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Sound of Heroes by BANIX
 Anime » My Hero Academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア Rated: M, English, Hurt/Comfort & Romance, [Yui K., OC], Words: 78k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Nov 19, 2019 Updated: Jun 9354Chapter 11- Aftermath
"I… AM HERE!"
I cannot help but let out a smile on my face at All Might's presence. This is definitely like a scene out of your typical shonen manga. Just the sight of the Symbol of Peace arriving onto the scene was enough to get me to calm down.
It also helps that he managed to get me out of that hostage situation just right before handyman tried to turn me into dust. I had tried to use my quirk to see if I could disable handyman with the least amount of movement to try and not alert him, but he saw through it immediately.
That's why I'm glad that All Might arrived in the nick of time. It might really be Game Over for me if he didn't do so. All All Might had to do was to appear and just like that, I am now miraculously free.
This is the power of the No. 1 Hero, the Symbol of Peace.
There was another gust of wind as All Might suddenly disappeared from view again. In the next second, all eight of us who were fighting with handyman, fogman, and the Nomu earlier are now way further back away from the three villains. All Might managed to rescue all of us out of the battlefield in just a single second?!
Just how fast is he?!
"Hibiki!"
"I'm fine!" I reassured Shinso and my other classmates who are genuinely worried about me. "What about Aizawa-sensei?!"
"Your teacher is fine. All of you! Head for the entrance!" All Might barked out as he got into a combative stance. "Let the Pros take things from here!"
"It's no use, All Might!" Midoriya quickly spoke up in worry. "The brain villain had a shock absorption quirk, only something sharp like Onpa's sonic blade could effectively damage it and even then it can also regenerate! The villain with many hands can disintegrate anything he touches and the man with the black fog has a warping quirk! You would need-"
"Young Midoriya." All Might turned back to look at us, a big smile on his face and his usual pearly white teeth glinted under the light as he struck a pose. Even with how ridiculous this kind of pose is supposed to look, somehow, the way All Might did it gives us a great sense of assurance.
Have no fear, for I am here.
This, is what it means to be a hero. This is what being the No. 1 Hero means. Your very presence itself is the definition of safety.
"Fear not!"
With those parting words, All Might dashed ahead to meet the three villains in battle.
"Carolina…"
"We need to go." Shinso, being the voice of reason, brought us out of our trance as All Might began to dish out devastating attacks against the Nomu. "All Might is the No. 1 Hero, he can handle this. We will only be a burden to All Might here. He cannot fight at his best if he has to constantly worry about our safety."
"Onpa, can you walk?"
"I'm fine." I reassured Sero as I stood up and ushered them for us to make haste and leave the area. I flashed Midoriya a brief smile to calm him down. Knowing his character, that poor guy must be feeling so guilty and convinced that he was the one that nearly got me killed.
"Then let's move." Shinso urged us once more and we quickly made our way out of there. The fight between All Might and Nomu is the real clash of the titans as they matched each other blow for blow, not like how I was barely keeping up with it by skirting just right out of its reach and sneaking in potshots every now and then.
That fight over there is way out of our league.
"Midoriya?" Mineta asked in concern when the mini All Might kept looking back at the fight in obvious worry. What's he so worried about?
"That doesn't look so good."
Shoji's comment got us looking back at how All Might is now being physically restrained by the Nomu while the two of them are partially sunk into a portal fogman had conjured. He's right, this doesn't look so good for All Might. If fogman closes the portal right now, All Might might really be bisected into two.
"ALL MIGHT!"
We were all briefly stunned when Midoriya suddenly ran ahead in an attempt to save All Might. What is he going to accomplish by running straight ahead into danger?!
"Midoriya!"
"That idiot!" Shinso swore as the rest of us could only follow in hopes that Midoriya did not get himself seriously hurt by suddenly running in like that. Fogman is standing in Midoriya's way, and I really don't want to find out where he would suck Midoriya into.
"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!"
A series of familiar sounding explosions knocked the fog villain away from Midoriya. Bakugo Katsuki made his appearance as he slammed and pinned fogman to the ground. At the same time, a layer of frost covered the right side of the Nomu while Kirishima almost managed to land a heavy punch onto handyman.
