When Inko got up the following morning, she was greeted by a surreal sight in her living room.
First off, the pointy-eared lady who got summoned by Izuku and Fumikage's little ritual was still on the couch, snoring away as if she wasn't in an entirely alien world. In Inko's eyes, Frieren looked closer to a teenage girl who got hammered with a lot of bad booze at a late-night party… and Inko knows that she had her fair share of those back when she was still young and stupid. She wasn't even sleeping in a 'dignified' pose. One of her legs dangled over the couch, her feet touching the floor. Her right arm, meanwhile, was splayed over her head. Her staff was leaning against the wall, somehow not sliding off and making a clattering sound all this time.
Second, Izuku and Fumikage were on the other couch, also asleep. The two must have taken turns watching the elf lady in case anything happened. Eventually, though, one must have fallen asleep while on the job, followed by the other. Judging by how Fumikage had his hands folded together and Izuku sat beside him, his head on the other teen's shoulder, Fumikage would have been the one that got claimed by sleep earlier. Izuku must have gotten his turn, found his friend asleep, and then tried to soldier on throughout the rest of the night just to fall asleep.
Which, of course, meant the only person still awake to watch Frieren had been Dark Shadow, who looked and waved at Inko as she approached."Hello, Auntie!"
"Good morning, Dark Shadow," Inko yawned. Thankfully, today was a Saturday, which meant that there was no work at the office and she could spend the whole day here. But the boys will probably accompany Frieren to the bookstore from which that spell book came and teach her how things work here. If she really was a mage as her whole getup suggested, then they couldn't have her cast spells with wanton abandon (though she didn't seem to be the type… yet).
"Can you wake Fumikage and Frieren up?" Inko continued. She checked the clock. It was already… 8:00 AM? Well, that was pretty much late in her book. She should have woken up an hour earlier and prepared breakfast earlier for the three (four).
"Why not Izuku too?" Dark Shadow asked.
Inko sighed. Her son was an insomniac, so he needed every bit of sleep he could get. "Just let him sleep off for now. He needs it…"
The sentient quirk appeared to understand what she meant as he nodded. Dark Shadow floated towards his host, taking hold of and shaking Fumikage's beak. "Hey, bozo! Time to rise and shine!"
Fumikage groaned. "Dark Shadow… not now…"
"We need you to cook breakfast, Fumi!"
This was when Fumikage's eyes shot open. He would have immediately bolted from the couch had he not noticed that Izuku was still leaning on him… and, all things considered, it was not that easy to notice, as he was quite light. Inko then shot Dark Shadow a stern look. "Dark Shadow, I wasn't going to ask him to do that."
"Hah. It was worth trying," the sentient quirk shrugged.
"Dark Shadow… move Izuku to the side of the couch. Don't wake him." Fumikage whispered. Dark Shadow complied, and soon enough, Izuku was alone on that couch, sleeping soundly.
With that done, Fumikage looked over to Frieren, who was still sleeping like a child in a Victorian-era painting. His eyes lingered on the elf lady; hestillhad trouble processing that all that strange occult stuff that he liked to play with was somehow, actually, completely real. By the darkness! What if the voodoo spells were real, too? Did he accidentally use someone somewhere as a puppet, thinking it was just for fun?!
"Hey, pointy ears," Dark Shadow nudged Frieren, who then grumbled. She was already half-awake, that was for sure, but she didn't want to get off. "Wake up and get up, you want to see more of Fumi's spellbooks, right?"
The elf groaned. "Two… more… hours…"
Inko pinched her nose. Great. She now hadtwolate risers in this house.
"Frieren-san…" Fumikage said to the elf. "You need to wake up."
"No…"
"Please."
"No…"
Fumikage groaned. This was hopeless. "Auntie Inko, I think I'll just help you prepare breakfast for today."
"Fumi," Dark Shadow looked at him and blinked, slowly. "You know you can't cook anything other than fried eggs, right?"
"I still wish to assist Izuku's mother however I can," Fumikage insisted. He then looked over to Inko. "Will you allow me?"
"Izuku is usually the one helping me," Inko replied. "But sure, you may. Poor old me might forget something, after all. It's going to be easier with… four extra hands. Or two extra hands and two extra claws?"
"As long as I get some, too."
"Dark Shadow, no."
