Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 158:
Hazano Worrod walked out of his classroom, and half the class got out of their seats to move around in the time between periods before their next teacher came in. Subara got up behind Zach and made for the other side of the room to go talk to Muoko and Tomoki, but a second after she stood up, Satoshi was in her seat and leaning over it to be a part of the conversation going on. Zach sat sideways on his seat, Kotsumura turned left and faced him, Porrolo Ven stood on the other side of Kotsumura's desk but leaned over it with his hands on the surface, and Hanodo came over and stood between Zach and Kotsumura's desks but in front of them too to make for more of a circular group.
"So we on for later?" Kotsumura asked, looking over his shoulder up at Ven who nodded at him with an intense look. "Nice," Kotsumura said with a grin, looking more carefree even though Porrolo had gotten them one of Shiketsu's gyms reserved for after school. He looked back at Zach after saying it to his spiky-white-haired friend, and he leaned forward with a mock-confident look, "You're coming right?"
Zach glanced around at the four others who had talked about getting the gym reserved the day before, with him in the vicinity. He had not confirmed nor denied that he was going to be going with them, and he hummed like he was thinking if he had any plans already for after school. "Oh come on," Satoshi said, leaning even farther over Subara's seat to bounce his eyebrows at Zach a couple times over his snake-like eyes.
The muscular boy with broad shoulders but only standing five seven crouched a bit too and leaned over the front of Zach's desk. "Or do you have something better to do?" Hanodo asked, switching up the tactic to using a guilt-trip voice like they weren't worth the Lifebringer's time to hang out with. Porrolo cracked a small smirk as he glanced at Hanodo seeing what he was doing, and he shifted his gaze back to Zach to see how he'd respond.
The four of them are probably going to challenge me all four at once. I don't want to fight against Kotsumura though. If he gets too into it he might tell the others about my limiter, or if they come close to beating me he might let it slip afterwards about how it was only close because- etcetera. "Wish I could," Zach replied, after giving Hanodo an apologetic look that actually looked guilty for how he was responding, which in turn made Hanodo look a bit guilty instead.
Nice play, Porrolo thought with a slightly bigger smirk as he saw Hanodo's expression flip due to Zach's response.
"But if I stay after school, by the time I'm heading home it'll be dark," Zach explained.
"Afraid of walking home in the dark?" Satoshi teased. He had laughter between in his own words as what he just said sounded so funny to him when talking about Lifebringer.
"A little," Zach replied, shutting up Satoshi by the way he said it not in really a joking tone but with a shrug of one shoulder and tilt of his head to the side. He glanced towards Satoshi with a grin of his own and chuckled at his look, before turning back to Kotsumura right in front of him who had a curious look on his face too. "It's easier to check the roofs around me on the way back when it's daylight. Easier to spot the villains coming after me."
"You serious?" Porrolo asked, looking at Zach with wider eyes at the thought he had put into that. He took care of the first ones to go after him so easily, and the Subspace guys- except, he didn't stop the first ones to go after him. He got shot first. He just… learned from that mistake? Holy shit, that's what he was saying the first day! Damn, each time he messes up he gets better. I've got to focus more on my weaknesses…
Zach shrugged again, being real nonchalant about this which had one teen watching from behind Zach glaring harder now. There was another boy next to the tall one glaring over, and Dendo glanced up as his classmate stood up next to him. "Hold-"
Flugeru stomped forward as Zach calmly mentioned how he could much easier deal with assassins in daylight. "Are they even still after you?" Flugeru asked. Zach turned to his right and looked up at the towering redhead who glared down at him for the relaxed way in which he was talking about much too serious a topic.
"Hey Flugeru," Kotsumura began. "I'm pretty sure he'd know."
"If they were still after you, and you noticed them," Flugeru cut in, still just looking at Zach. "Then why haven't any more villains been arrested for coming after you?"
"Just because it hasn't happened yet," Satoshi started, but he pulled farther back into Subara's seat as Flugeru darted a look back at him saying to be quiet.
"So no more have come? And you're still just going around talking like there's an unlimited source of villains hunting you?" Flugeru scoffed, looking back at Zach in an accusatory way, like Zach was clearly lying and using a bad excuse for whatever it was he was getting himself out of.
Porrolo glanced back towards Zach, some doubt forming about why Zach really wasn't going to stay late with them. He did say that, pretty casually. It could just be not to bring the mood down though. Like, this is.
"Who said no more have come?" Zach asked. He tilted his head to the side while still sitting sideways in his seat, looking back at Flugeru with an eyebrow lifted and only a semi-annoyed expression on his face. He relaxed it and smiled instead though at Flugeru's first confused look, then denying one at what Zach said.
"If they had, we'd know-"
"Why?" Zach asked. He looked at Flugeru awaiting an answer, but he was not really expecting one quick enough to cut him off from the rhetorical answer he already had ready. "Because there were cameras there the last times? Because when I got shot there were cameras on me, and on my way to school that first day they got me getting attacked on camera too?" Zach leaned out of his seat a little more and pushed his head back so Satoshi pulled farther away in Subara's seat closer to the windows and away from Zach. Zach looked up at Flugeru's face and grinned as he said, "But since then I've been avoiding the press, so how would you know if I've been attacked since?"
Flugeru ground his teeth the whole time Zach was speaking with that cocky grin like this was actually a good counter to what he was accusing. The others around them were all just looking over at one of the two with hesitant looks, (and most others in the class were glancing over too even if a couple kept their own conversations going and most didn't look directly at them). "Even if it wasn't caught on camera," Flugeru said slowly, stating it like it was obvious and glaring at Zach for making him explain something so obvious. "It would have been big news if you got attacked again."
"Then why wasn't it?" Zach asked.
"Huh?" Flugeru asked, the question Zach asked not making sense to him. A couple others looked to Zach in more confusion though, their heart rates speeding up at the serious look behind Zach's smile.
"Why wasn't it big news, last time I got attacked?" Zach asked. Flugeru was silent, his look disbelieving and looking to try and stay that way despite the intense way Zach was staring back at him. "A couple nights ago," Zach added, lifting his tone as if asking if Flugeru had heard about it.
"Did you really," Kotsumura started, but he stopped as Zach started nodding while still looking up at Flugeru.
"What happened?" Flugeru asked. This is just going to be another of his stupid stories. There's no way.
"A couple nights ago I was being trailed as I took a long route through the city trying to get home," Zach started. His tone was calm, but his lips were flat now and he stared into Flugeru's eyes seriously and in a way to show him he was not lying about this. "So I headed for the outskirts of the city. Went far from where anyone could get caught up in collateral damage, since I didn't know how many of them there were." Zach paused for a moment, noticing that more people were looking straight over at him now. "Maybe they knew which way I was going to lead them, or maybe they called their friends to let them know where I was going, but the four guys following me had another fifty ready to ambush-"
The door of the classroom opened, and Zach turned to see Thumper stomp into the room and look around at the students who were not in their seats with a surprised look on his face. He turned to Muoko who stared back at him in horror for a second, as she had failed at her class representative responsibilities. Worse, she was one of those still out of her seat as the next class's teacher came in. "Everyone to your seats," the highly embarrassed class rep scolded. Her voice was low as the period had already began and she should not be calling out during it, but in her voice was a tone that had everyone making for their seats quickly.
