It was a dark night in Tokyo City. The skyscrapers loomed over the city, their windows glowing with golden light that reflected off the glassy streets below, leaving it one of the few sources of light at the moment. The usual hum of the city was not longer present, having been quieted down by this time of the day as most of the residents were already asleep by now, loading up their batteries for the next day and whatever it will have in store for them.

An orphanage was located somewhere in the middle of the big city and the orphanage was run by a woman by the name of Masami Yoshida. She was a sweet elderly lady who was always showed kidness and support to everyone around her. The same extended for all of her wards in the orphanage, no matter their age of their background. She knew those children deserved a bright future regardless if they'll get adopted or not and she made sure to do her best to provide something like this to them.

She was known in the city because of this, having been even rewarded by the mayor of the city for everything she was doing for the children of Japan and her role in creating a bright future for many children was acknowledged by many heroes. No matter if they were stationed in Tokyo because of their job or if they were passing through the city for one reason or another. Masami was really flattered by all of this. However, she didn't think much of it as she knew it was something which had to be done.

Her orphanage got a new guest tonight as well with a knock on the doors making her make her way to the door to pen it for them. It wasn't adult who either went to her orphanage with an interest of adopting a child or one of her friends paying her a visit. Upon collecting herself to make herself look somewhat presentable and opening the doors, she was greeted by a view of a newborn in a baby carrier with no adults being around to be seen.

Masami's eyes snapped open in an instant upon seeing the newborn on her doorstep, wasting no time and picking the baby carrier up. She made sure to be extremely careful while doing so, not wanting to harm newborn in any way. There was a letter inside the baby carrier as well. Taking a look around herself and reassuring herself in there being no other adult in the area, she went back into the orphanage and placed child carefully on the couch and opened the letter.

She read the letter a second later, letting out a sigh as whatever was written on it showed her with what kind of situation she was dealing with right now. The newborn in the baby carrier was a boy. His name was Minato. No surname was given to him as whoever his family was wanted to remain anonymous. The rest of the letter included why Minato's family abandoned him at her doorstep as he was birthed by a teenage mom at the age of 16 and she and her family agreed to give the baby away to make sure her life wouldn't be ruined by having to a parent to someone at such a young age.

Masami shook her head to herself once she was done reading the letter as she placed the letter aside. Even though she wished she could trace it back to whoever brought this baby here, she couldn't because there wasn't a single information which would help her in doing so. She placed the letter aside and shifted her gaze to Minato who was asleep in his baby carrier, unaware he was just abandoned his family. It didn't remain like this for long, though as he woke up and began to cry.

The owner of the orphanage reacted to this instantly, feeling her protective instincs kicking in as she picked Minato up from the baby carrier and began to calm him down. Her efforts at calming him down paid off a few minutes later as Minato calmed down and looked at her. Masami couldn't help herself and smiled a bit at the view of him. He was such a cute and beautiful baby boy and she could have sworn she saw a hint o a smile forming on his face

"Don't worry, Minato." Masami smiled at the baby in front of her in a sweet and motherly way as Minato slowly found himself drifting off into sleep right now, "I'm going to take care of you and I'm going to make sure you will find a family. If that won't happen, though, then I will make sure you will have a bright future like each child in my care deserves."

It was exactly what Masami did, taking the boy under her wing wing introducing him to her co-workers and the other wards of hers at the orphanage. Before Minato knew it, he was immediately accepted into the place...

------

Days have passed since Minato's arrival at the orphanage and before Masami knew it, six years passed in the blink of an eye. The six years between Minato's arrival at the orphanage and the present day were filled with growth, challenges, and love. For Masami, taking care of Minato was no different from raising her other wards, but there was something special about the boy. She didn't know what but there was something in his eyes that she could see in him even as a baby.

At first, Minato struggled to adjust to life at the orphanage. Masami was patient and nurturing, though. Just like any other baby, he cried late into the night despite her soothing lullabies. She spent many sleepless nights rocking him in the old armchair by the window, her voice a quiet hum and the bond between them slowly grew as a result of this. Minato's cries became less frequent as well, having been replaced toothless grins that warmed Masami's heart.

As Minato grew into a toddler, his curiosity became his defining trait and Masami knew she couldn't be suprised by this because of this being an usual trait in children in their toddler age. He was always crawling after something, no matter if it was. Masami encouraged his curiosity, filling his days with picture books and toys donated by the local community. She made sure he always felt supported, whether he was attempting to build a block tower or being curious about the other kids from the orphanage.

He even befriended one of the boys from the orphanage who was around his age. The boys name was Yuto who was left at the orphanage around the age of two after he was taken away from his old home by CPS due to the terrible living conditions he was forced to live in with his original family. The two boys stayed in contact even after Yuto was adopted by the Kuramine family and often hung out with each other as the Kuramine household was placed not too far from the orphanage.

When Minato turned four, Masami enrolled him in a nearby preschool. His first day was marked by tears and clinging to her skirt, but by the end of the week, he was chatting excitedly about his teachers and new friends. His friendship with Yuto grew from there as well as Yuto was attending the same school and both of them got placed in the same class. The two boys even befriended a girl named Shiraishi Haru, becoming close friends with her and soon enough, the trio was inseparable.

Even if Minato slowly started to grow older as the time passed, Minato always returned to Masami's side at the end of the day. No matter if it was showing her his latest school project or snuggling up with her during storytime. Their bond remained as strong as ever and everyone around them could see this. Minato, on the other hand, showed Masami why she had dedicated her life to helping children. She often found herself imagining how his life will be like an adult and it always brought a smile to her face.

Minato's Quirk manifested at the age of five as well and Masami made sure to take him to a Quirk doctor when it happened to learn more about his power, like she did with every child at her orphanage. The Doctor who was a ice man with a moustache explained the power to her and Minato and his power was quite an unusual and interesting one. The Doctor called it the red energy because his power was creating an energy of such color. The Doctor even admitted how he wouldn't be suprised of Minato became a strong hero with a power of such potential.

If Masami was honest with herself, she wasn't suprised if that was the case as Minato absolutely loved heroes. He always got excited whenever one of them would come up on the TV and always took the closest spot to it, fanboying whenever a hero, no matter if they were All Might or someone else, or someone else were shown on the TV and he always cheered whenever a despicable villain was defeated by them while proclaiming how he will do the same once he will grow up.

This was what happened right now as well as Minato once again found himself sitting in front of TV with Yuta and Haru next to him. Two of his friends were often brought to the orphanage by their parents whenever they needed someone to babysit them or when they wanted to hang out with their friends, leaving the orphanage a common place for their hangouts. Masami didn't mind one bit, being always more than happy to look after them even if her age was slowly starting to show.

Masami stood in the doorway to the room, watching the three children get excited over seeing All Might pull of his signature "I'm here!" in front of the cameras and defeat a villain wrecking havoc on the street in the blink of an eye. By the time the TV report was over, the three children sat in a small circle on the floor, their heads close together as they exchanged excited whispers. Masami couldn't help herself and smiled at the sweet scene in front of her.

She stepped forward towards them a second later and clasped her hands to get their attention, "What are you three plotting now?"

Minato immediately shifted his gaze to her, having his excited smile on his face as hemade a grand sweeping gesture, as if he were presenting a grand vision, "Masami-san! We're planning our future as heroes! Just like All Might! We're gonna be the best team ever!"

"Yeah! Minato says he's gonna be the leader, but I'm faster than him, so I should be!" Yuto agreed, having a playful smirk on his face.

"No way! I'm the smartest one, so I should be the leader!" Haru cut into the argument in a firm tone, crossing her aams, "My Quirk turns me into a cool dragon as well so I should be the leader!"

Minato crossed his arms, "Yeah! But my Quirk allows me to shot out cool energy from my fingers...!"

"What about me?" Yuto asked, "My Quirks can destroy your cool energy!"

Masami chuckled at the banter of the children in front of her and made all three of them stop arguing when she uttered, "You know. It doesn't really matter who the leader is. What matters is that you all work together and support each other. That's what makes a great hero team."

Haru looked at her thoughtfully, "Like All Might and the heroes in the news? They always team up when things get really tough."

Masami gave her a smile and a nod of her head, "Exactly. Even the strongest hero needs allies in the times of need or when they fight a powerful villain which matches their strength. It's not just about strength or speed or smarts. It's about trust, kindness, and believing in each other."

Yuto shrugged, folding his arms behind his head, "So, we'll just be the best team ever. No leader needed!"

"Yeah!' Haru agreed with him, throwing her hand upwards.

"Definitely!" Minato grinned in agreement with his red energy flickering faintly around his hands in his excitement. Masami noticed it and smiled warmly, reminded of how far he had come since the first time his Quirk manifested. He shifted his gaze to Masami a second later with his grin growing upon setting his eyes on her, "I'll make you proud, Masami-san. I'll be the best hero ever!"

"Me too!" Haru added with determination evident in her voice.

"And me!" Yuto said with his voice being loud and showing confidence.

Masami beamed at the children in front of her, more specifically at Minato, as she felt her heart getting filled with a mix of pride and hope, "You already do. You already make me so proud."

------

More years passed and Minato was now a student at U.A. Words couldnt describe how happy Minato was when he received the mail from U.A and found out he had made it there, having passed the two exams without any problem due to the amount of time he had invested into preparing himself for the day of the exam. Attending U.A was a dream he had since childhood and finding himself standing int he school and wearing the U.A. uniform made him feel extremely proud of himself.

