Early update? Early update!

Considering the more compact nature of February as a month, I've decided to try and push up the usual update schedule so that I can actually get everything out this month.

I'm only able to write as consistently as I have because of reader support.

If you guys like my work, are interested in reading ahead, and maybe seeing some of my other exclusive stories, you can find the next two chapters on my ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕠𝕟 and . You can read up to two chapters ahead there and even join my 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕕 server:

𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕠𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞/𝕋𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣

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𝕙𝕥𝕥𝕡𝕤:/𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕥𝕣.𝕖𝕖/𝕋𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣

Ryuko has found her villain, and she's not referring to Muscular. Not to worry, however, as her Patron God is about to swing things in her favor.

In the aftermath, it's Momo's turn to deal with some harsh truths after seeing her friend almost die from an encounter with a villain.

Chapter 7 - Commune with the Gods

Ryuko felt her whole body come alight.

Time stopped. Her wings almost seemed to freeze mid-flap, and the sky once more turned orange-gold to match the glow of the boy's eyes. The world fell away from Ryuko, even as she could look down and see the concrete jungle scarred by Muscular's rampaging walk.

No one moved below them. The fires didn't dance, and the smoke had stopped rising.

It was him. He was here.

Ryuko wanted to laugh. Ryuko wanted to cry. She wasn't sure if it was going to be tears of joy or sorrow that she'd finally found the person who'd slowly taken over her life.

It's good to see you Ryuko.

"You're not going to think that when I'm done with you." She'd tried to snarl at him. She really did.

But her voice came out broken, and she didn't think she'd succeeded at suppressing the sob as well as she'd imagined she had.

Just as she'd suspected, he was a kid. A boy that had found himself with a quirk more powerful than his common sense. He wasn't even very big. The kid was short for a middle schooler, and if not for the nature of their relationship, she'd have assumed he was even younger.

I'd like to see that. He answered, half-shrugging, We should meet when this is all over.

The audacity of this kid. This time she was sure the growl came out right.

Shadows danced around the glowing eyes, a void that sucked up the light like pits. Ryuko didn't know how the odd voice could laugh, but it did. Even more odd was how the boy's shoulders shook as he did so. Especially when the voice was in Ryuko's head and nowhere else.

How about you deal with Muscular first? I can't keep us apart from the world forever.

"Hurk-"

Something lurched and the eye took over her. Drawing her to it in an almost familiar way. Warm and inviting, it might have lulled Ryuko into thinking the boy hadn't meant her harm.

If it hadn't hurt.

Ryuko screamed. Her blood turned molten and her mind swelled. Stars littered her vision and the sky - the world - turned dark. All light fading away from it until even the ground below had fallen into darkness.

Until only The Eye remained.

She braced herself for the coming arousal, for the way the pain was usually followed by pleasure. Surely the boy had trapped her in her own mind again, drawing her into dream as they flew away from the battle with Muscular. Because she didn't know if they'd survive the landing if her wings gave out.

Damn brat. Too horny for his own good. He was going to get them both killed.

But that's not what came. Yellow eyes snapped open as Ryuko felt it surge through her.

Power.

Strength filled her limbs, and the fire in her belly travelled its way up her throat before venting out between her bared fangs.

There you go.

Only then did reality snap back into place.

Wide-eyed, she looked down at her claw to see the boy as he sent her a tired-smile. He's paler than he was before, and slumped against her scaled grip. Despite it, there's a pleased look in his eye that Ryuko almost wanted to grin at. She didn't know why.

"Gotta get used to doing that," he sighed, "Go get 'em."

~TtT~

The last time Ryuko had faced-off against Muscular, she'd barely been able to keep up. While her quirk had afforded her greater strength while in her dragon form, she lacked the pure power that others with strength-based quirks could dish out. Those like Rumi, Mount Lady, and especially All Might. She had bulk, yes, and was more durable than she might have looked, but she had no illusions about being able to take someone like Muscular out mano-a-mano.

