Life is truly amazing
"We got the stuff. We're ready to move out." So said a shady figure wearing a bird-like mask.
We can do so many things if we truly put our minds to it.
"Let's hurry this up. We gotta get out of here quick!" Said a burly man also wearing a bird-like.
Life offers so many opportunities. You could save lives, start a business, start a family. Read the manga you stole offline. Does that make me a criminal? Debateable, but that's beside the point. The point is that the things people can choose to do with their lives are endless.
"Jeez, what's the rush?" So said another shady figure in a grey hoodie.
"I saw some heroes in this area earlier. I'm not trying to get beat up by some spandex-wearing bozos'. We gotta get this trigger out quick, or the boss will be really upset." Said the burly man.
But idiots like this choose to go and make other people's lives worse. They could be doing so much more, yet they decide to sell quirk steroids to criminals so they can hurt other people. It's unfair, and it pisses me off.
But that's what I'm here for.
"Yeah! Boss-man isn't going to be too happy that you got your asses handed to you by some teenager." Said a new voice
Both men divert their attention to a teenager with blood-red hair.
"Also, I find what you said about heroes incredibly insulting. Not all of us wear spandex. I won't argue with the bozo comment, though. Earlier today, I heard Kamui Woods call some guy who stole a purse 'the incarnation of evil.' Talk about over-dramatic." Said the teen.
"Who the hell are you!?" Said the man in a grey hoodie
Who am I? Well...
"...eh, why not? It won't matter in 5 minutes anyway. Giichi Horo at your service!" Said the now-named Giichi with a salute.
I'm the kid who'll fight the unfairness.
"Huh? What the hell do you mean?" Said the burly man.
"I'm here to shut down this entire operation, of course! I'm glad you had your fun with the Yakuza, but you know, selling drugs like this is like, super illegal, right?" Said Giichi
The drug ring sat in silence for a few seconds as they stared at Giichi. Then they burst out in laughter.
"He can't be serious." Said one of them
"You're kidding, right! You're a shrimp! What're you, like 8 years old?" Said another.
"I'm fifteen and a respectable five foot seven, dammit!" Said Giichi.
"Listen up, shrimp, let's just pretend you took a wrong turn on your way to the daycare and forget this ever happened, capisce?" Said the boss trying to come off as intimidating. Giichi wasn't very impressed. He's seen way worse. Still, he wouldn't let his guard down.
"I don't know. I have a pretty good memory. This would be pretty hard to forget about. So I think I'll stay." said Giichi readying for a fight.
"Okay, you asked for this, so don't blame us for what happens next!" as his hand turned into an ax, the boss rushed Giichi, intent on killing him quickly.
Splitch!
Silence spread throughout the warehouse as Giichi, completely unscathed, bloody kunai in hand, stood beside the dead body of their leader, who was on the ground and bleeding from the neck as his hair shadowed his eyes.
"You might not have heard me the first time, so I made an example of the idiot." Giichi sent a piercing glare toward the criminals, letting his blood lust leak through to let them know he meant every word.
"I'm gonna repeat it since you dumbasses are half deaf. I was told there was a drug ring selling trigger, so I'm here to shut down this and any plans you have in the future. Permanently." Giichi said.
Judging by the fact that Giichi could feel their fear skyrocket, the intimidation was working. Seeing the murderous look in this teenager's eyes, feeling his intent to kill purely through his aura, made them reevaluate their life choices.
"H-hey man, look! We're sorry! We didn't mean to insult you! Please let us go."
There was always one brave enough to at least plead for their life. It always made Giichi feel like shit about killing these misguided people. But, of course, he would feel like shit anyway; this just made the guilt worse. Don't get him wrong. He still hated people who chose to make others' lives worse because of their own selfishness. But he learned years ago how precious life is and how it can be taken away instantly. Killing these people went against everything he stood for.
It's not like he had a choice, though. If he let them go, the commission will just send someone else after them and have his ass as well. It's more trouble than it's worth.
"I was going to kill you regardless. Your fate was sealed right when you decided to join this group." Giichi said, although not with as much bite as before.
"C-c'mon guys, are we gonna let our friend die in vain!? After all he's done for us!? He's just one kid! We can take him." Said one of the members
"Yeah! How disappointed would he be if we just ran because we got a little scared! Let's kick his ass. He can't take all of us." Said another member.
