Chapter 31: The Weights Off
A/N: So back again, I'm going to try and write a chapter once every few weeks. If I am in the mood, then for sure once a week. However, doing 1 chapter a week for 22 weeks straight was killer on me mentally. So, for sure once a month, but 3 times a month if I can help it. To anyone who comes around after all this time again, thank you and hopefully I can keep you around until the end. I do not have a clear end in sight yet, but we will get there together. Enjoy!
"We all did it!" Kirishima shouts out as we begin the journey back to the locker rooms to change, Jirou and me hand in hand. "Hell yea guys! I'm so fucking proud of you all!" I say giving Kyoka's hand a squeeze and Mina coos at us. "It's finally happened" She sounds so happy as Kyoka has a soft blush but laughs.
"I am surprised it didn't happen sooner" Todoroki says as everything blinks and turns to him. "What, I could even see they had a thingy..." He says a bit shocked as this gets the entire class to bust out laughing. We had all just passed our final exams, the adrenaline wearing off for a few of us as Izuku and Bakugo actually use each other for leverage.
"We beat Allmight! I can't believe it!" Izuku says shell shocked as Bakugo yells out. "Hell yea we did Deku. Bolts not bad on your end either." He looks at me and gives me a nod as this gets everyone one to freeze. Did Bakugo just give me a genuine compliment, no strings attached? "What are you extras looking at?" He groans out, no venom in his tone. "I am too tired and too pumped to care right now"
He tries to growl as Toru giggles and comes on his right side and smushes his cheek. "Huh if I wasn't so sure I would say you just gave Sen a compliment" She teases as Bakugo shakes his head. "Don't misunderstand, Bolts did good, but I would have had that... totally." He tries to play it off as Momo walks next to me and Kyoka.
Everyone slowly breaks off into smaller groups as we walk, Mina skating up to Me, Momo, and Kyoka. "So, when did this happen huh?" Mina asks for confirmation as Momo huffs, "Let them talk at their own pace Mina." Kyoka smiles as I chuckle and shake my head. "Thank you Momo, but I am just happy I can do this."
I say as I quickly scoop up Kyoka and spin her. "I FUCKING DID IT! I BEAT NEZU FINALLY!" Everyone can't help but to smile and some blush softly at my show of affection as Kyoka turns the brightest red. "H-hey, put me down!" She yells out as this gets a laugh from Momo as Uraraka can't help but want what me and Jirou have. "Kacha-" Izuku gets flung off Bakugo.
"I'm tired of lugging you around Deku." Bakugo says but he has seemingly pushed Izuku into Uraraka, as she and Bakugo share a glance, but he turns and limps away towards the locker rooms. "I got you Deku." She says helping Izuku stay balanced. Minas senses go off and now she's off to hound them.
"I'm serious Sparky! Put me down!" Jirou says threatening me with her jacks as I put her back down with a chuckle. "Okay okay, sorry I am just happy I can be public with you." She sees the relief in my face as Tony flies over with Nezu on his back. "Young Sen Congratulations." He claps as Tony comes out of his suit as well.
"Sen, you have grown so much." Everyone keeps walking clapping me on my back, but ready to get the day over with and changed, only Kyoka, Denki, Momo, Uraraka and Izuku are staying with me. "All of you have grown so much." Nezu says as we all laugh a bit, the praise really meaning something.
"Young Midoryia!" All Might himself decides to walk up as well. "You have shown us once again, you are here." Izuku blushes and smiles, however he doesn't stutter. "Thank you sir, I have had a great couple of teachers." He points to All might and then me. "I agree, Young Sen. Do you remember what you said to me after the sports festival?" I blink a bit confused.
"You? I talked to Nezu, Aizawa and" This gets Nezu to facepalm and Tony to laugh as All Might sweats. 'Shoot... I walked into that one' he tells himself as Izuku can see me put it together. "Huh Sen you okay?" Momo asks as Kyoka stays quiet, she can still feel my heartbeat, she can tell I have realized something.
"Yes sir I do." I say rolling with it, but I give him a knowing look as I then turn to Izuku eyeing him. My brain working as All Might coughs but continues on. "It may be premature, but I feel like you can say that you are well on your way for your goal with your time here." I blink and smile, small tears forming.
I look at Kyoka, and my closest friends here, I have a small smirk forming and a small laugh coming from my throat. "You know, you are right." Kyoka can feel my heart, it feels so light, so happy... And a little sad. "All Might I could not have said it better myself." Tony says walking up to me. "Kid, I will be honest, before you and Peter, I could never see myself even remotely being a parent."
