The Midoriya Household — as neighbours of theirs would say — radiated an ever-lingering presence of joy whenever the small family was together. The depressing drabness of the apartment would seemingly be expelled by their pleasant laughter. Despite missing a father, no one doubted that they were a picturesque family. Some envied them; most simply admired them.
"I'm going to go meet Mitsuki, Izuku." The mother of the family said, barely looking over her shoulder to the son who sat rigidly on the couch.
"Ah..." He opened his lips as if wanting to say something. After a short moment, they pursed into a thin line. "...Okay. Be careful, mom."
"I will."
With that said, Inko stepped outside and closed the door shut. Her left thumb absent-mindedly rubbed the ring that wrapped around her finger, the emerald glinting in the light, as she strutted down the hall that somehow remained dull despite the morning rays.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the doors open with a click. One of her neighbours — a polite college girl named Miyu Isshikari — stepped out. Noticing her, she promptly bowed. "Good morning, Midoriya-san."
"Good morning, Isshikari-san," Inko replied. Despite the words very much intended for Miyu, the voice drifted elsewhere.
The brown-haired student tilted her head. "Is anything wrong, Midoriya-san? You don't seem... like usual."
"I'm fine." She quickly answered as she stepped past and into the elevator, barely sparing her another glance. The machine dinged softly as it slid down, leaving behind the confused and worried girl.
He turned on the television. The throng of voices from the device, just as quickly as it appeared, faded into obscurity as his gaze, unable to stick to one particular place, darted all over the room. Slowly, his eyes finally stuck to a mystifying sight.
Was it natural for walls to close in on someone?
In a world where the variations of a person's Quirk are quite literally up to the imagination, it should not come as a surprise that someone could manipulate the very concrete around him. In fact, he was quite sure one of the teachers in U.A. had that sort of ability: Cementoss, if memory served him right.
...The walls were distinctly grey and dull, today more so than any other time. It was as if the small details that would usually escape him were now, inexplicably, caught without exception by his mind's oddly sharp lucidity. A shaky breath escaped through his nose. He stood up abruptly, shaking his head as he walked aimlessly in the living room. His feet pressed the carpet, velvety strands brushing against his soles. To the side, the TV had come alive at some point though he never recalled ever doing that.
Suddenly, he heard a faint knock echoing from somewhere within the space. Instinctively, he assumed it was from the door, but a quick check through the window blinds beside it merely showed thin air— actually, he saw Miyu in the distance, waving as she spotted him as well.
He returned the gesture but soon retreated deeper into his home, for the knocking continued.
It seemed to grow louder... enough that he was starting to realize that it came from his room. A cold shiver went down his spine. What could possibly cause all that noise? From his bedroom, of all possible places?
Moving with a nervous gait, he twisted the knob and hastily opened his door, expecting to be greeted by a stranger in his house. There was no one. However, the knocking echoed still...
'The window.' He realized, his gaze drawn to the creasy blinds. Inching himself closer, his fingers quickly pulled them open. His eyes widened at what he saw.
Or, should he say, who. "Frieren-sensei!"
"Morning." The elf's voice reverberated through the glass as she gave a mock salute. Her white skin glistened with sweat. "Can you open the window please?"
"Oh– sorry!" He snapped out of his reverie and opened the window. Frieren gradually floated in, her figure wiggling as if swimming. Izuku watched in amusement as she flipped herself, laying prone in the air as her face was blasted by the rapidly spinning ceiling fan.
"AAA-aaa-AAA-aaa~" Her reverberating voice fell into a smooth rhythm, whittled by the blowing winds. Truly, these were some of her favourite inventions in the past few centuries.
"What are you doing here, sensei?" He inquired, trying to hold back the smile from forming on his lips. He failed.
She turned to him as she continued to lazily drift across his room. "I wanted to discuss my plan for our next lessons," Frieren commented, plopping down onto a wooden chair. A weathered and sagged red padding — what was once vibrant and plump, she was sure... or perhaps it's always been like that — lay underneath, cushioning her.
Her face grew confused, however, when met with none of the exhilaration she had come to expect from her student. In fact, he seemed sour... disheartened, even.
"Izuku." Without realizing it, she found herself sitting beside him. She lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
He drew one long gaze at her. "...It's my mom." He finally began, explaining the aftermath of yesterday's events. He spoke with a sense of urgency, eager to quickly let it all out. Through it all, Frieren simply sat silently, her ears keen.
"So, yeah... Mom would allow me to go to U.A., as long as it wasn't the Hero Course." Izuku said with a sigh, his fingers running through his green locks. The elven teacher nodded and sat wordlessly, as if stultified by her thoughts.
In reality, his words reminded her of something she herself had forgotten; a memory that existed, yet was buried far too deeply for her to gather on her own.
