Chapter 11: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
AN: I have a lot to say about this chapter. First, this is the final chapter of what I'm now calling, The Big Four Origin Arc. I figured that I should come up with arc names for my original content. Second, I started adding chapter titles. Third, I want to dedicate this chapter to a man that was like a grandfather to me. He was a man that lived life to the fullest. RIP Bernie!
Thank you for your continued support! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Flashback
This was a rare Friday night for the Midoriya's. Inko and Izuku were dressed in formal clothes at the dinner table. Inko was wearing a dark green dress and Izuku was wearing a nice white dress shirt with a red tie and black dress pants. Inko had been so thrilled about tonight's plans that she insisted that they wear them. She actually went out shopping with Izuku for these outfits. Izuku had outgrown his and…Let's just say Inko was not the same size she was when her husband left. Or when Izuku found out what his quirk was. That wasn't important now though. What's important was that they were having dinner with their neighbors, the Kendo's!
The mother, Alicia Kendo had knocked on their door a few days ago and insisted that they have Inko and Izuku over for dinner to say sorry again for the busted door. Inko had been so flustered by the offer that she insisted that she make dinner instead and have them come to their apartment. It had been a long time since Inko had gotten that kind of invitation from a neighbor. She really was like her son. Not accepting kindness and offering it instead. The two moms eventually came to a compromise and decided to have dinner at the Midoriya's apartment, but both moms would prepare the food.
The food had turned out perfectly. Though, both Inko and Izuku still felt nervous. They had apparently out-dressed their guests. The Kendo family had come over wearing comfortable clothing such as jeans and t-shirts. Meanwhile, the mother and son looked like they were attending a wedding. This is why you should always discuss the dress code for events. Alicia apologized for not preparing enough and offered to have her family change their clothes since they were just downstairs. However, Inko insisted that they were fine and that she and Izuku had over-prepared. Things were still awkward at the dinner table though. That was more due to both Inko and Izuku being rusty on their communication skills.
Izuku had gotten much better after making friends at school, but he had relapsed back into his old habits. That incident on Monday sent him back down into his dark, self-loathing abyss. During lunch, He would still respond to his friends, but only short answers. Mirio kept trying to cheer him up, but he eventually realized that pestering him wouldn't help. That was how he had been handling Amajiki. Surprisingly, Nejire was able to read the room and wasn't pestering Izuku with her questions. She didn't even try to talk his ear off when he came back from the nurse. Of course, Amajiki was his usual quiet self. He sent concerned glances towards Izuku though. The depressed boy felt bad for acting this way, but it hurt too much. He kept thinking back to all the times the kids at his old school laughed at his nude state. His therapist had told him that it would take a long time to fully get over that trauma.
In Inko's case, she did have a few friends she kept in touch with. Now that they moved though, she wasn't able to meet with them in person. She honestly didn't feel like socializing much anyway after finding out that her son had been bullied for 4 years. She did have a part-time job as a secretary to make some extra money along with what Hisashi sent her. Aside from that, she enjoyed reading, streaming shows, writing, and spending time with her son. She was happy doing all of that, but she now realized how out of touch she was with conversation. Even with the friends she did have, she was often awkward with her sentences. Her son seemed to inherit that from her.
"Sooo. Was it hard to find the place?" Inko said to break the silence and immediately wanted to die.
Alicia giggled slightly. "It actually was. We got lost on our way up the stairs." Her husband, Hige laughed as well as their daughter, Itsuka.
Inko and Izuku joined in the laughter albeit awkwardly.
Alicia smiled reassuringly. "I'm sorry Inko. I swear I'm not making fun of you. Cracking jokes is just my way of easing the tension. We're all having a great time."
That helped a little, but Inko started rambling. "Are you sure? I feel awful for dressing up too much for this. I really didn't mean to make a big deal of this. Not that you guys aren't important to us! I mean we just met like a week ago, but I already feel like we're great friends. I mean! Our only interaction was with your daughter nearly breaking down our door, but that's just fine! We don't need doors! Doors are walls that divide us from lovely neighbors like you-"
Alicia put her hand in a stop gesture. "Slow down there before your imagination goes any further. It's really fine, Inko. Save some talking for the rest of us."
