The Hunter Amongst Villains - The Angel that Hates his Wings (Patreon)

 As you know, I did have plans for my OC in this story. He will not hitchhike the plot of canon characters just to get fame, but would develop a story of his own. There is a story behind him, he is alive in my fanfic as would any character in MHA would. 

As for the current chapter, I just had an idea. I have an inspiration to have you patrons watch to watch me write my current chapter, I can send you a invite through gmail. I write in google docs. however, this will only apply to those who payed me five dollars a month, or used to just to be fair. I do not want just anyone watching me write. Depending on your behavior, I might let you continue watching me write my current chapter progression. This is also an experiment to see if having others present to inspect and judge my work fairly will motivate me to write more and amplify my production.

Let me know what you guys think. I am writing the fight scene with a rush of inspiration from watching an IP Man tribute.

Ghin Emotional Scene 

“…” locked within his room, the cheerful boy no longer bore his usual smile, his mask to hide his true self. Now, with starlight shining from his back, he seethed in his sorrow, and growing hate as the light on his back reflects his emotion, dimming crimson red from pure silver.

Anger flows through him like the magma of the earth, his ire directed at the world around him. For abandoning him, for robbing him of his parents, and… for taking away his dream to become the first Quirkless Hero. The Symbol of Hope for the Quirkless… 

“…why now? Why after all this time? Why! WHY?!” As his anger flared, the reflected cluster of starlight darkened into black, reflecting his murderous intent.

He looked at the rectangular mirror in his room, embedded in the wall, seeing the reflection of his state. No longer the boy following Garou, now the boy who had suffered for far too long surfaced, with the wings of clustering starlight growing darker from the sight of himself as he grew more and more sick of his reflection. He finally got the power he needed to trump the Quirks that plagued his life for so long… and yet it continued to curse him so, mocking him via bestowing him a power that he cannot forgo.

Unable to bear his reflection, the lights behind Ghin started radiating and projected a myriad stream of black lasers, melting the glass into liquid and piercing through the walls with unexpected penetrative prowess. Ghin, not wanting to deal with his aunt, walked towards the window and opened the sill as he climbed over, and leapt out the window despite it being three story tall and fell.

However, in his descent, the cluster of starlight around his back coalesced into wings of Blacklight, hardening the photons on his back as they clapped, giving him the power of flight as he took off across the skies. Flying as if it was the most natural thing to do, as if… he was at home. Truly at home in the skies above.

He wandered through the skies, the wind gracing his face and eyes as he soared, desiring some peace of mind, some time to allow him to process his and resolve the turbulent emotions swirling dangerously close to erupting to the surface like a volcano within. He does not want to show this side of him to his family and teacher. Not after he hid it for so long. His weak side, his shameful side. He does not wish to burden them with his darkness.

As he soared through the air, his small body and black wings caught the attention of the eyes he passed overhead, people down below pointing at him with awe and confusion as he clapped through the air. Ghin caught a certain comment about him being an angel… which is something he is not. And the mere comment angers him even more as he clapped even harder, wanting to fly to his usual place. The bridge built over the river, one of the only places he can be alone.

As he finally reached his destination, scent of salt water and sound of rushing water greeting him, Ghin landed on the bridge, his wings breaking apart back into clusters as he watched over the reflective waters, gazing into the horizon as the blue river, reflecting the sun and clouds, converged into the far distance as he finally allowed his mind to wander on his heart.

His thoughts dwelled on his entire life, how he lost everything by the hands of heroes and villains. How he suffered under the hands of the Quirks… how he smiled through his suffering. His smile, a token of reminder of his parents parting words, to remember them by.

“Whenever you are in pain… smile… smile through, and happiness will follow…” Ghin repeated the words of his mother… before he finally broke down and cried. His voice cracked as he hiccuped, tears trickling down his eyes for the first time in a year as he vented the years of sorrow out for the first time. He stifled his voice, not wanting anyone to see him like this, as his tears dropped into the lake as it received his sorrow with unconditional acceptance. He cried for his parents, silently whispering how much he missed them, apologizing for not being there for them, blaming himself for not having the power to save them. For placing his unconditional faith in heroes to save them. As he cried, the lights on his back changed color, from black to blue sorrow as they flapped with melancholic sadness.

As the heartbroken young boy stood there, looking off the bridge onto the calm waters of the nearby river, footsteps behind him slowly drew his attention. As he turned, he came face to face with a group of older kids, staring at him and sneering. They stood tdhere, cocky and overconfident. 

“…” Ghin does not feel like talking to them. He does not even have the energy to tell them to buzz off. But they already saw his tear-stained face, contorted with sorrow, and already they decided to pick on it. The young boy looked like an easy target for these kids.

“It’s awful lonely on this bridge by yourself kiddo.”

One of the kids spoke up, clearly faking any concern in his voice. He continued to stare down at Ghin, a large grin across his face. One of the other kids to his side nodded quickly, also with a sinister grin.

All of the older kids wore the same uniform. Ghin did not recognise it, nor did he care. The group noticeably had some Quirks, with their appearance being strange. One was large, with a squarish, rocky outline. Another had very long arms, cooked around himself multiple times, like a spring. They may have all looked different, but they all bore the same look of vicious mockery and amusement.

“…go away. Leave me alone.” Ghin could only muster enough energy to utter these words. He does not want to talk to them. He just wanted to be alone to himself and vent.

One of the taller kids sidled up next to the young boy and rested a hand on Ghin’s shoulder.

“Aw come on kid. We’ve been so polite. We came up here to ...check on you!”

The inflection in his voice said otherwise.

“I’m not dumb. Please go away. I just want to be alone.” Ghin asked again as the lights behind him slowly turned from blue to scarlet. He does not have the patience to deal with their stupidity.

The grin faded off of the faces of most of the delinquents standing before Ghin. They now stared at him with a mix of anger and frustration. The hand on Ghin’s shoulder began tightening its grip.

“Kid. You’re testing our patience. Did your parents teach you your manners?”

“They died… right before my eyes.” Ghin replied with a very sad tone. He no longer cares about hiding his pain right now.

A moment passed, the only sound coming from the rushing of the river below them. The kid stood next to Ghin patted him on the shoulder.

“That’s a real shame. Isn’t it guys?”

The crowd of older kids all nodded in response. 

“Yeah. Such a shame.”

The mutant student with the weird arms nodded, but his voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. A few smiles returned to the faces of the students.

“Please, leave me alone… I came here to grieve. Not deal with delinquents.” Ghin asked again as the lights grew crimson.

They all stepped towards Ghin and towered over him. They cast a large shadow over the small, despondent boy. All of the students were now glaring at him with narrowed eyes. The lights behind the young boy were of course a cause for concern.

“You’re reeeally pushing your luck kid. We’ve been nothing but nice. “

“You all look like the thugs Garou turned bloody before they begged for their lives. What do you want with me?” Ghin replied as he returned his gaze to the river.

At the mention of the Hero-Hunter, the assembled students all stepped backwards unconsciously  The Hero-Hunter had become quite an obsession for many people. Some of it came down to the awe at his use of excessive violence. Others, downright fear of his name. There was no one who could forget his brutality against heroes and villains alike. And, ironically, crime rate was at an all time low because of his actions despite how villainous his deeds were.

“Y-you..know the Hero-Hunter?”

The formerly gruff voice of the delinquent’s leader was now slightly shaky.

“He is my martial art teacher.” What came out of his mouth sounded more ludicrous than expected.

The delinquents paused for a moment in confusion, before breaking out into raucous laughter. 

“““Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!”””

Their mocking laughter filled the boy’s ears. But the boy does lot care. He could not bring himself to care, for he was aware of the ridiculousness of his claim.

After the older kids had finished their laughter, they now looked at the young boy with renewed interest and amusement.

“Ah kid. You’re real funny. Martial arts teacher? The Hero-Hunter would never train anyone! Much less a brat like you!”

The wings on his back then turned black. 

“…you would be surprised.” Ghin said with a heavy tone as he turned around and glared at the older kids.

“What do you want with me?” He asked, his tone laced with malice, his low patience finally depleted.

The first delinquent withdrew his hand and shrugged nonchalantly. 

“We just saw a young kid up on a bridge. It’d really suck if he jumped.” The delinquent said with emphasis on jump. 

Ghin was not amused. His face illustrated his displeasure, his frown turning into an angry scowl.

“I'm not in the mood for this. Leave.” Ghin spoke.

The cracking of knuckles and the craning of necks was his indicator that the older kids were preparing for something.

“The mood for what? You’re like, 8. You gonna take us on?”

*shoom!*

His response was a black stream of light grazing his cheek. The older kid could feel the burn, his skin cauterized burning the skin before the blood could leak.

“You are not worth dirtying my hands.” Ghin said as the wings of light spread, the black wings unfolded to great length, astounding the older kids as he did so as the black wings overwhelmed the bright surroundings with its radiance. He bore the appearance of an angel with his wings. A fallen angel cast down from heaven, with the lake reflecting the sun to his back in the background.

The would-be-target of Ghin’s black light beams caressed the small scorched streak across his face. His blackened and cracked skin. His eyes were set in one of caution and anger. 

“You..fuckin’ kid.”

He spat out hatefully.

“I warned you. I may be small. But I'm by no means weak. And I can no longer hold back.” Ghin said. 

The leaded waved a hand towards Ghin, signalling the ones behind him to begin moving forwards the young boy. 

“You just signed a death warrant kid. We were willing to go easy on you, being a kid and all. But you just had to go and do it.”

Two of the taller students stepped forwards and towered over Ghin, preparing to strike down at the younger boy. 

Ghin let out a chuckle. A very mocking chuckle.

“You guys really are small fry.” Ghin said with an uncharacteristic, condescending tone unbefitting someone of his age. The two taller kids saw two orbs of black light appearing in front of their faces. And they were as big as basketballs.

“I came here so I can vent. But now, I think I would rather explode.”

*BOOM*

An explosion occurred as the two taller kids were sent flying, launched over the leader’s head as they crashed into the river with a heavy splash. The leader furrowed his brows as he saw this.

“Get him!” 

More people rushed towards their small opponent. Fists flew towards him, hoping to at least wound their target. In response, Ghin wrapped himself with his wings as they hardened, the moment the fists reached him they collided on the black walls instead. The bones of their knuckles buckled the moment they crashed into the black wings enveloping the boy, which were unexpectedly hard. Very very hard.

Their screams drowned out the sound of the serene river beneath them. Their agonizing cries caused the other attackers to halt for a moment in worry. The kid’s Quirk was clearly powerful and dangerous. It wasn’t difficult to see how threatening his Quirk was given how it could one shot them without noticeable effort.

Unwrapping his wings, more orbs of light materialized in front of him. A lot more than the taller kids expected, around twenty or more.

“I warned you.” Ghin said as the myriad orbs of light charged up, gaining more and more energy before they're ready to fire.

The leader looked back at his group. They stood there, motionless as the two sides of the delinquents and Ghin faced off.

“What the fuck are you doing? Get him! He’s just a kid!”

