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Darkest Before Dawn - 63
🕑 Added 2024-06-06 17:53:45 +0000 UTCChapter 63
“First of all,” he said, before the woman could actually go for the first question. Because he kind of needed to set the field for the upcoming interview, in a way. Otherwise, things would very easily get out of control. “Anything regarding the Black Rampage won’t be answered right now,” he explained, and, to her credit, the woman didn’t seem annoyed, or frustrated, or… anything bad, really. Hell, she looked amused.
“That’s not unexpected,” she commented idly. “You have been avoiding the press rather stubbornly,” she added before tilting her head and giving him a curious look. “Although, right now? That’s very specific wording.”
“Caught that, did you?” he asked, trying to appear as confident as possible. Inside, he felt his organs tie themselves into knots, but he had to soldier on. He needed to get through that, preferably in one piece. “I’ll be answering questions after my internship is done.”
“Need the time to come up with a story?” she asked, but there was no malice that he could find in her, so… Why ask that question?
“I need time to learn how to best give the true story,” he answered, not letting her words affect him. Wouldn’t be the first time someone was mean to him, not even without malice. He could deal with that. He just needed to keep going and use all that he’d learned so far. Might not be much, but it would have to be enough and if Uwabami thought he could… He had to try. “The press is not something that I’ve learned how to deal with just yet and I’d rather there are no misunderstandings when I finally give my answers, my side of the story, to the world.”
“Completely understandable,” the woman replied, writing down something on a notepad and Kazuki felt a nervous knot forming on his throat. Was he screwing up already, he had to wonder. However, he couldn’t let his fears show. He needed to keep going, there was no turning back now. “So, speaking of your internship, why Uwabami?” she asked bluntly then and Kazuki felt a twinge of annoyance from his mentor. Otherwise, the woman kept her calm smile and demeanor, standing beside him but letting him talk.
“Several reasons. The most important one being what I said, I need to learn how to be the… public figure that I am,” he answered, his expression turning a little wry at that last part. Public figure was certainly a way to describe him, he supposed. In the worst way possible, but still applicable. “However, that’s far from the only one. She’s a rescue hero too, besides being a celebrity and that’s something I wouldn’t mind learning about at all.”
That last part seemed to catch the woman’s attention, making her perk up and look even more interested all of a sudden.
“You want to be a rescue hero?”
“Above everything else,” he said, firmly, confidently, like he hadn’t been so far. He wondered if that was too different from his act. He hoped not, or that it would at least seem like he was just that much more passionate about that. “I want to help people more than I want to fight villains. I want to prove that I can do more than just cause pain. I want to help people, however they might need it, but I think the part that calls to me the most in heroics is rescuing.”
“Is that why you are in U.A. now?” Kizuki asked, peering at him as if trying to read his mind with will alone. He did wish she didn’t have a mind reading Quirk because… that’d be troublesome. Or maybe not, since she’d be able to confirm what he was saying?
“Partly. Mostly, I’m in U.A. because they were the ones to give me a chance,” he answered, taking a deep breath in. “As it was, I didn’t think I had a chance of being much of anything, but U.A. approached me and told me that I could be a hero. I guess you could say that I also want to prove them right. I like to think I’ve been doing a good job with that so far,” he said, plastering a smile on his face. He wasn’t that sure about what he said, mainly because despite all he’d done, he probably was far from making up for all the trouble he brought.
“The Sports Festival. A great performance, I’d say,” the reporter praised with a smile. “How did it feel, to reach the top of such an event?”
“It felt like all my work had accomplished something,” he answered, his smile turning a little softer as he remembered what that had been like, when he won and people actually cheered. “That event was rough, I’ll admit. Especially because I knew I was far from a crowd favorite. However, managing to win and hearing that people cheered… It was very motivating. It was proof that I could achieve what I’ve set out to do. I can be a hero, and I will be.”
“And now here you are, doing actual hero work,” she added, looking around and stopping on the nearby family, with the boy that he’d just gotten done helping, in particular. “How was your first taste of hero work out in the field?”
“It was about what I expected. Not glorious, but certainly fulfilling when I could help someone away from danger, or when I could find them and rescue someone under the rubble. The standing around to keep the curious crowd away was less dramatic, but, overall, it just reinforced the idea that this is what I want to do,” he explained as best he could, trying to pick the right words for his answer. He needed to avoid misunderstandings, but he also needed to be truthful. He’d need to expand his vocabulary, he imagined, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job.
“On that note, I saw that last bit with the boy,” Kizuki commented, glancing once more towards the family. “There’s a story there, I’m sure,” she added, looking like she was a starving woman talking about a buffet.
In response, Kazuki just smiled.
“A bit of one, I guess,” he started, getting ready to explain further. It seemed that the interview wouldn’t be too quick, unfortunately. On a more positive note though, he thought things were going pretty well. With any luck, that’d continue to be the case.
