章 67: Chapter 67: Finding Hope
That was so cool Yami!" Amai gushed.
The two of them had gotten hungry, and decided to eat at the food court at the nearby mall, and have some chicken, with Yami obviously paying, although Amai did purchase a soda and a lot of candy.
Yami nodded, staring at Amai's aura. It had been positively glowing with joy, and it was kind of hypnotic.
He'd rarely seen someone THIS happy. The closest he ever had seen was Kei, but even she rarely reached heights like this.
Was this the power of being mentally stable?
Amai meanwhile kept stuffing her face with candy and washing it down with soda, and when she finished swallowing it all down, she shivered and her face contorted in disgust. And Yami saw her positivity wane a tiny bit.
Yami frowned. "You don't like sweets?"
"Uh uh." Amai shook her head. "I used to. But ate them so much I don't anymore."
"Then why buy them?" Yami said, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"Oh! I have to eat lots of sugar to make my candy!" Amai held out her hand and opened her palm, and then her hand started to glow, as yellow candy came out of her hand. "See!"
"Oh. You have to eat something you not like to use quirk." Yami summarized. "Like me."
"Hmm?" Amai gave him a confused head tilt. "I thought your quirk was seeing people's emotions."
Yami shook his head. "That's just one part. It does more. Lets me make monsters."
"Monsters?" Amai repeated, still confused as to what exactly Yami was talking about.
Yami figured it would be best to show her.
So he held up his hands, and let the black liquid oozing out of his mouth and into his cupped hands.
"Ew!" Amai recoiled back in disgust a bit, seeing this supremely gross act.
The small amount of black ooze pooled in his hand, before changing shape, and color, until it hardened into a tiny Grimm scorpion, known as the Deathstalker.
Amai leaned back in, looking at the tiny thing in awe, slowly getting closer and closer to it.
Sensing that she was interested in it, Yami put the Deathstalker down on the table and commanded it to crawl towards her.
The blonde poked creature, petting it gently with her finger. "It's cute."
"Hmm," Yami grunted, not really having an opinion on it.
After playing with the Deathstalker for a bit, Amai recalled what Yami had said earlier. "So to make these you have to eat something you don't like too?"
Yami nodded.
"So what is it? Vegetables? Seafood? Candy?" Amai guessed.
"Suffering," Yami answered, much to Amai's confusion. "When people feel bad emotions. I eat them. So I can make these."
"Bad emotions? Like, sadness, and anger and jealousy, and hate?" Amai inquired curiously.
Yami nodded.
"So... every time someone is feeling down...you get power from it." Amai summarized.
Yami nodded once more, this time looking away from her, and down at the floor in shame.
Logically he knew it wasn't his fault that his quirk did that, but he couldn't help but feel bad about benefiting from the pain of others. I just made him feel...gross inside.
There was a short period of silence, and for that little bit, he was afraid that Amai would think less of him.
But then she said this.
"Your REALLY cool Yami."
"Huh?" Yami was not quite expecting, THAT response.
He looked up, and Amai was just smiling at him, with admiration in her eyes.
"Your quirk is...kind of...a little bit...evil to be honest. But even then you use it for good!" Amai explained. "You would get a lot stronger if you just let people suffer. But you didn't! You helped them instead, and made yourself weaker! All for them! I...I don't really think I can be a hero. My quirk is weak and I'm not really too brave. But I think people like heroes, who put others over themselves, I think those people are the coolest! And you're like them!"
"I'm like...a hero?" Yami suddenly recalled his conversation with Fu.
"A quirk is only evil if you use it to be evil. Your quirk doesn't make people suffer. It takes their suffering and uses it to make Grimm. If you use your Grimm to help people, then you're just taking something bad, and making something good out of it."
He didn't fully understand what to do with at the time. At the time he just thought it meant he should keep trying his best to help Izuku but perhaps...he could do more than that.
Looking back at that situation, there was a lot he could have done if he was allowed.
He could have taken down that villain, then made more Grimm to rescue everyone, and done all of that himself.
