They were both pathetic.
The blond bastard who bullied people weaker than him just to fill up his flimsy sense of superiority.
And the green-haired kid who couldn’t even bring himself to fully hate the guy bullying him.
Boom!
The explosion from the blond kid’s hand shook the classroom.
I snapped my fingers lightly.
A tiny [Silence] clone settled near the desk.
The siren, the boys’ shrieking voices, everything vanished.
If this had been back in my Quirkless days, I would have found some way to screw that blond brat over.
But I had no sympathy for a loser who gave up resisting just because he had no power.
I pulled my laptop from my bag and opened the screen.
I didn’t have time to play along with middle school nonsense.
My only target was All For One.
On the screen was the list of Quirks Hawks had sent me this time.
It was just a bunch of trivial Quirks from heroes I didn’t even know by name.
My patience was reaching its limit.
If he didn’t bring me something useful tonight, then tomorrow I’d break one of those red wings he liked to brag about.
I went through school as a formality and returned to the safe house.
Rappa was there with his uniform rumpled.
He looked like he’d been fighting again.
"The high school punks are all weak as hell.
And it sucks that I can’t use my Quirk, so why don’t you fight me a few more times, Tenma?"
Rappa clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"No. What a waste of time."
"Should I raid U.A. or Shiketsu or something?
Maybe I should beat up some guards at an illegal fight pit and go back in."
What a piece of work.
Wait. I should correct that.
I called out a [Strong Arms] clone and hammered his solar plexus several times.
With a dull thud, his body flew back and smashed through furniture.
Rappa curled up like a shrimp and spat out red saliva mixed with blood.
He clutched his stomach, but he was still grinning.
"Heh... yeah, that’s it. That’s what I missed."
I lifted the fallen Rappa and touched him wordlessly with [Overhaul].
His flesh burst apart, then reassembled itself back to normal.
"Don’t get it twisted. The only reason I’m keeping you alive, ex-yakuza and all, is because you still have use.
If you keep getting on my nerves, I’ll kill you before we even get to fighting."
Rappa was sweating coldly, but his grin never left his face.
"Got it. I’ll listen to you, Tenma.
And honestly, I kind of want to fight the guy you want to kill so badly."
I tossed him aside carelessly just as I heard the door open.
It was Hawks, the one I’d ordered to attach [Strong Wings] feathers to Eri and escort her safely from kindergarten.
Hawks was holding Eri’s hand with one of his own.
In his other hand was a shopping basket full of apples.
"Now, now. We can’t have cousins fighting in front of your little sister."
I narrowed my eyes at Hawks.
"I’m not playing house. Eri, go to the room with Rappa."
Eri glanced at the basket, gave a tiny nod, and closed the bedroom door behind her.
Rappa followed after her with heavy steps.
Hawks looked at my expression and put on that familiar, friendly smile of his.
"You know? Eri said she wanted apples."
"Quit saying useless things. You brought what I asked for, right?"
"Yeah. This time, it’s really worth looking forward to.
So could you not pull out that creepy mannequin?"
Hawks rummaged through his pocket and took out a small zip bag containing a single strand of red hair.
"It was hard to get because he’s such a meticulous guy."
"Cut the extra talk. Whose hair is it?"
"The number two hero, Endeavor."
...This was better than I expected.
If it really was Endeavor, then his firepower was second only to All Might among heroes.
"Hand it over."
The moment I finished speaking, I snatched the zip bag away.
Just in case something strange had been smeared on it, I activated [Eat], which could digest anything.
I swallowed it with a white maw.
As I called the Quirk in, a clone wrapped in red flames so intense they shimmered in the air rose from my arm.
Small sparks scattered around us.
Even with control, the raw firepower was so overwhelming that several pieces of furniture caught fire.
The sprinklers kicked on with a loud alarm, spraying water everywhere.
"Hey! Are you trying to burn down the safe house I barely managed to get by begging for it?"
At Hawks’s panic, I dismissed the clone with a bored expression.
"Then ask for another one."
"You’re a Pro Hero ranked third. I’m sure you’ve got money saved up, so pay for it yourself."
Hawks rubbed his forehead and muttered.
"Even the chairman didn’t go after my personal assets... Isn’t that a little much?
Anyway, you’re going to let the tribute slide for a while, right?"
Come to think of it, that was strange.
Why had he suddenly gone from bringing me random hero Quirks to handing over the Quirk of the number two hero?
"That depends on what you do.
More importantly, why give me this all of a sudden? Did you have something urgent you wanted to ‘ask’ me for?"
Hawks sank into the sofa as if he’d already predicted a long conversation.
He set the apple basket on the table.
"You really are too sharp. The Quirk singularity is spreading. And very fast."
"That’s supposed to happen over generations. It’s not like the birth rate suddenly shot up in this country."
"...Right. That was the theory until now. But Public Safety has changed its conclusion recently."
Hawks lowered his voice.
"They’ve concluded that the singularity is now spreading in the current generation too, like a virus.
The Quirk factors are mutating on their own and spreading.
I gave you this because we need you to trust us a little more."
"More than anything, if we leave it alone, All For One might use it."
That last sentence lodged itself in my ears.
"...What do you mean?"
"A virus-like singularity spreads faster the more strongly it senses desire and impulse.
Right now it’s only making Quirks stronger, but in the most extreme research, they say a Quirk could even gain a will of its own, use humans as tools, and dominate them."
"All For One would make the most useful use of that."
Hawks stood up from the sofa and met my eyes.
"We’re on the same side now, aren’t we?"
I immediately summoned [Truth Extraction].
What an untrustworthy bastard.
"Say that again."
"If I heard it right, then it’s all true."
This time, Hawks didn’t even break a sweat.
"So I can cure it?"
Hawks nodded.
That meant it was useless to pretend otherwise.
My position as the only one who could cure it had just become even more solid.
I didn’t know whether [Rewind] could also cure it, but there was no reason to tell Hawks that.
"The government decided to hold off on making a public announcement for now, fearing social chaos."
"Or maybe because they care more about their own rice bowl?
Still, this is the kind of disaster that could smash that rice bowl to pieces."
"...Let’s leave that aside for now. I’m hoping for a positive review.
We’re all in a tight spot now."
Hawks turned and left.
Let All For One use the singularity?
That was absolutely not happening.
Being the only one who could cure the virus also meant I was the one who could control it best.
I’ll turn your luck into misfortune, All For One.
---
After I heard the door close, Rappa and Eri came out a moment later and opened it themselves.
"Hawks gone?
That was a long talk."
Eri hid behind Rappa’s back and peeked at the shopping basket.
Several apples had been darkened by the sparks from my clone.
"...Apples."
At that tiny voice, I walked over to Eri.
She hurriedly looked away and babbled.
"It’s okay. I didn’t need them.
I’m not curious about what apples taste like."
I let out a sigh.
Eri being this scared of me was also pretty inefficient.
"Eri."
"Y-yes!"
"Let’s go buy apples."
"...Huh?"
"And from now on, don’t accept anything Hawks buys for you, and don’t eat anything he gives you.
Rappa, you’re coming too. As a pack mule."
"Got it!! Let’s go, kid."
"Hold my hand. You can’t get lost.
Don’t follow anyone except me and your kindergarten teacher."
"I’ll buy you a phone this time, so even if Hawks says I told him to do it, you call me first and then follow him. Understood?"
Eri slowly came closer and took my hand with her small one.
As she nodded, the tip of her fingers felt slightly warm.
After buying apples and making Rappa carry them, we headed to a phone store.
I was too lazy to buy her another one later, so I was going to get her the most expensive iPhone in the shop.
"Do they sell apples here too?"
Eri asked, looking at the apple logo on the phone.
