Chapter 5: A Promise
One week later
Amaku and Harumi were in the backyard across from one another. Amaku was wearing a pair of black sports shorts, a gray tank top, and red and black sneakers while Harumi was wearing blue sweatpants, blue and white sneakers, and a gray workout top. Amaku was kneeling on the ground covered in dirt, breathing heavily and sweating profusely as the sun beamed down upon him. He could barely catch his breath. Harumi on the other hand was perfectly fine. While she was sweating from the heat, she was unscathed and her breathing was normal.
“Again,” Harumi demanded, standing with her hands behind her back.
Amaku looked up at her while kneeling, still breathing heavily.
“I…*wheeze*…I can’t,” Amaku said in pain and gasping for air.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I stutter?” Harumi said in a tone of aggression. “Get up and go again…Now.”
Over the past week, Amaku and Harumi had resumed training, making sure that he was at least somewhat prepared for the path ahead. During this time, they would go through combat drills, physical exercise, and Harumi would even have him go over some of the procedures that she could recall from her pro hero days so he’d be somewhat informed on hero protocall in the feild. All the while, the preparations for the program were finally complete. Two days before he was supposed to leave, Harumi would have him undergo a sort of final trial to confirm that his training was at a good enough place to at least get him started.
After a few seconds passed and Amaku started to get back control over his breathing, he began to rise from the ground, stumbling forward before immediately catching himself. As he mustered his strength and took in one last deep breath, he assumed his regular fighting stance. He and his aunt stared each other down for quite some time, while she still kept her arms behind her back, not moving an inch.
“...Begin,” she said.
Not even a second later, Amaku charged forward at her and once he was within range, fired a left jab at Harumi. However, Harumi, still keeping her arms behind her back, weaved her head to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Amaku then immediately followed up with a right straight, which Harumi once again avoided by weaving her head. Amaku continued to throw attack after attack, mixing kicks into his assault.
He’d been trained by Harumi over the years in Judo, Taekwondo, and kick-boxing, all of which he learned to combine into his own unique fighting style. However, on top of being the one who trained him, Harumi not only knew his tendencies and weaknesses inside and out thanks to decades of experience, but her quirk allowed her the extra edge over him. Her quirk, instinct, acted as a form of sense sharpening and reflex enhancement. This not only allowed her to better detect an imminent threat, but also avoid it with extreme proficiency, proficiency that was only made stronger through her experience as a pro nightwatcher.
She continued dodging Amaku’s relentless assault until he eventually abandoned regular strikes to go for a grapple. However, as soon as Amaku’s hands were within range of her, she charged forward though his arms and delivered a precise strike to the ribs on his right side. Amaku flinched slightly from the pain, but was quick on the rebound as he attempted a swinging backhand at Harumi out of retaliation. Once again, Harumi ducked under the attack and swiftly moved to his right side, delivering three more lightning fast, precise strikes to his ribs. Amaku flinched slightly more after these attacks landed, and once again he attempted to retaliate, this time with a spinning back kick with his left leg. Harumi matched this rotation to avoid the kick, remaining aligned with his ribs. With his attack avoided, Harumi once again went for Amaku’s ribs, this time delivering a powerful, heavy-hitting knee. Amaku felt the combined sting of these attacks as he painfully grunted and grabbed his freshly strucken ribs.
As he staggered backwards, Harumi wasted no time pressing her advantage, dashing behind him and delivering a powerful kick to the back of his knee joint and forcing him down on it. She then immediately followed this by circling back around to face him and charged straight at him up with a powerful knee strike to the face. Amaku fell onto his back, grunting loudly and holding his bleeding nose from the pain of that last attack. As he brought himself back up on his knees, still reeling from the pain, Harumi walked over to him, looking down on him.
“Seems even after all this time you only learn the hard way, Amaku,” Harumi said in a strict tone. “...So be it.”
Harumi then resumed her assault, performing a downward sweeping ax kick upon Amaku’s face. However, before the attack could find its mark, Amaku stopped the attack with a single hand. Harumi’s expression shifted from one of pity to one of surprise. Meanwhile, Amaku’s eyes began to shift from their natural brown to a burning crimson as he stared at his aunt. He was not done fighting, but he was done being toyed with.
He then pulled Harumi’s leg towards him, forcing her off her feet, grabbed her again by the throat with his right hand, and forced her to the ground. Harumi grunted in pain, attempting to break free of Amaku’s grip on her throat, but to no avail. She then attempted to strike his face, but his reach was longer than hers, keeping her out of striking distance. As he stood over her, holding her down to the ground staring at her with burning rage in his eyes, he wound back his left arm as it was encompassed in his red and black aura. Harumi looked up at it, her expression displaying fear as she believed that Amaku was losing himself.
