章 237: Chapter 234 - Loyalty 2/2
Shoto smoothly rose from his half-crouched, half-kneeling position and leaned against the wall, knees raised, arms resting limply on it.
They assessed each other, both surprised to see the other one, Katsuki wondering what the hell he was doing here.
"… do you need my help?"
Emotion squeezed Katsuki's heart. No question asked or reason required: truly, Shoto was the best of friends anyone could ask for.
Katsuki slowly slid down to the floor.
He mirrored Shoto's position, whereas the banging on the door was getting louder.
They stared at each other intently, an unspoken conversation unfolding.
"You look like shit."
Shoto cocked his head to the side, eyes slightly squinting, and Katsuki knew that he was smiling, though his voice remained flat.
"Really? I certainly thought I was having the time of my life."
A small chuckle escaped Katsuki's lips.
Jin Woo should've gotten in as soon as Katsuki opened the door. For whatever reason, he didn't, which meant Katsuki had a few precious minutes ahead of him.
Shoto scratched the beginning of a beard on his chin and upper lip. A thin, glossy layer covered his skin, giving him a slightly sick look. His hair was messy, longer than Katsuki remembered, grazing the top of his shoulders.
"I hope you didn't bother to come here only to watch me quietly today too."
"I wanted to talk."
Shoto shot him a sharp glance, the true words hanging between them.
I needed to talk.
"What happened?"
For a moment, Katsuki marveled at his calm.
He was the one imprisoned and yet he acted so casually, as if this situation – this place – wasn't different from life outside or his dorm room at Yuei.
Katsuki could hear them behind the door, talking loudly and trying to find a way to get in, yet Shoto's eerie calm soothed him so much so that he forgot about the world outside this cell and the consequences that would inevitably follow.
"Someone tried to murder me."
Shoto perked up.
"When?"
"Two days ago. It happened outside a convenience store in the middle of the night. She tried to stab me right here."
Katsuki's shaky fingers rose to his throat.
Shoto studied Katsuki carefully.
"… did you hurt her?"
A wave of relief and guilt threatened to overwhelm Katsuki: it squeezed his throat, momentarily shut down his ability to breathe, and made him bring his knees to his chest to shield himself from the truth.
"… I tried training on my own, but I keep destroying everything I touch."
He was scared that it wouldn't stop, scared that he wouldn't ever manage to control this Quirk.
He was terrified that he'd accidentaly kill his parents, that he'd make a shower of flesh and blood out of them the same way Ochaco had been made a shower of flesh and blood.
Katsuki nervously combed his hair with his hand, gripping the roots so hard that the burning pain on his scalp took him out of his muddy mind.
"I didn't have that problem before…"
He hadn't had this problem before he accidentally killed those poor guys.
Since then, it was as if something in his brain had clicked, as if he'd realized the lethality of the power he beheld and couldn't turn the power down.
Shoto shrugged lightly.
"I would love to help, but it seems I'm stuck here for a while."
He tapped the metal ring that wrapped around his head like a crown.
Katsuki snorted bitterly, rubbed his face, looked away.
He'd gotten in to warn Shoto, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words that would force Jin Woo to intervene.
Shoto's deliberate apathy always managed to minimize the problems Katsuki faced: yes, his maybe-not girlfriend had been a spy, and ? Yes, he'd killed a few people by accident, and ?
The world would always keep turning, everyone would always keep moving forward.
"Hey"
"Yes ?"
"I kind of hate you for forcing me to sit in this shitty cell just so we can have a proper conversation"
Shoto laughed.
"Don't worry, I kind of hate myself most of the time too"
Katsuki smiled bitterly, his red eyes meeting Shoto's hetero-chromatic ones.
He'd always found funny the way Shoto looked : split hair, split eyes, maybe even split personality, as if good and evil were constantly battling for control of his mind.
"Yeah", he said "Yeah…."
They stayed quiet for a while, a few meters barely separating the two of them, yet so close to each other it was as if they were sitting shoulder to shoulder.
"You know, you don't have to be the next All Might"
"I got his Quirk", mumbled Katsuki. "Kind of late for that"
"That's not his Quirk anymore, that's yours"
Shoto's eyes were shining.
"You don't have to be his successor if you do not want to : you can become whoever you want. You can do whatever the fuck you want"
Shoto leaned forward, and Katsuki noticed he had this crazy glint in the eye, the one he always got whenever he was going to do something insane.
Yet Shoto's insanity was inspiring, and Katsuki leaned forward, eager to absorb until the last crumb to fill his inner void.
"I know you think it's a burden" Katsuki shot him a meaningful glance. "This is not the end, but rather a new beginning", Shoto's pupils were dilated "You've been bestowed the power to level up the field : use it to your advantage"
Level up the field.
"I'm betting people will start sucking up to you if they have not started already. They think you're malleable, impressionable. All Might was too strong, too focused to be swayed. You're sixteen, and you've got more power and more potential than any of them could ever dream to have"
Katsuki swallowed heavily, the sudden possibilities swarming his mind.
"You do not have to be a Hero if you do not want to, yet it doesn't mean you have to quit the game. Hell, you could even ditch Japan and go work for China or any other country you'd wish for"
Katsuki caught himself pondering the idea.
He'd never been overly patriotic, but you had to have some degree of national pride to become a Hero ; yet when he looked at his friend in a cold and humid cell, whatever was left of it crumbled.
"Can I ?"
