Green Cloud Restaurant – Yavin Street -
Izuku was looking in apprehension as the young girl Eri that had dove for his arms the previous night and all but fallen unconscious as soon as he brought her inside his Restaurant was being looked over by Recovery Girl, Detective Tsukauchi and a young woman from the Child Protection offices Saito Yaoyorozu took along, and poor Eri was going along the entire thing only thanks to the surprisingly strong hold her petite hand had on the Chef's.
"It may be strange to say it, but you actually did well in calling us before feeding or even washing her." Recovery Girl said while gently studying the girl in Izuku's arms.
Eri had been issued a kid set of bra and panties to hide her modesty and let the others give her a full-body check-up, and the fact that the kid couldn't even recognize what those things were was already a big red flag for those experts.
"Malnutrition is evident, not just with how easy it is to count her ribs, she is severely underweight, and those scars are surgical, meaning that somebody actually removed pieces of her body and had those regrow too fast for them to fully heal properly. Just as the kid herself told us." The Healing Hero muttered while jutting down notes.
"The sheer amount of dirt on her skin goes beyond what a child can achieve, same goes for the old sores under her feet. Even her skin is way too pale under the layer of old dirt covering her, skin like this looks like she never saw the sun at all! This is such a clean-cut case of Mishandling and Uncaring of a child's well-being it's almost comical, in a very twisted sense." the woman from Child Protection added, frowning.
"She says her father did this, and I cannot detect lies, even if this level of disregard for one's child looks nearby insane, as if done on porpose out of hatred." Tsukauchi was there to record everything to use against the Chisaki guy Eri said was her father.
"About that, are we sure he is actually her father?" Izuku asked.
"I know it's hard to believe, but out there there are bad parents, Mister Midoriya." the woman from Child Protection answered, sighing in dismay.
"Can't we try all the same? Please?" Izuku asked, he could not tell them the System suggested the DNA test, so he had to tread carefully.
"We will need to find this Chisaki first, and no records about him seem to come out in any search I do, just like the kid's, as if she simply popped into being out of nowhere one day." Tsukauchi answered.
"That also worries me, there is a chance the kid didn't get all the mandatory shots, even if with all the surgery she has been subjected to could imply at least SOME went administered just to keep her healthy, for whatever reason they needed to work on her like a glorified butcher and so did the absolute minimum to keep her alive. But I will need a blood sample both for those tests and the DNA match to give a proper report." Recovery Girl said.
"No!" Eri yelled while hugging Izuku tighter and burying her face in his shoulder.
"Sssh, it's okay I am here." the Chef muttered gently while gently patting her head.
"Needles hurt! I don't wanna! I don't wanna! I don-"
"Done!" Recovery Girl said with a wide smile and proudly showing the blood sample she took.
"...uh?" the kid asked in wonder.
"I am good, dearie. I am very good." the Pro Hero said in smug pride.
"Ooooh." Eri clearly seconded that notion with the awed look he gave the woman.
"I think we took enough notes and pictures and samples of young Eri to build a case. You can actually wash and feed her now, she deserves it." Tsukauchi declared receiving nods from the two women.
"Just don't work your Magic yet on her scars, wait after we are done skinning alive her 'Father' for this." Recovery Girl added with a wink.
"Oh! Okay. So she can stay with me?" Izuku asked.
"It is a special situation, as the kid latched onto you and seems unwilling to let go, but I checked your apartment all the same and can testify it being safe for a kid her age, as long as you keep her out of the kitchen, for the foreseeable future I see no reason to not leave her here. You sure your mother won't mind staying over to help watch over her as you work?" The woman from Child Protection answered.
"She was even too happy about it, honestly." Izuku admitted.
"Okay then. Give Her a bath, something nice to eat and wear then, and PLEASE keep her safe." she answered.
"Have no fear, nobody will hurt her." he promised.
"Good."
"Then I say we can leave young Eri with her new friends and go preparing for the case against her dad, all okay with this?" Tsukauchi asked.
"No issue for me."
"Me neither," Recovery girl added.
"Good, we'll be on our way then," the Detective answered, personally accompanying the two women outside and towards the parking lot.
"I'll be going too, Izuku." Saito said.
"Thank you for the help, I don't know how I could have helped Eri otherwise, thank God you had the brainwave to tell me to not immediately fix her up." Izuku admitted, sighing.
"We needed them to see how badly she was treated first, otherwise that animal could have had an easier time forcing you to hand her over." the other answered.
"I understand. And thank you for all those gifts too, I didn't expect you to go this far when I asked for something decent for Eri to wear."
"Eeeh, when you called me Rei-chan was right next to me and heard everything, those several bags of clothes for little Eri are just a small part of all the things she demanded me to bring, Rei-chan went a bit overboard in shopping, but at least clothes and toys won't be a problem for a while." Saito admitted sheepishly.
"Thank you, Saito-san."
"It's okay, it is for a good cause,"
"And...Remember to come here tonight, it's important." Izuku said with a sigh.
"Whatever revelation you have to make it's clearly weighing on your conscience, are you really that afraid?" the man asked, worried.
"Yes. I want this weight off my shoulders, but I am also scared." Izuku admitted, and to his surprise Eri hugged him hard as a show of support.
"Thank you, Eri-chan." he answered, touched.
"You really look nice together, take care for now. I'll see you again tonight." Saito answered with a warm smile before leaving the two alone.
"Let's go, Eri-chan. A warm bath, some new clothes and a bit of food. Then off to bed for a nap." Izuku declared while taking the girl to the flat above.
"Okay." the kid answered with a meek tone.
With Tsukauchi – Police Force Offices – Later that day -
Once closed in the privacy of his personal office, the detective locked the door and called his Chief through the internal, secure line of the department.
"Yes?"
"I think I may have a lead on the Precepts of Death Case." Tsukauchi said.
"...I am listening." the Chief answered with a low whisper himself, giving the detective his full attention and leaning slightly forward even if talking on the phone.
"Maybe we have the perfect bait to draw Overhaul out of whatever hole he is hiding in." he answered.
Later still – Green Cloud Restaurant - Lunch Hour -
Eri had thought that going to bed again was a bad idea, but that thought lasted until after Izuku gave her a warm bubbly bath and filled her stomach, she was already about to pass out again when the Chef was still gently brushing her hair after the bath, and by the time she was in her new kittens-themed pajama, her eyes were already half-lidded and she all but fell unconscious once her head hit the pillow of her new bed right next to Izuku's.
"Good evening, sweetie." the gentle woman named Inko, Izuku's mom, said as soon as she saw Eri wake up several hours later, finally refreshed.
"Hi…" the kid muttered with a soft voice while hiding her face under the covers up to her eyes.
"Did you sleep well?" Inko asked.
"Uh-hu." she muttered in answer.
"That is very good! You already look better,"
"...Wh-Where is Izuku?" Eri asked.
"He is working downstairs, do you want to go see him?" Inko asked.
"C-Can I?"
"Of course! Do you want to go now?"
"P-Please?" the kid begged.
"Okay! Let me help you get dressed and we will go," the woman answered, picking the girl up in her arms and walking towards the bathroom.
"Th-Thank you."
Some fast freshening-up and brushing, and an adorable red dress matching the kid's eyes, and Eri was gently helped down the stairs and into the main room of the Restaurant, all the way to a chair high enough to help her look beyond the counter where the cash register was, and with a very comfortable cushion for her to sit on.
"Kyun!" immediately, Shiro jumped on Eri's lap to both protect her and still keep an eye on the room at the same time, and the kid clearly loved the fluffy Taotie's attentions, and if this helped his Partner's new child relax and feel safe, then Shiro will gladly let her pet him.
"Hi, Shiro." Eri muttered, hugging the thing a little and then setting to just gently pet his head from time to time.
"Relax, child. This Esteemed Taotie will protect you just as he protects his Partner, your new father." Shiro thought in pride.
For the Pro Heroes presents, and the few Vigilantes hiding among them while clad in their civilian attire, the kid that appeared from the side door was a big novelty, but as a testament of their professionalism, legal or otherwise, they kept their mouths shut about it, especially once noticed the kid looking at all of them in apprehension and only showing random sparks of relief whenever Izuku happened to be in her line of sight.
"Did you sleep well, Eri-chan?" The Chef finally asked once free enough to walk near the counter to address the kid.
"Uh-hu." Eri nodded, still trying to appear even smaller than she already was by hunching on herself.
"I know seeing all these people is scary, but don't worry, I promise I will protect you, and if not me, Shiro-kun and Whitey will keep you safe too." the young Chef said.
"Kyuunh!" the Ancestral Taotie gave a soft whine in answer, and even Whitey appeared briefly from the kitchen to flash her a thumbs-up.
"I will help too!" Ochako as well offered her help, happy to see Izuku show her a grateful look.
"Me and Eri-chan will start our lessons then, okay? If we need help, we will ask Ochako or you, Icchan." Inko answered.
"Sure!" both teens answered.
"T-Thank you." Eri said as well.
Inko had decided she would teach Eri how to read and write after discovering, to the group's horror, that the kid had been taught next to nothing, so while the girl slept, both Inko and Rei Yaoyorozu had raided any bookstore they could find to gather enough material to help young Eri, with both mothers electing themselves as the kid's teachers.
"Ok, I will bring her some bunny-shaped slices of apple to snack on while studying then. Call me if you need, okay?" Izuku answered, patting Eri's head.
"Uh-hu." the kid answered, nodding.
"I'll go back to the kitchen," Izuku said, pleased, and then returning to his domain.
"…" Ochako too returned to work, although with her mind wandering to a peculiar meeting she had the night before.
UA Alliance Dormitories – Ochako 's room – last night -
Ochako was pacing about her room in a restless state, and checking her door maniacally every five minutes to make sure it was closed just to avoid Momo barging inside again.
"...She's late." the girl said after checking her phone again.
Bing!
"Open the window so I can come in." she saw the message she was waiting for finally appear on her screen, and with anxious steps she all but flew to her window to throw it open, and let Nejire float silently inside.
