I let out a long yawn, stretching each of my legs and wings out to their limit while my mind works to wake itself up. After sitting up and stretching my back I open my eyes and look around my Lair with half-lidded eyes, letting out a low growl of satisfaction at how there's clearly more to my Hoard than when I went to sleep. "Seems like my things and DAB are doing as they're supposed to." My voice comes out with a deep rumble in my chest.
After giving my torso two last twists that has me turning a full ninety degrees each side and feeling my muscles pull pleasantly at each other, I finally get to my feet and walk towards the exit to dig around in my freezer for breakfast. I pause at the entrance to the room and frown down at my gold scarf, though. It's much too small for me when I'm like this. Letting out an annoyed sigh I leave my Hoard, grumbling under my breath as I do.
"I'll have to get Kami and Ora to make me a bigger scarf. Or maybe there's someone who can make it change sizes?" My frown deepens when my mind immediately flashes to Yui before shaking my head. "No, I'd need her to keep her quirk active the entire time, and I'd rather I be able to change it as I please. Much simpler just to have them make me a larger one that I can use instead."
My mind made up, I continue on my way. Except that my freezer is empty. Thinking about it, I can agree that it's not unreasonable for DAB to have not kept it stocked up. I have no idea how long I was asleep, after all. I can tell that it wasn't a short sleep, but not how long exactly. Maybe a few months? Whatever, I can figure it out when I find something to eat. Or I suppose I can just ask my property I sense in my Lair.
It doesn't take long for me to get to the lab, and even less time before I can hear the cackling. Walking into the lab, I'm just in time to see Mei pull the trigger on something that resembles an emerald paintball gun that shoots out a wash of lazy green flames. They take a dozen seconds to travel from the opposite side of the cavern and reach the metal target on the other side, which proceeds to melt into a puddle of slag in the time it takes for me to blink twice. She takes her hand off the trigger but audibly clicks her tongue in annoyance after all the flames disappear, leaving me a clear view of the puddle of molten metal slowly spreading away from where it fell.
She whirls on her heels, grumbling quietly to herself, but freezes when she sees me looming over her in the entryway. But rather than be afraid, like others would be in the same situation, she instead beams and smiles brightly as she rushes towards me. "Boss!"
She jumps and hugs my leg with her whole body, trying to wrap her arms and legs around the appendage that's bigger than her. Speaking of bigger, she's definitely bigger than I remember her being. Certainly more than the few months I put my initial guess at. "Hello, my little inventor," I greet the second sentient addition to my Hoard. Official addition, I mean. "I see you've grown. How long have I slept?" Belatedly, I think to shrink down and assume a more humanoid form, given that dragons aren't particularly suited to returning hugs.
I do so while she answers, filling me in on a few different things while my viewpoint starts to shrink down to an appropriate height for a human. "Two years! Technically I'm in my last year of middle school, but I did do a mock test and could have tested out a year ago, but since you either need to go through a hero school's support department or get an apprenticeship under an active company/technician I decided to just stay and deal with people who aren't as smart as me. Oh! Speaking of people who aren't as smart as me, Himiko has been having a lot of fun in the Underworld of Japan! She carved herself out a territory next to mine in Musutafu, and between the two of us, we're basically in charge of the prefecture's criminal side!"
Now down to a satisfactory size, I reach out and pet her head, making note of the goggles that work as her mark have remained in good condition. Which is a bit of a surprise, given she told me about how often she makes her babies explode. "That's great! Between her claiming tribute and what you find in your initial territory, I'm assuming that what I woke up surrounded with is the portion that's returned to me?"
Obviously my Hoard works to expand my Hoard, but I'm not so crass as to lay claim to their own sub-Hoards. At least until they die, in which case they are automatically subsumed back into my Hoard, as is only right. Though if they wish to turn it into a generational Hoard, then I suppose I'll only claim it should their line die out. Though humans are really fragile, so I wouldn't hold my breath on how long that would be.
Mei nods her head so fast that it's a wonder her mark doesn't fly off. "Yep! The DAB has been doing their part too, though they did have to deal with some problems that popped up when you were sleep flying."
I tilt my head, curious, but before I can ask her about it my stomach lets out a loud growl and causes her to laugh. "Hahaha! Yeah, I bet you're hungry! There's a buffet place that someone started a few months ago to cater to people with carnivorous quirks that would be perfect for you. Or you could swing by a prison and make a meal from them if you want."
I hum in thought and tilt my head to the side, tapping a claw against my chin. "People does sound good… But I don't really feel like putting in the work of catching and cooking them myself…" I nod, decision made, and pump my arm. "DAB will cover the bill for the buffet!"
Mei nods as if she expected nothing else and goes to put the handheld flamethrower away, and I take the opportunity to take a better look at it. It does essentially look like a green paintball gun with a scaled pattern, including an air tank on the back. The difference between this one and a typical one is that the barrel is wider and instead of a container for balls of paint there's instead a jar made out of my shed scales, same as the rest of the gun. Though obviously there's more than just my scales, or else it wouldn't work.
After putting it away properly Mei follows me through the twisting turns of my Lair, and then onto the platform overlooking the forest. This, at least, looks the same as when I went to sleep. Not that I'm upset at the changes I've seen so far, limited that they've been. After picking Mei up in a princess carry, ignoring her yelp of surprise, and taking off in the direction she points me, I start to think about what else might have changed.
