Chapter Text
Chapter 4: A Lua e o Girassol
Inko blinked herself awake, feeling lightheaded. "W-what? Where am…?" She looked around, seeing that she was sitting on the living room armchair.
"Whoa there! Easy." Izuku was instantly by her side, impeding Inko from getting up and probably kissing the floor. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I just had the weirdest dream. You and Ranni went on a date, and you came back with a little girl. Then you called a bunch of official-looking men to our house, and you decided to adopt the girl." Inko chuckled and shook her head, finding it funny how bizarre it sounded when spoken out loud. Then she looked at Izuku and saw his deadpan expression.
"That's exactly what happened." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the couch where Ranni was sitting in a gorgeous new yukata, while a little girl with white hair and red eyes, wearing some of Izuku's old clothes, was basically glued to her side. The woman's expression was a porcelain mask that revealed nothing, but the fact that she let the girl hold her spoke a lot.
"Oh, I'm really a grandma now." And just like that, Inko passed out. Again.
"That's the third time." Ranni's drawn-out tone showed she was not amused. She had great respect for her Starlight's mother for raising him on her own, but the woman's propensity to faint was vexing and concerning. That could not be healthy, and coming from Ranni, that meant much.
"Don't worry, two or three more times and she'll get it out of her system. At least we got Yagi and his friends out before we broke the news to her." Izuku almost felt bad for kicking them out, but he doubted they would want to deal with his mother getting so overemotional that she shut down…repeatedly. At least there were no tears yet, so no flood damage to the rug. Silver linings. "And how is our little ward holding up?" He asked casually while helping his mom get more comfortable.
Having attention brought to her made Eri flinch before freezing, holding as still as a statue. Ranni turned her eyes down to her, examining the girl and once again complaining in her mind that she was not properly capacitated to care for a child. "Do you need anything?" Ranni asked calmly, but all she got was a pair of wide red eyes turned to her. The silence stretched for far too long, enough to clue Ranni that she did something wrong, though what it could be completely escaped her.
Seeing that, Izuku sighed and slowly approached, kneeling before Eri and giving the girl a smile, "Hey, no need to worry, you're safe here, remember? Are you hungry?" Izuku did not for a moment believe that those Yakuza had Eri's welfare in mind, so he avoided thinking about when and what the girl last ate to not get angry with a bunch of idiots he already beat and made sure were getting arrested. Probably. Hopefully. In the worst case, Izuku could always finish the job.
Eri seemed to relax with Izuku's words. She hesitated for another moment before opening her mouth to answer, but her stomach decided to answer for her with a loud growl. That made Izuku grin, Ranni to give the girl an unseen sharp look at the breach of decorum, and Inko to instantly rise from her slumber.
"Someone's hungry? Oh, what? Ah, yes. It was real." The Midoriya matriarch just shook her head and got up. "Don't worry, sweety, I'm gonna whip something up for you in a second." Without delay, Inko went to the kitchen, sheer maternal concern overpowering any lethargy from her multiple bouts of unconsciousness.
Izuku watched her go with a smile, glad his mother was still the same. Discretely, he moved to sit beside Ranni and pulled his wife into an exaggerated hug, "Don't look at her like that." He whispered in her ear. "She's already overwhelmed enough. One thing at a time." While she glared at him for a brief moment, Ranni was quick to school her face into an impassive mask. Oh, that was how she wanted to play? "Hey Eri, hugging Ranni is really nice, right? I feel a lot better when I do it. Want to do it too?"
The little girl looked at him with bright eyes, then turned to Ranni, remembering how she kept Eri safe from the bird man. She slowly leaned over and circled her arms around the woman like Izuku was doing, her body seeking comfort and overriding her shyness.
There, trapped between the two, Ranni could only silently promise revenge on that dogged miscreant who promoted such a situation. Turning a piercing glare at him only made her Starlight's grin widen. With an internal huff, Ranni used her right set of arms to pull and adjust Eri so the girl was more comfortable against her side, "Don't teach her your indiscretions. Child, don't repeat the uncouth behavior you see this dogged fellow committing."
