Chapter 5: Flame Caretaker.
Izuku hummed a song whose lyrics he didn't know while he finished up his chores for the day. Leaning the broom on the wall, hand on his side, he couldn't help but be impressed with what he had managed in these 2 months. The temple was still run-down, but it was far cleaner, plants had been removed, old floor boards removed, and wooden panels and doors as well. He had even managed to get the old women's dorms into a much better state so that he could sleep there instead then in the shrine.
Off to the side, he had a small garden going which wouldn't yield anything till spring at the latest, but the forest had proved plentiful when it came to fruits, and with the river, he now had a source of clean water for drinking, bathing and washing with the bonus of fish which the two enjoyed a lot, so much so that he didn't mind the daily trek up to the stream to fetch two buckets worth, often more when it was cleaning. Around his neck, his friend slept peacefully, as she had taken to napping on him whenever she got the mood. He didn't know why Koharu preferred him over the the literal fire he kept burning 24/7, he had even set up rocks close to it that she could rest on but he didn't mind, it was nice having her close.
'Still, I've done almost all I could with what I have. I need to get tools and suppliers to handle the actual repair.' He had planned for this, gone back and revised his notes on how he could go about it a few times now, with the older planks being discarded to the flames. Perhaps he should have a pen and notebook again, as he didn't think it would do for him to get used to using his blood as ink and his finger as a crude pen.
Looking to the side, he saw the bucket he had been using for cleaning and how was standing in mud, half its water having leaked out. "New buckets would also be great; these are on their last legs." They could only carry 15L at a time, which wasn't much and it wasn't helped by the fact that he lost at least a Liter per bucket every hour due to the many leaks in the buckets. With him speaking, he felt his serpent friend stirring from her nap.
"Morning, Koharu. Did you enjoy your nap?" He asked with a smile, with the snake giving him a look which he merely chuckled at as he reached to pet her head. "Not my fault you chose to eat that mouse, you could have waited for dinner." They were even planning to have fish, but he suspected she would just give him the snake eyes till he caved and gave her a portion for her to enjoy.
"Well, anyway, I'll be heading into town to see if I can't get some of the stuff I need, though I'm still not sure how I'll pay for any of it…" That was an issue. He had lost his wallet and even if he didn't, he would have hesitated to try and pay with a card as that could be tracked, it also wasn't like he carried that much cash on him. Maybe he could trade some wild fruits for something.
Koharu hissed at him, but it was a soft hiss as she snuggled up to his cheek, keeping him grounded. "Yeah, you're right. I need to hope for the best. Alright, let me get my shirt and make sure I look presentable." Looking at himself, he saw that he had been working shirtless, with just his pants which didn't look too bad, who knows, maybe he'll find a place that could offer him a spare set of clothing.
Taking the same mountain road that led him to the temple, he strolled down it, following it till he came across a small town, a place that seemed far too closely knit to be a part of the city, where the tallest building was around 4 stories tall. While he didn't have a bird's eye view, he wouldn't be surprised if the place didn't have more than 150 buildings. The people were also different to the city where most were busy or rushing from one place to another, it was more rustic, and calm as people took their time, speaking with one another even in the middle of the road as he had seen just the 2 cars since entering, one parked and other driving away.
It was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone, which made it impossible for him to blend in as to them, he was a stranger which in itself, was enough to draw attention, or at least that was what he told himself as his picture was all over the place last, he checked, so he could only pray that no-one connected the dots and tried anything. To help with that, he would stick to his guns and not steal anything as he wasn't starving, he was thirsty. He wasn't as desperate as he had been then, so he would sooner jump into an ice bath than steal.
Of course, whatever he thought was going on didn't prepare him for what he heard.
"A shrine maiden? Here?" A woman asked her husband, the man shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, I heard there is an old temple up in the mountains, maybe she's from there." He looked up the road that Izuku had come in on, missing how the boy was starting to blush at the misunderstanding.
"So, she walked the entire way, that's at least 15km away." Someone close by, a grocer added.
"Maybe she's one of those types that prefers the exercise, sees it as part of their duties or something." Another joked as Izuku felt his face couldn't get any redder without him using his quirk, which for once, wasn't itching to climb to the surface.
'I can't believe they think I'm a girl!' How could he forget what he was wearing? Of course, they'll make that assessment, not helped by the fact they neither knew him nor was he the most masculine kid in class, he and Katsuki looked like younger versions of their mothers, but he managed to still look like a boy whereas Izuku was so neutral in gender appearance that women's clothes were enough to fool people!
From inside his clothing, he felt his friend hiss in a way that couldn't be anything but laughter as he looked down at her through his shirt. "This is not funny, Koharu! You know these are the only clothes I have." He kept it quiet, but it was still embarrassing that Koharu taking joy from this. In response, the snake's eyes shifted to his hair, which was usually a bushy mess that he didn't care to style, but now he had done his best to straighten it and placed it into a small and spiky ponytail just like his mother's hair was done.
"Okay, yes I did up my hair but I have to look nice, it's not my fault I don't know how to do anything more than what Mother does with hers, I never had guy friends to help in that department." He had seen his mother do her hair up hundreds of times, it was just something he could do without thinking.
Lucky for him, people stopped talking to him and merely watched him as he entered a small general goods store. Inside, he found that it was like seemed to have most of what he needed besides supplies, so he hoped that there was a hardware store that he could go to next. He didn't take a trolley or a basket, he wouldn't need them as he walked through the place, ending up in an aisle that had cleaning supplies, which included buckets. As much as he wanted to take the largest ones, he had to be careful with price as what he brought with him wasn't money, so he would need to pick something he could use but could be traded for which was how he picked a bucket that was labelled 30L as that was twice what the buckets he had could carry, and the ones he picked out were study enough.
Using the buckets, he picked up other gardening and basic repair tools before he went to the counter which was manned by a balding man in his late 40s at least.
"Is this all?" The man asked, seeing what he had selected to buy, which was 4 buckets stacked inside one another, some basic tools, a couple of notebooks, a pack of pens, cans of food and cleaning supplies.
"Yes, I'll try to pick up everything else from the hardware store if the town has one," Midoriya replied as he placed the stuff on the counter and let the man ring him up, hearing his voice, he realized that this was a boy, at least biologically but he had seen far stranger and wouldn't give the boy or girl flak for that.