They all sat down again or faced forward, no matter how much they wanted Zach to finish what he was just telling him. "You asshole," Kotsumura whispered over the first moment he had when Thumper sensei turned to the board. Zach kept staring forward, a look on his face like he was pretending to have no idea what Kotsumura was talking about. "You totally planned that," Kotsumura could not stop himself from grinning even as he said it, because the right corner of Zach's lips lifted up a tiny amount too like he could not hold out any longer.
Maybe you're right, Zach thought, while diligently writing notes when his teacher turned back from the board to his students. Doesn't mean I was lying or joking about what I was just saying. Might leave some of the others thinking it was just some exaggerated joke though. Muoko's probably mad about it already, though I doubt she's figured it out yet since she's probably just thinking about not getting everyone in their seats. Shouldn't have done that to her. Needed to get out of that though. Having to tell that to all twenty-nine of them. Sheesh. I've gone days without even hearing about it except for one follow-up text from Chief Karlo. I should just focus on class. Enough of them will "realize" that I was messing around to play that joke on them that they probably won't ask me about it…
Zach was right, partially. The rest of the morning went by and he did not get seriously questioned about what he had started saying before Thumper came in. At lunch he shifted the conversation intentionally to some of his times on Terra and in space, keeping up an interesting story without needing to bother with what had happened just a few nights earlier. Unfortunately, one of the people who did not come to listen to his story was the one who interrogated him in the first place back in the classroom. Kerushi was glad he had given up on being mad at Zach early on, as seeing this progression a second time around was really making him question how harsh he had been initially.
Flugeru did not make as much of a scene as Dendo had the first week of school though. He had gone on much longer without making much of a fuss, and even earlier in the classroom it was more like he was being suspicious then outright insulting, which kept his classmates from telling him to back off from their newest classmate. Flugeru waited until near the end of the day instead, catching Zach during their practical training which the two of them got paired up for. Flugeru intended for it and intentionally made some fuss when the picking procedure came, glaring at Zach and saying stuff loudly and in a negative tone about his classmate. That got Enorma to put them together on a squad of two for their mission, exactly as Flugeru intended.
That was pretty impressive, Zach thought even as he saw Flugeru staring at him, getting ready to ask him something serious by the looks of it. Enorma sensei totally thinks this is some team-building exercise for the two of us. He might have even showed her some hostility last Friday intentionally to set this up. Did he? I can't remember it well, but I feel like the way he's hiding that look of smug satisfaction he definitely planned this out for a while and it's all working out for him. Props.
"Zach," Flugeru started.
Calling me by my first name? That's cool. Doesn't sound like his tone is as hostile either. He's really the only one left I'm struggling with.
"Earlier you said you got attacked a few days ago. Was that a lie?"
Pretty direct wording. Yes or no questions, keeps me from going all roundabout and dodging them. Solid play. "Nope. It happened."
They were in a training ground on Shiketsu's campus which was not as massive as U.A.'s campus, but it was still the largest property inside Yutapu's city limits. Flugeru had not argued when Zach said how they should set up, but even though Zach had them on opposite sides of a room one away from the one with the safe door in it, they both had earpieces in to allow them talk to each other. They were in the room away from the one with the safe because Zach figured his opponents would assume they were setting a trap inside, so they would rush here before coming up with a plan right in front of their hiding spots about how to get around and inside the room that only had this one entrance. Even if they somehow busted silently into the room behind them without ever coming this way, Flugeru had already set up a trap using his Quirk on the circular safe door itself to go off. The trap would not hurt their opponents that much but would make a lot of noise and disorient them while Zach and Flugeru make their way back into the safe room and take them down.
Flugeru could not argue with the strategy, and he felt so confident about the set-up that it was okay to talk about this now even during the exercise. He frowned when Zach responded, but he kept from just denying him right there as much as he wanted to. "How'd you keep it a secret?" Flugeru asked, his voice darker as he accused Zach in his question of doing something illegal.
"Thing is, Flugeru," Zach started. "I drew them out of the city first, so no one would see it. As much as it was to contain collateral damage, I also wanted to stay out of sight." Zach had his back leaning against a stone pillar in the fake bank room with them. He stared ahead of him and responded in a low voice in case their enemies were getting close. "As for the villains whose existence you're wondering about, I can assure you they were real."
"And why were they after you?" Flugeru asked.
Enorma watched with her class over monitors in a nearby area as the second team made their way towards the bank, acting as both bank robbers and heroes who needed to save hostages from the safe. Zach's team were also acting as both, needing to protect the safe from heroes coming to foil their robbery, while also having to be careful not to allow the incoming robbers to cause much collateral damage as the bank patrons they had been unable to evacuate were inside the safe and under their protection. Both teams were meant to look at the other team as the robbers, which Zach assumed was to keep total damage to the training area down as it was not as simple for Shiketsu to repair everything as it was for U.A.
The teacher running the practical kept her expression flat so as not to alert her students to what she was hearing over her own headset connected to both teams. She stayed quiet, hoping Sazaki had forgotten about her and would just talk as if only to one of the other students.
"They weren't like the ones who came after me last time," Zach responded quietly into his earpiece. "I easily spotted the four guys trailing me on my way home, so I couldn't go back. I led them out of the city and 'fell' into their trap," Zach put emphasis on "fell" like he was putting up air-quotes. "A couple of them suspected that I had come out to fight them, but even they didn't think I would expect how many of them they had gathered to fight me."
"How many?" Flugeru asked. His expression was dark as he stared ahead on a different part of the room connected to the main bank floor but between it and the room with the safe in it. Don't lie to me. I'll be able to-
"Sixty-three," Zach replied.
Flugeru darted his eyes to the right, his breath catching in his throat. He heard a crashing sound in the main bank room, but he only darted his eyes that way for a second before getting back to what he was just thinking. There's no way I wouldn't have heard about that many villains being caught. Even if it wasn't about Lifebringer. Unless, he didn't catch them. Flugeru calmed his breathing, though he put his hands back on the pillar behind him and made them glow red, forcing out a strange design onto the pillar that spread from his fingertips. "And why did they come after you?" Flugeru asked, recalling how Zach mentioned their reason.
Zach continued to stare ahead and spoke in a low voice, "Their business was failing. It started doing worse when I came back to Japan. Apparently a lot less people were willing to work with them, buy from them… villains just got scared. They're already all a bunch of cowards, so the fact that the news kept calling me Death made a lot of them too afraid to keep going."
