Kal El (Boku no Hero Academia)

Chapter 34: Teaching a Teenager to Cook

"So how are things going?" Akiyo asked. Shoto sighed, putting down his chopsticks.

"I don't think my mother will be coming home. Ever."

"Why is that?"

"Because she... she hates us all."

"She's probably scared. I'm probably not the best person to talk to about problems with parents... listen to the doctors though."

"Now that I think about it, Hari-san, I don't know anything about you even though I complain to you all the time."

"Hey, everyone needs someone to talk to that isn't directly involved."

"I haven't met many people like you. This may sound strange, and I know it's impossible, but you almost seem like an alien."

She laughed it off.

"You read the super man comics?"

"It's not just that. Sometimes you act like you're... watching everything from afar. I'm not sure how to explain it... but you seem detached."

"Ah... it's somewhat true that I lived in a different world than you. My parents didn't care about quirks, in fact they stifled this growing power in me, until I forgot it existed. Things like grades, my career path, even if they said to my face that I could decide, if it wasn't something they were happy with I was forced to do what I didn't like. Living my whole life like that... there wasn't much for me to live for. I had friends, yes, and I love them. But even they couldn't wash away the darkness... and when I looked inside myself, I realized there was nothing there. I tried. I tried to hold on, and that hurt turned into anger. But with that anger came more pain. Because that delicate balance I had found had all the weight on my psyche. I was put on limiters and kept in solitary confinement for a while... and when I was allowed to go out on my own, only a few friends were there to welcome me. I went to university, and dropped out rather quickly. They still haunt me, and all of my decisions were echoes of what they told me. And then... I caved."

Shoto's eyes went wide.

"It hurt so much to be alive that the death I yearned for since I was a child became the most welcoming sight."

"You tried to commit suicide."

"Was nearly successful too... and then Yamamoto got in the way. But he offered a chance... to escape that life and start a new one here."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've had enough pity to last a few hundred years."

"Right."

"You wanna eat some ice cream?" Akiyo asked.

"Sure."

She pulled out a container from the freezer and set it on the table.

"Did you make that yourself?" Shoto asked.

"Yeah."

"You really love cooking."

"To me, it's more like an insatiable obsession. I can't stop or I feel like shit or I'm not doing anything. Here."

She handed him a vanilla ice cream with some strawberries and shaved chocolate. He took a bite and couldn't help the smile on his face.

"And if I can make that expression appear on everyone's face, all the better," she said, and they both sat down using the coffee table like a kotatsu, and played card games as the tv was playing some hero show.

The next few days, Shoto learned so many things about living alone... while not living alone. He helped her clean up, do laundry, cook meals. He learned how to make simple pasta and sausages, curry from the package, how to make a one pan salmon dish in the oven, even how to make a pizza. Now his final final obstacle....