That single head tilt of utter confusion Eri gave, not even understanding what most of those words meant, pushed Izuku over the edge. He started to laugh, and he had absolutely no desire to stop. His Moonlight shot him another adorable glare, and Izuku was simply wheezing by the end of it. "I can't, you're both too cute, I just can't- hahaha!"
Overwhelmed with the urge, Ranni pinched Izuku's side. It was like pinching a castle wall. The taut skin over steel-like muscles made her act as effective as a mosquito bite, but it still was a failure of her composure that only served to annoy Ranni further. "You're incorrigible."
"You love me anyway." Izuku's bright smile could melt even Ranni's frigid heart, and she knew it. "But okay, I'll stop teasing you." The knowing look he gave the woman's arms and how they held Eri betrayed his words.
Deciding to change the subject before she did something she would regret, the Lunar Princess asked her Starlight, "Was your display of might satisfactory? I noticed you seemed bothered, and by more than the lackluster opposition you faced."
That instantly made Izuku's face crumble into an annoyed pout, something that bothered Ranni while appearing particularly adorable in a way she could not fully understand. The Elden Lord once more summoned his Dragon Communion Seal to hand, glaring at the mote of red as if it had betrayed him. "I lost all my Dragon Communion Incantations. This thing is now worse than the other seals I didn't choose to use objectively in all aspects. And I lost my go-to Incantations too. Urgh."
While deciding to leave, examining her strange feelings for another time, Ranni only smiled an unfriendly smile, "That's to prove that Sorcery is the superior form of magic." Her distaste for Incantations in all their forms might be biased, but she had the right to her opinions.
Izuku only rolled his eyes at his Moonlight's clearly skewed views, "Well, I don't have a catalyst for Sorcery, so that's a moot point…" He trailed off, a spark of brilliance combining with the idea he had at the beach earlier lighting up in his mind.
Ranni had a front row seat to her Starlight's brain starting to turn its gears. His eyes fluttered from side to side, seeing something only he could, another impossible flash of inspiration born from simple and almost unconnected fragments of consciousness that would probably become another matter of legend…or would simply give Ranni a headache. Most probably both. Why such a notion left her with butterflies in her stomach was a mystery to her. With his idea consolidated, her Starlight turned to Ranni and smirked.
Oh no.
"Say, my Moonlight, love of my life, reason of my being." Izuku laid it thick, being absolutely sincere while at the same time making it clear he was exaggerating to almost comical proportions. "You are a Goddess."
"Yes?"
"Sacred Seals are made of a symbolic manifestation of a higher being's logic, such as a Goddess."
Ranni did not like where that was going. "Yes."
Izuku knew exactly what he was doing and how close he was to ground zero, and he still went and did it anyway: "So I could, theoretically, make a new Sacred Seal based on you."
The sheer amount of self-control the Carian Princess had to employ to not strangle her Starlight right then and there was monumental. "No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes!" Before she could deny again, Izuku stole a kiss that silenced her. "Ha, I win!" He ducked away before Ranni could grab him, understanding the danger he was now in. "I'm gonna grab some spare paper and start sketching it, love you, bye!" Izuku dashed to their room before ice could start flying.
Ranni had to hold her breath, count to ten, and slowly exhale to remain calm. The woman glanced down, and the child, still holding onto her, was watching it all with bright eyes but a neutral face. "Child, do not be swayed by that deviant's lack of basic manners. And no matter what, do not repeat it."
Eri once more eyed Ranni with that confused little tilt of the head, "What does that mean?"
"Which part?"
"...All of it."
The witch used one of her free hands to press the bridge of her nose. "We will need to educate you, as is expected of Carian Princesses."
"Princess?" The girl's eyes seemed to spark again, but her face remained flat, concerningly so.
