The Journey of the Burning Champion. (A My Hero Academia Fanfiction.)

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

There's nothing better than to wake up with your Mom darting around you trying to get you up for the day, her hair bright and flaming even in this heat. She grabs me and hoists me up, my overly tan skin still warm from the covers.

"Mom…" I groan, "Gimme a few more minutes…"

"No, we're on a schedule today, baby. It's fight night!" she exclaims, "And the payout is absolutely enormous if I get to the end!" she grins and plops me into the bathroom.

"Awwwhg…" I yawn, my red orange eyes staring at myself in the mirror. My body is slim, not very well muscled but still kinda muscled. I drag a fireproof brush through my red and orange hair, embers flaking off in the dragging.

It fluffs out, then settles into a wavy rain of long hair. I pull some of it back to be made in a small ponytail. Of course I brush my teeth, floss, and smile in the cracked mirror despite my shaky hands and slower pace.

She's waiting and she's swirling her keys on her fingers, shoving a pork bun into my mouth and getting me out the door without my bands and shoes, until I notice them bundled in the crook of her arms.

"Why're you so quick getting me to school, huh?" I ask, "Is your trainer wanting you in earlier?"

"Baby, this is a HUGE deal. I don't mind what you do tonight, just stay home and hang tight." she swings her muscular self into the car and tosses my shoes and bands my way as I slide them on. They're loose and threadbare, barely able to stay together. Sometimes my girlfriend brings me some extra material.

Mom can't pay for my new bands, so I just bind them tighter. All I do is just grit my teeth and bear it… like today. Mom pulls into traffic, the neighborhood whisking by with the house of my girlfriend and adjoining chapel moving by too.

"I dunno why you're so gung-ho. What if you lose?"

"I still get paid, you know that." she sighs with a smile, "As long as none of them are fixed I'm a happy gal." we get cut off and she brakes suddenly.

"OH FUCK YOU!" she flips them off with a burning hiss of her flames shooting out of the sunroof. Mom's just being mom. That's all she is but at the same time I worry about her. Because she gets hurt for a living. She gets the shit beat out of her and I have to see the bruises and the black eyes and the fractures. She uses most of the money to get treatment for those but at the same time most of it also goes to all the expenses we gotta pay to keep living in our house.

Mom notices how quiet I am, "Renaru, sweetie, this is a big deal. I know you don't like it-"

"Yeah, I don't! What kind of son wants their mother to get beat up?! It's already bad enough I have this!" I raise my hands and they quiver and quake with my legs. My hair sputters and my heat barely stays constant.

"Renaru, you're not a burden to me. You're literally the only thing keeping me from the loony bin." Mom winks at me and turns her attention back to the road. If only I could tell her what it's really like for me.

In this world, there's eighty percent with quirks, special superpowers that popped up in China with some glowing baby. They can be anything really. Twenty percent don't have one and they're treated better than us. Way better. To the world at large, Quirk Palsy doesn't exist. It's some crackpot pseudoscience thing even though it could impact anyone. I'm one of the ten percent that DO have it. Mom pulls up to the school and she pulls me into her strong, warm arms.

"Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're anything other than yourself." she says, "You're my son, I shoved you out of me, and if I hear one goddamn thing about how someone treated you unfairly, they're gonna be a punching bag!"

Mom kisses me on the forehead and hands me my backpack. I pull out the handle and roll it behind me, all I can think about is the hell I'm entering into. My school never got people like me before. So it was a big hullabaloo that I was even enrolled even if it was as close to the house as we could get, and Mr. Shiozaki vouched for me. Being an 'Upstanding pillar of the local community, to which we all should strive to be' (That makes me wanna hurl even now.)

"Look at him, he can barely stand!" they said, "What makes you think he'd be successful in a setting like this?"

Mom looked up at them like she was gonna rage any minute, "What're you saying? You're saying my boy can't get his education?"

"Miss-"

"Missus. I'm married, get it right."

"Missus Kaenshita, your son's condition poses a risk to the student body and the property itself. One wrong move on one wrong day and Fwoom! Fire everywhere!" one of them yelled. I didn't care what they looked like.

Then one of them spat out the words that put the fear of God into all of them. In a voice even I fear, Mom spoke.

"Maybe he likes setting things on fire?" one of them says, and my Mom starts laughing. It unsettles the rest of the space, waves of heat billowing the area around us. Mr. Shiozaki's eyes widen as my mom calms down a bit to talk.

"Oh yeah?" she starts, "All I hear is fucking ableism. My son needs this school, this is the only shot we got and I'm not driving halfway across town." That's when Mr. Shiozaki took over.

He's massive, long blond hair and wild green eyes, long gray coat and a priest's cassock underneath it, he's got a beard and heavy work boots. He's easily taller than Mom and he looms above the mic, his resonant voice trembling the room.

"Excuse me, my friend has her grievances. But it's best to just leave it here. Do not let her character speak to how her son would act, y'don't know what he's had to endure." His voice is resonant, accented lightly in a Scottish Brogue, a lot of people respect him so they keep quiet.

But I hate it.

Sometimes he pisses me off. Just the idea that I couldn't defend myself. I'll show him, I'll show them, I'll show my mom and everyone I can take care of myself! The schoolyard is spacious and I amble my way through it, my backpack rolling behind me. All they do is stare at my ambling, shambling body. Embers swirling from my hair and my uniform sleeves and pant legs charred and threadbare. Pocked with burned-through holes. I had no one. No friends, no one to hide behind since my Girlfriend is part of the gardening club and comes in early every day.

Some people just have all the luck in the world. Then my leg catches, my shoe bends, everything goes sideways and the control of my body is wrenched from me as I build momentum, slowly seeing everything rush up to meet me.

Dammit.

Hitting the ground isn't what hurts, it's the aftermath. The students around me all laugh and carry on, jeering and calling out…

"Oops!"

"Clean up on aisle one!"

"Another one bites the dust!"

I want to curl into a little ball and try to stop myself from crying. But no. That's the coward's way out. I get up, dust myself off, and hold back the urge to cry. It hurts but I have to keep going. Getting inside takes me a little bit to take off my outside shoes. Putting on the inside shoes is easy.

"Come on…" I mumble, fumbling with the double knots my Mom put in my laces, "Mom, seriously? You're trying to make me track mud through the-" someone bumps into me.

"Oof! Hey!" I snap, "You tryin' to get me-" then it happens. The fear rises up, grabs me, lovingly kisses me on the lips and tells me.

'You're not done yet.' because standing above me is the one guy nobody wants to mess with. Hayao Kuroda, the student council president and the one sonuvabitch that makes my school life and my girlfriend's school life a living hell.

Six foot one, a noble face twisted into one of righteous anger, he looms above me. Leering down with golden eyes. He's always been a thorn in my side ever since we came to Ilimicho. Ten or so years of sheer torment and he looms over me like I'm the one who bumped into him. He's bigger, stronger, better at everything than I am. All he wants is for me to get out of his way about my girlfriend. Like I'll ever let him.

"Kaenshita…"

"Kuroda."

"You think you could just sit there like a lazy bump on a log and not greet your superior?" he barks, "STAND AT ATTENTION!" a golden aura appears around me and my muscles scream and bones pop at the motions of me standing ramrod straight with my hand in a salute.

Straining, tears falling down my cheeks. It's not right. It's not fair. Kuroda and his friends laugh.

"Aww! Look at him! Such a respectful lil' soldier!" he says, "Well then Private! At- EASE!" he throws a mean jab right into my face, sending me hurtling to the floor. I can't move. I can't even look him in the eyes.

"Outside, death by a thousand blows." he says.

---

Sweat pours down my face, my hair burning bright and everything coming into focus. Pain rockets through my body, my head aching, my hands holding my stomach. My quirk wreaks havoc and everyone stares down at me. That's all they do. Stare, whisper, all while I amble by.

"Really?! You think you can be a hero with those arms and legs?!" one of them yells. I smile and draw myself up, focusing my eyes on the person who said that. I'm so tired of that. So tired of it all.

My hands shake as I raise them, a shambling Peekaboo stance. Taking a breath my legs and arms tighten up like a fiery spring ready to launch. But then one of them takes a shot at me, I don't even see it coming. But I ride it out, another shot coming in and I do that too, shrugging off blow after blow. I'm used to it, used to taking way worse than this. Mom and I… we're built for it. I can't take much more of this but when they gang up on me like this…

Heat spreads through my body, my body temperature building. My sweat turning to steam and my arms sting. Pins and needles. They shake mightily and all I can think of is the fact that night was the most humiliating night. Just because I can't balance all that well. Just because I fire off my quirk when I need to, do they get all pearl clutchy? And then their kids decide I'm the most perfect punching bag in the world.

This wasn't the worst thing by a long while, but eventually they get bored because I'm rope-a-doping. They leave and I raise myself out of the Peekaboo stance.

I smile and rub my aching arms, "That's right! Get lost!" I yell, stretching my arms out and moving towards the gate. Sometimes they get to me at the end of the day, where teachers are less likely to get to anyone.

This day was just boring, so I guess I could thank them for the workout? I roll out of the yard and there's the thought of the fight night again. What am I gonna eat? What am I gonna do? I need to do my homework of course but after that then what?

A soft set of footsteps sounds out, "Wait, Renaru!" a soft, almost breezy voice sings through my ears. My girlfriend Ibara Shiozaki jogs up to me with her long skirt billowing around. She's wearing a pretty standard uniform but because Mr. Shiozaki's a bigwig in this neck of the woods she's got on her pretty handmade shawl.

Her hair is long, waist length vines, beautiful and vibrant. Her eyes are dark green and her lashes are downy and mossy green. She's taller than me, just by a bit and her skin has more of an olive tone to it. She smiles and wraps her arms around one of mine, walking alongside me with a bright smile on her face. She's always been here. Always been by my side through everything. It's a no-brainer we'd be together.

But there's always that one thing that keeps lovers apart, right? Romeo and Juliet, some kind of other star crossed thing that makes everything suck. But for now Ibara and I walk side by side towards the station.

"Did you have a good day, Renaru?" she asks.

"I guess. Tonight's a fight night." I sigh, "I'll be home alone. And well, Mom's gonna go get the teeth knocked out of her head again."

"You're being moody again, Renaru." she says, "Was it Kuroda too?"

"Yeah, he forced me to Salute and then did Death by a Thousand Blows outside today, I rope-a-doped him though." I see something change in her.

"Shall I do something about it?" she asks.

"No, no, I'll handle it." I say, "Nothing I haven't done before."

"Oh, right." she says with a slight wilt in her tone, "Well then, how about I come over? I made some pumpkin bread earlier this week, it's not that old."

"You're a saint, baby." I can't help but smile at her earnestness. But then I remember that the Special Exam is coming up, I can't really fool with her before that! I gotta focus! Dammit, even though I want her to come over!

"How about you drop some off tonight?"

"Why?" she tilts her head a little, "You're not sick are you? Hurt? Do you want to break up with me?!"

"What?! Ibby, baby, no." I sigh, "I'm just focused on something really important right now. Something that's in my future."

Ibara nods, "Well, if it is the way you do things, then that is the way you must do it." she and I get to the station and get on our train to go home, while on the way there, there's a soft prickling on my arm.

She's got vines around one of them, looking worriedly around at the other people. She's almost paranoid and I reach over and squeeze her hand. Ibara never leaves my side until we get to my house, a tiny thing compared to her father's cabin and chapel, with the massive garden. The sun shines amber, Mom's car is gone, and I stand with her. Ibara hesitates but looks down at me with a forced smile. She leans close, her lips softly brush against mine.

"I love you," she whispers.

"I love you too, Ibara. Have a good night."

"May the Lord bless you and keep you safe." she says back, I don't want to leave her. She's so alone, I don't ever want her to be alone again. I get up to the front door and unlock it, thinking of the UA exam next week.

I'm ready as I'll ever be.

UA, the big H-Shaped hero school, the one out in Mustafu. It's not a bad train ride, but on the lead up to that day, Mom's been drilling me. Apparently she got pretty far in that Fight Night, not even giving an inch, she won.

"All I thought about was you, baby!" she said, "The rest came easy."

So if I get through this, Mom's gonna treat us to a ton of things. She has a lot of ideas. The train to Mustafu rushes along underground. My eyes closed, focused on what I need to do. No matter what I have to do. Persevere.

In UA, there's five slots for those with Quirk Palsy in General Studies, three in the Support Course, and in the Hero Course…

Only two. Two slots with candidates determined from the highest scores among those who applied. So it was me and some other person who got through to be examined.

The train slows down breaking into day, jittering and jerking. I make my way up the steps and into the huge blast of urban noise, raging and roaming around where tons of people are going to and fro. Dancing in the lanes were cars milling along trying to obey traffic laws. Vendors and food trucks all hawking wares and everything. Being a small town boy, I gulp down my fear and pop the name UA into my map app.

My phone chugs out the directions as I follow them, taking me through a weird backway where some guy in a coat that smells like he burnt it gives me shifty eyes. I glare back and he goes back to what he was doing. 'That's what I thought.' When I finally get to the school, it's much bigger than in the pictures on TV. About a whole ARMY of kids were going through early applications but there off to the side is a little table with a hokey reused sign of All Might pointing at it.

QP Applicants, here! (It was once a This Tall to Ride Sign.) Walking over, there's nobody else except for the person at the desk. Well, the person I didn't even know. Mom never really liked heroes. So I walk up, the person's a lady and she's really pretty. Her eyes looking down at the paper, almost shocked at how short the list is for the hero course I'm sure. They're bright blue and she's got long and messy dark purple hair.

She's kinda dressed like she's… well, I dunno what she's dressed like! I can't fight the blush on my cheeks as she looks up at me and smiles.

"Uh… I'm here for the Special QP Exam? My name's…"

"Renaru Kaenshita, right?" her voice is soft, strong and well, her smile's making me lose my balance just looking at it! I nod.

"I like your mother, she's pretty cool," she says, "Good luck then, sweetie!" she winks at me and I turn away, taking a sheet with me with all my information on it. I hope I do well because this is going to be really hard. My mind keeps going back to that lady saying good luck and winking at me, almost imagining Ibara doing the same. Stop thinking that way, Renaru!

Crossing into the big gym room, There's not much to this place. Just two heroes (I guess?) standing there waiting for me. Both of them are pretty different looking. One's a short little lady with a doctor's outfit on and the other is a tall guy who looks almost like a skeleton.

"Ah, hello dear!" the old lady greets and I bow.

"Hello, Ma'am! I'm Renaru Kaenshita!"

"Yes, we know." she laughs, "So eager!" she comes over and checks me out, turning my head this way and that, holding my wrist to time the shaking, holding my legs out straight to see how much they shake.

"Hmmm. He has a pretty bad case for an emitter…" she says, the skeletal man nodding.

"If you're gonna go easy, I'll just leave!" I bark, "There's no way I've come all the way from Kanagawa to have you cheap out on me!"

The skeletal man turns, his coat billowing slightly, "Then follow me, Kaenshita. It's time for your physical examination." he opens the door and I step out with him. Here we go!

I lash out my arms seeing Flames burst out of my fists, the clones bursting to goo. The goal of this part was to beat all of Mr. Ectoplasm's clones. He's a tall guy in a weird black and yellow ribbed suit with a big coat. He's like me, he wears prosthetics and he lands, the piles of goo I already took out reforming into copies of him. All of them spread out throughout the fake cityscape the school dropped us off into. Surrounding me with his voice echoing around me. All of it just being like that scene with the skeletons in that old anime my Mom never wants me to watch but I watched it anyway.

"Let's up the ante, shall we? You must fight me with all your resolve, Kaenshita!" they boom, "How will you be a hero if you give up now?"

"I won't, Mr. Ecto!" I exclaim, "So bring it all on! I'll burn you all to cinders!" I take my boxing stance, hopping on my feet, taking a deep breath and the heat pitches up around me, my heart blazing.

