Archive of Our Own ^beta

Of all the ways of the world altered by the emergence of quirks, the ocean remained as mysterious as ever.  But perhaps not for long.  The great aquatic hero Kronos pooled his immense wealth, his connections in the scientific community, and all the necessary quirks to found Cleito.  The Sea -Born Citadel.  An underwater fortress that served as both a research center for scientists studying the ocean, and a one-of-a-kind destination for tourists.  At six thousand meters below the surface, it was the deepest permanent human settlement in the world.  And All Might invited Izuku to come visit it with him.

“Do you know what ‘Cleito’ means?  The articles I found don’t say.”  Izuku skimmed the page on his phone.  He eyed the kiosk of guidebooks across the room.  Should have grabbed one before they got in line for boarding.

“I’m afraid I don’t, my boy,” All Might responded.  “But I believe it’s Greek, if that helps.”

“It’s not an English word?  But I thought Kronos was American.”

“He is, but Americans are big fans of old Greek mythology.  ‘Kronos’ is Greek too, you know.”  His long legs could only shuffle forward the line moved so slow.  “I’m sure he’d be happy to answer all your questions over dinner.”

“Wait.  We’re having dinner with him?  The Kronos!?  The hero with the most rescues at sea ever!?  Who invented the technology that served as the foundation of all modern aquatic support gear!?”  Izuku could barely control his volume.

“Yes!  You’re my plus-one to his birthday party!  Pay attention, kid!” All Might teased, ruffling his hair.  “And he’s a huge nerd, so you two will get along great.”

He laughed a little.  It’s crazy how All Might knows all these cool people.

“Thanks for letting me come along.”

“Of course.  I’m happy you’re coming with me.”  He chuckled into a cough.  “Hopefully, nothing goes wrong this time.”

Izuku’s smile flattened.  He knew he meant it as a joke.  But his shoulder twitched, remembering the impact of metal.  Deep breath.  I-Island was months ago.  What were the odds something like that would happen again?  He pulled out his phone to text Mom.

[We’re in line for the train.  Won’t have signal when we go down.  I’ll miss you!]

She texted back not even a minute later.

[I’ll miss you too, sweetie!  Try and have fun!  And be safe!!!]

[I will, love you!]

The line inched towards a window with a few of the sub train they were about to get on.  Disappointingly, it looked more like a regular bullet train than a submarine.  It made sense, since it traveled through a tube rather than directly in the water.  But still, a train that went underwater.  He expected it to look a bit more unique than just a bright green and black zigzag paint job.  The green parts reflected too much sun to look directly at.

“That seems impractical,” Izuku commented absentmindedly.

“It’s actually very practical.  The color and pattern make debris easier to spot underwater.”

Izuku frowned for the first time since they arrived at the port.  Debris?  Meaning, if something bad happens to the train?  He tugged on his sweatshirt collar to let some air in.  All Might insisted he wear something warm.

There was a map on the other side of the hall.  Cleito sat on the rim of the Mariana Trench about a thousand miles offshore.  Memories of elementary school earth science class filled in the lines of three tectonic plates shifting right next to the rail.  The rail being hundreds of miles of glass tunnel, under three miles of water.  They must have considered earthquakes when they were building it.  Cleito itself is part of Japan’s early detection system.  If they can figure out how to build a massive building that can handle all that, they can do the same thing for the tunnel to get there.

They reached the train.  All Might lightly rested his hand on Izuku’s back to guide him forward.  The whole interior looked like an old-fashioned first-class section, with pillows and small tables for every couch-like chair.  Unlike surface trains, these had seatbelts.  Izuku hesitantly buckled himself into the window seat.  A safety packet in the seat pouch warned what to do in case of earthquakes, tsunamis, and power outages.

But those are all natural events.  He swallowed.  What about unnatural?  The bad taste in his mouth wouldn’t go down.  What about villains?  The villains that attack every time I leave UA for more than a day?

After a brief chime, the train lurched forward, then back.

“What was that?” Izuku said without thinking.

“They’re hooking us too the rail.  They inspect it after every trip.”

“So, it’s safe?”

“Mhmm.”  All Might rolled his neck and leaned back.  “Though I will warn you, it’s not as smooth a ride as the bullet trains you’re used to.”

On cue, it started moving.  Izuku felt every clunking spin of the wheels up his back, as well as the car wobbling back and forth.  Before he knew it, the window dipped beneath the water line.  He checked if Mom texted him back.

“Try and relax.  Trip’s about six hours,” All Might advised.  He sunk so deep into the pillow behind his head, his face disappeared from his profile.  Izuku stretched his own head up, as if trying to keep it above the rising water outside.  “I’m gonna try and catch up on some sleep.”  Then yawned loudly.

The sky vanished behind the murky green water of the harbor.  Izuku dug his nails into the armrest.  Facts flashed in his mind.  The undersea train moved at a fraction of the average Japanese passenger line to lessen the strain on hard-to-reach rails.  Said rails were older than he was.  During All Might’s debut in Japan, he rescued people from one of the largest train crashes in the nation’s history.  And that was away from the water.  People survived.  Under it, even the slightest accident could spell disaster.  They were all at the complete mercy of the ocean.  How could someone survive being buried under three miles of water?  Outside grew darker.  The bottom of the deep sea was second only to the vacuum of space in terms of places most hostile to human life, where humans nonetheless chose to be.

I chose to be here.  All Might invited me, and I wanted to come.  He swallowed.  No one else in the cabin seemed bothered.  Just like hundreds of other people before me.  Cleito has great reviews online.  Lots of cool, fun things to do.  It’s run by a hero.  And it’s never had a major incident in twenty years of operation.  Neither did I-Island.

His phone lost signal.  All Might snored beside him.  Izuku carefully leaned against him and shut his eyes.  Even then, he knew the exact moment the ocean fully cut them off from the sun.

He never did get any sleep, but All Might still jostled his shoulder when the overhead announcer said they were on their final approach.

“I wish I could take these long trips more often.  I sleep like a baby on these things!”

Izuku sat up stiffly, his muscles protesting after six hours of locked tension.  His head hurt from grinding his teeth.

The train was dark, save for a few ground lights to guide the stewardess up the aisle with a trash cart.  The windows looked like they looked out into space with how dark the were.  But the clock at the front said it was only two in the afternoon.  Pitch black in the middle of the day.  Beside the clock was a depth tracker.  Five thousand, one hundred three meters down.  Izuku suddenly felt cold.

“Look up here, you can kind of see it!” All Might pointed out their window.  The train went into a hard turn.  His mentor’s hand pushed down on his shoulder.

What looked like two lighthouse beacons appeared out of the abyss.  They circled out of sync with one another, lights cutting off on a space between them.  The train moved to the side, revealing a third beacon from behind something solid.  Flashing red light gradually came into focus.  They formed a vague triangular outline of a large structure that only got bigger as they approached.  At no point could they make out the whole thing.

Izuku’s heart ramped up as they pulled into the station.  All Might had to remind him to get to his feet.  The overhead lights came back on, and the doors opened.  Cold crashed over them like a slap to the face.  He shivered.

