Chapter 3: Decisions

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Words: 2382

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(1 week later)

As the clock hit 7.00am sharp, Akira's body drifted out of his rest and into the realm of consciousness. As he stretched his body, he let out a loud yawn, struggling to close his mouth and the exhaustion he felt.

Before he got off the bed, he cancelled the order that forced his body to wake up at 7.00am, humming lightly as the energy went back into his stomach. Over the past week he figured out that his quirk was not only just strong, but it was also very diverse.

It was almost astonishing to him that a quirk that had more potential than AFO and OFA was being used as a human alarm clock.

He had also figured out many more interesting things about his quirk in the past 7 days. For one, he had found out that the energy in his stomach was essentially a reality warping type of energy with some restrictions.

He had two separate reserves of this energy, split up from each other by some sort of invisible barrier. Another interesting thing was the only way for Akira to use this energy was through the use of <Orders>.

Without correctly adhering to the rule, there was no possible way for him to use the quirk. He also noticed when he used an <Order>, 100% of the energy(50% of his total energy) was used no matter what. Essentially, If he wanted to use an <Order>, it was either 100 or nothing.

In hindsight it all made sense. A quirk this strong had to have come with some restrictions, otherwise it could quite literally break the world. In exchange for all of this power, it came with restrictions and complicated rules he was forced to follow.

Anyway, aside from understanding his quirk more, he had also trained it. The more he used the energy, the more energy that was produced. Of course, it wasn't that simple, and Akira had to work at his quirk for multiple hours at a time for a week before he managed to feel a noticeable change in the energy, but it was still progress nonetheless. The more energy he had, the stronger his orders would be, so he was on the right track.

His quirk could easily be used to enhance both his physical and mental training. With <Orders> for muscle growth and healing his training would be much more effective, and with <Orders> like photographic memory and enhanced learning, he could easily stay on top of anything he needed.

He had also tests the limits of his quirk. Sadly, Akira's dream of being able to manipulate time and space with a few words stayed that way. Even in the world of MHA there was limits placed on things, but Akira wasn't all too bothered.

He turned his attention to another issue, money. The funds he had gotten from the old man downstairs were not a lot, and would only last him a few more days.

He now needed another way to somehow make money, as he didn't feel like it would be nice to steal from the old man again.

Since he had no way of getting a job, there was only one way he could get the money to survive…stealing.

He still felt guilty about brainwashing the old man downstairs and getting a free room and a portion of his money. As soon as he had enough spare cash, he would repay him back again tenfold. The point is he couldn't bring himself to steal from the innocent again, so he would just have to steal from the rich.

Rightfully so, this led him to the wonderful idea of becoming a Vigilante. He initially banished the thought with a laugh, thinking it was stupid, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

Don't get him wrong, yes he did want to become a hero, but that was mainly because he could turn his goal of saving people into a legal job and a lucrative profession. It was a win-win situation, so it was an obvious choice to make.

Being a Vigilante meant the same thing…just illegally. It got him thinking, if he had the power to save someone, then why should he have to wait until he was 15 years old with a hero licence to do so? His journey to become a hero involved waiting 7 years with his overpowered quirk and not using it to save someone, and it was a journey he wouldn't be able to take.

Akira wouldn't be able to physically stand on the sidelines for 7 years, waiting until he comes of age before he can save people.

Akira's quirk was already a cut above the rest, and its diversity and strength gave him the ability to fight these criminals at only 8 years old. If he had the freedom of doing this, then why shouldn't he take it?

His plan was simple. Capture criminals, take their money, and save people. He was killing 3 birds with one stone, and the only downside was breaking the law and risk being caught. It was a risk he was willing to take.

This led him to where he was now, staring at a full black costume with a determined look in his eye as he prepared to go on his first expedition. He had planned ahead, sleeping during the day, leaving him fully energised and ready to fight crime, there was no excuses. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he nodded his head, fully committing to his decision and began fitting the costume on.

He took care putting on his costume, making sure not to rip or break anything. Although he was going to become a criminal according to the law, he certainly didn't plan to reveal his identity to anyone for that matter.

He adjusted the goggles on his face, making sure everything was concealed. The only thing the police would be able to identify would be his skin colour, which wouldn't matter unless he had a Mutant quirk, which he didn't.

He opened the window wide, feeling the chilly night air hit him full force. His small stature slid through the gap, and Akira jumped.

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(3rd person pov, Tatsuma)

"G-Give me all of your money!" Tatsuma cried, the gun jittering in his shaky hands as he tried to calm himself down. The attempt to do so only sped up his already racing heartbeat, up to the point where he felt if it went any faster it would start beating out of his chest.

He took a look at the other man, who froze with a look of fear in his eyes, staring at the barrel of his gun. Looking at that all too familiar look, he wondered how he ended up in this position.

Like all stories in this world, it began when Tatsuma was 4 years old.

Fear reader, that was what the doctor had called his quirk. Essentially, it allowed him to read other people's worst fears, that was it. All he had to do was concentrate on the intended person, and an image of their worst fear would pop into his head. That was the core concept of his quirk, but it wasn't like he had used it in a long time.

