Chapter 18

"Hello, my name is Izuku Midoriya, and I am quirkless." Izuku introduced himself to his new class. It was the first day at his new school and he could already see his new classmates looking at him with varying looks. Some were utterly confused, and some had looks of mockery, others though had pity. It was as one might expect.

He glanced at his new teacher, who merely gestured for him to sit. Izuku's eyes fell on a desk in the back. He supposed it wasn't going to be bad, he'd be out of people's view. He was about to head there until the teacher stopped him. It was then that Izuku got a sinking feeling.

"Mr. Hill would you please move to the back." The teacher called. A boy in front turned and eyed Izuku. "Why me?" He questioned.

"We need to cater to Mr. Midoriya's needs." The teacher commented. Of course, it would be this situation. If it wasn't the ones who insulted and belittled him, it would be the ones who would try and coddle him.

"No, no. It's okay, Miss." Izuku tried to dissuade her. He did not need this. Not on the first day.

"Nonsense, Izuku, I won't have you falling behind." The Teacher continued. "Mr. Hill, I won't ask again." The Teacher told the boy.

"Fine." The boy relented. They were not in the mood to challenge her. The white-haired boy backed up his things begrudgingly and then moved to the back. Izuku for the most part was hesitant to take his new seat. He could see his classmates all looking at him with hostile eyes. They did not like him. Especially since he seemed like a special needs kid whom the teacher might favor if only to avoid the looking quirkist. "First few hours in and it's already a rough start." Izuku sighed.

The Herrscher didn't respond. She had made it very clear she disliked the school and would rather blow it up. Since that was not an option, she decided to spend her day sleeping. Izuku was fine with this as he was left to his own thoughts, but now he admittedly missed her commentary, worrying as it was. Oh well.

The first day was nothing special. Same old subjects as before, Izuku kept pace fair enough, but the teacher kept pausing to find out if he was keeping up. He knew she met well but it was getting very frustrating both for him and, from what he could tell, his classmates. Eventually, the bell rang, and the day ended. The teacher reminded them about their assignments and then she left shortly after.

It was not more than a few minutes after she left, that Izuku found a shadow cast over him. He looked up with a nervous smile on his face. He could already tell what was coming next. "Look here's your desk." Izuku quickly stood up, grabbed his things, and was ready to leave. Except he couldn't because two other boys were blocking his path. Izuku gulped.

The Herrscher rolled her eyes to herself as she watched Izuku get surrounded by the boys. She had left him well enough alone to see if the dreams had been any help. She wasn't expecting any drastic changes, but it seems her host was still insistent on making things more difficult for himself. She watched from afar as the boys knocked Izuku's belongings to the ground. Not long after Izuku would soon join them.

All he had to do was give control and she'd deal with them. She thought he'd learn the lesson by now, but it seems he still had a way to go before he could move past fighting the bullies in his dream, to fighting them in real life. Izuku was punched, shoved, kicked, and damaged by the pathetic insects.

Eventually, after a few minutes, the boy grew exhausted beating up her host. Good thing as well, she was also getting bored watching them. Floating over to where Izuku was she sighed at his sorry state. "Can you be any more pathetic?" She wondered as she watched him pick up his things.

"I had it handled," Izuku argued.

"Doubtful."

"Don't be, they all hit like a bunch of babies." Izuku laughed off the pain. He had been bullied all his life. The beatdown they had given him was actually a lot less painful than what Kaachan gave him on average.

"If you say so." The Herrscher noted. "Come on. Let's go, I'm sick of this place." She told him as she picked up his stuff with her powers and handed it to Izuku.

Izuku looked over to make sure he had everything, Izuku left school, relieved it was finally over.

"Why do you let people walk all over you?" The Herrscher wondered as she floated beside Izuku. She had been bothered by this for quite some time. It was getting frustratingly annoying at this point. "It would have been easy enough for me to handle the situation."

"You would have killed them," Izuku noted.

"That's beside the point." The Herrscher interjected. "With Bakugo, you have that toxic, hero-worship mentality excusing you, but you don't know these kids. Is it just a habit or are you just spineless?" she insulted.

"Why does it matter to you?" Izuku questioned.

"Your body is mine. Even if you think you can walk off all these injuries right now, they'll come back to haunt you later in life, and by you, I mean me." The Herrscher pointed out. "I can only heal you so much before the Honkai starts to corrupt your being instead."

"You have a limit to how much you can heal?" Izuku noted, half intrigued, half hoping to change the subject.

"Answer the question." The Herrscher snapped.

"Oh, well, I uh, I just don't like conflict that's all." Izuku stuttered. "It's easier to just roll with the situation than to try and escalate it."

"Even if it means you'll take a beating as a result." The Herrscher recounted.

