Chapter 2: Consequences

same afternoon

A few minutes later, the police and medics arrived on the scene. The police took the Lucky Doubles into custody, restraining them and loading them into an ambulance meant for a special hospital that attended villains in custody before having them processed. Meanwhile, the regular medics tended to Mirror Match, loading him onto a stretcher and attempting to stabilize him. They also tended to Amaku, even though he only had minor bruising and bleeding on his hands.

"Please follow the light with your eyes, Mr. Brokuma," one of the medics said, shining a light into his eyes. Amaku put his hand out to block it.

"Sir, I understand that you're only doing your job, but I cannot further stress that I'm fine," Amaku insisted. "Other than these bruises on my hand, I can promise you that I have no other injuries. Please, I insist that you direct your efforts to Mirror Match. He is in much greater need of care than I, I can assure you."

"I appreciate the concern, son, but we already have people taking care of him," the medic said dismissively. "You just experienced a villain attack and you've clearly taken damage. For all we know, you may have had a concussion and you haven't realized it. Or those knuckle bones could be fractured. So please, just let us do our jobs, ok?"

Amaku softly sighed out of frustration and reluctantly complied with the examination.

"Not too big on doctors, are ya?" a voice called out. Amaku looked forward to see a skinny middle aged man with a brown overcoat over a brown suit approaching him and the medics.

"How ya doin', son? Your name Brokuma Amaku?" the man said, reaching behind him.

"Yes, sir," Amaku nodded. The man then presented a badge to Amaku.

"Detective Eijiro Kurosawa, Musutafu Police Department. I've got some questions for you, if you'll come with me."

"I'm sorry, Detective," the medic intervened. "But your questions will have to wait. We need to get this boy to the hospital for a proper examination."

"All due respect, Doc, that won't be necessary," the detective said. "The kid looks fine to me. All I can see is some clothes that've seen better days, no offense kid, and some bruised knuckles. As far as I'm concerned, these are just the signs of a growing boy. Trust me, I'd know." The detective then turned to Amaku.

"Tell me, kid, do you think you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, sir. I feel perfectly fine," Amaku shook his head.

"Then I believe that settles it, Doc," the detective said. "I'll take it from here."

After being somewhat hesitant for a moment, the medic reluctantly released Amaku into the Detectives' care and walked off to the ambulance with Mirror Match. Amaku watched the ambulance for quite some time as they loaded in the stretcher carrying Mirror Match. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see that it belonged to Detective Kurosawa.

"Don't stress about 'em," he said. "I promise you he's in good hands. Besides, the guy's been through worse than this."

Amaku looked at the detective in silence for a bit, then gave a simple nod of acknowledgement.

"But anyway," he said. "Enough about him, I wanna know your story," he then gestured over to a car with an open door.

"Let's take a ride, Brokuma."

Once they had arrived at the police station, the detective questioned him on what happened. Amaku delivered an accurate summary of the events to the Detective during his interrogation. Once the questioning was concluded, they had Amaku wait at the reception area. After about half an hour, the detective came to see him carrying two cups of coffee in his hands

"Alright, Brokuma. Thanks for your cooperation," said the detective, offering him one of the cups.

"I'm good, thank you," Amaku said, putting his hand up to deny the offer. "I hope I was of some help, Detective. If I may, do you have any idea what I should expect from public media announcements about this?"

"Well...the way I see it," the Detective began, taking a sip from one of the cups. "It's most likely that the station will make up a cover story saying that Mirror Match beat those villains, but it took a lot out of him. In terms of your involvement, the only story that would hold any water would be to say the villains attacked you, Mirror Match protected you, and you called emergency services when it was all over."

"Good...it's for the best, I suppose. The last thing that I need right now is the press coming to my home and harassing my family."

"Well, I wouldn't really say that you're out of the woods just yet. All it takes is a video from a resident from the park area sent to the press to make the story fall apart."

"Right…vultures will be vultures, I suppose," Amaku said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Anyway, we called your aunt, let her know you're here and that you're perfectly healthy. She's on her way to come get you."

"Thank you, Detective. Also, I've been meaning to ask, have you received any word on Mirror Match? Is he alright?"

Detective Kurosawa took a sip out of the other coffee.

"I've got some guys down at the hospital. According to them, Mirror Match will be fine. He's in stable condition, but he'll need some time to recover."

"Good…good," said Amaku with a sigh of relief. "…At least I managed to help someone…" he gruntled under his breath.

The Detective turned to leave and began walking down the hall. However, after taking a mere two steps, he stopped and looked back at Amaku.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Pardon?" Amaku asked.

"You just said 'at least you managed to help someone'…what did you mean by that?"

Amaku was hesitant at first, but then, he looked back at the detective and considered the treatment he'd given him. That, and it was unlikely they would ever meet again. Perhaps he would make the ideal candidate for disclosing his situation to.

"Well, you see, I…I am trying to get into UA High School," Amaku began. "I signed up for the entrance exam they had last week, however…things didn't really go as planned. My aunt has been trying to get me a second chance with them, and I'm rather certain that it doesn't require a detective to figure out how this situation will affect my odds."

