A Tarnished Hero

Izuku opened his eyes, a yawn escaping his lips as he slowly got out of his bed. He looked at the piece of comfortable furniture and snorted. It's been a full week since he's been returned back to Japan with still no way back to the Lands Between. Even prompting with Sir Gideon the All Knowing, apparently that knowledge didn't apply to otherworldly traveling.

At least it was good for a short laugh to see the old man so stumped on a subject that he nearly blew a gasket at trying to prod him for details, but knowing the man, he'd be able to find a solution to bring him back to the Lands Between. His pride won't allow it, and he knew he was useful.

After all, he was able to fell Godrick the Grafted when innumerable Tarnished in the past failed to do so, their corpses grafted upon the scions as a reminder of their failure. His Great Rune was still with him, further boosting his capabilities to superhuman heights. It was why he was able to fight All Might to a standstill. A weaker version of All Might, but All Might nonetheless.

His gut told him that if he fought All Might at his peak, he would need another Great Rune to beat him, and Godrick's wasn't enough. He was the weakest of the demigods, and that showed with how most of the sane people he met sneered at the grafted man with disdain.

Anyway, enough reminiscing about the past, today was the day he would start teaching the students as an assistant instructor. Well, assistant instructor by name, but Izuku was pretty sure he would be handling the whole class while All Might watches from a safe distance because of his time limit. It wasn't logical to spend those precious three hours teaching students when a crisis could pop up at any time, and keeping an eye on a proxy while in his deflated form so he could part with words of wisdom was more convenient for the man.

Nezu really did think of everything, didn't he?

Stepping into the shower, Izuku undressed and let the water cascaded down his body. No matter how many times he does this, he won't ever get bored of this. The day he returns to the Lands Between would be one he dreaded, just because of the loss of access to baths and showers.

He hated feeling filthy, damn it.

Done with bathing, Izuku made his way to the kitchen to make himself a meal. Seeing that there was little time to prepare, since teachers were required to clock in an hour early, he made do with just sandwiches. He'd had worse, and frankly, he missed eating delicious food that was totally unhealthy for the body. Sucks to be them then, since he was sure he'd die from a blade first before any disease got him. That's even factoring that the Great Rune within him isn't purging those viruses out of his system every second of the day.

Being powerful is fun.

After a full course meal of about eight sandwiches - he liked eating them, sue him - he grabbed his things tucked in the corner of the room and headed out. The items he brought were fairly obvious to the naked eye, one such thing being All Strike, his trusty zweihander, and the bottomless box which housed the entirety of his gear and many more extras.

Can't have too many kukris, after all.

Calling Torrent with a whistle, the spectral steed whinnied and rubbed his head against Izuku's side. Chuckling, he stroked through the horned horse's mane while simultaneously rummaging through his bottomless box to get Torrent's favorite snack, rowa raisins or its sweeter version.

The damned horse was a very picky eater, so he had to sift through all of the fruits he came across and only took the succulent and juicy of raisins. Only the best for his number one companion, other than Melina, of course. She'd give him the stink-eye if she ever heard him say that Torrent was the best.

His hand felt the raisins within the box and gingerly offered them to the whinnying horned horse. His hooves stomped on the ground as he happily munched the raisins on Izuku's hand.

"Good boy." Torrent neighed once more as he finished his snack. "Anyway, mind getting me to the main building? Nezu is probably waiting for me."

Torrent looked at Izuku as if really had to ask just to ride him. He swaggered and showed him his side, head tilting as if to gesture to get on. Smiling, Izuku clambered upon his spectral steed and the two of them rode for the campus building.

And if they got some weird stares from the early goers? Not really a problem, seeing that he is under Nezu's protection… Well, at least until he fucks up monumentally that the rat has no other choice than to arrest him, but that wasn't a problem.

He may be a veteran killer of all sizes, from tiny rabbits to giant dragons, but he needed his downtime like any other mortal being. U.A. High School was just the place for that, until Sir Gideon can find a way to portal him back to the Lands Between where he'll be back to exploring the vast continent and unearthing its secrets.

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"Ah, you're just in time." Nezu clapped as he spotted Izuku riding on Torrent, the diminutive rat perched atop a bandaged man's shoulder. Squinting his eyes, Izuku realized that this was the black-clad man that nearly got an audience with death during the USJ invasion. "The meeting is about to start, and we were just waiting for you. Come, come. No time to dally."

The black-clad man, now revealed to be Aizawa, headed inside with Nezu hitching a ride. Izuku followed suit while simultaneously saying goodbye to Torrent, at least until he calls for him again. The spectral steed neighed for a bit before vanishing into blue motes of light.

Izuku followed the two down the hallways, saying hello to every student who were loitering around because they were early. He could see the curiosity bubbling amongst the teenagers, their gazes glued on the giant sword he had strapped to his back.

He wasn't fully armored, opting to wear a dress-shirt with a vest, necktie, and black slacks coupled with leather shoes to complete the ensemble of an instructor. It wasn't his cup of tea, but the other option was to wear his suit of armor which was a pain to put on and wear for the entire day without feeling like a walking sauna.

