Idolatry (II)

Revenant led Momo across to his compound and up the steps to the attached lockers of his dojo. Stepping up to his locker, he opened it and pulled out a change of clothes. "Change into your workout clothes." He ordered, turning his back and stripping himself.

The two changed in silence. He certainly had no issue with being undressed around the girl, Eli and Mei had seen all he had to offer many times – he had long since been desensitized to his own body. Unaware of the girl's blushing embarrassment, he changed into his workout clothes and moved into the dojo to await his student.

She took almost 3 minutes to change, they would need to work on that. She stepped out onto the mats wearing very basic workout clothing. "How much training have you done?"

"I-I was taught some Jiu-Jitsu for self-defense."

"Good. You'll be showing me everything you know, beat me into submission."

"W-what?"

"I need to see your form, I'll throw a few punches and you'll do whatever it takes to stop me, understood?"

"Yes!"

Momo shifted into a stance, already he could see issues. He stance wasn't meant for her; it was a box standard stance not one that took advantage of her own abilities. He mirrored her, dropping into a basic stance and waited for her to attack. She didn't, so he moved first. Lunging forward he threw an exceptionally lazy punch, but behind it he placed an ample amount of animosity, hoping to trigger her fight or flight instincts. She froze up at the attack, which he had stopped directly before her face. Disgruntled at her lack of seriousness, he flicked her nose with his middle finger.

"I said I was going to throw a punch, and you did nothing. Why?"

"I-I froze, I'm sorry, it just!" She was clearly picking the 'Flight' in 'Fight or Flight' "It was scary, it felt like you were going to hit me and I panicked!"

"Well, I did hit you," he said scratching his chin. "That's not the best excuse, use a throw on me." Stepping behind her, he grabbed her in a rear choke hold. He was certain she would be able to do this technique; it was incredibly easy to learn and massively important for self-defense. She shuddered at his touch, but responded quickly, reaching up and pulling him down and attempting to throw him over her shoulder.

Attempt being the correct word because she ended up on the floor under him. He stared at her wriggling body under his. She was a mess, 'Who trained her? She's awful!' he thought angry at the incompetence of her past trainers. Not getting up, but staying in a downward dog position over her, "Momo, when were you taught self-defense?"

Curling in on herself, she mumbled out "When I was 7." He couldn't believe his ears – she wanted to be a hero and had no training whatsoever? It was a damn good thing he had come into her life when he did.

"That's incredibly lucky," she stopped her self-doubting wiggles, turning her head up and looking at him, "That means I don't have that much to unteach." Standing up he offered his hand to the girl, "Come, we have so much to do and so little time to do it."

The rest of the day he spent teaching her how to punch, kick and helping to form a more well balanced and suited stance for her physique. She was incredibly flexible, which was a good thing, it meant he wouldn't have to hold back on much of her training while he wrote up a workout plan. He knew how much time they had, 2 years was plenty to prepare for an entrance exam, he would help her as much as he could.

From then on, the days went as follows, Revenant would continue to study secluded away in the Yaoyorozu library while overseeing the adjustments and revitalization of the security in the massive home. In the afternoons Momo would walk with him to his complex and be trained in how to fight. He did not dispense with traditional fighting styles, instead sculpting one that best fit her and her quirk – such as throwing sand in a person's eyes as a feint. He focused primarily on subtle and easy uses of her quirk, knowing that hers required preparation and time to create more complex objects. He trained her to be adaptable to situations, giving her as many tools and techniques as he could in order to make her unpredictable and versatile.

She took to the training like a bird to the sky, she fell and had trouble at first before it finally started to click. He ensured to focus on teaching her to be quick and agile, utilizing equipment to make up the difference in strength. To account for the quick constructs, she would have to make, they often spent time working out and growing stronger so she could make and use equipment that would be unwieldy for someone without the proper weapon's training. She became proficient in various simple weapons, able to construct them on instinct mid training. He instructed her to never hold back against him – he said he would teach her to fight, but he openly admitted his limitation was in how to hold back, that she should be able to restrain herself once she knew how to fight.

"If you are splitting your focus on fighting and holding back, you'll never win."

"I already can't win against you, what's the point?"

"You can win by not fighting, you could win by shooting me. There are ways to beat me, but the most useful tool you have that I will never have is the ability to retreat."

