Chapter 8
'The press is at the school's entrance because of All Might,'Kazuki read on the screen of his phone, which made his insides turn unpleasantly. 'I'd recommend you don't say anything at all and just get to class.'
That was the message he got from one of the UA teachers. If anything he appreciated the warning, and also the fact that they recommended he not talk. They could have just as easily demanded or ordered him not to, and he would have done it too. This way though, at least Kazuki felt like he had a choice, even if it wasn't much of one.
After all, he was certainly not eager to talk with the press.
Sadly, he still had to attend class, no matter how much he just wanted to stay at his apartment until there wasn't threat of the press. The last thing he wanted was to see his face plastered on the news or something. He could only imagine what they'd write about him, even if they didn't find out who he was.
'Oh, this is fun,' Kazuki thought when he eventually got close to the school. Not only was there a small army of reporters outside the gates, but there were also quite a bit of nervous people in there, likely the students, he guessed, or maybe even the reporters themselves. There were people that were afraid, desperate, sad and so on.
He narrowed his eyes. Those couldn't be the students, right? Why would there be something like that? Was that the reporters? Kazuki guessed that made some sense to an extent. They were people and they were doing their jobs. Just because everyone, including Kazuki himself, liked to generalize them to leeches and vultures didn't mean all of them were. Likely many of them were just doing what they needed to do. Everyone had jobs to do and most people didn't even like their jobs.
He would know, he could more often than not pick up on that.
'Focus, push the emotions away,' Kazuki thought, doing his best to keep his mind calm under the onslaught of negativity. It was nothing new to him. It was something he'd gotten good at. He just needed to keep his focus and ignore the emotions. Focus on his thoughts, focus on his current task at hand. 'One step at a time, all the way to class, come on,' he thought, clearing his expression and just walking.
Some microphones were thrust in front of his face, but he ignored them, doing his best to continue on his way. When someone stood in front of him, he just walked around them. What would they do? Hold him hostage? They were reporters, not villains. They were insistent though and some of them even clever. He was half tempted to answer some of the questions, if only to shut them up. Besides, a few even sounded pretty tame and innocent, all things considered.
He was no public speech expert though, so Kazuki just kept his mouth shut and continued walking.
Eventually, he crossed the gate, which was where the reporter sea finished and he could finally breathe. He could still feel their emotions, but at least he wasn't being physically bombarded with stuff. It made things simpler, more familiar. He was alone with his emotions and the emotions of others. 'Separate them, what am I feeling right now? What should I feel? That's what I feel, nothing else,'he chanted in his head, taking a deep breath in before continuing on his way inside the halls of the school.
'God, classes haven't even started and I'm already half dead,' Kazuki mused with a groan, running his fingers through his hair. 'Some hero I'm gonna make, huh? Overwhelmed by every bout of negativity around,' he thought with a grimace. 'I need to work on it. Stop complaining and start dealing with it. You'll likely be in worse situations.'
That wasn't a comforting thought, but it was the truth. If he wanted to be a hero, he'd have to deal with much more negativity than he was used to. More emotions than he'd like to feel too. It was how heroes worked, they jumped into the closest, biggest mess and that's where the bulk of negative emotions would be. Fear, desperation, grief. There would be lots and lots of those in Kazuki's future… if he graduated.
For his newfound resolution, he'd need to tackle that side of his Quirk too, not just his creatures.
'I don't have to like it,' he thought, finally reaching the door to his class. 'I just have to do it.'
Kazuki blinked as he took a step inside. He'd been pretty sure someone would have been there, nevermind the fact that this was his third day of class and he couldn't already be sure of much. Well, second day, really. He wasn't sure the first day, with the Quirk Apprehension Test counted, quite honestly. However, when he hadn't almost slept in because of Mineta's game, there'd been at least a few people inside.
Now, the classroom was empty.
'Thank God for that,' he thought, sighing with a weary smile on his face. Moving to his desk, he all but let himself fall on it. Resting his elbows on the wooden surface, he placed his face on his hands and gathered his thoughts. With his eyes closed, he followed the negativity around him, checking where it was, where it came from, differentiating it as best he could from his own emotions.
He was good at ignoring it, it was what he'd trained himself to do through the years to try and lead a semi-decent life whenever he got out of juvie. Now though, he wanted something completely different from it. He wanted to push it, he wanted to test it, he wanted to improve on it.
That meant, however, that he needed to focus on the negativity, that he needed to embrace it. That was far from a pleasant experience, obviously, but it was what he needed to do. With some luck, he'd get good enough fast, because he didn't like the thought of it taking him years to get used to it.
Frustratingly, he almost missed one of the people he could sense walking towards the classroom. There was weariness, but not physical. Someone hadn't enjoyed dealing with the press, it seemed. There was no annoyance though, which was interesting. They just seemed… drained by the experience, just that.
Before they reached the door, Kazuki checked to see if there was anyone else coming. It seemed that the start of classes might be delayed or something because of this, if everyone was going to be arriving later than usual. Unless the school did something about it. He wasn't sure if they could do something about it, of course but still… Well, he'd see, he supposed.
His mind was taken away from those idle thoughts as the door opened and the person he'd sensed entered through it. Unsurprisingly, it was Yaoyorozu, one of the few that had arrived before him on that first day when he hadn't arrived at the last minute. Leaning back against the chair, he sighed and gave the girl a nod.
"Yaoyorozu," he said as a way of greeting. It wasn't like he was curt or something, really. Nor did he want to. It was just that he already had a sort of friend group formed, by some miracle, and he didn't want to push things too much.
One day, everyone in the class would find out who he was and he didn't want to hope that they'd all take it as well as Midoriya seemed to have to. Surely at least some of them would take it badly, right? And when that day came… Kazuki didn't want to have too many friends turning against him. If he limited the amount of people that interacted with him then-
"Do you dislike me for some reason, Endo?" Yaoyorozu asked, making him blink. 'When did she come all the way over here?' he wondered, eyes widening a little as he saw the girl standing right in front of his desk, looking at him with a mixture of nervousness and something that wasn't quite picked by his empathy. "You seem friendly enough with others, but when it comes to me… You seem to close off."
"It's… Not that I have a problem with you," he replied, caught off guard. He didn't want to insult the girl, which was why he'd been quick to answer, but still… 'What am I supposed to say here? I just got out of juvie and I've killed people, so I don't want to be friendly with people because it'll hurt when they leave?' he thought before sighing. "It's really not that," he stressed when he noticed the disbelieving look he was getting. "I'm not a friendly person, honestly. The others are the ones that approach me to begin with."
"I… I see, then… I…" the girl started, clearly surprised by his answer. It wasn't even a lie, really. Just like he'd kept away from her, he likely would have the rest of the class. The only ones that he'd approached were Mineta and Hagakure, and the latter had been to help her during the Entrance Exam, which he wasn't sure counted, in all honesty. As for the former… Well, even Kazuki himself wasn't very sure how he'd ended up in that situation. "I apologize then. I'm sorry for assuming."
