After two more weeks of rest, Kurose Kuro returned to school.
He was now in his final year of middle school, and the workload had picked up. During his recovery at Nekohoshi Orphanage, he spent most of his time browsing hero forums, focusing on discussions about healing-type heroes.
Only in those threads did the Kurose family ever come up.
From what he read, healing heroes were generally well regarded. That made sense. Their role kept them out of the spotlight, but also out of controversy. You didn't see them show up on lists ranking the most dangerous or controversial heroes.
Nekoyama Fumiko worried he was getting stuck in the past.
She hadn't brought up U.A. High School or becoming a hero in a while. Instead, she started suggesting nursing schools, gently steering him in another direction.
Before the incident, Kuro might have agreed.
Now, he felt nothing.
His thoughts were filled with the Kurose family.
Every night, he reread the same forum thread about healing heroes before going to sleep.
Fujita Emi noticed.
She asked him more than once if he was planning to become a hero, worried he might throw himself into something dangerous again.
Kuro didn't have an answer.
He didn't feel driven.
There was no sense of passion or urgency.
Just… something he couldn't quite name.
Life moved on.
Nothing changed.
Kuro was still just a student.
The news cycle had already moved on from the recent incident.
On TV, All Might's interviews played on repeat, his bright smile filling the screen. Other heroes took the spotlight—Kamui Woods making arrests, Mount Lady gaining more fans, even appearing in advertisements.
Kuro recognized some of them.
He couldn't remember their names.
Or their quirks.
Even after spending two weeks reading hero forums, he hadn't become interested.
He still didn't want to be a hero.
At most, he understood them a little better now.
That was all.
"Kuro, don't forget your textbooks."
Fumiko had been checking his school supplies for days, worried he'd miss something.
Kuro thought he had everything.
But something still felt off.
The day before school started, he passed by the city's waterfront park.
Or what used to be one.
Now, it was more like a dumping ground.
Trash was piled everywhere. The shoreline had been neglected for years, turning what should have been a scenic area into a landfill.
Then he remembered.
"…After you wake up, go to the waterfront park. I left something there…"
His uncle had said that.
In the dream.
Kuro frowned.
It was just a dream.
None of it made sense.
Quirks that could be borrowed. A person who could steal quirks.
It was ridiculous.
Not real.
He glanced at the piles of garbage.
Even if something had been hidden there over ten years ago, it would be impossible to find now.
Digging through that mess?
Pointless.
He turned to leave—
"Don't give up so easily, young man!"
Kuro froze.
"…I'm not the one you're talking to," he said awkwardly.
Then he realized.
That wasn't meant for him.
A few steps away, All Might stood with his usual confident smile. Behind him, a green-haired boy struggled forward, dragging a heavy bag of trash.
Kuro recognized him vaguely.
A classmate from Aldera Junior High.
Midoriya… something.
Kuro felt his face heat up.
He had responded out loud without thinking.
Walking away now would only make it worse.
"Ah." All Might looked at him more closely, recognition flickering in his eyes. Kuro's face was hard to forget.
"You're that boy from before," All Might said. "How are you feeling now?"
Kuro bowed deeply.
"Thank you for saving me back then."
"All part of the job!" All Might replied with a laugh.
Nearby, Midoriya Izuku kept working.
Sweat soaked his clothes as he hauled trash from one place to another.
But he didn't stop.
Not once.
Kuro watched for a moment.
He didn't understand what the boy was doing.
Was he cleaning the place?
Selling scrap?
Then why was All Might here?
It didn't make sense.
He didn't think about it for long.
As for the thing his uncle mentioned…
He didn't bother searching.
No one would dig through a garbage dump for something that might not even exist.
When he returned to school, nothing had changed.
No one asked where he had been.
No one brought up the incident.
To his classmates, it was as if he had never left.
Only the girls in his group seemed slightly relieved.
Their extra pair of hands had come back.
Life at Nekohoshi Orphanage returned to normal.
Fumiko eased his workload, telling him to focus on his studies and recovery.
Emi made snacks for him and occasionally asked him to help watch the younger kids.
Shinso Hitoshi even sent him letters.
Kuro hadn't expected that.
It was the first time he had ever received one.
"I heard he applied to U.A.," Kuro said, his tone softer than before. "Both the hero course and the general course. Just in case."
"Speaking of applications," Emi said, thinking back, "the deadline is coming up soon. You should double-check yours."
Kuro paused.
He set his cup down.
Then slowly froze.
After going over it again and again, he realized something.
Something worse than any villain attack.
He hadn't submitted his application.