"It does, it's about three blocks down, you can't miss it." He replied as he finished scanning the last item. "That'll be 6,500 Yen." He raised an eyebrow when Midoriya didn't pull out a wallet or purse, he wasn't sure what the kid carried but hey, he wasn't one to judge. Instead, the character was sheepish as they rubbed the back of their head.
"That's an issue, see I don't have any money on me but!" Before he could tell the kid he needed to pay, they pulled out the bag he was carrying, which was more made from old cloth and presented what he had been carrying. "I do have some fresh mountain fruit to trade." Did this kid think it was still the Edo period or something?
He would have thought the kid was messing with him, but they looked so sincere he could find anything more than nervousness in them, at least the kid knew this was a long shot. "Fruit? You do know that you can buy them, right? I can get most of that from Amamiya's store down the street." The kid seemed to deflate a bit at that, shyly wrapping his cargo up again.
"I figured…but it was better than nothing." He muttered, now feeling like an idiot, standing before the till with no way to pay for his stuff. The only thing that would make this worse was if he was holding up a line but at least today, the heavens decided to grant him a small mercy as it was just the three of them in the store.
Still, the man was curious about the kid as they dressed like a shrine maiden, they might even buy one which was strange of itself as he hadn't seen one of those types in a while, most only passing through in groups. Also, the choice of items was strange as he was used to neighborhood kids doing the shopping for the family, or trying to get their hands on sweets and other snacks to enjoy while they did whatever the hell it was kids did these days. But this one was different, which meant him interested. "Listen, kid? Why do you even need this stuff?"
Having no reason to lie, Midoriya answered truthfully. "I live at the old temple up the mountain, and the place is in dire need of repair." The man scratched his chin at that answer.
"That old place, I'm pretty sure I used to hear about when I was a kid, but wasn't it closed down like 30 years ago." Midoriya nodded, finally having an idea of when the place was abandoned, but he needed the man to know that he wasn't lying.
"It shows, but it doesn't feel right to let it fall to ruin." Even if he wasn't planning on staying there for…however long he could, he couldn't just let the place that offered him shelter fall apart. "And it would help if I didn't have to worry about the roof falling in on me." He muttered that last part, as he had spent more than a few nights in the shrine as the roof creaked and moaned too much for comfort.
"But why you? Aren't they others?" Looking the kid over, he saw that he wasn't the largest, nor the strongest looking. That kind of work would need an entire team of people, or maybe it was his quirk that would allow him to speed up the process.
"Just me and a friend, but she's not much help in that department." At that, the snake that was hiding within his clothes made herself known, slithering out to the shock of the man as she curled up around Izuku's neck, the boy not reacting in the slightest.
Finding this stranger then he thought, he decided that he could let the whole snake thing slide seeing how the kid had it on him. "And your parents? You aren't from here so I can only assume why they aren't here with you." There was a change in the kid's mood, as they looked scared and tired but also shifty.
"I can't go home. I did the one thing she told me not to and people suffered for it…I can't bring myself to face her and disappoint her even more." There was more to that statement, it was far too vague to be anything else but considering that the kid must have run away from home and was willing to live in a run-down temple which they'll personally repair, he could only assume that whatever the kid did must have been bad, or he was overeating. Either way, he might have to look into this.
Taking his silence as the end of the conversation, Izuku reached to collect what he collected to return it to its proper place, it was the least he could do for disturbing the man. "I'll just return what I picked to where I got it from them."
"Hold on a second," The man raised his hand, stopping the kid, he didn't like it, but he couldn't just let him leave if he needed this stuff. As much as he knew he could just call it in, he decided to humor the kid. "I don't approve of a kid living on his own in an old shrine, even if you fancy yourself a shrine maiden."
Midoriya only looked away to try and hide his red face from that comment. "They were the only clothes up there."
"You're not making your case any better, my boy." He didn't need to know why the boy could only find women's clothing, but that could be fixed pretty easily once he got some cash. "But I'll cut you a deal. Keep your fruits and I'll let you take the supplies you need so long as you work some odd jobs for me to pay it off, also I'll be checking in on you from time to time." He patted the goods in question as Midoriya turned to him, wide-eyed.
"Is that it?" Midoriya asked, not trusting that he could get such a deal with his luck, even Koharu seemed caught off guard by it.
"That's it. I don't have much help here and I'm getting old." The man nodded, his eye going over his store and his lack of employees.
"Then I accept!" Midoriya quickly accepted before he could change his mind, the man grunting as he handed over the goods to the boy who looked at them like they came from the heavens.
"Also," He reached under the counter, taking out a small notepad and pen before he wrote down something, tearing it from the book, he handed the boy the note. "Take this. It'll explain things to the old lady that runs the hardware store, with luck you'll get more of whatever you'll need, provided you also work off your debt to her."
It was as the man said when he got to the hardware store, the 30-something gave him a similar look after he collected all that he felt he would need, which meant a nearly full shopping cart. Seeing the note, she only groaned that she wished she didn't lose that last poker game to the old bastard before making it clear that he would be working off that debt, all 300,000 Yen of it which he didn't mind in the slightest.
He even met the grocer that the old man was talking about, Amamiya who heard what he was doing and gave him all the produce that she knew wasn't going to sell, though he turned down most of it as he didn't have a proper place to store any of it long term. When he was getting ready to leave, with the shopping cart from before, he was asked how he intended to get back to the temple with everything and surprised them when he told them he planned to walk, the same as how he got there. The grocer, Saitama, laughed it off as it was a 15km walk uphill with cargo and he merely brushed it aside. Would it be hard, sure? But it wouldn't be impossible, plus it would be good exercise.
With them flabbergasted at his response, he bid them goodbye and left. Once he got back, he was tired and sweaty, but still incredibly pleased with himself as he now had some of what he would need to get this place back into proper shape. His good mood was so great that he didn't even feel it as he used his new buckets to go up to the stream twice to fill up all four and catch the biggest two fish he could which he and Koharu happily dined on by the fire of the shrine after he deboned and cooked them.
With that, the next day came with a change to his schedule as from then on, Izuku spent his time either training, tending to his small garden, getting water or fixing up the place, starting with the essentials which were either tearing down or reinforcing the walls. The townsfolk that he met, as the grocer told him, stopped by every week to check up on him. The first time they came via walking and most were winded by the time he heard them approaching but they were impressed with the progress he had made by his lonesome though they had issues with him keeping the fire lit at all times when it was just him to care for it.
