Kalego in perfect stillness watched the faces of the grinning students across from him. Such a small stack of papers in front of him, clearly misinterpreting his task for them. That was the problem with these morons, they lept first before thinking of the consequences. In the words of his human associate, it was 'so irrational'.
"Well Kalego, I promised you every faculty member's seal of approval, the only one that's missing now is yours." The green haired demon spoke, messing with a puzzle cube. "After all, it would be such a shame for someone of your caliber to break their promise."
"I can't believe we actually managed to pull it off!" Crocell spoke more vocally than he's ever heard her speak, celebrating prematurely with Ix. "It's just, the idea is insane!"
"After all this effort, we shall achieve the mighty goal of the Royal One. My hair is all on the end." Garp spoke, probably feeling trepidation and mixing it up with anxiousness.
"The mighty Royal One shall fall onto us mighty Misfits!" Sabnock shouted, and the fact they could get the stamp from Buler was astounding when you considered him. But he wouldn't deny effort.
Kalego finished double checking the papers, there were stamps from every teacher, along with the Chair Demon and Student Council President, none faked. He placed the stack down. "You do have permission from every teaching faculty member in the school." He said, as the group of students smiled. "Now all I require is every other faculty member's seals and I'll give mine."
That immediately dropped those needless faces of joy into pure misery and confusion. All except Midoriya, who still seemed more focused on the object he was fiddling with rather than the conversation at hand. It was annoying, the know-it-all fool was probably too arrogant to even comprehend his failure.
"Wait, you mean EVERY staff member at Bablys?!" Shaxx cried out. "But that's like in the hundreds! How is that even fair!?
"This was rigged from the start." Asmodeus growled out. "He never planned on giving us the Royal One to begin with." He explained as others caught on.
"Boo, Aggy-sensei is a cheat!"
"Silence." At least they knew to listen to ONE command he gave them. "I believe my wording was 'Every faculty Member' at Bablys, including the Janitors, the gardners, the cooking staff, and so on. Clearly, it's your fault for misinterpreting my instructions." He formed his Cerberus, claws and jaws raised angrily as it could feel his own anger, but had no orders to attack. He made sure it knew what happened when orders were disobeyed.
"I am the gatekeeper of Babyls, if anyone tries to defile it's flames, and taint them with unworthy ambitions, it's my responsibility to chomp their heads off." He let that sink in. "Regardless-" The Cerberus went away. "-you did well collecting these, so at the very least I'll be willing to help in the process of improving the quality of the Misfit Classroom. But the Royal One stays out of your hands." The students grumbled, looking down.
"Well, it was fun, and we almost had it in the end." Andro grumbled. "Sorry we failed Deku." When was that a nickname?
"Ye of little faith." Everyone turned to the boy, still puzzling it out. "Did you guys really think I wouldn't pick up the obvious ploy Kalego wanted us to fall into? That's your greatest weakness as an instructor, dear Sensei. You assume just because I rush into situations, I'm not capable of thinking things through." Did the problem child really have some sort of card up his sleeve?
Crocell looked with wide eyes, along with the rest of the students. "You've got some big plan left behind!? What is it!?" She asked him.
"Some sort of giant robot, an army of agents?" Valac let her imagination run wild.
"I just told you, my plan is Faith." Everyone turned to him in utter confusion. Even Kalego had to blink a few times. Was he really relying on luck, now of all times?
"Your last plan relies on the faith of some deity?" Asmodeus asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Not faith in religion." Deku smiled, turning to the door, and hearing a knock. "Faith in the heart of demons." He tossed the puzzle cube onto the desk, completed. "Come in!" He waved.
In came a blond girl, Eiko Oni, with a cart of papers. "Sorry Deku, got caught in a little snag, came by late. Lots of students waiting for word outside after all." Sure enough, a whole mob of students were waiting outside.
"Don't worry about it, Ei-chan. You're right on time in fact." He grabbed one of the stacks of Papers from the girl's hands. "You could take a look at all of them, but I can assure you that this is all the other Permission Slips that are needed."
The class started, gapping. "Wait, if you knew then why the hell didn't you say anything!?" Shax screamed at the boy.
"The job of the Misfits was to focus their quality over quantity. We were after the hardest and most immovable targets of the teaching staff. I needed you guys at your best, so I couldn't have you worried over the numerous others. Tell me, if I told you there were hundreds of slips we needed to get signed, would you have kept going?"
