Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 189:
'Sure. Roof of 123rd Keiju Ave. Use the side door in the alley closer to the corner. It's unlocked.'
Mina Ashido blinked her eyes a few times while staring down at her phone, and then she pocketed it quickly and ran back downstairs after having gone to her room to call Zach multiple times to no response. She grabbed her jacket while she was running to her door, and she was still stumbling to slide it fully on her arms when she was nearing the front door of their dorm building.
"Where are you rushing off to?" Kirishima wondered, looking over from where he was leaning over the couch closest to her.
Ashido looked back towards the redhead and opened her mouth to respond, then she looked past him to the tv that was now showing late-night news talking about the late show she had just watched with her friends. "Don't know why he went and did that," Kirishima muttered, his voice annoyed at Zach but also frustrated at his own lack of understanding as he looked back to the screen. "Why get all angry if he was going to bring the girl back anyway?"
"…Well I think we're focusing on the wrong points here Elina."
"What do you mean Leoran?" The woman asked the her co-host with a black and yellow skin tone.
Leoran shook his head and replied in a more upset way while also speaking in a tone like Elina should have noticed this already, "Sazaki only brought that girl back, because her father paid to get her in front of him." Elina started nodding her head understanding where Leoran was coming from, and she frowned too hearing it put in those terms for the first time. "So what is Lifebringer telling us? That an American rich kid is more valuable than the children who have been dying every day here in Japan? Kids die every day, and Lifebringer does nothing, but this trillionaire waltzes up and Sazaki brings his daughter back just like that?"
Ashido spun and she left the dorm while Kirishima kept staring back at the screen with much wider eyes than his classmates still sitting down there. Todoroki leaned back into the couch on the right and rubbed his right hand up on his forehead, a dark look spreading over it as he listened to the two news hosts continue on in this direction in the background. He knew it, the moment that man showed up. The guy said he'd been trying already to get in contact but you ignored him, because of this. Todoroki lifted his gaze and listened with his eyes opening a little more feeling less dark about the situation as Elina countered about something.
"Don't you think it's not necessarily on Lifebringer that this happened though? I mean, he did seem to be caught off guard there. And Kipper? Can you believe what he said when Sazaki asked how much he paid?"
"Well how do we know that isn't just Sazaki trying to get out of the blame here? Trying to make it out like someone else made the decision for him?" Leoran shook his head in disagreement. "He's the one who chose to bring that girl back while ignoring the hundreds of Japanese citizens who die every day. What are the requirements? What decides whether or not he goes and brings someone back? It seems to me, like he's doing it on a complete whim! Even in that clip I swear he flip-flopped, like 'maybe I should bring back a little girl,' then 'maybe I shouldn't.'" Elina started nodding again with more of a frown on her face too, despite having always been a Lifebringer supporter on the show in the past. Leoran continued in a lower voice, "And it didn't take him five seconds to save her life. He did that so easily, which begs the question: why her?"
"And considering how fast he can travel, using just that Quirk of his," Elina continued. "I mean, look at how quickly he arrived at Desusuta to fight the Subspace Devils! He explained how 'close' he was too, because even being cities away he was still close enough to help out. And yet if he was only a couple minutes from Desusuta, then he should be within his time limit for all of Japan!"
"Many doctors at the hospitals Sazaki has visited since returning here have voiced complaints against him for his wishy-washy way of dealing with their patients. How he refuses to give them his number to be called on when other patients passed away, like whether we all live or die is just on his dime. And they've also said, that Sazaki has brought back patients who have died up to two hours before or even longer on those visits. Two hours! What excuse does someone who can move that fast have to not go out of his way to save more lives? What excuse does a hero have?!"
None, Midoriya thought, though he was more hesitant about it than usual as this became a national issue and not just something he had to argue with Zach. Though maybe he'll see that now with more people than just me saying it. Still… if he can't save everyone, but he starts saving people so much more… Midoriya hesitated as he watched the news continue to blast Zach for what was developing right now. Would they ever be satisfied? I just wanted, a few more people. More so it doesn't seem like you're just treating it as a chore! Or like their lives only mean as much as how free you are in a day…
"It's pretty late for you to be going out 'on a run,'" Cementoss said to the girl who had just run into the main office. Her expression does not appear to be calm either. "Did something happen during Sazaki's interview tonight-"
"What? Nooo…" Ashido realized her teacher had been sitting there in the office more focused on work than watching Zach in an interview, and she tried to play it off as nothing as best she could which was still not very convincing. "Okay yes," she said when he continued to look at her with slightly more discerning eyes at her lie. "But he's in Musutafu now and I told him if he wanted to talk I wanted to and he can't come here so please."
She put her hands together in front of her chest, and Cementoss hesitated for a moment then looked to his computer and searched something quickly. "Alright," he said after a moment, and he wrote out a pass for the girl in front of the office's counter. "Be back within an hour. It is very late for a U.A. student to be out."
