My Hero Academia: Lion of Courage
Chapter 40: Memories of Past Pains
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. All rights go to Kohei Horikoshi.
"Congratulations, son," Jin Furaya, Hayata's father, a man with dark brown feathery hair and gray eyes, addressed after his son returned home from the Sports Festival. He reached out and hugged Hayata with great pride at his son's victory, doing something no Quirkless had ever done before. This was a day the world would never forget, the day a Quirkless won the Sports Festival.
"Thank you, Father," Hayata replied. "They were all strong opponents and I'm grateful to have gone up against them."
"As were you, Hayata," Jin complimented. "In fact, in honor of your victory…" Jin walked over to the table in the living room and picked up a small hand-sized box. He then walked back and handed it to his son, who took the box and immediately recognized it as a sword care kit.
"You said you needed a new one, so I felt it'd be a great gift for you, son," Jin told Hayata. "I knew you wouldn't want something frivolous."
"You know me, Father," Hayata responded. "Thank you again." He then looked around and noticed his mother was nowhere to be seen.
"Your mother left to go get dinner," Jin answered. "And to get your Uncle Genkei." A hint of sourness was felt in his father's voice when he mentioned Genkei.
Hayata knew his parents never approved of his uncle training him behind their backs. But what made it worse was that during those years, the Quirkless swordsman lied to his parents about their training.
"Lie…to my parents…?" a ten-year-old Hayata asked Genkei. "But…" Genkei reached over from his wheelchair and put his hand on his nephew's shoulder.
"Your parents won't accept it," he claimed. "Especially your mother. She'll never accept you becoming a Pro Hero. If they learn about this, they'll make you stop training."
Hayata wished more than anything to become a Pro Hero, to prove to the world that even Quirkless people like him can become heroes. His father could be open to the idea, but his mother was not. She vehemently refused the idea of her son becoming a Pro Hero and no argument could persuade her otherwise.
"I don't like this," Hayata replied.
"I know, but it's got to be this way," Genkei insisted.
Hayata never felt comfortable about having to lie to his parents about his training, despite his uncle's insistence. This would go on for months until his parents inevitably found out; needless to say, they were not happy about what happened. Even though Jin allowed the training to continue, it was very clear that Takara would never approve.
The door opened and in walked Takara, pushing Genkei's wheelchair inside with a plastic bag of what they presumed to be dinner on her arm. Takara was in her early forties like her husband, with red hair and green eyes that she shared with her son and Genkei, who also possessed red hair and green eyes. His body had grown rather thin due to the years he had been on a wheelchair, but as Hayata knew, his spirit remained as strong and firm as ever.
"Hey, kid," Genkei greeted Hayata. "Congratulations on winning the Sports Festival! Way to show those snobs, am I right?"
"Thank you, Uncle Genkei," Hayata responded. "Each of my opponents were a challenge and I respect them."
"Including that punk, Bakugo?" Genkei asked. "Must've felt nice to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face."
Genkei was filled with great pride at his nephew's success over the four Hero Course students he had gone up against. Each time, the crowd rooted for the Hero Course student rather than Hayata and each time, Hayata beat them. He wished he could see the shocked and defeated faces of the U.A. Board after seeing his nephew win, the same student that had cut out of the Hero Course for the sake of PR.
"Now you're going to get into the Hero Course?" Genkei asked his nephew, but his mother spoke up first.
"No. You're not going into the Hero Course." She retracted her hands from Genkei's wheelchair and walked over to the kitchen counter to take out the dinner she had brought home. As expected, Takara voiced her disapproval of her son joining the Hero Course as she had before, but what made it worse for Hayata and Genkei was that she was continuing to refuse in spite of her son's victory.
"Mother, I won," Hayata reminded her. "I am the first ever Quirkless to win the Sports Festival. I deserve to be in the Hero Course."
"That won't matter if you end up crippled…or worse," Takara stubbornly responded. "You won the Sports Festival, but you are not going into the Hero Course and that is final."
"Dear!" Jin spoke firmly, walking over to her. "Our son being in the Hero Course isn't just your decision. It's OUR decision and he's proven that he is willing-"
"I said no!" Takara barked, slamming her hands on the counter.
Genkei let out an annoyed sigh and his face twisted with disgust. Of course his sister wasn't going to approve of Hayata joining the Hero Course as usual. Even after winning the Sports Festival, even after beating four Hero Course students, she still stubbornly held onto her refusal to approve of Hayata becoming a Pro Hero.
