Your Hero Academia: Renewal

by Mataras

Kurai "Hikari" Hogo-sha is dead. The Guardian Hero was slain in battle against a mighty villain, and now his family and friends mourn his passing. But time waits for no one, and forces now move that are set to change the outcome of a future in which One For All is no more... Just who approaches UA from the shadows, and what part will they play in events to come? Part 5 of a series.

2. My Hero

A/N: Alright, let's get the 'sad' phase properly on its way, shall we?

---

My Hero

Akarui sat in silence, tears slowly trailing down his face as he stared off into nothing with an abject intensity. He wanted to cry- actually weep for his loss, but he lacked the physical strength or capability to do much more than let out a pitiable groan. He wanted to curl up in a ball and scream into his pillow. He wanted to throw something. He wanted to put a hole in a wall with his fist. He wanted the world that had taken his brother from him to know that it was a cruel and unjust one.

But he could do none of that now, and it seemed that his body's sacrifice had been for nothing. All he could do was let the tears fall down in an atmosphere of near-absolute quiet.

He wasn't quite sure how long he stayed like that in his room, though it was likely that not a lot of time had passed before there was a rapid series of knocks at his door. Before the person on the other side started to speak, he knew who it was, and what they were about to ask.

"Hey, it's Shukin," his cousin announced so that his voice penetrated the dense wood. "Were you able to get in touch with Kurai and his friends? Are they okay?"

Akarui was tempted, just for a moment, to pretend that he had fallen asleep in his chair, so that he might put this conversation off for just a little longer. For all the good that would do, he thought almost as soon as the notion crossed his mind.

Knowing that it would be best to get it out of the way, the sickly boy wiped his tears away and sucked in a deep breath before he typed into his tablet, *I was able to receive a call. Most of them are alright.*

"That's a relief," he heard Shukin breathe with a hoarse chuckle. Obviously he had been worried that something might have happened to the young heroes, which made the knife in Akarui's gut twist sharply. It got worse when the other boy asked, "When are they coming home? I know it'll probably be a bit before transport can be arranged, but was Kurai able to give you an ETA?"

*Kurai wasn't the one I talked to,* the youngest Hogo-sha answered.

There was an ugly silence from the other side of the door before Shukin asked in an almost imperceptible voice, "He's dead, isn't he?" When Akarui's fingers hesitated over his tablet, the other boy went on to say, "If he was hurt, you would have told me about it right away. If he wasn't the one who answered his scouter… Well, it's not that hard to figure out." There was another brief pause before his cousin added, "You're welcome to correct me at any time, by the way."

*He's dead,* he finally replied. *I don't know the details, but I think one of the villains responsible for the attack was the one who did it.*

Shukin whispered a soft curse under his breath before he said, "I'd hate to know what kind of villain could do that to him. I was honestly starting to wonder if he wasn't invincible."

*I'm sure we'll get more details when the official reports are released, or if I can get ahold of Tenya later,* Akarui replied. *I think they all just need some time alone right now.*

"Sounds like they might not be the only ones." Akarui's eyes flicked down toward the crack in the floor between his door and the wood to see Shukin's shadow shifting in place, though not in a manner that indicated that he was about to open it. This was followed by his cousin asking, "Do you need anything before I go? I should tell Mom, and I doubt that you want to be the one to do it."

*Shouldn't I be, though?*

"You and your brother," Shukin sniffed, sounding like he was fighting down a lump in his throat. "As amazing as the pair of you can be, you never know when to stop and let somebody else help you along. You just… Do what you can to process things for right now. I'll be back once I've finished telling Mom. You can buzz us if you need anything before then." Upon being told that Akarui would need help in pretty much every aspect of his daily life, his parents had installed buzzers in each room that he could activate from his wheelchair, on the more-than-likely chance that he would be alone and would need a way to summon immediate assistance.

*Alright,* the boy now replied. There was a faint creaking sound that come from his mouth, but he quickly gave up on trying to produce actual words when his throat flared up with pain as a warning. With a barely-audible sigh, he typed out, *Thank you.*

"No problem, man." With that, his cousin's footsteps quickly retreated up the hall, leaving Akarui to stew in his silent, frustrated misery.

---

Shukin's heart was pounding and his head throbbed as he made his way through the house, doing his best to ignore all the memories that were trying to leap out at him from every corner. In the entrance to his room- Kurai's old dwelling- he could see the three of them as children, gathered around one of Akarui's first laptops, awestruck by the sight of Revan leading his forces against the Mandalorians as the renowned Jedi Crusader. Turning his gaze away from that, his eyes locked onto the garage door, where he could see Kurai, his Uncle Shigeru, and his own father, all gathered with grins on their faces around a motorcycle in desperate need of repairs. Blinking that image away as quickly as he could, he passed through the living room, where he could see their family, along with the Iida's, celebrating Kurai and Tenya getting into UA High, followed by him and Mina trading quips over their chore of washing dishes after the dinner that they had shared. Across the room, his eyes burned at the sight of his cousin and the pink girl waving farewell as he bade them both good luck on Nabu.

Dashing his tears out of his eyes as best he could, he jogged toward the office that his mother used, raising his hand to knock before he heard a sound that he was unfortunately familiar with. Lowering his hand, he shut his eyes tightly as he listened to his mother trying to get the sound of her weeping under control. She had always done this, for almost as long as he could remember, ever since his father was killed in the line of duty. Dad, Uncle Shigeru, and now this… he thought in miserable silence.

Resigning himself to what he knew was to come, he asked, "You heard? About Kurai?"

There was the sound of a person wiping at their face before her voice came back in the form of the words, "Here I was trying to figure out how to tell you… How did you find out?"

"Aki got a massive load of diary entries and audio files from his brother's scouter about thirty minutes ago," the teenager answered in a wobbly voice. "He seemed to think something was up, so he called Kurai, but I guess one of his friends picked up instead of him, which pretty much told Aki what he needed to know. We don't know how he died, but he thinks that a villain did it." After a slight pause, he asked, "How did you know about him?"

"His teacher- Eraserhead- just called me," Sakura replied in a tired tone. "Apparently Kurai had been seriously injured during his class' first contact with a small group of villains, and he was forced to fight again shortly afterward. He saved the island's entire population by defeating the villains' leader, but the effort was too much for his body to take. He died shortly before the pro heroes could get there."

A highly volatile mixture of emotions welled up within Shukin at those words as he shut his eyes tightly and leaned his head against the door. On the one hand, he felt proud of his cousin- not just for acting as a hero should, but for keeping his promise to stand his ground, no matter what came at him. On the other hand, he felt… betrayed, almost.

He had trusted Kurai when he had said that the chances of danger on Nabu Island were next to nil. He had trusted his father when he told him that he'd be back from work in time to catch his ball game later that week. He had believed in his uncle when his mother said that the heroes and police would finally be able to track down and negate the threat of Tomura Shigaraki.

And what had all that faith and trust gotten him?

His father, uncle, and cousin- all of them were dead, leaving their family behind to pick up the pieces yet again. As for the heroes? They would do what they had always done: move on from the loss and prepare for the next mission. Dad was barely worth a mention on the news, and Uncle Shigeru just ended up being a hot topic for politics… he thought bitterly. What's that gonna make Kurai, when all is said and done? Just some hero wannabe who got in over his head? Will there be anyone who actually cares about the kid behind the name who died?

Forcing the maudlin thoughts aside for the moment, he did his best to clear his throat before asking, "Did they say anything about what they're gonna do with hi… with the body?" He had to fairly choke out the last words, the knot in his throat having doubled in size.

"I asked them to bring him home so we can bury him by your dad and uncle," his mother answered. This was followed by the sounds of her moving across the room, which preceded the door to the office opening wide to admit the worn-looking woman.

The two embraced tightly, the tears beginning to fall freely between them as they once again felt the crushing weight of a family member lost to the evils of villainy. "Why him, Mom?" Shukin couldn't help but ask. "Why did it have to be him?"

"For the same reason as Shiro," she answered him through her own sobs. "So that someone else could live."

"And what if that's not enough?" he wept. "What if I can't… find it in me to accept that line of reasoning again?" Even as he said it, he felt horrible for doing so, but there was nothing to keep him from speaking his mind now.

"…Then your cousin died in shame, I suppose," Sakura replied in a subdued voice, which stung her son like a viper. "If we refuse to accept that he did what he did because he had to, and for no other reason, we shame his memory and sacrifice." There was a slight pause before she forced herself to add, "As harsh and uncompromising as that sounds, we have to find a way to accept it. It's bad enough that he's been killed- I don't want to see you come to hate him because he chose to be a hero."

"I couldn't- I won't hate him," Shukin said as he shook his head and pulled back to wipe at his eyes. "He didn't do anything wrong, and I know that. I just-! Is this gonna be like Dad?" He looked at his mother with such lost eyes that she could only see the little boy who had clung to her at his father's funeral, trying desperately to understand why his daddy wasn't going to make it to his ball game. "Are people just gonna show up at his funeral, say some nice stuff, and then move on? Is everyone gonna forget Kurai and what he did for them?"

"…I don't know," his mother answered through a sniffle, her mind scrambling desperately to come up with some kind of reassurance for Shukin, and finding nothing that he might want to hear. "I hope that people remember him. I know that we will, if nothing else."

