Heyo, long time no see. In this scenario, I was playing around with the concept of a Samurai Garou due to my desire for swordplay. I decided to scrap the idea sooner since, according to everyone I met, Samurai Garou is, while cool, unbefitting of Garou's style and identity. Still doesn't mean that I can't open him up to the idea of using weapons for fun.
In any case, here is the concept of Monsterized Villains continued as well if you're into that kind of thing. I am still debating on some concepts with monster villains and I am making progress, not gonna lie, and I am not gonna make any Quirk out there that is irresistible, including Shigaraki's Decay Quirk. Anyways, here it is.
The city of Mustafa was alive and full of activity on this particular Saturday. With the sun shining brightly and there not being a cloud in the sky, everyone seemed full of energy. Pedestrians went about their days happily. Small groups of teenagers and kids traveled the sidewalks, chatting and laughing amongst each other. It was truly a picturesque day.
Walking amongst them, was Garou himself… dragging what seemed to be a villain by the neck. The villain was a thin man, white hair, in tattered clothes and needlish eyebrows he used for weapons. Yes, his eyebrows shoots needles at his enemies, as powerful as the average gun… well, he used to have eyebrows. Garou plucked them all out, leaving the man crying in resignation as he was dragged to the police station.
“You had some gall trying to rob a restaurant.” Garou said as he continued dragging him.
“You didn’t need to pluck my eyebrows though…”
The villain continued being dragged along, legs scraping the ground by the ankles.
“You were trying to rob a restaurant. You might hold hostages. You're lucky I didn't break your bones along with that.” Garou replied, hiding his smirk as he relished the villain’s suffering.
As Garou strolled down the street with the villain in hand, he began to draw the attention of the civilians and the passerby.
“Hey, is that Fenrir?”
“Ooooh it is! Quick! Ask for an autograph!”
“I finally got a picture of him…”
The public began to crowd around Garou all with excited expression on their faces. The new and mysterious Hero Fenrir…
Garou’s smirk immediately turned into a scowl the moment he heard the word, ‘autograph.’ How he missed the days of peace and quiet… and anonymity. He barely have enough breathing space as he was right now.
“...” Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself before speaking to the masses.
“Everyone, let me through. I am busy dragging a robber to the police.” Garou ordered half-demandingly as the villain cried in his hand.
Hearing the serious nature of Fenrir’s task, the crowd all began to part. No one wanted to be responsible for a Hero failing to apprehend a Villain. They all stared at Fenrir with encouragement in their eyes.
‘Oh thank god I have this guy…’ Garou thought as he no longer regrets not breaking his bones. He gave the citizens a curt nod before dragging his latest ‘victim’ to the police, leaving the crowd behind with his elation.
He breathed a sigh of relief upon being free from the masses, with the police station in sight already.
As Garou approached the police station, he could already see the police officers outside all begin to stare at him. Any sense of casualness disappeared the instant they all saw him, carrying the villain in one hand. One male officer ran up to Garou, his face putting on a nervous smile.
“Ah… Fenrir. Have you delivered another one to us?”
“Take him. He robbed during my lunch time.” Garou said as he tossed the browless villain towards them him. The man cried the moment his head crashed into the floor.
Immediately, the male officer unhooked his handcuffs from his belt. In one quick motion, the browless villain was now in shackles, groaning in pain. Nodding once at the Hero, the male officer began to escort the villain inside the station.
“Well, time to return home.” Garou murmured. His lunch time was ruined, so he might as well return home to relax before he patrols the area as the Hero Hunter. Garou set off, walking back to the direction he came from, silently staring at space in private peace. Which lasted for about five seconds before he was hounded by the crowd. Again.
‘Aggghhh… damn it.’ Garou wanted another villain to use as fan repellant. How his life would be so much easier if Heroes have fan repellant…
As Garou stood there, surrounded by the public, numerous flashes began to go off. Several people had pulled out their phones and had begun to take pictures of ‘Fenrir’. A few people even attempted to gain his autograph, much to Garou’s dismay.
‘How I miss the old days…’ He cursed his landlord’s name again as he signed the autographs to his displeasure.
“Finally home…” Returning back home was a nightmare. He cannot return home casually without being hounded by fans or a stray reporter every five minutes. He now had to use hyperspeed to travel from place to place, reappearing at places where he can inconspicuously meld with the public without drawing too much attention to his being.
As Garou approached the building, he could still see where the first floor windows had been broken into by the would-be arsonists, now covered up. Strolling over to the elevator, he caught the smell of something familiar, but couldn’t put his finger on it. As the elevator doors slid open and he stepped inside, the familiar smell only became stronger.
As the doors slid shut behind him, he narrowed his eyes. Someone else had been in this elevator. And not too long ago either. The telltale ‘ding’ of him passing floor after floor drew his attention away from the smell.
“Who dares trespass…” Garou murmured as he prepared himself to slaughter whoever dares enters his abode. But the lack of smoking wood and charcoal was worrying. His disciple would most likely destroy any intruders, yet the lack of conflict disturbed him.
With one final ‘ding’, the elevator doors slid open and he stepped out. As he made his way down the hallway with the familiar wooden doors at the end, he continued to think on who could possibly even know where he lived. Other than a select few of course. As he reached the door at the end of the hallway, he noticed a lack of light coming from underneath the door. Strange…
Nevertheless, he reached out and in one quick motion, twisted the door handle. As the door opened inwards, he immediately noticed that the house seemed to be far darker than usual. It was almost pitch black in fact.
Then, as Garou stood staring into the darkness, the sound of a lightswitch flicking on drew his attention. Immediately, Garou was put on edge as the room illuminated.
““““Surprise!””””
The light had revealed more than a dozen people standing before Garou. And they were all grinning and smiling at the bewildered Garou. There seemed to be about a dozen or more people.
“Eh?” Garou was literally about to tear apart the first person he sees, yet the sound of ‘surprise’ shocked him into staying his hand.
“We threw a surprise party, Aniki!” Ghin smiled, as he held up a sheathed katana for Garou.
Ghin wasn’t the only person smiling at Garou. There was most of Class 1-A, Tsukihana, Mirio, Hado, Tamaki, as well as all of the Heroes Garou personally trained.
“...huh?”
“Well… you never told us your birthday. And my nephew was so adorable in wanting to throw a birthday since you've stayed here for around a year now.” Tsukihana smiled warmly at Garou.
“...oh…” Garou forgot. His birthday… it felt so long since he celebrated his birthday. He had long forgotten the joy of celebrating parties with friends and family.
“We’ve all got you presents!”
Hado beamed at Garou, clutching a little wrapped box in her hands. Both Mirio and Tamaki both held boxes of similar sizes.
“...” Silently, he reached out for the small boxes, hesitantly taking them as he stared at the colorful wrappings. Despite knowing about them, the sight of gifts seemed… alien to his eyes.
Even the Heroes all held boxes and wrapped shapes of varying sizes. It was a little strange to see Endeavour there, holding a present for the person who had beaten him so much.
“...you shouldn't have.” Garou’s voice sounded as if he was genuinely touched. As if it was his first time embracing the meaning of friends and family in its truest sense.
With a warm smile, Hado gestured towards the box.
“Go on. Open it!”
The rest of the room all watched with anticipation.
“...heh.” Garou smiled upon being urged to open his present. It was never even his actual birthday but… he was still happy that they even went through all this trouble to throw it. He liked it. He opened the box without hesitation….
“.....youuuuuu.” Only for his smile to turn into a frown. His head angled to look down, his eyes rolled up glaring at his unexpected guests. The boxes held plushies. His arch nemesis.
“““Happy birthday!”””
Mirio, Hado and Tamaki all shouted at once, seeing Garou glare at them. They couldn’t stop the grins from forming on their faces. All three of them had got Garou exactly the same thing. Three plushies.
“.......I hate you all.” Garou declared.
Then, the room burst into laughter, no longer able to hold it back. Even the stern Endeavour was reduced to chuckling heartily.
“Aniki! Aniki! I got this for you!” Ghin shouted as he ran towards Garou with a sword in hand.
“....?” Throwing the plushies aside, Garou blinked as he picked up the sword, holding it by the sheath of the blade.
“Oh?” He tilted his head in amusement. With his other hand, he gripped the hilt, and slowly unsheathed the blade until the white gleam of the blade shone under the ceiling light.
Yaoyorozu turned her head away, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt.
“...you know, I've never used a weapon before.” Garou said as he swung the blade a little.
“But I did study the sword to hunt the other heroes in my world.” He added as he sheathed the blade, twisted his waist, and rested the katana by his side. He was performing what seemed to be an iai stance. Each of his muscle twitched under his skin, his mind visualizing how he should draw the blade.
Each and every person in the room watched as Garou took up his stance. It seemed to scream ‘danger.’ But it was Garou’s birthday present, so they had to see what he’d do with it.
“Back in my world, there was a S-Class Hero. He was a samurai. His style was a modified Iai technique that allows multiple quickdraws in one swipe, cutting monsters into pieces faster than the speed of light, or so they say.” Garou started narrating about Atomic Samurai in his world.
“... Was he a high rank in these ‘S-Ranks’?”
Endeavour furrowed his brow, now intrigued to learn of these ‘top heroes’ of Garou’s world.
“He was number four. Below my own teacher, the number three.”
“..Y-You’re not going to use that on people are you?”
Tamaki ran his eyes up and down the elegant, detailed weapon. The idea of Garou possessing a weapon capable of withstanding his power… It was an intimidating thought.
“Hmmm…” Garou gazed at Tamaki with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“I think I got the idea down.” Garou smirked. He ‘teleported’ before Tamaki in hyperspeed, blade already drawn, outstretched. As if he had drew the blade and cut something.
“W-what did you-”
Tamaki glanced over at Garou, breaking the silence. The point of the sword glimmered in the corner of his vision.
“Revenge.” Garou sheathed the blade as he walked away for a few steps.
Suddenly, thin lines began appearing all over Tamaki’s clothes. Glancing down, a dawning look of comprehension appeared on Tamaki’s face. As his eyes widened, his clothes began to fall off of him in strips, drifting gently to the ground like leaves. Noticing all eyes were on him, Tamaki panicked and immediately fled towards the nearest room to hide inside of, before all of his clothes fell off. As he ran, he shouted back at Garou.
“I wasn’t the only one to give you the plushie! Why was it only me?”
“They will soon join you!” Garou shouted back as he glared at Mirio next.
Mirio’s eyes widened as he smiled nervously at his friend. Taking a hesitant step backwards, he held up both palms as a gesture of surrender.
“It was just a joke…. Please.”
“Don't you always lose your clothes in battle?” Garou pointed out, unsheathing the blade a little until the gleam of the blade could be seen.
