Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
September 16 - Izumi Pov.
I launched myself forward with a great leap, landing in the middle of the swarm of monsters before using Mai to spin 360° and cut everything around me with a Clear Blue Sky ; the monsters did not put up the slightest resistance as they were completely cut in half.
I could see Maki charging towards the group of monsters with a huge grin on her face. She was wielding a long naginata while carrying Derf on her back, using the tip to slice the monsters and the other end to tear them apart with equal ease. None of the B-rank monsters posed a real problem for her; her strength was more than enough.
I stopped paying attention to her as I launched myself into the next group; this could hardly count as a warm-up, so I let my mind wander.
I couldn't help but think about what Taylor had said about what had happened in Brockton Bay. First, I was genuinely amazed by the technique the Protectorate and the PRT in general had used to completely wipe out the ABB, and when I say completely, I mean it.
Piggot had already issued a statement along with Armsmistress and Dragon regarding the entire operation. Apparently, it began when Taylor, with Miss Militia and Vista, had defeated Lung. It seemed that as soon as she landed at the base, they placed her in a reinforced capsule, loaded her onto a secure helicopter, and Vista reduced the airspace for rapid travel.
And when I say fast, I mean fast. Birdcage was located in British Columbia, Canada, and Brockton Bay was in New Hampshire, USA. They were on opposite coasts, approximately 5000 kilometers apart, a 6-hour flight.
Lung's transfer took 5 minutes.
Vista was able to distort and compress the entire airspace to travel from one coast to the other in 5 damn minutes. And it would have been even faster if it weren't for the presence of commercial airliners and birds in the air that delayed the flight by a couple of minutes.
Honestly, some quirks were completely ridiculous.
Oh, apparently there were many calculations on the part of Armsmistress and Dragon to control air traffic and not disrupt any commercial aircraft or other air transports, and they had to plot a rather strict route, but after that, Vista was able to compress all the space with complete freedom.
Truly terrifying.
But putting that aside, Piggot went into more detail about what had happened during the operation and the deployment of most of the PRT heroes and soldiers. They had also announced the number of ABB members captured, how many of their operations they had shut down, all the ABB houses and hideouts they had taken down, and many more statistics.
And yes, the ABB was practically wiped out in Brockton Bay; it was impossible for them to reform, especially without Lung or her lieutenants. It was a huge blow to the heroes of Brockton Bay in general; in fact, some of the news was broadcast in Japan.
Mostly because Lung and Taylor were involved, and the local news outlets focused on that particular story, ignoring everything else or downplaying it without providing all the details. I almost wanted to snort at the blatant manipulation.
Now the question was who or how E88 would act, or even villains from other places. Boston had the Teeth, originally from Brockton Bay; would they return to Brockton Bay now that there was a 'hole' to fill? Or could even other villains try to settle there? It wasn't all bad news for Brockton Bay. I was sure it would hold on tight and try to eliminate all the villains who tried to take root there, so there was nothing to worry about.
After all, the circumstances were different here. I had been surprised by the whole operation, but I really shouldn't have been. Here, there wasn't a constant Endbringer attack and the fear of them attacking the area, so there was no need for a truce or to keep powerful villains in the hope of repelling those monsters.
And it didn't seem like Cauldron was controlling everything either; I really wanted to believe they didn't exist here. I hadn't found anything about Case 53, people with mutation quirks, no memories, and a tattoo of the letter Omega on one part of their body.
And there were no parallel worlds as far as I knew, or Scion, so I wanted to believe I was safe from Cauldron's manipulations; that was the only good thing.
The only remaining concern was that Emma had joined the League of Villains. And if that wasn't a huge shock, I didn't know what was. I really didn't think she would do it, which surprised me. Taylor didn't seem upset in the slightest, just frustrated by the situation overall, but she didn't seem worried about Emma at all.
But aside from Taylor, she wasn't the only one who appeared in the news and on social media; the whole class was slowly starting to accumulate feats of their own which were practically the talk of all of us.