The group looked over itself, before turning and simultaneously replying at once. "You made the right call." Well at least they were self aware enough.
"So I got Ei-chan and Gaako to spread the word around and asked for some help, along with a few pals of mine from the Student Council and Broadcasting Battler. Plus it helps to occasionally volunteer for the Janitors and the Gardners everytime you guys make a mess." He smirked. "Also working at the school store to pay for everything Clara-chan and Jazz copied or stole."
Kalego felt his eyes wide, flipping through the papers to confirm that, yes, they were all real. The kid played the long game without properly being aware it existed. "This is more than I expected of you."
"I said it before, and I'll say it again, even in an impossible situation, I have to push past my limits." 'Deku' stood tall. "You said your job is to protect the school from the Misfits? Well, then that makes it mine to watch over them, to protect them, to make sure no one, and I mean no one, treats my friends unfairly." The misty aura from the boy's ring spread all of his body. "Will that be a problem, sensei?"
He could feel Cerberus trying to claw its way onto murdering the student, but he held it back, as much as it pained him. Spiritually that is, he also wanted to see the kid suffer. But he had a job as a teacher, and no matter how much he hated them, he would follow through on his problem … in silence. The headaches of the modern era cheered. Well the end of terminus was around, he'd just make them suffer then.
"Know your place...but you have a point." He almost threw up saying that. "I can admit my 'shortsighted' view didn't prepare me for any of this. As such, there's only one course of action I can take." He got out his own paper, and began bringing his stamp down, but his left arm refused to let it happen. "Why-is-this-so-difficult!?"
"I'll have Grandpa triple your original salary if you stamp it right now."
"Done." Any resistance he had vanished with a thump. "Wait, what just happened?"
"And I'll be taking that." The slip was grabbed from Kalego's grasp. "And with this, the castle is now ours for the taking." He scooped up both Valac and Oni in his arms, the girls blushing as he carried them in the air. "It's times like this I'm glad I can finally Go Beyond.."
"PLUS ULTRA!" Every student inside and out the door cheered. Fortunately, he remembered one important detail that would get the crowd to leave.
"Classes are in two minutes." And with that, the entire room was completely devoid of students.
Dosanko strolled through the stalls, looking for a nice target. The school had plenty of little snacks to choose from, but none of them could fulfill her hunger. The entirety of Bablys had their eyes on one single class, and unironically, it was the class filled with the most interesting of specimens, one's that might actually be able to satisfy her.
She walked over to the first group, in her eyes, labeled as the jokester gang. "Still can't believe we're getting this class. I'm more excited for this than any video game, and that's saying something." Lied spoke giddily. Ugh, a gaming nerd. Probably never talked to a girl that wasn't his mom. Though that tail could make for a nice whip.
"No kidding. Not even I would've ever attempted to swipe Royal Once from under Kalego's nose." The slightly more impressive Jazz responded. He was nice and tall, and those fingers could probably scratch the hard to reach places real nicely.
"We now own the Royal One. Imagine the attention we'll get, the ladies!" Kamui shouted out. The guy seemed like he would know what to do to a lady if given the chance, but it was way too easy. She wanted a challenge.
"Indeed, this seemingly impossible conquest of ours shall invite plenty more challenges up ahead!" Goemon cheered. Ooh, he had the voice, sword and everything. Must be a master at roleplay.
Dosanko moved on, still so much to look at and think about, she knew she'd get her choice by her second year. Making her way, she found the more quiet and reserved group.
"I just want my own room to sleep in." Picero tiredly nodded. She wasn't fooled by the mask. Her single glorious eye saw all, and she knew a hiding hottie when she saw one. Too bad he was so lazy, it hardly got fun when she had to do all the work herself. Although she did say she wanted a challenge, and getting the sleepy beauty to embrace his passions did qualify.
"Can you imagine all the pretty dresses I can place in there, oh it'll be a beautiful display." Spoke Elizabetta, the only woman on this planet she would be willing to be a sub for. Meow to what that woman does in class.
"Oh, do you really think the rooms are soundproof? All nice and isolated where no one can notice anything you're doing?" Whoa, didn't think the shy girl was into experimenting. Must be some really kinky shit if she wanted no one to hear her.
