You would not believe how stressful this chapter was to write

-X Izuku X-

Izuku's eyes jumped open, finally free from the memories as he stared up at the ceiling. His mouth tasted like death.

Musashi.

Reaching out and grabbing the comm next to his bed, he spoke into it in greek, "Asclepius? How long have I been out?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Asclepius responded, voice deadpanned, "You've been unconscious for about a month. The transfer of Aro's Command Spells delayed your recovery by several weeks. As I told you it would."

"Still for the best," Izuku said, "can you get here? I want to start the recovery as soon as possible."

"Of course you do," Asclepius said, "Why would you want to rest?"

"I just woke up from a month long coma," Izuku pointed out. Eyes landing on a familiar cane at his bedside.

James…

"Don't you dare try to stand up," Asclepius said, "I'll be right there."

"Thank you," Izuku said, before switching frequencies, "Detective?"

"Izuku!" Sherlock breathed, "awake, I see?"

"Just woke up," Izuku rasped, glancing at the heart rate monitor and IV, "Correct me if I'm wrong, Detective, but aren't naps supposed to make you feel refreshed?"

"Depends on the person," the Servant said, "how are you?"

"Wish I could stand up," Izuku said, "but I'm pretty sure Asclepius would be beside himself in anger," something moving out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, "Lobo!"

The King of Currumpaw's head had snapped up at some point, cresting over the bedframe even as the rest of his body lay on the ground. The minute Izuku finished the word, Lobo was half on him, less like a dog and his owner and more like a fretful mother.

"Excluding the procedure," Sherlock said, "he hasn't left your side. He was beside himself when we brought you in, and nearly smashed down your door to see you."

"You did?" Izuku asked the wolf, before giving him a broad smile and a one handed hug, "Thank you. What happened while I was out, Sherlock? Is Beast VII-?"

"Gone, alongside the last Lostbelt and the blank Texture," Sherlock reported.

"And… and Olga?"

"We weren't able to find her body," Sherlock said, "I can't say if that's because it was disintegrated by the force you brought to bear against Type-Oort or if a rogue element stole it away."

"Goetia," the smallest amount of frustration leaked into Izuku's voice. Could he stop making things frustrating for ten seconds!?

"Or Muramasa, the Priest, Douman or the Alien," Sherlock said, "We weren't capable of confirming their termination."

"Why are there always loose ends?" Izuku sighed.

"Yes, well, these ones will be slightly looser."

"What."

"I'm… ah, I'm sending some photos to your terminal, Master," Izuku quietly swiveled to the other side of the bed, pulling up the holographic screen and pressing his wristband against it while punching in his credentials, "if you haven't figured it out yourself, the last one should explain it."

Izuku scanned the photos. A man in dark clothes, one covered in wood, "New Servants? Did a Singularity for-"

a familiar building looming over a modern suburban landscape and then…

"-m. Sherlock."

"Master."

"You have ten seconds," Izuku gritted out, "Where did you get a picture of my MOM!"

"She's touring the Border as we speak," Holmes answered, voice blaise.

"How and why?!" Izuku exploded, standing up… and only Lobo rushing under him kept him from hitting the metal floor as his good leg gave out. Grabbing James' cane, Izuku forced himself up.

"Sit back down, Izuku," Holmes said, "Asclepius will be beside himself in anger-"

"Explain what's going on!" Izuku ordered, but fell back into his bed, voice cracking, "Why? We, we can't abandon those people, Sherlock! Vitch, Goetia, Doumen-"

"Something tells me they'll follow us," Sherlock said, "forgive me for saying this, Master, but danger tends to follow you like a plague."

Izuku laughed in spite of himself, something wet siding down his cheeks, "It does, doesn't it? Why'd you do this, Sherlock?"

"We're technically still disavowed," Sherlock said, "and even with Goredolf and the Wandering Sea siding with you, I can't see the Clock Tower being very thankful you violated how many Servants we can have summoned again. Here, we have the power to do what we want and need to to stop Beasts V and VI, alongside any other threat that follows us. Goredolf, Da Vinci-Chan and I all agreed this was the best course of action."

"Still heroes nobody knows, eh?" Izuku said, trying to sound blaise as his voice quivered.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Sherlock said, "Moriarty is working on some things. We may have to… finagle some numbers, but I believe we can get you, Mash and a small guard into UA."

