When Izuku wakes, the sun hasn't even risen yet. His room is clad in the eerie shadowy darkness of dawn. Izuku wants to burrow deeper into his covers and sleep on, if only because he feels as if he should still be doing so, but there is no lead weighing his eyelids down, nor is his mind drowsy with sleep. He is, for all intents and purposes, wide awake. He groans and shifts, turning over to hug Ollie the Teddy Bear, but something feels odd with Ollie. It feels almost… prickly and stiff, akin to crystals.

Izuku opens his eyes, though he can't see much, it only takes a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. He can make out small protrusions, glistening in the remnant moonlight and barest of sunlight, like some type of flower growing from the large teddy bear.

"Wah— ?" Izuku blinks several times, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. Nope. It's still there. He scrambles backward and promptly falls off the bed in a tangled heap. "GAH!"

"Izuku?"

"Midori-chan!"

"Oorru?"

He clicks his tongue as he struggles to disentangle himself. "I'm fine, just startled."

He flicks the light on once he can make it to the light-switch and narrows his eyes at the sight on his bed. Growing on the bear as if it were natural are flowery crystals, and they glisten delicately in the light. The flowers themselves are growing on the top of Ollie's head, the entirety of his right side, and there are some buds in half-bloom on the teddy bear's left shoulder.

"What is this?" Izuku muses aloud, picking at one of the blossoms. He offers one to Chrys, who's closest to him, and plucks two more blossoms for Iris and Wisteria when they throw a jealous glare at Chrys and crowd around him. He knows how spiteful his Ariel Neighbors can be, has seen it firsthand, and he'd rather not see it happen nor think about it. He rolls his eyes when Sara whines and nudges his hand expectantly, and hands her one as well. Bo and Peep eye him, inching their way slowly across the bed towards him and Ollie.

"Get over here, you two," and they do. They quickly scurry their way towards him and gently take a blossom each between their teeth.

"Ollie siphons the excess magic in you, and makes something out of it."

"Huh," Izuku turns to face his more vocal Neighbors, "is this my magic?"

"Yeah~" Iris sighs rather dreamily as she stares at the crystal (apparently magical) flower. "It's very lovely, Izuku."

Wisteria nods furiously, "We're keeping these." Izuku notes it's a statement, not a request. He exhales a small laugh at that.

"I don't mind you all keeping these," he says, and then turbulent thoughts of strange unknown Neighbors getting their grubby hands on his manifested magic pop into his mind. He shudders, "Just, don't leave the room with the flowers."

He turns to address Sara, Bo, and Peep and stops at the sight of them chewing on their respective flowers. Sara burps in satisfaction.

"Guess that solves that." Two more burps.

He gets his outfit ready for the day, making sure to muffle his steps as best as he's able to as he pads to and from the bathroom to do his business and wash. The shower is refreshing and everything Izuku needs, allowing for him to wash off the dirty feeling he's had ever since his episode yesterday. When he's back in his room, with his hair still dripping, his Ariel Neighbors take it upon themselves to use their magic to dry off his hair with a gust of wind, making it stick every which way.

Iris hands him his hairbrush and looks at him expectantly. Izuku blows a teasing raspberry and sets to work, untangling and smoothing out knots in his hair. He watches as Chrys and Wisteria work together, making a new flower crown for the day. It's a pretty white flower with either five or more petals (or is it petal-like sepals? Izuku isn't sure) and various stamens.

"What flower is that?" he asks them, curiosity boiling over the brim.

"Windflower is our favorite name for it, but you can also call it a wood anemone, thimbleweed, or smell fox," Wisteria explains, as per usual. She then tacks on, "Never eat it though, it's poisonous, especially the root, it's an irritant."

"It also has a musky smell to it, usually," Iris adds, "but we took care of that."

Chrys hums as he diligently works on the flower crown.

Izuku glances at Ollie the Teddy Bear, and then at the sprouts growing from it. They look familiar as if Izuku has seen that flower before, but he can't think of where he remembers it from. It's on the tip of his tongue, there but not quite. "What about the flowers from Ollie? I can't remember what they are."

"Sakura blossoms," all three speak in tandem with a dreamy sigh.

"I think it fits Midori-chan," Chrys says, plopping the flower crown on Izuku's head. He can smell that musky odor Iris had remarked about, though it's faint. "They do represent a pure and gentle heart in hanakotoba."

Wisteria nods when he turns to look at her questioningly. "Beautiful, pure and gentle. Just like our Midori-chan."

Izuku is about to duck his head in embarrassment when Peep headbutts him. Sara's, "Oorru!" and Bo's own bleat make him blink. Even though they aren't able to vocalize their thoughts, that doesn't mean they aren't creative in getting their point across.

