Chương 46: The End and the Beginning.

|A week later, Underground Fighting Club "The Vermillion Bird"|

…

{And Spinning Tornado manages to dodge the Blood-haired punk's fist!}

-Cheers!-

{But wait! It was all a ruse! Spinning Tornado fell for a feint and has been thrown to the ground! Now, a barrage of fists is coming his way!}

-Boo!-

{And here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the end of the match!}

-Boo!!-

{Oh, but wait, Spinning Tornado is standing up!}

-Cheers!-

{...Never mind folks, he just got shut down before he could even stand up… The victor this time is the Blood-haired Punk!}

"Oh, goddamnit!"

"Not again!"

"How does he always manage to win?! He doesn't even seem to have that good of a Quirk!"

"It's all because of his technique, my friend. Haven't you seen how he moves? Those are the moves of a master"

"Pfft, what master? There's no way a brat like him is a master of martial arts or whatever, he probably just has a quirk that allows him to move like that"

"Well, quirk or not, you have to admit that it is effective"

"Hmph"

{... Damnit, I bet it all on the Spinning Tornado, how will I face my family when they discover where the kid's funds for college went…?}

{Hey, partner, you left the microphone on}

{Huh? Oh—Ahem, sorry for that folks, forget what you heard}

-Beep-

'What's with those commentators…?' At the arena, Suzaku, whose entire face was covered by using his glasses as a mask, shook his head as he glanced at the commentators' cabin.

He then glanced at his defeated opponent on the ground. The guy was lying sprawled on the floor, and his entire face was covered with blood and held several bruises in most places.

It seemed like he had gone a bit overboard.

'But well, even after I beat him into submission this guy still tried standing up, so yeah, not my fault'

Suzaku shook his head, not understanding why this guy had tried winning to such an extent.

However, when he considered that he was one of the top contenders in this city, it made sense that he wouldn't want to lose… And especially not to a teenager like him.

'Well, too bad' Suzaku shook his head, and after giving the guy one last look of pity, he left the arena and went to cash out his prize for winning.

The process didn't take much. After a bit of waiting in line with other fighters who wanted to cash their money as well, his turn finally arrived, and he faced a foreign-looking man who, strangely, resembled a particular character from a certain superhero movie about a young man with spider powers.

The moment he saw him, Suzaku almost expected him to say "I miss the part where that's my problem".

Fortunately, his worries turned out to be unwarranted as he received his money without problems.

After that was done, and seeing that if he continued staying there he would probably get ganged up by those who had bet on his opponent on today's match, Suzaku decided to call it a day and went back home.

The trip, fortunately, was pretty uneventful, something that Suzaku appreciated as lately there had been too many trips back home when something occurred.

Be it getting attacked by a bunch of kidnappers, or being told by Tatsuo to come spar with him at his dojo only to then get promoted from disciple to master.

Honestly, he preferred things to stay calm for once. That way, he could enjoy the stillness of the trip and simply focus on his thoughts through the journey.

Like right now, for example.

'Tomorrow is the grand day, huh?…' Suzaku thought as he stared at the sunset with a small smile.

A week had passed since his meeting with Tatsuo where he revealed his powers to him and the old man announced his retirement. Since then, an entire week had gone by with no event worth noting.

That, however, didn't feel quite right in Suzaku's mind.

Although he didn't think the old man would rat him out to the police, part of him had expected something to change after he revealed his secret.

But no, his days continued to be the same.

He spent his days in school sparring with Aizawa whenever the teacher was not busy, studied at the last minute for tests that he had to do the next day, and just spent his days chilling at home.

The normality of his days felt odd when he considered he had revealed his most important secret just a week ago.

Still, Suzaku wasn't one to dwell on complicated feelings for too long.

Although he would look at his situation with a weird gaze every once in a while, eventually he would just shrug it off and go on with his day.

Like today, the last day before the Sports Festival began.

Excepting his fight at the fighting club just a few minutes ago, today had been a pretty relaxed day. He was barely even paying attention to the fact that tomorrow he would appear on TV, and get broadcasted to the entire Japan.

