Of Heroes And Devils

by Dark Signer

By a strange twist of fate, Izuku finds himself flung into a world he never dreamed existed. He may be a Devil now, but that won't stop him from fulfilling his dream to be a hero! Even if he has to face villains, Fallen Angels, other Devils, and ALL THESE GIRLS WHO ARE SUDDENLY CLINGING TO HIM! (Polyamorous relationships)

3. Meetings And Missions

For the first time in a long time, Izuku wished the school day would last a bit longer.

It helped that people were talking less about both Rias and Yumi being seen with him. Some of them even thought it was some sort of hallucination. He was thankful for that at least. He had enough on his mind as it was.

Just how would All Might react? Did he even know about this strange new world he was a part of? Would he cry out before attacking him like he was some sort of villain? This entire ordeal was making him more anxious than he had ever been before.

Even after getting Rias to agree to meeting him at Takoba Beach, he still felt concerned. As sure as he was that Rias would be able to better explain everything, he had no idea just what All Might would do. She didn't even know that he was being trained by All Might!

Taking deep breaths to try and calm his hammering heartbeat, Izuku nervously waited for the final bell. As it rang, so too did his dread. Trying his hardest to remain calm, he gathered his school bag before leaving, running into Yumi.

Yumi ignored the frantic whispering that began as she approached him. It appeared that many students were getting some sort of wake-up call. "Good to see you again, Midoriya. Rias wanted me to tell you that she'll be here soon," she told him, her usual smile plastered on her face. "After today though, it might be a good idea to just ask for her number. It would be easier than just having someone relay messages back and forth." Her piece said, she walked away, either unaware or uncaring as to how her suggestion had made his face light up again.

Him? Ask for a girl's number?! He was still getting used to just talking to her! Hiding his red face, he quickly made his way down to his locker, hoping to avoid anyone else along the way.

"Hey! Deku!"

Damn his luck.

It was someone from his class. He never could remember his name, but definitely remembered his quirk. He could shift his arms into stone. And judging how he was currently doing so, he didn't seem to be happy. "How?"

"How?"

"How the hell did a loser like you suddenly get the attention of both the Princess and that red-haired bombshell? Answer me!"

Hoping to avoid the inherent boy entirely, he tried moving faster in the hope that he wouldn't be caught. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough, his shoulder being grabbed before he was turned around and slammed into the wall. "You don't get to ignore me Deku! Now answer me! How? Didja pay them or something? There's no way a loser like you should be able to get their attention at all!"

"Wait! Hold on! I…!" They had already begun attracting attention, far more than he was comfortable with. "Th-they j-just came up and started t-talking to me!" He stuttered out, feeling ashamed. He had faced that sludge villain to save Okamoto without flinching, had taken up training since then, and had even become a Devil. So why? Why was he cowering in fear from this other kid?

Maybe Rias and All Might were wrong. Maybe he really wasn't worth anything after all.

"Not good enough!" He yelled out as he reared his other fist back, having also turned it to stone. Izuku shut his eyes as he braced himself for the attack to come.

Seconds passed. Nothing was happening. He decided to chance opening his eyes again, and was surprised by what he saw.

The other boy's stone fist was still reared back, ready to punch him, but someone had stopped it in its tracks, stopping it before it could find its target.

It was Yumi. And for the first time anyone had ever seen her, she wasn't smiling.

"What's going on?" She asked tersely, a tone no one had heard from her before.

The other boy was thrown off guard from this, his quirk having receded back into his body as he let go of Izuku, staring at her in complete surprise.

"I-I was just…" the bully tried replying.

"I don't see how it's anyone's business if I decide to speak to someone," she told him, her eyes beginning to narrow before letting him go. She then turned to the stunned Izuku. "Are you alright Midoriya?"

"Huh?" He asked intelligently.

Her smile returned. "You have an appointment today. You shouldn't be late," she told him as she began walking away, not sparing the bully a second glance as she passed by him.

Seeing two girls talking with him the other day was definitely surprising, but seeing Kiba Yumi step up and defend him, something no one had done before, not even the teachers, floored everyone. It wouldn't be long before the message was clear across the school, Aldera's Princess had placed Midoriya Izuku under her protection. The reasons varied depending on who you asked. Either she was getting help from him on her school work(since despite everything, Izuku usually cracked the top 15 grades in their year), or she had somehow fallen in love with him.

That one tended to be discarded by those who wanted her for themselves.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Izuku slithered away, thankful for Yumi's help. He remembered something Rias had said the previous night. They had spoken until after the sun had set, discussing a great many things, but one stood out at this very moment.

"Remember how I told you that the House of Gremory treats our peerages as family? That's what I hope we can all become. And family, through thick and thin, looks after each other."

---

His mind continued to race as he made his way to Takoba Beach, even as Rias caught up with him halfway there. She seemed to notice, having decided to ask him questions to try and take his mind off his nerves. Eventually, she had begun asking about his training routine.

"The entire beach? Impressive Izu, I never would have guessed," she said, bringing another red hue to his face. He was still not exactly used to being complimented, especially by someone as pretty as her. He was still surprised that she wasn't aware of everything, though she had also admitted last night that she hadn't gone that in-depth with her homework of him. She mainly wanted to know the basics about him, then get to know him more after finally bringing him into the fold.

"I…well, I suppose," he stammered out, trying his hardest to keep some sort of composure. "M-my teacher planned it all out, hoping to work on specific muscles in my body to get the most out of my workout while avoiding any pitfalls," he said, thinking back to the last several months of training. It had definitely been hellish at times, but he hoped it would be worth it in the end. "I think it's been working pretty great so far, though, um…I think becoming a Devil might have screwed up our timetable. It's been getting a lot easier lately."

"That makes sense," she responded. "Devils are naturally stronger than any average human, though both of us can achieve amazing results by working hard. Just like you," she said with a smile, making his face flush again. Though her words did make him feel more confident, even if just a bit.

Maybe, just maybe, this day wouldn't go pear shaped.

The second Izuku saw All Might waiting for him on the beach though, he could feel his anxiety firing up again. He was terrified. This very scenario had kept him up for most of the night. Would his hero accept what had happened, or would he attack them like they were villains?

Seeing Rias begin to walk ahead of him, he steeled himself before catching up to her. He had to do this.

The disguised pro began to greet his protégé before noticing the young girl with him. "Morning Young Midoriya. And who's this?" His skeletal face hid whatever he may have been thinking well.

"Good morning sir," Rias said, giving him a small bow in greeting. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Rias Gremory. May I ask for yours?"

Neither teen noticed it, but All Might's eyes had narrowed ever so slightly, her name ringing some sort of bell in his head. "Yagi Toshinori," he responded as politely as he could before facing Izuku. "So What's she doing with you, Young Midoriya?" He asked with a slightly teasing grin. "You go and get yourself another girlfriend? You really are full of surprises aren't you?"

Rias tried her hardest to hold back a chuckle as Izuku began stuttering out denials. She liked this man already. Despite that, they had business to discuss. "There are a few things we need to discuss, Mr Yagi." She had flipped between somewhat jovial to serious in a heartbeat, in a speed that would put some pro heroes to shame.

It was a testament to All Might's own experience that he was able to do so just as quickly, his face switching to the most serious Izuku had ever seen him faster than he could blink. "And what would that be?" The entire time he had been speaking, his mind had been wandering, trying to pinpoint a piece of information buried within. 'Gremory. That name sounds familiar, but from where?'

"This may sound a bit strange, but I need you to answer me honestly. What do you know about Devils?"

By pure instinct, Toshinori's body had begun to shift, his face shifting from surprise to righteous anger in a heartbeat. Steam erupted from every part of his being as his muscles began to bulge, taking Rias by complete surprise, and making Izuku's anxiety reach new heights. His hair itself even changed shape, flattening itself around his head save for two long bangs, forming themselves into his iconic 'V' shaped hairstyle. It was near instantaneous, leaving the hulking form of All Might, the world renowned Symbol Of Peace, and Japan's number one hero, stood before Rias' very eyes.

"Young lady! I don't know why or how you've gotten Young Midoriya involved with your kindest business, but I'll be putting a stop to it this very minute!" Izuku flinched at the sound of his hero's voice. The giant of a man towered over the two of them and screamed intimidation from his very being. The fact that he wasn't smiling, something Izuku noted and dreaded, made everything worse. "I want you to tell me why you have involved him in your affairs this very minute. But I warn you, if I don't like what I hear, I will drag you down to the Underworld myself to get answers from your clan!"

He had managed to put it all together rather quickly as soon as she mentioned Devils. He should have figured it out from the start! It perfectly explained Young Midoriya's sudden shift in power, his aversion to sunlight, everything. Maybe she had sent that Yuuma girl so that she would have a chance to change him into one of her kind. It didn't matter anymore. He would not allow it to continue.

The sheer force All Might was exuding this very minute made Izuku want to faint. He had never seen his hero like this before. 'This is it,' he thought. 'This is why villains all over fear him.' It felt as though one single misspoken word would spell their end.

Rias only stood there, mouth agape. She still seemed to be processing what she had just seen, unknowing of Izuku's terror at the man before them.

Several moments passed as she stared at him, her mouth still agape. All Might, feeling slightly annoyed, spoke again, his voice so intimidating it would make a lesser man surrender in a heartbeat.