As the days turned to weeks, they were witness to how the old temple seemed to gain new life as weeds were cleared out, plants that had grown into the walls, foundations and electrical wiring were disposed of, most of the old floor was removed and replaced with new panels which he painstaking cut to shape and nailed in. The old walls deemed a lost cause knocked down, though he never did that when they were around which left them confused as to how he could, before said walls were replaced while others found themselves replaced. The roof was completely redone, and reinforced as well just to be on the safe side while the statues and other images were cleaned up and polished on the regular as with everything that was fixed, that was just one more thing for him to care for nearly every day.
However, other things remained the same despite him slowly working off his debts, and being offered a change of clothes, he stuck to his uniform as he felt like…it was right, he lived and worked in a shrine, why not dress the part? They decided to mess with him by supplying him with different sets so that he didn't have to wear just one, but they were all women's which embarrassed him but he didn't want to say no, so he accepted it.
It had nothing to do with the fact that he liked the way they looked…nope, the look hadn't grown on him at all, no matter what the cheeky snake would imply.
The increased work and times he could speak with other people did wonders for his health which combined with his training and daily hikes for water built up his endurance and stamina quickly as before, a couple of trips for water would have left him tired, now he could do that 6-7 times with increased loads. He can still recall the grocer's face when he found him collecting water and he asked why he didn't just use the taps, learning that the place had no plumbing and that he was walking further up the mountain for 5km to collect water and bringing it back, most days this was a done multiple times which to the shock of the man who asked him if he was okay.
There was talk of solar panels, but seeing how he didn't have much electronics with the possible exception being a fridge and freezer he was thinking of adding, he didn't see any need for them, it wasn't like he needed them for light as he was fine with the candles, torches and lanterns that he had going, in fact being surrounded by so much fire every night always helped raise his mood after a hard day's work as he could just sit just about anywhere and meditate by the flames as he would every morning in the shrine next to the hearth. Besides, he still hadn't done the electrical work and had no time or interest in doing so, not when winter was fast approaching and he would need to focus on ensuring that he and Koharu would be comfortable, warm and have enough food to last.
It had been months since he first stumbled into the temple, and while it was only a couple weeks into Winter, the cold had come in fast and dug its heels deep into the land, with snowfall being something of a norm. It was extremely cold out even during the day, but at night as it was, it was far worse as bitterly cold winds moved over the mountains, carrying them with ice and snow that covered almost every surface, bar one.
Deep in the mountains, far from where anyone could stumble onto it, there was an inferno. It burned as hot as it was bright, its emerald flames melting ice and snow instantly, causing massive steam clouds to rise into the air where they cooled, and fall to earth, only to be heated once more in an endless cycle. Now and then, a blast of fire would shoot out across the clearing, melting all the ice beneath it to the cold, but rapidly heating dirt that lay beneath it, or towards the sky where gales and cyclones of emerald fire flew into the sky for dozens of meters before they petered out, returning the sky to the darkness again, only for the flames to return to, for a moment, banish that darkness away.
The source of this blaze was a figure in the centre of the clearing, their volcanic body coated in green flames as their emerald magma-like veins pulsed with power. Their voice being inhuman with even breaths and hisses coming out like rocks being crashed together while being superheated. They lacked legs but instead had a large serpentine tail that carried them around like it was nothing.
Izuku felt alive, not even the chill of the winter's night being able to reach him as his body gave off heat like a bonfire, keeping him toasty as he went through his training. Twisting, backing up, sliding to the sides and rapidly closing the distance between him and an imaginary foe, his movements lacked his old nervousness, hesitation and weakness. Now he danced, breathing out flames whenever he pleased, targets in his mind jumping and moving around him, villains trying to do him and others harm, villains he handled with blasts of fire that rendered them taken care of. The clearing had been covered in 30cm worth of snow when he arrived, now most of it was gone, masking the area with a thick cloud of steam that couldn't get colder to become water and ice again or rise further into the sky thanks to the sheer amount of cold, icy filled wind that seemed to hit these mountains.
He wanted to challenge that.
Leaping into the air, his serpentine tail propelling him far higher than his humanoid legs could manage, he found himself looking towards the ground, seeing that the place from the air looked like a wet mess with the steam lingering as the heat within it was slowly drained into the environment. The area was a perfect target as he created a fire within himself, feeding power into it and feeling it grow in heat and power, when his stone cheeks cracked as they puffed up, he let loose.
"Serpent's Fireball!" His stone jaws swung open and from them, a massive fireball the size of a car shot out, racing towards the earth where it crashed with explosive force, lighting up the space and superheating the air in the area, the blast hitting him in the face as he landed in the half meter deep crater, small emerald flames still dotting the space here and there. While Izuku was proud of himself for that name choice, as he normally would have struggled to come up with something not related to All Might, he didn't give himself time to pat himself on the back as he quickly built up flames within his mouth again.
Just like before, he fed the flames till his cheeks cracked as they puffed up, but he held it just a second longer as he aimed for the sky this time around. "Boa Flame!" Flames raced out of his open jaws, more than before, hotter than his fireball but it didn't remain a single fireball instead, he willed it to change shape, taking the form of a massive boa constrictor that twisted and turned around as it raced into the air, creating a massive vortex of flames which sucked in the cold air and sent it barreling higher into the sky, the flames were so hot that the snow on the edges of the clearing started to melt, once the flames had travelled around 50m into the air, he willed it to change once more as its body tightened, squeezing an imaginary foe before-
Like a bolt of lightning flying through the air before crashing into earth, there was a massive explosion rocked the area as his flame serpent burst, creating a brilliant fireball high up above his head, the boom ringing through the air and no doubt catching the attention of anyone close-by, but he didn't care. His exhaustion mounting, he gathered flames into his mouth for a third time, adding as much power to the emerald inferno that formed within him before he released it.
