Chapter 14: Boom! (2)
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"Woo-hoo!" Neji shrieked at the top of his lungs while the wind swept up his hair. It was so awesome right now!
The first time he learned to fly, he almost didn't want to come back down to the ground. But in the end, his previous 'flying' was just running on top of the air. But this – this was something beyond, it was on a whole other level! Flying this fast felt so amazing that it was almost as pleasurable as sex, the pull he felt in his stomach and the adrenaline rushing through his veins was only amplyifieng it!
BOOM- BOOM- BOOM!
Constant bursts of shockwaves were at first deafening to him, but he had already gotten used to it. 'Gamer's Body maybe?' He asked himself, but he wasn't sure himself.
Neji was wearing a pair of goggles that he took out mid-flight from his inventory where he puts any kind of daily necessities the moment he gets the chance. Nobody knows when an emergency might occur–
"You...ng...man!"
While he was about to circle the city under him for the third time, he heard the noise of something other than that of constant sonic booms.
"Young man!" He couldn't hear it properly because of the wind, but it was clearly someone calling for him. "Young man, slow down!"
Neji slowed down, which took a bit since he was yet to get used to stopping at high speeds, and turned around. The moment he stopped though, a yellow flash slid past him because the other party clearly didn't have any type of brake system like that of Neji himself.
Neji turned to the side where the flash had gone and was surprised to find the other man kicking the air and coming back at him.
A frown emerged on Neji's face as he noticed the man's attempt to grab him. He wanted to dodge, but he was too slow and… surprised. Surprised to see the face of the muscular and blonde man. "All Might?"
Before he could have gotten an answer, All Might kicked the air again and dived down towards a forest below. He fell at an intense speed but his arms were wrapped around Neji to stop the air force from hitting his skin.
—
Unlike how All Might had assumed, the object moving so fast wasn't a villain. As surprising as it was, the cause was a child who looked no more than 10…
This is not the first time All Might has caught a civilian using their quirk in public – and while it's illegal to do so, All Might never did anything extreme against them. He just gave them a simple warning to not do so ever again. After all, someone who follows the law too tightly isn't a true hero – someone who follows his moral code is the true hero.
So in this situation, when the said civilian is a child, he would surely not be harsh with the child. From what he saw, the boy has a strong quirk. He needs to be taught to not use it in the public, and All Might will do just that in his humblest voice!!!
Boom!
All Might landed on the grassy ground as a crater was formed, all the while making sure the little boy wouldn't feel any impact.
"Young man, are you fine?" He unwrapped his arms and placed the little guy on the ground. "Sorry, I couldn't stop in mid-air like you, so I had to grab you like this." He reasoned and crouched down to meet the boy eye-to-eye with a smile on his face.
The boy, Neji, didn't reply.
«—(★)—»
-Neji Pov-|
If it was any other person, I would have snapped. Grabbing me midair like that was dangerous. I was almost about to release intense shockwaves when he was hugging me, instinctively – of course. That would have not only killed any normal human, but I would have also lost my balance.
But I didn't do that after his face and voice were recognised by my brain. I knew this man wasn't 'any normal man', quite far from that. He knew what he was doing. He is, after all, one of the strongest and most reliable men alive.
I looked at the living legend, Japan's strongest, Yagi Toshinori. Better known as All fucking Might who wore a large grin on his face.
I was amazed at him. Tier 7? That's 3 tiers above Kimi… and there is a huge gap between every tier. And what's up with that High-Human thing?
"Um, young man?" All Might's voice caused me to come out of my head and ponder on my answer… ugh, why am I being so calculating! Let's just roll with it.
"I am fine, mostly," I said. "I was just having a hard time deciding what to say since it's not every day you meet the No.1 Hero, after all. But y'know," This time I frowned. "That was very dangerous! I almost released my powers on you, it would have hurt you a lot!"
"Haha! Sorry, again." All Might laughed, though there was no sign of guilt in his voice. "On the contrary, you have a powerful quirk, young man. Is it something along the lines of Sonic Boom Generation?"
"Close. It's called 'Surge'. It's basically a type of Shockwave Manipulation." I answered his question.
