In a person's life, there was always many, many moments that would define it, some obvious, and others less so, as what determined the way they would go forward.

For Izuku Miforiya, a young, hopeful 4 year old kid with dreams of becoming a Hero, that day was being told he was Quirkless.

The day in question defined his life for several reasons.

Obviously it meant he now was going to join the ranks of Japan's less than well treated lowest caste of people. A group that many before him discovered were often treated like animals.

It also seemingly put an end to any orthodoxical aspirations of becoming a Pro Hero in Japan's Superhuman society.

However, more than that, was the way his parents reacted… And how the choices they made later that night would define his life from then until the day he died.

Izuku was feeling down beyond belief… Beyond anything the young boy had thought was possible to feel with his limited life experience.

However, shattered dreams, hopes and learning not all men were created equal did not mean he was able to escape nature's call.

The world could have been ending, and Human beings would still need to pee.

However, it was as he came back from that trip, that he stopped, as the conversation his parents had from out in the kitchen turned so loud, he had no difficulty hearing it.

And the moment he realized that it was about him, his depressed attention was suddenly on it as could be expected.

It was as the conversation reached one, specific point though that ALL of his attention and emotions suddenly found themselves intertwined with it.

"-Tendo is willing to help reopen my Ki Paths. If we do that, I can train Izuku. He wouldn't NEED a Quirk! He could still attain great power. Yes, it would not be easy, it would take time, and a LOT of effort on his part and ours… But it IS a legitimate option!"

"My parents HATES Ki users Hisashi! The ENTIRE reason you sealed yours was because of that! If we set Izuku up as your successor, they'd revoke ALL the money we'd need to live!"

"We'd have to abandon modern conveniences, yes… But the life of the wandering martial Artist is not that bad…"

"You have a way too rosy view of your wandering Hisashi. Wandering around the land without a home is HARD."

"And being Quirkless is not? I KNOW how they treat Quirkless in this country Inko. You do not do Izuku any kindness by setting him up for that fate… However, this training journey would not be like mine, with an uncertain financial future at the end. Provided we agree to his terms, Tendo is willing to take us in at the end. He'll adopt Izuku as his financial heir, and he's far, richer than your parents ever were."

"And that's another thing… I can't believe he actually set those terms. In this day and age! You'd think we were still in the middle ages. Is he so worried his daughters won't be able to find husbands when they come of age?"

"I wouldn't know about that. I got a good look at all of them, but they seem like kids who'll grow up alright enough. Cute girls, no obvious genetic defects… Oldest girl, Kasumi seems way older than her age would suggest, but that's about it. Regardless… It's either this or nothing. I'm no wizard Inko. I'm not able to grant Izuku a Quirk. I CAN, however, train him to become a man amongst men! A man who's kicks can shake the earth, and punches which can crack the heavens!"

There was a pause in the air before his father continued.

"However, there will indeed require sacrifices… From both him, and us."

I


11 Years Later.

The skies over the city landscape of Nerima were letting down an absolutely comically large amount of rain.

Admittingly it was not the worst it had been that Fall, as at several points, it had poured so much that just sticking a clothed arm outside the window was enough to replicate the effects of having jumped into a pool, but it was still raining so badly that very, very few people were outside to watch the streets.

The lone exceptions to this rule beyond a homeless man here and there that was forced to weather the downpour as best as they could, was a trio of green haired folk wearing martial art attire of different kinds.

Well, two of them were green-haired at the moment.

The one leading them at the front was a giant black and white Panda, wearing a basic Karate gi, and carrying a backpack.

The Panda, beyond walking upright on his back-feet, and strange choice of attire for a bear, was also exhibiting other human-like behavior as he was constantly looking left and tight, with one massive arm shielding his eyes from the rain.

Directly behind him, utterly dwarfed by his massive frame was an older, middle aged adult woman with quite the sturdy build, combined with rather generous curves, and a pretty face and long green hair tied up in a massive ponytail. Her body was covered by a much more extravagant outfit than the Panda's basic gi, with a black dragon on a red background embroidered into it, but even still, it was clearly a martial arts outfit, perfectly serviceable for such.

Like the panda, she too was carrying a backpack that looked like it had seen some amount of travels in its day.

Unlike the Panda in front, which was utterly soaked, the woman was dry clean… Courtesy of the last member of their trio, who was holding up a glowing green finger, and judging by the pattern the raindrops above were making, was conjuring a relatively large, invisible umbrella over the two of them.

The fellow in question was a young boy of fifteen years of age, with an adorable, freckled face, a large poofy green mane around his head, a relatively slim body figure, and wore an outfit similar to the woman in front of him, only baggier, and with a far less loose sash around his waist.

He too was wearing a backpack, but unlike the other's, this one was clearly marked by a lot of accessories, in particular Hero related material.

Unlike the two in front though, he had a very, very nervous expression, and his eyes constantly went up to the sky, as if he was terrified that at any moment his strange defense against the rain would falter.

In front of him, the other of their party was having a discussion.

"I still say this is a dumb idea."

The panda, rather than make a sound, instead pulled out a sign from seemingly nowhere, with the words: "Best to get the worst out of the way from the start."

Then it put the sign back into the nothingness it had come from, and pulled out another that read: "Besides, it's NOT my frame that we need to ease them into."

The woman sighed, but did not argue further.

The boy for his part felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the words.

Inside he tried really, really to psyche himself up.

It'll be fine. It's just the most important meeting of your life, Izuku… The planned ending point of the 11 year journey that has been most of your life.

Just make a good impression BEFORE the truth comes out.

11 years back in time, when he had found himself in the unenviable position of learning he had no superpowers in a world where that was the norm, of being Quirkless, and having to endure a lifetime of shame and humiliation, and having to give up on his dreams, his father had offered him a choice.

A way to effectively cheat the system, in his own favor.

There had been a price though. One his 4 year old self had not really fully understood, but had deemed as perfectly acceptable in order to get the chance to chase his dreams.

Today though, that same boy who had gleefully and willingly agreed to give away his own hands, was feeling far, far less confident about the matter than he'd once been.

Which made sense… He was much older now.

He now understood the reality of what it meant to make a marriage pact. Especially one as… Unorthodox as this.

His father's friend had 3 daughters. And he was to marry two of them.

That had been a… Nerve-wracking prospect even in the old days… Before china. Now though… He felt a distinct fear the entire thing would crash and burn before it even began.

I


At the entrance of a Dojo surrounded by thick, stone walls, a tall man with a large mustache, flowing black locks, wearing dark, gray robes, with eyes that bespoke of having just woken up from sleep, was nonchalantly going through a rather massive stack of mail.

The man, without much care, or enthusiasm on his face began sorting them into one of three boxes, labeled: Fan things, bills, junk.

Nothing unusual about that… Other than the sudden speed, where he sorted about 30 every 2 seconds, so fast that most would have had difficulty even seeing the details.

He was about 83 seconds into this routine, when suddenly he stopped.

He blinked repeatedly, as he looked down on one, very basic postcard, and his eyes which had until then been very glassed over suddenly came awake in a snap.

He let every single one of the other letters drop, as he brought the postcard up to his eyes.

The message written on it was pretty basic.

"Bringing Izuku over today. Hisashi Midoriya." With a stamp of the date.

The man reading it though, reacted as if it was a long, flowery and heartwarming love letter that touched the heartstrings of any who read it!