“I mean, my Hero costume is made of my own hair so it doesn’t fall off…”
Still smiling nervously, Mirio almost took yet another step backwards.
“Garou.” Tsukihana called out.
“Treat your friends nicely. They are just plushies.” She scolded the Hero Hunter as she placed both her knuckles on her hips.
“...”
“I will make you do community service.”
“...”
“I'll take away your presents.”
“Fine.” Garou relented as he sheathed the blade, grumbling in displeasure.
Glancing over towards both Hado and Mirio, Garou noticed that Hado was still smiling at him, but with her tongue stuck out at him. She glanced over at the discarded plushies on the ground, frowning slightly.
The voice of Snipe immediately drew Garou’s attention. Even he had brought a gift for his ‘student’ and his ‘teacher’. He had also taken the liberty of inviting someone else… He could already feel his body ache from the punishment Garou would give him, but he was convinced it would be worth it.
“I’ve actually got two gifts for you.”
“...your tone speaks you want more punishment.” Garou creaked his head towards Snipe like a machine ready to kill, flicking the blade from the sheath an inch to reflect Snipe’s face on the partially unsheathed blade.
Each and every time Garou even moved the sword, Yaoyorozu seemed to flinch. She couldn’t help but feel personally responsible for this… She’d make sure to apologise to Tamaki later.
“What are you talking about? My second gift is just taking a while to arrive…”
Despite feigning innocence, Snipe could tell his punishment would be extremely severe. But it was Garou’s birthday, and you only get a chance like this once a year.
“...you are lucky this is a special occasion.” Garou grumbled as he sheathed the blade back, yet his face emanates a boiling, asura-like rage.
As Garou sheathed the blade, everyone sighed in relief.
“Just this one day, I will not punish you all for whatever might come… even though I will regret it. Immensely…” Garou seethed as the hand holding his new sword trembled.
Pointed one finger over in the direction Tamaki had disappeared to, Hado raised one eyebrow at him. If that wasn’t ‘punishment’ then she didn’t know what was.
“Then what about Tamaki?”
“Collateral damage.” Garou smirked.
As people began to slowly spread out amongst the room, the party took on a more casual atmosphere. Still holding their respective gifts for Garou, each person placed their gifts on the table, forming a large pile.
Slowly, Hado marched over to the discarded plushies on the floor. Scooping them up, her arms were filled with stuffed toys of the Hero Hunter. Still holding on to the stuffed toys, she glanced down at the pile of mini-Garous, a dejected look on her face.
“...We thought you might like them...” From her tone, she seemed a little hurt that Garou had so quickly thrown aside their gifts. Her despondent face and sad tone was super effective against Garou’s heart.
“...Why must you support the plushies?” Garou’s left eye twitched.
Taking ahold of one, she glanced down at it’s sown face and gave it a squeeze. The trademark squeak emerged from the stuffed toy. Hearing the noise, Hado seemed to lighten up a little.
“Because they’re cute!”
“...I hate you so much.” Garou seethed as she gave the toys a few more squeaks to his dismay.
Seeing her own chance, Hado made a face of sadness once more, even if she was faking it. No punishments or repercussions from Garou was quite the incentive.
“...You don’t mean that… do you?”
“........you are evil.” Garou accused as his lips quivered.
Seeing the reaction on Garou’s face, her sad expression thawed immediately.
“I must have learned it from you.”
“I never make cute faces.” Garou narrowed his eyes.
Slowly, a blush began to creep across Hado’s cheeks. Extending her arms, she displayed the plushie to him.
“Yes, you do. See?”
Seeing the plushie in her arms, squeaking every two seconds, Garou’s anger only soared even higher… then descended as if falling into a pit.
“....hah.” Garou sighed. He cannot fight against the plushie. It is too strong in her hands.
A few others watched this exchange with very obvious amusement. Snipe couldn’t help but grin at seeing his ‘student’s’ dejected expression. Mineta was mumbling to Kaminari. Something about Garou being a ‘chick magnet’.
“I prepared cake! And sweets! Don't waste them, maggots!” Ghin declared raising both his arms high in the air.
“Ghin!” Tsukihana bonked her nephew as he said that.
“They're your guests! Treat them with respect!”
“I don't wanna!” Ghin complained, unfazed by the bonk.
Most of 1-A all chuckled at seeing Ghin’s behaviour. Mirio grinned, seeing the disapproval and stubbornness of the silver-haired youth.
“With all the training and exercise, shouldn’t cake and sweets be a no-go?”
Kirishima knew the struggle of restricting your diet when exercising. And with their huge appetites, there had to be some negatives.
“Eh? I eat them most of the time, and you don't see me being fat. You want to die?” Ghin rejected as Tsukihana bonked her nephew again.
Everyone in the room, Heroes and students, all shared a laugh as Ghin rubbed his head. Seeing both Garou and his apprentice being handled so thoroughly was both bizarre and hilarious.
“What did you do to keep these two in line?”
Eraserhead would never not be shocked at how well Tsukihana dealt with the two martial artists. Anyone else would tear their hair out.
“They live under my roof. I usually threaten to cut their food money and take away their things, sometimes threatening them back with equally dangerous promises.” Tsukihana replied as Ghin pouted at his aunt.
Walking up to Garou, the several Heroes he was personally training had brought their gifts to their ‘master’.
“Oh?” Garou took the present from the two Pussycats.
“...are they plushies?” Garou accused with suspicion as he unwrapped them.
“No. They aren’t,” Pixie Bob glanced off to one side, muttering to herself, “... we couldn’t find any…”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Garou proceeded to unwrap the presents to find…
In Tomoko’s box was a bundle of clothes. As he held them out to get a clear look at them, it was immediately clear what they were. It was a black gi, trousers and all. Tomoko kept her eyes on Garou, anxiously waiting his response.
“I thought you could do with a gi. And now you’ll look like a real master!”
“...Heh. I like it.” Garou smiled, liking what he has. Placing the gi down to the table, Garou opened Endeavour’s present.
“What's this one?” Garou asked.
Endeavour merely stood there, unmoving, as Garou rapidly opened his gift. He had spent many, many hours carefully deciding what kind of gift to even get someone like Garou. In the end, he had opted for the simplest thing.
As Garou finally tore off all of the paper, he was greeted with a number of cards. However, they appeared to all be from different food chains. On the front of each and every one were the prominent words: ‘Eat for free!’. It had taken Endeavour so long to collect all of these all-you-can-eat cards from the various restaurants. Not to mention the amount of money it had cost...
“...I am not sure if it is meant to compliment me or make fun of me.” Garou commented as he scoffed.
Tsukihana, on the other hand, pumped her arm in the air, thanking the gods for giving her financial account reprieve.
“Yessssssss…” She whispered to the ceiling.
“I struggled to find anything someone like you might need. I settled on this after remembering your intense appetite.”
Frankly, Enji was glad he had remembered of Garou’s endless appetite. If he hadn’t, he might not have even managed to get a gift for him.
“Well, it is good to finally eat for free to be honest…” Garou nodded as he set them down to the table.
“What about you guys?” Garou asked as he took the gifts off Mt Lady and Ryukyu and unwrapped them.
Mt Lady’s gift was the first one to be opened. She seemed to squirm nervously as Garou continued unwrapping. As he tore off the last pieces of paper, he was presented with a small wooden box. Slowly opening it, he saw the gift within. Two tickets sat inside the box, gently placed. From the writing on the tickets, they were to go to a upcoming martial arts tournament that would be taking place in Tokyo.
As the two tickets were revealed, a round of ‘Ooooh’s came from a few members of 1-A. Especially Kirishima and Izuku. Both of them had heard of this tournament.
“What? This is like, top class!”
The spiky haired teen could barely contain his surprise at seeing the two expensive tickets sat in the little wooden box.
“I’ve heard that even people from outside of the country come to participate. Apparently, this tournament is trying to find ‘the strongest Quirkless person, after the Hero-Hunter’.”
Izuku could barely suppress a smile. Now that Garou had the tickets, he’d be able to ‘judge’ the rest of the competitors.
“I thought that you might be interested in going. Maybe I could come too…”
Mt Lady barely whispered the second half on her sentence, her head turned to one side to hide the slight blush on her face.
“...huh.” Garou was touched. He never got the chance to see this world’s martial arts tournament. Though he prefered to take part in one instead of watching.
“Maybe I would challenge the winner later on.” Garou joked.
“Doesn’t that defeat the point of them trying to find the strongest Quirkless person, other than you?”
Mirio raised one eyebrow, gesturing at the two tickets.
“I am curious to see how this world’s martial artist will fare. I am deathly curious.” Garou’s smirk grew wider. Closing the box, setting it along with the other opened presents, Garou took presents from Eraserhead and Vlad King.
“So. Is this a real present, or a prank?” Garou asked as he unwrapped them.
“Do you think we’d waste money on something unimportant like that?”
Glancing at Garou, Aizawa couldn’t help but cock one eyebrow. He had considered getting Garou some kind of prank present, but what he had ended up with was so much better.
“Truthfully, I expected worse.” Garou said as he finished unwrapping them.
Aizawa’s gift was a little photo frame. Glancing closer at Eraserhead’s gift, he noticed dozens upon dozens of signatures on it. The picture was of an empty hospital ward. As he read the names, it clicked. These were all of the signatures of the various Heroes Garou had hospitalised. Even All Might’s name was on it.
Endeavour fought back a grimace as he noticed his own signature on the picture.
“...huh. What’s the signatures for?” Garou asked as he reminisced his hero hunting days. It felt so long ago despite not being even a year old.
“I thought that you might have forgotten the sheer number of Heroes you’ve hospitalised. Myself included. So I went ahead and gained the signature of every Hero who had an ‘encounter’ with you.”
Everyone in the room became slightly more grim, remembering the days when Garou wasn’t so friendly. When running into him in the street would end in a hospital visit, or worse, retirement. Even Mirio could still remember his worry when he had first seen Garou in that alleyway.
“Those were good days.” Garou said with a wicked smile as he took a look at Vlad King’s present.
“I think the rest of us disagree.”
Aizawa glanced over at the photo frame. Most of the top Heroes had their signature on there. All Might, himself, Endeavour… There were so many. Too much for every hero’s liking.
Turning his head to Vlad King’s gift, he noticed that it was a rather large, very thick book. On the front was the title ‘Teaching: The Do’s and Don'ts of Discipline.’
“...really?” Garou looked at Vlad as if asking if he's joking.
Smiling slightly, all the Blood Hero could do was shrug in response.
“Maybe there’s something in there you could use. It could be helpful.”
“I doubt it.”
Garou immediately placed the thing on the table as he took Ryukyu’s present.
“What's yours?” Garou asked as he went to work.
“I could not think of much that you would find use out of. So I had this commissioned for me.”
