"Once upon a time, there was once a little sparrow from a far away land.", a dark blue haired, middle aged, handsome man narrated as he sat next to a little boy's bed with a small book in his hands.

"He was a small, adorable young 'un, but unlike common sparrows, this one was different...and you know why?", the middle aged man asked the child, who was wrapped in his blanket and was intently listening to the man.

"Why is it, dad?", the child asked the man.

"Well, the thing with this sparrow, is that... it has blue feathers.", the man explained.

"A color that's never been seen on sparrows before.", he continued.

"And that blue bird...

...is the main character, of our little story.", the man said with a smile as he patted the child's head.

______________________________________

"LIGHTNING EDGE!", Eiji shouted as he charged and kicked at Jun with pointed lightning on the bottom of his feet.

"Tch-", Jun clicked his tongue as he turned and jumped to the side from his position.

There, a bunch of holes were on the ground.

Cannonballs, ashes and debris were all bunched up there.

'Crap!'

Eiji, noticing that Jun jumped out of his aim, quickly canceled his ability, and turned his kicking posture into a squatting posture with one hand in front of him to lessen the impact.

"TAKE THIS!", Jun shouted while firing a cannonball towards Eiji's direction.

Eiji, widened his eyes seeing this, and was regrettably...

"GWWAAAHH!"

...hit by Jun's cannonball.

*BAAAM*

"GUUH!"

He was shot towards the arena wall, banging the back of his head towards it.

He landed sitting next to the wall, with his head bleeding and the cannonball on his lap.

"What's the matter, Eiji? Aren't you gonna do one of your smartass plans again, huh? You're still a goddamn weakling after all this time.", Jun told him with an intimidating manner as he walked towards him and squatted down to level his eye sight with him.

"...Uhhh... Still a heavy hitter, huh?... Jun?... You're still as relentless as ever.", Eiji, who was obviously in pain replied with a cheery smile.

Jun, seeing this slightly widened his eyes, but then clenched his fist and stood up.

"Smiling again, huh? Are you really that much of a masochist? I can't believe a wuss like you even landed being with her.", Jun insulted him with an annoyed expression.

"Guh!", Eiji grunted as he lifted the cannonball to the side.

He then pulled himself by putting his palm on his knee and stood up.

He prepared his lightning again and grinned, with a bleeding face, at Jun.

"I'm not done yet.", he replied.

Jun, seeing this, widened his eyes again and clenched his teeth.

"TAKE THAT STUPID GRIN OFF YOUR FACE, YOU FUCKER!", he shouted as he aimed his cannon at him.

Eiji, seeing this, smiled and aimed his palm at Jun as well.

______________________________________

"What's going on!? I can't see Ra-chan with the floor covering them like that! He can't possibly be trying to hurt my poor little Ra-chan like that, isn't he!?", Akiko nervously commented.

"Uhhh, mom. The very point of the battle is to hurt their opponents, so...", Akio replied to her with a wry smile.

"Muuu... Still, I won't forgive him if he hurts Ra-chan!", Akiko responded with a pout.

Ana and Akio were showing wry smiles as Akiko continued to express her worry for Ra-chan.

After expressing his amusement for his mother's antics though, Akio suddenly reverted back to his serious expression as he stared at the arena.

'... Still, bro's really fighting him, huh?', Akio thought.

["Ishikawa Akio.", Kazuki, who stood next to a tree near the entrance of the simulated arena called out to Akio.

Next to the entrance was Ai and Tamiko, apparently waiting for someone too.

There, Akio, Akiko and Ana were just about to get inside the audience seats to watch the match together.

"It's me. Do you need me for something?", Akio asked Kazuki as he placed closer to him.

"There's something I would like to ask you. Can you follow me for a moment?", Kazuki asked with a respectful but intimidating tone.

Akio showed a serious expression as he nodded.

"Io-chan...?", Akiko called out his name with confusion.

"You guys go before me, I'll follow later.", Akio told them with a forced smile.

Akiko and Ana felt worried but decided to let him do so.

"Alright, see you later!", Ana gave her farewells as she and his mother walked in.

Akio followed as Kazuki walked he towards the back of the arena, where a couple of trees made shade.]

'... He's the one bro spoke about...huh?'

Next to them, was Kana, who was showing a serious expression, as if thinking that this battle wasn't just for amusement.

'That brat. He's isolated them so no one could interrupt their battle. He's actually trying to kill Akira!', Kana thought as she glared at the arena.

["WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? GET BACK HERE!", Kazuki who's still enraged screamed.

He kept smashing rocks on the ground and looked back everywhere trying to look for him.]

'He was extremely enraged back then during their group battles, to the point where he chased him all over the place just to land some hits on him. Akira was able to fight back though due to that girl helping him, but now, he's fighting that bulldozer all by himself!', she thought.

"Asami-sensei.", Elasticity, who was sat about a row below them, next to Sir Knight, crept close to Kana and whispered to her ear.

"The kid who tried hunting down your nephew was the one who trapped them, right? Should we really let this battle continue? If we don't stop them, they might do something really reckless.", Elasticity suggested.

Kana seemed to be at a loss.

She gave Akira some advice before on how to deal with Kazuki, but she wasn't sure whether he would even try thinking about listening to Akira.

He has held that grudge for so long that the first contact they had, he was already itching to kill him.

There might a chance that Kazuki wouldn't even let Akira talk, or if he does get the chance to speak, Kazuki might not even believe in Akira's words.

"We should stop-"

"Kana?", Akiko, seeing Elasticity and Kana whisper to each other, was a bit confused as to what they were whispering about and called out her name.

"Is something wrong? Why do you two look so worried?", Akiko asked them.

Elasticity showed her a concerned expression, and wanted to tell her, when suddenly, Kana decided to reply to her instead.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it, sis."

'It would be best not to get her in this mess.', she thought.

She then turned to the arena, and focused on the battle, ignoring Elasticity's statement earlier.

From the other side of the arena, were the Class 1-2 support students, who were worriedly and seriously watching the events in the arena.

Megumi held her hands in front of her in a praying position and stared at the scene with concern.

'Akira...', she thought.

______________________________________

["He was found dead due to bleeding, one of those villains probably found a chance to stab him at the back."]

["No matter who tries to hurt you, I'll always there to protect you."]

["Ki-chan... We're leaving... now. So make sure you've said your farewells to all your friends."]

["Everything's ok now. We're here to save you. So don't worry."]

["...

...Goodbye."]

"TAKE THIS!", Kazuki screamed as he aimed his inflated fist towards Akira.

"I SAID WAIT A MINUTE, YOU FUCKING-"

*BBBBBOOOOMM*

Akira, who was about to be hit by the large fist, quickly jumped out of the way.

Kazuki's fist hit the floor, creating a large, but shallow hole on it.

"INOUE! I SAID LET'S TALK FOR A MI-"

Before Akira could finish his sentence, Kazuki was ready to swing his fist at him again.

'Tch-'

*BBBBBOOOOMM*, another hole cracked as Akira dodged his fist.

Akira started running away from him again seeing this.

"GET BACK HERE!", Kazuki shouted at him.

'Goddammit! He's too focused on killing me! It doesn't seem like he'll be giving me any time to talk!', Akira thought as he ran away.

Kazuki and Akira were both hidden under a large dome made by inflating the arena floor and covering them.

Due to this, no light was seen in the area, except for the light of their abilities.

Akira tried canceling his abilities to somehow surprise Kazuki by punching him in the darkness,but with his ability, he could strike in a 360 degree range.

He could inflate his fists and strike him with a powerful punch, he could also inflate the ground making what seems to be tidal waves made out of stone.

With just his sheer strength and skill, Akira knew he was no match for him.

'Even without that other guy's help, Inoue packs a strong punch. It'd be hard for me to try and beat him to his senses.', thought Akira.

"DIE!", Kazuki shouted as he inflated the ground in front of Akira with his palms touching the ground.

*BAAAAAAMMMM*

"GAAAH!"

The ground in front of Akira, inflated into what seems to be a wave like figure and struck Akira like a fist, shooting him away.

'Shit!', Akira thought as he spawned a shield behind his back.

*TTTUUGG*

"Guh!"

The shield on his back, smashed on the ground, causing it to shatter.

"Damn it!"

Akira laid on the ground, injured and bloodied, trying to pull himself up.

"Up until now, you still can't help but be a coward, Ishikawa.", Kazuki told him while walking towards him.

"You were conceited enough to stab my father on the back, but you're too much of a coward to face me head on.", he continued.

He kept walking, until he was in front of the exhausted Akira.

He kept his eyes on his bloodied face, and glared at his appearance.

"Heh...", Akira voiced with a sly grin on his face.

"Am I really the coward here, Inoue?", Akira told him as he slowly stood up and brushed himself off.

Kazuki, hearing this clenched his fist.

"What the hell are you on about?", he replied with an annoyed tone.

"Aren't you a coward as well? You can't even go anywhere without carrying a goddamn stick up your ass.", Akira mocked him.

"Tch-", Kazuki, hearing this, clicked his tongue and quickly inflated his right arm, and aimed a fist at Akira.

"THIS IS FOR MY FATHER!", he shouted.

"Guh-"

Akira quickly put his right forearm in front of him and poured his energy on it.

*BBBBAAAAAAAAAAM*

His fist quickly shot at him like a missile.

...but for some reason....

Kazuki's fist stopped right as it hit Akira's right forearm.

'What just...?'

Kazuki's eyes widened as he saw what happened.

A bright green colored claw, was equipped on Akira's right arm and a bright green half mask was equipped on Akira's left eye.

His fist stopped right at the gauntlet, as if it was made out of steel.

"How did you-"

"You're not the only one fighting for something, Inoue!"

Akira, noticing an opening, quickly dashed to the right, avoiding the fist, and charged straight towards Kazuki.

"YOU!"

Kazuki quickly deflated his right fist, crouched and put his palms on the ground.

"RAISE!", he chanted.

The ground before him quickly raised like a wall.

"I'm not falling for that shit!", Akira spouted as he jumped up before the wall could completely block his path.

"ISHIKAWA!"

Akira quickly jumped and lashed his claw, aiming at Kazuki.

Kazuki quickly inflated both of his arms and formed an x like pose in front of him, planning to block his attack.

...but before he could-

*KKKKKUUGGGGGGG*

"GAH!"

The wall that Kazuki inflated, curved back and hit Akira's back, slamming him on the ground and trapping him under it.

"GUH!", Akira suddenly spat blood.

"I admit, that new ability you have surprised me, but that's not enough to deal me any damage.", Kazuki replied as he stared down at Akira.

"...Ino...ue.", Akira called on his name.

"What? Are you planning to beg for forgiveness or something?"

"You bastard..."

"..."

Suddenly, the figure of two small black haired child wearing a worn black shirt with a devilish grin, flashed on Kazuki's mind.

One of them opened his mouth with an eerie tone and said:

["...

...Goodbye."]

Kazuki, who had a face full of hatred, inflated his right arm again, and pointed his fist towards the weak Akira.

'This is for you.... Dad-'

"Inoue."

Before Kazuki could swing at Akira, he suddenly called out his name again.

Planning to ignore him, Inoue continued to swing his fist at Akira.

'Die-'

"You knew that we weren't the ones who killed your father, didn't you?", Akira continued.

Inches before Kazuki's fist could swing at Akira, he suddenly stopped.

"...", Kazuki just kept silent.

"You knew that my brother and I weren't your father's murderer.", Akira told him.

"... You're wrong."

"You realized as soon as you heard about me but didn't want to lose the goal you've chasing."

"You're wrong."

"You knew-"

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Kazuki suddenly continued his punch and aimed at Akira's skull, but before he could..

*TAANG*

The wall pushing Akira down suddenly started deflating, Akira, quickly pushed himself up and posed his gauntlet in front of him, blocking his fist with his claw.

'I KNEW IT!', Akira thought.

["COME BACK HERE, ISHIKAWA!"

*BOOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

At the center of the coliseum were Kazuki and Akira.

Kazuki kept striking the ground Akira was running on but Akira kept blocking and dodging.

Suddenly, Kazuki put his, gigantic hands on the ground and inflated a mountain in front of Akira.

Akira was suddenly pulled back as Kazuki put both his hands together and planned to crush him with them.]

[Akira was suddenly struck by Kazuki's both hands but he used his right shield to protect against it.

