NO. 50 - Aftermath

[General POV]

"There's still no concrete explanation for the cause of the widespread destruction that occurred in the Florrum Ward. Luckily, the local police were conducting a routine evacuation drill that ended up saving thousands of lives."

A newscaster dressed in a black suit looked into the camera and stated, "Witnesses to the event have reported seeing and hearing what could be described as a possible bomb explosion or a large-scale battle. However, in contrast to the claims made by the HPSC and the heroes present saying that was indeed the case, several eyewitness accounts suggest that the destruction resulted from a significant battle. Here are some interviews conducted by our on-site team just a few minutes after the incident."

The screen changed to two young men with wide, frantic looks. Behind them were several rising pillars of smoke and piles of wreckage.

"-and then there was this super large explosion followed by this massive earthquake that knocked me on my ass!" The man to the right said as he made wide arm movements. "But that was nothing to that laugh I heard in the direction where everything was going down. It was like, super maniacal!"

"Yeah! I don't think what happened here was a bomb! I think it was some sort of fight!" The second man said with his arms crossed. "I'd bet my bottom dollar that this was a Villian attack!"

The screen changed again to show a middle-aged woman with black hair with cat ears.

"I'm not sure if what I saw was real or not, but from where I was standing, I think I saw a person flying across the sky. The crazy thing is that whenever that person moved their arms, everything around them split apart!" The woman recounted as she pointed up at the sky where she supposedly saw the figure. "But a few minutes later, there was this enormous pillar of fire that shot up to the sky! It got so hot I thought I was going to burn alive! And I was several blocks away, too!"

The screen changed once more to a petrified older man. He was sitting on a street curb.

"This was no bomb. No, this was done by two men. Very, very powerful men. I've never seen anything like it. I'm telling you, this was a-"

Click!

Placing the remote control down, the Chairman for the HPSC looked away from the projector screen and turned to stare out at the gathered individuals sitting in the expansive meeting room.

Sitting alongside the extra-long office table were all of the HPSC's highest-ranked members and officials. They all had grave and vexed expressions as they looked down at the papers before them.

"What happened in the Florrum Ward is now out of our control. The narrative has run away so far from us that our official statement is being treated like a conspiracy!" The Chairman spoke calmly as he looked over at the gathered individuals around the table.

Standing beside him, a blonde woman with brushed-back hair stepped forward and addressed all of the gathered members. This was the HPSC's Vice Chairman.

"As you all have been briefed, we have strong suspicions that the cause of the incident was Sukuna." The VP said, lifting her own remote to show a blurry image of Sukuna dressed in his white kimono and black haori outfit. "The pro heroes, Ms. Joke and Backdraft are very confident that he was on the scene right after the mysterious explosion of fire."

"Sukuna." One of the board members muttered with an annoyed expression. "I thought we sent Lady Nagant to handle him."

"That we did." The Chairman said as he adjusted his glasses, an annoyed look in his eyes. "Unfortunately, we believe she was killed during her mission. All we found were scraps and pieces of her rifle with a large amount of her blood and hair at the scene... She was no match for Sukuna."

"That can't be!"

"Nagant failed?!"

"What of the security cameras?!" Another member leaned on the table with a desperate look. "Surely there must have been one camera that caught what truly happened in Florrum!"

"There were around 358 cameras in that location." The VP said as she scrolled through several slides before landing on a large map with hundreds of X's scattered across it. "Unfortunately, they were all either tampered with or destroyed."

"Could Sukuna have something to do with the Yakuza? That was their territory, after all." A woman with short orange hair said.

A bespectacled older man shook his head. "That's very unlikely. The Shie Hassaikai compound was reduced to rubble. At most, it seems that a possible battle between the group and Sukuna occurred. Resulting in their destruction."

"That man must have followers." A high-ranked official muttered as she leaned back in her chair. "It's inconceivable that a single man can perform such acts all on his own."

