Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The punch that hit him shook the world and made Garou's mind go completely blank.

He felt himself being launched across the area he had been standing in only a millisecond ago, looking down on all the so-called heroes, seeing the fear in their face at his newfound power he had just awakened.

Garou had been the strongest there, aside from that baldy. 

But the punch he had just been hit with surpassed that guy's, so...who had done that?

There was a reverberating voice in his mind, sounding deep but like an echo.

'You are still a perfect avatar, so we will try again.'

Garou felt his body burning, feeling as if it was turning itself inside out and tearing itself to shreds, blood spilling from everywhere; he also felt himself shifting, his body feeling weaker and lighter.

Was he dying?

Probably.

At least, he hoped so.

He had failed in his one goal to become a symbol of fear, to become absolute evil; the one thing he sought to do to stop all of the conflict, so people like Tareo could live a life that didn't bully them for simply existing. 

But he had failed, and now he was hitting the floor with a crunch, his body feeling small and insignificant.

Garou felt himself roll a few times before his body finally came to a stop; he faced the sky, feeling the hard, shell-like coating of his monster form crack around him, falling from his body.

There were shouts from around him, and footsteps approaching, so Garou decided to face the music and accept his death; probably at the hands of the enraged heroes, like crows to a carcass. 

He lent upwards, but surprisingly felt no pain, he then looked upwards, towards the approaching figures. 

But something was odd.

Why did they all look so...big?

He looked down again, seeing the black shell he once wore now scattered around him; but that looked big too, like something five times his size or more. 

Garou went to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but then stopped when he saw his hand.

It was...small?

Garou's eyes widened as he looked at his body, his arms, hands, legs, torso- everything.

They were all tiny.

Had he...?

No.

No fucking way.

Garou was a kid? 

No, not even that; he was a fucking baby . His body looked like he was two or three years old, he was tiny!

...But he was also completely uninjured.

Had the punch...reversed his body through time?  

Footsteps approached and Garou looked up to see the faces of the heroes, all looking at him with a mixture of confusion and shock. 

He stared back with wide eyes, clearly as confused as they all were.

For the longest time, nobody moved, but then a few new figures approached and Garou recognized them all to be that of the s-class heroes. Including the number one hero, Blast; the one who had been a catalyst in fucking up his plans.

The rest of them were as baffled and astounded as Garou was. 

Blast had never seen anything like it in all his time, not in all the years of studying cosmic forces had anything like this ever happened; the hero hunter, the one who formed such a strong deal with God that even Blast was hopeless against it...had become an infant? 

The child before him bore wide yellow eyes and white, fluffy hair that looked reminiscent of a pair of wolf ears; the kid was downright adorable, but they were also supposed to be a teenager, one that just attempted to kill them all.

Bang was looking at Garou with wide eyes, wondering if his old age had finally caught up to him. But if he considered everyone else's reaction then what he was seeing must be true, Garou had turned into a child; a baby at that. 

And Badd wasn't sure if had the brain cells capable of understanding what the hell was going on; that insufferable asshole was now some cute looking brat, it's not like he could whack the guy with his bat now.

All the other s-classes' reactions were much the same, all looking at the child with both confusion and borderline wonder. Even Zombieman was astounded, the brat that had been about to kill them all, was now just...well, a brat. 

Meanwhile, Atomic was wondering what their plan would be now; after all, they couldn't kill a literal infant, even if they were a fully grown teenager only a few seconds ago. And King didn't know what the hell was going on, he just wanted to go home.

As the confused stand-off went on, a strong breeze blew through the group, causing Garou to shiver and making him realise that he no longer had clothes; they had been lost to one of his monster forms a while ago, and now the black shell didn't fit him, also having been crumbled to pieces, so he was completely naked. 

He wished that the embarrassment of it all would kill him, but all that happened instead was the heroes suddenly getting over their shock and all yelling over each other.

"He's a kid?!"

"What the hell?!"

"Well what do we do now?"

"It's gotta be some kind of trick, right?"

The noise hurt Garou's sensitive ears, and he winced, despising how vulnerable he was. 

Could they just kill him already? Just because he was a child didn't mean that he had to live.

After all, he had been fully ready to destroy them all.

Then there was a soft feeling around him and Garou looked up to see Blast wrapping him in the man's white cloak, covering him up and absolutely swamping his tiny body with the fabric; and while Garou was thankful to have the cover of something, he refused to have a hero close to him, especially the fucking number one hero.

Garou wrapped himself in the cape, treating it how he would treat a blanket. And once he was fully covered, he stood up, swatting at Blast with irritation as he spoke; but feeling more than weirded out at the fact his voice sounded completely babyish, diminishing his words somewhat.

"I don't need your help!"

And instead of the surrounding heroes taking offence, they all found themselves looking at the baby with small or hidden smiles, the child was adorable, his wide eyes narrowed and his small mouth in a precious frown. 

Even Badd had to admit that the kid was beyond adorable, not as much as Zenko though; of course. Come to think of it, Garou was now younger than Zen, so that was a pretty damn weird thought.

Heat rushed to Garou's face at being treated like a baby. He took offence and began to yell some more, pointing at the s-classes as he did so.

"C'mon, just kill me already!"

Metal bat looked down at him as if he were an idiot, shrugging as he spoke.

"Yer a kid, dumbass, s' not as if we're gonna do that."

Garou bristled, glaring at the teen and feeling embarrassed at the fact that he needed to tilt his head nearly fully upwards to be able to do so.

"I'm not a kid! I just look like one!"

Then Blast chimed in from where he was still crouched down, looking at Garou with a slight apologetic look as he did so.

"Well, you may have kept your adult brain's knowledge and experiences; but everything else has been fully reverted."

The man vaguely gestured at him as he continued.

"So really, you are a child; and about three years old at that."

The words were like a punch to the gut, and everything felt as if it were falling apart; Garou felt cold inside. He was a child again? Really? Did the universe not already do enough to him? 

He had just been about to conquer the damn world and now...he was some pathetic three year old? 

No, no, no! That couldn't be right, there must be something wrong; besides, he didn't feel drained of his power at all, there was still something there.

Not his monsterification, that had been lost as he reverted, but something else; something concerning that voice he had heard.

Still though, Garou refused to believe any of it. He shook his head and stared at the ground in denial, hating how close to it he was; all the frenzied emotions ran through him and Garou became desperate, both refusing and unwilling to accept the truth.

"No! No, I- I'm me , not a kid!"

And something in him responded to the emotion, his tiny body suddenly emitting a force equivalent to a small shockwave, sending the unsuspecting heroes flying; all of them hitting the ground with immense confusion.

It was Tornado's power. Garou remembered copying it, but how could he still use it?

He shook his head; no, he needed to run while he could, save the thoughts of 'how' for later and get the hell out of there. 

But as he turned and ran, Garou realised that he had a problem.

While he was able to run, he still had the legs of a three year old, meaning he was not running very fast. 

And while he had just used Tornado's power, he didn't know how to reactivate it; so as much as he tried to will a rock or two in the direction of the heroes, nothing happened.

So, with all of these factors against him, Garou was captured again pretty easily. 

And to add insult to injury, nobody had even chased him, Blast had simply teleported him back over; Garou landing in the man's waiting arms like a complete idiot. 

It was all humiliating to him; but the heroes were far more distracted by the odd markings on the child's back. Blast held Garou by his stomach in order to get a good view of the pale spine, or more accurately, the expanse of what looked like a universe running through it.

Before any of them could get a good look, Garou started struggling against the hold he was in; squirming and writhing away from his captor, the child was moving around so much that they couldn't get a good view at all; so Blast instructed the closest hero to him to grab the kid's arms and halt the struggles. 