Masami was extremely proud of him when he received his letter from U.A as well, having broken into tears and hugged him tightly upon finding out he was accepted into his dream school. Even if Masami grew more fragile as the years had passed due to her advancing age, she never stopped showing him her support and always made sure to tell him how proud she was of him and the person he was growing into. It made Minato extremely happy because everything he was doing was to make her proud of him.

He wasn't the only one who got accepted into U.A, though. Yuto and Haru made it into U.A as well and all three of them were placed in the same classroom, ensuring that their shared dream of becoming heroes was alive and stronger than ever. Just like they were back when they were kids, their bond was as strong as ever as they remained inseperable. Haru even often joked how her younger cousin Ryuko would join them at U.A soon enough, being only two years younger than her.

The trio sat together at one of the tables in U.A.'s cafeteria right now, having taken their usual table there. Even though the place was always filled with student whenever they arrived there, they always managed to secure this place for themselves and they loved it. Minato leaned forward with an excited look on his face, having his elbows on the table as Yuto was halfway through a bowl of ramen while Haru chewed on a rice ball with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Can you guys believe it?" Minato asked his two best friends as he shifted his gaze between them with an excited look on his face., "The U.A. Sports Festival is just a few weeks away!"

Yuto paused mid-slurp on his ramen noddles, "Someone is hyped, huh?"

"You know it!" Minato nodded in cofirmation, "The U.A. Sports Festival isn't just any event—it's where heroes are born! Pro heroes from all over the country will be watching. Can you imagine?!"

Yuta leaned back in his seat with a smirk on his face, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's a big deal. But let's not forget that we've gotta win first. And by we, I mean me. I'm gonna be the star of the festival."

Haru rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, "Right, because the festival is just about you, Yuto. You do realize teamwork and strategy play a huge part, right? Speed's great and all, but it won't carry you through every round."

"Yeah. If you say so." Yuto rolled his eyes, "But what about you, Haru? Got some tricks up your sleeve with your big mad dragon Quirk?"

Haru once again rolled her eyes at him, "How many times have I told you not to call it that!"

"Why? It fits it perfectly." Yuto smirked at him, "I know you winning the festival would have definitely gained attention of this new naked pro-hero who you were blushing at recently when we saw her on the news~."

Haru blushed heavily and began to stutter in her own words, "I-I, um, I-I just, shut up!"

Yuto chuckled, "Come on~. I can't blame you for this. She is quite hot. She was a student at this school as well so you could ask our senpais how she was like in this school. From what I've heard, she was friends with..."

"Shut up!" Haru's face was redder than tomato right now.

"Can you two stop with this for now? This is serious." Minato cut the argument between his friends short, "This festival isn't just about individual glory. It's about proving we're ready to be heroes. We've all got something to prove, not just to ourselves, but to everyone who's helped us get this far."

Haru shifted her gaze to him and smiled softly, "You mean Masami-san, don't you?"

Minato nodded with a determined look on his face, "Yeah. She's been my rock since the day I came to the orphanage. Everything I'm doing and everything I want to achieve is all for her. I want to show her that her belief in me wasn't misplaced. I want her to be proud of me."

"Dude. You're already making her proud." Yuto smiled at him.

Haru nodded in agreement, "Yeah. The last time when I saw her, she looked like she was about to burst out of happiness and pride when you talked about our time at U.A with her."

"Yeah. But I still want to make her more proud by becoming a great hero." Minato blushed a bit in embarassment, "Do you think she would be proud of me if I won the festival this year...?"

"...Young Minato." Their conversation was cut short a second later and Minato, Yuto and Haru shifted their attention towards the source of the voice where they saw Nezu and Recovery Girl standing in front of them with grim expressions on their faces. Their attention was mostly set on Minato.

Haru raised her brow at them, "Principal Nezu? Recovery Girl?"

"Do you need something from me?" Minato wanted to know.

"Can you come with us to my office? We need to talk about something in private." Nezu explained with his grim expression staying evident on his face.

Minato raised his brow in a nervous manner, "What? Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Nezu shook his head, "No. You didn't."

"You're not in trouble, young Minato." Recovery Girl added with a grim and pitful expression on her face, "We just need to tell you about something in private in Nezu's office."

"Alright. Let's go, then..." Minato remained nervous and confused on whatever Nezu and Recovery Girl wanted to talk about with him.

Minato got up from his seat a second later, bidding his best friends farewell for now with a wave of his hand and Yuto and Haru nodded at him, both of them appearing to be just as confused by this situation as Minato was. Not wasting any time, Nezu and Recovery Girl started to make their way towards Nezu's office and Minato followed them with his mind becoming filled with questions regarding what both of them wanted to talk about him in private.

The three of them walked out of the cafeteria a second later with the conversations and laughter from inside of it fading away the more they distanced themselves from it. Minato couldn't help but glance at the two figures ahead of him. Nezu was now unusually serious and Recovery Girl's girl usual smile which you'd see in a loving mother/grandma was nowhere to be found, having been replaced by an expression that made Minato's nerves tighten.

The arrived at the office a few moments later with Nezu ushering Minato inside. The door was closed a second later, leaving the three of them inside of the office in a tense silence and Nezu pointed at the seat across from his own seat, wanting Minato to sit down on it. Minato nodded in understanding and took his seat across from Nezu and Recovery Girl, finding himself growing more nervous because of the silence in the room.

"Are you sure I didn't do something wrong?" Minato asked with nervousness evident in his voice, "I mean, the last time I checked, I wasn't in trouble with anyone."

Nezu shook his head with his eyes having a sad understanding on them, "Don't worry, young Minato. That's not about it. It's about something else. It's something we need to discuss privately because this is going to be very difficult for you to hear."

"What is it, then?" Minato wanted to know, "Tell me."

Nezu took a deep breath, bracing himself for the reaction this would get out of Minato, "...Minato. Yoshida-san had passed away this morning."

Minato felt his brain stop working upon hearing this, "W-What? What do you mean? What happened?"

Nezu sighed sadly, "She fell down the stairs in the morning and landed in an unfortunate way. By the time the ambulance was called by one of the workers at the orphanage, she was nothing that could be done as she was already dead even if the co-workers tried to help her. I'm sorry."

"W-What? No... no, that can't be right. She... she can't be..." Minato struggled to find the right words to answer as his brain process this information or rather refused to process it. He clenched his hands. He wanted to scream, to shout that it couldn't be true. Masami was always there, always supporting him. How could she be gone?, "S-She can't be gone..."

Nezu nodded with a sorrow filled eyes, "I'm so sorry, young Minato. I really wish I didn't have to tell you about this. We understand that this is hard to hear, and we want to give you time to process this. But we knew you needed to know."

"No. This can't be happening." Minato said with his voice starting to break, "No. This can't be happening. She always been there for me. She was meant to see me participate in the sports festival. She promised me that she will watch it and cheer me on..."

Recovery Girl placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her voice soft and comforting, "Minato, I know how much Yoshida-san meant to you. I met her myself when I visited her orphanage in the past. She was a great woman and I could tell she loved you when I saw you two together in the past. She's always been proud of you, even until the very end. I'm sure of it."

Nezu got up from his seat and stepped closer to Minato, "She's right, young Minato. Yoshida-san knew how hard you worked, how far you've come. You've been following the path she always believed you could take."

Minato shifted his gaze between them with tears in his eyes, "But I was supposed to win the festival for her. To show her that I could be a great hero. That I could make it all worth it."

"Young Minato. Yoshida-san would be proud of you no matter what." Recovery Girl told him, "Winning the festival or not, she saw the person you've become. She knew you were going to be a hero, and she was proud of everything you did, even if you didn't win the festival or become a pro hero right away."

"But I wanted to do it for her." Minato explained with tears openly spilling down from his eyes, "I wanted to show her that she wasn't wrong to believe in me. I wanted to make her proud of me more than anything..."

"You can still make her proud, young Minato." Nezu softly began to explain to him, "Even if she is not here anymore, she will always watch over you and will see everything you will do. You can still make her proud in a way you wanted to make her proud."

Minato kept himself silent for a long moment, wanting to take a moment to process everything as Nezu and Recovery Girl continued to comfort him the best they could right now even if they doubted anything they would do would make her feel better right now. He let out a soft exhale a second later, having slowly managed to calm himself down. Masami was gone but her love and support had always been a part of him and will always be a part of him.

"I'll keep going. I'll make her proud, even if she's not here to see it. I'll be the hero she believed I could be." He pushed himself out his silent state a second later with his voice showing determination. Nezu and Recovery Girl smiled at him even if the worry regarding his state remained visible in their eyes.

In the end, Minato ended up fulfilling his promise to Masami and won the U.A festival. He dedicated this win to her as well. Words couldn't describe how happy he was in this moment and how he couldn't smilling when his reward was given to him. The smile he had on his face when he received his medal could have been written as a smug smile by many people who saw the picture without knowing the reason for his smile.

Minato didn't care about this, though...

He was just happy about him winning the festival for the sake of the woman who raised him...

The day of the festival was the day when he finally started referring to himself as Minato Yoshida in front of everyone as well...

-----

Chie Terasaka let out a bored sigh, working her shift at the store she was employed at to earn some extra cash for her college. All of her feelings of boredom faded away sometime later during her shift, though as she found herself at a gunpoint with the man aiming his gun with his right hand at her and demanding all the money she could offer him. He didn't just aim his pistol at her, though. His fingernails on his left hand extended themselves as well, making them look more claws than nails. Needless to say. It made the glasses wearing woman even more terrified. The fact that this man threatened to scratch her face if she won't listen to him didn't help.