"Don't worry about it," he reassured, waving the whole thing off. "It's not like I'm the most unfriendly person in the classroom though. You gonna ask Bakugo what his problem is?"
"Ah, no, I just…" Yaoyorozu mumbled again, looking away as she rubbed her arm. Taking her in, Kazuki tried to make sense of her emotions. She seemed to be… unsure? Self-conscious, he thought it was. She was nervous too and… fearful? "You didn't seem like a bad person, despite… everything. But you seemed to actively try to avoid talking to me despite being just fine with our other classmates."
"Despite… everything?" he asked, frowning. There'd been a spike of emotion when she said that, but he hadn't known what it was about. As he spoke though, he felt the same spike more clearly this time. She was… afraid.
"I know… about you," she told him, making him tense up. "I thought your power looked familiar yesterday during the Battle Trial," she added, making him grin bitterly. She was afraid alright, nervous too. "I'm sure U.A. has a reason to have you here. I trust the staff, if nothing else. Besides… you seem… alright, from what I've seen."
Kazuki didn't know what to say to that. What were the odds that two of his classmates would find out about him and be… ok with it? Sure, Yaoyorozu seemed more wary of him than Midoriya had been, but she was still saying it was fine. Despite her concerns and fear, he knew, from her emotions, that she meant what she was saying.
"... Thank you," he said then, giving her an unsure smile. Gulping down his sudden nerves. "I really appreciate you saying that. I…" He ran his fingers through his white hair. "Just, thank you."
"Don't mention it," Yaoyorozu told him with a hesitant smile not unlike his. "As I said, no offense, but it's more that I'm trusting the staff instead of you."
"No offense taken," he replied. He was lying, of course. He was slightly hurt by the comment, but it was a valid and understandable opinion. It wasn't her fault that all she knew about him was what happened during that day. For all she knew, he was an unstable person at the edge of causing another massacre. "I appreciate the benefit of the doubt. It's honestly more than I expected," he admitted with a sad smile. Contrary to his previous statement, that one had held only the truth.
"It's the least I can do, Endo," Yaoyorozu told him, eyeing him curiously now, her previous nerves and fear mostly vanishing. Not entirely, but he'd take that as a win at that point. "I want to think what happened to you was… a tragedy, and an accident. I hope I'm right."
"I hope I can prove that you are right," Kazuki replied, turning slightly to look out of the window. That's when the door opened to let in Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu took that as her cue to go to her desk. There was mostly silence after that, but he was fine with that.
A slight smile formed on his face as he continued looking outside.
The day was turning out to not be so bad.
[}-o-{]
"Are you gonna vote for yourself, Creepy?" Kirishima asked from where he sat next to Kazuki.
It was a good question, he supposed. Aizawa had told them, as soon as everyone got to the classroom, that they needed to pick a Class President. It had been a bit chaotic after that but the gist of it was that everyone seemed to want the spot.
Kazuki himself didn't know why though. Sure, it sounded cool and it probably had its advantages either at school or after it, but it also probably had responsibilities. Those he could do without, quite honestly. He'd likely have enough to worry about keeping his grades up and training to be a hero. There was no need to add more pressure on top of that.
Regardless, Ida had made a little speech regarding the issue which ended on everyone agreeing to hold a vote. A bit useless, in Kazuki's opinion since everyone still seemed intent on getting them to spot themselves, but if nothing else Kazuki would vote for someone else. That should solve the issue, he guessed.
"I'll vote for Yaoyorozu," he answered simply, writing the name on a piece of paper so that he could give it to Ida whenever he got around that part of the classroom gathering the votes.
"Why so?" Hagakure asked, from the desk behind him to his right.
"Because she's smart, so she'll probably be able to deal with the extra work on top of studying. She also seems responsible enough and serious enough. She's also not as much of a weirdo as some others in here. I think she fits," he explained simply with a shrug. He blinked then, as he felt a wave of embarrassment from somewhere behind him. Turning slightly, he saw the girl in question blushing a bit.
Still, he stood by what he said.
"Hm, I see," Hagakure mused, turning to look at Yaoyorozu herself.
"You don't want the spot then?" Kirishima asked, seemingly surprised.
"I mean, I'm sure it's nice and all… But I don't know if I'm a good enough student to be able to afford the extra time the spot probably needs," he answered with a shrug. "Besides, I wouldn't want to make the class look bad," he added with a grin. It wasn't really a joke, but they didn't need to know that.
"Don't be silly, Cree-"
"Hagakure, if you would please give me your vote?" Ida asked, making the girl scramble to write down her choice before giving it to him.
"Wonder who's gonna win though," Kazuki commented, watching as Ida continued gathering the votes. "This should be interesting, I imagine."
And indeed it was, but not as he'd expected. Once all the votes were gathered, Ida started writing names and noting votes. It started as Kazuku had expected. A bunch of names with a single vote for the people that had voted for themselves. Then there was Midoriya, breaking the mold as he got to the grand number of two votes.
And then Kazuki got a vote.
It didn't make sense. Why did he have a vote when he hadn't even voted for himself? The next was Yaoyorozu with two votes too, which made all the sense in the world. Then Yaoyorozu got another, which was a little more surprising. Then Midoriya…
And then Kazuki got a second vote.
'What the fuck?' he thought, eyes wide as Ida continued working. By the end of it all, he was all but gaping at the blackboard.
There was Midoriya with three votes.
There was Yaoyorozu with four votes.
And then there was Kazuki with four votes.
"What the fuck?" he asked, out loud this time as he stared at the results. "Who the fuck voted for me?" he asked, looking around. The first culprit was evidently Kirishima, who was grinning widely at him.
"You're gonna represent our little group, Creepy, so do your best," Ashido said, the absolute bitch.
"What part of me not wanting the spot didn't you hear?" he asked, feeling increasingly nervous at the prospect. "I'm gonna-"
"Endo, Yaoyorozu, if you'd come to the front of the classroom," Aizawa asked, looking and feeling like he didn't have a fuck to give. Kazuki could relate. If only he hadn't been dragged into things by the assholes he called friends. "There was a tie, so we should decide who's president and who's vice-president."
"Yaoyorozu is president. I voted for her, after all," Kazuki said instantly. Because goddammit, the least he could get was to be vice-president. The worst part was that the other available option was Midoriya, since he was the only other with more than one vote, and the guy was more likely to die of a heart attack than to make a good vice-president. 'I'm gonna kill those four,' he thought, eye twitching.
"That works for me," Aizawa decided with a shrug.
[}-o-{]
"You all suck," he growled at his friends when they all sat at the lunch hall. "And no, Tiny, I'm not gonna make your stupid ass manifesto happen," he added, snarling and uncaring of the hurt he felt from his friend. They were all stupid.
"Maybe we should call you Grumpy instead of Creepy," Hagakure commented from next to him. "Why are you so angry? This is a good thing!"
"I already told you why I don't want this. I don't need more shit on my plate to deal with," Kazuki told him, barely holding onto his anger. It wasn't helped by Bakugo's, who he could literally feel glaring at him from across the hall. Nor was it helped by the bundle of other negative emotions he could feel around the place.
