Well hello and welcome to this one shot of mine. Instead of doing my assignments I did this out of self-indulgence and to flex my writing skills.
If any of you are the reader of my other work, The World They Don't Know, please do very much know that I'm now in college thus I can't really write since I'm so lazy even it comes to my assignments which are a top priority.
Forgive me for my behaviour.
Anywho, please do leave constructive criticism
"I never thought of that kind of technique before" his eyes are unchanging from the scene in front of him. It's captivating to look at for him. Information that is precious to him being downloaded by into his brain from his eyes that are dazzled.
Neurotransmitter channelled.
Synapse knobs to dendrites.
The energy carried changes from chemical to electrical.
Ranvier nodes become stops for the flow of electrons.
The change of energy reverses.
The cycle keeps going, far too small and hasty just so that he can write what is implemented to his brain as he desires so. It is a simple action for a sophisticated goal.
Step step step
He listens to the mundane noise, looking towards a teenager that's looking at him with eyes shining with curiosity. Why the male found his plain and normal existence interesting?, Usually people don't mind him or even approach him.
Wait
It's his notebook. His notebook that he is writing notes on about the fight in front him, uh oh. Blood flows more visually to his face, with the effector under his skin shifts his expression to that of shy/timid/embarrassed.
"Wow, that's a hell of a note you have there,"
He brushes the back of his neck with his still soft and childish hands, abashed by the glassed teenager's compliment to him. Snapping his head back to the teen that he looks away from just know, the latter makes a gesture that he quite understood.
The notes.
How shameful, he cannot even form proper words thanks to his insecurities. Pathetic he is. The stranger didn't pay any heed to his struggle to form words. A gentle hand cupped the book, firmly bringing it to the focus of his brown eyes.
Slide slide slide
Passionately the young man scans the book, awed in his ability. Never anyone truly complimented on his information related skill. Nobody paid attention to his hobby anyway. Only the bad or weird reaches their view while the good one goes underneath their interest. It is human nature.
"This is a great note you have, a lot of information and details too. Is it your hobby?"
An awkward laugh is produced by the activity of his voice box, vibrating at frequencies for the simple sound as a response for the young black-haired man. It's nice that people recognise his passion but it also hurts him somewhere inside. The person in front of him may just do a complete turn if he knows the truth about him.
"Yes, I do really want to be like them,"
The teen's tan skin stretches and compresses to form a thoughtful look when the responses he vocalises are known. He takes his book back gracefully, grateful that no harm comes to his precious notes.
Curiosity is the name of what is stimulating his brain.
"That's a good goal but pay heed to the bigger picture. It's more important to everyone,"
Now he is more perplexed by the sentence. Where did this come from? Aren't the people he admired pay attention to the bigger picture in the first place. Surely the teen knows something he does not.
"Don't they already look at the bigger picture? They oversee the ways to keep us safe"
"Ah but not the sake of the future. They do pay attention but doesn't take full account of things and how it impacts humanity all together"
How it impacts all of humanity? The society is better off with them. If it was not for them, society will still be stuck in the dark ages. Does he not see that?
"They did bring the peace we have now, but the system builds to achieve this has long overstayed its welcome. The damage is going to get bigger over time, and the world will be stuck in a loop"
There is a light of wisdom in the teen's eyes, accompanied with….. melancholy and disappointment? The young man gazed at the group of people securing a man in chains held by officers in blue uniforms. He watches as a grimace form on the young man's lip, lights of cameras and the question of reporters echoes in the air.
Snap snap snap snap snap snap
"Um, don't you have school right now?"
"Wha- Oh no, I'm going to be late! So sorry but I have to go now!"
He sprints off to the distance, repeatedly praying in his mind not to be late. The young man just looks from behind, his dark green hair flailing from the wind.
"Izuku Midoriya"
Kurai
That is the name of the teen that he met in the previously. Since their first meeting, he sees the clad in black teen more often than he anticipated. Not just while being spectators, but also when he is coming home or buying groceries. Kurai had become somewhat of a constant presence that he can talk to about his passion in heroics.
The conversation on the topic always makes him questions about many things after it finishes. Kurai is like that, he likes to drop questions that he use to see the hidden wisdom the teen has.
"What is a hero?"
Like that. Enquires that never has straight answers from him. He always thought deeply about the answers that he gave, the light in Kurai's eyes shows that he expected a good answer from deep inside his conscious.
Good but not naïve.
So far he's doing well.
"Heroes are people that save others in need,"
The look that Kurai gives tells him that he is questioning the answer he handed to him. There's something that he missed, something that he is wrong about.
"Villains save people too,"
"Villains don't-"
"They do if it concerns them. Tell me, what do heroes and villains have in common?"
Honestly, he is surprised by how the elder could think in such ways. To be fair, he is still young. He may be smarter than most of his peers in academics -whether they like to admit it or not- but he is far from knowledgeable in comparison to Kurai.
Don't villains usually hurt people, even threatening their lives for their own sake?
