Ch. 24: Relieving Tensions

It was the day after the USJ incident. Because of the aforementioned event, classes at U.A. were temporarily canceled so that teachers and police could investigate the cause of it, and also to allow the first-year Hero Course students to rest and recuperate after the ordeal they had to go through.

At the Midoriya apartment, Izuku was watching the morning news featuring the USJ incident. It still worried him how Raynare was in cahoots with this League of Villains and how their leader Shigaraki seemed to know about his Sacred Gear. Not to mention, that Nomu, who had two Quirks. So many unanswered questions: Why was she with them? Did she tell those Villains about him and his friends? How was it possible that Nomu had two Quirks? Was he even human, or something else?

"Haaah…" A gentle yawn suddenly diverted his thoughts away from those questions. He turned to see a certain redhead walking into the living room in her PJs and bedhead. "Morning," she greeted.

"Good morning," Izuku greeted. "Sleep well?"

Rias nodded in response, then she caught the whiff of a delectable aroma. "Oh wow. It smells good."

"Mom and Asia are almost done with breakfast," Izuku said.

"That's nice. Since we don't have classes today, the others and I were thinking we could go somewhere to spend our free day," Rias informed.

"Okay, that sounds like a good way for Asia and me to forget our troubles from yesterday," Izuku agreed.

"Hey, you two! Breakfast is done!" Inko called out.

"Well, I guess a good breakfast will be a good first step to a fresh new day," Rias said as she and Izuku went over to the table where Inko, Hisashi, and Asia were already sitting.

After breakfast, Izuku, Asia, and Rias just finished getting ready to head out when the doorbell rang.

"Perfect timing. Looks like the gang's here," Rias mused as she went to open the door.

Out the door, there was everyone from the Occult Research Club: Akeno, Yumi, Koneko, Itsuka, Eijiro, and Mina, along with their newest addition, Ravel, all in casual clothes.

"Hello everyone," Yumi greeted.

"'Sup?" Koneko said blankly.

"Heya!" Mina smiled.

Inko smiled and nodded before she noticed Ravel. "Oh, who might you be? This is my first time meeting you."

"I'm Ravel Phenex, ma'am," Ravel introduced herself. "My family are acquaintances of Rias's family, and I've recently moved to Japan to study."

"I see. Well, I hope you find our country to be your liking," Inko said before turning to her son, Asia, and Rias. "Izuku, Asia, Rias. Are you ready to head out?"

"Yeah," Izuku replied.

"We'll be off now," Asia said.

"We'll be back before it's too late," Rias assured.

"Have a good day, kids," Hisashi encouraged.

At Koneko's suggestion, the group went to a nearby cat café. It wasn't that strange why she chose the location she did, considering the young Devil was pretty much like a cat herself; she wore a cat-themed hairpin, she tended to be aloof with strangers, and "neko" meant "cat."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ravel dryly noted.

Koneko just gave the Phenex girl a blank, snarky look in response before heading inside, the others following.

Once inside, the group quickly found themselves a table before ordering some desserts and drinks. As they waited, the group took the time to interact with the cats.

Asia, Mina, Yumi, Akeno, and Itsuka fawned over the cute kitties; Eijiro, Izuku, and Rias smiled contentedly as they watched a few cats play; Koneko had several cats lounging at her feet, and one could see her give a small smile at them; Ravel wouldn't admit it, but she was actually enjoying the company of the cats in the café.

"Oh hey! Fancy seeing you guys here!" Hilda's voice called out.

Everyone turned their heads to see the fat girl in question as she sat at a nearby table with Ethel and Dani.

"Shirakabe?! And Ginzan and Fenton?!" Izuku said.

"A pleasure to see you here, Midoriya," Ethel said, taking a sip of her strawberry milk. "I take it you and the others are also here to unwind after the USJ Incident?"

Izuku nodded. "Uh-huh. Though we never thought we might run into anyone from our classes."

"Small world, huh?" Hilda joked. "I actually met up with Ethel and Dani here along the way and we decided to go together."

"Being a fan of Japanese culture, of course, I had to come here," Dani said.

Rias took notice of the massive spread of desserts in front of Ethel and Hilda. The girls had to have ordered one of everything from the menu. "That's quite a lot for the three of you…"

"My share is actually the smallest. It's these two who claim majority of it," Dani replied.

"It takes a lot of fuel to keep this body big and beautiful!" Hilda said, patting her belly, making it jiggle.

"I can see that…" Asia muttered, eyeing all the cakes.