"Well?"

She continued to stare as her mouth finally began to move. "You…you're…

All Might continued to glare at her, wondering just what her next move would be.

"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE ALL MIGHT!"

Her squealing like a common fangirl was not at all what he was expecting.

"Izuku! Why didn't you tell me that you actually knew All Might!? This is so cool! I've been a fan of yours since I was a little girl! Can I have your autograph? Or feel your muscles? Maybe a photo to show my family?! I just…EEEEE! This is so awesome!"

Her actions had thrown both men for a loop. All Might had been thinking she would start making up some sort of story of why she had introduced Young Midoriya to her world, possibly trying to even try and negotiate with him. Possibly even showing off both grace and decorum as other Devil's had done before. This though? This kind of weirded him out.

Izuku was not far behind. He hadn't known Rias for more than a day, but she had come off as the kind of person who was able to keep themselves together, even as they asked someone for forgiveness. Someone who seemed strong. Someone who wouldn't one themselves to their baser instincts like any star struck fan meeting their idol face to face. She seemed like the kind of person who held herself to a higher standard.

And she was definitely not showing that right now.

"Umm, Miss Gremory?" All Might asked as Rias began speaking faster and faster, almost sounding like Izuku did whenever he got lost in his head. "I'm…uh…willing to answer your questions so long as you're able to do the same. So…" She didn't seem like she had heard him at all, her eyes now star shaped. "Please snap out of it."

Izuku suddenly got an idea. Trying his hardest to keep his face from blushing, he reached up to Rias' face, cupping it between his hands. "Rias? Rias, it's okay now. It's just you and me here, okay? Just you and me."

It felt odd doing this to someone who wasn't his mom, but he definitely hoped that it would work.

All Might just looked on in confusion.

It seemed to work though, as Rias snapped out of her starstruck trance as soon as Izuku's hands reached her face. She smiled down at him, cupping his own face in return. "You're right. It's you and me."

Strange as it was, All Might couldn't resist smiling at the two. "As interesting as that was, I believe you said we had some things to discuss." He tried his hardest to fight back a smirk as Rias' face started to flush.

Her face as red as her hair, Rias released Izuku from her grasp before bowing to the pro in apology. "I'm so sorry! I've never acted that way before and I just…Oh! This is so embarrassing!" She had begun cupping her own red cheeks as though she had hoped to lessen their redness, much to All Might's amusement and Izuku's astonishment.

He didn't even know she could get embarrassed. Especially after she had no issue being naked in front of his mom.

"Well," All Might began, still chuckling slightly. "I suppose we should get down to business. Should probably slip back into something a bit more comfortable now that I've let this cat out of the bag. Definitely not my brightest idea" he whispered to himself at the end before his body emitted steam once again, deflating him back into the form of Yagi Toshinori, much to Rias' shock.

Seeing him go from Twig Man to All Might had thrown her for a loop before, but seeing him change back confirmed for her that what she saw was real. Her favorite pro hero was in front of her in an emaciated state, looking like a stray wind would blow him over. "All Might," she said in horror. "What happened to you?"

Toshinori stared at the young woman. He had been around long enough to read her expression. But he didn't know if he could trust her. But there was someone here he did. "Young Midoriya," he began, surprising the young man. "Can she be trusted?"

He had to stop and think about it. He hadn't known her for that long. He didn't even know what she liked or disliked. Part of him still felt unsure about everything that had happened since yesterday. And yet…

'I'm sorry Izuku.'

She was genuine.

'You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I had just told you everything from the start. It's all my fault.'

He forgave her.

'As King of my peerage, it's my duty to help you however I can.'

He believed her.

'I swear on my family's name that I will never force you to do anything you don't want to.'

He trusted her.

And trust is a two way street.

"Yeah. I trust her."

Toshinori smiled. "That's all I needed to hear."

He then sat down on a nearby thrown out sofa. It was still comfortable oddly enough. The two teens found their own seats quickly enough before the incognito hero spoke again. "I'm sure you've got more questions than just that one Miss Gremory."

"I'm…I'm sorry," she said, still looking at his skeletal form in shock. "I just…it's hard to see you like this. All Might's always seemed like someone larger than life itself, always saving the day with a fearless smile on his face.:

Toshinori grinned at her. This was some déjà vu. "There's plenty of fear behind that smile young lady." Then, like he had done months before, he lifted his shirt.

Rias stared in horror at the sight. A large scar lay on the left side of his chest. From the center of what looked like a piercing attack, large web-like cracks splintered off from it, looking like a poison that was trying to spread across his body. Against his pale skeletal form, it stuck out horribly, looking as though it was still a fresh wound.

"Pretty gross, isn't it?" He asked as gently as he could, trying to keep the mood light. "Got this in a pretty bad fight about five years back. My respiratory system is all but destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I've had surgery after surgery and it's worn me out. Nothing can fix this. So right now, this is what I look like most of the time. I can't do my hero work like I used to, I can only do three hours before I'm out of steam."

Rias continued staring at his horrible wound, tears beginning to flood her eyes. Seeing someone she admired in such a state, someone who seemed as invincible as her big brother, it was hard to truly think about. It almost seemed like morality itself was sending a message to her.

He could tell that it was a sobering thought for her. She was a Devil. It was easy to tell now that he knew what to look for. It was likely she had already seen violence and death before, but she was still young. Those she saw die were likely those she could put out of her mind, something she could ignore. Rationalize it as the way things are. But seeing this, someone she admired in such a state, had to be rough on her.

"I've done everything I could to keep that fight a secret, after all, I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling aren't I? The Symbol of Peace. People have always acted like I'm never afraid, but that's not the case. I smile to hide the fear I feel inside. My inner brave face I put on to try and comfort others who need it. That's just how my job is."

His eyes turned to Izuku, who had flinched away the moment he showed his wound again. He couldn't blame him. It was a sight he didn't like seeing either. "I've already told someone this once before, and it led to one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. A young boy asked me if he could become a hero, even without a quirk. I was stuck in my own misery, and while I thought I was doing him a favor, all I did was crush his dreams, maybe his very hope. I told him no."

Rias understood what he meant right away. "How could you say that?" She asked furiously. He may not have been her servant then, but she still felt angry. "How could you deny someone's dreams like that? He admires you!"

"Rias! Please, calm down!" Izuku begged, not wanting her to lose her temper.

"It's alright Young Midoriya," Toshinori said, much to Izuku's surprise. "She has every right to be upset with me. I should have been nicer, maybe found something else to say. Even with how dangerous being a hero can be, I should never have tossed your hopes aside like that."

There had been times when he had woken up at night after nightmares of Izuku taking it worse than he actually did. A young child was always found dead in those nightmares, having tossed himself off the building he had foolishly left him on.

"I don't think I could ever truly make up for that."

Noticing Izuku try to speak up for him again, Toshinori interrupted him. "Then, Young Midoriya went and surprised me."

"How so?" She asked, arms folded. She was still obviously upset with him, but she was willing to let him continue.

"He dived in to save someone in peril. Another young man had been taken captive by a sludge villain that day." Rias nodded, she had heard about that on the news. Another day saved thanks to All Might. "Young Midoriya didn't even hesitate. He ran in to save him, consequences be damned. That act of bravery made me feel like a fool. I had already used up my time, so I stupidly decided that someone else would be able to save them. But I was wrong. Just like I was before." Toshinori looked upon Izuku with pride, much to the young man's not so hidden glee. "I was pathetic. A quirkless young man had to remind me about what being a hero truly means. A true hero will risk their life no matter what. Whatever it takes to save as many people as they can. That's when I knew for sure. Young Midoriya has more than what it takes to become a hero. And a truly great one."

Rias' face remained blank as she stared at the two of them, before blooming into a bright smile, making Izuku's face red once more. "You're more impressive than I thought Izu. Even All Might can see it," she said as she faced the pro again, bowing in apology. "I'm sorry for doubting you All Might. You're a great man."

"You don't need to apologize to me Miss Gremory. I already said that you had every right to be upset with me," the pro said, brushing aside her comment of him being a great man before folding his arms as he looked at the two of them. "So, I told you my story. Let's hear yours."

So they did. Rias explained everything she could, with Izuku helping fill in the blanks where he could.

"WAIT, YOU DIED?!"

"I-I got better though!"

After hearing everything, Toshinori nodded in understanding, though he was still in shock that Izuku had essentially died and is still alright.

"Suppose that's why we couldn't find anything about Miss Amano, or Raynare I suppose. She covered her tracks well."

"I'm honestly surprised that you remember Izu even speaking about her All Might," Rias said. "Everyone else's memories of her were completely wiped."

"Not the first time someone's tried to mess with my memories. Found a trick that still works."

"Wait, hold on! You already know about the supernatural world All Might!?" Izuku asked, having remembered his hero's reaction to Rias mentioning Devils.

"You'd be hard pressed to find a pro who hasn't come across it in some way," he answered, taking not only Izuku by surprise, but Rias as well. "It shouldn't be that surprising Miss Gremory. We pros are always falling into some kind of trouble at points."

"Wait, you didn't know?" Izuku asked.

"Nope. This is news to me." She thought her family had told her everything she would need to know about Pro Heroes before she arrived. Did they forget, or did they simply not tell her for their own amusement?

Knowing them, it was likely the latter.

