Chapter Text
[Dyson (Captain Grade): A small sphere that harvests energy from any star and converts it into Mana. This Mana can be transmitted to anything within 1 lightyear. The closer it gets to a star, the stronger its effect. It is incredibly weak and fragile.]
[Nova (Commander Grade): A biblically accurate angel, made of fusion energy, as if it was its own star. It is capable of outputting a massive beam of energy. This beam can annihilate most things, but it requires 10 minutes to charge and consumes an absurd amount of Mana. Possible synergy with Dyson. Currently unknown what its relation may or may not be to the Lux.]
[Jingu (Captain Grade): A primate that looks remarkably similar to humans. It can adapt to any fighting style and devise a specific counter. However, it is weak against Magic and if its opponent is overwhelmingly strong, it will not be able to withstand such attacks.]
[Ouroboros (Colonel Grade): This wyrm is a strong physical and Magical fighter, but its true value comes from its ability to create Gates by “eating it’s own tail” and forming a circle that is around 200 meters in diameter, allowing anything to pass through and emerge on the other side of the Gate.]
[Deacon (Colonel Grade): An alien priest who is supposedly connected with their culture’s God. He can inflict a debuff on any number of opponents that locks one Skill on each target. This “cleansing” of Skills is very hard to counter.]
[Abyssmaw (Commander Grade): A creature that lived in the vastness of space. A nebulous serpent that stretches across the sky. He can swallow almost anything, his teeth and mouth turning into pure Mana and destroying it in the process.]
[Phantom (General Grade): A special-ops soldier from what seems to be a different dimension. He specializes in stealth and information gathering. He doesn’t just blend in with the Shadows or Darkness like I do, he blends in with the background radiation of the universe, making him nigh-impossible to see.]
[Solstice (General Grade): A spider-like being that can weave webs made of time. This can slow down or speed up time in localized areas. The maximum factor that can be achieved for slowing or speeding up time is a factor of 2 times normal speed.]
[Marble Wing (Captain Grade): A quetzalcoatl, or at least a bird that resembles that dinosaur. Named for its hunting technique on its native homeworld to scoop up entire hills of land with its wings to expose creatures hiding underground for it to eat. As it adapted and evolved throughout time, its body began to take on a marble-like set of scales that look more like rocks than anything else. Doesn’t seem to be too useful in combat, but it could prove extremely useful to Momo’s plans by clearing large swaths of land in moments.]
[Rust Ripper (Commander Grade): A giant Direwolf. The wolf’s teeth are capable of inflicting a “Rusted” debuff, which rapidly decomposes any metal. This debuff can also be applied to Magical armors, weapons, and items, but the speed of the debuff is decreased based on the quality of the target. E-Rank gear would disintegrate in seconds, S-Rank gear would take over 30 minutes to start becoming brittle and weakened.]
[Nitrous (Captain Grade): A gaseous-elemental. It can create many chemical gasses which can be harmful or beneficial depending on the target, their biology, and the gas used.]
[Glimmer Sail (Colonel Grade): A sort of jellyfish, the size of a blimp, that can float through the air. Their many tentacles can wrap around hundreds of targets at a time. These tentacles inject a paralytic before beginning to completely dissolve the target.]
[The Lesser World (Colonel Grade): Creates pocket dimensions that can contain threats or safeguard items and people. However, it seems to only work if the target is either non-sentient, or if the target is sentient, then they either must be willing to enter the pocket dimension, or sufficiently weakened in order to be sealed away.]
[Reformat (General Grade): Is a blob of living liquid metal. Can seemingly merge with items or even other Shadows in order to modify or upgrade them.]
[Saphira (Commander Grade): Water Dragon.]
[Firnen (Commander Grade): Air Dragon.]
[Thorn (Commander Grade): Fire Dragon.]
[Umaroth (Commander Grade): Light Dragon.]
[Shruikan (Commander Grade): Dark Dragon.]
[Glaedr (Commander Grade): Earth Dragon.]