Flugeru curled his lips and got a frustrated look covering his face as Zach said how the "news" were the ones responsible for making people think he was Death. You are Death!
"The leader was yelling this at me after 'catching' me with his forces in a trap that one of them set off using their Quirk. I couldn't move from where I was, because the farther I went from that exact spot, the weaker I would become until I collapsed only a few meters away." Zach cracked a smirk and said in a lower voice to his teammate who Zach suspected was getting ready to attack, and their opponents in this match weren't his targets. "He yelled at me about what I had done to their business, giving his 'righteous' reasons for needing that money, and about how after I got out of prison, pretty much their whole cash flow cut off. They all blamed me for it, which, you know, felt pretty great."
Flugeru bit down harder. "And how'd you get out of there? Stuck in their trap?" He listened in for his other classmates who must have been approaching silently or something towards this room. He whispered into his headset, "And what did you do to them?"
"It must be hard," Zach whispered back. "Imagining what happened to these guys you never heard about." His voice was cold, and low, and Zach's lips were curled down into a deep frown as he continued to lean back on his pillar. I'm tired of all this fucking distrust. If you're going to make me feel like this all day, every day, then expect some payback. "What do you think happened to them? Did they all just, disappear?" Zach lifted the corners of his lips into a grin while Flugeru and Enorma were both wide eyes and lowering their bottom lips. "Or am I just making up stories for the rest of the class? That could totally be it, right? But if I am telling the truth, and those sixty-three villains did attack me, then why didn't you ever hear about them? Is it because, when I fought them I made them all disappear?"
Flugeru's throat felt dry, and he felt like there was this massive presence behind the pillar he was leaning on that suddenly showed itself to him. "Or," Zach continued. "Did the cops I called just arrest them without making a big scene? Because they were all unconscious, and the only crime they were being charged with was attacking me, and there were no witnesses to call the press and make a news' story?" Flugeru turned his head to the side, confusion covering his face as for a second there he had completely believed the 'disappear' version. Zach continued with a bigger smirk, "And since it happened so recently, and they haven't even had trials yet, nobody outside of the police and the other criminals they were thrown in with probably know what happened. That is, if they've all even woken up yet. It was only two nights ago, after all."
"Are you-" Flugeru started, his voice raising and anger covering his expression as he began.
"Believe me or not, you can go check for yourself if you want," Zach said, hissing it into his earpiece to get his partner to shut up when he was ninety percent sure their opponents were just outside the doors in the bank's main room. "It's that simple, Flugeru. You really think I'd make up a story so easy to contradict?" The tall redhead across the mid-room from Zach calmed down, his breathing steadying and a look of realization spreading over his face. "I sent them all to prison for trying to kill me. If I was the monster you think I am, wouldn't I have done it the other way? Wouldn't I have just gotten rid of them?" Zach growled it and his classmate froze up, his head leaning back as Zach said 'the monster you think I am.'
"I don't think," Flugeru started hesitantly. He frowned after starting that way, He just wanted me to feel bad for what I'm doing. He's doing this intentionally! I can't fall for it like everyone else. But, if those men really are in prison and when I check, I can see if there were really no witnesses as to the crime. But if there were no witnesses, what if he actually caught them by going out and searching for criminals when he's not allowed to?!
Enorma lowered her eyes from the monitors in front of her for a moment. Shit, her hand that had reached for her phone moved slowly away from it. I don't need to check. Checking itself, proves his point. The teacher lifted her head and rubbed her forehead with it, ignoring the students talking around her about the way the invading team was about to bust through into the room Zach and Flugeru were in. The kid's not a monster. Getting treated with so much suspicion every day has to suck. Why'd he have to act so creepy there for a second though? It sounded so realistic, that he just made them disappear. He probably, could have done it…
"Is that really, what happened?" Flugeru asked after pausing for several seconds.
"Yes," Zach whispered back. "I swear-"
BOOM- CRASHHHH!
A couple minutes later, after Zach and his teammate defeated their opponents, Zach found his teammate pulling him aside away from the rest of their class as the next teams started up. Enorma sensei had seemed a bit distracted to Zach too during her review of the practical, and she had not said much to them. He figured it was hard for her to tell his team anything since they won fairly easily, and yet it was also hard to criticize his opponents too considering who they were up against. 'Don't take it so hard,' seemed like the tone of Enorma's voice when she spoke to the defeated classmates who sighed disappointedly, but not very, considering they doubted their chances from the second they heard who they were matched up against.
"What we were talking about back there," Flugeru started, his expression intense as he stared at his shorter classmate. The tallest person in the room stared seriously into Zach's eyes, but Zach shifted his gaze for a moment and looked past Flugeru towards the main group who were mostly focused on the next fight. A few watching closely. They wonder what Flugeru's getting out of me. He hasn't hid his continued disdain over the past weeks. Not many look to care very much though. That's nice. Zach turned his attention back solely to Flugeru as his classmate was starting to get angry by the lack of focus Zach had on him.
"It was true," Zach said. He said it with his lips lowering down into a small frown again. The way Flugeru's expression looked, even after he said it for probably the third time now, it exhausted him. The look covering Flugeru's face was one Zach saw far too often, and one he was tired of seeing after finally popping off about it in the woods the weekend before. "Look," Zach started, then he paused and he let out a heavy breath of air. I can't do this every time. I won't. I don't want to. That's as tiring as dealing with the looks in the first place, and I'll just have to deal with other kinds of looks after what I say. It's all so… I'm just done. "I know you're going to keep doubting me, but can you stop with this?" Zach asked it in a lower voice, like he was whispering low enough that no one around would hear him. Imino was out setting up in the bank with his partner to prepare for the attackers, so there was a chance this conversation really was just between the two of them.
"Stop with what?" Flugeru asked. Confusion snuck onto his face, his right eyebrow lifting up a little as Zach never mentioned anything about his suspicion before. It always made Zach seem more suspicious to him the way he so quickly and easily answered any question or diverted to a different topic without anyone noticing. Being so straightforward is unlike him. Unless this is to lure me in to thinking he's changed-
"I have to deal with looking out for these assassins every day," Zach said, frowning at Flugeru and whispering it in an imploring tone. "And I have to go to school to get a full hero license, and deal with paparazzi all over the place who could just be villains in disguise, and I could really do without the constant suspicion here at school that makes my life even harder." Zach said it flat out and frowned at his classmate who stared at him with wide eyes for saying all that to him. Zach continued, "I have to deal with that suspicion enough with my U.A. friends who have a hundred more reasons to be suspicious of me than you, and while I'm doing everything else I'm still trying to make things right with all of them but they just wind up doubting everything I say."