Even Ranni could see something was wrong, but she was not equipped to deal with it. She would later seek counsel from her Starlight, but for now, "Yes, child. I hail from the long-standing and noble House Caria, descending from a long lineage of queens…" The memory of her own mother, sitting in an empty study, waiting for her, quickly flitted through her mind before Ranni could stop the thought. "I am a princess of House Caria first and foremost, which also makes you one." If her Starlight's hairbrained plan was to succeed, then Eri would need to be raised in the ways of her noble house and the grand academy.
"I'm a princess now? With a dress and a crown?" Eri remembered a book; she didn't know how to read it, but she remembered the pictures. The princess had a beautiful dress and a little crown…and she was happy. Could Eri be happy now?
As the little hands tightened on her sides, Ranni could easily see it was not the simple material luxury that enticed the girl. Ranni was a master manipulator, for good or ill, and a child could not deceive her. "We will see. My, now ours, noble house is in a land very far, one that we will not return to until the far future. For now, focus on learning what is expected of you." While her words were stern, Eri only nodded quietly. And for some inexplicable reason, that bothered Ranni.
"Who's hungry?" Inko, bless her heart, chose that moment to walk back from the kitchen with multiple bowls full of still steaming food, the mere fragrance enough to warm the heart and soul. This time, two stomachs growled loudly, revealing Izuku had also returned from his strategic retreat. Ranni chose to focus her annoyed glare at him, but that only made him smile, the cretin.
The night of their first date ended with no more exciting surprises, thankfully.
—
Izuku slowly blinked his eyes open, his too light, too aware sleep fading away like a faint mist. It was still night, still too late or too early to be awake in that peaceful routine they now had, but that didn't stop him. Green eyes tallied every single feature of the environment of their room in a second, searching for threats he didn't find, which finally let Izuku relax again. That done, he brought his eyes back to the sight before him, and a smile broke free without him even noticing.
Ranni, out of her new yukata and now in a simple white nightgown, lay beside him, two pairs of arms reaching over his side and pulling Izuku closer. Her face, so beautiful, so calm, wasn't that porcelain mask that only Izuku managed to crack, but that mesmerizing softness that showed his Moonlight's tenderness. One that she herself didn't know she had. She was half buried in the comforter while still trying to get as close as possible to Izuku, seeking warmth in her sleep, the only time she could be honest with herself.
The only "obstacle" in her pursuit was the bundle between them. Eri, still clinging to Ranni with one arm and her narwhal plushy with the other, softly breathed in a heavy sleep that betrayed how exhausted the girl was. The funniest part was that there, squished by them, Eri stayed glued to Ranni until the cold became too much. Then she scooted back, back flush with Izuku's chest so she could warm up, before braving his Moonlight's chilled embrace again.
It was adorable. Both how the girl fluttered around her tiny "prison" after the comfort each of them could provide, and how the Goddess held Eri so protectively. Izuku spent a lot longer than he probably should just watching them, his heart filled with a calm joy seeing them both being honest and unburdened, and dare he say even lazy in their slow and subtle movements. Izuku had been afraid that Eri would have had nightmares throughout the night, but the girl was so relaxed she looked more like jelly between them, and knowing his presence contributed to that, even if a small part, made it all worth it.
Maybe it wasn't how things normally went, and everything was still shaky, but Izuku once more caught himself glad things had followed the course they did. If fighting for a bit of love and a bit of warmth was what it took to have that, that moment right there where his heart was full and his soul clear, then he would fight a million times harder.
Izuku would not get any more sleep that night, instead watching over Ranni and Eri until the sun came out and the day started, and he would not regret it one bit.
—
"Done." Tsukauchi sighed, leaning over his desk and holding his head, both eyes fixed on the public records he just adulterated. "I feel dirty."
Torino huffed disdainfully, "Remember that little girl, and how terrified she was of breathing too loudly, and see if you still feel the same."
He did not, and that was a whole other can of worms. "Fine, we have that covered for now. What do we do about the other elephant in the room?" Tsukauchi directed the question to Toshinori, who was still looking downcast.
