Return Of The Shield Deku. - Shadow_Overlord - 僕のヒーローアカデミア

Chapter 1: Prologue.

Chapter Text

Izuku heaved a sigh of relief as he slipped into the public library. Even Bakugo wasn’t so arrogant as to try and start a fight in here. Izuku would simply have to wait until he and his lackeys got bored and left.

In the meantime, he chose to peruse the many books on offer.

It was about ten minutes later, as Izuku had decided to pick out a book on Pre-Quirk Wars that something caught his eye.

An old, faded book that certainly didn’t look like it belonged amongst the many others the library had to offer.

For some reason, Izuku found himself drawn to it.

Carefully, he pulled the book from its shelf and read the title.

“Four Cardinal Heroes?” He questioned. Some kind of fantasy novel?

Curiously, he opened the book. As a flash of light engulfed him, Izuku yelped, clutching the book to his chest as he vanished, just a few seconds before the curious librarian stuck her head into the room he was just in.

Inko Midoriya sobbed within her living room. Izuku, her precious son, had been missing for weeks, as if he had vanished into thin air. Was he dead? Did society’s abuse of Quirkless finally push him over the edge? Did someone kill him!? The stress of not knowing had gotten to her, and the police weren’t helping matters.

Suddenly, a bright flash of green light erupted in the living room, fading to reveal a group of three.

One was none other than Izuku himself, dressed like he was going to a LARPing convention, with a strange shield on his arm.

The second was a young lady about Izuku’s age with brown hair, animal like ears, and a tail that invoked a Tanuki. She was holding a katana.

The third was a little girl with lovely blonde hair and a pair of fluffy wings, invoking the appearance of an Angel.

“Alright! It worked!” Izuku yelled triumphantly, turning to see his mother, who had obviously been crying, staring in disbelief. “Oh, uh… Hi mom! So, funny story. I found this weird book that transported me to another world, and uh… long story short… So this is Raphtalia!” He gestured to the Tanuki girl. “She’s uh… We’re engaged. Oh! And this is Filo!” He gestured to the Angel child. “Our daughter! Adopted of course!”

There was a moment of awkward silence.
Filo tugged Inko’s sleeve

“Can Filo call you grandma?”

Inko fainted.

“Rafu?” Raph-Chan poked her head out of Izuku’s bag.

Inko groaned as she sat up on the couch.

“Mom, are you okay?” Izuku asked worriedly.

“Oh sweetie, I just had the weirdest dream.”

“Did it involve me going missing for a few weeks only to suddenly reappear with a Tanuki and a little girl?”

“Yes… How did you know?”

“It wasn’t a dream.” Izuku pointed over towards Raphtalia and Filo, who were looking over the TV in awe.

“Right… We’ll then. I’m going to pass out for another few hours, then I’ll get started on dinner. Sound good?”

“Sure thing mom.”

Inko promptly fainted.

Inko promptly shot up.

“I’M A GRANDMA!!” She practically screamed as she dragged Filo into a bone crushing hug.

RETURN OF THE SHIELD DEKU:

{Raphtalia-San, we couldn’t find any hint of you or Filo-Chan in any of the registries. Furthermore, neither of your names sound Japanese.}

{Yes, Filo and I aren’t from this country, but Izuku has been teaching us Japanese. We still struggle from time to time though.}

{A few weeks is quite a short time to teach someone fluent Japanese.}

{…He’s a VERY good teacher.}

{…Alright, can you tell me how you and Izuku Midoriya first met?}

{He saved me from a lifetime of slavery. I will forever be grateful for that.}

{Slavery!? So your parents…}

{Died a long while ago. Please, It’s a subject I’d rather not broach.}

{I see… And Filo-Chan?}

{She practically latched onto Izuku and I as her parents the moment she first laid eyes on us-}

The recording paused.

“You can see why I brought this to you.” Tsukauchi sighed. Small paws clapped together.

“Indeed. You said that everything they told you was true, yet it’s clear from watching the video that Raphtalia-San was deliberately wording her story to be as vague as possible while still making it so your Quirk registered them as true. Was it the same for the other two?”

“Yeah, even that Filo girl did a pretty good job of wording her way around my Quirk.”

“Most likely Midoriya informed them of the rumors of there being a detective with a lie detector Quirk and planned accordingly.” Nedzu mused.

“No matter how I tried pressing, none of them would give me a straight answer. But the most worrying part is when Midoriya got fed up and told me flat out that ‘Telling me the full story would only succeed in putting Raphtalia and Filo in danger.’. A statement that my Quirk registered as completely true!”

“How fascinating. But also disturbing. I looked into Izuku Midoriya, and he was registered as Quirkless up until his reappearance. Now he has a power, one that requires a shield as a focus.”

“You don’t think… HE is involved, do you?” Tsukauchi asked.

“It would certainly explain why they don’t want to explain too much about the whole situation.”

“I thought All Might killed him.”

“While All Might himself seems to believe so, the unfortunate truth is that his body was never recovered. On top of that, we didn’t know for sure what Quirks he had on him. The chances are he’s either still alive, or he had a secret offspring with a similar Quirk. However, we must also consider the very real possibility that Midoriya is a late bloomer with an Aberrant Quirk.”

Ah, Aberrant Quirks. The extremely rare occurrence of a child manifesting a Quirk that didn’t resemble anything on either side of their family. Quirks in this category tended to be either really powerful, really dangerous, or, most terrifyingly, really powerful AND really dangerous.

Luckily, it would seem that Midoriya’s new Quirk, Cardinal Shield, fell into the first category.

“Either way, we should inform All Might, just in case. Now, onto the requests Midoriya made. He asked that both Raphtalia and Filo be granted full Japanese citizenship, as well as allowing him and Raphtalia to officially adopt Filo as their daughter.”

“Prime Minister Organa owes me a few favors, so getting them citizenship won’t be an issue.”

“I figured as much. It’s the adoption that’s the issue. Legally at least on of them has to be 25 to adopt a child. However, I talked it over with Inko and Hisashi Midoriya, and they agreed to be Filo’s legal guardians until either Midoriya or Raphtalia are of age to officially adopt her, it’s simply a matter of drafting up the paperwork.”

“I will aid in that as well. For now, we should keep an eye on young Midoriya. That boy… he’s very interesting.”

Inko honestly didn’t know what to think. Izuku’s stories about another world were all so much to take in. According to Izuku himself, while only a few weeks had passed in this world, it was a lot longer in the other world.

It showed.

Her once meek, if overly kind son had taken on a more cynical edge to his personality. Yes, he was still the same kind hearted boy deep down, but now…

One of the first things he did after returning was ask to pull out of Aldera so that he and Raphtalia could do online schooling.

Deep down, Inko was relieved. She knew Izuku had been bullied at that school, but he would never say anything about it, apparently not wanting to worry her, and not realizing that it just worried her MORE when he came home with injuries he wouldn’t explain.

She wasn’t stupid. She recognized that the burn marks looked way too similar to Katsuki’s Quirk to be a coincidence, but she never had any proof beyond that, especially since Aldera would go out of their way to stonewall her when she demanded answers.

She assured Izuku that he wouldn’t have to be afraid of the kids at Aldera anymore.

“Oh, no. That’s not why I’m pulling out. Frankly, I don’t really care about those guys anymore. I just don’t want Raphtalia and Filo going to prison for murdering Bakugo.”

…

The scariest part? Raphtalia and Filo were practically saints, and Inko could still see them actually going through with that.

There was one thing she could take comfort in. Despite Izuku’s newfound cynicism, she could tell that Raphtalia and Filo were very dear to him. Inko saw the way Izuku’s expression softened when it came to those two, saw how Izuku and Raphtalia snuggled together in front of Izuku’s computer as they did their online schooling, how Izuku sat down with Filo to watch movies over a cup of hot cocoa or bring her new toys to play with or even tucking her in as she snuggled in bed with Raph-Chan…

She could tell that those three had become a family during Izuku’s time in that other world, and Inko couldn’t wait for them to graduate High School so she could put together Izuku and Raphtalia’s wedding.

“It’s so big.” Raphtalia mused as she looked at the towering form of U.A. High. “Are you sure it’s not a castle?”

“Trust me, it’s a school.” Izuku laughed. The two of them certainly got odd looks from the other students coming for the Entrance Exam, though that was most likely because they, unlike most other kids, weren’t in uniforms.

“…He’s here, isn’t he? That Bakugo boy you talked about?”

“Yeah, I saw him go in ahead of us.” Izuku sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m not concerned. Frankly, Bakugo really isn’t nearly as bad as the stuff we faced.” He took her hand and gave her a warm smile that she reciprocated.

It was as they were about to enter the building that something happened.

They saw a girl with long, messy, chartreuse hair smack face first into the ground as another girl with short, brown hair and a permanent blush walked away from her with an amused snort.

“What the fu…” Izuku and Raphtalia made their way over to the girl, helping her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I think ith broken…” The girl mumbled as she tenderly touched her nose, which was gushing blood and was quickly starting to bruise.

“What happened? Did she trip you?” Raphtalia asked as Izuku began digging through his bag.

“I don’t know… It happened tho fatht…”

“Here, take a sip of this.” Izuku said as he offered up a healing potion. The girl gingerly took a sip, then yelped as her nose stopped bleeding and promptly fixed itself.

“Oh wow, what IS that!?” The girl exclaimed as she wiped blood from her face.

“Just uh… Just something I made. Don’t worry, it’s completely safe.” Izuku assured.

“Thanks so much! My name’s Toru, by the way! Toru Hagakure!”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, and this is my fiancé, Raphtalia Iwatani.” Izuku replied, using the legal name Raphtalia had been given with her citizenship, though she insisted she would be taking Izuku’s family name when they finally married.

“Wow! A little young to be engaged, huh?” Hagakure asked, her team and yellow eyes, flicking between them.

“I mean… I love her, and it’s not like we won’t be waiting until after High School to get married.”

“Eh, fair.” Hagakure shrugged. “Anyway, thanks for the help! See you guys inside!” With that, she turned and ran in, leaving Izuku and Raphtalia alone.

Izuku cleared his throat.

“So then…” He held up his shield. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Raphtalia confirmed, holding up her Vassal Katana.

And with that, the two made their way inside.

Chapter 2: Past: Tanuki.

Chapter Text

“If it isn’t too much trouble, I would be more then happy to join the Shield Hero’s party.”

Izuku blinked at the red haired woman. He had only been in this world for about a day, and already problems were starting to crop up.

Somehow, the King had procured party members for all of the Cardinal Heroes except for him, chalking it up as a mistake.

That would have been fine, but something just felt… Off about the whole situation.

He would have liked nothing more then to except the girl’s offer.

The problem was that his lack of self esteem promptly overwrote any confirmation that would have escaped his lips.

“I… Thank you for your generous offer, but… If I’m going to be honest, I really don’t think I deserve this shield, and with my abysmal attack stat and low level, I honestly think I’d be more of a hindrance to you, especially since I’m sure you’re higher level then me. If it’s okay with you, it might be best for me to try and figure things out first, maybe try and find a party member closer to my level first, and if you still want to join my party then, I’d be happy to have you!” Izuku said with a glowing smile.

“…Are you quite sure Shield Hero? I’m quite sure it would be no trouble at all.” There was the briefest flash of annoyance on the king’s face.

“It’s fine. No trouble at all. I really would feel better if I had the chance to earn this power anyway. After all, it’s like the others said, this whole thing kinda came out of nowhere soit’snotlikeihaveanyexperiancewithactuallcombatthoughbeingaprimarilydefensivetypeicsnimaginethatactuallybeatingenemieseouldbequitealotofworkand-“

“All right! You made your point!” The king interrupted. “Just… Just take the coin and go.”

Izuku sat near a fountain, pondering as he looked at the coin in his hand.

As it turned out, he could gain new shields and abilities by absorbing items into his shield. He had already absorbed some of the items he had on hand, such as his cellphone and the book that brought him to this world.

He looked at the coin curiously.

“I wonder…” He mused.

He promptly absorbed the coin into his Shield.

BANK SHIELD UNLOCKED:

ALLOWS USER TO SAFELY STORE MONEY WITHIN THEIR SHIELD. USEFUL IN PROTECTING AGAINST THEFT.

“All right!” Izuku cheered, depositing his coins into the Bank Shield. Afterwards, he stood up, contemplating his next move. He made his way towards the nearest gate. He needed to earn experience after all! He just needed to grind on the weakest enemy he could find. Even with just one point to his attack stat, it shouldn’t be TOO bad!

“This isn’t going to work.” Izuku mumbled as he dragged his feet back into the city.

In the hour he had been gone, he had only managed to take out two balloon monsters. The first by punch it repeatedly, the second by dropping a large rock on it.

Both actions left him completely exhausted.

Even worse when he caught glimpses of his fellow Heroes cutting the things down like they were made of wet tissue paper.

He needed to find a way to earn experience that didn’t risk him dying of exhaustion.

He caught sight of a blacksmith’s shop nearby, and his eyes lit up as an idea came to mind.

The Legendary Shield prevented him from wielding any non shield weapon such as swords and bows, but…

They never said anything about ABSORBING other weapons!

…

No, wait, that still wouldn’t do anything about his abysmal attack stat.

Izuku sighed.

Still, he could do with some gear and maybe he could even copy some shields.

Izuku had given the book that brought him to this world a good read before absorbing it into his shield, so he had a pretty good idea how things worked in this world.

He walked into the blacksmith’s shop.

“Uh… Excuse me?” The blacksmith, a large man with a shaved head and plenty of scars across his face and arms stood. His eyes briefly traveled to Izuku’s shield.

“So, one of the Legendary Heroes in my humble shop. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Ah, please sir, you’re giving me too much credit.” Izuku replied in embarrassment. “I haven’t exactly done anything yet. Anyway, I was hoping to get some gear and maybe copy some of the shield in your stock?”

“Copy?”

“Oh! Yeah! I can get stat boosts by copying different types of shields. I’ll pay of course! I know you worked really hard to make this stuff so I’m not about to go ripping you off-“

“Okay, okay.” The man stated. “Let me see what I’ve got on hand.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Call me Erhard kid. ‘Sir’ Makes me feel old.”

Izuku left the shop after about half an hour. Erhard turned out to be a pretty friendly man and Izuku ended up chatting with him. He walked out with some new chestplate and several copied shields when he saw a plump, older woman with graying red hair that vaguely reminded Izuku of his mother struggling to move a cart of supplies.

Naturally, Izuku’s decent human being-ness kicked in.

“Ma’am? Do you need any help?”

“Oh? That’s very kind of you young man, but I’m afraid it’s quite a walk. I need to take these to the other side of the city.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind helping. I don’t have a lot on my plate at the moment anyway.”

“How sweet. Thank you so much.” The woman stated as Izuku helped push the heavy cart. “Used to be my husband would do this, but he can’t anymore after he lost his leg, and the girl we’ve got in the kitchen was too swamp with orders to come help me, I really need to hire some extra hands.”

“Oh, do you own a restaurant?”

“An inn. One near the eastern gate. A bit smaller than the one closer to our current position, but it’s been in my family for generations.”

“So, why come all the way to the other side of town for supplies?”

“I know some of the shopkeepers around here, so I can usually get better deals that are worth the walk.”

Izuku continued his polite conversation with the woman, who he learned was named Amalie, until they finally reached the inn.

Izuku knew she had glanced at his shield a few times, but, to his gratitude, she said nothing. She did shoo him away when he offered to help store all the supplies she bought, saying she could handle it from here. Though she insisted he take a discount on room rental for helping her, to which Izuku obliged by renting a room for the next few days.

He also got to meet her husband Abaddon, a retired knight who had settled down with his wife to run the inn after a training incident cost him his leg. Now, he wobbled around the inn on a crutch regaling patrons of his life stories.

Eventually, Izuku had decided to order some food before he set out to find some party members.

“Anything’s fine.” Izuku said as he looked over the menu. “Unless you know how to make Katsudon, that is.”

“Katsudon?” Amalie repeated. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of that dish sonny.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured.” Izuku chuckled. “Surprise me.”

As he waited for his food, Izuku sat going over the current gear he had. Finally, Amalie brought out a bowl of food.

“Thank you so mu- wait, Katsudon!?” Izuku stared in disbelief at what was indeed a fried pork cutlet over a bed of rice and vegetables.

“Wouldn’t you know it, our cook actually knows of the dish and how to make it! And it does look like a fairly hearty dish. I’m considering adding it to the menu.” Izuku looked around to where the kitchen was, spotting a blue haired girl around his age prepping food.

“Your cook… She doesn’t look like she’s from here.” Izuku mused. Amalie sighed.

“The hunter who supplies the local butcher found the poor lass unconscious outside of town in rather odd clothing. We can’t have children. My husband got into an incident with a wild Filolial in his youth and is barren because he underestimated how hard they can kick. But we’ve always wanted children, so we took her in. She’s terribly shy, but she’s also a fantastic cook, so it works out putting her in the kitchen. I can’t help but feel sorry for the dear though. She can’t remember anything about her personal life other than that her name is Aoi.”

‘Aoi…? That’s a Japanese name.’ Izuku thought. ‘Is it possible she’s from mine or one of the other Heroe’s worlds? If so, how did she end up here?’

The four Heroes had quickly discovered they were from different versions of earth after Izuku broached the topic of Quirks, to everyone’s confusion.

Motoyasu and Ren quickly lost interest after Izuku told them he was one of the small population from his world who didn’t have a power to call his own, though Itsuki did seem pretty interested in hearing about Izuku’s world for some reason, even if the Bow Hero declined to speak of his own world.

He decided he would get nowhere sitting here pondering, so after finishing his food (Which was a close second to his mom’s Katsudon, to his joy.), he made his way back to the streets with the intent of finding a party member.

If he could find a Guild somewhere, he could-

“My my, that shield…” Izuku jumped, startled by the short man that had appeared from nowhere. “That is… One of the four Legendary Weapons, correct? Whatever is one of the Cardinal Heroes doing wandering the city without a party to his name? Especially the one Hero who can’t even deal damage?”

“I’m… Trying to rectify that.” Izuku said. “Do you need something sir?”

“Ah! It’s not I who’s in need of something. Luckily for you Shield Hero, I can help solve your current problem!”

“Can you now?”

“If you would follow me into my tent?”

Izuku stood there wearily.

“I assure you young man! I’m a legitimate businessman who simply has your best interests at heart! Here, perhaps this will ease your concerns!” He held out an embroidered paper that Izuku looked at.

“It says here you’re a monster trader. What does that have to do me getting a party?”

“Well, monster trading is ONE of my business ventures. If you’ll kindly follow me inside, we can discuss it further.”

Against his better judgement, Izuku chose to follow the man inside.

He quickly understood why the man was being so secretive.

Cages containing what the book that brought him here described as Demi-Humans and Beastmen. Each bearing a mark upon their chest.

It didn’t take Izuku long to put two and two together.

“These are slaves, aren’t they?”

“Now what’s with that look? I assure you, slavery of Demi-Humans and Beastmen is both legal and accepted here in Melromarc.”

“That doesn’t make it RIGHT!” Izuku seethed, close to blowing up on the man.

“I take it that means you won’t be purchasing one?”

“I am morally and ethically opposed to-“

A series of violent coughing cut Izuku off. His head whipped around.

There, in a cage, was sickly Demi-Human child. A girl with the ears and tail of a Tanuki going through a violent coughing fit.

Izuku didn’t realize he had even walked over to her.

“Ah, that one? I must admit, I don’t have hopes that one will survive long, especially when fighting the Waves. Or is it simply that you have a bleeding heart for children? Go on, ask her anything. Her Slave Crest will ensure she answers.”

“Uh… Hey there… Can you tell me your name?”

“R-Raphtalia…” The girl managed to get out through coughs.

Izuku felt his heart break as he took in just how scrawny and sickly the child was.

How could these people be so sick in the head!?

“So what do you say to forty silver?”

Izuku knew he had no choice. Raphtalia would die if left in this cage. But he also couldn’t afford to spend his money recklessly.

Luckily, he learned a few things about haggling from watching his dad.

“Forty silver? For a kid that you yourself said didn’t have very good chances? In my world, we call charging more than something’s worth highway robbery, so how about 15 silver?”

“30 is as low as I’ll go.”

“It would be a shame if the guards found out you were selling overpriced defective wares. 15 silver.”

He expected the man to get angry at the not so subtle threat.

Instead, he burst out into jovial laughter.