"Yeah! For Grimm!" Said another member, this one female.
"FOR GRIMM!" They all yelled out.
Once again, this just became harder to do. Not the fight's difficulty, Giichi could take them easy, no doubt, but the fact that they cared about their friend so much and Giichi just killed him in cold blood. Granted, he tried to kill him first, but Giichi planned to kill him anyway.
If he were honest, Giichi kinda hated himself. This made up his entire time at the Hero Public Safety Commission, merciless killing for "a better future." This is the opposite of what his mother taught him. She would always fight for justice, not some agenda that the HPSC keeps pushing. Giichi could hardly even recall how he got to this point. If he had it his way, his body count would still only be 1.
But this was no time to feel guilt when 8 people were rushing him with the intent to kill. So he gripped his kunai and got ready for a fight.
Giichi ducked a knife slash, took his index and middle fingers from both hands, and formed a cross. A clone formed above him, kunai and all, and slashed at the goon's neck, instantly killing him. That was one down.
2 more goons rushed him, knifes at the ready, Giichi jumped back and with through hand signs in rapid succession
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" Giichi blew a fireball big enough to consume both goons, turning them into ash. That's 2 down. 6 left
"That makes cleanup easier." Joked Giichi.
"YOU BASTAR-ARGH." Shuriken to the neck. That's 3 down, 5 left.
"We can't just keep rushing him, guys! We need to hit him at the same time. Use your quirks." said a goon right before Giichi appeared in front of him with insane speed and slashed her neck. 4 down, 4 left.
"Finally! A goon with a brain, unfortunately, I don't get paid for you guys to think, so let's finish this quickly." Giichi said, kunai spinning his hand. Giichi formed another clone and sent them to the front lines while both he and the shadow clone created earlier rapidly started going through hand signs.
"Get him! Don't let him finish what's he's doing," said a goon
Once again, closing the distance at inhuman speeds, the Giichi clone said, "As if I'd let you," right before he slashed his throat.
Not one to let their comrades die in vain, another yakuza member put his hands outward in a rockstar symbol and shot a web toward Giichi and the shadow clone forming hand signs.
Seeing this, the shadow clone near the front tried to prevent this but was shot point-blank by a blast of fire and got slammed into a wall poofing him away from existence.
'Shit.' Giichi was forced to dodge the attack and stop forming the Jutsu. But, unfortunately, the shadow clone wasn't so lucky and got hit with the spider web and was forced to poof.
"All together now! Get him!" Giichi was again forced to hop from surface to surface to dodge blasts of fire, spider webs, and a clear liquid substance that smelt weirdly like burnt sugar without giving him time to breathe. He was getting overwhelmed. Soon the constant moving around, dodging the explosions and spider webs, took a toll on his stamina. Finally, Giichi stuck to a wall and stumbled a little, and the villains took full advantage.
SPLAT!
Giichi felt something sticky on his torso and looked to see the guy with the spider web quirk, smirking.
"I got him guys! Go nuts!"
"With pleasure!" First, a blast of clear liquid slammed into him and the surrounding area, covering him with the stuff. Once again, he noted the stuff smelt like burnt sugar. Then the girl with the fire quirk gathered what Giichi assumed was thermal energy, likely from the fire techniques both he and she did, based on how huge the fireball was getting. In other words, Giichi wasn't exactly in the best situation.
'I need a way out of this! But I don't even know what their plan is. What's with this liquid. How were they even able to make those explosions earlier?' He just needed to calm down. What could've possibly detonated those explosions? He knew it had something to do with the burnt sugar stuff.
'Wait! Burnt sugar! Isn't that what...damn, what's it called!? Nitro-something. Nitrogen? Nitroglycerin!' That stuff could be diluted by water. All he needed was to get his hands free. Wind chakra could cut through the webs effortlessly. So he poured some wind chakra into each of his fingers and sliced the spider webs.
"He's free! Hurry up and fire it." The fireball was released, and Giichi rapidly went through hand signs. Then, right before it was close enough to heat up the nitroglycerin, he finished the Jutsu.
"Water Style: Raging River" A massive torrent of water was released from Giichi's mouth, flooding the building.