"You're right. Sorry!" Inko's throat was dry from all that talking anyway. She drank some water to steady her nerves.
Alicia thought of a way to break the ice some more. "There's actually a reason why we dressed so casually. I was actually born and raised in America. Back there, we often didn't treat events like this too formally."
Inko didn't seem so surprised by that revelation. Alicia and Itsuka's orange hair was out of the norm for Japanese people. She was intrigued to hear more though.
"Really? What brought you all the way to Japan?" Thank goodness Inko didn't ramble again.
"I'm glad you asked." Alicia continued. "I was doing a study abroad program in Japan back when I was in college. One day I met my now husband, Hige at a restaurant. He went to the university where I was doing my program and noticed that I was struggling while I was trying to order in Japanese. He offered to help and ended up tutoring me. We eventually started dating. I finished my study abroad program, but we kept in touch overseas. I decided to move to Japan after college to be with him." Alicia grinned nervously. "I can't tell you how hard it was to convince my parents to let me move there."
Inko let out a giggle at that. "Oh, I can imagine. I don't know what it's like in America, but my parents forbade me from moving in with my fiancé until we were officially married.
"You're kidding!" Alicia went slack-jawed. "Now that I think about it, the hardest part about my study abroad program was adjusting to Japanese culture. As you can probably already tell, I'm quite informal. You should have seen me when I was 25. I was way more brash and had a tendency to use profanity. I also didn't bother to study Japanese customs so I ended up making a fool of myself and insulting a lot of people. That first week was rough." She gestured to her husband. "If it wasn't for this guy teaching me, I never would have lasted in that program. I can't believe how foolish I was. I really just signed up as an excuse to travel and maybe see a samurai fight."
Inko let out a louder laugh. "Oh? Were you surprised that Japan was not exactly how anime and movies portrayed it? I bet you also were confused about the lack of subtitles appearing in front of us."
Both women were laughing boisterously now. Hige laughed, but not as loud. The kids found that amusing as well. They normally didn't understand the jokes that adults made, but that one was relatable.
Izuku took this moment to look at the girl his age. Seeing her joyous laughing face was quite a contrast from the snarling beast she sounded like last time. Granted he didn't see her face as she was pounding away at his door, but her voice left quite the impression.
Itsuka noticed him staring, which caused Izuku to go red. She didn't look upset; she just simply smiled at him and went back to eating.
It was weird. Izuku thought she would be more upset about having to attend something like this. Her parents pretty much had to force her to apologize about the door. That was barely a week ago. Maybe her beef was more with Mirio. As far as he knew though, Mirio had been confronted by the girl at school.
Izuku started sweating. Oh right. She went to the same school as them.
Why did Izuku have a feeling he would end up in this situation? He was currently alone with Kendo in his bedroom. Dinner was over and the kids were allowed to be dismissed to go play. Izuku had proposed playing video games in the living room, but Itsuka had insisted that she wanted to see his room.
The door was open, but the parents paid no mind as they chit-chatted and cleaned up dinner. Inko seemed to be doing much better now. If only Izuku felt the same. He felt a little queasy having a girl in his room plus something else he had been pondering
Right now, the orange-haired girl was simply taking in his bedroom. "I like all the pro-hero stuff you have. I figured it would be just All Might, but it's nice that you have some other heroes as well." Besides the Number One hero, there were posters of Aquapulse, Edgeshot, and Gemflash. Aquapulse was his second favorite hero.
Izuku fought back the queasiness as responded. "0h-h. Y-yeah. I do love A-All Might, but I want to s-show my appreciation for the other h-heroes as well." He thought that he had finally gotten over his stutter. He was sad to see that he was doing it again.
Itsuka picked up on his stutter and looked at him. "You know I'm not going to bite you, right?"
Izuku went rigid. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He didn't really know how to respond to that.
Itsuka rolled her eyes and crossed her arms "Look. I know I wasn't nice the last time you saw me, but I'm hardly ever like that."
The green-haired boy eased up a little. "O-oh. Of course, you're not. T-that wasn't your fault. Togata did startle you a-after all." His still-shaking voice didn't offer much reassurance.