Rain fell upon the region of Kühl, where lush soil and small peaks — so indistinctly green they form a wavy haze — litter the land. A large lake sat in the middle, occupied by a lone artificial island where a single tower of granite rose, almost scratching the mounts surrounding it. A throng of distinctly similar yet smaller buildings crowded around the tall structure.
On the outer edge of the lake, flanked by a haze of pine trees, stood a quaint cabin of moderate size. Past the framed windows, warm lights spilt out, making it appear incongruous amidst the dark and wet lands around it.
The door smoothly swung open as a young man, his hair red while his eyes purple, stepped out onto the cabin's porch. "I'll be going, mom!" He yelled over his shoulder.
"Be careful, okay?" Spoke the aforementioned mother: a woman with vividly purple hair that reached down the whole of her back. She was dressed in a simple dress that covered her figure.
Fern. My student whom I cherish so very much... more than my own life.
The boy smiled toothily. He waved his hands, unperturbed by her warning. "Don't worry, momma. This has been my job for a few months now. I'm used to it."
And wasn't that true? After his training under Stark and Eisen, Stoltz had grown enough to the point where he was allowed to hunt alongside his father. Stark would oft clamor about how similar he was to his uncle, if only the man still lived.
There was still cause for worry, however. Stark had left alongside Wirbel to purge the last remaining demons in the land. With the Demon King's castle truly destroyed, the illustrious method of the birth of new demons ended as well. The point of the matter is, that this would have been the first time Stoltz went hunting without his father.
"No need to worry, momma." A voice interrupted. It originated from a moderately tall girl with short red hair and similar-coloured eyes, her lean muscles hidden well underneath baggy clothes. Her small, round eyes glimmered with admiration. "Big bro would have gone hunting alone eventually. He can't always go with poppa. Besides, he's a tough nut to crack; no monster around here is his match."
"I suppose you're right, Liebli." Frieren grudgingly admitted.
I sat to the side, peeking from under the cover of my thick grimoire, the sandy surface of the paper stained yellow by age. "I'll be waiting here. See you." I curtly shot, which was greeted by a soft smile from the boy.
Neither Fern nor myself accompanied him, that day. The mother was busy taking care of the rest of her children — there was no way she was about to leave them alone with a 'bad influence' like me — while I... I had been far too sleepy to provide any ounce of assistance. I had spent the last night drowning myself in alcohol alongside Serie and Sern, resulting in me waking up when the sun was already starting to drown into the distant mountains.
A fool. An idiot. A moron.
I had cursed myself with all those words when Stoltz did not return home that night.
Frieren sucked in a sharp breath. Following a tense period of mute air, Frieren finally opened her lips. "Want me to help?"
He blinked in surprise. "You would do that?"
"Of course, I would." She huffed, a bit exasperated by his lack of belief in her. He scratched his head, feeling bashful. "Whenever you're in a troublesome situation, don't hesitate to contact me. I've taught you the spell to do so, no?"
He nodded in confirmation. "Thank you, sensei." He admitted, his expression a mixture of shame and gratefulness. In any other situation, he would have preferred to handle something like this himself. But to risk the very dream he's always wanted... 'No. Never. I'm sorry, mom, but this goes beyond just you and me.'
Frieren then cupped her chin, appearing thoughtful. "Though, I'm still not quite sure how I'll go about doing that. I'll think about it on the way to her."
"You can say whatever you want." He explained, though a moment later, his lips pursed. "Ah, except for Bakugo– or anything about my school life. I don't want her to worry."
A small, exasperated sigh puffed into the air. "You have to be truthful about that one day, Izuku."
"The point is," He briskly said while gesticulating with his hands. "besides that, you can tell my mom anything– anything you're comfortable with."
"I swear, that boy!"
Inko gave a small, nervous smile as the fellow mother went on a rant. Mitsuki gesticulated heavily, slamming her fist on the table — startling a nearby cafe-goer — as she ground her teeth.
"How dare that brat ignore our family tradition?!" She chided, letting out a sigh that, at first, seemed heavily exaggerated but was really just how expressive she was. "I've prepared the necessities: the baskets of food and drinks, the spot in the meadow by that tree my husband and I carved our names on, the picnic sheet, everything! Only for him to throw out our weekly tradition for his superhero gym."
Inko simply nodded along with an imperceptible stillness, almost silent besides the occasional humm.
"Does that damned kid think the cost of that place is cheap or something?" Mitsuki grumbled, gulping down the bottled water she had ordered. "Seriously, any more of this and I'll–" Her eyes suddenly thinned to slits, her voice lowering to a whisper as she glared at her friend. "When I went here, I thought the gal who invited me would have deigned me with a conversation."
The greenette jolted in surprise. Sweat trickled down her brow as she racked up her brain, trying to think of a response. "U-Um... D-Did you take off your earrings today? You usually wear them..."
"I... lost them." Mitsuki chuckled with a tight smile as she brushed her hair to the front, covering the aforementioned spot. "I was out eating with my friends when that happened."