Some pink haired nobody also nodded, but whatever. He likely wasn't important if she couldn't remember him. She went along, finding the duo of Sabro and Schneider talking to each other. "A full on library, imagine all the unread pages from the demon king." The guy was filled to the brim with passion, and those muscles, oh yeah. She could have the breath squeezed out of her from a single flex alone.
"A wise king keeps his books full. The knowledge could be truly astounding. Plus it would give me more material to talk with Fucras about, what a women." The lion boy sighed out like a lovesick puppy. Hard no, the guy's heart was in the right place but he was a Sapiosexual.
Well, with that out of the way she could finally make her way to the Calamity Cult, the Magical Apparatus Battler. "Thanks again guys, I really couldn't have pulled through without your help." The leader, as well as the star of the show, Izuku, or Deku, if the whispers were right, said to his posse. Whoa, were those horns and wings real? They give his usual nice guy charm a scary edge to him, as well as a commanding aura. "Sorry for springing this whole project on you so suddenly." Still kept up the nice guy act after all that? She could admire a demon with that kind of dedication.
"Don't worry about it, Deku. It's fine, it's totally fine!" Eiko waved off like the obsessive fangirl she was. Donsanko had to give her credit, she didn't think the girl had what it took to weasel her way into the boy's inner circle. "I was craving something ambitious, and you delivered just like you always do!"
"And besides, we got the easy job compared to the insanity you tried to handle on your own." Gaako put in. It was like watching the one girl who never fit in talk casually, so weird to look at. "How much did you sleep anyway?"
"Not enough." Midoriya, Deku?, admits with a laugh. "I spent two nights at Bablys making sure we had all our bases covered. This school has way too many janitorial jobs than it has any right to have." Looks like the guy needed some work on his stamina. Something easily remedied.
"Deku-kins, I told you, don't do everything on your own! Do you want to be tired forever! We won't see Izuku-kins again if you don't rest!" Clara shook the boy. Huh, the legal loli could express concern without happiness. Kinda freaky to be honest.
"Exactly, we're here to support you, and make sure you don't do anything you'll regret." Asmodeus spoke. She still wanted Yaoi action in all honesty, but the rumors were scarce, and Izuku/Deku/whatever did keep Clara fairly close to him at times. "Still, given your limited experience with the outside world, I was shocked you knew so much about the Royal One of all things."
"Saw it in a newspaper two days ago, and thought 'that's a cool looking classroom, let's grab it'. And so I got everyone together, got us the Royal One, and now I get to look at everyone's faces and see them envy us for a change rather than the other way around." This guy really was a madman.
"You really are a madman, you know that, right?" Gaako said once everyone was done with their collective dumbfoundment. "You mean you orchestrated this entire web of a plan, on a whim!?"
"Yep." He spoke without a hint of remorse. "But we couldn't have done it without everyone else. The king moves the least amount of spaces after all, he is the weakest. Everyone else can do so much more."
Everyone else stared at him in concern and...worry? Really, shouldn't they be more worried about whether or not he's built a bomb or something? "De-Izu, you're far from the weakest demon around here. You think anybody else could've done what you did?" Eiko placed both hands on the honor student's shoulders. Wow, she's even bolder than she assumed.
"I mean if they try hard enough." He shrugged. "The only way I keep up is by going harder than anyone else. Hanging out with you all is just fun." He smiled. "Besides, I have a hero dream to work towards, but that's still a while off."
A hero? More like a super-villain. Sure, it wasn't impossible to imagine, Sullivan was scary and still a hero, but this guy..well, at the very least he had the violent hot guy outbursts. Maybe he could burn his clothes off in the middle of a fight….this had more opportunity than she imagined.
"Hey, while you're … unrestrained." Eiko started. "Is there anything else you're interested in, dream wise?"
"Not really, never had a back up plan, money was always going to be middle management, and no girl would be interested in a relationship with me." HUH? How thick was this guy's skull? Even the most humble demons she knew, which arguably, wasn't a lot, bragged at least twice a week about something attractive about themselves.
"Holy hell, you're serious aren't you?" Asmodeus asked with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
"What, what's wrong?" Deku asked with a tilted head that resembled a baby bird. "It was a fact back home. No one wants to be around the plain guy. Pretty sure that's still the case." The blond looked like she was going to shut down in all honesty, now being dragged by the dragon girl. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Deku, we're friends here, but..I…" Asmodues cut himself off to help Gaako. "Sorry, just, I need a moment to think to myself."
