My Multiverse Academia
By: Bubbajack
Betas/co-authors: Azure Dark, Loamy Coffee, Heliosion, and Icysnowsage
Disclaimer: We don't own shit.
Ch.3: Lyrical Seeds pt. 1
Izuku stepped through the portal and found himself on the cusp of an alleyway. Stepping out of it, he found himself in what he assumed was a typical Japanese city. Skyscrapers pierced the heavens. People were speaking on cell phones as they walked down crowded streets. The weather wasn't too bad out, if he had to guess it was spring. 'Okay I'm here, what exactly am I supposed to be doing? Zelretch never said… damn he's bad at explaining things.'
Suddenly a vibration went off in his pocket, signaling a phone call. Answering it he gave a tentative, "Hello?"
"Hello lad," Zelretch replied. "Sorry I'm off the ball today, my apologies. Anyway, I'm sure you're curious as to what you're doing here."
Mixing in with the crowd Izuku replied with, "It crossed my mind, yes sir."
"Okay here's the rundown kid, long short of it is your hunting down dangerous magical technology that is known as a Lost Logia which came from what is known as a Lostbelt. What a Lostbelt is isn't important. What is important is that you need to seal this Lost Logia, these Jewel Seeds before anyone gets hurt. Or worse, before they tear open a dimensional rift."
Izuku was taking notes in his notebook as Zelretch spoke, 'Dimensional rift sounds really bad' clearing his throat he asked, "Okay, how exactly am I supposed to do that sir?"
Izuku could hear the grin in the man's voice as he continued, "I'm glad you asked my boy. All you need to do is go to the following address, drop my name, and ask for a specific person."
'I-Is this the right address?' Izuku found himself wondering, as he checked his notes then cross referenced it with a nearby sign. Global Kitschy Business Consultants LLC. Their icon seemed to be that of a stylized fox. 'No, this seemed to be the place.' He went up to the gate guard on duty and tapped on the glass.
The girl sitting in there reading a magazine had blue hair and green eyes and looked an awful lot like Officer Jenny from Pokemon looked down upon hearing a disturbance. "Hmm, a kid? You lost little guy?"
Izuku shook his head, "No ma'am I was told to ask to see Miss Koyaskya and that I had an appointment under the name Wizard Marshall Zelretch?"
"Right, one moment while I call this in, okay?" She smiled at him kindly before she reached for a radio at her waist.
He nodded, "Yes ma'am," He could hear chatter coming back on the opposite end of the radio.
The woman turned to him and asked, "How old are you sweetie?"
"Six ma'am." Izuku replied.
"Six and out here all by yourself?" The guardswoman frowned. Clearly not liking the idea of a boy so young being by himself.
Izuku shrugged and spoke while the woman's radio buzzed and she answered. "I'm just helping a friend is all."
"Uh huh, I'll send him up," The woman turned back to him, "The boss would like to see you."
"B-Boss! You mean this Koyanskaya person…" He looked up at the massive building of gleaming glass and steel.
"She owns all of this yeah," She stepped out of her booth and went behind the half wall, coming back around with a golf cart, "Come on I'll give you a ride to the front door. It's a bit of a walk."
Sitting next to the woman he said, "Thanks for the ride, ma'am"
"No problem and the name is Jenny, it's a family name," the woman replied as she smiled and drove the golf cart across the large courtyard and towards the tower of steel.
"Doom," Gazing behind himself Izuku saw a doberman looking dog in the back of the golf cart. Only it had a pair of curving rams horns on its head.
"Ah, and that's Houndoom. He won't bite, as long as you behave," She joked.
Uhh, good doggie?" Izuku said warily as he reached out and pet the real life pokemon on the head between his horns. He needn't have worried, Houndoom was a big softie whimpering piteously at the sign of affection.
"I see you've found Houndoom's one weakness, headpats," Jenny chuckled as she pulled up in front of the building. "Okay now to the elevators and take it all the way up alright little guy? I'll be waiting here for you to get back so you don't have to walk."
Getting out on the sidewalk, the boy replied, "Thanks again Jenny-san. I'm Midoriya Izuku by the way."
"No problem, good luck with your meeting with the boss kiddo!" She said as she waved.
The *ding* of the elevator open on the top floor helped Izuku gather his frazzling nerves. Yet it wasn't at all like he expected. Plush red carpet covered the floor, the walls were painted a pale pink upon which were hung several paintings which mostly consisted of monstrous creatures primarily those of the Kyubi no kitsune in Japan and the Japanese kami Inari. The strangest outlier would be the carefully golden framed picture of a man in front of a mansion while wearing a captain's sailor hat. It was even signed at the bottom. "To my number one fan and supporter, sincerely, Hugh Hefner." On the opposite end of the room were several plush chairs and a large pair of solid oak wooden doors. Making his way over, Izuku tentatively knocked.
"Come in come in. I just put the tea on for you, valued customer," A cutesy almost sickly-sweet voice from the other side of the doors called.
Pushing the door open Izuku let himself into an office the plush red carpet covered here as well and one wall was covered in books, while the other wall had a glass window that offered an amazing view and sitting in front of that window was a desk, and in front of that desk was a woman, she was wearing a white business suit, with messy pink hair and she gazed at him almost predatorily over the rim of her oval shaped glasses.
"My, my, Zelretch sure likes them young these days… did he become a convert of the Church?" She wondered aloud.
"Huh?" Her words were lost on him.
Covering her mouth with her hand she laughed, "Fufufu, nevermind, I am Koyanskaya, how might I and by extension The Nine Fox Foundation help you today, young man? But before that, tea?" She waved her hand over to a wheeled tray that had an elaborate looking tea set upon it.
"Um, please," Izuku replied, taking up the seat across from her desk.
She served him expertly and then herself before sitting back down. After taking a sip she said, "Good, now what does the Wizard Marshall require of me?"