"But that's not enough!" Shukin insisted as he grabbed at his hair in frustration, his breath coming out in ragged gasps. "He did… He did so much for people! He suffered so much pain and isolation, and he never even complained about it! He gave up everything, and I know that he did it without a second thought when the time came! He was a real hero!" His hands fell to cover his eyes as he murmured, "Do people even… remember? What a real hero looks like? Not some flashy smile and a top-of-the-charts ranking, but… Someone who'd… do anything to save the powerless? Will people like Kurai and Dad ever be worth remembering to the world, again?"

Sakura wished once again that she could give her son the answer that he wanted, but she was not in the habit of lying to him, even in an attempt to ease his suffering. So she remained silent and allowed him to begin the process of venting his frustrations and sorrows, as she always had before. As she listened to his anguish, her mind took her back to a time where a similar sorrow had gripped the Hogo-sha household…

---

Ten Years Ago

"Is he gonna come out today?"

"I don't think so, sweetheart," Moka said to her crestfallen elder son from where she was sitting next to a red-eyed Sakura. She and the boys had come to check in on her brother-in-law's family, having last seen them during the prior weekend. Kurai and Akarui had pooled together to get their cousin a gift that they hoped would lift his spirits, but it seemed that Shukin possessed zero interest in coming out of his room beyond survival necessities.

"It was very nice of you two to bring him that game," their aunt told them through a feeble smile as she eyed the box's cover art. "Shiro… He told Shukin that he would get it for him if he played his best this season."

"We know," Akarui said softly, his bright eyes unwavering as they scrutinized the adults with an almost unnerving intensity. "I think that Uncle Shiro was going to get it for him no matter how good he played. He just wanted Shukin to try real, real hard."

It was incredibly unnerving to hear such a well-structured sentence coming out of a three-year-old who also maintained eye contact better than most adults could. Moka and Shigeru had a the thought that his quirk was manifesting itself early, unlike Kurai, whose powers awakening at the age of five- nearly six- made him a late bloomer. The boy's father had a thought that the quirk might be a more powerful version of his memory retention, but that didn't seem to be quite the answer to the unsettling vibe that always seemed to hang around the youngest Hogo-sha boy.

"Can we take it to him, Auntie Sakura?" Kurai asked after a slightly awkward stretch of silence filled the air. "Maybe it'll help him feel better?"

"I don't know that he would appreciate it right now, sweetheart," Moka informed her son, though she managed to smile at the kindness that he was attempting to show, in his own way. "We can try again when we next visit, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Thank you for trying to come up with something to cheer him up," Sakura sniffled as she wiped at her raw eyes. "I know it's really hard for him right now, but I'm sure that he'll like it when he feels up to trying it out."

"Can we try to talk to him?" Akarui then asked. "Maybe he just doesn't wanna talk to grown-ups."

"I don't think-"

"It won't hurt to try, I suppose," Sakura said to head off Moka, who looked at her in confusion. The boys needed no further invitation, and scampered off down the hall while she told her sister-in-law, "I know everyone grieves in their own way, but I can't help but worry about him being all alone right now."

"He's not alone," Moka insisted as she gently patted the other woman on the back. "He has you- a wonderful mother who is going to see to it that her husband's son grows up to be every bit the man that his father was."

Tears started to leak out of Sakura's eyes again as she whispered, "I want to believe that's true, but… I'm just his mom, you know? There are things that a boy needs to hear from his father when he grows up, and I'm afraid of what I'll do when days like those come around. I know… I know you and Shigeru are going to help us however you can, and I appreciate it. But… Not even Shigeru can fill Shiro's spot for the really important things." Barely able to make it past the last few words, she buried her face in her hands and started to weep anew, while Moka could only offer her the meager comforts of a calming touch and silent solidarity.

---

Kurai knocked on his cousin's door a few times before he and Akarui tried waiting in silence. When this yielded no results, Kurai turned to his brother and said, "Maybe he's in the restroom."

"He's not," Akarui answered simply, reaching up and trying to turn the door handle, only to prove itself locked. "His door isn't opening. He has to be in there."

"Maybe he's asleep."

"It's really bright outside. I don't like sleeping when it's bright."

"Yeah, but he seems really tired ever since the funeral," Kurai murmured as he folded his arms and continued to stare at the door. He hesitated before he added, "I don't wanna wake him up, but I'm real worried about him."

"If Dad died, what would you wanna do?" Akarui asked, startling his brother with the very notion. "What?"

"I don't wanna think about somethin' like that, that's what!" the elder boy sputtered. "Uncle Shiro dying is already super bad, why would I-?!"

"Shut up!" a hoarse voice called from within the door, startling both brothers into taking a half-step back. Shukin then added, "Go away, guys! I don't wanna see anyone!"

"Sorry we bothered you," Kurai offered, but their cousin was having none of it.

"Go be sorry somewhere else!" he snapped. "You guys don't get what this is like! You still have your dad, so everything is fine for you guys! Don't talk to me!"

"Okay, sorry," Kurai said as he started to back away, trying to lead Akarui with him. "We just wanted to check on you, but we'll go if we're bugging you."

"Why are you so mad at us?" Akarui asked bluntly, causing his brother to look at him with alarm. "We didn't do anything to you."

"Go away!"

"I think you're really mad at the heroes," the little boy continued, shrugging off his brother's attempts to get him to leave. "It's cos they didn't save your dad, isn't it?"

"Aki, stop it!" Kurai insisted sternly. "He said he wants to be alone, so let's go away! We shouldn't bother him!"

"But he's mad at us, and we didn't do anything bad," Akarui replied in kind. "He's being dumb."

"You don't say that about him!" Kurai snapped, his attitude shifting into one of anger, his grip tightening on his brother's sleeve, which caused the fabric to rip off into a ragged scrap that left both boys in surprise to momentarily replace their irritation with one another. "Whoa."

"You broke my shirt," Akarui complained as they both stared at the piece of poly-cotton. "Now you're being dumb, too. I didn't do anything bad, and you're both picking on me."

"You were picking on Shukin!"

"Nu-uh."

"I said to go away!" Said boy stormed over and flung his door open, looking paler and skinnier that his cousins had ever seen him. His eyes were red and ragged, and he smelled like he hadn't showered in several days, somewhat to his family members' disgust, though they tried to set that observation aside for the time being. This was a little easier to do since he was yelling at them; "I don't wanna see anyone! Get out of here!"

"But you already see us," Akarui pointed out in an abject tone, causing Shukin's face to redden further as he balled up his fists, which led to Kurai planting himself between the two boys.

"Aki, shut up," he said over his shoulder. Looking forward, he then added, "Sorry for buggin' you, Shu. I'll make sure he leaves you alone, now."

"You're not the boss of m- ow! That hurts!" Akarui whined as Kurai grabbed on his arm and yanked him away from their cousin, who was staring at them from beneath greasy, matted hair while breathing heavily.

"We'll see you later," the elder brother said as he started dragging the smaller one away, despite his protests to the contrary.

"Whatever," Shukin muttered as he went to close the entrance to his sanctum once again. "It doesn't matter. The bad guys took my dad away, but all everyone cares about is that they all went to jail."

"Hey, your dad mattered to All Might!" Akarui grunted as he continued to straining against his brother's grip. "All Might told you that he was super brave and did a good job! Don't say it doesn't matter, cos Uncle Shiro really mattered!"

"Aki, that's enough!" Kurai growled before he yanked on his brother hard enough to pull him off his feet and then drag him down the hall, ignoring the shouts of protest and childish abuse he received in return.

The two boys would later get a lecture about disturbing people who want their space, but while Moka scolded her sons, Sakura was able to smile for the first time that night when Shukin joined her at the dinner table.

---

Eight Years Ago

"Shukin, he's going to be okay."

"Mom, you didn't see him," the boy said as he continued to pace back and forth in front of his mother and Akarui, who was bouncing his legs on the seat he had occupied without so much as a word since they had gotten to the hospital. "He was… I mean…" He paused for a moment to look her in the eye as he said with a shaky voice, "Mom, Kurai was really scary for a minute. And the medic people, they said that he might not even make it to the hospital, and I don't know if that's scarier!"

The three of them were in a hospital waiting room that was occupied by only them and a handful of people that were scattered around the area, none of them apparently knowing one another. If anything, the boys were grateful that today seemed to be slow traffic for victims of villain attacks and circumstance.

Not three hours ago, a panicking Shukin had called his mother to tell her about how an ambulance was on its way to pick up his cousin after he had gotten into a street fight with some of the local bullies. At first she had worried that they had done a number on him, but the narrative he gave was equally terrifying in its own way. He told her that Kurai had somehow transformed and gone on a small rampage against the two boys who had been picking on her son before collapsing into some kind of convulsing fit while blood gushed out of his nose. Apparently the medics had some trouble getting to them because in the process of his fit, Kurai had severely damaged the street to the point where vehicles couldn't even get to the school. Even so, he had been taken away by the emergency responders while a thoroughly shaken Akarui and Shukin were questioned by the police and a local hero who went by the name 'Nimbus'.

