of us." Hagakure admitted, "Her arguments were just sound."
"Of course. Uniting everyone against All for One makes sense…"
"And taking out Midoriya is an obvious choice." Kendrick finished, frowning, "Although I'm not sure why."
"Because Midoriyas are a curse." Itsuka and Hagakure said in unison. Eh, they were just that in agreement on it, uh?
Itsuka sighed. "Either way, this cost us Shinomori. He was getting close to revealing stuff about us, so I had to silence him."
"And his One for All?"
"Couldn't exactly pick it up beforehand." Itsuka replied, "But I will lead a party to destroy his All for One. It's only fair, since I took One for All from his world, we better deal with it."
"I'm in." A new voice said. They all looked to the corridor, to see a man with black hair, dressed in combat gear, including a pair of long katanas and too many knives to count. His face was covered by a flat, dark mask. "I'd love another chance to take care of All for One."
"Like you 'took care' of those Midoriyas?"
"The Battlemaster got in the way."
"Seemed more like Revenant and Zombie did." Hagakure pointed out.
"They were difficult opponents. Though I wouldn't mind a rematch, I think I could get rid of them all now."
Itsuka sighed. "I'll go see who wants to come, then we will go." She cracked her neck, "Let's deal with this quickly, I need some rest too."
The woman sighed. The True League for All's mission was a long, difficult one. But she would see it to the end. As their leader's second in command, it was her duty. 'Gotta take care of this, then find Jack. His raven said he is safe, but I don't know if I can trust a bird.' She opened her phone – what an intriguing contraption it was – but there were still no messages from the man. The only one was from the leader.
"Finish whatever project you are taking on quickly. I've decided it's time for the Sun Strike plan. One week to get everything in order." She read, and she couldn't help but gulp.
Sun Strike.
They were going to strike at the very heart of the League.
They were deciding their battle in seven days.
-x-
Izuku looked up at the white ceiling, then all around. He was in the infirmary of the arena, he realized quickly. The tents on the side of the bed were pulled, isolating him that way, but the front was open, allowing him to see enough. He sighed in relief, glancing at the chair next to him. His shield rested there, the paint ruined but the metal underneath still undaunted.
"Are you awake, Cap?" A voice asked, and a tent was pulled open. As it did, he found himself staring at five other Midoriyas. Argali, asleep with bandages around his head and another on his cheek, was the furthest. Between them were three Izukus he didn't know. One was around Captain Kamino's age, but he didn't seem to have anything else to identify him from. On a chair next to him was another, younger Izuku, dressed in black and with his eyes oddly different, one red and the other green. On the next bed over was an older Izuku with a stubble and a large scar on his forehead, though it was only visible because his hair had been pulled back. A cowboy hat rested on the cupboard next to him.
And finally, there was Revenant, in the bed next to him. His bare chest was covered by a large set of bandages that extended down to his abdomen. Captain Kamino made to stand up, but he felt a twinge of pain in his arm, and glancing at it he saw it was tied around his neck.
"You apparently broke your arm, dislocated a shoulder and I don't know what else." Revenant said, "Tough opponent?"
"You could say that…" Captain Kamino replied, trying to remember what had happened. He had almost drowned, but using his own Mjolnir he had managed to drag himself out of the water, before he had gone on to fight the Muscular guy… and then… "Wait, I lost."
"You did?" Revenant asked. "Tough opponent?"
"Yes! And he… I thought he was going to kill me! What happened?"
"You sound almost disappointed, kid." The cowboy hat Izuku – that Captain now remembered was the one they had called Gun in their briefing before attacking the city – "Be happy you didn't die. It's a miracle, considering who your opponent was."
"I am! It's just… I don't know how I could survive."
Revenant frowned, "Kiruka said Arsenal saw you run toward her and you saved each other."
"I don't remember any of that."
For a moment no one spoke, Revenant seeming deep in thought, then the sitting Izuku coughed in his fist. "Uhm… Anyway… I think we should introduce each other. I'm…"
"Izuku Midoriya. Pied Piper. Fifteen, a Vigilante. The other one is Kitsune, fifteen, also a Vigilante. The one laying on the bed is Isaac Green, called the Green Scar or gun, outlaw, age unknown…" Revenant listed quickly, and Captain Kamino nodded. Now that he had the time to look at all of them, he also recognized the various Izukus that they had been briefed about.
"I'm twenty-seven." The gunslinger pointed out, "And I'm tired, so could you kids shut up?"
Captain Kamino made to apologize, but Revenant ignored him. "I take you were all freed if you are now allowed to just walk around."