The woman wasted no time, feeling terrified in the moment and quickly reached towards the cash register. Just as she began to empty it out of money, she saw the robber's eyes go wide in suprise as something red covered his entire body. The woman stopped what she was doing, finding herself suprised by it as well as the robber tried to wiggle his way out of this strange red prison he had just found himself in. He even tried to fire his gun as an attempt of breaking himself out of it but even that didn't work. Even his fingers became completely motionless.

He looked over his shoulder, wanting to know who was doing this to him and saw a man walking towards him. The man was pretty young and the robber could tell this man was a Pro-Hero straight away. He looked like he had just gotten himself out of a hero school. His hair was blonde and his eyes were blue like an ocean. His hero outfit consisted a red trench coat and top along with black leggings and boats. He had this smug aura around him as well.

"Bothering people with your selfish needs in the middle of a day like this? Just what one would expect from a nuisance to the society like you. People like you just can't stop themselves from ruining someone else's day." The unknown hero uttered, stepping closer to the robber and it was just a matter of seconds before he found himself next to him.

Before the robber could say anything to him, the unknown hero punched him in the face and knocked him out. What caught the glasses wearing woman attention was his fist. It was covered in this strange red energy. The woman watched the robber hit the ground like a sack of bricks, leaving him unconscious as she set her eyes on the unknown hero and saw the red energy vanish from his fist in the blink of an eye.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, her expression filled with awe. She had seen many heroes go pass this area in her life and this man was not among them. He must have been someone new. At the same time she couldn't help but blush a bit. She had to admit. This man was handsome.

The man turned towards the woman with a smug and confident smirk on his face. He winked at the woman, making her blush more as he gave her his answer, "Sweetie. My name is Yoshida Minato. But you can call me the Scarlet Hero."

Chie glanced away from him a second later, doing her best to hide the blush on her face before she was taken back into reality by Minato telling her how she should call the cops with his tone coming back to normal. The glasses wearing woman nodded at him, having returned to reality and started dialing the cops while Minato kept eyes on the knocked out robber, doing his best to stay on guard in case this man would wake up and try to escape.

By the time the police had arrived, the area surrounding the store where Chie had worked at became surrounded by many bystanders who found out about a new Pro-Hero having a debut in this place and wanted to take a look at him. They did when the police had arrived a few minutes later and Minato walked out of the store, holding the man by the back of his clothes as he dragged him towards the police officers who seemed more than ready to take the villain into custody.

Upon finding himself outside the store, Minato immediately found himself in the center of attention of all the people gathered at the scene and felt everyone pointing their phones at him while whispering amongst themselves. The young hero smiled at all the attention of people around him, waving his hand at them while trying to make himself look friendly during his debut to all the civilians around him. He even introduced himself to all of them once the police left the area, making sure to give each curious civilian the same amount of attention.

Chie remained inside the store, looking at the man in front of her with a blushing face as she watched him interact with all the civilians around him. No matter what happened, she just couldn't make the blush on her face go away. Not only this man who saved her from a dangerous thief was good looking and strong, he also appeared to be kind to people around him from the way he was interacting with everyone around him.

She turned away from him a second later, going back into the store where she would wait for her boss to arrive and discuss what just happened with him. She knew the wait wouldn't be long as well because of him having already been informed of this. Just as she found herself going deeper into the store, she was stopped by a now familiar male voice calling out to her and turned around to see Minato walking towards her with a questioning look on his face and a gentle smile on his face.

"...Excuse me, miss." He called out to Chie as Chie stopped in her tracks, beginning to blush once more and turned around to face him.

She looked at him questioningly, "Y-Yes?"

"Are you okay? Such an event doesn't happen everday to someone." Minato asked her in concern, "I'm sorry not asking you this question this late as well. I found himself too occupied with everything and failed to ask you this earlier."

"Y- Yeah. Don't worry. I'm fine. Thank you for asking regardless of when it happened." Chie gave him a nod, "I-I just need to talk with my boss and I'll be fine..."

"I see." Minato replied in understanding and looked at her questioningly, "Wait me to wait with you?"

Chie was a bit taken aback by the sudden, "W-What?"

"I can wait with you for him. I could talk with him about what happened as well if he gave you some trouble." Minato explained, smilling at the woman in front of him.

Chie rubbed the back of her head, "W-Well, I wouln't want to waste your..."

"Don't worry. You won't waste my time." Minato smiled at her, "What do you think, then?"

"If you want to, then yeah. Sure." Chie nodded at him while blushing as Minato felt his smile grow at the woman in front of him. He had to admit. She was a bit cute.

The two stayed together in the store after this, having a conversation with each other to kill the wait for the owner of the store and the time slowly found themselves growing more comfortable with each other with Chie becoming less of a blushing maiden around him. They used this time to get to know each other a bit and Minato and Chie suprised each other by some of their shared interests. By the time the owner of the store arrived, the two failed to notice his arrival because the two were heavily into their conversation.

Once they were done setlling everything down with the owner of the store, the two parted ways with Chie asking Minato if he'd like to get her number. Minato accepted her offer without hesitatio and the two stayed in touch after this. Their chatting slowly grew into friendship and their friendship slowly grew into love as the two started dating after Minato asked Chie out and the two went of their first date together.

Everything was perfect for the two after this as their relationship progressed from here with them getting know each other even more. Minato found out about Chie being Quirkless, showing her he didn't care about this which was something Chie greatly appreciated and even helped her out with the college stuff as Chie was slowly preparing herself to become a lawyer. Minato even gave her some ideas regarding the internships once she will reach this point of her college education in this course.

Minato explained his past as an orphan to Chie as well, adding more to his explanation by explaining his relationship with Masami to her and how she was like a mother to him with him even taking her surname after her death. Chie felt pity for him, comforting him when he got emotional while talking about Masami and reassuring him how she is certain about Masami being proud of the man he had became.

The two met each other friends and families as well. Chie's family loved Minato straight away, having been charmed by him the moment he got introduced to them by the daughter and even started joking about the possible wedding bells by the time their relationship started to get more serious. Yuto and Haru were no better, having become good friends with Chie and having grown to love to tease these two about their possible wedding in the future.

Their relationship being a sweet and loving was not an act they just put up in front of everyone, though. It was reality. Both of them genuinely fell in love with each other and made sure to spend every free moment they had together. They did everything together and always went out together, no matter if it was a simple date or a holiday together. All of it was just perfect and it seemed like nothing would break them apart...

However, everything slowly started to fall apart with Minato gaining more popularity due to his hero work with many people labelling him as someone who will reach the top ten in the country sooner or later . His kind smiles whenever he found himself in the center of people around him slowly grew more smug and confident, showing everyone just how much he loved to find himself in the center of attention. Whenever he got surrounded by his fans with Chie, he always pushed her away like she was something not important and made her stand on the side and watch while acting like he didn't know her.

Minato started to grow more greedy as the time passed as well with him refusing some sponsors due to them not giving them the amount of money which he wished to get from them. He even often called those who he refused cheap because someone who would soon reach top ten like him deserved more. When he got confronted by Chie regarding this behavior, he brushed her away and explained to her how she was just seeing things.

Their dates became less frequent as well as Minato often choose to party with his friends from work whenever he found some free time, leaving Chie feeling left out and often coming home too drunk or too exhausted to even look at her or have a conversation with her. Whenever he got confronted by Chie about this, he once again brushed her off and pointed out to her how she is being too controlling, explaining to her how he could hang out with friends like any other person.

Chie hit her limit when she received a picture from one of her friends who was partying with at the same club where Minato often went partying wth his friends. The picture showed Minato kissing another woman and he looked to be ready into this. Words couldn't describe how hurt and humiliated Chie felt by this. When Minato came back home from the party, she angrily exploded at him with hurt and angry tears in her eyes while demanding answers.

"...Minato. What the hell is this?! Why are you kissing another woman? Are you cheating on me?" Chie asked in a hurt tone, having tears dreaming down her face.

Minato was a bit taken aback by the sudden scream from his girlfriend. He quickly composed himself, though and told her, "Chie, Chie, calm down. It's not what it looks like, okay? I swear, it was just a kiss. It didn't mean anything."

"Just a kiss? You expect me to believe that? How could you..." Chie told him with her voice breaking.

Minato stepped closer to her with a pleading look o his face, "Chie, listen to me! I didn't want it to happen. She came onto me! You know how these things are. She's just a fan who got too excited. She practically threw herself at me!"

Chie glared at him, "Then why didn't you push her away? Why do you look like you're enjoying it?!"

Minato sighed, doing his best to remain calm right now and not appear like he was annoyed by this conversation, "It was a mistake, okay? A moment of weakness. I-I didn't want to embarrass her or cause a scene. You know how the media is. They're always watching. I didn't want them to twist it into something bigger than it is."

"Do you even hear yourself, Minato?!" Chie snapped at him, "You let her kiss you and now you're blaming her?!"

Minato placed his hand on his chest, "I'm not blaming her. I'm just explaining what happened! I didn't mean for it to happen, Chie. You've got to trust me. You know how much pressure I'm under lately with all the fans, the media, the work. It's exhausting sometimes."

