I apologize for the small delay in publishing of this chapter. It just so happened that this page's review system went belly-up and I couldn't see your comments. So I decided to wait until it starts working again to be able to, 'ya know, reply to your reviews properly. Now that this FINALLY happened, we're publishing the chapter.
trzyglow - Aye :D
SmokyGhoul - Doing my best to stick to the schedule :D
InfinityMask - I'd say that the PLF strategist is playing in the same league as Sir Nighteye and Nedzu, but has the distinct advantage of knowing that those two exist and how they work while they are blissfully unaware of his existence. That's a big asset. As for Saiko Intelli, she's going to play a big role in Exiting the Stage, although as more of an antagonist.
Inevitablybad - send it to you in the private message. In case someone else wanted to join our Discord server (to get access to chapter written ahead for this fic and the others): Discord Link
The Archivist of Nyx - Final vestiges of resistance are slowly but surely squashed. There is no hope. There are only the chaos gremlins.
AdrianVnz - Yes, it was Iida's idea. He is fully embracing being the rule lawyer. It'll explored upon in a chapter or two. Momo's totally corrupted :v Not saying anything about Maki, tho :v
TheGreatBubbaJ - All I can say is 'wait for chapter 48' :P
Gowithebeat - Probably the only thing that Nedzu, All Might and All for One would have agreed upon, although for entirely different reasons.
Detrametal - The MLA's ideology gets further explored both in TTB (in the future) and in Exiting the Stage (already published).
darkpaladin89 - Too many comments to reply to them all, but I'm happy that you're enjoying the story :D
greatreddragonofdragons - :D
(***)
"So, what's the timetabl—" Izuku has almost enough time to ask.
"It's done!" Momo replies. She has that slightly manic look on her face. So, she had probably been working with Mei until recent.
The fact that they had work studies and so on didn't mean that they didn't (occasionally) return to school. They were all a week in, and they were all recalled back for a day or two. To share their progress, and so on.
It was time. The time that they had to use to finally conclude their long-standing plan.
And dear God, if making sure that Aizawa-sensei didn't notice a thing wasn't a chore. They succeeded in it, but… damn. It required a lot of work. Thankfully, that particular classroom wasn't used for anything, and Nedzu has given them the under-the-table blessing, which… made things easier.
They also asked Sako-sensei to help them smuggle things into the school with his quirk. Izuku, being the masterful tactician that he (at least according to his classmates, he still had some doubts occasionally) was, had simply asked Uraraka to be the one to deliver the plea.
Worked like a charm, really.
Today came the Time. It was ready. Their magnum opus.
(***)
Eraserhead is tired.
Coming to work is a chore. His students are all either problem children or worse. He now has two extroverts within his family, and … well, it hurts twice as much (and no, no amount of money would make him consider changing that, but it contributes slightly to his general tiredness).
Then, this.
"Aizawa-sensei!" They are all gathered in front of him. His homeroom was supposed to start… well, in a few minutes. He was on his way to their classroom when he ran into the crowd of demons that just escaped from hell…
Wait, no. That's just his students. So easy to mistake.
And of course it's the demon child that's speaking.
"What is it, demon child?" He replies as dryly as he can. Maybe this will discourage them. Of course, to believe that this is a possibility is probably a sign of Aizawa finally losing it.
"We'd like to apologize." The demon child replies.
"Midoriya, what have you done?!" Eraserhead is horrified. If they actually came to him to apologize like that… why is the building still up?! What did they do?! What could they possibly …
"Wh…" Midoriya is startled by it. Then he starts waving his hands around in a clear panic. "We didn't do anything! I mean, we did, but… we actually did something for you in order to apologize for how… taxing your work clearly is due to us."
Aizawa Shouta calms down. A bit. This is still highly suspicious, but at least slightly less. What made them realize that their behavior is slowly driving him ins…
Oh. Of course. Hitoshi is trying to look elsewhere, but it's rather obvious now. Himiko reacts the same way. So both of his children told them how much he declined mentally and emotionally ever since the start of the school year.
They couldn't just… tell them to stop. Because of course they couldn't.
"We've prepared you a little… uhm… something." Midoriya is doing his best, despite being in the spotlight. In fact, he is doing quite well. His internship must be helpful. "Could you please follow us?"
(***)
They let him enter the unused classroom first.
Eraserhead does just that. Then he freezes in his step. He is looking around, while desperately trying to comprehend what just happened. Where he was. What happened.
"This classroom is now your personal nap corner, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya beams at him. He entered the room right after him. "We've prepared it with all your preferences and likes in mind. Here, you have the comfort corner…"
He points out towards a solid half of the classroom that's practically speaking composed entirely of pillows. Of various sizes. Most of them are colourful yet clearly decorated in cat-themes.
