—Later That Afternoon—
Having spent several hours playing various games, including ones that earned us tickets, Kota walked out with several toys he traded our tickets for. Waving around a foam ball launcher, he looked like he had a lot of fun today. It was probably nice to take a break from being surrounded by Hero stuff and just enjoy himself. In all honesty, I enjoyed myself as well as I hadn’t been to an arcade in several centuries.
“Alright let’s take a look here.”, I said looking at the time, “Got anything else you want to do, Kota?”
“I don’t know…”, he replied looking like he didn’t want today to end.
He probably hadn’t had this much fun in ages because of how busy his cousin was with work and moving their agency. Since we had a few hours before I needed to get him home, I suggested something I enjoyed in every life I had.
“How about we do some fishing?”, I asked.
“I…I haven’t gone fishing before.”, he admitted.
“Well, then your first time will be today. Let’s go to the pier and see if we can’t get some rods and bait.”, I said with a smile.
Packing his goods in a backpack he picked out, I took him down to the waterfront and found an elderly gentleman renting out rods. Getting a rod for Kota and me, I also got some live bait as it was the best for ensuring we’d get some big fish. Showing Kota the worms and grubs we’d be using he held his rod with excitement.
“You boys are going to catch some big ones today, hehe. They are biting like crazy out there right now.”, the old man chuckled, “Have fun!”
Taking him out to the pier's edge, I showed Kota how to bait the hook. Watching him struggle to put the worm on the hook, I helped him and explained the trick to make sure it wouldn’t come off. Showing him how to cast once that was done, he snagged me several times before finally getting it right.
“So what do we do now?”, he inquired.
“There are several things we can do. The best options are either letting the bait sink to the bottom or slowly reeling the line in to attract some fish to the bait.”, I advised, “Everyone does it slightly different because they think they have the best method.”
Nodding his head, he decided to let the bait sink and patiently waited for a tug on the line. Watching him intently watching the bobber in the water, I wonder if this was what it would have been like to take my own kids out fishing. There were a lot of things I had dreamed of doing with my kids, but that never happened…never once got to see any of them myself. I wondered what sort of people they became and if they hated me for leaving their mothers behind even though I had no say in the matter.
“I got a bite!!”, Kota shouted snapping me out of my thoughts, “What do I do!?”
“Give the rod a strong tug, then start reeling the fish in!”, I said with a smile.
Doing as I said, he started reeling the fish in after setting the hook. At first, the fish wasn’t fighting much, but after a few moments, the fish took off nearly pulling Kota over the edge. Grabbing Kota and the rod, I heaved back on it slamming the brakes on the fish’s escape attempt. Helping him pull up the fish, he lit up with excitement as he saw a small tuna fish on the end of his line.
“Wow!!!”, he shouted with excitement, “It’s a real tuna fish!! I have only seen them in cans before, I didn’t know they got this big!!”
“This is actually still a small one.”, I laughed, “A full-sized one would have broken your rod, they get up to several hundred pounds.”
“Can we keep it?!”, he inquired, “I want to eat it!”
“Let me see if it’s the right size, if it’s too small we have to throw it back.”, I remarked using the measurement tool on the railing, “Let us see here, just over three feet…and it says here the minimum size to keep it is two and a half feet. We are good to take it home with us!”
Jumping around with excitement, he asked how we should carry it home. Glancing around the immediate area, I saw a stand selling styrofoam coolers that we could use along with some ice. Purchasing the largest cooler they had, I buried the fish in ice to keep it fresh. Getting back to our fishing, we stayed on the pier till closing time.
—Evening—
“Here you go, thank you for letting us rent some rods.”, I said carrying the cooler on my shoulder, “We caught several fish today, and had a blast.”
“My pleasure, it does my heart good to see a father and son spending quality time together. It’s not often anymore that I see men with their kids here.”, he chuckled.
