Chapter 25
Reviews
TwinstarDragon: answers
1) thank you
2) there were minor spelling eros, but i understood what you meant. Thank you
3) oh, yeah, he deserved it. Believe it or not, i actually planned on having izumi and AFO fight longer, but the i remembered that izumi is a goddess, while AFO is an ordinary man
Also, your review actually made me laugh when i read it, so thanks for that
previously
Izumi clapped her hands together, getting rid of the dust on her hands, changed back to her hooded dress in a literal flash of light, and teleported back to her wife, who she hugged from behind. Ariel leaned into her wife's embrace, and that was when izumi noticed toshinori and inko staring at her. "Oh," she said simply. Now she had to explain to her former mother and predecessor how she was alive, and a girl.
now
"Well, this is awkward," izumi stated, not letting go of her wife. "Izuku?" inko asked, on the verge of crying. "Young midoriya?" toshinori asked. "Perhaps we should talk elsewhere, where we can't be overheard?" izumi proposed.
"That's a good idea," toshinori answered. "Do you still live in that apartment we shared?" izumi asked inko. Inko nodded, not trusting herself to speak, lest she start bawling her eyes out, and flooding the street. "Then we'll meet you there," izumi said, before she, ariel and eri simply vanished into thin air.
"Let's go home, toshi," inko managed to say. Toshinori nodded, held her hand and led her to the apartment.
The apartment
The family of three appeared in the apartment. Izumi backed away from her wife and daughter, and looked around. "It hasn't changed," she murmured. She went into the kitchen and dug into the fridge, while ariel sat on the sofa. "Ah, there we go," izumi said, as she brought out some apples.
She cut some up, and put them in a bowl, before taking the bowl to the sofa, and gently shook eri. "Baby, it's time to eat," she said. Eri grumbled, moved a bit, but didn't wake up. "Come on, baby, i have your favorite treat," izumi said.
Eri's eyes shot open and she raised her head. "Apples?" she asked happily. Izumi nodded. "You want them?" she asked. "Yes, mama," eri said enthusiastically. Izumi chuckled, before she took eri out of her sling and sat her next to ariel, before putting the bowl next to eri. "Here you go, baby. Just be careful, you don't have your quirk anymore. If the apple slices hit the floor, then they will have to go into the trash," izumi stated. Eri looked horrified at the mere thought of it.
Eri then began to carefully eat the apple slices, making sure not to spill them. Izumi stood up and went to her wife's side, giving her a hug to her side. "My love, what do you think are the odds of inko and toshinori of accepting me, as i am now?" she asked.
"I don't know, my love, since i never met your pre-life mother, before earlier today," ariel admitted. "However, i don't think that the odds will be very good," ariel said. "I see," izumi whimpered, as she hugged her wife a bit tighter.
The door opened, then inko and toshinori entered. Once they were in the apartment, they saw that the girl claiming to be izuku was hugging the shorter slender girl, and a small child was happily eating apple slices. Inko and toshinori sat opposite the family of three.
There was an awkward silence that stretched for a few minutes, until izumi broke it. "So… how long has it been since that light appeared?" she asked. "About three months, young midoriya," toshinori answered. "That short a time? Around two decades passed, where my class ended up," izumi said.
Izumi looks at toshinori. "Is your respiratory system still what it was, before you started to train me for one for all?" she asked. Toshinori comically spit out blood in surprise. "That's a 'yes'," izumi said, before she went to him and placed a hand where she knew where his scar was, and her hand glowed green. "Yeesh, you told me it was bad, back then, but i didn't expect it to be THIS bad," izumi said in worry.
"Will you be able to fix him, izumi?" ariel asked. "It should be very simple, compared to your problem," izumi said, as her hand stopped glowing green, and stood up. "I'm going to have to knock you out, all might," she said. "Huh?" toshinori asked, before izumi touched his forehead with a fingertip, he felt extremely sleepy, and he passed out.
As he was falling off of the sofa, izumi caught him and put him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. "This shouldn't be too long," she said as she went to the bathroom. Izumi looked over her shoulder for a moment, and said "no interruptions," before she carried him into the bathroom.