"What's the deal with them?" Deku turned to Clara, the only one that didn't walk away, and she returned his confusion with a sneaky smile...oh, she was a devious little devil, wasn't she?
"HAHA, don't know! Hey Deku-kins, since you have your wings now, play with me in the sky!" The Valac girl unfurled her wings and started. "Race across the school! Loser buys the winner some Yakisoba!"
"Oh, it's on!" Deku flapped his own wings and followed suit. Well that was a little love mess she wanted to stay out of … maybe she could 'comfort' Asmodeus.
"There will never be enough sanitation to wash away what she said to me." Asmodeus was so thoroughly disgusted by what that eyestalk said to him, he completely forgot about his initial plan to kill her on the spot. "What she wanted to do with my wings, ugh. I feel so dirty just thinking about it."
"Does Izuku hate himself?" Gaako brought his mind out of his stupor with the other subject that has his mind frazzled. "Just saying, there's a line between being dense and in denial."
"If he hated himself he wouldn't even wish to be a hero to begin with. He hates his circumstances, that seems like something he hates more." Asmodeus thought out loud. "All the pressure from the world pressed onto him that makes him think he's pathetic, and he doesn't want to be, but subconsciously thinks he is."
"Which is why his Wicked Phase made Deku." Eiko concluded. "Still believing in his lack of worth, but hiding it behind tons of bark, bite, and spite. I didn't notice before, but Izuku is scary when he's not trying to smile." They noticed both Clara and Deku soaring across the sky. "Seeing him smile in this form, a real smile, is like seeing a kid smile for the first time in their life."
"It's like he said to the class in front of Royal One: Not all Men are created equal." Asmodeus sighed. "Looks like Izuku's going to be a long term project."
"You're just realizing this now?" Gaako spouted. "Well, even after all that, he managed to do the impossible."
"Yeah, and show us all how terrifying he can be when he doesn't give much concern about others." Seriously, that bully description made him research fourth degree out of sheer fear, and now THAT was in his dreams.
"Come on guys, let's get moving!" Deku cried out to the rest of them from up above, Clara tailing him. "Kalego's about to open it up."
Sure enough, an entire crowd surrounded the sacred doors, all being held behind the other teachers and the velvet rope. The only one's not restrained for once were the entirety of the Misfit class. "Well, look who it is? Our fearless leader." Lied waved to them as Deku and Clara landed. "Who single handedly beat Kalego's game hack and took the Royal One all for himself."
"Don't act like I did this effortlessly, Lied. It was a team effort. After all, it's like you told me, Azz." Finally, he stopped calling him Alice. "It's All for One, and One for All."
"I can get behind the All for One part. You guys can have the rest." Jazz laughed, as did the rest of the group. "Also it's pretty embarrassing, we've never been cheered for before."
"I'm not used to people actually complimenting me for any accomplishments." Elzabetta blushed.
"Trust me, I know how you feel, far, far too much." Deku groaned. "As long as I'm around though, you won't have to worry about it ever again."
"Silence." Their sensei came up to them. "Well, I hope you're satisfied, Izuku Midoriya. You wanted recognition for your Classmates, and you got it." Kalego bitterly glared as he held onto an enormous key. "I hope you're prepared for what that entails."
"Aw, don't be like that, Kalego-sensei. You have the prestigious honor of teaching in the Demon King's Classroom." Deku returned with a shit eating grin. "Such a position obviously demands a higher pay raise, don't you think?"
"I know you're baiting me, and it won't work forever." Well it was working now, wasn't it? "This Classroom was created for the use of one single outstanding student." Kalego turned his attention from Deku to the crowd, unhooking the Velvet rope. "His abilities are unmatched and unrivaled. Never in the history of the Netherworld have we ever had one like him, and he would eventually rise to become the now missing Demon King, Lord Derkila.
The crowd muttered, but if anything Deku's smile simply grew sharper. Maybe the danger-junkie rumor wasn't completely unfounded, even though he knew better. "Yeah, but we don't have to rival him, we just need to surpass him right? Isn't that what the next generation is for?"
The entire crowd cheered at his declaration of war, whether they be students or staff, all except for Kalego of course. "Seeing as you're about to taint it's hallowed halls with your presence, I can only hope you actually have the power to back such a claim."
