No worthy heart

"Slide" Oki opened his window slowly and entered it in a quick, swift motion. It was currently three in the morning and Oki was out of energy to deal with anything that life threw at him. He changed clothes before laying down on his bed and going to sleep.

When Oki opened his eyes it was already morning, he woke up because of the horrible smell that was permeating outside his room. Oki stood up, went to the bathroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, before finally descending a set of stairs.

Oki reached the bottom in no time and he saw a more mature looking Saki cooking breakfast for both of them. Saki heard Oki's footsteps descending the stairs which lead her to look at him with a loving smile. "Breakfast is almost ready, are you going to eat in your room again or will you eat with me?" Saki asked monotonously, like she asked this question a thousand times already.

"I will eat with you" Saki was surprised to hear those words as she was showing an incredulous look to Oki, "My, my, well… that's a surprise, what changed your mind?" Saki questioned Oki.

"I'm just dealing with a lot of stress right now" Oki said before he sat down on a chair besides the dining table.

"That's not what a fourteen year old boy should say, tell me, is it those martial arts instructors? I knew that sending you to those martial arts classes was a bad idea, but you just had to drive me crazy with your nagging for me to accept"

"Probably because of that" Oki lied.

"I will personally go there and complain myself. I know that I asked you this a million times already but why do you have to change classes every year? It doesn't make sense, first it was Muay-Thai, then taekwondo, then Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, then judo, then bo staff? Like why bo staff?" Saki entered one of her rants again.

Mom, I already told you, it's to be prepared for anything that life can throw at me, especially because I'm quirkless and anybody with an average quirk could bully me to the ground.

"Haaa, make sure to not push yourself hard enough, I don't want to see you laying on a hospital bed so soon."

The place was silent for a while before Saki asked Oki something that had been bothering her mind since a few years ago. "What do you want to do when you grow up? You're not thinking of becoming a hero are you?" Saki asked with evident worry.

"I think that you're overthinking it, I want to become a business man and have an empire. I can't let my beautiful mom work too much after all."

"That makes me even more worried about how you will turn out in the future. Listen, Oki, never go around scamming people or do anything bad for money, always try to walk in the path of good."

"You got it mom, it's not like I was thinking of doing that in the first place. Because I'm quirkless I have to think of other ways to make a living so… I chose the one that will help you the most."

You're a good kid, but you know that it's possible to become a hero without a quirk right? There're a lot of cases in which people have bad quirks like having slightly better eyesight but they compensate with their combat skills and gadgets. Compared to them, I think that you'll fare better against villains if you have decent equipment."

"Wow, I never thought that you would say that, just know that I'm not interested in becoming a hero. I'm not in love with the idea of risking my life to save other people, I don't have what heroes call a worthy heart."

"Well… If you're going to become a businessman then make sure to become the best okay? And when I say the best I mean that you need to do so without doing anything illegal."

"Sure… I need to change plans then" Oki muttered under his breath.

"Hey!! I heard that" after that comment, Saki finished the Okinawa soba that she was cooking and served Oki before taking a plate for herself.

"Itadakimasu!" They both said before eating. Oki was eating slowly whilst he drank water whenever he finished swallowing a piece of meat from the soup. Saki was looking at Oki the whole time that he was eating, trying to see how he fared with eating since she hadn't seen him eat since last year.

'He is finally eating like a normal person, I was worried that Oki would never eat like this when he was just a little kid. it took him four years to eat decently and now he's eating like a man! I'm glad' Saki smiled while she looked at Oki with motherly affection.

'If that ballerina teacher didn't push Rie to such extents with her training she would still be alive, anorexia is no joke, I'm happy that Oki is doing better' Saki thought before looking to at a photo frame at her left.

In the photo, Saki looked happy with her husband and daughter, the daughter looked very malnourished but she was still smiling with joy. Saki then sadly smiled before looking at the picture on the right, it was her and a twelve year old Oki which looked to be startled because Saki was hugging him. Saki smiled lightly before focusing on the food.

Oki was looking at Saki through his peripheral vision and noticed the changes in her expression because of the photo. Oki knew that Saki adopted him to replace her dead daughter but that didn't stop him from loving her with all of his heart. She took care of him and that's all that mattered.

He finished eating fast enough before excusing himself and going to the restroom in the top floor. After Oki entered it, he pushed two fingers down his throat and threw up the recently eaten food before flushing the toilet.

"Haa, I've done this for a long time now but I never seem to fully get comfortable" Oki then went downstairs and said goodby to Saki before going to the dojo.

Oki entered the humble bo staff dojo and inside there were people fighting with bo staffs, he headed towards the wall filled with staffs and grabbed one.

"Oki! Today is the day that I finally beat you" A tall black kid that looked to be around Oki's age said.

"Don't get to exited Danny, this will be my last day in this dojo before I change to another one, I've already been here for two years… it's my time to leave" Oki said whilst he eyed his staff in a melancholic way.

"No way… I knew that this would happen but not this soon, I will definitely miss you, things are not as lively when you're not here" Danny responded.

"I came here specifically to have one last spar with you… don't look so sad, it's not like we won't be seeing each other again"

"I know, just promise me that you'll spar me again and again until I win" Danny said with a small smile adorning his face.

"You need to have confidence in yourself, let's go, I'll finish this fight within 3 moves" Oki said before heading towards an open space with no people. Danny didn't pay attention to his words and followed Oki before taking his position in front of him, they both were in a stance looking at each other.

Danny was the first one to to make the first move, he rushed towards Oki before thrusting his staff towards his chest. Oki deflected the staff towards his right and then tried to hit Danny's chest with the back of his staff, "One."

Danny dodged the staff by taking a step back before he swung his staff horizontally towards Oki's chest. Oki ducked under Danny's swing and thrusted his staff upwards towards his chest. "Two" no head attacks were allowed in this sparring match.

Seeing that the staff was approaching his chest at a fast pace and couldn't dodge, Danny deflected the strike to the left slightly enough for the attack not to hit him and then quickly thrusted his spear towards Oki's chest.

Oki predicted that Danny would do this and dodged before he even attacked, this way he effectively avoided the attack before it hit him. Danny also seemed to predict Oki's movement as he suddenly shifted his course and sent his attack towards Oki's chest.

Everything seemed to be lost for Oki but thanks to his incredible reflexes plus his speed he managed to avoid it in time and lightly strike Danny on the chest. This attack ended the fight between them, they both went to the center before shaking hands and smiling.

"You were great Oki, I still don't understand how you avoided my attack but that was impressive man."

"Don't flatter me too much, it was only luck that I managed to avoid it, I'll return home for now, have a good time training" Oki left before Danny could say anything else.

'If it wasn't for my ghoul's natural strengthening of the senses and body I definitely wouldn't have avoided that attack… I'm so pathetic' Oki though to himself with a frown on his face.

'I know that I was containing myself and that he has more experience, but I cannot accept this. I need to be stronger than everyone, no matter the cost, if someone who has a grudge with me finds my identity they could take my mom hostage or in the worst case… kill her.'

Whilst Oki was having these thoughts someone else was planning something against him without his knowledge.