Itsuka glared at Izuku while remembering the naked boy falling from her ceiling. "That's putting it mildly." She lost her glare when she saw tears well up in Izuku's eyes. She quickly started flailing her arms in front of her. "Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Please, don't cry. I swear I'm not upset anymore." She said quickly while trying her best not to shout and alert the parents. She really didn't want them to see this.
Itsuka's concerned face seemed to calm Izuku. Some tears still escaped from his eyes. Now, that he's started crying he couldn't help it. His lips were quivering and he looked down so Itsuka couldn't see his sniveling face.
What was wrong with him?! He was finally starting to gain some confidence and get better with this quirk, and he's back to being a sniveling crybaby! Why was he like this? Was he just meant to be pathetic for the rest of his life? Was he kidding himself by thinking he could have friends and become a hero?
Izuku jolted when he felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder. He opened his blurry, teary eyes and saw Itsuka's feet on the ground in front of him. He slowly lifted his head dreading to see her reaction to his puffy, wet, red face.
She smiled and quickly embraced him. That knocked the wind out of his lungs. She didn't squeeze him too hard. He had just never been hugged by a girl his own age. He's never been hugged by anyone his own age, The last person to hug him besides his own mother was his therapist. This felt similar, except the hugger's body was proportionate to his own. Itsuka's arms fit perfectly around his body and the knees of her legs touched his knees.
"It's ok. You can cry. I'm sorry I told you not to." He heard Itsuka whisper a little behind his right ear. He didn't know what to make of this scene, but he did as she told him. It felt better not to force his tears back anyway. He didn't say anything as he did. She remained silent as she maintained the hug and started rubbing his back soothingly. They remained like this until Itsuka no longer heard Izuku sobbing.
She released him and looked back at his face. His face still looked puffy and red, but it wasn't scrunched up anymore. His eyes were completely open.
"See? I can be nice." She said while smiling at him again.
Izuku was still confused, but he smiled a little back at her. Itsuka seemed to pick up on this. She supposed that she ought to explain herself already.
"I actually asked my parents if we could have dinner with you and your mom… I heard about what happened to you during quirk demonstrations the other day."
"Oh. That." Izuku had realized at dinner that word may have gotten around to her class. The confusing part was her hugging him. Also, the fact that she was the one who insisted the two families have dinner. He decided to let her continue before he jumped to any conclusions.
Itsuka played with her hands as she continued. "The last time I saw you was my first-time meeting Togata as well. I had heard about him from my class though. How his quirk always made him naked." Itsuka looked irritated again. She didn't mean to get so angry at Togata but the suddenness of his bare appearance didn't give her time to process the situation. She didn't want to get back into that again though. She went from irritated to melancholic. "Some of my classmates would make jokes about him. And not in a nice way."
Izuku appeared to understand where she was going with this.
"I heard that he never seemed to let him bother him. I never bothered to wonder how he felt on the inside though. Anyways the mean jokes eventually died down." Itsuka looked at Izuku more intensely. "Then, that incident with you happened and I caught a glimpse of you in the hallway."
Izuku stiffened, but he maintained his composure. He looked at Itsuka with a neutral expression.
"You looked sad. I wanted to find out if you were ok. I don't know if it's because I never asked Togata if he was okay back then, how I reacted to him flashing me, or just the fact that you're my neighbor. Maybe a little of each. As mushy as it sounds, I want you to know that you can talk to me."
Izuku let out a breath. He started smiling. She didn't come to make fun of him. She barely knew him, but she's here right now telling him this. She took herself out of her comfort zone and was personal with him. He couldn't lie to her.
"I am sad." The boy said with clarity. He felt Itsuka initiate contact with him again by clasping his hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze. He looked at her face and saw her smile and nod to show she was listening.
Izuku didn't want to hold back anymore. No one at his school knew about his past. He had been planning on telling Miro eventually when he was ready. Izuku thought that his closest friend should hear it first. This situation was making him think differently though. He was alone with a girl in his room who wanted to help him. She was holding his hand and waiting patiently with a smile. Perhaps he had been wanting to do this for a long time.