When revealed to his classmates, he was initially met with confused looks, so when the teacher asked him to give an example, he did. As his childish self would, he bluntly revealed one of his classmates worst fears, causing the little girl to break down into tears.

It didn't take long for both himself and his quirk to be labelled 'villainous', which was very ironic, considering the very ones who called him this were the ones that had bullied and belittled him all throughout his life.

Cut to the present time when Tatsuma was 22 years old. The constant bullying had destroyed what little motivation and confidence he had in himself, making him leave school with poor grades, social anxiety and no chance of a job.

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And so he stayed in his parents home, drowning out his sorrows with whatever outlet he could find. It first started with games, then anime, then drugs. This seemed to be the final straw for his parents as they kicked him out.

Now here he was, pointing his fathers stolen gun in the face of a stranger, his stomach caught in an intangible knot. He had spent the last month living on the streets, going through option after option, trying to find a way to make money. Somewhere near the bottom of that list was robbing someone.

If this didn't work, then it was only a few more spaces down until he reached the bottom of that very long list of failures, which meant suicide.

"Argh!" He screamed in pain as his gun was suddenly ripped out his hand, causing the knot around his chest to tighten as he prepared for the worst case scenario.

'I'm screwed now.'

His watery eyes managed to make out a figure standing in front of him, dressed in a menacing all black outfit. Despite the short stature of the man, he was still frightened to his core.

"You were shaking an awful lot there."

He barely paid any attention to the echoing footsteps of the innocent bystander he tried to rob, instead focusing his full attention on the man in front of him, trying to catch every word through his pounding heartbeat.

"P-Please don't kill me." He begged, pleading to the man who was his judge, jury and quite possibly his executor.

The man leaned closer, causing Tatsuma to freeze up and flinch as he expected a punch, a kick, anything violent, but contrary to what he believed, he instead grabbed a piece of crumpled up paper from his pocket.

"Ah, that's…"

"...List of ways to make money." The man in black read the piece of paper. His eyes peered down the rest of the list, silently reading as he did so, the emotions in his eyes constantly changing.

"Get a job…beg for money on the streets…stealing," The man raised his voice at the last one, "You failed to steal something?" He asked, and although it was a slightly condescending question, Tatsuma realised it was asked out of genuine curiosity.

"There's too many…heroes and security cameras around, I've tried a couple of…times and nearly got…caught." Tatsuma explained, barely managing to not stutter.

The man beside him remained silent for a second until he asked, "And what happens after you reach the end of the list?"

Tatsuma remained silent, which seemed to be enough of an answer for the man to understand.

"I see." He said, silent for a moment before he spoke, "What's your quirk?"

"Huh?" Tatsuma couldn't believe his ears.

"I asked, what's your quirk?"

He took a deep breath in, barely managing not to whimper in self regret and fear as he spoke, "F-Fear reader, that's what it's called."

He wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and disappear. Now the man in black would leave him, possibly beat him before he went, all because he had a villainous qui–

"I understand now," The figure in black said, looking Tatsuma up and down with a peering gaze, "Let me guess, bullied at school, no self confidence and job, continued like this until you ended up here?"

"H-How did yo–"

"You really had a hard life didn't you? I'm sorry I couldn't save you sooner." The man sounded sorrowful, his voice full of regret and pain.

He knelt down and hugged Tatsuma who flinched at the sudden contact. His grip tightened around Tatsuma's body, broken both physically and mentally, "I'm truly sorry for what you went through. No one would have to go through that."

He felt the tears well up in his eyes, and fought the urge to break down. No one, not even his parents had ever said anything like that. His whole life he was scorned, ignored, bullied, no one in his life was there for him.

Now Tatsuma was a grown man, sobbing in an alley while a random stranger hugged him after stopping him from committing a crime, and quite possibly shooting something.

It was all so surreal, Tatsuma's mind was hazy and cloudy, but he knew that he finally allowed the tears to flow. All the years of pent up emotional pain was released on the stranger's shoulder, his sobs echoing through the dark alleyway.

Once he had stopped crying, the man pulled from the hug, patting the dust off his knees. Tatsuma looked at his wet shoulder with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry,"

He felt the man smile through his mask, "Don't mention it. I know society is harsh on you people, and although it seems like nobody cares, some people do."

Tatsuma nodded, but his mind was on other things, "What do I do now?"

The man shrugged, "That's up for you to decide, but let me give you some advice. Don't be ashamed of who you are and what you have. Society has forced you to become who you are, a broken man with no hope for the future." Tatsuma slouched at that, retreating further in on himself.

"But…You have the choice, do you want to stay the same? Do you want to stay a pathetic, broken man with no hope for the future, or do you want to change? I'll leave that question to you."

Before Tatsuma could respond, the man jumped up and disappeared, leaving Tatsuma alone with his thoughts and the words just spoken.

It was obvious what he needed to do. He needed to change, and although that change may take along time for him to do, he needed to start somewhere.

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