A Tarnished Hero

"Ah, we've arrived." Nezu chirped as the truck slowly ground to a halt. The handbrake clicked and All Might unstrapped his seatbelt. Nezu, being the tiny animal that he was, wasn't able to use the seatbelt. "Come along now, Midoriya, your new home awaits."

And wasn't that something that made Izuku cringe. A new home… He hadn't had a home ever since he was sent into the Lands Between. Opening the door of the truck, he stepped out with nary a pep in his step.

He still wasn't comfortable agreeing with Nezu, what with his duties in the Lands Between still a work in progress, but since there wasn't any kind of way for him to go back yet, he might as well take a load off. He deserved it after all he's been through.

That, and he still needed to mess with Katsuki some more. What else was he supposed to do here? Learning normal things here after what he'd seen in the Lands Between just seemed like a total bore. Hero Laws? What use is that in an anarchic region full of monsters that had it out for you?

Hm… Now that was a thought. Nezu wanted him to teach, right? How about a crash course in trying to survive the unexpected? Gods know that the heroes in Japan needs it, what with the villains still somehow running rampant around the country.

Maybe Nezu had a point. If Izuku could still see villains running amok - especially if what happened in the USJ was an indication - what would happen if All Might, the main reason why crime rate was at an all-time low, disappears?

Chaos. Absolute chaos. No wonder Nezu hated the HPSC. What they're doing is making heroes marketable, making them a commodity. They glamorized the hero life to get even more applicants, to inspire more to become heroes with the wrong ideals.

Now in a superpowered society, it had some merits, but in the long term, it would destabilize, or even cripple the entirety of society. And if the paper he had read before he got sent into the Lands Between was real, then quirks were just going to get stronger and stronger as the generations continue.

With those in mind, it was quite mind-boggling why this kind of practice was still ongoing. In the dark age of quirks, it was a nice band-aid solution to a fucked-up world, but in peaceful times with most of society stabilized? It needed to change.

Why, one of the effects of this society was present now. The bystander effect. It was already present in the past before the age of quirks, but now it is rampant everywhere. The mentality that "A hero will take care of it" is too problematic.

It just isn't sustainable if a much larger crisis that can affect cities prop up because villains are unpredictable.

Sighing, Izuku followed All Might and the rat into the school, the giant U.A. Logo hanging above the front doors leading to the inner hallways clearly seen from the front gates.

"Now, Midoriya, before we head in, I would like to remind you that since you are currently homeless-" Izuku winced again, still reeling from the revelation that his mother was dead. "I and the staff have prepared for you a temporary living space. At least until you can afford your own with the pay you will be receiving with your new job."

"Wait, I'm getting paid?" Izuku tilted his head.

"Why, of course, Midoriya." Nezu looked back at him as he hopped on All Might's shoulder. "A simple transaction of give and take. You give my students some needed lessons, I give you the funds to enjoy your life."

"… What about all the legal things?" Izuku questioned the rat, but only got twinkling beady eyes in response.

"Oh, no worries about that, my dear employee. Leave it to your intellectual superior." Izuku will not lie, that part about the intellectual superior grated on him, but then again, Nezu was an animal with a hyper-intelligence quirk. Of course he isn't going to compete with that…

Unless he strengthened his mind with runes… Not that he will because for one, it will slow down his growth for the dragon incantations, and two, it was a waste of runes when he didn't really have any interest in glintstone sorceries in the first place.

It was hard trying not to be a murder hobo when everything that moves gave runes when killed.

"That said, please head to the teacher's lounge while me and All Might scurry along to my office." Nezu grinned as he patted the gaunt blond's hair. "We still have some papers to sign and documents to stamp so we'll be late for your so-called… indoctrination."

"Indoctrination?" Izuku once more questioned the rat, but all he got was a brief cackle before All Might started walking away. Squinting at the man, he noticed that All Might's eyes reluctantly left him, but he could see the emotion hiding underneath.

Guilt and shame. At least the man was trying hard to repent for his mistakes, not that it gave Izuku any amount of relief. It was him, after all, that died during that altercation.

Shaking his head from the depressing thoughts, Izuku tried to navigate the empty halls of the school. From what he heard from the rat indicated that the entire school was out for a week because of the invasion. Something along the lines of giving the students a break from the harrowing incident, as well as beef up security.

They better be, remembering how easy it was sneaking into Stormveil Castle. Granted, the damn thing was already crumbling due to the war and the lack of manpower was concerning. The corpse underneath the castle might've something to do with it.

He shivered. Just remembering the giant thing was giving him cold feet. Rogier said that the corpse was King Godwyn's after he was killed during the Night of Black Knives.

Now wasn't that scary. A literal divine being, killed in his own home. Just the thought of it made his heart beat faster. If that could happen, then what does that mean for the rest? Sure, he was able to slay Godrick the Grafted, but he was a demi-god. Not a true deity above mortals. He was also the weakest, if his sources were correct.

