Hey everyone. BenchBeYolking here and...yeah.
It's been a while.
I'd love to say something dramatic like this massive month-and-a-half hiatus has been because of health problems, or time issues, or stress, but I can't lie.
I've just not had the energy to write.
Not that I don't love this story (and those of you who have made it this far/are sticking around) and for a while, this was the only thing that I really looked forward to doing, it kept me going day-after-day and gave me something to look forward to, the response to posting a new chapter.
And I was so looking forward to writing the next chapter and seeing how everyone liked it...and then I just couldn't. I would sit at my computer for literal hours and just stare at the empty document, and after what felt like forever, I've finally written enough to feel okay posting it.
I'm sorry for everyone who was waiting for this chapter, and I'm sorry to everyone new who might have to wait a while for the next one, I promise, I never forgot about this story, and I want to keep writing it for all you wonderful people!
Feel free to leave a review with anything! Anything at all! Reviews are my fuel that keep me trucking forward (I'm fueled by ego, you see, and your reviews good or bad give me power XD) Even if all you say is that I'm a garbage person for making you wait for so long (which is valid criticism, I'll keep working hard from my trash can to deliver the best content I can!)
Special shout out to ClimatingTheChange, TheSilverHunt3r, Victorsmyname, and everyone else who's left a review! You guys are the best, and when I was ready to give up on this story, I remembered I was going to let awesome people like you down and kept on going!
Without further ado, I'll let the chapter, speak for itself...
"So. You're a criminal-" Hanta began slowly, leaning over the dimly lit dining table. Lazarus watched him keep his elbows perched just at the edge, carefully keeping his body tense, while his eyes burrowed into Lazarus.
"Vigilante. More of an unrecognized public hero." Lazarus corrected, taking a sip of cool water from his new glass. Hanta frowned.
"So a criminal," Hanta persisted, "who stole money-" Hanta's voice raised slightly, Lazarus exhaled sharply through his nose, his face tinting red.
"I repossessed the assets of a criminal organization and donated it to a charity case." Lazarus asserted, Hanta looked at him with squinted eyes.
"You used it to pay for your school fees and residence here!" Hanta accused, Lazarus bared his teeth and gestured at his chest.
"I'm a goddamn charity case, Hanta. I needed the money, who would you rather have it? The people selling weapons and drugs to thugs to hurt people, or me. Deep Well was suppose to cover my tracks. No one was supposed to get hurt. Well, at least no one who didn't deserve it… wow I sound like the bad guy here." Lazarus reflected on his own behavior for a moment, disliking what he found, before returning to the topic at hand, "I guess I put too much trust in them." Lazarus gripped his glass tightly, his knuckles turning white as he felt his chest collapse, his body deflating from his core.
"So. What now?" Hanta asked quietly, fidgeting slightly as Lazarus reached down, picking up his mask, holding out in a hand.
"...I never wanted to wear the mask again." Lazarus replied, his voice feeling meek, caught half-way in his throat. He felt Hanta look up at him.
"Then why did you?" Hanta spoke slowly, trying to find logic in Lazarus's actions.
"Because it's all I know. It's a different world behind a mask, you are safe, protected. Nothing can hurt you if they can't see you. Bullets can tear my flesh and fire can scorch my bones, but only the recognition of society can truly hurt me." Lazarus placed his mask on the table and slid it across the Hanta.
"Why are you, no, what are you doing?" Hanta spoke, his voice beginning to harden as Lazarus remained silent.
"Lich dies here. This is my promise. As soon as I put down this threat against my life, I'll hang up the mask forever. I don't want to put you in a spot where you have to choose between upholding your morals and upholding our friendship. I just need you to trust me, I just need you to-" Lazarus felt emotions well, his eyes pleading, Hanta refused to make eye contact.
"Just- go to the heroes? Why not just leave this to the people who are actually trained to deal with this stuff?" Hanta finally met his eyes, and Lazarus saw how torn his friend was.
"Hey, All Might, sorry to bother you sir," Lazarus began to mock, "An international criminal cartel has marked me for death, do you mind opening an investigation into them? Why have they marked me for death. Oh, that's a funny story…" Lazarus trailed off, leaving Hanta to place his hands in on his face and sigh.
"...I can't approve." Hanta spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper from between his hands. Lazarus didn't risk moving.
"Once more, my friend, once I bury my past, I can finally be free of it." Lazarus spoke, reaching out and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Hanta didn't move.
"I can't help you. Lazarus, you've dug your own grave," Hanta lowered his hands, and his eyes were deep and misty, "but I can't bring myself to stop you, so if anyone asks, you were never here. I've never heard of anyone by the name of Lich." Hanta stopped to compose himself, Lazarus took this as his opportunity to leave.
Lazarus stood, brushing himself off as he moved to walk by Hanta, who grabbed him by the arm roughly. Hanta looked dead into Lazarus's eyes.
"I've never heard of Lich, and I never will, right?" Hanta's words were cold, but his eyes were wide and hopeful. Lazarus nodded. The two of them stood there, eyes locked, an agreement made.
"Hanta dear? Is something going on? Is someone down there?" A groggy voice drifted down from upstairs, Lazarus recognized Hanta's mom instantly. Hanta gestured at the door.
"I'll tell them I dropped a glass, go, now." Hanta stood and moved towards the small pile of glass shards that Lazarus has swept into a corner after returning.
"Thank you." Lazarus whispered as loudly as he could, Hanta chuckled dryly.
"Don't thank me, I'd normally say you owe me your life, but, I'm actually going to say you owe me several of them." Hanta and Lazarus shared a small smile, before the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs began.
"Till next time." Lazarus spoke, grabbing his mask from the table and slipping it on, opening the back door, and with one final wave to Hanta, disappearing back into the darkness of the early morning.
His money bag back over his shoulder, and his costume back in his bag, Lazarus returned to his home address.
