Chapter 156

Hawk's stomach sank.

- I have to... I've seen him hanging around her room, you know ? I've seen the way he looks at her and, I can't, it's, I know what he's going to do to her and I can't...

Hawks watched, breathless, as Shoto pulled on his fingers so hard it must have been painful.

- The other night in the kitchen he hinted at... He told me what he'd done to others...

Mouth dry, eyes narrowed, Hawks tried to speak, but his voice seemed to come from afar.

- Whose room ?

Shoto looked up at him with haunted eyes.

- My sister's room.

Hawks was unable to answer.

- I- I wish there was another way, you know ? But I can't let him get away with it, and my father...

Shoto started rubbing his trousers with his palms so fast he could have set them on fire.

- I don't know- time is running out, and- and I've got to-

His voice became high-pitched.

- But I'm not a murderer, do you understand ? I don't want to...

He ran his hands through his hair, one after the other, pushing it back violently and then pulling at the ends as if to rip them out.

He looked on the verge of hysteria.

- If he dies suspiciously, everyone will know it was me, because I always said I hated him and then my father...

There was a gleam in his exhausted eyes, as if he was on the verge of tears.

Then he raised his head

- What should I do, Keigo ?

Hawk felt his heart pounding in his throat.

Shoto looked at him with a mixture of hope and fear, concern and resignation.

Hawks opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

'What should I do ?'

Shoto waited for an answer, dishevelled, his features drawn with fatigue and anxiety, a growing worry in his eyes.

Keigo wondered if this was how he had looked ten years ago when Dabi had dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night to ask for a spar.

He wondered if he'd looked just as frightened when he'd realised that Dabi had decided that only one of them would survive it.

He remembered his reluctance to strike to kill, unable to muster the courage to do what was necessary to save his life. He remembered telling himself that this was his friend, that he must certainly be in a bad mood, that he had to help him calm down so that they could talk about what was wrong.

That was what friends were for, wasn't it ?

And then Dabi had really tried to kill him.

Hawks, terrified, half-burned, had tried to stop Dabi's funeral march, crawling backwards to get away from the flames that stretched from the boy's feet like a deathbed.

Practically all his wings had been burned off, leaving only two feathers.

Hawks had stopped crawling. Dabi had come closer.

Hawks didn't need to turn to know that Dabi's hand was hovering over his body, fingers burning like embers, ready to ignite at any moment.

Dabi was going to immolate him.

Keigo had turned violently, a feather shooting like an arrow from his outstretched hand.

Touya, startled, took a step back.

Keigo noticed the widening of his eyes and the panic that lit up his gaze. He had noticed the way his arms, too slow, had risen to protect his face, and the spasm that had shaken his right leg in an instinctive jerk to pull himself back.

For a moment, Keigo had been sure that he would have to kill to survive.

When he saw his face, that certainty vanished.

The feather deflected a centimetre to the right.

It cut clean through his cheekbone and flew away.

Touya had groaned and bent his knees as if to cower - or offer a smaller target - his hands brushing his cheekbone.

It was as if tears of blood ran down his cheek.

Touya, speechless, half bent, had remained motionless, his gaze fixed on Keigo's, the certainty that he had almost died paralysing him for a moment.

There had been a violent knock at the door of the gym. Alarmed, Touya looked over his shoulder.

Keigo still had one feather left.

It wasn't for Touya.

But even that one he'd been too weak to use.

So Touya had raised his hand, sent a geyser of fire at Hawks and fled.

And then...

Months later, after he had been deemed recoverable and useful, Hawks was told what had happened that night.

Touya had tried to kill his little brother.

When he learned that the child was only five years old, Hawks had never felt more guilty in his life.

If he hadn't let his feelings get in the way, if he had been more clearheaded, more decisive, then the little boy would never have had blood on his hands.

A part of him was relieved that Touya was dead and buried, but another part - an abnormally large part - regretted that he hadn't been the one to put an end to it.

He should have been more sure of his judgement, he should have been more decisive, he should have been less of a coward, he should have been less weak, he should have done more, been more-

If he'd killed him ten years ago, Shoto wouldn't be on the verge of an anxiety attack at the mere mention of the murderer with whom he shared his blood.

