(Everyone gangsta until there's water droplets on the bench.
Bench: I will endure a thousand deaths before I yield.)
"This is 7 News Network and we bring you breaking news of a bank robbery downtown where the Musutafu Bank has just been struck by what is believed to be the most devastating heist in recent years." the news anchor on the TV says. "Only 20 minutes ago just before the lunch hour rush, a single man entered the bank building through the main doors posing as a paying customer. The intruder has been identified as Koru Yuki, a wanted young criminal who is responsible for the attack on Horikoshi Plaza less than a week ago. It is unknown why he stole the money, what his reasons behind the robbery were and exactly how much money was stolen from the bank. The police have updated his wanted status where they would like him apprehended with the large reward of 30,000,000 ¥."
The TV was turned as Archimedes pecked the blank TV screen; Dr. Kurutta gave an impressed smile after hearing the recent news. At that moment, several gym bags fell onto the floor behind him followed by Yuki floating down before landing on the ground.
"I must say I'm impressed with you, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta says as he turns around. "You took on the No. 1 Pro Hero yet again and came out triumphant. Unlike last time when you fought with him, you actually managed to knock him out and overpower him, even though he has a natural advantage to your own powers."
"I nearly died." Yuki informs. "I got lucky and thought quickly enough to maneuver out of the way while tricking him into thinking I was just blocking his attack. Next time I won't be so lucky. So as long as I have my condition and Endeavor is still alive, I will be hunted down more times than there are stars in the entire universe before eventually I will succumb to a brutal, fiery death. I have the money and now the ball is in your court now."
"Thank you a lot, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta says as he approaches the money bags. "This amount of money will definitely go pass the funding required for me to rebuild the chamber. If it wasn't for you and your villainous actions in stealing the enhanced control rods and stealing money to fund this project, you would never achieve your dream into becoming a human again."
"Yeah. Yeah." Yuki replies in an annoyed manner. "Just hurry up and start rebuilding already."
"Oh, I will." Dr. Kurutta bent down and grabbed a money bag, which proved to weigh more than he anticipated. "Umph! It's heavy!"
He used all of his strength to lift up the money bag and carry it back to his workshop table. As he did so, he accidentally knocked down a bunch of blueprints which were lying on his table. Yuki approaches the blueprints and started picking them up to put them back on the table. He suddenly stopped when one certain blueprint caught his eye. It was the blueprint for the demolecularization chamber.
He grabbed it and placed it on the table as he started examining it. He stared to scan the various measurements for the chamber along with the tools and the equipment that was needed to build it. However, one thing was off about the chamber. Under the list of equipment, "enhanced control rods" were missing. He checked the design for the chamber and noticed that it was lacking any control rods whatsoever.
He suddenly turned around to the broken demolecularization chamber behind him and started to scan it. To his sudden realization, he found out that the previous chamber had no control rods. Add to the fact that the blueprints lacked any control rods in general made the whole thing even more weird and suspicious.
Yuki's eyes suddenly lit up as a horrifying realization dawned on him. He grew a small scowl as he turned around to face the doctor, who was busy placing money on his workshop table.
"Dr. Kurutta." he says.
"Hmm?" the doctor asks as he continues taking money out of the bag.
"Exactly how much energy and the number of control rods would be needed for the control rods?" Yuki asks.
"About 30 control rods with each at maybe about… 32 psi." Dr. Kurutta lazily answers.
"The whole chamber would explode if you insert that many rods with that much power inside." Yuki informs.
Dr. Kurutta looked up as he stopped counting his money, realizing what had happened.
"The blueprints lack any control rods and by common observation, the chamber also lacks control rods."
Dr. Kurutta placed a wad of cash onto the counter.
"The enhanced control rods aren't for the chamber, isn't it?" Yuki asks, anger in his voice.
Dr. Kurutta sighs as he turns around, giving Yuki a smile.
"You know, I'll admit something I thought I would never admit." he says, still smiling. "You, Yuchi… are super smart… but you lack any common sense. Most likely from the very traumatic experiences you have… well, experienced, from the last few days. The accident. The plaza. Being a wanted criminal. The federal facility. Now the bank and having a fight with the No. 1 Pro Hero himself. Anyone would be lacking any rational thinking after so many traumatic events in the span of less than a week."
Yuki glared at Dr. Kurutta as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"The control rods aren't for the chamber. You're right about that, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta says. "They're for a special project that I've been planning for months. A new type of rock has been discovered on a meteor that was near Earth approximately six months ago. I managed to… 'appropriate' the rock from the government's grasp and now I have the rock to myself. The control rods are for a special piece of equipment that I built in order to sustain the amount of power needed for the experiment. The money on the other hand was true. It is for funding. I mean, after all, I'm doing this in secret. So secret that Mr. Tawagoto knows about it."
