Izuku's POV:
I could feel the slight, nearly unnoticeable twitch of my fingers, my remaining eye moving around underneath my eyelid.
I couldn't see anything, and I could feel a small piece of strange fabric stuck on my face, covering the eye I had lost. I uncomfortably turned my head to the side, eyelids heavy with exhaustion and pain.
Pain that stretched out across my head, akin to a migraine.
It was more of an uncomfortable type of pain rather than a writhing pain, but still, it was still overwhelming, mainly because of my exhaustion.
I slowly flickered my right eye open, only to instantly shut it again, wincing in pain at the bright lights around me. I shook my head, migraine only worsening due to the light, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
I let out a low shaky breath, pushing myself up a bit with my trembling arms, only to feel several light tugs at different areas on my arms. I attempted to open my right eye once again, this time ignoring the bright lights as well as the pain caused by it, only squinting a little.
I pushed myself up once again, leaning against the back of the bed, gripping the bed sheets slightly as I stared at the thin white medical tubes that were connected to my arms. I blinked a couple of times, looking across the room.
"I'm in the Butterfly Mansion," I observed, raising a hand and placing it up against my forehead.
White bandages wrapped around both of my arms, as well as around my forehead, stretching downwards slightly to cover up whatever was left of my other eye.
Some of the bandages were stained a light red, but most were untouched by my blood.
Once again, I blinked a few more times, trying my hardest to remember. Remember what had happened to get me so injured.
It didn't take long.
A wave of memories and emotions washed over me at once. It wasn't enough to fully fight back against my exhaustion, but it did manage to make me a bit more aware of my surroundings, reducing my exhaustion slightly.
My mouth was dry, and I felt lighter than I should've. I was likely being fed and hydrated through tubes, but I hadn't truly eaten or drank anything for who knows how long.
I let out a soft, shaky breath, looking around some more, noticing that I was the only person in the room. No one else, not even other injured demon slayers were resting on the other beds in the room.
It was just me.
Alone.
It offered me a bit of time and silence to think.
"He's dead..." I muttered to myself, an intense feeling of realization hitting me that had failed to do so when I actually managed to kill him.
"He's dead," I said aloud again, smiling softly. "Gone."
"I won."
I pushed the blanket off of myself, for the first time noticing the hospital garments I was wearing, slowly pushing myself up to sit upright, rising onto my knees, placing my hands onto my lap.
The small tubes still tugged on my arms, a dull pain present throughout my body.
It wasn't unbearable, just a bit frustrating.
"How long has it been?" I thought to myself, shifting a bit in my position. "It feels like it's been forever since I've seen light."
Creak
I perked up at the sound, looking over to the door of the room that creaked open.
"How bad were the injuries?" A familiar female voice asked.
"Pretty bad, I don't think he'll be waking up any time so—"
I grinned a bit at their surprise, both Ume and Rui staring at me in shock, completely frozen in place.
"Uh, hi," I greeted, waving at them awkwardly.
"Guess I was wrong..." Rui muttered underneath his breath, approaching me.
"I-I'll go inform the others," Ume said, quickly leaving the room.
"Are you alright?" Rui asked, a slight face of worry.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... still a bit tired is all," I responded softly, shifting a bit.
I looked up at him. "Are you okay? The kasugai scrows said that you were fighting a lot of scale demons," I said with a bit of concern, completely forgetting about my own condition for a moment or two.
He smiled for a second, only for it to disappear just as fast.
"I'm fine, Midoriya. You shouldn't be worrying about anyone else right now, especially not me. You had horrible injuries, if the kakushi hadn't gotten to you in time, you would've died at the end of the battle," Rui responded, a bit of disdain noticeable in his voice as he emphasized the final word in his statement. It was less of a battle and more like a war. Hundreds of thousands of scale demons against both heroes and demon slayers.
Before I could say anything else, Rui spoke up again, this time with another question.
"How long have you been awake for?" He asked.
I shrugged. "A few minutes, I think."
He nodded in understanding as one of the assistant doctors of the Butterfly Mansion walked in along with Ume.
The assistant doctor didn't waste any time, brushing past Rui and checking up on me swiftly yet expertly and cautiously.
She seemed eager to be as quick as possible, and it didn't take a scientist to figure out why.
