"-up."
"Eeek! Samuel don't scare me like that!" Sona scolded her pawn who suddenly woke up. Samuel gave her a tired glance and sat up, stretching his body while yawning.
"Is the woman who poisoned me really lecturing me right now?" He asked bluntly before cracking his neck, glancing to see his master glaring at him with a blush and gritted teeth.
"Shut up and get up, you have work to do!" The heiress to house Sitri commanded as her loyal pawn yawned, retrieved a notebook from his sacred gear and lied back down.
"Tired, don't give a shit." He leafed through the pages, his eyes widening in surprise at what he read inside. "What the fuck…"
"Your sister got cheated on." Sona said bluntly.
"Suddenly I give a shit!" Samuel snapped the book closed as killing intent rolled off of him in waves and he jumped to his feet covered in sparks. "Where is he?!"
"Your sister didn't specify, probably for the same reason she never let you meet him… or even tell you his name." Sona said while adjusting her glasses, completely unthreatened by the wild release of Samuel's magic.
"Guh! Fine! I'll ask her myself, it's more important for me to be there for her than to hunt the dead man down." Samuel relented before checking his notebook again. "What time is it anyway?"
"Around five in the morning, you were out for a while." The devil heiress explained, unfazed by her servant's blank glare.
"And who's fault was that? Well whatever, I gotta get to the beach, I'll stop by the apartment to check on Lena and change and then when I'm done training I'll take her on a shopping spree." Samuel explained his plans for the day.
"Your wallet's sacrifice will not be in vain." Sona said while dabbing a handkerchief to her eyes, her delivery as dry as the Sahara Desert.
"Choke on it, Sona!" He yelled as he left the apartment.
Sona watched her pawn leave with an amused smirk, he wasn't the only one who liked getting a reaction out of people.
*****
"Yo sis, I'm home." Samuel called out quietly, taking off his helmet, as he entered the apartment he shared with his sister, only to hear a whine coming from the living room.
With a sigh, the red eyed devil made his way to the living room, where he found a cocoon of blankets on the couch.
"Lena…"
"Leave me alone, Sammy." His sister replied before chomping down on something. Sammy sighed and sat next to his cocooned sister, putting his helmet on the table and wrapping a hand around her and drawing her in for a hug. It was then that he noticed to azure ice cream bar in her hand.
"Did I forget to stock up on your ice cream sis?" He asked as his sister took another bite of the frozen treat. She never ate his sea salt ice cream.
"No… I ate it as well." She mumbled and bit the ice cream again.
Wow, it was bad, she hated that flavor with a passion, yet here she was chomping it down and judging by the wrappers on the floor… she ate all of them.
"Well… I have to go train at that scrap heap beach for a bit, but when I get back, how about we go on a shopping trip to get all of those new outfits you wanted?" Samuel gave his sister the best smile he could.
"You're trying to distract me." Selena's pink eyes cast an accusing glance at her brothers green.
"Is it working?" He asked, glancing apprehensively at the pink irises of his sister's eyes, knowing that she was using her quirk on him.
"Yeah. You'll regret it though." She half chuckled as her eyes returned to their amber color.
Samuel hummed and took out his wallet, tossing in his hand a few times before laying it flat on his palm, then took one of Selena's hands in the other.
He moved both hands up and down like a scale before smiling at his sister.
"Nah, won't regret this. You are worth more to me than some money."
Selena sat quietly for moment, giving her younger twin a blank stare. (it's hereditary) "*snrrrt* Damn bro, that was so freakin' cheesy." She broke into a laughing fit at his attempt to cheer her up.
Samuel stared at his sister blankly before shaking his head and getting up. "I'll be back in a few hours, sis, do try to clean up the mess you made here." The red eyed devil chuckled as he blocked a punch from his sister and went to his room.
Not five minutes later, he came back in workout clothes and took his helmet off the table. He opened the door to the apartment and threw a glance back at his sister, who at least looked a bit better than a moment earlier.
"Call if you need anything, I'm always here for you."
"I know." Selena smiled as she watched him leave. She really had a great brother.
*****
Izuku and Yagi turned their heads to the sound of a motorcycle approaching the beach, taking a breather from hauling trash, the green haired boy and his mentor walked to the platform to see their partner in crime get off of his bike.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Got some serious food poisoning last night." Samuel greeted with a smile as he stored his helmet in the bike's storage compartment.
"What did you eat?" The deflated symbol of peace asked, curious of what kind of food could fell a devil's stomach.
"My master tried her hand at cooking lobster, not knowing that you're supposed to boil them alive…" The red eyed devil drawled as he stepped onto the sand, basking in the early morning breeze.