"Ah, I see. Well... I hope you find them again soon." The woman said with a nod.
Another period of silence reigned the table. Mitsuki, letting out a low breath, took a moment to observe her friend: at her lightly furrowed brows, at the slight purse on her lips, and at the small hints of stiffness on her jaw. Eventually, having had enough of being left in the dark, Mitsuki nudged her knuckles against the top of her head.
"Speak. What's going on?"
Clutching her head, Inko let out a sigh. "Sorry. It's just..." She glanced to the side. Following her gaze, the blonde did not see anything odd; all she saw was a bustling café, waiters scurrying about with pleasant smiles.
"Is... something wrong?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...They all... look so different from everyone else."
Observing the crowd with more of a scrutinizing eye, Mitsuki realized what had been bothering her friend all this time. The customers sat with a confident air around them, contrasting the servants around of whom their smiles are clearly forced. Besides that, there were also the clear physical differences: most of the waiters were either deeply mutated by their Quirks or had absolutely no mutations — no in-betweens.
Of course, such a sight wouldn't have been news for either of them.
Which left only one reason for Inko's dowdy mood.
"He'll be fine," Mitsuki assured her as she held Inko's hands. She gave a tight squeeze. "He's a smart kid. I'm sure he'll be able to make a good life for himself."
"That's not what I'm worrying about," Inko murmured, her hands relaxing in their embrace. She glanced once again to the side, her gaze thoughtful. "...If Katsuki didn't have a Quirk... would you have allowed him to go to U.A.? To be a Hero?"
The question made her eyes widen, unsure of what to say. The bustles of the crowd continued to echo in their silence. Sunlight spilled on their table, the warm heat slowly starting to sting, as the leaves on the half-wall beside them rustled. Before it could prolong itself, the silence broke as a loud buzz rang.
"Oh!" Mitsuki took out her phone, having been snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry, it's Masaru-kun..." She murmured, her eyes scanning the message he had sent her. Throughout it all, Inko watched with bated breath.
A moment later, Mitsuki shot an apologetic stare. "I'm so, so sorry Inko-chan, but I'll have to finish early. There's some important business at home I have to attend to."
"It's fine, it's fine." Inko gesticulated placatingly, her smile innocent as she hid her breath of relief. "What's the occasion?"
"It's my kid. He caught Endeavor's eye, so he'll be sending one of his sidekicks — someone called Burnin' if I remember correctly — to help train my son." She waved her hands, a wide grin on her face. "I'll tell you more later. Ciao, Inko!"
"O-Oh, okay. Bye."
Just as the blonde mother was about to step out of the café, however, she stopped. Mitsuki turned to regard Inko with a soft smile. "About your question... I'll tell you later after I finish my business. I promise."
With that said and done, as the waiters by the entrance greeted her pleasantly, Mitsuki headed back home with great haste. Left to her lonesome, Inko glanced at the wall on the opposite side of the room. She stared at the mural depicted on it for a long, long moment that seemed to stretch into an eternity.
Eventually, she stood up and left as well.
'Izuku said that she went to this café.' Frieren mused as she stood in front of an open, one-story building. The side she was facing — the entrance — was a parapet with a row of plants sitting on it; the other three sides visible to her were decorated with various frescoes, each depicting paintings of many world-known landmarks of Japan.
One of which, she realized, was a mural of U.A. The bits of paint were already starting to peel off, enhancing its appearance to great effect.
Sue her. Over the recent years — i.e., centuries — she's taken no small amount of interest in history.
Anyway, amidst the waiters and casual customers, she did not spot that splotch of green hair she had grown so familiar with these past few months. She clicked her tongue.
'If I were Inko, where would I find myself?'
The world around her seemed to drift by in a blur.
She didn't have a particular destination in mind. After staring for a long, long moment at that fresco, all she wanted was to do something to forget about the world around her.
The sun's rays, so radiant and all-consuming, bore down on her fair skin. Honks echoed loudly throughout the car-filled streets; it was oddly busy, this strange day. Eventually, so lost she was in her thoughts, she woke up to find herself in a place completely unfamiliar to her senses.
With her mind assimilating her surroundings, she quickly decided that it wasn't such a good idea to be lost. And so, she opened her phone, stopping briefly as she stared at the face of a family of three, of the superhero father on the right, of the loving mother on the left, and of their son carried in the middle. Their smiles were still wide and as blinding as the sun.
Once again stuck in a longing reverie, she found herself bumping into someone else as her phone clattered onto the ground.
"I-I'm so sorry! I've just been so air-headed these days–" She stopped, her eyes widening as she took in who she had just bumped against.
"It's fine." The white-haired Frieren answered. She crouched down and picked up Inko's phone, giving it to her with a smile. "Here."