"How many other people are recovering?" I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly as she was checking up on me and my remaining injuries and pain.
She stopped for a moment, with Ume speaking up before she could.
"Hundreds. We had to move many of them to other locations we own. All are incredibly injured and..."
Before she could finish, I had already made up my mind.
"I'm fine," I said quickly, shifting away from the assistant doctor.
"Midoriya-"
"No."
"We don't have many doctors, let alone healers here. If there's that many, then they should be of greater concern," I reasoned, looking over at them. "So don't worry about me. I feel fine, I promise."
This time, I meant it. I was overall pretty fine compared to whatever injuries the other demon slayers must have. I may have fought a stronger opponent, but they fought against more, with less skill and power to do so.
They needed medical attention far more than me, especially since I naturally recover faster than most.
Rui only shook his head, Ume sighing.
The assistant doctor hesitated for a moment, only to nod her head in agreement and acceptance. "If you say so."
And with that, she left without another word, going on to help other slayers who were likely on death's door.
"You're far too kind," Rui sighed, shaking his head from side to side.
"I guess," I responded simply, working to detach the thin white tubes from my arms, carefully cutting off the flow of whatever medicine was being pumped into my veins. It was likely some type of pain killer, which wasn't something I needed any more of, at least for now.
"Uh-, are you sure you should be doing that?" Ume asked, face twisting into one of concern.
"Don't worry," I said, detaching the final thin white tube, slowly repositioning myself so that my legs hung on the edge of the bed. "Most of my major injuries were already healed. I should be fine."
My eyes widened in remembrance for a moment or two.
"Wait, how long has it been? How's Doctor-San doing?" I questioned quickly and frantically, fully ready to run out of the room to visit her, make sure she was okay after healing me.
However, before either Rui or Ume could answer or reassure me or tell me to calm down or anything, a new voice spoke up for them.
"The Doctor is fine, young one," Kagaya-Sama said, practically fading into existence behind both Rui and Ume, startling them both. "I see you've waken up."
I pushed myself off of the bed, quickly stepping onto the floor, bowing before the Master of the DS Corps, Rui and Ume quickly doing the same. "Master."
"Ah, there is no need for that, my children," he spoke, both calm and reassuring in his words.
I rose once again to full height, Rui and Ume hesitating for an extra second before doing the same.
"Rui, Ume, I would like to speak with Izuku alone for a bit, if you two would allow me."
Rui nodded. "Of course, Master. Take as much time as you need."
Master smiled in response, watching as the two demon slayers left the room, closing the door behind them, leaving me alone with the head of the DS Corps.
I wasn't sure what to say or do, as a certain level of seriousness washed over Kagaya-Sama's face. It was only for a split second, vanishing just as fast as it appeared, replaced by the normal calm and serene smile that everyone has come to expect from him.
I sat back down on the bed, feeling a strange sense of deja vu from the last time we talked in this very same room.
"I see you're feeling well," he said, calmly.
I only nodded in response, mind still focused on Doctor and everyone else that could be dying all because of my father.
"As I said before, the Doctor is doing well. She's currently in a coma, however, she's set to wake up in a few days. This was mostly due to a strange form of exhaustion her body underwent during the battle," Master explained.
I let out a relieved sigh, but part of me was still worried. "She... she helped to heal some of my major injuries. She did it all at once, so her quirk must've been overworked."
Master nodded. "I see."
I raised a hand up to the cloth covering up the left side of my face. "Couldn't heal everything, though," I muttered.
I turned my head, looking up at him. "What's Tokyo like?" I asked.
He let out a low sigh, raising his head, looking up at the ceiling for a long couple of seconds before finally speaking once again.
"The damage is... immense. Even after you managed to kill Dragon, the remaining scale demons still worked to destroy and kill as much as they could for a few minutes before they finally faded away," he explained, seriousness and sorrow in his voice as he did so.
I shrunk back in on myself a bit, having completely forgotten about those stupid scale demons that wreaked havoc onto Tokyo.
If I had jus—
No.
It wasn't my fault. It wasn't anyone's fault aside from father. He managed to do so much in a single night, ruin so many people's lives.
"Our presence has been revealed to the world. While the ordinary citizen doesn't know what we are or what we do, everyone now knows that we exist. We couldn't prevent ourselves from getting caught on camera, and we couldn't stay in the shadows this time."