"You believed that getting everyone's permission was an impossible task, that the Misfits were just naive fools who couldn't comprehend what the world has in store for us." Deku lifted himself ever so slightly into the air and towered himself above their teacher. "I told you three days ago that I would have the entire school cheering on the misfits. We may just be students, we may be naive, but we're ready to take on the world, because there's nothing, absolutely nothing we can't accomplish." He shot a green fireball from his hand into the sky, making fireworks once again. "GO BEYOND!"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
Their teacher didn't look like he could handle another second of their class's praise, so he merely signaled the other staff to unlock the chains. "We now appropriate this classroom for student use once more." The golden locks glowed away into non-existence. "The Royal One shall be officially open!"
He watched doors unlock through both physical and magical means, shining brightly and opening widely, unlocked for the first time in centuries, dusty yet well kept air coming out. Inside they gazed upon it, the wonder of the Royal One.
They walked in, looking at the splendor of the rooms entirely. It was beyond any internal fantasies or beliefs. Sabncok actually began crying. "Well, look at that, Sabro's Sobbing!" Lied laughed.
"Who wouldn't cry at something so amazing! The halls of the Demon King, I can feel his presence flow through me! I am more worthy every second!" Highly unlikely, but who was he to crush another's ambitions so soon?
"Can you really blame him? You know how much the guy loves the Demon King." Jazz rubbed his hand greedily on one of the golden pillars, his hands twitching like there was no tomorrow. "Everything's in prime condition. Say, how heavy do you think this is? Just thinkin about carrying it to a black market." Once a thief, always a thief.
"So shiny, so sparkly!" Clara was being Clara as usual, skating across the floors as if it were an ice rink. This place really had something for everyone. Even in his most daring of ambitions before the school year started, he couldn't have imagined himself walking through the class blessed to be touched by Lord Derkila.
"Izuku, this is magnificent! You really.." Asmodeus tried to complement his friend once more, but saw that Deku was nowhere near him. Rather, his attention, as well as everyone else's now, was turned to a single grand golden chair with red padding at the very back of the Classroom. "Is that.."
"The throne of the Demon King." Kerori balked in awe. "It's still here.." She saw a figure walk towards it. "Izu-Deku, what are you..?"
"When it's all said and done, the real prize of the Royal One is this." The newly horned Demon rubbed it's arm rests. "I wonder.." He began sitting on it. "Feels comfy."
It was like a lightning bolt had struck him. For a brief moment, inside of that chair, Asmodeus had caught a glimpse of the future. One where Izuku reigned in the throne.
No one at that moment said a word. Everyone was frozen, afraid to speak, afraid to even breathe in Dek-in Izuku's presence. The one thing everyone in the Class could agree on was one single fact.
'It fits him.'
With that, there was only one course of action Asmodeus could find himself doing.
He kneeled to his master.
Izuku woke up gradually. Last night was some of the best sleep he's gotten in years. He decided to nuzzle back for a few minutes. Right now, he feels completely stress free …
Izuku suddenly became startled. "I haven't been stress free in years. What's wrong with today?" He rubbed his head. His horns could really get in the-wait, why did he think he had horns?
Focusing on the situation, it felt like stuff was missing, but he never had that kind of stuff to begin with. He stood up, almost falling over, like he was expecting an extra limb to help prop himself up. "Something is wrong. Let's go through the options. Number One, I had a weird dream and my body is waking up funny. Number two, I'm dead and feeling myself as a ghost. Number three, I'm just crazy."
"Well, I say go for the third option, but there's more to it than you think." Lizzy popped out of his ring. "Hey there sleepy head. Enjoy your rest?"
"Lizzy, did anything weird happen last night after the sleepover?" He decided to ask the spirit.
"Last night? Kid, that was like four days ago. How could you.." Lizzy's one eye widened. "..oooh, that's new. I was kind of counting on you remembering everything."
"Remember what?" He asked with trepidation, now noticing a large gap in memory that was just … a feeling. A feeling of unrestrained freedom. "Why do I suddenly feel like I've flown in the sky with Clara, with my own wings?"
"Well you wanted to know what it was like to be a demon." True, he did say that last night. "So I gave you a Wicked Phase, no need to thank me. Except do because I crave praise." What?
"You..did...WHAT!?"
"Gave you horns, ears, tail, you know, everything you wanted that you couldn't have." The ring spoke, oblivious to the fury of her master. "Then I gave you a Wicked Phase to let out all that stress and internal feelings." He's never been more stressed in his life! Or angry!