"What do you mean Rev?"

"Running away just isn't something I can do. When I am faced with an issue I cannot surmount, I will do whatever it takes to win – even if it means breaking my arms, and leaving myself a cripple. What would you do if you got into a fight with All Might?"

"Run away?"

"Exactly, never underestimate the usefulness of fleeing. I would charge in and exploit any weakness I could find in order to win, or die trying. That is my fatal flaw." Revenant spoke of his weakness easily, he supported Momo in as many regards of training as he could. He wasn't the best teacher, but he knew what he was teaching far better than most, not content to teach only a certain level. "By contrast, you with your quirk would become unstoppable. I do not hesitate to say that being able to produce anything you need in a moment's notice is incredibly powerful and could easily plant you in the top 10 for heroes."

Once training ended, Momo would shower off in the main house before joining the menagerie of unattended children for dinner. After the first day she was given a job to help with preparation, much to the pleasure of Mei and Eli, who disliked that she and Revenant both ate massive portions, she joined Mei in chopping veggies or making sauces. After getting splashed with soy sauce one day, she adopted a similar approach to Revenant, wearing an apron while cooking. She enjoyed the experiences she had while spending time with the very informal group. After dinner she would be walked back to her home and watched over while she did any assignments for her tutors.

Revenant in the meantime would monitor the home while continuing to work, either on producing drugs and support equipment, or bringing in more money with Spirit Network jobs. Due to the fame that he as Revenant had accrued, he could afford to be pickier with the jobs he took through the Spirit Network, which had actually become more of a network. He had brought in a group of vigilantes who needed funds to continue their work, he only gave them information and runner type jobs, stating to them that Revenant would and should be the only one to stain his hands any further. As such he needed to expand his network capabilities, and actually write a script for Ghost to appropriately proportion out jobs. The process of giving them a connection to him was one that he dreaded, but it served as a means of giving him continual income and furthering his agenda of helping people and growing strong.

His and Mei's progress on creating a set of support equipment for Momo had hit a snag, several actually. Her quirk was not conducive to much support equipment as she was far too varied to cover any weakness she could've had. The best they came up with was to make extremely high calorie snack bars. Otherwise she would need a reference manual for more complex creations.

Mei suffered from a love hate affair with Momo, who was the ultimate supplier for creating things, but ultimately impossible to design for. Momo didn't really hate Mei, but she certainly wasn't a fan either. They got along, but not to the extent that would have any call them friends.

Eli got along better with Momo, when she was around anyways. The two rich girls could relate to one another regarding their lifestyles, though Eli was far cruder and crueler than Momo. Still they shared a passion for dressing up in cute outfits and having tea.

Revenant got along with Momo. That's all there was to it. She was his student. She appreciated him and the work he did for her, she appreciated the new experiences he brought into her life. She didn't know he was still actively working as an assassin, though it would not have surprised her.

In a flash, 2 months had passed and it was almost time for Momo's 13th birthday.

Revenant rode back in the early morning, he had just finished another hit, it had turned into a bloody affair when the target, a woman with the ability to control blood, had utilized a cut in his arm to slice him up. The wounds were shallow, but hurt and stung when she threw salt in his wounds. In return he decapitated her with a fire axe. He now had taken said axe with him back to his compound and nearly fell off his bike. He was seriously fucked up; he'd lost a lot of blood. The light was on in the workshop. He groaned that Mei was likely still awake and working on something.

"Mei!" he said weakly. He limped to the door and banged hard on it, pushing himself and his quirk. He needed help. A moment later he heard movement from the other side of the door. The pink haired teen emerged and let out a scream at his wounded state.

"Rev! Holy fuck! Are you okay!?"

Falling to a slump on the ground, he breathed out in pain. He almost certainly had internal bleeding. "Get the drug, then get yourself and Eli to a saferoom," he ordered clenching his teeth. The pain was otherworldly.

Mei's eyes went wide, she nodded knowing what was going to happen next. She left him by the door for less than a minute before returning with a syringe full of a dark red serum. "Eli isn't here, wait for an hour, right?"

Revenant nodded, "Go" he ordered. Mei sprinted off as he slipped an arm out from his combat suit. He waited 3, agonizing minutes before injecting himself with the drug. He let out a deep breath as he felt his mind slip into another realm. His quirk exploded throughout his body, boiling under the surface as he let out a scream. His mind went blank as he fell into a rampage.