She pointed at her gift. As Garou unwrapped it, the shape began to make more sense. It was a large, rectangular shape and was rather thin. As he tore off the last hanging piece of wrapping paper, the present was unveiled. Gasps all from different sources filled the room.
It was a giant portrait-scale painting. The quality of which was astounding. On the canvas was what looked like a devastated landscape. And in the middle of it, was the demonic form of Garou in his Monster form, so terrifyingly well-crafted it almost seemed one could reach out and touch the man in the painting. Or the man could come out and take the viewer.
“Ohhh.” Garou liked this. He liked it alot.
“Me likey.” He said as he smiled widely. This perfectly emulated him at his angriest. The Symbol of Fear.
“That’s… rather impressive. Even if it is intimidating...”
Yaoyorozu was truly astounded by the quality of the artistry. It looked like it belonged in an art gallery.
“How did they even perfect such detail?”
As Tokoyami stared at the painting, it seemed to radiate an entirely ominous feeling. It wasn’t something that just anyone could hang in their home. The sheer accuracy of Garou’s dark side resonated with his inner darkness, as well as instilling fear in his heart.
“I want one!” Ghin shouted with a fanboy’s fanaticism.
Glancing down at Ghin, the Dragon Hero smiled gently at him.
“I’m afraid I could only get one. This one took many months for the artist to complete. Perhaps on your birthday…”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Ghin shouted to the heavens, dropping to his knees and raising his arms to the air.
Once Ghin’s cry had stopped reverberating around the room, Ryukyu looked around at the interior of the building, trying to find the perfect place that it could be displayed.
“Will you hang it here?”
It was a blank wall in the living room, right next to the entrance to the room.
“...seems to fit.” Garou smiled.
Everyone watched as Garou held up the painting to the wall, judging the size. Like he said, it seemed to fit perfectly. A few of 1-A could feel shivers pass through them as they continued to stare at the painting.
“...I’m glad you like it. ”
Watching Garou place the painting, Ryukyu smiled at him. She had commissioned this piece quite while ago. She had actually been a little worried that he’d deem it too garish.
Garou then turned to… Snipe.
“So. What's your present?” Garou narrowed his eyes.
Approaching Garou, Snipe held a small box in his hands. It was wrapped in paper just like the others. As he handed it over, Garou began to immediately rip off the wrapping. He seemed to be expecting some kind of prank or joke, judging by the way he kept flicking his eyes up to the gunslinger.
Before long, the wrapping was now torn off, laying on the floor in heaps. In his hand, Garou held a rather fancy black box in his hand, with a image on the front. It was a new phone. And by the box, it was one of the newer, fancier ones.
Gesturing between Garou and the box, Snipe grinned at his ‘student’ and ‘teacher’.
“I kept seeing you use that old, terrible flip phone. I thought you could do with an upgrade. Noone uses flip phones these days.”
“...I do not know what to say. Other than I want to sock you to the moon one of these days.” Garou retorted as he inspected the small device from screen to back.
“I’ve already taken the liberty of setting up some stuff for you. Have a look.”
As Garou went through the various features, he couldn’t see anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Everything looked like a normal, new phone. That was, until he came to both the Photos and the Contacts. As Garou glared down at his phone, Snipe could only feel his smirk grow.
In the ‘Contact’s, there was only one contact. And it was the rabbit heroine. Likewise, the photo gallery was full of images pulled from the internet of the 5th ranked Hero. Everyone around Garou all leaned in, craning their necks to see what he was looking at so intensely.
“...Do you like it?”
“I regret promising no repercussions now. I realllllly regret it.” Garou answered bluntly.
“...What are you looking at?”
Mirio stepped towards Garou, now curious of what exactly had got Garou so regretful about the lack of revenge.
“........when did you come in?” Garou asked turning his head to see Mirko staring at his new smartphone.
She was leaning on the doorframe, a sly grin on her face. The rest of the room had barely even noticed her. The sudden presence of Mirko confused several members of 1-A. Did she know Garou?
Suddenly noticing the 5th ranked Hero, both Hado and Mirio had differing reactions. Mirio’s was one of shock mixed with intrigue. Hado, on the other hand, stared intently at Mirko, almost competitively.
Gesturing her head towards the phone, she locked eyes with Garou.
“Do you like the pictures? I helped Snipe find the best ones. Plus, there’s a few others…”
As she winked at Garou, this only raises further questions for those out of the loop. The only ones who were not aware of Garou’s connection were Class 1-A, gaping at the way Mirko was so casually addressing him.
Garou narrowed his eyes as he scrolled down in the photo library. There were… even a few ones that were not entirely appropriate.
“.....” Even the picture of the rabbit in sexy lingerie, teasing to reveal herself.
The room had come to a complete stop. Slowly, Garou’s new phone fell from his hand in shock. Landing on the ground, it skidded along, coming to a stop at the feet of Izuku and the rest of 1-A, screen facing down. Reaching down to pick up the phone, Izuku could feel the rest of his class gather in behind him. As he spun the phone around to see the screen, their breath all collectively hitched in shock. Blushes began to spread across the face of every single student as they all stared at the image on the screen. A loud thud drew a few gazes. Mineta had collapsed backwards, blood streaming from his nose. He was muttering something unintelligible.
Raising one shaky hand, Izuku pointed to Garou, and then to Mirko. His eyes were wide like saucers, much like the rest of his class. Even more composed members of 1-A were all stunned.
“W-w-why… d-d you have t-this kind of i-image?”
“...yes. Why do I have it?” Garou repeated the question as if wanting to know himself.
With her sly grin, Mirko merely shrugged as she glanced at the phone in Izuku’s hands.
“What? It’s his birthday. He deserves something special from his special someone.”
Aizawa and Vlad King were both staring at the ceiling in disbelief, rubbing their temples. Endeavour bore a look of mild disapproval. Mt Lady seemed absolutely shocked at the implication of Mirko’s words, and jealous as hell. Even Ryukyu could feel the envy welling up inside her as she stared at the higher ranking female Hero.
Pushing herself away from the doorframe, Mirko stood up straight. Her smirk lessened slightly as she glanced around the room.
“...You didn’t tell any of them?”
“.......” Garou’s silence was answer enough.
Sighing heavily, Mirko placed both hand on her curvaceous hips, casting her eyes around the room. Her voice drew the attention of everyone.
“Alright. Since he won’t, I might as well tell you all.”
Moving closer to Garou, she grabbed ahold of his arm, pulling him in close. Garou could suddenly feel her warmth on his arm. Right between her breasts.
“Me and Garou are a thing. No matter how much he denies it.”
“..............she is a very aggressive rabbit.” Garou added with displeasure in his tone.
“Wha… wh… You two? Since when?”
Mt Lady could barely speak from the sheer shock. She had come here with those two tickets, hoping for something. And now… this had happened. Seeing the Rabbit Hero hang off Garou’s arm only stoked the flames of jealousy.
Seeing the very obvious signs of shock and envy on the face of Mt Lady, Mirko shot her a confident grin. Placing one finger on her lips, she cocked her head to one side as she began recalling.
“Oh, it’s been a while. Hasn’t it Gari?”
“No it's not. You've just been hounding me from time to time and won't leave me alone until things went your way. And don't call me that or I will be angry.” Garou threatened the rabbit.
“.....so that's why you never brought her to train with us.” Ghin blinked, his jaw dropping to the floor. He should've realized it the moment he found the baby.
“Things did certainly go my way. Didn’t they?”
Mirko poked Garou’s chest with one finger, earning a grumble from Garou.
“You're lucky I don't abuse women.” Garou growled in response.
Hado couldn’t tear her eyes away from the rabbit heroine. She could still vividly remember Garou’s confession. It was possible she was one of the only people in the room who even knew about that. Hado narrowed her eyes further with each movement the dark-skinned Heroine made.
“...uhhh, should we move on with cake and brownies?” Ghin asked trying to defuse the atmosphere. Ghin glared at Snipe, narrowing his eyes at him as the lights behind him burned crimson for a brief second.
Placing the phone face down on the nearby table, all of 1-A nodded in sync. They all looked like they had PTSD. Wide eyes, pale faces and blank expressions. Izuku nodded mutely at Ghin, his voice emotionless. The shock had paralysed the entire class.
“...yeah. That would be good.”
“Wait, what about my present?”
Mirko frowned slightly, unhappy at being dismissed so casually.
“........you have a present?” Garou asked now baffled.
“Of course I do!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Mirko pulled a small wrapped shape. It was startlingly similar in shape to Eraserhead’s gift. She held it aloft in one hand. Slowly, and with much reluctance, Garou reached out for the gift.
Meanwhile, Ghin marched over to Snipe, tugging on his duster with a rough pull for his attention. Feeling the tug, Snipe turned to see Ghin glaring at him… with murderous intent.
“What. Were. You. Thinking?!” Ghin growled, in a whisper. The party was planned in the name of fun. Now, it was awkward, spoiled. And it does not make Garou’s number one fan very happy. It was his sensei’s first birthday, and now it was semi-ruined.
“I… I thought it might liven up the party…”
Snipe stammered as he stared down at the young boy. He knew. He’d gone too far. And now he was going to pay the price.
“Aniki cannot punish you. But I will. I am going to jam the sword up your butt and leave it in there for months.” Ghin threatened. This time, he was absolutely serious in carrying out the threat, judging by the crimson light behind his back. It caught the attention of 1-A and his aunt and a few heroes.
As they all turned to look at the confrontation going on, everyone could see Snipe was on the backfoot. Suddenly noticing the shift in attention, Mirko glanced away from Garou and over to Snipe and Ghin.
“I was planning to come and visit Garou anyway. I couldn’t miss out on his birthday.”
“...you're banned from next year’s birthday surprise.” Ghin snarled at Snipe.
Turning her eyes back to Garou, she could see that he was slowly tearing away at the paper. She grinned as she knew exactly what was underneath that paper. Tearing away a corner, a wooden frame was revealed. It was another photo frame, like Eraserhead’s. But as Garou tore off the last piece of wrapping, he glared down at the familiar image.
In the photo frame, was the picture that Mirko had caught in her house of her sudden kiss with Garou. His shocked expression was still reflected perfectly in the picture.
“I thought you could do with a ‘souvenir.’”
“Aniki. Can I ban her from the house? And further parties?” Ghin asked not liking her presence already. Tsukihana does not know how to react. One, she wanted to scold her nephew, but two… she could not blame him. The party’s atmosphere was slightly ruined.
“...I am thinking about it.” Garou replied.
Endeavour was now rubbing his eyes, overwhelmed by the sheer level of absurdity. Aizawa and Vlad King were both still staring in disbelief up at the ceiling. 1-A still looked like they had undergone some traumatic event.
“My dislike of you has grown even further.” Garou replied as he saw the photo.
