Oh wow, a 100 favorites. I am happy that so many people like this story!
Good news that the reviews are back, I am so happy to read them, it gives me the inspiration to continue writing.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Amusement park. Kingu was not really sure what to think of the place when it was first mentioned. The first thought that occured to him was that people walk around laughing all the time, looking stupid. He was not really disappointed.
The entire place alone looked as if someone took several buckets of paint, handed them over to the annoying Mistress of Heaven and left her alone for a couple of hours without any proper supervision.
There were so many colors, it almost hurt to look at.
Even the food looked odd and smelled almost too sweet to be edible at all while people walked about, chatting with others.
He moved across the crowds, dodging others and sneaking through the smallest opening with practiced precision as Kingu came closer towards his goal. Eventually, he spotted the human boy seemingly staring into empty space while holding onto one of those thin cups. He was taken out of his thoughts when a brown haired female approached.
"Kota?" The boy looked away. "If you'd like, I can get you some more." While Kota couldn't see it, Kingu could easily spot the strain in that smile. She remained patient next to him, until a quiet and awkward answer eventually came.
"Yes."
"Wait here for a bit, I'll be back in a moment, alright?"
Kota nodded.
"Do not leave, alright?" Looking again, that smile looked almost practiced.
He nodded again. Soon, she was gone, not too far away though. Kota returned to staring into empty space.
…
"I think that your cousin really cares about you." Just like that, the endless staring stopped. Kota whipped his head around fast, searching for him. "She is still close. Few meters that way." Kingu pointed his finger towards the crowds, running around various food stands.
"You again!"
"Yes me." He answered, bluntly. "You are sulking again."
Kota seemed to really want to say something, opened his mouth but then looked away. Kingu jumped from the top of the bench from above the boy and sat next to him.
"You are always everywhere. Don't you have anything else to do?"
"No."
Kota finally looked back at him and gave him one of his 'i am done with you' glares.
"That is the spirit." Kota glared even harder. "Go ahead, this suits you much better than sulking all the damn time." The smile with which Kingu replied would put some villains to shame. Kota was sure about that.
The boy threw his arms into the air, giving up.
"Fine, so what is the plan?"
"Plan? What plan?"
"Too many kissy people around, Valentine was a couple months ago and it is annoying, I want out."
"Sorry, not doing that."
"Oh, come on! Please?"
"And have that woman and her heroes after me?" He scoffed. "Not interested. Besides, I did just say that she cares about you, you idiot. Even something like me can see that."
That finally shut him up. Kingu leaned back, hands behind his head, Kota sighed. Both sat next to each other, listening to the loud chatter around. At least untill…
"Do you have a family?" It was Kingu's turn to whip his head around, Kota looked at him with expectedly. Though the speed of the action did seem to surprise him for a moment. "I mean, you are always with me. Do you not talk or…?" The rest of the question was not spoken out loud.
Kota still had that look in his eyes though, expecting some answer.
At the very thought, Kingu felt something turn around unpleasantly in his body - possibly around the area where a stomach would be located. The discomfort the question brought him must have shown on his face.
"Kota?"
The moment was gone, both looked around to see that the cousin is back.
"Kota, who is that?" Came a question. The tone indicated that nobody leaves the place until it is answered. No matter what. Kingu could honestly imagine something melting under that glare.
Almost.
At any rate, the glare was aimed at him and he felt only annoyed.
"This is.. my friend. We have been hanging out."
"Hanging out?" Her glare seemed to intensify, if that was even possible. Eyes narrowed and mouth turned into a perfect line, showing her disaproval, as well as that she has already recognized Kingu for what he was. Kingu still stared back, unfrazed, annoyed if anything.
Shino Sosaki, Hero name: Mandalay. Part of a hero group Wild, Wild Pussycats, specializing in mountain rescue, according to the information that Kingu has gathered over time.
To be honest, Kingu what was weirder, the name or the 'amusement park' place.
What kind of a name 'Wild, Wild Pussycats' even was?
"Ummm..." Nobody even really paid attention to the boy anymore it seemed.
"Is.. anything wrong?" He asked very, very carefully. As if someone cast a spell over the woman's head, her glare was gone, along with the professional hero persona. "Oh, nothing to be worried about. Here you go!"
Back came the mother hen.
Kingu was actually kind of impressed. (Not that he would admit to that.)
"Is there anywhere else that you would like to go?"
What did you do?!
Was the look that came flying Kingu's way.
"Nothing." He grumbled. Honestly, he did not. Though he got a feel that this excuse will not be enough. Deciding to turn his attention elsewhere, he looked back at the hero woman.
Looking at her again, she really did not look that impressive… physical strength wise.
