[If you think something should be improvised on regarding fighting scenes then tell me your suggestions.]
[Should I create a discord?]
[Attendance... raise your hands like this emoji if you are here!🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️]
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*KAAKAA KAAKAA KAAKAA!*
A crow passed by overhead, doing its thing and making that annoying sound that crows make.
The sun dipped closer to the horizon, and Garou's eyes finally blinked open. He adjusted to the fading light and took a moment to process where he was. Calm breeze, forest sounds, and that beautiful evening sky painting itself orange and pink.
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Garou's POV/
I open my eyes slow, and the first thing I notice is that the sky's way darker than I remember.
How long was I out?
*ZIIIK.*
"AGHHH!"
Pain spreads through my whole body all at once. My entire nervous system just lit up with a fuck you, and suddenly I remember everything.
If the sun's setting, then I've been out for a while.
I don't move an inch, not one muscle, because less movement equals less pain hitting my brain all at once. I just lay here staring at the orange sky, waiting for my regeneration to kick in and fix this mess.
*Grumble.*
My stomach adds its two cents as it's empty and demanding food right now.
*BAM TAK TAK RSHHH.*
I turn my head slowly and painfully toward the sound. Dai's crawling out from under a pile of broken branches, wood pieces, mud, and he looks like a zombie rising from the grave.
He's haggard with blood and dust covering every inch of him. His green jumpsuit is shredded on top, revealing this lean physique that's not totally skinny but weirdly strong. There are three finger-sized holes in his shoulder, arm, and leg that somehow stopped bleeding. His face is bruised as hell and his lips are swollen like he got stung by a thousand bees.
He looks at me for a second, then starts making his way over slowly and shakily.
Step... step... step...
He gets close enough until half a meter is between us, and he just stands there with shadows hiding his eyes.
Then-
*THUD.*
He collapses onto his back right beside me.
We lay there for a few moments without either of us saying anything, just breathing and existing and being two lumps of pain on the forest floor.
"Cough hehe– hey, Dai." I called softly.
"Hmm." He sounds dead.
"You look like shit right now."
He blinks a few times "Guess who's talking."
That made me chuckle a little before becoming silent.
I turn back to the orange sky and watch it for a few more moments. The colors are really nice honestly, and they almost make the broken bones worth it.
"Hey, Dai."
"Hmm."
"Have you ever... killed innocents?" I asked the million dollar question.
Honestly, I care about this more than anything. I may hate Heroes, and I may despise Villains, but it doesn't mean that I don't know what I wanted and where my morals belong.
I hunted Heroes because I hated unfairness. I hate the idea that only one side has the right to win, so that's why I did what I did back in OPM world.
I wanted the world to be perfectly balanced, as everything should be.
Dai raises an eyebrow or at least tries to with his swollen face. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's just a question, may be sensitive, but a question nonetheless." I said.
Dai became quiet for a moment.
"I don't think I have." Dai finally answered.
"You don't think?" I questioned, again.
"Well, I am a Genin, I don't have much options when I go on missions, and most of the jobs is all about taking out weeds, catching cats, helping old people, and stuff like that." Dai explained.
"So you have never been outside this prison?" Dai raised another eyebrow at my remark.
"Barely. The receptionist doesn't approve of higher paid jobs for Genins where it requires to go outside the village to complete." Dai said.
"Have you ever killed then?" I probed.
"I once happened to accompany some chunins to exterminate a bandit camp to get some outside world experience. I only watched from afar at what they were doing. I didn't participate personally. It was for experience purposes." Dai explained truthfully.
"..."
"Why do you ask though Master Garou? What about you, have you ever killed?" Dai asked confusedly.
"No." Not even in OPM world had he crossed that line.
He killed Monsters, but Monsters weren't people, so that doesn't count.
It wasn't his place to decide who to live or not. His life mission was simple, bring fairness to the world.
He may have indirectly caused the death of some people, but he himself actively didn't pursue it.
His motto was simple... those who are bad, bring hell to them on earth because death to evil is just an easy escape.
He didn't believe in a God and the concept of heaven or hell. He thought God didn't exist in the first place until he was... here.
In that, he and Miller got humbled.
But it only made him angrier at the thought of being a victim of role-playing like a clown for the amusement of some lazy audience.
Though anyways, he still believes that Evil must pay the price on earth and shouldn't just be extinguished easily, then they can go to whatever hell is prepared for them after death. He didn't care what happened after death.
