"Cheers!" Izumi shouted, and the returning "Cheers" resonated from all over Yuuei. The great courtyard of the school was in a state Izuku never thought he would see. The students of Yuuei, clearly prompted by Kendo and the others before they even arrived, had pulled out chairs and tables en-masse – Izuku realized soon that said tables were, under the tablecloth, the desks of the school tied together – and had started enough barbecues that there was going to be food for everyone. Mirio had arrived soon after they did, with Eri, Lemillion and enough meat, drinks and more miscellaneous food to feed an entire army… or, apparently a student body taking part in an impromptu school party.
He took a long sip from his glass of cola and looked around, thinking about his talk earlier that day.
-x-
"Does this happen a lot?" Izuku had asked, while helping Mirio carry some of the meat to the closest barbeque, ignoring his instance that the party was for him too.
"Sure. When she became Student Council President, Izumi decreed that we had to always be ready to celebrate a victory by throwing a massive party. She made a special rule that allows the Student Council to do so, and since the principal is never around she just forced enough teachers to sign it so that it could become official." He chuckled, "Frankly, I like it a lot. Since she came around this school has become a lot more fun."
Izuku looked around. Everyone was rowdy and loud, but it was clear people were having fun. He stared at Monoma, accompanied by three other people – Mineta, still short but now with normal purple hair, Tsuburaba, and Kuroiro, the latter taking a moment to recognize since he was only tanned rather than pitch black – as they carried more desks and tablecloths to the field "What was the school like before?"
"Well, there were four gang last year that controlled the school. Mine, Tenko's, and two others that graduated at the end of that year. The School Council Presidency was under Tenko, but really it was just because no one else bothered to vote besides his group. Then, Izumi and Asui came around. Izumi conquered this school piece by piece: first her class, then the Council, and then both me and Tenko." He smiled, "As for what it looked like, it was a lot worse. There were entire corridors people couldn't walk into without getting mugged by some of the older students, and most people with a weak Deal were outright quitting."
"Doesn't that mean they would fall off the Path?"
"Who knows?" He put more coal in the fire pit and then gestured to Izuku to take the remaining meat to another barbeque, leaving this one to a tired-looking Amajiki, "The Path of Most Resistance is something that you fall off from only when you either succeed or are unable to attain it. Cleaning up your act might actually be better than blindly following it." He stopped at Kirishima and Tetsutetsu impressive five grills, the inviting smell of grilled meat and vegetables rising from them. They dropped the rest and walked back to the entrance, to pick up more stuff, this time drinks. As they went, Izuku thought a bit about what he had said. The Path was a great thing for its user, if they could use it right, but it also meant they were bound to do bad things, if it meant succeeding in the end.
-x-
'And isn't that what has me so worried?' He thought, finishing his glass of cola and returning to his meet. Music roared in the background, courtesy of Jiro's impressive speakers set. He looked at the others. Bakugo and Tomu… and Tenko were glaring at each other, while Toga and Komori were staring at the confrontation with a clearly mischievous smile on their faces. They were having fun, that much was clear. Not too far, Kirishima and the largest teen Izuku had ever seen were holding an arm wrestling competition, cheered on by a girl that wasn't older than sixteen with black eyes and short blue hair. That one he recognized from some pictures he had seen on newspapers of the Deika incident, it was the reporter Chitose Kizuki. He wondered why she was here too, before someone put an arm around his shoulder.
"So, having fun?" A girl with red hair asked. Yuyu, Nejire's friend, Izuku realized after a moment as she sat down.
"Y-Yeah, thank you." He replied, honestly. She smiled, and Izuku noticed she looked weirdly familiar. Not just from his world, but she also reminded him of someone, even if he couldn't quite place her.
"Good, good. So, I hear you are leaving tomorrow."
"Who told you?"
"The very loud girl you brought back from the tournament." The girl replied, pointing her thumb to the another table, where Huanli was standing on the table, ignoring Iida's frantic hand gestures as she showed off moves that Izuku recognized as his own during the match. He sighed. Izzzuku had decided to keep an eye on Huanli while she was here, meaning that right now he was probably in her mind and giving pointers. He really hoped those two combined didn't turn in too much of a menace, but he couldn't help but smile. Watching not one, but two Eri look so happy, with the second one cheering at every move her doppelganger made could only make Izuku happy too.
"I guess I can say yes then."
"Good for you. I guess the Multiverse won't wait. Are you sure you don't want a Deal? There is still time."
"Yeah, I…" He froze, and turned to her, "What?"