They didn't know that there was another, much more concerning reason why he didn't want to be anywhere near any of the two spots. What would they think once they realized who he was? What would they do? What would the reporters out there do if they found out a whole class of future heroes had made a criminal their vice-president?
The more he thought about it, the worse things looked. He was fine with everyone hating him whenever things were revealed. His luck would run out at some point and someone was gonna hate him. No way everyone would be like Midoriya and Yaoyorozu.
What Kazuki wasn't fine with was his pseudo-secret ruining the career of all his classmates. He drew the line there, because that not only would make things bad for him, but it'd also make things bad for others. He wanted to be a hero, and the least he could do as a hero in training was make sure he was the only one that got knocked down when shit hit the fan.
"I'm gonna talk with Aizawa later, Midoriya is going to be vice-president," he decided, stabbing at his food. The meal was glorious, honestly, but he couldn't really focus on that at the moment.
"Woah, woah, no need for that, Creepy," Ashido protested. "You got voted for a reason, you'll be fine. You seem like a good enough student from what you've said and what I've seen. I'd definitely fail something if I got more stuff to deal with, but you are not like me," she argued, quite passionately too, which caught him off guard momentarily. "You are going to do fine."
"Besides, you can always give Midoriya the spot later if you feel like it's too much. No need to rush it, right?" Hagakure asked then, drawing a grimace from him. That was a good argument, if one focused only on what he'd told them.
They didn't seem like they would let up, which made him feel the oddest mix of anxious and pleased. It was good to know that his friends cared, that they wanted good things for him. Now, if only it wasn't for who he was…
"I guess I can do that," he lied through his teeth. He was definitely going straight to Aizawa as soon as possible. How the man hadn't commented or spoken up against the decision was baffling. Didn't the man know how this could impact all of them? What kind of teacher risked the careers of all his students like that?
"You are lying," Mineta pointed out, making him pause.
"What are you talking about, Tiny. Bubbly here made a good point and I agreed," Kazuki replied, giving his friend a bored expression. "I'll try and then I'll see, simple. Don't know why I didn't think of that."
"He's definitely lying," Ashido pointed out and Kazuki could feel himself starting to sweat, even though there was no real risk. What were they going to do, tie him up so he wouldn't go to Aizawa?
"Fine, I'm lying," he admitted, dropping his expression into one of much more real annoyance. "I've made up my mind. I'm not gonna be vice-president and that's that. Don't know why you guys care so much. We can try and see if we can switch votes to one of you if you feel cheated or something. Could have just heard me when I said I didn't want it and be done with it though," he grumbled, finishing his meal as fast as he could.
"Come on, Creepy, you are exaggerating," Kirishima tried to reason. "There's no need to be so…"
"Dramatic," Ashido took over then when her red-haired friend started struggling for the right word, giving him an unimpressed expression. "This is a great opportunity! Why would you just give it up before even trying?"
"Because…" he started before holding himself back. The words were right there, at the tip of his tongue. Because he'd killed people. Because he'd just gotten out of juvie before his time so that he could attend U.A. He just had to say it and they'd understand and leave him alone…
They'd leave him alone…
He was an asshole, he knew. Lying by omission was still lying and he was thoroughly doing so to people that he considered friends. Or, maybe it was better to say that he wanted to consider them friends. He wasn't sure if they were, or if he could count them, with the whole lying thing he had going on.
His hand balled into a fist and he almost grimaced at the concerned looks they were sending his way. Why couldn't they just care less? Why did they have to push on that issue? Why was it so important a matter if he was vice-president or not?
They didn't understand, he knew, but he couldn't makethem understand either.
He couldn't explain…
'How long can I hide that though?' he wondered, deflating on his chair.
"Creepy?" Mineta asked, frowning at him. Kazuki almost flinched as his focus was pulled from his thoughts for a moment and he felt their concern. "Everything ok, man? We can let you be if you really don't want the spot, it's fine."
'They'll find out. Might as well clear the confusion, huh?' he thought, a bitter feeling welling in him. It was better to get it over with, he supposed. What was even the point of keeping up the facade? It'd just hurt more once things blew over. 'Better get it over with, right?'
"I just can't do it, ok? I can't," he told them, trying and failing to smile at them. As he mustered the courage to explain why, however, something happened.
A siren's sound filled the school.
Chapter 9
It hit him like a wrecking ball against his whole body. It washed over him like he'd been thrown into one of those pools in frozen lakes. His body started shaking immediately, his breathing becoming erratic and the world around him started swirling.
Panic.
Fear and nerves and desperation and anxiety and-
Panic.
Kazuki's stomach twisted and turned. He started sweating and breathing was a struggle. There were screams all around and people were moving really fast, but he could barely see them. Instead, he was too busy not throwing up and keeping himself sitting instead of just passing out. His vision was getting worse and the noises were getting distant.
'Panic attack,' Kazuki realized in a corner of his mind. It had been so long since his last one. 'Focus, focus,' he told himself, remembering how to deal with it and closing his eyes. He breathed in slowly, deeply and gently through his nose, counting in his mind. 'One, two, three, four, five.'Then he breathed out slowly, deeply and gently through his mouth, counting backwards. 'Five, four, three, two, one.'
"Creepy?... Endo, are you ok?!" a voice reached him as his mind came back to the present when he opened his eyes. Next to him was Mineta, looking at him like he'd die any second now. He took a few deep breaths after that, nodding slowly. "What was that, man?"
"Panic attack," he mumbled, his voice barely audible over the crowd of students that was rushing out of the hall and towards the corridors, screaming and panicking.
"Oh…" Mineta mumbled, looking towards the aforementioned group of people. "Can we help?" he asked, and it was then that Kazuki noticed that the rest of their little group was still around, looking at him.
"We should be leaving with everyone else, are you okay there, Creepy?" Hagakure asked, before he nodded again. He was still being hit by immense amounts of panic and many other things. It was then that he noticed there was a fair bit of pain too, and he could guess why, seeing the crowd so incredibly unhinged in its desperation to get out.
"Just… let me… do something…" he said, struggling to get the words out over the overwhelming emotions. However, he knew one last trick when dealing with strong feelings in such a way. One way that had always worked well, even if the results could have been better. At that moment though, he needed to do something or he'd go crazy and nobodywanted that to happen.
So, he pulled on those nerves, and that fear, and the pain, and the panic…
And he channeled it into something else.
Anger.
Slamming his hand on the table, Kazuki drew himself onto a standing position. There, his shadow extended over the now mostly empty lunch hall and a beowulf appeared then and there. He could feel the confusion coming from his friends, almost overshadowed by everyone else if not for their proximity. He didn't pay that much attention, however.
