So are you all ready for some exciting, pulse-pounding filler action? Hecks yeah you are.
Also, notes at the end concerning future updates for those interested.
It was past sundown, past the time when most sane people would have yawned loudly, kicked their chair back and headed home to their families. But this wasn't a place for sane people.
This was the teacher's lounge.
Toshinori's hands, thin and long and frail, were linked together as he leaned forward, his mouth hidden but his dark, sunken eyes and bone-sharp cheekbones were cast in the artificial light of his computer screen. Behind him shadowed the figure of a man broken, hanging on only by skin and bone. Limp, dirty blonde hair hung around his face, shoulders rested broad but somehow fragile, as if the weight of the world would crush them any second now.
But his eyes. Deep within the eternally dark, sunken pits of his eyes glowed a blue inner fire which no man could match. They were the eyes of a man who had seen the very worst of humanity, the very depths of hell, and had come out still believing in the essential virtue of the soul of mankind.
And right at that moment they were focused ahead of him on the video he had played and replayed almost fifty times now.
It was grainy footage despite the high-tech quality, mostly because of the constant shaking and shuddering of the camera itself. He could see it clear as day though, the vast green metal of the zero-point robot rolling through the U.A. urban training ground.
His eyes narrowed as something suddenly jumped up, a sharp black blur against the green. His hand moved down to the keyboard where he tapped a key, causing the video to freeze. He then began tapping the key successively, each tap moving the video just a single frame forwards until the black blur formed a shape.
It was still blurry of course, still highly pixilated and out of focus but it was unmistakable. Wings. Black and great coming out of the back of… someone.
Izuku Midoriya.
Except he wasn't sure if that even was Izuku Midoriya because he remembered the boy. The skinny bag of jittering nerves who he'd found that day outside the underpass tunnel. The boy who looked like a stiff breeze would undo him.
Who had dismantled a villain before All Might had even got there.
He began clicking the video forward again, trying to spot something, anything new, even if it was just a hint of the boy's face or body. He knew of course that there was not, he'd done this several times by now but each time he just hoped something new would emerge.
Click. The boy seemed to hover in the air for just a second. Click. The wings spread out. Click. The camera burst into static like a bomb had gone off beside it. Click. Through the static he could make out fire. Lots of fire. Blue and dark and bright all at once. Click. Smoke and ash and metal. Click. Devastation everywhere, the robot disintegrating. Click. Something dropping out of the sky bleeding smoke and ash. Click. It's the boy, Midoriya, now wingless and visible.
And the rest, as they say, was history.
With a heavy sigh, Toshinori reached for the mouse and reeled the footage back before clicking on it again, this time turning up the sound from the speakers.
The sound of the machine practically smothered all others as the black shape shot up suddenly amidst the sound of grinding metal on stone.
Then, for a single split-second, Toshinori listened to the sound of the universe screaming in pain before the camera half-died and everything became hissing static until the sound of a robot the size of a tower crane dying finally won out.
There was no other footage, at least not clear enough or focused on the scene in question. The cameras that had been closer to the robot, including the robot's own internal camera, had been either utterly demolished or had short-circuited the moment that soul-wrenching scream had torn through the air.
Another deep sigh as he leaned back into his chair.
"What are you doing?" The low, commanding voice of Aizawa shot out from the shadows like a thrown dagger, causing Toshinori to leap up suddenly in his chair and cough out a fistful of blood.
"AGH! Aizawa! Don't creep up on me like that!" The rail-thin man panted as he wiped the blood from his lips. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"The great and powerful All Might killed by being spooked in the dark." Aizawa sardonically sniped as he walked up to the man, a folder of stuffed papers held in one hand. "If only your enemies knew it'd be that easy."
"If only." Toshinori mumbled back as he shot a glance to the black-clad teacher before looking back to the screen. "I was just going over my notes for tomorrow and I realized something."
"What?"
"This boy, young Midoriya." Toshinori's fingers linked together again as he slumped back in the chair. "His quirk doesn't have a name."
The air went still for a moment before Aizawa put his notes to one side. "Show me the file."
Toshinori leaned back over for a moment, hunting through a slightly disorganized mess of papers before pulling out a single sheet. On it was a mugshot picture of a very nervous, somewhat sickly-looking boy along with a list of information. He held it out to his friend, "See what I mean?"