“Oh! I like you! Very well Shield Hero, 15 silver.”

Izuku mentally sighed.

“If you’ll just come with me, I need to mix some of your blood with the Slave Crest ink to mark you as the girl’s master.”

“I would prefer to just remove the brand outright.”

“Ah, I would not recommend that. A free Demi-Human walking around in this country is likely to be either lynched or forcibly enslaved by someone else, both of which would be perfectly legal. With the Slave Crest however, she would be under legal protection as your property.”

Izuku sighed.

“Fine.” He submitted some of his blood, which the man mixed with some ink, then proceeded to tattoo said ink onto Raphtalia’s chest.

Finally, after the man, Beloukas, expressed interest in doing business with him again, Izuku found himself walking out of the tent with the child in his arms.

He knew he got a few stares as he stopped by the apothecary and bought some medicine.

He was also able to calm Amalie down after he explained himself, after which he ordered Raphtalia some hot food. Something light. He didn’t want her puking from gorging herself. After making sure she was fed and bathed, he brought her back to his room and coaxed her into taking some medicine (She made a face of disgust as she downed the bitter liquid, though she tried to hide it.).

The entire time, the girl had not said a word.

The medicine ended up making her really tired, and before he knew it, Izuku found her on the bed, dead asleep.

He quietly tucked her in, ruffling her hair with a smile as he did so, before sitting in a nearby chair to read a book he had bought earlier, hoping to learn more about this new world.

Izuku ended up falling asleep in his chair, book splayed in his lap.

This was the position the guards found him in the next morning when they kicked open the door and dragged him out by force, the sleeping Raphtalia completely unnoticed due to the blanket covering her.

Chapter 3: Exam.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The first thing Izuku and Raphtalia did upon entering the building was check in, something led by Ectoplasm. They took a little longer than most since he had to look over their files to ensure their weapons were actually the Quirks they registered and that they weren’t trying to sneak in unauthorized gear. Once they were cleared, they were guided to classrooms where they took the written portions of the Entrance Exam.

Izuku had finished early, and while Raphtalia struggled in some places, she was sure she passed.

Soon, they found themselves sitting together in an auditorium, surrounded by other students, waiting for someone to explain the practical portion of the exam.

“It looks like we’re in different zones.” Izuku noted as he looked at his and Raphtalia’s placement card.

“Do you think it was done on purpose?” Raphtalia asked.

“We shouldn’t underestimate Nedzu. Knowing him, he put us in separate zones to see if we could get by without relying on each other all the time.”

“WHAT’S UP LISTENERS!” A man with ridiculous looking hair shouted as he stepped onto the stage. “WELCOME TO THE HERO COURSE ENTRANCE EXAM! CAN I GET A YEAAAH!?”

…

“Wow, tough crowd.” He said sheepishly.

“The Voice Hero: Present Mic.” Izuku mused as he looked through one of his notebooks. “On top of teaching and Heroics he’s also a radio personality.”

Present Mic went on to talk about how they would be fighting robots how the point system worked.

“Destroying robots, huh? This exam seems pretty biased in favor of flashy, destructive Quirks.” Izuku noted. “Though U.A. has shelled out more than a few Heroes with Quirks that would be useless against robots, those people mostly got in through the Sports Festival. I might have to use the Hero’s Will Shield-“

“Izuku, we talked about this.” Raphtalia scolded. “Only use that Shield as a last resort. You have other methods that might prove useful.”

“Excuse me!” A blue haired boy with glasses shot up, interrupting the presentation. “You have only explained three types of robots, yet the the pamphlet states there are four! If this is a mistake on U.A.’s part, it’s shameful! In addition…” He whirled around to look at Izuku and Raphtalia. “You two! You have been muttering this whole time! If you cannot take this seriously, then leave!” Izuku proceeded to give the boy his patented ‘I am completely done with today’ glare, before he…

Turned back to talking to Raphtalia.

“So what kind of strategy are you going for?”

“E-excuse me!!” The bespectacled boy had a look that said he couldn’t possibly fathom that he was being ignored.

“Alright! Settle down listeners!” Mic spoke up. “I was just about to get to the fourth robot actually! That guy is meant to be an obstacle, and is worth ZERO POINTS! Destroy it or avoid it! It’s up to you!” Soon, they were dismissed, each student climbing into a bus to take them to their designated testing zone. Izuku and Raphtalia were forced to separate as they went to their zones.

As Izuku stood outside his designated zone stretching, he heard someone call out to him.

“Hey, Midoriya!” Izuku looked up at the girl approaching him.

“Ah, Hagakure-San. So we’re in the same zone.”

“Yep! Looks like it! We’re gonna start any minute, right? Give me a sec.” She took on a look of concentration for a second, before her body began to sparkle with light akin to a prism. After a second, Hagakure faded until Izuku couldn’t see her any more.

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Izuku said genuinely. “A cloaking Quirk? Even your clothes turned invisible.”

“Not necessarily cloaking per se.” Hagakure answered. “My Quirk is Light Manipulation. I refracted light to make myself pretty much invisible, and I can do other stuff too! Though I’m still trying to figure out how to compress light to makes lasers.”

“Cool. Can you-“

A hand clapped onto Izuku’s shoulder.

“Are you trying to sabotage your fellow examinees? Your behavior is shameful!” The bespectacled boy from earlier scolded.

“…Take your hand off of me before I break it.” Izuku replied. This boy was the kind of person Izuku hated. People who acted like they were above others.

“You’d threaten a fellow examinee!? Is there no end to your rudeness!?”

“You wanna know what’s rude!?” Hagakure asked as her face manifested, startling the boy. “Butting into people’s conversations and acting like a high and mighty asshole. Back off jerk!” The bespectacled boy tried to stutter out an argument.”

“AND START!” Izuku bolted towards the gate the second Present Mic’s voice sounded, to the befuddlement and amusem*nt of other examinees. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? THERE’S NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE! GO GO GO!!”

Raphtalia cleaved through the robots like a hot knife through butter. The stuff she had learned in Q’ten Lo was definitely coming in handy, even though it seemed a bit excessive against slow, bulky robots.

Still, the existence of autonomous soldiers was very fascinating to her.

But why would they have these things operating in a high school entrance exam instead of in the army-

No. Scratch that. People like Tanya did NOT need things like this under their command.

Unfortunately, she was struggling to concentrate due to some small purple haired gremlin that was following her around. The little creep took one look at Raphtalia and decided she was very attractive.

Now, Raphtalia was used to people fawning over her looks back in the other world. Hell, even some avid Demi-Human haters would sheepishly admit that Raphtalia was quite the looker.

The problem was that this little creep was almost as bad, if not WORSE, then Motoyasu.

At least Motoyasu got his sh*t together… Eventually.

“Do you mind!? We’re in the middle of an exam here!” Raphtalia snapped at the pervert, about ready to punt him across the cityscape, even if she knew full well it would get her disqualified.

The gremlin looked at her for a moment, then shrugged.

“Good point. I’ll have plenty of time with you and the other babes when I’m in the Hero Course.” He said as he scurried off somewhere.

Raphtalia shuddered in disgust. She DEFINITELY needed a shower after the last comment.

Hitoshi Shinso was NOT having a good time.

It was bad enough that he had the misfortune of getting stuck with such a Villainous Quirk. Now he was stuck with a Villainous Quirk in the middle of an exam where it was absolutely useless!

It wasn’t fair! It was as if the entire world was working against him!

He did at one point brainwash another examinee. That annoying stiff with engines in his legs, and had him destroy a robot for him, but Shinso didn’t know if he or the stiff got points for it.

How the hell was he supposed to get into the Hero Course when its Entrance Exam was biased in favor of flashy, destructive-

AIR STRIKE SHIELD.

CRUNCH.

Shinso blinked, turning around to the source of the noise.

A Three-Pointer had attempted to attack him while he was lost in his thoughts, only to smash its hand against some kind of floating, energy based shield.

Before he could even react, a large ball that looked to be made of interconnected shields and held together by chains dropped onto the Three-Pointer, crushing it in an instant. The ball dissipated to reveal a green haired boy with a shield on his arm.

“You should pay more attention to your surroundings.” The boy said, darting off as Shinso glared at him.

“Human, I see you.” A two pointer spoke up.

“No you don’t.” Hagakure replied.

“Yes I do. We are equipped with thermal imaging cameras.”

There was a moment of silence before the robot’s head jerked back as his eye was smashed.

“Can you see me now?” Hagakure asked.

“I cannot.”

“Good.” Hagakure replied, before a second hit caved the robot’s head in and shut it down. “Okay, invisibility isn’t going to work.” Hagakure mused as she became visible. “Maybe… Make myself TOO visible?”

WARP REFRACTION.

She refracted the light around her, causing her to glow with such intensity that the robot’s cameras whited out.

“Saaaay cheese~!”

Katsuki Bakugo doubled over, coughing painfully as he leaned against a nearby building.

Damn that Sludge Bastard! It was bad enough he ended up in the humiliating position of being that walking pile of sh*t’s hostage, almost suffocating until that giant bitch finally reached over and plucked him out, but then the hospital told him his lungs had been damaged! He’d had breathing problems ever since!

Whatever. Overcoming this annoyance would look great in his biography when he surpassed All Might and became the greatest Hero.

Bakugo smirked as a Two-Pointer came into view. Perfect, now he could-

The Two-Pointer was suddenly melted by some pink skinned extra throwing slime everywhere.

What the f*ck!?

“This year’s batch seems to be a promising one, aside from a few outliers that is.” Nedzu mused as he stared at the screen.

In a dark corner in the room, a man dressed in black with a strange scarf around his neck did not look amused.

“It’s almost time.” The small, furry principal cackled, turning to a blond, skeletal looking man. “Yagi-San, since you’re new here, how would you like to do the honors.” The blond man shrugged, reaching over to press a large red button.

Raphtalia paused as the ground began to shake and the students began to flee. She turned around to see a skyscraper sized robot beginning to ravage through the city.

“Huh… You’re big.” She held up her sword. “Fought bigger.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the Zero Pointer.

Yes, it was pretty big, but its movements were slow and predictable, and unlike the Spirit Tortoise, the Zero Pointer couldn’t regenerate or obliterate half a country in an instant.

He knew Raphtalia could handle her own Zero Pointer if need be. He turned to move away from the behemoth when the Zero Pointer hit a building, debris raining down and a chunk about the size of Raphtalia’s toy ball hitting a a white haired girl in the head. The girl crumpled, motionless in the Zero Pointer’s path as more debris from the wrecked building rained down and entrapped her.

‘sh*t!’ Izuku thought. He reached out and grabbed one of the fleeing students.

“Wha!?? Midoriya!?” Hagakure asked in surprise. “What are you-“

“Someone’s trapped.” Hagakure’s head snapped to where Izuku was looking, and she too saw the unconscious girl trapped beneath debris.

“Um…”

“I don’t think I can move that debris on my own!” Izuku said, trying to drag Hagakure toward the sight. “Please, we can’t just leave her!”

There was a few tense seconds of silence, then Hagakure nodded.

“Right, hold on!” She wrapped her arm around his waist.

“Wait, wha-“ Hagakure’s form began to shimmer like a prism before she leapt into the air, carrying the startled Shield Hero to the unconscious girl in record time.

“Right, I’ll get the debris, you keep us from getting crushed!” Hagakure said as she lifted up a chunk of concrete that was at least twice her size and hurled it away with ease. Izuku blinked in surprise before he got to the task at hand.

AIR STRIKE SHIELD.

SECOND SHIELD.

A pair of magical shields appeared in the air, deflecting more falling debris.

“Hey, make sure to keep her head still and level when you move her!” Izuku called.

“Got it!” Hagakure responded, hurling another piece of debris away.

The Zero Pointer was right above them.

Izuku looked between the two girls and the Zero Pointer. At this rate, they would be flattened.

As Izuku looked at the white haired girl again, for a few brief seconds, he saw someone else in her place.

‘Dammit!’ Izuku thought as he switched shields.

HERO’S WILL.

SPECIAL ABILITY: SELF SACRIFICE: USER SACRIFICES 99% OF THEIR HP TO FIRE A MAGICAL ARROW THAT IGNORES DEFENSE. DAMAGE DEALT IS RELATIVE TO USER’S CURRENT HIGHEST STAT.

“Back. OFF!” Izuku yelled, a flash of light blasted from his shield, and before anyone knew it, there was a smoldering hole where the Zero Pointer’s head was as Izuku collapsed, his body racked with intense pain.

“Oh crap! Are you okay!?” Hagakure asked in worry.

“It’s fine…” Izuku managed to get out. “I’ll live…”

‘At least until Raphtalia decideds to finish the job…’ Izuku thought. ‘She’s definitely gonna kill me for this…’

Raphtalia watched as a Zero Pointer in another site had its head obliterated by a magical arrow.

“I’m gonna kill him.” She huffed, the smoldering wreckage of her own Zero Pointer behind her.

Izuku groaned as an alarm blared, signaling the end of the Exam.

‘I only got 23 Villain Points.’ He internally sighed. He hated his nonexistent attack stat, but luckily, he planned for something like this and also applied for General Education, with the intent of getting into the Hero Course through the Sports Festival.

“Uh, Midoriya?” Hagakure asked worriedly. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you have any more of those funny healing drinks?”

“They’re in my bag. School wouldn’t approve them for the exam.” For some ungodly reason, U.A. seemed averse to letting him bring in a strange liquid that they could neither identify nor trace the origins of.

What was wrong with people!?

“Alright cuties!” Hagakure looked up to see a girl girl with messy blonde hair a little older than them carrying a first aid bag and wearing a nurse’s outfit. “Everyone with minor injuries line on up! If your injuries are more severe and require things like stitching and casts, let me know, and I’ll make sure granny gets to you! If you require a blood transfusion, I do that too!”

After treating a few of the more minor injuries, the girl walked over to them.

“So, what do we got here?” Izuku sighed.

“I’ll be fine. I have stuff in my bag for this. I just need a few minutes. That girl has a head injury though.” He waved his hand toward the white haired girl. The blonde girl blinked.

“Oh, are you sure you don’t need help?”

“It’s fine. My fiancé’s gonna kick my ass again anyway for that stunt, so there’s no point in you wasting your supplies on me.”

“Ok… If you’re sure…” After a few minutes, Izuku managed to push himself up and make his way to the locker room. The blue stiff from earlier tried to say something to him, but Izuku, not wanting to have to deal with more crap, just locked him in a Shield Prison.

He eventually got into the locker room and managed to take a swig of healing potion. Immediately the pain in his body subsided as he watched his HP go back up. He sighed and stuffed the bottle back into his bag. They needed to preserve their health potions as much as possible. While he could use the Spatial Shield to go back to Melromarc and get more ingredients, the fact that using that shield fully depleted his MP and SP, alongside its 100 hour recharge time, made it a hassle, so he’d prefer not to use it just for something as simple as gathering ingredients.

After changing back into some casual clothes, he stepped out of the locker room.

He was immediately met with the sight of a familiar Tanuki girl, arms crossed as she gave him The Look.

Oh no.

“Uh… I love you?” Izuku tried.

Raphtalia continued glaring.

“L-look, it’s not like it was my intention to use that shield. There was a girl trapped under some rubble and the Zero Pointer was bearing down on us.”

Raphtalia continued glaring.

It was amazing how easily Izuku’s cynicism could falter when met with his pissed off fiancé.

“Uh… How about dinner tonight at the new restaurant you’ve been interested in?”

“Throw in cuddles and ear scratches before bed.”

“Y-yes! Of course!”

Raphtalia sighed as she let her posture relax.

“What am I going to do with you and your need to help people?” She asked as she laced her fingers with his and dragged him out of the school.

“It was more then that… When I saw that girl playing there, not moving, it reminded me of…

Raphtalia gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“What happened during Balmus’ coup wasn’t your fault.”

“If I had just been faster…”

“What happened happened. And the only one to blame is that red haired bitch.” She leaned into him, tickling his cheek with one of her ears. “Come on. There’s a convenience store. Let’s get some lunch.”

They went in and got a bag full of steamed buns, a few for themselves and the rest for Filo and Raph-Chan.

Izuku sighed as he thought about the blue eyed Shikigami. At first, his main concern with Raph-Chan had been finding Raphtalia after they were separated in Glass’ world. He was surprised though, when Filo not only latched onto the blue eyed Shikigami, but started acting more and more like her old self since then. Izuku found it comparable to giving a depressed teenager a puppy.

To put it simply, Raph-Chan had become a valued member of their odd little family.

Family.

Yes, that’s what Raphtalia, Filo, and Raph-Chan were to him.

He gave a reaffirming squeeze to Raphtalia’s hand.

Her hands were rough and calloused, but also warm and inviting.

“Holy sh*t! Is that Deku!?”

And just like that, the moment was ruined.

With a heavy sigh, he turned to face Tsubasa and the boy everyone only knew as Fingers.

Seriously, even the teachers at Aldera had forgotten the boy’s name and just called him Fingers.

Wasn’t that sh*t supposed to be written down.

“Well well, look who finally crawled out of whatever useless hole he’s been hiding in the past year.” Tsubasa sneered. “What’s with the damn shield huh? You really reached the point where you’re going around faking a Quirk now?”

Izuku just sighed.

“Let’s go, they’re not worth it.” He said to Raphtalia, only for Fingers to saunter up to them.

“And who’s this cutie, huh? What gives babe? You really gonna risk your reputation hanging around this Quirkless loser?” He held out his hand with a smug grin. “Come on babe. Ditch the loser and let us show you a good time.”

Raphtalia gave him a warm smile.

Then she broke his fingers.

“AH!! f*ck!! YOU f*ckING BITCH!!” Fingers wailed as he stumbled back, clutching his mangled hand.

“Hm… You’re right. That wasn’t really worth my time.” Raphtalia said, taking Izuku’s hand again. “Let’s go home.”

God he loved this girl.

Notes:

Yes, I know Raph-Chan’s eyes are more of a tea red in canon. There’s a reason why they’re blue here that will become apparent later on.

Chapter 4: Past: Sword.

Chapter Text

“So where’s your proof?”

The entire throne room went silent when Itsuki spoke up.

Today had been absolute hell for Izuku. First he was dragged out of the inn by force, the guards not even bothering to explain what the hell was going on. Then, when they finally brought him to the king, he was accused of trying to rape Myne, who turned out to actually be the Princess Malty Melromarc.

On top of that, the king wouldn’t even let Izuku explain his side of the story.

Even worse, the other Heroes, especially Motoyasu, were siding with the King despite how blatantly unjust the ‘trial’ was. Apparently they seemed to think this world was no different from a video game!

And then, out of nowhere, Itsuki spoke up.

Everyone was stunned by the bold question.

“I… Beg your pardon, Bow Hero?” The King asked still trying to comprehend the interruption.

“All the Princess has done is throw out a bunch of accusations with nothing to back them up.” Itsuki pointed out. “Furthermore, her story has a bunch of holes in it. I’m pretty sure Midoriya wasn’t even in the same inn as the rest of us last night.”

“H-how dare you!” Malty was shamelessly enough to actually look offended. Though whether it was to keep up the act or because someone was calling her out was unknown.

“What is the meaning of this, Bow Hero!?” The King demanded. “Are you calling my daughter a liar!? The nerve!”

“And there’s another thing. As her father, you’re very clearly biased in the Princess’s favor. You called this a trial, yet it’s pretty clear that you’re just sentencing Midoriya without giving him a chance to defend himself.”

“What are you doing Itsuki?” Motoyasu asked “Why are you defending a rapist?” Itsuki blinked a few times before turning to Motoyasu.

“Wow, okay. I figured you were thick headed, but I honestly didn’t think you were this stupid.” Motoyasu blanched. “You honestly expect me to believe a scrawny, level 2 teenager with an almost nonexistent Attack Stat tried to force himself on a grown woman with at least twenty levels and fire magic over him without getting flambéd? This whole trial is a sham. They clearly want to criminalize Midoriya even though they have nothing to prove he’s guilty.”

“There’s nothing to prove he’s INNOCENT!” The King yelled, slamming his fist on the throne. “You would do well to remember that this is not your world Bow Hero! The word of the Princess is more than enough evidence.” He turned to Izuku. “Consider yourself lucky boy. The crime of rape is punishable by death here in Melromarc! The only thing saving you from the guillotine is your status as a Hero! I’ll make sure your crimes are known by everyone in this country. Now get the hell out of my sight!”

