Ch. 32: Swimsuits and Rescue
The ORC had gathered at one of the city's public pools. A pool that's been closed for six months. Standing with the others, Izuku looked down at the dirty water in disgust. It was a revolting sight. The water had turned green with moss, and there was trash and other gunk floating around on the water's surface.
"Gross! What is that!?" Izuku asked.
"It hasn't been used since last year," Akeno explained.
"The owner made a contract with me last night. After we finish cleaning it, the pool will be ours to use as often as we like for at least a little while, free of charge," Rias added.
"So then we can swim in it once we finish?" Mina asked.
"Yep," Rias smiled. "I figured it'd be a good way for everyone to get some R&R in between your Sports Festival training."
"Cool. Sign me up!" Eijiro volunteered.
"I'm game, too," Itsuka smiled.
In the girls' locker room, the girls started changing into their gym uniforms.
"Hey Asia, do you think you can help me finish my Japanese language homework?" Xenovia asked while putting on her tracksuit jacket.
"Sure," Asia replied with a smile. "What do you need help with?"
"There are a lot of words I can't identify."
"I guess there are a lot of Kanji you don't know yet, huh?" Yumi asked.
"Sadly, yes," Xenovia admitted with a sigh before her expression changed to a determined one. "No big deal, I'll just stay up late tonight and go over all of it again."
"I know God will be right there beside you to offer strength and knowledge," Asia reassured.
'Even though He's dead?' Itsuka and Mina thought.
"Thanks. You're right," Xenovia said. And then, the two ex-Church members prayed.
"Amen."
It wasn't even a second later before they grabbed their heads in pain.
"You'd think they would've learned by now…" Ravel sighed.
"You two better hurry up and get changed," Rias chuckled.
"Yes, I'm sorry!" Asia groaned.
Once everyone had gotten changed, they all met up outside to start cleaning.
After the pool was drained, everyone got to work. They all took turns manning the water hose to spray clean water while the others scrubbed with deck brushes.
Soon, the task of cleaning the pool was complete, without a trace of filth anywhere. The pool was spotless from top to bottom. Everyone then headed back to the locker room to get changed so they could enjoy the newly cleaned pool.
Akeno, wearing a red and purple bikini, stood on one of the diving platforms and raised her hand in the air to summon a magic circle over the center of the pool, from which a deluge of water came down and filled the pool.
"Whoa! That's so awesome!" Izuku said.
"Alright, feel free to swim until your heart's content!" Rias, who was wearing a skimpy milk-white bikini, announced.
"Yeah! About time!" Eijiro shouted, wearing dark red swim trunks, before he ran and jumped into the pool, creating a splash that soaked some of the girls.
"Kirishima!" Itsuka complained; she wore a teal one-piece with some yellow on the sides.
"Watch it!" Ravel growled, unlike everyone else, she was back in her casual wear.
Yumi, wearing a bandeau bikini split between white on the left and blue on the right, let out a small giggle.
"Whoops. My bad," Eijiro apologized.
"You're not going to swim, Ravel?" Asia, who was wearing a U.A. school swimsuit customized for her lower body, asked the Phenex girl.
"Fried Chicken Princess is scared of the water," Koneko, also wearing a U.A. school swimsuit and a white swim cap, answered.
"I am not! And stop calling me that!"
Izuku, wearing dark green swim trunks, chuckled at their interaction.
"Izuku?" Rias called. "What do you think of my new swimsuit?"
"I-It looks good o-on you," Izuku answered, blushing at how the bikini left little to the imagination, leaving Rias pleased with the impression she left on Izuku.
"Look, Izuku," Akeno suddenly entered the conversation. "I got a new swimsuit too. Doesn't it look super sexy on me?"
"W-Well, yeah…" Izuku muttered. Akeno's swimsuit also left quite an impression on him as it was just as skimpy, if not, slightly more.
"What do you think you're doing, Akeno?" Rias questioned her Queen.
"It's adorable how bad you want to impress Izuku with that outfit," Akeno said.
"And I suppose you're only wearing yours to show off for yourself?"
"Sure," Akeno shrugged.
Izuku backed up a little before he realized that a certain blue-haired Knight was missing from the group. "Hey, where's Xenovia?"
Asia smiled sheepishly. "She was having a little trouble putting on her swimsuit and told me to go on without her."
"Oh?" Izuku responded.
