The Hunter's Pup.
Chapter Two: Martial Arts.
Kayama couldn't leave her baby boy behind. He was a very smart boy, but shy, almost cripplingly shy. His eyes looked up at her as the pair went to her agency. Ever since Garo dropped him off he stuck to her side like glue and would cry if she left. He walked happily along, his hand gripping her's tight.
Fenri Fact One: He gets attached.
Kayama wondered how Garo could leave this little guy behind. One time she went out and Fenri almost bowled her over when she got back, bawling his cute little eyes out. He held on for the rest of the night. He'd tell her a lot of things about Garo. How he'd beat up 'Bad Guys' and the 'Bad Guys' were other heroes. He pointed at one of them, a picture of Enji Todoroki.
"He said that's his next bad guy, he's one of the strongest, and Dad's after him," Fenri said, drawing something with crayons, it was a picture of Garo beating up another guy with a bunch of blades.
"Fenri, sweetie, what's that?" Kayama asked, pointing at the guy with the blades.
"Oh! That's a guy that was cramping Dad's style, so he beat 'im up!" Fenri explained, "Dad taught me how to fight like him, it hurt, but it was fun! I wanna be cool like him one day!" he chirped.
Kayama's smile was strained, a cold sweat broke out on her neck. She remembered once when Garo let loose. When he first showed up, he fought the villains around her, injured and still fighting? What even was he? She imagined Fenri looking like his father, bloodstained and beaten, gasping heavily and holding a bloodied hero. She shuddered.
"Mommy? Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, Fenri, I'm fine," she assured. Fenri shrugged, smiling.
"Okay then!" he conceded. Kayama had to make a few calls. Fenri turned on the TV and the anchor said.
"The rapid rise of hero casualties is tied to the mysterious efforts of a man they can only describe as a monster. No one knows his name, but they do know that he... What?! This just in! The Hell Flame Hero: Endeavor just engaged a man matching the reports of the other heroes who faced him!"
They cut to a live feed of a helicopter camera capturing the stand-off.
"Mommy! Mommy! Dad's on TV!" Fenri yelled in joy, "Kick his flaming butt, Dad!"
Kayama dropped her phone and sat anxiously next to her son, it wasn't time for her sidekicks to come in yet, but... she held her son, worried for Garo. What's going to happen? He's the number two hero in the country, and Garo's impossibly strong...
It could go either way. Or be a slaughter for Endeavor...
Garo skidded back, his feet smoking from the heat of the skid. He never expected an ambush. He felt his skin burn. The man before him was his target! How lucky! The man was towering over him, his blue eyes burning holes into Garo. He was muscular and tall, his face covered by flames. His eyes narrowed.
"Huh, so you're the Hero Hunter?" he asked.
"Yeah, you gotta be Endeavor, right? Mr. Big Bad Number Two? Kaha! I got a big one!" Garo cheered, wiping the sweat and slight blood off his face. He hated these heroes just like the ones back where he came from, obsessed with rank and status, not caring if the villains had families or normal lives. Having Kayama and Fenri around taught him that people who support you are important.
He wasn't just doing this to unite society anymore, but to teach it a powerful lesson. He saw the helicopter fly in and grinned.
"Looks like we got an audience," he commented.
"Then I'll burn you to ash, HERO HUNTER!" Endeavor roared.
They clashed, with Garo dodging most of Endeavor's overly wide blows and spurts of flame. He focused, not wanting to use that old geezer's style, but he had to if he wanted to close the gap quickly. His fist flowed into Endeavor's gut, sending him flying back. Garo closed the distance, kicking Endeavor to the far wall, Endeavor skidded on his feet.
'Impossible! That's not a quirk!' he thought, feeling a tap on his shoulder.
"Oi oi, you just gonna stand there gawkin'? You're gonna fight me, right?" Garo teased, Endeavor answered by driving his fist into Garo's face, but he just barely dodged both parts, both the fist and the flame. He flipped back, his eyes focused on Endeavor's next move. Endeavor's flames started to turn blue. Garo smirked, this was getting fun!
He was having so much fun backing this piece of shit into a corner! He raised his hands in his signature stance. He smiled, his eyes twinkling. Yet, Endeavor burned out, and his eyes closed.
"He's... out cold? Aw, dammit! I wanted to have a lil' more fun with 'im..." Garou pouted. He turned away. Endeavor reignited, blasting Garo with twin jets of blue flame. Garo whisked them back, his stance back up, while he was busy, Endeavor put all his force into one blow, sending it smashing into Garo's face.
"Get up, Dad! C'mon! You were doing so well!" Fenri yelled at the screen, almost manhandling it. He then saw Endeavor check if he was still awake. The look on his face was enough to tell the kid that his Dad lost. That disgusting grin of pride made Fenri sick. His dad wasn't holding back. His dad was strong, unbeatable! Kayama saw her son break down in front of her.
"Dad... lost...?" he sniffed.
"Wait! No! The Hero Hunter's back up!"
"DAD!" Fenri squealed, "Oh! Endeavor messed up now! Dad never loses! Get 'im, Dad!"
