"And that's how hell views the afterlife." Balam finished his explanation to Midoriya.

"Huh, that's both depressing and uplifting at the same time." The boy looked at him curiously. "I was starting to get confused, since in the Human World, this would technically be what we consider hell, with all the demons and such around."

"I know, it's very strange. The Human World to us is the equivalent of a mystical far away land. I'm still so curious about the 'land of the rising sun', where pink petals fly in the air, people with monkey tails turn blond while fighting, and the strange new rumor of quirks."

"The second one is just fictional." Midoriya deadpanned. "I'm still baffled that One Piece somehow got ingrained into netherworld culture, or that Gaako's entire family history got plagiarized into a video game series."

"The mysteries of life, truly a strange concept. Who knows, maybe a Demon illegally went over and told the stories as a way to make money." He theorized.

"But that would have been so long ago … How long do demons live?" The boy asked with curious eyes.

"It depends if they use magic to keep their youth. Some do it, some refuse, some just age slower, I heard of a man who's been alive since the beginning of the Netherworld's forgeing."

"Right, makes sense. Nobody back on earth can recall whether or not the dark overlord of Japan ever existed." Izuku recalled the legend. "A quirk stealing monster creating ally and enemy alike with his power."

Well that was crazy, who could believe in someone with the genetic ability to combine multiple power-... Naberius and Azazel had a lot of explaining to do. "All of us have our boogeyman, I guess. A common topic. Like a birthday, we call them Demonic Rites."

"Right, I think Lied told me about that once." Midoriya recalled. "I haven't thought too much about it. I completely forgot about mine with how crazy the school year has been."

"Understandable, happens to the best of us." Balam nodded. "When is your birthday anyways?"

"July 15th." It is October 24th now.

"... So we missed it then?"

"Oh, yeah, got so caught up in everything it completely slipped my mind." Well, no need to worry, they could.. "It's not like we're missing much. I haven't really celebrated it in the last five years or so...or would that be six now?" Alright, he'd have to spread the word fast, mostly to Opera.

Izuku woke up to a white material wrapped around his face, feeling something softer than burlap as he was carried in a sack … "I'm way too used to this." Grandpa, Ameri technically, Balam, those upper years during the rookie hunt, it was like riding a bike by this point.

"At least this time you're wrapped up in something nice and velvety." Lizzy spoke up from somewhere. Oh, he had a companion to stop insanity, that would be a boon.

"Do you have eyes on who took us this time?" His brain was thinking of grandpa but instinct screamed Kiriwo. He just hoped that the bastard was locked up wherever he was tightly.

"Eh, I didn't bother checking this time. My money would be on Clara, although Ameri would be a close second, Mr lady's man." She wiggled her non-existent eyebrows. "Two kisses from two different girls. You've become quite the demon in the past year."

"Yeah yeah, I've noticed." He rolled his eyes. "At the very least it's there for a change. Happier as a demon then I was a human … even though it's nice to be both at times." He leaned back, or tried to at the very least. "... What about you?"

"What about me?" Lizzy spoke in a confused tone.

"Are you happy as … this? A magic blob shadow thing?"

"Well considering I was practically nothing before you put the ring on, I'd like to think so." Lizzy shrugged. "Can't say it hasn't been entertaining watching you run like a headless chicken at points. That's always good for a laugh."

"Glad I can provide the smiles." Izuku accepted Lizzy's not helpful-helpful nature by this point.

The bag finally dropped, the sack opened to reveal … "Okay, virgin sacrifice was definitely not on my 'ways to die' list." Izuku snarked at the many robbed figures with animal masks circling a fire. He turned to his kidnapper. "Opera?"

"Don't worry, we're only doing the demonic rites ritual as intended." Opera stared at him. "Once we realized we skipped your birthday, everyone gathered together quickly to plan this for you." Ah, so he had Balam-sensei to thank for this. He'd be mad if it wasn't essentially just throwing him a surprise party.

"You moron, did you really think we didn't want to celebrate something so important?" Asmodeus lifted up his skull mask. "And not having one for five years? That's a hell no living creature deserves."

"Yeah, Izuku-kins rules!" Clara shouted with a laugh. "We're gonna throw you the bestest Rites ever!"

"Just look at the presents." Eiko gestured to the small mountain of them. It reminded him of the first week where he told Grandpa about his love of heroes, and the man just got him a mountain of merchandise.

"Yeah, trust me when I say this is the very LEAST we could do. We wanted to give more, but Mamadoriya didn't want to overwhelm you." Gaako rolled around, wearing a simple black robe, not bothering with the mask.

