Corruption of the Light.
Ch. 3
o-o-O-o-o
Izuku wasn't sure if he should be worried or not, but the look Mr. Miyagi was giving him was anything but comforting to him. His teacher just stared at him hard, not saying a word, he wasn't even sure he was blinking, before the older man looked away and heaved a sigh.
"Midoriya, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?"
The teen shook his head.
"Well, let me paint you a picture. It's about a teacher, an underpaid one if I'm to be frank, but a teacher nonetheless. Who after a long week of dealing with teens who are usually pains in the ass on a good day, finally get a chance to spend some quality time with the missus..."
Izuku was not liking where this was going…
"...I had planned to order take out for us so she wouldn't have to cook and I had begun to work my magic..."
The way Mr. Miyagi had worded 'magic' made Izuku's stomach twist, he didn't need that mental image.
"...and things were getting heavy when of all things happen, a news report pops on the TV, and me being an idiot looks at it for a second when I see a familiar head of hair and I open my mouth. Now my wife is demanding I contact your mother with nookie off the table till I do so..." Miyagi gave his student the look of a man defeated."...And Midoriya, your mother is goddamn terrifying. I've never met the woman, but the way she sounded on the phone had me scared, and she never raised her voice. How is that possible?"
'That's mom for ya' Izuku thought to himself.
"But we're drifting away from the point. I know I told you somethings, but never did I imagine you would get yourself into the situation you did. I know you're smarter than that, so why the hell did you do it?"
The teen held his silence for a bit before finally speaking. "Because no one else was willing to risk themselves."
That comment knocked the strength out of the tongue lashing he was planning. Now Miyagi began to notice his student's appearance. The boy looked tired, going past the usually Monday morning tiredness that most teens had. Going so far to look like he had spent the weekend at some Russian gulag. Izuku's posture was sagging, and even he could tell the boy was hurting just standing there.
"What happened to you?" He found himself asking before thinking of the teen's run in with a possible villainess. "I mean besides the obvious?"
"I found someone willing to train me. You know, getting myself in shape to prepare for UA."
"You look like you've been through hell's boot camp."
Izuku internally winced as Miyagi hit the nail on the head concerning how he spent the weekend.
"This person training you does understand that you are still a student right? And that he can't be running you ragged?" His teacher asked, "I will step in if need be. Can't be having one of our top students failing because he cant stay awake in class."
" We already worked something out so my schooling won't be affected."
Miyagi kept a wary eye on his student, part of him didn't believe Izuku, but then again this was Izuku Midoriya. One of the few students he had that truly understood how important a good education was for success. So if the boy had told him that he already planned ahead, he would believe him. He couldn't let him off easy though…
"I'll trust you… for now, Midoriya. Though I would like you to stop by later, but I need to let you go, because if I remember right, your first period is not a free period and I wouldn't want you to be late, just remember to stop by when you get a chance."
Izuku nodded before adjusting his bag and checking his watch. He still had a few minutes to make it his next class…
o-o-O-o-o
The first half of the school day went as normal. None of his other teachers made any comments about what had happened Friday, leading Izuku to believe they either didn't pay too much attention to the news or didn't put two and two together. Either was fine with the teen, he didn't need another talking to. Though that led to him noticing another oddity. Bakugou seemed to be actively avoiding him.
The two shared several classes besides homeroom and Bakugou would give at least one snide remark when he was in earshot but today was nothing but silence from him. The volatile teen even went so far to look away first which weirded out Izuku. Katsuki was never one to back down from a challenge.
Now that was food for thought for Izuku as he looked for an empty classroom to eat his lunch in peace as he wandered the hallways unaware of the upcoming danger as he passed the library, not noticing the slight sound of a door sliding open or the feminine arm snake out. Well not noticing till he felt a painful grip on his ear as he was pulled into the library. Then he felt terror, terror in a rather small package as he heard a voice speak.
"Midoriya-senpai..."
o-o-O-o-o
Miyagi whistled a small tune as he graded papers when he heard the door to his office open, revealing a rather haggard looking Izuku. An Izuku who walked woodenly to one of the chairs that sat across from his desk before flopping down in one. The he stared at nothing, not even blinking. Which was honestly beginning to creep Miyagi out. The boy looked like he had just returned from the trenches with shell shock. So he called his name with no response.
It had taken him leaning forward and snapping his fingers to pull the boy out of whatever kind of funk of he was in.
Izuku blinked, eyes finally focusing on his teacher, "Mr. Miyagi?" Then he noticed where he was while not remembering how he got here exactly or when he left the library. "How did I get here?"
