"W-why are you being so m-mean Kacchan!?" A small boy with fluffy green hair and emerald eyes shivered as he stood in defense of his last remaining friend from his former best friend.
"Y-you're hurting her! I-if you don't stop, then I'll s-stop you myself!" The courageous little hero raised his tiny fists, despite his whole body shaking, he stood his ground.
On the sand behind him, bruised, scuffled and brought to her little knees, was the only friend who had yet to abandon him. Staring at the green haired boy as if he was a god… or rather a… saint?
Standing in front of them both was another boy their age, with spikey blond hair resembling an explosion. He was flanked by to other kids, one lanky and with a dopey expression and the other fat with little red wings folded behind his back.
The blond boy grinned cruelly while smacking a fist against his palm, lighting up a miniature explosion.
"You don't stand a chance without a quirk… Deku."
The blond boy and his cronies attacked the green haired child who tried defending his friend to the best of his ability, but only received bruises and burns for his troubles.
Afterwards he lied beaten and tired on the sand, an empty expression in his eyes. His friend tried getting his attention to no avail, the little hero only gazed at the afternoon sky with tears in the corners of his eyes and a single question on his mind.
'Why is this world so unfair?'
*****
On the other side of the continent, a small crimson eyed boy lay bruised and beaten on his back, surrounded by rocks, with tears in his eyes and blood streaming from his little head, his black hair stained red like his eyes. He wasn't crying because of the wounds on his body, he wasn't crying because of the bleeding gash on the side of his head.
The reason he was crying was because the person who gave his that gash was supposed to be his friend.
Tear filled crimson eyes found their way to a group of children, the same age as their owner, led by a boy with dark skin and a shaved head. Those crimson eyes gazed at the leader, but they held no emotion despite the tears that stained them, no betrayal or hurt, just empty acceptance.
The boys noticed the beaten child on the floor staring at them and laughed.
"Look! The plague is still conscious!"
"let's beat him some more! Right Matti?"
The dark skinned boy agreed with a smile, walking over to torment the downed boy with the other kids, his eyes held no remorse for the one who once called him friend. His smile remained as he and the other kids repeatedly kicked the boy's body as he just layed there limply, his empty Crimson eyes staring impassively at the early morning sky, his face was emotionless, but his heart and mind burned with rage, vowing to take revenge on his betrayer.
After the kids had enough they left the boy alone to bleed on the ground, the raging fire within his heart burned itself out, leaving him tired. Only one though remained in his exhausted mind.
'Why is this world so cruel?'
*****
Pain.
All he felt was pain.
His lungs burned, his muscled screamed, his blood cried with agony.
This was torture, plain and simple. How could anyone be expected to survive this hell? And if the torture wasn't bad enough…
"How are you doing down there? It's pretty comfy up on this fridge."
"I concur; this fridge is indeed comfy. *slrrrrrrrrrrp*"
Oh, those dicks!
Izuku Midoriya turned back to glare at the two people sat on the fridge that he was trying to pull across the trash infested beach.
One was the much beloved and world famous 'symbol of peace' and number one hero: All Might. The man who had chosen him, Izuku Midoriya, as his successor.
The other was a boy the same age as Izuku, although he was significantly taller. The boy had a mess of spikey black hair and handsome features accentuated by his pale skin and piercing crimson eyes.
That boy was Samuel D. Sigurd, self-proclaimed devil and the first person in Izuku's life to actually believe in his dream to be a hero.
Said boy was sitting on the edge of the fridge next to All Might, leisurely sipping on some hot coffee while sharing a chuckle with the number one hero over Izuku's lack of physical prowess.
'Didn't these two hate each other yesterday?' Izuku thought bitterly as he recalled how the three of them met yesterday, or rather: how Izuku met Samuel and then Samuel met All Might. Izuku had already met All Might earlier that very day… it was awful.
"It would be easier without the nearly 400 kilos of added weight!" the green haired boy grumbled to himself, face down in the sand.
"How rude. I've lost weight these days… I only weigh like 255. How about you young Sigurd?" All Might asked the black haired boy sitting next to him.
"63.5. *slrrrrrp*" Samuel answered and took another sip of his coffee. Izuku hoped it would burn his tongue.
