Captain Blues: The third chapter is here. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Son of a (Spirit) Gun!
The Wake
[Spirit World – Koenma's Castle
POV: Midoriya Izuku]
Izuku expected quite a bit from meeting Hinageshi's superior.
He expected maybe a large being ala King Enma from Dragonball Z or even a normal-sized man. Instead, Sitting behind a large mahogany-made desk was a toddler with a red obi sash tied at the waist of a pink-trimmed blue robe over brown pants and black shoes and a blue pacifier in his mouth.
"Ah, you must Midoriya Izuku," the toddler said with a clearer voice than Izuku was expecting. "I am Great King Koenma, the ruler of the spirit world." Koenma moved from out of his chair, walked over to the duo, and held out his hand. "A pleasure to meet me, I am assured."
"Koenma-sama," Hinageshi grumbled as Izuku shook the small hand.
"I-It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Koenma-sama," Izuku politely greeted with a deep bow.
"So polite," Koenma chuckled. "Far more polite than Urameshi and his current apprentice. Now, come to my desk." Koenma walked back behind his seat and plopped into his chair. "I'm sure Hinageshi has informed you of why I have bought you here," Koenma stated
"S-She did," Izuku confirmed.
"Good. Which means we can go right to the business portion of this meeting," Koenma announced. He then jumped onto his desk and pulled out a golden egg. "And voila! Your assignment, Midoriya-san!"
Izuku blinked, pointed to the egg, and asked, "My assignment is a golden chicken egg?"
"Déjà vu," Koenma muttered. "No. Your assignment is what is within this egg and trust me, it will be no chicken that comes out and faces you once you've hatched it."
Izukui watched as the egg pulsated with a strange energy that not only brought him a miniscule amount of peace but there was something dark lurking within it. "I see," Izuku murmured. "What i-is the trick to this? Am I to h-hatch it?"
"No, no, not at all. You only have to keep it with you. This is a Spirit Beast, and it feeds off the energy emitted from your soul. This will be a true and constant test of your character. The things you do and feel will change the monster inside for better...or for worse," Koenma explained.
"T-That doesn't bode well," Izuku murmured.
"No it does not," Koenma said. "If your spirit is wicked and cruel, then the beast that hatches will be the same way. It will devour you, and you'll be lost forever. This, as you might imagine, is a very painful experience."
Izuku paled and gulped.
"If, as would be expected from your files, the energy you emit is good and true, then so will be the Spirit Beast. It will take care of you and guide you back into your living body," Koenma added. "Of course, if it sounds too risky, you can opt-out and once we find a location for you, whether it is Heaven, Hell, or the Soul Society, we will send you there. The choice, is yours, Midoriya-san."
Izuku was downright terrified. He had sensed something dark within that egg as well as something light. No, this was not the time to back down. His mother…there is no telling what is going on with her and how she is taking things.
Besides, he still wanted to become a hero, and he couldn't see his mother or become a hero if he remained dead.
With a determined look, Izuku took the egg into his hand.
Sealing his fate.
[Human Realm - Streets of Musutafu, Japan (Nighttime)
POV: Midoriya Izuku]
"You look concerned, that you do," Hinageshi noticed, snapping Izuku from his thoughts. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm f-fine," Izuku sighed. "Just a little worried about how this will go."
"I understand that you're worried, that I do. But we don't have time to worry," Hinageshi said.
"We don't?" Izuku asked.
"I figured you would want to see your Wake. To see exactly what you are fighting to return to," Hinageshi explained.
Izuku faltered.
It was already weird being a ghost, but did he have to see his wake too?
"I don't want to see my mother in so much pain…" Izuku murmured. "It would only h-hurt…I want to be able to take away that pain before it settles deep within her."
Hinageshi nodded and said, "Sometimes, life is not that lucky to absolve it so quickly. Besides, going there may help you see things you normally hadn't seen. And potentially allies you may call upon during this time."
Izuku frowned but he understood where Hinageshi was coming from.
"I'm scared to see it…" Izuku softly admitted. "I didn't have any friends….Heck, I had more bullies than friends. I just don't want to see Kaa-san dealing with this grief all alone…I don't think my heart can take her knowing that not only was I killed, but that all the lies I told her about having friends were just something I told her to keep her happy and free from worrying about me…"
"It is alright to be scared, that it is, but right now, in this ordeal, fear cannot be something that binds you, Izuku-san. You must overcome it and be brave. Only then, will you come out of this victorious. And if that means facing your first fear in seeing your mother heartbroken…, then you must do that to eventually fix it, that you must…"
Izuku stared at the egg and then nodded.
"Alright…" Izuku sighed. "You're r-right Hinageshi…Coming back to life can't be for the faint-hearted. Come on. Let's go to my w-wake!"
[Midoriya Residence - Musutafu, Japan (Nighttime)
POV: Midoriya Izuku]
Izuku and Hinageshi faded into view as they hovered above the apartment building that Izuku called home. Already, Izuku noticed that many of his classmates from Aldera Junior High were there.
However, a lot of them looked genuinely sad.
"Come on," Izuku whispered to Hinageshi.
The spirit guide nodded and the two floated into the building and into the apartment. The couch had been moved to make way for the altar and his coffin. There was a picture on top of the coffin that showed Izuku smiling on his 13th birthday with an All-Might cake in front of him.
