Villain to Hero: Naruko Motomiya

Chapter 12: We Meet Again

It was five minutes until noon. Motomiya had gradually made his way to the little apartment building that he used to call home. He never thought that he would be here again, the place that caused him so much grief, so much pain, so much suffering that it almost made him end his life. This was the last place that he wanted to be.

He stared up at the rectangular building. It was two floors and had a mesh walkway that led up to the second floor, the floor where his dad lived. The building looked like a run-down motel with how unkempt it was, but no, it was an apartment building where people actually lived. Thankfully, the building fit right in with everything else in the run-down, shadier side of town.

A car pulled up to the side of the road and parked. Out stepped Aozora in a black suit and red tye with a sheet of paper and a pen in his hand. "The last few days have been such a mess, huh," He said with a smile.

Motomiya nodded. "How long will this take?" He asked softly.

Aozora shrugged. "Depends on your dad. It could take a couple of minutes, or it could take an hour."

He gulped at the response. He knew he would barely be able to stand a few minutes with his dad, yet alone an hour. "He lives in apartment 203," He said, pointing to the apartment on the second floor.

Sensing the unease in his student, he let out a breath. "I can do all the talking. It's required for the student to be present during the meeting, but you can wait by the door if you want. If anything happens, I'll deal with it. Trust me."

He let out a sigh of relief. He still felt like a nervous wreck, but some of the pressure had been lifted. He had to put his trust in his teacher, no matter what happened.

He nodded and led the way up the mesh stairs, stopping in front of the apartment. He was back, back at the place he had ran away from and left behind. He had never thought that he would be back here again. This place had caused him so much pain. He wanted to keep this visit as short as possible. He placed a shaking hand on the door and gave it a knock.

"I don't care who ya send, I'm not paying your God damn taxes!" His dad yelled from inside. His words were comprehensible for once, and the slowness of his voice wasn't as noticeable. He must have not started to drown his thoughts and feelings away yet.

Motomiya gulped, his anxiety eating away at him.

"I'm Kaito Aozora, your sons homeroom teacher at UA," Aozora stepped in. "We're here to discuss the new dormitories on campus that all students will be moving into. Can we come in?"

He heard a loud groan coming inside that was then followed by, "Whatever."

Motomiya turned the door nob and opened the door. The familiar stench of cigarettes and alcohol filled the air as well as new odors such as rotting food and mildew. It nearly made him sick to his stomach. The smell was one thing, but the mess was even worse. Scattered across the floor were cans and bottles of cheap booze, some completely empty while others still having beer in them. By the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room were multiple bags full of trash. One of them was open and had ants crawling up and around it. Finally, there was his dad, sitting in the exact same spot he always sat in: the recliner by the television.

His dad rubbed his eyes and stared at the two of them. "The fuck?"

"He doesn't know that I'm enrolled at UA," Motomiya murmered. He could barely look at his dad, the sight, let alone the presence, being almost too much to handle.

Aozora nodded, doing a silent "ah..." motion. He then faced his dad. "Your son was given a special opportunity to become a student at UA High School due to his quirk and ambitions. During the past month, he's been working on improving his quirk and learning how to become a hero. Due to the recent villain attacks on UA students, we've decided to build dorms on the campus for the students to live in to keep them safe from any and all villains. For that to happen," He handed the paper and pen to his students father, "We need your signature and in person confirmation." He put on a smile to try and persuade him better.

He took a look at the paper and then looked back at Aozora. "So your telling me that this fucker up and left, leaving all of the chores and income to me, just to become some shitty hero at some fancy school for weirdos?" He scoffed.

Aozora clenched his jaw and fists, trying to hold back his anger. "Please don't call your son that. He is a wonderful kid who has been putting so much effort and so much hard work into becoming a hero. UA isn't just some 'fancy school for weirdos' but the best hero course school in the country that makes the best heroes in Japan."

Motomiya decided to leave the conversation and go to his old room to try and get some more clothes. He wasn't interested in listening to the conversation and felt awkward just standing there. Upon opening the bedroom door, the sight made him freeze, the shock and confusion overwhelming him. Everything was gone. The floors and walls were bare, and the room was completely empty. Without warning, he felt tears well up in his eyes, and his throat became tight. All of his clothes, all of his art, all of his poetry, all of his possessions, everything was gone.

"Fine! I'll sign your damn paper!" His dad yelled from the other room.

He took a deep breath in and then let it out, attempting to calm himself down. He turned around and walked towards the front door, ready to leave as soon as possible.

Aozora glanced at Motomiya and immediately knew something was wrong by his red eyes and quivering lip. "You okay?" He whispered.

He stopped and stared down at the disgusting floor. He didn't know if he should tell him or not, not wanting to get into trouble. Then, he remembered what Aozora had said to him and who he was with. He needed to trust him. He was a certified hero, after all. "Everything's gone," He choked, trying his best not to let himself cry.

"There. Now get outta my home," His dad spat, thtowing the paper and pen at Aozora.

Aozora caught it and then took a step toward his student's father. "Did you get rid of all of your sons' things?" He demanded.

"For fucks sake," He muttered under his breath. "Yeah, what of it? He doesn't need that crap."

"And did you ever physically harm your son?" Aozora asked, having suspected something more.

His dad put out a cigarette and threw the butt to the side. "Where the hell did that even come from?"

"Naruko has countless of scars all over his body caused by jagged objects and so-called 'accidents.' I suspect that you have something to do with them," He explained. He already knew that most of the scars were self-inflicted, it was obvious with how they were placed, but there were some that he had noticed over time that were completely different than the others.

"So what? It's tough love."

"Tough love?" Aozora scoffed. "That's child abuse!" He then reached for his phone in his pocket and dialed in a number. "I need you to send someone over to pick up a criminal," He said just before giving the address and then hanging up. "You're under arrest for child endangerment, child neglect, and by the sound of it, tax fraud."

Motomiya's dad shot up from the chair and marched over to Aozora, getting right in his face. "You come into my home, make me sign some dumb paper, and then arrest me for bullshit reasons and expect me to go with it?!" He yelled at him. He drew his fist back. "You've got some nerve!"

Aozora stretched out his hands and activated his quirk, sending currents of lightning through the man. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep!" He shouted. The man then fell to the ground, his limbs locked up and completely knocked out. As soon as he had fallen, a police siren could be heard out front.

Motomiya stared down at the unconscious body of his father. His father had finally gotten what he had deserved and was now going to be put in prison. His dad's life would be ruined and he would spend time paying for all of the harm he had caused over the years. He couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Sorry, about that," Aozora apologized. "How about I get you a hotel room until you move in to the dorms," He suggested.

In just a few short days, he would be able to join the rest of his class in the new dormitories.