Toshinori stood in the middle of the room while staring at his son who just asked him the same question that he asked a year ago. And just like last time, he couldn't provide the answer that he wanted to hear. The wielder of One For All took a moment took to think of what his son had just spoken and he felt that he already let his son down for a long time and simply he just refused to face the harsh reality.
His wife came and grabbed his shoulder while calling out his name over and over again but he simply didn't respond as his mind was in a different place than his body. His hand was shaking as he stood by looking in the mirror with his eyes as wide as fish. Tears spilled from his eyes as he kept muttering the word sorry repeatedly.
He keeps repeating the word while thinking that everything that's happening to his son is all because of him. If he simply just be a better father and treat him right then none of this would have happened. He's the reason why his son has become this.
Then suddenly Toshinori lost his balance, and his body dropped like a doll without a string attached. And quickly he fainted because of the stress that was building inside his head.
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Izuku stared at the window with his fist still on the window while looking at the reflection of his face, but on the other side of the window, all of them were looking scared. The silence and the stillness of the interrogation room were broken only by the occasional ticking sound of a clock. If their surroundings could have reflected the feelings inside Izuku, the pictures would have been screaming in pain and painted with darkness.
Aizawa who saw Izuku's sudden outburst began to grab Izuku's shoulder. He guided him back to his chair while handing him a glass of water, which he took aggressively. Normally Aizawa wouldn't allow that kind of behavior passed him but considering that Izuku just easily break the handcuff that was supposed to restrain his quirk makes he thinks about his next words carefully.
Tsukauchi was grateful that Aizawa decided to join in on this interrogation because he doubted he could handle the amount of pressure and stress in this room.
"Good, now that we are finally back on track, can you tell us what happened? How are you still alive?" Tsukauchi asked while continuing with the interrogation not knowing what happened on the other side of the room.
Izuku took a moment before answering his question.
"A devil came towards me." he simply replied.
Both Tsukauchi and Aizawa looked at him thinking that he was already gone mentally crazy.
"A devil? Is this some sort of hallucination under your subconscious or-" Tsukauchi asked thinking that he was lying but his quirk is telling the truth.
"Oh, I could assure you. He's real. Along with the big man upstairs." Izuku said firmly. "The concept of god, devil, archangel, demon, hell, heaven. It's all real. It's just hidden from plain sight."
"I got lucky, someone was looking out for me that day. He offered me a deal in exchange I got my flesh and blood including some power. And I must admit, the fringe benefit was most enjoyable." he said.
"What is this deal you talking about?" Aizawa asked.
"Can't answer that," Izuku replied.
"Izuku-" Aizawa said but he got interrupted.
"I can't say the terms of the deal even if I want to. It's best if we leave it." he hinted to both of them to just drop the matter.
Then Tsukauchi spoke, in a trembling, would be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Izuku to talk sensibly.
"But that's impossible, it just can't be true, you know it can't. . . "
"Why can't it be true?" Izuku said calmly, as though they were having a normal talk.
"Because... because it's all just a myth. There are no such things as hell or heaven. It's all just a part of religion about someplace in the afterlife.... and now you're telling me that there exists."
Aizawa had barely had time to marvel inwardly at the effort Tsukauchi put into his belief when Izuku started to laugh.
"True, most people wouldn't believe that from the start. They might think that I'm a loony or something." Izuku said, "But let me ask you something. Why are hell and heaven impossible for you to believe but quirk is a common trait for all of you?"
And both Aizawa and Tsukauchi's eyes were shot wide open as they couldn't find an answer to that question.
"We live in a world where people can transform to the size of a building, a mutant hybrid of half man half mouse, someone who can run as fast as a car, a man that could steal quirks and has been living in his private basement for almost two hundred years and you think hell is a myth." he merely smiles looking at both of them.
Tsukauchi looked down at Aizawa, and as their eyes met, they agreed silently. Izuku's stories were highly unbelievable but it was the truth. They feel that their mind is slowly turned into mush every second hearing the word about hell and heaven stuff.
"All right, let's move on. Why didn't you go back after you've been resurrected? " Tsukauchi asked and Izuku merely raised an eyebrow.
"If you're standing in my position, would you go back detective?" Tsukauchi's silence was all the answer he needed.