Izuku looked behind Itsuka at his open bedroom door. The girl seemed to take the hint and walked back to shut it.
Itsuka's fists were clenched in her lap as she sat on Izuku's bed with the boy next to her. Her face was now wet with tears as well. When she came over to ask Izuku if he was okay, she didn't think she could get an answer this…appalling.
Izuku tried not to give away details that would connect him to the news story. It may not be hard to connect the dots with him recently moving there. Then again, keeping their names out of the news was more for Bakugo's sake. He still didn't want the invasive attention though. Hopefully, she wasn't interested in the news.
Still, he told her how he had been bullied into using his quirk and exposing himself to his class every day. How everybody laughed at his expense and didn't try to help. How he was threatened not to say anything.
Izuku was startled when the girl quickly stood up and faced him. He was startled again at the sight of her fists enlarging and looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Just give me some names and I'll handle the rest." She growled lowly. Izuku swore her teeth had sharpened.
Izuku raised up his hands. "Nononono. Please don't bother with them. I moved and they're out of my life."
"It doesn't change what they did to you." Itsuka was trying really hard not to shout. "It's clear that you're still hurt by it. Also, those teachers. They deserve even worse!" Her voice went louder on that last part. Good thing they had shut the door.
Izuku sighed. "Part of me agrees with you, but I don't want to keep thinking about them. Just understand that the bullies and teachers were punished."
Itsuka deactivated her quirk and made her hands small again. She took a bunch of deep breaths in and out until she was steady again. She sat back down next to Izuku on his bed. Normally Izuku would have been embarrassed by that action, but right now it didn't seem to bother him. "Sorry, I flew off the handle there. I can't stand bullies." Itsuka paused and raised her right hand up to her face. She stared at her palm. "I've been bullied too."
Izuku's jaw dropped. "Really? But you seem so cool and strong. Why would you be bullied?"
Itsuka smiled at his compliment. Another thing Izuku normally wouldn't do to a girl. "It wasn't as bad as what you described, but it still hurt. Even someone that seems cool like me can be picked on." She enlarged her right fist. "I never officially told you, but my quirk is called Big Fist. There's nothing else to really explain right?"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I get it."
"Yeah. Anyways kids used to pick on me for my large hands. Mostly, the girls. They called me names like Man Hands or Gorilla Girl. You know. It just seems like an un-girly quirk."
Izuku looked appalled. "That's so stupid! I don't think there's anything to make fun of about quirk. It makes you really strong. I can tell by how you nearly took my door down."
Itsuka was relieved to see that he thought lightly of the incident now. She actually blushed a little from his kind words. "I appreciate that. It's not just my quirk though. I can be a bit of a tom-boy. I love doing karate, playing baseball, and reading about motorcycles. That doesn't mean I don't like wearing pretty dresses and painting my nails though. I'm still a girl."
Izuku looked at her fondly. He enjoyed learning more about her. He also agreed with her on not adhering to gender stereotypes so closely. He wanted to prove that she was not alone. "I'm a boy, but I love The Wild, Wild Pussycats."
To his relief, she didn't laugh, but she did smirk a little. "It's the cat ears, isn't it?"
"What, no!" Izuku quickly fired back. Then, he started fidgeting with his hands. "I mean….That's not the main reason."
Itsuka lightly punched his arm. "Relax, dude. I'm just messing with you. It's perfectly fine that you like them. They are a cool and cute hero team."
Izuku rubbed his arm and smiled. He actually didn't mind Itsuka's reaction. He was learning more about what was common between close friends. They tease each other and sometimes laugh at their expense. There have been moments like that with him and Mirio already. Of course, not in the last few days.
Izuku frowned. "I've been really down since that whole naked thing. Because of that, I haven't been talking to Mirio and the others as much. I feel bad for doing that to them. I should apologize."
Itsuka smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it. I'm sure they're not mad at you. As long as you go back to hanging out like you did before, they should be fine."
Izuku turned his body to face her properly. He looked her straight in the eye with a friendly and determined look on his face. He was so in the moment that he didn't realize that he had put one of his hands over hers. "Thanks so much for being kind to me. Also, for sharing your own experiences with bullying. Most importantly, for reminding me to lean on people when I need to."