All Might smiled again. Seemingly amused at me not reacting like a fan-boy even after recognising him. "Oh, very interesting. You're correct, if you had released your power on me, it would have surely hurt a lot, hahaha." He lied to my face. "You're such a brave and thoughtful young man. Can I know how old you are?"
He is good. He acts goofy in the anime but in reality, he is still a Pro Hero who is excellent at handling these types of situations. I assume if I was an older person, I wouldn't have received the same treatment after breaking the law… or maybe I am just overthinking it.
"I turned 9 years old three months ago." I held up 9 fingers to amplify my childish charm.
"Oh, fantastic. You have a lot to learn and a lot to achieve. With such an amazing quirk, it shouldn't be that hard. Ah, speaking of quirks, did you know it's illegal to use your quirk in public without a Hero License?"
Ah, that's where he's going...
I shrugged. "Well, I knew, but… I didn't use it in public, technically. I was just flying in the sky." I continued, all to All Might's clear amusement. "I recall, according to the Quirk Law, paragraph 3 section C-4: Utilizing quirks in public areas was banned ONLY because it might hurt civilians. And I can guarantee there were no civilians in the sky, at least not above the clouds from where you grabbed me."
All Might stood up, placed his left palm on his head and took a pose before laughing out loud. "HA HA HA! You are quite knowledgeable for such a young boy, are you not? I assume you want to be a hero?"
"Oh thank you, and yes, I do."
"Young man, I hate to break it to you but..." All Might couched down again and placed a hand on my shoulder, his grin ever present. "While your use of loopholes in this system is logically right, saying the same lines in the court, as a civilian, wouldn't have worked. In reality, these loopholes were made for heroes, for heroes to take advantage of them and get out of tight situations or help others get out of there. But…"
All Might paused before continuing. "Since you want to be a hero, let me give you a piece of advice." He said. "As a hero, you are going to find a lot more loopholes in this system. But a true hero isn't supposed to take advantage of them, a true hero is supposed to stop others from taking advantage, instead." He placed a hand on my head and rubbed my hair. "Because if a hero doesn't do it, who else will?"
"..." I blinked. "That's an interesting way to put it." Not gonna lie, this man is charismatic.
He chuckled. "Anyway, I should probably drop you off at your residence. People are in need all over the city, I need to go. HA HA HA!"
All Might raised his hand in front of me, asking me to grab on, and so I did.
After that… Well, we reached my home and All Might left, thankfully. I was nervous that he would want to talk to my parents and mess things up for me.
I have to admit. He has a way with his words. If I was a normal child my mindset would have been moulded to become the so-called 'True Hero' he talked about. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for some people, I… am not a hero.
«—{★}—»
As All Might flew by, his ears perked up listening to the possible calls for help, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering around.
"That boy has potential to become a great hero. I hope he took my words to heart." He mumbled to himself.
He recalled a saying his teacher, Nana Shimura, used to say a lot. "Toshinori, the society isn't as bright as we think. There is filthy dirt hidden under the facade of our clean society. If you really want to be the Symbol of Peace, you need to not only accept our bright side but the dark side too. Because that's what heroes do."
And in his way to become No.1, he has realised that too. The Hero Association's dirty deeds aren't something that can go past his sharp eyes.
All Might hoped, a child who has such a strong quirk and had enough talent to control it at that level at this age wouldn't lose himself in the darkness of our society. A child who has already found the loopholes of this society, that child wouldn't be corrupted.
Unfortunately for him… Neji was no hero.
While he wasn't evil and selfish enough to become a villain, he wasn't noble like All Might either. He wasn't a person who wouldn't take advantage of the System's loopholes. He respected people like All Might, their noble goals were truly respectable – but Neji, unlike how he has acted until now, was anything but noble.
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Author Note: Okay, so, after a google search, I discovered that All Might and Hawks are quite slower than speed of sound. While I believe Prime All Might can definitely reach it, giving the same speed to a 10-year-old (like a reader mentioned) is a bit too much.
I don't want Neji to be as fast as fucking Prime All Might (he's a true monster) even when U.A hasn't begun. So I made some adjustments on the previous chapter.
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Edited by sigma male @Glassman and the god among men @Shortmotor, without forgetting the God of Smut, @Jon
(A/N: Imagine being a narcissist even though I am around.)