Kurai had been rushed to an operating table at the nearest hospital, where the doctors were still working on him, hoping to stop the hemorrhaging and finding out what had caused the bleed to begin with. Akarui had informed the EMT workers that he suspected his brother's quirk was to blame, given that Kurai had been the picture perfect image of health up to that point. Shukin wanted to know more about his theory, but couldn't bring himself to satiate his curiosity until he was sure that he wasn't about to be short one cousin.

He was hardly aware of his mother telling him, "The doctors here are very accomplished, son. I'm sure they'll get Kurai healthy again." In spite of the firmness of her tone, Shukin didn't miss the trembling in her hands that she was trying to hide behind her purse.

"Mom, he…" The boy's tongue tried to twist itself up so that he couldn't speak, but he forced himself to clear his throat and say, "The guys who were targeting me… They said some really awful things about you and Dad, and that's why Kurai went off. He just… He got so mad, because I… I didn't do anything to stop them." His eyes widened while he clutched at his hair as he gasped out, "Is Kurai gonna die because I just didn't want to stick up for myself?"

"Your cousin is not going to die." Shukin let out a little start of surprise as he turned around to see his uncle, Shigeru, approaching them with a worn expression on his face as he said, "He's going to live. He'll probably be asleep for a couple of days, but the doctors are confident that he'll make a full recovery." He and his wife had been admitted into the hallway just outside the operating area as soon as they had each arrived, he having come in from work while Moka rushed over from her house.

"Thank God," Sakura breathed out, her frame sinking into itself as she released the tension that had been building up inside her for the last few hours. Likewise, Akarui had let out a long exhale while he slumped down in his chair, his eyes slightly glazed over as he felt himself able to fully breathe.

Even in spite of the good news, Shukin could not release the worry that had taken ahold of him. "Do they know what happened to him?" he asked pensively.

"Not yet," his uncle said as he shook his head in the negative. However, he did turn to his younger son and add, "But it seems like your theory about his quirk being the problem is the most plausible explanation right now. The doctors will be running more tests once he's healthy again, but the lead surgeon told your mother and I that it appeared as though his frontal lobe had been thoroughly abused in some form or another. There was no sign of chemical damage, which means that it had to be hormonal- something that his body did on its own."

"What's a frontal lobe?" Shukin inquired.

"It's the part of your brain that keeps you from doing stupid stuff," Akarui answered before the adults could. "That makes sense. He was super mad right before he passed out."

There was a brief moment of silence before Shukin asked his uncle, "How old is he, again?"

"Four."

"That was a rhetorical question, Aki."

"And I gave you a rhetorical answer."

"That's not-! You-! Gah!" Shukin dropped his hands in frustration before asking Shigeru, "You said he'll be awake in a couple of days?"

"That's what we're hoping for, yes."

"What if… What if he doesn't wake up by then, though?" the boy asked, his fear simply refusing to dissipate.

"He will," Akarui insisted as he stood up and walked over to his cousin while looking up at him with determined violet eyes. "Kurai is stronger than anyone I know. He'll be okay, I know it."

"You can't know that," Shukin said while shaking his head doggedly, missing the worried look exchanged between his mother and uncle in the process. "What if this is…? What if we lose him like I lost Dad?"

"Shukin," Shigeru said as he placed a firm grip on the boy's shoulders, pulling him back from the line of circular reasoning that he had just been about to enter. "I know that this is hard for you to hear, but not every tragedy that strikes our family is going to turn out like what happened to Shiro. Kurai was able to get the help he needed, and he's as safe as he can be right now. I don't know the future, obviously, but I am confident in his ability and will to survive."

The words stung Shukin, as Shigeru had predicted they would, leading to the boy pulling back and growling, "Is that what you told Dad right before he died?"

There was a deafening silence for a moment, following his mother's sharp intake of breath, though no words escaped her. His uncle then stepped back slowly, his face having grown hard like flint in the process. "He may have been your father, but Shiro was also my brother," he said in a cold tone that chilled the boy's bones, though he tried not to let it show. "Given what we've both lost already, I'm hoping that you don't also have to learn what it feels like to lose your brother, Shukin. Because believe me, as much as that still hurts, I don't even want to consider the potential pain of losing a son."

The grade schooler felt his face go red with embarrassment and shame as he realized that while he was indeed terrified of what could befall Kurai, it could be nothing compared to what his aunt and uncle were feeling right then. Before Shukin could open his mouth to offer an apology, something hit him in the fork of his legs hard enough to make him double over in surprise and pain.

The adults looked in surprise at Akarui, who was glaring at Shukin with his backpack in hand, the object of his cousin's current misfortune. "Don't use your dad to excuse being mean," he said through a scowl. "I have more where that came from if you do it again. If Kurai almost died, it's because he didn't want you to get hurt. Instead of being mean to everyone, try being nice like Kurai has always been ever since Uncle Shiro died."

"Akarui Hogo-sha, you do not hit people like that!" Shigeru said admonishingly, scandalized by his son's actions, but also being aware of the fact that there was more than one curious (and annoyed) gaze being thrown in their direction. "I've had quite enough of my sons acting violently today, thank you."

---

After spending two days without much sleep or work being done, Shukin finally got the call he had been waiting for. A quick cab ride later, and he was meeting Akarui and his aunt in the hospital.

"How is he?" the boy asked as soon as they were within speaking distance.

"His first question after learning his head was operated on was if he would have a 'cool scars like Revan'," Moka answered with a somewhat flat tone. "He seemed more upset about the fact that he wouldn't have any lasting marks than he was about being unconscious for two days."

"One of the surgeons has a quirk that makes scars almost disappear once the cuts finish healing," Akarui chimed in, looking very chipper as he did. Normally he wore a face of cold scrutiny or wariness in his day-to-day life, but today he seemed genuinely happy.

"Sounds like he's okay to me," Shukin couldn't help but laugh, now feeling silly for having spent the last few days apparently worrying over nothing. "Is he okay with me being a visitor?"

"Sure thing," Moka answered with a warm smile. "He was actually asking if you were okay once he understood what happened. I told him you would probably want to visit once he was cleared for it." She then told him the room number and floor to find him on, saying that she needed to go talk with one of the doctors, and pulling Akarui along as she did. "We'll be up to join you once the appointment is over with, okay?"

"Okay, thanks," the skinny boy replied before he made his way over to the lobby elevator. A short ride and check-in on the third floor later, he was standing in front of Kurai's room.

Hesitating for only a brief moment, he prepared himself for the sight of Kurai bedridden before he knocked sharply on the door. "Come in!" he heard his cousin call, so he obliged.

Even having expected the worst, Shukin was still a little put off by the sight of Kurai's head wrapped in bandages and hooked up to an IV with a plastic tube stuck up his nose to help him regulate his breathing. With all of that factored in, it was almost weird how relaxed the younger boy looked as he grinned and waved at his cousin with the arm that didn't have a drip sticking out of it.

"Hey, Shu," Kurai said by way of greeting. "I figured you were gonna come visit. Aki said you were real worried about me. Sorry about that."

"Sorr-?! Dude, why are you apologizing?!" Shukin sputtered as the door shut behind him. "I'm the one who should be sorry! You almost died because I was too much of a wimp to do anything!"

Kurai blinked at him a couple of times before shrugging and saying, "All I did was throw a fit like a little kid because I got mad. But in this case, I guess with great power comes a great big headache."

"Uh… You are a little kid," Shukin said flatly, causing Kurai to bristle with indignation. "Hey, don't get all mad at me cos it's true. You're seven, that's little."

"No, Akarui is little," the bedridden child answered petulantly. He started to add more, but then seemed to think better of it, his face settling into a more neutral expression, which took his cousin by surprise. Seeing this, Kurai mumbled, "Sorry, getting mad doesn't help." With a slight grimace, he added, "It actually kinda hurts to get mad right now."

"It hurts?" Shukin repeated in confusion.

"Yeah." Kurai's face grew more somber as he gripped the blanket covering his lower body while he said, "The doctors were able to do some tests this morning after I woke up. They used a bunch of words with my mom that I didn't understand, but Akarui did. He told me that me getting really angry did something with my quirk that made me super powerful, but also hurt my brain really bad. Like, I could die if I get too mad."

Shukin was stunned to hear this so plainly. Sure, Akarui had been thinking something along those lines, but to have it confirmed was far more startling than he would have liked to admit. "Wait, so… are you like, not allowed to get mad anymore?" he asked slowly.

"I don't think so," Kurai answered through a small shake of his head. "The doctors said I just need to be real careful when I do get mad. They said they were gonna have me talk to a psychiatrist doctor to help learn how to stay calm, even if I'm mad." He stumbled a little over the phrasing of the specialist, having only recently learned what it meant.

"Oh, I've heard of those," Shukin mused as a handful of memories sprang to the forefront of his mind. "Dad used to call them something else, though… Quacks, I think?"

"Like a duck?" Kurai replied with a furrowed brow. "How is a duck a doctor?"

"Beats me if I know," the older boy shrugged. Regarding his relative with a more serious expression, he then asked, "What are you gonna do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I always thought that your quirk was awesome, but now it turns out it could kill you?" Shukin said with a shudder. "That's scary. What do you do with a power like that? Can you even use it without it hurting you?"

