We Cherish

Beta'd by: The Blackened King

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Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia and Dark Souls, both belongs to their respective owners, Kohei Horikoshi and FromSoftware respectively (Now I want to buy Baldur's Gate 3, but I'm broke (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

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Izuku remembered it like it was yesterday. A quick trudge through the poisoned swamps of Blight Town just to find the missing pyromancer, Laurentius of the Great Swamp…

His old paid master in the arts of pyromancy.

The last time he saw him, he was awed about the fact that he was learning from a witch of Izalith, his pyromancy having already ascended a great deal just from her teaching.

As well as a dozen thousand souls, no biggie.

If it was anybody else, Izuku would've lied about where he learned the advanced arts of pyromancy, but this was Laurentius, his old master. One who has helped him overcome the odds no matter how difficult.

He was sure that he wouldn't go mad or hollow in the quest of furthering his pyromancy arts.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Just remembering the scene brought a bitter smile to his lips, his carefree look and humming screeching to a stop as he reminisced.

The burns he received, the burns he dealt, the poison swamp he was forced to intake, the poison swamp he forced down the hollow's throat.

It was a grueling fight, one where he emerged victorious.

As he laid eyes on the corpse of his old master, he felt regret, shame, and pride. Even when driven to madness, he was one strong bastard. A person fit to hold the title of his master.

He knew it should be a sad moment, to be forced to kill his own master. But with how things went here in Lordran, this was nothing short of mercy.

Laurentius wanted to learn from Quelana, and he did. If he couldn't take it, like Izuku did, then it would be best to put him out of his misery before more harm was done.

Izuku chuckled bitterly.

'I guess this is why pyromancers are considered unsavory.'

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"… Dear God." All Might wanted to go to the nearest toilet and vomit his remaining lung. Just hearing the story from Izuku's lips made him want to rip his hair out and smash his head against the wall.

Imagining himself putting down his master, Nana, himself made him want to hurl and clench at his heart.

And Izuku went through all of that and came out… Well, not that sane, but still socially functional!

What's worse, it was just the fate of one of those he considered companions with one of the least tragic ends!

All Might didn't know what to do with Izuku, be he knew no amount of therapy would help the teen.

Not that the teen needed it since he had long come to terms with the clusterfuck that was Lordran.

"That is… An interesting story, Midoriya." Nezu hummed as his beady eyes held a glint of slight insanity within hidden beneath a posture of calm. "Detective Tsukauchi, anything you can say?"

"… Truth." The detective in question looked pale, as if he wanted to vehemently tell his quirk that no, what Izuku was saying was just a lie and his own brand of insane imagination.

But that's just how his quirk works, his quirk can verify whether or not the speaker is speaking certainties and falsehoods, and if the speaker believe it to be true, then it is true, no matter how false.

Like those flat-earthers. He still remembered his mind doing gymnastics as to why his quirk was saying true instead of false.

"Quite a conundrum." Nezu hummed as he stared into the eyes of Izuku who was still lost within his memories about his few friends in Lordran.

Except Patches, fuck that guy.

"Well then, with my curiosity sated, I think its time we give Midoriya here what he wanted." Nezu looked to his two compatriots, who were still pale but color was slowly returning to their faces.

"… Yes, I agree." All Might hummed, a bit at a loss on how to treat Izuku. Should he smile at him and give him some words of encouragement? Treat him as a threat to society and send him Tartarus even if it brought him great shame and regret? Or maybe just leave him alone and hope to whatever deity that would listen that Izuku wouldn't go insane?

"Well, he still has to pay for desecrating a grave, even if it was his own." Tsukauchi winced when he mentioned Izuku's family grave.

"A fine then?" Nezu smiled at Tsukauchi which sent the detective warning bells to his head.

"Yes, that would be sufficient." The detective quickly answered in hopes of not triggering the tiny animal chimera.

"Great." Nezu chirped happily, the messy situation he found himself in finally coming to a close. "Well then, Midoriya, I'll have your mother come pick you up in a few minutes."

Nezu's words brought a joyful smile on Izuku's lips, his head no longer reminiscing about his time in Lordran.

"Thank you, Nezu." Izuku bowed slightly, his manners still ingrained within him even after all that happened in Lordran.

"Please, a hero's job is to help people." Nezu grinned as he looked at Izuku. All Might and Tsukauchi, fully intimate about Nezu's penchant for mischief, paled once more as the gears in their heads turned. "As the principal of a hero school, it is a duty I am well acquainted with, as well as happy to do so."

"A hero? That takes me back." Izuku laughed. "It's been a long time since I heard of the word hero. You know how it is in Lordran."

"Quite." Nezu hummed as he gazed quickly at the other two in the room, before focusing back on the teen. "That said, I would like to extend to you an invitation."

"… Oh! You… Ahahahaha!" Izuku's mad laughter echoed through the room, sending shivers down All Might's and Tsukauchi's spine. "You want me to be a hero? Why?"

"I am quite an observant animal, if I do say so myself." Nezu explained in a self-boasting manner that was warranted by his intellect. "And you, Izuku, even with everything that has happened to you, I believe that you can still be a paragon of good. A paragon of justice."

"… Damn, you're serious." Izuku fell silent for a moment. "Anything else you want to add?"

"It will also avoid the other authorities from strapping you to a table and treating you like a guinea pig." And with that, Nezu told him of the real reason why he wanted Izuku to join UA High School.

The scar on his eye a testament to what happens to guinea pigs with people fascinated with something and the power to do so.

"… Will that help extend to my mother?" Izuku's question was answered with a nod from the rat, and the teen smiled. "Deal."

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"IZUKU!"

After the brief interrogation session, Izuku was finally allowed to meet with his mother. He was wondering how they would meet again, what with him being dead for the past ten months, if what the others said was true.

Truth be told, he was nervous, slightly nervous, but nervous nonetheless. It had been a long, long time (in his experience, at least) since he had last seen or heard his mother call his name.

It was grating on him.

He didn't have to wait longer, however, because as soon as he had exited the room, he was immediately brought into a bear-crushing hug from a slightly malnourished woman.

Izuku stood ramrod still, his mind quickly delving into tactics that could allow him movement but immediately shoved them to the side. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he wasn't in danger.

He slowly raised his arms up and hugged the woman back. Izuku could see her dark, green hair turning into a slight shade of gray due to stress and age. He could feel the ribs of the woman poking into his arms, the tears slowly cascading down on him like a waterfall.

But that didn't stop him from showing a genuine, sane smile as Izuku closed his eyes to relish the feeling of joy and relief.

"I'm home, mom."