"Here are the refreshments!" Midoriya now points to another part of the room. He can see a coffee machine (it looks incredibly expensive, something that Yaoyorozu probably paid for). And a… oh my god, is that a juice box dispenser? With all his favourite flavours and brands?! "There is a sensor here that will tell us if you are running low on anything. We'll restock it when you aren't using the room."
Eraserhead feels like he really should say something. But the words refuse to leave his mouth.
"And here we have the cats!" Midoriya points out towards another segment of the room. There are two cats. Two living cats. With their own bowls and everything. "We know you like to sleep with a cat cuddling next to you, so we've made Koji explain their job to them in detail. We promise you that those are the two cats in the whole world that actually behave! You're also free to name them however you see fit."
Shouta, breathe calmly. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In…
"We've also soundproofed the room, to make sure that absolutely no external noise will interrupt your rest." Midoriya continues. "We've made an exception to the security alarms, of course. But the school bells are out. The air is properly filtered, and set to maintain just the right conditions for a restful sleep! Including enough humidity to at least slightly alleviate your dry eye problem. And that's not all!"
ohmygodthereissomethingmore
Midoriya raises his left hand. There is a tight plastic band on it. Now that Shouta looks at it, all the problem children that decided to enter the room after him (instead of waiting in the corridor) have identical bands. There is a single red dot displayed on them all.
"This red dot gets displayed when you're present within the nap room." Midoriya continues. "In order to make sure that you get the proper rest, we, as in the entirety of 1-A, sincerely vow to not use our quirks on the school grounds while the red dot is on. The deal also includes Aiko. This way, you can take your nap without being worried about what's happening outside of this room's walls."
He stops speaking. And actually beams at Aizawa. Who is having the biggest mental crisis in the history of his school career.
Eventually, he arrives at the destination.
"Get out, demon child." He says, as dryly as he can.
"Wh… What?" Midoriya has the audacity to look surprised by it.
"I can't take a nap in here if you and your classmates are inside." Eraserhead replies. "So, get out. Now."
(If 'ya can't beat them, join 'em)
(***)
His twenty minute long power nap ends up lasting for seventeen hours. But damn, if he didn't feel better after that.
He feels even better when he discovers that 1-A stuck to the deal. They actually didn't do anything weird during that time. This seventeen hour (and twenty-seven minutes, because they stayed sane for only twenty-seven minutes afterwards) period is the record time without 'anything weird' during this school year.
(***)
"... and it worked!" Uraraka says with enthusiasm filling her voice. They are returning to the dorms after a school day, taking a slightly longer route. Midoriya is there with her, but it's not exactly a romantic moment (because Asui, Yaoyorozu and Toga are with them).
"This is awesome!" Midoriya smiles back at his girlfriend (he still can't believe his luc… hard work). "That's a completely new application of your quirk and it's AWESOME!"
Uraraka just managed to discover that she can cause a gravitational 'crunch', by redirecting the gravity of an object inward. She had to REALLY focus her power to achieve that - less a prolonged result like her normal zero gravity, and more a split-second thing.
She could use it for selective demolition of things. Like destroying enemy equipment (once she managed to figure out how to localize the effects), or make holes in the walls when doors were for some reason unavailable.
The amount of almost childlike wonder in both 'Awesome' (especially the latter) makes Uraraka's smile grow even wider. Especially as it's her boyfriend (she still can't believe her luck!) speaking.
"Five finger point quirks are typically strong for their class." Yaoyorozu adds. Somehow she doesn't feel out of place, despite those two clearly stealing their spotlight. "To compensate for a complicated activation method. I guess you truly awakened, from Class Four to Five."
"This means that your quirk is now officially in the same class as Yaomomo's Creation or Todoroki's Half-Hot Half-Cold!" Midoriya seamlessly takes over. "This is…"
He is interrupted by a loud sound of engines. It's actually not his little sisters driving a tank on the UA grounds (again), but Tenya Iida's quirk. The man in question speeds up past them, coming from the direction of the Heights Alliance.
Completely ignoring the speed limits.
And almost running them over, with fear clearly visible on his face.
"What the…" Toga looks angered by it. But that's when Midoriya suddenly makes a Face. It's the 'OH, I KNOW!" face. Himiko was ready for it, so she moved lightning fast, pulling a paper out of her pocket and spreading it around right over his head, facing the rest of the group.
It's a large drawing of a glowing lightbulb.
Uraraka lets out a loud "Pffft" before almost falling to the ground in laughter. Tsuyu ribbits with a clear amusement in her voice.
Himiko's mom is the coolest person ever. And Himiko wants to be like her soooo very much!
She also consciously does her best to forget the woman that gave birth to her. That woman was no mother of hers! It was always Miss Joke, Himiko just needed a while to be reunited with her. Yes, that's the official version.
Hitoshi has similar thoughts about Aizawa. Except for the, well, 'giving birth' part. That would be weird.
