[PREVIEW] Assassin Among Heroes 36

One time when I was in elementary school, Mom took me to a food stall market that popped up near her office. There were all sorts of crazy food items, not just from Japan, but from all over the world. Greek wraps, lasagnas, curry dishes, even oversized deep-fried American food, the kind that makes your poor stomach wail in sheer agony by the mere sight of all that oil and fat. In short, food paradise for a kid like myself. Heh, I remember Mom dragging me away from the king-sized plate of waffles topped with deep-fried Oreos and five different kinds of syrup. Instead, she took me to a liquid nitrogen ice cream stand. The vendor called it ‘the coldest ice cream this side of the Antarctic’ and that he used a ‘special’ liquid nitro formula. It looked so cool, with the nitrogen steaming out of the vat as he poured it into the bowl of cream and handed me a four-scoop ice cream. I gobbled up a single scoop in one go…and my brain dropped to subzero.

The whole world seemed to go mute, even with my developing Quirk, and everything grew hazy. I thought even the blood inside my body froze. I finished the ice cream of course, but I actually had to sit down for a minute and wait for the brain freeze to pass. I still regret nothing, even if Mom patted my head patronisingly.

Why am I talking about liquid nitrogen ice cream?

Because as I sit in my chair and stare at a glowing computer screen, that brain freeze is the closest thing that equates to what I’m feeling right now.

Or a fever dream. Or one of my visions. Do they count as the same thing?

I almost bite my lip just to force myself to keep scrolling down the page. Every comment seemed to throw me into an emotional loop like those pregnant women on streaming dramas. 

‘It was thy decision to try this, contractor.’

‘And you supported it wholeheartedly,’ I mentally bit out. ‘Information is power, just…let me get a handle on myself, okay?”

‘Why? These are but words, but grains of sand dancing in the zephyr. They will only become a sandstorm if thou choose to regard them as such.’

I know, I know, sticks and stones, I’ve heard it before but…it’s not exactly that.

Guess this is what I get for caving in and finally diving into those forums.

HeroTalk, QuirkChat, CapeNCowl where I found Shadow Gear, and even that old website that survived the Great Crash, PHO. Typing in ‘Shinigami’ into the search bar of any of those prompted a deluge of threads and mod pins. I clicked on one of the biggest ones - it had an active mod presence so it had some regulation - but even then I was left floored.

Psonitec: How many do you think he’s killed? The police aren’t saying anything.

Yo-MA_MA-sha: He’s going down. KICK HIS ASS GANG ORCA!

LoLHandMaster: Cheat codes should die!

CarTalent52: My uncle robbed a bank a month ago but went straight. I call him everyday to make sure Shinigami didn’t shank him on his way to work.

Reptron: You sure you wanna post that? Now he’ll know where to look!

Eyew@tch303: Reply to Yo-MA_MA-sha: The heroes can’t do shit. How long has he been active? How many people have died so far? Also, traitor. Off the team for a week.

KyuRushGirl: Won’t lie, I thought it was cool at first, but a lot of people in my neighborhood are becoming afraid to go out at night. My little brother asked me if he could sleep in my room because his friends told him they spoke to Shinigami and said he was a bad friend, so he would kill him. Why can’t the heroes capture him already? Or the cops? This can’t keep happening.

KitYoung: Shit that’s messed up. ALL MIGHT beat the shit out of this creep!

Ref_R_E: He should leave this to the heroes. Domino was trash yes, but he could have called the heroes or even the police. Instead he not only took justice into his own hands, but also killed that man so brutally I’m shocked people still watch it. To everyone who tries to defend him, what if he one day decides that a hero like Manual, who is totally clean and legitimate, deserves to die for some unknown reason? Or he kills some random schoolkid for calling people names like @KyuRushGirl said? What’s stopping him from going after your families and executing them without fair judgment? You support him today, but tomorrow he might put them in the obituaries.

smallMight3: I agree. If anyone has any information about him they should go to the police or the nearest hero agency. We need to come together to help bring this vigilante down.

PrideNJoi: Agree to everything but @SmallMight3 you really need to stop sounding like a narc, this is supposed to be a free space.

zxcl: True dat. But yeah Shinigami needs a SMASH to that skull mask and a vacay on Tartarus. He’s no better than the Hro Killer.

The hate comments are…irritating, I won’t deny that. None of them understand, how could they? These weren’t even hero students like Jirou’s class, this is how everyone was raised. Heroes are perfect, they strive for goodness, All Might is at the top and killing is wrong. I was bracing myself for these so the blow is lessened somewhat.

The surprise comes on the other side of the hate spectrum.