Chapter 18: The Embers of One For All
As everyone went outside, Izana was alone in the medical room. Suddenly, he woke up.
Izana: "What happened?"
He remembered the fight between him and Ken.
Izana: "Ah, the fight but..."
He recalled how he transformed and lost control during combat training, but then Toshinori came and handled everything.
Izana: "Toshinori, my brother, he was here... Was that my dormant quirk?"
???: "More like power."
Izana looked around.
Izana: "Who are you? Show yourself!"
Suddenly, a mixture of black and white symbiotic creature started emerging from his shoulder, showing its venomous face.
Raven: "Nice to meet you, Izana. I'm your dormant power. You can call me Raven."
Izana looked at the creature in disbelief.
Izana: "You look like Venom from the Spider-Man series."
Raven: "I don't have such weaknesses like sound or fire, and I don't eat humans, you know."
Izana: "But who are you?"
Raven: "I'm the power created by your dad's quirk. I was born with you."
Izana was surprised upon hearing this.
Izana: "If you are the power that was created by my father's quirk, then why did you only choose me and not any of my siblings?"
Raven: "When you three were inside your mother's womb, I tried to share my powers equally among you. But there was a risk that by distributing myself into three, I could perish. At that time, I saw Izumi already had a powerful quirk, which left you and Toshinori. If I split my powers in half, there was still a high chance I could survive."
Izana took a brief moment, tears welling up in his eyes.
Izana: "Then why did you only choose me and not my brother? You know how much he went through. If you were here before, I could have saved all three of them!"
Raven looked at him with a sad expression.
Raven: "Your brother Toshinori was rejecting me. He wanted you to have my powers."
Izana was shocked and asked.
Izana: "What do you mean?"
Raven: "Your body wasn't strong enough to survive, so to save you, Toshinori rejected me. I had to go inside you, which made your body stronger and healthier."
Izana teared up at this revelation.
Izana: "I can't believe Toshinori saved me unconditionally when we were in our mother's womb, and he had to endure everything until I awakened you."
Raven: "I know I'm late, but we still have a chance. If we work together, you and I, two souls in one body, we can save them."
Raven looked at Izana with intense eyes.
Raven: "What's your choice, Izana? If we work together, our full potential can be on par with them, and we can be unstoppable."
Izana, overwhelmed with emotion, clenched his fists and looked at the symbiotic entity with determination.
Izana: "I want to honor Toshinori's sacrifice. I want to use this power to protect those I care about and make things right. If working with you can help me achieve that, then I'm in."
Raven's expression shifted to one of approval.
Raven: "Then let's forge ahead together. With our combined strength, we'll be unstoppable."
Izana nodded, ready to embrace his new destiny and the power that came with it.
In the coffee shop, Ellen and her friends discussed the aftermath of Izana's transformation and battle.
Ellen: "It was strange how Izana transformed into a humanoid monster, and both he and Ken nearly destroyed the entire Fake City."
Kaori: "Yeah, it was like watching two monsters in a showdown."
Shinwa, feeling a pang of jealousy from Ken's words about the bite, spoke up.
Shinwa: "It's not just about what he said. When he mentioned it being better than any bite from women, it really got to me."
Ellen, with a teasing tone, replied.
Ellen: "Oh, someone's a little jealous, huh?"
Shinwa: "Well, what do you expect? The person I care about has had relationships with others, even if he lost his memories. He still belongs to me."
Shinwa turned to Kaori and Ellen, posing a question.
Shinwa: "Kaori, how would you feel if Shoya had relationships like that? And Ellen, even though Toshinori has lost his memories, you can't deny he might have had relationships before."
Kaori and Ellen exchanged glances, their expressions revealing a touch of jealousy.
Kaori: "I guess it would sting a bit if Shoya had relationships like that, especially since we're so close."
Ellen: "Yeah, it's hard to ignore the possibility that Toshinori might have had relationships before, even if he doesn't remember me. It's a strange feeling."
The three friends shared a moment of introspection, each dealing with their own mix of jealousy and unresolved feelings.
Kaori looked at Ellen and asked, "When will your twin sister Eva will be joining UA?"
Ellen sighed and replied, "She's still planning on it. There are a few things she needs to sort out before she can join us here."
Kaori nodded, understanding that Eva's arrival was still uncertain. "I hope she joins soon. It would be great to have her here with us."
Ellen smiled faintly, "Yeah, it would be nice. I just hope she finds the right time and circumstances to make it happen."