He sighed, the sun had yet to rise, but any traces of police or heroes had already disappeared from the scene of the crime. The building looked as it always did, a run down apartment complex that could easily be confused for a condemned site if not for the occasional light in a window. Lazarus shifted the bag on his back and moved up the cracked concrete path leading to the front doors. The overgrown grass on either side of the path seemed to be slowly overtaking anything man-made around it. The doors creaked as he entered them, and the dull brown lobby greeted him. The cheap wooden furniture and old-school clerk desk seemed to be hauntilly empty in the silence of the building.
Lazarus felt uncomfortable in the room, as if the Heroes were still waiting in the wings to ambush him. He knew he'd have to move buildings, after all, the police would want to question him as the tenant, and he'd need to make sure he could fly under the radar of the law. He had given a fake name to the building along with a bunch of fake contact info, so hopefully, it would confuse the police long enough for him to disappear. He crossed his fingers that Goro wouldn't remember him enough to give an accurate description of what he looked like.
A door opened somewhere to his left, and Lazarus jumped, his bag shaking as his eyes darted each way down the hall, only to see an elderly lady shuffling down the hall with her laundry, she gave a kind wave as she met his eyes. Lazarus returned the wave with a smile of his own as she disappeared into another room. Lazarus gasped for air.
"You think a police raid would cause this place to be a bit more lively." Lazarus remarked with a chuckle as he began to climb the stairs, knowing he was going to miss this run down mess of a place.
As he continued to climb the rickety stairs, he let his hand drag against the cheap and torn wallpaper that sportatically dotted the wall, the flickering lights and groaning floorboards had become home to him, it had become somewhere safe.
At least until he had died in it. Then it lost a little bit of it's charm.
Lazarus checked his phone as he reached his floor, the large number four and AM stood out to him. He sighed painfully, at this point, it wasn't even worth going to bed. The vigilante knew he had overexerted himself and today was going to be a rough one. Using his shoulder, he pushed open the door to his house, the creaking feeling welcoming for once as he walked into his home.
"Good morning." A voice greeted him. Lazarus froze, his eyes landing squarely on Goro, resting on a chair in the center of his destroyed apartment. Before Lazarus could say a word, Goro stood and moved to walk by him, smiling the whole time.
"I don't owe you anything, just so you know. I shredded any proof that you've lived here. As far as the police were concerned, this was an empty apartment that a crazy guy dragged a girl into to murder her. I made sure that Ms. Blue Eyes shared the same story. You won't get any trouble from the law for that incident, good luck cleaning up!" As soon as Goro finished his speech, he patted Lazarus twice on the head and walked out briskly, closing the door behind him with an echoing slam.
Lazarus stood, stunned in his destroyed apartment. Before walking towards the kitchen, opening his cabinet and pulling out his broom and dustpan. He couldn't help but smile. He had cheated death yet again, and done some good along the way. Lazarus began to work on tidying up his apartment, sweeping up fragments of his window as he became lost in thought.
"They'll send someone else." Lazarus sighed, voicing his fears into the empty room as he stood tall, "Maybe it won't be someone so incompetent next time. I have to strike first, it's the only way." Lazarus stood, looking out the shattered glass and out into the darkness beyond it.
"...But first. I have a school to go to. I have to focus on school," He reminded himself, "I need to be a hero, it's the only way I'll ever get what I need. Deep Well can't help me. I just need to be a hero. I just need to get closer." Lazarus reinforced the idea, and just as he did, his phone buzzed, and Lazarus looked down at it.
CONTACT: TROUBLE? NOT TOO LATE. FINISH WHAT U STARTED. KILL OMEGA.
Lazarus stared down at his phone, the text message burning into his retina. He began to type a reply.
LAZ: Did you tip them off?
CONTACT: FINISH WHAT U STARTED. KILL OMEGA.
LAZ: You bastards, I did everything you asked, and I trusted you.
CONTACT: FINISH WHAT U STARTED. KILL OMEGA.
LAZ: You changed the rules. I'm not playing your game anymore. I lost everything because of you.
CONTACT: YOU LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF YOU.
Lazarus tightened his grip on his phone, Deep Well had been the devil in his ear for too long.
LAZ: Screw you. I'm out. Don't contact me again.
For a moment, there was no reply, and Lazarus hoped that it had been as simple as that.
CONTACT: FINISH WHAT U STARTED. KILL OMEGA.
Lazarus moved to the edge of the chat, navigating to the button he should have pressed months ago, block number.
CONTACT: FINISH WHAT U STARTED. KILL OMEGA.
CONTACT: YOU COWARD.
CONTACT: YOU'RE BETRAYING JUSTICE.
CONTACT: YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS.
CONTACT: PLEASE. JUST HELP US.
CONTACT: YOU KNOW WE'RE RIGHT.
CONTACT: DON'T YOU DARE LAZ.
CONTACT: WE'RE YOUR ONLY FRIENDS.
CONTACT: I'M YOUR ONLY FRIEND.
Lazarus stared at the rapid fire messages flooding into his inbox, his gaze only growing harder with each passing one. His finger just hovering over the button.
CONTACT: IF YOU
CONTACT: DO THIS
CONTACT: WE WON'T
CONTACT: EVER
CONTACT: HELP YOU FIND
Before his contact could type another word, Lazarus hit the button, and instantly, the screen was greyed out, replaced by an overlay message.
USER: CONTACT Has been blocked, all incoming and outgoing message to this number have been stopped, if you wish to unblock this number, you can do so through your security settings.
Lazarus let out a sigh, a great weight being released from his chest.
"Sorry Sis...god I'm sorry...but better late than never." Lazarus spoke quietly, leaning against the frame of what was left of his glass sliding door.
His phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN: DEEP WELLS WILL NOT FORGET YOU. ENJOY YOUR MEDIOCRITY LAZARUS LAW. WE WILL NOT CONTACT YOU AGAIN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO JUSTICE. -ADMIN
UNKNOWN: I'M SORRY LAZ. I REALLY AM, I PROMISE. I HOPE BEING ANOTHER PLASTIC HERO MAKES YOU FEEL SPECIAL. GOODBYE.