"Glad to see you open to talk!" the older student said with a wide smile once she sat on Ochako's bed and watched the girl close both the window and drapes.
"You accosted me before the Sport Festival and demanded me to give you my number and then told me in no certain terms we had to meet here tonight right after the Festival, what do you want?" Ochako asked.
"You have a crush on Icchan, don't you?" Nejire asked in lieu of an answer, smirking amused at the other girl's sputtering.
"Y-You know that already," she said, frowning.
"And you need any help possible to defeat Rumi and Momo, isn't it?" Nejire pressed on, and at each step she took towards Ochako, the other girl took one back, until the gravity heroine found herself pressed against the wall with the older student looming over her with both Nejire's hands pressing hard on the wall at both sides of Ochako's head.
"I can help you remove those two obstacles if you want. For a price." Nejire whispered with her face an inch from Ochako's, their noses were almost touching.
"I-I thought you were the overly-friendly, always-smiling girl with no mean bone inside!"
"That works in anime, but I am a real person, way more complex than that…" the other answered.
It may have been a trick of the light, but Nejire's eyes had a very sinister and literal glow to them now that paired with the fangs in her smile gave her a very predatory look.
"You said your help has a price. W-What price is it?" Ochako asked.
"I want Icchan. I want you and me to share Icchan. A nice, romantic, fulfilling and lewd Love Triangle, just for the three of us." Nejire whispered hotly in the girl's ear while a finger of her hand traced Ochako's jawline.
"S-S-Share?!"
"I find both you and Icchan irresistible, and I want you both.'' That same finger now moved to draw feather-light circles around Ochako's bellybutton once sneaked under the girl's pajama.
"I-I-I-I don't swing that way!" Ochako said, weakly.
Chomp!
"Kyaaah!" Unfortunately, as soon as Nejire gave a light bite to her earlobe, the Gravity Hero released an adorable squeak.
"I can be a great ally, Occhan. You saw it already: how easy it was to stand-up to Momo after following my suggestions! You saw how surprised she was at seeing a girl she thought she had scared away return full force and become a great Threat. I can become a threat just as big to you, but why add another rival for Icchan's affection when we could just as easily share?...And there is A LOT to share."
"A-A-A lot?"
"Lots and Lots, Occhan. So much you won't even know what to do with all that wealth. Or would you prefer me siding with Rumi instead?" Nejire answered, still whispering into Ochako's ear close enough her full lips faintly tickled the girl's ear.
"N-N-NO!" Ochako answered immediately, afraid of what TWO such bombshells could achieve if they joined forces to seduce her beloved Chef.
"So we have a deal?" Nejire asked with a wide smile while stepping back, reverting into the peppy persona she was practically famous for.
"...Can I have some Alone Time with him from time to time?" Ochako surprisingly turned very business-like once freed from the Wall.
"Of course! While three-way dates are fun and threesomes are kinky and exciting, a girl also needs some romance too! We will have equal share and personal time to spend alone with him in equal measure! We three each will have time for ourselves too! We won't be attached at the hip!"
"If I do this...You won't side with Rumi or Momo, right?" Ochako asked.
"Of course!"
"And...And you won't try to keep Izuku all for yourself, yes?" she then asked.
"Absolutely." Nejire answered.
"Then...Then I am in!"
"Goodie! Then tomorrow go to work as if nothing is out of ordinary, and when I will call you, you need to come to the Restaurant after the closing hours. I will talk to Aizawa-sensei to let you come. It's very, very important!"
"Important?"
"Fundamental if you want this to work!"
"I'll be there then!" Ochako promised, eyes finally ablaze in determination.
"I will count on that. For now I will go, good night!" Nejire answered, patting the other girl on the shoulder and opening the window.
"Don't betray me, Hado-san. I won't forgive you." Ochako warned her.
"Don't worry! We will all be happy by the end of this." Nejire answered with a thumbs-up and then flying away.
"I really hope so…" Ochako muttered while closing the windows and getting ready to sleep.
"My God, this is more complex than I thought...Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it." Nejire thought with a sigh of dismay.
Back to the present -
Not too far from the Restaurant, in an isolated alleyway, Rumi was still idly kicking the wall hard enough to leave small holes in it.
"Dammit! That bastard had to use fire all of a sudden! It threw off my strategy! Why did he decide to pull that trick out of his ass only during our fight?!...God I am so angry! I even missed the closing ceremony, but if I went there I KNOW I would have strangled that bastard!"
But, not everything was a failure as big as that! Several Pro Heroes offered her Internship, like the Dragon Hero Ryukyu, Nighteye himself and many others. WAY MORE than the explosion maniac and the bi-elemental shitlord! She WON in that regard, ah!…
Aaand, thanks to her Partner in Crime, with a bit of acting she will now get to hug her favourite Chef and get comforted by him, she rehearsed her lines and found the cringe-enough memory to summon some tears too! Was it a dirty tactic? Maybe, but she was a girl in love and she knew boys liked to be there for a girl in need. Luckily he was a Good Guy, not a Nice Guy, those were always bad news.
"A pity Uraraka is also there, but beggars can't be choosers...Good, I have calmed down. Let's get to it!" Rumi said to herself once finished drilling several holes in the wall by kicking, she had finally burned through her annoyance.
Whistling a jaunty tune, the bunny girl entered the Restaurant, said hi to the guests already there, marveled at Eri being the new addition to the Restaurant, flipped Ochako off with her middle finger and sat at a free table so to flash a 'Tear-stained smile' to Izuku as soon as he came to see who took the table.
"Hey, you okay?" the Chef asked with a gentle smile.
"I'll be," Rumi answered with a depressed tone, it was truly perfect acting...Or was it?
"You were amazing, you know?"
"Yeah, but I lost to that Kuudere Asshole." she answered, bitter.
"It was a very close-call though, you really came close to winning!"
"But I still lost…"
"Can I help you feel better in any way?" Izuku offered.
"...Carrot cake?" Rumi said.
"I do have some."
"...With you feeding it to me personally?" the girl added, hopeful and with her ears pinned down.
"Tch!" Ochako's hiss was soft and full of hatred, and luckily Izuku didn't hear it, or at least decided to ignore it for the time being.
"Just for this time." Izuku conceded with a sigh.
"Thank you!"
"You don't need to, I will bring it to her and she will eat it like everybody else does, no sense ignoring the customers for this."
"Mind your business, Uraraka!" Rumi hissed with burning eyes.
"Girls, please don't argue. I will be back soon with the cake, Rumi." the young Chef answered, sighing and then leaving the two girls to themselves.
"…"
"...What are you planning?" Ochako asked once sure he was back in the kitchen.
"Seduction. I want him to recognize that between me, you and Miss big-tits-no-brain I am his soulmate." Rumi answered, defiant.
"This is a battle you can't win, Rumi-san." Ochako answered.
"And let's hear, what can you offer that I can't?"
"Exactly that. I am not treating this like a Challenge or a battle! I am not offering something, I am honestly attracted to him and I believe we can be happy together! I don't need to offer something or be a good investment, I am trying to have a Love Story, not a Transaction!" Ochako.
"You both keep treating me as if I was some bitch that just wants to get him as if he was a toy. It must feel good, eh? I am just the Horny Rabbit that wants a quick fuck and decided to try getting in the pants of the boy you, Warriors of TRUE LOVE, are interested in just for some game! I too believe in Romance, but I will pursue it MY WAY, I just find it insulting that you are so full of yourself to believe only YOU can love somebody for real!"
"Yes, I find him attractive, but I still want the full package: Romance and Sex! The only difference between me and you two thirsty lunatics is that at least I am honest about it!" Rumi declared.
"You-"
"So this is official, the three of us are really Rivals for the same man. Fair enough." Once again Momo seemed to materialize behind Ochako as if she was the girl's personal Nightmare.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Rumi challenged her.
"Not really, but hearing you admitting once again you are out to get him for real and concrete reasons sealed the deal. Can't say it does good to my self-esteem." Momo answered.
"If you can't take the pressure just walk away then, a War of Love is not for the faint of Heart!" Rumi answered, scoffing.
"Never!" Ochako and Momo answered in chorus.
From an isolated table, Nejire seemingly kept scrolling on her phone while eating the slice of cake Izuku had just brought her, in truth she did not miss a single word or bit of action of the whole exchange, this giving the smile she was showing the whole time a more sinister undertone.
"Things are moving in the right direction and still on schedule, the three of them are finally getting into the right mindset and igniting their fighting spirit! Now...If only Momo too could show an opening for me to use…" she muttered to herself. She then gave a last touch to the update to her personal social media page, and finally posted it.
Triple Chocolate cake! Love at first bite!
Strong and Sweet in perfect balance, like the ideal boyfriend should be!
Thank you Chef Icchan for the suggestion! 3
#SweetMoments
#CutieChef
#GreenCloudRestaurant
#NejireChanFavourite
Few seconds later – UA – Gym -
Ping!
"...I hate chocolate." Mirio muttered bitterly once seen the update on Nejire's page and all the hearts she added to the message and around Izuku's nickname.
Yes, Nejire was petty, deal with it.
Restaurant -
Momo's mood was indeed extremely sour after seeing her two Rivals being so bold in their admission of Love, even Ochako had regained steam somehow, and the Yaoyorozu girl could not understand what helped her friend gather enough courage to push back! She was sure she had talked the girl out of pursuing her boyfriend before the Sport Festival! What happened?! What injected into her veins so much explosive determination?!
"Momo, you okay?" Aaah! May God bless her beloved, immediately picking-up on her distress and swiftly moving to assist her in the hopes of helping her blast it away.
"It's okay, Izu. Just a small case of Girl Problems, nothing I cannot face and fix." Momo answered, kissing her boyfriend's cheek for two reasons: first and foremost because she liked doing so (she once decided to kiss each freckle of his individually and loved how red that got him) and secondly as a bragging right against the thots lurking in the shadows trying to take him away from her. Delusional fools as they were.
"This means nothing." Momo didn't need to be a Psychic to know those were the thoughts floating around Rumi and Ochako's head.
"That's a relief, you looked so angry I got worried." Izuku admitted.