This situation felt different for Itsuka. She honestly has never felt this way with any of her friends. She wasn't sure what to exactly call it. All she knew was that her arms were wrapping around Izuku and bringing him in to lean against her shoulder.
"Of course….Izuku." She whispered into his ear.
Creaking sounds came from the old knobs as Inko stopped the water from flowing into the steamy hot bath. A few drops escaped from the faucet after the supply was cut off. They plopped noisily against the surface of the bath in the quiet bathroom. Inko was sitting on the edge of the tub and tested the water with her hand. Satisfied with the temperature, she took her hand out and turned her body back to face her naked son.
"Are you sure you want to do this, sweetie?" Inko stopped bathing Izuku herself a year ago. She needed to be here tonight though. She was a little nervous about what her son had proposed. She understood why he needed this though.
Izuku stared at the bath with a little steam wafting off the surface. He trembled a little and not because he was unclothed in the open air. This was something he had never tried before. It was necessary though if he really wanted to get better with his quirk. "I'm sure, Mom."
He approached the bath and slowly lowered himself in. The soothing warm water helped to calm his nerves. He was sitting cross-legged with the water stopping below his chest. He gripped the sides of the bath as a way to ground himself. His mom placed a hand over his. He blushed a little remembering how he had done that to Itsuka earlier. He looked up at his mom to see her smiling reassuringly.
"I'll stay right here watching you. Nothing bad will happen." Inko looked like she was going to tear up. "I'm so proud of you."
The boy nodded at his mother. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he released his solid form. Instead of falling onto solid ground, he sunk into a pool of water. It was a strange feeling. It was like falling onto a cushion sort of. Now that his own body was entirely water, he became engulfed in his surroundings.
It was also disorienting. For the first time, he was now one with his environment. It was a simple concept really. Water combines with other water when it comes into contact with it. So in theory, he should be able to do the same thing.
Izuku no longer saw darkness as there was no way to shut his eyes anymore. At first, all he saw was bubbles as he splashed into the bath like when usually jumped underwater. Then, the whole world seemed to be spinning. Without his head, he wasn't able to control his vision properly. Before he went into panic mode, he focused on steadying himself. He thought back to his idea earlier. He needed to think of the water as his own body. He was able to move during the quirk demonstration. Mirio confirmed for Izuku that his body took on an orb shape when he moved towards them. He hadn't even thought about shaping the water. It just happened. This was different though. It was like being in free fall. He had to focus more on his movements.
He didn't think of his fleshy body. He thought of the bathtub. The water in the bathtub. He imagined the water becoming still. He imagined himself bonding with every drop of water in that tub. He was that water.
His vision stopped spinning. He looked around and saw the walls and floor of the white porcelain tub as clear as day. His vision wasn't blurry at all. Like he was wearing goggles. He looked up and saw the surface of the water. He could also see his mother without her appearing blurry. Another difference was that he wasn't pulled towards the surface like his solid body would. It felt like he was floating, but not floating at the same time. He felt…bigger. He was bigger! He really was connected to the rest of the water in the tub.
He quickly looked down towards the drain. As he was focusing on it his "eyes" actually moved towards it. He noticed that movement as he examined the drain closely. The metal plug was still firmly in place.
'Thank goodness.' Izuku thought. The reason he had never tried using his quirk in the bath was that he had been scared about going down the drain. A reasonable fear indeed. Unlike other children with the same fear, it was a feasible possibility for him. That was one of the few pieces of advice his quirk counselor gave him. Be wary of drains and sewer grates. His mother was worried too which is why she was here to make sure the drain stayed in place. It was unlikely that it would come loose, but she needed to be sure. She didn't want to have to end up frantically calling local wastewater treatment facilities.
Going back to the zooming-in thing, it seemed like his vision could move freely with the body of water. Obviously, he still had no eyes or a head to move them. If he thought about where he wanted to go, his vision moved there. Like he had moved toward Mirio and Tamaki in the quirk demonstration. Except at that time, his body of water moved entirely since he wasn't confined to the tub like now. Since he wasn't restricted to a physical set of eyes, maybe he could be able to see all around him
at once. That could grant him 360 degrees of vision. He had to remember to write that down!
