Bab 37: I tripped and they broke
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|Amidst the bustling streets of Musutafu, Suzaku's POV:|
…
I did it again, huh?
After 6 years of living a peaceful life only interrupted by the senseless violence of that old man during our spars, I finally snapped and killed people again.
If I'm honest, I was actually wondering when it would happen again. I never really thought that the kidnapping incident would be the first and last time I would kill someone.
I thought I would find myself doing it again if I got involved in one of the protagonist's problems and saw a villain that needed a shutdown, or maybe after I became a professional hero and got fed up with a psychopathic villain.
But surprisingly, it happened during my first week of studying at UA.
Don't get me wrong, even now that the adrenaline had worn off, I knew I would do it again without hesitation.
I didn't care about the guys from before, rather, I was glad I finally met them after they successfully kidnapped me 6 years ago. With this, I finally made sure they wouldn't come back, or try something funny with someone else.
But still, the fact that, unlike in my first life, murder was changing from something foreign to something that happened from time to time, was disturbing.
And what was most disturbing for me, was that just tomorrow I would be going to classes normally, as if today's incident hadn't happened at all.
Even now, I was walking in the middle of the street while carrying my pizza, just like a completely normal teenager, and just some minutes ago, I had been killing ruthlessly dozens of armed men.
The fact that I could get away with it, and no one would even suspect me… felt wrong.
The fact that none of my kills so far have had any repercussions… felt wrong.
And the fact that, after everything I did, I would just go to school tomorrow and act as if nothing happened so that I could continue my hero training… Also felt wrong.
…
But, well, who knows? Maybe I'm like this simply because I'm going through some post-nut clarity version of murder, and once enough time passes these annoying feelings will disappear as well.
They did 6 years ago—though it took them a while—and they will most likely do so again.
But I don't know man, I'm no psychologist.
-Sigh…-
As I shrugged my complicated thoughts aside, I suddenly stopped walking and glanced to my side.
There, a small building with a lot of people coming and going could be seen.
However, the most interesting fact about this place was that the people coming and going in particular, were all wearing eye-catching suits like they were… heroes.
"Am I in the wrong direction?" I asked to myself, frowning faintly as I picked up my phone from my pocket and looked up for the location that the old man had sent me.
And surprisingly, it was indeed here…
"Hæh?" I exclaimed, much like a certain YouTuber I used to watch in my past life did.
And, after checking the address on my phone like four times and making sure I was actually there, I gave up and put my phone back in my pocket.
If it was here, then it was here. If not, then I only needed to ask for directions or something like that.
'Though, what would the old man be doing in a place such as this?' I couldn't help but wonder.
That old guy was nothing like a hero, after all.
So, once I made up my mind, I entered the building, raising an eyebrow as I read the entrance sign that said "Gunhead's hero agency".
"Who?" I muttered, nevertheless, I didn't let that slow me down and simply opened the doors to the building.
"Woah, woah, stop there little one. Sorry, but this is a hero agency, you can't just enter here like that"
However, to my surprise, I was immediately stopped by a tall and burly guy in a hero suit who looked more like a villain than a hero.
Not in the bad meaning, of course. I just meant that his suit was rather intimidating to be a hero.
Like, if I were to imagine a bank robbery or any other cliché criminal activity, this guy most certainly looked like he could be part of it.
Though maybe it was just his mask, it looked kind of weird if I'm honest.
As I analyzed him, the guy scratched the back of his head while heaving a troubled sigh. "I know you might want an autograph from one of your favorite heroes, but currently everyone here is busy saving the day, so we can't help you with that…" However, as he was finishing speaking, suddenly he hit the palm of his hand as if he had an idea. "Hey, tell you what, little one, how about I give you my autograph instead, will you be satisfied with tha—?"
"Who are you?"
"Eh?!" The moment he heard me question his identity, he took a step back in surprise.
