(AN: Some scenes of this chapter are rather heavy. I'm sure this isn't a problem for most of you guys, but, as always, I will put the CAUTION START and the CAUTION END. Those who don't like mentions of rape and abuse should skip that part. This won't particularly impair your ability to understand this chapter.
https://discord.gg/CCFfemR this the link to my discord. I hope to see active people. I want more discussion. .)
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A Few moments earlier,
Kuroha was laying down alone on the grass in a park. In his ear, earbud could be seen, distilling a soft sound. Kuroha wasn't particularly a fan of music. He liked the more simple sound of nature and the like. This brought him a sort of inner peace, something even more necessary when his heart was in turmoil like right now.
The park was mostly deserted at this time on the day. It was a weekday, and just 10 am. People didn't have the time to visit parks at this time of the day.
He silently closed his eyes, immersing himself in the sound of flowing water and birds chirping.
He wasn't thinking about Ferrus Femina, nor the bounty hunter nor anything why UA gave such a holiday. His mind could only repeat the same question.
(Who am I? Why do I exist?)
If Himiko was here, she would understand in what kind of state Kuroha was. After All, it wasn't the first time he happened.
Kuroha was depressed.
This wasn't anything weird, everyone went through something like that from time to time. Who never asked himself why they're alive and what would happen after death or things like that?
It was just that for Kuroha those bouts of depression always hit him pretty badly. After all, for most people, such thoughts were generally just in passing, while for Kuroha, it concerned his very being.
He generally didn't try to think too much about it, but he couldn't help but ask himself sometimes.
Why am I even fighting? What use do I have?
Kuroha hated the word genius. People always called him a genius, always awed at his prowess as if it was a matter of course. Talent is usually an invisible trait, more often than not, it's the result of work other people don't see.
He trained and trained like a madman. He bleeds, again and again, always fighting. All that, to become stronger, all that to become better, all that, to reach greater heights. But then he asked himself.
Why do I even have to train so hard?
This question arose from a simple feeling of powerlessness. Could anyone understand what it feels like to always be surpassed by one own self?
His sword art, Unlimited blade, took him one year to create and another one to refine his control. Even then it still wasn't perfect. This same technique could already be used by Madness one year ago.
His movement art, Nueva Esperanza, was something he thought he created in the heat of the fear of death, but Madness told him that this technique came from Slayer.
Kuroha could accept weakness. No one was born strong. But he couldn't accept being so weak when he should have been so much stronger.
In other words, he faced death two times, and both times, he was saved by his other personalities.
Wouldn't it be better if either Madness or Slayer were the main personalities?
Kuroha was extremely realistic. Madness control over the blood quirk was absolute, while Slayer control over his space quirk was matchless.
What about him? The best he did was the creation of his armor, and while it was without a doubt extremely powerful, way more than he showed during his fight against that girl, he was clear that Madness would be able to do even better.
How could anyone not be depressed in such a situation?
"*Sigh* Gotta go."
He opened his eyes before getting up.
Still, one of Kuroha's strengths was his ability to let go. Moping and crying were useless. The world didn't revolve around himself. Some people had way more problems themself.
Kuroha's view of the world was simple. The world would always be filled with unfairness and injustice. If you had the time to give up or hold a grudge against that injustice, then you should rather use that time to enjoy battling those injustices instead.
"Man, I should go train a little. Perhaps Mirio is…"
*BOOM!!!!!!!*
"...Free?"
Kuroha stopped himself as he looked ahead toward the city. Even though he was a little far away, he could clearly see a large trail of smoke going toward the sky.
(What the fuck?)
He immediately used his ring to wound himself and created his armor. He didn't know what was happening, but he sure as all was going to find out.
(Blink!!)
He immediately vanished from the place.
---
Right now, pure chaos was happening in the city. No, rather than chaos, one could call it pure hell.
Multiples villains could be seen attacking the city and destroying the different infrastructures.
The law on quirks usage was both good and bad at the same time. It allowed to make a better-controlled society, but, at the same time, it made people too reliant on heroes. Then, once, said heroes were absent, the result was...This.
---Caution start
In an alley, a family of three could be seen hiding. The father was holding his son in one hand, while he used another one, to hold his wife.
Tears could be seen streaming on his face as he remembered all the horror he had seen on his way. He had to hold the urge to vomit many times along the way.
How he wished that everything was a dream, no, a nightmare. He wanted to just curl and close his eye and block his ear. But...
He couldn't. He was a father, he had to protect his family.
Not long ago, a group of villains was chasing them while laughing and screaming obscene threats. It was clear that everything was nothing more than a game for them.
It was only with difficulty that they managed to hide in this place.
