The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Clouds & Flowers

A/N: This is the first part of my plan to develop Izuku and Kendo together, but also just developing Kendo herself. Not the last part or a full fix, obviously, that takes time on the page. But I do hope this shows some improvement.

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Earth - 2 Years Before The Escape:

Subject #9 had been perched on this rooftop for 3 weeks straight. He'd only eaten a single bar the entire time. This high up, the air was rough and cold. He was waiting for the winds to change.

The compound bow in his hands was built for his incredible strength. In concert with his enhanced eyes, and his painfully sensitive skin, he could hit a target a mile away. In fact, he wasn't even aiming directly at the building his target was in.

As soon as the winds were favorable, he'd shoot in a carefully calculated arc, allowing the wind to adjust its course and strike the target. He was aiming to the right of the building, but intending to strike a face of the building that he could only observe through carefully placed camera feeds.

Of course, his target wasn't always there when the winds were favorable. That's why he'd been up there so long.

However, it was a difficulty worth taking. The shot would appear to have come from the heavens above. There were only a few tall buildings around the penthouse apartment, but none of them would've been able to angle an arrow like that unless it was some sort of mechanical device.

So right from the start, anyone on #9's trail would be looking on the wrong roof, for the wrong murder weapon. Not that he would leave any trace of himself on that roof. It just complicated things further. And if they found the cameras, well, they exact replicas of a very specific model, leading the investigators to try and find the purchase orders for cameras that never existed.

Did he need to take things that far? No, not in the slightest. But as his future self would realize, these elaborate plans were his way of coping with the pain he inflicted. He had turned it into a game in his mind.

And for that single instant, past and future overlapped. Izuku looking back in time at Subject #9.

As quickly as it was there, it was gone, leaving a gap in #9's memories.

Right then, the winds picked up. It just so happened that the target was scheduled to come home from work any second now.

#9 looked through the camera feeds, finding someone inside that he didn't recognize. But it wasn't a home intruder or someone with ill intentions like him. It was just a woman cooking dinner.

#9 quickly rehearsed the data on the target in his head. He had a girlfriend, but #9 had been told she didn't have access to the penthouse.

"Must've given her a key recently."

#9 debated waiting till she was gone to take the shot, but dismissed the thought. It would take a long time before anyone was on his roof, even if she was a witness. It didn't matter.

He kept his eyes on the front door, waiting for him to come home.

Eventually, he did, while the winds were still favorable to #9's arcing shot. But he didn't fire right away.

The man, having come home after what was presumably a disastrous day at work, looked like a hollowed out husk. #9 only knew that he worked in a physics position, and was impeding the future of the human race.

The reason he delayed, even for a moment, was that the girlfriend rounded the corner. The man, seemingly too tired to stand, suddenly stood up straight, life back in his eyes.