"Serpent's Fire Scales!" Same as the last, fire shot out of his mouth in the form of a giant fireball, but it quickly exploded-creating 13 smaller fireballs that shot out into the air like a volley from an artillery brigade, Izuku grabbed onto each through his quirk, willing them to his command as pulled them around, allowing them to fly around him, creating a barrier against attacks as he turned his attention towards a tree that was close to the edge of the place, around it were the burnt and broken stumps of others that would soon meet its fat-
Like a switch, his control over the flames died with the fireballs flying out in random directions for a second before dissipating. Izuku fell to his hands and knees, the exhaustion that was building hitting him all at once as his form reverted from his living embodiment of volcanic wrath and fire back to his human body, he was steaming as if he was a pot of boiling water, yes-but still human once more, not naked by wearing a pair of shorts to cover his modesty in a clearing of mud, steam and dirt with the flames of his earlier attacks starting to die out.
"I've come far…but not far enough. Tomorrow," He said to himself, his body's temperature keeping him warm but he knew that it wouldn't last as he walked away from the clearing and towards a tree where he had left his friend and most of his clothing. "Tomorrow, I'll train even harder, and see if I can't boast my time limit by another couple minutes or so." He finished as he collected his clothing, putting on a white long-sleeved shirt, baggy red pants and a cyan jacket. As Koharu slithered out from her hiding hole, he made a note to see if he could increase his time in that form to 45 minutes.
"Did you enjoy the show, Koharu?" He asked, his attention shifting to the snake that was crawling up his leg before settling around his neck. The snake snuggled closer to him to warm up.
"Well, that's why I make sure you always have your little hole and fire to keep warm." He said to her as he had left behind a heated rock for her to rest on, but she didn't seem happy by that.
"If you don't like it, then you could always just join me. The flames are great!" He answered her questioning eyes as he walked off, back towards the temple so he could shower, meditate, and tend to the flame before hitting the hay. His words made the snake look at him like he was crazy. "No, you won't burn! I'm still wearing pants this time around." He had come a long way since he would end training sessions naked, his control over what his flames burnt had gotten a lot better.
Koharu looked skeptical about this. "Honestly, I still can't see why you're so against it, it's not like it'll leave lasting damage, I used it to heal you just the other week." She had gotten injured by a passing weasel, he had saved her, reducing the weasel to a charred piece of meat, but she had seriously needed to see a vet. The problem was that it would take him too long to get her to town and look for one. So, he listened to his urges and burnt her instead, she didn't like it, and thrashed and squirmed around, forcing him to hold her down but she had come out of it healed, as if the entire affair didn't happen.
Didn't stop her from biting him for not warning her.
It was a quiet walk back home, the chilled winds battering them to the point she took refuge in his shirt while he hummed a song, a mantra really that he had found while he cleaned out the old stores months back. When the temple came into view, the place looked vastly different to the decrepit ruin he had first found, as most of the major repairs were done and maintenance work was done, at least for the winter. He even had electricity, though he didn't install it as the townsfolk had been the ones to do that, with the local handyman having to tear out almost all the old wiring and completely redo it. He almost felt bad about only using it for the bare necessities like his phone and the kitchen appliances, but it wasn't like he had much else use for it.
Walking through the main gate, the well-kept garden greeted him, though most of it was covered in a thick carpet of snow while the place was lit up entirely by bonbori lanterns which either hung from trees, were placed on stones along the path, or close to the water of the now frozen pond. Entering, one found that the interior was lit up by andon lanterns instead, with not a single electrical lightbulb in sight as he collected a fresh change of clothes, and his toiletries and left for the redone bathhouse. Entering, he saw that the tank that sat above a wood-burning fire was boiling, making him smile as he had decided to be lazy and just collected snow to be his bath water, setting the fire before he left so that it would melt and heat up just as he and Koharu liked it.
They liked it so much that neither cared about bathing together, though part of that was due to one being a snake that could care less for human norms about gender separation, besides the bathroom was more like a hot spring than anything else with the water being gathered in a rock pond he dug out, cleaned and then waterproofed. The space even gave the two a nice view of the night sky and valley below.
Later, he entered his room with a smile on his face and a pep in his step, having finished everything else and had a great dinner of canned beans and fish, he was ready to turn in for the night. His room, unlike the rest of the temple, was the only place he thought to be more liberal when it came to decorating it as it was his private space. There were potted plants scattered around the place along with 7 different large black and white drawings he had done in his free time of the town, its people or just the mountain landscape.
A small desk was placed in the corner, covered with notes and a few books on shrine upkeep, gardening and general repair. To the side, closest to the window was his futon with a small drawer placed next to it that had a few knick-knacks he had collected over his time, from a pressed flower, some of Koharu's scales and his diary. Stepping to the closet, he opened it to fetch his sleeping clothing, which took a second for him to find as most of what was inside were just reproductions of the shrine uniform he wore every day.
Finding it, he changed into them which was just an old shirt and light shorts before he knelt at his drawer, lighting the andon lantern atop it to give him light as he hummed, grabbing a comb to try and manage his hair into a bun for the night. The chilled air enters through the window. At some point, his friend had left his body and went to the little bed he had made for her in the corner, the soft pillows and blankets welcoming her as she crawled up and fell asleep in minutes.
As he worked with his hair, he looked towards the calendar hanging on the wall and felt a pang in his heart when he realized just how much time had passed since he left home. "I'm better here, no bad urges, no nightmares…this is…this is for the best." He whispered to himself, though he still felt…like it wasn't enough, that what he was doing was terrible but he was understanding, more by the day, that what he was doing was okay. He used his quirk; he followed his urges-and nothing bad happened. He didn't have human friends, but he didn't have human enemies either. He had a great place to stay at, somewhere to train himself to exhaustion every day without worry or scolding from others.
How could any of this be bad?
Opening the drawer, he reached for the hair-relaxing gel, only to feel it was light. Stopping, he opened the jar and found that it was close to empty. "Looks like I'll need to head into town in the morning to collect some, but while I'm out, I might as well get everything else I need." He pulled out his wallet, and a frog-themed purse and looked inside for what funds he had, seeing that he had about 20,000 yen which should be enough for what he'd need to pick up. Come sunrise, he'll do his morning tasks and then head down the mountain.
Chapter 6: Man within the Storm
Even with Winter grip on the country only tightening, with snow already falling almost every morning and evening, storms were still a thing, winter storms that brought with them not just biting cold rain, but more snow and ice then most knew what to do with. Such weather phenomena could be seen as beautiful, graceful in its movements but at the moment, few at the docks had any such thoughts. Instead, to them, the storm hitting them was a nuisance and danger to life and property.