"Paladin did it." Piper explained, "He apparently asked his god to break the spell on Izuku Midoriya, and the spell was broken on all Izukus." He sighed, "Not that even freed I was of much help. First Kitsune got knocked out either way, the Horizon used my weapon better than I could…"
"At least you helped." Kitsune pointed out, "I was taken out before the spell even broke."
"I was too." Gun said, apparently having decided if he couldn't sleep he might as well talk, "Don't throw yourself down just because you lost a fight."
Captain Kamino nodded. He was in their same situation, anyway, having lost to Muscular. Had he been beaten up so badly that he couldn't even remember how the fight had ended? It was possible, but he just couldn't remember the part where he supposedly ran all the way back to Arsenal.
"A defeat is just a learning experience." Revenant offered, "Learn from your mistakes and do better next time. If you aren't dead, you can fight another day."
"Talking from experience?" Gun asked.
Captain Kamino knew he was. He didn't know the details, but he remembered Revenant's introduction in the Arena, and he knew he had gone through a lot. The other Izuku, however, just shrugged. "You could say I have faced a few setbacks in my life."
Piper and Kitsune seemed to be taking the suggestion well, at least. He could sympathize quite a lot with them. Before he got the serum, feeling useless was a very common thing for him.
'Was I even useful in this fight?' He wondered. Knocked out early, unable to finish his opponent, apparently needing help… Izuku hadn't exactly been good help.
"And before someone thinks that they were useless…" Revenant said, "Remember an opponent can just be ill-suited for a fighting style. If they want to get better, the option is always there." Cap glanced at him, but the other Izuku was looking away, sighing. "And with that, I need a smoke." The teen added, standing up.
"You smoke?!" Piper gasped, "Aren't you too young?"
"I am." Revenant replied, grabbing a shirt and sliding it on. He also added his gun for good measure, holstered to his side. With that, he walked out, leaving the other Izukus behind.
After a few moments, Piper sighed. "I think I will go check on the others. There are still a few people that hadn't woken up. I want to see how Horizon, Nine and the God of Thunder are doing. Bye Captain. Bye Gun. Bye Kitsu."
"Bye Pip." Kitsune waved back, watching his friend walk out, and Captain Kamino wondered what they would do now. Their only option was to wait, unless someone knew where their home universe was, he supposed. A rather grim prospect, if what the Green Scar had told him was.
He was lucky. He could just go home at any moment and put this whole thing behind his back.
He just wasn't sure if he wanted to.
-x-
"Izumi!" Huanli bear-hugged the girl.
"Huanli… I'm suffocating…"
Deku chuckled, "Come on Huanli, let her go, she got hurt pretty badly by Izmird."
Huanli sighed, and Izumi chuckled awkwardly. Deku was fairly sure he heard her murmur 'yeah, Izmird', but before he could ask what was wrong, Izumi perked up and looked at him, "By the way, did miss Yagi tell you about…"
"Yeah. Shinomori." Deku sighed, "I still can't believe it. I haven't had a chance to discuss with the Vestiges, but the feeling I get is that they are horrified."
Izumi sighed, "Yeah, it sucks. Shinomori acted like such a nice person too…"
"He was scared and chose the wrong side. It doesn't absolve him of attacking you." Huanli replied sternly, and Deku nodded.
"I just wonder who killed him." He said, and the two girls looked at him, "I mean, we certainly didn't, and we can't find a culprit among the summoned, so…"
"A third party, most likely." Izumi nodded, "The True League for All wanted to silence him, I guess." She was shaking, Izuku noticed. That seemed at odds with her usual behavior, since this clearly wasn't rage, or at least not just that. Why…
"Izumi, this is the first time you see someone die, right?" Deku asked.
Izumi gulped, looking at both of them. "I just… I've never…" She took a deep breath, "Yes. Yeah, it's true."
"I'm sorry." Deku replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. Huanli hugged the girl, and that broke the dam. Izumi started to cry, her head alternating between Deku's shoulder and Huanli's head. Whatever Shinomori had done, they had trained together, laughed together, and enjoyed their time together. Knowing he was a traitor and he was dead… It was a lot. Deku had experienced his first death on the field seeing Sir Nighteye die and... and he remembered those days. And Izumi wasn't even from a world like his. Her world was a lot kinder, from what he had seen. She didn't need to see this.
They stayed like that for a while, and Deku found himself promising that he would make the True League for All pay for this. It was an odd thought in his head, he realized, but he couldn't hold it back.
The bandaged wound on his shoulder ached.
-x-
Itsumi was sitting on a bench outside the Arena. Since she was only lightly wounded overall, they had managed to give her a green light to leave the facility early. At this point, she just had to wait for the League to start teleporting them all back to the Headquarters.