"Don't worry Miss Gremory," Toshinori said, holding back a snicker as he saw her begin to pout. "Most pros are well aware how dangerous it would be for the world to learn about what lies beneath ours. We know how to keep our secrets close to our chest." He decided to ignore that he had accidentally revealed his true identity to her just minutes ago.

"It's hard to believe that so many people are already aware of everything," she said, feeling slightly put off by it. Izuku couldn't help but feel the same way. He was glad that there were so many that knew not to reveal everything, but what would happen if they did? The thought of what people might do if they realized that Gods and monsters from all over the world were real made him want to shiver. Recorded history was sparse with some of the details from when quirks first appeared, but it was common knowledge that many did not react well to it. People finding out about the supernatural could make those days look downright pleasant.

"You mentioned knowing my clan," Rias said, breaking Izuku out of his thoughts. Judging by the glance she gave, she realized what he was thinking about. "Have you met them before?"

"Just one of them. It's been a while, so it took me a bit to remember," he said, looking like he was holding back laughter as he reminisced. "It was a young man named Sirzechs."

"You know my brother?!"

'Rias has a brother?!'

"Didn't know he had a sister. Would've thought you'd be his daughter instead," he said, causing Rias' cheeks to redden as she pouted again. Sirzechs already treated her like she was still a child. She did NOT need him to hear that All Might thought she was his daughter. "I've met a few other Devils too, some of them fine, a lot of them not."

"I see," Rias said as she stood up. She knew what he meant right away. As much as she knew that not every Devil was like what humanity and Heaven painted them as, there were more than a few who were just like that. Some even worse. "I suppose I can say that it's nice to officially meet you. Not only as a hero, but as Izu's instructor."

"Likewise," he responded, also standing back up.

"So, um…All Might?" Izuku asked timidly. Everything had gone better than he feared it would, but there was still one other thing he needed to know. "Um…w-will this…will this affect my training at all?" He stared at the sand by his feet, not knowing how his hero would react. "D-do I have to st-stop?"

"The hell are you talking about?" Toshinori asked incredulously. "Why would I make you stop? You're still aiming to be a hero, aren't you?"

"I…I…" he was beginning to cry again. He wished he could stop, but he knew he couldn't. He didn't have to stop at all. All Might still thought he was worthy!

"Although," Toshinori brought his hand to his chin in thought, bringing dread to Izuku. "We'll have to change up your routine a bit. Now that you're a Devil, our whole regiment has been thrown off."

"Excuse me," Rias began. As much as she appreciated All Might continuing to teach her servant, she still had more questions. "But how are you expecting Izu to make it into the Hero Course? He may have some new power now, but he's still lacking a quirk. We can't exactly disguise his Sacred Gear as one, so what exactly is your plan?"

Both Toshinori and Izuku flinched. They had both forgotten that Rias wasn't aware of One For All.

"You, w-well," Toshinori coughed out, feeling slightly unsure about how to explain it to her. Everything he had seen from her today was enough for him to know he could trust her with the knowledge of One For All. "You…you may want to sit down for this Miss Gremory."

This time, Rias' jaw actually did hit the ground.

---

The news about One For All completely floored her. A quirk that could be passed down? That sounded impossible. But at the same time, the knowledge that her newest servant was pushing himself as hard as he could to attain such a remarkable power filled her with pride.

Izuku wished she didn't show that by hugging him so close to her chest that he swore that he could feel her bra. All Might did nothing to help either, he just laughed as he watched his protégé's face burn red, the traitor.

After that, both the pro and his master, he still had a hard time with that, began brainstorming ways to address his training. It didn't take long for the two to come to a decision as Izuku went about what he normally did.

For the next two weeks, Izuku had been pushed harder than he had before. All Might and Rias had made him pick up more trash than ever before, even making him stop at points to work his muscles on heavier loads that they saw. Toshinori had even bought more trucks to haul away the garbage. Izuku found himself every bit as exhausted as he did when he first began, but as the days passed, he found himself slowly getting used to it, even when All Might had decided that he would be piggybacking the buffed up pro at several points to push him harder.

It was better than the times that Rias would sit on him whenever he was doing push-ups. He swore she started grinding herself into his back just to mess with him!

Then there was what he had to do as a Devil. He was still relatively new to it, so Rias had made sure to assign him basic tasks. He was kind of surprised at how simple and straightforward it could be. She had started him out by delivering flyers throughout the city, each one carrying the symbol of the Gremory family. She had even given him a special phone specifically made for Devil work, helping to guide him everywhere a normal summoner lived. While usually handled by smaller creatures Rias called her 'familiars', she had wanted him to learn the ropes as quickly as possible, telling him that Koneko, Yumi, and Akeno had done the same when they started.

She had told him that it was one of the ways a Devil could rise through the ranks, one of several. Accomplishments through combat tended to be the fastest way, but was easily the most dangerous. Even with how much work he was doing in his training to gain One For All, he was still too green as a Devil to match any powerhouse yet. Even then, the ceasefire between the three factions made such a thing near impossible anyway. Not that Izuku minded too much. He had little desire to face a Fallen Angel again after the last two times.

The second way was what he was doing now, handing out flyers so that anyone in the peerage could be summoned to forge a pact. It was the easiest and most common way to rise up, but it took the longest to do so, and could be very tedious. The final way was through something she called a Rating Game, but she seemed hesitant to explain it to him at the time.

As the entire city fell under Rias' jurisdiction, it was a long process to hand out flyers to each individual mailbox, but Rias said it was necessary. It's how they got work after all. He was honestly surprised at how many people had such desires.

He finally finished as the sun began to set. Once night fell, as Rias explained to him, the Devils could begin their work, as daylight belonged to the servants of God. Tonight was a new night. Rias had decided that he was ready for his first summoning.

He was nervous, naturally . He would be summoned to a stranger's home to grant their wish, and he had no clue just what it would be.

He arrived at the club building soon enough, everyone ready to see him off on his maiden voyage.

"Welcome back Izu," Rias greeted him as he entered the darkened room; the only light coming from the lit candles spread throughout. It definitely gave off the ambience of them doing occult practices. "Today, you'll be fulfilling your first contract. Do you feel like you're ready?"

Izuku gulped as he nodded. Part of him didn't feel ready, but he knew he'd get nowhere if he didn't try.

"Good to hear," she said as she led him into the center of the room, the other three members of the peerage already gathered around the center circle. From what Rias had told him, that one was specifically for teleporting them to their summons and back. "Your power as a Devil may be low now, but soon enough, you'll grow into one whose name is known throughout the Underworld, I'm sure of it. You'll even have better control of your Sacred Gear as well."

His Sacred Gear. He thought back to the night Rias had told him everything, when he finally saw just what it was that made an entire faction decide it was worth killing him over.

---

"I know today's been a lot already," Rias said, night having fallen as she had explained much about the new world he was now a part of. "But there's still one more thing we need to do."

"What's that?" Izuku's head was already buzzing from everything Rias had told him. He wished he had his notebook with him. Why did he leave it at home?

"Your Sacred Gear," she said, standing up from her chair as the others did the same. "Now, hold out your arm."

Huh?

"More often than not, one's Sacred Gear manifests in their user's arm," Yumi explained. "Try concentrating on the energy you feel. Where you feel it most should be where it manifests. Close your eyes if you need to."

He gave it a try, his eyes closed tight to try and focus on whatever this energy might be. He sat there for some time, both arms raised in the air. Time continued to pass by, and the whole time, Izuku couldn't seem to find this energy she spoke of "I'm not feeling anything."

"Try not to force it," Yumi told him, her patient smile calming him slightly.

"Relax," Koneko stated simply.

"This room is brimming with magic," Akeno said. "The energy you feel around you should be similar, see if you can find that."

He tried again, his eyes once again closed, though not as tightly this time. Akeno was right, he could feel an odd energy throughout the room, and as he continued to focus, he felt a similar energy flowing into his left arm, raising it.

"Good," Rias' voice rang through his ears. "Now picture the most powerful thing you can think of."

His mind instantly turned to All Might, naturally. His overwhelming strength as he blasted away that sludge villain with a punch that altered the very weather.

"Good. Now picture it at its strongest."

He had seen All Might's attacks so many times on videos he had seen on the internet, but his focus remained on how he had saved him and Okamoto from the sludge villain.

"Now put your arm down and rise up."

He did so, standing up tall as he kept his eyes closed, he was focused on maintaining the image of All Might's attack in his mind.

"Now, I want you to mimic what you're picturing. And don't hold back. Let the power flow through your hand."

She wanted him to mimic All Might? That sounded humiliating! Sure he had done it before, but he hadn't done it in front of others since he was very young!

"Don't hold back Izu," Rias said.

"You can do it!" Akeno.

"We believe in you." Yumi.

"Hurry up already." Koneko.

His face burning, Izuku brought his arm back up, feeling the energy flowing through it as he punched forward with a mighty cry. "DETROIT SMASH!

"Now open your eyes."

As he did so, he saw his arm begin to glow. Brighter and brighter the light grew as it began to take a more concrete form, and soon enough, a red gauntlet encased his forearm. Yellow highlights covered separate parts of the gauntlet, with a large green jewel embedded opposite his palm.

"This is your Sacred Gear. A special power that is yours and yours alone."