"I've been living for quite a while, I was starved more than I ate, treated like a slave all because I tried to fight back, being labeled like I was a thing, all because I was born different. Do you have any idea how that felt? It's like bullying a blind man for not being able to see or a disabled child in a wheelchair." Izuku spat.
"I was trapped in hell for a long time Detective. I've seen many things that I wish I could forget, stories that I hoped I didn't hear, I've seen darker days that most people wouldn't encounter and I've survived till these days." he crossed his arm in front of his chest while telling them.
Both of them looked at him with a heartbreaking expressions, it was already hard enough to learn about his situation with the bullying and the abuse, but to think that he had to relive the same treatment in a place where all the damned souls lived for eternity is making them think just how much have this society has failed him.
The boy who's standing in front of them isn't a little kid any longer but someone who was forced to become an adult in a mere short of time. It was their job as a hero and an adult to make sure that the future generation could live easily without any regret whatsoever, but he already looked and sound just like those who were sitting in the chair across from him. He's not turned like this because he wanted to but it's because he was forced to.
"Izuku, when did you come back to life?" Aizawa asked while feeling on edge with the answer to his question.
Izuku looked at both of them with a contemplating look while putting both of his hands together. He knows that the moment he answers those questions, then he's gonna get more questions instead, so he decided to just go ahead and get this over with.
"It's hard to tell." Izuku said, "Times move differently in hell. In hell, things tend to get slower down there which makes torture sounds like an eternity. I came back to life, five days after I was dead."
"But if I had to say, it was roughly about seventy-five years on the time I was in hell," he said and both of them looked shocked hearing that.
"What?!" both of them yelled together.
None of them couldn't believe what they had just heard, seventy-five years trapped in hell. How was that even possible? Aizawa looked at Tsukauchi's face, hoping that what he just said was nothing but an elaborate joke. But he looked at him, and to his shock, he was met with the same shocked expression, just like Aizawa was before.
"I'm serious." Izuku said, "I'm not as ancient as that All For One, but I've my faired shared of long life."
None of the could believe what they'd just heard. The kid that was standing in front of them, the one that's been identified as a fourteen years old kid is an eighty-nine years old man. It sounds absurd. How is this possible, he didn't age at all while sitting in front of them.
"Why didn't your body age if you claim to be three-quarter century?" Aizawa asked while looking exhausted.
"Because the one that's age is my soul and not my body. While I was in hell, my soul got separated from my physical body which is explained how my body is still perfectly the same." Izuku explained.
Both of them tried to take a moment to gather their thought as with each passing moment, it's become even more absurd than before and they didn't know how much they could handle it.
"What about the bodies that you killed? We crack your hidden message when you killed the last seven victims, Kirito Kazuhagi, Miyamoto Komi, Kiyama Fui, Kord Aegis, Donnie Ki, and Maiki Fuya. We know they were anagrams of your sister and her friend's name, why go all that trouble just to send a message?" Tsukauchi asked and if he killed a civilian just to make a statement then he will at least be sentenced to forty years or maybe more.
Izuku smiled looking at the detective, "Clearly you haven't done your investigation on them." Tsukauchi was surprised a little by the answer.
"What do you mean?" Tsukauchi asked.
However, all he got was a smirk from Izuku, "That's for me to know and you to find out."
Tsukauchi quickly put in a mental note to investigate the victim's identity once all of this is over, so he decided to continue with the question.
"Alright next question, during the first time you started your crusade, you left a burning D letter on the scene of the crime in an abandoned bar near Minato ward five months ago." he shows a photograph of a door with a burning engraved letter D in flames. "Now what was that all about?" Tsukauchi asked and suddenly Izuku looked at both of them with a smirking expression just like before.
Tsukauchi had been following this case for a long time, and after they just learned about his target which is the current class 1A in UA Hero Course, he's been trying to find an answer to this case since he still had a few blanks in it. The letter D that's been appearing is one of the mysteries that's been bugging him for quite a long time
"They're nothing but a message. To someone that I knew." Izuku said quietly and based on his expression, Tsukauchi wanted to press the matter even further.
"To who if I may ask?" Aizawa asked.
And Izuku merely put his finger in front of his lips while smirking, "You haven't gotten there."