"Don't you dare use that as an excuse!" Chie retorted, "You think I don't see how you've changed? How you've been pushing me aside, acting like I'm not even here when you're out with your fans? This isn't just about the kiss, Minato. This is about everything!"

"Everything!?" Minato asked with his tone getting more defensive at this, "What are you even talking about? I've been working my ass off trying to build something great here and to make sure you won't have to work as you keep attending college and all you can do is nitpick every little thing I do. Do you know how much stress I'm under?"

Chie shook her head with tears still evident, "Don't you turn this around on me! I've supported you so much as well! I've been by your side when and now you're acting like you don't even care about me anymore..."

"Chie, I do care about you. I love you." Minato pointed out to her with his tone growing softer and gentler, "This was a stupid mistake. It was the first time, I swear. I would never intentionally hurt you. You've got to believe me."

Chie looked away from him, "I don't know if I can believe you."

"I get it. I messed up, but don't let one stupid, meaningless mistake ruin everything we've built together." Minato replied with his tone becoming more pleading and desperate as he did his best not to make Chie leave him, "Please, Chie. You're my anchor, my everything. The only other person who supported me like this was Masami-san.. If you walk away, I don't know what I'd do"

Chie stayed silent for a moment, letting out a sigh before asking him, "Y-You really mean that?"

Minato nodded as he grabbed her hand into his and squeezed them tightly, "More than anything. Let me prove it to you. Let me fix this. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Okay, but this is your last chance, Minato. No more excuses, no more lies." Chie gave him a hesitant nod of head her, sniffling.

Minato grabbed his girlfriend a second later and pulled her into a tight hug with a smile slowly spreading across his face, "You won't regret this, Chie. I promise..."

------

Minato unlocked the door to his apartament, letting out a as his shoulders were slumped a bit after doing his work during the day and partying a bit with his friends from work during the night and some other 'friends' he had met at the club on his free day of work. If he was honest with himself, he loved whenever he had some free time to hang out with his friends after work. The clubs remained one of his favourite places to hang out with them as well. The attention which he was getting to women there was always amazing and it was something he continued to love.

He closed the door behind him, letting out a tired yawn as he felt his bed calling out for him. Words couldn't describe how exhausted he felt right now and how much he wanted to sleep. All the partying at the club and a little afterparty he had with two beautiful women he had met there stretched him thin and sleep was the only thing on his mind right now. He couldn't wait for the moment when he will lay down on his bed and fall asleep which he knew will happen soon. To make everything better, he had a free day tommorow and he could laze around and rest for as much as he'll desire.

"Chie. I'm home." The Scarlet Hero called out to his girlfriend, kicking off his boots as he stepped further into his apartament. When he found himself in the living room, he saw Chie sitting on the couch with her being a mixture of between worry and anger. She clutched her phone in her hand, her grip being extremely shaky. Minato noticed the way his girlfriend was like right now, but chose to ignore it, heading towards the kitchen to grab a drink.

"Minato." His girlfriend called out for him a second later with her voice being a mixture of anger and a mixture of sounding like she was about to start crying.

Minato looked over his shoulder at her, placing the now empty glass on the kitchen counter, "Yeah?"

"We need to talk." Chie told him, doing her best to hide the tearful part in her voice.

Minato rolled his eyes, already sensing where this was headed as he turned around to face her, "What is it this time?"

Chie stepped closer, her expression growing darker, "Don't play dumb with me. You didn't come home earlier..."

"I went out to hang out with my friends after work..." Minato explained, looking almost annoyed to have to explain this to her.

Chie glared at him, "Yeah. After you promised to spent your time after work with me..."

"Right. Relax. I'll make this up to you. We spent time all the time. Don't act so entitled just because I didn't do it today with you." Minato rolled his eyes, not wanting to have this conversation due to how tired he was right now as he pushed himself into walk towards his and Chie's room.

"You'll make this up? You keep saying that whenever you ditch me to do stuff like this and you never make this up you claim you will."Chie pointed out to Minato as she quickly followed him. Her expressiow grew sharper and more hurt a second later, "Tell me at least. Were they worth it?"

Minato stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her again with a raised brow, "Who was worth it?"

"The two women you slept with." Chie explained to him with her expression growing more hurt.

Minato sighed in frustation, "You again with your stupid delusions. Ever since that one kiss, you keep accusing me of cheating even when you don't have..."

"What? Proof? I have more than enough of it." Chie cut him off.

Minato blinked with a suprised look on his face, "What?"

Chie turned her phone around and showed him a picture displayed on it. It was a picture of Minato with two naked women from tonight snuggled into him, "Mind explaining this to me? One of those women posted this on her social media. To make it worse, you even have hickeys on your neck!" Minato glanced at his neck and fixed up his collar a bit to hide the hickey one of the women left on it, "Tell me. Was it worth it? Was cheating on me again worth it?"

Minato stared at her picture for a few seconds, clenching his hand and glanced back at Chie, "Are you stalking me?"

"Don't change the subject." Chie glared at him with a mixture of anger and hurt remaining evident on her face, "I kept giving you one chance after another as I hoped you would change back into the person you were back when I first met you. Now I know you haven't changed at all."

Minato crossed his arms, his face devoid of any remorse, "You're overreacting."

"Overreacting?" Chie raised her voice at him, "How can you even say that? You've been lying to me. Again! Behind my back, having sex with the other women like I mean nothing to you. Do I mean nothing to you?"

Minato cut her off a second later with frustation evident in his voice, "You finished?"

"You finished?" Chie looked on the verge of emotional breakdown, "This is all you have to say for yourself?"

Minato rolled his eyes, "What else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know? 'I'm sorry' maybe?" Chie asked him, "I gave you a second chance after the last time as I thought you will change and yet, you threw it all away. You lied to me again . You kept seeing other women behind my back and badmouthed me to them. AGAIN! You just keep humiliating me when I'm not around. I thought you loved me... "

"God fucking dammit..." Minato muttered under his breath, growing more irritated with the woman in front of him as he felt himself reaching his limit of patience, "Chie. Can't you just leave me alone? I had a long fucking day at work today and I'll be finally having a day off tommorow and I want to use it the best I can."

Chie clenched her hand, "This is what happens to you more? Your day off? Not our relationship? Not the way you keep hurting me with your behavior?"

Minato let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair as he gave Chie a cold indifferent glance, "Look, Chie. I don't really have the energy for this. You always make everything such a big deal. I'm not going to keep apologizing for the same stuff you always tell me off about. I'm tired, I want to sleep, and I honestly don't have time for your drama right now Get over it, or don't. I really don't care either way."

"What happened to you?" Chie asked him with her voice filled with disbelief and hurt. She knew Minato brought up her being Quirkless to hurt her. She knew how insecure she could get about it. Especially when she compared it to his strong power, "I can't recognize you anymore. You're not the man who saved me from that robber..."

"What? You think you're someone special because I saved you once?" Minato asked while looked at her as if she was an idiot, "It's my job as a hero to save other people. Not my fault you latched onto me like a leech. If anything, you should be grateful I gave you my attention. I could have settle down for any woman and yet I choose someone who doesn't even have her own power."

"Your job as a hero, huh?" Chie asked with his tone shifting into a spiteful tone. She knew what she would say next would hurt Minato. She didn't care about it, though. He deserved it in her mind for what he put her through. She will hurt him just like he hurt her with his constant betrayals and bringing up her being Quirkless, "You dare to call yourself and hero and yet, you act like this. You can only call yourself that, because you have the right papers for it. You're a joke. Not a hero."

"For fucks sake! I already told you! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Minato screamed angrily, feeling his patience with Chie reaching it's limit as he didn't think in the moment and released a ball of red energy at her in order to take out his anger and frustation with her.

Chie's eyes widened the moment the red energy hit her, feeling herself getting knocked backwards and her falling down was followed by a loud bang of something hitting itself against the side of the table. Minato froze upon seeing what just happened, eyeing the state his girlfriend had just found herself in because of him with a shocked look on his face, needing a moment to process what just happened.

There was blood coming out of Chie's head, pouring out heavily out of it and painting the floor underneath her in the crimson red. The pool of blood underneath her continued to grow with each passing moment as Minato refused to move from his place. Her face was incredible pale as well, indicating how she was no longer alive due to the fall and the last expression on her face showed a mixture of fear, hurt and betryal.

Minato gasped heavily a second later, feeling all the air leave his lungs in an instant when the realization and the gravity of what he just did hit him like a speeding truck. His breathing became more unsteady with each passing second as the realization of what just happened continued to fly through his head. Upon calming himself down a second later, he realized he couldn't write this off as reality and had to make sure.

"...Chie?" He called out for her in a quiet desparate and shocked voice, trying to get any reaction out of her or rather praying for it. He received nothing. He quickly moved towards her and crouched down in front of her, painting his pants in the blood of his girlfriend as the pool of blood continued to grow underneath her. Wasting no time, he placed his hand on her wrist and prayed for a pulse, "Please, please, please..."

Minato continued to chant this word over and over in his head with his prayers for pulse refusing to stop. However, all of his prayers were for nothing because he found none. He knew it meant only one thing. Chie was dead. She was really dead and he killed her in his moment of rage. To make matters worse, her last expression continued to stare at him and haunt him almost as if it was it's own way of saying "You did this to me" to him.

