The sound of gulping cold water flowed down a dry throat.
An extraordinary sense of relief escaped alongside a long exhalation once the plastic bottle was empty. Fuse's eyelids fluttered shut for a moment, letting his body enjoy the coolness refreshing every nerve cell for a brief time. The surface of the bottle in his grip still felt very cold, radiating droplets of condensation that dripped to the floor.
Slowly, those burning red eyes opened again. He was sitting reclined casually in the break room chair. His hand moved to set the still-cold empty bottle onto the wooden bench beside him.
The echo of cheers from tens of thousands of spectators in the stands still reverberated through the air, even though the distance from this underground corridor was quite far.
"This break time really does feel peaceful and pleasant," Fuse said, breaking the room's silence. "But staying in this silence for too long will only make my soul feel bored and rusty."
The dark red-haired young man stared at his own palm. My brain needs a new injection of dopamine.
"Listening to a stream of praise from the lips of spectators... feeling the vibration of cheers chanting my name from every side of the stands, that sounds like a very good idea right now."
A thin smile radiating confidence slowly formed on his face. "I'd better leave this cramped room soon... besides, after waiting long enough, I've finally reached the gate of the main event. I'm already sick of being made to wait like a benchwarmer."
The corridor walls bore silent witness to his burning ambition. "This moment is crucial and important for my future career ladder. The number one hero position is waiting for me to take it."
The young man finally stood up. His hand grabbed the cold bottle and carried it away like a small trophy.
After Fuse's foot stepped along the long corridor alone, his body movement suddenly froze. His eyes narrowed extremely sharply. His head slightly glanced to the side, an instinct urging him to turn and look behind.
There was something strange in the air. He could sense a presence moving closer. The distance was still somewhat far, at the end of the corridor there, but his instinct stated very clearly that two figures were walking toward him. Two human silhouettes.
There was absolutely no sound of shoe footsteps echoing in his ears. Instead, he felt something much deeper. Only the vibration of blood flow.
Fuse's heart beat slowly as he seemed to feel the pulse of blood in the veins of both individuals. This strange feeling was exactly the same as when he detected chunks of iron, both at close range and at very far distances. But this particular pull felt more subtle and faint.
Only after the distance between the two of them became closer could Fuse's ordinary ears hear the sound of their footsteps reflecting off the corridor walls clearly.
"Did you come here just to say congratulations to my greatness, Midoriya?" Fuse immediately turned his body, greeting them.
After experiencing and reading the pattern of blood flow in the person's body, Fuse with his analytical mind could already guess that the two approaching silhouettes were likely Midoriya and Tokoyami.
Midoriya's green eyes widened in sheer shock. "H-how did you know right away that it was me?"
Tokoyami, walking calmly beside him, also widened his eyes. But instead of panicking, the bird-headed young man narrowed his gaze with a very evaluating look.
A moment of silence enveloped the corridor. Knowing that his wild guess had been proven one hundred percent correct, Fuse himself was slightly startled inside. However, not long after, he immediately regained control and grinned wide.
"That was merely a simple deductive guess," Fuse lifted both shoulders with an infuriatingly casual demeanor. "I was just lucky."
"Besides, who else in this academy has nothing better to do than constantly praise a hero other than yourself, Midoriya?"
"I was already completely confident and certain that you would come looking for me to congratulate me, all while praising my every greatness in the arena earlier. That's the only logical reason."
Hearing that, Midoriya ducked his head in embarrassment, while Fuse continued his words.
"Not that I hate your submissive nature. Honestly, I quite enjoy your worship. So, keep being sweet like that toward me."
Fuse's gaze then shifted to Tokoyami's face, who had been standing silently watching him without blinking since earlier.
"Why do you keep staring at me with such sharp eyes?" Fuse asked, feeling slightly challenged by his friend's silence.
Tokoyami looked slightly startled at being called out from his reverie, then he quickly cleared his throat softly. "No. It's nothing. There's nothing strange about it," he denied, shaking his head.