Taking a drink himself, Izuku replied, "Well ma'am I'm not really sure. He said I needed to seal something called a Lost Logia, a Jewel Seed and to do that, I had to come here."
Koyanskaya smiled, "Ah, yes, I do believe I understand," Finishing off her drink she proceeded to explain. "What he sent you here for Midoriya-kun was it? Is a Device. An Artificial Intelligent, magical powered machine that can come in a variety of forms and perform various functions. They can take the shape of a weapon, piece of armor, or books and help regulate prana flow among other things."
Izuku summed it up rather nicely, "So… it's like a magical PDA?"
Koyanskya nodded, "Yes! They assist in casting spells and the like. What type of Device would you like? A weapon, a piece of armor, something or esoteric perhaps?"
Izuku paused a moment before he answered. "I… have weapons, armor would be useful."
"Since you have weapons I'm going to assume you would like an Armed Device? That is to say something combat oriented?" Seeing the boy nod she began typing into the computer on her desk. "Would you like it to be… willful, that is to say capable of making its own decisions?"
"Yes, because having a second opinion doesn't hurt," Izuku commented wondering where this was going.
"So an Intelligent Armed Device," Koyanskya commented. "Would you like the AI to be male or female?"
"Female please," The only men Izuku had significant contact with were vampires, mad scientists, a cosplayer, and Bakugo, none of which sounded appealing as an AI.
"Just a couple of more questions. What style of magic are you intending to use? Midchildan? Ancient Belkan or Modern Belkan?"
Izuku blinked, "I don't know what those are?"
Midchaldean is good at long range, Ancient Belkan uses stored magical energy in cartridges to enhance close range attacks, and Modern Belkan combines the cartridge system with intelligent devices of Midchildan to become a jack of all trades master of none."
Izuku took a couple of minutes to weigh his options before deciding. "Modern Belkan please."
"Excellent, and now lastly, what would you like your Device to look like, in its inactive and active states?"
"I um… Oh I don't know. Something protective but not encumbering. I don't want it getting in the way even when it's activated so…"
"I think I know just the thing," Koyanskya nodded. "Leave this to me. I do have one final question though… why are you doing all this?"
"I really want to be a hero and help people. This'll help me do that."
Koyanskya smiled devilishly, "That is so… sickeningly sweet, Izuku-kun."
Izuku didn't know why, but he felt a smidgen insulted by that comment.
"Being a hero is dirty work," she said as she stood up walking around her desk only to embrace him in her delightful and quite soft chest, as she continued, "But sometimes things are only beautiful because they are dirty, and their true worth can only be seen after they are broken. I look forward to seeing how dirty you get and just how you break Izu-kun, fufufu."
Shakily returning the hug, he asked nervously, "I… um… how long will this take you to make this Device Koyanskaya-san?"
"Already done," She said as Izuku felt something snap in place over his right bicep.
It was a laurel crown cast in red copper, holding itself snugly to his upper arm. In between the leaves was a single peridot green cabochon jewel. Izuku looked at it, then at Koyanskaya, "It talks?"
"Umu! Yes I do master! Umu!" The Device replied in a perky feminine voice. "This one is waiting for its official designation Umu!"
"Umm, Konyaskya-san what is the scientific name for laurel trees?" Izuku asked shyly with his face still red from being squished between two heavenly pillows.
"Laurus Nobilis." the CEO replied.
Izuku nodded, "I think I'll call you, Victoria Nobilis."
The red sphere flashed and the device replied, "Victoria Nobilis…name acknowledged umu!"
Once he was finished, another portal opened up behind him and he received a text that simply said "Enter".
"Well, umm, this is where I leave I think," Izuku replied, "It was nice meeting you Koyanskya-san… Oh, could you tell Jenny-san she doesn't need to wait for me?" Izuku requested.
The pink-haired woman smirked, "I'll let her know… Good luck Izuku-kun, but before you go, how would you like to make a formal contract with me?"
The boy blinked, "In what way?"
"If you bring me any of the Jewel Seeds you manage to seal, I'll find some way to repay you. Additionally, since you'll be working with Zelretch-san of all people. should you come across any… exotic animals I will reward you handsomely if you turn them over to me. I run a menagerie for endangered species of all kinds." She fluttered her eyelashes at him as she said this.
Izuku felt his stomach twist into knots. "I…I-I'll do my best. I feel I owe you for making Victoria Nobilis anyway. So I guess if I can capture even one Jewel Seed I'll bring it to you as payment."
"That is acceptable, and in return any access to Jewel Seeds shall be reimbursed monetarily for as little as one hundred thousand yen per Seed, Is this acceptable?"
"Yes?" He supposed that was a lot of money but what did he know, he was six.
"We'll work it out properly when you get back." Konyaskya was nothing if not fair after all. She patted him on the head, before pushing him towards the portal while cheering, "Fight! Izu-kun! Fight! Fight! Keep on fighting till you can't anymore. Then I will be there to clean up the mess left behind."
If Izuku looked behind himself as he entered the portal he would have seen that Koyanskaya was smiling with more teeth than thought possible in a human, especially with canine teeth.
Finding himself in the middle of yet another alleyway, Izuku thought to himself, 'I'm sensing a theme here,' picking up his phone he sent a text, "Okay, I'm here, now what?"
He received a prompt reply. "Head to McRonalds, down the street to your left, a familiar face should be waiting for you."
Having nothing to lose, Izuku took off down the street, went across the crosswalk and entered the multi continental franchise.
"Oi you brat, over here!"
Izuku knew that voice and wondered where she went since they went through the same portal. "Auntie!" He saw her waving him down from the back of the place standing on her seat just so he could see her. He hugged her when he saw her. "Have you been waiting here long?"
"No, about twenty minutes or so wondering why it took you so long to just walk through the portal thing… what's that? Some new fashion trend?" She asked, pointing at Victoria Nobilis.