- X James X-

"If I'm honest," James said as he approached the police station with Evil Wind, Danzo, Chiyome, Hans, Sion and Nursery Rhyme, "This really isn't what I'm used to."

"How so?" Sion asked, the alchemist looking up at him as he took off his glasses and began to clean them.

"'The Napoleon of Crime', my dear," James said, sliding on an earpiece, "I prefer if people know I was the one behind it, even if they can't prove it was me. Hundred, have you finished deploying the pages?"

"Last one will go on when you say the word," Hundred Faces said.

"Are you all ready?" James asked, putting his glasses back on, "Remember, once I say the word, we have half an hour-"

"To two hours," Hans said, "I've never been the best at precision work when it comes to time, so I went for broke, as the saying is. I figured it best to drastically overshoot how long we cut the station off from the outside world than to undershoot ir."

"Still, best to assume we're running on the minimum time we can be assured," James said.

"Excuse me?" An officer with the head of a cat walked towards them, "I have to ask you to stop loitering, you're-"

"Now," James said into the mic and watched as a rippling haze formed around the police station. In the same breath, he brought both hands down on the sides of the cat's head and watched him drop, "Fuma, Danzo, Chiyome, Persona, mop up. If they're awake, knock them out. If they're asleep for whatever reason, make sure they won't be getting up. Hans, Nursery, Sion, memory modification and examination. Make sure they remember Izuku being rescued and a sting, find out what pro heroes were on the case so we can clear them up next. I'll be in the mainframe within two minutes. Go!"

James strode into the police station with his coat billowing, just because you wouldn't be remembered didn't mean you shouldn't still do the crime with class, ignoring the Assassins dropping officers like they were flies. Stepping into the chief's office, he nodded to giant persona, Gozou and threw the police chief's unconscious body out of the swivel chair. Spinning once, James cracked his fingers and pulled the keyboard closer.

Compared to Chaldea's security, this would be child's play.

- X Asclepius X-

Asclepius looked at Izuku, who was staring at his terminal to the near complete exclusion of anything else, fingers tapping against the cane while a sheathed dagger of the Spiritfuge whirled in his other hand. Finishing changing the bandages around Izuku's leg, Asclepius straightened himself in his chair, "May I inquire what's going through your head, Master?"

"...I'm not sure how this meeting with Mom is gonna go," Izuku said.

"Hmm," Asclepius caught the spinning hand, examining the mark on the opposite side of Izuku's hand from his Command Spell, the ones that had once belonged to Scandinavia Peperoncino. While what had happened in the Indian Lostbelt hadn't directly been the Crypter's fault, Asclepius would be lying if he said he would weep for the pink haired man. Izuku would, but not him, "And why is that?"

"What if she just… just wants things to go back to the way they were?" Izuku asked.

"Then I'm sure someone can take her to the side and explain to her why that is an expectation of the most stupid metric," Asclepius said, not stopping the tracing.

"Asclepius!"

"You are not the same boy who left this world," Asclepius said, "anyone can see that, Izuku. Your mother is not blind, is she?"

"No-"

"Then expecting you to go back to who you were is the domain of two things, insanity, or willing blindness. To treat the former is my job, to treat the latter is kindness."

"But… what if she doesn't understand?" Izuku's voice warbled, "I… I've got a lot of blood on my hand, Asclepius. More than any murderer in history."

"Do not look at it that way," Asclepius said, "Excepting Gut, there was no malice in your, no our actions. To pretend we are innocent would also be willing blindness. We helped you bring the end to the Lostbelts, Master."

"But I ordered you-"

"We were summoned by the providence of Alaya," Asclepius said, "I was summoned before you arrived to eliminate Spiral. Dozens of Servants fell in Atlantis alone. We would have fought for the right of Proper Human History to exist either way, for Proper Human History is, as the name implies, the proper way for things to go. We were the history that won, and to corrupt that is to blight the tree called "history". It is my job to treat disease. Now, away from you changing the topic."

"I-"

"If your mother tries to force you into being the Izuku Midoriya who existed before your time in Chaldea, I will correct her. If she refuses to be corrected, she is a tumor and must be cut ou-"

"My mother is not-"

"A tumor? She will act as one if she cannot accept the reality of the situation, Izuku," Asclepius said, taking both of Izuku's hands, "Master, I am your loyal Servant and I am your doctor. We brought you home for your own sanity. You cannot go back to who you were before Chaldea. To try otherwise will destroy you. I won't remove your mother from your life if there is any other choice. I won't do it if she stumbles on the path anymore than I would abandon an addict. But if she refuses to even step on the path of acceptance, then I will make it clear as you doctor, as your Servant and… yes, even as your friend, that it is unhealthy to you. Are you ready to meet her?"

