"Hurry up!" his mother yelled at him as she passed by his room. He was putting on a t-shirt, as they were about to go to the Midoriya home.
His movements were slow, and never in his life had he felt so unwilling to go somewhere. He had been relieved when he found out that he was alive, that he hadn't died trying to save him, just because he wasn't strong enough.
He finished putting on his shirt and, as he did so, he couldn't help but look at his hands, covered in scratches and bandages. Since that day he had been pushing himself more than he had ever pushed himself, taking his quirk to the limit, to the point of damaging his own hands with the power of his explosions, not caring if a police officer found him and tried to arrest him for improper use of his quirk.
If he had had the power and control of his Quirk nine months ago that he has now, the foolish Deku wouldn't have had to rush to his aid, help he never asked for... and he wouldn't have disappeared, he wouldn't have been lost for nine long damn months. nine months in which he was afraid to think that the idiot had died for trying to help him.
But luckily it wasn't, they saw the news how All Might and Edgeshot had rescued him and another girl from a kidnapping. His mother immediately tried to contact Deku's mother and, although the woman responded, she asked for some time.
Time for Deku to try to get back to his normal life and for the girl who was now staying with them. Although that didn't stop his mother from calling Mrs. Midoriya almost every day to see how everything was going.
And finally the woman gave them the go-ahead to go visit them, saying that things had calmed down and that Deku and the other girl felt calmer. So here he was, with his mother darting all over the place getting ready to go, his father just a few steps behind her, and him being painfully slow.
"Because… you seemed to ask for help!"
"Idiot," the boy said through gritted teeth.
What good was it for him to say that stupid thing if right afterward the villain hit him so hard that he flew off and hit his head against a wall? And the sound, the sound, all the idiots only recorded, they only had the visual. They didn't hear how Deku's damn skull sounded when it hit the wall. When he heard that and saw the blood rushing out of his head, he felt his heart stop, and when it just disappeared, his mind went blank.
He didn't even realize that All Might had saved him, his gaze had been fixed where Deku had been and it was only when one of the heroes touched him that he snapped out of his stupor.
"Hurry up, brat!" his mother shouted.
"I'm ready!" He responded in the same way.
The trip passed quickly, or at least it did from his point of view, deep in thought. It's not like they both lived very far from each other anyway.
"Well, before entering, Inko told me that Izuku has changed a lot because of what happened, so please not a comment about his appearance, am I clear?" his mother said looking specifically at him. He just looked away and snorted.
She knocked on the door and they were quickly greeted by Mrs. Midoriya.
She had changed a lot. She is now thin and her dark green hair has lost color, going to grayer tones. She even looks a little older. He hadn't seen her in a long time; His mother was the one who did it.
"Welcome, come in, come in," the woman said with a smile, ushering them in.
When they did so they could quickly see the other two inhabitants of the house sitting on the living room sofa. The girl did not even look towards them and kept her gaze on the television, apparently very interested in what she saw, but the one who did look at them was the green-haired man.
Katsuki felt all the strength in his body leave him.
He stood up from the couch, displaying a height greater than he had ever been, one that even surpasses him. His short-sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants made it easy to see that he was now as muscular as professional heroes.
But that wasn't what made the red-eyed boy lose the strength in his body. It was seeing the scars: his face, his arms, even his bare feet. It seems that no part of his body was spared for the scars.
"Aunt Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru," the boy said, approaching his parents and enveloping them in a hug. He noticed how his mother also seemed to be speechless when she saw how Deku looked now and it probably took some willpower not to mention how much he changed.
"Izuku, it's nice to see you. Can you introduce us to your friend?" his father said with a smile, looking at the blue girl.
"Of course, Ranni," he said, attracting the girl's attention, who looked towards them, making them notice that she seems to have a second spectral face next to her flesh one. "Sorry, she's never seen television before and she's been quite interested in it."
The girl approached them, bowed slightly, and looked at the three of them in rapid succession. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Ranni Caria," the girl said. Her voice had a soft accent and, given her last name, it is obvious that she is a foreigner... that and she doesn't look Japanese, although with quirks many Japanese people don't look like Japanese.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Caria-san," her mother said, extending her hand toward the girl. She raised one of her four arms and took the salute with a fairly neutral expression.
"We're friends with Inko and Izuku, we're practically family with no blood connections," his father said, waving in turn.