"Why am I doing this anyway?" Izuku mumbled into the sand.
"Cause you'se weak, bro." Samuel stated bluntly, shooting a verbal arrow into Izuku's fragile heart.
"Young Sigurd is correct. As you are now, you are not ready to inherit One for All." All Might explained causing Izuku to turn back to them with tears gushing from his eyes… it was almost comical.
"But you said I was worthy!" Izuku cried hysterically. His childhood memories *cough* trauma *cough* of Bakugou's treatment of him resurfacing.
All Might took a few pictures of Izuku crying on his phone.
"Your spirit, yes. Yet your body leaves a lot to be desired. You don't have the necessary muscle mass to utilize my quirk. If I gave it to you right now… your limbs would probably pop straight off your body!" All Might explained, causing Izuku to shudder at the mental image of losing his limbs.
"Hey if you die, we can have you reincarnated like me." Samuel offered and received a glare, from both the green haired boy and blond hero, in return.
"Alright, alright…" Samuel raised his hands in surrender and hopped off of the fridge, walking to the platform to throw away his empty coffee cup.
"So that is why I'm cleaning this beach… it's a full body workout!" Izuku exclaimed excitedly.
"Correct! But there is more to it than that." All Might jumped off of the fridge and went over to Izuku.
"You see, this beach used to be quite beautiful, but now it's…"
"Zot mizbala mizdayenet, achi." Samuel walked back to them with his hands in his pockets.
"Crude choice of words, but yes, 'it's a fucking dump, bro'." All Might sighed but still nodded at Samuel's words.
"Ok, so this is also some type of community service, but wait… Sigurd, you're a devil right?" Izuku turned to his first friend in years with a sudden realization.
"We established this yesterday, my little dragon." The black haired devil walked over and plopped down next to Izuku on the sand.
"Then you know magic… right?" The green haired boy asked hesitantly.
"Where are you going with this?" Samuel felt that he wasn't going to like what Izuku was going to suggest.
"Isn't there a magic spell that can, like, boost my muscle-"
"No shortcuts, dumbass!" Samuel cut Izuku off with a chop on the head.
"I-I didn't mean instead of doing this!" Izuku waved his hands defensively. "I m-meant that maybe you could increase their growth rate while I work out?"
"Don't have that kind of fine control over my devil magic… think of it like doing surgery on a moving target for hours on end while recounting the entire script of Star Wars episode I word for word, but I did have something else in mind for this." Samuel grinned and switched from chopping Izuku's head to ruffling his hair. "but I kinda feel like the old man has something to say…" he cast a sideways glance at the symbol of peace, who was eying the exchange warily. He still had a few reservations about Samuel, but for Izuku's sake he was willing to keep an open mind.
"Young Sigurd is correct. What we're going to have you do, is clean out this beach and return it to its former glory by the day of the entrance exam." All Might puffed out his chest as he gave Izuku their goal.
"Tall order and a deadline… I trust that you have a regimen prepared, old man?" Samuel asked while playing with some sand in his hand.
"That I do! The 'Aim to pass: American dream' plan!" The symbol of peace pulled out two copies of said regimen from his shirt and held them out like some type of treasure.
"That was so fucking cheesyhehehehehe!" Samuel rolled around on the sand laughing at All Might's showboating. The old man himself literally deflated at having the wind taken out of his sails like this.
"Anyway! Both of you are receiving a copy, young Midoriya for the obvious reasons and young Sigurd in order to observe young Midoriya's progress and add things you feel he should improve on." Small Might passed the training regimen to the both of them.
"Holy wow! You included diet and sleep schedules as well? This is so in depth!" Izuku gushed at the detailed training plan his idol had given him. All Might puffed back up into his muscle form and let out a boisterous laugh.
"But of course! Nothing but the best for my-"
"Yeah this this ain't gonna work." Samuel interrupted, causing the blond hero to deflate again.
"What do you mean?" Small Might demanded.
"This is an impressive plan, don't get me wrong, but the major issue here is that it doesn't leave any time to train with either your quirk or his Sacred Gear, not to mention any combat training. Even with the muscle stimulating chi correction acupuncture I'll provide, this schedule leaves much to be desired." Samuel explained while leafing through the regimen.