"Look, I know it looks like I can't help myself….and maybe that's partially true, but even if I fight back, I'll just get in trouble for it," Izuku noted. "Back at my old school, the teachers would turn a blind eye to any complaints I made, and it would only get worse if I did. Even now I'm sure things will be written off as such."

"And yet you still remain an annoying goody two shoes." The Herrscher groaned. "I swear you are either the dumbest human I've met, or you have the strongest will, and neither is appealing to me." She sighed.

"Uh, thanks," Izuku answered.

"That was not a compliment." The Herrscher told him. "As for your own question, yes, there is a limit to how much I can heal you." The Herrscher added.

"Really?" Izuku wondered. He was half surprised she'd even entertain him but he wasn't going to complain. Despite her antagonistic nature, apart of Izuku was still curious about her powers in general; call it a morbid curiosity.

"Yes. You see normally I'd use the Honkai to repair and enhance your body, it's a simple enough process. The downside is that it requires your body to be able to withstand the Honkai to begin with. Your body while better than most in the world is still subpar, so I couldn't heal you as good as I liked."

"What happens if you use too much 'Honkai'?" Izuku wondered. He took note of the word she used, Honkai, he would research it later.

"Well for normal people there are two outcomes, either one, you die, or two you turn into a zombie." The Herrscher listed off.

"Wait…what?" Izuku gasped. "You mean this might kill me."

"Yes. It's like water, a little bit is needed to hydrate you, but a lot can drown you." She explained.

"I see….and just how good would your healing be, if I were to be well suited to Honkai." Izuku wondered. As far as he could tell, the healing was already powerful due to mitigating corrosive acid. The limit couldn't be that high right?

"Let me put it this way, you'd be able to survive having a spear rip through your heart. It would take an absurd amount of effort to permanently kill us if that was the case, I'm talking borderline black hole levels of power," she noted.

"That strong."

"Yeah, if I was at my peak the world would be mine to destroy, quirks or not, but as it stands, I'll lose a battle of attrition. As powerful as I am, even I will admit that I can be worn down and exhausted eventually." The Herrscher admitted. "Which is why you should also take of yourself." She glared at him.

"I'll keep that in mind," Izuku answered as he headed home.

"Mom," Izuku called out as he opened the door. It was unlocked, which was concerning, especially when there was silence in the apartment. "Hello," Izuku called. His heart beat faster as dread set in.

"I'm here," Inko called much to his relief. Upon entering Izuku found his mother sitting by the dining table. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were blank. She had a thousand-yard stare in her eyes.

"Mom…is everything alright?" Izuku questioned as he took note of his mother's state. Did something happen to her? Was she hurt? Did she need to go to the hospital?

"Yes…yes…everything is fine. Why don't you take a seat?" She motioned to the empty chair opposite her. Izuku glanced at her again, still unsure what to make of her state. With no other options though, he took a seat. The Herrscher likewise had gone silent as she also watched Inko's movements.

Once Izuku was seated Inko made her move. "So how was school today?" Inko asked her voice was still warm and friendly but there was an edge to it Izuku couldn't explain. Something at the back of his mind was triggering a warning but for what he didn't know.

"School was fine." Izuku lied as he fixed his collar. Why was the room feeling so warm? "The classes weren't too difficult, and the teacher was nice." He answered.

"Did you make any new friends?" Inko questioned.

"No," Izuku admitted. "I didn't make any friends. You know how it is when you're new." He chuckled nervously.

"Okay," Inko answered as she looked at him again.

"Mom. Am I in trouble?" Izuku asked nervously. He could feel her eyes boring in his head.

"I don't know. Should you be in trouble?" Inko questioned in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Um….no. I don't think so." Izuku whispered. "Herrscher, does she know," He mentally asked his acquaintance.

"Beats me." The Herrscher answered. While she would find it funny for Izuku to be caught like a deer in headlights. Inko was starting to admittedly concern her with this erratic behavior.

"Are you sure?" Inko repeated her question once more. Her eyes narrowed on Izuku. "If you have something to confess, now's the time," Inko told him.

"Nope. I don't have anything to confess." Izuku answered.

"Is that your final answer?" Inko inquired once more. Somehow Izuku felt he was trapped, and he had just denied whatever options were available to escape.

"Yes," Izuku answered. He silently said his prayers, hoping that this was just a misunderstanding or a joke on his mom's part.

"Okay," Inko said as she stood up. Izuku was about to stand as well but Inko stopped him and told him to stay seated. Izuku wisely listened to his mother and remained where he was. "Izuku, how old are you?" Inko questioned him. It was rhetorical, yet he answered anyway.

