So a quick note before I start. I must say I am shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that not one of you noticed that I gave Fumikage Nny boots. Y'all need to read more 2000's goth comics!
Anyways, that aside, it's time for another update! Prepare for world building!
It had taken Izuku a few moments to make his way around the house and back to the living room. Fumikage's home was surprisingly big for what it seemed, and as such he had almost gotten lost twice.
It was only due to the sound of chatter that he even found his way at all.
That and the shame of almost letting Nemesis out was lingering in his stomach, twisting and trashing within it, like an angered snake. His heart felt heavy and he had half a mind to remain in the spare room, pretending he was still sleeping until it was time to leave.
But he knew that he was being stupid and besides, Nemesis did have a point when it came to Fumikage. Izuku couldn't help but feel a little hurt that his newest friend hadn't given him the full details as to what his 'test' would do. What had Kodai called it, a 'Solomon's Cage'? Whatever it was it had hurt. A lot.
He wasn't angry at Fumikage, he wasn't going to shout him out over it, but he would like to know why he hadn't been told about it. Izuku had trusted Fumikage and now it felt as though that trust hadn't been repaid.
The sound of chatter came from the other side of a traditional sliding door and Izuku took a moment to gather his thoughts, squish down his anxiety, and silence Nemesis's cold threats of burning them all alive for their betrayal before slowly opening the door.
The four friends were seated around a kotatsu table, the same one Izuku had seen when he had first arrived, and almost as one they looked up as he entered the room.
Ochaco was first on her feet, a wide and relieved smile on her face, "Izuku! You're awake!" She grabbed him into a tight hug, which sent another flicker of candle-flame across his scars, before letting him go and grinning at him, "And just in time for lunch! We saved you some food."
"Izuku!" Fumikage had also risen to his feet, and for a moment the room paused as the two made eye contact. There was a strange, heavy tension that filled the air before he bowed deeply, his arms straight at his side and his eyes focused down, "Izuku, I deeply and sincerely apologize for misleading you. I know the cage is painful, and it was wrong of me not to warn you beforehand."
"I…" Izuku was a little lost for words before a sudden surge of angry fire rushed along his limbs and the darker parts of his heart and mind demanded he make Fumikage pay for his actions.
"If it makes you feel any better, we got to watch while his grandfather yelled at him for, like, ten minutes while waving a frying pan," Ochaco flashed an amused smile at him.
"I really, really wish I'd filmed that," Hitoshi chuckled as Fumikage clearly winced in embarrassment at the memory, "How long are you grounded for again?"
"After today, a month, with full temple cleaning duties," Fumikage mumbled, still not making eye contact with any of his friends.
Izuku had to admit, part of him wanted to be spiteful and cruel and scream at Fumikage for hurting him. And yet… and yet it wasn't in his better nature to do so. It wasn't him to hold grudges, and as such, he sighed heavily and announced, "I accept your apology."
"WE SHOULD BE BURNING HIM ALIVE!" Nemesis immediately erupted through his mind, causing Izuku to wince and Ochaco, still beside him, to jump just slightly. "NOT ACCEPTING HIS APOLOGY!"
"But I would, you know, like to know what the hell that circle thing was, if that's okay?" He couldn't help but ask, if only as a way to appease the monster storming through his brain, not to mention his own grumbling irritation at being misled.
"Of course," Fumikage bowed again clearly relieved, "I owe it to you, to all of you. And now that we are somewhere safe and truly private, I will try and answer as many questions as I can."
Now this did cheer Izuku up and, combined with the absolutely mouth-watering smell of the lunch Kodai had made, he quickly moved to sit down with the others. He gathered a bowl, filled it with food, and took a swift bite, glad that he had slept off the usual wave of nausea that came from using his quirk.
The food was as delicious as it looked, and Izuku made a mental note to thank the old priest later. He even felt his tail give a slightly embarrassing wag of joy as he tasted the meal. He opened up a can of coke and took a very welcome drink. He often found himself more thirsty than hungry, and he supposed having a power that relied mostly on fire would dry anyone out quickly.
Hitoshi smirked from beside his friend and with a mouthful of food asked, "So, did you enjoy your power nap?"
"We're going to devour his heart," Nemesis threatened with a deep and wolfish growl, "Slowly. In front of him."
"Actually, yeah, kinda." Izuku answered back with a wry smile, "Nemesis didn't. It thinks you betrayed us- it."
"Well, sorry Nemesis," Hitoshi replied with a tired shrug, "But it was either that or everything got set on fire. I'll pick putting the two of you to sleep any day of the week."
"Same."
"At least we know now you can put it to sleep," Tenya answered in a thoughtful tone, though one lacking his usual… luster.
Izuku looked to him and was surprised to see him frowning in deep thought, his fingers linked over his food and his elbows resting on the table. Something was troubling him, clearly, and it seemed he'd hardly even touched his own food. It took Izuku a moment to realize that for Tenya, this was his first time seeing any part of Nemesis.
And what a hell of an introduction it'd been.
"That's… a good thing…" The taller teenager mumbled mostly to himself, taking a short, almost shuddering breath, "Definitely a good thing."