"No, what you want him to do is stick his head in the sand like you, Takara," Genkei mocked. "Sure, just let Hayata be walked all over his whole life."
"Don't do that to me!" Takara scolded. "You've seen people take Quirkless discrimination to the extreme! What if they try to do the same to Hayata? What if he ends up crippled, missing, or worse? I won't let him become a martyr for some worthless cause."
"Worthless cause?" Genkei asked before his mockery turned into outright hostility. "In case you haven't noticed, people like your son and I are being discriminated against every day simply for being what we are! Someone has to tell the world enough is enough!"
"Alright, stop!" Jin demanded, stepping between the two of them. "I can't believe the way the two of you are acting! Hayata has just won a major victory today, so let us celebrate it; he's earned it."
Hayata silently thanked his father for stopping the arguing between his mother and uncle. Even on a day when he had won a major event like the Sports Festival, the two of them couldn't stop butting heads and getting into heated fights. He didn't care for a celebration, not when his true goal hadn't been accomplished yet, but he was grateful to his father nonetheless, first for the new sword care kit and then for stopping the fight.
While Takara got back to getting their food ready, Genkei rolled his wheelchair over to his nephew and guided him to the living room. Hayata sat down on the couch across from his uncle.
"I swear, sometimes I have trouble believing that's my sister," Genkei groaned.
"She's my mother, Uncle Genkei," Hayata responded. "I may not agree with her, but I will ask you to stop disrespecting her like that."
"She treats us like we're pathetic little babies," Genkei claimed. "Ever since I was crippled, she treated me like I should be ashamed of standing up for what I believed in. She's treating you like a defenseless child and won't accept you becoming a Pro Hero, just like me before I was crippled."
"You're being unfair to her, Genkei," Jin scolded his brother-in-law. "Or have you already forgotten what happened?"
Like Hayata, Genkei was Quirkless. In his life, before the creation of Anti-Quirkless discrimination laws in Japan, his Quirklessness subjected him to being bullied, ostracized, beaten, treated like garbage, and regarded as worthless. Having enough, Genkei decided that he would train to become a Pro Hero. Takara did her best to always support her brother, no matter what, but there were times she was afraid he'd attract unwanted attention.
"Alright!" a sixteen-year-old Genkei cheered as he walked down the streets. "I made it! I'm going to be a Pro Hero!"
Genkei was filled with great pride at being accepted into a Hero School in spite of his Quirklessness. He couldn't wait to wipe the arrogant and smug smirks off those who had long doubted him and treated him like garbage. He'd be the first ever Quirkless hero and prove to the world that even people like him can become Pros.
"There he is!"
Before Genkei knew what was happening, a truck drove up to him, containing five to six young men around his age. He was just about to make a run for it, but one of them jumped onto him and held him down while the others grabbed him and dragged him to the back to the truck. Genkei tried to fight back, but one of the young men used his Quirk to drain his vitality and weaken him.
The drive lasted for nearly twenty minutes until the truck stopped on a bridge overlooking a river. With Genkei weakened, he was easy prey for the others to drag him out of the truck and throw him onto the ground. They then reached into the backseat of the truck and pulled out pipes, bats and a taser, then wasted no time in proceeding to beat Genkei with them, bloodying him up as they struck his head, stomach, arms, legs, and chest.
"Who the hell do you think you are, you worthless prick!?" one of them snarled before spitting on his face. "You Quirkless don't belong in Pro Hero schools, you belong in the trash!"
"The only good Quirkless is a dead one!" another one taunted before stepping onto Genkei's hand, using his Quirk to turn his skin into metal. Genkei cried out in pain, but was silenced when one of them hit him in the face with his bat.
"You worthless piece of shit!" another one insulted before hitting his knee. "You won't become a Pro Hero! You don't deserve to be one!"
They continued to insult and beat him, one of them using his Quirk to unleash powerful vibrations to break his spine. Only after when Genkei was unconscious, bloodied and lying in a red pool did the young men pick him up and throw him over the bridge into the river below.
For two days, Genkei was missing until a fisherman found him and took him to the hospital. Genkei was on the verge of death when he was taken to get medical attention; though he survived, his spine couldn't be repaired, leaving him crippled beneath the waist. As soon as Takara learned of what happened to her brother, she rushed to his side.