The beowolf howled, loud enough to be heard over the panicked screams and the shouts and the siren. Another beowolf joined the first a moment later, making the sound even louder. Then the third one came and there was little else that could be heard over them at all. That's when Kazuki saw, as he walked towards the corridor, that people close by seemed to have noticed what he was doing and had fallen silent.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, his voice distorting as he let the negativity flow through him like he hardly ever did. He could almost feel the pull of it on his mind, to give in, to let it run wild. It would be so easy too… "ARE YOU U.A. STUDENTS OR JUST TODDLERS, FOR FUCK'S SAKE?! ACT LIKE THE ELITE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE AND CALM THE HELL DOWN, WILL YOU?!"
'Get a grip of yourself,' he thought, doing his best to keep his emotions under control. The last thing he wanted was to lose control, again. 'Focus, calm, breathe, focus,' he chanted.
"Isn't that-" someone called in the silence that followed Kazuki's shouts. He was pretty sure that voice was familiar for some reason, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. "-Just the press?!"
Judging by the wave of shame that Kazuki felt coming from closer to the outside walls, that person had been right. He almost felt like letting his Grimm run rampant, if only because of how fucking ridiculous it was that he had to put up with that positively massive amount of panic because of the press. 'Killing people isn't gonna make things better, Kazuki,' he reminded himself, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Let's all act like civilized people and calmly do as the protocols say, ok?!" Kazuki called then, still shouting to be heard but no longer tearing apart his throat while he was at it. He really hoped nobody would ask for what the protocols were in that scenario, because he had no idea. "The fucking press, honestly," he grumbled, moving back towards the lunch hall instead of following the other students through the corridor.
The room was mostly empty now, he noticed absently, but his mind wasn't focused on that. Instead, he took shaky breaths as he looked down at his trembling hands. The panic was mostly over, but the aftereffects were certainly still being felt, however.
"Creepy?" someone asked behind him but he was already taking a few steps forward before all but throwing himself to the ground and throwing up inside a trash can. "Endo!"
"Fucking hell… that was awful," he muttered, the bitter taste of stomach acid filling his mouth while the harsh smell did so with his nose. "Someone please kill me," he mumbled, still feeling his insides rebelling against him.
"Here, Endo, take this," someone said – 'Hagakure?' – while passing him a bottle of water a moment later. Looking away from the trash can, Kazuki took it with shaky hands that almost dropped the item. Struggling to open it, he eventually managed to take a gulp of it.
"Thank you," he whispered, staying on the ground as he leaned his back against the wall and looked at the ceiling. "I hate my Quirk," he mumbled, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths in as he continued drinking from the bottle. Washing away the taste of vomit was going to be hard, he already knew, and it wasn't really helping him calm down.
"Come on, man, we should go," Mineta commented, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "We're here if you need a moment, but we could get in trouble, yeah?"
"You said before that talking helped, right? We just need to keep you distracted," Hagakure said, bouncing on her feet. "Come on, I'm sure we can talk about something on our way out of here."
"Come on, Creepy," Kirishima said, offering him a hand to stand up with a grin. Taking it with a groan, Kazuki started dragging his feet after his friends. "You were really manly for a bit there when you called everyone out."
"Honestly, I don't know why they panicked so hard. It's like this wasn't a normal school that trains heroes and has actual heroes for teachers," he grumbled, taking another gulp of water.
"Yeah, I guess… it took people off guard," Ashido suggested uncertainly. It really didn't make things look better in Kazuki's eyes, but oh well.
"I think I'll see if I can come up with a Grimm for a situation like that. Having to make three beowolves for that was a bit much," he muttered under his breath. Left unsaid was the fact that it stretched his control very thin when he was already feeling overwhelmed by emotions in such a situation. The less Grimm he needed to make for such eventualities, the better.
"What would it be like? Maybe you can make a siren or something like that?" Hagakure asked rather enthusiastically from next to him. Kazuki, however, could feel her concern and nerves, but he appreciated the effort she seemed to be putting in pushing that aside. She wasn't having much success but… Well, it was more than most people ever did in consideration for him.
"That'd be kind of water limited, wouldn't it?" he asked idly, wondering how he could go about that. He had several Grimm ideas, of course, but he needed time to develop them, really. 'Now, if shit could stop happening every fucking day, I might be able to get some time to train,' he grumbled in his mind.
"Maybe just a person-like one? Like, what's it called? Imp?" Mineta suggested, and Kazuki simply nodded in answer. "But one made for screaming."
"Yeah, I guess that would work… Now if only I could get some time to train and try my ideas, it'd be nice," he mumbled, drawing a laugh from Kirishima.
"I feel you, Creepy. I want to train too, not gonna lie," the red-haired teen commented as they moved.
"Well, I'm thinking that what you did there was very class president-ish, Creepy," Ashido said then, drawing a groan from Kazuki. "Really laying down the law on everyone, huh? 9/10, the cursing took the last point though."
"For real!" Hagakure exclaimed, perking up at that. "That was great!"
"Ugh, I think I preferred puking my insides out," he grumbled as he walked. That was the absolute last thing he wanted to talk about at the moment. Now that the moment of resolution had passed, all the will he'd managed to muster to tell them the truth had left him. "Why won't you shut up about that?"
"You gotta admit that it's kind of weird how against this you are, Creepy," Mineta pointed out, making him sigh.
"I just don't want to be vice-president or even president, why can't I just not want to?" he asked then, all but growling the question before taking a deep breath in and taking another gulp from his drink. 'Calm down, Kazuki. It's not their fault,' he told himself in his mind.
"I guess that's that, but it's kind of a shame," Hagakure mused from his side. "I think you'd do a good job."
"..." Kazuki remained silent then, as they walked by themselves. It seemed that the students had already emptied the building. The most they could see was some people a little further down the corridor, but they were basically by themselves.
Gulping down, his own saliva this time, Kazuki wondered… 'Should I? Should I not?...' his mind repeated again and again. His hands started shaking again and this time it wasn't from outside emotions. Could he gather the courage? He'd done it before but that was before he had time to chicken out. Now… Now it felt even harder than before.
'Better get it over with, wasn't it?' he mused to himself as he continued walking, unconsciously walking slower.
"Creepy?" Mineta asked, turning to look at him as he trailed behind the group. Kazuki didn't answer him, however. Instead, he took out his phone and started typing on it while walking. 'Do it, you coward,' he thought to himself.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for.
"Guys?" he called, making them stop. "Could you see this really quick?" he asked them, before passing his phone to Mineta and walking past the group. He was running away, he knew, but he didn't feel like staying to see their reactions. He really didn't want to be there when they read through the news article about him.
About the Black Rampage.
'Besides…' he thought as he got closer to the crowd that was moving out of the building. He could distantly hear Present Mic issuing directives. 'I'll know how it goes regardless,' he finished, a sad smile on his face as his heart broke.
After all, he could feel the apprehension coming from behind him.
'It was good while it lasted,' he thought, blinking to stop the tears from falling.
[}-o-{]
After the whole shitshow with the press and the school's siren, things calmed down and everyone was sent back to their classrooms. Things continued business as usual from there, really. Kazuki, however, couldn't focus too much on that. He was too busy resolutely not looking at any of his friends in the classroom.