Izuku gazed at the gauntlet, his expression awestruck as he examined it closely. He could feel some sort of power within it. Was this what it felt like having a quirk? "Holy whoa."

"Well done," Akeno said, looking at him proudly.

"So what is it?" Koneko asked, the most interested in anything outside of her sweets that Izuku had seen her.

"I'm not entirely sure," Rias said as she joined Izuku in examining it. "It's possible that it's still dormant in some way." Suddenly, the gauntlet had vanished, much to Izuku's surprise.

"Wait! What happened? Where'd it go?"

"Hmm. It looks like you need to get used to it more before you can keep it summoned," Yumi theorized. "I'm sure you'll get it."

"The first time is usually disappointing," Akeno said with a sly smirk. "But the more you practice, the longer you can keep it up," she said before erupting into a slightly perverted giggle. Rias joined her as Izuku's face burned scarlet. Yumi had her mouth covered with her hand, but her snort was still audible, while Koneko simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You were right, Rias," Akeno said between giggles. "He is fun to tease."

Izuku was starting to regret having become a Devil.

---

"If you're ready Midoriya, then please step into the magic circle," Akeno gestured towards the middle circle. Izuku complied with only mild hesitation, curious and anxious about what would happen next.

"Since this is your first pact, we'll make sure you start off simple. Koneko got two requests for tonight, but she can only do one, so we'll leave the other one to you."

"...Thanks for the help," Koneko said with a curt nod.

"I don't want you to worry though," Rias said. "If you feel uncomfortable with your request, you're free to turn it down. We can handle one unsatisfied summoner."

He wasn't exactly fond of the idea of turning down his first pact. Even if it was originally meant for Koneko, he wanted to see it through to the end.

He watched as the rest of the peerage arranged themselves around the circle, Akeno beginning to recite an incantation. The circle began glowing brightly in response to her words. He began sweating heavily as the magic swirled around him, something Rias noticed

"Relax Izu. Akeno is simply attuning the circle to your seal."

Right. The seal.

The circle in the center of the room was unique to those who were part of the Gremory Family's peerage, like a family coat of arms. Whenever a summoner was ready to forge a pact, the circle allowed them to reach those within the peerage. Each member of the peerage had their own personal seals that was linked to the circle, allowing them to reach their summoner when the time was right.

"Now hold out your hand Izu."

Offering his right hand, Izuku watched as Rias began tracing the seal onto his palm, suppressing a shiver at the light touches of her finger. Within seconds, a brilliant light erupted from his palm, leaving a symbol behind that quickly faded into his palm.

"There. Now you're fully attuned to the teleportation circle. When you finish, you can use it to return to this room without issue."

Izuku gazed at his palm in a small amount of wonder. That certainly sounded useful. A Devil's prowess was certainly interesting.

"Are we ready, Akeno?"

"We are Miss President," she responded as she stepped out of the circle.

"If you're ready, then stand in the middle," she told him.

He did as ordered, watching as the power flowing through the circle began glowing brightly. He could feel the energy swirling around him, responding to the seal on his hand like a key to a lock.

"The circle is currently responding to your client, you should be able to jump there whenever you wish. You know what to do when you get there, right?"

"I…I think so."

"Very well then. Off you go then. Good luck Izu!"

As he felt his anxiety flowing through his body just as much as the magic, the circle grew even brighter, the light soon engulfing him completely. He couldn't even keep his eyes open because of it. He waited as the magic swirled around him faster and faster, knowing that once he opened his eyes, he would be somewhere new.

All at once, the magic vanished.

Izuku was certain he had teleported away, but still felt hesitant in opening his eyes. When he finally mustered up the courage to do so, he was shocked at what he saw.

Or rather what he had already seen, as he was still in the club room.

"Huh?"

Rias looked confused, her hand on her chin in thought.

"Oh dear," Akeno sounded disappointed.

Yumi let out a small sigh, sounding both confused and frustrated.

Koneko just frowned, clearly annoyed.

"Izu," Rias called.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry to say, but it looks like you're unable to use the circle to travel to your client."

Izuku stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Utilizing an arcane circle requires a small amount of mastery of one's own Devil prowess," she began. "Though it doesn't take much at all. Honestly, even a child should have enough mastery over their abilities. Warping too and fro is usually the first step one takes."

Izuku's jaw began to drop as realization dawned on him.

"Your powers are too low right now. The circle won't even respond to you. How odd."

Izuku felt like his mind was stopping. This reminded him way too much of his visit to the doctor long ago. First it was him being quirkless, now his Devil power was too low?

"...Lame," Koneko said, either referring to him or the situation.

'That really doesn't make me feel any better, Toujou.'

"This is quite the problem. What do you think we should do Miss President?" Akeno asked, looking concerned.

Rias hummed to herself before speaking plainly to Izuku. "Regardless, we can't keep the client waiting. Izu…"

"Y-yeah?"

"We've never had to do this before, but you'll have to go on foot." Noting his shocked look, she continued. "We don't have much choice. Your power is too low right now, so you'll have to make do until it grows stronger."

"You-you mean like, on my bike?" He asked, still feeling stumped by the whole affair. "What kind of Devil shows up via bike for a summon?"

Koneko pointed to him in response.

'You don't hold back, do you Toujou?'

"You'd best get a move on!" Rias said, trying to break him out of his funk. "We can't keep the client waiting, and this will be a great start for you!"

"Think of this as your first step, Midoriya," Yumi said, also looking like she wanted to cheer him up. "You won't have to be a bike messenger Devil forever, okay?"

She tried, but her words didn't help as much as she thought they would.

"Ooh, I like that," Akeno said, her smile turning slightly sly. "Onward Bike Messenger Devil!"

"I'm leaving," Izuku said, hoping to avoid further teasing.

"Good luck Bike Messenger Devil," Koneko said as he passed by.

He had no idea if she was serious or not.

---

Izuku pedaled through the darkened night as quickly as he could, thankful that his training made it far less arduous than it otherwise would have been. The entire time, he couldn't stop lamenting how low his power was as a Devil. It reminded him far too much of his status as quirkless had all but made him a complete pariah when he was young. Part of him knew that neither Rias nor any other member of the peerage would toss him aside, the way she stuck by him when they talked to All Might proved that, but there was that part of him deep down that still worried.

He pushed that out of his mind though. He had to hurry to make it to his summoner. According to the phone Rias had given him, it was at least 25 minutes away from the club building. He really hoped his client wouldn't be too upset, these summons were supposed to be instantaneous, and he didn't want to face his customer's wrath over this. He had seen more than enough videos online of customers cursing put employees to know that it wouldn't be pretty.

Finally arriving outside of the apartment, now short of breath, he knocked on the door. "Hel-hello! I'm the Devil you summoned from the Gremory clan! I'm sorry I'm late!" He really hoped he had the right door.

He was also thankful that, due to the rules of summoning, at least from what Rias had told him, a Devil would only be noticed by whoever had summoned them. That meant he could shout out what he had just said without getting the police called on him and hauled off to the psych ward.

Hopefully.

"Who's there?" A panicked sounding voice came through the door.

"I'm- I'm the Devil you summoned."

"No you're not! I asked for Koneko! And why are you knocking on the door? You're supposed to pop out of that magic circle on the flyer!"

"I'm-well, I'm kind of new to all this, and…"

"You better not just be some random weirdo!"

Now that just hurt.

"I'm not a weirdo!" Izuku yelled defensively.

"Don't shout at me you psycho!"

"Psycho!?"

"Just get out of here already!" The door had finally opened, revealing the man inside. He was tall and rather thin, he looked like he rarely left his apartment. He also looked like he was ready to give Izuku a piece of his mind. Suddenly, his expression turned from angered to solemn. "Kid? Are you crying?"

"Huh?" Izuku raised his hand to his cheek. It was wet.

---

"So, you really are new at this," Mr Morisawa said, having invited Izuku into his home, even offering him a cup of tea. "Sorry about all that. I'm not much of a people person."

"It's okay."

Izuku had been crying. It turned out that him not being able to teleport hit him harder than he thought, and he hadn't noticed his eyes begin to water. The more Mr Morisawa shouted at him through the door, the worse he had felt. Like he was failing Rias and the others. Thankfully, he had begun to calm down once Mr Morisawa let him into his surprisingly clean apartment.

The two had begun talking shortly after. Mr Morisawa turned out to be a civil servant during the day, a job that had left him emotionally exhausted most of the time, and had him craving new kinds of social interaction, which had led him to summoning Devils.

"So Koneko really couldn't make it, huh?"

Koneko had been the first Devil he had summoned, and Mr Morisawa seemed to have taken a liking to her.

"She had another summon tonight. That's why I'm here. Sorry," Izuku responded, his head slightly downcast.

Whenever a Devil was being summoned, the summoner could call the name of the one they wished to see, at least that's what Rias had told him. Whenever one was unavailable, another was sent in their place. Just like tonight.

"Part of me was really hoping for a cute Devil tonight," Mr Morisawa muttered, much to Izuku's distress.

"I…don't think I can help you there." Not that he didn't disagree with the man. He did think that Koneko was cute. He doubted he would ever say it to her face though. She intimidated him a bit too much with her stoic behavior.