My bands shoot out intense jets of flame, closing in and a torrent of fire blasts out of my fist. Charring a whole lot of them, but a cannon blast annihilates a good chunk of them too. Standing nearby is a girl with her dark hair up in a ponytail, practically in a sports bra like my Mom wears sometimes.

She's wearing normal enough shorts too.

"Are you alright?" she asks me, dark eyes full of concern as she looks at my trembling body and limbs. I smile.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine, partner!" I exclaim, "You take the ones on the left, I take the ones on the right, and we join halfway, yeah?"

The girl shakes her head, "Maybe it'll be better if we work together, Kaenshita."

"Right, right. Wait, I never got your name." she smiles and forms a shield on her arm. Her hand holding a sword.

"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, Kaenshita."

"In that case, call me Renaru!" I pound my fist to my chest, flames bursting to life in my hair and I close my eyes, "And to all you clones, you won't stop me!" I yell, rushing them down and my fists flying like reckless tails of comets.

Yaoyorozu and I start to push the clones back more and more, but they keep reforming and rushing in. The more I use my flames, the worse my body shakes and my muscles have the burning pulling they always get, sending me into panting fits. In the distance, I see Momo barely holding back one of Ectoplasm's clones with another closing fast.

"YAOYOROZU! OUTTA THE WAY!" I scream, charging between them and getting hit hard with a double pincer kick to my back and stomach. The wind forced out of my lungs, flames bursting out and burning the two away, but I crumple to my knees.

Dammit… this isn't good. Not good at all. Pain thunders through my body, my eyes blur and a great big shadow chomps down on the two of us. Momo and I are stuck inside this guy's ultimate move.

"Haha! Hit him again!"

"Come on, Kaenshita! Is this all you got?"

My bullies kick and punch me around, my body screaming in pain. Hard, unforgiving concrete meets my face as I fly to the ground, skittering on it like a stone and laying there. The sun shining down on my raw new scrapes. The burning pain in them was nothing new at all, but who did it were the usual suspects.

The schoolyard bustles and moves around us. Everyone treated me like that Kitty Genovese lady in America years ago. No one sees the two kids being attacked by the three bigger ones. No one sees the clearly disabled kid shaking and hurt, or the girl surrounded by the other two with vine hair.

She's just standing there.

Why is she just standing there?

Crawling to one knee, there's the normal boot of my bully, Hayao, landing on my head. His crystal hair shines like a halo but he's no angel. I mean, when I'm eating dirt like- he forces my head down into the dust, my tongue tasting the grit and cringing.

God dammit.

"Sit down a bit, Kaenshita." he says, "We'll be gentle with your girlfriend."

Ibara stands there, immovable and calm as the now four guys surround her. She never once breaks eye contact with me. Gritting my teeth, one by one my limbs move. Pushing me up, trying to anyway. They shiver, my body forcing me back down to the dust as they grab her arms and her vines don't move. Hayao paces, a pair of pruning pliers in his hand. Closing my eyes, I try to get back up.

Why isn't anyone doing anything?! Why isn't anyone getting a teacher?! It's not… no, no, stop thinking like that, Renaru! Come on… come on! The one time you need to get up and you can't! Come on… One leg's got me up, the other's lagging behind. Everything comes down to this moment, the pliers snip and a clump of vines falls to the ground, Ibara's eyes close and there's tears falling.

"Oh come on, Shiozaki… you look way better like tha-"

Heat rips through me and I close the distance, flames meeting the cheek of this bastard and blasting him backward, the pliers clinking on the blacktop, boiling hot from my flames. Landing on my feet I weave in, jabbing fast with my flames blasting out, my bands lighting up with an orange light before fading. My arms have the dull, pulling ache I normally get and I rage down into Hayao's face.

"Don't you ever do that!" my throat rips out a yell, "Don't you dare cut her hair like that, bastard!" Grabbing him with one hand, I try to pull him up but no dice.

"Aww! Look at you, defending the poor saintly hafu! She's crying so hard right now!" I look over my shoulder and see her standing there, still not moving but she's- the other two, Han and Shou, fire off their quirks and they end up blasting me off Hayao and into the pavement again.

Grinding into it, my shoes leave trails of flame in their wake, the rubber melted down a little. A crowd of other kids all gather around and watch. Instead of countering, I fall back down, the concrete digging into me and I watch as Ibara gets her vines cut.

"They always do…"

Why was it always me?

"Kaenshita!"

The one kid with Quirk Palsy, one of the ten percent of the population.

"Kaenshita!" Momo's hands land on my shoulders, "Help me!"

"Help you?" The dark void of Ectoplasm's Detention sends shivers through me but Momo's hands tighten on my shoulders, focusing me.

"Renaru, can you try and blast through this?" she asks, pulling out something she created, a sword like the ones in one of those old samurai movies Mom used to watch with me, Yojimbo? I take it into my hands, the blade sheening in my hair's firelight. Breathe deep, summon it from your chest, feel it spread through your arms, legs, and then the sword, let it seep into the metal, the hilt, the guard. The bullies that kept me down, the people who stared at me when I was younger.

Mom snapping at people who told her I couldn't be anything, "My son can be whoever he wants to be!"

All Might's muscular, comic book styled face, golden hair tufts, telling the interviewer, "Anyone can be a hero!" with that unbeatable smile.

Mom, beaten to hell in the ring, holding up her fists, "It's not about my money… it's not about my pride… it's about my boy! My son needs the money!"

Watching her take out so many guys, watching her taking on bigger and bigger weight classes, mutations, emitters, transformations, it didn't matter to her.

Anyone can be a hero…

Anyone can be a hero…

I… can be a hero.

I can be a hero.

I can be a hero!

I stand and open my eyes, grabbing Momo and feeling her taller frame and longer arms wrap around me, my legs blasting us into the air, flaming sword slashing into the head of the giant Ectoplasm he ambushed us with. The sunlight and summer heat hit us and I take the brunt of the fall with all the pain in my back and skidding across the fake city pavement, making sure she isn't hurt. She holds onto me tightly.

"Hey, you can leggo now." I groan.

"Oh, sorry!" she sputters. She gets off me and her cheeks are beet red, Ectoplasm coming up to us with this big guy who looks like he's a living cinder block with a chilled-out smile on his face.

"Kaenshita, Yaoyorozu, time for the written exam. You did well with the physical." he rumbles, "But don't slack off, you two, you're far from done."

I adjust my bands and let them air out, the grayed out membrane smoking gently from all the flames shot out. Sweat pours out of them and I almost wanna dart into a bathroom to put out my hair because shit, it's a hot day.

Momo zipped up her track jacket, eating some peanut butter crackers she stuffed in the pockets. She looks at me and smiles.

"Here." she says, handing me one, "For a job well done,"

"Yeah." nodding, maybe red-faced, maybe shy, but that's not the point right now. I exercised my body, so now it's time for my noodle! Munching on the cracker, it kinda helps my concentration.

Once I sit down in another room from Momo, with another teacher, this one a little bit odd. It's a person in a spacesuit with big sneakers and white eyes on the big helmet.

"Hello, Kaenshita! I'm Thirteen! I'll be proctoring your exam so sit down and get your pencils out."

"You got it… sir? Ma'am?"

"The second one's right!" she exclaims, happy and it puts me at ease. I mean, Mr. Ectoplasm and Mr. Cementoss looked pretty intimidating despite how Mr. Ectoplasm almost ended our exam by eating us. I think he's nicer than he looks.

Looking down at the exam, there's not much I don't know but there's a lot I coulda studied better for. If Mom… well… I do it. I went through the exam easy as pie and to the best of my ability. That's all I can do, yeah?

When I get out of there, Momo's there waiting. She smiles as I amble up to her, leaning against the wall a bit, she offers her shoulder.

"Come on, Kaenshita." she chides softly.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

At that I glare at her, "Who saved you when he ate us?"

"I made the sword you cut through it with!" she counters, "Ha! Got you!" She smiles and wraps her arm around my shoulders and I just keep looking away. She has a better shot at getting a slot than I do.

She only has a type of Quirk Palsy that affects her quirk's drawback. I could tell from how much she was eating, she had more than just crackers. I could smell the eel sauce from the exam room next door to hers.

Ah well… at least I'll be home soon.

---

The hot steam of the pavement hits my skin as I lay on my back next to my Mom, hair spread out beneath us as the cold rain puts it out. Summer comes with this. Putting out our hair so we don't cook alive in the heat. The events of the exam fade away as I try to curl up close to my mom.

"Hahh… doesn't that feel good, Renaru?" Mom sighs, her eyes closed as her soaked once-lit hair snuffs out. She sits up, grinning and watching me with her red orange eyes burning bright. She's wearing exercise clothes, with the wet fabric clinging to her tanned skin. Mom also has a pretty elaborate tattoo on her shoulder that tapers to her wrist. She says she got it from someone she loved a lot, more than me and Dad. Sometimes it glows along with her quirk.

"Yeah." I answer, "It always does, Mom." she reaches over and pats my forehead. The rain lets up slow as ever and sizzles out my own hair. Normally, I'm shedding embers everywhere and causing a huge mess somewhere.

But Mom just smiles, talks it off as a little fun spice of mine that makes me even more special than the other kids. She gets to her feet and holds out her hand. One hand, one arm, I push myself off the pavement with my free hand shaking and grabbing hers. It trembles like a leaf, even when she holds it. Mom plucks me up to my feet and leads me inside our house. It's small, quiet, and kind of rustic. After all, she built it herself. At least that's what she says.

Two rooms, two bathrooms, not three. Of course it's not so bad. It's enough for me and my mom and that's all I need. Mom turns on the light over the stove, we save on electricity when we don't use the overhead kitchen light. My eyes linger on the family photo of me, Mom, and Dad when I was a baby. Bundled in my mom's arms, her scowling tired as all get out at the camera as dad posed like an idol leaning into the shot.

His red hair long and falling to his shoulders, lightly bearded, and with magenta eyes shining in the camera flash. He's tall, with two compression sleeves around his arms and hands, with two on his legs and tapering down to his feet. Meanwhile I'm all scrunched up with bright orange hair and red streaks, I probably just got woken up from my haze of sleep by my overly loud and cheery dad.

"How about some Tempura chicken tonight, kiddo? Your dad made it all the time for me when I was pregnant with you." she looks over her shoulder at me staring at the photo, wilting a bit at the sight of me looking at it.

"Look, I know you miss him." she sighs just a bit, "He did what he did and there's nothing we can do about it now."

"Mom? Where'd he go?" I walk into the kitchen and wash my hands, degloving my black and grayed-out bands reaching my shaking hands into the sudsy water. She tenses a little and before I could ask her more, she nudges me.

"Get the rice, baby." her tone's soft, "Remember to wash it." Her hair is drier now, fluffing out into nice red and black waves that fall to her waist. Rinsing my hands, I get out the bag of rice and start washing what we're going to use.

She cooks the chicken and I focus on the rice. Kind of glad she isn't talking much about Dad. I mean… she's right, I do miss him but it's been just us for so long I've started to not really care? Mom glares at the chicken with her red eyebrows furrowed like they just threatened my life.

I don't think it's a bad thing. I mean… our neighbor, Mr. Shiozaki, he's been raising my best friend all by himself for years. But sometimes… Mom gets like this. Sad, cooking or punching the heavy bag, or cleaning, or writing that sports novel she says she's going to finish. She still misses Dad. On my Dad's birthday, the third of July, she leaves the house really early and spends the day somewhere. Then comes home, cries, and then goes to bed. Sometimes there's that little bit of worry with her.

The chicken's done, and the rice just got done too. When we sit down to eat I grab my special pair of chopsticks that are attached together so I can pick things up easier. It's normal. All of this is. I reach up to the end of my arms near my shoulders and peel down my band's ends. Mom smiles, and I smile back. It's been the two of us since I can remember. I almost don't want that to change. While we eat, there's a knock on our door.

"I'll get it, honey." she says as I jolt up to answer. It's gotta be my results from the Special Exam at UA. She stands and I still notice some of her bruising from the fight she had in the ring for the money to get me into UA's Special Exam Program in the first place.

Mom sacrificed so much for me. One of these days I might be able to return the favor. She comes back in with a happy grin, the official seal of UA on the envelope and the excitement I get thrums through my body. Almost electric, almost like the fire that runs through me with every beat of my heart. She bounces a little and stares at me. My hands tremble. What if I didn't get through? Even after all that?

"What? Aren'tcha gonna open it?" she asks, "Come on! Do it!" I pick it up and tear through the envelope, a small projector clatters to the table. It whirs to life, the projection floating in the air with the logo shining bright gold.

"Real flashy, huh?" Mom nudges me with a grin.

"Mom, shhh!" I hiss, the logo changes to… All Might. Comic booky and in a yellow pinstriped suit.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" he laughs, and Mom falls back in her chair with flames sputtering in her hair.

"Jesus!"

"Pfft!" I start but then All Might continues.

"I am here to give you the results of the Quirk Palsy Special Exam! Out of five hundred applicants, you shone bright against the rest, Young Kaenshita!" Mom wraps her arm around my shoulders.

"Yer goddamn right!" Mom cheers, "My baby boy's the greatest in the world!" All Might continues after that.

"Well then! In the Special Exam you thwarted the dastardly deeds of Ectoplasm, thus securing enough points to pass the physical exam! The written exam, you passed as well! Now before you go running off celebrating, there're a few things we have to go over!"

"Your mother indicated that you and her live quite a ways away from the school, so we here at UA have it covered with a special dormitory at the Heights Alliance buildings! You just come in with your stuff and move right on in when the new semester starts!"

Mom looks at me, "Honey?"

I look down at my hands, "Mom… What am I gonna tell Ibara?"

Mom pauses the projection, "Renaru, you just go over there and tell her you're moving onto UA's campus, it's not hard. She's a very sweet girl, she'll understand."

"It's not that!" I squeak, "It's Kuroda! What if when I'm gone he ends up doing something awful to her? Like the time he cut her vines? What if he does something worse?!"

That's when the door slams open, Mr. Shiozaki ran in with an absolutely terrified look on his face. He takes a heavy breath.

"Renaru, Tekka, have y'seen Ibara?! I cannae find her anywhere! An' I dunno where she is!" he yells, "She mighta run off t'settle somethin'!"

"Settle…?" I breathe, "No…"

"Mr. Shiozaki, follow me! I think I know where she's going! Mom, you stay here!" I yelp, getting to my feet and raging out the door, getting on my three wheeled bike but before I could take off, Mr. Shiozaki suddenly hoists me onto his back.

"Where to, lad?"

"Downtown! She probably took Kuroda up on the date offer!" I yell, he takes off running and I hang on for dear life.

Hang on, Ibara! We're coming!

 

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

Running through the streets on the back of Mr. Shiozaki, it's really weird how focused he is. He leaps onto the rooftops.

"Uhh… Mr. Shiozaki?!" I yell, barely hanging on, "What's the plan?!"

"The plan, my lad, is that you'll get Ibara back home safe. I shall handle this." he lands before a big house on a massive hill, his green eyes flash a bright red and he takes off his glasses.

"You're a good lad, Renaru. May the Lord bless and keep you, there's a break in the fence a skosh that way. Get Ibara and no matter what you run like the devil is after your immortal soul." he smiles down at me, his hand warm and massive on my head, ruffling my hair.

"What about you?" I ask.

He whips off his coat, his cassock collar snaps, and his shirt falls to his waist. His body is torn and burnt with scars, his face has a pretty big and solid rip from jaw to eye. His eyes burn into the front gate.

"I'm going to war."

At that I dash towards the wall, my phone ringing and I fumble it out of my pocket, "Mom?! I'm kinda bus-"

"The hell you are! Get home now!"

