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Darkest Before Dawn - 94
🕑 Added 2025-02-06 17:52:03 +0000 UTCChapter 94
[Itsuka Kendo]
“You didn’t have to come with me to the set,” she mumbled, feeling a little shy and embarrassed. “Kazuki’s interview is more important,” she added, rubbing her arm self-consciously.
“Neither thing was more important than the other,” Maeda told her firmly, but softly. “I could be there with you for the ad. I couldn’t be there for Kazuki’s interview. I know it often seems like I care more about Kazuki, but you’re both my interns. I care about both of you.”
Itsuka felt a little bad about doubting her mentor like that. It wasn’t even like she didn’t get why she would prioritize Kazuki over her. He was more enthusiastic about what she taught and he needed the help more. She’d known that even back when they were just starting in their interview. Hell, she’d known that even better back then.
Yet, all the same, she couldn’t help but be greedy and want the same kind of attention sometimes.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, not even Itsuka herself was sure what she was apologizing for. Doubting Maeda? Being demanding? Wishing Kazuki didn’t get so much attention? Something else? She felt like she was apologizing for all of that, so a mere “sorry” wasn’t nearly enough. It was what she had though.
“Never you mind, Itsuka. Just don’t forget you’re my cute little student,” her mentor reassured, a smile on her face. “You did great, by the way. I know I’ve told you already, but it bears repeating,” Maeda added, grinning even wider. “People will be falling over themselves to get their hands on you for more ads, I just know. Are you interested in movies? Series? I can get you a spot if you do. Maybe you want to do voice acting too? You do have a nice voice-”
“I think,” she interrupted quickly before Maeda could really get going. She was flattered, truly she was. However… “I think I’d like to keep to ads. They aren’t as… demanding. Movies and such sound much more stressful.”
“That’s fair,” her mentor acknowledged easily enough with a nod. “This is supposed to be for you to have fun and earn some cash on the side, not add more pressure on you on top of what being a hero does,” she explained, with that wisdom that could get people that didn’t know her off guard. Itsuka still felt a little in awe of that side of the woman, really. “What about modeling though?” Maeda asked, the question coming a little out of nowhere as far as Itsuka was concerned.
Pulling back, blinking owlishly and taking a moment to process the offer, she wondered if that was actually better. It sounded like it’d need a little less from her, but she wasn’t sure that was the case. God knew she’d thought participating in ads would be less demanding once upon a time and she’d been proven very, very wrong.
“Do you think that’s a better option?” she asked hesitantly.
“I mean, it’s not easy, but much of it is about remaining beautiful. You don’t have to worry about that. Heroines aren’t the same as models, obviously, but they have their own appeal, so there’s always space for them in the business if they want to participate,” Maeda explained to her enthusiastically like she always did when talking about something she did on the side. She really did enjoy that a lot and Itsuka was starting to understand how it could be nice to have something like that to do besides risking her life everyday.
“So, more or less the same deal as with ads?”
“Maybe even easier, since you don’t have to do much acting or anything. It has its own things you need to take care of, of course, but it won’t be worse. I can promise you that much,” Maeda reassured her before tilting her head. “Actually, if you do something like what Kazuki did with the Management students, you might simplify things for yourself a whole lot more. Provided you find the right people, of course. I can help you with that too if you want, of course.”
“I’ll… think about it,” she replied, resolving to do just that.
“No pressure,” Maeda reassured her, seemingly happy that she was considering her idea at all. “If you want to do anything in particular, let me know. Even if it has nothing to do with what I do, yeah? Chances are that I know someone, at the very least.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Itsuka told her, a smile of her own on her face. It was nice to know that she had someone in her corner when it came to her career. At times, especially after watching a little closer from UA, it had been intimidating to think that she’d go into the world of heroics by herself with only her skill to back her up. After all, she knew that her Quirk wasn’t all that good at getting attention.
Not that there was anything wrong with being a low ranked hero or something like that, but Itsuka would like to at least have a chance of going somewhere, of making a name for herself. Maeda might not be high ranked, but Uwabami was a name that most people had heard one way or another at some point. She was no nobody and maybe she could help Itsuka be someone too, high ranked or not.
She liked the sound of that.
Did that make her a prideful person?
Greedy, envious, prideful… she was really collecting sins, wasn’t she?
She was saved from more self-doubt and criticism when they arrived at the agency and made their way inside after getting out of the car. Neither of them had much to say at that moment, considering Kazuki was supposed to have come back from his interview already. They might as well wait until they were all together to talk about things.
“Mr. Endo is waiting for you, ma’am, Miss Kendo,” one of the secretaries told them, walking out from behind the desk and guiding them through the building even though it wasn’t necessary. Soon enough, they approached a door where Itsuka could already hear Kazuki.