Cementoss nodded at the thanks the young girl gave him as she snatched the pass and ran off for the exit. Then he looked back to his computer and the new news reports appearing every minute. I thought he would use this as a chance to better his shaky standing with the media. How could it have gone, this badly? 'Lifebringer Lies About His Time Missing?' 'How NOT To Have an Interview: Five Things You Missed in Zach Sazaki's Interview Tonight.' 'Lifebringer Brings Life to Those Who Can Pay For It?!' 'What Is He Doing?'
Cementoss rubbed his blocky forehead and let out a low sigh before clicking on a link to watch what he had missed. I wish there was more I could do. The most I can right now though, is allowing Ashido to see you this late even without prior notice or emergency reason.
Ashido felt so sketchy as she looked back and forth at the edge of an alleyway on a street that still had quite a few people on it before eleven o'clock. She put her jacket's hood up before starting down that road, but she was still nervous someone had spotted her and recognized who she was before she slipped down the alleyway on the side of the apartment complex numbered 123 on Keiju Avenue. She gulped as she reached the only side door she saw back there, all the way at the end right before the back wall and a different door for the building on the next street that the alleyway did not connect all the way through to. Ashido turned the handle she was relieved was unlocked, and she slipped inside closing the door quickly behind her only to slow at the last second so as not to make a loud slam as it shut.
The pink girl ran up the back staircase that had some garbage strewn around on the platforms between floors, some graffiti on the inner walls, dirt everywhere on the walls and the small window that was on every turn of a new floor. Those windows had metal bars on them preventing people outside from reaching in and unlocking the windows, and Ashido's eyes darted to them before glancing all around her as she suddenly realized how sketchy this whole building was. The fourth floor was the worst though, as she reached it and looked into the open door next to her and all the way down the floor that was empty and dimly lit.
All the other floors had the door on this end of the building shut tight with dust on the floor just in front of it and on the handles too. Ashido realized as she looked through the open door, that none of the doors on the floors below looked to have been opened in years. She stopped instead of running up the next flight to the roof access, What is this place? Ashido gulped and darted her eyes back to the last stairs to the roof, then she started into the hallway that had mostly dark long light fixtures up above, though there was one all the way at the end of the hall that still had the light on, and another three past that closer to her that flickered every few seconds, giving the floor an even creepier vibe.
"Hello?" Ashido wondered, calling out to see if anyone was around but also speaking softly as she was unsure of what she was doing here. She gulped again with a glance back at the stairwell she just left, and she walked up to the first set of opposing doors that were each propped open. One had a doorstop below it keeping it open, while the other was just parted slightly with less of an open gap but still showing that the inside of the room was as dark and depressing as the one Ashido was easily able to poke her head around to look inside.
This is so weird. Ashido pulled her phone out and turned on the flashlight as she stepped into the dark room. What is this place? It looked like just a normal apartment building from outside. Are there people living on the other floors too, but just not this one? Ashido pointed her phone to her right and at a dresser that made her freeze. She aimed it above the dresser and saw a television with dust on the screen and all over the top and back of it. There was a gaming system on the side of the tv stand, also dusty, and as Ashido stepped farther inside she pointed her flashlight towards the couches and the table in front of them. There was a recliner chair, two couches, and a couple of controllers sitting on the longer couch that did not have any covering on it or pillows to speak of.
Sweat dripped down the right side of Ashido's face, even though it felt cold in the room that the heating was off inside. She pointed her phone to the kitchen, where there was a cardboard cereal box turned over on its side, and the cabinets were all open with no plates or bowls though a few glasses remained in one of the cupboards. She glanced over for the sink but did not see anything inside it, then she walked towards the bedroom and pointed her phone inside. There was a cot on the floor in the narrow space beside the two beds, leaving a very narrow path for the three people who seemed to live there to be able to maneuver around in their bedroom. Ashido looked back after prying into that room that still had blankets and pillows in it, and had a dresser open with clothes exposed in them but still resting there.
She bumped into the corner of the wood furniture the tv was on top of, and she spun back around quickly as she felt like it wobbled and she might need to catch the tv. She hesitated though after seeing she did not need to catch anything. Ashido lowered her phone that had swung its light around, and she stared at the picture on the side of the tv stand with three college-aged guys or maybe a little older on it. They were in a graduation picture together, two of them wearing the same caps and gowns while one who looked like the guy on the right but appeared a bit older stood between the two with his arms around their shoulders. Seeing the picture made Ashido step back, then she looked around again with her whole body filling with dread and despair that made her rush back for the door.
