So! About the last chapter, if it felt rushed to you, it was because it was. I felt like trash and had put so much effort into the first half that the final 4000~ or so words lost their energy. But I also have a very good reason for it being a skip over what is one of the largest areas in the game.

The reason is that I personally dislike the entire forbidden forest. Now I don't hate it, but comparing it to other areas it's a long slog, if you kill all the enemies, to the end. The original plan was to write the forbidden forest into two parts, both around 6-7000 each with intermissions like usual. But after running through the area again in the game, and writing my usual area notes, I realized that it would make for an unnecessarily slow and drawn out area, at this point Izuku isn't taking in the scenery, unlike in the first chapters where he was learning about Yharnam.

So after writing a lot, and changing a lot, I decided to make it a skimmed version of what I originally wanted. Now if you dislike that, I don't know, just don't complain about it to me, I'm writing a story that's a homage to my favorite game and one of my favorite animes, and we haven't even got to much of the MHA stuff. Which I have a lot planned for.

Anyway, the rant is over, I'm working hard on this chap and hope yall like it!

If you wish to support me, I have a Twitter! It is kuro945235232, it is a place where I will post updates and stuff! It also has a link to how to support me!

—

Izuku's once emerald green hair held loose strands of silvery white. Small streaks of a deep red danced around the hair ends. His curls which were once more wild and sharp had softened. Making loose curls that hung around his head like a mane.

He was sitting at the weapon workbench, twirling a strand of the seemingly glowing silver hair in one hand, while his other sketched out an intricate blueprint. It wasn't anything he had made before, the gauntlet, a design inspired by the myriad of different tools he had acquired over his time in Yharnam.

Its base was the claw he had found while fighting the bagman, skinned and stretched over a thin metal frame, the bones being used as base supports, as they were tougher than the small amount of steel he had bought. The old hunter's bone, which seemed to heighten his senses and help him focus when using quickening, was fixed into the top part, acting as a shield if necessary, as its strength was incredible. Hitting it with a full-force attack from his scythe and cane did nothing to it, not even scratch it. And even though it was small, it covered the middle of his forearm.

There was a lot of empty space, and by how rare these tools are, the likelihood of him making the gauntlet fully was slim, it was usable, but it lacking, it gave him major defense, allowed him to release a roar, that ripped up his throat but pushed back nearly everything, and increased his reflexes majorly. But he knew there had to be something more offensive.

Izuku quickly stretched out his left hand and began buckling it into the gauntlet with his right. It was soft on the inside and kept the cool air of Yharnam away from his dominant hand, it shimmered as thin wires of steel added protection, but was mostly hidden by the thick fur of the beast claw, and the five fingers of the beast claw had to be shortened, and the claws were replaced by steel replicas that allowed him to rend his enemies more when he needed to shove it into them.

He breathed deeply as the energy in him bled into the weapon, it had been there since the beginning of his journey, perhaps the 'gift' his mother had given him had been a deeper connection to the arcane. It was only recently that he noticed it, when he was holding one of these items, the marking on his arm seemed to bleed more energy into him and funneled into the tool.

He had found a book on Caryll Runes. The runes he had found, that had been seared into his mind and devoured by the one his mother had bestowed unto him had meanings and were even said to be the echoing words of the great ones who were linked to the power.

There was a page in the book that had rough sketched, rough unnamed symbols and shapes. Izuku had become fascinated by them.

Three weeks had Izuku been held up in the dream, deciphering the symbols and unknown text, while working on his gauntlet.

Lake.

Blood rapture.

Moon.

Communion.

As he deciphered the ancient, seeming infinite possibility that the shapes held he figured out their meaning.

Like a lake, unyielding, unrelenting understanding it meant being those things, unchangeable, uncontrollable. It leaked from his mind, the mental show of the symbol being devoured and reused by the rune his mother gave him. He felt his body shift, it was slight, hardly noticeable, but bruises were lessened, cuts were shallower.

Blood rapture, one he had gotten already, but the symbols in the book were more interesting. Even written in charcoal the symbols seemed to be deep, digging into the page, shining. To be unconquerable, to take what you need to survive, to steal the blood of your enemies and be enraptured by their weakness. His hands that tore the guts of his foes out and splattered their blood on the environment, drew in a portion of the blood, repairing his wounds with the life of his enemies.