"Hey Izuku," Yumi called out to him.
"Yeah?"
"So, listen. I want you to know that if anyone tries to hurt you, I will destroy them," Yumi vowed.
"Uh, okay, that was random," Izuku commented.
"You saved my life, remember? If I can't return the service, then I can't call myself a Knight of the House of Gremory," Yumi continued.
"You make it sound like it's something we don't already know," Izuku responded. "We're friends, so of course we'd defend each other."
"Yeah, not to mention, that's what being a Hero is about, helping others," Mina added.
"Point taken," Yumi chuckled. "I don't know why I was making it sound like it was something urgent that I needed you to hear. But I still hope I will be able to help you out the same way for me. As friends."
"Sure. I appreciate it," Izuku said.
"Izuku," Rias called. "Would you mind doing me a favor?"
"Okay?" Izuku said. From behind Rias, Koneko shyly looked to the side.
Koneko gasped for breath as she raised her head out of the water.
"Okay, ready?" Izuku asked as he held Koneko's hands while walking backward. "Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick." He guided Koneko throughout the pool lane as she practiced foot-pedaling exercises.
"You can do it, Koneko!" Asia cheered.
"Practice makes perfect!" Itsuka added.
'Weird. I never expected Koneko to not be able to swim.' Izuku thought. Seeing this side of Koneko actually made her seem cuter in his eyes.
"Hey, um, Izuku? I'm, uh, sorry that you had to help me learn how to swim," Koneko apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Helping a friend learn to swim is fun, too," Izuku reassured with a smile. However, he failed to notice that he was walking toward the end of the pool and his back collided with the wall, causing him to abruptly stop, giving Koneko no time to stop either. As a result, she ended up bumping right into Izuku. The way Koneko ended up wrapping her arms around Izuku made it seem like they were hugging. "Are you okay?"
"…You're so kind, Izuku," Koneko said shyly, with even a blush. "Then again, it's no surprise, since you're a Hero."
"I wouldn't say that," Izuku replied. "I just wanted to help out an underclassman, that's all," he started patting Koneko's head. He really didn't know why he started patting her head, but it seemed that she liked it.
For the next few hours, the ORC continued to enjoy the pool. Rias and Akeno had a race with each other; Yumi did some laps at a leisurely pace; Izuku continued to help Koneko learn to swim until she got the hang of it and was able to swim on her own; Ravel sat on a pool chair and read a book; Eijiro, Mina, Itsuka, and Asia played a game of pool volleyball.
Eventually, after everything, everyone decided to take it easy to recuperate, some like Koneko and Asia were lying down on towels to rest. Yumi was still in the pool, lounging by inflating herself into a balloon and just casually floating in the water like a giant beach ball.
"Whew, I'm beat," Izuku said as he came to sit down on a towel next to Asia. He certainly was after spending the majority of his time in the pool helping Koneko learn how to swim.
"Izuku~" Rias called to him, lying on her stomach with her bikini top untied. "Would you help me rub lotion on my back?"
Izuku gave a loud, audible gulp. "S-Sure…" he robotically walked over.
He started from her lower back and started rubbing lotion all over the rest of her bare back.
"That feels great," Rias said, an inviting, seductive smile present on her face. "Would you like to rub some on my chest, too?"
No words came out of Izuku's mouth. His face turned a deep red at the thought of Rias's bare breasts, which he quickly tried to get out of his mind.
"Is that a no?"
Before he could say anything, Izuku felt a pair of soft arms wrap around his chest from behind, followed quickly by a pair of large, extremely soft objects pressing into his back. He quickly realized it was Akeno, and he could tell that she was topless as well. "Whatcha doin'? Is she the only one who gets a back rub?"
It wasn't just Akeno as Asia and Ravel stood right behind her.
"Akeno, that was highly inappropriate! He hasn't finished with me yet!" Rias yelled as she got up, not caring that her breasts were exposed.
"President, you can't hog Izuku for yourself all the time!" Asia pointed out.
"I think we all deserve a turn with Izuku," Ravel demanded, even though she wasn't even wearing a swimsuit.
Ravel suddenly screeched as Koneko pushed her into the pool. "You're too loud," Koneko grumbled.
Ravel recovered rather quickly to glare at the white-haired Rook. "Why you little…"
"Enough!" Rias yelled. "Listen, all of you, I already asked Izuku to rub lotion on my back, so he's gonna do mine!"