Ochaco rubbed Tenya's back and gave a small, tired smile of her own, "Yeah, Tenya's had his Nemesis cherry popped. Expect not to sleep tonight."
"Sorry about that," Izuku muttered out, much to the protests of his inner demon, "But I mean… I didn't expect any of that to happen."
"Which was my fault." Fumikage answered with a slow nod, "Which, I again, apologize for."
"Yeah, about that, I think it's time for you to start answering some questions." Hitoshi spoke up and again, waved his chopsticks expectantly at the bird-headed teenager, "Firstly, what the fuck. Secondly, how the fuck. Thirdly, why the fuck."
Fumikage paused for a moment as if wondering what the heck Hitoshi was even talking about, before nodding slowly, "Understandable." He sighed and, in a heavy voice, began to explain, "Dark Shadow's major weakness is light, which is why they're easier to control in the day rather than at night. Still, sometimes more... intensive methods are required. The lights under the floorboard form a pattern that my grandfather and I use to control Dark Shadow whenever they become… unruly." His voice seemed to dip at whatever painful memories it brought up before he moved on, "It is known as a Solomon's Cage. It was Dark Shadow who showed us how to make it, and only at the threat of the sword at their throat. No creature of Hell can escape from the center, no matter how strong or powerful they may be. It causes them great pain to be within, utterly disabling them."
"And you didn't tell us about this… why?" Hitoshi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It was part of the overall test." Fumikage announced calmly as he turned his crimson eyes back to Izuku, "If you knew what you were walking into, and knew what it could do, you might not have agreed to it, or rather, Nemesis might not have agreed to it. And after seeing how you reacted to the holy water, well, I came to the conclusion that putting you unknowingly into a Solomon's Cage to see how you would honestly react was the best course of action.
"So, he tricked us like a coward?"
"I… kinda see your point, I guess," Izuku mumbled out, ignoring his own inner demon as well as the bit of his heart that still wanted to punch Fumikage.
"Again," He bowed his beak towards Izuku, "I apologize for my misguidance. At no point did I truly intend to harm you, Izuku. But as you know all too well, demons are… tricky to handle, and will not always willingly cooperate."
"Sounds handy," Ochaco added before putting a finger to her chin, "So… how did Nemesis manage to get out?"
"Because we are shadow and fire, because we are unstoppable, and because we are no demon," Nemesis bragged from within Izuku's mind.
"I honestly do not know," Fumikage replied with a slow shrug before looking to Izuku, who was slowly chewing a piece of beef, "Whatever is within you, my friend, is truly unique."
"I would like to know as well, little demon," Dark Shadow's voice cawed out in a long, slow threat as they uncurled from behind Fumikage, forming to sit once more atop their master's head. However, their eyes were no longer mocking and grinning, they had become hard and tense, and were glaring right at Izuku.
The teenager shifted uncomfortably under their stare and looked down to his bowl of food, "Nemesis doesn't have an answer and I don't either. Though… I think I might have a theory."
"Go on?" Hitoshi urged in an unusually soft tone.
Since sitting down, it had been dwelling in the back of his mind, the words spoken to him by Kodai. His origins, the beginning of his pain and suffering, where all of this had truly started.
"I- I know this is going to sound- I don't know- really dumb or stupid or whatever but…" He trailed off as his hands slowly dropped to the table before cupping his coke for a moment. Izuku didn't look up, making eye contact with nothing but his bowl of food and not even truly seeing that.
His mind was sifting through all the information he had on hand, and most especially, through the memories of that blasphemous place of shadow and fire that he had walked through. The Hell he had seen which had felt like a true home to his heart and soul, and yet, had been nothing but terror and horror at every turn. A place he never wished to see again… yet he couldn't deny had given him a sense of balance and peace he had never experienced before or after.
"I never knew my dad. I mean, it's always just been me and mom in our apartment. Whenever I asked about him, she'd just get angry and tell me he was a horrible person who left when I was born. She never talks about him, but lately after everything that happened and…" He trailed off again before slowly looking to the others, each of whom looked to him with calm, patient eyes.
He could trust them. Again, and again he needed reminding, but again and again he was given the same answer that calmed his nerves. He could trust them.
"When I was- when I was in Hell," He had to force the word out, and a ripple of blasphemous fire moved across his scars, "There was a- a thing, it called itself Nirgali, and it called me Lucifer, like it knew me," He frowned in thought as he spoke, "It said I stole their blood and- and accused me of wearing a crown…" Izuku couldn't help but notice how Dark Shadow seemed to tense at his words, "So… what if Kaach- erm- Katsuki was right? What if I'm only half-human? What if… what if my father is Lucifer?"
There was a long pause in which the air seemed heavy and cold and tense.
And then Dark Shadow laughed. They burst into a raucous, jackdawish laughter which broke all tension within the room and caused all heads to turn towards the shadow-black demon.
"YOU ARE TRULY FULL OF YOURSELF, NEMESIS!" Dark Shadow laughed so hard that, despite often defying gravity, they rolled off Fumikage's head and landed onto the floor with a heavy thump. "YOU OUTSMART SOME TESTS, SO OF COURSE YOU MUST BE ONE OF THE FALLEN! WHAT ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!"