Moon, his mother's name, stared him in the face, flora, the moon, he didn't even need to study this one, it flowed into him like ink, fusing into his mother's rune, the intricacies becoming more profound. There was no noticeable difference that he had noticed, but he felt stronger for just having the rune.

Communion, the first rune on the page, he knew this one too. Speaking, conversing, communicating with things beyond the beyond. Make contact with something benevolent or malevolent in hopes of bringing something to your favor.

He wrote them on the gauntlet, under the fur in stitching.

He had put off his job for too long.

He had a goal, make it back, become a hero, and make those who do wrong suffer like the beasts they are.

Izuku let out a light giggle. The mind-bending fear of waking up on a metal pedestal and staring up at a massive creature, its arms seemingly uncountable, its massive hands dwarfing him and the length and number of fingers making his brain fail to work.

It had clung to the top of the massive dome structure he had woken up in, hanging onto the sheer walls as if it was a spider. Its head, if it could be called that, stared down at him, its boney, mangled flesh-covered head riddled with holes, and peaking out of the holes, in between folds of flesh were eyes, beady eyes that never blinked and seemed to size him up. Wondering if he was worth eating.

He had felt his mind slip, as it shifted, reality seeming to accept that the being was there and aided the creature, one long arm began its descent to him, numerous fingers stretching to full length, beyond his height. That's when Izuku started running, under the beast and through the massive doorway that once stood closed, and to a part of Yharnam, a part he had never been before. The huntsman and the mob were undying there. Their hair, once black glowed a sickly red as he slew them again and again. Their blood was a waterfall as he sliced and whipped and cut, but eventually, he needed to retreat. Their attacks were faster and harder, their rage making them attack through his, so he ran, finding a nearby lantern and returning to the safety of the dream.

And there he had been, under the watchful and protective eyes of his family, muttering and crafting in the closed doors of the workshop. And for the first time since he got back to the dream, he stood, the joints in his legs popping, and his vertebrae soon following as he stretched.

Gehrman watched him with old tired eyes as he walked to one of the messengers, and vanished in a plume of soft white smoke.

—

Izuku's eyes stared out to the secret sector of Yharnam, the massive buildings stood stoically, unaware of the mind-bending horrors that crawled along the outside of them.

Ching~

Izuku watched the mutilated corpse of the huntsman he had just killed begin to reform, the toll of the bell making them come back to life. The stringy flesh began pulling together like an unseen string, stitching it back, the sliced bones snapped together, and the once dull eyes began being filled with an unimaginable hatred.

With a quick slash, the seven reforming corpses fell back into the massive seceding staircase. Izuku's only path to go was down those stairs, but one of the mind-shattering spider-like beings was perched above the colossal doorway, seemingly hundreds of descending stairs down.

Izuku wondered what the spider-like creatures were, perhaps they were great ones?

"Do not be foolish my child, those are much too weak to be great ones" The ever calm voice of Flora cascaded over Izuku as he stared up at the beast from the distance of the staircase.

"Then- what are they? They are much too outlandish to be beasts. Much to…"

"Your words fail you, little green hunter, I believe the word you are searching for is fathomless. Amygdala, well, they are lesser children of my sister Kos, related by chance and nothing more. Born of the same insight that scholars use to find deeper meaning in their fear. They are born of the fear of humanity, and of the knowledge, your poor kind harbors so dearly."

"But, can I kill it then? Or is it too powerful to be affected by my weapons?" Izuku questioned, staring down at the bloodied head of his scythe.

"Can you kill fear my child? Can you overcome it? You have overcome many fears, the only thing you cannot kill with what you have will be decided by you."

"I… Th-thank you." Izuku stuttered out, a small blush hazing his cheeks as he cut down the reforming mob again.

"You are very welcome, my green one… be ready for the trials ahead."

Izuku took a deep breath as the chiming of the bell sounded again, the invigorating feeling of Flora's presence leaving him with a buzz throughout his body. With a swipe of his scythe, he began to descend the large staircase. The stairs were not normal, they were much larger, allowing bis feet room on each step. Making the staircase more slanted than most stairs Izuku had ever seen… What was wrong with the design of this massive city? Towns seemed to be stacked up and up without any care whatsoever. What supported this massive blood-soaked city?