It was barely an hour later that Izuku found himself curled up in an alley. The royal knights had ‘confiscated’ the gear he had bought yesterday as ‘punishment’, leaving him only in a light shirt and pants. Thankfully, they didn’t find his money thanks to the Bank Shield, and assumed he had just spent it all already.

There he sat, mind reeling from what had occurred.

The King had kept his word about spreading Izuku’s ‘crimes’ to the public, as several people had glared at him in disgust as he wandered the town in a daze.

He didn’t notice footsteps walking up to him.

“Midoriya.” Izuku looked up to see Itsuki staring at him. “Are you okay?”

“Why did you stick up for me back there?” Izuku asked. “Not that I’m not grateful, but you barely know me.”

Itsuki sighed as he slid down to sit beside Izuku.

“I know enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“…Can you keep a secret?”

“I mean, not many people I can talk to.” Itsuki chuckled at Izuku’s remark.

“…You’re not the only one from a world of superpowers.” Izuku’s head snapped up as he looked at Itsuki in surprise. “We call the ESPer Abilities. They’re not as big in variety as your Quirks, just a bunch of mental based powers. Mine gives me better accuracy than most people, which is a lower end ability. ESPer Abilities started manifesting about 25 years ago in my world, and not everyone has them, so you can imagine that people like me have faced their share of discrimination.”

Itsuki sighed.

“So yeah, the reason I stood up for you is because the two of us are more similar then you realize. Besides, anyone with any lick of common sense could see that was a blatant kangaroo court.”

“Not Motoyasu and Ren apparently. They think this is all a game.” Izuku responded.

“Yeah, I thought it was a game too at first, then that trial happened and it just hit way too close to home to be scripted. I knew a kid with ESPer Abilities that got accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The government has been trying to put forward laws to protect us, but a lot of times things still slip through the cracks. Because he was so abnormal, everyone believed the one framing him. Didn’t help that his accuser was from an influential family.”

“Well, if it helps, this is definitely the first time I’ve been accused of rape.” Izuku mused. “Starting fights, bullying, distracting others? Even if the teachers saw it happen before their eyes I was automatically the one at fault just for existing. But no one could ever believe that weak little Deku was capable of forcing himself on others.”

“Well, nothing we can do about it now. King’s an asshole, his daughter’s a lying bitch, Motoyasu’s an idiot who’ll reject reality just because a pretty girl told him to, and I honestly don’t know about Ren.” The bow wielded stood up with a sigh. “By the way, have you registered at the Dragon Hourglass yet?”

“The what?” Izuku asked in confusion. Itsuki rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, figures they haven’t told you that. We all need to register at this big hourglass in the church. It’s supposed to let us know how long until the next Wave begins. Apparently it’ll also automatically teleport us to the location of the Wave. We should probably get you registered there before the King decides to ban you from using it.” He lead Izuku toward the church.

As Izuku registered himself to the Dragon Hourglass, he immediately knew something was up.

The nuns who tended to the church seemed dismissive of him. While he could chalk that up to the negative reputation he had, what worried him the most was the Pope.

Izuku was more than familiar with false kindness, and he could immediately tell the Pope was not trustworthy.

“That guy rubs me the wrong way.” Izuku sighed as they finally left the church.

“You noticed it too, huh?” Itsuki asked. “Yeah, something about that Pope just seems off.” Izuku sighed as he opened up his menu. He looked over what he had for now. He definitely needed to get new armor from the blacksmith. Maybe-

Izuku paled as he looked at his party page.

“Oh crap! Raphtalia!” In all the chaos that today had brought, the little Tanuki slipped his mind.

“Wha- Midoriya, who’s Raphtalia?” Itsuki asked.

“She uh… She’s the slave I bought yesterday…”

“Midoriya…” Itsuki gave him a look that screamed ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’.

“I-it’s not what you think! Honest!” Izuku responded quickly. “She’s just a sick child. She would have died in that cage! I couldn’t just LEAVE her!” Itsuki stared at Izuku for a few seconds before sighing.

“Okay. I believe you. So where is Raphtalia.”

“She was in my room sleeping when the guards grabbed me. I don’t think they noticed her. I just hope she’s okay.” Izuku quickly led Itsuki back to the inn he was staying at.

“Well, this confirms you weren’t staying at the same inn as the rest of us though.” Itsuki mused. “Why this one though? It’s all the way on the other side of the city.”

“I helped the lady who owns the place bring back supplies. Besides, it’s better than you think. The girl who works the kitchen here knows Japanese cuisine. She served me some Katsudon yesterday that was almost as good as my mom’s. I think she might be from one of our worlds, but she can’t remember anything besides her name.”

“Wow, really? I’ll have to see if she can do Udon.”

“There you are!” Amalie called as she marched up to Izuku. “We were worried sick! Don’t you worry boy. We don’t believe you forced yourself on that girl. In fact, since the Bow Hero stood up for you, there are more than a few decent folk who believe you’re innocent. Not nearly as many as the fools who believe you’re guilty, but there are still quite a few.”

“Er… Thanks Amalie.”

“Why, If I had known what was happening before hand, I would have marched right up to that castle and given the king a piece of my mind!”

“He probably would have had you executed for that.” Itsuki pointed out.

“Bah! Even if he did, it would just get him in even more trouble. Melromarc is an absolute matriarchy. The Queen’s the one with all the power. The King is just a consort who was given emergency power while the Queen’s away meeting with the other country’s leaders. He doesn’t have nearly as much power as he wants you to think he does. I don’t even think he had the power to hold that sham trial. I imagine that he and all the knights enabling him will be in serious trouble when the Queen gets back.”

“Uh… Okay… Amalie, do you know if Raphtalia’s okay? She was still in our room when the knights took me.”

“The girl? I don’t think she left the room, but it sounded like furniture was being moved in there earlier.”

“Right, thanks.” He made his was up to the room and pushed on the door. It met with some kind of resistance before giving way, revealing the chair he had slept in had been placed in front of it.

‘Was she trying to block the door?’ Izuku mused as he looked around.

“Raphtalia?” He called. He heard a muffled gasp from the bathroom. He carefully moved up to the door, noting that there was no light at the bottom. He realized she wasn’t using the bathroom but actually hiding. Gently, he pushed open the door, revealing a trembling Tanuki curled up in the bathtub.

“Hey, Raphtalia?” He reached out, gently laying his hand on her head. She jolted, but made no attempts at resistance.

“Hey, please don’t be scared of me. I promise I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, okay? Slave Crest or no, you’re a person just like me.” She stared up at him in shock, as if unable to comprehend that a human was treating her so humanely.

Then she saw his Shield, and Raphtalia’s eyes lit up for the briefest of moments before going dull again.

“Hey, are you feeling any better? Did the medicine help at all?”

“I-I feel better…” Raphtalia responded.

“That’s good. We’ll give you some more tonight before bed.”

“B-but I feel better!” Raphtalia responded, before covering her mouth with a gasp when she realized she had argued with him.

She hadn’t meant to! Honest! She just didn’t want to drink any more of that yucky medicine!

“Just because you feel better now doesn’t mean you actually ARE better.” Izuku explained softly. “If we stop giving you the medicine, and you’re still sick, then your sickness will not only come back even worse then before, it might grow more resistant to the medicine, so you have to keep taking it until we’re absolutely sure you’re not sick anymore, okay?” Raphtalia hesitantly nodded, relieved that he didn’t hit her for her mistake.

“Good, now come on, we have a lot to do today, okay?” He led her downstairs, where Itsuki was sitting at a nearby table.

Chapter 5: First Day.

Chapter Text

“Maybe… Hamburger steak tonight? What do you think?” Izuku asked as he threw some ground beef into the shopping cart.

“I think that sounds delicious.” Raphtalia agreed.

After returning home, Izuku decided to put his many cooking bonuses to use and convinced his mom to let the two of them alternate between cooking duties every other week, both to put less work on Inko, and because Filo would throw a tantrum if she went too long without Izuku’s cooking.

What? No, he wasn’t spoiling her, regardless of what Raphtalia said!

Eventually they finished their shopping and made their way home. When they walked in, they spotted Filo trying to copy the dance routine from the new video by the up and coming Idol Hoshi Hikari.

Made sense. Filo wanted to be an Idol, so she needed to learn more about the industry here in Japan.

Raph-Chan was sleeping on the couch by her.

“There you two are!” Inko yelped as she bolted out of the kitchen. She held a bulky looking envelope. “This just arrived. It’s addressed to both of you!” Izuku and Raphtalia looked at each other, before Izuku took the envelope and saw that it was from U.A.

“Strange how they addressed one letter to the both of us.” Izuku mused as he tore open the envelope, pulling out a strange, metallic disc. “Filo, turn that off for a second.” The little Filolial pouted but did as he said before running up to them as Izuku turned on the device. Immediately, a large, holographic screen popped out of the disc.

{Hello! Am I a dog, a bear, a mouse? Who cares! I’m the Principal of U.A.!} A small, white furred mammal of indeterminate origin called.

“Daddy! Is he a Beastman?” Filo asked.

“No Sweetie.” Izuku replied gently. “Nedzu is an animal with a Quirk that gives him very high intelligence.”

“Oh… Can Filo eat him?”

“I would prefer that you didn’t.”

{Now that you have persuaded your adopted daughter from trying to feast on my flesh…} Nedzu began.

“What, how did he…!?” Raphtalia began.

“Let’s not question it.” Izuku sighed.

{Hm? What’s that?} Nedzu looked at something off screen. {…Do not tell me to ‘hurry up’. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one writing your paycheck. Now then! Izuku Midoriya! You aced the written portion of the exam with a 98%! Most examinees usually don’t get anything above a 92, so congratulations!}

The Mammal of Indeterminate Origin grinned.

{Now, onto the Practical Exam! You managed to score 23 villain points, which unfortunately is not enough to pass the Hero Course Entrance Exam.}

“Yeah, I figured.” Izuku sighed. It looked like he would have to get in through the Sports Festival after all.

{However!} Nedzu continued. {There is a second point system in place! One kept hidden from examinees so as to ascertain their true nature! Rescue Points! Something as small as warning your fellow examinees of an incoming attack or a possible ambush will net you Rescue Points! By using your powers to protect other examinees, you’ve garnered 28 Rescue Points! But there’s more!} The footage cut to him and Hagakure digging the white haired girl out of rubble to Izuku using his Hero’s Will shield (Something Raphtalia glared at him for).

{Because of your valiant effort in rescuing a fellow examinee from the Zero Pointer, causing harm to yourself in the process, you’ve been awarded an extra 60 Rescue Points, for a grand total of 111 points! Congratulations young man! Not only have you passed the Entrance Exam, but you got first place in doing so! Now, Raphtalia Iwatani! 87% on the written portion of the exam! Enough to pass! As for the Practical? 61 Villain Points, and 24 Rescue Points for a total of 85 points, placing you in third!} A scoreboard popped up, showing the top ten scores for the exam. In second place was Hagakure while in fourth place was none other than Bakugo. Izuku took note that Bakugo and someone named Ochako Uraraka were the only people on the board to not have any rescue points whatsoever. {I look forward to seeing what you two can bring to the table! Your class schedules and supply lists should be included with this holo projected! See you soon, future Heroes!} The projector shut off. Filo raised her arms triumphantly.

“Yay! Congratulations mommy and daddy! We can have a feast!”

Izuku chuckled as he rubbed her head affectionately. Always food with this girl.

“You want me to take them?” The young, raven haired woman asked as she looked over the files for Izuku Midoriya and Raphtalia Iwatani. “Not that I’m complaining but… Why? Didn’t Aizawa ask for these two?”

“Aizawa is exactly reason WHY I want you to take them.” Nedzu mused as he poured them some tea. “His disapproval in Midoriya was very clear during the Entrance Exam. That, combined with his concerning shift in personality lately, pretty much tells me he has ulterior motives. And while I may have removed his ability to expel students on a whim, I’m concerned he’ll find other methods to try and screw over Midoriya. As for Iwatani, she is Midoriya’s fiancé, and you know how Aizawa is about relationships.” The woman rolled her eyes. Aizawa was a piece of work, and she made her distaste for his methods very apparent when she started working here. Even more so when he started getting worse around a year and a half ago.

“Fine. I have no problem taking them on. Anything else?”

“Not at all Shimura-Chan, not at all. Now please, have some tea.”

Spring arrived soon after, and with it, the first term of the new school year.

Izuku and Raphtalia stood in their new uniforms, though Raphtalia fidgeted a bit, finding the blazer a bit restrictive.

“Be a good girl while we’re gone, okay?” Izuku said, giving Filo a kiss on the forehead. “Your Grandma said she might you to the park later if you finish your schooling early.”

“Okay daddy!” Filo said, hugging her parents. Raphtalia smiled and stroked the little Filolial’s hair.

With that, the two were off, taking the train to U.A.. Even now Raphtalia was still uncomfortable with how tightly packed the trains could be in Japan.

Eventually they found themselves on campus once again, this time as students.

“It says we’re both in 1-B, but the map is kinda confusing.” Raphtalia murmured. “Any suggestions?” Izuku merely pointed to an older looking student who began to go down one hallway, only to backtrack and go down a different one. “Uh…”

“His epaulets have one button on him, suggesting he’s in the Hero Course. Since it’s the start of a new school year, he was most likely acting on muscle memory and almost went to his old classroom, so our best bet is to go that way.” Raphtalia followed him, and eventually, the came across a door labeled as 1-B.

“Why is it so big?” Raphtalia questioned.

“Most likely to accommodate people with gigantism Quirks.” Izuku noted as he pushed the door open. He saw that they were the first ones there, most likely due to the new students having trouble finding their way in the unfamiliar building. The chalkboard told them to take any free seat, so Izuku and Raphtalia took a pair of seats next to each other near the back.

Over time, more and more students began to trickle in.

Eventually, to Izuku’s surprise, the white haired girl he had saved during the Entrance Exam walked in. When she spotted Izuku, her eyes widened briefly before she made her way over.

“Pardon me. Am I correct in assuming you are one of the examinees who rescued me from a grim fate under the Zero Pointer’s boot?”

“Oh, yeah… That was me. I’m Izuku Midoriya. This is my fiancé, Raphtalia.”

“I am Reiko Yanagi. I thank you for your assistance.”

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked. “You did take a pretty nasty blow to the head.”

“I have suffered no more than a mere concussion, and have been assured there will be no long term ailments to come from my misfortune.”

“That’s good. Glad you’re okay.”

Eventually, all twenty students had arrived, the last being a short, brown haired girl. After a few minutes of the class chatting amongst themselves, the door finally opened, and in walked a young woman in a sky blue suit with a white cape. Her jet black hair had been done up in a pair of pigtails.

“Quiet down everyone. My name Hana Shimura. You can call me Shimura Sensei or Nimbus Sensei, whichever you feel more comfortable with. I’ll be your homeroom teacher for the next year.”

She gave the class a kind smile.

“Now, let’s all introduce ourselves, then we can go on down to orientation. You don’t have to explain your Quirks if you don’t want to. Your names will suffice.”

Filo loved the feeling of the playground sand between her toes. She had managed to finish her schoolwork early, so she got to enjoy the day at the playground.

Raph-Chan lay atop the Filolial’s head as she ran around the playground.

It wasn’t like pulling a cart, but for Filo it was still fun.

At least until she saw a small commotion near the back of the playground.

“Back off you jerks!”

“What? You gonna keep defending this leech? Come on Shiramine! We know you’re better than that!”

Filo wandered closer out of curiosity. Two 11 year old girls, one with short, black hair and carrying a black and red shield almost as tall as her, the second with medium length light brown hair, stood confronting a group of kids.

As Filo wandered closer, one of the kids took notice of her.

“Hey, who are you? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“Filo is Filo Midoriya!” Filo introduced excitedly, hoping one of the kids would play with her.

Raph-Chan was fun to play with, but there were just some things she couldn’t do thanks to her small body and paws.

“Huh? Why are you talking like that? What are you, five?” A boy, who was evidently leading the group, asked.

“Technically, Filo is two.” Filo answers.

The kids looked at her like she had said something stupid.

“Oh great, another weirdo, just like the leech over there.”

“You’re just jealous of Kaede’s awesome Quirk!” Shiramine retorted.

“Awesome my butt! She’s got a Quirk suitable for a villain! She steals our individuality! I don’t know why you hang out with her!”

“Oh, wow! Individuality! Such a big word for you Sotoru! Congratulations!” Shiramine clapped sarcastically.

“Guys, can’t we all just be friends?” Kaede asked.

Fed up with this boring argument, Filo transformed into her Filolial form, startling everyone present.

“Filo wants to play!” She squawked.

“So you can turn into a Fat Chocobo, huh? That’s a stupid Quirk!” Sotoru sneered.

…Fat?

He called Filo FAT!?

A small noise of discontent was all the warning Sotoru got before Filo ended his bloodline with one swift kick.

“…Ah…” Was all Sotoru could let out as he stood there, stiff as a board and eyes wide as dinner plates.

“Sotoru! Are you okay!?” A red haired girl asked.

“…Ah…”

“Holy crap! What do we do!?”

“Did you see how hard she kicked him!?”

“Sotoru sounds like Gawr Gura now.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!” Sotoru screamed as his brain finally registered the pain, collapsing to the ground.

“Run away!” A kid yelled, and the group dispersed, a couple of kids dragging Sotoru off with them.

Filo huffed, turning back into her little girl form.

“Wow! That was so cool!” Kaede’s eyes sparkled as she ran up to Filo. “Hi! I’m Kaede Honjō! This is my best friend, Risa Shiramine!”

“Filo is Filo Midoriya!” Filo repeated as Risa walked up to them.

“Sorry about them.” Risa stated. “They’re just a bunch of Quirkist jerks because they can’t handle Kaede’s awesome power.” Filo tilted her head in curiosity.

“My Quirk is called Devour.” Kaede explained excitedly, gesturing to her shield. “Basically, when I touch someone with my shield, I can kinda pseudo-permanently copy their Quirk. Unfortunately, I can only store ten Quirks at a time. Any more than that and I’ll need to delete another copy to make room. Oh! And every time I copy a Quirk, I gain a permanent increase to my defensive power!”

“You have a shield! Just like Filo’s daddy!” Filo exclaimed.

“Rafu!” Raph-Chan agreed.

“Uh… What is that?” Risa asked, pointing to the Shikigami.

“It’s Raph-Chan!”

“Rafu!”

“Okay… But what IS Raph-Chan?”

“Raph-Chan is Raph-Chan.”

“Rafu!”

“O….Kay? Well, any way.” Risa began. “My Quirk is called Momentum. Basically, I get faster and faster the longer I run, and I can hit things harder too. But if I stop or get hit, my momentum resets.”

“You can run fast!? Filo can run fast too!”

“Can you now?” Risa smirked. “How about a little race then?”

After the orientation ceremony, during which they learned that Principal Nedzu apparently has six cults in his name, Shimura-Sensei took them on a tour around campus, showing them things like the cafeteria, the infirmary headed by Recovery Girl, and Hound Dog’s office.

They were just heading back to their classroom when there was a loud bang on one side of the campus.

“Whoa! What was that!?” A silver haired boy, Tetsutetsu, asked. Shimura-Sensei sighed, looking like she had a headache coming on.

“The homeroom teacher for 1-A makes his class skip orientation every year in favor of doing a Quirk Assessment Test.”

“Is THAT why 1-A wasn’t at orientation!?” And orange haired girl, Kendo, asked.

“Sounds like fun!” A girl with dark green hair and sharp teeth, Tokage, smirked.

“Not really. Up until last year he would expel whoever placed last on the test on the spot because they ‘have no potential’. Shimura-Sensei admitted.

There was silence, before the class erupted.

“What!? On the first day!?.”

“After all we did to pass the Entrance Exam!? What the hell!?”

“What gives HIM the right to decide who does and doesn’t have potential!?”

“Calm down.” Shimura-Sensei instructed. “Principal Nedzu stripped him of his privilege to expel students on a whim after he expelled his entire class last year.” And boy, wasn’t THAT a headache. U.A. had just narrowly avoided a massive lawsuit because of that mess Aizawa created. It was a miracle Aizawa was even able to keep his teaching license after that. Though that guy from the Ministry of Education told him he was on very thin ice.

Raphtalia gently took Izuku’s clenched fist. She knew that people in positions of power who abused that power to bully people under them was a VERY sore topic for him.

The class made their way back to the classroom.