Or his music, to be exact.
Walking in, she was reminded that her fellow UA student was very much movie material. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that slightly unnerved her – and seemingly everyone –, but there was no denying that he was handsome, once one looked past that. Anyone could tell, really, and he looked extra good at that moment, playing his new violin, focused and purposeful.
She wasn’t interested, really she wasn’t. Especially with the whole situation that seemed to be forming around him in that regard that even she was aware of. However, she could admit that she was a little regretful. Maybe if she’d realized things before, she’d have gone for it.
Oh well, lots of fish in the sea.
[}-o-{]
[Hina Maeda]
Hearing Kazuki play had been a delight before, when he’d demonstrated for them during the internship and even in videos he’d sent her. However, there was something much more… much more about hearing him play with the violin she had given him. Maybe it had been a bit much to give him that – same with Itsuka’s gift, really –, but…
These kids were special to her. Her very first interns. Two kids that had trusted her to help them, teach them, make them into the versions of themselves they wanted to be. Maybe Itsuka hadn’t been as enthusiastic as Kazuki had, but all the same they’d taken her words to heart. They’d followed through her exercises and listened to her lessons.
And she loved that, she would freely admit.
Hina kind of wished she had the opportunity to teach students much sooner. Her life didn’t really allow for her to actually take classes and such, but internships? Those she could do, so was left kind of hoping that the future would come with new students, new opportunities.
For the moment, she’d enjoy what she had, both Kazuki and Itsuka.
Much as she tried to deny it though, she would admit, at least in the privacy of her own mind, that Kazuki was her favorite. Not to say that she didn’t care for Itsuka, of course, but the boy had been her one true intern, as far as she was concerned. Itsuka had grown to appreciate what she could teach and that had its own appeal, but Kazuki had come to her interested and determined.
She wasn’t a bet or a last resort; she’d been chosen by him. Through some comments and gentle prodding, she’d learned of what names Kazuki had had on his list. She’d be a terrible liar if she ever said that she wasn’t flattered he’d chosen her over Top 10 Heroes.
Above all else though, she’d connected to Kazuki in a way that she simply hadn’t with Itsuka. ‘I wonder if this is how he feels about relationships as a whole,’ Hina thought to herself, pondering on the confusion she felt regarding how she saw the boy. In a way, it was like a deep, meaningful mentorship, but it was also… something else entirely. She simply couldn’t find the right words for it, no matter how many times she thought about it.
Well, there was one answer that a little corner of her mind whispered on occasion, but she was always quick to dismiss that thought.
She was saved from yet another bout of thoughts when Kazuki finished playing.
“How’d it go?” he asked Itsuka, relaxing his posture a little now that he was done. Somehow, even the sharp change worked for him. Where before he’d been the picture of a resolute, mysterious young man, now he’d shifted into a soft, friendly one. It really did wonders for him, considering the gap it created with his rather dark and unnerving general presence.
‘Damn, I do good work,’ she thought, proud. Although, to be fair, Kazuki hadn’t been a particularly challenging project. She’d just needed to polish the edges created by his… admittedly very sad history.
“It went well,” Itsuka answered, smiling widely. “What about your interview?”
“No idea. They said they’d give me a call with the decision in the next few days,” was his response. Hina was already foreseeing some kind of self-deprecating or generally negative comment. She even had a few speeches ready to throw at him.
His Quirk really screwed with his mind too much, not allowing for much positi-
“I think it went well,” he said, smiling in a way that Hina sorely wished she could see more. However, it was his words and his voice that caught her off guard. He was being positive? “I was tested with a few scenes that I was confident in and I think I did great in those. There’s one or two I think I could have done better at, but overall, I think I did well.”
She was speechless, officially.
Itsuka was dealing with it a little better, since she didn’t know the true depths of Kazuki’s negativity and issues. However, even the girl herself realized that this was kind of a big deal. The silence stretched for a few seconds, but the boy didn’t seem to realize, since he was focused setting down his violin back in its case.
“Granted, there’s the thing about my…” he started then, sounding much more like what Hina expected as he gestured towards his face. “... creepiness. Here’s hoping that it doesn’t kill my chances.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” Hina said firmly. After all, interviews were about more than just how he performed for the judges. They’d look at recordings too, and those weren’t quite as affected by the uncanny feeling that Kazuki seemed to generate in those around him. She’d discussed the theory with the boy that it might be yet another side-effect of his Quirk, because the thing clearly didn’t hate him enough, it seemed.
So, if he did well, cameras would be his best friend.