Akira kept struggling while blocking with his shield against the hands when suddenly...

Akira's shield broke...]

'All those fights I saw Inoue participated in...

He hasn't mastered using his inflated arms and keeping objects inflated at the same time. He has to juggle between using one of them.'

*BBAAAMMM*

"AUGH!"

He wasn't able to prepare himself against the force of Kazuki's fist though, and was smashed towards the deflating wall.

"ISHIKAWA!", Kazuki shouted out as he charged with his giant fist glowing at Akira.

"...GUH! INOUE!", Akira shouted out as he brushed himself off and ran towards him with his brightly glowing claw about to swing at him.

Inoue quickly curved his fist towards Akira.

"STOP, INOUE!"

Akira, noticing this, suddenly crouched down and spawned three vertical shields on top of one another, lifting him up.

*CCRRRAAAACCCKK*

Inoue's fist hit and broke the three shields causing Akira to fall on top of his fist.

"YOU ASKED FOR THIS, FUCKER!", Akira shouted as he clung on his arm and aimed his claw on it.

*SLLLAAAASSSH*

"GGUHH!", Kazuki groaned.

Akira slashed at Kazuki's thick arm, and made his energy leak through it.

"GGGYYAAAAHH!", Kazuki quickly waved his fist and shook it trying to get Akira away.

*BAAAMM*

"GUH!", Akira groaned as Kazuki successfully flung him away, making him to crash towards the ground.

"CRUSH!", Kazuki shouted as he touched his left palm towards the ground and inflated the soil ground near Akira, creating two large figures of inflated soil, planning to crush Akira with it.

"SHIT!", Akira spouted as he quickly rolled away and pulled himself up.

*BBBBBOOOOMM*, large clusters of soil quickly fell near him.

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!", Kazuki shouted as he ran and aimed his right giant fist at him again.

Akira, quickly turned back from the soil clutter and ran towards Kazuki with his claw aimed at him again.

'His weapon is too small to reach me, he's just desperately trying to cling on false hope.', Kazuki thought as he aimed his right fist at him.

Akira, seeing this suddenly targeted Kazuki's fist that was about to swing at him.

His palms that were wide open, planning to slash Kazuki with his claws, Akira... suddenly clenched them into a fist.

'What is he-', Kazuki's eyes widen as Akira aimed his gauntlet fist at Kazuki's giant fist.

Akira's gauntlet suddenly glowed much more.

Suddenly... their fists hit each other's.

*BBBBBOOOOMMMMMM*

""GGGAAAAAHHH!!""

Kazuki and Akira were both shot away as the force of their punches blew each other away.

"You... knew we didn't do it... but you just kept... holding onto your one false lead!", Akira told him as he slowly brushed himself off again and ran towards Kazuki.

"YOU DON'T KNOW... ANYTHING!", Kazuki replied as he brushed himself off as well and ran towards him.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

"AAUUUGHHH!"

Kazuki's fist quickly hit Akira away, throwing him down on the ground.

"MY FATHER'S DEAD!... AND THE MURDERER IS HERE!... THAT'S ALL I NEED TO KNOW!", Kazuki shouted at him.

Kazuki slowly walked towards him, a bit wobbly, as he wiped away the blood on his lips.

"YOU-!", Akira, who was on the ground, quickly stood up and ran at Kazuki, surprising him.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

"GGUUUHHH!!"

Akira's glowing gauntlet quickly smashed at Kazuki's face throwing him down on the ground.

"YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE!... AND YOU JUST CAN'T ACCEPT IT!", Akira shouted at him back.

"Tch-", Kazuki clicked his tongue as he quickly stood up and charged at Akira again.

*TTTTTTUUUUUGGGG*

He tried to punch Akira's face, but before he could reach his face, he quickly blocked it with his gauntlet.

"FACE IT, INOUE! ... YOU WERE WRONG! YOU WERE A GODDAMN FOOL!", Akira shouted at him.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!-"

"I KNOW! A PERSON CAN'T AWAKEN TWICE!", Akira interrupted him.

Inoue clenched his teeth and kept pushing, as if he already knew about this...but was just not listening.

["The day you awakened, was the day you first gained your ability. Once you awaken it, you won't be able...

...to... awaken it again.", Kana, who was inside the principal's office and sat on her chair, told Akira.

"So...what you're saying is...."

"That if you really awakened your ability all those years ago...

You wouldn't have been able to save all those people in the train.", she explained.

"This might not be common knowledge to many, but since the one after you is someone who was once the child of one of the topmost heroes, he should probably have known about this.", she continued.

"Then...doesn't that mean...-"

"He's after you because he's confused. He has no other leads towards the murderer of his father except for the fact that the children who were once involved in that incident resemble your appearances."

Akira, hearing this, slightly widened his eyes.]

"YOU KNEW ...BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN, AND KEPT FOLLOWING THE ONLY LEAD YOU HAD!"

"Shut up."

Kazuki's arm, that was already leaking energy, grew larger, as if fed by his anger.

"YOU WERE TOO BLINDED BY THE FACT THAT WE RESEMBLE THOSE PEOPLE, THAT YOU KEPT FOLLOWING THE WRONG TRACK!"

"Shut up."

Kazuki's arm grew even larger and larger.

"WE DIDN'T KILL YOUR FATHER-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Suddenly, Kazuki's arm grew really large as he kept pushing at Akira gauntlet.

Akira's feet slowly slided away as he kept being pushed.

"DIE, ISHIKAWA!"

Suddenly, Kazuki's arm stretched as he was slightly able to push Akira with his fist...however...

"Inoue-"

Akira's left arm suddenly glowed green as he stayed to block Inoue's fist.

His left arm started glowing brighter and brighter and brighter as he pulled it and clenched his left fist.

"I'M GONNA BEAT SOME SENSE INTO YOU!"

______________________________________

"AAUUUGHHH!", Eiji screamed out as his bloodied, injured body laid on the floor with Jun straddling him.

"THIS... IS THE END, EIJI!", Jun, who seemed to be severely injured as well told him as he held down Eiji's right arm with his left hand, Eiji's legs with his knees and pointed his cannon hand to his face.

"YOU'RE STILL... A GODDAMN WEAKLING!", he continued.

"Not...yet-", Eiji replied as he charged his lightning with his right hand.

"YOU IDIOT!", Jun shouted at him.

*SLLAAM*

"GAH!", Eiji groaned as Jun pulled his right arm and slammed it on the ground.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

"AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHH!!"

"GGGUUUUUHHHHH!"

Jun, suddenly moving Eiji, made him lose concentration, causing him to electrocute them both.

"I... I'm not...g-giving up...", Eiji, who was bloodied, weak and injured told Jun.

"Y...YOU FUCKING-"

"Light...ning-"

*SLAAAAAM*

"GAH!"

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHH!"

"GGGGGUUUHHH!"

Eiji kept stubborn and tried using his lightning, leading to them both being shocked by his ability again.

"SHOT BARRAGE-"

"LIGHTNING-"

*SSLLLAAAAAM*

"GGGAAAAAHHH!"

"AAAAUUUGGGHH!"

Jun tried shooting at him with his cannon continuously, but Eiji tried using his lightning again, causing them to shock both of them again, preventing his ability to procure.

"GIVE IT UP, EIJI! YOU'RE NOT... GONNA WIN!"

"Tamiko..."

Jun's eyes widen as he heard her name from his mouth.

"She's...cheering for me..."

His shocked expression slowly turned into anger.

"... That's why I-"

"SHOT BARRAGE-"

Before Eiji could finish his sentence, Jun placed his cannon hand directly pointing at his face.

"Lightning-"

*SLLLLLAAAAAAMM*

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZ-*

"AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHH!"

"GGGUUGHH!-"

*BAAAANNGGG*

As both of them were being shocked, Jun forced a cannonball to shoot out of his hand aimed directly at Eiji's face.

"Y...you..."

Jun stared at Eiji as his bloodied, injured body, finally fell unconscious.

"Tch-", he clicked his tongue as he pulled himself to stand up, although a bit wobbly.

'This fucker...', Jun thought as he stared at Eiji's unconscious body.

He turned his eyes towards a part of the audience...

There, some people were cheering, some were chatting, some were just eagerly watching.

He stood there and looked at a certain figure for a moment.

He then continued his way towards the dome Kazuki formed.

'Now, to deal with that last rat-'

Suddenly though...

A wave of bright white and green lights came seeping out of the dome.

'What the-'

*BBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM*

A strong green explosion suddenly occured.

Kana, Akiko, Akio, Ana, the support class 1-2, and the rest of the audience members, had their eyes all widened by this scene.

"What the hell just...?"

"An explosion?"

"What happened!?"

The audience members were all shocked by what they saw.

An explosion, a large heavy impact ability just happened from inside the dome, blocking their sights with the smoke.

Not only did the scale of the explosion surprise them, but also, the thought that two ability users who both have simple physical oriented abilities, had for some reason, caused an explosion to happen.

"... Akira...", Kana spouted.

"What the...?", from another side of the audience seats, Ken voiced as he was leaning in closer to look at the arena.

The gray haired man Akira met a while ago, who sat next to a bunch of higher year students, stared at this scene.

"Heh.", he grinned.

From the arena, stood Jun, who had his eyes wide.

"Inoue...?", he called out to Kazuki.

The smoke started to fade as the scene before then finally showed it's face.

On the center of the arena, stood Akira, who's clothes were all torn and was bloody everywhere.

His gauntlet and glow he had earlier, were all gone.

His head was hanging low as he stood there, unmoving.

"Y-you...how did-"

On the very wall of the stadium, sat Kazuki Inoue who was for some reason, struck out by Akira.

His clothes were torn as well, his body was bloodied, his arm was back to it's original size and his eyes were wide with shock.

*tug*

Suddenly, Akira, fell to his knees.

Kazuki stared at this scene and watched...

As Akira... slowly fell to the ground...

...and lost consciousness.

"Th-that's it... Taiho Jun of Savior class 1-5 and Inoue Kazuki of Support class 1-2 has won the match!", States nervously announced.

"""YYYEEEAAAAHHH!!"""

The audience suddenly cheered loudly as they heard this result.

"And that concludes our matches for today, for tomorrow, we will-"

Kazuki sat there, weak and tired as his vision slowly got blurred and his body fell unconscious.

______________________________________

"The sparrow then flew towards the air and saved the day!"

"That's amazing, dad! When are you gonna finish it?"

"It won't be long, Ki-chan. Once I finish writing it, I'll make sure you're the first one to read it!"

"... Thanks, dad! I'll be looking forward to it!"

"Sure, you will, little rascal! Now come down and get some dinner, or mom will be very angry with us."

"Uhhh...just five more minutes, dad."

"I knew it! You were just buttering me up because you want to keep playing that video game, weren't you?"

"...but dad..."

"Come on, we don't want to make mommy angry, right?"

"...uhhh...alright..."

______________________________________

"Hey Kazuki, I've just reached level 20 last night!", a brown short haired child with crooked teeth bragged with a confident smile while showing a peace sign towards him.

"Heeeh... Well, I just reached level 31 and I beat the red wizard last night! How about that!", the dark blue haired child bragged back with a confident smile.

"Guh! Well, I'll be beating your level tonight! You better be scared!", the brown haired child jokingly teased him.

The dark blue haired child and a bunch of other little boys seemed to be chatting about a game with one another inside their classroom.

All of them are wearing their uniforms and seemed to have just been chatting about a video game that has been getting popular.

"Hey Kazuki! I heard your dad just destroyed a whole base of lowlife villains last night! I replayed it so many times in the Savior watch website!", a black kempt haired child eagerly told him.

"Yeah, yeah! You're dad's so cool! It must be so awesome to be the Augmentor's son!", a kid with a shaved head and really small eyes told him as well.

"Well...it isn't that great... It's true it's kind of cool and all, but I got used to it. It's not really that amazing when you hear that stuff all the time.", Kazuki responded with a wry smile while scratching the back of his head.

"You can't say that! You're probably the luckiest kid alive to have him as your dad! I bet you're really proud of him deep inside!", the brown haired child told him.

"It isn't much of a deal actually...", Kazuki replied.

Everyone I knew...always had been.. looking up to my dad.

______________________________________

"You're the Augmentor's son? Oh, you do have his handsome face, dear! I bet you'll be a great hero as well when you grow up!"

A teacher once told me that... and she acknowledged me as just 'the Augmentor's son'.

