XxXxXxX
"I'm really sorry about all of this, Midoriya-kun. It's not something you need to agree to on any level, I wouldn't try to pressure you in any way." A heavily blushing, bespectacled girl with short black hair said after a long and quite unnerving silence.
It couldn't be helped. It was hard to react in any other way to someone declaring that they wanted to marry you after losing in a simple game of chess. It was so out of the ordinary that Izuku couldn't even find that funny if he tried.
"So-taaaaan! You can't leave meeeee!" The magical girl cosplayer that was still crying while desperately hugging one of Sona's legs didn't help in the slightest.
"I'm cursed, right? Can I cry now? Why does this always happen to me?" A red headed beauty lamented to herself on the other side of the victorian style couch he sat at, being comforted by his childhood friend that he thought to be dead for years at this point.
"There, there. You can cry on my shoulder Rias, it's okay." The ravenette in question gently hugged her club president, comforting her like a small child.
The other two members of the Occult Research Club were just staring blankly at the unfolding situation, with the small white haired girl still glaring daggers at the greenette with her golden eyes.
Looking back at the student council president before him, the green haired teen could clearly see the discomfort she was in. It was hard to determine if it was because of the topic or because of the magical girl clinging to one of her legs with tears and snot going down her face.
"What?" Izuku asked flatly, having a rather hard time in comprehending what was happening any more.
"Well… to put it bluntly… I had an agreement with my family that I marry only with someone that wins with me in chess. I'm next in line to inherit my family's legacy, so my parents aren't too picky in their want of me continuing the line. After our match, my parents contacted me about the fact that our agreement was fulfilled and that I had to confront you about it. I planned to talk to you about this in a calmer manner, maybe over some tea. But my older sister had to 'intervene'." Sona tried to explain, sending a small glare at her sister at the end.
"This…" The greenette's voice rose a bit, getting the attention of everyone in the room. He didn't sound angry or mad, but something didn't seem right. "This has to be the most convoluted prank I was the target of." He said with a sigh.
"Midoriya-kun, I assure you that what Sona-sama told you just now is true. It's why I reacted in such an undignified manner when you declared your win, I'm terribly sorry about that." Tsubaki spoke up, slightly bowing her head in apology.
Taking off his glasses, Izuku massaged the bridge of his nose. How in the world did he manage to get into something like that in under a week of attending school?
Letting out a long and suffering sigh, he glanced once more at the student council president and the mess of a woman that was still clinging to her left ankle. It would be hilarious if that magical girl wasn't as unstable as she appeared to be. Especially as she was able to move so fast that his eyes barely managed to follow, faster than any speed enhancing quirks he ever saw.
Faster than what Rossweisse showed him after transforming into her angel-like, armored form.
From her position on the floor, Serafall Leviathan hissed at the green haired boy like a cat. She felt a slight tingle down her spine when his eyes fell on her, those green orbs deviously mesmerizing to the magical girl. With curiosity she observed the normally invisible white spots that lazily travel along the rim of his irises
"Ahem." Making an obviously forced and fake cough, Sona tried to get back their attention. "As I said before I'm not intending to force you into any kind of arrangement, Midoriya-kun. To be completely honest I wanted to give us some opportunities to talk in a more calm manner, not like this." She gestured to her sister with a mild frown.
"But So-taaaaan! He wants to take you away from meeeee!" The magical girl wailed once more.
"Excuse me for now. I need to take care of some things…" Ignoring her older sister with a violently ticking eyebrow, the bespectacled girl started to march out of the door while dragging the magical girl on the floor. Tsubaki followed just after, making a short bow in apology and as a goodbye before closing the doors behind. Shortly after, one could hear muffled screams from beyond the doors causing an awkward silence in the room.
"That was… something…" Yumi broke the silence, trying to laugh it off.
"You are really popular with ladies, Izukun." Akeno giggled slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku let out the air slowly to compose himself. Picking up the still hot mint tea in front of him he drank it in one go, startling his childhood friend a little.