“Told ya.”  All Might zipped up his coat.  “They don’t heat up public spaces much.  Saves power.”

The station looked normal, all things considered.  Mostly off-white walls with a couple advertisement accents.  What surprised him was the openness.  The high ceilings.  The spacious floor.  All the submarines and underwater bases in pictures and movies were compact to fight off water pressure.  Closer inspection of the ceiling revealed rounded beams like a metal ribcage painted to match the walls.  Were there any rooms above that?  Or just water?  Izuku swallowed.

How thick are these walls?

They took an escalator up two stories.  They passed little spots of color that got bigger and more frequent the further up they went, until the reached an even larger atrium teaming with color.  Geometric murals covered every surface of the ten-story circular courtyard.  Like a giant shopping mall straight out of twentieth century space age paintings of the future.  In the center, a multi-level park and garden, complete with grass and tropical-looking trees that reached over halfway up the plaza.  Yet it was still freezing.  Kids in parkas ran around them.  Genetically engineered maybe.  Izuku was so fascinated by plants inside at the bottom of the ocean, he almost missed the big sculpture in front of it.  A crown the size of a car with five step pyramid peaks, holes cut in rows like windows, above vibrant eyes made of glass beads.

“Welcome to Cleito, Crown of the Deep,” declared the sign underneath.

The attendant’s card read the same thing under All Might’s name.  A crowd hovered around him.  Like a school of fish, they all flocked towards Izuku’s mentor at once.  But not right away.  They must not have recognized him at first.  Izuku took their hesitance as an opportunity to get clear.

“Alright, alright, one at a time!”  All Might, good-natured as ever, took pictures and signed autographs with a smile on his face.  He didn’t do it rapid-fire either.  He treated them all like individuals.

That’s going to have to be me someday…  Izuku rubbed his hands over his ears.  Don’t just assume everyone is going to love you like that.  He found a bench off to the side.  Even after sitting for six hours, the air felt heavy.  Pressurized probably.  His ears popped and his chest buzzed.  Someone used a jump quirk to kiss All Might’s cheek, who laughed.  Izuku frowned.  I’ll need to make time for the people who do like me.  But I’m not inspiring.  I’m not a warm presence.  He stuffed his hands in his pockets.  Not a warm anything right now.

He scanned the giant hall.  Red emergency signs pointed deeper inside.  Not exits.  Couldn’t be.  Where would they go?  Izuku pulled out the pamphlet again.  The map marked out flood shelters.  Bunkers with their own power sources where people could await rescue in case of emergency.  Each floor of each pyramid also had a submersible station.  Lifeboats.  But the directions said to go to a flood shelter first in emergencies unless instructed otherwise.  Izuku searched for the nearest direction sign.

“How’s the shopping?”  Izuku jumped.  All Might snickered at him.  “Sorry about that.  I guess you could say these folks don’t get out much.”

“Heh…”

“Ahoy, Mr. All Might,” the attendant greeted in English.  They shook hands.

“Sorry about them.  The locals…  Don’t get out much.”

All Might snorted.

The guy didn’t react.  “I’m Jason Valence, Mr. Kronos’s personal assistant.  I trust you had a pleasant journey?”  At least he spoke clearly enough for Izuku to keep up.  Decent as he was at English, Americans had a tendency of talking fast.  Well, he thought Valence had an American accent.

“We did, thank you.  I guess you know me.”  He gestured behind him.  And this is Midoriya Izuku, one of my hero students.”

“Ahoy.”  Valence’s eyes flashed up and down Izuku’s body, while his own stood perfectly still. 

“Ah-hoy,” he repeated nervously.

Pause, then back to All Might.  “I’m sorry to inform you that something came up and Mr. Kronos will be unable to meet with you for dinner today.  Dinner is also unlikely.”

“Did something happen?” he asked, suddenly serious.  Izuku tensed with him.

“A maintenance issue that required Mr. Kronos’s direct attention.  Minor, but time consuming.  Nothing to worry about.”

Too late for that…

“He sends his deepest apologies, and a promise to treat you,” he hesitated, “the both of you, to a private tour of the Citadel’s facilities, tomorrow.”

Am I…  Not supposed to be here?  Without thinking, he stepped closer to his mentor.

“Well, can’t say I’m surprised.  Back in college, we always planned to have our get-togethers two weeks after the initial set time since we knew Fisher would reschedule, ha!”  He bumped Izuku’s shoulder.  Valence still didn’t react.  “But, um,” he cleared his throat.  “That’s quite alright.  Midoriya and I will take the time to relax and explore.  No harm done.”

“Very good.  Here are your hotel reservations and store cards.  You’re at the Yonaguni at the eastern end of the North Cone.”  He handed him an envelope.

“Thanks.  Uh, which way is north down here?”

“That way, Sir.”

“Thanks!”  He started turning.  “Oh!  Almost forgot your tip…”

“That won’t be necessary.  Enjoy your stay.”  The odd man turned on his heel, vanishing into the crowd.

“Phew.  Good thing.  I never know how much I’m supposed to tip those guys,” All Might sighed.

“G-good thing.”  That was weird, wasn’t it?  Please tell me you saw it too, All Might.

He did not.  The old hero led him down the hall, pointing out cool stores and art, like it was any old shopping mall outing.

But Izuku couldn’t get the words out of his mind.  ‘Maintenance issue.’  Something wrong with the Citadel.  The weird attendant said it was minor, but that’s what everyone in charge of big operations says before things start falling apart.  We’re at the bottom of the ocean!  Every issue could be a major one!  They passed lots of flood shelters, but no signs for escape subs.  Or…  His mouth dried out.  What if it’s not maintenance at all?  What if he has something planned?  Something bad?  Izuku’s hands twitched.  David Shield did.  He had access to I-Island’s main interface.  Kronos would have that here.  But we don’t have a Melissa, someone from here who knows how the place works and how to fix things.

The lights above them worked with the triangle grid ceiling to give the illusion of opaque glass under sunlight.  Illusion.  No safe distance to lead a raging villain to.  No open air for a big attack.  Could Cleito’s walls stand up to one hundred percent of One for All if he missed an attack?  Izuku’s stomach twisted like a wet rag.  Goosebumps ravaged his skin under two layers of fabric.  Probably nothing compared to water that had never seen sunlight.  Three miles of the stuff.  He hadn’t felt this vulnerable since middle school.  But the anxious sickness that well up was unlike anything he experienced before.  If Izuku thought clear enough to name the feeling, he would call it the certainty of death.  But his mind was far from clear, and could only imagine death’s many possibilities.

The grand hall’s vibrant colors mellowed out to a more coherent theme in the hotel.  Faded gold and dark green ironwork, accented by blue, red, and violet.  Those details took the form of murals in the style of Victorian scientific illustrations of flora and fauna.  Fish of course.  Each floor represented a different oceanic depth.  The lobby was on the top floor, helpfully labeled “Epipelagic Zone,” featured coral reefs and tropical fish near the entrance and facilities, then opened up to a giant blue whale on the backlit ceiling painted to look like a giant stained-glass canopy in the center of the building.  Open water fish like tuna and mahi-mahi circled the surrounding walls.