And honestly, why would he care? He had already been on TV once.

However, his appearance was brief, and he was only detailed to be one of the many victims of the crazy doctor who abducted him once.

Still, he had appeared on TV, and that was a fact.

As such, Suzaku considered himself a pro when it came to appearing on TV. Therefore, he didn't have anything to fear.

"Should I make my glasses more stylish for tomorrow? I gotta look good for the media" Suzaku mused as he caressed his chin in thought.

His leisure attitude was the complete opposite of how his classmates had been feeling the last few days.

Suzaku could swear that with each day that passed, the more nervous they seemed whenever they met at school.

'I wonder what they are doing right now…' Suzaku thought, before remembering that they had a Quirksapp group with everyone in the class.

As such, Suzaku took out his phone and opened the app, curious about what those guys would be talking about now that the event they were awaiting so much was only a day away.

"Ugh..." He, however, winced a bit as he saw two hundred unread messages from the class group.

And, in a fit of laziness, he just scrolled all the way down. Not bothering to read whatever they had discussed before.

He could just read it later when he felt like it.

... If he remembered to, that is...

-[Class 1-B rules]-

…

[Class Representative dude: Has everyone finished preparing for tomorrow's grand event?]

[Begins with Its instead of Shiz: Remember that we'll be on live TV for the entire country. So, make sure you look the best you can!]

[Tetsux4: Do we have to bring formal clothing? I have none]

[Class Representative dude: The teacher didn't mention it, so we'll most likely use our uniforms]

[Spin me right round: I don't remember seeing any student using formal clothing during the Sports Festival transmissions]

[Scary quirk girl: x2]

[Scary quirk girl mushroom version: x3]

[Furry Guy: UA students have always used their gym uniforms during the festival]

[Tetsux4: Nice]

[Class Representative dude: On the topic of bringing something specific to the festival, anyone who requires special equipment for assisting their Quirk, remember to inform the teachers about it before the Sports Festival]

[Begins with Its instead of Shiz: @IamSuzakuTheGreat, did you remember to write a speech since you'll be the students' representative?]

...

'Shit…' Suzaku cursed upon reaching the last message.

He had done nothing so far. He had forgotten he had to do such a thing in the first place.

The teacher told him a week ago, but unfortunately, his mind only retained that information for half an hour, before he then forgot completely.

Now, he had to prepare an entire speech for tomorrow.

'If I had known this, I wouldn't have striven for first place in the practical exam…'

He then scratched the back of his head, annoyed that he would have to spend the rest of what had been supposed to be a free day writing a damn speech.

Eventually, though, he just shook his head.

'Whatever, how hard can it be? I bet I'll finish it in just a few minutes when I arrive home'

After shrugging his concerns aside, he picked up his phone again and began typing.

...

[Begins with Its instead of Shiz: @IamSuzakuTheGreat, did you remember to write a speech since you'll be the students' representative?]

[You: Ye]

[Crazy guy: …That doesn't look very convincing]

[Begins with Its instead of Shiz: I'm sure @SuzakuTheGreat already did it]

[You: Ye 👍]

[Crazy guy: …Say something other than ye]

Ignoring that last message, Suzaku put his phone back in his pocket and got to brainstorm about what his speech would be while he continued walking home.

'Hmm, well, for starters, I must be humble, nothing good will come from looking like an arrogant prick, which I ain't. Secondly, since I'm the student representative, I should sound respectable and amiable… That way, I can have everyone love me from the start, and make my rise as a hero in the future smoother'

He grabbed his chin and smiled satisfiedly upon imagining himself on the podium giving a speech worthy of a hero of the masses.

As he smirked at that image in his head, he put his hands behind his head and said in a relaxed tone. "This will be so easy"

…

|Some hours later…|

…

While sitting on his bed and playing with his QuirkStation, Suzaku's eyes widened upon catching sight of the hour on his phone's screen by accident.

