༺𓆩༒︎𓆪༻
"... ARE YOU ALRIGHT, YOUNG MAN?"
All Might looked at the purple-eyed boy standing before him, gagging and heaving as he tried to vomit out whatever remains of the person that he just swallowed whole. But nothing came out.
!!
The poor kid noticed his presence and instantly he raised his right hand in panic, pointing its blackened finger towards him. But All Might smiles in response.
Before the kid could even flinch he was already upon him, one arm stretched back while the other wrapped around his back holding him in place. Suguru braces for the impact.
But he was waiting for nothing, as no fist ever came down on him. Instead, he was pulled into an embrace by arms as big as his entire torso, wrapped in its iconic yellow, blue, red, and white-coloured bodysuit.
Suguru cracked his eye open just a little, his dulled purple eyes seemingly regaining their colour as his breathing gradually calmed down. All Might looked down at his arms, finally meeting eyes with the boy.
And they were trembling.
"IT'S ALL RIGHT BOY, YOU DID IT.."
Only now did the tears fall, and somewhere in that dark murky headspace, the dead were smiling in unseen happiness at an honest emotion flowing down the boy's face.
"YOU SAVED EVERYONE, BOY. YOUR PARENTS, YOUR FRIENDS ARE ALL FINE BECAUSE OF YOU, GREAT JOB ദ്ദി( ^ᴗ^ )✦!" Suguru could swear he saw the hero's teeth actually letting out a shine as they reflect the lights hitting them.
Suguru also noticed something off with what All Might said.
"E-Eh? My.. parents?"
And then he saw them, trembling-eyed holding her hands upon her mouth as her tears ruined what little cosmetics were left after the entire ordeal. His father, still by Chī's side from all this time, huffing as he catches his breath.
"Suguru.." Chī whispered.
But Suguru caught something else, an emotion he had never seen on his parents' faces for as long as they had looked at him. Suguru's eyes widen in surprise but something in his heart feels something else.
Indifference.
It wasn't just his parents who had that emotion in their eyes. As Suguru looked around he realised that most, no, almost everyone looking at him had that fear in their eyes.
But as he looked up again at the No. 1 hero still holding him in his embrace, Suguru realised that he was wrong again.
Behind that warm comforting outer casing, there was something similar to the ones he saw in everyone's eyes.
It turns out everyone was looking at him with fear present in their eyes.
Even him.
Even All Might.
...Why?
But before he could voice his confusion, the sound of footsteps entered his ears. He turned to look as a lone familiar figure walked towards him.
His father, Ōshiro Wataru, while his eyes are still flickering with fear his stance is firm and full of confidence as he radiated an air of...
Proudness?
"Suguru" His father called out.
All Might moved out of the way with surprising grace, and his father, whom he now stands before looked at him proudly with a hand perched on his head, rubbing his hair around as he always does.
"You look so cool over there, great job" He praised.
Why..
But now the inner voice wasn't coming from his own thoughts, it instead came from the sound of that man.
Such a lucky child you are...
Not long after his mom came, hugging his body tight as a knot as she bawled her eyes out, letting her fear, dread and worry all flow out with it. And as such his father joined in too, wrapping them both in his warm embrace while offering comforting words to his wife and child.
But the heart-warming moments didn't last long.
Clink! Clang!
Because even before the first gas canisters fell from the ceilings, All Might already knew where the order came from. And as the white gas inside began expanding, covering the entirety of the lobby in its poisonous droplets, they screamed.
People screamed, or tried as they might before ultimately succumbing to the sleeping agent it contains. They cried to All Might, begged him in desperation, clinging to his limbs and torso hoping for safety for him to bring.
But nought came, all because the great game only abides by one rule alone.
He must fall, so the end could justify all means.
Especially to secure a quirk born so close to His likeness.
That's why, as men in suits wearing gas masks dropped down from the ceilings in an orderly fashion he uttered but one simple question.
