It's been a couple of days now that we've been in Hosu. Shoto is on his third day of interning with his father, learning as much as he can despite his attitude toward him. At the moment, I'm patrolling the streets of Hosu with both of them this evening. Some of Enji's sidekicks also tagged along. I'm walking beside Shoto while Enji walks some feet ahead of us. Enji's gait is so confident and his massive build surely makes him intimidating. I stare at his back, his flames flaring a bit as usual.
'Does he still blame himself?' I think to myself. 'Does he still feel at fault for what happened to Touya?'
I wonder about this as I see how he carries himself so confidently. Since I was a child, I've always thought that his tough demeanor was a front he put up to disguise his true feelings.
"Seems like another calm night," Shoto interrupts my thoughts.
"Seems like it…" I reply. "So did you choose a hero name for yourself? I remember you said your class was choosing hero names."
"I'm going with just my name."
"Really? You don't want something else?"
"No, I'd rather keep it simple."
"I understand. All my years I've known you, I guess I can expect you not to have a flashy hero name. But who knows – maybe you'll change your mind down the road."
Shoto gives me a soft smile. I then turn my gaze back at Enji, my thoughts returning to Touya.
"Akira…" Shoto says. "How has it been for you? Growing up without parents?"
"Well...being an orphan wasn't easy… I didn't have a family to go to nor do I know where I come from."
"Do you ever wonder who your parents were?"
"All the time. I wonder about their names, what they looked like, who they were as people, and what their quirks were. Why ask me that?"
"I just wonder about how you must've felt without parents as a child… It makes me wonder if I'm taking my parents for granted."
"Oh, Shoto!" I lightly pat him on the shoulder. "You're so considerate. Yeah I grew up without parents, but I can't really miss something I never had."
Shoto thinks carefully about what I'm saying.
"Just know this," he says. "You'll always be like family to us."
My brows rise at his words.
"I know…" I give him a soft smile.
"Though I do know about your relationship with my older brother," Shoto continues. "I didn't witness it, but I hear from Fuyumi a lot about how you two cared for each other… He loved you, didn't he?"
I keep my gaze forward, recalling Touya and his love.
"He did," I nod.
"I'm glad you have us to call family," Shoto says.
"Oh, Shoto!" I pull him in for a hug.
"Huh?" Shoto looks dumbfounded.
Suddenly there's a tremble in the ground. Explosions go off some streets nearby as the sounds of people screaming can be heard.
"Akira! Shoto!" Enji calls us. "There's trouble! Follow me!"
Enji runs down the sidewalk with his sidekick and we follow in pursuit.
"I'll show you what it means to be a hero!" Enji says.
As I'm running, Shoto suddenly stops in his tracks after pulling out his phone.
"Huh? Shoto?" I stop in my tracks.
"Shoto!" Enji calls him. "Don't look at your phone! Look at me!"
Shoto continues to look at the screen in surprise and then makes a run for the opposite direction.
"Where are you going, Shoto?!" Enji yells.
"An alleyway at 4-2-10 Ekou Street," Shoto replies. "If you finish what you're doing or find any free pros, send them there. I'm leaving you to take care of the trouble. I'm sure you'll be able to resolve it quickly."
Enji and I stand there in confusion as we watch Shoto run off down the street.
"Shoto…" Enji mutters.
Just as I'm about to run after him, Enji stops me.
"No, leave him be," he tells me. "We'll handle the trouble over here."
I turn to Enji for a moment before nodding. We then turn back and keep running toward the commotion. After turning a corner, we reach an area where we see people running away. There's a pale-green monster chasing after a group of people. The top of its head has its brain exposed.
"What the hell?" I'm surprised.
The monster screeches and attacks an older man wearing a yellow and white hero suit. There's a couple nearby which the creature turns its attention to and lunges to attack them. The elder propels himself in midair toward the creature. Enji takes this chance to shoot fire, engulfing the creature in flames.
"I do not know who you are, honored elder," Enji says to the man. "But leave the rest to me."
The elder hero looks at me and Enji in surprise.
"Seriously?" The young man of the couple is also surprised to see us. "Endeavor? Nova?"