"I have an idea. Why don't we ask Izuku to decide?" Akeno proposed.
"Huh?" Izuku blinked as Akeno backed off. All eyes, including Koneko's, were now on him as the girls all expected him to choose one of them already.
"Well, Izuku? You are going to finish mine, aren't you?" Rias asked.
Izuku's mind kicked into overdrive as he tried to come up with a way out of this predicament, and then he suddenly remembered something. "I… I… I'm gonna go check on Xenovia!"
"Hey!" All the girls complained as they watched him run off.
Izuku ran all the way to the changing area and once he felt he was far enough away, he stopped and let out a sigh of relief before sitting down.
"Man, they're all more intense than usual," Izuku said to himself.
[You know why, don't you?] Ddraig spoke up. [You're gonna have to face it one day. You can't dodge around it forever.]
"Well, yeah, but…"
"What are you doing here?"
Izuku looked up to see Xenovia standing before him. She wore a dark emerald green bikini held together by yellow straps. It wasn't as provocative as Rias or Akeno's, but it sure did a good job at showing off Xenovia's curves.
"Xenovia, where have you been? We thought we lost you," Izuku said.
"It's the first swimsuit I've ever had, so it took some time to figure out," she replied. "Do you think it looks okay?"
"You've never been swimming before? Is it because you were raised in the Church?"
"No, I've just never been interested in recreational activities," Xenovia replied.
"Still. I find it hard to believe that you had trouble figuring out one little swimsuit," Izuku said.
"You're right. I did figure it out a while ago," Xenovia confirmed. "Truth is, I was doing some thinking."
"About what?"
"I have an important matter I'd like to discuss. Come on," Xenovia led Izuku into the pool equipment room.
"Okay, we're here. Now what?" Izuku asked, starting to get worried about what her answer might be.
"Listen. I would like you to make a baby with me," Xenovia revealed.
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Izuku's face remained the same, yet his eyes comically shrank until they were two little black beads. "…Huh?"
"Did you not hear me? I want to make a baby with you," Xenovia repeated.
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"Hello?" Xenovia waved a hand in front of Izuku's face.
After a minute, Izuku recovered and blurted out, "Y-You-You're seriously asking that… WHY?!"
"It used to be that serving God was my only dream. My every reason for living. But now things have changed and that dream is dead."
"But how's having a… b-b-b-b-ba-baby gonna help?"
"I've approached Rias for her thoughts on how I should live my life from now on and this is what she said…"
*Flashback*
"Devils have desires, grant desires, give desires, and hope for desires without obligation. We get to live the life that we want."
*End Flashback*
'She got the wrong idea from that!' Izuku panicked internally.
"So… I decided the life I want right now is the womanly life I never thought I would have. To create life inside of me. Sure, I want to be a Hero too, but that's beside the point right now," Xenovia continued.
"O-Okay, I u-understand, but w-why m-me?!"
"Do I not satisfy your desires?" Xenovia asked. "I know I'm not the most well-endowed, but I'm pretty confident of my feminine appeal. I'm aware my breasts don't quite measure up to Rias or Akeno's, but they're still bigger than Asia or Ravel's. I believe that they're perfectly ripe for fondling," she proceeded to demonstrate, gently squeezing and fondling her own boobs.
"Where did you even pick up this kind of stuff?!" Izuku asked.
"I previously overheard Mineta mutter something about boobs and how guys love them… Right before Jiro struck him with her earphone jacks."
'Mineta… Why am I not surprised?'
"As I was watching you fight Kokabiel, I noticed your latent powers. I decided they are worth looking at. Also, you are part dragon through your heritage. I want my child to have that. They should have unique, strong, and powerful genes."
"But, are you sure you want me? I'm not the only one who can give that to you!" Izuku protested.
"So it must be fate that we are here alone together," Xenovia continued as she put her hands together into a prayer pose. "It has to be God's will." She then flinched and held her head from the throbbing pain. "Okay, let's hurry. These things take a few months to grow." Xenovia began undoing her bikini top, exposing her breasts to Izuku. "I apologize that I don't have any experience with men. I will need to follow your lead while we intercourse."
"WAIT!" Izuku pleaded as Xenovia lowered herself onto his body, her bare chest making contact with his.
"Touch me, please. You can do anything you want as long as I end up with your seed inside of me," Xenovia pleaded.
