Chapter 11 The Flash
Chapter Summary: A boy gets rescued by a man who gets rescued by a boy.
It wasn't until the sound of gunshots was no more did Tenko noticed the thirst that had been trying to grab his attention for the past few hours. Leaving the controller on the couch, he made his way towards the sink, climbed onto a stool, and poured himself a bottle of water. The only container was an empty Dr. Pepper bottle on the counter.
It had been roughly six days since Tenko followed his savior to this house. He had noticed the destruction of his original house as he passed by. Nothing needed to be said. It was obvious his parents were dead. And yet. No heroes came.
The man had told him that he would be safe if he stayed here. Everything would be fine, and the sludge that killed mom and dad would be dealt with, so there was nothing to worry about. The man was never around, but even so, he would bring him food three times a day. They were just cheap convenience food, but they were able to sustain Tenko.
With enough food and water, and the newest inFamous game and console, Tenko was having a blast living in this shabby house. True that he missed his parents, but he was even more mad at the people who didn't help him when he was injured. His anger pushed his sorrow to the back of his mind as he unleashed his rage upon the innocent civilians in the game every day.
"Please don't hurt me."
"I don't want to die!"
Watching the civilians cower in fear as he shot past them and seeing them begging for help before he executed them always brought a sense of satisfaction within him. "Scum," they would call him; "hope you die in hell," they would say, but none of that fazed him. They'd be dead the next second anyway.
The water from the faucet tasted a little weird, but it was enough to sooth his dry mouth. Tenko took a gulp, kept it in his mouth, letting it soak his tongue. His mom had told him that when he was thirsty, the best way to get rid of the thirst quickly wasn't to take big gulps of water, but rather to take a gulp and just hold it there, letting the water moisturize his mouth.
Thinking of his mom brought tears to his eyes once again. Tenko willed them away, licking his dry lips as he took the bottle with him towards the couch. The best way to forget about her was to drown himself in the game.
As he picked up the controller, getting ready to kill some activists, he heard a noise by the entrance. And the next thing he knew, dozens of armed police officers barged through the door, pointing their weapons at him.
"Wha-"
A single sound uttered out of his lips before it was crushed by an officer barking orders.
"It's the boy! We found the boy!"
One of them lowered his weapon and ran up to him, looking as if he was about to grab onto Tenko.
Tenko shrieked, backing away to the other side of the couch and waving his hand wildly. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"
"Be careful!" Another officer yelled. "He'll disintegrate you if he touches you!"
The first officer lowered his hand and glanced at Tenko with a look as if he was a criminal, a dangerous beast, an animal who should be kept in the zoo. That look brought up the anger within him, overriding his sorrow. Tenko got off the couch and hunched slightly, glaring defiantly at the armed officers.
Before either side could make a move, a familiar voice spoke up from the corner of the room.
"What an awful thing to say to a child. Don't you agree, Shimura Tenko?"
All the eyes in the room landed on his savior who emerged from the shadow. Tenko watched in confusion as terror fell on the faces of the officers the moment they caught sight of him. What were they so afraid of? His savior was the good guy here. Why were they pointing their weapons at him as if he was the villain?
"Stay back! Don't come any closer!"
His savior continued walking towards the police while Tenko stood there, unsure of what to do.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Shimura Tenko." His savior said as he passed him. "You've served your purpose and I don't have use of you no more."
Before Tenko could voice his questions, the window behind him exploded as a flash of red, blue, and yellow burst through, enveloping him in a hug before any sharps could harm him and, in the blink of an eye, reappearing outside the shack where dozens of police officers and a couple heroes stood.
The number one hero, All freaking Might, set him down on the ground with a gentleness uncharacteristic of his statute, patted him on the head with his bright, signature smile, and dashed inside the house moments before an explosion rocked the compound.
"Be careful!" A female officer rushed towards him, trying to grab onto him.
Tenko pushed out his hands in reflex, his fingers almost touching her wrist before—
He actually touched her wrist.
And her skin didn't disintegrate.
What in the world was going on here?
"Thank god you're here, Eraserhead!" The officer let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at a man with floating hair who was boring his red eyes into Tenko. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
Too confused to argue, Tenko allowed himself to be dragged away and pushed gently into a police car.