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"He's not budging," Nezu said.
"That's an understatement," Endeavor replied.
Then suddenly the door was opened with a loud bang, and Nighteye entered the room in a hurry.
"I got here as fastest as I can, is it true? Is he-" he said urgently.
"See for yourself." Gran Torino pointed at the mirror.
Nighteye looked in the direction of his cane and he was shocked to see it. He's there. Izuku Yagi was there and alive. He was sitting in a chair while being interrogated by Aizawa and Tsukauchi while acting all calm with no worry.
He looked at the kid's face and quickly pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled a photo that he got from Aizawa. It was one of the photos that he got from him about a few months after he was declared dead. Aizawa had made a copy of the photo that he had with Izuku's faces with everyone including him.
He stared at the photo which is a picture from when he was four years old before he was diagnosed quirkless with his wide smile and freckles on his cheeks. It was the last reminder that he had about him and he always stared at the picture once in a while.
But the person who was in that room was completely different than the picture. He still had the signature curly green hair like the picture but his face is completely different. He doesn't have a smile just like in the picture. His eyes are filled with emptiness and hollow not brimming with light in the picture. And his figure had changed to more muscular almost like Aizawa.
"My god..... he's different," Nighteye muttered.
"The last time we saw him, he was skinny and malnourished. But now, he's completely a different person right now." Nezu said.
Nighteye stared at the picture and tried to compare it with the man behind the window. It's almost looking at two different individuals.
"Where's Toshinori and Inko?" Nighteye asked not liking the idea that he wasn't present in the room.
"Toshinori was being brought to the infirmary. His body was shutting down from the stress, and Recovery Girl was there to check on his condition. Inko was there as well to accompany him." Nezu explained.
Nighteye took a moment after his question was answered. At least they didn't avoid the matter and hide.
He joined the others to watch the interrogation that was happening while wondering what had happened to him that he had changed so much while Endeavor excuses himself to go outside.
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"Alright, now that you're already giving your testimonial, tell me one good reason why we shouldn't have you arrested right here and now." the detective asked with a serious look and Izuku merely laughed at the question.
"You think that you can arrest me?" Izuku asked, "Have you been sleeping on the job detective or are you just not paying attention."
"I've heard about it, but I can just let you roam free after knowing what you've done." Tsukauchi looked with a serious expression.
"Well, you had a point," Izuku said. And suddenly he had this interesting idea to show them. It might be a little dramatic but it also showed them who are they dealing with.
"Alright let me show you something, but first I'm gonna need your gun detective," Izuku asked both of them looked shocked by his request.
"My gun?" Tsukauchi's eyes were bulge almost the size of a plate after hearing that. He want to retort but Izuku quickly said.
"Don't worry I won't use it to harm anyone in this building. You have my word."
Tsukauchi knew that he was telling the truth, but the idea of handing a weapon to a suspect could cost him his badge. But somehow, he decided to grab the gun from his holster and placed it on the desk. And Izuku took the gun and check it to see whether it was loaded or not.
"New Nambu M60, standard police," he said.
And suddenly, he aimed the gun straight at his mouth and pulled the trigger before anyone could stop him. The single sound of a bullet blasting out of the gun's barrel echoed throughout the entire room as the entire department was put on high alert. On the other side of the interrogation room, everyone was shocked after watching the scene that flashes right in front of their eyes.
Izuku's body went limp and dropped to the table with blood gushing from his mouth. The smell of gunpowder passed right through their nose as Tsukauchi is flabbergasted after watching the bloodied corpse right in front of him. He didn't know what to say. He shouldn't give a firearm to someone let alone a suspect and look what happened. And suddenly the corpse of Izuku Yagi's body burst into flames.
Tsukauchi and Aizawa yelled in shock and backed away to the desk along with everyone who watches on the other side of the room. The detective looked feverishly around in case there was a glass of water somewhere but couldn't see one. The corpse however had become a wildfire. It gave one loud shriek and the next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ash on the floor.
They have no explanation for what's happening. First Izuku fired off a gun straight into his mouth, then suddenly his dead body is dropped to the table and burst into flame and then it disappear just like he never was there.