In the end, Izuku woke up an hour later. He felt a little better than on most mornings, as he managed to sleep faster. After all, it was easier to go to slumber when the only sound you could really hear was Dark Shadow's ambient purring. Izuku swore that the sentient quirk had also expanded in size as they slept, enveloping both him and Fumikage like a warm blanket.
As he got up, the events of the previous night replayed in his head.
He and Fumikage had met up again after a long time. They ate dinner, and then they made a magic circle as instructed by one of the bird-headed teen's many strange occult books. They chanted some words in Latin, and Izuku wished he could become a hero without a quirk. Then Frieren showed up, and she was apparently completely fine with being yanked across dimensions. Hell, Izuku could see the implication that she wanted to stick around for a bit.
Well, Frieren was on the other couch, sleeping without so much as a care in the world, but there was one other thing that he forgot. He looked at the clock. It was already 9:00 AM, which wouldn't be that important on a Saturday, but… there was something else.
Oh, no!I have to help Mom with breakfast!
Izuku shot out of the couch and ran to the kitchen. How could he have been so foolish, so lazy? It was his duty to help his mother with breakfast every single day! She was working as she was already! This was the one thing he wasn't useless in-
"Ah, finally, you are awake," Fumikage's baritone voice greeted Izuku as he entered the kitchen. Already, Inko was sprinkling in the final finishing touches on the Katsudon (which was Izuku's absolute favorite food) with some rosemary sprinkles. "Dark Shadow and I have aided your mother in preparing breakfast."
"By aiding he means going out and slaughtering the pig that would become the po-"
Fumikage cut in, gently slapping the sentient quirk in the face with his palm. "Dark Shadow, no. We were merely sent out to the grocery to acquire the pork cutlets."
"Oh." Izuku looked down. He should try to wake up earlier no matter what…
"Frieren-san is still sleeping, isn't she?" Fumikage asked.
"Still sleeping like a damsel in distress last I saw," Izuku replied.
Fumikage actually snickered at that. He rarely laughed… it was usually Dark Shadow that laughed. "Oh, but I doubt she is a damsel in distress. Did you see how nonchalant she was about… everything? It's like she's used to getting sent to different places…"
"Well, we'll ask her later," Izuku nodded. Meanwhile, Dark Shadow started setting the plates; his efforts were rewarded by a pet on the head by Inko. "Where did you get that spell book, anyway? I hope it's not up at your place in the Kuril?"
"Oh no, no," Fumikage shook his head. "It's close to Musutafu, actually. I got it on the way here. It was… very interesting to look at."
"What's the name of the bookstore?" Izuku asked, curious. Maybe if those spellbooks were real then maybe he could study them…
"Sanctum Sanctorum Books of Sorcery. I heard from the shopowner that the books are copied from a library somewhere in Nepal, but apart from that I have no clue as to its specifics."
"Huh."
"Breakfast is ready!" Inko called out. "Can you wake up Frieren, again?"
It took their collective efforts thirty whole minutes to finally get Frieren out of the couch. The elf mage was groggy and still wanted to sleep for yet another two hours, but Dark Shadow took matters into his own hands (claws?) and quite literally picked her up and set her down. She… did not seem to mind.
As they began a rather quiet breakfast, Frieren looked at each of these individuals once again. With her mana detection, she could see that out of them, Izuku had the most mana. Inko had far less, and Fumikage's were nearly nonexistent. The green-haired boy had less than Fern when she first started out with Heiter (may the corrupt priest rest in peace), but he clearly had the best potential to be trained in the magic arts. Not that Frieren wanted to do so in particular… unless he asked, which he probably wouldn't, given his shyness. But she definitely would, if he asked. After all, he's the one that summoned her here, given that he had more mana than the other.
The near absence of mana in the others, however, was something a little more questionable for Frieren. Even humans who displayed no aptitude for magic had at leastsomemana. But these? They could probably learn the most basic of basic spells, and that was it. They probably wouldn't be able to learn evenjustZoltraak and basic defense shields.
Huh. Could it be that keeping the familiar- err, quirk called Dark Shadow consumed all of that bird-headed child's resources? Perhaps, it could be, but it certainly wasn't made out of mana. It wassomething else, and not even Frieren, with her great knowledge of magic, could decipher what it was beyond a sentient collection of living shadow. As for the mother… Frieren didn't know what she could do yet, nor the green-headed boy.