The Scarlet Hero bowed his head, letting out a deep tearful breath as he felt a wave of guilt hit splash over him. He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead agaisnt Chie's head as he sobbed out of guilt. He didn't want this to happen. He didn't expect this to happen. He just wanted to leave her alone. He didn't expect his power would lash out alongside him and hit him girlfriend, leaving her in such a state and him unable to do anything about this.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen..." He muttered his apologies under his breath over and over again, knowing they won't do anything to fix this situation even if he wished that was the case. As he kept his forehead pressed against hers, he began to grow at himself and her. Overally angry at the entire situation, "Why did you make me act out like this? This wouldn't have happen if you kept bugging me when you could see I was not in the mood to talk..."

Minato remained where he was, refusing to move an inch away from Chie's body and did nothing but sob and continue to mutter something to Chie with his words ranging from apologies for accidentally killing her and her blaming her for what happened and provoking him to act in such a way. If he were to guess, he spent an eternity sobbing by her body even though in reality only a few minutes passed. For him it was an eternity and will always be an eternity. A horrible eternity.

The Scarlet Hero pulled his forehead away from hers a second later, letting out a deep breath as he knew he had to do something about Chie's body. He glanced at his phone with an idea of him calling the authorities crossing his mind. He quickly pushed this idea way, though. He knew this situation won't look good for him, no matter what he will say. He knew lying to the police about someone else killing him wouldn't have worked as everything one the scene would be pointing towards him.

He knew he couldn't risk getting himself charge with her murder, knowing what this would mean for him. His career would be over and his life would be ended only he would be still be alive to see everything fell apart. He knew he couldn't afford that to happen. He was not going to pay for an accident which happened during an argument with his girfriend. An argument which wasn't even his fault as Chie started it in the first place.

He knew it left him with only one option. Disposing of the body. Now the question was how he would do it. He couldn't just make the pop out into balloon and make it vanish. An idea crossed his mind. He had some building equipment for cutting wood somewhere in his house. Even though he knew Chie's body wasn't exactly made of wood, he knew it was the best and the only option for him. He knew it would be bloody and disgusting, but knew he had to do it if he wanted to save his life from getting destroyed forever.

Minato put his plan into action a second later as he picked up Chie's body in a bridal style a second later. He looked down at her in his arms with a saddened look on his face, letting out a sigh as he recalled all the talks the two of them had about marriage and how he had promised to carry her in a bridal style like this. He hated how his girlfriend got what she wanted and dreamed about in the worst possible way.

He shifted his attention from her to the pool of blood left behind by her below her, letting out another sigh as he knew he'd have to clean this up. If he wanted to remove all the traces of what just happened, he had to get rid of every evidence and it included this pool of blood. He could already tell it would be a long process. However, he knew he couldn't complain about this as it would still be better than what he was about to Chie's body.

The Scarlet Hero pushed himself out of his thoughts a second later and pushed himself into walk towards the bathroom a second later. Upon arriving at the bathroom, he placed his deceased girlfriend in the bathub. Blood slowly began to pour into the bathub from her head as Minato rubbed his hands against his clothes, letting out an exhale as he prepared himself mentally for what he was about to do with the body.

He turned away from her a second later, knowing he had no time to waste and walked out of the bathroom. There was a long night ahead of him and he didn't want to make it longer for him. Once he got the right tools for what he was about to do in the other part of the apartament, he started to make his way back to the bathroom and forced himself to stop in his tracks the moment he passed by a picture of him and Masami. He glanced at the picture a second later, keeping his eyes on Masami with another wave of guilt and regret hitting him.

"I'm sorry, mom..." He muttered under his breath, knowing Masami would be ashamed of him if she saw him right now even if the argument wasn't started by him. Even if he fulffiled his promise to her and becamea a great and known hero, he knew all of this would be flushed down the toilet in Masami's mind if she found out what he did. Even if it was an accident.

He pushed himself out of his thoughts a second later, not wanting to think about Masami right now as it would make him feel worse than he was already feeling. He placed his hand on the picture of his younger self and Masami, placing it down as he didn't want Masami to see what was about to happen in his apartament. Even if she was already forced to watch him and Chie arguing with each other and him killing his girlfriend.

He arrived at the bathroom a second later, locking the door behind him and got to work a second later, pulling out the cutting equipment and putting it to use...

------

Minato let out a tired sigh, sitting down on his couch as he glanced towards his window in the distance and saw the sun shining brightly on the horizon. A complete contrast of the mood he was in right now as he couldn't remember the last time when he felt so horrible. Having just finished the first part of his plan of covering up what happened between him and Chie, he wanted to give himself some rest and he knew he had more than enough time to rest as he had to wait for the night to put the other part of his plan into action.

He pulled out his phone a few minutes later, feeling it buzzing from the calls and vibrating from the messages and saw his reflection in the screen of it. He looked more than horrible to say the least. His face was a mess and he had heavy bags under his eyes. He looked like he aged 10 years in just a few hours as well. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame himself for looking so aged right now. All this stuff with Chie must have drained a lifespan from him...

He unlocked his phone a second later, wanting to know who was trying to contact him right now and saw the familiar names of Yuto and Haru pop up on his screen. The two of his best friends started their attempts at trying to contact him in the morning by asking him about the partying they did the night before and asking him if he had any plans for today. As he refused to answer them, their questions became a bit worried as he usually responded to them by them by now whenever they had a free day.

The Scarlet Hero sighed upon seeing their messages, knowing he had to do something to make sure they won't worry about him or will suspect anything bad happened to him and explained to them how he won't be able to hang out with them today as he promised Chie to do something with her on his free day. His friends seemed to buy his lie, leaving him a bit relieved as he knew it will make stuff easier for him today.

The other messages didn't include much as they mostly included work related stuff or messages from his fans. One of the messages included a picture of the two women had fun with yesterday before coming back to his apartament and the two pictured showed both of them together in the nude, pointing out to him how much fun they had last night and how they wouldn't mind if he had given them a call to have some seconds with them.

Minato shook his head, feeling a wave of anger hitting him at the view of those women. Whatever happened between him and Chie was their fault. If only they hadn't posted a picture of him together in bed with both of them, then Chie wouldn't have found out what went down and the argument between them wouldn't have happen. If it wasn't for them, then Chie would still be alive and he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

Throwing his phone on the side and letting out a frustated scream, Minato pressed his hand against his face. He scremed again a second later with his scream this time being muffled by his hands. He couldn't help but ask himself what led to this? His life was perfect until last night and now it was on verge of falling apart. He risked his life on a daily basis to save people from scumbag villais and that's what he got in return? It was an absolute joke.

He pulled his hands away from his face and glanced towards the door to the bathroom where Chie's body was still located. Once he was done cutting his girlfriend to pieces with the wood cutting equipment, he placed whatever remained of her along with the tools he used for this in the trashbags and waited for the sun to be replaced by the moon as he was planning to make put the next part of his plan of dumping her body into action around that time because of him making it harder for him to be spotted by anyone.

The Scarlet Hero didn't worry about looking for a place to dump Chie's boy as he already had a place which he assumed to be perfect in his mind. The place in qestion was the port of Tokyo. Once the sun would go down, he would sneak his way there and the dump the trashbags with Chie's body into the water where it hopefully will never be found. Or if it will be found. then it will be found in a state which will make it impossible for the body to be identified and tracked back to him.

He made sure the mess left behind by the dismemberment of Chie's body was cleaned up as well. By the time he was done with cutting her body into pieces, the bathub was left a bloody mess and he had to clean it up once he packed the body and the equipment into the trashbags in order to make sure the place didn't look like he had just dismembered the body in it. Once he was done with cleaning everything up, the place was left spotless. He made sure to get rid of the blood in the living room and to get rid of his fingerprints on the cutting equipment as well.

Minato shook his head, keeping his gaze on the door to the bathroom as the silence in his apartament felt killing him on the inside as he felt his spiraling as he imagined every possible scenario where his plan could fall apart. What if someone spotted him at the port? What if he missed some trace of evidence in the apartment? What if Chie's family or friends started asking questions? He knew each of those scenarios could have resulted in the truth coming out and his life falling apart.

He shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of the what-ifs which began to plague his mind. He already had enough problems to deal with right now and adding more to them was more than enough. He'd just tell Chie's family about their daughter running off after her delusions of him cheating on her became too big for her to handle.

He'd already thought through every step...

This would work...

It had to...

"You're losing it." He muttered under his breath with his voice being barely audible. Just as he uttered those words, rustling sound came from within the bathroom. Minato didn't have to wait long to connect what this voice meant.

The Scarlet Hero once again felt all the air leave his lungs upon hearing the rustling. He slowly pushed himself up from the couch and slowly made his way to the bathroom. He approached the door and stood there for a moment, his hand remaining above the handle for a good moment. Just as he was about to turn away from the door and write what just happened as his mind playing a cruel trick on him, he heard the familiar rustling inside again.

Knowing this would keep bothering him until he checked what was inside, he grabbed the door handle again and pushed the door open in an instant as he wanted to get this over with. He glanced inside the bathroom and saw the trashbags with the body and the equipment were still where he left them. The bathroom was clean as it was when he was done cleaning it as well, having been lest spotless by his effort at covering up what he did.

"Get a grip. There's nothing wrong here..." He whispered to himself, wanting to make himself feel less paranoid as he turned away from the trashbags and left the bathroom. He locked the door behind him a second later, intending to keep it like this until the sun will come down. He just had to get through today and this nightmare would be all over...