The hero looked up, tried to maintain eye contact, failed, and let his head drop again, "I don't know." Toshinori rubbed his face hard, trying to make his chaotic mind refocus through sheer will. "I don't think we even can do anything now. We have no leads, no plan, and nothing we can act on. Whatever trail we could have followed went cold years ago because I was too scared of following a damn gurney to the incinerator."
Words could not express how much Toshinori had been kicking himself over it, or how annoyed Gran was hearing it. "Oh, shut your trap, brat! We messed up, now it's time to put on your big boy pants and fix your mess like an adult, not brood like a teenager." Gran Torino was too old for that shit. "Here's what's gonna happen. Super cop here is going to poke around his contacts, and I'll collect some favors I hoped to die before collecting, and we will figure out where All For One has Houdini-ed himself to." And the bastard better get ready to have whatever was left of his teeth kicked in. "You, and you better listen well, you are gonna get that kid ready to fill your shoes."
If nothing else, then that prospect, of his successor having to deal with even more of Toshinori's problems, made him sober up. "No. I'm not having young Midoriya fighting my battles."
"Brat, this is now his battle too." And admitting it left a sour taste in Gran's mouth, but he was, unfortunately, used to it. "So be sure that whatever tomfoolery your brat learned in his own parallel universe trip is enough to knock some heads when things get ugly. Because believe me, they will." They always did.
—
Izuku had a pretty good day.
Something was catastrophically wrong, and it started with that sentence. Izuku did not have good days. Still, someway, somehow, he did.
Morning started slow and calm, with both his Moonlight and his mother helping Eri get situated while Izuku left for school. School was a strange blur where time flew by and somehow dragged on, but the general consensus was to leave Izuku alone. Small mercies. The last bell sounded, and the boy was now making his way home with the strange notion that something should have gone wrong by now. It definitely should; Izuku was certain of that, but there was no sign of the other shoe falling.
That was…concerning. Oh well, it would happen when it happened, and Izuku would have to clean the mess anyway.
Climbing the stairs of his building, Izuku opened the door to his apartment and called, "I'm home!"
Silence.
Welp, it was nice while it lasted. Simultaneously, Izuku kicked off his shoes, lit up with the green cloak of energy born from his new quirk, and drew his sword. The Darkmoon Greatsword frosted his uniform sleeve, humming faintly with an inner power that somehow calmed Izuku's heart.
More silence, still air, no vibrations from the floor. Everything was too calm.
Izuku took three steps into his home, then stopped dead in his tracks. His mind was painfully blank for all of one moment before it lit up like a fireworks show. Carefully, he powered down and stored his weapon, not daring to make a single sound. Deadly afraid that the barest disturbance…would break the simply perfect scene before him.
Inko, Ranni, and Eri, in that order, sitting on the couch under a fluffy blanket, the three huddled together and sleeping peacefully.
Izuku did not know how that happened. He did not know what impossible chain of events led to that outcome. What he did know was that the three were absolutely precious and Izuku was taking pictures and trying his best not to have a heart attack, with mixed results. Employing movement techniques to mask his presence, Izuku moved like a ghost, entered his room, and then strangled a shout into a pillow.
Printing and framing at least one of those photos was now his most pressing and vital mission. He did not care what fate befell him after the fact; Izuku needed to have an image of the current three most important women of his life immortalized. Wait, was he acting like a dad? Was he overcompensating thanks to his hairbrained idea? Was that okay?
A quick look at the picture told him that yes, it was okay and he needed a good frame.
After running like a headless chicken for a minute, he managed to print the best photo and hang the frame on the wall by their cluttered desk. Ranni had the habit of piling her ever-growing to-read list for ease of access, and Izuku had a habit of getting sidetracked with multiple ideas and leaving the notes beside the tools to later remember what he was doing. Like the BBQ metal sticks he was sharpening to replace his usual trusty throwing knives. With all that crap on the desk, the best place for that glorious photography was on the wall, where it would always be in sight to bless his day.
"And what, pray tell, is that?" The frigid voice came from behind Izuku like an arctic breeze.
Izuku turned back with a brilliant smile, "In my defense…"
Ranni waited, raising an immaculate eyebrow, "Well?"
