[The Fox and the Hare] Chapter 44 - Bitterness (Patreon)

AN: One of my fics is close to ending, so I'm thinking about starting to write a new story once that happens. I have posted a poll with over ten story options on my FFN profile, so you can go vote there. It is a blind poll so that you do not get influenced by other voters. The poll will remain open for several good weeks.

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Chapter 44 - Bitterness

Previous chapter

Only three people survived: Endeavour, who had been blasted away a few moments before, Mirko, and Best Jeanist, whom she had carried away.

Nonetheless, Mirko and Best Jeanist hadn’t managed to fully evade the range of the attack either and were slammed violently into a wall, knocking them unconscious too.

Using a radar-like quirk to detect life signatures, All For One realised the Mirko, Best Jeanist, and Endeavour were only knocked unconscious, not dead. Therefore, he raised his arms and aimed in their direction in order to deal the finishing blow: 

“Air Cannon!”

⁂

The sudden eruption of the civil war in Japan did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. After news of All For One’s massacre at the National Diet building went out, television channels from all over the world started showing scenes and footage from the army of villains’ march through the boulevards of Tokyo as they headed towards the Hero Safety Public Commission’s Headquarters. 

Across the ocean, in the United States of America, the Uzumaki family was watching the news with bated breath as well. 

The news channel wasn’t showing anything from the UA High; after all, the attack was too sudden, and the villains had launched coordinated attacks on Hero Agencies all over the country. The news channel was focused on Tokyo and All For One. 

The moment that the Rabbit Hero, Mirko, appeared on the screen, they all became tense. Little Eri didn’t fully understand how terrifying All For One was but Minato and Kushina did. Kushina and the side of her family had hidden in fear of All For One for three generations, and Minato used to be the ace of HPSC’s black ops organisation, ROOT. He was privy to information about AFO that even Kushina didn’t know. 

That being said, the two of them (especially Kushina) were biting their nails as they watched Mirko, Endeavour, Ryuku, and Best Jeanist engage All For One in battle. 

“Minato!” Kushina called out his name as she grabbed him by the forearm in worry. 

“You know I can’t do that, dear. Rumi-san would never forgive me if I popped over and took her away.”

“But-,”

Kushina didn’t continue what she was about to say. After all, over the past two years, the two of them have become very close to Usagiyama Rumi. She was their son’s girlfriend and their future daughter-in-law. They were practically family at this point. They knew that Mirko would never back away from a fight. 

The family of three cheered whenever the heroes managed to land a good hit on AFO and gasped when AFO blasted them away. They were on the edge of their seats the entire time. 

Eventually, the scene of All For One destroying the entire street with an overpowered Air Cannon blast came up too, and Minato was quick to cover Eri’s eyes and hug her head to his chest, preventing her from seeing the death and destruction AFO caused. 

When the camera showed Mirko and Best Jeanist unconscious bodies lying among the ruined buildings and All For One raising his hand to cast another attack at them, Minato knew what he had to do.

⁂

“Air Cannon!”

Just as AFO raised his hand and said those words, a blond-haired man appeared out of thin air between the Number 3 and Number 5 heroes and whisked them away. All three of them disappeared with a yellow flash.

Minato teleported back to Tokyo, trying to save Endeavour as well. However, the powerful Air Cannon blast that AFO fired after he left further destroyed the already ruined city block, making a large depression appear in the ground. The unconscious Number 2 Hero perished in that attack too. 

“I’ve never seen or heard about someone like you before. Who are you?” All For One asked. 

In his rush, Minato didn’t have time to grab his ROOT mask, so AFO could see his face. The only saving grace was that the helicopters filming the scene were too far away for the public at large to get a good look at this face. 

“Well, no matter. But that’s quite the quirk you have there…. I WANT IT!” All For One said in an avaricious tone and laughed as 10 Rivet tendrils grew from his fingers to strike at Minato. 

But Minato didn’t entertain him with an answer. First of all, he was not there to stop All For One. He only came there to rescue his soon-to-be daughter-in-law. 

Secondly, he had never had any sort of special loyalty to Japan. He had only ever been loyal to one person: Sarutobi Hiruzen, the previous leader of ROOT and the person who had brought him into the organisation. But Mr Sarutobi had long since passed away. Nowadays, Minato was living exclusively for the sake of his family. The government could fall and the whole country could burn; none of that mattered to him as long as his family was safe. 