"I- yes," Izuku said, gripping the cane.

"Don't-"

"I'm not gonna meet her in a bed," Izuku said, eyes hard jewels as he forced himself to stand and lean on the cane, "or a wheelchair. I'm gonna… I'm gonna stand up and give my mom a hug, Asclepius."

Asclepius was silent for a second, before quietly offering Izuku his arm, "fine, but once this meeting is done you will remain in a wheelchair until your recovery is done, even if I have to strap you into it."

Those eyes. As hard as jade. Full of determination.

The reason why Izuku was so extraordinary in spite of being so ordinary.

- X Inko X-

Inko stepped into the office with a long table in front of a desk, looking around as she did, "What's going on in here?"

"Just…" Mash looked down at her wrist, before licking her lips, "just give it a minute. Do you want refreshments? I'm sure Nemo Bakery can whip something up and have it down here in a few minutes."

"Can we have cookies?" Jack asked, jumping into one of the chairs and kicking her feet.

"Give it a few minutes," Mash said, walking to a terminal in the wall, "Gray? Reines? Tea?"

"No thank you," Gray said.

"I've got a bottle of wine back in my room," Reines said.

"Aren't you a bit… young to be drinking?" Inko asked, looking over to the blond girl.

"Why'd I let that stop me?"

"Anastasia? Serenity?"

"I already ate," Serenity said, "but thank you."

"I'd take some cookies if the kids get them," Anastasia said.

"That depends," a voice just deep enough to remind Inko of Hisashi said, causing her to tense up as Izuku limped into the room wearing a black shirt and pants with a harness and belt of pouches over them. The brushing of his hair was all but faded, leaving the tri-colored hair in its natural curls. In one hand was a cane he was using to stable himself, while in the other was gripping tightly to an IV stand. Behind him, Asclepius and a giant wolf came into the room, the doctor looking like he had eaten a lemon, "Were you well behaved while I was gone?"

"Pére!" Jeanne rushed at Izuku, tackling him into a hug that was joined by Jack a second later. Izuku grunted, staggering back into the wolf that braced him.

"Thanks, Lobo," Izuku said, before giving a strange kneel to accommodate his bad leg. He wrapped his arms around the children, "Hey, you two. Were you well behaved while I was sick?"

"Yeah!" Jack nodded.

"Didn't get up to anything bad with Nobu again?"

"No," Jack shook her head, trying to look like an angel. Izuku hummed quietly, "I didn't!"

"I'll have to ask Marie later," Izuku said, using the cane to push himself back up with Asclepius's help, "You can have the cookies for now, but Mommy is gonna be very unhappy if he finds out you lied to him, Jack."

"I didn't lie!" Jack said, a shade too quickly, and Izuku looked down at her and shook his head, laughing.

"Oh, I see," Izuku said, glancing at Jeanne, "Who was it?"

"Mephy," Jeanne said.

"Jeanne!" Jack whined.

"He was gonna find out either way," Jeanne said.

"An," Izuku said, continuing around the room, "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Not this time. It was just some water balloons," she said, "let her have her cookies."

"You would say that, Shvibzik," Inko couldn't speak Russian, but could tell Izuku had mangled the word, "fine. But you're gonna be grounded for trying to trick me, Jack."

"K," Jack sounded completely and utterly unworried about it, getting back into her chair.

"Gray," Izuku said, offering her the smile next, "I saw you brushed my hair. Sorry it's already messed itself up."

"It always does," Gray said in turn.

"Serenity," Izuku said, before opening his arms up so she could give him a long hug. That was all, no words were shared, just a long, long hug. Finally, Serenity breathed in and pulled back.

"I missed that," she said quietly, a sad smile on her face.

"Any time," Izuku said, before finally turning to Mash… and immediately frowning, "Have you been sleeping well, Mash?"

There was a heartbeat, and then the noise of hands hitting heads. Gray and Asclepius had executed textbook facepalms as Reines began to cackle like a witch.

"I… I've been sleeping roughly, Senpai," Mash said, a small tick in her smile, "I was worried about you, you know?"