Then suddenly the door was opened on their back and Izuku came in, looking all smug. But most important of all, he was fine. Completely fine. No injury or bullet entry wound or anything.
"Izuku." Aizawa gasped, "But- how- I just saw-"
To Aizawa's astonishment, Izuku simply smiled with no worries at all and headed back to his chair.
"That right there is the reason why you couldn't do anything." he said, "You already knew what I'm capable of back at Kamino, how much power I possessed. No prison anywhere in the world could hold me and if you want to sentence me to death, I could just go resurrected myself just like you saw."
"And let me add that my power isn't a quirk, it's something that I've acquired in hell, which means your quirk-canceling cuff won't work on me. Face it, you're at checkmate here. you can't kill me and you can't lock me in prison. So what's your next plan?" Izuku looked at them in amusement.
"Then, why did you allow yourself to be captured?" Aizawa asked and Izuku suddenly had gone silent.
"From what I've seen in the news, you could fight your way out at Kamino and escape but instead you surrendered yourself and be captured by the heroes. So why did you?"
"It's because I'm trying to attract the big fish." Izuku simply said.
"The big fish?" Tsukauchi was confused and the door suddenly opened and came to the President of the Hero Commission.
She's a middle-aged woman with a stoical and steely expression, with a set of turquoise eyes and ash-blonde hair that is slicked back. She wears a black suit jacket and dresses along with a purple shirt and a necklace. She went inside the room to scan everyone in it, and her eyes fixated on Izuku as she watched him smile at her.
"Hello Madam President, it's so good to see you." he simply said while looking at her.
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Meanwhile, the rest of class 1A had been brought to Aizawa after the heroes had arrested the Burning Man at Kamino. They all received a text from their teacher telling them to come to class 1A classroom in UA with no exception including the one that joined in on the rescue or its expelling for the entire class.
They're all confused about why they were told to come in the middle of the night. The class is still in a state of confusion. Some of them thought that the school found out about their rescue plan to save Katsuki. Of course, their teacher is gonna noticed a giant ice ramp that suddenly appears in Kamino in the middle of the fight, especially their sensei.
While they began to scramble and think that their career as a hero will be over, there are seven individual who was sitting silently at their desk looking horrified. The rest of them didn't know what was happening to them. After they told the class that they were able to rescue Katsuki, they exhaled a huge breath of relief in their own home. But when they were bombarding them with questions, none of them replied in their group chat.
All of them look appalled as if they just saw a ghost, but none of them said anything. Even the loudmouth Katsuki who was being kidnapped was sitting in silence looking terrified and gritting his teeth in frustration.
"Do you think that sensei knows about our rescue plan?" Uraraka asked the class who was in a state of confusion.
"That's the only explanation for gathering us in school. All of us know about the plan excluding Jirou and Hagakure who was still passing out from the villain gas." Tokoyami said while crossing his arms on his chest.
"What's gonna happened to us? Are we gonna get expelled?" Mina worried about their situation.
However, expulsion is the least of the worries of all seven of them since they were sitting at their desk looking all shocked.
Shoka who saw them being silent all the time began to ask the question everyone's mind, "Guys, what's going on? Why are you guys acting all silent since you came here?"
"Yeah, you guys been acting all weird since you got back from Kamino," Kaminari added.
But they were all still silent and not responding to any of their calls as if they weren't listening to them at all.
"Guys, say something," Kaminari called to them again. However, they didn't get any reply.
"Guys, are you okay?" Shoka asked once more.
"Of course, they're not." someone said.
And the classroom door opened and Endeavour came in, looking very somber. He looked exhausted while feeling all stressed up.
"Considering what they learned at Kamino, I don't think any of them could be acting just like you all," Endeavor said looking at them in the back in silence.
"Are anyone of you seven gonna man up or do you want me to say it?" Endeavor asked harshly at those who were present at Kamino.
And finally, Izumi said in a shaky tone while looking at her feet.
"He's alive..... my brother..... he's alive.... he's the Burning Man," Izumi said that everyone in the room was shocked, just like they were back in Kamino.
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"I need to talk to him alone." the President said and both Aizawa and Tsukauchi looked surprised.
"But ma'am-" he was being interrupted.
"Now detective. I'm not asking again," she said once more in a firmer tone.