"What the hell!?"

Muscular grinned as he was tossed back, body half-flying over several craters before he steadied himself.

Not that Ryuko gave him time to get his feet back under him completely as she lashed at him with her tail.

She felt light. Lighter than even her earliest days learning flight, before her quirk had really started growing. Ryuko danced in the air as she dodged Muscular's counter-swing. The arm she'd torn-off acting like a flail as the wiry muscle strands of his quirk regenerated it.

"Where was this the last time we fought?" The villain laughed as he ducked under her tail and braced himself against her coming claws, "You left most of the fighting to that rabbit friend of yours when you could keep up with me like this the whole time?"

Fang and claw rained down on him just as she dodged every punch and kick. Ryuko snapping back whenever he'd let himself get too close to her maw while she did her best to keep her wings out of reach.

A claw to his shoulder, her legs on his back. Talons digging into iron-hard, quirk-toughened muscles as she crawled on him like some lizard while his oversized body tried to reach behind him to get her in a grapple.

She leaned down. Tried to bite.

Ryuko saw stars as she was sent back into the sky in a panic. Yellow eyes wide as she shook away the dizziness.

Muscular's hand was whole again.

It didn't stop her from diving in once more, however. Coming in with a cone of flame to mask her movement as she tried to crash into him with all four limbs.

She'd been met with softened earth and a cloud of dust that masked his own as he charged in her general direction. A quick exchange of blows allowed her to parry his strikes from getting at her wings even as she raked his back with them before she took once more to the skies.

But the soreness fell away from her, fatigue of the high-intensity fight just not sinking in for her.

The boy had done something to her. She wasn't sure what, but it was amazing.

Even her senses had sharpened. The world played out in slow motion as she saw some of the other heroes jumping in to capitalize on the opening she'd made. Joining the battle and getting more pressure on Muscular now that there wasn't a hostage holding them back.

Ryuko could see it, even tens of meters above the action. There was a tremble in the villain's arms, his legs. Whether it was the chase, whether it was the fight with her, or just the whole thing catching up to him, Muscular was getting tired.

But Ryuko? Ryuko felt like she could go on for days more. This was the freshest she'd ever felt!

So now all she needed was to wait for her opportunity.

~TtT~

"I know that look."

Yaoyorozu Momo blinked as she looked up from the ruined street she'd been looking at. Yellow eyes greeted her.

"Ryukyu-san?"

The heroine looked a little worse for wear. Her outfit was singed in some places, and most of her body was caked with dirt. The girl could clearly tell that the woman had wiped down her face by the heavily smudged towel she was holding in one hand.

Despite the mess, the woman was grinning, and Momo couldn't help but almost return it.

"How's your friend going?"

And suddenly Momo was back to almost an hour ago now, when her friend had suddenly been snatched up from the concrete and taken hostage by one of Japan's most infamous villains.

With a deep breath, the girl felt her heart start pounding again as she remembered what had followed: the chase, her father's urging to stay out of it while the heroes sorted it out. A fury that still bubbled hot somewhere deep in her chest as she saw how helpless they'd been until Ryukyu had shown up.

She could still feel a dull ache in her teeth from when she'd watched the fight unfold.

After Ryukyu had managed to snatch Minoru from the villain's grasp, the Dragon Hero and everyone else that had been part of the chase had begun to practically dogpile him. Not that it had seemed to slow him down any from what Momo could see.

They'd been far from the fight, too. Far enough that the heavier debris didn't make it to them, something Momo was thankful for her father's advice for as she'd wanted to be closer in case something happened to her friend.

Briefly, she took in the sight of Minoru. He was slumped against her as they were both laid-up against the side of one of the further out buildings alongside many of the other civilians that had been brave enough to stay and watch the unfolding battle.

He was paler than usual, and cold to the touch. Cold enough that she'd shivered when she'd first felt him against her skin.