Ashido ran out of the room and back for the stairwell, only glancing over her shoulder once towards the rest of the ten cracked or fully opened doors down that long hallway. She ran up the stairs instead of down like part of her wanted to go, and she ran to the roof that she pushed the door open to ignoring the sign next to it saying access was prohibited to anyone but for authorized personnel. Ashido ran onto the roof and stumbled forward a couple steps before stopping, and the door closed behind her with a thud while she stared ahead towards the ledge of the building on the opposite side as Keiju Ave.
The building on the opposite side that was a little wider and blocked the alley from cutting straight through, was two stories shorter than the apartment they were on top of. It was still tall enough though that someone could sit there on the ledge and not be seen by the people on the road who might possibly look up, as the edge of the shorter building would block Zach even on the raised ledge of the four-story one behind it.
He sat in darkness, only the lights from the streets on either side of him somewhat illuminating his body. He was in the shadow of the risen section of their roof for the roof access of the stairs, sitting on the two and a half foot raised ledge with one leg up on it with his knee up, the other dangling down on the inside though he sat more longways than off the inside. He sat with his head bowed and his back diagonal but curving forward. His right arm wrapped around his risen right knee, his hand resting there over his shin while his left hand rose up a little and then lowered a little on his inside every couple seconds or so. Zach had a coin in his left hand, one he flicked up in the air again and let spin and spin on its way down for him to catch, only for him not to look down at it and just flip it back up in the air again.
His head did not even turn to the girl who just ran out on the roof which is what made her stop instead of just run up to him and start talking. Ashido stared ahead with her eyes shaking at the sight of him sitting there with his expression unknown to her, but his whole being exuding a presence that made her feet shake where she stood. "Zach..."
A light illuminated under Zach's lifted right knee, showing Ashido his phone was resting there on top of the foot wide ledge. It illuminated his face more and showed a much calmer, straighter expression than Ashido was expecting. Her tone shifted too after seeing his face, seeing his normal eyes lower down and his right hand to move to pick up his phone and raise it over his legs. Zach unlocked his phone and then glanced to his left at the girl walking towards him in a way trying to show there was no hesitation in any step. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," Zach replied. "You were the one who kept calling… I just didn't want to talk, on the phone." Why not? Why come out here? He questioned himself while tilting his head back and staring forward along the edge of the building again. His eyes rose up in the night sky that was dark but not dark enough because of the city lights for him to see any stars.
"Well, I was calling because, you didn't look alright," Ashido countered. "We were all watching the interview, you know?"
"I know," Zach replied fast, almost snapping it though he kept his tone just more curt and only made Ashido hesitate for a brief second.
"What happened out there? You never usually let yourself, or you don't let other people…" Ashido did not know how to finish what she was trying to say here. "Don't… aren't you trying to show, a different version of you?"
"There is no 'other' version," Zach said, his voice low. His expression was frustrated and so intense as he turned to look at the girl on his left, "This is it. This." He glared at her to see if she understood that, but Ashido just looked at him in a more desperate and sadder way at the angry tone he had answering her. "I'm sorry," Zach said, his voice suddenly lacking any emotion instead of being frustrated and angry. "I'm being stupid. It's just, exhausting," he muttered at the end, his voice lowering more and his eyes getting colder as he stared back off over his legs again, and he flipped up the coin in his left hand.
Ashido did not know how to respond to that. She did not recognize the tone he never took while talking just the two of them. His expression did not look sad or angry anymore though, nor did it even look tired like he just mentioned. That, sounded more like an excuse, she thought, and she gulped at the steady look as he flipped the coin once more up in the air.
As the coin was going up though, Zach's voice started emotionlessly, "I'm stronger than I've ever been." The coin came down and he caught it in his left hand that clenched around the small piece of metal too hard that he had to relax it or risk folding the coin. His eyes narrowed down at that closed hand made of metal, and he said in a steady voice that sounded so horrible to his friend next to him, "But at the same time, I'm more helpless than I've ever been before because of it. And that's, the worst feeling in the world." His eyes closed and he lowered his left hand for a second, before snapping his eyes back open and moving around the coin to his thumb and index finger so he could flip it up in the air.
"I don't understand," Ashido whispered. She said it like she felt bad that she had to ask, her voice soft and apologetic that she could not just understand what Zach was saying. "Zach, I don't like the way they're all talking about you now…" she started it and she hesitated with her lips pursing at his expression that seemed to already know everything. His eyes shifted to her though, and he looked steadily into her confused eyes as she wondered, "But, why were you, so against that tonight? Did you know, what people were going to say?"
"I always… know," Zach said, getting softer at the end as the way he started it sounded like it was coming out too confident at first. "I didn't know what Kipper was planning though," he added in a lower voice. "I should have made a provision for him not to do something like that. I, didn't want him getting suspicious of me though. I needed to have a candid interview for it to really be believable." Zach bowed his head and shook it in frustration, "And when I thought of just playing along? To make the best out of that situation?"