His shouts shook the would-be-attackers into action. Five more rushed towards the little boy, hoping to overwhelm him with their numbers now. Their target showed no sign of movement as they beared down upon him.

“Fools.” 

*BOOM*

Only for them to fly over the leader of the delinquent as the orbs fired, charcoaling their bodies black. Before the leader could respond, he saw a flicking string of black before he felt something piercing his leg. 

“Ahhhh!!” The leader fell to his knee in pain, a pinpoint hole burned through his right thigh. Seeing their leader reduced to such a state left them baffled, as they stepped back with astonishment.

“This kid is crazy!”

“What the hell?!”

“Run!”

The remaining attackers turn to retreat. Seeing such sudden and willing violence had broken their morale. Seeing their leader fall only made them run even faster.

Ghin snarled as they turned to run, not willing to let them go. More orbs charged up as he fired at the retreating kids, not willing to let them go after ruining his alone time, as streaks of black flew towards the running kids and exploded, the sound echoing in the deserted area.

The bridge fell silent again as unconscious bodies littered the area, few floating stop the river as it carried them downstream. A few civilians had witnessed the event and now held their phones in their hands, calling any form of medical service. Ghin’s ears perked up at the mention of the authorities on their way. Heroes? Or just simple police?

“Tch.” Ghin clicked his tongue.

He walked up to the leader first before he fled, said leader trying to crawl away from him.

“If I see you, ever again… I will make sure you will never walk the same. Do you get me?” Ghin threatened the him with a face so angry, his aura leaked murderous intent at the leader.

He could only nod in acknowledgement. He had been stopped in the middle of manically crawling away on his hands and knees. The pride and cockiness had been replaced by sheer terror and unease.

“Good. Don't you dare cause me trouble ever again.” Ghin said before his wings of black flapped, dying the leader in shadow as he bore the appearance of a dark raven following Death, before he leapt and flew away from the scene as the leader watched him fly, dumbfounded that he could even fly. In his mind, he questioned just what kind of quirk allowed him so many abilities in the first place.

Some time later, the bridge was cordoned off by the police as several Heroes wandered around the scene, questioning witnesses and analyzing. The witnesses made mention of a young silver haired boy that seemed to possess an incredibly powerful Quirk, wings of black and have the power to fire explosive projectiles and as well as flight. He also seemed to have no restraints when it came to his Quirk’s use on others.

Standing in the center of the scene, a man with spiky, red hair and a dark metallic grey protection mask, patterned in stripes, covering his mouth. His whole attire screams crimson, from his long-collared robes to his cape. Crimson Riot stepped forward, the red-haired hero observing the whole area. Ambulances parked on each ends of the bridge, white vehicles blaring their flashing red sirens as the medical staff tended to the wounded. Scorch marks were dotted all around, followed by craters normally found in the aftermath of explosions. A few moaned in pain, barely even conscious. Edgeshot walked up next to the serious Hero.

“We’ve got several kids all heavily wounded and one perp on the loose.”

Crimson Riot cut straight to the chase. Such violence against those so young was unforgivable. Even if the attacker was another child. Crimson Riot clenched his fist in frustration of these events.

“I believe you are correct. Our assailant was a much smaller child. We’ll need to check all of the nearby schools for kids possessing powerful or noteworthy Quirks. Although for the young to resort to such violence…”

Edgeshot rubbed his chin as he considered. The only other capable of such brutality was Garou, having experienced it twice with his body. He shuddered upon remembering the bearings.

“What is the kid’s Quirk anyways?” Edgeshot asked.

Crimson Riot looked over at the ambulances carrying away some of the victims, his expression unreadable.

“We don’t have a full picture yet. From eyewitness reports, it appears to be some form of projectile energy type Quirk.”

Edgeshot raised an eyebrow at that. From the class of U.A, there was one, but… he was much older.

“Can the witnesses tell us where the culprit went?” 

The spikey haired Hero shook his head. 

“We don’t know where he went. According to the reports we’ve been given, he flew away.”

Edgeshot cocked one eyebrow in interest. Their culprit certainly had a powerful and adaptable Quirk.

“Fly? I thought you said his Quirk was some kind of energy manipulation?”

Crimson Riot sighed.

“I know. But according to a certain kid, the attacker had black wings on his back. I asked him for details but his memory isn’t ideal since he’s still a kid.” Crimson Riot explained.

The young boy in question had been rather badly wounded by their assailant. A blackened patch of skin had been proof of the vicious attack on his person. A beam of light had pierced the young boy’s leg, severely cauterizing the hole and evaporating the blood. It would take some time for him to heal, but until then, he will have to hobble from now on.

“An unknown dangerous Quirk in the hands of a reckless child is concerning.”
Edgeshot crossed his arms and Crimson Riot nodded wistfully in response. 

“I will alert the others about this. Someone with black wings can’t be hard to find.” 

The two heroes looked at the scene for a moment, standing there in silence. While the perpetrator was responsible for such violence, he did still seem to be a child. There was always the possibility that he was simply a lost and confused young boy. The sooner they found him,  the better.

Meanwhile, flapping through the air, Ghin arrived at Hosu again, this time wandering around his hometown with no clear destination. He just wanted some time alone, yet even God can’t grant him something as simple as peace of mind.

As he soared, he caught sight of a commotion. A crowd gathering around a place, a bus of some kind. A large tourist bus… a red one bearing the mark of a hero, but he could not recognize it. Curiosity taking over reason, the boy landed atop of a nearby roof, and watched down below carefully.

Suddenly, the door of the bus opened up and three figures walked out. Ghin could immediately tell that they were foreign Heroes. The three Heroes waved at the assembled crowd, smiling widely. There were two women and a man.

One of them had glowing golden hair. It seemed so radiant that it seemed to blind some people in the crowd. She wore a full-body red suit, with a golden cape bearing a white symbol of a sun waving in the wind behind her. She exuded confidence and ebullience.

Besides her stood a slightly smaller, brown-haired woman, who seemed to be shrinking away from the crowd, back into the bus. Her most defining trait was the four large spider legs, emerged from her back. Upon closer inspection, she also had six eyes, making her even more insect-like. Unlike her teammate who stood next to her, her outfit was not colourful or flashy. It was a simple close-fitted catsuit in black. Overall, she was quite the contrast to the first one, the exact opposite emulating timidity.

The only man out of the three stood tall and confidently. He was wearing plain cargo pants and a plain shirt. He had quite a defined jaw, with a beard covering the lower half of his face. His hair was slicked back and he wore a proud smile for the crowd. 

He suddenly spread both of his arms to his sides and a loud creaking and groaning deafened the air. The sheet metal covering the bus peeled off and flew towards the man. The metal stuck to him and seemed to wrap and writhe around him. He remained stationary, posed as the remolded metal took the form of a western suit of plate armor. Once the metal had stopped its movement, his grin only grew as he began waving to the now overjoyed crowd.

Ghin cocked his head to the side, now interested in the three new heroes that came to his town. The man on the front walked up to the vanguard and gave a speech. His Japanese clearly had a rather heavy foreign accent.

“It’s so great to be greeted by so many fans! To think that we’re so popular here!”

The man was clearly faking any humbleness or surprise, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Ghin immediately frowned, his wings turned to sour purple illustrating his already dislike of the man, as he continued listening to his speech. What he said next surprised him.

“Now everyone, I know some of you are aware of our activities. And while we love visiting our fans all over the world, we are here in Japan for a specific purpose. Our purpose is the one known as the Hero Hunter!”

The crowd went completely silent, much to the surprise of the three heroes.

“............…”

Even Ghin dropped his jaw with eyes wide as saucers, like a gaping fish, at the revelation. The color of his wings even changed from black to pure yellow.

‘Do they have a death wish?’ What part of ‘Breaker of Heroes’ and ‘One who defeated All Might’ did they not understand? If they’re here to challenge him, then they are either pretty strong or mentally disabled idiots who needed their heads checked. Ghin was completely sure it was the latter. There’s no hero capable of defeating him.

The three heroes on the bus exchanged curious and confused glances with each other. They had heard of the Hero-Hunter over in America. But they assumed he wasn't a significant threat, just another breed of Stain. But the crowd’s reaction had disproved their assumption shockingly. He was someone dangerous.

The man coughed, clearing his throat and continued.

“Well, we are here to make sure that this Hero-Hunter will threaten the safety of the public no more. If we deem him a danger in any way, we’ll send word back for more forces here.”

Even with the man promising reinforcements, should the Hero Hunter be hostile, the crowd remained unmoved, still deathly silent. Doubt filled the three’s hearts, already questioning their initial knowledge of the Hero Hunter in general.

Murmurs of the crowd suddenly erupted, and the man could hear the words.

“Are they serious?”

“There’s no way they can do that.”

“Are they trying to throw away their careers?”

“Haven’t they heard of his deeds?”

“Did they not know about his recent ‘hunts’?”

The murmurs spoke doubt in the heroes, especially with the latest villains Garou downed. Very powerful villains… now crippled to the point of disability, reduced to a pitiful state regardless of their power. The most pitiful one was Muscular, the killer now unable to live without using his Quirk to just move his body, and in constant pain with every flex of his muscles. In a sense, he deserved it due to his murderous record, but his fate still garnered sympathy even if he doesn’t deserve it.

The golden-haired woman stepped forward, her powerful voice drowning out any murmurs or whispers.

“We understand that the Hero-Hunter may be dangerous and threatening to you. However, we are still dedicated to the defense of the public. Do not worry for us.”

However, her speech still failed to rouse the deathly silent crowd, not even moved by her claims. The woman blinked, evidently not used to the crowd’s reaction, nor did she encounter it before. Cheers would normally greet her when she spoke. 

“Seriously…” Ghin now felt responsible in not sending them to their deaths as his wings turned back to silver. Death by Garou is worse than any other death. Well, technically, they would be beaten to a bloody paste, but still. Unable to stand by, Ghin descended down into an alley from the roof, and ran on foot into the crowd.

“Haven’t you heard of the recent news?!” Ghin shouted from behind the crowd, loud enough for the three heroes to hear.

The woman stared over at the back of the crowd, unable to see Ghin due to his small stature covered by the adults. She clearly seemed rather confused. 

The crowd looked behind to see the boy. Out of respect for the heroes, and concern for the heroes, the crowd parted to reveal a boy with silver wings of light on his back for the heroes to see, letting him convey their worries to the heroes. The woman blinked upon seeing a boy of young age, one with adorable features for one so young.

“We have been… uninformed of any recent events regarding the Hero-Hunter. Information regarding him in the States is quite limited.”

“You should check the news here! You’re all gonna end up like THEM at worse if you cross the line!” Ghin shouted at the woman, with emphasis on ‘them’.

The spider-woman took a hesitant step forwards, her six eyes all focused on the small silver-haired boy.

“W-what do you mean… t-them?”

“Garou has done in like, seven villains. All of them crazy dangerous. One of them broke into U.A solo and nearly killed the teachers there. You don’t want to know what happened to the villains…” Ghin replied.

The crowd shared a collective grimace in reaction to his words, all evidently queasy from the mere mention of said villains.

The three heroes shared another confused glance at each other.

“The Hero-Hunter… hunts villains?”

