『Hakari Kotaro』
I dove into the absolute shit show that was going down in Hose, the pandemonium was mostly limited to one district it seemed, but the storm was swallowing the entire city. And it definitely was not something natural.
Keeping my concentration, I dove into where the fight seemed to be the largest. From where I was, I could pick out over a dozen heroes fighting against almost a hundred Nomu and dozens of villains. Among them was a tiny old man in a white and yellow outfit who was dealing out pain to Nomu after Nomu.
They got that handle, my priority right now should be making sure Deku and Ida didn't fucking bite it.
Using Piercing Eyes and Enhanced Senses to boost my eyes in tandem, I looked through the buildings, focusing on blood signatures until I spotted what I was looking for, Ida lying on the ground, bloodied and completely paralyzed. And so was Deku, though he was noticeably better off and barely injured. Regardless, I had no time to waste.
'Flowing Red Scale!'
Dispelling my wings, I formed several hook shots and launched between the buildings while going as fast as I could. And when I got a clear shot, I threw myself into the alleyway. Shit Stain, to his credit, had incredible reflexes and jumped away just in time as I punched down where he was a moment prior.
He regarded me with cautious eyes like an animal interrupted from its meal while Deku looked up at me with relief and hope.
"Hakari-kun...! You got my message!?"
"Hakari...?"
At his words, I felt some confusion. Ida on the other hand also tried to push himself up and muttered in disbelief.
Did Deku actually leave me a message and I just didn't check it?
Yep, that sounds like something I'd do.
"I knew you'd get into trouble somehow. That's Stain, the Hero Killer, right?"
Deku pushed himself off the ground weakly and nodded.
"Yeah... his quirk, don't let him lick your blood! He can paralyze people by licking their blood."
"Thanks for the heads-up Deku." If I did not know what his quirk already did, that would have been really helpful from him.
I turned my attention back to the man, who stared at me like how a predator would stare at prey and circled me slowly.
"You are the boy from the TV, Hakari. You've got good friends, Ingenium. But, are you really willing to fight me? In a clash of weak and strong, the weak die, you know?"
He emitted thick bloodlust, and it would have definitely scared the crap out of me if I were just a student.
But here, we were both killers.
"Oh, more than you think."
Without bothering with any more words, Stain rushed me while launching a throwing knife at me, he was fast, very much so, even faster than Deku but...
Compared to Mirko, he was manageable.
I smacked the knife away and stood my ground, he swung his chipped katana towards my midsection. I probably could have leaned out of the way, but I had no intention to dodge that one.
"Hakari-kun!!!"
Thud!
"Too bad you're the weak one here."
Stain's eyes widened as his blade dug into my body, but was stopped by Iron Flesh, and was held in place by sticky candy. His sword failed to go past my muscles.
Abilities(4/4):
-Candy Paramecia
-Iron Flesh
-Enhanced Senses
-Greater Hemokinesis
Decisively abandoning his sword, the Hero Killer jumped away as candy bubbled underneath my feet before shooting up like spikes, piercing where he used to be.
"Is that so, you'd be willing to prioritize taking my life rather than protecting others? You haven't tried to help that downed hero yet."
"Whatever you say."
Hmm, how to take this guy down? He is an agile and lethal type, I definitely overpower him by a large margin, but at the same time, landing a decisive hit on him feels like it'll be hell like this. I'll need to lure him into a trap.
"Hakari... why the hell are you here too...!? This is my battle...!"
Ida grunted out as his fingers dug into the concrete. Hearing that stupidity, I shot Ida an exasperated look.
"Tsk, listen up, Ida. The moment we got to know each other even a little, this stopped being your battle. Especially when you are bleeding on the floor. I'm not about to let you die or fight alone, whether you like it or not. Besides..."
I looked down at my hand.
Why was I saving him? Because the plot needed him? Things would obviously be bad if he died, the UA mood would plummet, everything would be worse. That's a logical answer. That's the answer I would say.
But beyond that, I think I would also feel bad if he died. When I could save him, especially when all of this happened because I existed, that would be...
I believe in you. I believe you can be someone brilliant.
I never really did well with logic.
"That's what a hero is supposed to do, right? You can stay there and keep trashing, but I'm not letting you die."
As I finished my words, Deku finally recovered and got up, the sparks from Full Cowling sparked around him as he clenched his fists.
"Exactly Ida-kun! That's what a hero does, and that's what friends do!"
Eh... I wouldn't really call Ida and I friends, but he got it.
Releasing a shaky sigh, Ida pushed himself up slowly too(all the while Stain watched us eerily) before standing up fully and gritting his teeth with his head bowed. But despite his bowed head, his eyes held a new resolve.
"Right, I must apologize, I got ahead of myself. I am sorry for dragging you all into this danger with me, when you had nothing to do with it. That's why as a hero, I cannot allow you two to be injured on my behalf any longer!"
