ShuraZero
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Chapter 47: A Monster’s Vacation
🕑 Added 2025-09-28 18:30:18 +0000 UTCThe Midoriya apartment buzzed with an energy uncommon for a morning off. The aroma of breakfast mixed with the excited chatter of the team as they planned their day of rest before the final week of intensive training for the festival.
"Toru and I are going to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall!" Ochako announced, waving a flyer with sale listings. "There's a new limited-edition line of hero gear, and I need new boots! Mine are completely wrecked!"
"I, for my part, will be going to the city's central library," Momo said, with her usual elegance, as she sipped her tea. "I need to consult some texts on advanced metallurgy. I have a new equipment design in mind and I want to ensure its structural integrity."
"Such a party pooper, Momo!" Toru complained, though her tone was joking. "You should come try on dresses with us!"
"My idea of fun includes acquiring knowledge that could save our lives. But I appreciate the offer," Momo replied with a small smile.
The three girls launched into a friendly debate on the merits of fashion versus functionality. Izuku watched them, amused. His gaze, however, drifted to the fourth girl at the table.
Himiko Toga said nothing. She was just sitting there, stirring her coffee with a straw, a strange habit she had picked up. A forced smile was plastered on her lips, but it didn't reach her golden eyes, which seemed to be fixed on an invisible point on the wall. Izuku recognized that look: it was the same one a caged animal gets when it sees others running free.
"And you, Toga-chan? Any exciting plans?" Ochako asked, turning toward her.
Toga seemed to snap out of her trance. Her smile widened, becoming bright and fake.
"Of course! An amazing day!" she exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. "I'll probably stay here and… count the cracks in the ceiling. It's a fascinating hobby. I've heard crack number seven looks like a bunny if you look at it sideways. I can't wait!"
The silence that followed her comment was brief but thick. Ochako and Toru shared an uncomfortable glance. Momo's brow furrowed slightly with empathy. They all understood the raw reality beneath the joke: Toga was a fugitive. The mall, the library, even a simple walk in the park, were luxuries she couldn't afford.
Izuku felt a pang in his chest. While his friends were planning their normal teenage days, Toga was trapped, her world reduced to the four walls of the apartment.
An hour later, the apartment's entryway was a chaos of shoes, bags, and goodbyes.
"We're heading out then!" Toru announced, one foot already out the door.
"Have fun!" Inko called back from the kitchen.
Ochako turned to Izuku, who was leaning against the wall, watching the scene in silence.
"You're not coming, Deku-kun? We could get ice cream after shopping. My invitation still stands."
Izuku gave her a calm but firm smile.
"No, I think I'll stay. Training doesn't take a day off, you know?" he said, his tone casual, while his eyes discreetly searched for Toga, who was still in the living room, pretending to watch TV. "Toga and I have to work on her fine control. It's a crucial part of our team strategy for the festival. We can't afford a full day off."
The training excuse was solid and perfectly plausible. But in the way he said it, in the look he shared with Momo for a split second, everyone in the room understood the truth. He was staying for her. So she wouldn't be alone.
Toga, from the couch, turned her head slowly. Her eyes went wide, fixed on Izuku. The surprise on her face was so pure and so obvious that for a moment she forgot to feign disinterest. An emotion she couldn't identify—a mix of gratitude, confusion, and a strange warmth—stirred in her chest.
"Oh. Well, okay," Ochako said, a little disappointed but understanding. "Work hard! See you tonight!"
"Goodbye, Izuku-kun, Toga-chan," Momo said, giving Izuku a small, meaningful nod.
The door closed, and silence descended upon the apartment. It was no longer an uncomfortable silence, but one filled with a new weight. Izuku turned and met Toga's fixed stare.
"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "I guess it's time to train."
She didn't answer. She just kept looking at him, as if she were seeing him for the first time.
"Alright. Forget about a full transformation. That requires too much energy and a biological catalyst we don't have," Izuku explained. They were in the living room, which was now serving as an impromptu dojo. "I've been researching a technique from Toru's training manual. It talks about 'Conscious Reactivation': using the Quirk's sensory memory to activate it subtly."
He showed Toga a photo from the U.A. yearbook on his phone. It was a picture of Momo.
"Focus on something small," he instructed. "I want you to try and replicate just the color of her eyes. Not the shape, not the face, not the hair. Just the change from your golden eyes to her gray ones."
Toga studied the photo, her expression turning serious. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Izuku could see the muscles in her face tense with concentration. She stayed like that for almost a minute. When she finally opened her eyes, they were still the same shade of gold as always.
"Argh! I can't do it!" she exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and starting to pace. Frustration vibrated in her every move. "My power has always needed a catalyst, a drink to get it started! It's like trying to start a car without gas! There's no spark!"
She gently kicked a cushion, a gesture of childish helplessness.
"Everyone is out there, having fun, and I'm stuck here, unable to do even this!"