Aizawa took the paper and held it up in the dim light, tired eyes scanning the information quickly. "Name, Izuku Midoriya," He mumbled under his breath, "Age, fifteen," He went quiet for a second as he finally spotted the information he'd been hunting. "Quirk, fire related." This caused him to pause and his lip curled. "Fire related? That's all they wrote?"
"It's not been updated in some time, but clearly they got it wrong. I mean…" Toshinori waved a hand at the screen. "We saw what happened in the exam. That," And he pointed at the winged form of the boy, "Is not fire."
"Though clearly he has some fire-related abilities. He practically burnt half the course down during his tests on today." Aizawa commented dryly. "Though he hurt himself while doing so. His quirk seems to demand a lot of him." He frowned slowly and his voice drifted for a moment. "And that blue fire…"
"What about it?" Toshinori turned slightly in the chair to better see his old friend.
For a moment, Aizawa's gaze became shadowed and Toshinori felt the air chill around him. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."
Something subtle in the teacher's tone told Toshinori to drop it and drop it now. The blonde didn't push it any further and instead turned his eyes back to the pixilated image of the boy in question.
"Did you see this?" Aizawa commented suddenly, holding the paper out so Toshinori could see it and pointing to a small section towards the bottom.
"Oh, yeah." Toshinori sighed almost sadly. "He suffers from schizophrenia, poor kid. He's on medication though, his mother signed all the appropriate forms and so have his doctors. As long as he keeps it under control I don't see how it'll affect his training."
The black-clad teacher remained silent, looking back to the profile again before speaking. "He has potential, All Might. His use of his quirk is years behind the others, it's like he's starting from scratch, and he's using it recklessly. I suspect this is, at least in some part, due to his mental illness." There was another pause, this one shorter, "But he has drive, maybe more drive than anyone else in the entire class." He lightly tossed the form back down onto Toshinori's keyboard. "When are you teaching them their first hero basic training lesson?"
"Tomorrow, that's why I was here," Toshinori replied with a concerned tone. "But I'm a bit worried about training him if I don't know what his quirk is capable of."
"We never know," Aizawa replied with a shrug picked up his own stack of files. "That's the point. That's why we're here. Still, that boy will be trouble."
Toshinori almost laughed at that. Aizawa never made jokes, though sometimes he could be very sharp in his own way. "Why, because of his quirk?"
Aizawa turned and began vanishing back into the dim gloom of the teacher's lounge. "No, because he reminds me of you."
Izuku still wasn't used to the idea that he was attending U.A. In many ways he felt like an intruder, sneaking in through the back door. The little demon child hanging out with the angels and hoping no one would notice the wonky halo and the taped-on wings.
He even had a lingering fear that he'd walk into class one day and be told there was a mistake, that he wasn't supposed to be there, and he'd be sent home in shame.
He still couldn't believe that Ochaco and Tenya had walked with him to the station. They all took separate trains but even so, he'd never had anyone walk home with him before. Well, it wasn't actually walking home but it was still a walk. With people. People who he dared, deep inside, to possibly call his new friends.
It all seemed… wrong somehow. Not bad, but unreal. Like it was all the wind up to some gigantic cosmic joke that he'd be the butt of.
As he walked up the steps to his home he couldn't help but allow a tiny smile to snake its way across his lips. For a first day it'd been… hectic to say the least, and yet, he'd talked to more people than the last five years of his old school life. Maybe, as long as he could keep the thing contained and controlled, maybe he could actually get through U.A. Maybe he could even have fun, though such a thing was so wild an idea he barely even considered it a possibility.
He unlocked the door and immediately the sound of his mother hit his ears.
She was shouting.
"No! I told you no!"
Izuku froze. He had never heard that tone come from his mother before. He had heard her angry, sure, annoyed, irritated, pissed off even. This was something else, this was… fury. Venom. This was hate.
He moved into the home, closing the door as quietly as he could behind him.
"I don't give a shit! You're not to talk to him! Ever!"
He moved slowly down the corridor, his footsteps as quiet as he could possibly make them while wishing desperately that the old wooden flooring didn't give him away.
"I. DON'T. CARE. Leave him the hell alone!" There was a sudden clattering followed instantly by loud sobbing.