"Oh, where is Mom?" He figured she would be one of the ones to tell Opera that it was okay to just tell him and not kidnap him out of the blue, but he digresses.

"She's hanging over with the other adults. They're teaching her the dance as we speak." Eiko gestured to the one masked figure clearly trying to mimic the others.

"Okay … another question, what's the fire for?"

"It's actually Unholy water set on fire. We all place it from our cups into the center fire as a way to signify giving a piece of our life onto yours, as thanks for existing." Asmodeus explained. Wow, that was very wholesome for demons, honest surprise.

"No need to thank us, Izzy-kun. This is my first time celebrating something like this with others." Even Ameri was here! "Like I told you before, just think of us as selfish demons who want to see what we love in the best condition possible."

"No..this isn't selfish at all, Ameri." Izuku had to hold in the tears. He couldn't risk putting out the flames. "This is the greatest act of selflessness I've ever experienced."

"Alrighty, now let's get to the party time!" Clara shouted happily.

Picero can't believe they managed to drag him into this. He just wanted to sleep until present time, but no, here he was being forced to exercise. And even worse, it was next to the parents, who just blabbed about how cute their children were being! … Except for him, those guys were cool and sleep danced like pros.

"Six years without celebrating Demonic Rites, that's gotta be a record." Lied was walking right behind him. "Just when you understand a guy's pain, there's something else that finds a way to poke a knife at the heart."

"One must not blame the man, one must blame the man who put the man in the situation." Goemon spoke with an old traditional tone.

"... So blame his terrible Grandpa." A masked figure near the students flinched. Odd.

"Always blame the terrible Grandpa." Jazz agreed, as the same figure stumbled.

"Actually I know someone we can blame more than just his terrible Grandpa." Eiko said as the figure fell to the ground. "We blame whoever Bakugo is. I swear, the moment I ever lay my eyes on the monster that hurt my Izu, I'm going to subject him to plasma cannon alpha twenty."

"You went through twenty plasma cannons?" The tone in Lied's voice suggested a raised eyebrow. "How much free time do you have to keep making stuff like this?"

"Enough … right now I'm building a real life replica of the Envy Ring … nothing stable though, that's going to be a passion project far beyond Babyls."

"So Izuku's going to be a hero and Demon King, you'll be his tech support, Clara will probably be his actual sidekick.." Jazz droned on.

"Wait, I thought Lied was his sidekick." Asked Sabro.

"I'm right here."

"I know, but thou vote doesn't count." Wow, no wonder Asmodeus wanted to murder the guy, his voice was so annoying he couldn't sleep to it. "Besides, I shall be the Demon King! But I'll consider One For All to be my most trusted ally."

"Keep dreaming you moron." Gaako spoke, not skipping a beat with her dance. "The day you become Demon King is the day everyone dies out."

"... So to be Demon King-"

"Actually try to kill everyone and i'll murder you." Asmodeus gave no room for arguments. "Izuku's probably the only one we can trust to never actually try anything as stupid as that."

"Eh, fair point." Picero agreed. "We would've let kids die if he didn't say anything about it.." Everyone paused the walking, thinking about what he said for a second.

"Wow, a year ago I wouldn't have actually cared." Lied muttered. "I mean yeah it's sad but … I wouldn't have known them."

"I know, we're really changing." Asmodeus agreed. "He's changed us so much."

"Did it just occur to all of us how messed up the world truly is if we're okay with child death?" Even Kaumi had to reflect on that, and he only cared about girls.

"Not really." Gaako spoke. "I mean, I knew it was messed up but it was more of a … what can you do about it mindset back then."

"This is what I meant when I said everyone except Izuku is a sociopath." Kerori sighed. "Do we all need therapy now?"

"Who knows." Eiko shrugged. "Maybe therapy just doesn't work if everyone's like this." She wasn't wrong.

Orobas waited in line as everyone brought presents one at a time. "Hey, sorry about the whole whining thing, just cause I have problems doesn't mean I should drag you into them." Lied spoke, hanging over a box full of games. "Hopefully this lets you know how much I appreciate you, for the Harvest Festival, for Walter Park, and for being my friend."

"Water under the bridge, Lied. I know I've been more than frustrated over my own girl problems." Izuku smiled. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for being born." Lied completed the ritual and let the next person in line go up.

"So the class little brother gets to sit on the throne once more? Really aiming to be the king, aren't you?" Jazz came up, handing Izuku a sack with a money sign on it. "Thank you for being born."

"... Did you rob a bank?" Izuku asked, slight concern in his voice.

