5 Dose of reality
"I still don't understand why this character exists" Doryoku said while reading a comic leaving his school together with Oboro.
"She is the assistant of the Joker, Harley Quinn, and I suppose she helps to show what would be the madness of this one through the comic and improve his narrative" said Oboro who now seemed an intellectual in that field.
Oboro was some kind of comics and manga expert, basically a full-blown fanatic and one of the only subjects where he beat Doryoku with ease, aside from social skills and martial arts.
"I don't mean that, I mean the why of his tight suit and how the hell is he still alive without powers?" Doryoku said as he kept turning the pages of the comic.
"The Joker also has no powers and is still alive" said Oboro against arguing with a victorious tone.
"Oboro, the woman dodges bullets and survives anything with just a hammer of a doubtful material, the fact that she is your waifu does not justify that she is a Mary sue, also the Joker is a damn genius and does not run around running between bullets" said Doryoku staring at Oboro with blank eyes and causing him to have a nervous sweat from the waifu part.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm going I have to go home early today!" said Oboro a little nervous taking the comic and quickly escaping from the scene without any shame.
Doryoku could only sigh wearily as usual, and then walk home calmly.
This time, Doryoku decided to take the long way to his home, after all there was nothing interesting coming there at this hour.
For some reason, Doryoku always enjoyed walks, perhaps because they helped him forget his troubles and thoughts for a while.
Some heroes patrolled the area and you could always see at least one of them on the way, although Doryoku could never understand why the tight and colorful leggings were.
According to what his mother told him before his birth, in the time when his father was a hero, Japan was very insecure and studying as a hero was basically a ticket to suicide.
But after the arrival of All Might, Japan is now pretty quiet, and the most you can find is a robbery from some an average idiot.
Unlike before, the heroes had a constant battle to see who could stand out the most with their suit, not like before that a cape was more than enough for those who wanted to stand out.
Doryoku suddenly crossed the street for no apparent reason, but after a few seconds it could be seen that in the next house there was a large dog, waiting for someone to bark at.
The first time that Doryoku passed by that house he got too scared that technically it sent him scared to the other street with a jump even.
After this, he passed a black car that was always there to continue his path until...
*Crash*
Doryoku stopped suddenly hearing the windows of the car behind him being smashed and something falling on it with force.
And as he turned around, Doryoku could see the dead body of a man with white hair, covered with blood, cut in several places deeply and with an expression of horror on his face causing him to open his eyes in shock and horror.
Faced with such a scene, Doryoku was frozen in his place with cold sweat and his mind could not process at any time what was in front of him.
He even for a moment wanted to vomit, so he decided to walk away from the scene by walking slowly backwards to the other street.
The man who lived next door also heard the loud noise and called the heroes quickly and desperately trying to help the man who was covered in his own blood.
His legs were shaking and Doryoku could only sit on the floor hardly, lean against a wall and try to digest everything that happened while he took his right arm in fear and breathed with difficulty.
The man's blood reminded him quite of his trauma, so Doryoku could only sit there until he calmed down.
After a few minutes, the heroes arrived with the police on the scene and quickly searched the surroundings.
And after a few more minutes, from what Doryoku could hear, they managed to capture the culprit, a dark-haired woman who didn't seem to be bothered with being arrested and showed no expression on her face.
Everything that happened did not last more than fifteen minutes, but it made Doryoku's fifteen years of life instantly questioned.
A truth that he was not sure if he wanted to know, 'Heroes always come after villains and when everything is done'.
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After almost an hour, Doryoku returned home when he regained his calm and throughout the rest of the day he could only have a lost and thoughtful look on his face.
Still, Doryoku made dinner and waited for his mother as usual.
Upon arrival, his mother instantly noticed her son's attitude and after dinner she decided to ask.
"Dory-chan, are you worried about something in particular?" Doryoku's mother asked with concern for her son.
Doryoku looked at his mother and seemed to come to a decision after seeing her worried expression on her.
"It's nothing Okā-chan, it's just that... I think I've been running away from myself for too long" Doryoku said in a calm tone as his mother looked at him in confusion.
After this, Doryoku didn't seem to be worried for the rest of the night, so his mother seemed to relax quite a bit and decided to put the issue aside for now.
