Needless to say, things were a little complicated once everything had calmed down from Zeros outburst a week ago.
Since he was stopped before anyone was really injured or hurt (save for Gang Orca who still had a small headache), Ryuko and Mirko took full responsibility for letting Zeros quirk get out of hand, the boy wasn't going to be in any trouble with the authorities
What happened with Miko on the other hand though, was a lot more serious.
The two former Pro Heroes weren't anywhere near as understanding as their daughter was, hell if it wasn't for the fact that Zero was both one, not a legal adult yet and two, the son of the Number 11. Pro Hero, they would've filed a charge for assault despite their daughters constant claims otherwise.
And as for Zero himself, well the boy wasn't exactly taking the news well either.
When he remebered what happened he become shocked and disgusted with himself before holing himself up in in his room not speaking to anyone including his mother, only coming out to use the bathroom and take the meals that Ryuko had left for him, aside from that you would think that the boy was dead in there.
Ryuko sighed lightly before she heard the door to house knock and she opened it to reveal Miko and Mina standing there looking worried.
"How is he?" Miko asked.
"Not good he barely come out of his room, and when he does he won't even look at me."
"He really feels bad for breaking into Mikos room doesn't he?" Mina asked sadly as Miko growled.
"Well he shouldn't, it's my parent fault for attacking him like that, if he actually wanted to hurt me then he wouldn't have been sitting in my room being petted like a dog."
"Wait, you were...petting him?" Ryuko asked.
"Oh yeah he must not have told you, after Zero broke into my room and recognized me he let me pet him like a dog, it was really cute actually." Miko said with a small a smile as Mina not so subtly puffed her cheeks in jealousy.
"Hmm, that's not all that surprising, back when he was around 9 or 10 couldn't fall asleep without sitting in my lap like a cat with me stroking his hair." She laughed, though the slight tone of smugness in her voice was saying otherwise.
"Oh, that's...nice...so can we see him?" Miko said trying to stop anything too weird from sprouting right away.
"Yes, of course." Ryuko said before letting them inside and taking them down the hall to Zeros room.
"Jeez, I already feel depressed just getting near..." Mina said as Ryuko and Miko agreed before the former knocked on the door.
"Zero sweetie, it's Mom, can I come in?"
A full minute passed without so much as a sound coming from Zeros room before Miko spoke up this time.
"Zero-kun, it's Miko and Mina, please let us in."
"We're worried about to Zero-kun." Mina said.
After getting no answer once again, Mirko sighed and turned to Mina.
"Alright, enough playing nice, Mina burn through the door."
"Wh-what?"
"If he won't let us in then we're going in by force."
"I-I don't know, Ms. Ryuko are you." Mina stuttered as she turned to Ryuko who nodded softly.
"Go right ahead, I'll stop him if he tries to leave."
With the Dragon Hero's permission, Mina closed her eyes and took a drop breath before large patches of acid formed in her hands and melted down the door to Zeros bedroom in less than a few seconds.
"Alright Zero it's time to-" Ryuko said as she entered his room only to be surprised when she saw that it was completely empty, as if no one had been in there for quite some time.
"....talk...."
(Authors POV, Unknown Forest, Same Time)
Back over the Forest where Ryuko first found Zero, a medium sized shadow was flying over the trees which was revealed to be a blue and black Murkrow that slowly landed on on tree next to a large lake in the middle of the woods.
Zero laid perched on the beach silently before his screeched loudly in anger and he fired a large Shadow Ball to the lake which exploded sending water flying everywhere.
'I'm such an idiot!' Zero thought to himself as the water slowly came back to a standstill.
'I just wanted to be strong, like Mirko, like my Mom and I just...ugghh....'
He tilted his head down so his hat shaped feathers covered his eyes until he heard a snap behind him and turned to see someone walking into the scene.
The figure looked around the same age as him but was rather short with red eyes, and was covered fully in black clothes, the strangest part about him however was the large black bird head and beak like that of a raven or crow he had for a head.
"Huh, and people say Mina looks weird...' Zero thought as the bird boy looked out at the lake.
"Hmmm, whoever made that explosion must have left...." He mumbled to himself.
"No I didn't imagine it, you obviously heard it too."
'Is he...talking to himself?'
"I wasn't scared I was curious!"
"...wait what Murkrow?" He said before he turned to where Zero was and stared right at him.