"I don't want you neglecting your health because of me," Izuku reproached softly, "I get hurt a lot Mash, then I get up. It's what I do."

"Took you a long time to get up this time, Senpai," Mash said.

"But I'm up, I'm alright," Izuku said, "I'm not gonna leave you that easily."

Anastasia huffed, but didn't say anything.

"I still worry," Mash responded, and Izuku spread his arms out, letting her hug him in turn. She breathed in, "I missed you."

"I wish I could say the same," Izuku said, "but it's all just kinda a big fog. I think I had some memories, but… yeah. It's good to be back. I can't wait to show you the world."

Finally, Izuku broke from the hug and turned towards Inko, licking his lips as eyes that had changed to a light jade slowly but surely darkened to their natural color, "Mom… hi…"

- X Izuku X-

Izuku licked his dry lips, staring at Inko. What… what did you say, when you hadn't seen your mom in years, had fought two separate apocalyptic scenarios and-

"Mom… hi…"

Smooth, Midoriya, Smooth.

Inko stood up, reaching out to touch Izuku's shoulders. The seventeen year old Master swallowed.

"You've… grown…" Inko said, tears welling in her eyes. Her grip on Izuku's shoulders tightened to the point of aching, "You've grown so much."

There were so many things Izuku could have said there. That he hadn't grown that much. That what growth he had tended to happen over the years. That she had shrunk. Instead, Izuku quietly pulled his Mom into a hug and buried his head into her shoulder, tears pouring from his eyes, "I missed you. I missed you so much."

"I was… I was worried sick when you disappeared," Inko said, "What… what happened that day, Izuku?"

"I… still don't know for sure," Izuku said quietly, "There was a villain attacking me, and I remember not wanting to die, and fighting with everything I had to survive and then.. Then I woke up at Chaldea with pneumonia. I don't remember how I did it… but… it might have had its ups and downs, but I don't regret it. I made friends."

Reines began to give an evil laugh. Izuku, with practiced ease, ignored her. She liked it when you responded, so he wouldn't.

"And adopted some kids," Inko said, pushing Izuku into a chair and beginning to fret over him, whispering in his ear, "I'm too young to be a grandma, Izuku."

"They're legends," Izuku said, "if they want to call me dad, or mom, I don't really have any room to tell them no."

"Now if only that carried over to every other aspect of his li- oof!" Anastasia shot a glare at Gray, who had silently elbowed her, "You were thinking it too!"

Gray didn't respond.

"...I still have some trouble believing it," Inko said, "All of it. They said… they said that you were a sorcerer"

"Magus," Izuku corrected instantly and immediately, "Sorcerer means something very different. I'm barely a mage, I'm definitely not a sorcerer."

"Technically, you can be a Sorcerer and a terrible Magus," Reines said conversationally, "I'm probably a more versatile magus than Five, and you're probably not all that worse than her in number of Magic Circuits, even if hers are of far better quality. But as a Sorcerer, she could probably engage a Servant and have a non-zero chance of winning, she's destroyed Greater Dead Apostles before. To put it into terms you could understand, Inko, Sorcery is breaking reality to force something that should be impossible to become possible, while Magecraft is using a cheat to skip past several steps, but still ultimately arrive at a conclusion that you could do without magic."

"And traveling to a different world isn't magic?"

"Sliders are rare, but the fact that we're having this conversation is proof they are not an impossibility," Reines said, "There is a Sorcerer that makes Sliders look like children stumbling through a forest, but it's not Sliding alone that makes him one."

"Old Man Kaleidoscope is another level entirely," Izuku agreed. They had contacted Clock Tower to make sure he wasn't responsible for all the dimensional… flotsam for lack of a better term, that had ended up in Chaldea over the years. The letter of denial they had gotten back had been perhaps the most politely worded mocking laughter Izuku had ever seen, even if he legitimately believed Zelritch to be telling the truth, "Do you want to see some Magecraft? I'm not the best, but I can show you… assuming Asclepius won't stop me."

"If I was going to stop you," Asclepius said, "you wouldn't have finished that sentence, Master."

"I'd love to," Inko said, smiling at Izuku.

- X James X-

James finished printing out the files he had pulled from the police department, deleting the records with a few keystrokes and adding five pieces of paper. Standing from the chair, he quietly returned the police chief to it and began to walk from the room.