"Hey,waitwait!Nowholdonaminute!" Izuku shouted in a rushed tone. "Please, put more thought into this! Y-You can't just rush into making a baby! Besides, we're still students!"
That actually seemed to get a reaction out of Xenovia as she got up and tapped her palm with her fist. "Hmm, you're right. I guess now's not the best time for baby-making."
"So you understand?" Izuku asked.
"Since I'm still in training to be a Hero, having a baby now would make things difficult," Xenovia said. "I apologize for putting you on the spot like that only to back out."
"Nonono! It's fine. Even if you didn't exactly get the message I was trying to get across," Izuku muttered.
"Oh? Well then, what kind of message were you trying to convey to me?" Xenovia asked.
But before Izuku could say anything…
"Izuku. What is going on in here?"
The sound of Rias's voice made them both turn their heads to see the door to the equipment room open, and there was Rias, standing there with her eyes closed, a serious expression on her face, and her arms crossed.
And it wasn't just her as Akeno, Asia, Ravel, and Koneko were there too.
"Uh-oh. We're not interrupting anything, are we?" Akeno asked.
"Izuku, you're so mean! Why didn't you come ask for me?!" Asia said with tears in her eyes.
"Care to explain yourselves?" Ravel's eye twitched at what she was seeing.
"…Looks like you're in for a bumpy night," Koneko said with half-closed eyes.
Xenovia, oblivious to the tension in the room, spoke to answer Rias's question. "Well, I was initially hoping to get Izuku to make a baby with me, but I changed my mind."
Izuku gulped fearfully at the sudden change in the girl's aura at Xenovia's words.
"Xenovia, what did you say?" Rias's eyes twitched.
"As I said, I tried to get Izuku to make a baby with me but then decided not to," Xenovia replied.
Rias sighed and looked at Izuku. "Izuku, please leave us. I think we need to explain a few things to Xenovia."
Izuku quickly got up and ran out of the storage room, hurrying back to the pool where the others were.
"You okay, dude?" Eijiro asked.
"The other girls seemed agitated when you didn't come back after running off to go check on Xenovia," Yumi said, having since deflated back to normal size.
"Did something happen between you and Xenovia?" Itsuka asked.
"And why does it feel like I've missed something juicy?" Mina asked.
Izuku just sighed, being glad he got out of that situation.
"Honestly, I can't believe Xenovia thought that my advice meant it was okay to try something like that!" Rias huffed, she, Asia, and a lagging Izuku walked home as the sun began to set. She had spent the last hour giving Xenovia a stern talk after she tried to seduce Izuku into having a baby.
"Are you okay?" Asia asked.
"I'll be fine. She thankfully stopped before things went too far," Izuku replied.
As they continued walking, something suddenly bumped into the side of Izuku's leg, causing him to stop.
"Ah!"
Near Izuku's feet, there was a young girl who had fallen on the ground. She had bluish, off-white messy hair that went to her knees and wide bright red eyes. She wore what looked like a hospital gown. Lastly, she had a single brown horn protruding from the right side of her forehead.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Izuku quickly knelt in front of her, offering a hand. "Are you alright?" Her eyes went wide like a deer in headlights, staring at Izuku in utter horror.
"Izuku, what happened?" Asia asked, she and Rias having heard the little girl's yelp.
"Who is she?" Rias asked.
"I don't know… she just came running out of the alley," Izuku answered, not taking his eyes off the girl. "Are you okay? Can you stand?" He asked, trying to console her. However, the girl didn't respond as it appeared she did not hear him as she trembled. 'She's afraid…'
"It's okay. No one is going to hurt you. You don't have to be afraid," Izuku reassured with a smile. This got the girl to stop trembling as she saw this. "Are you okay? Do you need help?" Izuku offered his hand again to help her up, and this time, she took it, her hands appeared quite small on his bigger palms, and she got back up on her feet.
"Is she okay?" Rias said in a quiet voice to not frighten the child.
"I don't know. She's not wearing any shoes, and her arms and legs are all bandaged up," Asia noted. "Are you okay running around without any shoes? You'll hurt yourself like that."
The girl didn't say anything to that as she continued to stare wide-eyed, still frightened.
"She's afraid, President. Something must have happened to her…" Izuku said.