Iuzku was elated to learn more things about his quirk. He really could bond with other water around him. He thought about trying to move the water in the tub, but he figured that he should check on his mom. He looked back up to see her looking down at the water with a concerned face. She was in the dark about what was happening down here. He figured it would be best to update her.
Reforming his body while underwater was an interesting feeling. He thought of his physical form again and he rocketed up out of the water. He inspected himself to see if there were any abnormalities. He just realized that if he could combine with water, what if he took all of that water with him and made himself larger when he went back to his solid state. But no, he was still regular size. That could have been cool though.
"Oh my God, Izuku are you ok!" Inko grabbed her baby boy and pulled him in for a hug despite getting her sweater wet. Even though the drain plug held strong, she didn't like not knowing what was going on. She had just been staring at a still tub of water for the past 5 minutes.
Izuku embraced her back. "I'm okay, Mom! More than okay!" He said gleefully.
Izuku hummed to himself as he finished putting on his pajamas. After his mother had calmed down, she insisted on still bathing him herself. It felt good for her to touch his body again as she scrubbed him with the loofah and washed his hair. Part of her was a little scared that he wouldn't come out from that water again.
Izuku couldn't believe how much had changed in the matter of five hours. He was still all depressed and nervous when the Kendo's had arrived for dinner. Now, he was feeling better than ever. He was determined to get stronger with his quirk again. He wasn't going back to the weak, pathetic boy he was at his old school. He had friends now. With the addition of Itsuka. Also, there were possibilities with Ashido and Haya he remembered. He still felt like he should call Mirio to apologize for how he was acting. Maybe they could hang out tomorrow since it was Saturday. He looked over at the clock next to his bed to see that it was already 10 p.m. Normally, he wouldn't be up this late, but it had been an eventful evening with the Kendo's. He figured that he could call Mirio tomorrow. He walked back to his door to go tell his Mom goodnight.
He was startled when he heard someone knocking before he could reach it.
"Izuku? Are you still awake, sweetie? There's a phone call for you. I think it's another one of your friends." His mother spoke from the other side.
'Hm? That's funny. I was just thinking about calling Mirio. It's someone else though? Who else has Mom's number that I know of? It couldn't be Itsuka, right?'
"I'm awake, Mom. You can come in." Inko promptly opened the door and handed him her cell phone.
"Keep it short, honey. It's past your bedtime." Inko left his room and shut the door again to give him some privacy. She giggled a little before the door completely shut.
Izuku raised an eyebrow. 'What was that about?'
He raised the phone up to his ear. "Hello? This is Izuku."
"Hi Izuku! I'm so glad you answered!"
Izuku winced from the volume of the recognizable voice. "Nejire? Is that you?"
"No. It's Mirio. I just sound like Nejire right now."
Izuku knew Miro was known for jokes, but this didn't seem his style. "Yeah, it's you, Nejire."
"Ok. You got me! Sorry about that. I figured it would help lighten the mood." She wasn't wrong. A less distracted Izuku would be way more nervous about talking to a girl on the phone.
"That's ok. What did you want to talk about?" Izuku asked politely. He became less annoyed when remembered how he wanted to make it up to his friends.
"I need to be quick because I have to get to bed. There's something I really want to say, but couldn't say it in front of Mirio and Amajiki.
'Wow. So, she can be self-conscious?' Izuku thought. That was a shock coming from the girl with a million questions and a compulsive need to touch people.
"I know that you embarrassed yourself to help Amajiki and I thought was so cool! You were so heroic in how you immediately ran into action while turning into water. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that moment….You running I mean. Not you being naked."
Izuku was surprised by the girl's praise. This was certainly an eventful day. He now had two girls show concern for him today. Also, he had been so caught up in his embarrassment he had forgotten about how he didn't even hesitate to help Amajiki. It was like an instinct.
"You really think so, Nejire?" Izuku really needed to be sure he heard her right.
"Izuku, you need to understand. I went to a bunch of different private schools with kids with pro-heroes for parents. They are supposed to be the kids that will grow up to be the next big heroes. I spent enough time with them to know that not one of them would have done what you did. You are more worthy of being a hero than any of them." She spoke with conviction. There wasn't a hint of any humor in her voice right now.