"Not recently, that was just a bag in my closet." The thief shrugged. "I mean, I robbed a gem depository yesterday…"

"Thank you." Izuku moved the thief along and welcomed Asmodeus, with a long box that he was carrying on his side like a sword. "You know you don't have to give me anything, Azz."

"I know, this is just what I want to do." Asmodues unfurled his wings, and bowed to Izuku as he presented his gift. "I thank you for being born into this world, and living among us. I'm truly grateful."

"Azz … thank you." Tears formed as he took the gift. And now … it was his turn. "Orobas?"

"I know I'm not in this class or anything, but it's nice to hang around you. So … I got you this." Orobas handed the boy a notebook. "I've filled it out with Bloodlines of people I know and thoughts about them, I know domination isn't you thing but I couldn't think of anything else to-"

"This is amazing!" The boy shouted with starry eyes. "You do analysis too?" Wait, too?

"Uh, well, yeah. I didn't think my bloodline could do anything more than scare people, so I thought if I could figure out how magic works.."

"..You could find some sort of weakness against people you fight or find a way to apply it to yourself?" The boy finished for him. "This is everything I've done for the past ten years. I..I don't think I could've asked for anything better."

"..We should've hung out at the beginning of the school year." Orobas chuckled. "Being a part of the Calamity Cult's is much better than the cult of numeral whatever they're saying now."

"We can always hang out next year, hopefully." The boy laughed. "Thanks again for this, it means a lot."

"It's no problem, Izuku." Orobas bowed his head. "Thank you for being born." The boy then started crying. "Wait, did I say something wrong or.."

"No, I'm not sad, far from it." The tears were leaking out as his smile became bigger. "I...I never thought people would be happy to say I exist."

"Izuku-kins! Here's your other gift from me!" Clara jumped to the boy's lap and hugged him tightly. "You get all the hugs!"

"Hey, don't spoil him.. Not without me doing it with you!" Eiko joined in.

"I'm hugging him harder than any of you!" Ameri Azazel leapt too, looking the most relaxed and casual he's ever seen from the uptight student council president.

"...So I know most of the rumors are fake but-" Gaako stopped him from finishing.

"Don't talk about it please." Orobas would respect it, and simply walked away.

Sullivan watched his Grandson smile as he brought a massive trolley into the room. The boy paused while turning. "... Grandpa, what did you-"

"Oh, don't worry, I've got your present elsewhere." A little pet puppy from the human world would be adorable. "This is something much better. Behold young Midoriya!" He shouted, throwing off the tarp. "Your Six Hundred and Sixty Six Layer Rites Cake!"

"I'd question the impossibility of that, but I know better than to doubt the insanity." Izuku turned to him, and smiled brightly. "Thank you Grandpa. I..I wouldn't have any of this if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't have had the chance to be happy." Oh that smile and innocent eyes could stop a heart!

"No, this is your day Izuku. Thank you for being what you are, for being my grandson, for being born." Sullivan bowed down.

"Aww, even when he's a terrible grandpa, he's still so loving!" Elizabetta shouted, and he had to ignore the sword that was just pierced through his heart. So this is how Izuku-kun felt about the rumors everyday. Maybe he should look into ending them.

"Such a big cake, even aunt Peach had a hard time making the legendary Six Hundred and Sixty Six layers." Eiko spoke with wide eyes. Yes, it took time, effort, and a shit ton of magical compression.

"I'll put a big candle on it!" Clara shouted, summoning a firework...that was lit.

"VALAC YOU MORON, GET RID OF IT!" Asmodeus yelled at the girl.

"Okay!" She threw the firework into the cake...and it exploded, covering everyone in the delectable desert. Never before has he wanted to actually hurt someone so cute until now.

"Oh, Izuku-kuns party is ruined now! Don't worry about a thing, my darling grandon, I'll get you a new cake, bigger, better and even more amazing because it'll have your face on it!"

"... Are you kidding, this is awesome!" The boy shouted, grabbing a piece that fell onto him, eating it. "I have friends, family, presents, cake, I've never had a party this amazing …" The boy had tears, but they were matched by a smile. "Thank you everyone …"

"Food fight!" Clara shouted, taking her own piece and throwing it at Ameri. "Take that Lady Red Hair! I'm never going to lose to you!"

"Then I'm just going to have to go beyond." Ameri glowed as her hair became paler, along with a pile of cake in her hands. "PLUS ULTRA!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" Everyone armed themselves with cake and began throwing it everywhere. Chaos truly reigned supreme...just how he liked it!