*Previous chapter was short, so here*
Latest Update:October 18, 2022
Summary: Wounded, lost, but growing, the lone wolf awakens in a land not his own of which more colorful and vibrant life thrives, but also young and weak. Similar to home, but so different, Garou must wander the lands and find his purpose in a world where heroes were frail and weak, where the pain of the powerless was ignored by the many. And he will change that world with wrath and fury.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13146586/1/The-Hunter-Amongst-Villains?__cf_chl_tk=j0Wq6iqu61Gvs91DKeJSKUj3AL6QbeOKG8HOjlgOpZ0-1654616264-0-gaNycGzNCNE
Word Count:178k
Chapters:26
Chapter 1: New Soil
Death stalked the Hero Hunter's battered form, waiting to claim him at the slightest moment of weakness. Splintered wood and ruptured glade, blood trailing the dirt behind his path to the fires of hell and dying his humanity with crimson perseverance - the lone wolf glared at his hunters, their visage reflected from his very pupils.
Standing in the clearing of the woods with the earth of which bodies and blood stained cracked soil, and carrying the top half of the split tree, Garou burned with fierce demonic tenacity to crush the three opponents before him.
Blood dyed the rims of his hair, corrupting pure silver to demonic red, as he slowly exhaled through gritted teeth; his bandages torn and a red aura rippled off his frame as cracks infected the shattered earth beneath his feet. Silence permeated the air so richly only the sound of uncountable rustling leaves blew to his ear as he tightened the tree in his grip.
Bang, Bomb, and Genos stood before him; all momentarily shocked by his sudden, logic-defying power. However, before any of them could resume their fight, another party swooped from the skies.
Grabbed by the shoulders, two talons lifting him to the skies with each mighty beat of the phoenix's wings, The Hero Hunter struggled, cursed, and threatened the thing to let him go, but he could not free himself, not unless he wished for the hammer of gravity to smash him into a crimson smear.
However, before his consciousness fell, a black mist suddenly swirled around his entire being, engulfing in black without warning.
Phoenixman could neither react nor parse the event until it was too late, stupored into inactivity as Garou somehow vanished as if he was spirited away by a much more supernatural force.
"!" Garou's sudden absence stunned Phoenixman. From where did the mist come?
More importantly, what the hell just happened? Where did Garou go? No, what was that mist in the first place? Even more importantly, Garou was no longer in his possession. Meaning, he failed in his objective in the end, and soon realized that he would indefinitely end up inside Orochi's stomach upon return.
"CRAPPPPPPP!" Phoenix man cursed the heavens as Garou vanished from the face of the earth.
Puffing heavily with a face twisted with fear and, his heart thunderously pumping adrenaline, a silver-haired boy desperately sprinted up the stairs until he reached the only exit door leading outside via rooftops. Without hesitation, he barreled through the door with stumbling feet, nearly tripping his balance as it turned on its hinges. The early morn sky embraced his presence as he looked back, staring at the darkness with quivering eyes and chattering teeth.
Cackling echoed from the same darkness, a low, wicked voice that promised dread, as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows and under the starlit night. A man, no, an abomination stepped out of the same door the boy ran through. His form was a mix of putrid green and violet, tentacles and mouths dangling from his clothless body and lines of atrocious, atrophied sinew exposed for the youngling's eyes to his dismay.
"Hehehe, come on, little boy. Don't you want to play?" The voice coming out of the abomination's mouth was just as horrendous as his appearance as drool visibly leaked from his mouth.
"L-Leave me alone, you freak!" The boy shouted as the 'freak' frowned, assuming that it could even frown.
"Naughty child, to call a man you just met a freak. Didn't your parents teach you manners? Oh… they're already dead! Hee ha ha ha ha!" The villain cackled maliciously, as tears started emerging from the boy's eyes.
"Your aunt had some bad evidence against my employer, so blame her for your misfortune! A mere lawyer shouldn't stick her hand on something that doesn't concern her. Know the true price of 'Justice,' kid." The eldritch mutant gloated, reveling in the dominance he now wielded over the child as his grotesque legs of wrangled black tendons sauntered out of the door, heading towards the kid with a maniacal monstrous glee while black ichor trailed in his wake.