Well, things might be looking good for us after all. Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kirishima are some of the strongest fighters in our class.
"DON'T MOVE!" Bakugo growled out as his hands sparked with mini explosions, forcing the fogman to stay down. "If I decide that you are doing anything fishy, I'll blow you to kingdom come!"
"That's not very hero-like, dude." Kirishima commented, his eyes still locked onto the handyman.
"Surrender now." Shinso spoke to the villains coldly, obviously trying to see if he can get the drop on handyman once more with his quirk. However, handyman merely gave him a brief look before looking back at All Might, who had managed to get himself out of Nomu's grip when it got itself partially frozen from Todoroki's ice.
To figure out, or at least suspect what Shinso quirk is only after getting affected by it once, this handyman is definitely a smart one.
"You've pinned down our only way out and also beaten our level. Not only that, all of you are at full health. The League of Villains really should be ashamed!" Handyman said with a dramatic sigh without a care in the world, like him getting apprehended today is definitely not going to happen even with All Might around.
And then, like a switch had been flipped, his voice turned serious once more.
"Nomu. Take out the explosive brat. We need our escape route back."
With a guttural roar, the inhuman creature broke the frozen part of its body and immediately began to regenerate itself right before our very eyes. Bones, muscles, skin. Its entire right side of its body began to stitch and regrow itself back once more. It's the same thing when I was the one facing it. Doesn't matter even if I cut off all its limbs, it just grew them right back.
"Surprised? This is Hyper Regeneration, although the sword-wielding one would already know that first-hand." Handyman stated with pride as if he is introducing a new toy to everyone else. "Nomu is a super-powered living sandbag designed to withstand everything you've got, ALL MIGHT!"
With my ears, I can hear the sound of the Nomu's muscles moving and from there, I have a vague prediction of where he is heading to.
"Bakugo! Get away from there!"
I don't know if my warning was fast enough. All I knew was that the Nomu's punch generated a pressurised air cannon that gouged out a long trench on the floor. Bakugo is gone in one second and suddenly appears beside us in the next.
"Kacchan!"
"You dodged that?! Wow."
"No, I didn't." Bakugo snapped back at Kirishima. "Shut up."
Yeah, he didn't. All Might moved him out of the way at the last second. I didn't manage to see how he did it, but I heard it.
I looked back at the scene and weighed my options. I had expended a lot of energy since the start of the fight at the Downpour Zone till now, and had nearly worn myself out by simply trying to keep up with the Nomu's speed during our skirmish. Fighting the insanely powerful Nomu required me to constantly move at high speed when my quirk wasn't meant to be used in that manner. There's no way I can still fight in the same way like I did with the Nomu previously. My sonic blade was disarmed and thrown somewhere faraway by the combined efforts of fogman and handyman earlier, but I still have a little left in me that could possibly help All Might right now. I can still play support at the very least.
The No. 1 Hero isn't looking too good, if I have to be honest. He's bleeding, injured, and obviously on a time limit if my foreknowledge serves me right.
"Think you can get the fogman with your quirk?" I whispered to Shinso, who is standing beside me. "Handyman probably already knows or suspects what your quirk is, but there's still a chance that fogman doesn't know about it yet. If we take fogman down, then there's no way they can make a run for it."
"With help, probably. It seems like they somehow got my quirk figured out." Shinso whispered back. "But there's also now eleven of us here discounting All Might. That's more than half the class. We can still do this."
Given what my other classmates are currently talking about, they have the same thoughts too.
"No! Get out of here!" All Might insisted as he continues to stand protectively in front of us. It doesn't matter how much we protest, All Might is stubborn on not letting us students get involved. I can see why, but…
It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Even then, All Might is right about one thing.
"Fear not! Sit back and watch a Pro get serious!"
We are not Pros yet. We are not qualified. We are merely high school students on their third day of high school. We can only stay back and watch as All Might reengaged the Nomu in combat all by himself.
The eleven of us are still too weak to be of any help to the No. 1 Hero.
"Hibiki!"
"Yui." I caught her in my arms the moment she all but slam open the doors of the medical bay to come find me. She's obviously distraught.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." I tried my best to reassure her as she only tightened her hug on me. Being a shy and reserved person, such open acts of affection is not something she would usually take part in. For her to do it like this so openly, she must be really scared out of her mind.
