"Can we fly there?" asked Momo atop Yuuichi's shoulders while swinging her legs.
"We could but we would get in trouble. Do you know why?" asked Yuuichi.
"Because you can't use your quirk in public." she said.
"That's right, good job." said Yuuichi, looking up to see Momo with a smile and her head raised in pride.
As Yuuichi continued to make his way to the park with Momo atop his shoulders, the two talked about anything that Momo wanted. From public quirk usage to why butterflies have pretty wings. Even though Momo was more intelligent than others her age, she was still a kid, so some questions were very childish while others were less so. And as a good brother, Yuuichi was more than happy to answer any of her questions.
"Why aren't there any more dinosaurs?" asked Momo as she ate a lollipop, courtesy of her older brother who rarely gave her one after being scolded by their mother since she could get cavities, unlike Yuuichi.
"A long, long time ago, a big rock from space hit the Earth and killed all the dinosaurs." explained Yuuichi.
"Why?"
"Because the rock hit the earth so hard that it covered the entire planet in dust which meant the dinosaurs couldn't breathe."
"Is that going to happen to us?" she asked.
With this question, Yuuichi looked up to see that Momo was looking down at him with a scared look on her face.
"No. And if it ever does, I promise that I'll stop it." said Yuuichi with a smile before pinching her cheeks to switch her train of thought to something not so grim.
"Nwii-chwan! Stwop!" she said.
"They're like mochi." teased Yuuichi, letting go of her cheeks.
"Hmph." she said, pouting.
"Okay, okay. Nii-chan's sorry. Will you forgive me, Hime-sama?"
"Only if we can get ice cream after the park." she said with a sly smile.
"Haha, okay." said Yuuichi, laughing at her antics.
"Yay!" she cheered.
With the thought of ice cream on her mind, Momo forgot about the terrifying thought of a giant asteroid coming down from space and wiping out all life.
'I should be able to stop an asteroid eventually, right?' thought Yuuichi as he daydreamed about a giant thousand-handed Buddha construct holding up an asteroid like Atlas.
~
"Okay, go play. Make some friends, but be careful. I'll be here watching you." said Yuuichi as he lifted Momo off of his shoulders and put her down on the ground.
"Okay." she said before speeding off to play in the jungle gym.
Seeing her tiny figure run off and almost trip in excitement made Yuuichi chuckle.
Knowing they might be there for a while, Yuuichi went to sit down at a bench that was close to Momo and had a good view of her.
Looking around the playground, Yuuichi could see that many of the other parents and/or guardians weren't paying attention to their kids but rather were on their phones.
'Sheesh, you'd think they would pay attention to their flesh and blood. Though I really can't blame them. Not everyone is like me. Being content just doing nothing.' thought Yuuichi before putting his attention back on Momo.
Watching his sister play in the jungle gym and get along with the other children made Yuuichi think back on his childhood. More specifically his friendship with Rumi.
'It's been about 6 years. Time sure does fly. I wonder how she's doing now.' thought Yuuichi as he reminisced on all the good times they had before being snapped out of it by Momo.
"Nii-chan." said Momo.
"What's wrong?" asked Yuuichi.
"I've been calling you. Are you okay?" she asked, concern on her face.
"Haha, sorry. I'm fine. I was just thinking about something." he said, rubbing her head.
"Okay. Come play with me." she said, dragging him towards the swings where she promptly sat down, waiting for him to push her.
"Okay, hang on tight." said Yuuichi before pushing her softly.
"Nii-chan, push me harder." she said.
"Roger." said Yuuichi before pushing her hard enough for her to actually gain some speed.
"Whee!" she said as she swung back and forth.
This continued for a few minutes before Momo got bored.
"Nii-chan, I'm bored. Can we go get ice cream now?" she asked as she jumped down from the swing.
"Already? You sure you don't want to play some more?" he asked.
"No."
"Okay. Let's go get some ice cream then." he said, grabbing her hand before the pair started walking to an ice cream stand that was in the park.
"Welcome, what can I get you today?" asked the kind-looking old man manning the ice cream stand.
"Let me get a scoop of matcha on a cone. And what do you want, Momo?"
"I can't see the flavors, Nii-chan." she said.