"Thanks," Inko murmured as she took the phone, brushing off the dirt that momentarily stained it. She clicked her tongue, feeling the small, almost imperceptible crack with her thumb. The chink ran down along the right side of the phone, as if splitting the father apart from the rest of the family.
"Did it crack?" Frieren asked, taking Inko out of her thoughts.
"Yes, but just a little bit."
"I'm sorry," Frieren said, having caught a glimpse of where the crack ran on.
"No, no, I should be the one to say that." Inko shook her head. "I wasn't paying much attention. And... thank you. So much. I just wanted to repeat that. I don't know what I would have done if... if..."
She chuckled as she waved her hands. "Don't worry. I was just keeping my promise to you." Frieren explained, causing a warm sense of happiness to fly around in her stomach.
"And, once again, I thank you for that." Regarding the white-haired woman with a small smile, she added, "Where are you heading off to, anyway?"
Thinking quickly, Frieren answered, "I'm just going to buy some sweets. Though, I'm actually quite new to the city; I don't know a good spot to buy some, so I'm just wandering about right now." She explained.
"Oh, that's quite perfect, Frieren-san." Inko gave a thin smile. "I think I know a great place that sells sweets. I had a taste tester a few days ago; it tasted amazing and it is quite cheap."
Her eyes glimmered at the other woman's words. "What are we waiting for?" She moved quickly through the road, followed closely by an amused Inko.
"And after, Frieren-san, should we eat together at a restaurant I know? It's close by, just a few minutes from the store."
Being given a curt nod, the two began to walk down the pavement. As the area was unfamiliar, even to Inko, she had to use her cracked phone to guide them through the maze-like streets. Glancing at the woman's bobbing green locks, Frieren thought it prudent to say something... anything.
"Do you like sweets too, Inko?"
"Urk– N-No, Frieren-san... but my son does."
"I see..."
"Mhm."
"..."
"..."
"The sky looks clear today."
"Yeah, yeah, it does."
Time ticked on.
As the road grew thin and the very surroundings wafted a faint pungent air, the unfamiliar slowly became the, vaguely, familiar. Inko had seen these exact buildings and alleys — drab, weathered, with peeled-off paint — many times through the news. Nestled within the damp darkness of the alleys, she could see little white eyes peeking on their forms.
Dubbed the Slums of Musutafu, it was a district that held the Boletaria Apartments and the more recent Zukunft. Just hovering over the buildings around, she could see Boletaria in the distance; they had to go past it eventually, Inko thought with growing dread.
"We should be quicker," Said the green-haired woman, her eyes darting from side to side as she hastened her pace. With a shrug, Frieren followed.
It didn't take long, however, before commotion began to emerge on the narrow street.
Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a man, dishevelled in appearance, get thrown onto the cold asphalt street. The perpetrator was practically a fossil, his skin wrinkled to the point of folding into one another like that of a basset hound. "I've already told you this many times: my apartment is full. How many more times do I have to repeat myself for it to get past your thick skull?"
"I-I know, but please–!" The man crawled forward, clutching a small bundle of Yen in his shaky hands. His office uniform, once white and pristine, had gone through much wear and tear over the recent weeks. "Can I just live in– in the storage room, at least, if you have one? If not, then–"
"I do have one, but it's already occupied." He sighed, massaging the folds of skin on his face.
"T-Then I can stay with your tenant!"
The old man's eyes narrowed. A tight sigh escaped his lips. "I am not lying when I say it's full. Recently, every room has already been occupied by several people; any more would not only be impossible, but my budget, at that, is already strained." He stabbed his thumb to the side, pointing to the towering building in the distance. "Why don't you just go to Boletaria, then? That place never seems to run out of space, even now after all the residents near Zukunft were evicted."
"That place?" He said with an incredulous look. "You know the rumours behind it!"
"That's just that. Rumors." He said, his voice worn.
After being given a stern glare by the old man, the former office worker eventually relented. He stood up on fatigued legs and shot a last pleading look at the man, only to end up as yet another fruitless attempt. In the end, left with not much of another choice, he walked away with shoulders hung low.
Inko watched the occurrence with mixed emotions brewing in her forest-green eyes. Pursing her lips, she shook her head and nudged her son's teacher to move along; the white-haired woman followed along with her words without much issue.
As they trudged on, Inko was distinctly silent. She still occasionally glanced back to her map; she still looked back over her shoulder, making sure she had not walked too far from Frieren; yet, in spite of that, it was clear that her mind was plagued by perturbed thoughts.
At some point, Inko stopped and let out a heavy sigh. She turned, expecting to see Frieren right behind her...
Only to find the woman a distance away, chatting casually with a seedy-looking man.
"What on earth...?" She muttered as she walked closer, enough so that she could hear what they were talking so animatedly about.
"I'm serious! Just write down your email and password, and in a jiffy, you'll find yourself buried in money!"
"That sounds very intriguing. Where do I write it down?"
"Here!"