-----

As the hours passed and the sun went down from the top of the sky, the streets of Tokyo below Minato's apartament became quieter with a few exceptions in the form the cars passing by along the street or a distant chatter of late-night wanderers. Whatever was the state of the streets right now, it was the perfect time to Minato to put the second part of this plan of disposing of Chie's body into action and he knew he had to act on it fast.

The Scarlet Hero stood by the window in his apartament, allowing himself to take a good look at the streets below him. His eyes scanned the nearby alleys and sidewalks, ensuring no one lingered too close to his building at the moment. If his plan was supposed to work, then he knew he couldn't allow himself to get spotted right after leaving his apartament. Especially since his alibi for the night would be him being at his apartament and waiting for Chie to come back after an argument during a date. To make it more believable, he would leave his phone behind in his apartament to make it look like he was there for the whole night.

He nodded to himself a second later, satisfied to see there was no one close to his building right now as he stepped away from the window and moved towards the bathroom. Upon setting his eyes on the door to the bathroom for what would be the final time today, he felt a wave of nausea slowly hitting him at what he was about to do even if he didn't eat anything today and only drank water in order to keep himself somewhat sane today.

"Get it together. It's just one more step." He muttered under his breath, clenching his fists as he glanced down at his clothes. He pulled out some old poor looking clothes his out of the wardrobe earlier in the day, wanting to make himself look as less recognizable as he can tonight just in case he would get spotted by anyone. His outfit consisted of a gray hoodie, ripped blue jeans and black shoes. He put on some gloves as well for the obvious reason of not leaving his fingerprints anywhere.

In addition to this, he prepared some duffels bags where he would hide the trashbags as well. He'd purchased them a while ago back when his name was still new to the hero society when he and Chie were planning to head out on their first holiday together as a couple. A decision he now realized was almost disturbingly convenient and tragic at the same. The memory of how excited Chie was to have their first holiday made feel regretful all over again...

He stopped in front of the bathroom door a second later, letting out a deep breath as he prepared himself for what would greet him inside. As soon as he opened the door, the stench of the cut and decomposing body hit him first. No amount of masking would get rid of a smell like this. Not wasting any time, he crouched down in front of the trashbags and slowly began to place them in the duffel bags, making sure to be as careful as he can to make sure nothing will be spilled.

Once he was done with packing everything into the duffel bags, he picked them up and let out a deep exhale. If he was honest with himself, he expected the duffel bags will be heavy once he will be done filling them up with the trash bags. However the true weight of them was not something he had expected. Words couldn't describe how happy he was about his job putting him through a full body workout. If it wasn't for that, then he doubted he would make it to the port.

Minato got himself into a standing position a second later and shifted his gaze towards the mirror in the bathroom and stared at his reflection in it. He shook his head upon seeing himself and giving himself a good look at his current self. The man in front of him was not him. Not the man he had come to know over the course of his life. The man in front of him was completely pale and was gaunt, exhausted and haunted by his sins.

"No turning back now." He muttered to himself. He knew this was it. Now, he had to take care of the hard part of his plan. Disposing of Chie's body without getting spotted by anyone in the process.

He wiped his face on his right shoulder, having no way of doing this with his hand now due to his hands being too occupied with something right now. He pushed himself into walk a second later and the weight of the duffel bags became much worse for him to handle once he started carrying them while doing something else. It once again left him relieved about his work having him work out and made wish more determined to reach the port as quickly as possible.

Shaking his head to himself and pushing away all the thoughts and doubt slowly showing up in his mind, Minato opened the door to his apartament and took a peek outside to see if any of his neighbours were currently outside. Thankfully for him, it was empty and he was more than safe to leave his apartament. He wasted no time and walked out of his apartament, closing it and locking it with a key to make sure no one will break in when he will be gone.

He moved towards the elevator a second later with each of his step feeling agonizing to him and leaving him feeling even more exhausted. He made his way into the elevator a second later and slowly began to make his way to the bottom of the building. The elevator ride felt like it lasted eternity to him as he watched the numbers in it going down when he neared the bottom of the building, feeling his heart pounding heavily inside of him.

When the doors finally opened to the lobby, he stepped out the elevator with each of his step being slow and extremely cautious as he glanced at the receptionists des and saw it was empty. Like it always was at this time of the day. Letting out a relieved sigh, he knew he had to hurry from here as everything was going according to his plan for now. Keeping his head low, he walked towards the exit from the building and stepped out of the building.

Once he found himself outside, the cold night air hit him like a slap to the face. It was sharp and biting, but it also cleared his mind and left him feeling more in this moment, allowing him to become more determined in saving his life from being destroyed. Not wasting any time, he started to make his way towards his destinaton through the city. The city was quieter than usual with only a few bystanders wandering the streets and minding their own business, allowing Minato to walk freely without any problems.

Even he for now walked around without any problems, he knew he couldn't stay out in open in the main streets for long as it would be just asking fate to bite him in the butt in the worst possible moment. The Scarlet Hero stuck to the shadows, avoiding streetlights and taking the back alleys whenever possible. Even though it was making his road to the port longer and the process of reaching it longer, he knew it had to be done if he wanted to reach his destination as safe as possible.

As he continued to make his way towards his destination in the route he had mapped out earlier today when he was preparing himself for this moment, the weight of the duffel bags seemed to grow heavier with each step. His arms burned a bit from him constantly carrying it without any break and his tiredness was slowly beginning to show it's effect. If only he could use his powers right now and wasn't forced not to use his Quirk to maintain his disguise...

Each time he heard a distant sound, no matter if it was a car engine or a voice or footsteps, his heart skipped a beat and his grip on the bags tightened in case if the person responsible for making those noises was heading his way. In the end, no one stumbled into him. The streets remained empty and the city remained almost unnaturally quiet. Minato sometimes felt as if someone was watching him every now and now and it confused him a bit because there was no one around him. His mind must have been playing tricks on him again...

His eyes lit up several minutes later when a familiar smell of saltwater reached his nose and it was mixed up with a usual city smell of metal and oil. He glanced ahead of himself a second later and the port showed up in his view. He smiled a bit at the view of this place, happy to see himself finally reach his destination as the cranes and cargo containers casted dark silhouettes against the night sky around him and left him in a better position to walk around without being spotted.

Minato increased his place upon stepping into the port, making his way between the shipping crates and made his way to the edge where he was greeted by the view of the waves touching the concrete. He set the duffel bags on the ground and looked down below him. If he was honest with himself, the view of it was almost calming and he would have definitely be calmed down in an instant after seeing this if he wasn't here under the circumstances he was under right now.

He steeled himself a second later, knowing he had no time to waste right now as he grabbed the first bag and tossed it over the railing, watching as it fell into the dark water below. The splash when the duffel bag hit the water was louder than he expected and Minato froze when it happened, listening for any sign that someone had heard. But the port remained silent, making him let out a relieved sigh as he would hate of his plan was ruined in the last phase of it.

He repeated the process with the second bag with his movements almost mechanical. When it was thrown over the edge and hit the water with a loud splash, he stood there for a good moment and stareda at the surface of the water below him for a good moment. He did nothing but stood there for this moment, watching as the duffer bags sank slowly into the water and vanished in the depths of the water below him almost as if they weren't there in the first place.

The Scarlet Hero let out a relief exhale. It was done...

Chie Terasaka was gone...

A wave of guilt hit Minato a second later. He still couldn't believe Chie was dead. She wasn't just gone. She was rerased, having educed to an unspeakable act and discarded like trash by him. Minato clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms even through the gloves. He hated himself in that moment. Hated what he had done. If he had just ignored her and had gone to sleep, then none of this would have happen and he wouldn't be here right now.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Their relationship wasn't supposed to end like this. They were supposed to get married, having already planned out their future together. Even though some parts of his mind were telling him what happened to Chie was her fault due ot her provoking him to act out with her behavior, he knew that was not the case here and knew his now deceased girlfriend was innocent in all of this and didn't deserve such fate.

"I didn't want this." He muttered under his breath as the waves continued to hit the ground below him, "I didn't want it to end like this..."

He knew his regrets didn't matter right now, though. Wanting or not wanting wouldn't bring her back. No amount of regret could undo what he had done. Chie was gone and he was the reason why. He was a hero and yet, he caused the death of the one person who mattered to him the most. Even if his behavior towards her in the final months of their relationship and what he did to dispose of her body showed otherwise.

The Scarlet Hero closed his eyes a second later, letting out a shaky breath as the weight of his actions crushed down on him right now. He clenched his hand, feeling the memories of him and Chie together over the course of their relationship flying through his mind. The laughter, the arguments, the quiet moments when she'd hold his hand when they would snuggle together and tell him that she loved him. Those were just one of the few moments of her which flew through her mind right now...

But nothing would ever be okay again. Because, in the end, what was left of Chie wasn't just in those duffel bags now submerged in the port...

"Chie. I'm sorry." He muttered his apologies to her with genuine guilt and regret in his voice. With those words leaving his mouth, Minato turned away from the water and began the long walk back to his apartment.

------

Minato's walk back to his apartament was long and painful with his actions pressing on him like a boulder. Even though all of duffel bags with whatever remained of Chie Terasaka was gone at the bottom of the Tokyo Port, he didn't feel any lighter and felt heavier than he did when he was carrying the traces of what he did to his girlfriends in a fit of rage to the port to dump them. Whatever was making him feel like this, he hoped or rather prayed it would pass.

