24.07.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with your weekly dose of Evil Within! And now, since there are no comments as per usua- Wait, we have a comment to answer? I was not prepared for that whatsoever! Regardless, let's answer it first!:
SonicMax - Plot twist: the daemon is actually a sand shark and as part-shark can smell blood in the water from several miles away, but as part-sand he uses air instead of water
And now, the chapter!:
Once a doctor came in to examine Izuku and ask him a couple of standard health-related questions, Izuku was then caught up to speed about the events that took place in the few hours that he spent recovering.
First and foremost - he was recovering far longer than he expected. The whole incident began on Wednesday evening and it was currently Friday morning. Yup, Izuku slept through an entire day. He reportedly had some moments of clarity throughout his stay in the hospital, but he couldn't recall any of them. It's not like he was forming cohesive sentences during those moments anyways.
Once Izuku was firmly grounded in reality with that first information, he could focus on everything else that happened after he passed out.
Iida had managed to overcome the Hero Killer's paralyzing ability - either that or the effects went away on their own - and was the one to call for help using Izuku's communicator that somehow survived the encounter. It didn't take long for heroes to flood the scene and rush all four of them to the nearest hospital.
Iida sustained some injuries - none of them life-threatening - before Izuku arrived, but was mostly able to come out of the altercation unscathed in comparison to the others who were much less fortunate. Native, Izuku and Stain shared a couple of common traits - namely the hefty blood loss and a plethora of impossibly smooth cuts that dotted their bodies. The wounds were so clean and precise that it looked almost as if the skin was simply separated on a molecular level. Unfortunately the doctors couldn't look into this further as they had better things to do - like actually saving them.
Stain was the first one to regain consciousness in the hospital and will end up in court as soon as the doctors declare him physically stable enough to survive a trial. Native woke up not long after that, but despite the doctors predicting the possibility of a somewhat quick complete recovery, the pro himself shared doubts about returning to active duty - the encounter inflicting mental scars on top of the physical ones.
Although there was a slight discrepancy in what Native had testified and what actually happened. For example, he was already unconscious by the time Izuku arrived, but he swears that he remembers seeing that happen with his own two eyes. Just like remembers the demons leaving Izuku's body before rushing at him and later running razors across his skin. Disturbing without a doubt, but not beyond the scope of the usual trauma associated with near-death experiences.
Izuku was the last one of the four to come to and the doctors had a couple of questions in regards to that. He was moved to the hospital quite quickly, but while his life was somewhat threatened at one point, he made a very fast recovery. He was supposed to wake up yesterday, perhaps late in the day or early in the evening, yet that did not happen.
His brain was very active - even more so than you'd usually expect in fact - and so a coma was out of the question. Puzzled doctors would label it as a severe quirk overuse coupled with both mental and physical fatigue that shut the body down to rest. Izuku however had a different explanation - a daemon related one.
Now, he didn't remember much - just some snippets and random words spoken in a language that he's never heard - but he was sure that the daemon was to blame for it. It had the tendency to utter sentences that made no sense or mention events that never happened with such vividity that you'd think they were actually true. This was one of those times. And whilst, again, Izuku doesn't remember much of the flashing memories he was able to catch at least a few bits, names and associated with them emotions. Not Izuku's emotions though, the daemon's.
The first one was Sandava with a strange mix of proud triumph and a celebration cut short. There was Gavallan who shared a feeling similar to the one that the real Garran Crowe provoked whenever Izuku brought the man up, though in Gavallan's case the feeling was much more tame. Next up was Otto - this one filled with malice and satisfaction to the very brim, tainted by the sick pleasure of puzzle pieces falling into place of their own volition.
Last but definitely not least was Antwyr, and this one really took Izuku for a ride. He always believed Antwyr to be a place, the origin of the Black Blade of Antwyr. The place probably didn't survive to the modern era and so Izuku didn't suspect anything when his attempts at locating this Antwyr failed. Now though he had a wholly different angle.
Izuku didn't know what either of these names could mean. He knew about Garran thanks to the daemon mentioning the man a fair bit throughout their involuntary mental debates. It was fair to speculate then that this Gavallan was also a person, perhaps someone related to Garran even, due to the similar nature of disdain that the daemon felt towards them.
Sandava was a bit different in that department. With Garran and Gavallan it was all about emotions about them in particular. When it came to Sandava it was mostly about events associated with that name, hence it was logical to count Sandava as a place, one that Izuku would surely have to try and search for, though his search will most likely fail to yield any results as per usual.
Now, with a flimsy pattern in place, it was easy to distinguish places from people. Thus Izuku was able to figure out that Otto was also a person, though his connection to the whole memory eluded Izuku to the very end. Following the pattern it would only make sense for Antwyr to share the same traits as Sandava, and yet that couldn't be further from the truth.