"Wow Lazarus-kun, you look like death warmed up." Neito laughed as Lazarus collapsed into class 1-B. Lazarus looked at his dark phone screen, seeing his normally dark bags under his eyes had deeped significantly in colour. His hair was a mess and he was struggling to walk in a straight line. More then that, he was pissed. He had gotten unlucky. He hadn't slept, so he hadn't had the chance to reset his death count, he only had one regeneration left to start the one day he'd actually need to show off his abilities.
"Late night." Lazarus replied simply as he moved by Neito to slump into his desk, already feeling sleep beckoning him. He found the energy to lift his head, looking around at his class titter and joke around him, everyone slowly getting to know everyone else. It was only the second day of class, after all, and now was the time to warm up and establish the social bonds that would carry them all through the school year.
Lazarus pressed his forehead into the cool surface of the desk, groaning quietly. He wanted to participate, he wanted to get to know everyone, but right now, death was the only friend he wanted to embrace.
It was going to be a long day.
"English class! Everybody say hey!" President Mic called from the front of the room, Lazarus kept his face buried behind his textbook, struggling desperately to keep his eyes open as the blond haired hero yelled about english conjunctions. Lazarus had tried to get out of the class, but he ironically didn't understand enough Japanese when he was submitting his student information to fill out the papers required to prove his fluency in English. Life just loved to kick him while he was down sometimes.
"You! Listener with the red hair! What'chu thinking the answer is to number three?" President Mic spoke clearly, after a moment, a female voice replied.
"The...the past participle is in the wrong place?" The feminine voice sounded unsure, but President Mic's loud voice cut through any unsurity.
"CORRECT! Next!" Lazarus tried to block out the voice, a hard task to do when
"You! Listener sleeping in the back!" President Mic's voice carried over the room, Lazarus rose his head up, meeting eyes with President Mic, responding in English.
"Yes sir, Mr. President Mic, what is the question that you want to ask me? I'm sure I'll have little trouble understanding it." Lazarus paused as he waited for President Mic to understand.
President Mic paused for a moment, then suddenly pointed dramatically, "Whaaaaat? Are you an American?!" Lazarus blinked, feeling the bags under his eyes somehow make the gesture more slow and sarcastic.
"Just because I don't have blond hair doesn't mean I'm not a Foreigner, you know? Not all of us can win the genetic lottery." Lazarus spoke slowly, placing his hand on his chin as he gazed back at President Mic, who's eyes lit up like fireworks.
"Awesome!" President Mic screamed, Lazarus, along with the rest of the class, clasped their hands over their ears. Lazarus felt his entire head screaming back at the voice hero, his ears ringing loudly as he felt a headache bloom in his temples. As soon as his hearing returned (somewhat), Lazarus looked up at President Mic, who was patiently waiting for the entire class to recover.
"Wow, well that woke me up!" Lazarus chuckled, slightly concerned that his own voice sounded muffled to his ears, President Mic nodded sagely, before pointing dramatically at him.
"Good! Don't sleep in class anymore! It's not cool to 'snooze in school' Yeah! Are there any other Americans here, lemme hear you say yay!" President Mic changed poses a few times, turning the dramatics up to eleven in Lazarus's perspective.
Before he could say a word, he heard the distinctive sound of a chair scraping on the ground as the girl Setsuna had mentioned, Pony-Chan, stood up and meekly raised her hand. Her long blond hair falling over her ears, while not quite obscuring her face.
"Um, I'm an...American." Pony-Chan replied in perfect english as well, Lazarus chuckled quietly.
"So she wasn't lying." Lazarus chuckled to himself, before being hit in the face with a wad of paper. He looked at Setsuna, who stuck her tongue out at him.
"I may be manipulative, but I'm no liar, you know?" She rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the front, where from Lazarus's perspective, President Mic seemed to be having a posing-seizure.
"Awesome! So many students from other places! Now back to class! Yeah!" President Mic suddenly picked up the textbook and opened to what seemed to Lazarus to a random page, Lazarus took the opportunity to lower his head back to his desk, trying to nurse his growing headache.
"...I'm from China…" A voice spoke quietly from somewhere to Lazarus's left, he almost found the energy to look over to see who was talking, but found the desk too comfortable to rise from.
"Japanese Literature." The cement based hero, Cementoss, spoke as he began his lecture. Lazarus stared down at the book in front of him, unsure if his inability to read the title was due to his grasp of the written language, or the fact that his headache had bloomed into a full-fledged migraine and he was seeing doubles of the lettering.
Lazarus looked up and saw Pony-chan, sitting in her seat, a thousand yard stare in her eyes as a look of perpetual panic spread across her face, she flicked her eyes to the side, as if aware of Lazarus's eyes. They looked at each other, and a single nod exchanged between the two foreigners became a pact between failures-to-be.
He turned to his left, seeing a boy with a stylishly braided ponytail seated beside him, somehow looking more terrified then both him and Pony-chan combined. Lazarus reached out and placed a hand on the boys shoulder, the boy turned his head slowly, and nodded slowly, joining in on the pact of the non-native-speakers.
"No context, we die like tourists." Lazarus whispered, the boy took a deep breath and turned away, opening his textbook and flipping to the first page, clearly struggling to read the foreword, Lazarus did the same, but couldn't even find the energy to try.
The bell didn't ring for an eternity afterwards.
"Lazarus-kun?" Lazarus snorted at the unexpected voice, jolting up from his seat, his cheap sunglasses falling down his nose as he looked around the empty classroom.
"Right! Math class!" Lazarus loudly proclaimed, looking for the source of the voice, Neito shook his head smugly.
"That ended five minutes ago, you slept through the whole thing." Neito laughed, clutching suddenly at his belly, "The teacher just thought you were really focused, good luck catching up to the rest of the class." Neito smiled and patted Lazarus twice on the head, continuing to laugh as he left the room. Lazarus sunk lower into his chair.
"...I hate tuesdays." Lazarus stood, grabbing his bag as he walked towards the door. He got one step before noticing that Neito had tied his shoelaces together as his face connected with the floor.