"Oops." said Yuuichi before picking her up to look at the flavor menu.
"I want chocolate! Two scoops! With sprinkles!" she said.
"One scoop. Mom will get mad at me if she finds out I let you eat so much ice cream." said Yuuichi.
"Please, Nii-chan, can I get two scoops?" she said with puppy dog eyes.
"Sigh. Fine. But don't tell Mom." said Yuuichi caving to her cuteness.
"Yay! Thank you, Nii-chan! I love you!" she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Haha. You have a good older brother." said the old man as he scooped the ice cream.
"He's the best."
"Here you go." said the old man, handing over the two cones.
"Thanks." said Yuuichi, putting down Momo before grabbing the two cones with one hand and handing the old man the money with the other.
"Thank you, Jii-san." said Momo.
"Haha, take care you two." said the old man waving goodbye as the pair left, ice cream in hand.
"Let's go sit down on a bench so you won't spill your ice cream." said Yuuichi before the pair sat down on a bench that had a view of a small pond with ducks.
"Ah." said Momo as she looked down at the gob of ice cream that fell on her shirt.
"Here, let me clean that up." said Yuuichi as he used a napkin to clean up the ice cream.
"Looks like there's going to be evidence that we ate some ice cream now." joked Yuuichi.
"Sorry, Nii-chan."
"It's okay. Mom would have figured it out anyways." he said, rubbing her head as the two continued to eat their ice cream and enjoy the view.
As the two watched the ducks, someone greeted them.
"Afternoon citizens. I too like watching the ducks." said a man dressed in a colorful costume with a black mask covering only the eyes who was clearly a hero.
"A hero." said Momo.
"Haha, that's right little girl. I am a hero." he said posing.
"Patrolling the neighborhood?" asked Yuuichi.
"On my way home, citizen. I like to stop by here and look at the ducks before going home. It calms me." he said.
"That's nice." said Yuuichi, not really interested in the hero.
"Indeed. Well, you two be careful now." he said before leaving.
"Nii-chan." said Momo as she stared at the hero's departing back.
"What's up?" asked Yuuichi.
"Are you going to be a hero?"
"I am."
"Why?"
"I don't like bullies. And I made a promise with someone."
"But isn't it dangerous?" she asked looking down at the ground.
"It is. But you don't have to worry because your big brother is strong. And if I'm a hero, I can protect you, Mom, Dad, and everyone else." he said, patting her head causing her to look up and see a big smile on his face with boundless confidence.
"I want to be a hero too. So I can protect you, mommy, and daddy." she said with determination on her face.
"Hahaha!" laughed Yuuichi, loud enough to attract the attention of other parkgoers.
"Nii-chan! Why are you laughing?!" she said with anger on her face.
"Sorry, sorry. I wasn't laughing at you wanting to be a hero. I promise. I was laughing because I was happy that my cute little sister wants to protect her family."
"Hmph, just wait and see. I'm going to be a good hero." she said pouting as she continued to eat her ice cream.
"I don't doubt it." said Yuuichi.
WOOSH
Hearing the sound of an object flying through the air, Yuuichi looked up to see a boulder flying toward the pair. And seeing the boulder on a collision course for the two of them, all of Yuuichi's senses went into overdrive to the point where it felt like time had slowed to a crawl.
And if he had a mirror, he would notice that his usually black pupils were replaced with blue lilies.
Drawing the Solar Energy from his reserve faster than he had ever done so before, he quickly conjured a giant buckler to redirect the boulder as well as a barrier around him and Momo as an added measure.
BANG
The boulder hit the buckler and was successfully diverted off course before crashing into the ground next to the pair.
"Ahh!" screamed Momo, dropping the ice cream and latching on to her brother after hearing the giant crash.
"Are you okay?" asked Yuuichi, picking Momo up while keeping the barrier conjured in case of another attack. At the same time, he stood up with her in his arms and started looking around the area to determine whether it was a random villain attack or targeted at them.
"Y-yes." she said, clearly shaken evident by the tears in her eyes and the trembling of her body.
"It's going to be okay. Just close your eyes. I'm going to protect you." said Yuuichi as he spotted a group of four villains making their way toward them.
'Shit. Seems like we're being targeted.' thought Yuuichi.