'Should I know him?' I wondered, after all, besides All Might and… Uh… Ah, yeah, Endeavor, I didn't know much about the other heroes that were in the rankings.
Maybe this guy in front of me was a big shot, and I didn't know i—
"I'm Gunhead!"
"No idea pal"
Nevermind, I had no idea who this guy was.
"It can't be…"
"..."
As I watched him dejectedly hang his head low, I began glancing around, looking for the figure of the old man.
Though, that proved to be useless. He was nowhere to be seen.
The only thing around was a bunch of heroes walking around hurriedly.
So, wanting to get done with this quickly, I turned towards the guy—Uh, Gunhead, and told him the motive for my visit.
"... Have you seen a rather temperamental old man around here? He told me to come see him at his new dojo, and the address he sent me seemed to be this place…"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"You're Tatsuo-san's disciple?!" He suddenly asked with shock in his voice, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
Seeing that he had an idea of who I was talking about, I looked around again, thinking that maybe I had missed him out, before asking him. "Uh, yeah. Is he here?"
Gunhead nodded as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, he came in a few minutes ago, he should be waiting for you at the dojo I rented him"
Well, at least I'm not at the wrong place.
As I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I hadn't mistaken the location, the hero massaged his neck embarassedly before he began apologizing.
"Sorry about earlier, I just didn't think you would be his disciple… Or that he could have one in the first place. I thought he had just said that to spite me"
"Spite you?" I asked back, confused about his sudden comment.
At that, he laughed faintly, before pointing at himself with his thumb.
"Oh, I used to be his disciple too… A long time ago, though, and I honestly didn't last more than a month with him before I decided to leave. His training was too much"
"Yeah, I do agree with you on that" I nodded, suddenly having the urge to beat the old man up as I remembered his lack of restraint during my early years under his tutelage.
"How long have you been under him? Even though I was his disciple, he never referred to me that way, so I'm curious to know how much you have trained under him to have made him acknowledge you as such"
In front of the question, I scratched my head as I tried to make remember. "Eh… I don't know, 9 years maybe?" However, my answer seemed to have unexpected results on the hero in front of me.
"9 years?! H-how?!"
I shrugged. "I don't know, I just did"
"Y-you're crazy kid, that man is a brute"
"Yeah, but it got better after the brutality became mutual" I said as I smirked.
Yeah, after I became skilled enough, let's just say that the one getting beaten up during our spars wasn't only me.
"Haha" Hearing my answer, he laughed but certainly not in an amused way. Rather, I could feel his gaze on me looking at me like I was some kind of freak.
However, before any of us could say anything else, a certain voice called out to me.
"So you arrived already damn brat! You should have come to the dojo straight away if you were already here" From our side, suddenly the subject of our talk presented himself before us.
And, before I could get to reply him, he grabbed my arm and began dragging me away.
"Come on, don't get close to that guy, who knows if his sissiness is contagious"
"..."
"Hey…" At the totally gratuitous insult, the hero looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he simply swallowed it and let me go.
After that, the old man dragged me to the elevator, where we went to the 3rd floor, and entered what seemed to be some traditional-looking dojo.
"Now, this looks like a real dojo" I muttered, gaining a sharp look from the old man.
"This looks like a place for weaklings. A real dojo should have stains of blood, cracks, dust, and uh…"
"Spiderwebs?"
"Yeah, to demonstrate its long history"
"Seriously…" I sighed as I shook my head.
Then, I walked to a nearby table in the corner of the room, and put my pizza there, picking a piece as I gestured to the old man to pick one as well.
He did it without reservations, and soon enough, we both went to sit on the mats of the dojo.
"So, what's up?" I asked, looking at him from the corner of my eyes as I raised my eyebrow.
"Remember the incident where you were kidnapped?" He suddenly asked, making me twitch out of surprise after being asked that.
However, I quickly calmed myself and nodded my head. Causing the old man who was watching my reaction to nod as well and begin explaining.