The picture didn't have anyone else but him and his mom.
It was weird, staring at his own body in that white and mahogany coffin.
No, not weird.
It was eerie.
"Thank you for coming," a small voice thanked.
Izuku turned around there he saw his mother.
She looked frightfully pale and her eyes looked so empty. It genuinely startled him to see her eyes so bereft of life. Midoriya Inko stood, dressed in a black kimono. Inko's hair was down and slightly messy and tears continued to fall from her eyes but she didn't make a sound.
Not a gasp.
Not a whimper.
Just silence.
"Oh…Kaa-san," Izuku whimpered as tears spilled from her eyes.
Just then, a woman walked through the door. Izuku recognized her. Not because he knew her personally, but because she was a pro-hero.
The woman was tall and curvaceous with glasses and long, bushy pale pink hair that fell to her lower back. Her skin held a pink hue and she had pointed ears and a long slender pink tail, which was securely wrapped around her waist.
The woman's eyes had black Sclera with blue irises and she wore a black kimono.
(Izuku: The 6th ranked Pro-Hero, Candy Majin, aka Ashido Suīto. Her Quirk: Happy Sweets. It allows her to shoot a beam or orb of energy that when it collides with anything, inorganic or organic, changes the target into candy. There is also the rumor that if she eats that candy and the target is a human with a Quirk, she can use that Quirk indefinitely, although proof of that remains to be seen)
Standing beside Suīto was a young girl with the same pink-hue skin that Suīto had and the same pale pink hair, but her hair was far more unruly. The girl also had black sclerae and yellow irises and notably long eyelashes below and around the sides of her eyes.
The girl also had two thin pale yellow horns protruding from her head, hooked squarely and leaning diagonally to opposite sides. And her Suīto, the girl also wore a black kimono.
(Izuku: Ashido Mina. Her Quirk: Acid. It allows her to produce a corrosive liquid from her body. She can control the solubility and viscosity of this corrosive liquid.)
Suīto and Mina approached Inko and gave a respectful bow, one of which Inko didn't respond to. Suīto leaned up and said, "I'm sorry for your loss, Inko…I know how hard it can be to lose someone close to you. I lost my husband and son in a car accident. I nearly lost my Mina too. If you need anything. Anything at all, please do not hesitate to reach out, okay?"
Izuku wasn't even aware if his mother had registered her.
He watched as the girl, whom he assumed to be Mina, approached the altar where his grave sat. "So, you're the hero who risked his life to save that girl…" Mina whispered. "I bet you never knew this but Momma and Midoriay-san are friends. She bandages Momma up at the hospital all the time. Momma spilled the beans after everything came out that she and Midoriya-san have been trying to set up a meeting for you and me for weeks. It sucks it has to be this way, huh?"
Izuku wasn't aware of this.
"I kinda wish I had the chance to meet you underway better circumstances," Mina continued. "A lot of people have been talking about you. About how you saved that girl without hesitation. A true hero if I ever saw one. Momma cares a lot for Midoriya-san, so rest easy, Midoriya. We'll keep an eye out for your Mo—."
"DEKU!" an enraged voice shouted from the entryway of the apartment. Izuku and Mina turned to see Bakugō, being held by three of his friends, as he dragged his way deeper into the apartment.
"Bakugō, you gotta calm down," one of his friends said as Bakugō dragged himself toward the altar.
"You fucking moron," Bakugō hissed through gritted teeth. "I told your dumbass not to try and be a hero! You didn't have a quirk! You should have just stayed on the sidelines!" Bakugō reached the altar and Mina, looking concerned and wierded out, stepped aside.
"Now you're gone! You fucking idiot! Who the fuck do you think you are?! Who am I supposed to surpass now, Deku?!" Bakugō screamed. "Who am I supposed to surpass...?" Bakugō balled his fist as mini-explosions popped around his right hand. "Y-You were supposed to watch as I became a pro-hero…I was s-supposed to….Damn you for dying, Deku! It wasn't supposed to be you!"
"Come on, man, we gotta go!" another one of Bakugō's friends exclaimed as they successfully pulled the rage-filled Bakugō out of the apartment.
"It wasn't supposed to be you!" Bakugō screamed down the hallway.
He had never seen Bakugō so overtaken by emotion like that before…He didn't know how to feel about that.
Soon, the visitors paid their respects and Suīto managed to pull the despondent Inko from the apartment, most likely to make sure she was taken care of, leaving Izuku and Hinageshi in the apartment all alone.
"That hurt a lot more than I thought it would," Izuku whispered.
"Of course it did," Hinageshi whispered. "Watching an outpouring of support like that after you've is never easy, no it isn't…"
Izuku opened his mouth to respond, only to see something out of the corner of his eyes.
Sitting in a small ball was the girl he had saved, who was as naked as the day she was born. When had she gotten there? Was he so focused on watching the wake that she managed to slip in past his view?
"You must remember, Izuku-san, Hakigure Tōru is invisible to all. No one, except for us would be able to see her, that they wouldn't," Hinageshi revealed.
Izuku nodded and then turned to her.
She looked just as bad as his mother did.
Empty eyes, pale skin, dried tears.
But unlike his mother, he heard her mumble something.
He floated closer to her and leaned his head close so he could hear her.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why did you save me?"
Captain Blues: The next chapter will have us explore our local Invisible Girl so until then, time to set sail!
