Chapter 27: CHANGE {edited}
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"You know, it surprises me how your parents would agree to let you stay over every weekend," I said as I looked at the distracted Mei, who was currently using a drill
Tinkering with what seemed to be dark black obsidian-like armor.
Although the drill was loud, it didn't stop her from hearing me.
"Hehehe, you are the son of the famous Lady Nagant, are you not?" she replied, shifting from where she stood to reveal the baby she was working on.
It was my liquid metal, but due to the restriction of her strength, she was finding ways to make it easier to wear without hindrance to movement and speed.
This included other added mechanics that would enhance her body's performance.
We were wearing pajamas, and the clock had already struck 2 a.m.
Since yesterday, I'd gotten very minimal sleep—at this rate, I wasn't even sure if Mei had slept for the last two days.
Throughout those days, I'd tried to get her to relax and take it easy, but it seemed every time I spoke, her energy only grew stronger by the second.
So, in my mission to make her rest, I decided to let her keep working on her inventions, thinking she'd burn herself out or fall asleep mid-routine.
Little did I know that an alcoholic never burns out from drinking, or in this case, a workaholic.
"Everyone!" a voice shouted from the other room, kicking the door open as Ethan rushed toward us at normal but fast speeds.
He straightened himself as his running pace almost cost him his balance, the laptop in his hands providing enough weight to steady his figure and prevent an unwanted disaster.
Of course, this was only noticeable to me—to the others, Ethan just looked like a 14-year-old who nearly lost his footing.
"Did u see it?" he blurted, making Mei and me glance at each other in confusion, wondering what the hell he meant.
"Na …just look," Ethan stammered, fixing his stance as he placed the laptop on the workbench.
[So All Might,]
A reporter began speaking on the screen. And in front of her stood a compelling figure— a figure so compelling some might deem and call, a monster among giants.
His full body, so big his height couldn't be fully captured by the camera, incomprehensible to the point that it had to tilt upward to show his towering upper half.
[The crime rate has reached its maximum influx over the past years.
Even after your return, it seems it hasn't truly taken any significant effect.
Yes, we could say more dangerous crimes have reduced, but as they reduce,
other crimes—mostly considered trivial or unworthy of severe punishment—have increased in response,
as if balancing the rate in change,]
She said, her words sounding selfish with each passing second.
Well, who could blame her curiosity—or the lingering questions of her bosses and the public?
Then, with slight hesitation, All Might spoke.
[Civilians and all heroes at large, although change is minimal and slow, it is in effect.
Think about it like this: the development of infrastructure in modern society took up to 10 to 5 thousand years,
the evolution of the cellphone took 70 years,
and the law of morality of quirks took about 100 to 80 years to develop and be established into what we know today.
What I'm saying, people of the modern era, is that no matter how much time it takes, no matter the effort, no matter the sweat, change is inevitable.
Change is evolution.
Change is permanence. Change is pending,]
All Might announced. His words carried by weight, a weight so strong you'd swear music swelled behind him as he spoke.
In the eyes of the thousands watching—whether in other countries or Japan—his voice spoke words of wisdom, words of evolution, words of change.
To some, it had already happened; to others, it was nothing but words filled with filth and loads of bullshit—bullshit that spoke to children that would fill the busy streets on the other side of society, children who eat from bins of poor, searching for the smallest scraps of rotten fuel to feed their crying bellies.
Oh, how pitiful they are.
I let out a small, silent "disgusting" under my breath, a thought that slipped out.
But then, snapping back to reality, I wondered where that word came from.
Had the constant fighting in the gauntlet fucked me up this much? I knew All Might was a kind person, so why did I feel such disgust? "I guess Marai's words of manipulation are taking some effect.
I should stop paying attention every time he makes a speech," I thought, turning my gaze to Mei and Ethan, who were now deep in discussion about the words of their so-called number-one hero.
Looking at Ethan, who showed so much interest in the hero system, I wondered how unlucky he truly was.
Just like Izuku Midoriya, Ethan was quirkless, and like him, he'd wanted to be a hero.
Seeing how impossible it was without a quirk, he gave up on that dream and threw himself into constant studying to make up for what most would deem an unfair disability.
Ethan goes to the same school as me, so after I realized that his mind was sharp enough not to act like a damn kid, I took him under my wing.
I taught him everything I knew—from the basics of equipment repair to the crafting of materials.
Some might say I saved his dream, showing him another way to be a hero without a quirk: 'the Department of Support', the heroes who make and fix gear.
For some reason, he didn't feel regret or shame—he felt relieved.
Even if he was weak, he could still help society as much as he could.
He might say we became friends the moment I started teaching him, but for me, we were friends from the second we met.
'Why's that?' you might ask.
'Well, why not?'
"Ken tell us," Mei said, snapping me out of my thoughts as she pulled me back to the present.
"Ethan says I'm selfish for saying I'm doing all the hero stuff so I can be famous and have lots of the Monies, but I think his wrong since I'll be doing my best to help the heroes anyway," Mei explained in her carefree tone.
"Trust mon, tell me, do u think that doing this shi.....
I mean … Something for money, could make her actions morally correct just because she's saving pee-pul, bro, in my opinion, she should just give up on going to UA,
Coss na mon, I don't think a place like UA would allow self-driven pee-pul who do things for fame to be heroes, even if they work on items on the side like us," Ethan jumped in.
As always, his arguments fell flat as Mei stared at him, confused.
"Isn't that just the same thing?" she asked, tilting her head slightly, making Ethan's face go pale with each word.
Then, like the everyday chaos I'd gotten used to, Ethan launched into a nonstop debate with Mei—who didn't seem to care and as usual just continued to focus on her Metal babies.
But this time, she did something different. "So Ken, why are u going to UA," she asked, leaning closer as if inspecting me.
Ethan left mid-pose in his debate stance, blinked, suddenly curious too.
"Yeah yute, what's your reason," he added, "why UA," he pressed, as they both watched me scratch the back of my head, nervous as hell about how they'd take my answer.
"Well, I wanna be G…"
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Yoo my few people 🤣 believe it or not I was truly taking a break, it was so good that I forgot to write a chapter and I had to write it now before the deadline 💀🤣 but I think I made it, even if I was a little late, hope u saved those stones, and yes the editing is a bit sloppy, coss as I said, I just wrote it and I didn't edit that much, I just proffered soo hope u enjoyed it, and yes it was a time skip, we moving 🤤