"Is that really enough to give you food poisoning? I would think that devils are more resilient to these things." Izuku muttered before taking out a notebook and scribbling something down.
"Oh, you have that habit as well." Samuel said with dull surprise as he inspected the notebook his new friend was writing in.
'Supernatural analysis. Vol.1'
"You write notes as well?" The green haired boy asked in surprise, a small bit of excitement bubbling in his stomach at someone to share his hobby with.
"Sure do, on all different kinds of things; cooking, fighting, mathematics and even dreams." Sammy pulled out a notebook out of the choker that appeared on his neck and handed it to Izuku.
"Young Sigurd, is that a sacred gear?" Yagi asked as he stared at the choker on Sammy's neck.
"Yup, it's a really cool one too, but if my hunch is right, Izuku's sacred gear is stronger." The red eyed devil grinned as he looked at Izuku captivated by his notes.
"These calculations are so advanced! And they're all… probability?" The green haired boy asked.
"Yeah, it's necessary for my quirk to work to its fullest." The red eyed devil walked deeper into the trash maze of the beach, signaling the others to follow.
After they were deep enough inside, Samuel jumped on one of the heaps and sat atop it with a smug smile. "What I'm going to tell you, both about my quirk and the sacred gears, remains between us, understand?" He leaned forward and looked down at the humans on the sand.
"You're keeping the nature of my quirk hidden, so it's only fair." Yagi nodded as he walked closer to the heap.
"I won't tell anyone… there's no one I can tell." Izuku said sadly.
Both Samuel and Yagi winced at the lonely tone in which the boy spoke, a shared glance between them followed by a resolute nod signaled their shared mission to make anyone who ever hurt the boy suffer.
"Well get started with cleaning and I'll explain," Izuku proceeded to do just that as he struggled to lift a rusty piece of iron from the sand. "I'll start with my quirk, to the rest of the world my quirk is registered as 'Curse' the ability to take negative energy and mold it into flames or lightning, like so." He said as he raised both hands, the right sparked with black electricity and the left lit up with black fire.
"Now this is a load of shit, since the lightning and flames come from my sacred gear [Force Disaster]. My actual quirk is called 'Einei Ha'Caesar'," Sammy's red eyes turned green. "When my eyes change from red to green, it means that my quirk is active. It has three abilities." The red eyed devil paused to chuckle when he saw Izuku stop cleaning to furiously scribble in one of his notebooks… why was it burnt?
"The first two are automatic, the third is manual, but they all revolve around one thing… the future."
"Wait! You have a future sight quirk? Like Nighteye?" Yagi interrupted in shock, earning a scowl from the young devil.
"Don't compare me to that bastard." Samuel warned with shining red eyes.
"I'm not saying that you yourself are like him, I'm asking if your quirk is similar." The deflated hero specified calmly, the devil's threat not scaring him in the slightest.
"Maybe? Don't know the specifics of that bastard's quirk, he keeps it close to his chest, as you know." The red eyed devil shrugged before continuing. "The first ability is short term precognition, to see around six or so seconds into the future when I'm in danger." He explained.
"I see, that ability is invaluable in a fight where every single secondmattersitcouldsave…muttermuttermutter…"
Both Samuel and Yagi chuckled at Izuku's antics, but also taking a moment to appreciate his sharp and analytical mind as he quickly broke down the details of the first ability with frightening accuracy.
"The second is long term precognition, to get flashes of a far future usually as some sort of warning. It's unreliable, it's annoying and it's painful, most of the time I can't make heads or tails of those visions, they're abstract as all hell, not to mention they just happen randomly without warning and how overtaxing it is on my eyes and that makes it my least favorite of the three." Samuel concluded his explanation on the second ability, taking a moment to let Izuku write it down.
"Now the third is my favorite, my trump card and the reason I don't tell people what my actual quirk is… prob-"
"Probability manipulation, right?" Izuku asked as he stopped writing for a second, looking up at the heap he saw Sammy frozen in place and right beside the heap was Yagi, struggling to hold in his laughter. "Was I wrong?"
"No. you were right, but you stole my thunder." Sammy sighed and slumped forward a bit. "Anyway, as you guessed I can actively manipulate the probability of phenomena occurring within my line of sight through calculation, it does have limits though, the possibility of said phenomena needs to actually exist and the less likely said possibility is, the more taxing it is for me to realize it." He finished with a snap of his fingers and jumped down, landing right in front of Izuku, who jumped back at the sudden proximity.
"Now let's get to sacred gears." Samuel grinned as the choker reappeared on his neck.
