Sussy Baka in MHA - 107

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[To Be A Hero]
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...

{“This… this can’t be… The villain has taken a hostage!”}

On national television, the image of a reporter riding in a helicopter—recording through its open door—filled the screen. His expression was twisted with terror and desperation as he pointed downward, where several figures could be seen gathered below.

{“After a fearsome battle with All Might—and even several of the mightiest heroes this country has to offer—one that seemed on the verge of ending with the villain’s defeat, the enemy made a desperate move! In a split second, he distracted the heroes and seized a hostage using an unknown Quirk!”}

The camera zoomed in, sharpening the image of the hostage until his features became unmistakable. Making the reporter gasp.

{"... And to make matters worse, it's none other than Suzaku Suzuki. The kidnapped U.A. student that the heroes had gone to rescue in the first place!"}

In Musutafu Hospital, several people’s eyes widened as they stared at the TV, some unconsciously stepping forward in disbelief.

“That can’t be…” Tetsutetsu muttered, frustration flooding his voice.

Itsuka’s eyes trembled, anger seeping through her voice. “Hadn't they rescued him?!”

Sen gritted his teeth, his body shaking. “Why… why is he still there?!”

The rest of their classmates mirrored the reaction—shock, dread, disbelief. None of them could accept what they were seeing.

In another room, Class 1-A wasn’t faring any better.

“Suzuki-kun…!” Midoriya nearly tried to sit up, stopped only by the pain wracking his battered body.

Iida took a step toward the screen as well, fists clenched, as if refusing to accept reality.

Bakugo's mouth hung open from disbelief, his eyes wide with shock. Not even his competitive nature was enough to stop him from realizing just how dire the situation was.

Others from the class could only stare, faces pale or stricken, unable to process what was happening to someone they knew.

At a police station, two figures clung to each other in shock—one sobbing openly, the other trembling with barely restrained rage and fear.

"“Son…!”"

Aya and Yoshiro Suzuki could only stare in horror at the turn of events. Growing restless from the powerlessness they held at such a distance from the disaster.

And it wasn’t only those places that were affected by the transmission.

Across the country, everyone who had ever seen Suzaku, heard of him, or even known of him felt the same shock ripple through them.

The fall of someone who had once shone as a brilliant rising star—now reduced to this—captured the nation’s full attention.

All eyes were fixed on that single point.

All were waiting to see how that star would end.

Be it rising again or falling for one last time.

…

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|Back at the battlefield… |

…

“Why...? Why are you here, young Suzaku?!” All Might screamed, desperation tinting his expression.

The other heroes looked just as shocked.

They had only lost sight of the villain for a second. How the heck had it ended like this?!

All For One cackled, his sick grin plastered across his face.

"Hmm? What’s wrong, All Might? Weren’t you putting an end to me today? Why did you stop?”

“All For One, unhand him—your business is with me!” Furious, All Might stomped forward, debris crushing beneath his sole.

However, that alone was enough for All For One’s hand to move threateningly to Suzaku’s neck.

“I can’t do that, and you know it, All Might.” He chuckled, his wicked grin widening. “Or perhaps you don’t? You’re so strong, so powerful, that you probably never found yourself in this situation.”

The hand around Suzaku’s neck tightened.

“And despite all that peerless power, all that invincibility, all that god-like strength... it all goes down the drain because of who you are… a hero.”

This time, he turned to Suzaku, whom he had been holding silently until now.

“What do you think, Suzaku-kun? This is the side you are choosing. So much to protect, so many responsibilities, so many weaknesses for others to exploit… Truly pitiful. Even someone like All Might—capable of toppling a country alone—becomes such a worthless creature because of what binds him.”

“Shut up, All For One!” All Might shouted, fury oozing off him.

But the villain didn’t stop.

“Even now, because you were helping people buried beneath our battlefield, you ended up worsening the situation and getting yourself captured… Isn’t that pitiful? If you had simply cared only for yourself and left this place, All Might and his allies would have probably beaten me today.”

“Young Suzaku…” All Might ground his teeth together, his gaze never leaving the hostage and the villain, even as blood continued to trickle from his mouth.

The redhead remained silent, eyes staring blankly ahead.

“Don’t listen to him, brat! That guy’s just a shitty coward!” Mirko bellowed, fist tightening as her red eyes locked onto All For One with hate.

“Am I really, Mirko-san?” All For One laughed softly, turning back to Suzaku. “I’m just being realistic. Why would anyone willingly compromise their overwhelming power for the sake of people who don’t even value you properly?”

He snickered, leaning closer to Suzaku.

“You saw it not too long ago, didn’t you, Suzaku-kun? How society lynches its heroes for failing to stop things beyond their abilities. And not only recently—you’ve probably seen it all your life… Heroes are nothing but expendable symbols to everyone. Even someone like All Might can do nothing in a situation like this. All his power reduced to mere words, trying to convince me otherwise.”