Then, after letting out a ferocious yell, he threw the attack at his aunt, who closed her eyes and braced herself for the onslaught. A powerful impact could be heard not an instant later. When Harumi opened her eyes, she looked to her right to see Amaku’s fist steaming from the impact it made with the ground not an inch away from her face. The ground around the impact was cratered and destroyed. When she looked back up at Amaku, his eyes were still burning red with hate and he was breathing and panting heavily like a wild animal, trying to bring his unyielding rage to heel. Eventually, after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he opened them once again, returning to their natural brown color. He then released Harumi's neck.
“You may be right, Auntie,” Amaku said, a small grin on his face. “It’s true that I’m a slow learner, at least by your standards…but I learn nonetheless.”
After lifting his left hand off the ground, he offered it to Harumi.
“Heh…well done,” said Harumi, grinning while rubbing her throat and accepting Amaku’s hand. “May have been a bit sloppy on the comeback, but you did have me going all out there. You probed my pattern with your jabs, took all those hits without blocking or activating your barrier to bait me in, and if you had let your attack meet its mark, the fight would’ve been done right then and there. But most importantly, when you did fire that punch, you maintained control and managed to bring yourself back from your anger…you pass.”
Harumi walked in front of Amaku, placing her right hand over chest. Amaku did the same in response and the two of them bowed to each other.
“You honor me…Master Harumi,” Amaku said, jokingly.
Harumi playfully jabbed him in the arm.
“Shut up, wise ass,” Harumi, chuckled. Amaku chuckled as well while holding his arm.
“Come on, let’s head inside. Your cousins are probably hungry and your uncle will be home in a couple hours. I say we get dinner started.”
Amaku nodded in acknowledgement and the two of them went inside.
Later that evening, the whole family was sitting at the table for dinner. Everyone was in their regular spots: Amaku at one head of the table with Hanzo at the other end, Harumi and Hanako sat to Aamku’s left side, and Yushiro and Yukio sat to his right. The meal consisted of Miso soup, Oyakodon, Teriyaki Tonkatsu, Takikomi Gohan with chicken, eggs, rice, and onion, and to everyone's surprise, the main course was Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue pho, a spicy beef oriented noodle dish.
After the long day of training that his aunt had put him through, Amaku was starving and he wasn’t concerned with letting the rest of the family know. While the twins bickered and borderline screamed at one another, Amaku was on his second large bowl, devouring the pho like there was no tomorrow. Harumi, Hanako, and Hanzo watched in shock as he attempted to satiate his hunger, downing what looked like a mile long string of noodles and countless pieces of beef and veggies. Then, once the other solid ingredients were devoured, he wasted no time in drinking the spicy broth. After completely emptying his bowl, he slammed it down on the table and took a moment to breathe before reaching out to his left and slowly taking hold of a small cup of tea. He then proceeded to close his eyes and slowly drink it like a nobleman, holding the tea in one hand while keeping the other hand under the cup. Despite its small size, he took about thirty seconds to completely drink the tea in one sip, enjoying the drink to its fullest. As he finished the tea, the peaceful warmth of the drink making its way down his throat, he exhaled with satisfaction and gently set down the small cup.
For some time, he quietly sat in his chair with his arms on his lap and his eyes closed. Not in the same depressing, dreadful manner he did two weeks prior, but in a peaceful, satisfied way.
“Everyone,” a female voice said, breaking Amaku out of his silent state. He opened his eyes and realized that the one speaking was his cousin, Hanako. While Amaku, Harumi, and Hanzo all acknowledged her, Yushiro and Yukiro were both still screaming and bickering between the two of them about some video game.
“Everyone,” she said again in a stronger tone. The boys still refused to stop bickering and screaming.
Eventually, Amaku became annoyed by their screaming and slammed his right hand hard upon the table, shaking the whole thing. There was a collective BOOM in the dining room as the plates, dishes, glasses and silverware all rattled from the impact. Yushiro and Yukiro were stunned out of their conversation as they both stared at Amaku. Amaku, looking at them both, then gave a darting glance towards Hanako, telling them to listen to their big sister.
“Thanks, Amaku,” Hanako said.
“Of course, Cousin,” Amaku said with a humble nod.
“Anyway,” she continued. “I have some rather…interesting news to share.”
“ Good interesting?” Harumi asked.
