Akane Tendo… Was in a BAD mood.
Though bad wasn't really the best moniker.
Bad did not really sell it.
Akane was often in a bad mood, especially in the morning, when she had either gotten a great night's sleep, or was grumpy by nature after a mediocre night's sleep, much less a bad one.
Tonight was about as far to the bottom as she had ever gotten regarding such matters, and not by a small margin either.
Her room, that she frankly loved, was now wrecked, and she'd been forced to relocate absolutely everything she owned to one of the Dojo's many storage rooms, in her case the one besides Ryoga's.
Then there was her homework. She'd had to redo everything, which she had lovingly gotten out of the way on Sunday morning… Only to have to redo EVERYTHING in the middle of the night in the kitchen.
Not only was the result absolutely awful compared to the first go around, by the time she was done with them, and had relocated everything, then went to bed, she had a grand total of 2 hours left she got to sleep before Kasumi woke her up in the morning.
And then… To top it all off, all her woes, along with the fact that as she woke EVERYTHING in her body screamed from the amount of training she had done yesterday, her not at all having gotten a good night's sleep and rest, she suddenly found she had a damn cold after having been forced to sleep in a room withouth any isolator or heating.
Kasumi had noted she would buy her something to keep it warm later that day, but it did nothing for her then as she sniffled her way through breakfast.
It wasn't a big cold… But it was there, and it was one, final cherry to top off her absolutely abysmal mood.
Her mood was been so bad that she, as befitted a daughter of Soun Tendo, was unintentionally emminating a thin, literal mist of anger and resentment as she walked, which in turn made Izuku keep his mouth firmly shut as they walked, the only sound beyond their footsteps being her occassionally sneezing along the way the way to school.
At least that anger kept her body warm as they made their way to school, the entire streetwalk she walked on being heated up by her steps as they passed on the way.
They were almost there when Akane's burning, fuming thoughts finally turned to something else.
"Well… At least I'm gonna get some REAL satisfaction kicking Kuno about today."
Akane's sleeprived, fever-struck, pissed off mind, focused mainly on two things right then.
The first was just getting through the day… The second was the person she could blame for all her current woes.
Kodachi Kuno.
Kodachi was beyond her reach right now… But Kuno was not.
Or at least he shouldn't be.
Izuku questioned that though.
"Um… I don't think even HE would be dumb enough to show up to a duel after what happened yesterday. I mean…"
He flinched as his fiance turned at him glaring.
"I… Well, he is an idiot… But… I don't think he's that dumb. He HAS to know how brutally this will go if he actually has the guts to show up for a duel right now."
For a moment she wanted to bite his head off and loudly begin to argue on principle… Then she actually considered it.
It… Wasn't completely unlikely… If Kodachi had actually informed him of how things went…
She grit her teeth and a loud, guttural, animalistic growl escaped them, so vicious that it actually made several other students turn and look at her with surprise… Then quickly skedadle away from the couple, and hurry on their way to school.
As they passed the school gates… Izuku turned out to be right.
Akane got two steps beyond the gates, then she began softly swaying as she planted her feet far from each other for balance, as her head went left, then right, then left again, scouting for Tatewaki Kuno's face and tall frame.
Nowhere to be found.
That just made her mood even worse.
"D-do you want me to go get you an energy drink from you from the school shop?"
"4!"
She snapped.
She didn't mean to, and there was a part that felt a tinge of guilt as Izuku went over to go get her said drinks with some speed.
As she looked after his vanishing form, she eventually reached up her hands and began massaging her temples with savage motions, as she let out deep, deep breaths.
Damn you Kodachi! Her mind went angrily.
The rest of the student body that were on their way to school, parted around her like she was a large rock that cut the flow of a river in half.
On any other day, Akane would have headed over to the side, or just gotten out of everyone's way… But not today.
Today she had trouble thinking, she was pissed that the world swam, then didn't, then swam again, she was snapping at her fiancee, and she felt like a powder-keg that was just waiting for a spark to set her off, and in and out of her mind a beautiful lady she despised, danced and laughed.
She was in such a bad mood, and EVERYONE, from the familiar teacher in gold, to her close friends, to her fellow students in general could feel, smell and taste the charge of Ki in the air, all emanating from her.
Her four besties did all gather not too far away, though none of them felt any particular urge to go talk to her at the moment.
All of them had been there to witness Akane explode before, and knew from experience how this would go.
In this case, they were a bit off though, as the explosion would actually be far, far smaller in scope… And yet also have much more devastating consequences than usual.
It was as she was still waiting on Izuku, seething, occassionally sniffling, and thinking about how right now, in regards to the Kuno siblings she very much wanted to be the "Violent maniac" Kasumi sometimes labled her as, that a familiar laughter suddenly made her freeze in her tracks, and everyone else to turn their heads.
"Oh ho ho ho! So we meet again Akane Tendo!"
She turned around, very slowly as the Ki in the air became much, much denser and you could actually see the mist turn to to a burning haze around Akane, as her eyes looked up to the right pillar of Furinkan's gates.
There, proud and ready as a Heron about to kill a fish stood Kodachi Kuno, looking down at her with a haughty expression, and a confident smile.
Akane cracked her neck in response, the sound echoing across the suddenly deadly silent schoolyard.
Kodachi jumped down from the pillar and landed perfectly some 3 meters away… Pointedly just inside the emmating haze, as if to taunt her… Or at least that had been the intent, as Akane could not actually see said haze.
She did not need anything to make her mood darken any further though, as she raised her hand, and cracked her fingers as well.
"You here for another ambush…?"
She clenched her raised hand into a fist.
"Cause I can sent you skyhigh again, no problem you… you… Bitch!"
"Such uncooth language Akane Tendo! I would have thought your father would have taught you better manners!
Besides them, with a sigh, Hinako stepped up.
"Are you here for a duel miss…?"
"Kuno! Kodachi Kuno! And no actually I am not!"
She pointedly turned her gaze away from Akane to the school, seemingly just to show how little she cared about the girl whose eyes were staring at her like burning coals.
"I am here for something far, far more important and grand than the upcoming match with you Akane Tendo… Though I shall give you the honor that you were far more formidable than I assumed at first… But our upcoming sports contest is at the end of the day, inconsequential as it stands… I have something I care far, far more about than you!"