The hero complied, Zombieman grabbing ahold of Garou's arms and pulling the kid forward so that he was unable to squirm as much; of course, Garou wasn't happy at that, and began his insults.

"Put me down! And let me go, you shitty bastard!"

The words looked odd coming from such a sweet face, but it was exactly because the kid looked so cute that none of them took offence to any of the insults, instead finding the actions kind of adorable. 

With little trouble, Garou was essentially forced to hold still and Blast and the others were then able to see that, just below the kid's neck, was a shape resembling a diamond; one that looked as if it held a small cosmos in it.

Blast paled at the sight, more because of not knowing what it meant; he knew that the being who called themselves God was behind this, but the question was, why had they kept Garou alive? Much less marked him with this symbol.

And the kid seemed to be able to still retain a copied ability, so how many others could he still use? Was Tatsumaki's just the beginning? 

This was all unprecedented, and Blast had no clue of what any of it meant; he would have to talk with the others off world.

All of the heroes looked at the strange mark with confusion, just as confused as each other; was the kid cursed or something? Or was it something concerning the monsters? 

Bang looked at the child with worry, knowing that Garou had never had such a mark before; and Badd was much the same way, but less worried and more baffled.

"The hell is that?"

Atomic's voice broke the silence, sounding confused. But none of the others had any answers, only Blast knew any sort of information concerning the mark; and even he only knew the cause, not the why or how of it all. 

He would tell the S-classes later, in a more private setting; for now though, he would need to play dumb. 

Not just anyone could be permitted to know of the being calling itself God. 

He gestured for Zombieman to release Garou, before then covering the kid back up and making an effort to act confused.

"Who knows?"

Garou didn't know what all of them were talking about, was there something on his back? 

Well, so what if there was? Probably a weird scar or something, after all, heroes always made big deals out of nothing; he felt as Blast brought him against the man's chest in a firmer hold, but was not happy about that at all, so he started smacking his hand into the man's face in an attempt to be let go of.

"Put me down, asshole!"

His face was twisted in anger, and his words were volatile; so why were all the heroes subtly looking at him as if he was some cute kitten they picked up or something?! 

Garou's wrists were soon held together as Blast held them in a firm grip to protect his face, but that only made Garou bite the man's hand; there was a heavy sigh from the man, but it was soon replaced by the sound of a different voice, one Garou hadn't been expecting to hear.

"Uncle?"

Garou halted his attack on Blast and looked over to the voice with wide eyes, seeing Tareo staring up at him in confusion and slight awe; the brat seemed unharmed for the most part, so that was good. 

Garou stared back down from where he was being held and scowled at the kid, despising the fact that he was now way younger than Tareo.

"Brat? So you aren't dead then?"

He watched as Tareo did something unexpected, the kid smiled up at him widely, looking at him with tear filled eyes; speaking with a relieved tone.

"Yeah! And it's thanks to you! I don't know why you're a baby now, but you saved everyone, right?"

Garou sent the brat a look of revulsion, the expression being rather out of place on his cute face.

"Huh?! Where the hell'd you get that idea from?"

But Tareo still pushed it.

"I know you did! You're a hero!"

And of course the rest of the heroes made various noises of disagreement, aside from a few of them; even Garou joined in with a glare and another refusal, but the happy look on Tareo's face wouldn't drop so he just gave up and went back to biting Blast. 

The man gave another sigh and placed Garou on the floor, keeping a very close eye on the infant as he was engulfed in a hug by the other kid; to the surrounding heroes' surprise, Garou allowed the contact, simply accepting the hug but pushing away when it went on for longer than he apparently wanted it to.

To Garou, having the brat be taller than him was the final blow to his remaining pride, he was completely fed up with the whole situation; why couldn't that punch have just killed him? Was this some sort of karma? 

He didn't know, but as they were suddenly approached by oncoming vehicles, Garou had a sinking feeling that regardless of his new form, the association was not going to be kind to him in any sense of the word; he was still the hero hunter, and the person who had but only a few minutes ago tried to kill them all.

He stood there, wrapped in Blast's cloak as both giant robots and military soldiers approached them; some men and women in suits also approached, expressions blank and looking important. 

The S-class heroes went to speak to the newcomers, and as they spoke, Garou's arm was suddenly tightly grabbed; one of the people in suits leading him away from everyone else. 

Due to his size and now child-like strength, Garou couldn't do much to resist as he was dragged along; but out of all the heroes, Metal Bat noticed the sudden kidnapping attempt and appeared out of nowhere to stop the guy in the suit.

The teenager gripped the agent's arm with force, making their bones creak; Badd knew the suit was from the Hero Association, but that did not mean they could just take the mouthy brat without a single word. 

A few more suits surrounded him, but he refused to allow them to take the kid without at least explaining what they wanted with him; Badd sent a challenging glare towards the agent who currently held Garou.

"Where do you think yer goin with the kid?"

Badd's actions caused the other, distracted, heroes to notice what was happening; a few of them bristling at such a ballsy move from the agents. 

Blast looked at what appeared to be the leader of them, raising an eyebrow at the woman and gesturing towards the standoff with a frown.

"You wanna explain what you're doing?"

The red-headed woman scowled at the man, pushing up her glasses before responding in an unbothered tone.

"The child is certified as a monster, meaning he has no rights here and falls under the jurisdiction of the Hero Association."

She then pointed to a nearby military truck that was currently having a blue haired woman loaded into it, Tornado and Blizzard watching her intently.

"He will be taken back with us, you no longer need to have any concern for him."

Blast narrowed his eyes, not happy with such an explanation; but at the same time, there wasn't much he would currently be able to do as of right now. 

The Association would be wanting to cling onto any remnants of the Monster association or those relating to it for information, so for as much as Blast wanted to take the kid with him, he would need to play his cards correctly. 

He nodded, gesturing for Metal bat to release the suit's arm; his actions earning him a smirk from the woman.

Badd hesitated for a few seconds but listened to the man who was apparently the number one hero, reluctantly releasing the agent's arm and allowing the man to drag the kid away; feeling wrong for allowing it, but unable to do anything to stop it. 

King had to hold back Tareo as the kid was seconds away from attempting to pull the infant back.

Garou panicked at the thought of being taken in by these sketchy looking guys, receiving nothing but a bad feeling as he looked at them; so he dug his feet in and resisted with all of his childlike might, unwilling to go anywhere with the agents. 

But a three year old's strength was nothing compared to a grown adults, and Garou found himself still being dragged along, regardless of how much he was resisting. So he did the next best thing and let his panic run rampant again, thinking of using that esper's ability again.

And by some miracle, that power responded to his wishes, once again knocking away the people around him; but this time, instead of attempting to run, Garou kept the ability flowing through him as much as he could, watching as the earth around him began to crack and fly in the direction of the people around him. 

Some sort of blue shimmer surrounded Garou and the objects thrown, probably something to do with the power he was using; but he didn't get long to observe it as a sudden sharp pain shot through his neck, and Garou's vision went dark.

The surrounding heroes watched as the yellow eyed child collapsed onto the floor, the tranquilliser sticking out from his small neck; all the debris that had been dangerously close to doing some damage suddenly fell to the floor, unmoving.

While the heroes were staring at the scene with an oddly sick feeling, the Hero Association's agents wasted no time in picking up the tiny, limp body and bringing Garou into the military truck; soon closing the doors and sending the vehicle off god knows where.

Zombieman narrowed his eyes at the scene, he did not particularly trust the Hero Association, nor did he think that they held any sort of good intentions towards the brat; and he wasn't blind, he noticed how the red-headed woman smirked at the kid's capture. 

