Haha, yeah, next chapter we'll be in season two! I love how everyone's been guessing and speculating how the story will go. I read the comments, so I'll clarify a few things for the moment.
Yes, Izuku isn't built like he is in cannon. At the moment, he's the same as he was in episode one of the anime, small and scrawny because he never had his encounter with all might. Me and Hazard already have the entire first year planned out, that includes events like the demdol games, so just know that there's a reason for making each decision we did while writing this.
Anyways, enjoy, read, and review.
Mar heard a large thud coming from the room of Kuromu, rushing in with managerial, and somewhat motherly, instincts screaming that the girl is in danger. "Kuromu!" She yelled, bursting the door open, finding said demdol on the floor passed out on the ground, and the lucky demon of the meet-and-grate freaking out right beside her. "What the hell did you do!?" She screamed.
"Nothing! I swear! We were just talking, and, well, I figured out she goes to school with me and she started getting worried I'd tell everyone so I told her I wouldn't, but then she started getting mad, talking about me taking the spotlight and all that.."
Oh shit! This was the guy that had her all wound up lately, wasn't he? "No time to figure it out, just help me get her on the couch!" He nods as they begin to move her. He's got a surprising amount of strength for a scrawny body. "She's glowing red! Was she making ice earlier?"
"Yeah, it was forming all over the room before she started using the black ice curse to try and incase me in it for eternity." He said that way too calmly. She really underestimated both the craziness of this kid, and the levels of hatred Kuromu had for him.
"Shit, I told her not to make any after the Division Party. It takes too much out of her just to make normal ice, let alone that unholy mess." Don't get her wrong, the Black Magic Battler was great for Kuromu's personality, just not her magic and making it less taxing on her weak body. "Her condition makes her body frail; too much heat all at once. She needs either a highly skilled doctor or one of her family to help her, but neither can get here in time for the show."
"Wait, her family isn't here to watch?" Ouch, the kid doesn't know the full story … maybe she can abridge it for some identity revealing details to be left out.
"Her family is well known for their ability to manipulate ice and water temperatures. In normal circumstances, she'd be fine, but her body is much more fragile than theirs, thus she can only make so much ice at a single time."
"Oh, I see." The kid looked more understanding than she expected. "I've read about similar situations before. I've heard about people experiencing power overload due to stressing a volatile substance their body can't handle the extremity of. In most cases, it was a fire user having a body not suited for producing high flames. We just need to regulate her temperature right?" He glared at his ring for some reason. "Maybe I can.."
"No! Don't!" Kuromu shot back up, waking up with a daze. Seeing her so weak and helpless made her want to lay her back down, but the demdol was too stubborn for her own good. "If you take my ability, I'll just feel worse than I already do! And, and even if that could help, my ice won't be cold enough." She tried to stand up. "I-I have to just tough it out and.."
"Don't you dare, little missy! You won't move even if I have to strap you to that couch!" Mar prevented her from moving a single inch. "We're canceling the show. We'll just tell the audience it's been cut early."
"W-we can't do that, not when I'm so close!" The singer failed to stand up once again, coughing a fit. "I have to get back at my family for everything!"
"Getting back at them isn't worth destroying your health, you need rest!" She spoke, putting a hand on the idol's shoulder and gently pushing her down. "It's not worth it, especially if you keel over dead!"
"But at least I'll be happy when I do!" Kuromu turned to the boy she hated. "You told me you want to save people with smiles, right? Well, when I was a kid, I didn't even know what that was. Ice facade, my bloodline ability, doesn't just mean cold temperatures, to my family, it means cold expressions, cold shoulders, cold black hearts, just everything cold in general! It wasn't until my grandma showed me my first demdol that I smiled for the first time!"
Kuromu layed back on the couch, finally succumbing to her exhaustion. "All those smiles, it'll be worth it! I'm super-devi cute, and being a top Demdol is my destin-" she cut herself short as her eyes closed once more.