"Oh no," a seventeen-year-old Takara wept as she looked upon her unconscious brother on a hospital bed. "Who…who did this?"
"We don't know," the doctor answered. "But it was a very vicious beating. In fact, his spine is broken beyond repair…he'll never walk again."
Takara slowly approached her brother's unconscious body and couldn't hold back her tears as she drew closer. Finally, when she sat down next to him, she let out a torrent of tears, unable to hide the immense pain of seeing her brother so brutalized and for what? Because he was Quirkless? Because he wanted to prove the world wrong? She couldn't understand.
Sadly, the men who did this were never found. They had crippled Genkei and gotten away with their crime; odds are, they'd never face the consequences for the brutality they had committed. Takara had to live with not only her brother being crippled just because he wanted to make a change, but also that those who did this to him would never face justice.
As she prepared dinner, these thoughts ran through her mind again. What if the same happened to Hayata? What if several men who couldn't accept Hayata becoming a hero targeted and brutalized him? What if, like her brother's assailants, they got away with their crime and would never face justice? What if Hayata ended up crippled, missing…or dead?
"Takara?" Jin asked his wife, seeing the look of distress on her face. "Why don't you let me take over for a bit and you sit down and relax?"
"Thank you, dear," Takara thanked before pecking her husband's lips and walking to her room while Jin took over.
"Are you okay, Mother?" Hayata asked, noticing his mother leaving the room.
"I'm fine, sweetie," Takara replied with a smile. "Just need some rest." She walked back to the master bedroom and sat down on the bed.
She silently screamed bloody murder at her brother. Did he see her son only as a means to accomplish the dream that was forever out of his reach? Could he not understand how deathly afraid she was of her son meeting the same fate as her brother, maybe even worse? Every time she thought of Hayata becoming a Pro Hero, the image of Genkei's unconscious body reappeared in her head.
That day when she saw her brother beaten to near death, her heart ached so bad, it felt like it would've burst out of her chest. The tears she cried felt like they'd never stop, her eyes red and dry to the point they burned. Every day Genkei was unconscious, she prayed that he would wake up. For those days, she didn't care if his attackers weren't found or if he could no longer pursue his dream of becoming a Pro; all that mattered was that he woke up alive and well. Those were the most excruciating days of her life, wondering if her brother would survive.
Thankfully, Genkei survived, but since that day…she no longer saw the determined, kind and passionate brother she once knew. Now all she saw was someone who was so angry about what he had lost due to senseless violence and unprecedented hatred.
"Genkei, why can't you understand?" she started to cry. "Don't you realize how terrified I was? How terrified I am of Hayata, my own son…?"
She looked over at the computer, the one she used for her work at home. In that moment, an idea came to mind. She didn't care about her husband and son would view, overruled by the traumatic memory of her brother's brutalized state. She walked over, activated it and began typing.
"I'm sorry, Hayata," she quietly apologized.
"You want us to what?" Eraser Head and Vlad King asked simultaneously in response to Open Palm's request.
"I want the students I've chosen to come to my dojo tomorrow since they have the day off," Open Palm answered. A total of eight students had been requested by Open Palm to meet up tomorrow for a martial arts tournament. Six students were from Class 1-B, comprising of Sen Kaibara, Hinote Onkyo, Kana Hironaka, Itsuka Kendo, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, and Kaze Yonaka while the remaining two came from Class 1-A, Mashirao Ojiro and Eijiro Kirishima.
"Are you making this mandatory?" Vlad King asked.
"No," Open Palm answered. "They're free to choose whether to attend or not."
The two Hero Course teachers were rather confused by this. The one thing all these students had in common were that they had a knowledge of martial arts, just like Open Palm. But they both knew U.A.'s martial arts instructor wouldn't call them simply because they had skills like his.
"What's the purpose of this tournament?" Eraser Head asked.
"I've been looking for an apprentice," Open Palm answered. "The first years haven't exactly made it easy to choose. I thought only a small handful of them would know martial arts, but there were a few more than I expected." He smiled, this knowledge doing his heart good to see more students with a knowledge of martial arts.
"I'm not the martial artist I was before I was blinded years ago. But I don't want my knowledge of martial arts dying with me; I want someone to carry on in my footsteps and continue to use my knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. So I will host a tournament for these students to take part in; whoever wins will become my apprentice."
"When will you find the time to train them?" Vlad asked. "Our students are already busy with their studies and with internships just around the corner, you may not have time to train them."
