Beta'd and Edited by The Evil Within
Chapter 17: Game Over, Man
Rule 40: I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.
-The Evil Overlord List
"There, that should do it! This is easily the cutest baby I have ever made!" Mei laughed happily, adjusting the last strap on Izuku's yet-again upgraded armor.
Izuku smiled down at her, rolling his shoulders to make sure the suit fit well when he moved. "Not as cute as you are."
"That is very nice of you to say," Mei said and gave Izuku's arm a quick hug.
He pulled her up into a longer one though, giving Mei a tight squeeze. "We'll do it, Mei. Defeat the Lord of the Tomb, and go home. All of us."
"Yes," Mei agreed, sounding subdued. "I miss my family. It has been fun sometimes being here, but also scary. I am glad I got to meet you here, Izuku."
Izuku swallowed. "There, is, um, also the slight, er, issue of us being married."
"Why?" Mei asked, frowning. "My dad said having sex was for people who were married, and we did that, so he will not be mad. My family will be sad they did not get to come, but they were in a different world so they could not have come anyway."
"Well, I mean, we're only 16. And, um, my mom at least is going to have a fit," Izuku explained, chuckling nervously.
"Well, you will just have to tell her how amazing I am, and that you were being very responsible," Mei told him seriously. "I will tell my parents the same thing. Besides, you are not sad we got married, are you?"
"No, not at all," Izuku admitted with no hesitation. He swallowed, but forced a bigger smile. "Besides, everything will be fine. We've won every battle so far, so we'll just have to win this one too, right?"
"Yes. I made special, extra cute babies, just for this!" Mei agreed. Then she sobered again and squeezed Izuku tighter. "Just be careful. Megumin says the Lord of the Tomb is very scary, and killed her and Kazuma last time. I do not want them or you to die."
"Of course not. I promise. I won't let anyone die. Including myself." Izuku promised, planting a small kiss on her head, as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.
With the final fittings now done, they stepped out of their room in the manor they'd been staying at for the past few days, and headed outside to where the others were waiting.
"Ready?" Uraraka asked, smiling at Izuku.
"Yeah," he agreed, matching her smile and giving her a thumbs up. "Let's do this."
"Oh relax, we're at least a week's ride away from the enemy base," Kazuma pointed out from where he was slouching against the wall.
"We must still be ever vigilant however!" Darkness declared, grunting as she adjusted the saddle girth resting on her enormous warhorse. Her dire message was also somewhat ruined by the obvious excitement on her face. "There will surely be strong monsters along the way for us to battle, eager to tear us asunder and crush our very souls! Giant, tough, horrifying monsters!"
"The way is certain to be perilous," Tokoyami agreed, shaking his head as he climbed into the saddle of his own black horse. "But our duty is clear. We must go now, while we still have this chance."
"Yeah," Izuku nodded, leading his own horse out of its stall and patting his muzzle. "I saw Blois and his knights die once already. Even if Aqua can bring them back...it's not something I'd want to see again."
"Yes," Mei agreed. "We are strong enough to fight the bad guys, but I do not want to see anyone else die."
"I still think we should have let them give us a parade," Aqua whined from her own horse, which was ignoring most of her efforts to direct it. "It would have been fun!"
"No, a true Crimson Demon must go to face their foes in the most dramatic way possible. Sneaking out in the middle of the night is a suitably mysterious method," Megumin declared.
"Yeah, let's just hope the horses don't all panic when I float them over the wall," Uraraka sighed. "Let's just get the blinders on them, and-"
"There is no need for that, my friends." Everyone turned to see Kaiser Frederik and Marquess Blois, along with their attendants, walked out from the darkness.
"It was a noble attempt, to be sure," Blois chuckled. "But you were, perhaps, a bit too obvious that we would not be seeing you again at the banquet earlier. I believe I was even told goodbye as many as three separate times!"
"Hey, look, you can't come with us," Kazuma said, walking over to put himself in the way of the nobles. "We get it, you're brave, and strong, and honestly, I sort of like you, Fred. But if you come, you'll just get in our way. Sorry not sorry."
"Kazuma!" Darkness hissed. "He is a king! Show proper respect."
"Yeah, and I'm a hero and basically a god, so I outrank him anyway," Kazuma pointed out with a shrug.