"That's because you are my sweet little worrywart," she answered, smiling fondly.
"Huhuhu! Guilty as charged…" he admitted with a soft, sad laugh.
"Hey." Momo said once noticed, taking his hand in hers.
"Whatever you need to tell me tonight, it's okay. I will be right beside you every step of the way. Whatever it is, we will face it together, I am not leaving you, never." Momo reassured him, trying to infuse courage in him while she gave his hand a squeeze.
"Okay...Okay, I can do this...WE can do this…" Izuku muttered, mostly to himself, once seen with the corner of his eye Nejire send him an encouraging nod and smile, and that, together with Momo's own support, almost made him believe the talk he will have with her, her parents and his own won't actually end with him losing everything.
"You won't lose a thing, promise." Momo said with her other hand gently caressing his cheek.
"...Did I…"
"You muttered a bit, I got good at deciphering it." she answered, smiling, and under the catcalls of the customers, and the MURDEROUS GLARE of Rumi and Ochako, she leaned in for a small peck on his lips that turned his face into a vibrant shade of red never seen before, Inko's giddy expression simply twisted the knife in the wound a tiny bit more.
"To-To-To-Tonight then." he tried saying.
"Tonight, have no fear, everything will be okay." she answered.
"Is she my new mommy?" Eri asked just loud enough to be heard by the whole room.
"EEEEEEEK!" It was now Momo's turn to turn red while Izuku dove for the safety of his kitchen fast as lightning.
"Over my dead body!" Rumi shrieked in her mind, and it was only thanks to her biting her own knuckles if she did not scream that aloud.
"Welcome to Green Cloud Restaurant. May I get your order?" Ochako instead had just asked a new table of young boys what their orders were with a tone promising a very violent death, and those guys were smart enough to decide that 'flirting with the cute Japanese waitress' was not worth being torn apart and thrown in the garbage bin outside. They almost turned into monks on the spot, actually!
Needless to say, that table of tourists left a very generous tip, just in case the girl decided to burn through her anger against her Love Rival by breaking their poor fragile bodies, they fully vowed to never again bother girls just in the name of hormones too! They were told Japanese girls loved Foreigners, what did they do wrong?!
That night – After closing hours -
Izuku had just finished cleaning his Restaurant after the last customer left and had turned the sign on the door into Closed, and was now leaning his head on the opaque glass door of his kitchen; behind him, and quietly sitting at various tables were his parents Inko and Hisashi with Eri sitting on his mother's lap, Momo and her parents Saito and Rei, Nejire...And in a surprising visit...Ochako and Rumi.
They all were patiently waiting and watching his back as he stood there in silence, clearly surrounded with an invisible aura of worry.
"System...Are you sure?" he asked again, maybe for the fifth or seventh time, he could no longer tell.
"The Host declared his intention of giving Full Disclosure to his loved ones, this is indeed the first time this event occurs as usually the Hosts prefer keeping everything a secret. But the System recognizes the Host's need to not keep the ones closer to him out of the loop." The System answered.
"I am surprised you even accepted." Izuku admitted, sighing, and that sound sent every Guest for his revelation on edge instantaneously.
"That is because the System has checked if the ones that are about to be revealed your Secret are able to keep it through psychological tests run while they were asleep and by analyzing in detail everything they did, said or thought every single instant of their life before now." The Entity answered.
"And they passed your test?" He asked.
"They all have, Host.
Nejire Hado has already shown herself worthy by not disclosing a single detail of your deal with the System, even while talking with Rumi Usagiyama.
As mentioned, Rumi Usagiyama has been shown some details about the Hosts ' real Power and has not shared that knowledge with anybody else, other tests and background checks confirmed her ability to keep everything that will be said tonight a secret no matter what.
Momo Yaoyorozu and her parents as well have been tested for their discretion and have shown themselves worthy.
Same goes for the Host's parents.
Ochako Uraraka has been the one with the highest Score in that regard, Host.
The little girl Eri as well has given a Perfect Score once tested.
Host can proceed with his Revelation with full support of the System." the System answered, not adding to its answer how the Entity could ideally impart in their minds the suggestion of never revealing a single detail, but its Host didn't need to worry over such trivial matters.
They all were trusty Confidants that needed no prompting to keep their mouths shut, everything else was just the System being overly-zealous in protecting its beloved Host from danger.
"Good...And...Thank you." Izuku answered, sighing once again and finally addressing his friends and family.
"I have not been fully honest with you all. About my Restaurant, about my Sponsor, and about myself." he said with a low voice, still not looking at them.
"Hn?" Saito muttered, confused. Many others shared a similar expression.
"My parents know some details, just not all of them." he then said.
"Mostly because it is extremely hard to believe even for me, and my job is basically to analyzeimpossible things and learn how they work." Hisashi answered.
"Oh, you just scratched the surface, dad…" Izuku answered with a humorless dry chuckle.
"What is happening, Izuku?" Momo asked, worried.
"...You really believe that a single year of Coma gives a man abilities like mine?" he asked, looking at them with a tired smile.
"...No. Honestly I thought yours was a strange Quirk at first, speed related, or about being super fast at learning new things, but even those absurdly-rare Quirks are not that effective." Saito admitted, sighing.
"Then you learned he was Quirkless," Rumi said.
"I did dig a bit to learn his background...And no family member of his in the past had any Quirk that suggested similar skills. Attracting things, Repelling things, breathing fire, breathing extremely hot air, being fire-proof, making things heavier, making things lighter...Multiple variations of those, but nothing speed or mind/learning related powers though." he answered.
"Oh, me and my Colleagues went even further back, with the same results though." Hisashi added.
"What is happening then?" Ochako asked.
"Come, I will give you all every answer at once." Izuku answered, lifting Eri in his arms and accepting her tight hug with no small amount of relief.
"I-I-I am here." the small kid said with a soft voice.
"Thank you, Eri-chan." he answered.
"Come where?" Inko asked.
"My kitchen's storage, I have all the proofs there." he answered, and walking through the door that opened by itself once he approached, something they were not aware it could do.
"I don't get it…" Rumi admitted while following the group.
"Oh, believe me, the truth is very wild." Nejire answered as the group followed the Chef.
"You know something?" Momo asked, hurt.
"Discovered everything by chance, I am actually the one that suggested that he come clean, you all need to hear it." the girl answered, and to Momo's shock, there was no smugness about it.
"Sorry about it, by the way. It was an accident." she then added, and Momo could somehow tell Nejire's apology was honest.
"...Something's wrong…" Rei said once they all entered the kitchen, and it was not the fact the room was sterile-clean or filled in top-of-the-line equipment even more advanced than the one that could be found on the market.
"This kitchen is too big. Like, WAY TOO BIG!" Rumi confirmed.
"A kitchen this big would have meant the local behind the restaurant too had been bought just to give it extra space, instead there is still a pet shop at the opposite side of the building...How?" Saito answered, confused.
"There are Quirks able to increase the size of rooms, but those are taxing to the user and actually need the Quirked to be present at all times, at least this is what we know from our research." Hisashi added.
"It is not Quirk doing this." a metallic and genderless voice said aloud, heard by them all.
"WHO'S TALKING?!" Inko asked.
"Hi, System-san." Nejire said with a small smile.
"Good evening, Nejire Hado." the Entity answered.
"Wo! Wo! Wo! System-San!?" Saito and Hisashi asked as one.
"As in an actual person?" Momo added.
"Indeed. This is the Gourmet System, and you are now in the heart of Host Izuku's territory, you have been deemed worthy of his secret."
"What is happening now?" Ochako asked.
"This way, please." Izuku gave as an answer while walking towards a small door all the way in the back.
"Another door? How big is this room?!" Rei asked.
"Way bigger than in your wildest imagination, Rei-san. Here...This is my Storage Room…" Izuku answered with a sad smile while opening the door.
And what they saw was not a room or even a hangar...But a VAST expanse of luscious green grass seemingly continuing far and wide without end, a cloudless sky and far in the distance a mountain range, all around them the roaring of the sea and a big river flowing nearby. And there was the sun shining in the sky, instead of the full moon outside the Restaurant.
"W-Wha? Teleportation?! From a fixed location?! How?!" Hisashi asked immediately.
"No teleportation, dad. Check your phones." Izuku answered.
"...No signal?" Rumi asked once checked, and as one everybody did the same, with the exact same result.
"Impossible, I am NEVER without signal, my phone connects to the private satellite grid of I-Island! I would lose signal only if deep underground or special isolated bunkers!" Hisashi said.
"Does being into a Pocket Universe count as being inside a special isolated room?" Izuku asked, he just kept walking forward, towards an ancient-looking ship parked on the grass and made entirely of red wood.
"Wha?"
"The correct term would be Fold in the fabric of Reality, Host." the System's voice still came crystal clear, even without speakers in sight.
"This isn't even telepathy or Thought transmission. We are actually hearing a voice...How?"
"This is getting more insane by the minute! CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING, FOR FUCK SAKE?!" Rumi demanded.
"Icchan has made a deal with an extra-dimensional being. An Entity that can rewrite Reality as it pleases, and that Entity wants him to become the greatest Chef." Nejire said while flying up in the air and landing on the bow of the ship.
"Correct." the System answered, and Whitey himself marched up the ship to grab the wheel.
"A deal...Wait, that is how you got that Isekai?" Inko asked.
"That Isekai what now?!" Momo asked, looking ready to cry just out of confusion.
"Oh, no, mum. The System came looking for me after I came back. My Isekai is actually why they came looking for me. I already possessed the knowledge, skills and mentality they needed for a Host Candidate of this world." Izuku answered. By now all of them had followed him up that ship without even noticing.
"We can go, Whitey." the Chef ordered.
"Go? Go Whe-WOAAAAAH!" Ochako's question was cut short when the boat's sail caught some non-existent wind and the entire vessel started flying up in the air with otherworldly ease and without even the smallest whiplash from the sudden movement, nor the roaring of engines or propellers...It just flew, traversing air as it would with water.