*******
Izuku concluded his notes about the 20 Shadows, in his Documentarian Skill, closing it just as Kaina came flying over the lush foliage. She was yelling with excitement as the zipline continued to speed up at the sharp angle.
It was a zipline specifically designed for Awakened Humans, which ignored many safety concerns in the sake of increased excitement. Of course, even in a worst case scenario, an Awakened Human would survive the fall.
Over time, many Awakened Humans complained of apathy, that nothing really excited them anymore due to their intense battles and newfound superhuman abilities. Kaina and Izuku found that such apathy did not apply to them.
Surfing, visiting Maui’s bubbling volcano up-close, and ziplining at a rather frightening degree felt no less exciting. Their nigh-invulnerability didn’t dampen the very human excitement of very human activities. Although they had to admit, this special zipline was definitely the most heart-pounding.
“WOO!” Kaina took off her helmet, which was more to keep her hair in place than anything else. “That was great! And you don’t have to worry about people watching you fumble this time,” She giggled, reminding Izuku of their surfing activities the other day.
In taking surfing lessons, Izuku fell over a dozen times. All while the beach-goers watched with amusement. He could’ve oriented himself using Gravity Magic, but where was the fun in that?
Not to mention, it sort of dispelled a lot of the secrecy and darkness that Izuku carried as the Shadow Monarch. Everytime Izuku popped out of the water, he was laughing at himself, while watching Kaina effortlessly handle the board. There was a big difference between a faceless general who commanded an army of Shadows, and a teenage boy just having some fun. If anything, he was grateful for his inadequacy in that department. Walking back on shore, everyone was smiling and laughing. When he first appeared on the shore, people were almost stunned into silence, some of which was because of fear. It was better this way.
Izuku smiled at the jest. “So, what’s next on the agenda?” Their trip was quickly coming to a close, and while Izuku had plans for dates with the other girls, he’d need time to catch up with school and handle some other Hero matters. Not only that, but he had to choose a Lord-Rank item from the shop. They were stupidly powerful items and he needed to choose carefully. There was also the matter of a Soul still in his Soul List. Nine.
“Why don’t we-” Kaina was cut off as Izuku’s phone began to ring. “That’s Yaomomo’s ringtone.”
Knowing she wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important, he immediately pulled it out of his pocket and answered.
“I… We did it! She woke up! Yajirobe woke up!”
Izuku almost dropped the phone, and Kaina stared in shock. They both knew what that meant. “I-I… I’ll be right there.” He hung up and looked to Kaina. “I’m so sorry, but I have to-”
“What are you waiting for?!” Kaina shouted, grabbing hold of his hand. “Let’s go!”
*******
“What exactly is this?” Kei asked as Deep Blue arranged the treatment. “And what are the long term effects? I don’t want you putting that into my mother unless you have conclusive data.”
“The mineral is inspired by one that the Russian’s developed in order to shield their equipment from the effects of Mana, which acts similar to radiation. Much like iodine, this mineral bonds with Mana and helps the body clear it. And in order to train the body to better cleanse itself, we’ve added SSRIs, which helps manage the production of serotonin. Serotonin will not only assist the liver, but perhaps even train it to manage Mana without the mineral.” Deep Blue continued despite Kei’s worries. “While SSRIs have their side effects, it is nothing modern medicine can’t handle, and the mineral in question is targeted by the liver as waste and excreted in urine. I calculated every possible effect a mineral of that atomic composition could have on human biology and found nothing harmful. Perhaps a bit of constipation. Of course, the SSRIs are a long term experiment that Lady Yaoyorozu came up with after scouring much of the Luxian archives. That theory is not important to the initial treatment, but may assist in Eternal Slumber victims returning to normality much quicker and will help prevent any future recursions.”
“So what you’re saying is that my mom is depressed and that she’ll pee out the Mana? And that will cure her?”