And Izuku is pretty certain they just told him to not be embarrassed and to keep his chin up, in their own loving way. Which apparently includes headbutting as the answer.

Iris straightens the flower crown in his hair. "As they said, Izuku, chin up and look forward. Don't be bashful."

He murmurs lowly. "I'll try."

Chrys kisses his cheek. "That's our boy."

The sun has risen considerably by the time Izuku stops meandering around in his room. He fiddles with his flower crown until Iris kicks his knuckles and hisses, "Stop touching it! It's an irritant!"

He doesn't want to question why they'd even make him a flower crown out of an irritant plant. He can, however, admit that it is lovely. So, he stops fiddling with the crown and instead rubs his smarting knuckles. He's making his way downstairs when a question pops into existence, and he turns to face his Neighbors, just in time to dodge Bo, Peep, and Sara, with the Salamander riding Bo once again. The action makes the question disappear entirely from his mind. Sara coos delightedly as they race back and forth until Silky opens the front door and out they go.

Silky looks at him, deadpan, and all Izuku can do it shrug helplessly. What can he do? His Neighbors do what they want, when they please, as they please.

Silky guides him to the kitchen and gestures for him to sit, and it's not long after he does so that he's served a steaming cup of tea and a bowl of mixed berries.

Izuku sniffs the tea, beaming when he smells that it is lemongrass. Silky hugs him, gently squeezing him once before patting his head and setting to work around the kitchen. He takes his time drinking the tea, savoring the taste and aroma, sharing the smaller berries with his Ariel Neighbors. They chat animatedly and, when people start to trickle in, Izuku stands to greet Chise-san and Ruth-san. Chise laughs softly and pats his shoulder.

"Sit," she says, and so he does.

Ruth-san leans towards him and sniffs his head, raising an inquisitive brow. "Wood anemone?"

Izuku nods.

"Isn't that a skin irritant?"

"Yes," Izuku replies, straight-faced.

"Alright." He has to blink a few times at the lackluster response before he smiles grandly.

"That reminds me," Izuku turns to face the red-haired magi after a few minutes. "Ollie, well, he manifested my magic into crystal flowers. He's supposed to do that, right?"

"Yes," Chise-san says, calmly sipping her own tea. "As I said last night, he siphons your excess magic and forms it into something." Here, she smiles slyly. "A good surprise, was it not?"

Izuku laughs, and that's an answer enough.

Izuku's mom kisses the crown of his head when she enters, carefully avoiding the flowers, and then she sits beside him. Silky is quick to serve more tea, bread, and berries.

"Is Elias-san okay?" asks his mom, buttering a slice of bread. "I haven't seen him since we arrived."

"He's fine," Chise-san answers. "A little exhausted, but fine. He's replenishing his energy after the big jump yesterday."

"Did magicking us here take a lot out of him?" Izuku asks, curious. Magic must have a drawback, and having to cover that much distance in a span of a short minute must certainly have its downside. The amount of energy needed to do so has to be outstanding, let alone perhaps improbable for a human. But it's doable, that's for sure.

"Not as much if he didn't have you and I with him, but yes, it's exhausting."

"I see," mummers his mom. "Right, Izuku; Chise and Ruth will take you into the city today, so make sure you're dressed appropriately."

Izuku turns to her questioningly but all she directs at him, in turn, is a serene smile.

Breakfast wraps up a little while later with Silky placing a set of folded clothes onto his arms and ushering him upstairs to change. As he's heading down the hallway he stops by the magi's bedroom door for a second or two, wondering if Ainsworth-san was okay and if he should check up on the skeletal mage, before shaking his head and continuing down the hallway. Ainsworth-san is only resting and, what Izuku can assume as, restoring his depleted magical energy.

So, minding his own business (for once, shocking) Izuku gets ready for the day with the new set of clothes Silky had gifted him.

↞o-o↠

It only takes a forty-five minutes train ride to arrive at King's Cross Station in London, and Izuku is brimming with exuberance coupled with nerves. It all makes for a rather sickly feeling in his stomach that has Chise-san throwing concerned glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Midway through the train ride she settles a hand on his shoulder to still his relentless energy, before moving it up to his head to ruffle his hair, carefully avoiding the flower crown. Iris had taken the flower crown and weaved some purple windflowers into the crown before he left, warning against him touching the crown too often, and kissed the tip of his nose as Wisteria settled on Izuku's head. Chrys and Iris would stay behind to keep an eye on his mom while Wisteria would accompany him, Chise-san and Ruth-san into the heart of the city.