“Don’t ask! He just does! He hates villains even more than heroes!” Ghin shouted.

The crowd murmured in agreement with him. His treatment of villains was incomparably more brutal than with heroes.

“Then… why the name?”

The armoured man was still as baffled as his fellow heroes. He had heard nothing of this. Who would give someone a name like the Hero-Hunter, but he targets villains most?

“It just got stuck after he downed All Might on live TV!” Ghin replied. It really did get stuck, the name becoming an iconic moniker for Garou.

The crowd was silent as they were all reminded of that dreadful event. There had not been a single person who hadn’t seen it. The despair everyone felt at watching their pillar of Justice collapse was immeasurable.

“All Might is d-dead?”

The insect woman’s six eyes darted around the surroundings, analysing every single area. Clearly she had become rather nervous.

“No. He spared him. Just… defeated him overwhelmingly. Along with the other top heroes solo.” Ghin replied, carefully wording his response.

“Has the Hero-Hunter… actually killed anybody?”

The golden woman seemed concerned. The fact that an individual known for his violence had spare so many heroes…

“Nope, but you should see his victims. They suffered a fate equal to or worse than death.” Ghin advised.

The three heroes stepped out of the bus as they surveyed the crowd. The authoritative voice of the blonde woman drew their attention.

“I admit that we are ignorant of his current deeds, however, it will not deter us from our purpose. As such, we will be sure to question our counterpart Heroes.”

“You’re asking for an early retirement if you think you can beat him!” Ghin shouted.

The bearded man narrowed his eyes at the small boy. He was beginning to grow suspicious of this child’s defense of this ‘hunter’ of theirs.

“You seem to be awfully confident in his skills. You’re the only one defending his ‘hunter’.”

“What part of ‘One who defeated All Might’ and ‘Breaker of Heroes’ do you not understand? Everyone else would agree with me on this.” Ghin replied. He gestured around at the crowd, who seemed to be agreeing. 

The caped woman crossed her arms as she looked down on the young boy. He did seem to be rather seditious in a sense. Upon closer inspection, the boy had several hovering orbs of glowing light behind him. They radiated a silvery light, causing people stood nearby to cover their eyes slightly.

“Do you not root for your heroes where you come from?”

“We do, but… well… he defeated All Might… and the top pro heroes here. Really, no amount of faith could top that.” Ghin replied.

“Y-you always n-need to place your h-hope in your heroes.”

The stammering voice of the insectoid woman came from behind her golden compatriot.

“You need to be strong for such faith. All Might didn't get to the top by just the faith of the people. No, he inspired others to believe, to have faith. What you're saying is just pure selfishness, asking for something you did not earn.” Ghin then said something they didn't expect to hear, words of wisdom that moves the soul. The crowd, men and women of various ages, looked at the boy surprised, taken off guard by such mature locutions.

The three heroes all nodded in agreement, letting his words sink into their hearts. They looked at the silver-haired youth with eyes of newfound respect.

“Good words for such a young kid.”
The armored hero pointed towards Ghin.

“You should consider becoming a hero with your ideals.”

Ghin’s lips suddenly curled into a frown in response to his praise, evidently very upset.

“.........” he remained silent as he was reminded of his dilemma. The lights behind his back then turned to dark blue. 

“...yeah, I know.” 

“What’s your name kid?”

The bearded hero walked towards the kid, now standing in front of him, looking down at him with interest.

“....Ghin. Ghin Shinjitsu.” He half-heartedly replied to the armored hero standing in front of him.

A armored pauldron gestured in the direction of the two other Heroes behind him. A proud grin was plastered on his face.

“Well, in case you don’t know already, I am Gawain, and these two lovely ladies are Sola and Araca!”

The two women in question had quite the different responses to Gawain’s declaration. Sola seemed to frown at the armored man, and Araca seemed to be attempting to disappear around a corner in embarrassment.

“Oh… well, I didn’t know. I just came here because I just heard you’re all going after Garou. It’s… quite rare to hear that from a hero. Usually, they end up in the hospital in the end.” Ghin admitted sheepishly, the lights behind him turning a shade of rosy red.

Gawain noticed the light change behind Ghin and grinned slightly at the young boy.

“Those are some pretty interesting mood lights!”

He chuckled slightly at his own joke, causing Sola to roll her eyes.

“...they're something that I cannot get rid of.” Ghin admitted.

A reassuring gauntlet lay on Ghin’s shoulder as the older man looked down with a look of sympathy.

“Kid, you don’t need to get rid of them. They’re part of you. As much as your hair on your head.”

“.......” The boy looked to his behind, as the lights of his changed color back to grey, the color of doubt. He was not sure if it was a part of him in the first place. It just… suddenly entered his life without warning, right at the moment when he could finally let it go. But… he could not get rid of it even if he wanted to.

“...then what should I do?” Ghin asked, almost begging. Gawain did not miss the subtle meaning behind his question.

“Controlling a Quirk is like walking for toddlers. It comes over time.”
Gawain extended his arms, showing off his makeshift suit of armor.

“Hell, I nearly stabbed myself with every knife in the kitchen when I first used my Quirk. You’re a smart kid. You’ll figure out what to do.”

“.......” Ghin returned his gaze forward, seeing Gawain’s mangled makeshift armor. He does not know whether to laugh or remain silent, but… he smiled. At that moment, Ghin’s hatred for Quirks dissipated, replaced by catharsis.

“We’ve spent enough time… greeting our fans. We need to get going, or we’ll be late. Again.”
Sola’s authoritative voice caused Gawain to freeze up, his face contorting to that of guilt with sweat trickling down his face. He gave one quick nod to Ghin, before turning back to get on the bus with the other two. They waved at the crowd as they entered the bus.

Ghin smiled, his lights turning back to silver white. He changed his opinion of them. They were alright… except that they were planning to face Garou. 

“Too bad they're endangering their career.” Ghin muttered under his breath. He would ask Garou to not cripple them at least if they go too far. While the crowd was focused on the three heroes, he walked away in a stealthy stride, the orbs of light reforming into wingspans, and with steady beat, launched him off into the air as he soared. His actions were not left unnoticed by the heroes, however, Gawain looking at the boy taking off.

“Huh. That kid’s full of surprises.”

Gawain watched in shock as Ghin rose and flew off, his body interposing the sun. If he wasn't mistaken, the kid could be called an angel or something. Not wasting time, he immediately took out his phone and quickly snapped a picture with it, saving the image as a souvenir. 

The metal armor from the bus had already begun to shed off of him and clattered to the floor, and the moment it did, a rough punch hit his currently unprotected head from behind and knocked him to the ground. Standing over his prone form was the frustrated Sola.

“What have I told you about doing that to our buses!? You need to reign in your showmanship!”

The bearded man could only groan in agreement, as the aerial form of Ghin grew smaller and smaller in the sky until he shrank out of their vision.

Back to Ghin, he flew off to the sky, now feeling content with his outing. He would need to return home by lunch or else he would get into trouble. Plus, auntie bought shrimp and the full sushi course. He must get back home and feed his stomach.

However, during his flight, he caught the attention of a certain hero watching out for a kid with wings on his back. A few quick clicks and some buzzing indicated a phone being used.

“Yo, I think I found the kid… but didn't you say his wings are black?” 

“[What colour are they now?]” 

The fuzzy voice came from the other end of the phone. 

“Ehh, white. Or is it silver? Don't know, but it's different.” Rock Lock said as he looked at the boy soaring through the skies. He wondered what it's like to fly though, seeing how he flew so skillfully in the air. 

“He's heading somewhere in Hosu. Don't know where, but he's heading downtown.” 

“[Alright. Keep us updated. We’re nearby.]”

With a sudden click, the phone line went dead as the hero continued to watch the figure flying through the air towards downtown.

Ghin hummed to himself in the air, now happy and his mood uplifted as drool formed in his mouth, letting his imagination run wild on the taste of sushi. It was a new flavor today, one of the more popular choices.

“He's in my sight.” Snipe said as he took aim at the boy, aiming for his wings.

Ghin then frowned as his instincts flared upon sensing hostile intent, instantly turning his sight to his left to see a man standing on a rooftop, one garbed in the old western cowboy duster and a gas mask. He instantly recognized that hero, and his gun was aimed at him.

“Snipe?!” Ghin shouted baffled.

Several loud cracks echoed out, with Snipe lighting up from the muzzle flashes. The bullets whipped through the air, curving around in mid flight.

“Really?!” Ghin retorted at the sight of the hero firing at him, a child, as he instantly wrapped his wings around himself like a cocoon while forsaking his flight, unable to see or predict where the bullets will land.

The incandescent cocoon began to fall to the earth. Heavyweight thuds came from the bullets impacting with the light wings wrapped around Ghin. The gunfire seemed to be constant without halt. Does this guy even reload?

Snipe continued firing his bullets until he could no longer see his target as he fell behind the buildings in an alley. The area he was at was devoid of population, making this place ideal for a standoff without disturbing the populace.

“The eagle has crash-landed.” Snipe said to the comms embedded in his mask.

Ghin crashed down to the earth like a falling star, crashing into the hard concrete as he rolled around the floor with little injury. Groaning, Ghin picked himself up to his feed as he rubbed his head.

“What the hell. THE Snipe is actually assassinating me?” Ghin muttered as he looked up, his face now serious as his wings turned red with hostility. He should've known that his actions would've attracted the heroes’ attention, though he didn't think they would be this effective. He underestimated the heroes’ reaction time and tracking skills. His respect for the heroes were increased.

Ghin looked around, wary of his surroundings. He could not sense any other hero nearby, so he deduced that only Snipe was here. He would have to go run and hide before any more could arrive. However, first, he would have to deal with the lights on his back. They were a nuisance to his stealth, lighting the dark alley like a star in the night. Thus, he must kill them somehow… 

‘...will they shrink if I will it?’ Ghin tried to will it away, making it go away. However, given its nature, the task was not in the realm of possibility. However… 

Taking a deep breath, Ghin concentrated all of his willpower into his Quirk, trying to dull the lights as much as possible, wanting to dim it to absolute darkness until needed… and it was working. The lights behind him dimmed, its radiance decreasing until it was nothing more than a dull speck in the air. 

‘...should've done this earlier.’ Ghin felt like smacking himself. Why he didn't try it earlier he does not know. But back to the task at hand.

Without wasting time, Ghin ran, his feet tapping the mouldy concrete of the alley as he navigated his way through the concrete maze. His intense training under Garou screamed at him to not waste time or else he will be prey to the heroes. To add diversity, Ghin leapt up and climbed the walls like a spider, digging his fingers into the stone with ease as he crawled the walls wary of the heroes he might meet on foot. 

As he traversed the alleys, ones he was familiar with due to it being his home, Ghin spotted a group of heroes searching for him, two in fact. One of them was Native, while the other one being a female he does not know. The woman had short dark blonde hair reaching her cheek, her uniform is skin tight, white with green stripes vertically drawn down her chest and her arms, and a short scarlet scarf around her neck.

Ghin furrowed his brows as he watched them walk under him, as his hands and legs remained clasped on the walls of the building wall still and silent as he eavesdrop on them.