Izuku felt his knees buckle and moved to sit down on his bed. He couldn't believe…No! He did believe her! To do otherwise would be an insult to her. His quirk was simply turning into water, but right now he felt so powerful. Like he had felt when he was in the bathtub. He felt big. He felt strong. He stood back up.
"I can't thank you enough for your praise, Nejire! You're the best!" He hoped his mom didn't mind the shouting.
"Of course, Izuku. I really mean it. I'm happy to hear you sound like yourself again. I can't wait to see you at school on Monday."
Izuku's lips wobbled, but he maintained his composure. "I can't wait to see you either."
"Good. Sorry, but I have to go now. Good night, Izuku." Nejire said sweetly.
"Good night, Nejire." Izuku hung up and looked at the phone longingly. He really was lucky to have such amazing friends. He would never go back to his old self-deprecating habits again.
Nejire smiled at the phone after she hung up.
"You did good, kiddo."
Nejire whipped her head to the doorway to see a woman with chin-length blond hair smirking at her. She had a fringe that covered her right eye. She wore a comfy red hoodie, black sweatpants, and grey slippers.
Nejire puffed her cheeks out at her. "You promised you wouldn't listen, Ryukyu."
She had gotten used to referring to the woman by her hero name.
The dragon-quirked hero narrowed her slit eyes. "I only promised that I would leave the room. I'm sorry, but I have to listen to your phone calls to make sure you don't screw up again. You already told that boy and the other two that you have a pro-hero parent in the Top 10. Need I remind you that you didn't even last one day without saying anything?"
Nejire got down to her knees and bowed. "Please don't tell mom!" She did this every time the young adult brought up her blabbermouth tendency.
The reptilian hero sighed. "I won't tell her. You're lucky that I happened to be one of the sidekicks keeping tabs on you that day. Also, that I managed to convince the others not to say anything." She bent down and gently lifted Nejire's head up. "You need to understand that this is all for your safety. Your parents and I both care about you. No one there can know who your mom is."
Nejire nodded.
Ryukyu was glad she was being more compliant. Allowing her to call that Midoriya boy probably helped. That reminded her.
"Come on now, Missy. It's time for bed."
Nejire stood back up and frowned. "Ok."
Ryukyu hated seeing her like this. She really didn't want to end the night like this. "Do you want to a story?" The woman asked cheerfully.
Nejire looked up and grinned widely. "Yes please!" The little girl giggled as the dragon lady bent down and picked her up.
"Off we go then, my mistress!"
Nejire giggled even more at her caretaker's antics. Ryukyu could be hard on the girl, but she was good at cheering her up.
Nejire was laying snugly in her large bed under the covers. Her long blue hair was splayed around her body like a blanket as well. A lamp on her nightstand was the only source of light as Ryukyu read from a book in the armchair beside the bed.
"The brave prince pointed his sword at the menacing dragon" Ryukyu narrated while subtly turning her eyes towards Nejire…"But the dragon was unfazed and attacked!" She dropped the book and lunged at Nejire with her arms outstretched and pointing her fingers like claws. Nejire laughed up a storm as the woman pretended to bite her all over her body. "The dragon gobbled up the prince… Until only his sword remained…. The princess praised the dragon for eating the mean prince…. And they lived happily ever after!" Ryukyu said in between bites.
"That's not… How the…Story goes!" The girl shouted between cries of laughter. Even though Ryukyu has done this many times before.
The dragon lady ceased her nibbling on the small girl. "It is when I tell it." She smiled smugly with her sharp fangs exposed.
Nejire took a minute to catch her breath. She let out a long yawn afterward. Her eyelids started to close.
'Works every time.' Ryukyu thought. She wrapped her arms around the little girl for a good night hug. The sleepy child squeezed her back gently. "Good night, Nejire. I love you."
"I love you too, big sis. Good night."
The 22-year-old released the younger girl and kissed her forehead. She smiled at her as she switched off the lamp and exited the room.