"You walked in looking like you've seen hell. You okay?"
"I don't remember leaving the library… She was like a mini-mom. She made me feel like I was a child that broke my mother's vase. She scolded me for like five straight minutes nonstop. She didn't even pause to breathe. Is that her quirk? She doesn't need to breathe?"
"Midoriya, I don't have the faintest clue who you are talking about."
Izuku started to gesture as he spoke, describing the girl. "About this tall. Black hair with pigtails..."
Miyagi just sat quiet as he listened to Izuku describe the girl, he of course knew exactly who Izuku was describing. All the teachers did, but he felt the boy needed to finish speaking, to vent a little. Finally the boy paused long enough to take in some much needed air.
"So Chidori got a hold of you?"
"You know her?" Izuku asked.
"Of course, she heads the Moral committee when she's not helping in the library."
"We have a Moral committee?"
Miyagi nodded. "We have a Moral committee, like most schools. Hell we have championship level water polo team."
"We have a pool?"
Miyagi just stared at his student. "You know, for someone so smart. You're a bit dense. Though I'm not exactly sure why Miss Saito would be after you, much less know you."
"Well..." Izuku rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. "I first met her last Friday..."
o-o-O-o-o
The rest of the school day had passed without incident, though Izuku could have gone without Miyagi laughing at him for being chewed out by Chidori, nor did he appreciate his teacher laughing even harder when he described the girl as the second coming of his mother. It almost had him contemplating siccing his mother on him, but he couldn't could he. That would be like unleashing the kraken, a kraken that would come back and bite him in the ass when she found out his teacher didn't do anything wrong. He still was tempted though.
Thankfully Dagobah was coming into view. Picking up garbage would give him time to think about what his life had become…
o-o-O-o-o
Things started to settle into a sort of rut and soon a month had passed since he began training with All Might and he was starting to notice a difference. He first started noticing he wasn't aching as much anymore, even as he started loading Yagi's truck with heavier and heavier bits of garbage. Then there was the fact the man had started to need make more and more trips to the dump per training day.
Then there was a little remark his mother made one night after training that his clothes weren't fitting like they used to. It took a little help from his mom, but he managed to measure his height and the result had surprised him. He had grown nearly six centimeters in a month. How he wasn't sure, but he had an inkling that it was the result of the extra food he had been eating and his body making up for it. Not that he was complaining, he didn't like being a bean sprout. Hell if he kept up this rate of growth he would catch up to Bakugou, maybe even surpass him…
That was another thing. Bakugou had avoided him for a few weeks, but slowly things fell back into their old routine with Bakugou making his snide remarks while his lackeys followed his example, but Izuku chose to be the bigger man and ignored them. Rather spending his days at school minding his own, or hanging out with Mr. Miyagi in his office or with Chidori in the library. With the former they discussed older movies while Miyagi gave him more recommendations, on a side note he was right about Evil Dead, Izuku steered clear of any greenery larger than hedge for two weeks after watching it.
While his time he spent with Chidori was more about talking more normal things like school or their family life.
Chidori had revealed that she was an only child though she did have a cousin that she was rather close to. It was his suggestion that she joined the Moral committee. She also apologized for the tongue lashing she had given him. Izuku of course forgave her, offering to help her some school work as penance.
It was during the second month of training that things took a slightly strange turn as his mother told him that he was to invite Mr. Yagi to dinner. She of course said it was because she wanted to thank the man who had been taking care of her boy. What had surprised him even more was how easily Yagi had agreed to it, leading to where we find Izuku now.
Dinner was supposed to a simple affair, his mother had been needling for several days about what kind of foods that Yagi liked. He didn't know, the most he saw the man eat was sandwiches while he drank his coffee, so he suggested something simple. It was finally settled that she would make curry, which was currently simmering on the stove as his mother went to double check her appearance.
That was another thing, for a simple dinner his mother had rather aggressively suggested that the both of them should dress in something nice. She of course had a rather nice looking slate dress, but he was left with some ill fitting slacks with a dress shirt that was tight around the shoulders, the tie was deemed a lost cause. So he sat waiting as his mother hummed as she made her way back to the kitchen, when he heard knocking coming from the front door as his mother's voice rang out from the kitchen.
"Izuku, that has to be our guest. Will you be a dear and let him in. I'll be out to greet him in a sec."
Izuku just sighed as he pulled himself up and towards the door, opening it to reveal Yagi wearing a suit that must've been tailored for his hero form because it was all but hanging off the man's frame. He looked to be as happy as Izuku was to be dressed up.