"N-nii-san?"
"I'm okay, Momo. Your big brother just needs to take care of some things really quickly, okay? I'm going to put you down on the bench for just a minute. I need you to close your eyes."
"No! Stay with me!" she said, holding on even tighter.
"Okay, okay. I'll stay with you. I won't let you go." he said before turning his attention back to the four villains who were already nearby.
'I wanted to beat them up myself, but I'll settle for letting my constructs do it.' thought Yuuichi.
"Hurry up and break this thing! The heroes should be here soon!" said one of the villains who had a sharp bone sticking out his forearm.
"Yeah, hurry up! We'll be rich once we kidnap these kids and get the ransom money!" said another who was dressed like a clown.
"Don't rush me! I can't perform under pressure!" said a short villain with drills for fingertips.
"Too long. Me smash." said the big one who looked like a big gorilla before he raised his hands and brought them down full force on the barrier.
BANG
"Ahh!" yelled Momo as she quickly covered her ears.
"Hey, kid, make this easier on yourselves and bring this thing down, would you?" said the one with the bone.
"Hahaha. No." said Yuuichi before conjuring two big palms, one on each side of the group of villains, and making them clap.
CLAP
"Ow! Hands hot!" said the gorilla villain who had used his arms to stop the hands.
"I was hoping to get this done with one move, but it seems you're fairly competent." said Yuuichi before the palms retreated before clapping once again.
"Ow! Drill, hurry!" said the gorilla after stopping the hands once more.
"I'm going! Keep holding him off!" he said as he used his drill fingers on the barrier that continued to hold steady.
Yuuichi then made the hands retreat once more before slamming them down but before they were stopped by the gorilla, they burst into a giant swarm of bees.
"Ah! Me hate bees!" said the gorilla villain as he swatted the swarm of bees that stung him with fiery pain.
"Damn it! Let's get out of here! The heroes will be here soon!" said the clown.
"Ahh! Whatever, let's go!" said the drill villain as he stopped trying to break the barrier.
"Who said you can go?" said Yuuichi, turning the swarm of bees into chains that wrapped up the four villains with the gorilla getting extra focus. But, since he didn't want to give them severe burns, he turned down the temperature of his constructs so it felt like no more than a hot summer day.
Still, he was angry so he also decided to cover the group in a barrier whose temperature was higher than the chains, so they can suffer for almost hurting his sister.
"Nii-chan?" asked Momo still with her eyes closed.
"It's okay, Momo. I took care of it. You can open your eyes now." said Yuuichi.
With her brother's assurance, Momo opened her eyes to see her smiling and unscathed older brother which instantly calmed her down. Turning around, she saw four very sweaty men covered in orange chains and surrounded by a barrier.
"You did that?" she asked.
"Yup. Aren't I awesome?"
"Nii-chan's the best!" she said.
"Haha, I'm just glad you're okay." he said.
~
Shortly after, the police showed up to take custody of the villains. They also asked Yuuichi to go to the station with them so he could recount the events that transpired, which he gladly did but not before calling his parents.
That led to his parents rushing to the police station where they made sure their children were okay before going to talk with the police chief, who reassured them he would find out what or who was behind the attempted kidnapping.
And after hearing Yuuichi's side of the story, along with video evidence and witness testimony, it was ruled self-defense and he was free to go.
~
"I'm so glad you're both okay." said Yuuichi's mom.
"Nii-chan was so cool!" said Momo.
"You didn't even see it, how would you know?" said his dad.
"I heard it." she said, pouting.
"Haha. I was cool, wasn't I?" said Yuuichi.
"Yup! And now I also want to be a hero! Just like Nii-chan!" said Momo.
"I'm sure you will be sweetie." said his mother, patting her head.
"Sigh, I wish one of you wanted to take over the company." said Yuuichi's dad.
"Just make another one." joked Yuuichi.
"Make another one? How are babies made?" asked Momo.
"Uhh." x 3
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AN
Sorry for no chapter this past Sunday, finals week has been insane, to say the least. But I'm done with school for the semester, finally. ᓚᘏᗢ
This is the chapter for this past Sunday, so expect the regularly scheduled chapter as well. And maybe a bonus. We'll see.