'I almost lost because I got cocky. I gotta finish it this time!' Once again, rapidly going through hands signs, Giichi ends with a Dragon hand sign as electricity started to gather in his palms.
"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder" Giichi put his palms on the water as the surge of electricity started traveling through the water, electrocuting the remaining yakuza members.
Giichi took a second to catch his breath as his opponents' dead bodies float facedown in the water. Gathering his bearings, he remembered the objective of the mission. Then, as he was about to grab the cases of Trigger, he heard sirens outside.
"Damn it, cops." He may work for the government, but these guys weren't supposed to know about him. Giichi couldn't afford to be caught right now. He'll probably get a scolding, but it was better than getting seen by the police. That would create too many problems for the HPSC and, by proxy him. So he would let the police take care of the trigger.
Giichi exited an open window just as the police entered the warehouse. He stopped on the side of the building and let out a small prayer for the Yakuza members. Hoping that their unfortunate souls were able to find peace.
Giichi transformed into a passing bystander to pass by the police, returning to the HPSC office with a bitter taste in his mouth.
XXXXXXXXX
"I gotta say I expected more from you, Fox ." Said the head of the HPSC.
Giichi had just turned in his report to the head of the commission. As expected, he wasn't thrilled that Giichi couldn't manage to get a case of Trigger.
"Whatever, old man. Can I just get my paycheck and go home? I've already given away all my fucks for the day, so my patience is wearing thin." Giichi said.
"As is mine. You know how little we tolerate failure." The boss said.
"I can barely tolerate you, but I suck it up and deal with it." So said Giichi, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
The boss scowled. "You best watch what you say to me. You don't want to end up like Nagant, do you?"
Giichi kept quiet at that. His desire to not end up in Tartarus outweighing his distaste for the commission just the tiniest bit. However, he still kept his glare on the head of the commission.
"Every day, I have to deal with your nonsense. Why can't you see this is for the good of society?" Said the head of the commission.
"A big reason being is that I've been doing this for so long, and nothing has changed. How could me getting a case of something that's essentially drug steroids benefit society in any way? This is still the same unfair world I've always lived in." Said a frustrated Giichi
"No, it isn't. We live in a time of peace, thanks to All Might. Anyone and everyone can live a peaceful life." The boss said. Giichi scoffed at that.
"You really just looked me dead in my eyes and said that with a straight face? That's bullshit, and you know it"
"I know that it seems inaccurate considering all the things you've seen. There are plenty of other threats lurking in the shadows. But that's where you come in. You make sure no one has to worry about things such as villain groups and would-be murderers."
The man was essentially saying he was only around to do their dirty work. But there was so much more to it than criminals. Quirk discrimination, people in poverty, people having their entire future based on their quirk or lack thereof. There were so many things that make up this unfair world. Criminal activity may be low but doesn't make up for everything else.
Giichi knew that there was so much he could do, but he felt like his life was controlled by the HPSC. If he even tried to do something they didn't like, they would have his ass. So he reluctantly obeyed. It was cowardly. He knew it was. But either way, his decisions would center around the commission, and he'd rather have some semblance of freedom rather than constantly be on the run.
Honestly, Giichi needed a break. "Whatever. I'll take my leave."
Giichi got up and walked to the door to leave, but he felt a tinge of genuine sympathy from the man as he said, "You're doing more to help think you are. Despite what I said earlier, you still are doing a tremendous job. The world needs more people like you. So keep up the good work."
Giichi simply nodded and left the room.
The head of the commission resumed his paperwork, but he took a sniff of the air and smelled one of the worst smells ever conceived as he was working.
"WHAT IS THAT HORRID SMELL!" Giichi heard the commission boss scream before bursting out in laughter.
'Phew, I've been holding that one in for a while.' Note to self, don't eat leftover taco for breakfast.
XXXXXXXXX
"Amazing timing! Teleporting bot after the fight is over! Why didn't I think of that." Giichi said, the sarcasm evident in his voice
Currently, Giichi was in his apartment in downtown Musutafu. Playing one of the worst games to ever exist.
League of Legends
Yet, he could not stop playing. Every day, to escape the stress of the world, he comes back to it just to get more stressed.