"You used me… to obtain your own goals?!" Yuki shouted, beyond angry.
"'Used' is such a relatively disgusting word. I would like to say…. No, yeah I did use you." Dr. Kurutta smiles.
Yuki's rage then boiled over inside of him as he shape shifted his hand into a spike and lunged himself forward at the doctor. Dr. Kurutta simply stood there, retaining the smile, as he pressed a button underneath his desk. At that moment, a tube shot up from the ground and contained Yuki, breaking the tip off of his spike onto the ground. Dr. Kurutta continued to stand in silence as he pressed another button on his desk.
At that moment, a large container started to slowly emerge from the ground, alerting Yuki from inside the tube. The large, square container was filled with nothing but water inside.
"That container is filled with super heated water at approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit." Dr. Kurutta explained. Yuki turned around to face the mad scientist, still retaining his glare. "This container shall immobilize your abilities while also still allowing you to retain your natural state, shape and form. As soon as I sent you off to that enhanced control rod mission, I immediately went to work on this little project of mine. You see, Yuchi, ever since I found out about you in the plaza, I have been mesmerized by your and abilities. So mesmerized… I want to examine you."
He suddenly pulled a lever from the table; at the moment, inside the tube, a fan started to spin rapidly above Yuki causing him to slowly disintegrate and get sucked up. Parts of his body started to get sucked in the super vacuum in the tube as he screamed before eventually his entire body got sucked through the tube. Dr. Kurutta turned to the container to see snow falling inside before it started to shape shift into Yuki himself. Inside the container, Yuki was idling floating inside with his eyes closed before slowly opening them. He tried to move his arms but the super heated water proved to be too much for his subzero temperatures. The only part he could actually move was his head and that was only to an extent.
"Don't even try to escape, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta says, still smiling. "I designed this containment unit specifically for you. You cannot do anything inside there. Once I'm done figuring out how you work and running multiple tests on you, I will report you to the Pro Heroes and be granted the large amount of money that is looming over your head."
Yuki was silent for a brief second. "I have money over my head?" he gurgles from inside the tank.
Dr. Kurutta shrugged in response. "Well, to be fair, they only announced it after the bank heist but still… money." Dr. Kurutta smiles. He pressed a button as the tank started to slowly lower itself back inside the floor. "I would love to continue chatting with you, Yuchi, but I have money to count and that project I mentioned to start with. I'll be with you to run experiments on you soon. See you soon."
Dr. Kurutta suddenly stopped and noticed the snow pile of snow that was broken off from Yuki's spike. He placed on a pair of gloves and grabbed the snow before placing it into a tube; he then stuck it in his pocket for further research as he continued to walk away from the tank of super heated water.
Inside the tank, Yuki could see a blurry version of Dr. Kurutta walking away as he glared at him.
The tank was now completely submerged inside the floor as the opening slowly closed up.
Akira Hikari was currently looking up at the giant electronic billboard on a building displaying the news report about the Musutafu Bank Robbery less than an hour ago. On the screen showed Koru Yuki's school picture along with the iconic photo taken of him during the Horikoshi Plaza incident.
"Can you believe it?" asks a voice next to her. She turned her head to see three teenagers standing next to each other: Denki Kaminari, Kyoka Jiro, and Eijiro Kirishima. "He actually defeated Endeavor." Kaminari says.
"Not only that be he seriously injured him as well." Jiro replies. "Did you hear about the injuries he sustained? Bruises all over his body and a few broken bones."
"Yeah, it's scary if you ask me." Kirishima says.
Akira continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as she paid attention to the billboard above her.
"The whole thing is uber scary." Kaminari adds. "This is the same kid we once saw at our school. He helped me with my classwork and now he's robbing banks and defeating Pro Heroes."
"I heard he robbed a federal facility as well and killed the leader of the Deadly Trio." Jiro adds.
"Tsuyoi Tatsumaki?!" Kirishima exclaims in surprise. "He died?!"
"Nooooo! He was one of my favorite former Pro Heroes as well!" Kaminari whined.
"Please tell me Gemstone and Bulldozer are alright."
"Bulldozer is fine but Gemstone had to go to the hospital to treat the severe case of frostbite she got when fighting Yuki." Jiro explains.
If she had to be honest, Hikari was somewhat impressed by Yuki's newfound abilities now.
"Man all this is just too much to take in." Kaminari says.
"Let's hope the Pro Heroes take down the kid and lock him up soon. I just wish I could get a chance and fight him! It isn't manly to take another person's life like that!" Kirishima exclaims in anger.
"We better get going." Jiro says as she starts to walk off. "Yaoyorozu and Midoriya are waiting for us."
"Is Bakugo coming, Kirishima?" Kaminari asks.
"I convinced him though it did take about two hours to do so." Kirishima says.