".. WHAT IS YOUR ORDER FROM THE HPSC?" He asked, the falling of the tips of his mouth imaging his displeasure.
All Might wrapped his arms around the collapsed family still holding each other despite their unconscious state, making his stance and meaning clear.
The boy and his family are under His protection.
The masked agents, now surrounding him, could only stand around before one of them eventually came forward.
"We are told to retrieve the boy and the boy alone to the training facility, his quirk is too dangerous for Him to ever be found out about.
You've seen it yourself, All Might"
...
But All Might just stood there unmoving, even with the white sleeping agent billowing nearly covering his entire form with only his striking blue eyes piercing through the mist. The silence only made his response even clearer to the agents.
"... Tell Madam President, I would like for there to be a meeting for us all regarding this matter.
And tell the NPSC, the PPC, and the police force to be there as well, thank you."
And with those final words, he walked away with the entire family in his arms, going towards the breach he made in the rubble two chapters ago.
Outside the building, countless cameras stood ready for him. Once news of his arrival and breach into the Southern Entrance spread, it was impossible to stop the waves of paparazzi and news agencies storming their way into the area.
They were used to this, charging into danger with only the thought of All Might somehow having already been in control of the situation being all the justification they needed in their hearts.
But All Might's smile is as shiny as ever as he steps outside the building still holding the family in his arms, walking towards the leading police vehicle to send them for treatment.
And the agents, quiet as they came they disappeared back into the shadows from where they came. Back to report on the upcoming meeting with the No.1 Hero.
And so behind closed doors, they decide.
༺𓆩༒︎𓆪༻
Back in the main building of the HPSC, inside that same meeting room, all fourteen participants have sat in their chairs for more than three hours already.
But fortunately, after a long and exhausting talk of security and secrecy, we have finally come to an agreed decision.
"Thank you, to everyone who has managed the call for this meeting on such short notice" The President's advisor, still diligently standing by her side, announced the closing of the session.
"And now I will re-read the results of our agreement so that there'll be no thought of lies between us.
First, is on the matter of the Wataru family's immediate fate after the incident.
With the end of the Funabashi Aeon Mall Incident and the 299 lightly wounded victims, the Wataru family will be counted along with this group and will receive the same treatment as they would have received.
But.. as we have agreed, the Wataru family will be informed of the truth of their memory loss and in exchange, they will have to be under surveillance for several years ahead until...
Suguru Wataru entered U.A High, from which the main job of surveillance will be transferred to the U.A High authority, along with the choice whether to continue or to stop the surveillance entirely"
He stopped for a moment to take a short breath before continuing.
"Second, is the matter public knowledge.
All details regarding the gassing of the Southern Entrance the true nature of Suguru Wataru's quirk will be thoroughly concealed and replaced with an official story to further the layers.
Remember, this knowledge cannot, I repeat.
Cannot fall into His hands and this conversation has never happened"
Another pause, but now his attention is firmly towards the two U.A representatives present, especially, towards its principal.
"Third and last matter, is the matter of his future hero career.
I believe Mr Nezu himself would prefer to make his own words clear."
Now Nezu stand in his chair, as his special rights granted, to make clear of his words on the last matter of the meeting.
"Correct, Mr Adoba I would indeed prefer to do so.
Ladies and gentlemen let me make myself absolutely clear once again because my stance wouldn't change until the very end.
Suguru, will be free to choose his education and to make many other choices as a child should, as we do not find any need to concern ourselves with someone's childhood, don't we?"
Nezu cast a subtle glance towards the President of the HPSC, one that does not escape her notice.
But perhaps it was what he was aiming for as well.
༺𓆩༒︎𓆪༻
And with that, the childhood arc of so many hours of writing comes to its end as men in high-rise buildings began placing expectations on a child not even 8 years old.
And many shadows of society still lurk in the dark, because as long as the lord of the underworld is free still, it would never be stopped.
But that's for the next arc for me to explain. And so I say goodbye for now.
Thanks for reading, and a bit of a short chapter this one did become 👋🥰