Chapter 31: Resolution
__________ POV All Might__________
A child.
Abandoned by his parents, hated and persecuted for something that is completely outside of his control.
Kidnapped and left to die on a mountain, miles away from any civilisation. Left to fend for himself from a fragile age.
In his early life, he had no adult he could trust. He was always alone. Then, he was miraculously found, having broken up a bank robbery at the age of 5.
He was sent to a special orphanage. Only for the police to later find out that the orphanage owner worked with a certain ring of human traffickers.
They were too late to help the child, once again. How many time has our society failed him?
I am ashamed of having injured Beru... But it seems he was able to recover properly from it. Even when he was injured, he didn't seem to have any reaction to it...
He has been dealt an unfortunate hand in life. But it seems like he hasn't let that keep him down.
He should be 15 years old this day. His quirk may make him look different, but he is still a child. And here we are, vilifying him on the news.
It doesn't matter how many statements I make, the public was hellbent on believing that Beru is not a safe individual.
But his latest action seems to have changed the perspective of the public quite a bit.
He fought and took down a villain that was terrorizing a village and that almost killed a team of heroes.
Even though he is hated, even though everyone seems to look at him with fear and disgust...
There he is, saving a hero without asking for anything in return. Even after going through all of that, his heroic spirit is still well and alive...
I cannot help but feel shame... Shame at not being able to save this child, I am not naive enough to believe that I can save everybody, but he was there. He was in my reach.
And I didn't do anything. He is driven by something, be it revenge for his captors, or the society that wronged him
But he will get it before he allows himself to get caught. At least that's what I understood from his words.
I doubt I can catch him with my current state, he is young and is only going to grow stronger, I am already becoming weaker...
There isn't enough known about his abilities to understand and counter them. It was only recorded as having unnatural strength, flight, sharp claws and a tough exoskeleton.
But he seems to have so many more abilities. From that extension of his claws to tail growth to the odd way his arms gain mass when he winds up his punches...
There is not enough information to combat him effectively.
So... Here I am... Pathetically waiting for him to turn himself in... This is one of the times where I regret being as weak as I am.
I can only hope he is not in any danger.
__________ POV Beru__________
Well, killing Muscular was fun.
Shigaraki wasn't really interested enough in the details to realise I had saved a hero. He was too busy playing his games.
All for One did notice it though. I could hear his conversation with Kurogiri.
"Was this truly due to your command to him master?" Asked Kurogiri, his suspicion of me is quite well-founded.
He's spent the most time with me, he can likely tell that I am a bit more intelligent than I let on. I may be a decent actor, but I do slip up from time to time.
"It must be, he has developed more and more intelligence as time passed, but he is still fiercely loyal. If I told him to avoid unneeded casualties, he will..." All for One is just as arrogant as ever it seems.
"I do not doubt you, sir... But it still strangely irks me..." He said, still wiping that on whisky glass while looking at the table.
"Then, perhaps we can give him a mission... One that will erase any trace of doubt. Make him hunt down and kill the same hero he saved." All for One seems to be just as cold as usual.
I should've expected something like this to happen, but I won't kill that dude. I don't care what All for One believes about it.
If need be, I will hasten my plans. I am sure I can kill All for One as I am now(although I doubt it will be easy).
"There is no need for that Master... I trust your sound judgement..." It seems Kurogiri is unknowingly doing me a solid here.
"Very well then. Do watch over Shigaraki will you? He's been a bit more irritable lately... Probably due to those games he always plays..." Jeez, didn't know All for One was such a boomer.
'Hur Durr, video games bad!' didn't know he was in parent advice Facebook groups. I guess that's where he takes his advice from.
Is it really hard to believe that Shigaraki is just a piece of shit? I mean, he may not need to be one. Maybe he was a nice kid at some point, but he's not anymore.
He's an adult, he should be able to take care of himself.
At his age, I was already the bosses right-hand man. Making deals with other large gangs and taking down smaller ones by myself.
Holy shit... Am I also becoming a boomer?!
Comparing the younger generations to myself and complaining about how I was better and shit... Oh no...
I am still too young to be a boomer... You know, this would be a great time to get drunk, but I can't really.
Kurogiri already finished his conversation with All for One while I was contemplating my age.
I walked to a corner of the bar and started throwing darts. It was a lot better than not doing anything. Although I always run out of space on the bullseye.
I think I will go and train my quirks for a bit tomorrow. I need to test out the combinations that I can make with Muscular's quirk.
It should be quite extensive, it was a really versatile quirk after all, even if the previous user wasn't all that keen on experimenting much with it.
Muscular's quirk gives me complete control over my muscles and only using this ability to give myself physical power would be an insult to my intelligence.
I don't plan on doing anything today. I've had my fill.
I will just laze around the bar.
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