"Whether he works alone or not doesn't matter. What matters is that Sukuna must be taken down at all costs!" A dark-skinned board member looked over at the Chairman. "It won't be long before the public becomes aware of him. And if the level of destruction in Florrum is anything to go off from, Sukuna is much too powerful for any normal pro-hero to take on. We need All Might to step in."

At the mention of the number one hero, everyone in the room began to utter their agreements and ideas. Standing still, the Chairman seethed silently as he watched all those he gathered seemingly dismiss him.

This wasn't a shock to the man. He could understand why they were all dismissing him despite his higher rank. It was due to his mishandling of the situation. If only he had handled the situation with Sukuna before the destruction of Florrum, then he would still have the confidence of his upper staff.

"Enough." The Chairman spoke loudly, his voice heavy with authority. Slowly, everyone within the room grew silent as they turned to him. "I'm aware of the gravity of the situation, and I've made the proper arrangements to bring Sukuna down. I will not allow the so-called Demon God to destroy the peace of this country."

The Chairman stepped forward and gave everyone a stone-cold glance, causing them all to remember why he was the Chairman of the HPSC.

"On that, you have my word."

x x x

[Shimizu Souta POV]

The aroma of sizzling meat and vegetables wafted around my back courtyard. Smiling, I flipped a piece of tender beef and looked beside me at the two foldout tables lined with cooked meats, vegetables, drinks, and sweets.

"What do you think, Eri-chan? Is it tasty?"

"Mhm! It's good! It's sweet!"

I smiled as Kaina wiped the corner of Eri's mouth with a napkin. Eri smiled at her and then went in to take another bite of her candied apple. Brushing her hair back, Kaina ignored her own plate of food in favor of doting on the small girl.

"Eri-chan! Eri-chan! You need to eat some meat, too!"

Himiko smiled as she kneeled next to Eri with a piece of grilled steak between her chopsticks. Eri nodded and let herself be fed by Himiko. Enjoying the taste, the little girl chewed happily on the food.

"We did a good thing, didn't we, Souta?" A bandaged Jin said as he walked up beside me. His ever-present mask was nowhere to be seen. Lifting up his plate, I placed some grilled chicken and mushrooms on his plate.

"Yeah. It almost made getting stabbed worth it." I grinned and placed some more raw chicken on the grill. "Then again, that's not really on Eri. I was just too weak at the time."

[+10 SP]

"If you're weak, then what am I supposed to be? The strongest! That's what!" Jin proclaimed as he flexed his good arm. "Still, what was that move of yours called again? The Positive Inverted Technique?"

Flipping a thick slice of onion, I turned to him and grinned. "Close. It's the Reversed Cursed Technique. It's pretty much when you multiply a negative against itself to get a positive. Easier said than done, though. But now that I understand it, I can pretty much heal any injury I get as long as I have enough cursed energy."

"That's so broken," Jin muttered as he looked down at his broken arm. It was now in a signed cast held up by a sling.

It's been a week since our battle against the Shie Hassaikai and the death of Chisaki. Throughout that time, countless reports and stories have been made to cover the unexplainable large-scale destruction that occurred in the Florrum Ward, where it all went down.

You couldn't find a single news station that wasn't covering or creating its own scenarios or stories. The official story supplied by the HPSC and the police was that a bomb had accidentally gone off. However, a large number of the public didn't buy their story. Some were calling it an act of terrorism. Others a large-scale Villian attack. But what interested me the most was that no one had used my name even after a group of heroes spotted me.

"It's most likely the HPSC keeping the truth of the situation under wraps." Kaina had said after Himiko asked why the truth wasn't being told. "They're trying to keep the public from knowing of Sukuna's existence."

This made sense. Those in power would do anything to secure the semblance of peace within this country. No matter the cost. Hence Kaina's bloodied past.

Still, I wasn't too interested in whether or not Sukuna took the credit or the fallout for what had happened. I was more worried about Eri.