He had long discovered that he couldn't prevent rampages with the drug, they were just the outcome of his quirk running wild. He continued to researched the drug in hopes that one day he would be able to overcome the effect, said day had yet to materialize. What he had discovered was that with each use of the drug, or the versions he had developed after he spoke with the doctor about taking over production, was that it was slowly accumulating in his system, increasing his quirk factor slowly and making his rampages last longer and longer. He needed the power, but the rampages were too dangerous to use tactically. This was however a very tactical use of the drug, for while he had the drug in his system, his healing was massively improved, it burned through his body's resources at a rapid pace, but it would bring him back from the brink provided he had enough nutrients stored in his body.

Momo awoke with a start hearing strangled cries coming from outside. The screams shook her to her core, running to her window she opened the window and heard the cries more clearly, it sounded like Revenant. She didn't think as she jumped from the window producing a basic wingsuit and gliding down towards the gates. Slipping out of the house she sprinted towards Revenant's door. She quickly generated a key and slammed it into the door opening it quickly. Alarms began blaring but she paid them no mind as she scrambled to help wherever she was needed.

Then she spotted Revenant.

His body was covered in blood, more blood than she had ever seen. His face held an angry expression, eyes glowing brighter than she had ever seen. He didn't look like how he normally was, he looked unhinged, feral. His eyes turned toward her, and she felt the wave of bloodlust hit her.

"R-Revenant?" she stuttered out. She was frozen, he had only explained to her once what happened when his quirk rampaged. At the time it sounded scary, the fear that filled her was of another tier compared to what she expected. He was a storm of terror, a body reaper come to end her life.

"K̵̢̮̺͔͔̜̩̐̓̓͜a̸̡̤͎̣͙͇̣͍͚̤̻̺̟̬̾̈́ͅc̸̡͔̗͂̈̆c̷̢̡̻̗̗̠͓͍̳̟̜͉͊͛̉̃͌͐͌̀͂̈́͂̐͌͜h̵̨̧̰̠̣̼̜̫̖̯̩̮̩͊̉ḁ̴̛̺̱͔̺̩̭̹͈͍̫̩͍̅͌̑̈́́̎̈́̆͗͗͋̈́͘͜ņ̵̡̛̫̦̰̦͎̤͍͈̺̃́́̿̇̈́̍̋̾̀̅͝"

He growled before dashing across the whole of the courtyard in a single step and grabbing hold of her in a tackle hug. She couldn't even flinch as he impacted her, he moved too quickly. Wrapping her in a hug she, struggled as he buried his face in her hair. He squeezed tightly, it hurt slightly and she let out a gasp of pain. Instantly he released her and was a few steps away.

"D̵̛̤͍̺͋͆͜͝ö̶̼̮̙́̒n̴̡̖͓̑̐̾'̸̡̼͚̺͒̈́t̷̛̜̼̞͊͛ ̴̰̠̬̾d̶͈͈͛̎̏͝ǐ̷̖̎͜ȇ̴̮̬̄͑ͅ ̵͓͔̟̔̓a̸̟̳̤͑̀͜g̸̞̫̩͘͘͜ą̷̀̽͊̕i̵͉͔̝̠͗̔̽̽n̴̞̬̏̈́͜"

He almost seemed to beg, his words scratchy and difficult to hear. She was completely lost at his behavior, she had never seen him in a rampage, but it didn't fit how he was supposed to behave. He was supposed to be violent, animal like and kill anyone nearby – he wasn't acting like that. He was acting a mix between an animal and a distressed person. Even still, he was a danger to be around as long as his quirk continued to rampage.

As she was about to start planning, he fell over onto the ground in a slump.

"What the fuck just happened?" she whispered to herself, glossing over the fact that she had just sworn. She cautiously approached the unconscious body. His tattoos had receded in his slumber, and tears streamed down his face, washing away flecks of dried blood.

"Kacchan, I'm sorry" he muttered over and over again. His voice was broken, filled with regret and sorrow. He looked to be in physical pain, coughing and retching between bouts of sobs. He trembled and shivered on the ground. His hands were brought to his head and his cries switched between those of pain and sadness. She reached out tentatively, laying her hand on his back. He shivered and whimpered, his sobs becoming dominant.