"Damn it." She noticed someone come in. "You, make sure she stays warm at all times. I'll go tell the news to everyone, and you-" She noticed the boy was gone. "What the, where did he go?"
"He ran off when she passed out, he had this determined look on his face too." Her assistant explained. Great. She hoped whatever the kid had planned, it was eye-catching enough to distract everyone else. Kuromu said he was a gloryhound, better the ire of the crowd be on him than on her.
Eiko tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Izu to show up. Don't tell her she was trying to seduce him! And she had the gall to think the idol looked cute! "Where's Izuku-kins!? We still need to hide together!" Her frustrations were shared with Clara, though that honestly made things worse.
"It is getting pretty late, and the show's about to start up again." Asmodeus checked his Hellphone. "He's not answering any of my messages, nor responding to my texts. Ugh, I hate to think he's stirring up trouble again."
"Hey Azz, you've known him the longest, how much trouble is he probably in right now?" Gaako asked him. Come on, it couldn't be that bad, could it?
"Knowing him, my educated guess would be he found out Kuromu is struggling in some form or fashion and is now rushing towards us right now to formulate a plan to help her.."
"GUYS! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Izu ran up to them in panic and sweat. "Kuromu is down! We need to help her!"
"I should start taking up more of those Izuku gambles, that was easy." Azz idly muttered. She should talk more with him, get Izu's schedule down pat and see if he's had any holes in it. "So, then, how are we going to help the downed woman, puppet strings?"
"Okay, no. That's just silly, and really cliche the more I think about it." Izu stated firmly. Huh, was this a recurring thing that happened where he was from? "Besides, the heat from the spotlights would just make her condition worse.."
"Izuku, stop it. Now's not the time to ramble." Gaako shook him out of his cute mutter. "You were saying?"
"Right. I was thinking, everyone here came to see a show, and with Kuromu passed out, they're not going to get what they were expecting: a highschool pop sensation that's overly cute with a naive charm."
"That's what the problem is, not the solution to the problem." Azz clarified.
"Sorry, I need to work on shortening my sentences. Anyways, the best way to help is to give them exactly that!" Huh? He was really cute, he really was, but he could be better at explanations. "Wh-what I mean is, we get someone else to take her place."
"That sounds fine and good, but where are we going to get someone who fulfills all those checkmarks?" Eiko asked the obvious question in everyone's mind.
"Well, we already know someone that fulfills all those checkmarks." Wait, was he about to recommend her? Yes! Izu noticed her again. She has no idea where he got the idea that she was good at singing, but if he believed in her, then it shouldn't be a problem! "Clara!"
She could feel her insides shatter and blow away in the wind. "Clara?" She muttered.
"I mean she does have the naive part down." Azz put in. No, don't support the rival!
"And she's got the cute part down if Raim's rambling meant anything." Gaako, you're supposed to be on her side!
"Come on, you guys can't be serious, Clara, what do you say?" Eiko asked the girl hoping for a different result.
"This is gonna be a fun game!" Damn it, Azz was right about naivety. "I'll get the costumes ready." Seriously, Izu really thought she was cute? Was her crusade pointless? "You're going to look great Izuku-kins!"
The entire group paused, turning to the girl as she produced multiple dresses, reflecting on the words 'game' and 'costumes'. Did she mean … "Clara, I don't think that-" Izu began to start.
"Azz-Azz's skirt needs to be short, like his mommy!" She had never seen someone's face go from curious to horror in such record time. "Izuku-kins, your's needs to be longer and extra frilly, oh, we need to add extensions to your hair. Dragon Lady, that reminds me, should I get you a wig or are we going with your natural stuff?"
"Is this the cost of saving lives?" Izu muttered to himself, looking down at his hands. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to pay the price."
Eiko, remembering his earlier comment, and imagining a cute Izu in a cute dress, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's all pay this price." She spoke sweetly. She would forgive him tomorrow, but today, she needed to vent a little steam.
"Azz, if i'm involved you're not getting to run away." Gaako said as she held onto the pink haired boy's shirt.