Watching the evening news, both could see the news of a murdered man a few streets from their home, specifying the details of his case.
Apparently the dark-haired woman was his girlfriend, who apparently had several mental problems, which caused the separation from him and the subsequent insanity of the woman.
They also showed some images of the car where the victim fell, hinting perfectly that it was the scene of the crime because of all the blood.
The victim's name was Kiyoshi Katō, a rather kind man according to his neighbor and with unusual white hair.
Doryoku's gaze darkened enough when he saw that again, until her mother hugged him and pulled him closer to her.
"I understand, everything is fine Dory-chan, you have nothing to fear" said Doryoku's mother as she hugged him warmly and lovingly.
Given this, Doryoku could only return the hug and cry slightly to vent, which helped him a lot after all those emotions.
Since that day of waking up from his quirk, Doryoku had several nightmares and his mother always hugged him while he took refuge in her embrace.
But that hug also made Doryoku's decision stronger than before and that he decided to face his old fears.
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The next day, the bell rang marking the end of classes, and as always both friends walked through the halls while talking.
"Doryoku, how much did I get on your English practice test?" Oboro asked a little concerned after having an exam a few minutes ago.
"You got a double zero in practice, I'm impressed" Doryoku said as he looked at Oboro in disappointment and he became more nervous.
"It was a joke" Doryoku said as he did jazz hands and smirked trying to make a joke, to no avail.
"I appreciate the attempt friend, but with that you should not play" said Oboro as he breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Hell, I thought I already had it" said Doryoku quite downcast at not being able to make a joke yet.
"Don't worry, you have improved a lot since we met, you have little to do!" Oboro said with a big smile supporting Doryoku's effort with a pat on the back.
And it was true, at first Doryoku didn't even understand most of the jokes but Oboro's incessant attempts to make him laugh paid off.
They both left the school and Doryoku stopped at the entrance missing Oboro greatly.
"You can continue Oboro, today I have something to do before I go home" Doryoku said with a slight smile as he said goodbye.
"I didn't know you had a social life friend" said Oboro with blank eyes and in shock causing Doryoku to have a vein on his forehead.
"Just go now, and don't think about crap on the road or a car will crush you" Doryoku said with annoyance as he went the other way.
"See you tomorrow friend!" Oboro said saying goodbye with a big smile as usual.
Doryoku walked through Hosu until he came to a rather little-known large park with a clear area and no one around.
After this, Doryoku took off his school jacket leaving only a white short-sleeved shirt.
And the next thing he did was look at the black bracelet on his right wrist that has been with him for almost his entire life.
Doryoku's right arm was no longer as clear as before, but one of the scars that never disappeared was one on his shoulder, in which you can see the clear separation of it and the right arm.
Unlike Oboro who always worked out and practiced to be a hero, Doryoku only worked out to stay healthy, so his body was nothing out of the ordinary.
Doryoku filled with braveness himself and flipped the bracelet exposing the switch to activate his quirk.
But his trauma still haunted him and the very idea that something like what happened to him 11 years ago would happen again terrified him a lot.
'You must do it, don't be afraid, the same of the last time won't happen again' Doryoku thought as his body shook with a lot of fear.
Even knowing that he couldn't hurt himself, even knowing that his quirk couldn't hurt him with the bracelet, Doryoku was still very afraid of his own quirk.
Doryoku took a deep breath calming his nerves a bit and clarifying his priorities.
There were two great fears currently in his body and mind, that something will happen to him when he activates his quirk or...
'If something happens, if Okā-chan is in danger and I can't do anything because I'm scared' Doryoku thought seriously as he remembered that man's horrified look.
'Heroes are always late, I can't just be a burden, I have to do my best to protect her' Doryoku thought as he also remembered his mother's happy smile whenever she came home.
'Don't be afraid, you can do it, you're stronger than this' Doryoku thought as the image of his arm blowing up passed through his mind making his body break out with cold sweat.
Doryoku put his index finger on the switch and clenched his teeth as his body filled with fear and trembled again trying to stop him.
'Don't make all of her effort go to waste on a crybaby, do it!' Doryoku thought with determination and forcing the switch.
*Click*
