Angels? Fallen angels? Devils? They were all real? And now he was a devil too? What… did this all mean? How did he get roped all into this? Questions went going through Izuku's head as he sat on one of the sofas in the ORC room. "What… does this have to do with me?"

"Remember the night you were killed?" Izuku's response was a mix of shock and terror. "You're 'date' Amano Yuuma was really a fallen angel called Raynare. I'm still not sure how or why, but lately several fallen angels have been gathering in this city. Raynare was likely ordered to kill you because of your Sacred Gear. If I had known what kind of danger you were in we would've intervened the moment you met her."

"Sacred Gear? Oh yeah! I remember Amano- I mean Raynare mentioned that. What is it?"

"Sacred Gears, or God's Artifacts as some call them, are items with powerful abilities bestowed upon certain humans," Rias answered. "Think of them as like very special Quirks. In fact, many powerful and influential humans throughout history had Sacred Gears. You've likely heard of a few of them. King Arthur Pendragon, Joan of Arc, Hercules, Beowulf, Sinbad the Sailor, Guan Yu… and those are just a handful of them."

"Those are all legendary heroes from various stories all over the world," Izuku realized.

"Right on the money," Rias smiled again, "You see, every religion, every pantheon that has ever been mentioned is or was real. Stories throughout each legend have at least a few heroes who have a Sacred Gear. But only humans or those with human ancestry are born with Sacred Gears. As such devils, angels, and fallen angels often have to turn to humans who have these powers."

Izuku then looked to where the hole should be in his stomach. "Is that why you turned me into a devil?"

"Yes," Rias nodded. "When I meet you the other day, I saw something interesting in you so I decided to keep a close eye. Do you remember this?" from a drawer, she pulled out a very familiar flyer.

Izuku recognized it right away. "Wait… that's the flyer that one girl gave me!"

"Right," said Rias. "As I said, a devil needs a signed contract to use a human's power. To forge an agreement with that human a devil must complete their wishes, and then they gain something else of equal price in return. However, humans who draw pentagrams these days are almost non-existent, so we use things like this flyer to create contracts."

Izuku nodded. He was still having trouble taking this all in. On one hand, he was now a devil. On the other hand, he would probably be dead if it wasn't for Rias. "So, I'm a devil now, and also your servant?"

"Right." Rias smiled. "High-class devils like me need a peerage, or a team of servants, to rise up in the ranks of the devils. The more interesting the servants, the more that devil is recognized."

Izuku nodded. "But wait, that guy last night thought I was a stray. What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Rias answered. "A stray devil is a devil with no master, either because their master died or the stray killed them to obtain freedom."

'Considering she turned me into a devil without my say in it, I can see one reason why.' Izuku thought to himself.

"Have you heard about some of the murders going on in Musutafu?"

"Yeah, the news said that religious fanatics were the cause," Izuku said, still feeling on edge.

"And they're not entirely wrong," Rias confirmed. "Some of those murders are caused by stray devils, wantonly devouring any human unfortunate enough to wander in their parlor. But that's only a few of the murders. Most are caused by fallen angels, stray priests, and demon slayers. They kill humans who come into contact with us, believing them to be tainted. They are especially dangerous to us because their powers are supported by the prayer of God. This city has been put under my protection, and it's my job to keep any more tragedies from happening."

"So then… you're like Musutafu's secret warriors?" Izuku asked.

"For the most part," Yuuto nodded.

"Wow…" Izuku looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet. He honestly didn't know what to think anymore. "I… I need to get some air. I need time to process this."

"Understandable," Rias nodded. "You can go on ahead."

"Thank you," with a bow, Izuku stood up and went to the door to walk out.

He had forgotten about the wings on his back, causing them to get caught in the doorway. Izuku pulled hard against the door, groaning as he struggled to break free.

"Ah, sorry about that," Rias said quickly. She snapped her fingers, making Izuku's wings vanish. The momentum caused him to fall flat on his face with a thud. Izuku twitched slightly before slowly getting back up and walking away, grumbling.

"He seems to have taken it better than expected," Yuuto said.

"It did look like he felt conflicted though," Koneko spoke.