Looking around the room, Mirko took in all of the bewildered reactions from the people in the room. She couldn’t help grinning. That was until she felt a glare on her. Turning to the source of the glare, she locked eyes with a blue-haired girl. Was this the one Garou had talked about? The tension in the room seemed to amp up.
Breaking eye contact, Mirko sighed, turning back to Garou.
“Well… I think I should be going now. I’ve given you your first… present. And I can tell when I’m not wanted.”
“You could've joined in without ruining the atmosphere.” Garou replied shaking his head in disapproval.
“But that wouldn’t have been any fun!”
“This party is supposed to be fun! Now… I don't know what it is! Do you know how hard I worked to make it good!?” Ghin shouted pointing at her with a frown.
“Don’t worry kid. I’m going now.”
Before she turned towards the door, she lunged towards Garou and planted a fierce kiss on his cheek. As she pulled away, she could see a very obvious lipstick mark on his cheek. Winking at him, she turned to leave.
“Don’t forget to visit me later!”
Gasps and wide-eyes filled the room. Along with the twitching eyes of Garou as he closed the door behind her.
“............well, you know one of my banes in life.” Garou grimaced as he wiped the lipstick from his cheek.
“...And what… was that?”
Aizawa had lowered his head from staring at the ceiling. He now was pointing one hand towards the door that the rabbit heroine had come from. He knew that they had some relationship…. But nothing on that level.
“One of the things I cannot get rid of and keeps annoying me.” Garou answered.
“I-Is it true? Are you two… a thing?”
Mt Lady stammered, still clearly shocked by the whole ordeal.
“I don't like her that much to be honest… yet she keeps clinging onto me. And she lost points with this stunt.” Garou scoffed.
Hado allowed herself a small smile. She felt an instant sense of competition, almost rivalry. And with Garou’s words, she could feel slightly more confident.
“Did you need to drop the phone?”
Endeavour cast a glance over at the still shocked students. Even his son was in the same state. It unnerved him, to say the least.
“...blame Snipe. He was the one that started all this.” Garou turned to leer at the gas masked gunslinger.
Raising both hands in a gesture of surrender, Snipe shook his head furiously in denial.
“I didn’t know she was going to show up then. I thought that she would arrive like thirty minutes later.”
“I want to blast holes into you with the Death Star!” Ghin shouted with rage.
Sighing heavily, Ryukyu broke the momentary awkward silence. She seemed to be one of the least shocked out of everyone. But only because she hid it well.
“With that… diversion, should we get back to the party?”
“...Hah. Alright… I made cake! And brownies! And more! Try it! First time I made sweets, so I hope it's good!” Ghin shouted with a 180 change of tone, wanting to bring the atmosphere back as soon as he could.
Slowly, the atmosphere of the party began to settle down. 1-A was ever so slowly recovering from their shock. The teachers and Heroes all breathed a sigh of relief. As they all began to walk over to the confectionary Ghin had laid out, Aizawa shook his head.
“I knew that she was ‘after’ you, but I didn’t think she’d succeed.”
“...did you lead her to me?” Garou asked as he locked his glare on Aizawa.
“....no…”
Turning his head away from Garou, Aizawa bore a look of worry. In truth, he knew he was responsible for all of this. He had given Mirko a phone to contact Garou after all.
“...” Ghin, the rest of Class 1-A, and the Pro Heroes stared at him.
“...Squirt, I cannot deal punishment as of now, but could you…”
“On it. I will make Aizawa run to the dojo with just his hands from now on. With Skoll and Hati breathing fire and ice on him.” Ghin nodded, perfectly in tune with Garou’s wavelength.
“I didn’t know it would end up like this. I thought you’d just ignore her.”
His body already could feel the strain and the aching from just imagining the punishment that will befall him.
“Do you not know that woman? She won't let me ignore her. She even tracked me when I was not wearing my monster costume.” Garou retorted, now very angry with Aizawa.
Slowly rising from the floor, Mineta glared over at Garou with an unbelievable amount of envy and
Jealousy. Blood still trickled down his nose as stared at the silver-haired martial artist.
“You two haven’t… done anything, have you?”
“No.” Garou denied instantly.
Ghin, walking towards the table filled with sweets, picked up a square slice of brownie from the pantry and walked towards Mineta, before grabbing him by the shoulder. His fingers dig into his clavicle with considerable force, almost painful.
“Would you like a brownie?” Ghin asked, his tone very low and demonic, holding the brownie as if he was ready to choke Mineta with it.
The rest of 1-A frowned at Mineta’s usual lack of tact. Seeing the brownie being held almost as a weapon, Mineta slowly and nervously shook his head.
“...I think I’m good. They’re uhhh… not healthy.”
“Please. Try it. All of you. Also, try the cake. I do not want to see everything go to waste.” Ghin urged the class to eat, to sway the atmosphere back to the original setting.
Slowly, the students all began to shuffle over to the table with the vast array of confectionaries. Reaching out, Uraraka picked up a brownie that was identical to the one that Mineta was being threatened with. Taking a bite, her eyes lit up.
“Mmmm… This is amazing! Did you make them yourself?”
“Nope. I had Sugarman help me with this. He is more skilled than I am in the art of sweets.” Ghin proudly admitted.
One by one, 1-A all began to tuck into the array of sweets. Glancing over at the the nearby table, Hado noticed there were still quite a few wrapped gifts that Garou had not yet opened.
“...Do you want to continue opening your presents?”
“...yeah, I suppose.” Garou smiled as the original atmosphere slowly settled back in.
“So, tell me. What is it like learning under UA?” Ghin asked Izuku and the others as he munched on a brownie.
“Well… Even if UA’s training isn’t as ‘extensive’ as Garou’s, it still helps us to ‘go beyond’.”
Izuku smiled slightly as he had unintentionally used one of the taglines of UA.
“You mean ‘Plus Ultra?’” Ghin corrected as he took another bite of his brownie.
“Do you think you’ll ever go to UA?”
Izuku could already imagine Ghin being another up and coming talent, if he was to enter UA.
“...I used to dream of going to UA.” Ghin replied as he stopped munching, and swallowed.
Slowly, Izuku’s smile drooped as he knew the reason behind it.
“Though I will still go there.” Ghin added before taking another bite of his brownie.
Aizawa sighed heavily, frowning as he heard Ghin’s little declaration. He had pitied Snipe for having Garou in his class. And now, it was possible that he would end up with Ghin in his own class.
“I now dream of being the strongest. And surpass my Aniki. One day, I will defeat him in a fair fight.” Ghin smiled as he took another bite, finishing the rest of his brownie as he chewed with puffed cheeks.
“You aren’t the only one who dreams of becoming the strongest.”
The voice of Shouto came from besides Izuku, startling him with the sudden appearance of his friend.
“I want to reach the skies. I've always looked up to what lies beyond the peak. I will reach that sky.” Ghin replied before he swallowed.
“You and Garou love your metaphors don’t you?”
Entering the conversation beside Izuku, Kaminari smiled. The level of Ghin’s speech seemed to be abnormally high for his age.
“So? Well, let me make this easier for you to understand. You're still focused on the mountaintop. That mountain is All Might, strong and the pinnacle of heroism. Garou is the sky. He will forever soar beyond infinity. You get my point?” Ghin asked before he turned his attention to the brownies, licking the chocolate off his lips.
“I think I get you. Still… do you carry a dictionary around with you?”
Nodding in understanding, Kirishima grinned, revealing his sharp teeth.
“I collect vocabulary words I can use in the internet. My papa always said to be learned before you speak.” Ghin answered as he ran to the table of sweets, and picked three more brownies in his hands before running back to the group and started eating again.
Over with Garou, he still had several gifts still to open. Mirio and Hado gathered nearby, watching him. In his hands, he now held Pixie Bob’s gift in his hands. She stared at him, with anticipation in her eyes. The shape of the gift was of something soft. As he tore open the package, he held the present in his hands. It was a plain black shirt, with a cartoonish image of Garou’s monster form on the front. Overlaid over the image were the words: ‘I met the Hero Hunter and all I got was this t-shirt!’
“...........” Garou had no words to say. He turned his eyes at Pixie Bob, looking at her as if asking her what was the strange alien thing in his hands.
“...I thought it was funny…”
Pixie Bob nervously glanced over between Garou and the shirt, waiting for his approval, or disapproval.
“.......well, at least it's kid friendly…” Garou gave his opinion. The shirt was… unexpected to say the least. He could not even get angry at the shirt due to how random it was.
“I was going to get you a bottle of wine or something… But then I remembered that you’re only now turning 19. It wouldn’t look right for a Hero to be advocating underage drinking.”
Pixie Bob shrugged at Garou. It was still surprising to think that technically Garou was still a ‘minor’, being under the drinking age.
“Ghin would probably like this more though.”
“And I would! Gimme!” Ghin shouted from the other side of the room.
Shrugging, Garou tossed the shirt over to Ghin as he leapt and caught it in the air.
“Yay!” Ghin held the shirt up high in his hand, which was still coated in brownie chocolate.
Ryuko grimaced at seeing her gift being slowly covered in stains. Glancing over to Ghin, she gestured towards the shirt.
“...Make sure you wash it.”
“I will!” Ghin smiled at the dejected Ryuko.
Without further ado, Garou started unwrapping the next present. This one… was from Tsukihana.
“........what did you put in there?” Garou asked, almost as if he was expecting a bomb inside.
“Just open it.” The lawyer dismissed his caution, making Garou furrowed his brow.
Tentatively, he slowly unwrapped the paper piece by piece to see… an ancient shaolin manual on kung fu.
“...oh…” Garou looked at the front and back. It was genuinely worn and torn, emanating some years of history to it.
“...you were always seeking to improve your arts, so… I got you a genuine manual. You can't find it anywhere else.” Tsukihana sighed, almost regretting handing it over to him. It took her weeks to find one, despite her connections. Martial Arts with history were scarce nowadays in the age of Quirks.
“...woman, this is literally the best thing you gave me.” Garou complimented the lawyer for the first time, eliciting a small smile from the landlord.
He already started reading the manual, flipping through the pages in one rapid sweep from start to finish in a split second.
“...done.” Garou said finished reading it all.
Only a few seconds had passed, but 1-A all gaped at Garou’s ‘speed-reading’. Even some of the Pro Heroes couldn’t help but stare in shock.
Shaking her head free of confusion, Mt Lady stared down at the now-closed book.
“How… You must have never failed anything in school.”
“I was normal, you know?” Garou retorted as he tossed the book to Ghin.
“Read page twelve, Shrimp. It has a particular breathing exercise that might help you.”
Catching the book in hand, Ghin opened the book with a brownie in his mouth as he read to page twelve. Some of Class 1-A craned their necks to peek the contents, to see a very detailed set of instructions on the importance of proper breathing. Starting with the breath from the nose, to the lungs, then to the stomach, let it settle and eddy within while channeling energy to the center before exhaling it all out in one go.