Glancing over to Kota to see how he would react, fortunately, he was too distracted by one of his toys to hear the comment. Telling them old man we’d be back sometime in the future, I thanked him before guiding Shota to the bus stop. Taking him back to his cousin’s house, Kota fell asleep on me on the way there. Carrying him and the cooler back to the residence, Mandalay and her team were there waiting for us.
“Oh my!”, she whispered seeing him asleep in my arm, “It looks like he had a lot of fun with you today. Please wait inside while I get him to bed.”
Handing him over to her, she took him up to his room while I waited in the living room. Coming back down a few minutes later, I handed his catch over to her which surprised her.
“You are saying Kota caught these tuna?!”, Mandalay questioned, “Where did he learn to fish?”
“I taught him, though he had a learning curve to overcome.”, I chuckled, “I hope you don’t mind I did that.”
“No…no, I don’t mind…”, she said with a sad expression, “I don’t understand it…he has lived here for a while now but never opened up to me. You meet him in the morning, and by the evening he is the happiest I have seen him in a long time.”
Patting her on the shoulder, I told her there wasn’t a manual for being a parent.
“You have to look at things from his perspective, Heroing is what took his family from him. He doesn’t like Heroing because he thinks they choose the job over him. Kota is too young to understand that they died protecting innocent people from a villain.”, I advised, “If you want him to open up, meet him where he is and try some of his hobbies. Don’t cram Heroing down his throat because the only thing he knows is the pain that comes from it.”
Looking at the fish he caught again, I saw the pain in her eyes. I knew she’d been trying for a while now to get through to him, but nothing had worked. Telling her that I would be more than happy to spend time with him in the future, I said all he had to do was ask.
“Thank you…”, she stated looking at me with tears running down her face, “I honestly didn’t think I would see his smile again. After his parents passed, he hasn’t smiled even once.”
Telling her that it wasn’t a problem, I bid her a good night and zipped into an outlet heading home for the night. Arriving back at the mansion, I found grandpa playing cards with Gran Torino, All Might, Nezu, and Eraser Head. Waving to them as I set the cooler on the counter, I got to work processing the fish so I could put them in the deep freeze.
“Went fishing did you?”, grandpa asked, “I didn’t know you liked fishing.”
“Yeah, I really enjoy it.”, I replied.
“You making sashimi?”, Gran Torino inquired.
“Heck no, I am not taking the risk of getting a parasite. These fish are for future meals.”, I remarked, “I am probably going to go out for tacos or something.”
Looking at me like I was crazy, they asked where I was going to get tacos in Japan. Shaking my head at them, I put the fish away and zipped into a nearby outlet. Returning fifteen minutes with a Taco Shack bag, I said that nowhere was more than a few milliseconds away for me with a grin.
“You didn’t grab any for me!?”, grandpa gasped seemingly offended by it.
“No I didn’t, I am not a food delivery service.”, I chuckled as I went up to my room to eat.
—Several Days Later—
Finishing my patrol, I was currently on my way to Mirko’s residence on the edge of town. She apparently lived out here because it allowed her to build a training field without any restrictions. Finding her warming up with a training dummy, she was too into it to realize that I was watching her. Waiting for an opportune moment to show itself, I called out to her to get her attention.
“How long have you been staring their gawking at me!”, she shouted.
“Didn’t want to ruin your warm-up, can’t have you blaming me for throwing you off your game.”, I remarked with a smirk.
Looking me over with a nod, she said she was happy I dressed for the occasion. Telling me she didn’t want to get my outfit covered in dirt, I retorted that I was happy she wasn’t in a bunny costume since Easter was months away still. Twitching with an irritated expression, she told me to shut up and get ready to spar already. Setting the Amp to the side, I did some stretches and cracked my neck before giving her the thumbs up.
“What’s the rules?”, I asked.
“No using Quirks, first to tap out or faint loses.”, she replied with a smirk, “Remember to tap when you had enough.”
“Yep, I will remember to look for your tap.”, I snickered.
