Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating for so long. This chapter just took me so long to write; I needed the story in a certain place before this chapter ended. The next chapter might also take a while. It just depends on how much motivation a have. This is the longest chapter I've written so far! I hope you all enjoy it!

After meeting Asui-san, Kuboro frequently visited the bookstore. It felt nice to have a friend again. Over the years, he could never truly make one. He never stayed in one place, so he could never get attached. Getting attached meant more targets for All for One. Now, he felt capable of defending those close to him. It took some time to get used to his new quirk, but he was ready. He could now send villains to several different coordinates. (He sometimes doesn't remember why he can't go back to his friends, but a strong feeling tells him not to every time. A distant memory screams no every time)

Besides, it wasn't like Asui couldn't hold her own. Her quirk was a frog mutation that gave her most features of a frog. It doesn't seem too strong, but according to her, it can help her deal with annoying customers. Not that her quirk was the only way she could defend herself. Because of all the criminals in the area, most people knew self-defense.

He also felt confident about Hitoshi defending himself. All he had to do was get a response then he was safe. Still, once the mist man gets a job, he will sign him up for martial arts. It never hurts to be cautious. Villains and criminals are ready to strike at any moment.

Speaking of Hitoshi, Kuboro bought some school books for him. Since it was now April, school was going to start soon. It was only logical to try and homeschool the kid. Like in parenting, he had no experience with teaching. Being a teacher was more of Shouta's thing. He knew exactly how to explain a question and was great with kids. The former hero student wouldn't be surprised if he already had a teaching degree.

Kuboro had no idea how to teach. Sure, he now knew a little about parenting, but most of those skills don't go into teaching. In high school, he only got good grades with the help of study sessions with his friends. Though, it wasn't high school. It was just 2nd grade. It couldn't be that hard, right?

_—-_

He shouldn't have jinxed it. At first, it was fine. Kuboro knew how to do 2nd-grade math and reading. When Hitoshi needed help, he knew how to work out math problems. He'd do an example equation, and the boy would understand afterward. Reading wasn't that hard to teach since Kuboro started to read more.

He almost forgot about the other one other subject: science. There's also history, but Hitoshi didn't need help with that.

"Hey, Kuboro?" Hitoshi called.

"Yeah, Hitoshi?" Kuboro responded, "Need help with math again?"

"No, it's science this time," Hitoshi groaned, "Why do I need to learn about the states of matter?"

"Let me take a look," Kuboro said. He walked over and kneeled beside the boy to see the book. At first glance, it didn't look too hard. All you needed to do was name the state of matter, but it didn't even say them on the page. It wasn't in the book at all. Not even the answers.

"Ok, I'll try to teach it to you!" the mist man decided.

He tried to think about the last time he learned this. Maybe sometime back in elementary school? Science was never his best subject, so none of it stuck with him. Though, it felt familiar. A lightbulb went off in his head, and he remembered it.

"Solids are things you can touch like water or glass. Gases are the opposite," Kuboro stated.

Hitoshi quickly nodded and got to work. When halfway done, he made a confused noise.

"What's wrong?" Kuboro asked

"Gasoline has gas in the name, but I can touch it," the kid pondered, "I don't get it."

"Hmmm…I don't think the names matter. If you can touch it, it's solid." Kuboro affirmed.

"That's weird. It should just be a gas," Hitoshi mumbled.

"Sadly, science doesn't work like that. It would be so much easier if it did." Kuboro agreed.

Hitoshi sighs and gets back to work. In turn, the mist man focuses back on a book Asui gave him. It's about pre-quirk superheroes. The authors from that time have better ideas than authors now. It was always the same overused plot where the main character has a powerful quirk and goes on a journey to become a hero.

"What's the third state of matter?" Hitoshi asked, "It says there's one at the top of the page."

"There is?" Kuboro said. The boy held up the paper to show him. Sure enough, it clearly said there are three states of matter.

"I'm either stupid, or schools made science even harder," Kuboro laughed.

He quickly pulled out his phone and googled it. It turns out Kuboro was just stupid. How the heck did he forget liquids exist? He uses that word every day!

"Ok, I was wrong. You can touch both solids and liquids, but liquids can change shape," Kuboro restated.

"Like slime?"

The man's mind blanked. Why wasn't slime a liquid? Sure, it could change shape, but it just isn't liquid. He couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

"No, it's not hard enough," he answered. The boy gave him another confused look.