Honestly, the stupidity of some of the people in this game was astonishing. People are 1 of 3 things; Afk, a troll just to prove a point they don't have, or just plain bad at the game. But, of course, if you are a genuinely shit player, you'll fall into all 3 categories. Giichi would fall into the second category based on how this game was going.
F0XY B0Y (Caitlyn): why tp after both me and my support dead
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): mb misclick
'Misclick my ass.' Giichi thought.
F0XY B0Y (Caitlyn): your first misclick was clicking the install button.
Ah, the classic league experience. Argue with the other players instead of playing the game. It's nice to be productive from time to time.
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): real original. how does it feel to have no friends?
Okay! Now it was on!
F0XY B0Y (Caitlyn): was that a personal attack or something? how does it feel to be retarded and suck ass at this game? pick a struggle
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): please kys. no one would care if you did
What was with this guy! What an ass!
F0XY B0Y (Caitlyn): thats my line
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): I just looked up your username. you have so many hours on this game lol. is this how you cope with loneliness
Now Giichi was starting to get angry.
F0XY B0Y (Caitlyn): imagine checking someones profile for comeback material lol
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): lol imagine having no friends
Shadow Ass Ass In (Ornn): I hope your mother dies
...Yeah, that was the last straw
XXXXXXXXX
Joan had a pretty hard life going right now. She just got her degree in engineering in America and had moved to Tokyo for some job opportunities. But, the big city was pretty overwhelming. She was having a hard time finding jobs hiring in her field, and to make matters worse, she really missed her family.
The stress was piling up, so she hopped on a game of league to try and relax.
That was her first mistake.
"One mistake and someone is already on my ass."
She was currently arguing with some idiot who dared to call her out. Usually, Joan would just mute the asshole and move on. But she had a particularly bad day today, so the stress of everything else that's been going on, she needed to vent
"Ha! I made that guy go AFK! Good riddance. He fed their team like he was a 5-star restaurant."
Maybe the comment about that person's mother dying was a bit extreme, but she's seen people do way worse things on the internet. Besides, she didn't really mean it. What's the worst that could happen.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Huh? Who could that be" Joan picked up his phone. "Hello?"
"Joan Noelle, 434-1177, Nakayama, Hachio-shi Tokyo. That's you, right?"
...What?
"Oh, we quiet now? But you had so much shit to say in the game."
This was fine. This was fine! All she has to do is apologize and he'll leave her alone, right? Right!
"I was foolish. Perhaps I go a little to fa-"
"NAH, YOU GOOD! ANSWER THE QUESTION"
Okay, apologizing didn't work. That's okay! This was fine! Just feign ignorance
"That's not my address."
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The loud bang on her door made her jump in surprise. There was no way right?
"So this not your door we knocking on right now?"
Joan just sat in silence, scared out of her mind. How could this have possibly gone so far so quickly? All Joan wanted to do was relieve some stress. Now she was getting doxed by some creepy teenager over a video game.
"Now listen. I'm gonna give you a chance to get out of this safely. So take back everything you said on the game, and I'll consider leaving."
This was over a comment online! This kid is insane!
"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!" This was the scariest thing she's ever gone through. It seemed like at every turn, life threw her another dumb obstacle.
"Great! Have a great rest of your day, ma'am." Just like that, the caller hung up, and the knocking on the door stopped.
What the hell! This place was insane. There were no good jobs, there are villain attacks daily and creepy kids doxing strangers. Was any of this even worth it?
"...Fuck this. I'm moving back to America. Maybe Mom will let me stay in the basement."
XXXXXXXXX
Was doxxing some random American woman extreme? Yes, very much so. But she deserved nothing less! No one insults his mother and gets away with it.
Anyway, now that that was over, he should probably get to trainin-
BOOM!
Suddenly a massive explosion went off and based on how it sounded, it was really close.
"What the hell!" Giichi ran to his window to see a crowd gathering near a narrow street. The entire area was on fire. Rubble filling the whole place. The site was overrun with heroes such as Kamui Woods and Death Arms. They were having a hard time defeating the villain, so they stuck to trying to evacuate civilians. All the heroes were useless in this situation. Overall the entire thing seemed terrible.
What could've caused all this? Right in the middle of everything, a villain, made of what seemed to be sludge, was holding a kid his age captive forcing his way into his body.
Giichi ran out as soon as possible.