Eeeeek Eeeeek Eeeeek
The rust on the chains of their swings makes the hinges squeak as they go back and forth. He didn't mind it, too focused on what to say to the expecting teen.
Do they use their quirk in public?
It's a correct answer, but Kurai must mean more than just that. He knows the older male expects more than a simple answer than him.
Think, think, think.
"They are human first and foremost, Izuku"
He widens his eyes at that answer. Why didn't he think of that! Both sides are consists of people that use a quirk in public, is just that one side uses them illegally. Kurai continues.
"If villains are also humans, that means they are also capable of feeling like love, hate, sadness and jealousy. Like the rest, they were also kids who may have friends and family, hopes and dream. It's just something gone wrong down the path but that doesn't mean that they don't have people to care for"
True, what the teen said is true after he digests it a bit. He knows that they are people but he never really give much of a thought on how does a villain really works. Or he just doesn't want to.
"You're right"
"Most people said that but never really think too much of it out of apathy or fear"
"Apathy or fear?"
"Apathy since the villains motive never concerns their lives and fear because they don't want to look at the ugly side of humanity and accept it,"
Looking towards the orange sky, he contemplates on the last part of Kurai's answer. The ugly side of humanity, the phrases certainly doesn't trigger much if one were to just brush it off. But for him, as he is thinking about it, dark imagery as darkest as his young mind could muster surfaces in his mind.
Fangs, claws, screams, fire and shadow.
Frown settles on his face. No, he does not like this. Nightmares are made of this stuff. He doesn't want to be haunted in his sleep by all of this. Angling his head 90 degrees counterclockwise, he sees the dark look on Kurai's face.
Anger, frustration and helplessness.
He doesn't want that look on Kurai's face.
As he grew older, he begins to understand/see/comprehend/acknowledge what his friend had told him from time to time. When he was 10 years old, he only understands what Kurai says. But as his time in this world diminishes, the words that Kurai says begin to truly dawn on him.
"Humanity, as it is now, is doomed to fail"
"But heroes haven't failed. All Might is still keeping the peace."
"Via force, not favours. Villainy is only on all-time low because they are scared of All Might catching them, not because their purpose is gone"
He sees it now, what the world needs is not just a Symbol of Peace. No, the idea of one person holding the world is too moronic. No man supposed to hold the world by the shoulders, no matter how great they are.
All Might shouldn't hold the title. Not because he doesn't deserve it but it is also other heroes' job to uphold peace by his side, not just him. The title pushes him to the spotlight; it makes people too dependent on him. That's not good in the long run
The world needs someone to truly settle the dispute between heroes and villains. Not just senseless fighting and capturing, even if it's done in a large and successful rate. More villains are going to take place of the old ones anyway.
"Izuku, it doesn't matter if you have all the powers you could think of. If you don't know how to use it and the desire to use it, you just might better off without any"
"Wait, can I really be a hero, despite being quirkless?!"
Kurai looked at him with a look of infinite wisdom. A face that can be found on sages of old times if he is being poetic, but it is nothing short from the truth
"As far as I'm concern Izuku, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela are quirkless and yet they had achieved something no heroes of this age could hope to achieve with their own quirk. For the last 12 000 years Izuku, mankind has propagated themselves through curiosity, ingenuity and ever-growing want. Humans don't have claws and teeth, strength and durability of animals yet we are at the top of the food chain for aeons now"
"I-I-I…"
"It will be hard Izuku, it will be unconventional and people be it haters or loved ones will try to bring you down. But, yes Izuku,"
He was grossly sobbing with tears and snot on his face when Kurai says the words. After all these years, someone finally believed in him that looks beyond his lack of quirk and sees him for who he really is.
"You can be a hero. The greatest of all heroes"
Those words drive deep into him and deeper than he thought it would ever be after he finds the truth.
Both of them trust each other with their own lives, their insecurities and secrets. However, he knows that Kurai didn't let on some of his own issues.
Like how the male able to bypass heroes without any worries at all after sweeping in to take him back home after he saved Katsuki from the sludge villain.
His loves for song and memes from the pre-Quirk era.
When he somehow know his name without looking at the cover of his notebook for the first time that they met and how that he knows about All Might and All for One.
Honestly, he had some suspicion about the other male. Nothing detrimental, but Kurai always seems so much older than he looks. Not in years or decades, like centuries or aeons older. He thought that Kurai has some kind of a powerful quirk or a broad amount of resource, experience and knowledge.
Turns out, it's both but not in the way he thought.
Boom!
Concrete, steel beams, glass shards and asphalt go flying high in the air as laws of motion dictate them to. Izuku along with his comrades that comes down to help the victims covered their eye and the ones they are treating.
So strong the shockwaves is, even All Might had skidded back by a large margin from the force of the wind. The tiny yet seemingly infinite dust particles finally settle back to the ground that they are separated from.
"What the –cough, cough- what happened?"