"The paramedics said he'd be okay. He's just exhausted."

"He used his quirk right as I came in to grab him," Ryukyu answered, "Must have exhausted him."

Momo looked back to the hero, her eyes wide. Just like her, the older woman seemed to be staring at her friend while her father was talking to some of the reporters in the background. The heroine's yellow eyes were distant, thoughtful, "He's not going to get into trouble, is he?"

"It's a pretty clear-cut case of self-defense, I think." Ryukyu looked back to her with a reassuring smile, "And I doubt anyone's going to be giving him trouble considering he was the biggest victim here as far as public opinion is concerned,"

"You planning to be a hero?"

When Momo nodded, there was a hardness in the woman's eyes that hadn't been there earlier. "The feeling. The one you're feeling right now. That anger, that feeling of not being good enough,"

Once more, Momo nodded. Her lips pursed, and she suddenly felt very, very small.

"Hold on to that. Never forget it." A pause, "What's your quirk, girl?"

"Creation," Momo wanted to say more, to go into the little spiel she said whenever someone asked her about her quirk, because she knew the name was about as open-ended as it could get. But she couldn't find the words. A ball of iron had settled in her throat even as she felt the same crackling flame that had been started in her heart.

Though it seemed that was enough for Ryukyu.

"When you're finally a pro, or if you get into UA and have work studies, you look for me." Then the yellow eyes turned back to Minoru, "He planning to be a hero, too?"

"Yes," She answered without thinking, without really registering what she'd just been told, "We're planning to go together. UA."

Blonde brows rose, almost surprised, "Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the both of you at the sports festival this year, then."

"E-excuse me…" Both women turned to find a boy about Momo's age with dark-green hair walking up to them. In his hands was an otherwise nondescript notebook except for the little scribbles on the cover that Momo couldn't read. "Ryukyu-san?"

"Yes, kid?" And then the heroine blinked as she turned around only to be faced with a barrage of questions that Momo could only barely catch.

"Did you have a Quirk Awakening?"

"How hot can your fire burn now?"

"Are you expecting to go up in the rankings now that you've taken down Muscular?"

The rest Momo couldn't parse, her attention immediately snapping to Minoru as she heard him groan.

"Wha-What's going on?" His eyes flashed as his eyelids fluttered, and Momo felt a sudden rush in her veins before it faded.

"Kid, slow down with the questions. I didn't even take down Muscular alone." Ryukyu answered, one eyebrow raised as she tried to answer each of the other kid's many, many questions, "Besides, how did you get in here?"

And then the paramedics were back on them, Minoru being picked up and carted into an ambulance with Momo and her father in tow while the other kid - who later introduced himself as Midoriya Izuku - was dragged away after they found out that he hadn't been involved.

Only in the quiet of Minoru's hospital room hours later, when the frustration, the adrenaline, and the worry had faded did Momo register the offer the Top Fifty hero had made.

"Oh shi-"

~TtT~

When Mineta Minoru, he thought he was still in a dream of his own.

Charcoal eyes opened to see familiar orange-gold. A crown of golden hair hanging over olive skin and a concerned purse to her lips that would have left Minoru's mouth dry if it already wasn't. Above her was a pure, white ceiling. A hospital's ceiling.

Sana was here.

His caretaker was on him moments later, his head cradled against her shoulder with a glass of water against his mouth. Momo had been there, too. Wide, charcoal eyes asking him how he was feeling while her equally concerned father chimed in with his own questions from over his friend's shoulder.

This was the stuff of dreams. For a boy like him to be doted on by two pretty women after he'd been in a fight for his life. It was more than a little surreal, and Minoru was sure that had the circumstances been a little different, he'd have been over the moon.

… Well, even now he was still over the moon, and he was not at all hiding it as he grinned at Sana whenever he felt her press his cheek into her barely-contained tits just hard enough. And the harbinger had only sent him a conspiratorial smirk before she went back to making sure he was properly hydrated.