"Oh joy! Finally! Oh how I have finally waited for this day!"

The sudden enthusiasm of his voice was one thing, but the way he suddenly began crying massive tears of pure joy was something else.

"Finally after ALL THESE YEARS! Izuku is finally coming here!"

The man suddenly snapped around, and without even questioning why his old friend had apparently sent a letter from elsewhere in the city before coming over, began power walking through his rather large house.

He first poked his head into the kitchen.

"Kasumi!"

An older girl at the very end of her teenage years, currently busy making dinner turned her head.

"Yes daddy?"

I


"Nabiki!"

"Mhm?"

A sixteen year old girl turned her head from where she'd been busy reading through a fashion magazine, and enjoying an ice cream.

I


Finally he popped his head into their Dojo's main training hall.

"Akane!"

Here however, there was no one to answer.

A quick trip to her room wielded no better results.

"Where is that girl?"

I


The girl in question was to be found outside in the rain, wearing basic jogging shorts and a matching top as she ran at rather impressive speeds through the rain, seemingly completely uncaring that she was now soaked through.

As she ran, she did a simple, but expertly timed training combo of four straight, two hooks, and an uppercuts, in the air.

Not that boxing was her primary source of martial arts moves, but it was great for building a rhythm during training.

Combining martial arts to produce the best possible result was their school's main bread and butter after all.

After her usual jog, the girl finally reached her home, and passed the sign by the entrance where the words "Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial arts" were written.

A long time ago it had said "Indiscriminate grappling" instead, but that had been long before she was born.

Akane very quickly headed over, threw off her jogging outfit, dried off both her body and impressive mane of hair with a speed of someone with long experience with hair that went down to her waist, and once done with that, threw on a beige gi, along with a red belt, and then a red belt, before finishing her daily training exercise.

"ORYAH!"

With a resounding crash, the girl broke through a meter thick collection of cinderblocks, steel, wooden plates and other hard materials, stacked on top of each other, with a single punch.

With a sigh of relief, and uncaring of the mess she'd just created for her big sister to clean up later, the girl began to finally relax after two hours of physical effort.

"Ah… That was nice."

Her good mood however, was short lived, as over by the entrance of the weight training room, another, feminine voice responded.

"There you go again Akane. No wonder all the boys think you're so weird."

Her sister Nabiki's voice made Akane roll her eyes before turning around.

She'd heard this lecture before.

"And why should I care exactly? Not everyone in the world is as obsessed with boys as you are, Nabiki."

It had been meant as a dismissive comment, but it only made her sister suddenly sport a smug, sly grin.

"No? Well, I suppose this new bit of news won't interest you then..."

"That had better not be followed up with something about Kuno. I still haven't forgiven you for the last time."

The second born of Soun Tendo gave a dismissive wave.

"That loser? Nah, this is WAY more interesting. See, Izuku's coming today."

Akane, who had been looking back momentarily on the various weights in the room, wondering if maybe she should do some weight training today to round it out, reacted like Nabiki had just brained her in the back of the skull with a thrown rock.

"Izuku?"

The name brought a LOT of feelings with it.

Mostly negative.

The fact she was apparently gonna have to meet him today only amplified those much moreso.

"He's here?"

"Oh no, he's not here yet. But he is coming today. To move in here with us, if daddy is to be believed."

"...Seriously?"

"Yep. I'm sure the Midoriyas' wanna get a good look at both us and the house before the wedding."

The wedding.

Her big sister spoke about it so casually, like it was just a fact set in stone.

That made her feel a massive pang of annoyed anger in Nabiki's direction.

"You must be happy… Getting a new boytoy to schmooze off of and all."

"Don't be silly Akane… A boytoy by definition is all about how much you can squeeze out of him before it's over, with the least amount of effort. It's a short term investment for a little fun. A hubby is a long term investment requiring a lot more effort over time, but in turn also has a lot more rewards."

The irony that the only gal in this house with an interest in boys or even just a relationship in general being about as romantic as a feral cat was not something that was lost on Akane.

She groaned.

"Lets just… Go talk to dad. Might as well get his whole spiel over with BEFORE the Midoriyas' come."

Gods knew if she had to listen to it, having him embarrass her by telling it before complete strangers was about the only way she could think he could make it even worse.

Complete strangers.

As she walked behind Nabiki, with her clothing consisting of hotpants, a tight t-shirt without a bra beneath, and her hands casually behind her bob cut brown-haired head, Akane couldn't help but hearing those words in her head again and again.

Getting married without any say in the matter was… Something that GALLED her, and had galled her for years, ever since she was old enough to understand what it actually meant.

Even more so after her 14th birthday came and went.

But it wasn't JUST the fact her hand was betrothed to some… Guy. It was also the fact it was betrothed to a guy she had never met.

Well… At least that would change after today.

Gods help her.

I


Akane recalled her English teacher once saying that the sentence "As you know" was an automatic failure in how to write exposition, and the moment you wrote it, it was time to scrap the entire scene, and rework it from scratch.

Her dad had never gotten that memo it would seem.

"As you three girls well know by now, 11 years ago, my good friend Hisashi and I arranged marriages between you and his son, Izuku! He and his family set off on a long, long trip across the world to master as many Ki techniques and arts, whether old and new, as they could possibly find! Then as he turns 16, he will return here to finalize the marriage, and enroll into a Hero school in order to become a grand Hero!"

Saying the three of them "knew" that little bit of family lore, was quite the understatement.

The 3 girls' reactions to their father's passionate and overly dramatic explanation(complete with small puppets), also spoke of teenagers who were tired of being told something they already knew.

The oldest, Kasumi was sitting completely properly and sipping a cup of tea with both hands, but there was no hiding the complete lack of emotions in her eyes, Nabiki was nonchalantly sipping her soda while slouching, and Akane rolled her eyes, chin in her palm as she rested her elbow on the table.

Nabiki's next question also spoke about how little she actually wanted to rehear this story.

"Sooo… Do you actually have a picture of him at least? I was kinda hoping the Midoriyas' had actually sent something since they finally decided to come here."

"I must agree with Nabiki."

Their oldest sister surprisingly conceded.

"I know he's only 15, but… I do hope he's more mature than his age would imply. Young men are so… Boring."

"I have no idea." Their father declared, suddenly deadpan. "There were no additional pictures with the message."

"Want to keep it a surprise huh… Well that's either good, or really bad."

"Oh, I'm certain the boy is strong! All I have heard from Hisashi over the years tells me he should be more than up for the task of taking care of you, and inheriting the Dojo!"

"As opposed to us doing that? I could do it without some groom tailored for it."

Akane hadn't been meaning to just let it blurt out, but it did… As angry comments so often did with her.

Her father coughed nervously.

"Uhm… I'm sorry Akane, but… You know as well as I that our possible pool of partners are… Limited nowadays. Quirkless people are only getting rarer and rarer, and with that, actual Ki users are…"

Nabiki nodded nonchalantly.

"He's right, you know Akane. Have you met even a single guy in Furinkan you'd be willing to date? Kuno's obviously out, but from what my friends still there tell me, you hate pretty much all the boys in class. Or the ones in other classes."

Akane felt like a vein of blood on her forehead was about to pop.

It was Kasumi who delivered the deathblow though.

"Not to mention that your Ki control is absolutely terrible, Akane. There is no way you could carry on the Dojo without fixing that."