And then… Then she had to go back to wait, uh? She sighed, looking at her cane, which she had just spent the last fifteen minutes putting back together properly. She really had to thank Katsuki for it. The weapon was perfect, it fit really well with her fighting style, and it was just the beginning.
She looked up at the sky. Were her mom and dad looking at a similar sky, right now? Did they know she was safe, or were they worried sick? She didn't even know what was happening to everyone. Did her classmates know she was even alive?
She balled her hands into fists. Could she really spend so much time away from home? She was Itsumi Midoriya, the daughter of one of the One for All wielders. Heck, if Togata was really dead, that only left her, Red Jewel and mom… If she spent this much time worrying about other worlds, when did she get the chance to worry about her own? She had just saved a lot of people, and she was happy about it, but… but she couldn't deny she was a bit pissed. The League had immediately rushed in to stop Arkin and Izmird, and sent in so many fighters… so where was their help against All for Deku?
'It's not the same.' She reminded herself, 'All for Deku is not nearly as dangerous. And it was just by chance that the Arenaverse got involved. If Izumi wasn't dragged in… They would have done nothing, and we might have all died.'
She shivered. She understood that the battle she had just been a part of was more important than what was happening back home. In the grand scheme of the Multiverse, All for Deku was… Was he even that dangerous? Surely not as much as Izmird. Maybe with Alien King and the Villains from Deku's world, but… She could see why the League was treating it as less of a threat. Especially with the True League for All looming in the shadows.
But all that understanding and seeing didn't help her. She wanted to shout at them, to tell them that they needed a task force to destroy All for One, that she wanted Canary, and the Green Scar, and Quanteng, and Kiruka! Was it so unfair to think that just because one was a lesser threat, the League would only help them by networking?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Someone asked. She looked up and saw Ojiro seat down next to her.
"Oh, just… thinking."
"And some angry thought, if your expression was any indication." Ojiro replied, "Come on, I'm in a good mood. I got cleared from all my wounds, and turns out Nishiya will live, though he has lost an arm."
"They can't fix it?"
"Magical wound. It completely desiccated, they can't make the arm regrow." He sighed, "I was ready to get yelled at for not being able to help, but surprisingly he didn't blame me at all. As he put it, we fought an enemy that was stronger and suffered some wounds. It's no one's fault but our opponent's. I… Can't say if he is right, but I'm happy we got to leave on good terms."
"Right." Itsumi nodded, "I beat the Prowler."
"Really? Guess you got your vengeance for that fight. It's proof you got stronger."
"Yeah…" She looked down at her weapon, "Say, Ojiro… What do you make of all of this? Aren't you angry? They helped the Fantasyverse immediately, but we are left to just wait. Isn't that unfair?"
Ojiro glanced at her. She noticed his scarred eye, the claw marks of the Beast marring his face, as he studied her. "You know…" The older man said, "You are studying to be a Hero, right?"
"Yes."
"What do you know about the question of priority?"
"The question about how a Hero has to always prioritize saving the most people, right? If a full bus and a full car are falling from a bridge and the Hero can only save one, should the bus have priority?" She groaned, "So you are saying that the Dragon was the bigger threat because it threatened more universes, even if technically only one world was involved against our three?"
Ojiro nodded, "This spell… It's horrible. It's unfair, inhumane and dangerous. But more importantly, the Crest put everyone in the Multiverse in danger. That's what made it so threatening the League had to move. Despite the True League's goals, despite our own situation, the League couldn't ignore it."
"It's just… I know it's technically a small conflict, but it's our conflict! We don't even know how our friends are doing! Did All for Deku kill someone we know? Alien King? We don't know! We can't know, and I just…" She sniffed, "I'm so worried."
"I am too." Ojiro admitted, "I still have a lot of friends fighting in the frontlines. Kirishima, Mineta, Bakugo, Hagakure… A lot of my friends might be facing threats they aren't ready for."
Itsumi gulped. Yeah, Ojiro was in the same situation, or even worse. Her world had been peaceful for years, but Ojiro was used to losing friends. They had been fighting for years against All for Deku and his followers, and they were losing. "So then, how do you deal with the wait?"
"By getting stronger and trusting the people around me to make the right choice." Ojiro replied, and she looked at him, confused, "What? It's that simple. I can't do anything if we want to tell the truth. I'm not a One for All user, or a dragon, or a man with a nanomachine armor. I'm a Quirkless guy that up until a month ago was probably going to die stabbed by a psychotic woman. But what I can do, is get stronger and look for others willing to help. I found some already." He touched his abdomen, "Deku saved me. You offered to join us despite all the danger you were into."
