A/N: I don't own MHA or any Naruto references here.
When they reached the safehouse it was revealed to be a cabin in a small section of some woods, right on the coastline above a small cliff with a barren strip of beach surrounded by rocks that made it an uneasy place to get to.
"Only we know where this cabin is." Nezu said as the car was parked. "It has electricity, a hidden signal so you can connect to us through the phones or through the internet if need be, and the owner was fine with you taking the space."
"Who is the owner?" Inko asked.
"Raia is." All Might answered.
"I use this location to train or clear my head." Raia spoke for the first time in a while. His eyes were still closed and they haven't seen them open once yet.
"Are you sure it will be okay?" Inko asked, not wanting to impede on the man.
"I am alright with the use of the location. It was used in a similar manor for myself." The man answered as he unlocked the door. Inko was the only one who found it odd that he was doing everything with his eyes closed, the two other men were aware of how he was doing that and Izuku didn't care, he was only paying attention enough to hear them speak while following them.
"Sir may I ask why you have your eyes closed?" Inko hoped she wasn't going to offend him.
"I do not like light. It burns my eyes."
"How can you see?"
"My quirk lets me use energy I call Ki. I can use it to feel the area around me as well as attack or defend if need be."
"It is very useful." All Might agreed. He always thought Raia could have been a full on Pro Hero but the man chose his career already.
"I will show you the rooms." Raia began a tour of the nice cabin.
Izuku stopped following them through the building when they passed a Zen Garden. The sand was calling to him so he silently walked away from the group to go to it. They noticed him walking away but were okay with it seeing him go to the sand.
Izuku stood on the edge of the garden and contemplated standing on it, sand always felt nice, but he didn't want to yet because the waves and designs of the sand in the garden were beautiful. He made sure to remember the designs.
Quite a bit of time passed and he didn't move an inch, looking at the sand with fascination. Nezu and All Might left for Musutafu and Inko didn't want to interrupt her son so she went inside to get more accustomed to the new home.
Raia however decided to at least interact with the child who would be living at his second home. He had approached Izuku's side to face the garden himself. "It is beautiful isn't it?"
"I like it."
"I do too, but probably not for the same reason."
"..." Izuku didn't know if he actually cared about the man's reason. He got a different vibe from Raia than he did from the others. It felt familiar in a way. Comforting somehow.
Raia didn't even try to continue talking with Izuku. He is a hard person to talk to half of the time as well so he didn't blame the boy. He understood where it came so he wouldn't push anything.
A year later the Midoriya's had fallen into a routine at the safehouse. Inko had started a garden of vegetables and flowers in the space close to the Zen Garden, and would spend a good amount of time keeping the house looking nice and tending to her plants.
Izuku still slept very little, he claimed he didn't like it so he would spend a good portion of his night at the small enclosed beach and interact with the sand. His control was much better on his true sand, the sand he had soaked his blood into, than it was with any other sand. He could control all sand with ease but the true sand was able to move quicker than any other. He didn't add any new sand to his true batch since moving to the area, not wanting to just take the sand from its home. He kept the sand from his escape key since it had made use to him in getting back his sand.
Raia would always show up every four days and stay for a day. He said it was so that he could regain control of his Ki in a safe environment, over time and use he would gradually start to lose his sense of self, but the Zen Garden would help him. He never went into detail or conversed much with the Midoriya's unless they spoke to him, Inko being the one to talk mostly wanting to know how things were in Musutafu and Japan in general. Izuku never tried to conversate with Raia because he didn't even know what the two would talk about, but they both would occasionally just gaze at the Zen Garden like they did the first day. They both never touched the Zen Garden, Izuku liked how it was put when he first got there and Raia liked it as well because of who had done that to the Zen Garden.
All Might would check up on them once a week, feeling personally that Inko would prefer to see a person who could socialize once in a while. He was the one who actually suggested that Inko grow a vegetable garden. The man tried to conversate with Izuku at least once every time he is there but the boy really didn't ever want to speak to people. Inko said he was such a talker before the facility. She didn't like how he had become an untrusting shut in because of his time at the Quirk Reformation Center. If anything they believed that place really only made it worse for Izuku.
