The all too familiar sound of a phone ringing started up, and began sounding across the lonely apartment.
From the room where a bed was located, the sound of an annoyed grunt was heard, and a hand rose to clamour around on the nightstand, pawing for the treacherous phone.
To its owner's annoyance though, she discovered that it was in fact, not there, and the sounds of the alarm clock came from out into the apartment itself.
An absolute mess of red hair tumbled about like a waterfall as the woman slowly rose from the bed, very clearly annoyed.
That's right… She'd left her phone on the counter when she came home last night.
That meant she had to go up to go get it.
That annoyed her even more, as she knew from experience that she would not be able to just manage to get right back to sleep again as she could have if she had been able to just turn the phone alarm off immediately.
Great.
With an annoyed sigh, the woman in question forced herself up and out from the bed.
The apartment as she stepped out of her bedroom was an absolute mess.
On the floor was a ton of bookstacks, along with the rather unusual sight of rolled up scrolls, made of paper, parchment, papyrus and various other materials humans had written on before the invention of paper.
There was also the unusual sight of ancient statues and art pieces from every corner of the globe, where if one who was knowledgeable in such, would be able to recognize old norse statues of clay, or old pagan artifacts from various corners of africa, to equivalents of such from both north and south america.
It was quite the juxtaposition compared to the very modern technology in the room, with a stupidly advanced pc over in the corner by the balcony, a luxury tv, and a very modern kitchen.
The kitchen in question, along with the space by the apartment's balcony, was the only place in the apartment where the place looked particularly clean and orderly.
Opposite the pc, in the other corner by the opening out to the balcony, was a bird perch along with a soft, medium size pillow, where a big, white crow currently sat, one eye open and fixed on the woman lumbering through the apartment.
It was a peculiar bird, with feathers on the front where it made it look like it had a faded, golden cross painted on it.
Beneath him, leaning up against the wooden frame his perch was on top of, was a large, golden-rod with absolutely brilliant, shining emeralds embedded into it. Even in the mostly dark apartment, only lit up by the glow from the bedroom, those emeralds glowed as if the sun itself was shining down on them.
As the woman made her way through the apartment, with the kind of ease and nonchalance through the clutter that one only got after long, long familiarity with such an environment, she stopped for a moment as she looked on wall, where a number of pictures were hanging.
Some were of a personal nature, showing the woman in question in her younger days, with an expression of joy and happiness that could not be further from her current demeanor if she tried.
Others had her in a very spectacular costume, with the golden rod currently resting beneath her crow raised above her head, the gems shining bright and brilliant.
In a lot of them were another woman of similar age, a bespectacled lady with purple hair, though in many of them she was far, far younger, maybe 10-12 at the youngest, sharing the frame with the scarlet haired woman who judging by the pictures had been at a similar age.
It was on the photos of her that the woman looked over with a sad, melancholic expression… Then turned and walked further into the large apartment, towards the kitchen.
There she finally turned off the annoying sound, and after a brief consideration, she decided she might as well get breakfast since she was already up.
Nonchalantly, before she went over to her fridge, she turned on the tv, and flipped over to the news channel before walking over to the fridge, and beginning to fishing out a plate of old spring rolls.
She briefly considered whether to reheat them up, but decided she might as well just eat them as they were, and after fishing out a carton of milk, she closed the fridge door behind her and headed to the large couch in front of the tv.
She hadn't been paying too much attention to exactly what the man on the news had been saying, but she's picked up on a very panicked voice, and the familiar name of All Might.
So the same old same old.
There didn't go a week by where the Symbol of Peace wasn't involved in something big and dangerous.
That was just part of living in Japan.
It wasn't before she actually turned around from her fridge diving, and actually read the words on the tv that she stopped completely.
For a moment, the words didn't make sense. Then they did, and in complete shock her grip on the plate went limp… Leading to her accidentally dropping it, and with a sharp sound it shattered to the ground, and spilled her breakfast out all over the floor.
A bit of cursing in French followed, then a bright, green, opal light streamed out from the apartment windows.
Not too long after, the woman from whom the light had originated from, found herself seated in front of the tv with a serious, panicked expression, her breakfast now warm and ready for consumption on a whole plate, but mostly forgotten as her and the great white crow(which had found itself sitting on the top of the couch besides and behind her) stared intently at the screen and the news therefrom.
The golden rod was gripped in her hands by fingers so tightly they had gone completely white like snow.