"Are you going to accept it, Midoriya-kun?" Rias asked suddenly, scooting to the edge of her seat.
"Of course not. I don't know Shitori-san in the slightest, nor am I interested in becoming a part of some familial agreements." The greenette shook his head slightly, putting his glasses back on.
Hearing that, the red headed girl couldn't really decide between being happy and somewhat sad for her friend that was so immediately rejected.
"We got off track. Quite a lot of things have gotten off track since I moved to this town actually… I came here today because I just wanted to ask you, Gremory-san, how did you bring my dead friend here to life. That must be one hell of a quirk." Izuku gestured to Akeno who was still uncomfortably close to him. The quick exchange of glances between the club members and the redhead president didn't go unnoticed by the greenette but he decided to ignore it. There wasn't even any need for this question as he already got all the answers after speaking with his housemate, he just wanted to see what they would come up with.
'Damnit! I should have come up with something! Akeno did say that he wanted to ask about that!' The red headed devil panicked slightly, suddenly rather thankful for the fact that she could somewhat hide behind her queen.
"Well… as you can probably understand it's a closely protected secret. If anyone would learn about something that brings people back to life it could be really dangerous to my family." Rias tried to deflect the question, starting to sweat under his piercing gaze.
"I see…" His answer didn't fill her with hope, especially as he still appeared to be drilling a hole in her with his eyes. "I won't pretend that I'm satisfied with that answer. I might have gotten over the loss of Akeno, hard as it was, but that didn't change the fact that she decided to not contact me." Saying that he turned his attention to his childhood friend, the raven haired girl sadly looked to the ground without a word.
"It's actually one of the drawbacks of the… quirk… that my older brother's friend used to revive Akeno. Bringing someone back to life has a cost… It should have destroyed any memory of the revived person from the world, giving them a 'new' life of sorts." Trying to patch up their story, Rias started to spout anything she could come up with, hoping that the bespectacled boy would believe her.
Raising an eyebrow, Izuku pondered for a few moments how to react. It was a surprisingly plassible explanation, quirks were well known to be 'bullshit' as the internet described them all the time. That is, if they did use a quirk in the first place. "That would explain why I was the only one that remembered you… everyone else couldn't recall any detail about you or your parents." He mused out loud.
"Yes… For all intents and purposes we assumed that nobody remembered her. It would be extremely awkward and rather unpleasant to meet with people you knew just for them to not even recognize you." The redhead continued, a bit more confident after he seemed to believe her.
"I would argue about that, but it's all in the past at this point."
XxX
"Okay, just don't try to force yourself. Stop immediately if something feels off." Rosseweise instructed, observing her host who was now standing in the middle of his backyard.
She was a bit reluctant at the start but in the end she decided to at least teach Izuku something for self defense. Now that he knew about the supernatural it was only a matter of time before the supernatural would get to know about him in return.
#Magical Formula syntax analyzed.#
#Desired outcome: Barrier.#
#Recompiling.#
#Power Core link active.#
#Applying minimal output.#
Standing still, Izuku tried to focus on the task that his friend gave him. With the fresh memories of what happened in the Occult Research Club it wasn't the easiest thing to do, thankfully his quirk took over nearly all of the load.
Listening to the androgynous voice of his meta ability he let his thoughts wander, the student council president's confession causing him to grimace slightly. Did that mean that she would try to force herself into his life?
"Don't push yourself, Izuku-san. We activated your magical circuit just a few days ago, there's a lot of discomfort in using it at the start." Seeing his frown, Rosseweise tried to help. She knew that it was rather tempting to go further than one should at the beginning, she herself did that too when her magical studies began.
#Executing.#
With a small flash of light a baseball sized runic circle etched itself onto the air above Izuku's open palm, slowly rotating while emitting a warm glow.
"Unbelievable! Izuku-san! You did it!" The surprised and happy voice of his friend caused him to open his eyes, the construct of light on his palm immediately taking his attention.
