章 5: Chapter 4: Rules and Trash
"What are you doing?"
Before Midnight could fully process what was happening, Kaminari had already crouched down and stretched his hand toward the old man's chest. In the next second, her white, slender hand tightly grabbed his wrist.
"Kid, what do you think you're doing?!"
Her brows furrowed in frustration, and her eyes flashed with disbelief. A child's interference during such a critical moment? It was outrageous!
However, Kaminari didn't react angrily. Instead, he looked up at her, his eyes calm and full of sincerity. With a quiet but confident voice, he began to explain.
"You just said the old man's heart stopped because of cardiac arrest, and your chest compressions and CPR aren't working, right? That means he needs a stronger shock to revive him."
"So—"
"Stop talking. Just listen to me," Kaminari interrupted her, knowing they didn't have a second to waste. "My Quirk acts like a defibrillator. My hands can generate the right kind of electricity to restart his heart."
As he spoke, he let a small spark of golden electricity dance between his fingers, proving his point before it quickly faded. Midnight hesitated for a second, feeling the faint static between them. The sensation made her instinctively pull back her hand, starting to believe him.
"But you don't have a hero license! According to the regulations, you're not allowed to—"
Before she could finish, Kaminari had already placed his hands on the old man's chest, focusing intently. Midnight could only stand by, her heart pounding as she watched the young boy defy the rules, hoping his gamble would pay off.
Though she was deeply unsettled by Kaminari's actions, it wasn't just because he'd disobeyed her. What truly frustrated her was how reckless he was, stepping in where he had no legal right to act. Regulations were there for a reason, after all.
Whether or not the old man survived, Kaminari would still face serious consequences. The law didn't care if the outcome was good or bad—breaking the rules was breaking the rules.
But now that he'd begun, all Midnight could do was watch. She silently prayed he knew what he was doing, though she was already planning on teaching him a lesson afterward. He needed to understand the weight of responsibility, the importance of laws and rules. That's what it meant to be a hero.
On the other hand, Kaminari was entirely focused on the task at hand. He carefully controlled the electricity coursing through his body, sending small, precise shocks directly to the old man's heart. This technique, which he called "Electrotherapy," was something he had developed himself, inspired by the thunder-based abilities of the character Enel from One Piece in his previous life.
The concept was simple use fine control over his electric current to act as a defibrillator, stimulating the heart back into rhythm. When Kaminari first started training his Quirk, he'd never thought about learning such delicate techniques. Like any kid, he'd imagined powerful, flashy moves with big effects stuff like "100,000 Volts," "Thunder Dragon's Roar," or "God's Judgement."
But reality had thrown cold water over his ambitions.
While his Quirk allowed him to generate electricity, Kaminari quickly realized he couldn't control large amounts of current at all. Once it left his body, it scattered wildly into the air, losing energy almost immediately.
The idea of shaping or directing his electricity seemed impossible. He couldn't even guide the current in a straight line. Worse yet, the risk of accidentally injuring others was high. The uncontrolled nature of his power made it far too dangerous to use around people.
This was the first of his two major limitations. Overcoming it would require intense training to master precise control. But the second flaw was even more debilitating and far harder to fix.
Whenever Kaminari pushed his output beyond a certain threshold, his brain would short-circuit. He'd lose consciousness and, for a while, turn into nothing more than a grinning idiot, only able to give a thumbs-up and giggle.
Why did he know this so well? Well, let's just say he'd learned the hard way.
In the end, Kaminari had to give up on the dream of massive electrical discharges. Instead, he turned his attention to honing his fine control over his Quirk, drawing inspiration from anime techniques that focused on precision rather than raw power.
Nine years of relentless training had paid off. Now, he could create complex three-dimensional shapes, like a small Pikachu, out of thin strands of electricity. This was proof of how far his micro-control had advanced.
It was also the reason he'd had the confidence to step in and perform defibrillation today. He wasn't acting out of arrogance he was relying on years of hard work.
The crowd surrounding them had fallen silent, holding their breath as Kaminari worked. It felt as though even the birds had stopped singing, waiting to see what would happen.
And then, suddenly, the old man's chest rose.
"He's breathing!"
"Oh my God, his heart is beating again!"
"Thank goodness!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, their excitement palpable. Some of the older women even had tears in their eyes as they watched the miracle unfold.
At the same time, the wail of a distant ambulance echoed through the park, but nobody cared about that anymore. Their attention was entirely on the blond boy, who stood up slowly, looking both relieved and exhausted.
"Kid! Do you realize what you've done?!"
As the others praised him, Midnight stepped forward, her voice cold and angry. "You broke the law! You're a middle school student, aren't you? If this gets recorded in your file, you'll have a hard time getting into any high school, no matter how good your grades are!"
"Do you understand how serious this is?!"
Kaminari glanced at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Does it really matter?" he asked casually. "Would you have preferred to let the old man die just because of some regulation?"
He stepped forward, his eyes meeting Midnight's, his tone calm but firm. "Would you give up your future just to follow the rules, even if it meant losing someone's life?"
Midnight's anger faltered. She stared at him, the confidence in his expression catching her off guard. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
"Rules?" Kaminari chuckled softly as he prepared to leave. He had his graduation ceremony today, and he didn't want to be late. But before he walked away, he turned back one last time.
"Yeah, people who break the rules are trash. But…" He paused, his voice firm. "People who don't value life are worse than trash."
With that, he headed toward the subway station, leaving behind a stunned silence.
Even Midnight, her mouth slightly open, was speechless. His words had struck deeper than she expected.
"Wait!"
Her voice rang out again, stopping him in his tracks. "What's your name?! Tell me your name!"
Kaminari paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "Kaminari. Kaminari Denki from Tanibori No. 1 Junior High. If you want to call the police and arrest me, that's where you'll find me."
And with that, he disappeared into the distance.
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