"I won't be here next week because a friend from my early hero days wants me to come to America for a bit." All Might told Inko on a visit. "I should be back about eight days from now."
"That's okay. I still have Izu for company." Inko said as she heard the sound of the door by the garden opening.
The two actually had to look to see if Izuku was coming into that room because he walks way too silently and it was actually a bit unnerving how he can sometimes just end up right next to them without them knowing when he actually had something to say. He did enter the room and his eyes were immediately on All Might as he got closer. Something All Might wished the boy wouldn't do because he never spoke until he was close and those insane eyes bothered everyone.
"I have a problem." The boy spoke as he finished walking up to the muscular hero.
"Oh?" The Pro Hero raised an eyebrow, the kid didn't seem like one to let others know about anything. "What is the matter young Midoriya?"
"I want to get rid of the trash at that beach."
"Is there trash on the beach down the trail?" Inko asked.
"The beach I was at before he found me." Izuku looked at All Might.
"Dagobah beach?" All Might asked. "Is the idea of the trash bothering you?"
"It is ruining the sand. I don't like it." Izuku said flatly to the man.
"I suppose I can take you there and we can clean it up." The Pro Hero offered.
"Go where?" The voice of Raia suddenly made everyone aware that he had entered.
"Young Midoriya here wants to go to Dagobah Municipal Beach in Musutafu to clean it of the trash there. The trash is unsightly and it would be beneficial to the community there if we clean the park."
"The filth is ruining the sand." Izuku stated.
Raia thought for a single second before the man who never opens his eyes looked in All Might's direction. "You shouldn't go."
"I shouldn't?" The Pro Hero got confused.
Izuku gained an irritated look at Raia, not liking the man saying no.
"You will attract attention even in the trash All Might sir." Raia explained. "I am an unnoticeable person so I will take him that way there is no chance of your fame getting his hidden location revealed."
Izuku dropped his irritated look as quickly as it was gained, pleased to hear he can go clean the sand still.
All Might rubbed his arm. "I suppose that is a valid point. Are you okay enough to be there though Raia?" The man thought that Raia was at the house to regain control of his quirk.
"I should be alright for the day. I have no cases so I can take a day more to regain control." Raia answered. He turned back to the door but spoke to Izuku. "I am alright to go whenever you are Midoriya."
That was all Izuku needed to hear before he looked to his mother, said bye, and was out the door with his sand following him.
Inko looked at All Might. "Can Mister Raia handle Izu?"
"He has more in common with the boy than we do." All Might replied.
"This is indeed filthy." Raia commented in his emotionless voice as he could feel the trash with his quirk, his eyes still closed. He didn't like how filthy the beach was either.
"I hate them for ruining the sand." Izuku stated as his sand already shot forward and crushed a thing of metal. He didn't know exactly did this but he had hate for them regardless.
"I believe I have an idea of how you can remove this trash quickly." Raia said after a minute of standing close by. He wanted for the sand wielding boy to stop and look at him before speaking again. "I believe you can control all sand correct?" Izuku nodded. "Take a second to get all of the sand under your control to crush it all in one move."
Izuku blinked, not thinking of that yet. He nodded to show his understanding and brought his sand back to himself as he went farther onto the beach, that way he would be closer to more sand. He took a breath and began to feel every grain on the beach in the area around him for 20 meters. Going with that feeling like he had practiced before he willed the sand to listen to him and felt the sand begin to move, listening to his call.
Raia watched as sand began to swirl in a large circle around the boy before it engulfed a good fourth of the trash on the beach, with more sand following to grab as much as it could
Izuku saw that he had all of the trash he could hold with his current amount of sand a bit of time after that and began to crush all of the filth with the sand from the beach, compacting it all with force until all of the trash was a dense ball the size of a small apartment. He moved it to right off of the sand before he made the sand repeat the process with another large section of the trash on the beach.