The one that mattered most to me, or rather, the one that caught my attention the most, was Darkness's. She had done her internship with Fat Gum, and just as I had expected, she had replaced Kirishima in the fight against the villain enhanced with Trigger. She had also mentioned everything about the quirk-erasing bullets.
It was only a matter of days before Nighteye would gather all the heroes. Time was running out, and I had to find an excuse to be there or participate in the raid; the nagging feeling only grew stronger.
Should I mention it to Nezu? He already trusts my 'visions,' even a hint of warning would be enough for him to find a way to send me there or something. I sighed wearily.
"Only the Dungeon Boss is missing." Maki said, stopping beside me. I stopped and refocused, looking around. Yes, indeed, all the monsters were dead. I nodded.
"I don't sense any other monsters. Let's go out and call the gatherers to start looting the dungeon," I told Maki. She just nodded. "This was our third dungeon cleared today. It was good practice; each one was close enough that we could go from one to the other in no time."
"Shall we go to the next one, or go back to UA?" Mai asked, still in her sword form. I hummed softly.
"Let's go back. I have a couple of things to do. Besides, I haven't found another dungeon nearby. We'd have to travel quite a distance to get to the next one. It's better to continue tomorrow in another area," I said easily. "Like I said, there's no need to rush. We can wait to pay for it completely. Grandpa will have the weapon finished next week or the week after," I said simply.
"I can't wait." Maki said with an eager smile, and I chuckled.
"Let's go back to UA." I said simply, Maki nodded and Mai reverted to her human form before stretching lazily.
"I'm dead tired." Mai said lazily, Maki just huffed loudly.
"Yes, of course," Maki said curtly. Mai just looked condescendingly at Maki.
"Of course I am, though you wouldn't understand. After all, I've killed more monsters than you," Maki said with a mocking smile. Her eye twitched with fury, she gritted her teeth and looked away, refusing to acknowledge it and start fighting again. I snorted in amusement, shaking my head.
The trip to UA was fairly uneventful as I chatted with both twins, so I was able to prepare for what was next: finding Louise and forcing her to talk. The way she was avoiding me was getting ridiculous.
Once we arrived at UA, Maki immediately headed to training, while Mai went to the dorms to hang out with the others. I followed my Haki until I could sense Louise; she was at UA, in dorm 2-B, in her room. So I followed it until I reached her.
I stood outside and looked at Louise's bedroom window, easily jumped the distance of several meters and landed on the small balcony that all the rooms had, I dropped into my shadows and passed through the glass that separated the balcony from the room within my shadows and came out of them before frowning as I looked around.
I wrinkled my nose as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, looking around only to see the room completely messy - well, not dirty, there was no smell of dirt, but it was messy enough and with things scattered around that were very out of place for Louise.
I blinked for a second before walking over to the light switch and turning it on, then I turned to look for Louise. She was in her bed under a pile of blankets. I frowned, worried. Lying down? It was around 3 p.m., it was unusual for Louise to be asleep at this hour. Is she sick?
I approached her and, without hesitation, yanked back the sheets. Underneath, I saw Louise, still in her nightgown, curled up with her knees drawn up to her chest as if trying to make a ball. Louise was definitely asleep. I went over to her and gently shook her head.
She looked pale, with reddened corners of her eyes as if she'd been crying, and she seemed to be suffering even in her sleep. I gently placed my hand on her forehead to feel her normal temperature.
"Louise, it's time to get up." I shook her slightly. Louise's eyes trembled slightly as if she were waking up. She opened her eyes carefully and looked at me almost glassy.
"Izumi?" she murmured distractedly, trying to close her eyes again before opening them forcefully. "Izumi?!" Louise shrieked, sitting up abruptly, her face paling. "What are you doing here?! In my room?!" Louise squealed in a panic, backing away slightly from me. I raised an eyebrow.
"You've been ignoring me, I came looking for you. I saw you lying down and suffering in your dreams, you looked sick and I was worried, but you seem to be fine," I said with a hum.
"I'm not ignoring you! And I'm fine! You've seen me, now get out of my room! " Louise said in a panic, I crossed my arms.