And both of them left the room and joined the rest looking from the window. Then a man in a black suit quickly put a handcuff on his behind, thus leaving her alone with him in the room while her men are waiting outside the door.
"You must be very brave or very foolish to come here, Mr. Izuku." the President looked at him.
"Depends on how you look at it." he simply said.
"Bear in mind, your opinion means little to me. I could have you removed from this country and no one would bother to look at you," she said while crossing her arms.
However, Izuku wasn't fazed by her threat and smirked at her.
"You must be very good at erasing things, just like how you erased my case," Izuku said and the President showed a little sign of shock.
"I know that you along with everyone in the HPSC covered up my death under your rug to make sure your favorite hero is innocent of his crimes. How you forced UA to accept all twenty-three of them into entering UA Hero Course."
"You think that you can threaten this country, including the Symbol of Peace himself. We could have arrested you based on your testimonial before and you won't be seeing the sun ever again." she threatens him.
"Careful madam president. You don't wanna make an enemy of someone of my caliber. You might bite more than what you could chew." he smirked while looking at her. "I don't think you realize that I could simply destroy your country along with your heroes in mere seconds."
"You think that you could do that? You may act all powerful and all but-" she looked at him.
"Oh, I'm not talking about my powers here. I'm talking about what I could do before I got these powers." the president is confused.
"You meant when you were quirkless. And what could you possibly do?" she challenged him.
"Guess you didn't read my file thoroughly, but then again I was nothing but a quirkless kid who didn't pose any threat at all in your eyes." he chuckled.
"Let me give you a hint. A notebook that I made back in the day." that's all it takes to break the composure on the president's face.
"Guess you started to remember that I've been doing analysis on heroes ever since I was little as another way for me to be a hero. But you power-hungry government dogs didn't think much and simply looked at my notebook as a joke. But information held power and it could destroy even the world with proper use."
The president looked in shock but quickly compose himself.
"We knew about your notebook and we'd already secured it in a safe location when we went to your house on the night you were dead. We collected all thirteen notebooks from a secret stash in your room." the president said and Izuku merely smiled mockingly at her face.
"And who created those notebooks, if I may ask?" whatever confidence that's left in her was quickly fading since she realized what he meant.
"You don't think I make another copy and hide it? Those notebooks were my lifework back when I was still quirkless, I knew that one of those fuckers will find it and destroyed it right in front of my eyes to destroy whatever hope was left in me. So I planned ahead and hid another copy." he explained to her and she was shocked to hear about his advanced planning.
"I can simply make another copy and send it to every government across the world. What do you think would happen if I did that? There would be a huge war going on across Japan and your nation is literally an open book." he told her while wearing a smug grin.
"This notebook of yours that you spoke of. You have it with you?" she asked trying to negotiate with him.
"No... but I can arrange for you to read it." he simply replied while smiling at her.
"You don't make arrangements for me, Mr. Izuku. I have people for that. I'm not exactly sure what is on this book... ...but I doubt it's of any interest to me." she looked at him with a threatening eye but he simply didn't look scared. "We've already read this notebook of yours that was left in your room and we know the content of it, and you think you could threaten us with this outdated information."
"It's a hero analysis about a hero." and she laughed at what he just said.
"Well, out of hundreds of analyses that you had during your life-" she said.
"I'll narrow it down for you. It was an analysis of a certain hero in the top ten. And this... ...particular information... ...you might wanna keep under wraps. It's top secret information regarding All Might's quirk." Izuku said and the President tried to sound not surprised.
"And where is this notebook that held the information?" she asked.
"Twenty different copies in twenty different locations. I can call my associate right now and he can send the digital copy for you," he replied.
"Not on the phone. Have your associate bring it here," she told him and based on her tone, it wasn't a request but an order.
"These are the terms. You can read it over the phone......or you can read it on the news. It's up to you." he threatens her.
She waited for a moment to think about her choice whether he was bluffing or not, but based on his words and reaction, he sounded confident. She thought for a moment. Is it possible for him to know about the Symbol of Peace quirk and its secret? She heard that he never told his son about his secret identity so is it possible that he's bluffing.