"Of course you can", said Shoto matter of fact. "That's the whole point of our Quirks : we can do whatever the fuck we want to do"
Their gazes locked, and they shared an unspoken understanding.
Not so long ago Katsuki had entertained the idea of Shoto and him as a fearsome duo of Heroes that would've put even the previous Peace's Symbols to shame. He'd wondered if Shoto would've agreed and if so, if he would've talked to him about Tartarus.
Maybe Katsuki would've ended up in the cell next to his.
Shoto leaned back against the wall.
"But we've already talked about it. Now tell me why you're really here"
Katsuki's shoulders tensed before he forced himself to relax.
They were watching.
"Do you think they'll keep trying to murder me ?"
For a second it looked as if Shoto wouldn't answer ; then a spasm made his left eyebrow twitch, and he spit :
"...of course they will. Though there is an easy way out" Katsuki leaned forward. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and work your ass off, dumbass"
Katsuki frowned, wondering why he'd cursed at him suddenly.
"I'm not-"
"You're not the guy I became friends with. Since Uraraka's death, you're not even half of the guy you used to be"
Katsuki frowned at how unfair Shoto was : she'd died. Of course he had the right to mourn.
And in some twisted way, he believed Ochaco had deserved her fate.
If what Monoma had said was true – and it certainly was – then she was the reason Iida, Kaminari and Hagakure-
What about the pink girl from the beginning of the school year ? The girl who'd dissapeared ? Did she hear something she shouldn't have ? Had Ochaco killed her in cold-blood ?
Did she have any remorse ?
Katsuki bite the inside of his cheek, trying to reign in his emotions and avoid everything spilling out.
Fuck it, he'd already cried way too much – and in public, too. He wouldn't do it again. He wasn't weak.
Was there any point avenging her ?
Katsuki missed what could've been as much as he missed her.
He felt as if he'd been robbed of his future in one single night, and the fact that he'd never get any closure was worse than knowing that everything between them had been a lie.
"I'm not used to-"
"No one's ever used to losing people", Shoto cut hit off. "Get your shit together and stop wallowing in self-pity. You've got a problem with your Quirk ? The Katsuki I know would work his ass off until he figures something. You're scared people will keep trying to murder you ? News flash : that's never going to stop unless you show them that messing with you would cost them far more than what they can afford to lose"
Shoto's gaze was cold, hard, unyielding, yet it was everything Katsuki needed.
Maybe he was right. Maybe he didn't have to play the game by anyone's rules but his.
"You do not want to be a Hero ? Then don't be. There's plenty of use for people with Quirks like yours. Hell, I could even hire you and you wouldn't have to think for yourself anymore : I'd give you orders and you'd just have to mindlessly follow them"
Shoto's voice got lower.
"Because it's what it's about, isn't it ? You're scared of taking your own decisions and facing the consequences"
Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek.
Once more, he'd went to Shoto hoping that his friend would tell him what to do.
How pathetic he was.
"That's a very dangerous mindset, Katsuki. You shouldn't let me or anyone else boss you around", said Shoto. "Make everyone understand that you can't be messed with. All Might's era is over ; now it's yours"
Was it ?
If it was true, then Katsuki wanted Shoto to be freed.
"Be loyal to your word", he insisted. "Do not repeat my mistakes. You're far better than that"
Shoto was too much of a wild card to be trusted.
It didn't have to be the same for Katsuki.
"Shoto"
Their gazes locked.
"In four days you'll be-"
Jin Woo, as if appearing out of thin air, grabbed Katsuki by his shirt and disappeared with him.
Shoto's fingers closed on their afterimage.
*
BONUS :
YOMIURI SHINBUN Edition of Saturday 10th X317
"THE HEROIC COMMISSION HAS A SECRET CHILDREN TRAINING PROGRAM"
A few months ago, Japan was stunned by revelations about specialized schools dedicated to training Heroes' children and relatives. The most prominent of these, Sword and Cross (the only Asian military academy), faced intense scrutiny. Criticism was directed at the backgrounds of its instructors—many of whom were mercenaries with experience in various conflicts, including former country Israel's invasion—and the curriculum, which shockingly included teaching children as young as five how to wield knives and the most effective ways to kill an adult.
Despite the Heroic Commission - and numerous politicians - vehemently condemning the academy, and a petition garnering nearly 3 million signatures, Sword and Cross remains operational.
In a startling twist, it has come to light that for the past twenty years, the Heroic Commission itself has been running a covert children's training program. Thirty children, aged between four and eleven, were inducted into the Commission's ranks through illegal contracts, effectively signing them into a lifetime of servitude—modern-day slavery. These children were meticulously selected by a subdivision of the Commission's Technical Staff, led by Sydney Gottlieb. The criteria for selection were twofold: the child had to possess an exceptional Quirk that could be of significant value to Japan if properly harnessed, and they had to be orphans or children whose parental authority could be easily overridden with the right incentives.
One of these children is none other than Pro Hero Hawks. […]
*
A/N : Wednesday chapter.
Also just telling it for everyone, but the next FF will be a Naruto one.
I'll make a dedicated empty chapter just for everyone to drop suggestions/things you'd like to see/things you think are interesting in this world/relationships with canon characters you'd like to see explored/things you hate and that are too cliché and would make the story boring/etc so think about what would be your perfect Naruto FF (and you can still comment here or on any other chapter of this story if you think you'll forget).
See you in the next update everybody !
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