Akane's haze actually began to turn into a fiery aura around her body, not too disimilar to her father's own flames, the only main difference being hers were much more erratic and compared to his dark, black ones, a bright, burning orange, just a shade off from ever being thought of as actual, natural flames!
"And… What… Might… That be?"
The black-haired girl, whose eyes had completely left Akane, let out a frankly overly girlish sqeal!
Then she summersaulted away from Akane, over the yard, and landed in front of… Izuku, who immediately, and awkwardly halted, having jogged out of the building carrying 5 energy drinks in his hands.
"Izuku-Sama! We meet again!"
The girl clasped her hands together, finger intertwined in front of her starstruck face as if she was some young maiden in front of her knight in shining armor.
Izuku though, for a moment seemed taken aback, but rather than backing off, he instead stopped dead in his tracks, and replied in a completely natural, if nervous, tone, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"O-Oh, hey Kodachi-Tan. What… Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Hebreke's?"
Akane's fiery Aura went out like a flame snuffed out by an upended water bucket.
Her expression though, did not change as she slowly, but very, very intently began stalking over to where the two stood as they talked.
The entire schoolyard which had been rather quiet, but still sorta normal overvise, suddenly found itself with students who realized that something… Was about to happen.
One did not need the sixth sense that came with Ki to feel that.
Behind Akane, Hinako, clearly predicting that the blue-haired girl was about to punch Kodachi's face in, fished out a coin.
Kodachi and Izuku though continued on like nothing had just happened.
In fact, as Akane's aura dissipated, Izuku actually looked more relieved than anything else, probably having thought that Akane had calmed down a bit.
"Oh I came to see you Izuku-Sama! I… I had to… Your face has been in my dreams tonight…"
"I… See… You sleep well? Actually, you… You can't have slept that long. It was pretty late when we parted ways. You… Want an energy drink? I… Bought 4 for someone else but… You can have mine if you want."
He offered her one, which she took with a gasp… Then proceeded to open it with care… And then gulp the entire thing down in one go, all the while holding it like she was drinking a cup of tea in the most traditional manner possible.
"Oh thank you Izuku-Sama! How thoughtful and generous of you to offer such to a girl who was denied her beauty sleep tonight!"
Akane stopped, just beside the two of them.
"You two seem… Really friendly with each other…"
Izuku looked over at her in surprise, but… Her tone did not match her look.
It was strangely devoid of emotion, as compared to her expression… Which was downright murderous!
"Oh… Yeah we… Well yesterday night, she got sent flying unconscious through the sky by some brute when I… Well, I saved her life from the fall."
"...Did you now?"
Her tone did not have a SHRED of relief or sympathy for that, which in turn made the poor dolt who called himself her fiancee look even more confused, as he lacked several critical points of information to make sense of it.
Kodachi though, let out another of her ANNOYING laughs.
"OH HO HO HO! INDEED! We met for the first time beneath the starry sky, as he saved my life from coming to an end at the conclusion of the fall from the very heavens!"
"Um… No, we… We met earlier that day remember?"
Kodachi suddenly stiffened.
"We did? Then when did I first see your beautiful, boyish face!?"
"The…. Fight… Between you and the girls from Furinkan's Rythmic Gymnastic team?"
Kodachi gasped.
"That was you! Yes I recall now! The gentleman who stood out so from all of Japan's boorish, and stuffy men! You look so much more dashing at night, lit up underneath the moonlight!"
"Um… Thanks…"
There he was interrupted, as Akane literally stepped in between the two of them, forcing Kodachi to step back as Akane glared at her with two pupils that suddenly began to burn orange.
Akane felt something… UGLY begin to rise inside herself. A wish for this girl who was one step away from pawing at Izuku to DISSAPEAR from the face of the Earth.
It was a feeling she had never really felt anything close to in her life… Like jealousy… Only far, far greater and infinitly more searing.
Kodachi by contrast just looked annoyed.
"Is there a particular reason you are interrupting mine and Izuku-Sama's talk?"
"He's MINE. Get. Lost."
In any other situation, she might have been flustered by actually saying that out in public… For a huge part of the school to hear no less.
Right now, the anger and HATE she felt in her swimming, tired and frustrated mind for this girl, overwrote all of it.
Kodacho gasped suddenly.
"YOU, are the fiancee Izuku-Sama spoke off? Truely? You?"
"Yes."
Kodachi cocked her head.
"I see… So you are my great rival, not only in sports, but also in love. Destiny has a sense of drama it seems… But I suppose this works just fine."
A smile suddenly formed on her face, a predatory grin so utterly different from the demure schoolgirl who had smiled at Izuku's face.
"Why don't we settle this in the ring? Like real, true martial artists."
For a moment, Akane just looked at her dumbfounded, her brain trying to figure out what that meant.
The Hell was that supposed to mean?
"On the great championship match… Let's not just bet the honor of our schools… But Izuku's hand in marriage as well!"
What.
Akane opened her mouth, to question whether Kodachi was even sane…
But before she could do that, another voice suddenly burst in, along with the physical appearance of a tall boy in a kendo robe.
"NAY! I FORBID THIS POTENTIAL UNION!"
Tatewaki Kuno rushed in and grabbed his sister by the shoulders and started shaking her violently.
"Do you even COMPREHEND what you're asking for Kodachi? I WILL NOT HEAR OF-"
"HAPPOGOENSATSU!"
A maelstrom of blue energy suddenly exploded out of Tatewaki Kuno, and he was suddenly forced to his knees.
Akane suddenly felt a strong, powerful, PULL of… something inside of her… But her Ki did not follow the same way Kuno's did, not having been Hinako's target inside her coin's hole.
"You will NOT manhandle a visiting lady Kuno. Not while I am here."
Kuno, amazingly enough, managed to force himself back up to his knees once Hinako was done.
It was an impressive display of force of will, though whether it symbolized a greater force of determination than Ryoga's, or just his desperation in general… Or whether Hinako just hadn't gone all in to suck him dry was another question.
Akane didn't particularly care, however, as she just stared at that hateable, annoying, bitch's face!
Her rage, which had already been blinding white, began to change into… Something greater.