Had anyone else said that, there would have been swift and painful repercussions… But it was Kasumi, so Akane instead glowered over at the wall beside the table, away from the rest of her family, staring at the wood like she wanted to avenge some grand, personal slight it had inflicted upon her.

"Right… Well, with that settled… My last news from the Midoriya family before this was that they intended to make the swim from China back to Japan, so clearly that worked out for them!"

The implication that the Midoriyas' had apparently swam the entire distance from China to Japan, did not seem to perturb any of them.

"China, huh? Think they'll have any souvenirs?"

"That survived a rough, water filled trip back home here? That seems… Rather doubtful."

Akane just kept looking at the wall.

"What's so great about China anyway…?"

Any further speculation on the matter though, was tabled, as they heard the clear sounds of someone walking in the front door.

Someone large and heavy by the sounds of it.

"Oh, we have visitors."

"Damn, that was fast!"

Kasumi rose, but it was Sound Tendo who got up first before anyone else, and was already out the door before Nabiki eagerly followed him, with an interested expression.

Out from the entranceway she heard her dad's voice.

"Hisashi my friend! We've been waiting!"

Akane sighed as Kasumi too left the room. Leaving her all alone, and suddenly feeling completely abandoned.

A large part of her actually wanted to just ignore everything going on, and instead head on back to the weight hall… But she did rise, and headed out to the entrance… Where, rather than the sight of a boy and his parents, she was instead greeted by the sight of a giant panda blocking the entrance way.

Wearing a gi.

Even in their world filled with Quirk users, and other supernatural nonsense that was a bit… Out there.

"Is this your friend, father? I was under the impression Mr. Midoriya didn't have a Quirk."

Soun, seeming as mystified by the panda as everyone else, violently shook his head.

The panda however, pulled out a sign from seemingly nowhere that read: "It is I Soun!"

Then he pulled out a second one, that read: "I have merely been cursed into the form of this giant panda."

An awkward silence followed.

"Well… That IS Hisashi's handwriting…"

Then another voice, completely unknown to any of the Tendo daughters suddenly sounded, somewhere behind the giant Panda.

"I told him this was a stupid way to introduce it."

Their dad however did recognize it.

"That voice! I have not heard it in many years, but I am certain it is Inko Midoriya! Have this curse… Trapped you inside of your transformed husband!?"

Akane immediately gave her dad a dope slap to the back of the head, to discourage that ridiculous idea, and it was quickly followed up by the panda stepping sideways so it had its back to the wall, revealing the sight of two other figures, quite lesser in size than the Panda.

A boy about her own age, and a grown woman.

The woman was… Tall. Very tall, and judging by the figure she saw under the clothing, she was built quite solidly, though that seemed at odds with her rather generous curves.

She had a very pretty face too, and long green hair, accompanying a ponytail in the back.

"Inko-San!" her father rushed forward and clasped the woman's hand and shook it energetically.

"It has been too long!"

"I'm glad to see you Soun-Kun. The years have been kind on you."

"I can say the same for you! 11 years of world traveling did you quite a lot of good!"

His eyes quickly left Inko though, to focus on the boy just behind and besides her.

He was not the only one, as all 3 girls of the Tendo family had long since glued their eyes on him, the mother practically forgotten.

"Ah… And you must be…"

"I-Izuku Midoriya…"

Akane had waited until he confirmed it before she started judging him.

He looked… Cute.

That was about it.

He was neither very tall, nor that short. His frame was not windly, but it was nowhere near as stout as his parents… Though compared to his Panda father, that wasn't too hard.

He was… Utterly forgettable. Or he would be, if not for his cute face, both sides which was dotted with freckles that formed patterns like diamonds.

He also had a huge, poofy mane of green hair that surrounded his face, but that kinda just added to his boyish looks.

That said, any and all attempts at looking like an adorable guy who swept ladies off their feet with a roguish charm was undone by the extremely nervous look as he in turn looked over the girls of house Tendo.

Well that, and his rather baggy clothes.

That peak of nervousness though was quickly overshadowed by shock, as his prospective father-in-law embraced him in a bearhug.

"AT LAST! YOU HAVE COME!"

He then whirled him around so the much taller man was now behind him and with his strong hands on his shoulders, sorta pushing him forward.

"BEHOLD! My daughters! Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane! My pride and joy!"

"H-hi…"

His very weak hello was met with narrow eyed silence by Akane, and a cheerful wave and smile from Kasumi.

Nabiki though, cocked her head, and then stepped forward.

Akane missed the details of what she did exactly, but she did not miss how Izuku's shirt was suddenly unbuttoned and how Nabiki had pulled one part to the side, revealing Izuku's stomach and chest, both of which were deceptively muscled compared to how he looked clothed.

For a brief moment there was utter silence, as Nabiki put her free hand under her chin as she looked Izuku's abbs over in detail, looking for all the world like a detective pondering an important clue.

It was Kasumi's "Oh my!" That finally broke the spell.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SIS!?"

Nabiki didn't seem particularly bothered by Akane's sudden yelling, instead turning her head over her shoulder to give one her usual grins.

"I'm just checking out my new hubby's abs. Obviously."

Izuku for his part looked like he had turned into a stone statue, whose face was painted red, so frozen was he by Nabiki's actions… Right up until she turned her head around again and gave him a wink.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun with those."

Soun was the first of the adults to break out of the trance.

"Now, now dear, there will be plenty of time for that later… Preferably after the wedding. For now… Why don't you show Izuku the dining room! We have a lot to discuss!"

"Sure daddy!"

Kasumi, ever the dutiful daughter, followed, as Nabiki dragged the boy by the hand, as she whistled a cheerful tune.

Akane did not particularly want to go… But she had a pretty good idea of what sort of things Nabiki might do if she left her and the boy… Izuku… Unattended.

Leaving the three adults to stand awkwardly behind in the hallway.

There hung an uncomfortable silence in the air for a while… until Inko suddenly spoke.

"...I see your wife still lives on, beyond her death."

The panda nodded, and a sign with the words: "A bit of her in all 3 it seems" appeared.

Soun stiffened.

"That is… Not UNTRUE… But please do not bring that up amongst my daughters… They have a very… Saintly, untainted image of my dear, beloved wife…"

Both nodded.

Then suddenly Soun seemed to remember something.

"Oh right. What is the deal with this panda curse of yours Hisashi?"

I


Izuku Midoriya was not sure what he had expected when meeting his fiancees.

Girls who immediately rejected him? Some shy girl? Older girls who found him way too young for their tastes?

Whatever it was, an older, attractive girl with a cute face and very generous… Assets, pawing over him, and asking him questions about his journey was not it.

The two other girls, Akane and Kasumi sorta took a backseat in the following conversation(Or as much an attempt at conversation, as the shy Izuku was able to muster), but both had the exact opposite reaction.

Kasumi seemed to be a bit annoyed but took it in stride, while Akane… Well he did not know any of them yet really… But he was able to tell immediately that she was REALLY not happy with what was going on in front of her.

Thankfully, for the moment she seemed to be directing her feelings at Nabiki, but he felt nothing but disdain coming his way either… If not quite as brutal.

Finally though, as Nabiki asked him about his journey through the eurasian plains, Akane had finally had enough.

"Can you PLEASE stop doing that?"

"Doing what Akane?"