"-All Might was confirmed dead yesterday by police and medical personnel, having perished in a terrorist attack carried out by the Villain organization known as "The League of Villains". Most of the group was captured during the attack, and is now facing the prospect of the death penalty for their role in the attack, but the ringleader, Shigaraki Tomura, grandson of the deceased Hero Nana Shimura, escaped alongside two of his accomplices. More on the captured villains trial at-"
The big crow made a number of sounds.
Chariot Du Nord, nodded slowly.
"Yeah… This is bad… Merde…"
Eventually, as she kept being bombarded with news on the previous night's terror attacks, Chariot eventually began eating her breakfast, though without any enthusiasm.
She knew what would happen next.
She'd seen it after Kamina's death after all. Crime and murders would explode in numbers and frequency for the foreseeable future as criminals became emboldened.
This time would be worse though.
Much, much worse.
Both because this time, the great hero who had been killed at the hands of a villain was even greater and had seemed even more unstoppable, his very image having served to deter so many of Japan's ne'er do wells by his very presence… But also because the main reason that previous crime wave had been stopped… Was because All Might had been there to do it.
The symbol of peace though, was no more.
And the world would become a much leaner and more hostile place.
Someone would have to step up, or their entire society would come crumbling down.
I
The day after All Might's death, the school was closed. As it would be for several days after.
It was a temporary measure, as the entire structure beefed up its security, both physically and as an organization in order to ensure that such a thing would never happen again.
The now obvious hole in the defences where selective and separated parts of the school needed signals in order to trigger an alarm was changed to ensure that instead there was one, overarching and eternally online surveillance system across campus, and in the event that any part of the system shut down, or was cut off from the rest, the entire thing would immediately go on high alert.
There was of course a lot of conversation behind closed doors, both amongst the staff, and the government and its various arms.
And of course there were the students themselves.
Over the course of the next two-three days, 82 of the school's students were either pulled out from, or directly transferred to other Hero Schools.
Ironically enough, pretty much none of that number were from the Department of Heroics who would be expected to go out and risk life and limb, with only 4 of the students there transferring.
And even more so, not a single one of the class that had dealt with the villain invasion itself was among that number.
That had several reasons behind it, such as the simple reality that parents and students who actually had achieved the goal of getting into the course generally understood the risks of the profession. The second and third years much moreso.
Others simply were not in a monetary situation where they were able to switch up schools even if they wanted to.
Others in turn wanted themselves and their children to thrive with the best results, for which Yuei was still regarded as number 1, despite what had happened.
Of course that was not to say that the death of All Might had not left a massive impact on the students who had been there on that day that he had perished, for that it had.
Some, far more so than others.
Midoriya Inko would never have thought that All Might, Japan's symbol of peace could ever have been killed.
He had been the shining beacon of power, law and order that had loomed over the archipelago for as long as she could remember, having debuted during her own youth seemingly so long ago.
And yet he was now gone. Just like her husband, he had passed on, and left the world a worse place after his death.
It had been an utter shock, as had been the circumstances that had led up to it.
Honestly, that should probably have been her main focus regarding it. The absolute failure that was the invasion by villains.
However, it was All Might's death that overshadowed pretty much everything. For both her, and her baby girl.
And just like back then, her baby was absolutely crushed by the newest gruesome death.
It was a bit different than last time though.
Back then, Izuku had been utterly and with enormous sadness cried her eyes out each and every day… Though when push came to shove, she had channeled that enormous sorrow into a moment of fury.
Now though…
Now her baby seemed pretty much just dead inside and out, as she ate in complete silence.
It was both less horrible, but also worse in its own way.
When Hisashi had passed away… That had been her little Girl's first time suffering a great, personal loss that always came with loving and admiring other people.
It was part of being human that you would at some point lose someone you cared about, and it was generally the first time that bit the deepest.
Back then, in those early days when it was just the two of them here, Izuku had hurt so much, that she had seemed to be in actual, physical pain.
Not this time.
This time it was just her eyes completely unfocused and blank as she ate.
It was a different kind of sorrow… But it was sorrow nonetheless.
Her and her teacher had not known each other for long… But he had been the one Hero who Izuku had looked up to more than anyone else. One of the two People her baby had admired above anyone else… And just like the other one, she had been there as he had died.
Inko had tried to cheer her up as best she could, despite the fact she was shaking herself… But she had had even less luck with that than she had helping her daughter get over Hisashi's death.
At least back then she had some very easy steps she had taken to make her life better… Like getting away from that Bakugou boy.
At least she would not have to deal with him as she tried to get over this horrible new loss.
"...I'm heading out…" The younger Midoriya said as she finished up her dinner.
"A-alright… Just… Be back back before your curfew."