Izuku moved. No longer caring about stealth or secrecy his entire world was suddenly filled only by the sound of his mother's distress. A sound that no child would ever wish to hear, that no son would ever wish to ignore.
He was at his mother's side before she even realized he was there, his arms wrapping around her tightly, his bag forgotten somewhere on the floor, along with Inko's thrown phone.
"Izuku!" Inko briefly tried to fight him off, purely out of shock, but the teenager's arms were too strong and instead he simply gripped her tighter. She stopped fighting and for a moment she sat, embraced by her son before her arms raised and took him suddenly around the neck. Angry, hurt tears fell onto her son's shoulders as she continued to sob. It was some time before she stopped and sniffled loudly as she sat back. She took a second to reach over to the coffee table, picking up a box of ever-needed tissues and wiping the tears from her eyes.
Izuku's eyes were wide, almost teary himself, as he searched his mother's face for any reason why this had even happened.
Before he could ask she began speaking, her voice hoarse, "I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"What happened?" His hand moved to her shoulder. The thought of his mother so upset, so angry like he had never heard her before was tearing at his heart and he swore he could even feel the dark power of the thing react in subtle fury at the idea of someone hurting Inko.
"I…" She went to answer, then paused. Her eyes moved to her hands as she fidgeted with her tissue. "It's nothing, really, you shouldn't-"
"Mom, come on, I'm really worried about you." Izuku pushed, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "What happened? Can I help you with it? Do you need me to do anything? Was it U.A.? Did I do something wrong?"
Inko shook her head suddenly, "It's nothing you did, really, Izuku." She looked to him and flashed him a broken smile. "You're perfect."
"No, I'm not." The teenager's reply was practically instant. "I'm the literal worst and-"
"No. You're perfect." His mother's hands were suddenly on his face, holding him lightly and looking deep into his eyes. "No matter what, you're my amazing, wonderful, perfect superhero son, okay? You're an angel."
Izuku had to admit he felt a little weirded out by his mother's sudden determination in this matter. Did she really have to insist all of that, even when she knew how utterly broken he was? It was hard to believe, as such things always were when coming from the mouths of parents.
"Who was on the phone, mom?" Izuku decided to switch gears back to what was important. His mother wasn't getting out of this so easily.
Her hands dropped from his face and her eyes trailed away. For a few moments she seemed to be weighing her heavy answer before she finally shook her head. "No. No, I can't. It's… it's alright Izuku, I'll sort it out."
"But mom-"
"Izuku!" She snapped at the boy suddenly, her eyes turning to him. For a moment her gaze was ice but it melted at the look of shock on her son's face. "Just trust me, please. You'd be better off not knowing. It's for your own good."
"So was the medicine we took to blind ourselves." The thing hissed snake-like through his mind. "And now we play catch-up to those who should be beneath us."
He smiled and nodded to her. "Alright, mom. I trust you." He got up, allowing himself to move from her as he turned to walk into the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea, okay?"
Inko nodded, though he didn't see it. The moment he was out of her sight the smile dropped away and his hands shook. He gripped the kitchen countertop hard and he struggled to stop a harsh breath from exiting his lungs. He had never lied to his mother before. He had never faked a smile in her presence. He had never questioned her word.
But he had also never felt as though she was hiding something from him. Something big and important. Something about why he was… himself.
The thing moved across his scars, though not harshly. It was almost as though it was settling through him, keeping him on his feet, giving him the small support he needed to simply not burst into tears. Dammit, it was almost being helpful.
The kettle boiled as Izuku pushed his anxiety down, smothering it under everything else he kept bottled up inside him. He'd deal with it later. As always.
Basic hero training. It was the cornerstone of U.A.'s entire hero course, once called 'the most sought-after class in heroic education' by S.H.I.E.L.D Magazine, to which Izuku had a subscription of course.
And he was here. Finally. He'd survived the physical tests and sat through the surprisingly normal and almost tedious basic education classes taught by heroes he greatly admired, to finally step foot into the class that would make him the hero he knew he could be deep inside.
Once more, he knew he wasn't the only one who shared that energy. The entire class seemed to buzz with the knowledge that any moment now they were about to take their first true step on their journey to becoming licensed heroes.
Even the thing seemed tense about the lesson they were about to take.
"We are ready for this. No fear, no hesitation."
"Umhum." Izuku laid his head onto one hand, trying to ignore the venomous snake-hiss as best he could.