"Your evasiveness only makes me more curious," Fuse smiled with immense arrogance, folding his arms across his chest. "Tell me what's on your mind. Don't try to speak in half-measures to me. Or I swear I'll hate you for the rest of your life."
A long, heavy breath was exhaled by Tokoyami. The young man finally stared at Fuse with very sharp eyes, trying to pierce through the layer of arrogance of his childhood friend. "You certainly know what I mean. I feel something very different about you today."
Fuse's brows drew together, narrowing his red eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Are you secretly hiding extra eyes behind your head?" Tokoyami asked directly, his gaze still demanding the truth.
That question made Fuse freeze stiff for a moment. "Is this some kind of dark joke you're making?" Fuse replied flatly. "If so, your sense of humor is terrible and this isn't funny at all."
"I'm speaking seriously about our arrival just now, and also your insane maneuvers during the match on the field earlier," Tokoyami glanced at Midoriya briefly. Midoriya looked back at him with a confused expression. Then, Tokoyami's eyes locked back onto Fuse. "It felt very strange realizing you could detect our presence in this corridor, as if you could feel our approach from a very far distance before you could even hear our footsteps."
A brief pause occurred before Tokoyami dropped his theory.
"Has your quirk ability just undergone an enhancement?"
Fuse's eyelids widened. His heart beat fast, but he tried to cover his shock by slowly raising a shoulder and saying casually, "Perhaps it has?"
Hearing that hanging answer, Tokoyami let out a resigned breath. "So, you yourself have actually felt the strange change inside your body, but you're still not certain."
"Very well then," Tokoyami continued, his tone sounding slightly more accepting. "If that reality is indeed an enhancement, I suppose it's a very good thing for you. It means you're currently walking even closer to your ultimate goal."
"Heh," Fuse snorted softly, then smiled with extreme mockery. "Just so you know, even without a quirk enhancement, I could still and would definitely become the number one hero in this world. But yeah, I suppose receiving an additional gift like this isn't a bad outcome."
Fuse stared at his own open palm. "It means that all forms of surprise attacks from blind spots will no longer be effective against me. Combined with my automatic defense, I've evolved into an unstoppable being, even if there are so many ants trying to attack me from close range simultaneously."
Fuse's gaze returned to stare sharply at his two friends. "Perhaps this is the universe's reward for the results of my hard work facing all of you at the beach yesterday. You truly are troublesome students to teach."
After discussing the theory of his new power, their conversation of three flowed to discussing the next event, which would be the final tournament and the festival's closing ceremony. Time continued to pass, and before long, Midoriya and Tokoyami took their leave for the participant waiting area.
The corridor became empty again. Fuse stood still in his place, staring at the backs of his two friends from a distance until they disappeared around the corner.
"A quirk enhancement, huh..." he whispered to the corridor air.
In my case, having a base power of magnetism, does this mean I've now gained sensory ability to feel every iron substance flowing in the blood of every living creature?
His lips curled into a conclusion.
Bio-Magnetism?
He kept muttering the new word over and over while holding his chin with his fingers.
But while he was submerged in his thoughts, Fuse's head suddenly turned sharply, staring straight at the empty wall beside him in silence. As if his red-eyed gaze could pierce through spatial barriers and very far distances. He narrowed his eyes hard.
From an extremely far distance, far beyond the stadium walls, he felt a strange vibration. It was the same radar sensation as when he'd felt the blood flow of Midoriya and Tokoyami just now. Very faint and pulsing, but there was one thing he could be certain of from that vibration.
It was an uncomfortable feeling that made his chest feel tight.
…
The faucet water finally stopped hissing after its handle was twisted shut.
The white-painted wooden door then opened. Isamu's figure, a sturdy man with an exhausted face, stepped out of the first-floor bathroom. The fresh scent of hand soap followed his footsteps.