Ruth-san, on Izuku's other side, settles a large hand on the back of his neck and rubs soothing circles with the pads of his thumb. Chise-san takes Izuku's hand in her's and settles it in between them. It's a grounding presence, and slowly, but surely, it makes Izuku's tense form relax and his stomach unknot itself.

"Better?" Ruth-san asks, and Izuku nods his head in affirmation, rubbing the edges of the grey cashmere sweater Silky gave him. His mom made him take a rather large yellow wool coat that was comfortable, and he's rather glad she made him take it before he headed out, that with the cold spurt currently settled in England.

"Thank you," he says after a beat. Ruth-san squeezes his neck in answer and Chise-san does the same with his hand. Wisteria hums a small tune from within his hair.

Chise-san and Ruth-san take him out to sightsee at first after they arrive at King's Cross. The unfamiliar lettering on signs and shops throw him off at first, but he learns to ignore it along with the constant babble of English in the air. In a way it's rather exhilarating and, well, Izuku wishes he could have shared this experience with his mom.

Chise-san, accompanied by Wisteria, goes to buy them hot chocolate while Izuku and Ruth-san are in a bookshop, per Izuku's request. Izuku ends up just wandering around, scouring for any Japanese literature, but turns up empty handed by the end. Ruth-san hands him a relatively average-sized book, with a dark grey cloth covering. In the center there's a small red square, with the simple drawing of a tree with some leaves adorning its branches within it. There's bold, weirdly-shaped lettering for the title, and all Izuku can make out is the word "kill" and "bird". Izuku stares at the Grimm, a bit skeptical.

"The title translates as 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' I thought it'd be a good idea to use this to help you along with your studies English."

"Right," Izuku says, holding the book close to his chest. A gleam shines in his eyes, and determination makes his heart beat. Izuku is now dead-set on mastering English, and nothing will get in his way from achieving that. Ruth-san nods, satisfied, and they meet up with Chise-san and Wisteria after paying for the book.

Izuku is confused when they enter another bookshop soon after, but then Chise-san guides him towards the backroom and knocks on the door. They wait for a few beats before the door squeaks open, revealing a young woman, perhaps in her mid-to-late twenties, with dark brown hair and eyes, who doesn't hesitate to throw her arms over Chise-san's shoulders and squeeze tightly. They exchange pleasantries back and forth in English, with Ruth-san chiming in a few times, before the woman turns to Izuku and, in fluid Japanese, asks for his name.

He blinks, astounded, but then Wisteria pulls at his ear and his face burns. He quickly rectifies his mistake and says, "Midoriya Izuku," and bows in greeting.

The woman grins, turning to Chise-san once Izuku straightens up with his face still lit aflame. "I like him."

"Izukkun, this is Althea Barley, an artificer and a mage. She'll be helping us today to equip you with some magical essentials."

Izuku nods, and they're ushered inside the backroom. It's a spacious room, with various crystals in boxes and half-finished projects laying around. There are colorful bubbling liquids in glassware on the shelves. Izuku peers around, edging closer to the crystals to get a better look. They thrum with untapped energy, calling and reaching out to expand, to be used, and Izuku's own magic hums beneath his skin and at the tips of his fingers.

Chise and Althea talk back and forth, with the dark-haired woman writing things down on a handheld notebook. Ruth-san is laying on the floor in his Grimm form, having apparently transformed while Izuku was not looking, and overall keeping a keen eye on their surroundings. Izuku turns back towards the shimmering gemstones, trying to identify some of them. He looks at the green gemstones mostly, they remind him of his family.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Izuku yelps, whirring around and accidentally brushing his fingers across a rogue green stone. He's met with the widening eyes of an older woman who shares the same features as Althea and an aquatic-looking Neighbor hovering beside her. The older woman opens her mouth as fear enters her eyes and she reaches out, for what, Izuku isn't sure. That is until he hears it: a cracking sound.

Izuku is yanked away from where he was standing by a breathless Ruth-san, held against his chest protectively. Izuku can hear the strong staccato of a heartbeat against his ear, and can feel his own heart beating rapidly from within his chest. His shoulders and hands shake from the scare, and he can't help but feel strangely tired, as if all his energy had been zapped out. He leans heavily into Ruth-san's protective embrace, breathing in deeply with his eyes growing heavy.

His magic, which had been coursing relentlessly beneath his skin, itching to be let out, is subdued. It's as if it were satisfied, and Izuku has no idea why until he turns his head and peers with lidded eyes at the spot where he'd been standing previously. Because on the table, in place of all the gemstones, stands a rather large green statue of an eastern dragon breathing fire up into the air.

And for reasons unknown the sight makes Izuku's heart wail.