"Pawing over him like he's some new pet!"

Nabiki got an annoyed look on her face.

"Akane, don't be rude… This is our new husband! It's perfectly logical to treat him like this!"

Our husband.

The words… Felt so weird for Izuku.

Like… He had known this was going to be the case, but… To hear this very attractive girl just flat out call him that was… Something else.

"I can't recall when I said wedding wows… We're not married."

Izuku, who had been Desperately wanting to find something… ANYTHING to distract him from Nabiki's presence finally found something.

"T-that's alright Akane… If you don't want to… Then you don't have to… The engagement is only for two of you girls after all…"

It was only after he said it, that he realized the unintended implication was that he was basically saying Kasumi HAD to marry him in her younger sister's place, whether she wanted to or not…

And as all 3 of them looked at him like he was crazy, he immediately assumed that this was the interpretation all 3 of them had taken from his words.

Idiot! He had to think before he spoke! These weren't just some random people he met on the road he'd never see again. They were girls he would spend the rest of his life with! Well… two of them.

It was Kasumi who first broke out of it though.

"2? Oh, that means you haven't heard about it!"

"...A-about what…?"

There however, he was interrupted by the door to the dining room being ripped open and 3 adults stepping into the room, Sound Tendo with what Izuku was starting to realize was rather usual for him.

Over the top melodramatic tears.

His parents looked far more relieved… Though all 3 girls recoiled in shock at the sight of his father(Though thankfully it finally broke Nabiki's pawing of him off for the moment) in his natural, uncursed form.

The head of the Midoriya family looked about the usual… Which to say was that he looked like a living scarecrow, barely clinging to life.

His gaunt, and sickly, lean appearance could not have been a sharper contrast to his wife's amazonian build… Though she was actually much older than him.

The only thing that still bespoke of his relative youth was his hair, still as bright and emerald green as it had always been, in the exact same natural form as Izuku's… Though he kept it much longer, way down his back, which didn't exactly make him look any healthier.

Quite on the contrary.

It was Soun Tendo that took the spotlight.

"Oh me! Oh my! What a tale of woe! Of sorrow and despair!"

He dried his massive tears on the sleeve of his gi.

"But despair NOT my boy! Your parents have told me everything! But despite your terrible new reality, there is no reason you cannot still marry my daughters!"

Great.

At least one of the four was onboard with it.

It was Akane that asked the obvious question.

"Okay? And what the Hell kind of reality is that exactly?"

"A good question, Second Daughter-in-Law."

Once more all 3 girls were utterly shocked, this time by sheer, bombastic POWER in his father's voice.

His mother chuckled in response, seemingly finding some amusement out of their obvious bafflement.

"It began a year ago, when deep, deep in China, in some remote corner of the mountains, when during our great training expedition, we sought out a place called Jusenkyo of the thousand springs to train… Alas, a worse choice I have rarely made!"

All 3 Midoriya's sighed at that.

"It was… Really dumb of us."

"To be fair to my darling… The accursed guide there wasn't exactly doing his job."

Izuku wasn't really one to truly hate people… But he had to agree. That damn guide was one of the few people he absolutely despised.

"For you see Daughters-in-law, this place was actually cursed! Every single one of its accursed springs were enchanted with a horrible, horrible curse!"

"Really? That's where you got your panda form ?"

"Indeed first-Daughter-in-Law!"

He motioned with his left hand, signifying something falling.

"For you see, in Jusenkyo, countless people and creatures have drowned in its springs over the years! Cats, dogs, people, pandas'! Even prehistoric creatures such as sabretooth tigers drowned there in those magical springs… And any fool who falls into them is CURSED to take that form when splashed with cold water! Or at the very least an image of it! Specific, personal details of the drowned being apparently deteriorate after a few centuries… The guide was rather vague in that regard… But regardless the curse will only be broken by hot water being splashed on the cursed creature… At least until splashed with cold water anew."

Izuku, who was more aware than anyone of the coming hammerblow, was taken aback when instead of asking the obvious question, Akane instead asked:

"Really? THAT'S the trigger? Hot and cold water. That's… That's so stupid. The cure is literally found in every sink in the modern world."

Nabiki didn't quite agree.

"If the springs are that old, then they predate civilization itself. Hot water wouldn't have been common at all in those days. Even amongst Humans who knew how to start fires… That said, pretty stupid today yeah. Whoever cursed them didn't consider that the trigger would one day be a commodity."

Izuku felt… Kinda odd. This was NOT how he had expected this conversation to go.

Though honestly… It was kinda a relief they didn't immediately reject the curse's very existence.

Most in this day and age did.

His mother seemingly had similar feelings.

"You girls… Seem to believe the truth about the curse pretty easily."

Akane snorted.

"Again, it's a stupid curse… But believe me, we have seen WAY worse curses here over the years."

Kasumi nodded.

"Indeed. Back in the days when father was an active Hero, the Government constantly hired him to deal with magical artifacts gone astray, given how Quirk users are powerless to deal with them."

Inko stiffened at that, but didn't say anything.

Nabiki nodded.

Then turned to Izuku.

"So Izuku… What's your curse?"

Izuku immediately stiffened, but before he could even say anything, Sound made another dramatic outburst.

"Oh it's absolutely horrible! Despair inducing! For you see-!"

Quicker than Izuku could blink, he had scooped up a glass of water and thrown its contents in Izuku's face.

Subsequently, Izuku felt the familiar feeling of his chest growing, and his legs stretching in length, and… Parts of himself vanishing into thin air.

Where the teenage boy had once sat, a somewhat older, and quite a bit taller woman now sat.

"He becomes a tall, busty woman!"

Izuku felt a sense of deep, deep humiliation run over him…

"Oh my… This… Actually this isn't that bad. It's considerably better than a Panda at the least."

What.

Kasumi then raised her glass to her mouth to drink, with an expression like nothing had just happened.

Izuku just stared at her.

Akane snorted.

"Great… Another pervert under my roof… Just what I wanted."

Her eyes went from "him" to her sister.

Nabiki was actually the only one of the girls with a genuinely surprised look on her face… She then stretched out a finger, and poked Izuku's rather generous and squishy left boob, as if to confirm that he had, in fact, become a woman.

Then she got a huge smile on her face.

"Hmmm… Actually this is great!"

5 renditions of "What." in various tones responded to her exclamation.

"There is a HUGE market in the Hero world for Heroes with Gender Bending powers… Especially when they're smoking hot like Izuku here. Play our cards right, and we can make a MINT on this form!"

Again, every single other individual there just stared at her… At least until Akane once more took the word, very angrily.

"Is money and sex, ALL you think about!?"

"Hey, don't try to pull any weird accusations on me sis. I got EVERYTHING else I wanted out of this engagement, now I just need to know if he'll be able to provide for us too~"

"I should sure hope so…" His father chimed in. "We spent a decade training him for that very purpose."

"His FIGHTING skills! Not whether he looks hot in a skimpy, perverted dress!"

Before anyone could follow up on Akane's annoyed reply, Soun seemingly had an idea.

"That's a great point Akane! We should see the fruits of this long and hard labor for ourselves!"

"What? I-I didn't mean-" "What do you say lad? Mind having spar with my youngest daughter and PROVE to her and my other daughters that despite your terrible curse you'll be able to provide them with a great, and bountiful life!?"

