_________ POV Narration_________
Beru looked at the crowd gathered in front of him with a smile, his jagged teeth shined in the lights of camera flashes.
"I thank you all for gathering here~ It was on a bit of a short notice, but I feel the need to speak to an audience today~" Beru put one hand on his chest while looking all around the room.
There were plenty of confused faces in view, they couldn't really be blamed, not many people knew why they were being gathered there in the first place.
Nezu, the one that organized things and got everyone together, was the only person that had any idea what the press conference was about. And he was just sitting in a chair, smiling and not answering any questions, either from his staff or from curious reporters.
"Now~ Some of you may know me~ I'm Beru, small local hero around these parts of town~" Beru cleared his tone a bit and spoke with a straight face throughout that entire sentece somehow.
Unfortunately, most of the people in the room didn't get the joke, some just looked at Beru with raised eyebrows, some just looked confused.
"Tough crowd here tonight, I guess~ I guess I'll stop skirting around the issue here~ I'm sure everyone wants to know why we're here~" Beru said as he clapped his hands together, managing to catch the attention of everyone after his terrible comedy show.
"I've a big announcement to make to y'all~ I'm officially done with the hero business~ I've decided to become a teacher here at UA full-time from now on." Cameras flashed even brighter as the entire stadium was filled with voices and gasps.
No one really expected this, especially since Beru wasn't really all that old to begin with. His announcement made everyone feel either shock or horror. He did establish himself as another pillar to hold up society after all.
Beru chuckled a bit looking at their reactions with a smirk on his face.
"You guys will be able to ask as many questions as you want afterwards~ For now, let me talk~" Beru's head swayed a bit as his antennas danced around in front of him.
"I'm sure everyone noticed that the last few weeks were rather full of adversity for everyone both in this country and beyond~ First meteors, then weird aliens trying to do some shady shit~"
A lot of the people in the room nodded when hearing Beru's words, although some of them would've hoped that he would put it a bit more... Delicately? You know, for the people at home.
"Well, It's no secret that even I faced some troublesome situations in these past few weeks~ Some could say that I almost lost even~" Beru spoke with a gleeful smile, many of the reporters quickly started taking notes of what he was saying.
"It hasn't been a fun time for anyone involved unfortunately~ But we were able to overcome it in the end~ Still, it managed to give me a bit of perspective~" Beru's smile still shined through, managing to calm down everyone at home despite its creepy appearance.
"All of my life, this is all that I've been doing~ Fighting and fighting~ Either for others or for myself~ And I can say with a high degree of certainty that I am done~ I've had enough~" Beru's words
A lot of people seemed to recoil a bit when hearing that. Not everyone had a lot of perspective into Beru's personal life, and not everyone knew him personally, so many found this odd.
But most of Beru's close friends immediately understood what Beru was referring to. Many of them had been expecting something like this to happen at some point, but even they felt that this was a bit sudden, so doubts started to arise even in them.
"Some of you might think that this is really coming out of nowhere~ That it may be a bit to quick to stop being a hero...~ Maybe some of you may have the preconceived notion that my duties aren't over~ That I am still too young to even consider retirement~"
Beru's smile widened a bit by the end of his statement. He loved the way the crowd was looking at him, a flurry of emotions dancing around his words as the people were free to interpret his words however they wanted.
"I think you people are a bit too cocky~" Beru's grin tightened a bit, his teeth looking a bit more menacing than before.
"I don't owe anything to anyone~ I've no duty to continue playing hero~ There's not even a need for me to keep up this charade anymore~ Many of you seem to think I am a lot like All Might~ But that's really not the case at all~" Beru stretched his back a bit as he looked at the crowd with a playful gaze.
He could see Toshinori smacking his head into his palms repeatedly. Most of the former students and teachers also had similar reactions, the only one laughing was Nezu, spilling some of his tea on a reporter or two.
"I mean~ C'mon~ I don't know what you were expecting~ I really am not that heroic of a person~ I prefer lazing around and watching TV over anything else, and I roll my eyes into the back of my head at the mere notion of work~ Sure, I have my own agenda, and I still work despite all of that~"
Meanwhile, Nemuri was sitting inside her room, looking at venues and trying to choose where she wanted the wedding reception to happen. Then she heard Beru's speech, and proceeded to spit out her drink and rub her own temples a bit...
