Broken Silence

Chapter 4

Summary:

Gran Torino gains an intern. Kurogiri gains a headache. But most importantly, Kuro gains a wine bottle.

Notes:

Disclaimer: Don't own BNHA or any of its characters.

HOLY CRAP! You guys are so amazing! Thank you for the lovely reviews, kudos, and bookmarks. Also the fanart? Absolutely phenomenal. I save it and show it off to my friends and family because you guys are so talented. Big thanks to my discord folks for being so awesome. You guys are an inspiration. Captain Kamino will be updated later this month and I'll try and update this story too before the end of this month if I can.

Hope you enjoy the newest chapter! :D

Chapter 4

Gran Torino considers himself a man of simple pleasures. A long career in his line of work is grueling on anyone and he's no different. The weight of his mistakes is a constant, heavy burden indeed. Thus, to combat this fatigue, he tries to enjoy whatever he can in life, be it the sweetness of freshly made taiyaki; perfectly pressed and baked into its iconic fish-shape, the sun as it rises above his hometown, the smell of his enemies' fear when they realize how badly they underestimated him—yet out of every one of these things and more, he has found that there is no greater feeling in this world than putting a blond overconfident brat in his goddamn place.

He'd initially discovered this wonderful feeling when he taught Toshinori back in the day. His lips begin to curl upwards at the fond memory. This Bakugou is no exception. Warm humor spreads across his brow, softening his wrinkles. The fight only lasts a few minutes, two or three at the most, however, it's enough to tell him what he needs to know. The kid's powerful, but he lacks some finesse big time. Is this U.A.'s best now?

His mouth finally cracks into a grin as he inspected the damage to his left boot. It's nothing in comparison to what he did to the poor bastard in front of him, but a deal's a deal.

He nudges the kid with his cane, earning a growl. Gran Torino barks a laugh. Even beaten, the kid puts up a fight. This is going to be fun.

"You okay there, kid? Need me to get you a bandage?"

"How," Bakugou wheezes, disbelief riding his tone.

How indeed, Gran Torino thinks dryly, did a seasoned veteran hero with decades of battle experience take down a high school student? He puts the thought into words, lest that big head of his gets any bigger. "Did you really think you could take on a Pro, kid? You've got good form and smarts but you need a lot of polishing."

And he came to the right hero for it, Gran Torino begrudgingly admits to himself. Toshinori made the right call on sending this brat to him. He'd been skeptical about taking on an intern. In fact, he'd been planning to turn the kid away after messing with him until he finally got to see the kid in action.

There's a bit of favoritism on his left side that needs correction, along with some practice in controlling the size of his explosions. Overall though, he has a style, fast and hard-hitting, not unlike Torino's. For a novice, the kid gave a good show, but that was no surprise given what he saw in the Sports Festival. He initially was drawn to the 3rd Year's on account of Toshinori's successor, but his and everyone else's attention soon became drawn to this firecracker of a kid by the tournament's end. Gran Torino won't deny that watching him say he would defeat everyone at the start than having his ass handed to him by Endeavor's brat in the finals brought a deep sense of glee to his old soul.

Bakugou shifts his head towards Torino, teeth clenched as he says, "Fuck...You. I can...still fight."

Ah, there it is. He recognizes the teen's glare. There's a desperate, fiery hunger there, an ache that only one thing can fill. It's the same as his when Nana died. It's the same as Toshinori's when he sent him off to America to hide. All for One never leaves people unscathed. The fiend was a cancer, stealing the lives of those around him and leaving the victims' friends and families to mourn and wonder what could have been.