I tried to understand, no I did understand, and yet I couldn't agree with it, just like...
I shook my head.
The anger still burned in my chest, a simmering heat that refused to die down. How could Nezu be so cavalier about putting students in danger? How could he smile when talking about injury and pain?
I needed to keep myself occupied.
I looked around from my perch atop a skyscraper and realized that I could hear no one that needed my help. The city stretched out below me, peaceful in the late afternoon light. Instead, I felt a heat from my pocket.
My phone. The phone Nezu had given me.
I turned it on.
The passcode opened up. I pressed it in.
1
2
3
4
I hadn't changed it.
Then I saw an app.
YouTube.
I hadn't used the phone for anything aside from talking with Nezu, but I guess that was about to change. Maybe some mindless distraction would help cool the fire in my chest.
On the entrance page, at the recommended line was a video.
"Arthur the Vigilante: A Menace to the Rising Sun by JJJ," I read, releasing a sigh.
Of course. Even the algorithm was against me.
I turned off the phone, I really didn't want to know why this JJJ was against me, I simply pocketed my phone. Was this all right? Being a vigilante or being a hero?
As the months had passed, with every thank you of gratitude I got from civilians, my want to enter U.A. had crumbled. Could I really just stop? Was it selfish of me? Were the arguments Nezu had given me enough of a reason? Maybe the government would stop spending resources trying to catch me, but what about all the people I wouldn't be able to save in the meantime?
But I remembered what I had told Nezu.
I don't deal in maybes... and yet here I was, drowning in them.
My thoughts spiraled, each question leading to ten more. What if someone died while I was sitting in a classroom learning about hero theory? What if my absence meant the difference between life and death for someone? But then again, what if my vigilante activities really did have dangerous repercussions? What if I inspired copycats and one of them died, because they weren't like me? What if I was causing more harm than good in the long run?
Before the spiral could drag me down completely, I felt my ears twitch, the sound of crying.
I burst from the building roof I was on, arriving at the scene in a second and a half.
A kid was crying. He was huddled up underneath a park tunnel that stretched from one climbing tower to the next. He couldn't have been more than six or seven, with scraped knees and dirt-stained clothes that suggested he'd taken a tumble.
I was about to move forward, to try to help, but I stopped myself. I restrained myself.
Why?
Well because a girl had walked up behind the boy before I could reach him. She seemed to be around the same age, with pigtails and a bright yellow dress. She tapped his shoulder gently.
"Are you okay?"
The boy shook his head, pointing at his scraped knee with a trembling finger. Blood seeped through the torn fabric of his pants.
The girl looked at the injury with the serious expression only children could muster when faced with another's pain.
"Ooh, that looks like it hurt," she said sympathetically. "But check this out."
She opened up her palm in front of the curious boy, glancing left and right as if checking for eavesdroppers, then closed her eyes in concentration.
On her palm, water began to gather, first into a small puddle, then rising into a ball. The liquid began to shift and change, flowing into recognizable shapes.
When the transformation was complete, a perfect water figurine of All Might stood in her palm, complete with his trademark smile and heroic pose.
The boy's tears stopped immediately, his eyes widening in wonder. He laughed, a pure, delighted sound that made something warm bloom in my chest.
The girl laughed too, clearly pleased with her success.
"That's so cool!" the boy exclaimed. "How did you do that?"
"It's my quirk," she said proudly. "I can control small volumes of water, just don't tell anyone I used it in public," she added, her other hand making a shushing gesture with her index.
The boy brought his hand forward, fingers outstretched in curiosity. His middle finger made contact with the water figurine first and... splash.
The All Might figure collapsed, water splashing across the girl's palm and onto both children's shoes.
"I'm sorry!" the boy said quickly, his face falling.
The girl, however, laughed even harder. "Don't worry! There's a lot more water where that came from."
New water began to gather in her palm, remaking the All Might figurine. Both children laughed in unison, the boy's injury temporarily forgotten in the face of such wonder.
"Does it still hurt?" the girl asked, nodding toward his knee.
The boy looked down, seeming surprised to remember his scrape. "A little, but it's okay. That was amazing!"
"Come on," the girl said, standing and offering her hand. "Let's go find your mom. Mom's can make everything better."
It looked like I wasn't needed here.
So I began to walk away, but instead of immediately leaping to another rooftop, I found myself walking slowly through the streets of Musutafu. The sun was moving slowly overhead, painting everything in warm golden hues. For once, I wasn't rushing to the next emergency or crisis. I was just... walking.
And as I walked, I began to notice things I usually missed in my haste to save the world.
I saw the next person who needed help, an elderly man struggling with multiple grocery bags, his thin arms shaking under the weight. Paper bags threatened to tear, and I could see cans rolling dangerously close to the edge.
I was about to intervene, my body already tensing to move, when a voice stopped me.
"You need help with that, sir?"
A middle-aged man in a business suit had paused seemingly on his way home from work.
The old man blinked in surprise, then smiled gratefully. "Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you, young man."
The businessman nodded, grabbing three of the heavier bags from the elderly man. "No problem at all. Where are you headed?"