"This is my Storage Room, an entire island separated into various biomes for my Ingredients to frolic and reproduce freely, albeit in a controlled manner to avoid overpopulation." Izuku explained, and as an answer, several strange-looking birds came flying-by displaying colorful feathers.
"Kiiiiii!" one of which the lightning phoenix he collected with Nejire in one of his Dimensional sorties, the majestic bird with feathers the color of pure gold and covered by minuscule arches of lightning circled the flying ship several times before landing of Nejire's arm as soon as she offered it as a perch.
"Hey there, you are looking good." the girl said, petting the bird's head that released a low croon in appreciation.
"What is that?" Inko asked, entranced.
"A Lightning Phoenix. I helped Izuku collect this one." Nejire answered.
"...What are you doing?" Saito asked, confused.
"Me and the guys of I-Island developed a way to recognize if one is under the influence of Illusory Quirks and break free." the other answered, opening a vial and pouring a few drops in his eyes.
"...So?"
"No change? Hypnosis then?" To the others' shock Hisashi's next move was actually dislodging one of his own fingers.
"HISASHI!" Inko shrieked.
"…" Izuku simply stood in wait.
"...Not even pain works...T-This is real?" the older Midoriya asked with wide eyes.
"It is, dad." Izuku said, gently putting Eri down and grabbing his father's hand.
CRACK!
"Ugh!" and painfully setting the bone back in place to then wrap the hand up in bandages the System provided for him.
"Those animals are all real? The birds, the strange monkeys with horns, those giant white boars and...Are those Corn Stalks the size of a skyscraper?!" Momo asked in disbelief.
"Oh, yes. All of them are." Izuku answered, leaning on the ship's railing to watch the vast amount of Ingredients under them go about their normal, everyday life.
"At every Level the Host achieves, a list of selected Ingredients chosen by the System is unlocked, those Ingredients vary from plants for Vegetables and Fruits, to Living animals and spices and are all added to the Storage Room. It is up to the Host to collect them from the Storage and prepare them properly for cooking.
The Host can purchase Ingredients outside the provided list for a fee in Experience Points. A fee is also applied in case the Host wants an Ingredient already ready for use, the fee is calculated proportionally to the Host's level, the level of the List the Ingredient comes from and the overall difficulty level the Ingredient's preparation displays, to dissuade the Host from being lazy." The System answered.
"Experience points?"
"I gain Levels like in a video game, at each level-up I get stronger." Izuku answered.
"Then sometimes I am sent in various Sortie's to collect Ingredients, and if I complete the Mission, those Ingredients are added to this place, those and the ones I collect in the meantime or have been gifted with as a prize." he then added, he was still looking down the ship, not at them.
"And you went with him?" Rumi asked with crossed arms.
"By mistake, I had just broken up with Mirio and came here to look for a friendly shoulder to cry on, and caught him mid-teleportation. System-san is very demanding and decided they could not wait for me to leave, so I was taken along." Nejire answered, and watched as the Phoenix flew away to feed on a giant formation of dark clouds covering an entire area of the island in the far back.
"...Was that the night you disappeared?" Momo asked.
"Oh! Yes, for you others it was a single night...Yes…" she answered.
"For us?" Hisashi was at her side instantly.
"Uh?!"
"Please elaborate," the man asked with an intense stare.
"Both Host and Nejire had been moved to another world. By virtue of the different Time Flow, the twelve days they spent there equaled the few hours that had passed in your world." System answered.
"Twelve days?!" Ochako yelled.
"I KNEW IT! Not only the Multiverse is real! The relativistic nature of Time is true as well! I WAS RIGHT!" Hisashi bellowed with a mad, and yet vindicated, tone.
"Not now, dear." Inko begged with a sigh, walking towards her son to hug him tightly.
"Izuku...Izuku please start from the beginning...I-I am not understanding a thing." Momo begged weakly.
Sigh! "It all started during that coma. From my point of view, when Bakugo blasted me away in anger after I went to check on him, I barely felt my head hit the ground hard and all went black...Then I opened my eyes to see a face I did not recognize as the woman cradling my body cooed at me while calling me 'Her precious boy, Zaus.', still with memories of my previous life…" Izuku said with a sigh.
The story was luckily short, just the important bits of his new childhood, Cooking School and Apprenticeship, his first Restaurant and his rise in popularity, and then the utter fall from grace after Joie's brainwashing, followed by his spending his last years in isolation traveling the Gourmet World and finally his death.
"When I closed my eyes for the last time I thought that was it: I had a new life I spent well and with no regrets. Then instead I opened them again and saw my mother Inko looking at me in hope to see me awake, and here I am now." Izuku finished saying, now finally looking at them, he had spoken of his time as Zaus in pride, he really did not have a single regret in that life.
"So that time when I watched you kick the door open…" Saito said.
"I had just accepted the System's offer and immediately started cooking and training." Izuku confirmed.
"That would explain how you were suddenly able to summon things, and from where that strange tattoo and knife come from." Hisashi said, sighing.
"There are days I wake up wondering if all this is real, then I walk down to the kitchen of my Restaurant, and see Whitey and get the usual Good Morning from The System and I am reminded it is instead all real." the Chef answered.
"Oh well, if even YOU have trouble believing all this even while living it, you can imagine how confusing all this is to us!" Rumi answered, groaning.
"I honestly thought you all deserved to know this. I was so tired of hiding this from my parents and Momo and hers, not after all the support I got since the very beginning." he said.
"So I am taking cooking lessons from a Legendary Chef?" Rei asked, she was still looking enraptured at the various giant alien animals and enormous and colorful fruits and vegetables under them while the ship kept going through a very scenic route around the impossibly big island.
"At the Apex of his career, 'Cooking King' Zaus stood at the top of the Chef Ranking, above 'Gourmet Living Legend' Setsuno, 'Bizarre Cooking' Tengu Brunchand 'Curry King' Damala Sky XIII. Peak Net Worth registered: 17 Trillion Yen Annual, putting him in third place under Colonel Mokkoi and Fond de Bonho for Net Worth in the world ranking." the System answered.
"...Only 17?" Izuku asked, confused.
"Royalties for the book series were not considered by the Ranking Officials." the System answered.
"Oh! Strange, but okay."
"…"
"…"
"You okay?"
"...After the Great Recovery, the total of Japan's National debt is around 35 Trillion yens, as per 2155...You used to make half that sum that PER YEAR?" Saito asked with a faint voice.
"More or less. Our Economy was...Peculiar, to say the least." Izuku answered.
"Jesus Christ! He treats that like they were pennies! You had 'Fuck You!' Money! Literally!" Rumi threw her arms up in disbelief.
"...How many zeroes are in there?" Ochako asked, pale as a ghost.
"Twelve." Momo answered with a dead voice.
"How can your economy be so bad a man can single-handedly have an annual income putting entire nations to shame?" Nejire asked, curious.
"The Gourmet Age, the time period where we REALLY started giving great importance to Food and Ingredients, was also the age where the market went flooded by millions of different Ingredients of a quality once considered just a myth...Thus prices had to be updated...Then jobs, wages, transportation, insurances and so on until everything went whack. A normal salary-man used to make around twenty to twenty-five million Yen per year, and I am talking about minimum wage."
"Are you actually telling the truth?" Ochako asked with a faint voice.
"Why should I lie? What do I gain from doing that on such a big scale? Just look around and tell me," The Chef answered, sighing.
"Wait a minute...If this is true...Wouldn't this mean that you are selling your Ingredients at basically a loss?" Hisashi asked.
"Dad, the original price for the Jewel Meat is insane in our world's standards." Izuku answered, sighing.
"Define insane, please." Rei asked.
Sigh! "Just 100 grams of Jewel Meat, the part universally known as the absolute best cut of a Regal Mammoth,are sold for 5 MILLION Yen back in Zaus's world...At today's exchange 44 thousand dollars. For 100 grams, raw."
"5 Mill...O-Oooh!" It was only thanks to Rumi and Nejire's fast reflexes if they could catch both Inko and Hisashi before they could actually fall to the floor as soon as their bodies lost strength out of horror.
"A 8 oz (220 grams circa) kobe steak can be sold for up to 100/120 dollars on average raw/unprepared. That's four hundred times more expensive." Saito added to it with his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.
"Any other cut of Regal Mammoth meat is usually sold for around 150 thousand Yen for 100 grams, raw of course." Izuku added as an after-thought while pointing at a particular animal playing around under them.
"And there are a lot of one hundred grams in that…" Rumi said with bulged-out eyes while looking at the house-sized elephant with striped fur peacefully roaming about under the flying ship.
"Hn? That's a newborn. The Adults are way bigger." the Chef answered.
"BWU?!" the group gurgled-out.
"That is an adult." Izuku said while pointing at a strange mountain covered with the same striped pattern of the mammoth...Then the mountain got up and slowly walked up to the newborn to check on it.
Measuring a whooping 1000 meters in height and 1500 meters in length, the Regal Mammoth easily cast its shadow upon the flying ship as it walked past it to reach her baby, not even sparing them a glance.
"This current specimen has a weight of around 50 million tons." The System declared.
"Holy Sh-" Hisashi's curse was luckily stopped by Inko's hand covering his mouth, to protect young Eri's ears.
"...That's a lot of money wandering about…And you have three of them." Ochako muttered in shock.
"And how do you…" Rei asked.
"I cut off a piece at a time when I need to cook, by sheer size I am basically doing paper cuts so it barely notices. And yet I keep getting enough meat to run my restaurant daily just from one of them. They are kept in a very controlled birth program, so I don't have to fear being overrun or just having more meat than what I need." Izuku answered.
"This. This is insane." Saito admitted.
"An insanity I was tired of keeping secret from you all," Izuku admitted.
"Why?"
"...Because I love your daughter, and I didn't want secrets between us. Even if I feared this secret would scare her away." he answered.
"It's a lot to take in, yes. But there are worse secrets to keep and even if by size alone this beats any secret children of illegal affairs or contraband...It is still a very innocuous secret." Momo answered.
"But-"
"And that is what Icchan feared." Nejire said as soon as Inko opened her mouth.
"Uh?"
"You are about to say that all this is too dangerous, isn't it?" she asked.