Izuku wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or upset at the laughter. Nemesis quickly roared with anger through Izuku's scars and he felt the burning of his Hell-born fire boil across his body, though again he suppressed it all back down.
Before anyone else could act Fumikage was already frowning down at his quirk-familiar, "Dark Shadow! I command you to explain yourself."
The demon quickly climbed back up to hover above their master's shoulder and seemed to wipe an imaginary tear of mirth from their eyes. "I'm sorry, Master, but that is the most insane babbling I've ever heard! And I'm over six hundred years old!"
Dark Shadow was over six hundred years old? Izuku knew that at this point he really ought to stop being surprised by the weirdness his life seemed to be built upon, but even so, such casual statements continued to catch him off-guard.
"Neither Izuku nor Nemesis seem to burn when touched by items blessed, nor does true faith seem to affect them unless they're placed within a Solomon's Cage and even then, they managed to crawl their way out of it," Fumikage barked at his familiar, his crimson gaze narrow and irritated, "So please, enlighten us if you have any better ideas."
Dark Shadow finally stopped their giggling and crossed their arms across their chest, "You have done some amazing things, Nemesis, I grant you that. However, for you to claim you are the offspring of one of the Fallen, of Lord Lucifer, they who fell First and Furthest, your ego must be beyond even the Almighty Bastard's scope." Izuku blinked in shock as Dark Shadow pointed a talon-like finger towards him, "Firstly, the Fallen cannot breed with the mortals. It is impossible, otherwise it would have already happened, every denizen of the pit knows this."
Izuku went to open his mouth to protest that he wasn't a denizen of any pit, but he was quickly cut off again.
"Secondly, you cannot have entered the Hall of Pandemonium to see Lord Nirgali because no one other than the Fallen themselves have entered it for thousands of years. Not to mention it is well known that The Rot-Mother has long since lost their mind. And thirdly," And now they jabbed their finger at Izuku as if to make their point more known, "There is a much easier explanation for how you can seemingly perform impossible tasks while clearly being of Hell. You are Ascended."
There was a long and slightly awkward pause at this before Hitoshi coughed politely, "Well, that was really, super informative there, demon, but do you mind maybe explaining what the fuck you're on about?"
"I agree with Hitoshi," Ochaco announced with a slightly confused, though calm tone as she grasped a can of coke in one hand, her pinky finger held out, "You can't just babble all that and expect us to know. I mean we're all new to this stuff."
"Fine, moon-child, I shall explain for the unenlightened." Dark Shadow moved from one shoulder to the other, looking across the table and seemingly taking a moment to bask in the attention they were being given. "I admit I have only ever heard of it in whisper and rumor, but the general idea amongst the Damned is that, theoretically, it's possible for a mortal soul to become so deeply corrupted, so infused with the power of Hell, that they Ascend to demonhood. Such a creature would have resistances to things like true faith, or the cage, and be independent of any host body needed to maintain itself in the mortal world. They would, for want a better phrase, be of both Hell and Earth."
"A host body?" Tenya finally spoke up, having been simply staring into nothing with his mouth hidden behind the bridge of his fingers, "What do you mean?"
"Ugh, I should start charging for this information, you're lucky I'm not one of Lord Mammon's types," Dark Shadow huffed out, "It's the reason why you don't see thousands of us all over the place. Demons cannot exist in the mortal plane without being attached to, or possessing, a host body. Usually, it'll be some dumb mortal human who sold their soul for something minor and dumb, like a dumb dummy."
"Ahem," Fumikage spoke with a rather annoyed tone. He didn't even cough, he literally spoke the word out loud and glared to his demonic quirk.
"… orrr, they become possessed as the result of a curse. Like Master."
"You're cursed?" Hitoshi asked softly, blinking in shock at the sudden revelation.
Fumikage however, refused to make eye contact. "I don't want to talk about it if you don't mind. It's… personal, and not one I wish to discuss while other, more pressing matters are at hand."
Izuku had known this for a while of course, and not just from Nemesis's own whisperers. He remembered the shadow-creature during the USJ mentioning it, saying he was the seventh son of his line, cursed from birth.
Izuku, however, kept his silence on the matter. If Fumikage didn't wish to discuss it, he would not push him on it. Instead, he simply asked, "Well, what about the ones I- we," He quickly looked to Fumikage, "See on a daily basis?"
"The unborn?" Dark Shadow replied with a sneer, "They're nothing more than mindless creatures, created by the many minor sins humans commit every day. They're food for their more powerful kin, like myself, that's if they don't die by some other means. Though if they survive long enough on their own, they can awaken into sentience. It's why we call them unborn, because they have no will of their own. Once they gain thought, they are immediately pulled into Hell."
"Hey so… what's stopping you from exorcizing Dark Shadow?" Ochaco asked suddenly, only to panic when both Fumikage and Dark Shadow shot her the same, rather piercing look, "Well I just- I mean- You know, you see that in the movies!"
"This isn't the movies," Fumikage replied sternly, "And while possible it is… too late to try."
"Too late?"