"YOU LITTLE MONSTER! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW VIOLATING THAT IS! I LOST ALMOST A WEEK OF MY LIFE THANKS TO YOU!" He shook the little pest violently, hoping to be able to strangle the cretin
"Three days is not almost a week. Thought you were good with numbers, nerd-" she was cut off by his hands choking her.
"DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME FOR THIS! YOU CHANGED WHO I WAS, PUT ME IN A STATE WHERE I COULD'VE HURT SOMEBODY!"
"I changed nothing." Lizzy said, dusting herself off after escaping. "I just lowered your inhibitions and increased your vices. Everything else, that's on you. Because in all fairness, that's what a Wicked Phase is."
He tried to reach into the depths of his mind, trying to imagine just what kind of things he would've 'loosened up' on in his Wicked Phase. Thoughts about his many frustrations with Azz, Kalego, and the other Misfits came to mind. "Ooh, the entire class probably hates me by now."
Lizzy's ominous laugh as she jumped back into the ring didn't help. Well then, first things first. He sighed as he made his way to the dining room. "Hey Mom, Grandpa, sorry if-"
"Izuku-kun!" His Grandpa rushed over and picked him up, crying excessively. "You're back! You're a lot less sharp and have your baby face back, even if your bad boy phase was pretty cool!"
Opera took him out of Grandpa's hands and inspected his body all over. "No horns or wings, that's good. What about fangs? Did you grow any fangs? Does the thought of consuming flesh sound appealing in your mind?" The butler's hair was so frizzled and his uniform was unkempt. Oh boy, he probably gave him so much trouble.
"Oh my baby, you're back to your old self!" His mom shouted, holding him into a hug. And he worried his mom too, god this was just the worst!
Eiko hummed as she waited outside, tapping her foot. "Eiko, please remember this. You can't let him walk over you." Gaako was talking nonsense.
"But whenever I do a good job with something he gives me head pats!" Deku may have been a little, okay, A LOT more scary than Izu, and asked her to do a ton of seemingly menial tasks when Izu hardly if ever did, but she could get used to Deku's calm nature, when it actually surfaced. "Until Izu comes back, I'll just do whatever I can for him!"
"Izuku-kins better come back soon, or I'll bring out the bye bye hammer." Clara said from her rock.
"I thought we went over this? Didn't you say something about loving every part of Izuku, which includes Deku?"
"AHA! I got the upper-hand now, Clara!" Eiko cheered, laughing in victory. "I find Izu amazing no matter what form he takes, whether as Izu or Deku!"
"Deku-kins isn't Izuku-kins! Not entirely!" Her rival was starting to talk gibberish. "I love Izuku-kins as a whole, and I will fight anyone to get Izuku-kins back, even if I have to beat him out of Deku-kins!"
"How can you love somebody if you're just going to beat them up!?" She and Clara were violently shaking each other now. "Don't you know anything about Deku!?"
"No, I know everything about Izuku-kins! Stop talking like Deku-kins is going to stay forever!"
"Okay, this is just ridiculous now, Azz, hold Clara." The couple-in-denial restrained her, her own best friend holding on to her wrists while Azz lifted Clara by her back collar. "We get it, you're both stressed out, believe me, we get it." Gakoo sighed. "It's weird not seeing Izuku giving that shaky smile, or not constantly asking everyone around him if they're alright, or seeing him kind of act like an ass. We all prefer Izuku over Deku, right?"
Clara nodded to the point her head might've been skooken loose and she herself nodded a bit hesitantly. "Well, yeah, but Izu won't come back until he's stress free. We can't just abandon Deku just because we have a few problems with him."
"We're not leaving him in any case." Azz clarified. "He hasn't abandoned us, so as his friends, we'll be here for him no matter what form.."
"Guys!" A sweet, kind, and caring tone that had been missing for far too long cried out to them, and running towards them in panic and worry was De-no, it was Izu! The hornless, wingless, cute puppy faced Izu, who was her hero. The same Izu that she loved! "I'm so sorry about everything that happened! I didn't expect to end up in a Wicked Phase and I have no idea what the heck I did in the past three days, and I know I made you guys worry a lot and I probably offended all of you with everything I said.." His muttering was back! IZU WAS BACK!
