Chapter 6 - HAYATE KUROHA

ONE WEEK LATER AT TOKYO

SIR Nighteye was sitting in his living room with blackface. It's been one week since the day they saved the children. Afterward, he left with the child and he lived with him since then.

The reason a hero such as him was having such an expression was that he was facing a wall he was never trained for. Parenthood.

Many people don't know how much stress it was to be parents until they became one.

During his discussion with All Might, he assured with conviction that he could raise the child well, but right now he came to regret this earlier bravado. He nearly tore his hair in frustration as he thought about it. He read many books, watching many educational movies, asked advice, but nothing could have prepared him for this child.

He was ready for a rebellious child, a crying child, a child trying to flee, even a child trying to kill him. But he wasn't ready for a silent child.

Since the day they came back, he never spoke more than necessary. He only silently watched the TV or read the book he had. All that with heavy silence and dull eyes.

Nighteye was worried. How could he raise him? The worst was that since the child was doing nothing bad, he couldn't correct him. He even tried to make him go out a little, but he refused.

He was at his wit end. Perhaps they should send him to someone more geared towards such cases. A psy? Or perhaps a more complete family?

"Where is Yagi?"

Nighteye suddenly became serious, he couldn't let such things pass.

"Call him Toshinori-san or All Might. You should respect him more"

The boy was looking at him with a curious light in his red eye. He was wearing a black tee-shirt and white shorts. He could now speak clearly, even if he rarely opened his mouth.

"Why?"

"It's a mark of respect. You should, no... You must respect him"

"I read that people close could call each other with their first name without honorific"

Nighteye bit his teeth at this counter-argument, he nearly spat blood. As a fan of All Might, he couldn't let someone disrespect him, at the same time, he couldn't say that the child wasn't someone close to All might. He decided to change the way to go.

"Do you even understand who he is?"

"Yes. He is a hero."

"You're partially right. But this not enough to describe him !!! Follow me. "

Once again he couldn't let this pass. He took the boy by the hands and took him toward his office room.

The office room was like a sanctuary for him. A place where he could relax and let his head calm down as he bathed in bliss. Why? Because it was where all his posters and figurines of All Might were placed.

He opened the room and showed all this to the boy with great aplomb.

"All Might isn't just a hero, he is THE hero, the symbol of peace."

"I see..."

The boy looked at the room with wonder, then looked at Nighteye. Nighteye felt his heart set ablaze, this child should have understood how awesome and wonderful All Might is.

"So... Are you... What do they call it... A stalker?"

Nighteye literally felt an arrow pierce his heart. The worst was that the question had been posed with absolutely no malice. It was just pure curiosity.

The boy, losing interest in the shocked Nighteye began to wander the room with interest, he took one of the books that were citing the exploit of All Might and began to read it.

Seeing that the boy was once again in the world of reading, Nighteye decided to do something more productive and sat in his chair in order to work. He was planning to open a hero agency and there still some work to do in order for everything to be all right.

After two hours of work he raised his head and turned toward the corner where the child was quietly reading. Despite how he acted, he was truly worried about him. Child his age should be busy running around and playing the hero. Laughing, crying and having dreams. Not coped in their room with no friends. Finally, he asked,

"So? After reading about All Might, what do you think? Impressive isn't it?"

The boy didn't raise his head from the book but nodded calmly before answering,

"He is strong. I want to be strong. Are all the heroes as strong as him?"

Nighteye frowned a little and pushed his glasses. He didn't like this question. When reading such a heroic story, a child should be blinded by how awesome or how cool the situation was, not the strength displayed.

" Heroes are strong true. But it isn't their strength that matters the most. But their hearts. "

The boy finally raised his head and tilted it to the right.

"But strength is more important. Right? How could they save people if they aren't strong? Isn't All Might number one because he is the strongest?"

Truly sharp for a kid. But he couldn't let him go astray. He took the remote controller and decided to show the video of All might saving people from a fire. Nighteye let a smile as he watched this once again. He could never tire no matter how many times he did it. Once the video ended, he turned to face the kid

"Did you see this? I won't lie to you. Being a hero means fighting the forces of evil. One must be skilled enough in such a fight. So you're right in saying that you need strength to be a hero. "

He paused and took a more serious look as he raised his glasses.

"But being a hero is so much more than that. The first job of a hero isn't to fight but to save. Saving might require strength but it's far from enough. A true hero isn't someone who just saves the body but also the heart."

He looked at the different posters plastered on his wall as he continued.

"All Might is the symbol of peace, not just because he is the strongest, but because of his smile. When he appears somewhere, people relax because they know that everything will be alright. Why? You might ask... "

His smile became kind as he said in a low voice

" Because he is here."

The boy looked at him quietly. He didn't know what went on his head but it seemed like his words still had an effect. Afterward, they passed the rest of the days in silence. Only, this time, the silence wasn't as awkward.

-----At Night

The child was looking blankly at a book he was holding as he sat on a corner in his bedroom. A blanket was covering all his body but his eye. He only needed the slightest light in order to be able to see as clearly as if it was daytime.

Since the day he came here, he didn't sleep a wink. He couldn't sleep a wink and he didn't need to sleep as long as he had enough energy.

Even when night came, he would stay here, in this corner, and read quietly. He was scared, scared that everything was nothing more than a dream, scared than the moment he closed his eyes he would go back to that hell. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time that they played such a cruel joke on him.

His current life was heaven. No beating, no experiment, no pain, no mocking laugh. He was free... Yes, he was free. But so what? What should he do? What did it mean to be free?

His breathing becomes a little disorganized. It was just as if he was having an anxiety attack. That when he saw a word that caught his attention and allowed to calm himself.

The book he was holding was a book about flowers and their meaning. The word that caught his attention was the name of a flower. This word seemed to touch something deep in him. He didn't remember clearly, but somehow he was sure that he already heard this word somewhere. That this word was connected to something that once gave him hope. But it was weird. He never had hope. So where did this feeling come from?

He decided to pay more attention to the word and its meaning. After that, he took another dictionary and began to see different words. Soon, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. Finally, he had made his choice. For the first time, he was able to make a choice.

----Next morning

Nighteye wore a grumpy face. He had a ritual for each new morning.

When he woke up, he would firstly put his right leg down before rising from the bed. After that, he would go brush his teeth and then take a shower before soaking himself for 15 minutes in a bath at a temperature of exactly 38°C.

Once he finished all that, he would take a coffee without sugar nor milk and drink it in his office as he gazed at the posters his idol in silence. Finally, he would read the newspapers.

Only after all those steps were accomplished could he truly begin his morning. But today he didn't even manage to take his bath. He was yanked from his toilet as he was brushing his teeth.

So here he was with his mouth full of toothpaste as he watched blankly at the boy.

But this grumpy expression changed once he heard the words from the boy.

"I finally choose my name"

Yes, if you didn't already remark this, *cough* the boy was never named. Even though he was technically Nighteye son, the papers for the adoption weren't completed since the boy still didn't choose a name.

Nighteye wanted to name him at first, but All Might said that they should let the boy do it. It was like choosing one hero name. This choice would in some sort, show what kind of hero one wanted to be.

The reason why the boy read so many books previously was in order to find an appropriate name that would please him. It seemed like he finally found it.

"OK. So, what did you choose? "

The boy looked at him seriously and took a book about flowers before showing him a word. This word was "clover".

"My name will be, Hayate Kuroha."

"Why this name?" Asked Nighteye calmly. He had an idea but he wanted to be sure.

"Because..."