XXXXXXXXX
Nothing was working
All the heroes were useless. Everything they threw at the villain would be negated by his sludge. To make matters worse, the junior high kid, some sort of explosions, kept activating, keeping the close contact heroes from going straight to the rescue.
The kid was fighting so hard. His frustrated screams drowning out the crowd of people. Giichi couldn't tell whether or not he was using his quirk to struggle or if the villain was succeeding in taking over his body.
Giichi tried to think of a solution before rushing in. But, unfortunately, he couldn't think of any solution to get past the sludge. The other teenager would get in the way of most of the techniques that might hurt the thing. Each second, Giichi got more frustrated watching as the heroes and himself did nothing while the ash-haired blonde fought for his life.
'Dammit! Of course, the first time I actually decide to help, I'm completely useless.' Is this a sign? Maybe...maybe he wasn't meant to be a hero. When the situation called for it, he could only hurt others and save his own skin anyways. The commission made it clear he wasn't meant to be in situations like this. He should just leave. This was outside his paygrade. Maybe he should just...
The world needs more people like you. So keep it up.
...Damn that old man. Was he actually being influential? It's Giichi's own fault for being so stupid anyway. He is always yapping about wanting to be an actual hero, and when he has a chance to save someone, he pussies out? He's such a dumbass
Without another thought, Giichi got ready for another fight.
XXXXXXXXX
'No way in hell is this bastard gonna kill me! I'm not gonna be swallowed by some sewage.'
Bakugou did everything in his power to escape from this dirty bastard's grip. He would scream, kick, explode. Anything to get this stinky ass sewage off of him. But nothing would work. He knew things seemed bleak, but he wasn't gonna give up, or his name wasn't Katsuki Bakugou, dammit!
"Get the hell off of me, you bastard. DIE!" Bakugou created his biggest explosions so far. The impact was so strong the heroes had a hard time keeping their balance from the air pressure created.
"Such power! I'll be able to get revenge on that spandex-wearing bozo!" said the sludge villain
"Geez, all you villains are the same. You even use the same insults."
'Who the hell?' Bakugou looked down to see a kid with blood-red hair smirking while his fingers formed a cross
"Kid! Get out of there! Are you crazy!?" Death arms yelled out
"You got a death wish, brat" The sludge villain raised a stretchy, slimy fist and slammed it into where the kid was standing, knocking him into a building.
"KID!" Death arms yelled out. The crowd got silent, and the villain was laughing his ass off like his friend just told him the funniest story.
"Serves the brat right!" laughed the sludge villain.
"H-hey, d-dumbass?" said the kid.
"Oh, you're still alive? You're stronger than you look." said the villain.
"Nah, I break easily. The boss is way stronger."
Poof!
To the surprise of everyone, the teen disappeared in a puff of smoke as if he were a magician.
Slash!
"ARGH!" The sludged villain yelled as a kunai cut him near his left eye. His right eye saw the same kid from before, with a kunai encased in white energy.
"Ew! Who's ass did you crawl out of? Now my kunai stinks." Said the teen, disgust visible disgust on his face.
"Screw you! I take showers every day!" The sludge villain, in his anger, took another swing at the boy, only for him to easily dodge it.
"I highly doubt that. You look like my shit after a bad stomach ache."
"Damn it, do you ever shut u-"
Sploosh!
"You let your guard down." In an instant, the boy closed the distance and cut the sludge villain's head off with a kunai. Bakugou was finally released, giving him a chance to breathe. The crowd was silent at first before cheering out for his victory.
Just like that, it was over.
XXXXXXXXX
Giichi got really lucky that guy had severe anger issues. He's also fortunate he made the right call encasing the kunai with wind chakra. Honestly, the fight was really stressful. It was sorta anticlimactic. That didn't matter though, he was a hero for once, and the hostage was okay. For some reason, Giichi felt anger from him. Although he would be pretty made if he was in the same boat as him
"You okay?" Giichi asked. He reached out his hand to the ash-blond boy who was gasping. The boy looked up at him, and his eyes widened, and he grumbled something along the lines, 'you're just like him.'
"...I didn't need your help."
"Huh?"
"I SAID I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP, DAMMIT!" Jeez, that's the response to having his life saved? What an ass. Whatever at least he's safe.
