The Hunter Amongst Villains

Chapter 21: New Projects

"T-This is hard."

Izuku was struggling in a strange posture.

He was standing low; one leg bent with the other stretched out. It was different than just carrying the large weight of objects like a slave. He was feeling the muscles he had never used constantly bear the burden of his own weight. It felt like his own tendons were slowly burning away, not like the raging burn of heavy labor, but the slow grinding friction trying to file away at every fiber of his limbs.

He mimicked Ghin when he attempted the slow, careful movements, moving in slow, calculated strides.

Toshinori took a look at Garou, seeing him sitting in the lotus position on the sands. Garou's eyes were closed, yet his face was facing the sea and the boundless horizon beyond it. It was the first time Toshinori saw him meditating this close. Toshinori looked at his own hands, flexing his fingers as he wondered what it was like.

He decided to sit down next to Garou. The sand under his butt was scorching, he could feel it through his denim pants. The pants were Best Jeanist's favorite brand.

He looked to the side, seeing young Iida grunting with a very stressed and exasperated expression on his face while a very heavy cubical laundromat was on his back. The young boy was definitely struggling for his life over there.

Toshinori looked back at Garou, seeing him not reacting to anything. Toshinori took a deep breath.

The air of Dagoba Beach was getting clearer with the work the two had done to clean this place up. It was still a mystery how such a nice-looking beach was covered in so much garbage over the years.

Seeing there was nothing left to do, Toshinori slowly mimicked Garou's lotus position. He did not remember the last time he tried something like this other than in the school gym when he was still a young, idealistic child.

It was a little struggle trying to snake both of his feet through the openings of his legs behind the knees, placing his ankles atop of each other's lap. His body may be without One For All, but the years of battle and hardship still echoed in his muscles and bones.

Once he was in position, he attempted to mimic Garou's posture and straightened his back, then his hands, how his fingers held the other hand.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"This isn't that kind of meditation."

"Ahh?!" Toshinori threw his head at Garou, seeing his eyes were still closed.

How did he know? Was Garou psychic?

"...uhhh..."

"Aren't you a little too old for this kind of thing?" Garou added.

Toshinori felt Garou's words were a little sharp when it nitpicked his age.

"...Well, it is better late than never?" Toshinori shrugged.

"You're only going to waste your time. You don't look like someone that wants mental clarity."

Toshinori couldn't deny that. There was a lot on his mind, and it was hard keeping track of his mission.

He knew he had an important job to do, but... being around Garou like this in such a casual environment... Toshinori did not recall being in an actual undercover mission before. Hiding from the public was easy, but to actually use his disguise with intent for a goal other than anonymity was a different experience.

In other words, he could not stop himself from being... himself around the Hero Hunter like this. The tone was just too peaceful and... different, no sign of the world-ending demon Garou painted himself to be.