It didn't take long for the three to reach a room on the first floor where the rest of the instructors, the ones with valid Hero licenses that is, were waiting. He spotted new faces among them, one with short navy-blue hair and blonde colored hair at the top. She was wearing a puffy space suit with the helmet neatly set on the giant round table. And another one that was shirtless and wearing an excavator's claw over his head.

Izuku blinked. Well, round tables are fairly common in meetings just so each and every participant could see each other properly, but he couldn't help but draw comparisons to the Roundtable Hold.

"Ah, Thirteen. Glad to see you healthy. I assume you're back to full health?" Nezu chirped and the space-suit hero smiled with a wave.

"Recovery Girl did her best." Thirteen patted the helmet on the table, but Izuku could see the slight tremble her hand did. "So, who's this?"

"Eraserhead's, and by extension, your savior." All Might, still in his deflated form, mentioned from a seat, eyes sunken with his hand tracing a cup of coffee on the table. Thirteen gasped and she zeroed in on Izuku's form before she stood up and approached. Once close enough, she bowed near perpendicular to the ground.

"I thank you for saving our lives. Truly, from the bottom of my heart." The short woman - for Izuku at least, he was a giant now because of the empowerment by runes - stayed still like that for a few seconds and Izuku looked around the table for anybody trying to stop what she was doing.

They didn't and he saw no help from them, so this was all him. Sighing mentally, Izuku patted the woman's shoulder and opened his mouth.

"No thanks needed. What kind of person would I be if I ignored a cry for help." A tiny smile spread across his lips. Veteran killer or not, he would always stay true to his roots. Saving people wasn't wrong. Even if there were mishaps sometimes…

He looked at Eraserhead and saw him closing his eyes, a brief nod sent his way. The silence was enough to convey his gratitude, whether it be for himself, or for the students who nearly got the short end of the stick during that invasion.

"Well, as much as I would like to thank Midoriya here as well, there is much to be done. Thirteen, Midoriya, please take your seats." Thirteen stood straight, but she managed to give Izuku a small smile before she headed back to her seat. Izuku shrugged and took his own, just right next to All Might of all people.

There was still bitter resentment deep within his heart for the man. It was hard to let go of the hate that festered within when you knew that the man beside him could've saved him from the harsh fate that befell him if he just manned up. But that was the past, and All Might was clearly guilty of it, if the self-hate wasn't evident from the way he shrank away from him.

Oh well, water under the bridge. He will never earn his forgiveness until the day he dies, but he won't do anything about it unless he makes the same mistake as he did with him.

"All right, so, first order of business, I would like to introduce to you our newest assistant instructor, Midoriya Izuku." Nezu gesture for him to stand and Izuku sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.

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Well, he didn't think he would be put to work on the first day classes resumed, but he was dealing with the rat. Who knows what went into that mind of his. Yes, Izuku learned what the rat's quirk was and frankly, it terrified him.

Just imagining the rat managing to get his paws on a Great Rune was pure nightmare fuel. But that was on the realm of impossibility, so long as he remained here and wasn't guided by the influence of the Greater Will.

"So, Eraserhead, what're we doing?" He looked at the bandaged man that made him look like a mummy with a side glance. He was curled up in his yellow sleeping bag with closed eyes, kind of like he was trying to catch some z'. Izuku didn't blame him.

"I will be taking a rest, otherwise Recovery Girl would make my life harder, and you will be teaching the brats combat." Eraserhead groaned as he flipped around in his sleeping bag, probably trying to find a good sleeping position. Izuku should know, he tried that so many times when roughing it out in the wilderness. "Vlad King and I came upon an agreement and slotted both class 1-A and 1-B to take your instructions. Don't disappoint."

Izuku shrugged. Well, they wanted him to teach their brats, he'll teach them alright. He wondered how'd they take to being introduced to another weapon he'd been stashing inside his bottomless box.

It wasn't anything good, unrefined as it was. But it was probably good as practice weapons for his teachings. After all, what better way to teach someone than by experience?

Grabbing his bottomless box, he rummaged through it and tried to think of the thing he would be using to traumati… teach the students one of the fundamentals of fighting. And it was none other than his old trusty buckler that somehow managed to deflect - if timed properly - giant weapons that could've turned him into paste a dozen times over… Okay, he did get turned into paste, but he got better! Damned Crucible Knights.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the brats to arrive… Where the hell are they?

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A/N: Bruh, was a bit scared that one of my toes was going to get an ingrown, so off I went to get a pedicure. Good news, the pain on said toe is gone. Bad news, another toe got an infection cuz of the pedicure and now hurts like a bitch. For fuck's sake...

Shameless Plugs:

patreon.com/IAmGuavaFruitFictionHub (If you want to read 10 chaps ahead, head on over.)

discord.gg/v9f5kjsfVv (This time palworld got me addicted. Who doesn't like forcing animals to do your biddings :D)