It had already been a few hours, apparently. Minoru had fallen unconscious while they'd been on the road here.

Sana had come as quickly as she could once she'd been called by Yaoyorozu Kimura, and had even taken the company helicopter to save time. She'd also been the one to get information from the authorities after Momo's dad had given her a quick brief on everything that had happened.

Officially, he'd been put under by several bruised ribs, stress, and exhaustion. It wasn't entirely untrue, but the doctors had attributed his slightly more extreme state to quirk overuse, something that might have gotten him in hot water if it weren't for his extenuating circumstances and how visible everything had been. Minoru had apparently been featured on the news as the event was being covered live and was in for quite the reception whenever they got back to school next week.

Honestly, part of him was tempted to see what the news about him looked like. It wasn't every day a kid like him was the center of attention and that was considering he wasn't exactly human. Granted, him being not-human hadn't been something many people knew about in the first place so he wasn't going to be getting any attention because of that.

And then the panic hit as he realized something that might give them problems: there couldn't have been any evidence of his quirk being used with Muscular because he hadn't.

Even worse, he'd used his powers. His other powers.

Sana may have caught his emotions. The woman's hand grabbed his as she shushed him and started thanking both Momo and her father for staying with him before he got her. She also asked if they'd be staying the night on account of everything.

"We took responsibility for Minoru-kun when we invited him over to join us today," Kimura said, crossing his arms as he sent the boy an approving nod, "I'd like to think making sure he gets home okay is the least we can do. Besides, I've been told by the doctor that you should be clear to leave tomorrow if nothing else comes up."

From several bruised ribs? He knew that he should be a fast healer. Godsblood and all that, but that was still surprising.

And Sana knew it, "Never said you'd be completely healed. You're going to be taking the week off school, Minoru-sama. No heavy activity."

Orange-gold eyes looked down at him with a meaningful look that Minoru knew only too well.

Dang.

"And we're going to be doubling your training once you're recovered, too. If you're going to be a hero, you're going to need to be ready for it."

Creaking filled the room as the door was opened.

"That's true," It was a woman's voice. A familiar woman's voice. One he'd just barely registered earlier today while his power was being channeled, "And you'll only get better odds at passing the UA exam because of it."

Yellow eyes met his as Tatsuma Ryuko walked in. One blonde brow was raised from beneath the hood of her rather comfortable looking jacket.

"Ryukyu-san!" Momo exclaimed, face suddenly pink in a way that seemed to draw Minoru's gaze in. "I didn't think you'd be coming by!"

The heroine chuckled, "I figured I'd check in on you and your friend after I'd gotten all the work for today done." Her boots clacked lightly against the tile as she came closer and she unmistakably addressed Minoru: "How're you feeling, kid?"

She was close to his bed, almost leaning on it, even. Minoru could feel her weight pressing into the mattress just the littlest bit.

"… Better than earlier," He answered, "Yaoyorozu-san and Sana-chan said I should be getting discharged tomorrow,"

"Good to hear," Ryuko answered, nodding even as Minoru - finally looking at her instead of Momo - could see how intensely she was looking at him, eyes focused, calculating. "And I'm sorry to ask you two to step away after everything that's happened, Yaoyorozu-san, Yaoyorozu-chan, but may I speak to Mineta-kun and…"

"Hochikusho Sana," His caretaker answered without missing a beat, eyes practically twinkling.

"Hochikusho-san," Ryuko finished, still not taking her eyes off Minoru, "Privately."

Neither Yaoyorozu argued, though his friend had shot him a questioning look as they left. Kimura telling them he'd be by to bring them breakfast from their hotel first thing tomorrow.

The moment the door was closed, Ryuko's eyes darted around the room, seeming to check every corner of the ceiling. What for, Minoru wasn't sure. A part of him was worried, but Sana didn't seem all that concerned and had continued to keep him braced against her warm breasts as the pair watched the heroine.