The man looked at the boy in his hand. Right now, the boy's face who was usually full of smile and playfulness was clouded by fear and anguish and smeared with tears.
"Papa, papa, is everything alright? Will the hero save us?"
The man had to hold the anguish in his heart. He didn't know why, but today, the number of heroes out was less than usual. He didn't hold much hope right now. But, how could he say this to his son? That's why he smiled and said in a hushed voice filled with fake bravado,
"Don't worry, I am sure that everything will be alright. You'll see, the heroes will come and protect us"
The man raised his head. He could see someone walking on the wall. Despair gripped his heart as the hope of being able to hide until the situation calmed down was completely snuffed out.
"Honey, take our child and flee fast."
"But…"
"DO IT!!!"
The wife, while crying, took her child and began running ahead.
"PAPA!! PAPA!"
The man closed his eyes before opening them and facing his opponent. His quirk was nothing special. He could just create light on his fingertip. Perhaps he could use it to blind the man long enough to allow his family to flee?
Just as he began to revolve himself to give up his life in order to save his family, he could hear the villain chuckle,
"What a touching scene. But, you're really naive."
"Wha..?"
KYAAA!!!
"HONEY!!"
He didn't have time to ask what the man mean when he suddenly heard a scream from where his wife and son went,
"*Ugh*"
He bent down to see a knife stuck in his chest, the villain, holding the handle.
"Poor guy. In the end, your so-called sacrifice was worthless."
Following those words, the villain pulled out the knife before slowly going away, letting the man fall and bathe in his own blood.
"Ah…"
It hurt, it hurt so much. The last thought of the man as the anguished cry of his wife and the lew laugh of those villains sounded in his hear was how today was supposed to be his son's birthday.
Close to one hour later, not far from where the dead man corpse was,
One villain was moving and grunting while going in and out of the dead man's wife's body. The other villains, four of them, were looking and smirking at this scene. Their eyes filled with lust as they waited to take another go.
Her destroyed clothes and the divers' fluids such as blood, semen, and piss covering the woman's body as well as flowing from her ass told a sad tale of what happened to her.
This wasn't all, next to the men, one could see the decapitated and naked corpse of a child, obviously the boy was no more than ten. The child, without a doubt, suffered from sexual abuse and divers inhuman torture before dying.
The woman, sadly or perhaps thankfully, couldn't see the dead body of her son. After all, she was already dead.
-----Caution end
Kuroha, who appeared right in the midst of such a scene would never have thought that he would see something like that when he arrived at his destination. He was so stunned at this scene that he completely stopped moving. His thoughts stagnating.
The men, seeing an intruder, stopped laughing before cautiously seizing the one in front of them.
Even the one who was still happily raping the dead woman pulled out before putting his pants. The moment he did, sticky mix white and red liquid began to slowly flow out from the vagina of the woman, clearly a result of internal bleeding as well as the semen of those rapists.
"Oi who are you?"
"Is he perhaps a hero?"
"How could it be possible. The plan said that Hero wouldn't be present on this scene for a while."
"So he is just a guy playing the hero?"
"Or perhaps he is one of us?
Those men, while talking, began to slowly encircle Kuroha. They didn't know who he was, but they wouldn't take a chance.
"Oi, Are you fucking mute?"
Kuroha ignored all those jeers and comments and directed his sight to the head of the child before looking at the sullied corpse of a woman whose eyes reflected nothing and whose body wasn't spared even in death.
Then, he slowly raised his head toward the sky and
"*Chuckle* * Chuckle* Ahahahah!! *Sob*"
He began to laugh and cry at the same.
"This guy is creepy as hell."
"What do we do, should we pull back?"
(I'm really not made to become a hero.)
In most stories, the hero always arrived at the right time to save people. He, on the other hand, arrived too late. He couldn't help but deride himself when he thought about all his depression this morning.
After a while though, he suddenly stopped laughing, his expression under the mask of his armor firm and resolute.
(I was right. People like that shouldn't have the right to live.)
He then slowly opened his mouth,
"I hate pain more than anything in this world. That's why I'm always reluctant to inflict pain on others."
His voice was low and eerie. The villains looked at each other before taking position of fight. They're now sure that this guy wasn't an ally. Kuroha, of course, ignored them as he continued to speak.
"But for once, I feel like I should really make people understand just what it means to be in a living hell."
"Who do you think you are?"
"KILL HIM!!"
They didn't wait anymore and all rushed toward him at full speed. Then, well there was no then, only a voice so cold it could freeze hell sounded in their ear.
"You don't know it, but in my eyes, you're already dead."
What followed was simply a massacre.
(AN 2: I am sorry if the sudden shift disturbed some people. But well. You guys knew from the start that this story wasn't just a happy one. It's not like it's the first time I wrote a chapter like that.)