"Damn, what do you mean it's already 10 PM?! I haven't done anything!"

After staring at his phone a few more times, as if to make sure he was seeing right, he massaged his temples in annoyance, cursing at himself for procrastinating so much, before he shook his head and stood up to turn off his Quirkstation.

"Damn console, thanks to you I wasted all day doing nothing" As he pressed the power button, he shot the device a mean look. Only to then turn around, and walk towards his desk.

"Alright, let's see… What should I begin with?" He picked up a pencil and tapped it on his chin, entering into deep thought.

He was like that for a while, thousands of ideas going through his mind every second, until a minute or so later, when he finally came up with something.

"This should be good"

After he said that, he pressed the pencil against the paper, and got to write like a madman. His speed and style while doing it were only rivaled by a certain supernatural notebook owner who liked to eat potato chips.

He stayed like that for a good while, fixing errors, coming up with new stuff, erasing unnecessary stuff, and perfecting the drafts again and again, until after ten minutes passed, he finally finished writing the first part of his speech.

Proud after going through so much effort, Suzaku cleaned the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and picked up the paper to read its contents out loud, almost as if practicing for his speech tomorrow.

"Ahem… Sup everyone, let's do well together in this sports festival"

He then put the paper down, smiling proudly at what he had just created…

-Rip!-

…Only to tear it apart the next second with a pissed-off expression.

"What the heck was that trash?!"

After throwing the papers away out of sheer frustration, he slouched over his desk and supported his head with both of his hands on his forehead.

"Why am I so bad at doing this?" He asked in a low voice, looking lost after discovering another thing he sucked at.

Eventually, though, he shook his head and stood up, looking in front of him with a serious and determined gaze.

"I must be lacking energy for my brain… Yeah, that must be it, let's go grab something to munch on then"

Thus, without wasting any more time, he turned around and left the room, going to look for something to eat in his fridge.

After a bit of looking, he found half of a pizza that he had ordered yesterday and slapped his head in realization. "Right, there was this!"

So, after picking it up and putting it in the oven, he went to sit on his sofa and picked up his phone again to make time until his pizza was ready.

First, he watched some videos, nothing special. Just scrolling down again and again, waiting for his food to be ready.

However, after the 10th video showcasing heroes being assholes or outright fighting with pedestrians, a notification popped up and caught his attention.

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Hey bro, ready for tomorrow?]

It was Arata.

He clicked the notification and got to reply.

[You: Sure I'm just having some trouble writing the speech I must give]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Right, I forgot you were the students' representative]

[You: I'm horrible at this stuff]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Really? Just ask QuirkGPT to write a speech for you then]

[You: Bro…]

Suzaku cleaned the tears from the corner of his eyes.

[You: You're a true one]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Just don't make it too obvious that you used it]

[You:👍]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Btw, I worked on the stuff you asked, what do you think?]

Suzaku raised an eyebrow as he saw Arata send various pictures of what appeared to be a red small backpack and a red staff. They looked pretty cool, as it seemed Arata wasn't one to disregard the visual aspect of his creations.

He then sent a video, showcasing how they worked.

The backpack, in summary, was very similar to the one Arata had made for himself. The only difference was that this one was small and that it could shoot a metallic arm to push or pull oneself in whichever direction was desired.

The speed at which it did it was pretty good as well, it certainly made for enhancing one's mobility.

The staff was much simpler. Although it had the length of a normal staff, much like the one he had received along with his hero suit, this one could extend to what seemed to be three times its original length. Something that Suzaku couldn't help but look forward to using.

"I'm going to mess with their minds so much…. Hehehe" The redhead said as he rubbed his hands against each other maliciously. Imagining his future opponents not being able to assess properly the real length of the staff, and getting wacked in the face as a result.

With that, a lot of issues he had at the moment while fighting were solved.

The only thing that remained, was waiting for the Sports Festival, and then, he would get his hands on the staff… As for the backpack…

Unfortunately, he had talked with Vlad King about both the projects that Arata was developing, and he had only permitted him to use the extensible staff during the competition, not the grappling hook that in this case ended up being the backpack that Arata had come up with.