But he also noticed how both Tornado and Blizzard had watched the white-haired brat pass them with subtle, but noticeable interest. 

Zombieman had a feeling that the witch sisters weren't going to let the esper kid slip from their minds anytime soon.

None of them were.

It took Bang an extraordinary amount of effort, and his older brother's steadying hand, to not chase after the truck and take Garou back. 

The older man was unwilling for such a capture to take place, but as of right now he could not do much; Garou had gone against the world and proclaimed himself to be a monster, proving his words to everyone there. 

His student had made things as difficult as they could be, but Bang would fight for Garou; as much as the child may hate him, Bang would not abandon his student.

As for Blast, he was already making plans in his head to retrieve Garou in such a manner that the Hero Association would not be able to argue; but for that, he would potentially need the cooperation of the other S-class heroes. 

However, judging from how they looked, it didn't seem as if he wasn't going to have much of an issue from them; especially Bang. The old man seemed about ready to chase after the truck.

He also noticed Tatsumaki's calculating gaze, but Blast knew she would withold any such attacks for now; come to think of it, he would need to catch up with her as he planned to stay for a while. 

After all, something concerning God themself had just been found; so he was sure that the others off world wouldn't mind his extended leave.

He sighed, deciding it would be best for everyone to get patched up as for now, nothing could be done.

They would be able to make a plan later.

When Garou did eventually wake up, it was to him sitting in a thick metal chair.

He was tied to it with secure metal straps, and due to his newly acquired form being that of a three year old, his legs dangled from the chair, hanging quite a bit above the floor. 

He must have been shot with a sedative or some such as he felt pretty damn drowsy; it was a struggle to lift his head, but he managed, groaning in exhaustion as he looked around the large room.

There were dimly lit white walls and a massive glass screen bordering the room he was in, and the spacious hallway outside it; everything was clean and sterile, not even a speck of dust. 

So considering all of that, Garou figured he must be in some sort of containment facility or a research lab. Either way, it looked pretty foreboding, and he did not like the fact that he was being the one contained; it made sense, but still.

The room he was in was large as hell, and he was the only one in it; drowsily sitting on the metal chair as he took in his surroundings. 

He was no longer wrapped up in Blasts cape, instead he was in an oversized white top, with a pair of pants and some black leggings; he didn't have any socks though, but eh, it's not like he wore them anyway.

Really, there wasn't much more than what he had already spotted to take in, everything was empty, no decorations or anything; just plain white walls, the glass and him in the chair. 

Well that was until a small group of people came into view behind the thick glass panel, each one looking sketchier than the last. 

He couldn't tell if they were scientists or not, some of them seemed to be, but others looked more dressed up; more important.

Garou blinked a few times, still trying to fully clear his head from the last bits of fogginess. Though he winced when a voice came out of nowhere, most likely from a speaker somewhere in the room.

The one speaking was a man across the glass, he looked like he was older and balding pretty severely.

"You're awake? Good, we can begin."

Begin what? Garou had a bad feeling, wasn't this supposed to be a prison or something? 

Tch , it's not as if he was going to roll over and behave though, regardless of whatever was being planned; he scowled at the strangers, making it known that he was not gonna take their weird shit.

"The fuck do you want?"

A few of the people surrounding the glass looked at each other in muted surprise at his words; apparently not expecting that type of language to come from such a small child. 

But that's because he wasn't a damn child, he just looked like one. The man who had spoken began to write something in his clipboard, probably something about how Garou wasn't cooperating or some shit.

The stranger finished writing and looked back up, pressing some sort of unseen button to trigger the speaker again, but he must have pressed a different one too as something behind Garou sounded like it opened; accompanied by the sound of a ball rolling in his direction, the object then coming to a stop in front of him. 

He glared at the object, how convenient.

"Subject 02, move the ball."

Garou looked back up at the, now presumed, scientist, sending the man another scowl.

"Eat shit."

Another button was pressed, and Garou felt his body be hit with a sharp electric shock, causing him to tense up and grit his teeth in pain; these bastards, the fuck did they think they were doing?!

"Subject 02, move the ball."

He tugged at his restraints as hard as he could, refusing to have any part in any of it; sod these assholes, he was not gonna be their damn plaything. 

But for as hard as he tugged, the metal restraints didn't budge, and another shock was sent through him; this one lasting longer than the previous one, halting Garou's movements. 

Once the attack stopped, Garou's body doubled over and he had to take a few deep breaths, sweat dripping down his face from the strain of it all; he got angry, lifting his head with effort to snarl at the scientist.

"I'm strapped to a chair, you asshole! How am I meant to move anything?!"

The man looked rather bored at his words, while the others stared at Garou like he was some interesting bug. And once again, the speaker went off.

"You have Psychokinesis, it has been observed by a number of people; now, move the ball."

Garou yelled back, once again resuming his escape attempt.

"I don't know how to activate that shit!"

Another note was then written down in the man's clipboard, meanwhile the other people looked as if they were muttering between each other. 

Garou saw the lead man lean forward as the speaker went off again.

"Well then, do your best."

It was months later when Garou was finally allowed to rest.

Sweat, spit and involuntary tears ran down his face from the continued abuse, his now child body was far less resistant to the attacks sent his way; even if it was just some high voltage shocks. 

Garou despised how weak he was now, unable to break loose or do anything to escape; stopped by some metal restraints and some shitty electricity. 

Really, his new form was more tortuous than anything these assholes were sending his way.

But he had lifted the ball, so there was that at least.

And he had been so angry at the abuse that he had then lobbed the ball towards the scientists, sending a massive crack through the thick glass wall; their reactions of barely hidden fear were like a nice reward at the end of a hard day. 

Garou had then been subjected to a manner of all kinds of tests, needles, drugs, physical and mental tests. Not to mention the punishments if he didn't comply, but either way he was being tortured so whatever.

Everything here was a damn punishment.  

Though thanks to his time here, Garou already had a plan for escape. If he managed to train his body to use that hero's Psychokinetic ability then there was no way in hell that they'd be able to hold him, right? 

After all, she had destroyed an entire damn city with it and everyone he had ever met either respected or feared her; so he decided that he would be good, play nice and get this shit moving so he could break out.

Maybe a long term thing, but he was a damn genius, so he was sure it wouldn't be too much of a problem; especially now that he had actually managed to gain some control of the power, managing to move around objects at will and even managing to form them to what he wanted them to be. 

For example, turning a rock into a needle-like shape.

He still couldn't remove the restraints though, as the chair seemed to know when he was using his Psychokinesis without permission; which was bullshit and a complete dick move. 

Those bastards had also decided that a shock collar was necessary for him, as at one point he had woken up during a transfer and had made it out of the lab and into the hallways; of course, he was knocked out soon after, but it was enough for some extra precautions.

The scientists were more than happy at his continued progress, but it didn't stop them from hurting him; instead, it made them subject Garou to more torment. 

And there was a particular fascination with something on his back, but of course, it's not as if he was able to see it so Garou had not a fucking clue about what they were so invested in.

Either way, Garou wanted to be out of the hellhole now, but he could bide his time; he was capable of being patient, hunters needed to be.

But it was unnerving hearing the screams from around him, all sounding like monsters, but one sounding like a woman; they were all most likely remnants of the Monster Association, but he hoped that the scientists hadn't lumped him in with being one of them, because he hadn’t ever been a part of the Association. 

And due the whole age reversal thing, he wasn't even a monster anymore; but it was not as if that information bothered the scientists, they were still content to torture a three year old.