That was… That was the weirdest segway into showing off his martial arts skills, but…

"Sure..."

He would take it.

ANYTHING to get everyone's attention and focus away from the curse itself, and unto something else.

I


Akane fumed.

Addmitingly, she often did, with little, to no provocation, if she felt she had a reason to.

As it happened though, she actually did have a reason.

She knew what was coming.

The fact she knew it was, just pissed her off even more.

Had her father been a cruel man, or just wanted to teach her a hard lesson, he probably could not have tailored the current situation better for it.

But the fact was… He hadn't.

He was just an oblivious, but well meaning moron, who wanted to show to her that the boy he wanted to marry was up to the task of taking care of, and protecting her.

She took a deep breath, as she clenched and unclenched her fists, and stared at the banner on the wall in front of her face… Then, as crisp and sharp as any other time, she snapped around, and settled into a solid, strong karate stance.

Opposite of her, Izuku had settled into a stance she did not know.

She felt a pang of annoyance at that fact.

Oblivious to her discomfort, her entire family, as well as Izuku's, had found themselves seated along the wall.

Nabiki was even eating potato chips. The sounds of which were incredibly distracting.

"Fight to the first 3 blows! And no need to go all out, it will be the number of unblocked blows, not the damage that counts!" Her father announced cheerfully.

Both of them nodded, then bowed.

"And go!"

Akane launched herself forward, and launched a roundhouse kick aimed squarely at Izuku's head.

The boy's expression was one of genuine surprise, but he had no difficulty bringing up an arm to block as her leg slammed into it, making a massive "THWAK" sound that echoed through the room.

Her kick thwarted, Akane immediately backed off and jumped backwards… Only to at the end of her airborne jump, suddenly reorient herself so her knees were bent as she landed in a crouch… Then used those already crouched legs to spring forth without having to make a windup motion.

It was the kind of technique that 1. Could only be done with a superhuman body and reflexes, and 2. Was only effective because it was an unexpected move.

Usually they tried to block for attacks against the face, which was great.

Izuku however, rather than raise his hands to block an attack on "his" face, instead waited until she was right up against him before making a move, which in turn meant that as he was able to jump back and on to the wall as she tried to sweep the legs out from under him with a low, sideways kick.

Izuku then used the wall to jump from to the other wall, and tried to flank her, to which she spun around and blocked a rather modest strike to her shoulder.

What followed was a small storm of blows and blocks, where no one made any headwind.

Over at the side, the martial artists began making their own commentary.

"Hmmm… That's rather fast of her. Strong, solid form… But… Tendo… Why are her blows so weak? Her ki reserves are enormous!"

"Really dear? I'd say she's plenty strong enough. It's been a while since I saw a girl match Izuku blow for blow."

"When he's fighting a sparring match that so far has been limited to direct physical strikes. And yet…"

She felt a vein throb HARD somewhere on her head.

"Oh it's not that complicated, Mrs. Midoriya."

Nabiki said cheerfully.

"She just has shit Ki control is all."

That did it.

With a ROAR of frustration, she hit Izuku's guard with an open palm strike that completely lifted him off the ground, and sent him flying back first into the wooden wall with a force that shook the room!

With a pang of sudden worry that she had actually hurt him, she made the mistake of not following up on that.

Izuku though, as his feet hit the ground again, immediately got back into another stance… As if his blow hadn't hurt him at all.

Damnit!

I


Izuku had been seriously worried when the fight started.

His speciality was Ki attacks and manipulation, and though he still had a long way to go before he was able to immediately tell somebody's Ki without having to concentrate, he was still far, far superior in how to sense other people's Ki than the vast majority of martial artists who actually used it.

As such, as his instincts kicked in at the prospect of a coming battle, he was able to tell that Akane's Ki reserves were absolutely MASSIVE.

In fact that went for the entire Tendo household.

Soun above all… However he was neither too focused on his prospective father-in-law, or his two older children.

He was far more worried about the amount that his youngest child had inherited.

Not as much as the Oldest, but more than the second child… And quite a bit more than his own… By a fair margin.

As such, he had expected her blows to be absolutely WRECKING.

Like Ryoga's, only much stronger.

That was not the case at all.

She was strong… But nowhere near as strong as she should be. She was about his own level in both strength and speed.

As Nabiki had stated so cheerfully, the girl was TERRIBLE at controlling her Ki… Not that Izuku had needed her confirmation.

He had figured that out on his own, trading blows with her.

She hit hard, and as that last blow proved, when fueled by a particularly strong emotion, her body could absolutely bruteforce that ki into much stronger blows… But with every movement she wasted A LOT of energy that most would not have… However, that didn't really matter given Izuku's new strategy.

After all, there was a very good risk Akane might win if he fought this out hand to hand.

The best way to win… Was to put yourself into a no lose scenario.

It had been one of his father's first lessons to him.

He shifted stance, raising his hand over his head, as if he was about to karate chop Akane from the other side of the room.

Soun suddenly let out a worried voice.

"Wait! Isn't that-" "Don't worry Soun. My boy has perfect control…"

Also, he wasn't actually able to use this move to any level where it would be truly lethal. Not yet anyway.

He had enough Ki for it, and control… But like most Ki techniques, you needed to master the use of a specific emotion to make full use of their potential. In this case murderous anger or rage.

He rather doubted either would become regular parts of his personality.

Izuku's arm tensed before he let forth the blow… Then he brought the hand down.

Akane to her credit avoided the first strike, of sharp air, but underestimated how quickly Izuku could fire it off again, and so as she dodged the first, by sidestepping, the second cut of air hit her right in the thigh, not hard enough to cause any actual damage, but more than enough to make Akane both wince and let out an "Ow!".

"That… That's the Yama-Sen Ken! I cannot believe he's actually learned its ultimate technique! And at such a young age and with such control!"

His father chuckled.

"That he is indeed… He still needs to work a lot on his power, but he is an absolute champ at control over his ki… Ironic then, that it's the Yama-Sen Ken he learned from me… The Umi-Sen Ken would have served him better…"

Nabiki chuckled, which for some reason made Akane's face turn into the very image of anger.

"Oh if only Akane had mastered the Umi-Sen Ken… She would have been able to steal the very vacuum out from his blades!"

"Yeah Akane, too bad you don't have the Umi-Sen Ken."

"SHUT UP!'

Then for a brief moment her speed exploded as she launched herself forward!

Izuku reacted quickly and moved to the side, but not quickly enough, and suddenly got a sharp pain across his cheek where a cut that was not deep, but enough to draw blood had appeared.

That wasn't the only thing he did though.

Akane suddenly let out another cry of "Ow!" And winched at the sudden pain in her shoulder, where he'd actually hit her with a punch.

"Sorry about that… Just pure reflexes when you came that fast at me."

At the very least he'd manage to avoid hitting her straight in the face with a counter.

"Will you please SHUT UP AND FIGHT!?"

She threw herself into another series of flurries and attacks.

"Are you… Always this angry?"

She'd completely lost any sense of rhythm, as Izuku was able to tell, and prove, by the fact he was able to talk while comfortably blocking her blows.

"When I'm angry is MY business!"

That was true… But Izuku, rather than feeling annoyed by her response, instead felt a distinct sense of pity for her.

"Well… Obviously… But you… you don't seem very happy."

"And on WHAT do you base that conclusion!?"

"Well… There is the way your cute, pretty face looks kinda miserable when you are."