______________________________________

"Gah!", Kazuki groaned as he fell to the ground.

"Inoue, are you okay?", a black haired plain faced female asked him.

They were inside what seems to be a school gymnasium.

There, Kazuki and his classmates wore their gym clothes and were tasked to playing basketball for their class.

"S-sorry... I think I sprained my ankle...", he told them while holding his heel.

"Really? Come on, I made a tough choice by letting you join our team. Are you really that Augmentor's son?", a curly haired plain faced boy told him.

"Come on dude, don't be so harsh on him. He's not that used to sports. You know how his dad's always busy being a savior.", the brown haired child butted in.

"His dad could bring down villains like they're nothing. Guess his blood didn't flow in his veins.", the curly haired guy insulted him.

My dad has always been the criteria people used to judge me with.

______________________________________

"A civil servant?", the brown haired child asked Kazuki with a surprised expression.

They seemed to be playing some card game inside their class, during recess time.

"Yeah, I kind of want to be that... you know. I just want a sort of peaceful, non-violent future.", Kazuki explained.

"...Are you serious? Why?", the brown haired child asked him.

"I'm serious, dude. I won't be lying about stuff like that.", Kazuki replied with a wry smile.

"...but your dad's a famous savior!", the brown haired child told him.

Hearing this, Kazuki's smile twitched a little.

"Doesn't mean I have to follow his footsteps.", he replied with a rather lazy tone.

"...but what if you get his powers too? You can't possibly be planning to not make use of it!"

"It might sound great and all, but I like living a peaceful life more."

Whenever I tell them what I wanted to be in the future, they'd always tell me the same thing...

'Why?' 'Your dad is an amazing savior, why don't you become one as well?' 'But what if you get his powers?'

All of them, I've already heard too many times to count.

______________________________________

"Inoue-kun, these past weeks, you haven't been doing well with your studies, is something wrong?", an old plain faced teacher wearing a formal suit asked Kazuki.

"S-sorry... Sir... I got too into a game I was playing... and I sort of forgot to study...", Kazuki replied with a nervous tone.

They were inside what seems to be the faculty.

The teacher is sitting on his seat next to his desk as he reprimanded Kazuki, who stood there with his head laying low.

"Well, you better fix yourself, young man. Just because you're the son of the Augmentor, doesn't mean you get a free pass to the top. You need to work for it.", the teacher told him with a concerned angry tone.

Hearing this, Kazuki's slightly opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but closed it again and just told him:

"Yes...sir."

Again and again, they kept doing the same thing.

______________________________________

"You're the Augmentor's son! Soon, you'll be a great savior too. You shouldn't be going around fighting kids that pissed you off!"

"Your test results are a pain to look at, Inoue-kun. Your dad's out there fighting villains! You can't be here getting failing results in your exams!"

"A civil servant? What's gotten into you? You might as well give that up. People are rooting for you to become a Savior."

"Are you really his son? You always get bad results in physical fitness."

"Your dad's a great hero. Not only you, but lots of other people look up to him."

______________________________________

"... I punched him straight and he fell down immediately!", Kazuki's dad said as he pointed his fist up with a smug expression.

"Haaah. I told you not to be too reckless, I got all scared watching your fight earlier as well.", a black haired beautiful woman replied to Kazuki's dad.

Kazuki, his dad and his mom, were all sat together in the dining room eating some curry for their dinner.

There, Kazuki's dad was just narrating how he beat up a villian he fought earlier.

"Honey, me and some of the other housewives were all chatting with each other earlier. We all talked about how Ki-chan is slowly getting even more and more handsome!", Kazuki's mom said as she turned towards Kazuki's dad and Kazuki.

"Hehehe! Well, since he's growing up to become more like me, that's a definite given!", Kazuki's dad joked with a smug expression as he posed his right hand like a check mark and placed it below his chin.

Kazuki's mom giggled hearing this.

*ting*

Suddenly, Kazuki's fork, that he was holding fell to the plate as if it suddenly slipped out of his hand.

"Ki-chan...? Is something wrong?", his dad asked with a worried expression.

"... It's nothing, dad."

______________________________________

"Hey Kazuki.", the brown haired child called him.

They were inside their classroom where Kazuki was chatting with his friends when the brown haired child came with a handsome blond haired guy.

"Hey, need me for something?", he asked the brown haired child.

"Heard about Kiyoshi. He's a new student from class 5-C. I told him about you and he said he's always been a fan of your dad. How about you let him meet him?", he asked with a friendly smile.

"... S-sorry about that... I can't do it today. My dad's busy, so he can't really see you. We could hang out and play a new game I bought in my place.", Kazuki told him with a forced smile.

"... Ahhh...that's ok. We'll just see him when he gets back tomorrow.", he replied with a wry smile.

"Hey, Kazuki. The journalism club was discussing earlier about next week's article. We want to get to interview your dad, is that ok?", the shaved head child ask him.

"I'm...not sure if he's free...but I'll ask him.", Kazuki replied to him with a forced smile yet again.

"Hey Kazuki-"

"Okay, I'm back, class.", the teacher suddenly came in and greeted them.

The class quickly became quiet seeing him.

"I've gotten a list of what the past classes did for their cultural festivals. We can use this as reference if you needed to. For now, how about we just start with your suggestions.", the old male teacher told them.

"Sensei! We should make a play about a romance movie!"

"We can make a small café and serve customers!"

"Sensei!", suddenly, the brown haired child butted in and called out their teacher as well.

"How about we get Kazuki's dad to come to our class during the festival?", he asked.

Kazuki's eyes slightly widened as he heard this.

"Yeah! And Inoue-san could act as the leader since his dad is coming here as well.", a plain faced girl suggested.

Kazuki, hearing this, clenched his fist.

"Yeah! After all...

...He is the Augmentor's son-"

"SHUT UP!", as the brown haired child spoke, Kazuki suddenly stood up and shouted with an angry expression.

Unable to control his temper, he shouted in front of the class without hesitation.

The children, hearing him shout, widened their eyes in shock and surprise.

"Ino...ue-kun?", the teacher called out his name.

Feeling quite humiliated, Kazuki ran out of class with his face looking down.

'They just don't understand!', Kazuki thought.

______________________________________

"Come back here, Whirlpool!"

"Stop right there!"

"You can't keep running forever!"

Near the school Kazuki was in, a scene between a sharp eyed man wearing a yukata with a large handkerchief as a mask, sliding through town by pouring liquid through his feet, and three men with bodysuits.

'These idiots won't leave me alone.', the man with the yukata thought.

'I need to stick to my plan. As long as I could get revenge against Augmentor, the plan would be successful... but first, I need to shake these idiots off me first.', he thought.

Suddenly, as he slid around, he suddenly saw a manhole on the ground.

'I got it.'

He quickly stopped, melted his body, then entered the hole.

"He's running away in the sewers!", one of the men in bodysuits said as he saw the scene.

"Let's go!"

The three men quickly jumped in the dark sewers as to chase after the man.

"Where is he?", one of the men in bodysuits wondered.

"He couldn't have gone far away.", another one said.

At the ceiling of the dark sewers, a glint of two red lights flashed as if eyes were there.

"Goodbye, young saviors.", a whisper was heard.

From outside the sewers, the screams of the saviors were heard as they all lost their lives there.

______________________________________

"Those...

...idiots! *sniff* They just can't stop talking about dad, can't they? *sniff*", Kazuki, who was sat next to the dumpster behind their school, cried as he reminisced what happened.

"Your dad this, your dad that. *Sniff* You're his son, you're supposed to be all great. *sniff* Can't they understand that I just want to be left alone!", he complained as he cried more.

I was getting sick of it, being treated as an object created with his blood.

Never being treated as a single individual that just wants to be cut off from all the judgments.

I didn't understand why everyone acted as if I was just a jewel due to my father's reputation.

I wanted to be someone known as Kazuki, and not as Kazuto's or the Augmentor's son.

I wanted to be someone cut off from being just- the son of a famous hero.

I wanted to be someone.

And I sought for it... I wished to obtained it.

"*sniff* *sniff*", Kazuki kept crying as he slowly stood up.

'I need to go back to class or they might get worried of me.', Kazuki thought.

'I don't want to go... but-'

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!", suddenly, a loud girl's scream was heard inside the building.

'What the...?', Kazuki thought with a surprised expression.

______________________________________

"W... what just...-", Kazuki's eyes filled with fear as he saw the scene before him.

His body trembled as he saw the faces and bodies of his teachers and classmates.

"G...guys...s-sensei... Who...", Kazuki slowly approached them with obvious fear in his eyes.

He came back to his classroom, wanting to see where the scream came from, just to see... that his classmates and the teacher...

They were all...lying on the ground, unconscious with their eyes open; Their bodies looked as if they had their life sucked out of them. It was as if they lost a lot of weight and dried up.

"...Ka..zuki...", the brown haired child, who was weak and suffering, called out to Kazuki with a stiff voice.

"Takashi!", Kazuki called out his name.

He ran towards him, though with fear in his eyes and held his torso, trying to lift him up.

His body was almost as dried up as the others, his eyes were lifeless and he seemed like he was seconds away from passing out.

"R...u..."

"It's okay! Don't talk! I'll call the principal! I'll get somebody to help us! Just stay strong!"

"R..."

"You don't have to talk! Just rest! I'll get you some water-"

"Kazuki...run-"

Hearing his words, Kazuki's eyes widened, as he noticed a certain shadow creep from behind him.

He trembled as he slowly turned around...

"InOuE KaZuKi..."

Kazuki's body tensed up as he saw the terrifying being behind him.

A black slime like being, wearing a torn yukata, with red eyes showed in front of him.

"YoU mUsT bE tHe AuGmEnToR's son.", he told him with an eerie, amused voice.

"W-who a-are you...!? I-I'm not scared of you! I-I won't let you hurt my friends a-anymore!", Kazuki bodily declared while slowly backing away from him.

"WhAt'S tHe MaTtEr? DoN't Be So DiStAnT. I jUsT cAmE tO pLaY.", the slime told him as he approached Kazuki as well.

Kazuki sweated nervously as he kept backing away from the slime, trying to keep his eyes on him.

"B-back off!", Kazuki told him as he kept trying to back away when he suddenly notices.

*tug*

'No..!'

His back hit onto the wall, preventing him from going anywhere further.

"GoOdByE, lItTlE bOy.", the villain said as his slime arms suddenly stretched and aimed for Kazuki.

"DAD!", he suddenly called out his father, wishing for his appearance.

*BBBBBOOOOMMMMMM*

"GUAAH!"

Kazuki's eyes widen as he saw what happened.

Inches just above his head, a large fist smashed through the wall and struck the slime bodied villain away.

"D...amn... Aug...mentor...y...oi...", the villain said as he smashed towards the ground and fell unconscious.

"You okay there, Ki-chan?", his father, who was wearing a black bodysuit with metal fragments and a black mask asked him as he patted his head from the hole in the wall.

Kazuki's eyes started watering as he turned back towards his dad behind him.

"Ki-chan?"

"*sniff*"

Suddenly, Kazuki hugged his dad as he cried his eyes out on him.

"Don't worry, I'm here now. Don't worry, okay?"

A bunch of other saviors and supports came as well, and took to care for the injured.

______________________________________

"Hey, wake up. Come on, I can't be bothered to visit you just to wait for you to sleep all day.", Kazuki's voice was heard.

Slowly, the person's eyes opened and looked at the lights of the hospital room.

"Kazuki? You know, you should've at least told me if you were going to visit at this time.", the brown haired child, who was laying on the hospital bed told Kazuki with a tired expression.

"There were some sudden news that I just had to tell you now so I made mom brought me here immediately.", Kazuki told him with a slightly serious expression.

"...", the brown haired child kept quiet for a moment, as if to take a quick breathe of air.

"How'd it go with Sensei's funeral?", the brown haired child asked Kazuki with a gloomy expression.

"... Most of the class, some of his family members, friends and even past students came. It was a tragedy, but you were still the one most injured by the incident, the guy really did some research on us before striking us down.", Kazuki answered with a sad, but serious expression as well.

"Listen, Kazuki-"

"It's not my fault? That's part of him being a hero? We can't really change what happened? I know what you're gonna say. The others...well most of them, told me the same as well."

"...but that's not what you're thinking, right?"

Kazuki lowered his head as if feeling guilty about something.

