Chapter Text
In the darkness of the Kyaru Memorial Graveyard, illuminated by only the moon, the groundskeeper could hear the telltale sound of grass and dirt collapsing.
“Bastards…” The man growled, grabbing his flashlight and his sword. He was an Awakened, ranked at B. After all, all grounds that held the remains of Heroes were often desecrated in an attempt to find rare magical items. Items that had been removed long before they were buried. Humanity needed the items too badly to allow them to be buried. Unfortunately, graverobbers didn’t seem to understand this fact.
The groundskeeper, a man who had a slight sensory impairment, retired from Hero Work when he realized how dangerous it was for him, instead choosing to guard his fallen brethren. He was even given permission to kill any graverobbers he saw by the government. There was simply no excuse for disturbing a body that had already suffered so much.
Despite his sensory impairment, he was still a B-Rank and could likely slay any intruders with ease, given they weren’t A-Rank or higher, which never happened, as those sorts already had a healthy income and didn’t need to rob graves.
Delicately weaving his way around the graves, he offered silent prayers to them, making for the sounds.
“I will give you exactly 10 seconds to get on the ground and stop what you’re doing.” The groundskeeper rounded a thick tree, “Otherwise I will… kill… you?”
“Ahhh…” The shape grumbled like a zombie. It made sense, it had a hole in its upper body, going all the way through, allowing someone to literally look through them.
“You…? What…?”
White flames rushed up the body, from the toes to the tip of the body’s white hair. They restored the form of the body, discarding old burn scars and closing the hole in its chest. The flames even seemed to create a new set of clothes to dress the body.
“Ahh…” This time, the sound was a sigh of relief. “It feels good to be mortal again…”
The body focused its eyes directly onto the groundskeeper. “You are not his betrothed, so you are disposable.”
“Wha-”
The man didn’t even get to finish his sentence, turned to ash in the same second the words attempted to leave his mouth. The body tucked his hands into the pockets of his new clothing.
“So… where to go first?”
The following morning, there was no trace of the body. The only remaining evidence of the crime was the exposed grave of Touya Todoroki. The coffin and the dirt had been lifted as if from the inside. As if the body… got up and walked away.
*******
“You see America’s official position on Endeavor?” Setsuna asked as Yui prepared breakfast for the somewhat odd group of Izuku, Momo, Esil, and the aforementioned Setsuna.
Momo and Izuku tried to help out, but Yui refused and told them to sit down, saying “I don’t want you ruining my meal.” And she wasn’t entirely wrong. There was the possibility that just being by the food could screw it up given how bad Izuku and Momo’s cooking prowess was.
“No, what was it?”
Setsuna scoffed. “Thomas Andre has Endeavor under ‘protective employment’ and because of his status as a National-Rank, the government has refused to do anything about it.”
“I’m sure Korea and Japan will love that,” Momo responded sarcastically. Both countries wanted the man equally, in order to exact their justice on him. But for now, he was a protected man. To go after him would be to incur the wrath of Thomas and neither country wanted to deal with that whole mess. Even if Japan got the support of the Shadow Monarchs, they’d probably rather leave Endeavor as he was than try to anger the Americans. After all, the last time Japan angered America, they got the sun dropped on them… twice.
“They’ll just have to wait and see if he ever leaves the country, which is unlikely,” Yui commented as she began passing out breakfast. “Macadamia nut pancakes with a side of fruit salad.”
The group thanked her for the meal before digging in. Yui went to start on the dishes, but Igris emerged from Izuku’s Shadow.
“Please sit, my Lady. I shall handle the clean up.”
Two Ice Elf Shadows followed suit, offering their help. Yui accepted the offer, taking a seat and grabbing a helping of her own food.
It was somewhat comedic seeing the Shadows attend to dishes, but Igris was a human Shadow, so the concept of cleaning up after a meal likely wasn’t foreign to him. Neither Izuku nor Momo had pressed the Shadow about his past, but now that he could talk, it was becoming harder to hold back their questioning.
“You sure about this?” Setsuna asked Izuku across the table.
“It’ll be fine,” He assured her.
Setsuna gave him a quizzical look. “You do realize that you can’t trust everyone, right? The fact that you trusted me and Yui is only because you were forced to. You never would have told us if you didn’t have to.”
“I’d rather trust someone and be disappointed than never trust anyone.”