The Scarlet Hero kept his head low, using the more isolated parts of Tokyo to make his way to his apartament as his desire of wanting to remain unseen like this remained in him. His hearing range was at it's limit today as he reacted to every sound the city let out close to him. No matter if it was a car passing or an occasional rustle of leaves. The feeling of someone watching him refused to leave him as well, leaving him more paranoid.

He walked into a dark alleyway a second later, keeping his hands in his pockets as his thoughts once again focused themselves on Chie. No matter how many times he tried to push this subject away, his mind came back to the events of what happened last night between him and his girlfriend and the aftermath of it. He wanted to believe it wasn't his fault, that it had been a moment of passion, a terrible mistake fueled by anger and alcohol.

But it was his fault. No matter how much he wanted to deny it and no matter how much he tried to justify it to himself, he had crossed a line he could never uncros and did something horrible which he could never take back...

The thought of turning himself in for what he did crossed his mind as well. This thought crossed his mind many times over the course of the day and now they doubled down after he dumped Chie's body at the bottom of the port. Maybe it was the right thing to do. Maybe it was what Chie would have wanted. Maybes he would want him to take responsibility, to face justice for what he had done. He could walk into the nearest police station, confess everything and face the consequences of his actions.

He pushed those thoughts away a second later thought, feeling the fear turning himself in kicking in. What would happen if he confessed? The trials, the headlines and the disgrace. He would face all of those things and more if that happened. His career as the Scarlet Hero would be over and his name would be dragged through the mud forever. Everything would be much worse for him after what he did to the body as well. If everyone found out about him cutting it to pieces and dumping it somewhere in the water, then everything would be much worse.

"What would be the point, anyway?" He thought to himself, trying to come up with the excuses for his actions again as he stopped in the middle of the alleyway and looked up at the night sky above him, "Chie's gone. Nothing I do now can change that. I can't undo what's been done. All confessing would do is destroy the life I've built. And for what? To satisfy my guilt?"

"Hello, Yoshida Minato." A deep voice greeted him, taking Minato out of his thoughts as the Scarlet Hero's reaction to this was instant. He looked in the direction of it where he saw a tall man in a suit. This man was known as All For One even if Minato didn't know about this. The man stepped closer to him in a slow pace with his foosteps ringing through Minato's face due to how empty and quiet the alleyway was right now, "I've been observing you for quite some time. If I were to recall for how long right now, then it must have started when I first saw you in the TV following your debut."

Minato tensed up a bit upon hearing this voice. He didn't know why as he never had trouble with facing scary people before. Just something about this sent a cold chill down his spine, "W-Who are you?"

"My name is not important to you." All For One gave him his reply, stepping closer to the tensed up hero. He couldn't help but grin underneath his helmet at the view of the hero in front of him. Minato always appeared so smug and confident whenever he saw him in the TV as complete contrast of the man he was seeing in front of him right now. What a pathetic joke this was to him in his eyes.

"What do you want from me?" Minato asked with his tired and exhausted eyes looking at All For One with a wary look on his face. Red energy slowly started to form around his hands as well as he prepared himself for the possible confrontation. Even if the man in front of him continued to give him unsettling vibes, "Are you a villain?"

"Do you really need to ask me such obvious question, hero? But I suppose you would confuse me for a normal civilian when I look at you right now." All For One replied as he stopped in his tracks, keeping himself close to Minato and clapped his hands together, "To answer your question. You were correct. I'm a filthy villain who probably deserves to be locked up in your mind."

Minato narrowed his eyes on him, "What the hell do you want from me? Are you here to mug me like a scumbag that you are? The scenery around us must have seen like a perfect chance for you to give it a shot."

"When you put it like that, then I guess you are partially right." All For One admitted, not bothering to hide his true intentions from Minato.

The Scarlet Hero glared at him with red energy around his hands becoming more apparent, "Listne. This is the worst night for you to pull this shit. I'm not in the mood to deal with this right now so..."

"So what? Will you kill me?" All For One cut Minato off.

Minato's demeanor broke a bit at this, "W-What? I don't know what you're talking about..."

"You don't need to lie to me. I know what you did to your girlfriend Chie. What a poor woman she was." All For One shook his head, pretending to be sympathetic towards what happened to Chie when reality was far from the truth.

Minato bowed his head wit his hand slowly beginning to shake, "S-Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Oh, trust me. I have every right to know what I'm talking about. How about we'll take a walk back to the port and I'll show you the place where you discarded her body?" All For One nodded his head. From the tone of his voice, Minato could tell the villain was amused by this conversation and it made him feel angry on the inside.

"Shut up..." Minato told him with his voice slowly starting to break with his mind once again coming back to Chie and what happened to her because of him. He pushed those thoughts away a second later, though as he found himself thinking about something else. How dd this man know about this? Was he following him for all this time? If that was the case, then for how long was he following him and how did he not notice him?

All For One ignored him and mocked him further, "Poor sweet Chie murdered by her heroic boyfriend. The Scarlet Hero. A rising star of the hero society and someone who was destined to be in the top 10 heroes of this country is nothing but a murderous cheater. I can already see the headlines int he newspapers and how the society would react if it would learn about this if this information was released..."

"SHUT UP!" Minato lost his cool at this as he wasted no time and created a red ball of the energy. Throwing it towards All For One, he hoped that would shut him up. However the effect of it was far from what he expected as All For One waved his hand to the side, making the ball change it's direction and hit Minato instead. Minato clenched his hand teeth, landing on the ground.

All For One shook his head in disapproval as he stepped closer to the fallen hero, "Such a powerful Quirk wasted on a pathetic attention seeker like you. I can only imagine the possibilities of your power and I always found myself thinking about this whenever I saw you in the TV. However, I was always met with disappointment when I saw it being used by you."

"..." Minato said nothing and didn't do anything as he looked up and saw All For One getting closer to him. All For One waved his hand again, leaving him unable of doing anything right now.

"Don't worry, though." All For One stopped directly in front of Minato and looked directly into his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, he had stopped on top of an old page of an old newspaper where the law services of Ryoma and Sandra L/N were being adveritised. He reached his holed palm towards Minato's forehead a second later, "I will make your power will reach it's potential in one way or another..."

Minato Yoshida was never seen again after this...

------

Y/N woke up from his slumber, having just been awoken by whatever dream he just had as he sat up in his sleeping spot in the more isolated part of the cave. He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long sigh upon waking from this dream and finding himself thinking about this. Upon coming back to the cave after having learned some of the facts regarding the Scarlet Hero from the internet, his dreams about him continued and revealed more facts him about him.

The h/c haired boy didn't know what to think about this if he was honest with himself. Minato in the dreams which showed his childhood and teenage years didn't show him as the person he had written him off to be when he first researched. Back then, he was actually someone else from the asshole he had seen him as in the dreams which showed Y/N his adult life and the asshole he had come to know him as from the articles on the internet.

Y/N couldn't help but a tiny bit of pity towards him as well. Even if Minato was a massive jerk by the time he was killed by All For One and had his power taken away by him, he wasn't born like this and was corrupted by fame. Or maybe he was like this from the start and the fame just allowed him to show his true colors. He had no idea of knowing this and he highly doubted he would ever get the answer to this question.

The only person that he felt bad about here was Chie. This poor woman didn't deserve any of the stuff which happened to her as Minato turned their loving relationship into something he didn't even know how to name. To make everything worse, many people were suspecting her to be responsible for the vanishing of the Scarlet Hero while it was the other way around as Minato killed her in a fit of rage, cut up her body into pieces and dumped her body in the water where it was never found.

Y/N really wished he could do something about it to make people know the truth of what really happened. But he doubted many people would believe him or see his explanatio as a reliable source of information. What was he supposed to tell everyone? He was just supposed to explain to them how he saw everything in a dream of his without any solid proof?

He pushed himself out of those thoughts a second later, knowing now it wasn't the time for this as this day was very important. Today was the day he and the others will make their next and the final move against he hero society and he had to get ready for whatever would happen today. He got up from his sleeping spot and wasted no time when it came to dressing himself up, knowing All For One was waiting for him and the rest in the main part of the cave where his throne was located. Y/N had to stop himself rolling his eyes when All For One's throne crossed his mind.

This day was decided as the day of their next move when All For One was contacted by Yuga Aoyama who was revealed to their spy at U.A. If Y/N was honest with himself, he was a bit suprised to find out about this at first. But then he found himself thinking about the way Aoyama reacted to seeing him back at the mansion and it made sense for him in some way. He must have been afraid Y/N knew the truth about him and would reveal it to his classmates.

The plan would include Aoyama luring Izuku into a isolated spot away from U.A, leaving the two of othem completely alone and Izuku would get ambushed by All For One who would use his mud teleporting ability to transport himself and many other villains from their side such as Shigaraki, Origami, Dabi, Toga, Magne, Geten, Nishimura and most of their remaining Nomus to Izuku, leaving him on the silver plate for them and whatever would happen after that would be history.

He was included in this plan as well and the plan would include him storming the Blackgate Prison with Cyborg, Alice, Minene, Daiki, Slice, Mummy and Needle Hair like they had planned earlier with All For One using this ability to transport them to the mixture of Y/N's followers and the remnants of the Paranormal Liberation Front. The same would happen wth Spinner and Kasai who would get transported to Kitagawa and Narukami moving towards the hospital with Kurogiri with Spinner's followers and Nozue who would be trasported wth his forces to regain Gigantomachia. While all of them would be taken out of the cave, Skeptic and Kizuki would get to uploading the videos.