"Dad's always the one everyone looked up to. And I know how much he risks his life saving people... I always get the thought that... maybe if he wasn't my dad, if I wasn't there, things would've been different."

"Kazuki-"

"...but I also feel as if...if it wasn't for him, I would've been dead by now.", Kazuki told him as he showed him a serious expression.

"I know, I'm just being selfish and conceited, but knowing something like that could happen anytime, made me think about things."

"...dude..."

"I've always hated how people compared me to him, and how they all want me to follow a path I never looked upon, but seeing what happened there... It made me think that... I want to make it so things like that won't ever happen again.", Kazuki continued as he looked at his palm and clenched it.

"I want to become a Savior.", Kazuki said as he punched the air in front of the brown haired child.

The child grinned as he heard this statement from Kazuki.

"...but I'm gonna be even stronger than dad."

"What?", the child asked with an incredulous expression as if he heard something ridiculous come out of Kazuki's mouth.

"You heard it. I'm going to beat dad, and be an even stronger savior!", Kazuki boasted as he showed a confident smile towards the child.

"Guess I just can't stop you from dreaming, huh?", the child mocked him with a teasing expression.

"By the way...", Kazuki's expression suddenly turned serious again as he brushed off the child's insult.

"There's something else I need to tell you. It's the reason why I immediately came here after visiting sensei."

"What is it?"

"Well... Since the incident that happened, some of the higher ups decided dad was too known to handle a small town.", Kazuki explained with a serious expression.

"What do you mean?"

"... That means... The reason that strong villain came here is due to the fact that a well known hero who he fought against was here as well... And since he's the only well known hero here, it became a risk for him to stay and be hunted down by strong villains."

"So that means..."

"We have to move away, to a place where there are more well known heroes that could aid us if there ever was an incident like what happened again."

"What? ...then who's gonna protect the town?"

"There are other heroes, underground heroes, who are strong but don't make a name for themselves. They're getting them to protect this place and sending my dad and us away."

"... So the reason you came here immediately is because..."

"... I'm leaving town."

The child slightly widened his eyes, but narrowed it quickly after a moment.

"After what happened, I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay here."

"Kazuki-"

"I'm supposed to feel guilty about what happened, but I decided not to think about that for now."

Kazuki then turned his back from the child and put his right hand on the back of his head.

"Once we go away, I'll make sure I'll get stronger and stronger, so strong that I'll make sure no one would ever be hurt by wretched villains again."

"I won't lose.", the child told Kazuki with a confident smile.

"I wouldn't count on that.", Kazuki replied with a confident smile as well, as he walked towards the door.

"Goodbye.", Kazuki told him without turning back while waving his hand.

"Yeah."

______________________________________

"Ki-chan, we're leaving now. Make sure you've said your farewells to all of your friends.", Kazuki's mom reminded him as she packed the last stuff in the car.

"We'll wait for you.", Kazuki's dad as he stepped out of the driver's seat and scratched the back of his head.

"No. I'm done. Let's go.", Kazuki told them with a gloomy tone.

The two felt worried about their son, but decided to just continue with their ride.

____________________________________

"Training?"

"Yes, dad. Can you train me to become stronger?"

Kazuki and his dad seemed to be inside a different house than back where they came from.

They were just inside their living room when the little Kazuki suddenly asked his father to train him.

"You're still too young to think about things like Savior training. You need to think about it once you get older."

"....but dad! I want to be stronger! You're really strong! I want to be able to fight against those villains and save everyone!"

"Look, Kazuki...", the dad suddenly, kneeled in front of him and held his arms with eyes of concern.

"You've told us once before, right? That you just wanted to live a peaceful life in the future. What happened at your school, you don't have to take responsibility about it. I don't want you to make choices that you might regret sometime in the future.", his dad explained to him.

"...Dad... I want to be a Savior. It's not because of guilt or anything like that. It's just that I learned that that's what I really want to become.", Kazuki responded to him with a serious expression.

His dad stared at his eyes with a serious expression for a moment and then showed a confident grin.

"Being a savior requires a lot of risk. I have my reasons why I both like and dislike you following that path, but if that's what you want, I won't stop you. Remember, daddy's always here to support you, okay? No matter who tries to hurt you, I'll always be there to protect you.", he told him with a bright smile.

"Okay, come on now! Dinner's ready!", the voice of Kazuki's mom was heard.

______________________________________

'A group who called themselves 'The Ressurection', have just declared war against all of mankind...', Kazuki though as he read the article on his computer.

He was inside his and his wife's room checking the news as his wife slept on their bed.

It was already late then, and he was planning to go to bed immediately after checking out the Savior Watch website, when he got stuck on a certain article.

'... Who might be...-', as he scrolled on his mouse wheel, a certain familiar face showed up in his screen.

'This is...', his eyes widen as he saw who it was.

______________________________________

Kazuki was trembling as his parents stood in front of him, as if they were telling him something important as he sat on the couch.

"... W-what do you mean...? M-mom? D-dad?"

Kazuki's dad laid his head low and turned to his face with a serious expression.

He then knelt down to see Kazuki on eye level.

"... Your friend... has passed away, Ki-chan."

Kazuki's eyes started watering as he heard this.

"Y-you're joking, right?... T-they told us...they'd be safe, since there were other heroes there... to protect them, right?", Kazuki asked with a horrified expression.

"... I'm sorry... Ki-chan..."

______________________________________

"Is he ok?", Kazuki's dad asked his wife, as he walked next to his room wearing a bodysuit and a duffel bag as if he just came back from work.

"... Ki-chan's been locking himself inside the room all day... I've been trying to call him out but...", the mom replied with a worried expression.

"Ki-chan!", Kazuki's dad called him as he walked to the room's door and knocked on it.

"Ki-chan, open this door right now!", he continued.

"..."

"He's been like that for hours now. He wouldn't listen to anything I tell him.", the mom worriedly told the dad.

Kazuki's dad, slightly widened his eyes then narrowed it and showed a serious expression, as he opened his duffel bag, to take something from inside it.

"Ki-chan...", he called Kazuki again from outside his room as Kazuki sat on the ground with his legs tucked behind his arms.

His face looked withered as if he lost all the glimmer on his face as he stared at the ground.

"There's something important I want to show you.", Kazuki's dad told him from outside his room.

Kazuki, hearing this became slightly curious as he turned his attention towards the door.

______________________________________

"A manuscript?", Kazuki asked with a curious expression.

"Yes. It's just a manuscript now, but one day, it'll become a book I wrote about someone special, Ki-chan.", his dad told him with a bright smile.

They were inside Kazuki's room.

Kazuki was tucked in his blanket wearing his pajamas while Kazuki's dad was sat down on a chair next to him holding what seems to be a small picture book.

"Once upon a time, there was once a little sparrow from a far away land...

He was a small, adorable young 'un, but unlike common sparrows, this one was different...

...the sparrow, had blue feathers. A color never seen on sparrows before."

The dad then flipped the page as Kazuki started imagining the scene.

______________________________________

Because of his unique trait, other sparrows have come to befriend him, raising him as this being with a special trait that charms others...

The sparrow though, never thought of himself as someone special, and only wished to fit in with others.

Some of the other birds would wonder why he, a sparrow of a unique beautiful color, wasn't as special as they thought he was.

The sparrow was slow, and would tire easily.

He would always be outsmarted by his prey, and hunting was a chore to him.

His strength, unlike others wasn't as impeccable as they thought it would be.

And the worst part of it all...is that...

He couldn't fly.

A bird of his age wasn't able to fly.

He had functional wings, a normal sense of balance and was practically healthy, but he could never gain the courage nor the strength to fall down from the trees and flap his wings.

One day though, during a bright spring morning...

"A dog?", a brown feathered sparrow asked another brown feathered sparrow.

"That's right! The new human of the residence nearby seems to have brought in a creature of that kind. It might be harder for us to swoop down on their grass field to hunt some prey.", another brown feathered sparrow replied.

They were on top of a tree's branch speaking with each other about a certain event that occured.

"Are you guys heading for the western house as well?", the blue feathered sparrow, who was walking on the ground asked those sparrows standing on a branch.

"...", hearing him speak, the other birds suddenly turned their sights onto him.

"If it isn't too much to ask, I'd like to join as well.", the blue bird continued.

"You can't.", one of the brown birds told him.

"Why not?"

"The owner adopted a new creature of some kind. It seems like he made a fence around his fields to keep the creature from running away."

"...but there must be a way-"

"Only birds who can fly can get in the area. You'd best just give up.", one of the other brown birds told him.

"Don't be so hard on him!", the other brown bird told the brown bird.

"I'm just stating the truth, a bird who can't fly, is no bird.", the other brown bird replied.

"...ok...", the bird replied with a downhearted expression.

He then walked away with his feet as the brown birds flew away.

______________________________________

"Chirp chirp", the blue bird chirped as he walked around a plain field with few trees around.

'It's so unfair...', the blue bird thought.

'Everyone's flying there and hanging out with each other, while I'm all alone here...

Why is it that I'm the one who can't fly?'

He kept stepping his feet on the plain ground looking meek and withered.

'If only there's some way I could show them how strong I am! That way... they would help me...hunting prey...'

As he stepped around the field, a certain figure suddenly became visible to him from the distance.

'Is that...a turtle?', he thought as he stared at the approaching figure.

'That's it! Turtles are really strong! If I beat one, they'd all be impressed by me!'

He quickly dashed through the ground and hid behind the tree, waiting for the turtle to pass by.

A few moments later, as the turtle was about to pass the tree he hid behind.

'Hmm?', the turtle wondered as he noticed a figure suddenly jump towards him.

*BAAM!*

Just like that, the young sparrow hit his shell and fell to the ground beside the turtle.

'I'm not giving up!', the blue bird thought as he jumped up and kicked the turtle's shell again.

The turtle noticed the bird, but decided to ignore him as he kept crawling forward.

______________________________________

Days pass and the sparrow did the same thing again and again.

Each day, the turtle would pass that area, the blue sparrow would then sneak up to him and kick his turtle shell.

With the hardness of the turtle shell though, the sparrow wasn't able to do any damage to him.

______________________________________

"Did you hear about the rumors?"

"Yes, it was terrifying..."

A flock of brown feathered birds were all discussing on a tall tree's branches during a bright spring day.

"We should help him, but the creature is too strong for us to take."

"What should we do-"

As they kept discussing about the topic, the blue bird, showed up again on the ground.

"Good day everyone. I've been getting stronger fighting that turtle everyday, and I assure you that I'll be beating him today! That way-"

"Quiet! We have no need for you right now! One of our kind has just been attacked by the creature in the western house!", one of the brown birds told him.

"That's right! You better scoot away somewhere else! Don't you understand what we're discussing is more important than listening to your annoying rants right now!"

"...sorry...", the blue bird told them as he laid his head low and slowly walked away.

"What are we going to do now-"

"Hey, has anyone seen my wife?", the brown bird who told off the blue bird suddenly flew to a branch near them as if trying to start a conversation.

"You're finally here. You must be tired after hunting for your young.", one of the brown birds told him.

"Yes. Although I am slightly concerned about my wife not appearing on our best today. Has anyone of you noticed her?"

The birds, hearing this, looked at each other, and decided to share some bad news to him.

"We're sorry to tell you but... the creature in the western house attacked your wife..."

______________________________________

'Hmmm..?', the turtle wondered.

He was on his way to pass the field he always passes where the blue bird would usually sneak up and attack him.

For some reason though, today, the bird wasn't there.

He waited for him to come and attack him, but noticed he wasn't coming out.

Behind the usual hiding place, was the blue bird, sitting down with a gloomy expression.

The turtle crawled slowly until he was next to the blue sparrow.

"Little bird, what's the matter? Aren't you going to play with me again?", the turtle asked.

The sparrow, who seemed to have just noticed the turtle was slightly shocked and quickly stood up.

"Mr. Turtle? Why are you here?"

"I was wondering why you were sulking behind this tree. Is something the matter, little bird?"

The bird was a bit baffled why the one who he's been attacking for quite a while now has decided to worry for him, but decided to trust him still.

"... It's my fellow sparrows... They spoke news about the creature in the western house hurting one of our kind. We would wish to help them so... but they knew I wouldn't be of any help... so they made me go away.", the sparrow told him with sorrow.

"Why wouldn't you be any help, little bird? Why don't you go out there and help them?"