Esil was too busy scarfing down the pancakes with abandon to even speak up. But her thoughts were in line with Izuku.
Yui, on the other hand, wasn’t so convinced. “There’s no logical reasoning behind a thought process like that.”
Izuku rolled his eyes. “Okay. You two have already shown your willingness to lie to keep my identity secret. Iida is too moral to tell anyone. Ryukyu is getting high-grade weapons, armor, and artifacts at a discounted price and knows that if my identity is revealed then I can sell to anyone and her Agency will be at a disadvantage for it. And Nejire is too nice to spill the beans. In fact, she even lied on the police report with Ryukyu to keep things under wraps.”
“But that just means you haven’t been disappointed yet. If you keep trusting people the secret will leak.”
Izuku shrugged. “Natsuo has already worked to keep me a secret. I’m sorry, but I can’t turn away someone in help, even if it risks blowing my cover. Neither Natsuo, nor his sister Fuyumi are Awakened. That puts them at serious risk. You know how many Agencies lost their S-Ranks? Those people want to extract vengeance however possible.”
“Shielding others is why knights exist,” Igris commented. “We are given the power to do incredible things, and as such, we must use it for the benefit of those who cannot.”
“See, even the Shadow Knight knows the ‘great power, great responsibility’ speech.”
Setsuna shook her head, chuckling. “I’m not saying you’re wrong for trying to protect them, I’m just saying if you keep going like this, your identity will be leaked. You need to know that upfront.”
“Then it happens,” Izuku said, shrugging. “I’m more than powerful enough to protect my friends and family for now. Right now my secret identity is more of a convenience than a necessity.”
“Fair enough,” Setsuna relented as a knock could be heard at the front door. “Speak of the icy-hot devil.”
“He just lost his brother, try not to be too hard on him.”
“He was the icy-hot devil before he lost his brother,” Yui pointed out as Izuku shook his head, Momo going to get the door.
“Well well well, I didn’t expect to be seeing you again so soon,” Natsuo’s voice echoed from the entry hall.
“You know each other?” Shoto’s monotone question soon followed.
“Uhhh… well, we met at uhhh…”
Izuku almost laughed out loud at the exchange. Apparently, Natsuo had kept his word and not even told his siblings about Momo or Izuku.
“We’ll… explain some things. Come on in,” Momo said, trying to corral everyone inside. “You guys weren’t followed?”
“Nah, Ryukyu helped us sneak out of our… house…” Natsuo rounded the corner and was granted the sight of Shadow Monsters washing and drying the dishes. “Uh… put that away!” He shout-whispered to Izuku, trying to shoo the Shadows away like it would do anything.
This time, Izuku actually did bust out laughing, alongside Setsuna, and even Yui cracked a smile.
“What… is this?” A young woman, maybe 22, rounded the corner, followed by Shoto. She had white hair like her brothers, with flecks of red sprinkled in. Her turquoise eyes were framed by a set of glasses that totally worked for her.
She kinda had the appearance of a young librarian, but the black turtleneck sweater and tight jeans made clear her hourglass figure and… pronounced chest.
“Fuyumi Todoroki, I presume?” Izuku asked, standing to greet his guests.
“Uh… yeah?”
“I am Izuku Midoriya.”
“I am Momo Yaoyorozu.”
Once they had made their standard introductions, darkness surrounded them, swirling to condense into the onyx armor that was now recognizable around the world.
“And we are the Shadow Monarchs.”
*******
“And you knew them from the cult stuff?” Shoto asked his brother, somewhat accusatory.
Natsuo held up his hands in defense. “Hey there’s a lotta stuff I don’t tell you, bro. I am a lawyer, after all.”
“We were concerned about our own safety, as well as the safety of our family,” Izuku interjected. It was only half-true, since Momo didn’t really have any family to worry about anymore.
“And now?” Shoto’s eyes burned with more emotion than Izuku had ever seen the guy exhibit.
Izuku and Momo had discarded their outfits by then, so they were a little less intimidating. “We’d still love to retain our secrecy. We’re just not really interested in the public's attention.”
Natsuo chuckled. “If Ryukyu could go back in time and change one thing, it would be hiding her face. She hates dealing with civies… no offense, sis.”
“None… taken…” She was enraptured by the sight of the Shadows moving around the house.
“And you’re helping us because…?