“Where is the kid… he should be around here somewhere…” The woman muttered. 

Native shuddered softly as they walked along.

“This whole area… it reminds me of that alley.” 

“Oh, the one where you were ambushed by Stain?”

Native shuddered at the mention of the name.

“S-Shut up. Don't bring back my trauma…”

The woman chuckled at Native’s visible apprehension of the Hero Killer. 

“...now that I think about it, it is also where you first saw the Hero Hunter, right?” the woman asked. Ghin’s ears perked at the word ‘Hero hunter’.

“Yeah… it was chilling. They just… talked at first. But it felt like two monsters clashing. They really took a dislike to each other.”

Ghin could see the woman cock her head slightly as they walked along, clearly in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Native sighed heavily as he surveyed his surroundings. 

“...they argued on the treatment of Heroes. Garou… surprisingly was against killing heroes, while Stain you already know.” Native replied as they continued walking.

“Garou didn’t seem to be aware of Stain’s… exploits, but Stain was well aware of who Garou was. I mean, who wouldn’t know? He had already begun building a reputation for himself. But anyway… Garou had really taken a stand against Stain’s killings, whereas Stain saw Garou as a half-measure, a ‘coward being unable to finish what he’d started’ were his exact words.”

The woman stopped, her face stiffened from shock upon hearing the Hero Killer calling Garou a coward. 

“...did he turn Stain into one of the recent ‘victims’?” The woman asked, knowing the Hero Hunter’s danger far surpassing that of Stain’s, aware of his deeds and temper. ‘Victims’ being the villains he brutalized to the point of garnering sympathy from the public. 

“...they fought. However, Garou was not the monster that took down All Might at that time. He was manageable, but he overwhelmed Stain. Stain couldn't even get in a good hit, and left him… in a better state than the recent villains.” Native explained as gently as he could.

“Oh…” The woman did not ask further on the subject.

Ghin, stilling hanging on the wall, pursed his lips upon seeing them standing around. He wondered if he should take them both out, but he was afraid it will give out his location. In fact, how will they know if one of them is down or not? Devices or something?

“[Did you encounter our target?]”

Ghin’s sensitive ears barely picked up the static chatter.

‘A radio? No…’

Looking closer, Ghin saw Native picking up what seemed to be a cellphone from his backpocket and flicked it open. Ghin remembered hearing something about special phones used to call for emergency and such… though he can't be too cautious.

“No, we can't find him. You informed his location was around here? Did he fly away by any chance?” Native asked.

“[No, he did not fly out. Snipe is looking out for him on the rooftops. Be wary. The boy might be more dangerous than initial impressions suggested.]”

“Alright, I will monitor the area with scrutiny. Keep me updated on his whereabouts.” Native said as he placed the phone back into his back pocket underneath his Indian garb.

“...” In silent contemplation, Ghin made his choice, letting the lights behind him return to their former silver radiance. He dropped down silently from above, leaping off the way to direct himself towards Native first from behind. The lights coalescing into radiant wings, with a flap, Ghin swooped down and slammed his fist into Native’s back head, channeling all of his weight into that punch. Native’s sudden collapse startled the female hero, upon hearing something heavy crash down with enough force to crack concrete, turning her head to see her comrade face planting the floor… and a certain silver-haired boy mounting on his sprawled back with his fist on his head.

“Don't scream.” Ghin warned the woman was multiple orbs of silver light instantly formed in the front, all of them aimed at the skin-tight hero.

Frozen stiff, the woman gazed at the myriads of orbs aimed at her so close in front of her at point blank, held at gunpoint. On instinct, she tried to reach out for the phone behind her pocket without the boy noticing.

*SHOOM*

However, the moment she tried, a silver streak flew past her hair, burning a hole through her blonde hair. She couldn't even see it coming, cold sweat trickling her forehead.

“You have one second to toss the phone to me or you will lose your head.” Ghin threatened as the woman’s blood ran cold. He did not sound like a boy, more like a predator.

“One second has passed.” Ghin said as the orbs glew brighter, the light intimidating the woman into throwing her phone away out of fear. Ghin watched as the phone flew in an arc across the air.

‘Now!’ 

The moment he took his eyes off her, she immediately raised her leg, aiming to sidekick his head with her left. The boy ducked, lowering his head at the last second as her leg harmlessly brushed his silver hair.

“Big mistake.” Ghin said, his head still lowered, as he leapt from his crouching position, and struck her chin up with a heavy uppercut. The silent sound of stricken flesh resounded in the alley, before the woman’s vision turned dark.  

Ghin watched as she fell on her back, her body slapping the concrete in her collapse. He turned his eyes to Native, seeing him unconscious… plus a growing puddle of blood forming on the concrete.

“Oops…” Ghin wondered if he had overdone it. He had no experience in dealing with adult heroes, so he could not properly estimate how much force was needed to non fatally knock them out. He placed his finger on his neck to check his pulse, and felt his heartbeat still pulsing through his veins.

In the end, no life was lost in his self defense. He nodded in relief as he got up, his legs put to work in his resumes escape deeper into the darkness of the alley, searching for his exit as the lights behind his back dimmed into near non-existence, permitting the darkness to shroud his being as he walked the road to freedom within the shadows.

Ghin continued moving through the labyrinth that was his own hometown, unfamiliar with the layout. The pathways were alien to him, despite familiar with the street he was on, the source being his first time taking the riskier routes. Never had he saw fit in utilizing these passages for ephemeral travels.

‘I am starting to regret that.’ Thought Ghin as he ran into the second dead end. He was wasting time, and the other heroes will soon track his location with their superior numbers. The silence of the city did not ease his worry.

Ghin continued running down street after street, attempting to escape from the heroes no doubt currently pursuing him. Deserted buildings and run-down stores passing his vision, Ghin’s eyes darting to every alleyway and rooftop, constantly on guard for his unseen enemies.

Senses sharp like that of a cornered animal’s, Ghin skidded to a stop upon spotting an intersection, his shoes grating the dusty concrete. Two alleyways on opposite ends of the narrow street greeted his eyes.

“Crap.” Ghin turned around, frowning even more as sweat trickled down his temples upon seeing no route for him to escape other than the narrow street, the alley he last passed being ten minutes away behind him on foot.

“I’m trapped…” Ghin muttered to himself.

Out of the shadows of a darkened corridor emerged several heroes. The were tensed and ready for combat. Ghin’s combat senses flared again at seeing the heroes in front of him. It was quite a group in terms of numbers.

Near the front of the group, stood Snipe alongside a blue haired girl. Quite a few of the other heroes Ghin did not recognise, but no doubt they were local heroes. That gave them the home field advantage. Ghin was both outnumbered and oblivious of the local geography. He really was in a bad position.

“…” the boy remained silent as his left foot skid a few inches back, tensely staring at the heroes.

“Isn’t this too much just for a kid?” Ghin asked jokingly as he gave a brief nervous smile.

“We’re here to bring you in, kiddo. The fact you have a powerful Quirk means we had to bring in some support.”

Snipe crossed his arms as he stared at the defiant young boy in front of him.

“Isn’t it embarrassing for heroes to send this much forces on me while you should distribute yourselves for the villains?” Ghin queried, his tone anxious as his eyes darted around his surroundings, already planning his escape.

“You’ve proven yourself to be dangerous with your… elimination of Native and his partner. You may be just a child, but you unlawfully used your Quirk on a group of school students.”

Snipe’s emotionless gas mask betrayed very little of his actual emotions. The two black lenses stared deeply at Ghin.

“They deserved it. All bullies deserved what they got coming to them. Heroes shouldn’t defend those who pick on the weak.” Ghin snarled angrily at Snipe’s accusation, as the lights behind him changed from silver to crimson red.

“It doesn’t matter what they deserve. You aren’t in a position to punish others.”

“The same as you are in no position to judge if that’s all you can conclude.” Ghin’s lips quivered into an angry scowl as the lights grew darker.

“You call yourselves heroes, yet you fail to even see the very evils you are protecting. Do you even know what kind of people I downed in the first place?”

Snipe blinked behind his mask. This was wrong. Very, very wrong. The kid was speaking as if he was an teenager going through a violent rebellious phase, one possessing the mind and thoughts of a philosopher at the same time. 

“They are heartless bastards that cannot listen to reason. I warned them thrice to leave me alone on that bridge. Yet they won’t listen. They only care about their own amusement, to satisfy their boredom by tossing me out into the water. And you said I am in the wrong? I was there to vent my heart out over my dead family, and they don’t care, laughing it off as if their lives are meaningless. And you tell me they don’t deserve punishment?” Ghin ranted as the lights behind him turned pitch black in anger.

“Oi, is he even a kid?” Hado whispered to Snipe upon hearing such coherent sentences only adults could make. And from his tone, this kid really believed what he was saying. 

Snipe shook his head in response to the boy’s outburst. Such a young boy to believing in such anarchistic ways. He had clearly gone through hard times.

“I never said they didn’t deserve punishment. I said it wasn’t your job to punish them. If we have every citizen punishing those who they thought deserved it, there would be chaos.”

“Then whose job was it? You? The teachers? Don’t make me laugh. No one will punish them in the end. You all don’t care about the Quirkless being abused anyways. You’re just making excuses for a problem you can’t solve. Or you all just don’t care in end, too busy fanning your egos.” Ghin gave them a mocking laugh as said something unexpected.

“You only seem to see the negatives when it comes to Heroes.”

Snipe replied, continuing the fierce debate taking place between the boy and the hero.

“That’s because they failed me!” Ghin roared.

“You heroes played a hand in my parent’s’ deaths! You’re all part of the reason why I suffer! Why I mourn for them every day…” Ghin’s voice broke as tears started falling down from his eyes.

The assembled heroes could feel the young boy’s grief as he poured his heart out, clearly heartbroken from the loss of his parents.

“Yet… despite it, I still had faith in heroes, hope that everything will be alright in the end… but in the end, I let it all go. You can’t save me. Someone else already did.” Ghin’s voice returned to the tone of rage as he looked at them.

“I just got my Quirk a few days ago, you know?” Ghin revealed.

Most of the heroes were surprised. Snipe cocked one eyebrow in shock under his gas mask. The boy had such expert control over a Quirk only developed a few days ago!

“I hate Quirks, you know? If all your life you’ve been bullied for being Quirkless, and you somehow get a Quirk, what do you think? And worse, I can’t rid of it even if I want to.” Ghin said another outrageous thing as he gave them an unstable smile.

“Why do you want to get rid of it?”

Snipe asked, genuinely confused and intrigued at the boy’s attitude towards Quirks. 

“I don’t want a power that turns people into monsters.” Ghin replied with venom.

The heroes looked on in shock and disbelief at the vitriol the boy was releasing. He was obviously quite a bitter young boy with a traumatic past. Many felt sympathy for the young boy. Such a young person should not have undergone such tragedies.

“Heh, it’s funny you know? I’m speaking my heart out to the ones here to take me away… you heroes here believing I’m the villain… there is no villain here. Only a broken heart.” Ghin commented with another mocking laugh.

“We are merely here to take you in with us. You’re just a troubled young boy. We aren’t here to fight with you.” Snipe said.