'Welp, guess my cover's blown.' Zero thought before he jumped off his beach and changed back landing right in front of the boy.
"Um....hey...." He said as the boy tilted his head.
"Hello...we're you that Murkrow we just saw?"
"Yeah, my Quirk let's me turn into Pokemon and Animals as long as I-" Zero began before he pause at what the boy said.
"Wait did you just say we?"
"Yes, I did, you can come out now."
The boy looked down to his chest and went silent before a large mass of black shadows spouted from him taking the shape of a large bird like creature with glowing yellow eyes that looks over Zero with interest.
"Sup pipsqueak."
"Uhhhh, hi?" Zero waved as the bird boy bowed politely."
"I am Fumikage Tokoyami, and this is my Quirk Dark Shadow."
"That's an...interesting Quirk...."
"Anyways, I'm Zero Tatsuma, it's nice to meet you and your...monster?"
"I assure you, that's being generous to him." Tokoyami said making Dark Shadow huff before disappearing back inside of him.
"So what exactly are you doing blowing up at a lake, Zero Tatsuma?" He asked making Zero look away.
"Nothing...just....seeing the sights..." Zero lied as he walked away and sat in front of the lake.
"Hmm, that was a lie." Tokoyami said while going up and sitting next to him
"What, does that thing in you let you tell lies too?"
"No, but it does let me feel things in people, emotions, urges, sometimes even abstract thoughts at times."
"That's...interesting, what do you feel in me?" Zero asked as Tokoyami turned to him and closing his eyes.
"You feel...frustrated...guilty...angry...sad...and something else that I can't make out all the way..."
"So, do you mind explaining?"
Zero gave a defeated sigh before giving in and explaining to the bird headed boy what happened last week.
"Ohhhh, you were the one who broke into Tsuyoidesu manor." Tokoyami said making Zero snap out of his quick funk after retelling the story.
"Wait, other people know too?!"
"As far as anyone knows for sure they're all just rumors, but people will have their theories."
"Well, you now know that the rumors are true, what are you gonna do?" Zero asked, his eyes glowing as he turned to look at Tokoyami who felt Dark Shadow stir a bit inside of him before answering.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Yes nothing, from what I can tell it's obvious that you didn't mean it, and no one was seriously hurt or killed."
"Plus, I'm sure that if you wanted to attack me now you wouldn't have told me all of this." He said making him blink and sigh to himself.
"If only I could trust myself again that easily..."
"What do you mean, it's not like you knew what you were doing."
"That's the thing mate, I did know what I was doing, or, more like I saw it as it happen at least.." Zero said as he placed his hands in his hair.
"It was like....I was having an awful lucid dream, I remember letting myself turn into that...thing, I remember attacking my Mom, my Idol, and more than half a dozen other Heroes, I even remember breaking into Mikos house and sneaking up to her room and...."
"And then...?" Tokoyami asked as Zero started to look up slowly.
"I saw her, sitting in bed worried sick about me, and then I came back...just for a second I was back in control..."
"And there's my point, you stopped yourself in order to protect the one you care about, if it wasn't for her parents you probably wold have changed back all on your own given time."
"...yeah..I guess I kind of did didn't I..." Zero said half-heartedly,
Suddenly, Dark Shadow appeared from inside of Tokoyamis chest and floated over them.
"Listen here kid, I don't know why but I'm getting a good vibe from you so I'm gonna give you some advice."
"Should I listen?" Zero asked Tokoyami who gave a mild nod of his head.
"He usually doesn't talk to anyone aside from me, so I suppose yes."
Dark Shadow cleared his throat before he clasped his massive claws on either side of his hand and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Get over yourself."
"What?"
"Get....Over....Your...Self."
"You think you're the first person in the world to ever loose control of their Quirk, really?" The shadow monster said with its hand on its hips.
"There are probably people who've had to change their entire way of living because their Quirk came out different then expected, they probably have to move away or get surgery, or even be crippled or restrained since childhood!"
Zero then thought of the first day he met Miko and Mina and felt a brand new strain of guilt rise up in heart.
"And you have the gall to sit here and call yourself a monster when other people would most likely kill to have the same amount of self control as you, especially with a Quirk like yours, fuck off kid!"
"Now I want to get up, go find your friends and family, and tell them that this'll never happen again, and every time you think it's going to, then imagine that day you lost control, imagine how angry you felt at yourself, and then take that anger and turn it into the drive and reason you need to be better, if not for yourself, then for your friends and family, got it?!"