An affirmative, but not very enthusiastic noise followed.
"Izuku…" She said as the girl was putting on her red shoes, and hoisted her bag over her shoulder, but rather than stopping to listen and talk, the girl instead just walked out.
She did not need to know Izuku as only her mother could, to tell just how out of character that was for her.
I
"Wow, now that is some funeral!"
On top of a building reaching towards the heavens, Izuku sat on the edge of the skyscraper, looking down over the rather big procession for the internment of All Might's ashes.
It was a HUGE event.
She had never seen so many people gathered together in one spot.
And given this was Tokyo, the densest population spot in Asia, that was saying something.
"...No problem seeing it?"
For her own part, Izuku was using a pair of binoculars to look at the far away sight many, many kilometers away. As she looked, her legs dangled over the edge of the massive drop, but it didn't seem like she paid much attention to that.
"Not at all! Why?"
Yet another one of his powers she only learned about because she asked.
She wondered how many of those he actually had.
When she didn't answer, he continued.
"That guy over there… That's Japan's Emperor isn't it?"
"...Yeah. He… The last time he was at a Hero's funeral was at Kamina's some years back… It's one of the highest honors you can get in Japan."
He was making a speech.
She wasn't interested in what exactly the speech was.
She could guess the contents. She'd heard the kind all over every platform the last few days. TV, News or social media alike. Most certainly it was a mixture about All Might's heroic life and accomplishments, and how he'd died as befitted a Hero.
Defending the innocent.
A good death.
That thought made her sick. For several reasons.
"He almost never shows up in any Anime or live-action series. The only time I can recall was that time in Hajime no Ippo where he was going to appear for a reward, only for the secondary character he was going to give it to blowing it by being an ass in public."
"Yeah… There's a lot of cultural baggage about that. Showing the Imperial family on screen I mean. It's just something you generally don't do."
At the moment she was not particularly interested in talking about the imperial family.
"Are you… Distressed Izuku?"
"It… Took you that long to figure that out?"
"Oh, I'm not talking about your depression in general. That's been pretty easy to figure out ever since you heard the news regarding All Might's death. I was talking about the here and now. Ever since we got here you've seemed even more downer than before."
He noticed that did he?
"Yeah… I… I guess I am."
"Why? Isn't funerals supposed to be about seeking closure? Moving on from tragedy? Uniting as a group to gather mental strength after despair?"
Fuku was… Honest.
He was far, far too inexperienced though to truly understand the real world.
The fact he had found nothing wrong or out of the ordinary with how easily and casually Izuku had gotten up here at the top of a skyscraper to get a good spot to watch all that was happening below, was proof enough of that.
Even a year in he was… Like a child to be honest. Pure. Unburdened by the worries of the world.
Not like her, who had never been anything but burdened by the world, it's worries and her own existence.
She considered how to explain it to him.
"I suppose it is… In concept at least… But when my dad died… It was the worst period of my life. The single worst one. I was… Miserable."
The fact was, she did not have words to paint it properly.
She had never been that good with words.
"Even worse than now?"
"...Yeah. far worse than now. It was… the single worst."
She felt her feet go a bit up and down as she stretched the muscles beneath the knees, just feeling the air around them. She was incredibly high up.
"But… Everyone who showed up there… At the funeral… My dad's science buddies, and friends of my family treated it as it should be. Like… Something horrible had happened… Nobody acted like there was something to celebrate about what happened… Nobody went, oh he went out fighting to the bitter end, like a true warrior…"
This finally seemed to make it click for the sentient clothing.
"Your mean like the all the news have been saying about All Might for the last few days?"
"...Yeah… Just like that… Everyone… Is trying to take some of the bite out of All Might's death by focusing on that, that he went down in the most heroic manner possible, saving the lives of our classmates… As if that somehow makes it better that he died. As if anything could."
"...So what you're saying is… There is no such thing as a good death?"
"...No. There isn't. There is nothing good or positive about people dying. When people die… That's that. Everything you were, everything you could be… It just ends… And the people who love you have to deal with the aftermath."
Her thoughts went to her mother… Then back to the funeral far, far away.
As she adjusted her binoculars, she suddenly noticed the surprising sight of Melissa Shield amongst the gathering of the "Important" people close by the actual grave.
The people who had been close to All Might.
The girl had been crying. A Lot.
At the moment though she was managing to hold it in, as an older man was holding her tightly, one arm over her shoulder.
She felt a sharp moment of inner pain… And sympathy.
She didn't know what sort of relationship Shield had with All Might… But she understood her pain. Deeply.