The boy slumped, "I can't think of anything." He yelped as Ranni stepped right into his space. "I regret nothing!"
—
Eri fidgeted with her hands, looking over the frosted-over Izuku who appeared to be covered by a layer of fine ice and snow, and with a small voice asked, "Are you okay?"
Ice powder fell from his form when Izuku sat up from his slumped position over the dinner table. "I'm fine, I just like being dramatic when Ranni is mean." His Moonlight's harumph was somehow still more dignified than everything Izuku had ever done in his life. He winked at her, and the barest movement at the corner of her dark blue lips told Izuku he won that round.
"Aren't you cold?" Eri asked before the couple could start bickering again. "You're all…icy."
"Eh, I like it." Izuku truly did, and while he didn't have the power of dragons flowing inside him anymore to help his body endure the cold along the Great Rune of Endurance, he had One For All now. The quirk was a great way to keep his inner body temperature at a survivable level, not that Ranni's cold would ever hurt him. She loved him too much for that. "And what about you, feeling okay?"
The little girl kept fidgeting in place, only humming slightly as an answer. She was still so anxious about everything, and it was clear to everybody watching. Izuku traded a glance with Ranni, who was sitting beside him, and took the executive decision of doing something about it. Spiking the amount that One For All was running at him to a high enough percentage to evaporate the ice over him, Izuku patted his leg, "Hey Eri, do you want to see something cool?"
To Eri, the question was synonymous with wonderful things that made her chest light in a nice way she couldn't quite name. She walked closer, and Izuku picked her up and sat Eri on his lap while pulling his personal notebook. He quickly leafed through the pages until he found what he had been working on all day: a detailed, almost surreal emblem of a circular moon, with the inside hollow to indicate the dark side, while stars framed it as they do in the night sky. "Do you like it?"
She nodded with a hum, "It's pretty."
Izuku shot Ranni a grin, "She is."
Before the Goddess could decide if she should strangle him or deal with the strange sensation her Starlight's blatant affection caused her, Ranni took the drawing and observed it with a critical eye. The symbolism was on point, and the emblem worked as a stable matrix to actualize mystical arts. Not only that, but the careful linework of the embroidered drawing was very detailed and pleasing to the eye. "Acceptable."
"She likes it," Izuku whispered to Eri in a tone he knew Ranni could hear.
"I will give the matter some thought." The Goddess glanced at Izuku from the corner of her eyes. "Behave, and I might permit you to accomplish your newest feebleminded idea."
Oh, she was still mad at him. Fun. To be fair, Izuku did not have a good history of carefully considering the consequences of his choices. He could expertly craft a combat scenario in his mind and predict an enemy's actions in a way that almost seemed like he could see the future, but the moment someone needed to be saved was the moment that Izuku leaped headfirst into the deep end without a single kernel of hesitation. Which honestly, was basically the reason why they were married.
Izuku pulled Eri closer and put on his most innocent smile, which was enhanced by the girl's clueless look. Unfortunately, it had zero effect on Ranni. "I will study your proposal. In the meantime, make yourself useful." And just like that, she stood up and walked to their bedroom.
A slight tremor ran up Izuku's arm, not originating from him but from Eri. "Is she angry…?" The at me was left unsaid, and even then it remained loud in the silence.
"Of course not!" Izuku turned Eri so she was sitting sideways on his lap so he could look her in the eyes. "You did nothing wrong; it's just that Ranni is peeved at me, and she can hold a grudge." He didn't get fooled by how the night before went like usual. His Moonlight had felt slighted, and while she controlled herself with the usual tight grip that only Izuku somehow managed to slacken, that did not mean she was not annoyed at him. Not angry, not really, but Ranni had a way to be pointed with her silence. "But don't worry, I know how to make up for it."
"You do?" Eri didn't realize her hands clamped on Izuku's shirt as they did with Ranni's dress. That search for comfort, for safety, was something her body did without any conscious input from her mind. "C-can I help?"