"I mean, I should probably take it easy for a while," Kurai answered with a shrug of his own. "But I've been having an idea for a while, and what happened the other day has helped me to make up my mind."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Kurai looked his cousin straight in the eyes as he said, "I wanna be like your dad, Shukin. I wanna be somebody real respectable and brave- somebody you and Aki and our parents can be proud of being related to." There was a very brief pause before he went on to say, "I'm gonna be a hero. I'm gonna be a hero who shows people what your dad was like, even though he wasn't a pro hero. I wanna be a real hero- one who doesn't lose his temper and hurt people just because they made me mad. I'll be a hero who stops bad guys because it's the right thing to do."

A lump welled up inside of Shukin's throat before he could stop it, so he barely managed to get out the words, "You… wanna be like Dad? Really?

"Really."

"But… But hardly anybody even remembers what he was like and what he did, outside of the police," the older boy murmured. "If you really can become a hero with a quirk that hurts you like this, people will just remember you- they won't even care about Dad."

"I don't think your dad really cared about being remembered," Kurai answered, though not unkindly. "He just wanted to do what he could to keep all of us safe." Shukin might have gotten angry at him under ordinary circumstances, but it was kind of hard to be mad at a kid who had just survived brain surgery.

Kurai went on, saying, "That's the kinda hero I wanna be. Being remembered doesn't matter as much as keeping people safe, like our dads did for everyone. Besides, the way that the media always hates our family means I probably won't make it very big as a hero."

"Yeah, I'm kinda surprised they aren't starting up trouble with your dad after you tore up the street outside of school," Shukin admitted, causing the other boy's face to go sour. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's fine," Kurai said with another shrug. "I dunno what Mom did, but the families of the guys who picked on you aren't gonna be pressing charges against me or nothing. Akarui said that they won't even talk to the news' people at all after she talked with them."

"Seriously?"

"He said that there was a lotta yelling at first from the other families, but Mom just kept talking real quiet, and then they all looked really scared of her," his cousin answered. "I'd ask him for the story when she's not around, she seemed like she didn't want him to talk about it."

"Good to know," Shukin nodded. He knew that his aunt could be a very scary lady when she wanted to be, and the fact that her son had ended up on death's door because their kids apparently lacked the ability to be decent human beings probably had brought out her ugly side. He didn't want to be subject to that particular scare himself, so he would make sure to ask about it only when she wasn't even in the same building as him and Akarui.

Maybe.

Is there really any way to be sure that she won't find out about me finding out? he could only wonder as Kurai settled into a thoughtful expression of his own.

"I'll be a hero," he declared aloud, bringing his cousin's thoughts back to the present conversation. "I won't make the same mistakes again, and I'll show people that real heroes aren't jerks like Endeavor. I'll get my quirk under control and show everyone who pays attention that the real heroes are the ones who never ask for anything that'll just make them look good on a stupid ranking chart. I'll live like your dad did, Shu. I wanna make him proud, I promise."

Shukin felt the lump in his throat return as he smiled at the other boy and replied, "A hero like Dad, huh? If you can really get this quirk of yours' under control, I'd really like to see that. Just… don't die like him, okay? I don't think our family would handle that real well if you did."

"Trust me, if dying hurts half as much as this did, it's the last thing I wanna do."

---

Seven Months Ago

"Aw, come on, dude! Third place?! Is that really the best you can do?!"

Sakura laughed quietly as she watched her son yelling at the TV from the kitchen, who was apparently upset that his cousin had only come in third place for the initial race of the UA Sport's Festival. In all honesty, given the fierce competition and sheer number of participants, it was a fantastic placing. Her son clearly had a different opinion, though.

"If Zuko and Elsa's love child makes it to the battle round, you better kick his teeth in when you fight him!" Shukin was now shouting.

"Okay, even if they both make it to the final part of the competition, who's to say that Todoroki boy will even end up fighting him?" she inquired, already well aware of the animated nature of the incoming reply.

"Whaddya mean 'if'?!" Shukin demanded as he turned away from the screen to look aghast at his mother. "Kurai's got this thing in the bag! The rest is just formalities!"

Sakura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his declaration after he returned his gaze to the TV, eager to know what the second event would be. It struck her as odd that her son, a boy who often seemed confident and snarky in his carriage while trying to stifle his own pessimistic tendencies, was in earnest with his belief in Kurai's chances at victory. This led to her asking, "You're that sure about him?"

"Well, yeah." Shukin didn't turn around, but Sakura could see how his shoulders became a little more set as he said in a more serious tone, "You saw his opening speech. You know he was talking about Dad with that, even if he didn't drop his name."

"Of course," she nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I thought it was very kind of him to do that."

"It was, but there was more to it than that." Sakura's fascination was redoubled as Shukin went on to say, "The day that he woke up from his first 'episode' in the hospital, he told me that he wanted to become a hero like Dad. He said that he wanted to show people that the real heroes are the ones who help others without a second thought to glory and fame. I wasn't really sure if he wasn't just talking big that day, but now… I believe him. He's gonna do what he said he would." He wiped at his eyes before continuing on; "I still miss Dad, but I guess I can feel a little better knowing that he really… didn't die for nothing. His ideals live on in Kurai, and if he does make it big as a hero, maybe he'll be able to inspire other people out there to live the same way."

Sakura smiled while she felt her own eyes sting just a little in response to the warmth growing in her heart in that moment. "That would be wonderful," she said in agreement. "And I'm sure that Kurai will do everything he can to make your wish come true. He'll be a wonderful hero, in due time."

Shukin laughed a little bit at that before he turned back around to say with a somewhat exasperated face, "Too bad he couldn't be the hero who could have stopped that stupid villain from trashing our car the other day… Seriously, what are the odds that both our car and the train that go from here to UA are both outta commission today?!"

"Sorry we couldn't make it out to the event in person, but there's nothing to be done about it right now," the woman sighed heavily, though she honestly shared his frustration in being unable to make it to the tournament. Trying to set aside the thought for now, she told the boy, "We'll be sure to see him compete from the stands next year. For now, we'll have to make do with the TV."

"Yeah, but how many times do we get to watch him win a world-famous tournament for the first time?! I've been robbed of a once-in-a-lifetime experience!" He paused before he said in a half-joking manner, "Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if he didn't win it this year. I really wanna see him win in person for the first time."

"Hey, you don't hear Tensei complaining about not being able to see Tenya compete in person, so suck it up," Sakura told him with a joking tone of reprimand. "You'd better cheer him on, even if he can't hear you, got it?"

"Yes ma'am!"

In spite of his joking complaints that day, there was no one who cheered harder for the rising star than Shukin Hogo-sha, and his mother had to stifle her laughter more than once when she saw him re-watching the tournament highlights several times in the following months. It was plain as day that Kurai had touched his cousin with his speech and subsequent actions, and for the first time since Shiro's death, Sakura could watch her son really believe in something other than the grim certainty of people taking every sacrifice made on their behalf for granted.

---

Present Day

Shukin listened to the dial tone coming from his phone for what felt like an eternity before he was greeted with the sound of Tenya Iida's familiar voice. "Hello, Shukin," the boy said in a dull tone, his words a little difficult to hear over the sounds of some kind of construction happening in the background on his end.

"Hey," the skinny teenager replied, his mouth feeling incredibly dry as he did. "Is this a bad time?"

"Given what I can imagine you are calling about, I don't know that there is a 'good' time," the young hero answered, his voice now a trifle bitter.

"You don't gotta tell me that, man."

There was a brief pause on the other end while the noise began to subside before Tenya said, "You're right. I'm sorry. To answer your question more concisely, I was assisting in the reconstruction of the local hospital, but I'm overdue for a break. I can take a few minutes to speak with you."

"I'll try not to keep you," the older boy said. "First off, other than what happened to Kurai, are you alright? I'd heard that there were no major injuries, but…"

"Midoriya was the most wounded among us, but thanks to Recovery Girl's efforts, he is well on his way to a full recovery," Tenya answered quickly. "I myself only suffered some sprains and bruising, as well as a slight bout of concussion, but I am now well enough to work. Thank you for asking."

"Glad to hear it," Shukin said with a genuine measure of relief in his voice. "Uh… How much longer are you guys gonna be on Nabu?"

"We've all decided to finish our allotted time as to assist with the efforts in rebuilding the town," Tenya replied. "It is… Well, it is our duty as heroes, and we all believe that it is what Kurai would have wanted to do himself, were he still among us and able to assist."

"Yeah," the late hero's cousin murmured, feeling the lump in his throat threatening to choke him again. "Speaking of… I was wondering…" He hesitated, unsure if his friend would be up to answering his next question in a manner that wouldn't leave them both freshly upset and miserable.

"Speak your mind," the other boy said, and it was not unkindly.

"Could you tell me how he died?" he asked, speaking quickly so that he did not have another chance to back away from the knowledge that he needed. "I know that he fought the boss villain, and he died right after that, but… I was hoping to know what he was like… at the end."

There was another brief silence from Tenya, and Shukin felt as though he had pressed the matter too quickly. Before he could apologize, however, his friend spoke again to say, "I… wish that I could tell you. That would mean that I was by his side when he passed on… But my duty as a hero demanded that I be elsewhere at that time."