"But Ibara-"

"She'll be fine! Just get home!" she yells, "Fucking Bible-thumping jackass taking you! You know what?! Just sit tight! I'll come get'cha!"

Mom hung up.

This is insane! Why am I standing up against Hayao?! In his home territory? With men that are under his orders no matter what?! But I hop, loosening up from earlier. Hayao's tortured me for long enough, no matter what happens.

I'm gonna save Ibara, and I'm gonna be a hero. I smile.

"What? Do you really think you can take us all down?" Hayao asks, "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face."

"No, but I'll give it a shot. You took someone that's very important to me. But MORE THAN THAT!" I charge in, throwing a big right straight into his lackeys' face. Flames blast out of my fist, sending the guy screaming backward.

"You messed with me for years, took my pride!" my flames flow and bend around me, hardening my stance, "Now you got the balls to try to mess with my girlfriend?!" Weaving, dodging, dancing through the throng, my body still shaking but everything becomes clear even with the hits I weather.

He's scared. Terrified. He's moving through the crowd shitting his pants because he thought he could just keep Ibara here? My fists burn and break their way through the crowd, my pain is secondary, my bands strain but I don't care. Quirks hit me hard, sending me spilling down onto the floor. Nothing broken but I rise and spit some blood out of my mouth. My flames build, heat burning inside me just waiting to tear out and tear some shit up.

"Whew! Alright…" I punch my fists together, "Hoo! Hoo! Let's go!" In my head there's Gonna Fly Now, in my fists there's nothing but flames. Bending them, blasting them. The army of men rush me down but I let my fists fly.

I'm not done. I didn't hear the bell. I didn't hear a bell. A hit comes screaming close, then everything goes blurry, bunching up and trying to weather the storm. Everything fades into a hot storm of blows, just trying to fend them off.

My arms and legs go numb, my motions dull out and I go flying into the wall, thrusting my elbows backward and my flames blast through it. Shredding my bands at the elbows. My body shudders, cracks appear underneath the black mesh material. Charge! Feet slamming into them, my hair going insane with the heat, my breath leaking out smoke. Blurs of color overtake my sight an' all I can do is just keep punching and kicking. That's all I can do and all I need to do.

She needs me. I can't just leave her here with this bastard! I can't give up! Push a little harder! Push a little harder! Do it! The men around me crash like a tide, swallowing me down in a wave of quirks, but as much as my body cracks and shows more and more flames, my mind is focused on one thing. Ibara. My best friend. The first friend I ever had. The day I asked her to be my falls on my face, upside down against the chain link fence. Everything on its bases, the rain hisses against my hair.

"Well shit." I mumble, "That didn't go well."

The rain stops falling on me and the papping of canvas takes over. Sitting over me is Ibara, smiling down, and untangling me from the fence. Sitting there under the umbrella, she sits me up and checks me over. Always taking care of me. Her hands soft and her eyes gazing at every bruise and cut like it was a personal offense. Silence takes over everything before she breaks it with her soft voice becoming much more worried, her ragged vines reaching for me almost like she wants to hold me.

"If you could just stop charging in, I'd be much less stressed." she sighs, sitting with me as the rain falls around us.

"Ibara…"

"I know what you did was for me, but I worry! I worry about you and how you are and what you do and I-" she's sputtering, her eyes wide and almost filled with tears. My heart clenches hard and all I want to do is hug her.

"Ibara! Listen…" I start, "Listen, I… I…"

"Don't worry about me. Just focus on what's in front of you."

Vines lash me out of the way from a quirk and suddenly Ibara is standing there, glaring at Hayao's back, her eyes wide and anger clear on her face. Everything settles into an almost pleasant calm, the men all bound and leaving me alone to face him.

"Kaenshita…" he growls, "You have no chance."

"Oh yeah? Don't threaten me with a good time." I dash in, his quirk trying to stop me but the thing is… I don't. A jab to the chin hits home, his body goes stiff and falls backward, before his leg lashes out and hits my guard.

"Khkk!" I wheeze, "Wow, that wasn't that bad!"

"How?! How did you break my-"

I smile, "Well, it's a little something called willpower." my arm stiffens, burning lancing through my muscles, cracks appearing in my arm. I don't waver for a second, Ibara still holding back the men with her vines, using more to tie them down. My legs heat up, blasting me forward and hitting him hard in the stomach with a condensed spear of flame shooting through his stomach, burning through the room and burning through Ibara's vines, leaving them short but he crumples.

"Haaah…" I breathe out, then the bands on me snap and break, my body almost dropping completely, until one of the last vines carries me to Ibara's loving arms.

"I love you." I said.

"Finally." she said.

And we kissed. Just like now. Then a blinding pain hits me, burning and searing, eating through my body.

"Aaagh!" I scream, the pain growing to be too much as Hayao's body fades away and he stands there completely undamaged. Ibara holds me close, her grip strong.

"I have you, it's going to be okay. Just…"

Heat builds quickly outside, "Renaru! Renaru, baby!" Mom screams in, before Ibara cuts in.

"Mrs. Kaenshita, please! It's… it's Renaru!" The sound and the fury fades out, my body burning and my sight fades out.

---

Years ago, I failed. My life changed forever the instant I came here. To this hallowed nation and to this place. Cracking, popping, my branches spread as I grip the steel gate, I clear my throat.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…" My muscles swell and strengthen, a rush of adrenaline heralds the coming of more power, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!"

The gate breaks off the tracks and I dash in, my fist flying and decking the security out front. What fools. What utter trash. Moving fast, my branches snarling around them and lifting them high.

I have no time, I have to end this now! Deep within me something stirs, my muscles bunch and loosen, contracting and expanding. Branches reaching for the sky, twisting and moving with the anger pumping my heart. A thunder guided me on, the town my wife loved sickened by this family that I was too blind to see, making things darker until I was driven to the ground and forced t'give my daughter's hand in marriage to this scumbag's child.

There's something in my mind…

"Krieg."

"Kreig."

"Krieg!"

"KRIEG!"

My branches heed my call, sharpening and ripping the men to shreds. I had been through worse. Battlefronts, villain attacks, I grab a sword from the wall and run a poor bastard through. The rest all back up.

"It's him!"

"Hatchetation!"

"Wait, like Carry Nation?!"

"He's WORSE!"

I smile and pull the sword out of the man, "In the name of God, our father in heaven. I, Colm Ryker-Shiozaki, will cleanse you of all sin and grant you safe passage outta here if ye surrender now."

I shoulder my blade, "If you do not wish to surrender, ye can die here."

They all back up, but one of them dares to rush from behind. In one stroke he's gone. Another crushed by my hand. My body responded to them, creating the monster all over again. Break their spirits, dash their hopes with my blade of iron. A storm of death and rage, a storm of terror and peril. All of it crashes upon them. When I'm done, there's nothing but memories coursing through my mind. My wife's hand on my cheek, Ibara's tiny little giggles as a little'un, and the loss.

"Ah, if it isn't Colm!" a rough voice exclaims behind me, two sets of footsteps echo on the marble, before a window busts in and the other man goes to deal with the issue. All I do is clean the blood off my blade. The man standing before me is Daisaku Kuroda, old and with silvering gold hair and similar golden eyes. He's not the man who ruined everything in my life, but he DID raise a boy who'd cause my daughter to suffer.

"Kuroda…" I snarl.

He raises his hands, "Now I get there was a misunderstanding here. Your daughter came here to settle a disagreement between my son and Kaenshita's crippled little whelp. But-" all I want to do is crush him.

And I do. Grabbing him and slamming him clear through the floor, "May you never darken these streets again!" I snarl, "And if I ever see your face here again, I will tear you to shreds and DASH YOUR BLOODLINE UPON THE STONES!"

"Mmrgh! Mrrmg." he struggles against my hold but I hoist him up with some more branches.

"Or, better yet…" My branches take him as I walk away. Going towards the sounds of flames and punctuated hits like curse words. Blood just drips on the stones. He'll live, just not here. Not in this gaudy edifice to sin. Not in my town. At least I thought so. I must've gotten carried away.

---

The window shatters and I rush on in, my fists sending flames throughout the room and burning through the men stationed there. All I want is my son back. That's all I want and nothing else. Shiozaki dragged him into this probably because he trusts Renaru to bring Ibara back safe and sound.

"Well aren't you a specimen?" Kuroda's brother, Goro, whistles as his sleazy voice sends shivers down my spine. But that ain't the problem. His eyes rove my body and that just won't fly! My fist finds its mark but he blocks it with his hand.

Sparks and smoke swirl from my fist and normally my quirk'd turn this bastard into nothing but a shitty pile of ashes but his quirk shoots out and binds my body. Chains of Light kinda works like that American Comic Hero, who was it? Wonder Woman, yeah!

"Now now, Ms. Kaenshita, we won't have that." my mind calms down.

'Wait… no! My body! I can't-' I grit my teeth as I sit down, 'No! Get back up, Tekka! While you still can! Find Renaru, find your son!'

"At least you're a sensible little thing, aren't you? Fierce and determined, not as much of a pushover compared to the Shiozaki woman."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean? I'm here for my son! And I'm married, Dickless!" I snarl and the guy touches my chin, lifting my face.

"And you'll get your son back, gorgeous." he says, one more word outta his slimy mouth an' I'm pummeling him! I jerk my face away, spitting on him.

"Fuck you." getting to my feet, even though the quirk he's got is telling me not to. My hair billows like fire, "Sweet talkin' misogynist… I'm gonna enjoy beatin' the shit outta you." reaching into my coat I bring it out.

A white bound sheath with a hilt sticking out of the top, my old sword newly sharpened. I didn't know when it'd come in handy, but considerin' Shiozaki's the hero in the situation… lethal force can be applied. But I know better. Renaru needs me. He's outnumbered, and I don't think Ibara's in a position to help either considering what kind of damage this guy's brother's brat can do. I grab the hilt and fire rips through my arm.

"Haaa…" I breathe in, unsheathing it as the Golden Chains shatter, "Feels so good to be back!" I grab my sword in both hands, the weight familiar like an old friend. The sword that was forged in my own fire.

The sword I used to think would be a good fit for my son. But I close the distance, slashing through the broken wall bits from the fight with the senior Kuroda and Colm tossed at me by Goro. I used to be an Eighth Dan in Kendo. It all comes back to me, just thinking about those days brings tears to my eyes. Thinking of my Dad, thinking of my brother… actually, screw it and screw HIM! The only days when I'll cry are when my baby boy gets married or when I see my dad off of this wild ride called life! My arms burn as my tattoo lights up, burning off my right sleeve and hand, cracking like magma veins.

"Pele's Blessing, first form! Pele's Hair!" my sword flashes with my quirk, cutting the guy's clothes to fine strands. He stumbles on his feet, butt naked.

"Uh…" he starts, "Wow."

"Ugh." I whirl and nail him with a heavy left hook. I belt my sword back onto my waist, it's not half bad. But it could've been better.

"Aaagh!" my son screams.

"Renaru! Mommy's coming!" I squeak, breaking into a sprint, 'Did I seriously call myself Mommy?! Fucking lame!' I run to the room, hearing a whimpering crying.

"Renaru! Renaru, baby!" I yell getting to the room and see my boy on the floor, shaking all over, cracks appearing in his body with the Kuroda's little brat holding the shreds of his bands. Not only that but Ibara's holding him.

"Mrs. Kaenshita, please! It's… it's Renaru!"

"I know!" I snap, closing in fast.

I stomp on the brat's head, kicking him away from my baby boy, looking down at him. He's thrashing, sweating, fire and smoke wheezing out of his mouth as the cracks spread, Ibara gathers him near her chest, almost as if her body would stop what's happening. The little brat snaps his fingers and the men gather around me.

"You fucker… you waste of GODDAMN SPERM." my voice thunders, rumbling like the earth, "What the hell did you do to my boy?!" I grab my sword hilt, but then I calm down. I swore never to raise my sword when my baby boy was born. I buried this deep, far away in a storage unit back in Mustafu. I only brought it because Illumicho was absolutely crawling with bastards like these.

"I just showed him how broken he is!" Kuroda laughs. I toss my sword away.

I crack my knuckles, "Okay kiddo. Time for Auntie Tekka to show you exactly what discipline is." My quirk burns bright, the men charge right on in and my fists burn through the room, the elaborate house bursts into flames from my body heat.

This piece of shit brat and his piece of shit family needs a real education on how this world works. He already looks burnt to hell from Renaru's hits but I make it all worse, my fists crush his bones, my flames scathe his good looks down to nothing. He'll never push my baby around again. This is all just too easy, and I pick my baby boy up, vines wrapped around his arms and legs as best as they could be, trying to stabilize him. This isn't good and the house is pretty much fucked.

Sirens blare and Shiozaki comes storming up half naked from the waist up and holding a two handed sword with one hand. It's not smart but he just wraps his arm around his daughter. We both go out the front, the news and authorities swarming the area because it's not normal here that a house all the sudden becomes a forest on one side and a firezone on the other.

"I'll handle this, you take Ibara and Renaru back to your place, Tekka." he says.

"Like hell I will! Renaru needs a hospital!" snapping at him makes him flinch and look at me like he got slapped, but damn right. He dragged my baby into this and there's no way I'm leaving my son in a QP Reset.

So I head out to my car, speeding off towards the nearest hospital, Massa General. I had to. Ibara's in the back with Renaru. More cracks appear on his arm and he groans. Quirk Palsy's got a lot of different effects.

This is his.

---

Enji Todoroki was not a patient man. But the minute the report from the Kuroda Family mansion raid came in, he stopped everything, eyes wide as dinner plates, shock going through his system a mile a minute.

"This… no… she…" he breathes, glaring at the smug smile of his little sister, Tekka, staring back at him. It was a mugshot but the report…

She cut the bastard's clothes off, definitely sounds like her. But that wasn't the only thing he was concerned about. Further on down the line the young heir Hayao Kuroda was beaten within an inch of his life.

The rest of the men there were beaten to a bloody pulp of burnt, shambling husks. Still alive, but barely. He didn't find it prudent to arrest her, but the real disquieting scene was with the head of the family. Daisaku Kuroda was crucified. His heart dropped like a stone, his throat goes dry. Hatchetation, Germany's top hero, always captured major villains that way. Executions were usually done with a hatchet.

But there he was, on the television, a kind face belying a monster. Charming, soft spoken, and a man of God doing his duty. He turned up the volume.

"Ah no, the fire was caused by a faulty wiring system, no quirk involved." he denies, the green eyes still glowing a slight bit red, "Other n' that, they took my daughter, and I couldn't let that go."

The reporter awws, and a text comes in on Endeavor's phone, reading: Found her at Massa General Hospital.

Endeavor extinguishes his flames and takes off his hero costume, putting on his suit and pausing at a family photo. His mother glaring at the camera, his father glaring at it too, but Tekka and him hugging each other both covered in flour with the entire kitchen covered in it. He chuffs, putting on a tie, "What have you done now, Tekka?" he sighs. Endeavor entered the office, and Enji left, going towards the parking garage.

Time to be a good uncle, Enji Todoroki.

---

The pressure of waiting isn't lost on me. But the thing is, how in the hell am I going to pay for this? It wasn't my fault, my baby boy got dragged into this and I don't know what to do and he's almost completely passed the fuck out. Then the cracks. God, the CRACKS. He's got them now. Ibara sits next to me, her hands clasped together, praying as quietly as she can. She's always been by his side. Always keeping an eye on him.

I finished the video projection. Playing back the part where he has to live in Mustafu. Far away from home. Far away from me. It'd take me six hours to drive there and back, not as long on the train but… I needed to avoid it at all costs. Just… I'm not ready. Renaru lies in the bed, his eyes closed, the cracks on his skin are covered up by temporary sleeves. Ibara still sticks by our side though. She's a good girl. A good friend for Renaru. More than I could ever ask for.

"Hey, Ibara?" I ask.