Yuyu smiled again, and that smile, that expression was She Who Bears Gift's very own. The goddess grinned. "Sorry, did you think a girl was hitting on you? Afraid that's not the case this time."
Izuku remained frozen, unsure of what to do even as his cheeks turned red at his blushing, but Yuyu – or She Who Bears Gift – just took a potato chip from his plate and ate it, "Ah, humans of this age really make the best food in history."
"What are you doing here?"
"Mh?" She raised an eyebrow, "Oh, right, you mean in this body. See, this girl made a Deal with me years ago, where I can take over her body once a month for twenty-four hours. She was the closest of the people with this deal, so I even used her appearance to welcome you yesterday in your very overcrowded dream, though I guess my deific appearance meant you couldn't quite make the connection." She shook her head, "It's honestly lucky that you arrived before I used it this month."
"Why would she do that?"
"She wants to be a stylist, and my Deal Dress Code, that gives the ability to choose a perfect dress for any situation, is really the perfect complement for it. Really, if she manages to follow the Path to the end, she will become the next greatest thing of the fashion world." She smiled, "Are you sure you don't want one?"
"I don't, especially if I don't know what you really want."
"What if I told you it's to save this world?" She took a grilled vegetable, quickly chewing it, "Maybe my power has been growing weaker, and I need to acquire new power, so I want to use you as a bridge to the source of power known as Quirks." She smiled, taking a sip of water.
"How could you be growing weaker?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'm lying." She shrugged, "If I want to, I can make up a lie so convincing you won't be able to tell it's a lie, you realize that, right? That's why I'm so direct. There is no point in lying to me."
Izuku suddenly thought back to something Izzzuku had told him once, during their trip. "Izzzuku says there is no point in lying too." He noted.
"That's proof enough we are fellow gods. If he was a human, he would disagree like you do."
"All Might lied, technically, when he pretended to be an invincible Symbol of Peace, hiding his wounds and fragilities. There was a point there."
"A very stubborn point. Your Hero, from what I can see, ground himself to dust both physically and emotionally just to keep the society he had built going. There were so many good things he could have done if instead he admitted his weakness and used his remaining time as the groundwork for what would come after."
Izuku hated that she had a point, but he couldn't really argue, knowing what had happened in Deika and Fukuoka. Still… "He did his best, and it kept the country safe for six more years."
"Which is why I don't criticize him too much. But enough about a Superhero from another world, let's talk about the Superhero from another world in this world." She took another potato, "What do you plan to do?"
"What do you mean? About your Deal?"
"More about everything. I can talk to Izumi's Deal, and he told me of what her Path leads to. You are taking both of them with you, which, from what I gathered from your memory, will make your journey a lot harder. And once you are done with that, well, you will have to face a great evil."
"I will do everything I have to if it means saving my friends. All of them."
"Good, good, you are really leaning in that Paragon of Virtue archetype your master had going on, he is probably going to be proud. But still, don't you want something to make things easier? I could give you Homecoming, the ability to always arrive to a designated location." She smiled seeing his expression shift, "Oh, interested now?"
He couldn't lie and say he wasn't. She was offering him a way to instantly control Teleport, of course, and he was tempted. It would have meant no more training. But still… "What would you want?"
"I want you to take me to your world. Simple as that."
Izuku looked at her for a moment. He thought back at everything that had happened the last time, at everything he had been told about Deals and the Path of Most Resistance, and finally shook his head. "I can't."
For a long moment, She Who Bears Gift stared at him, then she sighed, raising her hand in defeat, "I knew it. Pity, we could have done great things together." She took one final glass of cola, downing with a sigh and then stood back up, patting him on the shoulder, "But if you ever change your mind, I will never be too far." And with a wink, she walked away, leaving Izuku to ponder if he had really made the right choice.
-x-
'Did I make the right choice?' Itsumi wondered, as Katsuki illustrated to her exactly what he had built since she had gone to sleep.
Of course, one of them was easy to recognize. The oval object was a grenade, not dissimilar to the ones her mother used. She had never bothered to build them before, because she essentially had infinite grenades, but she had to admit that it couldn't hurt to have them. Her usual explosive darts only packed a strong punch worth of damage. It was weird to think, but what made explosions dangerous were heat, air blows and shrapnel, and she only had one of those that was really worth talking about when she launched her attacks. Of course, she could make them bigger and more dangerous – and the image of the Claw, the woman she had fought in the medieval magic world she had been to before arriving in the League, a large bleeding wound in her body that Itsumi had caused – but it was clear those were exceptions. She had also launched her attack at the cowboy Izuku had fought, and the result had been less than impressive.