Garo rose, "One hell of a punch, Hot n' Ready... but I'm made of stronger stuff than you... an' I got a kid to get home to!" he growled, charging, he pounced on Endeavor, his fists flowing into his chest, he used the comment about Fenri to further confuse Endeavor. He slammed his fists viciously into Endeavor over and over. The air around him tearing into the flames, extinguishing them.
He brutally continued his beatdown, his smile wide. There was no greater high!
"NO HERO CAN BEAT ME! NO HERO! NO MONSTER! I AM GARO! THE HERO HUNTER!" Garo declared, howling it into the sky, stalking over Endeavor's limp form. He walked away, the people in the studio and the helicopter silent in disbelief. Not even tracking him. Garo strode down the street, he was a little singed, but still strong. Who'd his next target be? Maybe he should lay low for a while?
No. He'd put Fenri and Kayama in harm's way if he were to come back. He wanted to become the strongest to change the world. His son was precious to him. Even if he wouldn't admit it. His son's mother was too. He wanted to make the world a better place for them. This world was divided, between the 'quirky' and the 'quirkless'. His son had one, effortlessly ingrained in his fighting style.
Yet... Fenri never once used it separate from Fist of Flowing Water, Crushed Rock. Garo never taught him that, either. He walked alone, seeing Kayama's cozy little house pass him by, he once thought that he could live a normal life here. But the same tragedy played out. No matter what, his son would lose. He saw the light upstairs on.
What was Fenri doing up this late? Garo swung up to the sill, his feet landing quietly on the roof tile, seeing Kayama tucking Fenri in. He smiled, he made the right call. He knelt on the tile, watching her leave and watching over his son.
'Fenri. You're gonna carry on my name, I hope today was a good example, brat!' he thought. Fenri was asleep and Garo left. Endeavor was easily at the edge of S-class. Garo had to concede that. But... the biggest hero, the best hero, was a man of myth. All Might. He was the microcosm of all Garo hated about heroes. Yet he still wanted to stay back and raise his son. His desire for belonging, his desire to fight on for his dream, both battled inside him. His desire to finally settle down and raise his son, the primal instinct of hunting.
Garo punched the wall, cracking it, his eyes closing. 'You're soft now! Fuck! We made a mistake!' he thought. Garo slumped, his body giving out. The night clouded up, and slumped in the rain was the Hero Hunter, at rest. Blood and rain fell off his body.
"What?! You never told us you had a son!" A blond-haired man gasped, the black-haired man next to him nodded. The blond was loud. Fenri didn't like him, but he liked the black-haired man. The black-haired man was blunt and short, his tired eyes focused on Fenri, who was outside training.
"So... who's the dad?" the black-haired man, Shouta Aizawa, otherwise known as Eraserhead, asked.
Kayama grew sheepish, taking Aizawa aside so the other man couldn't hear. The other man, Yamada Hizashi, was a blabbermouth. Even worse than a few of the other heroes they knew.
"He's the Hero Hunter's son," she said.
"What?! Kayama, don't you realize he's dangerous?" Aizawa hissed.
"I never knew he'd turn Endeavor into a goddamn bloody pulp! Fenri's close with his dad, sometimes he doesn't listen to me. He worries me sometimes... he's a little boy obsessed with fighting heroes... I'm pretty sure I'm the only exception," she sighed.
"It's clear, we need to get him outta here, far away from his father," Aizawa reasoned, Kayama shook her head.
"No, Garo's going to get worse if we do that, he never stops..." she sighed.
Fenri came inside, running over to Kayama and hugging her, "I made a new move! It's so cool!" he exclaimed.
"Oh yeah?" Kayama asked, kneeling.
"Uh-huh! Dad's gonna be so psyched to see it! When's he coming back?" Fenri asked Kayama hugged her son gently.
"I don't know, sweetie..." she sighed.
"Mommy, Dad always comes back," he reasoned cryptically. Kayama shuddered a little. She didn't like the sound of that. She was scared of what Garo was becoming, a far cry from the man she nursed back to health and fell for. Seeing Endeavor getting brutally beaten down was frightening, but still, it was karma. The man was an asshole.
Still, she didn't want to see her baby boy go down the same road. He was so much like his father. She didn't want to see him behind bars. He was special to her. The only remnants of the Garo she used to know. All in a cute, silver-haired and blue-eyed package. She held him, his face buried into her shoulder, she started to cry. She remembered getting the news.
She remembered Garo's smile, how happy he was when she told him that she was carrying Fenri. Then the night he took him. Now he was back. Her little piece of the man she loved. Innocently talking with Aizawa about how he wanted to be cool like his father. Ignoring her cries, keeping a smile on his thin face. She had to stay strong. Not just for herself.
But for her son.
Fenri never understood how much his parents loved him. Garo never meant his path for anyone. He only knew that he wanted his son to carry on the styles he was taught. Garo loved Fenri and was as concerned about him becoming exactly like him as Kayama was. That's why he took him back to her. He knew Fenri was about to go down a bad road if he continued to be around him.
Yet, was it too late? Only time will tell...