It all sucked, considering the amount of effort he put in to become a monster; but at least he still had that ability to copy others; or well, just Tornado's power.

For now anyway, but he did kinda hope that he would be able to mimic the other heroes powers again as it would come in very handy.

He was on his own here, so he needed to play the game correctly.

Absolutely nobody was coming for him so-

Was that a portal?

Garou watched with confusion as it formed on the other side of the glass, seeing Blast step out of it; the man looking around with confusion but then turning to see Garou sitting there, the hero looked shocked for a minute, but then stepped through another portal, this one coming into the containment room that he was sitting in.

Blast stood right in front of Garou, the man then crouching down and looking at him with concern; meanwhile he looked back at the hero, feeling both confused and irritated. 

Garou spoke, mustering up a bothered voice, but hearing it come out as quiet.

"...You here to gloat?"

The man shook his head.

"Nope, just here to get you back."

Garou raised an eyebrow, watching with absolute bewilderment as Blast used his ability to just eviscerate the metal restraints, freeing him just like that. 

The man then scooped him up, and as much as Garou wanted to resist, he was more desperate to escape the facility than to escape the hero. So for now, he would just deal with it.

He remained calm as Blast carried him through another portal and into some expensive looking room, one that contained a roomful of serious looking people; all of which looked outraged at the sight of Garou. 

The reaction was instant as the men in suits started yelling at the hero, all looking at Garou as if he was about to eat them or something. Which, while he was hungry, was something he was obviously not gonna do.

"Blast?!"

"Why have you freed the Hero Hunter?!"

To the man's credit, Blast wasn't even the slightest bit phased by all the yelling, simply adjusting Garou so that he was more comfortable at being carried; and then holding his free hand up in a motion for everyone to be silent. 

And surprisingly, everyone was; all quieting down as Blast approached further, then sitting down on a chair by the glass table and speaking in a casual tone.

"Well, I've decided that he's going to be taken into the S-classes' care."

Once again the room exploded, and Garou just defeatedly sat on the hero's lap watching the whole situation unfold and wondering where it all went so wrong.

Man, why couldn't that punch have just killed him? 

He could barely see over the damn table, his shitty tiny form really pissed him off. Garou sighed, listening as Blast spoke again, sounding calm and in control.

"He will be living with us and you will have no jurisdiction over him."

The room became louder, but the hero still wasn't phazed, a glint in his eye as he continued.

"Unless of course, you fancy informing the world about what's going on in that facility of yours?"

And at that, the room quietened down significantly, all eyes on the two of them, some looking absolutely furious while others looked uncertain. 

Garou didn't know why the hero was doing this, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna argue against any of it; besides, Blast looked as in control of the situation as someone could be, so the guy must have some sort of plan.

Eventually, one of the larger and more important looking men spoke, still sounding pissed.

"The child is certified as a monster, he has no rights."

Blast chuckled.

"At most, he's an esper; so stop clinging to that monster label."

The hero then leaned forward, and Garou had to withhold a growl as the man came close to squishing him.

"Besides, do you really wanna go up against all the S-classes for the kid?"

All the men looked angry again at the threat, but they did not yell this time, instead staring at each other in an unspoken and collective look of dismay and hesitancy. 

Garou watched as the same guy as before sat back and glared at Blast, the two men seeming to size each other up before the hero continued.

"It's a win-win, Nero. Your little secrets aren't exposed and we get the kid."

Now it was the other guy's turn to chuckle, apparently called Nero. In Garou’s opinion, a dumb name.

"A child with some unseen power? Not much of a deal in our favour."

Garou huffed, crossing his arms and cocking his head as he decided to chime in.

"I'm not a child, you shithead."

Nero sent him a dirty look, but Garou sent one straight back, challenging the guy to say something. And surprisingly, the man didn't, but Blast did; tone staying light, but threatening.

"It's a better deal than everything here being obliterated don't you think?"

Everyone but the hero and Garou froze at the clear threat, each man looking at each other wearily; even the main guy looked nervous now. 

Blast then searched through a hidden pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, Garou couldn't see what was on it, but the hero sent it through a portal, the paper landing in front of the lead man. 

And while they all looked extremely reluctant to do so, all the men slowly but surely signed the paper; all glaring at Blast as they did.

The hero smiled back, looking pleased with himself. 

Meanwhile, Garou chose to remain silent, letting Blast deal with the bastards; and as Nero approached, slamming the paper back on the table with force, the man spoke in a low tone.

"Have it your way for now, Blast."

And then Blast stood up again, carrying Garou and now towering over the man, still smiling as he picked up the paper; glancing over it before returning the item to his unseen pocket.

"Pleasure doing business with you all."

The hero then turned on his heel, once again taking them both through a portal. But just before they made it through, Garou crawled over Blast's shoulder and shot a middle finger in the direction of the men, a shit-eating grin on his small face; just barely seeing the pissed off looks before the portal shut around him. 

Blast pulled him back into the man's arms, then suddenly plopping him down on a random sofa as the hero walked over towards a nearby computer; soon starting to type away.

Garou didn't know where the fuck they were, but it looked to be a room somewhere in the Hero Association if the shitty modern decor was anything to go by. Grey walls and carpet, black furniture, and through a doorway there was a large sleek kitchen, all looking very modern and expensive.

They must be in Blast's room or something, was the hero allergic to colour? Even the guy's suit was black and white, so that theory could be true; plus, the suit looked stupid to say the least.

This guy was really tacky, but whatever; Garou subtly slid off the sofa, stopping for a few seconds to check if Blast had noticed his movement, but when the hero remained typing, Garou continued his quiet journey towards what looked like the main door. 

He slowly but surely got closer to the grey door, keeping quiet and checking every so often to make sure that Blast still hadn't spotted him. 

All appeared to be going well, but as he reached the door, Garou noticed a problem.

He wasn't tall enough to reach the door handle.

Chapter Text

The sight of the far away handle caused Garou to inwardly curse. 

Damn him and this tiny body!

Even when he went on the tips of his toes, Garou was completely unable to reach the handle; it was infuriating, and he didn't want to use his Psychokinesis as it would trigger the collar around his neck; the item more than ready to electrocute the shit out of him. 

So Garou decided that trying to jump up was his only option at that point; he raised his hand and went to jump up in an attempt to unlock it, but then felt the back of his oversized shit be grabbed; the hand yanking him backwards as Blast dragged him through yet another portal.

Garou was being held by the clothes at the scruff of his neck like someone would hold a kitten when they misbehaved. 

He looked at Blast, finding annoyance dwell in him as the man held him up in the air like he was a misbehaving animal that weighed about as much as a grape; Blast was looking at him with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Going somewhere?"

The hero's tone was calm, and Garou felt embarrassed at being caught red handed; he crossed his arms, glaring at the man.

"Not anymore."

Blast gave a huff of amusement, then hooking Garou under the man's arm as if he was a bag or something before beginning to walk down a hallway; Garou squirmed, but Blast was obviously stronger than a three year old, so his actions did not do much. 

They reached a clean, grey-tiled bathroom and the hero placed him down on the floor before beginning to run a bath; Garou saw what was happening and immediately ran for the door, once again being grabbed by the hero.

"Get off, there's no way in hell that I'm taking a bath here!"

He smacked at the man's hand, but as per usual, it was futile. Blast easily overpowering him once again.

"C'mon, kid; you can't just walk around and stink up the place."

Garou took offence, biting Blast's hand with all his might, but not being able to do much due to the man's shitty armour. 

Ahh , he wanted the damn collar off of him so he could at least have some sort of offence against the hero; it hurt his pride even more to hear Blast give a chuckle at his efforts. 