"No… Kodachi… Please… Listen to me… You must not do this… Even if you defeat Akane in a match… This prize will not be what you think…"
He then, as he steadied himself, he made the mistake to grab her arm in an iron grip… To which their teacher nailed him with ANOTHER of her terrifying energy draining attacks.
This time, Tatewaki did not rise back up again.
Kodachi huffed derisively, as she looked down on her brother's crumpled form.
"I don't recall ever having asked for your opinion regard my love-life Brother… But I think the prize is quite worthwhile, thank you!"
Akane for her part just stared at those eyes, and that beautious face as she felt another wave of HATE and ANGER, SWELL inside of her, her wish to beat Kodachi black and blue so she would NEVER get close to Izuku EVER again, suddenly overriding everything else!
Her eyes, whose had been glowing orange, suddenly became like rivers of lava, losing everything but that glow, pupils, white and everything in them becoming burning orange as her anger was stoked like a furnace!
It hit a crescendo as Kodachi's line of sight turned upwards and met two orbs of Hellfire.
"My, you do seem all fired up… What do you say? Or are you too afraid and insecure to bet anything on your own meagre abilities?"
That did it.
"FINE!"
Akane suddenly ROARED with a volume so loud and all-encompassing, that it echoed with something akin to a demonic reverberance across the yard, the school, and the neighborhoods all around!
"YOU WIN, YOU GET IZUKU'S HAND IN MARRIAGE! I WIN, AND YOU AND YOUR DAMN BROTHER GIVE UP ANY AND ALL ROMANCE WITH ME, IZUKU OR MY FAMILY FOREVER!"
The words hung in the air, long, long after Akane had said them… But while everyone else had shocked, terrified or dumbfounded expressions on their face, Kofachi had a thriumphant smile.
"I accept your terms!"
She turned to Hinako.
"You have heard these my lady?"
Hinako, suddenly looking surprisingly uncomfortable, nodded.
"Yes… I have. I will reiterate them for all to hear, upon the time of your duel… Kuno is currently unconscious… But Izuku is not, has heard them, and has not spoken a word, nor made any signs in protest for over 2 minutes now. I will take that as him having no objections to them.
"Eh?"
The squeaky sound that came from behind her finally jolted her a bit awake and the fire somewhat abated in her chest.
Kodachi by contrast grinned, then turned back towards Akane, though her look went over the shoulder of the girl whose rage was literally fuming off her in the form of flames, to the boy standing behind her.
Her cocky smile gave way to something much more coquettish and demure.
"Izuku-Sama… When this match is over… You shall be mine!"
Then, she snapped out her ribbon, and unleashed a massive upwards maelstrom that absolutely covered the entire schoolyard in black rose petals!
Then with her trademark "OH HO HO HO!" laughter, she blunced across the walls, and across the top of the neighborhood roofs.
Akane stared after her.
Then, slowly… Her anger, which had been all encompassing and surging through every single pore of her body, suddenly began to vanish almost all at once.
Reality began to slowly, slowly, but surely set in.
"What… What was that?"
She turned around to face Izuku who had an absolutely horrified expression on his face.
"HOW the Hell did we get to that point!?"
Panic suddenly surged.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
She replied in equally squaky voice, her face suddenly just as horrified as Izuku's, as the horrible realization of her bet having set in.
Their teacher snorted.
"If I had to give my opinion… It's pretty simple. Akane said something insanely stupid in the heat of the moment. I have seen it countless times. Usually not to this degree though. Generally alcohol or some other abbreviating substance is involved when it reaches this point. Unfortunately for you Akane… You seem perfectly sober, and can't have the bet put aside on grounds of an outside influence… Then again, there is a simple solution."
Both teenagers snapped their heads at Hinako's face.
"All you have to do is win this duel."
After a brief pause, Izuku actually began laughing, though there was nothing of mirth in that one.
"Eh, he, he… he… he… he… win… yeah… we just have to win this…"
They were so fucking screwed!
I
Izuku was by no means a stranger to stupid, stupid decisions or bets… But when there was one with consequences of this magnitude for him, it was generally his own decision that had led him to that point.
Usually it was far more common for him to watch it from the outside, as 99 times out of a hundred, it was Ryoga who made these kinds of decisions.
And him, who had to win or pay the price for failing.
Not so much here.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BET ME! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AKANE!?"
"I DON'T KNOW! I JUST…."
Akane was absolutely in a mixture of shock, horror and hysterics as she grabbed her head and shook it.
Akane's friends, bizarrely seemed to take it all in stride as they had gathered around the pair for lunch, though from what he could tell they were looking at him in expectations for some reason.
"Wow. This is the pool bet all over again."
Izuku snapped around at that.
"Pool bet?"
"Oh yeah, Akane does this sometimes Izuku. Makes a massive bet in the heat of the moment when she's angry like this. She can be kinda an idiot when she gets really mad."
That… Was…
"This pool bet… What was the wager? And… What did she bet?"
"Oh, wheter she could learn to swim in a week. And she bet herself volunteering to clean the pool everytime it was drained for an entire year."
Izuku, who had noticed Akane never partook in swimming classes, had the sinking realization that…
"She lost that one too didn't she…"
"We haven't LOST YET DAMNIT!"
The girl was practically in tears, but when Izuku reached to try to comfort her(Putting his own… Mixed feelings to the side for the moment…) she slapped his hand away.
"What do we DOOO!?"
"Well we… We have to win… Well YOU have to win. The alternative…"
He shuddered, as he considered it.
Akane for her part finally seemed to calm down just a bit at his calmer tone.
"Okay… Okay…"
She took deep, deep breaths.
"Okay… So… I just need to win against her in Rhytmic Gymnastic Martial Arts."
"Rythmic Gymnastic huh?"
Yuka flipped out her phone, and quickly typed in something.
"Lets see here… Kodachi… Rythmic gymnastic match… Ah here we go!"
She turned the phone at such an angle that all of the group got to see the video playing.
Of Kodachi in a martial arts match against another girl using gymnastic tools.
Akane actually waited until the Tube video of Kodachi, with almost inhuman grace, skill and speed, delivering a brutal, decisive and flawless beatdown on her opponent with blinding whip like strikes and flung tools, ended, before she turned around and walked over to the wall, where she began slowly banging her head against the concrete.