Shukin swallowed hard at that, disappointment causing the tight sensation to somehow worsen after that. Even so, he forced himself to say, "I understand, man. Sorry to bring all that up for you again, especially so soon after…"

He was surprised when Tenya said, "I can't tell you what happened, exactly, but… I do know who can. Only…" It was the hero's turn to hesitate, but Shukin did not press him, not wanting to risk his chance at learning the answer to his burning question. His patience was reward when the other boy added, "The one who was with him at the end is… an acquired taste. He may not give you the answers you are looking for, as he is mourning this in his own way."

"I'll chance it," Shukin said instantly. "Please, let me speak to this person."

"Very well, give me a moment, and I will pass on your request."

The line was left open, but all Shukin could make out after that was the returned noise of construction work and muffled voices. As he waited, he could only wonder who Tenya had been talking about as 'an acquired taste'. Kurai mentioned that he had a few weird classmates, so that doesn't really narrow it down, he mused silently. He said it was a guy, so I guess that helps. There's the bird guy who talks in poetry half the time- Tokoyami, I think? Maybe the guy that sparkles worse than a disco ball? He sounds extra weird, to hear Kurai tell it. There was brief pause in his train of thought before he perked up slightly with the idea that it could be the student he had done his work study alongside. Red Riot… Kirishima. Kurai always described him as really gung-ho, and if they have history with working together, it makes sense that they would have been put together for a-

"You're Hogo-sha's ext- cousin, right?" A gruff voice that Shukin did not immediately recognize surprised him by abruptly leaping out of the phone.

"Um, yeah?" he answered, not bothering to hide his confusion. "Er… Sorry, but who are you?"

There was a short growling sound from the other end before he received the answer; "Name's Katsuki Bakugo- the next number one hero. Don't forget that."

Shukin bristled with indignation before he shot back, "Seriously? You're the guy who was with him at the end? How the hell did that happen?" Now that he had a name to go with the voice, he knew that he was speaking to one of the sources of Kurai's more frequent headaches.

There was another, more prominent growl before Bakugo replied, "Bite me, it was his fault we ended up like that. We tried to keep him away from the action, but he was too damn stubborn to listen. He got tangled up in the fight when he already had a busted lung, thanks to a sword he took to the chest the day before. He shouldn't have even been in on the fight in the first place, but he seemed to have a real problem with understanding the words 'stay out of it'."

In spite of himself, Shukin couldn't help but roll his eyes at that piece of news. "You don't need to tell me that," he muttered. "Ever since we were kids, he-"

"I don't care," Bakugo snapped, cutting off the other boy instantly. "You wanna get your warm fuzzies talking about what he was like back in the day, I'll just give the phone back to Four-eyes. I'm just here to talk about what he did in the end." When Shukin forced himself to be quiet instead of starting a shouting match, the Bombing Hero went on to say in a terse voice, "The villain was a discount All For One- could steal quirks for himself, and was good at using 'em. We threw everything we had at him, but he kept taking it until Kai got involved. He blasted the asshole as hard as he could, even though it was killing him. In the end, he… He told me to protect Ashido so that he could go and finish things, because I didn't have the firepower we needed, and he knew it. He knew he already had one foot in the grave, so if anyone should risk it against the guy, it had to be him. He did what he always promised he would: stood his ground, right up to the very end. Saved everyone we failed to protect- a real hero, more than anyone else here."

He… really kept his promise to be a hero like Dad, Shukin thought as tears began to trail fire down his cheeks. He didn't back out when things looked impossible… He really believed in Dad's way to live right up until the very last moment.

"Your cousin was the real number one, Hogo-sha," Bakugo then muttered, bringing Shukin out of his own head. "Most people still think it's All Might, but I know the truth. The Guardian Hero was the real deal. So when I become the number one hero, it's gonna be the day that I surpassed Kai."

"Hah." Shukin found himself letting out a weak laugh at the utterly ridiculous notion. "Dream on, man. If he really was that amazing at the end, you're never gonna match him."

"Tch," Bakugo snarled in response. "Whatever, extra. You got what you wanted, so I'm outta here. Do your cousin a favor and don't ever embarrass your family name. It's not just anyone who can surpass All Might." With that, the line disconnected, and Shukin felt the phone slip from his grasp to hit his lap and then fall to the floor, which he hardly noticed.

He didn't even bother to consider the fact that he hadn't been able to say goodbye to Tenya. The only thing he could do was let the tears out as he held his face and thought: In spite of everything he suffered, he really was as good as his word… Kurai… Thank you for being such a great he- No.

Thank you for being my hero.

---

Akarui tapped a button on his computer before slowly reaching up to slide the headphones he had been using backward so that the set rested around his neck. Tears were running freshly down his cheeks as Bakugo's words continued to reverberate in his ears: "It's not just anyone who can surpass All Might."

He knew Bakugo's given disposition and how much he admired the Number One Hero. It was a praise that surpassed even his own respect of the man, perhaps even that of Izuku Midoriya's. To hear him say such a thing could only mean that his admiration was truly sincere, and that Kurai had died in such a manner that left him with no other recourse than to admit it.

As a rule, Akarui didn't eavesdrop on his family members' conversations out of a sense of respect. But in this instance, having overheard Shukin's plan to contact Iida in an attempt to get some answers, he could not restrain himself. It was just as much his right to know how Kurai had lived in his last moments, and he would hear it from the firsthand source, social etiquette and even privacy laws be damned.

My work wasn't in vain, he thought as he shut his eyes against the light of his monitor which suddenly seemed too much for his aching eyes to deal with. Dammit, Kurai. Why'd you have to go and use my inventions the way you were supposed to?

Even as he had the thought, he knew it was an ugly, unfair one. He had thrown everything that he had into helping his brother become the hero he knew he could be, so why on earth did it make sense for him to harbor even the smallest amount of resentment toward Kai for living and dying as the exemplary hero he had sworn to become? Why should he hold it against the guy for making the most of the opportunities that Energon and Solar Intelligence alike had given him?

Why can't justice come at someone else's expense for once? he thought bitterly as the tears continued to rain down. The bad guys lost, and the heroes won, as it should be. So why does it still feel like we… Why did my work cause Kurai to lose?!

Almost against his active will, his mind began to take him back to the first real step that the two of them had taken together in creating the Guardian Hero…

---

One Year Ago

"Alright, since you're going to UA, time for us to get down to the most important of all hero matters." Akarui was grinning as he sat down across from his brother at the dining room table, who was hunched over his notebook, a look of intense concentration on his face. When it seemed that the older boy was ignoring him, he picked up a nearby eraser and hurled it at Kurai's head, who scowled before making one last note and then leveling his look of displeasure at his sibling. "There he is!"

"Dude, what do you want?" Kurai grumbled. "I'm a little busy, here."

"I am here to lend my expert- and rather necessary, in your case- opinion on what is going to help your marketing once you become a hero," Akarui answered as his grin brightened. "Hero costume design time! Just finished my winter break assignments, so my schedule is officially clear until term exams."

"Already ahead of you- for once," his brother replied with a grin of his own that wiped Akarui's face clean of any superiority. Flipping the notebook he had been bent over, he slid the item across the table so that the other boy could see a full-page sketch littered with a few notes to detail preferred materials and measurements for certain items. "I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your nose out of this, so I decided to go ahead and lay out the basics before you got carried away."

"First of all, how dare you?" Akarui shot back as he quickly scanned the page, his eyes narrowing as he allowed his brain to go to work. "Second, when have I ever gotten carried away with stuff that matters?"

"Do I need to bring up the attempted miniature particle accelerator?"

"That only failed because the school's allotted power supply off the main grid was insufficient!"

"It failed for more reasons than that, and you know it."

"…Yeah, but no one else needs to know that. It also has nothing to do with this… Honestly, this is a tragedy," the younger boy said with a look of utter disgust as he shoved the sketch away, ignoring the glare of annoyance from his brother as he did. "I'd mourn for the design team stuck with this if it were to ever make it out of the mailbox."

"Okay, even by your standards, it's not that bad," Kurai grumbled. "Look, it's got countermeasures for the drawbacks of my quirk, like you said I would need." As he spoke, he tapped several different places on the sketch, which depicted light pieces of armor that would serve not only as protective gear, but would also apply pressure to various nerve points in order to help keep him calm in the midst of a fight.

"It looks ugly and cumbersome," Akarui stated bluntly. "If you're going to insist on having that much covering, you'd be better off asking for an armor set like Ingenium. Not to mention that if you apply that many pressure points to your nervous system on the regular, you're gonna have to worry about blood flow and straight-up sensory deprivation… I give you thirty minutes of optimal performance in this thing after you put it on, if that."

"I gotta have some way of keeping my brain from reaching the breaking point every time I get into a fight," Kurai countered with a smaller frown. Even if his brother's insults toward his design were aggravating, he knew that he wasn't doing it just to be critical.

"No amount of pressure points are going to stop that from happening in the long run," the younger boy replied with a slight shake of his head. "It'll delay the potential onset of another hemorrhaging episode, but as of right now, we don't have a way of negating the effects completely. Best we can do is manage the symptoms- without creating an entirely different problem for you in the process."

Kurai looked down at his sketch with something like disappointment before he let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair while looking up to the ceiling. "Okay," he said slowly. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

Akarui glanced back down at the initial design for a quick refresher before he said, "Well, I can see that you've based the first layer of the costume on our gi's, which makes sense to me. It's comfortable, and perhaps more importantly for you, it'll be a psychological reassurance to be fighting in something that feels familiar- something that'll help mitigate the stress you'll be feeling in any potential conflict, even if only by a small margin. Then again, that little bit might go on to make all the difference for you, so it's a solid call on your end."