What kind of good could he do, with an army of diverse creatures, who could, in theory, be tailored made for certain situations?
But what about the mental pain? Could he help with that?
Well, he could see people's emotions, maybe he could help people with that in some way.
"Are you done eating Midoriya?" Amai asked. "I wanna give out some more candies before it gets dark."
Yami snapped out of his thoughts and nodded, with the two throwing their trash, before taking their leave.
XXXXXXXXX
Once the two of them left the mall they went to a variety of places.
A homeless shelter, a graveyard, and various other locations where sad or scared people went.
After finishing up at their last location, they noticed the sun starting to set.
"We should get back home," Amai said. "It's going to get dark soon."
Yami nodded. He figured that he should start going back home as well before Izuku got even more worried than he already was.
But then he noticed something...something close by.
A shroud of negativity. Nowhere near as intense as the geysers. But it was still pretty bad.
"One more. Over there." Yami said, pointing to a playground that was very close by.
"Oh? Someone's feeling bad over there?" Amai asked. "Well...I guess we can do just one more."
Yami nodded, and the two made their way to the playground.
When they got there, they found two boys, maybe a little older than the two of them, but not by much.
One smaller boy on his knees with an action figure of Hawks in front of him. He was crying, and he also had some bruises and first on him.
And one larger boy, looking down at the boy with a cruel smirk. He was rather beefy for his age, most likely because of his quirk.
The larger boy raised his foot and crushed the action figure.
"No! Hawks!" The smaller boy cried out in anguish, tears streaming down his face.
"Look at you! Crying over a bit of plastic! Pathetic!" The larger boy laughed.
Amai gasped at the bullying she saw in front of her, while Yami squinted, observing their emotions.
The smaller boy was obviously filled with fear and sadness, as well as a bit of rage. But the larger one was filled with joy, taking delight in causing pain to the helpless child in front of him.
Just like that villain from earlier
The larger boy started getting closer to the smaller, one looking like he was about to start getting violent, and that's when Yami decided to step in.
"RAGHHHHHH!" Yami let out an animal-like growl, getting everyone's attention and shocking them.
While the larger boy was recovering from his shock, Yami used that tie to step between the two boys, glaring at the older boy, seeing fear overtake him.
"Why!?" Yami barked.
"H-Huh?" The boy stumbled back in fear.
"Why do this!?" Yami asked aggressively. "Why?"
"Wha-what the heck are you talking about!?" The boy asked, getting aggressive again, trying to stand his ground but it was obvious he was still terrified.
"Hey get out of here!" Amai decided now was the time to step in, getting behind Yami and glaring at the larger boy. "It's almost nighttime! Don't you have to go home!?"
The boy's eyes widened, and he stayed silent for a minute, before scowling at them. "F-Fine! Have fun losers!"
And with that the boy turned around, hesitating for a moment, before walking off, slowly.
With the boy leaving, Amai turned her attention to the smaller boy. "Are you alright?"
The boy was about to speak when Yami turned around, and the boy say his face.
"AH! AHHHHHH!" Suddenly the smaller boy ran away in terror, fleeing before either of them could even say anything.
"He left before I could give him a candy." Amai pouted with disappointment.
Yami on the other hand looked back towards the larger boy, who would soon be out of sight.
"Following," Yami said as he started walking towards the bully.
"Huh? Following who?" Amai said, walking along with Yami. "That bully? Why?"
"He's scared. Very scared." Yami answered, with a bit of worry painting his normally stoic expression.
"Well you are...bit scary to look at," Amai admitted, feeling terrible about having said that despite it being true.
"No. Not scared of me." Yami explained. "When told to go home. He got more scared. A lot more scared. He's scared of home."
Amai looked at the bully, with both confusion and concern. "Why is he scared of going home?"
Yami didn't answer.
XXXXXXXXX
It'd didn't take them long to reach the bully's home. It was a small house, with not much of note about it. Completely unassuming.
Yami and Amai were hiding in a nearby bush, watching the bully enter the house, seemingly as slowly as possible.