"...If someone had told me… At my Dad's funeral… Or Afterwards… That it was admirable that he went down in a noble manner… I would have lost it… About the only thing that would have stung more… Would have been someone actually mocking his death.
"Yeah I can see that… So… What now?"
Good question.
What the Hell now?
There were several layers to that.
The personal… And the societal consequences.
She didn't want to think about the societal questions right now.
But the personal ones… Those she couldn't put off.
"Did I… Ever tell you that All Might saved my life?"
"Yeah I… Vaguely recall you mentioning something like that… When you explained how you knew about his situation. You didn't go into detail though."
She hadn't.
Thinking back on it, that entire moment was so important. Her life could have ended then and there, before she had met Fuku, or Mei, or gotten to chase her dream…
And she'd practically forgotten all about it.
Why?
Because the moment had been overshadowed in her mind by everything else. All Might telling her firmly, if not cruelly that without power, her dream was dead, her getting that message from her dad, the journey to the lab, meeting Mei, almost dying there, meeting Fuku, attaining great power…
All of it had overshadowed that near death moment in her mind until now.
Her free hand went down to her bag, from which she fished out a card.
It was old, but very well taken care of.
A trading card featuring All Might in her prime.
It was a small thing, something she'd been staring at a lot lately, as if it was some good luck charm that would make her situation better.
"...All Might saving me… Wasn't anything special. It wasn't some grand battle, or fight, or struggle. I was attacked by a villain, and he took him out. Just like that."
"That's… Kinda disappointing."
No doubt Fuku had wanted to hear some epic tale of drama and grandeur.
"My point is… All Might did that all the time. He saved millions of lives. He came into their lives out of nowhere, and with a comforting smile he rescued them from doom… Then he moved on."
She adjusted her binoculars to look over the other "important" people in attendance.
Amongst the group of closer personal friends there were two who stood out due to their expressions being far less openly sad.
A tall man with black hair with a golden line through it, and a very short man with grey hair and a cane.
Both were stoic, but with a tinge of hostility as they kept quiet as the Emperor talked.
She wondered who they were, her normal inclination to find answers to questions flaring up anew… Then dying down again.
She recognized the feeling.
She had felt them before.
After her dad died.
And yet… The brutal reality… Was that she was able to tell with clarity, that it wasn't as bad as it had been then. Not even close.
All Might had been her Hero since childhood. Her idol. The symbol who had inspired her to want to become a Hero to help people.
He was, without any doubt, a person she respected and admired unlike anyone else… But she had not loved him… Or at least not in the not the way she had loved her dad.
That made her feel horribly, horribly guilty… But it was the truth.
She hadn't… Known All Might. Not in the sense that she truly understood him. She knew his deepest secret… But that did not make him a close friend in the same sense that her relationship with her parents, or Mei, or Tenya did.
She didn't know his background, nor how any of the people she did not recognize at the funeral related to him.
The fact is Izuku… You didn't know All Might at all.
For her, he had been a symbol, not just of peace, but an ideal of what a hero should be, something to aspire to.
Not a person with loves, dislikes, personal friendships and hopes and dreams not related to his Hero work.
That hurt too. And not because she by nature knew almost every bit of information there was to find about Heroes.
Now looking back… She had squandered her short time with All Might.
Squandered time she could have used to get to befriend and know him.
At the very least she should have thanked him properly for saving her life back then, rather than the awkward way their first meeting had ended.
Now it was far, far too late for any of that.
"All Might came in and out of countless lives, saved them in their hour of need, and then left to go save someone else. That's what made him…"
She suddenly fell silent.
"...The Symbol of Peace?"
She lowered her binoculars. Then sighed.
"No… A Superhero."
There was so much to take in now… The consequences of everything, her regrets, her doubts, her returning depression, and the brutal reality that not only was Japan going to grow much leaner in the coming days as it's great protector was gone… But to her personally, All Might's death had exposed her own doubts about the entire thing.
That was to say, not the validity of Heroes… But her own motivations, which before this had seemed rather sturdy, but which her own behavior during her confrontation with Nui had put into sharp relief between the ideal and reality.
All Might's death had only tipped those fears and doubts over the edge.
"There's plenty of Pros out there… But it was All Might who inspired me to become one. I wanted to be a Hero like him. One who saved people. I first saw him when I was young… Not in person mind you, but on a video… Where he saved a dozen people in one go… And I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I decided then and there that this was what I wanted to become."
Fuku was confused.
"I… I sense there is a problem here… But I can't say I see it."
So pure…
"The "problem" as you say… Is that it was childish. My entire life… Was built upon that one, childish desire."