"We are power. We are unstoppable."
"You sound nervous." Izuku whispered under his breath, one hand toying with a pencil.
"We are not nervous! We are shadow and fire! Fire does not get nervous!"
Izuku's foot tapped impatiently on the floor as he saw the clock tick-tocking ever closer to the time class officially started. The entire room seemed to grow silent as the clock moved closer, ever closer until the final second ticked into place.
"I AM," The mighty cry of the hero's voice exploded out through the entire classroom like a spark finally put to match, "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
There he was, justice manifest. The mountain of a man who had saved a hundred people in a day, who had redefined society itself. The greatest living force for good the world had ever seen. The symbol of peace. The number one hero. All Might.
"The Fading King."
Izuku didn't even frown at the odd name, he was too busy being utterly overwhelmed by how amazing the man was in person. He had met him before and yet even now his overall presence seemed to still wash all worries, all anxieties away. There could be no fear while he was there, because to look at him was to know that strength, nobility and pure good existed in the world.
That was what it was like to be in the same room as All Might.
Awed murmuring instantly sprang up from around Izuku as the man marched up to his teacher's desk, his cape flowing behind him. Even Katsuki seemed to momentarily forget he was supposed to be the grumpiest asshole in the room and grinned excitedly at the man.
As he came to stand at the teacher's desk he put his massive fists onto his hips and grinned at the class, his blue eyes flashing with approval at the sea of fresh faces before him. "I teach Hero Basic Training. In this class you will be trained and taught all the basics of becoming a hero."
The thing snorted. "That was a little redundant."
Izuku hissed back through clenched teeth. "Shut up."
"Under my watchful gaze, you will all learn what it means to be a hero. It will not be easy, it will not be pleasant, you will be pushed to your absolute limits and beyond, but when you finish this chapter of your lives you will emerge not as students, but as heroes." He held up an encouraging fist and his grin grew wider. "I expect each and every one of you to give more than a hundred and ten percent. I want you all to go beyond, plus ultra!"
The class erupted into cheers and even Izuku joined in, clapping and grinning like a happy child.
"Now, let's get right to it! Today we will cover," And he posed suddenly with one finger in the air, "COMBAT TRAINING!"
Instantly more murmuring erupted throughout the classroom, some excited, others concerned. Though none felt the sudden pit of absolute dread that bloomed within Izuku's stomach. "C-Combat training?"
His scars suddenly flared as the thing practically danced within his blood. "COMBAT TRAINING!"
He barely had time to think, however, before All Might continued on. "And to go with that, are THESE! HA!" He pointed his huge finger over to the wall which suddenly opened up to reveal numbered lockers. "Hero costumes! Get suited and booted, ladies and gentlemen, then meet me out by Urban Ground Beta!"
Despite his aching fear at the thought of having to go through combat training, even though he had known all week that this was what the hero course truly was, he couldn't help but feel excited. Maybe it was because the thing seemed so eager, almost borderline cooperative on the matter. Or maybe it was because he felt as though this was going to be another big step on his path to realizing his dream.
Combat training. As long as the thing behaved he was sure he could learn to master it, use it, make something good out of it.
Besides, he at least got to wear his cool costume for the first time in public. That was always a plus. And surely on their first day of Hero Basic Training nothing too bad could happen, no doubt All Might was just going to run them through what they would be studying over the coming weeks and maybe even show them some beginner basic moves to work on.
It'd be nothing serious. A gentle warm up at best.
All Might was nervous. He was no stranger to the feeling of course, he was still human under all the power and might of his muscles, but this was a different kind of nervous. Within his collective hands were the futures of twenty young men and women, barely out of their childhood years.
Saving a life from a burning building was one thing, saving a future was an entirely different task altogether. How the hell did the other teachers not worry themselves into early graves? What if he slipped up? What if they weren't ready for this? What if-
No. His grin tightened. He was All Might, dammit, he could do this. Besides, with the way things were going he had little other choice. He was down to five hours a day now. Five hours to save as many lives as he could while also teaching a new generation of hopefuls to grasp the brass rings he'd set so high above them.
In an odd way he almost felt guilty. He had raised the bar almost so impossibly high that they would have to work incredibly hard to even begin approaching his legend.
