Chapter 28: Summer break.

Hikari Sento was in a good mood today.

Her son's vacation was starting tomorrow, and having saved some money on the side, she planned to surprise him by taking him to the nearby amusement park!

It had been a long time since she had taken him out somewhere, mainly due to financial constraints.

But tomorrow was a day to celebrate!

Especially after Kurokai started earning money from his internship, which had greatly lessened the financial burden on the household.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder: why did the Hero internship only pay in cash?

Although it seemed a little odd, Hikari didn't mind at all.

It was already a miracle for a high schooler to land a paying job in his first semester, especially one that offered such a generous salary!

He must be working with a famous hero... but Kuro always avoided answering when she asked about it.

He must feel shy, she thought.

All in all, Hikari Sento was feeling happy for the first time in a long while.

Seeing that her shift was almost over, she happily stared at the clock, waiting to check out.

Suddenly, the door of the store opened, and a figure staggered inside, holding a bottle in his hand.

Looking at the hooded person, a sense of unease filled her mind. Quietly, she moved her hand toward the hidden button under the counter.

Her bad premonition soon came true.

"Hic! You... where's the alcohol? Hic!"

"Sir, we don't sell alcohol here," Hikari replied calmly.

"What? Hic! What did you say?"

"We don't have any alcohol here," she repeated firmly.

"You…"

The hood slipped off, revealing a monkey-like face flushed red from excessive drinking.

"That, sir—"

"Just like everyone else, you're making fun of me!" the man yelled hysterically before hurling the empty bottle at Hikari.

The bottle flew toward her face. Shocked by the sudden action, Hikari instinctively raised her arms.

Crack!

The glass bottle shattered, sending small shards flying in all directions.

"T-that... I-I didn't mean to!" The man stammered, suddenly realizing what he had done. Panicking, he turned and bolted out of the store.

Hikari lowered her aching arm, relieved that she hadn't sustained any serious injury.

After a moment's thought, she decided not to call the police. She cleaned up the broken glass, finished her shift, and left the store in a hurry.

That was a little scary, she thought.

When she opened the door to her house, the sight of her son sitting on the sofa playing on his phone filled her heart with warmth.

"Kuro! I'm back!"

"Welcome back, Mother," Kurokai replied, putting down his phone.

But as soon as he turned to look at her, his brows furrowed.

"What happened to your cheek?" Kurokai asked.

"Cheek?"

Hikari touched her face in confusion. Feeling a slight bump, she walked to the mirror to take a look.

A small cut on her left cheek caught her attention. It seemed a shard of glass had grazed her skin without her noticing.

I didn't even feel it... Will it leave a scar? she wondered worriedly.

A hand tapped her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Kurokai staring at her silently.

"It's just a small cut, no need to worry," Hikari said with a smile. She gently patted his head, feeling happy about his concern.

"If you say so…" Kurokai's expression relaxed. He helped her apply medicine to the wound, served her dinner, and then retired to his room.

Meanwhile, in a dark alley.

"W-wait! Who are you?" the monkey-faced man stammered, trembling as he stared at the metallic figure before him.

The figure didn't reply. Instead, it delivered a sharp kick to the man's abdomen, leaving him clutching his stomach in pain.

"Why? Why?" the man muttered as blood dripped from his mouth.

A metallic hand grabbed his hair, forcing him to look into the figure's glowing green eyes.

"W-wait! Stop!" the man pleaded.

Punch!

A steel fist connected with his face, disfiguring his features.

The metallic figure wasn't satisfied. It raised its fist again.

Punch!

And again.

And again.

It didn't stop until the monkey-faced man's body went limp, leaving him bloody and broken with teeth scattered on the ground and his nose flattened.

But just when he was bout to leave.

An excited voice rang out.

"Here you are Mechamaru!"

Shigaraki walked out of the corner with a big smile on his face.

Casually steeping over the unconscious monkey man as if he didn'texist, Shigaraki stood before Mechamaru and said in an excited voice.

"Let's go back quickly, I just got a new piece of news from our informant."

"Its time to make a new appearance."

Mechamaru silently looked at the distortion in space, turning his head he looked down at the unconscious monkey man, after shaking his head for unknown reason he alked through the distortion and dissapeared.

Only Shigaraki was left standing in place, he didn't appear to be in a hurry to enter the spatial distortion.

"My friend Mechamaru....."

Shigaraki grabbed the unconscious monkey man's head.

"You seem to restrained by morals...."

His eyes narrowed into a smile.

"But don't worry."

He activated his decay.

"Allow me you're best friend to help you finish your job."

The monkey man turned to dust in a matter of seconds.

Then the distorted shadow moved and covered Shigaraki, Taking him away leaving behind the silent dark alley.