"So it's not total garbage?" Kurai inquired with a slight grin, which Akarui returned as he beckoned for the sketchbook and pencil, which the other boy quickly relinquished.

"I question the color scheme, given the primary color of your abilities, but it's not the worst," he answered as he turned to a new page and began a new drawing. "Personally, I think it'd be best if you went with a purple-white theme- complimentary colors and all that."

"I prefer the 'warning sign' aspect of this color palette," Kurai replied with a shrug. "Kind of an unspoken message of 'if you see these colors coming from me, you're screwed'."

"What, the immeasurable amounts of energy coming out and destroying everything in the immediate vicinity won't be warning enough?"

"I love Dragon Ball, and I'm wearing those colors, dammit!" Kurai growled, which prompted his brother to add a note on the side of the page.

"Okay, color scheme non-negotiable," he muttered before pausing, mid-writing. Looking up, he then asked, "Could you at least invert the coloring proportions? I know you love the series, but you gotta have something to not look like the Son family's illegitimate child."

"Okay, if that was the case, that'd be awesome," Kurai snorted. "But yeah, fine. Wouldn't want Toei breathing down my neck for property or cultural appropriation."

Akarui's pencil stopped moving as he slowly looked up at his brother with incredulity before saying, "You do know that Dragon Ball is from our country? I need to know that you know that."

"Hey, didn't some nationalist group in Egypt originally try to sue Salaam for cultural appropriation based on his costume before they realized that he was a natural-born citizen?" Kurai countered, which Akarui was forced to concede.

"Oh yeah, it's cos he got his education in England or something, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, another fair point," the younger Hikari mused as he went back to work on the sketch. "What material were you gonna be requesting for the armor?"

"I hadn't gotten that far, but I was thinking carbon fiber," Kurai answered quickly. "The weight of metal wouldn't be an issue for me, but if it got distorted because of a punch I threw or had to block, we come back to the problem of blood circulation, or even a nerve pinch. Carbon fiber can take almost as many hits, is lighter, and won't get bent out of shape."

"It is more likely to break, though," Akarui pointed out as he grabbed the eraser and scrubbed at a misplaced line. "I agree that it's the better of the two options until I can figure out a more permanent solution, but what's important is that you know what that means for you, should your armor get broken."

There was a brief moment of silence at the table before Kurai made the reply, "Being a hero was always going to be risky for me. Like you said, we can reduce the risk of my quirk going into overdrive, but not neutralize the problem with our current resources and your knowledge. If I wanted a career without risk to my health, this is the wrong profession- and I am well aware of that."

Akarui nodded without looking up while saying, "Alright, carbon fiber it is- for now. I'll be looking into alternatives that might hold up better under the kinetic forces that you'll be dishing out, and receiving. In the meantime, I'm thinking that these pieces will serve the balance between restraint and liberty for your powers." Flipping the sketch around, he slid it over for Kurai to inspect, who immediately raised his eyebrow in response.

"Seems a little light on the pressure point applications," he muttered, though not in an argumentative manner.

"True, but it targets the most potent ones that won't restrict your movements overmuch," the younger boy pointed out. "Remember, this is just a stopgap. Besides, you can think of it as weighted training- learning to fight with restrictions will let you really cut loose in the long run once those limiters are removed."

At that, Kurai's expression brightened considerably. "Well, if you put it like that, I don't see why not," he said with a grin. Gesturing for Akarui to pass the pencil back, he then added, "Alright, I'm gonna draw up something a little more detailed for those gauntlets' aesthetics."

"Just don't go slapping the symbol of the Old Republic on there- you're trying to avoid getting sued, remember?"

"I wasn't gonna!"

"No Zakuulan emblems, either."

"…Copyright laws suck."

"Bet you won't be saying that when you start getting royalties for hero merchandise bearing your image."

"That-! I-! Shut up!"

"Never."

---

Seven months ago

"I design him armor so that this exact thing should not happen, and what does he do?!" Akarui fumed as he stalked down the white hallways of the hospital after his mother, grinding his teeth as he did. "He goes and takes it off!"

Less than an hour ago, his father had called his mom to inform her that the USJ center at UA High had been attacked by a gang of villains. Most of the students were unharmed, but there were several pros who had been hospitalized, as well as a pair of members from Class 1-A. The moment that Moka understood that Kurai had been rushed to the closest medical facility, she knew exactly what would have landed him there. She had immediately gone to pick up Akarui from school and take him to the hospital where they were currently operating on her firstborn.

Ever since Moka had explained the situation to him, Akarui had felt a stirring mixture of shock and anger at both the audacity of the villains, and at Kurai for pulling such a boneheaded move. Flashbacks of the last time Kurai had lost his temper kept pulsing into view, blurring his sight as he tried not to think about the image of his brother convulsing and bleeding uncontrollably out of his face, to no effect.

The younger Hikari was about to add a string of profanities under his breath as he and his mother entered the lobby when he felt his left leg go slack. Before he could call to his mother for help, he found himself falling forward, unable to use his left arm to brace himself against the upcoming impact. He shut his eyes as he waited for the pain to erupt from his face- only to feel a strong arm catch him up and prevent him from fully collapsing. He let out a short grunt as another hand steadied him from behind while a girlish voice asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Akarui knew that he was difficult for other people to deal with on a good day, so for the most part, he tried to avoid interacting with anyone he didn't already know, or at least have a mutual friend with. Seeing as today was already a bad day, and the sudden (though temporary) loss of his motor functions were just adding to the negative contributors, he was currently doing everything he could not to come up with a reply that would offend his apparent rescuer. These competing factors eventually ended up being formed into the response, "I just thought that spot on the floor looked good for a nap."

As he was being hauled to his feet, he managed to start getting a look at the person helping him, and his first thought was, What combination of quirks makes somebody that pink?

"Akarui Hikari!" Moka said in a reprimanding tone as she moved to help the magenta-colored girl who was now supporting his weight. "I'm terribly sorry about his behavior, miss. But is there any chance could I ask you to help me get him to a seat?" Her anger was a mask, Akarui knew.

Bad enough that Kurai's here again, and now my quirk has to act up, he thought with silent frustration as he tried to flex his fingers and swing his leg, only to meet failure on both ends. At the very least, he still had control over his head and right limbs, which he used to try and hobble along as best he could.

"Sure, I- Wait." The girl's dark caramel eyes flicked back and forth between the boy and his mother, recognition lighting up in her gaze. "Hikari? As in Kurai Hikari?"

Both mother and son's curiosity were ignited as they registered the familiarity with which she used that name, and upon taking in the sight of the girl's attire- something that definitely wouldn't be worn by anybody not trying to make some kind of fashion statement- they realized that she must be one of the other hero course students from Kurai's class. Comprehending this a little quicker than his mom, Akarui then said, "You know my brother."

"Yeah, he- I'm in his class," the girl nodded as they reached a group of seats that were partially occupied by a handful of people whom they presumed to be other hero students. "Here, you can sit with us."

"Thank you," Moka acknowledged while her son tried to work his hand again, this time feeling some kind of stiff resistance in his pinky finger. "Can I leave him with you while I go to speak with the doctors? I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but-"

"It's no trouble at all," the pink girl said through a wobbly smile and a slight film of tears. "After what Kurai's done for all of us today, anything I can do for his family is no problem." As she said this, the two women managed to get Akarui seated in one of the chairs that was a couple of spaces away from the other students, who were all talking quietly among themselves, having barely noticed their appearance.

Akarui's eyes narrowed slightly at her casual use of his brother's given name, but he waited for his mother to say, "Thank you so much. Akarui, will you be alright while I-?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he made a small shooing motion with his working arm. "I'm just dead weight right now, but I still wanna know how he is. Please call me when you get the prognosis?"

"Of course- don't leave the lobby," she told him firmly, to which he waved his hand half-heartedly. "I mean it, son."

"Yes ma'am," he grumbled before swatting his left leg in annoyance. "Not like I can go anywhere right now."

"If it gets worse-"

"Mom, I know the drill," Akarui said, his voice tightening with the beginnings of a new irritation. "Kurai gets priority right now, so… Please go make sure I'm still gonna have a brother by the end of the day."

"Don't talk like that," Moka muttered before she gave one last questioning look toward the pink girl, who gave an assuring nod in reply. Clearly still torn between concern for the both of her sons, she then gave her youngest a kiss on the head before departing at a rapid pace.

"I didn't catch your name," Akarui said as soon as she was gone, his eyes darting over to the girl who had helped catch him up.

"Oh, I'm Ashido," she replied as she sat down next to him, curiosity in her eyes as she looked him up and down. "Mina Ashido. Your brother told me about you, so I already know your name."

The young boy's eyes narrowed at her for a brief moment before he said, "That would make you the girl he went to meet yesterday, wouldn't it?"

Mina's face flushed lilac before she held up a finger to her lips while looking over at her classmates to see if any of them had overheard. When it appeared that they hadn't, she said in a lowered voice, "We're trying to keep that under wraps, okay? Please don't say anything to-"

"Tenya?" Akarui cut her off with a dry tone, watching with some amusement as her black eyes widened even further. With a soft snort of derision, he said, "Don't worry, I'm no snitch."