"Nope. Sorry kid, but you're not what I'm looking for when it comes to that," Mr Morisawa said with a bit of an amused laugh. "So, what can you do? All Devil's have their own skills right? Koneko's is her superhuman strength, all without a quirk. She can literally sweep me off my feet."

The thought of someone as small as Koneko sweeping someone larger than her off their feet was a funny image to Izuku. He could barely hold back a snort.

"Don't make fun of her! Just tell me what you can do!"

Izuku blurted it out before he could stop himself. "I can punch really hard like All Might!"

"Bullshit."

"I can!"

"Prove it."

Izuku cursed himself for saying something so stupid, then closed his eyes as he focused his energy. There wasn't much there, as he had already figured out, but he could still feel it. He brought his fist back, power swirling around it as the image of All Might again came to his mind.

He then punched forward.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

In an instant, his Sacred Gear had been summoned, and there was a small gust of wind that followed from his punch, enough to make Mr Morisawa's clothes rustle as his jaw began to slack.

"Kid. Follow me," he said as he grabbed Izuku's hand, dragging him further into the apartment.

What worry Izuku had for being dragged further into the man's apartment turned to shock as he saw where he had been taken. The entire room was covered in hero merchandise, most notably All Might. Posters, wall scrolls, statues, figures, a lamp, All Might's face was plastered almost everywhere in the room.

"I think we've got a lot to talk about," Mr Morisawa said excitedly as he grabbed a book from a nearby shelf, opening it to reveal All Might's autograph.

Izuku was sure he had somehow gone to Heaven.

---

"Trick question! All Might never traveled to India!"

As it turned out, the two had a lot more in common than they had thought. Both were huge fans of All Might, obviously, and had a small obsession with obtaining as much merchandise as they could. Izuku felt a small bit of envy at Mr Morisawa's collection. There were things he saw here that he didn't have, along with different variations of one's he did.

Over the past two hours, the two had ended up talking at length over their favorite hero, even ending up doing their own trivia game. Izuku hadn't gotten a chance to do this in years, the last time being with Kacchan back when they were kids. He wished that the Bakugo's hadn't moved away all those years ago, and that he still had a way to contact them. He missed his old friend.

"Not bad kid," Mr Morisawa said, breaking him from his thoughts. "You're 50 for 50. You really are one hell of an All Might fan." Mr Morisawa took another sip of tea, having become more and more relaxed as the two talked. He and the kid had hit it off far better than he ever would have expected. "Though, we should probably get around to that pact now."

Izuku flinched as his face went slightly red. In all the excitement he had felt over discussing All Might with him, he had completely forgotten about the pact. "R-right. So, what'll it be?"

"Hmm," Mr Morisawa began, thinking through his desires. "Think you could make me wealthy beyond imagination? It'd be nice if I never had to work again."

From what rias had told him before, that was one of the most common wishes around. He flipped open his special cell phone to see what he could do. In addition to helping him locate the desires of those who longed to make a pact, it also held a feature that allowed him to calculate the costs of one's wish for a summon. It was quite the handy app.

As he looked at the result, his face paled. He did not like what he was seeing. "Um, it…it says here that the cost of that would…would be your life."

"What!?"

"I'm sorry! That's what it says!" Izuku began to panic. He didn't want to take someone's life! What kind of trade off was that!?

"That's heartbreaking kid! But," Mr Morisawa paused. "Sat I did wish for that. Just how would I die?"

Izuku's eyes began to bulge outward as his face froze in shock. Did he really think it would be worth it? Much as he wished not to, his eyes drifted back down to his phone. "Um, th-this says that you would d-die as soon as the money appeared," Izuku stammered out, still in disbelief.

"Damn it all! So much for that dream," Mr Morisawa said, now slumping backward into his chair.

Izuku understood how he felt. He had gone through almost the same thing long ago.

"Well…how about something else?!" He said as he suddenly lurched forward, shocking Izuku at his sudden change in mood. "How about getting me a lovely harem of babes! A delectable feast of female flesh for my lonely nights!?"

Izuku just stared at him, slightly dumbstruck. That was definitely not something he was expecting. Almost robotically, he entered the wish into his phone, and the result ended up the same way.

"For real!? I wouldn't even get a single moment to enjoy them!?" Mr Morisawa had burst into tears at this point. "Damn it all! Is my life really worth so little? I wish I wasn't even born…"

Izuku patted his shoulder sympathetically. He'd said those things to himself before, even if it was never over something like…well this. "It's alright. We can keep trying until we find something. Maybe we can keep talking until something comes to mind?"

Mr Morisawa, tears still flowing down his cheeks, nodded his head somewhat dejectedly. The two passed the time talking more about heroes, Mr Morisawa's mood slowly recovering. As the night passed by, the two were smiling again, and then, Mr Morisawa had a new wish.

---

When Izuku showed up to the club room after the next day's training session, he saw Rias staring at him oddly, a single eyebrow raised in complete silence. Izuku was deeply worried that he had screwed up somehow. Rias looked like she may have been upset with him. They were the only one's in the room, so Izuku felt the full force of her gaze.

"Izu," she began, sounding somewhat foreboding.

"Yes?" He squeaked out.

"You spent the entire night with your client, discussing heroes and doing trivia games before finally reaching a pact."

Izuku felt a bit ashamed. The two had ended up talking almost until morning.

"And the pact you two agreed on was simply for him to have someone to talk to?"

"Yes," as the night passed, Mr Morisawa seemed far more at ease talking with Izuku than he was with anything else. At the end of the night, he merely wished that he could talk to Izuku for just a bit longer, something that had cost him almost nothing. It was a wish Izuku was more than happy to fulfill, having fun talking with the man about heroes at length.

"...After each pact, a client is asked to fill out a questionnaire, asking how satisfied they were with the service provided. They write their thoughts on the back of their flyer, letting us know what they thought about our services." She then held out a flyer, one with Mr Morisawa's handwriting.

"Honestly, that was the most fun I've had in a long while. My life has felt empty for so long that it felt like nothing could truly help. I hope I can see Midoriya Izuku again. And hopefully come up with a better pact next time."

Izuku stared at the writing, stunned as he read through it. He knew that Mr Morisawa had said that he'd craved social interactions, but he had no clue that he needed it that badly. He felt a warmth spread throughout him though. He had managed to help the man.

"I've never seen a response like this before. It's thrown me for a bit of a loop. I suppose that's why you looked nervous when you came in. I had to look a bit imposing, didn't I?"

Izuku simply nodded, a small flush to his cheek. He felt relieved though. It sounded like she wasn't actually upset with him.

'He really is cute,' Rias thought to herself before clearing her throat. "For us Devils, the pacts we enter can help empower us. Even with the oddest of wishes, we rarely, if ever, get truly close to our clients. Our affairs are strictly business, nothing more. And yet," Rias wore a troubled frown before it morphed into a small, but proud, smile. "You seem to have made a connection with your client Izu, and it's made him far more happy than he was before. He gained nothing material, but still left with more." She locked eyes with him, her smile growing more and more. "You're definitely an interesting one Izu, though I shouldn't really be surprised by now. Keep up the good work."

Izuku smiled back as both Koneko and Yumi materialized back into the room, both having finished their night's pacts. It wasn't long before everyone began discussing their nights together, Izuku thankful that Rias hadn't asked what he had received as payment.

That color variant of All Might figure #61825 would stay his secret.

---

Izuku had found himself in a somewhat comfortable routine over the next few weeks. The temperature had begun slowly shifting, normal for the beginning of September, and he made sure to make the most of it. He would spend most of his days training himself physically to obtain One For All, and one day each week enhancing his skills as a Devil through summons. He had even gotten to see Mr Morisawa again, much to the older man's joy.

Thanks to all of that, plus Rias' and Yumi's help, he was now able to summon his Sacred Gear for longer periods of time. He wished that someone knew more about it, but they had nothing to go on. Despite this, he made sure to keep trying as hard as he could.

It was why he was jogging alone through the park near his home. Today may have been the day both All Might and Rias had told him to rest, he felt restless. He was lagging behind everyone else, so he had to do something, even if it was something as simple as this. He had nothing to do otherwise. Akeno, Yumi, and Koneko had their own errands for the day, and Rias was off in some sort of meeting. From what she had told him before leaving, she was going to ask others more knowledgeable than her if they could discover more about his Sacred Gear.

Much as he wished to join her, wanting to know what this gauntlet was truly capable of, he was unable to. Because of that, he decided to go for a jog to try and clear his thoughts. He also had to fulfill another contract tonight though, so he couldn't be out for too long.

The more he jogged, the more his kind raced, as per usual. He had no idea what was in store tonight. What would he have to do? Would his client have experiences with Devils before? Were they after something he wouldn't be able to deliver? Would they want him to do something nefarious? He'd gotten lucky so far, but that fear lingered in his mind.

Even though he felt himself drifting further into his mind, he was still aware of his surroundings, his senses as a Devil more potent than they ever were as a human. If he wasn't, he would've collided with the person who was jogging from the other direction.

She was a slender looking young woman, looking about his age. She was clearly shorter than him, though still taller than Koneko, with short, dark purple hair that went past her ears. He couldn't tell if it was the light or not, but there seemed to be a pattern in her hair, resembling soundwaves on both sides of her head. Her eyes looked rather unique, being more triangular than rounded, and with dark pupils.