[}-o-{]
His very first interview went on for a while, as it turned out. For the most part, Kizuki seemed to try and get the most important questions out of the way first though. From there, she’d just picked and prodded him for more details and he tried to answer to the best of his ability without going into things he’d rather not talk about just yet.
All in all it was… an exhausting experience.
It was also, however, not as bad as he’d thought it’d be. Sure, it was a tense process, with him having to wonder through the whole thing if he’d messed up at some point. He didn’t know how likely it was that he’d even realize if he did. However, he was kind of confident, since Uwabami had been next to him through the whole thing. She hadn’t said much other than throwing a comment here and there, but the sole fact that he hadn’t felt any spike of negative emotions from her reassured him that he’d done at least an ok job.
“I’m not looking forward to my next interview,” he mumbled as they walked away with Kendo joining them.
“You did a great job though,” Maeda told him with a soft, proud smile that had him looking away. “That certainly deserves a reward. I’ll send a message back to have some great food waiting for us. We all deserve some of that anyway, after the great work we put here, right?”
“I’m not going to say no to that,” Kendo commented with a grin of her own.
“Neither am I,” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “But it’s not gonna be that simple, is it?”
“Unfortunately, no. Even if you gave that interview, not many people saw or participated, which means the other will want a piece of you. Don’t worry about it though. I’ll deal with it myself,” Uwabami reassured, a kind smile on her face as she placed her hand on his shoulder. “You really did great though, I mean it.”
“Thank you,” he said, looking away but unable to hold back a pleased expression. It did feel nice to get that small victory. It was in a field that he felt less than confident in, after all, so he guessed that made it more impactful, in his opinion. Regardless of what it was, he was rather happy with how things had gone.
He could use a break though, but alas, their heroing wasn’t done yet.
Fortunately for him, he was able to rest, sort of. Uwabami stood in front of him and Kendo, answering questions once they tackled one of the gatherings of reporters. She answered or diverted most of the questions in regards to him. It was honestly kind of impressive. Kazuki was sure he’d have cracked under that many intent gazes, but Uwabami just tackled the mob like he’d had a Quirkless spar with his friends.
In the end, he felt like he barely had to say anything, even if he did have to answer some questions that were just unavoidable. They were few and far between, but they still felt like he had to pick up the weight of the world every time. He really wished that kind of stuff would get better with time, because otherwise…
‘Maybe I’ll be able to pull that kind of thing off someday,’ he thought, glancing towards Uwabami for a moment. He tried to imagine himself in her place, saying the things she said with the same confidence. In the end, he couldn’t pull that mental picture off without it seeming fantastical.
Hell, he’d felt like a wreck on the inside just talking with one reporter and answering a handful of questions, the former of which having even been fairly friendly. At least, friendly when compared to some of the others. ‘I was fucking lucky,’ he thought, shivering when one of the particularly nasty reporters shot a question towards his mentor.
Well, it was a question aimed at him, but Kazuki remained stubbornly silent as he let Uwabami handle things.
Eventually, they were done.
“So, Beacon, you feel like flying us back?” Uwabami asked him once they moved away from the crowd once more. “Otherwise I can get us a transport. There’s no rush now, without any emergencies.”
“I… I guess we can fly, if you two don’t mind. I don’t get to fly much on my Nevermore, but I do like it, at least when I can take my time,” he commented with a nervous smile as she rubbed the back of his neck. “If you’d rather not, then we can take whatever other option there is.”
“I wouldn’t say no to getting my own personal bird’s view of the land, honestly. That’s something I can’t say I’ve experienced,” Uwabami replied, looking sort of excited. It was… kind of nice, to see someone see his Quirk so positively. It reminded him of the feeling he got when he made some of the Baby Series for his friends. “What say you, Battle Fist?”
“I’m not opposed to it, so long as we don’t fly as fast as we did coming here,” the redhead answered with a shrug and a smile of her own.
“There you have it. I guess it’s time for us to fly with Beacon Airlines again, huh?” their mentor commented and she looked so childishly excited that he had to chuckle. As he laughed, shaking his hand, he had his shadow extend from under him to start creating his flying creatures.
He was certainly looking forward to flying for a while on top of his Grimm. He never got the chance to do such a thing, especially so freely. Even if he tried, back at U.A.’s training facility, there just wasn’t enough space.
That wasn’t going to be a problem for that day, thankfully.
[}-o-{]
“This is… nice,” Kendo said over comms during the last stretch of their flight back.
“Indeed it is,” Uwabami readily agreed.
Kazuki, meanwhile, could only try and still fail to hold back a smile. Call him stupid, but it felt really nice to be able to make others feel good using his Grimm. He guessed he could add flying to the list next to his Baby Series. Then again, it wasn’t often that he had enough space to fly around and the laws on Quirk use kind of restricted that.