Still, not everything was lost. Vlad King had mentioned that whoever the teacher in charge of observing the events from up close was, they would permit him to use the backpack depending if they saw it fair or interesting for the Sports Festival.

So there was still a chance he would be able to use it. It would just depend on the decision of whoever that teacher was.

That, or as Arata had said, if an event that required forming teams was chosen, he would become able to share his equipment with Suzaku without restrictions.

Hopefully, one of those options would come to pass.

As he prayed inside his mind at his God, Suzaku began typing on his phone again.

[You: They look epic]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: A little warning though, the staff ended up being pretty heavy]

[You: Dont chu worry, these hands were made for grabbing long metal rods]

…

[You: That came up weird]

[Nerdy kid of the weird hair: Yeah, a little]

-Ding!-

Suzaku sighed as he exited the conversation on his phone, and glanced at the oven. His pizza was ready it seemed.

He stood up and began serving it on a plate. When he was done, he brought it with him to the couch and began digging in.

Of course, not without turning on the TV first, so that he could have something to watch as he ate.

He could have used his phone to watch something, but since he was going to eat something oily, he didn't want to dirty the screen.

{... And now, let's take a look at tomorrow's weather! Expect a bright and sunny day to shine down on the rising stars of the UA Sports Festival. Clear skies will provide the perfect backdrop for these talented heroes as they compete, with temperatures...}

Upon turning on the TV, the first channel that came up was a news channel currently showcasing the weather report for tomorrow.

Suzaku was lazy and didn't bother changing it, deciding that it would do the job of distracting him while he ate.

Though he had to admit, he got a bit annoyed when he saw that even in the weather report they were amping up the incoming Sports Festival.

'They sure love to watch it, huh?' Suzaku scoffed as he took another bite of his pizza.

Though, internally, a bit of nervousness began slowly sprouting.

The importance that this event had was slowly dawning on him, and therefore, the impact that his behavior during it could have on his future as a hero.

At first, he had seen it as a simple show for a mildly large amount of people from Japan who were interested in the show. However, he had to admit it now.

He was wrong.

The entire Japan was crazy about it, and they were all talking about it left and right. Even at the Underground Fighting Club, he overheard some people talking about it.

What was about to happen tomorrow, was truly important.

In the end, however, he shrugged off those feelings with a shake of his head. Not wanting to get overwhelmed by such a nasty feeling as nervousness was.

'Why am I overthinking it so much? I just need to give the damn speech, and then whoop the ass of everyone until I make my way to the third or second place, easy peasy lemon squeezy'

With that thought, he gave one last and decisive bite of his pizza, almost as if taking out his frustration on it.

However, then a certain memory came to his mind.

{"Whatever it is you desire to become, whatever is it you desire to achieve… You better do it intending to reach the top. Neither third nor second place are goals worthy of a disciple of my school…"}

The words from the old man in their last meeting replayed in his head, almost like a nagging from him.

Suzaku scoffed.

He was just being strategic. He could achieve first place if he wanted, but he preferred not to be in the spotlight.

And besides, even if the old man had said that, how was he actually supposed to beat All Might at being a hero? The dude was simply too much for him to surpass, Impostor powers or not.

Sure, beating him in a fight was possible, although he wasn't sure, he assumed his killing ability would be able to one-shot All Might.

However, outperforming him as a hero was another thing.

The dude was just on a whole another level, both physically, and mentally.

From what he had seen, the dude not only was a pro at solving crimes in a record time that could make all the other heroes look like snails, but he had also focused his entire life on fighting crime. He was not called the Symbol of Peace for nothing.

Suzaku, on the other hand, didn't plan on going to such an extent.

He just wanted money for god's sake, and for that, he just needed to stand out among the other heroes, not be the best one.

As such, believing he could become the number one hero was but a pipe dream, and Suzaku knew it.

'Though, now that I think about it, the dude is looking to retire, isn't he?'