"I saw her come out and I could have just acted naively and ran up, saved her heroically, become exhausted or scream out in the pain it caused me to- to invoke some pity for me. I could have… I probably should have, just gone with the program. It still would have caused the same issues, but less of them. I could have negated some of the negatives… What am I doing?" He whispered it at the end with a look to his right and towards much brighter lights of the middle of Musutafu, and to Tokyo beyond that which was so bright that the whole sky in that direction was just brighter by association.
Zach lifted his phone back up in his right hand again and he shut his eyes at what he saw appear on it, and he flipped a coin up in the air in his left hand again. "I just wanted to clear things up about Eziano," Zach said. "And now I botched so much else right up. And I know how I can fix these problems I've made for myself. I see options I have, but it'll never be like it was before." Zach whispered that softer, his voice cold again and his eyes narrowing ahead of him. "I'm watching the news right now," Zach said.
Ashido hesitated as she had opened her mouth there to try and say something to him to help him out. He lifted his right hand with his phone in it, and another two bubbles popped up at the top of the screen. "News stories from all over the world," Zach said, and he flipped the coin in his left hand up in the air again. "I can save anyone. Anywhere. At all times. It's not just Japan. I can save them all."
"You're being dramatic," Mina said, and she stepped up towards Zach and to the ledge right behind his back that she leaned up on. She put her hands down on it and leaned forward and back, then she turned her head to the left and looked at Zach's face that he had turned to the side to look at her in a much darker way. She frowned back at him though and then said like it was obvious, "It's not up to you. The whole world isn't just resting on your shoulders," Ashido said it and gave him an exasperated look that he was even suggesting that in a serious way.
"Alright," Zach dropped his left leg down to the floor and swung his right leg from the ledge down next to it. He sat on the ledge sitting straight up and looked up at Ashido's face, "Call heads or tails then." Ashido lifted her hands from the ledge and stood straight up, darting her eyes down to his left hand he rose up and put the one yen coin over his thumbnail.
"Wh-what- wait!" Ashido lifted her eyes up as Zach flipped the coin, higher this time.
"Call it." Zach told her, his voice more firm making her eyes dart down to see just how intense his were looking back at her.
"Heads?" Ashido called out, as the coin was passing her face again and she wanted to get it out before it came down. "So what are we-"
Zach caught and flipped the coin onto the back of his right glove then moved his left hand away. Ashido stopped her follow-up question to lean over and try to see what it came out as in the dark, and she peered down closer to see that it was heads as she had called. Zach nodded his head, and he said while lifting his head, "The decision's yours then. You want me to bring this kid back to life?" Ashido froze completely, staring at Zach's face and then slowly shifting her eyes to the side at his phone he lifted up for her to see. There was a smiling little white boy on the screen, and Zach said, "This kid just cracked his skull playing at a park."
"I don't-" Ashido darted her gaze back to Zach's face and then the phone again. Her stomach was turning over and she felt her fists clenching at her sides at the feelings welling inside her. Why is he…
"There are some video clips of it," Zach said. His fingers moved over his screen while he kept watching Ashido's face with his flat expression unwavering, "It happened twenty minutes ago at a park in Romania." Ashido's expression covered in complete confusion and she looked into Zach's eyes, only for sweat to cover her face as she looked back at the phone that a video started up on. "Watch," Zach said, right before the screaming started and the woman recording her own kids spun and pointed over while running to the jungle gym a kid just cracked his head on. Ashido felt her stomach get sick and her eyes started to water as she darted her eyes back to Zach and then to the screaming people in the video whose yells were breaking her heart.
"Maybe another kid pushed him," Zach said quietly. "So that kid's scarred for life now. Always knowing he killed a friend. His parents just lost a son, other kids so young just watched someone die in front of them-"
"Why are you doing this?!" Ashido shouted, spinning back to Zach angrily. She curled her fists and swung her right arm to the side while glaring at the boy sitting just in front of her, "Why, are you doing this? All just to make a point-"
"I'm not," Zach said, his voice the same tone and volume. And then in that same tone he said, "The decision is up to you. Does that boy live or die?" His eyes narrowed more and he said to the girl looking for something else to snap at him, "Pick." He did not hesitate and continued after she pulled her head back, "Every second you waste is a second closer to him not being able to be saved."
"Then go!" Ashido exclaimed. Zach froze and his right hand lowered with his phone turning off under a click of his finger. His expression lost its steady appearance and his eyes opened wide for a moment. Then his look fell darker than since Ashido got to the roof, though just seeing that look did not calm down the pink girl panting and glaring at Zach so angrily for what he just did. Zach put his phone back into his pocket, then the boy in the same clothes he wore at his interview though with a dark black jacket on over his button-down stood up and turned away from Ashido. He curled his hands into fists and stepped up on the ledge, jumped forward and flapped black wings out of his back like it was second nature. He shot so fast up in the air that Ashido stumbled back from the wind that hit into her, and she snapped her eyes up with them trembling so much more as he just flew off like that.