It was… Kinda pathetic actually. At least that's how she felt in the moment right now.
She lifted her hand, and clenched it in a fist.
"This power my dad built? You? This entire project he spent so much time and effort on, was all built upon a childish whim."
"But… But saving people is good isn't it? I get you're a bit disappointed looking back at it, but this journey is a good one! There is nothing wrong with being a glorious hero who wants to save people!"
That was probably true.
In fact, logically speaking she fully agreed. Had she been asked a week ago, there wouldn't have been a shred of doubt about it.
So why couldn't she feel the certainty of that anymore?
"...When you're thrown into the world of Pros, the difference between those who aim for the top, and those who are content to just be Pros will become quickly apparent."
"Was that… A quote?"
"Yeah. All Might said that once, in an interview. I thought I understood what he meant back then… But… Fact is I didn't understand it at all."
"So… You wanna aim for the top then?"
"No, it's not about that… What he was trying to say… Is that what separates a Pro-Hero from a Super one… Is having an goal… No, that's not quite the right word… An Idea. Yeah… An idea of what sort of Hero you want to be. A greater ideal. Then commit to chasing it. Most Pros in Japan want to reach as high on the rankings as they possibly can. That is one idea I suppose… All Might certainly saw that as important for what sort of Hero he wanted to be… But that's not what I want to be."
"So… What kind of Hero do you want to be then?"
That was the question wasn't it?
"I don't know. Someone who saves people… But not because I think doing so looks cool. If that is still the main reason why I'm becoming a Hero… Then I'm still the same little kid I used to be."
The same kid crying in front of her PC as her mom hugged her.
The same shorthaired girl, with a runny nose, flat chest and a bruised face who had stood here on this ledge before in another time.
There was… Something powerful and pure about how inspired she had been about her first introduction to All Might.
But she couldn't see it anymore. Right now it was simply too out of reach, too muddled by her feelings of self-loathing and inferiority.
She would feel it again one day though, she was pretty sure of that.
After all… The void calling to her below her feet had no true power over her right now.
But she would not see it again until she had an answer. She was pretty sure about that.
"You really thought this through Izuku."
"It's how I am."
It was how she had been born and raised to be, long before she even knew what a Hero was.
Her father had been the same. She had inherited it from him.
"Well… Regardless, I'm gonna be here with you! All to way to the end, regardless of how bitter or sweet it might be!"
He didn't know it course… But as she swung herself back over the edge, pocketed her dad's old binoculars, and raised the old card up to give it a last look before pocketing it too as well, and then making her way down the stairs after making one, deep respectful bow in the direction of All Might's funeral, it was his words and the meaning behind them that truly gave her strength above anything else.
Above her own power, her prospects, her dreams…
She wasn't alone anymore.
And despite how horrible it felt… That made all the difference in the world.
I
Todoroki Shoto was not having a good time at his home.
He usually didn't, but there was something different today.
The training room which he had nothing but complete and total disdain for, was currently half wrecked, weights lying everywhere, and small embers from blackened craters.
The person responsible for it was currently sitting in the middle of the room, breathing heavily with panting breath.
"Not like this… I cannot accept this… I absolutely CANNOT accept this…"
Shoto had seen, and heard this round of mantra 2 other times in his life.
When Kamina and Shiny Chariot had kicked him off of that oh so vaunted number 2 spot in the rankings, and then booted him down to number 4.
Still, there was a difference.
Back during those two rounds, there his mantra had been one of defiance and anger.
Now it was more similar to the dying flames around him. A smoldering ember, desperately clinging to life and strength, despite the power having gone out of them.
It was a mantra of despair, not the power and drive that so defined his father as a person.
It was frankly speaking kinda pathetic.
A different son, to a different father might have reached out a supporting hand.
Not Shoto.
He remembered far too well the pain that had followed for him the previous times his father had been like this.
He felt not a shred of sympathy for his father's position, especially not when in the end, he had gotten what he always wanted, hadn't he?
He was now number 1.
Just like he always wanted.
The moody teenager left behind his father to instead seek out his family's TV.
The device was still on, and like most every channel lately, it was about the same thing, over and over again.
He felt a new scar ache beneath his shirt, but his eyes did not go to the tv… Instead it went to a couch, where memories stirred.
There were words… Words he had trouble making out in his mind now, half garbled and unclear… But it had to do with All Might.
Far clearer in his mind though was the woman who had said them.
He recalled the sight of the older, beautiful woman with pure white hair so very, very clearly.
The void she had left behind was all encompassing.