"Izuku, I'm beginning to remember why I initially hated you."
"Yeah, I hate me too."
"Introducing the opening act of the night!" The crowd murmured as they heard this announcement. Oh boy, everyone was getting excited for the game!
"Hah, this is way more fun than hide-and-seek!" Eistring and her were in matching clothes. It was the first time that she liked her a little more than she usually did, which was surprisingly not a lot for some reason.
"Izuku, promise me this, after this show we take this moment to our graves." Azz-Azz muttered with a frowny face and foggy eyes.
"You read my mind Azz, you read my mind." Izuku-kins grumbled. Boo! You need to smile more, Izuku-kins! That's why she invited him to join her! That, and she's only good at singing with other people most of the time, but they didn't need to know that. "I hope I don't regret this."
"Relax, Izu, you'll be fine." Eistring smiled teasingly. She was a lot more playful to him right now, but not in a way that made her want to bring out her ax. "You want everyone to smile, this is just the best way to do it for now. And I'll be here to help you if you mess up." No fair, she's copying mamadoriya too!
"Speak for yourself, I feel constricted in this outfit." Spoke dragon lady, in a tight and big dress. She wanted something to draw attention away from the top, and she got it. "How did I get roped into this again?"
"We're Izuku's friends. That made this inevitable." Azz-Azz said. "If the truth gets out about this to anyone, I'm burning down the dome and then Bablys."
"And I won't stop you. Now something we really need to work on is-" Dragon lady got interrupted as they finally made their way on stage. The crowd got really quiet and began talking quietly, rude. Fine then, she'd start.
"High there everyone. We're Izumi and her merry band of friends!" Clara got them started, and everyone looked so confused. Hah! Surprises were the best! "I'm the forest fairy! Clarine! Give me all your snacks, or I'm going to eat you!" She yelled to the crowd, putting all her years as the cardboard monster of the Valac home to good use. "Rar! Rar!" She rolled all over the stage. She had them all speechless, perfectly set up! Now for Eistring!
"And I'm Eilia, the girl from another world! I come to teach you so many things you'll never get me out of your head." She spoke, giving a cute pose that looked like she was playing with invisible glasses. The crowd's interest grew! Yay! All that time playing with Izuku-kins notes was starting to work for Eistring!
"Uh, hi, I'm the slightly cold but shy Alice. And I'm doing well, I guess." Azz-Azz shook and spoke a lot like Izuku-kins used to, and the crowd ate it up like candy, finding it cute. "And I will set your heart's ablaze with my red hot flames!" He gave heart gestures and shot out pink fire in the shape of hearts. "Kapow!"
"I'm Gatta, and I'm the maiden who needs to be rescued from the evil princess. Do you dare have the courage to seek after me?" Dragon lady was getting into it too, now they're having fun! And the crowds are going wild too, screaming with joy.
"If this doesn't work, I'm going to jump off a roof." Izuku-kins muttered to himself to where only the one's on the stage could hear him. "Hey everyone! I'm the anxious and mysterious Izumi! My height, weight, and personal info are all top secret! Good luck figuring it out! Demdol of mystery, Izumi shall shine the way!" Izuku-kins got the biggest reaction, everyone was already super curious about 'her'. Heh, she wasn't going to forget today, and she'll make sure no one else did either!
"Now we'll dance and sing, so smile up everyone!" Clara, or Clarine, shouted to the crowd ahead of them. They ate it up, roaring with excitement in large doses that drowned out most sounds. Azz-Azz did a lot of the showy stuff with his fire.
"Now lets-whoa!" Izuku-kins dodged a bolt of colorful fire being tossed his way. "Hey, be careful! Someone could get hurt!" 'Izumi' squealed in their high pitched voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so terribly nervous." The crowd exclaimed joy at 'Alice's' nervousness, even as a small and quick smirk was sent Izumi's way. "I'm afraid my aim is a bit off today! Please don't get mad!" The crowd ate up the pleading look.
