Lovely Day

A rumble was felt. Its slow rhythmic beat cradled his entire body like a mother whispering a lullaby to a child. It slowly but effectively moved his body into a state of awareness as sound, touch, and smell began to unfurl from its once dull state.

Muscles, once ripe and powerful, were beginning to wake from their long, agonizing atrophy. What dull thoughts and aspirations also started to blossom once more within that brain while his hearing started to normalize. Voices now seeped into that brain's chain of thought. Recovering from the slumber that it had been put into.

Loud sounds of machinery being opened rang into his ears. The scraping of metal on other surfaces was loud and clear as through the murky, reddish-dark veil of his eyelids, light was now trying to seep in. His breath started to normalize as blood was now pumping at a steady, healthy pace whilst the voices around him continued to unravel.

They all spoke in a tongue that was unfamiliar. Rough, accented, and filled with such emotion that it felt like they were all wary and scared for their lives. Memories that were being uncovered tried to discern why the accents felt odd. As if a far-nurtured, core memory was related to it.

The voices once more shouted, in panic and full fear this time as the man inside the prison they had kept for decades started to open his eyes slowly. The bright sheen of light made his unused eyes blink as image and color started to return.

His conscious mind was now aware of his surroundings as the shouts around him escalated.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The sound of weapons being drawn and prepared was heard as the shouting became frantic, their anger, fear, and shock elevating to such levels as the agonizing sound steadily raised in volume. The metal that incorporated his binds creaked with such ferocity that immediately his mind became clear with what he had to do.

He could remember their faces.

Their angry, rebellious, and spiteful remarks as they ganged on him.

How each painful experimentation, test, and torturous slander cast on his soul and mind resonated deep within him. The drugs that made up most of what put him in stasis burning faster than normal, an ironic twist in fate that made it so the radiation that was meant to kill him now assisted him.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH…" he growled. Like a mad beast his mind saw his targets manifesting before him. Their guns raised in alarm as people beside him tried desperately to use the contraptions of his prison to keep him in line. To sedate him.

But they were all foolish to try.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The loud, stupid idiots now shouted out with a word. Their guns finally fired as bullets peppered his form. His anger escalated, red was pooling at the corner of his eyes as the metal around him was now nearly pried free while their guns continued to ring in his ear.

Decades of experience in war returned to him like a painful pill to swallow.

And their faces… oh, their faces. The pathetic, self-righteous bastards that forced him into this tormenting existence. Their bloody attempt at a coup, as they took him down before he was forced into an unconscious, perilous prison broke him to the core. Many of them, people he thought to be his allies, his friends, his…

BRWWANGSH!

…red hair made his blood boil as the last of his restraints was finally broken. The metal bent and out of shape as he felt his body fall forward. His muscles and balance were still not at their normal pace. The ground cracked as he landed on his arms while he felt bullets pelting his form. It tore holes into what construed as clothes on his body while his whole world started to crumble around him, emotionally.

Balling his fists as alarms now started blaring, he slammed his right fist into the floor. The stone cracked with ease into a glorious low rumble that only made the men around him grow further scared of the threat he posed.

The shouts molded with the voices of his frien- no, enemies long past as his instincts allowed him to sense the very familiar sound of a pin being pulled. With speed faster than any person present, he rapidly raised his left hand upward, catching an object thrown at him mid-air as he stood up.

BRWAAAASSSHHH!

The quick flash of pressure, shrapnel, and fire swallowed his form whole. Burning most of his clothes off, yet his flesh, his skin, and body were left unscathed. Smoke bellowed around him as his sneer grew wilder. They were still firing their rifles at him until he reached out towards one of the metal contraptions that held onto him earlier and ripped it out of his prison with some effort.

TWANG!

It was as long as his forearm and due to the process of ripping it off, a serrated and gnarly sharped point now existed at its end. He then quickly walked forward as the bullets hit his face and with his Supe-enhanced eyes, he was able to perceive things through the fog. A figment of his power that was not as well-known to many, and it served as an absolute help against the night raids, operations, and various other military missions that many in his time had nothing to fend against such conditions.

In this specific circumstance, the enemies around him blinded themselves by unleashing that smoke while he could see them as clear as day. He approached the closest soldier holding a gun to his head. The man tried to step away only for him to bound forward and maneuvered the piece of metal he had in his hand to sever the man's arm in a gnarly fashion.

