"You intended to depart without farewell." Tokoyami stated. Sukuna leaned his shoulder onto a wall, glancing lazily at the bird man standing between him and the exit.
"That was the plan, yes. Farewells complicate things." The pink haired boy replied.
"You intend to abandon everything. The woman you love, your place at UA, your future as a licensed hero." He spoke sharply.
"I'm not abandoning it." Sukuna spoke after exhaling slowly. Tokoyami's eyes narrowed.
"You are leaving in the middle of the night with a bag. That's literally the definition of abandoning things." He then continued.
"You possess opportunities that countless others would sacrifice everything to obtain. Mentorship under a top hero, elite training, allies. And you discard it to become... a vigilante?" He accused, his gaze hardening at Sukuna who remained silent.
Tokoyami took a step forward. " Explain to me why someone intelligent enough to reach UA would choose such a reckless, self-destructive course." Sukuna's expression stayed calm, too calm. The bird man has seen that face before, the one Sukuna used when something heavy was sitting behind his ribs.
"You're emotional." Sukuna quietly commented. Tokoyami nodded.
"Yes, because what you are doing is irrational."
"And extremely dramatic." Dark Shadow added helpfully.
"Mina will wake tomorrow to discover you vanished." Sukuna looked away as Tokoyami pressed forward, taking a step closer to him.
"You leave the person you love behind, you throw away your education, your chance to become a hero properly. For what? For pride?" Sukuna's eyes flickered as silence returned.
"Answer me." Tokoyami demanded seriously. Sukuna's jaw tightened slightly.
"You wouldn't understand."
"Then explain it so I am able to understand your perspective."
Dark Shadow leaned in. "Yeah man, the mysterious silence thing you've got going on is getting old." Sukuna exhaled slowly, and for a moment he looked like he might brush it off again, then Tokoyami said the one sentence that pushed it too far.
"You're doing this willingly."
"No." Sukuna immediately glared into Tokoyami's eyes, his composure cracking a little.
"I didn't want this." Tokoyami frowned at his words.
" What do you—"
"My parents were taken." Sukuna revealed. Dark Shadow went still while Tokoyami blinked in surprise.
"Taken?"
"A few days ago, possibly around the same time I was kidnapped." Sukuna looked toward the floor as he spoke. Tokoyami's mind immediately started connecting pieces. Sukuna's sleeplessness, his sudden distancing, the sudden decision to leave on the first day they were assigned to the dorms.
"They were kidnapped by a cult that worshipped All For One."
" Hey, isn't that the guy All Might fought before he retired? The one with like a billion Quirks and the leader of the League of Villains?" Dark Shadow questioned. Sukuna nodded silently.
"That's the one. He desires my parents' Quirks. And there is also the fact that he's seeking revenge due to them giving him a hard time decades ago."
"But All For One's in jail." Dark Shadow argued. "What's he gonna do with them—Oh..." Dark Shadow slowly came into a horrifying realization.
"He wants them to become Nomu under the League's control, possibly out of spite. Shigaraki's still out there after all." Tokoyami whispered before looking back at Sukuna.
"Why has no one reported this?" He asked.
"Because they were careful. The house was intact. There was no forced entry and zero witnesses."
"You should have informed the authorities. Then the heroes could—"
"Could what?" Sukuna interrupted, glaring sharply at Tokoyami. "Open a case file? Conduct a months-long investigation? If they are tied to the League now, time matters. And I don't have the time."
"So you're deciding to hunt them yourself, and you believed telling no one was the optimal strategy."
Sukuna shrugged. "They'd stop me."
"And you believed involving us would endanger us?" Sukuna didn't reply, which was confirmation enough. Tokoyami sighed.
"You truly are insufferably noble..." Sukuna smirked in response.
"Better than being reckless."
" This is reckless. What you are doing is closer to suicide."
Sukuna shrugged again. "Maybe it is."
"Maybe?! That's not reassuring at all!" Dark Shadow groaned, throwing up his hands. The bird man stared at him silently for a while before he continued.
"And Mina? You love her yet here you are planning to leave her behind." Sukuna's expression faltered.
"She deserves someone who can stay."
"That..." Tokoyami palmed his face. "is the most pathetic argument you have made tonight." He said slowly.
" Excuse me?" Sukuna muttered in a low tone.
"You abandon the woman you claim to love, then comfort yourself with the idea that you are doing her a favor? You're not sacrificing yourself. You're just a coward disguising it with nobility."
"Watch it, Tokoyami." Sukuna's eyes narrowed. "Do you think this is easy for me?"
"I think you are just lying to yourself." Tokoyami snapped back immediately. Sukuna scoffed.
"You don't understand what I'm dealing with here."
"No. I understand exactly what you are doing." Tokoyami replied sharply, pointing a finger at his chest.