"Hm? Oh, Mrs. Kaenshita! Sorry, I was praying." her cheeks redden and I know that look. She's got feelings for my boy. I don't get angry or upset. She's perfect.

"I heard." I smile, "You know Renaru loves you to bits, right?"

She nods, "Of course, he and my father came to help me!" she exclaims, "He put himself on the line just to save me from Hayao, and I'll never forget that." the soft beeping takes over the room, his chest rises and falls.

Okay, since he's not awake, guess I'll do it myself. Ibara nods though.

"I know what you're going to say, I've been looking into UA myself since he's been through the Special QP Exams, you have nothing to worry about." she grabs my hand, "I'll keep an eye on him, I swear I will."

Smiling, I slip an arm around her shoulders, "There's a good girl. I'm going out for a little bit, tell me if he wakes up."

I leave my phone with her and dig around my bag for the old vice I couldn't kick. Looking back at Ibara and my sleeping son. I put the cigarettes back. No time and no need. I wait outside in the hallway right by the door. Just to watch. I almost sense him before clapping eyes on him. What's that Bible story? Cain and Abel? Yeah, except I'm Abel. Walking up in a fancy Armani suit is my brother, probably coming out of that fire red armored Lambo and here to mock me for just being a good hero.

He stops right next to me, his red hair spiky and his turquoise eyes pinning me down with a similar glare to our mom. I glare right back and he doesn't break. He used to shatter like glass under the glare but here we are just daring each other to make a move.

"Tekka, what do you know about Hatchetation?" he asks, his voice like the growl of a volcano ready to blow.

"What? No 'hello?' No 'how are you?' No… no 'Hey I'm sorry about your kid?!' Really nice, Enji." my body itches for the slow calm of a cigarette, but I'm kicking the habit because Renaru needs me, "Also who the fuck cares? Shiozaki's a fossil."

"That's not why I'm concerned. He's dangerous." he continues, "Look, I'll pay for your bills and your son's new set of bands if you just tell me what you know." he looks desperate and I think back to the day Renaru was born, the same day my husband was arrested.

"Oh yeah? Anything else?" I raise an eyebrow, "Maybe an apology?"

"Fine. I'm sorry for arresting your husband," he huffs, "Now tell me."

I smile, "Well, he's pretty much a monster. Big, tall, has branches, and ah…" a shadow falls over him.

"It's very rude to talk about someone who is listening, Frau Todoroki." he says, smiling down at us with a pleasant air about him, body crackling like wood. Enji and I both nod and he leans back, standing at his full height.

"If ye must know, Endeavor, I mean no harm to this country or these people. I have no war to fight, nor a battle to win. I'm just a father raising his daughter in the way I have learned." he still smiles, but it doesn't meet his eyes.

It's like his eyes are burning into his soul, just tearing through him like a hot knife through butter. His smile wasn't fake at all but the eyes make the difference. It's telling us not to press it further. But…

Ibara comes out, "Mrs. Kaenshita! He's awake!" her voice snaps me out of the fear as I shove Colm out of my way and towards his room. Coming in, I see him looking down at his arms, his legs too. His right fingers have obsidian caked on the stems of his fingers and his right toes too.

His red-orange eyes meet mine, "Mom, did I win?" I hug him tightly and he laughs, "I guess I did!"

"Don't go running off with Mr. Shiozaki again, you hear me? You terrified the shit outta me! Just… how'd you…?"

"I just put all I had into my fist, the cracks appeared and everything fell into place." he looks up at me with a sheepish little smile, "I'm sorry I worried you, Mom. I just had to help, I couldn't let Ibara marry that jackoff!"

I loop my arm around his shoulders and squeeze him a little, "You're a good kid, Renaru." I sigh, one of the best in the world I bet.

"Really?!" he gasps, "Yay! I'm so happy you think that, Mom!" he hugs me again and I move him to the bed, Enji comes in right around that time though and watches from the doorway. Renaru glares at him.

"Enji, what are you doing?" I ask.

"I figured I could talk to my nephew." he says with a smile, it looks genuine enough but I'm not really sure I should leave him alone with my son. But then Ibara comes back in, still so concerned, still worried and she sits down by the side of the bed.

She's always there for my boy. Always there to make sure he's okay. But she should live for herself at least. Enji moves further in and Renaru still glares at him. Colm pops his head in.

"Tekka, let's leave our children alone fer now." he says, "We've done enough t'interfere."

Enji watches as I leave and I glare into his eyes, "You do one thing wrong and I'll ruin you, you got it?" I snarl.

"Right," Enji says, "I won't."

---

The hospital is familiar to me. Surgieries and appointments, everything really messed up and all kinds of weird. My mind's all fuzzy and all I have to ground me is my Mom and Ibara. Mostly Ibara. The guy standing there with his arms awkwardly at his sides, blue eyes searching for something to talk about with me is APPARENTLY my Uncle, Enji. He clears his throat and I give him the best smile I can.

"So, I'm your uncle," he says.

"Yeah, I know." my voice is flat, "And you're a jerk. I don't like jerks."

He looks at me in shock before smiling, "Ah, I see. Your mother told you everything, yes?"

"You're the reason why I don't have my dad around, anything you say is trash. You're a 'hero' but all you do is horrible things to people you're supposed to love." I rise a little, "I'll accept your help 'cause you didn't arrest my mom."

His flames light up and Ibara stands up, "Boy…" he snarls. He pretty much has a mane of fire and Ibara's really acting weird.

"I'm just saying. You should quit while you're ahead, I'm still healing. Also, Ibara here's a lot stronger than she looks." I wink at her and she glances back at me, she's bluffing but I continue on.

"I'll be the next big hero, there's no way I'll ever be a hero in a world made by men like you." I snarl, "I'll change the world!" He looks at me with a slight smirk.

"At least you have a strong spirit to make up for your faulty body." he nods and turns his back to me, "I hope you can keep marching on."

"Bet on it, old man." my shakes are worse off than before, but that's 'cause I don't have my new bands. Ibara's vines, if they were long enough, could replace them temporarily. But she's still here, still nearby.

"Ibara, you're okay!" I exclaim, she walks over and grabs my hand, quaking and shuddering even as I wrap it around hers. She lifts it to her lips and kisses my bandaged knuckles, tears welling in her eyes.

"I wish I could've done more for you, my love." she sniffles, "Just… I'm sorry."

"Hey, no need to apologize, you're way stronger than you think you are." I smile and she shakes her head.

"Then why couldn't I help?" she asks, "Why must you run in on your own?"

"Because your dad would kill me if he knew what you could do," I sigh, "Ibara, I know you have some kinda… strength enhancement thing. It's something I can tell." she sputters and her cheeks go beet red.

"S-strength enhancement?! What do you mean? I've never lifted-"

"You lifted me. I'm a hundred something pounds soaking wet, easy!" I smile, "Maybe my lovely girlfriend is super strong!"

Ibara starts forward, "Maybe… Maybe…" she sputters, "Maybe you're just imagining it!" she's got red cheeks and I grab her hands.

"If I am, I don't care. I would love you regardless. Because you're precious to me. You've been there since the beginning, my best friend." I lean forward and she kisses me, her lips soft and her grip around me stronger than the hits I took for her. Stronger than anything ever.

She pulls back, "I don't ever want to leave you." she says, "Whatever it is, we'll face it together."

Thinking back to the fact I gotta move closer to Mustafu, out of Kanagawa, out of her arms? I don't like it. But… she sits on the bed, expecting me to just tell her 'yeah, we'll get through it' or, 'Yeah we'll just face it together!' I don't want to go. I don't want to leave my Mom or her. I don't want to leave everything I knew behind. It's scary, fear grabs my shoulders and shakes me. And my shoulders jolt. Breaking into tears, they burn down my cheeks, my eyes close and she pulls me back into her arms.

"Renaru, what's the matter?" she asks.

"I… I got accepted into UA, and… and I have to leave. I have to go closer to the school and…" I warble, squeezing her, "I don't want to lose you!"

"Oh." she states, "Well, you won't." she kisses me on the forehead, rocking me a little. Her heartbeat steady, her voice rising in a soft, lullaby-like hymnal.

"How?" I whisper, the fear still holding me tight, the idea that I could ever be on my own scaring me to death. But she runs her hand through my hair, softly burning with nothing more than a small, tiny little flame.

How long?

How long will I have to take to get back to fighting shape? Ibara still stays with me even though she's not supposed to.

"Because, darling. The normal practical exams are still coming, I'm sure I'll get a spot." she says, moving off towards the couch, "Now rest, I'm certain that when you recover you'll be training in no time."

I smile and look over at her, "I love you, Ibby."

"I love you too, Renaru." she lays down, the lights turn off and I close my eyes, finally asleep without any pain, probably because of all the painkillers. But at least she's safe. I have a new road to walk tomorrow.

 

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

Sitting in the car, I stare out the window with the buildings whipping by. Mom's idea of getting me back in fighting form was to get me in on the annual Japan Boxing League's Junior Tournament. Quirks are completely legal as long as we don't use them lethally.

She smiles and nudges me gently, "Come on, Renaru. You're going to do fine."

"Really? I'm going up against the best in the country! I don't think I'm going to do that great when there's guys literally bigger than me."

"You'd be surprised." she says with that same knowing, sly smile. She never doubts. She never questions if she can do this or not. It doesn't matter, none of it does to her. She wants me to win and to get the money we need for new bands, for my dorm, for everything so I can happily go off to UA comfortably.

Another sacrifice.

Ibara wouldn't like this. She would've probably gotten angry if she found out my mother sprung me out of my hospital bed with this madcap idea that I could get beaten up again. It's like I never ended up learning my lesson. The stadium is gigantic, rows and rows of seating. Crowd electric, Mom signing me in with an eager little glimmer in her eyes. The officials were all too happy to guide us to the locker room. She's royalty to them, after all.

I sit on the bench, hands clasped together as Mom rubs my shoulders. She grins down at me. This is one step on my road to being a hero. A baptism by fire through a junior tournament. She pretty much railroaded me through it all.

"You got this, baby. It's gonna be alright. You just get in there and have a good time. I'll be cheering for you."

"I hope so." I sigh, popping in my mouth guard and making sure everything was ready to go despite my makeshift bands from scraps my mom cobbled together. I clench my fist hard and step out of the locker room next to my mom. She pats my shoulder.

"Good luck, Renaru."

---

In the entrance tunnel, I wait. I need to win this entire tournament because I can't take another minute in crappy makeshift bands from a Junkyard. Everything fades out, even the entrance announcement, I come out at the right time and right as the fight starts… My opponent's punch rollicks my body, the burning arena lights pierce into it too. My sweat steams and the roars of the crowd drown out my ears. Shambling and shaking, but I stand tall. Resolute. My future rides on this match!

The pain is secondary, my life is secondary, the announcer winces and I stumble back, but the gathering of heat begins and I wanna cave my opponent's face in! I breathe in deep, my arms and legs lighting up orange along with my hair, heat building and stance near rigid. My opponent, Tetsutetsu, steels his arms and grins. To him there's nothing to this match at all. His sharp shark-like teeth and longish silver hair cut him as a dangerous figure. A notorious in-boxer with an ironclad (literally!) defense! A spirited soul with an undefeatable defensive quirk that I'm sure would be illegal before Quirks were a thing.

Only one thought crosses my mind as I shake off the blow. Fighting as hard as I could to get here, my jabs blitzing through his guard. Heat building through my body. Ragged bands stitched together with tape and staples (We can't afford new ones.), old flame print trunks, worn down gloves.

"Orrraaaaa!" he screams, a wide strike screaming right for me! Heat bursts through my right band, barely taking the flames. That one thought burns, blazes, imprinted on my right arm, always my right.

My mom and I need the money. The bell rings and I slough back to my corner, plopping down and Mom getting in the ring beside me, her long fiery hair sending calm heat as her warmly tanned skin glistens in the light of the ring. There's a scar on her forehead, thick and light against her flesh. Her red-orange eyes filled with doubt, fear, concern. All three are all too familiar to me. She's all marked up with flames and even more scarring. There's an almost worried flow to her flames.

"Renaru, you okay?" her eyes look back at Tetsutetsu, "Ah hell who am I kidding, you're being tenderized!" her hand is rough and warm, her forehead touches mine.

"Baby…" she sighs, "You can back out, ya know?"

"This far in? You gotta be kidding! Lemme- Ow!" a sharp pain goes through my body and she shakes her head at me. The din of the cheering crowd rises.

"TET-SU! TET-SU! TET-SU!" they roar, the voices crashing into me, my heart dropping like a stone, eyes stinging with tears and my bruised purple body aching like nothing to it. I lean back from my mom and she grabs my shoulders.

"Let him knock you out, Renaru…" she squeezes them, "Please, I can't watch you get pulverized anymore…"

"What about the money, Mom?" I see her hesitate, her eyes widen but she closes them and kisses me on the forehead.

"Fuck the money, Renaru. You're my boy, my SON for crying out loud! No son should do what you're doing right now! You've just recovered and you're-"

I lift a shaking hand, batting her away as the bell rings, "Sit tight, Ma. I'll bring this on home." Striding up to the middle of the arena again, with Tetsu grinning and getting into his stance, the referee between us.

"Ready?"

His voice fades and in seconds a hard, unforgiving fist smashes right into my face, the heat spewing from my nose, my vision going straight into static as I stumble down to the mat, blood and spit mixing together. It only took two punches to take me out. All I see as I pass out is my Mom, looking away from me. Looking away from her pathetic, bullheaded son. Am I really that bad? Am… Am I really that horrible?

I'm sorry, Mom.

No. Not yet. Not yet. Did Ippo give up? Did Rocky?

"One… two…"

No.

"Three… four…"

Mom looks away, still looks away. Wincing hard at the new hospital bills. At the new healing it's all going to take.

"Tet-su! Tet-su! Tet-su!"

Heavy, so heavy… but my hand grips the rope, glove busted black by my flames. Pushing myself to stand. The crowd noticed, the announcer's garbled tones fuzzing through my mind. No. I'm not like Rocky or Ippo.

I'm me.

I'm me.

"Kaenshita… he's… he's STANDING!"

"He's down a glove, beaten to hell, but STANDING!"

"Bud… dy… you're a… hard man… shoutin' in the street…" I clench my hands harder, "Gonna take on… the world someday!"

"AWRIGHT! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Tetsutetsu screams, "HELL YEAH!" he drops right into his stance but Mom's voice calls.

"Stop it! Don't do it, Renaru! Stop fighting!" she's probably grabbing the ropes and burning through them, "Right now, young man!"

"Shut up! You were the one that got me here! Lemme finish it out!" my hand shoos her back, getting back into my stance, my eye burning right into Tetsu's pair.

He grins and he widens it out. I tighten and take in a heavy breath, the blood and spit burning away and he closes in, my bands burn and snap, my hits come crashing in close and tight. Chasing him down and weathering the hits that come from his iron flames I muster up flash into his steel, melting it down and sparking.

Throughout the match I noticed the one drawback to Tetsu's defense…

He slows down! Flames dance from my body, my fists guiding them and the flames boosting them at the same time. Drawing my gloved fist back, my left guiding and my right taking a back seat. I put all I got in this one punch!

Then comes a swaying storm, hitting the skin of Tetsutetsu, "HAH! HAH!" Something crunches as I break part of the metal, "HAH! HAH!" I think of Ibara, I think of Mr. Shiozaki, I think of those weeks ago in the hospital after the Kurodas fell.

I need to keep pushing, keep fighting. No matter what I do. Punch after punch, dodge after dodge, I need to become so much stronger, get better bands, fight to the end of the day because becoming a hero isn't what I'm joining UA for…

I'm joining it 'cause…

Endeavor. That asshole. My body heats up, cracks glowing like a vein of magma. I need to win! Go, Renaru! Come on, Renaru! Push! Just a little more! One more shot! One more punch! Scream with all you have!