“I said nothing about her being depressed,” Deep Blue responded. “There is no danger that our treatment poses to the patient, however,” He turned to face Izuku and Kei, both waiting with nervous energy. “It is possible that the patient may relapse, which will require further treatment. It is… not a perfect solution, which greatly distresses me, but it is effective and safe, and it will wake your mother. As an example, Miss Yajirobe has been awake and functioning well for approximately 12 hours with no change in liver or brain function.”
Izuku was fine with that. Even if it was temporary, there were things he wanted to tell her. When she fell asleep, she knew she was leaving behind her two children, with no father, no money, and in a world filled with dangerous monsters. At the very least, he could tell her he was safe, rich, happy, and had a family now. If she fell back asleep, she could do so knowing her children were doing just fine. It was a painful thing for Izuku to consider, but it was also a weight off his chest at the same time.
“What are the chances of her falling back asleep again?” Kei asked.
“Approximately 0.00000000001%. A regrettably high chance.”
“That’s what you consider a high chance? I’d hate to see what you consider low odds.” Izuku rested his hands on Kei’s shoulders to calm her. “What’s the chance of the treatment not working if she falls back asleep again?”
“Approximately 0.0000000000000-” He was cut off by Momo. “Ahem, put bluntly, the chances of your mother falling back asleep at all is… by your human standards, nigh-impossible. The chance of her falling back asleep and the treatment not working a second time is so infinitesimally small that not even I believe they are plausible odds. At the very least, if her body can’t truly adapt, then she’ll just have to take that mineral for life. A small price to pay, I believe.” Izuku couldn’t agree more. “Now, we just need to wait for her catheter bag to start filling. We should see some increased brain activity within 10 minutes if the treatment is working.”
Deep Blue excused himself and disappeared into Momo’s Shadow. After all, it wouldn’t be pleasant for Inko to wake up and see his demonic form bearing over her. And he didn’t really need to be there, Momo knew the procedure herself as well, she had devised the mineral after all.
Kaina took a seat by the door. She was there for support, but she didn’t want to intrude. Meanwhile, Kei nervously paced as Momo checked the medical readings. Izuku stood by the window, breathing in the fresh air. Though he appeared calm, he was no less stressed than Kei.
“It’s been 10 minutes,” Kei bluntly pointed out.
“We gave her an extra fluid IV, so it’s only a matter of time,” Momo responded, trying to soothe her. “And 10 minutes is just a rough estimate.” The treatment was undoubtedly safe, thanks to Deep Blue’s impossible processing power, but they still only had a sample size of one, there was no telling what-
“I got a spike,” Momo reported moments later. “Increased brain waves across the board.”
Izuku and Kei crouched down by the bed, taking their mother’s hands. “Come on… just a flicker of the eyelids…” Minutes painfully wore on, with no change. And then…
“Ahhhh…” Inko took a deep breath, her eyelids fluttering. “Wha… blea…”
“Momentary confusion is normal,” Momo responded, checking Inko’s pupil response. “She is waking up from a coma after all.” Silently watching in the shadows, Deep Blue confirmed that everything was going as planned.
“Hisashi…?” She murmured.
Both Kei and Izuku were bawling by this point, tears streaming down their faces as sobs forced their way through. They tightly clutched their mother’s hands as she looked up at Momo. “Who… where am I?”
“Mrs. Midoriya, you’re in a hospital. You’ve been asleep for a very long time.”
“My… my kids… Izuku… Kei… I left them… where…?” Tears were now forming in her eyes as well.
“Mom…” Izuku’s voice cracked as he stood to give her a better look. “Mom… we’re here. We’re okay.”
“Oh… my baby boy… you’re so big…” She looked over to Kei. “And my little princess… I almost can’t believe it… you two…” Her face twisted up in agony, but not physical agony, just emotional. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry I left you!”
Izuku shook his head, trying not to completely break down into a puddle of tears on the floor. “Don’t you dare feel bad about this, it wasn’t your fault. And you’re here now… okay?”