Akeno giggled as she looked Hilda over.

"This is actually smaller than the amount I usually get," Ethel said as she gestured toward her share of the confections.

"You're kidding. You normally eat more than that, and still manage that slim build?" Mina asked in disbelief.

Ethel shrugged. "I just do it."

"Yeah, I bet you have some crazy metabolism for that," Dani said. "Kinda envious."

"Not me though!" Hilda chuckled.

Eventually, Ethel, Dani, and Hilda finished all their treats first and left. Meanwhile, the ORC were still at their own table as they chatted.

"I must say, this place was an excellent choice to unwind at," Asia said while petting a kitten.

"Just what the doctor ordered, I guess," Izuku said.

"I must say, that Hilda girl has quite the appetite," Yumi noted. "Then again, it's not surprising considering her size."

Akeno giggled. "I wonder how our Koneko would look if she ate that much."

"Heh, now that I'd like to see," Ravel smirked.

"You'd be bigger than me if you did it too, Fatty Fried Chicken," Koneko retorted.

"Why are you bringing me into this? And did you just add 'Fatty' to 'Fried Chicken?!'"

Everyone chuckled as Koneko and Ravel began arguing again.

Soon, things had calmed down between them and everyone was almost done with their orders.

And then, Asia spoke up. "Itsuka, there's something I'm curious about…"

"What's up?"

"I couldn't help but think how you were already savvy with the supernatural when we met."

"Oh yeah, you already knew about Fallen Angels, Devils, and other stuff, even before Midoriya and the others told who they were!" Eijiro remembered.

"You even knew about your Sacred Gear and knew just what to do to help save Asia!" Izuku added.

Itsuka smiled. "Right. I guess I never told you guys, did I?"

"Care to share the tale?" Akeno asked.

"I'm pretty interested myself," Rias said.

"Well, we've got plenty of time, sure, why not?" Itsuka shrugged, taking a sip of her black coffee.

"We're all ears!" Mina smiled.

"Okay, it was two years ago, when my distant cousin came to visit…"

Two Years Ago

A 13-year-old Itsuka Kendo was at a public park, practicing some martial arts techniques, a lot of them involved punching, but considering her Quirk, it wasn't really much of a surprise.

After a while, she sat on the park bench to rest after all the hard workouts. Little did she expect, this would be a day like no other before.

After a little bit more training, Itsuka returned home. "I'm home."

"Oh my, is that who I think it is?"

Itsuka looked up excitedly at the sound of that voice. Sprinting into the living room, she found her parents, and with them, was a guest. It was a young woman, dressed in a light-blue haori with white snowflakes and red-orange hakama over a light blue and white tasuki. She's also wearing a long, white scarf with a light-blue snowflake pattern around her neck. Her dark green eyes contrasted with her light-pink hair, tied in a long ponytail, reaching down below her waist, with an orange ribbon keeping it in place. Her name was Akari Mizushima.

"Mizu!" Itsuka ran up to the pink-haired woman to give her a hug.

"Hey Tsuka, it's so nice to see you after so long," Mizu happily returned the hug. "Look at you, you've gotten big during that time."

"And I'm gonna keep getting bigger, so I can be an awesome Hero!" Itsuka declared.

"Hehe, can't wait to see," Mizu giggled.

"So Akari," Mrs. Kendo began. "What brings you back from the Himalayas after all this time?"

"It's mostly for work-related business. I don't know how long I'll be here, but I've got time," Mizu replied.

"I guess then you'll have plenty of time to catch up with Itsuka then?" Mr. Kendo said, causing his daughter to be excited at the idea.

"I guess I will," Mizu smiled.

Later, Itsuka and Mizu headed out together, with the younger girl showing her older cousin around. One of their stops was a motorcycle shop, though Mizu could tell Tsuka just wanted to look at all the motorcycles, considering motorcycles were just about her favorite things, and she liked to fantasize about looking cool riding one of those things. Mizu even joked that she might get Itsuka one once she was old enough if she promised to be careful with it.

"Man, it's been so long, I feel like a tourist in my home country," Mizu quipped. But then, she noticed something in the distance; a figure that was trying to be sneaky as it made its way into a nearby abandoned warehouse.

Itsuka noticed something was off about Mizu. "Hey, Mizu? Earth to Mizu!"

"Huh, what?" Mizu snapped out of her thoughts.

"What's wrong? You just zoned out for a minute there."

"I'm good. Don't worry, Tsuka. Just thinking about adult stuff," Mizu reassured. "Listen, I'd really hate to cut our reunion short, but I'm gonna need you to head home first."