"How did you do it so fast? I had to try for a few days to create a somewhat stable formation!" The silver haired Valkyrie asked with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
"I just applied the things I learned from you." He replied, observing with equal curiosity how a subtle flow of energy came out of his palm to support the magic array.
"That's nowhere even close enough for a complete novice to perfectly cast a spell on their first try! You are a magical genius, Izuku-kun!" His friend praised, hugging him out of nowhere, getting swept up with her emotions.
"... Ro-san... You're crushing me…" He wheezed out, a bit surprised by the bone crushing experience.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She quickly let go, trying to discern if the smaller teen was okay.
"I'll live…" He replied after taking a deep breath, blushing slightly. "A-anyway! I'll train this defensive spell in my spare time. What are we moving to now?"
"Hmm… I was actually thinking that it may be a bit too advanced but seeing how easily you created that barrier…" She mused to herself for a few seconds. "Okay! Let's start with a bit of explanation." Clapping her hands together, the young Valkyrie smiled as she came to a decision.
"As you know, there are quite a lot of races in the supernatural world. All pantheons have their own Gods and mythological creatures, making it quite an expansive menagerie. Let's take me, an Asgardian, as an example. Even if physically I'm not that different from any other human, I'm much stronger and more resilient. With little effort I could lift probably around two to three hundred kilograms, and that's just my basic strength without using any magic." She started to explain, quickly entering what Izuku called her teacher persona.
"I would hazard a guess that a trained Asgardian is physically somewhere between two and four winged angels in power, using Christian pantheon as a benchmark. To level the playing field, human magicians use what is widely known as body enhancing or physical augmentation magic. It's a set of techniques that allow the user to increase their speed, strength, reaction time, endurance, stamina… practically all aspects of the body." She continued, gesturing vaguely with her hands.
"That sounds useful… you said that it's a way to level the field but what stops other races from using it too? Wouldn't the gap between abilities stay the same, or even increase?" Izuku asked, starting to scribble in his notebook after picking it up from the nearby chair.
"That's a really good question, and the answer lies in our nature. As supernatural beings our bodies are accustomed to large amounts of magical energy, it's practically a part of us. Because of that this technique brings diminishing returns after some point, the magical energy required increases exponentially to the enhancement it provides. Humans on the other hand live in an environment where mana is scarce, they can't even activate their magical circuits without outside help. Thanks to that, the power requirement for them stays more or less linear." Continuing with her explanation, Rosseweise moved to the center of the backyard and gestured for him to follow.
"Now, pay attention. I'll slowly activate a spell called 'Reinforcement'. It's composed of the runes that we went through already so you shouldn't have too much problem with this." Saying that, she closed her eyes to concentrate. Not long after that a palm sized runic circle started to hover over her outstretched arm. "Normally, you can hide this from plain sight with a bit of practice, a rather good idea in combat to not give your opponent too much information."
Observing the magical construct for a few seconds he indeed could recognize all of the arcane symbols, the augmented reality that his meta ability created for his eyes showing a detailed explanation only for him to see.
#Magical Formula syntax analyzed.#
#Desired outcome: Reinforcement of all aspects of Master's physical body - right arm.#
#Recompiling.#
#Power Core link active.#
#Applying minimal output.#
Once more his meta ability spoke, a similar magic circle to the one his friend has etched itself onto the air just above his own elbow.
#Executing.#
Immediately after the spell activated he felt the power that entered his whole arm. Flexing his fingers he couldn't really spot the difference, but the feeling of magical power coursing through the limb was clear.
"Excellent! Now, and this is important, try to spread this spell through your whole body while maintaining the flow of mana." His 'teacher' instructed, slowly spreading her own spell to demonstrate. "Just please be careful, if you feel that something's off, stop immediately. A few sore muscles are much better than magical energy depletion."
Observing how Rossweisse slowly covered herself in a few more runic circles, Izuku followed her example.