He was almost positive that he wasn't feeling much from Mineta and Hagakure, but he was definitely feeling stuff from Ashido and Kirishima. Apprehension, nerves, uncertainty. It hurt, it hurt more than he thought it would, which was saying something. However, at least Kazuki had seen the blow coming, so he was prepared for it.
Thus, he pushed all his emotions to the side and focused on the classes. Even if classes had just gotten started, really, they were dull enough to help him in that endeavor. Better to be bored out of his mind than to be constantly reminded that his friends now knew who he was and what he'd done. His phone, that had been left on his desk at some point, almost weighed him down against the chair.
Eventually, however, classes were over, but he didn't move. He waited until everyone was out.
"Do you think it's a good idea for me to be vice-president?" he asked Aizawa, trying not to let the man's weariness and annoyance get to him. He needed a second opinion on the topic and… Well, there wasn't anyone else he could ask that question too, really.
"Do you?"
"Isn't it a terrible idea?" Kazuki replied instantly at his teacher's non-answer. "It'd look terrible, whenever people learn about me and that they've made me vice-president."
"I guess I can see that," Aizawa said, making him deflate. "Ultimately, it depends on you."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple," the teacher answered, raising an eyebrow as if Kazuki should have been able to figure the answer by himself. "If you are afraid that you being vice-president will make your classmates look bad, then make sure it doesn't. Be a model student, be a great hero-in-training, be so good that the reporters won't have anything to say about you but the one incident that was completely out of your control. U.A. gave you a place here, Endo, do you think we aren't prepared for the backlash that decision will inevitably bring?"
"You are, I know, but the rest of the class… they aren't. They don't even know… most of them, at least," Kazuki replied. He almost got angry at the still raised eyebrow his teacher kept on his face. "What?"
"Everyone has a story, Endo," Aizawa told him. "Just because yours is a little darker than the rest of your classmates' doesn't mean you'll be discriminated against. We offered you a chance to be a student here, to become a hero. That's what we are going to give you. As far as we are concerned, you are just another student. At least, outside of the rules you've been given and so long as you don't make that change with your own actions."
Honestly, Kazuki forgot about those rules himself more often than not. They were just that lax, really. It was basically that he had to keep them informed of where he was when and what he was doing. He just needed to keep them up to date so they knew he wasn't doing something he shouldn't. It was a little annoying at times, but… But it was basically nothing, in the grand scheme of things.
"I… Are you sure?"
"I'm starting to think this is less about your classmates and more about you, problem child," Aizawa told him, making him smile nervously. "If you don't think you are up to the task or if you have some other reason to not take the post, then just decline it. It's as simple as that. However, I won't make a decision for you."
That last sentence, more than anything else the man had said, struck Kazuki. He'd been afraid and frustrated before, that he wouldn't have any freedom. Now, it was a bit ironic that he wished he had a little less freedom. He wasn't used to making decisions for himself, as much as he had wished he could while growing up. Now that he could… He didn't know what to do.
"I'll think about it, I guess," he mumbled.
"For what it's worth," Aizawa started then, making him pause as he started turning around. "Considering your results during the Entrance Exam, the Quirk Apprehension Test and the Battle Trials, nevermind what happened today… I think you'll make a good vice-president, Endo."
"... Thank you," he replied, a slight smile on his face as he made his way to the door. "I'll stay here in the training facilities, just to let you guys know."
"Good idea," Aizawa praised and if Kazuki hadn't known any better, he'd have thought the man was smiling under that scarf of his. "And I'll note it down. You know the drill, keep us up to date."
"I will," Kazuki replied hesitating where he stood at the door. "See you later."
"Just go away already, will you? I wanna take a nap," his teacher grumbled, making him laugh. He wasn't even sure that was that funny, but he couldn't help it. It just seemed so… random.
"Sure thing. Rest well," he said, finally leaving the classroom.
As he walked through the school halls, Kazuki didn't feel so burdened by his past as he usually was. Sure, things were still likely to blow up at some point. What happened would come back to haunt him at some point. However… he could move past that. He could continue onwards to a new life with this chance he'd been given.
Maybe it wasn't the life he wanted or the life he expected, but it was a life nonetheless. It was more than he'd thought he would get, so he'd try and make the most of it. And, if he was lucky, maybe he'd find himself a happy ending down the line.
'That's so naive,' he thought to himself with a soft smile. 'And yet…'
[}-o-{]
Kazuki didn't know if it was because of the alarm incident or what, but nobody was in U.A.'s training facilities. So, he went straight to the open area for Quirk usage. He'd expected to have to leave that for the last part of his training, since he thought it'd be occupied for quite a bit. No way other people wouldn't want to train their Quirks, right? However, with the place being empty, he had all the space he could want to tinker with his powers.
There wasn't all that much negativity around with most if not all students leaving, but Kazuki's reserves were full, considering the shitshow that the day had been. It wouldn't allow him much experimentation, but who knew? Maybe he'd gather some more energy while he trained in other stuff after he emptied his reserves. For the moment, it'd have to do.
'What to try, I have mobility, I have utility and I have combat…' he mused, nodding to himself as he pulled his ideas regarding new Grimm. 'First idea is something more durable, because Midoriya was breezing through the beowolves… Then something with more… siren-like power? Something that screams? Something for crowd control, actually. Something to help against a group? The Nevermore can shoot feathers but those are kind of… dangerous…'
'Maybe I can sort of… combine the siren and the control one? Something that can get really loud?' Kazuki started deciding. That idea sounded about right to him. Maybe he could make that work. 'Do I try for another shape or try using one of the ones I already have? Something that screams or is loud… I think a person fits? Let's try with the Imp for now. Might need to look up ideas for that latter…' he mused.
He had some notes and already researched projects but most of them were mostly covered by stuff he already had. That made them less of a priority, but things with more varied uses, well, that was something he had hardly tried just yet. 'Actually, maybe I should try with something easier to get a feel of it, right? 1+1 instead of a whole equation, huh?' Kazuki thought to himself before nodding.
'Durable one and then the screamer some other time,' he decided.
Fortunately, he had several ideas for that. Ideas that he'd already researched for a better mental image of what he wanted to accomplish. So, if he was going for the least amount of changes from what he usually worked with, that closed his options quite a bit. From there, he narrowed his eyes.
The Battle Trials might have gone well for him, but he'd seen what his classmates were capable of now and he'd need better options if it came to fighting them again. He didn't know when that'd happen, but he thought it'd be better to cover that before it was a problem again. Beowolves were good for attack, but he needed some better for defense. Something that could withstand stronger attacks.
With that in mind, he started focusing.
The Beowolf was the closest thing he had, so he started twisting that as his shadow lengthened and the darkness kneaded itself into shapes as he worked. He saw the shape of the Beowolf try to form itself, but he kept pulling back when it was too much like what he usually did. He needed something different.