"It's okay. No need to worry. I promise you, we're all nice people. You don't have to be afraid of us," Asia smiled reassuringly as she knelt down and slowly brought the girl into a warm embrace.
"Really?" The girl asked as she looked up at Asia's green eyes.
"Really," Asia replied. "What's your name?"
"Eri."
"Eri? That's a cute name," Rias smiled as she also knelt down. "What were you doing out here all by yourself, Eri? Where are your parents?" However, Rias's second question caused Eri to tremble and tense up again. "It's okay, Eri. It's okay."
"The bad man… Please don't let him take me…"
"The bad man?" Izuku asked.
"The bad man… Please… don't let…the bad man…take me away…" Eri's eyes closed, and the girl suddenly fell asleep.
"Is she okay?" Rias worriedly asked.
"I think she's just tired," Izuku answered.
"Should we take her to the police or a hospital?" Asia asked.
"I'll call All Might, he might know what to do," Izuku said as he took out his phone.
"Boss, please! I can explain! Have mercy-"
*POP!*
There was no mercy to be given as the grunt's body popped in gory fashion before being put back together again, only to pop again and be repaired again, the same process repeating a total of twelve times before it finally stopped. The one responsible, a young man known as Kai Chisaki a.k.a. Overhaul, let out a disgusted sigh as he looked desperate to remove every last remnant of the grunt he had just killed from his hands.
"Someone clean this up. And bring me a towel and alcohol wipes," Overhaul ordered.
"Y-Yes sir!" Some other men nearby hurried to do as Overhaul ordered, not wanting to be the next targets of Overahul's wrath.
"Boss, we'll find that brat. Trust me," Joi Irinaka a.k.a. Mimic said.
"How soon can we find her?" Chisaki demanded.
Hari Kurono a.k.a. Chronostasis was quick to answer. "We just sent word to our contacts to look for Eri. But there's no telling when."
Overhaul sighed as he took a seat and wiped his hands and arms with the disinfectants he was provided by his minions.
"So what now?" Mimic asked. "If we can't find Eri soon…"
"We only have a limited number of bullets we can test, and even fewer we can sell," Overhaul noted. "There's still plenty of raw material from last time, but now that she's gone we'll have to ration them. I want word out about a reward on any information about Eri's location, doubled if someone brings in the girl herself. Spread it as far as you can, even outside of our normal contacts as long as there's no chance it'll reach the Heroes and police."
"Consider it done," Chronostasis said.
Overhaul leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "Good. That girl is the key to everything. I don't care what or how long it takes, I want her back. And whoever's keeping her from me… I'll make sure they suffer."
Meanwhile, Izuku, Asia, and Rias were at a police station, in Detective Tsukauchi's office with All Might standing close by as they gave the rundown on what happened with Eri.
"When you met with the girl, was there anyone else nearby?" Tsukauchi asked.
"No. No one. Eri was all by herself," Rias answered, her servants giving similar answers.
"Um, Detective Tsukauchi, if you don't mind me asking, how's Eri?" Izuku asked. "Has she woken up yet? Is she alright?"
"She hasn't regained consciousness," Tsukauchi answered. "Currently, she is being transported to a hospital where doctors can examine her. After she gets to rest, we can figure out how to help her… and find out if she has any hidden wounds."
"I hope she'll be okay," Asia said.
"Not to worry. Once they finish her checkup, the police can arrange a foster home for little Eri until her parents are found," All Might assured.
"And we'll see to it that she gets the best care she can get, and we'll get started on an investigation into her case," Tsukauchi added.
Izuku, Rias, and Asia were all grateful to hear that. "Is there anything else for us to do?" Rias asked.
"Not at the moment. You've already done plenty by bringing her in. If we need anything else, I will be sure to give a call as soon as I can."
By the time all the paperwork was completed allowing the three teenage Devils to leave, the sun had already set.
"I have to admit, I did not expect a day at the pool to take this kind of turn," Rias said.
"Yeah," Izuku nodded.
"Izuku! There you are!"
Izuku blinked. "Wait, Mom-GAH!" Inko didn't waste any time rushing to her son and hugging him tightly, with Hisashi running to catch up to his wife.
"Are you okay? I was so worried about you!" Inko, on the verge of flooding the streets in tears, didn't let Izuku go.
"We're fine," Izuku answered. "I told you over the phone that we're okay. What are you doing here?"