Zach sighed and lowered his eyes down to the floor for a second. Not to mention my extra-curricular activities. Those are important too- even though I shouldn't be doing them. Just wait- not now. Argue about this later. Zach almost sighed a second time, but he lifted his eyes and looked into Flugeru's, "Please? This is the one place I'm even somewhat relaxed. It's safe here; I don't have to worry as much about getting shot at, or ambushed on the streets," Zach frowned more and opened his mouth to continue, but Flugeru cut him off.
"Yeah, I get it," Flugeru held up a palm to get Zach to stop speaking. He lowered it after only getting it partly up and saying that to Zach, looking at his new classmate who stared at him in some surprise at his response. When he was talking about it earlier, all I could think of was whether or not it was the truth. Even believing it might be, not that I'm not going to check after school, I didn't really think about how it affects him. Flugeru nodded at Zach after lowering his arm back to his side. Constantly being hunted like that is hard enough without me… trying to play detective. There are people on it already, I'm sure. People who know more than I do about where he really was, what he was really doing, and if those people are letting him come here then I must be wrong. Or maybe… No, whatever the truth really is, I shouldn't be doing this to him. It's like Dendo did on the first day. He made Zach angry with some sudden mean taunts, but I suppose weeks' straight of giving him dirty looks and interrogating him on every doubtful thing out of his mouth, is probably stressing him out more.
"So, we good?" Zach asked. I really haven't done anything to you, Flugeru. Nothing to make us be this confrontational right now. As frustrated as you are that no one else is even being suspicious towards me anymore though, if you try and think about how frustrated you'd be in my position it should work out in my favor.
"Sure," Flugeru replied after a couple seconds. "Those guys you caught who came after you recently though," Flugeru began. Zach started to lose the smile he just gained at the normalization of their relations, but he stopped as Flugeru continued, "Don't you think they could be the last of them? Maybe even the others were just working with them, and now you've got them all." Zach cracked a small smile again, glad it felt like Flugeru was trying to make him feel less like he was constantly being hunted. "Wouldn't that mean no one's after you now?"
Zach shook his head with that skeptical smile on his face. He spoke up before Flugeru could get mad by the way Zach was treating his theory like a joke, "It's not just them. I'm always going to have people after me." Flugeru opened his mouth to counter, but Zach continued first, "I have a bounty on my head." Flugeru froze and stared at Zach in confusion, and his eyes shot open huge as Zach continued, "People in the underworld have put out bounties on me, and they've really piled up. Those guys after me this time were doing it for personal reasons, but there are the bounty hunters, hitmen, assassins out there too. Guys like the Painter-"
"The Painter?" Flugeru cut back in. He was trying to absorb all this information, but it was a lot to take in. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad?" He cut in because it was the first time he heard something that he did not recognize at all and could not just think about later. It sounded like Zach was giving him an example of a specific person after him when he was staying vague at first, but the name did not make him all that worried. He rose his tone at the end though because he did not know for sure and had to check if maybe he was wrong about that.
And he was very wrong indeed.
Zach chuckled darkly and shook his head at Flugeru's hopeful statement/question. "The Painter is called that because every time he takes a shot, he's painting something red." Zach said it almost jokingly to explain the name, but his smile was gone and he got a darker look on his face instead as Flugeru looked a little skeptical and he wanted to erase that skepticism. Flugeru's face came to match the level of seriousness on Zach's, and Zach continued once Flugeru looked like that, showing he was actually listening about this person and believed what Zach was going to tell him about the man. "He's never missed a shot. In the underworld community he's known as one of the deadliest men in the world."
Holy shit! He knows so much about this "underworld community." That's not surprising though, but if a guy like this really exists…
Zach continued while Flugeru's mind was racing, "The only assassin who avoided EM's punishment, who avoids his rules and kills whoever in whatever way he likes. No rules like the other assassins all follow," Zach's voice was getting lower and his eyes less focused on Flugeru, shifting away and getting a darker look in them. "He has hundreds of confirmed kills, among them politicians and heroes, civilians, company execs, and other villains alike."
Flugeru had sweat dripping down both sides of his face, a real fear rising within him as he listened to all of this with a willingness to believe everything Zach said to him. "Then, you're in a lot of danger," Flugeru said, making Zach refocus and notice Flugeru's nervous expression that had sweat form on his face though more of a sweatdrop than from fear. "If that guy decides to come for you, it's not going to be like a group of low-level thugs, right? Do you think he's the one who shot you on your way out…"
"Gah- ugh, you bastard. Heh, heh heh, aghh fuck that hurts."
Zach's expression stayed the same as Flugeru expressed his concern for him. He showed no signs of vividly seeing the man he just described in his mind. There were some other figures in all black like Zach was in standing behind him and to his sides. A couple of his comrades sported injuries, just as Zach did himself while standing directly in front of a man on his ass coughing and bleeding out a cut on his forehead and several other wounds on his arms and left side. "Who hired you? Not just for this job, I want a list!"
"You know who I am, Death. You really think that's going to work?"
Zach could hear himself getting nothing out of the man he tried intimidating only for a few seconds, less than most everyone he had ever interrogated before giving up. "…The justice your victims want is from the people who hired you, not from the one who pulled the trigger himself. Plus there's too many of them to decide where to send you for your justice, so I'll do it this way." Zach heard his tone shifting, the darkness in front of his face twisting up into a smirk. Was it a last ditch effort at intimidating him into changing his mind? I didn't believe he ever would. That's why, so quickly…
In Zach's head he saw his right hand lifting up towards the man's head while the guy stared at it in regretful acceptance and anger. Zach's hand hesitated though, and he could remember how he stood there, staring at the hand that trembled with black wisps coming out of it. Those black wisps dragged at Painter without Zach commanding them to, consciously at least. In the present his expression soured, his heart racing as he saw himself lowering that hand while the Painter's eyes grew huge and started shaking. Zach grabbed at his right wrist with his left hand, and then he let go and he walked a few paces to his right. He leaned down and grabbed Painter's sniper, lifted it, and he turned back to Painter with the darkest voice coming out of his helmet. "How many people have you killed with this weapon?" Zach rose the barrel of the sniper and pressed it into the center of Painter's bloody forehead…
Zach rose his eyes to look into Flugeru's with a more thoughtful expression on his face, turning it from the dark one he had gotten for a moment. "I doubt the Painter would risk it knowing that I'm prepared for assassins after what's already happened." Zach smiled and shrugged it off like the example he had given before was not a great one, and he added, "Doesn't mean there aren't opportunistic others who will try to do it though." No one ever found Painter's body, because there is no body. So he'll just remain on the UN's most wanted list of villains for a while. Zach motioned back towards the monitors as the others were getting loud about the fight going on, and Flugeru looked over his shoulder to see Imino standing between the safe and both opponents while all on his own now.