As they say, Karma is a bitch.
Anyways, his judgement of this man was correct. Dai is still pure, and that qualifies him to receive his brainwas– Teachings!
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"Seems you don't have a particular liking to Ninjas, and Konoha as a whole Master Garou. Care to explain why?" Dai asked respectfully. For others, hearing Garou may already make them scream that he committed treason against the village and report it.
But for Dai, he knew anyone who pursues perfection, have philosophies and deep reasoning to everything they do.
So it made him curious and wanted to know more.
"Do you ever feel like you're living someone else's life?" I asked rhetorically.
"..."
"Did you choose it? Really choose it? Or did they just... put it in you to be this so early you can't tell the difference anymore?"
"Before you could read, before you knew what death meant. They gave you toys that looked like weapons, games that taught you to ambush each other, praise when you hit hard, and correction when you held back. So tell me Dai, do you think you are YOU or someone else's YOU?" I asked.
"But... isn't that normal? Everyone and everywhere does the same. Farmers teach their kids how to farm and fishermen teach their kids how to fish." Dai answered while scratching his etchy mustache with a little grimace from the pain.
"But do farmers send their kids to die? Do fishermen order their children to kill strangers based on which side of a river they were born on? There's a difference between learning a skill and having your whole self built around obedience. Obedient to someone who will someday tell you to do something you don't want to do but still have to go through it." I said.
"..."
"And tell me Dai, when that day comes where your personal beliefs are challenged by an order from above you... will you follow your heart, or your duty?"
There was a pause.
"I... I... don't know." Dai answered but was clearly struggling.
"Standing tall on a million lives. Is that what you want Dai? Is that what your Youth all amounts to?"
"No." Dai murmured to himself.
"You live in a glass, and someone inside this glass tells you everyone outside this glass are no longer people? Tell me, is that right? Is that fair?" Dai was silent.
"You want to become a sun, not a veil that covers the ray of light for others. You want to help, not create tragedies. Follow your own heart and intent, not be a slave to others."
"A hero to some and a monster to others? No, either be good to all or an evil to all. Let there be no bias in whatever you do." I went silent after saying that.
Dai now was struggling, he really didn't think that far into things. He just wanted to be a good samaritan, but it seems his path of Youth isn't just him being Youthful. Maybe Garou knows something he doesn't.
Is there really more to his Youth than he knows?
"But Master Garou, I have grown up knowing that the village protected me, fed me, gave me a roof over my head, and gave me... purpose." Dai finally replied after thinking hard.
"Have you ever wondered... why?" I asked back.
"..."
"Yes, they did all those things, but is it for free? Look at you now, from a very young age, instead of playing like kids and not worry about tomorrow, you are prepared to be murder machines. Your toys are in a shape of Kunais, your books tell you how to cut a throat better, your ideologies promote segregation and discord."
"..."
"You yourself are the best example of how sick this village and its likes is. Anyone without talent to commit murder and genocide is considered worthless!" My voice tinged with more anger than usual.
Dai became more silent.
"Tell me Dai! Have you ever thought of being a Konohan Painter? Have you ever thought of being a carpenter, a teacher, a doctor... etc!"
"..."
"Have you ever thought of being... normal?" I looked at Dai's swollen eyes.
"I don–"
"Just because you are a failure in murdering people, which should have been a blessing and a thing to be proud of, doesn't mean you are talentless in another field of life. Do you think only a ninja can be a sun? Do you think only a ninja contributes to life? Which they don't," I continued, not letting him speak.
"I... I don't know Master Garou. I have never thought of it that way. I just think that there is Honor in what I am doing." Dai replied but slightly doubted his own words now.
"There isn't. If there was Honor in that, then the Samurais wouldn't have prayed everyday so the Daimyo could give them permission to conquer every land owned by ninjas." I replied.
"Sighhhhh, I... will think about it Master Garou." Dai said with a resigned sigh and I nodded and went silent.
This was good for now, the seed of doubt was planted.
He was quiet for a moment and was processing my words, then he asked "Your techniques... did you create them yourself?"
I smile a little "Some of them yes, but my main martial arts I learned them from my master, his name's Bang. He called it the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and the idea is to flow like water, calm and smooth but crush rocks without effort."
"Bang? Never heard of him, but he must be strong!" He said with his eyes lightning up.
I smile wider. "He is."