"Not until you tell me what's going on," I said easily.
"I already told you, nothing's happening, I'm not ignoring you!" Louise said firmly.
"Is that why you've been skipping training for the past two weeks? You always have an excuse not to come, or even an excuse not to text me." I said dryly, and Louise flinched slightly.
"C-coincidence, I've been very busy with internships, homework and everything else," Louise said quickly, and I sighed.
"Yes, try again." I said dryly, Louise just grunted.
"Nothing's really happening, just get out of my room!" Louise said almost pleadingly. I raised an eyebrow, stood up, and could almost see Louise sigh in relief only to let out a squeal as I grabbed her foot and dragged her back to the middle of the bed once again. I didn't even hesitate to climb on top of her; my knees were on either side of her hips, and my elbow and arm were by her head. I was practically hovering over her, my face just inches from hers.
"Okay, let's try again. Why are you ignoring me?" I asked brazenly. Louise burst into a blush.
"W-what are you doing, Izumi!?" Louise squealed in embarrassment as she tried to push me away. "Get off me, you damn idiot!" she added, pushing harder.
"Not until you tell me what's going on." I said curtly, her thrusts barely moving me.
"It's nothing!" Louise grumbled. I raised an eyebrow in her direction. Louise tried to look me straight in the eye before looking away in embarrassment.
"I have all the time, we'll stay like this until you tell me what's going on." I said playfully. Louise froze.
"You're kidding me." She practically begged. I just laughed, making her grunt. "What are you trying to accomplish with this?! Is this harassment? Or seduction?! You damn pervert! " Louise growled, blushing, and I hummed.
"It was this, or tickling until you finally talk. I thought you'd enjoy this more." I said brazenly, and Louise froze.
"…Tickling?" Louise asked in a trembling voice, and I couldn't help but smile sadistically.
"Ooh? Are you afraid of being tickled, La Vallière? " I asked with a wide smile. Louise trembled slightly but put on a very fake face of indifference.
"D-don't be stupid, I—HAHAHAHA, STOP HAHAHA!!" Louise started laughing with a panicked expression as she squirmed beneath me. I had sat on her hip, my fingers starting to tickle her ribs, and Louise began to writhe as her hands tried to push mine away, to no avail.
Louise started laughing, screaming, and crying all at the same time while still begging me to stop. I could see her turn red as tears started to fall from the corner of her eyes in a panic. After several minutes, she looked at me almost pleadingly, even though she was still laughing.
"You know what to say to make me stop," I said with a cheeky smile, without pausing. Louise's eyes hardened, and she said nothing but continued to be forced to laugh loudly. That facade lasted exactly 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
"HAHAHA F-FINE- HA- I'LL TELL YOU- HAHAHAHA!" Louise said between tears and laughter, my fingers stopped and the torture I was inflicting on Louise ceased. Louise immediately went completely limp.
Her whole face was completely flushed from the effort, I could see her cheeks trembling almost cramped and her face had marks from shed tears, her hair was completely disheveled, her clothes were completely ruined and wrinkled and she lifted them in the right places to see different patches of white skin, all while trying to catch her breath.
"You look sexy." Purred as I looked at Louise, Louise blushed even more before punching me in the chest.
"You damn idiot!" Louise screamed, completely furious. I chuckled through gritted teeth. I slid down on top of Louise, grabbed her shoulders, and rolled her over on the bed so she was on top of me. Louise squealed in panic as her body twisted easily. Then I held her tightly when she tried to escape quickly. Seeing it was useless, Louise groaned, but stopped moving. "You're unbearable," Louise growled.
"Guilty of the acts." I said dryly. Louise just grunted, resting her head against my chest as she calmed down. I let her settle, and for several minutes we remained silent in that position. "So... are you going to tickle or do we go back to tickling?" I finally asked.
"I'll talk!" Louise squealed immediately and in a panic, making me laugh. I chuckled. Louise was silent for a few seconds before she sighed shakily. "My mother wants me to seduce you," Louise said finally. I blinked.
