For the rest of the day, Izuku didn't see or hear the Herrscher. She had vanished without a trace, as if she was just a bad dream, or perhaps a living nightmare. He was relieved for the most part, but he still felt a weight on his mind. The heavy atmosphere she had left did not disappear with her and he was worried she'd return. It still felt like she was here somehow, but that couldn't be true. Right?
No matter, he and his mom went about their day, doing chores and cleaning around the apartment, seeing as they had time. Glancing out the windows every now and then Izuku could feel a pit form in his stomach as he saw the destruction the Herrscher had left in her wake.
She was still out there. That much was true, but that didn't mean Izuku would just accept she was a part of him, that was ridiculous after all. Why would such a powerful being want him? He was quirkless, he was positive if she needed a host, she could find loads of other people, maybe even villains with potentially destructive quirks to aid her. It just didn't seem to make sense to him.
Thus, the only thing he could properly rationalize was that she was gaslighting him. She was a sadist who saw it funny to mock and tease him. He couldn't do anything to her, that much he knew, he wasn't a threat that needed to be stomped. So perhaps she just takes his misery as entertainment. Well, now that she was gone, he wouldn't let her get to him. She'd probably be who knows where and forgot about him soon anyway. Such was his own unremarkable existence.
Eventually, the sun began to set as the day ended. Izuku and his mom prepared dinner and were now enjoying it at the table.
"How's dinner?" Inko questioned as she watched, her son take another mouthful of food.
"It's delicious," Izuku answered in between bites. "You really outdid yourself this time."
"I'm glad you like it." Inko smiled. Izuku had been silent the whole day, not that she blamed him, after what he's been through but still, she knew he needed time to himself. Still, numerous thoughts lingered in her mind about what had happened to her baby.
"Mom…is everything alright?" Izuku questioned noticing her sombre look.
"Oh, it's nothing, dear, just thinking." Inko dismissed.
"Mom," Izuku repeated. "Is something wrong?" He asked.
Inko sighed. She knew she probably had to talk about this sooner or later. "I was just wondering…. that's all."
"About what?" Izuku inquired.
"Izuku do you hate me?" Inko worriedly asked.
"What?" Izuku said in surprise. The Herrscher's words echoed in his mind as he tried to make sense of it. "Mom, what are you talking about? What makes you think I hate you? When did I ever say that?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it like that." Inko corrected. "Ever since you met All Might, you were quiet, and then well…" She had slapped him for being reckless. He had finally gotten to meet his hero, but he had also gotten his dreams crushed by said hero. Rather than console him she had slapped him.
"No. You had every right to be mad." Izuku assured her. "It was stupid and dangerous, and I shouldn't have done it."
"Still." Inko trailed off.
"Mom…you have done everything for me," Izuku told her. "Probably more than I ever will know. You loved me so much, and you always supported me." He recounted as he walked over to his mom's side. "I could never hate you, I would never hate you," Izuku told her as he hugged her.
Tears welled up in both of their eyes, before erupting like geysers. The mother and son didn't care, they just took the time to hug and reassure each other. Izuku had spent so many hours watching videos and reading about heroes, but truth be told, his mom still did more for him than any of them. A fact he had so grossly ignored till the Herrscher put it into perspective for him.
He may not have powers, but he had his mother, who loved and supported him, and he was grateful for that.
Later that night, Izuku wished his mother good night before heading to bed himself. Today had been rather stressful. His encounter with the Herrscher this morning was rather frightful but thankfully it had come to pass. She was gone now, and he was alone with his own thoughts. He was also feeling much lighter after he spoke with his mom. It was nice.
Readying himself to sleep, Izuku put on a white vest and a pair of black shorts and headed to bed. He and his mom would be busy tomorrow and the next few days. Izuku much like a few other students would need to search for a new school to attend. There was no way his old middle school was going to be repaired in time and rather than go through cumbersome online classes, Izuku had told his mother about transferring.
It may have also been in part due to the guilt he felt with freeing the Herrscher. He couldn't dare dream about facing his peers and teachers, knowing he was the one responsible for all that. He wasn't even sure how he'd even face Bakugo.
"Stop thinking these thoughts." He told himself. It was time for bed. He'd go to sleep, get some rest, and then tomorrow was a new day, yeah, a new day. So off to bed, he went.
Izuku fell asleep not long after he hit the mattress. Then in a few minutes, he began to dream. Simple dreams, he had managed to become a hero despite all odds, and he had even impressed All Might. It was peaceful.
Meanwhile, as Izuku dreamt, his body began to stir. Shifting under the sheets, Izuku's hair began to grow, changing from black and green to a snowy white. His body was soon engulfed in energy as his form began to change, growing, stretching, reshaping itself into something else, someone else. When the energy faded the Herrscher opened her Golden eyes as she awoke.