"Hard enough? You're making no sense,"

"It's just not a liquid!"

After that, they got into a silly argument about what a solid is. The mist man was right in the end, but they both decided to move on to a different subject.

_—-_

Beru Asui liked to think she was good at reading people. As a mother, she knows how to tell what her daughter is feeling. It's all in the eyes. You could call it a maternal instinct, but it comes naturally to her. Sometimes, Tsu tries to smile through the sadness. Beru caught it one night, and she came clean. It turns out she's been having trouble making friends in school. She didn't know how to solve that problem yet, but she did assure her those kids were missing out.

That's how she can tell Kurokumo was hiding something from her. Though, he's not straight-up shady. He's a great person. It's been a while since she's met someone who isn't blind to quirk discrimination. Every time he visited, he never failed to make her smile. Other than that, he was optimistic and caring. It was such a breath of fresh air from the quirkist customers.

That doesn't change the fact that he lies sometimes. When Beru asks what he does for a living, he looks away and says he works at a boring office. Since his eyes were only yellow slits, it was harder to tell. It got easier after seeing him more often. You can see when the slits narrow and look the other way.

Kurokumo also changes the topic whenever the topic of family comes up. He'll talk about his son, Hitoshi, all the time, but never anyone else. No siblings, parents, or even other friends. It's getting her worried. Was it because of quirk discrimination? She could understand that, but it just felt like something more.

The problem was she had no idea how to bring it up. As much as Beru wanted to, she couldn't just go straight to the point. She wasn't sure if that would make him uncomfortable or not. Instead, she needed to try a more indirect approach. She had an idea in mind.

That night, near closing time, Kurokumo came into the store again. She waved at him.

"Hello Kurokumo-kun, how can I help you?" Beru greeted.

"I'm looking for different science books," Kurokumo sighed, "The ones Hitoshi was using didn't teach him anything. We had to google the answers."

"Oh sorry, Kurokumo-kun. I assumed Hitoshi needed those books for practice," Beru apologized.

His eyes widened slightly.

"It's okay; I've been trying to start home-school him," he revealed, "The other subjects are fine, but I'm having trouble teaching him science."

That left her with more questions than answers. As far as she knows, Kuboro is a single parent with a job. How does he have time to homeschool Hitoshi? Although she was curious, she wasn't going to pry. People have boundaries for a reason.

"Just books won't be that useful for homeschooling," Beru added, "I can show you some online schools and programs if you want."

"Please!" Kurokumo exclaimed.

That's how they ended up on one of the many couches in the reading area. Beru decided to close up the store a little early to help him. So far, they haven't found anything helpful. They almost considered ABC Mouse, but then they read the reviews. Kurokumo said, "I don't want to get into that nightmare." After half an hour of searching, they finally found the perfect online school: Koketsu Academy.

"Here's another online school," she mentioned.

The website itself was already an improvement from the others. It was better organized and had the necessary information.

"Oooooh, this one has electives for students to choose from," Kurokumo mused, "It even has a class on the history of pro heroes! Hitoshi would love this."

This online school had it all. Each day was dedicated to two subjects to help students learn better. Students get to pick two special classes to do on Fridays. The teachers had a strict no-bullying policy. It looked perfect.

"Looks like we found it," Beru smiled.

"Yeah…," the mist man murmured.

The frog woman was confused for a moment. How was he sad about finding the perfect school for Hitoshi? She got her answer a minute later. Kurokumo looked down and sighed. The screen now displayed the prices.

"It's perfect, but I don't have enough money," he sighed, "With the money I have right now, I could only buy him a few months of this school."

Beru was slowly starting to connect the puzzle pieces. It all leads back to quirk discrimination. The countless conversations about the unfairness of society made sense now. His boss must be underpaying him because of the mutation his quirk gives him!

While Beru had only had to experience light teasing and some harmful words, this kind man didn't have enough money to get his son an education. There's no way she was letting this slide!

"Is your boss underpaying you because of your quirk?" Beru seethed.

"No, it's not like that," he whispered.

The puzzle pieces were scattered once more. Instead of a deflection, Kurokumo said it like a cold-hard fact. An unchanging one.

"I haven't been honest with you," he admitted, "I don't even have a job; I've never had one. No one trusts someone covered in all mist."

