Chapter 66
[June 16th, 2149]
As it was Toru's birthday, conveniently falling on a Sunday, Izuku took her to a nice restaurant with the intent of going to a boardwalk carnival after. Instead, shortly after their meal, she pulled him into a love hotel, wringing him like a succubus for several hours before taking a hot bath together.
With Izuku washing her body and subsequently wiping her down, Toru had a content smile on her face as she soaked in the tub up to her chin, reclining against the former's body as she said, "I wish every day could be like this..." in a wistful tone.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't..." replied Izuku. He had come to terms with being the central figure in a harem, but he was always happiest when it was just him and one other girl. Fortunately, he had Momo to organize his schedule and keep him apprised of events like this, affording him at least 'some' quality time with each of his girls.
"Mmm...then, if you could go back in time, would you...?" questioned Toru, raising her face to meet Izuku's gaze.
Adopting a wry smile, Izuku replied, "I try my best not to look back on the past, but in this particular instance, I would at least consider it. Time, and knowledge of what's to come, are powerful tools. There are things I know I could have done better, but more than anything else, I wouldn't have to jeopardize everyone's happiness with my selfishness..."
Furrowing her brows slightly, Toru admitted, "That wasn't the answer I was looking for..." before sinking into the water up to her nose, blowing a few bubbles before emerging a few seconds later to append, "Not that I don't get where you're coming from. If I could rewind time to the day we went to the movies together, I'd do so in a heartbeat...I feel that if I had been more 'honest' with myself, we really might have been able to spend every day like this...together, just the two of us..."
Nodding his head, Izuku affirmed, "You're right. At that moment, I was prepared to give up everything to be with you. If I had, my relationship with the others would never have evolved beyond being friends. I would also be much closer with the boys in our class, potentially developing a kind of brotherhood with people like Kirishima, Ojiro, and Shoji..."
Curling up her legs, Toru hugged her knees tightly, a sullen look on her face as she muttered, "In other words, all of this is my fault...all I wanted to do was give the others a chance to be happy, but I ended up making everything a lot more complicated..."
Though he couldn't deny Toru's assertion, Izuku could spin things a bit, hugging her gently and kissing the top of her head before whispering, "If anything, you've inadvertently engineered a situation where everyone can be happy, even if that happiness is shared among a group. I doubt any of us truly regret this outcome...we just can't help being selfish and wanting more. In a way, that's the essence of burgeoning love; wanting to be with the person you care about as much as possible..."
"Yeah..." replied Toru, her voice faint as she, once again, imagined having Izuku all to herself. Even if she never became visible, she didn't think she would regret it in the slightest...
Feeling he had ruined the mood a bit, Izuku kissed the top of Toru's head a second time, whispering, "We might not be able to go back, but we can make the present and future incredible..."
Following his words, Izuku prepared to trace the line of Toru's pussy with his fingers, only to stop when a notification abruptly popped up in front of him, stating, 'It's not too late, you know?'
("What the-")
...
..
.
Before Izuku could finish exclaiming internally, he experienced something akin to whiplash, like he was bungee jumping with a rope around his waist as he was dragged through an ocean of color and sound.
"Oof...!"
Slamming into a glossy, pitch-black ground with tremendous force, Izuku struggled to rise as pain radiated through his body. At the very least, he thought he was in pain until a familiar, profound, and incredibly feminine voice remarked, "You have no nerves with which to feel pain. Raise your head and stand tall, David Declan Griffith. Or perhaps you would prefer to be called Izuku Midoriya now...?"
Feeling the pain in his body disappear, Izuku pushed himself to his feet, or, more accurately, what approximated his feet as he was currently an amorphous mass of hazy, rainbow-hued energy.
Raising his head quite a bit, Izuku found himself staring up at a massive woman with tantalizing, reddish-brown skin, the most 'perfect' body the human mind could conceive, messy white hair that cascaded to the back of her thighs, and pale blue, nearly white eyes. She was beautiful beyond words, especially in her fairly revealing white and gold garments, but Izuku felt nothing but frustration as he remarked, "I don't recall dying..." in an annoyed tone.
Adopting an amused smile, the bronze-skinned woman, identified as the Goddess of Reincarnation, Kruagnosis, retorted, "Sweet child, I have the power to open the way between Boundaries. Bringing you here is no more difficult a feat than blinking my eyes. Though, keeping you here is quite a different matter. The longer a Nascent Soul dwells within the Realm of the Gods, the closer it gets to becoming one..."
Waving her hand, Krua created a shimmering, strangely futuristic-looking barrier around her and Izuku, appending, "This should give us a bit more time. Now, let's get straight to the point..."