It was a long walk to the kitchen from Nejire's bedroom. Ryukyu used to get lost all the time in this huge mansion. She felt it was mostly just for show. When she entered the room, she saw a skinny man with short blue hair nursing a cup of tea at the kitchen island. He was wearing a black T-shirt, grey flannel pajama pants, and grey slippers. He turned around as he heard her footsteps.
He smiled at her. "Thanks for handling bedtime duty again tonight. I appreciate the break."
Ryukyu couldn't bring herself to smile back. She walked over to the kitchen bar to fix herself a stronger beverage than apple-spice tea.
The man got the message. "I don't know what compelled me to say that. You're out there saving lives and I'm just a stay-at-home dad." He said as he took another sip of tea.
"Alita's not coming back for a while, Kaname. She's…getting worse." The depressed hero spoke as she poured extra rum into her cola. It had been exhausting putting up the optimistic front for Nejire.
Kaname became more alert. "What happened?"
Ryukyu walked to the kitchen island and sat down next to Kaname. This was starting to become a nightly tradition. She took a big gulp to help get the next words out. "She nearly took some villain's head off."
Kaname nearly knocked his mug over.
"She wasn't pulling her punches as much today. The villain's still alive, but he's in a coma. The other guys were beat to Hell with shattered limbs, but still conscious." She downed the rest of her drink and got up to make another one.
"Does the media know?" He quickly asked while trying hard not to shout.
"As far as they know it was an accident. Same with the other guys Nobody saw anything disgraceful from Spiral Surge."
Kaname breathed in relief but was still on edge. He knew that his wife could be violent with bad guys, but never this extreme.
"Her episodes are more frequent than I've ever. One occurred while she was fighting so she lost control. Her suit got damaged in the process.
Kaname's eyes nearly popped out. "What about the-"
"The main inhibitors are still intact." Ryukyu interjected before he could panic. "We had to knock her out though. She wouldn't stop attacking." She leaned against the bar and took a gulp of her second drink.
Kaname leaned over the table and rubbed his hands against his face. "This can't be happening. How could it be getting worse?"
"Who knows? She could try the meds again, but she said those never did shit. She's currently resting at the Yaoyorozu Compound so they can examine her and fix her suit. Maybe they'll find something." She ground her sharpened teeth. "It'd be nice if her father came for a visit. You think he'd want to meet his granddaughter and son-in-law? I'd love to fucking chomp him in half."
"I'm afraid I wouldn't stop you. I doubt he'd ever be interested in showing his revolting face here. I don't even know if he's alive anymore." The man of the house spoke grimly.
"I hope he is. We've tried everything else. It seems like the only thing that could stop the voices is for her to face him." Ryukyu knew it wasn't that simple.
The two sat in silence for a bit. "You know. She never intended to be a mother." Kaname spoke sadly.
Ryukyu had a horrified look on her face.
"Don't worry. She never considered…That. She wasn't exactly thrilled, but she wouldn't deny her baby's existence. She does love Nejire dearly. You know how it is with being a hero though. The true targets are the heroes loved ones.
Ryukyu remembered her discussion with Nejire earlier. Of course. How could she forget?
Kaname looked at Ryukyu with a grim expression. "You weren't here the night she left the mansion. It was the night we got a call about Nejire getting kicked out of another private school. Alita went ballistic. She kept explaining that private schools had better security, but Nejire didn't care. That frustrated Alita to no end…She almost hit Nejire."
Ryukyu quickly set her glass down before it slipped from her fingers.
"I've never seen Nejire or Alita so frightened." The blue-haired patriarch choked up. "Alita was horrified at the hole in the wall near her daughter's head. Nejire sprinted to her room crying and she wouldn't come out until morning. By then, Alita was gone and I hadn't seen her since." He stopped and gazed at the wedding ring attached to his finger. "Despite everything that's happened, I still love her."
"What gives you so much faith in her?" Ryukyu spoke like she was asking about the meaning of life.
"The same reason you're still at her side." Kaname uttered like it was obvious. He sounded confident for the first time since Ryukyu entered the room. "I know she's a good person. She has never struck Nejire and has rarely raised her voice at her. I know she'd rather die than imitate her father."
AN: Next time! The Spiral Surge Arc!
Thanks for the read!