Finally it was his turn to greet her. She didn't make the slightest move to greet him, but neither did she make the slightest move to greet her father until he tried to greet her. His mother slapped him across the nape, at which he grunted and extended his hand to shake the girl.
The three of them could hear a small snort, similar to someone holding back a sudden laugh, and looked towards Deku, who was smiling.
That angered him immediately. "What the fuck are you laughing at, Deku?" Katsuki said, glaring at him.
"It's just funny to see that some things don't change," he said, completely ignoring his outburst. Once he would have backed away and apologized immediately, but now his outburst didn't even seem to register.
"Deku?" the blue girl asked, looking at Deku.
"Oh, that. It's a nickname that Katsuki gave me… in fact, I used to call him Kacchan," the green-haired man said as if he were remembering something very old.
The girl just raised an eyebrow at that. "Is it customary to give friends nicknames?" asked.
"More or less," he replied.
After that, everyone just sat down. Mrs. Midoriya, as is her custom, couldn't help but prepare things to drink and some snacks for them. Deku and Smurfette helped her bring everything.
"By the way, Aunt Mitsuki, I want to thank you for keeping an eye on my mother during my absence," Izuku uttered.
"Jeez, Izuku, never thank me for something like that. Your mother would have done the same for me," she replied with a smile.
"By the way, Izuku, how are you going to do with your studies?" his father asked.
"Oh, that. We already have a solution planned. I will resume my studies like everyone else, although I will have extra work to catch up." Katsuki watched the boy, talking to his parents so calmly, answering questions immediately with a calm expression.
That's not fucking Deku. The idiot didn't have the courage to put himself on an equal level with anyone, always withdrawn and stuttering... but of course he's not the same. Katsuki let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm going to the bathroom," he said, getting up from his seat and heading to the bathroom. He didn't need a guide; he already knew where it was.
When he arrived, he locked himself inside and ran water over his face. Honestly, he didn't even know what to expect when he came here. Maybe finding a Deku scarier than ever after being kidnapped, a gloomy or aggressive guy... not someone just normal and carefree.
And completely mutilated. All those scars. He could only wonder what the fuck they did to him when he was kidnapped, why he has so many scars.
"It's my fault?" he asked himself, looking in the mirror above the sink.
He had spent the last nine months with that damn question running through his head. He didn't ask him for help; It was the fool Deku who without thinking launched himself into trying to save him. He didn't need his help, that was what he always thought to belittle that question.
But he had also been the idiot who was unable to escape the grasp of a second-rate villain, the fool who did not stop using his quirk, preventing the heroes from coming to help him. He was supposed to be the next number one, more powerful, famous and richer than All Might, and he was unable to get rid of a stupid second-rate villain.
Even damn Deku, when he threw his backpack at him, did more damage to the villain than he had done with his explosions.
"Are you okay, Katsuki?" someone behind the door asked, Deku's voice, though deeper than he remembers. He supposes it is logical, more in line with his current body.
He opened the bathroom door looking at Deku. he had to look up slightly to see his eyes.
"Aunt Mitsuki started to worry because you were taking so long. I decided to come look for you," he explained his presence.
He just frowned. "That day, nine months ago, I didn't ask you for help… why did you do that?" asked.
Katsuki noticed how Deku frowned and seemed to think about something, or rather try to remember something. "Oh, that… I honestly don't have the slightest idea why I did it, but in retrospect it was stupid," he said, letting out a soft laugh as if that event had been some pleasant memory.
Katsuki just snorted. "Don't ever try to help me again. I didn't ask for your help and I never will," he said, starting to walk away.
"Some things definitely never change," Deku said before following him.
The rest of the meeting was light. He just sat there without interacting, unless asked, while his parents caught up with Deku and asked Smurfette some questions.
In the end, the three of them left well into the night. When they got into the car, his father spoke. "Well, I'm actually glad that despite everything, Izuku seems to be handling things well," he said, earning a nod from his mother.
"He's a strong boy, although I worry about all those scars… by God, what he had to go through during that event," his mother said. His father began driving away from the scene.
"By the way, Katsuki, since when did Izuku stop calling you Kacchan?" his father asked.
Which made him realize that Deku didn't call him by that nickname at any point. "I don't know," was his response.
She had to pass a test, not the admission exam under recommendation, that would be the next day, but today she would have to pass a test in which they would see her academic level to know if it is fair or not to make her participate in the exam.