“Is he… interrogating me for the sake of his siblings? This questioning seems out of character…”
Thankfully, while Izuku was lost in his thoughts, Momo picked up the conversation for him.
“Because Iida came to us and asked for our help. We have the capacity to provide that help, and we owe Natsuo for how he handled… that night…”
“You’re also our classmate,” Izuku added. “We… might not get along too well, but that doesn’t really matter.” Izuku kept silent on the subject of Touya, but deep down, he still felt a not-so-insignificant amount of guilt for what happened to him.
Shoto stared into Izuku’s eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time before sighing. “Fine.”
“Fine?” Natsuo gave his brother a quizzical look. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m satisfied that they’re not also out to get us.”
“Wow, tough crowd,” Setsuna bantered.
Yui meanwhile, had gone back to the kitchen to make a few extra servings for Fuyumi and Natsuo… but she noticeably didn’t serve Shoto anything.
“Oh, thank you…”
“They’re amazing, right?!”
“Eep!” Fuyumi jumped in her chair as Esil returned from her room. No one was sure what she was doing in there, but Izuku assumed she was decorating like the rest of them and didn’t want to intrude.
“You were on Jeju weren’t you! You’re that Vil- er… sorry, I shouldn’t call you that. You’re the new student at UA right?”
“Yep!” Esil ignored the near miss by Natsuo and took a seat next to Fuyumi. “Woah, you have cool hair!”
“Oh uhm… thank you,” Fuyumi responded, still in shock to all the revelations.
“Well, we’ve gotta be at school soon, got a Raid planned,” Izuku tried speeding along the conversation. “So here’s how this will work. We had a… friend… make a rush order.” He and Momo handed over two rings. One to Fuyumi and one to Natsuo. He didn’t mention that a demon had actually made them. “They’ll distort your appearance so you look like a different person to anyone who looks at you. This neighborhood is a gated community and we have Shadows in the house at all times, so it’s unlikely you’ll need those whilst here. They’re just for if you’re out in public and feel threatened.”
“In addition to that, with your permission, we’d like to hide a few Shadow soldiers in your own shadow. This way, you’ll always have a few S-Ranks to protect you.” A row of ten Noble Tenebris emerged from Izuku’s shadow, placing a hand over their chest and kneeling before the siblings.
“They can’t be seen while hiding in your shadow,” Izuku clarified. “Not even other S-Ranks can sense them.”
“Uhh, isn’t this a bit much?” Natsuo looked like he was on the verge of hysterical laughter. This sort of stuff just defied all standard beliefs about Heroes and their limits. Even if the world knew that the Shadow Monarchs were capable of greater feats than should’ve been possible, they didn’t actually know the full extent of the Shadow Army or their powers.
“This is less than one percent of our forces,” Momo answered. “We don’t mind giving a few extra.”
“Man am I glad I was nice to you guys…” Natsuo said with a smile.
Momo returned the gesture. “We can also monitor the Shadows from basically anywhere, so it doesn’t matter where you are, they can alert us if you’re in danger.”
“Something tells me I’ll never be in danger again.”
Izuku glanced at his phone screen. “So, do we have your permission to store the Shadows?” Both of the siblings agreed.
“Alright!” Setsuna clapped her hands together. “That’s that! Your rooms are down that hall,” She pointed in the opposite direction of her room, and perpendicular to the direction of the master bedroom, which was obviously reserved for Izuku and Momo. It was so the siblings had a sense of privacy. “Feel free to unpack and decorate while we’re at school!”
She got up, shouldering her bag and made for the door alongside Yui.
“Well they’re certainly eager,” Izuku commented.
“It’s their first real Gate since the Recursive,” Momo mentioned.
“Ah…” While Setsuna and Yui had also gone into the E-Rank Gate, that wasn’t really a threat to anyone in the class. They could’ve fallen asleep in that forest and the only thing they had to worry about was getting lost. A Villain could’ve wailed on them all night and day, but an E-Rank would never be able to touch them.
“Are you participating in these Raids?” Natsuo asked Esil. “Er… if you don’t mind me asking.”
Esil’s joyous excitement faded slightly. “It’s… not something I wish to experience. Raiding… is a necessity for the continued existence of humanity, but it’s not something I wish to be a part of. I’m here to try and bridge the gap between species, that’s all. I want to learn and help both species.”