I frowned slightly, shifting a bit as I began to take in what he had just told me. I hadn't thought about that being a probability since I wasn't focusing on that. I was more concerned with saving whoever I could and killing as many scale demons as I could, which I can imagine was a similar mindset between the other demon slayers.
"How many did we lose? How long has it been?" I asked worriedly.
Kagaya-Sama didn't hesitate to inform me of the amount of people we likely had to bury. The amount of demon slayers who lost their lives that day.
"Unfortunately, over half of our Japanese forces died during the battle. It's now July 8th, so you've been in a coma for a week or so," he responded.
"Over half..." I repeated to myself, whispering.
"What about Genki? Is he still alive?"
At this, the Master's smile grew, chuckling softly to himself before answering.
"Yes, he is. In fact, he's better than he's ever been. His words," he replied, turning his head to look directly at me.
I tilted my head to the side in confusion. That didn't sound right to me, unless something happened recently that made him feel that way. Maybe he had fun fighting someone? Or maybe-
I shook my head, stopping myself from falling into a rabbit hole of different possibilities. After all, you can never be too sure of what's going through Genki's mind at any time.
"What do you mean?" I questioned. Maybe he wasn't as injured as the others, like Rui and Ume.
"He's been promoted after defeating Lower 3 on his own," Master responded.
I froze for a second, eye widening in shock as I finally realized what he meant, finally realized what Genki had done.
"You mean..."
Before I could finish, Master confirmed it all with a simple statement.
"Indeed. Genki-San is officially our newest Hashira."
I obviously couldn't see myself, but I was pretty sure my eyes were sparkling with excitement and pride for my friend. He had always said that he would become a Hashira, and he managed to do it! Why wouldn't I be happy for him?
"Wait, was he already introduced to the other Hashiras? I need to congratulate him."
Kagaya-Sama chuckled at my words, ruffling my hair.
"You'll get your chance later. However, you should know that there is someone else you should be congratulating," he said, vaguely.
I frowned slightly. "Someone else? Is it someone else I know?"
He nodded. "Yes, you know him quite well."
"Really? Who?"
Kagaya-Sama met my gaze, lavender eyes meeting emerald green one.
He raised his pointer finger, gently poking me on the chest, which only acted to confuse me even more, gaze narrowing as I lowered my head slightly.
"You."
I froze once again, expression blank as I stared up incredulously at the man.
"What?"
He only shook his head, chuckling good-naturedly to himself, as if expecting this from me. To be fair, he probably did.
"Izuku, you are now the DS Corps' newest and youngest Hashira, both of today and in history," he spoke, placing a hand on my shoulder. "The Hashira are currently all in Japan due to what had occurred in Tokyo. They are all aware of what you did. You managed to defeat Lower 1, meaning that every single lower moon have all been annihilated. Not even Tanjiro Kamado can replace them so quickly. We won't have to deal with them for a long while."
"But... I thought nine Hashira was the limit?" I said, phrasing it as an unsure question with a slight tilt of my head. "With me, there'll be ten."
Master nodded. "Under normal circumstances, that would be the case. However, after all that has happened, and after all you've been through to finally defeat your father, it wouldn't be logical to deny you a spot, especially since both you and Genki met the requirements to become a Hashira on the exact same day."
He let go of my shoulder, rising up to his feet, which clued me to do the same.
As I did so, my brain seemed to finally understand the nature of the news, as excitement began to well up inside of me.
Part of me still didn't believe it. Part of me thought it was all some sort of a joke or prank. But, those thoughts were immediately waved off by the excitement and honor I felt to be granted this position.
"There is much to talk about, many things I'll have to discuss with the Hashira as a whole. But that'll come later."
"Follow me if you are certain you can walk properly. We'll go get you something to eat and drink."
I let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Thank God. I feel like I'm gonna pass out."
<•------------•>
I tugged softly at my right sleeve, eyes glued onto the newly golden buttons that ran down my kimono. I adjusted the kitsune mask that hung on the side of my head, pressing against my messy green hair.
It was a bit nerve-wracking, standing in front of all the Hashira, half of them I haven't personally met before.
How could I not be at least a little nervous?
I let out a low, shaky breath, trying my best to stand still, seeming as small as I possibly could.