"I can't do it, Mr. Turtle. Unlike them, I can't fly. I can't even go up the fence that separates it. I would just be a bother."

The turtle, hearing this, made a perplexed expression.

"You can't fly, little bird?"

"... Yes... I can't..."

"...but you're wings are perfectly fine! How do you know you can't fly?"

"...I tried it once before... Flying takes strength and courage... I...

...have neither of those.", he replied.

"... You must be out of your mind, little bird. I can assure you, you must be one of the most bravest and strongest sparrow I have ever met."

"... What do you mean, Mr. Turtle...?"

"Do you not notice that no one has seen you fighting with me? That no bird has ever noticed your bravery to try to defeat me every morning?"

"I do, but...."

"It's because all of the other sparrows are afraid of my presence, and thus, they tend to avoid me, at any way possible.", the turtle replied.

The sparrow was a bit surprised with his statement and listened as he spoke his words.

"You see, little bird. Being strong and being brave isn't just something you could get from when you were born. You have to earn it and learn it. Without patience and hard work. You'll never be strong."

"...but I've never worked to be strong."

"You have. You've been sneaking by me and attacking me these past few weeks, right? You never gave me any time to relax under those circumstances and made sure that one day, you'll beat me, to prove all your peers wrong."

"..."

"Little bird. I want you to know one thing...

You've proven to be a hard worker, willing to give it his all to achieve his goal.

All that's left is for you, to understand that strength you have and use it.

If you truly want to be strong...

... You have to tell yourself... that you are strong..."

The sparrow, hearing this showed a determined look on his face.

______________________________________

In front of a house's backyard, were two birds who seemed hurt.

One has a body tattered body all over, and one has an injured wing.

"Get back!", the bird with an injured wing said as he tried scaring away the creature before them with his wing.

The creature was a large, aggressive Husky Dog, seemingly trying to pounce at the birds and attack them.

"Leave me behind! I'm just holding you back!", the tattered bird told the bird defending her.

"I won't leave you! No matter what the cost!"

They were in a big predicament, since not only did none of the other birds help him save his wife due to their fear of the dog, they were also left injured by it's bite and were cornered by it's large body.

*BBARK!*, suddenly, the dog leaped, as if it planned to crush the two injured birds.

...but before he could reach them...

*swoop*

A bird suddenly flew from outside the fence and picked up the two sparrows with his claws.

The dog was stupefied but immediately barked at the bird who flew away.

His track left a single feather on that area they saved them.

The one proof that makes the bird who saved them really special.

A blue feather.

______________________________________

Just like that, Kazuki's dad put down the manuscript he was reading.

"That was it, dad? What happened in the end?", Kazuki asked.

"I haven't finished it yet, Ki-chan, so I can't tell you that yet."

Kazuki, hearing this, turned away from his dad as if he was tired of listening.

Although it looked as if he wasn't interested anymore, Kazuki's dad slightly smiled and looked at Kazuki's small back.

"People might come and go from our lives some day. And during those times, everything might seem difficult. Since it feels as if you carry a giant weight with you everywhere you go.", he told Kazuki.

"...but during those times, is when you'll need to tell yourself that you are strong the most."

Kazuki slightly widened his eyes hearing this.

"A sparrow never learns how to fly unless it tells itself it could... The same way you won't get through this unless you make yourself believe you could...

I'm sure your friend wouldn't want to see you hurting like that, right?"

With a slight nod, Kazuki answered his question.

"Me and your mom will be waiting for you downstairs. Once you're alright, I'll buy you some of your favorite snacks."

After saying this, he then left the room.

______________________________________

"So what I said was-", as Kazuki's dad and mom spoke with each other, a certain figure suddenly showed up as he looked at them from the stairs.

Kazuki's dad and mom smile seeing this.

"Welcome back, son.", his dad told him with a friendly smile.

______________________________________

"Is your dad the Augmentor?"

"Yes, he is!"

"Are you the Augmentor's son?"

"I sure am!"

"Do you know the Augmentor?"

"He's my dad!"

A few weeks pass, and Kazuki had settled in in his new school.

People would tend to ask if he was the Augmentor's son, but unlike back then, he won't even hesitate to tell them that he is.

He learned to love his connection with his father and considered being compared to him as an honor.

Everything was finally alright...

That was until...

______________________________________

"Dad? Where are you going?", Kazuki asked as he saw his dad suddenly rush out of the house wearing his body suit.

"There's been an emergency, Ki-chan. I have to go.", he explained.

Kazuki has just gone home from school when his dad suddenly walked pass him and exited through the doorway.

"Mom, what's going on?", Kazuki asked his mother, who has worried look on her face as she saw Kazuki's dad off.

"...oh sorry, Ki-chan. There's been a bit of an incident in the nearby area, so he was tasked to help the saviors there."

Kazuki looked at her, and then suddenly passed by her and rushed towards his room upstairs.

There he quickly turned on his computer.

"Savior...watch...", he mumbled as he typed down the url.

He then skimmed through the text written on the screen.

'A hostage taking in the Shibuya district?'

From downstairs, Kazuki's mom was walking back and forth out of worry for Kazuki's dad, when suddenly...

Kazuki ran from the stairs and quickly left through the doorway.

"Ki-chan! Where are you-", his mom called at him as he ran outside.

______________________________________

A few minutes pass as Kazuki's dad went in the building.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

"Guaah!", a dark clothed villain was sent by him flying as he ran towards the stairs.

Behind the building, was a tall tree a bit distant from it, but was high and close enough for someone to climb on and see through the windows.

'I just need to sneak in and see how dad fights them, I won't be bothering them or anything.', Kazuki thought as he put his hands on the tree's bark.

'I can do this! I've been training to become a Savior in the future! I can't let a tree stand in my way!', Kazuki thought as he started climbing.

Kazuki's dad quickly ran towards the hollow concrete rooms, looking for the hostages.

He ran through room to room, trying to see if anyone was there.

Kazuki, who was slowly climbing up the tree was able to climb up the topmost branch and held to the tree, fearing about falling.

'This is a bit scary, but... I think I can-...

I mean... I know I can take it.', Kazuki thought.

Suddenly, from the window right in Kazuki's front, he noticed two dark haired boys the same age as him tied up on two worn down chairs.

'Are those the-'

*BAAAAAAMMMM*

Suddenly, a large and strong punch was heard as the door was bashed in.

From the doorway, came in, Kazuki's dad, seemingly a bit exhausted from fighting and searching.

"Finally! It's you two!", he said as he came in.

He quickly ran in front of them and started untying the one with the glare's rope.

"Everything's ok now. We're here to save you. So don't worry.", Kazuki's dad said as he untied the other kid.

'Dad did it! I knew he'd saved the day again...', Kazuki excitedly thought as he watched the scene.

"Come on, we got to out of-", suddenly though, as Kazuki's dad turned around to head for the exit.

*sssszzzzkkk*

*sssszzzzkkk*

The two kids, who had their heads laid low stabbed him, with a green and a white light glowing on their hands.

Kazuki's eyes widen as he saw this.

'...Dad...?'

Blood dropped from Kazuki's dad as a large hole appeared from his chest.

He quickly fell to the ground while staring at the kids with a surprised face.

He mumbled something inaudible from Kazuki's side, so he wasn't able to hear it.

"DAD!?", Kazuki called out his name from the tree he was hanging on.

The two black haired children, hearing his voice turned to him, but with their eyes barely visible.

They quickly ran off once they saw him.

"N...no...", Kazuki thought as he laid down on the branch and held on it as he scooted closer towards the window.

"DAD!", Kazuki called out from the tree.

"DAD! WAKE UP!", he shouted.

Suddenly, a bunch of saviors and supports who seem a bit beat up came in as well.

"Augmentor-san!"

"Is he ok?"

"Heal him! Where are the healers?"

"You need to give emergency treatment to him immediately!"

"What happened here?"

They started chatting as a bunch of healers came to check up on him.

'DAD!', Kazuki thought as he tried to reach the building with his hand.

*crack*

The branch he was holding on though, suddenly cracked.

'Huh?'

He suddenly fell from the tree and landed towards someone's hands...

The fall dealt him a great shock though as his eyes slowly closed.

The last thing he saw was the blurry face of a hooded man with an indifferent expression.

"Who...are...you-", he said as he passed out.

______________________________________

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but...

Your loved one, Kazuto Inoue has unfortunately, passed away.", a man wearing what seems to be a doctor's suit told Kazuki and his mother as they sat there with horrified looks.

"Y-you have to be kidding...right? Kazu-chan isn't dead... You're joking...right? Please tell me...you're-", Kazuki's mom asked him with tears on her eyes as she desperately hung on hope.

The doctor only laid his head low as if not wanting to trouble her any further.

"NO! THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! GET BACK THERE! GET BACK THERE AND SAVE HIM! USE YOIR HEALING POWERS! SAVE HIM! SAVE HIM!", Kazuki's mother screamed as she held the doctor's collar and shook him.

"I... I'm sorry..."

Kazuki's mom suddenly knelt down and cried on her hands with nothing but sorrowful tears streaming down.

Kazuki could only stand there, with slight tears in his eyes, but with a face of anger.

'... This...this was all their fault!', he thought as he clenched his fist with anger.

______________________________________

A week passed since Kazuki's father died.

His body was being laid down in the hole as Kazuki's mom cried onto her mother's arms.

Kazuki was horrified as he saw his father's deathbed slowly sink into the ground.

His grandfather stood beside him, holding his shoulder as if giving him support.

"Villains from Ressurection?", a few of the family's friends were whispering to one another about the incident.

They were just a few feet from Kazuki so he was able to hear their conversation from where he stood.

"Yeah, I heard they got him good. Apparently the C-class villain driller, stabbed a hole right through his chest. I thought they were just a small rundown group who'd easily be annihilated, turns out they have some punch in them after all.", an adult male with dark blue hair replied.

"... A C-class villain? I can't believe he actually got careless against that? Even a sixth year student could defeat those lowlives.", a brown haired, tanned skinned adult male replied.

"Sshhhh... Can you two stop it? You need to learn how to respect the dead!", a female with dark blue hair reprimanded the two.

Kazuki, hearing this, widened his eyes.

'A C-class villain? No! It wasn't them! It was those kids who did it! What's going on?', he thought with a surprised expression.

______________________________________

"It wasn't them, mom! I've tried telling others but they won't listen to me! It was the kids they took hostage! They're the ones who killed daddy!", Kazuki told her with a serious expression.

His mother was lying on the couch of their living room.

It was already dark by then, and only the lights of her phone laid on the table was seen.

"Mom! You have to listen to me! Nobody wants to believe me!", Kazuki told her again.

She was lying there, with her hair disheveled, her eyes wide open with tears in her eyes, a blanket covering her, as if she just went to the hardest torment of her life.

"Mom-"

"Be...quiet... Ki-chan...", his mom replied with a meek voice.

"...but, mom! You have to listen to me! The one who killed dad is-"

"I SAID BE QUIET!", his mother suddenly screamed as she pulled herself to sit quickly and turned at Kazuki with a raged expression.

*SLAP!*

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, as she slapped Kazuki's face.

Kazuki, was shocked and frightened by this, as if she did something really surprising.

"YOU'RE JUST-", as Kazuki's mother raged at him, she suddenly noticed what she did.

Kazuki was sat on the ground touching the cheek that she slapped, slightly trembling.

Noticing this, she suddenly felt awful and grabbed Kazuki as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry... Ki-chan... I'm sorry... I just...", his mother told him as she hugged him.

Her tears flowed down his shoulder as he let her hug him.

'It was all...their fault...', Kazuki thought.

'It was all...

...THEIR FAULT!', he thought with an expression of hatred.

______________________________________

"Evacuate?" Kazuki's mom asked as she spoke with the person on the phone.

"...but why?", she asked.

It was about two weeks pass when a person suddenly called Kazuki's mom telling her something important.

She was able to stand strong due to Kazuki and even though she isn't as cheerful and enthusiastic as before, she's keeping a straight face just to take care of the son she cares so much about.

"Villains?", she said with surprise.

Kazuki was sitting near the dining room table, curious about the call.

He was listening in what his mother says with a serious expression as if it really matters to him.

"... O...okay...I understand.", she replied as she hung up the phone.

"What is it, mom? Did something happen? What's this about villains?", Kazuki asked her with a serious expression.