"…" the woman did look guilty.
"Exactly. That is why he was afraid. He was right even! Most of you are wondering if you should talk him into dropping all this, just to keep him safe."
"We are his parents!"
"I AM NOT MADE OF GLASS!" Izuku roared in answer, easily eclipsing Hisashi's own growl.
"This is my dream! My chance! I did not share this just to have anybody take it away! I am doing this with or without you! I won't be babied or put in a golden cage just to make you sleep well at night! Never."
…
…
"...That's a good point to land, I am hungry." the Chef said while pointing at a small beach next to the sea.
"Understood." Whitey answered, driving the ship to said location.
Nobody talked after Izuku's outburst, with the Chef standing tall on the very front of the ship looking forward so to give them all his back, the only one that did get his attention was Eri that went lifted in his arms so that both hug each other tight.
Meanwhile – Rundown Hospital -
"Bunch of morons!" a man with a fur coat and wearing a long beak mask reminiscent of a Plague Doctor's yelled while kicking a near table savagely enough the medical instruments on it went flying.
"The kid is more slippery than we thought, Boss!" one of the lackeys answered, jumping back.
"This excuse could barely float the first time! This is the third time she escapes! HOW?!" the masked man demanded,
"Hokuro forgot to lock the door of her room, the kid must have noticed and used it to escape."
"...Where is Hokuro now?" the Boss asked with narrowed eyes.
"At a meeting with that League of Villains, sir. He hasn't returned yet."
"Tch! I need those morons to back off, so if he doesn't want to become my next Patient, he better scare them into respecting the pecking order! Last thing I need is a bunch of morons believing to be big shots getting in the way." the man answered.
Unknown to him his man Hokuro did try to scare Kurogiri into keeping the League of Villains away from his Boss' territory, unfortunately the smokey Nomu, still with an arm on a sling, was still extremely angry at the failure of Momo's assassination and Blackie's retaliation, and now that same mafia crook was strapped to a metal bed as All for One's trusted doctor Daruma experimented on him to turn the guy into a new Nomu, all with the man still alive and conscious while being cut open and vivisected without anesthetics.
"I will send him to you as soon as he returns, Boss." the Boss' right hand man offered coldly.
"You better. For now I want to know who has Eri. She is still too useful for us to let her go. We are finally in the final phase of the bullet's production…" the Boss said while studying the gun in his hands.
"The last batch is exactly as I envisioned, meaning that I can finally start Mass Production, and for that to happen, that brat must be here," he said.
"We will find her, Boss Overhaul." a crook answered immediately.
"You better. See if one of those Pro Hero morons can help. Use the usual sob story about my kidnapped daughter or stuff like that, whatever makes those bleeding heart idiots help you locate Eri. Then smash the kids legs and drag her here, this new escape showed she can't be trusted with working legs." Overhaul answered, uncaring.
"It will be done!" the dozen men and women in the room answered as one.
"Good, now go. Find her, smash her legs and then alert me, I will recover her myself, just to make sure the lesson sticks in her empty head."
"Yessir!"
Restaurant ' Storage Room' – Beach -
While Eri watched enraptured as Izuku collected giant oysters the size of dinner plates from the full net he summoned out of nowhere, behind them the rest of the group stood a bit far behind to watch everything in silence.
"…"
"...I was not about to demand that Icchan drop everything. I swear…" Inko finally said, and she looked ready to cry as she said that.
"But you thought about it," Rumi answered.
"...Yes, but he-"
"He?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"…"
"But he has no Quirk? Really? You consider him handicapped, maybe?"
"Hey! You-"
"Oh, stuff it!" the bunny girl snapped.
"I don't consider him handicapped!" Inko said, now her tears did run down free.
"Then what?" Rumi demanded.
"I saw him stuck to a bed for a year, okay?! I saw him waste away with only me and Hisashi coming to visit him! I am afraid! Happy?! A mother should never bury a child! It's the child's duty to outlive the parents! I am scared he will go in one of his Sorties and never come back!" Inko admitted.
"I am scared too," Rei admitted.
"Mom?" Momo muttered.
"I would give everything to hear you say that you wished to drop out of the Hero Course and just be a Model, just to know you wouldn't be out there fighting psychos and who knows what." she admitted.
"My dad is the same, he knows I am doing this in the hope of helping my family economically, and yet there are days he tells me he would be happy with me just learning how to help him do the Company's paperwork…" Ochako admitted, sighing.
"Do any of you trust your children?" Nejire asked.
"Uhn?" the adults of the group muttered.
"I see lots of similarities between Icchan and the others: they trust you implicitly and with all themselves, but then their parents do not return the trust. It may be because I am in my third year so I have long resolved this issue, but I still can't remember my situation being like this." she said.
"It's not like I don't trust my daughter," Saito answered, looking down.
"I just don't trust the rest of the world around her." he then said, sighing.
"Same here...And Seeing how easy it is for others to dismiss Izuku's dream because he is not a 'Future Marketable Hero' doesn't help...Is it so wrong for a parent to wish to keep their children safe?" Hisashi asked.
"Very few would trade happiness for safety." Rumi answered, bitter.
"Uh?"
"You want him safe so much you are ready to close him into a bubble, he will never be happy like that."
"But he has no powers to fall back on! It's not a matter of him being handicapped, it's a matter of him having no instruments to defend himself while hunting those things! Had he been a normal Chef I wouldn't have had anything against it! I didn't until I saw THOSE THINGS roam about!" Inko said.
"Oooh! It's about strength then?" Nejire said in realization.
"Yes! He is just a normal human! He-"
"Pffft!"
"...Why are you laughing?" Inko demanded, offended.
"Ooh! Yes, we still need the other half of the revelation to happen!" Nejire said, amused.
"Hn?!"
"ICCHAN! CATCH! SPIRAL CANNON!" Nejire yelled, and from both her hands, with the permission of the System, a GIANT storm of blinding light shaped like a drill moved towards Izuku at absurd speed.
"IZUKU!" everybody else yelled in horror.
"Uh? Oh, goddamnit...ITTO: SAMSARA PEELING!" To their shock the young Chef sounded annoyed, instead of scared, and while brandishing the sea dragon kitchen knife he gave a diagonal slash that caught the giant spiral of energy and shredded it julienne in an instant, no matter the thing being twice the size of his whole body.
"…"
"See? See? Icchan is way stronger than what he looks!" Nejire said with a blinding smile while pointing at him and at the dying sparks of her attack rapidly fading away all around him and Eri, with the young kid clapping a little at the show.
"What was that for?" Izuku asked, frowning.
"Apparently 90% of the problem is Fighting Power, so I guess the next step is showing them you can defend yourself!" she answered.
"And you shoot me with that giant cannon just for it?" the Chef asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You said that you would have needed a big shock to make them understand, I just kept the trend."
"She kept the trend...Really, Nejire-chan, sometimes I can't follow your thought process." Izuku admitted with a groan.
"And that's just the start! Come on, Rumi-chan! Kick him!"
"Uh?! Me?!" Rumi said with her ears shooting straight up.
"Trust me." she said, and the other girls missed the look both shared.
"Oh, for the love of...FINE!" The Chef's groan was all the warning they heard before he was already upon them.
BANG! And with his right fist cocked back and the entire arm enlarged to three times its normal sizes.
"BODHI PESTLE!"
"SCATTER!" a wide-eyed Momo yelled, dragging her parents away while Rumi and Ochako did the same to Inko and Hisashi.
BOOOM!
They all barely avoided the attack, and watched as the punch drilled a very deep and wide crater similar to a meteor crashing on the ground with a terrible and dull sound that almost deafened them.
"You were supposed to catch that punch with a kick, Rumi-chan." Nejire said.
"FUCK NO! You avoid attacks like that! Only a moron catches those head on! I am stupidly brave and prideful, not an idiot!" the Bunny Heroine Student answered.
"Are we done?" Izuku asked once walked out of the crater.
"Should be enough for now!" Nejire answered, unsure.
"So the fights you described were not hyperbole…" Hisashi asked, faintly.
"Not even in the slightest." Izuku answered.
"...Then why you have Whitey as a bodyguard?" Rumi asked, confused.
"Because I am not here to fight, I am here to be a Chef. I only fight the Ingredients I want to capture, ruffians and Troublemakers are what I have Whitey for." Izuku answered.
"And they shall be stripped as an example to others!" the robot answered.
"Yeah, you are good at that." Rumi admitted, giving a high-five to the machine.
"And yet with strength like that you could try to become a Pro Hero," Ochako said.
"And then?" Izuku asked with a far-away look in his eyes, speaking of endless sadness.
"And then? What do you mean?"
"If I try to become a Pro Hero now that I got these powers, I will just reinforce the idea that unless you have a Quirk or Quirk-equivalent powers you can't become a Hero! I would just continue this nonsense and be just another example of how a Quirkless can't be a Hero.
That is why I am keeping my abilities a secret and keeping my distance from Hero Business. It's a very selfish reason, but I don't want to give them the satisfaction of accepting me in their exclusive club only after unlocking powers, it is now my turn to refuse them instead of them refusing me." Izuku answered.
"But you could-" Ochako tried saying.
"The world is full of powerful Heroes, everywhere you look there are dozens of incredible Quirks performing miracles. But there is only ONE Chef like Izuku in this world. That is also what you are going for, isn't it?" Momo said, eyebrows shooting up in realization.
"Huhuhu! Yes, that helped too in taking my decision. Why be yet another strong Hero, when I can be the first SUPER CHEF and still help people and bring smiles like I wished to do as a kid?" he admitted, smirking.
"PFFT-Hahahahaha!"
"Hisashi!" Inko hissed.
"Oooh! If only I-Island and the Hero Safety Commission heard this! Immense power and unlimited resources used for food instead of furthering their agendas! Oooh! How many old fossils would die of anger-induced strokes at seeing such a "Waste" of resources." Hisashi said in great amusement.
"Sucks to be them, dad. I follow my dreams and chase my happiness, not the whims of others."
"Well said. As the future God of Cooking you cannot waste time with nobodies, but should fully focus on your path as a Chef." The System answered.