Nezu blinks as my eyes widen, Denki puts his hand on my shoulder as he has known me longer than anyone here. "However, you make me hope when I do have a kid, that they will be just like you." Tony says so much fatherly love in his tone, that I am taken back. Momo herself smiles as Izuku and Uraraka hold each other trying not to cry.
"Sen what I am saying is, you have your light back." He motions to Kyoka, then to all my friends around me. "I know you will never lose it again, and for that." Tony looks to Kyoka and bows his head. "Thank you Ms. Jirou, you have made my boy here so happy. Something I haven't seen since his parents." This gets Jirou to tear up and look at me.
"No thank you Mr. Sta- Tony" Tony blinks. "Thank you for sending Sen here to me, to all of us. We wouldn't be half the hero's we showed today without him." My heart skips a beat as even Denki can feel it as he is holding my shoulder as he doubles down on this. "Hell yea, without him Tony, I don't think we would have all passed."
"Agreed, Sen has showed me who I want to be as a hero." Izuku says as Uraraka agrees. "Yep, someone who will do everything to save and win." She agrees as I have to take so many deep breaths to keep myself from breaking as Momo chimes in last. "Tony, you have a great hero here in Sen. We will make sure he stays safe."
She nods as Tony chuckles and puts his shades back on as Nezu and All Might can tell he is trying not to cry. "You all do that, take care!" He says before getting back in his suit and flying away as All Might laughs. "Well, like Stark I must take my leave, however, know young heroes, that we are proud of you all!" He says and jumps away as Nezu climbs up my shoulder now.
"Sorry for the Intrusion but I am a bit tired." He chuckles as I feel a bit of happiness knowing my principal feels comfortable enough to use my shoulder. "Let's move you all, Aizawa still has to formally hand you your grades." Nezu says as we all make our way to the locker rooms.
We separated from the girls as I slowed down and let Kaminari get ahead of myself, Izuku and Nezu. "We need to talk, both of you about you know what." I say as Izuku's eyes widen, a little in fear as Nezu nods. "That we do, young Midoryia, it is okay, Sen here is trustworthy." Nezu reassures him before climbing down from my shoulder. "Right, we will talk soon, before we leave for camp?"
He suggests as I nod, "Sounds good to me." I smile at him, and we walked. "No matter what Izuku, you are my friend." I promise him as this calms Izuku down and we head in to change.
-Later that Day-
Jirou is currently taking the elevator up to my floor, I had texted her to come over as I wanted to talk with her and just unwind after the day we just had. Izuku and Uraraka are already over as I wanted them around as well. "I swear man, All Might was going all out! He even tried using me as a weapon against Kachan!" She can hear Izuku telling me and Uraraka, as we all laugh.
"Yo am I crashing the party?" She calls out as I get up and greet her with a kiss to the forehead. "Not at all, glad you could make it... I needed you here" I say softly but she can tell I don't mean in a bad way. "I'll always be here for you Sen, now what's up?" I smile and look to Izuku and Uraraka.
"I wanted to take all of us out to the beach, have a little bon fire. To not only celebrate what we did, but to also just make some peace." I say softly as Izuku nods. "I agree, we worked so hard for this, and we deserve it!" Uraraka smiles. "Hell yea! So, wait Sen?" She starts to ask me as I look at her. "Hmm what's up Uraraka?" I respond as I sit down and have Kyoka sit next me.
"What did All Might mean? That you're making your way towards your goal." She says as she is currently playing Izuku's hair as he listens in as well. "Yea, that is something you haven't even told me yet Sparky." I blink and chuckle, "While that is true, not right now. Tonight, I will tell you guys. I want to give Kaminari and Momo a chance to hear it too since you all are the ones who really know what happened."
This gets them to look at each other but they all respect my wishes. "So, Sen I heard Jirou say that you have given her something so she can feel your heartbeat at all times when wearing your hero suit?" Uraraka asks as I chuckle and nod. "It's to help her realize I am okay, no matter how far I am it will always give her a reading as long as I am wearing the suit."
I smile as Jirou blushes a bit.
"How does it work?" Izuku asks as he enjoys Urarakas hands in his hair. "Well, Kyo wanna show them?" I ask as she nods and gets up and walks over to them to show them a small necklace, I gave her in the shape of a music note. "This here has a receptor to Sens current, since everyone has a unique signature, the necklace is set to his frequency."
She explains as they all lean in to look at it. "So technically I can always charge it even when not in my suit, however my suit is like a battery pack, so I can send a charge always to her without second thoughts." I explain as I get up and head to my room. "I see, that is so cool!" Izuku chuckles as Uraraka nods.