The pride, the nigh royal high regard and sheer arrogance not associated with Antwyr but directly about it led Izuku to realize something - Antwyr was not a place. It was an entity. Not a person. Entity. That's because Antwyr was the name of the daemon trapped within the sword that Izuku swore to guard.
Now, Izuku was fairly certain that he was right about this whole situation regarding Antwyr, but even if that was the case, the daemon itself refused to acknowledge Izuku's suspicions, staying silent for the most part and letting Izuku get on with the day in relative peace.
The first couple of hours were like a blur with doctors and nurses coming and going on a tight schedule, testing him and unhooking from the various apparati that stood beside his bed. The amount of people swarming his room went back down as abruptly as it increased but that was to be expected, they had an entire hospital of people to take care of afterall.
There was an extended period of solitude that ensued shortly after Izuku was left to his own devices. The daemon left to go on a walk around the hospital and Izuku finally had time to check his phone which was kindly left on the nightstand.
As expected he had a lot of catching up to do, unanswered calls and surprising texts. Kirishima and Ashido left a hefty amount of both, asking about his well-being and the overall situation in Hosu. There were texts from both Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami who prayed for his safety in two distinctly different manners and from a few others. The most surprising one, or rather lack thereof, was Shiozaki who had yet to text or call him. It was quite understandable as she was no doubt involved in the whole Hosu Incident as well, so Izuku opted to give her the benefit of doubt.
Izuku would've liked to start responding to the many texts so as to stop everyone from worrying about him any longer than necessary but was promptly interrupted by visitors.
He already expected Monk'ai to burst into the room at some point, nearly blow the door off its hinges and then proceed to hug all the unbroken bones out of Izuku's body with his gorilla-vice-combo-like grip. He didn't expect Monk'ai to do all of the above and come in with a guest. A very peculiar one at that.
"Kiddo!" Monk'ai exclaimed as he bust the door down and rushed his protegee down. "Don't you scare me like that ever again!" He commanded as if it was Izuku's fault for some reason before enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. The force was tremendous, but also a lot less than Izuku expected. Could it be that Monk'ai was… reasonable?!
Izuku didn't spend long on that thought as his second guest made his entry a few moments later, strolling into the room in a rather dapper tuxedo and with an air of authority surrounding them like a veil. Unfortunately all that authority vanished as soon as they opened their mouth.
"Hello, woof. My name is Kenji Tsuragamae, woof." Yeah, the barking kind of broke the immersion, not that Izuku was about to say that out loud. "I'm the Chief of the Hosu Police Force."
"I assume you're here to get my testimony?" Izuku guessed, the purpose of this meeting being quite clear to him right from the start.
"That's the standard procedure, yes, woof." Confirmed the dog-headed man, though Izuku sensed a big 'but' incoming. And he was right. "Since you were unavailable for the past twenty-something hours, we needed to piece together a story from the testimonies of other witnesses, woof. We've already interviewed your mentor - Monk'ai - as well as Edgeshot and a couple of others including Retro from Blackout's Agency and Manual, woof. We've already retraced nearly all of your steps, but if you feel like you've got something you want to add and that might've eluded us you're welcome to offer your input, woof."
Izuku wasn't that surprised by the fact that they'd examined his story so closely. Stain was a professional hero killer and he was defeated by a first-year intern? Sounded fishy at best and so they needed to get to the bottom of this case asap to try and understand what's going on.
"If you already have all the information that you need, then why have you come to see me as soon as I woke up anyways?" Izuku questioned, unable to decipher the chief's motivation.
"Well, I have to admit that I'm guided by personal business more so than by official obligation, woof." Kenji disclosed, taking Izuku by surprise with the sudden reveal. "We've had quite the close relationship with Ingenium and I'm proud to be able to call that man a friend, woof. Losing someone who is so young and yet so dedicated had substantially brought the morale of my officers, woof. Stain in cuffs and on his merry way to Tartarus is sure to at least start mending that wound, woof." This was quite the heartwarming story. Izuku read a couple of posts about Ingenium and had the feeling that the man was a genuinely good person, honest, smart and hard-working. It's good that there were people who recognized him for these traits despite his lack of flair and general disregard for fame.
"I wasn't really planning to do that though. Honestly, if it wasn't for my friend going out of his way to try and get himself killed I might've never encountered the Hero Killer in the first place." Izuku said, his lips moving before his mind could really process the sentence.
"Ah, right, woof. Your friend, woof." And there it was again, yet another abrupt shift in the tone of the conversation. Kenji straightened his back a bit, giving a visible indication that he was now in a more professional mode and so Izuku would treat him as such. "Whilst retracing your steps we've also retraced steps of one Tenya Iida, woof." It was really hard to treat his barking seriously, but Izuku did the best he could.
