Open Book

_________ POV Beru_________

"Wait, so you choose to spend a few weeks playing around in Russia?" Midnight spoke with a raised eyebrow while looking at me.

"Well, yes~ But that's not everything~ Took me a while to look into that shitty bomb that went off a while back~" I shrugged a bit. But I still feel that Nemuri is a bit sceptical about this whole explanation of mine.

Thing is, I can't answer truthfully to her question. Telling her that I've been missing because I've been around the world and missing from home to take down a criminal syndicate that ruled the world is rather strange.

I mean, it's not that I don't trust her, but I don't think she must know every single detail of what happened...

"Oh, so you were working on something. Why not say that from the beginning, would've saved me a lot of worries, ya know?" Midnight's sigh was rather tired after she finished talking.

I guess I've not been the best of boyfriends to her. Not that I know much about relationships or anything, but I should at least spend more time with her from now on.

I mean, making more plans including her would be good. This ain't something I'm used to.

"I guess I didn't think about that~... I do always have some issues with thinking about important stuff~" I muttered while scratching the back of my head.

"You have trouble thinking about most things... But that's fine too. Not like I didn't know this going into our relationship. You've always liked closing yourself off in your world from time to time." Hmm? That's new.

I've heard a lot of people talk about me, but this is the first time I hear anyone mentioning anything about this.

"What do you mean?~" Wait, I think I know actually...

_________ POV Narration_________

"Well, most of the teachers noticed this. But you tend to go deep in thought and not respond to most things. You also tend to do your own thing all the time. Like how you barely tell anyone of your plans..."

Beru hung his head in shame when hearing of Midnight's words. It was indeed true that he barely told anyone about his plans. Only talking to those that could be helpful to him.

It was odd, he had never discussed things like taking down the Commission with anyone. But there were plenty of people that realised he was the one to do it. No one said anything though.

Why would they? Beru was a friend. He wasn't a stranger, he also wasn't a person that they needed to be cautious against...

But, he also proved the fact that he didn't trust most of the people close to him. He didn't trust others with his secrets at all, he didn't even mention how his life was going most of the time.

In short, most of the bonds he created were superficial on his part. Most people only got to know how Beru was on the surface, they still considered him a friend, and he still cared for them.

But he never truly opened up to anyone. Yori and Nezu were two people that knew Beru best, but even the two of them had some gaps in their knowledge of him.

Why? Because some of Beru's knowledge was simply unexplainable to them.

He was thrown in a forest at the beginning of his life, lived in an orphanage after that, then got captured and acted as a braindead Nomu for most of his teenage years...

So how does someone with that past learn how to perfectly interrogate and torture others? How does one's mind, in that situation, mature to the point where being able to pick up on subtle social cues?

Most importantly... Where does Beru's ideology and morality come from? Were they implanted into him? If so, then by who?

All for One sure wouldn't have thought Beru to care about children and/or save civilians. There was no place for him to learn those things.

All Might assumed Beru developed them on his own... But out of what examples? A child takes after the things they observe, they are moulded by the world around them.

By all accounts, Beru was born and raised to be a monster, a person that was unlucky enough to fall into the hands of hateful people time and time again. Fated to become hateful and vengeful.

But his opinions on others weren't made with that in mind. It was as if those experiences at a fragile age meant nothing at all... That was what unnerved and puzzled All Might.

Even Toga found it difficult to rationalize the way Beru turned out. It's not like she never asked herself any questions about how Beru could give her so much advice.

She took it for granted because she trusts Beru, but questions like the ones mentioned prior still made their way into her mind eventually.

Same for Nemuri. There were plenty of things she had failed to notice before she got to know Beru better.

He always seemed to be an open book, arms wide open showing the people around him whatever they needed. But he always left some questions unanswered.

I mean, what's the use of an open book when the first half of its pages are missing?

All of their questions and worries could be so easily answered if they had the context of Beru's past life... But that was Beru's largest secret yet... It was also not something he was gleefully thinking about revealing to others.

What if they no longer saw him the same way? What if they also ended up thinking that he didn't belong there?

Insecurity is the name of the enemy and Beru, with all of his confidence, was never good at dealing with his own emotions. He always managed to find some outlet.

Now there was little space for running away though.

"I usually just do things...~ I guess not implicating others in my problems is something I strive to do~" Beru spoke in a tame tone. Not really knowing how to rationalize the walls he built around himself.

"That's not a good way to think though... You always butt your nose and help anyone that needs it. At least out of your friend group. None of us would hesitate to help you either." Nemuri looked at Beru with a serious gaze.

Her words were certainly not wrong either. All of the bonds that Beru forged, all of his friends, wouldn't hesitate to help him in any situation. It was him that refused to ask for help...

"... I know~ But I... They are things I can take care of myself~"

"Oh please, that's what can be said about most things. We all know that you can take care of yourself. But doing everything yourself is going to get tiring one day. And I-we don't want you growing resentful over time." Nemuri scratched the back of her head while speaking with a sad smile.

Beru growing tired of everything was something that she truly worried about.

"... I guess I'll ask for help next time something happens~ Even if I can deal with it on my own~ Some help is never bad~" Beru sighed as he gave up on his previous words.

Nemuri smiled, she stared at Beru's eyes with a smile. She ended up hugging him and leaning on his chest.

"... When you're ready... You don't have to talk about yourself now... But I do eventually want to get to know my boyfriend better." Beru blinked a bit at her words.

He opened his mouth in response but stopped himself. 'No use in lying to her now... I guess I'll address this some other time...'

_______________________________________________

Hope you liked the chapter!

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on:

Discord: