What Is A Hero?

Part 2: Chapter 27

Life was unfair.

No matter how much people preached for fairness and equality, life and said humans never went the way it-slash-they should - or rather, the way they wanted. 

School, grades, university, jobs, partners, relationships, parenthood and the list goes on. They were hard to navigate through and in the end, it hurt, or it created good memories to look back on. Or both.

Izuku learned that from an early age. For him, there were equally good and bad moments in his life. His mother served to be the main source of the good memories; the reason he smiled through everything - even when he was diagnosed as quirkless, apparently the equivalent to being disabled. 'If he doesn't have something that normal people have, doesn't that make him disabled?' One of his classmates had innocently-or-not-so asked once and that was when he'd gotten the name 'cripple'. Who knew what was going on in a child's mind back then.

"Why did you do it?"

Again, Izuku prepared himself for all types of questions and readied all types of answers - even sarcastic remarks and actual truthful answers. He told himself he didn't care nor would the other person, because they assumed he was lying. And that's the reaction he wanted.

Yet, here he was, proving the point that things never went the way you planned. And, lost for words, he'd turned to face the wall, where an Aizawa poster displayed itself proudly along with other pro-heroes that suited Shinso's taste.

Why did I do it? Izuku thought about it. What was the reason again?

He remembered fire, his mother crying, or, no, wasn't it him that cried? Or was he shouting? No, but there was no fire, but there was too...? Izuku's thoughts ran wild, but he knew deep down he understood exactly what happened that day. And if he thought hard enough, he'd piece everything in seconds, but his mind had just refused to place everything in the right order.

But among all those jumbled up images and emotions from the past, one thing remained the same throughout all the years he'd spend as a villain.

He hated his father and: "I, I wasn't lying."

Izuku spoke before registering he had said a word. "I told them jokingly, but it was all true."

The room was dead quiet for a few seconds. "Them?"

"True Man and All Might. They interrogated me and I told them everything." Izuku hesitantly rested his arms on the bed, and eventually - but slowly - turned around.

He saw Shinso's serious face and chuckled dryly. He could back down and brush the whole situation off with a joke. Now was the time, he thought. He could point out how Shinso was curious about his past, after all. But, he kept talking and he hadn't a clue why.

"My father was involved with some shady business, I said."

Shinso pursed his lips, another pause as he visibly showed the conflict in his eyes. "What business?" He gingerly asked.

"The League of Villains. With their leader, to be exact. He done business with them and because of that, put his family in danger." 

"Does this have to do with the fire? You didn't do it on purpose, maybe?"

Izuku avoided eye contact; his mind pieced a few puzzles together. He shook his head. "No, I did that on my own accord."

Somewhere, in the Class 1 A dorms, in another room, laid a spiky haired teen on his bed. His red eyes glinted in the moonlight, provided from his window. He couldn't sleep.

He heard buzzing beside him, on his bedside. His phone, he put on vibrate prior to getting in bed, lit up with a name appearing on screen. He glanced at the caller and groaned.

Nonetheless, he lifted himself off his comfy pillow and accepted the call.

"Hello, Bakugou-san, how did it go?" The person asked. "Sorry that I'm calling so late. It's been a hectic day."

Katsuki scratched the back of his head, while he weighed his options. A truthful answer or a vague one? Either way, the truth didn't help much either. The truth, it is.

"I asked him, but he didn't budge. He doesn't want to meet her. He's... scared."

"I see." True Man said, solemn accompanying his tired voice. He hid any confusion he might have had regarding Bakugo's last statement. "Well, if he does change his mind, please tell me. Ever since she found out about him on the news and we called her, she's been adamant in meeting him."

Bakugou's scowl morphed into a blank expression, but his eyes were the same. "Yeah."

It was silent on the other line and then finally, "Bakugou, how are you doing now?"

This took him by surprise; his previous state gone in mere seconds and replaced with knitted eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I mean, at the police station, you weren't in the best shape either. Blaming yourself and all. Are you okay? You didn't catch a cold after standing in the rain for so long--"

Bakugou hung up. His cheeks red and teeth gritted to hold back the curses and screams he wanted to shout out. But he was sensible enough to take into account that his classmates were sleeping and this was not his house.

He put his light off and laid back on his bed, grumbling to himself how people should mind their own business and how he did not mope around at all.

➵

Author's Note