"W-Wait, a second…" Ashido held her right hand up long after he would be able to hear her. Her whole expression shook, and she took another step back as she stared up into the dark sky high above where she lost sight of Zach. "No," she whispered in disbelief. Then the look of realization spread from inside to cover her whole face, He really, left that kid's life in my hands! He wouldn't have gone if I didn't say to- I had the ability to say yes or no I- I just had a life resting in my hands! Ashido's face twisted up, scrunching in anger, and she asked herself with her eyes glaring back up in the sky, "That's all it takes?"
Her head snapped down and she turned around, marching for the door back inside near this side of the building which seemed to be the only roof access despite there being another more-used stairwell on the opposite side. Ashido's fists clenched so much harder in anger, Zach had that life in his hands too! Why didn't he just fly off as soon as he heard what happened?! Ashido slowed down, and she grimaced that she was thinking deeper into it, trying to find an excuse despite how he just made her feel right there. How far is Romania?
The question caught herself off guard. It was not what she thought she was going to use to try and argue with her own betrayed and angry feelings right here. Wait, wait wait, Romania's, that's so far away. Like other side of the world far! He can't just- he isn't! Ashido started shaking her head around, then she looked down and her hands shook as she moved them in front of her. An angry look spread over her face only for her palms to open up and turn so she could stare at them. How many other people, will die in Romania by the time he gets there? How many other people are dying right now than I could see- what did I just do? Ashido's expression shook and her eyes staring at her palms rose slowly to look back in the sky again in the direction she thought she saw Zach fly off to after rising up high.
If the response is that easy. If he is supposed to bring people like that back… It hit Ashido like a ton of bricks, and she stepped back and then let more of her weight lean into the wall of the top of the stairwell. Her face filled with pain, and her breath slipped out fully leaving her gasping for more as she lost it all in that moment. All of the stress, all the pain and the horror she felt in those few seconds as he asked her over and over before getting her response, she remembered it vividly and did not get angry about it this time. All of that, pressure, of having that kid's life in my hands… He really did leave it up to me too! It was all on me whether he lived or died- that's so horrible… And that pressure is on him, every second, of every day.
Ashido rose her hands up in front of her face, and then she brought them back and rubbed them over her eyes. She had to curl her hands into fists there though and keep them there, as she gasped out again, Because every life rests in his hands, not just one. He has the power to save anyone. To save everyone! Ashido lowered her hands as this was making her less sad and just making her heart pound so fast in her chest. Zach's not like anyone else. He isn't like heroes. Not even All Might could save everyone! But, Zach has the ability to though. Being late doesn't matter- He has the power to be anywhere, and save anyone. The power to bring life or cause death. The control over life and death itself! He's-
That's crazy. That's so… but it's real. It's the burden, that Zach's Quirk holds. The weight that has to be pushing down on his shoulders, at all times. What he's supposed to be doing in the present, or what he could do in the future… Ashido pulled out her phone and texted Zach, hesitating as she had the message written out on her phone. Again she heard those screams in her head and her fingers moved away from the screen. The sight of that little boy's face when he was alive and well appeared back in her mind, the first picture Zach lifted to show her. Her finger went back and hovered over 'Send,' but she moved it over and backspaced first then rewrote some of her message she finally sent him. The revision she made though caused her to bring up a different contact in her phone she rarely used but was glad she had saved.
Please Cementoss sensei, please just let me stay out a little later. Ashido pleaded in her head and hoped her tone would come through in the message she sent out. I have no idea how long it will take him to get there and back, but if it's within his limit it can't be- Ashido's eyes widened at the sight of the negatory response calling her back to the school at the time her pass allowed her out until. She froze though as another message popped up as a notification at the top of her screen above Cementoss's, a response from Zach.
Ashido put her hands up through her hair and leaned back harder into the wall with a loud groan. She needed to talk to Zach more, but her message to him said that she would still be there once he was done and told him to come back and talk to her again. Cementoss wanted her back though earlier than she thought Zach would be done, and Ashido lowered her head and stared down at her phone she rose in front of her in a hesitant way. 'Battery low. Cementoss sensei?' Ashido gulped, and then she pressed the send button and held the power button on her phone as soon as it went through.
"Oh, I'm going to be in so much trouble," she whispered under her breath, but she pocketed her phone anyway and tried to relax despite her hand patting over her pocket incessantly.
Cementoss looked at the message he received in a bit of confusion. What is the question? Is she, pretending like she did not receive my response yet? Cementoss looked at the message he had sent after that most recent one, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as it still had not delivered to her phone. It seems, her phone has run out of battery. That is unfortunate. She should not assume I gave her the go ahead, but, perhaps if she returns a few minutes late it could be overlooked. Pinky is a resourceful hero, and I know she can take care of herself… If I can be certain that it was her sending that message- Cementoss frowned and he lifted a hand he rubbed his forehead with.
