Chapter 25 Shinsekai

Chapter Summary: Inko calls the police.

AN: 神気雷電 is the kanji for Kamiki Raiden: 神 god 気 energy 雷 lightning 電 electricity (Ironically, 神気 together means "compassion")

This chapter is inspired by the Korean manhwa "Bastard". Strongly recommend you all to check it out.

In the Kamiki household there was a forbidden room, secured with a dozen padlocks. Growing up, Raiden wasn't allowed to walk near it, let alone enter it. Whenever he asked, his father would tell him "I will tell you when you're older."

He was four when he found out what was hidden inside.

His father sometimes would often spend hours in the room after work. Once, he woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. While passing by his father's room, he noticed the door was ajar and the bed was empty.

There was only one place his father could be. Driven by curiosity, Raiden tiptoed to that room and as he expected, the padlocks were unlocked. He saw the doorknob turn and quickly dove behind the vase directly across the door.

When his father opened the door, the mystery finally revealed itself.

In the center of the room was a surgical table with a woman strapped onto it. She had blood and injuries all over her. A piece of black cloth was tied over her eyes and in her mouth was more cloth. Her stomach was cut open and seeing the way she thrashed and trembled it didn't take a genius to figure out she wasn't given any anesthetics.

His father was dissecting someone alive.

Shocked beyond belief, Raiden let out a gasp and was caught red-handed by his father.

He thought he was going to get killed, or dissected alive like that woman, but his father did none of that. Instead, he invited Raiden into the room and made him watch as the dissection continued.

"Why're you doing this?" Raiden had asked.

For the first time since he could remember, his father disclosed his past.

His father had been strangely fascinated with the act of cutting people apart since he was young. Every time he saw it in movies he would get excited. Just the thought of cutting through soft skin made him tremble in pleasure. He had experimented on animals but it just wasn't enough.

And so he became a forensic pathologist, someone who cut open corpses for examination purposes. He didn't want to become a criminal and that was the only way to cut people apart legally.

But soon he realized, it just wasn't the same. Cutting up dead bodies wasn't enough. The feel just wasn't there.

He needed a live body.

Working with the police department as a part of his daily job gave him insights to how the police operated. He was able to seize his first victim off of the street easily using that knowledge.

After his first live dissection, he became morbidly addicted to that pleasure and couldn't live without it. He began kidnapping more and more people off of the street, woman, man, old, young, he had tried them all. He never got caught. No one ever found out his secret, until now.

As he told his story, he gave Raiden a scalpel and guided him into slicing up her throat.

"Doesn't this feel great?" He had asked.

Raiden felt gross and sick, but he nodded nonetheless.

"These two are called the carotid arteries. They supply blood to the brain. Blood to the brain is like gasoline to cars. Without blood, your brain can't operate. By cutting them, you cut off circulation of the blood and thus killing your specimen."

The woman had stopped moving.

"See? She's dead." His father had then placed his gloved hands on Raiden's shoulder and leaned down to whisper next to his ears, "Which makes you the killer."

Raiden ended up staying awake the whole night thinking about what had just happened. He knew killing was a crime and in a society where justice triumphed and everyone supported heroes, homicide to this degree would for sure get you a life sentence or even execution. If others found out, even he, who was merely an accomplice, could go to jail. Raiden feared prisons. He would do anything to avoid it.

A few months later his quirk manifested. It was electricity. His father's quirk was shooting little bolts of electricity, yet Raiden could do that and cover his body with electricity. Upon the discovery, his father had told him, "The only reason why I was able to keep my secret for this long was because I stayed low. If you want to live, then remember this rule. Always have something up your sleeves. Don't ever let anyone find out your true power."

The next day they went to the Quirk Registration Office and Raiden's quirk was officially described as "being able to shoot out bolts of electricity," just like his father. He told no one that he could also cover his body with electricity and become a human stun gun, not even to his closest friends at school.

And so his life as his father's accomplice began. His father didn't let him touch the victims any more after that night, which Raiden was grateful for, and instead got him involved with abducting the victims. Raiden would investigate their target and find out their quirk. Once he knew the quirk wasn't harmful to them, he would lure the target away to his home and then shock them into unconsciousness.

Being a cute little boy had its advantages. All his targets would follow him willingly without any suspicion once they saw him crying and lost and desperate to find his parents.

Years flew by as this partnership continued and soon Raiden was eight. His father had just killed his last victim and had his eyes set on a cute, bubbly woman working at a bookstore. Her name was Inko according to her name tag. As always, Raiden had to lure her away and bring her to his house, which should be pretty easy considering her gullible nature.