"You have no idea, but a few nights it does keep me up." She huffs and yells out more to me than them as I call back, "Hey, some nights are harder than other!" I come out of my room with my hat and a small box. "Oh, what's that?" Kyoka asks as I place the hat on her head.
"Something I am going to need later, come on guys lets head out so we can get you guys some swimsuits." I say as Kyoka gets up and runs to my room. "I already have a set here." She pauses as Uraraka blushes and Izuku holds his nose. "No no! Guys you got it all wrong!"
Kyoka tries to fix the misunderstanding as I play into it. "You know Kyo, I think it's time you stop sleeping in the guest bedroom when you spend the night." I say and stick my tongue out at her as Izuku's nose gushes blood and he passes out as Uraraka is a whole shade of red, while Jirou is speechless and started flinging her jacks at me, all while I laugh.
-That evening-
"Kaminari!" I call out as we make it to the beach as we see Momo and Kaminari already there. "Yo man what's up!" He yells as Momo waves as she is wearing a hoodie over her bathing suit. "Sorry we couldn't make it to the hous... What happened to you Sen?" Momo asks as Jirou huffs.
"Forget him Yaomomo, need help?" She asks as I am currently bruised a bit with scratch and jack marks all over me as Uraraka and Izuku are dying of laughter as I can't help but smile. "Lovers quarrel already?" Denki teases me as I fire back. "At least I have a lover" as Jirou blushes more and Uraraka nearly doubles over from laughter.
While we get to setting up our beach bonfire and barbeque, on the entire other side of town there is a blonde girl skipping into a bar. "Sooooo, what's the next plan there To-mur-A" The blonde better known as Himiko Toga, pops the A in his name. "Would you quit calling me like that, it's annoying." He growls as a screen comes up with some plans.
"Looks like the brats are going on a retreat this summer break, based on our info the entirety of class 1-A will be there as well as class 1-B and some teachers and hero's. No All Might this time." He says as he goes over all the information as a black-haired young man walks in.
"Good that means you won't lose again." He says as Shigaraki glares, "Shut your hole Dabi, you're going to be leading the vanguard." As Dabi says, "Hey why does he get to lead?" a Lizard man name Spinner asks as another person speaks up, "it's because he is always calm there." Magne says with a small smile.
"Unlike some brutes we know" Magne says as they motion to a big burly blonde in the back. "I don't care as long as I get to fight some strong people!" He says cracking his knuckles as two more people walk in.
"Preparations are almost completed Tomura." Kurogiri says as the screen that Himiko stares at is currently going through the roster of 1-A. "Hmm some of these guys are cut..." she cuts herself off and all around her everyone can feel an intense killing aura. "Toga sweetie what's wrong?" Magne asks worried for her as Toga stops the screen.
"I need to kill him..." The picture is mine as she could never forget my face, her brother Christian or rather Ren Toga, would always send her pictures and talk about his hero. Impulse. "Oh, so you hate him too huh?" Tomura asks as Dabi feels it, the hate is so deep down it rivals his own.
"Hate does not even begin to cover it, he let my baby brother die... He... he is no hero!" She says or rather yells out as she has tears in her eyes. Remembering the last time she heard from her brother.
-1 Year Ago-
"Hey sis!" Ren says over a video call as Toga sits in an abandoned building. "How's my favorite little brother?" She asks all smiles as Ren rolls his eyes but smiles. "I am your only little brother, but I am good." Toga can't help but smile, she has been so happy that someone finally took in her brother.
"So, how's being on a team with your Idol?" She teases him as Ren laughs and blushes. "It has been good, Impulse or Sen has been such a great teacher, he's the reason I am even able to make these calls you know." Ren reminds her as Toga rolls her eyes. "Yea yea, I know, how is he by the way?"
At this time, Toga hasn't really turned into a criminal, she may have dropped out of school, but she has been trying her best to make an honest living, she wants to set a good example for Ren after all. "He is good, he just got back today actually." Ren goes over with his sister on how I was out of commission for a month. "Man, he sure sounds like a hero." Toga smiles and a small blush forms.
"Eww sis, do not crush on my idol please!" Ren teases Toga as she huffs, "I am not..." She doesn't sound very convincing as truth be told as soon as Ren got back into contact with Toga and she heard about a boy her age accepting her brother and even loving her brother, she had hope for a second that she too could be loved.