As many new questions as Flugeru had now, he agreed with just a nod. The two of them started back over to stand with the rest of the class, and a couple of Zach's classmates turned to him asking what he thought of the situation since it looked very one-sided to them. He was glad to get into the fight and try and find a way that Imino could still win. It was a great way to distract him from the sound of the trigger clicking, and the 'fft' of the silencer at the end of Painter's sniper barrel, and the thud of the man's body hitting the ground. It kept the image of Painter's body sprawling backwards, his blood painting the wall behind him with his own brush, and the dark figures who stood there and stared at him afterwards, hazy in his mind. The sounds and sights still came, but they were unfocused and his thoughts on the fight were louder and much clearer.
"See you tomorrow Heizou-san," the doorman at an office building in Yutapu bowed to one of the section managers of the Enugi Corporation. Heizou nodded at the doorman not as far as the lower employee bowed to him, then he walked out of the door being held open for him.
Shinzo Heizou stepped onto the sidewalk and turned to the left. The station closest to his office was only a block away and he needed to go there since his apartment was not very close. As he started walking though, he noticed there were people on the sidewalk ahead of him turning to the right and looking across the street to the opposite side. Heizou turned himself and rose his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of the two figures jogging down the opposite sidewalk. Heizou looked at the two students wearing jackets over their school uniforms who seemed to just be out on a normal after-school jog, even though it was two hours since their school should have ended.
Heizou reached down for his pocket, and he pulled out his phone while turning his head more and watching the backs of the two teens who kept going down the street the opposite way he was heading now. I wonder if Reika-Shachou knows already? Heizou lifted his gaze up towards the top of the building he just walked out of, then he rose his phone anyway and got to sending an email as he continued on his way towards the station now. As he was typing, his eyes glanced up for a second at the reddish-orange sky that was soon to be dark due to the short days of winter. He shook his head around though after a moment's hesitation, It would be more of a blunder to see something and say nothing. If it became known that they ran past here while I was on my out, I would be suspected of keeping secrets from her.
Down the block, Reika Tiona did not look over her shoulder, but her head did half-turn and her eyes darted back to a man in the upper management of the Enugi Corporation who she had seen before. "Someone you know?" Zach asked, glancing to his side at the blonde girl running with him.
Tiona turned back at Zach with a frown, giving him a suspicious look for a moment as if saying 'like you don't know everything already.' "Yes, I know him," Reika replied, her tone hardly masking her annoyance. She got a smirk on her face that only lasted a second, but then she sighed instead as the idea she had did not seem like it would work out in her head. "My mom's a real stickler. Bet Heizou already let her know the kind of company I'm keeping." Reika reached down into her pocket and turned her phone off without even pulling it out, decidedly against whatever call or text she would probably get soon.
"Ohh," Zach said in understanding, nodding his head like he figured it all out just from those couple sentences what Reika meant by that. Reika figured he would and she wouldn't have to explain anything, but she stumbled and hunched forward as Zach said, "I had no idea you were a rich girl. Never would've pegged you for the heiress type-"
"I will kill you," Reika said, standing back up straight and speeding up for a second to get back to Zach's side. She panted after saying it but stopped herself with breathing exercises through her nose, and she ignored how tired her feet and legs were and just kept going at Zach's pace. I'm not going to be the one suggesting we stop!
Geez she's determined. I want to win too though, Zach thought while chuckling at the harshly worded threat she just told him. "What made you want to be a hero though?" Zach asked.
Reika turned to him in surprise but Zach was still just running forward and focused on the sidewalk and where they were going next. She turned back forward too, figuring it was just small talk to him and that he might be interested. No need to make a big deal out of it. "You mean since I had all those great opportunities working at a company of snooty bastards?"
Zach rose his right eyebrow and turned his head a bit to the girl next to him at her description of the place. Reika scoffed and then rolled her eyes, ultimately turning the same way as Zach to her right, avoiding his look. "Alright, they're not that bad. Mom said I could work there too for sure. Always said being a hero is a stupid idea for me, and I could do a lot more good running her business one day than as a hero."
"She might be right," Zach admitted.
"She always is," Reika said in a sarcastic tone, though she sounded annoyed by it that got Zach looking straight ahead again and deciding not to push it. Tiona continued though, "But, running a business? Going to fancy dinners with a bunch of rich people every night and talking about, I don't know," Reika lifted her eyes up to the darkening orange sky above. "Psh, half the time all her job is is going out and playing golf with her subordinate chiefs or competitors. It's just dumb."
"Sounds like it," Zach agreed.
He spoke in a tone like he was just agreeing with Reika, but agreeing right there made Reika almost think he was saying her mom's job was unimportant or stupid too. She turned to him with a frown and snapped, "She still does give to charity and- why am I talking about my mom!?" She snapped it louder at Zach, figuring she wouldn't be talking about this normally and he must've twisted the conversation this way.
Zach just responded calmly though and with the right corner of his lip closer to her lifting up, "Maybe you're getting nervous about turning off your phone." He darted his eyes over and caught her glancing down before snapping them up and grinding her teeth at the fact he caught her wondering if that was actually the reason. "Maybe you want to use her as an excuse to turn it back on, and get that call that says you have to go home?"
"Not a chance," Reika said, grinning back at Zach in a taunting way that he would even suggest it. He was the first one bringing up what she was already thinking this run had become, though she had not said so herself as there was always the chance Zach always ran for this long after school. "But I'd understand if you don't want to be seen out here with me for much longer," Reika added, and she grinned more this time while Zach lowered down his smile.
Zach turned forward and he nodded to the right. Reika checked down where they were running, and she saw the next intersection was impossible to go straight ahead on because the crossing post had a red palm indicating they could not walk. Every time they hit an intersection like that they would either cut to one side around the corner of a building or cross the street as they were about to on the crosswalk that had a walk signal indicated. The two of them cut around the bend, and Reika smirked to her side again at Zach after letting him sweat it out for a minute there, "That's right, I finally figured out why you shut me down on the first day."
"Did you now?" Zach asked, his expression still flat though he was partially dreading what he was about to hear. If you really think so-
"You're going out with Yaoyorozu," Reika said.
Zach stopped for a second, then he kept running to catch up to Reika and to get out of the street as the walk signal started blinking. They made it onto the next sidewalk and kept running straight from the corner, and Zach replied after a few seconds, "No I'm not."
"Oh?" Reika asked, lifting her tone in an accusatory way. Zach just shook his head though with a flat expression that made Reika lose her smirk for a second. "Then weren't you lying that first time, and it really was Pinky you're into-"
"It's neither of them," Zach said. He turned to Reika and said, "I really don't have a girlfriend." He stopped himself this time, instead of going on to say 'I'm just really not interested in you.' Wonder if that was why she's still thinking about it this long after. I should've just come up with an actual reason instead of shutting her down with nothing. A rich, hot girl like her probably never gets rejected. And now famous and strong too, well I'm sure she'll find someone with all that. "It would be too dangerous for me to have one," Zach said after hesitating for a moment. That's a pretty good reason.