Izuku kept an eye on the giant Amygdala that dwarfed him and even the building it clung to. The crowd of the blood-tinted mob that guarded the door the beast was parched above turned to face him, their weapons prepared for a fight. Izuku sent a wave of vitality into his gauntlet, his left hand heating up as the once inanimate fur of the gauntlet seemed to spark to life, the leathery skin that hugged Izuku's own skin seemed to flex, as if some kind of unseen muscle were copying his own. And then, the second wave of heat traveled down his veins as a soft smoke-like substance began wafting off of Izuku.

With a feral grin on his face, Izuku bounded off the top of the staircase, jumping into the fray.

Like a comet with a trail of ethereal power, Izuku slammed into the first of the mob, his foot caving in their head as he swung his scythe in a deadly arc, bisecting once human beasts in half.

The hand of the amygdala began to descend.

The chime of a bell, The once dead rose up, the ones at the top of the stairs began charging, the chime was louder at the bottom and close. But Izuku is surrounded. So he screamed.

A shockwave of malloc ripped from Izuku, the mob around him were flung feet away and slammed into the stone railing of the stairs, some unlucky ones were launched over.

The hand came close to Izuku as he headed into the doorway but instead grabbed one of the mob. But they seemed to cease to exist as they were lifted up, their body turning to sand and dust in the creature's palm.

Izuku ignored that.

Another chime began, the room he was in was some kind of prison-like structure with three cells on top of a razed walkway, and in front of them, woman with a bell.

Their chime was cut short as a bullet exited their head.

Izuku headed to the only exit of the room and followed it out. Out into the night air and came face to face with a locked door. However, thankfully not all was lost as there was a massive hole in the wall next to it.

Entering it quickly Izuku sprinted down the dusty hall, his footsteps cracking dried bloodstains as he went. He skidded to a stop at the end of the hall and turned right to a little room, with a gate-like door that separated the hall and room from the main room of the building.

Quickly Izuku kicked the door open.

Ching~

In moments the large bloodstain Izuku ran over in the hall became liquid again, and a massive figure of a red-stained hunchback crawled out.

A few well-placed rounds in its skull left it crumpled in the floor it once resided in.

Izuku headed farther into the large room, the corpses of the mob that littered the room scraped together their weapons and stood to oppose the young hunter.

The permanent mark on his arm flared with red arcane energy as another chime passed through the material around him, bloodstains that littered the room began sprouting limbs as skinless variations of the emaciated mob began rising.

The red energy from the mark and the pale mist from his gauntlet flared as Izuku jumped into the thick of the mob of undying adversaries.

The razor edge of Izuku's scythe gleamed a deep red as trisected the nearest handful of beasts, the flash of gunfire bringing to light the sheer amount of blood that marked the insides of the room.

Ching ching~ Ching ching~

The sounds of bells chiming made Izuku's teeth grit as a clawed hand scratched deep, and a bullet lodged itself in the cavity near his left lung.

A choked scream scratched out his throat as the massive hand of the hunchback grabbed his head and fling him deeper into the lake of mob and beasts.

As his back slammed into the dark stained stone floor, Izuku's hands grabbed three high concentration blood vials and injected them into his leg. The burst of energy flooded him allowing him to move out of the way of the numerous feet and limbs that hit the area he once was.

His scythe lay in the horde of bodies, his whip was back in the dream, being treated in blood.

A flare of arcane drew Izuku's attention back to the symbol on his arm, quickly Izuku slipped off his arcane gauntlet and pushed as much vitality as he could into his arm, the flesh parted and blood flowed out, hundreds of bead sized droplets began shooting out in all directions, the nearest creatures were eviscerated in moments, allowing Izuku to run to his scythe as his body ached from the massive surge of energy.

A few walking corpses lumbered towards him but were taken out with a shaky gunshot. The shimmer of a silver bell between one of the metal grates caught Izuku's eye, he fired three rounds between the metal into the silhouette of the bell ringing bitch.

Izuku let out a sigh as he stepped through the blood and flesh-covered floor, the eery glint on his scythes edge coming back in full force as he cracked a sadistic smile. His gauntlet heated up with a feral warmth.

He walked into the night air into an open area, he followed the walkway to a gazebo-like construct, a bullet was placed into the bell ringer before he even gave her time to respond to his presence. Izuku scoured the area for usable loot, before looking out to the Amygdala perched on top of the building in the distance, another declining stairway to the beast that lingered over the open archway.

However, as Izuku neared the first steps the monster locked its hidden eyes on him.