Shoto had respected All Might. A lot. And yet… He was not able to truly focus on the news, to which he himself had been witness to, unlike most.
The void here in his home dominated his entire world.
I
Pretty much all of Yuei's students were content enough to wait on their school's defensive improvements and internal reforms to be finished before contemplating returning.
Regardless it's not like there would be classes anyway, so those few who did show up were all second or third years who had some form of apprenticeship with an actually active hero going on from their previous year, and the reality was that they needed to know how the current unexpected hiatus would affect their plans.
Meanwhile there were a few closer, more interpersonal relationships such as the one between Hatsume Mei and her not so secret benefactor, who had more direct meetings outside of school to discuss matters at hand.
There was one exception to this though.
One student who came to the gates of Yuei, unannounced and unexpected during the week after All Might's death.
He was told by the robot who came to meet him at the gate, that yes, Aizawa was there, and he'd have to come meet him regardless to sort it all out.
So, that was good. They needed good things right now.
Him especially.
He was fingering an old trading card when Aizawa came out, both feeling, and looking brusque in a way none of his current batch of students had ever seen him.
It softened(As in, returned to his normal stoicism) as his eyes fell upon the student who had come seeking him out, one Aizawa had already pegged as the big problem child of this current class.
"Bakugo. What brings you here?"
Bakugo Katsuki looked quite a bit different than usual, both in the way he was standing(It was remarkable how lesser he seemed with slumped shoulders), his face(with dark rings under his eyes, as well a more harrowed expression he didn't much resemble his usual always on the edge aggressive nature), as well as the way he had been holding and looking over a trading card featuring a certain person as Aizawa had opened the outer steel door.
"...I need help, Sensei."
His language was remarkably polite, and very much unlike Bakugo, but it was the tone that really stuck out to Aizawa.
"Do you? In what regard."
Bakugo took a deep breath, as if he was steeling himself for something.
"I'm… I'm Weak."
The way he said, it was as if it was the single hardest admission he'd ever made. And maybe to him it was.
Aizawa didn't say anything.
For all that his co-workers and wife cracked jokes about what a terrible teacher he could be, Aizawa had learned one of the more important parts about being a teacher.
Knowing when to shut up.
"I… I can't pretend I'm not anymore… And… I NEED to change it."
Aizawa nodded.
"I understand."
And that he did. Far more so than Bakugo might think.
He quickly did a number of calculations in his head, considered Bakugo's quirk, and limitations.
"...I'll send you a training regiment later today, that you are going to follow until school starts up again. After that… I'll be giving you more hands-on training."
Aizawa had honestly been expecting some stronger reaction from the blonde boy… Instead he just… Nodded.
He was taking it hard.
Of course he was. Unless he was completely off his mark, this was Bakugo's first time losing someone.
It suspected that was the case for most of his class.
Not him though.
I
Honnoji Academy was not the only Hero school in Japan to hold an official vigil for All Might.
In fact, there were very few of them who did not.
However, those vigils were generally somber affairs. Honnoji marched to the beat of a different drum.
On the wall of the tower structure that was the main structure of the school, an image of All Might was currently projected.
Not as he had been at the end, but as he had been at his peak.
Besides that image, was the numerical statistics of every single case of crime All Might during the period had solved.
Then with a loud click, the image flashed way to the next one, showcasing All Might of the five years after.
The numbers were about the same, but the man in the picture had visibly aged, giving way more to the passage of time.
Then another click.
Now All Might sported the famous black outlines around his eyes that had been a part of his image for years… But it was the numbers besides that told the real story.
"A BRUTAL TRUTH, WHICH ALL OF YOU ARE LONG FAMILIAR WITH, UNLIKE ALL THE REST OF JAPAN!"
Every single eye of the several hundred students currently occupying the school courtyard went to the source of the powerful yet feminine voice, currently standing on a podium to the side of the projected image.
The speaker struck quite the figure, 175 cm tall, with dark, raven blue hair that went down past her hips, cut in a hime style, she wore a white uniform that looked like an old general uniform from the Napoleonic age, mixed with a dress.
Her curves were rather generous, with a large chest and a lower body that could only be described as akin to an hourglass. Her face was equally outstanding, with a natural, soft, yet still imperious beauty.
It was not her beauty however, nor her uniform that made every single person there pay attention to her, with an undivided attention as if she truly was the Queen of this land.
It was the intensity of her azure blue eyes, flanked by a set of powerful, flaring eyebrows, crowing two burning azure flames.
It was the booming voice that bespoke of someone with no hints of doubt or fear. One that demanded you pay attention to what it said.