"Don't give me that look," Izuku said quiet enough that his mother wouldn't hear him. "You agreed to this."
"I thought I had something that fit better..." The older man muttered.
Izuku was about to make another remark but the sound of his mother sucking in a breath stopped him.
Turning around he found his mother looking like he had expected. Hand held up to her mouth, eyes slightly widened in fear, yeah Yagi had that effect on people, the man could loom without even notice he was doing it.
"Ah, Mrs. Midoriya. I have been wanting to meet you for a long time. Young Midoriya has told me so much about you."
"Did he now?" Inko asked..
Izuku just shot a look at the older man. His mother was one of the things he didn't really talk about with Yagi, and the man was now looking at her with a gaze that just increased his unease he felt in his gut.
"Indeed, though his words did not do you justice..." The older man said smoothly as he presented a small pink box. "I have also brought cake though I doubt it is as sweet as you."
Was All Might trying to hit on his mom? Why was she blushing? His mom didn't blush, she instilled fear in mortal men, not look bashful as she took baked goods from his trainer/favorite hero.
"Well thank you." Inko said with a small smile as she took the box, all the while trying to ignore the warmth in her cheeks. "We'll have to have some for dessert. Speaking of which, dinner still needs some time so Izuku, would you mind entertaining our guest for a little while? He's a fan of heroes right?"
Oh he'd entertain their guest… "Yeah mom, I'll show Mr. Yagi my collection..." Okay that sounded a lot more sinister than he planned, though Yagi didn't seem to notice.
"What a wonderful idea, come Young Midoriya. Show me your hero collection while your mother finishes her cooking. Though I must say if it is good as it smells it will be truly delicious."
Izuku tried to restrain the shudder that wanted to come due to the cheesiness of his mentor, but when he heard his mother start giggling from the kitchen, all hope was lost. So just sighed as he led Yagi to his room, making sure to close the door behind him before he whirled on the man.
"The hell was that?"
"Hmm?" Yagi said as he paused his examination of the various figures that took up the many shelves of the room as he turned to the room's owner. "What was what?"
"You..." Izuku jammed his finger at Yagi before whipping around and pointing in the direction of the kitchen. "...Her. You putting the moves on my mom." He may have idolized All Might, but he wasn't about to let him have a go at his mom..."
"Young Midoriya..." Yagi spoke in a hushed tone as continued to look around the teen's room. "I wasn't attempting to put the moves, as you call it, on your mother. If you took it as such, I apologize. It's been a long time since I spent time with the opposite gender outside of a professional setting..."
Izuku just stared at the older man, waiting for him to continue when he took notice of what caused the man to trail off. Yagi was staring at a shelf that was close to the ceiling, well away from his mother's eyes but apparently , at his most recent acquisitions. Courteous of a much greater amount of pocket money and an appetite for hero merch in all its many forms…
Reaching forward, Yagi plucked one of the figures of the shelf before turning to the teen with hollow looking eyes, holding a small figurine in his hands. "Midoriya, what the hell is this?"
Izuku glanced at the figurine in his trainer's hands to the eyes of said trainer, mind going a mile a minute trying to figure out how to explain what Yagi was holding without being too creepy…
"Well, it's an ultra rare figurine, that only about a thousand were made..."
Yagi just blinked. "Why does it look like a female version of me, and does it have these little removable pieces over my, gods forgive me for saying this…, its bits?"
"Well it was based off your fight with the villain Shindol, whose quirk Metamorphosis, temporarily turned you as well as the current second rank hero, Endeavor, into the opposite sex..." Izuku suddenly found Yagi's face centimeters from his own.
"Are you telling me people made a figure of me at one of the lowest points of my career as a hero?"
"It's more of a series..." Izuku paused as he watched Yagi's face take on a more haunted look, wisely keeping quiet about the fact that did indeed own the rest of the series, currently tucked away in a box in his closet. "As for the removable clothing? Battle damage?" He said with a small shrug.
Yagi just stood there, mind reliving memories he would have rather kept repressed. The feeling of something important suddenly going missing. The unusual feeling of two extra weights on his chests. The awkward feelings he got at seeing a topless Endeavor, another victim of Shindol's though he would admit the man made a quite fetching woman, and the effects had lasted nearly two weeks. Two weeks of strange fluctuations of hormones and unusual feelings. Oh he was going to the dark place again…
Thankfully Inko's voice announcing that dinner broke Yagi from going to dark place fully. Though he wasn't appreciative of the little vindictive smirk that Izuku wore when he spoke.