Once inside, she cut open his torso and began to repair the damage. The first she fixed was his stomach, then that small area of his intestines, and finally she restored his lung. After she finished, she sealed up his torso, unheeding of the blood covering her.
She then opened the door, took him to inko's room, and put him in the bed, before she went to the living room. "I finished," she said. "How bad was it?" ariel asked. Inko paid close attention to the answer. "He was missing a lung, his stomach was all but gone, and a small part of his intestinal tract was damaged," izumi said. Inko gasped in shock. "Luckily, i was just restoring his body to what it was supposed to be, so it took five minutes to fix, ten tops," izumi said.
Despite the good that izumi did, inko had had enough. "Quit it!" inko snapped. Izumi and ariel looked at her in surprise. "Huh?" izumi asked. "You claim to have been izuku, even basing your name off of him, but you're not! You're no child of mine!" inko yelled.
Unknown to everyone in the apartment, izumi's heart cracked. "I… i see," she said, as her head lowered and she started to cry. Because of her sadness, her domain for music was subconsciously playing songs of sadness. A portal opened up under her feet. "Goodbye, then," she said. "Izumi, wait-" ariel was cut off, when izumi sank into the portal, disappearing to who-knows-where.
"Mama?" eri asked. She looked around from her spot on the sofa. "Where are you?" eri asked. Ariel simply picked eri up in a hug, and held her close. "Mama just needs some alone time, eri," ariel said soothingly.
Inko was about to say something, but ariel viciously looked at her from over eri's head. She didn't say anything, but the message was pretty clear: shut up, right fucking now, or you will NOT live to regret it. After glaring at inko for a few moments, she turned her attention to comforting her daughter.
A few minutes later, toshinori woke up. "Ugh, that was not pleasant," he groaned. After he got out of the bed, he heard something he hadn't heard in years. His stomach growled, and he felt hungry. He took a deep breath, and he didn't hack up blood.
"I'm healed," he said in disbelief, before he went into the living room, to thank his successor's reincarnation, only to see no trace of her. "Where is she?" toshinori asked. Inko looked up at him in surprise. "After she put you in the bed, she listed everything that was wrong with you, and said that she fixed it. After that, inko snapped and said that my wife wasn't her child, and that she was an imposter, essentially. After inko finished, my wife started to cry, opened a portal at her feet and fell through it. Now we'll NEVER be able to find her," ariel finished.
Toshinori sat next to inko. "Inko, how could you?" he asked. "That woman was not my baby," inko denied. "Inko, reincarnation to another world typically means that they keep their memories and souls, and they're put into different bodies," toshinori explained.
Inko froze when he said that. "Even if it was in a new body, young midoriya still remembered everything that he experienced as izuku," toshinori said. "Not to mention," ariel began, getting the attention of inko and toshinori. "Izumi, without the mental problems she had as izuku, told me how izuku really felt," she said.
"What do you mean?" toshinori asked. "Izuku, while he was incredibly grateful that inko stuck with him, after he was diagnosed as powerless, he was upset that she treated him like an incredibly fragile glass sculpture that would shatter with a single, gentle touch," ariel said.
Inko began to cry.
Elsewhere (a few minutes ago)
A portal opened up over a grassy plain, and izumi fell through it, before the portal closed. "Inko… rejected… me," izumi sobbed, as she sat on the grass, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked at the sky, and saw that it was full of stars. She smiled, even as she cried, remembering her time as izuku. She often liked to go onto the roof and stargaze. Eventually, she came to believe that the night and the stars were her only friends, even if they couldn't physically be with izuku. "It has been a long time, my friends," she said. She closed her eyes, and began to sing in a hauntingly beautiful voice.
The sound of silence - disturbed
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains within the sound of silence
In restless dreams, I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night and touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
And no one dared disturb the sound of silence
"Fools", said I, "You do not know"
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops, fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls"
And whispered in the sound of silence
Izumi was now crying a bit harder. After a few minutes, she calmed down, stood up and looked around where she was. "Huh, i remember seeing this place outside musutafu a few times, when i was a child as izuku" she said. She noticed a door in a rock wall. "That's new, i wonder where it goes," she said in thought.