“Alright kids, we have some time before lunch. Remember that today is just a half day to get you aquatinted with the school, so you’ll be heading home right after. In the meantime, you’re free to talk amongst each other.” Shimura-Sensei told them.

Risa was on all fours, panting and soaked in sweat as she tried desperately to catch her breath.

“Hmm? Are you okay?” Filo asked.

“How are you not exhausted!?” Risa yelped.

“Filo can run all day without getting tired!” The Filolial explained proudly, to Ross’s utter disbelief. Kaede walked over to them.

“Risa-Chan! You really need to start working on your stamina more! How can you expect to be a Hero if you get tired so easily?” The girl scolded.

Risa just grumbled.

“Filo sweetie.” Inko walked up to them. “Your parents should be home soon, so let’s go get some lunch, okay?”

“Okay grandma!”

“Oh! Are two friends of Filo?” Inko asked as she caught sight of Kaede and Risa.

The two girls looked at each other.

“I guess we are!” Kaede said brightly.

“Well, we have to go now, but if you want I can give you our address and phone number so you can play with Filo again.” Inko smiled kindly.

‘Yay! A new friend!’ Kaede thought happily.

‘She looks too young to be a grandma.’ Risa thought.

“I’ve noticed you seem to be into a lot of horror stuff.” Raphtalia said as she and Izuku walked to the cafeteria with Reiko. Izuku was quiet, simply not feeling very talkative.

“Indeed. It has been a fascination of mine since I was very young. Though unfortunately my mannerisms have caused me to be labeled as a weirdo growing up.”

“Nah, you’re just being you, that’s all.” Raphtalia responded. “So what kind of works are you into?”

“I am particularly fond of the works of American Writer Sam Williams. Despite having only visited Japan a few times in his life, he writes about Yōkai as if he lives in the same house as them. It is very impressive.”

“Oh! Hey! Midoriya! Iwatani! Over here!” Hagakure called from a nearby table. Next to here was a girl with pink skin and curly pink hair.

“Hey guys! This is Mina! We’re in 1-A together!” Hagakure explained as Izuku, Raphtalia, and Reiko sat down. “Oh! Hey! You’re that girl from the Zero Pointer! Nice to see you! I helped Midoriya pull you out. My name’s Toru Hagakure.” Reiko nodded.

“Indeed. I thank you for your assistance. My name is Reiko Yanagi.”

“So, we heard you did some kind of Assessment Test.” Raphtalia spoke up. “How’d that go?”

Both girls groaned.

“It was the absolute worst!” Mina spoke up. “Our classmates are just horrible! First there’s that insufferable douche Monoma ranting and raving about ‘1-A’s superiority’ and stuff like that. Then there’s Todoroki, who is apparently Endeavor’s son. He just gives off this vibe like he’s above everyone without actually saying it! And then we got Uraraka and Bakugo! Those two are just bullies! Bakugo an aggressive asshole an ego that would put Mirko to shame, and Uraraka’s just a complete sad*st! But the worst is our teacher, Aizawa-Sensei. First, he said that BAKUGO scored higher then Hagakure in the Entrance Exam because ‘Rescue Points don’t count’, he didn’t do anything to try and curb our classmate’s behavior, and the worst is that he threatened to expel whoever got last on the Assessment Test because they ‘have no potential’. He didn’t go through with it, but still. First day and our class is already toxic as hell!”

“It’s not that he chose not to go through with the expulsion threat.” Izuku spoke up. “It’s that he COULDN’T.”

“Huh? What do you mean Midoriya?” Hagakure asked.

“Shimura-Sensei told us that Aizawa had his expulsion privileges revoked last year.” Izuku explained. “So he was just making empty threats to try and scare you into submission.”

“That DICK!!” Mina seethed.

“Cheer up Mina!” Hagakure tried. “It’s not all bad! We start Foundational Heroics tomorrow! We get to learn from All Might!”

“Wait, All Might’s teaching here!?” Raphtalia asked, voicing everyone’s surprise at the revelation. “How do you even know that?” Hagakure went pale.

“O-oh! You know! Just some rumors from the grapevine. I don’t know if it’s actually true or not! Haha!”

“Still, if you think about it, it would explain All Might’s newfound presence in Musutafu.” Izuku mused.

The group continued chatting, and after finishing their food, they were dismissed to go home.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Filo cried excitedly as Izuku and Raphtalia walked through the door, running up to her parents excitedly.

“Hey! Were you a good girl today?” Raphtalia asked, rubbing Filo’s head affectionately.

“Mmhm!” Filo nodded excitedly. “Filo was very good! Filo got to kick a mean kid who called Filo fat-“

“Wait, what?” Izuku asked.

“-And Filo made two new friends!” She said, bouncing back into the living room to play with Raph-Chan.

Izuku and Raphtalia sighed.

“I mean… It’s good, isn’t it? It’s good that she’s opening up again after what happened with Melty.” Raphtalia mused.

“Yeah, it really is.” Izuku said with a soft smile.

Now he just need to find out who the hell Filo kicked today, and whether he needed to pay medical bills.

Chapter 6: Past: Filo.

Chapter Text

The entire ballroom winced as Raphtalia’s fist shattered Motoyasu’s nose. Nearby, Izuku stood, still in shock at how Malty’s blatant cheating had cost him both the duel and Raphtalia.

“Who the HELL do you think you are!?” The Tanuki snarled.

“W-wah- I just…”

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Malty yelped. “Motoyasu-Sama just freed you!”

“I never ASKED to be free you cheating cow!” Malty looked offended at the insult as Raphtalia rounded on Motoyasu again. “I didn’t NEED saving you pompous asshole!”

“B-but, he enslaved you! He forced you to fight for him! Nobody should be forced to fight-“ He was cut off by Raphtalia slapping him hard enough to knock him to the ground, the teenaged girl uncaring that her newly removed Slave Crest meant he could end her life then and there.

“Aren’t YOU the one that forced him to fight in a rigged duel he wanted no part of, you f*cking hypocrite!? And just so you know, he didn’t FORCE me to do anything! I may have been his slave, but he never once treated me as one! I fought for him of my own free will! In fact, I had to CONVINCE him to let me fight for him! Do you know why!? Because he saw me, a sick, frail Demi-Human girl wasting away in a cage, and his first instinct was to HELP ME! He threw away his own money to buy me even though I would have been no use to him! He bought me medicine to help my sickness, he bought me clothes, he gave me food, he never once did anything to hurt me! He has treated me with nothing but kindness since the day he bought me! What about you!? Can you extend your hand to a slave in need!?”

“I-of course I can!”

“So where are they?”

“H-huh?”

“The slaves you rescued!? Or were those just empty words right now!?”

“I… I just… He’s a rapist! He tried to-“

“Changing the subject now? Fine! Tell me something, if Izuku-Sama really tried to rape her, then why isn’t she scared of him? She claims to be a rape victim, yet she doesn’t ACT like one! She acts like a smug bitch! And if Izuku-Sama really IS a rapist, why hasn’t he tried anything with me? As his slave, he would be well within his legal rights to do anything he wanted to me, yet hasn’t so much as tried to glimpse me naked! Can you explain THAT!? You claim he tried to rape her, but as tonight proved, you’re the one who listens to his dick rather than his brain and won’t take no for an answer!”

“I-I’m not-“

“That’s enough!” The King shouted. “First you accuse my daughter of cheating, then you assault the Spear Hero, and NOW you make fun of my daughter for a traumatic event!? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you beheaded you filthy Demi-Human!?”

“Maybe because it’s the truth?” All eyes were now on Itsuki and, surprisingly, Ren.

Even though it was clear that Ren still believed Izuku was guilty of Malty’s rape accusation, the boy was at least cordial to Izuku and even gave him the benefit of doubt during the Wave.

“We all saw the Princess interfere in that duel.” Itsuki pointed out. “A duel that, mind you, Motoyasu would have had no chance in otherwise.”

It was pretty damn impressive, actually. Despite the large level gap between them, Izuku had taken control of the duel almost immediately, analyzing Motoyasu’s attacks and using his abilities to counter the in the time it would take Itsuki to wonder what bow he should use.

It was pretty clear that Izuku had a gift for analysis, and not just when it came to attacking.

At some point during the duel, he realized that Malty had moved somewhere out of his line of sight, and almost instinctually threw himself to the floor, causing her blast of magic to sail over his head and strike Motoyasu in the face.

It was clear Izuku would have won that duel, were it not for Malty suddenly accusing him and Raphtalia of cheating.

Unsurprisingly, the King sided with his daughter despite not having proof and called the duel in Motoyasu’s favor, forcibly having Raphtalia’s crest removed.

“Let me guess, you threatened to audience to ignore Myne’s blatant cheating?” Itsuki asked, the disgust on his face towards the blatant injustice clear. “To think that the royal family would stoop so low as to not only rob someone of their own legal property, but cheat in a sacred duel. You and your daughter clearly have no sense of shame. And that’s not even getting into the blatant disregard for civilian lives your guard captain showed during the waves!”

“Dude, Motoyasu, you lost that duel. Everyone here could see that.” Ren spoke up. “Tell me, how could Raphtalia have even assisted in that duel when she was being restrained the whole time.”

“I… Midoriya must have ordered her to-“

“If this is how the royal family of Melromarc treats the heroes they practically forced into fighting for them, then maybe we should just leave. I heard Shieldfreeden is pretty nice.” Itsuki interrupted.

“What!? No! I forbid you from leaving this country!” The king snarled.

“On what authority? You’re just a consort. The Queen’s the one in charge, and as far as I’m aware, she’s currently trying to mitigate the mess you created by summoning all four heroes instead of just one.” Itsuki pointed out, causing the king to freeze and wonder how the hell he knew that. “The other nations are pretty pissed I’d imagine. In fact, if word got out how poorly you were treating the Shield Hero that Siltvelt and Shielfreeden worshiped, I’m pretty sure war would be all but inevitable. Face it buddy, your selfishness has ended up putting your entire kingdom at risk of a war it wouldn’t be able to win.” There was a tense silence as the king grit his teeth so hard it looked like they might crack.

Suddenly, he grabbed a small bag of coins and threw it over to where Izuku was.

“Shield Hero! Take your damn reward and get the hell out of my castle!” He huffed. Raphtalia grabbed the bag of coins and pulled Izuku to his feet.

“Thank you. Now we won’t have to force ourselves to be in your presence longer than we need to.” The Tanuki replied.

“I-You-GAAAAAH!” The king shouted as they left.

“Raphtalia, why haven’t you run away? You’re free now. You don’t have to stay with me.” Izuku asked as he pulled some food out of his inventory. It turned out that anything stored in his inventory was essentially locked in time at the moment it was put in, meaning he could store food and ingredients in there without risk of spoiling.

Naturally, then they got to the banquet, Izuku had stored quite a lot of food in his shield, after asking the chefs if they were fine with it. They were not only okay with it, but also very happy that the food they worked hard on wouldn’t be going to waste for once. Izuku estimated he had enough food in his inventory to last a couple of months.

“Why would I do that? I told you! I’m your sword!” Raphtalia exclaimed as she took a sandwich.

“Still, you could cross the border and live a happier life in another country-“

“I’m happy with YOU!” She interrupted. “I lo- I care about you a lot Izuku-Sama! Just as you cared for me! These people who call you devil are wrong! Don’t ever listen to what they say about you not being a Hero! You’re MY Hero! And nothing would make me happier than to fight by your side until my last breath!”

“Raphtalia…” Izuku gave her a sad smile. “If there’s anything I can ever do for you, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll do it if it’s within my power.”

“…There is… Something… Before the Slave Trader bought me, I was owned by a noble called Idol Rabier. He’s… He’s the absolute scum of the earth. He buys slaves and tortures them to death for his own amusem*nt, even children. I… I made up my mind about this a long time ago. I want to kill him and burn his estate to the ground!”

“Raphtalia-“

“Please don’t try to dissuade me, Izuku-Sama! You haven’t seen what horrors that man is capable of! I know what I’m asking, and I don’t care! As long as he lives, I don’t think I’ll ever truly know peace. He’ll just go on to hurt more people! The man truly has no limits to his sadism! He’s an irredeemable monster! And besides, I want to free the slaves he’s holding prisoner. At least two of them are dear friends of mine.”

There were a few moments of silence, before Izuku sighed.

“I don’t like it, but… If it’ll truly bring you peace of mind, I’ll help you. Once we’re strong enough, we’ll go pay Idol Rabier a visit.”

“Thank you Izuku-Sama.” Raphtalia smiled warmly.

The two sat there for a little while longer, Raphtalia’s tail wagging happily.

After eating their fill, the two of them made their way back to Amalie’s inn for the night. The next morning, after a nice breakfast prepared by Aoi, they made their way back to Beloukas’ tent. While Izuku was reluctant to have her branded again, Raphtalia insisted on it, reminding him that she would have more rights in Melromarc as a branded slave then a free Demi-Human, and that the bonuses she got from his Slave Owner Shields were helping her immensely.

As they entered the tent, they were met with a surprise.

“Itsuki?”

“Oh, hey Izuku. I take it you’re here to have Raphtalia branded again?”

“Yeah, unfortunately. For her own protection. And also because the Shield Series I got from absorbing Slave Ink gives any slaves bound to me massive growth bonuses.”

“That so? I’ll have to see about getting some of that ink too then.”

“You’re getting a slave!?” Izuku asked in shock.

“Don’t get me wrong, I abhor slavery, but after seeing you and Raphtalia, I realized that until we can come up with a better solution, I can buy my own slaves to save them from a horrible owner. Besides, I still need a party. I got through this first Wave just fine, but they’re only going to get stronger.” He took a look at one of the slaves and furrowed his brow. “Hey, slave trader, what’s the deal with this one? He’s with the high end slaves, but he’s only one gold.”

“Ah! What you see here is a Gator Beastman!” Beloukas explained excitedly. “They are very strong and durable. As for why he’s so cheap, well, Gator Beastmen are known for their ferocious and violent tempers, and their high durability allows them to resist low level Slave Crests, so most tend to avoid buying them. They’re usually seen in coliseums. As a matter of fact, this one was supposed to go to my uncle in Zeltolble, but ended up here through a documentation error. If no one buys him soon I’ll have to ship him there myself.”

Itsuki pondered for a moment, then stepped up to the cage.

“Would you be willing to fight alongside me?”

“I got a choice?” The Gator Beastman hissed sarcastically.

“Yes actually.” Itsuki responded, surprising the Beastman. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you want to do, but if you want to fight alongside me in my party, then I’d be glad to have you. You’d still have a Slave Crest, but it would be a low level one, so it shouldn’t bother you if what the Trader says is true, and it would only be to gain bonuses from having it.”

The Beastman let out a snarl.

“Shield Hero.” Izuku jumped in surprise as he was addressed. “Do you vouch for this boy?”

“Uh, yeah? Itsuki’s a pretty good guy. I can promise he’ll treat you well.”

He let out a huff of air.

“Fine, I will give you a chance Bow Boy.”

“…I’ll take it.” Itsuki sighed.

After getting a crest applied to the Beastman, whose name was Valden, as well as allowing Itsuki to absorb the leftover ink, Izuku and Raphtalia were up.

“By the way Shield Hero.” Beloukas began after reapplying Raphtalia’s crest. Izuku was relieved by the distraction since Raphtalia had asked him what he thought of her crest… Which was on her chest. The red faced boy turned to the Slave Trader. “What would you say to giving the egg roulette a try?”

“Fine, how does it work?” Izuku said as he paid the man.

“Simple! Just grab any egg you want! The joy is in not knowing what will come out! Though I will say, there’s a single dragon egg mixed into this lot worth twenty gold if you can raise it properly.” Izuku looked over the set of eggs. They all looked pretty much the same save for some differences in coloration.

He reached over towards an egg, but for some reason, as if on instinct, before he could touch it, his hand just moved and grabbed one on the other side of the case.

He didn’t know what it was, but something about this specific egg just felt… right.

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Beloukas turned to Itsuki. “Bow Hero?”

Itsuki rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll give it a shot.” He sighed as he pulled out some coins.

“So where are you heading to?” Izuku asked as the two Heroes and their parties stepped out into the sunlight.

“I heard rumors of a Lord bullying a lesser noble family. I’m going to go check it out and see if I can do anything. You?”

“I’ve been thinking about going around as a merchant. The bonuses I get from my shield let me make some pretty powerful potions and medicines, plus it’ll be a good way to earn income.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Take care Izuku.”

“My Queen.” A person dressed from head to toe in black garbs kneeled before the woman as her servant helped to dress her.

“Report. How did the wave go?”

“While the village of Lute has suffered massive damage and will require extensive efforts to rebuild, casualties are in the single digits thanks to the efforts of the Shield Hero and a slave he has taken in, as well as the Bow Hero. While the Sword and Spear Heroes ignored the village and went straight for the boss, the Shield Hero and his slave protected the villagers, while the Bow Hero helped evacuate them to the nearby mines, before going to aid the other two Heroes with the boss at the Shield Hero’s request, while the Shield Hero and his slave stayed back to draw the attention of the of the boss’ underlings and give the other three Heroes breathing room.”

“I see. I was afraid that Malty’s false accusation would limit the allies the Shield Hero would have. It is good to know that the Bow Hero at least has his head on straight.” She sighed deeply. She was surprised to hear that both the Shield and Bow Heroes came from worlds where humans had special powers, but it ended up being a blessing, as it gave the two Heroes a commonality that allowed them to befriend each other. “All right then, what about the bad news?”

“During the Wave, a group of Knights fired a massive fire attack at the Shield Hero under Captain Orthrus’ order. The attack caused even more unnecessary damage to the village and would have killed at least five villagers had the Shield Hero not blocked it.”

The woman clenched her fan angrily. Captain Orthrus was scum, a coward and a disgrace to Melromarc’s military. She only kept him on at her husband’s suggestion. This… this was a new low for him! Endangering the lives of her citizens out of petty spite!? She could not fault the soldiers under his command for following orders, but when she returned home, she would deal with Orthrus personally.

“Afterwards, Vice-Captain Lucas defied Captain Orthrus’ order to aid in fighting the boss, and went to aid the Shield Hero with all but two knights who still listened to Captain Orthrus.

She would need to give the Vice-Captain a promotion when she got back. After all, there was going to be an opening for Captain soon.

“Please tell me that is the end of these recent troubles.”

“…”

The woman groaned.

“Continue.”

“At the feast held in celebration of successfully repelling the wave, the Spear Hero challenged the Shield Hero to a duel. Though I would personally say it was closer to mugging. If the Spear Hero won, the Shield Hero would lose his slave, while the Shield Hero would get nothing if he won. The Shield Hero refused to take part in the duel, but was forced into it by the King. The Shield Hero completely dominated the duel despite being unable to attack by using very impressive analysis skills. However, during the duel, the First Princess attempted to cheat by attacking the Shield Hero from behind. The Shield Hero dodged, though it seemed to be mostly on instinct, and the First Princess’ attack became friendly fire. The duel was called in the Spear Hero’s favor after The First Princess accused the Shield Hero of cheating by way of his slave, despite her being restrained at the time. As it seems, the King has shown blatant favoritism towards the Spear Hero, even in regards to the Sword and Bow Heroes, most likely due to the First Princess being in the Spear Hero’s party.”

“So he was robbed of one of his valuable allies out of sheer pettiness.”

When she got through with her husband, he would be lucky to still have his balls.

“Not exactly. After having her Crest removed, the Demi-Human called out the Spear Hero for his hypocrisies and proclaimed her loyalty to the Shield Hero. He has treated her very kindly my Queen, and she even had her Crest willingly reapplied the next day, both for her own protection and for growth bonuses she gets from being the Shield Hero’s slave. The Bow Hero also purchased a slave of his own, rationalizing that he can save them from abusive masters this way. Both the Shield and Bow Hero also purchased monster eggs from the Slave Trader.”

“I see. The Shield Hero’s kindness has rewarded him with undying loyalty. That is exactly the kind of Hero this world needs. Perhaps as a show of good faith, I will grant the Shield Hero Lordship of Lute.”

“There is… One other thing my Queen.”

“Oh?”

“In the aftermath of the rigged duel, the Bow Hero loudly revealed to all in attendance how the King’s summoning of all four Heroes, as well as his mistreatment of the Shield Hero, has put Melromarc at risk of the other nation’s wrath. The declaration has spread throughout the capital, and the citizens are now uneasy.”

…Oh dear. That wasn’t good.