"Grandpa must be visiting the school today!" Midoriya lets out, completely unaware of everyone (Momo joined the club) starting to laugh in the background. "Let's hurry!" He really can't wait to say hello to him!
"Grandpa?" Uraraka asks. She has managed to recover her ability to speak, and that's a great achievement.
"Yeah, Gran Torino." Izuku turns his head towards her. "Makes you wonder what Kacchan is doing right now."
(***)
"Kaaaacchan." The word is drawn into eternity, every second of it spelling death and doom. There is no escape. Especially not right now. Not when he let himself be cornered like that.
But maybe… just maybe…
"... I know you're here, Kaaaachan." The voice comes again, practically dripping with mockery. "Come say hello to your favorite sensei, Kaaachaaan."
Bakugou Katsuki stops breathing and starts praying in his mind. What are the chances of Gran Torino not checking this toilet stall? Of thinking that Bakugou hid elsewhere?
He even asked Kirishima to grab a wig making him look like Bakugou from a distance and jump out of the window. He timed it perfectly, so that Gran Torino would see him disappear there, and then chase after a dummy!
[the fact that he had the wig prepared would be pointless if he didn't spot Gran Torino approaching the building from the distance]
He prepared so well! It has to work, right? It will work!
It didn't work.
(***)
"You look happy." Jirou decides to address the elephant (?) in a dorms' common room. Because Todoroki is smiling. Even if he is eating his favorite cold soba, it's still a bit… surprising.
"I am." He agrees, stopping the rather intense slurping for a moment.
"Why?"
"I got cold soba from Gran Torino." Todoroki replies. "His special recipe. It's delicious."
Uhm, what?
"Wait, that hero from your internships just dropped by… and gave you soba?" She asks, dumbfounded. Todoroki looks like he isn't sure what's wrong with that, so he ends up simply nodding. "Uhm, why?"
"He made it for me during the internships." Todoroki replies. "After I mentioned that his training isn't that bad when compared to my father's. Uncharacteristically nice of him. But this one I got for telling him where Bakugou was hiding."
The long wail of existential horror coming from the direction of the toilets made Jirou realize that Todoroki was ready to sell his friends for cold soba. Huh. Good to know.
(***)
Technically speaking, Eraserhead doesn't want to know the answer to this question. He is just… tired. Even with the problem children giving him his own nap corner, he is still tired. Of course, it's less tiredness of his body and more a general tiredness of his existence now. Mostly thanks to said nap corner.
But he is a teacher.
So he has to ask.
"What…" He asks, staring down Aiko. She stares back at him. Honestly, if she wasn't frequenting nightmares of half of the faculty, Eraserhead' would be impressed. That's some very good death stare. "... is this?"
"Nyarlathotep." Aiko replies without batting an eye. "My familiar."
Gods give him strength. He is going to need it.
"... that's an otter." Eraserhead decides to confront her. "Wearing a black robe. With a small staff in its hands. And it's staring at me."
Most of its body is resting on her shoulders, but the upper half is actually upright. Right next to her head. Giving him a stare that's almost equal in intensity to hers. He is almost certain that it's Koda Kouji's special animal training showing results.
Almost.
It might actually be a demon.
"That's how mortals perceive his temporal form, yes." Aiko nods. Nyarlathotep repeats the gesture in perfect synchronization.
Why is he still a teacher at UA? Why? Oh, right. He sincerely believes that this year's demon & problem child group needs at least SOMEONE sane to keep them at least SOMEHOW reigned in.
This is sad.
"Is that even legal?" Eraserhead's a hero, but laws regarding otters being kept as pets isn't something that he can recall at the spot.
"It is." Aiko nods. "But even if it wouldn't be legal, it would still be alright. Nyarlatothep doesn't have to follow the laws of this world."
"Why?" Eraserhead deadpans.
Aiko Midoriya… the biological daughter of the mythical Demon Lord (yes, Yagi finally admitted who her father was and Eraserhead lost a few nights of sleep over the discovery that the mythical Quirk Thief existed)... the adopted daughter of the former Symbol of Peace… Holder of some unfathomable quirk…
…smiles. Faintly, and only for a second, but still.
"... because he's from an otter world." She announces.
Silence in the corridor. Long. Eventually, Eraserhead decides on an answer to that.
"Congratulations." He announces. "You're expelled."
Aiko Midoriya actually blinks at him a few times. It feels like the first time ever and Eraserhead feels faintly proud of himself for breaking through her composure. Maybe there actually IS a child underneath… all of that.
"But… I'm not attending UA yet?" She asks. Aizawa wishes he had a phone in his hand so he could quickly snap a pic of Aiko actually being confused about something.
"Great." Eraserhead says again. "You started early."
Then he refuses to elaborate and leaves.
Aiko: 47
Eraserhead: 1
Time for payback.