The last thing he saw was the house going up aflame as two contrasting individuals went up against each other in a heated exchange of attacks before the view disappeared over the horizon as the police car drove away. As he sat next to the hero named Eraserhead while clenching his father in his pocket, one thought stood out in his mind above all others.
He forgot to save the game.
"Mom! How much longer?"
Inko replied without turning around. "Just a few more minutes!"
"Hurry up mom! I don't wanna be late! It'd leave a bad impression for Toshi's parents!" Izuku exclaimed as he bounced up and down on the couch, occasionally jumping from one couch to another. Normally he wasn't this hyperactive. Today was just a special occasion.
"I'm sure Kyokan-san and Hakka-san already have a good impression of you. After all, you've known Hitoshi-kun for over two years already." Inko turned off the stove and flipped the pancake onto a plate. She then proceeded to cut the pancake into the shape of a cat's face. "Izu-chan, I know Hitoshi-kun likes cats, but are you sure he likes sweets as well?"
"Yeah, I'm sure! He asks me for candies every day!"
That last part was not completely true. What Izuku didn't tell her was that Shinsou, along with everyone else at YHP and elementary school, treated Izuku as a candy vendor. For one, he had unlimited number of candies of all types and brands. And secondly, he would sell them for half the price on the market, or he'd give them out for free in return for a favor. For those who didn't like candies, Izuku had other treats like chocolates, soda, and even those cans of coffee that adults banned them from due to their young age. Everyone was already very familiar with Izuku and his magic backpack that contained every treat they could ever imagine. No one would be surprised if Izuku magically pulled out a frozen ice-cream on a hot, sunny day.
Of course, it wasn't actual magic that helped him pull his tricks; it was Digitalization. After two years of stocking up reputation points, Izuku had thousands saved up with no place to spend. He had used up 3000 rep points to exchange a gadget for Yuuga over half a year ago and didn't give it to him until his birthday around two months ago. Izuku had mailed the package to his friend anonymously with the help of GOLA not because he wanted to play mysterious, but rather because it'd be troublesome if words got out and he was questioned the source of the gadget.
So far Inko was the only person Izuku had spilled his secret to because he knew he could trust her. Digitalization was too powerful of an ability to share with just anyone. Not only could you commit theft, smuggling, and many similar crimes with the inventory, you could also buy dangerous items like Death Note that could kill anyone whose name was written in it and Cataclysm that could destroy this planet. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if this got into the wrong hand. Maybe Digitalization couldn't be transferred to another person, but that didn't mean others would stop trying. Izuku could very well end up having his head plastered on a wanted poster in the black market with hundreds of criminals on his tail. Not to mention mad scientists and quirk specialists who would want to dissect and experiment on him to see the extent of this power.
If Izuku wanted to live a normal life, revealing Digitalization to others would be the stupidest thing he could ever do. Pulling sweets out of his bag could be seen as a magic trick. Suddenly having a quirk (when he reached level 10) could make him a late boomer. But for a quirkless eight-year-old to have a hero gadget that rivaled the capabilities of those currently on the market would definitely rouse suspicion of the many, hence why Izuku was forced to give Yuuga PSS anonymously.
Before spending 3000 on Portable Sticker Set, Izuku had already spent a thousand buying himself a new PS4 (the Digitalization disc was stuck in his old one and no matter what he did, he couldn't get it out). Inko had volunteered to purchase it for him so he didn't need to spend his rep points, but he turned down her offer. The purpose of earning rep points was to use them for his benefit. There was no point saving up tons of points and never using them. Plus, every year he would earn around 3000 point so whatever he spent would soon get replenished.
After that, he still had a couple thousand left, and so the candy business began. The inspiration came from the magic trick he performed for the invisible girl, Hagakure. She was so happy after seeing his "magic" and a simple piece of candy was all of a sudden so much more magical when given out like that. Izuku thought that if a simple magic trick could make someone smile like that, couldn't he also use it to make friends?
That turned out to be an excellent idea. With candies and magic trick as enticement, even a quirkless kid like him was able to quickly rise in popularity among his classmates. His being quirkless made his tricks more authentic, because they were bona fide skills unlike many magicians out there who used their quirks to perform fake magic acts. Those who used to mock him along with Kacchan were now hanging out with him every day. Even Kacchan bullied him less. He stilled laughed at him for being quirkless and how Izuku would never be as strong as he was, but he didn't make any negative comment about the tricks. Izuku caught him staring once when he was selling candies, and when Izuku volunteered to perform his iconic disappearing act, Kacchan simply grunted in response and stormed away.