"Kazuki...pack up your things. We'll be leaving tomorrow.", his mom told her with a serious expression as well.

"Mom?"

"Just do it."

"...but-"

Kazuki's mom walked over to him and patter his head.

"This is for your own good, okay? Listen to mommy and get all your things you need."

"...but you haven't told me why-"

"Just listen to mommy, okay? Ki-chan?", she asked him with a worried expression.

______________________________________

Kazuki and his mother then put the last box inside a small silver sedan's trunk.

They weren't able to put a lot in there, so they had to discard all they had left.

"Mom, is this really necessary? We won't be able to visit dad easily if we left this place.", Kazuki asked with a serious expression.

"... We need to do this, son. Okay? Just trust mommy.", she said as she packed the last of the stuff inside.

Footsteps were heard as certain figure walked towards the side of his mom.

"Yuki-chan! Long time no see."

Kazuki's mom was startled when she heard this and turned towards the source of the voice.

"You..."

The woman who spoke to her was wearing what seems to be a futuristic looking motorcycle helmet and a full black and violet bodysuit.

Her black hair was tied like a ponytail inside her helmet.

"Let me drive you two.", she told them.

______________________________________

"I ate so much there! It was so much fun! I wish you were there to see it!",

"... Y-yeah... I wish I was...", Kazuki's mom replied with a downhearted tone.

"... Listen, Yuki-chan. You seem to be really in a mess right now, but if you keep that up, your beautiful face would be tainted, you know?", the woman replied with a comforting tone.

The two women were in front of the car, with Kazuki's mom on he passenger seat and the other woman driving.

Behind them was Kazuki, he was sat there with a gloomy expression looking through the window of the car.

'Mom's friend's a savior too, huh? They did study at that savior school together.', Kazuki thought.

[If you truly want to be strong...

... You have to tell yourself that you are strong...]

Kazuki, just like his mother, was devastated with what happened to his father.

He cried a lot of times and despaired about the fact that the man he looked up to, has now left this world.

...but just like what his father told him...

["During those times, is when you'll need to tell yourself that you are strong the most."]

He has to stay strong...Or else he'll end up hurting the people that he lost.

His mom has been the one most hurt about this incident, and without someone being strong for her, she might not be able to make it.

That is why, he wants to stay strong. For the sake of his mom, his dad and for himself.

"...but still, I can't believe they will go to such lengths just to get rid of the villains...

They might be stronger and more cunning that we have ever planned them out to be, but for them to aim a nu-"

"Wind Chaser-chan!", Kazuki's mom suddenly interrupted her as if trying to hide it from his son.

"Yuki? You don't have to call me that! Just call me A-"

"Are you really alright as well?", she interrupted her again.

Hearing this, the woman in the motorcycle helmet, closed her mouth and seemed to have lessen her enthusiasm.

"I'm well... I think I'll be alright. He might have disappeared, but I believe I'll find him again somewhere. I know the villains won't even stand a chance against him. He's the strongest of them after all.", she told her with a slightly sad tone.

"What did Lane-san say? Did he get wind of him disappearing?"

"We haven't seen each other for long. The last time I've seen him was during that mission we did together. That was also the time I've last seen them."

"... Don't you think maybe he had something to do with their disappearance as well?"

"... I don't know."

The two kept chatting about certain things unfamiliar to Kazuki.

They were planning to drive out of the residential area and head towards the roads, when a certain figure suddenly walked from the side to block their vehicle's way.

"Huh? Who's that?", Kazuki's mom asked as the woman beside her slowed down the car to a halt.

"...tch-", the woman clicked her tongue as she took off her seatbelt.

She quickly opened the door and exited the car.

"Hey, what's going on... Wind Chaser?", Kazuki's mom asked her.

"Yuki, turn the car around. Drive towards the city roads and don't look back.", the woman ordered her.

"...but-"

"Oh, acting as a savior again, aren't we? Support Wind Chaser-san?", the figure, who was a beautiful mature woman who had long curly hair with an eye patch, and was wearing a black evening gown and had thick make-up mocked her as she walked closer towards them.

"I won't let you get pass me, Rose.", the woman replied to her with a serious tone.

"I'll help-"

"Get out of here, Yuki! You've got somebody you need to protect, right?", the woman told Kazuki's mom as she lowered down her body to what seems to be a pre running pose.

"... Wind Chaser..."

"Just go. I'm not gonna die here, you know. I'm also trying to save my children. I won't die until I rescue them."

"Thank you... I'll see you again!", Kazuki's mom told her as she scooted to the driver's seat and set it in reverse.

Kazuki and his mom could only watch as the woman who helped them suddenly charge at the villain with wind blasting from her feet.

______________________________________

Kazuki and his mom were driving around the residential areas, trying to leave to the city roads.

*BAAAM*

*BOOOOOOOM*

*CCRRRRAAAAASSSSHHHH*

Lots of sounds were heard from the distance and as they drove closer, more and more mayhem were seen.

Flames, debris, injured people, a lot of devastation was seen as they drove closer to the roads.

"Mom, what is going on!?", Kazuki asked her with a worried tone as he scanned the area outside.

"... Just...just don't worry, Ki-chan. Mommy's gonna take you to a safe place.", Kazuki's mom tried to calm him down with a worried tone as well.

*rrriiinnggg* *riiiinngggg*

Suddenly, a phone was heard ringing from somewhere inside the car.

"Mom, your phone."

Kazuki's mom kept her eyes on the road as she started feeling inside her pockets.

"My phone's here. That can't be-'"

She quickly turned her eyes down, to see a pink cased phone just laying down near seat.

"This is... her phone... She must have left it...", Kazuki's mom mumbled.

She, with a determined face, for some reason, decided to answer the phone.

"Hello, I-"

Kazuki wasn't able to hear much from his seat, but the next few words that came out of the phone made Kazuki's mom's expression grim.

"What do you mean? Why didn't you tell us sooner?", she asked with a frantic tone.

"She's not here! She risked her life to help me save my son! And you're telling me you just tell her that now? Do you even care about the lives of the people who protect this town?", she continued.

Kazuki was confused, he didn't know what was going on, but his mother looked like she was horrified and unnerved by what the person on the phone just told her.

"My son is here! He's just a child! You can't just tell me you lost connection! You have many other ways to inform us of impending danger! Don't you understand how many people are gonna die-"

*click*

As his mom argued with the person on the phone, the person suddenly hung up.

"... Damn it!", Kazuki's mom cursed with a stressed expression.

"Mom?"

They drove through the area, until they finally reached the city roads.

There, a lot of other vehicles covered the roads.

Most of them were broken down and smashed.

They all blocked the roads, preventing anyone from driving away.

There, a bunch of people were running away, a bunch of saviors and supports also came fighting with villains in the area.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

"GGGAAAAAHHH!"

A middle aged support wearing a white label coat, yellow gloves, has blonde hair was suddenly punched away by a large disheveled, muscular figure with swords stabbed behind him.

*Crash*

"AH!", Kazuki's mom suddenly screamed as the support crashed on the windshield of their car.

"YOU SAVIORS ARE ALL WEAKLINGS!", the muscular figure shouted with an intimidating aura.

*BBBBOOOOOOOMMM*

"AUUGGHH!!"

A figure wearing a dark robe suddenly created a black explosion on the feet of some saviors.

"You all are no match for me!"

Some other villains soared the area, smashing into buildings and attacking people.

Some other villains rampaged and harmed others with hammer arms, lasers, flames, all sorts of abilities.

Saviors and supports came out to protect the people.

Risking their lives on the field, they gave it their all to put a stop to this.

The common people were trying to run away.

Injured people of all sides were seen lying unconscious on the fields, and some...have even lost their lives.

It was complete and utter mayhem.

"M..mom..."

"Ki-chan. We're heading out."

"...but-"

"Just listen to mommy."

The two of them left the car and closed the doors.

"W-what's going on, mom?", Kazuki asked her with a concerned expression.

"Ki-chan. Just follow mommy, okay?"

Kazuki's mom quickly ran towards the battlefield while holding Kazuki's hand, so as to not separate them.

They ran through the sidewalks, avoiding the fights, the saviors, the supports, the villains even the injured.

Kazuki turned his sights towards the left and right, and watched as building's burn down, as people were swung away by villains, as blood splattered everywhere.

'... W-what's happening?'

*BAAAAAAMMMM*

"GGUUUAAAAAHHH!!", a savior with a bodysuit screamed as he was tossed away before Kazuki and his mom's eyes.

He landed on the wall on the side, just before Kazuki and his mom.

"He..lp...", the savior begged as he slightly raised his right palm and coughed blood.

"Mom, we have to-'"

"Don't look back, Ki-chan!", Kazuki's mom told him as she tugged on him and pulled him away.

"...but mom!"

Kazuki could complain, but there was no use since his mom kept pulling him away.

He turned his face towards his mom as if she was feeling the same worry as he did.

*wooooosssssshhh*

'N-'

Suddenly, a large concrete rock, that was thrown by a villain flew out and was about to hit Kazuki.

...but before it could-

Kazuki's mom suddenly hugged Kazuki's body.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

"GUUUUHH!"

The rock suddenly hit Kazuki's mom, who kept holding onto Kazuki, as to protect him.

She fell down on the ground, with her arms wrapped on Kazuki's small body.

She had scars all over, and bled through her wounds as she crashed on the ground.

"Mom...!", Kazuki called her out as she let go of him.

He quickly got on his knees and tried lifting her torso up.

"W-we need help! Somebody! Please!", Kazuki called out with his hands trembling out of fear.

"Kazuki...", his mom called his name.

"M-mom... It's gonna be alright. I-I'll ask someone for help! Just rest-"

"Run... Kazuki...", she told him with a low voice as she lost consciousness.

"... Mom... What are you-"

"IT'S COMING!", a support suddenly shouted out.

"RUN!", a savior followed up.

Suddenly, as if a meteor's about to land in the area, everyone, including the villains, saviors and supports panicked even more.

"Wh-what is going on-", one of the supports asked.

"The place has been filled with members of Ressurection, the government plans to bomb the city!", another Savior answered.

Some saviors and supports kept fighting with villains, but most of them, started running away.

"SOMEBODY! PLEASE-", Kazuki kept asking for help, but...

Just like a swarm of bees, everyone ran away.

Scared and unnerved, they ran without looking back at their belongings.

'Crap!', Kazuki thought.

He quickly lifted his mom and put her arm around him, so as to carry her.

He started walking away, bit by bit.

She was heavy and tall for his size, so he had a hard time doing so...but he kept going.

"I'm gonna get you out of this, mom! I promise!", Kazuki whispered to her, although she's unconscious.

Like time slowed down, Kazuki walked through the herds of people running through the roads, jumping, trampling on one another, trying to save their own lives.

Some saviors and supports who were tasked to save the people, ran even faster than some and care naught of the people who were hurt.

Leaping through the rubble, avoiding the flames, pushing through people, Kazuki watched as everyone selfishly saved their own lives.

It's as if Kazuki's whole world turned into black and white, with only him and his mother as the two colored individuals.

'With the pace that I'm going now, there's no way I could save both of us...', Kazuki thought with a desperate expression.

"Help! Please! Somebody..."

As if Kazuki was invisible, no one cared to even look at the child who's giving it his all to saved his mother.

'If only... If only... Dad was still alive...', Kazuki cried as he walked forward.

'If only... I'm as strong as him, I-'

["Once we go away, I'll make sure I'll get stronger and stronger, so strong that I'll make sure no one would ever be hurt by wretched villains again."]

Suddenly, Kazuki's footsteps stopped.

Above them, in front, was a military plane, about to drop what seems to be a large nuke.

' ...I...'

["A sparrow never learns how to fly unless it tells itself it could..."]

People kept running away as the missile slowly fell towards the area.

Kazuki clenched his fist, as blue light started to envelope his body.

[Everything might seem difficult. Since it feels as if you carry a giant weight with you everywhere you go..

...but during those times...]

The light started glowing brighter and brighter, as a large amount of energy gathered in him.

[...is when you'll need to tell yourself that you are strong the most."]

"I...", Kazuki said as he drops his mother to the side.

"... AM STRONG!", Kazuki declared as the blue light shined throughout the area.

"What's going on?"

"Where's that light coming from?"

"... Is that...?"

Suddenly, the ground beneath Kazuki rapidly grew like a long pole.