Like the others that were there, he took a peak on had happened. Something had happened when All for One had sent a wind attack towards All Might who can't move to protect a civilian. He was prepared to punch the mighty breeze back.
Both of them did not account for the wind to be sent back at the sender with quadruple of its force so suddenly.
"You lose!"
He sees a familiar figure near the defeated villain, planting his leg firmly on top of the disfigured man's chest. Black hair and garments, glasses and tan skin. Could it be….
No, no way. It couldn't be him.
How?
"Y-you?!"
For a person that is over a century old, All for One looks like a bully suddenly faced with an older kid he can't match at all. Terror was written all over his scarred face.
"You do remember me after all"
He could make barely what they were shouting to each other, but it seems like somehow All for One knows him. Is it possible for his friend to live that long?
Rising to the best of his strength, the villain boss looked at the teen that he had always seen from time to time. Be it face to face or footages and videos.
He is like him, and unlike him as well.
{Galaxies, wormholes, hyperspace, monsters, magic, aliens, advanced computers and virtual reality}
All for One has to look away, quirk Search turned off. He can't start to comprehend what is standing above him for the sake of his own wellbeing and sanity. With how Kurai looking down at All for One -his chin raised up-, it is clear as day to anyone who can see them that Kurai is far more supreme than the villain boss.
"I always wondered who you are over my lifetime. Turns out I was asking the wrong question,"
He sees chains materialising out of nowhere, wrapping around tightly so that the man can never do anything. Levelled so that they can see face to face, All for One adorned a bitter smile while Kurai looked at the man with…is that pity?
"Never have I thought I would ever face a being of cosmic proportions such as you in my whole life"
As the old people would like to say it, a god amongst mortal, that's the truth of the person called Kurai. He chooses to open his secret to him, seeing that Izuku figured out that he and All for One knows each other for a very long time. What's the point of keeping any longer anyway?
"Who are you really, Kurai?"
"Are you losing your trust in me?
"I-I, oh god I do really want to trust you but I don't know what to feel. I-I"
His confusion is stopped when Kurai seats down. The latter seems to fidget a bit on his seat. He's nervous, he noted.
"Izuku, if you are worried about my loyalty then you have nothing to worry about as I am honest about it"
He shifts his head to meet with the sight of Kurai's melancholic/tired face. He trusts Kurai, and the reverse is true as well.
It is time now.
No more secrets between them.
"I uhm as you can guess, I'm old Izuku, very old, older than most galaxy even. Based on the age that I gave you, you can already tell that I'm not remotely close to being a human Izuku"
It dawns on him. Kurai never says we or us when he is speaking about humanity. He spoke like he is one, knowing their ins and outs, their ups and downs, pros and cons.
Despite he is not one.
Stars were born and form to something else, nebulae expanded, galaxy clashed and mingle with each other, black holes merged in an unholy dance of doom, eldritch abominations became and civilization rise and fall all in a matter of a minute that lasts for eternity for Izuku, with a touch from his incomprehensibly transcendent fingertip.
pant pant pant
He pants in surprise exhausted both mentally and spiritually.
lub dup, lub dup, lub dup
His heart beats fast, adrenaline flowing through his veins. That was a lot for just a mortal to take. He gulps.
"I admire all of you human beings"
"W-why d-d-do you admire all of us? We, these-these pathetic, weak and arrogant beings?"
"Because there are also humbleness, strength and nobility to all of you that I never had,"
He was utterly baffled when he finds out, unable to fully understand Kurai's apparent care for mortal life. But, with time, he understands why his long-time friend/brother/protector/family cherished them.
He understands what true strength is as a man with virtually infinite strength cannot do what others that is far more pitiful in comparison to him can do.
He also understands why it doesn't matter to have a quirk as strength comes in many forms.
Why it doesn't matter whether he goes to U.A or not.
Why it doesn't matter if Kacchan tries to drag him down just for the sake of his ego.
Why it doesn't matter if All Might doesn't agree with him.
Why?
"Even with my powers Izuku, I wasn't the one who put slavery to a stop, I wasn't the one that liberated Malaysia from the British, and I wasn't the one that introduces humanity to electricity. Sure I can do all that and more, but it will be nought but a lie as all of you didn't stand on your own which is what all of you need to go on in life"
"Is that why you approached me, to change humanity?"
"Because I know that you can do it? Want to do it? Yes, because I have faith in your abilities Izuku. You have the drive and courage to do so and I see that you can do so much more than whatever quirk can ever grant. You alone show the traits that had caused me to fall in love with all of you humans, your courage to achieve what others perceive as impossible along your near limitless kindness and empathy for others. Those traits Izuku are the true strength of humanity…."
"Know that intelligence maps the path for you, strengths enamours you for your journey and the HEART is what moves you to the route that is set for you"
Those words alone are enough for him. Those words are what carried him to where he is now.
At the peak of a new age, an age where heroes are not that much a necessity, villains are reduced to non-existent thanks to the cries inside of them finally being answered, science is finally the focus of the world once more.
The Golden Age of Humanity.