"Screwed… I'm so screwed…"
Izuku… Disagreed. He reached over and clicked another video that had been put together with that one, and as it played he put his hand under his chin, and actually looked Kodachi over in detail.
She was… Good.
Very good. Extremely speedy too. But she lacked raw, brute strength, instead relying on a mixture of skill, speed and reflexes, as well as an intimate understanding of what the rules of the sport was.
He… Wasn't entirely sure what the exact details of said rules were, but he was starting to get a gist of them, looking the matches over.
Akane's friends looked at him in rather facinated surprise, as he nodded to himself, picked up two energy drinks, then turned to Akane and walked over to her.
He had a plan.
It was not… The best plan… But he could see one very clear cut way to victory exploiting Akane's strengths and the rules.
Akane could never match Kodachi in actual grace and skill… But there was more than one way to kill a bear. And he had learned a lot of them over the years.
Izuku put his hand over Akane's shoulder with his free hand, which made the girl both blush, but far more importantly to him, stop bonking her head on the concrete in a steady but destructive manner.
"I… Think we can pull this off."
Akane turned to look at him.
He suddenly realized just how close they were… But the absolutely miserable look on her face managed to chase his usual feelings of shyness away.
Right now, she needed him to be a pillar to support her, not shying away from her.
"...Really…?"
"Yeah… There is… Technique I know. It's not Iron Cloth… Not directly… But I can teach it to you… And… If you can master it… You should be able to win."
He deftly opened one of the can with his fingers while still holding the other can with the same hand, before he offered it to Akane.
She wordlessly took it, looked down, then took a long, slow sip of the thing.
"...Sorry… About this…"
Getting flashbacks to the previous night, he squeezed her harder, to which she leaned into his sorta one armed hug.
He was… Kinda, starting to get the hang of this. At least he thought so.
"It's… It's… Not as bad it could be… So long as we win this thing, we can just… Put it in the back mirror and never have to think about it again."
He tried really, really hard not to think about the other outcome… The worst case one, that would be a horrible, horrible nightmare that would haunt him for the rest of his days.
Akane looked at him and her eyes were… Focused was the best word. Focused and pleading.
"Really? You can just… Forget about it… If I win?"
"Um… Yes?"
It… Well it was bad… But it could have been worse. Much, much worse.
There was one, single detail that could have flipped it right upside down into something he probably COULDN'T have just forgotten about even if they won… But that wasn't what had happened, so he didn't judge Akane by that scenario.
Akane actually hugged him them, burying her face into his neck, not too dissimilar to Kodachi come to think of it.
As she hugged him, he felt… Akane suddenly began to relax. Her muscles, which had been utterly tight, began to loosen and she just… Began to melt.
That was good.
The way she let out an incredibly sleepy yawn was… Not quite as good.
"Right, you… You barely slept tonight right?
"Y-yeeeaaahhh…"
Her response melted into another yawn.
Hopefully the energy drink would begin kicking in soon enough.
They still had half the day left.
Over by the table, Akane's friends were giving him various signs of approval, whether it be grins, thumbs up or a handsign that he thought meant something along the lines of "perfect".
That… Kinda brought out the blushing on his cheeks way more than Akane herself actually had.
"What… What if I can't win… What if I… Lose…?"
"Yeah that… That would be bad. Worst case scenario bad…"
She gripped him tighter.
"...I don't want that to happen…"
He nodded. He understood her feelings so well. Addmintingly, he was for obvious reasons, focusing on a bit different aspects of that scenario, but… They would both hate it.
"Yeah… Me neither. Becoming Kuno's brother is… The worst scenario imaginable."
It really, really was.
All of Akane's friends froze, and Akane herself immediately stiffened at those words.
She pushed him back and just looked him in the eyes.
"That's… THAT'S the part you're worried about?"
"Um… Yes? That is THE worst part isn't it?"
Sayuri actually loudly facepalmed in the background.
Akane just stared at him, then without a word, she turned head on her heels and ran off.
"A-Akane!?"
She just took off leaving her things behind.
"What…"
He stared after her, but the immediate response from Akane's friends stopped him from actually going after her.
"So close man! You were SOO CLOSE and then you just… Holy crap that was…"
"I can't believe that… You were so smooth and then… You just fumbled it like that!"
"What!?"
Izuku said, suddenly feeling defensive.
"Kuno becoming my brother in ANY capacity is a HORRIBLE outcome!"
"Yeah but… Don't make it sound like that's THE problem here if she loses! Right in front of her no less! Holy crap man, you just… You made it sound like you just… Don't care about…"
Sayuri shook her head, and so did the rest.
"Come on girls, we gotta go cheer Akane up… Since her boyfriend CLEARLY is not up to the task."
As he looked after them as they left shooting him, annoyed and disappointed stares, he felt…
He felt like they had seen something he had clearly missed.
Was… Was he actually missing something here?
He felt like it… But he hadn't the faintest idea what that might be.
I
Akane stomped home.
She VAGUELY understood Izuku had told her to go get 5 hours of sleep cause they were gonna train tonight before school.
The fact she had no idea when he'd said that was… Probably a sign she was REALLY not doing well.
Mentally, physically, or worst of all, emotionally.
After getting home, she just ignored everything else, and just went straight to bed.
Kasumi had gotten her a heater, just like she promised.
She did not bother to turn it on though, instead setting her phone alarm, and then going right into bed, and after throwing her covers over herself, she went out like a turned off light.
Nevertheless, as she awoke to the phone alarm ringing, she found that someone had turned it on while she slept.
For a brief, brief moment, she considered who it had been… Then she got up, and after putting on her gi, she began walking to the actual training hall.
As she reached it, she looked over at the entrance… She heard Izuku and Ryoga talking, though it didn't sound like a full blown conversation.
It was Izuku's words that really hit her… Reminding her of everything.
Rather than going in, she instead promptly sat down by the side of the entrance and buried her face in her hands.
An actual bit of sleep had indeed been great for her in both mind and body… But it also meant that now that her brain had fully rested she… Really got to consider everything in full.
She felt… Guilty. And like an idiot… And horribly, horribly sad… All at once.
Now that she could actually look back at it, she… It was actually hard to believe just how strong the ANGER had been.