I force myself to sit up as pain screams through every nerve, but I push through it and stand up slow, wobbling a little. My shoulder's dislocated, I can feel it, so I grab it with my other hand and shove the bone back into place.
*POP.*
"AGHH." I wince but it's done.
I start walking one step at a time.
*Step Step Step*
"Ah... Master Garou?"
I stop and turn around.
Dai's looking at me with these pitiful eyes. "Can you help me please? I don't think I can move."
Sighhhhh...
I walk back to him, grab his left arm and put it around my shoulder, and haul him up. My body protests, but I manage.
We start walking together, both of us struggling with every step. My regeneration helped a little while I was out, but not enough, I need a little more time to fully recover.
Honestly, the fight felt good. After years, this was the first time he felt something which brought him genuine joy.
It made him feel alive... in a world of fakes.
*Step Step Step*
We make our way through the forest until we reach a cliff, an open space not surrounded by trees. The view opens up in front of us and the sun's almost gone now, just a sliver of orange on the horizon.
We stand there for a moment taking it in.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I said, kind of absentmindedly.
Dai nods beside me. "Yeah, it is."
We watch the sun set until twilight takes over, and the sky turns purple and then dark blue as stars start appearing one by one.
"Hey, Dai."
"Yeah?"
We look at each other and then I raise my hand toward him.
"Youth?" I ask with a small smile.
The moment the word leaves my mouth, something clicks in his brain. His eyes water up and tears start streaming down his face like a waterfall. He removes his arm from around my shoulder with difficulty until we're face to face.
*Dap!*
He takes my hand firm and strong.
We grin at each other.
He takes a massive breath and fills his lungs to the max–
"YOOOOOUUUUUTHHHHHH!!!!!!"
He shouts it at the top of his lungs and strikes the Nice Guy pose with struggle, his teeth reflecting light that doesn't even exist anymore and sparkling like diamonds and defying all logic and reason.
---
1 Hour Later/
On a busy street of Konoha, people were murmuring and whispering to each other while making way for two individuals who looked like they just crawled out of a war zone.
"Hey, what happened to them?!" someone asked.
"I don't know!" another replied.
BLURGH! A woman suddenly gagged while looking at the two blood-covered individuals.
"Someone call for help!!" a man shouted.
"Isn't that the Eternal Genin?" a man whispered.
"Yeah, I think so," another answered.
"Meh, then forget the help. He is always like that."
"Hmph, when will he learn that he'll never be recognized by the Hokage?" a person said with clear disdain in their voice.
"Useless people will always stay useless." Someone else said.
---
I was making my way to the hospital through the bustling streets of Konoha, my clothes shredded and dried blood all over my body.
I had Dai hanging on my shoulder with his somewhat alright arm, he was passed out from the exhaustion. I was trying my best to ignore all the stares being thrown at us and the murmurs that were making me angrier by the second.
I stopped and stared at the people angrily for a moment, and they immediately shut up and walked away with fear covering their faces.
I shook my head a little at these stupid people and continued on my way until–
"Stop right there, you two!" I heard someone call us from behind.
I didn't listen to the voice and kept walking because I was too tired to listen to whatever crap this person had in store.
"I SAID STOP, SIR!" I heard the same voice and suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.
I got really angry at that voice because I am so freaking tired and exhausted at this moment that I want to devour an elephant's worth of food right now, but this dude is pissing me off.
I grit my teeth with veins popping all over my face and gave a side stare at the man with the intent to cut him into pieces right there.
"Get away before I make sushi out of you," I said in a low voice while looking at the man who wore a police uniform with an Uchiha symbol printed on his shoulder.
"Umm... ahh, sorry sir, I... I just wanted to know what happened and help you out if y... you want, sir." He stumbled back quickly and said respectfully with sweat running down his face.
I looked down at him quietly for some moments which made him more nervous. My frame doing its work at intimidating him.
"Then don't just stand there and help me and send this man to the hospital. He needs immediate care because of the injuries he received during our spar!" I said.
'What kind of SPAR is that you freak?! You think I'll believe that bullshit?!' The Uchiha police thought nervously in his head. "Of course, it's my job to do this, so don't worry!" The police ninja said as he slowly came forward and carried Dai.
'Hmm, this Uchiha isn't quite as arrogant as I initially thought. Maybe this generation of the clan is quite better than the future, or maybe the corruption and the fucked up events still hasn't happened and tarnish their reputation.' I thought while helping the man carry Dai.