"If you catch a demon possessing another within an hour or so, perhaps the host can survive the separation," Dark Shadow grinned slowly as it explained, "However, when a demon claims a mortal soul, and the possession is successful, the soul becomes intertwined with the demon itself. To separate them again, even forcibly through exorcism, will indeed banish the demon, but it will also kill the host."
There was another sudden silence at the table before Hitoshi slowly looked between Izuku and Fumikage, "I'm… sorry then, I guess, to both of you. I was kinda wondering if that was an option to help you both but…" He breathed through his nose and put his chopsticks down. "Getting back on track though, I suppose this idea of you being an Ascended," And he spoke the word as if it was an unfamiliar one on his tongue, "Might be an answer, especially since you said yourself Nemesis won't answer your own questions."
Izuku nodded, and Nemesis grumbled something dark within Izuku's blood, denying the claim but seemingly being just as lost on the possibility as Izuku himself.
"There is only one issue with my theory," Dark Shadow mumbled and put a shadow-clad talon to its ragged beak, "You're an idiot."
"What?"
"What?"
"You should know all this stuff already. It's like I'm explaining how to breathe to a newborn babe. You should simply know it, by virtue of your own nature," Their tarnished-gold eyes narrowed, "But you seem to be utterly ignorant on the matters of Hell." The beast paused, then shrugged, "Maybe you have amnesia. Unless of course, you're just lying."
Izuku frowned, "I'm not lying. And I really don't think I have amnesia." At least he really, really hoped it wasn't. The idea of being so utterly, terribly corrupted that he had transgressed past human into something truly, inhumanly evil was… well, actually it was something that would probably happen to him because clearly, God had it in for him.
Still, the thought of finally having an answer to so many of his questions was an intriguing one. It didn't resolve every question he had, but dammit, it was finally something. Today hadn't been a waste after all.
"We could look into it and-"
"I will." The others looked suddenly to Tenya, who had not moved from his position. Slowly, however, he looked up, his glasses glinting just slightly in the sunlight of the room. "I will do the research into this Ascended concept."
"You don't have to," Ochaco began, moving to place a hand on her friend's arm. "I mean-"
"No. No, it should be me," Tenya pressed, his voice firm, his fingers tightening against his knuckles,"I… I had been so skeptical, so sure, that there had to be some other explanation, and I'll be honest, a large part of me still wishes to believe that. But after today, seeing Izuku in that circle and- and hearing Dark Shadow talk I… I don't know anymore."
"Heh, the truth hurts, doesn't it, child of the machine?" Dark Shadow taunted in a mocking tone before being hushed by Fumikage.
"I think… I think if I did the reading, if I did the research it would help me get a handle on this. Knowledge has always been a comfort to me, and if this is simply new knowledge to study and learn, then so be it. As a repayment to both of you, Fumikage and Izuku, and as my apology of sorts for not fully believing you, to begin with."
Izuku let out a slightly nervous smile and started, "Tenya, really, you don't have to-"
"No. Please, let me do this," Tenya quickly insisted, locking Izuku with a stern gaze, "I insist."
"If you wish to do so, I will gladly lend you the books and notes I have, they're not much, but they're yours," Fumikage announced with a nod towards the taller boy, "And I will ask my Grandfather to share his knowledge with you too."
"Thank you, Fumikage," Tenya nodded respectfully back, "I'll do my best to provide whatever help I can. My family has wealth and resources after all, surely I can use that to my advantage."
There was a second where the others watch as Tenya sighed and moved a hand to rub his eyes under his glasses and Izuku could feel every ounce of the tired weight that seemed to settle on his shoulders.
"There is one other item I wished to ask you all, while we're all here. In fact, it's one of the reasons I insisted we talk here, and not at school," Fumikage's crimson gaze once again turned back to Izuku, "It's something important, and something we can all assist in." Izuku shared a glance to his friends for a moment before they all turned back to the raven-headed teenager. "Izuku, do you remember what the demon Kurogiri told us when we stood before it and its vile master at the fountain?"
Izuku blinked in surprise, though at the same time, he felt his stomach twist in anxiety at the memory. The shadow-clad demon had been unnerving to look at, as had Shigaraki, the apparent leader of the cult that had forced him to let Nemesis free in the first place. Part of him still wondered if there was a better way around that, if maybe they could have been stealthier, if they had been faster or…
He shook the thought from his head and took another sip of his coke, almost finishing it. "Erm, yeah, kinda. But you might have to be a bit more specific?"
"Do you remember what it said about us," Fumikage urged, though he paused for just a moment, glancing to the others before adding, "He said we were two of three corrupt souls it spotted in the class."
There was a long second of silence before Ochaco suddenly sat up straighter, "Wait, so there's another one of you guys in the class? Someone who's been possessed or something?"
"Not exactly possessed," Fumikage suddenly added, "But someone whose soul has been touched by Hell, yes."
"Wait- wait, so you're saying someone can be touched by Hell, but not possessed? This is getting kinda complex." Hitoshi rubbed his temple lazily with one hand.
"It's not complex at all, Mind-Taker," Dark Shadow replied in its mocking, jackdawish tone, "A soul can be corrupted without being possessed, it often makes it easier for the demon in question to lead their target right into their waiting jaws. Humans are very stupid, and therefore, easily corruptible."