'I mean... I get that he's taking into consideration my worries... But couldn't he have done things a bit differently.'
The purpose of this meeting was rather simple, to allow the public to learn just who Beru was. Everyone knew of him as being the way the media presented him, now everyone was allowed to see a side of him they never had before... And they weren't hating it.
Rather it was the opposite, a lot of the people at home started recalling all of Beru's actions, all of his feats.
Everyone saw him as an untouchable figure, even after he was injured. But now, he seemed different... He seemed human. Sure, their view of him as a symbol was completely tarnished, now they viewed him as something else...
A person that gave it his all despite his clear disdain for work in general. He wasn't a person that had a clean work ethic, he wasn't a perfect hero that always jumped into the fray with a smile on his face.
He was a bored young man that had played the part of one for most of his life, and now he was showing his cards to the world with absolutely 0 shame and no regard for any consequences.
It was strangely... Liberating? Maybe the public didn't just need perfect symbols at the end of the day. This was the thought that surfaced in the minds of many.
"Well~ I'm sure everyone gets the point by now~ I'm done with the whole hero scene~ There's plenty of people left to protect your asses anyway, no need for me to stick around and waste my time~" Beru found the situation to be very much interesting.
While he did like the reactions of everyone in the room, he also was extremely curious of how exactly everyone else would perceive his little speech.
"Aight~ I'm done talking~ If you've got any questions feel free to spit them out~"
The second Beru gave the green light he was bombarded by questions from the reporters, he tilted his head a bit as his eyes twitched in irritation.
"If you don't go one at a time I'm going home~" Beru said that while playing around with one of his antennas.
The first question was simple... "Is this truly your outlook on hero society as a whole?!"
"Obviously, did you think I gathered everyone here for a practical joke~ Stupid question, next!~" Beru spoke while scowling a bit.
The second one was a bit more... Pertinent? "You said that you were done with the hero scene for good... Do you plan on intervening in any conflicts in the future if they prove to be too much for the rest of the heroes?" It was a pretty good question all things considered.
Beru's answer was a bit unexpected though. "Nah~ I'll have to wish Deku, the new Number 1 hero good luck with that~" A certain young green-haired hero could only sweat a bit when hearing that part.
But none of the former students or teachers seemed to mind that answer, it was exactly what they expected to hear out of Beru now that he decided to retire.
The conference continued for a bit more, with Beru responding to question after question. But now it was time for the ending statement.
Beru looked at the cameras for one last time. "I'm glad everyone tuned in for this~ I can only say that this has been a pretty fun few years~ I will leave you with a bit of assurance though~" Beru opened up a portal beside him as he spoke with confidence.
"It doesn't really matter what happens in the future, I'm leaving things in pretty reliable hands~ If my own students manage to fuck things up, then I will arrive at the scene just to beat the shit out of them right after the villains are done with them."
Beru then walked into the portal with a smile on his face, and the black mist dissipated.
A lot of the former students had sweat in their brow at that last statement. Kirishima even said "H-He was joking, right?"
Shoto simply shook his head and patted his colleague on the shoulder. "I wouldn't count on that..."
And just like that Beru's hero career was over. Rather short compared to All Might, but it ironically left just as big as a mark in history.
Beru became an icon, he was no longer seen as a perfect hero that anyone should strive to become. Now he was just seen as a great hero that didn't really like being a hero.
An otherwise ordinary person (if you take away his strength), that became a hero due to circumstances and without wanting anything to do with the hero scene.
Many people were still mad about the way he had signed off, despite the numerous amount of people that supported his actions.
At this point, it wasn't possible for anyone to tarnish Beru's name. Not even himself. He had saved too many people, the impression he left on everyone was too large to simply fizzle out after his retirement.
But Beru wasn't exactly concerned about that anymore... He had bigger concerns right now...
'Should I wear a suit or just go naked at the wedding reception...?~' Similar to a question he had asked himself in the past, but this time... It is his own wedding.
__________________________________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter! Next one will be the last, still haven written an epilogue, but that can happen later.
New fanfic is up on this site btw, still can't link it. You can find it by searching One Piece: Reborn as Enel. (at least I hope you can find it that way)
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on.