The Kaiser, for his part, chuckled and raised a hand to reassure Darkness. "It is fine. I have grown used to your groups...unique sensibilities, shall we say. And while it hurts my pride both as a warrior and kaiser, you are correct on that judgement. Even with our most powerful relics, we would do little to aid you."
"It pains me to see you trust us so little that you would think you must sneak away in the night to protect us," Blois added, shaking his head. But then he smiled. "I can understand your motivations on the matter. Despite your odd ways, you all have a sense of true nobility about you."
Izuku stepped forward, extending his hand to Blois. "Thank you. For everything you've done."
Blois hesitated, then took Izuku's hand and shook it firmly. "I am not sure what I have done for you, Lord Wolfsbane, but you have my thanks and gratitude for saving my people."
"You supported a bunch of strangers from another world, even when you weren't sure about us. You always helped us, even when, well, we did some odd things by anyone's measurement," Izuku chuckled nervously.
"Ha! I would put up with much stranger, for the benefits you gave us. I would tell you to go with the Goddess' blessing with you, but, well, it seems she too must leave us now." Blois bowed deeply to Aqua, who gave him a benevolent smile. For a moment, she actually looked like a holy figure of worship. Then she reached down from her horse to bless Blois, only to let out a squawk and tumble out of her saddle. Izuku caught Blois hiding a smile, and wondered just what he really thought of the crazy goddess.
Aqua stood as if nothing happened, smoothing her hair and trying to quietly remount her horse, which still refused to acknowledge her. Izuku carefully did not mention the horse manure smeared on her rear. "You have my blessing, Lord Blois. Keep to my tenants, and I shall ever be with you."
The gathered nobles bowed and muttered their thanks, and Aqua grinned triumphantly, then was nearly bucked off again in a rather undignified fashion. "Stupid horses."
"The guards at the gates know to expect you," the Kaiser told them. "Our prayers shall go with you, brave heroes. Save our world."
They then rode off through the dark streets of the city, the few people still out pausing as they went past. Some bowed, others cried out in thanks or praise, some clutched holy symbols and spoke prayers to Aqua, or struck ludicrous poses and shouted out thanks to Megumin.
"Feels kinda nice to be appreciated for once," Kazuma mused, before sighing. "I'll miss it, that's for sure."
"Didn't people appreciate you saving your world from the Devil King?" Izuku asked, honestly curious.
Kazuma blanched. "I mean, a few did. But we didn't really last long enough after that to actually enjoy any kind of reward. Honestly, we sort of defeated him mostly in secret, and well, our party didn't exactly have the best reputation."
"Our closer friends knew, as did her royal highness, Iris," Darkness shared, her white teeth flashing in the darkness as they rode out of the city gates, the guards bowing to them as they left. "Besides, we all know you would have soon grown bored if you'd simply sat around your mansion all day, Kazuma."
"Bored? Bored!? Are you kidding! I would have been thrilled! A NEET, finally back in his natural habitat! I tell you what, the first thing I'm doing after we kill this Ainz guy is shacking up with Megumin and a couple of gaming PCs for a century at least!" Kazuma declared with an arm pointed to the sky.
Megumin grinned. "You should join us! We would have enough for a proper raiding party to take down even the fiercest of bosses!"
"Video games are boring," Mei declared, shaking her head.
"Yeah, I don't really play a lot of games either." Izuku admitted.
"Video games are a waste of time and money," Uraraka huffed. "Best to find cheaper forms of entertainment, such as reading, or going for walks!"
"Friggin' cheapskate," Kazuma complained. He suddenly stiffened. "Oh shit! Everyone get-"
Behind them, there was a sudden bright flash, and Izuku was flung from his horse to the ground as the animal screamed in panic. Only Kazuma and Darkness managed to retain their seats, the entire party turning to watch as the city of Hauptstadt was engulfed in an unholy white light. Contrasting it, a sickly looking dark fog began to radiate from the city as well, and Izuku finally managed to stagger upright.
One of the horses ran naying loudly back towards the gate, only to suddenly fall, skidding to a stop, seemingly dead the moment a dark tendril touched it.
"What, what is that?" Tokoyami gasped out, gasping as he took steps back to avoid the encroaching 'fog'.
"Look!" Mei cried, pointing up at the night sky. "The stars!"
A blackness deeper than anything Izuku had ever seen seemed to blot out the stars above Hauptstadt, falling onto the city as well, utterly obscuring it for a moment.