"Kid! Are you stupid?" Oh right. Giichi forgot the pros for a second.
"I'm smart enough to know how to do your job for you." The heroes flinched for a second, for they started to berate him once more. Giichi tuned it out. He was busying basking in his glory because he finally saved life like he's always wanted. Besides, he didn't wish to about he didn't need to put himself in "needless danger."
"-id! Kid Move!" yelled Death Arms.
The next thing Giichi knew, his entire body was encased in sewage.
XXXXXXXXX
A green-haired boy was walking by his lonesome with solemn feelings as he skimmed the pages of his hero analysis notebook, contemplating all of his life choices.
He still can't face reality even though he's already a third year in Junior High.
He flipped to his notes on Kamui Woods.
It's time for you to think seriously about your future.
He flipped to his notes on Mt. Lady.
You also have to consider what's realistic.
Lastly, he flipped to the autograph he got from All Might before closing his notebook in despair. All of his dreams and hopes, and desires were crushed by the one person he thought would believe in him. The man who said anyone could be a hero.
'So much for that.' Izuku Midoriya thought. He fought back the tears as he remembered the man he had looked up to all his life said about quirkless heroics.
I cannot simply say, "You can become a hero even without power."
'Don't cry. You knew the reality, didn't you? That's why you tried so desperately' Thought Izuku. And it was true. He would always dream of being a hero when he was younger and even now. Every vain attempt for a future at heroics, the laughter of his classmates as they insulted his dreams, the torment Bakugou gave him when he even remotely challenged his superiority all came full circle.
Izuku tried so hopelessly to prove them wrong. He didn't want to be seen as some quirkless loser. And yet…
'Everything they said about me was right.'
Boom!
An explosion went off across the street. Izuku looked to see a crowd gathering in the streets and a bunch of heroes presumably fighting a villain.
'Hang on, is there where that explosion earlier came from. Don't tell me that I walked over here without even meaning to.' thought Izuku, his voice devoid of any enthusiasm he might've once had.
It's like the universe was mocking him and laughing at his despair. Wait? Why was he walking toward the crowd? He should stop. This was stupid. It's not like he would get anything out of it. It would only serve as a reminder of something he could never have. He looked past the crowd and gasped, immediately recognizing the villain.
'Isn't that the villain All Might captured earlier?! Did it get away from him somehow!?'
Wait? Izuku flashbacks to earlier when he jumped on All Might's leg earlier as he had the captured villain in his pants pocket.
'Did he drop it? If he did….' Izuku's whole world stopped as he became overcome with guilt.
'...then it was my fault….'
"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?" Said a member of the crowd
"They can't. Apparently, the villain caught a junior high schooler. It was like that for a while until someone saved him, but then he was caught too." Said another bystander
'Caught…?' thought Izuku. 'It's been like that for a while?' How could one person bear the suffocation, let alone two people? Izuku figured he would die after a few seconds.
"Hang on! Wasn't that the guy All Might was chasing!?"
"All Might!? He was here?!"
"I think I saw him earlier."
"Seriously!? Then what's All Might doing?!"
'It's my fault…! All Might can't do anything.' All the other heroes could do was wait for another hero with a more suitable quirk for the situation. If only Izuku didn't distract All Might from doing his job to ask a question he should've already had the answer to. Now some innocent person was suffering because of his actions.
'Please...please do your best! I'm so sorry!' Someone would eventually show up. All that the victim needed to do was hold out a bit longer. He would be saved soon. Izuku was sure of it.
Izuku looked into the crowd once more to see the teen struggling with everything he had to escape, but it was all for naught. The boy looked up into the crowd. His dark blue eyes opened up as he showed nothing but fear as the villain slid down his throat.
Before he knew it, Izuku's body moved his own.
XXXXXXXXX
It was all over for him. He knew it. Yet, he still fought with everything in his power to escape. Giichi didn't want to die here. There were so many things he wanted to do, dreams he wants to fulfill, sins he wanted to atone for. Dying here would ruin everything he set out to accomplish. Giichi poured fire chakra into his palms in an attempt to get the sludge to back off. He knew it was in vain. There was no way out of this. He didn't want to die, but he accepted that it was going to happen.