"Since returning to class I've asked Dark Shadow to try and see if they could also spot this other soul," Fumikage continued and a thoughtful, almost pouty look appeared on his beak, "However, my quirk-familiar hasn't seen any sign of another within the class marked by damnation."
"We know of no other with a soul marred by shadow," Nemesis mused from within Izuku's brain, its voice a razor wire around his throat, "The Shadow-Man clearly lied to us."
"Nemesis says it hasn't seen anything either, it thinks Kurogiri lied to us," Izuku replied with a matching look of thoughtful puzzlement. "But… I remember the guy, the leader, Nemesis couldn't see his soul either, so-"
"It is possible for the informed to hide their souls from others, though it is difficult to do and even harder to do well," Dark Shadow mused, "When we first saw you, Nemesis, I encouraged master to do so. He said it would be pointless."
Fumikage shrugged at Izuku, "I use Dark Shadow in combat, eventually you would have put the pieces together."
Izuku simply shrugged back. Couldn't argue with that.
"It is also possible that the corruption will only show itself at certain moments, under certain conditions," Dark Shadow continued, "Though that would require a very careful, and therefore very powerful demonic touch indeed, maybe even the touch of one of the Great Fallen themselves."
"So, what are our options here?" Tenya asked with a frown, "It would seem strange if we were to start asking individual members of our class about the state of their own souls."
"Especially coming from us lot," Hitoshi added. The others gave him a confused look before he shrugged, "Let's face it, at this point we're kind of the class weirdos."
"I am not a weirdo!" Tenya quickly protested.
Ochaco, however, simply nodded, "Yeah, I can see that."
"Ochaco, do not put yourself down so eagerly!"
"I propose we keep an eye on our classmates," Fumikage added with a firm tone, "Nemesis and Dark Shadow both can see into their spirits, but all of us can watch for anyone acting strange or unusual, or perhaps if we see any markings on their skin or any items that might seem out of place."
"In the meantime, how about you cook us up some holy water? Maybe a few blessed swords or something?" Hitoshi quickly asked Fumikage with a sly smirk, "We vowed to fight the forces of darkness, and you seem to have all the fun toys to do it with."
"Hitoshi!" Ochaco quickly snapped across the table to the purple headed teen, "You can't just go demanding holy water like- like a can of coke or something!"
"What?" The boy shrugged, "I'm just trying to be prepared! One of the Tripped could come jumping out at us at any moment!"
"It's the Fallen, and if one did jump out at you, Son of Alexandria, you would not survive long enough to even fight back," Dark Shadow quickly chided with a deep frown, "Your soul would be torn to shreds within seconds and-"
"Bitch please," Hitoshi cut in, "I'm the next Symbol of Peace, I think I could handle a little red guy with a pointy stick."
Dark Shadow immediately began barking out how they alone would tear Hitoshi apart while Hitoshi continued to play their temper like a fiddle. Izuku and Ochaco's laughter flittered across the table, and even Tenya finally cracked a smile. Fumikage, however, simply sighed, shook his head, and facepalmed.
The tension was eased, and for the first time since arriving Izuku felt as though they weren't all on edge. Sure, okay, it had been a close-run thing with Nemesis earlier, but it seemed as though at this point, they were taking anything they could walk away from as a victory. Izuku certainly was.
Besides, they were on solid ground now. The USJ was in the past, and yes, he had a lot of hard work ahead of him, but he had his friends and some good advice to follow. He had to find his origins, whatever that was, and with this Ascended theory now on the table, he had a semi-solid jumping point. The reminder that one of their own classmates could be a danger was a worry, but one they could investigate with stealth and careful observation.
Overall, he was glad he finally had some space to breathe and explore these new answers without anything huge pressing down on him.
"The UA Sports Festival is pressing down on all of you and it's huge."
Aizawa-sensei's stern tone steamrolled through the classroom, causing every student to either sit up straight or cower down into their seats. It was defiantly a mixed bag.
Izuku was in the 'cower into their seat' group. Already he was mentally kicking his own ass, how could he have possibly forgotten about the friggin' Sports Festival?!
"Everyone is competing," The teacher continued, his body still wrapped head to toe in bandages, "And I expect each of you to try your hardest. This isn't just an opportunity to better yourselves, it's also an opportunity to advertise yourself and your abilities to potential hero agencies. Every agency in the country will be watching, and once the Sports Festival is over, you'll be going to your summer internships. How well you do in the festival will affect which agencies will hire you." A hand shot up, and it was Tenya, because it was almost always Tenya. Aizawa sighed and nodded over to the young man, "Yes, Iida?"
"Sir! I hate to say anything negative about such a prestigious UA event, but is it wise to hold the festival this year considering what happened at the USJ?"
"Yeah, I mean," Kyoka added suddenly, "It makes more sense to call it off this year, what if those creepy cult guys attack again, like, something really bad could happen, you know?"
Izuku could freak out. That was clearly the unspoken addition to her statement, and everyone knew it, or at least Izuku assumed everyone knew it. He wasn't even going to deny that it was a possibility, and as such he dipped lower onto his desk, his pointed ears poking out of his curled mess of arms and hair as his tail wrapped itself around one of his legs.