"We just wanted to make sure you were all okay," Hisashi replied, with Inko letting go of her son to take out a hankie and wipe her eyes.
"We're fine, mother, father," Asia reassured. With that, the five left and made their way back to the Midoriya apartment, with Izuku filling his parents in on what exactly happened.
The next day after school, Izuku, Asia, and Rias got a call from Tsukauchi regarding Eri. The detective didn't say much over the phone, summing it up to having problems with Eri and requesting their help, to which they agreed without hesitation.
Rias canceled club activities for the day and notified the rest of the club, and Izuku contacted his parents to let them know of the situation as well.
As they all arrived at the hospital, they were greeted by Tsukauchi and a doctor.
"Eri, how is she?" Izuku asked.
"Is the little girl alright?" Inko asked, concerned for Eri's condition.
"As I said, we've been having some problems regarding our investigation into little Eri's case," Tsukauchi explained.
"Did you at least find anything on her?" Rias asked.
"Sadly, no. We've looked through all the missing children cases we had, but it was a dead end. Not only that, we found no child matching her description at all," Tsukauchi informed. "Meaning, by legal definition, she doesn't exist. And there comes our next problem: We considered a blood test to see if it would yield some promising results, but here's where she's been… difficult."
"What do you mean difficult?" Hisashi asked.
"In short, she's scared of doctors. She managed to speak with the officers despite her initial reservation, but when a doctor came in, she had a full-blown panic attack to the point of attempting to flee," Tsukauchi recalled. "No matter how gently we tried to reassure the doctors and nurses wouldn't hurt her, she just couldn't stop herself from panicking in their presence."
"While we did manage to examine her when I entered dressed as a cop, it still wasn't easy," the doctor added. "Any time I grabbed for a piece of medical equipment, she could barely hold still, but to be honest, it's no surprise considering the scars."
"Scars?" Asia repeated.
"There were many scars under her bandages," Tsukauchi revealed. "Clearly signs of abuse. Extreme ones at that."
"And that's an understatement," the doctor added. "They're not some random beating scars. Rather, they're practically surgical. I'd wager she was being experimented on by her captors," the eyes of the teens and the adults all widened in horror. "They've been taking her apart and putting her back together somehow. Badly. Even though she looks fine on the surface, what's below shows that her muscles and bones have scars and fused tissue. They either didn't know or more likely didn't care, to heal her properly… She's lucky she's still young that we can treat her, but if she were to be forced to endure this even a few more years, she'd be suffering agonizing pain her whole life. And I should mention, this was only from what we were able to scan from her arms, we couldn't get to her torso yet."
Inko closed her eyes as she repressed a shudder. Asia covered her mouth, on the verge of tears that Eri endured such horrid things. Rias paled considerably, fighting to keep her lunch down. Izuku and Hisashi felt their stomachs twist in revulsion while their hands clenched in anger.
"Is it possible to examine those wounds and find a hint on who's the sick mastermind behind this?" Rias asked once she was sure her lunch wouldn't come back up.
"Even if she wasn't afraid of us, that would be pretty difficult to do," the doctor answered.
"As long as Eri acts like this, we're at a dead end," Tsukauchi added. "That's where I was hoping you three could help."
Izuku, Rias, and Asia glanced at each other before turning back to the detective. "Us?" Izuku asked. "How come?"
"Well, throughout our questioning and examinations, she asked if she could see the 'three nice people,' and when we asked about them, these were her descriptions: 'the green fluffy one with warm hands, the lady with the pillow chest, and the snake-tailed girl.'"
"Pillow chest?" Rias repeated, looking down at her chest.
"Is my hair really that fluffy?" Izuku asked.
"Well…" Asia hesitated to answer.
"So she wants to see us?" Rias asked, getting back on track. "But we've only known her for a few minutes."
"And apparently, it was plenty of time to leave a positive impression on her," Tsukauchi smiled. "The amount of kindness you three showed was probably more than any she ever remembers receiving. She trusts you completely."
The three looked at one another and nodded. "Sure. We can do that."
"Thank you. Hopefully, your presence will be able to calm her down enough to answer a few more questions," Tsukauchi smiled.
"Oh, I wonder if she had anything to eat yet. I'll be right back," Asia said before slithering away. A minute later, she returned with a small basket of fruit. "I picked these out from the cafeteria."
Tsukauchi nodded. "Good idea. She might be getting hungry."