The sound of the water made Garou struggle more, he despised baths.

So he tried to bargain, unlatching his jaw and looking at the hero with semi-pleading eyes.

"Can I just take a shower instead?"

Blast gave him a curious look for a few seconds, but eventually sighed, giving a nod of agreement.

"Alright, but you gotta behave."

Garou glared, but agreed to the terms; watching as Blast swapped the water so it was running from the showerhead instead, before turning to face him.

"Are you gonna need help or?"

The hero's question got him an embarrassed glare, Garou crossing his arms and pointing at the door.

"No, get out."

Blast held his hands up in a mocking defensive gesture, quickly updating Garou on where the showers were and where a spare pair of clothes to change into were, before then leaving him to clean up.

And clean he did, feeling like a whole new person the second the water touched his skin. 

Back in the facility they just sprayed him with a hose occasionally, so the warm water was nice. While it sucked being so small now, at least he hadn't been turned into a newborn or something; that thought genuinely made him shiver. 

Silver linings on a horrible situation, it could be worse, but that didn't mean he was happy to be a damn child.

Garou stepped out of the shower after feeling clean enough to do so, then drying off and changing into yet another slightly oversized shirt; it seemed that while Blast had acquired a grey shirt for him, the man had not gotten one in Garou's size, instead lending him one of the hero’s ones, so it was all rather baggy.

Well, the heroes weren't really intelligent so it shouldn't surprise him.

He left the shower running, unable to reach the off switch, and exited the room that Blast had left the slightest bit ajar in order for him to get out; which was rather thoughtful. 

Garou walked through the clean, carpeted hallways, back into the living room he had previously been in. He peeked around the corner to see Blast in the kitchen, the man no longer wearing his hero suit; instead wearing some blueish jog bottoms and a grey t-shirt. 

The hero was removing something from a microwave; something that smelled pretty good.

Garou decided to head over to the man, and not to go for the front door this time; knowing it would probably just end up the same way as his last escape attempt. 

Blast noticed his approach, turning to greet him with a smile and placed what looked to be a small bowl of pasta on the nearby table. Garou looked up at the chair, feeling slight uncertainty at the height of it but still attempting to climb it the best he could; managing to drag himself on the furniture with a sad amount of effort required.

Blast went to turn off the shower before returning and sitting on a different chair with his own larger bowl, starting to dig into the food as Garou finally made it up. And while he would usually never accept such an offering from a hero, Garou was tired and hungry, so the pasta was like a blessing from above compared to the borderline hazardous waste that the facility had the nerve to call food. 

He chowed down on the pasta as slowly as he could, despite wanting to inhale it; Garou refused to show Blast any sort of gratitude for the food.

He wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for this guy and the baldy.

...And that random punch.

Garou looked at Blast with narrowed eyes, pointing the fork he held in his tiny hand at the hero with suspicion.

"So why'd you help me?"

Blast finished chewing before responding.

"You're an anomaly, and one I don't want in the hands of people who don't know what they're dealing with."

The man paused.

"Plus, it felt wrong to just let you rot away in some research facility."

Garou raised an eyebrow.

"You had no problem letting the others rot."

The hero sighed, leaning back in his chair with a conflicted look.

"They're all monsters with little sentience, but you're just a kid."

As Garou went to once again point out that he wasn't a damn child, Blast held a large hand up, cutting off his words before they even came out.

"I know, technically a teen; but to someone my age, even a teen is a kid so it makes no difference."

The man then frowned, looking at him with intensity.

"Listen, you have a connection to a power I've been fighting against for years."

Garou tilted his head in confusion, listening with hidden interest as Blast then questioned him.

"Tell me, what do you remember?"

Garou thought for a few minutes. He remembered everything up until the punch; he had monsterized and had even gotten stronger; gaining the knowledge to copy others abilities, but he couldn't remember how. 

There had been someone...no, something? Ah , he couldn't remember, but it felt important; and that voice, it must have meant something, right? 

He looked at Blast, giving a small shrug.

"Not much, kinda hard to remember anything when being punched so hard you get launched through time."

The hero sighed, looking as if he had been expecting that answer.

"Fair enough."

And with that, their conversation ended, the two of them going back to eating in relative silence. 

Garou found the whole situation insanely bizarre, not too long ago he was trying to tear this hero limb from limb as the strongest being out there; and now he was a three year old eating pasta with the guy. Life really was strange.

He was about halfway through eating his food before his eyelids began to feel heavy, drooping every so often each minute; ah, he was getting sleepy. 

He looked at the window, seeing through the blind that it was getting dark; well that was fine and all, but he really shouldn't be feeling so tired already. After all, he used to patrol the streets all night hunting for heroes, so the hell was this all about? 

As Garou pondered it, he struggled to keep his heavy feeling head from falling into the leftover food; tiredness consuming him.

Blast watched the kid repeatedly come close to face planting his food.

Admittedly, it was an amusing sight, but it was also oddly adorable. While Garou had been close to nearly killing them all just a few months ago, he was still a child; one that had been abused pretty damn badly during said months.

It had taken longer than he had wanted to find the kid, due to the Hero Association being a massive pain in the ass and refusing to give him any sort of information; they wanted to keep Garou hidden away, restrained and abused for their research purposes. 

When Blast had finally managed to acquire the information through less than legal means, he had teleported straight there, landing in a few different spots until he had finally reached the kid.

Seeing Garou restrained and hurt had been quite the shock to Blast. It had almost felt as if history was repeating itself from when he had found Tatsumaki, even more so as the kid was an esper now; one now only being held back by the shock collar around his neck. 

And as much as Blast wanted to, he would not be removing the collar just yet; as while he could easily handle the kid now, it would also be a pain to constantly have to monitor Garou and prevent the use of Psychokinesis, everyone needed rest after all.

And apparently the kid agreed, now having his small head on the table, completely conked out.

The sight was oddly cute, and Blast couldn't help but smile at the kid's sleeping face; one cheek smushed up against the table and a small hand loosely holding a fork. It was odd to think that the kid had anything to do with 'God', but he did and Blast needed to find out the specifics.

At least he had managed to get custody of Garou, that whole bluff had really paid off as Blast actually still hadn't informed any of the other s-classes about the whole 'free the kid that tried to kill us all' plan. 

Originally he had thought about enlisting their help, but decided not to as if word somehow slipped out about his plan then the Association would no doubt find a way to prevent Garou ever ending up in his hands; so he had kept quiet, working through files and doing some less than savoury work to be able to find where the kid was.

But now, he would need to inform the others of the recent events, especially as he had just used them as a threat towards the Association. Of which, they would definitely not be very happy about; but hopefully with his charm and the kid's cute face, they would be able to win over the others.

Or some of them at least.

Ah, all of that could come tomorrow, for now he would put Garou to bed and attempt to get some rest himself. 

He had already sent out word for everyone to be there for a meeting tomorrow, and Blast had a strong feeling that it was going to be an eventful day; probably only added onto by Garou's less than welcoming attitude. 

The kid was not exactly a happy person, nor one that seemed to like anyone at all.

Well, he guessed that anyone would be unhappy at being turned into a three year old and then abused for months, so Blast couldn't fully blame the kid for not exactly being a beacon of optimism.

He yawned, raising his arms in a stretch before getting to his feet and gently scooping Garou up, being careful so as not to disturb the kid and potentially getting smacked in the face or bitten again as the child seemed to enjoy putting up a fight at every turn.

Blast would have to ask Bang how the kid had turned out so feral. And considering how, (at least from what Blast had been told), the old man had practically raised Garou, surely Bang had some kind of way to calm the kid down, right?