Shigaraki pressed rewind once more on the video player. The young villain was currently relaxing on his couch with nothing more than a bowl of popcorn and some soda, he was all settled to watch his new favorite video. He had aptly called it All Might's most painful facial expressions.
"I must say, this Herrscher girl isn't a bad player." Shigaraki mused as he watched the fight over. Sure, she didn't get the goal, but she certainly got closer than anyone else he knew. "How interested do you think, she would be in joining our party?" He questioned as he took another mouthful of popcorn.
"Hard to say, the first issue is finding her," Kurogiri answered. "There have been no sightings of her since that fight. Judging from her abilities it seems she can teleport so there is no telling where she could be, if she is even in the city to begin with." He noted.
"Hmph, seems like she went premium. You need to step up your game Kurogiri." Shigaraki retorted. "You have similar powers, yet hers work so much better." He marveled as he watched his favorite part of the clip.
All Might smashes himself. The Symbol of Peace had gone for one of his stupidly named, smashes and the result was hilarious. His fist went into one portal and ended up punching himself in the stomach through another. It was the coolest thing Shigaraki had ever seen. The look of pain on All Might's face was priceless, oh how he wished Master could see this.
Speaking of Master….
"Has Master given any comment on this?" Shigaraki questioned. With such a powerful player, it was natural for AFO to take interest. If anything, Shigaraki expected him to be involved somehow, maybe he had given her the extra power. Then again that didn't make sense, Tomura was his apprentice after all.
"All for One has clarified that the Herrscher isn't his doing," Kurogiri added. "She's an entirely separate entity that neither he nor the Doctor has been involved in. As such he is advising you to be very careful in how you'd consider approaching her. I believe he might consider it a worthwhile challenge for you to recruit her." The warp gate user explained.
"Sounds easy enough." Shigaraki hummed. "I can't see any reason why she'd decline."
"May I remind you of the last time you tried to recruit villains?" Kurogiri asked.
"They had it coming." Shigaraki defended. "Those insects had no respect, so I taught them some."
"You decayed them to dust."
"And they were very respectful before they were completely dusted," Shigaraki noted.
Kurogiri just sighed. His charge still had a long way to go. He only hoped Shigaraki's advances on the girl would work far better than it did on the others. Then again, there was a very real possibility the Herrscher might just try to kill him on spot. Maybe Kurogiri should buy Shigaraki some books on how to impress the other sex. He certainly had doubted his charge had experience in that area.
"Still too weak." The Herrscher grimaced as she glanced down at her hands. She wiggled her fingers back and forth as she examined her new body. It took quite a bit of power to change her host completely but in her mind, it was worth it. She was not about to walk this world in such a weak human male's body.
She was grateful though. It was almost ironic, Izuku had been so adamant at first about not letting her take over, yet he underestimated if she was even there to begin with. He wrote her actions off as just a lie meant to scare him and let his guard and she took over even easier now.
She could still feel him though. It was a heaviness in her mind. His presence, his consciousness and subconsciousness were still with her, only sleeping, relaxing in the land of dreams. She knew better than to risk waking him though, let him sleep for now.
Removing the covers, she got out of Izuku's bed. It had almost caught her of guard how cold the floor had been beneath her bare feet. She hadn't reformed her outfit, not really seeing the need. In her current state, it was best to conserve as her strength till it was needed.
Standing up, she walked over to the nearest mirror she could find and examined herself properly. She had gotten all the details from her old body for the most part. She had transformed Izuku into an almost perfect replica of K-423, with long white hair, slender but toned limbs, a well-developed figure, and flawless skin. If you looked at them you'd never expect Izuku and her to be the same person, except for the clothes, though she had certainly stretched his vest a bit. There was only one small problem.
"It's still can't handle it." She frowned. Just because she could make the physical form identical, she couldn't exactly do the same for Izuku's Honkai adaptability. As it stood, if she tried to rampage like she did earlier, heck if she tried to cause another eruption, she'd burn out her vessel.
She grits her teeth in annoyance as she clenches her fist. She was half tempted to strike the mirror but restrained herself. It would do her no good to get angry now. This body was weak, it was pathetic, it couldn't handle her power. She had overestimated it yesterday. She had only realized it too late when she had started feeling sick during her fight with the Blonde Buffoon. The worst part of all….it was the only choice she had.
She looked around Izuku's room, taking note of all the posters he had. It was akin to a shrine, though instead of a God, he worshipped heroes. She could see why; this world was different. It was littered with 'quirks', superpowers almost every human seemed to have. Every human except Izuku.
Logically it should have meant she would have had an easier time finding a good host. Just look for a strong quirked human and take their body. It sounded easy enough…except she couldn't. For whatever reason, any human with a quirk who touched her core, died. She wasn't even actively killing them either. So, with no other options she was now stuck with Izuku Midoriya as her host, loathe as she would to admit it. Even worse, she couldn't just kill him like she could have done with Kiana, less she ran the risk of permanently ruining their body due to its low resistance.