"I have some knowledge on those thanks to Mirai, he told me that they were dangerous and should be removed." Yagi added, suddenly regretting his words when Samuel started growling.
"And by Mirai I assume you mean Nighteye?" Yagi nodded, "Ugh! That bastard doesn't know shit! Sure sacred gears can be dangerous, but so are quirks, and the only way to remove one would be to kill the host, something that your dear friend has done plenty of times!"
Yagi recoiled at Samuel's words, did Mirai really? Mirai was the one who first told him of the super natural world and told him that devils and the like were evil, but he never knew he of what the red eyed devil was telling him now.
"Devils, demi-gods, yokai, sacred gear users, nothing is off limits for the guy! I found warehouses full of children, left behind by that bastard!" Flames burst from Samuel, his anger turning the sand beneath his feet to glass.
"Are you saying that he killed devil children?" The symbol of peace gasped in horror, even with his biased opinion on devils, he never hunted them down.
"When he could get his hands on them, but those children that I found… they were human."
Yagi felt his heart stop, could his former sidekick, his friend, really be capable of that? Mirai did speak of how the super natural had no place in hero society, but would he really go so far as to murder super naturally inclined children? The more he thought of it the more he started to think so… Mirai was always an uncompromising man, when All Might was injured, his former sidekick tried to put his foot down and command him to pass One for All to a successor of his choosing. Even now he was pestering the number one hero to give his quirk to his 'perfect candidate'. Not to mention, when he told Mirai of young Midoriya…
"Young Midoriya!" Yagi suddenly shouted, startling the two boys.
"What is it All Might?" The green haired boy turned to his idol with concern, the blond skeletal man was shaking.
"I told Nighteye about you, I told him that I picked you as my successor." All might let the implication sink in, it took about a minute until Sammy spoke.
"How much did you tell him?" The red eyed devil asked quietly, anger bubbling under his voice.
"Just that I found a successor and that he is quirkless, I said nothing of his sacred gear nor of meeting you." The deflated hero said, putting Samuel somewhat at ease.
"That's bad, not as bad as it could be mind you, but still pretty fuckin' bad." Small sparks lit the young devil's hands as sweat dribbled down his face. "It explains why his sidekick was in Aldera yesterday." He dropped to the sand with his face in his hands and let out a muffled groan of annoyance.
"Sir Nighteye's sidekick was at my school?" Izuku sat down next to Sammy, his stomach feeling uneasy at what his trainers were talking about.
"Yeah, Bubble Girl was there scoping the place out, same as me, so I thought that maybe I can get something out of her and boy did I." Sammy laid his back on the sand and reached a hand into his choker, taking out a sheet of paper. "I got you her autograph." He handed the autograph to his hero nerd friend, who felt strange about receiving it from someone who was spying on him.
"Why were you there then?" Izuku didn't see a reason why Sammy would want to go to a school like Aldera, especially on a weekend.
"Cause I'm going to destroy that place." He said bluntly.
"Destroy?" Izuku nearly shouted.
"We'll focus on that later! For now, let's go over what happened." Samuel spent the next five minutes recalling his conversation with the blue skinned sidekick, and how he might have bought them time and found a way to tear down Izuku's middle school in one.
"I must admit, I am impressed with your deductive skills young Sigurd, but it won't amount to anything. Even if Bubble Girl wishes to help, Mirai is a notorious quirkist and the most you've done was get that horrendous place another backer." Yagi shook his head at the dilemma they were in.
"Maybe so, but what if, and hear me out on this one, that school was to get publically denounced by the… I don't know, number one hero and symbol peace, for the unethical treatment of a quirkless student, the quirkless student who just happens to be one of the two participants of the newly created, All Might sponsored 'Symbols of Tomorrow' Initiative, thus justifying the big man's involvement in the matter?" Samuel grinned as the cogs started to turn in the old hero's head.
"And what if… what if All Might's former sidekick was supposedly backing this school, and the date in which he began to do so just so happens to line up with the date of a recording of his sidekick expressing interest in investigating that establishment on suspicions of abuse of said quirkless student?" The red eyed devil raised his phone, which started playing a recording of his conversation with Bubble Girl.
"Why… The man would be ostracized. The former sidekick of All Might, so petty and corrupt that he'd support a school that abused one of the chosen successors of the symbol of peace all for the sake of his own prejudice? It really makes one wonder what would happen, the investigations that would be launched, the conspiracies that would be unraveled… right?" the grin on his face widened at the shocked faces of his compatriots.
"You planned this?!" Yagi accused, causing Samuel to laugh loudly.
"Nope! I just pulled it all out my ass!" The red eyed devil shrugged at the outrage he was receiving.