It's sorta ironic. Most of Giichi's time in the commission was spent needlessly killing criminals and saving his own skin, and the one time he tries to act like the hero he so desperately wanted to be, he up and dies trying.
kys no one would care if you did
'What goes around comes around.' Giichi thought.
This was it. Giichi was running out of air. He closed his eyes as he thought about his past actions, murders, the disrespect he showed everyone, and life as a whole. He was sure they had a nice place for him in hell. He hoped they at least gave him his own space. Giichi was never good at socializing.
Time stopped as Giichi took his last breath.
Then another...
And then another…
'AIR!' Giichi took an enormous breath of air as his air holes finally opened up. He looked down to see a green-haired boy clawing his way into the sludge, trying to pull him out as the heroes called out to him, telling him to stop.
"...Why are you doing this?" Giichi asked
"I don't know! My legs moved on their own!" Was the kid's response. The sludge moved back into place over Giichi's mouth, once again cutting off his air supply.
What the kid did next really caught Giichi off guard. Tears were welling in his eyes, and there was so much fear and guilt coming from the kid. It was almost as suffocating as the sludge going down his throat. Yet despite all of this, the green-haired boy found the courage to smile, although it was strained. And followed up his initial response.
"You looked like you were asking for help…"
...What was he doing. This scrawny junior high school kid doing everything in his power to help some stranger even though he was the most afraid out of anyone here, and Giichi was just gonna sit there and give up. What the hell was wrong with him!?
Giichi gathered as much wind chakra as possible and compressed it in his palms. He wasn't going to die here or anytime soon! Giichi was going to live his life! And this time, he's gonna live it right!
'Wind Style: Gale Palm' Giichi released all of the wind chakra gathered in his palm, and a massive blast of condensed air blasted him backward, effectively freeing Giichi from the sludge villain's clutches.
Giichi flying came to a stop when he grabbed the pavement and landed in a crouch position.
"Here I am scolding you for letting your guard, then I let you force your way down my throat. I don't know what you're trying to insinuate, but I don't swing that way."
"You brats! Don't get in my way!" The villain raised his fist brought it to the ground.
Fortunately, Giichi managed to dodge and get on the other side of where the crowd was. Then, Giichi pulled out another kunai and readied himself for a fight.
"There is no need to put yourself in harm's way, young man…."
...No way…
"Because I am here!"
Holy. Fucking. Shit. That's freaking All Might! He heard he was in Musutafu for some unknown business but holy shit! He didn't expect to actually meet him!
All Might looked at the green-haired kid and said in a soft voice, "I really am pathetic. Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice."
All Might closed his fist as his eyes beamed with determination. "Pros are always risking their lives!"
"All Might!" the villain yelled and swung his fist at All Might, but it was pointless against the hero's raw power.
"Detroit Smash" Giich and everyone else in the crowd watched in aw as All Might swing his fist into the sludge with such raw force that the punch created immense air pressure, which cleared up all the fires and resulted in a tornado easily overtowered the buildings.
'So this is the power of the number one hero…HE'S SO COOL'
Drip!
'Wait?'
Drip! Drip!
'Was that rain!?'
Giichi looked up into the sky and saw rain clouds forming.
'Don't tell me that was from the updraft! All Might…he just changed the weather with a single punch!'
Giichi gained whole new respect for All Might that day.
XXXXXXXXX
Of course, Giichi would get scolded for trying to save a life. Although, to be fair, he did sorta, kinda, maybe definitely made things worse.
They tried to arrest him for vigilantism, but Giichi just showed the police his pro hero license and left before they could question why a 14-year-old has a provisional license.
The entire situation Giichi felt useless. He may have saved the blond-haired guy, but right after, he got caught and had to be saved by a random person that he wanted to protect. This made him realize he has a long way to go before he's anywhere near the hero he wants to be. But that's okay. He was going to get stronger than he swore.
Before that, though, he had to thank the green-haired kid who saved his life. Those few extra seconds of breath bought him enough time to bring him out of his funk and figure a way out of the sludge.
"Hey!"
Giichi turned around to see the blonde guy he saved earlier, looking like he just ran a marathon.
"I didn't need your help! I could've gotten out of there by myself! Got it!" What was wrong with this dude!? All I did was try and save him.
"Yea, sure. I got it." Giichi said.