As he continued stepping back, he heard another wicked cackle behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of another villain, a gorilla climbing up the side of his apartment. The gorilla, garbed in grey fur, bore a wrinkled face of severe skin and hair, and yellow teeth that had not brushed for days. Climbing along the side of the building was more villains, every other varied in shape, ability, and form. The boy was trapped, while both assailants and their victim were unaware of the figure appearing above them from the black swirling mist.
All but one faces grinned, their victory seemingly assured with no hero to interrupt them, except what arrived at the scene was no hero - its figure whistling downwards from the heavens in its long descent.
Like a meteor from the heavens, an unknown figure crashed face down the concrete in a grand entrance, cratering human-sized groove into the roof and dispersing obfuscating dust. A monstrous growl resounded from the man-shaped crater, behind the mantle of dust, arousing the villains to step back in concurrence on reflex. In essence, they did not understand the reason behind their pacing retreat until the dust diminished, revealing the figure pushing himself to his feet slowly.
A shirtless, red-haired man, caked in his blood, with baggy pants and tai chi slippers, licked his menacing gaze over his surroundings, his breathing haggard and his heterochromic eyes firing a glare that can kill. The villains and the boy shuddered in fear at the man, as the assailants instinctively took a step back. An unsettling inexplicable fear burrowed within the depths of their mind, then replaced by one of irritation and caution.
"Who… who the hell are you? Where did you come from?"The mutant Villain pointed one finger squarely at the strange intruder. The rest of the Villains were all put slightly on guard.
"...that bird had the nerves… to drop me." The crimson-haired man snarled as his glare, flowing with murderous intent, balefully lashed at his surroundings and then at the mutant, prickling him with unease.
"More monsters." He snarled as he raised his arm, his all five fingers curving into a menacing claw as if grasping the head of his prey. The bird was trying to kill him with the black smoke. He interpreted his situation as such since his mind was bordering to near unconsciousness, with only his demonic will holding himself together and giving him the strength to stand against the world.
Hearing the strange man's threatening intonation and seeing him raise his arm, the villains all tensed up. They kept their eyes locked firmly on the shirtless man in front of them.
"Listen. All you need to do is walk away. This doesn't concern you." Gesturing around at the area, the mutant villain attempted to reason with the shirtless man.
After sitting there on the roof for some time, the boy realized his opportunity.
"H-Help! Please! T-They're here to take me away! P-Please stop them!" The silver-haired boy shouted in desperation, stuttering from fear at the man standing there covered in blood.
Hearing the boy's plea, the man shifted his eyes to the boy, a frightened kid that was begging for rescue. His eyes, past the tears, there's something about the kid's eyes reminded him of that boy he regularly visits in that park — the one called Tatsurou.
"Shut up, you brat!" The gorilla marched towards the boy in rage, huffing as he raised his leg and stomped the kid's head to the ground.
"Ya just a hostage! Stop crying fa' help when there's no one here ta save ya! Just sleep and accept it!" The gorilla roared as he continued stomping on the boy, to the point of blood leaking from his nose and head.
"Oi! You'll kill him if you keep this up! We need 'im alive, idiot!" A crab man shouted at the gorilla before he stopped, leaving the boy bloody and bruised but conscious.
"Ugh, fine! I want to go home! Why don't we kill that guy and-" Before he could utter another word, his sight sent spiraling out of control, the world around him spiraling in chaos before becoming vertical in his eyes. The roof was now vertical, the sky on the right side of his vision. Then the image split into three, separated by arcing lines like that of a rainbow's before the absolute darkness smothered his vision and thoughts with silencing black.
The other villains all turned to the intruder, eyes widened by confusion and confoundment. Glancing at the corpse of their fellow Villain, they understood what the man was not - a monstrous villain arrived the scene, not a hero. One dangerous beyond their imagining, evident by his bare-handed murder of a fellow human being.
With profound speed their eyes could not track, he, with extreme savagery, decapitated their mutant friend with his murderous fist. Then, as if adding salt to injury, sharply divided the head midair into concentric pieces with a skill that can only be described as a Quirk.
"You… killed him?" One asked in disbelief, still trying to understand that a stranger killed one of them with frightening ease.