Both Kaina and Momo wiped away their own tears as the reunion took place. With Momo saying, “Everything looks good. She’s a little underfed, but we can fix that in no time. Mrs. Midoriya does anything feel wrong? Are you in any pain? Are you in any discomfort at all?”
Inko could barely speak between sobs, but she managed to answer that she was fine. A little hungry, a lot groggy, and a titanic amount of happiness.
“We’re going to keep you under observation for at least 24 hours and try to get your blood levels normalized with some food, drink, and a lot of medicine.” Comas didn’t mean death in this day and age, but there was only so much doctors could do to keep someone stable while they were asleep.
Inko nodded. “Thank… you…” She weakly pulled her children closer, hugging them as hard as she could.
*******
Two hours later, and everyone had finally stopped crying. Now, Izuku and Kei were sat in chairs next to their mother’s bed, catching up on everything.
“There’s… I…” Izuku laughed in sheer disbelief that this was all happening. “I don’t even know where to start, there’s so much to tell you…”
“How about how you two are? Are you healthy? Are you happy? Wh-What about the apartment, how did you afford it?” She barraged them with dozens of questions, her motherly instincts coming back in full force.
“Slow down, mom,” Kei said weakly, trying not to break down all over again. “We’re fine. We’re both healthy, we’re both happy, and the apartment is fine. We’ve got… plenty of cash.” They didn’t want to spring too many surprises too quickly. She was still pretty weak.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” She asked with a smile. “You don’t need to sugarcoat things for me.”
Izuku chuckled. “I’m not lying mom. We’re better than ever. I mean that.”
“But… the medical bills? Before I fell asleep I saw what they were charging for this treatment. How’d you possibly manage?”
“Well, I’m a Hero, mom, a strong one.” He’d wait to tell her about his E-Rank exploits for another day. “In fact, I’m one of the strongest.”
“If not the strongest,” Momo added, continually checking on Inko.
Inko shook her head. “I… your voice sounds familiar. Do I know you?”
“Uhhhh…” Momo fumbled for a second, unsure of what to say. “I’m Izuku’s-”
“Her name is Momo Yaoyorozu. She’s my future wife, mom.”
Inko gasped. “Really?! How incredible! Oh my gosh, if I could bow right now I would. Thank you for taking care of my boy!”
“Actually, it’s more like he’s taken care of me…” She said, blushing bright-red at the reaction. She hadn’t expected such a positive response.
“But Momo was the one who figured out how to cure you. Don’t let her fool you, she’s been my… rock, so to speak. She’s strong, and brilliant, and I wouldn’t be here without her.”
Inko would’ve been crying all over again, but she’d pretty much run dry on tears for the moment. “My baby boy, already thinking about marriage. Oh, but I didn’t mishear you being a Hero, right? You’d better be careful, your father…” She got right back on track, just as Izuku expected.
“I know, mom. I’ve got a lot of people looking out for me.”
“And… And there are some real bad apples in that industry, your father told me all about their schemes and greed. Don’t get tricked by them!”
“I know, mom…” He couldn’t stop it. For a second time, he started crying, albeit a little less violently. “I can’t believe I can say those words again…” He shook his head. “I promise you, I’m fine. I’ve already navigated a bunch of those bad apples.”
“Well… okay, but I expect you to keep me updated on when you’re going into Gates, and when you get out of them.” She turned her attention to Kei. “And my princess…” Had anyone else called Kei that, she would slap them, but she could only hope her mother would call her that forever. “I don’t suppose you have a future husband?” She said, laughing.
Kei shook her head, smiling. “I’m boring, mom. Izuku’s been having all the fun.”
“Oh, but you’re still going to school?”
Kei nodded. “I’m studying business and medicine. I’ve been working hard, mom.” Much like Izuku, she couldn’t keep her tears back forever.
“I’m so proud of you both. You managed to thrive in such terrible circumstances.” She pursed her lips, gathering the courage to ask. “I don’t suppose… your father…”
Izuku shook his head. “I’m sorry. We haven’t heard a thing about him.”