SRWOUSH!

Blood started to spurt from the space where his arms were and before the man could scream further in pain, he grabbed his head with his left hand and collapsed the front part of the man's skull. The bloody crack was horribly loud to the point that the nearest enemy soldier screamed in horror as he aimed his gun at him.

The corpse in his hand he directly placed it into the firing line of the screaming soldier as he closed the distance. He then threw the still bleeding corpse into his comrade as he scurried to try and get it off.

With a small smirk filled with malice, he reached forward to the soldier's belt and grabbed his grenade. He then proceeded to violently jam the live ordinance into the man's mouth to which he began choking as his cheeks were slightly ripped apart from the impact.

Three soldiers behind him continued to fire as he grabbed the soldier gurgling with his own blood and with the grenade in his mouth and threw him into his comrades.

BRWAAUUSSSHLL!

An explosion of red mist and gore filled the area as the remaining men who were shooting at him started to flee. Some dropped their guns in the process only for him to lunge forward to the nearest lurching mesh of bodies from the explosion earlier to grab one of them. At least he grabbed one before raising his foot towards the still-suffering soldier and crushing his head with the sole of his feet. The entire action elicited a violent crunch as the running soldiers watched in horror while they scrambled to open the closed blast door.

Some continued to fire at him until he raised his own weapon and directly fired with max precision on six targets that were still raising weapons at him with headshots. The two remaining men stared in horror as he walked towards them with bloody purpose.

One of them screamed with some bravery as he took out his knife and tried to attack him in a futile attempt to fight back, which only further made him furious at how idiotic and useless his captors were, yet they were still able to hold him in this prison for decades.

He quickly dispatched the foolish man by overturning his grip on the knife. His arm bent in a blood-squelching manner and before he could scream in pain over the injury, he directed the knife to stab it through the bottom of the soldier's jaw. He then pulled downward, to which what was left afterward was a splash of red on the grey, dirtied floor alongside the whimpering tones of the last man alive.

He stood there as the lights within the room, his prison flickered. Sparks of electricity bounced against the walls with him in the center close to the final soldier alive painted a visage of a monster in human form.

His eyes slightly glow from the growing power within him. The ominous ticking of Gieger counters of the leftover dead corpses rising to a level that would already create visible harm to any nearby humans as the last remaining soldier was now sweating profusely while the heat radiating from him started to grow.

The soldier begged for his life, raising his arms, spouting words in a language he did not know but he understood how much the soldier was groveling for the chance to live. He even scoured through his now scalding hot uniform where he pulled a card key and started fiddling with the door controls. The soldier kept begging with his tearful face as he continued to stare.

Once the creak and hum of the door opening was starting to work, the soldier was pitifully not given the chance that he desired so he kicked him away brutally through the chest. Caving his ribs and eternal organs violently as his back slammed against the nearest wall.

His corpse slid slowly down to the floor as the slowly opening doors gave way to more noises on the other side.

Frustrated, he tried prying with both his arms on the gap to open it much more widely and much faster than the rate it was in as he knew that the machine holding the door's mechanics was trying to close it again. His fingers started to slowly dig into the durable steel as the surroundings started to shake and audibly groan from the amount of strength he was exuding.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!" he gritted his teeth with enough strength that it would exceed even the presumed bite force record of a Tyrannosaur. Focused with all the willpower he could muster; he began to pour all of his hate while the energy within him started to boil.

He was about to pry the doors open to produce a big enough gap so he could get through, until…

BRWOUM!

…a tank shell hit him straight in the face.

Gunfire also raged through the gap as the mechanism that intended to close the doors finally gave up. Sparks of electricity fumbled over the sides as the smoke from the explosion from the Highly concentrated round fired at him was slowly dissipating.

Yet through it all, he stood unphased. If anything, much to the loud chaos that was happening around them, none of the people shooting at him, or those manning the tank that fired the shell realized that through all the attacks he was receiving, it merely fueled the excess of power that was gathering in his body to critical levels.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

One soldier who just noticed it was barely able to tell everyone when the aura of light surrounding him reached its zenith.

BRWOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUSHHH!

The bright light emitted from the radioactive explosion blinded everything that was not killed or downright incinerated by the blast. The tank had its front crumpled to nothing with its crew smushed into a bloody pulp inside while those outside of it were nowhere to be seen.

Those at the very back were not incinerated but were clearly dead just from the shock and concussion from the blast.