Once again, Suzaku said nothing.

All For One continued.

“I know I didn’t misjudge you when we met. Perhaps you’re not entirely like me—you did have a loving family, after all—but those eyes of yours know exactly what I’m talking about. Eyes capable of anything… eyes like those can’t allow such pitiful weaknesses to exist within you, right?”

All Might’s fist tightened. He couldn’t say anything. Even his current form—bloodied and beaten—only seemed to reinforce the villain’s words.

But he couldn’t allow one of his students—no, not even that—he couldn’t allow such a young man to be seduced by evil’s words.

“Young Suzaku, don’t listen—”

“Perhaps you’re right.”

Suzaku’s voice plunged the battlefield into silence, sheer disbelief coursing through the heroes—while, at his side, All For One’s smile widened.

Suzaku’s voice came again.

“My motives for being a hero were never that noble to begin with. And once they were fulfilled on their own, the reasons not to become a hero just kept piling up.”

All Might’s face crumbled, his spirit dimming.

In response, the fire that had been burning its last embers within him began to fade, mist slowly forming around his body.

“So many responsibilities over people I don’t really know. Values I don’t truly care about. Weaknesses for others to exploit… it does sound exhausting.”

“Hahaha!” All For One laughed heartily.

Meanwhile, All Might coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body weakening by the second.

The heroes beside him watched with growing dread.

And just as they feared—

—Tsss…—

All Might’s form began to shrink again. His tall, powerful figure was reduced to nothing more than a walking skeleton.

And this time, All Might knew… it would never come back.

One For All, along with his spirit… was gone.

“Damnit…!” Slumping forward, his fist struck the ground—yet it no longer even damaged the debris beneath it.

All For One seemed to relish the sight.

“…Even All Might, the strongest hero in history, drove himself to this point for the sake of his duties! A man who once stood at the pinnacle of humanity, now reduced to a barely breathing skeleton…” He spread one arm wide, keeping the other at the redhead's neck. “Tell me, Suzaku-kun—is that really the life you wish to lead?!”

“No,” Suzaku answered, his gaze almost pitying as it settled on the weakened All Might.

The hero’s expression shattered further with every word and under that gaze.

And All For One wasn’t about to let it end there. His hate of All Might fully taking over.

“My offer still stands, Suzaku. Do you truly wish to continue being a hero?!”

This time, there was a pause.

Then—

“No. I suppose I was never truly suited for it.” Suzaku sighed, a wry smile tugging at his lips.

“HAHAHAHA!”

All For One’s amusement peaked as he watched All Might’s once-bright countenance drown in despair.

The other heroes looked no better.

Mirko grit her teeth, a vein popping on her forehead.

“What the hell do you mean you’re not suited for it, you brat?! Don’t tell me you’re just gonna run away! Because that’s all I’m hearing—quitter talk!”

Endeavor was no different.

“In the end, that’s as far as you can go, brat?!”

But Suzaku didn’t hear them.

'I’ve reached the end,' he thought, his eyes drifting to the open night sky above, broken only by the hovering helicopter. 'Everyone’s probably watching this.'

Once he took this step forward, there would be no turning back. The whole world would know.

Was he really about to reveal everything—just to kill the pathetic bastard behind him?

And if he did… what would that mean?

Sure, maybe the people around him could see past it. Maybe they’d ignore it—At least outwardly.

He hadn’t killed just a handful of people. No matter how close everyone around him were, no one would remain the same after learning of what he had truly done—especially in a world so rigidly divided between good and evil.

If he truly ended All For One’s life here, it would mean the end of the life he knew.

'But is that really so bad?'

He had already lost a life once. Years and years reduced to nothing.

And eventually, he had learned to live with it—forgetting that life and everything it once meant to him.

It was distant now, Foggy, to the point that it felt like nothing more than a fever dream.

If not for his impostor powers and his fragmented knowledge of a future that had already passed, he might have believed it was one.

They were the only proof that someone had existed before Suzaku Suzuki.

And if he had once forgotten a life—longer than this one at that—then what said he couldn’t do the same again?

This life had been built around becoming a hero. All his training, his studies, years spent pursuing the same goal.

But, truthfully, he wasn’t a hero.

He could act like one, pretend to be one. But in the end, deep down… as All For One had said, killing came naturally to him.

He was no hero, and there was no reason to keep acting like one anymore.

No reason to stay on this path anymore.

Maybe...

Suzaku snorted.

'Maybe this is it for Suzaku Suzuki.'

“How cold… are you ignoring your friends’ pleas, Suzaku-kun?” All For One asked slyly, smirking.

Suzaku smiled too.

“Sorry, I was a tad distracted. You know—making up my mind to take a new path in this life and all.”