"Perhaps, but I did that to save him," Rias said. "I'm sure he'll be ready after he's had some time to think."

Izuku stepped out of the building, nursing the bruise on his head. He wasn't sure what to think. He had been turned into a devil, a demon of sorts. What did it mean for his humanity? His life? Was he going to have to give up on his dream? The sunlight draining him right as he stepped outside certainly didn't help.

"I don't even know what to think," he groaned. Looking around, he spotted a bench not far from the ORC building and decided to sit down. "Sacred Gear… I don't even know what I have, but it's apparently powerful enough that a fallen angel tried to kill me because of it. Does that mean it's as powerful as All Might's Quirk, or even greater?Wouldn't-that-mean-other-heroes-are-really-using-Sacred-Gears-instead-of-Quirks?If-so-then-if-I-can-master-my-Sacred-Gear-I-can-be-a-hero?But-what-would-Kacchan-think-about-it?"

"I think he would be rather envious."

"Gah!" Izuku looked up and saw Rias standing nearby, a slight look of amusement on her face. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," she replied. "Was that one of your famous mumble sessions?"

"Uh… yeah… How did you-"

"Yuuto-kun told me about them." Rias then sat down next to him. "I take it you're still unsure."

"I am," Izuku answered. "Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to you for saving me, but… I didn't ask to become a devil."

"Yes, I know. Sorry," Rias sighed, "Listen, you're probably thinking that becoming a devil means you'll have to give up your humanity, right?"

"Isn't that what people usually say?" Izuku said.

"In my opinion, humanity is an ideal and not a state of being," she continued. "There are humans that act more twisted and evil than any devil, such as certain villains like Toxic Chainsaw. Such humans are so twisted that even most devils want nothing to do with them. Just because you're a devil, doesn't quite mean you stop being human or stop acting like one."

"So basically, the only thing that sets me apart from other humans is the wings on my back and aversion to light?" Izuku questioned.

"You'll get used to sunlight eventually. Devils also don't normally have Quirks, and there are several cultural differences," Rias said. "But other than that, devils aren't all that different from humans. It's one of the reasons why contracts between both races are so simple. Each side has something they want, whether it's sinful or not."

"Hm…" Izuku muttered, thinking about her words. "Rias-san…" he began. "Even though I'm a devil now, do you think… I can be a hero?"

Rias smiled, and said, "Yes. I believe you have what it takes to be a hero."

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did Izuku began sobbing. But these were tears of joy. Rias reached over and hugged him, placing his head in her ample bosom as he wept.

The next day after school, Rias and Izuku met at a small park to begin his training. The U.A. Entrance Exam was four and a half months away, and Izuku needed to both learn about his Sacred Gear's abilities and bulk up. Currently, Izuku, in a mint green tracksuit, was doing laps around a park near his apartment. What was slowing him down was a large tire with a rope tied around it and connected to his waist, with Rias sitting on that tire, wearing the standard U.A. gym uniform. The combined weight was making him work harder, making him sweat out like a fountain, water droplets forming into a dark stained path in the dirt as he went.

"Hey, don't slack off," Rias said, her arms folded. "If you slow down I'll add ten more laps."

"Sorry…" Izuku panted tiredly, "Gonna… try… harder…!"

"You'd better," Rias answered back. "In the world of devils, strength is absolute. The stronger you are the easier it is to rise up in ranks. I can't have any of my servants getting weak so a training regiment is to be done every day. This is also in preparation for the U.A. entrance exam, so get moving."

"H… hai…" Izuku groaned.

Not long after he finished jogging, Rias immediately had him doing push-ups. That in itself wouldn't have been too much of a problem despite his muscles being already sore but the pressure was added on with having to do 100 of them, and Rias was sitting on top of his back. She wasn't heavy of course but having someone sit on top of you while you were doing push-ups just made things harder.

"64… remind me again… 65… why you're… 66… on my back…?" Izuku asked, his voice wheezing in the midst of his pushups.

"You need to increase your stamina a lot more than it already is," Rias said to him plainly. "Power means nothing if you can't handle it. Your abilities will be more powerful if your basic physical stamina becomes stronger. And if your body is unfit, then your magic and demonic power could wear it down."

"Stamina… 69… fit body… 70… got it… 71!"