"Damn it… ugh…" he groaned.

For the survivor and once proud hero of the United States, Soldier Boy was now at the last legs of his confinement. Freedom was to come soon, and he could already taste it.

Walking with his tattered clothes and through the devastation he had wrought, he began treading through the large gaping hole blown out by his blast from earlier. Slowly but surely he started to calm down as he got to actual dirt and ground from the facility he was imprisoned in. The feeling of actual soil on his feet felt weird yet satisfying.

There was a thin haze of fog enveloping the environment with the constant blaring of the alarms of the facility he was in. He could still see the familiar sight of the figures, wearing the fatigues of the men he had killed earlier as they scrambled around with their weapons and allies.

At the same time, there were a number of figures, wearing… strange armor as if they were cosplaying those old Roman Centurions in the movies he once watched as a kid. They had a large broad shield on their right arm and a baton on their other.

Carefully he stood in attention, he knew that he was about to enter combat again even through the haze of fog, of which he understood that those with the armor could see him as clearly as he could against them.

Balling his fists, he was about to attack as the energy started to gather within him again when...

"Cease your hostility… Benjamin Asher, you have caused enough damage as is."

…a woman's voice, the soft kind, pierced through the fog as Soldier Boy watched as her silhouette started walking towards him. Eventually, as his eyes cleared much of the haze that was around him, he stopped, nearly, in his tracks.

"This I vow, as chief of the Four Heavenly Kings, you shall be taken in alive…" the woman said with the most beautiful, loving, and… motherly smile he had ever seen.

She was also Asian. That was strange in itself. Yet at the same time, her appearance was captivating. Her aura almost glowed with that smile as she stood a few feet away from him. It elicited an emotion deep inside the blackened heart of what was once a man named Ben that was buried deep underneath. An echo of a memory that he had desperately tried to forget.

A lost memory of a woman that exuded and radiated the same, lovely, and kindly smile.

"…refuse and I will drag you back with all your limbs severed." She then suddenly said, the smile still intact, yet the words betrayed what sort of motherly tone she exuded. He flinched from that, almost stepping back yet the woman stayed where she was… as if she fully meant what she just said.

"What say you, Soldier Boy?" she said as if she was talking to an innocent, lost child.

Her warm aura was still in effect. Wordlessly, he looked at her as if measuring her up only to find himself calming down with every part of his being. The faint memory of a lovely woman who once walked the halls of his father's home as a maid. A woman who always kept her smile as she tended to his needs. A woman who from the many unknown names that could possibly have been his birth mother, was the closest one that he could ever consider as his… mom.

He could still remember her teaching him how to read, and how to sing as she joined him by his bedside, even if it was late. How she would always kiss him on the head.

They would play in the fields of wheat his father owned, even if it dirtied his clothes, they would laugh, cry, and enjoy the simple delights of innocence together.

The most painful part was he could not remember her face. The sound of her voice, nor the feeling of her warmth as she touched his skin. For good reason, sadly.

The good reason being that he recalled furiously trying to drown the sounds of his father's room outside his door while she screamed in pain and delirious agony, before disappearing the next day…

That was the last time he saw her.

He didn't even know her name.

All he could remember as he sometimes sat alone during missions, during events, during in his very small moments of clarity between drinks, was her telling him…

"It's a lovely day…"

He didn't even realize that a tear rolled down his cheek as his focus was returned to the real world. Blinking, he almost forgot that the woman before him was still there, waiting for his answer. Before he could utter a word, to make her stay away or to leave him be, she began walking forward.

She then outstretched her hand much to his confusion before she settled it on the side of his face as she kept her smile. Ben found himself almost transfixed like a statue. The warmth of her hand felt the same as those oh-so-long summer nights of his youth. Where a loving face looked at him with a genuine, proud smile. Had he not been as emotionally vulnerable as he currently was, he would have fought the woman before him without hesitation, but the memories, the hold on his emotions were flimsier due to his incarceration…

It provided a feeling of relief after decades of pain.

"Ahhh… I see your face. I understand now…" she said, her words in a supportive whisper…

THWACK!

…only for him to be whacked in the side of his head by the butt of her sheathed sword with enough speed that he didn't even notice. Benjamin Asher then found himself losing consciousness almost instantly from that one action, leaving the smiling face of the woman before him as he dropped to the ground being the last memory he had before darkness overtook him.