Kazuki's eyes were nothing but blue light as he was quickly lifted up.

The ground beneath him quickly expanded to the sides, and as if it was made of clay, it stretched and curved to the sides like a goblet and formed a gigantic bowl like ground being held by a large pole.

The nuke that was falling was rapidly falling towards them as well as the ground kept expanding.

When it reached near the goblet, it suddenly circled around rapidly, creating a gigantic spherical area.

Thick layers of the ground covered it and covered it and covered it.

"What's he doing?", one of the saviors asked as they watched from below.

"He's..."

Suddenly...

*BBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM*

The nuke exploded in the sphere, containing it's destruction.

The ground shook as the force of the explosion moved people.

Though, everyone lost balance, no one was majorly hit by the explosion.

Slowly, the form deflated as if it was a balloon with a hole poked on it.

Through the smoke, a boy's body was seen, lying unconscious.

______________________________________

["Wake up... Ki-chan..."], a barely audible, man's voice resonated in Kazuki's head.

["Wake up..."]

Kazuki's eyes slowly open, welcoming him to a bright light.

Confused, he wondered where he was and mumbled to himself:

"Where...am I...?"

"Finally awake, huh? Took you long enough.", a familiar voice mockingly told him.

'Who...?'

Feeling half-asleep, Kazuki couldn't recognize the voice that spoke to him.

After a minute or so of trying to clear his thoughts, he finally realized who it was...

His eyes widened as he suddenly lift his torso up to a sitting posture and turn towards his right, where the voice came from.

There, stood Akira, reading what seems to be a small book.

He had his right hand in his pocket, his eyes on the book and his left leg folded, resting at the wall.

He has bandages all over, as if he was deeply injured.

Kazuki was on the clinic bed next to him.

It seemed as if Akira was waiting for Kazuki to wake up.

Kazuki, noticing this quickly got down from the bed, stood up and faced Akira.

"Hey, what's up-"

Before Akira could even finish his sentence, Kazuki quickly grabbed at his collar, intimidating him.

Due to this, Akira had to close his book immediately, and turn his attention towards Kazuki.

"YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?, Kazuki asked Akira with an angry expression.

"I was waiting for you to wake up. What'd you expect?"

"... I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU! I'M STILL OUT TO KILL YOU! DON'T JUST THINK WE'RE FINE NOW AFTER THAT!"

"What do you mean? Didn't you guys win earlier?"

"CUT THAT CRAP! IF YOU HAVEN'T PULLED THAT TRICK YOU DID AT THE END, THEN I... would've-"

Suddenly, Kazuki took notice of the book Akira was holding onto.

His eyes widen as he saw it.

"That book! You..."

"Yeah...

... This is your father's book, right? A picture book about a blue sparrow...", Akira asked him.

"What are you on about?", Kazuki replied, slightly calmed down, but still unsatisfied.

"I've read this once before. I'm not a frequent reader, and I normally wouldn't even give a shit about books like this, but...

Since that day you talked to me about it, I got kinda curious."

["My father was a writer. Although he's also a professional savior, he would often write stories about us, mother, sister and me."]

Akira decided to open the book and look at it's contents.

"Everyday in class, you'd carry around this book as if it was the most important thing you own. You'd read it once, or even twice a day, even though it's just a generic short picture book."

"YOU-"

"... Reading through it makes you realize who the writer wrote this for. It was about a person special to him, someone who grew up being treated as 'special' since he was different than them. Because of that, people grew to have high expectations of him and were let down when he realized he isn't as special as he seemed to be. It was about how the turtle taught the sparrow that the key to becoming strong is to work hard and have courage.", Akira explained.

"Are you just here to mock my father's book? I'm not dealing with your crap."

"The book you can read from the stores though, the ones that got published to honor him on his heroic death, even though it appealed to people and made them learn the great story of the sparrow... the book was not finished.", Akira continued, ignoring Kazuki's spouts.

Kazuki, hearing about this widened his eyes.

"How did you know that?", Kazuki asked with confusion.

"Not many people knew about this since this was supposed to be a children's picture book and wasn't targeted towards adults, so I only had a speculation because of the vague ending it showed. I've only just proven what I suspected was real when I finally got a hold of the one I'm holding onto now.", Akira told him as he flipped through the pages.

"... You goddamn- GIVE ME THAT BACK-", as Kazuki closed in to take the book, Akira suddenly decided to read some of the last few pages.

"The sparrow flew back to the tree with the ones he saved. Although he was ridiculed and shunned before, the others welcomed him with open arms as well as thanked him for saving them."

______________________________________

"I'm sorry for all the things I've told you, if it wasn't for you, my wife and I would have been goners.", the brown bird thanked him.

"It's fine. You don't have to worry about it. Without it, I wouldn't been able to push myself to try to fly once again in the first place."

"We're really grateful though. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I just have to take a visit with one of my life old friends.", the sparrow said as he flew away.

'Bravery is about learning to feel stronger than what you fear. As long as you make yourself believe that what you fear is just a weak little bug, you'll always be able to overcome it.', the sparrow thought.

With the turtle's kind words, he was able to learn a lot and pushed himself to become stronger than he has ever been.

He learned to believe in himself and worked hard into getting even stronger than he was before.

If it wasn't for his help, he would not have reached where he is now.

He felt quite thankful for the turtle and wanted to come back to share his gratitude personally, but...

"Mr. Turtle?", the blue bird called out.

"Mr. Turtle!", he called out once again.

He flew through the fields and kept looking for him.

He would always pass by that area, so he knew he should be there, but...

'... Did he leave for today? Well... I guess I should just see him tomorrow...', the blue bird thought.

He then flew away again, back to where the other birds dwell.

A few moments pass as the bird flew away when...

Behind a certain rock, came out, a floating creature, who's body was slightly transparent, as if he was not from this world.

It was Mr. Turtle, the one the blue bird has been searching for.

"Little bird, I've done my all into helping you find your way.", the turtle said as he crawled into the middle of the field.

"You have learned to be brave and realized your own strength you worked hard on.", he continued.

"However..."

The turtle then turned back to the opposite direction as if he was planning to leave.

"Turtles might be creatures with long life spans, but there still comes a time when a life comes to end."

He then started crawling away from the field without looking back.

"I'm not always here to guide you to the right path. From here on out, it all comes down to your strength with the guidance of others."

He stared at the sky as he shared his thoughts.

From far away, as the blue bird flew, he heard something ringing in his head.

"The strength of yours might be impressive, but without the aid of others, you'll always be falling behind.

Learn to trust others, just as you trust yourself and you'll one day become one of the mightiest sparrows ever known."

"Mr. Turtle...?", the sparrow spoke as if he heard his voice from somewhere.

"Goodbye, little bird. And don't you ever forget...

That whatever happens...

We will always be here for you...

.... Ki-chan."

______________________________________

Akira mouthed as he finished reading the passage.

Kazuki was trembling with anger and gloominess as he heard him.

"What'd you read that for!?", Kazuki asked with an expression of anger.

"...

You followed the book and learned to become strong, but you forgot about the last piece of advice you should have followed."

"SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"You knew that we weren't really the ones who did it, but because you had no other leads besides us appearing to look like the murderers, you decided to go after us still."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND-"

"I DO UNDERSTAND!", Akira suddenly shouted back at Kazuki.

"What do you-"

"Your father... He wrote this as a tale to tell you his words even when he passes away from the world."

"..."

"He dressed you as the sparrow, the color of the feathers as the weight you carried with your father's reputation, and the turtle as him. Knowing that one day, he'd probably be gone, he decided to write you down this book, so his words will always resonate in you. Isn't that right....

... Ki-chan?"

"..."

Kazuki's hand was trembling as he clenched it.

'I knew a long time ago...

...that they might just not be the ones who killed my father.'

["Akira Ishikawa, 18, I have the ability to conjure small barriers and heal people and stuff."

The classmates all woo out of amazement.

Kazuki's eyes were wide open as he saw him.

'That's- no...that can't be...!', he thought as he glared at him.

'H-He's one of those who...killed my father!'

"Isn't that just the perfect skill for supporting?", the guy with the dreadlocks commented.,

"Withhhh abilities like that, who'd need me...waaaa!", said the long hair, long bangs guy while crying.

"He's also known as the amateur who saved more than thousands of your highnesses in a day! With his barrier ability, he prevented a bonb from exploding and healed everyone in a train at once!"

Kazuki's eyes widen again as he heard this.

'He saved all those people?...but..he relentlessly killed my father! He can't have just awakened during that time! I saw him use his ability once before!']

[Kazuki was running up to the sixth year classrooms as the tag competition went on.

'This should be the best place to hide! The sixth years probably wouldn't dare to come back to their classrooms since there are more of us below.', Kazuki thought as he kept running.

Suddenly, as Kazuki ran, he suddenly noticed a classroom that was occupied with a small number of people.

'Crap! I need to hide!', Kazuki thought as he instinctively backed away and hid next to the wall.

He then slightly took a peek inside the classroom.

'Wait..those are my classmates. I thought they were sixth years-'

"What do you mean? What's Akira doing?", Megumi asked with a concerned expression as she trembled out of worry.

"He seems to be fighting a villain. There's a sixth year student who was hit by them and was down on the ground. Akira must have came to save him.", Takumi told them while trying to calm them down.

It was back during the tag competition when most of the class decided to team up with Akira's group and fool the sixth years into thinking they were trying to run away somewhere in the forest. They then ran to their classrooms knowing that's the last place they'd probably look for.

"I'm going-", Megumi told them as she stood up to try to run away, when Koka suddenly stopped her.

"Megumi, there's too many people downstairs. We'd probably just be caught in the sixth years' hands and won't be much help.", Koka told her off with a serious expression.

"Kokachi, aren't you-", as Megumi was about to ask why Koka wasn't worried at Akira, she noticed something.

Her hand was trembling out of fear.

"I... I also want to help Akira, but we can't really do anything for now. It's crowded and risky out there, we wouldn't make it back in one piece of we just left.", Koka told her with a sad expression.

"Kokachi..."

"Besides, isn't Ai with him? I bet she'll come rescue him if he ever gets too close to danger." Koka continued.

'Ishikawa...', Kazuki thought with a serious expression.

'Is he just doing this for fame? Why is a murderer trying to save people...?', Kazuki thought.]

[In the auditorium, a medal was awarded for the sixth year student, Flint Ishigaki for fighting and winning against a C-class villain.

Kazuki was standing there with wide eyes as people clapped at him.

He then turned his eyes to the side to see the face of the man who actually saved the day.

His eyes filled with anger and confusion.]

["I... I told you guys! It was just a slip of the tongue! I was in the moment so I just made up some shit randomly! Don't you get it?", Akira frantically tried to explain himself as a bunch of his classmates look at him with deadpan faces with intimidating auras.

"I... I didn't actually 'use' love girl! I just...you know provoked the guy cause he liked her, and-"

He kept trying to explain himself to the others around him.

Kazuki who was in his seat had his eyes wide open while he explains to himself what happened.

'They don't get it... Didn't they see? Ishikawa...that Ishikawa...

... He risked himself just to save that girl...', Kazuki thought with a confused and angry expression.]

['Why...?', Kazuki thought.

He was in the back of the school trying to organize his thoughts.

'I don't understand. Why...?

They... I saw them... I saw them stab father without hesitation. Why is...he ...'

Kazuki clenched his fists as he made up his mind.

'This...this tournament. One last time. I just need to see for myself. I need to fight him. I need to understand what I'm feeling....']

"Punch me.", Akira suddenly told Kazuki.

Hearing this, Kazuki snapped back to reality and showed an angered but confused expression.

"What are you..."

"If you really do think we killed your father. I want you to hit me with your strongest punch right now.", Akira challenged him.

"...", Kazuki suddenly kept quiet.

"What..? Are you scared? Have you lost your touch?"

*wooooosssssshhh*, a gust of wind blew as Kazuki's fist zoomed into Akira's view.

He suddenly stopped his fist before it met Akira's face though.

"...", Kazuki kept silent as his fist hovered before Akira's face.

"Thought so.", Akira said as he then swung his fist and suddenly lashed out at him.

Kazuki's eyes widen as his fist entered his range.

*BAAAAAAMMMM*

"GUH!"

Kazuki fell to his ass as he sat on the ground with a bleeding nose.

"YOU-"

The words that came after Akira's mouth suddenly shocked Kazuki as he reminisced a scene from earlier.