"So, what is your friend's name?" Asked, tone incredibly sweet, but something inside it reminded Kingu of the odd Aztec goddess, at the times when she spoke to that odd beast of her - Kingu never quite understood their relationship.
"Kingu." The clay doll answered instead of the boy. "Just Kingu."
Looking back at it, he has perhaps made a good choice by staying away, and it was not just because Quetzeacoatl was one of the few things in that era that had a decent shot when it came to destroying him.
… at that thought, something in his mind quickly reminded him that saying that she only had a decent shot was putting it mildly.
Mandalay stared down at him for just a second longer than normal, Kota mentioned, cue another 'What did you really do?!' look before the newly formed group took off.
"So you don't need to eat or sleep?"
Kingu was already regretting his decision to remain around as he casually sweeped some object from the air, effectively preventing it from hitting Kota, glaring at the random idiot responsible for it. Seeing his ire, the human turned around and made the smart decision to increase the distance between them.
Kingu has gotten used to the boy, but the woman kept staring at him with greater determination than what he expected.
It was annoying.
"Wait, really. Not even a bite?"
"I don't need it! I have my own ways of getting energy!" His eyes grew just a little bigger again, only to narrow when it seemed that he came to some realization. "So you have never actually had ice cream?"
"No."
"Or pancakes?"
"No." Kingu replied, slightly more annoyed.
"Ramen?"
"No, no, and again, no!"
" Geez. Your parents really do suck." If it were for anyone else, Kingu would have their heads rolling around on the floor. "Have you actually ever eaten anything?"
Kingu stops for a moment, trying to answer that. Enkidu did enjoy some fruit and various foods prepared in Uruk. But Kingu? He may have eaten some berries once out of curiosity.
They weren't really all that good.
"Seriously?" Kota is now openly amazed, though for all the bad reasons.
Why is there never a convenient little hole to hide in?
Kingu puts his nose up, hiding his embarrassment. (No, he is not embarrassed!) "I do not need to eat food unlike you humans." It was Kota's turn to cross his arms, annoyed himself. Kingu did the cue, 'do not poke further or else'. Calling people humans is a good indicator that he is approaching his real boiling point.
Kota shrugs eventually, deciding to move on. Another weird Kingu thing, he does those a lot.
"Urm… Shino san?" The hero woman looks taken aback, probably not knowing what to really do about the situation either when Kota talks to her. "Can Kingu get something too?"
Kingu looks away, eyes landing on a small plate with one of the odd foods. It looks odd.
"Sure, just ask Kingu to pick something."
He did not…
Kota had already picked something for him. Kingu looks at him and Kota looks back. When did he even manage that? A sweet smell hit his nose, the clay doll looked down at the portion of the odd food.
A roll of something, white fluffy stiff on top, red small fruit and something brown sprinkled all over it.
Never mind.
It actually smelled really good. He is not going to tell Kota that bit of info.
As much as Kingu wanted to avoid confrontation with the hero woman, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Protecting the boy was one thing, but running away from unnecessary attention that the heroes provided was a different matter entirely. At this rate, Kingu was not sure if he could do both. Pushed enough, he would fight, but at the cost of losing the boy.
Spending time here was… different. Uneventful, sometimes even boring, but at the same time on a few rare occasions enjoyable. Kota is never going to catch him saying that out loud.
The time spent working for Tiamat was something he still was not sure what to think of it.
Kingu suspected that the hero purposefully led them away from everyone to have this conversation. Kota was nowhere to be seen, not even anywhere in the close area.
"So, Kota is your friend?"
He looked around. The female sat some distance from him on the other side of the bench where he himself was sitting. Asking about the boy instead of the other issue was something that he did not expect, even though he really should have. He himself said it earlier. She cares.
Humans. Why are you always so… weird?
Going over the question again, it was not much of a question at all, it was a statement. She saw enough to make her own opinion on the matter it seems. Regardless… "He is a child." Kingu was not sure if something like him can grow close to a different living being, much less have friends.
"Just as you are, and he looked happier than I have seen him in a while."
Kingu felt an unpleasant twitch at the thought that he himself could be that immature. "As much as my current form may suggest it, I am not a kid." He replied with a strong stress on not. Soon, he should be able to return back to Enkidu's default form without falling apart. Kingu attributed the slow recovery to Tiamat, there was no other explanation. If there is something that his mother was good at, it was manipulating other living things, whether it was killing or creating new ones.
It is one of the first facts that Kingu has learned in his short life.
"Approximately, two months ago, there was an accident when a falling debri, displaced by a villain, threatened to crush multiple civilians. However before any serious damage could have occured, someone activated their quirk and stopped it in place. The quirk in question manifested as a number of chains."
"Yes, I am aware. It was me."
"Afterwards, the villain responsible for the attack has been attacked, the report strongly suggests that the same quirk has been used."