"Sure sis." Ren smirks and gets back onto topic. "I wanted to call and just tell you I love you; I am going on an infiltration mission tonight." He says he sounds excited, but Toga can tell he is nervous. "Love you too you little dork, you got this, you have the better quirk out of us both anyways." She smiles and tries to make sure he is confident in himself.
"I would say so since mine doesn't leave me naked!" He laughs as Toga huffs. "Hey when we finish this one Sen made a promise to me, wanna hear it?" Ren sounds super exited as Toga perks up. "Now what could the great Impulse promise you that makes you sound like that?"
Toga is very interested as Ren smiles happily, "He promised me that me and him would go get you!" Togas eyes begin to water, "He promised we would find you, and make you a home here, we could be the shapeshifting twins!" Ren says ever so happily as Toga blinks and her hearts skips so many beats. Her dream for love is so close, her brother found someone who could love and show him the world doesn't suck.
Maybe it was time for her, finally her turn. "I would love that" she says happily as she holds back her tears as Ren blinks. "Oh damn, got to run sis, the meeting for the mission is soon! Love you!" Ren says as Toga nods. "Love you too, you got this." As the call ends Toga looks at the building she is in and breaths a sigh of relief.
"Maybe... finally..." She slowly starts to cry happy tears. Later that night though, those tears are no longer happy. "Toga I am so sorry... It is my fault he's... he's..." My voice is heard though a voice call as Toga screams. "How could you! You were his hero! You were MY HERO!" She yells through the screen.
"You are supposed to save him, not get him killed!" Her rage is seething, the building she was packing up getting ready to come move to America with her younger brother is now torn apart. "I know, I tri-" "Shut up, your no hero!" She yells before cutting off the call with me and slamming down the communicator I sent to her as her signal is lost. This was the first night Toga took a life, she no longer wanted to be herself after losing the one person who kept her sane.
-Present time, The Beach-
"So, Sen you said you were going to tell us?" Kyoka asks as we have all eaten and are sitting around the bonfire. "Tell us what?" "Oh, what he had talked about with All Might and Aizawa after the sports festival win. "Izuku says as Momo perks up from her kabob. "Oh, that does sound interesting."
I nod and look to Kyoka as I take a breath, "So after the win, the called me to the office to talk to me about why I came here." Everyone looks to each other a bit wearily as this was when I was still a little new to class. They know how tough Aizawa could be. "Did they think you came to just run away?" Uraraka asks a bit worried as I shake my head.
"No, not exactly they were just asking what I was wanting out of my time here under their tutelage and all of your friendships." I explain as I look into the center of the fire my eyes looking a bit glazed. "They read the file about Christian, the hero I took under my wing, the one who died under me." I say as this gets everyone to hold their breath as this is the first time I've gone into detail on this.
"Christian, or rather Ren Toga, which was his birth name, was only like a couple years younger than us. He had come to America with his parents because they had disowned his older sister, Himiko Toga." I say as everyone waits on me to continue as they can tell this is hard for me. Jirou even scooting next to me and plugging her jack into me so she can gently pump her heartbeat through me to calm me.
"Her quirk was one that allowed her to shapeshift into other people, but she had to drink their blood. Blood was something to her that was like water to us, she needed it to survive but her parents didn't see it like that." I explain as Izuku blinks and Denki nearly growls. "Don't tell me" Momo says covering her mouth in disgust as I nod.
"They basically starved her of a need, and one day she lashed out." I go on to explain about how they disowned her from there and after Rens quirk manifested in America started to shun and abuse him. "Thats where you came in huh? You said he saw you as his All Might" Izuku says as I nod.
"I took him in, gave him a place, made sure he knew that his quirk didn't make him a villain, it was how he used it, and he wanted to be a hero. So, I made sure to give him a chance." From there I go into detail about the story, how I had just gotten back from a big mission, I did not go into much detail about that one. "So wait, you were down for a whole month?"
Denki asks as Jirou feels my heartrate spike for a second, "Yea, that's... something for another time" I say and then continue on telling them about how someone stole info from Stark Tower, and how I was the one to track them down. "From there, Ren was our infiltrator, so we sent him in." From there everyone can tell where the story goes as I recount my side of it.
"When they captured him, I was so scared, I was afraid to lose him. So I just moved on that fear, rushed in without a plan just thinking I could be fast enough to go in there." I say watching the fire, as everyone can see it reflect in my eyes. "However, I was wrong. The fear paralyzed me, when I saw him."
"He was bruised, bloodied, cut, already on the verge of death. They had tried to torture him to get information out of him." I explain as Uraraka shuts her eyes. "The fear got to me... I stopped moving, and then one of the villains... Well vibrated his head and made it explode." Jirou's eyes widen as she looks at me.