My fist meets his face, flames cracking the steel and shattering it into warped iron, my flames burst the lights into sparking and flickering hellfire. He stumbles backward, slamming to the canvas.

My ears ring, everything blurs and I raise my fist, "Graaaaaaaahhhhh!" screaming and grinning as the crowd roars with me. I stand tall and keep screaming, Mom grabbing me and squeezing me in her arms.

"You did it! You crazy, stupid boy of mine!" she yells, "Haha! Hell yeah!" she rocks me a little and my bands fully give out, my cracks glowing a little. It doesn't hurt as bad as before… she supports me on my way out.

"Alright, so that was round one…" she smiles, "Come on, the second round shouldn't be too tough."

"Mom, my bands are barely hanging on. Everything is just… haaah…" I breathe hard and pop my jaw. My gloves are dead, my trunks singed and I wrap myself in my flame-print robe. Mom reaching for the spare pair of gloves and gently lacing them on.

"It's okay, baby. You're almost done." she smiles and kisses me on the forehead, "You just keep on burning. You keep on marching. I love you."

"Thanks," there's a moment where doubt enters my mind. Like an old friend it wraps itself around my shoulders. The locker room buzzing with activity and excitement. I don't feel it at all. There's this… fear.

Fear that I can't win this. Fear of the unknown. Fear that I can't live up to the demands of the future I want. Ibara's always protected me, Mom even longer than that. Once I'm out there, that's it.

No taking it back.

The other kid in the locker room, Tetsutetsu, nurses his bruise over his nose and his mom presses an ice pack to it. He looks at me with a happy grin.

"Good luck, Kaenshita!" he exclaims.

"Call me Renaru." I bow to him, "Thank you for the fight."

"Right, right, I'm Tetsutetsu. And anytime! I'm headed to UA too!"

Taken aback, I step back a little, "How did you-"

"There's overlap between athletes and UA, even though it's a hero school. Sometimes students go there for the sports program too." he explains, "Cool, huh?"

Nodding, there's someone else I haven't noticed, surrounded by doctors and technicians, two older people next to him as he sweeps his hand through his long dark brown hair with menacing gold eyes pinning me down to my spot.

He's wearing a dark set of trunks, his gloves are over his shoulder. Broad shoulders and powerful arms with almost a solid wall of a build towers over the rest of us only outclassed by a few inches by my mom. She looks up at him and there's a bit of doubt in her expression. He grins, vicious and proud. Like a predator about to hunt me down. But I step towards him, a few embers shining off my hair as a challenge.

His eyes narrow, "You're my next opponent, yeah?" he brightens and holds out his hand. I stare down at it. He's doing it to try to test my strength. I don't take the bait, I bow, hair still shining just a bit as I say.

"I'm Renaru Kaenshita. May the best man win."

I mean every word as I walk out of my side. The walkup music fades into nothing, the announcer, the crowd, all of it. I want to win. I want to prove to Mom that I can do this without a hitch. I can't and won't be stopped just because this guy's in my way. The bell rings me into my fight and I surge forward, he does too and we throw punches. Jabs and crosses rain in and my flames give them a little boost but each of his are almost like wrecking balls.

Jabs and hooks weave and whiff past my body. Going for body shots rather than jaw or cheek hits, breath puffing out in a soft smoking haze. Pressing the attack and dodging at the right moments before his shoulders roll. Three jabs at once thunder into me, lighting me up like a Christmas tree of pain. The fury and flames stoke in me, bursting out at the gutshot screaming right for me, my flames covering my dodge. He closes the distance in seconds, heavy fist clobbering me hard in the face. Sweat and blood rain off my body and everything fuzzes feeling the mat below on my knee. The referee cuts in, starting the count.

"One… Two…"

My head hurts, my gaze blurs into almost shapes and colors. Every bit of me is screaming to stop, to slow up, to take the loss. But something holds me back from it. Something in me won't let me give up. My knee leaves the canvas, the referee waits for me to get to my feet but the round's over right as I start again. Mom is waiting for me as his team keeps their confidence. He's grinning at me and Mom presses a cold pack to the shiner I have.

"Honey, that quirk…"

"He just punches hard and fast, and his legs have that rolling joint thing too. That's how he could close in." I spit some blood into a bucket, swishing it with water to get it out more. She smiles and nods.

"Yeah, that's the way. What's the call, kiddo?"

"Peekaboo."

She blinks in sheer shock, realizing that I probably would get mulched if I tried that. Then there's a soft chuff before she grins with a happy laugh.

"You got it, Renaru!" she can't help but believe in me. She's always done it and why stop now when I'm on a roll? The bell rings again and Kagazo comes out of his corner almost stalking me down.

Bunching up, there's a smile on my face. I know it's game time. It's going to be one fight to end it all. That's when he shoots forward, trying to catch me off guard but I know one thing. This kid is strong, Kagazo Rappa. His arms go a mile a minute with punches coming from almost every angle. My peekaboo stance only holds out so well, he's going for jabs and body blows, curving the punches. My body… It's on fire. Pain from every inch. Every muscle, throbbing and trying not to quit on me. Mom's trying her best to help.

"Dodge, son! Try to get-"

There's nothing but crackling going through my ears, I can't hear her anymore. I can't really see through the storm of crushing blows. It hurts. It hurts. Mom had to save me from Kuroda, Mom had to fight just like this every night, Mom…

The blows stop, fire bursts from my body, and my fist meets rock-hard flesh. My blast-propelled fist lances right through the storm, and my one thought as Kagazo stumbles back with his offense becoming a failed move is this.

I won't let you save me again. The burnt scraps of my band billow away as he goes flying back, skidding on his feet as he stomps rapidly on the mat, shooting forward as I dodge his heavy overhead hook.

A burning, sharp crackling throbs through my arm, rounding the bend and meeting cheek to fist. The backdraft of the strike is intense and flames blast out of my fist. The lights sway on their supports as Kagazo stumbles, kneeling. The ten count. Obsidian flecks away from my harsh scarred skin, leaving pristine skin where it used to be. It's healing. The damage is still there but the skin is restoring.

"One… Two…"

My right arm trembles, new gouges appear, burning orange and cauterizing. There's a heat around me, billowing waves through the air, shining like a promise. My right glove holds fast, but the surface is starting to show its wear.

"Three… Four…"

He rises, making me dance along with the torrent of blows, raining down on me and pounding into the air, bursting it with fast blows snapping the electricity into sparking nothing. The bell rings and we go back to our corners, Mom looking at me in shock.

"Since when was this a thing?!" she grins and pats my hot shoulders. I smile back and look at Kagazo's almost Cheshire grin. My heart beats in my ears almost like a building song. A moment where I can win.

I can be more. I can do more. I could be the hero I've always wanted to be. Mom cleans up the damage as best as she can, the bell dings again. Round 4. I smack my gloves together, pumping myself up.

"RAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" I roar, getting into no stance at all. I almost want him to hit me now. At this point all pageantry is out the window. His wide yellow eyes tell me all I need to know as I blast away from his range, his gatling footwork only working to close short distances.

He has more reach, but I have more power. Metal can melt, thousands of blows can break something over time, but one good shot can break anything, knock out anyone, break everything. He bursts in, trying to hit my face, but a burst of flames covers my dodge, his glove hitting nothing but air as I send my left fist into a wicked uppercut. Right for his jaw, right for the KO. It closes in slow motion.

'Inner Inferno…'

The flames ignite, my hair billows like its name, the heat and steam soar through the air.

'First Form…'

"RISING DRAGON!" my fist meets his chin, flames and force bursting through my arm and the crowd ROARING. Kagazo goes flying, flames lashing at the lights and sparks raining down from a few that got broken.

His unconscious body slams into the canvas, covered in sweat and pulverized as I sway and smile, the referee running in with his arms clearing the fight. He sweeps my right arm up and the crowd thunders and cheers, I won.

I did it. The thousands of blows, the bullying, the idea that I couldn't be. The idea that I wasn't meant to be shattering like glass. My mom doesn't need to save me anymore, doesn't need to hold my hand and carry me and- She holds me, squeezing me in her arms with happy tears falling from her eyes, smattering my bruised and battered face with kisses and carrying me out with the belt over her shoulder. She holds me close, gently.

My mother and I get to our car and get in, the adrenaline high all done. As I fade into sleep, she pulls into the traffic to get home. I could still be a hero. I could still be something. But tonight? I just wanted to sleep.

---

When I wake up, the smell of cooking fills the air. It's not mom that's cooking though. Mom had to leave early for something, but standing in the kitchen with her back to me, hair up in a bun and cooking eggs is Ibara.

She shifts her gaze to me, "Good morning." she doesn't end it with a 'my love' or 'dear'.

I knew she'd be mad. Her anger is always quiet, understated, but it's got her trembling a bit. She turns and her hands clasp together.

"Renaru, what is that?" she emphasizes as a vine brushes against my tender bruising from the fight. It aches and there's a flinch. She sighs and doesn't let me speak. There's nothing I could say or do to stop her really.

"Why do you do this?" her voice is soft, heavy, and I almost want to answer, "You always want to rush into a fight you're barely prepared for! You just got out of the hospital!" she pulls me into her arms and squeezes delicately.

She doesn't want this to hurt, so I let her hold me. She just stands there, holding me close. Letting her actions speak for her and all she wants to do is support me. It's not like she has any dreams of her own.

Why not? What's so special about me that she'll drop everything to help me? Burying my face into her hug I ask her the question.

"What do you want, Ibara?"

"To be with you, Renaru. Whatever that is, wherever we end up. You're my best friend and the man I chose to be with come hell or high water. It doesn't matter to me as long as we're together."

"Are you sure or are you just trying to get away from your dad?" I move back and see her face furrow into a confused expression before she gently smacks my shoulders with a soft huff of fondness and a 'I can't believe you' kind of sigh.

"I'm right, aren't I?" I grin and she nods, almost looking hurt that she had to. But that doesn't matter. She's all too reluctant to do it. It's clear that Mr. Shiozaki is hellbent on keeping her close, so maybe he needed a little nudge.

Or a big push. But it's not for me to do. It's for Ibara to do. She knows it, but once as she's already got some distance between her and him. Just to cut him some slack on the rope. But she lets go and turns back to the food, getting out some plates and putting the food on it, setting the table and sitting across from me.

"It's just hard…" she admits, "I know you and him get along, but if I do this he'll just see it as something you made me do."

"What?! No, I'd never-"

"I know you wouldn't." she cuts me off, "He'll blame you and try to break us apart because you're godless." her green eyes fill with so much doubt it breaks my heart to pieces. She just eats and I dig in.

We just eat.

That's all we can do.

 

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

For as long as I can remember I've been in love with Renaru. Or at least some form of emotional attachment to him. Ever since we were little, he's always been a constant. Eating breakfast with him causes me nothing short of bliss. His hair cheerily burns bright as he shovels in the food I made for him. He's more than healthy if he's eating as much as he is. I stand and hand wash the dishes and cutlery, just being in this tense silence.

The way he still has the bruises from his battles on his skin always has my heart sinking. Although my prayers have blessed him well enough to not be as hurt as I imagined he would be after a fight like this. It still worries me that the moving day to UA is soon. It worries me that I won't make it in. That Renaru will be alone. That I'll be alone. I can't bear the thought that he'll be away from me. But then there's nothing I can do but take the practical exam and hope I made it in.

"Ibara? This was really good!" Renaru exclaims, his red-orange eyes shining and a big smile is on his face. That bruised face I adore, even if I cannot follow him on the path he wants to go down.

I whisk over to him, my skirt billowing around my legs. God, why do I think of him like this? Like a masterpiece? Like a blessing? He's just… I take the dishes he used and to the sink they went. They march along as my vines work the faucet and the rags. I can't help but watch as Renaru rolls his shoulders, the splotch of burns and marred skin from surgeries dapple his softly trembling arms and legs. He's still moving even with the poor state of his bands.

He takes my hand and we head out together, his house is ramshackle. Still being repaired every now and again by his mother finding materials wherever she could. The wind whistles through the trees and rustles the green leaves of summer. His steps are soft, unsteady, clomping just a little because his shoes don't fit quite right without his bands filling the space. He clings to my arm like a lifeline. Mostly because I can see it in his eyes.

The doubt makes his eyes clouded, the fear furrows his brow, and the truth is just on the tip of his tongue. There's something wrong and his face makes it clear as day what exactly it is. He looks at me, almost mournfully.

"Ibara, I… I'm scared, okay? Mustafu is a new place… and I know this town is barely even a blip on the map…" he looks away, tottering a little, "And it's not just that."

"It's being away from your mother, isn't it?" My tone is flatter than it needs to be but I need to make sure he gets the message. While Mrs. Kaenshita is a prideful, strong woman that can probably fight anyone she needs to.

Her dependence on Renaru is concerning. Even my thoughts of him border on the needy category.

"Yeah, she might not take it well." he sighs, sitting down on a raised bit of the walkway. His frustration builds the heat coming off his hair, "Sometimes I just want her to leave me alone, you know? I love her, and God knows I try to grin and bear it but-"

Tears sting his eyes, "I feel like I'm holding her back, Ibara…" that's when I embrace him, pulling him into my chest, letting him cry against it. I close my eyes and hold him tight.

"Never say that, Renaru. Never ever say that." In moments we're kissing and it feels like I'm flying. His lips are so warm and his desperation so adorable to me. I pull away and he sits there, drying his tears.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that times are hard enough as they are." he continues with his voice heavy. He's suffering under the weight of his decision and I might not be there to support him.

It scares me as well. It's not the fact that he's going to be on his own that scares me the most, it's the fact that he'll be away from me, away where other girls could beguile and take him from me. I should trust him but it's hard. He stands up with a smile and stands on tiptoe to kiss me on the cheek.

"I love you, Ibby."

My heart beats a little faster, knowing that he loves me but I don't want to let him go. He moves away towards his house and my hand raises to reach for him. I don't want him to go.

"I love you, Renaru."

There's a slight burning in my chest.

"Forever and always." The burning keeps stoking. It keeps going as I head back to my home with my father working outside. He's got his hair tied back, checking on the garden outside usually takes a full day.

"Ah, Ibara darlin'!" he turns his head to look over his shoulder, his tanned skin marred with slashes, pockmarks, and the white patchy burns on his skin tell stories I cannot even begin to know.

He's standing at an impressive six foot five. But that's only his… human height. He smiles down at me and I can't help but look away. He's so intimidating even if he's more normal to me than most people.

"Renaru's leaving today for the dorms." I mutter, "And… and in a week are the Practical Exams for unrecommended and non-QP students."

"Aye, I get it, darlin'. Yer nervous that y'won't get in." he turns away from his work and kneels, gently touching my cheek, "Ibara, y'just do yer best and I'll be here t' see ya when ye get back."

"Father, that's not-"

With a soft pat he stands back up, "Now grab some tools, dear. It's time t'help me garden. Make sure y' weed the area 'round yer mother's tree."

"Yes sir." I state, grabbing a trash bag and heading off towards the willow tree billowing in the center of all this. He always has me work to hide my doldrums but this? This isn't what I want. Pulling weeds, I look up at the trunk of the tree twisting towards the sky, still low to the ground. I have to go all out, but the burning still won't go away. What's wrong with me? I guess I could ask my father for answers just in case I need them.

"Father?" I call to him. He immediately perks up and starts moving my way. It's odd how well he can hear things when it comes to me.

"Oh? What is it, dear?" he says once he arrives, his coat billowing in the wind as he towers over me. It'd be intimidating if I was anyone else.

"I keep getting this burning in my chest, do you know what that is?" My innocent question is met with a warm chuckle.

"Oh aye, Heartburn." His warm smile and gentle voice are so condescending sometimes when I know there's an issue. A very pressing issue. One that he's burying himself in work to distract him from.