It had developed and fell upon then unusually fast, with a force akin to an angry child throwing a tantrum and destroying all they could get their hands on as smaller boats which were tied to the docks had either been destroyed or thrown into land, where they lay in all manner of positions and states of damage. Larger ones were continually tossed in the water, bashing into the concreate docks, cracking hulls and forming holes which allowed the ice-cold sea water to flood inside. Even the helicopters that flew overhead, assisting in the operation were not spared the storm's wrath as their pilots strained just to keep airborne, their machines pushed to their limits.
One the ground, heroes and emergency services continued to move people away from the shore and towards safety. Polic and firefighters aiding them.
"How many people are left?" One of the heroes asked another, both in their winter gear and yet still feeling the chill and splash of the water from the sea not too far from where they stood.
"Just a few in this building! Then we move onto the next!" She pointed towards building, one of the warehouses that had been primarily for storage, but couldn't house people in such conditions.
"Christ, did you suspect this would happen?" He asked.
"You kidding me, weather said that the storm was still a week out!" While the complained and carried on their duties, a little ways away from them, in a comfortable looking nook between two buildings, sat a cloaked figure, completely unphased by all that was happening.
They looked more like a traveller then a homeless person as they were too clean, too…put together to be unhoused. Despite the raging storm like conditions that brought wind, rain and snow in equal measure, they calmly sat with their hands together on their knees, letting the wind push back their hair while the snow fell onto their skin, no doubt chilling them to the bone but they didn't act like they even noticed, or if they did, they didn't care.
"The stronger the storm, the more it calms my heart." The stranger softly spoke, their words lost in the raging winds around them. In this, the man took the opportunity to gather his thoughts about himself, about the situation, about the world and he couldn't help but think to himself that society was weird, and wrong.
He thought on how they lived in a world where thanks to quirks, the possibilities of what people could were endless, anything that could happen-odds are there was a quirk out there they could achieve it. such things should have been praised, highly valued for what they could do both the user, and the world around them. If someone could rush from Tokyo to Kyoto in 10 minutes, they should. If someone could lift 50 tons over their heads, well they should. If someone could create literal tons of 24-carot gold, well then it would seem that Gold would become far cheaper.
But…that wasn't how things worked, was it? Because those with power were still bond by the laws of times long passed, written by those without it. because of such, the speedster needed to take the bus or train. The power lifter couldn't carry whatever he wished. The gold producer could face jail time if they attempted such and was caught. Even he, with all the power he had over the sky itself, was constrained by this, this fossil of a system and he couldn't but ask, why?
Why did those with power grovel with those without it? Should it not be the other way around?
"No, that's not completely true." He thought aloud once more, mentally correcting his statement about how those with might that could rival stories of Gods and heroes, were controlled by mortal men. Society controlled everyone, both the weak and the strong from the moment they were born into it. It indoctrinated them to think all was right in the world, that they weren't being railroaded into set paths, but that they wanted to do whatever it was society deemed they should. And any that didn't comply, either by choice or circumstance?
They were ruthlessly crushed. But within such a system, it needed enforcers but police couldn't do, too many people saw them as public servants that shouldn't openly abuse their power. If they started acting like that they were, then more would realize the lie and remove their rose-tinted glasses, making more problems which would need more crack-downs, a cycle that would repeat till the entire thing collapsed under its own weight.
So, what did one do when they wished to trick people into believing something? Easy, you gave the lie a pretty face, and for them, that was the entire concept of the pro hero. By doing so, one could use their gifts to the fullest, be praised for all that they were, and never worry about being told otherwise. It was a race to the top, the higher your rank, the greater the perks and praises laid at your feet. With those within the top ten seen as Gods and Goddess among men, something that he respected as all of them certainly had the power and will, but he resented how blind they all were.
And to acquire such, all they had to do was crush any that didn't fit into the mould, those that didn't have the right quirk, those who had bad luck, those who society couldn't or wouldn't help fall any further, those who had power but no interest in heroics, those that society shunned and abused and therefore held no love for a flawed system. To a hero, they were all the same, and equally deserving of destruction.
What a farce.
What kind of world would be okay with such a system. Where it created heroes and villains in equal measure, either by chance or by intention and then made them fight while rooting for one to lose? Why glorify heroes that only role was to protect a flawed system and protecting sheep that couldn't be bothered to think and act for themselves? What glory was there in fighting villains when the difference between them was so arbitrary. Heroes flaunted their power, they destroyed, they hurt, they killed. As far as he was concerned, the only difference between them was labels. Wrapped them around, given a villain a PR blitz and some heroic acts and most would forget they're supposed to hate them.
Of course, he knew villains were selfish, most people were but they were a cut above the rest, either due to circumstance, obligation or desire, they were more open with that selfish desire. And really, was that a bad thing? Self-preservation and self-interest are core human qualities, even those he had seen that claimed to not be were either fools or lying to themselves. Most people gave to charity because they wanted to feel good about themselves, others helped others so that they'll be known as good people, others refrained some sin did it to get into whatever heaven they believed in.
It was all self-serving, things that people wouldn't do if they didn't get something out of it. He knew first hand that when people believed there was nothing to be gained from a so-called 'good' act, or that someone else could do it, they wouldn't. If anything, they'll more likely to act cruel, to treat others they believed beneath them as dirt because it didn't reflect poorly on them. He could count the number of 'good' people he encountered in his life on one hand, his own parents whose names escape him not being on that list.
The Baker that feed him when he was 7 after he hadn't eaten in days.
The store clerk that gave him a new pair of free shoes when he was 9 after seeing the state of the ones he was using.
The gang-buster that let him crush with them when he was 10 during a especially cold winter.
The taxi driver that drove him away from a bad situation when he was 13 for free.
Against that, he could recall dozens-hundreds of instances of evil done onto him, onto those he saw. And never did anyone step in, never did a hero appear. There was a time when he hated it, where he cried for someone to do something, for people to be proactive but that time had come and gone, a distant memory to him as he had come to accept that a person's power was theirs and theirs alone, what they did with it was their choice. Because of that, he wished to change the world, make it more honest, fairer in its depiction of the social order. He wished to strip the power away from those that restrained people like him, and allow them to truly be free, free of the abuse, free of the prosecution, free of the discrimination.