And of course there was the timer.
"I can't believe you never considered that you can do this. This timer will open a small gap in the grenade to allow air to enter when it goes to zero, and that's when it will explode. A perfect way to delay an explosion when it most suits you."
"Well, I mostly never thought about it because it wouldn't really be easy to ensure the attack is not lethal…"
"And?" Katsuki's expression made it clear what he thought of that, "Girl, you want every option on your hand. You might never need the bomb to explode on timer, but if you ever do and don't have the option, you will really kick yourself for saying no." He shook his head, "Anyway, let's look at the really good stuff."
"Uh, alright…"
"So, first of all, here is your cane." He handed her back the support item, and she inspected it to find it was very similar to how it looked before. However, she knew they had replaced the old wire with a new, more resistant material. One that could resist to explosion.
"Combat Cane 2.0, Whip-Rifle-Sword, at your service, my lady." He said with a sarcastic grin on his face, "This one is a real beauty."
She couldn't help but agree. A cane with wired grappling hook had become a multi-use weapon. She still needed to train into using it, but there were a lot of options open to her now. Of course, normally a weapon like this was impossible to use, but due to her quirk, Itsumi would have been capable to. With training. Probably.
"Now, I took the liberty of also assembling a rocket launcher, but I think you said no to that."
"It's a bit too large to carry around."
"Nonsense, it's incredibly compact!" He argued, while taking out the oversized weapon, that was as tall as she was. "But fair enough, spoil sport. Instead, here are the Gatling Gauntlets!" He showed her a pair of white gloves similar to her mother's Hero Costume's. The gauntlets extended up to her elbow, with a compact but still fairly capable container that she could fill with her liquid. And once she did, she could shoot it out as a rain of small explosions or a continuous stream. Not only that, but she could even control them if she wanted to, given the liquid was in contact with her.
She looked at al the weapons, admired. Considering this was the result of more or less three days work, it was astounding how much Katsuki had produced. She would have liked to think it was her help, but the truth was that the man was a genius when it came to build weapon. "Thank you." She said.
"No problem, now go blow up something." He replied, patting her on the back, "Now, I'm gonna go sleep, don't wake me up for a day."
"A-Alright." She nodded, smiling, "Thank you again… mom."
He grinned, "No problem, girl." He started walking away, then paused and turned around, "But if you tell anyone I acknowledged that, I will make you pay."
She nodded frantically and he walked away. As soon as he was gone, Zuzu-9-Delta appeared next to her. "Should I delete that recording?" She asked.
"Nah, keep it. I want the blackmail material." She replied. Delta was a really helpful person – or AI, but same thing – that had the robots that ran the laboratory always ready to bring them any material they might have needed. She had even offered a few magitech additions, but Katsuki had refused to work with those on the ground he didn't know them enough to build something that wouldn't explode at the wrong time. It was a surprisingly controlled decision from him. Or she had thought so, until Delta had explained with a chuckle that Mariah and Mel had collectively decided he was banned from working with it, and offering had been a test on her part.
Itsumi sighed, looking at her new weapons as she put them away. The grenades came with a belt that could hold ten of them, and she put that on, though she didn't go through the trouble of wearing gauntlets and grenades themselves, instead putting everything in a bag a robot handed to her.
'Well, I guess I will get to show it all off to Mariah later.' She thought with an honestly excited smile. The idea of showing her some actual improvement was really exciting. She whistled lightly as the elevator took her upstairs and she walked to her room, so she could change and start training a bit beforehand. Not five minutes later she was wearing her gym clothes, and headed up to the gym. Only to find it very much occupied.
"Ugh…" Ojiro groaned as he slowly stood back up, "That martial art of yours is just magic."
"Why yes, it is." Itsuka Quanteng replied, taking a stance that reminded Itsumi more of boxing than of any eastern martial art, "Now, want to go for round two?"
"Of course." And they moved on the offensive. Itsumi looked around. Aside from her, only Lissa was there. She sat down next to her, and the girl glanced at her new gear, clearly curious.
"What's going on?" Itsumi asked, though the answer was rather obvious judging by the two starting to move closer to each other, both in fighting position.
"Oh, they are doing some sparring. Martial artists stuff."
"I see…" She looked around, "So, where is Dekiru?"
"Oh, Mel grabbed him about thirty minutes ago saying she and Canary had a theory to test." Melissa sighed, "I think they have found him a way home."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. It would make sense, I think. If Dekiru fuses with Canary, they should be able to pull it off." Lissa sighed again, "I'll miss him. It was fun to have around someone around my age."