He walked casually through the first-floor corridor, and finally arrived at the warm family living room.
The moment his foot stepped onto the living room carpet, Isamu's steps froze.
"Sakura?" he called out, his eyes sweeping the room that felt empty.
There was no sight of his wife smiling to greet him there. In the room, there was only the giant television still glowing brightly, blaring the very noisy commentator's voice and filling the silence of the house.
"Where did she go..." Isamu stepped closer to the sofa, continuing to observe every corner around him with bewilderment. "Did she suddenly decide to go outside for some fresh air?"
His large hand gripped his chin, adorned with a thin beard, and he let out a long breath, feeling abandoned. "Why didn't she tell me and say goodbye if she was going out."
Tired of standing, Isamu finally reached the plush sofa. He dropped his body, leaning back, and watched the television alone.
On the wide screen, the female hero Midnight could be seen standing on stage, enthusiastically explaining the rules for the final event. This last round would use a classic one-on-one combat tournament system.
Then, the bracket list of participants who would duel each other began to appear one by one on the glass screen with festive animation effects.
Isamu's eyes carefully read every line of all participant names. Suddenly, his face lit up. He smiled very widely and felt extraordinarily excited while raising his hand, pointing at one participant name displayed in bold letters on television.
"Sakura, come look at this!" Isamu reflexively shouted.
On that screen, the pride of their family was written: Fuse Yasushi!
And right beside it, the tournament bracket showed that his first opponent was the explosive blond young man, Bakugo Katsuki!
However, the happy smile on a father's face instantly vanished like it had been blown away by a storm the moment he turned his head toward the side of the chair. There was no one there. Sakura was still absent from beside him to share in this happiness.
His brain, which had been buzzing with excitement, only now realized and remembered that his wife, Sakura, had gone somewhere outside the living room.
Isamu could only let out a long sigh laden with loneliness. His gaze returned sadly to the television screen. The burning enthusiasm that had fired up his chest was now gone without a trace, but he still forced his lips to keep smiling at his son's achievement.
In the midst of the silence enveloping him, a strange sound suddenly echoed from the upper floor. It sounded like the impact of something very heavy striking the wooden floor.
To Isamu's ears, that loud thud sounded exactly like the sound of a body collapsing from weakness.
"Sakura?!" Isamu cried out, his heart leaping.
It was perfectly clear, there was no one else in this house besides him and his wife. If that loud impact sound truly came from a body falling, then the only logical possibility was Sakura!
Fear seized his sanity. Isamu immediately leaped up from the sofa. He rushed up the stairs to the second floor, taking two steps at a time. In an instant, he stood panting right in front of Fuse's room, whose door was tightly shut.
Without wanting to waste a single second thinking, Isamu immediately turned the knob and threw open his son's bedroom door roughly.
The room appeared very dark because the light was off, but sunlight from outside managed to force its way through the gaps of the open window.
"Sakura...?" Isamu called with a trembling voice.
Isamu's eyes immediately darted wildly toward the glass window. There, a man in black clothing, very tall and thin, was crouching, preparing to leap out through the window frame. The mysterious man turned his head toward the just-entered Isamu. He wore a dirty medical mask, making his facial features completely unrecognizable.
Under the sunlight hitting the wooden floor, Isamu's eyes caught sight of Sakura, lying limp and unconscious right in front of him.
Seeing his wife sprawled helplessly, Isamu immediately realized the grim reality of what had happened in this room. His blood boiled. He was instantly consumed by a killing rage and sprinted toward the thief with murderous intent.
The thief, seeing the large man charging in fury, felt the hair on his neck stand on end in terror. Without a second thought, he threw his body forward, leaping out through the second-floor window frame.
Isamu's hand reached forward, trying desperately to grab the edge of the thief's black shirt. But he failed. His fingers only barely brushed against the black fabric used by the criminal before the figure disappeared, swallowed by gravity.