"If you're talking while doing pushups, it must mean that you've improved," Rias said, a sly look appearing on her face, "Shall I add another hundred?"

"No ma'am!" Izuku quickly shouted.

"Then come on! Go faster!"

"R-right! 75…!" 'She's enjoying this a little too much.'

By the time Izuku had gotten to one hundred, his muscles were pulsing and aching, and he could do nothing but lay flat on his face in exhaustion. He gave a silent groan, wishing he could just crawl back into bed again.

"Good job!" said Rias. "You manage to finish within the time allowed. I'm impressed." She took out a water bottle from her bag and handed it to Izuku.

"Th-thank you," Izuku greedily took the bottle and began to chug the liquid.

As he finished half of the bottle, Rias said, "Now we can start learning more about your Sacred Gear."

Izuku put away the half-finished bottle. "So, what should I do to use it?"

"First we need to figure out what it is," Rias then grabbed hold of his left hand, causing the younger boy to blush. "From what I can tell it seems to be within your left hand. Try focusing your feelings into your hand."

"Uh, okay," Izuku closed his eyes, doing what he was told. Suddenly, an armored bracer emerged from his hand. It was red with yellow accents and a green jewel on top of the palm area. "Holy whoa! I did it! …But what is it?"

Rias took a good, long look over Izuku's Sacred Gear. "Hmm… I'm not sure. It may be in a dormant state at the moment." Suddenly, it disappeared.

"Wha-what happened?!"

Rias sighed. "It looks like you still have some way to go," she then smirked. "But if you can keep training, I'm sure you'll be able to get it up and keep it up for a long time."

This caused Izuku's face to once again turn lava red. "Wh-why d-did y-y-you s-say it l-like t-that?!"

"Because you're too easy."

A week into his new life as a devil, Izuku was jogging by himself at the park, Rias, Yuuto, and Koneko were busy fulfilling contracts. Izuku was rather surprised by how simple and straightforward working as a devil was. He had to send out pamphlets that served as tools to summon a devil the previous night. According to Rias, in the devil world, it was essential to rise through the ranks and gain recognition. There were three ways of doing that. Military accomplishments were the fastest way but were very difficult because they were often always dangerous. The three fractions were also at a ceasefire, so that would also make things difficult. Making contracts with humans was the most common way, but it was also tedious and had the longest route. The third and final way was through a Rating Game, but Rias said she would go into a deeper explanation of that later.

After spending the day handing out flyers to people, the night came and it was time to answer the clients. A common thing most devils had was the ability to teleport through magic circles. They would have to use these portals to reach clients quickly

But since his demonic power was still incredibly low, Izuku couldn't simply teleport to the clients and thus was forced to ride a bike to them. Between his schoolwork and his training, Izuku was only able to do a couple of jobs, but one of them ended rather… disturbingly. The image of the muscle man Mil-tan in a very revealing magical girl cosplay still haunted him.

At least now he was able to summon his Sacred Gear more easily, but he and Rias still didn't know what it was yet. Rias had said that part of the reason she went to this meeting was to look for any information about it.

Izuku wanted to learn more about his Sacred Gear, but for now, he focused on his training. As he neared Dagoba Municipal Beach Park, he noticed a couple of girls hauling away some old microwaves.

The first was rather petite with a slender build and is a little shorter than Izuku. Her hair is short, only around chin length, and is dark purple in color with an asymmetrical fringe, and two lighter streaks shaped like sound waves on either side of her head. But her most prominent features are the flexible, plug-like earphone jacks hanging from each of her earlobes at the end of two thin cords. She was wearing a dark purple tank top and black sweatpants with white sneakers.

The other girl had a rather mature figure, being slightly taller than Rias, with long black hair tied into a spiky ponytail with a single bang hanging on the right side of her face. They also seemed to be about the same age as Izuku. Her attire was similar to the first girl's, only she had a light red tank top that revealed a bit of her sports bra and short jeans that stopped just above her knees.

The girl with the earlobes seemed to be in pain. "Don't give up yet, Kyoka! We're almost done for the day!" the taller girl encouraged.

"I… can't… keep up!"

