An air of wisdom Fukumaki did not usually possess filled her at the moment as she looked Julian in the eyes. In that moment he could feel the weight of her gaze, decades of life, decades of watching the children she saw as her own never come home, in jail, dead, or worse.
"I cannot give you the answers to your questions Julian-" she started, eyes boring into him as her grip tightened ever so slightly. "-but I can tell you what I have seen over the years." Her gaze became unfocused for a second as she continued "Powerful quirks are a huge responsibility and can be a burden to those who don't know how to control the allure of power they offer." A dark expression flashed across Julian's face as he recalled just how familiar he was with that topic. Fukumaki grimaced as she noticed it, but continued. "-but, you've already burdened yourself, too much if you ask me" Fukumaki's smile returned as she returned to looking him in the eye. "I know you've been forced to grow up Julian, and whatever happened the past two weeks obviously changed you. But you're forgetting something important."
"What's that?" Julian asked, "and I already know I'm still a child." he added quickly.
"Japan is at peace, Julian." He nearly jerked back at her words, shock spreading across his face.
"Yes there are some criminals, yes, but most of them are small time. You're acting like a soldier preparing for war. Japan is peaceful, the countries around us are peaceful, and the world at large is peaceful. I know the memory is painful, but your old neighborhood was one of the last few places that was still in such a dreary state. Your father is safe behind bars in Tartarus and the Yakuza are in hiding. Street gangs only last for a few months before the heroes or police sweep them up. As long as All Might flies in the sky, crime will never take hold in Japan." She said as the warm smile returned to her face "Also, you're still a child, you should act like it" She finished with a quip that made him chuckle.
Julian took a second to think over what she just old him. She doesn't get it. Julian realized. No... she did get it, but she wanted to protect him from it, protect him from the cycle of violence and despair. It doesn't matter if there's one unsolved murder or successful kidnapping a year. What matters is to that one person, their world is over. Their family will never recover from losing their . The loved one. A parent will never get their child back, a husband his wife, a mother her son, and brother his sister.
The Yakuza were not gone, the mafias, cartels, Nazis, and gangs were not gone. They were hiding, bidding time, building their forces, and hurting innocent people in the shadows. Right now Midoriya's rouge gallery of mad scientists were doing god-knows-what experiments on innocent people. When the Pillar of Hope falls crumbles, the world will be thrown into despair, Julian was sure. He had experienced it in this life when he lost his mom, the despair he felt at losing his loved one was only made worse by losing his source of hope. The cycle of violence that plagued his old world and got him killed seemed to have disappeared in this world, regulated only the small-scale encounters that don't drag innocent people into fights. That was far from the truth, his knowledge of the show, and his own life taught him that the cycle never ended. The cycle was still alive and well, it just didn't get the limelight anymore.
Still, helpless as he was against man's inherent need to harm each other, he could be a big help once the Symbol fell, and help he would. But first, he had to get over his habit of standing silently mid-conversation
"I- thank you." He said to Ms. Watabe. Right now he couldn't go on patrol, looking for criminals, or saving everyone he could. She was right on that end, but he would still prepare and train his powers. He could focus on getting into UA and becoming a licensed hero, and when the time came he would stand among the heroes and fight for a better future. As much as it pained him he could leave the cries for help to the heroes.
Cries he could hear now, as his super-hearing seemed to have settled in as he was talking to Ms. Watabe. Though tempted as he was to fly off towards the nearest one, a hero had already gotten to it. Using what sounded like a water-based quirk to put out a fire and rescue people in the building. For now, he would focus on the whimpers of the helpless. The cries too quiet to be heard over the sounds of the city. The cries he cried, and the prayers he prayed for would go unanswered by those too weak or scared to ask for the pros no longer.
"I... agree, Japan is mostly at peace." Julian conceded, causing the matron who had already stood up to leave him to ponder alone to turn and look at him.
"The heroes can address the cries for help, but only I can answer the silent whimpers of the weak."
With that, he flew off towards a particular noise in the city a few blocks away. He didn't quite understand flying at first, but after a few microseconds in the air he quickly got used to it, guided by an instinct he was certain Lux had placed within him.
A loud sonic boom sounded as Julian ripped through the air much faster than a first-time flier should be comfortable with, but the sound was nothing compared to the large BOOM he made when he crashed through the floor of an abandoned warehouse building. The Invincible comics were right, landing was hard. Luckily he was just fine destroying the property of the vermin he found himself surrounded by.
Several 'bodyguards' quickly faced the hole Julian made, preparing weapons and quirks in one quick movement.
"How could you stand guard to something so horrible" Julian asked as his expression darkened while the sound coming from the other room gradually quieted.
"Put down your weapons, let the child free, and I won't hurt you" Julian swore, more concerned with protecting the innocent life than dispensing justice.
An amused chuckle sounded from in front of him as his eyes met those of a masked face he had only seen briefly in a television show. At the time he thought the mask made the character look silly, now that he was face-to-face with it he felt much differently.
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Boo! A cliffhanger.
Anyone have any ideas on who this masked menace could be?