"The gas is there," Izuku said calmly, unfazed by her outburst. "Your Quirk is in you. You just don't know how to turn the key without flooding the engine. You need to feel the flow of energy in a controlled way. You need… a little jump-start."
Toga stopped in her tracks. She turned slowly toward him, and the frustration on her face was replaced by a slow, predatory smile.
"Oh. Really?"
The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant, shifting from training frustration to a charged, playful tension.
"Is the famous coach's technical support making a house call?" Toga purred, sitting back down on the sofa. She crossed her legs and patted the cushion beside her, a clear invitation. "Tell me, Izuku-kun, what part of my 'power source' needs to be 'analyzed' today?"
Izuku felt the familiar heat rise up his neck, but he forced himself to stand firm. He sat next to her, maintaining a careful distance.
"This is serious, Toga."
"Of course it's serious! It's science!" she retorted, leaning toward him, her face inches from his. "The most fun science in the world."
When he raised his hand, she was faster. She took his wrist with surprising gentleness and guided his hand to her own chest, right over her heart. The fabric of her shirt was thin, and Izuku could feel the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat beneath his palm.
"More carefully this time, Izuku-kun," she whispered, her warm breath brushing against his ear. "You wouldn't want to break anything. And if you don't do it right, I'll think you don't actually like me."
It was a threat, a joke, and a challenge, all in one. Izuku swallowed hard, feeling the chaotic, vibrant pulse of her Quirk under his hand, an energy that felt like sparks and the metallic sweetness of blood. He let his own power flow, not like a wave, but like a thin, precise thread, searching for her 'switch'.
"Now try," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Toga closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Izuku felt, through his hand, the exact moment her Quirk responded to his, latching on like two pieces of a puzzle.
When she opened her eyes, they were no longer golden. Two pools of a serene, stormy gray stared back at him. She had replicated Momo's eyes. She tilted her head and, in the elegant and precise voice of Yaoyorozu herself, said:
"Interface analysis complete. System activated."
The effect was so perfect it gave Izuku goosebumps.
It only lasted about five seconds. Then, Toga's eyes flickered and returned to their original golden color. She brought a hand to her face, as if she could touch the change that had just occurred.
"I… I did it," she murmured, astonished at her own success. She turned to look at Izuku, a genuine joy illuminating her face. "I did it! I really could…!"
But the euphoria vanished as quickly as it had come. The smile faded from her face, replaced by the stark reality of her situation. She fell back against the sofa, her gaze lost.
"It's great… I guess," she said, her voice losing all its brightness. "Now I can have Yaoyorozu's eyes while I stare at these four walls. Maybe tomorrow I can practice having her nose and smell the mall from here."
The sarcasm was tinged with a pain so real it was like a punch to the gut for Izuku. She looked at him, and the entire playful, predatory facade had crumbled. All that was left was a trapped teenager with a heartbreaking longing in her eyes.
"I really wanted to go, Izuku-kun," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I really wanted to see the festival. Not on a screen. I wanted to be there."
He saw her like that, so vulnerable and so broken, and he felt something inside him give way. All the logic, all the risk analysis, the caution… it all shattered in the face of the simple, pure misery of the girl he had promised to protect. He fought with himself for a moment, a battle lost before it even began.
Finally, he sighed, a sound of complete and utter defeat. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.
"Alright," he said, his voice sounding tired. "Alright, you win."
Toga looked at him, not understanding. "What?"
"I'll get it," he affirmed, looking her directly in the eye, sealing his reckless promise. "I'll get someone's blood. I'll find you a face, and you can go. We'll go together."
Toga's brain seemed to need a second to process his words. Her eyes flew wide open in pure disbelief. And then, the explosion happened.
"REALLY!?"
"Yes, but you'll have to—"
He couldn't finish the sentence. With a cry that was a mix of a shriek and a laugh, Toga launched herself at him, tackling him against the back of the sofa. Her face lit up with a joy so radiant and manic it left him breathless.
"YES! YES! YES!" she chanted, and began to kiss him.
It was a chaotic, jubilant assault. Her lips crashed against his cheek, his forehead, his nose, his chin, over and over—quick, clumsy kisses filled with an electric energy. Izuku was so stunned he could barely process it.
"I knew it! I knew it!" she exclaimed between kisses. "I knew you were the best, Izuku-kun! The best hero of all!"
Finally, in the midst of her frenzy, her lips found his. It was a different kiss from the others—not a simple brush, but a deep, exultant, and possessive one. A kiss that was a reward, a seal, and a celebration.
When she pulled away, she left him breathless, his face covered in lipstick marks and his heart hammering a mile a minute. She looked down at him, her eyes shining with tears of happiness, her smile bigger and more genuine than he had ever seen it.
"We're going to the festival!" she whispered, as if it were the most wonderful secret in the world.
Izuku, trapped beneath her weight and her euphoria, could only smile. He had made an incredibly risky decision. But seeing her this happy… somehow, it felt worth it.
