4 A New Leaf

Katsuo Takashi stood before the mirror once again, dark blue eyes staring into perfect replicas and trying to glean any insight into what lay behind them.

"Fuck." He exhaled. "This can't be real."

He grumbled, scooped a handful of the running water from the sink, leaned over and splashed his face. He took a moment to relish the small shock the cold water brought.

Producing a towel from the cabinet below, Katsuo turned off the valve, dried his face, left the bathroom, said goodbye to his Grandpa who was watching a Hero Origins Documentary, and headed out of the apartment.

As Katsuo trudged down sidewalks, he let his mind wander back to what had happened last night. The stupidity in following his friends to help move supposed dead bodies into an abandoned arcaded turned warehouse to burn it. All for some shitty group of wannabe Villains that had a leader could teleport.

Although he doubted they would come looking for him, Katsuo stayed vigilant, any sight of dark purple making his hand tighten around the switchblade in his hoodie pocket a little bit harder.

Ten minutes later, and with not even the usual greeting, Katsuo met Rin and Kotawe where they usually met after school. They made their way down a familiar alley, sitting in a sparse circle on a lawn chair, overturned speaker, and upside down wooden food crate.

The silence was heavy when they plopped down, and the trio were fine with marianting in it, probably unsure how to talk about their recent steps into a darker side of society.

"That guy, with his hands, he killed Okokiri…" Kotawe spoke, but this time void of the shit eating grin or borderline sarcasm his voice usually held.

Rin did not reply, but the fact he was leaned over, elbows on his knees, fingers interlocked and resting against his forehead as he stared at the cement between his feet; Katsuo understood his stance on the whole thing.

"But we're fine." Katsuo managed, "And as shitty as it sounds, he was the only connection to the League of Villains we had. They won't come looking for a bunch of losers like us."

Rin rose his head, his tired gaze from lack of sleep meeting Katsuo's eyes, "You said League of Villains, we never got a name, how do you know that?"

Kotawe grunted, "Yeah, how did you… Wait a goddamn minute."

The crimson haired boy stood, a finger jabbed into Katsuo's chest, "First off, before we even get to the League of Villains stuff, where the hell did you go last night man, I might have not noticed, but you better not think we left your ass behind. We just kept running, I was thinking about my parents dude, so…. So don't think-"

Katsuo smiled, "I don't think you left me Kotawe, chill out. I went back on purpose."

"The old man," Rin started. "I knew you wouldn't just let him potentially die, you and your heroic spirit shit."

Katsuo, for once in the last three years, did not feel rage rise in his gut at the mention of his heroic interest and need to do good. The feeling no longer rang as disgusting, the idea did not feel like a consonant itch he could only scratch by getting violent or to fling curses at someone. Maybe, as weird as it sounded, it was because he had acted on his urge to help innocents and saved the life of the old man he still did not get the name of.

"Yeah, I went back to save him, I was fucking stupid for it too." Katsuo pinched his nose. "At the very least I got a Quirk out of it."

Kotawe nodded and plopped down on his lawn chair, "Yep, at least you got a Quirk, none of us are injured or dead, and as sick as it sounds the guy who knew us personally is a pile of ash sitting in some ziplock baggie for the police."

Silence met them again, hanging around for maybe a whole two minutes before it was suddenly shoved away by the gears in Kotawe's head finally turning.

"Wait!" He turned to Katsuo. "What the hell did you just say?"

The words seem to jolt something in Rin's mind, "Hold up, did you just say you got a Quirk."

Katsuo weakly smiled, wondering why he told these two idiots. In his head, he knew the logical thing to do was to keep it a secret, find out exactly why and how he had gotten it and then maybe tell them later. 

However, yesterday had also not been logical, so what was wrong with strike two, as long as he avoided strike three he would be fine.

Once the small reassurance was made, Katsuo reached his right hand over, watched closely despite doing it almost forty times in his room last night, and pulled a long black sheathed katana free from his left hand's palm.

His two friends sat stunned, looking at the katana Katsuo was struggling to hold-because damn it was heavy- and then up to him and then back at the weapon. They did this for a good thirty seconds, slowly turning their heads to look at one another, doing the childhood stare thing they always did.