Izuku did this for another twenty minutes before all of the trash on the beach was crushed into dense balls and removed from the beach. When he finished he just stood next to Raia and looked at the silent man.
"All of the trash is removed from the beach." The boy stated as he released all of the sand from his control back to its place on the beach.
"I shall inform someone who can remove the trash to a different location." The man replied. "For now we can return to the safehouse." The man began to walk towards his vehicle and Izuku followed until he just stopped, staring barely visible stand from where he was.
Izuku remembered the year prior when he met that odd pink girl at the stand and something in him wanted to go back to the place. So he did, floating on his sand he just left Raia to go to the stand.
Raia of course noticed the boy leaving and instead of telling Izuku to comeback he silently turned and followed the sand using child to see what caused him to veer off of their path.
Izuku stopped his sand right as he got the the entrance to the stand and stepped off of his sand to enter the shop. It looked mostly the same as it did the last time he was here except for there being actual customers this time. The boy sat away from the two adults who were also sitting at the counter and also talking to the woman he saw before, the mother of the pink girl.
"Marina how is Udon doing these days?" One of the customers, a woman whose most noticeable feature was her large, spiky, white hair asked. Most of her face was obscured by the hair save the bottom half of her face.
"He is okay after the accident right?" The other customer, a man with no hair, but a spiky head nonetheless, asked.
"He doesn't like having to stay home in bed." Marina answered. "He misses the shop but his leg can't have pressure on it for at least five more days."
"I take it Mina isn't being helpful with her energy?" The man chuckled.
Izuku actually paid attention at that point, hearing the name of the pink girl.
"Mina? Pfft." Marina laughed. "She has made herself a maid as she puts it and is constantly bugging Udon to help him for even just breathing at this point. It's cute, but geez does the girl not let up."
Raia walked in at that point, having seen exactly where Izuku had went he moved to sit beside the boy just assuming he wanted food.
The pink woman noticed Izuku and Raia at that point. "Hello! Welcome to my stand." She passed Raia a small menu. "We are out of dumplings today but everything else is good to go." She then looked at Izuku, wondering why the kid looked familiar and then noticed his sand that was behind him and remembered the year prior. "Hello again kid."
"..." Izuku didn't say anything but did look at her.
"Seems like a normal response." Marina commented to herself. She turned to Raia. "What would you like honey?"
"One bowl of Miso ramen." The man answered for himself.
"Would you like that too sweetie?" Marina asked Izuku.
"... Yes." Izuku replied after a second.
"Your bowls will be up in a minute." The violet haired woman smiled before she turned to the kitchen.
Raia turned to Izuku's direction. "You have been here before."
"Just once. The day All Might brought me back to mother."
"What made you want to come back?"
"I don't know."
Their emotionless conversation ended there, showing how little the two really spoke in general. They sat in silence until Marina returned with their food.
"Ya'know... " Marina started after she had given them their bowls. "Mina was kinda upset she made a cool friend only to ever see him once before he seemingly just disappeared."
"... I'm sorry." Izuku responded, making the man next to him raise an eyebrow.
Marina also looked a bit surprised. "It's fine."
Izuku didn't speak again, going completely silent. Raia went silent as well, contemplating something.
The two silently ate for the rest of their time there at the stand and left, Raia paying for the meal.
"Next time I hope Mina is here so she can see her favorite sand buddy." Marina said on the guys' way out.
Those were the last words spoken to or among Izuku and Raia for a majority of their way back to the cabin, the silence only being broken by Raia once they had gone off of the main path towards his cabin.
"I believe that with the beach now clean people might start to show up to it again. Maybe this time they will not allow it to be ruined." The man said as he walked alongside the boy who was floating on his sand.
Izuku didn't reply for a minute. "I won't be happy if they ruin the sand again."
"It would ruin the beach's natural beauty." Raia agreed with Izuku.
The two entered the home and Inko was relieved to see them, hugging her son.
"Welcome home Izu."
"We cleaned the beach mother." Izuku stated
"The entire beach?" Inko looked at her son with surprise, and then Raia.