She sniffled at the memory, of just how VICIOUS the hate she had felt toward Kodachi in that moment… As she was just one step away from putting her damn hands on Izuku and beginning to paw all over him.
It was… She remembered being really annoyed and angry at Nabiki that first day, when she was hands on with Izuku after having met him… And she always felt annoyed at her when big sister felt like flirting with him should involve her hands and physical contact… But it was NOTHING alike to that feeling she had felt that morning.
Part of it was just… She REALLY did not like Kodachi. For a LOT of reasons.
But that wasn't everything. Not by a longshot.
She… If the damn bet hadn't been a thing… She would probably be focusing on that right now.
But… The bet was there.
And so, she had to focus so much on it… Because like it or not… It changed EVERYRTHING.
It was… Ridiculous.
Insane. You'd have to be out of your mind to agree to something like that.
Like she had.
She felt like the biggest IDIOT that had ever existed.
It was, hands down, without any question, the dumbest thing she had ever done.
She HAD to win.
There was no questions about that.
As horrible a mistake as that had been… Izuku was right. If she won… She could just put this into the back mirror and pretend it never happened.
Thinking about that… Made her feel so much worse though.
There had been a moment when Izuku had REALLY managed to lift her spirit back at school.
Managed to wrench her out of this pit and just… Light her heart ablaze with hope that maybe, just maybe, this would not end in utter catastrophy.
And then he'd just…
Did he… Not care?
Akane's hands went from her face, to instead embrace her knees as she raised them up and began hugging them to her body as she contemplated that question.
For her, the thoughts of this bet… How STUPID it was, was also intertwined with something else.
The brutal, horrifying reality of what if she lost.
It was… The WORST possible outcome at least as she saw it now, after having to actually having to confront the possibility.
And Izuku just… Didn't care about that apparently.
That was the thing that hurt, so badly.
She… Didn't WANT this engagement called off.
She had a LOT of further thinking on the subject of her and Izuku… But she was sure about that now.
Having to confront it head on was… Something else.
It could have been a thought she could draw strength from… And she had… Right up until Izuku had so casually revealed that he considered handing over her engagement with him over to Kodachi to be a secondary concern compared to having to call Kuno his brother-in-law.
It was…
In such a stark contrast to her own feelings.
Did he really just… Not care?
Didn't he like her at all?
She hugged her knees closer and tighter.
Did he just… Regard her as some third prize compared to more important in his eyes Kasumi and Nabiki?
She… She might have been able to live with the idea of Izuku being closer to someone else than her… She was already realizing that in regards to Kasumi, she had lost that battle as far as her oldest sister went… Even if she was too proud to just to just come out and admit it straight up… But… There was a difference between that… And just… Effectively being declared the non important bronze medal that didn't matter.
Even if she actually did win, she couldn't just… Pretend that he hadn't said that.
He cared more about Nabiki's stupid honor and how Kuno had insulted it, than he cared about… Her…
"Idiot… stupid idiot… Izuku, you idiot…"
How could he be so… Nice to her one second, and then just… Trample over her feelings the next? Just like on the bike roof…
If he really didn't care at all, couldn't he just hate her all around instead?
As she thought on the matter, back against the wall, she heard the faint tap of Ryoga suddenly leaning up against the wall on the other side.
That it was Ryoga she had no doubts, for she heard his voice clear as day out the door.
"What a damn mess this is Izuku."
"Don't talk to me like this is MY fault!"
"It kinda is… You should have spoken up, and said you refused to be part of it. If you had just acted like a man, rather than a wallflower, Akane wouldn't be in this mess."
Akane perked up at the way Ryoga tried to defend her.
He… Was wrong. But she did appreciate the way he just stood up for her regardless.
"Well sorry for being a bit out of the loop on how this stuff works! I don't know the finer details of how these things work here in Japan. Dad might, but…"
"Excuses, excuses! You're not blameless here Izuku… That said… And this is probably really harsh… But it doesn't seem to me like cares much about this engagement."
Akane's blood froze to ice.
"...What?"
Izuku replied flatly.
"I mean… If she was willing to actually BET your engagment… Well actions speaks louder than words Izuku. Clearly-"
As he talked, Akane just felt… Numb.
He was right.
She had acted absolutely awfully today.
She sank further into her knees.
Izuku interrupted him though, cutting him off.
"Ryoga… Those weren't the terms. The terms Akane set was that if Kodachi won, she would get "My hand in marriage". There was not a word about Akane's engagement to me, or her giving it up to Kodachi in that. At all."
For a moment, Akane and Ryoga both stared straight ahead with the exact same deer caught in the headlights expression.
"Then… If Akane loses… Kodachi will just become your fourth wife?"
"Well, realistically… There is a pretty good chance she'll just call it off anyway. I mean, what woman would actually WANT to be the "Fourth wife"? Especially in this situation! I mean, I barely actually know the girl."
Outside Akane's mind had gone off into her own little world, at this realization.
I
Kasumi sighed, and dumped her attempt at food into the trash.
"Oh… Akane… You need give up on your "cooking". You have to accept… That your food is only fit to be pigslop…"
The woman motioned over at the side though, where perfect bakeries had been placed side by side along the entire kitchen desk.
"Not like Kodachi's cooking at all! Now here is a brilliant chef in my own league!"
Kasumi shook her head.
"And she is so gracefull, and feminine as well… Not getting into scraps with boy's all the time… It's such a shame she is not my ACTUAL sister."
She sighed as she pushed Akane firmly, but gently out the door into the living room… Where Nabiki was currently louging sipping high quality wine out of a bottle.
"Oh, Akane, did Kasumi throw you out for your food again?"
She immediately poured Akane a champagne glass of wine before handing it to her.
"You are WAY too worried about that kinda stuff… I mean just because you can't compete with the wealth and money that Kodachi had when she was born, doesn't make you useless… Just because you can't fight at the higher levels, and you can't be a good, nice, traditional wife doesn't mean you can't live a good, fullfilling life…"
She grinned at Akane, as she raised the bottle up.
"You just need to learn to embrace the fun parts of life and leave the boring stuff to other people! Like me! I never lift a finger to work if I don't have to… And thanks to Izuku marrying Kodachi, we're set for life!"
