Chapter 36

He gasped as he suddenly sat up in his bed.

Jason forgot how he got there to begin with, not to mention, how long he has been asleep for. Yet, as he woke he turned and saw his father waiting at his bedside. "Oh good, you're up!" he cheered.

He held his head oddly. "I… can't remember what I was doing before passing out…" he said offhandedly.

"Well…" His father said as he crossed his legs in the chair. "You had been up for nearly two days straight, hardly any sleep to say the least, you then sparred with your older brother, then took down a small ninja group who kidnapped your sister and your friends. You came back to spar with Garou but then passed out before you two could even get a match in."

He sat there rather dumbfounded. "I thought I was a lot stronger than that…" he muttered.

"Jason… how many times have you had your body repair itself? Loss of limbs, cut up, not to mention the battles you have done in such a short time?"

He never did think about it that much, after all. A lot happened within three days. "Oh…" he merely said.

His father however smiled to him, he gently patted the top of his head and said. "I know you have a lot to take in right now, but don't forget, you are still young, you have friends who wish to be with you as well. They can also help you greatly…"

Jason brushed his hand off the top of his head gently. "Dad… it's still a lot for me…"

Genus nodded. "I know, but please, do try to live your life as normally as you can. I know it's not the easiest thing to ask of you… I just beg of you to try."

He gave but a nod of his head, and then his stomach growled. "Oh… I haven't eaten in a while…"

"Come, let's get you fed."

They were silent as they walked to the cafeteria, however there was a commotion breaking out. "You shitting me on this! He really looks like THAT!"

"I know, some idol blow hard he is. He claims one has to be beautiful when dealing justice, that ain't pretty…"

Peering up to the TVs the breaking news was Amai Mask turning himself monstrous to save children from a falling building. When the rubble was lifted, he was revealed to be a horrid looking creature. Jason was silent as he saw the face of the monster Amai, but he also peered to his left and saw the man himself lingering against the wall in silence.

He couldn't understand why, but Jason wondered over to his side. "Hey… are… are you okay?" he asked gently.

A smile came from Amai. "You are one of the few people to ask me that… I am, thank you… huh… It's always those who are different that are more concerned with the person's well being than those who are considered… normal." He said.

Amai got himself off the wall as he walked into the fire as it was. "I do believe they are going to be displaying that for some time, no need to gawk," he said aloud.

The room went silent.

"You got some nerve!" scolded Heavy Tank Loincloth.

"Yeah! You claimed to be the ultimate hero and yet held back people from reaching S Class… that was it wasn't it. You didn't want any more heroes becoming S Class so they could beat you isn't it!" protested Blue Fire.

The heroes were ganging up on him. Amai stood there and took the abuse until Alley entered. "Amai, we got the press conference ready for tomorrow. All news outlets have been…" she paused as she peered up and saw the looks of anger in the eyes of the heroes. "What the hell is this?" she demanded.

"This asshole has been lying since day one! He's no hero!" protested Loincloth.

Alley stood there and glared at him. "Oh?" she asked. "What makes him not a hero? And please… be careful of your words and those who are within this very room who share similarities to Mr. Amai here." She said in a challenging voice.

Loincloth wasn't going to back down. Jason felt himself pulled back by his father who was now smiling. "Wait for it…" he whispered.

Loincloth dared to step up and stare down Alley. "He's been lying since the Heroes Association! He's only Class A Rank 1 because he hid his true self from the world. If they knew he really looked like that piece of shit on the TV… NO ONE would think he's a hero!"

Alley blinked. "I don't quite seeing your argument here. Sure he lied about his appearance, but his abilities… he didn't. Did he?" she asked. "Also, are you more bitter to the idea that Amai maintained his rank and prevented you from going into the S Class? Let me save you your argument on that, look at it this way… he SAVED your sorry ass from getting killed!"

This took the room aback. "Look at it like this. NONE OF YOU are capable of taking down a high demon to a level dragon threat on your own, can you?" she demanded.

"If we worked together…" muttered Blue Fire.

"But ON YOUR OWN" she stated. "I can. Everyone in my family can, you can't… Amai can since he can summon that power. He earned that rank. I agree that some of his practices were not fair to you. I get that completely, after all he was just as harsh on my brother Hunter as he was to all of you, maybe even more. But I will not stand and let someone's abilities be challenged because he LOOKS different to use them. That… or does my father need to come in here and beat some sense into all of you?" she asked. "Better still, I'll do it myself!"

The Heroes froze. Not one of them moved as she looked at them oddly. "And just like that, I've proven a point. You are terrified to go up against someone like me… You wouldn't have been ready for S Class. He saved your sorry asses, so despite not liking the guy, thank him later for it." Alley stated, she turned to Amai. "With me, we got a lot to talk about."

He nodded and left the room that moment with her.

"Whoa…" Jason whispered.

His father was smiling from ear to ear. "Indeed. The young woman knows how to command a room, also she knows what to say to ensure the message is loud and clear to everyone." The heroes looked rather upset to it all, especially Loincloth.

"Perhaps we ought to consider the Neo Heroes if we are going to be threatened like that…"

Jason shook his head as he turned to his father. "Let them figure it out themselves. Come, we need to get some food into you. You must be starving!"