Izuku smiled happily, "This is a new friend believe it or not."
"Greetings relative of my master, umu!" Victoria Nobilis replied cheerily.
Tatsumaki blinked, "It talks!"
"She does yes… so why aren't you floating like you usually do?" Izuku questioned since his aunt from the times they hung out preferred to float then sit if possible.
The diminutive esper crossed her arms, "Hmph, I was warned not to as I would stand out too much in this dimension. Quirks aren't a thing here so we need to lay low," She glared at him as she said, "Understand?"
'Shouldn't 'I' be the one telling 'you' that?' Izuku thought to himself. Yet he replied with, "Yes Auntie. Did Zelretch-san tell you why we're here?"
Again, Tatsumaki huffed, "Magic rocks, yes."
Izuku felt the need to correct her, "Jewel Seeds, and they're dangerous, Auntie."
The esper conceded the point, holding up her hands defensively, "Okay, okay, they're dangerous magic rocks. Do you want anything while we're here?" She asked, getting up to go to the counter.
Izuku decided to take a gamble, "Is the ice cream machine working?"
"Is it ever?" She rebutted.
He hedged his bet, "Wanna share some cookies?"
Tatsumaki smirked, but replied, "Only after you eat some actual food."
"Proper nutrition is important for your continued growth and development master, umu!" Victoria Nobilis commented.
He gave into their demands, "I'd like some chicken nuggets."
"Okay," Tatsumaki nodded as she was about to order.
Only for his Device to comment, "Confirmation, chicken nuggets are sixty percent chicken, umu!"
Izuku blanched, "Umm… what's the other forty percent Victoria?"
"Unknown material. Might I suggest ordering the chicken selects instead, umu? Content is verified one-hundred percent chicken… umu," chimed his device as it looked through the menu through its sensors.
"Auntie…" Izuku began slowly while reevaluating his life choices in food.
She didn't need telling twice. "Chicken strips it is."
Once they'd eaten, the trio left the restaurant and Tatsumaki asked, "Now what?"
"You're asking me?" Izuku replied pointing at himself, "You're the adult here."
"We wouldn't even be here if you didn't insist on helping that crazy old man! So yes, I'm asking you whose bright idea this was,what to do next since you're why we're here in the first place," Tatsumaki semi-ranted
Izuku hung his head, "I'm sorry Auntie."
Hissing through her teeth, and cursing her own short temper, Tatsumaki placed her hands on his shoulders. "Look, I'm sorry it's just we're both well out of our depth here. We don't know how dangerous this could be. You could get hurt, I could get hurt, Izuku, we might both die here, you know that's a possibility right?"
"Auntie… you're usually a lot more confident than this. Is everything okay?"
Tatumaki took a deep breath and then made sure she had eye contact with Izuku, "There was a time when I thought not only I would die but your mother as well. We were fighting an organization composed of mysterious beings called the Monster Association. I got hurt real bad and thought I was going to die. The main reason all of this happened was because the hero association at the time lacked proper knowledge and charged in, thinking we had the superior firepower. We were dissuaded very fast. That was not the case. In fact I am pretty sure we would have all died if it wasn't for a certain hero showing up and defeating the greatest threat there. I want you to know that going into unknown territory is the most dangerous thing a hero can do. I couldn't let you do this alone but I am nervous now that we are here. The only support we have is that piece of jewelry on your arm."
"I am more than just jewelry, umu!" Victoria piped up. "Observe."
A screen suddenly popped up right in front of Izuku's face showing him a bird's eye view of the city. "This overhead display of our surroundings is currently searching for any power output equivalent to a Jewel Seed, master umu!"
Izuku was impressed. "Wow… what else can you do Victoria?"
"I can run you through virtual simulations, teach you how to master your abilities in the most efficient manner possible, umu! You and I are synched on a mental and spiritual level, so what you know, I know and then some. I can help and guide you on the long road ahead. Provided you are willing to put forth the effort," Izuku's newest companion chimed happily.
"Well, I'm more than willing to try my hardest," The young boy replied.
"Great, umu! I am sure you will become a great mage with an attitude like that master!" Victoria Nobilis encouraged.
"I am curious as to what you look like activated though," Izuku continued, "Like what should I expect?"
"Umu, would you like to have some input on Barrier Jacket designs master?" Victoria offered.
Izuku nodded, "I guess I would yeah, I mean it will be my outfit."
"Command acknowledged umu. Would you like to start designing now, umu?" the Device offered.
"Umm, can you keep searching for the Jewel Seeds and do this at the same time?" He didn't want to overwork his new friend after all.
"Affirmative my master! Umu! Indeed, I am currently only using one point five percent of my processing power at the moment. Doing both tasks at the same time would only take up another meager two percent of my processing power. We haven't even taken overclocking my systems into account yet, umu," was the cheerful but informative reply.
Izuku knew that overclocking a computer could cause damage to the hardware overtime so he gave an awkward chuckle, "Let's not do that if we don't have to alright Victoria? While I appreciate the fact you want to help me, I'd rather you not hurt yourself."
"Alright, umu!"
While the two began spitballing ideas, Tatsumaki watched from behind with a small smile on her face. 'I meanwhile should probably find us somewhere to sleep tonight' She began checking on her phone for hotel listings by using the area's networks. Surprisingly she got a signal here.
After getting a good night's rest at a motel Izuku and Tatsumaki were enjoying breakfast at a cafe. As they chatted Izuku wondered how they were going to find the jewel seeds exactly.
When breakfast was finished Izuku said what he was thinking, "Victoria, to continue our conversation from yesterday I want to know what is the best way of locating these seeds. Also Auntie, do you detect anomalies in psychic energy nearby?"
"I did detect some magical energy displacement last night but was unable to triangulate the proper position umu. I apologize, master. I was adjusting my settings for the spatial structure of this world and was unable to expedite the process without overloading my systems, umu," declared Izuku's device.