Lazarus stared across the cafeteria, feeling the weight of the tray in his hands as he moved, his eyes scanning the room. He felt his internal battery running on empty. He could never describe what it felt like to fail to reset his quirk, it was somewhat like a constant looming feeling of dread. It was like he had dug his way out of his own grave, but half his torso was still stuck in the ground, like at any moment, he would be sucked back down into hell. All in all, it was not an experience he rated very highly.
"Poe-kun!" A boyish voice called from behind him, Lazarus turned on his heels to face a brown haired boy waving after him, his gut twisting in on itself at the name.
"Lazarus." He corrected tiredly, feeling the tray drop a little more in his hand. He could stand prefixes sometimes, but he would not tolerate being called Poe-anything. The last thing he needed was to carry that name around with him.
The boy looked confused for a moment, before he pointed at himself, "No, I'm Tsuburaba, Kosei Tsuburaba."
Lazarus looked back unblinkingly, his brain trying to deduce whether on not this boy was screwing with him or not. The genuine honesty in the boys eyes pointed to no.
"...If you're going to call me something that isn't my first name, please don't call me just Poe. The name Poe is nothing but a leftover bit of ink on my birth certificate that I'm forced to identify myself as in a legal capacity." Lazarus sighed, balancing his tray precariously in one hand as he rubbed his temple. Kosei smiled.
"Cool, alright Poe-ahh...Cube-kun." Kosei started, before stuttering for a moment, spitting out the last bit with a shrill unsureness. Lazarus tilted his head.
"Cubekun? What?" Lazarus leaned in slightly, yet again inspecting the boys face for a joke he wasn't getting.
Kosei rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Sorry! I panicked, I always see you walking around with the cube you fiddle with, so it was the first thing I thought of as a nickname. Kinda lame I know." As Kosei continued to laugh nervously, Lazarus relaxed.
"Well, it's still not my name...Nah, I'll take it. Sorry, I'm a little outta it today, you know?" Lazarus finally admitted, smiling apologetically as he yawned. Kosei nodded.
"Well I got that feeling from watching you in English...I guess you don't know many people around here?" Kosei spoke causing Lazarus to laugh, struggling momentarily to keep his balanced grip on his tray on his hand, moving his other hand to steady it.
"You could say that, I doubt many people here know one another that well, but at least most of them share a common language." Lazarus looked past Kosei to a nearby table, where several of his classmates were staring right at him, as soon as he made eye contact, they all quickly looked away back to their food, except for Neito, who smiled dastardly.
Kosei glanced over his shoulder, then quickly looked back to Lazarus, still smiling, "Right! Do you want to sit with us Cube-kun? We're all trying to get a feel for what the class can do, and you're kinda a mystery. No one has any idea about what you can do, and we figure it'd be easiest to just get the answer from the source instead of guessing."
Lazarus yet again looked past Kosei to Neito and his growing unnerving smile. Lazarus exhaled through his nose and shook his head, he wished he could figure out what exactly happened inside Neito's mind.
"Well?" Kosei asked expectantly, Lazarus paused a moment longer, before chuckling.
"Sure, Koooo, ehem, Tsuburabaruba-kun." Lazarus smiled as he stumbled through what little he remembered of Kosei's last name, Kosei's confused expression confirmed he had not guessed correctly.
"Uh, Tsuburaba." Kosei corrected, Lazarus shrugged apologetically.
"Right, Tsuburaba-kun. Lazarus nodded, feeling satisfied his mimicry of the name was close enough, and quickly stepped around Kosei to move to the table behind him. Lazarus glanced behind him to see Kosei quickly turned and followed, catching up to Lazarus's long strides just as they both reached the table.
Lazarus's eyes scanned the table. He recognized Tetsutetsu and his silver hair, Neito and his unhinged smile, and the red-haired girl that sat near the front of the class easily. The other person at the table, a black haired boy with with a white and blue headband, was someone Lazarus had seen only in passing during the class trial.
"Before anyone can say anything, yes, I go by just Lazarus." Lazarus said a little loudly and suddenly, cutting Kosei off before he could give any kind of introduction. Kosei chuckled and quickly moved on, Tetsutetsu rolling his eyes as the two people Lazarus hadn't formally met before exchanged quizzical looks.
Kosei pointed to the red haired girl, who smiled and waved, "Nice to meet you Lazarus-kun, I'm Itsuka Kendo!" The girl cheerily introduced herself with a smile, in Lazarus's half-awake half-alive state, a single thought made it to the tip of his tongue.
"Right, like the martial art! Kendo!" Lazarus felt himself proclame wisely, as if it wasn't the most obvious statement in the world. Kosei sighed, Neito rolled his eyes, Tetsutetsu slammed his head again the table, and Kendo herself simply raised a hand to her mouth to hide a amused chuckle.
"Good catch." She replied with a cheeky grin, Lazarus's social sense finally took control as he ran two hands through his hair and loudly groaned.
"Yeah you, you get that a lot, don't you?" Lazarus replied, feeling no less stupid then he did at his last comment. Kendo shrugged and continued smiling at him. Lazarus looked down at his open palm with a sudden need to wake up, with a single swift motion, he slapped himself across the face with all his might.
"Whoo!" Lazarus loudly proclaimed, the world suddenly slightly clearer around him as a dull sensation spread through his cheek. Lazarus observed that the audibly solid slap clearly shocked several of the students at the table.
"You alright?" Kosei suddenly spoke, concern and fearful confusion written across his face. Lazarus shook the uncomfortable feeling from his head and smiled, feeling the rush of blood to his most likely red cheek.
"Never better! Pain in temporary, and so is life for that matter, haha!" Lazarus ran his hands through his hair again as his laughter died in his throat, quickly moving on before his philosophy and actions could be questioned further.
"So!" Lazarus followed up, leaving no dead space between his comments, "Who are you Mr. Headband? You got some kinda, sweat based quirk or something? No?" As Lazarus tried to keep the attention of himself, the only boy Lazarus didn't know suddenly seemed to come to life.
"Yosetsu Awase. And not even close." The boy smiled and nodded. Lazarus smiled back and shrugged.