It was the news Inko expected. After all, if he had reappeared, he would’ve been there to see Inko wake up. But it was, nonetheless, still a hard pill to swallow.
“Alrighty! We’ve got some sushi, some udon, and some Miso soup for Mrs. Midoriya,” Kaina said, jumping through the hospital window with her arms full of take-out. “Can’t put your stomach through anything too intense right now, so liquids are a good start.”
Kaina had been introduced as a “friend” before leaving to get the food, so Inko wasn’t too shocked to see her jump through the window, but she was stunned by her beauty, like anyone else who saw the Lovely Lady Nagant.
“Wow… Izuku, you’d better be careful surrounding yourself with beautiful women. Some might think you’re forming your own harem.”
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Izuku was a National-Rank Hero, but he was still his mother’s son. In a moment like this, he froze.
“Wait…” Inko looked back and forth between Kaina and Momo, both of which were smiling awkwardly. “R-Really?”
“Mom, this is my… other future wife, Kaina Tsutsumi.”
Inko got serious for a moment. “You’d better be treating them well, and they better have approved this in advance… you didn’t cheat on one of them with the other did you? Izuku, it’s-”
“Mrs. Midoriya,” Kaina interrupted. “Me and Momo are close friends, and Izuku treats us like queens. We’ve already worked it all out. There was no foul play, no sneaking around. It’s just three adults who love each other.” She considered Momo a sister, so she had no problem saying she loved her.
“Hmm…” Inko didn’t seem fully convinced, but that was to be expected. Everything was happening so suddenly for her.
Izuku sent a panicked glance to Momo. And she read it loud and clear. “Please wait to bring up the baby!”
Thankfully, the awkwardness was broken by Kei, who felt the growing tension. “You’re gonna lose your mind when you see Izuku’s new place! It’s an honest-to-goodness mansion!”
“Really? Well I still think I’ll prefer the apartment…” She said with a dreamy look in her eyes, reminiscing on the past.
“Well, we’ve got more than enough money for you to live there for however long you want,” Kei responded. “And you can trust Izuku and the girls, they really do mean everything they said.
“No, don't bring us back to that topic!”
“Oh… well in that case I guess I can accept it.”
“Woah woah… why do you take her word for it and not mine?” Izuku asked.
“Because I’m her favorite!” Kei teased. “You’re just her ‘baby boy.’ I’m her princess!”
“Hey you’d better watch yourself, or else I might cut you off from the family fortune!” Izuku responded with crossed arms and a confident smirk.
Kei went pale. The idea of losing 10 Billion USD was enough to make anyone beg for forgiveness.
Inko chuckled as her children bickered. “It’s nice to see some things don’t change.”
Opening their take-out bags and passing around the food, Inko began to talk with Kaina and Momo. She asked them all sorts of questions about Izuku. It seemed less like she was vetting the two girls and more like she was vetting Izuku. At one point he had to excuse himself to the bathroom just to save some sanity.
He felt a little awkward, but as the conversation progressed, Inko began to soften up to the idea of multiple wives.
“Well, if me and Setsuna and me and Miruko end up compatible, there’s gonna be a couple more uncomfortable discussions…”
“We actually just got back from Maui. You should’ve seen the suite, he had everything planned. It was perfect!” Kaina gushed about the Maui trip before Inko looked sternly at Izuku.
“You’re taking Miss Yaoyorozu on a good trip too, right?”
Izuku put his head in his hands. “I thought you were so proud of me? Don’t you trust me?!” He asked with a delirious smile. But when he looked up, all four girls were struggling to repress their laughter.
“I know I know!” Inko quickly corrected. “Kei put us up to this while you were in the bathroom.”
“Oh… your allowance has been zeroed out for the next two months!” He shouted, reaching over to tickle her, one of her least favorite things. She attempted to stand and run, but Izuku grabbed her with his Gravity Magic and spun her around in the air before setting her back down, slightly dizzier than before.