He'd meant that as reaching out a hand to someone who was clearly not happy with the situation at hand.

Akane however, immediately froze up completely, a distinct blush on both cheeks.

"Eh?"

He then made, what in retrospect he would regard as a huge mistake.

He raised a hand and gently poked her in the forehead.

Akane, who had been completely out of it for the moment, lost her balance and footing, awkwardly falling back and landing on her butt.

For a moment there was silence, as Akane blinked up at him.

Then reality came back.

"Wait! That… That was- "And three blows! Izuku is the winner of the bout!"

"Oh come on, that was dirty!"

Nabiki disagreed, as she stepped forward to clap her sister on the shoulder.

"Nope. You lost sis, square and fair. And to think… Despite all that hating on boys' all it took was a cute guy calling you pretty, for you to get all weak in the knees!"

"I… Shut up!"

Her other sister practically glided over to her other shoulder.

"I thought it was adorable, Akane."

"I… Gaaahh!"

The girl wrenched herself up from the floor, and stormed off, cheeks still burning.

The Midoriya's seemed a bit confused about the whole display. Well, Izuku more than his parents.

He distinctly felt he'd just done something wrong.

"Is she… Gonna be alright?"

"Oh Akane, don't worry about her, Izuku! She has always been an incredibly sore loser! She'll calm down soon enough!"

That was… Such a weird way for a father to just say something like that, without any care in the world.

The man clapped him on the shoulder.

"For now lad, why don't you go take a nice, warm bath, while Kasumi prepares a nice, warm meal? We still have so much to discuss before the night comes!"

And with that he left the room, followed by Kasumi and…

Wait… When had Nabiki left the room?

He'd completely missed it.

Regardless of how, it was now suddenly only him, and his parents.

"Hmmm… Well… It's gone much better than I feared… What do you think Izuku?"

"Well… She had good skills, and HUGE ki reserves… But unless she's able to fix that terrible control of hers, she's probably gonna plateau in terms of strength and power…"

Not that this level of power was anything to scoff at.

Her blows would easily be able to punch through rock, stone and steel.

Not to mention while she wasn't on the level of dodging, or tanking bullets, she was still stronger than about 99% of most Quirk users…

All in all, she had more than enough power to succeed as a Hero.

His parents sighed.

"The girls Izuku. He meant what did you think about them as your fiancees?"

He went up like a bright, red light bulb.

"Oh! They were… Um… Really…. Nice…"

His father clapped him on the shoulder.

"It's alright lad… You can be honest… The middle child… She was ALL over you."

He suddenly went stiff as a board, but his mother clapped him on the other.

"I was… Rather worried that this would all end in catastrophe… But we found at least one Fiancee who actually seemed to like you a lot sweetie. That's great! Now you only need to win over the other two as well!"

The other two…

Those words brought him out of the embarrassed shock he'd been in.

"Right… But… I was kinda… Thinking more about letting them decide it for themselves. I… Don't really want to be pressuring either of them into this."

Both adults stared at his back in confusion.

Then it hit them at the exact same time.

"Oh right, we didn't get to tell you!"

"Well to be fair… There was a lot in between…"

The teenager turned to look at his parents.

"Tell… Tell me what?"

"Well you see boy… The long and short of it is that there was a clause in our marriage contract related to a what if scenario. You recall why we didn't just bethroe you to all 3 Tendo girls right?"

"Um… There was… Some other betrothal… With a French guy, right?"

"Exactly! You see, that betrothal contract preceded ours… However, if for whatever reason he failed to contact the Tendo family to arrange the exact details of the marriage, at the lastest 2 years before the youngest Child's was of marrying age, that is to say, Akane's 14th birthday, it would be null and void."

Izuku looked at him in confusion. Then a sneaking suspicion set in.

"And the clause in our marriage contract… It wouldn't happen to be… That I would marry all 3 if that turned out to be the case?"

"Exactly my boy! I'm Glad you're catching on quickly!"

Well that was… Something.

I


Izuku let the warm waters soak him, as he sank into the steaming depths, feeling his body returning to the way it was always meant to be.

It was… Good.

He just lay there, calm and relaxed as he felt aches and the wound on his face being engulfed by the warm liquid.

Eventually though, the lack of air forced him to break the water's surface.

He moved over to the rather large bath's end(Though honestly the descriptor small pool would fit it better), and propped himself up against it.

Well that had been… Honestly nowhere near as badly as he'd thought it would go.

As he sat there, it really started to set in.

He was back.

He was back in Japan.

His birthplace and his home.

No more wandering in the cold wilderness seeking out ancient secluded families, semi-abandoned ancient temples and living off hunting boars, bears, fowls and other wild animals.

No more trekking across the savannah and its exasperating, blistering heat, chased by hyenas, and observing the glorious rise and depressing end of Lion Kings.

And no more skulking at the edge of civilization, never allowed to be part of the Human world for more than brief moments at a time.

It came to an end today.

On the morrow, his long, long training journey ended, and he would rejoin Human civilization.

With all the wonders it held that he had only gotten to see and not interact with for about half a decade now.

But best of all… On the morrow he would get to once again take in the sight of Heroes at work!

The boy got a grin on his face, just thinking about it.

He would need to read up on Japan's current roster, but from what he understood just looking at the rankings, All Might and Endeavor remained the only Heroes left amongst Japan's cream of the crop from his childhood days.

Honestly though, it wasn't the thoughts of the absolute top that filled him then… That would have seemed sacrilegious back in his childhood, but that was the truth.

He was just happy being back amongst Hero society.

He remembered all those moments on his journeys looking at the far away battles of Heroes and villains that was to be found in any urban landscape in the world… The melancholic feeling of wanting to go closer to look at what was happening, and the brutal feelings of having to pull back.

It had been different on the journey back through Japan.

Without the worry about being arrested as illegal foreigners without passports, or permission to be there, neither of his parents had cared at all about them being seen as they trekked, so long as they steered the course back to Nerima Tokyo.

It had allowed him to see plethora of Hero battles and events on his way there, marveling at the sight he'd been deprived off for so long.

Of course he'd not been able to focus on that fully… Not with the meeting with the Tendo family looming over their collective heads… But with that matter seemingly settled, he was now finally, fully able to really think about it all.

11 years of his life had gone into this journey.

And soon… It was time to put everything he'd learned into practice. Soon… He would be able to join a Hero school, and after 3 years, become an actual Pro-Hero.

That was what all of it had been for after all.

He had a lot to figure out on that front. His costume, name, and what techniques of his would work best in Hero work, and which he would not need to use.

He could probably ask Mr. Tendo for pointers about that. He'd been a famous Hero once after all.

He was still thinking about that, and considering whether he should have a costume that made him look like a martial artist in the vein of his father-in-law, or just get something original, when he heard the door slide open.

He also noticed immediately that as he heard a set of feet gently stepping across the room, that he could not sense any Ki from them.

Which meant it had to be his mother, being the only Quirk user in the building.

"Come on in, it's a really good bath."

"I'm well aware. I grew up with it after all."

Izuku immediately froze.

Then slowly, he opened his eyes.

Opposite him, with her arms spread to the sides along the bath's edge sat Nabiki Tendo, her naked breasts barely covered up by the water, and with quite a lot of cleavage still over the surface.