Izuku stared wide, eyed, his heart thundering in his chest. "What…"
The darkness suddenly vanished as Aqua raised her hand to the sky. "Goddess's Light!"
A bright shining star arose, bathing the area in light. Izuku blinked as his eyes adjusted, still looking back at the city as a sense of supreme dread filled him.
"Oh no," Mei whispered. "Oh no oh no oh no. They can't be but they are. They...they're all dead."
She pointed, and even from this distance Izuku could see the guards lying beside their posts, their bodies now in visibly unnatural positions.
A strange bleating sound seemed to fill the air, pounding in their ears like an alien heartbeat, before out of the city gate a horror beyond anything Izuku had ever imagined appeared. It was enormous, so tall that as it moved forward, it shattered the 10 meter high gate. It was made of utter blackness mixed with dozens of mouths, dark tendrils flailing wildly from random places scoring long lines through the ground and cobblestone . As it got closer, they could also see it moved on seven giant hooves, giving it an unnatural, rolling gate as it strode forward. Long tongues lolling from its mouth.
"EXPLOSION!" Mei shrieked in justified fear, pointing at the horror. The blast that hit the beast staggered it, causing it to sink to its knees for a moment. The opening was not wasted.
It was Izuku's chance to strike, dashing forward, carefully slamming his fist into one of the things gaping maws. "SMASH!"
The beast managed to bleat once more, before the orifice was completely flattened from the forces it was faced with. With a half garbled shriek, the mouth, and subsequent length of tentacle it was attached to, then dissolved to inky blackness that parted away like normal mist.
"What...what was that?" Izuku panted, landing back besides his group thanks to his same impact. His eyes suddenly widened. "Tokoyami! Behind!"
The other boy reacted instantly, spinning around as Dark Shadow shrieked in outrage. He was warned just in time, barely deflecting the blow from the man that had hidden in the shadows. Still, the attack staggered Tokoyami and made Dark Shadow reel, despite the fact that as it was night, when the quirk was at the height of its power.
"Hmph," the attacker hummed, stepping back and dusting himself off casually. He was oddly dressed in a formal suit, with a silver tie and cravat that matched his hair. "So you are as strong as I thought. To take out a dark young so quickly… it is no wonder you defeated my subordinates so easily."
"Izuku," Mei gasped, and he hurried back to her side. Tears were streaming down her face, and Mei had to push up her goggles before they filled with water. "The people...they're really all dead."
"What?" Izuku asked, his heart skipping a beat. "Mei, you can't mean-"
"In the city," Mei gasped, grabbing onto Izuku's arms, her eyes wild. "My goggles...their bodies, they're cooling already. I can see it. Everyone...everything is dead. Those things...there are more of them, at least five."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?" Aqua roared, a blue aura surrounding her body, her eyes suddenly alight with power. "I FELT THAT! MY FOLLOWERS! YOU SLAUGHTERED THEM!"
"Indeed," the man agreed. "And in the other city, just now, Yuri Alpha has summoned more Dark Young using the scroll our Master prepared for us. This should deprive you of the majority of your followers on this world, while also snuffing out the most of the remaining human lives in a single stroke. I regret such actions were necessary, but such is the will of my Master."
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Aqua snarled, raising her fist. "GODDESS-"
"Wait," Kazuma said, catching Aqua's fist. "This guy...he nearly took out Tokoyami in one hit. You need to stay back, Aqua. He's here to kill us. We'll need your healing."
"Well. It appears you will not be goaded so easily," the man sighed in disappointment. He then shrugged. "Well, then I leave you to the dark young."
"You're not going anywhere!" Izuku roared, leaping forward, his fist raised and body sparking with One For All.
The man simply raised a glowing cylinder. "Teleport."
He vanished in a glow as Izuku struck the air where he had been, his blow sending out a gale that tore up trees and threw boulders in its path. Izuku stood, looking around, wild eyed for vantage points his opponent might have escaped to.
"He's gone," Kazuma said quietly. "Shit. I couldn't even detect him most of the time with my Sense Foe. He's got some sort of stealth abilities."
"Where'd he go?" Izuku demanded. "Where!?"
"Oh my God," Uraraka whispered. "There's more of those things. They're still destroying the city. Come on! We have to stop them!"