"What? Why?" Itsuka pouted.

"Please, just do it. For me?" Mizu pleaded.

"Okay. Fine," Itsuka said as she turned to go home.

Once Mizu was sure Itsuka was far away enough, she turned her attention back to the alleyway.

In the warehouse, a shady-looking man looked around his surroundings, finding himself seemingly alone. With that assumption in mind, he took out a cell phone and started dialing. "It's me. Is the package ready for arrival soon?"

"Package? How interesting, tell me more about it," Mizu's voice suddenly started the man as he turned around to see her with her arms crossed.

"Who are you?!" The thug demanded.

"Oh, just your average member of the Mystic Keepers!" Mizu replied.

"Mystic Keepers?! What are you doing in some small insignificant island country like this?!"

"I'll have you know, this 'small insignificant island country' is my home. Now, are you gonna come quietly, or will things have to get rough?"

"Never!" The criminal took out some pebbles from his pocket and threw them on the ground, where they started getting bigger and took on the shape of monsters. "How do you like my magic golems?"

"So the hard way it is, then?" Mizu smirked. Then, a silver katana in a dark blue sheath suddenly materialized before unsheathing itself and floating right into Mizu's hand. "Yukinoha, the Blade of Infinite Winters."

The first golem charged and tried to punch Mizu, but she swung the Yukinoha, sending a wave of ice toward the golem, freezing it, along with another golem next to the first one, leaving them easy targets for Mizu to cut down with the Yukinoha.

She then noticed another golem about to attack and used the Yukinoha to block its fist before knocking the golem's arm back and stabbing its torso with her blade, causing ice to form out from the spot and make the golem burst to pieces.

Then, Mizu used her Quirk, Plasma Cast, to form a red-orange plasma ball in her hand and threw it at a golem, before repeating the action at another one causing them to shatter into rubble. Mizu then noticed some debris thrown in her direction, but she was able to form a plasma shield to protect herself. She then turned to the golem who threw the debris, and before it could try again, she threw plasma balls at its arms to destroy them, and then she finished it off by decapitating it using the Yukinoha.

And then, Mizu cut down the last golem with the Yukinoha.

As she was catching her breath, the thug had snuck up on her, ready to attack. Mizu, however, already noticed him and was about to strike when suddenly…

"MIZU!"

Itsuka suddenly appeared and punched the lowlife with her giant fist, knocking him backward.

"Wha? Tsuka?!" Mizu exclaimed. "I told you to go home! What are you doing here?!"

"I came here to help! That big jerk was about to sneak up on you, but I took care of it," Itsuka said.

Mizu sighed as she blamed herself for not being more thorough in making sure Itsuka actually went home. "Listen, Tsuka. I appreciate what you've done to help, even though I could've handled him on my own, but I can't have you getting involved."

"Oh, come on, Mizu! I just saved you from a bad guy! Hey, hold on. You never told me you were a Hero! What's your Hero name?!"

"I'm not… ugh, it's a long story, but I really need you to leave!" Mizu ordered.

While Mizu tried to reason with her younger cousin, neither of them noticed the grunt getting up. Since Itsuka was still just a 13-year-old girl, her attack didn't have enough strength behind it to make him go lights out. He eyed the young redhead and his face twisted into a wicked grin.

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared below Itsuka's feet, much to her surprise before she was warped away.

"Tsuka!" Mizu shouted in worry.

"Looking for someone?" Mizu turned to see the thug, who had Itsuka in his arms, bound and gagged.

"Mmmph! Mmmm!" Itsuka tried to shout through her gag.

"Let. Her. Go. Now!" Mizu demanded, a tone of rage evident in her voice.

"Hmm, let me think… No! This little brat should serve as a perfect hostage while we wait for our goods to arrive!"

"We? So there are more of you. And what goods are you talking about?" Mizu demanded.

"Can't tell ya. Sayonara, sucker!" The thug then activated a teleportation spell, taking Itsuka with him.

As they disappeared, Mizu screamed out in frustration before collecting herself. "Calm down, Mizu. You gotta think rationally if you're gonna save Tsuka and give her the chewing out of a lifetime." She then formed a magic circle in her hands, encompassing the entire warehouse, before it zeroed in on something: a strand of Itsuka's hair. "Jackpot. Now where are you?"

In another abandoned warehouse elsewhere, the thug was there along with another shady guy, and not far off was the kidnapped Itsuka, tied with a magic chain, her hands bound with Quirk-suppressing cuffs, and her mouth taped shut.