"Yes."
The woman let out an exhausted breath, but did not reply immediately. They sit together, tension in the air. "If I may ask, do you have parents?"
"No." The answer came out fast, so fast in fact that he might as well openly claimed that he has a parents. "Tiamat. She..." Is still alive somewhere. The woman sitting by her side is a living proof of that, Kingu is well aware that the thing which had appeared in Babylonia was only a partial manifestation and the real one is still somewhere, sealed, never to see this realm again, nor her children.
"Is she your mother?" Kingu came to a conclusion of his own. Specifically, that the woman is very good at asking the worst of questions. Both yes and no are correct answers to that question.
His body still aches, sometimes. Even though it really should not. He remembers vividly what had happened back then, every single second that he tried to hold her down felt like pure agony. He honestly was not expecting to get out of that situation alive.
"It is alright if you do not want to answer." She said, tone softer than before. Brought out from his thoughts, Kingu spotted himself gripping his arm - possibly with enough strength to crush regular rocks. It was easy for the woman to mention his discomfort. "You are not in trouble. But it is worrying that a child like yourself is alone."
"Hold your tongue, human." He snapped. The tiniest spark of electricity arched on his arm and a low growl somehow climbed its way from his throat. The woman was still looking at him, Kingu looked away, strength of his grip increasing as he attempted to reign his anger. "I have no interest in mingling with humanity."
"Do you?" She questions. He raises his head and looks back at her. "And Kota?"
He felt exhausted. He just wanted to leave. So many questions, neither one he wanted to answer or even think about the answer, energy surged inside him only to be restrained with such a force it almost hurt, leaving it unused and nowhere to go, only to be slowly absorbed back.
"Just leave me alone."
Please just leave him alone.
"I´ll leave those villains alone for you to deal with, If it means that you will leave me alone." He jumped off the bench and started walking away, indicating that, for him at least, the conversation is over.
"Kingu? wait, please."
"Is there anything else that you need to discuss?"
"You do not have to be alone." She said, very carefully. He was almost tempted to look around at her. Almost.
Soon enough, he was too far away from her to even spot her face. His body took of without problem. Now Kingu is certain that soon enough, he is going to return to his default form.
As for the rest, he really does not think about the rest.
"You are sulking." Kingu removed his face from the soft pillow, to look around before returning back to his previous position. "It must be really bad if you are doing that.."
"Shut it."
"Not even a 'shut it human'?" The poor pillow connected with Kota´s face. Again. "It must be really, really bad then." He concluded out loud, paused. "Is it about Shino?"
Nothing.
"Seriously, what was that about? Did you do something bad?"
It did occur to Kingu to have that conversation with Kota, but that thought was shown away before it even properly settled in his mind. There was no way that he could talk with Kota about those things. Too young, with already enough on his plate as he is. "No."
"Which question are you answering now?"
"She is not the problem."
"And?"
"I don't want to talk about it." He really does not. Kingu expected the boy to ask further but he seemed to turn his attention elsewhere. The room became silent, with the exception of a pen scribbling down homework.
Kingu's thoughts were slowly drifting away when…
"Did they love you? Your parents I mean."
Kingu shot up from the bed, promptly startling the boy, as he stared at him. The boy was still giving him the 'deer in the headlights' look (probably not even knowing why) Kingu sat back down, trying to figure out what kind of answer to even give.
"I-I am sorry. Did they also..."
"My mother." He began, still uncertain. "Mother loves every single one of her children." In her own screwed up way should remain unsaid.
"Ah." Kota looked somewhat sad.
Kota enters the living room and immediately mentions the changes. They were not very subtle, his cousin was there looking more serious than what he ever remembers her seeing. Ragdoll, one of Shino's team mates,a hero in dark clothes that looked like he really needed to get an extra hour of sleep a day and a rather normal looking person in a brown coat.
The air was tense and matters certainly did not become better when everyone looked around and right at him. Kota's first instinct was to quickly turn around and leave. Hero business is hero business. His second instinct however told him that for some reason, they were expecting him.
"Kota! Hello!" Sounded an enthusiastic voice, it was almost enough to forget about the tension in the air. Ragdoll was already next to him, smiling ear to ear, happy to see him for whatever reason.
He has never even spoken with the woman properly before.
"How are you? Are you eating enough? How about school? Got any new friends there?" Before he even knew, he was dragged back into the room, sat on a chair next to the only normal looking person in the room while Ragdoll continued with her shortgun of questions. To be honest, the questions got a point that she is somehow holding a conversation with herself.
The tired looking one coughed and gave her a very annoyed look. It was even more effective than Kingu's, he had to admit.
"While it is nice to see you still being in high spirits, we have a job to do."
Ragdoll looked unhappy, pouted but walked away.