"We have secured the target ma'am. Transport is undergoing soon." The Hoplite said next to her as Raikou, the infamous 'Berserker' of the East nodded with affirmation at the news. Thankfully despite all the chaos, most of those that were injured either gravely or maimed in some way were now being taken care of by the men and women under her command.

The Russians in charge of the facility were adamantly thankful and were severely down in morale after the accident that had allowed this 'Soldier Boy' to escape. They were all completely helpful afterward as cleanup was being orchestrated.

Coupled with her Master's deal and exchange with their government, she knew that they would comply, and even then, she was confident enough that a little tussle was no issue should they attempt anything.

For now, she knew that their time here would be relatively peaceful, despite the number of deaths associated that day.

Regardless, from the scant amount of time that she looked deeply into the eyes of this 'Soldier Boy', she immediately understood what was amiss with the man. From the way, he almost leaned into her touch and how he shed tears just by staring at her, she admittedly felt pity.

Pity that he was perhaps a lost child who never found the spark of love that a mother could convey or a child who had lost their mother long ago in a painful, traumatic event.

Just like Kimiko and Kenji.

Her poor, poor adoptive son and daughter were of course far better than this 'Soldier Boy' could ever be, but she was just so puzzled at the way how that man reacted to her.

Sighing, she tried to inhibit the thoughts away as she began walking to her comrades.

Speaking of Kimiko and Kenji…

Raikou felt a proud, loving smile manifest on her lips as she recalled how much the two labored in training in honor of her. She already told them many times that she desired no recompense, they could live a normal life with the thought that they would be safe until the end, with her by their side, but they asked, begged even, to let her train them.

And why would she decline at all, with this proposition?

With a loving hand and guidance, she allowed her two new charges, a training regimen that was both fair yet difficult and they triumphed, surpassing even her best expectations. They were so good that she and Kintoki finally decided that they were worthy enough for something bigger…

Their master even approved it.

Being that she was the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings, she was allowed access to the weapons of her surrogate sons. To Kimiko, it was Tsuna's blade, of which she was gaining startling proficiency; her progress prompted her to see where her family's lineage lay, for she was adapting to the blade like it was her own.

She was so good at the sword that some of the techniques Tsuna once used were slowly but proficiently starting to acclimate to her own fighting style. It was amazing.

For Kenji, it was Suetake's Bow. Coupled with his now stabilized Enhanced ability, that being of a robust form of telekinesis, his natural aim and powers allowed a powerful combination that was unmatched. He even developed a technique on his own that allowed for his arrows to fly further, hit harder, and almost destroy a target through concussive force alone. Delivered by the sleave of telekinetic energy he could store within them, even as they cascaded beyond the range of his power.

Both made her proud. It was as if she was watching her original four surrogate sons again, training within her fields. Doing their best for her sake.

With a smile, she took out her phone. One that her current family, her son Kintoki, along with Kimiko and Kenji bought for her. Their faces made up her wallpaper as she smiled.

Until she noticed that a message from Kimiko was in her notifications.

"Will you please come home, Okaasan? :3"

With a smile she typed back, asking why.

"Just come home… I'm sure you'll love it."

Raikou then grinned with a warm feeling deep in her stomach as she realized that she had nothing else to do that day. Why not spend it with her loved ones instead?

"Very well, Kimiko-chan… Okaasan will come home…"

It was a lovely day.

At the same time, she wondered what the girl was planning. She loved surprises.

Especially those of her loved ones.

TO BE CONTINUED…

AN: Had to split this one. Primarily because I didn't want it to be longer than 4k words, and the fact that I decided the latter half of the still being written Kimiko and Raikou POV is a good segue into what would inevitably make up the 'Legacy/Children POVs'. Meaning we will get a continuation of the wholesome 'surprise' Kimiko is cooking, as well as a small look into how Ryan is doing with a certain Pirate.

Also, this chapter mostly became its own entity with the focus on Soldier Boy, given that he would have a relatively substantial role with the upcoming Homelander arc. One that would pit the whole theme of Fathers and Sons into HL's arc that would culminate into something that's hopefully satisfying…

Until then, I do hope I can post it this weekend or at least early next week.

Lastly, yeah like father, like son… both freeze emotionally when seeing a female servant. I'll leave it at that on what that means for Soldier Boy whether it's more parental yearning or that he just misses that empty spot that was once occupied by a woman he can't remember.