#Desired outcome: Reinforcement of all aspects of Master's physical body.#
Or tried at least.
#Database match found.#
#Harmful side effects found.#
#Recompiling.#
"Umm… are there any side effects to using this spell?" Izuku asked, a bit worried after the last announcement his meta ability gave.
"Well… Spellcraft is always carrying risks. Thankfully the worst that could happen with this spell is severe magic energy depletion, which isn't fun. It can put someone into a bed for a few days, especially someone with your body condition." She replied, patiently waiting for the greenette to try casting the spell while maintaining her own as a reference for him. "I know that it may be against my previous advice but you can try to push a little more power into this spell at the beginning, it should be easier to create that way. Just please stop it when you feel that it starts to drain you too much."
#Error, Insufficient data for modification of the 'Scale Mail' mode.#
#Do you wish to proceed with the previously attempted task, Master?#
To his surprise the slightest hint of inflection could be heard this time in his quirk's voice. If he had to guess it sounded a bit happy, maybe because he started to use it so much lately?
'Okay… let's do this!' He agreed mentally, slightly spreading his legs to get into a better stance. Or at least as good as his condition allowed for.
Giving her friend some space, Rosseweise observed his face as it scrunched up in concentration and effort. A set of familiar runes started to show up around his body, giving her a somewhat giddy feeling. She never had a student under herself but seeing that someone that she instructed did so well gave her more accomplishment than any work she did to this point.
"Okay, that's good. Your spell seems to be stable…" She commented, looking him over once more.
"It feels… tingly. Like touching static electricity on a balloon but over my whole body…" The greenette replied, slowly moving his arms before himself to test how it felt.
"That's probably because your body and magic circuit aren't used to so much magical energy, it should pass with time as you use it more." She smiled, continuing the explanation. "Now let's start with movement, as you can probably feel your body's natural strength should be now multiplied by the spell. The actual increase in strength depends on the amount of energy ones push into it. If you feel it's safe you should push it a bit more to find the potential limit we are working with." The young Valkyrie encouraged.
"Okay… let's try it!" Saying that, Izuku crouched slightly as if he wanted to jump forward, something that would make his physical therapist scream in panic.
"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you move too far or won't be able to land." Rosseweise reassured, moving in front of him and switching her spells to be able to react faster.
"Here goes noooothiiiiiinnnn…" Listening to the distorting voice of her host, the silver haired woman stood dumbfounded before a small crater that he left with his launch as a gust of wind blew her hair backwards..
XxX
"I'm deeply sorry, Lady Gabriel. We can't seem to find Miss Argento anywhere. I'll be sure to begin the hunt for that heretic immediately!" An older man in ceremonial robes reported, prostrating before a beautiful blonde woman.
"Please, raise your head. I would very much prefer if your efforts turned to investigating how it was possible for a hostile devil to infiltrate so deeply into our territory. Miss Argento is to be treated with utmost respect, she is a valuable member of Father's flock." The Seraph ordered from the top of a throne-like chair, not unlike a queen to her subject.
"As you wish, my Lady. I'll relay your orders immediately." Bowing respectfully, the older man walked out of the room. Opening the doors with haste, he nearly bumped into a tall woman clad in a nun outfit.
"Lady Quarta." The older man greeted, bowing his head once more.
"Father Maxwell. My disciple is scheduled to arrive in the Vatican later today. Could I bother you to organize a guide for her at the Santa Martha chapel?" She asked, returning the greeting.
"Of course. I'll station one of our exorcists there immediately." He replied, once more bowing and walking away.
"Griselda, are the preparations in place already?" The blonde angel asked, smiling at her friend.
"I believe so, yes. There was a bit of opposition from the devil nobility but the four Satans allowed us to enter the Kuoh city territory as a sign of good will. My guess is that they'll try to use it to wrangle out a favor or two from us at a later date." The newcomer replied, walking up to the seated angel.