"My children, I am glad to see you all are in good health, after working hard to secure everyone's safety and well-being in Tokyo."
He turned his head in my direction, gesturing a hand over to me.
"Today, I'm happy to introduce our newest Hashira, Izuku Midoriya, the Omni-Hashira, into our ranks.
All eyes were on me, each of the Hashira down on one knee before the Master.
"H-hello," I greeted, awkwardly waving at them, as a bead of sweat ran down my forehead.
Agatsuma-San and Genki both had smiles on their faces while Hashibira-San gave me a small nod of approval.
Gyutaro-San let out a barely noticeable huff, and I couldn't tell if it was out of indifference or not. Knowing him, it probably was.
The rest of the Hashira either had looks of doubt or otherwise unreadable expressions on their faces.
"God, I feel so out of place here..." I thought to myself.
"This little shrimp? A Hashira? He doesn't look like much," a deep voice stated without any hesitation.
It didn't bother me much. I expected some sort of pushback, but I still didn't appreciate being called a 'little shrimp'.
I stilled my gaze on the man who had first spoken up, body towering over everyone else's even while kneeling before Kagaya-Sama.
He had large, silver gauntlets connected to his fists, the glint of the sunlight bouncing off of them as if they were mirrors. His hair was similarly silver in color, short and spiky, eyes a plain black as he met my gaze.
"Are we sure he can handle such a responsibility?"
"Hm. You saw what he did that day, Takeshi," Hashibira said, turning his head towards the giant of a man.
"Wait... Takeshi...? Wouldn't that mean that he's—"
"I wasn't talking to you," Takeshi spat, eyes narrowed as his attention turned to Hashibira. "Sure, he managed to defeat that Lower 1 demon, but Master said that it was caused by that mark. How do we know he can replicate that same strength when the time comes?"
"The fact that he managed to defeat Dragon at all is enough to qualify him for this position," Hashibira argued, eyes narrowing slightly. "It may take a while for him to get to our level of strength but I'm confident he is quite qualified."
"Come on," Takeshi said, rolling his eyes. "He doesn't look a day after ten."
I swallowed deeply, taking a single step back, slightly closer to Kagaya-Sama, sensing some sort of deep-rooted tension between the two Hashira.
Something was about to happen, and it wasn't going to be anything good.
Well, something would've happened.
"That's enough," a low, calm yet assertive and dark voice spoke up, catching everyone's attention, including the Master's who looked like he was about to step in himself if it weren't for whoever this was.
Even Takeshi clamped his mouth shut, face twisting into one of recognition, as if he knew it'd be best to listen to the voice's demand.
My gaze fell on the person, hair a pure vantablack, eyes covered with a black blindfold, expression stilled and unchanging. His haori was slightly ragged and torn and grey in color, kimono a plain black, a strangely shaped weapon just barely visible on his back. He raised his head up a bit, gaze landing on both Takeshi and Hashibira.
It was strange. I hadn't even noticed his presence before he spoke up.
"I believe we should trust the Master's judgement. I see both sides of the argument. The boy's considerably young, however, it's clear that this fact doesn't impede with his skill or strength."
"Besides... with the state Japan is in, we could use the addition."
Takeshi huffed, not saying anything else in response.
"Thank you, Gushiken-San," Kagaya-Sama said, clasping his hands together as he looked out on all of the Hashira present.
"So that's his name," I thought to myself. "He seems—"
"I understand that several of you may be opposed to this, but I ask that you trust me. I'm certain he'll show everyone here how strong he can become," Kagaya-sama continued, averting his gaze towards me for a split second.
"I have no doubt in my mind that every single one of you, together, make up the greatest batch of Hashira this world has seen since the Taisho period. I believe that this generation will be the one to dispose of the demons for good."
<•------------•>
Kagaya's POV:
With a soft smile on my face, I solemnly looked out across at the eight Hashira present, the ninth unable to make it. My gaze eventually fell on Izuku, the Omni Hashira, the one who would end it all.
I nodded to myself. "Yes."
"Thank you. All of you."
"We'll discuss our plan of action tomorrow. For now, I believe it would be best for you all to interact with one another. After all, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand'."
My gaze met Gushiken's, him giving me a slow, understanding nod, being the only one other than Yushiro who knew what was inevitably going to happen today.
<•------------•>
Author's Note: 3 chapters left.