"Okay." I said, shrugging.
"Okay?!" Louise said incredulously as she tried to stand up to look at me incredulously, but she could barely move to glance at me out of the corner of her eye. I sighed.
"Your mother isn't the first to want a girl to seduce me," I said dryly. "Piltover and Zaun want Jinx to seduce me, the PRT and Federal Bureau of Hunters want Taylor to, the Fire Nation councilors want Azula, the German councilors want Darkness, Tanya, and Visha, Miorine's father wants her, and the others won't be an exception."
"The only one who doesn't have anyone behind her with some kind of nefarious plan is Ruby, and that's because she doesn't know it, but I'm sure the Vale government will also want her to seduce me. So yeah, 'okay,' it's not something that bothers me." I said dryly. Louise stared at me, mouth agape.
"B-but, w-they're your partners, are you okay with them doing that?" Louise asked incredulously, I just snorted.
"I said there are people behind the girls who want the girls to do things, I never said the girls would do them. Each one just ignores it as much as she can, the question is, do you want to do it? You're trying to seduce me into kidnapping me and taking me to another country?" I asked mockingly. Louise blushed before her face went dark.
"My mother doesn't want me to take you to another country," Louise said curtly.
"Oh?" I asked curiously.
"She wants me to drug you, have your child, and move back home again," Louise said, her voice trailing off. I stopped.
"Oh... that's new." I said distractedly.
"Is that all you're going to say?" Louise laughed hollowly. I shrugged again.
"I don't care about your mother's plans," I said casually. "What matters is what you'll do," I said easily. "Do you want to listen to your mother? Or just do what you think is best? " I asked distractedly.
"Do I even have a choice?" Louise asked simply.
"You have a choice, everyone has one, but you have to decide if you want to do the easy thing or the right thing, or what you think is right, or simply do what you really want," I said distractedly. Louise snorted.
"I'm always amazed by your ability to ruin important sentences," Louise said, letting out a dry laugh.
"It's a talent," I said playfully. "But seriously, whatever you want to do is simply your decision," I said simply. "And it's not like you have to decide now," I said distractedly.
"My mother will find out if there's no progress. I've delayed her calls long enough. I wanted to annoy you and ruin everything with you so you'd back off by giving you those earrings, but somehow I messed it up and you liked them." Louise said resignedly. I blinked before bursting out laughing.
"Yeah, you had bad luck with that!" I said playfully. Louise sighed.
"You really don't seem the least bit worried, huh? You really don't even see me as a threat or what? " Louise asked, and I hummed.
"Not really?" I said simply. "I know you're a good girl in a bad situation, but I also know that if they try to steal my son, I'll go and cut the Netherlands in half." I said coldly. Louise shuddered.
"Yeah... that sounds exactly like what you would do." Louise sighed as she calmed down.
"And besides, like I said, you don't have to decide now. Just fool your mother. Tell her we're dating, that you're making progress, buy yourself some time while you decide what to do," I said easily.
"You think it's easy?" Louise asked incredulously. I raised an eyebrow.
"Jinx is doing a good job of fooling two countries." I said playfully, Louise opened her mouth and then closed it.
"You want to pretend to be my boyfriend?" Louise asked incredulously.
"You want to fake it?" I asked playfully. I released her from my grip and lifted her so she was at eye level, just inches from my face. She stared at me, her eyes traveling slowly from mine to my lips.
"Fuck it." Louise growled, then forcefully lowered her mouth to mine. I winced slightly as I felt her teeth clash against mine. Louise seemed to want to pull away as she let out a cry of pain. I just grabbed her head and prevented her from moving away as I began to kiss her. Louise stopped before returning the kiss more carefully.
We continued kissing for another half hour until Louise's stomach growled. I chuckled as I took some food out of my shadows and gave it to her.
Louise seemed to be in a better mood; I just hoped she wouldn't continue ignoring me and wouldn't listen to her mother. After all, I wasn't lying when I said I would cut that country in half if they provoked me enough.
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