"Not heartburn, it's… more in my body. Like… like not exactly my chest but it is?" I motion at it and he nods, before kneeling and checking my temperature with a kiss on the forehead.

"Mm… Nope. No fever." he states.

"Father, please take this seriously." I sigh. He backs off almost looking a bit scared.

"Well, well aye. Aye, I'll make it serious. As serious as it needs t'be." he sputters, "I just thought it'd be… later."

"Later?" just before I could get answers, he rushes off to another project, almost looking like the Devil just popped out of HE Double Hockey Sticks with his soul in his hands. He's hiding something, and the burning softly fades away.

What is wrong with me?

---

The drive over to UA is tense. Mom was already looking pretty stressed with her hair spitting sparks everywhere and her eyes wider than dinner plates trying to hold back the pissed-off energy of a thousand wildfires.

She looks at me, "I'm telling ya, kiddo! Big cities are no joke! You know I met your father in Tokyo?"

"Tokyo?" I ask, "You never really talked about where you specifically met him."

"Well, I just thought you'd know you COULD make either the biggest mistake of your life or make the best thing ever happen in your life." she smiles and looks at me as I glare back like I almost wanna smack her.

"Mom, I'm still doing this."

"I know, I know it's just if you can't keep up-"

"Mom, just trust me okay?"

The rest of the car ride is spent in silence, we left early and we've been driving for a while. In the silence I just think about how far I've come, the new bands pulse with the orange flames from my cracks, insulating and healing them. Getting them is pretty hard, Mom was on the phone for a few days trying to scramble to get an appointment. Once we did, going back to the same old hospital I was born at. My doctor was super concerned when Mom called him about my bands.

The same old examination room with the hero show playing on the tiny TV on the wall, the crinkly paper, Mom sitting and looking at me like she was going to be in trouble like she was little again. The door opens and in comes my Band Doctor, he usually takes a look and sees what I need. He's tall, with warm blue eyes and a winning smile. Not exactly handsome but I know what to do.

"Mr. Kaenshita…" he greets with a sly smile, "What's new?"

"Well, my old bands are shot. The Kuroda Family decided to try to make Ibara marry into them and her Dad dragged my Mom and I into it. Then I had a boxing tournament and my bands snapped at the end." I explain.

He nods, "And you want new ones?"

"Yeah, the next set up, with the insulation."

"He's going to be a hero." Mom cuts in, "So he wants the tough ones."

"Do you have the cashflow?" my doctor asks, "Because wssh… that's pricey even for us to work with." That's when there's a knock at the door. Mom's backup plan is here. Dr. Kusakabe really didn't expect my Uncle Akhiro to be standing there, red hair that's pinking at the temples and an aged face thrusts a case of cash his way.

For surgeries and anything I might need, the bands were going to be paid for by my Uncle Enji, but then the rest of the care I need is footed by Grandmother and Uncle Akhiro. So blunt and direct. Strapped to his back is a sheath holding a sword and he doesn't have a smile on his face.

"For my nephew's continued care, of the utmost quality. My mother sends her regards and well wishes for her grandson's continued health and happiness." he bows, wearing a slick pure white suit and round sunglasses with lenses closing over his eyes.

"If that is truly all, I shall take my leave." he states. But then he looks at me and steps into the room, "On second thought, I'll stay." he leans against the table on my side. As the appointment goes on, Akhiro glares at my mother from behind his glasses.

But after, I overhear a conversation at home, my new bands glowing and pulsing with the orange flames I find so familiar.

"Mother can't keep footing the bills for you, Tekka."

"I know, I know,"

"So why do you keep doing it?"

"Don't you want to help Renaru?"

"It's not just for him, clearly."

"You KNOW things are harder for us since Akihito got arrested." she snaps, and he steps away but I can almost feel like I'm just holding her back again. Holding him up, forcing Grandmother to pay for things she doesn't have to worry about.

I don't want to hold anyone back anymore, and that's all I could think of when the old world I used to live in falls away and Mustafu rushes up to greet me.

---

The building itself is massive, big enough to hold all the first year students, of which there'll be twenty for each class, so about forty kids to a building. Excitement shoots through me but not before nervousness swallows it in an instant. This is new, I know it is. We pull into the parking lot near the dorms, with me and her heading out with all of my stuff, boxes and bags both a duffel and a suitcase and shopping. All of them being carried into the lobby of the building.

We follow the map, taking our time. Mom's idea was to bring me here and plop me in the lobby so I could settle myself in. But at the rate we're plodding at she doesn't want me to go. It's like molasses. She kept looking back at me, almost like I'd disappear but also because she's scared. She's right to be scared because my heart's going at a mile a minute and my throat keeps having a lump in it.

When we get to the doors, she looks at me, holding out her arm, "You ready?"

I take it in my hand, "Ready."

We step through at the same time, heavy breath, choked up emotions enough to kill us both, and so many things left unsaid. So many things we have to handle. Her fear's in her eyes and my nervousness is in mine. The lobby is spacious enough, cleaning robots darting to and fro with them doing their duty to make sure it's all clean. It's a casual looking room but huge at the same time. The B and A sides are the same aside from the signs. Mom sets all of my stuff down and I look up at her. Her eyes full of doubt and she's almost shaken up but-

"Welp!" Mom plants her hands on her hips with a proud smile, "Seems like this is it!" she reaches out and ruffles my hair. Her expression is so calm before it wavers a bit at my tight hug.

She's trying to keep a brave face. I know she is. She always has even after losses in the ring. Mom's the toughest person I know, even if she doesn't believe it. I just want her to listen to me and let me do my best!

"Mom, I'll… I'll work hard! I'll make you proud!" Her body tenses under my arms and then… she wraps her arms around me tightly.

"You already do, kiddo. Just know it'll all be okay. I'm tougher than I look!" she grins and ruffles my hair before turning around and heading out the door, before stopping and scooping me into her arms, sobbing.

"My Bahahahahabyyyyyyyy!" she howls, "Call me every Dayhahahayyyyyy! Make sure you study hahaharrrrd!" she squeezes me tighter as I try to shuffle her out of the door. She grinds her feet into the floor and at this point dragging her is the least of my worries.

"Nooooooo!" she yells, "I don't wanna let you gooooo!"

"I'd rather diehahaieeee!" she sobs.

"Mom… someday… you'll… have… TO!" I yell, putting my back into forcing her out the door. At that forcing, she turns and leaves, glancing behind her at me and holding up her hand in a wave. I wave back surrounded by my stuff.

I don't realize that I had an audience for the entire debacle. A girl who's taller than me with long dark green hair and dusky green eyes smiles at me. She makes a beeline straight for me, her clothing is punk-adjacent and has studs on it. She leans down to be eye level with me. It's far from the school uniform which makes sense as UA's school year starts sooner rather than later.

"Hi." she says, "Name's Setsuna."

"Oh, uh!" I bow quickly, "My name's Renaru Kaenshita! That was my Mom, Tekka." Setsuna nods and circles me almost like a predator. She grins razor sharp, her eyes half-lidded as she looms over me.

"Well well well, it's my older cousin's boyfriend! Aren't you cute?" she pats my shoulder, "Easy there, firestarter, I won't bite!"

"Uh… Ibara never-"

"Yeah, my Mom and her dad aren't exactly tightly knit nowadays. So I just now met'cha in the flesh, so…" she looks around and grins, "Ground floor's for Faculty n' Staff. What'cha-"

"Quirk Palsy, it messes with my body and motor functions." I cut in before she could ask me, they always do. She nods and takes a few of my boxes herself, carrying them with her as I call the elevator.

The act wasn't bad, but there's a little bit of shock going through me. Ibara has relatives? I mean sure, I do too but she and her dad never really talked about any. So this is a first. We ride in the elevator together and I glance at her. There's literally no way that Ibara and Setsuna are related. Setsuna has a completely different quirk to Ibara's. The only thing similar is the fact they both have green hair and eyes and she's a lot shorter but has sharper angles to almost everything compared to Ibara. She glances at me and starts with…

"What's with you and my cousin?"

"Well, we're dating. Why?" she grins and I look away with a soft chuff in nervousness.

"Just that I dunno what she sees in ya." she sighs, "I mean, yer shakin' because of your disability, an' as far as I know it just makes things harder for ya."

There it is. The same spiel from people who don't know how the hell to deal with someone like me. Dragging Ibara into it just makes me ease my stuff into my real dorm, harrumphing and hawing like a workhorse.

"If you're gonna doubt my game I guess we won't be friends, Setsuna."

She chuckles, "What? You're seriously saying you've got game when Ibara's basically blowin' up my phone?" She sets my mattress down and I sigh with a wave off like I'm warding her off.

"Agh come on, I think I hit the jackpot!"

That's when we meet my next door neighbor, he's pale and lanky with neck length ashy blonde hair and a cool looking Skeleton mouth, he's also got weird eyes too. But he's cool. He sizes me and Setsuna up before smiling.

"Hey, you two are also the Recs?"

"Well, not me." I blurt, "I got in through the Quirk Palsy Program." Setsuna perks up and grins with a wink.

"Well, I got in through the recs!" she exclaims, "That an' my Mama wouldn't have it any other way!" she droops a little after, and I notice a small red glint in her eyes. The boy bows to us.

"My name's Juzo Honenuki. My quirk is called Softening." he straightens and checks out my ever-increasing pile of stuff my Mom decided was good enough to put in the dorm for me like I'm still that happy little boy that'd go along with everything she said.

"Do you need help with that?" he asks, "D'I mean, if you want some help." he looks almost embarrassed to ask me. Fidgeting and looking at my bands almost like they were going to hurt him. But they wouldn't.

"No, no, Juzo. That's fine."

"Oh, okay. Whew, I thought you'd get angry."

"Why would I do that?" My question doesn't go unanswered, but it's one that stings nonetheless. It's hard for me to accept help. I mean everything in here is enough to be in my room and nothing much else. Other than all the stuff that came from home.

"Do you need help?" Of course my mom'd be the one to deny it but I think I'd need some. So Juzo, Setsuna, and I start getting ourselves set up. Sheets on the bed, mattress already situated before that and all.

It's becoming more and more like home. Everything comes together, with my stuff mostly donated or old from years of being with me. I set all of it up and try my best not to show how I was basically dancing on the poverty line. After that, we're sitting in the common room.

Setsuna and Juzo both look at my trembling limbs and I smile, "I'm fine, guys."

"Does it hurt?" Juzo asks.

"Not much, but it does sometimes." My answer is mostly calm, keeping it simple enough to not explain it all more. Because I don't want to. There's a kind of problem with that for me. It's a constant weakness and who knows what the future holds? Who knows what'll change in three years?

Maybe it's just my inner voice telling me that these people are new and not to trust them because Mom isn't here? It's a persistent voice from years of being beaten down by other people at school's got my guard up tighter than a vault. However, I gotta loosen up. It's part of life, even if I'm scared. Juzo clears his throat.

"Sorry for the questions, it's just I haven't seen anything like what you have before." at least he's clear about it.

"Yeah, same for me! What's with the scars?" Setsuna blurts and my cheeks go beet red. At this point that was a normal thing too. Because not all my scars are hidden by my bands, the ones on my shoulders are visible.

"Well, they're surgical scars from when I was little. Y'know? Just little scars that helped my quirk go through my body in the right way."

"What's your quirk?" Juzo asks, "Your hair's glowing."

"Oh yeah, that's because my hair's like fire." My hand goes through it with embers spinning and floating through the air with them dying the minute they get low enough, "Sometimes it's really like fire."

"So it's your hair? Neat!" Setsuna leans in but I lean back.

"No, it's just that I don't wanna set anything on fire. Basically…" I punch the air and a small burst of flame shoots out of my fist, my bands going along with the motion and then setting back to that constant orange pulsing.

I don't even know how I got these, I know who gave them to me, it's just that someone else made them and sent them in. My podiatrist just does measurements and sends the molds in as guidelines. Juzo and Setsuna both ooh at my quirk.

"So, what's the limitation?" Juzo asks.

"I can't really maintain it without these." I pinch the edge of one of my bands and lift it gently, "It's basically a support item."

"So where's the fire coming from?" Setsuna asks.

"My heart, it works kinda like an engine. When I die, my quirk dies with me." Quieting at that a bit because the sound of the elevator doors shake us out of our talk.

There's a man with red eyes and white spiky hair, shaved on the sides and burly, taller than me and the other two. He's standing at the entrance to our floor and he's got two tiny fangs sticking out of his lower lip like a bulldog. His hero suit's dark red with tubes sticking out and winding around his arms with armor plating on them and three dark slats on the back of his hands.

He stands with a happy smile on his face, walking up towards us, "Hello, you three must be my Recommended students and my Quirk Palsy Program student! I'm Sekijiro Kan, your teacher for this year!" he bows and straightens as we go through ours, with mine being shaky and honestly hard to do.

He notices, "Kaenshita, are you…"

"I'm fine, sir. Sometimes when I sit down for too long it takes me a bit to get used to being up again." I smile and the other two do too. I guess they added it to their ever increasing list of weird things that Renaru does.

"Ah, that's good. Just let me know of anything else you need, I'll do my best with the staff to accommodate you." he smiles and pats me on the shoulder. Not a pity pat, or a chiding. Just a normal motion.

"But first thing's first, are you all hungry?" he smiles at us as we almost rush for the elevator back down. Juzo, Setsuna, and I pretty much spam the button with our fingers going. Food food food! Food food food! Over and over again. Leaving us giggling a little as we step into it. Mr. Kan stands in there with us.

"UA has a fully functioning and stocked cafeteria, it's all cooked fresh every day and by Lunch Rush." he explains, leading us towards the school which is a massive H-shaped building surrounded by a wall and a heavy steel gate that looms over the rest of the area.

As we walk, I begin to lag behind with my sides having that same clenching ache they always start having when I walk for too long. Biting the inside of my cheek and trying to keep up without drawing too much attention.

"Hff, hff…" No, I can't stop now! Keep up, dammit! I hustle forward but my sides clench and stop me. Setsuna slows up and winds her arm around my shoulders.

"I gotcha."

I don't want to ask her why. I know why. She's just trying to help because she knows that Ibara would probably kill her if she didn't. Or is Ibara even capable of- you know what? Nevermind. We get to the main building with some of the other classes already bustling about helping the staff get ready for the year ahead. Mr. Kan leads us on to a massive room that looks like a pretty big cafeteria. Tables all set up for students that aren't here yet, a massive kitchen and a big line with one chef working back there, known as Lunch Rush. His head looks like an oven and he's wearing a chef's uniform.

As we were getting our food, there's someone familiar. At least only in the few pictures Mom had from my aunt. The boy has one gray eye and one bright blue, one side of his hair white and one red. There's a scar on the side with red hair, his gaze cuts through me like a sword and his expression is mostly blank until he claps eyes on me.

His name is Shoto. My uncle's golden boy.

Shoto stands there, glaring at me like I hurt him which I hope I didn't.

The malice I feel from that stare… I break eye contact and sidle past him, sitting down with my classmates. Setsuna looks at him and then back at me, almost as if piecing it together. Juzo breaks the tension.

"Hey dude, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah… it's just Setsuna's not the only one with a cousin that's at or going to be at UA. I just thought he wouldn't be here today." Looking over at him, I knew he was my Uncle's kid. There's no way he wouldn't be.

"Does he mess with ya?" Setsuna asks.

"No, no, I… barely know him. My mom and his dad don't get along at all. So… he's just a name to me."

Yeah, just a name. I shovel in the food, but I miss Mom's. It's barely been a few hours and already I want to go home and have Tempura Chicken like I've always wanted. Back to Mom's arms and back in her world. Because it's safe. It's softer. I'm scared. The food is like fish, chicken, and pork. I took all three and I shoveled it in, eating some seaweed too with some edamame. This is just the start of everything.