She cocked her head.
"Where they are? Oh you know, off on some hero job or something like that… But I'm sure they're going to a love hotel after… He really likes her you know?"
Her look turned a bit annoyed.
"Real love at first sight and all that… That's why he had no problems at all marrying her… We just… Can't compete at all…"
Then her father came in, old and grey-haired.
"Oh Akane! I see you're back again. The patrolling didn't work out? Don't worry about it sweetie."
He went over and ruffled her hair affectionately.
"Now that we have Kodachi around, you don't need to worry about carrying on the Family Dojo anymore. Just leave that to her and Izuku."
I
"NO!"
Akane shot up, and rounded the corner before striding into the training hall suddenly engulfed by flames just like she had been earlier that day.
"I will NOT LOSE TO KODACHI!"
Izuku, who was dumbfounded as she just strode in, actually smiled at her and her declaration.
"That's the spirit!"
I
A woman in a black robe was walking down the Nerima roads.
She had long, wavy flowing purple hair, and a rather naturally feminine face.
Her clothing though was at the exact opposite end of femininity, instead being dressed like an oldschool samurai… But not the well kept and well groomed kind that Soun Tendo idealized so.
Instead her clothing was both dirty, and not exactly untattered as the bottoms of her Hakama pants attested to.
Underneath those she wore a set of Waraji sandals that also bespoke of long travel, and above she wore her upper robe with it's long, ripped arm sleves, and though she kept it closed up, was very clearly not wearing anything between it and her rather generous breasts.
All in all, other than her gender, she looked about as close to the traditional image of a homeless and unemployed Ronin of old as one could imagine.
She even had an old looking, dilapated looking katana at her waist, with a golden crossguard, but otherwise looking to be in rough shape all around, though how rough in shape the blade actually was, was hidden by the scabbard.
Completing the Ronin of old look, was her expression, looking downright annoyed, and in a bad mood as she troudged through Nerima's streets, with confident strides.
Said confident strides were at harsh contrast with her actual thoughts.
Have I been here before?
Yeah… She recognized that house on the left.
She'd seen it about 14 times tonight… She didn't remember which direction she had gone the last time.
Or the 13 times before that.
Hmmm… Not too good… Though not anything out of the ordinary with that.
That was just part of being a member of the Family of Hibiki.
She had literally had ancestors who went mad from never finding where they were trying to go.
In her case, she rarely let getting lost affect her actual mood.
Today though, she was actually genuinely trying to find someone… And for reasons that annoyed her greatly.
"I should have asked for directions before the sun went down."
She sighed… Then spotted someone!
"You there!"
The person, an older man, walking with a mangy looking dog on a leash, stiffened.
"Y-Yeah?"
"Which way to Tendo Dojo!? Can you show me the way in detail?"
The man looked at her.
Then turned sideways, looking into the wall she had been walking besides for a while now.
"Um… It's over this wall. You just need to round the corner to the gate and-"
She didn't hesitate and after a quick, respectful bow, she jumped up on the wall.
She grinned at the sight.
A set of large, pronounced canines glinted in the dark, lit up by the moon.
"That's a Dojo allright. Finally."
I
"We don't have the time to teach you proper Iron Cloth… Not to the level Kodachi is on… But we will continue the basics. And together with those basics… We'll combine another move."
Izuku had never seen Akane… Well, looking so much like a real martial artist.
The spark, as it were, was there in her eyes, and a fiery determination in her soul, even as she sat on her knees like a dutiful apprentice as he explained it to her.
That was good.
As Napoleon had said; in battle, Morale was three times more important than anything else.
You couldn't achieve true growth without a true sense of confidence in yourself and your abilities, whatever the reasons.
Izuku held up a ball in his hand.
Then, he snapped his hand downwards, but before the ball could fall he had turned his wrist and hand around so the ball was now balancing on the back of his hand.
"One of the basic techniques within using Ki for combat, and historically the single most used battle technique, is simply to reinforce whatever you're using by imbuing it with your Ki. This makes it stronger, more durable, allows it to hit harder thanks to all that compressed power… But there is another variant of this technique… One generally only used in training… But perfect for the situation at hand."
Izuku flipped his hand around… But rather than fall, instead it remained attached to his hand.
Akane looked confused for a moment, not really getting what he was trying to lead into, until as Ryoga began unfurling the ribbon in the background, she finally got it.
"I can… Channel that through the cloth! That way I won't need to actually get the ribbon to bind it! I can just… Attach whatever I hit to the ribbon itself! Like a giant flytrap!"
Izuku, feeling somewhat pleased with himself nodded.
"You'll still need to learn the basics of Iron Cloth for this… But yes, this means we don't have to focus on the higher levels. So long as you can effectively use the ribbon as a basic whip, you should be able to use this effectively in a fight."
Akane, beamed with enthusiasm, but she then cocked her head.
"There… HAS to be some downside to this. Or a catch. If there wasn't, you would have had this be the style you trained me in from the start."
Izuku nodded, but it was Ryoga who actually answered.
"It's a stupidly Ki draining technique. The fact is, this thing was never meant to be used in sustained combat. It's meant to be used to get a stable foothold to jump off from on slippery surfaces, or to help you grab something massive over your head to throw it, without it breaking apart midgrip. Like a boulder that unaided would break apart under it's own weight as you try to hoist it."
Izuku agreed.
"As an actual style for battle, this would simply be to impractical… But in a sport ring, where the only thing you need to worry about is hitting your enemy out of bounds… Well, it won't work directly on Kodachi, or something she has infused with her own Ki… But it will allow you to fling whatever you can hit with the ribbon with full speed and strength. All you need, is one, solid, good hit to win."
As Izuku kneeled down and raised his fist up, Akane looked him in the eyes with her full undivided attention.
"Think of it like boxing. You're a heavy weight, with far, far more power, but compared to your opponent, you have neither speed, skill or endurance… But you HAVE the ability to end it in one blow… What we need to focus on, is making it so that you'll be able to land that decisive blow."
Akane nodded.
"What about clubs?"
"We'll train those too, but… Not for throwing. After all… This will be great training for enhancing objects in general too."
He smiled.
"Hopefully… You'll get some real, genuine growth out of it for your Hero career too!"
