15 CH 14: DREAM? REALITY?
Nighteye was watching the TV with Kuroha as they were eating.
The dinner for today was composed of pasta with a bolognese sauce and some fried chicken leg with it. There were also some steak and a little bit of fish.
The food expenditures for the heroes were always pretty high since they always burned a high quantity of fat.
On the TV, the reporter was speaking
"Today, a hold up followed by a hostage-taking took place in the city Bank. The robbers were villains with somewhat powerful quirks. Thankfully, the day was once again saved by All Might"
Hearing this, the sound of eating stopped momentarily, Nighteye dabbed his mouth with a tissue before immediately getting up and setting in the sofa to better watch.
Despite his father's dispute with uncle Thoshinori and the breaking up of their team, Nighteye never stopped being a fan.
SIGH!!!
Kuroha Sighed. Those two were really stubborn. Even now, when he goes spend the days with uncle Thoshinori, he would be asked some questions about Nighteye.
Kuroha didn't know why they stopped working together, but for them to still care about each other, it shouldn't be anything too grave.
On the TV, footage of All Might beating the robbers and saving the hostage was shown. He looked at it with mild interest before going back to eating.
He never understood why Nighteye was such a fanboy. Sure All Might on the TV was someone incredible. But once you spent time with him, you'll understand that he was nothing more than an old man who liked to tell bad jokes and was really shitty at teaching.
Speaking of teaching, he wondered what kind of teachers he would have. He hoped that they wouldn't be too shitty.
"Kuroha, are you ready for tomorrow?"
Kuroha looked up from his plate before looking toward Nighteye who took back his place. It seemed like the section about All Might already passed.
"Why the question?"
Nighteye blushed. Kuroha looked blankly at the blushing face of his father. He hurriedly turned his face toward the window and verified that no clouds of doomsday were covering the sky.
PHEW!!!
He let a sigh of relief. It seemed like the end of the world was still far from coming.
COUGH!!! COUGH!!!
Nighteye, seeing Kuroha act like that, coughed a little,
"Don't look at me like that. It's not like I'm worried about your first day of school. I just thought that it was the duty of a father to ask this kind"
"Are you... A tsundere?"
An arrow pierced through Nighteye heart.
COUGH!!! COUGH!!! COUGH!!!
"You're retorting are always so sharp Kuroha."
Kuroha titled his head in wonder. Retort? He was seriously asking this question. Well, he didn't really want to insist on it either. He took a large bite of his chicken leg before answering once he swallowed.
"Don't worry, I will do well."
Nighteye nodded and began to hit in silence in order to hide his embarrassment. After that, he cleaned his food fast and went into his office. Kuroha was more of a slow eater.
Now alone, he began to think about how he could act. Those years of his work in the streets, he let a path of blood wherever he went. But still, he began to slow down a little.
His name still wasn't known by the authorities for two reasons. The first was that he never took out a big name villain. The second one was that all those he killed were outcasts of the society whose death might not even be recorded.
He needed to slow down because his target became stronger and stronger while becoming more notorious. Their deaths would make more splash.
"Pieces of information stated that the heroes killer made a new victim today. From the record, it is the 10th hero he killed. His were about and modis operates are still unknown. The only thing known is that he only targets heroes."
The information from the TV continued. Kuroha, hearing this look with a thoughtful expression.
" The heroes killer? Seem interesting."
After that, he switched off the TV and went to his room. Once there, he took off his clothes and went into the bathroom before sitting directly in his bath.
After a while, he closed his eyes in order to sleep... Perhaps today he would be able to do so?
-----
A Grey landscape greeted his eyes. As far as he could see, there was nothing alive. Decayed Corpse of human and animal, dying three, destroyed buildings.
This was a dead world. This was a world without hope. This was the world in his mind.
Kuroha sighed, as the years passed, he lost his fear of everything being a dream. Sadly, a new problem cropped up. Whenever he slept, he would see this world. An incredibly depressing world. This began the day when he heard about All Might wound.
He began to walk silently. After a while, he saw someone else alive beside him. It was a young child. A child with a red mask covering his face, holding a red scythe.
Kuroha recognized this style. It was him, more precisely, it was "Junketsu". He was used to seeing this, he sighed once again before speaking,
"Do we have to do this once again?"