Selling candies didn't use up a lot of reputation points. After taking out those spent from the total he gained every week, he was still making profit (not to mention actual money, too).
While waiting for Inko to prepare the pancake, Izuku pulled up his profile.
Name: Midoriya Izuku
Title: none
LV: 9 EXP: 15555/25600 (required EXP doubles every level)
HP: 3375/3375 (0.9375/s)
MP: 3375/3375 (0.9375/s)
Age: 8
Quirk(s): none
STR: 8 (8 being average for your age)
DEF: 8
SPE: 10
DEX: 10
Attribute points: 1
LUCK: 6 (changes everyday)
REP points: 4658
Techniques:
Observe Lv 10 (42/1687 EXP): observe people [name, level, age, personality, and status (level 10 upgrade)] and items' stats [title, description, durability, and ability (level 10 upgrade)].
MP usage: 50MP per use
Search Lv 5 (356/510 EXP): search for your target faster, taking in more of the surroundings faster (level 5 upgrade)
MP usage: N/A (Technique is passive.)
Sprint Lv 7 (987/1022 EXP): provide a 25% boost of SPEED when running, use 25% less stamina (level 5 upgrade)
MP usage: 100MP per use. Last 5 seconds.
Jump Lv 6 (700/715 EXP): provide a 25% boost of STRENGTH in your legs when jumping, can now jump as high as your physical height (level 5 upgrade)
MP usage: 100MP per use.
Izuku took out a pencil and a notebook from his inventory.
"25600 - 15555 = ..." He wrote. "26000 - 16000 = 26 - 16 = 10"
"So I need about 10,000 more EXP points to reach level ten... to gain my first quirk..." Izuku sighed. That would take quite a while. Now that his level was higher, the rewards he earned from quests were much higher than they were before, but no quests would reward him ten-thousand EXP all at once. Recently during lunch activity at YHP he would use all the time he had to ravage quests like crazy, even others had noticed his urgency and questioned him his behavior. He couldn't help it. He had waited his entire life and now he was finally so, so close to getting his first quirk. Mere words could not describe his excitement.
"Izu-chan, the pancakes are ready!"
"Coming!"
Izuku hurried to the kitchen where Inko was carrying a box of pancakes, smiling.
"Thanks mom!" Izuku placed a hand on the box and it vanished, reappearing in his inventory, which now contained his security alarm (1/13), bike (2/13), notebooks (3/13), candies (4/13), ice creams (5/13), four-leaf clover (6/13), flash bomb 1 (7/13), flash bomb 2 (8/13), bag of cat food (9/13), a bottle of milk (10/13), a bowl of cereal (11/13), complete set of 100 eating utensils (12/13), and the pancakes (13/13). Throughout the year he had earned all sorts of weird things from quests. Some came and went, but he had never found the instances to use the cat food, milk, cereal, and eating utensils. If one day he needed more slots, he would trash these items, but for now he decided to leave them there. They might come in handy one day, who knew?
"Wow. No matter how many times I see you do that trick, it's still amazing."
"Heehee," Izuku giggled. He grabbed his magic backpack and pulled his bike out of the inventory. "See you tomorrow, mom!"
"Be careful! Make sure you ride on the sidewalk, be nice to the Shinsous, and wake up on time tomorrow morning."
"I will, mom!"
The door closed gently behind him. Izuku scrunched his eyes up when sunlight shone directly at them. The sun was setting and very soon it'd be too dark for a young kid like him to walk the street alone.
Hitoshi's house was about a ten minute ride from his house. Izuku had only been there once and that was when they accidentally switched their identical water bottles. He had marked the house on his map before he left so he would know how to reach Hitoshi next time something happened. With the map virtually showing a flashing dot representing his current location, Izuku sped down the street heading towards his destination.
The agreed time of arrival was six-thirty pm. Izuku didn't want to be late so he left the house at a little past six. He was pretty sure he would make it on time.
Just as that thought entered his mind, an exclamation mark popped up on the map along with a series of loud explosions in the area to his right.
Izuku's bicycle gave a long screech when he sharply pulled the brake. He tapped the exclamation mark mentally and was astounded by the information he saw.
Quest alert!