Shaky, and wounded, but Ida still got onto his feet without help and faced down Stain. Making this a three on one. The corner of my lips curled up a little.
"Good to see you finally got your head out of your ass."
"Indeed, thanks for helping me with that."
Pulling out another blade, Stain pointed it at us with a twisted expression, more specifically directed towards Ida.
"No use trying to act redeemed now! A person's essence does not change that easily. You will never be anything but a fake that prioritizes his own selfish desires! Nothing but a cancer to society that warps the perception of a 'Hero'. A cancer that I will weed out!"
Hearing his ranting, I couldn't help but feel just a single word at the tip of my tongue. And I felt no need to bite it down.
"Bullshit."
Stain narrowed his eyes.
I knew debating with a clearly insane murderer was not a smart or logical thing to do but... he really rubbed me the wrong way. And obviously, he was a big fan of rhetoric.
"That's your excuse? That's the reasoning you use in order to murder people who have done nothing wrong? You're just upset that reality does not live up to your unrealistic ideals? How fucking stupid are you?"
Stain gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tightly. His composure was clearly shaken by my words.
"Nothing wrong? NOTHING WRONG!? They are cancer! They are not heroes, they claim to be heroes, yet they work for money and fame! They care only about their selfish ideals! It is my job to get rid of those rotten bastards! I will create a more just society!"
It pissed me off. I couldn't point out why. But everything about his reasoning, all of it, all of it pissed me off.
Ah right.
The only reason I was alive right was because of one such "Fake Hero" he was talking about.
"Is that so? What next? Are you going to kill every police officer next? Are you going to go after every doctor that takes payment? Are you going to keep killing people until only absolute altruists are left? What's wrong with them, huh? Endeavor has saved more people than you ever will, he is a glory hound, he is rich, he is an asshole, but you know what? He goes out there every day, risks his life, busts his ass, and he saves people. How many have you saved, Stain?"
The man stomped his foot and screamed, and at this moment it felt like it clicked for me.
"I am saving the world! Society! I am saving the world from their corruption! I am saving the world from their selfishness! Such people, they don't deserve to be heroes! They are NOT HEROES! THEY WILL NEVER BE!"
A laugh.
I couldn't help but chuckle, it was so comical.
"Oh, I get it now, you are a child."
The expression on his face seemed to freeze.
"You are a child throwing a temper tantrum. You couldn't deal with the fact that heroes weren't the altruists you wanted them to be, you couldn't handle that and decided to lash out. Just because you couldn't fucking realize that heroes are people too. You don't want to acknowledge the fact that even the selfish can act heroic. You know you aren't going to change anything by targeting these heroes except making things worse. You just want to feel validated, don't you? That's all this is."
"Shut up...!"
Raising my hand I pointed it straight at his face.
"Face it, you are just an overgrown child, lashing out at the world because you couldn't cope with reality. You kill people just to feel satisfied with yourself. You delude yourself without ever thinking about what you are doing. Absolutely unwilling to see the world around you. People like you... I hate people like you the most. You blind fuck."
Stain went still as I finished my words. He was quite polite for waiting for me to get the words off my chest until he attacked. And so were Deku and Ida for not interrupting me. Honestly, I'd pity Stain if he weren't so irredeemable.
"If you weren't so blind, maybe you could have seen this coming."
"!!!"
Supernova.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His expression twisted as 8 orbs of compressed blood exploded around his body and struck him in all directions like buckshot, ripping his limbs and crushing his bones. Throughout my entire speech, I was condensing blood and sending it under him, he was so focused on my words that he hadn't even noticed.
"I...! You...!"
Stain tried to groan out a last remark, but the shock on his system was too much, and he collapsed while foaming at the mouth. Watching him collapse, both Ida and Deku were stunned into silence before Deku broke the silence.
"Hakari-kun..."
Not wanting to listen, I clapped my hands and pointed to the guy dressed as a Native American slumped against the wall.
"Don't wanna hear it. We have a bleeding hero to save, chop chop, I gotta secure this guy."
Deku held his tongue and nodded while Ida stared between Stain and me before nodding alongside him. Placing his hand on my shoulder as he passed me by.
"Sorry for dragging you into this, Hakari-kun. And... Thank you. Truly."
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome."
I mumbled while walking over to Stain and encasing him in tough candy, making sure his limbs were locked together tightly. I was not risking this guy escaping even if he looked like a bloody rag from all angles. One thing I knew for sure was that fuckers could be way too tenacious for their own good.
Once he was finally secure, I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Feat Achieved! Defeat the Hero Killer Stain
+1x Gold Ability Gacha Ticket
Might as well roll it now, I'm gonna need it if I want to help people with all the Nomu's flying around.