"I have the names," James said, "Eraserhead, Snipe, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods and Death Arms. We'll split up and deal with them. Hundred, you go after Snipe, his Quirk is called "Homing", and lets him land a shot on anything within six hundred meters."

"With us, we can outnumber him," Hundred Faces said, Asko taking the piece of paper and fading into shadows.

"Exactly," James said, "Evil Wind, you will go after Mt. Lady. She likes attention according to the police reports. Make sure she doesn't get any."

The fifth Fuuma Kotarou nodded, taking his page and walking away.

"Hans and Chiyome," he continued, "I leave Mr. Woods to you. Make sure to not leave any burns noticable enough to give up the game."

"On a man who controls wood?" Hans said, "Not the easiest of jobs, but still, with me right there we can edit his mind on the spot."

"Exactly," James nodded, "unlike the others, he doesn't seem flakey enough to miss wherever he should be. So interception is the name of the game."

"We'll see it done," Chiyome said.

"Danzo," James said, "You're after Death Arms with Nursery Rhyme."

'And you and Sion are after Eraserhead?" She finished.

"I'm the least reliant on magical energy of the Servants, while Sion is capable of fighting him in hand to hand of it comes to it," he nodded, "we don't know the exact details of how his Mystic Eyes, ah that is to say his "Quirk" works. I don't want to risk him dispelling Hans and Nursery's Magecraft, Chiyome's curses, or anything of the sort. Though preferably, we'll ambush him with Etherlite."

"Easily done in the right positioning," Sion nodded, hands pressed against an oddly shaped case she had brought with her.

"Never assume anything can be done easily if it can be done right, my dear," James said, "We have one chance apiece. If any of us are caught in the act, we're only going to make life harder for Izuku and Chaldea. So let's do this right."

- X Izuku X-

Izuku closed his eyes and breathed in, pressing his hands together. Within his head, the image of a lighter appeared, four Magic Circuits were "opened", their physical representation spreading as emerald fractals across his arms. Breathing in, Izuku sparked the lighter once, the air between his fingers shifting, his body temperature rising. Breathing out, he sparked it again, opening his eyes and hands to reveal a cat's cradle of burning strands.

He smiled at the wide eyed look on Inko's face, stopping the spell and dropping his arms. Then his eyes fell on the desk and he bit a tired sigh back, and began to limp towards it, falling into the deep chair, "I should probably start working on the backlog of requests I've got."

"Requests?"

"This is my office," Izuku said, pressing his wristband against the terminal and reentering his credentials. Oh, by the Root that was a lot of requests… "When any of my friends want something, they send it here for me to authorize or veto. I gotta deal with this backlog before it gets bigger, I'm sorry Mom."

Izuku flipped open one pouch, pulling out a case and cracking it open. He opened the faintly glowing blue glasses, sliding them on and pulling up the first request.

Transfer of Mastership of Servant Rider (Captain Nemo) from Sion Eltnam Sokaris to Izuku Midoriya so the former can try to facilitate-

Izuku didn't even finish the request, hitting yes and moving on to the next one, "Asclepius, can you make sure my wheelchair is here by the time I'm done, and ask Nemo Bakery to send down whatever you'll let me eat."

I'd prefer you go back to bed," the doctor said in frustration.

"Work doesn't wait," Izuku waved a hand, denying the request to add another weapon to the Storm Border. The torpedo tubes and point defense guns were good enough.

"I never got my snack," Jack said.

"An, make sure she gets those cookies?"

"Considering I wanted them too?" Anastasia said.

"Why are you wearing those?" Inko said, "You never needed glasses…"

"They're a gift from a friend, Sigurd," Izuku said, "the lenses are essentially just for show, the actual frames are enchanted help with eyestrain, memory retention and keeping dust out of my eyes."

"Oh," Inko said.

"Mash," Izuku said, "can you show Mom around the Border some more? I'll catch up with you when I'm done this. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two if I'm fast."

Nero wanted to go shopping. That was a "no" until he had more data about the boots on the ground.

"Of course," Mash said, touching Inko's shoulder, "Come with me, please."

"..."

- X Inko X-

Inko followed Mash out, taking one last look at Izuku sitting behind the desk and rapidly typing, occasionally pausing before continuing. Finally, as the door swung shut, she spoke, "I didn't think it would hurt so much…"

"What?"

"Watching my baby boy grow up like that."