"…oh…well, that's, uh….huh…" the detective stammered.

"Indeed," Amaku said.

After that, the two of them sat in silence for quite some time, lamenting on what Amaku just said. Eventually, once a couple minutes had passed, the detective broke the silence to speak.

"Look…Brokuma, I can tell you right now, I think you're a decent kid with a good head on his shoulders and I know you mean well. So, for your own good, I'm gonna give you a painful truth now to save you a lot of hurt later," the detective sat down next to Amaku.

"I know you just wanted to help, but that doesn't make up for what you did. I saw what you did to those two, and I got a good look at the property damage you caused in the process. Avoiding things like this is why we have the civilian quirk-use law in the first place. Sure, besides Mirror Match, nobody in this incident got hurt who didn't deserve it, but what if that wasn't the case? Believe me, you're not the first one to pull something like this. Back when I was a lieutenant, I had to deal with a case where a civy tried to save a man while a hero was on the scene. Let's just say…things got messy. And what's worse, just like you, he wanted to become a hero, but after the incident, he was barred from applying for any hero course whatsoever. So, I'm sorry to cement your fears, but…even though you may have saved a life, I'm not likin' your chances here..."

Amaku looked down at the ground, letting the words of the detective sink in.

"I know…I knew…" he said, contemplatively.

"But," the detective continued, putting his hand on Amaku's shoulder. "For what little it may be worth, I believe you did the right thing."

Amaku looked up at the detective with a look of slight shock.

"Despite how you went about it, at the end of the day, you saved Mirror Match. Fact is, over the course of your life, you'll learn that doing the noble thing is gonna feel good like one time out of ten. No good deed goes unpunished. Believe me, I learned that the hard way. So, that said, if you need anything, whether it's help getting out of a sticky situation…or just a person to talk to, don't hesitate to reach out to me."

He then presented a business card to Amaku, who accepted it with an honest look of surprise.

"I…thank you, detective," Amaku said, genuinely.

"Hey…call me Kurosawa," he said, extending his hand. Amaku took it in his and shook it.

"Welp, I'll see ya around, kid." With that, the detective walked away.

Amaku sat alone in silence once again, reading the card in his hand while pondering the offer presented to him. He still couldn't believe that he'd just had this conversation. Then, not a moment later, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw that he had a text from his Aunt.

"Outside. NOW," it read.

"…oh, lord," Amaku thought to himself.

Once Amaku exited the station, he saw his aunt, Harumi, waiting for him outside her car. She was a middle aged woman of about average height, long, gray silky smooth hair, brown eyes, and a fairly athletic build. As Amaku observed her, she displayed a look of anger on her face. However, it didn't appear as though it was directed towards Amaku himself. As he approached her, she angrily walked around her car to meet him halfway. As she drew closer, he'd already begun his defense.

"Auntie Harumi, I'm sorry," he began. "I-"

Before he could continue, she hugged him by the waist and held him tight. Amaku was genuinely surprised by this, he'd been expecting her to burst out in anger the moment she laid eyes on him. Instead, this was how he was greeted. Rather than continue to question what was going on, he gently embraced her in kind. After about twenty seconds passed, Amaku began to speak again.

"Auntie, I-" she immediately put her finger to his lips and shushed him.

"Not here, Amaku," she said, her voice reflecting exhaustion. "Let's just go home."

With these simple words, Amaku's fears were instilled within him once again.

The whole ride home was nothing but suffocating silence. His aunt was most likely holding in her outburst until they got home. Amaku sat in the front passenger seat, his head next to the window. Every now and then, he would glance over to his aunt, who was going out of her way not to look back at him. Amaku could tell that she was doing everything in her power not to let out the frustrations that were written all over her face.

Once they arrived at home, Harumi took her things and left them on the kitchen counter. Oddly enough, no one else was in the house.

"Where are uncle Hanzo and the others?" Amaku asked, referring to his uncle and three cousins.

"I figured since you lost the groceries during that scuffle, I'd have Hanzo take your cousins with him to get them…. again," Harumi said, condescendingly.

"I see," Amaku replied

"So, until they get back, I figured we've got some time to ourselves, just you and me," she said as she made her way into the living room.

The room itself was adjacent to the kitchen and the front entrance of the house. It was set up with four sofas and a small coffee table in the middle of the room. Two of the sofas were one person chairs which were across from each other while the other two were made for multiple people and were also positioned across from one another. One of which was positioned near the entrance while the other was against the wall adjacent to a hallway leading towards the back of the house. In the far back left corner was a medium sized TV setup with a DVD player, cable box, and a Might Box 2 gaming console.

"Sit," she said as she sat down on the couch against the wall and patted her hand on the cushion next to her.

"Oh, lord, here it comes," Amaku thought as he took a seat, crossing his arms to play it cool. However, after what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, that cool facade soon faded.

"Ok, look, I can explain," Amaku said, a bit flustered. "Everything happened so fast, I acted out of pure instinct, and-"

Harumi put her hand up before he could finish.