"Pay his every bill, buy him new clothes, and tell the hospital nurses to bring him extra food in the name of the Hatake clan. If they ask who gave permission, then tell them that it was Hatake Garou, heir of the Hatake clan. Understood?" I told him and he nodded.
"But sir, will you not come with me? You don't seem quite alright yourself!" He asked with a little concern.
"Don't worry about me, so chop chop get to work!" I said as I turned around to leave for the district where they sell food.
I walked tiredly while staggering sometimes here and there as people parted ways for me.
My regeneration slows down when I don't have much stamina and nutrients left in my body, it's not like Hashirama's regeneration that works with just chakra, so I have to eat as much as I can real quick to get enough nutrients.
(A/N: His regeneration will work kinda logically plausible for some time before supernatural bullshit gets mixed to it little by little as he becomes stronger.)
I finally arrived at the district and walked through the stalls that sell food while ignoring the weird and scared stares, with some people even running away from me.
I walked through the stalls between the delicious aromas of the foods being sold which made my mouth water until I was in front of a familiar stall belonging to someone I knew.
I quickly sat down on a wooden chair in front of the stall and yelled, "TEUCHI!!"
*KRR WOOSH.*
I heard some sounds nearby and turned to look where they came from, only to see Teuchi running towards me nervously while staggering here and there.
"Garou-san it's you! AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LIKE THAT?! You need to patch those wounds immediately!!" He greeted first and then shouted next with a terrified look when he saw me in this shape.
*GRUMBLE!*
"It's NOT time for that, hurry and make me 20 miso ramen!!" I said quickly with my stomach screaming for food.
With his closed eyes wide open, Teuchi just looked at me not knowing what to do while shaking nervously.
"Don't just stare at me like that, get to work! GO GO GO!" I said and shouted at the end impatiently.
"H... Hai!!" He stuttered and got to work immediately.
Ten Minutes Later/
"Eat this five bowls first and I will prepar–" I didn't let Teuchi finish and started to eat the ramen like a starved monster, which I am honestly.
*SLUURRP SLUURRP NOM NOM NOM SLUUUURRRP.*
Twenty Minutes Later/
*SLUURP.*
"Ahhhhh, thanks Teuchi," I said to Teuchi who had a white soul coming out of his mouth, probably due to exhaustion.
I slowly put my hand inside my still hanging underwear and took out the remaining ryo, not really worth the food I ate but Teuchi's ass got 3000$ from me for a time like this.
I put the money on the counter, then slowly left his stall heading to my house.
Mother must be worried, I should hurry back.
12 Minutes Later/
*SLIDE.*
I slid the entrance door of our house and entered.
"I'm home." I said while slowly making my way to the bathroom through the hallway to wash myself.
"CUPCAKE! What happened to you?! How many times have I told you not to train like a crazy person?! Just look at yourself, one day you will kill yourself at this point, don't you know how worried I am!!" My mother suddenly started talking worriedly with tears accumulating in her eyes.
"You don't need to worry, I'm fine really. This is just dried blood, nothing else." I said while feeling embarrassed as I put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
Having a caring mother is still something I am not used to.
"Just don't overdo it much, cupcake. You're making me scared every time you come back home with blood soaking your whole body." She said while removing the tears from her eyes.
"I won't promise, BUT I will try." I replied smiling a little.
"I'm going to the bathroom. Do we have anything to eat later?" I asked.
"Yes, I cooked some food. Me and your father ate already but I put your share in the kitchen." She replied sweetly.
"Thanks, Mom." I said as I turned around to the bathroom.
"Don't mention it, cupcake." She said with a beautiful smile adorning her face.
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2 Hours After the Bath/
I lay on my futon trying to sleep but–
"AGGHHHHH!"
Pain suddenly assaulted my whole body and I grit my teeth tightly so I wouldn't scream and wake my parents up.
*Shake shake.*
"Arrghh." My teeth crack as I bit down too hard.
*Shake shake.*
I shook on the futon left and right while hugging my own body to ease the pain with muffled sounds coming out of my mouth.
10 Minutes Later/
Huff... huff... huff...
I breathed hard while looking at the ceiling with sweat soaking my body.
DING...
[Human: 30% / Monster: 70%]
"Crap." I muttered as I slowly used my sleeping technique to fall asleep.
The End.
[Tomorrow is a new week! Give stones or risk having me breathing beside you tonight.]