Requiem of the Broken

Chapter 63: The Final Condition

Then there was the strange animal person known as Nezu. Not that many bothered to learn his name. Looks aside, he freaked a lot of people out. He had gotten in on a special recommendation, which already made him immediately disliked by many. Then there was the way he looked at people like he could see right through them and read their very thoughts. On the rare occasion where he did interact with people, it was usually in a subtly aggressive manner. Everyone knew that he was the smartest person in the class, maybe the whole school, a lot of students either hated or were intimidated by him. Even the teachers were rather uncomfortable dealing with him and avoided interacting with him entirely.

The twin freaks of year one. Perhaps it was because of this, but he and Nezu had started interacting more and more as the year progressed. Ostracized by their fellow students, they often found themselves isolated together. Halfway through the first school year, they'd gotten to the point where they would talk to each other willingly and not pretend like the other didn't exist.

"I don't know if I'm going to make it into next year..." Ryu said miserably.

Nezu looked at him in mild surprise.

"You are one of the top students in our year, I doubt you need to worry," he said.

"My grades are fine, but I'm not showing results with my quirk. I've been trying to figure it out for ten years, ever since it manifested... whatever my quirk is. I haven't been able to use it properly, I can feel my quirk, but it's like I'm missing something in how it is supposed to work." He said.

There was silence for a time as they continued to eat, then Nezu spoke up.

"I'll help you if you want..." he said, trailing off near the end.

Sasakura looked up, "Really?" he asked hopefully.

"You are the only person I know of in this school with such an interesting quirk, learning how it works would be a fascinating experiment," Nezu said.

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Things moved quickly for Sasakura after that memory, a blur of school years until he graduated as the third highest ranking student in the school, just under Nezu and another classmate he didn't really know. 

He saw the first few years of his life as a hero in the city of Niigata until it finally dissolved into one of the most poignant moments of his life.

"Ryu?" Chiasa asked, sitting up groggily in the bed.

Sasakura sat at the window, looking at the stars. It was clear and beautiful out, the breeze flowed through the open window.

He glanced over to his wife, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Well you did..." she mumbled, shuffling out of bed and sitting next to him, before leaning against him.

"What's got you so worked up you can't sleep?" she mumbled.

"It... I..." he said haltingly, before just speaking his mind as best he could.

"I don't know if I can be a father..." he finally said.

Chiasa sighed and wrapped her arms around him. Then she pulled him into her breast. She just held him and stroked his head affectionately.

"You'd be a wonderful father to anyone. You've shouldered your fair share of abuse and pain, yet you never let it stop you. You've learned your lessons from your parents, and you'll do a fine job passing those lessons on to our child." she said, before continuing in a whisper.

"I know it's scary, I'm terrified that I won't be a good mother, that I'll fail our child. but... that's just what it means to become a parent. We need to trust in ourselves and in each other, that's why we're married, isn't it? To lift the other up when they falter and help make the other into the best version of themselves possible." she whispered into his hair.