Aqua turned back to the city, raising her hands above her head. "SACRED EXORCISM!"
A blue glow enveloped the entire city, illuminating five dark shapes that were rampaging through it. They let out bellows of pain like a hellish chorus, even from this distance, but still vanished to mist.
"Take...that...you...bastards…" Aqua grunted, before slumping to the ground on her hands and needs. Her fingers dug at the dirt. "I can't...oh god…" She vomited onto the ground, the rainbow color of it not helping the atmosphere at all.
Izuku looked over to Megumin, who was openly weeping in Kazuma's arms, dry retching herself from the instant loss of their new friends. Slowly, he walked over to the still weeping Mei, who seemed to be see everything and nothing, gently taking her from Darkness's near crushing embrace.. He hugged her to himself tightly, tears filling his eyes.
"Izuku...Izuku, we failed," Mei wept, clinging to him. "Oh God, Izuku. They're all gone."
Kazuma went back into the city, looking for any possible survivors that might have been missed, leaving the shuddering Megumin with Darkness, who cradled both Aqua and Megumin in her arms as the other girls wept uncontrollably. They all knew he wouldn't find anybody.
A half hour later, Kazuma returned, just as the sky was beginning to light with the dawn. He was chalk white, the color having fled out of his body. He shook his head, slumping to the ground beside the fire that Uraraka had built, looking for anything to distract herself with.
"There's nothing but bodies," Kazuma said quietly. "They're all dead. Even the animals. I didn't see a single living rat or bug."
"Is this...is this what befell Belzerg?" Darkness asked, her eyes sunken and haunted.
Aqua shivered, wrapped in a blanket as Uraraka rubbed her back. "No. That spell...it wouldn't have hurt any of us. Well, it would have hurt us, but not killed us. That spell only kills low level targets, but anything a little stronger would resist it. Most people in Belzerg, they would have resisted it, they had at least ten or so levels. That spell wasn't meant to kill us though. Those things...they could have. But that, all of this, that was just meant to wipe out as many humans as possible."
"They're going to pay," Izuku growled, his fists clenched so tightly that they hurt. "They're all going to pay. I'm going to hunt down every last one of the Lord of the Tombs servants, and bring them to justice!"
"How convenient then, we had the same thought?"
Izuku and the others sprang to their feet, bracing to face the group that had appeared not far from them.
The man from before was there, as well as two women, one dressed as a maid, the other as some sort of shrine priestess. Behind them stood an enormous monster of some sort, made of stone with glowing red eyes. Around those four stood a frankly massive army of undead adorned in glowing golden armor, shining silver spears in their skeletal hands.
"Megumin has already used much of her devotion," the man mused. "And they must be worn from fighting the dark young. Gargantua, kill them."
With a groan of grinding boulders, the enormous rock monster strode forward, it's great legs causing the earth to tremble beneath it.
"Master Guarders! Forward!" the woman in the miko dress ordered. "Slaughter then in the name of our master!"
Megumin slowly stood, the blanket that had been wrapping her body falling away. She raised her staff, her expression one of utter fury. "EXPLOSION!"
Her blast struck the great golem head on, causing it to groan and sink to one knee, one arm instantly reduced to rubble.
"Hmph," the butler huffed, waving his arm to clear the dust before him. "Impressive. Tenth tier magic in an instant, very dangerous. But we know your tricks, or rather, trick. You can use that spell but once. And even that is not enough to fell-"
"Aqua," Megumin said calmly. "Shield us."
Aqua raised a sphere of water about the group, just as Megumin raised her staff above her head. "WITNESS THE WRATH OF A GODDESS SCORNED! DIVINE EXPLOSION!"
The second blast utterly consumed the giant golem, first melting the rock it was made of, then reducing it to flinders. The following burst of super heated rock pierced through a wide area of the golden armored undead, scoring holes through their previously untouched armor at the farthest, while many of those closest to the blast were reduced to ash outright.
When the dust cleared though, the man and two women were unaffected, if a bit dustier from having raised their own barrier. And now Megumin was down, panting and exhausted.
"That's all I have," she grunted, falling to her rear and barely upright if not for her staff catching her. "It's your turn now."
"Tokoyami, on me!" Darkness shouted rushing forward with her sword held high.
"DARK SHADOW!" Tokoyami roared. "SLAY THEM!"