Hado remained still still staring at Ghin with a happy look on her face. Even though the boy seemed to radiating frustration and hostility.

“Tell that to the one that shot me down. With a REAL gun.” Ghin said pointing a finger at Snipe.

“If anything, that is more than enough reason for me to fight. I’m NOT going with you.” He defiantly rejected as he crouched his body low, one hand touching the ground while the lights on his back coalesced into pitch-black wings.

“And I’m not afraid to fight my way out.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

Snipe seemed to sigh as he swiftly unholstered his gun and aimed it squarely at Ghin. His finger rested on the trigger, prepared for the slightest movement.

“Don’t be.” Ghin narrowed his eye as his wingspans widened apart their lengths, overshadowing the area around him with dark light.

“Show me your worth, heroes.” 

The moment he said that, black orbs of chaotic energy conjured around him.

Several loud cracks opened up the battle as Snipe fired at Ghin. The rest of the heroes braced themselves for combat. Rock Lock prepared himself too, taking up a stance. Snipe’s bullets raced towards Ghin, their path bending throughout the air as they zipped towards Ghin, as Ghin’s hands blurred in the draw.

The gas masked hero rolled to the side, in an attempt to dodge the beams of light spearing towards him. A few other heroes stepped to the side, to avoid any of the shots as well.

The air screamed as Ghin unleashed his attacking, leaving a charred aftermath in his wake. Where his beam struck, left smouldering molten orange on the concrete, radiating enough heat for the heroes to feel.

Snipe rolled himself back to his crouching feet, his guns instantly aimed at the boy ready to unload additional bullets at the boy, who was seemingly unfazed by the bullets somehow. He narrowed his eyes behind his mask. He was sure he his bullets pelted their mark, yet the boy bore no wounds. The bullets were designed to explode on impact to knock to incapacitate, yet he was still fine even though the boy did not shield himself with his wings.

Not giving Snipe room to breathe, the boy’s wings clapped together before another black orb was fully charged and fired at Snipe, burning whistles en route to him. The air scorched and sizzled as the orb shot through the air towards Snipe. Even under his gas mask, he could feel the searing heat. Sweat began to trickle down his face, only partly from the heat as he ducked, as an explosion erupted behind him.

“Uwaaaaahhh!!” Hado immediately took off to the air, marveling at the boy’s destructive capabilities as she watched the heroes ran for cover as Black Death rays rained on them.

As the hero group began separating to avoid the orbs being sent after them, cacophonously exploding in radiant flares, Snipe began eyeing up his rounds in the chamber. His gun was specially modified in several ways. He had an increased magazine, but he had been shooting at the boy quite a bit. He couldn’t afford to waste all of his shots.

‘Though, how much of those lasers could he fire?’ 

The boy did not seem to have a limit to his arsenal as rays and explosive orbs of light were fired at the heroes without end. Snipe ducked as another black sphere flew over his head, nearly burning his hair off, and blasted the building wall behind him apart, the hole gleaming a dull orange around the edges.

They can’t keep this up or there will be casualties. A few of the heroes recognized this and charged en route to the child, the first one at the vanguard being Kesagiriman dashing towards him with nimble speed.

The agile form of Kesagiriman seemed to have glided through the air, with a speed that defies logic as if the very air could not hinder his advance. It appeared as if he was skating across the landscape.

The masked furry hero approached Ghin, attempting to circle around the boy to distract and disorientate him. He faced the boy as he slid around him, waiting for an opportune moment to potentially strike.

“Annoying!” Ghin shouted as his eyes darted around his peripherals.

He had also noticed that Snipe had thrown down a smoke grenade, spurting out a dark cloud of smoke and obscuring him and a group of heroes nearby him. 

‘Tsk, they cut off my sight.’ Ghin would rather blast the area into a molten crater, but too much property damage would worsen his punishment from his aunt… using Garou as her whip, should they find out. Not only that, the other heroes will surround him if he idled too long.

Not wanting to deal with this any more, Ghin turned and ran, at a speed that surprised Kesagiriman as the boy escaped his circle, the smaller boy rushing past his legs, with a speed that only those with Speed Quirks could achieve. Yet the boy was doing it with his own two feet, not his wings.

Ripping out of the smoke, emerged several bullets, turning towards Ghin. They seemed to be coming from different positions and the shooter was masked by the smoke cloud. 

However, the boy leapt and with a mighty beat of his wings, took off to the blue clouded skies before his bullets could reach him. Some of the bullets however, twisted upwards and shot after the boy, hot on his trail.

“Auuughh!” The heroes heard the boy whined as he immediately cocooned himself in black as if sensing the bullets tailing him to the skies before the bullets pelted his wings and fell clattering the earth.

“This boy’s got quite some reflexes!” Hado observed as she saw how the kid reacted, now watching him drop like a brick to the earth. Snipe ceased his attack to conserve the bullets he had left.

“Go! Before he could use his Quirk!” Snipe ordered the heroes as he reloaded, dropping the empty shells to the ground while replacing them with fresh ammunition. His reloading was quick and efficient, a sign of a professional. However, he kept his eyes on the falling cocoon of light. 

Kesagiriman was the first to move while the other heroes followed, not wanting to deal with the boy’s death beams again. Kesagiriman rushed to the target first, his right arm outstretched prepared to lariat the angel falling headfirst to the earth in his approach. 

Without warning, the wings spread opened for two small hands to grab the arm. Kesagiriman’s eyes widened upon seeing the boy staring at his eyes while upside down, shocked he was able to react from that position, as the boy pulled himself down using the hero’s attacking arm as his handle as he flipped back right-side up, landing behind Kesagiriman’s right. Using Kesagiriman’s own speed against him, the moment he landed on his feet, Ghin crouched low to leg sweep Kesagiriman’s footing.

“Agh?!” The furred Hero squawked as he rolled headfirst across the concrete, his body tumbling in somersaults before falling flat on his back.

“Just leave me alone!” The boy pleaded before turning back to resume his speedy escape, with a group of heroes tailing him.

Several spiral blasts of energy were fired at him from the skies, Hado providing air support with her usual smile.

“Come back, little boy! Let’s play!” She jubilantly yelled.

“No!” Ghin denied as he ran with inhuman speed, so fast that the heroes could swore that he had a speed Quirk up his sleeves as the distance between them grew, while spiral energy landed around Ghin each not even close to hitting their mark.

The wind from Ghin’s speedy escape buffeted the heroes faces, causing them to cover their faces from the wind. 

The heroes watched as the boy’s form grew smaller and smaller in the distance. They knew they had absolutely no way of catching him. Yet that did not stop them from dropping their jaw at the sight. Does his Quirk include inhuman speed as well?

“Freeeedooommm!!!” They heard the echo of the boy’s voice as he shrank from their sights.

The smoke cloud was swiftly blown away by the intense wind of the silver-haired youth’s retreat. Snipe and the rest looked after him incredulously. 

“Waaahhh, he’s fast for a little guy!” The heroes heard the senior of UA praise with innocent wonder, her hand pressed on her brow as she looked into the distance.

He quickly cast a glance around him to survey the extent of the damage.

The light show had caused rather a lot of damage. Bricks reduced to pools of molten slag, dripping from the sides of buildings. The ground was scorched and blackened, clear signs of the boy’s orbs. Bullets and shells littered the area from Snipe’s unsuccessful shots. However, upon meticulous inspection, Snipe could detect dents at the rounded heads of the spent ammunition.

“…” He couldn’t believe how powerful the kid’s Quirk was. High offensive power, high defense, flight… the boy would soon become a monster should he be allowed to grow. Not only that…

“The boy was well-trained.” Snipe muttered. He actually managed to react to Kesagiriman despite his disadvantageous position. The question was who would have trained a kid to that level?

The hairy hero dusted himself off as he groaned from his tumbling fall. His mind was still reeling from the battle. The boy had managed to almost effortlessly escape from a large group of heroes.

“Are we going to pursue him?”

Kesagiriman hunched over, attempting to recover his breath.

“No. He's proven too capable of avoiding us. However, he's still a kid. And besides.” Snipe then showed Kesagiriman his smartphone, with the face of the boy caught on the screen.

“Every child has a place they call home. It's only a matter of time before we find him, where there is nowhere for him to run.” Snipe informed.

Hado had stopped peering down the street and descended from her flight, landing beside Snipe, her hair waving softly in the breeze.

“Will we be getting more help to find him?”

“Affirmative. We need to corner him at his abode and seal his escape if we do. I can handle him if he flies away.” Snipe replied.

“However, we need to make sure that his capture won’t cause too much damage. There may be civilians in the area.”

Mild muttering signalled the rest of the heroes hearing and understanding. Prevent civilians getting caught in the crossfire was of the utmost importance. 

Some time later, the heroes received a confirmation on the boy’s identity and his address. They swiftly converged to the apartment building in Hosu, in the time of night where the citizens won't be disturbed.

More heroes had surrounded the building, quite a strong force for a kid, but necessary. They had their duty and image on the line, and they must uphold the public’s view of them or else society would crumble. 

Most of the heroes were outside, Mt Lady sitting on the sidewalk bored and tired. Hado floated in the air waiting patiently beside the window the boy’s room was in, ready to take him down while wearing her usual smile on her face.

Leading the infiltration, Kamui of the Woods, his brown bark skin illuminated under the surprisingly bright ceiling light, moved with Kesagiriman and Midnight. They took the elevator, waiting as it lifted, their destination the top floor where the owner of the building lived.

“Remind me again why so many heroes were dispatched to apprehend a single child?” Kamui asked. He was called to aid their capture of a certain child. Kamui was not briefed on the target as it was a emergency request, and time was of the essence.

“According to the reports, this child possesses a very powerful Quirk. He also has some… interesting abilities.”

Midnight stood there, her arms crossed. She had been brought along with Kamui due to her Quirk’s capacity for incarceration. 

“Interesting abilities?” Kamui asked. This did raise some concerns with him. The fact that they had not been fully been briefed on this target’s capabilities was worrying. His mind quickly flashed to another individual whose power surprised everyone. 

“He has been shown to possess incredible speed and strength. Alongside his quick reaction times, there is also his Quirk.”

She paused for a moment, looking around the inside of the elevator, before continuing.

“He seems to be able to manipulate light, forming wings that allow for flight. He also has strange orbs of light that can either be used as bombs or as lasers that can melt rock to slag. There's even evidence of it being able to be used as a gun, given one of his victims had his leg pierced through by a pinpoint laser.” 

“Does his Quirk also include the strength and speed?”
Kamui only grew more intrigued at the info regarding their target. The info did seem very similar, but this kid had a Quirk. Kamui released an internal sigh of relief. Surely there was no way…

*Ding*

The elevator stopped as the door slid open, their target just waiting for them on this floor.

“The boy was trained. Very well in fact.” Kesagiriman said before he exited the elevator while the others followed suit, the door shutting behind them as they left.

“Trained?” Kamui asked as they stared at the only door at the end of the hall. On this floor, there was only one room, the apartment room taking up almost all the space on this floor where the owner lives. And it would seem that the owner’s kid lived here as well.