Zero stood up, and smiled widely before turning to Tokoyami who looked equally as shocked at his Quirks words.
"Thank you, both of you."
Tokoyami nodded while Dark Shadow crosses his arms proudly before Zero changed into a giant Pidgeot and flew away with a massive force of wind making the former shield his eyes.
"Hmm, that was interesting of you Dark Shadow..."
"Eh it's like I said, I just get a good feeling from the kid."
(Authors POV, Tsuyoidesu Manor, Same Time)
As this was going on, Miko had been ordered by Ryukyu to return back to her parents before they started to worry which she did, albeit very reluctantly, seeing how she didn't even acknowledge them as she came in through the front door.
"Excuse me, do you mind telling us where you were young lady?" Her mother Kagayuka asked/demanded as she walked past them and up the stairs to her room.
"I was out with friends." Miko said as she continued only to be stopped again by Rinoko.
"And which friends were those?"
"You know Mina, Mei...."
"And?"
"And..what?" She said, avoiding her fathers gaze.
"And who else did you see?" Her mother said as looked up to her fathers glare making her bite her tongue while the ladder sighed.
"You don't have to say anything, we already know it was that monster Ryukyu calls a child."
"Don't you dare call him a monster, he was the first friend I ever had, and the best!"
"He tried to kill you!"
"I already told you, aside from scaring me a bit when I saw him he didn't do anything to me!" Miko yelled.
"Then did we hear you screaming "Get off of me!" in the middle of the night?" Kagayuka said as she crossed her arms under supple bust.
"Okay, so he might have climbed onto my bed, but he still stopped himself before he did anything."
"If he could stop himself anytime why didn't he just do it earlier?" Her father asked making her growl and roll her eyes.
"Maybe it has something to do with him being my friend?!"
"That still doesn't explain why he attached his mother, the one who raised him!"
"They were training together, he must've got overexcited during a fight or something!"
"Which just proves what a bad parent Ryuko is, if she really cared about him then she would've hired a personal trainer like we did with you." Her mother scoffed as Miko felt her pasty white skin begin to turn red and her eyes and hands glowed violently.
"AND DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WAS OKAY WITH IT, THAT I ENJOYED KNOWING THAT MY OWN GOD-DAMN PARENTS WERE TOO FULL OF THEMSELVES TO GET OFF THEIR HIGH HORSES AND TREAT ME LIKE A AN ACTUAL CHILD INSTEAD OF SOME LITTLE PORCELAIN DOLL?!" Miko screamed before she stormed away from them and running to her room the hallway of the mansion turning into solid gold as she went by.
"ZERO WAS THE ONE WHO HELPED ME SEE, HE WAS THE ONE WHO TOLD ME THAT MY POWERS WERE BEAUTIFUL, NOT YOU, HIM!"
"AND UNLIKE YOU POMPOUS DICKS, HIM, MINA, MEI, AND EVEN MS. RYUKO KNOWS AND RESPECTS HOW STRONG I REALLY AM, SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY LEAVING THIS STUPID MANSION AND TAKING SOME PARENTING TIPS FROM THEM!"
At the sound of Mikos door slamming shut, Kagayuka started to tear up and cry while her husband went over to comfort her.
"Oh Rinoko, what did we do wrong with her?!" She cried into her husbands shoulder as he stroked her hair gently.
"We didn't do anything, if it wasn't for her so called "friends" filling her mind up with all this nonsense that she could be a Hero, we wouldn't be here right now."
"But..maybe she's right, if it wasn't for that Zero boy she'd still be blind, and weak, and helpless."
"If it wasn't for that Zero boy she wouldn't be yelling at her own parents like this, I told you we shouldn't have let her just hired a tutor."
"I know, I know, so what do we do now?"
"The longer she stays here with this Zero boy and all these other kids, the more she grow further and further from us, so..."
"So?" Kagayuka asked.
"So, we have to get her away from them first."
(Authors POV, Meis Workshop, Same Time)
"Hey Mei, Mei come on I know you're in there!" Mina said as she knocked on the door to the child prodigies workshop.
"Gah, hold on, hold on!" She heard Mei say from inside followed by the sound of loud clattering and a few muttering curses before the door opened to reveal the salmon haired mechanic looking very disheveled, as if she was just now getting out of bed.