All in all, she was stuck. Her host was too weak to let her use her full power and she was not confident enough in her knowledge to immediately resume her plans for destruction. She had lost far too many times from being overconfident and underestimating her opponents. Siegfied, Himeko, and Kiana, had been proof that she wasn't infallible.
GRRRRR!
The Herrscher frowned once more as she placed a hand on her stomach. She needed some more sustenance. She left Izuku's room and made her way to the kitchen. She recalled exactly where she had seen the Midoriya keep their food and began to prepare the only meal she knew, cup ramen.
After taking out the cup and putting on the kettle to boil, the Herrscher found herself exploring the rest of the apartment. She took note of the family picture on one of the tables. It should be a nice small family, Izuku, with his mom and his father.
She didn't recall seeing hearing mention of a dad, eh, he was probably deceased or gone from their lives, so she didn't bother to much on it. Instead, her eyes focused on Inko, her host's mother, and the only major obstacle she had really to taking over Izuku.
Inko from what the Herrscher had gathered was Izuku's rock. She was his mental foundation, the only seemingly positive influence in his life. She'd be the one who needed to go if Izuku was to fall to her. She'd be the one who needs
Walking back to the kitchen, the Herrscher found a knife on the counter. A lance may have been a better choice, but it was still a waste of power if Inko was a weak human. The Herrscher made her way to Inko's room with the knife in hand.
Opening the door ever so slightly, the Herrscher's shadow was cast over Inko's as she approached her. The Herrscher took note of Inko's sleeping figure, her back facing the Herrscher. It would be so easy right now, to simply impale her. One strike and it would be over. Inko would be removed from the picture…just like Himeko.
Just like Himeko….
The Herrscher froze.
Just like Himeko…
The Herrscher swore under her breath, quickly covering her mouth when she realized the mistake she made. Inko's body shifted, and the Herrscher immediately hid the knife. When Inko turned around she was surprised at what she found.
"What are you doing here, Izuku?" Inko questioned as she rubbed her eyes.
'Izuku' chuckled nervously as he scratched behind his head. "Sorry mom, I was having a midnight snack and then I heard a noise, so I came to check on you. Sorry for waking you up." 'Izuku' apologized.
"That's quite alright dear," Inko said as she went back to bed. "Just make sure you clean up when you're done." She yawned as she huddled back up into bed.
"Alright, mom." 'Izuku' answered as he turned and headed out the door.
"I love you, sweetie," Inko called out as she fell asleep.
'Izuku' froze by the door when 'he' heard the words. Turning 'his' head back, 'he' noticed how 'his' mom had already closed her eyes. "Yeah…I love you too mom." 'Izuku' answered as he left the room and quietly shut the door. They didn't see it, but Inko smiled when she heard those words.
Once outside, the Herrscher rubbed her temples as she grimaced at her lapse in judgment. Killing Inko would have been the worst move she could have made. Last time she killed one of her host's loved ones, which only motivated them to rebel more and made them more troublesome to deal with. The Herrscher wasn't going to risk it this time.
She returned the knife to its place before heading back to her noodles. She really needed to slow down and properly assess her situation. She had almost been too hasty back then and would have made another major mistake had she not caught herself. She couldn't afford to be so careless.
Izuku's mind had gently stirred when Inko had spoken to her. The Herrscher didn't like that. It meant his subconscious was still active. When she had awakened for yesterday, she had forced him into sleep, but she still felt him. It was like a ball on a chain for her. She had tried to indulge herself and slaughter humans but any conscious act to do so was hidden. She really had to push for it, to overwhelm his 'heroic' drive and even then that backfired on her.
"Blasted Heroes." She swore. First, it had to be her that foolish Kiana, getting help from the darn bird to suppress her, now it was this quirkless brat. It seems she was fated to always get stuck with naïve heroes, who just couldn't see the ugly truth.
"What to do…. what to do…" The Herrscher mused as she munched on her noodles. This world was getting more and more frustrating, still she knew she needed to figure out some way to handle it. She had failed to destroy humanity before, she wasn't going to fail again.
She mulled it over and in the end, she could only think of one long-term solution.
Just wait Izuku out.
It wasn't her most flashy of ideas. It was certainly going to be the one with the least bloodshed possible and be the longest and potentially most boring plan, but it could work. All she had to do was wait for Izuku to snap, wait for him to have a bad day and just guide him along the right path and snuff out what remaining light he had.
Izuku was already discriminated by so many people for his status. He was regularly abused by his peers. He could not stand injustice. He was frequently a target for bullying, insults, and scorn. He was soft, he had no confidence in himself, try as he might. By all accounts, he would be easy to break.
After all, how firm could his will possibly be? Izuku Midoriya's 'heroic' resolve couldn't be that strong, right?