"A-acupuncture!?" Izuku asked panicked.
"Yeah. We're going to min-max your gains by adjusting the flow of your body's chi through the use of acupuncture, this should have the benefit of not only stimulating your muscles to grow faster and stronger, but will also relieve fatigue and pain thus allowing you to work for longer, not to mention help with the awakening process for both your sacred gear and draconic heritage." The black haired devil stood up and offered Izuku his hand to lift him up, but the green haired boy just stared at him in shock.
"Izuku?" Samuel asked with concern, not liking the empty look in his friend's eyes.
"Old man, I think I broke him." He turned to Small Might who was also stunned silent at the young devil's casual way of revealing ground breaking information.
"Draconic heritage?" Izuku whispered, looking at his hands as if he didn't recognize them.
"Well… yeah. You have dragon blood, like me, though in your case it's less diluted than mine." Samuel said with a shrug. "Also, you're leaving me hanging, man." He waved his still extended hand in Izuku's face, who let out a yelp and quickly took it, letting the red eyed devil hoist him to his feet.
"This is a lot to take in…" the green haired boy let out a small whimper before shaking his head and adopting a resolute expression. "but this just means I have more to work with. I knew I was at a disadvantage from the start, but with you two… I'll be able to do it!" Izuku allowed himself to grin and when he looked at his two companions, he saw bright grins on each of their faces.
"That's right! I said I was going to make you strong and I meant it, upholding our word is a pretty big deal in my family." Samuel nodded and pat Izuku on the back.
"And I will not spare any effort in molding you into the hero you were always meant to be. You have my word, young Midoriya." Small Might spoke with a fire burning in his blue eyes.
"All Might, Sigurd…" Izuku stated to tear up at the heartwarming display of dedication to his dream.
"When I'm in this form, I'd rather you both call me by my real name; Toshinori Yagi." Yagi requested from the both of them.
"Also, we're friends, Izuku, just call me Sammy." The black haired devil offered with a grin. "Now, this beach needs cleaning and this plan needs adjusting. You two keep up the work here, I'm calling in a favor." Sammy said and made his way to the platform above the beach, waving his hand over his shoulder.
On the platform the red eyed devil climbed on the motorcycle he had parked there, Yagi was surprised to find that he actually had a license for it.
"I'll see you guys later!" He called out and revved his bike, taking off into the road while his engine roared loudly.
"He isn't so bad for a devil… maybe I was wrong in thinking they were all evil." Yagi mused and wiped some blood from his mouth. "What are you standing around for? Get to work."
"R-right!" Izuku scurried into the trash heaps to start clearing them out.
******
Samuel made his way to a certain old building on UA property, unlike the rest of the school, this place was mostly accessible to the public, so he wouldn't have to make use of the special guest pass that Kaichou gave him.
He parked his bike near the building and took out the bag, full of peace offerings he had made a stop for, from the storage compartment of his bike.
"Hope she appreciates this…" the black haired devil sighed and went into the building, he climbed up the stairs, passing by a door that was locked and covered with paper seals.
"Hey Gaspie." Samuel greeted the door but received no response.
'one day…' he thought with an exasperated smile.
"Good talk buddy, see you later." He bid the door goodbye and proceeded to scale the rest of the stairs.
Eventually he reached an ornate door with an ominous aura to it. Samuel scoffed and opened it, his face completely blank.
"Yo! Anyone here?" He asked sarcastically, he knew the person he was looking for was there, he could feel her presence from outside of the building. He walked in and saw four people inside.
A girl, a year older than him, with crimson hair and blue eyes, who had an aura of authority to her. Of course that aura lost some if its luster when you've seen the girl after and Ultraman and cookie dough ice-cream binge. Samuel shuddered at the memory.
Beside the red head, was a girl his own age with a spikey black ponytail and black eyes. By any standard of beauty this girl was stunning. Not that it meant much since Samuel had seen her eating… it wasn't pretty. Not to mention she was a closeted perv so deep in denial, she was doing BDSM in Narnia.
Then there was a good looking boy with blond hair and blueish grey eyes, he was sat on the arm rest of one of the couches with a sword in his hands. He exuded the aura of a perfect prince, kind, humble. But much like another blond prince who seemed too good to be true, he had so much traumatic rage behind that pretty face that it made Samuel look tame in comparison.