The other part of their plan where All For One would be betrayed by them as they would all rebell against him for Shigaraki's sake was included by them as well even if All For One didn't know about this. Everything about their betrayal was planned out. All they or rather he had to do was release everyone from the Blackgate Prison to give them more forces again All For One and what would happen next would be history with them hopefully stopping him.

Y/N let out a soft exhale, nodding to himself upon putting his cloak on himself. Was he nervous? Of course he was. He couldn't remember the last time when he so nervous. He knew how important this day was and he had to make sure everything would go just like they had planned to. Something going wrong could have affected their plans greatly and he knew they couldn't afford this to happen. Not now. Not on such an important operation.

He shifted his attention away from his cloak a second later and set it on the two letters close to the place where he had gone to sleep to make himself rested for what would happen today. The two letters contained two things. One thing was a reply to Eri's letter, having been written on the other side of the letter she had given him earlier and the other thing was a letter to his aunt and her family. If something were to happen to him today, he would find someone to give those letters to the people they were for.

The teenage villain wasted no time and picked up his letters, storing them safely somewhere in the cloak as he turned around and began to make his way towards the main part of the cave. Upon making his way to his destination, he looked around himself and saw everyone was already there and was either waiting for to arrive or waiting for the phonecall from Aoyama. It could have been a mixture of both as well. It didn't matter right now as well.

Y/N looked around everyone around him upon walking into the main part of the cave and saw everyone ready for what was about to happen with some showing some nervousness in them as well. The h/c haired boy set his eyes on Origami and smiled at his girlfriend. Origami nervously smiled back at him, looking both nervous and ready for what was about to happen. She placed her hand on her stomach a second later, becoming more nervous, but Y/N didn't think much of it.

He shifted his attention from Origami to Dabi a second later. Out of everyone around him, Dabi looked the most different. His clothes were switched to white fireproof clothes which were provided to him by Skeptic. In addition to his clothes, his looks changed as well. Dabi didn't look like himself to say the least. All of the burnt scars and marks were gone from his body, having been completely fixed up by Y/N to make him look like a normal human without any sighs of him being a walking burned corpse.

Once he returned to the cave from his old home visit and started working on his abilities with Dabi and Cyborg, he explained his idea to Dabi and told him how his idea included Dabi becoming a normal looking human again. He explained how he intended to do this by using Overhaul on both him and Cyborg, using his new power to take Cyborg's skin and limbs away to replicate Dabi's body. He didn't worry about Cyborg losing his limbs too much, knowing the Nomu could regenerate this with the regeneration Quirk all of the Nomus had.

Dabi agreed on the idea and they put their plan into action. By the time they were done, Dabi didn't look like his usual self anymore and looking like a completely new fixed person. To make sure it would remain like this, Y/N took the regeneration Quirk away fron Cyborg and gave it to Dabi to make sure Dabi would be capable of regenerating himself whenever he would desire to. The other part of him using Overhaul on him was making sure Dabi wouldn't feel the pain of his flames, making sure he would remain numb to his part of his Quirk.

Not only Dabi. Y/N wanted to do the same to Origami and Magne and their missing arms. However, both of them refused his offer and excused it under their prosthetic arms being more useful for the upcoming battle better than their normal arms. Y/N understood their way of thinking and reassured them how his offer will still be avaiable once they will win their final battle against the heroes of this country. Both Origami and Magne seemed interested by this.

Y/N kept his eyes on Dabi and Dabi nodded at him, silently letting him know he could count on him and the same gesture was followed by Geten and Toga. Y/N nodded back at him, appreciating their support and shifted his gaze to Shigaraki who stood close to All For One. Even though his brother was awake, Y/N could tell this wasn't really Shigaraki and could tell All For One was keeping them away from each other on purpose. Again.

"I'm going to save you, Tomura-kun. Whatever it takes..." Y/N thought to himself, clenching his hands in a determined manner. He was going to save his brother and nothing would stop him. Even death.

He shifted his gaze away from Shigaraki a second later and set his eyes on Alice. Her appearance had changed a bit as well with the arrow tips at the tips of her hair being more visible right now. The young blonde haired woman nodded at him and Y/N nodded back at her. Y/N looked down at his villain costume a second later. Just like Dabi, Y/N was given an upgrade to his villain costume. This new addition was a pair of long and sharp claws which were attached to his hands. Due to him having fighting skills from his training with Rappa, he was suggested to have a melee weapon around his fists during the final planning and Y/N agreed for this.

He was offered to received a new version of his mask as well. However, he refused.

He was done hiding behind the mask. He was going to make sure the world saw him for what he was today...

All For One rose from his throne a second later, making everyone set their eyes on him as he began to speak to everyone, "Everyone. Today is the day. Today marks the dawn of a new age. Today we will bring an end to the old system which opressed all of us once and for all. The followers of the old system are blind, complacent, shackled by their own illusions of justice and heroism which is something all of them showed to us over and over again. It is our duty to shatter that illusion, to bring about the world that was always meant to be."

He stopped for a moment and shifted his gaze between all of the villains around him. All of had their attention on him right now. Good, "My friends. All of you are the architects of this future. Your sacrifices, your determination, your devotion to this cause. It will not go do waste and will go down as history as determination of people who created a better future. Today, we fight to claim what is rightfully ours, to rewrite the rules of this broken society."

"But you, Y/N, your path is something truly inspiring." All For One went further into his speech, his voice becoming colder as he set his eyes on Y/N and stepped closer to him. Y/N remained where he stood, keeping his eyes on All For One, "You have endured suffering, betrayal and loss, yet you have not stopped. Your determination in achieving your goal never stopped and you have stood resolute. The effects of it are visible right now. You have many people around you who are willing to follow you and Tomura anywhere. In doing so, you have transcended the limits of a normal man."

All For One stopped directly in front of Y/N and placed his hand on his shoulder while Y/N continued to look up at him. His next words to his younger student were the final nail of manipulating him before the final battle, "If you make yourself more than just a man. If you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely. You became exactly what Y/N. You devoted yourself completely to your goal and that makes you, Shigaraki Y/N, the Scarlet King."

Everyone stayed silent upon hearing All For One's final speech to them. No one moved from their place and no one made any loud noise, keeping themselves as silent as they could. Y/N stayed silent, his expression showing nothing towards All For One as he gave him a nod of understanding. He smiled at him a second later, silently leeting him how he understood everything he had just told him even if he knew it was said to him as a way of ensuring he and his friends would remain All For One's thumb.

The other members of their organization stared silently at Y/N and All For One as Y/N shifted his gaze away from All For One to them for a brief moment. Shigaraki's face was blank, looking like he wanted to say something but something was stopping him as Origami removed her hand from her stomach with her nervous expression becoming more determined. Dabi in his new unscarred body clenched his hands and exchanged glances with Geten who nodded at him. Dabi nodded at him in return.

Toga had a serious look on her face, showing determination towards putting an end towards everything as well and she wasn't the only one. Magne, Spinner, Kasai, Alice, Slice and Mummy. Simply everyone around them showed their determination towards marking this day as the day they would put the final nail in the coffin of the hero society upon seeing their young leader look at them. Y/N nodded at all of them, showing them his silent gratitude for everything and shifted his gaze back at All For One, looking up at him.

All For One pulled his hand away from Y/N's shoulder a second later and broke the silence in the cave with one final, "Go now, my Scarlet King. Time to destroy whatever remained of his rotten society..."

------

Can't believe how close we are to 1m words in this story...

Here we go with the next chapter. You have no idea for how long I've been wanting to get this chapter out. Probably ever since I gave the Scarlet Hero's backstory more thought a long time ago. I always knew I wanted this flashback chapter to be the final chapter before the Final War as well. The next chapter will start the Final War :)

To let you know and to avoid questions in February. There won't be a chapter next month as I'm planning to take a break from this story to prepare myself to write it (as I know how exhausting this arc will be to write) and because I want to gather all of my ideas for this arc. So I'll all of you in March.

I played a certain visual novel recently and let me tell you. I like hugging gators now.

Finally watched the Penguin. It's the best show I have seen in a long time. This version of the Penguin is the definitive version of this character and nothing you will say will convince me otherwise. His chemistry with Victor really reminded me of Walt and Jesse from Breaking Bad and I was so mad when Victor was killed by him. This version of him was already great from the Batman movie, but this TV show turned into him something Heath Ledger is for the Joker. Oz was such a despicable piece of shit during the show and I need Batman to do a seven minutes uninterrupted Arkham combo on him. I can already tell that I'll be grinning widely when Bruce will beat the crap out of him in Batman 2

I've been getting a lot of questions regarding the pics with the looks of the characters. Honestly, I didn't have none since I'm not good at drawing (that's why I started writing, lol) but I started looking into this after several people asked me about this recently. I helped myself with the AI art for this  (Yeah. I know what people think about AI art and I'm one of them, especially after BO6 selling AI generated crap controversy, but didn't really have many other options here) and after some attempts, I received  somewhat accurate versions of the OCs.

Here are the big three of the OCs in this story.

Say hello to:

Y/N L/N/Shigaraki or Gareth how I personally call him (Just remove the mask in pic where his eyes glow red)

Origami Jakuzure (Just imagine this with all of her hair being dark green instead of just bits of it):

Alice Westbrook (Just remove the ammo belt and make the arrows at the tips of her hair seem more like Kurono's. Change her pistol to a B Nambu):