2 Shades of Grey

33: Punisher and the Puppy

Sakari Pov:

It was finally summer break, which meant that I would get to spend time doing my vigilante activities! I didn't have that much stuff in my dorm room, so I was able to leave UA pretty quickly after school.

Ignoring the looks that I got while leaving, I began my walk towards my apartment building. Suddenly, I felt something wet drip down my head. I turned around and saw a group of boys from another General Education class running away.

"Quirkless trash!" they laughed while running away.

I stood there for a while before sighing and reaching into my bag, grabbing a towel that I always kept there and wiped my head.

"At least it was only water this time," I muttered to myself as I continued walking.

Even though the group of boys were loud, nobody around me seemed to notice what happened. That was when I felt someone's eyes on me. My head snapped up and looked to the other side of the street, where I saw a boy standing there.

He had long and fluffy black hair and blue eyes. He held a duffel bag and was wearing the UA uniform. His eyes pierced into me, and we just stared at each other. He held an emotionless expression on his face as his eyes looked into mine.

Then, I realized who it was. The boy was in the first year Hero Course. I remember seeing him in the news. I wondered why he was looking at me. Then, when I blinked, he was gone.

Confused, I rubbed my eyes and blinked. Then, I just shrugged and continued on my way.

When I got back to the apartment, I saw that my mom wasn't there. I walked through our small apartment and noticed a note on the kitchen counter. I went over to it and read it.

Hey Sakari,

I'm going to be working a later shift tonight. There's food in the fridge that you can microwave if you get hungry! If someone is at the door, then don't answer it!

Love, Mom

I sighed at the last line of the letter. 'Mom, I'm old enough to know that.'

Then, I made my way to my room, passing the photos of my father, who had passed away a long time ago. Usually, I would ignore the pictures, but this time, I stopped and stared at them. My father had been a hero, but he died...

My face slowly contorted into a scowl as I looked at the man in the picture. He was a hero... but he was fake. He had died from a trap set by villains. The villains weren't even high up the ranks, and he still got killed by them.

"Why does mom keep his photos?" I muttered, "he didn't love her back... it was clear that he was just using her to get a better public image, so why?"

I knew that mom would get annoyed if I did anything to the photo, so I just left it how it was an went to my room. I placed my school bag down against my bed and changed into what I would usually wear whenever I went out as a vigilante. I wore a black baggy hoodie and flexible pants that was also black. I also had kneepads, elbow pads, and combat boots, but I didn't put them on since I was just going to wait at home until it became night.

Then, I went out of my room and laid down on the couch, closing my eyes. I decided to take a nap since it would help me have more energy when I went out tonight. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Timeskip

My eyes flickered open as I came back to consciousness. I quickly sat up from the couch and glanced out the window. Seeing that it was dark, I rushed to my room and put on the rest of my costume; I put on my kneepads, elbow pads, combat boots, and a blank white mask that covered my whole face.