"You are pre-emptively deciding how others will feel, you claim she deserves someone who can stay, yet you never asked her if she wanted that."
"Because I know the answer—"
"No. You are scared of the answer. You fear she would say she wants to stand beside you."
" Well she shouldn't."
"Shouldn't?" Tokoyami echoed. "You don't get to decide the limits of another person's loyalty." His eyes burned with intensity as he spoke.
"You speak as if Mina is fragile." He continued.
"I'm just trying to protect her—"
"From what? From the truth? She's a hero in training, we all are. And yet you treat us like civilians who must be shielded from reality." He pointed up, at the dorms above them.
"That's different."
"No it is not. You're choosing the easier pain. You abandon her now so you never have to watch her suffer later."
" How is that easy?" Sukuna scoffed.
"I'm not saying it is. But it is simpler that way. And you know what the cruelest part of your logic is?"
" What?" Sukuna sighed, his hand tightened around the strap of his bag.
"You assume she will simply move on."
Dark Shadow scoffed. "C'mon dude, you know Mina longer than any of us here."
Tokoyami folded his arms. "You think she will eventually find someone who 'can stay'. But you are just underestimating her, Sukuna." He tilted his head at Sukuna.
"I believe she would hunt you down and scream at you. Maybe even slap you a couple of times."
"Then she'd kiss you for like a few hours." Dark Shadow continued Tokoyami's sentence with a laugh. Tokoyami nodded a little, a small smirk on his face.
"Maybe that too.. Because that's just how Mina is. Love is not convenient, it is stubborn and deeply irrational."
"She'll hate me." He muttered quietly. Tokoyami nodded.
"Of course she will. But hatred is not the same as losing love." Sukuna let out a breath that sounded like a snort.
"Ceh. That's convenient coming from you."
"No. It's convenient when she'd understand immediately, which she would definitely not." Dark Shadow nodded in agreement.
"From the time I got to know Mina, I know that she is passionate, emotional, and fiercely loyal. When she discovers you are gone, she will be furious." Sukuna winced a little.The only time he would be concerned about his own safety was when Mina was mad, which fortunately hasn't happened, yet.
"Then she would cry, and she would definitely say she hates you."
"Right... I'm really screwing this aren't I?"
"You are. But if she truly stopped caring about you, she would not be angry at all. And you're not leaving because you stopped loving her, not even close. And she will eventually understand that, even if she never forgives the way you chose to leave." The bird man shrugged.
"Who knows, when you return, she'd probably punch you." Dark Shadow grinned.
" Hard."
" Very hard." Tokoyami supported.
"You said it was going to be slap just now...* Sukuna whispered.
"Hey. We don't decide what she does. You're the one who chose to do this." Tokoyami raised his hands. Sukuna sighed as he started walking, with Tokoyami silently stepping aside. The pink haired teen placed the envelopes on the coffee table one by one before he stepped outside.
The night air slipped through the doorway, cool and quiet, as Sukuna stood half outside, half inside the dorm like a man balanced between two different lives.
"You will return, yes?" Tokoyami suddenly asked. Sukuna paused. That question was harder than everything else Tokoyami said tonight, harder than the accusations and the arguments. Because this one required honesty, and honesty, in this moment, was cruel.
"Yeaaahhh he has no idea." Dark Shadow commented through the silence, though Tokoyami already knew that. After all, people who were certain about returning answer quickly.
"I'll try..." Sukuna muttered. Tokoyami only narrowed his eyes.
"That was not the question." Sukuna exhaled slowly through his nose. Of course it wasn't. Tokoyami wasn't stupid.
Sukuna finally turned his head just enough to glance back. His expression wasn't stoic anymore. Just tired.
"I don't know." He admitted honestly. ""If the cult is connected to the League, this could take a long time." He shook his head lightly.
Tokoyami walked a few steps closer to the door. "You understand what that means. Mina will wait, and so will we."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
"Then you underestimate her resolve."
"Or maybe I just know it too well." Sukuna smiled faintly. There was another pause between them.
"You are afraid." Tokoyami added. Sukuna raised an eyebrow at him.
"You are afraid that when you return, everyone here will have moved on without you."
Sukuna chuckled a little. "Well maybe I deserve that." Tokoyami shook his head.
"No you do not. You are many things, Sukuna. Reckless. Stubborn. Irritatingly self-sacrificing." Dark Shadow nodded enthusiastically as Tokoyami went on.
"But abandoning those you care for out of apathy is not one of them. So I will rephrase the question for you. Do you intend to come back?" He asked sharply. Sukuna looked at himself, then at the dorms behind Tokoyami, the people sleeping inside them, the life he's about to walk away from.