So much to learn. So much to know. A whole world of new possibilities beyond even magic! Frieren could barely wait to begin to explore. She is going to haveso much funhere. When she gets back, she'll make Serie and the Demon King green from envy. That's for sure!
"So," Izuku's head snapped towards Frieren, who had just begun a line of questioning. "There are many things that I must know of this world. First of all… what is a quirk?"
Oh. This was probably the best thing she could have asked first. "Well," Izuku began, "Quirks are different superpowers that a lot of people here have. It's something that you inherit from your parents, and it varies in strength and usefulness. For example, Mom can pull small objects towards her. It's useful in the kitchen and office work, but not in fighting. Fumikage here has, well, Dark Shadow. You're well acquainted at this point." Izuku shuddered at the memory of Dark Shadow just deciding to drag Frieren out of bed. "80% of the population have them, but only a small percentage actively train their quirks. Most quirks aren't as strong as Dark Shadow, for example."
The sentient quirk vibrated in place at Izuku's compliment. "Why, yes, I am the best that there is."
"Dark Shadow…"
"What is yours, then?" Frieren asked.
Oh.
That…
There was that.
"I don't have one," Izuku admitted. "I'm quirkless."
Frieren simply stared at him. Her expression didn't change at all. Hell, she barely had an expression to begin with. "Alright, then. So most of this world's population has… a single spell that they specialize in?"
"You could say that," Izuku nodded. "But some quirks are versatile. Like, uh, Dark Shadow, again. He can do a lot of things. Endeavor is the best at pyrokinesis, Edgeshot can become as thin as a thread, Ryukyu turns into a dragon, and Yoroi Musha can summon any weapon he wants into his hands. Then there's All Might, a man so strong his punch can change the weather!"
Frieren kept listening. Such great variety in powers and abilities. How so fascinating!
"All Might is the best hero of our time," Izuku continued. "He's… he's my idol, my role model. When he arrives with a smile, everyone knows everything will be fine, because he is here."
"Ah. Just like how people back home think of Himmel the Hero," Frieren nodded along. "He has statues everywhere."
"Himmel the Hero?" Fumikage asked.
"I was part of his party of legendary adventurers that defeated the Demon King," Frieren replied. "He was the party leader. Though it has been years since his death. Humans just don't live as long as we elves do. But people still remember him very fondly."
Izuku remembered that Frieren was indeed an elf, not just someone with a pointy ear mutation. "How old are you… Frieren-san?"
"More than a thousand years."
"Oh my," Inko gasped.
"Older than my grandmother?!" Dark Shadow shrieked.
Izuku was less surprised. Elves were either immortal or lived a very, very long time, so Frieren being a thousand years old wasn't so… shocking. "So you'd been collecting a lot of spells, then?"
"I have many," Frieren replied simply. "The process of acquiring and analyzing them is quite fun. Just as fun as actually casting them." To prove the point, she materialized several glowing orbs of light from her right hand, while creating a flower on her left. "Magic."
Izuku gulped. Frieren was, as Bakugo might put it, a massive nerd. Just like himself. Izuku loved analyzing quirks. Frieren loved analyzing spells, even if her voice didn't show it that much.
"Can you… um…"
"Yes?"
"Can you… teach me?"
Ah. So there it was. Frieren, for the first time that day, smiled. "I suppose I can teach you basic, fundamental spells… after all, you alreadydidcast a spell. But first," the elf leaned closer to Izuku, and Fumikage too, for good measure. "You must bring me to the bookstore first. Everything else is contingent on that."
Izuku beamed. "Ahhh, yes, of course, Frieren-san! Mom, is it okay for you?"
As she watched, Inko could swear she was going to cry. Her sweet baby boy looked happy! He was going to learn magic, of all things! "Yes, Izuku, as long as Fumikage watches you."
As for Fumikage, he simply patted Izuku at the shoulder, with Dark Shadow patting his back. "You're a wizard, Izuku," Fumikage said, pulling an ancient reference from a pre-quirk movie.
"Don't celebrate yet," Frieren smirked. "Also," she pulled out a purse filled with silver coins, as well as some gold ones. "What kind of currency does the bookstore accept?"
Oh. It looks like they'll have to pass by a pawnshop first, it seems.