"IZUKU-KINS!" Clara shared her enthusiasm and planted her body on top of Izu's chest, making him fall on his back! "You're back! And you're no longer sharp and scary anymore!" She started rubbing every inch of his head, possibly making sure that there were no traces of any horns on him. "Hahaha, so round and soft!"
"I-I missed you too Clara!" Izu responded, still on the ground. "I-uh, can I please hav-have some space to breathe, or at least enough to stand up?"
"No, if I let go you'll become Deku again!" She shouted, causing the boy to freeze up.
"I became …." He slowly turned to Azz. "Azz, you're my oldest and most asshole of a friend, who's always very blunt. As such, I trust you to answer this question the most honestly." He started, taking a pause. "How bad was it?"
Azz was quiet for a few moments, walking up and placing a hand on Izu's shoulder. "You made Eiko carry your things, called me Alice, acted very flirty around everyone in general so there's some rumors about that, rode a carriage to school every day, threatened Kalego-sensei into a war for the Royal One classroom, made a speech about inspiring us to be insane, asked us to call you Deku out of both separation and a way to rub it in their faces, created a multi layer complex plan, got us Royal One after revealing another layer to said plan, tripled Kalego-sensei's paygrade, gave us far too much personal information to decode for months, said we'd surpass the old Demon King, and sat in a throne so well we thought of you as king."
Izu looked like he was close to passing out and dying. "...I am so sorry. I'm, I'm.." He looked like he was about to cry. "Sounds like I was no better than Kachaan around you guys."
"Are you kidding me!? What you did was AMAZING!" It was her duty now to hype him up now as his first and number one fan and future wife. "You turned the most rowdy and delinquent of students into the most popular of all of Bablys! You went on and on about protecting them and making sure none of them got treated unfairly. Izu, even when you were scary, you still tried to be their hero, and it worked!"
"She's got a point kid, you pretty much spent the entire time getting all of the school to cheer your name. And the Royal One, which you weren't even aware existed, is a castle of a classroom to the former Demon King. You got everyone to sign off on that." Gaako spoke with a grin.
"I admit, it was the most 'Plus Ultra' you've ever been. Despite some, less than savory behavior, you still pretty much put everyone else's needs before your own." Azz concluded with a smirk. "Besides, you also won me the bet on your wicked phase, so I'm not upset about anything."
Izu looked shocked, probably not believing a single word they were saying, or at least having a hard time accepting it, then he looked down at Clara, who was still holding onto him tight. "Clara, I didn't scare you away, did I?"
Clara looked down at the floor, looking almost ashamed. "I, Izuku-kins, I don't like when you forget about helping others and scare them. I don't think I could have ever been friends with someone like Deku-kins, someone like Amy." Izu flinched at that, why was she hurting him now of all times? "But he's a part of you, so I'll take care of him, because every part of you is special."
Izuku looked at her and pulled Clara closer with the tightest hug she'd ever seen. "I love you, Clara, Eiko, Gaako, Azz, I love all of you guys." He widened his arms and brought them as steady streams of water fell from his face.
"We love you too, Izu!" Eiko shouted, hugging him tight.
"Love is strong, but you're a good person, I'll stick around and see your heroism to the end." Azz spoke flippantly, the tsundere.
"Great, now I feel more guilty about being uneasy around you." Gaako returned the hug despite her tone. "You're still the same bleeding heart as always."
"I know Izuku-kins, I know."
They stayed like that for a minute or two, eventually letting go, except Clara. "Clara, you've gotta get off him now." She reached out to the girl and got a hiss in return. "Or we get some strong metal claws to pull her off."
"You have to pry him from my cold dead corpse if you think I'm ever letting him go!" Clara shouted. "I said it before, and I'll say it again! I won't allow Deku to come back out!"
"Fine, I'll just help you then." Eiko hugged Izu's arm. "I'm ready to go when you are, Izu!"
"You do realize you'll separate once we reach school, right?" Azz reminded her of the cold and cruel reality.
"So? I'll just stay right here. Not much they can do against the future Demon King after all."
"Ah, I think you're making a bigger deal out of that then you need to." Izu started his cute shaking again. Oh, how she missed this! "I don't think I'm cut out for that, or even want to be."
"Of course not, you declared you'd surpass the old Demon King and sat on his throne." Azz smirked.
"Oh Devi, that's not going to go away soon is it?" Izu sighed, getting up. Wow, he must have gotten buff, he was carrying both of them. "Wait, since when do I have muscles?"