"No. Pick whatever you want."
With the money I’d stolen from the Shie Hassaikai, the money I’d earned illegally, and the funds Hawks had supplied, I had enough to buy out a whole phone store without much trouble.
Eri looked through the display case and said cautiously, "Can I get the red one? If not, I can choose something else."
Frustrated, I pressed a hand to my forehead and frowned.
"If it can be solved with money, don’t ask twice."
When Eri still couldn’t decide, I picked up the phone she’d been looking at and handed it to the clerk.
"You’re buying a phone for your little sister? Nice big brother.
It might be a little expensive for a middle schooler, though."
Cards were a pain, and they might be traceable later.
I pulled a wad of cash from my bag and tossed it over carelessly.
"Keep the change or throw it away, whatever. Let’s go."
"No! Wait, sir!"
Even as the clerk called after us in a panic, I left the store holding Eri’s hand.
I handed Eri the red phone.
She looked at it, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, then looked up at me and asked, "Um... I learned from my teacher that people who are a little older than me are supposed to be called big brother or big sister."
"Then what should I call Tenma... uncle? Big brother? I mean, the clerk called you big brother too..."
Maybe because she’d barely ever met people, she was opening up faster than I expected.
Legally, we were registered as siblings anyway.
With a face like mine, being called uncle also looked strange.
"Call me big brother in front of other people.
I’m ten times older than you, so at home you can call me uncle."
"Yes. Okay, Tenma big brother."
Eri repeated the word "big brother" to herself once more, then smiled faintly.
"What? Did you get dementia or something, Tenma? Even before you got younger, you looked like you were only in your twenties."
I muttered low enough for only Rappa to hear.
"Mind your own business. I have no stories to tell the errand boy of a bastard who experimented on a girl."
At first Rappa looked confused, but then he started spitting with rage.
"What? Overhaul did that?
That trash! I may beat people to death, but I don’t go after women or kids who can’t even fight!"
He spoke as if he were genuinely curious.
"What happened to that girl?"
I grabbed the back of his neck and looked at him like he was hopeless.
"Weren’t you some kind of executive in the Hassaikai?
Why don’t you know?"
"Because I only care about fighting.
I didn’t care about titles as long as I could fight."
So he was an executive in name only. Just a fighting dog they called when they needed him, huh?
I pointed at Rappa and asked Eri, "Do you know this guy?"
"...Yes. He’s an unfamiliar uncle Tenma brought home.
At first I thought he looked scary, but now he plays with me sometimes."
There was no need to say more.
I said nothing else and quickened my pace.
Just before we got home, I heard a scream. It was getting closer.
And there was a foul smell too.
"No! Don’t come any closer!"
A villain reeking of sewage was hanging onto someone.
The villain was force-feeding filth to dozens of people, even several heroes, and assimilating them.
The more he assimilated, the bigger he got.
"H-haha!! It’s all mine! Their bodies... their money...!"
His eyes were glazed over. His speech was slurred, like he was drunk.
He looked like he had some kind of disease.
The villain charged straight at us.
"Rappa, protect Eri."
I hid Eri behind me and ordered Rappa.
Rappa clenched his fists and nodded.
The villain came closer. I could see the face of the person he was hanging onto.
Blond hair. Was that Bakugo?
Either way, Hawks and Public Safety would handle the cleanup.
If the villain attacked first, I’d have the justification for self-defense.
And while I was at it, I summoned my [Hell Flame] clone.
Red, scorching fire wrapped around my body.
"That flame... it’s Endeavor! Endeavor’s here!"
"A hero? Is that a hero? Somebody help us!"
The civilians were so panicked they couldn’t even tell who I was from a distance.
Just to keep them from coming closer, I spread the heat of the flames around me.
The civilians recoiled in fear.
Even so, I could hear a ragged voice.
It trembled violently, but it only grew louder.
"Kacchan!!"
I’d better finish this quickly.
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