To pass this test she had to go directly to UA and, upon seeing the academy, she couldn't help but compare it to Raya Lucaria. It was incredibly disappointing, though she supposed she couldn't blame them, without magic they couldn't really replicate the magnificence of the magical academy.
Although she had to admit that the UA is absurdly large, titanic even.
"Nervous?" asked Izuku, who was walking next to her.
She still has to maintain her facade that she doesn't like being too far away from him, an easy facade to maintain because she really doesn't like being away from Izuku, even if it's more of a preference than the effect of trauma.
"Don't be absurd, I have prepared for this," Ranni replied.
She really did, more than anything in language, Japanese is still a mysterious language to her and she only really learned it because of the many visitors from the Land of Reeds who came to the lands between, but it was just learning to speak and read it, she didn't really know much about their language other than that.
And that was really the only thing she studied, mathematics is the same, so she didn't need to learn anything, and as for history and science, it is more than logical that she doesn't know anything about them, which is why she didn't try to study it much. beyond the superficial.
"I didn't mean the exam," Izuku said, making her look in his direction. "Part of me is nervous, going back to school, studying… it's been so long, I don't even really know how I should behave."
The studies for a wizard never really stop, and, unlike Izuku, the last time she was in a class was thousands of years ago and it was as a princess, with the benefit of her own mother and her teacher giving her extra classes.
"No, we have faced a lot and done a lot, I don't think studying should be a cause for concern," she replied, looking at the deserted hallway they were walking down. Classes haven't started yet, so the academy is empty apart from the occasional teacher.
"Most of what we faced and have done came down to hitting something really hard until it stopped bothering us," Izuku reminded her. "I don't think we'll do the same here."
Ranni would have liked to tell him that that was a lie, but… that would be lying. Actually most, if not all, of their problems are solved simply with the use of brute force, from her ascension to godhood to claiming the Elden ring.
Sure, their plans required cunning, but lately almost all of them had to be sealed by the use of force, even the murder of Godwyn was an act of force, although the demigod allowed it. It still seems incredible to her that the people of the lands between believed about the murder; There is no human way to explain how Godwyn the Golden, worthy son of Godfrey capable of defeating dragons, is defeated by the black knives.
Sure, they were very skilled assassins, no doubt, but the fact that Blaidd himself killed several is a clear sign that Godwyn would have swept the floor with them if he wanted to.
Ranni shook her head from side to side, she was getting lost in her thoughts.
"We'll manage, as always," she said, this time giving Izuku a small smile.
He returned it to her, but could tell that it was not entirely sincere. She finds it curious to think that someone like Izuku could be nervous about something as simple as studying and interacting with other people.
Finally, they arrived at the classroom where she would take her test. Inside, a tall, burly man with white hair was waiting for her, wearing a tight red suit with white gloves and boots and a belt that seemed too useless and rather counterproductive.
She really had to get used to the idea of these heroes. She understands their actions and their needs, but she simply cannot get the idea of their costumes. The vast majority are simply ridiculous, impractical and too showy.
They stand out like a sore thumb. Many would be more effective if they put on armor instead of wearing tight clothing.
Sure, Izuku owns some ridiculous suits like that mushroom-covered suit, but he's never worn such suits in combat… and he's never worn them after actually obtaining them.
"Miss Caria, please take a seat. This will be your test, it has no time limit. Young Midoriya, please sit at the other end of the classroom," the man said.
Izuku just nodded and took a seat on the other side of the classroom, while she sat where the sheet she should fill out was.
"If you can't answer something, feel free to skip to the next question," the man said, something to which she only nodded.
She picked up a pen and began to respond. In fact, she really likes pens, they are like quills but much more useful. You don't need to put them in the ink constantly and holding it is more pleasant. Sure, in the lands between they had fingers that allowed them to write and never wore out, but... even she found them unpleasant, in part because of her repudiation of two fingers and everything related to them.
The exam, however, was easy. The math was a breeze, the rest was a little more complicated, but again she had prepared herself.
Several minutes later it was over. "I'm done," she said to point out the man, who stood up from his seat and took the sheet with a slight glance.
"Well, you will receive the results this afternoon. Have a good day." And with that he dismissed them.
The man is surly and direct, something she definitely appreciates.
A bit of a transitional chapter before we get to the serious stuff, by the way it's hard to write Bakugo without trying to caricature him, I think I did the best I could.
As for the end of the manga...no comments.