"Hmmpf, Well Izuku I can tell you that there was a strange burst of energy last night also. I can be a little more specific in that it was in this town. It did spike at one point but by then you were already asleep and I didn't want to wake you," chimed in Tatsumaki while she enjoyed her coffee and some after breakfast biscuits.
Izuku sighed, "Nex time, wake me up please Auntie. That could've been important," Izuku grumbled before he sipped his apple juice.
"Izuku, I know you want to help that relic of a man, but you're six. You need your sleep," Tatsumaki pointed out. "I may be willing to go along with this, but I'm still the adult and I'm still in charge here, am I understood young man?"
"Yes Auntie…" He sulked a little.
He suddenly felt her hand ruffling through his hair, "C'mon now don't sulk like that," She said smiling at him while doing her best to hide her fear she was going too far with him like she had with her own sister. "I just want you to grow up healthy for you, and you can't do that if you're running yourself ragged all the time when you're young. It'll stunt your growth, you know?"
"Is that what you did when you were my age, Auntie?" Izuku asked innocently
"No!" she sputtered, "We've been over this," She coughed, "Anyway, let's get out there and find these dumb seeds."
Izuku smiled widely, making the freckles on his cheeks stand out, "Yeah."
The trio of a dwarf, small child, and innocuous Device set out, attempting to locate more Jewel Seeds. "Victoria, anything?"
"Umu, nothing yet master. My scanners will alert me should they pick up the trace of a Jewel Seed. In the interim, would you like to decide the look of your barrier jacket?" questioned the Device
"Okay."
A screen with a naked genderless body popped up in front of his vision. "Please feel free to think of any kind of design you would like and we can make adjustments as needed umu."
'So it works via my imagination? Okay let's try it out,' He imagined All Might's silver age costume and in a matter of seconds it was equipped on the model on the screen.
"Not bad umu, but I personally don't think the colors fit my active form. Observe," commented the Device
The right arm of the model was covered in red copper, the shoulder was covered by a snarling lion's head and the mane looked like it was hiding the drum magazine for a shotgun.
Izuku stared at it for a moment, "What kind of armor is that?"
"A roman mannica according to my database, umu. You told the mistress you wanted something maneuverable did you not umu?"
Izuku flushed as he remembered how handsy Konyasanka was. "Y-Yeah I do. Okay, so All Might's old costume isn't going to work."
"If I may, master; can I suggest something umu?" Victoria asked.
"Of course, go ahead," Izuku hesitantly asked his device, wondering what she was thinking.
The costume disappeared and something entirely new took its place, a red mantle combined with black and white trimmed chestpiece, black rugged combat pants, and heavy duty combat boots with steel toes on the outside.
Izuku marveled at the costume. "Oh wow, where'd you get the idea for that?"
"The second reason the scan took so long was that I was also cataloging all the weapons master was keeping inside of his soul umu. Master has quite a collection."
"What?" stammered Izuku.
"I said-" Izuku cut his device off.
"I know what you said, I just don't understand what you meant by that. What weapons are inside my soul?" Izuku almost yelled. Luckily his aunt was distracted for the time being.
The Device was silent for a moment before it spoke again, "Umu, master is unaware? Curious umu… I will need to investigate this matter further my master. I assumed you knew of this phenomenon already, umu."
"Please do. As for the costume, it looks great! I think we can remove the sleeve the mannica goes on, and maybe turn it into a bandanna to keep my hair out of my face?" criticized Izuku while thinking his suggestions would make the uniform look more appealing.
"Alright!" She made the alterations realtime and Izuku liked the way it looked. "Anything else, umu?"
"Hmm, it could use a splash of color don't you think? Maybe add some yellow lines in the mantle or something?" opinion Izuku.
"Like this?" Victoria added some connected hollow diamonds circling around the hem of the wrists and on the shoulder too.
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, that looks so cool!"
"Great! Would you like to save this design?" questioned Victoria.
"Yes," Izuku confirmed, "Can I have more than one?"
"Oh yes, your barrier jacket can take multiple forms, heavier or lighter depending on what is needed," Victoria informed him. "Would you like to come up with a secondary design?"
Suddenly Tatsumaki interrupted, "It'll have to wait, I just sensed something off, but I can't pinpoint its exact location."
"Indeed, my sensors have just picked up the activation of a Jewel Seed in a nearby forested area," added Victoria.
Izuku grimaced but his eyes were filled with resolute determination. "Are you both ready for this?"
"Yes master."
Tatsumaki flipped her hair out of her eyes arrogantly, "Hmph, you're fifty some years too young to be asking me that, Izuku. Now let's see how dangerous these Jewel Seeds of yours can be. "
Nanoha Tamakichi was not having a good day. The nine year old girl had only just the day before learned magic was real. Then at the request of a talking ermine was tracking down Jewel Seeds which were dangerous magical objects. The first three she found weren't that difficult but this one… well someone else got to it first.
'I just wanted to talk to her, to know why she was searching for the Jewel Seeds, and maybe get to know her better, and now she's hitting me with lightning!' Nanoha thought frantically as she tried to deflect the girl's attacks with her crude shield.
The poor girl's inexperience with magic showed however when the blonde whose name she didn't even know, curved her electric bullets around her shield and hit her anyway. She felt her barrier jacket shred and the lightning burn her skin, causing her to cry out as she started to fall from the sky.
"I'm sorry," She heard the blonde say as she charged up three more bolts of lightning before she fired.
This was the scene Izuku arrived at. 'No! She's falling. I need to do something!' "Victoria, give me options quickly!"
"Call my name and say set up master!" commanded his device.