"Shall we go eat?"
o-o-O-o-o
Dinner was a mostly normal affair. Small talk was made between the three of them. Yagi had explained he worked at hero's agency and seeing Izuku's daring actions had moved him to take the boy under his wing. He also had to explain why he couldn't finish his plate, telling Inko he was a survivor of an abdominal injury, making it painful to more than a small amount of food at a time. Something Inko understood, though she did make the suggestion that the man should eat more, smaller meals. Saying he was practically skin and bones.
After that, the topics went in a completely new direction with Inko asking Yagi how exactly he was training her son, laughing at her son's misfortune that the reason he came home some days stinking of garbage was because he was literally working in it. She did thank Yagi though. His paying of her son had helped with the grocery bills as Izuku's new appetite was putting a hammer to the family budget.
Finally dinner was finished and Yagi's cake was served, much to Inko's delight as she thanked the man once again. Feeling a slight tingle in the back of her mind as she observed the man's kind smile as he claimed it wasn't a problem, though she missed the man's slight jump or Izuku's slight jerk as she gathered the plates.
Yagi soon found himself standing at the front door, holding a bag that contained several containers of leftovers courtesy of Inko, while Young Midoriya was staring quite intently at him from behind the woman.
"Now Mr. Yagi, I expect you to not let any of this food go to waste. You need to put some more meat on those bones of yours. Also feel free to stop in anytime you feel like if you're in a need a good home cooked. Think of it as my thanks for taking care of my boy..." Inko said as she gave him a small bow.
Yagi just smiled, before he found himself being led outside before finding himself all alone as the teen went back inside, pausing only to make the gesture that Izuku was going to be watching him. Leaving the man with a single thought… 'What did I get myself into?'
o-o-O-o-o
Training after Yagi's home visit was different one can say. Things were tense between Izuku and Yagi, well more like being tense on Izuku's end. Not that you could blame the kid. The man had an odd smile when he gave Izuku the leftover containers and a message to pass onto his mother. So yes, in Izuku's mind the wariness was well worth it.
On the other hand some real progress had been made at Dagobah. The truly nasty garbage had been finally cleared away, taking away a large part of the vermin both flying and grounded, as well as making the smell at the beach finally tolerable to the teen. Now instead of looking like a dump next to the ocean, looked like a scrap yard. With rusted out cars and other bits of machinery being the main focus of the beach. Which turned out to be really damn heavy, as Izuku aching muscles could attest to.
It also had Yagi making more trips to the scrapyard, as his truck could only hold so much before the springs bottomed out. It was during one of these trips that Izuku had finally managed to hurt himself.
It had been a Saturday late in the spring. The relatively comfortable temperatures giving way to a mugginess that forced Izuku to strip away his shirt if wanted to continue working with some modicum of comfort. Thankfully Yagi had the forethought to leave behind a cooler filled with water, that Izuku was currently partaking, before he returned to his task at hand.
Now he should have paid more attention to his surroundings as he pulled a piece of sheet metal from a pile that was twice as tall as he was when something in the pile had shifted. Causing the whole mess to tumble down around the teen, covering him in sand and dust. Coughing, the teen waved a hand in front of his face in an attempt to clear away his vision. Then his mind finally took notice that the act of waving was causing a fair bit of pain, nix that, it was causing him a lot of pain. The reason becoming obvious as the dust had begun to settle…
Izuku had managed to get a long gash down his right forearm down to back of his hand. A wound that appeared to be really bad, if the non-stop bleeding was an indication. Though Izuku would be the first to admit his medical knowledge at this point was nil. Maybe he should go get the first aid kit? Yeah that sounded like a plan.
Thankfully Yagi was one of those that tended to err on the side of caution when it came to being prepared. So there was large satchel filled with medical supplies sitting next to the cooler. Which led Izuku to a new problem. How the hell was he supposed to dress his wound with one hand?
"You need a hand boyo?"
Izuku jumped in surprise, whirling around to find himself looking at a person he didn't recognize. Long spiky black hair framed a feminine face, that was currently covered with a black medical style mask. Deep purple eyes shadow made a set of blue eyes pop as they took him in, and were those facial piercings? They were a bit different from what he usually saw, but not too out of place.