"I need a pen to writ–"
"Here!"
"I see. Your service is very good."
"Oh, thank you miss, now if you will..."
"Sure, sure. I'll just jot it down–"
"What is going on here?" Inko's stern voice broke through their earlier back-and-forth. She stepped forward, shoving the odd man backwards. She snatched the parchment out of his hands and gave it a short glance before, with a fierce scowl, she barked at the man. "Get out of here before I call the cops on you and whoever you're working with!"
A yelp came out as the man scrambled away, his lanky form slipping into a dark alley.
Giving an exasperated sigh, she turned to Frieren. "What was that about? Did you seriously believe he would have given you a billion Yen just for signing off your private information?"
The white-haired woman at least had the decency to look flustered. Her reasoning, to Inko's disbelieving ears, was flimsy as well. "Well... it's true, but there's always a chance that I'll strike gold one day and it'll turn out to be true, y'know? Even if it's only a one per cent chance."
"Seriously... what are you, a secluded monk?" Inko shook her head, though her lips were tugged up. She felt a sudden desire well up in her to protect this odd, strangely endearing woman.
The pair continued their journey. Once again, an uncomfortable silence fell between them, though it was caused by neither. Instead, the mere silhouette of the dark monument in the distance was enough to rattle Inko's heart. Eventually, Inko whispered, "Hey. After getting your sweets, how about we head to Takoba Beach after?"
Frieren had no reason to disagree with the change in plans, so she simply nodded.
As they walked, the pair noticed the road was beginning to widen once more; enough so that smoke-spewing trucks ran along the asphalt. At the same time with the expanding roads, the number of people rose, as well. Their shoulders hung low while their faces were gaunt, their cheeks as if permanently sucked inwards.
This was the deepest part of the Slums, a place that held Boletaria Apartments at its very core.
The sight of the crowd — so wildly different from the rest of Musutafu — momentarily froze Inko in place.
She only moved when Frieren nudged her, pointing to a one-story building in the distance. "Is that the place?"
Its walls were dashed with pink paint. Beyond the large panes of glass, they could see a variety of fruits, vegetables, and Frieren's target: the much-desired cookies, chocolates, and cakes, not to mention a plethora of different options. A slight buttress jutted out of the top of the building, where a long series of steel-framed words sat comfortably on it, reading: Super Sweet Store and Everything Else. It was a distinctly lavish sight, especially amid the Slums around it.
A steady stream of people shifted in and out of the store, their arms weighed by a scant amount of fruits and vegetables. The congregation trudged on from the store towards an increasingly gnarled area... towards the dark monument in the distance. The already pungent smell seemed to only grow.
Scrunching up her nose, Inko muttered an apology. "Sorry. I didn't know this area would smell so badly..."
"It's fine." Said a stone-faced Frieren. "Still, I wonder why they put this here."
"According to what I've read, the owner sympathizes with the slums, so he figured putting a cheap grocery store here could improve their conditions. The people online seem to like the decision."
She nodded, her mind already glossed over the matter. Instead, her cake-hungry eyes devoured the sight she quickly noticed: just beside the entrance door, she could see a veritable wealth of delectable cakes, cookies, and so on. Their surfaces seem to glisten in the store's bright lights, making them appear all the more desirable.
The pungent smell disappeared, a sea of cold winds blasting against her as she pressed her face against the protective glass around the various sweets, earning her odd gazes from those around. Drool even escaped her mouth. Inko soon followed suit with a bemused expression.
She heaved, her breath slightly heavy. "Don't run away like that again. I almost lost you in the crowd. Though–" Forest-green eyes darted over to the same vista Frieren now staring at with a serious expression. She decided not to comment on the amusing, sudden shift. Was she trying to determine which one looked best? "–this all looks far more delicious than what I tasted. Which one do you want, Frieren-san?"
"...Just get me the cheapest one, Inko."
Giving a strained smile, the woman nodded as she walked over to the cashier. Frieren paid no heed to any of that. Instead, she simply continued to stare into the cakes splayed about on silver plates.
Meanwhile, Inko gave a light-hearted roll of her eyes at Frieren's apparent obsession with the cakes. She soon turned to the cashier, an adolescent boy who wore a headband with the company's logo etched onto it, as well as a sort of security slogan — "Don't steal! I'm always watching!" — and smiled. "Are you done?"
"Yep!" He replied cheerfully before asking, "Do you want me to wrap it up? It'll cost another 3 yen!"
"Why not?" She said casually as she gave a couple of silver coins to him. The boy smiled, pleased, and pulled a drawer that almost overflowed with plastic bags. He took out one and wrapped up the three boxes she had bought.
Picking up the plastic-wrapped boxes, she suddenly felt the hair at the back of her neck stand up. Looking over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of many gazing enviously at her– that barely lasted, however, as they quickly turned away when they noticed she had been staring at them.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a cheerful, if a little louder, farewell from the boy. "Goodbye!"