Definitely a question for tomorrow, amongst all the others that would both be asked and hopefully answered. 

Blast placed Garou in the large bed he had been given along with the room, thankfully the Hero Association had provided room and board to all the heroes working under them; and while Blast would definitely be moving on to another place soon, this apartment would do for now while he searched for a different lodging.

The kid didn't wake up during the small trip, even curling up into the soft sheets once he hit them; Garou unconsciously clinging onto the first bit of comfort that he had experienced in months, if not longer.

Blast left the kid there, exiting the room but keeping the door just the tiniest bit ajar so Garou would be able to leave the room to get to the bathroom if he needed; Blast wasn't concerned about the kid escaping or anything as he would be sleeping on the sofa.

Plus it wasn't as if Garou could even reach the door handle.

After grabbing a few blankets, he settled onto the sofa, burying himself in the covers before attempting to get some sleep; he would need all of his energy for the next day as there was no doubt that it was gonna be a long one.  

Lord help him.

All of the S-class heroes were gathered around their meeting spot, each looking as bothered as the next.

Blast had called them all here, stressing the importance of their presence in his message, but still having not yet arrived himself. 

It was one thing disappearing for years on end, but it was another to call a meeting that stressed the importance of all of them attending it, and then proceed to be half an hour late to it; so quite a few of them were pretty displeased about the whole thing.

"When's he gonna show up? I've got some places to be."

Atomic's voice was the first to sound out, tone one of boredom; then Genos gave a nod of agreement before chiming in, sounding as straightforward as he usually did.

"Yes, I also have a place to be. Master Saitama is going shopping soon and I wish to attend."

The two's comments soon sparked all the other heroes to remark that they had better things to do, some of them even beginning to stand up; but they were soon unwillingly forced back into their seats by a heavy force, also known as Psychokinesis. 

They all froze as Tatsumaki glared at them, leaving no sort of room for any kind of arguments to be made.

"Blast might be late, but we'll all wait for the idiot."

After she stated that, the heavy force left, soon replaced by the once again bored air that had permeated the air before; but now with a hint of hesitancy to leave. 

Fubuki sat next to her sister awkwardly, not having ever been allowed in one of the S-class meetings before for obvious reasons, but Blast had specifically requested her presence so Tatsumaki had allowed it; and she knew if anyone other than that man had asked, then her big sister would never have allowed her in the room.

But all of the tension was really becoming bothersome. So when the door finally opened and Blast walked in, all of them relaxed slightly, if not sending a few raised eyebrows at the man's lateness; and as for Blast, the man was smiling away, completely unbothered by the annoyed welcome he was receiving.

The man had his cloak drawn around his shoulders, nearly completely covering his torso; but Blast did give them a friendly wave as he approached, coming to a stop at the end of the table but not taking a seat just yet. 

The other heroes watched him with expectation, all waiting for the reason as to why they had been called there.

"Thanks for coming, and sorry for the late arrival, I had some issues along the way."

Atomic raised an eyebrow, leaning forward with his arms on the table.

"Don't you live upstairs?"

Blast's smile did not dissipate, the man giving a small chuckle before nodding.

"I do, but it was less of a travel issue and more of a negotiation one."

All of the other heroes looked at the man with unhidden confusion, Zombieman becoming more attentive as he noticed that Blast seemed to be hiding something under the drawn cape; meanwhile, Genos made an upwards pointing gesture as he faced the hero, robotic eyes looking at Blast with curiosity.

"Did you have to negotiate with a particularly difficult enemy? Or perhaps you had a coupon that would not go through?"

Blast gave the cyborg a slightly confused look and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"No, nothing like that. Just more of a behavioural one."

All of the S-class heroes watched with curiosity as the man stepped forward, grabbing something from under his cloak and pulling it forward; then holding a certain white-haired child in front of him like someone would hold a teddy bear, a smile on Blast's face as the man did so. 

They all stared at the Hero Hunter in shocked silence for approximately five seconds, before then bursting into a round of shocked yells; meanwhile both Blast and Garou looked completely unfazed by the reaction, having expected it from the get go.

"Calm down everyone."

King's voice sounded out, everyone in the room then hearing the man's 'engine' running, signalling that the man was angered by their actions. 

In reality, King's ears had started to hurt from all the yelling and the reactions had started to make him extremely nervous, after all, what if someone began to fight? 

Thankfully though, the heroes settled down and Blast gave King a nod of thanks, receiving a stony look in return; Blast then placed Garou on the table, the kid standing on the furniture with his arms crossed.

The heroes still weren't pleased in the slightest, all looking between Garou and Blast with incredulity, not understanding why the Hero Hunter was acting so obedient or why the kid was even there in the first place. Blast held his hands up in a pacifying way as he spoke, sounding calm.

"As you know, this is Garou. Hero Hunter turned child."

Everyone gave various nods, Darkshine looking at the three year old with absolute terror; as if Garou was about to leap across the table and eat him or something. Blast gave his most charming smile as he continued, placing a hand on either side of the kid's shoulders.

"He is also now completely in our custody, legally and all."

Instead of yelling, the room became deathly silent, all eyes on Blast with mixed looks of disbelief, confusion and annoyance. And as the heroes struggled to come up with any sort of response that didn't include yelling, Garou turned slightly to face the number one hero with an unimpressed look.

"I think you broke them."

Metal Bat made a noise of irritation, feeling annoyed at the whole situation.

"Shut it, squirt. Why're you even here anyway?"

Garou narrowed his eyes, sending a middle finger towards the hero.

"Ask the jackass behind me, shitty hair. And don't call me squirt you slab of-"

Blast covered the kid's mouth to stop the incoming insult, leaning in slightly and speaking in a slightly quieter one.

"No insults, no fighting, and no biting; you remember the deal."

Yellow eyes narrowed in a want to disagree, but Garou just let out a muffled sigh before nodding, happy to feel his mouth become uncovered once more. Call Garou what you want, but he would honour a deal if one was made. 

Blast leaned back again, facing the heroes with an air of seriousness.

"I know it's not the greatest news you've ever heard, but it's for a reason."

The man sighed.

"I've already informed you of 'God', but what I neglected to mention is that Garou is still affected by them; unknowingly, of course."

He gestured for the kid to turn around, and all the heroes were astounded to see that the Hero Hunter listened, albeit with an annoyed look. Blast then lifted the back of Garou's top up, showing the room the kid's back; or more accurately, the black marking that was on the pale skin, looking like a universe, and also looking bigger than the last time they had seen it.

"This is a mark left by 'God', and it's grown; meaning that bastard's up to something."

Garou batted against the hero's hand, pulling his top back down, having had enough of turning his back to the heroes; to his enemies.

"So why not just leave the Hero Hunter in confinement?"

Metal Knight's words caused a stir throughout the room, most sending the robot a glare; Blast shook his head.

"Because we would learn nothing and the kid would be left in the hands of the Hero Association."

The man then sighed, placing a hand in Garou's hair and ruffling it; before opening a portal in front of each hero and sending some papers through it. Papers containing the details of Garou's extended stay in the containment facility.

"And I couldn't just continue to let him be tortured, with or without the marking."

Garou once again batted at Blast's hand, feeling irritated at the hero's audacity. 

The rest of the room was deathly silent, nearly all of the heroes looking at the papers in various states of anger and disbelief; and one of the S-classes who looked the angriest was Bang, the old man feeling a deep fury at the information of his student's treatment. 

They had all been under the impression that the Hero Hunter had just been in some sort of solitary confinement, not being subjected to torture.