In an almost painful display, the hundreds of eyes that covered the skull of the creature popped out of their sockets, blood and puss leaked from around the normally hidden organs as bluish-white arcane energy built upon them all, and focused into a central orb. In moments a scorching ray of energy slammed into the staircase, traveling up as the beast lifted its head to direct the energy. Izuku narrowly dodged the energy, only for the crevice the beam left to explode into a second wave of energy, knocking the young hunter through the metal railing and off the staining tower-like structure.

Izuku expected death to greet him, and end up at the start of the horrid creation that was this walkway of undying creatures. But he soon found himself on some sort of balcony, the skin on his face singed lightly from the heat of the strike.

Izuku continued into the hidden area.

Ching~

Fuck.

The blood puddle once hidden soon began glowing and Izuku headed deeper into the room, placing a few rounds into the trying to hide bell ringer, and turning just fast enough to shoot the large hunchback as he swung.

A spray of blood and the launching of the beast's body left Izuku alone on the raised platform that presided over a cage in a solitary room. Izuku jumped into the cage, snatching the key and materials off of the dead hunter's corpses, opening the closed door, and heading out. Only for a blood pool in the middle of the room to begin glowing, situated between the young hunter and the large chest. Izuku prepped his gun to fire at the beast's head. However, he was caught in the back by six bullets.

His senses flared as he quickened out of the way of more gunfire… Somehow in his battle rage, he had forgotten his most prized ability. Izuku ended up behind the Gatling gun-armed wheelchair-bound mob member. Who soon joined his group as a corpse.

A few more gunshots and the hunchback also joined them.

Snooping around the chest Izuku found a small hammer-like item, with a rounded silver head and a small static-like vibration. It was carved with arcane runes and the hilt was made of a bone-like substance. A new hunter tool!

Izuku pocketed it for later.

Izuku eventually found his way back to the main stairs with the laser-faced Amygdala, he watched it make its beam countless more times, writing in his newest notebook. He hadn't fully stopped writing in notebooks, he had accumulated nearly twenty over Yharnam and its beasts, compiling information over all kinds of things.

He had a theory.

After the beast finished its last laser, Izuku walked to the first step, and brought his arm up, he pushed vitality into his marking, causing neat cuts to begin forming across his arm, shoulder, and palm. The small beads of blood began floating around his arm, vibrating and shifting throughout the air.

Izuku held the beads back, focusing them into a large orb of blood in front of his hand, which was aimed towards the Amigdalas head, the orb of acidic red liquid began to shift into spires of crimson with barbs, only to go back to the smooth orb.

The Amygdala began its charge, its own orb forming.

Izuku fired off his copied attack, just as the beast's own finished. A spray of red showered the beast, its orb exploding on contact with the blood, blue beams of energy shot out in random directions, colliding into anything, including the beast itself.

Izuku watched in fascination as the beast's beam attack tore chunks out of its own flesh, allowing his blood to seep deeper in, large pillars of red barbs burst forth from the creature as it began moving in a frenzy. Its hands slammed into the building, cracking the stone as its body melted in places. And suddenly, a large barb sprouted from its head, piercing it onto the building.

Izuku smiled as its body flicked from reality.

He headed deeper into the hidden city.

—

(Flashback)

Izuku's schoolwork was fun.

Well, it wasn't actually.

But he did his assignments with a smile, as the teachers of the school handed his papers that were 'miss prints'. Papers that they would give to students grades above him.

He never complained after the first time.

So here he sat, at a desk with so much writing and black marks that it seemed to not even be made of wood anymore. It was stained black, only a few words in neon colors made it through the dark ink.

Izuku's mind wandered as he wrote a formula from a textbook he had to take from the physics lab, effortlessly reusing the formula to figure out the answer. It was Friday, which meant he could go home, get ignored as his mother went out to eat with some work friends, and starve. Or he could just… wander around the city.

Just as Izuku finished the final problem on the physics test, in a pre-algebra class, the bell rang, and Miss Mocha, a larger woman who kept her class smelling like the drink her name shares, took up the papers at once with her quirk Paper Manipulation.

Izuku let out a soft sigh, as he stood up, he was lucky that Bakugou had skipped that day, or was sick, or whatever he was doing at that moment. Without the catalyst for the harassment, most of his usual bullies did nothing.

The green-haired teen put on his now packed bag and slipped out of the classroom, the keen eye of Bakugou not there to catch him. Which was a wonderful thing for his still-healing ribs.