"All of them?" Izuku asked, though he already knew the answer by reading the atmosphere in the room.
"All of them, woof. Your stories are quite similar, but they have one very important difference that sets the two of you apart, woof." Kenji stated, slowly building tension before the grand reveal.
"You had my permission to act in the best interest of the public and your fellow heroes!" Monk'ai exclaimed, ruining the moment with his overzealous attitude.
"That's right, woof. Monk'ai was quick to assure us that you had his permission to act independently and make whatever choices you saw fit, woof. The guys from Blackout's Agency confirmed that you seemed to be very level-headed and responsible, hence your decisions were deemed as lawful and in-line with the regulations even though you're merely an intern, woof. Your friend on the other hand didn't receive such a permit from anyone, woof." It was subtle but Izuku sensed anger in the man's voice.
"As long as you're interning with a pro, they are responsible for you and could be held accountable for their intern's choices." Monk'ai chimed in with a quick explanation.
"Correct, woof." Kenji confirmed before continuing. "Manual had testified that he and his intern split up by accident amongst the ensuing chaos, woof. Iida however told the truth and revealed that he intended to go after the Hero Killer right from the get go, woof."
"He's in trouble, isn't he?" Izuku hazarded a guess, believing wholeheartedly that some punishment was in order, but still feeling bad for his classmate.
"Whilst that'd normally be the case, we had a different idea and offered a solution that could benefit all the people involved, woof." Tsuragamae revealed, once again surprising Izuku. "We have yet to release an official statement about certain details of the Hosu Incident, the capture of the Hero Killer being one of the main topics that journalists hound as for, woof."
"We couldn't really disclose that an intern went after Stain due to personal reasons, so we came up with a story, one that doesn't involve anyone receiving official punishments." Monk'ai said, eager to get into the thick of it.
"That's true, woof." Kenji nodded in confirmation before explaining the story. "The course of events that we want to publish involve you stumbling upon Native fighting the Hero Killer and joining the battle in which both of you are gravely wounded but manage to subdue the villain, woof."
"And how does Iida play into that scenario? You can't possibly hope to erase his involvement in the events, right?" Omitting Iida as a whole would've been the easy way, but it could come back to bite everyone in the ass if the truth was to be leaked to the public.
"We're going to say that Iida was the one who found you after the fight and called for backup whilst searching for the hero that he was interning under after they got separated amidst the chaos, woof. That way we have all the major events tied back into truth without actually telling the whole truth, woof." Kenji finished his explanation.
"Since you're one of the main characters in this play, however, we need your consent to reveal your name and the role you've played. We could probably try and make up another story that does not affect you in any way shape or form if you'd prefer that, so don't feel pressured into agreeing or anything." Monk'ai was quick to point out the minute.
"You'd probably become quite famous really quick and I've been told that you seem rather unmoved by the prospect of fame, woof. I owe you for saving my men and bringing in the Hero Killer, so I'll respect your decision, woof." Tsuragamae said with a polite bow.
"I'd hate to give you even more to worry about since you must have your hands full as it is." Izuku responded after a few moments. "I'm not against the story you've presented, as long as everyone else agrees I'm all for it."
"Thank you, woof." Kenji said with one more bow of gratitude. "I'll never forget what you've done for Hosu, woof." With that said the man straightened himself back out before relaxing. "That's all I wanted to talk about, so if you'd excuse me I'll return to my duties, woof."
They exchanged a quick set of 'goodbyes' and the chief left the room, leaving the mentor/student duo alone.
"He was surprisingly calm about this thing." Monk'ai said out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" Izuku inquired curiously.
"Oh, you should've seen him yesterday when we talked to that friend of yours. He was furious! Absolutely livid!" The white-haired man stated with a grin. "He was huffing and puffing, barking like every other word. For a moment I thought that he'd personally make sure that Iida receives severe punishment for his misconduct."
"I'm not that surprised to be honest. I'm pretty upset with Iida myself." Izuku stated with a frown on his face.
"Oy, enough with that sour look!" Monk'ai was quick to chastise his intern. "You should be jumping up and down and be freaking out and stuff! You basically apprehended the no.1 most wanted man in Japan. Or at least like Top 10!"
Izuku couldn't argue with that, he'd certainly achieved something, alright. The victory however was quite bittersweet on his tongue. Putting the Hero Killer behind bars would stop his campaign of terror for good and ensure that no more good heroes end up in the dirt. This did come at a cost however. And this wasn't just about Izuku having to team up with the daemon and breaking his oath once again. Innocent civilians were caught in the middle of a district-wide calamity and many lives were lost, no doubt about that. Even more lives were affected by this incident. Families lost their homes, employees lost their jobs and businessmen lost their shops. The financial aid extended to them from the government would no doubt help, but money can't solve all the problems in the world.