"Hey, I'm fine, see?" I gently pried her off me and used my thumb to wipe away the tears sliding down her cheeks. "All Might arrived just in time."
"I-I heard from Shinso that-"
"I nearly died?" I laughed it off, hoping that it is enough to lighten the atmosphere. "Trust me, I am hard to kill and more stubborn than a cockroach when it counts. You should know that better than anyone."
Maybe it's a good thing that my cousin had left school for Ryukyu's agency since she is doing her work study there for the next two weeks. A freaked out Yui is already a lot for me to handle. I'm not confident that I am able to placate a freaked out Yui on top of a freaked out Nejire.
I am currently in the medical bay. Since I'm one of the few who had direct contact with handyman, the villain who possesses a quirk that decays anything he touches, Recovery Girl was insistent on giving me a thorough check. From what I know, Aizawa had part of his elbow decayed, which is why they are so worried about me since handyman had grabbed me directly by the neck.
Physically, I'm fine. The only thing I'm sporting are a few bruises, a mild case of physical exhaustion, and a wounded ego. It is a traumatic experience, that I agree, but I can get over it. Our experience at the USJ is what Pro Heroes face on a daily basis. If I cannot get over it, then I might as well quit now.
All Might had really gone Plus Ultra and utterly decimated the Nomu creature. The rest of the teachers had arrived soon after, easily defeating any remaining villains they could find. Shinso had defeated many of the villains earlier by his lonesome when he and Tsuyu brought Aizawa to the entrance where an injured Thirteen is. From what I heard, Shinso's quirk had taken control of some of the stronger villains which he used to take down every other villain attacking our classmates by the entrance, securing a safe zone for them.
So all that's left for our reinforcements after that is to do cleanup. On the bright side, all my classmates made it out alive and in one piece with minimal injuries.
Unfortunately, handyman and fogman managed to make their escape. I have a sinking feeling that these two might be the real antagonists. I'm sincerely hoping that I'm wrong.
On hindsight, there were so many other things that I could have done better in that fight. I could have immobilized the villains earlier with my ability to induce motion sickness. I could have just blasted handyman's arm off, but somehow that thought didn't register to me in my head. I freaked out, even if I tried my best to keep my cool, but the fact is that I still freaked out. The fact is that I panicked and my mind just went blank.
This experience, however unfortunate, is still a harsh reality check for me.
I'm still not yet strong enough to be a hero. Even after training myself for so long to get into U.A., I'm still not ready, both physically and mentally.
That is a fact.
"Hibiki?"
"I'm fine." I reassured her as we sat side by side on the bed, even if I'm the furthest from being 'fine' right now. Even then, I don't want to worry Yui any further, so the only thing I can do is put a smile on my face and tell her that everything is alright.
Everything is fine.
Currently, there's no one else here but the two of us. The rest of my classmates had been cleared by Recovery Girl earlier and sent back to the classroom, which was probably how Shinso managed to somehow sneaked a word in to Yui about what happened to me. I'm only here under observation because Recovery Girl wanted to be doubly sure that I'm alright before letting me go. There's still a number of things we are not sure about handyman's quirk and Recovery Girl doesn't want to take any chances.
"I'm fine." I told Yui again upon seeing her worried look. "Just had a lot on my mind, that's all."
And isn't that an understatement?
My parents and siblings are understandably worried. I managed to assure them that everything with me is alright now, but it still took a while to convince them.
Classes for the next day were cancelled. From what I know, Aizawa's condition is not life-threatening, but he did suffer some really serious injury that might cause him permanent damage. I have no idea about All Might's state since the school is tight-lipped about his condition, but he probably isn't doing so well considering that his power had been getting weaker ever since he passed it on to Midoriya.
Of course, that is a secret that I'm not supposed to know or divulge.
Since classes were cancelled, Yui came over to my house for a visit and stayed for the entirety of the day. Not that I mind, but it's obvious to me that me almost dying via turning to dust had really scared her. Nejire had also called me through video call and talked to me for close to two hours the previous night, worried that there might be anything that Recovery Girl had missed out in her medical check. She nearly wanted to just drop everything at Ryukyu's agency and come here straight away until I talked her out of it.