"I am around your age too."
"Yeah but you spend all day cooped up in that lab or training. It's just that I don't really know how to… approach that. You have a big goal in mind, meanwhile my whole goal is convincing those dumb Vestiges to give me Guide and then learn to control it." She shook her head, "I just don't want to distract you."
"Uhm… Why won't the Vestiges give you Guide? I could understand if they wanted you to prove yourself normally, but in this case, they should know that you need the Quirk to return home."
She looked down, avoiding her eyes, "I don't… I don't know. A part of it is just that I have a hard time seeing One for All as my own Quirk. Mel thinks that until me and the Vestiges can really see eye to eye, we will never manage to work together."
She wanted to ask more, but before she could, Ojiro managed to land a hit with his leg and Itsuka couldn't hold a short shout and as she walked back a few steps to regain her balance out of his kick's range. Lissa cheered, but before they could continue any discussion five more people walked in the room. Mel, her hair tied in a ponytail today, accompanied by a whole horde of Izukus. Dekiru, who looked down – 'ouch, it probably didn't work…' – had Canary's hand on his shoulder, the older Izuku trying to reassure him. Next to him was Spider-Man, the Izuku that, Itsumi realized, she hadn't seen once since their first meeting. Where had he been all that time?
And the last one, surprisingly enough, was Isaac Midoriya. The older man walked in the room, looking around. "Hello everyone!" He said, with a large smile, "Itsuka, can I borrow Ojiro for a moment? And I also need you Itsumi." He added quickly. Itsuka sighed, before bowing toward her opponent, Ojiro imitating her and walking up to them.
Itsumi stood back up herself, while Dekiru sat down next to Lissa. Canary smiled and left the bummed teen in the hands of the blonde girl. Itsumi felt certain that she would manage to cheer him up, so instead, as they all left, he walked up to Canary. "It didn't work?"
"Oh, she told you? Yes, we tried something and it partially worked. But we need to work out some stuff." Canary smiled, "The good news is that he might be able to go home after all, in a few weeks at least."
She could see why that didn't cheer up the kid. Going from 'Not going home' to 'Maybe eventually going home' was hardly that much better. It was an improvement, but it didn't sound like one when you were desperate to return. She really hoped Dekiru would get to solve his problem. She hadn't talked much with him, but he seemed a good guy.
Meanwhile, surprisingly, they were not taken to the lower levels, but only down the stairs, to the dining hall. The reason became clear a moment later, when they noticed that Todoroki was sitting there, still studying those papers he had been working on for the past few days. "We asked Shoto to join us too, but he has been busy and didn't want to stop. This seemed like a good compromise." Isaac explained, sitting down. Calmly, the others did the same.
"So, what's this all about?" Ojiro asked, "I kinda want to take a shower soon."
"Of course. I just wanted you three to help Spider-Man here. It seems he has found the Prowler, the person he was looking for."
"You have?" Ojiro asked, surprised, and Itsumi shared his surprise. While it was clear this had to be someone they had met in their trip through the Multiverse, it couldn't be anyone they had met in their own universe. But that only left…
Oh.
"Yes, it seems you fought her during your time there." He looked at Itsumi, "Actually, it seems you did."
"I… You mean the one they called Claw?"
"Indeed." He took out a picture. The purple and red design. The claws and rocket boots. That was the same person alright. "A while back she disappeared, so I've been looking for her. I thought this was a wild goose chase, but checking the Multiverse couldn't hurt. And then, while reading through the Patrollers and Wanderers report since her disappearance, I found yours." He tapped the screen of his phone, that showed a copy of the information she had given to Isaac back in the Star Tower, during the interview. A decent description of her fight with Claw… no, the Prowler.
"Are you sure…"
"Yes. Mitsuki Bakugo being the Prowler. The information you have on how and why she disappeared from her world and appeared in that one explain a lot by themselves. It all works perfectly. So, I am here to ask for your help."
"About? I don't know anything that wasn't in that document."
"No, I need your help because you know that world better than I do, and I want to go there to recover her before she causes more damage." He bowed his head, "I'm asking you three to come with me."
Itsumi stared at him in shock, and Ojiro did the same. But surprisingly, Todoroki recovered in an instant. "Alright, but then you are coming with us to fight All for Deku."
"Shoto!" Ojiro shouted.