Something less humanoid, for once. Something with more muscle, even if it sacrificed agility. Something that could take hits. For that, he'd need more of the bone material the masks and spikes were made of. It needed to be more covered with that. Less mobility, more endurance. Muscle and plating, strength, but maybe not necessarily speed nor agility. 'Come on,' Kazuki thought to himself, the image of what he wanted was clear in his head if not so clear with his Quirk.
His negativity reserves were draining faster than he was used to. Evidently, trying for something new wasn't as efficient as a tried and tested design. Then again, he was having to pull back with the shaping to retry a whole lot, so that could be it too. Difficult to tell, but maybe he could test that whenever he had a better source of negativity than… Well, than basically nothing.
Eventually, however, his efforts gave results.
Deflating as he sighed, he looked at the creature in front of him.
"Boarbatusk," he decided for a name, with a slight smile on his face. A bit on the nose, considering the thing was basically a big black boar with white plates along its back and huge tusks that curved up all the way until they pointed back to its masked face and two smaller tusks pointing down in between the formers. He looked at the four eyes on its head as he walked forward and rubbed his hand on the mask. "The first of many, I hope. I'll need a lot of help if I want to go far," he mumbled, his grin turning sad then.
'After all, I might need to do everything on my own so… I better get all the bases covered with Grimm as soon as possible,' he mused.
"That's cool," a voice said, almost making him jump. "That's a new one, isn't it?" they said and Kazuki turned towards the new arrival, blinking. 'How did I miss him?' he wondered, because he could feel the nerves coming from them. 'I was more distracted making the Boarbatusk than I thought I'd be,' he mused, gulping down nerves that had nothing to do with those two.
"I hope we are not interrupting?" the second person to… stand there off to the side asked.
"We were waiting for-"
"We kind of wanted to train too!" the second person interrupted the first, seemingly placing their hand over the first's mouth. "So, uh, can we join you?"
"... Sure," Kazuki replied with the slightest of smiles. A smile that was quite the understatement, what with the amount of relief and happiness he was feeling at that moment. "What do you want to start with, Tiny, Bubbly?"
Chapter 10
"Agh," Mineta cried out after Kazuki kicked him in the chest and sent him flying back until he fell on his butt. The negative sensor didn't have much time to celebrate that small victory though, because he was trying and failing to catch a glimpse of Hagakure's gloves or boots. But the time he saw one of them, he was hit with a fist to the face.
"Fuck… That's annoying," he grumbled after his head snapped to the side and back. Turning to face the girl as best he could, he charged forward. Pushing aside the uncomfortable possibilities and likely outcomes, he wrapped his arms around her. Fortunately, it seemed that he'd managed to avoid any awkward spots and instead grabbed her by her midriff.
"Wait, Creepy!" she cried out as he hurled her up and threw her to the side. "Ouch," she mumbled from where she felt. Mineta had already gotten up though and was rushing him.
"Grape-" the short teen called out, jumping and pulling back his arm. To that, Kazuki simply stepped aside. "Punch," the boy growled out as his attack failed miserably. Instead, he was met with another kick that took his legs out from under him. "Wait what are you-?" he mumbled, twitching.
It was too late, Kazuki had already grabbed him by his feet and started rotating.
"Grape Hammer!" Kazuki called out with a grin on his face as he threw the short teenager towards roughly where Hagakure stood. The shriek that followed told him that his aim had been good enough. "Man, you guys suck in hand to hand combat," he commented, standing and running his fingers through his hair before throwing his head back and taking a deep breath in.
Sure, Mineta and Hagakure weren't that good, but it wasn't like he could beat them without breaking a sweat or anything like that. Besides, they'd already had a handful of spars already too. That was how they had figured out that Kazuki could take them one on one easily and how they'd ended up in a two against one.
"You are also not really working together, which I think is the problem," he pointed out. "Not really taking full advantage of the number difference there."
"Don't act like you are suddenly an expert on combat, Creepy," Mineta grumbled, and Kazuki could feel his frustration and annoyance but it wasn't too bad. He was coming to learn that despite how expressive he was, Mineta was actually quite the calm person on the inside, which was the important part for him, really.
"Oh, great. Did you have to get him stuck on me again?" Hagakure asked, standing up and revealing that Mineta's head was actually stuck to her shin… sideways at that, which made it pretty humorous. Especially the way the boy had to twist his body to not… Well, break his neck or something. The funniest thing was that Mineta couldn't just disconnect from the spheres now, after the time they'd spent training, without literally hurting himself. "It takes forever for him to get off."
"I mean, you gotta be careful with that kind of stuff in real combat too. It's all for training's sake, I swear," Kazuki said, with a very bad lying expression. The grin didn't help much either, he guessed.
"You suck, Creepy," the invisible girl said, and he could imagine her pouting and all. Fortunately, she only seemed to be mildly uncomfortable and annoyed, but little else. "Maybe we should have stayed away for a bit more."
He knew she just meant it as a joke, he really did. Kazuki still couldn't help the pang of pain in his chest that had nothing to do with the hits he'd landed on his friends nor the ones he'd received himself. It was stupid, but it still stung, especially because there were some people that he'd almost called friends that had actually stayed away.
"Too soon?" the girl asked, and Kazuki guessed he must have shown something on his face.
"What do you think?" Mineta asked dryly before he sighed. "Anyway. I think this is enough sparring for today. I'll just… do some normal exercises… after I get unstuck, that is."
"Same," Hagakure agreed.
"I'll get started on that myself," Kazuki said, moving towards the machines as he tried to get himself under control once more. Fortunately, all that training ignoring other's emotions helped him push away his own too… sometimes, at least.
He heard the other two talking somewhere behind him, but he ignored them. Instead, he paused and groaned, before moving towards where he'd set his things and pulled his phone out. He needed to keep his minders updated every so often, after all, just so they wouldn't come looking for him.
With that message sent, that's when he moved to the machines. He didn't particularly enjoy working out, that was for sure, but it was a necessary evil. He was sure his Grimm would fall short at some point and he'd prefer not to be completely helpless then. Besides, with the limit on how many he could make and control, he could use the extra hands he could offer himself.
So, he'd try and improve himself as much as his Grimm. Heroes weren't only their Quirks, after all. Sure, having a good Quirk helped, but it was also how one used it too. It wasn't like the Top 10 were the only ones with good Quirks in the country. No, he'd need to be the best he could be, himself and his Grimm. He had a few years to grow into that, however, and he'd use every single moment of it he could.
"I thought you said you weren't that much of a work out guy," Mineta mumbled and, with his focus pulled away, Kazuki could feel his envy as he looked at him exercising. "Way to make me feel insecure, man."
"I hit the machines quite a bit when I was in… Well," he trailed off, grimacing before just sighing. "When I was in juvie. There wasn't all that much to do, so I did a bit of everything," he forced out in as casual a tone as he could manage.
"Well, that explains why you kicked our asses then. We'll get you soon though, so you better be ready," the short guy said, narrowing his eyes and pointing at them with his fingers before pointing at Kazuki. "We've got you on our sights."
"Well said, Tiny. Be prepared, Creepy, we are coming for you," Hagakure said, giggling as she moved to one of the treadmills.