The young girl wasn't quick to believe me when I told her and everyone else that I had taken down Chisaki. After an hour of talking and convincing her that Chisaki was truly gone and that he would never hurt her again, Eri broke down into tears. Causing Kaina and Himiko to forget their list of questions for me in favor of comforting the girl.

But once Eri fell asleep from all her crying, it was finally time for me to explain how I survived.

Explaining to them what the Reversed Cursed Technique was went about as well as I thought. They understood what I was trying to get at, but the deeper concepts of how the technique worked were impossible for me to explain.

"It's sorta like this… you have to go fwoosh, fwish, and fwoosh again. Sorta like that!" I said as I made these odd hand motions.

Safe to say they weren't amused.

Himiko was rather annoyed I had knocked her out, but she quickly forgave me. That was on the condition that I would always greet her with a hug for the rest of my life. No matter the time or place. While it was a little embarrassing, it was better than receiving the cold shoulder from her all the time.

Unlike Himiko, Jin was extremely happy that I had risen from death with little explanation other than the swooshes and swishes. The man had even given me a quick bro hug after I came back from wiping any traces of Chisaki from the planet.

He was a real one for that.

Kaina took my explanation in stride. Her words were that my abilities were already strange and powerful enough as they were. Being able to heal myself from the clutches of death shouldn't be that big of a stretch.

But the weirdest thing to me was when she hugged me tightly and patted my shoulders. This was weird because she wasn't an overly touchy or emotional person. Well, that was unless it came to Eri. She became quite the mother hen when it came to her. The woman had some crazy maternal instincts.

Moving onto Eri, the poor girl was still deeply traumatized by everything Chisaki had done to her. However, when I asked her what she wanted to do, whether that be going to an orphanage or staying with us, she grew into hysterics. Eri ran to Himiko and Kaina and began to cry, saying that she wanted to stay with the people who saved and comforted her.

"I can't believe you, Sukuna-kun." Himiko gave me the stink eye.

"Souta-san… you're terrible." Said Kaina.

"Not cool, Bro. Not cool…" Jin muttered.

Their comments were harsh but not undeserved.

Still, I needed to give Eri the choice. I didn't want her to feel like we would decide her future simply because we saved her.

"Souta-oniisan. Would you… like to try some?" Eri shyly asked after walking over to me. She looked back to Kaina and watched as the older woman gave her a nod. With newfound confidence, Eri held out her half-eaten candy apple toward me.

Smiling at her, I kneeled and took a bite from her offered treat. Chewing, I brushed back her straight hair and picked her up. "It's delicious." Moving over to the grill, I continued being the grill master and placed the finished beef onto a tray. "What do you want to cook next, Eri? How about some broccoli?"

"Can we put my apple on it?"

"Hmm, we may end up burning it." I grabbed some broccoli with my tongs and placed it on the grill. "Here, let's try and cook some greens."

Throughout the night, we all enjoyed a warm feast in honor of Eri. I looked around at my friends as they savored the meal and each other's company. Jin and Himiko were doing their best to make Eri laugh while Kaina and I exchanged amused smiles from our spot beside the tables.

Looking up at the star-filled night sky, I let a small smile overtake my face as I enjoyed the company of everyone around me.

-

AN:

Quick announcement everyone!

I know most of you have been enjoying the daily updates from this story.

Unfortunately, I will be switching over to a new update schedule starting on Sunday. This is primarily due to my life growing busier and busier. As much as I want to keep pumping these chapters out for you all, I do have responsibilities, bills, and a mortgage to pay for. (T⌓T)

Here is how the updates will look like from now on~

New Chapters:

Sunday(free), Monday(500 PS), Wednesday(1000 PS), and Friday(1500 PS).

That makes four chapters a week. Sorry if that's a letdown for some of you, but it's better than no chapters at all.

That's all I have to say. Thanks for reading today's chapter!

Until next time!