With that, Tsukauchi led everyone to Eri's room, where Eri was staring out a window.
"Can she see us?" Asia asked.
"It's a one-way observation window," the doctor answered. "We didn't want to frighten her with all the staring eyes."
"For now, it should just be the three of you. You're all already the closest to her, and we don't want to overwhelm her," Tsukauchi said.
Nodding, the three teens entered the room, closing the door behind them. Aside from the machines and being overly clean, the room could pass as a child's playroom.
As they made their way to the bed, Eri turned to look at them. "The nice people." Eri's voice was barely above a whisper, but the teens could hear her. She was wearing a fresh hospital gown now, not the tattered rags she had on before, and the dirty stained bandages she had been wrapped in were gone, letting them see just how badly she had been scarred along her arms and legs.
"Yes, it's us, the nice people. My name is Rias Gremory."
"I'm Izuku Midoriya."
"And I'm Asia Argento."
They all smiled at Eri as she looked at each of them carefully. "Asia… Agenda? Izuku… Midryo? Rias… Granola?"
The three teens couldn't help but chuckle at Eri's mispronunciation of their last names.
Their amusement died down, though, when Eri began to talk. "I didn't know where you were. When I woke up all these people were around me asking me questions, then the scary people kept poking me and I… and I…"
"Shh, shh, it's okay now," Rias reassured.
"You must be hungry by now, Eri. I brought you some fruit," Asia offered Eri the basket of fruits.
Eri became intrigued by the assortment of colorful fruits; each of there were quite eye-catching. But the one that stood out the most was the bright red fruit with a small brown stem. "What's this one?" She asked, pointing at the fruit.
"It's an apple," Izuku answered.
Eri took the apple and held it in her hands. "It's red and hard… not brown and mushy… like the ones he brings me…"
The teens realized this probably meant that Eri's abuser was pretty much feeding her scraps instead of fresh food. But as much as they felt anger toward the "bad man," they had to focus on helping Eri and set it aside.
Opening her mouth, Eri took a big bite of it and her eyes completely lit up. It was so juicy and sweet.
Izuku and the girls laughed a bit as Eri completely lost herself to the apple and happily ate it. "Good to know she likes apples," Rias said as Eri took another big bite from the fruit.
For the next fifteen minutes, the three teens bonded with Eri while sharing the fruits. Eri tried all the other fruits from the basket, but it was clear that the apple was her favorite.
Meanwhile, Tsukauchi watched, pleased and amazed at how Izuku and the girls were able to get through to Eri and get her to come out of her shell in minutes while everyone else had zero success.
"A little kindness can go a long way, huh?" Hisashi commented, smiling. Tsukauchi nodded in agreement.
Deciding to try his luck at questioning the child again, Tsukauchi gently knocked on the door.
"I got it," Izuku said.
"Are you leaving?" Eri asked as she grabbed onto Izuku's hand.
"Don't worry, I'm just seeing who's at the door," Izuku replied.
Eri was nervous but let him go. "No scary people in masks please."
The three teens shared a look and then glanced at the large mirror.
"Don't worry," Izuku smiled down at Eri. "No scary people in masks." He said loud enough to be heard from the other side of the one-way mirror. He then walked over to the door and cracked it open enough to see Tsukauchi waiting there.
"Apologies if I spooked her," Tsukauchi said. "Do you think she can answer a few questions, now?"
Izuku glanced over at Eri, who was currently being entertained by some of Asia's hair vines. "Eri?" He called out, getting all their attention. "There's someone here that would like to talk to you. Is that okay?"
Eri looked over at Izuku and then toward the two girls. "We'll both be right with you. You don't have to worry." Rias reassured.
"…Okay."
With her consent, Izuku opened the door to let the detective in. "Hello, Eri," Tsukauchi greeted. "My name is Tsukauchi."
Eri blinked as she tried to pronounce Tsukauchi's name. "Tsu…gujii?"
The detective smiled in amusement. "Let's just go for Mr. Detective."
Eri nodded.
"Eri," Tsukauchi continued, "I have some questions for you."
Nervously, Eri glanced around. Izuku reached over and took her hand into his while Asia sat down next to her. "It's okay Eri. Both of us will be right here with you."
"O…okay."
"So Eri, do you know where you're from?"
Eri flinched a bit when Tsukauchi asked her that, but with some hesitation, the girl answered. "Underground…" She said quietly.