Hikari turned her head to see the three U.A. students walking off, unknowingly leaving her with information she was left out on. She took one last glance at the billboard before walking off in the opposite direction as the three students walked off from.
Hikari was currently sitting in a waiting room along with other guests as the whole room was in complete silence… save for some classical musical melodies playing on the speakers. The door suddenly opened as a woman with the face of a salamander entered the room with a clipboard in her hand.
"Akira Hikari." she calls out. Hikari stood up and walked towards the salamander lady. "Right this way. Dr. Hakimoto is waiting for you."
"Thank you." Hikari replies as she walks down the hallway.
She opened up a door as she stepped inside, which was revealed to be a therapist office with a couch, a table, and several comfy chairs. An middle aged old man with short black hair wearing rectangular glasses was sitting at her desk as she typed away on the computer, before he noticed Hikari standing at the doorway.
"Hikari." he says with a forced smile. "Thank you for taking the time of your day to visit me."
"It's no problem." Hikari replies. "But I thought we usually have our therapy sessions on Wednesdays. It's only Monday."
"That's actually why I wanted to talk to you while still continuing with our session." Dr. Hakimoto replies. "It's gonna be a shorter session by the way. You're my only patient available for today. Everyone else on my list have been removed."
"How come?" Hikari replies.
Dr. Hakimoto was silent for a brief moment before replying. "We'll get to that later." he says. "Anyway, how's it been since our last session a week ago? Anything new happen?"
Hikari closed the door as she walked over to the couch and sat on it. "A lot, doc." she replies. "You know that new villain in town."
"Horu… Kuki?" Dr. Hakimoto asks.
"Koru Yuki." Hikari corrects with annoyance in her tone.
"Yeah, him." Dr. Hakimoto says with a bored expression.
"Anyway," Hikari continues. "he was the same guy I met at the train station last month when I was coming to see you actually. He caught my eye and I saw the attack he made at the plaza a few days ago."
"A bunch of poor souls lost that day. Hope that son of a bitch gets arrested and never sees the light of day."
"How can you say that?" Hikari asks, confusing her therapist. "Yuki is a brave individual who stood up to the hero society! Didn't you hear what he said? He was Quirkless and he got in an accident that gave him those powers. He wanted help but no one gave him any. They just assumed he was a villain just because of some odd things he was doing. They judged him before they even got to know him! It's unfair!"
"Starting this session off with a bang, I see." Dr. Hakimoto quietly says to himself. "How do you explain the following attack?"
"Clearly a misunderstanding on the Pro Heroes' side. They mistook him for a villain, did not listen to him, and caused major destruction!"
"Correction: Yuki caused major destruction. From the damage reports, a total of eight buildings were heavily damaged in the attack, twenty-seven cars destroyed, the statue in the middle of the plaza, multiple electronic billboards, and approximately… 135 casualties in the attack. Most of which were people with Quirks. Approximately 63% of the casualties had Quirks. That's about 85 people… One of which was my cousin."
"Well if the Heroes just listened to him, I'm sure a different outcome would've happened." Hikari replies. "Anyways, that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to say that I admire Yuki's bravery and courage to stand up for himself. He inspired me to create Z.E.A.L.! You know what that is, right?!" she asks excitedly.
Dr. Hakimoto retained his stoic, deadpan expression. "No." he says in a monotone voice.
"It's the new group of Quirkless people that have all been inspired by Yuki's actions and are fighting to gain rights and respect from the world!" Hikari started to explain. "I founded the group because I was inspired by Yuki and gathered hundreds of people together to form this group. Z.E.A.L. stands for Zero Enhanced Abilities League. It means that all of us don't have Quirks and we are against them because of the negative effects they had on us."
"And what you said your goal was to gain respect and rights for the Quirkless?" Dr. Hakimoto asks.
"Exactly!" Hikari smiles. "That's all we want is just to be equal with everyone else and be given the same rights as those with Quirks. We're deemed useless to society, I mean, we're denied insurance and health care."
Dr. Hakimoto grew a slightly confused look as he cocked an eyebrow. "But if you said that they were denied insurance and health care and that everyone in the group you're leading has no Quirks… how are we talking?" he asks.
Hikari immediately shuts up as she realized her outburst. "Uh… Well… I-"
"Hikari, I'm gonna reveal something to you." Dr. Hakimoto says. "I talked to your mother and do you know what she said?" Hikari remains silent. "She said that you… have a Quirk… A Quirk by the name of Solar Energy. It's an Emitter class Quirk that allows you to absorb the sun's rays, somewhat like photosynthesis, and emit them in powerful energy beams through her knuckles… Does Z.E.A.L. know about this?"
"Well… No, they don't." Hikari says in a defeated tone.
"Hm-mm." Dr. Hakimoto replies, still retaining his stoic expression. He leaned back in his chair as he closed his eyes and sighed silently. He then opened up his eyes again as he looked at Hikari. "Have you been suppressing your Quirk, Hikari?"