Only in that moment did Kota finally realize that… he is surrounded by heroes. Shino was alright by herself, but these? Kota moved around on his chair, nervous. "Shino san?" She gave him an apologetic look, realizing how highly unpleasant this situation is to him.
"We are here to ask about Kingu." She said.
"I figured." He admitted. "Why though? Did he do something?"
"Kota..." The conversation seemed to be just as unpleasant to her it seemed. Kota now felt a little sorry for keeping this from her. What if she gets into trouble? "For how long have you known each other?"
"We met on a trip a while back. Before… well, we met again later and we have been hanging out together since." Kota answered carefully. "He helped me out when I got lost at night." Though not carefully enough it seemed. The sentence was out before he could clap his hand over his mouth and stop himself.
"At night?!"
"He is a good person! I… I wanted to go back home, I got lost and he carried me back home!"
This is going to be a long evening.
"What did Kingu really do?" Kota asked eventually. The man in the brown coat had already left and Ragdoll and the tired looking hero were in a different room doing… something. "Will he be alright?"
Shino placed a small cup of tea on the table, still looking serious as she did before. "He is not in trouble." She said but her voice did sound uncertain. "It is just, we are hoping to find a place for him to stay. Safe."
To be honest, Kota did not find it weird at first that Kingu is seemingly around twenty four seven even if he couldn't find him, only later did it occur to him that he perhaps ran away from home or maybe just did not have parents to begin with.
Mother loves every single one of her children. There was something ultimately wrong with that sentence, the tone and the sad look with which Kingu was observing his hands was still fresh in his mind.
He himself said it, she loved him. He did not understand. Kota felt anger rise inside him, then it disappeared. It is not like his parents who left him. His mother and father who chose their jobs over him.
Just why?
"If he has a mother, then why would he need a new place to stay?" For a change, Shino lost her stern look and instead looked sad and Kota felt himself getting angry again. "I am old enough to know! Not you too! Kingu won't talk about it either!"
Kota looked up, hoping that his cousin would budge, but she still had that sad look. "Fine!" Kota grabbed the cup and stormed away.
Rustle of leaves, cars and chatter in distance. Kingu sometimes missed the vast, mostly human free area that was in Babylonia. If there was something that he may have enjoyed, it was to watch the stars. Tiny lights in the sky, he was certain that he could reach.
Funny enough, Enkidu and as a result, he also is an existence forever bound to this planet.
Kingu had been resting. Outside on a rather tall tree, eyes pointed upwards, mapping the new sky once again as it changes with time.
The two heroes that were at Kota's place draw closer, Ragdoll whispering to the other man, sounding concerned about something before freezing in place entirely.
The air moves and the tree branch is now empty, except that the odd presence is not gone.
Poor little Kota, too innocent to understand what that implications here are, unlike the heroes.
Garreon: Shush, no spoilers in the reviews. :)
On a more serious note, Izuku is going to be a part of the story. It is not a spoiler, his name is on the story after all. So many stries start with Izuku, I just wanted to make something different. Kota is wayyyyy too young for some of the topics that Kingu needs to discuss with someone before he can move on, as already pointed out in the story. Kingu is also one the Babylonia victims. The difference between Kingu and Bakugo is that Bakugo lived a really comfortable life, surrounded by family and friends, while Kingu was screwed since the day he was born is so many ways. I am not going to discuss this deeper cause I'd end up writing a free book. Again.
In case it was not clear... I am not a Bakugo fan. I get why some people like him and he does get better over time, but I noped out of that group of people the moment I heard him tell Izuku to kill himself.
About Kingu being small, it was never a plan that he would remain like that for long. But I still have to admit that the form suits him better than expected.
Another thing to adress: Kingu s OP-ness. The issue with him is that he can technically do anything. Enkidu in FGO says that he can even become a limited wish granting device, aka the Holy Grail. For the sake of the story (and my sanity) he is not going to be breathing fire or whatever. Aany ability that Kingu is going to be using is something observed in previous works OR something that he could logically do as a result of those abilities, minus him transforming his body to give himself essentially any quirk.. Example: In chapter 1, Kingu restrained that villain and he could not teleport away. That was not necessary because Kingu disabled his quirk, but rather because Kingu's chains refused to let him go. If he could eg. breathe fire, he would still be able to do that.
Summary: whatever Kingu s chains grab, will not escape even if a quirk is used, but it does not disable quirks. This ability could be seen in UBW when Iliya tries to use command seals to get Heracles escape from Enkidu's chains but it fails.
I have decided to leave out a large majority of the interrogation, the story is REALLY not long enough for us to need a recap. Not only it would be painful and boring to write but also to read. I still do want my chapters longer but I'd rather keep them short if the other option was to make them boring.
Now you can be upset for the cliffhanger.