"...About that...Is that God of Cooking thing literal too?" Rei asked.
"No." Izuku said, sweating.
"Yes." the System answered at the same time.
"SYSTEM!" The Chef shrieked.
"...No." the Entity said after a long silence.
"Okay...Okay...Explain that too, please." Momo asked while massaging her temples.
Sigh! "Okay. I will cook something in the meantime. Is seafood okay?" Izuku answered.
"Yes? Is it for those cells of yours?" Hisashi asked.
"Yes, I need to keep them fed regularly, but I can cook something extra for you and others as well so you can keep me company as I eat."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Will you give us the full King of Cooking experience?" Nejire asked.
"Uuh...Okay! I can go 100% and show you what it used to mean eating in my old 'Restaurant Zaus' back in the days, sure." the Chef answered shrugging.
"YES! Icchan will cook for real!"
"Cook for real?" Ochako asked, confused.
"You'll see! Icchan usually holds back when cooking just to not blow away his customers, But I tasted some real heaven during that sortie! Totally beyond your wildest imagination!"
"...So you can go with him to his sorties?" Momo asked with a whisper, and her heart clenched painfully in her chest.
"Those are not walk in the park," Izuku tried saying.
"...Okay…"
"Host Izuku can bring a Guest in his sorties if he wants, with the caveat that the Guest pulls their own weight and is not a hindrance to the Host Mission. Dead Weights are not welcomed." The System said.
"Then I will go with him in his next one!"
"MOMO!" Izuku and everybody else yelled in chorus, horrified.
"...You can go. The System declares you capable, but suggest you to stick close to Whitey as a safety measure."
"Good."
"Why?!" Saito asked.
"Because it is my right!" she answered with blazing eyes.
"I won't lose to you!" Momo said while pointing an accusing finger at Nejire.
"I won't lose to ANY OF YOU!" she then said with a glare aimed at Ochako and Rumi.
"Tch! Bring it!" Rumi answered with a savage smile.
"I am not afraid!" Ochako answered.
"Good to know," Nejire thought in relief, she needed those three ready to fight at all times.
Sigh! "This was not part of my plan...Come...While I cook I will answer every question you have." Izuku said with a sigh of dismay.
While the group talked, mostly with all of them taking turns in asking Izuku every question they had about his past as Zaus and his deal with The System, the Chef had used his sea dragon knife to open the various oysters he collected with a swift motion to show the white meat inside the shell shining like a jewel under the sunlight.
"Wooo! Those are damn nice oysters!" Rei said with sparkling eyes.
"It's Rei-chan's favorite dish. She eats them at least three times a week." Saito explained, chuckling.
"How lucky of her…" Inko and Ochako said in clear BITTER envy.
"These are known in the Gourmet World as Platinum Oysters for their tendencies to develop and cluster near underwater sources of platinum ore. So finding a great number of these means finding very good Ingredients AND good places where to mine platinum." Izuku explained.
"How will you make them?" Rumi asked.
"As an appetizer, I think I will roast them," he answered.
"Yessss!" Rei answered with an excited expression.
"Are they good? They are slimy." Eri asked with a scrunched nose.
"Don't worry, I will make some prawns too, you don't have to eat them if You don't like them," Izuku answered with a gentle smile.
"C-Can I try them?" the kid asked.
"Sure!" he answered.
Once collected some wood and started a small fire, while the others sat on the sand behind him the young Chef rapidly mixed chopped garlic, a tiny bit of ginger, a dash of vinegar and a spoonful of wine with a tiny bit of crushed pepper and rapidly blended everything together.
"Ooh! Ginger! Didn't know it could go well with oysters!" Rei said, intrigued.
"It will help the garlic to remove the excessive fishy smell of the oysters, it's a matter of balance of tastes, too much and the ginger will cover every other taste instead of just framing it. The star of the dish is and will still be the oyster." he answered, and while he left the sauce aside to rest a bit, he gently removed the oyster meat from the shell to clean it with fresh water from a pitcher he summoned thanks to the System.
"Perfect. Time to roast them." Once sure the oyster meat had been cleaned thoroughly and the grill he had put on the fire was hot, he returned the oyster meat inside the cleaned shells and put each oyster on the grill and added on top of each one a spoonful of the sauce he made.
"Mom, dad...I am about to eat oysters…" Ochako muttered with tears of happiness, making Rumi roll her eyes at the girl's attitude.
Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!
"They are dancing!" Eri said in awe.
"It means they like the sauce," Izuku answered jokingly, watching as the boiling sauce made the oyster meat faintly bob up and down.
"Just enough to turn the sauce thick enough to fully coat the oyster, but without having the meat lose its springy texture." the Chef thought while studying each shell with unblinking eyes.
"So? So? Are they ready? Are they ready?" Rei asked while moving closer to the grill.
"Darling, please!" Saito said in dismay, especially ashamed by the chuckle that escaped the Midoriyas behind him.
"...Yes, this should do. Pass me the plates, please." Izuku asked, showing the group his empty hand.
"Here." Momo answered, passing him one, but not letting go of it once he grabbed onto it.
"Momo?"
"This is all the secrets there were between us, yes? You were hiding nothing else?" she asked.
"There are minor details, but we can talk about those once done eating, just additional details," he answered.
"Do you promise you will always be careful while in your sorties?"
"And do you promise you will always be careful while out there being a Hero?" he asked back.
"Of course!" she answered.
"Then I will be careful too, even just to be there waiting for you to return victorious against any Villain stupid enough to fight you." he answered.
"You foolish Super Chef." Momo said, smiling a bit.
"Aren't you the bigger fool by loving me, foolish Super Hero?" Izuku asked back, smiling as well.
"Love is a bit crazy. And I love you a lot."
"I love you too. A lot."
"Leave the mushy stuff for later!" Rumi barked, annoyed.
"She is just jealous, ignore her." Momo answered with a wink and letting go of the plate.
The plates were soon filled with two oysters for each person, and four for Izuku once Eri confirmed the thing was too slimy for her tastes, and it was finally time for the taste test.
"You seem to be the oyster expert among all of them, so I hope it will be good enough, Rei-san." Izuku admitted, sheepish.
"Then let me be the judge! Thanks for the food!" the starry-eyed woman answered, swallowing whole one of the oysters and then delicately biting through it.
"…Oooooh!" A long, guttural moan of pleasure escaped her once the oyster meat's juices exploded outward from her bite, flooding her mouth in the combined taste of the thing's meat, the tasteful sauce and the overall faint flavour of "sea" mixing together and rushing down her throat by itself as if alive.
"You managed to maintain part of the oyster's original texture! Oh my, this tastes amazing! Can I have some lemon too?" Saito, eating in bliss, asked.
"Sure, here…" the Chef answered, summoning a simple lemon to cut a slice off and squeeze a few drops of its juice on the remaining oyster on the man's plate.
"Thank you, my boy!"
"AH! So this is how those fancy pants eat? Nice! Maybe I will try to get some extra cash too if they eat like this!" Rumi exclaimed with a loud laugh while wiping out her plate in a matter of seconds.
"I have unlocked these recently, and will add them to the menu of my Saturday Shellfish Special menu, you can come eating those in my Restaurant whenever you want," Izuku answered, smiling.
"Hell yeah I will!"
"…"
"The Staff Discount works for these too," he then said once seen Ochako's hopeful look.
"Thank you, boss! I love you!" the girl replied with a blinding smile.
"Don't ruin the moment," Momo growled.
"Stuff it, rich girl. Real Love will triumph!" Ochako hissed back.
"Indeed, but you won't be the victor."
"My God it will be hard…" Nejire muttered to herself in dismay.
"Son, these were amazing. I remember me and your mother had Oysters for our anniversary, but these are way beyond the ones we had!" Hisashi admitted.
"Yes! Definitely better than anything we can find from our usual retailer!" Saito confirmed.
"They are oysters from another world, a world with Super Ingredients, it was a given." Izuku answered, snorting.
"It's a pity you and System-san have to go through such a hassle to cover for the Ingredients source, but with our laws, you wouldn't get a moment of peace if they discovered that you get everything from other worlds." Inko said.
"It's okay. As long as people enjoy what I make, I don't mind going through some extra steps." Izuku answered, shrugging.
"What's next?" Rumi asked.
"Prawns! Normal roasted ones for Eri-chan, Cognac Prawns with Beurre Blanc Sauce for us," he answered.
"COGNAC!" This time it was Saito who looked starstruck.
"Huhuhu! That's daddy's favourite drink," Momo explained.
"Then I will be careful and use some extra good one," Izuku answered, amused.
"Oh, really? Like what?" Saito asked, chuckling.
"Uhm? Nothing too fancy, just some Henri IV Dudognon." the Chef answered, unfazed.
"!" at that the man released a grasping, gurgling choking sound from his throat that deeply scared the others.
"Uh?" Izuku muttered, curious.
"Is it that expensive?" Hisashi asked.
"That is a cognac that is only produced by a private estate in the Lignières-Sonneville region of France, the territory known as the premiere cru of Grand Champagne. It's a 'Heritage Cognac' named in honor of the ancient king Henry IV with a preparation that requires the cognac to be left maturing for a century in quality oak barrels, it was already considered one of the rarest and most expensive drinks on the planet in the Pre-Quirk Era.
Nowadays a single bottle is sold for millions, and not just because the bottle itself is made from sterling platinum and gold and decorated in thousands of diamonds...The recipe itself for that Cognac is now a guarded secret...They only make ten bottles a year and collectors everywhere are ready to physically beat each other to death for the right to buy one...And he wants to use it for cooking…" Rei explained, looking ready to faint.
(Not a joke. That is a bottle made in GOLD and PLATINUM and decorated with around 6500 diamonds. Selling price: 2 Million Dollars.)
"I can't get my hands on a bottle! And you want to use it for cooking?!" Saito shrieked, almost going insane at the idea.
"Can't see why not. It's a good Cognac, expensive bottle or not, it's still a good Ingredient." Izuku answered, uncaring.
"A good Ingredient...IT'S AN HENRY IV!"