It was the aura of power and certainty that emanated from her very being, an invisible flame that seemed so powerful that you could reach forth and be seared by it.
"THE END OF OUR AGE HAS FINALLY COME JUST AS I FORETOLD, BUT THIS HAS NOT BEEN AS SUDDEN AS ALL THE VAPID AND SUPERFLUOUS NEWS ORGANIZATIONS CLAIMS IT TO BE, FOR THE LAST HALF A DECADE OF PEACE HAS BEEN A MIRAGE! A TRICK OF THE LIGHT THAT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO FADE AND FLICKER OUT! ALL MIGHT WEAKENED AND WANED IN POWER WITH EACH MONTH THAT PASSED, AND YET ALWAYS PUSHING ON TO CARRY ON HIS DUTY TO THE LAST! THE TRAGEDY OF HIS PASSING, WAS THUS INEVITABLE!"
She struck out with her arm to the side, as with another click, the great image now changed again, this time to showcase a series of images.
"JUST AS I HAVE WARNED, THE END OF ALL MIGHT HAS NOW LED TO AN AGE OF CHAOS AND LAWLESSNESS! IN THE LAST WEEK, THE AMOUNT OF CRIME HAS SKYROCKETED 482% FROM WHAT IT WAS THE WEEK BEFORE! CRIMINALS WHO HAVE HELD BACK FOR FEAR OF ALL MIGHT'S LEGEND AND POWER ARE NOW COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIS DEMISE! NOW COMES THE AGE OF THE FIRE AND SWORD, WHERE WHICH HEROES HAVE THE GRIT AND STRENGTH TO SURVIVE THE SIEVE THAT ALL OF JAPAN'S HEROES WILL BE GRINDED THROUGH, WILL BE MADE CLEAR!"
Another click sounded, now showing the images of several Pro-Heroes with big, red X's across their faces.
"ALREADY THE NEW AGE HAS CLAIMED ITS FIRST DEFENDERS! THIS WILL BE THE AGE WHICH WE WILL INHERIT! AN AGE THAT DEMANDS EXCELLENCE, WHERE MEDIOCRITY AND UNCERTAINTY WILL BE WEEDED OUT LIKE WEED, AND ONLY THOSE WITH STRENGTH, WILL AND DETERMINATION WILL THRIVE!"
The next set of images did show heroes, but not the particularly glorious kind. Instead those famous for bad reputations, mediocre performances, or those living in complete obscurity.
"FOR THE LAST DECADES WHERE ALL MIGHT HAS REIGNED, THE HEROES OF JAPAN, THOSE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE DEFENDERS OF THE PEOPLE HAVE BECOME WEAK, GREEDY, SPOILED AND HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT THEIR JOBS IS NOT TO EARN MORE MONEY THAN THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH, FIGHT FOR VAINGLORY IN MEANINGLESS RANKINGS, OR MAKE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES FOR THEIR APPEARANCE, BUT TO LIVE AND DIE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS EMPIRE!"
A year or two ago, there would probably have been one or two, or a dozen figures, amongst either her fellow students, or the schools teachers who would probably not have been comfortable with one of their students talking like this in front of the student body… But that time had passed.
"ALL MIGHT WAS THE GREATEST HERO JAPAN EVER SAW… BUT HIS WAY WAS ALSO THE SOURCE OF ALL OF THE TROUBLES THAT WILL NOW BEFAL OUR MIGHTY EMPIRE! OBSERVE IN THE COMING DAYS, AND DON'T FORGET THAT! ONLY BY LEARNING FROM THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST WILL WE BE ABLE TO FORGE A STRONGER FUTURE! ONE STRONGER THAN ANY ONE, SINGLE HERO! ONLY BY CENTRALIZING THE ENTIRE HERO SOCIETY OF JAPAN INTO ONE, SINGLE GROUP WILL WE BE ABLE TO ENFORCE TOTAL ORDER FOR JAPAN! A TRUE PEACE, WHICH WILL NOT FALL APART UPON ONE PERSON'S DEATH!"
She raised her hand and with a whiplike sound she snapped it into a fist.
"FEAR OF CRIMINALS, THOSE PIGS IN HUMAN CLOTHING, WILL POISON OUR FREEDOM! THE NATION'S LIBERATION WILL BE SUBJUGATED BY UNCERTAINTY AS NO SINGULAR FIGURE WILL BE ABLE TO FILL THE VOID ALL MIGHT HAS LEFT BEHIND! THE CONTRADICTION THAT IS THE NATION THAT WAS THE MOST PEACEFUL PLACE ON THE GREEN EARTH BECOMING A BATTLEGROUND WILL BECOME THE NEW TRUTH OF THIS WORLD!"