He hadn’t been listening into their conversation on purpose, allowing him to get pranked so easily.
“I’m… not sure I can completely understand it, Izuku,” Inko began. “Because I only ever loved your father and couldn’t imagine anyone else. But, they trust you and they love you, and that’s enough for me.” She smiled. “I’m sure your father would be exceptionally proud though!”
*******
After several more hours, which had far less awkward conversations, everyone was feeling pretty sleepy. With full bellies and the setting sun, it was no surprise that their eyelids were just barely open.
“I’m so exhausted…” Inko complained, holding her head. “Maybe I could just… take… a short…”
“Mom… Mom!” Kei immediately leapt out of her chair as Inko passed out. But before she could attempt to shake her awake, Deep Blue grabbed her shoulder.
“These brain patterns are consistent with exhaustion. She’s not falling back into the Eternal Slumber, she’s just tired. As a student of medicine, I’d expect you to know that comas are not like normal sleep. The fact that she’s sleeping normally is a very good sign. That, and her brain function during the conversation tells us that there was no lasting damage.”
“Oh… Y-You’re right, I did know that… sorry, I just… panicked.”
Deep Blue nodded. “An expected outcome for a human.”
“Hey, don’t be snarky, I thought I was losing my mom again.” She kept her voice quiet to not wake her mother, which was ironic since she’d been trying to do that for the past couple years.
“That’s his way of saying it’s normal you reacted like that,” Momo interjected. “He’s still… socially stunted. He wasn’t being rude on purpose, he was trying to comfort you.”
“It is as my Lady says. I was not trying to inflict emotional duress upon you.”
Kei shook her head, too exhausted to say anything else. She’d been through a lot of emotions in the past couple of hours.
“Well, it’s our first day back tomorrow, that’s what I’m worried about,” Izuku said, not wanting to leave his mother’s side.
“We’ll introduce her to the Shadows, and the rest of the house will pitch in, I’m sure,” Kaina answered. “There’s a lot going on, but don’t worry about your mom.”
Deep Blue offered his own pledge to watch her medical condition 24/7 by sticking in her shadow. Izuku also stuck all six elemental dragons in her shadow, as well as The Lesser World, which would allow her to escape into the safety of a different dimension. And with the Shadows there he could always watch her through their eyes.
“I’d rather just stay home, but we’ve already missed quite a bit of school. And the longer we’re absent, the more awkward things will be when we do return.” Izuku would have to relent on his protective instincts. After all, she pretty much had the full might of the Shadow Army at any time, and he could trust Kaina, Fuyumi, and Setsuna’s duplicates, who were staying home, to take care of her.
“What about the cure itself?” Kei asked.
“Hmm… Well, I now have some of the data needed for my Hero Thesis. Although most papers need more data points, I only have two. The big ticket is obviously the cure itself, but I don’t know if that’s enough for a publishable paper. I’ll ask the professors about what to do as soon as I get back to school,” Momo replied.
“Until then, it might be smart to send Shadows all over the world to make sure no one’s life support gets cut off and have All Might make an announcement about a potential cure,” Izuku suggested. “I can call the American president and get a list of people suffering from it so we can make sure they all remain on life support until we can get the cure world-wide. And since we’re the only ones with the resources required to make the cure… we’re gonna need the Tenebris to start churning out a lot of that mineral.”
“Actually, there might be another way. I never figured out exactly how the Russian’s were getting their shielding and armor plating. I only knew that they figured out the atomic shape thanks to Quaresha’s meddling, but I never visited their facilities.”
“That’s a good idea,” Izuku complimented. “That way we can also give Russia something to do that will repair a fraction of their bad rep.”
The two had a lot to do, but at the very least they knew it would be very worthwhile. People all over the globe, totalling 1 million people, suffered from the disease, and their loved ones suffered right alongside them. As soon as the cure got into mass production, it would change the world for the better. And that was work always worth doing.