"Shots in the dark rarely hit their mark," Lazarus finally sat down, squishing next to Tetsutetsu as the other boy grumbled at Lazarus's pushyness. "Thanks Tet!"
"Still not my name Lazarus-kun." Tetsutetsu replied instantly.
"Call me Lazarus and I'll call you Tetsutetsu." He challenged playfully, Tetsutetsu frowned harder. Lazarus went to playfully punch his frowning acquaintance in the shoulder, only for his fist to connect with solid steel.
"HMMM." Lazarus screamed through closed lips, his eyes bulging as he grabbed at his knuckle, his eyes watering slightly as his tired body recognized the damage, "Solid biceps man. Just. Rock. Solid."
Turning back to the group, still shaking out his red hand and rubbing his red cheek, Lazarus rested his elbow on the table, "So, you all want to know what I can do, eh? Well, what if I want to know what you all can do? Howabouta...trade? Huh?" Lazarus smiled as he turned on the charm.
Kendo (who Lazarus immediately pegged as the leader of the little group), smiled easily and quickly pointed to herself. "I can make my fists super big."
Lazarus waited a moment before chuckling lightly, the table descending into silence, "okay...and?"
Kendo coughed, "Uh, yeah, that's my quirk? What?" Her unsure tone hardened a little as she narrowed her eyes at him. Lazarus, thinking quickly, threw his hands up defensively.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean, uh, that's…" Lazarus immediately regretted that his words were far slower than his mind.
"You know what they say." Lazarus finished, nodding cripticly. Kendo didn't move.
"What do they say?" Kendo responded, prodding Lazarus for an answer. Lazarus felt a bead of sweat form on his brow.
"They say, uh. Simplicity in the fists, is bliss in the... mist." Lazarus fumbled over his words. Kendo's eyebrow nearly left her forehead as she raised it up.
"I've never heard anything like that in my entire life." Her mouth flattened in a line as she clearly assumed both her intelligence and quirk were being insulted in the worst possible way. Lazarus felt the temperature in the room rise as he tugged at his collar.
"It's an old, english, saying. Doesn't translate over that well to Japanese, so it sounds really awkward, I know." Lazarus pointed, the lie slipping out between clenched, smiling teeth. For a moment, Kendo seemed confused, but considerate.
"Is it...really?" Kendo asked, Lazarus didn't know if she was actually unsure, or just giving him an easy way out, but either way he wasn't going to waste it. He opened his mouth to confirm.
"Oh! No, it's not." Pony-Chan's voice drifted over from two tables over from the group, Kendo's face fell instantly as Lazarus spun around, rising to his feet with fury in his eyes.
"Traitor!" Lazarus cried back in english, defeat in his voice as he saw Pony-Chan's innocent and confused looking face from the other table. Setsuna sat beside her, her relaxed posture contrasted by her devilish grin.
"What?" Pony-chan replied back in English, clearly worried and slightly hurt by Lazarus's sudden denouncement before Lazarus could fumble over any more words, Setsuna interjected.
"Oh, my bad Lazarus-kun~" Setsuna stuck out her tongue as she stretched out his name for a moment before continuing, "I was just asking Pony-Chan here about that 'wise' saying, and I couldn't hear her answer, so I asked her to say it louder." Setsuna took a painfully long drink of water as the colour drained from Lazarus's face.
"Why?" Lazarus replied quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, yet Setsuna clearly had no trouble deducing what he said.
"Because you make it so easy. Sorry~" She smiled as Lazarus sunk back down, turning sheepishly back to Kendo, who was staring him down. Lazarus coughed.
"Uh, how about, we just. You know. Start over?" Lazarus chanced, Kendo smiled, though there was a plastic quality to it that even Lazarus could notice.
"Sure." She said chipperly, her face not quite matching her tone. She stood up and offered her hand to Lazarus, Lazarus stared at it for a moment, before looking up at her now sly smile.
"I'm dumb, but I'm just smart enough to know exactly what you're doing." Lazarus spoke calmly as he rose and dust himself off. Kendo's face didn't change.
"You don't have to take my hand, it's just an offer to start over." She spoke innocently, but there was a challenge behind her words. Lazarus rolled his eyes with a tired smiled.
"Well, I did screw up my first chance horribly, and I can't feel much pain anyway. So I can't say I don't deserve this." Lazarus smiled widely and took her hand, shaking it firmly, "Alright Kendo, do your worse."
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Kendo's hand suddenly quintupled in size, gripping his entire forearm in a single handful as she raised her and lifted him several inches off the ground.
"Gah, yep! Wow!" Lazarus laughed, feeling the awkward feeling of not quite being able to touch the ground as his arm strained against holding the weight of his body from a single joint.
"My thing is I can make my hand super big," Kendo casually stated, causing several of the other members of the table to chuckle, "...Oh, and also, I'm kinda stronger than you'd expect." As Kendo smiled and laughed, she began lowering Lazarus back down so he could touch the ground again.
Lazarus quickly relaxed as Kendo released his arm and shrunk her fist back down, sitting down again with her hands folded across the table. He quickly copied the posture, opening and closing his hand to return the blood flow to the limb.
"Okay. Well, I gotta admit, I expected more after I let slip that I can't feel pain," Lazarus shook his head, glad that he had gotten off with just mild embarrassment despite his behavior. He looked up at Kendo and frowned, "Sorry, I'd blame it on my tiredness, but honestly, I'm just a series of poor life choices compiled into a single human disaster. I beg your forgiveness." Lazarus finished, before bowing slightly too fast, slamming his head into the table with a dull thud.
From where his head was on the table, Lazarus could feel Kendo roll her eyes, "I didn't mean to make such a big deal about it, no need to be so hard on yourself. It doesn't sound as impressive as some other quirks, but trust me, it can be pretty good when I need it." As Kendo finished, she paused.
"Lazarus-kun, you can rise now." Tetsutetsu flatly spoke from beside him, Lazarus sighed.