"His control of sand is remarkable." The man stated. "He cleaned the entire beach himself in less than an hour."
"I used the beach to clean the trash." The sand using boy added.
"That's amazing!" The mother responded.
"I am sorry to abruptly leave but I must go regain control of my Ki now." Raia said as he gave a small polite bow and then left for the Zen Garden.
"Do you need any food now Izu?" Inko turned to her son. She imagined he might be hungry after cleaning an entire beach like that.
Izuku shook his head. "We had ramen."
"You did?"
"Can I go back there again?" Izuku asked suddenly, surprising himself as well with the question.
"To the beach?"
"To the... ramen place."
She didn't know Izuku's exact reason but she was assuming he was also confused about it. "Why don't we both go in a week? I can ask All Might for a chance for us to leave the house and go get ramen from this place."
Izuku nodded. "Thank you mother."
Izuku entered the garden area an hour later and Raia was in the spot he normally was, standing next the Zen Garden. The sand user stood next to the garden also like he has for the last year every few days with the man but did something he had never done before at this time, he spoke to Raia.
"Why do you admire the sand?" Izuku actually was curious about the man now, most likely due to the mysterious man who never opened his eyes actually going with Izuku to clean the beach.
The man turned his head to face Izuku's direction before he spoke, having a smile as he remembered the reason. "Her name was Emilia."
Izuku gained a look of confusion, never hearing of an Emilia before that moment. "She made the garden?"
"She did. Emilia was an amazing woman and the only person who had ever made me feel normal."
The boy's confusion only got bigger. "Normal?"
"I am a level five QMD as well." Raia answered.
The boy's confusion turned to shock. This man was like him? But then why did everyone else not treat Raia like a dangerous bomb like they did to him? "You are?"
"I have severe emotional dis-attachment from my surroundings and issues controlling my quirk, which if I lose control can have severe consequences for all persons around me." Raia explained. "I used to have extreme anger as well but that is something that has long just eroded away with sadness."
"Why do.. why do they treat you normal?"
"They don't... I am treated very much like the phrase of a ticking time bomb. Ever since I lost control several years ago. I however do not notice anymore I suppose, years of the treatment make it seem normal almost."
"Was Emilia like them?"
"She was... amazing. She didn't see my problems as dangerous like everyone else, in fact I was the first one to even bring up what I was diagnosed with. She didn't see me any different after learning at all."
Izuku asked a question again. "Where is she?"
Raia didn't answer immediately. "... She passed away five years ago from cancer."
The garden got quiet, those words ending the discussion for a bit.
"Her garden is beautiful." Izuku said quietly as he continued to look at the Zen Garden that hasn't had its sand moved in five years.
Raia nodded. "It is indeed."
Raia and Izuku didn't talk again during the rest of Raia's time at the cabin but not because they were avoiding each other. The two still weren't people for conversations after all.
Izuku was still in surprise of Raia's being on the same level of that scale the others used on him. It made Izuku see him differently than just the guy who's cabin they were hiding at. He felt more real to Izuku now.
Inko called All Might while he was on his way to America and the man wasn't against the Midoriya's going to the ramen at all. He even knew why Izuku would want to and told Inko to just wait for something pink.
Raia agreed to make sure they would be safe while getting the food but he also recommended Izuku put his sand somewhere it wouldn't draw attention. Izuku them said he wanted his sand always with him so he grabbed the closest thing that could contain the sand and was holding a calabash shaped gourd that was half of his size. At first Inko was worried about how heavy it would be for him to carry the gourd everywhere but Izuku claimed that his sand following him how it does made the gourd weightless so all he did was use a strap to keep it on him to not make it as odd.
Inko was the one driving them as Raia's inability to keep his eyes opened made it difficult for him to do any driving and it would push his quirk to drive with it active enough to sense anything while driving. Izuku stayed in the back seat with his new gourd making it was okay since it had become the container of his sand for now and that made it actually mean something to him.