Eistring was taking the stage with a dance that captivated everyone, looking like a weird mix of rave and the ballroom stuff as she twirled around everyone really fast and easy. She's gotta learn how to dance like that. "Don't worry, Izumi! My mythical dance of the stars shall aid in your evasion!" 'Eillia' took 'Izumi' by the hand and began spinning around with 'her'. "We're safe together! Alone!"
No fair! She needed a part with 'Izumi'! "Better look out! Bubble bubble sparkly shining sun!" She summoned bubbles that clashed with 'Alice's' fire, creating rainbow sparks that forced the dancing pair to separate from each other, 'Izumi' spinning rapidly out of control and into 'Clarine's' arms.
She could see a faint red on 'her' face, cheeks flushed, before 'Eilia' spun them both around in her arms. This game was so fun, they should play again some time!
Even 'Gatta' was joining in on the fun, holding 'Alice' in the air and rapidly spinning 'her' around, creating what could only be described as a rainbow tornado. "Alright, let's light it up!" 'Izumi' turned a switch on his ring and created a similar looking tornado, before letting it go off in a tiny boom, spreading candy and confetti all over the crowd.
"They're so cool!" "I'd totally cuddle that Alice chick!" "Clarine is so cute!" Soon all of their names were shouted, Izumi's being the loudest.
And suddenly all the fire and sparkles in the air froze over, a chill took over the stage. "And who gave you young ladies the right to take over my show?"
She couldn't believe it. After everything she did to him, after threatening to kill him, to send him to the darkest pits of hell, he still did all of this? Why? What was the point of going out of his way? It couldn't have been for glory. That outfit was ridiculous, and he'd be the laughing stock of the netherworld if the truth of 'Izumi's' identity came out.
She could only stare gaping at the scene of them all chaotically dancing before her, Manager Marbos standing right beside her as they both watched from the sidelines. "Well, you were right about him being crazy, I can tell you that much. Thrill seeker glory hound, not so much."
"Did they even explain why?" Kuromu spoke softly.
"No. Midoriya ran off as soon as you fainted the second time. Then they sent a paper airplane of all things to the announcer, saying that an opening act would be coming out. They really need better coordination, and I'm not just talking about the dancing. I'm pretty sure they're making everything up as they go." Her point could be proven with 'Alice' and 'Clarine' getting into a mock battle of fire and bubbles, at least she thought it was fake.
"Why? I didn't even ask for his help." She recalled her earlier conversation with the Honor Student, about what he thought being a hero meant.
"I know it isn't that simple, there's work to be done, some of it probably would take years, but I don't just have to wait for some villain to try and hurt people. I can just start by reaching out my hand to help someone."
"Maybe he just wanted to help. Looks like he can't help but butt into other people's situations." Marbos shrugged, giving a slight smile to the whole situation at hand. "You don't see many demons going out of their way, especially to ridiculous extremes like this, just to help someone who hates them."
"Yeah. They hate him, but he doesn't hate them." She recalled the first ranking exam, his gut spilling to Asmodeus, how they went from rivals to companions after what sounded like a whole series of misunderstandings. "He takes the spotlight, because it's the only way he knows how to help others. He takes center stage, for the sake of others."
Wasn't that exactly what she did?
Were they the same?
"So then, what is the great 'Kuromu' going to do about this whole situation?" Her manager teased her.
She was silent for a few moments, before she put on the wig and cracked her fingers. "She's going to show them what it means to really dance." With a quick work of her magic, ice filled the stages, stopping the sparks in their place. "And who gave you young ladies the right to take over my show?" She announced to 'Izumi' and 'her' crew, along with the entire audience.
Said audience looked more hyped than ever as she walked down to the group, heels clacking with every step she took. "Sorry, just trying to help, we can get off now since you're up." 'Izumi' explained for everyone, already turning 'her' back on her. Oh, did they think they were getting off with half assed commitment?