"You brought the brat here, are you an idiot, Jimbo?" the partner crook asked.

"Hey, even if that meddling Keeper finds us, the kid will make for a good hostage. She's insurance," the first crook, Jimbo argued. "Anyway, you got the goods, right Hector?"

Itsuka was feeling scared. She was happy that her favorite cousin had come for a visit, but then things happened and now she got kidnapped by a couple of bad guys.

"Yeah, these babies will fetch us a nice price. Can't believe they tracked us all the way from the Himalayas."

Suddenly, the warehouse doors were blown off their hinges and when the dust cleared, it revealed Mizu with a plasma ball in her hand.

"Crap! She found us!"

"But how?!"

Itsuka, on the other hand, was happy and relieved to see her cousin.

"I'm only gonna say this once…" Mizu warned. "Let my cousin go now. And after that, I'll be relieving you of those illegal items."

"Quick! The brat!" Jimbo said.

"No, wait!" Hector argued. "Keep the bitch busy for a while first. Let her think she's winning for a while. Then we hold the kid against her."

Itsuka tried to warn Mizu of the duo's plan, but she couldn't talk properly with the tape over her mouth.

The crooks then created several magic golems and sent them after Mizu.

Mizu's eyes narrowed into a glare as she drew the Yukinoha and charged at the golems, determined to let nothing stop her from saving Itsuka and making sure the creeps who had her would regret it.

She plunged the Yukinoha into the ground, sending ice spikes to rise and impale some of the golems. Then, she noticed two charging right at her from opposite directions, so she used her sword to freeze the ground, causing the golems to slip and slide into each other, allowing Mizu to finish them off with two plasma blasts.

Not long after, Mizu had beaten almost all the golems, leaving only three left. But before she could engage them, she heard Itsuka's scream.

Mizu turned to see Itsuka being roughly handled by the two men, the tape was removed so she could speak, but now Jimbo was pulling on her hair.

"Alright, lady, here's how things will go. Surrender and drop that fancy sword of yours or this little girl gets it!" Hector threatened.

"Tsuka!" Mizuk shouted. "Coward, let her go!"

"You're not in any position to make demands. So, unless you want something bad to happen to the kid, you'll follow our demand!" Jimbo demanded.

Mizu gritted her teeth, glaring at the thugs. Then, she reluctantly gave in to their demand, dropping the Yukinoha and raising her arms.

"Smart choice."

Then, two surviving golems grabbed onto her arms as a third golem walked up and punched Mizu in the abdomen, causing her to let out a pained cough.

As Itsuka watched Mizu getting pummeled, she was horrified, but underneath that feeling of horror, there was some rage. Rage at the bad guys, but more than that, at herself for causing problems for Mizu. It was her fault that Mizu was getting hurt.

"Stop! Leave Mizu alone, you big dumb bullies!" Itsuka shouted, though her cries were ignored.

And then, determination started building up in Itsuka's mind. She wanted to fix her mistake and help Mizu. She desired the strength to do it. And then, she felt something inside her.

A golden light suddenly shined from Itsuka's body to the surprise of the criminals and Mizu. The criminals being distracted caused the golems to stop, allowing Mizu to break free. Then, Itsuka's restraints were blown apart, freeing her, and as the light died down, a golden key bearing the symbol of Cancer appeared in Itsuka's hand.

'That key! Hah, no way! Tsuka has a Sacred Gear! Celestia Regalia!' Mizu noted internally. 'No time like the present, I guess.' Then, she noticed that the thugs were distracted and she seized the opportunity by using magic to teleport Itsuka to her side.

"Huh, Mizu? How did I get here? And what's with this key?" Itsuka's head was full of questions.

"I'll explain more later, Tsuka. Right now, I need you to press that key to your chest and shout 'Dress Form: Cancer!'" Mizu said.

"What will that do?" Itsuka asked.

"Just do it! Trust me!" Mizu said. Hector and Jimbo had regained their focus and summoned more golems.

"Okay. Dress Form: Cancer!" As Itsuka did as Mizu instructed, her body became enveloped in golden light.

Itsuka's clothes became an outfit that appeared to be a combination of a qipao and a kimono, being light blue at the front and back, and white at the sides with long, wide sleeves and an obi. A big red ribbon was wrapped around her waist which was tied at the back, with pieces of cloth hanging from below her waist like vertical stripes. She also had black knee-high socks and matching sandals. In addition, her hair was tied up into high twintails, secured by two round, pincer-shaped clips. Then, a giant pair of scissors materialized before splitting into two identical swords, their hilts being reminiscent of crab claws.