Lastly, Minato was not the type to fight head-on against someone. He had been raised and trained to become an assassin, not a brawler. 

Therefore, when AFO fired his Rivet Stab at him, Minato didn’t remain to fight. He teleported away. 

AFO’s Rivet Stab hit nothing but air as the blonde man disappeared in a yellow flash. He looked around, curious to see where he would pop up from the next time. However, 30 seconds passed but the teleporter had yet to come back. 

AFO waited another 30 seconds. 

“I guess he isn’t coming back. What a pity.”

He hadn’t even finished saying those words when his Radar quirk picked up a life signature appearing not even one metre behind his back. 

He turned around rapidly, just in time to see Minato pull the pin of a hand grenade before calmly putting it down in a box. 

If AFO had eyes, they would have widened at the sight of it: a wooden crate, roughly 80 centimetres long, 40 centimetres wide, and 20 centimetres deep. It was a storage unit containing 50 hand grenades. 

“I hope you’ll enjoy my gift,” Minato said before taking his hand off the grenade’s lever and teleporting away.

A powerful explosion boomed. 

⁂

The Lord of Crime, All For One, had bid his time and grown his forces for many years. When he finally struck, his attack was swift and decisive. 

It took only one day for the Japanese government to fall. The entire parliament had been massacred, hundreds of Pro Heroes across the country had been killed by Villains, and even the Number 1, Number 2, and Number 10 Pro Heroes in the country lost their lives too. 

The fact that All Might was killed shook not only Japan but the Western World too. Back in his prime, All Might had been an internationally recognised hero due to his overwhelming strength and just character. He had left his mark in the USA and he had single-handedly installed an era of peace and prosperity in Japan. 

But now, that Titan, that incredible individual, was dead, killed by a bio-engineered creature controlled by the villains. 

Many Hero Agencies were burned and vandalised by the Liberation Army, and the regular police forces that tried to stop them were killed mercilessly. 

The losses on the side of the villains were equally heavy, with the Liberation Army having lost thousands, but All For One had never cared about them, proof of that beinf that he had annihilated everyone in his assault on the HPSC Headquarters, foes and allies alike. The only thing that mattered to him was that All Might was dead and that he had finally won. 

The remains of the Japanese government and the surviving members of the Hero Public Safety Commission appealed to the USA and the United Nations, asking for international help, but the response they received was lukewarm at best. Words of sympathy were all that they had gotten. 

The main reason for that was that All For One did not step out in the open to publicly lead the government or declare himself the Emperor. 

Instead, after the government’s fall, Kobu Hanabata stepped in front of the public and took on the role of becoming the new government’s figurehead. Kobu Hanabata, together with Re Destro and the rest of the politicians who had been bought by the AFO and the Liberation Army, had not been at the National Diet building when the massacre occurred. 

By making use of his Incite Quirk and working in tandem with Tomoyasu Chikazoku (also known as Skeptic), who brought to light all of HPSC and ROOT’s classified documents and exposed their dirty laundry, they controlled the mass media to demonise the previous government and paint the Liberation Army and their coup d’etat in a better light, showing it as something that was necessary to happen in order to cut off the cancer in the Japanese society.

⁂

Two days passed since the fall of the Japanese government, and that was still everything that most media outlets around the Globe talked about. Even in the USA, the criminal organisations and the villains’ level of activity spiked, with Hero Agencies and the FBI having to work overtime to keep up with them. 

The government of Japan’s fall was a huge reason for concern for the world at large. Japan was a country with over 130 million people and a strong Hero presence, with nearly 15,000 active Pro Heroes. More importantly, it was the country where the legendary All Might lived and operated. If such a country could fall into the hands of the villains, how many other countries could boldly claim something like that would never happen to them?

As he read an article named ‘Todoroki Family’s Secrets’, Naruto let out a sigh. Endeavour died in battle against All For One but it looked like the villains were still not done with him. 

It was the same not only for Hero Public Safety Commission and Endeavour but for many other heroes and public figures in Japan too. 

Skeptic and other members of the Liberation Army were digging out all sorts of secrets from their past and publicising them, showing the entire world the hidden, ugly side of the previous society for the sake of justifying their coup d’etat. 