"In your dreams, you two," Kazuki replied, a soft smile on his face.
He was so glad they'd come to join him. He was so glad that they weren't afraid or uncomfortable with him now that they knew…
So glad to not be alone.
[}-o-{]
"Someone kill me, please," Mineta whined as he dragged his feet.
"You know, maybe you shouldn't have pushed so hard," Kazuki commented, a grin on his face even if he was sharing the pain from both of his friends and his own. It was a neat thing, to know that he had a higher pain resistance than them. Sad too, considering what that meant, but oh well. He was feeling pretty damn positive all things considered, so he'd ride that high for as long as he could.
"Look on the bright side, Tiny. We're gonna get some drinks and you'll feel better after resting for a bit," Hagakure reassured the short teenager.
"Thanks, Bu-"
"And on the dark side, you'll feel even worse tomorrow," Kazuki pointed out, making Mineta deflate and glare at him. Maybe he pushed a bit too much, but the annoyance he was getting wasn't all that high still. Thus, he just grinned at his vertically challenged friend. "What?" he asked, feigning confusion and drawing a giggle from Hagakure.
"You suck, Creepy," Mineta grumbled.
"A drink and some relaxation should help though, that's true. " Kazuki commented idly. "On that note, I think I might get…" he trailed off then, stopping where he stood and turning his head a little.
"Creepy?" Hagakure asked, obviously confused by his behavior.
"You can go on, I need to… check on something," he mumbled, turning to the side and crossing the street instead of continuing forward. There was something there, on the edge of his range… Someone was very afraid, borderline panicking and…
Pain.
Kazuki pulled out his phone from his pocket and started jogging. As best he could, he called Aizawa, almost tripping as he took his eyes off the path. Panic and pain, desperation. Someone was in trouble, he knew. He needed to do something, he needed to help.
'This is what I decided to do, right? Help those that wouldn't be seen,' Kazuki thought to himself. He'd thought he would feel more heroic if the opportunity came. Instead, he just felt like he couldn't get there fast enough.
"Endo? You know you can update us with-" Aizawa started, before Kazuki interrupted him telling him his rough location. "Endo, what's happening?"
"I need a hero, here, soon," he said, only then realizing that he'd gone well past jogging and was now full on running. "Someone is afraid, in pain."
"Where are you again?" Aizawa said, his tone shifting the smallest bit. Kazuki told him immediately, now more precisely since he was practically next to where whatever he had picked up was. "Endo, don't do anything rash."
"I know, I'll just knock and see if someone needs help… Or if I can buy time, that's all," he said, stopping to catch his breath for a moment before ringing the bell.
"... Don't get in trouble," Aizawa told him.
"Why would I? See you," he said then, hanging up and pressing the button for the bell once more. "Come on, come on," he muttered under his breath. The pain was still there, but it was a lingering one instead of newly caused. The fear was very much present still, however. 'Come on, let me help,' he thought, almost as desperate as the person inside, ringing the bell once more.
Then, a new emotion appeared, separating itself from the other ones.
Anger.
"What?" he heard a rough voice on the other side.
"... Good afternoon, I'm doing a survey for school, could I have a moment of your time," Kazuki replied, coming up with the first excuse he could think of. 'Thank God that was a decent one, otherwise I'd be in trouble… Or whoever is there would be,' he mused, because the person that had replied to him couldn't be the one that he was sensing. And that meant bad things, he was sure…
He really hoped he wasn't wrong, because that would be awkward.
"Go bother someone else," the person inside told him, making him grimace as the line went silent. Taking a deep breath in, he rang the bell once more. "Kid, go the fuck away. I'm not in the mood."
"Please, sir. I only need a minute or two, that's all," Kazuki said, forcing himself to be as polite and "normal" sounding as he could manage. "I'm from U.A. I only need you to answer me a few questions regarding heroes," he added, hoping the fact that he was from a hero school would buy him some credibility and, more importantly, time.
"I told you, to, go, AWAY!" the man inside shouted at him through the door phone. Kazuki brought his hand up and then balled it into a fist before he pressed the button again. Would he get in trouble if he kept going? He was probably on thin ice with his lax rules. If he messed up…
Hell, what if nothing was going on and there was a perfectly good explanation for what was going on there.
"Creepy?" Mineta asked, making Kazuki look to the side. The poor guy looked out of breath and barely standing, but there he was, with Hagakure at his side. "What's going on?"
"I'm just…" he trailed off, looking back to the house, sensing the fear and pain coming from there. When there was another spike of pain, he pressed the button once more. "Trying to be a hero," he finished then, his resolution solidifying.
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he would get in trouble.
How many times had someone looked at him when he was a child and thought that maybe he didn't actually need help? How many times had he wished someone noticed? How many times had he wished someone would even actually look?
He couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
"I'm gonna call the police if you keep this up, you little shit!"the man shouted through the comms. "Last warning, before I-" Whatever else the man said, Kazuki didn't hear, because his focus was pulled away from the house and his senses. To his side, he saw someone fall down to the street.
"I was told someone needed a hero over here," the… man?... that had arrived said. He looked more akin to Kazuki's beowolves though. Or maybe it was better to say that he looked like a werewolf, really. "Endo, I got Aizawa's call because I was close. What's going on?" the apparent hero asked.
"I'm feeling a lot of fear from someone inside, and pain," Kazuki explained instantly, pointing at the house. "The pain isn't lingering either. It was like… like someone was being hit, and not lightly," he added, doing his best to word it in a way that made the hero believe him. Believe that he wasn't mistaken or something of the sort.
"I see…" the hero said, turning around and ringing the bell himself.
"... That's it, you fucker. I'm calling the police-" the man inside replied after a long moment of silence.
"This is Hunting Dog Hero: Hound Dog," the hero announced before turning to look at Kazuki and waving him away. The teenager, for his part, hesitated for a second before nodding stiffly and doing as he was told "I'd really appreciate it if you could let me in."
"The fuck?" the man inside asked, sounding quite shocked. That was the last he heard before he was too far away to really understand what the hero replied to that. Oh how he wished he could know what followed, but there was no chance of that, he knew. He'd already pushed his luck quite a bit, there was no need to do it further, even if he reallywanted to.
For the moment, he relished in the fact that the man's anger had vanished and had been replaced by fear and nerves. That meant that, maybe, Kazuki hadn't been wrong in his assumption. A second later, he realized what that would mean, however, and that really killed whatever good mood he'd managed to regain.
"Creepy?" he heard and he turned to look at Hagakure. "What's going on?" she said, repeating Mineta's words from before. "You took off out of nowhere, then you started ringing a random bell and now a hero appears?"
"I just…" Kazuki started, before trailing off. Did he want to throw that information around? Was that a good idea? Because it didn't sound like it to him. Even if he wasn'twrong. That would mean that there was a victim inside that really didn't need to have that kind of thing spread around about them. "I just picked up something with my Quirk and decided to see if someone needed help, that's all," he explained simply, drawing a suspicious look from Mineta, and he guessed that Hagakure wasn't much different.