"That's an acceptable price. Let's depart immediately after your protegee arrives, we can't afford to waste any time." The Seraph sighed.
"Lady Gabrielle… are you sure that this is wise? We don't have even the slightest idea on who we are searching for, not to mention that we will be doing so in a hostile territory. It would be much safer to send a detachment of exorcists, at least as a reconnaissance."
"Griselda, my friend." The blonde woman began, smiling sadly. "Even we, the original Angels, make mistakes. The release of that sacred gear was certainly one of them. At the same time it's still listed in the system, even replacing the Red Dragon Emperor's Boosted Gear. I don't know what's happening, but all of the observed wielders suffered in agony after it activated. We need to at least try to help that poor soul, even if it's aligned with evil."
"Do we even have any plans on how to begin our search?" The nun asked, not pushing any further.
"Thankfully the Meta Abilities that humans developed not so long ago are widely spread in Japan, I believe they are called Quirks there. We only need to search for the people that didn't develop any sort of abilities or did so recently." Replying this time, the blonde angel's smile turned a bit more warm.
"I see… While we wait for Xenovia, I'll try to do a bit of work from here. Accessing the medical records shouldn't be too much of a problem." Griselda replied, smiling minutely back.
XxX
"I'm so sorry… The amount of magical energy that one could sense from you is so small that I didn't think you could muster so much power into that spell." Rosseweise apologized once more, moving around the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
After actually registering what happened, the young Valkyrie immediately shot off after her friend with her full power. It took her nearly a full four seconds to catch up to the frightened greenette who was flailing his arms and legs while free falling into the ocean that was over half a kilometer away from the place he started at.
"It's not your fault, Ro-san. As you said, there was no way to know." The greenette assured her for the fifth time, trying to help and not get in the way at the same time. "Not to mention how exhilarating it was… " He continued, remembering how he oh so brilliantly caught a ride on All Might's leg.
"You scared me half to death… I barely was able to catch up to you before you hit the ground…" The silver haired woman mumbled half to herself while scrambling a few eggs. "We should focus more on a stricte defensive spells for today." She proposed not stopping her cooking.
"Actually… I was thinking that maybe we could… visit the city?" Izuku shyly proposed, getting a confused look back.
"Do we need to get groceries? I think that we still were quite stocked last time I checked."
"N-no. I was thinking more about a f-friendly outing. We could go to the mall or watch a movie at the cinema, m-maybe? I also heard from my classmates that there is a quite large park near our school that we could visit, or an arcade but I never really went to one before so I don't know if that would be too much fun. W-well… again… my classmates said that it is quite entertaining so we could go there too…"
Getting caught off guard at the sudden word storm coming from her friend, it took Rossweisse quite a few seconds to decode what he was even talking about. Blushing slightly, she pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and smiled at the greenette that was still in his own world, going on and on. Wait… was he even breathing?
"I wouldn't want to impose. You already let me live in your house, not to mention that you paid for my new clothes and the like…" She replied, still sporting a slight blush on her cheeks.
"You wouldn't!" He exclaimed, surprising them both. "I-I-I… I mean… w-we are friends, r-right? F-friends hang o-out together s-sometimes. Ugh… w-why is this so hard?" He mumbled to himself, his whole face red from embarrassment.
Observing the embarrassed young man, Rosseweise couldn't help but chuckle a little. It was so long since she could just sit down and relax. In only a few days of living in this house she felt more at home than for the last two years.
"Well… If you insist then I don't see why not." She replied, calming him down a bit.
The greenette smiled back at her, his eyes shining slightly behind his round glasses.
"Umm… Ro-san… is something burning?" He asked, scrunching his nose a bit.
XxXxXxX
Author's Note: Hello! I'm still alive, somewhat. There's a ton of stuff I need to take care as of late, so I can't really promise that I'll update more often. This trend will probably only get worse for three next four to five months sadly. Let's hope that I'm right, not being able to write down ideas as they come is just infuriating.