"Want a bottle? I have three in storage." Izuku offered.
"YOU!...You do?"
"Here, I unlocked it for cheap when I asked for some cognac for cooking. I am waiting to reach Level 4, I saw the list of Ingredients and Drinks I will unlock then and there I saw a Cognac from Zaus' world I am very eager to unlock. Trust me, that is a cognac worthy of legends." the Chef answered, throwing Saito a tacky bottle covered in gems.
"MINE!" Saito answered, hugging the thing to his chest in greed in a very Gollum way.
"Darling! Manners!" Rei said, appalled.
"...Sorry...Don't know what came over me." Saito admitted, ashamed, he still hugged the bottle tight to his chest.
"Happy you like it, it should be a good year too. Now...The prawns…" Izuku commented, before returning to his cooking, all the while giving more answers to the flood of questions of his friends and family. Starting from chopping some shallots and summoning a cup of dry white wine from his reserves.
"So you healed All Might with a dish?" Hisashi asked.
"Exactly. It is something the System is teaching me: Healing Cuisine. Healing people is the first step, then comes strengthening them." Izuku answered while simmering the shallots, the white wine, and some lemon juice in a small saucepan over low-medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture was reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
"Strengthening them?" Rumi asked.
"Imagine we are in an RPG, technically I can create dishes that increase attack power, or defence or evasion...Stuff like that." He answered, all the while adding cream and bringing it to just under a simmer.
"You can do that?" Ochako asked, surprised.
"I will be, for now I have only unlocked a dish able to momentarily double attack power at the expense of the eater's overall power dropping down to a half once the effects fades away. After this I will prepare one, I actually need some test subjects since I still had no time to test them." Izuku answered.
"Count me in!" Rumi answered immediately, clearly intrigued.
The more they talked the more Izuku could see, to his relief, that his initial fear of seeing them abandon him was rapidly being dashed away by their continued show of support; he had apparently underestimated the level of Trust his parents and the others held for him.
When the first few bubbles rose from the cream, Izuku turned the heat down very slightly and added around 12 tablespoons of butter to the thing, 1 tablespoon at a time, while whisking constantly. Making sure to allow 1 pat of butter to melt completely before adding the next.
"There is also a reason why I invited Momo here." Izuku finally said once the butter was fully incorporated, and seasoning the resulting beurre blanc sauce with white pepper before setting it aside.
"Uh?" the girl said.
"I saw your fights...I think I can help you get stronger." he said.
"Izuku, I am getting stronger already, looking back I saw me getting good at weight-lifting ever since I started eating your food. I should have actually started seeing the connection between the two things." she answered.
"Oh, that was just a preparatory thing."
"Oh! Oh! OH! Yes! You said you wanted to teach her Food Immersion!" Nejire said in realization.
"Food what?" Rumi asked.
"Food Immersion is when one respects and appreciates the food they have eaten even after it enters the body and becomes part of their flesh and blood.
In turn the ingredients absorbed by the body are thankful for being eaten and they pour all the nutrients they have into one's body almost limitlessly." Izuku answered while putting a skillet over high heat to melt 5 tablespoons of butter, and then sauté the prawns, turning them a few times until cooked through.
"It also makes the user gain an increment in their weight without necessarily getting fat, I already weigh almost two hundred kilos and yet here I am." Nejire added, lifting her shirt a little to show her still flat stomach, even if Momo, Ochako and Rumi knew how much the girl could eat now. Enough for six people at every meal.
"In the teachings of Food Honor, it is described as immersing oneself into a meal. Only those that heighten their appreciation towards food to the utmost limit can attain Food Immersion. I will teach you the basics of Food Honour needed to learn Immersion. It will help you control the calories you consume, especially with your Quirk. It will basically increase your overall Stamina and perfect your consumption of it. Among other things," Izuku finished saying, he also reduced the heat to low and seasoned the prawns with salt.
When he started carefully adding the Cognac, Saito gave a pained whine similar to a wounded puppy as he watched the young Chef use that drink on the sea food and then stir thoroughly.
"Teach that to us as well!" Rumi said.
"Uh?"
"Why should he?" Momo said with a hiss.
"Because I say so!" she answered.
"...At best I can theoretically teach it to Ochako too since her Quirk as well is not exactly Combat Oriented, or at least it has a very big weight on her body since it gets her dizzy just like Momo's Quirk weakens her body through fat consumption. You are already pretty strong yourself." Izuku answered, adding a spoon of the warm beurre blanc sauce over the hot prawns he had put on each plate.
"Liar! That's not why you will teach them and not me! What's the truth, hn?!" Rumi asked, hurt.
"Rumi-san-"
"I am courting you, dumbass! I have feelings for you! You taught Nejire and will teach Momo and Ochako! What's one more?! I lost my fight in the Finals too!" she said.
"I-"
"No. You will. I won't leave until you promise you will add me to the lessons!" Rumi declared, dropping down to sit on the sand with a scowl on her face.
"Whitey can easily throw you out." Momo said.
"Then I will sit on the ground outside the Restaurant and won't leave!"
"...I am with Momo already," Izuku said with a soft voice.
"Big deal!" she countered.
"...Fine. I will teach you too."
"Izu!" Momo said.
"Yes! To your face, Yaoyorozu!"
"I am already teaching you, Ochako and Nejire, as she said. May as well add another so you will be able to train together in pairs…" he answered with a dispirited sigh.
"...Shall I call you theFour Heavenly Queens too? You remind me of four guys I knew as Zaus…" he then said.
Momo and Coco were basically identical.
Same going with Rumi and Zebra.
Nejire and Toriko too sometimes sounded like twins separated at birth.
...The only odd one was Ochako and Sanni, but her being different from the flamboyant King was not necessarily a bad thing.
"So be it. I will trust your judgment." Momo conceded.
"So? When do we start?" Nejire asked.
"Once done eating. Then I will summon some BB Pill Bugs and we will start…" Izuku answered, sighing.
"Uh?"
"Since I am doing this, I will teach you four Enbu too. Just in case." he muttered, sighing and attacking his plate to calm his nerves.
"What's Enbu?" Hisashi asked.
"Basically the practitioner learns to control the individual "wills" of all 60 trillion cells in their body, allowing them to send all forms of energy, including the force of a blow and even gravity, out of their bodies like a sieve. Now let me eat, please." Izuku answered between bites.
"…" Of all the bullshit things he promised to teach the girls, that one managed to have a deep stricken silence to finally fall onto the group.
Later that night – UA -
A solitary limousine had just delivered Ochako, Rumi and Nejire to the front entrance of the Hero School, and it was only then that Rumi noticed something was amiss.
"Wait! Where is Momo now?!" she asked.
Sigh! "...Back at the Restaurant…" Saito answered, looking miserable.
"Wha?! WHY?!" Ochako asked.
"Eeeh! Take a guess." Rei answered with a long exhale and a meaningful look.
"That...That...That conniving piece of shit!" Rumi roared in fury.
"Bold move, Yaomomo, bold move...Means nothing though, it's the end result that matters." Nejire thought, unfazed, while waving goodbye to the Yaoyorozu parents and passing through UA's gate.
"It had to happen sooner or later, sorry girls." Rei said while signaling the chauffeur it was time to leave.
"THAT MEANS NOTHING! YOU HEAR ME!? TELL THAT BITCH TO WATCH HER BACK! I WILL WIN IN THE END!" Rumi roared in defiance.
"That was only a matter of time, I hate the fact that she will probably rub our noses in this…" Ochako admitted.
"Let her laugh now, she won't be doing it for long!" the other answered as both as well returned to their dormitories.
Flat above the Restaurant – Guest Room -
Little Eri was soundly asleep in the small bed next to Hisashi and Inko's, the two parents having caught Momo's begging look when Izuku wasn't looking and, note really willingly, left the two alone to bring Eri to bed soon after everybody else had left.
"So soon?" Hisashi asked.
"Times have changed since we were young, and I believe both need this form of confirmation, to make sure neither of the two is going anywhere." Inko answered, after checking once again Eri was asleep and fine.
"At least that place is nice…" Hisashi muttered, sighing.
Pocket Dimension – Storage Island -
It was indeed a surprise for Izuku to hear Momo's request, even if her reasoning for it being a way for her to know once and for all he belonged to her and for him to put his mind at ease about her going nowhere beside his side.
"You sure?" he asked one final time.
"It is clear I have Rivals and that they are not leaving anytime soon, but I won't let them ruin This. Tonight you are mine and mine only, nothing else matters. I will deal with them tomorrow, for now let me just take what belongs to me, so that I can give you what is rightfully yours."
"Huhuhu! It's not exactly romantic!"
"It isn't? This place has a day and night cycle like the real world, we are now under a beautiful full moon and starry sky and in the middle of a flower-field so pretty it does look otherworldly, it's just the two of us and I am about to make you mine forever...How can this be any more romantic to me?" Momo asked with a love-filled gaze.
"I will always be yours," he answered.
"That is what I wanted to hear...Now come...Claim your Queen, my beautiful King..."
The System will remind its Host that the Storage Island is not exactly a place suitable for intimate unions the next day, but the Entity was not merciless either, so if for once the couple needed the right privacy and setting to take that one special step forward in their relationship, the System will look elsewhere and leave the two Lovers alone to express their passion for each other for as long as they needed and keep quiet as they enjoyed their union in their private slice of Heaven.
Meanwhile – Five Star Hotel -
A lone man wearing an expensive business suit was walking through the vast hall of the ludicrously-expensive hotel with his designer shoes producing sharp clicking sounds on the marble floor shined like a mirror.
"Good evening." the woman at the desk said prim and proper, her own uniform probably as expensive as a sports car, the guest thought,
"Good evening. I need to talk to Monsieur Ego, is he here?" the man asked.
"Who is looking for him?" the woman asked with narrowed eyes.
"Hidetaka Matoi. He is waiting for me." the man answered with an annoyed tone.
"Ah yes, the cook."
"CHEF! I am a Chef! Do not confuse me with some idiot working in a school cafeteria." he hissed.