Izuku had come to a decision as he exited the main gate of his personal hell hole, he would rather be mugged than sit in an empty house. And so, with slightly bigger steps, the young teen walked to the nearest train station and began his journey somewhere.

The quiet creaking of the train was what Izuku focused on as he dug through his bag. His earbuds, which he confiscated from a bully, were a pain to find, but eventually, he found them. The beaten-up blue case glinted in the soft light of the subway train.

A small grin shifted over his face as he clicked open the case and slipped in the buds, his phone, a beaten-up thing that only held a small discography of music, around 100 songs. But thankfully it was full of only the songs he could stand listening to for long stretches of time.

His finger scrolled through the music, looking for the song of the day.

Just the Two of Us.

Deadly, Deadly.

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DONT - Sweater Beats Remix.

Disease.

He came to the four culprits he listened to the most. And clicked the last one.

And just as the song started, a finger poked him in the shoulder. Causing him to sit up straight from his usual hunched-over posture.

Izuku glanced over to his shoulder, only to spot a… pink finger? Tracing the finger back to the arm and up the arm to the overly exposed shoulder of a very pink girl. Her eyes were a bright vibrant gold that held a shimmer of excitement and the black sclera making them even more pronounced. The bush of pink hair and a set of pastel yellow horns peeked through the mess.

Izuku's eyes blinked slowly. Once. Twice. Three times before he realized that they were nearly face to face, the distance being less than he would like.

He felt a heat reach his cheeks as he slowly scooted a few inches away, only for her to scoot just as much forward. She made a motion to take an earbud out, and really, he had no reason not to comply.

As soon as the earbud left his ear, the girl, who seemed to have been vibrating, started speaking. "I saw you were listening to music… and I know it's a bit odd buuuut my earbuds died and I forgot to plug them in…" a small bit of lilac spread to her cheeks as she continued, "And well… this train goes for another half an hour before my stop, so I was wonder'in if you could spare one for a bit? At least until you or I need to leave?" Her vibrant golden eyes dilated a bit, as she bounced up and down with one set of fingers crossed.

Once again, Izuku's eyes blinked slowly. "I-... I guess? I- well I have no reason not to? Do- do you have any preferences for music? I really don't have much on my phone." he stuttered out, a blush forming as he handed off the earbud.

"Nope! Anything is better than that old man snoring over there, it's like, the middle of the day! How is he even asleep? OH MY GOSH! I forgot to tell you my name!" She said as she grabbed the earbud from his offering hand and plopped it in. While also grabbing his right hand with hers and began shaking it, "My name's Mina Ashido! But you can call me Mina!"

"I-Izuku Midoriya? N- Nice to meet you."

Izuku quickly averted his eyes from the, admittedly very cute girl and clicked play on the music, put shuffle play on, and grabbed the physics textbook from his bag. Determined to ignore his heartbeat as the pink girl smiled at him.

Wich got even harder as she leaned over his shoulder, looking at the massive book with him, only now he could hear her as she whistled lowly and almost silently whispered "What the fuck does any of that mean?"

He couldn't help a small grin forming as he read over what was likely his next couple of weeks of work, he felt a shift from next to him but decided to ignore it, only for another poke to be delivered to his shoulder.

Looking up from the very boring book, Izuku's nose brushed against the offending girls, nearly setting off any and all social alarms he had, as his entire body erupted in a violent blush.

She was right in front of him, a small bit of lilac dancing across her ears as she smiled oh so innocently at him, "Yah know Midoriya, you should let me see your phone for a sec, I promise I won't do anything bad~"

Izuku's brain was flash fried, so his only response was him sliding his beaten phone from keeping down a page of the book, over to her, where she opened his contacts and began putting in…

Oh.

Oh no.

She handed back his phone and his blush got revived, there were three contacts on his phone now.

Mom. 'a fake number'

Miss. Kayama.

Mina~

HE GOT HER PHONE NUMBER?!

Izuku stared at the glowing screen, his cheeks flaring to match the girl whose grin only widened. What had he done to get her phone number? Was she one of Bakugou's friends from another school? Here to put him in a false sense of security and then systematically destroy him? Probably… but to be honest, it was hard for Izuku to believe that a girl this peppy would ever socialize with someone like Bakugou.

She let out a giggle as his blush had yet to lessen, "What? Not used to getting pretty girls numbers~"

Izuku let out a small eep, the blush only getting darker.

"Ya know, I'm heading to the mall, you wanna tag along? It's gonna be pretty lonely walking around a big mall all by myself~" she spoke with a big smile on her face.