But, he would need allies for that, people that could understand him and his goals, people he could rely on, people that understood that this world so many believed to be perfect needed to change.
And maybe, he wished to have people to walk with, as while he might control the skies, even the clouds could get lonely.
The storm picked up as the man got up, reaching for his pocket and pulling out pieces of paper, a cut-out sections of a different newspaper's front page.
'Violent mutant flees scene after injuring 3 heroes.'
'Bandaged villain seriously injures another 8 people, still at large.'
'Local hero in critical condition after unidentified red head woman fills their body with hair needles.'
'Teenage pyromaniac goes on fiery rampage, still at large'
Each one was from a different day, a different part of the country. But where others just saw news about another villain, he saw reflections of himself in them. In the first, he saw a powerful man that could no doubt have been praised as a top hero if not for the fact he was born a mutant in a rural area. In the second, he saw a man that clearly wished to just be left alone. In the third, he saw a woman lashing out at a pro that couldn't-wouldn't understand her. In the last one, he saw a boy finally expressing himself and being called a monster for it.
All people with great power, held down in the mud by those that feared them, couldn't understand them, that hated them. He had leads on two of them, one of which led him into the mountains, his next destination. As he turned to leave, he wondered how intriguing it'll be to see a serpent of fire and ash dance in a storm.
"Young man, how can you walk around like that and not catch a cold?" The woman running the grocery store told him with a laugh. It wasn't even midday yet but he had been awake for hours, first handling his responsibilities in the temple before he came down to buy what he needed. Like always, he wore his shrine maiden uniform, with the sole change being the green wool-lined haori, it wasn't thick enough to be much help, but he didn't need it to be.
Chuckling, he combed a hand through his hair, which he had allowed to grow to shoulder length and was kept in a finely kept bun with a comb through it, keeping it all in place. "I have a naturally high body temperature. It's not so bad for me." Koharu's head popped out from his haori, to say hello he was sure which the woman returned with a wave. She had long gotten used to seeing the lad with his pet snake wherever he went, it only made sense that when it was so darn cold, it would stick close to him.
Though if she was seeing things right, that snake of his had gotten bigger again. When she first saw her, she was maybe 90-95cm long but now, she was at least 1.7m long. If she didn't look so healthy, she would have perhaps advised him to take her to the town vet just to be sure.
"Heavens, I wish I had that. I would save an arm and a leg on heating." She continued to scan the things he picked. It wasn't much and if not for the regular checks, she would have suspected it wasn't enough for him. But in this chilly weather, he seemed to have picked out quite a lot of fish to eat.
"I would just start a fire in my backyard if I ever got hot, or pray by the shrine to keep me and Koharu warm." Izuku casually replied, Koharu nodding with him as she had come to appreciate the flames almost as much as he did.
"The boy and his snake, there is a story there, I tell you." She said to herself as she finished scanning and started ringing him up. "Speaking of, I hope you're taking care of yourself up on the mountain."
"Why's that? It's not like I've seen any predators to worry about." He did see plenty of deer, more than normal these days but he suspected that was because he set up a little feeding station for them. it helped make the place feel less isolated as if he couldn't live with people, then he'd leave live with the animals.
"Not predators, but there's been sightings of fire." She didn't see it, but he stiffened a bead of sweat formed on his brow. "People say it's like watching an inferno raging in the dead of night, my grandson compared it to that Endeavour fellow, like he'll ever come out this far." She muttered at the impossibility of a big-shot hero deciding to grace them, what was he supposed to do? Help Granny Mikasa find her cat? Help ensure kids got home from school on time?
Meanwhile, Izuku had to wipe away his nervous sweat before she saw it. dammit, he trained at night deep in the mountains so that people didn't see him. Most folk should be inside when he starts. "Either way, it's got people scared. Even the local fire chief has done a view drills to make sure we know what to do if it ever came down the mountain into town." He had met the man, he was nice even if his fire truck made him nervous, the sensation of cold water hitting him was never nice to him, it was quite the opposite.
"I wouldn't know much about that, I'm in bed pretty early you see. Need my sleep so I can wake up bright and early for my duties in the temple." He hoped that she would buy that excuse, as he thought now would be a good time to finish up and leave he got out his frog purse and collected the cash he would need.
"That's a good trait, my grandson could do well to learn it instead of staying up late playing video games." Lucky for him, she didn't pick up on his behaviour as she took his money and completed the transaction.
"Well, he's young, why not enjoy his freedom? Anyway, thank you, have a nice day!" He quickly grabbed his stuff and left the store, walking to the side where he had left his craft, filled with his other shopping and untouched by others. If nothing else, he didn't need to worry about thieves as much in such a small town.
Putting the bag into it, he looked into his frog purse and saw that he had just a single banknote and coin. "Down to just 1,500 Yen. Hopefully, nothing will come up." If not, then he'll just have to make do with what he had. Taking the reigns of the cart, he started pulling it as he made his way back home, waving at people as he went. Most didn't know all that much about him other than his first name and that was fine with him, the less they knew, the better. To them, he was just the strange kid who cross-dressed and managed a temple.
It was the tourists that gave him the biggest issue where most people went south for winter to try and have some fun on a beach, maybe even left the country, they dealt with people who wanted their slice of a winter wonderland. This meant that he had to deal with them walking up, getting surprised when they heard him speak and either awkwardly walking away, asking for a picture together, or getting even more excited as that one couple did.
It was far more than he was used to doing in terms of social interactions with strangers. But soon enough, he was out of town and on the road back to the temple. Around 15 minutes after he left, the door to the store slid open as another customer entered. The old lady turned to greet them with a smile, but that smile turned to confusion before it became fear.
The screams started not long after that.
Midoriya hummed a mantra as he pulled his cart, its weight barely affecting him thanks to all the manual labour and training he had been doing. Even with the cold wind hitting him, he couldn't bring himself to stop smiling as he thought of what he planned to make for dinner. He didn't just buy all that fish for nothing-okay, he did but it was special and he and Koharu could eat like kings tonight. He would have gone for pork as even just roasting it over an open fire would leave him a happy boy, but alas, she didn't have any.
"With the time, we should have time to relax for a bit before I need to get to any of my chores. Maybe I can get some reading down while I cosy up the fire with a cup of tea, that sounds nice, doesn't it, Koharu?" He asked, to which his friend bumped her head against his cheek, making him laugh, his earlier tension absent from his body.