“Well…yeah, it is generally good news, Mom. But… there’s a bit more to it.”
Hanako reached behind her and took out a piece of paper she had folded up in her back pants pocket.
“This came in the mail a few days ago,” she said.
She slowly unfolded it and set it out on the table for everyone to see. The paper appeared to be some sort of letter. But what drew everyone’s attention almost immediately, especially Amaku, was the Official UA seal on the outside of the letter. It matched the seal on Amaku’s rejection letter, so he knew for a fact that the letter was legitimate. Harumi took the letter in hand and read the letter aloud. The letter itself read:
Dear Brokuma Hanako,
Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that we inform you of your acceptance to the hero program of UA Highschool. You have been given this opportunity in recognition of your personal and scholastic achievements, recommendations, and your performance on the entrance exam.
We have enclosed a starter package with this letter so you can familiarize yourself with the school grounds, as well as the opportunities and facilities we offer. Feel free to reach out to us at any time, as we would like to make the transition as easy as possible.
We look forward to having you at our school this upcoming academic year and we look forward to seeing you go beyond Plus Ultra!
Sincerely,
The admissions board of UA Highschool
Stunned silence fell upon the dinner table for some time after Harumi finished reading. Hanako herself sat in absolute silence, staring down at the table with her hands on her lap. Then, out of nowhere, Harumi reached over to her daughter and hugged her. The others watched on as this happened.
“That’s my little stream,” said Harumi, trying to contain her excitement.
“I knew you could do it, baby girl!” Hanzo said in a proud tone.
“AWESOME, SIS!!!” the twins said in unison.
Meanwhile, Amaku sat in silence as this all happened. Amaku couldn’t have been happier for his cousin, but as he watched on, deep down, he couldn’t help but feel a small amount of resentment. Both he and Hanako had been working hard to become fighters, heroes, and above all, they were going to accomplish these goals together. So to see her succeed while he was left behind, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat uneasy deep down.
“…Thank you…all of you,” she said in a soft, hesitant tone.
“Well…why did you wait so long to tell us?” Harumi asked.
“Well…I…” Hanako said hesitantly.
Amaku looked up at her, noticing the uncertainty in her voice. Harumi slowly released her daughter to look her in the face.
“Hanako…what’s wrong?” Harumi asked, her excitement shifting to concern. “Why aren't you more excited about this? What aren’t you telling us?”
Hanako was silent for a bit, taking a deep breath in before speaking again.
“Mom…I’m not going,” she said in a firm tone.
Everyone’s expressions shifted to one of both shock and concern after she said this. Hanzo and Amaku stared at her while Yushiro and Yukio looked at one another. Harumi’s expression was the one that displayed the most shock of the five of them.
“You’re…you’re what?” She said in pure disbelief.
“I’m not going to UA,” Hanako said. “I’m denying the acceptance.”
“But…but why!?!” Harumi asked. “Hanako, this is everything we’ve been training for! All of this work is finally bearing fruit and you're just going to throw it all away!? This is your dream, the one you’ve been working to make come true for years. Why would you-“
“Because it wasn’t just my dream to go there!” Hanako snapped, suddenly rising from her seat. “Mom, you trained both me and Amaku so that we could go to UA and become heroes together. As much blood, sweat, and tears as I’ve put into this, Amaku has gone through hell and back to try and make his ends meet, and how did UA reward him? A ‘thanks, but no thanks’!” She yelled, getting up out of her seat and gesturing towards Amaku.
“All of the work he put into trying to get stronger, all that time he spent trying to learn to control his quirk, UA takes one look at him and they demonize him, not even allowing him to take the entrance exam! What happened to him was wrong, and we all know it! How is it fair that I achieved a dream that Amaku struggled so hard to make come true and yet he’s left with NOTHING!?!?”
Everyone was silent while this all happened, with Hanzo and the twins watching on in concern as this happened. Amaku, however, refused to stay silent.
“Hanako,” he said, rising from his seat. “Even if what you’re saying is true, that doesn’t mean that you should throw your future away just for my sake. Besides, it’s not like I’m out of options, I’m literally going to be starting my training for this Wolves program on Monday. It’s like you said: we’ve been working towards this for years. And right now, you're throwing away your chance to become a hero! All those years of training and studying, and you’re just letting it all go to-“
“This isn’t just about being a hero, Amaku!” Hanako interrupted him. “Amaku you…you may be my cousin, but I’ve always seen you as my older brother. When we were kids, you…you were in a horrible place, and…I…” Hanako took a moment to collect herself, breathing in and exhaling deeply before speaking again.
“I wanted to help you. I could see it in you, we all did, you were a good person with a good heart, but you always felt the need to bottle up your feelings and keep everything buried inside. You were so afraid of letting your demons out that you refused to let anything out,” Hanako moved around the table and walked up to Amaku.
“I couldn’t just sit by and let you do that to yourself. I did everything I could to try and help you because it felt…wrong to just leave you to suffer like you were. Then, when you started training with Mom, I saw you change. You were happy, and…and that made me happy, too. So I thought that if I joined you, we could help each other get stronger and be happy together…be heroes together… But UA…they took that from us. And I refuse to build my future off of the suffering of one of my own family...I won’t.”
She then hugged Amaku tightly, to his surprise, her head pressing closely against his chest. Amaku, in response, embraced his younger cousin, gently hugging his arms around her shoulders. The two hugged for some time until eventually Harumi stood up from her chair and walked over to confront her daughter, who released the embrace between her and Amaku to acknowledge her. The two of them faced each other and Harumi gently placed both hands on Hanako’s shoulders.
“Hanako… you’re certain you want to do this?” Harumi asked sternly.
“I’m certain, Mom,” Hanako said, confidently.
Harumi was silent for a few seconds, processing Hanako’s words. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she looked at her daughter with an expression of acceptance.
“…Alright then,” said Harumi. “Your future, your choice what to do with it, my little stream. But that said, what are you going to do?”
“Truth be told, there’s only one thing to do,” Hanako said. “There’s only one other place for me to go that has a hero course as renowned as UA’s…Shiketsu High.”
“The commonly considered rival of UA,” Amaku said, crossing his arms. “UA in the East, Shiketsu in the West…Why do I get the suspicion that there was a bit of spite behind your decision making when you chose them?”
“…Maybe a bit,” Hanako admitted with a slight inflection of guilt in her voice. “But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re still one of the most elite hero schools in the country, renowned enough to be considered UA’s rival, as you put it. I’ll need to take another entrance exam for them, but at the very least, it will be similar in difficulty to the one I took for UA. That said, it will take place in about a week, so…”
Hanako then turned to face her mother once again.
“Mom…since Amaku will be taking tomorrow to rest before leaving for his…program, will you help me train for the upcoming exam? While I’m confident in my abilities, if there’s even the smallest thing I can improve upon, I want you to help me find it.”
“Of course, my little stream,” Harumi said with a smile. “Anything you need, I’ll be there for you. We’ll all be there for you,” said Harumi.
Hanako looked at the others. Hanzo smiled with a nod of agreement. Yushiro and Yukiro smiled with a giggle and a thumbs up. When Hanako turned back around to Amaku, he gave her a genuine smile and softly placed a hand her cheek.
“Hanako…though there may be many ways to climb a mountain, they all meet at the summit. So, though we may not share the journey together, I promise you that we will see each other at the top…as heroes.”
Amaku then put his hand to his chest and bowed to her. Hanako, with a tearful smile, returned the gesture with a bow of her own.
“Right then! Tomorrow, we begin your training,” said Harumi. “But for now, let’s enjoy this meal while it’s still hot, yeah?”
With that, the family resumed their meal, ending the evening on an unexpected, but hopeful note for the future of the two eldest children of the Brokuma family.
The Next Morning
On Sunday morning, Amaku woke up early while the rest of the family slept so he could visit a certain place, even setting the alarm as quiet as possible to not disturb their slumber. He didn’t bother with washing up, he simply quickly threw on some clothes and a pair of shoes, grabbing an apple for the road. He attempted to exit without waking the others, however, before he could make it to the door, someone caught him before he could take his leave.
“You’re up early,” a male voice spoke from behind him.
When Amaku heard this, he stopped just short of the door.
“ Dammit ,” he thought to himself.
“Apologies. Did I wake you, Uncle Hanzo?” When he turned around, Hanzo was wearing a tan fishing vest, baggy work pants, and a pair of boots.
“Not at all. Ojiro needed today off and I offered to take his place for the early morning deep sea charter, so don’t beat yourself up about it.”
“Ah, right. Forgot it was Sunday,” Amaku said.
“So what’s your excuse? Pretty sure you shouldn’t be up this early until tomorrow, shouldn’t you?”
“I…wanted to visit a certain place while I still have time,” Amaku said, turning to face his uncle. Hanzo took a few seconds or so before answering.
“Aaaahhhh….I see. So you finally decided to pay 'em a visit, didn’t you?” he inquired.
Amaku nodded. After acknowledging this, Hanzo looked down at his watch, stared at it for a few seconds, then looked back at Amaku.