"So don't think this means I owe you something, Apple Head! Don't look down on me" With that, he huffed and turned around with his bag dangling off his shoulders and walked off.
'...did he just call me Apple Head?' Was it because of his hair?
Whatever he still needed to find the green-haired boy. Giichi ran around each corner, trying to catch up to him and his efforts finally paid off. He saw the green-haired boy walking down the street with his head hanging down, a contemplative look on his face.
"Yo! Broccoli head!" The boy jumped in surprise after Giichi yelled his way
"M-Me?" He asked.
"Yeah, I've been looking all over for you." Giichi said.
"Wait, you were the kid in the sludge! I'm sorry! I know what I did was stupid. I didn't mean to do it, I swear. I saw you in danger, and my body just reacted, and-"
"Actually, about that…." Giichi interrupted.
The green-haired kid stopped in his tracks and look Giichi's way. Giichi uncharacteristically bowed at a 90-degree angle.
"Thank you so much for saving me!"
The green-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise.
"But, I didn't actually do anything. I just made the situation worse."
"True, what you did was dumb." The green-haired kid flinched. "But that doesn't make it any less heroic." The boy's eyes shine at the word heroic. "I was so ready to give up. I didn't think anyone was gonna save me. Until you came in."
"W-what do you mean!?"
Giichi stayed silent for a while, content with staring at the ground. Then, he spoke in a soft voice. "I may have looked like I was fighting, but I really wasn't trying as hard as I could've. The idea of death does scare me, but it didn't seem so bad at that moment. With all the bad things I've done, I was willing to give up and accept my fate." He then looked up at the green-haired boy, eyes filled with courage. "But those extra seconds of breath you gave me made me realize something. Seeing you risk your life to save a complete stranger reminded me of what I want to be!"
The world needs more people like you.
"I want to be a hero more than anything else! And you were more heroic than anyone else! So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much! You're my hero!"
By this point, tears streamed down the boy's face like a waterfall. He was rubbing his sleeves on his face trying but failing to stop the flow of tears. Giichi assumed they were tears of joy because he didn't say anything wrong, or at least he hoped he didn't.
"He's right, you know…." both boys turned around to see All Might's massive figure smile and all watching their interaction.
"Young man, if you hadn't been there...If you hadn't told me about your life…I would've turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you."
"That can't be...Why are you guys thanking me? It was my fault in the first place. I said all those impertinent things even though I'm quirkless..."
Wow! The kid didn't even have a quirk!? The balls on this kid must be massive.
"That's right…." All Might said, "It was because it was none other than the timid, quirkless you at the scene that I was able to act." The boy gasped as his eyes widened in surprise at All Might's words, "Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of them have one thing in common…."
"Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think."
Once again, the boy's eyes shined as he gripped his collar and tried his hardest to fight back the tears. Giichi felt both his and the boy's heart overwhelm with happiness at the hero's words.
"I heard about what you did as well, young man. So that was true for both of you? Wasn't it?" The boy nodded, not speaking because he was sobbing tears of joy. Giichi's admiration for the man skyrocketed at what he was insinuating.
'Don't tell me...All Might'
"Both of you can become heroes."
Giichi wasn't crying. Really he wasn't! He just has really sweaty eyes.
Wait, that's disgusting…
Yeah, he was crying, and that was nothing to be ashamed of
XXXXXXXXX
After All Might gave them the inspirational speech, he whispered something in Izuku's ear and took off. As for them, they were still standing in the middle of the street. An Awkward silence took over, neither knowing what to say.
"...Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope I see you again." said the green-haired kid
"O-oh, yeah, see ya."
As the kid was leaving, Giichi remembered the words from the woman on the game a few hours back.
How does it feel to have no friends?
Imagine having no friends.
Maybe…?
"W-wait!"
The green-haired boy turned his head.
"What's your name?"
The boys eyes widened a bit "Izuku. Izuku Midoriya"
"My name is Giichi Horo. Do you…" Why was he so nervous? It shouldn't be that hard to ask a simple question, so why the hell does he feel so flustered.
"Do you...do you want to hang out sometimes?"
Why would he ask that? Of course, he would say no. Why would someone want to be friends with someone like him?
But to his surprise, Izuku gave him a bright smile and said, "I'd love to."
Giichi didn't know it but that bond they shared would change both of their lives forever.