"Yes, I'll make something for you as well, how could I think I wouldn't." Koharu seemed super happy about that, he didn't think that snakes would like tie, but he did try and add boiled leftover meat to it so perhaps that was the reason. It was at that moment that the wind shifted as before, it had been coming down the mountain, but for a moment it changed directions as it first died down, then came back by now racing up the mountain.
This would have normally not gotten much of a reaction out of the two, they understood that wind changed direction but this was not a normal day as Izuku's nose twitched. "You smell that?" He asked, Koharu nodded as she turned to face where the smell of smoke was coming from, freezing when she saw the source. Izuku did so when he turned and saw the town he had worked in, filled with people who helped and looked after him.
It was burning. "What the…fire…" Seeing that blaze, even in the distance sent a spike of ice through his heart, his hands dropping to his sides, along with the pull bar of his cart. His legs followed afterwards as they lost strength, sending him to his knees. He didn't even register that he was dirtying his clothes and that he'd need to wash them quirk to make sure they didn't get stains. That much smoke, that much fire could only mean one thing.
Villain attack.
B-but that was impossible! The place was so far away from anything, why would a villain show up? What would even attract them? it was a small town where being rich meant you had two cars for both working parents. There was reason for a villain to appear, one hadn't in the months he had been living in the area.
So why today if all days did one decide to change that?!
Before he knew it, he was back up on his feet, ready to rush over and help them-
Just like the last time
That memory, the image of seeing people angry, afraid of him more than anything left him rooted to the ground, his knees growing weak once more but he managed to stay standing, barely. Hugging himself, he could barely feel Koharu trying to get his attention as he got lost in his head. He hadn't thought about it for so long, he had thought he got past it but…but that was just him lying to himself.
He had tried to be a hero, tried to save someone and all that did was force him to flee, made so many people fear him, made All Might fear him. What sort of hero did that? None, they brought joy, they brought laughter, they brought….they brought…good things.
He didn't. He only made people feel bad, he did bad things. Just like a villain.
"I don't want to be a villain, I've been good, I've been good, I swear. I say my prayers every morning, do my chores, and even try to keep up with schoolwork. I'm not bad, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not! I'm not! I'M NOT!"
"Ow!" He hissed, seeing that Koharu had bit his hand, and got pretty deep. Releasing her jaws now that he was back in the present, she looked at him with sad, worried eyes. Why…oh, she was worried for him.
"Koharu…I'm…I'm sorry." He didn't want to look at her and perhaps see disappointment in her eyes as he looked away. "I know that I should go and help…but am I the right one for the job?" She shifted her position so that she was back in his line of sight, her tongue flicking out. conveying words and feelings that only he could feel, almost as if he was having an entire conversation with her.
Shaking his head, he tried to grab the pull bar and start moving again. "Someone will come…right? When villains appear, heroes also appear to that stop, they…they'll…" He couldn't do it. he didn't need to see it; he didn't need to hear it as his mind conjured up a scenario in his head about what could be happening. "They aren't here yet." A villain wouldn't have appeared unless they were fleeing the heroes, how long would it take for one to arrive? An hour, or 2? How many people would be hurt, if not worse by them?
Koharu licked his cheek, drawing his attention to her as she looked back towards the town, her message clear as day. Fire…he had been told so many times that it was bad, that he was bad for using it, for loving it, for wishing to see it spread but… He spared Koharu a glance, recalling how he healed her. He remembered how much the fires around the temple didn't just calm him, but made him so happy. He remembered how he felt when he trained, so much so that not even the threat of someone discovering him could discourage him from doing it.
Fire… could do so much good too, it can help people. It was a part of him, a part that he cherished.
That nugget burrowed deep into his head, banishing his hesitation and fear, and with it he moved, slowly but quickly gaining in speed as he ran back to town, stream starting to leak out of his nostrils and mouth as he increased his body's performance. Soon enough, he was a steaming projectile speeding down the mountain back towards town, Koharo wrapped tightly around him but not burning from his inhuman body temperature.
He might not have it in his cards to be happy, but he could at least ensure that others did.
Back in town, the scene was a mess as people ran away from the fighting and chaos. Fires had broken out almost as fast as the villains' attacks thanks to stray fire hitting a small gas tank and spreading from there. While the local firefighters dealt with that growing problem, law enforcement and others helped get people away from the thick of it. They had tried to stop the villains earlier but had been rebuffed by them.
With the villains, the gang of 11 are scattered across the main street, looting what they can from the stores and homes. "Have you found anything?" The biggest among them, a man who was at least 2.2m in height and could weigh as much as 130kg asked one of the gang members next to him.
"Just canned food and some camping supplies." The smaller man replied as he looked through the stuff they had stolen, nothing of real value, aside from a few laptops and a phone.
"That'll do, we're getting the hell outta here. I don't need the damn heroes chasing us." The leader replied, wishing to get out of this nowhere town and move on to bigger things. It was already humiliating enough that they had been forced out of their territory, now they'll have to move to another city and set up shop there, at the very least, he'll have the chance to fight his way to the rightful place.
"Hold it! Hands in the air, now!" He turned to see something that made him laugh. Some no-name cop was trying to arrest them, seriously? The man looked like he was close to crapping his pants even with that little gun in his hand.
"Oh, this is cute." He cracked his neck, the cop looking like that act alone scared him which only made the villain smile. "Where's the heroes, copper? Sorry, this is above your pay grade!" His arm turned into a rocky mess before he swung it at the cop, pieces of it flying out towards the man who dived for cover along with the rest of the cops that he knew were 'waiting for their chance.'
"Watch this." One of the others created a small ball of energy in their hand, shaping it onto a disk before he tossed it at the police. The attack missed and instead struck the side of a building that was already close to toppling over. This was dangerous as there were still people in the area, with a small group right in the crossfire.
"Oh no!" The police screamed out as the people crawled up into balls and hoped that would save them.
"Serpent's Fireball!" However, their end was averted as a voice that sounded like a volcanic eruption mixed with rocks being pummelled to pieces of a drill was heard, at that same time, a massive fireball the size of a car come barrelling in, slamming into building, causing an explosion of fire and heat that destroyed most of it, with the pieces that remains harmlessly to the street. From the direction of the fireball, a creature coated in fire and ash was fast approaching, jumping from rooftop to rooftop before landing in the middle of the new ruined street.