"After that incident, I started investigating who were the punks behind it, all while collaborating with the police. However, the bastards turned out to be more slippery than we expected. While I raided some of their bases and captured some of their goons, the runts turned out to be good at moving without being noticed"
I listened silently to that.
"... Two years ago we lost their track completely, so we gave up on continue looking for them for a while. However, we recently caught sight of them again, and discovered that a few days ago they hired the same team of bastards who kidnapped you the last time… I called you here to warn you about them. Be careful when you are alone on the street, or even in your own home, they might strike when you least expect it"
"I'll have that in mind" I said without much emotion, causing the old man to raise an eyebrow at my expression before he began clicking his tongue as he shook his head.
"What, you think you can take them all on because of what I taught you? Well, while I do admit my martial arts are godly, I doubt with your skills you will be able to take all of them at the same time. They are known for being rather sneaky and crafty when performing kidnapping, having several plans to back up the other in case they fail"
As he said that, he picked up some papers from the table, and began reading them.
"Just to make sure, I will tell you some of their quirks which we have managed to document from recent investigations. One of them, and a key member of their team, has an invisibility quirk that allows him to manipulate light to make himself or others invisible, however, it seems to have a distance limit. Another key member of their team has the quirk to create a determined area where all sounds are muted"
Then, he squinted his eyes as he gained an annoyed tone.
"The last one to worry about, much like the previous one, can designate an area with a special effect. This one, however, makes whoever comes into contact with the barrier that encompasses this area, lose their sense of direction and walk away from the barrier"
"So they can isolate their targets almost perfectly, and then jump on them using invisibility" I deduced, making the old man nod at me.
Well, it sounds pretty similar to their approach to kidnapping me six years ago and in their attempt from earlier.
No wonder no one helped me or at least witnessed what was happening.
As I recalled the events from minutes ago, the old man continued. This time, flipping through the documents quickly as he spoke. "The other members of their team, on the other hand, have all sorts of quirks, from enhancing ones, to healing quirks, to more miscellaneous ones that might come in handy in very specific situations, etc… They covered all sorts of weaknesses to stay strong in front of any enemy…"
And, as he reached the last page, he squinted his eyes at the picture of a certain man.
"And their leader, in particular, seems to have a powerful resistance-type quirk that, from what I can see here, might render normal attacks useless. So, unless you have a gun or something like that hidden in your new apartment, I suggest you not to try dealing with them and just run away if they decide to act"
"Sure" I said, not really showing much worry. Something that, apparently, pissed off the old man, who, upon seeing me act all nonchalantly with his advice, stood up and walked to the center of the dojo.
Once he got there, he turned to look at me and smirked wickedly. "That was just the first reason I invited you here, the second one, however, is to make sure you aren't becoming rusty after hanging out with newbies like your classmates"
I shot him an annoyed look. "I didn't"
"Then come and show me" He taunted, gesturing me with his hand to come at him.
"..."
Staying silent in response, I took a final bite from the pizza in my hand, before I put it back at the box.
And, once that was done, I stood up from the mat and started walking towards him.
"A'ight, bet"
With those final words, I smirked as well, and jumped at him, ready to carve my fist on his wrinkled face.
…
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|Some minutes later, 3rd Person POV…|
…
"Huff… Puff…"
"Fuuuuh…"
After the spar, both Suzaku and Tatsuo collapsed on the mats from earlier. Each of them tired to the bone, and breathing haggardly as they stared silently at the ceiling.
However, the silence was eventually interrupted by Suzaku, who, after catching his breath for a bit, looked at the tired Tatsuo from the corner of his eyes.
"You're already so old… stop trying so much and let me win at least once" Suzaku hissed amidst heavy gasps of air, gaining a loud laugh from Tatsuo.