"Yeah..." His answer came out quieter than expected. He looked up at again.
"Yeah, I do." Tokoyami nodded. That was all he needed. Intent matters, as in philosophy and in life, intention is often the first coordinate on a long map.
Dark Shadow stretched like a satisfied cat. "Cool, cuz if you didn't, we'd probably have to hunt you down later." Sukuna smirked at him.
"I welcome the chase." Tokoyami smirked in return. There was the Sukuna he knew.
"Then return when you can, not when you believe you deserve to." Sukuna paused at that. He nodded once as his signature tattoos formed around him. He glanced back at Tokoyami and smiled, sincerely, full of emotion.
"Ciao."
He disappeared into the dark. Tokoyami watched the empty doorway for a long moment before closing it as Dark Shadow floated beside him.
"You think he'll be okay out there?"
"Yes."
"That confident?"
"Of course. After all, he is the strongest."
....
Aizawa was awake. Of course he was. Sleep and that man have a complicated relationship after all. The faculty office was dim except for a desk lamp and the quiet glow of a laptop. Papers were stacked in small layers of grading and incident reports.
The door slid open. Aizawa didn't look up.
"You're quite loud for someone trying to sneak out." Sukuna stopped in the doorway, glancing at his sensei.
"Figures." Aizawa sighed and rubbed one eye before finally glancing up, noticing Sukuna with his markings activated and his second pair of eyes opened. He the glanced at the travel bag, the posture and the look on the teen's face. Aizawa's radar for trouble had been screaming since Sukuna stepped into the room.
"You're leaving."
"Yes." Sukuna nodded once. Aizawa leaned back against the chair.
"Great... Are you going to give me the heroic monologue version or the honest one?"
"I'm going to become a vigilante." Sukuna bluntly stated. Aizawa rubbed his hands over his face, dragging it down slowly while looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh My God...."
"Every year I tell myself maybe this class will be normal. Then one of you decides to run off into the night like a brooding comic book character." He gestured at Sukuna as he muttered.
"You're serious?" Aizawa studied him.
"Yes." Aizawa leaned forward now, elbows on the desk.
"You understand how stupid this is."
"I understand the risks."
"That's not what I said. Running off without a license means everything you do becomes illegal. Intervening in villain activity. Property damage. Assault during combat." He listed, counting on his fingers lazily. Then he raised another finger.
"Getting yourself killed." Sukuna shrugged as he listened.
"That happens to heroes too."
"Yeah well at least they get health insurance." He let it sank in for a moment before asking.
" Why? You've got top-tier potential. Strong instincts. Hawks took interest in you. All Might took interest in you. You're not the type to throw that away for thrills, so something must've happened to you." Aizawa waited patiently for Sukuna to reply.
"My parents were kidnapped. By a cult working with the League of Villains."
" When?" Aizawa immediately asked, his gaze sharpening.
"As soon as I myself was kidnapped. I only found out when I got home the day before you and All Might came to visit."
"Did you report it?"
"No."
"Why the fuck—" Aizawa groaned. " You didn't report the kidnapping?"
"They staged it to look like nothing happened."
"That doesn't answer my question, kid." Now Aizawa looked genuinely annoyed.
"Yes, I didn't report it." Aizawa stared for a while before sighing.
"You idiot. Why do you think heroes exist?"
"To stop villains."
"To investigate crimes." Aizawa snapped before gesturing at him. "You've got access to some of the best investigative resources in the country and your plan was, what? Run away and play lone wolf?"
"If the cult is connected to the League, a slow investigation won't save them." Sukuna said, his voice tightened.
"So instead you'll rush in blind. You think this is noble, kid?"
"No, it's necessary." Aizawa studied him some more before he continued.
"You're angry. And you're scared." Sukuna didn't deny it. Aizawa pointed at him.
"And that combination is exactly what gets vigilantes killed." He stated calmly.
"Maybe..." Sukuna shifted uncomfortably.
"What about your classmates?" Sukuna looked away, which made Aizawa realize instantly.
"Ah... So Mina doesn't know..." He sighed, shaking his head. " You kids are exhausting. Let me guess..." He rubbed his head.
"You decided disappearing in the middle of the night was the noble thing to do. News flash kid, that only works in movies. In reality, it just hurts everyone." He commented dryly.
"You know what the funny thing is? If you'd hadn't lied to me and All Might when we where at your place, we could have started an investigation immediately. And you might've been involved too. But now you've decided to go rogue." He shrugged at Sukuna.
"You're not stopping me?" Sukuna questioned as Aizawa casually returned to grading papers like nothing just happened.
"Stopping you how?" Aizawa questioned.
"You're a teacher. You could just use your Quirk and drag me back to the dorms before reporting it." The pen stopped as Aizawa looked up again.
