Hey guys! Excuses excuses-blah-blah-blah. I took a long hiatus but I am back at the moment and I hope you all enjoy!
I own my characters and my plot, the rest belongs to MHA's owners.
Chapter 3
The fire zone's heat made Broil sigh with relief. For once he wasn't cold. For once he could let his jacket fall to the ground and bask in a heat that he hadn't made. A heat that wouldn't end with some self-aggrandizing prick in a cape beating him into the dirt for just trying to feel something other than the cold that filled the world around him. It wasn't his fault that the world was so flammable. It wasn't his fault he had to use his quirk just to feel something other than cold. Tomura realized that. He realized that and wanted to help him. Not beat him. Help him. His gaze flicked over to where one of the "heroes" was trying to reach Tomura and he grinned. The "hero" would learn soon enough why he and all of the rest of his kind were doomed to fail. With a laugh, he turned back to the always burning rubble around him and let his power free. The flames only grew around him as he strode through the rubble. Who knows...maybe one of the hero-lings might be worth saving, and if not then he would let it all burn.
Hunter felt his hackles rise even as his tongue hung from his mouth as he panted to try and cool himself despite the burning environment he had been thrown into. He dropped to all fours to get away from some of the smoke moments before several windows near him blew out and the temperature spiked rapidly. Quickly turning his scramble into a bounding stride, he made his way through the rubble as fast as possible to get away from the heat. A sudden opening in one of the buildings made for as good a shelter as he was going to get as well as a temporary relief from the heat. Fighting to get his panting under control, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. Burning buildings mingled and choked out almost all other scents and the smoke burned his nostrils.
But he was still sure that there was another scent. As the heat began to rise once again he held his breath and began to swivel his ears. Fires roared around him. Distant yells of classmates and villains faintly echoed. Buildings creaked and groaned. Something scuffed its foot on the broken glass where he had been before his panicked run. Then it laughed and the heat lowered slightly. Breathing in again, Hunter picked up the same scents again, though this time an acrid sweat scent was also mixed in. Whoever it was, they were definitely one of the villains attacking USJ. Before he could tell anymore the increasing smoke sent him to his knees coughing. The temperature dropped again slightly and was followed by a voice that tugged on the back of Hunter's memories. "You don't want to stay there. The smoke will only build in a place like that. Come on out little "hero", I don't want to hurt ya if I don't have to."
Suppressing the itch at the back of his throat that kept trying to force him to retch, Hunter ran through his options, only to growl in frustration at their absence. With a longer growl, he dropped to all fours before slowly exiting his hiding hole. The villain made no attempts to hide himself or attack and Hunter paused in the doorway as his appearance tugged again at his memory. Before he could figure out why the villain's grin turned to a wide smile, and he slapped his thigh. "Well, I'll be darned. Yamaoka's cub made it into U-fricken-A." He barked out a loud laugh. "Well kid, today's your lucky day! Any kid of Yamaoka's is a kid I know is smart enough to take a life-boat away from a sinking ship." Hunter's jaw dropped. His family had left that name behind after his father got out of prison. But he definitely remembered meeting this man.
The villain grinned at his reaction, snapping him out of his thoughts, and Hunter warily rose to his full height before taking a step closer to the villain. "Who are you?" He asked through a burning throat.
The man laughed again at the rasp in his voice. "You wouldn't remember me." He said in a mocking deep rasp of his own as if he thought Hunter's voice was intentional. He then held a hand by his knee. "After all, you were only this big last time I saw you. The day your father told me that he had turned his back on everything he was good at." The man gave a derisive snort that forced a growl from Hunter. He took a half step back subconsciously before laughing again. "That was good! Almost as good as your old man's!" The villain extended a hand and heat made the air shimmer around his hand. "My quirk was never as flashy, but your old man still had more than enough jobs for me." The tugs in the back of his mind stopped.
"Katco. The Broiler." Hunter's voice was cold and distant. His father only spoke of Katco when he was in a dark mood. "The Broiler" was one of the few things from his father's past that he never talked about more than a mere mention of his name.
