Hello there!
I AM HERE! WITH A NEW CHAPTER! Hope you like it!
First of all thank you to the new member of the Silver tier of my P@treon.
Tristan Slack, Cinque and Nate Carroll.
Thank you very much for joining in and supporting my writing endeavors. I really hope my work lives up to your expectations.
NOW, to the chapter!
Happy reading
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The sterile quiet of the hospital hallway felt suffocating. Rumi sat on a hard plastic chair, her face buried in her mother's shoulder, her body trembled with shuddering sobs that had long since become silent. Her powerful frame, usually coiled with energy and confidence, was slumped in defeat.
"It's my fault," she choked out, the words muffled by fabric. "I was right there… I saw him get hit. I… I couldn't do anything. I was useless."
Miriko gently stroked her daughter's hair, her own eyes red. "Shh, baby. No. It is not your fault. You can't think like that."
"But I should have been stronger!" Rumi pulled back, her eyes blazing with a mixture of grief and self-loathing. "What's the point of all my training if I just freeze up when he needs me? I just stood there and watched!"
Kenji, who had been standing silently by the window, walked over and knelt in front of his daughter, taking her hands in his. His grip was firm and steady.
"Listen to me, Rumi," he said, his voice low and serious. "You are strong. Incredibly strong. You and your classmates fought off dozens of villains. You protected your friends. Do not ever forget that." He squeezed her hands. "But Akaza… he's different. What he fought, and what he is, operates on another level entirely. You're comparing yourself to a force of nature. It's not a fair comparison, and it's not your burden to carry."
Kazuko, sitting beside her, placed a warm hand on Rumi's back. "He's right, dear. Akaza wouldn't want you to blame yourself. He would want you to be proud of how you protected everyone else. Right now, all we can do is be here for him."
Rumi looked between the faces of her family, the faces of the people who had become Akaza's family, and finally let out a long, shuddering breath. The tears didn't stop, but the violent self-blame began to lessen, replaced by a deep, aching worry.
While the students and their families were left to process the trauma of the attack, the teachers and staff had a more important task on their hands: understanding how it happened and ensuring it would never happen again.
In Principal Nezu's office, the atmosphere was grim. The U.A. staff, including a heavily bandaged Aizawa and a weary All Might in his skeletal form, were gathered around a large monitor.
"The Nomu's DNA analysis is back," Nezu said, his usual cheerful demeanor gone, replaced by a cold, calculating focus. "It was a human body, heavily modified and pumped with drugs. But the most alarming discovery is that it possessed multiple quirks. This shouldn't be possible. It's as if someone artificially implanted them."
"A power to rival my own…" All Might muttered, his fist clenched. "And that leader, the boy with the hands all over him, Tomura Shigaraki… He acted like a man-child, throwing a tantrum when things didn't go his way. But that quirk of his… the ability to disintegrate whatever he touches…"
"It's a terrifying power," Aizawa rasped from his chair, his voice strained. "If Akaza hadn't intervened when he did, I'd be dust. Shigaraki may be immature, but his intent to kill is very, very real."
"That brings us to the next problem," Nezu continued, pulling up security logs. "How did they bypass our sensors? There was no forced entry, and the alarms were never tripped. The only logical conclusion is that one of the villains has a quirk that allowed them to warp in undetected."
"The man made of black mist," Snipe added. "He was their transport and their escape route. Without him, their entire operation would have failed. He's as dangerous as Shigaraki."
Nezu nodded. "An army of disposable thugs, a monster engineered to kill All Might, a leader with a one-touch-kill quirk, and a teleporter who can bypass our defenses. This was not a random attack. This was a carefully planned declaration of war by a group with significant resources. Our priority should be to identify Tomura Shigaraki."
The staff's primary concern was the villains who had escaped. For some of the students, however, the more pressing battle was the one now raging inside their own minds.
Izuku Midoriya's room felt too quiet. His All Might posters seemed to mock him, their bright, smiling faces a stark contrast to the unrest in his mind. He sat on his bed, staring at his own trembling hands.
He had been useless. While his classmates fought, he had been frozen. While Akaza battled the villains, he was busy judging Akaza.
Rumi's words echoed in his head. What if they take one of us hostage? Followed by Thirteen's justification, her mention of Endeavor. It was a brutal, uncomfortable truth. He had been so focused on his own idealistic version of heroism that he hadn't considered the grim realities of a real fight. Akaza hadn't been fighting for glory; he had been fighting to end the threat, completely and efficiently. And what had Izuku done? He had stood back and questioned him.
He felt a burning sense of shame rise in his chest. He was weak, and on top of that, he had been arrogant enough to criticize someone who was putting his life on the line.