I
Akane had trained herself to the bone before.
Many times.
She knew what it was like to train until every muscle in her body screamed out in pain.
This… Was not that.
The two boys hadn't been kidding about this draining your Ki something fierce.
She had started out excuding Ki in her usual, overflowing style… Only for the first time in her life discover what it was like to hit the dry bottom of the well. Not to have used up most of her Ki, but to be actually empty.
Two hours of training later… It was like someone had literally sucked out her soul.
"You've never burned yourself out like this have you Akane?"
…nnnoooo…"
Izuku knelt by her side and held his hand over her forehead, while motioning with a finger in front of her eyes.
"Yeah… It's definitly the Ki exhaustion, not a fever."
He nodded to himself, then got back up again.
"I… I'll go get something to drink. You're not in shape to continue tonight anyway, so just… Rest as best as you can."
She nodded slowly and… She was still nodding when she realized Izuku was gone, having left… How long ago?
"You okay Akane-chan? …Beyond the Ki exhaustion I mean, you look kinda… Forlorn."
Akane turned and discovered Ryoga sitting by her side.
"I… Yeah you could… Say that. I just feel like… Such an idiot…"
That was true, but… There was more to it than that.
She'd… Kinda been able to push it off ever since the realization when her thoughts on the bet were completely flipped around… But now that the adrenaline and determination had both gone down completely…
Ryoga though was supportive.
"Well, it's… Not the end of everything. Sometimes you make big mistakes, and you just… Have to do what you can to fix em up."
Like he had.
But that was different. His mistake had only involved himself and her… Not…
"I… I heard you and Izuku talk before I came in here…"
Ryoga stiffened completely like a statue.
"You… Heard that…?"
"Yeah… I… was heading over here after waking up, and… But I… Needed to think. Now that my head cleared up a bit…"
Ryoga looked like he wanted to bash his head against a rock, but thankfully for him, Akane didn't see that, instead looking ahead on the opposite Dojo wall.
"I see… So you… Heard my rather stupid assumption then? Eh… Sorry about that."
It was the completely earnest way he apologized about it… That was what did it.
She started to cry… though not full blown sobbing, with tears just streaming down her face.
"I'm such an idiot…"
"What?"
"I… I thought that was what I bet on too… I went the entire day thinking I had… I had…"
She leaned over into his chest and kept crying.
"I… I thought I'd lose this… Him… Just cause I was a damned moron… To that Kuno bitch…"
Ryoga slowly, and with an awkward, if genuine carefullness he rarely showed with anyone, began slowly patting her on the back with one hand as he weakly embraced her with the other.
"I… Well… You… Didn't… So it… it could be worse…"
He finished lamely.
Though it did actually work in its own way.
"Y-yeah… I… I guess it could."
Slowly Akane began to calm down, and disentangle herself from Ryoga.
"Sorry… I just… I've been such a mess today…"
And she had.
Now that she had time to consider that, she could see she had been a mess at the start… And it had just gone from bad to worse ever since the meeting with Kodachi.
She was still kinda all over the place… She just was just a bit calmer about it now.
Ryoga, cheeks utterly red, waved his hand.
"I-it's fine! Just take the time you need. I… I'll be here for you if you…need… me."
She smiled at that.
She had been right giving Ryoga another chance.
He was a good friend.
A sound of flesh on wood revealed Izuku carrying a thermos and two bottles.
He did not comment on the still sorta close way Akane and Ryoga were physically, and instead sat down and poured two cups… For himself and Ryoga, while handing the Thermos directly to Akane.
"You won't be able to be steady enough to drink from a full cup right now… So use this instead."
She nodded weakly and took the thermos, and found a delicious, sugary but cold brew inside of it.
She was in the process of sipping it when something tumbled to the floor.
"W-wha- How did you spill that IMMEDIATLY man?"
Ryoga had, through some way she hadn't been paying attention to, managed to spill this concoction Izuku had made on himself.
The black pig managed to fight his way out of Ryoga's clothing, which were now soaked in the brew.
Izuku sighed.
"My dad's taking a bath so… Can you get there yourself?"
The pig looked at him frustrated… But nodded and then bounced off to do just that, leaving the two of them alone for the moment.
Izuku sat himself down on the opposite side from where Ryoga had been lying, where his clothing now lay as a testament to where he'd just been.
There was a brief(Or at least she thought it was brief) moment before he spoke.
"Sorry."
That… That took her aback.
"About… What?"
"About earlier today. During lunch at school. I… I'm not sure what I said wrong… But… It clearly hurt you. A lot. So… I wanted to apologize."
Oh.
She actually felt her cheek blush.
"Can we just… Pretend that didn't happen?"
"...Okay. If that is what you want… Allright."
She felt a wave of relief at that… Which was quickly, and out of nowhere broken as new steps bespoke of someone else entering the hall.
A woman.
A grown woman she didn't know.
Both Izuku and Akane both immediately got unto their feet, Izuku putting himself between her and Akane… Then he stiffened.
"Mrs. Hibiki?"
"Oh Izuku! It's been a while."
"I… Half a decade, yeah…"
The woman, who Akane suddenly realized was Ryoga's mom, nodded.
She… Did not resemble Ryoga much.
She had a long, flowing, unbound wavy mane of dark purple hair, and large, brown eyes… But unlike her son, she was dressed in old, worn out ronin like attire, looking like a vagabond from the previous ages of Japan.
She also had a worn out looking sword, in a worn out looking scabbard.
The only thing that made her resemble her son was a set of sharp, fang like canines.
"I see you grew into the kinda cute ladykiller I always knew you would… Good for you."
Her eyes turned from Izuku to Akane.
"Now… I have some business with the lady… This is Akane Tendo yes?"
Akane nodded slowly.
"Y-yeah…"
"Good. Well, I have a talk I need to have with you young lady… But before that…"
She pulled up a… Stiff, and terrified black baby pig by a familiar headband around its neck.
"Is this pig yours?"
Both teenagers went stiff.
In both minds, the question of how to break the news of the curse danced through their heads.
"Ummm… You could say that."
Yodoka Hibiki sighed.
Then, promptly threw Ryoga's in a gentle arc at Izuku, who caught him midair.