The first day Raiden tried to kidnap her, he was followed by Bakugo Katsuki and had to stop. To be honest, he didn't hate Bakugo. He was just another arrogant kid who thought the world revolved around him. It had been fun shocking him in gym class and tormenting him together with his classmates. Being forced to participate in so many homicides, Raiden had become filled to the brink with negative emotions he was ready to unleash. And Bakugo just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As a class, they only planned to write insults on Bakugo's desk and insignificant things like that. But needing a target to vent, Raiden had gone out of his way to shock Bakugo and spread his nude photo. His friend Gamu had yelled at him afterwards, saying how he didn't plan to go this far and now he felt bad. But Raiden didn't care. It felt good tormenting someone else and he needed an outlet for his emotions.

After failing to kidnap Inko for two days in a row, his father was getting a little frustrated and ordered him to succeed on Monday otherwise he would see the consequences. It was his first time being threatened, and sensing the underlying fury in the voice, Raiden knew he had to succeed this time no matter what.

And so he wrote the note, lured Bakugo to the roof, and locked him there. He wasn't cruel enough to leave his classmate stranded on the roof on a rainy day, so he left the key at the end of the staircase, knowing a guard on patrol would notice it and rescue Bakugo. The note was made with water-soluble paper and would dissolve as soon as it got wet, so he didn't have to worry about it being used as an evidence against him. Bakugo didn't have a good reputation so no one would believe his words anyway.

After school, he went to the manga net-cafe and picked up a book to pretend he was reading. He waited for about fifteen minutes and finally, Inko got off work and began walking home.

He quickly left the cafe and trailed after her. Knowing her route home, he hid in a deserted alley and cried loudly when she walked past. He also purposely didn't bring an umbrella so he was soaking wet, adding on to her pity.

Hearing his voice, she immediately left the safe, crowded, main street and entered the secluded alley.

"Are you okay? Where're your parents?" She asked as soon as she reached him.

"I-I'm lost!" Raiden sobbed, hiding his face in his hands, his voice breaking.

"Oh no! Do you have a phone number? Or… Or an address?"

With a trembling hand, Raiden took out a slip of paper with his address on it but no phone number.

"How about I take you home? And then we can call your parents and tell them where you are."

Raiden nodded.

She held his hand and leaned the umbrella over heavily to shield him, despite how this gesture exposed her shoulder to the rain. Raiden felt a little touched. This lady would be a great hero, but she didn't have the quirk for it, or luck. She was going to die, painfully and miserably. It wasn't her fault. She was just unlucky.

Ironically, Raiden had the quirk to be a great hero, but he didn't have the heart and opportunity for it. His path was already sealed off.

When they reached his house which was located in an isolated part of the town where many security cameras didn't work, or seemed like they worked but in reality they didn't (according to his father), Raiden unlocked the door and allowed her inside. He let her step in first then he shut the door and raised his hands, ready to shock her into unconsciousness.

"You know, I have a son your age." She suddenly said, making him pause. "I just couldn't leave you alone after thinking of him being lost. I'm sure he would want someone to help him, too."

"Oh, okay," Raiden mumbled. Useless information. He couldn't care less if she had a son.

Sparks of electricity danced across his fingers, ready to be shot towards the poor woman. But before they could, Inko's next word made him freeze on the spot.

"His name is Midoriya Izuku. Maybe you even know him?"

Midoriya... Izuku?

This woman is… his mother!?

All of his plans was thrown out of the window as his mind was filled with only one thought.

Holy shit.

The second rule his father told him was to never target someone near you, knew you, or related to someone near you and or knew you. This way, you wouldn't be noted during the investigation, saving you from a lot of trouble in the future.

Raiden didn't know what to do. Should he let her go? But he had already gotten in contact with her. According to his father, he should never let go of his target once he had his eyes set on them. A good predator wouldn't change their mind. Even if the target become too difficult to prey on, they would overcome the challenge and capture their prey. They would never back down.

Before he could come to a decision, his father came down the stairs, expecting him to have already shocked her unconscious.

Inko looked up at him in surprise.

"Ah! I apologize for intruding, but I found your son lost on the streets and it was raining I just couldn't leave him alone. So I brought him home."

Father's eyes were clouded in anger and confusion.

"Raiden, what are you doing still standing there?" He questioned, completely ignoring Inko's explanation.

At this point, Raiden only had one choice. If he explained the situation to his father, even if he would let her go due to her being Izuku's mom, he couldn't because she would have heard the conversation and become suspicious. If he didn't explain, he would have to shock her. Either way, Inko was destined to become his father's playtoy in the end.

"Raiden," his father warned again. "If you're not going to do it, then I will."

Father raised his hands, ready to shoot out bolts of electricity. His quirk only allowed him to control electricity current that was higher than 1000mA, which could kill someone instantly.

Raiden didn't want Midoriya Inko to die, not only because he genuinely considered Izuku as a friend, but also because of the two rules. If she died, the police would investigate him for sure, and that wouldn't end well. He had to stop his father.