The students continued to read past Ghin’s shoulder, while Mineta has to climb up Izuku’s shoulder to see. They all stared at the descriptions and the instructions with rapt interest.
“This…” Kirishima continued craning his neck attempting to get a better view. “Is pretty detailed! Must be worth quite a bit.”
Standing off to one side, Uraraka scanned the pages taking in everything. Even from the two pages that they could see, she could tell that the book was extensive. It reminded her of her own internship.
“How did you get this?” She glanced over at the landlady.
“…I worked hard. Finding a genuine Kung Fu master was no easy task…” Tsukihana sighed.
“Is there anything it could actually teach you?”
Mirio asked, unsure of whether there was anything about martial arts that Garou didn’t know. He doubted they knew as much as his classmate did.
“A few interesting body tempering techniques, to make allow the body to stave off sharpened steel. Another is an attack that reflects all force back at the attacker. Quite interesting concepts there. Can’t wait to improve upon it.” Garou smirked.
Suddenly, Hado seemed to light up as an idea sprung into her head. Looking over between Garou and the martial arts book, it was quite obvious she had thought of something.
“You should write your own book! All about martial arts.”
“...maybe.” Garou wondered. How much money would he make if he started selling his techniques.
“Maybe it might not be the best idea. If you were to sell a book with all your methods in it, who would stop it falling into the wrong hands?”
Showing her disagreement, Ryukyu couldn’t help but feel the idea was rather dangerous. The last thing they needed was Garou-esque villains.
“…maybe the basics then.” Garou wondered.
“Besides, my most dangerous techniques can’t be learned in an instant. They’ll all break their muscles and bones in vain attempts without proper training.” Garou added.
Both Hado and Mirio nodded in agreement. They knew exactly how strenuous the training was. The amount of people who could handle such training had to be few in number.
“Knowing you though, the basics would still probably send some readers to the hospital.”
“Yeah, they will.” Garou agreed, smiling at the image of many readers sent to the hospitals, relishing their anguish.
Ghin continued reading the manual, now moving onto techniques and skill sets with some additional readers behind him. Kirishima was intently reading the body tempering technique, and concept of hardening one’s body to the point of being an immovable ‘mountain.’ Izuku was reading a technique which fires off one’s ‘Chi’, the blast of energy capable of rupturing organs and rendering one’s innards to mush.
“And I thought monks were supposed to be peaceful…”
Raising his brow, Kaminari was taken back by the level of detail, often from the results of the techniques.
“If you wanna learn them, get your own book. Or apply as Garou’s students.” Ghin responded as he turned the page, now reading a section about pressure points that can kill or paralyze.
Still scanning his eyes over the page, Izuku pursed his lips in thought.
“...I don’t think I can apply as Garou’s student. Not yet. I need to try to become strong my own way first.”
“....…huh.” Ghin looked behind.
“Good words. But you’re an amateur. Are you trying to be like Aniki?” Ghin asked.
Tearing his eyes away, Izuku met Ghin’s gaze.
“I don’t think I could ever be like him. But I can still improve myself.”
“…improve harder.” Ghin replied as he continued reading.
Over near Garou, Hado had snuck up behind him. Smiling to herself, in her hands she held a conical birthday hat. A few of the Heroes noticed this, but said nothing. In one quick motion, she leapt up and placed the hat firmly on Garou’s head. As she stepped back, she smiled at him.
“It’s your birthday. You need a birthday hat!”
“……why did I let you put this on me…” Garou muttered as his left eye twitched. Laughter erupted as the party went on, and while they were looking away, a small smile crept up on his lips. A genuine warm smile.
“March!” Ghin shouted. From atop Hati. As he fired another silver laser at Snipe and Aizawa as they marched to the mountain, carrying an equally mountainous amount of food and supplies on their back. Punishment from Ghin this time for playing a hand in almost ruining the party.
“Auuggh… Isn’t this… a bit much?”
Snipe groaned in strain and exertion from carrying all of the materials. Sweat poured freely from under his mask.
“No one ruins Aniki’s party and gets away with it!” Ghin shouted as Skoll huffed at the two, misty fog now encompassing them for kilometers as frost slowly formed on their skin, freezing them to the bone.
“T-T-T-Then why… haaah… aren’t you… augh.. punishing her?” Snipe jittered from the cold.
“She’s not here.” Ghin replied as if it was obvious.
Both Aizawa and Snipe continued moving with jittering teeth, their legs trembling from the sheer weight of the supplies they were carrying. Each step was careful and precise, so as to not fall over and be crushed.
Atop of Skoll, Mirio, Tamaki, Hado, The Pussycats, and the other heroes all looked down on the two with pity.
“Those two always seem to get the rough end of the penance.”
Glancing down at her two distant colleagues, Ryukyu could feel only pity and empathy towards the two. Even if they had brought it upon themselves.
“At least we’re not walking this time. Cake?” Mt Lady offered a plate of chocolate cake. It was the leftover cake from yesterday. Ghin brought them all baskets of food and a blanket for them to eat atop of Skoll while they watch the two below suffer.
“Thank you.”
Accepting the plate, the Dragon Hero tore her eyes away from the two ‘slaves’ on the ground. Even from this height, they could still hear their panting and groaning.
“Please…. break…” Snipe pleaded.
“You want Hati to break your bones?” Ghin smiled impishly.
“We need… rest…”
Aizawa seemed to be in a similar state of exhaustion. His arms throbbed and ached as he carried the small mountain of supplies.
“No rest for the wicked.” Ghin replied as he fired another laser, striking a patch of dirt next to Aizawa.
“So… where is Garou?”
Pixie Bob craned her neck, glancing around. Not seeing him, she assumed he was at the dojo.
“Taking care of something.” Ghin shrugged.
Meanwhile…
“Ahhh…” Garou was sitting atop of a giant fat monster with putrid green skin of oil. The body was missing a head, dark blue blood pouring down from the stump of the neck.
“I like the sword. I think I’ll call it White Fang.” Garou smiled as the crowd gathered around him, staring in awe at Garou with his new katana in his hand.
“Ooooh! He’s so cool!”
“Did he always have a sword?”
“That monster barely even stood a chance!”
The crowd began muttering and cheering for the Hero sat atop the monster’s corpse. Dozens upon dozens of flashes came from all directions as numerous cameras went off.
Back to the group…
“He’s having fun with his new sword.” Ghin smiled.
The students of Garou all grimaced. Somehow, he’d found a way to become even more dangerous. Crossing his arms, Endeavour bore a look of deep thought.
“...Will he ever reveal his true identity to the world? He cannot hide it forever.”
“....…only when the world is ready for him, I guess. I’m not the one that coerced him to attend U.A.” Ghin shrugged.
Sitting alongside both her fellow ‘disciples’, Hado looked at Ghin inquisitively.
“So what are today’s activities? Since Garou isn’t here. Are you going to train us instead?”
“Yeah. What’s the plan?”
Mt Lady looked full of energy, for once. She had a look of fierce determination. A few of the other Heroes blinked at her uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
“Techniques and actual training! No conditioning for you newbies. Just for today.”
For once, the disciples of Garou seemed to be anticipating their training. They had undergone brutal beatings and harsh physical conditioning. And now, they had finally reached the stage.
“Will the two down there be taught as well?”
Glancing over the edge of Hati’s furry back, Mt Lady allowed herself a smirk at their struggle. She could still hear their exertion and panting.
“...…I still haven’t forgiven them.”
The passengers on Hati’s back all turned to look in the direction of where the dojo was, anticipation filling them.
“Maybe they should continue building the dojo by themselves.”
Rubbing her chin in thought, Hado was almost as annoyed at the two teachers for bringing the rabbit hero to Garou’s party. Though outwardly she hid it through her radiant smile.
“Good idea. Slaves! You will continue building the dojo by yourselves! Also, carry those things up to the mountain. No breaks! Unless you want me to break you!” Ghin ordered from atop the wolves.
““Auuuugggghhh…””
From the back of the giant wolf, everyone could clearly hear the resignation and exhaustion in their pained groaning. The ‘disciples’ all felt even further sympathy for the two Heroes. All except Ghin and Hado.
“No slowing down! Hati!” Ghin shouted.
The pale orange wolf slowly following the two then gently breathed a puff of white flame at the two, roasting their behinds a little as motivation.
““AUURGH!!””
The flame seemed to make both Snipe and Eraserhead jump in both shock and fear. They now both began to move quite considerably faster, their legs pumping. The voice of Aizawa called up to the group riding the giant wolf.
“Haaah… we’re carrying your supplies. You might… burn them.”
“Good point. Skoll will freeze your butts then. Skoll!” Ghin whistled to his beloved wolf as the pale blue wolf gently huffed on their behinds, freezing their clothes as the cold burned their skins.
Snipe turned his head up to the large predator that was following them. As he shouted up the the ‘slave-driver,’ he could feel his throat was hoarse from all of the wheezing and gasping.
“The cold will… just make us slower!”
“Lies. It is hot and humid in the forest. Even more when Hati roasted your butts.” Ghin rebuked.
The two continued moving along, watched from above by their ‘overseers’. Seeing the layer of frost coating the back of the two Heroes, the rest of the disciples couldn’t help but pity them. Mirio’s voice came from beside Tamaki, his tone curious.
“I was wondering… why does Garou have us come in our Hero costumes? Since he has a dojo, shouldn’t he have a uniform or something?”
“He said uniforms are stupid.”
“That explains why he hates the UA uniform so much then...”
Nodding as if confirming something to himself, Mirio turned away to stare across the extensive green canopy of trees.
“Stop here, guys! Down!” Ghin ordered as Skoll and Hati stopped somewhere in the middle of the forest. Ghin leapt down from the wolf, wings sprouted from his back, as he descended towards the trees and disappeared behind the green.
“...uh.” Mirio does not know where he was going. This was like the middle of nowhere.
A few minutes later, Ghin came back with a two baskets. One full of fruits and the other full of vegetables. Ghin sat back atop of Hati with a smile on his face.
A wide variety filled each basket. Furrowing his brow in mild confusion, Endeavour glanced over to where Ghin had leapt off.
“...How did you see those from here?”
“I don't. I've marked this place as an experimental horticulture farm to practice techniques in bolstering the umami of our food.” Ghin replied.
“Isn’t it potentially dangerous? What happens if Hati or Skoll step on them?”
Tamaki glanced at the two baskets in the young boy’s hands. Both the fruits and the vegetables seemed to practically exude quality and freshness.
“They have good noses. They won't step on them. I made sure to let them know via sweet honey lathered on the leaves and bark.” Ghin smiled at them.
“It is quite impressive for someone your age to be knowledgeable in such fields.”