"Are you begging me to let you win? I believe I didn't teach you to be so pathetic"
Suzaku scoffed, before turning to look back at the ceiling. "Forget it"
Then, after catching his breath a bit more, Suzaku stood up and went to pick up his pizza, all while ignoring the lingering gaze of his still lying-down master.
"I'm leaving" Suzaku said, walking towards the elevator outside of the room.
However, some last words from his master stopped him before he could leave the room.
"Remember what I told you"
"..."
Suzaku glared at him impassively, seemingly lost in his own thoughts for some seconds, before he eventually let out a faint snort as a small smile found its way to his face.
"Alright"
After that, he turned around and began walking out of the room.
However, he was stopped once more by Tatsuo, who shot him a weird look. "By the way, what happened to those glasses of yours?"
Hearing that, Suzaku almost stumbled from the surprise, before he began touching his uncovered eyes with a wry expression.
"I tripped and they broke" Suzaku lied, making Tatsuo shoot him a deadpan, before snorting and saying "Don't let the door hit you on the way out" as he turned to look back at the ceiling.
"As if" Leaving out those words, Suzaku nodded at his master, before he got onto the elevator and left for good.
…
Once alone, Tatsuo continued staring at the ceiling with a pensive countenance. Seemingly lost in his world as he rested his tired body while lying down on the mat.
He continued like that for quite a few minutes after Suzaku left. However, as he was about to stand up once he had caught his breath for long enough, his phone began ringing.
-Beep, beep, beep!-
Taking out the phone from his pockets, Tatsuo put it on his ear and asked "Hello?" as he raised an eyebrow. Wondering who would be calling him now.
However, his expression turned into a faintly relaxed one when he heard the voice that came from the other side.
{"Tasuo-san, it's me!"}
"So it's you dog-head, what do you want?" Tatsuo asked with a light-hearted tone as he pushed himself up from the ground.
{"It's the team of kidnappers that we've been investigating-woof!"}
Hearing that, Tatsuo's eyes widened as he stood up brusquely. "You found them?!"
{"Well, you could call it that…"} The voice on the other side spoke with an amused tone, making Tatsuo squint his eyes in confusion.
"What the hell does that mean?!" He asked in an exasperated tone, almost yelling at the phone.
{"Don't scream at me… They were all found dead in a zone relatively close to where you are right now. Some of them had stab and bullet wounds, while others had their necks entirely twisted-woof…"}
Hearing that, Tatsuo's eyes widened in shock.
"How close?"
{"Huh? Well, around two or three subway stations away from your location, why?"} The voice behind the phone asked. However, Tatsuo stayed silent, glancing with visibly shocked eyes at the elevator out of the room.
"..."
{"Tatsuo-san?"}
In the end, though, Tatsuo shrugged his worries aside and answered the person on the line. "Nevermind, I was just curious"
{"Huh… Well, I'm sure you'll also be interested to know that the injuries found on each of the corpses coincide pretty much with the ones that the vigilante that rescued your disciple years ago inflicted on the people from the laboratory…"}
Tatsuo's eyes squinted. "Is that so?"
{"Yes-woof. We are still investigating the crime scene, but I can at least tell you that, judging from the specialized equipment they were carrying, and the way they were scattered away from each other, it seemed like these guys were trying to ambush this mysterious vigilante and knock him out instead of outright killing him… Though, it doesn't seem like it ended well for them-woof"}
"..."
{"With this, I guess it's safe to assume that we were wrong about your disciple being their objective this time"}
"Yeah, I guess we were" Tatsuo replied plainly. Making the person behind the phone confused.
{"Tatsuo-san?"}
"Sorry, dog-head, I've got to think for a bit" Tatsuo suddenly said, not allowing the other person to respond before he hung up.
And, as he put his phone back in his pocket, Tatsuo threw himself backward to the mat, staring once again at the ceiling with an indecipherable expression.
"He tripped and they broke, huh?"
…
-Cough..-
…
-To be Continued…-}
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(A/N: No amongus wisdom this week)
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