All Might led Izuku down the stairs so they could see the rest of the murals.  The “Mesopolagic” mural on the next floor down showed swimming crustaceans, lantern fish, squid, and sperm whales.  “Bathypelagic” creatures started to get strange, as crabs turned into spiders, starfish turned into octopuses, and fish turned into eels with teeth too big they couldn’t close their mouths.  Izuku wondered if any were exaggerated or made up to enhance the aesthetic.

He and All Might’s room was on the lowest level, the “Abyssal Zone,” a menagerie of animals that looked like they were designed to give people nightmares.  Misshapen sharks, pillbugs bigger than cats, worms with legs, jellyfish that looked like UFOs, squids with tentacles longer than a bus, fish with lantern antenna, fish with legs, fish with too big eyes, fish with giant toothless mouths, fish with too many teeth, fish with humanish faces, and fish that barely had faces at all.  This was also the real depth level the Citadel sat at.  Their room had a window.

“How cool is that!?” All Might exclaimed.  He tossed his bag on one of the beds before practically skipping to the window.  It started at his knees, went all the way to the ceiling, and looked out onto a black void.  “We used to just get a porthole a few years ago.  Crazy how fast technology advances these days!”

Izuku hovered near the far wall.  Realistically, there was nothing he could do if the glass broke no matter where in the room he stood.  But getting closer felt like tempting fate.  He looked anywhere else.  The room was standard hotel sized with two beds and a bathroom.  Dark green took over as the main color of the walls, with flowy gold accents painted over industrial-looking beams and rivets.  He couldn’t tell if they were actually structural or just decorative.  Said accents carried over to the dark wood furniture.  A painting above the dresser depicted a giant crab attacking a submarine.  Similar crabs appeared on the bed spread, alongside flower-like corrals.  A tablet on the nightstand showed photos of the real thing as well as other deep sea creatures and information in a slide show.  Nothing but black outside the window.

“I-it’s safe like that, right?”

“Of course.  It’s specialized glass tempered with some kind of diamond-infused polymer.  Quirk-made, last I heard.”  All Might fiddled with a control panel on the base wall under the window.  Blue lights around the rim came on.  Something fled into the darkness too fast to catch.  “Instructions here says the lights have two settings, white and blue.”  He switched it to white.  Brighter but fewer in number, the white lights illuminated an empty patch of sand going five feet out from the window.  “White just lets you see outside.  And blue…”  He switched it back.  “Might attract some sea creatures to you.  That sounds fun!  Imagine, we leave this on overnight and wake up to a whole school of anglerfish looking in on us!”

“Fun…”

“Oh!  And look at this!  It says here you can call room service and pay to have them set up some bait right outside our window!”  He looked between the info plaque and Izuku, jaw hanging off his smile.  “What do you think?  We’re on our own for dinner so we can eat whenever.  You wanna go explore or do you want to relax here for a while and watch some sea monsters?”

“Um…”  He hadn’t moved from his spot near the door.  “I, I’m okay with whatever you want to do…”

All Might frowned.  “Are you feeling alright, Young Midoriya?  You’re looking kind of pale…”  He walked over and touched his forehead with the back of his hand.  “Seasick?”

“I’m fine,” he lied.

“Scared then?  The fish aren’t gonna get you, kid,” he teased, ruffling his hair.  “They look strange, but they’re just animals.  They don’t care about you in here.”

“I’m not scared.”  Of the fish.  But…  The ocean…  He looked past All Might to the window.  Three miles of water blocked out the sun.  The ocean doesn’t care either way and it will still kill us.  One for All can’t save me from that.  The phone in his pocket may as well have been scrap metal for all the good it did down there.  No way to call for help besides the Citadel’s system.  How easy is that to take control of?  How easy would it be to take this whole place hostage?  Izuku shuddered.  It only took a handful of villains to take control of I-Island and Nabu.  They wouldn’t even need villains.  Here, with everyone’s lives so precariously perched on experimental technology, just one thing out of place could mean the end for us all.  His hands quaked.  All Might took them, and lightly guided him to sit on the bed.

“There’s clearly something going on.”  He took Izuku’s backpack off his shoulder. “Let’s just relax here for the rest of the day.”

“No, we can go!”

“Young Midoriya, we’ve talked about you pushing yourself too hard,” All Might warned with quiet authority.  Izuku slumped.  “I know, I know.  But think of it this way: we’ve got a full day tomorrow.  Big facility tour and a fancy dinner party.  If you take the time to rest now, you can be in better shape for those things.”  Hand on his shoulder.  “Alright?”

“…  Alright.”

“Good.”  He clapped.  “Why don’t you change into some pajamas?  I’m going to go shower, unless you want to get it first?”

“No, it’s okay, you can shower.”

“Okay.  And how about I order that fish food, hmm?  We can have our own special dinner with the real locals!”  All Might chuckled at his own joke.  Then he got serious.  “You sure you’re okay with that?”

“Yes.  I’m not scared of the fish!” Izuku said, annoyed.

“Sounds good.”  He hit some buttons on the control panel before disappearing into the bathroom.

Sometime later, a crab drone the size of a large dog walked out of the darkness up to the window.  It dragged a white block on a string like a deflated balloon.  Weird fish, mostly eels, followed close behind.  Probably used to being fed.  One of them looked like someone tried to recreate a shark out of spare fish parts.  It even had lines down its face and body like stitches.  The tablet called it a chimaera, a shark relative.  And the eels were hagfish.  Both had cartilaginous skeletons.  The drone hooked the food block to the window, and left.

Izuku laid in bed watching them.  The hagfish twisted themselves into knots to tear off pieces of the block.  He asked the tablet what it was made of.  Food waste.  Uneaten bits from restaurants and such that couldn’t be recycled in other ways, ground up and compressed into fish food.

What do these fish normally eat?

Bodies.  Anything dead that falls to the sea floor from the waters above.

Izuku pulled the covers over his head.  His skin crawled imagining tiny teeth ripping chunks out.  Would they wait until he was dead to start?  At this depth, they wouldn’t have to wait for long.  He tried and failed again to text Mom.

The bed shifted with new weight.  All Might sat on the edge beside him.  Izuku held his breath.  A hand landed on his shoulder, thumb rubbing gently.

“Young Midoriya?  Are you awake?”

He didn’t answer.  I’m sorry.  I just don’t want you to see me this upset over nothing.  All Might’s hand remained.  Izuku closed his eyes for real, and tried to focus on the gentle touch.  It’s nothing.  We’re just in a new place.  It’s safe.  Me and All Might are here to have a fun weekend.

“…  Feel better, kid.”

A single tear welled up.  I’m trying…

“Midoriya!  Young Midoriya!”

“Wha-what?” he sputtered awake.

“I just got an alert!  There’s a bluntnose six-gill shark outside the hotel!” All Might whispered-shouted excitedly.  “It’s about to swim by!”