With a nod of approval, Ryukyu was impressed the the sheer level of information that Garou’s first disciple had on various topics.
“I have internet! And Google for guidance!” Ghin declared.
Two groans from down below suddenly drew their attention. Both Snipe and Aizawa had kept walking, unaware of the momentary stop. Hado smiled wider, although with a hint of malevolence.
“They do look like zombies now!”
“Not yet. They're still capable of speech. They must groan twenty four seven in order to be zombies.” Ghin denied.
“So what kind of experiments are you running on these farms of yours?”
Leaning in, Pixie Bob could get a clean smell of the fragrant fruits. The colours all seemed to be quite vibrant as well, well beyond any regular fruit.
“One of them is sacrifice. Natural selection of the best fruits and veggies there is. I leave a small part of my orchard for the weeds and insects so the best fruits and veggies can be cultivated.” Ghin replied as he took a strawberry and munched on it. Whistling again, the two wolves started moving, following the two slaves not far behind.
Grinning widely, Mirio stared at the colourful array of fruit and veg. It made sense for Garou’s farms to be run under similar rules to his dojo.
“So you’re ‘conditioning’ these fruit and vegetables as well?”
“Yep. Planning on using them for lunch and snacks.” Ghin replied.
With each step the giant wolves took, the two ‘slaves’ staggered slightly. With the ocean of trees surrounding them, neither of them could see the stairs to Garou’s dojo. At the thought of climbing the stairs once again, they both seemed to wilt.
Back up on the back of Hati, everyone was silent as the wolf continued marching along. Looking around at everyone, Mirio focused on Ghin, determined to break the awkward silence.
“So, how’s school?”
“...weird.” Ghin replied as he munched on another strawberry.
“Weird? How?”
Mirio was aware of Ghin’s past ‘experiences’ at his school. But for him to describe it as ‘weird’ meant that something must have happened after the monster incident involving Ghin and some classmates.
“They're being nice! Them! Why are they nice?! They're supposed to assholes, not… these abominations!” Ghin started complaining, his smile contorting to a frown.
“...Isn’t them being nice, a good thing?”
Mt Lady added to the conversation, glancing between the two other disciples of Garou.
“No! It now feels weird! I don't know what to think about them! We’re supposed to hate each other! Now I am the only one that hates them and it feels weird!” Ghin frowned even wider at the mention of his classmates.
“You did save some of your classmate’s lives. They would probably be grateful.”
Cocking his head to one side slightly, Mirio couldn’t help but smile at hearing Ghin’s improving school situation.
“I spent most of my time in class drawing and ignoring them! I was planning to forget about them once I graduate and move to another school, but now this is all wrong!” Ghin started complaining.
“Have you told Garou and Tsukihana about this?”
“No! If I do, they'll tell me to be friends with them! I don't wanna!” Ghin now started whining, acting according to his age.
“I don’t think you need to be friends with them. Maybe just be ‘friendly’ to them.”
The slightly shaky voice of Tamaki spoke up from beside Mirio. Everyone was now paying attention to the conversation taking place.
“I refuse to be friendly with those abominations.” Ghin very strongly rejected.
“Have y-you tried talking to some of your classmates?”
Ghin’s usual stubbornness fully exteriorized.
“I refuse to even talk with them. They're that meaningless to me.” Ghin stubbornly stood his ground.
“Think about it like this. You’re like their Hero now! You saved some of them from a monster.”
Beaming at the frowning young boy, Hado, like Mirio, felt happy for Ghin that his school situation was improving. Even if he wasn’t happy himself.
“I refuse to be their hero!” Ghin rejected even more vehemently.
Smirking slightly, Tomoko turned to the rest of the Heroes and ‘disciples’.
“It sounds like Garou’s dilemma! Initially disliked, but then after some heroic act, the public opinion was turned around.”
“But I hate them!” Ghin pouted.
“I do not think we are the best people to talk to about this topic. You should approach both your aunt and Garou.”
Endeavour remained still, his arms crossed. He wasn’t exactly the most helpful when it came to such issues.
“I refuse. I don't want to deal with them.” Ghin’s frown from then turned to a scowl.
“...They will find out eventually. You of all people should know that you cannot hide things from Garou.”
Endeavour’s shockingly uncharacteristic behaviour raised more than one brow. He was being so… helpful to Ghin. Or trying to.
“I will still try the best I can. I will hold out until the end.” Ghin stubbornly held on.
As silence once again settled over the group, the pillar of stairs finally came into view. Even with this not being their first time seeing it, the grand sight still took their breath away. The moaning and grumbling from the two Heroes on the ground grew almost deafening as they saw the stairs. They looked like they were ready to give up and just fall over.
“Climb! Don't you dare keel over. I will make you do this again with even more baggage if you do.” Ghin threatened.
““...Uuuugggghhh...””
Eventually the two giant wolves came to a stop near the base of the stairs while both Snipe and Aizawa had already begun their slow, tiring ascent. Beads of sweat seemed to trail behind them as they barely managed with each step.
“Let's go!” Ghin said as he leaped down from Hati, as the pale orange wolf shrank. The two ran up the stairs right past the two heroes, giving them a mischievous smirk as he ran past them.
One by one, each of the other ‘students’ of Garou dismounted the giant wolf and made their way past the two straining Heroes. Each and every time, Snipe and Aizawa shot them a pleading stare. Only for them to keep climbing past them. When Hado walked past them… she gave them a dark smile - one that radiated malicious intent. The two blinked, swearing that shadows clouded her smile for a second before returning to the usual happy and joyful.
Meanwhile…
“Hah…” Garou now sat atop of a pile of monsters in Tokyo, hands over his knees with his katana under his armpit. Upon hearing about the outbreak of monsters in the city, Garou did not waste time as he went to work, using his now favourite White Fang against the offenders.
“I wonder how Ghin is faring with the others…” Garou left the training to him since he was the only one very familiar with his arts.
“Oh well.” He shrugged as he looked down at the number of dismembered monsters he had slain. He compared himself to Watchdog Man, who also sat atop of a pile of monster corpses as well. Garou felt like he was a combination of Atomic Samurai, Silver Fang, and Watchdog Man now.
And like clockwork, the cheering and shouting from the crowd around him filled his ears. There seemed to be even more civilians here than the last outbreak, judging by the sheer number of camera and phone flashes. He’d be seeing these pictures on the internet no doubt.
Even the few Heroes that had been dispatched to deal with the threat stood there, gaping up at the triumphant form of Fenrir. They had received the call of a large number of monsters in Tokyo and made their way as fast as possible. But by the time they had got there, piles of corpses greeted them instead, formerly the terrorists they were supposed to defeat.
Rock Lock, along with Selkie and Captain Celebrity stared at the sheer number of dismembered monstrous corpses. And judging by their appearances, all the monsters did look quite imposing and intimidating. And they had been dealt with so easily. Quickly glancing over at his two fellow Heroes, Rock Lock knew that out of the three Heroes, he was the only one that knew who Fenrir was.
“... It looks like you didn’t need our help.”
Hearing the voices of Rock Lock, Garou turned to see the other heroes.
“Yo. Like my work?” Garou asked as he outstretched his hand, gesturing to the monster corpses around him.
Raising one hand, Rock Lock pointed squarely at the sword in Garou’s hand. Garou with a weapon… If there was a more terrifying concept, it had yet to be found.
“...Since when did you have one of those?”
“Found it on the floor.” Garou replied as if it was obvious.
Rock Lock barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Both Captain Celebrity and Selkie watched the exchange between the two with interest.
“Do you two know each other?”
Selkie, like Captain Celebrity, was surprised to not only see the mysterious Fenrir here, but to find that Rock Lock knew him. Or was at least, acquainted with him.
“We’ve had a few ‘encounters.’”
Rock Lock shrugged. If neither of the two other Heroes knew of Fenrir’s identity, then it would be better for them to simply not know.
“I find using a sword to be quite fun. Might use it for a while.” Garou smirked as he flicked the hilt, unsheathing the blade before grabbing the sword by the hilt, and stabbed it in the back of the large red possum monster under him. The red possum had a bleeding gash on its side and lost its tail and two of its limbs. But upon receiving the penetrating blade in its flesh, it sprang to life.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!” The monster ‘corpse’ Fenrir sat upon of started screaming in pain.
“Don't play dead on me.” Garou warned as he dug the blade deeper into the monster’s flesh.
Gasps of shock and fear ran through the crowd as they all took a few steps back from the now-screaming possum monster. Selkie and Rock Lock tensed up, ready for combat.
“P-Please! Have mercy on me!” the monster pleaded for his life as Garou dug the blade deeper.
“You wish to live?” Garou asked, scoffing at the sight of the pleading monster. The monster was around tiger level. Barely above wolf.
“Y-Yes! Please! I promise I won't hurt anyone!” The monster pleaded again, crying tears from his black beady eyes.
“Hmm…” Garou yanked the blade out of the monster and flicked the blood off the metal with a swing, before sheathing the blade back.
“So, everyone. Should I spare this monster? Or kill it?” Garou asked the crowd, giving the monster a democratic chance of life.
A murmur of momentary confusion ran through the crowd, before they all began muttering their decisions. Slowly, the voices became louder and louder as some people began to shout.
“It’s already beaten! Just throw it in jail!”
“What’s wrong with you? That thing would have happily killed all of us!”
“There’s no way I’m going to end up like one of those victims on the news. Kill it.”
Slowly, the crowd began shouting their choices. The vote was overwhelmingly in the side of ‘Kill’. Of course, there were a few who voiced their disagreements.
“You should've held back in your impulses the moment you decided to become a monster, possum.” Garou said as he unsheathed his blade, raising it up high dramatically.
“No! No! Please!” The monster pleaded for his life as he closed his eyes, but instead of the cold embrace of death, he felt only a sharp pain on one of its four legs, his left front paw taken.
“Ahhh!” He screamed as it clutched the paw in agony.
“However, I will not kill you. Heroes don't abuse the weak. Nor do they stoke the hate in the citizens they're supposed to protect.” Garou replied as he leapt down from atop of monster, landing on the floor with his sword now sheathed.
“Take him away.” Garou asked the other heroes before walking off, exiting the scene with sword in hand.
As Garou left the scene, the voice of Rock Lock called after him.
“...Are you sure it was a good idea to spare it?”
“Monsters go by disaster levels where I come from. This one… is weak. It won't be a threat. Unless you're careless.” Garou replied as he left the screaming monster behind.
The crowd kept their eyes firmly on the writhing, screaming creature. The three Heroes all shared a glance as they moved in to apprehend the monster. As they neared it, Selkie shouted out, addressing the crowd.
“Everyone, get back. It’s still not safe.”