"I would, my friend, but uh, there was actually a fork directly in front of me I didn't notice, and I think I've stabbed myself in the forehead." As if to prove his point, Lazarus brought his head up, crossing his eyes to see the long end of the fork directly in front of his nose for a moment before it feel to the table. As soon as it did, four thin trickles of blood started running down his nose.
Several of the members of the table recoiled, Lazarus looked around at their varying levels of worry before shrugging again, "Relax, it doesn't hurt." Without missing a beat, Lazarus reached over to where Neito was sitting and grabbed his napkin, wiping the blood from his face and placing it over his forehead to stop the blood flow.
"Hey!" Neito complained, Lazarus silenced him with yet another shrug, closing his eyes as he resisted the urge to roll them.
"Call this payback for tying my shoes together." Lazarus shot back, Neito looked offended.
"I would never stoop to such a stupid trick as to tie your shoelaces together, you moron! What made you think I did it?" Neito's laughter confused Lazarus for a moment longer than it should have.
"Well if you didn't-" Lazarus began, before Setsuna walked by their table, carrying her empty tray as she gave Lazarus an earnest smile, Lazarus returned a hardened stare.
"Too. Easy." Setsuna called over her shoulder as she walked off, leaving Lazarus to rub his temples, a difficult task to accomplish while he also tried to keep the napkin on his forehead.
"I guess I'll go next?" Kosei interjected, clearly waiting for his turn to speak, Lazarus turned to him, nodding to show he was giving his full attention.
He pointed to himself and smiled, "I can solidify air, just breath in…" Kosei took a moment to take a breath of air in, before exhaling, causing a solid disk about the size of his hand to appear a few inches in front of his mouth, suspended in space.
"Hey! Nice!" Lazarus looked at the disk, poking it slightly to confirm it's solid nature. Kendo crossed her arms and shook her head haughtily.
"So I have to work hard to make you like my quirk, and he gets a 'nice' right off the bat?" Kendo leaned over to leer at Lazarus, who shifted back slightly.
"Uh, I learn from my mistakes?" Lazarus risked, unsure if Kendo was actually upset, pretending to be upset, or pretending to be upset to mask the fact that she was actually upset. Kendo laughed and reached over to slap Lazarus on the shoulder, a little harder then he was use to.
"Kidding Lazarus-ku, uh, Lazarus." She smiled as she quickly corrected herself, Lazarus smiled back, feeling relief spread through his body. He nodded, before turning back to Kosei again.
"As I was saying, that's pretty cool. How strong is it? Force wise I mean? Can it stop an armored car?" Lazarus noted Kosei's face fall a bit before he recovered.
"No, uh, it'll stop most people in their tracks if I take a big breath, but it can be shattered, and these smaller ones are pretty weak. But yeah, that's my thing." Kosei nodded, and Lazarus nodded back, keeping his mouth shut on making any random comments he'd end up regretting.
Tetsutetsu looked at Lazarus and sighed, "I can turn my body into steel."
Lazarus smiled, "Ah, a hardening ability! Simple but effective!" Tetsutetsu sighed.
"Not quite hardening, it's dependent on my diet, not really my stamina, though I can't say it doesn't play a part in my ability to use it." Tetsutetsu corrected, Lazarus put his head on his hands, propping himself up by his elbow as he considered the ability.
"Huh, alright, interesting, well, I've seen it's raw power, so I can't really say much about it. How about you Neito? I assume your power isn't just identical to Tet over here." Lazarus switched gears, pointing lazily at Neito's smiling face.
Neito chuckled over the sound of Tetsutetsu mumbling about Lazarus's nickname for him, "I have to keep a few secrets, no? Why don't you try guessing, I'll give you three-" Before Neito could continue, Kendo rolled her eyes and spoke up.
"Mimicry, Monoma-kun can copy the quirk of anyone he touches." Neito stiffened as Kendo cut right through his game, Neito shook his head dejectedly and looked back at Lazarus.
"...Yes, that's my thing. There is a time limit to it, and I can't mix and match quirks at the same time, but it's quite the all-rounder." As Neito finished, Lazarus finally conected the mental dots and remembered that Neito's last name was Monoma.
"Ah, I see," Lazarus nodded, before the implications of Neito's powers hit him, "Holy crap! Mimicry? That's crazy!" Lazarus stood up out of his seat, leaning closer to Neito who chuckled.
"It's fantastic, being surrounded by so many fantastic quirks means I have quite the arsenal at my command." Neito spoke confidently, and Kosei gasped overdramatically.
"Why, everyone, I think that was almost a compliment from Neito! It's finally happened! He loves us!" As Koshi finished, Lazarus couldn't help joining everyone in laughter as Neito wrinkled his nose.
"While your quirks are fantastic, you could all learn a thing or two about strategy and thinking ahead from my intellect…Don't take a little praise as me saying your anywhere near my level!" Neito asserted his dominance, only for Yosetsu to finally speak up.
"We should all feel blessed, our lord and savior Monoma-kun acknowledged it was praise!" As Yosetsu spoke, his eyes rolled in such an arc that Lazarus was concerned they were going to roll right out of his skull. Another bout of laughter ensued. Neito crossed his arms and huffed, staying quiet.
"Yosetsu-kun what-" Before Lazarus could say anything else, Yosetsu cut him off.
"Okay seriously what the hell is up with what you call people?" He briskly cut Lazarus off, and for a moment, he could do nothing but stare blankly back at the black haired boy.
"Eh?" Lazarus spoke, his face twisting until an unsure smile.
"You call Monoma-kun Neito, just his first name, like you clearly like to be referred by; But, you call Kendo-chan Kendo, her family name, and yet don't use honorifics; You refer to me by my first name, and use honorifics; and finally, you just don't refer to Tsuburaba-kun as anything, you just avoid using any name!" As Yosetsu finished, the group seemed to all turn to face Lazarus, the question hanging in the air. Lazarus stood up and gave the only response that made sense.
"I'm an American! Therefore, I am utterly hopeless when it comes to understanding foreign cultures!" Lazarus placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest in a very classical All-Might pose. Silence descended over the table.