"But you recorded the conversation." Izuku pointed out, suddenly seeing how Sammy can be a devil.
"Golden rule of gambling, my little dragon; always keep track of all bets on the table." Sammy reached inside of his sacred gear and tossed what he drew at Izuku. The green haired boy fumbled with the object for a bit before seeing that it was a green and white poker chip with a picture of a red dragon. "Keep it for luck." The red eyed devil smiled and went over to pet Izuku's head. "now get back to training while I explain sacred gears, yeah?"
Izuku proceeded to try to remove the rusty metal from the sand, receiving corrections on his form from Yagi while Samuel got explaining what he knew about sacred gears, their origins (to his knowledge) and how they are classified.
"So you see, my sacred gear [Force Disaster] is what you'd call a Longinus class sacred gear, though it is a lower tier one…" Sammy played with the gold medallion on his choker.
"Who the hell do you think you're calling low tier, boy?" Izuku and Yagi jumped at the deep voice that originated from the medallion.
"Did your medallion just talk?!" Izuku yelped in surprise.
"So this is the current Re-"
"Shshshshsh! Don't spoil the surprise, X." Samuel hushed his sacred gear before it could finish, leaving both the green haired boy and his blond mentor confused and curious at the devil's secrecy.
"So you said it's a Longinus, but as far as I know there are only thirteen and yours isn't one of them." All Might interjected as he observed the choker more closely.
"Your info, which I assume you got from Nightfuck, is outdated. Thing about gears; they evolve, they change, they improve, these things were a gift to humanity from the big homey in the sky, so of course they represent humanity's best aspect… adaptability in the face of adversity." Samuel said as he jumped high in the air and was kept there by two concentrated streams of black flames coming from his feet. "The sacred gear responds to powerful emotions and when those emotions reach their zenith…" The intensity of the flames increased, shooting Samuel high in the air and over the water, the red eyed devil laughed loudly as the flames beneath his feet disappeared, causing him to plummet to the water with a loud splash. A second later the water exploded with Samuel flying out of the sea, howling with delight as he flipped through the air, surrounded by black flames and drops of water.
"Yeahhhhhahahaha!!!!" Samuel, covered in flames, landed on scrap pile and reduced it to molten slag before looking back at Izuku and grinning. "An evolution occurs." The red eyed devil shook the water out of his hair as he stepped out of the molten metal his feet were currently sinking into.
"Does that hurt?" Izuku asked with concern seeing the red hot slag drip from his friend's feet.
"Like a bitch, but let me tell ya-"
"Hey you!" All three occupants of the beach turned to the source of the yell, seeing a man, dressed in an outfit that looked like a cross between striper and construction worker, stomp over to them with a furious expression.
"Can we help you, sir?" Yagi, the adult in this situation, decided to take the lead in this conversation. The man, who they recognized as a pro hero, looked absolutely livid as he glared at Samuel who gave him an indifferent glance before looking down at his burning feet.
"That black haired kid is under arrest for public quirk use!" The man barked and pointed at the red eyed devil who was currently more concerned with removing the molten metal from his feet.
Yagi and Izuku stepped back in shock, they knew using quirks in public was illegal without a license, but it wasn't so heavily enforced that Samuel's little demonstration earlier would land him on the wrong side of the law. They looked over to the devil in question, only to see that he was ignoring the conversation entirely in favor of cleaning his currently metal covered feet, using his black sparks to draw the cooling metal away… he can do electro magnetism? Izuku resisted the urge to write the fact down, seeing as this was a very tense situation.
"See! He's still doing it! Now come on, you little brat, you're coming with me!" The pro stomped over, his hand extended to grab the red eyed devil, but Yagi stepped in front of him to cut him off. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you boney sack of shit?!" The white haired man growled at the deflated symbol of peace for interrupting him.
"Young Sigurd used his quirk with my permission." Yagi's explanation caused the angry pro to fume.
"And who the hell gave you the authority to do that?!" The man looked ready to attack the deflated hero.
"All Might did." The pro backed up in an instant.
"What was that?" he could barely manage a whisper at the sudden fear that assaulted his body.
"My name is Toshinori Yagi, personal secretary to the symbol of peace as well as personal trainer to All Might's handpicked protégés. One of whom you just tried to arrest on account of his training." Yagi gave his business card to the stunned pro, who started to shiver in fear when he realized he potentially made an enemy of All Might.
'Damn! Even looking like a skeleton, he puts primal fear in people, impressive, old man, impressive indeed.' Samuel smirked at the shaking pro, who noticed the gesture and forgot his fear in favor of rage.