Groggily, Izuku dragged himself upright.  He only managed to sleep in brief patches.  His head felt like it was full of water.  All Might wrapped his arm around his shoulder and leaned them both forward, like on the train.  All the room lights were off, save the faint window outline.  Exhaustion threatened to pull him under sitting up, until All Might squeezed him tight.

“Look look look!”

Slowly, a massive head appeared in from.  It’s giant eye near the tip of its nose flashed green from the light like a cat.  Its mouth turned up slightly, as if smiling.  Six gills stretched over its side so long, they almost reached all the way around its body like a collar.  There was a tag labeled ‘23BS’ pinned to its fin.  Instead of the stereotypical shark fin on top, the body had a slight hump to it.  And the body kept going.  The shark swam leisurely along, making it seem even more massive.  Fifteen feet at least.  Izuku knew that distance by heart; it was the furthest he could jump without activating One for All.  This shark had him beat long before they even saw the tail.

“Says here her name is Betty.”

“Huh?”

“She’s about fifty-five years old and twenty-one feet long.  One of the biggest recorded for her species,” All Might explained, still quiet but unmistakably giddy.  The tablet showed a profile of the shark.  But All Might didn’t look down at it once.  Not until the last tip of Betty’s tail left their line of sight.  “How cool was that?”  He gave Izuku another squeeze.

“That was pretty cool,” he admitted.  Even if ‘Betty’ is a dumb name for a shark.

“One of the most elusive animals in the world, and it’s right outside our window!  Amazing!”

“Ama-” He yawned.  “Amazing.”

“I’m sorry, was a giant deep-sea shark not exciting enough for you, hero?” All Might teased, shaking him in his arm.

“No, it was cool, I’m just, I’m just tired,” he yawned again.  With another squeeze, his mentor let him go.

“I bet you’re hungry too.  I let you sleep through dinner since you didn’t feel well, but now you have to have something.  I didn’t see you eat at all yesterday.”  He got up and tossed him the room service menu.  “You want something from there, or do you want to go to the hotel buffet?”

“Buffet?  Isn’t it early?  It’s still dark out.”

“Is that a joke?”

Izuku frowned.  Oh yeah.  Bottom of the ocean.  Pitch black forever.  He eyed the window.  The food block from yesterday was completely gone.  No escape if something goes wrong.  His heart raced once more.

Valence led the two of them through a labyrinth of industrial corridors to a garage-like room with a square pool of water in the middle.  It was even more pressurized than everywhere else.  Izuku felt it in his front teeth.  The researchers mulling about paid them no mind.

“Mr. Kronos will be with you shortly,” Valance said, flat as ever, before vanishing again.

Not a minute later, a siren went off.  Izuku jumped in his skin.

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like someone’s coming aboard.”  All Might pointed to a digital sign reading ‘AIRLOCK IN USE.’

Red lights flickered near where the pool met the far wall.  Three chimes sounded, and a gate opened in the water.  A large shape swam in.

Water sprayed out of giant nostrils.  The head was shaped like a crocodile with smooth skin and longer than Izuku’s torso.  The top was bluish grey, and it rose above the surface to reveal the light tan countershading under the jaw.  Teeth as long as fingers poked out everywhere.  Webbed and clawed hands grabbed railings to lift a body bigger than All Might’s hero form the rest of the way out.  His feet were webbed too, and a heavy tail dragged behind him.  Yellow, snake-like eyes pierced through Izuku, then moved on to All Might.

“Toshi!” Kronos, the greatest aquatic hero of all time, greeted his old friend.  He wasn’t all the way out of the water before he opened his arms for a hug, which All Might obliged.

“How’s it going, you old man?”

“Old?  Bah!  Says the man who looks like a stiff breeze could blow you over!  I’m worried I’ll snap you in half!”  He smacked his back anyway.  Izuku flinched.  “You may have been the best in the end, but at least I can say I aged far more gracefully.”  He gestured to himself dramatically.

“You sure?  Pretty sure you have more wrinkles than patents at this point!”

“Where do you think I store the paperwork?”  They both laughed hard, Kronos’s jaws opening wide enough to swallow Izuku whole.  At just that moment, they remembered he was there.

“Anyway, Fisher this is Midoriya Izuku, one of my hero students.”  The ten-foot-tall man cast a shadow over him.  “Young Midoriya, this is Fisher Ryan, aka Kronos, record holder for the most resolved incidents at sea and the father of modern aquatic support items.”

“Oh, stop ass-kissing.  And you.  Pleasure to meet you, young man.”  He offered his webbed hand to shake.  It completely engulfed Izuku’s own.

“H-hello,” he stammered.  Quirk-brain kicked in.  Kronos’s quirk, Kronosaurus, made him resemble the extinct marine reptile of the same name.  He could swim at thirty miles-per-hour, hold his breath for nearly two hours, and comfortably free dive up to six-thousand meters deep.  The abyss was his element.  “I, I’m a big fan.”

“Are you?  I’m flattered.”  He didn’t let go of his hand.  “I must say, I’m a bit of a fan of you as well.  I was rooting for you back in the Sports Festival.”

“You were?”

“Believe it or not, we do get cable down here.”  He winked.  “And your exploits in the field are nothing to sneeze at either.  I didn’t face more than a few purse snatchers until college.  And here you are, first year of high school, with multiple high-level villain takedowns and takeover plans thwarted.”  His smile dipped.  “The Nabu villain’s weather quirk triggered even our sensors.  That must not have been an easy fight.  Well done.”  Kronos squeezed Izuku’s shoulder with his other hand.

“It wasn’t just me…” he mumbled.

“Even so.  I’m sure you make your teacher very proud.”

All Might hummed.  “That he does…”

Izuku blushed.

“Your teacher also tells me you’re a huge hero nerd.”

“Um!”

“Do you have your notebook, Young Midoriya?”

“Up for an autograph?  Free of charge, but only this once!”  Kronos released him, then gestured for one of the researchers to bring him a pen.  A fancy metal one that came in a box.  They also brought him gold and purple robes he slid on over his wetsuit.

Izuku stood awkwardly while he signed it.  All Might gestured for him to speak up.

“I was wondering…  Why is it called Cleito?” he asked in lieu of any other ideas.  It felt extra cold in the man’s shadow.

“Cleito was the wife of Posidon, and the mother of the first kings of Atlantis,” he explained.  He turned the notebook and held it up to his mouth.  “May I?”

“S-sure.”

He quickly bit the page, punching six perfect holes around his signature with his teeth.

“Because just calling it ‘Atlantis’ was too obvious,” All Might mocked.  “And ‘Rapture’ has negative connotations.”

“It’s not that simple.  Atlantis is also hard to copyright.”  Kronos handed Izuku his notebook back, and adjusted his robe over his potbelly.  “But seriously.  I’ve dedicated a big part of my life to this place.  I don’t have a spouse or children, so I like to think of the Citadel as my eternal partner.  And hopefully, through our shared work and success, we can produce more cities like it.”

All Might snorted.  “But I thought your life, your love, and your lady was the sea?”