"Ah, yeah... goodbye."
With that, she tapped Frieren on the shoulder and soon, the pair were already walking out of the store.
"Can I hold the cakes?" Frieren offered, to which Inko responded with a jestful laugh.
"It's fine. We don't want you drooling on our way, do we?"
A subtle heat came up to her face as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her hair. She mewled, "It was a moment of weakness..." Her poor — almost adorable — attempt to defend her dignity only spurred her laughter to grow.
With the bundle of cakes in tow, Inko continued to make her journey towards Takoba Beach, making sure to avoid the ominous tower not far away.
Frieren stayed behind, continuing to peer past the store's outermost glass and into the seemingly inconspicuous cakes displayed.
Eventually, spurred by an annoyed Inko, she followed.
From that day, the land seemed to be eternally drenched in rain.
It was a quiet affair, only featuring family members and some close friends. The children, though most were too young to understand death, still felt the lack of their eldest's presence. But Lieble... she stood silently, motionlessly among her siblings, her eyes wide and fearful as they stared at the chipped sword that lay on top of Stoltz's coffin.
Sein stood at the forefront of the congregation, his hands clutching the podium tightly. "Stoltz was an incredible person; an admirable sibling; a dutiful son. Every day, he would always put those he loved before himself, a trait that often worried those very same people. But he was fine with that. In fact, it's like the kid gets off on that kind of thing." He chuckled in sullen amusement.
I dragged my gaze away from Sein and Kraft who stood beside him to scan the small crowd. I stop for a moment, seeing Serie standing amidst the crowd. Our eyes — my dull green, her radiant gold — met as a wordless message passed between us. I stood well away from the rest, hidden partially behind the bark of a tree, and looked away.
Sein then moved to the side with Kraft, allowing everyone from the crowd to step up onto the podium one by one.
At some point I had not seen, Fern and Stark had arrived — the former wrapped by the latter's arms, his crimson jacket wrapped around her — upon the funeral. Fern's eyes were red, as her small, petite hands clutched onto her husband like a lifeline.
Before I knew it, my body had been lashed with a torrent of rain as I found myself standing beside Fern. I patted her wet hair, to which she gave me a grateful smile.
I look back to the crowd, to the golden gaze that greeted me. There was a subtle nod from the older elf.
Knowing that I would eventually be asked for a speech, I decided to use these precious few minutes to ponder on what I should say. While I did, Stark and Fern stepped up onto the podium.
Fern held the curves of the piece of wood tightly. Her voice cracked out, "I wish to begin by saying that, what everyone has said about Stoltz on this platform has been nothing but the truth. He's a rascal that likes to make me worry; he's always worn his heart on his sleeve; above all, he's always been a great model for his siblings."
She slightly tilted her head to the side, warm pools of purple directed at someone within the crowd. "I'll be lying if I said I accepted these traits of his so readily." Stark's hands drew soothing circles on her back. "But in the end, I came to accept that he will always be that way. Even now, I still believe him to be someone to strive for." Suddenly, as if in response to something else, both parents gave smiles brimming with heartfelt fervour.
As the pair stepped down, I could feel everyone's gazes directed at me. I twist my eyes to regard Sein and Kraft on the wide-raised platform.
"Frieren?" The latter's voice called out to me, his hand gesturing towards the empty podium.
I walked forward with an even pace, passing Stark and Fern as I did. They had stopped just at the foot of the stairs leading up the platform, eyes fixed on my back as I ascended. I twisted on my heels, facing the expectant crowd, and stole a long suck of the air.
I breathed out, "...Stoltz did not deserve what happened." I started, setting a tone for the rest of my speech. My hands, searching for something to hold onto, eventually gripped the top edges of the podium. "He fell because a cowardly demon had been in hiding–" Out of the corner of my vision, I could Serie's orbs thin into slits. I couldn't care less. My fingers tightened, nails digging into the brittle wood, leaving an imprint on its surface. "–in the Kühl Mountains, and a moment of chance, it struck him down. I won't let something like that happen again; I won't rest until all the demons in this continent — in this world — have been slain... once and for all."
The pair of Frieren and Inko soon found themselves sipping cold drinks at Takoba Beach, their forms sitting casually on the seats just below the stairs. Inko watched the sun slowly, inch by inch, sink closer to the horizon.
The wrapped cakes sat on the table, untouched. Frieren did not seem that much bothered to probe it now that they were sitting; she merely gripped the firm wooden table tightly.
If the brown skin were any less strong, she would have already dug into it. In fact...
"Are you okay, Frieren-san?"
"Ah..." As if awakened from a stupor, Frieren coughed with a nod. "It's nothing."
Inko stared at the new crevices in the wood, unconvinced.
