Chapter 184: Unrestrained
"But I am doing it anyway!"
Kamiru jumped over the bridge, cracking his knuckles.
He moved quickly before his brain could catch up with what his mouth had promised and make him chicken out.
The breeze rushing past his ears as he ran towards the villain made him shudder violently. He never planned this far ahead.
From the corner of his eyes, the crowd below the bridge erupted into screams.
"THAT KID IS CRAZY!"
"GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
"WHERE ARE HIS PARENTS?!"
Kamiru ignored them all, mostly because he was trying not to vomit.
In front of him, the shark-headed villain roared and swung a massive arm towards Kamui Woods, who tried to restrain him with thick wooden bindings.
Kamiru raised his hand, moving his jacket that was risen upwards. A green glow wrapped around the cloth and the shark-headed villain spotted it immediately.
"Agh?!"
The villain swatted at the jacket but it effortlessly moved away from his reach.
Kamiru grinned. He curled his fingers and a sleeve folded inwardly. The jacket twisted mid-air before dropping from above. From its height, it looked like a human's elbow descending to land an elbow drop.
is fingers curled.
One sleeve folded sharply inward.
The jacket twisted in mid-air and dropped from above.
For a brief moment it looked strangely human, like an elbow descending from the heavens.
Bonk!
The folded sleeve smacked against the shark-headed villain's forehead.
Silence followed.
The villain blinked.
Kamiru blinked.
The crowd blinked.
"That did absolutely nothing."
The shark villain growled.
Kamiru coughed into his fist.
"Okay, maybe a little something."
The distraction was enough.
Kamui Woods immediately seized the opening and thick branches burst from the bridge, wrapping around the villain once more.
The shark-headed man struggled.
The bindings tightened.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
"HE GOT HIM!"
"THE HERO GOT HIM!"
"THAT KID HELPED!"
Kamiru's eyes widened.
His chest puffed out.
His feet suddenly felt lighter.
He had helped.
Actually helped.
Even if only a little.
A laugh escaped him.
Maybe this wasn't completely impossible.
Maybe his quirk wasn't completely useless.
The floating jacket circled back towards him.
Kamiru caught it and pointed dramatically towards the restrained villain.
"Fear me, foul criminal! I shall now drop clothing upon your face repeatedly!"
Nobody laughed.
Not even the villain.
Kamiru cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Tough crowd."
The crowd continued cheering.
Kamui Woods secured another restraint.
Everything seemed fine.
Everything seemed over.
Then a sharp sound split the air.
PAHHH!
The cheers vanished.
Kamiru felt something slam into his head.
His thoughts stopped.
The world tilted.
His body folded.
Not gracefully.
Not heroically.
Just shamelessly.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The bridge rushed upwards.
Or perhaps he was falling downwards.
He couldn't tell.
The jacket drifted uselessly beside him.
Someone screamed.
Then another.
And another.
The crowd dissolved into panic.
Kamui Woods abandoned the villain immediately and lunged forward.
"Kid!"
Kamiru stared blankly at the sky.
The blue looked nice.
A little too bright.
His ears rang.
Far away, he heard his brother yelling.
"Kamiru!"
The voice sounded distant.
Like it came from another world.
"Kamiru!"
His brother's voice cracked.
Kamiru wanted to answer.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His body felt cold.
The crowd above him blurred into strange colors.
The last thing he saw was a gigantic figure crashing onto the bridge.
Mt. Lady.
The bridge shook.
The shark villain disappeared beneath her enormous foot.
People cheered again.
But nobody was looking at the villain anymore.
They were looking at him.
At the teenager lying in a pool of blood.
At the idiot who climbed a bridge because he thought destiny might be real.
Kamiru's vision darkened.
His brother's voice grew weaker.
Then weaker.
Then weaker.
Until there was nothing.
...
Elsewhere.
Kamiru opened his eyes.
Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction.
Stars floated around him.
Galaxies drifted lazily through the distance.
He stood alone.
"Komaro?"
No answer came.
His voice echoed into infinity.
"Mom?"
Silence.
The stars continued drifting.
Kamiru swallowed.
For the first time since arriving in this world, genuine fear settled into his chest.
"Dad?"
The word felt awkward.
Unfamiliar.
A tear appeared in space itself.
The darkness split open.
Something forced its head through the crack.
A face.
Far too large.
Far too cheerful.
"Ohhh."
The stranger blinked.
Golden eyes widened with delight.
"Are you looking for a dad?"
Chapter Four —
Kamiru stared at the figure, unmoving.
His body trembled in a slow, controlled way, like it was struggling to decide whether to collapse or remain upright. Sweat gathered at his temples and slid down without permission, and his jaw remained tightly clenched as if holding something fragile inside from breaking apart.
"ohhh… are you looking for a dad?"
The voice echoed through the empty cosmic space, calm and unbothered, as if the situation was ordinary.
Kamiru did not respond immediately.
His eyes stayed fixed on the tear in reality, watching it widen as something continued forcing itself through it. The edges of the rupture bent like fabric under pressure, and the darkness around it flickered in unstable waves, as though reality itself was uncertain about what it was allowing in.
Half of the figure emerged first.
It was too large to be human at first glance, yet too deliberate in shape to be anything else. Then, slowly, as if noticing Kamiru's fear, it changed, compressing itself downward until it resembled an adult human figure standing in the same space as him.
Even the clothing stabilized.
Kamiru's breath caught.
It looked familiar in a way that made his stomach twist, not because of recognition, but because of similarity. The outfit resembled Komaro's clothing from earlier that day, down to the smallest detail, as if copied from memory rather than reality.
The entity smiled.
"Feeling safer now?"
Kamiru's lips parted slightly, but no sound came out at first.
Then, barely audible, he muttered.
"...big brother?"
The entity tilted its head, then shook it slowly.
"No. No, no, no."
A pause stretched between them.
Then, in a calmer tone, it corrected itself.