Taking spots ten feet apart from one another, we counted to ten before starting. Leaping forward, I tilted my head a few degrees to the left to barely avoid a spinning kick she opened up with. Squatting down to dodge the other leg, she clicked her tongue as she flew past me. Turning around to lock onto me again, she nearly fell on her butt when she saw my face mere inches from the front of her face in mid-air.
Expecting me to punch her, she put her arms to block the blow but I wasn’t going for a punch. Slamming my right knee straight down on the top of her head, she hit the ground hard causing the ground to spiderweb. Continuing into a front flip and then a barrel roll, I spun around to see her shakily getting back to her feet. I had pulled my blow substantially, but I still kneed her pretty hard.
“Haha!! Now that was a hit!!”, she laughed with a battle junkie grin, “I have been dying for someone to stop restraining themselves because I am a woman. Bring it on Sparky!”
“Jeez, someone must have smashed your chocolate eggs this morning.”, I chuckled, “Here I come!”
Rushing towards her, she started bouncing on her feet waiting to find where I was going to go. Watching my movements closely, she tried to follow where the strike would come from but before she could I blasted her twelve consecutive hits knocking the wind out of her. Skipping across the ground in a heap, it took her a few moments to realize what happened.
Jumping back to her feet with a determined smile, she lunged forward with raw abandonment. Watching my hands fluidly move in the air, Mirko thought she saw an opening and went for it. Throwing a right hook, she intended to purposefully miss and use the moment to hit me with her heel. Unfortunately, I saw the move coming from a mile away and closed the gap through her timing off completely.
Taking a firm stance, I delivered a one-inch punch straight to her gut. Spewing up a mouthful of air, she was slid backwards and dropped to one knee as she held her stomach. Decades of training had given me the ability to control where the kinetic energy of my punches go. For most people, the energy would transfer to the ground or through them, but when you were hit by my punch you took every newton internally. This meant that a light punch from me hit like a golden glove boxer adding in my knowledge of pressure points and weak joints in multiple races…I could easily kill someone with a well-placed finger jab.
—Later That Afternoon—
Having spent several hours playing various games, including ones that earned us tickets, Kota walked out with several toys he traded our tickets for. Waving around a foam ball launcher, he looked like he had a lot of fun today. It was probably nice to take a break from being surrounded by Hero stuff and just enjoy himself. In all honesty, I enjoyed myself as well as I hadn’t been to an arcade in several centuries.
“Alright let’s take a look here.”, I said looking at the time, “Got anything else you want to do, Kota?”
“I don’t know…”, he replied looking like he didn’t want today to end.
He probably hadn’t had this much fun in ages because of how busy his cousin was with work and moving their agency. Since we had a few hours before I needed to get him home, I suggested something I enjoyed in every life I had.
“How about we do some fishing?”, I asked.
“I…I haven’t gone fishing before.”, he admitted.
“Well, then your first time will be today. Let’s go to the pier and see if we can’t get some rods and bait.”, I said with a smile.
Packing his goods in a backpack he picked out, I took him down to the waterfront and found an elderly gentleman renting out rods. Getting a rod for Kota and me, I also got some live bait as it was the best for ensuring we’d get some big fish. Showing Kota the worms and grubs we’d be using he held his rod with excitement.
“You boys are going to catch some big ones today, hehe. They are biting like crazy out there right now.”, the old man chuckled, “Have fun!”
Taking him out to the pier's edge, I showed Kota how to bait the hook. Watching him struggle to put the worm on the hook, I helped him and explained the trick to make sure it wouldn’t come off. Showing him how to cast once that was done, he snagged me several times before finally getting it right.
“So what do we do now?”, he inquired.
“There are several things we can do. The best options are either letting the bait sink to the bottom or slowly reeling the line in to attract some fish to the bait.”, I advised, “Everyone does it slightly different because they think they have the best method.”