Aizawa, however, seemed to be having none of it. "The school administration wants to project a sense of strength to any criminal organizations out there who think the USJ has weakened us. By holding the Sports Festival, we're showing that they haven't slowed us down in the slightest. Besides, security will be tighter and tougher than in past years."
"I see, so not only is this a chance for the UA students to prove their worth and advertise themselves to potential agencies, it'll be a PR victory for the school!" Tenya dropped one fist down onto his palm, "Genius! As expected of UA!"
"S-Sir?" Izuku quietly spoke up as he raised himself a little from his fortress of anxiety, "Is it really necessary to compete?"
"We shouldn't be so cowardly," Nemesis hissed through his ears, "We'll fight, we'll conquer, we'll claim first place and demolish all before us. Victory will be ours! Then all will fear our power!"
Izuku could tell more than a few eyes were glancing towards him and he could feel their judgments weighing on his shoulders.
"First of all, yes Midoriya, it is necessary you compete, unless you intend to fail my class," Izuku gulped at Aizawa's strict words, "And secondly, if it helps put you at ease," And somehow Izuku now felt like his teacher wasn't just addressing him, but the entire class, "I, as well as the entire teaching staff of pro-heroes, will be watching the entire time. If anything happens, we'll be there to stop it."
Izuku breathed out a… not quite sigh of relief, but certainly some of the tension he'd been hoarding in his shoulders. Having everyone there would help, he supposed. But these kinds of things always required pushing oneself to the limit, yet he knew for him, that would be a death sentence.
There was always the option he could just, well, not try. Yet somehow the thought didn't sit well with him, and not just because of Nemesis's loud protests on the idea. He was here to do his best, right? To be a hero? So, to consider just giving up because it might be too dangerous to even give it a shot…
"The Festival begins in two weeks, so use that time to work extra hard and get in all the training you can manage," Aizawa's voice deepened, "Don't. Slack. Off. Class dismissed."
The rest of the day had gone smoothly enough, and it seemed that over the weekend Tenya had eagerly absorbed everything that Fumikage and his Grandfather had written down. It had probably helped that he clearly hadn't slept well, and dark rings of sleeplessness circled his eyes. For that first night Hitoshi had stayed up with him, the next he'd got a few hours with the help of some cold medicine.
Still, in less than thirty-six hours he had managed to put out requests for some obscure texts and unique sources, most of which had been far out of Fumikage's ability to find. Even Dark Shadow had seemed a little impressed at Tenya's willingness to learn everything he could about the underworld.
Unfortunately, though not entirely unsurprisingly, he had found nothing more on the mention of a human ascending to become a demon. But, as he had pointed out himself, it was early days.
The rest of the time, when they had not been in class at least, had been spent talking about the Festival. Rumors were already flying everywhere about what was going to happen, what the challenges would be and even who would be there.
Even as the class gathered their bags at the end of the day, excited chatter still filled the air.
"I heard the Powerpuff Girls are coming from America to compete in the third-year competition!" Denki gushed as he pulled his bag over his shoulders, "Oh man, I hope they do, that Buttercup Utonium is super cute."
This earned him a quick poke in the forehead from one of Kyoka's ear-jacks, "Why the hell would they ever allow them to come compete in our school's festival, dummy?"
"I dunno! But it'd be cool!"
Izuku had been hearing rumors like that all day. A popular one was that Lena Oxton, Britain's current number one hero, was going to do the opening guest speech with many people commenting that it was 'her turn' to do so.
Another was that Ember McLain was going to be performing at the halftime show, totally ignoring the fact that she was in the middle of her European tour. Hitoshi, despite Fumikage's insistence otherwise, still believed it could and would somehow happen.
The chatter, however, quickly vanished the moment Eijiro opened the classroom door.
Standing in a large crowd, some literally on their tip-toes to look in, were students. Lots and lots of students. In a sudden state of shock, Eijiro yelped and stumbled back, and in doing so caused the entire class to look to him.
"What the fuck…" Hitoshi mumbled from beside Izuku, who had been trying to shove a textbook into his backpack.
Tenya, however, was already on the case. He quickly moved to the doorway and began waving a robotic hand at them, "Excuse me! But school has now finished for the day, so if you don't mind, please move from our class and disperse!"
"Yeah! What the heck are all you guys doing here, anyway?" Eijiro called out to the crowd as the rest of the class began gathering closer behind him.
"Oh wow, so, this is Class One A?" A voice called derisively out through the crowd, which slowly parted to reveal a young man with short cut blonde hair, mocking eyes of cloudy-blue sky, and a smirking, cunning face that was somehow not without its charm. He was slim, and shorter than most, roughly coming to around Izuku's own height. "The class that stood up against a villain invasion and unleashed the devil himself," His mocking smile grew wider and Izuku felt several gazes turn to him, "So where's he hiding, huh? Class One A's dark little secret?"