"You little brat!" The man rushed Samuel and lifted him by the shirt, the red eyed devil's feet dangled in the air, small drops of molten metal fell on the sand.
"You got a problem man?" The complete lack of interest displayed was making the pro more and more furious.
"You made me look like an idiot!" He shouted while shaking the bored looking Samuel, Yagi would have interfered but the young devil raised his hand to stop him.
"Oh… now I remember you. Dumb Arms-" "Death Arms!" "Otto davar, gum kabel tikun, you made yourself look like an idiot." Samuel's complete monotone did little to alleviate Death Arms' anger, if anything the man looked ready to kill.
"Shut up! For the past two days, I've been a laughing stock! Because of you!" If Samuel felt any sympathy for the man's plight, he didn't show it, he just rolled his eyes.
"You failed to subdue a villain, nearly let a hostage die, condemned his rescuer, assaulted a minor and then proceeded to get owned by said minor, both on live broadcast. You reap what you sow, jackass, now let go. Or do you want to be known as the pro hero who attacked the number one hero's personally picked student." Samuel's words seemed to sober the man up as he reluctantly let him down on the sand. "There's a good bitch." The red eyed devil walked over to his fellow protégé while the white haired pro seethed quietly.
"If you're quite done, I'd like to continue their training and you're getting in the way. Leave." Yagi's voice sent chills down the spines of all present and Death Arms had no choice but to leave, or bring the wrath of the symbol of peace down on his head. With an annoyed grumble the pro left walked away while glaring at the expressionless Samuel.
"Man, what a dick." Samuel dropped down to sit on the sand and sighed in annoyance. Izuku, concerned for his friend after that stressful situation, tried asking if he was ok.
"Sammy… are you-"
"Hold that thought." *Squelch* "FUUUUUUUCK!!!!!" Samuel ripped the, now completely solidified, metal from the bottom of his feet, tearing some of his skin along with it. "Ah fuck! Oh shit! Sweet Leviathan, that hurt! And now my shoes are ruined!" The red eyed devil lied on his back, lifting his injured feet in the air so they wouldn't touch the sand.
"Jesus Christ!" "Ouch! Dude, you should know better than to shout his name next to a devil!"
"Sorry, young Sigurd, I was just… taken off guard by your approach to removing the metal." Yagi apologized for his outburst while Izuku stared in horror at Samuel's bleeding feet. "Tell you what, once young Midoriya finishes today's quota, I'll take you both to get patched up from today." The deflated hero offered to the bleeding devil.
"Sounds great." Sammy gave a thumbs up and Izuku rushed back to work, in order to make sure his friend could get better sooner.
It took a few hours but Izuku managed to surpass the day's quota and hovered nearby as All Might buffed up and picked up Samuel, princess carrying him to his truck, much to the devil's embarrassment. All Might had to also put Samuel's bike on the back of the truck, since Samuel refused to part with his 'baby'.
"So, where are you taking us All Might?" Izuku asked as he looked out of the passenger seat window, not recognizing the way.
"To an old friend of mine, she'll help with both young Sigurd's injury and your exhaustion." The buffed up symbol of peace explained as he weaved through traffic.
"Appreciate it, old man." Samuel called out from the back seat.
*****
"All Might…" Izuku spoke shakily. "Are you sure this is the place?"
"Hahahaha! Indeed, welcome to UA!" The symbol of peace laughed at the star struck expression on Izuku's face.
"This is so cool! Sammy, this is UA!" The green haired boy jumped with excitement.
"Indeed it is, now can you take me to Recovery Girl? I'm still fucking bleeding!" Samuel shouted from All Might's arms.
"Right! Sorry!/Right! Sorry!" The mentor and successor called out simultaneously as they rushed towards the gate before a thought struck the green haired boy.
"Wait… Recovery Girl?!"
"Yes, she's the school nurse, I assume she's the one I'm here to see?" The red eyed devil raised his head to look at the shocked Izuku. "… you didn't know? Old man, I broke him again." Samuel and All Might sighed as Izuku went on a mutter spree.
After a few minutes they finally reached the nurse's office, with All Might opening the door and stepping in.
"Hey, Chiyo… I-" The symbol of peace was then whacked in the face with a giant syringe, causing him to drop the injured Samuel.
"Ow fuck!" Samuel cried as his back hit the floor. "What the hell?!" He yelled at the old lady who just smacked All Might.
"Oh! I'm sorry dearie, I didn't see that the big oaf was carrying someone, are you ok?" The old lady asked in a sweet tone that would make one think she didn't just whip the world's greatest hero.
"Look at my feet and ask again." The red eyed devil moved his injured feet in front of the old lady with a bored expression on his face.