Scooping up Izuku with her massive, nearly 20m long palm, Krua brought him closer to her face, smiling as she said, "When you died and became a candidate for the title of Paragon, you were afforded a System Template and three wishes to aide you in your future Trials. However, because you rejected them, the power I set aside to vest them still remains. Now that you have a better grasp of your new life and situation, it's not impossible to claim them now..."
Narrowing her eyes, which sparkled like a milky white nebula from up close, Krua offered, "I could send you back to a specific point in your new life, all of your power intact...or perhaps pull the strings of fate to make it so that certain events never transpired? If neither of those is appealing, I could offer a simple stipend of 1000 Free Attribute Points. If you continue to grow at your current pace, I fear you will not be prepared for the Trials to come..."
Furrowing his non-existent brows, Izuku replied, "Even if there are times when I wish I could turn back the clock, life shouldn't be so 'convenient.' If I can't even live with my decisions and mistakes, what kind of 'Paragon' would that make me?"
Shaking his head, Izuku's non-existent expression became serious as he added, "If you want to offer me something, how about information? You told me there would be three Trials awaiting me before unceremoniously flinging me into the world of Boku no Hero Academia. What are they? And what is the purpose of these Trials?"
"Hmmm..."
Placing the finger of her free left hand on her chin, Krua appeared to be considering Izuku's words, doing so for several tens of seconds before answering, "Very well, then. I can't provide you with the exact details, but I can tell you that the world you've been dispatched to is on the verge of a Convergence. What that is, I can't say. As for why you were sent there, it was because the Will of the Planet, Telania, requested the dispatch of a Paragon. However, because her Divine Power was lacking, we dispatched a Paragon-in-Training. In other words, you..."
Before Izuku could ask one of the many questions that had popped into his mind, Krua adopted a faint smile and appended, "Fortunately, Telania is only a C-Rank world on the cusp of becoming B-Rank. So long as you give it your all and never lose sight of your 'center,' things will work out. I believe in you, Izuku."
Punctuating her words, Krua blew gently, but because of her incredible size, Izuku felt like gale-force winds had impacted him like a truck. Then, just as when he arrived, he felt like a bungee cord was forcibly pulling him as Krua waved her hand, ending the encounter by stating, "I took it upon myself to make things a little easier for you. Feel free to thank or curse me later."
Extending his non-existent hand, Izuku tried to shout something, but nothing came out. Rather, the moment he extended his hand, he found himself standing in the middle of a familiar street, specifically the one he took when leaving Kyouka's house.
("Did I get sent back to the night I met Toga?") Izuku asked himself. If so, it meant he had been sent back in time, approximately nineteen days, to be exact. Not much happened in that period, but it was still a little annoying since he would need to, once again, experience the incident with Toga. Unless, of course, that was one of the things Krua had changed...
Shaking such thoughts from his mind, Izuku put his hands in his pocket and resumed his walk home. As he did so, he took a moment to check his status, curious to see if any changes had occurred. Krua had yeeted his ass pretty unceremoniously, so he expected there to be at least a few minor changes...
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Name: [Izuku Midoriya]
Title: Telania's Champion(Luck +500)
Quirk: Digitalization, Transfer, Stockpiling, Singularity, Gearshift(sealed), Fa Jin(sealed), Danger Sense(sealed), Blackwhip, Smokescreen(sealed), Float(sealed)
Current Level: 44 (45,194,552 EXP)
Effective Level: 89
[Attributes]
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Vitality: 100
Intelligence: 100
Dexterity: 100
Luck: 575
Free Attributes: 85
Rerolls Available: 100
[Perks]
[Bronze Skin], [Fleet-Footed], [Lesser Regeneration], [Healthy Body], [Sharp Mind], [Nimble Fingers], [Keen Senses], [Lucky], [Intuition], [Tripping]
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"..."
Recovering from his initial stupor, Izuku couldn't help thinking ("I should have tried stalling for time...") as he recalled Krua's remark about Nascent Souls growing stronger within the Realm of the Gods. He wasn't sure how long he had been there, but his Experience had increased by nearly forty-four million in a single go. If he wasn't just being obstinant and had asked for 'time,' he could have increased his Level a lot more...
("Whatever...") thought Izuku, suppressing the urge to shake his head in exasperation. His new Title was a matter of concern but now was neither the time nor the place to worry about such things. It was a little inconvenient to have to repeat a few weeks of his life, but as he had already lived through them once, he could do it better the second time around...
...
..
.
(A/N: It appears the power and prestige of the Harem Sect are unrivaled in all the lands. However, as there was such a tremendous amount of support for the 'no harem/limited harem' route, I've decided to make a compromise between the two. I'm sure most people will be fairly satisfied with the result, particularly Izuku.")