"Scum…" Dismissing his words, the red-haired man seethed, his presence now screaming unfathomable rage at the villains as the sclera of his right eye grew even darker. The menacing feel of his aura rose almost tenfold as if he was becoming stronger with each second.
The villains could feel his hatred permeating the area. Confused, concerned, and scared, questions ranging from the murderous stranger's identity to his karmic alignment with society wracked their thoughts. However, one truth was clear, that the man before them was beyond furious for reasons unknown, one with a Quirk strong enough to mutilate his prey with bare hands alone.
"L-Listen… We didn't know there were any other Villains in the area. Whoever you work for, I'm sure we could put this b-behind us." the eldritch mutant from the door negotiated. He was not expecting to die. The man was far too dangerous, a murderer drunk with a cocktail of blood-lust and frenzied rage.
"What did you just call me?" Garou asked as his anger soared, his rage as tangible as burning fire. He was critically wounded, just escaped from a losing battle, and was forced into a situation that screamed treachery from the ones that he despised the most. He had not a single comprehension of his current position, but what the monsters did piss him off to his core. He refused to pardon the after such blasphemy, his heart demanding their deaths in the most brutal way imaginable.
Raising both of his pincers in the air in an apologetic gesture, the crab villain could feel a shiver pass over him."T-There's no reason for us to fight! You could help us! You s-seem pretty strong!"
"Quiet." Garou pointed his blood-encrusted finger at them.
"I have decided. I will kill every single one of you. None of you shall escape my wrath." Garou decided his ultimatum. Not in the mood for jokes or nonsense, lividly enraged, he flashed his gritted teeth as the sclera of his right eye blackened, a corrupt pitch-black.
Hearing his declaration, a few of the villains shivered, trembling in fear for their lives.
"O-Oi? What kind of vigilante are you?"
Garou did not know what a vigilante is nor did he care. He cared only for the sight of their bodies torn apart with prejudice and their blood painting the earth.
"Die."
With that word, Garou ignited the slaughter.
The boy watched as the villains tensed before rallying themselves to attack the dangerous man. He watched as they died one by one, slaughtered like cattle with his bare hands. The man's fighting style aroused a mixture of fear and awe within the boy. The way he fights was, as a work of art, feral, yet graceful. Intense, however, tempered, no room for error in his movements, only skill of the highest caliber. Despite his fear, the boy felt a sense of awe and respect for the man.
The eldritch mutant watched in muted shock and horror as this man effortlessly slaughtered his once-merry band. Every attack they sent his way seemed to glide past him. His arms were a blur as they lashed out, blood and body parts flying through the air, painting the ground a deep crimson. All thought of kidnapping the kid disappeared, replaced by the desire to fight for their lives, to preserve their lives.
The strange man weaved and easily dodged an incoming strike. With one pincer outstretched, the crab villain could only watch as a fist sped towards his face, a blur in his vision, plunging into the crab man's chest. He felt a brief, overwhelming sense of pain before he felt something ripped out of his chest. Looking at the man's hands, he saw something red and beating attached to thick cords of meat. He saw his own heart pulled out of his body, before the man crushed it in his hands, squeezing the blood from the red meat as the light faded from the corpse's eyes.
The other villains watched, horrified as their fellow villain fell to the ground. The man's hand remained outstretched, still holding the crushed remains of their companion's heart with blood trickling through his fingers. Fear began to permeate the mind of every villain present. No matter what they did, they couldn't seem to beat this guy, touch this guy. The eldritch mutant stared at the man, his eyes wide with distraught.
"W-we're just here for the kid. I-If we take the kid, we'll leave your t-territory, okay?"
"Since when do monsters stoop so low?" The man's glare shifted from the corpse to him, his killing intent directed at him, undiminished.
The mutant Villain grimaced, hearing the man continually describing them as 'monsters.' He grew slightly confused. Why would a fellow Villain be so against their actions?
"We aren't 'monsters.' We're just Villains, doing a job."
"Huh?" The man narrowed his eyes before walking towards him, his killing intent still at its peak.
"There's no difference, especially when all I see are abominations." The man replied with a serious tone.
The reduced group of Villains all shuddered, pierced by the fact that they were going to die no matter what.