"Dear God!" "Ow!"
Recovery Girl stared at Samuel for a moment.
"God." "Fuckin' stop that!"
"Toshi… is there a reason you brought an injured devil to my office?" The aged heroine glared at the devil on the floor, who simply gazed at her without emotion. The symbol of peace closed the door behind him and deflated, crouching down between Samuel and Recovery Girl.
"Relax Chiyo, he's a good kid." Yagi defended his student.
"Weren't you the one who said that devils are dangerous?" The 'Youthful' Heroine asked as she eyed the black haired devil apprehensively.
"You say that like you humans are harmless puppies, yet last I checked; devils didn't cause the holocaust, devils weren't behind the 'Meta Massacres' and it wasn't devils who beat a child to near death for a power he couldn't control. You humans are always so high and mighty, for such weak, frail and hateful creatures." Samuel sneered at Recovery Girl, the little old lady merely huffed and gestured for Yagi to carry him to one of the beds.
All Might buffed up and picked Samuel up from the floor and gently placed him on a bed, Recovery Girl soon climbed a stool next to the bed in order to be at eye level with her surprise patient.
"So how did this happen, devil boy?" The red eyed devil scoffed at the nickname.
"I have a name, you dusty old bat, it's Samuel." He winced when the doctor poked his foot, shutting him up.
"Kind of ironic for a devil to have that name… did you tear the skin from your feet?"
"How else would I get the metal off?" Samuel shrugged at the medical hero's shocked expression.
"I'm going to ask you a question, devil boy, and be careful with how you answer. What metal?" The question had an edge like a scalpel, precise and sharp.
"Got molten metal stuck to my feet, wasn't able to remove it before it cooled because some asshat tried to have me arrested for bullshit reasons." He explained dismissively.
"Public quirk use…" Izuku mumbled from the side.
"As I said: Bullshit reasons." Samuel reiterated with a shake of his head.
"Not incorrect…" Yagi shrugged.
"And your first thought was to tear off the metal merged to your feet?" Recovery Girl asked in a deadly calm voice that sent shivers down the spines of the three men.
"Mistakes were made?" The red eyed devil chuckled fearfully at the killer intent released from the shrunken elderly doctor.
The Youthful Heroine started to mercilessly whack Samuel on the head with her syringe shaped cane. "You!" WHACK! "Little!" WHACK! "Idiot!" WHACK!
"OW! Ok! I get it! Stop hitting me!" After two minutes of senseless violence, the medical hero decided that the young devil had enough.
"I hope that'll teach you to be more careful in the future." Recovery Girl huffed as she put her cane back on the ground.
"How are you so strong?!" Samuel shouted, staring at the small old lady with new found horror.
"I had to keep this oaf in check." She jammed a thumb in Yagi's direction. "Now, this will feel draining, so be warned." As she said this, Recovery Girl's lips started to stretch. The wrinkled lips approached the young devil slowly as he gasped at the horror he was about to experience.
*Smoooooooch*
"Happyplacehappyplacehappyplace…" Samuel lied on the bed in the fetal position, his feet were fully healed… but at what cost?
"Don't be so dramatic." Recovery Girl shook her head before turning to Yagi. "So Which one of them is it?" She asked vaguely.
"Young Midoriya here is my successor, but young Sigurd is in on the secret." The deflated symbol of peace explained while gesturing to the short green haired boy next to him.
"You're Recovery Girl! Can I have your autograph?" Izuku quickly brought out his notebook and a pen, his eyes shining and his body vibrating with excitement.
"Of course dearie." Recovery Girl smiled and signed a page on the notebook with an impressively detailed analysis of her quirk, that kid had a good head on his shoulders. "So why was a devil made aware of your quirk, Toshi?" Small Might shivered in fear of the old lady but couldn't respond before Samuel took the lead.
"Because it was either that, or lose the perfect successor that is Izuku, 'cause there was no way I was letting him near this kid without me around." The red eyed devil yawned, feeling the after effects of the healing quirk, and wobbly stood up from the bed. "He said some, let's say, hurtful things to Izuku and I wasn't going to let him hurt him further, simple as that." He shrugged and tumbled before catching himself on a chair.
"Careful!" Recovery Girl chided before giving the boy a pack of gummies. "Eat these." The red eyed devil sat down and complied. "Now, what exactly did you say to the boy Toshi?"
"You know Chiyo, I really don't think it matters right now." Yagi tried to change the subject.
"No, go ahead. See how she reacts." Samuel said with a mouth full of gummies.
"I said he couldn't be a hero without a quirk…" His honesty earned him another cane to the face.