"Vibrations?" She asks almost as if she was afraid of herself, as I nod but hold her hand and kiss it. "Yes, but don't you dare think yours are the same, yours are from the heart and full of the love you carry for your work and your passion." I say trying to comfort her as she realizes I always calm down with her and her vibrations and tries to not cry.
I go on and tell them how I almost died there to until Peter saved me, but from there I was never the same. I lead a few more missions, and still had success, but it was never the same. "I think that's why Tony said I lost my light." I explain as they all nod. "But you all, you all made me find it again." I start to cry softly holding Kyoka in my arms as everyone tears up.
"You all have made me realize, that he, that Ren doesn't blame me, that all he had was love for me as if I was his older brother." I say and open the box as it has a holographic disk in it. "Ren left this with Tony, Tony said he always gave him one before every mission, just in case." I say as everyone looks to it. "Until today, I was afraid to even look at it."
"However, after what All Might said that I'm on my way to my goal. I think that I am ready." I say as I put it down in front of the fire as I look to everyone. "My goal for my time here, is to make sure I can train all of you, all of my new family to be the hero I want to be, to be heroes even better than me." I say with a sad smile as all of them start crying with me and I press play on the Holo disk.
"Ahem, this message goes out to the two people that I can really call my family." Rens voice comes through the disk, as I look nearly heartbroken but hold strong. Ren has a sandy blonde hair, with his sides cut short but the hair on top long and a little messy. An Impulse poster in the background as everyone can just feel Rens admiration for me.
"Big bro Sen, and big sis Himi... if you're watching this, then the worst has happened. I have left you both behind. For that I want to say I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you guys like this, but it's what I do as a hero, risk my life for the greater good." Rens voice goes on and cracks a little bit. Jirou can feel my heartbeat speeding up as I do my best to not break down. "Sen, you are the only person who gave me a chance, you made me feel human. You let me reach out to my sister and make sure she knew she was loved. You always will be my Hero, my Big Bro." He smiles brightly and motions to his Impulse poster.
"You gave me hope, that maybe I could have you as a real big brother with my big sister Himi, she needs someone who can love her too, and you made me feel like there is hope for her!" My eyes go wide, Jirou can feel my heart breaking a bit as she holds me. "So please Sen don't stop being you, don't ever stop being my Hero, Impulse. Even after I am gone, know that I will never blame you and always love you big bro."
"It is okay, you are always and will forever be my Hero." Ren says finally absolving me of my guilt. Everyone gathers around me as I can't help but nearly scream out in pain, the flood gates being opened hurt so much, but it is a good hurt. I need to let go. "To you Big Sis Himi, please do not blame Sen. He gave me my life back, he even tried to give you yours." Rens message goes on as everyone looks to me.
"I was going to bring her to America to be with him again." I say as everyone's heart breaks at this information, everyone is now crying as I try and face Rens image. "Himi, no matter what it'll be okay, even if I am gone, you will have Sen. He will make sure you are taken care of. He loved me and he will love you. You're not the monster our parents make you."
Rens message pauses for a second as he tries not to cry, "You are not a villain, not a monster, you are my Big Sis, and the best one at that. You are human, you are seen. I love you and please, don't forget me, please don't lose yourself." He begs his sister as once again I scream out in pain and cry hard. Harder than anyone has seen me, but they all hold me. They let me let it out.
"Sen, Himi, I love you both, Goodbye" as the message ends. I look up to the sky and smile sadly while I cry. The weight on my shoulders is finally being lifted as I look to all of my friends and my Kyo. "You all... thank you for being here tonight. For being my strength." They see my eyes, shine, not due to the tears or the fire, but due to my lightning in my eyes being a bright yellow.
When they first met me, the lighting was always a dull yellow, however as I got closer to them, and fell in love with Kyoka, the lightning got brighter and brighter in my eyes. Now my brown eyes looked almost golden due to who bright the lighting danced in them. Impulse was alive, Sen Denryu was alive, and Ren Toga spirit was with me. It always was, it just took a minute for me to realize that. Impulse was a hero, he was Rens Hero... Is Rens hero, and that was never going to change.
A/N:
Great night for rain, isn't it? Sen finally got his closure; he is on his way to his goal. He finally got to say goodbye to Ren. Now we also learned how Toga is involved in this story. I always had a soft spot for the character as she was always seemingly misunderstood. She just wants love; she wants to feel normal. She almost had it before it was snatched away. So, we will see how that plays out from here on. Until Next time!