Reika frowned and she stared ahead with more of a serious look on her face than she had since they started running. Zach grimaced at the mood shift, and he thought to himself while looking ahead in a similar way as Reika, I have to stop talking about the villains after me. Other people aren't as nonchalant about it. They care about me and get worried when I mention stuff like people hunting me down. I could show them a hundred times how well I handle it, but they'll always think about the first time where the bullet actually hit me. None of them will just accept that I can protect myself. Especially when I throw something like this on top of it.
That fucking sucks, Reika thought after what Zach said as his reason. I can't say anything about it. He's right. If I was in his shoes I wouldn't risk it either. That's unfair though. This guy who spends all his time in class helping the others out- I've even been struggling to keep up his pace here but he's got me pushing harder! Fuck! Is that why he hasn't suggested ending it either? He could probably keep this up all night, couldn't he? Reika bit down behind her closed lips and she glared ahead in a frustrated way. I've noticed you doing it since that first day. You're being targeted by villains, but you're still doing so much. It's unfair, really. That one guy can- wait a second!
Reika's eyes darted up and around at the buildings on the street with them. I wasn't even thinking about it! She had gotten into the idea that one of them was going to have to concede and give up their run first, so Tiona had forgotten about something she had thought earlier before even seeing if Zach was down for this run. Reika looked back at Zach and gave him a look that made Zach shake his head and then let out a sigh at her wider eyes that he immediately understood too.
"I know I told the others I didn't want to stay at school late last time because of potential assassins, but it doesn't matter if it gets dark now. No one's following me today," Zach smiled while saying it, and he took in a nice breath of fresh air after the statement.
"Is that really your reason for not going out with those girls?" Reika asked, her expression hardened and her eyes examining Zach's face for a sign he was lying.
Zach looked back at her and pulled back a bit at her intense gaze at what did not sound like a very serious question to him. He relaxed immediately though and reasoned with himself, We've been running around for a couple of hours together, and the fact that I know there's no one following us means that I was worried about it. So either I didn't care about her safety, or I would just be more worried if she was my girlfriend who I need to protect. Problem is Creati and Pinky could both protect themselves just fine, couldn't they? No. Not against everyone. But, I just-
"Aloud," Reika said to the thoughtful boy jogging at her side at a slower pace now. She slowed with him, more focused on what she just asked than on the run now.
"I really am, worried about my friends," Zach admitted. He looked at Reika seriously while saying it, a soft look but stern to show he meant what he was saying as dark as it might be. "And that they might be in danger around me, but I'm not that worried about it. I guess, the level of worried I am is maybe where I don't want someone to be any closer than the levels they are now? Close enough that villains would know they are the one person to go after."
"And you don't think villains would just go after any of your friends at the current 'level of friendship' you have with them?" Reika asked, raising up air-quotes while saying it in a somewhat skeptical tone. "You don't even think that's a possibility?"
"It's a possibility, sure," Zach replied. "But my friends are all heroes. I've accepted, that they've accepted the risk that comes with being a hero that they might have to fight villains," Zach looked at Reika to see if he was wrong about her accepting that, but she nodded after a second as that made sense to her. "But you don't need to worry about it anyway, I don't think," Zach said, smiling more and shaking his head as the way he just described it made it seem like villains really could jump out and attack them.
"Why not?" Reika asked in annoyance.
"I told you, Tiona, I'm not that worried. If it does happen then I've accepted there was that small risk at the start. I wouldn't have come back though if I was that worried, but I thought ahead and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't kill my friends." Zach said it in a calm voice, but Reika was getting more confused and stared at the side of Zach's head with eyebrows risen and a frustratedly confused expression on her face that she was not piecing it together.
"I don't get it. Why?" Reika asked. Wouldn't it be the smartest move for assassins? Those villains who have seen the others' failures might switch it up and go after some of the friends they've seen you on the news with. People who cameramen have caught you together with, and pictures posted online of you and our classmates or your old ones. All of them should be in danger- all of us now, since I'm sure lots of people other than Heizou-san saw me and him. Go after one of us and hold us hostage, then force you to show yourself while you're defenseless… unless, they don't think that would work? Because you could just let the hostage die, Reika's eyes started growing wide, and, then you could defeat them and bring back the hostage anyway? You could try saving them instead of surrendering, and then just revive them with your Quirk if you fail? That's what the villains might think anyway… Would you really let us die if we got caught?
"This is a conversation I imagine the pro assassins having," Zach started. Reika turned back to her side at the boy who had noticed her expressions and wondered what it was she was putting together. Whatever it was seemed bad, and Zach thought in a calm way to himself, She'll understand. It's all hypothetical. The truth is probably better than whatever she just imagined… Maybe.
Zach lowered his tone and spoke in a dark, menacing voice, "Why don't we kill someone he cares about?"
His dark and spooky voice had a hint of insanity in it, making Reika stare in more surprise at her classmate whose expression did not match that voice at all while still looking like he was just speaking in a casual tone. It got much weirder though, as the voice that Zach used to respond as another villain was deeper and scratchier than the other, with darkness coating the inside of Zach's throat as he spoke. "Are you insane?"
"It would draw him out, show his true colors…" Zach took in a breath and he paused for a moment. He and Reika kept jogging, and they ran past a few other people on the sidewalk who Zach did not want hearing this. The other people were surprised to see them, and Zach smiled brightly at the group but kept going on his run without pausing. Then he turned back to Reika who was waiting for him to continue his hypothetical conversation, "In this situation, I'm assuming all these assassins think that I am Death for certain, as I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they're all coming after me even with Death still out there."
Reika nodded in understanding, and Zach nodded back to show he was going to continue now. "The second assassin would probably counter with this to that suggestion though," Zach started again. He lowered his voice with Death again and spoke in a scratchier tone, "You're wrong. Sazaki coming back here was perfect for us, and we're not screwing it up." Zach lifted up his left hand between him and Reika now the way they were jogging, "Him coming back here says two things: 1: 'I'm here to be a hero and do things in a more heroic way.'" Zach nodded after saying it, lifting up a finger which Reika figured was more Zach Sazaki lifting it than the villain whose lines of the conversation he was saying. "And 2: 'Here I am! I'm putting a target directly on me!' Both are perfect for us. And he's giving us this as a compromise."
"What do you mean by that?" Reika asked, cutting in as she was following this hypothetical conversation so far. "What are you 'compromising' with the villains after you?"
Zach lowered his fingers and nodded, saying with the nod that he was about to tell her which got Reika to look back forward and just listen. Zach spoke using the villain's lower voice, as Reika already said the line he would've said for the first assassin. "He's out in the open letting us shoot our shots and try and take his head. The minute you try and get greedy, try and make it any easier than he's already made it for us, and you kill one of the people he cares about… it's all over. It will take ten seconds for him to disappear forever, and then all of us will disappear too and never be seen again."