"Why are you here?" The woman asks.
"Isn't it obvious?" Enji smirks. "It's because I am a hero."
The flames die down, leaving the creature still unharmed and its skin smoldering.
"How is it still going?" I'm surprised.
"Even though I used a lower temperature as a warning," Enji observes. "This is the first time anyone's been able to stay conscious after being on the receiving end."
The creature crouches on all fours as it faces us.
"Be careful!" The elder hero warns. "This guy's…"
Before he can finish, the creature screeches and its body explodes with a blast of fire. I immediately charge energy at my feet to fly toward the couple to move them out of harm's way. I bring them over to the sidewalk across the street.
"Thank you, Nova!" The woman says.
"Go! Get far from here!" I say.
The couple nods and scurries away. I turn my attention back to the creature and Enji.
"Absorption and release, huh?" Enji observes. "But since the damage from the absorption remains...it's just a small fry's quirk!"
"Todoroki!" The elder hero calls. "This guy's got multiple quirks!"
The creature expands and leaps up in the air, destroying the ground that was below it. It heads toward Enji in a body slam.
"It's got multiple quirks," I'm surprised. "Isn't that like the creature that attacked U.A.?"
While still in midair, the creature opens its mouth and appendages shoot out from it. Just before it reaches Enji, the elder hero propels himself at it, destroying the creature's attack. He quickly jets himself back and kicks the creature back into the ground, cracking the pavement. I make my way over to Enji as we see that the creature has been immobilized.
"Huh, you're not bad, honored elder," Enji says.
Our attention then turns to explosions further out in the vicinity.
"There's more of them," I say.
"There should be a lot of heroes gathered over there," Enji says. "It's been at least two or three minutes."
"Even though they're all gathered there! Good grief!" The elder man says. "Let's restrain this guy quickly and turn him over to the police so we can go help!"
"Leave that villain to my sidekicks," Enji says. "Honored elder, go now to the address I'll give you. Nova and I will be sufficient support for those over there."
The elder hero is confused at first but nods.
"An alleyway at 4-2-10 Ekou Street," Enji tells him.
"Got it!" The elder hero wastes no time and heads away.
"Akira," Enji turns to me. "Let's go!"
I nod and we quickly make our way over to the block where all the commotion is happening. When we arrive, we see a group of heroes fighting off another creature. This one is larger with a muscular build, its brain also exposed. The group of heroes all lunge at it at once, but they are blinded in the dust after, not able to see where the creature is. It appears behind a hero, about to attack her. Enji darts to the creature, punching a fist of fire at it. It slides back some feet from the impact.
"Endeavor!" A hero is surprised. "And Nova!"
I stand ready nearby, ready to assist. The creature regenerates its arm quickly.
"It can regenerate, huh?" Enji sees. "Then!"
"Stay back!" I warn the other heroes.
Enji prepares himself and charges at the creature and it does the same. They both grapple with each other for a bit.
"How about this?!" Enji grapples the creature's head.
Enji engulfs the creature's head in flames which ignite into blue. I watch in awe as the blue flames remind me of Touya for a moment. After a few seconds, the creature smolders and collapses on its back.
"Carbonized cells cannot regenerate," Enji has a smug smile.
"Look out!" Someone yells.
We turn our attention to another creature flying away with someone who's unconscious.
"Those heroes with quirks that are not effective against the villain," Enji states. "Go to Ekou Street, District 4 to help there!"
"There's a villain there, too?" A hero asks.
"I don't know, but I'm counting on you! Akira! Let's go!"
Enji and I run off after the flying creature. Enji then shoots a ball of fire at it but it dodges.
"He's fast! Then…" Enji says.
Enji heats up the soles of his feet and jumps off the stone building toward the flying creature in the air. He then throws a fire arrow, hitting the creature in the head. It drops the unconscious hero and Enji quickly catches him.
"I won't let you get away!" Enji grits his teeth.
The creature flies down the street. I charge energy at my feet to propel me up in the air.
"I'll follow it!" I say.
I'm suddenly tackled in the air by another creature, catching me off guard. It slams me against a stone building, causing me to hit my head hard against the concrete. I feel lightheaded as the creature continues to grapple me, crashing us into a dark alley some blocks down.