"Well is he wrong- ow!" Neito began to snark, but was cut off by Kendo reaching over and punching him in the arm. Kendo sighed and turned back to Lazarus, clearly wanting a more complete answer.
"Okay, so, to be completely honest, I just kinda remember whatever name sticks in my head, I don't mean to offend anyone with my honorific-less head, but I spend half of every conversation putting every sentence through a mental english blender," Lazarus let out a sigh, "If it does bother anyone, seriously, I'll remember your family name and get the right honorific through my skull, I swear." As Lazarus finished, a more relaxed silence filled the area as everyone settled back down and traded glances.
"Well…" Kendo began, clearly trying to think of what she wanted to say, Lazarus tried to listen.
"It's not actually that big of a deal." Tetsutetsu sighed, shaking his head with a smile, it's really manly that you were willing to admit it, I respect that at least. It's a little wonky, but so are you so, I'll live with it." As Tetsutetsu finished, the group broke out into quiet agreement, everyone nodding as Lazarus deflated, the tension he held in his gut finally releasing its hold on him.
"Hah!" Neito laughed, tears at the edge of his eyes, "You are all such pushovers, what? He says he 'might' change his ways and suddenly you all forgive him?" As Neito laughed, Lazarus let out a breath, smiling sadly.
"If it bothers you that much," Lazarus stretched his mouth for a moment to warm up his jaw, "then I can start calling you by your proper name Monoma-kun." As Lazarus finished, Neito's laughter died, before he coughed.
"Okay, that does sound incredibly weird coming from you." Neito seemed a little uncomfortable, Lazarus shrugged.
"I'm sure once I get use to it you'll get used to it too Monoma-kun!" Lazarus forced a little cheer into his voice. Neito snapped.
"Just go back to calling me Neito you idiot! It's driving me crazy to hear you call me that!" Neito groaned as he sunk back into his seat, Lazarus tried not to look ecstatic, but knew he was failing miserably.
"It's not like I like you or anything baka!" Kosei mocked, as Neito's face froze in a combination of embarrassment and irritation. Lazarus felt there was a reference here he wasn't really getting.
"Okay, so back at the task at hand, Yosetsu! Hit me with your power, we saved the best for last!" Lazarus snapped his finger as the attention at the table turned back to the boy with the headband.
"Hardly, my power isn't that flashy, I can weld things together at the molecular level, once I touch two objects together, nothing is getting them unstuck. It's not so much a combat power, but I've found ways to use it well." As he finished, Lazarus didn't have much to say, nodding as he considered how welding could be beneficial in combat.
"So that's everyone right? An interesting and fantastic table full of quirks!" Lazarus smiled and looked at Kendo, smiling a little wider, "I mean that honestly!" Kendo chuckled and everyone else smiled.
"Not everyone actually, you've gotten your side of the deal, now I think we deserve ours, spill it Lazarus-kun, what's your thing." As Kendo spoke, she leaned forward, clearly waiting for her curiosity to be sated. As Lazarus let his eyes flicker over the group, everyone but Neito seemed incredibly engaged.
"It's nothing too special, my thing is I-" Before Lazarus could launch into his explanation, Neito leaned forward in his chair, and Lazarus shut his mouth, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.
"You can come back from the dead, right?" Neito's words washed over Lazarus as he rolled his eyes. The rest of the table sat in shocked silence.
"...What?" Kosei looked from Neito to Lazarus, as if to receive some sort of confirmation.
"Astute guess Neito, right on the money. It's not nearly as impressive as it sounds when described like that, though." Lazarus leaned back as the shocked faces failed to shift. Neito snapped his fingers and laughed.
"Oh I knew it, it was an educated guess, but far more put together than all of your guesses! Hahaha!" Neito's laughter was the only sound in the room as Tetsutetsu turned towards Lazarus.
"What do you mean, 'from the dead?' do you have regenerative abilities?" At Tetsutetsu spoke, Lazarus felt his smile grow, it wasn't often he got to actually 'describe' his ability to people, regardless if they, or him, for that matter, would understand it.
"Not quite, it's a little hard to describe without an example, and forgive me if I'm not in any rush to off myself for the sake of a demonstration," Lazarus chuckled to himself, feeling a little giddy, "Uh, it's kind of like… if you think of a video game, it's a respawn. Yeah, like a respawn." Lazarus tried to force the not-quite-accurate example to work. Especially as he noticed recognition flash behind Tetsutetsu's eyes.
"Whenever I hit my physical threshold and, well, die. Then I respawn from my respawn point," Lazarus pulled his cube out of his pocket and held it out to see, "Which is right here. If I lose my respawn point, I can't come back, and also maybe-probably die for good." Lazarus shrugged and pocketed his cube again.
"Okay," Kendo asked, clearly trying to wrap her head around his quirk, before smirking, "...and?"
Lazarus laughed, throwing his hands up in defeat, "It's flashy, but not in the kinda way that people like. Most people don't wanna see their heroes get disemboweled, even if they can come back," Lazarus paused for a moment something else coming to his mind.
"I also can't really feel pain. Well, I can, it's weird. I can still feel pain, but there's not really a difference between the different pain I feel. Stubbing my toe and losing an arm are both equally inconvenient for me." Lazarus finished, scratching the bridge of his nose as he waited for any more questions, if anyone had any, they were staying quiet with them.
"So," Neito spoke up, surprising Lazarus a little, "You're basically just a normal guy who can lose a fight multiple times in a row?"
Lazarus said nothing, his mind blanking as he gazed at Neito's neutral face. The rest of the table seemed divided between the two of them, unsure of how Lazarus would respond.
"I mean, fair enough, yeah." Lazarus shrugged and nodded, wincing at the brutality of the answer.
Kendo judo chopped Neito in the neck.
Lazarus binked twice as Neito went face down on the table, out cold. Kendo shook her head and sighed.
"Is...is he alright?" Lazarus asked, feeling his voice grow a little more timid as his fear of Kendo and her massive fists of fury grow.