Even Metal Bat felt angry on Garou's behalf, because as shitty as the guy was, being experimented on was not what he would consider a just punishment; and that opinion would remain the same even if the brat had stayed as a teen. 

Atomic finished reading through the papers with a sigh, looking up at Blast with a tired expression.

"Okay, but why do we have to look after him?"

The hero didn't even need to answer as Genos once again piped up.

"We are S-class heroes, it makes perfect sense as to why we are in charge of the Hero Hunter."

Blast nodded, adding on with a smile.

"Precisely! And because I've already signed us all up as his legal guardians."

There was a collective sigh, each hero feeling defeat at the sheer audacity of the hero; soon realising that they didn't have much of a choice in the matter; after all, the papers had been signed and they did kind of have a responsibility over the child considering they all played a part in the kid's capture.

...But legal guardians?

Garou watched all of the heroes looking at either the papers or Blast with an air of defeat. 

So the geezer had been bluffing to the suits, none of these idiots had known about any of this. The thought was actually funny to him and he slightly admired Blast’s underhandedness; but he still wasn’t pleased about any of it.

However, he really wasn't too worried about any of this due to the fact that he planned to escape at some point, so whatever was happening here was pretty much a short term thing; he would play nice for now, but he wasn't staying whatsoever.

And the thought of having these assholes as his guardians made Garou want to get out all the sooner.

He turned to face Blast, intent on asking how much longer until the man paid up for his end of the deal; but soon found himself unable to as his body suddenly became weightless, and he was dragged through the air, unable to do anything but go with the motion.

There were a few shouts of surprise as he was pulled through the air, but nobody was able to stop the short trip and Garou soon came to a halt in front of the Tornado of terror, being held in the air by her Psychokinesis; he could only stare at the small woman as she made him float, seemingly inspecting him as she did so. 

However, the taller woman next to the green haired one did make a shocked noise.

"Sis! You'll hurt him!"

Garou clicked his tongue at the smaller woman, remembering somewhere that her name was Tatsu... something; but her hero name was Terrible Tornado. She then turned to Blast, continuing to let Garou just hover in the air; much to his annoyance, but he said nothing as the angered look on Tornado's face made him rethink his choice to do so.

"Why's he still got a collar on, Blast?"

The man let out a sigh, gesturing for her to calm down.

"I didn't need him escaping in the night, I wanted to actually get some sleep, you know?"

This time both Tornado and Garou clicked their tongues at the man simultaneously, the two of them crossing their arms as they levelled varied looks of irritation. 

But then the woman turned back to Garou and moved her index finger in a swiping motion, and there was a sharp snapping sound before the collar around his neck was broken in two and launched somewhere across the room. Garou stared with what he hated to admit was shock at the green haired woman.

She had freed him? That was unexpected.

Out of nowhere the Psychokinesis holding him up then moved him over Tornado's shoulder, suddenly dropping him. Garou prepared to meet the solid ground with a thump; but was then caught again, this time by the taller woman, landing in her arms that had been extended just in time. 

There was an 'ompf' noise from one of them as he landed, but he didn't know who so he said nothing; instead holding onto the woman's shoulder for some sort of stability, not wanting to be launched through the air again.

"Sis!"

Tornado sent the woman an unbothered glance, eyeing Garou critically.

"He could have caught himself, Fubuki."

Garou narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"Eat shit, Seaweed hair."

There was a split second where she narrowed her eyes in a pissed off look, but a sudden coughing fit cut off any further interaction as Blast spoke up again.

"Okay! So this is all unexpected, but it's our situation now so we're gonna have to sort out a rota of sorts for who looks after him on what day."

A chorus of groans sounded out, but the only few who outwardly rejected were Metal Knight and Drive Knight, both stating that they had better things to do. 

That was perfectly fine with Garou though, he didn't want to spend time with anyone here either, and those two both seemed like dogshit company anyway; more so than the other heroes and that was saying something. But when Blast set about reminding them that they were legally required to, Garou stepped up, pointing a hand at the hero as he spoke.

"I'm good with them not bothering me, I'm good with all of you not bothering me actually."

He got a sigh in return and Blast walked around the table, over to where Garou was.

"You don't get to vote, kid."

The man gave a silent thanks to Fubuki before plucking Garou from her arms and into his own, then beginning the short trek back to where they had first been standing. 

At the notion that he would be stuck with all of the heroes, Garou decided to embrace the fact that he was now three and use it to his advantage; he grabbed Blast's cheek in his tiny hand and tugged as hard as he could, pulling the skin over and over as he hissed in the hero's face.

"I'm running out of patience with you, old man."

Blast winced at the action, probably finally realising that his armour did in fact not cover his face, so to Garou it was fair game and something that he could actually hit; the man pried Garou's small hand from his cheek, the skin having tinted red from the rough treatment. 

But Garou had two hands, so he used his free one to tug at the hero's hair, getting close to pulling the black tufts out before the man managed to pry that hand away too.

Garou then attempted to repeat both actions once more but Blast caught on and held him under his armpits and away from the man's face, extending him fully out of reach so Garou could no longer do any damage.

However, the man seemed to have forgotten that Garou's collar had just been taken off, so he used his Psychokinesis and flung a nearby stapler into the man's head; grinning when it hit the targeted mark with a satisfying 'thunk'.

Blast winced once more and shot him an unimpressed look, placing Garou back on the table and sighing heavily; then looking back up at the surrounding heroes, some looking the tiniest bit concerned, and some looking slightly amused. 

Blast then raised his hands in a welcoming gesture as he spoke, already sounding tired.

"So, who wants to look after him first?"

Nobody raised their hand, but Atomic did speak.

"Lets just set a rota first, saves us having to volunteer."

So that's what they all did, the heroes set about arguing about who would look after him, when, and for how long; meanwhile, Garou remained sat on the glowing table, bored and annoyed as they all bickered. He just wanted his end of the deal he had made with Blast, the hero really damn owed him for his patience.

As the heroes bickered, Garou eyed the door to the room, debating on if he could sneak away or not; ultimately deciding that it might be worth it to try. 

He looked back at the heroes again, seeing how they did seem pretty invested in their argument, perhaps enough that they wouldn't notice him leave? Garou decided to risk it, subtly scooching towards the end of the table and somewhat ungracefully climbing down from the glowing surface, landing on his feet with a small thud.

Garou couldn't see above the table so he didn't know if the heroes had spotted him yet, but he continued on anyway, making an attempt at being stealthy as he made a beeline towards the door; judging from the lack of shouting, he assumed that nobody had spotted him, so he continued on with a bit more confidence.

A confidence that was soon shattered as an arm scooped him up out of nowhere and placed him against their chest. Garou looked up to see the same woman that had caught him before, Tornado's sister, Fubuki; Garou frowned, wasn't this one's hero name Blizzard or something? 

Either way, the woman was smiling at him as she supported him, looking at him with an oddly adoring stare which Garou was slightly worried by.

She turned to the other heroes who apparently hadn't noticed his escape attempt and approached them all; calling out as she held Garou to her chest, still smiling away.

"Blast! He needs better clothes than this, this shirt doesn't even fit him; it’s far too big."

Garou wanted to slap her for making him fail, but he had a feeling that Tornado wouldn't be too happy about it; perhaps that was his survival instinct kicking in? 

He settled for glaring at her and trying to push away, but all the woman did was play with his tiny hands, looking happy and seeming to somewhat listen as Blast responded.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a surplus of kids clothes, you know? I've gotta find some later."

Blizzard looked up at the man, sounding enthusiastic as she held up a clenched fist in determination.

"I can get him some, I'm due for a shopping trip anyway!"