Before they went to the Ramen Stand Inko wanted to look at the beach and was amazed by the sights, having once saw it in its trashed state. She praised Izuku which made him gain a smile on his face. At the stand there wasn't any customers but Marina who was cleaning a couple of bowls with her back to them, only turning when she heard them sit down.
She saw Izuku first. "Ya'know, I am really thinking you like my ramen kid." She had a smile. "And you always seem to bring more people each time. I think you are now on the list of my best customers."
"Hello I am his mother, Inko Midoriya." Inko introduced herself.
"I thought you looked similar to the kid. I am Marina Ashido and I can serve you folks once I wash my hands." The woman was glad to see the kid she admittedly thought was weird, and not in a bad way, had his mom watching over him. After a minute she returned to them. "So where is the sand right now?"
Izuku just pointed to the gourd.
"At least tell me you can have a conversation." Marina looked at Inko pleadingly.
The emerald haired mother laughed. "I can have a conversation. Izu can too when he wants to."
"I don't doubt it. So what ramen would you all like?"
"I would enjoy the Miso ramen." Raia stated.
"... Miso." Izuku said the one word.
"I would like some Tonkotsu Ramen please." Inko said her order with more emotion than both Izuku and Raia combined.
"Gotcha." The pink woman nodded as she went to go get the food start.
"I guess you made an impression on Miss Ashido Izu. Inko said to her son.
"She gave me ramen when I was hiding on the beach."
"She found you on the beach?'
"I found this place while hungry... She gave me food here."
"I am glad she made sure you weren't going hungry."
A second later a pink blur shot out of the kitchen and to the counter. "HI I'M MINA!" The pink girl introduced herself to everyone.
"Mina don't be a handful!" Marina was heard calling out from the kitchen.
Mina ignored her mother's words when she noticed Izuku and instantly remembered him. "Hi sand boy! Wait no... Hi Izata!"
Izuku just blinked, not expecting to see the girl who was odd to him, but after his name was said wrong he spoke. "It's I-zuku."
"Sorry Izuku." Mina didn't lose her pep at all. "Are you still making cool sandcastles? wait where is your sand? Did you leave it at home? Is it in a castle right now? Can you get sand from the beach over there? Can you make castles from all sand or is it just the sand you left at home? What is that thing on your back? Is it a backpack? It looks cool. Mine is purple with blue stuff that looks like water. Why does yours look like a pot? Is it because of the school you go to? What school do you go to? I go to-"
"Mina!" Marina stopped her daughter from asking nonstop questions without taking a breath or allowing Izuku to answer any of them. "Let him answer the first question before you ask more. We talked about this girl geez." She was snickering at the end of it because she saw the poor boy who had her daughter's attention looking so confused.
Mina blushed in embarrassment, turning violet on her cheeks. "Sorry Izuku."
Izuku still looked confused because she asked most of those too fast for him to actually know the full questions. "What were the questions?'
"Oh... ummmm... Are you still making cool sand castles?" Mina asked the first question.
"I do sometimes." Izuku admitted.
Inko then figured out why Izuku made sandcastles occasionally and just sat there with them. She figured that this girl must be interesting to her son and got him to make a castle before and with his odd fascination with most things the sandcastle building just stuck to him.
"Are they big castles?" Mina asked. "Can you make sand dragons to guard them? And sand knights to fight the sand dragon?"
"Mina. Let him answer the first question." The pink mother repeated with mild exasperation as she came back with the ramen.
"Can you make sand dragons?" Mina asked what she considered the most important question at the moment.
"I have never tried." Izuku answered.
"If you had your sand I bet you could! Your sand is cool!"
Inko was surprised to see her son actually turn red and then she smiled, happy to see her son give an emotional reaction to someone who isn't her.
"I have my.. sand." Izuku replied as his sand popped out of the gourd.
The pink girl's eyes became stars. "Cool! Now you can make dragons!"
"Not in the stand." Marina nipped that idea in the bud. "Mina no quirks in the stand. Sorry sand boy but no one is allowed to do shenanigans here after the little squirt broke a few of my bowls and a shelf."
"It was only three bowls!" Mina defended herself.