If she felt the smallest hint of shame putting herself on display like this, neither her body, nor her face betrayed the slightest hint of it, with her smug, yet seductive smile and narrowed eyes conveying the exact opposite about as far as they could possibly go.

Izuku stared at that face for about 8 seconds.

One beet red and completely flustered and the other totally in control of her own feelings.

Then slowly, very, very slowly, and making carefully sure he was covered himself, he raised himself up and began getting out of the bath… When a sudden force wrenched him backwards, and suddenly there was a huge amount of the bath's water over him in the air… Then he fell into the water, and the water above crashed down on top of him creating a powerful force.

As he forced himself up over the surface again, harking, and coughing, Nabiki's voice commented dryly:

"You know Izuku, you running off immediately would kinda defeat the purpose of me coming here."

Izuku snapped up and out of the water… and then with an incredibly cheerful and enthusiastic look on his face, he turned to her.

"Tha-That's the Umi-Sen Ken right!? You "Stole" the water and deposited it over the tub, and also created a vacuum. That pulled me back into the tub at the same time! It worked exactly the same as dad always said it would!"

For the first time since meeting her, Nabiki was genuinely taken aback by Izuku… Though it did not last long.

"Seems you're pretty into martial arts after all. Well that's good to know. I'm sure Daddy will love to hear about that."

Her eyes then went down.

She gave an appreciative whistle at the sight… Prompting Izuku to lose absolutely every bit of the sudden enthusiasm, and bury his entire body except half his head back under the water.

"Well… Guess I got my big question answered."

Seriously?

"Th-that's why you came here?"

"Oh, not JUST that… But I wanted to know what we got to work with… That IS part of the Umi-Sen Ken, you know? Knowing what's at hand."

It was.

The School of Anything Goes Martial Arts was a martial art all about taking techniques, stances, philosophies and tactics from every other school there was, to in theory create the greatest martial art under the heavens… But it did have its originals too.

The mirror arts of Umi-Sen Ken and Yama-Sen Ken probably being its most standout examples.

Izuku had never learned the Umi-Sen Ken… But he understood its philosophy.

"Want me to teach you? You and me… Alone in the training room, in total darkness…"

She was teasing him, he could tell. She wasn't really being serious… At least he thought so… But even if she had…

"No… The Umi-Sen Ken isn't… Isn't really suited for Hero Work."

"Well that is true."

Nabiki flipped completely on a dime, in tone, body language, and expression, from a confident seductress, to casual, gossiping, schoolgirl.

The transformation, and the abruptness of it immediately took Izuku completely aback.

"Honestly I was never THAT into martial arts… But until that other marriage contract expired two years ago, I very much HAD to have a second back up plan."

"That… You were worried you might have to marry that… French guy?"

"Oh I was. Not only is the family composed of utter freaks, but the marriage contract he forced daddy to sign was so ironclad I could have made it myself. He basically backed daddy over the coals, to squeeze as much as he possibly could, short of the Dojo. He could basically pick any of us he wanted, and unless daddy wanted to face total financial ruin, he'd have to go along with it… Kinda surprised they never actually came to collect, given how much thought and effort they put into it."

Izuku nodded.

Then considered.

"I think… Europeans have laws that say you can only get married at 18… Not 16… Regardless of whether you have parental permission… It could be that he mistook the expiration date as her 16th birthday."

He was pretty sure he'd read that bit of legal information somewhere during his travels.

"What, really? Man, that explains a lot. Also that means he's gonna show up later, and we get to rub it into his smug, stretchy face."

The shift in her expression(Which Izuku was focusing heavily upon, in order to avoid looking down upon her chest) was very, very slight, but Izuku had a sneaking suspicion she had met this now ex-Betrothed of hers before… And had not been fond of him.

She then turned away from the topic to instead focus on something else.

"So… You're planning to become a Pro Hero right? How high are you gonna aim?"

"As high as I can go… Which would be… Number 2 I guess. I'm not in any position to eclipse All Might."

That much WAS true.

During his travels, Izuku had met many, many, many masters of Ki… But he'd also seen its very real limits as well.

Even if you had the drive, the talent, and the proper instructions and training(Which the vast majority of historys' Ki users had not possessed), there were still massive, massive limits to how far one could go.

All Might's power was still heads and shoulders above that natural limit in raw power… Though to be fair, so was the case for almost all other Quirk Users.

"Hmmm… Yeah, that's probably way more realistic. If a Ki user could have kicked All Might off of his number 1 spot, daddy would have done it in his prime. But even at his peak he never even got close."

That… Was actually a good point.

It also raised an obvious question.

"Your father… He was a big name Hero right?"

Izuku in his youth hadn't really been all that into non-All Might Heroes, but he did remember the trio of Heroes that were Japan's big 3. All Might, Soun Tendo, and Endeavor.

"Why… Why did he stop?"

"His spirit broke."

That just… Raised more questions.

"Um… Why? What happened?"

Her looks suddenly turned both melancholic, and deadly silent.

"Mom died."

Ah.

He was immediately curious… But even if he had been such an ass that he was gonna start pestering her about it here and now, there was something in the air that told him to drop it.

Something he was more than happy to do.

"So… If you're not gonna be a Hero anymore… What do you currently do?"

"Oh, I still go to a hero school. But not as a Pro. I'm just in the management apartment instead."

He blinked.

"Ah, so then that means you'll be my…"

It took him a moment to realize she was gone.

She'd just… Vanished while he was blinking.

He quickly looked around, but if she was still in the bathing room, it was beyond his senses(Physical or supernatural) to find her.

After searching though, he noticed a tiny difference in one of the roof panels, compared to how it was when he came out.

It wasn't big, and someone else, less trained, would have missed it completely.

So… That was the place she went out through… A… Peeping hole? Why? He somehow doubted Soun Tendo would spy on his own daughters… And as far as he could tell there weren't anyone else but the four Tendo's living here.

He considered other possibilities.

Maybe… Maybe there was a hidden series of tunnels in the walls. To get around. If so, Nabiki would be well versed in using them.

That said, even if that was the case, there remained the obvious question of why Nabiki had suddenly decided to skedaddle.

That question was answered, as behind him, the door opened once again, and then after a set of footsteps told him someone came in, the door closed behind them.

He slowly, slowly turned his head.

This time, it was the oldest of the 3 sisters, Kasumi, though unlike Nabiki, she was thankfully not naked… Though the Two piece Bikini she wore didn't exactly hide how attractive the girl was.

"Hello Izuku… I see Nabiki left… That girl…"

She shook her head.

In her hands she carried several towels, as well as two sponges, and some washing products.

With a nifty bit of leg work, that bespoke of someone used to maneuver furniture around with her feet if she had to, she got several pieces of plastic that Izuku had a vague idea people were supposed to sit on as they cleaned themselves, nice and well lined up.

She handed him a towel.

"Here. You can use this to cover yourself while I wash your back and hair."

Izuku blushed rather furiously at the very prospect(Though compared to how he'd been with Nabiki there, it was practically nothing).

"Um… I… Kinda want to do that myself…"

"Don't be a child Izuku. We are to be married very soon, you know. It is only proper that we get used to each other."

The tone was not harsh… But Izuku had spent enough time with his mother to know it was the kind that would accept nor broker any arguments from him.

Kasumi did not look as he got up from the bath and made himself "modest", and as he did indeed sit down on the plastic… Seat? She had absolutely none of her little sister's seductive or predatory energy, as she went to work.