No response? No delivery for the second one either. Her phone is off. Then she won't get the message telling her to go back. She didn't turn it off for me though. I need to hurry here. Remove Limiter 1. An explosion of Death blasted Zach through the sky, and people in Kolvensk Russia looked up in shock at the dark form soaring through the dusk into the brighter half of the sky farther west.
Ashido sat down on the ledge that Zach had been sitting on before. She needed something to distract her from the potentially terrible ramifications of not returning to U.A. on time, and she stopped patting her pocket while facing towards the roof access door back into the stairwell. Ashido spun her legs around and put them off the ledge, putting her hands down at her sides and leaning backwards while her legs swung forward and back over the two-story building off this side. The drop did not scare her as she figured she could land well without hurting herself even if she fell.
She leaned forward and checked out the drop, wondering if she really could just land on bent knees and it would be alright. As bad as things could get for me after this, Ashido reminded herself, her legs slowing down their swinging and just dangling off the ledge instead. Soon as news spreads about what he does tonight, things will just get worse. No one will defend him, saying that he evened things out by saving a random person after saving that rich girl brought straight to him. They may say it now like he needs to go bring back 'at least one more' person, but as soon as it's one more, then they'll just want one more on top of that! He knows it will never end! I know it too, I guess.
Ashido tilted her head back and rose her gaze to the night sky. He really doesn't have those "plans" that everyone assumes he has. They don't exist. Ashido sighed and then pursed her lips in anger at herself, hating what she had thought herself for so long. Even after hearing all that truth on Inazuma, I knew it was probably true too that he was still lying about why he was really back. Just saying what he needed to say to Midoriya. It was exactly what Midoriya and Iida needed to hear to let him go! It scared me, after Inazuma, that you were still lying about that. And even though I tried to get past it, I knew you still had those plans. 'Of course he has all these plans, but we could still be friends…' I'm an idiot. We're all idiots. I could never convince anyone though that it's true. Zach's a planner. He plans stuff, or at least that's what we all think of him.
He doesn't need to make a long-term plan and gather strength or anything though! He's so strong he doesn't need… Ashido's face scrunched up, her heart racing at the thoughts rushing through her head. He's not planning anything. He already has the power. He already has the means to save anyone and kill anyone, like a God living among us with such ultimate power. And yet the look on his face when he flew off, a haunted look spread over the pink girl's expression, her eyes clenching shut as she imagined it flashing before her again. In that instant he was turning away, He turned like my answer was obvious, because I said it as if it was. That look, like he thought he was being a bad person for hesitating, or for making me feel just a brief moment of what it's like to have that power over life and death! I wasn't prepared for it! But- but Zach isn't ready for that power either yet already has it. He just hasn't decided what to do with it.
Ashido opened her eyes and she leaned forward with her hands curling over the top of the ledge. She stared out into the city and found her mouth open and drying out as she breathed even heavier. He came back even, maybe because, he wants help. Maybe because he needs people to tell him he doesn't have to be out there saving everyone at all times! Ashido hesitated though after what she thought was a mind-blowing revelation that did not have the kind of effect on her. "Is that alright though?" she whispered under her breath. Is Zach not bringing people back okay? Especially when he does feel the guilt of letting those people die? He does! It's why he can't just say it's not his problem…
Death wouldn't mean anything if Zach chose that to be his life though, Ashido thought hesitantly, and an uneasy sensation swirled inside her. Humanity would completely change if the idea of death being a permanent concept were to actually change. People already complain when Zach or Death don't bring people they love back to life… And now that Zach is flying to Romania to bring a random kid back, everyone in the world will see that he has the power to save them at any time! Ashido brought her right hand up to her face and smacked herself in the forehead in it, then curled her fingers into her scalp as she ran her hand up between her horns into her wavy pink hair. I just pushed public opinion against Zach. People are going to start hating him for what he does tonight.
"Damn it," Ashido cursed, and her hand scratching her head pulled off in a clenched fist and slammed down next to her. "That's not my fault." She said it angrily, and her expression shifted into an attempted mad one. He did this to me, just on a whim! To prove a point or something… Ashido slowly loosened her fists, and her expression softened and got more sad too, Though that's only a part of it. She knew it and shook her head, While the main reason is because he wanted to save the kid too. It's how he made the decision during the interview too. Whatever else didn't matter, he just had that kid right in front of him. And just now, his mind was just so strained he wanted someone else to make the decision for him, and so I sent him out to do it. I chose to save that kid, and I feel like I would always choose that as my answer. Every time? I only had to pick once! He has to pick- THOUSANDS of times every day?!