"KILL!" Dark Shadow shrieked, claws expanding where the light refused to touch.
Izuku dashed forward with them, attempting to flank them with his fist raised as he gritted his teeth, mind filled with pure fury.
"FLY MY BABIES!" Mei cried behind them, launching an explosive barrage from her crossbow that shredded into the ranks of the undead that tried to interpose themselves before their masters.
The three foes scattered, forcing them to abandon their pincer maneuver, and Izuku found himself facing the butler.
"SMASH!" Izuku roared, channeling as much power to his fist as he could handle.
To his shock however, the man redirected his blow with a small grunt. "Strong. But untrained. Heel Drop Kick!"
The man's foot crashed into the crown of Izuku's head, driving him into the ground. Izuku felt the familiar sting of bones breaking, and cried out in pain which was quickly bitten back as he stared hatefully up at his foe. Above him, the butler merely shook his head. "And so it ends before it begins. Human Killing Blow!"
"HEAL!"
Golden light enveloped Izuku, and his hand shot up, deflecting the rabbit punch from the butler, leaving it to 'fire' off to the side, creating a completely clear circle through a nearby tree.
Behind him, Aqua panted, a vicious smile firmly on her face. "Get him now, Uraraka!"
The man looked up, deflecting a blow from Uraraka. He sneered at her, but when he made to attack, he instead floated away, off of the ground. He grimaced, but kicked his legs in a side kick, propelling himself back towards Uraraka. Izuku jumped in the way, using his own take on the technique to send the man flying back through the air.
Kazuma pointed up, grinning. "Weight!"
There was another blinding flash, leaving Izuku buffeted by the shockwaves as he fell back to the ground, already searching for who in their group needed help the most, as the butler engulfed in a massive explosion. He turned towards Darkness, who was battering away at the maid.
"What is this?" the maid gasped. "You are not supposed to land a single blow! Omega, we should retreat, they are too strong! This is not right!"
"You are not getting away from me," Darkness snarled, and her sword slashed into the maid's shoulder.
Her opponent cried out, then shouted, "Kibakushou!" the resulting shockwave sent Darkness flying back, but Izuku had already been moving in.
"HAUPSTADT SMASH!" he roared, his gauntlet connecting with the maid's chest. With a deafening crash, blow and following explosive blast ripped her clean in half, her torso tumbling away as her legs slid across the field.
Izuku finally looked to the Miko, who was using shadowy magic to fight Dark Shadow and finally showing a hit of emotion besides disdain. It seemed that for all her attacks caused pain, they also backfired by creating the perfect environment to strengthen the quirk manifestation, who had since grown full wings and multiple roaring heads, before it finally grabbed the miko between two of its talons.
"VENGEANCE!" Tokoyami shouted, a maddened anger coursing through him as Dark Shadow ripped the miko limb from limb with a shriek of triumph.
Izuku simply stood there for a moment, barely comprehending the scene, looking down at his own bloodied hands. He forced down the bile in his throat. He wouldn't regret killing this woman. He couldn't. Not after what they'd done. Now, and most likely countless times before to less fortunate worlds.
"Did...did we win?" Kazuma asked, looking utterly stunned from his own place on the ground. He kicked away the last of the golden undead he and Mei had been fighting. There were dozens of undead bones scattered about their feet, where the two of them had been fighting to protect the helpless Megumin.
Uraraka shook her head, her eyes haunted. "This...this doesn't feel like winning."
"This is impossible…"
Everyone turned to gape as the butler staggered to his feet, clutching at his bloodied head. "What magic is this? It is not...neither the gods, nor any other world has magics such as these."
Izuku surged over, aiming a fist for the man's face. To his shock, he caught the blow, grinning despite the fact that one of his eye sockets was now an empty ruin. "As I said. Strong. But unskilled." He suddenly countered, his fist driving into Izuku's gut, and he stumbled back.
"I shall report this to my Master. You think you have won? You have only faced the first of the legions of the Great Tomb. We shall-"
Darkness' sword emerged from the butler's chest, cutting him off. He coughed wetly, looking down in dull surprise at the blade.
"You can speak to your master in hell!" Darkness roared, yanking her sword free, and with a single stroke, lopping the butler's head from his shoulders. The corpse fell wetly to the ground, a pool of blood forming about it.
