The incident in Aldera Primary was a turning point. A 'U-Turn', one might say.

Izuku's status went from 'the useless, Quirkless coward' to 'the Nightmare Child'. It sounds cool, not gonna lie. But to Izuku, it was a name that scar him for life. The pain that he felt from that name was even worse than what people called him. If no one left him alone before the incident, now, no one dared to stand 1 step near him. At school, anyone he tried to speak to ran away as soon as they spotted him. A few adults have the courage to speak to him a few sentences, but most of them broke down in tears at least once. His 'reputation' came to a point where children would scramble at his presence.

He didn't mind being ignored. Sure, he hated being bullied. But being afraid of?

That killed him inside, bits by bits.

Inko sighed, for the countless time this month, at the sight of her children coming home from school with a sadden face.

She heard what happened at school from Mitsuki, and she was two fingers away from clawing that green octopus away from Izuku. But the creature only stated that 'he did it to protect the child'.

Inko was kind, but sure as hell not stupid. She knew about the bullies. Izuku tried to cover his wounds, but it was nonsense that he would fall off the stairs every single day. She tried talking to him about it, but the boy was too forgiving for his own good. Even went out of his way to protect his bullies. The only reason she didn't move Izuku away was because she didn't have the heart to tear him away from Katsumi. That would crush Izuku.

Maybe that doesn't matter now, considering little Katsumi was also afraid of Izuku. It didn't matter how well she played it off, Inko and Mitsuki both knew that was just an act.

What was worse is that little Izuku didn't know why or how this was happening. Her poor little boy rationalized that was his Quirk finally manifested, a mutation from his parents. He insisted that Inko took him to a Quirk counsellor, trying to rationalize it as a Quirk, but the result came back only disappointed him. It became the final straw.

…Maybe she really needs to consider moving. For Izuku.

"Bu- but wouldn't it cost us a lot of money?" Izuku looked at his mom confusingly.

"It would. But it's the best thing I could come up with and personally, I don't want us to be near people who are afraid of you." Inko replied with a kind smile as she ruffled Izuku's head.

"You- you don't have to! I can deal- it's okay, mom!"

"It's not okay, Izuku!" Inko quickly shut him down. "No one should have gone through what you did! They bullied you and now they're afraid of you for things that aren't even your fault! So don't tell me you can handle it."

Seeing her son on the verge of tears, Inko sighed and hugged him. "I know it's hard, honey, but it's for the best. Besides, this apartment is becoming too small for all the stuff you brought back. We're gonna need to move to a much bigger place, so you could bring back more stuff."

"It's not stuff, mom. Those are for summoning mythical creatures." Izuku smiled as he hugged his mom. "But can we really afford a big place?"

"Of course, dear! Anything to make my green bean keeps this smile on his face." Inko laughed as she squeezed Izuku's cheeks, which prompted him to laugh as well.

Financial wise, currently, they can afford a big place, but that's going to put a dent on Inko's savings. 'Anything for Izuku.' She thought.

On the couch, a certain green creature looked at them.

"What do you mean it has all been taken care of!?" Inko unintentionally raised her voice as she questioned.

"It means exactly what it means, miss." The real estate agent replied with a smile. "All the fees that are required have already been dealt with. Just have a look at the house and we'll arrange for you to move in as soon as you like."

"But why- How- Who-!?"

"I am as much in the dark as you, miss." The agent smiled. "My boss called before you came in, saying that all the fees required for your new place and moving will be taken care of- Ooh, he did mention something about lord Kerto, Kehrtu something, I don't know. Anyways, just have a look around at the house and the area."

"I'll be around if you need me." The agent kindly smiled.

Inko stared off in shock as the agent walked back to her office, before she directed her stare at the green octopus on Izuku's shoulder. Her son just smiled at her innocently while the green creature continued playing with Izuku's hair.

Afraid, hatred or appreciated? Inko couldn't decide how she should feel about the octopus on her son's head.

It has been 1 week since they decided to move. The moving process was... weirdly fast and efficient. The moving company treated them like royalty for some reason. Everything was moved quickly and carefully. Strangest of them all was the owner of the company even came down and helped. He even bowed to Izuku before he left, which just made the whole situation stranger, but Inko shrugged it off as one of those 'things' the octopus pulled.

But that green gremlin did give them a new, better place to live in. The house was in a small town next to the ocean. It is an ordinary, 2-storey houses with a front yard that one could find anywhere in Japan but the atmosphere it's given, is unparallel. Inko couldn't tell what, but the moment Izuku's set his eyes on the house, it like he was drawn to it, as if it called out to him...

'Welp, at least he liked it. That's all that matters.' Inko thought.

Back to the present, Izuku rushed to the door and opened it to be met with a huge figure towering above, staring down at him.

But what was even more terrifying was that the position where a face was supposed to be...

Was replaced by a blank white, featureless head and face.

"W-W-W-W-Who are y-y-y-ou?" Izuku managed to blab out a question.

The man(?) studied Izuku for a quick second before he slowly kneeled down, trying to match Izuku's height but his unnaturally height made it impossible so even when kneeled, the man was much taller than the poor, scared boy.

The man remain silence when he stared at Izuku with his blank face. Although the man outward appearance has the potential to cause severe trauma, for some reason, Izuku did not feel threaten by it. He was indeed scared, but it was because the man was a stranger, not because of his freakishly tall body and scary empty face.

The silence continued for a short while before a voice jolted Izuku out of his thought.

"Izuku? Are you still there, honey? Who is at the front door?"

His mother's voice woke him up from his thought. Just as he was about to call out to her, the man suddenly his fingers on Izuku's eyes.

And suddenly, Izuku found himself standing alone in the middle of a forest, with Cthul on his shoulder.

This aura... this presence...

He found himself jolted awake from his slumber from the sheer pressure he felt.

How long has it been since an entity this strong made him feel threatened appear? Could this be a sign that he will find a person that would accept him?

Or would someone finally come and end him?

Pondering on those thought, the man followed the direction of the aura. After walking nonstop towards it, he found himself standing in front of a small house.

This is where that powerful aura emitted?

Was such his thought as he pressed on the doorbell.

Shortly after, in front of his eyes was a little boy. No doubt the aura came from this child, but something was different. That aura was from this child, but it wasn't his.

It was from another presence, a presence that resides within this child.

But what intrigued him most was how the child reacted when he saw him.

He, who was known across this planet. An urban legend, a myth, a monster notorious for what he did to his victim. Even in this superpower age and day, people are still afraid to enter the wood, for the fear of encountering him doesn't matter how little the chances are.

Even if the story about him was unknown, his outward appearance was so horrendous that a normal person would go crazy just by looking at him. If lucky, they would still be conscious enough to commit suicide to escape the nightmares that haunt them. The others, however, would spend the rest of their life being afraid. Afraid of the dark corners in their room, afraid of their friends and family, afraid of the death that will eventually catch up to them.

But this child...

This child continued looking at him with little fear in his eyes. His eyes spoke confusion, worry and curiosity, but he can't see the glimpse of the fear that always present in others.

Maybe if it's him...

Maybe this child will accept him for what he is...

With those long-lost hope slowly appeared inside of him; the empty-face man put his fingers on the child eyes.

The trial begins.

A/N: So, I'm still alive. I just ran out of ideas. Thus, the long hiatus.

I think some of you would have already guess who 'the man' is. It's obvious enough. But his story was kinda vague, so I had to make it up a bit.

Anyway, next chapter would be about how Izuku escaped the dark wood with a powerful entity on his back. Maybe we'll finally see what kind of power Izuku possesses with Cthul on his shoulder.