Those darker thoughts clouded Izuku's mind like a storm about to hit, but he was pulled out of that hurricane by a painful physical stimuli.
"What was that for?" Izuku asked with a frown as he rubbed his shoulder where Monk'ai had just delivered quite the forceful punch with Izuku's name on it.
"I saw that look on your face." Monk'ai commented sternly, a very serious look on his face. "Believe it or not, I once had the exact same expression on my face and my mentor did the same for me." He revealed, effectively catching Izuku's attention. "You can't save everyone, kid. I'm sorry that's just how things are, the sooner you acknowledge this the better."
Monk'ai was spitting straight truth right now and even though Izuku knew that, it was still a bit hard of a pill to swallow. The man once again proved to possess an innate mind reading ability as he offered some more words of wisdom and encouragement.
"Don't let that drag you down though." Monk'ai warned his student. "Use that frustration to strive for improvement and try to save everyone. You'll fail at times, no doubt about that, but instead of focusing on the ones that died, remember those that could go home to their families thanks to you."
"Thanks." Izuku responded with a smile after he retrieved his jaw from the floor.
Monk'ai was a very outgoing and positive person, often goofy in his mannerism, but a caring and understanding man deep inside. If Izuku wasn't his fan already, this exchange alone could've changed that no doubt.
Monk'ai stayed for a while after that motivational speech and continued rattling off all the different adventures that he embarked on in the time that Izuku was out of action. He basically recalled what he was doing for the last thirty or so hours. A bit of goofiness after all the seriousness worked wonders to lift Izuku's spirit.
Once Monk'ai left to take care of some more paperwork related to the Incident, Izuku finally got a chance to respond to all those texts and missed calls.
Kirishima and Ashido took priority as expected, Izuku calling them after confirming that they were free at the moment and telling them most of what's happened whilst omitting all the Iida and daemon-related stuff. He did say that Iida was alright, but the daemon-related stuff was something that he'd rather explore on his own first before sharing it with others.
Next up were Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami, his other close friends that were quickly gaining on Kirishima and Ashido and would surely reach that level of familiarity in no time at all. After that it was time to respond to all the generic texts from his other classmates. Not everyone sent him a text, which was understandable as they had their internships to worry about already.
What puzzled Izuku the most was the lack of interest from Shiozaki. If anything, he expected her to be the most worried one out of the bunch, but he still received no texts or calls from her. He considered her to be his closest friend, but could it be that she didn't feel the same way about him?
His worries were blown away when Shiozaki rushed into his room in the early evening, still in her hero suit. Izuku had little time to admire the simplistic design though as one moment he saw her approaching rapidly and was already being tightly hugged in the next. The gesture caught him off guard and so it took him a few moments to process this feeling and return the hug.
They stayed like that for a few moments before Shiozaki suddenly detached herself from him with a blush on her face and a tear in her eye.
"I'm sorry about this." She apologized right away. "It's just that I was so worried, but I couldn't see you since you didn't wake up yet and Kamui Woods insisted that I should do something to distract myself and I tried, but I kept thinking about you and-" Shiozaki kept rambling on and on until Izuku reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently to help her calm down.
"It sounds like you had quite the tough day." Izuku said with a gentle smile as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "I'm sorry for making you worry then."
"Putting our lives on the line is kind of mandatory in our line of work, but I guess hearing about you fighting the Hero Killer made me overreact a bit." Shiozaki admitted sheepishly, wiping the tear from her eye before smiling up at Izuku.
"A bit." He joked and they shared a short laugh at that. Soon the atmosphere got really heavy however and Izuku had a vague idea about the reason behind it. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, his grip on her hand hardening in a show of support.
Shiozaki actively participated in the events of the Hosu Incident. This was not only her debut in the world of heroics and first batch of real field experience, but also the first encounter with the Nomu monsters. It was easy to assume that she'd seen some stuff and was still shaken from that whole fiasco.
Izuku's gentle demeanor, trustworthy persona and his position as Shiozaki's close friend helped her open up about the pain that she got to witness with her own two eyes, taking comfort in Izuku's soft encouragements and the warmth of his hands holding hers firmly and not letting go for even a moment.
As Shiozaki continued baring her soul before Izuku, venting all the burdens from her heart with her words, neither of them noticed the space between them vanishing bit by bit, their bodies pulling them closer together in search of mutual comfort.
Father figure Monk'ai! And our main ship finally getting some action! I'm not sure about that premarital handholding though. Isn't that like three to five mandatory or something like that?
I got no memes to share, so have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!