Nodding his head, he decided to let the bait sink and patiently waited for a tug on the line. Watching him intently watching the bobber in the water, I wonder if this was what it would have been like to take my own kids out fishing. There were a lot of things I had dreamed of doing with my kids, but that never happened…never once got to see any of them myself. I wondered what sort of people they became and if they hated me for leaving their mothers behind even though I had no say in the matter.
“I got a bite!!”, Kota shouted snapping me out of my thoughts, “What do I do!?”
“Give the rod a strong tug, then start reeling the fish in!”, I said with a smile.
Doing as I said, he started reeling the fish in after setting the hook. At first, the fish wasn’t fighting much, but after a few moments, the fish took off nearly pulling Kota over the edge. Grabbing Kota and the rod, I heaved back on it slamming the brakes on the fish’s escape attempt. Helping him pull up the fish, he lit up with excitement as he saw a small tuna fish on the end of his line.
“Wow!!!”, he shouted with excitement, “It’s a real tuna fish!! I have only seen them in cans before, I didn’t know they got this big!!”
“This is actually still a small one.”, I laughed, “A full-sized one would have broken your rod, they get up to several hundred pounds.”
“Can we keep it?!”, he inquired, “I want to eat it!”
“Let me see if it’s the right size, if it’s too small we have to throw it back.”, I remarked using the measurement tool on the railing, “Let us see here, just over three feet…and it says here the minimum size to keep it is two and a half feet. We are good to take it home with us!”
Jumping around with excitement, he asked how we should carry it home. Glancing around the immediate area, I saw a stand selling styrofoam coolers that we could use along with some ice. Purchasing the largest cooler they had, I buried the fish in ice to keep it fresh. Getting back to our fishing, we stayed on the pier till closing time.
—Evening—
“Here you go, thank you for letting us rent some rods.”, I said carrying the cooler on my shoulder, “We caught several fish today, and had a blast.”
“My pleasure, it does my heart good to see a father and son spending quality time together. It’s not often anymore that I see men with their kids here.”, he chuckled.
Glancing over to Kota to see how he would react, fortunately, he was too distracted by one of his toys to hear the comment. Telling them old man we’d be back sometime in the future, I thanked him before guiding Shota to the bus stop. Taking him back to his cousin’s house, Kota fell asleep on me on the way there. Carrying him and the cooler back to the residence, Mandalay and her team were there waiting for us.
“Oh my!”, she whispered seeing him asleep in my arm, “It looks like he had a lot of fun with you today. Please wait inside while I get him to bed.”
Handing him over to her, she took him up to his room while I waited in the living room. Coming back down a few minutes later, I handed his catch over to her which surprised her.
“You are saying Kota caught these tuna?!”, Mandalay questioned, “Where did he learn to fish?”
“I taught him, though he had a learning curve to overcome.”, I chuckled, “I hope you don’t mind I did that.”
“No…no, I don’t mind…”, she said with a sad expression, “I don’t understand it…he has lived here for a while now but never opened up to me. You meet him in the morning, and by the evening he is the happiest I have seen him in a long time.”
Patting her on the shoulder, I told her there wasn’t a manual for being a parent.
“You have to look at things from his perspective, Heroing is what took his family from him. He doesn’t like Heroing because he thinks they choose the job over him. Kota is too young to understand that they died protecting innocent people from a villain.”, I advised, “If you want him to open up, meet him where he is and try some of his hobbies. Don’t cram Heroing down his throat because the only thing he knows is the pain that comes from it.”
Looking at the fish he caught again, I saw the pain in her eyes. I knew she’d been trying for a while now to get through to him, but nothing had worked. Telling her that I would be more than happy to spend time with him in the future, I said all he had to do was ask.
“Thank you…”, she stated looking at me with tears running down her face, “I honestly didn’t think I would see his smile again. After his parents passed, he hasn’t smiled even once.”
Telling her that it wasn’t a problem, I bid her a good night and zipped into an outlet heading home for the night. Arriving back at the mansion, I found grandpa playing cards with Gran Torino, All Might, Nezu, and Eraser Head. Waving to them as I set the cooler on the counter, I got to work processing the fish so I could put them in the deep freeze.