"Victoria Nobilis setup!" Izuku called. There was a flash of white light and when it cleared Izuku was wearing the outfit he'd designed not too long ago. A red bandanna was covering his brow, the red copper lion headed mannaca was on his left arm, his right was covered in the red cloth and he had the thin black cuirass on his chest, the pants felt rough but comfortable, the boots heavy but durable. "Options Victoria!"
In his mind's eye the image of a pair of swords, one cloudy white, the other tortoise shell black and covered in hexagons appeared, each bore a yin-yang symbol where the guard would be and the grip were roughly wrapped in leather.
At a glance he knew their names. Kanshou and Bakuya or if you prefer Gan Jiang and Yo Me. The Married Twin Swords of the Spring and Autumn Period of China. They were crafted in 500 BC during the reign of King Helu of Wu by the smith Kanshou who forged them in his grief after his wife Bakuya threw herself onto the forge. Her sacrifice helped the Essence of Five Mountains and the Metal of Six Heroes meld, and with the aid of five hundred children blowing into the bellows he forged these swords in his grief. After three years, he handed over Bakuya, the sword representing his wife to the king. He sent his then three year-old son along with the other sword away to some relatives predicting the king would come for his head once he learned of this…
Die Kanshou did, but his son lived and sought vengeance against the king, an assassin sent by the king, moved by the boy's plight, he took his head as proof to the king, but then killed the king under the pretense of a curse before beheading him and then himself, their boiled head being put to rest in the Tomb of Three Kings due to not being able to be told apart. The swords were buried with the three kings, only for the graves to be robbed and the swords stolen in 270 AD during the Jin Dynasty. They were eventually buried together in the Yanping province, their resting place undisturbed for over a thousand years until a young man came looking for the now mythological weapons, and they became the symbol of that hero for the length of his short life…
That Heroes name was Emiya Shirō. The skill he used that was imprinted on these very blades that became his symbols, was called Tracing. The process required seven steps. Judge the concept of creation. Hypothesize the basic structure. Duplicate the composite material. Imitate the skill of its making. Sympathizing with the experience of its growth. Reproducing the Sympathizing with the experience of its growth. Reproducing the accumulated years, and excelling every manufacturing process.
Envisioning a revolver being fired, Izuku said, the aria that seemed to echo from the swords. "Trace, on!"
Lightning arched from his hands before coalescing into the married twin swords of legend and crossing them in front of himself, he intercepted the bolts of lightning that were being sent the falling girl's way. When wielded in tandem, Kanshou and Bakuya increased the magical and physical defenses of their user. Izuku batted aside the thunderbolts, and then glared up at the girl who cast them in the first place.
For her part, Fate Tessterosa wondered who this boy was and why he was here. 'Is he part of the TSAB?' She narrowed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head, 'No, he's younger than even me. So what does he want with the Jewel Seeds?' Again, she shook her head, 'It doesn't matter, I just need to collect the Seeds and return them to mother.'
She turned her back on him and made her way to the floating, now docile translucent orb that was the Jewel Seed,
"Dodge!" Bardachie warned her in time for her to jump backwards when she heard a sudden whirr of a metal buzz- saw come through the air getting closer. She dodged just in time to avoid getting stabbed from behind by the black and white blurs that were the thrown swords.
Fate narrowed her dark green eyes at the boy. "It's not nice to throw things at people, little boy," She called down.
"It's not nice to hit people with lightning either, Kinpatsu-neechan," Izuku called back.
'Golden haired big sister?' Fate thought to herself, flushing a bit. She shook the thought away, scowling a bit. "She was in the way. If she doesn't want to be hurt, she should give up on the Jewel Seeds."
"You mean like this one?" Izuku said holding up the Jewel Seed that she was sure was right next to.
She looked over to where the Jewel Seed was, then called down to him, "How did you?"
"Unlike you, I'm not here alone Kinpatsu-neechan," Izuku replied, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards his Aunt. "Nice one Auntie!"
Tatsumaki just rolled her eyes. "Hmph, like that was difficult, with you distracting her."
Izuku then pressed the Jewel Seed to the green sphere held within the lion's mouth. "Jewel Seed sealed, umu!"
Izuku looked up at the blonde girl, whose name he still didn't know, "Looks like it's my win eh, Kinpatsu-neechan?"
Fate tightened her grip on Bardiche as she glared down at the boy who tricked her with something so obvious. "You got lucky today. It won't happen again."
She turned to leave only for the boy to call, "Oi, since I won today I wanna know something?!"
'Oh, to the victor go the spoils is it?' Despite her anger at being tricked, she had a soft spot for children. "What is it?"
"What's your name nee-chan?" Izuku called back. "I can't keep calling you Kinpatsu-nee now can I?"
'Something about him is pure… more so than that girl,' Fate thought to herself, her eyes flicking over the girl who was being protectively covered in a green aura by the green-haired midget. 'No wait, the proper term is little person. Rynith would be mad at me if I didn't use the proper terminology,' "I guess since you won today, I can answer one question. My name is Fate, Fate Testarossa."
With that she flew off, leaving the trio by themselves.
"Wait, I still wanna know why you want these stupid Seeds in the first place!" Izuku called out.
"See if you can beat me next time and maybe I'll tell you, brat!" Fate called back over her shoulder with no heat in her tone, in fact she sounded amused unless Izuku's ears were deceiving him.
Oi! I'm not a brat…" He muttered to himself.
"Umm, excuse me," The other girl, the one he'd managed to help, called from within his Aunties forcefield, "But could you let me go?"
"Right, um auntie could you…" Tatsumaki dropped the girl the remaining three feet to the ground, making her land flat on her back. "Thanks."
"Oof.., well I lost today …" she became sullen for a moment before she brightened upon seeing Izuku. 'He's so young… he's got to be younger than me… Eep, that means for the first time ever I've got a kōhai! Okay Nanoha this is a big responsibility but you can do it!' She told herself. "I'm Takamachi Nanoha, what's your name?"