Rolling Gold Ability Gacha...
A Rare Ability!
[Ukaku]
|Rare Ability|
Tokyo Ghoul - Allows you to manifest a wing-like biological appendage made of special RC Cells that allow it to freely go from fluid-like water to tough as steel. These wings can release a barrage of high-speed armour piercing feathers at will with good precision or sweep in slicing motions to attack like a steel whip.
Huh, another Kagune? Bikaku has really served me well so far, even if I have used it less recently due to the sheer versatility of Hemokinesis and my other abilities.
"Hakari-kun, it looks like Native-san is about to bleed out, could you administer first aid please?"
Ida, having found his groove again motioned me over as he gestured to a weak looking Native. He didn't look like he was about to die, but he certainly wasn't about to get up and walk away right now.
"Yeah yeah, I'll take a look-"
Clap Clap Clap,
"Wooow! What a show, you took care of that Mini-Boss so easily, and gave such a speech too. I'm almost inspired, didn't you say you weren't a Hero though?"
Just as I was about to walk over, the sound of clapping and a voice that I had heard once before echoed in the alleyway despite the harsh rainstorm. I snapped towards the source of the sound to look up and see him.
Standing on the ledge of a building, wearing a black hoodie and black pants, was Shigaraki Tomura, staring down at me with an eerie smile, a far cry from the face he showed me before. He jumped down from several floors up and landed as if he didn't even feel it.
Turning around to face him, I held out an arm and stopped Deku and Ida.
"Deku, Ida, get him and get out of here."
"W-Wha- do you know him, Hakari-kun?"
Shigaraki chuckled.
"Why, don't you remember me from USJ, heroes? That damn Nomu overshadowed me."
Midoriya's eyes widened and Ida took on a combat pose, but I glared at the both of them.
"Leave, now. Or do you think I cannot handle him?"
Shigaraki clapped again, his uncharacteristic confidence and calm unnerved me.
"Go ahead, go, I'll kill you two when I'm done with him. I'm not here to grind minions." He looked at Stain. "Shame he went down so easily though, Sensei said we could have used him even if he refused to join but, oh well. Guess we didn't need the small fry."
I started forming a convergence behind my back while seeming casual.
"So, why are you here again? Shouldn't you still be licking your wounds?"
He looked barely phased as he commented as casually as one would be when discussing the weather.
"Why, huh? After losing to a sudden secret boss, I decided to level up some more of course. And besides, I made a promise didn't I?"
.
.
.
"That I'd kill you."
'Piercing Blood!'
The instant the words left his mouth, I moved, bringing the Convergence in front of me and unleashing a Piercing Blood. Aiming it straight towards his forehead.
Tang!
"!!!"
But just as the beam of blood was about to pierce his forehead, Shigaraki raised his hand and a translucent shimmering red dome-like barrier stopped my Piercing Blood as if it were a pebble hitting glass with only a slight crack.
"Surprised? Didn't I tell you? I ALSO GOT A LITTLE STRONGER, HAKARI!!!"
Shigaraki spread his arms, and his hoodie was ripped to shreds as tens of black and red tendrils like sharpened branches grew out of his back and lunged towards me.
"Urk!"
Crossing my arms, I formed a barrier of hardened candy and winced as the tendrils slammed against the barrier like a thousand arrows and threw me out of the alleyway from the force and out into the burning street proper.
Flipping midair, I landed on my feet and looked at the candy shield that had become brittle and had multiple spots where it disintegrated.
Shit, this might not be good.
Shigaraki walked out of the alleyway with a bloodthirsty smile on his face.
"What's wrong? Scared now that you aren't the only one with multiple quirk!?"
Hakari Kotaro:
Abilities(4/4):
-Greater Hemokinesis
-Super Regeneration
-Candy Paramecia
-Enhanced Senses
Shigaraki Tomura:
Quirks:
-Decay
-Rivet Stab
-Barrier
-???
Letting out a deep shaky breath, I pushed my bangs out of the way and narrowed my eyes.
This may get messy.
A/N: Stain is an idiot, and I do not respect any fanfiction that depicts his ideology with any kind of respect. Because Hero is a profession in MHA, one with a wage and legal roles and responsibilities, while Stain is just a madman going out and killing people just because his fragile little sense of reality doesn't understand that people can help people without being absolute altruists and don't deserve to be executed because they aren't willing to go homeless to be a hero.
Stain could have been a threat, but do you know what really is a threat? An upgraded and really vengeful Shigaraki. That's right, I teased it a while before, but All for One, and his hatred for Hakari really made Shigaraki lock in, and AFO decided he stood no chance as he was so... yeah, Multiple Quirks vs Multiple Quirks. This will be the worst challenge so far. What did you guys think about this chapter? I'd love to know.
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