He clenched his fists, the question echoing in the silent room. What did it really mean to be a hero? Was it just saving people with a smile? Or was it sometimes about making the hard, brutal choices to ensure there was anyone left to save at all? The answer, he knew, would not come easily.
While Izuku was brainstorming, back at the hospital, Akaza began to move.
Consciousness returned to Akaza not as a rush, but as a slow, methodical trickle of information. The first thing he did was check his condition. His body ached, a deep, resonant pain that felt like it was settled in his bones. But he was in one piece. No pierced stomach, no broken ribs.
He then replayed the fight in his mind. The Nomu was a wall of pure physical power. His techniques were useless against its shock absorption until the very end. He had been reckless and arrogant. Which he had paid the price for.
Then he focused on the new power, the golden wheel. Mahoraga's ability. Adaptation. It wasn't endless, he realized. It had pushed his body to its absolute limit and then stopped. The wheel could only adapt him to a level his current physical form could barely handle. Any further, and his body would have torn itself apart. The healing, the strengthening… it had a ceiling. A ceiling that would only rise as his base body grew stronger over time.
He couldn't rely on adaptation alone. Raw power wasn't the answer. The solution was refinement. Control. He needed to master his quirk to such a degree that he could bypass durability altogether, just as he had with that final strike.
His quirk… 'Shockwave' felt too simple now. Too plain for what it was becoming. It was a power made for combat, for overwhelming and dominating any opponent.
'Battle God,' he decided. A fitting name.
CREAK
The door to his room creaked open. Rumi stood in the doorway, her eyes wide and bloodshot. She stared at him for a long moment, as if unsure if he was real. When he gave her a small, tired smile, the dam broke.
She rushed to his bedside, fresh tears streaming down her face, and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
"You're awake," she sobbed, her voice thick with relief. "I was so scared, Aki… I'm so sorry… I should have done something…"
He hugged her back, one hand gently stroking her hair. He let her cry, feeling the warmth of her presence chase away the cold memory of the battle.
When her sobs subsided into quiet sniffles, he tilted her chin up. "Hey. Look at me."
Her tear-filled eyes met his. Before she could start apologizing again, he leaned in and kissed her. It was soft and gentle, a kiss that tasted of salt and relief. It wasn't passionate, but it was grounding, a silent promise that he was here, that they were okay.
He pulled back slowly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, carrots. Nothing."
The next morning, when Kazuko and the Usagiyamas arrived with breakfast, they quietly pushed open the door to find a peaceful scene. Rumi was fast asleep in the chair, her head resting on the edge of the bed, her hand tightly clasped in Akaza's, who was also asleep. They shared a knowing smile, leaving the two of them to their rest.
An hour later, they woke the couple up. A wave of embarrassment washed over both of them as they realized their sleeping arrangement, their cheeks flushing red. Akaza, feeling fully recovered, was quickly discharged. They left the hospital together, heading back to school.
When they entered Class 1-A, they were immediately surrounded.
"Akaza! You're okay!" Kirishima exclaimed, a wide, relieved grin on his face. "That was so manly, man! But we were all worried!"
"Your injuries… they looked severe. How did you recover so quickly?" Yaoyorozu asked, her brow furrowed with genuine concern.
"Yeah, dude, the doctors said you'd be out for at least a week," Jiro added, fiddling with one of her earphone jacks.
Akaza offered a casual shrug. "The fight pushed my quirk past its limits. It evolved. The rapid healing was a side effect." It was the simplest way to explain it.
Just as the questions were about to continue, the classroom door slid open. A figure wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, looking like a literal mummy, walked in.
The class gasped. "AIZAWA-SENSEI?!"
"Quiet down," Aizawa's muffled voice instructed. He walked to the podium. His visible eye scanned the room before landing on Akaza. "Akaza. You disregarded my instructions, but your judgment call saved lives, including my own. You have my gratitude."
Coming from their stoic teacher, it was the highest possible praise. A murmur of respect went through the class.
"Now, on to business," Aizawa continued, his tone all-serious. "Your fight isn't over yet." A wave of anxiety washed over the students. Another villain attack?
"The U.A. Sports Festival is about to start."
The tension in the room instantly broke, replaced by shouts of excitement and relief.
"Is it really okay to hold the Sports Festival so soon after the villain attack?" Jiro asked.
"It's necessary," Aizawa explained. "The administration believes this is the perfect opportunity to show that our school is still strong and that the situation is under control. Security will be five times what it was in previous years. This event is a huge chance for all of you. It's a gateway to your future. Don't waste it."
'Wonder how it will turn out.' Akaza thought, as a smirk formed on his face.
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