"That's right and for all those years I've raised. I know you Izuku. You're my precious baby boy, my only child." Inko elaborated. "So then…why…why would you do it." She questioned tearfully. "Why would you lie to me? Why would you betray my trust and go behind my back and do this?"

Izuku's eyes widened. She knew. Somehow, she had figured them out. He turned to the Herrscher who still seemed passive to everything. "Don't look at me, look at her." The Herrscher told him.

"Mom, I swear. It's not what you think." Izuku said without thinking.

"Oh really," Inko said as she brought out her first piece of evidence. "Then how do you explain this?" She pulled out a hairbrush from his room and slammed it on the table. "Exhibit A."

"A hairbrush?" Izuku questioned.

"Yes, a hairbrush from your room, and on this hairbrush was this." Inko placed a plastic bag with a strand of white hair inside it, right next to the brush. "A strand of long white hair." Inko pointed out.

"Um…there is a really good reason for that," Izuku muttered as he looked at the Herrscher.

"No there isn't." The Herrscher added. Not unless Izuku wanted to admit she was here which she doubted he would. Unfortunately, Inko wasn't done yet as she produced more evidence.

"If it wasn't bad enough, we also have exhibit B," Inko said. It was more hair, but this one looked like it had been in a…more damp location.

"Where did you get that one?" Izuku questioned.

"Well after I found the first clue, I was a little upset so I did some cleaning to clear my mind, I went and cleaned the shower, and lo and behold this was in the drain as well," Inko explained. "So, what's the excuse for this?" Inko interrogated.

"Um well…"

"And don't even say it's yours because I heard you talking to her," Inko told him. "I heard you this morning, mentioning how she's pretty," Inko added. "So Izuku let me ask…what's the excuse?" Inko stared at him.

"Well, you see Mom, I uh…." Izuku stuttered. "Herrscher help." He thought.

"You are on your own for this. I am not dealing with an angry mother. My advice, act dumb." The Herrscher told him.

"I have a girlfriend," Izuku answered nervously.

"Not that dumb." The Herrscher facepalmed. He did not just say that.

"I knew it." Inko cheered.

"Wait…what?" Izuku and the Herrscher both exclaimed upon hearing her response. "Mom…what exactly do you know?" He asked.

"That you have a girlfriend," Inko answered. "You thought you could hide it from me, but I know you Izuku. I'm your mother. You can't hide anything from me." She told him.

Izuku glanced at the Herrscher. "Don't look at me. You're the one that came up with this story." She told him.

"So, um…. are we good now?" Izuku wondered.

"Oh no. We are still far from good." Inko told him. "You are in so much trouble, young man." She scolded.

"What? Why?" Izuku asked. "Because I kept it a secret?"

"No, I would have been fine if you kept your girlfriend a secret," Inko told him. "What I'm not fine with, is you inviting her home when I'm not here and letting her comb her hair in your room or use our shower," Inko told him. "Izuku you are not an adult, if you want to invite girls over, you need to tell me." Inko scolded.

"I….I….don't know what to say." Izuku was flabbergasted.

"Well, I'm sorry would be a start," Inko told him. "However I would suggest you call up, your little girlfriend and invite her over. I want to meet her.' Inko told him.

"Meet her?" Izuku gasped.

"Is that a problem?" Inko glared. "She seems to know where we live and had no issues coming here before." She said sternly.

"Um well….I'll need to talk with her," Izuku explained.

"You can call her up now," Inko demanded.

"What?" Izuku gaped.

"I said you can call her now," Inko explained.

"Uh…I can't." Izuku told her.

"Why not?"

"Well, you see….her phone got destroyed in a villain attack." Izuku lied. "I only know because she borrowed someone else's phone to message me." Izuku tried to convince her.

"Okay then…." Inko told him. "You have till the end of the week to tell her to come over or am I confiscating all your electronics," Inko told him.

Izuku had no response. He merely agreed with his mom and headed toward his room.

"Herrscher do you have any ideas how to get out of this?" Izuku mentally questioned. "Ideas that don't involve murder," Izuku added.

"Nope. You dug your grave with this one, now lay in it." She answered.

"What am I going to do?" Izuku sighed.

"Eh, you're smart, you'll figure something out." The Herrscher told him.

The next day, Izuku still hadn't figured it out. It was lunchtime, and Izuku had found himself sitting underneath a tree in the schoolyard, eating his lunch and scribbling ideas in an empty notebook. He had spent all of last night, and a good bit of the morning trying to figure out a solution.

Nothing he thought of was realistically plausible and without consequence. He was positive no girl he knew would agree to pretend to be his girlfriend. He was also sure; that he had no money to buy off a fake girlfriend either. He had considered cross-dressing, but Izuku was also sure that would only end in disaster.

Suffice it to say, Izuku was screwed.