Hikari was hesitant to answer before she finally gave in. "Yes, I have." she answers. "I have a good reason to. Ever since my little sister died, I hated Quirks and Pro Heroes. On that day I vowed to never activate my Quirk again because of it."
"Has it been difficult?" Dr. Hakimoto asks.
"Very."
"Hmm." The doctor then opened up his drawer and pulled out a file from inside and placed it on his desk. "In our last session, you mentioned an ideal world where everyone would be equal through a strict dictatorship as well as mentioned several vivid dreams where you meet your dead sister and that in the end, she dies the same way, over and over and over again. Are you still having them?" he asks, a glare from the sun bouncing off his glasses.
"Yes. That's right." Hikari answers.
"Now in my field of work, this usually means one thing. The reason why you're having these dreams is because the death of your sister still haunts you and that secretly, down below, you blame yourself for her death. Maybe you weren't quick enough or something. I don't know the situation to be honest but that's my conclusion at least."
"I'll tell you who's to blame for my sister's death. The Pro Heroes." she says with venom in her voice. "They say they want to protect and serve and yet that hero couldn't protect my sister from that villain! Those Pro Heroes out there are a bunch of hypocritical ass hats they go against their word and lie just to get fame and money! Yuki thinks the same as well!"
Dr. Hakimoto suddenly took off his glasses, still retaining his stoic yet calm expression. "Hikari," he suddenly says. "the way you talk about Yuki, who is a wanted villain might I add, makes me think that you're obsessed with him."
Hikari chuckled in response. "I'm not obsessed with him, doc." she replies. "I'm just sympathetic about him and his situation. I asked him to be the leader of our group but he said no, so that kind of ruined my day to be honest. Like I said, he inspired me to create Z.E.A.L. and fight for our rights."
"Yuki didn't do anything remotely close to fighting for his rights. I saw the footage and that green haired kid did try to coax him into calming down but everything went to hell after Death Arms attacked him. Just by general observation, it appeared that Yuki was really emotional at the time."
"But he still stood up for what was right. That's what I got inspired from it. He fought the heroes and got away! He's the next best thing since the League of Villains!"
For once, Dr. Hakimoto's stoic expression changed to one of disturbance. "Hikari… are you saying you… agree with the League of Villains?" he asks carefully.
"Anyone who stands up to the Pro Heroes earns my respect in my book." Hikari casually replies.
Dr. Hakimoto retained his disturbed expression before he leaned back in the chair, the leather crunching together as he did. For a moment, he was silent, before he chuckled to himself.
"For the fifty years I've worked as a therapist, I have seen numerous cases and patients and for once in my fifty career…" He suddenly looked up at Hikari. "I'm stumped on what to say." Hikari raised an eyebrow in response. "Hikari," he suddenly says. "how long have we had these sessions?"
"For about a year every once a week." Hikari replies.
"And in that year, I have seen a major development from you, Hikari… but not in the good sense. Over the course of the year, you have displayed multiple symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, persistent depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder." Hikari was silent after hearing the recent news with a shocked expression on her face. "The death of your sister and your delusions on a new world have caused you to become irrational and have a low insight on reality. You suppressing your Quirk is only damaging your body, both mentally and physically. Your obvious obsession with Yuki has poisoned your mind into thinking that he has no flaws and is somewhat like a God to you when obviously he's not, as well as agreeing to the League of Villains' goals into, what I assume is, destroying all of society. All of these factors have caused you to become, well… mentally unhealthy."
"I am not mentally unstable, doctor." Hikari says, anger in her voice as she stands up from the couch. "It's the world that's mentally unstable. How can everyone be so accepting to Quirks when all it's done is just make the world more horrible than it already was?! Why not accept those without Quirks or even Yuki for that matter! It isn't right, I tell you! Not right at all! It should work differently than this anarchist of a world! The world is… it's so mean."
"Hikari," Dr. Hakimoto breathes heavily. "we're done here."
"Fine then." Hikari replies in anger. "We'll discuss this in the next session."
"No, I mean… we're done." Dr. Hakimoto replies. "As in the company thinks that it's not right for a Quirkless person like myself to be a therapist for those with Quirks. They just don't see the connection between the two of us. Not you and I specifically, just me and Quirks in general. It's a new rule it just got passed recently which is why I kept this job for 50 years."
"What?" Hikari gasps.
"It's just how it is, Hikari. There's nothing I can really do but just accept it. My advice? Accept it as well. It's all you can do." Dr. Hakimoto stood up as he started to put his things away. "You know, throughout our sessions, I have agreed on one thing you just said." He then turned to Hikari and gave her a dead expression. "The world is mean… and it certainly doesn't give a crap about the Quirkless like me or your Z.E.A.L. buddies. Like I said, it's just how it is. I wish you luck in your future, Hikari."