"Yes, I could do that. But let's think this through. Remember the time I 'erased' your Quirk during you first day at UA, but you still moved like you had one?" Aizawa questioned. Sukuna nodded.
"You've gotten a lot stronger than you were back then, you'd just escape even if I tried. There's no point in calling other staff because you'll still escape eventually. And, you're determined." He then continued.
"I've been teaching long enough to recognize that look. The day you found out, you've already made your decision, so stopping you right now would only delay the inevitable." He sighed. Sukuna just stared.
"That's it?..."
" You want the dramatic version as well? Fine. You're not a prisoner here. You're a student, and students are allowed to make stupid decisions."
"Just say that you're lazy, sensei." Sukuna scoffed. Aizawa shrugged.
" It's reality, kid. You're fifteen, if I chain you to this school until you graduate, you'll just leave then, or even resent the place forever."
"Clearly you're just letting me go." Sukuna frowned. Aizawa shook his head.
"No kid. I'm letting you choose. Heroes aren't created by force, they choose the profession. And sometimes they make the bad decisions first." He explained.
"So you think what I'm doing is wrong."
"Without a doubt in my mind." Aizawa nodded before pointing at him. " You have no strategy, no backup, no intel network. You're basically declaring war on criminals while carrying a backpack." Aizawa roasted. Sukuna wanted to say that he had Todo with him, but it wasn't worth the trouble.
"But here's the problem, I can't teach judgment if I remove every bad decision from your life. Experience teaches faster than lectures, and I'm hoping you survive long enough to learn, and I'm betting you'll come back."
"This is the first time I'm seeing you that confident in your own student." Sukuna commented with a small smirk on him. Aizawa rolled his eyes.
"No. It's the fact that you're to attached to this place, your friends, your future, and Mina. You're not built to wander forever. So get out of my sight." He sighed, leaning back on his chair before picking up his pen again.
"But understand something, Sukuna." Aizawa added, as Sukuna turned around, before coming to a stop.
"If you cross the line from hero work into criminal behavior, I won't hesitate to call all of Japan's heroes on you, and I will personally bring you back in cuffs."
" Yes... sensei..." He whispered, standing there a moment longer before finally stepping out into the night. The hallway outside the faculty office was dim and silent.
He stood there for a moment before turning back. Aizawa was still at his desk, pen scratching across paper like the conversation already ended.
"You forget something?" Aizawa asked, not looking up. Sukuna didn't reply. Aizawa heard fabric rustling before he looked up. He unconsciously let go of his pen.
Sukuna was bowing. Not a casual nod, not the lazy dip students give when they were half-listening. A deep bow. Back straight. Head lowered.
Aizawa just blinked. He didn't expect that at all.
"Thank you... for teaching me..." Sukuna muttered quietly. Aizawa stared at him for a few seconds, processing this extremely un-Sukuna-like display of humility. He exhaled through his nose.
"You're making this weird, kid."
"There's a chance I won't make it back. So I wanted to say it now." Aizawa narrowed his eyes as Sukuna continued.
"You didn't have to deal with me, and yet you did." Aizawa leaned back, crossing his arms.
"Well... Someone had to." Sukuna finally straightened as their eyes meet. Then Aizawa started speaking.
"You know something interesting about teaching? Students always think we're the ones shaping them, sometimes it's the other way around." He smiled a little, pointing his pen at Sukuna.
"You problem children force us to become better teachers. So congratulations kid, you've been educational." He sarcastically continued. Sukuna actually smiled a little at that. Aizawa's gaze then sharpened.
"But don't treat this as a farewell speech, brat. I am not allowing you to die. Now go handle your mess." Sukuna turned toward the hallway with a sigh. Then Aizawa added one more thing.
"And Sukuna." The teen stopped, glancing back at his sensei looking directly at him.
"Whatever you find out there... don't let it turn you into the thing you're hunting. History is full of people who chased monsters long enough to become one." He warned. Sukuna nodded once.
"Understood, sensei." He stepped into the hallway, the door sliding shut behind him. Aizawa sat quietly for a moment, staring at the closed door.
"Idiot..." Students leave schools every year. That was normal. Graduation, transfers, life.
But this one felt different. This one walked out into the dark. Aizawa looked at the door again.
"You bowed...That's cheating, you brat..." A disbelieving scoff escaped him.
"Damnit..." He tried to continue grading, but couldn't. There was a tightness behind the eyes, and a quiet ache in his heart.
" Problem child... You better come back..."
To be continued.....
(bruh some of y'all just got your comments deleted in the previous chapter cuz I edited a paragraph. Sorry about that.)
(I knew y'all wasn't going to like the vigilante turn. Y'all say it's too forced but don't give me reasons. Offer me alternatives then. Peace.)
To be continued...