Izuku had not expected that for the entire trip back home from Hokkaido he would be fighting against these monsters. He had been informed that they would be attracted to fast-moving objects and noises but to see a swarm of these things trailing behind and trying to flip the train around was a whole other experience.
'At least with my stamina, I can keep fighting this kind of brainless enemies for weeks on top of this train.'
Thought Izuku as he threw a dagger with enough force to decapitate one monster with its armor covering the radioactive belly ready to spew polluted sludge. With a simple backstep, he let an arm reaching for his head missed and counterattacked by slicing the attacker into pieces with his left blade. With a swipe of the blades into his cloth to clean off the blood, Izuku continued finishing off those that had managed to board the train.
Of course it was not loss on him that when the train stopped he would need to cleave his way through the massive army before him. But after a few hours, he was dumbstruck. The Musutafu he knew off had been reduced to mere rubble with only some building standing, the soot he touched telling him that it had been some time since the attack struck.
'Seems to be an attempt to clean off all the monsters.'
Izuku judged the situation seeing how the numbers of those following him had lessened to zero when the train stopped somewhere he could not make out. But the GPS was telling him that someone was still in this disaster-struck place. His mother. And the location was back home.
Despite the black outfit the place had donned on, he could still make out the door leading to the living room. He was hesitant in entering, doubting whether or not his mother was even inside since the signal for emergency evacuation had been going on for weeks now. But he continued on. Inside was still well-lit despite the gloomy outside. The veneer flooring warmed up the atmosphere just like before but Izuku had an intuition that something important would be happening.
"You are back, Izuku."
Inko Midoriya greeted her son with a nonchalant emotion as she sipped a cup of tea, her favorite blend of aged green.
"Why are you still here mom? I thought ..."
"That I would leave my son behind? Of course not. I can get to the evacuation centers but there is something you need to know. Something regarding your father. I know you have gone to Hokkaido for a reason related to him. Something important and the trip has brought you a lot of things, I believe? Want to share with your mom?"
Izuku stopped himself before he could tell his mom that she should have gotten away from this place, abandoning the wait for her son to come back.
"Of course! So I went to Hokkaido and met this man..."
Izuku eagerly shared his experience with some changes, dodging the villain hunting and the ambush on arrival.
"I'm glad that you have a good time with your new friends and mentor. He seems to be a strict but caring sensei. Inko would be happy."
"What do you mean when you said "Inko would be happy", mom?"
"It's in past tense. But I have to warn you. The story is quite heavy. And your perception of your father will be ... oh, you don't know much about him. So would you want to hear it?"
"... Yes."
And Inko explained everything.
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"Hisashi."
"Are you here to stop me, Ruan Mei? I'm simply following along the path you have trailblazed in the search of divinity."
"This is not a proper way of honoring your wife. She would be sad at your current state."
Hisashi had not slept for weeks, his eyes bloodshot from constantly looking at his computer and his body frail from lack of eating. The room was reeked in the stale depression of a crazed man trying to commit a miracle.
"And who are you to judge that?"
"Someone who has to take care of your son when his father is loitering in his pitiful adobe and mourning altitude. This is a favor I'm repaying. There will be no next time."
A son, Hisashi had completely forgotten the existence of him, his and Inko's love crystalized. The woman, dressed in her usual traditional Chinese clothing, showed Hisashi a picture of his son still in the crib.
He did not respond for a long time even after the woman had cleaned the room and left. He found purpose in the warmth and keep himself in the emotionless research quarter. His son should have a mother.
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"She is really Inko in both flesh and spirit, you have to believe me! I have even proof that it is possible to replicate what I have done en-masse. This research can help the majority of the population and ..."
His speaking right was cut. Hisashi was presenting himself in front of a council of people who shared the same potential as him, the potential of understanding the leaps and bounds he had done, the Genius Society. In his 8 o'clock was a young woman in her extravagant cosplay of a witch yawning at the ongoing argument. Actually, her altitude was shared by the majority of people here. Some had even exited and returned to their researches while others were still hanging around to connect with people in their groups and factions. Only David Shield had spared some time to listen to his argument.
Hisashi could try to fight for his case but he could not overturn a reached verdict. He would go silence and cut himself from the world some time later.
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"Try giving him a toy. Take this green tyrannosaurus."
The woman nodded and tried to play with a brocoli-haired boy. Her expression, unlike the emotionless face she had originally, had transformed to that of someone actually enjoying what she was doing. With a dinosaur in one hand and a spoon in another, she was finally able to feed the baby some food after coaxing him with some story about the little toy. The baby eagerly clapped and took the toy into his lap before slapping the plastic into the ground.
Seeing that scene, Hisashi could not help but to smile at the complete family he was having. And to prolong this happiness, he needed a catalyst to sustain this place.
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"..."
"..."
"So is it real, your care?", Izuku asked but he already knew the answer. Only a confirmation was needed.
"It is. Even if I'm a replica of your mother who has died shortly after giving birth to you, I'm still the one who spends time taking care of you. My love for you is real, despite how my origin was."
"Without this catalyst ... How long can you stay with me?
"Longevity is not a problem. What should be treasured is the time we spent together. So remember to check the safe. If you can get here without injury, it means you can get there."
"Where-Mom!"
Inko slumped down, her head bonking the table. Izuku was fast enough to catch her before she fell to the ground.
'There is still a pulse. If she wants me to go somewhere then I need to keep her safe. Where? Not an unfamiliar place like China or foreign places. A hospital, but where to find one. Somewhere with proper medical devices and a good doctor...'
Wrecking his brain to find a safe haven for Inko, Izuku eliminated one options after another. But if it was that place, the cradle of modern heroism...
'Fuck, Nezu.'
With the location being set to UA, Izuku laid Inko down and checked the content of the safe she had alluded to before. Inside his mother's bedroom, Izuku took a minute to skim through the letters inside.
'Back and forth between mom and father before the latter died. And the pictures on them do not seem to be randomly drawn. Let me tried to align the edges.'
Izuku got out of this a map of someplace, the structure resembled a city.
'Ma'habre, this will be for later. The next destination is UA.'
Stashing the letters into his Inventory, Izuku took a moment to glance at his stats. His overall ability had improved drastically, and the one with the highest number was Luck. Izuku had had a better understanding of the stat: a likelihood to be met with an event. And the way to navigate the event was entirely up to him. Izuku had always doubted this panel before him but if more events meant he could find a way to save his mom, he would gladly take on everything.
Bringing out a sturdy sleeping bag, Izuku laid a comatose Inko inside and set off toward the general direction of UA he remembered with Inko in his arms. Without the proper stance for swords usage accessible, Izuku focused solely on bypassing encounters with the Nomus, the red Aura cutting anything approaching him that could affect his movement.
A red lightning dashed through the barren city.