“Is that so? It’s good that you decided to join us for good, then. I was gonna have to take drastic measures otherwi—"

“Who said anything about joining your bunch?”

All For One's smile faltered. “…?”

Meanwhile, the smile on Suzaku’s face twisted into a smirk.

“Your minions were quite hospitable earlier today. I even got to drink quite a lot of cola while relaxing for a bit… Just for that, I thought I’d be nice enough to let you have one final speech in front of your nemesis.”

“What do you—”

“Sadly, time’s up.” He tilted his head back, staring directly at where All For One’s eyes once were.

“…!”

At that very instant, All For One felt it.

Danger. Pure, unfiltered danger.

In that moment, All For One understood what he had missed.

Those eyes—those crimson eyes that seemed to suck in his soul—weren’t the eyes of someone capable of doing anything for their goal.

They were the eyes of someone who could do anything for their goal.

The eyes of something superior, which could not be stopped.

And as that realization dawned, a new understanding followed.

He had been wrong.

About Suzaku’s backing. About the vigilante. About the monster.

He didn’t know if all of it had been wrong, but there was one thing he now understood clearly.

Suzaku didn’t need surgery.

Suzaku didn't need to receive a cumulus of Quirks.

Suzaku didn't need the protection of a vigilante of a monster.

Suzaku didn't need to become the ultimate Nomu.

He was already complete.

Instantly, his instincts screamed, and his Quirks flared to life, ready to deliver the killing blow to the kid in his grasp.

He couldn’t allow him—no, it—to attack. Not when he himself was this weak.

All Might wouldn’t kill him.

But this kid would.

His muscles swelled, power gathering, ready to unleash enough pressure to tear the boy apart in an instant.

But just as his Quirks were about to release—

"...?!"

His entire body froze.

No muscle fiber obeyed him.

It was as if everything had shut down.

He remained standing, but his body no longer belonged to him. No matter how much he screamed or tried to move, it stayed foreign, unresponsive.

And Suzaku… was gone.

His senses searched frantically, thoughts racing at light speed while the world around him crawled in slow motion.

He needed to see him. To track him. To fight that monster.

He couldn’t lose him from sight.

'Where is he...?—WHERE IS HE?!'

Then, the answer came.

He felt it.

A gentle touch at his neck—two hands positioning themselves carefully.

Like the caress of a mother.

One he had never known.

A hand pressed beneath his chin, calmly lifting it.

Another settled atop his head, gently enclosing it.

A soft embrace.

Warmth spread through him.

It was soothing. Careful. Almost tender.

‘Yoichi?’

His mind drifted to the only person he had ever felt even a semblance of affection for.

That blurry face, worn down by countless years, seemed—for once—to come into focus.

His brother.

There wasn’t any thought in that recalling. He didn’t regret anything; he didn’t feel like he owed anyone anything.

Perhaps the reason was rather simple.

He was looking for comfort… in death.

Then—it began.

—Crunch—

All For One felt it. His bones started shattering, little by little, cracks spiderwebbing across the vertebrae of his neck.

Then it went beyond that.

Muscles tore. Arteries snapped. His nervous system collapsed. Blood spread around.

And more than that... his spine crumbled.

In his final moments, as the world slowed to a crawl, All For One glanced behind him—despite having no eyes to see.

Yet he did see something.

A sea of crimson, unending and chaotic.

And in its center, a single blue eye stared straight into his soul, like a sun laying him bare.

That was when he truly understood what that was.

What lay behind him was no human. What he wielded was no Quirk.

It was something beyond.

Beyond the human race.

Beyond Quirks.

Beyond him, and All Might.

Beyond anything anyone would ever reach.

And with that understanding came realization.

This was truly the end.

His plans. His ambition to move to a new body. Tomura’s purpose.

None of it would matter.

With this being here, there was no cheating death.

With this being here, opposing him, there was no future for him.

—Crack!—

And true to that realization, the final breaking sound echoed.

His head twisted to a sickening angle, air escaping his mouth, along with a mouthful of blood that covered his entire suit.

His trembling hands stopped.

His body's temperature dropped.

And soon, he began collapsing forward, all while Suzaku jumped off him.

Soon—

-Thud!-

His body pathetically hit the ground.

Not as the monstrous villain who had terrified millions of people for hundreds of years.

Not as one of the strongest Quirk users in history.

But as yet another corpse.

All For One was dead.

...

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-To be Continued…-

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(A/N: How was it? I hope the feelings were correctly transmitted through the chapter, and it didn't seem like I was trying too hard or ended up sounding pretentious, which is something that sometimes happens to me when reading other authors' works.

Did that illustration help? Hopefully it did.

Anyway, that marks the end of an era... and an arc.

Well, not really. There's still one chapter of the aftermath, and then we jump onto the next one.)