Dr. Hakimoto got up from his seat as he exited the office, leaving Hikari alone to herself to think about the recent events that just occurred.
Dr. Kurutta was looking through a microscope as he was examining the small pile of snow he picked up from the ground earlier. Through the microscope, the snow appeared to be that of just regular snow, a bunch of snowflakes clumped up together. However, each of the snowflakes were similar to each other, which was odd since every snowflake is different than the next. Each of the snowflakes were radiating ice cold air around them with microscopic ice particles hovering over them.
He moved the microscope out of the way as he picked up the pile of snow with his gloves. He started sniffing it, sensing no strange smell in the air. He then stuck his tongue out as he slowly started to get closer to the snow; with each passing, suspenseful second, Dr. Kurutta's tongue got closer and closer to the snow. He knew full well what happens when bare skin touches Yuki's snow and yet he was still testing it on, on his tongue no less. His tongue eventually touched and the snow… and he instantly retracted it away from it.
However, he realized something was off. He licked the snow for less than a second again, and still nothing happened. He decided to be bold and just place the snow on his tongue for more than a second. However, his tongue remained intact and was not given frostbite, which was odd for him. He placed the snow onto the table as he took off his glove and grabbed said snow with his bare hands. However, nothing happened to his hand. Sure it was cold, but it was not subzero cold to the point where he would get frostbite. He tilted his hand slightly, causing the snow to fall onto the ground.
"Interesting." Dr. Kurutta whispers to himself. "When the snow gets dispersed from Yuki's body… it becomes regular snow, but yet it still retains his superpowered elements. Because they have lost contact with Yuki, their temperatures have been severely retarded to the point where it's just normal snow… I wonder."
He pressed a button on the table as the floor began to slowly open up; soon, the tank of super heated water started to slowly rise in the room. Inside the tank, Yuki was revealed to be still in the same position of where he was once before. He was still unable to move as his eyes were closed, feeling the super heated water around him flow all over his body. To him, it was like a warm shower, though it suppressed his abilities by a vast amount. He opened his eyes to see Dr. Kurutta staring at him from outside the tank, giving him a sadistic smile.
"You have been in a terrible accident, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta says. "You have been granted powers that surpass that of a Quirk. You have been granted numerous abilities all related to snow and freezing air. Your body temperature is at subzero levels and you are able to manipulate not only yourself but the snow around you. It's quite fascinating if you ask me."
He placed a finger on a touch pad and swiped it slowly upwards; a hologram suddenly appeared on the tank's glass next to Yuchi as a powerful microscope got lowered from the ceiling. The hologram then showed an image of numerous snowflakes, which were presumably Yuki's snowflakes.
"'Course you are, doc." Yuki says in an eerily calm tone. "That's your nature. You study and examine and destroy. You're no better than the person who runs this place."
"You are correct, Yuchi." Dr. Kurutta replies. "I am here to study you to figure out what you are and how your powers work and I will get results."
He then swiped his finger on the touch pad, which caused the temperature of the tank's super heated water. Upon the temperature increase, Yuki started growling as he felt the water around him get hotter and hotter as bubbles started to form at the top of the tank. Dr. Kurutta couldn't help but smile at Yuki's pain inside the tank.
"I always do." he says.
Yuki opened his eyes as he stared at Dr. Kurutta from inside the tank. "You do realize my powers rely on water, don't you?" he asks. "I've learned that I can absorb the water in the air to mass produce snow from any part of my body. If you happen to lower the temperature of this tank, I will use it to my advantage."
Dr. Kurutta chuckled some more as he raised the temperature of the water, prompting Yuki to groan and gargle in pain. The doctor then started controlling the super microscope to get a closer look at his snow particles; the microscope began scanning Yuki's entire body. Each of the snowflakes were similar to each other until the microscope came across one snowflake that was different than the rest. This snowflake was slightly larger than the rest and had a different shape than the rest. It also radiated more ice cold air and slightly large ice particles around it.
Dr. Kurutta grew a slightly surprised, yet excited, look on his face to discover a different snowflake. He pressed the button on the microscope as well as the tank, causing green substance to be spilled inside the tank. The green substance instantly connected with Yuki as it got absorbed into his body. As it did so, Yuki squirmed in slight discomfort; a new hologram showed up on the screen which showed Yuki's entire body, tracking his every movement. The microscope then began to scan the single different snowflake before a third hologram showed up on the screen.
"How interesting." Dr. Kurutta says. "You have been coated in a special liquid that not only tracks your movements but also scans every individual part of you. It appears that this single snowflake… contains your soul." Yuki slightly gasped at the sound of this. "Remarkable. You aren't made of snow… You are a single snowflake with subzero temperatures. You are able to command all the snow around you via mental communication with this snowflake. It acts as the queen bee of your body. My theory is that when you absorb the water in the air, the water is contained in this 'soul snowflake' and automatically freezes it to a certain degree while also poisoning it with it's unnatural subzero temperatures… thus you are able to produce snow… Very fascinating… Yuki."