With the smoke clearing from their form, they could all see that appeared to be a mutant class of quirk user, as their entire body was covered with purple stone-like scales with what looked to be flowing green lava in between the cracks, their lower half was just a serpent-like tail, with the tip giving off a consistent, small but bright green fire like a freshly lit match. Their fingers were long, clawed with glowing tips.
Their head was covered by a flaming cobra-like hood which formed from their back and shoulders, atop it were two green and white spots that looked like eyes. Their face, like their body made from stone, shaped to look like snakes with scaled patterns covering the entire thing with bright green flames leaking out of the divide that served as their mouth and the two holes that formed their eyes. Coiling around them, was an actual snake, which was quiet and muscular, almost like a baby constrictor which despite the heat the newcomer was putting out, hadn't hurt by being in contact with them in the slightest.
"Are you…okay?" The figure asked, their voice so off-putting when compared to anyone else's, same as their appearance while Endeavour was covered in fire for intimidation purposes, one could still see him as a man underneath it. Whoever this was seemed to be made of fire and earth.
"W-we're fine!" With their attention on them, the people shakily waved back at them.
The newcomer smiled, or at least, they appeared to smile. "…Good…" Izuku had been worried that he had taken too long helping others, he had been rushing things as he did it, which meant he burned a few people but they would be fine, once a couple hours passed, the marks would fade. He had prioritised rescue so much that he had nearly been too late to save those latest people from that falling building.
Turning to the villains, they couldn't help but flinch, all but the leader who glared at Midoriya like he was insulting him by standing there. "Boss, who the hell is this guy?"
"Don't know, don't care. He's just another hero wannabe." He cracked his neck, he didn't know who this punk was, but there was no way this nowhere town had a local hero. So either he was some nobody sidekick that happened to be there, or was a local that thought he was the shit.
'Interesting.' High above this, Nine watched the commotion, using his quirk to essentially float over the town, unbothered by the frigid winds and unseen thanks to the 'noise' happening on the ground.
He hadn't been far when the attack started, having planned to just stop in the town for a meal, before containing his search through the mountains for boy, only for these pests to start making noise. He had been tempted to smite them himself if for no other reason than they were annoying him and hampering his search but the reason he was even in the area presented himself. He had watched as the boy went about saving people, moving quickly and with clear intention in every movement.
Even from this height, he could see the steam billowing off of him as he moved, most likely an application of his quirk to heat himself up to increase base physical characteristics. He was surprised by the fact the boy had looked to be a constrictor wrapped around him but the snake seemed intelligent as at one point, Izuku placed it down, and it slithered under some debris. When it returned, Izuku shifted to focus on a different part, pulling someone free of the debris.
Then that building looked set to collapse and taking some people with it, a tragedy but nothing much to write home about when villain attacks were such a common thing. The boy didn't seem to see it like that as he transformed into his other form and blasted out a impressively large fireball. A powerful one too as it did short work of the building. So this is what he looks like in person, quite impressive.' He thought to himself as the boy was proving the stories about his strength had some merit.
"Leave, you're not wanted here." Midoriya told them, clearly and blunt which caught them by surprise as that wasn't what a hero would say. They'll say some shit about surrendering or how they'll defeat them.
"What?" One of the asked, dumbfounded while the leader realized that this wasn't a hero, but most likely a local.
"Is this guy for real?" Another asked, smirking as they outnumbered this newcomer 11 to one. Even if he was covered in rock, so was he and this punk didn't have the benefit of back-up either.
"Hold on, look at what she's wearing," One of them spied some pieces of clothing still clinging to his form, enough of it to spot the white and red before busting out in laughter. "She's a damn shrine maiden!" The others caught onto this was well and started to laugh as well, with the leader being unamused that some shrine maiden had come to waste their time.
"Get out of out face, girl and maybe we'll pass by and drop a coin at temple after this." He waved her off, turning to continue the attack but Izuku didn't move, he didn't care that they thought he was a girl. He cared about the fact they were messing with the lives of others just because they could. Even Koharu seemed upset with them, glaring at them like she wanted to kill them, not for a snack but as a pest.
"Leave. Now." He repeated himself, louder as he took a step forward, drawing their attention again which changed from amusement to annoyance at his insistence.
"Get outta here, you brat!" The man yelled at her, swinging his arms to send another barrage of rock, this one aimed at Midoriya who didn't flinch and only blocked the attack with his tail, which whipped out in front of him and either blocked the attacks or smacked it away. Seeing this, the villain turned around fully, giving him his full attention. "Oh?"
"What the heck, she blocked that?" One of his grunts asked.
"What the heck is she?" He felt like he should hit them over the bloody head for their pointless commentary. He was powerful, he knew that but he wasn't so dumb to think he didn't have people close to him that could shit like that.
"You got some moves, girl. But if you think that'll be enough, then I'll prove you wrong!" He replied as he started to change, his entire body growing as the rock covering him increased, going from his arms to his chest and soon his entire body, increasing his weight and height. When the change was done, the villain had grown to nearly 3m and put in another 90kg. He was already far taller than him, but now even with Izuku in his flame serpent form, he was tiny compared to the villain who seemed to take pride in his increased size and bulk.
"Koharu…Leave this to me." Izuku asked his friend who looked at him for a moment before she followed his request and slithered off him, and moved to hide among the buildings, away form the fight that was about to happen. The villain took some steps forward, seemingly try and intimidate him, throw his weight around or merely close the distance between them so that he could make full use of his increased durability and strength.
"Serpent's Fireball!" Izuku didn't give him the chance to do either as the villain's surprised eyes saw him taking a deep breath before he breathed out another car sized fireball which rapidly closed the gap between the two. He bared his teeth and brought his arms up to block and attack which struck him like a explosion. His harden stone skin protected him from the heat and possible burns, but he could see feel himself being pushed back by the blast. When it finally dissipated, he was surprised and enraged to see that he had been pushed at least 3m just by the skid marks his shoes left in the road. More then that, his favorite jacket was reduced to ash, leaving him with a shirt that was covered with burns.
Seeing that Izuku was already preparing to do something else, he wasn't going to let him catch him off guard twice. With a roar of rage, he charged the boy, ready to pummel him into the ground for this slight.