“See about deflecting the rumors elsewhere. The last thing we need is civil unrest.”

“At once my Queen.”

“If that is all?”

“It is, for the moment.”

“Dismissed.”

“Raphtalia! Raphtalia, wake up!”

“Mngh.” Raphtalia sat up in bed, wondering what the hell Izuku-Sama wanted this early. By her side was a spell book she had fallen asleep reading. One of several gifts they had received by shop owners who wanted to thank them for protecting their relatives in Lute. Though Izuku was still learning the written language and could only read parts of it. “What is it?”

Izuku was crouched over the egg, eyes bright as he watched it crack open. Raphtalia moved up to his side as the egg finally burst, revealing a small pink chick.

“Piyo! Piyo pi!” The chick cried.

“It’s a Filolial.” Raphtalia mused as the chick jumped up into the air and landed on Izuku’s head. “How cute! It thinks you’re its daddy!”

“Imprinting, huh?” Izuku said, reaching up to scratch at the Filolial’s head, a gesture it really seemed to love.

“Pi Piyo!”

Eventually, they managed to determine that the Filolial was female, and Izuku, who admitted to not being good with names, named her Filo, to Raphtalia’s exasperation.

After that, it turned to to be pretty good idea in hindsight for Izuku to grab all that food from the banquet, because as it turned out, Filolials could eat.

A lot.

Not only that, but Filo seemed to grow quite rapidly over the next two weeks. And her growing meant she could eat even MORE.

Eventually, she had grown into a large bird that Izuku said reminded him of a Chocobo, to Raphtalia’s confusion.

And Filo continued to surprise them.

The morning after her full growth, Izuku hopped on Filo’s back to test her as a mount.

And Filo ran.

And ran.

By the time they finally stopped, the sun was going down. Even then, Filo didn’t look the least bit tired, and only stopped because Izuku made her.

They finally got to put Filo’s capabilities to the test a few days later.

They had been staying in Lute to help with rebuilding when a group of knights showed up, led by Motoyasu and Malty with a royal decree naming Motoyasu the new lord.

On top of that, he was putting forth a hefty tax of fifty silvers just to enter or leave the village.

Naturally, the villagers began to revolt almost immediately, especially when Izuku loudly pointed out how just staying at the inn was a measly one silver, meaning that the ridiculous tax would ruin the village. The villagers especially didn’t hesitate to point out how Motoyasu did nothing to protect their village during the wave, as opposed to the Shield and Bow Heroes.

Before Malty could order the guards to suppress the villagers, a mysterious group of people showed up and handed something to Malty from the Queen. Whatever it said, it caused Malty to challenge Izuku for Lordship of the village.

And that was how Izuku ended up racing Filo against Motoyasu’s dragon. The race was a breeze, Filo’s speed and stamina being far superior to the dragon’s. Though he did notice that for some reason, Malty seemed to get more and more frustrated as he completed laps.

Also for some reason, a few mages that had come with them were missing.

It was after Izuku won the race that everything was made clear when the mysterious people deposited the missing mages at Malty’s feet, having prevented them from sabotaging the race In Motoyasu’s favor under the orders of the Queen, who apparently figured Malty might try something like this.

When Malty unsurprisingly threw a fit, the people revealed that, unlike the knights, they served ONLY the Queen and the Second Princess when the Queen wills it so, so Malty had no authority over them.

As if to make things even stranger, Filo suddenly transformed from something resembling a Chocobo to what looked like a giant owl. Malty tried to accuse him of cheating, but this was shot down.

It was with that that Malty and Motoyasu were sent packing. Though, not before Motoyasu called Filo fat and got kicked in the nuts for it. Izuku, who had no experience leading a town, simply gave the Lordship back to the previous Lord. In gratitude, he rewarded Izuku with what he could offer: a lightly damaged cart that Filo had taken a liking to, and a Merchant’s Pass that would allow him to bypass tolls.

After a day on the road, during which he discovered that Raphtalia was prone to motion sickness (He would have to make something for that), they came across a small town and decided to bunk for the night. When he began to leave Filo at the stables however, to his surprise, the Filolial began to freak out.

Izuku knew that Filo had been overly affectionate towards him, but to see her acting like this?

Hoping that she would calm down after a few minutes, Izuku left with Raphtalia.

It was when the two of them were eating dinner at the tavern a couple of hours later when a stable hand tracked them down, telling them that not only had Filo not calmed down, but she was getting even MORE distressed, telling Izuku that he would have to find another place to put her if he didn’t do something about it.

With a sigh of defeat, Izuku and Raphtalia finished their food and made their way to the stables.

Though she looked youthful, the truth was that she was well over a thousand years old. She had stopped counting a while back, and so didn’t have an exact number.

She could feel it in her body that she needed to find a successor to her position soon, preferably within the next couple hundred years.

Unfortunately, not just any King or Queen Filolial would do.

The myth of a King or Queen leading every single flock made her scoff. There weren’t NEARLY as many Kings or Queens for that.

In fact, it was extremely rare for a King Or Queen to be born naturally, about 1 in 1000. And even then, those ones couldn’t hold a candle to those raised by one with the title of Hero. They couldn’t even take on a human transformation like a Hero raised King or Queen could.

So when she sensed the birth of a new Queen under a Hero, she left Zeltoble immediately.

(It was a mercenary country. They could fend for themselves for a little while.)

She found the young Queen in the stables of a small town, panicking and crying.

She rationalized that this young Queen must not have unlocked her human transformation yet, as her voice still came out in distressed squawks.

Well, that was what the HUMANS heard. She on the other hand, could understand the young Queen perfectly.

[Mommy! Daddy! Come back! Come back! Please don’t abandon Filo! Filo is sorry for whatever made you mad! Filo will be good girl! I’ll be good girl!]

So she seemed to view the Hero who raised her as her parent. Interesting. She also seemed to believe that being left at the stable equated to being abandoned. That told her that this Queen was indeed very young and naive.

Still, at the moment, she was the best candidate she had as her successor.

As she watched a boy she quickly realized was the Shield Hero approached the stables, she decided she would keep an eye on this young Queen.

Izuku’s annoyance melted away as soon as he and Raphtalia saw Filo and realized the Filolial was crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Izuku asked gently, petting her feathers. He knew that a lot of animals hated being separated from their owners, but he didn’t think Filo would get THIS distressed. “It’s alright Filo. I’m right here. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.”

“Kweh…” Filo trilled.

“You thought you were being abandoned, didn’t you? We’re not abandoning you Filo. It’s just, you’re a giant bird. Neither the inn nor the tavern were going to let you in. We were going to come back for you tomorrow.”

Filo pulled him close to her.

Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to leave her here tonight, Izuku sighed and told Raphtalia they would have to forgo the inn tonight. Raphtalia seemed a bit annoyed, but understood.

And so the Shield Hero, his Demi-Human Slave, and a giant Filolial fell asleep together in the stables, Izuku praying they were done with the surprises for at least a little while.

THE NEXT MORNING:

“Daddy! Wake up! Filo wants food!”

Chapter 7: Toru Vs. Bakugo.

Chapter Text

“We are NOT doing Battle Trials on the second day of school. Why would you think that’s a good idea?”

All Might’s smile faltered under Hana’s glare.

“I- well, I just wanted to get right into the swing of things, you know?”

“Dad.” All Might flinched at her tone. “With the exception of a few of them, these kids have no training and no experience using their Quirks on other people. Throwing untrained kids against each other and hoping they don’t accidentally kill each other is a disaster waiting to happen. That’s why Battle Trials are usually saved for later in the year.”

“I… Well… Aizawa already approved it for his class so I thought-“

Hana buried her face in her hands.

“Did he approve of it, or did he just tell you to do whatever you want and to leave him alone so he could sleep?”

“Er… The second one.”

“Doubt he’s gonna let you change it at this point if it’s already locked in. That would mean having to do paperwork. Just… Stop the match if things go too far, okay? These are kids, yes, but they’re old enough to be held liable for their actions. You can’t just go easy on them just because of their age. And keep an eye on Bakugo and Uraraka especially.”

“Hm? Those two? I understand they need some work in regards to their attitudes, but-“

“They’re the only kids on the board not to get any Rescue Points during the Entrance Exam. The way it’s set up means they both would have had to go out of their ways to NOT help anyone. That’s a major red flag.”

“I see, I understand. So what should I do for Class-B then?”

“Well, since you’ll be with 1-A tomorrow, I’m gonna do costume checks on the kids, make sure the kids are comfortable with what they’re wearing and maybe have them run an obstacle course to make sure there aren’t any problems that could hinder them in the field. It’s especially important you do that with 1-A when you get the chance. We’ve had to drop several support companies in the last few years because they’ve been getting really complacent with making costumes that focus more on looks and sex appeal than practicality. When you get 1-B, I would suggest Quirk training. Go to Power Loader and ask him for the specially designed Quirk training bots to help get the kids used to fighting other people without killing or maiming them.”

“Would the robots used during the Entrance Exam not suffice?”

“With the exception of the Zero Pointer, those robots are designed to be broken, so they’re a lot more fragile than they look. The ones you’ll be using have adjustable settings to take into account how some villains are more resistant to damage than others.”

“I see. Thank you Hana-Chan. I apologize for bothering you about this.”

“You’re new to teaching. It’s understandable to make a few mistakes here and there, and it’s a lot more complicated than it looks.”

In a shady bar in Kamino Ward, a figure sat, glaring at the newspaper in his hands, careful to use only for fingers on each hand as he held it.

“So the precious Symbol of Peace is teaching at U.A. now, is that right?” The male in his early twenties spoke with a raspy voice. “Tch.” He touched the remaining fingers to the paper, which crumbled to dust, before pulling out his phone and dialing a number within. “Sensei, I have an idea…”

Chapter 8: Past: Daughter.

Chapter Text

‘How exactly did I go from being a Quirkless nobody to an entire country’s figure of worship?’ Izuku questioned mentally as he sat across from the pair of Siltvelt envoys. They had been waiting for the overly eccentric tailor to get Filo’s measurements when the two came up to him, explaining how they wished to take the Shield Hero to their country, explaining how they were barely holding on with their Vassal Claw Hero having mysteriously vanished.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help you guys, it’s that I’m afraid the King will use me leaving the country as an excuse to declare war or something.”

“Ah yes. King Aultcray. That man is an utter disgrace of a Vassal Hero.”

“Huh? What do you mean? The King’s a Hero?”

“Were you not aware Lord Shield? The King of Melromarc is the current wielder of the Seven Star Staff.”

That peaked Izuku’s interest as well as his frustration. If the King truly was one of the Seven Star Heroes, then he was neglecting his duty by sitting on the throne barking orders instead of helping them fight in the Waves.

Heroes couldn’t pick and choose when to do their jobs. They had to be ready to protect people at all times.

“I… Was not aware of that. But either way, I think it would be best for me to stay here until the Queen can return and do something about her husband.”

“This is… Not the outcome we were hoping for. Still, your reasoning holds merit… Still, if there is anything we can do to aid you Lord Shield…”

“I could use some assistance during the Waves if you can offer it.”

“Yes! Of course! We will do what we can, Lord Shield!”

Izuku sighed as he finally managed to get away from the envoys as he walked back to the tailor’s shop. It had already been a stressful week with his Filolial turning into a naked child. Luckily, he had some dresses stored away that he had bought for Raphtalia before realizing she would quickly outgrow them. The problem was convincing Filo to stay in her child form so as to not destroy the dresses. After traveling with the witch who runs the magic shop to gather materials so they could make some thread out of Filo’s mana (During which Izuku managed to get some new shields.), they met up with the… Over enthusiastic tailor.

Well, Raphtalia thought she was enthusiastic. Izuku on the other hand determined her to be batsh*t insane, having no sense of personal space and referring to the clothes she made as her ‘cute little babies’. Still, you couldn’t deny her passion for her craft.

“Daddy! Filo knows how long she is!” Filo cheered as she and Raphtalia walked out of the shop. Izuku twitched. The thought of Filo thinking him her parent was cute and endearing when she was just a Filolial, but now that she could turn into a little girl, it just made him uncomfortable.

“The tailor said her dress would be ready by tomorrow. She’s going to work on it over night.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy.”

“I tried to talk her out of it, but she said that ‘Sleep is an unnecessary distraction when it comes to making babies!’ Her exact words.”

“O…Kay? Let’s go get lunch then.” After lunch at a nearby tavern, during which Filo complained about it not being Izuku’s cooking, the three took a walk through town, Filo happily holding onto Izuku and Raphtalia’s hands as the did so. Raphtalia seemed into it, but Izuku was again just uncomfortable. Deciding he might as well sell some of the misters scraps they had and stock up on supplies, ignoring the glares he got from some civilians and shop keepers as he did so.

While Filo was pestering Raphtalia to buy her a toy, Izuku just so happened to look up and notice a blue haired girl standing nearby, staring off into the distance as if in a trance.

“Oh! Hey, you’re Aoi aren’t you? The girl who works for Amalie?”

The blue haired girl actually let out something akin to a squeak as she almost dropped her things.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t meant to startle you.” Izuku assured.

Aoi said nothing, eyes on the floor and trembling.

‘Amalie did say she was really shy, but I didn’t think it was this bad.’ Izuku thought.

“So uh… I’ve been kind of curious. Amalie said you can’t really remember anything about your life but… Does the word Quirk mean anything to you?”

Aoi actually stopped.

“…Quirks?” She asked, more to herself than to Izuku. She looked at her hands for a moment, then went rigid. With a loud yelp, Aoi fled, leaving Izuku startled.

“Did the Shield Devil hurt that girl?”

“I don’t know why the king just lets him walk around freely, especially after what he did to the Princess.”

Rolling his eyes at the not so subtle whispers, Izuku wandered back to Raphtalia and Filo, where Raphtalia had caved and bought Filo a small, cheap toy.

THE NEXT DAY:

FWISH

SHING

“Does Filo look cute mommy?” Filo asked as she posed in her new dress. A white dress with blue accents and a blue ribbon.

“Yes! You look very cute!” Raphtalia cheered.

FWISH

SHING

“So Filo is cute?” Filo asked again as she struck another pose.

“Unbelievably cute!” Raphtalia cheered.

“Yes!” The tailor cackled like a mad scientist. “This super cute little baby has to be my greatest creation yet!”

Suddenly, she was VERY close to Izuku’s face.

“Let me know if you need me to make any more babies for you!” She gave a grin fit for a nutcase.

“Yeah… Sure… How much do I owe you?”

Having not gotten away from the tailor as fast as he would have liked, Izuku had one more stop to make before they left town.

“This place?” Raphtalia asked, staring at the Slave Trader’s Tent warily.

“I want to ask Beloukas what’s going on with Filo. Because as far as I’m concerned, Filolials shouldn’t be able to turn into little girls.” Izuku sighed as they walked into the tent.

“She’s a Filolial Queen.” Beloukas said with that same sleazy grin he always had. Upon realizing the little girl Izuku had brought into his tent was actually the monster he had sold him, the slave trader became very excited, asking Filo to transform and inspecting her feathers carefully.

“A Queen? You mean like the rumors that there’s a king or queen Filolial in every flock?” Raphtalia asked.

“Exaggerations.” Beloukas waved off. “Kings and Queens are far too rare for that.” He continued to look over Filo more carefully. “So then Shield Hero… How about a crest for the Queen?”

“I’d prefer not.” Izuku huffed. “But I also can’t deny that the Slave bonuses Raphtalia’s been getting have been immensely beneficial.” He sighed wearily. “I guess I’ll just leave it up to Filo.”

In the end, Filo accepted getting a Slave Crest to ‘Be more useful for daddy.’ Something that made Izuku twitch uncomfortably. Soon, they left the capital and Izuku decided to take some advice he had gotten from Erhard while buying some new weapons, that being selling his improved medicines and potions as a merchant. Izuku admitted it was a much better idea than relying on what measly payments they could badger the King into actually giving them, and was much more reliable than just selling monster scraps all the time.

Naturally though, he needed to hide his identity. People wouldn’t be as likely to buy wares sold by the ‘Rapist Shield Devil.’ Luckily, his shield had several forms that he could use to blend in better, his Book Shield being one of the better ones.

Overall, this whole merchant thing was working out pretty well. Izuku’s party was able to remain on the down low while getting a good source of income.

Though he wished people would stop calling him ‘The Savior of the Heavenly Fowl’.

Yes, he sold high quality medicine for much cheaper than other merchants would, and he had a giant bird, but calling him a Savior was a bit much.

One day, while preparing to leave for the next town, Izuku found himself greeted by an unfamiliar man.

“Pardon me my good fellow, I was wondering if I could trouble you for some assistance? I’m in need of getting me and my supplies and was wondering if you would be willing to give me a ride? I’m willing to pay of course!”

Izuku was wary of the man. He didn’t SEEM like trouble, but he knew from his experiences with Malty that looks can be deceiving.

In the end, Izuku chose to give the merchant, Hickwall, a ride in exchange for thirty silver up front.

What was the worst that could happen?

Izuku felt a headache coming on as he looked down at the bound group of bandits that had tried to mug his group, apparently searching for Hickwall after he was sold out by another merchant.

The bandit leader, upon realizing Izuku was the Shield Hero, got co*cky, saying there was no way they would be prosecuted once the Devil brought them in.

Izuku gave him an unimpressed look.

“Filo, dinner.” Izuku gestured toward the bandits.

“W-wait, is he serious!?”

“T-there’s no way that bird could eat all of us!”

“You kidding!? I’ve seen a Filolial eat! If anything, we’ll just be a light snack for her!”

After much begging, Izuku let the bandits go… After taking everything they owned of course.

“It’s not like I enjoyed that.” Izuku sighed under Raphtalia’s disappointed look. “But it’s like that said. The guards would have just let them go if it was me that brought them in. Probably would have charged me with assault too. At least this way they’re definitely not getting off without punishment.”

Raphtalia just sighed.

“I don’t exactly appreciate you getting us wrapped up in your mess like that.” Izuku called back to Hickwall. “If you needed help, you could have just said so.”

Hickwall merely smiled. "You have a heroic spirit Shield Hero, and quite a bit of potential as a merchant as well. Allow me to reward you as recompense for this little… incident.

In the end, Hickwall had taught Izuku the art of making accessories, even giving him a letter of recommendation to use one of his mines for materials. He also gave Izuku a Merchant’s pass and got him in touch with some connections of his.

Overall, not as bad as it could have been.

Hickwall had told him of business opportunities in the town of Lerno, so Izuku set off that way.

What he found there though, was not what he expected.

The entire village was overgrown and overrun with plant monsters.

“What happened?” Izuku asked a guard just outside of town.

“It was that seed the Spear Hero gave us.” He answered. “Our town was plagued by famine, so the Spear Hero brought us a Miracle Seed. When he left though…” He gestured toward the town.

“Right.” Izuku sighed, not really surprised that Motoyasu was the cause of this. He assumed Malty also played a pivotal role. “Give me a few minutes and I can whip up some potions for any injured townsfolk. I’ve also got plenty of herbicide to use.”

“That bird… Are the Savior of the Heavenly Foel by chance.”

“I’m not a big fan of that name.” Izuku sighed as he got to work. “I’m just a humble merchant trying to help people… By the way, do you happen to know where exactly the Spear Hero got that seed? I want to see if I can find anything about it that might help us.”

After giving the potions and herbicide to the villagers to pass out, Izuku made his way to a cave the guard pointed out. Inside he found an old lab with an open chest containing an explicit warning not to use the seed inside. Izuku facepalmed. Did Motoyasu even bother learning this world’s language?

Heading back to the village, Izuku demanded to speak to the Lord in charge.

“You guys knew about the seed didn’t you? Yet you trusted it simply because a Hero told you to.” The Lord looked sheepish. Izuku just sighed. “Tell me where the Miracle Seed was planted. That has to be the Bioplant’s core.”

“It’s that way.” The Lord pointed out. “We sent several adventurers to try and destroy it, but they never came back.”

“We’ll keep an eye out.” Izuku said.

The trio made their way through the overgrown village, managing to free the trapped adventurers before they finally came upon the Bioplant core.

It was then Izuku realized a problem.

He and Raphtalia had gotten pretty good at fighting together. The problem was that now Filo had been added to the mix, throwing everything into disarray.

“Sorry mommy!” Filo yelped as she accidentally tripped over Raphtalia.