Dr. Kurutta gave off a final sadistic smile as he raised the temperature of the water, harming Yuki inside as he growled and hissed in pain as bubbles started to form at the top. He pressed a button as the tank that Yuki was in started to slowly elevate down back into it's hidden chamber. Dr. Kurutta turned around and started to maliciously chuckle to himself as Archimedes flew over to him and perched on his shoulder. As he walked away, he continued to sadistically smile.
Hikari entered the Omnitech building as she walked through the metal detector, which detected nothing out of the ordinary, and continued her way towards the elevators. She stepped inside one of the elevators just as it was about to close.
~What floor please?~
"12." Hikari replies.
~Thank you.~
She silently stood in the elevator, waiting for her stop to arrive; as she rode in the elevator, she looked up at the miniature TV installed in the elevator, which was broadcasting the recent bank robbery that occurred that day. The elevator dinged as the doors suddenly opened, prompting her to walk out of the contraption.
She entered a room where she spotted two scientists at different desks.
"Dad?" Hikari calls out.
One of the doctors turned around and smiled at Hikari. "Hikari!" he calls out as he approaches her and gives her a bear hug. "How's your day going, sweetie?"
"It's going well, dad. Thanks for asking." Hikari replies.
The doctor turned to his colleague who in return turned to him. "Hey, Harou, you think you can give us a moment of privacy?" he asks.
"Of course, Dr. Watanabe." Harou replies as he steps out of the room.
"Thank you." Dr. Watanabe replies as he closes the door before locking it. He turned back to Hikari and gave her a serious expression. "I do not like that guy at all."
"So you've told me the past times I've come here, 'dad'." Hikari puts emphasis the word.
"You want the usual injection or the digestible serum this time?" Dr. Watanabe asks.
"Give me the usual injection, doctor." Hikari replies as she sits on a chair.
Dr. Watanabe approached a table and pulled out a needle and a small bottle of purple/pink liquid. "You know, I still don't understand why you want this Quirk Suppressant, Hikari." he says.
"I have my reasons." Hikari replies.
"The fact that no one has ever questioned me of my supposed 'daughter' is strangely scary to me." Dr. Watanabe says as he sucks out some liquid into the needle.
"Really?" Hikari asks in a bored tone. "Hey gossip around the work office? How's Miko doing with her baby?"
"She's doing well actually. She's on a 12 week maternity leave." Dr. Watanabe replies, finishing sucking out the liquid.
Dr. Watanabe handed Hikari the shot as she rolled up her sleeve. "Really? That's good for her." she says as she positions the shot over her arm.
"But that's not the biggest gossip I heard today. The head scientist of the technological department, Dr. Kurutta, told me that he captured Koru Yuki."
Hikari dropped the shot on the ground at the sound of the news. "What?" she asks as she quickly stands up.
"I know!" Dr. Watanabe happily exclaims, cleaning his hands in the sink. "It's amazing! Dr. Kurutta captured the most wanted villain in recent events! He wanted to do some lab studies on him and then report him to the police where he can earn that sweet 30,000,000 yen. I don't know if he's still doing tests on him or not or how long he wants to keep Yuki but he did promise he would split the money with me."
"Where's his lab?" Hikari asks.
"Below the first floor. The only way you can take it by elevator. Unless if it wasn't working then you would have to take the ridiculously long stair." The sound of a door opening and slamming shut was heard afterwards, startling the doctor as he turned around. "Hikari?" he calls out.
He was all alone in the room with the shot of the Quirk Suppressant still on the ground from where it was dropped.
The elevator stopped at the lab floor as it opened, revealing Hikari who stepped out. She immediately took in the sight of Dr. Kurutta's lab, noticing how messy and unorganized it was. She also noticed the destroyed demolecularization chamber off to the side but thought nothing of it. She looked everywhere trying to see where Yuki was but could not find him anywhere.
She turned her head to see a blueprint lying on a table; she walked over to the table and examined the blueprint. Said blueprint was revealed to be the same blueprint of the demolecularization chamber that turned Yuki into who he was now. She placed her hands on the edges of the blueprint, accidentally pushing a button on the table underneath it.
At that moment, the floor began to slowly open up, startling Hikari as she quickly turned around. The tank filled with the super heated water started to rise up onto the surface, slowly revealing Yuki who was still trapped inside. A smile started to slowly form on Hikari's face as she approached the tank containing Yuki.
Inside the security room, Mr. Tawagoto's personal bodyguard, Suzaki, was sitting in his chair as he observed the cameras. He turned his head to the Kurutta Labs camera and noticed Hikari on the camera.