Marching up to the door, with Midnight and Kesagiriman flanking him, Kamui prepared himself for whatever could come through that door. His mind began considering all of the possibilities of what might be behind that door. One of the worst might be a hideout for villains, maybe setting up a trap.

The door was simple, indented in squares grooves around the edges, the material made from mahogany wood. Next to the door was a doorbell, a simple white button on the wall.

Kamui, with meticulous, silent steps, walked to the doorbell and pressed the white button.

*ding dong*

The ring was so normal it was unsettling, given the target behind the door. They waited for a moment, before Kamui prepares his Quirk to break the door down, his hands branching into roots slowly and stealthily.

*clack* 

However, the door opened, the hinges creaking so slowly it was heart-pounding intense.

Emerging behind the door…

“Tree man. You better have a good reason for interrupting my dinner.”

Kamui stared, wide eyed at the opened door, his body fastened in abject horror. He was so wrong. This was the worst possible alternative. In front of him stood a noticeably irritated Garou holding the open door, the last thing any living being on earth wished to face. Kamui didn’t even need to turn his head to see the shock on Kesagiriman’s and Midnight’s faces. They stood there, anxiously looking around, trying desperately to avoid eye contact with Garou while sweat poured down their faces, drenching their respective masks and uniforms - while their bodies jittered from the legs up. 

“What? Speak up.” Garou continued speaking, his eyes twitching with angst.

The three heroes all exchanged glances, silently debating who would answer the nightmare of heroes. Each one didn’t really want to be the one to begin. Eventually, after much silent head-shaking and nodding, Kamui turned quickly back to Garou. 

“W-we have some information that a target of ours is stationed here. You haven’t seen anyone suspicious?”

“Am I being pranked?” Garou asked with an bland tone, his brows scrunched in annoyance.

“Wha- No!”

Kamui frantically waved his hands to attempt to dispel that notion. However, he only showed his enlarged wooden hands instead. Garou did not miss that as he narrowed his eyes.

“Are you here to assault me?” Garou accused. Kamui forgot that he prepared his Quirk for combat. And Garou took it as a sign of hostility.

His enlarged hands shrunk down as he too began to shrink back. His back bumped into the two heroes behind him, causing Midnight to jump quite noticeably. Kesagiriman seemed to be completely still. They couldn’t even tell what his facial emotions were under all that hair.

“W-we are not here to assail you, Mr. Garou.”

Midnight’s voice trembled as she attempted to speak.

“Then why is this building surrounded? This is quite a lot of heroes if you ask me. Don’t tell me that you all lost your minds if you think this is enough to stop me?” Garou raised an eyebrow, pointing out the heroes surrounding the building.

“No no no! We definitely did not come here for that!” Midnight stepped forwards, pleading desperately with both hands clapped in a prayer. 

“…” Garou’s eyes narrowed at the pervert begging for his reconsideration.

“You’ve ten seconds to explain yourself before I lose my patience.” Garou warned critically.

Kamui had stepped forwards, his wooden shoes creaking and drawing Garou’s attention. He had to try to relieve the focus on Midnight.

“A young boy assaulted several students and then escaped, fleeing here. We believe he is in this area.”

Garou stared right into Kamui’s eyes. It was a very unsettling stare. Kamui could feel as if his gaze was piercing his soul and reading what was inside like a book.

“And he led you here? At my doorstep?” Garou reminded.

“What does the kid look like?” Garou asked.

Kamui and Midnight turned to Kesagiriman. He was the only one out of the three who had actually seen the boy. They stared at him, before his hair shook, indicating his turn towards everyone.

“U-Um, h-he is a silver haired kid, around t-ten. He h-had wings of light on his b-back.”

Garou stared at Kesagiriman, his gaze terrified the hero as his knees trembled. He desperately tried his best to keep his legs from dissolving into jelly.

“…hah, I knew it,” Garou grumbled.

“Wait here.” Garou closed the door, leaving the three alone. Then the next second, the door opened again, revealing Garou holding a certain silver-haired boy by the head. The Hero Hunter was carrying a child, as if he was a toy or something. Said child was looking down on the ground, his gaze furtive and the lights behind his back pink with shame.

As Kamui stared at the boy, he felt like slapping himself. Of course the boy and Garou had to be connected.

“What did he do?” Garou asked. The boy was helplessly dangling off Garou’s inescapable grasp on his head while whimpering in shame.

Kesagiriman could only stare in blank shock as Garou effortlessly manhandled the boy. He felt a shiver cross his body. This boy, who had easily kept up with his speed and fended off a group of Pro Heroes was now being treated like, well… a child.

“H-he uhh… hospitalized several students, caused rather significant property damage in his resistance against the law and assaulted two heroes in his escape.”

“...…” Garou remained silent at this revelation.

“Shrimp.” Garou looked at the kid in his hand.

“What did I tell you about discipline?”

The boy remained silent, refusing to answer.

“Did they deserve it? Or is it that you want them to deserve it?” 

The boy remained silent as his head dropped lower.

“Did they attack first?”

“…yes.” The boy meekly replied, his voice almost a whisper.

“Did they threaten your life?”

“...…no.”

“…hah. Were they bullying you?” 

“…yes.”

The three heroes watched as Garou interrogated their target. It was like a parent scolding a child for misbehavior.

“…hah.” Garou sighed.

“What’s his punishment?” Garou asked the heroes in a defeated sigh. They were anxious and caught off guard. They’ve never seen him so compliant to the law. The fact that Garou was surrendering the boy for punishment was not something they had expected. At the least there should have been some kind of standoff, with the Hero-Hunter refusing. 

But no. He was willingly handing over the squirming young boy.

“Well he is only a child. So he would need to apologize to those he assaulted. Many of them are in the hospital.” Kamui cleared his throat as he spoke clearly. He hated being the bearer of bad news, especially to the Hero-Hunter stood in front of him.

“He would also be required to undergo 40 hours of community service to repay for the damage that has been caused.”

The numerous buildings and roads that had been charred and blackened would indeed need to be repaired, but it was far too much to make such a young child pay up for the expensive repairs. This was the most lenient that the punishment could get. 

“...I see…” Garou then looked at the kid still dangling in his hand. Ghin did not even raise his eyes to the heroes, not wanting to bear the shame of being caught.

“Will you be coming along as his guardian? Or is there someone else?”

“...the landlord is out on a business. A difficult case regarding the issue with the Quirk Liberation Army. Whatever that is,” Garou shrugged.

“I am the only one that can be considered his guardian. Plus, there's no way any of you guys can actually handle him.” Garou added.

Kesagiriman nodded wistfully. The young boy was indeed abnormally powerful. He’d only been beaten into a retreat by such a large group of heroes. And even then, judging by his current state, he didn’t seem to sustain much damage from the battle.

“...you trained him too well.” Kamui pointed out.

“Yep. I am proud of it. Much more that he actually made you guys go all out.” Garou just smiled, very, very impishly at the three.

The three stood there, with Garou’s smile directed right at them. Midnight coughed into her hand loudly as she began to walk to the exit, her body swaying in a seductive gait.

“We should probably get going.” 

She turned to Garou and the struggling boy.

“Will you be coming with us?”

“You interrupted my dinner. The shrimp is one thing. But my dinner? No.” Garou narrowed his eyes at the R-rated hero.

She grimaced at Garou’s seeming frustration. The two other heroes hasten their leave, but were halted by Garou’s words. Kamui pulled out a phone a waved it around in the air to catch Garou’s attention.

“Well… we’ll leave you to your meal. Just call when the boy is ready.”

“Fine. Also… next time you surround this place again. Bodies WILL fall.” Garou warned severely, as his demonic costume flashed over his visage for a split second before returning to his human form.

Kesagiriman and Midnight had already left, but Kamui cast a glance back to the open door of Garou.

“Well maybe you should put up a sign! That’d stop any… disturbances.”

He grinned nervously under the mask. He attempted to lighten the atmosphere before he left.

“If you're seriously saying that, I will throw you out the window. With my name carved into your face.” Garou threatened.

Kamui blanched as his light-hearted joke fell completely flat. Now that he thought about it, Garou didn’t exactly seem like the ‘humorous’ type.

“Before you leave… tell your friends they have one minute to leave the premises or I will destroy them. Including you and the other two. The countdown starts now. One…” Garou then dropped a bomb on him. A vicious ticking time bomb infinitely more dangerous than any nukes in the world.

Kamui whirled back around and began sprinting for the elevator. As he was running, he brushed past Midnight and Kesagiriman.

“Kamui?” Midnight called out to the panicking tree man.

“Gogogogogo!”

His trailing voice immediately warned the other two heroes. They looked back, then at each other. Suddenly they both began running after him. They really didn’t need to stretch their imagination to figure out why Kamui was running.

“.....” Silence now greeted the halls.

“...you are evil.” Ghin pouted, though he smiled a little.

“What?” Garou asked, his eyes still laid on the elevator door down the halls with an impassive mien.

“...you are messing with them, aren't you?” Ghin already saw through Garou’s threats, as his smile grew wider.

“Oh yeah. It is fun. Come, let's watch them scatter like ants out the window.” With a smile, Garou dropped Ghin from his grasp as he closed the door and headed towards the window. Ghin ran after his sensei, wanting to see the heroes’ reaction. While his day was ruined, at least he will see them run like rabbits as consolation with his Aniki.

Meanwhile…  

Kamui, Kesagiriman, and Midnight fled out the building, each bearing bloodshot eyes strained with panic and fear. The parking lot was full of heroes and blue-uniformed police all tensed. The muttering all ceased as they saw Kamui Woods, Midnight and Kesagiriman running out of the building in a dead sprint.

“What’s going on? What happened in there?”

Best Jeanist stepped out from behind a nearby police car, amongst several other heroes and police.

“Run! Garou lives there!” Kamui shouted before he ran past several heroes.

The formerly serious look on Best Jeanist’s face was replaced by one of disbelief and shock.

The entire area was quiet. Even up on the roof with Snipe, all was silent.

Suddenly, like a dam breaking, everyone began turning to run. Police and heroes piled into the police cars. Those who were running seemed to be running like they were being chased by a lion. The squealing of tires came from the cars as they began to peel out of the parking lot at incredible speeds, the drivers and passengers inside bearing faces that looked like they were running from a nuke about to blow.

Best Jeanist now was running alongside the three that had ran out of the building initially. He looked over at them in disbelief.

“Why didn’t you give us some warning? You could have told us Garou lived there!”

“As if we’d know! He threatened to destroy us if we don't get off his property in one minute!” Kamui retorted while running with his comrades. The faces of Best Jeanist, Midnight, and Kesagiriman paled at the revelation, their blood running cold as they realized that their lives were hanging by a thread.

Civilians on the nearby pavement watched in a mix of awe and confusion as four famous heroes were bolting straight down the road. Murmurings and muttering amongst the public began as they watched the running heroes. A few enthusiastic cheers came from some of the members of the public.

“You doin’ some trainin’?”

“Oh my god! It’s Best Jeanist!”

“You can do it Kamui!”