Before he could say anything else, one of the students from nearby finally seemed to notice the newcomer, because he turned to Mina and asked, "Who's the little guy, Ashido?"

"Little?!" Akarui sputtered angrily at the bare-chested redhead with spiky hair.

"He's Kurai's kid brother," she replied as the other students also began to take notice. "I guess he's gonna be hanging out with me for a bit, though." Even as she said it, Akarui could see the confusion that flitted across her face as she seemingly started to wonder what had caused his collapse in the first place.

Deciding to preempt any questions that he didn't want to answer, he said in a short tone, "I guess the news about my brother just caught up to me- I kinda almost fainted. Ashido here helped keep me from having a face-to-face with the floor, so now she's stuck on babysitting duty." At the last words, he gave the redhead a sour look, who appeared confused by what he could have done to draw such ire.

"Sorry to hear that, ribbit," said a girl with a curiously blank look on her face as she crouched in a very frog-like manner by his chair. "Can I get you some water or something?"

"No, thank you," Akarui said with a small shake of his head, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as he felt his left hand start to clench and release, allowing for a strong tingling in his fingers that let him know that the sensation was returning to the extremities. While doing this, he looked around at the two girls and their redheaded classmate, as well as another pair of boys, one with golden-blond hair, and the other with giant elbows. Hoping to keep them from scrutinizing his excuse too closely, he then said, "You guys were at the USJ. What happened to my dumbass brother?"

"Dumba-?! What the hell, kid?!" the redhead sputtered angrily. "Your brother's in the hospital, and that's the kind of thing you say about him?!"

"I designed his costume specifically to avoid this kind of thing from happening, which means that for his power to go out of control like it did, he would have had to remove the armor himself," Akarui deadpanned in reply. "He knew doing that would be all but certain death. Doing that just because some rent-a-thug villains broke onto your campus sounds like a dumbass move if I ever heard one."

"He didn't go all-out to show off," the redhead shot back, his fists hardening to a rock-like consistency on reflex. "He didn't do it until one villain started attacking our teacher!"

"A villain that was strong enough to put All Might on the defensive," the frog-girl added with a small shudder.

"Your brother did what he did to save all of us, not show off," Mina chimed in bitterly, her dark eyes glimmering with an unmistakable anger and…

Is she crying? Akarui thought with a momentary surprise. He tried to set the feeling aside; blame her reaction on the horrible danger that she and the rest of her class had been subject to. However, that notion couldn't hold for long with his intellect, as he realized that any initial tears drawn out by fear would have more than likely dried out some time ago, seeing as no one had died in the battle. She's worried about him- more than anyone else here, except maybe Tenya.

Forcing the half of his body that he was in control of to relax, Akarui let out a long breath before saying, "Sorry. I know he isn't like that. I shouldn't have said what I did."

There was a brief, awkward silence before the blond kid said, "Well, you gotta be worried about him, right? He's your brother."

No shit, Sherlock.

While Akarui was cementing in his mind the fact that the blond boy was nothing less than a lummox, the frog girl told him, "I've got a younger brother and sister, and if something like this happened to one of them, I'm sure I'd be freaking out a lot more than you are right now." She blinked her large eyes at him before adding, "I'm Tsuyu Asui, by the way. But you can call me Su."

The other students then began to introduce themselves, which Akarui only paid half-attention to. Of course, that was more than enough for him to perfectly memorize their names for later use, but the majority of his focus remained on the pink girl who kept looking furtively down the hallway that led to the operating areas, her hands continuously clenching and unclenching. If he didn't know better- which would be absolutely ridiculous- he would have thought that she was more worried about Kurai than he was.

Interesting, he mused while he listened to Kirishima begin to recount the story of All Might taking on some kind of monster with multiple powers- something that he would certainly have to look into later on, but he had a more pressing concern for the moment. Every girl that Kurai's ever crushed on either didn't know that he existed, or just plain didn't care about him. But this girl… One date, and she already cares this much about him? Either he's got moves for girls I had no idea about, or she's someone special.

He briefly considered the two options before deciding, Mina Ashido might just be someone worth keeping an eye on.

---

Six Months Ago

If I ever get access to Tartaros' data files, I'm gonna schedule Moon Fish's trip to the chair myself, Akarui seethed as he hunched over in his hospital bed, vicious rage stirring up inside of him such as he had never felt before. Failing that, I'll blackmail a guard into sprinkling some cyanide seasoning on his lunch. How I'll do that, I don't know yet, but dammit- I'll find a way.

He had just received the summary of last night's events from his father; about how Kurai and several of his classmates had ended up in the same hospital as him following another surprise attack from the League of Villains. He had data-backed evidence showing that his heart had skipped a couple of beats when he had been told that his brother had been brought to the very brink of clinical death before being operated on due to his right arm having been amputated in the course of a battle with a murderous, cannibalistic villain. The fact that Kurai had managed to bring the villain down in the process was of absolutely no comfort to the boy as he was made to realize that even with the device he had created for his brother- the seemingly impossible cure that he had sacrificed a grand majority of his motor functions in order to make- it had not been enough. Even with Akarui's grand ambition having been fulfilled, Kurai was on death's door once again.

Now that his younger son was aware of the situation, Shigeru had been made to leave, having needed to begin coordination efforts with a great number of precincts and heroes in order to hunt down the League and their allies. He would be busy for a while, and his mother could only be by the side of either Akarui or Kurai at any given time- once again trapped between conflicting obligations. For the first time in his life, the younger Hikari found himself genuinely hating his own power, for enabling him to put it in Kurai's head that he could now fight without worry, and all but destroying his own body in the process. His hubris had put his entire family in this ill-fated position, and he loathed that fact with every fiber in his existence.

The monitors attached to his body started to sound an alarm, which would no doubt alert his attending nurses that his heart was in distress, but he just found that the noise was driving him to ignore his body's new limitations. Throwing the blankets off of his legs, he heaved himself toward the wheelchair he had only just been given a few days prior. He didn't have much practice getting in and out of it without assistance yet, but damn if he wasn't going to pull it off now, fueled by sheer rage and spite.

At least, that's how it would have gone if the orderlies hadn't come in and yelled at him to stop moving without assistance, lest he hurt himself without even knowing it. If he'd been in control of his vocal chords in that moment, he would have hurled the most scorching profanities known to mankind in protest as they forced him back onto the bed and informed him in the sternest wording that he was not to try that again until he was cleared by his physical therapist. As it was, he wrote down some of these choice phrasings the second that he had his pencil and notepad back within reach, after which he wadded them into a ball and hurled them at the next nurse who walked in the door.

Under normal circumstances, he would have enacted such a motion as a juvenile means of hassling someone, but under his current condition, it was roughly the equivalent of him trashing the room as to be unusable. The nurse merely ignored the bunched-up paper in favor of moving to reapply some of the monitoring nodes that had been disconnected by his attempts to get out of the bed. The second she came within range to grasp at the wires, Akarui made a show of petulance by refusing to cooperate with her requests that he lean forward so that she could do her job.

"Kid, I've put these nodes on people who are a lot bigger than you, and they all had full muscle control," she deadpanned in a tired voice. "We can do this the easy way, and your doctor will be along to check on you and clear you for a visit to your brother in a few hours, or we can do this the way where I stick a needle in your butt and make you take a nap until this evening. What's it gonna be?"

Akarui shot her a withering glare that she remained completely un-withered by until he used his arms to pull himself forward so that his back was a couple of inches off the inclined mattress. He did nothing further to either assist or hinder her work until she was done, after which he sank back into the mattress, his vision still throbbing with a red tinge as he silently contemplated ways to ensure that Moonfish never saw the light of another day. So wrapped up in his thoughts of vengeance was he that he nearly missed the nurse trying to get his attention.

In fact, it wasn't until she shook his shoulder- careful not to jostle his neck in the process- and said, "Hey, Einstein Junior!" that he even bothered to pay her any heed. Once she could see that she had his attention, she sighed and told him, "Look, you're pissed, and I get that. Your brother got messed up real bad by a villain- that'd be enough to rile any decent person up. But you're not the only one in this hospital who's hurting right now- and undoing the little amount of physical therapy that you've been able to maintain since you got here isn't going to help you or your brother."

He glared at her for another moment before furiously scribbling in his notepad, 'I am in a position to do literally nothing else but be angry. I can't even go to a damn bathroom without asking permission, much less sit in next to my brother while he is fighting for his life.'

The woman read the note, and without a tone of apology in her voice, replied, "Suck it up, buttercup. You've got a working brain and two good arms right now- which is one more than what your brother will have, if he can recover from this. If you need to do something, how's about you stop complaining about what you're limited to doing, start getting creative with what you've still got. I know you quirk stays on whether you want it to or not, so you might as well do something productive with it." When all Akarui would do was continue to level a glare at her, she shrugged and then said, "Have it your way, Hikari. But if I had your quirk, and my brother was in the shape yours' is in, I'd be doing everything in my power to make sure that his recovery could go as smoothly as possible. He's gonna need all the help he can get- even from you."