Suddenly, the earlobe girl, Kyoka, tripped on something and began to fall. She screamed, closing her eyes, but nothing broke her fall. "You okay?" Opening her eyes, Kyoka saw that Izuku had caught the microwave, which helped stop her fall.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks."

Izuku and Kyoka put down the microwave next to a trash bin… which had several other microwaves, an old refrigerator, and a couple of bags of scrap next to it. "Uh, w-what are you guys doing?" Izuku asked them.

"Just cleaning up the beach," the other girl answered.

"That beach?" Izuku pointed at the giant piles of trash that litter the beach. "I've heard that because of the ocean currents things dumped into the water wash up here. People use that so they can illegally dump their trash. Why are you cleaning it?"

"Well, we're trying to clean it up as a workout. We're applying to U.A. in a few months." Izuku's eyes widen in surprise when the other girl said this. "A friend recommended it, saying it would also help give back to the community, which is what heroes from before the rise of Quirks did."

"You're applying to U.A. too?" he said.

"Yep…" Kyoka panted. "But… I might… die… before then…"

"You lasted this long, so you'll be fine," said the well-endowed girl. "Anyway, I'm Yaoyorozu Momo," she gestured to Kyoka, who was still panting. "And this is Jiro Kyoka." Kyoka simply waved as she drank the water. "And you are?"

"Oh! I-I'm M-Midoriya I-I-Izuku." Izuku stuttered causing the two girls to laugh a little. He then blinked as realization dawned on him. "I think I know you two. Weren't you saved from a sludge villain by All Might a few months ago?"

Momo gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah. It hasn't been easy these last few months, and not just because of the training…"

Izuku then looked back at the trash-covered beach, wondering why he or Rias didn't think of it. "You've been trying to clean up the beach by the U.A. exams? How long have you been at it?"

"Around five months now," Momo answered. "We started in May."

"Oh wow. That sounds nearly impossible."

"I said the same thing…" Kyoka grunted.

"We can get it done in time," said Momo. "If we keep moving forward, we'll both be in U.A. before we know it!"

Izuku smiled at them. They were just as serious about getting into U.A. as him. "I'm sure you two can do it. We all will if we work hard." Izuku said clenching his fist. "I need to get going. Good luck," Izuku then continued on his jog. "Maybe I'll stop by and help sometimes."

"Please DO!"

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at Kyoka's plea. As he continued on his jog, his mind wandered back to the girls, wondering who their friend was.

Izuku then tripped.

'Oh great.'

Izuku closed his eyes as he took a nose dive, expecting to hit the hard ground… only to not. Opening his eyes, Izuku gasped when he realized he was floating in the air, a brown-haired girl next to him.

"Are you ok?" The girl asked in a sweet voice as Izuku started struggling in midair. Izuku steadied himself as the girl set him back on the ground.

She was more or less the same height as him with her hair styled in a bob cut with 2 bangs going along the side of her face on each side. She had brown eyes and a perma-blush on her face. But her most distinguishing feature was the animal paw-like pads on her fingers. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and black shorts and white loafers.

"T-t-t-thanks f-for that." Izuku stuttered.

"It's no problem!" She said nicely. "I'm sorry for using my Quirk on you without asking but it was kinda my fault you fell like that."

"Huh?" Looking back, Izuku saw that what he tripped on was a light pink 1000-gram dumbbell. "You doing training here?"

"Yeah! Trying to prep for the U.A. entrance exam."

Izuku blinked a few times. "You're the third girl today I've met who's training for U.A."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There are these two girls trying to clean up Dagoba Beach for their training."

The girl blinked a few times. "That… sounds impossible."

"I said the same thing."

The two had a quick chuckle. "Oh, I'm Uraraka, by the way. Uraraka Ochako."

"I'm M-Midoriya Izuku," the two chatted for a bit, Ochako explaining that she's practicing lifting heavy objects for as long as she can so she won't get sick, demonstrating with her putting away her equipment by floating them into her bag. Izuku immediately noted that her Quirk can easily be used in rescue operations with how it can lift both injured people but also debris, both surprising and impressing the brunet.

Eventually, Ochako needed to leave. "See you later," she said before heading off. 'He sure was cute!' she thought to herself as she left.