Glancing over at the kid on the ground, the grotesque villain had an idea pop into his head. As the shirtless man continued carving his way through his compatriots, the tentacled villain rushed over to the boy, snatching him up — his grotesque tentacles wrapped around the boy's throat, strangling him. Holding up the boy between the man and himself, the Villain could feel striking fear.
"Get out of here. Now. Alternatively, I'll choke the life out of this kid."
The boy's wide, panicked eyes stared at the now stationary form of the shirtless man. The tentacles around his throat tightened their grasp, choking the breath out of him.
"...go ahead." The man said as he briefly turned his eyes towards the corpse of the crab creature, eyeing the pincers, as he turned his eyes towards the man with many eyes over his body. The eldritch mutant flinched when he saw the killer started rushing towards another of his own as he ran past the corpse of the crap mutant.
"I-I said stop-"
Before the mutant could squeeze the boy's windpipe even further, the man stopped and stomped one of the pincers, tearing the claw out of its socket as it flew in midair, and kicked pincer towards him at speeds he could not react. The inhuman eyes of the eldritch mutant widened the moment he felt something cold piercing his head, right in the center of his forehead. The tentacle holding the boy dropped, as the mutant fell face-flat on the floor lifeless like a stringless puppet.
"..." The other villains were now scared for their lives.
"Prepare to die." The man said as he resumed his slaughter.
Garou stood in the center of his world, surrounded by the blood and corpses of monsters, his only other company was a boy of around nine sitting there, trembling in fear. Garou took a deep breath as he calmed down, his rage sated, but not without allowing the pain of his accumulated injuries to catch up to him finally.
"Crap." Garou knew he must recuperate. He will soon lose consciousness if he remained idle.
"Kid, you know a place I can stay in undisturbed?" Garou asked. He does not know why there wasn't a single forest in visual distance around him, or why he fell from the skies after wrapped in around black mist, but he would figure that out later. He needed to heal… also, he was hungry.
"E-Eh…" The kid was still frozen there, unable to move, most likely out of fear.
"Kid, this what you do for someone that saved you? Take me somewhere I can heal. I will pass out if I remain idle." Garou demanded again, forcing the kid into action this time.
"I… f-follow me." The kid gulped, rubbing his neck still sore from the tentacle choking.
Looking at the kid, he was also in need of medical attention judging by the purple bruises on his person, though he won't allow him to call for an ambulance. Garou was well versed in the art of self-aid, and the aid of others. He will not let himself be caught by the Hero Association no matter what.
As the young boy headed down the stairs, Garou followed him. The darkness seemed to engulf the stairway, making everything hard to see. Both he and the boy continued going down, flight after flight passing. The entire area was almost entirely silent, aside from their footsteps. Garou assumed that they had arrived at the floor the boy was heading for, when he reached a nearby door, slowly swinging it open.
The boy continued walking, occasionally casting a glance back at Garou. The red-haired hunter followed the small boy into the hallway, observing everything as he went with all of the doors they passed shut firmly. He couldn't hear anything from behind any of them. However, unlike all of the other entries, the one at the far end of the hallway was open wide, exposing the interior. As they neared the room, Garou narrowed his eyes as he noticed a very obviously broken lock on the door.
The boy entered the open room first, glancing around the interior, as Garou followed shortly behind him. As he threw his eyes around the room, Garou could not miss the signs of forced entry and kidnapping. Furniture was toppled and thrown around. Curtains from a nearby window lay on the floor, apparently ripped from the frame. Dirty footprints of varying sizes and shapes were tracked all along the floor, a sign of the numerous intruders. A nearby dining table rested upside down, flipped by one of the intruders in their violence.
Garou could see the young boy glancing around the room, frivolously cautious and wary for any more villains despite the overwhelming silence around them. This apartment was his home. The blood-haired hunter couldn't see any homeowner. Perhaps the monsters outside had already…
"You live alone kid?" Garou asked to make sure.
"...no… my Aunty owns this building. She's out for today…" Ghin replied as he walked towards a closet, the white door on the wall.
Following the boy, Garou stayed slightly behind. His senses remained sharpened, in case any more monsters made their approach. He'd been taken aback by how weak those monsters were. It seemed like they were low Tiger or Wolf at best since they'd barely even put up a fight. Garou's body still ached as he slowly walked behind the boy, still suffering from his accumulated wounds.