She forced herself to look away. Dark-green eyes gazed at the shoreline, at the sand, constantly shifting by the rising sea; by the small crustaceans, spindly legs scuttling about; by the heavy footsteps of families, their faces graced with happy smiles. Drawn by such a sight, she already began to forget about Frieren's strange behaviour just a few seconds ago. Instead, she was reminded of a time in her son's childhood, when parents had come to school cosplaying as their children's most desired dreams, and she was the only one who did no such thing.
Months had gone by since her husband's passing, at that point.
Months far too short for her to digest it all.
...But that was just an excuse. At that point, the pain from her husband's death had faded into a dull throb that only appeared whenever she thought of him.
No... she was afraid of something else.
Out of the corner of her eyes, Frieren glanced at Inko and the thoughtful expression that adorned her face. The woman's fingers unconsciously fiddled with the plastic.
The elf continued to prolong the silence. She wanted to speak, to do something to help out her student but in the end, what could she do? It's been so, so long since she last spoke heart-to-heart with someone else. Even now, her heart trembled at the thought. After a thousand years, the only memory she still retained perfectly was her ability to fight.
Inko inhaled deeply and let out a long breath.
Before Frieren could come to a decision, her voice broke through the silence first.
"Have you... ever had children, Frieren-san?"
"...No." Almost instinctually, she shook her head, morose. But then for the briefest of moments, her gaze flickered towards the edge of the beach, where the sea and land joined. "But I have loved many."
"That sounds like a good thing," Inko said, unaware of how Frieren's head hung at those words. "...May I share something with you?"
"Feel free." The white-haired woman said softly.
"Thank you." She spoke, smiling as he took another sip of the cold drink in her hand. The sun, even as it began to dip into the horizon, seemed to burn skin. "I've... never been able to love — truly love — many people. The only memories I had of my mother were few; certainly too blurry for me to reminisce over. So, for the ones I do love, I've always chased after them with such intense fervour. With them, I wanted to be able to enjoy a nice, cool cup of water on a summer day; to understand each other, so close as if we were tied by blood; and... to love them, as well.
"Hisashi was my first... in many things. When I married him, I did so fully aware of who I was bonding my life to: a Hero. I thought I was ready... then came the long nights without him, and the ensuing panic as he returned home with injuries littering his body... but I held on. Because I loved Hisashi.
"When Izuku was born into this world," She murmured, her eyes hazy. "I had been so happy... and so, so afraid, as well. What if he grew up to be like his father? Reckless, selfless to a fault: all the things I love and hate. In the end, though, I threw away all my worries. Because I love Izuku."
Her eyes slowly darkened as she continued. "But in the end, Hisashi died. From then on, all the love I had for them seemed... toxic, to me. Why did I let him go? I already knew of these traits of his, and yet, I went by my days, acting as if they weren't a huge problem; as if they could be shrugged away just because I wanted to. His death made me realize my mistake... something I will not repeat with Izuku. Because, now more than ever, I love him."
Staying silent for a moment, Frieren moved up her hand to draw soothing circles on the fellow woman's back. Inko gave a small smile in response.
"How did he die?" Frieren asked carefully.
"Killed by a gang leader." She whispered, searing hate brimming within her words. "A Villain with a Quirk that manipulates the earth. The police haven't seen any hide nor hair of this person, though." She clicked her tongue.
"That's awful."
"Yeah. Whoever this guy is, I hope they rot in Hell like the demon they are." She spat.
"Mhm." Frieren hummed, finding herself easily agreeing.
"That's why," She spoke, turning to face Frieren fully. "I want you to stop teaching Izuku. You're only putting my boy in danger."
"I'm afraid I–"
Inko gritted her teeth. "A parent's order."
Her lips pursed. She went silent, her eyes flickering away from Inko to the shoreline, to the smiling family that ran along the border. The mother laughed heartily, spinning her child around in outstretched arms, as the father seemingly fretted over both. A smile graced her soft features at the sight.
She turned to Inko, the elf's thumb still drawing smooth circles on her back. "You and I both know he won't be happy with that."
The firm expression on her face slackened, now mixed with hesitance. "I know, I know. I'm aware this would hurt him..." She shook her head. "But being a Hero would only hurt him more."
Frieren inched her seat closer, her hand rising to rustle her hair. Even as she brushed it away, still, it reminded Inko of the faint memories she had of her mother, an entirely hazy figure illuminated by what may as well be the many splitting rays of the sun.
"I'm not denying that becoming a Hero would hurt, but the same could be said for every walk of life. People don't live seeking the most painless option; more often than not, in fact, being their happiest means seeking that pain instead."
Inko went into a thoughtful silence. She watched the sinking sun, and the increasingly red-yellow sky, as the family on the shore walked away with wide, genuine smiles.
How long has it been since she saw something like that on Izuku? On herself?
"...What have you been teaching Izuku?" Inko decided to ask.
Frieren stared deep into her eyes. After a silence that stretched for neither too long nor too quick, she said, "Only the things that could help him become a Hero."