Maybe stories of that kid dying spread so quickly in the first place, those videos being released online, because people wanted Zach to see them before his time limit ran out. It's happening already. Or, or at least he probably thinks that and believes they're waiting for him? Ashido's eyes had been watery for a while, but she had to rub an arm over them as tears were about to spill out again. All those lives that would be ruined from it like he said, and he can go save them… He has no plan. He really has nothing planned, and yet he's on the very- the precipice of something so great it's frightening! With great power comes great responsibility, yeah. That's something I think of myself! Yet, with greater power comes something else. What is Zach's responsibility to the world? Is it to change the meaning of "death" and bring everyone back when they die? Stop all villains like he tried to do for a year- he succeeded at it too all over the world! Or, is it to make a name for Lifebringer to be someone we can look to?
That's what he's trying to do in Japan, Ashido told herself, nodding at the final option she gave for his responsibilities. And it's the easiest. The least straining on him at least, and the one that makes him look least like a God. Maybe Zach's trying to fight his own God complex. If I can see it, then he definitely has made that comparison… Maybe Zach's, someone we have to be afraid of. Ashido sniffled in and lowered her hands back down to her sides, her breathing steadying and her eyes staring forward in a nervous and so hesitant way. In three years from not being able to use his Quirk at all he's become almost all-powerful, and he's lost. He is so lost, right? He has killed a lot of people, innocent people too against his will, and he doesn't know if he should be bringing back the dead or not, and if he… if he turned bad? Ashido's breath stopped and the cold of the night finally caught up with her making her feel chills down her spine. As she shivered, she stared forward breathlessly thinking the words, He'd destroy the world.
For the first time, Ashido stared forward feeling a true understanding of how powerful Zach was. She started breathing again, but it was faster paced than before, His manipulation alone, but also his skills without Death; he crushed us barely using it. The popularity he already has too, and his ability to make people trust him no matter what he does and says… which I'm sure, he'll be able to do again even after tonight. He had that Darling girl help him after he brought her back to life, and he thinks his Quirk messed with her mind! His Quirk heals the sick if they die once he brings them back, so he could promise to heal people for- for… And he's Zach, Ashido reminded herself of something that came so simply to her mind and made her tensed shoulders relax again. She shook her head around, and all those horrible things she started imagining were countered by that one simple reminder. That's not who he is.
Zach's not evil. He just has, too much pressure on him. Because as a good person he feels the pressure that a bad guy wouldn't. He feels the pressure of being able to save anyone, and worse the feeling that- that no matter how many people, he could never save all the people that he could. As powerful as he is, he isn't actually a God! He can't be everywhere at once. He won't be able to save everyone even if this became his life, and everyone would still condemn him- Ashido sniffled a few more times trying to hold it back, but tears fell from her eyes and made her face colder forcing her to rub them off again with her jacket's sleeves. It felt so horrible just having that feeling for a second. It felt so much worse, that it was Zach putting that decision on me! That he would do that to me when we, when we're friends! Zach said I'm his friend too! I know he considers us, but he still made me feel that way, because he wanted to show me how it felt for him. He wants me to understand, and to help him.
She rubbed her face harder and then lowered her arms with a much more serious expression covering her face. He doesn't want me just telling him it's not an issue or that it isn't too hard! That was an immature way to respond- but now I understand! He's right and this isn't something to be taken lightly or joked about lightly back to him. But, Ashido's determined look faltered and she leaned back on the ledge again. I don't know what the right answer to tell Zach is though… The determined look re-hardened and Ashido nodded in agreement with what she just thought. But I'm going to stick by him and help him as he comes to it. Stand by him and make sure he knows there are people who understand him. That he's not that far separated from the rest of us. Like he must think he is… I want to help you, believe that you're still human.
"Mina," Zach started, landing behind her without a noise and making the girl spin around in so much shock she almost slipped off the ledge. His eyes widened but Ashido caught herself, and then he said right away when he saw she was fine, "I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have-"
Ashido threw her legs around the other side of the ledge and ran across the gap to her friend who leaned back at her approach. "I-" he started, stopping though as he thought maybe he should just close his mouth and allow the slap to come. Ashido hugged the taller boy though who looked down in hesitation at what she just did. His expression got slightly darker for a moment, then he said with a half-smile breaking on his face, "I saved the kid. The Romanians were shocked to see me, couldn't believe I had showed up."
Ashido pulled back from the hug and smiled up at Zach, "Well I'm sorry too." He had stopped trying to apologize when she hugged him like there was nothing to apologize for, wanting to just let the mood raise as he attempted. Ashido smiled though even as she apologized to him, and she looked him in the eyes with ones that he could see had been crying since he left. "I had no idea what that feels like, and to feel it all the time?" Zach's face flinched and he pulled it back, as Ashido shook her head in disbelief at him, in a way truly understanding something Zach had never been able to even put in words to someone else. "You don't have to figure it out right now though. You don't even have a full hero license yet-"
"And in two months?" Zach whispered back at the girl in front of him. "You think I'll know in two months?" I thought I would have six years. I thought I'd have three or four years before I'd even have to start thinking about it! I have so much I'm trying to do and work on right now, that having this looming over my head is one more giant weight crushing me! AND I CAN'T FOCUS WITH EZIANO WATCHING ME!