After reassuring them again and again that I'm fine, my parents were somewhat convinced, so they left for work as per usual. Same goes for my brother. Hoshi still had to go to class, so she reluctantly went to school. Ignoring the servants, it's just me and Yui alone at home right now.
Right now, I'm just wishing that there is a way to truly convince my loved ones that I'm alright, at least physically. Mentally? I'm not so sure. All I know is that my lack of experience had nearly led me to my death. Even if I couldn't dodge the handyman's grasp, I could at least make my escape a lot sooner with wiser methods. Why didn't I think of making him motion sick sooner? I don't need to move a finger to achieve that. I definitely used that trick a few times on the Nomu, so why didn't I do it on handyman when he had me as a hostage?
The only answer I could think of is that I had let my fear of death gripped me, which is ironic considering that I had already experienced what death is before. Facing the Nomu had scared me. Having handyman's hand on my neck had made me freeze up with fear no matter how much I tried to keep my cool. I cannot deny that because that was the truth.
I'm still not good enough.
My fear had made me underperform. I had panicked and slipped up. Yes, I did great by managing to keep my cool, somewhat, but that's the end of it. I still messed up big time. If it wasn't for All Might appearing when he did, I might really be dust right now.
I'm still far from being a hero no matter how wonderful my quirk is. I have a long way to go.
I'm currently in the piano room playing the piano, just randomly playing any random songs that came to my head. I didn't even care if I hit the wrong keys, which is very unusual for me since I'm capable of playing any piece perfectly if I put my mind to it. Numerous guitars hung on the walls. At the corner of the room is several drum sets and percussion instruments. There is even a cello nearby, my newest project before I enrolled into U.A.
There are so many instruments for me to play with but today, smashing the keys on the piano just felt like the right thing to do.
Yui is simply providing me with some silent company as she sat beside me. Maybe we should both just admit that we are far from alright.
"I'm still too weak." I got the ball rolling since I know the chances of Yui taking the initiative to speak her mind is close to zero. She's a strong girl, but she does need some help in speaking up. "There were many things that I could have done better yesterday that would not have led to me getting taken hostage or nearly dying by handyman's… hand. Sorry, bad pun on my part."
My left hand played another wrong chord by mistake. Damn it, guess I'm really out of it if this keeps happening every ten bars or so. Every single song I had played is just full of mistakes today.
"It's not you being weak that I'm worried about." Yui spoke softly. "You had always been strong. I know you would come out of this stronger than before but… it's like… you don't place any value on your life."
My hands slipped as I accidentally slammed another wrong chord at hearing her words.
"What?"
"You just… laughed it off!" Yui curled her hands into fists as the volume of her voice went a little higher, her head tilted low so as to let her hair cover her eyes. "It's like you didn't just go through a life-and-death situation and then all you did is to laugh it off and act like everything is normal! You are not even worried about what it's like if something... something just went wrong and you just…"
"Dusted?"
"Hibiki!"
"Let's face it, Yui." I sighed as I decided to just stop playing the piano right then. "What my class and I experienced back at the USJ is what we will be experiencing in the future as Pro Heroes. Putting our lives on the line on a daily basis is what we will be doing, every single day. If I let one small setback like this put me down, to allow me to continue living in fear, then I'm not suited for the life of a hero. I might just as well quit right now and simply drop to the Support Course or the Gen Ed. Better still, I should just stop attending U.A. altogether. Do you want me to do that? Give up on our dream to be heroes?"
"N-No! But-"
"But?"
She remained silent, so I turned to face her.
"Do you see it now? It's not like I don't value my life, Yui. I do, but a hero has to put the lives of others above his own at all times, because that is our job. This is what it means to be a hero. All Might was facing a monster specifically made to kill him. Was he scared? I bet he was, because he is just another mortal like us no matter how strong he may seem to be. He can be killed. Why did he still continue to try and save us? Because he is a hero. Because he is the Symbol of Peace. Did he let his fear of death stop him? No. Did he let a single close brush with death stop him? No."
I placed both my hands on her shoulders and got her to look at me.
"This is the very basic of what it means to be a hero. I could go in-depth of what a hero should and should not be, but I don't think you would be able to digest it all right now. All you need to know is this."