"Hey…Quirkless rat." Someone called. He looked up in time to see the bullies from before. Today just kept getting better and better.

Much like before, he got bullied. They stole his lunch, his pocket change, and beat him up. The Herrscher had manifested once more and asked for his approval but just like before he denied her.

"I've got better things to worry about." He told her. She had rolled her eyes at him before disappearing once again. If he didn't want to help himself then who was she to intervene?

"Maybe I can call All Might?" Izuku thought as he daydreamed ideas while in his afternoon classes. He promptly scratched out the idea when he realized All Might ask more questions than his mom, and Izuku was positive he'd have even fewer answers for the pro-hero.

Eventually, the day was over and Izuku found himself packing up his things once more. The bullies had left him alone after lunch and it seemed like they had called it a day on picking on him, talk about a lucky break. With his bag on his back, Izuku was ready to leave the school once more, though this time he was more reluctant to do so. The idea of going home and being hounded by his mom again for his imaginary girlfriend did not seem so appealing to the boy.

"Maybe I can walk home really slowly." Izuku thought as he headed out.

That's when he saw them. The same boys from before, Hill and his cronies. Izuku gulped not wanting to receive another beating and immediately hid. Fortunately for him, they didn't notice and passed Izuku's hiding spot none the wiser.

"On second thought. Maybe mom's interrogation isn't so bad." Izuku reconsidered as he prepared to bolt.

"Leave me alone." A voice called out. Izuku froze in his spot and turned back to where the bullies had been. They were still there…and they were picking on another kid. Izuku froze.

"Hey human, what's the hold up?" The Herrscher manifested once more beside her host. She had wondered why Izuku was still in school. However, once her eyes landed on the bullies and their victims, she put two and two together. A soft smile appeared on her face.

"Well, well, it looks like you've got a lucky break." She whispered. "Now all you need to do is just turn around and walk away," It was a tempting offer only a coward would take. She wondered if Izuku would take it.

Izuku gripped his bag tight as he stared at them. He then let out a breath and walked away. The Herrscher looked on disappointed. It seems she was wrong about him.

…then Izuku turned around and ran straight for the bullies.

Or maybe she wasn't.

"Nice going, Hero." A young boy scolded Izuku. Both boys were now nursing their injuries, after being beaten up by Hill and his crew and left under the tree in the schoolyard.

"I just wanted to help," Izuku admitted as he leaned back against the tree. "I can't stand seeing others get hurt."

"Yeah…well…it was a waste of time." The boy admitted as he let out a breath. "Should have just let it be Izuku." The boy told him. "Still…thanks anyway…I guess. I think I actually saw Hill cry from that punch." He noted. Izuku had landed a few cheap shots in but he had been quickly overwhelmed once they realized what had happened.

"Uh… you're welcome," Izuku answered before it dawned on him. "Wait…you know my name."

"Everyone knows your name; the teacher has made it very clear who you are." The boy noted.

"Oh." Izuku realized. That's not exactly the best reason to know. "So, what's yours?" Izuku asked.

"Hitoshi Shinso." The boy was introduced. "Well as much as I'd like to talk more. It's getting late and I should really head home before my folks worry." Shinso told him. "Nice meeting you though."

"Yeah, likewise," Izuku responded as he stood up. He and Shinso gathered their things before going their separate ways. Looks like he made a friend…probably. Izuku didn't seem to dwell too much on it as he found the Herrscher waiting for him once more.

"You look like crap." The Herrscher noted as she took a good look at Izuku.

"Thanks." He answered, not even in the mood to deal with her antics. He was beaten up for what was the second time, and he still had no idea how to deal with his mother.

Strangely as he began to walk, Izuku felt the soreness from his body start to fade away. He glanced down and checked himself, noticing how any bruised areas for now gone. "Herrscher?" He questioned. She was the only one who could be doing this.

"Yes." She answered.

"Are you?" He gestured to himself.

"Yes." She answered. "You went back and stood up to the bullies and while you did get beaten to a pulp, you still went down swinging," she noted. "Seeing as you aren't a total worse, I suppose I can heal your wounds," she admitted. This was what positive reinforcement was. Right?

"Thank you," Izuku told her. "I appreciate it."

"Eh, don't let this be a one-time thing and I'll call us even." The Herrscher told him. "I still want to kill them." She informed.

"No, you can't."

"Worth a shot."

"I still have to deal with my mom. I don't think I can handle you adding a potential charge to my name as well." Izuku admitted.

"About your mom. I think I might have an idea for that." The Herrscher told him.

"Does it involve you hurting her?" Izuku questioned.

"No."

"Then what is it?" Izuku wondered.

"I'll introduce myself to your mom." The Herrscher told him.