“Went fishing did you?”, grandpa asked, “I didn’t know you liked fishing.”
“Yeah, I really enjoy it.”, I replied.
“You making sashimi?”, Gran Torino inquired.
“Heck no, I am not taking the risk of getting a parasite. These fish are for future meals.”, I remarked, “I am probably going to go out for tacos or something.”
Looking at me like I was crazy, they asked where I was going to get tacos in Japan. Shaking my head at them, I put the fish away and zipped into a nearby outlet. Returning fifteen minutes with a Taco Shack bag, I said that nowhere was more than a few milliseconds away for me with a grin.
“You didn’t grab any for me!?”, grandpa gasped seemingly offended by it.
“No I didn’t, I am not a food delivery service.”, I chuckled as I went up to my room to eat.
—Several Days Later—
Finishing my patrol, I was currently on my way to Mirko’s residence on the edge of town. She apparently lived out here because it allowed her to build a training field without any restrictions. Finding her warming up with a training dummy, she was too into it to realize that I was watching her. Waiting for an opportune moment to show itself, I called out to her to get her attention.
“How long have you been staring their gawking at me!”, she shouted.
“Didn’t want to ruin your warm-up, can’t have you blaming me for throwing you off your game.”, I remarked with a smirk.
Looking me over with a nod, she said she was happy I dressed for the occasion. Telling me she didn’t want to get my outfit covered in dirt, I retorted that I was happy she wasn’t in a bunny costume since Easter was months away still. Twitching with an irritated expression, she told me to shut up and get ready to spar already. Setting the Amp to the side, I did some stretches and cracked my neck before giving her the thumbs up.
“What’s the rules?”, I asked.
“No using Quirks, first to tap out or faint loses.”, she replied with a smirk, “Remember to tap when you had enough.”
“Yep, I will remember to look for your tap.”, I snickered.
Taking spots ten feet apart from one another, we counted to ten before starting. Leaping forward, I tilted my head a few degrees to the left to barely avoid a spinning kick she opened up with. Squatting down to dodge the other leg, she clicked her tongue as she flew past me. Turning around to lock onto me again, she nearly fell on her butt when she saw my face mere inches from the front of her face in mid-air.
Expecting me to punch her, she put her arms to block the blow but I wasn’t going for a punch. Slamming my right knee straight down on the top of her head, she hit the ground hard causing the ground to spiderweb. Continuing into a front flip and then a barrel roll, I spun around to see her shakily getting back to her feet. I had pulled my blow substantially, but I still kneed her pretty hard.
“Haha!! Now that was a hit!!”, she laughed with a battle junkie grin, “I have been dying for someone to stop restraining themselves because I am a woman. Bring it on Sparky!”
“Jeez, someone must have smashed your chocolate eggs this morning.”, I chuckled, “Here I come!”
Rushing towards her, she started bouncing on her feet waiting to find where I was going to go. Watching my movements closely, she tried to follow where the strike would come from but before she could I blasted her twelve consecutive hits knocking the wind out of her. Skipping across the ground in a heap, it took her a few moments to realize what happened.
Jumping back to her feet with a determined smile, she lunged forward with raw abandonment. Watching my hands fluidly move in the air, Mirko thought she saw an opening and went for it. Throwing a right hook, she intended to purposefully miss and use the moment to hit me with her heel. Unfortunately, I saw the move coming from a mile away and closed the gap through her timing off completely.
Taking a firm stance, I delivered a one-inch punch straight to her gut. Spewing up a mouthful of air, she was slid backwards and dropped to one knee as she held her stomach. Decades of training had given me the ability to control where the kinetic energy of my punches go. For most people, the energy would transfer to the ground or through them, but when you were hit by my punch you took every newton internally. This meant that a light punch from me hit like a golden glove boxer adding in my knowledge of pressure points and weak joints in multiple races…I could easily kill someone with a well-placed finger jab.