"My car's just over there," the old man said, pointing to a small blue toyota parked nearby. "I'm sorry for troubling you. I thought I could manage, but my arthritis is acting up today."
"It's no trouble at all," the businessman assured him. "My father had arthritis too. I know how it can sneak up on you."
They walked together, the businessman matching the older man's slower pace, chatting about the weather and the rising cost of groceries. When they reached the car, the businessman helped load the bags into the trunk, even going so far as to arrange them so nothing would shift during the drive.
"Thank you so much," the elderly man said, shaking the businessman's hand. "It's nice to know there are still good people in the world."
"Just paying it forward," the businessman replied with a genuine smile. "My grandmother always said kindness is free to give but priceless to receive."
I smiled as I watched them part ways, each continuing their journey with a little more lightness in their step. While it felt good to do good, seeing good was a different kind of wonderful, I couldn't quite explain it, so I didn't.
Instead I found myself shooting to the roof of a nearby building. I stood there and watched the life unfolding below, seeing the city through new eyes.
The fact that humanity was good, that was the real miracle. In times of need, people would extend helping hands not for personal gain, not for recognition or reward, but because of the simple thing that made us human, empathy.
I saw a father pushing his young daughter on the swings at a small playground, her delighted squeals of infantile joy. The man's face was tired, probably after a long day at work, but he smiled at every request, every giggle.
I saw a teenager with purple hair and multiple piercings, gently helping an elderly lady cross a crosswalk. The old lady gave him a hard candy afterwards
I saw a woman in baggy clothing sitting on a park bench, her baby crying inconsolably in her arms. Instead of growing frustrated, she began making funny faces, tickling tiny feet, and humming a soft lullaby until the infant's cries turned to curious babbling, then content cooing.
I saw construction workers sharing their lunch with a homeless man, not making a big show of it, just quietly including him in their circle as they ate and joked together.
I saw children sharing toys with strangers at the playground, their parents exchanging knowing smiles and contact information for future playdates.
I saw an elderly couple helping each other walk.
At all these scenes, I smiled. Maybe I didn't need to carry the weight of the entire world on my shoulders.
The sun had set for a while now, I was drowned in the night, the glow of moon and stars falling onto the ceiling roof I was on, it was late but there was one place I still wanted to visit before returning to U.A.
It didn't take me long to reach it.
Musutafu Cemetery.
I walked across the graves, headstones big and small filling my vision. I had seen them hundreds of times before, and yet I still grew heavy with sadness when I looked at them. Could I have done anything for them? Maybe not.
I reached the place where I always came to release my worries, to find some semblance of peace.
Two graves lay in front of me, two modest headstones with names inscribed in simple, elegant script.
The first read: Haruto Tadashi, loving father, husband and son.
Underneath that line was a quote he'd always lived by, words that had shaped my entire worldview, even if I didn't remember him saying them to me.
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
Below that were the dates that encompassed his too-short life. 2156-2189.
"Hey, Dad."
I looked at the stone beside it. Unlike my father's, this one didn't have a quote.
It simply read.
Victoria Tadashi, loving mother, wife and daughter.
2157-2194.
"Hey, Mom."
I smiled despite the tears that threatened to fall.
"I know it's been a while. I'm sorry for that," I said, settling cross-legged on the grass between their graves. My clothes dampened from the dirt, but I didn't care. "But I wanted to ask you guys something. Something I don't know how to deal with."
I unsheathed Excalibur, driving her tip gently into the earth between the headstones. Her sacred light emanated outward, casting both graves in a warm, golden glow.
"What would you have told me?"
The question hung in the air, met only by the gentle rustling of leaves in the evening breeze.
I shook my head, already knowing the answer. "I know what you would have told me, to go to U.A. In fact, you probably would have made me go." I laughed, but it came out hollow.
"But I still feel selfish doing it," I continued, my voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Still, is it wrong that I want this? Not just the school, but... the year of rest. Maybe to not feel like the world is on my shoulders for a while. Maybe not to feel so... alone."
The word came out cracked, broken. I hadn't realized how lonely I'd become until I said it out loud.
I felt tears at the edge of my eyes, hot and insistent.
"Japan can wait, right?" I said, thinking back to today's observations, how people had helped each other without my intervention, how kindness flowed naturally between strangers. "The people can help each other and do without me, at least for a little bit... right?"
A/N: Boom bonus chapter, first chapter that I programmed to release and didn't just upload when I finished the revision and editing. Fucking did it, also you guys are popping off with the stones we blew past the top 70 mark so you get another bonus chapter, but like always I'm gonna up the ante :). Let's say that the next goal is top 15 in the all dates chart.
I also wanted to say another thing, this story finally got it's first 'bad' review, not that it's bad, it's pretty good, just that this story wasn't for that person but that made me think of all the rest of you guys, gals, robots, multicellular, unicellular and even energy based lifeforms reading and supporting this, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Last thing before I go, Arthur is simple in his morality but not in his character, hence this chapter and the one before, we will explore him as time goes on. That is all for today. Thx for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Author out.