"I don't want to hear any sugar coating, Amaku," she said. "Just…tell me what happened."

After collecting himself, Amaku retold the events as they happened. He made sure not to skip over a single detail. When he finally finished his retelling, his aunt simply nodded and then sat there in silence. After a while, she eventually stood up and started roaming around the room. After about five minutes, she let out a heavy sigh and turned towards Amaku.

"Ok," she said. "We can make this work. We have other options for a caree-"

"We can't just assume that this won't work out," Amaku interrupted, rising off the sofa. "The police have a cover story in place, most of the bystanders ran away from the scene and the residents shut their windows for their own safety. So there couldn't have been anyone nearby when I intervened. There's still a considerable chance that the fabrication will hold. We'll just find another hero school and-"

"It won't work, Amaku!" she snapped back, stunning Amaku into silence. "Witnesses or not, cover story or not, you savagely beat two men in broad daylight! No school is gonna take any chances of the media using your acceptance to tear them apart. Before this, there was a snowball's chance in hell that we could get you another chance with UA or we could just try another hero course. But now,…I'm sorry, Amaku, but it's just not happening…you can't be a hero..."

Amaku sat back on the sofa, processing what his aunt had said. As the truth set in, so too did the sorrow that came with this realization. Even though he expected this news eventually, he was still almost brought to tears.

"Come here," she said as she walked over to him to give him a hug. Amaku embraced her, wanting whatever comfort he could get at this point. They remained like this for some time.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you like that. You did the right thing, Amaku," she said, holding him closely. "And I want you to know, I couldn't be prouder of you for it. Even though you knew the consequences of your actions, you looked past your own desires and forwent your dream to save someone's life. Even if UA doesn't realize it, you truly are a hero…never forget that."

She lifted his head up to face her.

"You hear me?"

"…Yes, ma'am," he said, shakily. They resumed their hug for a little bit until Amaku eventually let go of her. He took the moment to collect himself, wiping the tears from his eyes. He then turned away from her and started walking down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Harumi asked.

"The backyard," Amaku said. "I…need to clear my head."

He continued down the hall and made his way to the back of the house. When he walked through the screen doors, he walked out onto the decently spacious patch of grass. To the far left side of the yard was all his training equipment, including dumbbells, a bench press, punching bag, and a thick wooden post with rope tied around the top half which was anchored into the ground. The moment he entered the yard, he went straight to the wooden post. He positioned himself to be properly aligned with it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out as he put up his hands and got himself into a traditional fighting stance. As he took in yet another deep breath, he opened his eyes and threw a controlled punch at the post upon exhaling. Upon contact, he felt his stress and anxiety dwindle slightly, as if they were being directed into the post.

As he drew back his arm, he took another deep breath in and upon exhaling, threw another punch. Once again, the tension he felt subsided slightly. He continued this process for quite some time as he reflected upon his situation. He thought about his day, the past week, his conversation with Mariko, and his future in general. All these thoughts flowed through him and into the wooden post with each strike, helping him clear his mind and be at peace.

However, at a certain point, the sensation of his fist making contact with the post forcibly recalled the memory of his fight with the Lucky Doubles. He saw a quick flash of red as he remembered when his fist made contact with the buff villain's face. When he remembered what he'd done, he felt a sudden jolt go through his body, slightly messing up his control and giving his strike an unexpected boost. The pole shook in its anchor as a result. Amaku drew back his arm after the strike and took a minute to recollect himself, then resumed his exercise. He once again attempted to direct all his stress into the post with each controlled strike, however, certain strikes would make him recall the memory of an attack from that fight and force a jolt through his body once again and with each jolt, his punches grew in power. What was worse was that each one felt oddly pleasing as he unleashed his rage upon the post. It eventually got to the point where all he could see in his mind was the memory of his brutal beat down of the two villains.

Each strike felt all to good for him to stop and the pleasure subsequently created a feeling of guilt and disgust towards his enjoyment of the feeling as he realized that the beliefs he held toward himself and his quirk were warranted, that he was an unstable, unpredictable risk, that he was nothing but an unruly monster with an uncontrollable rage within him. All these insecurities, anxieties and hatreds toward himself continued to swell until they finally boiled over and he unwittingly fully activated his quirk with a mighty cry of anger and demolished the wooden post in its entirety with a powerful haymaker. The wood splintered everywhere, the fragments spreading wildly and embedding themselves in the fence, the grass, the one patio chair in the yard, everywhere.

Amaku breathed and seethed violently as steam hissed from his fist after the impact. Eventually, he began to register what he had done, looking at his fist and coming to the realization that his quirk was active, then looking all around him and seeing the destruction he had wrought. He attempted to bring down his anger to deactivate his quirk, taking in multiple deep breaths. He was eventually able to do so and returned to his regular state. And yet, rather than a relieving sensation, he only became flooded with guilt and misery. He fell to the ground, feeling like he wanted to cry but he simply couldn't muster the energy at this point, he was completely drained. All he could do was kneel there in the grass, silently drowning in his grief. He lifelessly stared up at the sky, feeling isolated, trapped, weak, and so unbearably alone…