"What? A favor for a favor. We almost died last time you went to that universe, don't forget. If they didn't have bullshit healing magic you would be covered in scars." He looked at the Izuku, who was just listening but didn't seem too worried, "I think that makes sense, right? Heroes helping each other."
Spider-Man took a moment to look at Isaac, Mel and Canary, and Itsumi did the same. Isaac seemed worried. Mel was nodding in approval. Canary, on the other hand, just made a gesture to indicate he had no preference. Curious, but before she could inquire more on it, Spider-Man sighed. "Well, if you go this far to ask for help I can't refuse. I'll join you, is that alright?"
"Sure. Itsumi, Ojiro, you two go." Shoto replied, without stopping to read the paper.
"What about you?" Itsumi asked.
He raised a finger, a thin smile spreading on his lips. "I'm staying, and for three reasons. First, I never even glimpsed this 'Prowler', and on top of that both my opponents were captured, so I really have nothing worthwhile to add by going there. Itsumi fought her, and Ojiro fought a version of Toga that wasn't captured, so they are both more useful." He raised a second finger, "Second, Ojiro has an attitude for the magic of that world. If he can grab some extra spells while he is there it can only help when we fight All for Deku and the other All for One users." He raised a third finger, "Third, if we all go there will be no one here to try and recruit the Patrollers that come here to our cause. One of us has to 'hold the base' so to speak. Since I also have something else to do in this world, I will be the one staying behind."
Ojiro stared at him for a second, then chuckled, "I forgot why you were the leader of the Imprisoned. Fine, I'm going." He turned to Itsumi, "Are you coming?"
"I…" She looked at Spider-Man.
"It's alright if you don't want to."
"No no, it's alright, I want to. I'm just a bit worried. I was in the middle of training, and I have just finished my new gear." She raised her arms to show her gauntlets, "I'm just worried I won't be of much help until I've learned how to use them."
"It's alright then." Isaac replied, "You just need a trainer, right?" He sighed, "I don't like sending people to another universe, but if we are already sending five people, we might as well send six."
"Five?"
Canary nodded, "League rules establish that if a group of people that can't travel through the Multiverse leave, they have to be accompanied by two Patroller. In this case, one will be me, and the other will be… I don't know, probably Itsuka, right?"
"Yes." Isaac nodded, "Mel has been here for a few weeks now, so she needs to go home for a bit, and Mariah and I can't leave right now, since the coming week is where most Patrollers come in to report. Which doesn't leave that many available people until next week."
"You make it sound like we aren't the first choice." Canary jokingly pointed out.
"A Patroller that can jump universe once a day and another that can't carry people? Why, I don't see why I wouldn't think you are the best choice normally." Isaac sighed, "So, as I was saying, if five can go, six can go as well."
"Seven." Mel clarified.
"What? Who is the seventh?"
"The kid. He needs to train with Canary, and is not like that's impossible to do over there." She grinned, "Moreover, he is a good fighter too, and if they are going to recover the Prowler, they might need the extra help."
Isaac's expression didn't change, and Itsumi noticed it was one of worry and even a bit of annoyance. However, after a moment he seemed to realize that he didn't have a counterpoint, so he just raised his arms in defeat. "Fine, but seven is the limit. We aren't sending anyone else."
"I don't think we need anyone else." Mel shrugged her shoulders.
Itsumi barely listened as they discussed their future journey. She was too busy thinking about the fact that she was going back to the Multiverse.
'This time it will be different.' She decided. Then she paused. "Uh, if Mel isn't coming, and you weren't talking about Itsuka, who is coming as the trainer?"
Mel grinned.
-x-
"Sure, I can go." The Green Scar nodded, "I can totally help her train. How old is the Izuku over there, just to ask?"
"Early twenties."
"Nice." He winked at Itsumi, "We are gonna have fun."
Itsumi felt really, really scared.
(xx)
Can't believe I'm actually on schedule in finishing an arc, what kind of sorcery is this?
So, the final chapter of the Izumi world ends with a party, and... something probably unexpected for almost everyone. I aim to surprise, after all. She Who Bears Gift making a final appearance was needed though, and I finally got to mention the reason she looked vaguely familiar to Izuku. Though I doubt most people will know who she is without looking her up.
And then, we start the Prowler Hunt Arc for Itsumi. Itsumi, Ojiro, Canary, Itsuka, Spider-Man, Dekiru and The Green Scar forming a party to go into the Multiverse together is something I've been waiting to write since we have reached the League HQ, and I can't believe we are already here actually, I thought for sure we'd be further ahead when we reached this plot point, but this is really good.