Izuku was about to continue his jog when he realized something. 'I JUST TALKED TO THREE DIFFERENT GIRLS LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!'

A little while later, Izuku was hanging onto a low branch, doing pull-ups. "…96 …97 …98 …99 …1-"

"Hawaau!"

"Huh?" Izuku looked toward the source, and saw a girl on the ground, having tripped. It was a girl of medium height, but instead of hair, she had green, thorn-covered vines. The vines were of manageable length, just above her waist, though she had a light blue scarf with a floral border covering her head. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved, ankle-length green dress along with a turquoise shawl, and light green boots.

In front of her was an opened suitcase, bits of clothes spewed about, along with a silver cross necklace. "Owww…" she groaned. "Why did I trip like that?"

Izuku, without hesitation, ran over to her, offering his hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yes, thank you," she said as she took Izuku's hand. Now that she was standing up, Izuku saw that she was a little taller than him. She gave a slight bow before turning to her scattered belongings, sighing.

"I can help pick this up," Izuku offered.

"Oh! Thank you."

It didn't take long for them to pick up the discarded clothing. But the silver cross gave Izuku some trouble. Looking at it alone gave him chills. When he tried to touch it, his hand felt like it was on fire. Even when he picked it up by the chain his hand felt like it was over a hot stove. Izuku did his best to ignore the pain, giving the cross back to the girl.

"Thank you very much, sir," she said, taking the cross from Izuku.

"It wasn't any problem," Izuku replied. 'My hand's numb.' "Are you traveling?"

"Not exactly," she put the necklace away in her bag. "I'm trying to find the church in this city… and got lost."

'Church? Does she mean the old church near the Korusanto ward? Isn't it abandoned?' "I think I know where the church is. Would you like me to take you?"

The girl's eyes widen in surprise before she smiled. "Really?! Oh, thank you! This must be an act of God's divine grace!" She said, making a sign of the cross with her hand.

A sharp pain rocketed through Izuku's head, causing him to gag.

"Ah! What's wrong?!"

"N-Nothing!" Izuku said, the pain now gone. "Just a little migraine! There's nothing wrong with me! Let's go!" With that Izuku led the way, with the confused girl not far behind. But before they could get far, the sound of a young boy crying caught their attention. Without hesitating, the girl ran over to him. "H-Hey!"

"Are you okay?" she asked. The boy only kept crying. A large cut on his knee was the case of the boy's distress. "It's okay." She placed her hands over the boy's knee. Two small, silver rings with a light green gem appeared on her middle fingers. A light green glow then appeared over the boy's knee. Izuku's arm suddenly began to ache.

Izuku's and the boy's eyes widened as the cut disappeared along with the glow.

"There, all better," said the girl. She was right. The boy's knee was completely healed.

"Oh, wow. Thanks, onee-chan!"

As the boy ran off, waving goodbye and thanking her while doing so, Izuku asked, "Was that… a Quirk?"

"Oh, no," she replied. "It's a miraculous power to heal granted to me by God."

Izuku realized that only one other thing that light could've been: a Sacred Gear. 'She has a Sacred Gear, too? Is that why my hand ached like that?' He looked at his left hand, which held his Sacred Gear. 'She's able to both freely summon it and use its power. Right now I can only summon mine for about ten minutes, and even then I still don't know what it can do.'

Clenching his fist, Izuku and the girl continued on their way to the church.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the two reached the edge of the Korusanto ward, the church in plain view atop a hill. "Ah! This is it! I'm so glad!" the girl exclaimed.

Izuku, however, had a harsh chill running throughout his body. 'My body won't stop shaking… It must be because of how close I am to the church.' "Well, I should be going now…"

"No, wait!" she gripped hold of Izuku's arm. "Let me repay you for your help. Do you want to stay for tea?"

"Uh, I can't," Izuku did his best to stop his body from shaking. "I need to get home soon, or my mom will get worried." He wasn't exactly lying. "We never properly introduced each other, did we? My name's Midoriya Izuku."

"I'm Shiozaki Ibara," she bowed. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-san. I hope to see you again soon."

AN:

EDIT: Did some edits, removing Toshinori from this chapter due to the retcon.