The vague answer caused her eyes to narrow. Eventually — perhaps realizing that Frieren wouldn't budge — Inko let out a sigh as she stood up, causing the white-haired woman's hand to slip away. She dug through the plastic bag and took out one vibrant pink box. She set it down on the table right in front of Frieren. "Here." With that said and done, she stepped away.
"Where are you going?" Frieren followed to stand up as well, her fingers wrapped around it.
"I want to think. Besides, it's getting late; I haven't made dinner at home."
The woman stood still, watching as Inko ascended to stairs back onto the asphalt street. She looked down, green eyes meeting their reflections before she turned away and disappeared over the stairs's crest.
Left to her lonesome, Frieren sighed, hoping that what she said would be enough.
Ever since the last light fell from the expansive sky, Izuku has waited for his mother's return with trepidation. So much so, that he could not find it within himself to even gather mana. He needed to rectify that when this was all over with, he thought.
If this all ever finishes, a dark notion in his mind whispered.
Suddenly, he was sent into a jolt as the door clicked. There was a short tense second before it swung open, greeting him with the sight of his mother, a plastic bag clutched in her hands. Taut eyes scanned through the room, only to soften as they locked with Izuku's own. Closing the door behind her, she walked near him and plopped down on the sofa. Leaning forward, she took out the two vibrant pink boxes within and set them down on the glass table before sliding one over to him.
"What's this?" His thumb's nail clawed away at the tape sealing the box.
"Cake." She said simply as he managed to open it; the sweet smell wafted into his nose.
"Oh... thank you." He gave a small smile, his head pointed down.
She stared at him for a long moment, her back sinking into the sofa. "Why aren't you eating?" She asked upon noticing that he was touching none of the cake.
He pursed his lips, his fingers rubbing against each other in all his nervousness. He wondered if his teacher had been fruitful in her attempt to convince Inko, though he doubted it had.
"Izuku?"
The boy let out a breath. "A-About what you said yesterday night–"
"My stance on that is still a no."
'Ah. So sensei failed...' He restrained himself from audibly clicking his tongue. 'It's not her fault. I should have been the one to talk to her... not that it would make a difference.'
After the silence reigned for what felt like an eternity, the mother added, "But... that could change." She said, her own fingers smoothing out the wrinkles on her pants. He looked up with wide, almost hopeful eyes. "From now on, I don't want you to lie to me. Never again. Understood?"
He nodded eagerly. Anything to make her more pliant to accepting his dream, he thought.
However, the next words she uttered made his eagerness pause.
"And I want you to include me in all of your training with Frieren from now on. Understood?"
He appeared nonchalant on the surface, but within, his mind ran turmoil with questions. What had Frieren told Inko? He knew he gave the green light for her to say whatever she was comfortable with, but that offered no indication as to what she actually did say.
But in the end, his desire to continue to chase his dream won over. He nodded. "Understood."
As a smile was born over his answer, she gestured at him to eat the delicate cake. With an excited gait, Izuku nodded as he left to the kitchen, only imparting: "I'll wash my hands first."
Watching him go, she turned her gaze straight forward into the dull white wall. In the safety of her mind, she wondered if she was making the right choice. She could not help but think back on that fateful day: those flashing red and blue lights, the sea that rained down upon the city, and the blanketed body of her husband lying on that uncomfortable dolly, as if they would roll him into a graveyard any second after the family mourned. She made sure to give her husband a soft pillow before they rolled him away. At that moment, it felt like she could just die... and maybe she would have.
If only she did not see Izuku's form, peeking from the dark window of her car.
What would happen if she lost him, as well? She would truly have nothing left to live for.
At that moment, her phone dinged with a message just as Izuku sat down in front of his cake. He blinked, noticing the soft smile on her face as she pocketed her phone.
"What was that?"
"Just a message from Mitsuki." She answered smilingly.
"Sorry for the late answer! I hit it off pretty damn well with Burnin'-chan, I didn't even realize the time."
"To answer your question earlier today, Inko-chan. Well, you know my youth. I never much obeyed my parents, he's leagues better than me in that way."
"But anyway, for me, I'm fine as long as he's happy. A parent's gotta sacrifice some things for their kid, is what I'm saying. Hope this helps you, Inko-chan. You and Izuku-kun both."
Like usual, make sure to leave behind reviews if you want. I would greatly appreciate it.
Special thanks to DisastrousMonkey for sharing an in-depth review of my story. I appreciate all reviews, but obviously, I'd much prefer ones that discuss my story's writing — pros and/or cons. It made me mull over a couple of my plans for the plot a bit.
Also, sorry for the very, very late update. I was following a few short stories — one novel — competitions in my country, so I've been busy writing them. I've already finished the novellas so that freed up my time enough to finally finish this chapter. As for the novel, it's not done, but since there's no deadline it's much less restricting.