"You hypocrite!" The old lady shouted as she kept beating down on the injured hero.
"This is better than cable." Samuel chuckled as he ate some more gummies.
"Sammy, should we stop this?" Izuku asked apprehensively, glancing at the amused expression on his devil friend's face.
"Nah, he earned this." He shrugged and offered Izuku some gummies, enjoying the show of the number one hero being beat by an old lady.
It took roughly ten minutes before Recovery Girl was satisfied with her beating of All Might, the symbol of peace twitched in pain from his spot on the floor.
"Is he going to be ok?" Izuku, ever the kind hearted young man, asked in concern for his mentor.
"He'll be fine; it'll take more than an old lady like me to take down this big oaf." Recovery girl said dismissively before taking a closer look at Izuku. "You look quite exhausted; I'm guessing you already started your training?" She inquired.
"Oh! Yes, we started yesterday." Izuku nodded and suppressed a yawn, the training really did wear him out. "All Might said you could help."
"That buffoon. He knows that my quirk drains stamina, I can't help if you're too tired. See what happened to your friend?" Recovery Girl gestured to Samuel who was drifting in and out of sleep.
"I'm fine…" The red eyed devil mumbled before shaking his head a few times.
"But since this oaf is training you two, I think you'll both benefit from a checkup to see what we're working with." The aged heroine went to her desk and beckoned the two boys to follow her. "Now, I'm sure you both had physicals before, so no need to feel ashamed of your bodies, I'm a professional and I don't judge." Recovery Girl explained while preparing her equipment. "Please remove your shirts so we can start." Her request was met with reluctance and discomfort. "Don't act like babies, I'm not going to do anything untoward."
"I-I just don't feel like it…" Samuel stuttered uncomfortably, trying to avert his gaze.
"Yeah… w-what he said…" Izuku followed his example.
This was setting off some serious red flags, both boys were clearly uncomfortable with removing their shirts. No, not just uncomfortable, scared. The fact that each had a hand over a specific part of their torsos, Samuel over his right shoulder and Izuku over his stomach, as if hiding something, was causing alarms to blare in her mind.
"Toshi, would you mind stepping out for a bit?" The aged heroine asked of the beaten man on the floor, who complied out of fear for his life, he dragged himself out of the office. "Now boys, the way you two are acting is setting off some serious red flags for a medical practitioner like myself. I'm not going to judge and I'm not going to criticize, I'm asking you two to remove your shirts so I can have you two checked." She explained gently to the boys, both of whom grimaced but complied none the less.
Recovery Girl's suspicions were proven correct when she saw the scars the littered both boys' bodies. Samuel's torso was filled with scars that seemed to have been created by weapons, knives more than likely, the worst one being on his right shoulder, as if it was nearly removed. Izuku wasn't much better, his body was covered by hand shaped burn scars, clearly done by someone using their quirk on him. Recovery Girl was horrified at the sight, most of the scars were old and faded, meaning these boys received them at an even younger age. They were children!
The devil boy's words came to her…
It wasn't devils who beat a child to near death for a power he couldn't control…
"Well, this is… beyond shocking and appalling. The fact that both of you have these scars all over your bodies makes me irrationally angry." The aged heroine began. "We'll continue the examination but afterwards I want to hear everything, understood." Her firm tone left no room for arguments, the boys could only grimace and nod in response.
*****
It was around half an hour later that Yagi was allowed back in to the infirmary, upon entering he saw both of his protégés sitting next to each other in front of a furious looking Chiyo, the boys' gazes firmly on the floor, young Sigurd's hands were trembling and sparking while young Midoriya had tears in the corner of his eyes, he was biting his lower lip in an attempt to stop them from falling.
"Chiyo, what's going on?" The deflated symbol of peace asked in concern for the boys' behavior.
The old doctor sighed in anger before taking a deep breath and shaking her head. "You sure know how to pick them Toshi…" She looked at the boney man with the eyes of a woman who had seen decades of horrors both as a hero and a doctor. "It's no wonder devil boy hates humans so much, not to mention your successor had it just as bad, it's a miracle he's still as kind as he is." Both boys stiffened, the tears in young Midoriya's eyes rolled down his cheeks, the green haired boy whimpered quietly. Young Sigurd's face, for contrast, was completely blank and devoid of expression, his crimson eyes empty and lifeless, as if he felt no emotion, though the shaking of his body betrayed such a thought.
Yagi wanted to ask for more details but Recovery Girl stopped him. "For now, these boys need some rest, I'll fill you in after you get them home."
"I can give Izuku a ride on my motorcycle, the old man can stay here." Young Sigurd said quietly.