Izuku turned his head to the side and coughed a few times into a fist, trying to reduce his blush, before stuttering out a soft sure.

Even if it was a trap, he had fallen for them before, he was used to getting disappointed.

—

The people Izuku had collected into the Church were all going nuts.

The old lady was doping on sedatives, and handing them out like candy… She called him dear. The same old lady that nearly whacked his head off for asking if she was okay.

The skeptic man was even worse than before, the whore, Arianna was her actual name. Was having stomach cramps and problems, and the dweller was scared of everything. The young daughters were huddled in a corner, the oldest sitting in front of her sister protectively. And to top it all off Eileen had vanished. She didn't usually stay anywhere, But she could be found in some parts, so the fact that she was just gone made Izuku worry.

So. Now he was running around the Cathedral Ward with more than enough worry to go around. And as he ascended the massive stairway, he spotted her.

Lying against the railing to the main Cathedral, was Eileen, a puddle of blood that descended a few stairs and kept creeping farther.

Izuku was by her side in seconds.

She lifted her head as he bent down, applying pressure to her wound. "Oh, is that you again?" Her voice held a whimsical tilt, "I'm afraid I've made a bit of a blunder. I'm just going to have a short rest."

"N-No! I- I have vials, don't worry! J-Just hold still!" Izuku said, lifting a vial to her thigh.

"Oh, don't worry kid, I've taken blood. Enough to save an old woman." She let out a shaky breath, "No more dreams for me. This is my last chance… What a fool I am. I'll have to tread carefully."

"D-Damn, right you will! I can't have you dying here!" Izuku says, jamming the vial into her leg as she tries to push it away.

She lets out a stifled groan as the wound in her side stitches closed, "But that thing still lies in wait. Turn back. This is my score to settle." He can hear the smile in her voice, "My prey lies in wait this way. Turn back. This is my score to settle."

"O-Okay." Izuku lied to her face.

As Eileen's head dipped down into a nap, from the chemical concoction he put in the vial, Izuku stood up straight and headed into the Grand Cathedral, the newest tool on his gauntlet sparking up.

The ascent was quick, much too quick for Izuku to plan anything in advance for the fight ahead. He heard the hunter before he saw them. Soft footsteps that echoed throughout the cathedral, flowing cloth, the twirling of a gun.

And then he saw them. At the end of the large cathedra, a black feather garbed person walked in loose circles, spinning their gun on their finger and occasionally looking around. Their head was in some odd metal helmet.

Izuku's anger flared as the person flung Eileen's dagger into the air and caught it.

He didn't think, he acted.

Quickening flared, blood pumped and the tiles under Izuku cracked as blood lust burned through him, the arcane mark on his arm flared, blood flew and wrapped around his scythe. The opposing hunter didn't have time to dodge as it was skewered halfway through, but then it did something Izuku did not expect.

It quickened.

It reappeared across the cathedral and shot.

The bullet pierced Izuku's shoulder, the feeling of acid melting his muscles made Izuku's heart beat faster.

Was this how his enemies felt? Like they were being liquidized?

Interesting…

Izuku's own gun flared as an empty vial hit the floor. His smile rose as the hunter dodged and shot back with vicious accuracy.

Izuku quickened, the red aura from his mark tainting the mist red as he appeared next to the hunter, the blood-like mist blinding them for a moment, giving him the perfect opportunity.

A swift jab of the hand and his arm was lodged in their gut, but Izuku did not rip out instantly and instead crushed the vial in his hand. Leaving a concoction of chemicals and glass in their stomach, before ripping out a chunk of the organ.

He really had gotten into chemistry recently~

Izuku quickened twenty paces away and shot. The other hunter's movements were already beginning to be sluggish, allowing the bullet to pierce the tender flesh of their thigh, breaking the vial of blood they went to inject at the same time.

Izuku dodged the next bullet and fired again. And again.

And again.

Eventually, Izuku watched the form of the hunter slump to the floor. Their limbs twitched as the chemicals worked their magic.

A sole gunshot to the head and the gaggers of Eileen were collected, and the hunter's gear was stripped.

The hunter was a woman… and did not wear anything under their feathered cloak…

Izuku left quickly after taking the rest of the gear. His face was redder than when he was in a bloodbath.

He made his way back to Eileen, just as she woke up from her nap.

She let out a soft chuckle seeing him holding the gear, "Don't you ever listen to your elders? No matter, you did save my life." She sat up straighter, cracking her neck as she did. "I don't seem to be apt for this life anymore... My glory days were long ago now..." She said with a tired sigh.

After a second she looked up at him, "Hmmm, I know... Here, for you little hunter." As she took off a necklace, and handed it to him, with an old parchment.

The necklace looked like the two crows, their wings open making a circle with each other. And on the parchment, a rune, much like the base of the one on his arm.

"This too is hunters' work young one." she said with seriousness in her voice, "But it bears no honor. It's a burden you may choose to carry. The decision is yours alone..."

"I-... I'll do it," Izuku spoke softly, a layer of determination in his voice. "But- Where will you go?"

"I'm thinking of that little church you keep bringing people to." She spoke thoughtfully, but definitely unsure.

"What… What if I brought you to the dream?"

A sudden laugh escaped the older hunter, "And how do you expect to do that?"

"... asking?"

"If ya can somehow speak to the great one of that dream, and they somehow let me in, I'll teach ya everything I know."

—

Izuku was in the dream, pacing the length of the workshop, wondering how to ask his new super powerful god moon mom if he can let some old hunter live in the dream.

Actually.

Why not ask to let all the people in the church live in the dream?

"Umm… Flora? Mom?"

The cool wight flooded his mind in seconds, "Yes little green?"

"Can I take all the non-crazy and monsters from Yharnam and keeptheminlikesomekindoflikecitythinginthedream? Likeasmallthingsothattheydon'thavetoworryaboutdeathuntilthingsgetbetterouttheir?"

It took Flora a moment to respond, "I'm sorry my child. What?"

"Can I keep the mentally stable-ish people in the church?"

Flora let out a soft chuckle, "why not? Could be interesting, old Gerhamn gets lonely when you're not here."

"NO, I DON'T!" A yell came from the garden.

"Oh, also I want to keep the hunter of hunters too."

"Consider it done dear, I'll have an addition to the dream made up soon." She said, sounding nearly ecstatic at the idea.

"Oh, and next time, ask the dying ladies if you can take their clothes okay?~"

Izuku's face exploded in red, and went even farther when the doll looked up at him with disbelief…

"Dear hunter… You did what?"

Gerhman's laughter followed Izuku as he ran from the doll, who kept trying to hit him with a book.

—

Whoever decided that the massive creature in front of him needed to exist, needed to be euthanized.

Though to be honest, this entire area had been a cluster fuck of horrible ideas.

He had gotten that key from the hidden city area, on the corpse of a hunter and asked Gerhman to figure out where it went. Turns out Cathedral Ward had an Upper Cathedral Ward…

So after finding the door, after about six hours of trying, Izuku found his way into the upper cathedral ward.

It was crazy how nothing in Yharnam seemed to make sense, the tall pale men of Cathedral Ward are much tougher, and there were… baby monsters crawling along with the floors.

But they were easy enough to deal with, and when Izuku entered the massive structure with its very oversized metal gate. He finds lycanthropes on top of a way too big chandelier, which falls to the ground, breaking, and plunging the entire area into darkness.

He really hates beasts.

After he killed the first one he doused its corpse in alcohol and lit it on fire, and used it as a movable bonfire, clearing the main hall of the large lycanthrope beasts

He finds a new hunter badge, kills off a few of those creepy brain sucker things… carves their head open to investigate, and finds a corpse stuck in a funny pose.

Really, the area was going so well. Until he finds the horde of blue alien creatures in a garden. And what happens when he hits one specifically? It grows like 12 feet tall! Because nothing could ever be easy!

So he uses the lightning of the Tiny Tonitrus, a new favorite tool, to call bolts of lightning onto the stupid-looking alien and its friends.

And really, that was cathartic, but when he went to light the lantern and go home? Of course, he notices the alien inside the building he was next to the window of, so he shatters the glass, jumps inside, kills the fucker, finds a snazzy-looking alien thing, and takes it.

But of course, an elevator, guarded by more alien things… that he takes.

And what does he see in a massive cavern under the building?

A great one.

Why not?

Sure.

He'll deal with this bull shit later.

—

(Flashback)

A young Izuku stood out in the frigid weather, the shirt, a size too small, stretched across his boney frame. The lack of any jacket or scarf caused his teeth to chatter together, he had been wandering around looking for either a store to hide in or a train station to take him home, but both searches were coming up to nothing.