[Main Quest: Killing All For One]
Description: All For One is the most dangerous villain in all of Japan and he is currently fighting All Might. Help All Might defeat All For One. If not, the future may be jeopardized.
Time Limit: 00:04:59
Reward: 10,000 EXP, 100 reputation points, The Punisher (skill)
Failure: All Might could die.
[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
Izuku was completely immobilized, shocked beyond belief and filled with uncertainty and dread.
Never in his two years of using Digitalization had he ever seen a main quest, or any quest that gave out a skill and ten-thousand EXP all at once! Not to mention such an ominous quest that actually encouraged him to k-k-kill someone. Sure villains were evil, b-but they didn't deserve to be killed!
Time was ticking and Izuku knew he had to come to a decision soon. Could he really kill someone? Did he have the capability of killing someone? He was just an eight-year old kid. What could he do!?
3:56…3:55…3:54…
B-but if he didn't do this, All Might could die! He may have spoken some harsh words to Izuku but he didn't deserve to die! No one did!
3:20…3:19…3:18…
But he had to choose! Either the villain die, or All Might die!
2:44…2:43…2:42…
And this may just be his short-cut to quickly reach level 10. If he let this opportunity slip, it would take at least a few months for him to level up and get his first quirk!
1:38…1:37…1:36…
The answer was obvious.
1:20…1:19…
Izuku accepted the quest and roughly manhandled his bicycle around the corner and into an alley that led him onto a path of total destruction. Debris and collapsed buildings blocked the road and Izuku was forced to jump off his bike and sprint his way across.
0:59…0:58…0:57…
"[Sprint lv 7] is activated. Remaining seconds 5…4…3…"
[Sprint] +1
Finally, after climbing over a flipped-over remains of a wrecked truck, Izuku saw a lone figure standing proud and tall on top of a pile of rubble in the distance. Two strands of blond hair barely sticking up on his forehead, a fantastic mix of red, blue, and yellow making his costume the most iconic uniform in Japan, and a tired frown straining his face… All Might was breathing heavily as he looked down at the suited man lying by his feet. He stood there for a couple seconds before turning his back towards the man and squeezing his eyes shut as if the sight pained him.
This scene should mean only one thing:
0:29…0:28…0:27…
All Might had won.
0:18…0:17…
So why…
0:14…0:13…
Why was the timer still going!?
0:11…0:10…
In the next second, faster than Izuku could track with his naked eye, the suited man sprung up and lunged towards All Might's back with a glowing hand.
0:08…0:07…
A sinister vortex of dark red colors swirling in his palm, he aimed that thing at All Might's exposed left side—
0:06…0:05…
Izuku had no time to think. He had to do something! But what!?
0:04…
His eyes landed on the first item he thought of and he yanked it out of his inventory.
0:03…
He hurled it towards the villain…
0:02…
But he underestimated his strength and the flash bomb dropped right by his feet.
0:01…
"Your luck has changed to 8 due to a decision you've just made."
It exploded on impact.
All Might's eyes glazed over as his rage slowly dissipated. It was then when he finally took in the damage they had caused around them and reality finally downed on him.
It was his first time truly wanting someone dead.
All those years he had spent enforcing justice and ensuring the peace of the city, and now he himself lost control of his emotions and went on a rampage. How was he any different from the villains and criminals? How would the citizens think if their Symbol of Peace, the number 1 hero everyone looked up to, had tried to kill someone? What about the kids who saw their personification of justice committing murder? They would think killing another human being was perfectly justified!
If there was anyone who should never kill someone, it should be All Might. He held too many influences over the citizens. People looked up to him and followed after his footsteps. One mishap could have an incredible amount of negative influence over the adolescents. All Might was a God, a Symbol, the pillar of justice who could do no wrong.
Yagi Toshinori, on the other hand, was a human who had no image he needed to maintain. He could make mistakes with less severe consequences. It was fine for him to let his emotions get the better of him, but that wasn't the case for All Might.
All Might turned his back to his fallen foe, unable to stare at the sight any longer. He couldn't be any more thankful that no one was around to witness him killing All For One, especially someone like…a child. All the other heroes who participated in Operation Avengers with him were either severely wounded and unconscious, or ambushing the convenience store. He had to quickly get them immediate medical attention, deal with All For One's corpse, and see how Shimura Tenko was doing—
A rustle. The sound of air being sucked into a vacuum.