But they could do it. He knew they could. The looks in their eyes as he had addressed them told him so. He wasn't looking at a class with one potential successor, he was looking at a sea of potential successors. Which of course, posed all new problems.
His thoughts were pushed aside as he saw the first of his class emerging from the gloom of the entrance tunnel and his grin widened as pride swelled in his chest. He had known these kids for all of ten collective minutes and yet he'd gladly throw himself in front of a truck for any of them.
One by one they emerged, Tenya Iida in his knightly armor, Katsuki Bakugo looking like a living explosion, Mashirao Ojiro dressed curiously only in a martial arts gi and so on. Each student standing out and apart and looking for all the world like young heroes about to step onto the stage of history.
"Looking sharp, ladies and gentleman! They say the costume makes the hero, and you're all looking great!" He looked across the class of nervous young students before he frowned. "We're missing one, aren't we? Where's young Mi-"
"I'm here! Sorry!" There was a tapping of boots on ground as from the gloom a final figure emerged.
As Izuku ran into the light, All Might took a moment to note the boy's choice of costume. He had a deep green top, lined with black, geometrical-square patterned sides and with arms that reached to his elbows which were covered in thick black elbow pads. He wore no hood though across his mouth he wore a black fabric mouth cover which hid the lower half of his face.
His pants came down to his knees, which were covered in similar thick, black kneepads. On his feet he wore a pair of boots made from a material that All Might didn't quite recognize but looked oddly flexible. Around his middle was a belt, holding a few pouches for whatever the young hero may need.
He panted as he came to a stop, black padded, fingerless gloved hands resting on his knees. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please-"
"No apologies needed, young Midoriya," And All Might waved a mighty hand in dismissal, "As I'm sure some of you are now aware, getting on the costume can take slightly longer than you may have thought. Don't worry though, eventually as time goes on and you make adjustments it'll become second nature to you all."
The boy seemed to have a look flash through his eyes that spoke of another reason, but he didn't object, and All Might pushed on.
"Now," He turned to the rest of the class and began walking slowly in front of them like some kind of colorful drill Sargent, "Usually you would run through some basic maneuvers and start off slow. Fighting robots in an open setting and so on. But I believe that experience in the field against living opponents is the fastest way to learn!" He held up a finger as he quietly enjoyed the look of shocked faces on his pupils, "While most fights you see in the news happen outdoors, statistically speaking most real fights happen indoors, usually home invasions or rarer, secret villain hideouts. Small time crooks and petty criminals will rob purses out in the open, but their bosses often stay hidden in the shadows." As he talked his finger began curling around and forming a quick, energetic fist. "Therefore, I'll be splitting you into teams of two, bad guys vs good guys, while you fight two-on-two indoor battles."
Hands instantly shot up as murmurs erupted amongst the students and before he could even begin to answer they quickly began calling out, "Sir will you be judging our performance?"
"How much can we hurt our opponents?"
"Do we need to worry about the losers being expelled?"
"Will we be placed in teams by chance or by skill?"
"Isn't my cloak just so tres chic?"
"N-No."
The last one caught All Might off guard and for a moment his brow furrowed in confusion. He turned his shining eyes across the class only to spot Midoriya, his own eyes almost impossibly wide. For a moment he thought the boy was simply nervous and already All Might was preparing a grin and a thumbs up of encouragement.
But then he caught his stare. The boy wasn't nervous, he was terrified.
Tears were already filling his eyes, threatening to leak down his pale, scarred cheeks as he continued to stammer out loud to himself, "N-No, I-I can't, I-I-"
All Might had seen that look of terror before, that drowning expression as fear took the young man. He'd seen it just over a year ago as he had cowered at the face of that now distant underpass.
It took less than a heartbeat for All Might to be there, appearing behind Izuku like a guardian angel. "Young Midoriya, are you alright?"
The boy almost staggered forward, his wide, tearful eyes turning to look up at him like a deer in headlights before they glanced around. All Might followed his gaze for just a moment, noting how several of the class were now looking at them, young Bakugo especially seemed to be grinning wickedly at Izuku.
His brow furrowed for just a second as he took a careful mental note.
All Might reached out and placed a solid, powerful hand on Izuku's shoulder. Odd how the boy felt warm, no, not just warm but almost hot. Like he had been standing right beside a radiator. He had felt something similar last time they had met, though he had simply put it down to the effort of using his quirk.