"H-Here you go," Ghin said as he took out a white square case, with a red plus on it, from the closet. It was a medical kit meant for emergencies.
Opening it, a small array of medical supplies unveiled. Antiseptics, bandages, gauzes, and a wide assortment of other medical tools were sat there, ready for use. Garou's body ached as he looked down at the contents of the medical kit. The boy began to take the materials out, one by one, glancing up at him.
"Uhh… w-what's your name, uncle?" The boy asked, afraid but trying to be brave.
"...Garou." Garou answered as he took the bandages and antiseptic.
"And don't call me uncle. I'm eighteen." Garou lightly chided the boy as the boy widened his eyes.
"...eh?" The boy blinked owlishly at the revelation.
"But, y-you look you're thirty!" The boy uttered without thinking as he rudely pointed at Garou's face.
"You want to be socked?" Garou threatened as he started applying the antiseptic, gritting his teeth in response to the liquid stinging the blood-crusted wounds before wrapping the white cloth around them one by one.
The boy shook his head rapidly in response, unwilling to endure the same fates as the villains there before.
Staring at Garou, the boy watched as the man tended to his severe wounds, wondering what had he been through to look so bloody.
"...uhh… why did you fall out of the sky?" The boy asked. A man falling out of the heavens was by far the strangest occurrence now that Garou thought about it.
"...a bird dropped me," Garou replied bluntly upon remembering Phoenixman, a promise to skin the monster strong in his heart.
"Eh?" The boy blinked again, trying to process his answer as the atmosphere turned awkward.
"...a bird? What? How big is the bird?" The confused boy asked, unable to picture such a big bird.
"...big," Garou tersely answered as he finished bandaging his arms.
As he continued treating himself with the medical supplies, Garou cast a thought back to the three heroes that had cornered him. The memory elicited a slight frown, grimacing at the pain and shame that occurred. It may only have happened a few minutes ago, but it wedged itself firmly deep inside the recesses of Garou's mind. After that, another question arose in him.
However, a question followed Garou after the memory. What happened to him?
"...kid, where am I?" Garou asked. Grasping his location was crucial, as he cannot determine the distance between him and the three heroes - well, two heroes and another master martial artist that rivaled the old fart.
"U-Um," The kid stuttered, gathering the vestiges of his courage to answer the scary man.
"H-Hosu…"
"...Hosu?" Garou repeated himself as he blinked. There was no place he knew in Z City called Hosu.
"Is it a new place in Z City?"
"...uh… what's Z City?" The boy asked, evidently confused.
"Eh?"
Confusion was written all over Garou's face as he stared down at the equally bewildered boy. Where was he? The boy's knowledge of the location was impossibly absent, replaced by a word Garou never knew existed. The atmosphere teemed with mutual bewilderment as the two exchanged blank, questioning stares.
"...kid, do you have a map?" Garou asked, fear and trepidation creeping into his heart.
Standing up quickly, the young boy rushed over to one of the nearby open doors in the house. Garou could hear him rustling around various miscellaneous items in his search. After a moment of silence, footsteps grew closer from around the door. Suddenly, the kid appeared from behind the door, holding a large sheet of paper up for him. Clasping both edges of the layer, the young boy continued approaching Garou, the paper rustling as he moved.
As he stopped before Garou, the young boy placed down the map on the floor. Straightening it out with his hands, he glanced up at Garou.
"Is this o-okay?" The boy asked the Hero Hunter as he stared at the geography of the land he now resided.
Garou cast his eyes over the map. After careful scrutinization, Garou's brows began to furrow. He didn't recognize any of these locations. The names and landmarks were alien to him - a sense of unease began to fill Garou as he glared at the unfamiliar map. He didn't even notice the kid staring intently at him.
"U-Um… where does mister come from?" The boy asked, albeit still scared deep down. The only thing holding him steady was the fact that this man saved him from abduction, and he did not kill him in cold blood as he did with the villains.
"...kid, do you have a globe or something?" Garou asked as the kid blinked.
Throwing his head left and right, the boy found a toppled globe that used to atop of a wooden cabinet and ran towards it. Picking it up, the kid returned to Garou and presented the sculpted representation of the world they call home.