The most interesting thing about her, and what Izuku caught himself staring at, was her ears. While otherwise normal, both ended in what looked like long headphone jacks, dangling from her earlobe. He'd never seen a quirk like hers before.

She had clearly noticed his staring, given the clearly annoyed gallery she was giving him, having stopped after just narrowly avoiding a collision. "There a problem?"

If he couldn't tell she was irritated with him simply by the look on her face, the tone of her voice left no question as to how she felt.

"N-no! N-not at all!" He squeaked out.

"Sure," she huffed out, looking like she wanted to throw him into the nearest tree. "Just keep your eyes to yourself," she said as she began resuming her jog, her annoyance clear even in her stride.

At least until she tripped.

'Crap. This'll hurt,' she thought to herself as she braced for the inevitable impact.

One that never came.

Izuku had managed to catch her, having grabbed her arm as she began falling forward. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

The young woman just stared at him, her expression unreadable, before righting herself as she turned away, not wanting to let him see her flushed face. "Yeah, I'm fine." 'Good one Kyoka. You just made yourself look like an ass in front of some rando."

"I'm, uh…sorry for staring."

She turned back to him, surprised at not only his apology, but also at his blushing face. She found it kind of adorable. "Whatever. Don't worry about it," she said, trying to keep a cool exterior.

"I was, uh…just looking at your ears," he blurted out before cringing inwardly. Great, he had made himself sound like a complete creep.

"That so?" She asked, eyes beginning to narrow. "There a problem with them?" He wouldn't have been the first clown to try and make fun of her for her quirk, and he would definitely not be the first to know firsthand how much she could hurt him with it.

"No! No! Of course not!" He exclaimed, aging his hands in front of himself as he tried to placate the girl's growing anger. "I was just wondering if they were part of your quirk!"

"They are my quirk," she nearly growled out, starting to get annoyed with him. Guy saved her from falling on her face and was now talking smack about her quirk? Not cool. "Something wrong with that?"

"No! I think they're cool!"

She looked at him perplexed. This guy was a bit of an oddball. Still, he sounded genuine. It wasn't often someone found her earphone jacks to be a little weird. Just because her earlobes extended out into long fleshy jacks didn't make them creepy damn it.

Though he said they were cool. Maybe he was alright.

"Thanks," she said, fighting back a small blush. "Jiro."

"Huh?" He asked intelligently.

"My name," she said with a slightly amused smirk. Guy seemed like a bit of a dork. Probably didn't talk to too many people. No wonder he floundered his sentences like that. Maybe didn't talk to girls much either. "Name's Jiro Kyoka. Your's?"

"Oh! I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you," he said, giving her a small bow.

'He's a polite dork at least,' she thought. "Likewise. So what're you doing out here?" The guy seemed nice, Might as well talk to him a little bit.

"Just training for U.A."

"Really? Same here," she said, her smirk morphing into a small smile. "You seem cool. Hoping I'll see you there.:

"Uh, yeah. Me too," he stuttered out, his face still slightly red, much to her silent amusement.

'Definitely doesn't talk to girls much.' "Wish you luck Green. Got to go back to my workout," she said as she began jogging, turning back to him one last time. "See you at U.A.:

"Y-yeah. See you." She kept up her smoke as she jogged away, completely unaware of his growing blush as he watched her jog away. He shook his head rapidly to try and shake his thoughts before resuming his own jog, his face alight as he tried to shake the image of Jiro's shaking rear out of his mind.

He had been noticing that lately. His eyes moving to his female classmates more and more, and definitely to his fellow peerage members. And now he'd come into contact with another cool girl who was quite attractive.

'What's wrong with me?"

---

It didn't take him too long to make it to his summoner's home. While he had grown slightly in power since he began, he still wasn't able to teleport himself there, much to his annoyance. He hoped this job wouldn't take too long. Rias was going to the beach with him tomorrow in lieu of All Might to keep track of his progress. She had done so before, and had proven herself just as strict a Taskmaster as All Might could be.

The home he arrived at was rather small, not much to look at, but had a welcoming presence to it. "Hello? I'm the Devil you summoned. Sorry I took so long, I'm still kinda new at this."

The door opened, revealing a man and a woman with slightly tired eyes but very kind was kind of reminded of his mom just looking at them. The man's light brown hair was cut short, and he had a small amount of stubble on his face. The woman's hair was auburn colored, parting to both sides of her face, and she had what looked like permanent blush marks on each cheek. "Welcome to our home," she said cheerfully, clapping her hands together. "It's alright, especially if you're new. Would you like something to eat? It must have been quite the trip."

"N-no, I'm fine. Thanks though," he replied, touched by her kindness.

"We should probably introduce ourselves," the man said, sounding both tired and energetic at once. "I'm Uraraka Kenshi, this is my wife Hanako. Nice to meetcha kid," he said.

"It's nice to meet you guys too," Izuku replied. This was easily his best first impression yet.

"We should probably get to the reason we asked for ya son," Kenshi began. "We run a construction company see, and…well times have been a bit tough."

Izuku sympathized with the two.

"A lot of our land nearby's gotten torn up something fierce. Got no idea why. Been trying everything we can to try and clean everything up, but we haven't been able to afford to hire anyone to help us finish. Then we got that flyer earlier, and it just felt right," he explained, bit of an accent peaking through his speech.

That didn't sound too hard. It kind of reminded him of his beach clean up. Maybe it would be similar. "Yeah, I think I can help with that," he said, willing to check his phone for the payment later. The couple sighed in relief.

"Thank God," Hanako sighed out, thankfully not triggering a severe headache in Izuku by evoking His name. It only ever happened if he himself did it, or someone did it toward him, like by saying 'God bless you'. Bit of an odd loophole, but he'd take not feeling like his brain was stuck in a blender. "We should be able to get it all done tonight if we're lucky. You ready young man?"

"You bet!"

These two seemed nice. There was no way he wouldn't try his hardest to help them out.

---

It had taken a few hours, but the three of them were ultimately able to clear the land, much to the Uraraka's relief. Izuku definitely had his work on Takoba to thank for how quickly he was able to help out. When he asked what had been tearing through the field though, he got a shrug. The best Kenshi could tell him was that he had been hearing some odd noises over the past month, and no matter what he did, he could never catch whatever it was that was making the mess. Strangely enough, the noises had stopped just the other week, though the mess remained.

Izuku was just as stumped as them. Could it have been someone with a quirk who lost control? Maybe some kind of animal? Some supernatural creature having a laugh? From what Rias had told him, that was more common than one would think.

Regardless, the three were making their way back to the Uraraka home, tired yet satisfied. "Hope you don't mind if we invite you to stay for dinner Midoriya," Hanako said, having learned his name over the course of their clean-up. "It's the least we could do for all your hard work."

Part of Izuku wanted to say no. He needed to get some rest for tomorrow, even though he knew that being a Devil now would help with that. Though he did remember that a pact required payment. Maybe a meal could count? He still hadn't checked the phone he had with him.

Before he could do so, he found himself tripping over a rock in his path.

'Of course this happened.'

He closed his eyes and steeled himself for the impact, falling forward as stiffly as a plank of wood.

He became very confused when his movement stopped entirely.

As he opened his eyes back up, he was surprised to find himself now floating.

"Are you okay?"

Izuku simply stopped and stared at the source of the voice, his eyes wide and cheeks reddened.

She looked remarkably similar to the Uraraka's, so he could only assume that she was their daughter. She was short, though still taller than Koneko was, and probably a bit taller than that Jiro girl he had run into earlier. Her hair was similar to her mother's, though styled more into a bowl cut with her bangs parting down both sides of her face just like Hanako's. Her eyes were a rich, chocolate brown, and she looked like she had inherited her mother's blush marks.

What made her stand out to Izuku was the cat-like paw pads she had on each finger, even one on both thumbs. Combined with her choice of pink shirt, black pants and matching loafers, and her wide and kind smile, Izuku was struck by how cute she was.

"Um, th-thanks," he stuttered out, wondering why and how he kept running into girls that made him go red.

"No problem at all," she said, her voice bubbly and kind. "Sorry for using my quirk on you without permission like that, but I'm pretty sure you'd rather not land on your face."

"Y-yeah. I suppose," he responded, thankful that he had somehow gotten used to talking to girls lately, otherwise he was sure he wouldn't be able to say a word.

The young girl said a single word, "Release," with her fingers pressed together, leaving Izuku with his feet back on solid ground.

"Anyway, name's Uraraka Ochako. Nice to meetcha!"

Uraraka Ochako

Quirk:Zero Gravity

Any object she touches with all five of her fingers has its gravity taken away from it! She has a weight limit to it though, and should she go over, she'll throw up.

"Um, I'm-I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you too."

"Ochako!" Hanako cried out, looking pleasantly surprised. "When did you get here?"

"Just a bit ago," she responded. "I saw you guys walking with Midoriya here, and thought I'd catch up with ya." She said, gesturing to Izuku.

"We thought you'd be too busy with your job tonight," Kenshi said, sounding just as surprised as his wife.

"Got done with it faster than expected," she replied, looking proud of herself before beginning to pout, her cheeks puffing up. Izuku was reminded of a chipmunk at that moment. It was pretty cute. "Is this about whatever's been tearing up the land? I told you that I'd help! You didn't have to hire someone else."