Her hand snapped open and with great energy, she motioned with an open hand towards the great screen, where with a final click, an image of All Might with a smile appeared.
"SO, NOW AS WE GIVE A SILENT THANKS TO ALL MIGHT IN THIS DIRE HOUR, OR A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN A GOD, REMEMBER THAT THIS COMING ERA WILL BE OUR HOUR! AS ALL THE REST BEGIN TO FALTER AND FADE, IT WILL BE UP TO US, TO RESTORE THE ORDER AND PEACE THAT ALL MIGHT CARRIED ON HIS BACK FOR SO LONG! ALL MIGHT'S ERA IS OVER, BUT THE PEACE HE MADE WILL RETURN EVEN IF WE MUST REMAKE IT AT THE POINT OF A SWORD!"
I
Ryuko leaned back on the side of the bus stop, drawing in a breath of the cigarette in her mouth, before letting out a stream of smoke.
"That's not good for you, you know? Not only will it wreck your lungs, but it'll make your breath smell terrible."
She rolled her eyes.
"And when I get a boyfriend to kiss, maybe I'll care. Mako is late. It's 20 minutes over the usual time now."
Several of the people on the bus stop gave the girl eerie looks.
There were several reasons for that.
For one, she was dressed like an actual delinquent, more specifically a member of a biker gang of old. You didn't see those anymore… At least not in any modern cities.
The second reason was that despite clearly not being more than 17-18 years at most(Her actual biological age being 16 and 3 months), she was smoking up a storm, adding to her delinquent image.
The third was her talking to her black and red sailor suit, which had a very clearly living eye, the result of some Quirk no doubt.
The fourth reason was that her hands, covered by red gloves, were absolutely covered in dripping blood.
Fresh blood.
The nonchalant attitude to that blood was probably the most alarming thing about her to those around.
All in all she emminated the image of someone you did not wish to get involved with, and that was pretty much the attitude everyone was taking with her.
She pretty much ignored them, leaning up on the wall, her scooter besides her.
It was a pain in the ass that she had effectively been banned from just picking up Mako by her school.
Way too many policemen hanging around there in that district. She'd already lost a lot of scooters to those guys chasing her.
They just didn't know when to mind their own damn business.
Finally, though, Mako appeared.
Crying obviously. She had been crying a lot lately, ever since All Might died.
It was quite a sight, when someone with a quirk that made her what effectively was a character from a wacky comedy anime cried fountains of water.
"Ryuko!"
She immediately glomped her in a hug seeking support, to which Ryuko patted her on the back… Then lifted her by the head, and turned her around her body so she was now glomping onto her back, as she seated herself on the scooter.
It had… Taken some mental and physical effort to get used to the way Mako's Quirk interacted with her, but she had eventually managed it.
"It was soooo SAAADDD…" Mako said as they finally got unto the road.
"Also KIRYUUIN-Sama said a lot of really confusing words about how we were about to enter an age of lawlessness and chaos and stuff..."
Ryuko nodded at that as they drove towards Mako's home.
"Yeah, I noticed that. Lots of punks who have been growing a pair lately. Met a couple on the way here who were accosting some candy shop. So I caved their teeth in."
That was probably not the best move for keeping a low profile… But she didn't really care. That was just the way she rolled.
"Ooohh… So that's why you hands were so bloody..."
"Yeah… It's probably gonna get worse too. Way too many punks who think they can finally get away with the shit they always dreamed of doing."
If she had to guess, most of these newly minted criminals were like her old gang… Though no doubt there was bound to be some actual real criminals with ambitions mixed in.
Regardless… Her path hadn't changed much. She still needed to find and kill a certain person… Now if only either of those blue haired bastards would finally give her the identity of said person, maybe she'd actually make some progress on that front.
As they stopped on a red light, Ryuko happened to look sideways at the side road, where a pedestrian with his back turned towards her, holding up his phone was currently showcasing 3 particular wanted sketches. She got a very clear look at 3 faces she, like ALL of Japan was very well familiar with by now.
She snorted and turned back to actually look on the road.
It wasn't that she had ever particularly minded All Might… But she didn't have any particularly stronger feelings on the man than any other Hero she had ever seen.
In other words, none whatsoever, whether good or bad.
As such she was REALLY getting tired of All Might's death being blasted on the news, 24/7, everywhere she went.
She had her own murder and killer to obsess over. She did not need a second one.