"Wait father—!"

Bolts of electricity shot out of his father's hands but before they could touch Inko, Raiden pushed her out of the way and shot his own bolts of electricity at his father hoping to stop him. In a moment of desperation, he didn't stop to think and instead released as much volts as he could physically endure.

1,000,000 volts!

His own electricity combined with his father's zipped through the air and hit his father right in the head.

His father convulsed violently, bright yellow electricity flashing all over his body and smoke seeping out of his blistered skin. His eyes rolled back and white foam seeped out of his mouth before he slumped onto the ground, charred black and dead.

Raiden fell onto his knees, his hands shaking with some residue currents, but mainly due to consternation. Inko was next to him, having fallen against the wall. She stared at the scene in horror, wide eyes darting between the corpse and Raiden before she screamed.

That snapped Raiden out of his trance. His mind spinning with possibilities, he yanked Inko's arm and pushed her towards the door.

"Run!" He yelled.

She stood there, still stupefied, before coming to her senses and running for her life.

Raiden slammed the door shut and took in the scene.

She was definitely going to call the police. And then they would find out everything and Raiden would get arrested for multiple crimes and go to prison or maybe even executed. Raiden had willingly become an accomplice to his father for all these years solely because he was terrified of prison. Due to the existence of quirks, prisons were also upgraded so even those villains with the most terrifying and invincible quirks would be thrown around like a lab animal. Raiden didn't want to go to prison, and he would do anything to not go there.

Killing off Midoriya Inko was a no go.

So he quickly gathered everything he needed: a bag full of living necessities and important documents, a wad of cash from his father's wallet, a few volumes of manga, a bag of candies, and his piggy bank; his hand hesitated above his All Might figurine before dropping back down. Stuffing all that in his backpack, he then gathered rubbing alcohol amongst many other flasks of chemical liquid from the torture room and spilled them all over the house. Standing outside the door, he threw a lit up match into the house and sprinted away, just in time for the house to explode.

The moment he turned around a corner, he heard sirens heading towards his aflame house from the other direction.

He continued running with no destination in mind. He just picked the isolated alleys and kept running until he either run out of breath or found a good hiding spot, whichever come first.

As he dashed around another corner, he clashed into a figure who was also making the turn. Raiden quickly stuttered out an apology before picking himself up and running away… but was halted when the figure grabbed onto him.

"Why the hurry?" Came a rough voice. It sounded laid back and calm, but there was an authoritative tone to it that demanded Raiden to lay down his life story.

Cautiously, Raiden turned around and studied the owner of the hand that was still grabbing onto his shoulder.

He was a middle-aged man with gray hair, a tiny mustache, goatee, and a missing front tooth. He wore a pair of gray, round glasses, a white button-up shirt, and had a cigarette dangling between his lips. His eyebrows were tilted down, making him look like he was frowning, but he was also smiling...

Raiden shook off the hand and chose to stare at the cigarette instead.

"Who are you?"

"Before asking for someone's name, isn't it common sense to introduce yourself first?" The suspicious man didn't look offended that his hand was shook off. Instead, he placed it in his pockets and inhaled deeply on his cigarette.

"It's also common sense to not talk to strangers," Raiden disputed but didn't walk away. He had just killed his father, burned down his house, and was now on the run from the police. He wasn't afraid of some stranger. Plus, his quirk was powerful enough to help him escape whenever he wanted.

The man choked and coughed out smoke. With tears prickling his eyes, he laughed. "You're a funny one alright. You can call me Giran. Now, may I have your name?"

"Kamiki Raiden," Raiden grumbled.

"And I assume you're running away from home?"

"How did you—"

"You also smell like you've just played with fire. I heard sirens a while ago and even from here you can see the smoke in the air. Look."

Raiden followed Giran's gaze and his heart sank when he saw very visible smoke in the sky coming from the direction of his house.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. You just burned down your house and ran away. People purposely burn down their house for three reasons. One, they want the insurance money. Two, they want to get away from something. Or three, they have something to hide or destroy, like evidence or a dead body. A little kid like you makes me think it's two, but your defensive behavior also makes me think it's three. So which is it? Raiden-kun?"

Raiden forced his gaze not to waver as he maintained eye contact, his hands clasping tightly around his shoulder straps.

"Fine." He sighed and released his grip. "I'll tell you."

"Hmm. I see, so that's what happened," Giran mumbled, nodding along.

They were sitting in the shadows under a bridge. Leaving with no choice, Raiden had told him everything. If this man had ill intention, he would just fry his brain with electricity, erasing his memories of their encounter. If this man was willing to help him, then why not give it a try? Raiden had no other options anyway.

"That surely is tragic, having a father like that. I'd say he deserves to be killed."

Raiden remained silent. The way this man sounded… almost as if he was supportive of murder.