Izuku blocked an errant vine. This wasn’t working. The three of them had no experience fighting as a trio, and Izuku couldn’t just send Filo back…

“Filo! Throw me at the core!” Izuku called.

“Okay daddy!” Filo called back as she transformed into her bird form. “YEET!”

‘I didn’t teach her that.’ Izuku internally mused as he was hurtled at the core, slamming into it.

“…Uh… Hi?”

The core made an enraged noise, and Izuku quickly dumped a bottle of herbicide on it, the herbicide boosted by his Shield’s abilities.

The Bioplant let out an unearthly shriek as it withered away.

“Right… That’s done.” Izuku panted as he watched the giant plant crumble.

“Yes but… The village will starve, won’t it?” Raphtalia mused. Izuku looked at the plant before an idea came to him.

“Filo, Raphtalia, start gathering up dead plants and any seeds you can find. I have an idea.”

To Izuku’s delight, absorbing the dead plant plants and seeds gave him abilities that would allow him to modify Bioplants.

With that, he sequestered himself in the old cave lab for the rest of the night.

When he came out the next morning, it was with a multitude of seeds.

“I modified them to increase their speed of growth while also making sure they don’t mutate again.” Izuku explained as he planted the seeds, which grew to into luscious, fruit ridden plants within seconds. “The only downside is that it eats up a lot of nutrients in the soil, so you’ll have to keep in well fertilized. But the plants will constantly produce highly nutritious fruits. I even made them cold resistant, so they should continue blooming even in the winter, though at a slower pace. Still, you could sell any excess fruit to buy livestock.” He plucked a large, juicy looking fruit and held it out. “Go ahead. Try it.”

The townsfolk looked wary, most likely because of the negative experiences they already had with the plant.

Finally, a brave man stepped forward and took a bite out of the fruit. Soon, the whole village was happily eating their hunger with the fruit.

When the village Lord insisted on rewarding Izuku, he merely took some of the excess seeds and fruit, as well as all of the leftover fruits from the unmodified plant Motoyasu had planted. Maybe he could sell some of the seeds to Hickwall…

Hickwall bought quite a few of the seeds for a hefty sum, then asked Izuku for help with a delivery. That was how Izuku and his party ended up at hot springs town.

After making the delivery, the party decided to stay the night and take advantage of the hot springs.

“Silver Boar… Spring of Love…” Raphtalia murmured to herself as she stared at a plaque in the hot spring. “…Bonded for life!?” Raphtalia’s face went cherry red as she covered it with her hands. “Ah! No! Izuku-Sama! You musn’t kiss me! I’ll get pregnant!”

SPLASH!!

Raphtalia whirled around, startled at the noise, only to relax when she saw Filo swimming in the hot springs.

“Filo, don’t splash around so much please…” Raphtalia sighed.

After a few minutes of swimming around, Filo stopped and looked at Raphtalia.

“Mommy, why doesn’t daddy like Filo?”

Raphtalia recoiled, caught off guard by the question.

“W-what do you mean Filo? Izuku-Sama loves you.”

“But he always seems uncomfortable around Filo, and he always gets really uncomfortable when Filo calls him daddy and tries to change the subject.”

Raphtalia sighed.

“Filo, it’s not that he doesn’t love you. Izuku-Sama really cares about you. I guess this whole thing kind of… Came out of nowhere, and he’s having trouble adjusting to it. I’m sure he’ll warm up to it eventually. Just give him some time.”

On the other side of the dividing wall, Izuku sat, overhearing their conversation.

It wasn’t his fault he was so uncomfortable around his D̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ Filolial. Like Raphtalia said, this was all completely sudden to him, added onto the fact he was stuck in an unfamiliar world where people saw him as evil incarnate!

Yes he was uncomfortable with Filo’s daughter my affection, but he still cared a lot about his D̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ Filolial.

He would try to spend more time with her.

They were currently making way toward a town that, according to Hickwall, had seen a sudden spike in medicine sales the past few days. It would take a couple of days to arrive, so they had just been biding their time. On one particular night, just after a storm, Izuku found himself slipping stones across a nearby river.

“What are you doing daddy?” Izuku jumped at the sound of Filo’s voice.

“O-oh! Just skipping some stones.”

“Can Filo try?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Come here.” Filo immediately plopped by his side. “First off, you need a flat stone, otherwise it’ll just go straight to the bottom. Hold it like this… Now, it’s all in the wrist, flick it.”

Filo tossed the rock, and it plopped straight to the bottom.

Filo pouted.

“It’s okay. Just keep trying until you get it. Like this… Okay.”

The rock skipped once before sinking.

“You’re getting it! Just a little more force in your throw this time. Just a little bit…”

The rock skipped five times.

“Yay! Filo did it!”

“That’s good! Try again on your own this time.”

This time, the rock made it all the way to the other side of the river and clattered against the dirt.

“Yay!”

“Good job Filo!” Izuku said proudly as he ruffled her hair, only to realize what he was doing and turn away in embarrassment.

It was fine to be proud of one’s D̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ Filolial, right?

The village was still a day away, so they made camp for tonight. Raphtalia had gone to catch some fish while Izuku worked on some accessories.

He was drawn from his work at the sound of singing, and turned to see Filo singing a little tune to herself as she brought up some firewood.

“Do you like singing Filo?”

“Mhm!” Filo nodded happily. “Filo loves singing!”

“Oh yeah? What song are you singing right now?”

“Filo doesn’t know. Filo is just singing.”

“Really now.” Izuku looked to be in thought. “There were a lot of singers back in my world. But people really loved the idols- OOF!” Izuku looked down to see his D̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ Filolial in his lap, looking up at him expectantly.

“Teach Filo songs from your world daddy.”

Izuku twitched uncomfortably.

“Uh… Sure…”

When they finally arrived at the town, Izuku was shocked by the state it was in.

Apparently the sickness that had swept through it was actually nothing short of a plague.

Izuku was quick, making the highest quality medicines he could while Raphtalia gathered information.

Apparently Ren had slain a dragon that was supposedly terrorizing the town, but had neglected to dispose of the corpse.

“He still thinks this is all a game.” Izuku sighed as he passed out Medicine. “He probably thought the dragon would despawn after he killed it. Either way, it’s clear the dragon’s corpse is the source of the plague, so we’ll have to dispose of it ourselves.” Izuku said, though it looked like something was on his mind.

As they left town and made their way to where the dragon’s corpse was, Izuku voiced his concerns.

“They were lying about the dragon attacking the village.”

“Huh? What do you mean Izuku-Sama?” Raphtalia asked.

“In my world, it’s common for villain attacks to wreck part of a city or town. That village and the surrounding area showed no sign of having been damaged or even recently repaired. And there have been no reports of dragon attacks in this area or Hickwall would have said something. No, either the dragon was peaceful or just neutral. Either way, it definitely didn’t attack the village.”

“So they lied about the dragon to get the Sword Hero to kill it? Why?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

They made their way to a cave the locals had said the dragon had been roosting in, and it didn’t take long to find answers. There were human footprints all over the place, as well as a few stray coins and gems lying about.

“So they had the dragon killed so they could make off with his treasure. Figures. Probably wanted to sell his body parts too. I guess the plague came before they could pick the place clean though.”

“Izuku-Sama… I don’t think the dragon was the only one living here.” Raphtalia spoke up. Izuku followed her into a side room of the cave.

Inside looked like a makeshift child’s room, complete with toys and drawings. Izuku picked a drawing up. It showed what appeared to be a dog Demi-Human with the dragon.

ME AND DAD.

“The dragon adopted a child, and if they were a Demi-Human like the picture shows, the townspeople most likely took them and sold them into slavery.” The paper crinkled as Izuku clenched his shaking fist. “Dammit! Do the people of this world honestly have no shame!?”

“Izuku-Sama…”

“Let’s dispose of the corpse. Then me and the lord are going to have a chat.”

It was as they approached the dragon’s corpse that all hell broke loose.

The supposedly inanimate, rotting lizard suddenly sprang to life.

Izuku could feel intense rage coming from the Zombie Dragon.

“sh*t.”

The dragon promptly spewed out a blast of poisonous gas.

“DODGE!” Izuku shouted as his two teammates acted. He pushed himself off the ground just in time to see Filo in her bird form kick the dragon in the face. “Filo! Get back here!”

Filo paid no mind as she let loose a blast of wind magic.

“Filolials and Dragons are natural enemies!” Raphtalia called. Izuku could only watch as the much larger dragon’s mouth enclosed around his D̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ Filolial, the giant zombie swallowing her as a spray of red erupted from her mouth.

“FILO!!!” Izuku roared.

‘Why… Why does this world keep trying to take everything from me…?’ Izuku thought. ‘First they took my honor, then they tried to take Raphtalia… Now they took Filo… It’s not just this world… I lost a lot the moment I was diagnosed Quirkless… WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE ALL THIS SUFFERING!?’

Izuku trembled as over a decade’s worth of pent up rage began to surface.

‘It’s not fair… IT’S NOT FAIR!!’

DOST THOU DESIRE POWER?

‘What…?’

SUCCUMB TO RAGE. UNLOCK POWER, MAKE ALL WHO HURT YOU SUFFER IN RETURN…

‘Is it… Really that simple…?’

“-Ama! Izuku-Sama!”

Izuku gasped as Raphtalia shook him in a panic.

“Izuku-Sama! The dragon!” Izuku looked up the approaching form of the dragon. He felt the rage emitting from the beast…

And he understood.

“Is this how you felt… When they took your child from you?” Izuku asked as he slowly approached the dragon. “This blinding rage… When they hurt someone dear to you?”

The dragon made no move, as if it was actually listening.

Ignoring his instincts screaming at him for his stupidity, Izuku calmly laid his hand on the dragon’s snout.

“I understand how you feel. I promise… I’ll find your child. I’ll save them.” Izuku steeled his gaze. “I’m not going to let anyone suffer. I’ll protect your child! I’ll be the Hero they need! I promise!”

Izuku blinked, looking around as he found himself in a foggy landscape. He saw a young girl, a dog Demi-Human, standing unresponsive.

A large figure appeared in the mist.

Izuku looked up to see the dragon. Only he wasn’t a rotting corpse, but alive and well.

“Wyndia…” The dragon sighed. “My daughter, Wyndia… Her mother stumbled into my cave one day, at death’s door. Ever since then, I raised her as my own, until the people of Mirso Village grew greedy. I repelled their attacks, but it was when they sent the Sword Hero after me that it became too much. My spirit watched helplessly as the people of Mirso dragged my daughter kicking and screaming out of our home, and I was consumed with unrelenting rage.”

“I understand.” Izuku murmured as he made sure to memorize Wyndia’s face. “I’ll find her.”

“Thank you Shield Hero. The Sword Hero was arrogant, but knowing that there at least one of the Cardinal Heroes will protect my child is enough to put my soul at ease.”

“What’s your name? In case I need to use it with Wyndia?”

“Gaelion. My name is Gaelion.”

The mist cleared, and Izuku stumbled back as the dragon collapsed lifelessly.

There was a scratching noise before its stomach burst open.

“Waaah! It smells in here!”

“Filo!” Izuku yelped as his F̶i̶l̶o̶l̶i̶a̶l̶ daughter climbed out the dragon’s stomach.

“Oh! Hi daddy- eep!” Filo yelped as Izuku tackled her in a hug.

“Are you hurt!? There was a lot of blood!”

“Hm? Filo is okay! Filo didn’t see any blood, but Filo did throw up all the berries Filo ate earlier. Oh! Filo found this too!” His F̶i̶l̶o̶l̶i̶a̶l̶ daughter held out an ominous crystal. “Filo ate half of it, but daddy can have the other half!” Izuku hesitantly took the crystal and absorbed it into his shield.

SHIELD OBTAINED.

ALERT: UNKNOWN SHIELD REQUIRES HIGHER LEVEL TO UNLOCK.

“Can’t even use it yet, huh.” Izuku sighed. “Let’s go back. I’m not going to let them make off with the hoard that belongs to Gaelion’s child.”

As they made their way back, Filo took Izuku’s hand.

“I love you daddy.”

“…I love you too Filo.” Izuku said as he tightened his grip on her hand.

Filo blinked, then a wide smile grew on her face.

“DADDY!!” Filo shouted as she tackled Izuku in a hug.

Maybe being a father wouldn’t be so bad…

??? SHIELD SERIES: UNLOCK CONDITION 1 OF 3 MET.

Chapter 9: Friends.

Chapter Text

“Seriously?” Izuku asked as he and Raphtalia watched a massive crowd of reporters swarm the U.A. gates. Listening closely, he could hear the m harassing the teachers about All Might. “Press always think they’re above the law or something.”

He noticed a shimmer beyond the gate as he saw Hagakure pop into view looking ragged.

“Hold on a second.” Izuku stated as he brought up his party screen while at the same time switching to his Cellphone Shield Series.

CELLPHONE SHIELD III.

ABILITY: CALL: TELEPORTS ALL ACTIVE PARTY MEMBERS TO A CURRENTLY SELECTED PARTY MEMBER.

CURRENT ACTIVE PARTY MEMBERS:

IZUKU MIDORIYA (LEADER)

RAPHTALIA IWATANI.

FILO MIDORIYA.

ATLA FAYON.

KEEL.

RIFANA.

WYNDIA.

SADEENA.

He quickly removed Filo, Atla, Keel, Rifana, Wyndia, and Sadeena from the party, as he knew Filo would definitely get teleported with them, and the other four… He honestly didn’t know what would happen. He knew they would understand though, and he could just go invite them back when he got the chance.

Hagakure sighed as she walked up to the gates. Getting through the mob of reporters had been a hassle. Luckily they didn’t notice her squeeze through when she cloaked herself.

She was pretty tired though. She had spent most of the night talking to All Might, trying to figure out what was up with her Quirk.

Before she would contemplate any further, what seemed to be a menu screen popped up in front of her.

IZUKU MIDORIYA HAS INVITED YOU TO JOIN HIS PARTY.

ACCEPT/DECLINE.

Blinking in confusion, Hagakure hesitantly accepted.

With a soft pop, Izuku and Raphtalia suddenly appeared beside her in a flash of blue light.

“Ah, thanks Hagakure.” Izuku spoke up.

“Uh… You’re welcome? What just-“

“Our Quirks have a lot of video game-like mechanics to it.” Izuku said quickly. “You two go on ahead. I need to add Filo back into the party before she throws a car.”

“Don’t you mean ‘throw a fit’?” Toru asked, wondering who Filo was.

“Oh, she’ll do that too.” Izuku responded.

“I’m sure you heard about the incident in Class 1-A yesterday…” Hana began as she walked into the classroom. “All you need to know is that 1-A was put in a training exercise that was beyond their current skill level. Mistakes like this happen, okay? So don’t expect your class with All Might today to follow the same schedule.” She set down her papers. “Now that that’s out of the way, you need to spend this homeroom deciding who among you will act as your Class Representative and Vice Representative. While I would prefer a simple vote, you’re all free to decide using whichever method you want with one exception: Absolutely no death matches in clown costumes.”

The class sweat dropped at her need to call out that specific thing.

A few minutes later, Izuku was standing at the front of the class as the new Class Rep, with Kendo standing beside him as Vice Rep.

“…Why?” Izuku asked.

“Okay, Midoriya is Class Rep and Kendo is Vice Rep.” Hana explained.

“May I please abstain?” Izuku asked.

“I ask that you at least spend one day in the role before making that decision.”

Izuku sighed wearily.

“Fine.”

“I know you voted for me. Don’t act like you didn’t.” Izuku sighed as he and Raphtalia were getting lunch.

“Oh don’t act like that. Of course people voted for you. After all, you’ve already got leadership experience. Both leading our party and as the Duke of Green Valley.”

“Maybe don’t shout that part out loud.” Izuku sighed as they made their way over to a table where Reiko was already sitting. “I don’t need people sucking up to me.”

“Izuku, you got five votes. That’s a fourth of the class. Clearly some of our classmates recognize you as a leader.”

“Indeed.” Reiko spoke up. “That is why I voted for you. You emanate an aura that makes me wish to follow you.” Izuku just sighed.

“Is Hagakure not coming?” Raphtalia asked.

“I believe I may have seen her heading towards the lounge on my way here.” Reiko responded.

They sat, eating and chatting for a few minutes before a loud noise blared through the cafeteria.

ATTENTION: LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH IN PROGRESS. PLEASE EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION.

The whole cafeteria erupted in panic as students began running like the place was on fire.

“Hey, wait, what’s a Level 3 Security Breach?” Raphtalia asked a passing third year.”

“Oh! Oh! That just means that some intruders have gotten past the front gate and are on campus!” The third year said brightly. “Hey hey! Is that sword your Quirk? Does it always look like that or does it transform? Ooh! What about-“

“Raphtalia, come on!” Izuku called as he dragged Raphtalia with him. They found themselves in an overly crowded hallway of panicking students. “God dammit. This is ridiculous.” Izuku huffed.

Izuku bumped into someone tall.

“It’s you!” Izuku blinked, before groaning as he recognized the blue haired, glasses wearing teen from the Entrance Exam.

Surprisingly, the boy didn’t try to scold Izuku.

“The press have broken onto campus!” The blue haired boy yelled over the crowd. “The teachers are already dealing with them. We must let the students know, but I can’t get through to them.” Izuku blinked as he processed that information, before a flash of orange hair caught his attention.

“Kendo!” Izuku grabbed her shoulder. “Lift me above the crowd.

“Huh!? But-“

“Quickly please.” Izuku stated. Before he knew it, he was above the swarming crowd, where he could indeed see the press walking through the gate.

VOICE GENGAR SHIELD.

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND CALM THE f*ck DOWN!!” Izuku yelled through the shield, the students startled into silence by his amplified voice. “LOOK! IT’S JUST THE PRESS!” He gestured out the window. “FOR f*ck’S SAKE! SOME OF YOU HAVE PROVISIONAL LICENSES ALREADY. IF THIS IS HOW YOU’RE GONNA ACT IN THE FIELD, THEN JUST TRANSFER TO GEN ED ALREADY!”

Some of the upperclassmen looked embarrassed while others looked angry at being called out.

“NOW, CLASS REPS, CALMLY LEAD YOUR CLASSMATES BACK TO THEIR CLASSROOMS AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHERS! OKAY!? YOU GIT THAT!?”

After a few tense moments, the Class Reps began doing as Midoriya said.

“My my, this is not good at all.” Nedzu mused as he inspected what remained of the U.A. Barrier after the police forced the press off of the school grounds, only a pile of rust remaining.

“You think one of the press did this?” Snipe asked as he strode up to Nedzu’s side.

“No. Even if they were willing to take advantage of the gate being destroyed even they know better than that. I believe the press were intended as a distraction.”

“A distraction for what?” Midnight asked.

“I don’t know. But for now, we can consider this a declaration of war.”

“Thank you all for your patience.” Hanako stated as she walked into the classroom. “Due to the break in, we will be cutting school short today and will be giving you the next couple of days off while we revise our security. Classes will resume normal schedule on Friday. I understand some of you were excited for your Heroics class today. I apologize, but you’ll have to put a pin on that.”

The class groaned as they gathered their things and began to leave.

“Ah, Midoriya, about your desire abstain from the Class Rep position…” The green haired boy looked at her expectantly. “I saw the camera footage with you stopping the panic and taking charge of the situation. I’m very pleased. So pleased in fact, I’m locking you in as Class Rep for your entire U.A. Career.”

Izuku stared at her for a minute.

SHIELD PRISON.

A muffled scream came from the orb of shields Izuku had locked himself in as Hana went back to her paperwork.

Izuku had decided to take these unexpected few days off of school to get some errands done.

Said errands being to jump on over to Melromarc to get some potion ingredients and make sure his village was still standing.

“Judging by my estimate, I should be back by Thursday night.” Izuku sighed. “You sure you don’t wanna come with?”

“Filo’s still got her schooling and someone needs to stay behind in case someone comes over looking for you.” Raphtalia sighed. “Then she leaned over and kissed him. “Don’t even think about humoring Sadeena’s advances.” She joked.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Izuku cracked a grin, a relatively rare sight these days.

SPATIAL SHIELD.

A round shield with a blue outer rim, a teal inner rim, a green gem in the very center, and black accents appeared on his arm. He activated its transport ability as Raphtalia stepped back.

The shield began to glow, humming loudly before Izuku vanished in a green flash.

Izuku blinked away the stars as he found himself in a small room.