All Might noticed too late. When he realized the targeted spot, the mad sphere of pure evil energy was inches away from his exposed left side—
Then a loud bang tore both of their attention away momentarily. And that one milli-second of distraction was all he needed to narrowly dodge the attack, grab All For One's arm, and thrust the evil energy directly into his unprepared abdomen.
The man only had the time to let out a single, choked noise before his body swirled with the crimson energy and got sucked inside the vortex, vanishing with a crack.
Time seemed to have stopped as blood flowed to his head and all he could hear was his heavy breathing and the abnormally fast beating of his heart. His hands still outstretched, fingers weakly grasping the air where that crack in space resided, All Might waited with bated breath as if expecting All For One to pop into existence with a deadly jump scare.
His breathing and heart rate slowly returned to normal. All Might withdrew his hand and clenched his fist, letting out a long sigh. He then turned to the source of the bang and froze on the spot.
There standing in midst of the dispelling cloud of dust was a very familiar boy with that almost as iconic as his design green fluffy hairdo and round and hopeful jaded eyes. As All Might watched the boy cough profusely while attempting to clear the dusts with his other arm covering his eyes, his inner was in turmoil.
Two years ago he had said some harsh words towards the kid when he first met him, telling him a quirkless person couldn't become a hero and should give up early. Yet, here he was now having his ass saved by the very boy of whom he had denied the dream. All Might didn't want the boy to get hurt during his pursue but if he told the boy the same thing now, he would just look like an asshole and a hypocrite for turning a blind eye to his achievement. But if he was to eat back his words and tell him to go for it, he would look like an idiot and lose all credibility.
All Might was still conflicted, but staying in this staring contest with the boy wouldn't do either. He had to thank the boy properly… and perhaps…apologize.
In one single leap, All Might landed in front of the boy, the tremor causing the rubble he had been standing on to collapse into one scattered heap.
"It appears that we have met again, young man." All Might greeted with a cheerful grin as if nothing was amiss.
"A-A-All Might!" The boy stuttered, just like he had when they first met, but something was different. The inundated admiration overflowing from his glistening eyes were greatly lessened.
He probably hates me now for ruining his dream… All Might grinned warily.
"I must thank you for what you have done. That stunt you just pulled have possibly saved my very life. However—" All Might bit his cheeks as he prepared his words. "What you just did was incredibly dangerous. You could have gotten yourself killed! Flash bombs aren't something to just wave around like a toy. Those may be the children's version, they're still a weapon nonetheless. When you hear the sound of a battle, it's not a good idea to go investigate, especially when you lack any quirk to protect yourself."
The smile faltered before it could fully emerge. The boy nodded, gazing downcast sullenly. "I'm sorry…"
That look shot through All Might, cracking his facade into bits and shedding him down until all that remained was the unbearable amount of guilt. All Might tried, "I'm not trying to chastise you. I'm just concerned for your safety. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Its fine, I understand, All Might. I'll be careful next time."
That smile the boy showed him was painful to see. The boy saved him, yet what did he receive? A flimsy thank you and a rebuke.
I have to thank him properly.
"I apologize if I seem too harsh, but I—"
"It's fine, really." The boy interrupted softly. "I understand how dangerous it is for a quirkless person to deal with villains and perform heroic acts. I've been in enough situations to realize that. I'll try to stay away from dangerous things and only be a hero when I know it's safe, but enough of that. All Might, what… What happened to that villain? Did you kill him?"
All Might opened his mouth but couldn't get any words out. 'No, I didn't kill him,' he wanted to say. 'Killing is bad after all,' he should be saying, but he just couldn't lie to the boy after everything else he had done to him. It wasn't like he could just say 'the villain ran away' either. The boy would be wondering why the hell was the Symbol of Peace chatting with him so casually instead of chasing after the villain.
All Might had no other choice but to tell the truth, that he, the personification of justice, just killed someone on his own accord. No need for excuses. Killing was killing. Nothing could glorify it. It didn't matter if it was for the sake of self-defense. At the end of the day, All Might had willingly plunged the vortex of energy into his opponent's body knowing the danger of it.
"Yes, I killed him."
The boy widened his eyes and his lips parted slightly as he let out an "Oh."
Silence drifted between the two as neither knew what to say. All Might stared at the boy. And the boy stared back.