"Oh hey Mina-chan, I uhhhh, wasn't expecting you." Mei said sounding exactly as she was looking.
"I was just wondering if Zero-kun's been here today..."
"Mmmmm, no no, I haven't seen him at all since last week."
"Uh huh..." Mina said as she took notice at the fact that Meis usual tank top and cargo pants had been replaced with only a baggy t-shirt that was at least twice her size and went down only a small bit past her waist and a pair of tight black cycle shorts that stopped just above her knees, both articles of clothing looking very wrinkled and messy like she had thrown them on herself on her way to the door.
In fact...that shirt actually looked really familiar...
"Is....is that Zero-kuns shirt?" She asked making Mei freeze and look down at the clothing as of she had just now noticed that she was wearing it.
'Oh uhhhh yeah, I asked Zero for one of his shirts, his mother has them ordered and custom made for him so that mean I can design a material for his costume, can't have him ripping apart his clothing every time he transforms now can we hahahahaha.' She laughed, the nervous look in her eyes telling her fellow pinkette otherwise.
"Rrright, speaking of which, how're me and Mikos costumes coming along?"
Mei seemed to wake up completely at the question and allowed a Mina inside before sighing to herself once she was out of earshot.
"I need to start fantasizing to myself at night..."
"What was that?" Mina said from inside.
"Nothing!"
(Authors POV, Ryukos House, Same Time)
Once Zero flew back to home, he silently went up and snuck into his room before changing back.
"Hmm, guess Mom ain't home."
Zero went out of his room and walked the pitch black hallway, due to both him and Ryuko having exceptional vision, they usually kept the lights off unless they were expecting other people.
Once he made it to the living he winced when the lights suddenly snapped on and froze when he felt a sharp pair of eyes glare daggers at him.
"Zero..." He heard his mother's voice say almost painfully sweetly before he turned to see her sitting in a chair cross legged, her golden eyes piercing into his soul once he turned to look at her.
"Hey Mom....."
Ryuko didn't greet him back and simply continued to stare at him until he sighed in defeat and looked back up at her.
"I'm sorry, I know that's probably not what you wanna hear yet but I'm sorry."
Ryuko did nothing expect slightly raise her eyebrow as she motioned for him to continue.
"When I think about that night, how I attacked you, Ms. Mirko, Miko, all I could think about was how I just wanted to better, and somehow that put the people I loved in danger so I guess I just...couldn't find a reason to try to be anything anymore." Zero shrugged before he started to smile softly.
"But, then I met another kid back at the Forest where you first found me, and he and his...friend told me that if I can't be better for myself, then I can at least try to be for the ones that I care about."
"So I'm done moping around, I still want to be a hero more than anything!" He said as he started the
"Please, I'm so sorry for everything I-" Was all Zero could say before he felt a soft pair of arms grab him and bring him into a hug as he felt her tears drip down into his hair.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, the fact that you came back and the first thing you did was tell me how horrible you felt, that only made me feel like I haven't done anything to raise you right." Ryuko cried as she felt Zero return the hug.
"I don't care what you do, or what you think of yourself, I will always think the world of you my sweet little treasure."
Zero said nothing and harden his embrace around his mother, the two of them staying like this in blissful silence....
Until Zero felt his phone start to ring in his pocket somewhat ruining the moment.
"Should...should I just ignore this?" He asked jokingly making Ryuko laugh a bit.
"No, it's most likely Miko or Mina, I didn't tell you this, but they weren't too happy with you vanishing like that."
"....not really giving me more of a reason..." Zero muttered as he took out his phone and indeed did see Mikos name and photo before sighing and answering it.
"Hey Miko, I'm sorry I ran away like that I-" He began before freezing when he heard Mikos speak m, her voice so loud and distressed that Ryuko could even hear it slightly.
"What...what are you talking about...they can't....they can't do that, they can't do that!"
Miko continued as Zeros eyes grew more and more confused and angered before he breathed in deeply.
"Meet me at Municipal Beach."
(Authors POV, Municipal Beach Park, Nighttime)
Almost half an hour later, at Takoba Municipal Beach Park, the trash-filled area was dead quiet aside from the wind and the waves of the dirty ocean crashing onto the landfill covered sand before Zero floated down as a Drifblim and turned back landing on an old rusty fridge.
"You know, I never understood why you liked coming here." He turned to see Miko walking up to him before jumped down next to her.