He spoke in a low, calm tone to the boy as he asked, "Come with me for a moment," Then he looked back to the rest of the class, "I'm sure you all know how to warm up, so get to it. We'll start in five minutes."
There was an excitable chatter from the young teenagers as he began guiding the shaking boy away from his classmates. With careful, determined steps took Izuku around the corner of the entrance tunnel they had arrived through. It would provide adequate cover for a private conversation, at least for now. The boy came to halt under the shadow of the wall beside him while All Might remained in the sunlight.
Izuku continued to shake, even as All Might moved around him and crouched down, looking as best he could into the faded expression in the boy's eyes. It was almost as if he was only half there.
He remembered the boy's profile and the word schizophrenia filtered into his thoughts. He almost frowned at himself. He was determined not to judge the young man on such context. "Izuku, my boy, are you okay?"
Izuku's head snapped up, focus flooding back into his eyes like a puzzle piece sliding into place. He seemed to blink at All Might for a moment before a nervous tongue snaked across dry lips. "A-A-All Might I-I can't, I can't do this, I can't h-hurt anyone," His hands moved up through his wild hair for just a moment as he squeezed his eyes shut, tears still quietly dripping down freckled, scarred cheeks, "I don't w-want to hurt anyone, p-please don't make me."
All Might frowned, though not in irritation. His heart went out to this poor boy whom he knew already thought of his own quirk as something evil and wrong. No one with an ability like his, with a heart like one he had clearly shown, should be thinking like that.
"Young Midoriya, calm yourself." His hand reached out one more and took him by the shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze. "You're going to be fine." He paused for a moment, before leaning forward just a little. "Do you remember what I told you, all that time ago?"
The boy's head came up once more, his eyes wide and glassy though the tears no longer flowed.
"I told you that there are no good or evil quirks, only good or evil hearts. You've proven to me twice now that you have a good heart, once when you helped stop that villain in the underpass, and again when you saved young Uraraka from that robot in the exam. You won't bring any serious harm to anyone." He squeezed again. "And if I think you are going to, I'll stop you. I'll be watching you the entire time after all." He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Or do you doubt my ability to save lives now that I'm your teacher?"
"No!" Izuku's hands were up in a second as he attempted to defend himself from the accusation, "Not at all!" And yet there was still a pause. "But I…" His hands curled into shaking fists. "I c-can't use it properly yet. If I lose c-control, someone could get r-really hurt."
"Then learn how to use it, young Midoriya, learn how to control it." All Might stood up, towering over the pallid teenager. "Is that not why you're here? Trust me to guide you, and I'll trust you to learn, alright?"
Izuku seemed to look upon All Might once more like he was some kind of savior, sent from above to deliver him from whatever torment existed within his young mind. He nodded slowly and swallowed. "A-Alright. I'll do my best."
All Might's grin grew wide and a note of pride swelled in his massive chest. Seeing the light within the boy shine through his still anxious, but now steady and determined eyes made him feel, well, like an actual teacher and not just a broken man playing at teacher.
As Izuku gingerly returned to the class All Might took a moment to watch him walk, now with at least a measure of confidence to his step, though still not at the level that All Might would prefer. But at least now he wasn't about to go into a full-blown panic attack. Still, his gaze narrowed just a little as he saw Ochaco begin to fuss over him.
He would have to keep an eye on that one, at least for now.
All Might should really listen to his students more.
Anyways I said I would mention something about future updates and this is it. When I first started this fic the 'every two weeks' update schedule was completely possible. I was chapters ahead and work/life/whatever balanced out to make sure I could keep on top of things nicely.
However, the last few weeks have proven that I cannot keep up with the schedule like I wished because life/work/etc changed up. I'm going to try and aim to complete the USJ arc but soonish I'm going to be taking a month off to basically chill my boots, catch up on my chapter catalog and make sure my overall writing quality remains at my own standards. The last thing I want to do is let everyone down by producing crappy chapters
So don't worry, the next chapter and the one after it are basically already in the bag and I'll make sure to announce when I'm taking my break via a chapter update.
As for the next chapter, to make up for this bad news it's gonna be a DOUBLE SIZE SUPER SPECIAL chapter! It's currently clocking in at 8600 words! WOW.
Till next time my peeps!