The figure wore what appeared to be a gakuran, though a size too small for their frame as the white shirt they wore was bursting out of it, and while the face gave a hint at femininity. Her body confirmed it as Izuku found himself staring at a rather impressive chest above an adorable amount of girl tummy that revealed more purple marks. Now what did Izuku do to deserve a visit from a sexy female delinquent? His arm twinged painfully in response. Oh that's what he did...
"You know, while I can appreciate a guy giving me a good look up and down. You are still bleeding." The young woman said, notably staring at Izuku's dripping arm.
Izuku felt himself flush as he was called out before looking down at his arm, noting that it was indeed still bleeding, though a fair bit slower than it was minutes ago, before finding it being held by the woman as she leaned down to examine it. Izuku idly noted that the woman was slightly taller than him, and her bedside could use some work as she dragged a gloved finger along the edge of his wound.
"Doesn't look too bad now that I got a closer look at it." She said as clicked her tongue. "Need to sterilize it before bandaging it up, but it doesn't look like you need stitches. Though it will probably leave a scar, not that it's a bad thing. Guys look better with scars. It gives them character." The woman said as she faced the teen, her smirk obvious even through her mask, making the teen's flush a deeper shade of red before she left him to rummage through the first aid bag.
"Listen...Miss..." Izuku started before finding himself interrupted as the woman came back with several bottles in hand.
"You can call me Toh..." She said before opening a bottle of saline and promptly began squirting directly into the gash, making the teen hiss in pain. "Oh suck it up. Tis but a scratch."
Izuku continued to wince, but had to comment on her remark especially since she said it with perfect pronunciation. "We are not in Monty Python movie."
The woman paused her ministrations to give Izuku an appraising look. "Good taste in movies. Now hold still!"
Izuku did as he was told, willing himself to not jerk as the woman continued to flush his wound clear of blood and debris. Glad when she finally emptied the bottle as she examined his arm once again.
"Looked a lot worse than it is. Guess you're a bit of a bleeder. Definitely don't need stitches." She paused as she twisted a cap of one of the smaller bottles with one hand. "Now for the fun part..."
Nothing could have prepared Izuku for the stinging of his arm to get replaced with the sensation of cold flames licking down his arm. "Holy hell! It burns!"
Before finding a gloved hand covering his mouth. "Keep it down will ya. A little burn is better than an infection. Now give me the bandages you've been holding for the last five minutes."
Izuku wisely did as he was told, relinquishing the bandages to Toh's less than merciful hands and watched in silence as the woman expertly wrapped his arm, before wincing once more as she finished her work with a light slap on his arm, inadvertently revealing a small portion of her forearm, colored the same as the rest of her markings he noted.
"There, keep it as clean as you can, which isn't going to be too easy considering what you've been doing the past few weeks..."
Izuku perked up at that comment, giving her a questioning look.
"People nearby pay attention to someone who show's up daily to clean up the local beach. Especially the bored housewives. They really appreciate the show when you're done for the day."
'What show?' Izuku thought to himself before the mortification began to set in…
"Oh don't look like that. There are worst things than being ogled by a bunch of lonely women." Toh said with a smirk.
"Like what?!"
A giggle erupted from Toh before she spoke. "A bunch of lonely dudes? Though if that's your thing, I'm not going say anything. I don't kink shame. Though I too appreciate the view as of late, especially when you made the switch from boxers to boxer briefs..."
Izuku felt he was going to faint from all the blood rushing to his face as the woman continued to tease him, or was it flirting. Izuku wasn't sure, he was never good with social cues. One of the reasons he believed he was still friends with Katsuki till someone in middle school had pointed out just how much of an asshole he was and how horribly Katsuki treated him.
Suddenly Toh's masked face right in front of his. "That Katsuki guy sounds like an all round dick."
"Gah!" Izuku yelped as he fell back into the sand with Toh now leaning over him.
"You need to break that habit of muttering you have. The whole point of having an inner monologue, is the inner part. Though it is kind of endearing..." The sounds of brakes squeaking interrupted what she was going to say. "Going to take that as my cue to leave. You take care of yourself cutie, and who knows? Maybe I'll stop by again.
And with that she turned away and made for the steps that led to the street, stopping long enough to turn around and say one more thing. "As for if I was teasing you or flirting with you. That's for me to know and you to spend the next few days stressing about."
With her piece said, Toh continued up the stairs, nodding once to Yagi as she passed. Leaving a gobsmacked Izuku on the beach.
"You okay Young Midoriya?" Yagi asked as he got close enough to Izuku to note the fresh bandages wrapping the teen's arm, the boy not giving him the least bit of mind.
"I think I have a new fetish."
"What?"
o-o-O-o-o