Izuku immediately tried to slink back behind his classmates as Eijiro began, "What the hell are you-"
"Oh, there he is!" The young man's eyes suddenly locked to Izuku, and he felt himself freeze to the spot before turning back to face the crowd, his tail twitching in anxiety. "So, you're the one," The blonde grinned wickedly, "The demon of Class One A?"
Instantly murmuring sprang up amongst the crowd, and along with it, the growling, growing anger of his inner monster.
"Peons. Weaklings. Pathetic, filthy sinners all of them." Nemesis's voice was like a blood-soaked axe, dripping with gore, "And him, the worst of them all, we see his soul, cowardly and craven and soaked in envy."
Izuku felt his stomach twist in anxious fear and his tail curled up. But even so, he straightened himself and gripped the edges of his backpack tightly, "I-I'm not a demon." He had wanted to growl the words out, to seem at least a little tough in the face of so much pressure, but they came out as more of a slightly panicked stutter.
Possibly because he was only half-sure he wasn't lying.
Hitoshi was at his side in a second, his eyes narrowing at the crowd. Almost instantly he seemed to take command with an ease that Izuku both envied and felt utterly relieved by. "Alright then, if you're here to check out the competition just go ahead and look." He raised a hand to the back of his neck, seeming so casual even though Izuku knew it to be a nervous habit. He shrugged and let out a low chuckle, "You're Class One B, right? How does it feel to always be the runners up?"
Immediately there were shouts and yells of vengeance from the other class, one particularly large boy with a shock of white hair and strange, silver skin around his eyes, almost leapt out of the crowd to punch Hitoshi in the face, though a girl with giant hands quickly held him back.
Izuku almost groaned at the depressing irritation of it all. Hitoshi was one of his best friends, really, he was, but he certainly had a big mouth and a knack for knowing just what to say to rile someone up.
Still, he took advantage of the sudden chaos to move away from the crowd and slink as best he could to the door on the far end of the classroom. He was quickly joined by Ochaco and Fumikage, both of whom weren't at all interested in playing class wars with their apparent new rivals.
Quietly they moved out of the room and darted around the nearest corner. Izuku soon felt his anxiety ease off at being away from the loud and boisterous crowd of students. He gave one quick look back, watching as some girl floated her hand above the crowd to make rude gestures at his own class, before shaking his head and quickly catching up to the other two.
However, the moment he did so he found himself stopping, just as the other two had stopped suddenly in their tracks.
Leaning against a railing, the light of the setting sun falling across his back, was Katsuki. He was facing a dark corridor, shaded by the angle of the setting sun, his backpack slung over one shoulder, and his tie nowhere to be seen. He was looking to his phone and frowning, though for as long as Izuku knew him he always seemed to be frowning.
"Come on, let's go-" Ochaco hissed, and was about to pull Izuku to one side to take another route away from Katsuki before suddenly the blonde looked up.
For a moment, the world seemed to pause. The noise of the battling classrooms faded into the background. For the first time in what felt like years, Izuku and Katsuki looked to one another, with only a few feet separating them both.
Beside him, Izuku heard Ochaco and Fumikage take his flanks and in his heart, he thanked his friends for standing by him when they knew a single spark could set fire to the world around them. Almost literally, in Katsuki's case.
The silence grew uncomfortable and almost hot, as if Izuku was standing too close to an open flame. The setting sun cast an eerie orange glow across them all, with Izuku and the others placed in shadow by the frame of the window, while Katsuki remained in the light, his long, neat facial scars somehow so noticeably pale against his skin.
Finally, he forced a gulp down and managed to stammer out, "H-Hi, Kaachan."
To his great surprise, Katsuki said nothing. In fact, other than a twitch of his eyes, he didn't react at all. There was no screaming and shouting, no threats of death or violence, no reprisals for making him move classes. Izuku still winced, however, when Katsuki stood up straight, turned to face him properly, and slowly placed his phone back into his pocket.
The blonde's gaze went from Izuku, to Ochaco, to Fumikage, then back to Izuku.
Izuku felt as though he was being crushed under his gaze, and he felt as though he had to say something. Anything.
"L-Look, Kaachan I-"
"Katsuki?"
A girl suddenly emerged from the shaded corridor across from Katsuki, and the second she walked out from the shadows, Izuku felt Nemesis tense and arch within his blood. He felt gooseflesh along his arms and the hairs stand at the back of his neck. Every instinct he had suddenly went onto red alert, though why he couldn't explain. All he knew was that, without knowing anything about her, this girl was dangerous.
The girl seemed to notice Katsuki's gaze and turned her eyes to look at the three students.
The first thing Izuku truly noticed about her, other than the way she made his skin crawl, was that she had eyes that struck him with an instant sense of… sadness. They were green but not green like his own pagan green. No, they were a dark green, an old green, green like the stained glass of an ancient church window.
Her features seemed genteel and made one think of renaissance paintings of nobility, or the carved images of warrior-queens on ancient marble. She was shorter than Izuku, though only slightly, and she held herself in a way that spoke of confidence, though not pride, strength, though not cockiness, and intelligence, though not conceit.
Her hair. Her hair. For only a second Izuku believed it was a waterfall of flowing green locks before it suddenly struck him that she did not have hair, but a winding mass of vines that crossed across her forehead, flowed down her back, and ended at her shins.