"That's the second part of the request," Open Palm replied. "Since you're their teachers, I'd like permission if I could take the place of their internship if they choose to."
Eraser Head and Vlad King quietly considered Open Palm's request. Despite being blind and retired from field work, Open Palm's mastery of martial arts remained unrivaled. Learning directly from him would be a privilege for any student who desired knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. One of these eight students, if all or any of them chose to attend, would earn the right to learn from the martial artist who could go toe-to-toe with All Might in their prime.
However, Open Palm was officially retired as a Pro Hero. The internships were the opportunity for students to obtain experience out in the field by witnessing Pro Heroes at work. Maybe they could get in close to the action and help in minor ways, but it wouldn't be anything truly noteworthy since the first years didn't have licenses yet. Training under Open Palm instead of meeting up with a Pro in the field robbed them of potential experience.
"I have my doubts," Eraser replied. "The internships are a very important opportunity for students to gain real world experience. They wouldn't actively take part in fighting villains, but it'd be experience nonetheless. Allowing you to take the place of their internships could negatively impact them later down the line."
"I have to agree with Eraser Head," Vlad spoke. "You're an amazing martial artist, Suzukaze, but you're retired. Our students need experience with Pro Heroes who are still in the field."
"I see your points…or rather, I hear them," Open Palm chuckled. "But the rules don't forbid teachers from extending internships to students. They'd just need to fill out the proper paperwork so it'd be acknowledged by other Pros in the future."
"Very true," Nezu spoke, standing at the doorway of the room. "May I interrupt?"
"Principal Nezu," the three teachers addressed.
"Your points are logical," Nezu acknowledged to Eraser Head and Vlad King. "But I would be a hypocrite if I spoke against Open Palm since I will be wanting to take a student under my wing myself."
This revelation took the three teachers by surprise. Not once had Principal Nezu ever taken a student under his wing before, instead having favored to let them go on their internships to gain experience. Whoever this student was had clearly made some kind of impact on the principal enough to make him take him for the internships.
"What?" Vlad asked. "You're taking a student for the internships? Who?"
"Chikao Kato," Nezu replied.
Chikao Kato, one of the six students who got in on recommendation and a member of the Kato Hero Detective Agency. His intelligence was unquestionable as he had the highest grades in Class 1-B, but his social behavior left a bit to be desired.
"Ugh, he's my best and my worst student," Vlad King groaned. "He's smarter than all of my students, but he's constantly falling asleep and barely engages in class. That kid's such a minimalist that it's not even funny."
"That's why I wish to take him for the internship," Nezu stated. "Kato has a brilliant mind, but lacks the motivation to put it to proper use. I believe I could be of help to him if he chooses to accept my invitation."
Vlad and Eraser looked at each other, silently contemplating on whether to give Open Palm permission to take their students in the place of their internships. Both of them acknowledged the privilege of learning under Open Palm, but he was a retired Pro Hero and they strongly insisted that their students needed to learn from Pros still out in the field. However, Open Palm didn't have to ask permission since U.A. rules didn't forbid teachers from extending internships of their own. He could've just done it on his own without consideration, but he, along with Nezu, was asking permission first so it didn't feel as though he was going behind their backs.
"Very well," Eraser Head consented. "If they want to have an internship with you, I'll allow it."
"Same here," Vlad replied before a proud smirk stretched across his face. "Though since there are more of my students than Eraser's, there's a better chance of one of my students becoming Open Palm's apprentice!"
Vlad laughed with great haughtiness, allowing himself to indulge in his moment of superiority. Six of his students had been chosen to be Open Palm's apprentice while only two came from Aizawa's class, meaning the chances of a Class 1-B student becoming Open Palm's successor was 3-to-1. He continued to do this, despite the annoyance of the other three teachers.
"Any luck?" Tsukauchi asked his fellow officer, Sansa.
"No, sir, meow," Sansa informed solemnly. "We've had no luck finding the League of Villains anywhere. As for that creature, Nomu, we captured…it's not responding at all. It's as if the creature has shut down. For now, we have nothing to go on."
A good number of law enforcement dismissed the League of Villains as nothing more than a band of troublemakers since they hadn't been active in the face of their defeat at the USJ. However, Detective Tsukauchi wasn't so quick to do so: most of the villains they had arrested were common street thugs, but the more dangerous members had managed to slip away.