"For all good that did…"
"Don't sell yourself short, Itsumi. Everyone has things they can and can't do. I can't defeat All for Deku alone. You can't defeat Alien King Alone." He smiled, "But that's why we work together, right?"
"Yeah…" She sighed. 'Just wait and trust the people around you', then?
Itsumi wasn't sure she liked this plan. She wasn't sure she believed the League was going to help, not with the True League for All ready to attack them so soon.
She couldn't come up with a better idea, though, frustrating as that was. She could only hope Ojiro's was the right one.
-x-
Izumi was laying on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She had been asked to rest for the night, before being discharged the next day, but had been allowed to go back to her room to sleep. Which was nice, giving her more privacy, but it also let her think about all that had happened.
About the Pact she had made, and the price she would pay for breaking it.
"Eighteenth President of the UA Student Council, user of Feeling Mixer, the ability to make hated things loved and loved things hated." She murmured, as her left hand shone a dark red and her right hand a bright pink. Feeling Mixer was a Deal she found terrifying. With one touch she could either make people hate what they loved the most, or love what they hated the most. It was… disgusting. She could make All Might look up at All for One like his own Hero or make two people that saw each other as the best couple suddenly hate one another. But it could go deeper. An artist would suddenly despise their art. A driver might start to loathe cars. An engineer would find their career disgusting.
It was a Deal so vile that, even if she could always reverse it, Izumi had always refused to use it. She had considered using it on Izmird, but she had decided against it. Worst case scenario, the Dragon would go from being so interested in them to loathing them and wanting them all dead. It wasn't worth a shot.
Which was why the Pact scared her so much.
'If you fail, Feeling Mixer will activate on all of UA, and make it permanent. And all those people that look up to you, or to one of your followers, will suddenly hate you, or them. I would hate for that to happen, but it's all up to you.'
Izumi clenched her fist. All of her friends turning on her and on one another was bad, but… But Itsuka… She would be the first to turn, right? She would despise Izumi fiercely, and once that happened, there would be no going back. Izumi would be the only one aware of their friendship, of what had happened, of what they… they might have had…
But then there was the other problem. What Shirakumo had told her the night before she left.
-x-
"Izumi, can we talk?" He had asked, accompanying the school President away once she had agreed. They had walked away, moving to an isolated part of the school grounds.
"Just so you know, I'm not into older men and I'm a minor." She had said, grinning at his offended expression.
"What?! No! It's not that! Ew! No, I… Izumi, I want you to understand the danger you pose."
"I know, I know. If I leave with Izuku and the Deals spread, She Who Bears Gift will spread too, right?" Shirakumo looked impressed, but she snorted, "Come on, that wasn't hard to guess. Why would she be so hellbent on making Deals with Deku and Huanli, otherwise? Of course that's the reason. And of course I don't want that."
"I know." Shirakumo sighed, "But I needed to clarify. She wants to expand, and we don't want that. She Who Bears Gift is fine, but she is… erratic. She likes as humans, but more like one likes to watch their pets play with each other or their toys slam into one another. If she extends to other places, there are only three options I can see: Nothing happens, which is good for us and bad for her; she gets killed by some other entity, which completely destroys all Contracts and Deals and sends the world into chaos; or she actually succeeds, which means she acquires multiple versions of the same ability, letting her make more and more Deals by robbing other worlds of their powers, and that's…"
"Relax, Shirakumo. I know, right? So long as I don't agree to help her, she won't have any contact to other worlds, right?"
Shirakumo sighed, "Right. Good to see you have a good head on your shoulder, miss President."
-x-
Izumi rolled on her side, looking at the wall.
"What do I do now?" She murmured.
(XX)
Guests:
Captain Kamino from Kamino's Ward by Tunafishprincess
Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Piper from Pied Piper by blackholeca
Kitsune from Quirked by armoryofstars
Kinda wild to not have the Green Scar or Canary on the list after so long, I was getting used to it.
Aftermath chapter, lots of info, some news, a first look at the True League's internal dynamics, and of course some early set-up for the next arc. But for a while, it's back to business as usual, so I took the time to reintroduce some parts of the setting I think people might need a refresher on too.
There is a lot to say about this part of the story, but all I will say is that we are now on our way to the next arc, and I'm sure you will find it just as enjoyable as this one was. Besides of course the True League for All and All for Deku, we also have the internal dynamic between the characters. Izumi, Itsumi and Huanli might be quite the focus in the next section of the story.
Man, I really want to write girls, don't I?
Well, of course Deku is still our dear protagonist, and there will be a chance for a lot of characters to shine still. Wait and see, I suppose.