‘Well, something for when I’m a hero, I guess,’ he thought to himself, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out.
“We are doing this again sometime, ok, Kazuki?” Maeda demanded more than asked, but it was done so childishly that he could only laugh. “This is no laughing matter, young man. I need this! I feel so free right now! This would definitely help during stressful days.”
“Sure, we can do this again,” he replied, a wide grin on his face. “If there’s no time for a flight, the Baby Series will have to do, I guess.”
“I guess that’s fair,” his mentor replied. “Either way, I just want to say that you two did great today, ok? I know I’ve said it already, but it bears repeating.”
“Thank you, sensei,” Kendo replied, much quicker than he did. Mainly because Kazuki found himself with a knot in his throat. Regardless, he pushed through it a second later.
“Thank you.”
And oh was he grateful.
Above it all though, he was proud. Not only had he done a good job according to his mentor, but he’d also done one according to himself. He’d helped people in many situations. He’d rescued them from rubble and the continued danger of the battle going on. He’d calmed down that boy and probably somewhat improved a very shitty day by getting his stuffed toy back. He’d even given a decent – maybe even good – interview.
He’d done a good job indeed.
“Well, it’s getting late,” Maeda commented, probably looking at the darkening sky above them. “We can probably call it a day once we get back, but if you feel up to it, there’s a little lesson that I want to teach you. Inspired by you, Kazuki, actually.”
“Sure, I’m down,” he readily agreed, more than eager to get more knowledge into his skull. He was nowhere near ready for what was coming for him after the internship was done, after all. He was unlikely to ever be ready for the day that was quickly approaching. So, if it was all the same, he’d rather spend his time as productively as possible.
“I could go for a short lesson too,” Kendo said, somewhat surprisingly. Maybe it was mean of him to say that it was surprising? However, Kazuki was very much aware that his fellow intern was nowhere near as interested in what Uwabami had to teach them as he was. So, when given an out like that, he expected her to take it and maybe use that time for personal training or something like that.
“Great,” Maeda replied as he got closer and closer to the building. “For the moment though, we should clean up first. This won’t be too taxing and I don’t know about you two, but I could use a shower.”
That was more or less when his Nevermore landed outside of Uwabami’s agency. Interestingly, there were very small shifts in the emotions of the people inside the building when the creatures of darkness touched the ground. Kazuki would have expected more of a reaction. Then again, they had seen them take off, he supposed, and he hadn’t really been paying attention back then to know if they had reacted then.
Something that would remain a mystery, he supposed.
Uwabami didn’t say much as she herded them towards the building, reminding them to shower and look their best, as usual. The hero did take a moment to repeat – again – how good a job they’d done that day. Admittedly, Kazuki didn’t mind that, at all. It might have sounded lame of him, but he’d have liked to hear it being said a lot more.
Who knew when such words would be spoken to him again in a setting where he’d believe them?
He tried to wash off the pessimistic thoughts in the shower, but it didn’t really work. Kazuki did feel plenty refreshed after that, if a little tired. With any luck, Maeda’s lesson wouldn’t be too taxing, but he doubted that. She didn’t seem like the type of person that would push them that much after the day’s events.
Before going to his teacher though, he had to address something… Because apparently his friend group was already in on what had happened and they were bombarding him and Todoroki with questions. The half and half boy was already sort of going through it, but he supposed that made sense. He was already stationed around Hosu, from what Kazuki knew.
‘Sorry for the delay, we were sent to shower as soon as we arrived,’ he sent in the chat. ‘I just got out, did Fiery get all the questions?’ he asked, before letting his head drop back in exhaustion. He hadn’t even realized how tired all the flying, moving around and the interview had left him.
When he looked back at his phone, he knew that no, Todoroki hadn’t, in fact, gotten all the questions. Either that or they were throwing the same questions at him anyway. So, for the next few minutes, Kazuki did his best to answer all questions to the best of his ability while also getting ready himself to go to Uwabami’s lesson.
He probably shouldn’t have been taking so much time with that, all things considered. However, for one, Maeda wasn’t likely to get mad at him for that, he was pretty sure. For another… he wanted to enjoy the fact that his friends cared for a little bit longer, he supposed.
It was a good day.
[}-o-{]
Once he was done, he had to say goodbye to his friends once more and all too quickly. Alas, he had duties to adhere to and even if Uwabami was unlikely to be angry or take offense, Kazuki still didn’t want to risk it. Besides, he was there to learn and that’s what he’d do. His friends would be there when the internship was over, after all.
Uwabami wouldn’t.