Zach's voice in its scratchy, deep tone, saying something so ominous, in a voice that Reika could not tell while not looking directly at Zach's face whether it was the villain he was pretending to be saying it or Zach himself speaking in the third person… it chilled her to her core. Her head slowly turned back to the taller boy running on her side. Zach was staring forward like she just had been, and his head did not turn back to her when she looked his way. His eyes were cold and serious, but the chills left her as she did see some fear in them too, a nervous expression hidden behind that cold gaze. Zach spoke in his own voice again though it was lower in volume, "I suspect that's why the villains aren't coming after me like that. They're nervous of what I might do if it's not me they go after…" Zach's eyes got darker and his expression more fierce. It was darker on the streets and he did not have to worry as much about people far away catching glimpses of him looking so scary. "And they're right to think like that, as they might actually be right."
Reika stared at Zach's face sternly. "Are you serious?" She asked in a scolding tone for him talking that way.
Zach's head nodded though. His eyes shifted back to the right at her, and Reika looked into them in the faint light of dusk that just started making some streetlights turn on. He stopped nodding though at her wide-eyed look, but he kept an intense look on his face and did not retract what he just said. "I came back knowing I might be putting my friends in danger, but this failsafe I have in mind convinces me that it was okay to do so. If I'm wrong, then I have to go again," Zach said. He said it calmly and in an assured tone, certain that it was the right thing to do. "But I really think the ones after me are happier with this arrangement, having me somewhere they can keep an eye on me and try killing me over and over, failing every time as they always will."
Reika looked back forward when Zach stopped speaking. Even, if they didn't think you were Death. I don't think that's an unrealistic way to look at it. People know the kinds of things Zach Sazaki has done. What you did to those villains in the Lifebringer Incident, it was fucked up. And yet here you are free on the streets and legally fighting villains again. That's gotta scare the shit out of the villains out there. Knowing that you're walking around, but, I suppose, they're happier about that than if you were back but not as a hero. If someone kills a person close to you though, just to get to you… are you really going to- Reika bit down and she shook her head. He said it as a hypothetical. It probably won't happen. And he might be right to leave even, if he knows staying will get everyone close to him killed- but not that other part. Not, those villains "disappearing."
Admittedly, Tiona, a part of me decided to say all of that right there in case any assassins or their informants are listening in. I don't like that no villains are trailing me right now. It's been too long, which means we might just not be spotting them. I know they're still out there though. And I hope they're listening. If you can read my mind too, I want you to know this. I meant every fucking word. Zach's eyes were full of conviction as he rose them up towards nearby buildings assassins might be watching him from. He rose his lips back up into a smile though a second later, I need to keep up appearances. I just want you to know how things stand. I don't like how Reika thought Yaoyorozu was my girlfriend. That's unsettling, but those rumors will fade as quickly as me dating Ashido. They're all fake.
"That's," Reika started. Zach turned to her glad to get his mind off certain subjects after just imagining someone reading his mind- always a bad path to go down. Reika paused for a moment, but she shook her head of her misgivings and admitted in a low voice of her own, "It's gotta be hard living like that." Zach stared at her in surprise, but the always tough girl next to him looked at him with sympathy on her face and said while slowing down like he was, "I hope none of your friends get hurt though by people after you, and I hope you're right about the reason they aren't doing anything. It makes sense."
"Doesn't it?" Zach asked with a smile, glad she felt that way as it reconfirmed his strategy.
Reika snorted and she rolled her eyes at his smile and excited way in which he responded right there. The shift in mood was too much and she could not completely get off of the last one, making her grit her teeth to prevent from getting chills again. Just thinking about that deep voice saying in a villainous tone about how Zach's enemies were going to disappear and 'never be seen again,' made her crack a grin that spread over her face. She looked up into Zach's eyes on her side and said, "I have to say though, you can be one scary mother fucker."
Zach laughed and rubbed the back of his head with his fake left hand. It was just to scare the nearby assassins. That's all. That's why I looked and sounded like that. "Yeah, should probably cut back on that. If my voice and my Quirk and my history weren't scary enough, saying ominous shit like that's probably not the best step to take to being more heroic. Guess number 1 of those two is harder than I thought." Reika laughed this time, and Zach smiled more at her laughter. That's what I like about you, Tiona. You're not a pussy. Feel like your humor is similar to the guys… "Hey Tiona," Zach started all of a sudden, turning to her with an interested look on his face.
In Class A's dorm building in Heights Alliance, Kirishima turned to Sero who stood in the table area but leaning over the kitchen counter closer to where Kirishima was. Kirishima had a plastic bottle in hand he was shaking up a protein drink with, but he paused and looked at the taller black-haired boy smiling at him using the whole bottom half of his face. "What are you talking about?" Kirishima asked, a frown on his face as he questioned his friend.
"Fight night at Zach's," Sero said with somehow a bigger grin as he repeated it.
Sero did not notice but Bakugo was walking from the showers towards the stairs, and he stopped and looked over at what he just heard. "Hm?"
"What is that? 'Fight night?'" Kirishima asked confusedly.
"He said he's having people over to watch this fight on pay-per-view on Saturday," Sero replied.
Bakugo grunted and turned away, continuing back towards his room with an uncaring look.
Kirishima started frowning more at Sero, and the boy with tape dispensers for elbows continued while standing straight up and lifting an offering palm, "It's gonna be a total guys' day. He's getting wings and I think he said he's inviting some of his Shiketsu friends too."
"We can't go out at night," Kirishima said. He got back to shaking his drink, and he said while looking away, "If the fight's at night, there's no way we could go. Even if it is before the curfew cut-off for when we could get passes, the trip's too long."
"Well," Sero backtracked, and Kirishima turned to his classmate who seemed like he actually had thought of this. "I say it's 'fight night,' but the boxing tournament Zach's got us watching is in Los Angeles on Friday night. And 9 P.M. Friday night there, is 1 in the afternoon on Saturday for us." Kirishima started frowning again and Sero lowered his own smile too as the excuse Kirishima was using to just brush this idea away was gone now but Kirishima still looked annoyed by it. "Come on, it's going to be fun. We'll go hang out with him for the day, and those Shiketsu guys too we'll be seeing again at the joint training soon."
"I've got plans," Kirishima said. He stopped shaking his protein shake and rolled his shoulders, thinking about going to the gym and working out on Saturday to work-out the frustration he was feeling right now.
Sero frowned deeply at Kirishima though which stopped the redhead from going up to his room as he was about to. "No you don't," Sero said. Kirishima frowned back at Sero, but Sero continued, "Dude, Zach's your friend too."
"Hmph," Kirishima grunted. He looked away and got a darker look on his face. Is that what I'd call him? Still?