According to Mei, Himiko has been doing well and is still a villain, apparently, so I don't expect her to have changed too much, just look a bit older. Probably not to the extent of Mei, though. Especially in the chest department. I'm pretty sure they don't grow that much after you hit fifteen or sixteen? And she was around that old when she became mine, so I probably won't be surprised whenever I get around to seeing her. There's also likely changes to society that I've missed, or maybe in new things that have come out recently. Not that I'm particularly interested in non-shiny things or what the humans decide to do with themselves. They don't have anything to do with me. And if they try to apply their things to me…
"I have a surprise for you!" I'm pulled out of my contemplations by Mei's excited voice, causing me to look down at my pink haired inventor. She's pulled her goggles down to protect her eyes from the force of the wind whipping past us, and is currently wiggling her phone at me. "Himiko is going to meet us there, along with the surprise!" Her lips stretch into a wide, teeth-gleaming smile. "I'm sure that you'll love it!"
I feel warm at her decision to get me a gift so soon after I've woken up, and Himiko is in on it too! I really did choose good when I decided to claim these two for my Hoard. Who else can boast of such good property!
`~`
Aizawa's eyes snap to the rat overlord of UA, a feeling of dread flowing through him. A feeling that's shared by every other person attending the meeting. Why? Because Nezu just sneezed. In his entire tenure at UA, he has not heard his boss sneeze a single time. Not. Once.
Just because his role within the school has changed doesn't mean that he wasn't still trained by the principal. And one of those lessons was to be cautious of any unexpected changes in a person's behavior. Now, Nezu may not be a person (he's not entirely sure, and neither is anyone else), but the lesson should still apply.
Said indeterminate mammal rubs his nose with a slightly befuddled look on his face, which just adds to his list of concerns. Not that he can do anything about most of what's on that list. He'll just have to keep an eye on 'Nezu' for a while to make sure he hasn't been replaced or controlled by someone.
`~`
While I fly, Mei talks to me about how, since both she and Himiko don't have parents, they decided to change their last names to something that reflects their status as mine instead. So, instead of Mei Hatsume and Himiko Toga, they are now Mei and Himiko Emerald! Though Himiko likes to use her former family name during villain stuff as a final ongoing 'fuck you' to the people who were supposed to care for her, which I can absolutely support even though associating my new life with those people would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I were to do it myself. Though I have to think back for a moment. I don't remember Mei being parentless? Then again we didn't really talk much before I went to sleep, so I guess it just didn't come up? Whatever.
There is a slight problem though. Not with Mei or Himiko, but something else. When I woke up, I was aware of each part of my Hoard. This, obviously, includes the sapient part of it. Mei gives off a very strong feeling as belonging to my Hoard, as does another feeling that's slowly but steadily traveling towards what I'd assume is the buffet. Both of those are fine, and I'm glad that they have such strong ties to me and their place in my Hoard.
The problem is that I have to drag myself to a stop in the air because I feel three much, much weaker parts of my Hoard below me. Stronger than the vague sense of who I can only assume is Giran I'm getting, since I've only given him a single use calling card and not made him an actual part of my Hoard. For him I'm only getting a direction he's in, but these three? I'm getting a feeling from them. And that feeling?
It's making me mad.
Someone is threatening what's mine! It doesn't matter if I know what of mine is under threat, just that it is! How fucking dare they! I growl as I overturn myself so I'm facing straight down, once again ignoring Mei's yelp as I wrap my wings around her and we plummet from the sky on a direct course for where the feeling is coming from. It takes a couple of minutes, given that I was flying high enough that even flying heroes would have had trouble seeing us, but eventually I'm able to see people among whatever city I'm currently in.
There, I see damaged buildings, bodies of both heroes and villains littering the streets, a clear battlefield. I ignore all of that in exchange for where my feeling is coming from, as well as the sounds of battle coming from a different part of the city. My focus rests on where a person five meters tall with the bottom half of a snake and four weapon-wielding arms towers over a group of teens. Teens I recognize.
My eyes narrow and my lips pull back in a snarl when I see the state they're in. The boy with wild purple hair is lying on the floor, large bruises coloring his unconscious form. The girl with bob-cut black hair stands over him, a broken staff held defensively in one hand. The other arm is clearly broken, the bone tearing through her skin, but neither the glare in her eyes nor the snarl on her lips falters in the face of her foe.
Standing by her side is a violet-haired girl with jacks extending from her ears towards a large rolling speaker and the guitar in her hands. Her glare is no less fierce, the blood smeared across her face simply adding to the force of her shout as she slams the cords on her instrument, forcing enough power from the speaker that it tears itself apart. The lamia-like being flinches back, which her partner takes advantage of to use her quirk and make her weapon expand, the sharp broken end shooting into the lamia's shoulder and drawing a scream of pain from them. Her only mistake? She should have aimed for the head.
The villain drops one of their own weapons, a large metal club, and grabs hold of the staff to prevent her from pulling it out before slicing through its length with a sword-wielding hand. The girl stumbles, her quirk deactivating as the remains of her weapon falls from her hand. Their prey now seemingly defenseless, the villain lunges forward fast as a striking serpent, less than a foot away from the guitar girl-
-before I slam into them, the claws on my feet digging deep into their back as they get buried in the ground. Before they can even realize the fact that they're about to die I've already reached down and dug my claws into their skull, letting loose a powerful roar as I yank head and spine from the body. I scowl at how long the spine is, though, their oversized body meaning that I can't tear the whole thing out of them in one go. Instead I stretch my neck out, letting the upper portion of my body partially transform as my teeth crunch through their spinal cord.
The body thrashes, its death throes slamming the tail into the street and sending cracks spreading through the street. But that matters little and will stop soon enough. The most important part is attending to my Hoard. A greeting first, though, after so long.
I give Kyoka and Yui a bloody grin while they gape at me. "Hello, First of my Hoard. It has been a long time."