That was right, he had supposedly received a pretty bad injury during a fight years ago, and as a result, he had chosen Midoriya to be his successor. Passing him down his powers, which the greenhead would have to train to be able to use them effectively.

Upon realizing that fact, Suzaku considered for a moment the possibility of reaching the top.

However, after a few seconds, he discarded that thought.

Eventually, Midoriya would probably reach the same level of power that All Might had shown in his prime, and as a result, even if he tried, it would be impossible to surpass the crime-fighting level that Midoriya would develop in the future.

'Yeah, what was I thinking, I should just stick to—'

{Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt our regular programming to bring you an urgent, last-minute notice from the police department}

"Huh?"

Suzaku's train of thought was abruptly interrupted by the sudden sound of the news program announcing some breaking news.

"..." He leaned forward and listened attentively, this type of news was usually pretty serious, so he wanted to see what had happened.

{... It has just been revealed that earlier this afternoon, police forces, alongside several professional heroes and affiliates, successfully carried out a raid on a dangerous villain den, capturing nearly 50 individuals in the process. However, authorities have issued a warning, as some villains managed to escape with the aid of external assistance. The police are urging citizens to remain vigilant, as the escapees are believed to be planning a major attack. If you have any information, please contact the authorities at the number provided right now...}

"Damn"

Suzaku eyed the TV with a surprised expression.

Images of several villains walking out of a shady-looking building could be seen playing on the screen, the amount and huge concentration of individuals who alone were capable of terrifying a huge number of people was scary.

'Just what were those guys planning, having gathered in such an amount?'

They said they captured around fifty villains, but there were still some that managed to escape. Which meant that the amount of villains they were gathering was even higher than what was visible on the TV.

"Sheesh, what a crazy bunch," Suzaku said with a serious look.

Even he would have some trouble dealing with such large groups. Especially when taking into consideration how varied their Quirks would turn out to be.

For the police and the heroes to have managed to subdue them, Suzaku felt a lot of respect for them.

Still, his interest in the news was pretty short-lived. He continued watching for a while, observing the images of the villains being thrown into police cars or the interviews that the reporters did with some passersby who had been close to the scene. However, eventually, he grew bored of it and turned the TV off.

"What a chaotic world," The redhead commented as he stared at the black screen of his turned-off TV, stretching a bit while still sitting on the couch before he then turned around to look at the door that led to his room with a serious gaze. "... But enough of losing time, I should go to sleep soon, so let's get done with this damn speech"

After saying that, he stood up and walked back to his room.

After sitting down at his desk and picking up a paper and a pencil, Suzaku cracked his neck and took out his phone.

As Arata had suggested, he was going to QuirkGPT to speed up the creation of his speech. Otherwise, Suzaku could already see himself staying up all night just to make something acceptable.

And that was not an option, considering that tomorrow he should be in his best condition.

-Beep, beep, beep, beep…-

"Hmm?"

However, just as he was opening the app, something popped up on his screen and stopped him.

"The hell?"

His parents were calling.

Confused by the suddenness of their call, Suzaku tilted his head and stared at his screen for a few seconds. Not getting why they would be calling at an hour like this.

However, In the end, he assumed the motive of their call was due to tomorrow's event.

They had been watching the UA Sports Festival ever since he woke up in this new life. It was understandable that they would be hyped up to call their son, knowing he would appear at the event.

Therefore, Suzaku let out a sigh and answered the call. Not wanting to keep them waiting any longer.

"Hey Mom and Dad" Suzaku spoke with a bit of a lazy tone. Expecting both of his parents to shout at him excited about the news.

{"Suzaku…"} However, to his surprise, it was only his father who answered back, and what puzzled him more, his tone was incredibly somber.

"What's wrong?" Suzaku asked with a worried tone. Wondering just what would make his father talk like this when he thought he would be jumping in happiness.

His father's next words, however, were enough to make him understand.

"Tatsuo-san… he… passed away"

…

-To be Continued…-

(A/N: Gotta go fast so no commentary this chapter)