Katco chuckled. "Just Broil now. Yakuza always did have a flair for the dramatic. Your father especially so." He slapped his leg again and muttered something before turning back to Hunter. "But that is the past between me and your old man. You and I should talk about your future. Your immediate future as well as your...well, future-future." The smile was gone as was the mirth in his voice, but Hunter definitely heard something in his voice as he took another step closer. "I know that if you are anything like your old man, that you'll go far in UA, you will! But that is the sinking boat I was talking about earlier. You grew up looking like that and that means you've seen exactly how well people take to the truly abnormal. You really think that will change just because you get a fancy license?" He took another step forward and Hunter felt himself shift into a more combative stance.
Katco stopped and raised his hands. "Easy there cub. I've seen how they treat those with different needs from theirs. And besides….they don't have too much longer anyways…." His tone dropped towards the end and Hunter felt his hackles start to rise when their eyes met again. "But you could have a very good future ahead of you. Ditch the hypocrites and come with me. Do what your old man would have done if your mom didn't steal the man's balls. Come see what you can do if you stopped holding yourself to their leash!" Katco's words rose to a crescendo and he roared the last few words. Hunter's pending refusal must have shown on his face cause the villain's shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh. When he finally looked at Hunter again, all emotion was gone from his face and words when he said "Then at least stand aside. I don't want to hurt the son of a friend, even a former friend, but I have new friends to help. Sit down until we are done here so I don't have to broil yo-"
Hunter's sudden roar cut him off and sent icy tendrils of fear down his spine. Almost instantly he realized that he had turned away from the roar subconsciously and spun back to face Hunter, right as a brick hurtled towards where his face had been before the spin. The boy had tried to use his olive branch against him?! A snarl covered his face as his gaze met that same defiant and superior gaze he had seen all of those years ago. "Yamaoka did you no credit by passing down his arrogance."
Hunter held his growl back at the mention of his father again. "My father showed me exactly what my gifts could do. Exactly what they should do." He grabbed another brick. "Allow me to show you what they can do!"
Hunter had never been burned before. Sure he had drunk coffee that was too hot for his extremely sensitive tongue, but one of the only perks towards being next to completely covered in a dense coat of fur was the fact that most things that could burn him couldn't reach his skin. But as his last brick melted mere inches from his target he felt the heat begin to blister his exposed nose and even the skin under his thick coat of fur. Turning his head away he fell to his knees and tried to cover his face as a mad cackling sounded behind him. The heat was still rising with every step Katco made towards him and Hunter's jaw ached from how hard it was clenched. Just a few more steps…..
"I tried to spare you this. I tried to reason with your father too. But you both just can't seem to see the big picture!" Katco fell into another fit of cackling as the bundle of fur winced more and more as he approached. He only stopped a few feet away as small tufts of fur caught fire. "I always wondered if that coat of yours was flammable. Your old man never seemed to worry about it but I guess anything can-" He trailed off as the ball of fur exploded into motion. Brown fur that was starting to catch fire spun in a wide circle…...swinging a metal beam. He turned and tried to heat up more, but the beam caught him in the arm with a crunch, and lifted him off the ground, and threw him into a wall. His world went black long before he could even cry out.
The beam fell from Hunter's seared fingers with a muted clang as the boy collapsed into the rubble. The bend in the metal from the sheer heat had worried him that it might not even be solid enough to serve his purpose, but as he looked across the ground to the other crumpled form on the ground he hoped it had mitigated the hit enough. His eyes wanted nothing more than to close and let his body finally rest but the sounds of battle still going forced him to his feet. All of his strength seemingly gone, Hunter dragged the cooling beam over to where Katco lay, and slowly rested the beam across the man's good arm. Despite the burned nerves in his fingers sending dull messages of heat from the beam, Katco's skin didn't even redden. Hunter knew it would have to be enough as he turned and jogged off.