"Get me Hayata Kurutta." he says to the radio on his shoulder.
"Hey." Hikari says, trying to grab Yuki's attention. Inside the tank, Yuki slowly opened his eyes to meet with Hikari's. "Remember me, Yuki?"
Yuki was silent for a brief second before replying. "You." he says in a whisper.
"What happened?" she asks.
Once again, Yuki was silent. "Everything." Was all Yuki said.
Initially, Hikari was confused by his short, vague answer before moving on. "Listen, I'm gonna get you out of here."
Yet a third moment of silence came from Yuki before his response. "Why?" he asks.
"Because you're obviously trapped in here and I'm gonna get you out." Hikari replies. "I don't like seeing you trapped in some container like a villain, Yuki. You're so much more than that. You're an inspiration."
"Bullshit." Yuki immediately says.
"Don't be like that, Yuki." Hikari replies. "You may not see it yourself but to us, you really are an inspiration. To me and to Z.E.A.L.."
For the fourth time, Yuki was silent as he continued to glare at her. "I should kill you." Yuki growls.
Hikari gave him a disappointed expression. "Come on." she says. "You don't want to do that, Yuki. I'm not your enemy. You know who your enemy is? The person who put you here. Dr. Kurutta." Yuki flinched at the sound of his name. "Not only that but those Pro Heroes are your enemy as well… And what about Midoriya?"
Yuki slowly opened his mouth as memories from his attack poured into his mind. "Midoriya." he spits out with venom.
Dr. Kurutta entered the security room where he was called into. "You called me, Suzaki?" he asks.
Suzaki pointed for the screen featuring his lab. "Do you know this girl?" he asks.
Dr. Kurutta took a look at the screen and widened his eyes. "No, I do not." he says. "Call security and get them down there ASAP. She is contaminating my work!"
Suzaki grabbed his radio on his shoulder. "Security, report to Kurutta Labs immediately." he ordered.
His security buddy pressed a button, which raised an alarm in the building, alerting many employees and guests.
Inside the lab, the alarm started to blare, scaring Hikari as she jumped at the sound.
"Why do you care about what I want in the first place?" Yuki asks from inside the tank.
"Because you and I have similar goals, Yuki." Hikari replies.
"Goals?" Yuki questions.
"Yes!" Hikari exclaims. "You were Quirkless and for that you were bullied and harassed because of it, I assume. You stood up to the hero society and for that, me and the many members at Z.E.A.L. idolize you."
"A security team will be coming down those elevators any second now." Yuki informs.
Immediately, Hikari fires a solar energy beam from her palms that she built up for years at the elevator. Instantly, the elevator blew up and got destroyed; Hikari turned her attention back to Yuki.
"You just want respect and recognition, right? Well I can give it to you."
"How can you possibly know what I want?" Yuki asks, still skeptical of her motives.
"Because I know what it's like to have a miserable life, Yuki." Hikari reasons. "You just want to be understood, to be respected, to have a friend. Well I'm offering my friendship to you. Join me and you will have so many friends and followers who all idolize you."
"How?"
"Because you inspired us to stand up to the world and not take anything from those with Quirks. You showed us what we're capable of and that we aren't just objects for the Quirks to use and throw away when they're bored or we get broken."
A number of security officers ran through the building of the first floor as they tapped the button to the elevator.
~I'm sorry. The elevator is currently unavailable.~
"Take the stairs!" shouted the head officer as he and his colleagues ran to the stairway door.
"Please, Yuki. I am begging you to lead us. We can't obtain our goals without you, Yuki. The world isn't taking us serious but with you as our leader, we will reach our goals and beyond. And then you can kill as many Pro Heroes as you want because they have brought nothing but misery to the both of us!"
"What did they do to you?" Yuki asks.
"They killed my sister, Yuki. My sister! I hate Pro Heroes because they went against what they stood up for! They don't care about us or the law! They just want fame and glory!"
The security team ran through the hall as they reached the doors to Kurutta Labs. One of the officers grabbed the handle and tried to open it, only to realize it was locked.
"Break the window!" ordered one of the guards.
One guard smashed the window of the door with their hand, causing the glass to shatter. Hikari snapped her head to see multiple guards messing with the door, sending her to a panic.
"Yuki, we don't have much time!" she pleads impatiently.
"Why do you want me so badly?" Yuki asks, still skeptical of her motives.
"Because you're our hero, Yuki! We need you! Z.E.A.L. needs you! You're their hero! You're MY hero!" she pleads some more.
Yuki was silent as a shocked expression took over his face. "I'm your hero?" he asks.
"Yes! Yes, you're my hero! You're everyone's hero! You're our only chance to get what we want." she shouts.
"I'm your hero?" Yuki repeats, still shocked at the last comment.