Maybe he can help me.

"So, what are your plans for the future?"

Raiden pondered for a moment before replying. "When I was younger, I wanted to be a hero just like everyone else. But ever since finding out my father's secret, I've thrown that dream away. And now after everything that's happened, there's no way I can become a hero. I was thinking of running away and hiding… for the rest of my life."

Giran had this weird, indescribable smile on his face when he heard Raiden's response.

"What if I tell you that you can still be a hero?"

That got Raiden's attention.

"What? How!?"

Giran took out a business card from inside his wallet, handing it to him.

"Let me introduce myself."

It had a simple design, white background with black texts that said:

Giran
Manager of Shinsekai Charity Organization
Phone number: 70-3248-1412

"I work for the Shinsekai Charity Organization. And I can help you get a new life."

"B-But…" Raiden couldn't wrap his head around this. Charity? But didn't Shinsekai only deal with victims of disasters and villain attacks? "I'm a criminal and a runaway! Why… Why would you help me?"

"That is where you're wrong." Giran chuckled, leaning back against the wall and pulling out a cigarette before eyeing Raiden and putting it back. Apparently, he was kind enough not to smoke in front of a child. "We tell the public that we're a Charity who only helps victims of villain attacks and disasters, but that's not completely true. That's what everyone thinks a victim is, but in reality, victim can also mean someone like you who're forced to commit crimes. But in today's society, no one cares about your kind of victims. It doesn't matter why you killed, or kidnapped, or burned down your house. If you've committed a crime, you're a villain and you deserve to be defeated by heroes and go to jail."

He breathed in heavily and continued. "Heroes don't care either. Most heroes are only heroes for fame and fortune. They couldn't care less about the actual victims who need saving. Especially victims like you. They wouldn't risk their reputation and career to stand up for a questionable victim who had killed before. And that's where we come in. We're a Charity Organization that provides aid to all victims. In other words, we are the heroes for the villains. Even if you have killed before, if you're repenting and want a second chance of life but the public and law enforcement refused to grant you, we will step in and help you."

"What if you get caught?"

Giran barked out a laugh. "We have our ways to not get caught. How do you think we have avoided detection for so long?" He exhaled deeply and adjusted his posture so he was facing Raiden. "So what do you think, kid? Do you want our help or no? Do you want to start a new life with a clean slate with no one knowing your past and crimes? Do you want to live?"

The answer was obvious.

"Yes, I do."

Afterwards, Giran brought him to a hotel owned by Shinsekai. Victims who lost their homes due to a disaster would be given a room in this hotel for free until they could support themselves. The Even numbered floors were for them while the Odd numbered floors were for the questionable victims like Raiden.

They entered the hotel through a secret entrance and went directly to the entertainment area designed for the Odds. There, Giran introduced him to the Odd staffs who helped him with his disguise. He first took a shower and enjoyed his time in an indoor hot spring. Then, wearing a bathrobe, he wolfed down a cheeseburger while a staff member cut and dyed his hair and Giran looked over his personal documentations.

"You said you can shoot out electricity as well as cover yourself with it?"

Raiden slurped a can of coke with a content grin. "Yup. But I'm officially registered as the former."

"Perfect." Giran flicked the document. "We will register your new quirk as the latter. And from now on, you will be Kaminari Denki."

By now, the Odd staff lady was done styling his hair. Raiden spun around and almost fell off of his chair in shock when he saw his reflection in the mirror. His shoulder-length black hair was now cut short and dyed blond with a black lightning bolt-shaped highlight, complementing his gold eyes nicely. It was a simple disguise but just enough to conceal his identity.

Kaminari Denki... That's my new name.

AN: The first antagonists (yes, they're the bad guys) of this story finally make their appearance! Took them (me) long enough!

Read a post today about how readers are afraid to leave constructive criticisms in case the author doesn't like them, so I thought I should say it now: All construction criticisms are welcome. I write for fun and to be a better writer. Please help me improve. Especially considering English isn't my native language, there are a lot more things I need to learn about this foreign language.

The other day a reader (ShotgunWilly) left me a constructive criticism saying I need to work on the pacing of this story because the plot is dragging a bit, and I definitely agree. When I planned this fic, I planned to get to the sports festival around chapter 20. But considering this is my first 100k+ story (and my first long fic that I didn't discontinue and give up on), I obviously messed up. Thanks to this reader, I noticed the severity of the pacing problem and I've tried to fix it in this chapter (not dragging it out but getting to the point).

So don't hesitate to tell me what I need to improve on. This will help me realize my mistake and provide you guys with a better story. It's a win-win :)

Next up: Chapter 26 Encounter

It will mark the end of this Bakugo arc and after that we'll have a timeskip.

As always, don't forget to review/fav/follow if you haven't done so already! See you next time!