Was this only the first attack of many? Were they biding their time and using the doubt of the public against them? What were they planning? No small-time organization could've hoped to bypass U.A.'s security system, despite their poor planning and forces mostly made up of street thugs who had never gone up against Pros before.
"Mr. Tsukauchi," an officer addressed at the opened door to the detective's office. "Someone's here to see you."
"Who is it?" Tsukauchi asked.
"Someone named Kato," the officer answered. "Chikao Kato."
"Let him in," Tsukauchi ordered. "Sansa, give us the room." Sansa saluted the detective and left the room, just as Chikao Kato walked in and closed the door behind him. Without a word, he went over to Tsukauchi's coffee maker, poured himself a cup and took a handful of sugar packets out of his pocket. The detective chuckled at how much sugar Chikao ate on a daily basis.
"Hello, Kato," Tsukauchi greeted. "I take it you're here for an update."
"I am," Chikao informed before sitting down in front of Tsukauchi's desk and drinking some of his coffee. "But who's the latest victim, sir?"
Tsukauchi reached into his desk and pulled out a file, then handed it to Chikao to read. The latest victim was a shopkeeper who had been murdered while he was closing for the night. He was murdered in cold blood and was found in a horrid state by the police. As for witnesses, the only other person who was in the shop was in the back when it happened; by the time they came out to see was wrong, the shopkeeper was dead and the murderer was nowhere to be seen.
"They're escalating," Chikao commented. "They're not just looking for simple murder anymore. Now they're targeting people who may have potential witnesses."
"This is indeed disturbing," Tsukauchi agreed. "He's the thirteenth victim so far. If this keeps up, there's no telling how many more may be added to the body count."
"Was the shop within walking distance of U.A.?" Chikao asked.
"Yes, about seven blocks away from the school," Tsukauchi answered.
As Tsukauchi and Chikao expected and reinforced by this fact, the killer they were seeking was solely active in the U.A. Area as all other murders they committed had been within close to U.A. High School and done at night. However, with the escalation of the murders, there was the chance that they may slip up and leave a clue behind as to who they were.
"Remove all of Class 1B from the list of suspects," Chikao answered. "Surveillance proves that they weren't in the area for any of the recent murders and upon close examination, none of them have the Quirk capable of killing in this fashion."
"Will that include Vlad King?" Tsukauchi questioned.
"Yes," Chikao confirmed. "The tracking device I placed on him proves that he wasn't anywhere near where the murder happened when it occurred."
While that did eliminate a good number of suspects, there were still quite a few that Chikao had to go through. Though they didn't have concrete evidence, Tsukauchi believed that the killer may currently be at U.A., either as faculty or as a student. With Chikao on the inside, he'd at least have someone to keep an eye on as many people as possible without showing his hand.
"Thank you for the update, Kato-"
"Please call me Chikao," the student corrected. "And before I go, I must ask something?"
"What is it?" Tsukauchi asked.
"Why hire my family for this?" Chikao questioned. "You're friends with All Might, so why not ask him to look into the matter or serve as your informant? He'd be able to do more as a teacher than I as a student. He can't be the suspect, otherwise you would've been removed from the case for being too close to it." Tsukauchi took the file and put it away in the drawer.
"You and your family are prodigious detectives. Your family has solved far more cases and murders than any other hero agency in Japan, even Endeavor. All Might is certainly not our killer, but he's the #1 Hero; attention and publicity follows him around like a magnet. He'd garner too much attention wherever he'd go, making it difficult for him to investigate without people constantly interfering. Not to mention, detective work isn't exactly one of All Might's skills. It is true that his position as a teacher would grant him more access, but considering his responsibilities and duties as a U.A. Teacher, he may not have time. You know how to be discreet, what to look for, how to identify patterns in killers. Even now, no one from U.A. suspects that you're working for me."
"Zzzzz."
"How does he do the things he does?" Tsukauchi sighed before reaching over and shaking his shoulder.
"Understood," he yawned. "I'll keep you updated when possible."
"Thank you, Chikao," Tsukauchi responded as the Kato walked out of the office.
Yaoyorozu trained with her bo-staff, shield and other weapons she could create in her manor's training grounds. The memory of her defeat at Tokoyami's hands remained fresh in her mind, a defeat she sustained without even as much as landing a single blow against her opponent.