"Nono, my little sisters won't be done with just one small performance." She grabbed 'her' shoulder. "We have a show to complete!"
"Kerori, for real, I'm glad you're better." Izuku spoke only to her, making sure no one else could eavesdrop. "But are you sure? This is your show, and Clara's the only one with singing experience." Okay, that explains a lot of the performance, though if that's all the 'skill' they had when bringing this show to life, then maybe they had more talent than she gave them credit for.
"There's nothing to worry about little listeners, it's all in the showmanship." She waved to the crowd, getting him to do the same. "Besides, where's the proud demon who wanted to give everyone here a smile?"
A little shock came to him, before turning the little fear she saw in him into determination. "Alright then, guys…" He turned to the others. "Ready to go beyond?"
"Plus Ultra!" They quietly chanted, raising their fists up. She grabbed the extended hand of Izumi, moving her into a cute pose. "Here we go!"
"Demons should never let their guard down. One day, you'll get your heart stolen! Squee." Even with his clear lack of experience when it came to dancing, Izuku was actually able to follow along with her movements pretty well, almost copying it verbatim like she was in front of a mirror. And apparently he was able to learn the song pretty quickly, given that this was his first demdol concert.
"That cutie over there is a little imp. Want to touch my hair? Let's have a thrilling escape!" Asmodues was on her side of the stage, keeping the air lit with fire as Clara was on Izuku's, banging on bongos playfully. It was sheer coincidence that she banged them to the beat of the music.
"Want to talk to me? Want to touch me? If you insist, I'll play with you!"
Eiko and Gaako, apparently the two latest additions to the Calamity Cult stuck with each other at the top of the stage, the dragon throwing the blonde demoness in the air as she did little flips and poses. Looks like Izuku found his match in the danger junkie category.
"Do you love me? Well, try to see through me. Can you give up your soul for me?"
"Little imp, Little imp, I'll be the imp that drags you around! Little imp!" The nervousness on the honor student's face seemed much more apparent, all the shaking and twitching as he tried to keep up with her speed, and the crowd was eating it up like the candy 'Clarine' was throwing.
"Demons always make the first move to get the victory! I'll take one look at you, and you're all mine! Nom!" Kuromu was not a demon to let a good opportunity go to waste. The crowd found this 'cute quintet' cute, so she would capitalize on it as much as possible if she ever needed them. She'd put a pin in it for later if she ever needed help for the demdol games.
"Yes, I'm a cute little imp! If I reach my hand out, I think I can reach."
"Getting impatient, aren't we? I won't let you go! I won't let you get away!"
"I'm selfish so I want all of you!" Izuku reached out his hand to help her, completely selflessly. A concept that seemed almost nonexistent in the world at times. Hell, her own ambition was selfish, to be the best Demdol and stick it to her family. But to make someone happy for the sake of making them just feel better…there was an odd charm to it that she couldn't deny.
"You like me? I know! That was obvious. I'm sure you'd give up your heart for me!"
"Little imp, Little imp, Be the one who makes me turn around! Little imp!" As they both bowed to the stage, there was a strange feeling inside she didn't think would happen around this green haired maniac. She felt oddly…proud of him, like an older sister would to her little brother.
Oh devi, she should probably start paying attention to her little sister. See if she wanted to see a couple of concerts in person.
It was by far the most bold and embarrassing stunt Izuku had ever done in his life. Absolutely nothing compared to it, not even the humiliation of being outed as quirkless when he was four in front of his entire class. He never envied the fairer sex for anything, and that fact wasn't going to end anytime soon. He was glad to help someone, so he'd rather everyone just forget about 'Izumi' altogether. The only problem was that no one else wanted to forget about 'her'.
"Hey Midoriya, which of the girls was your favorite? Personally I find that Izumi girl pretty cute." Lied asked him. Ugh, it was bad enough with the rumors around him and Azz!