"Hey Mo," Eli said, walking over from the house, Mei in tow.

"What happened?" she looked up at the idol and inventor.

"He got hurt and needed to dose himself," Mei explained grabbing a leg, "Help us carry him to his room," she said not offering a choice.

Momo grabbed hold of his arms and assisted Eli and Mei in carrying the unconscious and still crying body into the building. It was awkward carrying someone who was already taller than most adults, and probably weight twice as much, upstairs, she worked up a sweat alongside the other two girls moving his body. Pausing when they reached the top of the stairs, Eli, out of breath spoke: "Mei, how long until you have a goddamn exoskeleton so we can move him easier?"

"Still working on it, need more batteries," and equally out of breath Mei retorted. She stretched out and cracked her neck, "Alright, lets get him the rest of the way."

On a count of 3 the trio hoisted the body back into the air and brough him into his bedroom. Momo had yet to see inside his room. She expected it to be filled with more weapons and illicit items, what greeted her was a room that could only be described as plush and cute. The group struggled the boy back onto his bed – which he sunk deep into, Eli walked into his closet and pulled out a blanket which seemed heavy, draping it over him she struggled to catch her breath. She collapsed onto the bed next to him and laid her hands on him.

"What are you doing?" Momo asked, slightly concerned for the exceptionally vulnerable Revenant.

"His night terrors are worse when he passes out. He does better if someone stays with him," her voice was full of kindness, none of her usual sass or bite. Momo looked at the boy, he looked to still be reeling from an unknown nightmare, but he looked better than the crying mess from just minutes before.

"He suffers night terrors?" he didn't seem the type to be suffering like that.

"He's been through hell Mo; you'd be surprised how much he hides." Eli replied, attempting to get comfortable with the passed-out body. "I'll tell you this, he was forced to grow up a lot in a very short amount of time," she offered. "Now get out, I'm gonna prank him and we need to be naked for it to work."

"You've done that one before Eli," Mei deadpanned.

"It's still funny to see his reaction," the idol snickered.

Momo stood dumbfounded at the two making such a joke of their friend's panic attack. She couldn't let them do this! Could she? "No," she spoke at last, realizing only a moment later what she was doing, "you will not prank him Eli."

"What are you gonna do about it? take my place?" she sneered.

"Yes, I will." Momo's mind screeched to a halt at the declaration that came from her own mouth.

"Ballsy." Mei commented. Slapping Momo on the back, "Didn't know ya had it in ya!"

"I-I" Momo stuttered before being pushed onto the bed with Revenant and Eli. She froze and couldn't react as Eli got up from the bed and pushed her into Revenant's side. "Eh?" was all she got out before Eli draped and arm of Revenant's over top her.

"Oh, this is perfect," Eli said with a cruel look on her face pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. Momo was still processing what was going on. "Alrighty then, stay with him until he wakes up!" she said walking briskly out of the room, Mei following suit making kissy faces at Momo.

'What have I gotten into?' she questioned, before answering her own question, 'bed, with Revenant. I'm sharing a bed with an assassin/model whose been training me.' Momo blushed at the implications of being in the same bed as him. She was too young! They were both too young! Maybe this could pass as a sleep over between friends? No, she'd only had one and that was years ago, plus sharing a bed with a boy was too much!

She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to realize that she was sinking into the bed and pressing up more and more against Revenant, whose weight acted like a blackhole on the bed, drawing everything else into his mass. Before she knew it, she was more on top of Revenant than next to him. She began to squirm, wanting to get off of him without disturbing his slumber.

She felt a hand stroke the back of her head, it was heavy, warm and soft. She looked to him and saw a smile on his face, he whispered: "it's okay Kacchan, Izu's here. It'll be okay, Izu's here." The gesture was comforting, like one would do for a crying child. His words carried a weight and kindness, yet belied a certain degree of pain. "I'm sorry that I killed you," he whispered, intensifying his gestures and beginning to cry yet again.

Momo realized in part what Eli had meant when she said he had been through hell. He blamed himself for the death of his sister, she thought. 'How terrible,' she thought sadly regarding the boy's mysterious and terrible past. She laid atop him, accepting his brushing hand, hoping to fall asleep quickly – she was still in her pajamas which made the task easier.