"What are you seeing?" Amai asked.
"Mmmm." Yami took a hard look at the house, seeing the people's auras from inside their home. "Three people. Two adults. One woman. One man. And the boy. Woman and boy are scared. Very scared. And the man is...angry...He sees the boy...he's even angrier, and the boy is more scared...he's getting close to the boy…"
Suddenly, the two felt a hand on their shoulders.
"Eap!" Amai jumped.
"Rah!" Yami's first instinct was to bite whoever this was, and luckily the person withdrew their hand fast enough so they didn't get bit.
"Hey hey!" The person, who turned out to be Jiro, said. "You don't bite people kid. Jeez."
"It's you!" Yami said, recognizing her. "Weird ear lady!"
"Weird ear lady!?" Jiro said, taking offense to that. "It's Jiro! Don't start giving me weird nicknames kid."
"Um...you know this person?" Amai asked.
Yami nodded. "She's a U.A. student. She works for dad."
"For now." Jiro corrected, before giving Yami a stern look. "Speaking of your dad, you almost gave him a...heart...attack…"
Jiro suddenly trailed off, as it seemed like something else had attracted her attention, and she looked up at the bully's house.
A moment passed, before Jiro took a step closer, and raised her earphone jacks up towards the house.
After a couple of minutes passed, she looked back at the two children. "You two stay here...I have to make some calls."
XXXXXXXXXX
The sun had finished setting, and day had turned to night by the time the police arrived.
Yami and Amai watched, alongside Jiro, as a man, presumably the young boy's father, was taken out of the house in handcuffs, struggling against the police that were holding him to no avail, and cursing loudly at everyone.
"Wh-what happened? Why is he being arrested?" Amai asked. Looking distraught and confused.
"Uh well…" Jiro winced as she tried to find a way to say this.
"He was hurting his son," Yami said, beating her to it. "Child abuse."
"C-Child abuse?" Amai didn't seem to fully understand what that was, but she grasped a part of it, and that part horrified her.
"It's ok. He's gone now." Jiro quickly reassured her, not wanting to deal with a crying kid right now. "He's can't hurt anyone anymore."
Amai didn't say a word, just looking at the boy and his mother at the doorway, as they watched their abuser get taken away.
XXXXXXXXXX
After the...incident with the police was done, it was finally time for the kids to start getting home.
Starting with Amai.
After a bit of a walk, they reached the blond girl's house.
It was pretty sizable. Not too big, but decently large. The home of a well-off family.
Once they reached the front yard, that's when they decided to say their goodbyes.
Amai gave Yami and Jiro a polite bow. "Thank you for everything Midoriya! Today was...good? Well...we helped a lot of people so it has to be good! Right?"
"Hnn." Yami nodded. "Good."
"Yeah! It was good!" Amai said more confidently. "Oh! I want to give you this!"
Amai then took a small card out of her bag and presented it to Yami, who took it and gave it a glance.
The card was handwritten in colored pencil. With the words, "let's be friends" with smiley faces on the sides.
And bellow that was a phone number, presumable her's.
Cute. Jiro thought, giving a small smirk.
"That's my phone number so um...you can call it if you wanna see me, or talk to me again!" Amai said, looking at Yami with hopeful eyes.
"Hmmm. Thank you." Yami put the card in his pocket. "Freind."
A radiant smile broke out on Amai's face, as joy and excitement filled her at that response, and she skipped back over to her front door.
Jiro and Yami turned away and started their trip back to the house.
"Well looks like you've had a busy day. Hope it was worth it." Jiro said.
"Hmmm." Yami still had some things he needed to figure out, but. He was absolutely sure that his trip had been worth it.
XXXXXXXX
"Do you have any idea how worried I was!?" Izuku said, not quite shouting but speaking very loudly.
After getting back home, Yami was immediately met by Izuku at the gates, who rushed him into his office, so they could speak.
"You really should have told us about this honey, it's not good for your father's health for him to wake up with a child missing." Inko was also there, wanting to make sure things went smoothly.