"We know," Hanako replied. "But you've been so busy for the past month with all your new work, we didn't think it'd be right to ask you to do more."

"It wouldn't have mattered. I'd help you two out in a heartbeat," she said, managing to smile at the two while still pouting somehow. "Guessing it's already done?"

"Pretty much," Kenshi replied, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly with a small flush to his face. "We were just on our way back to have dinner. We figured it'd be good payment for him after the great job he did."

"Well, that does sound nice," she said, still pouting slightly. "Dinner's kinda the reason I came out here actually," she admitted, her put having morphed in a slightly embarrassed smile as she rubbed the back of her head, mirroring her father. "After getting done with my pact, I figured I'd come out here to surprise you two and have dinner. Hope that's alright."

Wait. Pact? And they had mentioned jobs she'd been doing. Was she a…?

"How about you , Midoriya? You ready for some of my mom's home cooking?" Ochako interrupted his thoughts, her face nearly up against his as she asked.

'SO CLOSE!' "Uh, s-sure," he said, feeling lightheaded as she kept her race so close to his own. "B-but…" he began, catching her slightly off guard. "Y-you mentioned a pact, right? Are-are you a…?" He left his question unfinished, but judging by the smile she sent him, he understood what he meant.

"Yup! I'm a Devil too. See? Boop!" With a merry smile, she pressed her finger to her nose, exposing her Devil wings to him. Izuku stared at them in awe. He never thought he would run into another Devil outside of the rest of the peerage. Especially so quickly!

Both Hanako and Kenshi chuckled at the situation. They seemed to find some enjoyment out of this.

---

It didn't take long for the group to return to the Uraraka homestead, Izuku and Ochako lightly chatting the entire time, both Hankao and Kenshi keeping silent as they watched their daughter befriend the boy. The two found out that they had a few things in common outside of being Devils. Both were big fans of heroes, with her personal favorite being the Rescue Hero 13. There was also the fact that she too was aiming for U.A.'s Hero Course.

"You're going there too!?" He asked excitedly.

"Yup! I've wanted to be a hero since I was little! I've even been training my quirk super hard for it!" She responded, equally as excited. "I've been practicing with tons of big machinery on a nearby junkyard, pushing myself more to see what I can do!"

"Your quirk's pretty amazing Uraraka!" He exclaimed as he started writing in his notebook. There was no way he wouldn't keep it on him at all times from now on, just in case.

"Where'd you get that?"

Both Kenshi and Hanako watched with a smile. Seeing their daughter strike up a friendship so easily was wonderful to see. And judging by how nervous he seemed earlier, it was very welcome to see him come out of his shell a bit more. The two ate their meals in peace, watching as Izuku asked questions about their daughter's quirk before Ochako struck up a new conversation.

"So how long have you been a Devil, Midoriya?" She asked curiously. "I've only been one for less than a month now, so I'm still getting used to it all."

"A little over a month," he admitted somewhat bashfully. "It's…still a lot to take in sometimes."

"Tell me about it."

"So," he began again, a question having been burning in his mind for a while now. "How did you know I was a Devil?" She had said 'too' before, so she'd clearly figured it out.

"I kinda figured you were one," she admitted as she took another bite of food. "They've been talking about hiring a Devil for a while now to help with that bit of land. I kept offering, but they kept telling me that I had other kinds of work to do," she said with a mild glare at her parents, who simply smiled cheekily at her before they too took another bite of food. Ochako just rolled her eyes in response, a happy smile on her face. "So when I got here and saw you, I put two and two together."

Izuku was impressed by that.

The rest of the dinner was spent with the two conversing more and more, even the subject of their work as Devil's was brought up. Izuku had even, rather bashfully, admitted at one point that his power was too low to teleport, much to her shock.

He thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Uraraka's, but like all good things, it came to an end. It had already gotten dark out, so he knew he had to get home soon. He didn't want his mom to worry after all. Before he could leave however, he got one final request from the Uraraka's. One that took him by surprise.

"You want me to walk her home!?"

"Daddy!" She protested cheeks alight. "I can make it home just fine on my own!"

"I'd rather have someone clearly trustworthy escort my daughter home than have her go out on her own," he stated, firmly rooted in his decision.

"Besides, they still haven't caught whoever's been committing those awful attacks," Hanako said, getting to the real point. "We'd rather be certain you get home safe Ochako."

It seems there was a bit of a protective air in the Uraraka household. Izuku couldn't exactly fault them though. He knew his mom felt the same.

Even then, walking a girl home after just meeting her? Wasn't that kind of like a…a date? Would it really be like a…

"Would you die for me?"

Izuku shook his head at the thought. Besides, Ochako was a nice girl, there was no way someone as cool as her would go for a loser like him.

It took some convincing, but Ochako was convinced to let Izuku escort her home. Surprisingly, she didn't live too far away from his apartment, so it wasn't like it was too far out of his way. Both teens had to fight back their blushes as they were bid farewell, much to the Uraraka's amusement.

Ochako thankfully had her own bike, so Izuku was spared the embarrassment of having her ride right behind him. He was sure his head might explode if that happened. Banishing the thought of her chest pressed against his back, he followed her all the way to her apartment building, the two chatting on the way. When asked, Ochako explained that her parents had helped her find an apartment close to U.A., to make sure she wouldn't have to travel too far should she make it in.

He thought it was a good idea too, her parent's home being much farther away from U.A. would make daily travel an absolute nightmare, though part of him felt worried that she was living by herself. Ochako made sure to let him know that the area was actually quite safe, being patrolled by heroes often. Even then, as a Devil, he was able to protect herself should she need to.

It took a bit of time, but the two eventually made it to her apartment building. Ochako managed to surprise him just as they arrived, asking if the two could exchange numbers so they could keep in contact with one another. She told him that they may belong to different peerages, but there was no reason they couldn't be friends, which Izuku found he couldn't exactly refute. Still, to have another girl ask him for his number led him back down the road to fighting back blushing, a road he feared he may never win at this rate. She promised to keep in touch as she finally entered her building, leaving Izuku dumbfounded by everything that had happened.

He spent the rest of his trip back home in a bit of a daze, just aware enough to pay attention to his surroundings. What little thought he could still muster unoccupied by meeting such a nice girl was hoping he wasn't too late getting home. He didn't want to worry his mom too much.

Knowing her, she'd probably call emergency services to look for him before too long.

After finally making it home, and assuring his worried mom that everything was fine, he finally managed to make it to his bed before the events of the entire day finally sunk in.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

'AHH! I TALKED TO TWO CUTE GIRLS TODAY AND ONE EVEN GAVE ME HER NUMBER!'

With that, Izuku passed out onto his bed.

---

Rias was definitely pleased with his progress so far. Not just with his work on the beach, but in his work as a Devil as well. He had gotten rave reviews on each one of his jobs, impressing her immensely.

Not that it stopped her from pushing him as hard as she could when they made it to the beach.

Izuku was now making his way home, hoping that a nice bath would soothe some of his aches away. He'd be back at it tomorrow, and he was still planning on doing some small exercises before bed, but the small reprieve would be welcome.

"AIEEEE!"

"Huh?" He stopped his jog, hearing a sudden scream. He found the source of it rather quickly. A young girl, not too far away from him had managed to trip, her arms stretched out on the ground as she lay face first. Judging by the clothes she was wearing, she appeared to be a nun of some sort. Sprawled before was an open suitcase, its items having been scattered thanks to the impact.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he approached her without hesitation, his hand outstretched to her.

"Owie," he heard her say as she began lifting herself up. "Why did I have to trip like that?" As she lifted herself higher, she saw his outstretched hand before reaching for it, letting him help her stand back up. "Thank you so much. You're very kind."

Before Izuku could say anything back, a stray wind had managed to catch the veil that had been covering her head, much to her dismay. As her full face was revealed to him, Izuku couldn't help but stare in a bit of wonder, even as his hand reflexively caught the veil before it could go too far. She was beautiful, just as much so as the other girls he had found himself meeting lately. She seemed to be the same height as Ochako, with long flowing blonde hair. As he continued to stare, he caught her eyes, every bit as green as his own. He also noticed that she was clearly not Japanese in origin, at least not looking so. She looked like she may have been of European descent.

"I…uh…," he began stuttering out, looking away with a blush as she ended up staring back at him. "I can-can help you with that if you need it," he pointed at the open suitcase in question. He had little trouble talking with Ochako yesterday, at least after a while, so why was he still freezing up and stammering whenever he talked to a cute girl for the first time?

"Oh! Thank you, you're more kind than I thought," she responded. As they began picking up everything that had escaped her suitcase, Izuku could stop himself from glancing at her every so often. She had this aura around her. She just seemed so innocent and pure, almost like a child seeing the world for the first time. He was so distracted, he ended up picking up something else from the pile. Something that made his hand burn.

"Ow!"

When he looked at it, he saw that it was a silver cross necklace. That definitely explained the pain he was feeling.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," he responded. "Just…just hit a rock by accident." He cringed at his lame excuse, but she seemed to accept it. He tried his hardest to get the necklace back into her suitcase, holding it by the chain to try and lessen the pain it caused him.

It only helped so much.

"Thank you very much!" She said gratefully, smiling warmly at him.

"Y-yeah. It-it wasn't a problem," he replied, hiding the hand that had picked up the necklace in case it was actually damaged. 'It feels numb'

"My name is Asia Argento. What's yours?"