"Sure, I know just what you can do to make it extra special." Izuku grinned, the easy, simple grin he learned to open when joining forces with another person for a common goal. A little piece of earnestness that no amount of weariness could smother out. "Now, let's go grab some crayons!"
—
Ranni carefully and expertly twisted a line of power into the shape her Starlight had envisioned. It was a simple matter for someone of her station and talent to directly command energy in its most primal form, to weave the very fabric of the universe to her designs, and with it bring forth what could be called miracles by the unelighted. And while Ranni was not and wished not to be familiar with the inner workings of Sacred Seals or whatever the depots that turned belief into indoctrination and shackles wished to call it, she had sat by her Starlight's side and listened as he broke them down to their smallest fragments so he could examine the inner workings of his arsenal.
That was how she knew, on a theoretical level, how faith could be turned into power.
Sorcery at the end of the day was a matter of intelligence, of comprehending how the universe functioned in a material and a mystical sense, and simulating cause and effect inside the mind in a way that could be supplanted into reality through a catalyst. Incantations, in turn, were a matter of charisma, not in the sense of social awareness or speech craft; instead, it was about force of personality.
It was about willing something with such vehemence that existence itself had no choice but to comply. It was stubbornness in its purest form, elevated to the very apex. It was believing in an entity, a creed, an oath, or simply in yourself with such an absolute conviction that causality had no option but to bow.
Oh, how Ranni hated the concept, hated the tyranny of it all, until she met him.
Midoriya Izuku was a tyrant, one that would march over worlds and Gods for his ideals, and would trample them all underfoot without faltering. That did not change that he was the single kindest man that Ranni had ever seen, even to his own detriment. Her Starlight unknowingly showed Ranni that tyranny and cruelty were not the same, and that what powered Incantations was not the pride and arrogance of those who thought themselves above, but instead the sheer unbreakable will of people who could gaze at the merciless truth of life and tell it no.
No more. To the cruelty. To the ploys. To the schemes made in dark nights with Black Blades. Who could resolve themselves to change injustice with their own hands because they could not, would not permit it to exist.
It made it all seem meaningless.
Until he extended his hand, offered an awkward and tired smile, and said it was never too late to fix what was broken. As if second chances were so simply offered, until they became so in the face of his conviction.
That was the cornerstone of his victory. While every single other desisted before the enormous task that was changing the world, and worse yet, the heart of men, Midoriya Izuku did no more than grit his teeth and march to the very top of that impossible mountain.
A boy too naive to know better. A warrior too willful to succumb. A tyrant too kind to accept the sacrifices needed to realize a vision.
And what did that make Ranni? A fool who destroyed her home and family to a goal she lost sight of among the ashes of her land.
And now here they were again, with Midoriya Izuku once more acting upon his nature and running forward with no regard for those in his wake. Helping every poor soul in his way as if he could shoulder the weight of the world, as if there was no misery his hands could not soothe and no evil his fist could not destroy. As if his mere presence could illuminate the abyss lurking inside the hearts of men and cower the horror that lurked amongst the stars, as he had already done before.
As if his love for Ranni could turn the cold, bitter, and cynical witch into a mother. As if she could care for a child in the same way that broke the Queen of the Full Moon when Ranni chose to condemn all that she knew and loved to fates even worse than death. As if her merciless and cowardly heart could have space for something so simple, so mundane, as family. As peace. As forgiveness.
What made Ranni worthy of such lofty aspirations?
The woman had not let her churning emotions appear in her face, and only when she was done did the faintest of trembles that Ranni quickly squashed, in turn turning to her work.
It was a marvel, built of her Starlight's creation and then twisted in the Goddess image. The glowing emblem floated, chilling the room and misting over the air around it, while casting the environment in a midnight blue color. The twisted lines of the moon's outer edge meant concealment, while the darkness within embodied mystery; that was what gave the crown of stars its sovereignty. And the constellation her Starlight clearly penned as protection, as if she was something precious and deserving of such. The most wretched truth was that at the end of the day, even while Ranni hid under indifference, annoyance, denial, and aloofness, she loved the seal and what it meant so dearly that her Authority as a Goddess needed little prompting to accommodate such a symbol as hers.