"Explain." Kotawe spoke softly, almost indiscernible, a stark contrast to his loud personality.

And so, Katsuo did, telling them how he had stayed behind, seeing Shigaraki, over hearing Kurogiri and his portal usage, the guy he knocked out with a garbage can lid, escorting the drunk man to the deadzone in the outskirts of Yokohama City, and the 'reward' he was so graciously given.

"Heh," Kotawe smirked. "Knocking that guy out sounds metal as fuck."

Rin slapped the idiot on the back of the head, "That's what you focus on, not the fact that Takashi got a Quirk? Now he is some bigshot."

"Woah." Katsuo scoffed. "I am the lowest of low, and even though I somehow got a Quirk, it's just a sword."

"True, it looks cool but not really crazy compared to what a lot of people can do." Rin said.

"You're right, wouldn't even crack the one hundredth spot with such a shitty Quirk." Kotawe tacked on.

"Nah, not even the two hundredth."

"Would he even pass the exams for any hero school?"

"They might not even let him apply, probably would look at him pulling out the sword and ask if he is still in his Chuunibyou phase."

"I feel like they would just take his sword, give it to another hero and give him maybe 3,000 yen."

"No no, maybe 50."

"Does All Might need a sword?"

"It would definitely go to Edgeshot, imagine how awesome he would look with it?"

Katsuo's glare was oozing so much malice he actually might be able to kill someone with just a glance, although after the trio paused for a moment, the next they were laughing their metaphorical ass' off.

"I hate you guys, way to make me feel stoked about finally being better than you two. Oh wait, I already was."

Kotawe grabbed his chest like he was stabbed, "You wound me Sire, I am just a Squire and lowly servant to thee."

Katsuo chuckled, "Be a good servant and shut up for an hour."

Rin grunted in agreement.

For the third time that morning, no one spoke, just relishing in the nice atmosphere they were in. Yeah, not even twenty fours hours ago they were running for their lives, witnessed actual Villains, and Kotawe and Rin saw people die in front of them.

Despite all of the previous, they were stable, and had to be. People like them who were not the smartest, strongest, quickest, or richest, had to be able to adapt. 

Sometimes, pills needed to be swallowed, no matter how hard they were going down.

"I'm never doing that again." Kotawe sniffled, barely holding back tears. "Fuck being some grunt, fuck being a rat, maybe we could be cats or dogs- I don't know man. But, I ain't risking my life for something as stupid as cash for more cigarettes."

"Agreed." Rin said.

Katsuo looked at his friends, surprised by their show of conviction, but recovering and nodding, "Then you need to take your studies seriously, no let me rephrase, 'we' need to take school more seriously. No more cigarettes, no more skipping half the week, no more fighting, no more petty theft, no more accosting younger kids for cash, no more being lowlifes."

Kotawe clenched his fist, "Yeah, let's be some good-goddamn upstanding citizens, though maybe getting a few bucks for some chumps is still on the table, eh guys?"

Rin smiled, probably a first for the big guy in the last month or so, "No, Takashi said no more being lowlifes, you are gonna have to work extra hard Kotawe, may All Might grant you strength."

"Asshole." He muttered at the jab, pride crushed as his usually devilish grin spread ear to ear. "Alright so we got what, ten months to get our act together?"

"Yeah ten months," Katsuo confirmed. "Well not me I'm ranked third in my school anyways. Also, I think I am gonna try and be a Hero."

The last sentence was like a tsunami rolling over the small alley, even for Katsuo the words were surreal, because he was sure he gave up on it long ago.

"Well, you still gotta meet the homeless guy right, he did say come back tomorrow." Rin shrugged. "We got nowhere to be, second period has already started and I can take a guess we deserve a day off school for the absolute shit show that was last night."

Kotawe smirked, "Yeah, let's play hooky one more time, for old times sake."

"Alright." Katsuo stuck the old man's katana- well he guessed it was his now- inside his left hand's palm, standing up and gesturing with his head. "Follow me."