Hina was sure, because of this, that he was probably going to get in. After all, his performance was the main worry, not his appearance. If he was confident in that part, then Hina had no doubts that he’d killed it. If he didn’t get the job, she was ready to slap some people on her way to finding out exactly why and fixing things if someone was being unfair to Kazuki.
Nobody would stop her boy from reaching the heights she knew he could get to.
[}-o-{]
[Distressed]
He looked at his phone, not quite knowing what to think.
In a way, he almost wished he could unblock his best friend’s contact and send a message. It’d be so easy and it’d help so much, just like every other time he felt down or angry or… anything else. It’d be one message and Knight – ‘Endo,’ he tried to tell himself, but it was difficult to assimilate even after he’d confirmed his friend’s identity outside their building – would be giving it his all to reassure him and help him.
He couldn’t do that though.
No, he’d made a choice.
He had never been much of… anything in his life. He’d been one more kid amongst many. Not particularly smart, and his physique didn’t mean much considering it came hand in hand with his problem. His problem being that he was a heteromorph, born with the “sin” of being different from the “accepted” appearance. So, no matter if he was strong, or fast, or anything really, he’d always just be… different, ugly, off.
That had led him down a path that he wasn’t particularly proud of, he’d admit. At the time, it’d been him, seeking like-minded people, someone to talk with and vent about his frustrations with society. The world was full of people like him, after all, so there was no shortage of “friends” for him to find all around.
That is, until someone came and actually helped him. He didn’t get the momentary reprieve of having someone validate his opinion, validate him. He got someone that understood, but also told him what he was doing wrong, what he needed to fix and change to feel better.
Knight.
He didn’t tell him he was wrong, per se, but he showed him that there was a better way of living. And he did it without even realizing the true problem. Where Knight had been trying to make him be less depressed and angry, he’d somehow ended up changing the way he saw… everything, really.
It was like he’d lifted a fog in his mind, one that blinded him with every single bad moment he’d gone through and hid away the good ones.
‘Things are going well for you, huh?’ he thought then, wondering if the old him would have been envious of Knight, bitter and angry that someone else was doing better in life than he was. Or maybe the old him would have been happy, like many of their people, that he was winning his battle against society, crawling out of the hole they were all thrown in.
Maybe Knight would have saved him all the same, even without that letter he’d delivered to his apartment the day it all started.
Without that though, he wouldn’t have been trying to make someone of himself at that moment. He wouldn’t have heard the rumors through the grapevine. He wouldn’t have decided to follow them and help instead of sitting back and watching society get what was coming to it. Hell, he might have done what he did for completely different reasons.
So, he watched and heard Knight play the violin for what felt like the fifth time.
Already, the post in his friend’s only, brand new social media account, was filled with the bile of society. People had come out of the woodwork, ready to fling their absolute worst at his friend for just being an unlucky kid. People were already proving – once more – why he’d ended up like he had.
Knight was pulling through all the same though, and he could see why as he checked the comments again. In between the sea of hatred and disgust, there were kinder words, almost lost in between posts, but he could see them. There were people out there supporting Knight, people like him and people that were good. They were the minority, maybe, but they were there and Knight was their face, their voice, their symbol.
So, he took a moment to write a comment of his own. He was never too eloquent and maybe Knight wouldn’t even read it, but he wrote it anyway. He told him that he was surprised by his musical skill – which he was, he’d had no idea about it –, that he was happy to see him doing well – which he really was – and that he hoped things continued going well for him.
It was odd, being the soft one, the supportive one, the kind one, but he could do that for the friend that had been all those things when he needed them the most.
That one post also convinced him that he was doing the right thing. He might hate some of the things he’d have to do, but it was all for a good cause. He was helping, just like Knight was helping. He was doing something good, something that might help the world be a little better. Maybe some other person like him out there would have a better life than he did because of what he was doing.
Or maybe not.
He was proud of himself for trying though, instead of staying at his apartment, letting his hatred eat away at him.
“Damnit!” he heard someone curse, breaking him from his thoughts, and he turned to see a pale boy throwing a controller against the wall, making it break into pieces. A big “Game Over” flashed on the screen of the TV. Several people at the bar turned to look but nobody spoke. “What are you all looking at?!” the boy hissed at them when he noticed the attention he was suddenly getting.
Nobody answered and all of them turned away.
Few wanted to interact with Shigaraki more than necessary, after all.
[}-o-{]
[Nezu]
It wasn’t often when he put a lot of thought into something and miscalculated.
If Nezu really got into a project, chances were that it was going to go just as he thought it would. However, there were always things that could mess with plans. No plan survives first contact with the enemy was a saying for a reason. Flawed information, human error, freak coincidences, a number of such factors could mess with a plan, no matter how perfect and how many contingencies and redundancies one came up with.