(***)
As one can imagine, family dinners can easily become quite awkward. Especially when that one uncle shows up to talk about politics. That's when things immediately go to hell. Or the nearest available equivalent.
Thankfully, just THANKFULLY, Uncle Stain was busy teaching 2-A how to creatively incapacitate people with a metal cup. Or something similarly brutal. So he wasn't there for the event.
Uncle Compress, however, was.
His mom gave up on trying to give him a hint at this point.
"Looks like they are here." All Might announces as the bell rings. Hopefully it's not another kidnapping attempt. "So, who wants to say hello to the guests with me?" He says towards the children gathered behind the table. While walking towards the entrance door and leaving the dining room for a moment.
Well, he barely got the time to leave it before Eri ran after him. Izuku does the same, albeit with much less enthusiasm (he considers this to be a part of his social training). Asa shrinks in his seat, while Aiko continues making her preferred brand of regal stare. Directed towards the door they all left through.
Nyarlatothep makes the same look. Somehow, he nails it. It's a mystery.
Inko is, naturally, near the entrance door already. It's her house, and she has guests. She has certain things to do (such as welcome them properly).
"Welcome to our house!" She says as the door open. With a truly angelic smile, her husband right next to her and her son busy restraining Eri so she doesn't run to immediately hug the guests.
"Err… yes. Welc… I mean, it's nice to meet you?" Endeavor (in a suit, and his flame beard temporarily switched off) announces. It's clear that he finds the situation extremely, extremely awkward.
Rei Todoroki sighs painfully, pulling her husband's arm a little.
"Repeat after me." She says, as clearly distraught Enji looks down at her. "'We're grateful to be invited to your home."
"We're grateful to be invited to your home." Endeavor repeats obediently. It's clear that he would prefer to be practically everywhere else, maybe except for the PLF headquarters (wherever they are). Although Izuku isn't sure about the last one.
"Sorry for my husband, it's a… work in progress." Rei then quickly says towards Inko.
Inko glances quickly at her husband - who looks back at her, questioningly. Then she looks back at Rei… and then, a wide smile blooms on her face.
"I can deeeefinitely relate to that." She announces. There is something of a spark in the air between Inko and Rei, something that makes Rei adopt an identical smile.
"Uh-oh." All Might whispers towards Izuku. "I think I can hear boss music." Endeavor is too far away to hear it, but judging from the look on his face he arrived at a similar conclusion.
"... more like an ominous latin chant." Izuku whispers back. Eri temporarily stopped struggling. "And we're all out of health potions."
(***)
What happens first are introductions. It's immediately obvious that Todoroki's family is missing someone.
"I'm sorry for that, but Natsuo's quite busy with the college work, and…" Rei tries to say, but is (almost) immediately interrupted by Inko.
"It's absolutely understandable." Inko says quickly. "If anything, it's our situation that's rather… anomalous, considering the fact that we're living on a school grounds. Where my husband is working, and my oldest son is studying."
("…and where your second-to-youngest daughter is busy with a self-imposed mission of traumatizing the entire faculty BEFORE she starts attending the school." Baigoro Danjo announces in the depths of One for All.
Yoichi slaps him in the head with a rolled newspaper, the look of cold determination only barely covering his 'no bully my niece!' berserk fury. Nana actually chuckles in the background, before quickly looking away and pretending that it didn't happen.
Goddamnit, their landlord was getting influenced by Inko Midoriya as well.)
The introductions proceed normally. Da… Touya is there, looking vaguely irritated by having to be here, probably because he couldn't train his quirk while visiting the Midoriya's. Shoto is there as well - he is so influenced by the mood that he actually tries to introduce himself… to Izuku.
("Work in progress." Izuku and Rei say. In unison. Before giving each other an almost conspiratorial look (because of course the mother knows how much Izuku did to make her son act like a human being).
Shoto feels confused about it, though. Endeavor remains in the background, looking stiffer than Kamui Wood's skin - or Best Jeanist's clothes - and that's an achievement.)
"And that's, uhm…" Inko looks to the side of the room, where Atsuhiro Sako is standing, pretending that he was supposed to be there. "... an extra."
All Might and Izuku chuckle as if on cue. Mr. Compress grabs himself by his chest, making the 'oh no I've got a heart attack' pantomime.
Inko Midoriya decides to be a merciful goddess. As Rei gives her a questioning stare, she continues speaking.
"... actually a brother of mine." Sako's head perks up. Sure, they were close, but to be actually referred to as her BROTHER in front of guests that were so important?! That was…
Endeavor gives Atsuhiro Sako an appraising stare, before sighing quietly. It's going to be a weird family dinner, that much he is sure of.
(***)
Fun fact - I wrote half of this around the time I published chapter two of this fic. Then I had a LONG of a pause. So the second half of the chapter was written a week ago. At least now I once again have a few chapters long backlog so it's alright.