"Sorry." Yami actually did feel a bit guilty here. Not realizing that this might have negatively affected Izuku's health.
"I mean! Why would you even do that!?" Izuku asked, leaning on his desk to help keep him upright.
"I needed...to understand...people," Yami answered. "Can't do that here. This place is...different."
Izuku's expression softened, as he took in what his son said.
It's not like he didn't realize what brought this on. He remembered yesterday's conversation very well.
Yami had seen a glimpse of a cruel world and needed to see more.
And from what he'd heard on the news and from Jiro's report, he'd seen it.
Izuku sighed. "Look, I get it. You can't...really see the world from here. But next time, just ask, and go with a guide. It's safer that way."
Yami nodded. "Dad. That boy...who was being abused. He was bullying another boy, and he was enjoying it. Why? He should know it was bad because it happened to him. But he did it. Why?"
Izuku paused, going around his desk, and taking a seat. "Ok...well...I guess it was probably about control."
"Control?" Yami repeated in confusion.
Izuku nodded. "That boy didn't know how to process what was happening to him. He felt so helpless and powerless. So when he was bullying that boy, he felt...in control. Like he had power. It made him feel better for just a little bit. But it wasn't going to fix anything, and in the end, it just made someone else feel bad."
"...So...if he had therapy...he wouldn't do that?" Yami asked.
"I mean, if you got him away from that father of his, then probably," Izuku answered.
Yami didn't respond, instead just sitting there thinking.
After realizing that Yami wasn't going to continue, Izuku spoke. "Well, you did do a lot of good out there. And I am at fault for not establishing rules about going into the city. So I'm not going to be too harsh on you. No desert tomorrow, and you're not allowed to go back into the city for three days."
Yami had a slight pout, not happy about missing desert, but nodded, accepting his punishment without argument.
"Now with that decided." Izuku looked down at his son. "What did you learn out there?"
"...I learned...what I want to do." Yami looked Izuku in the eyes. "I want to help people, who are suffering. I want to be a hero and a therapist. To make people happy."
Izuku smiled at that response. "Well then, as your father...I will do everything in my power to support you."
"I know," Yami said. "Thank you...I love you, dad."
"Hngh!" Izuku felt his heart clench, and his face scrunched up becoming not so appealing to look at.
"Dad!?" Yami became concerned that something was wrong, but was confused by the extremely happy aura around Izuku.
"Don't be scared dear that's just something that happens to your father when he gets really happy," Inko reassured him, taking Yami by the shoulder, and guiding him out of the room. "Now let's give your father some time to relax, all this excitement today is not good for his health."
"Ok. Goodnight dad." Yami said.
"G-good night son." Izuku smiled, recovering from the rush of joy he just felt a moment ago.
And with that, Yami and Inko exited the room.
"Grandma?" Yami said, looking up at Inko as they walked. "Want to go one more place before bed."
XXXXXXXXX
Eri was just getting ready for bed, she'd already gotten in her pajamas and was just about to climb into her bed, when suddenly she was interrupted.
Knock Knock Knock.
Huh? Eri looked at the door confused. Who would be knocking on her door at this hour?
Kei? This wouldn't be the first time she sprung a late-night slumber party on her.
Kiba? She was typically active at night.
She opened the door, and much to her surprise, it was Yami.
"Y-oph!" Eri was shocked by Yami suddenly hugging her. Completely out of nowhere. "Huh?"
"You're a good child. And we all love you." Yami told her.
"Ehhhhh!?" Eri's face broke out into a flustered blush, as she was not ready to be assaulted by praise, from Yami of all people. "T-thank you!?"
"Hmmm." Yami took a good look at Eri. She had been through so much and had likely been like one of those people with the negativity geysers out there.
And now here she was. Happy, if quite embarrassed.
The same could be said for almost all children in this house. They could have very well ended up like the people out there.
His father had done so much and would continue to do so much for even more children.
And soon, it would be his turn to make people happy.
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