And now, there was yet another bridge to her that Izuku painstakingly built even while Ranni fought to isolate herself.
Ranni folded her hands over her lap, and for a long second she just stopped and let her inner turmoil settle. As a true lady of House Caria, not a single mote of distress broke through her control. She was in control.
Her hand trembled again-
The door slowly opened, revealing two green eyes speckled with gold. "You're still mad?" Izuku entered before she could answer. "Because you have every right to be."
"For the little that it changes." Cutting words that were once more plowed through without a flinch.
"Yeah, kinda late for regrets. But hey, it's not all that bad; it is a pretty nice photo." The simultaneously brilliant and stupid boy gestured to the frame over the desk as if it was the cause of Ranni's troubles. As if it was the reason for the feeling she portrayed as anger that still rolled under the surface of the frozen lake that was her face.
"This new art of photography still eludes me with its purpose."
"I just think it's nice to remember the moments that get a smile out of us." Izuku had an arm behind his back, now that Ranni had the presence of mind to notice, and he slowly brought forth a paper, a little larger than a page from his notebooks. "But if you don't like it, we could always put something more handmade over there too."
Her Starlight once more cracked the porcelain mask that was her self-control. Ranni gently reached forward and picked up the drawing, her two extra hands locked in place in a show of calm.
It was another one of Izuku's too vivid drawings; in it, an impossible dream. In soft and graceful lines, where Ranni in her white witch assembly, sitting on a flowery hill. At her side, Izuku, donning armor she vaguely remembered him using during his service in her name. Between them, in a princess's red dress, was Eri, somehow fitting perfectly between their drawn visages.
Behind them, looming over like the always reliable shadow, was a knight with a wolf's head. That was already enough to shake Ranni with an overwhelming wave of longing, but it was only the start. Behind the wolven guardian was the massive form of a troll, a helmet of glinting mirrors over his head.
Beside the group, looking over them with the love only a mother could have, were Inko, in a matriarch's dress colored an emerald green and vivid red, and Rennala. They would get along splendidly well, for both Izuku and Ranni's continuous embarrassment.
On the other side, of course, were Ranni's brothers.
Radhan, the mountain that he was, fitted in his golden armor and with his blazing red hair, and somehow her Starlight still managed to capture the soft eyes of the man who mastered gravity itself just so he could still ride his favorite horse.
Rikard, not the great serpent, but the regal man dressed in praetor garments, smiling not like a serpent but as the older brother who herded his siblings just enough so they would not get into any trouble he could not get them out of.
The picture itself already had too much emotion that Izuku had no possible form of experiencing himself, but what made it so much more. More than it could be alone. More than Ranni felt like she could take. More than something so simple should have realistically proportioned, was the coloring.
A child's coloring. Too bright, spilling out of place and smudging everything in a dream-like haze that was simply too perfect to truly exist.
"What do you say, is it good enough to frame?" Her Starlight had the audacity to open a shy smile, as if he did not know what he had just done.
"It is perfect."
Maybe it was foolish; even then, they could try approaching that impossible dream.
Ranni could try.
For him, and for herself.
Done. Still no Entrance Exams… Dammit.
Anyway, as you can see here, I'm using the open interpretation that From Software games give us room for to flesh out characters in ways I like to interpret them. If you don't like it, what the heck are you still doing here? 'Door's right there.
In the MHA front, I'm preparing the terrain to get progressively more silly later. Expect… Actually, better not try to understand this madness.
Anyway, that was that. Here are the good hearts that threw a coin to their author and are still supporting me. Applause for the great:
Sleppt, Guipa, SilverZero90, Godeater23, Thomas, Matthew Merrill, Veonix, and kennine.
My most heartfelt thanks to you all!
Also, join the Discord and become one of the idiots that keep making stuff like this thing happen (Remember to delete the spaces!)
discord . gg / stAGY4V