"Underground? As in, your house was underground?" Tsukauchi asked, writing down Eri's answer. "Do you know your address?"
"No…"
"Do you know where your mommy and daddy are?"
"…M-Mommy left."
"And your daddy?"
"…I don't know."
Tsukauchi had a few more questions, but Eri could only provide vague or no answers.
"Eri, what can you tell us about this 'Bad Man' you're afraid of?"
Eri looked away from the officer, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"I know it's painful, but please, Eri. The 'Bad Man,' does he do bad things to you?"
Eri looked downward, holding onto the bed blanket like a security line.
"Eri, it's okay. We won't let anything happen to you," Izuku gave her hand a firm, but gentle, squeeze.
"He's right. You're safe. No need to worry," Rias reassured,
This managed to get Eri to relax, even if her eyes were still glued toward the ground. "The Bad Man… Kai… The way he looks at me… Looking inside me…" Eri's fingers brushed along the many scars that ran across her arms. "He takes me apart… taking part of me and puts me back together… But, it always hurts."
"Is there anything you can describe about this 'Kai?' Like what he looks like?" Tsukauchi asked.
Eri shut her eyes as she went quiet again. His face. And those eyes that glared into her soul, promising nothing but pain. She could never forget them. Tsukauchi was about to assure her that she didn't have to remember if it was too scary, but Eri said, "A long pointy mouth… when he tries to hurt me, he takes it off to switch with a mask…"
"'Long pointy mouth,' 'takes it off,'" Tsukauchi began noting the crucial details in Eri's confession. "The mask, is it the kind that doctors wear?"
Eri nodded.
"Okay, that's enough questions. You're a brave girl, Eri," Tsukauchi praised Eri before turning to the teens. "I need to go over the information I got, would you mind staying a little longer with Eri?"
After a few minutes of attempting to find a lead based on Eri's information, Tsukauchi returned to where the others were.
"Detective? What's going to happen to Eri now?" Inko asked.
"It's hard to say," Tsukauchi tried his best to answer. "Normally, child services would take over and they might place her in protective custody or medical care, or she'll be looked after at a foster home while her case is ongoing. Though… I'm not sure if any of them are such good ideas. Her fear of doctors would make it detrimental to her mental health to be put in a medical facility, and her timid nature makes me believe that a place filled with strangers won't be of much help either. I mean, you've heard of what her reaction was like before those three came by."
Hisashi gave his wife a pat on her shoulder, and they exchanged knowing glances. "Sir. We may have a solution for the young girl."
"Hmm?" Tsukauchi looked curiously at them.
Hisashi and Inko proposed their idea to the detective and the teens. Owing to Eri's familiarity with Izuku, Asia, and Rias, they offered to take Eri into their care. The teens were in full support of the idea when they heard it, and even Eri seemed to agree with it too.
With that, Tsukauchi was able to speed things along with paperwork and get some proper clothes for Eri. Once everything was finished, Eri was able to go with the Midoriyas, and they all said their goodbyes to Tsukauchi and the staff.
Tsukauchi smiled as he watched them leave, particularly Izuku who was carrying Eri in his arms. 'I can see why you picked him, Toshinori.'
After helping Eri get adjusted to the Midoriya apartment, the Devil teens got in touch with the rest of the club to let them know about Eri. They were all horrified by the kind of abuse that Eri had to suffer through. Yumi, in particular, was reminded of Valper and it angered her how there was another heartless bastard like him out there who would do such terrible things to children.
But they were also relieved to hear that Eri was in a better place now, and they all got to know Eri as well, introducing themselves one at a time to not overwhelm the little girl.
Hopefully, Eri will be able to heal not just physically, but mentally soon.
Finished. And just in time before the New Year, too.
So, Xenovia tries to make a baby with Izuku like with Issei in canon, but here, she backs off after Izuku tries to reason with her, if only for practical reasons. But fortunately, Rias eventually sets her straight.
But after that, Izuku, Rias, and Asia run into Eri! And she's saved earlier than in canon, that's good. As for Overhaul, he won't be appearing again for a while, probably not until his canon appearance (at least, in an important role).
Now, enough about this chapter. In the next chapter, we'll finally be getting into the Sports Festival! What a way to end 2024 and begin 2025, eh? Please look forward to it.
See you next time. Go beyond! Plus Ultra!