"Pfeh!" The woman just gave a grunt for an answer, clearly accepting the silent challenge to see who between them was the most stuck-up.
"So? The room number?"
"Do you have an appointment?"
"I have that and several Restaurants to my name, what do you have? A name tag?"
"A penthouse in Tokyo!"
"Ah! One in Tokyo, one in Okinawa, an old style villa in Kyoto and a big colonial-style villa in the Bahamas." Matoi answered, smirking.
"...Tch!...Suite 606...I hope the elevator detaches and crashes down." the woman spat in annoyance and envy.
"Say hello to your six cats for me." Matoi answered, laughing merrily and walking towards the big glass elevator.
"I HAVE SEVEN!" the woman at the desk screeched.
"Not a surprise!" he answered, boarding the thing and letting his laugh of victory echo in the entire hall.
Matoi's smile though disappeared as soon as the elevator actually reached the second to last floor, since the very last was usually left just for political figures, one of which was rumored was the Prime Minister himself.
"Here we go...I hope this won't come back to bite me in the ass...Goddamnit, Samui…" the Chef muttered to himself as he traversed the long and empty corridor until he found the room he was looking for.
- Suite 606 -
The Hotel room was opulent, even if furnished in a minimalist style, every detail, every decoration and every piece of furniture was made with disturbingly-expensive materials, and yet none of this mattered to the man sitting at the small round table in the suite's living room, the table top could have been made in plastic instead of marble and he would not care a bit as he was too engrossed in writing his thoughts in a small book.
"Nowadays the true concept of French Cuisine, just like many others, have been corrupted and ruined in the name of the Mainstream, every dish once proudly displaying the skill of the Chef has become a mere excuse to show-off wealth, status and even, regretfully, attention to what the latest trend dictates. By now we care more about a dish being Photogenic for a Social Media Page than their taste and quality…" he muttered while writing, his face fixed on a scowl of disappointment.
Toc! Toc! Toc!
A faint knocking at the suite's door interrupted the man's thoughts, something that soured the Critic's expression even more.
"Go see who is so brave to disturb me even with a Do not Disturb sign on the door, Bernard." he hissed.
"Of course, sir." the young assistant answered immediately, and opened the door with a frown on his own face.
"Who is it? Monsieur Ego made it clear he wanted nobody to disturb him!" the young man hissed in contempt.
"Not even an old friend?" Hidetaka said with a grin.
"I was not aware that giving your restaurant an 8/10 meant we were friends, Mister Matoi." the critic said, finally looking away from his notebook to meet the Chef's eyes.
"You also admitted I got better after it, you raised your score." the man answered once given permission to enter.
"From 8 to 8.5, yes. Never saw why such a mediocre increase needs to be treated like a huge accomplishment." Ego answered, unimpressed.
"Because it comes from the most dreaded critic of France. When I heard you were here, I knew I had to meet you." Hidetaka admitted while sitting in front of the man at the same table.
"I am a sworn defendant of French Cuisine, so when a fool personally contacted me to come see how she managed to keep intact her homeland cuisine even after moving to Japan, I had to answer. She was even so bold to pay for both the tripand the hotel room."
"...Let me guess, it didn't go as they planned?" Hidetaka asked.
"That woman hoped to be the next Messiah of cooking, and even hoped to use me as a stepping stone to glory by buttering me up with this garish over-expensive hostel. What she accomplished was showing me yet another case of an overly-inflated ego dragging down the sacred name of national cuisine in the name of fame! All style and no substance, all bling and no content, all flair and no taste!" Ego hissed.
"...So you are basically demolishing her restaurant with that review." Hidetaka asked with a whisper of voice, and looking at the small black book in Ego's hands with the same dread one regaled to an armed bomb or poisonous animal.
"There was a time when French Cuisine, Italian Cuisine, Japanese Cuisine, Chinese Cuisine and Indian Cuisine were deemed pillars of Cooking. Schools of Cuisine that influenced the world of Chefs and brought MAGIC to tables everywhere. I want that fool to remember that and not become yet another pretender that only hunts for fame and followers! If she can't take the pressure and be a real Chef, then may her 'Restaurant' close and leave the perfect lot she is occupying to a more worthy Chef!" Ego answered.
"…" Hidetaka was now leaning slightly back, subconsciously afraid actual vitriol could escape the Critic's mouth.
"Why are you here? Have you opened yet another restaurant you want me to review? What is it? The sixth?" Ego asked, now extremely annoyed, and he was clearly eager to use that annoyance on the review he was writing so as to add that extra bit of scorn to it.
"The...The sixth one will open soon in America, a couple months at worst. But that is not why I am here today…" the Chef answered, he was talking slowly and already planning to move said request for a review to a later date, hopefully in a moment where Ego won't be ready to tear somebody to shreds.
"Then tell me, what do you want from me?" the Critic asked while steepling his fingers.
"…" Hidetaka just sent a glance to the man's assistant.
Sigh! "Leave us, Bernard. Go see if this gold-covered hut has a decent enough bar able to prepare me some proper green tea. Take note of everything that could be useful to review this place too, I will ask Monique to come here as a 'Thank you' for the owner helping that Chef by using his hotel as a bribe."
"Of course, sir." The assistant left straight away, soon leaving the two men alone.
"Are we talking about that woman that destroys Hotels just like you do with Restaurants?" Hidetaka asked in dread.
"Common courtesy, we have known each other for years and exchange targets from time to time. Now though, talk. Why are you here?"
"...I need a favor." Hidetaka said, gulping.
"A favor? I guess it is not on the legal side of the fence if you wanted us to be alone." Ego asked with narrowed eyes.
"...How?"
"I have been doing this job for years. You are not the first, nor you will be the last to try asking a Critic to willingly ruin an Opponent's Restaurant reputation. Who is the poor victim you feel threatened by?" Ego asked while leaning back in his seat.
"There is...There is a small Restaurant, owned by a Quirkless…"
"I fail to see where a lack of Quirk becomes a motivation to ruin a Chef career."
"It...It isn't really about it, to be fair."
"No it isn't, but you clearly hoped I was one of those fools automatically hating people lacking powers. Go on. Enlighten me on your reasoning." It was a mystery how a mere human body could contain that much contempt without collapsing on itself.
"Y-Yes. You see, this young Chef, and I am talking 'University Student' young, owns and cooks in a small restaurant...And-And apparently he is good, like, really good."
"A young prodigy? Those are rare in cooking nowadays, at that age they all are more interested in becoming Heroes first, and only then falling back into mundane jobs once they fail in getting into Heroics. But what has this kid done to have YOU come disturb ME?" Ego asked.
"He has not done a thing to me personally. Yet. But a dear friend of mine is getting...Insistent in wanting the boy's Restaurant closed forever and the kid banned from ever cooking again." Hidetaka admitted.
"…" The way Ego narrowed his eyes scared the crap out of him.
"Listen. Full disclosure. Samui and I have been friends since high school, and thanks to that he has LOTS of dirt on me. I don't know how deep his hatred of the boy runs, but apparently he hates him so much he is ready to use that dirt to destroy me and few others of our group if we don't help him ruin the kid's future. I don't really want to do this, but it's either the kid or me. And I am an important figure while he is a young nobody. So he has to go. Can you help me?"
"...So you are asking me to throw away my dignity and just march there to review the simple food of a young boy that isn't even a blip on the radar, and destroy him? Just to help your little friend avenge his wounded Primadonna honor?" Ego asked while calmly walking towards the window to watch the streets under him.
"I am asking you to help me avoid several scandals that will destroy me! That Midoriya is a nobody! No Quirk, no future! Yes he is good at cooking, but he is just a kid! I have six restaurants each with two Michelin Stars attached to and a third star all but already mine! I even created a book series that goes sold-out at every new issue! There are THREE different cooking shows I host too! I have lots to lose compared to him! What's an unknown kid compared to an Icon like me?! Please help me, Ego! Whatever you want in exchange, you can have it." Hidetaka said.
"You know full well how bad I take to bribes. We are standing inside one and I am NOT happy."
"But I also know every man has a price, just ask and you will have it." the Chef promised.
"Every man has a price…" the Critic muttered to himself, unheard by his guest.
"...Please. It's important. The kid is such a nobody it won't even scratch your credibility, but it will make a great difference for me and Samui, people that actually matter. We won't forget about your help, promise." Hidetaka begged.
"I am sure you won't. Write me down the Restaurant name and address, along with the Chef's name."
"You will do it?" the other asked once jutted down the information he was asked.
"I didn't say that. I will let you know if I actually do that. As you said, the boy is a nobody, I need to see if I can fit him in my schedule." Ego answered, still looking outside.
"But-"
Clack!
"My tea has arrived far too soon, meaning pre-made, bagged junk was used. It also means our time together has drawn to a close, you can go. I will let you know if I will take on the offer." the Critic said once heard his Assistant return into the room.
"Remember my words, it's a nobody against two Legends…" Hidetaka muttered with a scowl before leaving and slamming the door closed as hard as he could, and unknown to him Ego saw that scowl from the window's reflection.
SLAM!
"So very rude." Bernard hissed.
"And also extremely foolish." the Critic said, recovering the tea his assistant brought him and the small piece of paper Hidetaka wrote on.
"May I ask what he wanted?"
"He reminded me why I first gave him that low score, the food was decent, everything else was just too...Toxic." Ego answered, taking a sip of the tea and frowning.
"Disgusting. Throw this bog down the toilet where it belongs. Then be a dear and search for every scrap of information about this Chef and his Restaurant while I finish my current review. I was asked to give a look at this small thing and I want to know WHY two so-called 'Legends' feel so threatened." he demanded.
"At once, sir. Another Victim?" the Assistant asked.
"Yes, but I am afraid it is not mine, for once…"
"Do you want me to keep an ear on the ground, sir?"
"...Yes, yes maybe that would be a good idea. This situation is intriguing, and if I really have to destroy a young Chef, I want to make things properly. As always." Ego answered.
"Of course, sir."
This entire situation smelled fishy, and of all the smells the Food Critic hated the most, Bullshit, as the American called it, was the one he hated the most.