But her eyes. They were joyless. They were focused and sharp and decisive, but joyless.
And what was more shocking was that as she stood beside Katsuki he realized that his old friend, who had suffered so much at the hands of Izuku's demonic power, had the same gaze.
"So," She spoke softly, though her words were so sudden in the liminal space of the corridor that they seemed to strike him like a blow to the cheek, "You're Izuku Midoriya."
"I- erm-"
"And who are you?" Fumikage spoke back, his voice strangely low, almost growling.
An utterly cheerless smile crossed her lips as she turned fully to face the three friends. Her hands cupped together in what looked to be apparent prayer as she took a step towards them. Behind her, her hair fanned out softly around her feet, though somehow Izuku felt threatened by the gesture.
"She's like him," Nemesis hissed suddenly, sharply through his brain, "She's like the priest. Her soul- her soul-"
"I've heard much about you, Izuku Midoriya," She ignored Fumikage as she stepped forward again, now within arms-reach of Izuku himself. Not once did her gaze waiver, not once did she even show any sign of trepidation or mockery. Not once did she show any sign of fear.
Izuku couldn't look away from her. Her gaze, so sure and strong and joyless. Something human within his soul cried out to help her. He needed to find out what had happened to her, to know why she seemed so- so like Katsuki. Like someone had reached inside her and tore away her happiness.
"And, if you may, I would like to have words with you."
"He's not going anywhere," Ochaco suddenly snapped, her hands curling into fists, "So whatever you've got to say-"
"I'll say it here, before your acolytes," The girl again twitched that terribly cheerless smile, "They too shall hear my words."
Izuku wanted to speak, he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He couldn't because as she stepped closer to him, his skin had begun to crawl with the sensation of spider legs moving across his palms, like sandpaper-silk over his cheeks, like the very edge of a knife playing across his neck.
He could feel her faith. Her true faith. Though it felt different from the faith he had felt at Fumikage's home, from Kodai. Kodai's had been like the warmth of a fireplace, like the flowing of a calm ocean.
Hers felt… sharper. It felt focused and wrathful. It practically crackled around her, like an oncoming storm at the height of humid summer. It felt like the punishment of great sins delivered by purging, holy fire.
It felt most of all like the energy that had sung to him from the sword in Fumikage's meditation room.
It felt deadly.
She stopped before him. Barely a step between them. Her eyes locked to his. Izuku cast in dim half-shadow, the girl cast in the light of the setting sun.
"I am Ibara Shiozaki, and I am the wrath of God."
Her words punched into his brain and he felt hell-fire coursing into his limbs, as though Nemesis was trying to do something, anything, to combat this threat that stood before him. It wanted to attack, full force, with everything it had. It wanted her gone, dead or otherwise it didn't seem to care.
But Izuku felt frozen, though, with fear or something else, he didn't know.
"I am the wrath of God, for if I was not, then He would not set me against you."
In that moment, without even looking to them, he could feel Ochaco and Fumikage both take a step back from the girl. He wanted to turn and run. He wanted to refute her words. He wanted to know why only hate and anger, cold and hard, existed in her eyes.
He wanted to help her.
But like Katsuki, he knew, simply by her words, her actions, her gaze, that she was out of his reach. There was nothing he could say, or do, or ask of her that would make her feel anything but deep, soul-seated hatred towards him.
"Hey, Fundie," Katsuki suddenly barked, breaking the moment like the shattering of razor-thin glass, "Enough toying with them, we've got shit to do."
Ibara looked to Izuku for only a moment longer, her eyes so frozen and ice cold with the hate she felt in her heart. Then, only to Izuku, she whispered, "Deus vult," Before she turned away and walked back to Katsuki.
She did not stride proudly, nor did she hurry. She walked without any fear of reprisal or reaction. She walked as though she had simply wished him good luck in the festival and that was it.
Katsuki huffed as Ibara passed him, gave Izuku and the others one last look of cold dismissal, and then turned to follow her, the two of them vanishing around the corner of the corridor.
There was a long moment where Izuku simply stood, looking to where the two of them had left, all words caught in his throat, his heartbeat almost frozen in his chest.
Then, finally, Ochaco broke the silence.
"What in the name of All Might's giant flashy grin was that?!"
IBARA. PARAPHRASES GENGHIS KHAN. MIC DROPS.
So a BIG chapter in terms of just... STUFF. That scene with Ibara has been one of those scenes in my brain since I first finalized the concept for the fic, so it's so awesome to finally show it to you all. Also, fun fact, we were supposed to meet Ibara way back like, 3 chapters ago, but I decided it might take from this scene and removed it. I wanted her intro to be like a bomb being dropped.
Also, another small note, I wrote the line 'eyes green like old stained church glass' the first time, and I thought it was so great as a contrast to how I often describe Izuku's eyes as 'pagan green'. Just a little pat on my own back there.
For those wondering, no, the 'Ascended' thing is not me making a hard right turn on Izuku's origins. Lucy is still his dad, but that concept is there for a reason, coughtheheraldsofeversoriscough.
Anyways, hope you all enjoy the chapter and thank you for reading! Till next update my dudes!