As she left the room, Akarui transferred his dark gaze down to his limp legs and clenched fists while he thought, My help might just be what landed him in here- that's the problem!

A ray of concentrated sunlight chose that moment to bounce off of the building across the way and steal into his room, striking him across the face like a slap that forced him to shut his eyes against the glare. As darkness dulled the illuminated impact on his optical nerves, countless designs and schematics that he had seen while in the central computer system of I-island in search of a cure for his brother's illness began to once again dance within the confines of his consciousness. Even as he turned his neck so that he would be able to open his eyes without harming them, they remained firmly shut, almost as if against his own will.

What does all of this information help me with, now? He thought angrily, though his eyes still refused to open. All my intellect and the knowledge I was able to obtain, and Kurai might just be worse off than before. I magic-ed him up a collar that rewrote his neural network on a near-psychic level, but now that he's on death's door for an entirely different reason, I can't even figure out how to-

Akarui's thought process came to a complete stop as he turned back toward the light and forced his eyes open, allowing the light to fully strike his body through the window pane. There's nothing I can do for him right now, he forced himself to acknowledge. Right now, his life is in his and the doctors' hands. But what comes after… What comes when he continues his journey as a hero? That…. I might be able to do something about that.

No. The boy's hands moved faster than they had since his paralysis as he snatched up his pencil and notepad, a replica of one of David Shield's physical augmentation projects quickly taking shape under his careful movements as he thought, I will do something about it.

There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever that Kurai would pick himself up and take up the mantle of the Guardian Hero in due time. His brother didn't do things in half-measures, and his resolve would someday put many men's proclamations to shame. If I want to put a claim on having even a single strand of bloodlines that connect us, I need to put in the same kind of commitment to my work.

With that in mind, he turned the page and began a new sketch- this one based on a proposed power conduit structure from Eric Rush, the very same man who had designed the drones responsible for I-island's security. I won't settle for getting you back to how you were, Kurai, he vowed as he began to lay out his own notes for alterations and improvements to the initial designs. I'm going to see to it that the League of Villains wishes they left you with your original arm.

Even if my time is running out already, your work is far from finished- so let's make sure you get to your goal in one piece from here on out…

---

Present Day

"Hey, smartass."

Akarui closed his eyes as the words from his brother's final message began to echo in his ears again, allowing him to almost see the older boy as he had been speaking them. He had heard the message twice and fully memorized it already, but even now, he hoped that there was a chance that he might hear something new in the recording- something that would allow him, even if only for a few seconds, to imagine that he and Kurai could have one last talk.

"I can imagine you already know what this message is going to be about, given all the files that I've attached to it," the dead boy said heavily. "Before I get to what really needs to be said, let me preface it by saying that I'm gonna do my damndest to call and tell you that this message and all of its contents can be erased before you even get a chance to open them. But, we've both become too well-versed in worst-case scenarios for me not to be prepared for what may come by day's end."

There was a pause, followed by a harsh series of coughs that tore at Akarui's chest as though the sounds was erupting from his own lungs before Kurai went on to say, "As I'm sure you can tell by my voice, I've already taken a bad hit- some whackjobs showed up yesterday on the island, and to make a long story short, I slipped up, and now I've got a hole in my lung, and a patchwork seal on my skin just to keep my blood where it's supposed to be. Honestly, it wouldn't be such an issue if we weren't gearing up for a rematch with these villains in about three or so hours. This brings me to why I'm leaving you this message.

"If you've heard this, I'm dead, and I don't want to leave you the same way that Dad left us; without any explanations. So here it is: I'm going to take part in the battle that's coming. Even injured as I am, my quirk makes me too powerful an asset to just leave on the sidelines. I have to do everything I can to make sure that the islanders and my friends survive. Of course, my survival would be preferable, and I'll certainly be aiming for that, but nothing in combat is a sure thing.

"If you're hearing this, then there are a couple of things that I need you to do for me," Kurai said, his voice becoming even more somber than how it had begun. "At some point in the near future, make sure that the files I've sent get to All Might and Principal Nezu, as well as Detective Tsukauchi. They'll sort through the relevant data that'll help close any loose ends on this case.

"Next, I need you to tell Mom, Shukin, and Aunt Sakura that I'm sorry. I wish that things could have turned out differently, but again, if you're hearing this, all the wishing in the world won't change what's happened. Give them my love, and let them know that I'll be waiting for them on the other side, when the time comes.

"I know this next one is gonna be difficult, but I would appreciate it if you didn't hold this whole thing against the teachers and my friends. There was no way we could have known that something like this was going to happen- our school did everything that they could to avoid a scenario just like this one." There was a short, wheezing chuckle before he added, "If you want to throw the book at somebody, aim for the Hero's Public Safety Commission. I'm sure Mina's brother, Mako, would be willing to help on that end." Mako Ashido, Akarui recalled, had recently become a prosecuting attorney.

"Speaking of Mina, please look after her," Kurai said, sounding a little more choked up than when he had first begun. "She is… not going to take this well, to say the least. I'm sure you already knew that, but even so… It needs to be said. I've left a message for her, too, so make sure that she gets a chance to listen to it.

"Last of all, do me this giant favor… and don't become like me." Akarui squeezed his eyes harder, trying desperately to see his brother's oh-so-snarky smile as he listened to him say, "I made some pretty big promises, and if this message plays out, it means that I wasn't able to keep them. I know you've got a deck stacked way against you already, but I want you to live to be better than me. Keep your promise since I couldn't- use that smartass brain of yours' and beat that tumor trying to keep you down. I have no doubt whatsoever that you can. Do that, and I know your work will go on to save more lives than Kai ever could."

There was one last pause before Kurai spoke his final words to his brother. "Alright, your dumbass brother has to get going. Love you, Aki."

Just like that, he was gone again. There had been nothing new in the message for Akarui to find, no solace that could be offered in the place of his departed brother, and no way that he could- for all of his vast intellect and knowledge- find a way to bring himself, or anyone he knew, any measure of comfort in this dark, evil hour.

What I wouldn't give to turn back time…

---

Litrosh: Someone's in a mood.

Mataras: Wha-? Me?

Litrosh: Who else would I be talking to?

Deadwood: Me, maybe?

Litrosh: Why would I do that? You don't need to be here.

Deadwood: That's it! I will not stand for this treatment anymore! I'm leaving!

Mataras: Thank all that's good.

Deadwood: Hey!

Mataras: Anyway, to answer your question, I'm actually doing fine. Other than some kind of chest infection, but my headspace is honestly pretty good right now.

Litrosh: This is what you produce when you're in a good headspace?

Mataras: You know exactly what gets produced when I'm in a bad headspace.

Litrosh: Touché.

Mataras: In any case, for those who are curious, the current artwork is a depiction of Akarui. I tried to make it more apparent that he's in his wheelchair, but the image ended up getting cropped a bit weird.

Litrosh: So does that mean the story will begin to focus more closely on him from here on?

Mataras: He will certainly be getting more screen time from now on, but I wouldn't say that he's the central narrator. I'll relent just a tad and tell you that the next chapter will be more focused on the people whose lives Kurai has touched with his actions.

Litrosh: Do we get any name drops?

Mataras: None that aren't in the following preview.

Litrosh: Bugger.

Deadwood: You know what really bugs?

Mataras/Litrosh: YOU!

Deadwood: That's just mean! When're the student coming back for this gig?!

Mataras: Next time- Their Hero

Litrosh: Time for the people of Japan to remember just how far Kai Went Beyond.

Mataras: Plus Ultra!

---

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Renewal...

"Hey, you okay?" he prompted as he moved closer, making sure to raise his voice enough so that there would be no way for Mako to miss it.

"Huh?" the older Ashido said as he tore his eyes away from the screen to see Micha looking at him with concern. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were okay," his brother answered with a small frown. "What's got you so shook, dude? Something happen at the firm?"

"Honestly, I wish," Mako replied as he stood up from his half-eaten sandwich, sending a small thrill of alarm down Micha's body, and chasing away his immediate need for coffee. "We gotta call Mom and Dad, and see if we can't reach Mina."

"Okay, how's about we pump the breaks a sec and tell your barely-awake bro what's going on?" the middle Ashido sibling said, making sure to speak slowly in an attempt to keep his brother from launching into a high-speed explanation of whatever it was that had upset him, as he was wont to do from time to time.

"I was just watching the national news," Mako explained, making a visible effort to pace his response, having recognized what his brother was trying to do. "Some powerhouse gang of villains attacked Nabu Island yesterday, and there's been a casualty. The news isn't saying who it is yet, but if it's just one person who's died, then-"

"It was probably one of Sis' classmates," Micha finished for him, feeling the blood drain from his face as he did. "They were supposed to be the only heroes on the island, so- oh, shit."

"Yeah," Mako said in a clipped tone as he pulled up the contact list on his phone. "I hope it wasn't her, but you know how gung-ho she can get."

"True, but I kinda doubt that Hikari would've let anything happen to her," Micha said with a wobbly grin. "He doesn't seem like the type to let his girl get hurt, and we've both seen what he can do when he gets going."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Mako announced, "I'll call Mina, you get Mom and Dad on the line."

"Yep."

As both men accessed their phones and pulled up the desired contacts, Micha's mind flashed back to a moment that had surprised them both only months prior…