She always took great pride in her knowledge and utility of her Quirk, so much so that she viewed herself as a great choice for Class Representative. She wanted to believe that she could handle the responsibility of being Class 1-A's leader, but Midoriya had been chosen instead of her before relinquishing the position to Tenya Iida.
How could she become a Pro Hero when she felt so useless on her own? No matter how she looked at it, she only ever won her fights because someone was there to help her. During the Combat Training against Yukine and Zankoku, Raionhato took both of them down while she couldn't defeat Zankoku. During the USJ Attack, it was Raionhato and Zankoku who rescued Kaminari when she and Jiro were pinned down by the villains. When Bloodmoon attacked, it was mostly Raionhato, Zankoku, and Jiro who fought against him while she tended to Ashido and then Todoroki.
"Momo dear," her father, Hotaka Yaoyorozu, addressed as she walked into the room. He was a tall man of around six feet in height with combed back black hair, sharp green eyes and a trimmed beard. He carried himself with great dignity and pride as though he were royalty, though in this moment, he was more relaxed around his daughter.
"Father," Momo replied. "I was just training."
"You haven't said a word since you've returned home," Hotaka responded, gesturing for his daughter to sit down with him at a table. Momo walked over and sat across from him as Hotaka clapped his hands for their butlers to come serve them tea.
"You saw my match today," Momo brought up.
"Yes, we did," Hotaka confirmed. "You have a lot to learn, Momo, and that match proved it. You cannot let yourself get overwhelmed like that; you must think more quickly if you're to stand a chance against your opponents."
"Father…"
"Momo, you are the heiress to the Yaoyorozu Family and I need you to act as such. I hate to come across as harsh, but the truth is your match against Tokoyami painted you in a negative light. It made you appear that you cannot fight on your own."
Those words stung like hot iron to Momo, reminding her of how she felt. The first true fight she had done on her own and she had been beaten like it was nothing. Dark Shadow had overwhelmed her with such speed and strength that she couldn't react nor come up with a proper plan to defeat him. It only reinforced the belief she held now: on her own, she was worthless as a fighter.
"I'm sorry, Father," she apologized, ashamed of her defeat.
"Don't be sorry, dear," Hotaka replied. "Improve yourself."
"Your tea, Master Hotaka, Ms. Momo," the butler addressed as he placed a platter of tea and sweets on the table.
"Thank you," Momo replied as the butler poured the tea. After the butler was done, he bowed and left the room.
"Momo, you have one of the most powerful Quirks ever known and you belong to one of the wealthiest families in Japan," Hotaka brought up. "You are brilliant and well-versed in the utility of Creation as well as a vast assortment of resources to aid you in your development. You must improve yourself; the Yaoyorozus cannot accept outcomes like this."
"Stupid worthless Momo! You're just some stupid child that Mother and Father should've thrown into the trash when you were born!"
"The only thing you're good for, Momo, is making me look better!"
Momo's eyes started to water as she remembered the words of one who had hurt her growing up. She started to sniffle as the tears rolled down her cheeks, prompting Hotaka to get out of his seat and hold his daughter close to comfort her.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to sound like I was tearing you down."
"No, Father, it wasn't that," she stated. "It was…something else." She cried for several more moments before she calmed down and pulled away from her father.
"You must not let yourself be held back by your failures," Hotaka insisted. "You must keep moving forward, always." He kissed his daughter's forehead and walked out of the room, taking his tea with him and leaving his daughter alone.
"How can become a Pro Heroine when I can't even stand on my own?" she questioned to herself. "Was he right?"
When Momo's Quirk manifested after her 4th birthday, it was a miracle to behold. As her father said, it was an amazing Quirk, allowing her to create anything as long as she knew the material it was made of. Over the years, she learned how to use her Quirk with great precision, knowledge and skill, so much so that she was able to get into U.A.'s Hero Course on recommendation alongside Todoroki and Zankoku.
But in the wake of her humiliating defeat, she couldn't help but feel that all of her training and hard work was for nothing. She questioned how she could become a Pro Hero when she was beaten so easily.
Night had fallen and Nobu had sobered up a bit, but this made him walk in the direction of the nearest bar. He didn't want to revisit the memories of his past before his descent into alcoholism, not when they caused him such pain and sorrow. All he wanted was to forget those dreadful memories by any means possible.
"Don't bother going to that bar, Nobu," the voice of Nakano Raionhato addressed when he was only a few meters away from the bar. "I asked the bartender not to give you any more drinks." Nobu turned around and looked at his oldest friend with an empty expression, lacking any emotion on the outside, but craving to forget on the inside.