"Father, you are, avenged," Darkness panted. Then she burst into tears, falling to her knees as Tokoyami came over to her. Even Dark Shadow seemed to have had its fill of violence, wrapping both its master and mistress in a dark embrace.
"What do I do?" Aqua whispered, looking helplessly at the city. "I can't...I can't even begin to resurrect that many people. I'm...I'm almost out of prayers and offerings, and...and with so many dead…" she broke down, tears falling as she sank to her knees.
Izuku went over to Mei, all but falling to his own knees as he began hugging her tightly as they grieved at the horrifying loss..
"So, now what?" Kazuma somberly asked, looking to Aqua. "Do we get sent back, or…? There can't be more, can there?"
"I don't know," Aqua admitted. "This...I don't know what to do."
"Well, then it's a good thing I was paying attention. Good grief. This is a mess." A salary man appeared amidst the carnage, shaking his head as he looked around.
"You!" Kazuma snarled. "Smith, you son of a bitch! You're supposed to be a big shot god! Why didn't you help!"
Smith frowned slightly. "I was occupied."
Aqua let out a snarl and stalked forward. She looked up at Smith, her face reflected in his sunglasses, showing her wrinkled dress and red puffy eyes . Then she punched him, right in the jaw. "Screw you! You're supposed to be Upper Management! We're GODS! We're supposed to stop stuff like this from happening! Where were you!? WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN!?"
Smith rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. "Well. When you put it like that, I suppose I'll have to call in backup for this." He took a step back as Aqua raised her fist, taking out an old style flip phone. "Just a moment. I'll deal with this."
Everyone watched as he held down a key on the phone, then held it to his ear. "Nagato? Yeah, it's me. Listen, I need a favor. Whole server rollback." He suddenly pointed at Izuku. "You, about how long have you been here?"
Izuku blinked. "Um, just over two months?"
"Three months, to be safe. Yes, I know the trouble it will cause. Look, I'll deal with the Chief. Alright. Thanks. Love you too. See you for dinner tonight, I'll bring home something for us to celebrate with. Mhmm. Smith out." He flipped his phone shut. "Right, roll back will happen in five. So let's get you all out of here."
"What do you mean, roll back?!" Aqua demanded. "How is that going to help!? What even is that!"
"We'll just reset the world to before this all happens," Smith casually explained. Then, he raised a hand, and snapped his fingers.
Izuku found himself standing in the blue circle once more, alone. He spun around frantically. "Mei?! Where are you?! Uraraka, Tokoyami, Kazuma, where-"
"Calm down kid," Smith said, appearing from nowhere. "I separated you all to make this easier. Right. Congratulations. You saved the whole world. Probably more. Good job."
"What did you do to my friends?" Izuku snarled, falling into a fighting stance.
Smith sighed. "They're fine. Have a seat."
"No! Not until I see Mei and the others!" Izuku demanded. "I'm not afraid of you, you bring them back or-"
"Yeah, we're not doing this now," Smith sighed. "Right, you're getting rolled back too. Thanks, kid. You did good."
Izuku charged forward with a roar, but fell screaming into nothingness.
The next thing he knew, he was tangled in something, his vision gone. He roared in anger, thrashing about, slamming into objects. He raised a fist, ready to smash anything and everything that got in his way.
"Izuku! Izuku, calm down, what's the matter!?"
He froze, his fist still raised.
"Oh my God, Izuku, what happened?! Was it a bad dream? It's OK, don't worry, I'm here," his mother said.
The light came on, and Izuku blinked. He reached up, pulling his blanket away from his face. He was on the floor of his old room. Above him stood his mother, wringing her hands.
"Mom?" Izuku gasped. "What…?"
"Izkuku, it's ok! You're still going to UA!" his mother said, gently putting her arms around him. "It's OK. It's real. Whatever that was, it was just a dream."
"Just...just a dream?" Izuku whispered. "No…"
"Relax, sweetie," his mother laughed. "You start your first day of high school!" She glanced at Izuku's clock, frowning. "Well. I suppose you were going to get up in an hour anyway. Come on. I'll make breakfast."
"Breakfast?" Izuku asked stupidly.
"Of course," Inko said, bustling to the kitchen. "A nice big breakfast, for my growing boy! High School already! And your dream, the hero program at UA!"
"No," Izuku whispered. "Oh goddess, no. It can't have been just a dream…"
That was when the pounding on the door started.