“It’s an open relationship.”  They laughed again.  Izuku backed away from his seawater breath.  “Anyway.  I’d like to share that love with the two of you.  Come,” he ruffled Izuku’s hair.  It felt beyond weird for someone other than All Might to do it.  “Let’s take a tour.”

Three primary industries apart from tourism governed Cleito: aquaculture, energy, and research.

“Instead of thinking of them as three separate fields, think of them as a Ven diagram with ‘research’ in the overlap,” Kronos explained.  “The work we do down here seeks the benefit of all mankind, not just those few thousand of us living at the bottom of the ocean.  Ninety percent of our power comes from geothermal vents some ways deeper down the trench.  It is possible for them to sustain us completely, but we maintain a grid connection with the nearby isle of Guam in case of emergency.”  He waved his hands at nothing like a king from an old movie.  “I would love to show you our station, there’s a wonderful window straight down into the abyss.”

Izuku shivered.  No thank you.

“But I’m afraid that section is closed to nonessential personal today.”

Wait, why not?  What’s going on in the power sector?

“Luckily, the best illustration of this value is in our farm sector.”

They entered a bright white room.  The whole ceiling glowed.  Under the light, plant boxes were packed in so tight, they barely left room for Kronos to walk between.  But there wasn’t a spec of dirt in sight.  Each plant grew out of a white board.

“This is our tomato room.  Water running under the plants brings nutrients from the fish tanks next door, and debris from the plants goes back to help feed them.  All our crops are grown in similar cycles.”  He picked an orange cherry tomato, and handed it to Izuku.  “Try this.”

He did.  His nose immediately scrunched from how surprisingly salty it was.

“Like it?”

“Erm…”

“I know, I’m just messing with you.  These here are a special variety we’ve engineered to survive on saltwater.  I promise you can’t tell the difference when you cook them.”  Kronos tossed one to All Might over Izuku’s head.  “We do have normal ones in another section connected to our desalination system, but we felt saltwater crops were also a worthy endeavor of study.  Desalination technology has only recently gotten to a point where the process can occur at an affordable, industrial scale.  But even then, what happens if something goes wrong?”  He spoke with the flair of an informercial.  “With saltwater crops, food can be supplied to seaside and ocean-fairing populations such as I-Island in times of scarcity, so facilities can prioritize drinking water.”

He led them to the next room.  Grey and industrial, with six cylindrical vats two stories tall.

“And this is one of our oarfish farms.”  Kronos pointed to a window on one of the vats.

Izuku peered inside.  Silver ribbons flashed in the light.  A thin body no wider than his arm positioned vertically hovered by.  He read about oarfish before.  The longest bony fish in the world, and one of the rarest.  They lived in the deep sea during the day, then migrated closer to the surface at night to feed.  Most only saw them washed-up on beaches, dead.  In pre-quirk times, people only managed to film them alive in their natural habitat once.  But there looked like hundreds in the tank.

“The ancient sea serpent, tamed at last!”  Kronos smacked the metal.  “We have an even bigger tank out on the sea floor.  These are juveniles.”

“And these are for food?” All Might asked for them.

“Yep.  Wild ones are too gelatinous, not to mention hard to find.  But we’ve managed to firm up our farm stock.  You’ll be able to try some at the banquet tonight.”  He beckoned them to follow him to the next room.  “We’ve also got giant isopods, octopi and squid, a few varieties of crab, mussels, and coelacanths.  But those last ones are for conservation, not eating.”  He put his hand over his heart.  “Unfortunately.  But they taste awful anyway.  And they’ll make you sick for a week.  I guess they’re so ancient, they haven’t evolved flavor.”

“I take it you’ve tried one?”

“One of the first deep sea fish I ever caught a cooked myself.  Took me months to negotiate a fishing license from the Tanzanian government, and it was a complete waste of time.  Left me with such a grudge, I almost denied the conservation project.”

“Do you catch wild fish for food or just farm?”

“Just farm.  The deep sea is hard to reach for most, so its creatures are difficult to study, and therefor hard to gage a population.  Can’t be killing endangered species for an exotic meal, now.”  He smirked down at Izuku.  “Though there are some exceptions.”  Kronos rolled up his wetsuit to show off three fresh slashes under his arm.  Both their jaws dropped

All Might gasped and punched his other arm.  “You did not fight a giant squid!”

“Giant squid?” Izuku repeated.  And why was that All Might’s first guess?

“Colossal squid, and I did.  It’s my birthday present to myself.”  It couldn’t just be those three marks.  Colossal squid were bigger than cars.  If he fought one with his bare hands, he must be covered in wounds.  Yet he moved like nothing was wrong.

He must really be a strong fighter, even retired…

“Like I said, we haven’t been able to farm them, and we don’t have a lot of information on how abundant they are in the wild, so I can’t justify a fishery,” he explained.  “But they taste wonderful.  So when one showed up to mess with our radar arrays yesterday, well, I couldn’t resist.”

All Might shoved him again.  “Is that why you couldn’t come to dinner yesterday?”

“Perhaps…”  You could see all his dozens of teeth.  “But you might get to try some at tonight’s.  Along with a little bit of everything our farms have to offer.”

“That’s amazing,” All Might commented.

“Could Cleito survive on its own like this?”  Izuku blurted out.  Then, quieter, “I mean, if something happened, and you were stuck down here…”

Kronos looked pensive a moment.  “If all our life support remained intact…  Power can go on indefinitely, assuming nothing breaks…”  He shook his head, long snout moving in a large arc.  “But without food imports, I’d say we could keep ourselves afloat three to four months, give or take.”  Izuku paled.  “Maybe double that if we rationed.”

“Really?”  All Might crossed his arms.  “With all the farms back there, I would have assumed you could last a year at least.”

“Keep in mind, we have about three thousand people who live and work down here, not including tourists.  Self-sufficiency is a long-term goal, yes, but that’s off the table with the facilities we have now.”  He scratched his chin.  “Besides.  If, heaven forbid, the supply chain was cut off entirely, I would have the whole place evacuated immediately.”

“Immediately?  Even with four months of supplies stored up?” Izuku questioned.

“Sufficient damage to the trains might take six to repair…” Kronos spoke solemnly.  “Dear boy, as much peace as the deep brings me personally, I am under no delusion of its danger.  We survive here because we are careful.  And the careful thing to do if food became an issue is to send people back to the surface, where it is plentiful.”  He stood up straight, voice booming.  “Preservation of human life is the priority of both the hero and the scientist.  Forcing my people into unnecessary risk would violate my ethics as both.”

Unnecessary risk?  You mean like building a city at the bottom of the ocean?  Izuku grasped and ungrasped his hands.  But only four months without imports?  How easy would this place be to hold hostage?

As they moved on, All Might kept a grounding hand on his shoulder.