With ragged breathing, Isamu directed his gaze downward, peering out from the edge of the bedroom window. He saw the thief roll on the lawn grass to cushion the impact, then immediately get up and sprint frantically through the front gate.
"YOU BASTARD! GET BACK HERE, YOU SCUM!" Isamu roared, his voice reverberating to every corner of the street.
Isamu's face, which usually always radiated the calm and wisdom of a father, had now changed one hundred eighty degrees into the face of a demon demanding vengeance.
Isamu had already raised one foot onto the window ledge, about to jump down as well to chase the criminal to the ends of the earth.
But his reckless movement suddenly stopped. He suddenly remembered something. Sakura's condition, lying behind him. He immediately swallowed the urge to chase and destroy the thief. Saving his wife's life was the top priority.
Watching the thief's back running farther away and disappearing around the street corner, Isamu turned his body back into the room and knelt beside Sakura.
"Sakura."
Isamu reached out his hand, but he felt hesitant and afraid to touch Sakura's motionless body.
At first, with very gentle and trembling hand movements, he tried to wake Sakura. He pushed and pulled his wife's shoulders softly.
No response. The body only moved following his pushes, like an empty doll.
Fear began to choke Isamu's neck. Then, he swallowed hard. He leaned forward, lifting Sakura's shoulders and head into his lap. Sakura's breath was still audible. Knowing that, he started shaking her with more force.
But there was still no sign whatsoever that his wife would open her eyes and wake up.
"Sakura!" Isamu shouted, his voice beginning to crack.
"Hey, please wake up, Sakura! I beg you!" he sobbed, shaking the body again.
The body of the woman he loved so much still gave no sign of responding.
The atmosphere inside the dark bedroom became very silent and suffocating once more.
In the middle of that silence, the sound of Sakura's clothing rubbing against the floor was heard very clearly, heart-wrenching.
With tears now falling and soaking his hard cheeks, Isamu pulled his wife's body, embracing Sakura very tightly against his chest.
"Sakura."
His call weakened into a whimper.
"Sakura..."
The soft sound of curtain fabric shifting could be heard, blown by the outside air entering through the open window. Cold air swept across Isamu's tear-streaked face.
At this moment, a whispering voice suddenly echoed in his ears. The sound seemed to come from a very far place, yet at the same time felt so close, whispering right inside his ear canal. The mysterious voice seemed to swirl around him, taunting from the right and left, whispering from front and back of his head.
Who is truly to blame for this tragedy?
Isamu violently whipped his head around the empty room. But there was absolutely no one there besides himself.
"WHO ARE YOU?! SHOW YOURSELF!" Isamu screamed, his face still filled with vengeful veins. His free hand clenched so hard it bled.
Actually, without having to shout at the empty room, Isamu already knew very clearly who owned the voice taunting him. Besides, the tone and intonation of that voice sounded exactly the same.
Is this the fault of that person who dared to sneak into your house?
Or perhaps... this is the fault of your wife herself, for being too foolish and careless because she didn't call your name?
Or...
At the moment he thought of the most bitter reality, Isamu's eyes widened in horror. His breath stopped.
"This is all my own fault."
That condemning voice was none other than the voice of regret from his own conscience.
This happened because of his own stupidity, forgetting to lock the front door when he came in. Because of that trivial carelessness, the life of the woman he most wanted to protect in this world had been destroyed like this.
If only he hadn't been in such a rush earlier and hadn't forgotten to turn that lock. If only the wooden door had been securely locked from the start. If only he hadn't been fooled by the foolish panic from his wife's startled scream from the TV room, and had finished his task at the front door.
If only! If only! If only!
Those words of regret kept spinning and destroying his sanity.
His embrace on Sakura's cold body gradually became tighter and tighter. His tears fell, soaking his wife's clothes.
"Sakura. Forgive your foolish husband. Please, forgive me."