Will he have to kill a God? After all, even with all his trekking through Limgrave and Liurnia, he still had not a fucking clue on what an Elden Lord is. Melina said it was to be unite the Elden Ring and bring order to the lands, but from what he saw, it was a source of unimaginable power.

Power strong enough to shape the entire region to one as he sees fit. Nobody would be able to contest him, or even dare challenge him. And this Tarnished business, why them? Why him?

He could see Grace, guiding him to his objectives, but what about the others? Why did Rogier say he couldn't see them anymore? Did it just happen normally? Or was there a reason for it?

Even Varre said something along the lines of most Tarnished who follow the guidance of Grace find themselves dead because it was their fate to begin with. It was confusing.

Sighing again, Izuku dropped that line of thought. Think about that later, focus on the now. While he's here, he might as well unwind all of the stress that nearly made him jump off a ledge in the Lands Between. Not that it would do him any good, seeing that he would revive a time later… Huh, wait a minute… He saw Rogier die with a bloodstain underneath Stormveil Castle… But when he went to the Roundtable Hold, he was fine… Well, relatively fine… But there was one thing that rang in his mind.

He said that he lost the guidance of Grace… He implied that it happened after he died underneath the castle… Normally, a Tarnished like him would be back to full health if they died, but Rogier… Rogier didn't get better…

Does losing the Guidance of Grace somehow make a Tarnished mortal once more? Will a guideless Tarnished breath their last when slain?

Not for the first time in the day, Izuku shivered once more. That was a line of thought he didn't want to dig deep into. As long as he had Melina and he still had the Guidance of Grace, he will be fine… He hoped… Izuku didn't know whether his body would break first, or his mind.

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Now wasn't this a surprise? Truth be told, Nemuri was a bit off-put by their principal doing insane shit again, but it's not like she could just complain to the rat. The last time she did that, she had to get away from the press that seemed hellbent on trying to interview her for some reason.

Beside her, Yamada was hanging banners on the posts and wearing a party hat on his head. Meanwhile Ishiyama, the lovable block head that he was, was making sculptures as stone sculptures as gifts. She had a collection of sculptures from him that showcased the entirety of the U.A. Hero Teachers and she had it proudly displayed in her house's living room.

Kan was also hanging banners but on the opposite side of Yamada, while Snipe - not a single teacher knew the man's name, other than Nezu - was busy setting up the cake. Who knew the cowboy could bake a mean chocolate cake.

Kurose was still in the ER, along with Aizawa who had it even more badly than what happened to the space-themed hero. She didn't know how or why, but apparently, broken bones, decaying skin and flesh, as well as ruptured organs were somehow worse than literal disintegration.

Quirks are bullshit. She had to give her thanks to the knight - that wasn't a villain as was concluded by the authorities, just a misguided vigilante - for stabilizing them with the glowing rock.

She was also confused on that part, but she just chalked it up to quirks and their bullshittery. Just look at Ishiyama! He's a literal moving block of cement! Granted, he is a human, just with cement skin, cement flesh, cement muscles, you get the idea.

While all that was happening, Nemuri was also busy making sure the food was presentable. They didn't know whether the knight was a foodie or whatnot, but overkill was better than under. At least the soup kitchen not far from here will be eating like kings if they didn't finish all of the food.

Can't waste good meals, after all.

As the silent preparation continued, the door opened and caught everyone's attention. Kayama's heart nearly stopped when she thought that the knight had arrived early, but thankfully, it was just Ectoplasm - in the same vein with Snipe, nobody really knew his name other than Nezu - dragging along Inui who had dropped the muzzle for the party.

"We're not late?" Ectoplasm's voice warbled across the room.

"Nope, almost done setting all of this up." Nemuri smiled as she made the finished touches of the displayed food. Plates were all stacked up on one side with the utensils lying cleanly next to them. "There, how about on your end, Yamada?"

"Yowww! Done and done!" The DJ hero was as excitable as always. Kan, meanwhile, was just glad that he was done hanging the banners. "Where's our special guest at? Rat still giving him the tour?"

The grin on his face was infectious, something that she appreciated even back in the day when they were still students.

"Grrr… I smell him down the hall… Can't mistake the scent of rusting metal…" Inui closed the door and took a seat. "Ugh… I can even smell the blood from here… No offense, Kan."

"None taken." The blood themed hero just grunted as he took a seat as well, his crimson costume contrasting the white-colored sofas.

"An all-too-common result of fighting against regenerators." Ishiyama sighed as he sat upon another sofa as well.

"Remind me to let him know to clean his armor." Nemuri cringed. She knew how strong Inui's sense of smell is, making it a bit of a downer on the therapy dog in human form. Yes, she considers Inui a therapy dog, otherwise, why would he be the guidance counselor of the entire school where heroes were being trained?

A hero and trauma go hand in hand, after all.

The sound of metallic footsteps echoed from beyond the door, and Nemuri was quick to plaster on a smile. A knock on the door, followed by the twisting knob sent her excitement to new heights.

And when it opened?

"Welcome to U.A. High School!" The cast of teachers greeted with open arms, but Nemuri saw something else.

She saw a young man who looked so goddamn delicious!

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