His sensitive hearing picking up a change in Mirko’s breathing pattern, Naruto put down his tablet and looked up. The rabbit girl seemed to have woken up. 

“Naruto? …Where am I?” 

She tried sitting up, but a sudden jolt of pain made her wince and dissuaded her from doing so. 

“What happened?” Momentarily, she couldn’t remember how she had gotten hurt. 

Naruto stood up from his couch and came to sit on the edge of her bed. 

“Hey,” he smiled, happy to see her awake. “You fought against All For One. You were injured.”

A look of realisation flashed on her face as her memories all came back to her: the Villains’ attack, the National Diet building massacre, AFO’s assault on the HPSC HQ, and her battle against AFO. 

“How am I still alive? Did you save me?” she asked.

“No, my dad did.”

“What about Best Jeanist and Endeavour?”

“He rescued Best Jeanist too when he came after you; he’s in the hospital now. But he was too late to save Endeavour.”

Mirko winced as she tried to sit up again. Taking pity on her, he helped her do it by lifting her from her armpits and placing a pillow behind her back. 

“What hospital? I don’t know if it’s safe. I wouldn’t put it past those damn villains to launch an attack on hospitals too.”

“Relax, he is safe. You’re safe too. We’re not in Japan anymore,” Naruto said, taking her hand in his and squeezing it to comfort her. 

“Not in Japan… you mean-”

“We’re at my parents’ place, in the USA. Currently, we're in a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida. It’s the home that your mom prepared for us. Best Jeanist is at a hospital here in Jacksonville too.” 

As she started calming down, Rumi noticed that Naruto’s entire torso and arms were bandaged too under the orange t-shirt he wearing. 

“You’re injured too?”

“Yes. The villains attacked UA High too.”

At her worried look, he continued: “Most of the students managed to evacuate unharmed. The principal’s escape measures were very thorough, and the professors and some of the strongest students bought time for the rest to evacuate. I was one of the few who stayed until the end."

“I see… How long was I out? What’s the situation like in Japan?” Rumi asked. 

“It’s not good,” Naruto said, and he sighed again. “All Might is dead. He was killed by a High-End Nomu. It was a Nomu similar to the one the two of us fought at USJ two years ago, but stronger... If that’s not bad enough, the government was overthrown too... I suspect that the few politicians who were not present at the National Diet building two days ago were either bought by All For One or coerced into working for him. The mass media in Japan isn’t saying anything about the atrocities that the Villains committed. They’re only talking about the many crimes that HPSC’s black ops committed in the dark, trying to make it look like a revolution was needed…”

Naruto and Rumi didn’t say anything for some time. 

“What now? Is there any resistance? What are the rest of the heroes doing?” she asked after a while, but he shrugged his shoulders. 

“I don’t know much. But dad teleported to Japan a few times over the past two days. He told me there wasn’t any resistance. The population is too terrified by the hundreds of villains marching the streets in every city. The police forces who tried to resist were decimated by the villains, and it’s estimated that nearly half of the Pro Heroes were killed on the first day of the attacks. That guy, Kobu Hanabata, the mouthpiece of the new government, even went as far as to put a hit on the Pro Heroes, calling for them to turn themselves in to the police for the sake of being re-evaluated… It’s over.”

“Hey, don't talk like that... it’s not like you to give up that easily, Naruto,” Mirko said. 

But he shook his head and said in a sombre voice:

“I may have won the battle at UA High, but the Heroes lost the war, Rumi-chan… All For One’s forces were too much. Experts say he had an army of over 100,000 villains on his side when he attacked. All Might is dead, half of the Pro Heroes lost their lives, and the rest went into hiding. The government was massacred, and the HPSC was annihilated too… On top of all that, somehow, we don’t even have public opinion on our side. All For One’s men keep digging out and publicising the dark secrets of the HPSC and its black ops ROOT, and there are even articles about Endeavour and the terrible things he did to his family.”

“It’s not about giving up; it’s about accepting reality... I don’t know what we could possibly do now. What can the two of us alone do against 100,000 villains and AFO?“

As a master manipulator, All For One didn’t neglect the importance of the actions that he had to take in the aftermath of the civil war. The campaign he started for the sake of smearing the good name of the Pro Heroes and the HPSC was proof that he had thoroughly thought out his plans before taking action. He had had years to prepare for his return. 

Hearing him say those words, Rumi realised that the situation was even worse than she had thought at first. She decided to hold her tongue until she saw what happened with her own eyes and got a better understanding of what had transpired.

“Can you help me stand? I need to use the bathroom.”

“Forget about walking on your own; I’ll carry you there,” Naruto said as he took off the blanket covering her. 

“Aren’t you injured too?”

“It’s just some minor stab wounds. Don’t worry,” he said, picking her up in a princess carry.

“Come to think of it, why didn’t you ask Eri-chan to fix you up?” Rumi asked curiously as she rested her head on his shoulder. 

“Eri-chan’s quirk takes a long time to store power, so I’d rather not make her use it on me for some superficial wounds… I want her to use her quirk on Izuku. He got injured so badly that I don’t think doctors can salvage his right arm anymore. I’m worried about him... Dad tried to find him when he went back to Japan, but Izuku wasn’t in Musutafu's hospitals, and his mother wasn’t at their home either. Principal Nezu must’ve taken them both and hidden them away.”

⁂

Once Mirko called for Naruto to take her out of the bathroom, he carried her into the living room. At the sight of her brother carrying the rabbit girl in his arms, Eri was the first to yell out in glee:

“Rumi-nee-chan!”

Despite the gloom she was feeling due to what happened in her country and to her friends and fellow Heroes, at that moment, Rumi couldn’t help smiling at the bubbly little girl’s happiness at seeing her. 

Hearing Eri’s shout, Kushina also came in from the balcony. 

“Rumi-chan. I’m so glad you’re okay!” she said, throwing her arms around Naruto’s and Rumi’s necks and kissing them both on the cheek. 

“It’s good to see you too, mother,” Rumi said, flushing a bit at Kushina’s overly affectionate mothering. 

Kushina laughed happily at the way Mirko referred to her. 

“Come, let us all go outside, in the garden!” 

Eri had been watching a cartoon on the TV in the living room when Naruto came in carrying Rumi, but she forgot all about it when she saw them and followed them out of the house. 

Rumi squinted her eyes when they went outside, and she was faced with the strong light from the sun. Due to the AC running inside the house, she hadn’t realised how hot it was outside. 

The Uzumaki family’s new home didn’t have a huge yard, but the garden was well-kept and tastefully arranged, and the wooden patio with its square table and plush chairs looked homely and lovely. 

“Rumi-san. You’re up and walking again!” Minato put down the shovel he was working with and came to talk to them. 

“Not exactly walking,” she chuckled. “But it’s great to see you too. Thank you for saving me, father.”

Minato laughed and rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment, with Kushina grinning all the while at him. 

“Of course! We're family. But even if we weren't, how could I not come for you after how many times you saved my son's arse?" he said, making everyone chuckle.

A genuine expression of happiness appeared on Rumi’s face. She was still having trouble getting used to how affectionate and loving Naruto’s parents were. 

She had never felt anything like that growing up in the orphanage, and by the time she and her mother got in touch again, Mirko was a teenager. It was during her rebellious gyaru phase when she didn’t want to have anything to do with the mother who didn’t raise her. Her despise for Usagiyama Yua’s promiscuous behaviour didn’t help matters either, so, to this day, Rumi and her mother have never had a strong relationship. It wasn’t comparable to how close Naruto and his parents were. 

Nevertheless, at that moment, Rumi was forced to reconsider her feelings for her mother. She realised that the fact that Naruto’s family was safe and living in a nice home in the United States of America was all thanks to her mother. Despite her flaws and irresponsible behaviour at times, Usagiyama Yua did love her daughter in her own way. She loved her so much that her affection extended even to her boyfriend and his family.

⁂

The evacuation system that Principal Nezu had created had cost him his entire life’s savings and more. Although Cementos and the Excavation Hero, Higari Maijima, had played a crucial role in shortening the construction time and lowering the costs of the project, even with Nezu’s genius-level intellect, it hadn’t been easy to acquire such an immense sum of money. 

That being said, the colossal project had paid off spectacularly. Due to his foresight, all the students and professors at UA High managed to evacuate safely. All except for the ones who had stayed behind to hold off the Villains and buy them time to escape. 