"Huh?" He said intelligently before his mind caught back up. "Oh! I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she said, bowing her head toward him slightly before flashing a somewhat embarrassed smile to him. She looked somewhat troubled right now, though Izuku couldn't guess as to why. "Um…do you-do you think you could help me?"

"Sure. What's wrong." It didn't matter right now that he should probably go home. Someone was asking him for help.

"Well," she began, a blush now overtaking her face. "I was assigned to a church here in this city, but I…kind of got lost." She admitted rather adorably, clearly embarrassed about not knowing the city's layout. "Do you…do you think you could help?"

'A church? The only one nearby I can think of is that abandoned one on top of the hill near Korusanto.' Unsure if that was the one she meant, he asked her for a more specific description. What she said made him quite certain that it was the one she was looking for. Why would she be assigned to an abandoned church? "I can take you there. It's not too far away."

"You can? Oh bless you, bless you kind sir! This feels like an act of His divine grace!" She exclaimed, making the sign of the cross over her heart.

Cringing slightly, but thankful that he wasn't being affected too badly by it, Izuku began leading Asia to the church, though not before she somehow managed to trip again.

---

The two ended up speaking with each other on the way. It didn't take long before Izuku began asking questions that had been lingering in his mind for a while.

"So, you're…you're not really from around here, are you?"

"No, not really," she said with a small blush. "I got reassigned to the church here rather recently. And…well, it's been hard to find someone to give me directions. I can't speak Japanese very well, and I keep getting lost and asking people for help, but I can't really understand what they're saying half the time," she said as she clutched her hands to her chest.

Izuku wondered how that could be, she sounded like she was incredibly fluent in the language, before remembering one of the things Rias had told him the night he had officially joined the peerage.

"Another skill we Devils hold is the gift of Language. Thanks to it, we're able to converse with everyone in the world, which definitely helps us with our work. Anyone who hears you speak will hear it in their native tongue, and you will hear the same from them."

It was a handy ability. Izuku had been proficient in English before, but after becoming a Devil he found he could speak to his teacher in the language as fluently as if he had been born knowing the language.

It was limited to spoken tongue however. He would not be able to write anything down in another language unless he knew it personally.

He just wished Akeno hadn't called it "The Devil's Tongue' with that creepy laugh. He also wished that Rias hadn't laughed with her!

The two kept talking as they continued their travel, finding themselves more comfortable with each other the more they spoke. As they got closer to their final destination, they heard the sound of a child's cry. Without a moment's hesitation, both teens ran to find the source.

They found a young boy lying on a nearby sidewalk, crying due to the rather large scrape on his knee. It was clear that he had ended up falling and hurting himself. "Hey, it's okay," Asia spoke before Izuku could say anything. "You're a big kid. You shouldn't need to cry over a little wound like this," she said gently, leading the boy's crying to slow as he looked at her in confusion. "Don't worry," she said as she raised her hands over his knee. "I promise that you'll be just fine."

After she spoke, two small, silver rings manifested themselves onto her middle fingers, a light green glow emanating from them. Before Izuku's very eyes, the boy's wound began to close itself, and in almost no time at all, it was gone.

"There. You see," she said with a warm smile. "It's all better now."

"Wow!" The child exclaimed, looking at her in both awe and a bit of reverence. "That was so cool. Your quirk is amazing Miss!"

"Oh, it's no quirk at all," she said as she stood up. "This is a gift from God himself."

Slightly confused, but still grateful, the boy ran off, thanking her for helping him.

"That was amazing," Izuku said suddenly, making her jump. She had nearly forgotten that he was there. "You can heal people like it's nothing," he said in awe.

She blushed at him. She was not used to receiving praise. "Th-thank you Izuku," she said, somewhat confusing him. Did she just refer to him by his first name? They'd only just met. "I've been blessed with this ability for all my life. I make sure to use it however I can so that others won't suffer," she said, her blushing smile briefly replaced with a loaned frown. He didn't know why, nor would he pry, but it seemed like her power had made her suffer at one point or another.

Clenching his fist at the thought of someone as kind as her being hurt in some way, Izuku continued leading her to the church.

It didn't take much longer to reach it, it being less than twenty minutes away from where the two had met. They were just near the edge of Mustufau, near the Korusanto ward, the church in plain view atop a nearby hill.

He frowned at its appearance. It looked far too run down to still be operating. It looked like what he once suspected a Devil's hideout to resemble. Decrepit, aged, and clearly falling apart, it didn't seem like somewhere a nun would be sent. And yet, there were lights on inside. Someone was clearly there.

"We made it!" She said excitedly, looking far more joyous over the church than he did. "I was afraid I would never find it."

Izuku had a bad feeling about this church, and it wasn't just his Devil side screaming danger at him. Something about it seemed off. Maybe he just didn't want to leave someone like Asia behind in a place like this. "I should probably go home now," he said. The foreboding aura surrounding the church was beginning to give him the creeps.

"Are you sure?" Asia asked, looking like she wanted him to stay by her side. "I know you've already done so much for me already, but at least let me offer you something inside. A cup of tea maybe?"

"I…," he began before pausing. Part of him wanted to keep her away from that church at all cost. But he couldn't. She had been assigned here after all, so this is where she was supposed to go.

Right?

"...I should really go home," he said to her, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. "I don't want my mom to worry about me, and I've got school tomorrow," he finished lamely.

"I see," she said forlornly, forcing a smile onto her face. "Thank you for all your help today Izuku. I really do appreciate it." She then turned to the church before ascending the hill, not looking back a single time.

Izuku watched her as she entered the building before finally leaving. There was a lot on his mind now. Not only did he feel conflicted about leaving Asia there, but that power she had shown had not once left his mind.

There was no doubt. Asia Argento had a Sacred Gear.

Izuku took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, before he began jogging back home. He was sure Rias would want to know about something like this. He wondered just how she would react.

Here's the preview!

Izuku:Did I really do the right thing? Just letting her go like that?

Rias:There's a new Sacred Gear in town. We should really keep a closer eye on things from here on out.

Izuku:Okay. Wait! WAH! WHAT IS THAT THING!

Rias:We do more than just forge pacts Izu. Sometimes, we have to hunt.

Izuku:I never thought one of those would be so scary. Wait, is that someone in it's arms?

Rias:Hope you're ready Izu. Things are about to get a bit trickier from here.

Next time! Stray Devils and Psychotic Priests

Izuku:Wait, Argento? What are you doing here?

Rias:Go Beyond!

Both:PLUS ULTRA!

This actually got done a bit sooner than I expected. It's also a fair bit longer than I expected. I've discovered the more I keep writing that I'm more than a bit of a windbag.

The talk between All Might and Rias may be a bit short for some people's taste, but I saw no real reason to extend it much longer than it ended up being. There were some bits that were cut out, but that was them talking about Izuku, and I'll probably write a flashback to that later on.

Also, remember when I mentioned that I made practice chapters? In the original version, I completely forgot to have them tell Rias about One For All, but she's written as if she knows about it later. I am all of the dumb.

Don't expect in-depth looks at the different pacts Izuku may forge. Special attention was given to this one due to it being his first, but future ones will be more plot relevant.

I also started reading Chainsaw Man before writing this chapter, and when I hit the idea of someone calling Izuku the Bike Messenger Devil, it was too good to resist. My sense of humor is dumb.

Some people might be disappointed with the(rather obvious) reveal of Izuku having the Boosted Gear. I get it. Stories like that, where Issei is essentially replaced, are a dime a dozen, but it's ultimately what I settled on. He's not the only one who's been replaced either, you'll find out soon enough. And who knows. Maybe I'll find a way to let him make an appearance.

A frequent question that's been asked is the whereabouts of Bakugo. I always meant to imply that Bakugo was one of the friends who moved away, but I made it more clear here. I really should've mentioned the Bakugo's by name. My bad. We'll see them all soon enough of course, probably when the entrance exams begin.

I will tell you all now though, some character histories and backstories will be different due to this little fusion of worlds. I can't have everything be the same as it was in both canons, or things will get dull.

Which brings us to Ochako. Yup, she's already a Devil in this story. In my original plans, it would've followed more along the lines of dinocam's story with her becoming part of Rias' peerage, but I decided to change that. It shouldn't really be hard to figure out who's peerage she belongs to.

Jiro was mainly brought in because she's a favorite of mine. I think that's mainly because I was a bit of a punk when I was younger. It also shows that Devils are creatures of lust, something Izuku is slowly learning, but he definitely won't be a creeper who throws himself at women. Or some kind of rapist. Because no. Fuck that.

And at last, we have the arrival of the nun with both hair and heart of gold. We're moving a little quickly here at the moment, though there'll probably be a few chapters between the end of this arc and the start of the next. I like filling in the lines.

Finally, I am still blown away by the kindness and generosity I'm seeing from everyone. On alone, this story has(at the time I'm writing this note) 114 favorites, 163 follows, and 26 reviews. Meanwhile, on Ao3, it's got(again at the time of this writing) 129 kudos, 53 bookmarks, and nearly 3000 hits.

I still find it hard to believe. You guys are making me want to try my hardest to make this all truly feel like I've earned it, so I hope I'm able to do so.

Till next time. Remember to be good, be kind.