So, he found himself walking through the halls of the agency towards the room their mentor had said to gather at. As he did, he realized that his mind was a mess. Not only was he unable to stop the buzzing thoughts of all that had happened in Hosu, but he was also bombarded with thoughts of all that he’d learned through the internship so far. He’d found himself doing that more and more as the time passed.
Kazuki wanted, above all else, to learn everything Uwabami had for him by heart. He couldn’t afford not to, after all. Yet, he’d been a hero that day. ‘Mr. Hero!’ He could still remember the calls of that one boy, at first full of desperation and fear, but later with nothing of the sort reaching his sense. Instead, all he’d been able to pick up was the happiness in his voice.
Not to downplay everyone that he had helped through the whole ordeal, but that one boy had certainly made an impression on him.
‘Maybe I’m more tired than I thought,’ Kazuki thought idly as he continued walking. If his mind was that scattered, he likely was, he supposed. With any luck, Uwabami’s lesson wouldn’t be too taxing, or he’d have to bow out in the end.
As a spike of negative emotions reached him, however, he paused his stride. Closing his eyes, he tried to place it for a long second. That is, until he found the source and his eyebrows shot up, surprised. A moment later, he was speed walking towards his destination, concern cutting through all the other thoughts he’d had in his mind.
It was likely Uwabami herself, after all.
‘I didn’t keep her waiting too long, right?’ he wondered nervously. He hadn’t taken that long, surely. He’d been careful. He’d been sure that he was still very much on time. Had he miscalculated or something?
When he entered the room though, he found out two things. One was that he’d been right and it was Uwabami the one projecting those emotions, that anger and frustration and helplessness. The other was that he had nothing to do with it, as he saw her watching the TV mounted on the wall. Walking a little further, he saw what she was watching and he felt… sick.
Stain had attacked once more.
In Hosu, of all places, once more.
Right there, where they’d been not so long ago. Maybe even close by. All those heroes had been right there, and none of them had been able to save one of their own. Native had died and nobody had seemed to notice until way after the fact.
‘I didn’t sense that, so it can’t have happened that close, right?’ he wondered. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that could have missed it. A murder was a big thing, but there’d been so many emotions in that mess… Could he have missed it?
“That man is a menace,” Uwabami hissed, not unlike the snakes that grew on her head. Kazuki remained silent, even as he approached her. “Someone needs to catch him,” she growled. However, a moment later, the helplessness overpowered the anger and frustration as her shoulders dropped. “Sorry, I know that must be unpleasant for you.”
“Don’t worry,” he waved off, moving to her side when she sat down on the couch. “I’m used to much worse,” he commented idly, extending his arm and his shadow to produce a Baby Taijitu to comfort his mentor. He was not great at helping people with bad moods, but he could offer some support in the form of cute creatures now, at least.
“That doesn’t make me feel better, you know?” she asked, and he could tell. At least the Baby Grimm seemed to help, so there was that, he supposed. “It’s honestly surprising that you ended up as good as you are with that Quirk, has anyone told you that, Kazuki?” she added.
“I don’t think so, no,” he answered honestly. Someone might have implied it, or he might have derived that meaning from other things people had said, but Kazuki didn’t think anyone had outright said that to him before. He… didn’t know how to feel about any of that. “Thank you,” he managed to say, even though there was a lot more he wished to communicate to the woman.
“Don’t mention it,” she said softly, her hand moving to caress the side of the Baby Taijitu’s head. “You’ll be a great hero, Kazuki, but more than that… I think you’ll be a great person. Never doubt that, okay?” she told him then and Kazuki blinked a few times.
“I’ll try,” he mumbled, taking a seat beside her. “... Thank you,” he repeated a moment later, feeling so very dumb when that was all he could come up with as a response. His brain just refused to work, it seemed.
“Remember the difference, ok? Because, contrary to what most people think, being a great hero isn’t the same as being a great person,” Uwabami said, looking towards the screen once more, the emotions bubbling in her once more. Kazuki was, after hearing that, reminded of Endeavor. A man that was a great hero, but a shit person, at least in his opinion.
“I know that,” he whispered.
“Good,” was all his mentor said, nodding. Then she took a deep breath in. “Well, Kendo should be here anytime soon, so… How about we try and move on from this, yeah?” she asked, forcing a more casual tone while changing the channel on the TV.
“I’m fine with that.”
“Great, because I have a nice lesson that’ll cheer us up, I think.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, how’d you like to learn how to deal with children?”
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
Ugh, I know I brought this on myself but still… Fuck this PR plotline, man. I hate it. I don’t even watch the news to have even a remote idea of what I’m doing. So… Sorry if it sucks.
Maybe I’ll get better with time? One can hope, I guess.
Just like I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: When you watch TV, what do you prefer? I usually like documentaries but somehow my parents got me sort-of hooked into cooking and construction shows… Not that I watch much TV, but yeah.
See you.