'… just like Dimitri.' The black haired devil sighed when he thought of one of his favorite video game characters.
Finally, on the other couch was a short girl with a bob cut of white hair and gold eyes, her whole expression just screamed boredom and cold shoulder, like the human embodiment of a cat. And much like any cat, she warms up to you if you give her treats.
Pretty brutal assessment of your friends, boy.
'Bite me.'
"Sammy, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?" The crimson haired girl, who sat at the desk at the edge of the room asked with false surprise. She knew he was here the minute he stepped into the building.
"Need a favor." He said simply while taking something out of the bag in his hand.
He walked over to the white haired girl on the couch and placed a box of sweets in her lap.
"Go nuts."
The white haired girl proceeded to do just that, tearing open the box and… the less said about her bad habits the better.
"A favor? That's a pretty rare thing of you to ask." The red haired girl leaned back into her chair and sipped from the cup of tea that the black haired girl placed on her desk.
"Is that a yes? 'Cause you still owe me." Samuel had no patience for the girl's little cat and mouse negotiation.
"Oh?" She placed a hand over her mouth in mock surprise. "What precisely do I owe you for?"
"You want me to get the list?" The red eyed devil raised an eyebrow at the red haired girl's air head act.
"You keep a list?!" Her little ignorant façade cracked in the face of that information.
"We're devils, Rias, of course I keep a list." Samuel rolled his eyes at the shocked and almost betrayed expression the girl was giving him.
"What happened to 'helping a friend is reward in of itself'?" Rias mocked while taking a sip of her tea, trying to maintain a semblance of control over the conversation.
"Spring cleaning at Momo's mansion."
"Pfffffffffffft!!!" Rias spit her tea all over the desk and unfortunately on Samuel as well.
The spikey ponytail girl next to Rias paled at the red eyed devil's words while the other two devils in the room just looked confused.
"What happened with the spring cleaning?" The blond devil asked.
"Nothing that concerns you Yuuto. Just go back to playing with your Phantom knights." Samuel said dismissively while wiping the tea from his face.
"That joke was never funny…" Yuuto grumbled and went back to inspecting his sword.
"I already said I was sorry!" The girl with the spikey ponytail exclaimed.
"Sorry doesn't fix my PTSD, Momo." The red eyed devil inspected his now drenched shirt, it was a good thing that he was wearing sweats today…
Momo apparently wasn't happy with that remark since she crossed her arms and huffed. "You're overreacting; a lot of guys would feel lucky to walk in on that situation…"
"Said the sadomasochist to the sexual-assault victim." He said while ruffling his hair to get the tea out.
"What favor do you need?" Rias decided to just get on with it, she knew Samuel wouldn't come to her like this unless it was necessary. Even if she wanted some leverage out of the ordeal, he was too much trouble.
"I need Sairaorg's help." He tossed the 'Aim to pass: American dream' plan at Rias, who caught and stared at him with a confused look.
"Remember the little scavenger hunt that you had Kaichou send me on yesterday?" Samuel asked while Rias flipped through the pages. He had already checked to see that All Might left no signs of his identity or One for All in the plan, the old man was cautious if nothing else.
"How does that relate to this training plan? Because I'm hoping for your sake that your solution to my problem isn't 'Go clean Tagobah beach'."
"It isn't. your solution is the one cleaning it. His personal trainer made this regimen for him, but it doesn't leave much, or any, time to train his sacred gear or his combat capabilities. That's why I want you to get your cousin to spruce it up a little. If anyone knows proper training, it's him." Samuel explained while tapping his finger against his forehead.
"I see… well this is for my benefit as well. Fine." Rias conceded and stood up.
"How soon do you need this done?" She asked.
"Deadline's the UA entrance exam, so within the week if you can." He shrugged and put the bag he was holding in her hand. "A sign of good will. Laters." Samuel turned and left the room without another word.
Rias looked at the contents of the bag and quickly hid it in one of the desk drawers, it was the new limited edition Ultraman fan-book. She had her eye on it and was awaiting it's release so she could purchase it herself, but it seemed like Sammy saved her the effort.
Now she had to help him.