Eating lunch in a new place, a hero school no less. Just…

I hope this isn't a mistake.

 

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

The day comes for the entrance exam. Rising from my bed, I wander over to the mirror in my room and look into it. But the oddest thing is this weird buzzing feeling in my body, almost like lightning. It crackles over me like a crashing wave. Looking in the mirror there's a haze of red in my eyes, the sclera aren't bloodshot, it's almost like it was my natural color. Nothing like my father who becomes a hulking mass of muscles and wooden branches. But me?

My eyes are colored differently. My muscles were the same, my skin color too. Everything was normal. Other than the burning red eyes. Father comes in with a bright, almost serene grin.

"G'mornin' love." he says, kissing me on the forehead, "Today's the day, aye?" I can't help but force a nod.

"Yes it is, Father."

He smiles, "Remember, you're stronger than you think y'are, don't let anyone tell ye any different."

I have a sinking suspicion that he's right.

Grinding metal fills my ears and my hands crush the metal like papier mache. The wheel grinds into the pavement as my vines lash through it, sparks and fire scathing the area. They thicken and the thorns grow.

The burning in my chest spreads from my chest to my arms and legs, to the top of my head to the tips of my feet. Oil rains down like blood, eyes wide and breath coming out in steam. But as fast as it comes it goes away. Like it was never there, in moments I realize…

I was stronger than anyone could ever dream of. That was a three pointer, a whole battalion of them! What kind of power is this?! What sort of mad science is this?! My vines dull, my steps quicken as I dig my hands into my arms, nails gently pressing into them as my hair goes limp and I run away from the other robots and students, panting and breath coming out of my mouth so fast I can't even breathe back in.

Even though I saved many another examinee, caught a lot of rubble, this scared me.

What happened? What happened? What's happening to me?! After the exam, I take off almost running back home, my strength still increased but I keep running back home to my father's rectory.

He's preparing for the evening service, lit candles whistling out the minute I toss the doors aside and rush towards him, slamming into him with a strangled cry. He skids backward, stopping gently and closing his arms around me.

"Ibara? What happened, darlin'?"

Tears sting my eyes, "Something... something awful, father..." My muscles tense but he stays solid, stays unyielding, "What's happening to me?"

"Ibara, little flower... you're just *scared*." he sighs, "It's perfectly natural..."

"Scared?! Fear doesn't cause a... a BATALLION of Exam Robots to be crushed in one blow like Papier Mache!" I yell, "If you're just going to lie to me again, I'll go to someone who won't!"

I pull away from him and he scowls, his lips downturning, "Ibara, trust me..."

"How can I when you can't even tell me what's going on?!" I snarl, whirling and marching out the open doors, out into the night, not even hearing the crackling and him resetting them into the frame.

He never did that before. My only other place to go was down the street, turning into a small gate with clumsy kanji written by the shaky hand of my boyfriend. Kaenshita was written there like a soft little fire itself.

A small four seater sedan is parked in the carport, weathered and taped up with bumper stickers on the back. Father and I don't even have a car. But considering Mrs. Kaenshita goes away into Tokyo every few months after training she needed one. A new one is lopsided, raised with slight folding and bubbling. 'Proud Mother of a UA Hero Student!' I find it irritatingly cute. But I get to the door and ring the doorbell, it rings, slightly buzzing because of how old it is.

Mrs. Kaenshita comes to the door with an overly frustrated, "For the last time, Enji, I'm not-" she opens the door and there she stands, red and orange hair pulled back from her face, her eyes a little red and cheeks puffy from crying.

The minute she sees me, her expression softens to a warm smile, "Oh! Ibara, what's up sweetie?" she stands aside and I whisk my way into the inside of Renaru's house. Of course I've been here before, but the upkeep is a little worse.

"I didn't know where to go." I answer, "My father keeps lying to me and I cannot stand it." My heart aches a little thinking about Renaru and how he might be doing.

"Oogh, I feel you, kiddo." she sighs, "Sit down a while, talk to me. I got more time on my hands nowadays than I know what to do with." she moves off towards the kitchen.

"I got soda, you drink soda, right?"

"No, thank you, Miss Tekka."

She flinches a little at that and nods, "Yeah, don't mention it." she returns to the cozy living room smelling like fire and sugary vanilla. She likes that smell and I can't blame her. Settling across from me, I see her looking down at her hands.

"You miss him." I observe, "Renaru, I mean."

"Of course I do, Ibara. I'm his mother." she chuckles, "Fifteen years ago, both of you were little. Your dad used to come by and ask me questions about raising you."

"Really?" I ask.

"Oh sure! He was clueless." she grins, "But... I can't believe he'd do that to you." her voice gains a little growl to it, as if she's about to storm into his sanctuary and deck him.

"Well, Father always kept his secrets."

"Which isn't right." she snaps, "Sure, I don't tell Renaru everything, but he's got a right to know if somethin's up with his mom like anger induced superstrength." her expression darkens as she reaches across and grabs my hand. It's rough, calloused, but assuring.

"Renaru adores you, Ibara. I know it's a hard adjustment."

There's a shaky breath ghosting out of my lips, tears stinging my eyes. I miss him, he makes sense, he anchored me when Father couldn't.

"But honey, listen. And listen good, I've been boy crazy before. I've built my entire life around guys before." she traces the back of my hand, "I've changed and sacrificed myself to them over and over."

She continues, steady bright orange eyes reminding me so much of his. But with experience, "Your dad is the dumbest guy I've ever met. Thinking he's gotta protect you."

"He's so... what's the word?" she tilts her head a little.

"Stubborn?"

"Yeah, that. Your dad's the most stubborn, angry, clingy fucker this side of Japan." she scoffs, "Never have I ever seen a more bullheaded man."

I can't help but let out a laugh, she's right. Father's usually so affable and accomadating, but when it comes to me it's like trying to convince a horse to drink water.

"But the thing here, Ibara, is that Renaru and your dad will always chase their own dreams."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I mean that they're going to have lives outside of you," she sighs, looking a little sad; "I get why you're all gung-ho to be with my son at the end of the day but who's to say hearts and minds won't change?"

"I don't want it to change..." I admit, "Renaru's been a dear friend of mine for years."

"And I'm not saying you can't still be friends, but consider that you both are still young." she takes a sip of her drink, "When I was you two's age I didn't have what you got."

I nod, "I see, I just hope that doesn't come to pass."

"And if it does, then you'll have something to fall back on," she smiles but the mere thought of not being with Renaru is making me a little scared. Mrs. Kaenshita smiles.

"Do you feel safe enough back home?"

"Not tonight, Mrs. Kaenshita." I know I shouldn't stay but something tells me that Father wouldn't like me being around for now. Just to not rock the boat more than it's already been.

"I'll get the futon then." she stands up but not before gently setting her hand on my shoulder, "Give it some thought, Ibara." she moves towards the kitchen and all I can feel with that is trying to puzzle out what to do next.

---

Waking up on my own is a weird feeling. Normally, Mom would come in and yank off my sheets and try to wake me up for something. But… I sit up with my sheets and blankets falling off my body, crisscrossing scars and splotchy burns.

Muscles, all too skinny and stitched together working to keep me moving. My body's different, it always is. Okay, arm test. Lift it slowly… slowly… Sudden quick jabbing hits it like a wrecking ball. My eyes screw shut and I cut back on the scream with my teeth digging into my lower lip. GAH! Ow. Slowly… slowly…

Hand meets the soft cloth of my arm bands, meshy and solid all at once. There's a moment where I don't want to get out of bed. No one's familiar here and no one knows what's really wrong with me. I might be burning out, I might be at the end of my rope because some days are harder than others, and it hurts all the same.

My shaking hand reaches for the rail on the side of my bed, pulling myself out of it and onto the step down. Gripping my arm band, wiggling it on until it squeezes down just below my shoulder, the grayed-out livery beginning to pulse. That's when my free arm stabs liquid flame through me like jet fuel. Biting the inside of my cheek, my other hand sliding on my other band before it could really start doing some damage. The band tightens, the gray becomes orange, and the pulsing soothes the pain.

Do the same with my legs, ending at the end of my thighs, wrapping around my feet like socks, and pulsing orange glow still soothing as always. Letting out the sigh I knew was coming but trying to summon the strength to stand.

They strain, they ache a little, but now I'm up, the dull throbbing beat, the bruised muscles need these things. Not like there was anything new or different about them. When I get out of my dorm, the sun's not up.

Checking the time… ooh, 12:00. Midnight. Step… step… gently now. Steady now. Easy. Easy now. That's when the air hits me fast, knocking my feet out from under me and slamming me to the floor like I had a death wish. But I hit it and there's that familiar ache, that new snap of pain through the crash. No bones broken, but my cheeks burn knowing that SOMEBODY heard my fall. So I scramble to my feet and try to find something or someone to blame.

"Come on, Renaru. You fell on your own…" I growl at myself, "Fucking brilliant." Dusting myself off, there's a moment when I realize that I woke up in the middle of the night. Dead center even. Normally, I'd wander into Mom's room and get into her bed and just lay down and talk at her.

Not to her, at her. She'd be dead asleep and I'd just talk about anything. Then she'd roll over and mumble at me. Or maybe if Ibara was over I'd wake her up with me asking her random questions. The feeling of her vines, or the strong feeling of my mother's arms are a comfort only I could know. That's probably why I'm up so early. They'd always been with me. This is the first real time I'm without them.

Every bit of me missed them. So I lace up my boxing shoes, fill up my water bottle, and get on my sweatshirt. Not even getting on my gloves but I didn't need them where I was going. Taking my keycard, I head out the front, I could run the track around the dorms. Beating my own record of five minutes. See if I could get four or three? I begin my warmup once I get outside, feeling my punished muscles get warm.

Then I start to run, throwing jabs as the lights sweep by above me. All I could think about were the days where Mom and I would face the type of people that didn't like the fact I competed at all. Still running at a good clip, the timer ticking away on my phone as I round the bend and when I see the front of the school again I check the time. Five minutes. Took too long, dammit.

The flames still eat at me, still try to drag me down to char me. But I still keep running no matter how much it hurts. Shadowboxing them all, flames dancing along with my shots of my fists. Dancing through imaginary opponents. Kuroda, Tetsutetsu, but that was all. I wasn't some kind of professional and I never tried to be. I just wanted to be stronger than them, even if my condition was common and you could run into a handful of us...

The life without any help was hell. Taping up my arms and legs with some kind of boxing tape, maybe even binding up with vines from Ibara. She gave more to me than I ever gave to her.

I continue my run, turning round the bend over and over. My fists still pumping out jabs and hooks, a song in my chest. Hopping from foot to foot as I try to practice my kicking. All I could imagine hitting were those guys that kept telling my Mom wasn't shit. Flames burst out around me, even though I keep hitting the ground with a lopsided bump, I still keep trying.

"Tss! Tss!" I breathe out, "HAH!" My flames boost my kick, sending me spinning through the air before imagining the one man I hated more than anyone else... turquoise eyes, spiky red hair, orange flames...

He abandoned my mother, and even if he paid for my bands I hated him. My foot connects with the stone, force and flame blasting stone chips into the air. It's a good start.

Why do I want to be a hero? Out of all the professions I could take, why this one? I think it's because this world is so unfair to people like me. Stares, constant questions, inaccessible places where I have to grin and bear the impossibilities. I lie on my back, the night air cooling me down as the singed, divoted rock smolders. Reaching for my water bottle, dousing myself and drinking it slowly. Whew! But it's not good enough. Never good enough.

I stand to my feet, snap into my stance, "Tsssssss..." I hiss, my gaze tensing and everything focusing down to the wire. Flames burst out of every other hit, trying my best to keep it all up because I can't stop and won't ever stop.

"He'll never be a hero."

"Not with that condition."

My heat grows, thinking of those naysayers and those assholes that kept trying to knock me down. The ones that always looked down on me without saying anything. I knew.

Anger, sadness, it's unfair. I can't go for more than five seconds without being reminded how useless I am. How my accomplishments always cycle back to not being good enough because of x, y, or z. How I'm 'inspiring' just by being alive! I know my answer now! I know it clear as day and black and white! I want to be a hero because I want to be that guy people can rely on!

I want them to look at me and count on me, look at what I do and not what I have. I want to stand side by side with them instead of above them based on my condition. To give others like me the strength to push, to strive for more.

I want to live in this world. Not exist.

My muscles seize up, and I stop. Panting, gently pawing for my water and taking a long drink. By now it's two something and I amble my way back towards the dorms. Getting back in wasn't hard, and heading to my dorm was easier than not.

Just as I was about to get to my room, there's Mr. Kan up and working on lesson plans for the school year. He glances at me in the shadows, my firelit hair casting a soft glow on the walls.

"What's the matter, kid?" His voice is warm, and he doesn't seem to be mad at all that I headed out to train a while.

"I can't sleep. So I trained." I say, wobbly steps sending me towards him. Sitting down and looking towards the big windows, "It's just... a lot."

He smiles a little, "I get it. You're homesick."

Nodding, he continues, "You're so used to your mom bein' around, right?" he guesses and I nod again.

"It's just... my mom's so strong." looking down at my aching hands, I clasp them together, "She's faced all this before and she didn't want me to go." A bitter laugh bubbles out of my throat.

"To tell ya the truth, Mr. Kan? I never thought I'd see my mom cry that hard ever in my life." I admit, "There's also the fact that my girlfriend isn't here either."

"I'm kinda scared." there's more of a laugh, a little bit of tears rush down my cheeks, "I've gone my whole life pretty much with 'em by my side, and I'm worried that I'm their entire lives."

It's broken me down more often than not. The fact that Mom fought every day for my future, that and Ibara was also somehow involved in it. The fact that the two people I love the most probably won't get to see me become this new impressive hero is just hard to swallow.

Call me selfish all you want but Mr. Kan brings me out of my weird doldrums with a pearl of wisdom, one that I live by to this day.

"Everyone has people they love, Renaru. Your mom and girlfriend love you, so to them you're not a burden. You're you. The thing you gotta decide is what that means for you."

I never really thought about it myself. In the end I'm my own person and people fighting for myself to live just wasn't going to be in the cards. In the end though, heading to bed again, I had one thought. I'm gonna call Ibara and explore the city tomorrow with my classmates. That's it. Just two goals. I can do that, right? Yeah... I can. I lay down and grab my cracked screened phone, hesitating dialing for just a moment.

I call her, hearing it dial tone on the end before...

"Mm? Renaru...? It's early, dear." she groans, "What's the matter?"

"Can you just... talk to me?" I ask, "Not about anything specific I just..."

"I miss you, Ibara." I admit, "So just talk about anything. Read a Bible story or count the sheep carved into the ceiling of your room, or... or maybe just stay on until I fall asleep."

Ibara lets out a soft, shaky breath, "Renaru, I miss you so much." she almost sounds like she's got tears in her eyes, "My father lied to me about that burning sensation again, and today was the exams, so... so I took out a bunch of robots like they were made of paper."

"Damn! That's gre- I mean... how?" Nice save, Renaru! She continues with a little bit of a sigh, and I roll over to lay down a little better, curled up under the blankets with my bands cooling and my skin gratefully cooling in the night air.

"Well, my quirk and body got stronger and I took all of them out." she explains.

"So you'll be here?" I ask, a little more excited than I thought I'd be, "I can't wait!" she lets out a laugh and I wilt.

"God willing, dear! God willing!"

I smile and listen to her keep going on and on and well, soon enough I'm dozing off. I hope she gets to be in my class and alongside me, but either way... I need to find my own path.

 

[XIIIthewanderingpaladin]

Setsuna and Juzo come over the next morning. They seem to be really happy and chatty today. After last night, and hearing that Ibara might be here come the start of the semester fills me with more hope.