If he'd killed him…

- You won't do anything

It was ironic, wasn't it ?

He found himself protecting the brother of the man he had dreamed of slowly strangling for almost ten years.

- I can't-

- I'm the one who's going to kill him

*

Bonus 1:

Monoma touched All Might's outstretched hand.

The moment he activated his Quirk, a blast of hot energy raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

He clenched and unclenched his fist in excitement, feeling a new kind of energy flow through his body.

- Don't overdo it

He turned his head towards Aizawa and the headmaster who were standing at the edge of the training area.

Aizawa looked worried, while the headmaster seemed to be having the time of his life.

The energy coursing through Neito's body was like a battery of pure adrenaline: his perception of the world had increased tenfold, each nerve impulse sending more complex and precise information to his brain.

The grass seemed greener, the sky bluer, the wind on his skin so intense that he felt its presence as if it were a million separate fragments rather than a whole.

His mind seemed numb, but his body was a bundle of energy ready to explode.

He felt like he was racing through life in a world of oil and fatigue.

He wondered how All Might kept a head cool with a Quirk that made him so strong, so powerful, better and smarter and more able to dominate-

- Does this look like a Quirk you've copied before ?

Neito looked up at Nezu.

He smiled knowingly, condescendingly, in a way he wouldn't have done had he been in his normal state of mind.

- You mean Shoto's ? No

All Might cleared his throat.

- Try to hit the wall, but do it gently, otherwise-

Neito, his brain drowning in adrenaline, threw a single sharp punch.

The whole field shook, cracks spreading from his feet to the ends of the field.

The wall exploded towards Neito in a spray of rocks and whitish dust.

The teenager smiled proudly.

- You-

His eyes rolled back into their sockets and Neito fell unconscious onto his shredded arm, reeking of blood.

*

Bonus 2 :

All Might looked at the photos of the four teenagers printed out in front of him.

He pulled Uraraka's picture towards him, pushed Bakugo's back, moved Togata's to the left and left Yoarashi's in the middle.

He knew that time was running out - he himself had been the first to say so - but he couldn't make up his mind.

What qualities should the next bearer of the One for All have ?

Loyalty and a heightened sense of justice.

These were qualities that each of the four teenagers possessed to a greater or lesser extent.

It was these qualities that Nana had seen in All Might and that had earned him the All for One.

But now they seemed almost obsolete.

Mirio was a professional hero in all but name, Katsuki and Inaza had been key elements in the USJ incident... and even though it had been Nezu who had suggested that All Might integrate Uraraka into his private study group, she had proved herself more than up to the task - and that wasn't counting her courageous trek through a villain-infested summer camp to bring an injured Katsuki to safety.

Loyalty and a heightened sense of justice : they had it all.

The best element - the most versatile - was Mirio.

Mirio was what All Might had once been, smiling and ready to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and yet...

What qualities did All Might look for in his heir ?

Loyalty, a heightened sense of justice. Steadfastness. The ability to use lethality if necessary to prevent a greater evil from returning.

The ability to do what All Might had twice failed to do.

But All Might couldn't go to each of the children and ask them if they were prepared to kill if necessary.

That wasn't something you could ask people, let alone sixteen-year-olds.

All Might ran a hand through his hair, his troubled gaze flicking through the photos.

He knew a teenager who would have said yes, but he'd rather die than see the day he got the One for All.

All Might couldn't understand how Nezu and Aizawa couldn't see that the boy was a monster in the making.

Everything about him screamed of a madman who would rather blow up the world with him than die alone. He was the kind of person who, when hurt, would hurt back so that everyone would feel his pain.

He was - is, would be - a threat.

The next bearer of the One for All would not only have to put an end to All for One once and for all, they would also have to stop Shoto Todoroki on the day he finally snapped.

And on that day, the person most likely to stop him...

All Might pulled a picture towards him.

*

Author's note :

You didn't see that one coming, did you ?

If you want to support the story AND read ahead up to 27 chapters, go check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !