A Different Path

Chapter Five - A Turning Point

Tomura was making his way through the crowded streets of Musutafu, looking for a convenience store to stop at. His uncle had texted him earlier that day, saying he was going to be late coming home as he was helping Deku train. He wanted Tomura to stop into a store and pick up some more ramen for an easy meal when he got back. Usually, Tomura would be annoyed that he was being forced to leave the house after already having to spend all day with other people at UA, but today he didn't mind. It would give him some time to think.

As Tomura navigated the busy streets, he couldn't help but think about Deku's words. Sure, the kid was being nice then. Maybe he even believed what he told Tomura, but if he knew the truth he never would have said those things. If Deku knew what Tomura did to his family he would have never smiled at him the way he did. Tomura began to feel sick to his stomach. He always did whenever his family crossed his mind. Not only that but the dull itch on his neck seemed to flare, making it impossible to resist scratching.

As he scratched, Tomura noticed he was passing by a section of sidewalk that was gated off. Next to it, a destroyed building resided, looking rather dangerous and unsettling. A small camera crew was recording the damage with a news anchor commenting on the events that must have caused it.

Must have been a villain attack, Tomura thought absentmindedly.

As he surveyed the damage, he noticed a kid running inside the gated off section of the sidewalk. Where was this kid's mother? Certainly she should be screaming at her kid to come back to her at this instant, Tomura wondered.

At that moment, a loud creaking sound came from just above where the kid was. A piece of concrete was shifting unsteadily, the piece of metal holding it in place warping and breaking. In an instant, the piece of concrete came falling down, right above where the kid was. If someone didn't stop it, this kid would be crushed. Before Tomura even knew what he was doing, he was running towards the kid at full speed.

It was as though his body started moving before his mind did.

There was no time to pull him out of the way, Tomura realized

He had to destroy the concrete.

He quickly took off the glove from his left hand and launched himself into the air, jumping off a piece of rubble laying on the ground. Before he knew it, his hand connected with the concrete and it crumbled into ash in an instant. Ten more feet and that kid would have been a goner. Tomura crashed into the ground a little ways away from the kid, who at this point had realized what happened and had burst into tears. Tomura groaned as he tried to pull himself to his feet. He had to see if the kid was ok.

"Hey, kid, are you alright?"

The kid looked at him with surprise, tears and snot running down his face. At that moment, his mother arrived, screaming and crying,

"Hiroto! Oh my god Hiroto, are you ok?!"

She rushed to her son's side, checking him all over to see if he had any wounds. When she realized her boy was ok, she turned her attention to Tomura.

"You... young man... Did you save my boy?"

Tomura honestly wasn't even sure. Everything happened so fast he still hadn't processed it. Even still, he nodded without saying a word. The young boy's mother began to cry even harder and rushed over before embracing Tomura.

"Oh thank you young man, thank you. If it wasn't for you my boy would be gone. Oh thank you, thank you."

She just kept thanking him over and over again, Tomura didn't know how to respond. That same warm feeling rose in his chest again though. The one that did when he spoke with Deku earlier that day. At that moment, he felt complete. No itching, no desire to destroy, nothing. He wanted the feeling to last forever.

It was then that the camera crew rushed over to question Tomura, the boy, and his mother. Apparently, they had caught the whole thing on tape. They shoved a microphone in Tomura's face before asking him a bunch of questions.

"Young man! Are you a new hero? What's your name? And your hero name?"

"How did you know what to do so quickly?"

"That quirk of yours is very interesting, how does it work?"

"You look young! Do you attend UA?"

Tomura felt overwhelmed. He had a roaring headache from the fall and, really, all he wanted to do was go home.

"No.. No, I am not a hero. I just saw the concrete fall and my body just kinda started moving before I knew what was happening. I'm just a general studies student."

"And your name?"

"Oh, um... I guess you can just call me Tomura"

"Well Tomura, that was a very brave thing for you to do. Especially considering you're not even a hero. Have you ever considered becoming one?"

"Oh um, well no."

He looked down at his ungloved hand, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.

"But maybe I will look into it."

"Well Tomura, if you do decide to become a hero, you will have this stations full support"

"Oh, um, thank you"

Tomura flashed a small smile, scratching the back of his head.

Before Tomura left, the young boy's mother gave him one last hug and the boy thanked him sincerely for saving him. Tomura told him to stay away from destroyed buildings from now on and the boy nodded quickly, promising he wouldn't be going near any dangerous stuff ever again. Tomura laughed at this and wished them a good day.

Later that night, Tomura told All Might what happened over two bowls of ramen. Needless to say, the #1 hero was bursting with pride and gave Tomura a hug so tight the boy thought he was gonna suffocate.

"Tomura, my boy, I am so proud of you"

Tomura felt that warm feeling once again and he was overjoyed at its return. Maybe, just maybe, being a hero wouldn't be so bad after all.