His fingers were numb, the rough falling snow stung his skin, and his throat burned from breathing the frigid air. Why did Bakugou take his All Might jacket again? Because he deserved it more or some egotistical shit like that?

Izuku had been lost for around 2 hours, he had been following a villain fight right before, but was shoved too close to the fight, and was taken hostage by the villain, who used it as a perfect distraction to escape, threatening to kill Izuku if they tried to stop him.

As soon as the villain got miles away with their quirk, Izuku in hand, they left him in an alleyway without a word and booked it in some arbitrary direction.

And that leads to Izuku now, wandering around in hopes of finding shelter

The falling snow got harder, and Izuku was getting slower, his legs hurt and he couldn't even feel his feet, he began swaying and fell, body slumping on the door to his right. He sat there for a few moments, the black in his vision growing before the door opened unexpectedly.

Izuku turned his head, looking up at the person in the doorway. Standing there looking down on him with concern was Midnight, wearing only the basic parts of her main costume, a layer of insulated fur-like cloth covering parts of her body and accentuating her… womanly charms. She quickly crouched down and picked him up with little effort, bringing him into what the could gather was her agency, if the reception area was any correlation. She brought him into a back room with a large leather couch and laid him on it softly before hurrying out of the room, Izuku's vision was overtaken by black before she came back.

Waking up hurt, Izuku's hands and feet stung with heat, and his body was being pressed into the cushion of the couch by a large amount of weight. Fighting his eyes open he was met with a lightly lit room, the walls painted a clean white with… Many vulgar and phallic symbols are painted on the walls. On him was a massive pile of twelve or so blankets, each of which was either purple, black, or white.

Slowly he pushed off the blankets, the ache in his body making even the basic movements strenuous, suddenly the only door to the room opened, and standing there was a beautiful woman.

"Oh wow! I did not expect you to be awake little guy! Especially not after being out in that weather for so long. Don't worry though! Miss Midnight is here to make you feel all better~"

Izuku let out an eep at that, not expecting one of his favorite heroes to be in front of him for the second time in his life… and also weirdly the smell of soup.

"So~ you look familiar, you weren't at my little signing were you a few months ago where you?" She spoke softly as she sat him up, pulling a pillow behind his back and fixing his covers. "Because I think you were~"

"I-... Well… I- i was there…" he managed to stutter out.

"Haha! Well, did you get everything you wanted to be signed, well signed? Because I can sign some more."

"W- well… you signed everything I had! So- it- it's fine!."

She patted him on the back lightly and grabbed something from out of his vision, bringing a bowl of soup into view, "Well! Since you're up and talking, how did you come to be in this part of town in the storm?"

"I… was in a villain attack. An- and I… The villain, he u-used me as a shield…" Izuku stopped for a moment, tears prickling in his eyes, "An- and then the weather got bad. He left me a few blocks away…" Izuku managed to force out after a while, tears cascading down his face.

Suddenly Izuku was enveloped in a hug… A hug so long overdue it caused cracks to spike through him. His sobs turned harsher and he gripped her, only for her to return the hug in full force.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Izuku's tears dried up, and Midnight pulled away, leaving the small boy to hiccup alone as she left the room for a moment.

She soon reentered the room with a glass of water and a small smile on her face. She handed him the water silently, and he, through his hiccuping, lightly sipped the water.

"So, what's your name kid? You know me as Midnight of course, but you can call me Miss. Kayama!" A grin grew on her face as she sat back down with him.

"I a- I'm Izuku Midoriya, Miss Kayama."

"So, do you know your mom's number?"

Izuku shook his head no quickly. His mom never gave him a number, much less a phone… What if she asks about his home life? He could lie… but that would be lying to a hero! He can't do that! Or maybe he could?

"Hey, kiddo? Can you breathe for me?"

Oh god! What if he gets his mom in trouble! Or worse! Everyone! Everyone could get in trouble because of him! "Kid?"

Izuku's breathing came quicker and quicker, as thoughts of what-ifs got too loud. Until his vision became blurry, and he was met with unconsciousness again.

—

Woohoo! That's a wrap for chapter 12! Thank you all for reading! And a special thanks to:

:

Dusty

My helpers~

Pink

Fluffy

And Rom

Without them, and those that comment, finding time to write would be much harder! The next chapter will hopefully be soon, but another chap of Void Hero is next on my list, then maybe a chapter of Geneticist!