She went through the door, and saw that, after going down the hall and stairs it opened into, was a wide underground base. She flipped a switch, and lights turned on. "Nice to know that the lights still work now for the rest," izumi said, as she began to explore.
About five hours later, she finished exploring, and repaired every broken thing that she came across. "Luckily i somewhat knew how to fix electrical stuff, as well as plumbing. Just gotta furnish it, and stock it, and it'll be good to go," izumi said.
So, she went to the largest store in tokyo. She put a ton of stuff in her spacial storage without paying, while neither people nor cameras noticed. She mostly took things like hand soap, toilet paper, body wash and shampoo. After she left the store, she teleported to that base and stocked it.
She went to a mattress store, put some into her storage and teleported to the base, where she arranged one area of rooms to serve as bedrooms. She teleported to another store and stole towels and dining sets of cups, plates, bowls, forks spoons and butter knives. She teleported to the base and put the cups, bowls, plates, forks and spoons in the kitchen, and the towels in closets.
She then teleported to multiple massive grocers and stole food, which she put in the kitchen, manipulating the space so that the food will always be fresh. "Haah, that was exhausting," she said. "But hey, at least this place is up and running. Or, at least prepared for people to live in, without it falling apart," izumi said. She then turned into her arachne form, and was surprised that she could move through the hallways comfortably, as an arachne, and her spider body was pretty large.
She shifted back to human and teleported to the outside and breathed in the night air. She decided to experiment with her spacial manipulation. After about an hour of experimenting, she was able to fly, which she did over the city of musutafu.
As she flew, she felt her domain for children and motherhood pulse. She spread her senses, and saw that there were a lot of children. Either orphaned, or having no love and treated as sub-human, at best. "Oh, my poor little darlings," izumi whispered, before she began to sing, her domain for music playing, in a beautiful tone, full of love, compassion and care.
Children of the night - princess luna ver.
Come, sweet children, i'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows
Izumi began to fly over the city.
Follow, sweet children, i'll show thee the way
Through all the pain and the sorrows
As izumi flew, a couple of homeless children stirred in their sleep. Eventually, she landed in front of the only orphanage in musutafu.
Weep not, poor children, for life is this way
Murdering in beauty and passions
Shortly after she landed outside the orphanage, the window over the door to the orphanage opened, with izumi's space manipulation, and some of the children woke up. Some looked a bit on the skinny side. Some looked like they got beaten. One thing is shared across these children: they all have mutation quirks (making them look similar to animals), or are quirkless. The awake children got out of bed and looked at the door, curious.
Hush now, dear children, it must be this way
Too weary of life and deceptions
Izumi used her spacial manipulation to lift the children through the open window, and they smiled. They felt safe with the source of the song.
Rest now, my children, for soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet
Izumi started to fly away from the orphanage. Once she was in the air, she used her spacial manipulation to open cage doors and windows, giving the option to the children to leave their neglectful, abusive homes. Sure enough, when the children noticed that they could leave, they smiled, and started to float with izumi's spacial magic, going towards the one they feel safe with: izumi.
Once the children were in the air with izumi, and there were no less than 20 children, she flew away, with the children following her, with some of them having fun in the air, playing with the clouds.
One little girl circled around izumi, a small smile on her face, only for izumi to catch her and snuggle with her for a few moments, a smile on her face, before she released the little girl so she could join the rest of the children.
Come, little children, i'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows~
Izumi proceeded to lead the children to the home that she prepared earlier. In the morning, it would be revealed that there were missing children from the city. While the parents of the children that were in cages were happy that they no longer had to deal with them.
Once they were outside the home she prepared, she quickly, but gently, took them to land on the ground, and led the children inside. "Welcome to your new home, my darlings," izumi said with a smile on her face. The children looked around the room in wonder. "I know that you are tired, so i will show you to the bedrooms, my darlings," izumi said.
The children happily followed her. After a few minutes of walking, izumi stopped. "Here are the rooms," she said, motioning to the doors on either side of the hall. She proceeded to hug them all, and kiss them on their foreheads, before they went to bed. She then went to a somewhat large circular room, turned into her arachne form, and went to sleep.