"I like to think Alice had that shy cuddly feel to them." Elizabetta spoke with a smile. Azz had a coughing fit once he heard her, and proceeded to walk towards the nearest dark corner. He wished he could do the same, but he was the only one preventing Clara from blabbering the truth at the moment.
"It's weird. I find them pretty, but I don't feel any arousal from these images. Well besides Eilia and Gatta, but the rest just don't give me the warm and fuzzy feeling like most women." Kamui spoke out. Clara looked angry, but she was pacified when he placed a spinning top in front of her.
Kerori then walked over to them, sitting down. "I wanna thank you guys. If it wasn't for you, that concert would have ended in a disaster." She said to him only, because Azz was still in his corner while Clara was too distracted, eating one of the newspapers for some reason. Probably the only time she could thank them all without outing herself.
"Don't mention it. Please, for the love of Devi, don't ever mention it again." Izuku laid his head on his desk in mental exhaustion. "That was the most socially excruciating experience I've ever had in my life, and I want to forget everything about it." Eiko taking a million pictures of them didn't help matters, but at least she got some spotlight on her for all their troubles.
"If you can't be the center of attention of a few million people, what do you expect to do about the billions?" She smirked at him. Millions? How far did this thing go!? He just hoped his family never saw it. "Seriously, I'm sorry for freezing you, and trying to kill you, and making voodoo dolls of you so I could've ripped off your head."
"My life has been threatened so many times at this point, that hardly registers as a threat." Also, he's read in a book somewhere that the voodoo caster in question had to know WHAT they were cursing, so as long as she never knew he was human, he was safe. "At the very least you kept it behind the scenes most of the time, usually it's right in my face." Like Kachan, or Azz, or Sabro, or birds, or … Kiriwo was an odd mix all in all honesty.
"That somehow makes me feel both worse and better." Kerori groaned. "I could help you with that. Maybe a few appearances with Kuromu would make people forget about the danger-junkie part..."
"No need to do anything. What's done is done. I'll make things better on my own time." He looked at the misfits. "It's not like my reputation has prevented me from making friends, so it's not all bad."
"Gotta say, Kuromu was still the best part though." Jazz called out as the duo turned back to the conversation at hand.
"Most assured, talent beyond talent and hard work for years shown forth." Goemon said with a nod.
"I've used all the money I was saving for the newest lameboy, and I don't regret it!" Lied proudly announced.
"Guess Kuromu finally made the headlines, just like you wanted." Izuku pointed to today's paper, though it was a picture of both him and Kerori together. "Sorry that you had to share it though."
Kerori sent him a smile. "Yeah, I don't feel so bad about sharing it this time, I'll just surpass it when the next headline shows up." She hid herself behind the paper, making sure to go an extra level of unnoticable. "And even if you don't want to keep the Demdol lifestyle, I'd like us to be friends, if that's alright with you."
Izuku sent her a smile. "I'd like that too, Kerori." Well that was one less person who hated his guts. "Just, if you want to keep going unnoticed, you might want to wear a different disguise around us. Common sense and reality kinda lose meaning around in our group."
"Oh please, I know I gave you guys a hard time but I doubt things are that ba-" Kerori was cut off by a hand on her mouth, curtsy of an Azz that blazed across the room faster then he had any right to be.
"Don't tempt fate! She's a cruel mistress with a sick sense of humor!" As he said this, Clara came up from behind them with a paper and a pencil.
"Hey Izuku-kins, Azz, come sign the petition for the return of Izumi and her merry friends!" The silence of the group was astounding in that moment as Kerori gave a minor twitch.
"Oh, I'll sign i-" This time it wasn't Izuku, but Kerori, who caused a commotion by freezing the girl solid. "Kerori! What was that for!? I wasn't going to take it seriously!"
"Sorry. I still have a bunch of stress building up. Need to relieve my Evil Cycle and all that." She gave a curious look. "Are you actually planning on destroying the school though? I'd like to win one of the bets for once."
"You definitely fit in with us." Izuku replied with a shrug. "Welcome to the Calamity Cult, Kerori-chan."