"Pricy rooms. These are the most expensive in the hospital, I think." The heroine spoke as she looked about, moving from doing so subtly to outright checking the decor. A painting hung on one of the walls to the side while a large television remained switched-off opposite Minoru's bed. A large window on the remaining side that had its curtains kept drawn closed.

But the place was hardly plain. Wood paneling decorated the walls and the closet, and he'd even been given a full-length couch and a desk.

"It's soundproofed, too," Ryuko continued, gesturing to some of the corrugated foam panels that shared color with the polished wood, "They really value their patient's privacy, huh?"

"No cameras, either. Which means we shouldn't be getting eavesdropped on. So…" Ryuko eventually said as her gaze returned to the two of them, "I need to talk to the two of you. Privately." Fangs were bared as she sent the both of them a wide grin, "And the fact that I can mention that when it's just the two of you tells me she's in on it, too."

Minoru blinked. What?

"I did a lot of testing on the restrictions you put on me, you know." She continued, coming back to the bed and practically looming over the two of them, "I couldn't talk to my assistant about it, I couldn't write about it. I couldn't even sign it out. Anytime I tried to pass info to any one in any way I just… couldn't."

Ryuko leaned down, wide yellow eyes shining with a mix of terror and mania that Minoru couldn't get enough of. Her breath was hot against his skin, and despite his exhaustion, despite how much it hurt to breathe right now, he felt himself get excited.

"And it wasn't a quirk, not unless you had more than one or had been hiding what your quirk really was all this time, but I'd checked your medical records through the HPSC. We have footage of you using Pop Off." A gentle hand brushed over his hair, the warmth of it piercing through even the thickness created by his quirk.

Minoru failed to suppress a groan.

Not that it seemed to slow Ryuko any, "So it's either you have two quirks, which is unlikely. And composite quirks usually work together to achieve one thing, like Endeavour's kid. But mind powers and… sticky balls?"

Leaning back, Ryuko crossed her arms, "What's going on here?"

He didn't speak, instead just taking in the sight of Ryuko's heaving chest as she looked down at him after her tirade. How was he even supposed to breach that topic? He'd never had to explain himself to anyone before. Why would he? Everyone that needed to know about what he was already did.

Minoru was really going to need to talk to his parents about that. They'd been mortal once, right? At least his mother had been. Maybe they'd have a better idea.

Actually, that brought up a funny question: how did his dad tell his mom about what he was?

"How about you drop us a visit, and we'll tell you everything you want to know?" It was Sana. Her eyes were wide and excited as she looked at the heroine, "There's a lot to talk about. Or better yet, show you." Then she licked her lips.

"You just want sex." Disgust was plain on the heroine's face, but she refused to back down, "This is all your fault, isn't it?" She spat, "You're his guardian, aren't you? You're supposed to teach him, raise him. Not encourage his worst impulses."

"Master Minoru wanted you. All I did was tell him how." Something in Sana's face stiffened at the heroine's words, her full lips curling in a silent snarl. "You wouldn't understand."

"And that's what I-"

"I'm taking a week off school." The argument that was brewing was stopped before it could explode as both women turned to him, "Doctor's orders. You take some time off, too. Stay with us."

Pain fell away as the power rushed through him, his heart thundering in his chest as he spoke to her in a way he knew she'd not argue with.

And you'll have your answers, Ryuko.

Shadows clawed outwards from his now orange-gold eyes, drawing both women into his realm. Sana surrendered to his will, embraced it even as she looked down with eyes that matched his own and grinned at him. Ryuko was very different, though she couldn't move even as he felt her mind rebel against his order to remain in place.

Their connection widened, deepened. So close to him physically he could practically wrap his arms around her mind and soul as the heroine was drawn in.

But how about we have some fun first? We've never been so close, truly close, before.

I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story so far. Thanks for taking the time to read!

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