The figure didn't answer but simply readied his weapon before sprinting toward him.
Kuroha knew it was useless. In this world, he would fight against this figure again and again until he lost and was ejected. He couldn't count how many times he was defeated.
The first time, he thought that it was simply a dream, or his mind playing tricks on him, but when he woke up, he could clearly see his shirt bathed in blood.
That when he understood. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but this world was real. Since then, he would periodically enter this dream and fight his alter ego. He called him Senketsu.
This Senketsu wasn't faster or stronger than him. But he never won. The way they used their quirk and their martial prowess was simply too different.
Like right now. Kuroha escaped from a swing of the scythe only to be greeted by a rain of blood needle coming out of it. It was with great difficulty he managed to react fast enough to avoid them. Sadly, his left foot was suddenly pierced by a spear made out of the blood that appeared from a puddle he stepped on.
He frowned as he held in a groan of pain. In his dreamscape, his regeneration abilities didn't exist. At the same time, things that would have simply made him wince become extremely painful.
Senketsu didn't stop. The very moment Kuroha stopped because of the pain, he teleported directly close to him before giving him a good knee in the stomach followed by a sword in the back.
He wasn't even able to fall down before being lifted like a chicken and punched in the face. The force behind the punch was so high that he thrown a few meters in the sky before landing more than ten meters away from were he was.
Kuroha vomited blood his tried to stand up. Only a few seconds and he was completely destroyed. It hurt, it hurt so much, but he couldn't help but smile. So he could move like that? So he could control the battlefield like that?
A few seconds later, his head soared through the sky, he died...
----
Kuroha woke with a deep breath as he watched his wound slowly close. He rarely went in the dreamscape because one fight(or rather one simple trashing) was enough for him to think about it for weeks. He sighed and took a shower to wash off the blood. Seem like he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either.
But how did he manage to teleport so close to him? He was sure that there were no marks on him. Another question for later.
During those last two years, he managed to learn many new tricks to his blood quirk. It was the first time Senketsu, used his teleport quirk. He even though that Senketsu couldn't use it and could only manipulate blood. That why he called him "SENKETSU" which means "Fresh Blood".
He balled his fists in frustration. The more he fought against Senketsu, the more unworthy he felt. The way he used his quirks was so different...
"I am still weak. Too weak. Much too weak."
Blood began to dribble from his hand, he was frustrated. Not because of all his death, but because of how much untapped potential his quirks still had.
It has been three years now since he left the laboratory. But what had he been doing all this time?
His name means "Swift revenge". What the fuck was he actually doing?
"It's only now that you understand how slow you're?"
A voice suddenly sounded in his head. Suddenly, he wasn't in his room, but in a room without much light. On his back, was what seemed like a mirror, and from it came the voice. His voice.
Kuroha didn't need to turn. He knew who it was. He was now used to the voices in his head.
"You speak as if you would have done a better job."
His reflection laughed lightly
"Ah ah ah. Of course I could. Well not as much as Slayer, but still way better than you. The way you use our power is so childish, so cautious. You're so fearful of our power. But it's normal. After all, you're the crybaby. It's really a wonder that it's you who is in control."
"Crybaby" that how they called him. He never understood why. At least he didn't consider himself a Crybaby. Slayer was how they called Senketsu.
"What? Not happy being called a Crybaby? Don't make me laugh. Out of all of us, you are the weakest. You represent our kindness and hope. I really thought that you were erased when we were five years old."
Those words made him flinch. A hazy scene seemed to appear before his eyes. His heart seemed to beat harder, faster. His palm became sweaty, all his senses seemed overloaded. He could only hear two faint murmur.
"Madness, stop."
"it's still too soon heu? Gess that enough for today. See you later, Crybaby."
Suddenly, he was once again in his room. Everything seemed like a nightmare. But the sweat on his face and his difficulty to breathe were proof that it wasn't.
He looked at his arm filled with goosebumps and that was still shaking. He tried to remember what he saw, but a sharp pain stopped him from doing so.
Finally, he sighed after his heart began to beat normally again. He laid down on his floor, lost in thought and stayed like that until the first ray of the sun illuminated his room.