"Why don't the two play afterwards?" Inko asked. "If it is okay with you ma'am."
"YES!" Mina shouted. "At the beach! Mom can't say no sand there!"
Marina just looked at her daughter flatly. "What mother says; goes."
"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeee?" Mina pleaded.
The pink mother looked at Izuku who was just blank faced in his seat, and then back at her daughter. She was fully aware of his condition but doubted he would do anything bad at this point. "Did you even ask him if he wanted to play?"
That made the pink girl spin around in a flash to lean over the counter towards Izuku. "Do you want to play at the beach? It is really clean now and looks pretty!"
Izuku's face went from blank with slight red to straight confused. No one has asked to play with him in years. He didn't even know really anymore how to play. "... Yes."
"YAY!"
A white haired man looked at the woman who was kneeling to him, The woman was Sayuri Kaomoti and her once bright orange hair had dulled to a faded brown and went all over the place. He had grown impatient with her over her lack of being able to find the boy she had said would make a perfect tool, and felt like just sending her off to some random desk job to handle accounts or something and stop being a disappointment to him.
"Master All For One I have knowledge of where he might be after all." The woman said from her spot kneeling before him, not looking up at him.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? The boy you have said had control of sand, or one of your other projects?"
"The boy with the sand, Izuku Midoriya, I have found him. And he has someone guarding him that you might be interested in."
The man nodded. "Go on. Who might this person be?"
"All Might." Sayuri looked up at this point, jus in time to see an evil grin break All For One's so far calm expression.
"If that is true then I will go for the boy myself. You will come to sedate the boy if need be. We go in three days." The man turned around to go make sure he can prepare to crush the number one hero and secure a new underling.
Inko had an amused look as she watched the pink girl trying to do so much on the beach while Izuku just stood there looking confused.
"Your son certainly is special." Marina said from beside Inko. "It's hard to not get annoyed at Mina and her antics."
"He is definitely special."
"For a level five QMD he is not what people make them up to be."
Inko looked at the pink woman in surprise. "What?"
Marina waved her arm in disregard. "Don't worry Miss. I have known since the first time he was at my stand. He hasn't done anything bad yet. Even if he did I think I can handle him."
"His sand is quite powerful."
"So is my water. I control water just like he does with sand." The pink woman stated. "He might be able to weaponize the beach but I can weaponize the ocean."
Inko looked at her in shock. "Really?"
"Yea but it always gives me a sick stomach." Marina laughed. "I can handle it for like two minutes before I can't move a drop of water at all without losing my lunch." Inko laughed as well at that point. "He is alright though." Marina continued. "If anything I say the biggest issue is trying to get him to talk."
"MAKE THE BIGGEST AND COOLEST SANDCASTLE POSSIBLE!" Mina was heard shouting excitedly before a large chunk of the beach was pulled up into a castle by Izuku, who moved has arm slightly to move the sand.
Inko was surprised Izuku was listening to the pink girl at all, then again maybe she was just weird to Izuku and Izuku was just going along with everything until he found out why she was weird to him.
Raia just stood off to the side, not really in particular concern but keeping a watch on Izuku's Ki from where he was, making sure he would be able to react in case of a fluctuation. He however didn't believe there would be any problem, believing if anything this pink girl would be Izuku's Emilia if anything, but hopefully without the sad ending.
A/N: I felt like ending this chapter without mention of AFO at all and just making that a surprise but I decided that nah... You guys get that suspense lmao.
Raia is going to get more development as the story goes. He is important as a mentor to Izuku in the story, seeing as how he is the one Izuku can actually see in respect enough for that. His quirk is basically low budget chakra from Naruto but without any elements to it. Maybe one day you guys will get to see his real eyes.
I don't really got much else to say but I guess look forward to the next chapter of the story.
I have a Discord now guys, it as all seven if my current stories on it, and a few admittedly stupid people (myself included) amd more are always welcome to join and discuss the stories you like, or propose new stories to me and so on. Here is the link:
discord . gg / HUXVuq5YXz
Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter, let me know how it was and have a good day!