"Hey, Renaru!" Setsuna greets as I come smiling out of my room, "How's things going? You feeling alright?"

I nod, keeping quiet as Juzo walks with us on the left. We're a weird crew. Setsuna, the Lizard Tail Splitting genius, Juzo the Softening expert, and then me. With my flames and weak as fuck body.

Enough of that, Renaru. You're good. You earned your spot here. No matter what. You're a UA student and your Mom is so proud of you. I don't notice but at breakfast I'm just hunting and pecking at my food.

Not that it's not appetizing. I just... miss Mom's cooking. I miss Ibara's earnest little breakfasts when she would come over. My stubborn idea of home, and how things are supposed to be keep bogging me down. I don't notice him, but he sits down next to me, eyes on his own food but I notice it's soba. He glances up at me, red and white hair just like Aunt Rei's on one side, and Uncle Enji's on the other.

We eat silently. Both of us not knowing what to say at all. Our parents hate each other, viscerally. Pitted together like boxers. Shoto finally breaks the silence.

"Do you like soba?"

I look at him, and his expression is unreadable. More blank than anything. His gray and blue eyes look me up and down, his head bobbing up and down stiffer than a corpse.

"Yeah. Especially cold. I get hot a lot." I answer, smiling and looking him up and down in the same way, he passes me an extra Cold Soba kit.

"Here. I had extra." he holds it out like a robot. Beep Boop! Bop Beep! Shoto-Bot 9000 is here! I grin and take it. Scooping up an extra rolled omelette and plopping it on his plate, I remembered the recipe my Mom used to make these, and told Lunch Rush how I liked mine. He looks at me almost in shock.

"Don't worry, I eat enough for five men as it is." I hold up my shaky hand, "That's yours. Consider it a peace offering." he picks it up.

"What's different about this?"

"Oh, it's actually a special sauce my Mom knows how to make, she also adds Tempura Flakes." my eyes settle on the kit, "Mom always said I liked it on everything."

He takes a bite, and his eyes widen, "Oh."

"Good, right?" I watch as his shoulders shake a bit, "Wait, is it too spicy?"

He looks at me with that unreadable expression again, "It's good. Tell Aunt Tekka I like it." I don't notice but he's a little more wilty. Maybe he misses Aunt Rei making things for him?

"Oh, okay!" I exclaim, "I almost thought you were gonna hurt me."

"Why would I do that?" he blurts, "Am I too scary?"

"No, no. It's just... I'm weaker than most guys, mostly because my Quirk needed adjusting because it was in the wrong place." I look down at my trembling chopsticks, "I always have to use kid chopsticks."

"Oh." Shoto blinks, "Did your mom cause-"

"No, she didn't. I was born with it. Took her a while to figure out what was wrong, but luckily she found a doctor who could help me for cheap." I answer, "And no, your Dad wasn't willing to help."

Shoto's expression darkens, "Right."

I guess he's that bad to his son too. Small world. I wonder if he knew about my Dad? If he could get a message to him somehow? He goes right back to being neutral again.

"From what I heard from my big sister, your mother used to hang out with my mom."

"Yeah, my mom still sends her letters, she calls her the sister she wished she had." I look down at my food, "Hey, Shoto?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we... do this again? I don't want us to end up like my Mom and your Dad." I hold out my hand to him, "Friends?"

Shoto nods, taking it, "Friends. And... outside of this, we're rivals. Like my Dad wants."

"Fine." I grin and we both clean up our food. Setsuna and Juzo look at me coming back with smiles on their faces, or closed eyes in Juzo's case. He can't exactly express himself well with his mouth, so his eyes and brow are close enough.

"Already gettin' along?" Setsuna asks.

"I don't like having rivalries, they're kinda dumb." My trash falls out of my hands as I wipe off my chopsticks to clean later. Setsuna grins and raises an eyebrow at that. Juzo walks on my left and she walks on my right.

"See, I'm from Kanagawa, so..." I start.

"Dude, no way!" Juzo exclaims, "Me too!" he closes his eyes in a happy way. We kinda set ourselves in a comfortable rhythm. Setsuna's from Fukui, where they have that neat dinosaur museum, and also have dinosaur themed everything.

Juzo talked about the ocean observatory, and I babbled about the shrine. Mom and I always went every year to get blessings before a huge fight or big test. Even though we didn't have time in the lead up to UA's exams, I want to go back and pay my respects to my family and the spirits for looking out for little ol' me. While we walk, it's like all the awkwardness was gone in seconds. In a couple of weeks we're going to have seventeen more kids joining us. Setsuna stretches and grins.

"Well, my Mama's a real famous fashion designer, of course it's weird that we live in Fukui, but my Dad works at the museum there. Goes out all over the world for digs, too!" she explains, "How 'bout you, Kaenshita? What do your folks do?"

My cheeks go bright red, thinking about how I might need to explain everything but I blurt out, "My mom's a boxer."

"Wait..." Setsuna thinks, "OH MY GOD." she gets a big grin on her face. I never pegged her as the kind to be into boxing but I don't know much about her. She turns and sets her hands on my shoulders.

"THE Kaenshita. Right?! Fire Fist Kaenshita?" she gasps, "The woman who knocked out Crusher Tetsutetsu in the heavyweight finals?!"

I can't help but nod, and she just about loses it in almost joy. I never knew that she was that into boxing, but then come in the rapid-fire questions. What's her diet? How'd she get so strong? What kind of juice does she drink? I swear, that's why I never tell anyone my Mom's a famous-ish boxer, because then they'd wonder how I got the money and then it'd snowball into more and more. But I didn't mind.

"Yeah, she did. The Battle of the Sexes." I smile, "Even though that was just for PR, that title stuck."

"I was only three, but I remember my Uncle Akihiro hoisting me and my cousin onto his shoulders, the crowd was absolutely electric, and her coach looked back at me and told her, and this is from my Mom's mouth..." I lean over on her and Juzo almost like her leaning against the ropes.

"Your son's watching, Tekka-chan. So give it all you got. He'll see that you're the baddest mother around." I embellished a little, there was a chan, and well he was kind of an asshole, but I remember my Mom being renewed by it.

"That was on the three year anniversary of my Father's imprisonment." I continue, "I remember my uncle was around a lot, and my cousin, Aoi." Juzo and Setsuna listen, slowly realizing I was way more than I seemed.

"But we watched as my Mom became a fighting goddess." I had tears in my eyes, "But I saw my mom as she truly is..." my voice shakes. The lights burned down onto her, her hair blazing and her fists bending his metal body. Waves of heat making the image wobble and shake. But I can't forget the final hit. An uppercut, a cross shrugged off but a heavy cut gouged on her face from Tetsutetsu's hit.

It burned so bright.

"A hero. A real hero. One that inspires, and leads, even when she lost I knew people believed in her." I dry my tears, "I want to be a hero like that. A hero people can believe in, a hero people are inspired by."

"A hero who claws his way to where he is by his own merits. Surpassing his natural limits." I clench a shaky hand into a fist, "I'll burn so bright they'll never forget me."

Juzo speaks up, "Wow, that's..."

"I've been told no my entire life. That I can't be a hero." I sigh, "But I kept pushing, kept proving everyone wrong." I smile and pump my fists, "I want my own agency! I want my own ranking! I wanna show people like me that there's a hero out there with their condition too."

I blink, "Sorry, Juzo. I get excited and ramble."

"Oh, no no no. I was just gonna say that it's a lot, but seeing as you're standing here you made it to the beginning." He smiles, well, his eyes do.

Setsuna grins, "Hell yeah!"

I look down at myself, the burning in my chest brightens and heats me up. I'm so happy I could smile so hard it'd break my jaw. Maybe it wasn't so bad to open myself up, to spread my arms, and take a chance.

My happiness never seems to go away as we walk around outside, Setsuna balancing on a planter as Juzo wanders alongside me. Setsuna grins and hops off, she's so confident and happy. Almost like she knows what she wants to do and who she wants to be. I want to be like that. I think in some way I'm a paper tiger but in other ways I don't feel like I am. I want to be more than that and when I am whatever this is, it's going to be different.

Juzo kind of has this vibe that he was super proud about getting into UA on recommendation, but the minute he saw me he sobered quick. Or maybe not. Setsuna hovers near me.

"So wait, are you constantly hot, Renaru?" she asks.

"Yeah, my hair jets out smoke sometimes, but I can put it out to smolder if I need to." I explain, we head back to the dorms together, and Setsuna seems to huddle rather close the entire time.

Juzo doesn't, he's more distant. I don't know why. Deep down I want the rest of the time to wait for the semester to pass quickly. I get to my dorm room and lay down on the bed.

Just a few more weeks, Renaru, and you'll find out if Ibara'll be here with you. I close my eyes, imagining her in bed with me, gently holding onto me and curled under the blankets, sleeping soundly and deeply. Away from her dad and me away from my mother. Vines looped gently over me. Woven intricately. Thorns digging into my skin, leaving indents. Like kisses, or marking me as safe. As someone worthy of divine protection. Back when we were little, she never really saw it as weird that we were inseparable.

But now... I want to dream of her.

Just like all those nights she slept over at my house. I miss her more than anything. She was my support, my anchor, and reminded me of what I'm fighting for. What I'm being a hero for. All that flashy nonsense I said was just to mask the truth. I wanted to be a hero to protect my world. The people I care about, and they care about me too. I want them to be safe, and to make this world a better place, sometimes I have to burn myself over and over again.

That's just how it is. Keeping my arms open and my flames stoked. Just to see what kind of world I could make it become.

---

When I got home, there was a heaviness to the entire house. A solemness that threatened to swallow everything around me. The burning sensation never goes away. It stays squatted in my chest. The kitchen was clean, the pots and pans away. Everything in order. As I moved there was this feeling of something just wrong with the entirety of my surroundings. It was almost like Father's will was being enacted on all.

And it was. That weight never left. Even when he was doing his sermons. His voice would roll and tumble like thunder. Rise with the authority of God himself. His hands would overtake mine whenever he'd hold them. He was so tall, I thought he was as big as Goliath. He was so kind I thought he was a saint, everything revolved around him when I was younger. He'd keep a photo album. Pictures of me, of him, and of us. Yet one still kept him sad. Kept him fearful and scared.

My mother, slender and fair, almost like a Virgin Mary statue or painting. Black eyes shaped like my own, hair fine and long like willow leaves, because they were. She had me in her womb. Her hand resting on her stomach. She had the most beautiful smile. I never got to know her, but would she allow this heaviness? This fear of the future? My father's will enacted on all I do and all I'll ever be?

In truth I don't know. Father's in his office, thumbing through papers and mail. Whistling 'Amazing Grace' to himself. Every night would be the same, he'd come home and have dinner ready about an hour later. I watch as he thumbs through the mail of the day, being in a good mood. He was calmer than most. Which is good, a stressed father leads to disaster. Yet now...

He pauses in the whistling, "Ibara, darling. Dinnae skulk about." he says, "C'mere." I reveal myself and stand before him. His bright green eyes soften and his smile's calm.

"Is this yer results, Ibara?" he holds up a thick envelope.

"Yes, father. It... it says so on the packaging." I give him a smile, and he adjusts his glasses, smiling back.

"Aye. Let's see what it is." his voice shifts to an odd tone. A tone I don't really remember him using. Clinical, clipped, and cold as a winter wind. He opens it with a rather elaborate letter opener.

It slices cleanly through the material, "Sit down, Ibara." that strange tone makes me do it. He smiles serenely and a projector falls out of the packaging, clattering on his desk. It whirrs to life, a holo-projector. A bright golden UA appears and a very exciting orchestral piece soars out. But Father looks unimpressed. He looks right into the eyes of the man with white hair and red eyes.

"Greetings, Mr. Ryker-Shiozaki!" he bows and rises, "We are honored to have your daughter at UA this coming semester!"

He watches intently, the dorm explanation deepens his scowl, the costs even more so, and finally when it's over he looks at me and leans forward, hands resting on his chin, interlaced.

"Top five." he states, "Yet I have concerns."

That tone still icy, that tone rigid. His eyes dull to a darker green, "I know you want to pursue heroism, but it's not easy, nor the life I desire for you." he states, "You're a smart girl with a future where you can do anything you set your mind to."

"What if what I want is to be a hero like Uncle Rudolf?"

"Rudolf is a fool. He took the coward's way out." he continues, "What I have done was the right thing, the world of heroes is vapid and foolish."

"But-" I start as he rises and begins to pace.

"My child, I did not escape Germany to have you turn around and join those who depend on heroes to save them." he looms over me, "You are more than that, you are so much more than them, and that boy."

Why would he bring Renaru into this?

"Don't bring in someone who isn't even here." my voice tenses like a spring, "It's my life and I should decide what to do with it."

"Oh yes, you're so correct." he snarls, "But please know that it's not a game. It's not like those little plays you had or anything comparing to that, it's life and death."

"I fully know that." I state, "Are you just scared?"

My father glowers, "Fear? What fear? Fear that you, my daughter, will die is a very common fear for me." There's that burning sensation in my chest again almost like a natural answer.

"Well, I'm not fragile! I want this more than anything!" I snap back.

"You just want to rebel. It's clear to me that you just want to throw me away." he looks almost sad but I glare back at him with an almost conviction in my heart. I want to be a hero because I want to help people find some measure of peace. It's not wrong, is it?

"You chose to ruin your future in heroism, Father! I just want to bring some measure of peace to people! It's not that hard and well, I don't care about what you have to do to stop me, because you won't!" I yell, "I don't want to throw you away, but you're certainly making a case for me to!"

Father marches toward me, "I don't want you to make the same mistake I did!"

"Let me make those mistakes! Let me go and learn how to be!" my voice rises, "If you keep me like this, how else am I supposed to go on?" Even the scripture encourages some level of independence but this isn't about that.

"This world will break you, Ibara. This world that's been made by fools who hold it all up by themselves will fall one day and I don't want you to be part of it." he sets his hands on my shoulders, "There're other ways to be a guiding light to someone. There're other ways to bring peace and comfort to others."

"It's what I desire most, Father. It's what I feel called to do by God and depriving me of spreading that holy mission would kneecap any potential souls saved, yes?" My thought would be that would be his logic for it.

He sighs and lowers his hands, "Aye..." he looks down at himself, "What kind of father would I be if I didn't trust you?" I look up at him and kiss him on the forehead. Almost in quiet joy.

"Thank you, Father!"

He gives me a soft smile, "Study well, and God be with you, darlin'."

With his blessing, a week or so after we're on the way to UA. He keeps looking over at me almost like I'd fade away but I won't. At least I hope so. All my stuff is packed in the back of his truck.

We drive to the school early in the morning. Move In Day is today after all, but the fact that we have to get there early to get everything in there makes it even more strange. In a way I'm excited. I've almost nonstop been texting Renaru every day but now we'll be in the same place again and deep down it seems like all is right with the world. We get to the dorms and Father starts unloading.

I wander off towards the 1B side where I was assigned, despite the good chance I could've been in A, it never materialized. I almost wonder if Renaru's around. Well, my answer comes quickly enough.

"Huh... Hah... haah..." Renaru comes dashing up, his hair billowing loose and clothes a little lopsided, but he doubles over, his bands pulsing and his eyes closing a little. He pops back up.

"Hey..." he starts, but I run to him, my arms wrapping around him and hoisting him up, spinning him around and I can't help but laugh until I'm starting to cry. He squeezes me back, almost like he would never let me go.

"Ibara..." He breathes, touching foreheads with my own, "I missed you." He grins and kisses me, his warm lips taste like his breakfast mixed with the toothpaste he uses, I answer gladly.

We both let out giggles when we break for breath, more and more people are coming in but all I have is hope again. Hope that this won't be where I close myself off, hope that everything will be alright. Hope...

That I can be a hero, and that I can live. Find out what I want, and become something greater...

The burning in my chest smolders, and catches.

It's still there.