"It's quiet, plus even with all the trash, the view of the sun is absolutely beautiful." Zero said as Miko gave a weak smile.
"Fair enough..."
The both of them stood in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up.
"So is it really true?"
"Yep, I'm leaving." Miko said as she felt herself about to cry again but barely stopped the tears from coming out.
"Does Mina know?"
"Well, seeing how she'd melt me into a puddle if I didn't tell her, she's on her way from Meis right now."
"Good, good..." She nodded as she leaned onto Zero who returned the action with an arm around her shoulder.
".....I'm sorry....."
"What?"
"This is all my fault isn't it?" Zero asked making her hum.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said you had nothing to do with it, but you could argue that most of the blame is on me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I never told you this, but the day when I told my parents I wasn't blind...I don't think they were as happy as they said, hell from what I could tell they were disappointed."
"What?!" Zero shouted making her jump.
"Okay okay that came out really, REALLY wrong, I meant that they were happy that I could see and control my Quirk, but they weren't happy that I had a reason to be a Hero again." Miko said not making Zero think any better of them but still continued.
"When I was around a five years old, before my Quirk first developed, I wanted to be a Hero like my parents more than anything in the world, at least before they retired and become a couple of rich, sociopathic shut-ins, but from the moment I told them that I had this feeling that they didn't like it at all, and I guess when my Quirk came and I went blind, they saw the chance they were looking for."
"But...then you come along..."
"You helped me, you supported me, you, Mina, Mei, Ms. Ryuko, you all became a part of why I want to be a Hero."
"And I guess my parents finally figured that out..." Miko said, her voice breaking as her eyes glowed and golden tears leaked down her face.
"I don't know what to do now, we promised each other that we were going to go to UA High together, but now...we're probably never going to see each other again!"
She continued to cry until she felt Zero place his hands on her shoulders and lift her head up to face his.
"Z-Zer-mmmpph?!" Miko froze when she felt Zero slam his lips against her own making her face turn red like earlier, only this time it was out of both shock and enjoyment.
After getting over the surprise, the golden haired beauty soon felt herself melt and start to return the kiss before they broke apart and stared at each other.
"Z-Zero....I.." She said breathlessly before the the blue haired boy stayed silent as he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up to her.
The object appeared to be a shrunken Pokeball attached to a black choker necklace and made of out of pure slightly translucent golden material that shined almost as brightly as Mikos eyes did when she saw it.
"Wh-...what is..."
"I saw it in a jewelry shop sometime last year, I instantly thought of you when I saw it so I saved up my allowance and bought it." Zero said softly.
"I was saving it for your birthday but...I think now seems like a much better time."
Upon further inspection, Miko noticed that there was text on the black rims of the ball that read out the words:
"My Golden Angel."
She then let out a small inhuman whimper at this before nodding and turning around, letting Zero place it gently around her neck right over her supple chest.
"I don't care how far you go away Miko, because no matter what we will see each other again, you wanna know why?"
"Because I know you're more than strong enough, and stubborn enough to find a way on your own." Zero said as Miko turned back around to look at him with watery eyes, with the sun rising up behind her and making both her hair and slightly golden hued skin glow, she looked even more beautiful than before.
"Zero...I....I... I lo-"
"MIIIKKKOOOOOO!!!!"
An all too familiar voice broke the quiet little moment between the couple before Miko was the tackled to the ground by a bright pink blur which was revealed to be Mina now wearing a pair of plum violet and beige boots with dozens of holes in the soles that were followed by a long trail of non-corrosive acid that was pointing in their direction.
"Please tell me it's not true, please tell me you're not leaving
"PLEASE TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE, PLEASE ME THAT YOU'RE NOT LEAVING AND IT WAS ALL JUST A PRANK!!!!" The pinkette cried making Miko sweat drop before placing a hand on her head softly.
"It's true Mina, I guess we won't be going to the same middle school after all."
"BUT WHAT ABOUT U.A., WHAT ABOUT THE PROMISE THE THREE OF US MADE?!"
"That, you don't have to cry about sweety." Zero said while hugging the both of them, making Mina stop crying and turn to to him and then back up at Miko.
"R-really?"
"Yes, the next time we see each other, wewill be at U.A!"
As Mina managed to force down a few more messy sobs, the trio looked out silently at the sunset in front of them.
The sign of one day ending, and a whole new one that was about to come.