The room hosting Kronos’s party was smaller than Izuku expected, just under the size of Gym Gamma back home.  Big enough to feel even colder.  He tugged on his sleeves.  Orange heat lamps around the room did little.  Curved windows at the top edge let in ambient light from other buildings and structures outside.  Some managed to look like stars against the abyss.  A false comfort.  If those windows came down, it would be over for all of them.  Izuku couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Any other venue, and Izuku would have combusted from pure, concentrated fanboy hype.  The best aquatic heroes in the world, current and retired, all in one room.  The Torpedo.  Merman.  Carcinization.  Crimson Hurricane.  Old Man Innsmouth.  So many more blurred together.  But he stayed glued to All Might’s side like a shy toddler the whole cocktail hour.  Guilt twinged his heart.  Embarrassing fanboying would have been better than the noncommittal autopilot responses he gave them when they tried to talk to him.  They must think him an ungrateful brat.  But he couldn’t focus.  Not on anything but the fact that there were only a few inches of glass between them and oblivion.

“Everyone settle down!” Kronos shouted above the rabble.  The gold sewn into his robes glittered in the warm light.  “Dinner is just about ready.  Let’s all take our seats!”

Izuku moved to the table stiffly.  He felt Kronos’s eyes on him.  Dressed in ancient Greek-inspired robes with a golden circlet of olive leaves, he looked more and more like an ancient king each time he saw him.  A mad king.  Who else would build a castle at the bottom of the ocean at the edge of a sea cliff?  Not someone in their right mind.  Even if he was nice.  David Shield was nice too, and All Might’s friend from college.  But he still hired terrorists to hold an entire island of people hostage, including his friend and daughter, for his own ends.  They waited to strike until all the invited heroes were in the same room loaded with security restraints.  Izuku eyed his seat at the table.  It looked like regular carved wood, but what if there was a secret compartment just waiting to launch a straitjacket?

“Right here, Midoriya,” All Might beckoned.  He sat beside Kronos at the head of the table, Izuku one down, Gang Orca on his other side.

Wordlessly, Izuku pretended to slide into the chair, instead going into air chair position.  If he moved quick enough, he could get out of the way of Kronos or anyone else tried something.

But what about All Might?  Can I move fast enough to grab him too?

“It’s nice to see you again, young man,” Gang Orca remarked, distracting him.  His great stature blocked the light behind him.  Yet he was one of the smaller heroes with a mutant-type quirk.  Carcinization’s giant crab body took up four seats worth of space.

“Um, you too…”

The chef introduced the first course as the “Dark Matter” course.  It featured different products made from the lanternfish, the most abundant fish in the ocean, making up nearly seventy percent of global fish biomass.  Despite being only a few centimeters long, gargantuan schools often scan as a false seafloor on radars.  The Cleito chefs ground them up into slider patties and a paste for dipping vegetables and spreading on toast.  It didn’t taste like much.

Each clank of silverware drew Izuku’s eye.  If anything was going to happen, it would be now.  Here.  All the heroes in one room.  Drinks flowing.  Guards down.  Would an attack come from outside, or from within?  Would outside assailants even bother with them, or just lock them in?  Kronos had a private flood shelter, but could it fit all of them?  And how long would that have to wait for rescue?

Second course was soup.  They said it had seapigs, a bottom feeder, in it, but it just tasted like broth.  The side of rinsed brine mussels in tomato sauce were way better.  Even if he could still taste the excess salt.

“Have you thought about college yet?  Ever thought of coming to America like your teacher?” a squeaky voice asked out of nowhere.

“Huh?”

“Here he goes again.”

“Give it a rest, Champ!”

“What?  I’m just asking a question!”  High-pitched laughter creaked out of his barracuda-like jaws longer than Izuku’s arm.  The Vermont hero wore a sparkling blue tuxedo to match his shining silver scales.

“Honey, don’t listen to him,” Great Blue, a shark hero from Mexico, reached around Gang Orca to pat Izuku’s shoulder.  He had her trading card back home.  “He tries to recruit kids to his scam college at every event he goes to.”

“How is it a scam!?”

“It’s an aquatics college on a lake that’s too cold to swim in half the year!”  Kraken’s tentacle beard bounced with laughter without spilling his or his wife’s drinks.

“Our hero program specializes in cold-weather training, not just aquatics!  And we have the second biggest heated pool in the country!  Not a scam!”

“But you pitch it to people with aquatic quirks like it’s Hawaii State or something!”

Everyone except Izuku laughed.  He would have heard him out if only he could open his mouth.

For the third course, they brought out a live giant isopod to the middle of the table.  It wasn’t live for long.  Izuku closed his eyes as the demonstrator jammed a scissor blade behind its head.  From there, they butchered the creature under casual instruction, then passed plates of different parts around the table to be eaten raw.  One had enough legs for everyone to try, but they brought out two more anyway.  Per instruction, Izuku let the leg sit on top of his tongue instead of chew.  It all but melted in his mouth, leaving a sweet flavor that intensified over time, eventually slipping into a vaguely salty aftertaste.  The intense pressure of its natural habitat made its body reliant on that pressure to stay together.  Gang Orca, allergic to shellfish, let him have all his pieces.

“So, how have you been since the license exam?” he prompted, sliding a slab of shell meat onto Izuku’s plate.  His gigantic hands made the knife and fork look like toys.  “School alright?

“Alright…”  He didn’t know what to say.  The meat came apart into little pieces as soon as his fork touched it.  Chopsticks would have been better.

“How do you like Cleito?”

“…  Kind of overwhelming,” Izuku let some of the truth slip.  “How do you like it?”

“I think it’s wonderful.  Up close with all the most facinatin’ fishes around, without worryin’ ‘bout getting’ crushed like a tin can.  No finer way to experience the deep sea.”  He paused, drumming his fingers on the table.  “But I can understand how it can be a little intimidatin’.”

“Mhmm…”  I need to try harder to talk.  How often do I get to talk to so many specialized heroes?  And they want to talk to me.  Beside him, Gang Orca went back to his substitute flatfish.  Of course he’d love this place.  He’s not just a hero, he’s a marine biologist.  He researches animals in their natural habitat when he’s not helping people.  This place must be like a dream for him.  I should apologize for being rude.  Izuku’s words melted in his mouth alongside the isopod.

The melting thing got old by the fourth course.  All the assorted fish and crustaceans turned to mush in Izuku’s mouth, texture overwhelming any taste they might have had.  These were not animals meant to be eaten by humans.  Eventually, a pungent bitterness took over.  It tasted like how ammonia smelled.  Did they use some kind of preserving solution to keep the creatures’ shapes before eating?

Or is it something else?  He stirred the salad of slime around its bread bowl.

“You know, that bowl is a giant calamari ring,” Kronos pointed out suddenly.  Izuku froze.  “You can just eat that if you don’t like its contents.”

“Calamari?  Like squid?”  He tilted his head.

“Colossal squid, the one we talked about earlier.  Very rare.  We haven’t been able to raise them in captivity yet, so this is a special treat.”  The hero watched Izuku expectantly.  Nervously, he started cutting into the ring with his knife and fork.  It was a lot tougher than anything else they’d eaten so far.

“Need help?” All Might offered.

“I’ve got it,” Izuku mumbled.

Heroes around him chuckled.

“How cute…” someone whispered.

He blushed.

