A Tarnished Hero

Chapter 19: First Day

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.