"Is that-?" Hagakure started, before stopping when they saw the door to the house open and then the gate, letting Hound Dog inside. Kazuki watched intently as the whole thing happened and both man and hero disappeared inside the building. How he wished he could know what was going on there, but he'd have to hope that Hound Dog would be able to do something if something really was happening.
"Uh, should we, you know, leave?" Mineta asked, looking unsure. Kazuki didn't really know more than he did, in all honesty. "Or should we wait here?" he added, turning to look towards the white-haired teenager. Judging by the shift of Hagakure's clothes, she did much the same.
"I… don't know?" he answered with a shrug, nervously looking towards the house. He didn't know if he wanted to be there if he'd been wrong. He didn't know if he wanted to be there if he'd been right either, really. Then again, what if he went away and Hound Dog needed him or wanted him for something afterwards? "Maybe you should go. I imagine I should stay here though."
"No way," Hagakure denied instantly, crossing her arms in an "X" in front of her. "If you stay we stay, Creepy, that's how it goes."
"You gotta understand that you are kind of stuck with us now, Creepy," Mineta said with a smirk on his face. "Besides, who's gonna stop me from putting my foot in my mouth?"
"Nobody?" Kazuki answered to that last question, an amused expression on his face. "Because at most I take corrective action after the fact."
"Well, that's better than nothing," the short teenager said with a shrug.
"... Thanks, guys," Kazuki told them with a soft smile. Those words weren't just for them staying with him at that moment. Those were for them staying with him, period. All of a sudden, the rest of the class learning about who he was and what he'd done didn't sound so scary anymore. Sure, maybe they'd react as he feared, but at least he wouldn't be alone.
Mineta would be there. Hagakure would be there.
Midoriya and Yaoyorozu too, but, well, he wasn't so close to them.
And who knew, maybe there'd be more that wouldn't react all that badly. Sure, there'd be more Ashidos and Kirishimas but… Well, if there could be four people giving him a chance, then there'd could be more, right?
He sure hoped so, at least.
Kazuki was then pulled from his thoughts by a message to his phone. Checking it, he blinked at the contact displayed. 'Aizawa?' he read, looking towards the house and back to the device in his hands.
"Get away from there, just in case," he received and he didn't hesitate.
"Well, guys, time to go get those drinks, it seems," he said, somewhat nervously. That message didn't bode well for him, but… He'd have to deal with that later, he supposed. At least he only got the usual response when he messaged back where he'd be for the moment.
[}-o-{]
Throughout the outing, on his way home and once there, Kazuki could barely pull his mind away from what had happened. He had received no news, no message, no information whatsoever since then. His minders were going through things like nothing was out of the ordinary and it was… Not precisely annoying, but it wasn't helping his restlessness.
With no luck trying to distract himself with his studies and even the game Mineta had introduced him to, Kazuki had decided to do something else that would be productive. He focused on the only thing that would always be there, whether he wanted it or not, his negativity sense.
He felt, through his Quirk, the people around him. He felt the sadness, the anxiety, the pain, the nerves, the anger, the annoyance. All of them were weak, for the most part. After so many years carrying his Quirk's burden, Kazuki was used to tuning out the less potent emotions around. Spikes and great quantities still could affect him though, and they grew more… noticeable, the closer they were too.
'Come on,' he urged himself. He'd grown good at ignoring them, but now, he'd have to grow good at actually sensing them. As far as he was concerned, that would be the most useful part of his Quirk for his future job as a hero. Sure, Grimm would be great against villains and to help in certain situations, but… There'd be other heroes in those situations.
However, how many heroes would be able to find the hidden cases like he could with his sense? How many people fell through the cracks because their suffering was hidden from the sight of the public, away from the spotlight heroes lived in? It wasn't the heroes' fault, Kazuki supposed, but that didn't make the whole thing less tragic. So, he'd be the hero for those people, he'd decided.
The hero of the desperate and unnoticed, that was what he wanted to be.
For that, however, he'd need to hone his Quirk's sense. He couldn't be doubting things like he had that day. For that, he needed to be more accurate. He needed to be able to better place where what he was sensing came from. He needed to be better at reading the emotions and sensations he could pick up.
'Maybe I should find some reading material regarding that last point,' Kazuki mused, sitting down with his legs crossed. He was still trying to get a read on what he was picking up. Multitasking would also be something to work on, after all. No matter how used he was at pushing the sensations away while he did stuff to give himself reprieve, he needed to change that. He'd have to change a lot of the habits he'd built through his life regarding his Quirk, but it'd all be worth it, hopefully.
'Focus more,' he told himself, frowning as he decided to hone in on one of the random feelings he was getting from all around. 'Find it,' he thought then, following it all the way across the street. Slowly, he found roughly where the person was, but he wanted more. Where were they, exactly? What position were they in? Could he find that out? He didn't know, but he'd certainly try to find out.
With deep breaths, Kazuki worked, trying to make his reading more precise. He needed to- A familiar weary feeling got closer and closer and his focus slipped from his fingers. 'Are you coming here? Tell me you are coming here,' he thought to himself, opening his eyes and fixing them on the door to his apartment.
He almost cheered when he felt the presence reach the spot in front of his new home and knock on the door.
"Yes?" he asked instantly, as he opened up and looked at Aizawa. Maybe he could have been more discreet or something, but curiosity got the better of him. Even while he tried to train, he'd found himself constantly thinking about what happened. He needed to know, and at the same time he dreaded the answers he could possibly get.
Aizawa didn't say anything for a long moment as he looked at Kazuki.
Then, the man sighed.
"Let's go inside, alright?" the hero said, making him nod seriously as he got out of the way and held the door open. Closing it behind the man as he walked in, Kazuki walked next to him nervously.
"Do you want tea, coffee, something?" he offered, not really wanting to bother but imagining it was better to at least do that much.
"Coffee would be nice," Aizawa answered, rubbing his eyelids as he took a seat on the table.
"Sure," Kazuki mumbled, moving to the kitchen.
"You haven't added anything here," he heard the man comment from behind him. Turning slightly, he saw the hero looking around the apartment.
"Hasn't been that long since I moved here," he replied with a shrug. "Besides, I wouldn't know what to even add."
"I see," the hero said, not really sounding like he "saw", but also not really confused or anything. Then, Kazuki heard him sigh and he tensed up. The man wasn't annoyed, or anything that would make him think he messed up, but still… Aizawa wasn't a very expressive person to begin with, so what if- "You did a good job, Endo."
"... I… did?" he replied, not really processing the words that came from his teacher.
"You did," Aizawa confirmed confidently as the boy turned around to regard the man. "You helped someone today, Endo."
And just like that, all the nerves and dread he'd been feeling vanished, replaced with relief and pride.
"You were a hero," the actual hero in the room told him.
Kazuki grinned at that, as what was said finally dawned on him. His smile widened and a laugh escaped his lips, half disbelieving and half joyous. 'I was a hero,' he replayed in his mind.
He could be a hero.