The people remaining in the room, minus Shoto, nodded in respect. Even Igris took a moment to properly acknowledge the half-breed’s goal. “Fighting to protect is noble, but aiming for long lasting peace is the greatest aspiration of all.”
Thankfully, Aizawa and the school were smart enough to acknowledge Esil’s lack of desire to Raid and even made use of it. While they were off Raiding, another teacher would be giving Esil personal lessons on everything and anything human related. That way she wasn’t such a fish-out-of-water during standard classes.
“Well, we have to be off,” Izuku said, excusing the students in the room. “Igris, I want you here for today, make sure they settle in alright.”
“Will you be alright Raiding without me, my Liege?”
Izuku smiled. “Beru is more than enough for an A-Rank, even if something goes wrong.”
“I hesitate to leave your side after saying something like that. I believe you call it Murphy’s Law.”
“Would you rather Deep Blue or Beru be the caretaker of the house?”
Igris went silent. “I see. Quite the intelligent decision.” He bowed. “I shall remain here for the day, but I do not expect to be sidelined forever.”
“Don’t worry. It’s just for today. You’re the only speaking Shadow I trust here. After that, you’re back with me.”
“I look forward to it, my Liege.”
*******
‘School for Heroes, not Villains!’
‘UA Teaches Evil!’
‘Don’t be tempted by the Devil!’
Those and many other signs were being held up in protest around the perimeter of UA, held off the campus only by the security gates in place.
Parents stood and shouted, demanding to speak with the principal.
“Well, I guess they heard about Esil…” Izuku grumbled as the group came up the hill from their house, spotting the cavalcade of outraged citizens. “I didn’t think they’d be posted up outside the gates like this though.”
“They should be,” Shoto spat, walking past Izuku, Momo, and Esil.
“Don’t be such a jerk,” Momo replied.
Shoto paused. “I appreciate what you’re doing for my family, I really do…” He went silent for a moment. “But… Villains hold no place in a human world.” He kept walking, unperturbed by the crowd or the angry looks he got from Izuku or Momo.
“It’s okay,” Esil responded quietly. “I knew before I came here that this would stand in my way. I knew I would bear the blame for my kinds’ actions, but if I don’t move forward… no one else will.” And just like that, she was off, walking in Shoto’s footsteps… and towards the mob.
“HEY THERE IT IS!!!”
A few of the mob sprinted away as fast as they could, this was still a “Villain.” And Esil was at least an S-Rank. No human present could have harmed her or fought back if she wanted to tear them apart.
Despite this, Esil remained calm, staring straight ahead, carrying her head high as she approached them.
“Go back to where you came from!”
“Dirty piece of shit!”
“Where’s our family?! Where are the people you took from us?!”
“Our homes!”
“Our lives!”
Esil continued walking into the crowd. No one could stop her after all. But she also chose not to fly over them all. She didn’t want to inherently display any sort of superiority. She was just a girl going to school.
“I know you’re all angry, and I-” She was cut off as several glass bottles were hurled in her direction, each containing their own drink. The glass shattered harmlessly against her, but the liquids stained her uniform.
Back with Izuku, Momo had to quite literally hold him back. In the single instance that the bottles had hit Esil, Momo felt Mana like nothing else rising up inside Izuku. She knew it better than anyone, Izuku had his own demons. Watching bullies bully was quite possibly the greatest torture you could inflict on him.
In that moment, he had gathered so much Gravity Magic that, had he let it slip, there wouldn’t have even been bodies. There would have been tiny pebbles of carbon, the last remnants of the mob.
And of course, feeling his master’s rage, Beru almost burst forth himself to act on Izuku’s desires.
“You’d make it worse.” Momo whispered, trying to calm him.
That sentence alone was enough to snap him out of it. He didn’t want to put even more weight on Esil’s shoulders.
“Yeah,” He relented, calming both Beru and his own Magic. “But I still won’t stand idly by.”
He rushed towards the crowd, pushing between them, gently enough not to hurt them, and grabbing Esil’s hand, pulling her away from the mob. She yelped in surprise, but didn’t resist. It was clear that nothing would be resolved today, nor would she be saying anything of consequence to these people. They were angry, and there was nothing stopping that anger, not until it burned away on its own.
“A place where we can be safe… together.” Esil muttered to herself, the images of her parents in her mind. Not in a trapped world, drenched in blood and death and hate, but amongst people, nature… life.