"I have no idea what I'm doing," he whispered. "There's so much, and I can't give up even one thing. Not as a hero." Zach grit his teeth thinking about a conversation he had with Midoriya recently, and he whispered to the pink girl in front of him wishing she could do more for him, "But there isn't enough time in the day for it all. And half-assing it won't work. It hasn't so far." Treating hunting the League, helping Jirou, my public image, reviving people, Darling, All For One, Eziano, and everything else all as equal parts of my whole has left me failing at every single one of those things! I only finally fixed things with Darling because of an accident that turned into that night's incident, but the rest is all harder than… It's not going to resolve itself if I don't focus on them individually one by one, and yet focusing on a single one of them at a time leaves me at such a disadvantage on all the others.
Ashido reached forward and shook Zach by the front of his shirt, and the red glow in Zach's eyes as he thought so frantically faded away. I'm not going to come up with an answer here. There is no easy answer, he reminded himself while looking back into Mina's soft eyes that stared back at him in an accepting way. "Whatever you decide to do," Ashido started, and she moved her left hand from his shirt to his left hand that she gave a squeeze despite how hard it felt. "Know I'm here to help, okay?
Zach was glad his nerves were attached through his prosthetic. He felt the squeeze and even felt the warmth of her hand through the steel, and he stopped thinking so hard and just lived in that moment for a second. "I know," Zach replied, and he smiled back at the girl whose reaction was much tamer and friendlier than how he thought she was going to react when he returned. I did something horrible to you, again. We may not be able to redecorate a new apartment together, but this is enough for me right now. A new reminder. Nothing's over. And nothing's started yet either. I'm still in school. Still have that final excuse, holding off the vultures.
A/N Thanks for reading! Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review telling me what you think below!
diddles321 chapter 188 . Oct 9
Nice chappter. Thanks for the update. A little co fused though. What are the consequences of the revival? What was being set up?
Thanks for the review! As for the consequences of the revival, we already started seeing a little of it in what those newscasters were talking about right before Ashido left the dorm, and Zach knows how the world is going to react here. He's always known it... Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
GrayReader chapter 188 . Oct 9
Hey author, I remember putting off this story a long time ago because I didn't really like Zach's attitude with his quirk (even though it was completely understandable) in the beginning. I finally decided to just sit down and keep reading and have to say that it has been one of the best experiences I've ever had on this site. No matter what direction you take this story, I'll Definitely stay and continue to read just because of your amazing ability as a writer! I loved when Zach was Death and agreed with his philosophy more so than his newer ideals, but even so, you've written the character so well even if I did want to stop reading for that, I wouldn't be able to just because I'd miss the character. Thanks so much for the consistent updates, we all appreciate it, Have a good one!
Hey reader, thanks for the review! I'm really glad you picked up Death and got super into the story. That was some nice praise right there so I hope I can keep Death up to those standards moving forward. Even outside of AoD I'm glad you still enjoy the chapter and the story, and another chapter out fast as I could get it! XD Have a good one to you too!
Guest chapter 188 . Oct 9
I was wondering when something like this would happen. It's inevitable someone will eventually pay to get their dead relative sent to Zach, and at first I was actually considering that as a form of sifting. To pick who lives and who dies. But Zach could never do that, and honestly that's so fucked up there's no winnibg here.
Now he's gonna be expected to save everyone even more than before, that's what this would cause right? Give the guy a break, yall forget he's still an 18 (19?) year old child in fucking school. He needs a life too!
If heaven exists, God better let my boi up in there, in the vip section with the ophanim and stuff. Let Zach have peace dammit. Honestly at this point I just want to see him enjoying himself in his own home without having to worry about a single goddamn thing, without having any inner conflicts and just spending time jokign around and playing games with his friends. That would be nice for him. Never gonna happen tho lmao.
You really got it right there. Zach (18) has the ability to reach anywhere in the world, and it's left him needing to pick who lives and who dies which you're right, it's something he's not ready to do. He knows even trying to go out there and save everyone he's still going to have to make choices between who he is saving and who he's not, and there's just so much attached to the role that weighs down on him (and for a few seconds Mina) this chapter. Someone paid Zach to get a relative saved, and people are not happy about that already as we saw in the immediate reactions that Zach and Ashido expect to spread now. We'll see how Zach handles these pressures moving forward, but I'm glad you picked up on a lot of that stuff already and why that's such a big issue here. Anyway thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!