"Whoa! What happened to my clothes?! And why do I have these swords?!" Itsuka asked.

"It's not just your clothes, right now, your speed is greatly increased and you know how to use those swords, don't you?" Mizu informed.

Itsuka realized she was right; she felt lighter on her feet, and she somehow knew how to use swords even though she never had any form of sword training. "Yeah, I do."

"Good. Now I'm gonna need you to hold them off for a bit while I fix myself up," Mizu said as she began healing herself. "I believe in you."

"Okay! Here I go!" Itsuka sped toward some golems and with rapid movements and sword slashes, reduced them into fine-cut rubble.

As another golem attempted to punch her, Itsuka retaliated with her own giant fist, knocking it back into a group of other golems.

Mizu watched, impressed, as Itsuka showed off her skill in hand-to-hand combat, along with how proficient she was using her Sacred Gear, despite being her first time.

Hector and Jimbo, seeing; their golems getting defeated, realized just how outmatched they were.

"I knew you shouldn't have brought that brat here! She's using a Sacred Gear!" Hector said.

"Let's get outta here!" Jimbo said.

But before the wrongdoers could teleport away, they were suddenly marked with glyphs by Mizu. "Teleportation disruption," the Mystic Keeper said.

"Run!" Hector shouted, but then, he was frozen in ice created by the Yukinoha.

Jimbo tried to run by himself, only for Itsuka to speed right in front of him.

"This is payback for kidnapping me and hurting Mizu!" Itsuka kicked the man right in the crotch, causing him to whimper in pain as he collapsed, comically foaming at the mouth.

Not long after, Mizu had called for other Keepers to take Jimbo and Hector into custody. In addition, their goods of illegal magic drugs and stolen paraphernalia were confiscated for disposal or to be returned from where they came.

"So Mizu, what was that thing that happened to me?" Itsuka asked, back in her normal clothes.

"Easy Tsuka, I'm still kinda aching here," Mizu said as the rest of her injuries were being tended to by a medic.

"Oh, right."

"It's fine. I really should be giving you the chewing out of a lifetime right now, but honestly, I'm too proud of you to do it," Mizu said. "I'll tell you all about it later, okay?"

"Okay!"

"First, we better get you home soon, otherwise, I'll be the one getting the chewing out of a lifetime from your parents," Mizu joked, causing Itsuka to laugh.

Reality

"And that's the story," Itsuka finished. "After that day, Mizu stayed for a few more, during which she taught me more about my Sacred Gear and the supernatural world."

"Wow…" Asia whispered.

"That was amazing!" Yumi said.

"Awesome!" Eijiro shouted.

"You got to be a Hero that day, so cool!" Mina said.

"Badass," Koneko gave her a thumbs-up.

"I must say, I was on the edge of my seat," Ravel admitted.

"I can't believe your cousin is part of the Mystic Keepers, just like Izuku's dad," Rias mused.

Itsuka chuckled. "Yeah, can't believe I never thought to mention it until now."

"If Kendo's cousin is part of the Mystic Keepers, then does my dad know her?" Izuku wondered.

"Hard to say, the Mystic Keepers are based all over the world, so maybe, maybe not," Akeno replied.

"Considering he never brought up Mizu to me, I'd say it's unlikely," Itsuka added.

After chatting for a while, the group finally left the café and went their separate ways.

"That was fun. I really needed that after yesterday's events," Asia said.

"Yeah, I wonder how things will be once we get back to school," Izuku mused.

"The school might have increased security, but otherwise, I don't think it'll affect our school life that much," Rias guessed.

"Makes sense, though it makes me wonder what the future has in store for us," Izuku said.

Meanwhile, all the way in Italy, at the Vatican, two of its Exorcists, both shrouded in white cloaks, were leaving the cathedral for their next assignment. Their cloaks hid their frames well but their faces were clearly youthful and feminine.

If one looked closely, some bits of their hair could be seen, one having brown hair, and the other had blue hair.

Done. I've been meaning to include an explanation of Itsuka's familiarity with the supernatural, and now I finally got the chance. And in the next arc, the U.A. Sports Festival will be brought up, though I won't jump into it right away. Since there are two weeks leading up to the Sports Festival, I'll be using that time to cover the Excalibur arc from DxD.

Akari "Mizu" Mizushima is Dinocam3's OC from Hero Academia DxD (borrowed with permission, of course).

See you next time. Go beyond! Plus Ultra!