He looked around at the sound of snoring, and found a young, black and white haired dog Demi-Human passed out on a couch, decked out in armor with a sword hanging loosely from her fingers.

Izuku rolled his eyes.

“Keel, wake up.” He tried nudging the girl.

She just rolled over in her sleep.

Annoyed, Izuku picked up a nearby cup, made sure in was filled with water, and dumped it on the sleeping Demi-Human.

“WAAAAAAHHH!”

CLANG.

Keel’s sword bounced harmlessly off of Izuku’s Shield.

“So the guard captain position I gave you is definitely working out. You’re doing a marvelous job guarding that couch.” Izuku snarked. “Come on Keel, it’s the middle of the day.” Izuku gestured out the window. “What if the village was under attack?”

“I know, I know. I had a long night last night.” Keel sighed, rubbing her eyes

Izuku sighed, pulling an energy drink out of his shield and cracked it open. “Here this should wake you up a bit, just don’t overdo it.” He looked out the window. “So how are things. The place didn’t burn down while I was gone did it?”

“Well, the southwestern orchard caught fire after getting struck by lighting.”

“Oh?” Surprisingly, Izuku sounded a bit hopeful, mostly because that part of the orchard held-

“Oh, but don’t worry! My crepe tree was miraculously unscathed.”

Izuku’s good mood faltered.

“Oh, and we got a bunch of new residents too!” Keeps explained. “We also added two new members to the Shield Guard. A pair of twin dog Demi-Humans. They were actually former Siltvelt Military, but got dishonorably discharged.”

“What for?” Izuku asked.

“Er… I didn’t ask. But they’ve both been really good people so I just kinda let it go. They’re really friendly and dedicated to protecting everyone, or as they say, ‘Protecting the Ruffians’. Uh…” She flipped through some files. “They’re guarding the prison today if you wanna go talk to them.”

“If you say they’re good people then I’ll trust your judgment.” Izuku nodded. “I’m just curious as to what they actually did that got them booted out of the military.” He sighed. “I’ve got some errands to run, but I’ll probably walk around the village first.”

“That’s good. Everyone will be happy to see you!” Keel grinned. “The moral always goes up when Shield Nii-San’s back!”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that?” Izuku sighed. “Oh, yeah, before I forget…”

He went on to invite his friends back into his party.

“The Shield Hero’s back! Did you hear?”

“Lord Shield is back!”

“Sir Motoyasu! The Shield Hero has returned!”

“Wha-“ The blond nearly banged his head against the Filolial he had been trying to reign in. “Oh! Midoriya! Hey!”

“Hey Motoyasu. These two new?” Izuku asked as he walked up to the Spear Hero turned farmer who also bred Filolials on the side.

“Oh, yeah! They’re mates actually! This one’s Sapphire!” He pointed to the blue feathered Filolial who sat by stoically. She’s got an affinity for ice magic and she always seems to know what’s going to happen before it actually does. The old witch thinks she might have some precognitive abilities.” He gestured to the red one he was currently struggling with. “And this one’s Ruby. She’s got fire magic and she’s a bit of a hot head.” He yelled as Ruby nipped his ear, drawing a bit of blood.

“Hm… I might have to introduce them to Filo some time.” Izuku mused.

“Oh? Yeah! That sounds great. By the way… Have you gone to see Ren yet?”

The mood seemed to drop a bit.

“Not yet.” Izuku sighed. “He hasn’t gotten better, has he?”

“No. If anything he may have gotten worse.” Motoyasu said grimly. “I’m just glad the waves have stopped. Otherwise Fitoria might have done something rash.”

“I think she’s mostly learned her lesson.” Izuku huffed. “Let’s… Talk about something else. You hear from Itsuki?”

“Yes actually! He visited a few weeks ago. Said that Rishia has gotten along with his parents really well and she’s even been mostly able to integrate with his world.”

“That’s good. Raphtalia and Filo are getting by really well too. Filo even made some new friends.”

“Oh yeah?” Simultaneously, as off by instinct, both happened to glance at a line Sakura tree off in the distance, surrounded by a few spider Lilies.

“…Take care Motoyasu.”

“Izuku.” Wyndia nodded as she pulled a heavily intoxicated Sadeena out of the tavern.

“Another dunking competition?” Izuku asked, a hint of amusem*nt in his voice. “Need a hand?”

“Nah, I’m good. This is far from the first time I’ve been called in for this.”

“Midoriya!” Sadeena slurred. “Lesh f*ck!” Both Izuku and Wyndia rolled their eyes.

“I’ll let you get back to it. We can talk more later.” Izuku said with a nod.

Two young ladies sat by the grave, leaning on each other’s shoulders, taking comfort in the other’s presence. One was slightly shorter than her partner with long black and white hair and a tail, while the other had short pink hair.

Izuku called out to them. They both jolted.

“Ah! Izuku-Sama. You’ve returned.” The black and white haired lady stood, blue eyes almost sparkling.

A far cry from the blind, almost dead child she once was.

“Atla, Rifana.” Izuku smiled sadly. “I can see you’re busy. I just wanted to say hi. We can talk later if you want.”

“Yes! We’d like that.” Atla said with a smile as she grasped his hands while Rifana smiled gently.

Cast a glance at the grave.

FOHL FAYON.

“Moco-Chan, he’s the Shield Hero, right?” The older, pink eyed twin spoke.

“The shield’s smaller than I expected.” The younger, blue eyed twin mused. “Bao bao.”

“Bao bao.” The older one affirmed.

“So I understand you two were dishonorably discharged from Siltvelt Military?” Izuku asked. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m just curious as to what happened.”

“Oh! It was during a Wave!” The older twin spoke softly. “Our commander ordered all of us to focus on the boss.”

“But there were ruffians being hurt by the monsters, so we went to protect them instead.” The younger twin spoke. “So we were let go for insubordination.”

“Were we bad guard dogs Shield Hero?” The older twin asked.

Izuku shook his head.

“Your commander was the one in the wrong, not you two. Taking out the Boss is a priority, but civilian lives should always take a higher precedence. I think your Commander just wanted the glory of defeating the Boss.” He sighed. “Fuwawa-San, Mococo-San, keep up the good work.”

“Of course! It’s our duty to protect the ruffians! Bao bao bao- Moco-Chan, why aren’t you bao bao-ing?”

“Rebellious phase.”

“Oh! Okay!”

Shaking his head in amusem*nt, Izuku stepped into the prison.”

“Hey Ren…” The cell Izuku stood before was a special one, designed for one thing:

Containing someone wielding the title of Hero.

Izuku’s eyes briefly flickered to the container holding Sword Of Lust, bound by a magical seal to keep Ren from summoning it.

“Is Wyndia with you?” Was the first thing out of Ren’s mouth. Izuku sighed.

“No, let’s not talking about Wyndia, okay? How have you been?”

“Oh good except for the fact that I have to spend 24/7 in a f*cking prison cell.” Ren spat.

“We don’t want to kill you Ren, but we can’t let you just wander around after what you did-“

“Wyndia belongs to me!” Ren shouted, a crazed look in his eyes. “She’s perfection! She deserves better than scum like you!”

“Wyndia and I aren’t even interested in each other like that.” Izuku sighed.

“You think that just because you have a f*cking shield you can keep us apart!?” Ren shouted in delusion. “You’ll only get her killed, just like you got HER killed! You can’t protect anyone!!”

“…Goodbye Ren.” Izuku responded. Voice full of absolute venom.

He left the prison, and took the rest of the day to cool off so as to prevent himself from strangling the Sword Hero.

It was nice, spending time with his friends. Wyndia and Rifana even helped him with the ingredients hunting, and the villagers loved seeing him again.

He was almost reluctant when the day for him to return home came.

“Settle down now.” Shota Aizawa spoke as he entered the classroom, his mere presence casting a vail of unease. They had just come back from their unscheduled break from school the U.A. Security System having received several upgrades. “We’ll be doing something different for Heroics today. Get in your costumes and get outside by the buses… NOW.”

The majority of the class bolted to action, not wanting to incur their teacher’s wrath.

Aizawa shook his head as he sat at the front of the bus that was taking them to their destination. This whole thing was completely illogical. He kept trying to tell Nedzu that the USJ and Rescue Training as a whole were completely pointless, but the rat refused to listen to reason and insisted that it be mandatory.

His mind wandered to his current batch of students. There were the ones that had quite a lot of potential: Bakugo, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Monoma.

Bakugo and Uraraka especially seemed to understand the pointlessness of Rescue operations if their Entrance Exam scores were anything to go by. Of the students in his class, those two had the most potential.

Then there was the other end of the spectrum. Students he would have expelled on the spot if not for Nedzu taking away his right to do so.

Couldn’t he see that he NEEDED his ability to expel students at will? These brats were only going to get themselves killed!

First there was Mina Ashido. The girl seemed to treat Heroics like a game. If he had to bet on which students would probably kick the bucket the quickest, she would definitely be on that list.

Then there was Momo Yaoyarozu, the Class Rep. She was smart and had an extremely versatile Quirk, something which got her in through recommendations, but that was all she had going for her.

She was far too naive. She wouldn’t last a week in the real world.

Then they had Koji Koda. The fact that a near mute kid whose only power was speaking to and controlling animals somehow managed to pass the Entrance Exam could only mean he must have cheated somehow. The quiet ones were always the ones you had to keep an eye on.

Then finally, the worst of the bunch: Toru Hagakure. He could tell the girl was connected to All Might somehow. He saw how the blond off was keeping his eye on her during the Exam. That alone was a red flag for Aizawa.

On top of that, the girl herself was arrogant, seemed to think the world should revolve around her just because she had a powerful Quirk.

On top of that, if she pushed her Quirk too far (Anything above 45% as he heard her tell Ashido one day.), she would shatter her bones. The fact that she didn’t have near perfect control of a Quirk she’d had for over a decade told Aizawa that she was lazy too, and would require too much effort.

Her recklessness during the Battle Trials only hammered that home.

She also apparently had connections to another trouble maker Aizawa had failed to get his hands on: Izuku Midoriya.

Over all, she was a real problem child. Aizawa hoped she would slip up badly enough that he would be able to replace her with a student who had been wronged by the biased Entrance Exam: Hitoshi Shinso.

He only needed to wait.

Toru’s head hurt.

They had been brought to an on campus facility called the USJ for Rescue Training. Something which some of her classmates didn’t seem pleased about.

(She rolled her eyes as she heard Uraraka scoff and call Thirteen-Sensei a ‘Sorry excuse for a Hero’.)

She had been completely fine until she stepped through the door into the USJ, only to get a spike of pain through her head.

The dull throb distracted her from the lecture, until it turned into a sharp spike as a cloud of purple mist opened in the center of the facility, and a man covered in what appeared to be hands clawed his way out.

“Are we starting already?” Kirishima asked as more people began to pour out of the smoke. “I thought this was Rescue Training-“

“Stay back!” Aizawa said sharply as he pulled his goggles on. “This is REAL. Those are Villains!”

The class began to panic.

Then they realized something: The alarms weren’t going off.

They tried to have Kaminari contact the school, but he couldn’t get through.

They were trapped in an isolated facility with an army of villains.

“Thirteen, get them out of here now.” Aizawa shouted as he leapt down towards the hoard.

As Thirteen attempted to get the to the exit, a man made of purple mist appeared in front of them.

A warping Quirk?

“Greetings. Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the League Of Villains.” The most man spoke up. “You may call me Kurogiri. I apologize for this intrusion, but we simply couldn’t help ourselves.” He looked around. “Hm… The schedule said that All Might would be here. This is Class 1-A, yes?”

“No! We’re class B!” Toru said. Kurogiri eyed her for a moment.

“A valiant trick, but one that will not work.” Kurogiri spoke.

“Everyone get back!” Thirteen shouted as the caps on her fingers popped open. It was all for naught as Bakugo and Kirishima suddenly charged the man.

“Like hell we’re letting you do what you want!” Bakugo grinned like a feral animal.

“That was a close one…” Kurogiri spoke, unharmed. “It appears we must do something about this.”

“Both of you! Get out of the way now!” Thirteen shouted.

“BEGONE!!” Kurogiri roared as the majority of the class was enveloped in mist.

Toru’s headache was unbearable at this point.

It was made worse as she found herself tumbling through the air. She hit the ground, winded, before sudden wave of cold enveloped her.

Instincts kicked in as she suddenly shattered the ice that had covered her.

“Are you crazy!?” She demanded as she saw Todoroki standing by in his utterly ridiculous costume. “Haven’t you ever heard of friendly fire!?”

Todoroki blinked, as if just realizing he wasn’t the only student sent to the part of the USJ.

“My apologies. I didn’t see you.” He said before turning to one of the frozen villains. “Now then-“

BOOM

Both students stumbled back as a large figure slammed into the center of the zone.

The… thing let out an unearthly shriek. It was tall, had black, chitinous armor, almost like an exoskeleton, and had spider-like mutations with multiple eyes and sets of arms. The most disturbing aspect was the creature’s exposed brain.

“There was another one of those brain creatures with the Hand Guy.” Todoroki mused. “This one looks a lot different. So there are more of these things. I don’t think they’re human.”

He sent out a wave of ice. And Toru headache spiked. Almost as if on instinct, she tackled Todoroki to the ground just as web like threads burst from the creature’s fingertips, slicing through the ice like a hot knife through butter and nearly taking their heads off.

Toru stumbled to her feet as she stared at the abomination.

“We have to fight, we have no choice.” Toru huffed. “Otherwise, we’re going to die here…”

Her skin began to sparkle, enveloping her as if light passing through a prism.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got Todoroki.”

ONE FOR ALL: PRISM CLOAK: 45%

Chapter 10: The Third Shielder.

Chapter Text

Aizawa cursed. He looked away for a second and the warp guy was gone.

…

Whatever. If those kids couldn’t handle one measly villain, then they obviously had no place in the Hero Course.

The villains were thrown off their game. After all, people were so reliant on their damn Quirks that it actually became a detriment when they couldn’t access it.

The Heteromorphs were a bit more of a problem, since they weren’t affected by his Quirk, but he managed just fine. He did have a Quirk he could rely on after all.

He couldn’t help but wonder why their leader was just standing there counting though.

“Hmm… It would seem I did not manage to get all of you.” Kurogiri mused. “No matter.”

“Children, get behind me now!” Thirteen called out to the remaining students as she held up her hand threateningly.

“Vice Rep.” She whispered to Iida. “You’re one of the fastest students in this class. I’m going to deal with this guy. I need you to get out of the building and alert the main campus.”

“I… I cannot just abandon my peers-“

“You’re not abandoning us. Listen. He’s trying to keep us inside the building. I think the security may have only been disabled inside of the USJ.”

“But Sensei-“

“Listen to me. When a Hero comes across something they can’t take on themselves, they pull back and get backup. That’s what you’re doing right now. You’re getting us backup. Do you understand?”

“…Yes Sensei. I will not fail you.”

“You really should not discuss your plans in front of your enemies.” Kurogiri spoke up as his mist began to expand.

“Go. NOW!” Thirteen ordered as one of her finger caps popped open. “BLACK HOLE!”

“Mnf…!” Kurogiri recoiled from the powerful suction. “I think not.”

The students watched in horror as a warp gate opened behind Thirteen, the suction from her Quirk tearing her costume apart as she collapsed.

“THIRTEEN!” Mina cried.

“Dammit, it’s hot here.” One of the villains complained as they stalked through the Conflagration Zone. “Where does U.A. get the budget for this sh*t?”

“Doesn’t matter. They had to have sent some students here, so spread out.”

“Wait, look!” The villains turned to see a blond haired boy walking up to them with a psychotic smirk.

“That Warping Extra made a big mistake sending me here.” Bakugo sneered, hands popping with explosions. “All this heat’s making me sweat my ass off.”

“Get your hands off of me creep!” Uraraka slapped the Tokoyami’s hand away.

“You’re welcome.” Tokoyami scoffed. When they were caught in the Warp Guy’s Quirk, Tokoyami’s body moved on its own, and he dove to protect the classmate closest to him.

Unfortunately, said classmate was an ungrateful brat.

“Where the hell are we!? And why is it so wet?!” Uraraka complained.

“We appear to be in the rain zone I saw from the entrance.” Tokoyami sighed. “At least Dark Shadow can take advantage of the lack of light.”

“Ugh! This is so annoying! Hey bird boy, you can fan me on the way back to the plaza.”

Tokoyami was at a loss for words.

“Are you out of your mind!? We’re in the middle of a villain attack!”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be all wet and soggy!” Uraraka snapped.

There was a loud crash as a large green creature with long, spindly arms and legs and an exposed brain appeared. It appeared to stare at Tokoyami for a moment, then turned its gaze to Uraraka.

At which point it let out an inhuman shriek and charged at the gravity girl.

Toru narrowly dodged a razor sharp web that had come inches from her neck.

She couldn’t quite explain it, but whenever she was in danger, her headache suddenly spiked, allowing her to know the direction the danger was coming from.

Still didn’t help much when her opponent was a lot faster and stronger than her and Todoroki. Every time the by fired ice at the monster, it was almost immediately smashed or sliced to bits.

“Don’t you have fire too!? You melted the ice you made in the Quirk Assessment Test and Battle Trials!”

“I won’t use my left side in battle!” Todoroki snarked as another glacier was smashed to bits.

Strange, for a few brief seconds, it seemed like the monster was almost childishly gleeful as it smashed the ice.

“Well obviously your ice isn’t f*cking working here! And don’t think I don’t see you shivering over there!”

Todoroki just grit his teeth and continued using his ice.

{-Going to get herself killed at this point. There’s no way she can beat that thing at 45%!}

{What else is she supposed to do, shatter her bones at the risk of that thing killing her anyway!? And that Todoroki kid sure as sh*t ain’t helping!}

{What about Fa Jin?}

{She’s still adjusting to Gearshift and Danger Sense. Adding another Quirk at this time could only make the problem worse!}

‘Who’s talking!?’ Toru thought.

{…}

{Uh… Hey Nine!} A sickly voice spoke up. {So uh… Wow, guess we’re already hitting Singularity, huh? Uh… Listen, we’ll explain everything later. Right now that abomination should be your main focus.}

{At this rate her best chance is to outmaneuver it and go for the exposed brain.} A female voice said. {Kudo, can you help her?}

{…}

{Boss, listen. I’m not a fan of All Might’s choice either, but if she dies now, One For All will die with her.}

There was a sigh.

Toru felt the same strange sensation that she did during the Battle Trial as her body began to speed up.

And it started getting harder to breathe.

{Calm down!} A new voice spoke up. {Listen to me! I am the second user of One For All, and you are currently manifesting my Quirk! We’ll explain everything later. I’ll take control of my Quirk for now, you just focus on fighting!}

Despite the fact that she was moving much faster, Toru was still able to react accordingly.

(Gran Torino’s training meant she had some pretty good reflexes.)

She suddenly froze in mid air, narrowly avoiding a web aimed for her neck as the monster swatted Todoroki into a nearby rock formation. She abruptly began moving again.

{Attack NOW}

ONE FOR ALL: 100%.

Toru slammed her foot into the creature’s exposed brain, wincing as she felt her leg shatter from the impact. The Nomu crashed to the floor, splattering blood and bits of gray matter about as Toru hit the floor, her leg red and swollen as she grit her teeth in pain.

{You gotta be f*cking kidding me. That thing’s still alive!?} Toru’s head snapped toward the monster, watching in horror as its damaged brain regenerated. The beast stumbled to its feet as Toru began to panic.

The beast scrambled away from Toru.

In confusion, she caught the monster’s eye.

They were no longer the eyes of a mindless abomination.

They were the eyes of a terrified child.

With a loud screech that sounded disturbingly like a cry of agony, the beast fled as Todoroki began to recover.

“Can’t believe I have to fight this ugly thing.” Uraraka complained as she hurled a piece of debris at the monster. “You should be protecting me bird face!”

“Will you SHUT UP.” Tokoyami snarled, fed up with the girl’s incessant whining and skewed priorities as Dark Shadow knocked the monster back. For some reason it was mostly ignoring Tokoyami and focusing mainly on Uraraka. “Why are you even in the Hero Course in the first place if you don’t even want to do your job!?”

“I don’t have to answer to you! Now hurry up and get rid of this thing or I’m telling Sensei you tried to grope me!”

In a burst of anger, Dark Shadow slammed the monster into a nearby building, impaling it on rebar. Tokoyami assured himself that this thing was just a mindless inhuman abomination. That he didn’t gave much choice.