["So, what did you call me here for?", Akio asked with a friendly expression as Kazuki glared at him.

Kazuki suddenly invited Akio behind the arena when he just came.

Wanting to have a conversation with the other guy who he claimed to have killed his father, he made him come with him to speak about the event.

"Akio Ishikawa, 10 years ago-"

"I know who you are.", Akio interrupted him with a serious face.

"You've been trying to hurt my brother for a long time now. There was no way I'd just stand there without knowing a thing about what's going on.", he continued.

Kazuki, suddenly clenched his teeth and grabbed Akio's collar.

He then pushed Akio to a tree and glared at him.

"... If you knew, why don't you confess now, huh? Tell me why the hell did you two kill my father!", Kazuki urged him with an expression filled with rage.

"...", Akio didn't seem to be bothered by this and kept a serious expression as Akio threatened him.

"TELL ME!-"

"I don't really know much about our past. Both me and my brother can't recall much about what happened ten years ago. It's always been just a blurry picture for us.", Kazuki explained.

"That's it? That's your explanation? You forgot? You don't know anything? I'm not just gonna let you get away with-'"

*BAAAAAAMMMM*, suddenly, Akio's fist hit Kazuki.

It wasn't really a strong hit, but due to him not expecting it, he was thrown down to the ground easily.

"YOU-"

"It's true I don't know much about what happened and there may be a chance we were at fault...but there's just one thing I want to tell you..]

"My brother is not a murderer."

["My brother is not a murderer."]

The figure of Akio flashed in Kazuki's mind as he heard what Akira said.

'They both said the same thing.', he thought.

He then looked down as if he realized something.

Suddenly, from behind them.

*ssssttt*

The curtain separating the clinic beds was opened by a certain person.

"So you're finally awake, you bastard.", Jun, who was apparently waiting for Kazuki to wake up told him with an impatient expression.

"We almost lost there earlier if it wasn't for you being so goddamn careless! Come on! Stand up! We've still got one last match tomorrow. I won't let you fuck it up again!", Jun urged him as he walked behind him.

Kazuki, hearing his voice, slowly stood up and brushed himself off with a serious expression.

"Come on, let's go.", Jun urged him again as he turned back and was about to exit that area while holding the curtains.

Suddenly though, Kazuki replied to him with words that greatly surprised him.

"I quit."

Akira's eyes widened as he heard this.

Jun stopped his tracks as he heard this as well.

"What...did you just say?", Jun asked him while glaring at his back.

"I forfeit the competition.", Kazuki said as he turned back and started walking out of the area, passing by Jun.

"YOU!", Jun suddenly grabbed his shoulder though as he left.

"What the hell do you mean by 'I quit'? We're in the final fucking match! Our enemies are just a bunch of little girls! What the fuck is wrong with you?", Jun asked him.

"... I've got what I needed. I don't need to fight anymore.", Kazuki said as he slowly walked away.

"HEY, WAIT! YOU-", Jun, who felt extremely pissed turned his sight towards Akira who was also surprised by the situation.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO, YOU LITTLE SHIT-", Jun suddenly shouted at Akira as he hastily grumbled towards him.

...but before he could do so-

*CCCRRRAAAAAAACCCCKKK*

A large fist passed by Jun's left side.

He was almost hit by the fist and was inches away into being crushed by it, making him tremble from where he stood.

"You...", Jun sweated with a face filled with anger, while trying to hide his fear.

"Get out.", Kazuki threatened him.

"INOUE!", Jun tried intimidating him.

"GET. OUT."

Jun, feeling intimidated, was pissed but turned to run out anyway.

"I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS, INOUE!", Jun angrily shouted at him as he ran out the door.

Kazuki quickly deflated his fist as he turned back to the exit.

"Wait-", Akira tried to stop him.

"The turtle wanted me to learn how to trust others, right?", Kazuki asked Akira without turning towards him.

"...", Akira kept silent.

"... I'm definitely gonna find whoever killed my father.", Kazuki continued.

"I won't be satisfied until I broke every single one of their bones.", he said as he walked away and held the exit's door.

"... Yeah. Give them hell.", Akira cheered him on with a confident smile.

Kazuki then continued on and left the clinic.

'He still seems kind of pissed, huh.', Akira thought.

'At least now... It seems like, he won't try to kill me anymore.', he thought as he smiled.

The sunset slowly set outside as evening slowly came.

______________________________________

"Let's all congratulate the 1st year winners of the SS tournament!", States announced as she spoke through the microphone and called in Ai and Tamiko.

It was a bright day that time. They were inside the auditorium, that was filled with all the different year students, parents, and even professionals.

Ai was shaking nervously as the whole audience cheered for them.

"GO! LOVE CUTIE-CHAN! WE LOVE YOU!"

"TAMIKO-SAMA! CONGRATULATIONS!"

A lot of people cheered as they were given medals by Kana.

In the audience, stood Akira as he clapped with the other people and cheered for them.

Akira was showing a proud smile as he watched what was going on.

'Guess she's not so 'useless' after all, huh.', Akira thought, mocking the fact about how Ai used to not believe in herself.

["A-Akira-sama *sniff* I-I'm sorry. *sniff* I'm so useless."]

'You've really gotten strong, love girl.', he thought as he clapped.

Megumi and Koka seemed to be crying tears of joy as their close friend stood there and was cheered on by the audience.

From another side of the audience, was Eiji, who was smiling proudly as he saw Tamiko stand there.

Akiko was crying as she saw what was happening, due mostly to the fact that Akira didn't win.

Akio and Ana were beside her showing wry smiles as they clapped.

From another side of the audience, was a gray haired handsome man who was smiling and clapping as he watched the scene.

The brown haired masochist glasses girl also stood near them, clapping her hands.

Ai was slightly nervous, but seeing the audience cheering for them, made her smile.

From the corner of her eye, she looked at Akira, who was proudly cheering for her.

Seeing him like this, she reminisced the words he told her.

["Love girl, you know I always believed in you right?"]

'Akira-sama...

... I did it!', Ai thought with glee.

Just from those words alone, she was able to believe in herself.

The whole University cheered as the first year winners were finally declared and rewarded.

______________________________________

"Congratulations, your Highness!", Sir Knight congratulated Ai as he kneeled at her while handing her a rose.

"Th-thank you, Sir Knight-sensei.", Ai responded to him with an awkward expression.

"Everyone give our Abe-san a huge applause!", he urged the class.

They all just got back to their classrooms when Sir Knight decided to honor Ai, who was one of the champions of the SS tournament.

As soon as Ai felt as if she already experienced all the frustration she could have felt standing in front of others, Sir Knight suddenly dragged everyone into cheering for her again.

Due to this, most of the students showed wry smiles as they clapped for Ai, who just wanted to disappear because of embarassment.

"Th-thank you, everyone...", Ai told them as she hid her hands with her face.

'... She's still love girl, alright.', Akira thought as he clapped at her with an incredulous expression.

After enduring Sir Knight's antics, he finally let go of his proud teacher conceitedness and decided to seriously tell the class the reason he called them out there for.

"So, lots of you are probably tired after the whole ordeal. Fighting with your peers, trying to run away and chase other students, protecting your bases, you're all probably bummed out by all the events the tournament has made you do right now.", Sir Knight told them as he marched back and forth from his desk and away.

"Still, just like the other years, you all will be watching their fights and watch as they compete against each other to claim who's the strongest.", he continued.

'... Guess. I might also be able to watch Akio's fight, huh?', Akira thought.

"...but you highnesses probably already know that, right? That's why I came here to share with you special information that you all probably forgot.", Sir Knight proclaimed as he stopped and laid his hands on his desk.

"After the other years' battles have reached a conclusion, you all...

...will be taking your midterm written exams."

Suddenly, a feeling of dread filled the place.

"Midterm exams! Noooo! I'm gonna fail! I'm gonna fail!", Tomo said with a gloomy tone.

"I've got this in the bag.", Keima said as he played with his PSP although Sir Knight was still in the classroom.

"Ahhh! Midterm exams!? I was too coped up with the tournament that I forgot to study!", Ken said while trembling and holding himself.

"Studying is still a requisite of a university. I'm glad I've already prepared myself.", Avaron said while flipping through her notes.

"Ahahaha! Y-you forgot, Ken? Hahaha? Don't tell me you forgot too, Izanagi...", Sora said as he turned towards Izanagi with a bright but trembling smile.

"Ah. You mean the midterm exams? I've studied as well.", Izanagi said while laying his head on his arms that's placed above his desk.

"Y-you traitor!", Sora angrily told Izanagi as she punched his head.

The other students started getting noisy as they spoke about the midterm exams.

"Calm down now, your highnesses. The exams is still a month and a week away. There's no reason for you to be scared!", Sir Knight told them.

The students though weren't fazed by what he said since they already knew what was going to happen.

Akira, who's usually calm and collected trembled as well as he realized the midterms are about to come.

'Shiiit! I forgot as well!', Akira thought.

'This isn't good. There's only about a few days left for us to study! I need to start quick!'

Unlike other school's midterm examinations, Savior University's exams are a bit different.

Firstly, students are taken into a separate class with other students to make it easier for the teachers to eye in their students' behaviors.

This is due to the fact, that a student might be able to use their ability to 'cheat' on the test.

The teachers must keep strict watch to the students so as to notice if someone decides to use their abilities.

Their usual problem students when it comes to these, are students with abilities that give them a visual and an information advantage.

Those with abilities like Takumi's eagle eye, or mind readers are given strict attention.

Separating each of them from the students would require an additional class for each one of these students so they can't deal with it that way.

Instead, teachers like Mind Whisperer are designated to give their exams to them so he could trace when one of them are trying to cheat on their exams.

Secondly, the exam date is announced immediately during the first few weeks.

That means any student who decides to not go during the exams will not be excused in any way.

Unless they're dying or have been in an accident of some sort, they would not be excused at all.

Anyone who misses it will be given an immediate zero.

And lastly, the most hard-hitting difference about normal exams and exams in Savior University, is that...

None of the lessons there could be found in any other places besides the school library, reference books and the school's website.

The books the school requires students to buy and the books kept in the library don't give as much information as the site of the school.

This is due to the fact, that a commoner without abilities can easily take hold of the book and learn about the world of people with superhuman abilities.

The school website offers most of the lessons the student can learn for their examinations. That means if those lessons are lost, the students would be in a dillemma about where to study.

They aren't allowed to take pictures, screenshots or download anything from the website due to a possible information leak to the common people.

This is why the midterm exams scare the students.

Not only is Sir Knight a tyrant when he gives exams, he also has a policy that defines him as the opposite of a Knight.

"You've got one week left, students. You better prepare...your highnesses.", Sir Knight told them with an eerie tone.

Saviors and supports should always be prepared in any situations and being late is never an option.

This is something they must learn, that's what Sir Knight thinks.

"After one week. I'll be locking your lessons from the site. So make sure you're ready. Since this is a battle all of you must take!", he announced.

One month before the exams, Sir Knight prevents any of the first year support students from reading through the lessons seen there.

This is what makes it hell.

The students all showed a serious expression as they all fired themselves up to fight for their impending doom.

Without books from other libraries, other sites they could search through, their only hope would be to try their best to study during that one week they have left.

Akira closed his eyes as he cleared his mind and puffed his chest out.

'Shit.', he thought.

End of Chapter 25

______________________________________

This has been one of the longest chapters ever.

This is about three chapters long all and all, but I had to do it because I wanted to finish this arc once and for all.

______________________________________

"A sparrow never learns how to fly unless it tells itself it could... The same way you won't get through this unless you make yourself believe you could...

I'm sure your friend wouldn't want to see you hurting like that, right?"]

Akira was walking back home with his bag on his shoulder.

He had a serious expression on his face as he continued thinking about something that has been boggling in his mind.

["...but why...do me and Akio both have slight traces of that memory...as if we knew that happened...", Akira asked Kana.

Kana crossed her arms and showed Akira a serious expression.

"That... I do not know."]

'Did we really...not have any connection to Inoue's dad after all?', Akira thought.

He has a blurry picture of his past and doesn't remember much of what happened.

What he does know though, is that he vaguely remembers the scene Kazuki spoke about...

...about how his father was murdered...

'... Guess..there's no point trying to think about it for now.', Akira thought as he continued walking.

'I'll find the answers...one day.'