I managed a smile on my face, because that is what heroes do. They smile no matter what so that they can encourage others to do the same, to give others the strength to move on. When life gives you lemons, you make the best lemonade out of it.
If there is one thing the USJ experience taught me, is that if I want to be a good hero, the first thing I should learn is how to keep smiling no matter what happens. A hero should smile even when they are losing a limb or two and bleeding out on the ground waiting for their inevitable death, because that is what heroes do. We smile and give others the strength to move on no matter how dire the circumstances are. We are the ones that give hope to others. If even we cannot put a smile on our faces when we get dealt a bad hand, how else can we expect others to do the same?
"Death is a bad thing, that's true, but there's no need to fear it. To be a hero is to accept your flaws and overcome your fears. To be a true hero is to be able to give without expecting anything in return. That is also the very definition of compassion, which is also what every hero should strive to be, a compassionate person."
"You are not making any sense. You nearly-"
"Died. Yes, I know."
"And you are… alright about that?"
"The only reason why humans fear death is because we fear the unknown that lies behind it, but who ever said that what lies after death has to be something scary?" I spoke partly out of experience, because ever since my first death I had been living in a world while a lot more dangerous, is also a lot more beautiful than my previous one.
There's always something good in every situation. It's only a matter if you choose to see it or not.
"Hibiki-"
"Learn how to live in the present, Yui, for that is what is truly important." I replied as I went back to play the next random piece that pops into my head. "The past had already happened and the future might not happen in the way you fear it to be, so don't let your fear of the past hinder your future. Treasure what you have in the now. Learn how to be content with what you have at this moment. Once you understand that, you will find that life is now a lot brighter and death is not that scary anymore. So stop worrying about me. I may not be 100% fine now, that I admit, but I will be soon. On that note, why don't we forget about the whole USJ incident for the next two hours and simply enjoy this very moment? Any particular song that you want to hear me play?"
Of course, what I just said is easier said than done. I'm far from achieving what I just said even if I can understand the logic behind it, but it's always in the mindset. When something happens, if I choose to focus all my attention on the bad side, then it will always appear to be bad. If I choose to try and see the good in it, then my outlook of the situation will change.
At the end of it, you are the one who decides your own life and your own happiness. Happiness is self-generated because you are the one who chooses whether you want to be happy. Once you realise that, no matter what kind of shit life throws at you, you can always see some good in it because you are a self-sustaining happiness generating machine. When you are happy, you no longer fear death as much as you previously do, because you are happy and content with your life at every single moment.
It's how Nejire always managed to stay optimistic no matter how bad the situation may be. That's why she is always smiling. To me, that is also part of what it means to be a hero. Nejire is already a hero in that regard. I still have a lot to learn from her.
However, knowing and accomplishing what you preach are two different issues entirely. It really isn't easy trying to maintain that kind of mindset all the time at every waking moment. It's near impossible, but that's also precisely why I shouldn't let my encounter with the so-called League of Villains put me down. I survived, that's something to be happy about. Everyone survived, that's something to be extremely happy about. We had all learnt something from that traumatic experience. The next time we see those goons, they won't know what hit them.
Everything is actually not as bad as it seems once you stop focusing on the bad things that had happened and look towards the good things instead. Which other first years can boast going toe-to-toe with real villains on their third day of school and come out alive? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
"There's no need for you to put up a strong front in my presence." Yui spoke up.
"I know." I replied as I got to playing the next random song that pops into my head. "But I guess staring at death in the face kind of puts things into perspective. Why? Do you like the new me?"
There wasn't an answer, but I bet she is rolling her eyes right now even if I couldn't see it.
"You should smile more, you know that?" I stopped playing the piano for a moment as my fingers went to poke the sides of her cheeks before pushing it upwards slightly. "See? Look how much prettier you are now."
"Stop it." She frowned a little as she batted my hands away.
"You should try practicing in front of the mirror on how to smile more. Take it as hero training!"
"I do smile."
"True, but only a few of us could ever recognise that 1 milimeter upward twitch of your lips. Aim for half a centimeter at least? Go Plus Ultra?"
I may have annoyed her too much by trying to make her smile more, but at least the both of us are alright now.
Everything's fine now, for we are here.
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