"Yes! You're my hero!" she shouts, having enough of Yuki's hesitation.
A guard opened the door and immediately made a dash towards her. Realizing she was going to get capture soon, she quickly scanned the touchpad of the tank and noticed that the temperature of the water was set to 336 degrees Fahrenheit. She quickly swiped her finger downward, immediately decreasing the temperature to 23 degrees. She was then suddenly grabbed by two guards as she got restrained by them. Yuki meanwhile started gasping as he felt the water around him get colder and colder with each second.
"You're my hero! Please! Please, Yuki! You're my hero!"
Hikari continued to beg as she started crying at this point while being restrained by the guards. Inside the tank, the water started to suddenly freeze and turn to snow. Dr. Kurutta entered the room and was too busy focusing on Hikari's arrest to even notice the tank full of snow.
"Please, Yuki! Please! I know what it's like to be treated like trash! Please! You're my hero! We need you, Yuki! Please!"
The tank suddenly exploded as snow immediately blanketed the ground; Dr. Kurutta instantly gasped as he turned around to run. However, at that moment, multiple spikes shot up from the ground, impaling all the guards into the room while freeing Hikari. Dr. Kurutta however received a fist made out of snow rather than a spike.
Hikari fell to the ground as she looked all around her as the spikes submerged into the snow. All around her were dead bodies of the security team, yet she didn't seem fazed by it at all. At that moment, a small blizzard started to spin around in an area before snow started to pile up on itself. Eventually, the snow turned into Yuki, who was now free from his super heated container.
Hikari smiled as Yuki looked all around him, feeling the nice air rather than the super heated water. He looked ahead of him to see Dr. Kurutta picking himself up; he glared at him as he propelled himself forward, jumping towards Dr. Kurutta as he grabbed him by the back collar of his lab coat. Dr. Kurutta whimpered as Yuki for extremely close to his face.
"Remember your nature?" Yuki maliciously asks. Dr. Kurutta whimpered in response. "You study… you examine… and then… you destroy."
He suddenly placed his hand over Dr. Kurutta's entire face, instantly giving him a severe case of frostbite. After five seconds of Yuki touching his bare skin, the doctor then started to slowly freeze as ice started to spread all over his body. Yuki retracted his hand as he backed up, watching his former torturer slowly freeze to death. Yuki turned around to face Hikari.
"I'm really your hero?" he asks.
Hikari smiles. "I thought you already knew. I want to help you, Yuki." she says.
"I had someone say they would help me… they lied to me." Yuki says with obvious venom in his voice.
"Same here. I guess we're both on the same boat, huh?" she asks rhetorically. "I promise you, Yuki, you will be granted all the respect and recognition you deserve when you lead Z.E.A.L.. You will be known by all. You want that, right?"
Yuki was silent for a brief moment, before smiling a little. "I've been a nobody all my life… it's time that I become a somebody." he says.
"Exactly." Hikari agrees. "Those Pro Heroes and the rest of the world won't know what hit them or who they messed with. Everyone will remember the name Koru Yuki and the fear it brings into people."
She went to reach out and pat his shoulder, only for Yuki to grab her arm, which was covered with her sleeve.
"Don't touch me with your bare skin… you'll get frostbite." he says to her.
"Frostbite." she repeats. "It has a ring to it. That's a nice name if you ask me."
Yuki smiled a bit afterwards. "Yeah," he agrees. "Frostbite sounds perfect."
"Would you like to lead Z.E.A.L. and bring a new order to the world, Frostbite?" she asks.
Yuki… Frostbite smiled maliciously in response. "It would be my pleasure." he says.
Hikari smiled as she and the now newly named Frostbite began to walk to the stairs. As they were walking, Frostbite tapped the frozen statue of Dr. Kurutta ever so slightly, causing it to rip and fall. It instantly shattered to many pieces upon impact, killing the sadistic doctor.
(Number of deaths in this chapter: 21
Overall Casualty Count: 162
Hikari is quick to stand up to Yuki and because of her hidden mental instability, she has developed an obsession over him where she secretly views her and Yuki as "lovers" and a "misunderstood couple". She views Yuki himself as her and Z.E.A.L. 's savior.
Yuki, who is even more mentally unstable than her, views her more as an annoying little sister rather than a lover.
Z.E.A.L. is made up of completely Quirkless people who are not all mentally unstable. Some are violent gang members while some are just misunderstood people who have been ridiculed their entire life because of their Quirkless state. What brings them all together is that they thank their founder, Hikari, for bringing them together and all idolize Yuki for his actions at the plaza. Though some are not as loyal as others.
Also, before you guys say anything, YES, Yuki's soul trapped in a snowflake is like Sandman's soul trapped in a grain of sand. I mean, they're both pretty similar so… why not I guess? I don't know.
KOKBYE!)