"Too bad… I figured out he had to be a pet given the surroundings… too bad… I had looked so forward to DEVOURING it…"
Her mouth actually visibly watered.
"Pigs are weak, ugly, filthy, and stupid creatures, good for absolutely nothing… excepted for being devoured, roasted over the campfire, and their flesh seared on the pan… Ah… I can never get enough of that… Ah, but nevermind my worries about what food I shall be eating tonight."
She walked up to Akane, and looked her over.
She was… Strangely passionate.
No… As she looked down at her, about a head taller, the woman reminded Akane of Ryoga.
Just… Without that immediate warmth.
Instead she looked rather much like she wasn't particularly happy with her.
"So… The reason I'm here… Is because I wanted to have a chat with you little missy."
That…
"Wait… You didn't come here to talk to your son!?"
"No. I'll meet him next when fate decrees so…"
Her eyes went from Akane to Ryoga's clothes on the floor.
"That boy… He finally finds a place to live, and he starts treating it like a place to dump things as he pleases, with no sense of responsibility… And he's not even here! I can't sense him at all here! He just leaves, then lets his junk lie around, for others to clean up…"
She was both pissed and annoyed at that… And in Izuku's arms the black pig shivered.
"Ah, but I didn't come here to talk about that… It would have been nice if he was here… But I didn't expect him to be… Now then… Did you really bet your boyfriend in a sports game?"
Akane, whose mind had been filled with questions, and anger and worry about how things would go with Ryoga and his mother, was taken completely aback.
"You… Know about that? How?"
"You shouted those terms so it echoed across the roofs and roads all around that school of yours. And after I questioned one of the lads from said school later that day, He was more than willing to share the details."
She turned her head from Akane to Izuku, though her eyes went down longingly and hungrily at the pig in his arms as she talked.
"So it's true? She isn't denying it. She actually bet you."
"M-my hand in marriage…"
"As I said… She bet you."
Akane felt… Something flash up inside of her.
"You… So you came here to yell at me didn't you?"
Yodoka snorted, sounding far more like Ryoga while doing so than she had at all while she was talking.
"As if I had nothing better to do with my time… You're not my child. No, I came here to see if you were taking this seriously enough."
Akane, Ryoga and Izuku all stared at her incredulously, and baffled.
"I am taking this… As seriously as I possibly can be… I screwed up… But I AM going to fix this."
"Mhm… Allright… What will be the consequences if you lose?"
Again, baffled stares.
"Um… I'm going to have to marry… Kodachi… That's… Pretty obvious isn't it?"
The older woman nodded at Izuku's response, but her eyes remained on Akane.
"It is. That is the obvious outcome… But there are other consequences as well… And just like I thought… You kiddos don't seem to have considered those."
Akane just dropped the pretenses. She was too tired for anything else.
"What the Hell are you talking about…?
"Well Kiddo… You have a perspective. Here's some other ones. Let's say… One of my kids were engaged. Ryoga had some cute lass he was gonna marry and settle down with… Then one day, he came home, and told me he bet her hand in marriage in a fight. What do you suppose I would do then in response?"
There was a bit of silence as what she was saying actually began to set in.
Akane realized exactly what she was talking about, and she felt a chill run down her spine.
She had been so focused on Izuku, herself and Kodachi, that she had completely failed to recognize something blatantly obvious.
The fact that other people close to her would have their own opinions on it.
"To answer that hypotetical… If Ryoga ever did something like that… I would beat him black and blue for showing such, utter, total, disrespect for the woman he was supposed to marry. And I would do that regardless of if he won or not."
Izuku raised a hand.
"Um… I… I have a hard time imagening mr Tendo doing that."
"That might be true Izuku… But judging Akane's face, she is finally starting to realize just what a DISSAPOINTMENT she will be, if her father ever learns about this… But… That is only one perspective. There is another one."
Akane looked at her with horror.
"And what kinda perspective is that…?"
"Let's say…it was the other way around… That rather than Ryoga coming come with this bit of news… Instead it was His fiance who had bet HIS hand in marriage…"
"Oh no…"
"Exaxtly. However your relationship your father will go with all of this… your prospective in-laws will have much more… Permanent reaction, let us say. I would have forgiven my son in the end, despite his stupidity… He is my pride and joy after all… And I would have forgive him in the end… After some harsh, tough love… But I rather doubt I would EVER find it in myself for such forgiveness for my inlaws, regardless of how the bet actually went."
Akane felt her hands go to her face as she turned upwards to look into the roof.
Holy crap… She… She saw it ALL so clearly now.
The brutal reality of how BADLY this really could go.
Yodoka nodded.
"You have done the rather foolish mistake of betting the equivelant of the farm. Your ONLY chance at this not turning into a catastrophe, is to WIN. Only through victory will you be able to pretend this never happened, and hope your parents never learn about this. If you lose… One way or another, this entire family will learn everything and every detail."
She motioned towards Izuku.
"You might not be bound by Japanese law… But you are bound by that promise you made in front of so many witnesses… Izuku, as the prize, is not quite so… His reputation could survive him calling it off… But yours cannot. In the martial arts world, the society that we Ki users have formed away from the general society, our word is our worth. You cannot call it off now without destroying your own reputation and worth in the eyes of all of Japan's Ki users… Some might not care, but I'm going to guess the daughter of Soun Tendo does. Regardless…"
Her eyes turned hard.
"So long as you win, this entire thing will just be something in the backview mirror, another duel amongst countless others that no one talks about. If you call it off, you will forever be remembered as a coward whose words and promises have no worth. Your father will most certainly hear about that. And so you will be screwed. On the other hand, if you LOSE… This match will be remembered forever as that time Soun Tendo's daughter bet her fiancee's hand in marriage… And lost. In that case you will be even more screwed. Not only will your father learn about it, and all that comes with it… But you will have to face the music for losing the bet… The worst case scenario."
Then, in a complete 180 against the mood in the room, she suddenly smiled a stupid, goofy grin that made absolutely no secret that she was, in fact, Ryoga Hibiki's mother.
"Ah, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it Kiddo. I just wanted you to understand the stakes, so you wouldn't do something like talk to your parents about it and blab the entire thing or something!"
"That's… Great."
She… She had to win.
There was no future for her if she did not.