"Why?" he questioned rather harshly. "How I live my life is none of your business."
"Because you can't keep doing this to yourself," Nakano stated firmly. "You need to get yourself help, Nobu; all that drinking only numbs the pain. It won't make it go away."
"Then what will!?" Nobu shouted, his face twisted with frustration and anger. "I just want to forget all that pain! Is that too much to ask!? Kokoro and Anzu…"
The anger in his scowl quickly turned to sorrow as his eyes watered and he looked down on the ground. Lioness shared the sadness he felt for those he had lost: his beautiful wife, Kokoro, and his beloved daughter, Anzu. Every day, he remembered the pain of their deaths and he immediately turned to drinking to numb that pain.
"This isn't what they would want, Nobu," Nakano insisted.
"What about what I wanted?" Nobu asked. "I didn't care about Hero titles, being the hero to succeed All Might or surpassing him and Endeavor! All I wanted was to do what I believed was right and what did I get in return? I lost everyone! Kokoro and Anzu are dead!" He shook his head as he started to sniffle loudly and tears ran down his cheeks.
"I'll never get to grow old with Kokoro. I'll never get to escort Anzu down the aisle. I'll never get to see Anzu become a mother and have my grandchildren. I would've gladly given her hand to your son or to Kaze."
"She would've been an amazing woman," Nakano responded, her own eyes watering. "And I would've loved it if she and my boy had gotten together."
"It would've happened if he confessed before Kaze," Nobu spoke as he offered a small smile amidst her immense sorrow. "Those two were always following her, admiring her…"
"Nobu," Nakano spoke. "I loved Kokoro and Anzu as well. Kokoro made you so happy and pushed you to become better, to overcome your alcoholism back then. Anzu was like a daughter to me as well, especially after Kokoro died."
Nakano let out a heavy, shaky sigh as she remembered Nobu's family, people she cherished and valued greatly. They gave Nobu purpose, reminded him of why he was a Pro Hero, made him stronger than he ever was before, loved him unconditionally and he returned that unconditional love. But all of that was gone now. Kokoro and Anzu were gone, one after the other in the matter of a few years.
"I miss them too, Nobu," Nakano spoke with a shaky voice. "I miss them so much, it hurts. But drowning yourself in alcohol isn't what they would've wanted. They would've wanted you-"
"To what, Nakano?" Nobu interrupted. "Just carry on and convince others to sacrifice for the sake of 'heroism' until they have nothing left to give? Being a Pro Hero, these damn Quirks took my family from me."
"What happened to Kokoro and Anzu were tragic accidents," Nakano stated. "No one's to blame."
"And that makes the pain go away," Nobu snarked. "Now leave me alone, Nakano."
He started to walk away, presumably to find another bar to drown himself in alcohol, but Lioness quickly rushed in front of him and stood in his way. She couldn't stand to see her oldest and closest friend continue to seek alcoholism as a means to escape his sorrow and numb his pain.
"Nobu, this is getting out of hand," she pleaded. "Please, you must start attending those recovery sessions I suggested. They can help you recover from what happened; let me help you…just as Chairo helped me when…when we lost Takeshi."
For a few moments, Nobu remembered the pain of his friend, the pain of having lost her husband years ago to the Blade of Terror, Fukushu. Now that murderer served as a painful memory for her and her son, a reminder of the beloved father and husband they had lost. Just as Nobu lost his family, Nakano lost the man she had loved and cherished, whose child she bore. But that didn't last long, for Nobu's desire to numb his pain took over.
"Just leave me alone," he spoke before strolling past her. "And the next time you see Takeo, let him know I forgave him a long time ago."
"I know you did," Nakano spoke. "But he still blames himself for you becoming an alcoholic."
"As I said, I forgave him a long time ago," Nobu repeated. "But unless you also want to lose your son, get him out of U.A. Don't let him believe that he should just keep sacrificing until he has nothing left." With that, he continued walking away from Lioness, who could only stand and watch her friend disappear into the night.
It hurt her so much to see what Nobu Yamashita had become. Once a mighty and courageous Pro Hero who was believed to surpass All Might one day, now reduced to a nihilistic and depressed drunk who'd do anything to rid himself of the painful memories of who he had lost. She prayed to God that she could help him get over his alcoholism and find his way back to the light.