As the crowd took more steps backwards, the three Heroes cautiously approached the pained monster. All three of them had heard of the kind of things that these monsters were capable of. Glancing over in Garou’s direction, Rock Lock could no longer see him. They’d have to deal with this monster by themselves.
Back to the others…
“The Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist is a river. Do not move with wild emotion, but focused intensity. Never let yourself go or else you will suffer.” Ghin started lecturing while he was cooking outside with portable kitchen devices.
The Pro Heroes stood nearby. The Pussycats, along with Mirio, Hado and Tamaki, all demonstrated sets and the stances. The Pros watched with rapt attention, carefully observing each and every motion displayed.
“As for the other martial arts, Garou never personally trained under them. He immediately copied and understood them when he fought his sensei’s brother in fierce combat. He already mastered the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist to the point of being able to kill anything.” Ghin continued as he then flipped the fried rice in the air riddled with the recently harvested onions and garlic under the afternoon sun.
At the mention of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, the Pussycats and the seniors all changed their respective stances to now display the killer martial art, shifting from calm and fluid to more gentle and graceful.
“This one focuses on freedom of movement and grace. Never hesitate or move with doubt in your stride. Unfetter yourself from the concerns of life and your past, and soar.” Ghin now started explaining the concept behind the other martial art.
The Heroes were engrossed by the display before them. Carefully watching, Mt Lady couldn’t help but be both amazed and impressed. Seeing someone else other than Garou perform these movements seemed… strange.
“It almost looks too graceful for a martial art. Looks more like a dance.”
“Some dances are martial arts. It is movement reformed from casual entertainment to fierce combat. Anyone Aniki personally sent to the hospital would understand.” Ghin replied as he finished cooking his fried rice, now shoving them from the pan into an empty bowl next to him with his spoon, the aroma intoxicating their noses. Even more so than usual.
As polychromatic fragrances wafted the air, two unintelligible groans came from nearby. Turning to the source, everyone could see both Snipe and Aizawa finally reach the top of the stairs. Aizawa was paler than usual, Snipe looked like he was about to die behind his gasmask, and their skin was practically coated in sweat.
As they stepped out of the exit, they immediately dropped all of their supplies on the ground. They then both collapsed face first on top of their respective piles.
“I am now cooking lunch. Get to work, slaves.” Ghin ordered as he started cooking the noodles as he poured peanut oil over the pan.
Neither of the exhausted Heroes stirred. Not even a voice or the subtlest noise. They could be easily mistaken for corpses, given the state they were in.
“...alright, I will leave your fate to their hands. Everyone! Should I spare them or put these corpses to work?” Ghin asked the other students.
Raising one arm into the air, Hado’s voice sounded decidedly cheery, despite her strange, underlying malevolence.
“Nope. Keep working!”
“Maybe five minutes? We don’t want them to literally drop dead from exhaustion.”
Looking over at the two Heroes, Mirio shrugged, suggesting even the smallest break. The others all nodded in agreement with Mirio.
“I agree. Exhausted workers only work slower. And the chances of mistakes in the construction are greatly increased.”
Much like the others, Ryukyu was advocating for a small mercy.
“...fine. Here. Have some fruit.” Rising up from his lotus position, he walked towards the two corpses and placed a basket of fruit.
“Don't take too much. It is meant for dessert.” Ghin warned as he returned to his previous spot, continuing his duty as the dojo’s chef.
Aizawa’s arm slowly moved towards the basket. His movements were sluggish as he slowly wrapped his fingers around a large, red apple. With a grunt of effort, he dragged his arm back over towards him. As he brought the apple near his mouth, he took a large bite. The sudden burst of flavour seemed to overwhelm him as he relaxed back into his prone position. His voice was hoarse and croaky.
“... it’s good…”
“You can only take two.” Ghin warned as he continued swirling the contents on the pan.
Snipe began to reach out towards the basket of fruit as well. Glancing over in its direction, Snipe lifted his mask, feeling the a cool breeze on his face. He grabbed a particularly plump looking pear. Seeing his fellow Hero so engrossed in his own fruit, Snipe took a bite, and was immediately shocked by how the pear tasted. It seemed to reinvigorate him ever so slightly.
“I bought the trees myself using Aunty’s credit card. She's loaded now so she won't notice.” Ghin smiled as he continued swirling the pan fried noodles before adding the condiments. The moment the condiments touched the oil, a loud, sizzling explosion of aroma erupted like a geyser, enveloping the area as it graced the noses of those present.
The assembled disciples of Garou all stared at the pan with hungry eyes. Even if they hadn’t been hungry before, they were now.
“Hmmm, hmm… What? Continue the demonstration. Are you all slacking?” Ghin accused the non-punished disciples.
Immediately, the Pussycats and the three seniors all tore their eyes away from Ghin’s cooking and continued their demonstration. Taking up their positions and stances, they began again with their movements. Each one of them seemed to radiate focus and concentration, The Pro Heroes continued watching, taking it all in.
“Yo. Which do you prefer? The arms of some suits or their phones?” Phone in hand, Garou asked the receiver on the other side as he was now in a room, sitting on a table in a lotus position with his sword horizontally resting on his shoulders. Surrounding the metal table were some men in suits, each clutching the bleeding stump of their arms in great pain.
“[... I’d like the phones. I wouldn’t be able to do much with their arms.]”
On the other end of the phone, a nervous LaBrava attempted to keep her composure.
“Are you sure you don't want the arms? You could use their fingerprints and DNA. Your current ‘employers’ would love to have them.” Garou continued insisting on giving the girl the arms.
“[...No… I think the phones would be better. Besides, I’m sure there are better ways of getting DNA and fingerprints. Ones that don’t involve cutting their arms off.]”
“Alright, killjoy.” Garou smirked as he turned the phone off. He looked on the floor, seeing a open suitcase full of leftover monster cells. Two or three were left.
“Alright, last chance. Who do you work for and give me a good reason why I shouldn't take your legs as well?” Garou asked the literally half disarmed men as he flicked the blade a few inches off its sheath, revealing a glimpse of the shining blade.
“A-As well? Please… we’re only middlemen.”
One of the bleeding businessmen trembled, faced with a terrifying image. What was the a Hero even doing here? This was a basement hidden under the public, one of many left unused for years. How had he found them?
“I don't think that convinces me enough. Give me a name. Now. Or I will personally give you a very viable reason to fear me as much as the Hero Hunter himself.” Garou threatened as he slowly pulled the sword from the sheath on his shoulders and back neck.
“Please.. We don’t know who’s selling them. We don’t know their name. It’s always between intermediaries...”
Gritting his teeth in pain, one of the suit-clad businessmen clasped his armless stump, blood trickling from between his fingers.
“You know them. Name or face. Now. Anything distinguishable.” Garou demanded as his sword was nearly drawn.
Seeing the weapon nearly unsheathed, the suits all began panicking. Pushing himself back into his seat, one of them couldn’t suppress a shudder.
“He just said that we don’t know who the ones at the top are. But with the amount of people they’ve hired, they have to be quite wealthy.”
“Distinguishing traits now. Or in five. Four. Three.” Garous started counting down before he almost unsheathed the blade.
Quickly one of the businessmen waved his arms around in the air to draw ‘Fenrir’s’ attention.
“Wait wait wait!! I did meet the one at the top. But I was blindfolded and couldn’t see anything. Said it was ‘to protect his identity’. It’s a man, with a somewhat gravelly voice. I can’t tell you any more. I never saw his face!”
“One…”
The moment he said one, the man saw the light of steel just barely making contact with his other arm above the shoulder. Half of the blade cut through the wall behind him, showing that Garou planned on taking his arm without fail if he hadn't talked.
“.......good choice.” Garou said as he yanked the half-embedded blade from the wall.
“Y-y-you’re a Hero! You can’t do this to us!”
One of the other suits continued trying to block the blood streaming out of one of his severed stumps, staining his suit crimson.
“And you can do stuff like selling bioweapons for terrorists?” Garou countered with a raised eyebrow.
“Let me get this straight. If I wasn't there, a lot of innocent blood would be on your hands. Death would be too good for the likes of you.” Garou added with venom in his tone.
One of the only unharmed suits in the room stood up from his chair slowly. He had a somewhat nervous smile as he shrugged nonchalantly.
“I-It’s just like selling a gun. It’s a weapon. We aren’t responsible for what our buyer does with it.”
“Turning people into monsters cannot be compared to selling guns. It is a bomb. And bombs are not something that should be marketed.” Garou rebuked as he turned his eyes to him.
“You seem to have one arm too many. Maybe a leg too.” Garou commented as he walked towards him.
“Do you want to keep them?” Garou asked.
“Wha-...”
The suited businessman shivered as ‘Fenrir’ approached him, sword in hand.
“I called the cops here. They will soon arrive guns pointing. Be sure to answer veeery truthfully. Or… the next time I see you.” Garou flicked the arm holding his blade, his sword fading into a blur. The men in the room then heard the sound of Garou sheathing his sword the next second without even noticing it.
“You will lose more than just an arm.” Garou said as he turned around, and walked away towards the exit with the phones in his pockets.
As he left, the standing businessman could feel a strange sensation all over his body. It felt… cold. Slowly, thin slices began to appear in his suit, going all the way through. He watched as his expensive, custom-made suit fell to the ground in pieces.
“You guys suck at doing sets.” Ghin, while still cooking outdoors, shouted at the disciples who were mimicking the movements of the seniors.
The Pro Heroes were all attempting to replicate the movements they had so carefully observed. But judging by Ghin’s reaction, they weren’t doing too well.
“I mean, how many unused muscles do you guys have? I thought the hero training would make you all fit and flexible at least.” Ghin continued adding salt to their efforts as he started grilling the eggplants.
“Speak for yourself! Some of us do other things than train all day.”
Mt Lady seemed very insulted that Ghin was mocking her flexibility and figure. She seemed to be the only one.
“Like what? Lazing around, eating chips, and watching TV?” Ghin accused with an impish smile as he used a brush to add thick sauce to the eggplant.
“Wha- How did you know tha-”
Realizing what she was saying, Mt Lady immediately covered her mouth with one hand.
“...” His smile disappearing and eyes narrowing, Ghin stopped painting the grilling eggplant.
“...who here thinks she’s in need of further conditioning?”
As she heard Ghin’s question, she turned to face her fellow Heroes, silently pleading to them. Casting her eyes over to Snipe and Eraserhead, they both still seemed to be dead on their feet.
““Uuurrgghh… we do…””
The two groaning voices of Snipe and Aizawa spoke up at the same time. Despite their exhaustion, they grinned at Mt Lady.
“I think so too!”
Once again, Hado raised her arm. Mirio stared at his friend, quite shocked at how vindictive she was being today. Had something happened?
“Please, no.”
A whimper came from the form of Yu. She stared at both Hado and the two exhausted Heroes with very obvious sense of betrayal.