His blank yellow eyes stared at the wall. Those eyes were the eyes of someone who has seen too much. It was so much worse than Beru thought. She decided to turn off her logic and focus on comfort, so she lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Look, I don't know everything you're going through," she started, "but you don't deserve any of it."

Before she said anything else, the man pulled her into a hug. The mist around his body was cold, but there was warmth underneath. It was just right. In response, she tried her best to give a reassuring hug back. She wasn't sure when he started quietly crying, but that didn't matter.

After a few minutes, the mist man broke the hug.

"I needed that, thank you," he sniffed.

"That's what friends are for," Beru smiled.

That night, she sent Kurokumo home with a frog canvas bag full of school books, supplies, and her number. It's been a while since she's had a best friend, and there's no way Beru will allow him to keep him suffering. Now, she knew exactly how to help.

_—-_

Kuboro was emotionally exhausted the next day. Last night helped him a lot, but it opened the floodgates to some unsavory memories. That night, he got plagued with nightmares of days in the lab. He barely slept the entire night. (It wasn't just nightmares about the lab. Instead of him dying, he saw his friends die. He barely remembered them; the ones from the lab were more prominent.)

He slowly rose from the futon to get some coffee. Before he went to the bookstore last night, he bought coffee from the cafe next door. They don't sell overpriced disgusting coffee like most places. The mist man made a mental note to tip the barista when he got enough money. He knows that's not going to happen anytime soon.

When he walked toward the fridge, he saw Hitoshi sitting on the nearby table.

"Morning, Hitoshi!" Kuboro greeted. Even if he's tired, he isn't cranky in the mornings.

"Morning," he mumbled. He didn't look up from his beginner chapter book. Kuboro noticed it was about detectives solving a case.

"I didn't know you were interested in detectives," Kuboro said. He wasn't paying attention when he bought those books, so he had no idea what they were.

"Pro heroes work with detectives all the time, so I wanted to know more about them," Hitoshi exclaimed.

"That's awesome-," Kuboro started. His mind went blank before he finished that sentence. Due to the number of times, this has happened, he didn't start to panic. A minute later, he was back in control. The mist man saw the child crying, so he immediately went to comfort him.

"I-I'm sorry," he sobbed.

"Shhhhh, it's not your fault. You're still learning how to control your quirk," Kuboro assured, "I'll get you a quirk counselor soon," He opened his arms for a hug, and Hitoshi slowly but tightly hugged him. It was a much quicker hug, but it still did its job.

With one last reassuring squeeze, Kuboro broke the hug but still sat next to him.

"Better now?" he asked.

Instead of talking, Hitoshi gave him a so-so motion.

"That's great!" Kuboro exclaimed, "How about we go out for breakfast to get our minds off this?"

The purple-haired child's eyes perked up and nodded eagerly. It warmed his heart whenever he saw Hitoshi happy.

"Well, off we go then!" he said with the same enthusiasm as Hitoshi. In one swift motion, he opened a portal and picked up Hitoshi's book. When they were getting up, Hitoshi hesitantly grabbed his hand. Once again, it warmed his heart. Trust is fragile, and Kuboro was going to make sure he didn't break it.

_—-_

Their breakfast outing turned out great. Hitoshi was more subdued than usual, but Kuboro knew it was because he didn't want to lose control of his quirk. As he sent the kid back to the warehouse, he made another portal to the mall. It was most likely the safest place in this small town. Too many people are roaming around to do any back alley dealings, and heroes occasionally patrol near the mall (never anywhere else in this town).

To start his errands, he stopped by an expensive cafe. It wasn't the kind of place with crappy coffee. Instead, it sold specialized drinks for different quirks. Asui had helped him so much over the past month, so it was the least he could do. He quickly ordered a bug smoothie for her and quietly waited.

As Kuboro looked around, he saw several groups of friends sitting around. All of them were smiling and laughing. Maybe they were laughing about inside jokes or playfully arguing about if cats or sushi is better. He barely registered the tears flowing down his cheeks. No one would be able to see them anyway.

The mist man knows that one day he'll see his friends again, but it's going to be a long road to get there. Kuboro was startled out of his thoughts the second the barista shouted his order. As he went up to grab it, he realized his new name felt right. When he did get to see his friends, he'd no longer be Oboro Shirakumo, but he'd be Kuboro Kurokumo. He'd just have to hope they were okay with that.

Before he knew it, he was already at the bookstore opening the door.

"Hey Asui!" he greeted, "I got you a bug smoothie. Sorry if I made a rude assumption, but your quirk needs bugs in your diet, right?"

"You didn't have to get me anything," she insisted.

Kuboro shook his head.

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to," he affirmed.

He walked over and set the smoothie on Asui's desk.

"Are you looking for anything today?" she asked.

"No, I just wanted to thank you for yesterday," he replied, "Again, I needed that."

Asui gave him a small smile.

"You don't have to thank me yet," she cryptically assured.

What did she mean by that? She's already helped Kuboro enough. He shrugged that thought off and looked around for another book for Hitoshi. He knew the kid wasn't back to 100% yet, so maybe another detective book would help.

After picking out a few that were kid friendly (he almost put one about a bloody murder case in there; good thing he checked the description), he went back to checkout.

The frog lady took a deep breath from behind the counter. It reminded Kuboro of times his parents talked to him after he broke the rules. He did something wrong, didn't he?

"So Kurokumo…," she started.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No!" she immediately assured, "I made it seem like that, didn't I?"

He nodded. The tension in the room went down significantly after.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I get all serious when I'm deep in thought,"

"It's fine, but do you still need to talk to me about something?"

"Yes," she responded, "I'm about to go on maternity leave, and I need someone to run the bookstore. I was wondering if you would like to?"

Kuboro's first reaction was to smile. In the past years, he's had the worst luck. He died, almost turned into a mindless puppet, and has constantly run. Now, in about two months, things were finally turning around. He didn't trust it was going last, but he'd be a fool not to enjoy it while it lasted. (He ignored the thoughts saying he was leading them straight to All for One. He could protect them, right?)

"Are you sure? I have no experience working at bookstores," he explained, "I'd love to accept, but isn't there someone better for the job?"

"There are more qualified people, of course," she acknowledged, "But I wouldn't know or trust any of them."

That statement touched his heart. He hasn't told Asui much about himself, yet she still trusts him. Now in days, instead of a trusted hero in training, he's the suspicious mist man. It's nice to know some people are different. Not everyone follows the same stereotypes.

"Well, if your sure I'm the right person for the job," he smiled.

Maybe he could hide from his past. Once he gets enough money, he can finally change his name and adopt Hitoshi.

It hurts to even think about happy memories from the past. Kuboro never wants to forget, but it would be better not to dwell on it for too long. After all, all of his old friends are heroes, and All for One hates those the most. It's better not to think about the past when there's a brighter future ahead.

_—-_

After a week on the job, Kuboro can say it isn't too bad. Most customers he gets aren't that bad. Others are starting to piss him off. A group of Karens claimed they're allowed to have a free book every week for their book group. It sounded like a lie, but he called Asui to confirm it wasn't true.

After that, they came only one other time, just to try and steal books. The mist man wanted to take care of them, but it was easier to call mall security. (And he didn't want to be arrested). There weren't any police or heroes around, and security would get there much sooner. Besides, he didn't want to damage any books. Asui has to pay a lot for those shipments.

Asui is getting closer to her due date. Because of her quirk, a due date means her egg comes out. Then, she has to care for it until it hatches. Quirks are strange sometimes. Over the phone, she told Kuboro about the baby's possible name: Samidare or Satsuki. It depended on gender.

Kuboro's going to meet her daughter, Tsuyu, soon because of it. Maybe she and Hitoshi will become friends? He worries about that boy sometimes. Yesterday, he spotted him looking out the window at kids playing. He offered to take him to the playground, but Hitoshi had said no. Kuboro guessed it could've been the fear of his past bullies lingering again. It would be healthy for him to make a friend.

The bell on the door rang again, and Kuboro was back to work. He's gotten into a steady rhythm of greeting, helping, and waving goodbye. It didn't compare to his dream job, but he could live like this. He still didn't know the name of this small town, but that didn't matter. It was the safest he's been in years.

The former hero in training paused for a moment. Usually, the smell of books filled the air, but he now smelled smoke. A second later, a chorus of screams echoed out. His dormant hero instincts made him run out the door. The bookstore was on the second floor, but he could see the chaos from leaning on the balcony.

A fire roared down below. Panicked civilians ran everywhere. And in the center of the mall, three figures stood, cackling. Kuboro's luck had finally run out.