But she decided to agree and told him to send the content of the file on her phone. She pulled a cell phone from his coat and dialed a number on his phone from his instruction and put it on speaker, then she heard a man speaking from the other end of the phone and Izuku told him to send the file directly to her phone. And after that, she looked at her phone and an unknown number sent her the file and she read it carefully.
Her eyes were shocked by the content of the information. The file was true, it's all written in detail. The name of the quirk, the origin, its current users, what it's capable of, the method of transfer, everything is in there.
"How- how did you know about the quirk?" she asked while looking flabbergasted.
"The frustration must be killing you right now?" Izuku smirked looking at her expression.
She walked towards her chair while exhaling a lot of air trying to calm herself then began to mutter.
"I made my commitment a long time ago. I agreed to put my country ahead of myself... ... as a mother does for a child. And I thought... ...that what I was doing was noble and that I would be rewarded. Don't you see that I'm a pawn in this too? The power that has taken over this country... ...is like cancer and it will stop at nothing. It is out of my control."
"So is this." he replied, "Ten years I was suffering under that household, where my entire life was ruined by the system that you help to build.... You know, I swore myself that I would get my revenge on those who wronged me. And the hero society that you help to work so hard to protect.... is gonna be the first of my list of revenge."
Knowing that she won't win against this, she decided to find a civil way for this entire mess. She decided to make a deal with the devil, one where both parties wouldn't have to suffer at all.
"Tell me what you want from me?" she said.
"First, uncuff me," Izuku told her, and she was left confused hearing the first request.
"You could break that easily, why would-"
"It's a common courtesy to release someone who's been handcuffed, something you could do," he said.
"Second, I want all of the people who were taken apart for my bullying, what happened to me in the last ten years faced a proper punishment. Family, friends, students, teachers, police officers, and even my neighbor in my old home. All individuals who've been avoiding punishment because of my case that you kept hidden for a year, I want them to face their punishment."
She was shocked to hear that he wanted those who were responsible for what happened to him to be brought to justice, including an entire class of UA Hero Course, not to mention the Symbol of Peace himself and his wife. She wanted to argue with his demand but he didn't give her a chance and kept continued talking and his next demand will shock her even more.
"And finally... ...I want a presidential pardon for me... ...fully exonerating me of all my crimes. And I want it today." he looked at her.
Then the president quickly sat on a nearby chair looking in disbelief, not being able to comprehend the absurdity of his demands.
"You're insane. I can't just hand out pardons to anyone I choose. There is a process, rules." she tried to reason with him.
"This is no exception. A document will be delivered for your approval just like any pardon. You'll sign it and then file it with the attorney general, who'll submit it to Presidential Record." Izuku told her.
"Fine. I will sign whatever you need me to sign." she complies with his demand in frustration.
The president decided to agree with his terms much to her dismay. She knows that giving him a pardon would be a huge loss. But without any evidence, she could just tamper with the document or accidentally lose it during the process and he won't notice it.
"That's very kind. But we both know that's not enough." Izuku looked at her knowing that she might try to backstab him.
"What do you want from me? I will unlock you myself, walk you out of here. What, you want me to buy you dinner on your way out?" she looked in disbelief.
"I guess I'm not as trusting as I used to be. Especially with paperwork. It's so easy to lose. Now, I want you to go out there in front of everyone and announce my full pardon on live TV." Izuku told her and quickly she looked as if he was gone mental.
"You're insane. That isn't the way things are done. This- this isn't a vacuum. People will ask questions-" she stuttered.
"Pardon. On stage. Now." he cut her off and silenced her.
"All three of my demand being fulfilled and I'll keep my mouth shut about All Might's and his current successor's secret identity and his transferable quirk along with any other information that I've possessed about the other heroes quirks and their identity that I've analysis nearly ten years. Your heroes will be wide open for an attack and crimes will escalate in mere a week, until there's no city left for you to rule. Do that and I won't leak the information that I possessed and I'll disappear for good. Or I'll settle the matter with my own two hands." Izuku told her his final ultimatum showing just how serious he is.
She looked him in the eye and finally realized just how serious this matter really is. There's no room for negotiation at all, he makes the demand and she's the one that needs to comply. The sudden truth that hit her is that she's not talking with the Burning Man right now, but instead with Izuku Yagi, the quirkless kid that amounts nothing to this world.