Sero continued quickly, "Maybe it doesn't feel like it right now, but you have to be the one to take the first step." Kirishima looked back and saw Sero giving him a sterner look. You're acting like a kid, Sero thought, though he kept that opinion to himself. "I can see how upset you are about the way you guys left things after the hospital. But you have the be the one to go out there, man," Sero shook his head at Kirishima's stubborn and defiant look. Kirishima's look loosened and a more thoughtful one came to it at what Sero was saying to him. "You don't want to leave things like they are. He's left his door open, but he can't come here. It's gotta be you who goes to him, or things are never going to go back to the way they were."
"Things can't go back," Kirishima muttered. Sero started frowning even more, but Kirishima rose his eyes up in an accepting way that got Sero to stare at him in surprise instead. "But," Kirishima continued, albeit reluctantly and looking like he was not too happy about this. He shifted his eyes away from Sero's victorious look, telling himself it wasn't because of what Sero said but what he just thought himself. Things can't go back, but they shouldn't be like this. I'm avoiding him. It's that stupid, "pathetic" "terrorist" comment. I'm not even sure- I'm pretty sure but still, I… I won't apologize for it. But it'll be awkward- and I'll deal! Zach, we're setting things straight. "You're right," Kirishima admitted, losing the stubborn look a bit to not even say it was due to what Sero said.
Sero smiled and he laughed at his success there that he was doubtful for at the start. "He is my friend," Kirishima said. And that's why, I have to try.
A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Zach's been attacked again (off-screen), which has ultimately helped him get past that last hold-out in his class. He and Reika go on a run and we see some scary Zach but also an explanation as to why Zach's able to not be super worried about all his friends' safeties now that he's back and being seen with them. And next chapter is... fight day- or night? XD Anyway, fun chapter coming up, look forward to any predictions you might have for it, comments, questions, and any other reviews welcome below!
Guest chapter 157 . May 18
I have a feeling that it was either Darling, Eziano, or Internet kid (forgot his name already...) Hell it could have even been Raijin!
Anyways, this chapter was a little unexpected... That they would turn around and believe that he really was himself, simply having an identity crisis amongst severe mental troubles trying to figure out how to get people to trust him again after burning so many bridges... Repeatedly... That he simply doesn't deserve trust at all. At least he understands that.
I was half expecting him to say that he was death and the leader of that army for the time he was gone, after he said that they wouldn't believe anything he said unless it was what they wanted to hear. Then, point out a clear difference between himself - he makes mistakes. Constantly. If he really was the all mighty Death, the leader of an army so well known, chased after and feared in the world, then how the hell could it survive if he was in charge? He makes mistakes all the time that lead them to believe things that aren't true, yet also into contradicting theories about his own identity. It just wouldn't make sense. Maybe it could make them more suspicious, but if he puts enough 'facts' between himself and Death, then that would probe him innocent.
If only they had a copy quirk back on the Cloak who was like Monoma, then a fight between Death and Lifebringer could finalize it and put a nail into the coffin. It would have to be highly publicized, perhaps, and Zach would have to lose, but that would clear his name no questions asked.
The problem with that is, as we already know, Zach can mop the floor with literally anyone he comes across with just his skills alone, no quirk included. So unless they had somebody really good, someone even better than Exodus and Gentle, then they'd never pull it off. At least, to make it seem believeable.
So I suppose he just has to if ore them... Or take on the AoD as a whole to clear held doubt.
Anyways, good chapter, and I hope you did well on your finals! Hope to see more soon!
First off, thanks for the luck! I did well on all my finals, with the exception of the class I failed so now even post-graduation I have to take another international business class to make up for it *sweatdrop emoji*. Anyway, that class ends in a couple days anyway then I can really get back to some quicker updating (I hope). As for last chapter, I wouldn't say they just turned around and believed him. Bakugo was telling himself that it couldn't be Zach all that time, but even he was hesitant about that and couldn't really convince himself, and after that talk he's lost the conviction that it really wasn't "Zach" who returned. The rest of it though, that Zach was having identity troubles and problems wasn't so easy to believe, and even Midoriya as he comes up to Zach afterwards can't confidently say he believes everything Zach just said, but he is willing to try! Definitely some ways Zach could be more convincing than just Gentle going around being Death and telling people to say they were brought back, but we also didn't see Zach telling him to do that in the first place. Zach's efforts to convince them otherwise seem to be pretty half-assed, but he admits that to those three there would be no point in trying any harder anyway as they probably wouldn't believe the proof if it was shoved straight in their faces like that. Thanks again for your review, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Todorokiii chapter 157 . May 19
I'm also confused, I don't know if Zach is telling the truth or not but after the conversation Zach had, I never felt pain for him. It's true that's he's having a hard time being himself because of course, he was Death— a different person Zach made that's why he keep forgetting. So is Zach really want to start new, be the Zach he used to be and the hide the fact he was Death? Or he seriously have other plans? If he just want to be back? Well poor him, he needs a break for crying out loud. There are alot of traumatizing things happened but he's still trying to keep sane although he would in the end breakdown. I'm so glad Deku is the person he is, a hero. He knows what to do and all. I love it. Hmm, what dis? Bromance incoming? Dejk. Lol
Love it. Haha, this is exactly what I'm kind of going for I guess. It's hard to feel pain for Zach just like those three in front of him didn't, because I've left it vague to you guys, the readers, as to whether or not what Zach's saying/ or even thinking, is the truth. I've become almost an unreliable narrator in that I haven't explained any of his reasons for returning, and the one thing you can usually trust shows his true intentions, his thoughts, are so unclear most of the time you see them. You guys have to either trust Zach's stated reasons for returning or not, but I won't ever narrate what his plans are flat-out. Does he need a break? What deeper plan does he have? Is he trying to just start anew? Lots of questions, and I'd love to see y'all with some predictions as to what he's really doing here if you don't think what he's been saying has been real. No spoilers though! Deku's tryna be a friend though, and we'll see more about that soon... probably, but yeah no spoilers! Thanks for the review!
Shinn of Destiny chapter 157 . May 19
Lowkey thought we were gonna have Zach vs The Big Three. I was about to freak out lol
And expectations subverted! Lol, sorry about that. Would've been wild having that come out of nowhere, but I can see why that might've been expected as they're out in an isolated area and tensions were high. Again, my b XD. Thanks for the review though!
Guest chapter 157 . May 19
I want to believe that Zach and Midoriya have started in the path of friendship again, I really do! But after 157 chapters of things just fucking exploding in Zach's face when it seems that things are looking up, I just can't bring myself to hope for the poor guy anymore.
Been hearing this all year (almost been a year since I started this story). After everything Zach's gone through, can things actually be better for him? Every time he's got something good it gets royally screwed up. But, maybe this time's the time to break that wheel! Zach's going to become happy and stay happy forever with all his friends! ... maybe. ;) Thanks for the review, and hope you enjoyed the chapter!