He was still scanning for where he could help when All-Might shot through the door. The towering hero seemed to revitalize Hunter, and with renewed energy he fell back to all fours and bounded towards the entrance. A flash of pink caught his eye and he grinned. Mina was okay! Then he heard the rumble coming from one of the zones to his left. A villain was hurtling towards Mina and her group, metal arm extended, propelled by some form of rockets on his back. Now sprinting Hunter felt his vision go red as his legs and arms pounded into the ground. Mina turned and waved when she saw Hunter, almost missing the villain who had now decided on his target. Mina froze when she realized what was going to happen for only a moment. But it was one moment too many. Hunter launched himself at the villain at the same moment that Mina tried to create some kind of wall. Mina saw the metal fist go effortlessly through her attempted wall before everything went dark.
Mina awoke with a yawn, annoyedly trying to stop her alarm's incessant beeping. Her barely conscious fumbling was cut off by a chuckle and someone putting her hand back in her bed. A soft voice all but whispered "I would appreciate you not turning off my son's monitor." Suddenly memories rushed back and Mina snapped up to a sitting position before doubling over as her throbbing skull protested her movements. The woman's voice was soft but stern as she gently pushed Mina to lay back down. "Easy now you took quite a hit to the head."
Mina groaned as images flashed through her mind. The attack. The separation. The flying villain… Hunter! Her eyes shot back open. "Is everyone okay? Is Hunter-" Her attempts to get out of the bed were stopped once more by the woman's firm grip pushing her back down onto the bed. The woman's chuckle made Mina actually take a look at her and she paused. The woman's pale face and deep blue eyes were quirked in a small smile that reminded Mina of someone that she just couldn't quite place. Her long raven dark hair reminded her of Momo, as did the cool grace she carried her slim frame with. "My son is fine. His injuries were more severe than yours, but he should make a full recovery, or so I've been told."
Instantly the smile made sense. She had seen that smile on Hunter's muzzle often enough when they were alone to recognize it. Despite the massive amounts of differences between the woman and Hunter, Mina found it odd how similar they still managed to look. "You're Hunter's mom?" She hadn't meant to say it so much like a question but her aching head was processing things much slower than usual.
Hunter's mother found it amusing enough for another small laugh. "What, can't you see the resemblance?"
Mina wrinkled her nose before grinning. "You definitely gave him that sense of humor at the very least."
The woman gave a small sigh. "I tried my best but believe me, Miss Ashido, he took after his father's sense of humor far more than mine." They both gave a soft laugh at that before the woman snapped her fingers. "I completely forgot to tell you my name, despite knowing yours already, please forgive me Miss Ashido. You may call me Marina."
Mina paused at that. Hunter had never given her a family name, but it had never crossed her mind that he might not have one. "It's not a problem, Miss Marina. I'm just glad Hunter is okay." Marina's eyebrow quirked and Mina immediately realized how that had sounded. Before she could stammer out a clarification, however, Marina raised a hand to stop her.
"Relax. I know what you meant, and I know my son. Honestly…." She looked over to the other bed in the room and sighed. "Honestly, I'm just glad he has friends here." She turned back to face Mina before studying her for a long few moments. "He told me that he had told you about some of his past schools, right?" Mina gave her a sad smile as she nodded. "Then you understand." She gave her another once over before a look of what Mina thought might be approval crossed her face. "And I can only imagine you might understand some of that yourself."
Mina squirmed slightly at that. "Not...as much...but yes I do." She gave a small yawn as the two fell into silence and Marina put a hand on her shoulder.
"You need your rest, good night Miss Ashido." Mina nodded and as she closed her eyes she almost missed Marina's whispered "and thank you for being his friend."
So, yeah! I'm back at the moment and I am still trying to finish up my stories here. No idea how long my muse will last, but I really hope yall are enjoying this. I have big plans for this story and definitely for it's sequels and I hope you will all join me for the ride! As always please give me any feedback you have, good or bad, that is what keeps me going!