“You have got to be one of the least heroic people I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting.” Tokoyami snarled.

“Whatever, just get me out of here.” Uraraka scoffed.

Resisting the urge to throttle the girl, Tokoyami took the lead.

Uraraka waited until Tokoyami’s back was to her before turning to the monster, rapidly bleeding out as it tried feebly to reach her.

She gave a smug grin and followed the bird boy.

“Those monsters, Shigaraki called them Nomu!” The goon said in a panic. “He said they’re bioengineered monsters, and that the big black one he came in with is designed to kill All Might! They were given to him by someone called Sensei, that’s all I know, I swear!”

Amazing how much information someone was willing to spill when faced with a slow, agonizing death by freezing.

Todoroki promptly froze his mouth shut.

“The Heroes will come get you. At the temperature I set that ice you should be good for about an hour.” He said as he began to walk away.

“H-hey! Where are you going!?” Toru yelled as she was trying to set her broken leg.

“I’m going to go get rid of that Anti-All Might Nomu.” Todoroki responded.

“You’re just going to leave me here!? I can’t move!”

“Exactly. In your current state you’ll only be a liability. You’ll be fine here for now.”

“What!? Hey! Get back here Todoroki! What the f*ck!?” Toru shouted until she was left alone.

{Wow, what a dick.} A gruff voice spoke in her head.

Near the top of the Landslide Zone, a figure watched, before making her way down.

Iida could only watch as Thirteen lay on the ground in agony. His best hope of escaping the USJ to warn the school now lay on the ground

Was this where they were going to die?

…

An Image of a green haired boy selflessly harming himself to take down the Zero Pointer flashed in his mind.

“We still have a job to do!” Iida yelled. “I need you all to cover me!” His engines began to heat up.

“How pathetic! Your road ends HERE!” Kurogiri snarled as he shot toward Iida.

“Get away!” Mina called as she tried something Midoriya had mentioned to her. Forming a nozzle with her hands, she was surprised when acid sprayed out like a pressurized hose, and even more surprised when Kurogiri recoiled in pain. “He has a real body under there!”

A strand on tape shot out, latching onto a somewhat visible metal brace hidden within Kurogiri’s fog as the tape boy yanked.

“Go Iida!”

The blue haired boy immediately took off toward the door.

“I’ve had enough of this! BEGONE!!” Kurogiri yelled as he attempted to envelop Iida, only to recoil again as he was once again hit with acid.

“Hydrochloric Acid!” Mina shouted. “It’s pretty conductive you know! Right Kaminari?”

The blond smirked as he heard Mina’s words, sparking with electricity.

“Get BENT!” Kaminari shouted as he let loose all the electricity he could muster.

Kurogiri could only watch helplessly, every nerve and muscle spasming violently as Iida pried open the door and managed to slip out of the building.

‘This is not good.’ Was all he could think as he collapsed to the ground, spasming.

Aizawa panted heavily as he stood among the unconscious goons.

What worried him the most was that these guys were nothing more than low level street thugs. Mere canon fodder.

Even with the large numbers, there’s no way these guys would be able to kill All Might as the hand guy claimed.

He turned at the sound of running, and saw the hand guy rushing at him.

Aizawa blinked, and the hand guy grabbed his elbow.

Aizawa could only grunt in pain as his shirt, then his skin, began to disintegrate. He kicked the hand guy in the stomach and leapt back, arm dangling uselessly.

“First it was thirty seconds… Then it was twenty five… Then seventeen…” Hand guy muttered. “It was hard to tell at first from how you were jumping around, but your hair starts floating whenever you activate your Quirk, and the time between your blinking is getting shorter and shorter, Eraserhead.” Hand guy grinned underneath the hand on his face.

“Let me guess, final boss huh?” Aizawa sneered.

Hand guy laughed.

“Who? Me? No. The final boss… He’s right behind you.”

Aizawa whirled around just in time for a large black mass to strike him like a literal truck, blood splattering as his skull was slammed into the concrete.

Toru’s headache spiked.

{sh*t! That’s Danger Sense!} A new voice spoke in her head. {Where-}

A raven haired girl, probably around Tori’s age, appeared in front of her suddenly, as if teleporting in from thin air. She stared at Toru with near emotionless purple eyes, but what really drew her attention was the item on her arm.

‘A Shield?’ Indeed, just like Midoriya, the girl had a shield attacked to her arm, hers being small and round with what seemed to be an hourglass in the center.

“Who are you? Are you with the villains?”

“Unfortunately.” The girl replied stoically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means the villains are no friends of mine. I’m only here because Shigaraki’s Sensei threatened someone very dear to me.”

“Huh?” The girl sighed at Tori’s confusion.

“My Quirk is far more complex than how it looks at first glance. Too complex for Shigaraki’s Sensei to want to take for himself, but it’s still and Omega Level Quirk, so he merely saw fit to threaten someone dear to me to force me into working with them.”

“You don’t have to work with them.” Toru tried. “U.A. can protect you and that person you care about.”

The girl sighed wearily.

“You severely underestimate the Symbol of Evil.” The girl replied solemnly. She reached into her shield and pulled a gun from… Somewhere.

“Who exactly are you?” Toru asked, trying to stall as much as possible.

It didn’t really work as the girl pointed the gun at Toru.

“My name is Homura Akemi, and for what it’s worth, I really am sorry about this.”

Chapter 11: Cavalry.

Chapter Text

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER:

“I mean, yeah, growing mushrooms in someone’s throat would immobilize them pretty quickly, though it could also be pretty risky. You could accidentally kill someone if you’re not careful…” Izuku mused as he wrote in his notebook. Nearby, the class was taking turns running laps. “You’d probably want to go to the Support Department and get some kind of fungicide that works specifically for your Quirk… Unless you’re planning to go Underground, then you can get away with more.”

“I…” Kinoko Komori blinked in a combination of confusion and terror. “I only asked if I could borrow a pencil.”

Izuku just shrugged.

“Just something to think about.”

“Holy sh*t it’s All Might!” Kamakiri yelped.

Immediately, the class’s attention was on the hard to miss figure of the Number One Hero.

Izuku, on the other hand, merely switched to a new shield when no one was looking.

MAGNIFYING GLASS SHIELD:

SPECIAL ABILITY: ASSESS: ALLOWS THE USER TO SCAN A PERSON OR OBJECT TO GAIN DETAILED INFORMATION ON THEIR TARGET.

NOTE: WHILE THIS SHIELD CAN GIVE INFORMATION ON HOW A PERSON’S QUIRK CAN EFFECT THEIR OWN BODY AND VICE VERSA, IT CANNOT GIVE ANY ACTUAL INFORMATION ON THE QUIRK ITSELF.

Only Raphtalia noticed Izuku’s eyes go wide as he pointed the shield at All Might.

“Ah! Hello there children!” All Might said brightly. “This must be class 1-B, yes? Our first class together was postponed, so-“

“Aren’t you supposed to be with 1-A at the USJ?” Hana asked, arms crossed as she walked up to the man.

All Might winced.

“Er, well, just got a bit sidetracked on the way here this morning. I was actually on my way there now.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already had a talk with Nedzu…”

“…”

“Oh come on Hana!” All Might whispered to the woman frantically. “Nedzu already gave me a lecture.”

“And I’ll be sure to give you another one later.” Hanako replied, hands on her hips as All Might began to sweat nervously. “…Hm?” Hanako looked over his shoulder as she noticed a figure barreling towards them at high speed. All Might turned to see.

“Wait, isn’t that young Iida? What is he-“

“VILLAINS!!” Iida yelled as he slid to a halt, panting from his intense run. “An army of Villains are invading the USJ with the intent to kill All Might! They’ve separated the class and have already taken down Thirteen!”

Immediately, a wave of tension and dread swept over everyone present.

“…Class Rep, escort the class back to the classroom. Remain there until further notice.” Hana spoke calmly. “All Might-“

He was already gone, moving towards the USJ at high speeds.

‘Dammit All Might.’ Hana thought. ‘Don’t think I didn’t see that steam coming off you. You’re just about at your limit today…’

As the class made their way back to the classroom, Hana dragged Iida with her as she phoned Nedzu.

Izuku watched through the window as the teachers and Iida were making their way towards one of the buses with the intention of reaching the USJ as fast as possible. His class were talking worriedly amongst themselves.

“Izuku?” Raphtalia whispered worriedly as she walked up to him. “What did you see when you scanned All Might?”

“Eri was right.” Raphtalia’s mind flashed to a girl with long, black hair staring up at her with dull, almost lifeless, depressed blue eyes. “All Might’s getting weaker. He’s missing a lung and most of his stomach. Worse, he barely has around seven minutes left in this form. If he pushes himself too far…”

“It should be fine though… Right?”

“You heard Iida. The villains have come to kill All Might. If they’re so ballsy as to attack the second most fortified places in Japan, then they likely have something to back up their claims. In fact, they may have even orchestrated the incidents that All Might resolved on the news just to tire him out.”

He switched to his Cellphone Shield.

“Are you sure we should get involved?” Raphtalia asked.

“Society has become far too dependent on All Might. If he dies here so suddenly, it may just collapse. Besides, meddling where you don’t need to is the essence of being a Hero. Luckily I kept Hagakure in the party. She’s already lost some health, so she’s probably fighting right now.”

“But how will the teleportation react to everyone back in Green Valley?”

“We’re about to find out.” Izuku said as he went to activate the teleportation.

ALERT: THE FOLLOWING PARTY MEMBERS CANNOT BE TRANSPORTED AT THIS TIME: WYNDIA, RIFANA, KEEL, ATLA FAYON, SADEENA.

DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED? Y/N.

“Huh… That was anticlimactic.” Izuku mused. “Kendo! I’m leaving you in charge!”

Before anyone could speak, Izuku and Raphtalia disappeared in a flash.

A COUPLE MINUTES EARLIER:

“We should start a club!” Kaede spoke up. She, Risa, and Filo were currently sitting by a tree in the park.

“Yay! A club!” Filo cheered.

“What kind of club?” Risa asked suspiciously.

“A club for people like us!” Kaede said brightly.

“Outcasts you mean?”

“That’s such a mean term! I mean people who are just not understood very well!”

“I mean… If you’re so insistent about it.” Risa sighed. “What would we even call the club?”

“Uh…?”

“I know, since you came up with it, why don’t we call it Maple Tree?”

“Eh!? N-no! That-“

“Maple?” Filo asked with a tilt of her head.

“Yeah, it’s a nickname I gave her after she named her pet turtle Syrup.” Risa snickered.

“Yay! Filo likes that name!”

“H-hold on a minute!”

“Two against one, it’s decided!” Risa teased while Kaede despaired.

Filo began to glow.

“Oh! Daddy needs Filo!” The Filolial spoke up. “Let grandma know for Filo!”

She disappeared with a flash.

Toru glared down the barrel of Homura’s pistol as the raven haired girl prepared to fire.

WARP REFRACTION.

“Gah!?” Homura tried to shield her eyes as Toru began glowing ridiculously bright.

Toru took the opportunity to launch herself at the girl, her arms straining under the use of One For All while her broken leg flailed uselessly behind her.

Homura instantly appeared behind Toru and smacked her to the ground with a golf club.

“I did not enjoy that.” Homura said bluntly.

“Don’t apologize for something if you’re just gonna do it anyway!” Toru snapped. Homura sighed.

“If you insist.”

She pulled the trigger…

And the bullet rebounded with a loud clang.

“What NOW!?” She huffed in frustration as a green haired boy, a small angel, and a Tanuki appeared before her.

“Filo, kick!”

“Okay!”

Filo punted Toru into a rock.

“I- You- THE OTHER GIRL! Kick the other girl!” Izuku yelled in exasperation.

“Well you should have been more specific!”

“That’s right, we haven’t introduced her to Hagakure yet, have we?” Raphtalia mused.

Homura vanished and reappeared behind Izuku when Filo tried to kick her.

“Aw…”

Izuku reacted quickly, bullets bouncing off his shield as Raphtalia moved to intercept, only for the raven haired girl to suddenly appear behind the Tanuki.

CELLPHONE SHIELD II.

Raphtalia appeared by Izuku’s side in a flash of light.

Izuku stared.

“It’s not a teleportation Quirk.”

Homura recoiled.

“Her reactions are almost inhumanly fast, on top of that hourglass on her shield shifting every time… I think your Quirk has something to do with time.”

‘He figured that out just from seeing me use it a few times!?’ Homura internally freaked, giving Izuku enough time to bring up a Shield Prison around her. ‘Dammit!’

Izuku walked up to the sphere, using his magic to keep it active.

“You’re about our age, aren’t you? Why are you doing this?”

“You would never understand.” Homura snapped through a small opening on the prison. “You’ll never understand what’s it’s like, protecting the people you care about. You-“

She recoiled at the glare Izuku leveled at her.

“You see them?” He gestured to where Raphtalia and Filo were standing, Raph-Chan poking her head out of Filo’s bag. “I’ve spilled blood for them. I’ve taken on entire countries for them, and I’ll do so again without hesitation.” He grimaced. “There used to be another one of us.”

Homura jerked.

Izuku leapt back as the Shield Prison exploded from the inside.

“I don’t need your pity!” Homura snapped as she leveled a rifle in Izuku’s direction.

The Shield Trio prepared to fight…

Only for Homura to drop the gun suddenly, clutching at her chest as she stumbled back, before collapsing to the floor, struggling for breath.

Confused, Izuku used his Magnifying Glass Shield, finding out that the girl had a pre existing heart condition and had over exerted herself breaking out of the Shield Prison.

With a sigh, Izuku pulled out a couple of potions as he called over to the girl, unwilling to just leave her, especially since she really didn’t seem like a bad person.

“Hey uh… Midoriya? I know this probably isn’t the best time but… I think the bird girl broke my ribs.” Toru wheezed.

Izuku paused, before handing a potion to Raphtalia to use on Toru while he tended to Homura.

Bakugo hacked violently as he blew another villain away.

Damn this f*cking lung damage!!

One villain had managed to find an opening while Bakugo was juggling a breathing fit and another pair of villains.

“Say goodnight!” The villain cackled as he lunged, only to hit the ground spasming as he was engulfed in electricity, and was then knocked out by a rocky fist.

“My my, I guess it’s a good thing I decided to copy some of my classmate’s Quirks beforehand, wouldn’t you agree?” The smug ass voice that made Bakugo’s blood boil spoke up as he turned to see that loud mouthed blond idiot and that sh*tty haired weirdo.

“I didn’t need your f*cking help Extras! You got that!?” Bakugo snapped.

“Hey, come on guys, let’s not fight.” Kirishima tried, getting between them. There were a few tense moments of silence before Bakugo turned away.

“Tch. Whatever. I’ve got better things to do than waste time with you extras.”

“Hey man, where are you going?”

“To take out that f*cking mist guy you idiots!”

“Oh really? Is it not your attempt to take out that villain that got us into this mess in the first place you heathens?” Monoma mocked.

“Shut the hell up you damn leech. I just got thrown off because of the f*cking mist! But the guy was wearing some kind of brace, and which means he definitely has a real body under there.” Bakugo snapped as he began to make his way towards the exit.

“Ok. She should be good now.” Izuku mused as he stood up from Homura’s unconscious form. He turned to see Raphtalia helping the freshly healed Hagakure to her feet.

“What are you guys doing here? How did you know we were in trouble? I thought the villains cut us off from the main campus.”

“That walking board with the glasses showed up during our training. I think he managed to escape.”

“Oh, Iida? So he managed to warn the campus?”

“All Might was on his way here while Sensei took Iida to get the other teachers, but I used one of my shields to scan All Might. It told me that he suffered a serious injury several years ago that limited his ability to use his Quirk, and that he’s just about hit his limit today.”

Toru suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“Um… The villains brought these bio engineered monsters called Nomu, and they said one of them was specifically designed to kill All Might.”

Izuku looked to be in thought.

“All Might’s fighting style mainly revolves around powerful punches to take his enemies out in an instant, and he’s usually holding back. On top of that, he’s taken blows that would kill a normal man without flinching. In order to kill All Might, this Nomu thing would need to not only be able to withstand All Might’s punches at full power, but also be strong enough to break through All Might’s heightened durability, as well as fast enough to keep up with All Might, who can move faster than the normal human eye can track.”

“Daddy, it sounds like the monsters would need to have multiple Quirks.” Filo piped up.

Izuku smiled, a genuine smile that caught Toru completely off guard.

“That’s right! Good girl.” Filo preened as Izuku pat her head.

“Rafu!” Raph-Chan chimed in.

“B-but, that’s ridiculous, a person can’t have multiple Quirks. I mean, Duel-Quirks like Todoroki’s do exist, but they’re just one Quirk with the power of two.” Toru looked really uncomfortable for some reason.

“I don’t know. If what you said about them being bio engineered is true, anything’s possible.” Izuku responded.

‘Especially if they have access to a Quirk like his.’ He thought to himself.

He turned to Raphtalia and Filo.

“Right. Let’s go over the plan. Both of you are pretty powerful and could easily go toe to toe with All Might if you went all out, if not beat him outright. Raphtalia, even if I were to use the Family Bond Shiield to give you Filo’s Speed and my Defense, I honestly believe that Filo’s fighting style is better suited to go up against an All Might killer.”

“Right.” Raphtalia said with a nod.

“That being said, I need you to cover the other Zones here in the building and aid the other students. We don’t know how many of these Nomu things there are.” Raphtalia gave a determined nod and turned on her heels, moving towards the exit as Izuku turned to Filo.

“Filo, I’ll need you to go all out on this thing, okay? Don’t hold back.”

“Okay daddy!” Filo stretched out her arms, and in a flash of light, a pair of claw-like weapons enveloped her hands.

Izuku turned to Toru, who was giving him a look. “What?”

“This isn’t your first rodeo, is it?” The way he took charge, planned, how those two listened without hesitation. There was no way they hadn’t done something like this before.

“You have your secrets, and I have mine.” Izuku responded as he turned.

“Midoriya.” The boy stopped. “You said… You can scan people. Does this ability tell you anything about the person’s Quirk?”

“The most Assess can get out of a person’s Quirk is how it affect their biology and vice versa. Information about the Quirk itself is a no go though. Honestly, I prefer it that way. My analytical skills are something I pride myself on. Wouldn’t do to have cheat codes. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, just curious is all.” She sighed with relief as she helped move Homura to a safe spot before following.

‘Hagakure…’ Izuku mused internally. ‘You have One For All, don’t you?’

Tomura Shigaraki scratched himself in annoyance as Nomu pummeled Eraserhead’s face into the concrete. Where the hell was Kurogiri!? It was only a matter of time before the main campus realized they were cut off from the USJ, in which case they would either send a teacher to investigate or assume the worst and send ALL the teachers. All Might, Eraserhead, and Thirteen they could deal with, but U.A.’s entire faculty would definitely complicate things. He needed Kurogiri for a quick retreat.

To make matters worse, All Might wasn’t even here! All this planning gone to waste because the Symbol of Trash couldn’t even bother to show! It made him so mad! He flexed his fingers as he was overcome with the urge to dust the first person to cross his path.

As if to answer his prayers, he caught sight of a pair of students in the corner of his eye swimming in from the Shipwreck Zone. One was a raven haired girl with disturbingly revealing clothes (Seriously, what the hell was wrong with people? The girl was like 15.). The other was some frog girl in a skintight wetsuit. Did they honestly think they were being sneaky?

Perfect. Even if All Might doesn’t show, he can at least take pleasure in breaking his spirit.

He moved.

The raven haired girl noticed. Her arm glowed briefly as a taser popped out of… Somewhere.

Sensing Shigaraki was in danger, Nomu dropped the mangled form of Eraserhead and moved fast, taking the taser that was meant for Shigaraki as the young adult who apparently had no idea what lotion was managed to grab the frog girl’s face.

“ASUI!” The raven haired girl shrieked. The frog girl felt indescribable pain as her face began to crack and crumble.

In that moment, the entrance to the USJ exploded open, and a towering form of muscle stepped through, not a single hint of a grin visible on his enraged face.

Return Of The Shield Deku. - Shadow_Overlord - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

Chapter 1: Prologue.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Past: Tanuki.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Exam.

Notes:

Chapter Text

Notes:

Chapter 4: Past: Sword.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: First Day.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Past: Filo.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Toru Vs. Bakugo.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Past: Daughter.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Friends.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: The Third Shielder.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Cavalry.

Chapter Text