Eventually, Izuku got a piece off.  The breading remained crunchy despite being soaked in slop.  The meat itself was pleasantly firm without being chewy.  The exact taste was hard to pin down.  A slight sweetness contrasted with sourness that covered his mouth up into his nose.  They must have marinated it in lemon before frying it.  Or maybe the breading itself had zest in it.

“Wow…”

“How is it?” Kronos asked.

“Good.”  Fantastic.  Wonderful.  Where were you hiding this?  “Really good.”

“Glad to hear it.  Hunted this one myself.”  He popped a slice into his mouth.  The table erupted into interest.  Kronos, loving it, retold the same story from earlier to the banquet’s delight.

Izuku munched his calamari quietly.  He could be eating an endangered species right now and have no idea.  The thought made the next swallow go down rough.

“You, you went out and…  Hunted it, yourself?”

“Sure did.  Though in my defense, it was trying to mess with one of our radar arrays.”

Izuku imagined a giant squid attacking the glass above them.  Each tentacle thicker than his body with pronged hooks on each sucker.  The squid isn’t the scary part.  The water is.  Ice cold torrents crashing into him faster than a speeding truck with just as much force.  The aquamancers at the table couldn’t hold back the whole ocean.  How long until there was enough to ‘crush him like a tin can?’  Would he drown before that point?  Or maybe the shock of cold water would trigger a heart attack.  He heard about it in a documentary once.  Then the hagfish, sharks, and isopods would feast on his body long before it could be recovered.  If people found him worth the risk of recovering.  Maybe the rest of Cleito would survive and reopen.  And the chefs would serve the isopods that ate him raw.

“Young Midoriya,” All Might whispered with a nudge.

He blinked out of his daydream.  “Huh?”

“Everyone,” Kronos announced, standing up.  Everyone else followed.  “Before we bring out the main course, I would like to express my gratitude for you all talking time out of your lives to visit me in my home.”

Izuku swallowed.  I-Island started with a speech.

“I know firsthand how difficult it is to set work aside as a hero.  So many people rely on you, and so much could happen while you’re gone.”

Why are you saying it like that?

“But if you’ll let this old man impart some advice, you can only swim at full speed for so long before you get too tired to keep yourself afloat.  And drowning is one of the worst ways to go.”

Izuku’s eyes flashed to the windows again.

“So consider this moment of leisure a part of your hero’s journey.  A recharge so you can go back out into the field in peak shape.”  He tapped a claw against his wine glass.  “A breath of fresh air to stay afloat…”

Reptilian eyes passed over Izuku.  He held his breath.

“While you still can…”

Fists clenched.  Shoulders tightened.  Izuku put one foot behind the other, ready to launch.  He grabbed All Might’s hand.

“Anyway, enough sap!  Let’s eat!”

“Cheers!”

“Happy birthday!”

Everyone besides Izuku and All Might clapped as the waiters brought out a platter as long as the table.  A thirty-foot smoked oarfish on a bed of shrimp and mussel paella, still steaming hot.  They also brought out plates of roast peppers and cheese sauce, sourdough loaves the size of basket balls, and at least six different kinds of sushi.  It all smelled so good, Izuku wanted to throw up.

“What’s wrong, my boy?” All Might questioned.

“I…  I thought…”  His mentor guided him to sit down.  All the way this time.  His legs burned with relief.  Food appeared on his plate.  All Might served him before himself, hand never leaving his back.  Mouth hanging open, Izuku tasted the smell of saffron.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.  Are you not feeling well again?  You don’t have to eat all of this if you’re full.”  Hesitantly, he started on his own plate.

I’m being stupid.  Why would a successful hero attack other heroes?  Probably his biggest customers at that.  What’s the logic there?  He licked his lips, tasting zest leftover from the previous course.  What’s the logic of putting people six inches of glass away from being consumed by the abyss?

With shaking hands, he cut a piece of oarfish and laid it over a sourdough slice.  If he ate this first, it would have been life-changingly good.  But he was well past the novelty of melting fish.  At least the bread was decent.

“Is something the matter?” Gang Orca whispered down to him.

“No, I’m okay,” he covered a bit too quickly.  Might as well take advantage of it.  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t feeling well earlier.  I’m sorry I haven’t been talking.”

“It’s no trouble.  We all have off days.”

“All the better for feasting!” Kronos shouted to them.

Izuku cringed into a spoonful of paella.

All Might elbowed his arm lightly.  “Now would be a great time to get that autograph, fanboy.”

“Autograph?”

“No, i-it’s fine-”

“It’s more than fine, I’d love to.”  Gang Orca smiled a toothy grin.  “I hardly ever get to.  Most folks are too intimidated.”

I guess it would be rude not to now…  The whale hero took his notebook with great care, smile only growing larger.  He could easily bite the shark from that morning in half.

“Hey, we autographing?  I can sign too if you want,” Merman offered.

“Oh, me too!”

“Why not?”

“Why don’t you all pass it around the table?” Kronos suggested, waving a fork like his scepter.

“Good idea!” All Might agreed.  Then to Izuku, “How cool is that?  Getting all the best aquatic heroes’ autographs in one fell swoop!”

“That’s a story in and of itself!” Crimson Hurricane agreed.  She used her quirk to lift a bubble of wine to her mouth instead of sipping from the glass.

“I have a pen if anyone needs it!”  Carcinization held the tiny thing up in his claw.

Izuku leaned forward to watch his book go down the table.  But beyond the end was the pitch black of outside.  How he yearned for fanboy mode to take over his anxiety.  Or at least his embarrassment.  Here he was on the verge of a breakdown about dying three miles under the ocean, and all the top aquatic heroes saw was a teenager acting like a weirdo.  If he survived this trip, he’d never live it down.

“You seem stressed, kid.  What’s eating you?” Kraken probed.

Hagfish.

“Or did you eat too much?” Old Man Innsmouth asked sincerely.

Merman less so.  “He’s still in school.  Probably not used to big banquets like this.”

“Yet.  He’s a UA student, remember?” The Torpedo pointed out.  “They have it made over there.  He’s on a direct course with this kind of thing in a few years.”

“Shame you’re only a student, or I’d suggest a liquid relaxant,” Crimson Hurricane’s wife declared, before finishing off her wine.

“Oh, he’s what?  Sixteen?  He can try a little.”  Champ signed the notebook so his signature took up a big space.

“Please do not peer pressure my student into drinking.”  His tone said All Might was only half-joking.

But Merman didn’t take the joke.  “Hey Kronos, what’s the drinking age down here?”

“Whatever Midoriya’s guardian says it is.”  Then dropped a mussel out of its shell into his mouth.

“Come on, All Might!  Let the kid have a little fun!”  The discussion passed right over Izuku.

“It’s just white wine.  Not like it’s straight vodka or something.”  Carcinization also signed his name big, thought he had more of an excuse considering he was a giant crab.  “It’s mostly seawater anyway.”

“I beg your pardon?”  Kronos eyed him, glass in hand. 

“Joking.  Joking!”

“I thought heroes were supposed to be beacons of good character…”  He shook his head dramatically, but kept smiling.

“You’re retired and we’re off duty.”