"He'll be fine," She waved him off, which only increased his concern, "More importantly, you shouldn't doubt yourself Lazarus." She smiled, Lazarus chuckled darkly.
"Aw, but I'm so good at doing it." Lazarus smiled as Kendo's smile turned to a frown.
"Lazarus, I mean this honestly, your quirk is really unique." As Kendo began, Lazarus sighed.
"I know you mean well, but trust me, I've heard this pep talk before. 'Unique!' 'Rare!' 'Unheard of!' 'One of a Kind!' You know what they all mean? Sugar. All sugar coated word because they can't say what they really mean, kinda useless for a hero." Lazarus took a breath as Kendo stared at him. He smiled sadly.
"It's a weird quirk, quirky, if you don't mind the joke. Sure when you first hear it, it sounds fantastical. I mean, coming back from the dead sounds like something everyone wants to do, but that's the thing, it's fantastic if there's something else you can do. Dying to your foe is not a sign that you are winning a fight." Lazarus sighed, dabbing at his forehead as the flow of blood finally stopped.
"Okay, fine," Kendo sighed, drumming her fingers on the desk, before pointing at him, "But it's not the quality of the quirk, it's how you use it. I'm sure you'll find out how to make the best of it here at UA!" Kendo smiled and Lazarus felt a warm feeling in his chest (where he supposed his heart would be) and laughed.
"Okay, I see why you're the de-facto leader of the gang." As Lazarus finished, Kendo stiffened, turning slightly red.
"I-I'm not the leader, haha, I'm just…" Kendo looked around for support, but Lazarus watched her grow redder as everyone nodded in agreement with Lazarus.
"You'd have to be a moron not to notice you're in charge." Neito mumbled from his face down position on the table. Kendo buried her face in her hands.
"You guys, seriously! I'm not trying to take charge here…" Kendo spoke from behind her hands, the table decended into laughter as everyone return to their food, Lazarus noted that he had not been asked to move or leave, and he had no want to do so. As Lazarus began to eat, he felt a smile touch his face, every so often glancing at the others at the table, making idle small talk in between bites of rice. He considered starting another big conversation, but decided against it, quietly eating his own food, simply enjoying the company of being around others.
Lazarus looked down at the scrawled note on his book, the number of a locker in the changeroom, as he looked at his uniform inside it, he felt a fear grip his chest, the afternoon was beginning, no more regular subjects, now it was time for why he really came.
"Lazarus!" Tetsutetsu yelled from behind him, Lazarus turned, seeing his friend's costume. A metal cross showing off his bare arms and upper chest, the rest of his body protected by thick fabric. For a moment, Lazarus could hardly believe where he was, and what was about to happen.
"You wanna be late for the first Heroics Class, huh?" Tetsutetsu waved his arms, clearly trying to snap Lazarus out of his daze. For a moment, Lazarus didn't react, before his mind returned to the task at hand.
"Right, right! I'm just throwing on one last thing!" Lazarus looked down at his purple gloves, the colour feeling so off compared to the red he had worn for so long. Lazarus relaxed as Tetsutetsu finally walked away. Slipping the heavy dark purple jacket on, he quickly snapped the simple magnetic buckles on the front together, allowing his to easy remove the garmate when he inevitably received a wound he needed to staple together to extend his life. Making sure he was alone, He undid the top buckle and slipped Stain's knife into a hidden inner pocket, keeping it close to his chest.
Reaching for the final few items in the briefcase he had received from the support company, Lazarus held the hefty, but surprisingly light metal collar in his hand, chuckling at the skull and crossbones on the tiny bottles attached to tubes on the side of the device. Lazarus remembered yet again that he couldn't really make use of his regeneration today as he carefully locked the collar onto his neck, twisting his body to make sure it would stay on. He prayed that he could make it one day without needing to die multiple time. He prayed, but he didn't expect it.
Taking the next item from the costume case, he wrapped the scarf around his neck, both as an admitted aesthetic choice and a way to prevent others from noticing he was carrying a bunch of poisons on his throat. Finally he reached the last item, a mask.
For a moment, all Lazarus could do was stare, it was exactly how he ordered it, a perfect recreation of his red vigilante mask, except in purple. Yet as Lazarus looked at it, he realized it wasn't quite a perfect recreation. It lacked character, it lacked flaws. It wasn't made by the rough hands of an old man who loved what he did, it was the product of a machine, with flawless edges and no room for error. No story behind it.
Lazarus placed the mask back in the box, instead reaching into his school bag and pulling out his hair product, squirting a massive handful of gel into his hand as he ran it through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and to the back of his head.
Satisfied, Lazarus turned, feeling the weight of his steel toed reinforced shoes, the growing warmth of his bullet proof jacket, and the hunger for combat igniting in his soul.
Leaving the changeroom, Lazarus joined Tetsutetsu, moving down the long hallway towards the training area for their first hero class. The two said nothing, moving in silence. As they reached the end, Lazarus saw Neito leaning up against the wall, his dapper suit drawing Lazarus's eyes, almost causing him to miss the pocket watches on the blond's belt.
"You're cutting it close." Neito chuckled, looking between the two of them, Lazarus smiled, but it was Tetsutetsu who spoke.
"You're the one who waited up for us." As Tetsutetsu finished, Neito laughed, standing up while brushing himself off, nodding his head as his joined the two of them as they passed him.
As they reached the end of the tunnel, the light blinded Lazarus for a moment, but as soon as his eyes adjusted, he felt the air escape from his lungs.
The entire class, those he knew, and those he didn't, stood before him. They were in every colour and shape, some nervous, some utterly focused, but they all looked like heroes to be. Lazarus stood among them, adjusting his gloves as his classmates chatted, talking about their costumes, about the weather, anything but the unsureness of what was about to happen.
In his own costume, red and imposing, Kan stood in the center of them all, and even though he knew he was addressing all of them, Lazarus felt like Kan was speaking directly to him.
"Welcome, and prepare yourselves," To Lazarus, it seemed like Kan's size grew with every passing word, until he had been swallowed up entirely by his teacher's shadow.
"Hero Training begins, today!"