“Nine more votes left.” Ghin looked at the others, waiting for their answer.
“Whilst it is unfitting for a Hero to live such a lifestyle, I do not think she needs any more ‘conditioning’.”
Cupping her chin, Ryukyu noticed Mt. Lady smiling at her.
“I agree with Ryukyu. Besides, both you and Garou eat your fair share of unhealthy foods.”
Glancing over at Mt. Lady, Midnight nodded once in her direction, showing her support.
Sharing a look, both Ragdoll and Pixie Bob nodded in silent agreement.
“...I think she could go for a bit more. Won’t hurt.”
“Five against Mt Lady. Two more and she will join the slaves.”
Yu seemed to desperately stare at the other remaining disciples and trainees. She was practically begging at this point.
“Please. I’ll cut down on the chips!”
“You’ll do it whether or not you like it in the end.” Ghin corrected.
“While more training is always good, I don’t think she needs that much more.”
The voice of Gang Orca came from beside Midnight.
“Says you.” Ghin pouted at the Whale Man in disagreement.
That left Mirio, Tamaki, Vlad King and Endeavour. All four of them were carefully weighing the pros and the cons. On one hand, it meant less work for them. On the other hand, it did seem rather cruel.
“...I vote she joins them. I haven’t forgotten your smug grins when I was also forced to ‘condition’ myself.”
Vlad King narrowed his eyes at the trembled female Hero. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“One more vote and she is off to the slave pen.” Ghin announced.
“I think she’s had enough torment for a while. I vote against.”
Mirio could feel a strangely frustrated stare coming from Hado.
“Boooo!” Ghin protested before he resumed painting sauce over the eggplants.
“I-I agree with Mirio. She should focus on the techniques now.”
Just like Mirio, Tamaki noticed Hado now giving both of them a rather heated stare, almost disapproving in nature.
All eyes turned to Endeavour as he stood there, his face unreadable. With his arms crossed, he closed his eyes in thought. The entire area was dead silent as they waited for the Flame Hero’s decision. Mt Lady stared at him with wide, hopeful eyes.
“...I vote… against.”
Yu seemed to almost sink to her knees in relief. A few of the disciples who had voted ‘For’ were rather disappointed. Those who had voted ‘Against’ looked both glad and relieved for Mt Lady.
“Ehhh…” Ghin pouted, while flipping the eggplant with his spatula.
“Why not?”
Uncrossing his arms, Endeavour glanced over at the relieved form of Yu.
“...She volunteered for this training to improve herself. I do not believe she needs more ‘conditioning’.”
“It will at least make her more fit. And increase her stamina.” Ghin argues.
Quickly rising from the ground, Yu stared at Ghin. Her eyes were wide, her tone promising.
“I’ll do more exercise! I will!”
“Then should I make Skoll and Hati chase you around every day?” Ghin offered.
“Ehhh… maybe not both of them at once…”
She didn’t exactly relish the idea of being pursued by both wolves again.
“…too bad. Get back to training!” Ghin ordered as he began sauce painting the other side of the eggplant with the brush before sprinkling salt and seasoning from his fingers.
“Your skills better not disappoint, girl.”
Within the police station, at the evidence locker with the girl at the computer typing away at the keyboard, Garou stood behind her sword in hand, leering at the girl intimidatingly. The phones Garou confiscated were hooked up into the servers, now being hacked.
A few police officers watched Garou cautiously, their eyes landing on the sword at his hip. As Garou watched her work from behind, LaBrava just couldn’t relax. But it was either help the Hero Hunter in exchange for pardons or face serious prison time.
“I’m trying. But there are quite a few phones. And they’re all pretty heavily encrypted.”
“It is either that or I start cutting heads off more monsters.” Garou sighed. Nearby, there is the news reporting another monster attack, one near Shiketsu High, and other high schools.
“This could take a while. All of these phones are different models and makers. That doesn’t make it easier.”
Frowning, LaBrava could feel the stress already beginning to build up.
“Hah. I’ll be back. I have more monsters to cut.” Seeing that she needed time, Garou sighed as he marched towards the exit. His blade will drink oceans of monster blood today. He had to fill in for the absent top heroes who were training after all.
“Time to eat. Slaves too, unfortunately.” Ghin called out as he finished his assortment this time. Crunchy dried pan fried noodles in curry sauce, grilled eggplant ladened with sauce, and much more resting on the stone floor.
Wiping the sweat from their brows, the ‘students’ and disciples of Garou all gathered around the assortment of food. Even Aizawa and Snipe had sat down, although they had to drag themselves over instead of walking.
“I don’t know how you do it, but you surprise us with your culinary skills every time.”
Mirio stared at the array of food before them, clearly impressed. Everyone else was equally as impressed. Even Endeavour.
“I’m a learning boy.” Ghin replied with a smile.
“You’ll need to teach us your cooking skills after your martial arts skills.”
Vlad King could feel his appetite only increase in intensity as he stared down at the food.
“Eh, too much trouble,” Ghin said as he already started scooping a bowl of rice for himself with a ladle.
One by one, the rest of the disciples all sat down. Luckily, the fact that there were far fewer people meant that none of them would be fighting over food. Or they hoped.
“So… did Garou enjoy his birthday?”
Attempting to break the awkward silence, Hado looked at Ghin. She did hope that he had fun. Even with the little ‘incident’.
“Hm?” Ghin was already eating by the time she spoke up. Gulping, he answered to the best of his ability,
“Oh yeah! He likes it!” Ghin smiled.
“I’ve even seen him smile normally. Normally!”
The image of Garou smiling like a regular person was somewhat off-putting to a few of the disciples. But the idea that someone like him had actually enjoyed himself warmed their hearts.
“I think next year he might be expecting another surprise birthday.”
Chuckling to himself, Mirio knew that was probably the only time they’d be able to catch him off guard like that.
“Next time, there better be no party poopers.” Ghin glared at Snipe when he said that.
Hado joined in glaring at the gunslinger.
“Still though, it was certainly… an event.”
Ryukyu was definitely underselling how uncomfortable the entire ‘incident’ had been. It was still a little strange.
“At least it ended well.” Ghin points out.
Tearing her eyes away from Snipe, Hado frowned as she remembered that photo that Mirko had brought in for Garou. Her eyes narrowed as she thought. She’d need to get a photo of her own…
“So how long will our training last?”
Like the rest of the Heroes, Midnight was wondering when exactly they could return to being full-time Heroes. Their absence would have already been noticed.
“Years at most.” Ghin shrugged as he reached for the eggplant with his chopsticks before plopping it into his mouth.
They had all expected it, but the Heroes were all taken aback by how long it would take. They couldn’t hide away from heroics forever. Mt Lady almost shot up out of her seated position.
“Years? We will need to do our jobs during that time!”
“Depends on how much strength you guys need to take down monsters. And there are quite some scary monsters out there.”
The voice of Endeavour spoke up beside Aizawa. His face was set in a stern gaze, radiating determination.
“...Unless Garou chooses to take the position of Number One Hero, I must be strong enough to face any threat.”
“See? He gets it.” Ghin then bit into the juicy slice of eggplant.
“Mmmm, I killed this one with the conditioned eggplant.” Ghin licked his lips as he started munching on the eggplant.
All the disciples sat around, patiently awaiting for their own servings. Even Snipe and Eraserhead sat and waited, even if they did look like they were about to jump towards the food from hunger.
“That’s not the only thing you’ve almost killed with your ‘conditioning’...”
Turning his head away, Snipe muttered to himself. His voice was barely even audible, and the rest of the Heroes failed to pick up what the gunslinger had said.
“Should I eat your share as well?” Ghin threatened with a big smile on his face.
“...No please...”
He knew that he shouldn’t ever mutter or murmur under his breath in the presence of the silver-haired duo. It was asking for trouble.
Glancing around at the interior, Mirio could see that the dojo was taking shape well. It mustn't be too much longer until it's finished.
“So what’s left in the dojo to do? It looks like it’s almost done.”
“Ehhh, bathroom… what else?”
The roof had been fitted and placed, the result of much sweat and toil by the combined efforts of the disciples.
“What about those solar panels you mentioned? Or the bikes you planned to use to power everything?”
In his heart, Mirio didn’t exactly relish the idea of becoming a charging station for the dojo’s power. A feeling shared by everyone else.
“Oh yeah, the power station. The solar panels must be handled with care. It will be delivered tomorrow. As for the bikes, the day after.” Ghin said as he remembered.
“I hope the bicycles will only be used as punishments...”
Mt Lady grimaced at the thought. Stuck in one room, pedaling for the two sadistic ‘masters’. It sounded like torture.
“It is meant to train your stamina while powering the dojo.”
“Hasn’t the heaving back and forth of supplies trained our stamina? A bicycle seems too… simple.” Raising one hand to catch attention, Gang Orca furrowed his brow in questioning.
“That is after the heaving back and forth. Immediately after.”.
“What?! You’re gonna kill us at this rate!”
Snipe almost shot up from his seated position, clearly shocked and mildly outraged.
“That is for the punished, though.” Ghin narrowed his eyes at Snipe.
“So just be good and everything will be fine, is what you’re saying.”
Aizawa felt like the addition of the bikes were more… encouragement to good behavior.
“Personally, I had two of the bikes reserved for Snipe and Eraserhead… I am still not satisfied with their penance.” Ghin confessed.
Both of the Heroes frozen up, tensed. The rest of the disciples definitely felt like those two got the short stick when it came to punishment.
“So I decided that the next one being punished will power the dojo every day the day after getting up here, but I haven't spoke with Aniki about this. It might get scrapped…” Ghin said dejectedly. The boy then started filling the bowls of food for the heroes, handing their share of rice and chopsticks one by one.
A slight feeling of relief passed through a few of the Heroes. With the threat of such torture, it was a perfect form of encouraging ‘good behaviour’. As Ghin handed out the bowls of food, they all took them eagerly.
“Alright. Here comes another vote. Who will do dishwashing duty?” Ghin asked the disciples as he started munching on the rice, stuffing his cheeks as he chewed.
Almost instantly, all eyes landed on Mt Lady. She had narrowly escaped her previous ‘punishment’. And with there being only a few of them, it wasn’t that bad of a job. Noticing the eyes on her, Yu began to look around at each and every other Hero and student. Her eyes were wide as she silently pleaded with them.
“You escaped before. Not now.”
Aizawa had a sinister grin on his face. He found some sense of karma, seeing Mt Lady being put to work after the times she had volunteered them.
“I apologise. But it must be done. And with our numbers, it shouldn’t take long to finish.”
Frowning, Ryukyu shook her head in response to Yu’s begging. With even the usually sympathetic Dragon Hero against her, she seemed to wilt and she resigned herself to her ‘fate’.