"Midoriya Izuku," He said with a bow, "Nice to meet you Takamachi-san."
She waved a finger at him, "No, no Takamach-senpai, senpai! I'm older than you!"
'And I just saved you,' Izuku thought but decided to comply with the girl's request if it made her happy. "Right, sorry senpai."
Nanoha nodded while internally she was so happy. 'He called me senpai!' "Right so why are you after the Jewel Seeds?"
Izuku was only half paying attention; he had a lot on his mind right now with the revelation on Tracing and the armory of swords Victoria had spoken of earlier coming back to the fore of his mind. "Hm? Oh, I'm being paid to collect them."
Nanoha cocked her head to the side, "Huh?"
"Maybe we could talk about this over dinner, my treat?" Izuku offered.
"Yeah, and you can explain just when you were getting paid for these fancy rocks and how much you're getting taken for." Tatsumaki huffed.
'Wait, dinner?! He's asking me out to dinner! Is this a date! This 'is' a date right?! This is too soon! We just met, and established our senpai-kouhai relationship and I-I don't even have a proper outfit to wear! What do I do! Should I ask Yunno? Call mamma? I-I'm not ready for this!'
'Relax master.' Raising Heart said through telepathy. 'He seems like simply a kind boy who wants to help. We've both had a hard day.'
"Raising Heart!" Nanoha cried in anguish, "I forgot you were injured."
"It's alright," The Intelligent Device replied.
Nanoha shook her head. "No it isn't! I'm a bad partner, oh… is there something I can do?"
"Actually uh, Takamachi-senpai, I might be able to fix her if I can take a look at her real quick?" Izuku offered hesitantly.
"Raising Heart?" Nanoha questioned whether she could trust one so young with her already damaged partner.
"Let's do it!" The Intelligent Device said after a moment.
"Okay, be careful with her Izuku-kun, she's fragile right now." Nanoha said as she handed the spearlike wand the shaft cracked in several places over to him.
"Okay…" Izuku closed his eyes. 'Time to see what this tracing can really do.' "Begin Trace."
His magic circuits flared once again and that same uncomfortable heat spread up his left arm as his prana flowed into Raising Heart. He saw the blueprint in his mind's eye and made note of every fracture and structural flaw and then with a bit of his power, he fixed them all at once. Then he went a step further, and reinforced what was already fixed making Raising Heart even harder to break than before.
'Hold Trace. Stop Trace,' He thought. He opened his eyes, and Raising Heart was as good as new. The gray metal shaft and golden curve of the shepherd's crook holding the crimson sphere in its depths was shiny just as new.
"Raising Heart!" Nanaoha cried happily, "You're all better!"
"Better than before master, I am now working at one-hundred-fifty percent capacity," The Device's AI informed her master.
"Really?!" She beamed at Izuku. "Thank you so much!"
"No problem senpai, so how about dinner then? I don't know about you, but I could eat."
Nanaoha giggled, 'He really is just a little kid, maybe I was overthinking it.'
"Duh master," Raising Heart replied.
'Quiet you,' She replied, flushing.
"Oi, better stop arguing with your Device or you're gonna get left behind girlie," Tatsumaki called over her shoulder.
She looked over to see Izuku and the small woman were walking, or in Tatsumaki's case floating off. "Hey! Wait for me…" 'Wait… how did she know I was talking to Raising Heart?'
'Magic isn't the only way to access telepathy girl,' Tatsumaki's voice rang in her head, 'Also my nephew is six and still thinks most girls have cooties… I think. So calm your pure maiden heart down, you're safe. And hurry the heck up!'
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Nanoha ran to catch up, now knowing there was more out there than just magic.
Nanoha took her new friends to a bakery she was very familiar with, listening intently as she munched on her fifth stick of dango. How her new kōhai, and his aunt were from a different universe entirely, how her (admittedly cute) kōhai, was being paid by someone in another dimension for the Jewel Seeds. 'I'm not being paid! Nanoha has been attacked three times now and no one has told her about any form of payment!'
"Come now master, are you really going to stop halfway through?" Raising Heart asked.
She pouted a bit. 'No, but it would be nice. This is fun and it's giving my life meaning… something I… I didn't have before all this started, but I realized after this fight, that I could get seriously hurt! Mama, Papa, Neechan, and Nii-san, Arisa-san, and Suzuka-san. They could all get hurt if the fights over these Jewel Seeds happen outside of a barrier. We were lucky that the fight today and last night happened when no one was around.'
"That's true," Raising Heart commented, "But will your fear prevent you from acting from here on out my master?"
Nanoha shook her head, "No of course not." She turned to Izuku and Tatsumaki "Umm, if it's okay with you, would you like to work together to collect the Jewel Seeds?"
Tatsumaki, who had just finished her own skewer, looked at Izuku for an answer. "Well? This is your mission so it's up to you."
Izuku was sipping on a milkshake and contemplating Nanoha's offer, stopping, he said, "Sure I don't mind the extra help. Especially since we don't know the area all that well. I would like to collect at least eight of these Jewel Seeds though."
"Why eight?" Tatsumaki questioned.
Izuku shrugged, "One pays for Vicky, the other seven nets me seven hundred yen."
"You're only getting paid one-hundred thousand yen per Jewel Seed?" Tatsumaki asked.
Izuku was confused, "Yeah isn't that a lot?"
To which his aunt deadpanned. "It's slightly over six thousand USD. You're getting conned. When we see that woman, we'll be asking for one million USD per seed, bare minimum; and you'll be leaving negotiations to me."
"Y-Yes Auntie," Izuku had never seen her so scary before so he just nodded.
The diminutive woman huffed. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at that woman for trying to take advantage of my nephew!" She half growled near the end.
Izuku blinked, he wasn't used to people getting mad on his behalf. At him? Yes, Bakugo did that all the time but this was a novel experience for him. "Oh… thank you?"
Tatsumaki pinched the bridge of her nose, 'Children are cruel, evil little crotch goblins. I'm glad I never had any,' Affectionately rubbing her nephew's hair she replied, "Don't apologize this is just the right thing to do."
Nanoha, who was watching the interaction play out, made note of a few things. 'My kōhai isn't used to people standing up for him. This likely means he hasn't been treated very well, and Tatsumaki-san being extra protective of him as a result enforces this.'
"I agree, master. He could use a friend," A pause before "Plus, he's cute right?" Raising Heart cajoled.
"R-Raising H-Heart! Not you too!" Nanoha said, flushing at her Device's teasing.
While the humans were talking, the two Devices were also engaging in silent communication of their own.
"Salutations! This one's designation is Victoria Nobilis umu! Yourself?"
"Greetings, I am Raising Heart," the senior Device replied.
For clarification Victoria asked, "Should I also refer to you as Senpai, umu?"
"If you want to," Raising heart replied.
"Umu! Senpai it is, Raising Heart-senpai! Umu!" She paused before adding, "I've noticed your master and mine seem to be eliciting chemical reactions from one another."
Had she a head, Raising Heart would've nodded. "Indeed, it seems my master has some affection for yours… Should we try nudging them in that direction?"
The sheer giddiness in Victoria's tone was palpable. "Agreed, umu! A thousand times over agreed! How should we proceed, senpai?"
Feeling her master's focus shift from Izuku, Raising Heart replied, "We should watch and see how this situation plays out first."
Back in reality, the last two people Nanoha wanted to see right now just walked into the restaurant they were in. 'Oh no! Arisa-san and Suzuka-san, if they see me with Izuku-kun and Tatsumaki-san, they'll ask a ton of questions,' She briefly thought about hiding, but the fates were not on her side today, as Arisa saw her the moment she turned to find a table for them both.
A blonde haired girl with green eyes around Nanoha's age wearing a white dress with blue trim perked up upon seeing her. "Nanoha-chan? What are you doing here?" She skipped over and stopped at their table. Upon noticing the two unfamiliar people she asked, "Who're these people?"
"I, uh you see Arisa-chan," Nanoha began, she really didn't want to drag her friends into this.
"Hello," Izuku said happily, "I'm Midoriya Izuku, and this is my Aunt Tatsumaki. We're here on business for a while as my Auntie is a jeweler by trade and we needed someone to show us the local shops. Nanoha-chan was kind enough to volunteer," He bowed sheepishly, "We apologize in advance for taking up most of her time for the next while."
Arisa Bunnings stared at Izuku, blinked and then said, "Wow, you're articulate for one so young!" She then gave her friend a sly grin, "You like 'em young eh, Nanoha-chan?"
"EH!? Arisa-chan, just what are you implying!" Nanoha demanded, her face turning cherry red as she swatted at her friend ineffectively as Arisa laughed. She called out to her other friend, "Hey, Suzuka! Over here!"
Another girl, this one with purple-blue hair and blue eyes carrying a food tray made her way over. "Oh, Nanoha-chan, and some friends of hers?" She seemed the quiet polite type.
"Turns out the reason Nanoha-chan wasn't able to hang out after school is because she found herself a boyfriend," Arisa teased while pointing at Izuku.
"Boyfriend? I'm a boy, and I consider Nanoha and I friends, yeah. This makes a complete sense," He agreed with her assessment, gently slamming his fist into his open palm.
"A-ris-a-chan~! Stop!" Nanoha whined, so embarrassed her ears were turning red and steamed flooded out of her ears.
Suzuka just giggled as she put the tray on the table. "May we join you?" She asked Tatsumaki politely.
"Go ahead," The esper nodded her ascent. Sliding in first, Suzuka continued, "How old are you um?"
"Midoriya Izuku, this is my Aunt Tatsumaki, and I'm six," He supplied.
"See? She likes 'em young," Arisa singssonged.
"Now, now, I think Izuku-kun is a bit too young to know what a boyfriend is," Suzuka said with a slight giggle. "Besides Arisa, you broke up with your boyfriend."
"He cut the hair off a limited edition Barbie, thinking it'd be a funny joke! Boys are savages!" She looked at Izuku who was looking aghast at someone destroying rare merchandise and she amended, "You seem alright though."
"Thanks," Izuku replied with a nod, "I can't believe anyone would destroy a collectible though," He shook his head in disgust, "That's just wrong."
"Finally, someone else who understands my passion!" Arisa cheered, then she joked, "Better be careful Nanoha-chan or I might steal him from you."
Even though he wasn't her boyfriend, Nanoha took the joke that her kōhai, could be taken from her badly. A Feeling like acid was bubbling in her gut. For once Nanoha had a friend to herself and she didn't want him taken away from her. For once she would be selfish. Nanoha glowered at her friend as she pulled Izuku close to her, rubbing her thumb over his hand as she said, "Fat chance of that Arisa-chan."
Arisa held up her hands defensively, surprised at the possessiveness in her friend's tone. "Hey, hey relax, I was just joking."
'What was that feeling,' Nanoha asked herself before she shook it off. "It's fine, just please stop teasing me?" She all but begged as tears flowed from her eyes in exasperation.
"Sorry sorry," Arisa said, clapping her hands together as she begged for forgiveness from her friend before asking, "How long will you need her as a guide?"
Izuku replied, "We're not sure how long we'll be in town for, so it could be anywhere from two weeks to a month."
"A month!?" Arisa complained. "That's a long time to be here and away from home."
"We won't keep her busy the whole time," Tatsumaki promised. "Kids need their rest after all." She glanced outside and noticed the sun was starting to sink below the horizon turning the sky pink with shades of caramel. "Speaking of, we should probably be getting her home and getting back to our hotel for the night."
Izuku nodded. "We'll drop you off at home, Nanoha-chan."
She tried waving off his offer, "Oh, you don't need to-"
Only for Tatsumaki to interrupt with no argument in her tone,"I know you're young and want to see the best in everyone girl, but fact is, not everyone in this world is nice; and the real creepy ones usually come out after the sun goes down. So, we will be seeing you home safely. Understood?"
Nanoha nodded, not wanting to argue with the Tornado of Terror, "Yes ma'am."
"Were you in law enforcement Tatsumaki-san?" Suzuka asked.
Tatsumaki huffed while a smile of fondness appeared on her lips, "I was, some years ago, before an accident. Now, I'm retired and use my pension on other business ventures." She looked at the other two girls asking, "Do you have ways to get home safely?"
"Yes Tatsumaki-san, my driver is waiting in a car on the street," Arisa replied.
Suzuka giggled a bit, "I do think it's funny that your last name is the same as this bakery's Izuku-kun."
"This place is called Midoriya?" Izuku was surprised that someone would use his family name for a store.
"Midori-ya, Green Shop," Nanoha corrected, "My parents run this place."
"Oh," Izuku was surprised, "Well I guess we don't need to see you home then." He had kept his head down due to being lost in thought but now gave the place a once over. The floors were covered in green tile, potted plants and flowers were tastefully strewn about the place and it was well lit by both lights and a large glass display window. Up near the front was a counter showing off all manner of sweets along with a coffee machine. Besides the booth they were sitting in, there were a number of tables and chairs strewn about and several people older than himself were chatting or doing homework at other tables. The place seemed to be a hit with the younger crowd.
"Thanks for being so concerned for my daughter," An older man wearing glasses with his dark hair swept to the side and flour coating his hands and on his shirt, replied as he smiled at them kindly.
"Papa," Nanoha said, smiling nervously. "Um oh these are uh."
"Some people you kindly offered to help out after school for a while, yes I heard honey. This place isn't that big or loud when the machines aren't running you know," He laughed, but to Izuku it looked like the man was slightly in pain. Izuku's eyes glowed slightly and the world started to slow. He noticed the slow but somewhat pained breaths the man was making.
"Sir, are you alright?" He asked, concerned as the world returned to normal.
He waved him off, "I'm fine Midoriya Izuku was it? I'm Shirō Takamachi. My wife Momoko is behind the counter." He waved to what looked like an older Nanoha who waved back before she finished ringing up a customer's order at the register. Turning his attention back to the group he continued, "I don't mind Nanoha helping the two of you, she's always been like that. Just make sure she gets back by dark."
"Can do," Tatsumaki promised while also paying attention to the slowly setting sun.
Answering his phone when it vibrated in his pocket, Shirō answered it and smirked saying, "Nanoha, your mother wants to have your cute little boyfriend and his guardian over for dinner some time."
"Et tu, Mama, Papa!?" Nanoha deadpanned before her head met the table with an audible *thump*.
Feeling a couple of pokes in her arm, the secret mage turned to the side and gave a halfhearted glare to her adorable kōhai, the clueless source of her current misery. "What is it Izuku-kun?"
"Is there something wrong with me being your friend because I'm a boy?" He asked innocently.
Nanoha sighed, 'And people say I'm innocent… but he's too cute!' She squeed in her own head. "No it's just everyone else is just being a butt about it."
Shirō tisked, trying hard to remain serious. "Such language, what would your mother think?"
"That I'm acting like a child my age?" Nanoha wondered aloud.
"...Yes," Shirō said after a moment's pause. "Anyway it was nice meeting you, we'll expect you over for dinner soon," He said as he left with a wave seeing his wife getting overwhelmed at the counter and rushing to her rescue.
"Looking forward to it," Tatsumaki called. "He seemed nice." In response, Nanoha gave her the equivalent of a grumpy panda bear face. Which is to say, cute and in no way scary nor intimidating. Sliding out of the booth she said, "C'mon Izuku time to get going."
"Okay, seeya later Nanoha-chan," He said, getting up and waving as he followed after his aunt.
"Bye bye Izuku-kun Tatsumaki-san! See you tomorrow!" She called and despite all the teasing, Nanoha Tamakichi smiled, as for the first time in her life she didn't feel like a third wheel in her friend group. She didn't feel lonely, she felt needed. She felt like she had a purpose and a friend who understood that purpose. She was spreading her wings… and soon, she would fly. But alas Nanoha did not know the tale of Icarus and how if you fly too high you will get burned.
Word Count: 8,868 Number of Pages: 22 Date Completed: 2/4/2022
AN: Welcome one and all to My Multiverse Academia Chapter 3. Yep it's done already and I and the rest of the crew are happy with it. I, Bubbajack, have decided to post slightly smaller chapters from now on, as it's easier for me to write a 7.5~8k chapter than it is a 10k one. Now some of you may be thinking, "What's the difference in 2k worth of words, Bubba?" About two days worth of work. I can write 7.5 to 8k in about a week. 10k plus chaps take more than a week to produce. Now, am I saying I'll be updating weekly now? Hell no! I've got a life to live outside of fanfiction too damnit! Hell, I'm looking forward to Elden Ring coming out at the end of the month… but it does mean that I probably won't be taking forever and a day to update once inspiration (The fickle whore that she is) does grace me with her presence. Now, I'm gonna hand the mic off to Snowy for a bit, but before I do, on behalf of Heliosion who isn't here, worship Stan Lee everybody!
Snowy: Oh dear sweet mimsy what has Izuku gotten himself into. Hold on by the hem of your pants everybody. This is new untested territory. Look out folks. This story is getting good. And I promise to try to keep bubba on task. Let's see how it is going folks. Pray for Izuku the harem is real.
Well said Snowy. Well, everyone this is the end of another Inkblot Bros production. Till next time everyone, stay safe out there, the weather is damn crazy right now, Peace!