Still, the energy she exuded as she did indeed begin washing his back… It made him feel small in a way that Nabiki had not.

The hands currently scrubbing his back were not the hands of a girl. They were a woman's hands.

"I also wanted to talk to you. Alone, just us."

"You… Could have opened with that?"

"I could? Oh that's nice. I was worried you were far more unreasonable than that. Most boys' your age are."

He… Didn't really have a counter to that.

He had met plenty of boys' his own current age over the years, but the only one he actually knew intimately was Ryoga… And whatever he was… A reasonable teenage boy was not one of them.

"So… What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh my sisters' mostly. Also daddy, you, and our future together."

Oh, that was all? Easy, simple topics then. Nothing serious or heavy to spring on a first conversation.

"O-okay…"

The motion of a strong hand holding a sponge and moving it across his back was… Rather distracting.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Nabiki before… But that ship has sailed it would seem."

She paused… Then completely nonchalantly she asked:

"She did not do anything truly improper with you did she? Of the kind she should only do with you after the wedding?"

This time he DID blush even harder than with Nabiki!

"N-NO! O-OF COURSE NOT…"

"Really? Well, it's just a matter of time I suppose. She is not a patient girl, Nabiki."

"...I …Kinda got that impression, yeah…"

"Yes… I hope this does not lower your opinion of her… But you should know that you would not be her first lover. She has had several before this."

"Oh…"

"You're not angry about that I hope?"

"No. Not… Really."

That part was true enough at least.

Izuku was the LAST person in the world to get on Nabiki's case for having a lover or boyfriend before him.

In his mind, an image of long locks of auburn red danced in the wind.

He waved it away.

Well, mentally anyway.

"Well… So long as it's in the past I guess… I… I really don't want to have to deal with that now..."

"Oh I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Izuku. She has many flaws as a person, but flat out two timing is not one I have seen yet… And far more importantly, you are also Nabiki's ticket to great wealth. She is most certainly not going to risk that, to engage in infidelity."

He actually considered that… Though as usual, his mind was working slower than he'd have liked, given the hand on his back.

"Akane… Akane said Nabiki only cares about… Well, that and Money…"

"Oh, certainly. She is incredibly fond of both. But she hates only having one."

That… Wasn't really what he'd been thinking about.

"Kasumi-Chan…"

"Please Izuku, we are going to be married. No need for an honorific. Just call me Kasumi. Or if you'd prefer, you can call me Dear, or Darling."

That… Was not happening.

At least not now or… In the near future.

"Okay… Kasumi… Don't take this the wrong way… But… Aren't you guys rich? Your dad… Was the second ranked Hero of Japan for years."

"Oh, we were rich. Exceedingly so. However, daddy has never had a good head for money. He always blew it on us immediately after each paycheck. As such, when he suddenly retired, we did not have much to fall back on beyond our property. We get by on daddy's retirement pension though."

"Ah…"

Several cogs suddenly came into place, as it all suddenly made sense to him.

"So that's why she wants money… She grew up in a lavish, rich home, then lost it… And now she wants it back."

"Oh, no, she was infatuated with riches long before that. Even as a little girl she dreamed of having her own treasure vault under the house filled with gold, jewels and valuable artifacts she could sit on a silk pillow and be surrounded by as she watched TV. Us losing our wealth did make her worse though, that is true."

"I… see…"

He nodded to himself.

"Well… I will give her that at least."

Kasumi's hand stopped moving.

"Oh?"

"I… I didn't really understand what I was getting myself into all those years ago… The polygamous marriage I mean… But… I AM going to provide for all 3 of you, so you can live happy, comfortable lives."

"You sound rather determined about that."

"Well… Yeah. If I married 3 girls at once… and I couldn't actually provide for them? Forget being a Hero. I'd be a failure as a man, a husband, and just a complete failure as a Human being in general."

"Oh my… It seems I might have been wrong."

He stiffened.

There was… something in her tone.

"...About …What exactly?"

"Hmmm… I didn't think you were my type at all. But… It seems I gave you too little credit."

He turned his head to look at her.

Like her sister before her, she now sported a sly smile and expression, but… It was not really the hungry kind that her sister had.

It was more… Knowing.

That was the only way he knew how to describe it.

He turned back his head though.

What the Hell kind of expression was that?

Izuku had his fair share of experience with girls over the years… And that was before his curse… But nothing he had ever experienced had come close to preparing him for either Nabiki or Kasumi… Though at least he understood Nabiki… He had no kind of reference for… Whatever it was he had seen just now.

"So… You will inherit the Dojo then? Just like father wanted."

"I… I… I mean… Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, just wondering how you would go about it. This land is worth a lot of money, you know? An enormous sum."

"Why… Why would I EVER want to sell your childhood home?"

"Oh, Nabiki would. In a heartbeat. Akane, though, very much wants to continue the Dojo on. Almost as much as father."

Kasumi made a sound with her mouth that, again, he couldn't quite place the meaning of.

"Father invested a lot into you, you know? Japan made it legal for young men to marry at the same age as girls 40 years ago… But legal Polygamous unions was not a recognized thing in Japan until he pulled a lot of strings to make it happen, when your father suggested a match."

He froze… Though that seemed to be a standard feature today.

"...Seriously?"

"Oh yes. You were practically daddy's dream for a son-in-law. You were to go on a world spanning trip to master martial arts and Ki, and the son of his best friend, and by extension the logical heir of the other branch of our school. He wanted to marry off all 3 of us to you from the start… That is why he included that clause in the contract. Just in case."

That… Izuku was genuinely flattered… But he was also starting to get the feeling that everyone else in this house had some serious screws loose.

Then again… He had long ago figured his dad also had some screws loose too.

"He… Really wanted me to take over the Dojo huh?"

"Well… Actually he had high hopes for all 3 of us to do it… He believed that by marrying the natural successors together he would make the Dojo much stronger… But things didn't quite work out that way. I went through Hero school too… But brutal violence, restrained or fully unleashed has never been something I have been either comfortable or great at doing. Nabiki had a lot of talent… But once it became clear she didn't have to actually commit to it, she stopped training completely. And Akane is just terrible."

"She… She's not that bad."

"No need to defend her mediocre capacity Izuku… I could tell you held back quite a lot. How you controlled your "Vacuum blade" told me enough about that."

She was… Rather brutally honest Kasumi was.

"She is a good girl though, despite her lacking true capacity for martial arts. I hope you will take good care of her. Though you should know she can also be a rather violent maniac as well."

She also was not good at selling her sisters strong points.

I


A while later, once she was satisfied with her work on his back and hair… And after their conversation, Kasumi finally left, leaving him to his own devices.

He suddenly realized he was way, way more tired than before he'd gone in here.

The Tendo girls were… Scary ladies.

Maybe not in the traditional sense… But they were scary enough in his opinion.

Well… Except for Akane anyway.

Looking over at the door, he made a mental note to himself that if he ever did take over this place, the FIRST thing that would happen here was that he was going to put a lock on that door.

At least he didn't have to worry about Akane barging in here next.

Somehow he rather doubted she wanted a similar conversation as her sisters.

He was right in that regard… But peace to think further on things, he did not get.

"IZUKU! YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR OVER AN HOUR! THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE HERE WHO WANTS TO USE THE DAMN BATH TOO!"