“Who better to chaperone him?”

“At least ask the kid.”

All Might sighed.  “You can try a little if you want.”

“Um…”  Starring down at the table, he felt every set of eyes on him.  “I’m fine, thank you.”

“Oh!” the table hooted.

“My mom wouldn’t want me to without her permission,” he deflected.  All Might’s shoulders relaxed beside him.  “And I want to stay focused incase anything happens…”

“Now that’s a heroic mindset: setting aside pleasure for the greater good,” Old Man Innsmouth said like a disgruntled teacher.

“But didn’t Kronos just say it’s good for us to relax?”

“Terms and conditions may apply to underaged drinking.”  Kronos polished off his own.

“Can’t say I’m surprised that’s how you feel.  Way things like I-Island went,” Great Blue added.

“What’s this about I-Island?”

“Didn’t he help you, All Might?”

“Sure did.  He and his friends scaled the tower to free the rest of us from the security system, then he fought by my side in the final confrontation.  I wouldn’t have won without him.”  All Might smiled just for him.

“Seriously?  He’s one of those kids?”

“I-Island was nothing.  He led the defense that thwarted the attempted villain takeover of Nabu Island.”

Carcinization smacked the table, rattling it.  “Get out of town!”

“And he was the one who found the kill switch for Humarise’s bombs and brought their leader to justice,” All Might spoke up.

“He’s also taken down numerous villains, including a yakuza boss,” Gang Orca added.

Other voiced blended together as he struggled to keep up.

“He really did all that?  You guys aren’t just hyping him up?”

“Jeez kid, we should be asking for your autograph!”

“Does it count as bad luck that he got caught up in all these things, or destiny for him to overcome them?”

“I certainly hope he hasn’t brought bad luck to my city,” Kronos teased.

Izuku smiled awkwardly, neck sinking into his shoulders.

“Well,” All Might chuckled, “I certainly feel much safer with him around.  If anything does happen, we’re in good hands.”  He beamed as the table clapped.

But what can I do?  The window, the abyss, loomed large.  Cold seeped into his bones.  Shivering fingers clawed into his thigh.  There’s nothing any of us can do.

The waiters brought out a four-tiered cake for the final course.  Everyone stood to sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ but the chef held them off.  At his signal, the lights went down to let darkness almost completely drown the banquet hall.  The cake came alive with light.  Frosting infused with bioluminescence turned it into Cleito itself, with signal lights and windows surrounded by glowing fish.  A school in the middle formed the number sixty-one.  Once the oohs and ahs died down, they got back to singing.

Izuku couldn’t even mouth along.  Nor could he manage more than a single bite of cake dropped on his plate.  No idea what flavor it was.  His sense of taste vanished.  Shivers spread to the rest of his body, shaking his stomach like a ceiled soda can ready to burst at the slightest disturbance.  Like the three miles of ocean outside pressed up against the glass.

They left early.  All Might picked up something was wrong.  He always did.

Better if you didn’t, Izuku thought at him.  Then you could have fun with your friends.

“Did you still not feel well before we left?” he asked in the elevator.  “Or did you eat too much?”

Izuku swallowed uncomfortably, mouth sealed.  He watched All Might in the mirror he leaned against.

“Did someone say something to hurt your feelings?”  He flinched.  His mentor rubbed the back of his neck.  “Whatever it was, I promise they didn’t mean it.  Most of them have been friends for years, and probably forgot not everyone is familiar enough to be comfortable with that kind of joking…”  The elevator rumbled through the silence.  For only five floors, it was painfully slow.  “Did…  Did I say something, my boy?”

Izuku’s stomach churned.  He closed his eyes.

“…  Are you scared?”

That did it.  A pathetic keen filled the elevator as Izuku slid down the wall to the floor.

“Young Midoriya!”  All Might was on him in an instant.

“I am so, so sc-scared…” he cried.  The warmth of his mentor’s arms was a candle to a blizzard.  “Every time we, I go somewhere, s-something -appens…”  His voice shook worse than his hands.  “I’ve survived before, but I can’t here.  I can’t save people from this place.  I can’t, I can’t…”  I can’t fight the ocean, he couldn’t get out.  I’ll die here.  I don’t want to die.  I want to go home!  I want to go back to my friends!  To Mom!  Sobs racked him harder than the cold.

The elevator pinged.  All Might slammed the close-door button.

“My boy, nothing’s going to happen.  You and everyone else are safe here.  Cleito has never had an inci-”

“Neither did I-Island!  Or Nabu!”  His words echoed.

All Might, face twisted but silent, hugged him closer.  Then pulled him to his feet.

“I’m sorry…” he said over and over as they walked down the hall.  He kept him tucked close, ready to shield him if they passed anyone.  But the hotel was a ghost town at this time of night, regardless if the darkness outside never changed.

Speaking of darkness, the only time All Might let go of him was to close the curtain in their room.  He left Izuku sitting on the further bed, facing away, but still able to feel the presence of dark water behind him.  Six inches of glass and a sheet of fabric between them and cold, unfightable death.  Izuku scoffed internally.  Then All Might wrapped himself back around him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention to how much you were hurting.”  His voice rattled too.  “You shouldn’t have felt obligated to come…”

“It’s okay…” he spoke up quietly.  “I wanted to come.  I really did…  The reality didn’t hit me until we were already on the train…”

“…  The train back doesn’t operate nights, or I’d take you home right now.”

His heart clenched, but not in a bad way.

“Think you could please tough it out one more night?”

“Aren’t we supposed to hang out with the other heroes tomorrow?”

“They’ll understand.”  He pulled down the sheets and blanket for him.  “I’ll take the fall if you want.  Say something came up with my agency.”

Izuku laid down stiff as a statue, and sighed.  “…  Could we please leave the lights on?”

“I can do you one better.”  A few taps to the console on the nightstand, and the ceiling transformed.  Unseen projectors, or maybe it was a screen, turned it into a sunny sky full of clouds.  Another tap, and soft ambient bird calls filled the room.  Then All Might tucked him in.  No one tucked him in since he was very small.  Without thinking, Izuku grabbed his sleeve.  “Hmm?  You…  Want me to stay?  With you?”

His face turned red, but he didn’t let go.

All Might smiled, and laid beside him.  Between him and the window.

“This okay?”

He hummed.  “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Embarrassing you.  Not being able to handle some water…”

“It’s not just ‘some water,’ Young Midoriya.  We’re at the bottom of the ocean.  That’s not an irrational fear.”

“Heroes are supposed to be brave…”

“They are.  But everyone has limits.  Nothing wrong with this being yours.”  All Might took the hand that clung to him.  “You don’t have to overcome everything.”

…  I’ve already embarrassed myself enough.  Izuku rolled over, and buried his face into his hero’s side.  He gripped his sleeve the way he gripped his All Might pillowcase when he was little.  To protect him against a villain warning, or severe weather, or a bad day at school.  He felt a chuckle and cough run though All Might’s whole body.  An arm came up over his.  At long last, Izuku felt warm.

“If anything happens, I’ll be right here with you.”

Thankfully, nothing did.