"I know killing another human being is an awful thing to do, but sometimes it's inevitable. I may be the Symbol of Peace, but in the end I'm still a human. Yes, contrary to the public's belief, All Might is not a God. He's a human just like everyone else."
The boy gawked with his jaws slack as if his religion had just been deemed false.
"Humans make mistakes and I do, too. Humans have emotions and sometimes you can't help but let your feelings overrule your logic. Everyone are bound to have instances like that. If you don't, then you're not human; you're God." All Might sighed, "No one deserves to be killed no matter how much villainy they have committed. In the end, it all comes down to whether you believe their death would be beneficial or meaningless."
"And you killed him because —"
"This villain is called All For One. He has been around for generations causing mayhem in this country. Almost every single crime can somehow someway be traced back to him. He, is the mastermind behind everything. Bringing him down can greatly dwindle the crime rate." For the next part, All Might had to choose his words carefully. He envisioned Gran Torino lecturing him on this topic. What would he say?
"I have a personal grudge against him and during our fight I failed to keep my emotions in control and tried to kill him. That last attack he aimed at me was the last draw and before I realized, his existence has been erased from this world. I have done something horrible, but his death is definitely beneficial to this country. All For One has the power to steal others' quirks permanently. If he's locked up, he may have a quirk that allows him to escape and wreck more havoc. In the end, though cruel it may be, death is the best way to deal with him."
All Might finished fully expecting the boy to bear a look of betrayal. But during his explanation, the boy didn't show any signs of detest but instead had a look of understanding.
"I get what you mean, All Might. If you don't kill him, he would have killed you. And I'm sure the entire Japan would agree that it's beneficial for you to stay alive than him. I don't like saying this, but I'm glad he died."
"Y-Y-You… Really?" All Might spluttered. This reaction was not even close to what he expected. And he had come up with dozens of scenarios of how this talk would turn out.
"Yeah." The boy had a look of pure bliss as he smiled. "No matter what you do, to me you're still All Might, the Symbol of Peace. I won't ever lose faith in you. Plus, I don't think you necessarily did something wrong. After all, killing him can mean saving many innocent lives that might be lost otherwise in the future."
"T-thank you." All Might didn't know what else to say. "Thank you for being so understanding. Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for not hating me after the cruel things I've said to you. What's your name?"
"Midoriya Izuku."
"Young Midoriya, I can see you becoming a great hero."
"Really!?" Midoriya perked up.
"Yes, you have what many don't have: the ability to view things on a gray scale instead of the inborn black and white. You may not have a quirk, but the attitude you showed me just now is something only the best of the best heroes have. You are able to distinguish the gray area between good and bad. You understand that killing someone doesn't make you evil, when many pro heroes fail to understand that. Not all killers are bad guys, and your acceptance of that fact makes me believe that you have the potential to be an amazing hero."
"Y-you really believe me?"
"Yes, I do." All Might crouched before Midoriya and placed both hands onto his shoulders. His large hands barely fit on these tiny shoulder blades. "Midoriya Izuku, I have faith in you. So please, forget what I said the first time we met. I was being an idiot. Don't give up your dream. You have what it takes to do great things."
Midoriya's eyes watered but he tilted his head up to hold in the tears. After a moment of sniffling, he looked back down with tears all gone and brought him yellow backpack to the front. He rummaged around for a while then pulled out a notebook and a marker.
"All Might, can you write all that down along with an autograph please? I wanna remember those words forever!"
All Might accepted the notebook and marker with a low chuckle. After everything that happened, the boy still remained as a fan.
He took back his words.
Midoriya definitely had what it took to do great things.
AN: Chapter name is misleading huh? XD So finally All For One is dead. This bastard is such a pain to write I'm so glad he's gone. The rest of this arc will mainly focus on Shimura Tenko and the Todoroki family. In this story, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, which is revealed to be the name of the oldest Todoroki son in the newest chapter of the manga.
I'm currently on vacation with my family so I don't have much time to write. Expect the next chapter to take around two weeks.
Also the talk in the end boggled me a bit which also contributed to the late update. It's not so easy explaining to a kid how killing is like a knife, how whether it's good or bad totally depends on the situation without letting him get the wrong idea, and all the while making sure All Might stays in character.
Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter! New readers if you like what you've read please follow/fav (well considering you're 50k words in... I doubt you really hate this story lol). Returning readers if you've enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you think. Reviews always make me happy :3