"Akira!" Enji yells from afar.
The creature and I continue to struggle as we crash along the brick walls of a building. We land hard on the concrete ground of an alley. I push myself up but still feel dizzy from the hard hit to my head, causing me to stay laying on the ground. The creature approaches me, ready to attack as I turn my head toward it. Just as it lunges at me, a stream of blue flames hits it from behind me. The creature screeches in pain as it's engulfed in the bright blue flames. After some seconds, the creature finally collapses, its body now black and smoldering. I'm confused and turn behind me to where the blue flames came from. I narrow my eyes through my blurry vision, spotting a figure in the shadows at the other far end of the alley. The figure is that of a man, but because it's so dark and my vision isn't clear, I can't make out any details. The man then walks away.
"Wait…" I weakly say.
"Akira!" Enji calls out from the other end of the alley.
He rushes over to me and helps me get to my feet carefully.
"Are you hurt?" Enji asks.
"I hit my head hard against the building," I grimace as I touch my head. "But I should be fine."
"We'll get you medical attention as soon as possible."
"Let's go find Shoto."
Enji nods and leads the way out of the alley. As I'm running off with him, I turn my head back into the alley to where the shadowy man was.
'Who was that?' I think to myself.
Enji and I eventually arrive at the scene by the alley where Shoto said he'd be. Down by the street, we see a group of heroes standing as they gaze ahead of them.
"Why are you all standing around in a group?" Enji calls out. "The villain should've escaped this way."
We approach the group and see the elder hero along with Shoto and another one of his classmates.
"How are things on your end?" The elder hero asks.
"Things got a little rough," Enji replies.
Further down the block we see a man holding someone down, along with the flying creature. The man wears a long red scarf and has his forearms bandaged. His messy black hair looks familiar. I then notice the person he's pinned on the ground is Izuku Midoriya.
"Don't tell me that man is…?" Enji asks.
"Let...go!" Izuku struggles.
The man pinning him down turns his head and gazes his bloodthirsty eyes on Enji.
"Endeavor," the man says.
"Hero Killer!" Enji flames up his left arm.
"So it is Stain," I confirm. "Wait, Enji!"
Enji turns to me and I show that Izuku is right under Stain. He understands that he may hurt Izuku if he attacks Stain with his flames and stops himself. We watch as Stain's bandages fall from his face, revealing his terrifying murderous gaze.
"You fake…" Stain begins. "I must make things right…"
Stain begins to walk toward us. His blood shot eyes send shivers down everyone's spine. His presence emits an evil dark aura, freezing everyone up.
"Someone must be dyed in blood," he continues. "I must take back what it means to be a hero! Come! Try and get me, you fakes! The only one I'll let kill me is the true hero… All Might!"
His blood curdling yell keeps everyone frozen in terror. I turn my gaze at Enji and see that even he is a bit disturbed. Stain approaches but suddenly stops in his tracks. His eyes go white as his body stiffens up, saliva pouring from his mouth.
"He's...unconscious…" I observe.
Shoto and his classmate drop to the ground, still staring in shock at Stain along with everyone else.
I'm sitting on the curb near an ambulance. Police and other paramedics and services are cleaning up after the commotion. I take a sip from my water bottle. Enji and Shoto approach me with Izuku also with them.
"Are you alright?" Shoto is worried. "What happened?"
"Hit my head pretty hard against a building," I rub my head. "Nothing too bad."
"How are you feeling?" Enji asks.
"I just need to take it easy for the rest of the night."
"I'm glad to hear," Shoto sighs in relief.
"You're...Nova," Izuku gazes down at me nervously.
"Hm?" I'm confused. "Yes, that's me."
"You're the Collapsing Star Hero!" He continues to say nervously but excitedly. "I'm a big fan! I love your supernova quirk! I know a lot about you!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! You served most of your life with the Hero Public Safety Commision! You didn't even have to attend a school to obtain your hero license!"
"Um. I think you and Shoto need to go to the hospital…" I see their wounds.
I laugh with a sweat drop as Izuku continues to list facts about me. Shoto and Enji can't help but smile at us.