"I can't, in good conscience, allow you to drive in your current emotional state. Telling Toshi can wait, you two should go home and rest." Recovery Girl spoke firmly, but not unkindly, like a grandmother scolding a child.
"Right…" He conceded immediately, it was strange for Toshinori to see, in the three days he knew him, young Sigurd was both spirited and stubborn… now he was neither.
"Alright then, let's get you two home." The symbol of peace buffed up and lifted the two boys, carrying each one under his arm, seeing as they weren't in the mood to move. Whatever Chiyo found in her examination must have been horrifying indeed, but that could wait, these boys needed some rest.
*****
Izuku Midoriya opened the door to the apartment he shared with his mother. "I'm home…" He walked in after announcing his presence, since there was no response, it meant his mother wasn't home… that was good, he didn't want her to see him like this.
She can't be trusted!
Izuku shook the thought out of his head, his mother was a wonderful person, there was no one in the world who cared for him more than her.
She gave up on you!
The green haired boy grit his teeth in frustration, he didn't expect his past to be revealed like this… he wanted to keep the extent of the abuse he suffered to himself… what if after hearing what happened to him, All Might decided that he wasn't worthy successor… would he abandon him as well?
Even if that happens, he will still have Sammy. Having to reveal his past was horrible, but learning that Sammy went through something similar, he finally felt understood. It wasn't the exact same, but they still shared something, and knowing what he knows now, Izuku was sure that Sammy will never turn his back on him. For the first time he could remember, in ten years, he finally didn't feel alone.
Izuku made his way to his room, the room filled with All Might memorabilia, figures, poster, the works. The day he had met the man, Izuku had seriously considered setting fire to all of it. Even though he apologized, Izuku still hasn't forgiven him for his words…
… no, I don't think you can be a hero without a quirk…
Those words that nearly made him follow up on Kacchan's advice…
… just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building…
But then, he met Sammy…
… this kid! This quirkless kid, is more of a hero than any of you…
It made him so happy… someone, for once in his life, had called him a hero.
... you're already my hero, Izuku...
He shook his head to get rid of the thought... she didn't count... she left...
More than that, he offered to make him stronger, to help him reach his dream, even if there was a price. Sammy still wanted to help him when he showed hesitation to accept, he didn't push the deal on Izuku.
The green haired boy closed the door to his room behind him and walked a few steps forward before collapsing on the bed, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally. As soon as his body hit the mattress, the boy's emerald eyes fluttered close, claimed by sleep, his heart fell to dreams.
*****
"Izuku! Hey, Izuku, wake up!" A familiar voice woke Izuku from his slumber, the green haired boy shifted, cold water tickled his feet as he tried to shield his eyes from the bright sun. Izuku sat up, the sand beneath him shifting as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Finally awake? And you guys say I'm lazy." A boyish voice chuckled good naturedly.
"That's because you are, you lazy bum." A girl's voice giggled in response.
"She's right, no one's as lazy as you." A slightly older boy's voice added with a teasing tone.
Izuku turned around to see three kids around his age smiling at him. The first was a boy with spikey brown hair and blue eyes, he had a contagious smile on his face. He wore a red one piece with puffy shorts under a white and black short sleeved jacket. On his feet were a massive pair of yellow shoes.
Next to him was a girl with short red hair and blue eyes, she wore a white tank top and light purple skirt, her white and purple shoes matching the size of the boy next to her.
The other boy was a bit older than them, he had long silver hair and turquois eyes, he wore a yellow and black tank top with blue fishing pants, he also had oversized shoes.
"Hey Izuku! Ready to start working on the raft?" The brown haired boy smiled as he offered Izuku his hand to help him get up.
"Yeah!" Izuku grinned as he took the boy's hand and got up from the sand, shaking the grains that stuck to his green shorts, his massive red shoes pressed down on the sand.
"Then let's get going!" The brown haired boy laughed and broke into a sprint.
"Hey Sora! You can't just get a head start like that! Right Riku?" The girl looked to the other boy only to see he was already running. Izuku laughed and started running as well.
"C'mon Kairi, keep up!" He called out over his shoulder as he chased the other two boys, the wind blowing through his dark green shirt and short red and gold jacket.
"Wait up!" Kairi called out as she began chasing the boys.
Izuku kept laughing as he ran past Sora and Riku, putting him in the lead of their impromptu race. Those weird dreams could wait, and his friends had a goal to accomplish, they were building a raft in order to explore what was beyond their islands. These islands were their home, but even so… they wanted to see what's out there, where he and Kairi came from.
As much as they loved this place, it wouldn't be long before they left Destiny Islands.