Clearly none of the public knew the reason they were running. No doubt if they knew, they’d be running too. They were assuming that it was some kind of physical training.

Meanwhile, laughter could be heard in the building the servants of justice fled from, of which their source bearing faces of mocking joy.

The next day…

“Ahahahahahahaha!” Garou and Ghin were laughing at Snipe, who was the one assigned to escort Ghin to the hospital. The silver-hair duo both doubled over, tears streaming, their chests heaving and lungs straining from excessive laughter. 

“Ahaha, hah, the way you guys ran… Is so damn funny! It's priceless!” Ghin was the first to speak, mocking the hero for his attempt of self-preservation.

“Ahahahaha!” Garou just continued laughing his ass off, now looking like a jackass more than the incarnation of death and fear.

The hero on the other hand…

Snipe had his head in his hands, even though he was wearing his mask. He could only stand there and withstand the raucous laughter of Garou and the young boy he now knew as Ghin. 

“Please stop laughing…”

“Never!” Ghin rebelliously refused with an adamant toothy grin. And then resumed his laughter.

The hero sighed as he endured the laughter for like… two minutes, before their laughter finally started to die down.

Snipe sighed heavily. He deeply regretted being the one chosen to escort the two. They had been laughing at him and the rest of the heroes for most of the day.

“Hahaha… hah… yeah, I think we’re done laughing.” Ghin said as he smiled, very very impishly at Snipe as he finally had something over the gun-wielding hero.

Snipe turned around and began walking away, leading the two behind him. There was a reason that they had come here, other than laughing at him. Ahead was the hospital. The purpose for this outing was for Ghin to apologize to his victims.

“So, what’d the shrimp do to them?” Garou asked Snipe, relieving his boredom as the scent of sterilized blankets and aerosol greeted his nose, white tiles and white uniformed nurses greeted his eyes.

Snipe attempted to recall the information he had been given about the victims. They had all been pretty roughed up.

“Well we had several bone fractures, heavy bruising, a few third-degree burns and one of them was pierced through the leg by his beam.”

He was sure he was missing out some, but he didn’t want to go on for too long. 

“…huh. Didn’t know you had it in you…” Garou commented on Ghin’s feats. The boy only laughed nervously in response.

“Anything else about his ‘victims’?” Garou inquired.

The gunslinger Hero continued walking with the two behind him. They were getting close to the ward where the students were. 

“They all come from the same school. They also were really worried when they came in. They kept asking if Ghin really did know the Hero-Hunter.”

Garou looked at the squirt. The boy in question had his lights shining pink in shame, along with sweat profusely trickling down his forehead.

“…kid, you should know that the title as my disciple is not a badge of privilege or something to show and tell.” Garou reminded. The boy only turned his head away to avert his gaze pressing on his head.

Nurses and patients alike all turned their heads to see the strange trio walking through their workplace. Snipe drew most of the attention, but Garou and Ghin also drew their fair share of attention. As they walked through the hospital both Garou and Snipe received a few flirtatious looks from the staff. Snipe was one thing, being that he’s a hero, a famous one. Garou, on the other hand… his body was jacked.

Despite him being thin, his scoliosis and back muscles were well toned, his figure something that women of certain taste enjoy. And despite his menacing face, Garou does possess a face of a certain masculine charm. Though their ocular flirtations disturbed the Hero Hunter immensely, he did not illustrate it through his face. But the pulsing of his heart as it pounded faster and heavier.

“Alright. We’re here.”

Snipe pointed Ghin and Garou towards the numerous beds, all filled with students and preteens in various stages of injury lying under the white sheets. A few groans came from some of the beds. One of the kids in the beds turned their head to the door, hearing footsteps entering. His eyes widened as he saw Ghin enter, with an unknown man behind him.

“I’m here to take your lives.” Ghin declared boldly upon entering. His words had an immediate effect on them, with the boy widening is eyes in fear as his heart rate spiked, the monitor beeping more rapidly in response.

Only for unknown man behind him to bonk the boy’s head with a hammer fist.

“Stop messing around.” Garou chided the disciple, watching him rub his head with teary eyes

“…” Ghin remained silent as he looked at the kids, his lips remaining shut, not wanting to apologize to the kids in bed.

“…we’ll wait outside.” Garou said as he left, hooking his fingers into Snipe’s scarf. And started pulling him with him.

“Eh?” Snipe uttered as he looked back, seeing Garou pulling him without even looking at him eye to eye.

“Do not resist or I will destroy you.” Garou said as he started dragging Snipe out as he watched the room shrinking in his vision, until he was out the door. Garou then let him go, the hero dropping on his buttocks, and headed towards the door and closed it.

The click of the closing door was the only noise in the room, other than the erratic beeping of the heart monitors. Ghin stood there awkwardly in the middle of the room, dozens of stares locked onto him. None of the hospitalized students wanted to say anything. What was this kid doing here?

“.....................I am here to apologize for owning your asses.” Ghin bluntly stated.

One familiar face glared at the boy, eyebrows furrowing at his arrogant statement.

“Yeah… thanks for that by the way…”

The confidence in the voice of the ‘leader’ was replaced by shame and disgrace. Here he was, leg in a cast, accepting a pretty terrible apology from some kid. 

“..........why didn't you listen when I told you to leave at that time? Is bullying that important?” Ghin asked deciding to query.

“........” The leader remained silent at his question.

“...that was stupid.” Ghin knew the reason behind his actions was very indignant. There was no need for an answer anyways.

“.......I'm sorry, alright?” The leader mumbled, turning his head away.

“...why did you all want to bully a random kid crying on that bridge anyways? I did nothing to you.”

“......”

“...no answer?” Ghin asked.

A pregnant pause came from every delinquent. They all averted their eyes away from the boy in the middle of the room. They were being confronted with their wrongdoing after being punished for it.

“....listen kid, it was P.E class.” He gestured to each and every one of the injured students.

“We don’t exactly have the best Quirks, so… yeah…”

“I was Quirkless. I just got my Quirk a few days ago.” Ghin replied as he gestured to the lights behind him, once pink with shame, now silver again.

“Before, I was bullied for having no Quirks. I hate being bullied. You all having Quirks in the first place is much better off than what I went through.” He added. 

One of the other injured students in the bed, the familiarly large mutant one pushed himself up slightly, causing the hospital bed beneath him to bend and groan under the sudden pressure.

“Hey kid. I know bein’ born with a Quirk seems real good, but we ain’t all lucky in the draw, if ya catch my meaning?”

“Better than no Quirks though.” Ghin retorted.

“At least you all got something.” 

Ghin cast his gaze across all of the occupied beds. While some of the delinquents may not outwardly display their Quirks, he could tell. They all hung their heads slightly in shame. 

“...sometimes nothing is better than something.”

The ‘leader’ pointed over at the one who had the extremely long arms.

“Look at him! There are things that you can do that he can’t. He can’t hold heavy objects because of the lack of skeletal support in his arms.”

The long armed delinquent looked down at his arms, a look of regret clearly etched on his face.

Ghin looked at his arms, the elongated arms covered by what seemed to be custom-made uniform for his abnormal arm length, the sleeves just as long as the arms. Looking at the structure of his arms, there seemed to be no bones underneath the skin, making them seem more like worms.

“There are no bones in his arms?” Ghin asked.

In response, he shook his head. He attempted to raise his arms into the air, but his arms uselessly dropped, unresponsively. A look of mock amusement was on his face as he cocked his head to the side and smiled at Ghin.

“......” He looked at the arms, the boneless arms, with impassive eyes.

“So Quirks also act as disabilities as well…” Ghin murmured. He never saw anything similar back in his class. They were always signs of greater potential. Like being born with a high IQ or being tall.

“Still though… for a kid who only got his Quirk a few days ago, you’re pretty good.”
The ‘leader’ seemed genuinely impressed and respectful. The rest of the resting students nodded in agreement with a few murmurs.

“It’s not that great. I found a power far greater than Quirks from my sensei.” Ghin replied, shrugging. The students paused for a moment at his mention of his ‘sensei’.

“Really? Hah!” The leader scoffed at his words, in mocking disbelief.

“What could be greater than Quirks, kid?” He asked incredulously.

“The power Garou obtained to off All Might.” 

The prior smiles on their faces all blanched as Ghin revealed the origin of his power. Everyone was frozen mid-action.

“Don't believe me?” Ghin asked as he squatted, and punched the grounded until he ripped a tile from the floor, leaving a unsightly hole in the floor as Ghin held said tile in his hand - his fingers hooking into the cracking stone like moles. 

“See? This is no Quirk. This is something I got from my hellish training.” Ghin said while waving chunk of the floor in his hand.

The ‘leader’ blinked furiously to try and understand what he was seeing. His brows were furrowed in a look of pure confusion. He began to look at all of his classmates, to see if they were indeed seeing the same thing.

“So… what you said back on the bridge… was true?”

“Yep. The other man that dragged Snipe out is him, in the flesh. He's very cool.” Ghin said before returning the chunk back into the floor he ripped it from, filling the hole.

The look of confusion remained for a moment, before being replaced with one of awe. The heart monitors began beeping increasingly faster and faster as the delinquents attempted to push themselves up out of their beds. A myriad of voices assaulted Ghin.

“Holy shit, dude!”

“You’re like, the coolest kid ever!”

“Can I get Garou’s signature? I’m a huge fan!”

Similar sentiments seemed to be shared across the entire room. Where once there was shame and disbelief, there was now adoration. They were all in awe of this boy. They also did want Garou’s signature too.

“Ehhh…” Ghin blinked, taken back by the reaction.

“...excuse me?” Ghin asked as he dug his left ear with his pinky, digging the the earwax to clear his hearing. The lights behind him turned from silver to light orange.

“Did I hear you right? Most people would shout and scream in fear at his name or something.” Ghin asked with a tone of surprise.

The larger mutant one merely shrugged in response.

“Well maybe some. We’re all huge fans though. He’s so cool!”

Seeing such blatant fanboy-ish behaviour from such an intimidating figure was quite surreal.

“...how he took down All Might or the villains? Or is it the monster costume he wears?” Ghin asked switching topics, deciding to go with the flow.

“I think the monster outfit is the coolest part!”

One voice echoed out from a far corner.

“No way! His casual attitude when dealing with threats is the best!”
Another student turned his head to the corner, debating furiously.

The rocky mutant pressed down harder on one side of his bed, bending the handle and tilting the white bed quite badly. On his face was a look of pure confidence.

“You’re both wrong. The way he defends the weak and the worthy is what makes him truly the ideal icon.”

The room swiftly descended into shouting and furious debating over the best and the coolest aspect of the Hero-Hunter. Dozens of different points were being thrown around, none were refuted, only countered with other examples.

Ghin just remained silent, his eyes reduced to dots at this point as he let the voices sink in to his head.

“............wow.” Ghin never researched any fanbases regarding the Hero-Hunter in general. He never thought Garou would obtain a secret following of his own. Garou made sure that he was the scariest, most terrifying being on the planet… and was convinced that none would follow him. He was so, so wrong.

“For me, it is when he defeated All Might and the pro heroes.” Ghin butted in on the conversation.