Garou's bewilderment only grew as he reached out and took the globe. Glaring at the world model, Garou began spinning it. His glare was practically burning through the spherical model of the earth as it rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. Just like the map, Garou did not recognize anything on the orb. Moreover, there was more than one continent.
The crimson-haired hunter's mind reeled as he parsed the unexpected revelation. He was no longer at home - a pastiche of the world he called home.
"Kid, what do you know of monsters?" Garou asked.
"Uhhh… like the boogieman?"
"...The Hero Association?"
"Um, there are heroes, but… I don't know about an association."
"...S-Class?"
"..." The boy's silence was deafening.
"Oh my god…" Garou blinked as he dropped the globe to the floor, letting it clattered on the wooden planks. Now, he had confirmed it.
"...how?" He asked himself. Just how in all things supernatural was he transported to another planet, one so similar to his? No, he shook his head. He should not focus on questions he can't answer in a single day. He does not know, and he doubted that the kid knows as well. The situation with him and the monsters, assuming they were monsters, spoke of considerable confusion among them.
"All right kid, tell me everything you know here. The people, the… heroes?" Garou demandingly queried for information.
"U-Um… are you a foreigner?" The kid asked now confused by his sudden demand.
"...you can say that…" Garou thought it wise to leave him out of his life.
"...t-the heroes… well, they are a force of good and justice. Every one of them possesses Quirks that separates their individuality and uniqueness." The boy explained with a surprisingly fluid tone and used words others his age would've had trouble comprehending.
"...what are Quirks?" Garou asked, not letting go of the term.
"Eh?"
Garou did not like how the boy was eyeing him, as if seeing a new breed of species standing before him.
"...don't make me repeat myself. What are Quirks?" Garou asked, in a forceful tone.
"W-well… Quirks are kind of like superpowers. They're unique to each person. Eighty percent of the planet has a Quirk! Everyone, even kids!"
"..." The words that came out of his mouth sounded utterly retarded.
"Superpowers?" There were things that Garou despised most in the world. One of them was the concept of powers given without proper testing. In summary, he hated those with power unearned.
The boy continued eyeing Garou, mildly surprised and curious as for how this strange man didn't know of Quirks."Y-yeah. Every Hero has a Quirk. There are even schools to teach you how to control your Quirk!'
"…do you have this… Quirk?" Garou required an affront example.
How the boy sulked before Garou's eyes didn't leave his notice.
"…no…" The boy answered, one with great sorrow in his tone.
"…what of those who do not have this… Quirk?" Garou asked not liking where this was going.
The boy's head lowered, looking at the ground dejectedly.
"W-well... they don't become Heroes… they live out a normal life. They're usually called the Quirkless."
The silver-haired youth's tone was one of sadness and disappointment. Despite not being able to see the kid's face, Garou could tell from the emotions in his voice.
"..." The words he uttered debased the world he lived in even more. The concept of superpowers was absurd to Garou. A superhero society based on superpowers was even worse than the capitalistic version in his home. The reason being at least anyone had a better chance of being a hero there.
"...that's bullshit," Garou cursed.
"Anyone can become a hero where I'm from. Quirk or not."
"A-anyone? Where do you come from?"The youth's head rose up, locking eyes with Garou. An interested, curious look now shone in his eyes. Garou could see that kid was warming up to him, the fear diminishing in his voice.
"...best you don't know, kid," Garou said as he looked around the place.
"Got any food?" Garou's stomach rumbled within. His body was in need of desperate replenishing. That and he needed a place to rest and recover before setting out into the world outside.
Glancing once at Garou, the young boy rushed over to the nearby destroyed kitchen. He began searching high and low for any food they had in their stores. He could feel Garou's gaze on his back as he continued searching. Opening a nearby pantry door, a large bowl of wrapped up rice sat there. Reaching out and grabbing the container, the silver-haired youth began rushing back over to the still figure of his savior.
"I-Is rice ok?"Holding out the large bowl of rice to Garou, the boy smiled slightly at Garou.
"...got any meat? Protein?" Garou asked as he took a good look at the rice. It seems cold and hard. He needed to warm it before it's edible, but the microwave was ripped from the outlet.
"S-sorry… the villains broke the fridge. This is the only thing intact." The boy dejectedly replied.
"...screw it. Bring those too. I don't care if it came from the floor; I need it now." Garou had no room for fickleness. He needed his blood sugar to boost his healing, and he needed it now.