All in all, Nezu usually managed to prevent worst case scenarios and have plans of his work well.
Now though, he was facing a situation that happened a lot less than plans going wrong and that was a plan going above and beyond any of his expectations. It wasn’t that plans never went well or anything of the sort, but he didn’t remember if a plan of his had ever gone so well as the one he was reviewing at that very moment. He usually considered good outcomes even better than those he was aiming for. He was realistic, not pessimistic, after all.
However, he didn’t think even if he’d been optimistic he could have foreseen what Kazuki Endo was doing.
Nezu had expected the boy to be a solid student and hero-to-be; he hadn’t expected him to push forward and not only do well, but drag other students into his circle to help him – and them – get even further. Nezu had expected the boy to be an example, a proof of concept; he hadn’t expected him to carve a path almost all by himself for others to follow. Nezu had expected the boy to do well; he hadn’t expected him to be one of the, if not the best of his year, maybe even his generation.
Then again, he guessed it was a bit of everything that had contributed to his outstanding success. Nezu’s information on Kazuki Endo had been majorly lacking. The boy had proved that human error could also fail upwards too. There was no denying that he’d been lucky at times too, but that didn’t take away from the success. A number of other factors also contributed to how well things had gone too.
However, Nezu wasn’t done with it all, he decided as he watched Endo’s latest step forward in the path he was carving for himself with the opportunity he was given. No, just because things had gone well so far didn’t mean he could just relax and enjoy the success, far from it. Now he wanted to push even more, help the boy even more, because if he could so thoroughly surpass his expectations in so little time, he now wanted to know where he’d go with the same support going forward.
‘Now, what can I do to make you thrive even more?’ Nezu wondered, taking a sip from his cup of coffee, leaning back against his desk chair and listening to the violin piece that Endo was playing in the video. ‘I might need to ask for recordings for myself…’
For the moment though, he already had an idea.
After all, Endo had already done most of the job, so Nezu might as well put the finishing touches, right?
[}-o-{]
[Chitose Kizuki]
Her hand moved furiously as she wrote down information, starting to form the rough outline of an article. Truly, Kazuki Endo was a gift that kept on giving and she couldn’t be more grateful for his existence. Granted, her life didn’t revolve around him, but he’d quickly moved up in her list of priorities.
It helped that there was always something to write about him.
“I take it things have been going well, Chitose?” Rikiya asked her, but she wasn’t really paying attention to him or the meeting that was going on. Most of her attention was put into this latest piece of news that Endo had given her. Not that important compared to other “gifts” he’d given her before, but he was quickly proving to be a gold mine, so she didn’t mind doing some pieces unrelated to what she truly wanted from him.
“Focusing on your golden boy again?” Koku asked her, making her sigh and look up. It seemed that they were determined to talk to her. That’s when she caught everyone looking at her, with Koku raising an eyebrow at her.
“Endo has been a great boon,” she said, as if that was all the answer she needed to give. When it became obvious that it wasn’t enough though, she mentally huffed and continued. “Every other interview I have with him, he makes a statement that helps me further support our ideals. He’s a poster boy for freer Quirk usage and its benefits,” she explained, and she could see some of her excitement and pleasure in their expressions, their eyes.
This wasn’t the first time they talked about this, but it was always nice to hear good news, even if they were repeated.
“You’re not wrong,” Tomoyasu commented, a grin on his face. “I’ve had plenty of people talking about him, established members and even new recruits.”
“So I’ve heard too,” Rikiya commented, looking off through the glass wall to the side of the meeting room and out at the city. “I guess we have the next topic to discuss. Do you think there’s merit to getting more involved with him?”
“He’s firmly on the hero side,” Chitose informed them all almost instantly, because it had to be said. “I’m certain that he won’t be swayed, no matter the cause.”
“A shame,” Rikiya replied, but it was clear that he wasn’t done with the topic.
“Just because he can’t be our piece, it doesn’t mean that we can’t use him,” Koku commented, tilting his head, his expression thoughtfully.
“Do you have something in mind?” Rikiya asked, turning his attention fully towards the man.
“Hm, I have somewhat of an idea, I think, but I’ll have to think it over. I don’t have enough information,” Koku answered, speaking slowly, careful and measured, but assured as always. “Chitose…?” he started, and he needn’t say more.
“What do you need to know?”
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
Well, that happened. The Muse was, evidently, very inspired for this chapter. Been a while since I did a full different PoV chapter. I do like how this turned out. Although, the fact that this is backlog and that I went on vacation means that I’d forgotten some things about it. But oh well, I’ll have to deal with it.
All in all, again, I’m quite happy with the chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: What do you think Nezu and Koku have in mind for our boy?
See you.