Initially, UA High, Shiketsu High School, and several other hero schools were connected through an underground evacuation system. It was so that if one of the Hero Schools was attacked, they could evacuate to another. However, with all the Hero Schools having been targeted by the Liberation Army simultaneously, Principal Nezu couldn’t go to any of them. He had to opt for Plan B, going to a special underground facility that nobody except for a few people close to him knew about. 

Two days after the Villains’ attack on the UA High, all the students and professors who had evacuated were still in that secret facility. 

‘There is enough food, water, and power for us to survive here for at least two months,’ Principal Nezu thought.

Recovery Girl was taking care of any injured students and professors, with Eraserhead and Midoriya Izuku having priority due to how grave their injuries were; Lunch Rush was responsible for preparing everyone’s meals, while Midnight, Present Mic, Vlad King, and the others were keeping the order among students. 

‘However, we can’t do that. I can’t keep all these students here for so long… Not only that the children have already started to become restless and anxious due to being separated from their families, but the main problem is that there is a traitor in our midst. A traitor that we still haven’t smoked out. That means that All For One will find out about this facility soon too… if he hasn’t found out about it already…’

The suspicion that there was a traitor among students or professors became a certainty once Cementos brought back the fatally injured Shota Aizawa, who told them what had transpired after he regained consciousness thanks to Recovery Girl’s care and treatment. 

‘Someone impersonated Snipe to backstab Eraserhead, and then, from what Cementos and the boys from class 3-A said, that someone also copied Eraserhead’s quirk and cancelled All Might’s quirk, causing his death.’

‘There are two options. Either Snipe helped that villain sneak into the school, betraying us… or Snipe is innocent, probably even dead, and that villain infiltrated the school with someone else’s help…’

While Nezu was deep in thought, Present Mic’s voice brought him back into the present. 

“Principal? A student from the 3-A class wants to speak with you. Apparently, it’s urgent.”

“Who is it? What happened?” asked Nezu. 

“He wouldn’t say. He insisted on talking to you and only to you. It’s Yuga Aoyama from class 3-A.”

The principal interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on his hands in thought. He knew who Yuga Aoyama was; he knew all the Hero Course students in his school by name and not only. Yuga Aoyama was ordinary from every point of view. His grades were average to low, his quirk’s strength and versatility were average to low too, and his parents were normal people too. The only thing that was slightly special about him was that he came from a wealthier family than average. 

“Let him in,” Nezu said. “But I would like you to keep a watch on us without his notice.”

Present Mic showed a surprised face as understanding dawned on him. 

“Principal, are you saying that he might be a-”

“I don’t know,“ Nezu said, shaking his head. “I hope it is not what I’m afraid of. But I can’t take any risks in our current situation. Too many things are at stake. Better safe than sorry.”

“...I understand,” Present Mic said and went out to bring the boy into Nezu’s room. 

Nezu’s level of alertness rose the moment Yuga Aoyama stepped into the room, and he got to see his distraught facial expression and anxious body language. 

Once he saw the boy taking a seat on the chair in front of Principal Nezu’s desk, Present Mic left the room, seemingly oblivious to the mood. 

“Hello, Aoyama-san,” Nezu said in a tired, but kind voice. “What is it that you wish to talk to me about?”

Aoyama was wrenching his fingers and biting his lower lip nervously, all the while looking down at the desk, unable to meet his eyes. 

“Aoyama-san?”

As he raised his head and finally looked the principal in the eyes, Aoyama burst into tears. 

“I’m sorry, sensei! I’m sorry!” 

“Aoyama-san?? What’s wrong? What happened?” Nezu asked, standing up from his seat. 

“It was me! …I’m sorry! …I didn’t want to do it… but I didn’t have a choice!”

“I’m so sorry…”

His heart-wrenching crying and his loud voice could be heard perfectly from outside the room, and Present Mic burst through the door in a hurry, thinking that those were Aoyama’s last words before he was going to attack the principal. However, after getting inside, he saw that the boy showed no signs of aggression whatsoever. He was just crying bitterly, desperately. 

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AN: be honest, were you scared even a little, that I was going to kill off Mirko when you saw the title? Lol.

The title of the chapter refers not only to Naruto’s feelings about winning the battle while the Heroes lost the war but also to Aoyama’s situation. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.