Placing the whole bowl of rice on the ground next to Garou, the boy rushed back over to the kitchen. Opening a nearby drawer, he pulled out a plate. Going around the kitchen, he began collecting all of the food spilled onto the floor — half of a chicken, a small pile of beef, many small, scattered sushi rolls, and more layers on the ground in the kitchen. Scooping them up, the young boy placed them on the plate. Before long, the dish had a giant pile of assorted foodstuffs on top, the boy barely able to hold it steady.
Slowly, the boy began to make his way back to Garou, trying not to topple over from the weight of the food piled up. As he neared Garou, he noticed that the bowl he had put on the ground was now empty. It looked like nothing had been in the container. Placing the plate on the ground next to Garou, the boy huffed from the exertion.
"Thanks, kid."
Garou sat down cross-legged, starting to gorge on the food with his bare hands. He needed to tough out the cold-hard mortal fuel and work his stomach past its limits. It was hard to eat raw rice, but at least the trace moisture contained in the wrappings made it soft enough for him to swallow — cold meat and vegetables. He regretted leaving them uncooked, but pickiness was not a luxury to afford. He needed the energy, and he needs it now.
Watching Garou devouring that massive pile of food fiercely, the silver-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise, witnessing pound after pound wolfed down at an incredible pace. Not only was he capable of effortlessly handling a group of villains by himself without taking a scratch, but he could also engorge himself a feast meant for tens!
"...Wow."
The sound of Garou's consumption filled the silent air of the devastated kitchen. After a few moments, the plate was licked clean, the one clattering to the ground noisily. The young boy gaped at the man, glancing over at the cleared plate. A few moments had passed until the entire pile of food to disappear into Garou's maw.
"Got water? A large jug or something?" Garou asked as he burped a little, his breath now smelled like a rotten collage of junk.
Turning back around, the boy once again rushed over to the kitchen. He began looking around for anything that he could fill with water for his hungry, parched guest. In one corner of the kitchen, lay an empty gallon jug. After picking it up, the silver-haired youth began quickly filling it with the only undamaged tap available. The boy waited and waited as the pitcher continued filling up. Feeling the weight in his hand increase steadily, the boy glanced over to the still seated Garou.
Once the jug was filled full, grasping the handle with both of his hands, the youth began heaving the pitcher over to Garou. Just like the plate, the child placed the pitcher beside Garou, water sloshing around inside. The silver-haired boy straightened back to his feet, panting heavily from the repeated trips back to the kitchen.
Raising the jug to his lips quickly, Garou drank deeply, dumping all of the clear liquid from above. Within a few moments, the water had almost entirely disappeared. After a few more seconds of audible gulping, only empty air remained within.
"Ahhhh~" Garou took a refreshing breath of relief as he stood up. He was ready to go out once again.
"Thanks." He would need to find a place to stay here, among other things. Garou looked out the broken window, seeing the sun illuminating from the other side. A new world… one for him to explore. An enticing prospect the more Garou mulled it over, leaving him a smile over his lips.
It would seem God had plans for him, whatever they may be. However, nonetheless, Garou refused to allow God the pleasure of seeing his design work as he pleased.
Within the shadows of modern-day society, in a room who almost no light can touch, two figures lay within the darkness, one wreathed by the black fog of malice and the other marred by death.
"Hah… Hah…" Kurogiri wheezed, his breaths heavy, standing on his hands and knees before a specific stout, faceless figure, his energy depleted after his third trial with the trigger drug injected in his veins.
"Your control over your empowered Quirk had not improved in the slightest, Kurogiri." The man sitting in his chair 'looked' at the man prostrating before him with a tone of undeniable disappointment.
"Forgive me… Sensei." The black mist man prostrated before the faceless man with utmost reverence.
"I do not hold you in any account, Kurogiri. Remember that I never expected this experiment to succeed in the first place. There was no loss in your failure, rest assured. Just try harder next time. For the League of Villain's sake."
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13146586/1/The-Hunter-Amongst-Villains?__cf_chl_tk=j0Wq6iqu61Gvs91DKeJSKUj3AL6QbeOKG8HOjlgOpZ0-1654616264-0-gaNycGzNCNE