…
Under the magnificent stadium lights, Fuse was sitting comfortably in the spectator seats. He was watching closely as the first round match between Izuku Midoriya and the purple-haired student, Shinso Hitoshi, unfolded.
The final tournament event had officially begun!
Watching the mental battle between the two down in the arena, Fuse unconsciously smiled wide.
To him, this scene was a historical turning point for the true power of One For All. Therefore, he felt that this moment absolutely could not be missed or ignored from his sight.
But even though he knew its value, he couldn't deny that he felt slightly bored watching the match.
This was because the match proceeded and ended very quickly without any meaningful exchange of blows. From a spectator's perspective, Shinso was clearly superior at the start. The purple-haired young man had successfully used his words to manipulate and brainwash Midoriya, forcing the green young man to turn around and surrender by obediently walking past the boundary line.
And right at the edge of defeat, Midoriya finally managed to free himself and resist Shinso's lethal mind control thanks to the miraculous intervention of the past One For All wielders' spirits. All of it played out exactly and as accurately as the canon storyline he had once watched.
Judged directly by his own naked eyes, it was abundantly clear that this match had no action elements and felt incredibly fast and boring to watch. Even so, Fuse also understood that for Midoriya's own consciousness, trapped inside, those seconds must have felt very long and agonizing as he fought to break the illusion within his own subconscious.
Just as that match concluded and the spectators' cheers erupted again, an anomaly broke Fuse's concentration.
Suddenly, the ringtone of Fuse's smartphone blared loudly from the middle of the spectator stands!
Madam Herta is a peerless gem...
Madam Herta is an unrivaled genius...
Madam Herta is an inimitable beauty...
It was the ringtone of Fuse's smartphone, set to play automatically whenever he received a call from a family number!
Hearing that strange melody come from Fuse's pocket, the students sitting in the seats to his right and left all turned their heads simultaneously. They stared at Fuse with very weird, awkward, and bewildered expressions.
Fuse returned their stares one by one. He narrowed his red eyes with a dense threatening aura. "Is something wrong?"
Hearing that cold threat, the students immediately broke into cold sweats of fear and shook their heads extremely fast. They all knew very well and were self-aware that if they dared to make Fuse angry, their physical and mental fate would end just as badly as the Class 1-A students. They could be humiliated and turned into punching bags just so Fuse could get camera spotlight!
After making the extras bow in fear, Fuse stood up from his spectator seat. He ignored the next match and walked away from the noisy seating area. He headed toward a quieter place, a long corridor beneath the stadium stands, to receive the urgent phone call.
His footsteps echoed softly in the corridor. He raised his phone, pressed the green button, then brought the flat smartphone device to his ear.
He listened carefully. But instead of hearing his mother's scolding about his TV performance, a very familiar yet destroyed, hoarse voice vibrated from the smartphone speaker. The sobbing of a grown man who had lost his world.
Hearing the voice from the other end of the line, Fuse's body suddenly froze as if struck by lightning. His heart seemed to stop beating. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened, shattering his calm facade.
"WHAT?!"
At this moment, the muscular strength in his fingers seemed to vanish, pulled away by gravity. Fuse's smartphone instantly slipped and fell freely from his grasp.
CRACK!
The phone struck the cold corridor floor. Its screen cracked, but the call didn't disconnect.
Fuse's red-eyed gaze, which usually always gleamed sharp and full of calculation, had now become completely hollow. He stared straight at the dark end of the stadium corridor without seeing anything.
On the cold concrete floor, the voice from his phone's speaker continued to echo, breaking the silence of the corridor. That voice was accompanied by the heart-wrenching sobs of a man who had lost his world.
"Forgive me."
"Forgive me..."
"Forgive me, Fuse..."
…
A/N: AH DAMN IT, REAL LIFE SUCKS SO MUCH. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE BECAUSE OF ALL THIS BUSYNESS. I'm truly sorry! I know many of you are waiting for updates, especially members... but it's so hard to write when things are this hectic :(