“‘Aight,” he said. “I can give you a ride there before having to go fishing.”
Amaku looked at his uncle with a hint of surprise.
“Are you certain, Uncle?” he asked.
“Yeah. The car is packed up already, so I’m willing to make the detour if you don’t mind the smell of bait.”
Amaku gave a small grin in appreciation of his uncle’s kind gesture.
After retrieving his keys, Hanzo and Amaku eventually made their way to where Amaku wanted to visit. As they made their way through Musutafu, the streets nearly empty at such an early hour, Amaku sat in the passenger seat with his head near the open window, staring out at the sights as his Uncle drove through the trafficless streets. After about a fifteen minute drive, they had finally arrived at their destination: Tsuna Park, a residential park area along the outskirts of Musutafu. Hanzo stopped the car a little ways down the street in front of a black entry gate.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Do what you gotta do. I think you know how to get back home.”
Before he got out of the car, Amaku gave his uncle a hug.
“Thank you for doing this for me,” Amaku said.
“No problem, man,” said Hanzo, giving Amaku a small hug back. He then patted him on the shoulder twice. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”
Amaku nodded in response as he exited the vehicle. When he looked back, Hanzo gave him a two fingered salute, to which Amaku gave a gentle wave and with that, Hanzo drove off while Amaku watched him shrink into the distance.
Once his uncle disappeared from sight, Amaku turned back towards the entry gate to the park. After taking in a deep breath of the morning air, he began walking along the dirt path. The morning air was crisp and slightly chilly, a small breeze blowing through the lush green fields and the sun barely peeking over the horizon as he gently strolled down the path. Amaku took in the sights and fresh air as he made his way through the park, biting into his apple every so often. The park itself was completely empty, which again wasn’t all that surprising given the hour. And for Amaku, the barren silence was actually quite welcoming as he walked. Other than the rustling of the grassy plains and the quiet whispering of the breeze, the only sounds to be heard were his own footsteps and the sound of his teeth biting into his apple. After a few more minutes of walking, he finally came across a divergence in the road that led to a hilltop with a cherry blossom tree at its peak. Conveniently enough, there was also a trash bin at the fork, which he used to throw away his apple before he began walking up the hill. When he got to the top of the hill, under the tree were three gravestones. The one on the right read Zoro Keiyodoshi: loving father and husband, the one on the left read Azumi Fujioka: loving mother and wife, and the center one read Yusaku Keyodoshi: beloved son.
Amaku stared at these stones for quite some time. Eventually, he knelt to his knees and bowed to them.
“Mother…Father…,” he said. “My deepest apologies, I know it has been a while since I last spoke to you both. The last few weeks have been…eventful, I guess you could say.”
Amaku rose to his feet.
“I… got rejected from UA…but I saved a hero and defeated the villains who attacked him, which, while barring me from attending any official hero course school, got the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission. One of their representatives came by to extend an invitation to receive training in one of their new programs. So…I guess you could say everything sort of worked out in the end.”
Amaku then turned his head towards the tombstone of his mother.
“Mother, I…miss hearing your voice. Whistling and humming your songs is no replacement for the original. I miss coming home every day to see your face, shining as fairly as the sun.”
He then turned towards his father’s tombstone.
“Father, I miss the days where you’d come home in the evening after one of your trips, sit with the two of us for dinner, and then afterwards we…we would-”
Amaku couldn’t finish, he became flooded with emotion as he was almost brought to tears, falling to his knees. Even though it had been seven years since his parents were put there, Amaku remembered their time together like it was yesterday. Even if his father wasn’t home much, he never neglected Amaku and his mother. And his mother was always there to help him grow and mature when his father could not. She always helped him with homework and sang him to sleep with her angelic voice that seemingly erased any and all stress. To have it all come flooding back was a lot for him. Eventually, he brought himself under control as he held back his grief, sniffling slightly, and took a deep breath in.
“Heh…look at me,” he chuckled shakily. “I’m still the same emotional child at heart I guess…Well, anyway, I should probably get going, Aunty Harumi will probably be worried if I’m gone for too long. I’ll be traveling pretty far away for this program, so I probably won’t be seeing you two for quite some time. I’m sorry I can’t visit more often, I…just want you to know, Father…I haven’t forgotten the promise I made…and I fully intend to keep it.”
Amaku put his hand to his chest and bowed to the stones.
“And I promise you both, no matter what it takes, no matter how high the cost…I will bring honor to the Keiyodoshi name…and become a hero.”