The debate died down slightly. The ‘leader’ looked over in Ghin’s direction despite being in the middle of a argument with the person in the bed next to him. He raised one thumb up.

“Good choice, kid.”

“What I like about him defeating All Might, is that Quirks aren't everything. All Might… he got to where he is because of his Quirk, overrated value in Quirks. What I like about his defeat, is that… being born with a good Quirk does not define your fate. But what you make with what you have shapes your destiny… something that everyone seemed to forget or ignore.” Ghin smiled as he said some words of wisdom that the students couldn't believe was coming from his mouth.

The head delinquent heaved himself out of his bed, limping slowly over to Ghin. He stood over Ghin and extended one hand to the small boy.

“You’re pretty cool. We’re uhh… sorry about before.”

The rest of the room promptly began to apologize with quite some honesty and fervour. Their opinion of this boy had undergone a drastic 180.

“...sorry that I pierced your leg and nearly turned you all into charcoal.” Ghin apologized in return, changing his opinion of him as his heart settled, finding grounds of mental peace. 

“If I was really angry at that time, I would've broken all of your bones with my bare hands.” He admitted sheepishly as the lights behind him tinted pink.

Chuckles filled the room. Whilst no one found that fact entirely unbelievable, they found it funny instead. They had absolutely no doubt that the silver-haired youth could actually perform such feats.

“Well I for one am glad you didn’t. You might have struggled with him though”

He pointed a thumb over to the long-armed one, who only smiled and laughed in response.

“Huh…” Ghin smiled. All of his anger and hate dissipated now, replaced with a lighthearted, warm feeling. One that he never felt before ever since meeting Garou.

“...what is your Quirk though?” Ghin asked.

“Me? Well… my eyes can determine the value of Quirks at first glance.” The leader pointed at his eyes, which bore stars in his irises. Ghin didn't notice the first time, but his silver pupils were star-shaped.

“I can ascertain the strength and ability of any Quirk in great detail… though it is useless in a fight. Basically, I'm the closest to being Quirkless.” The leader said as he chuckled.

Ghin blinked at the revelation. If he could determine the abilities of Quirks… 

“...wait, if you could see the abilities of Quirks, why did you all still tried to attack me on the bridge?” Ghin asked.

“....yeah, about that…” The leader rubbed his hear, his face emanating confusion and trouble.

“...I can't determine the value of your Quirk. You see… every Quirk bore a certain color and light to it. The brighter it is, the stronger the Quirk. Although… I can't see the light of your Quirk. But there is a color to it… hey, what kind of Quirk do you have exactly?” The leader asked as he pointed at Ghin.

“Uhhh… no idea. There's no name for it yet. I just got it, you know?” Ghin said as he pointed a thumb at the lights floating behind him.

“Your Quirk is the only one that has no light, and can change color. Until now, every Quirk I see always retain the same color, the color of identity in a way. But… yours don't. It always changes, the same color as the light on your back.” The leader pointed out as Ghin looked behind his back, seeing the light back to silver.

“....I have no idea.” Ghin replied as he looked at the sparkling lights behind him.

“...you said you can determine the abilities of my Quirk?” Ghin asked as he turned his eyes back to him.

“Oh yeah. But there are conditions.” The Leader nodded.

“I can’t just go ‘bam’ and find out all the details y’know? I need to spend a certain amount of time with the person. It depends on their brightness.”

He pointed a finger towards Ghin.

“And all I saw from you was a color. That’d make it a lot harder.”

“Ehhh…” Ghin’s lights then turned to the color of disappointment, dark yellow.

“But I want to know what else I could do… the wings and lasers are just the first. I want to know more.” Ghin whined with puffed cheeks, like a child befitting his age. He had gotten used to the lights already… his heart now more at peace after talking with his former victims.

A hand clapped on Ghin’s shoulder as he pouted.

“Don’t worry kid. I’ll find out the details for ya.”

“....thanks…” Ghin smiled.

“...do you all plan to become heroes?” Ghin asked as he changed the topic.

All of the students fell silent, some shaking their heads. The ‘leader’ stood over Ghin, looking conflicted.
“I’m not so sure about that. Some of us are blatantly not suited to that kind of thing. We’d probably be better off looking for regular jobs.”

“......do you all want to be one?” Ghin asked, his tone as childish as before.

“Course we would. Every kid does. But we’re not all suited for it.”

“...what if you all received training?” Ghin asked, as an idea started forming in his head, one that Garou would indefinitely hate.

The one standing before Ghin cocked his head in mild confusion.

“Training? What do you mean?”

“...I was Quirkless, you know? But after receiving training from the Destroyer of Heroes himself, I got strong. I even took down the students of Class 1-A in UA.” 

All the eyes zeroed in Ghin with disbelief.

“What? You lying…” The leader slowly shook his head, his jaw hung from his head.

“What? It's true. Garou and I went to UA, and decided to test the students there. It was fun! I got to break their bones! And that was before I got my Quirk!” Ghin smiled at them, laced with gloating pride, with a huffed chest as he placed his knuckles on his hips.

“Really? Can we… learn this?”

He sounded unsure and a bit anxious. What kind of training would they even need to undergo?

“It's called The True God Slayer Fist! It is an art designed to kill monsters! Though… you will all experience hell. Real hell. I'm not kidding. I thought I died more than once with the basics. It's not easy. It will break your spirits.” Ghin warned.

“How long have you been training?”

The same voice called out from the distant corner.

“Around a year.” Ghin swiftly replied.

“And you’re already this strong?”

The creaking and groaning of metal indicated that it was the large mutant that had spoke. The bed still tilted, but not so much as before.

“Yeah. It's not easy, but I did it. I want to reach Garou’s level one day.” Ghin smiled, his usual happy smile.

“Don’t we all…”

He gazed off out of the window, clearly awed by the idea. His eyes seemed to have glazed over with his friends just watching him.

“I will reach his level. I will not dream of reaching it. I will reach it. It is a long and arduous road, but I am not afraid to cross it. So… the point is, if I offer you all training, both as an apology and stuff, would you take it?” Ghin asked the delinquents.

Everyone exchanged glances with each other, before all looking at the one standing next to Ghin. Their silent looks made their thoughts clear. It was obvious that they wanted to.

“Of course we’ll take it, kid. And don’t sweat the apology.”

Before continuing, the leader slapped his forehead in realisation.

“Oh I forgot. We didn’t even introduce ourselves! I’m Jhinzol.”

He swept his hand over to the large mutant and the long-armed guy.

“This big guy is Mutou and ol’ long-arms over there is Io. You don’t need to worry about everyone else. They aren’t important.”

He leaned in a whisper on that last past, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Hey!”
“We heard that! Asshole.”
“What’s going on now? I can’t see!”

The crowd around him roared in raucous protest as their eyes comically gleamed fire and wrath. Ghin giggled warmed at the reaction.

“Oh, hello! My name is Ghin Shinjitsu. My favorite hobby is games, martial arts, and enjoying the faces of troubled heroes. My most favorite is food and fighting!” Ghin smiled widely. 

“And also, call me your senior from now on! Or I will show you hell!” He proudly declared.

He will ask Garou if he could train them later on.

A few minutes later…

“No.” 

“Ehhhh?!” Shock plastered his saucered eyes, jaws dropped to the floor, his idol’s response left the boy aghast.

“Why?!” Ghin asked, pleading.

“While I’m glad you finally made friends, I am not so keen on taking more students.” Garou explained the reason of his denial.

“But pleaaaaaaaassse! They're your fans! You've never had fans before! That’s no reason to treat your fans like this!” The boy complained. The word ‘fans’ was more than enough to twitch Garou’s eye.

“You have fans?” Snipe commented from the side, completely caught off guard that the Hero Hunter, of all people, had actual fans.

“.........” Garou averted his sharp gaze upon hearing the question. He did not fail to eavesdrop on their conversation with his super hearing, but… the moment he heard about their adoration, his body stiffened from the sheer revelation alone. The feeling that he received from learning of his… fanbase… was very complicated and vague, a feeling too alien for someone like him.

“...I only train those who are worthy.” Garou replied.

“Let me train them then! I will determine their worth!” Ghin continued to stand his ground, his stubbornness testing even Garou’s patience.

“…hah.” Garou sighed.

“It’s been almost a year, and you think you graduated from student to teacher? I did not teach you to be arrogant, squirt. I taught you how to be strong.” Garou said as Ghin’s light dulled from silver to grey, the boy’s lips curling into a sad frown.

“…which is why I will be there when you DO train them. I can’t have you mess it up and screw my name.” Garou added before Ghin could whine in retort. The lights behind his back shifted from grey to silver, though the brightness of it was higher than before. Before Ghin clung to Garou’s leg and started babbling like a rapid-fire machine gun.

“ThankyouthankyouthankyiuIsearIwon’tletyoudownyoumarkmywordsandIwill-”

“Get off me!” Garou flicked his leg back and forth, trying to shake the clingy kid off of him before finally throwing him to the floor. With a meaty thud, Ghin tumbled across the floor like a ragdoll, landing on his back with his legs propped over his shoulders, but the boy was still smiling with joy rarely seen.

While this all happened, Snipe casually leaned his back against the wall and spectated the unfolding drama. Garou seemed to be getting more popular among certain groups. They also seemed to be very… passionate.

“At this rate, you’ll need to open a dojo.”

Garou stared at Snipe upon hearing his comment.

“.......” The word ‘dojo’ reminded him of his own master, The Old Fart. The place where it all began, atop of the highest mountain in Z-City…

“…dojo…” Garou muttered in deep contemplation. Now that he thought about it, should he open a dojo? Here? Or should he find a way back home? But…

“Is there even a place for me back home?” Garou murmured as he considered his options with great thought. He was considered a monster back home. Granted, that was of his own choice, but still...

“...yo, cowboy.” Garou called out to the sniping hero.

“What do you think will happen if I do open a dojo here?” Garou asked.

Snipe went to rub his chin, despite wearing his gas mask. This was a worry for everyone. The world could barely take many more people of Garou’s strength.

“Well with your… reputation, you’d get hundreds upon hundreds of applicants. Some might be genuine in their desire to train, but some might be looking just to gain your power.” 

“The power I wield cannot be obtained through a simple application. They will all fail in their attempt in the end.” Garou replied. He would consider opening a test dojo just in case to see how it goes. If it turned out badly… 

‘...meh.’ Garou could always find something else in the end. Thus, he shrugged without a care.

“Anyways, what else… oh right. What is it about the community service?”

Ghin’s face blanched, his wings turning into dark purple with sheer horror.

“.....” without a word, the boy quickly scampered to his up and ran away, leaving dust in his wake.

“You'll never take me alive!” Ghin shouted as multiple hospital staff eyed the trail left behind by the boy in a stupor.

The empty lenses of the Snipe’s gas mask followed the boy sprinting away. Despite his face being hidden behind the mask, one could easily sense the resignation behind it. He pointed a finger at the shrinking shape of the boy.

“Are you going to go get him? Or should I?”

“...I'll fetch him. Next time, you do it.” Garou said as he disappeared into a blur. The next second, Snipe could hear a ‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO’ echo from down the hallway.