The sheer excitement in the woman's tone made Garou concerned, was Blizzard one of those people who overloaded children with clothes because they couldn't decide on what to get and thought that everything was 'cute'? Or was it worse, did she... like shopping? 

Garou paled, doubling his efforts to escape her hold and practically demanding she unhand him.

"Let me go! I'm not going anywhere!"

As much as he squirmed about, Garou couldn't remove himself from her grip, his strength no longer equating to even that of a five year old, never mind a fully grown adult; and a hero at that. 

He hissed at the woman, doing his best to free himself from her grasp, but getting nowhere with it; Blizzard just handled him with ease, seeming to enjoy his torment. Garou's instincts told him not to claw or bite the woman, something deep inside telling him how bad of an idea that would be.

And after what could have only been a minute or two, Garou was out of breath, settling down as he ran out of energy to fight off the woman; damn his tiny body and it’s lack of energy! 

He gave one last attempt at escaping before letting out a defeated a huff, feeling as Blizzard manoeuvred him back into a more normal position and hating that he now felt pretty tired from the small amount of action he had just had; dammit, he used to be able to take on eight heroes at once while poisoned and beaten, and now he couldn't even fight his way out of a B-class heroes arms.

And what was worse was that every S-class hero had just watched his failure.

That thought made him gain a second wind and struggle again, this time pushing against the woman's shoulder and practically bending himself backwards to get away, his torso hovering horizontally in the air as he struggled; both embarrassment and irritation fueling him. 

Garou saw how the heroes were all watching his struggle with either amused looks or concerned ones, but to him they were all upside down so he couldn't truly tell.

What he could see was Blast approaching, the man soon plucking Garou out of Blizzard's arms with a sigh; then bringing him to the armoured chest and settling him there. But Garou had already become completely fed up with being passed around like some kitten, so he growled and launched himself at the hero's face with malice; biting the hand that tried to block him and clawing at the man's face with his tiny hands.

Blast tried to dislodge Garou's teeth by shaking his hand, but Garou held firm, making an exaggerated effort to at least dent the armour; he gave up on his attempts at clawing and settled for doing his best to tear into Blast's hand, feeling satisfaction when the man continuously failed to dislodge him. 

His tiny hands had already gripped onto the covered fingers for extra leverage, and he absolutely refused to let go, hearing as Blast spoke, the man sounding exasperated as someone tugged on the back of Garou's oversized shirt in an attempt to help the man.

"Ahhh, c'mon kid, let go! You'll hurt your teeth."

That only made him double down, biting even harder and letting out a muffled growl; he heard the heroes discuss how to get him to release the man's hand, but of course their suggestions were all useless or involved some sort of force that would hurt Garou so they couldn't do it. 

He felt smug at having won, but soon perked up when he smelt something sweet. 

Garou subtly glanced to the side to see that a small slice of carrot cake had been held in front of him, close enough that he could smell it and see how good it looked.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, still unwilling to let go, but seeing how such a tasty thing was just waiting in front of him made Garou's mouth water.

Well...he could always just bite the man again later, right? 

Yeah, eat the tasty dessert, then go back to biting.

At long last, Garou unlatched his jaw and reached out for the food, feeling joy when it wasn't pulled away and he could grab it with no issues;  and once the cake was secured, Garou settled down with no problems, content to focus on his new meal and savouring the sweetness of it. 

To him, the other heroes didn't even exist anymore and he was happy to leave them to do what they wanted as he ate.

He loved sweet things.

Blast and the others all looked at Bang with wide eyes, completely amazed at how the hero had just solved the situation without a single issue and how nonchalant the old man was about it. 

One second, Garou had been practically rabid, and now the child was content to relax in Blast's arms, happily eating the offered cake without so much as a peep; it was like magic. He couldn't help but ask how the old hero had known.

"How'd you do that?"

Silver Fang looked at him with a knowing smile.

"Because I know my students."

Blast could only nod and be thankful, but he did worry for when the kid eventually finished the slice and the potential destruction that would be wrought afterwards. 

So he decided to make things fast by thanking both Silver Fang, (for working his magic), and Pig God, (for supplying the cake), before getting back to the topic of the rota and deciding who looked after Garou when.

It took a good few more minutes of bickering and telling Fubuki to get off of her phone before it was all worked out, but by the end it had been done and Blast was just happy to have gotten that far; they finalised it all with their signatures and tired sighs. 

Out of all of the heroes, Blast would be in charge of Garou the most, mainly because he had been the one to break the kid out, but also so he could monitor Garou for any signs of 'God'.

He looked down to check on the kid, seeing how Garou had just finished the last bit of cake, looking rather pleased; but also rather tired. 

Blast prayed that the kid would just nap for a bit, and he felt a budding hope when he subtly watched as Garou's eyes started to droop, the kid clearly tired from all the effort he had put into escaping; and considering that Blast was due to look after the three year old for the next two days, he already relished in the moments of sleep the kid got.

If he was honest with himself, the sight of Garou struggling to stay awake was rather cute, oddly so; but he had to remind himself that if the kid woke up then there would no doubt be another onslaught of biting and clawing. 

Blast already had marks forming on his face, so when he saw Garou's eyes finally close and the kid's small head rest against his armoured chest, Blast felt a great sense of relief; even letting out a shaky sigh as the kid's breathing became more evened out.

He didn't even care that he now had carrot cake on his armour.

Blast looked up to see the other heroes staring at the sight of the sleeping Hero Hunter with almost soft looks, especially Bang, the old man even took a picture, looking joyful as he did so. 

Metal Bat spoke up, sounding both irritated and reluctant as he admitted his opinion.

"Little shit's kinda cute."

At the statement, Blast couldn't help but nod; however the quiet moment was soon disturbed as the door to the room was slammed open, and a bunch of men and women walked in, all carrying bags and looking serious. 

Fubuki greeted them with clasped hands and a wide smile, instantly rushing over to look though the bags.

Quite honestly, a large part of Blast died inside when Garou woke up with a yawn, rubbing his eyes blearily as he looked around at the noise; seemingly coming to the realisation of where he was and instantly beginning to squirm away once more.

As Blast felt his cheek being pulled, he wondered how he was going to manage the next two days.

Garou had slipped up, the cake had admittedly made him sleepy so he had given into the whims of tiredness and had succumbed to napping, only then to be rudely woken up by some doors slamming and multiple footsteps stomping around; shitty heroes couldn't even silence their steps as they walked, how pathetic.

He of course became irritated and pulled on Blast's cheek once again in a demand to be released, but was slightly interrupted when a voice from behind him called out.

"The clothes I've ordered are here, Blast! Here pass me Garou and I'll sort him out."

It was Blizzard, and Garou saw how Blast raised an eyebrow as he responded, plucking Garou's tiny hand from the man's face as he did so.

"Didn't you say you wanted a shopping trip?"

The woman just smiled, waving her hand in the air in a nonchalant gesture.

"These are just to tide him over, when it's my turn to look after him I'll get him a lot more so don't worry."

Garou's eyes widened at the sight of all those bags, and he turned away in an attempt to climb over Blast's shoulder and escape; but the man grabbed him and handed him over to Blizzard with a smile, sending Garou a wave when the woman took him into her arms once more. 

Garou tried to pull away, but it was futile, he was brought over to the many bags and Blizzard ordered for her men to follow her to a different room to try them on.

He was dragged along with them, watching the other S-classes looks of amusement as he tried to escape. 

Tch, no wonder he hated heroes.

Garou was taken into another room, and all the men and women placed the bags down before bowing to Blizzard and leaving them alone; the woman wasted no time in placing Garou down on one of the nearby tables and searching through the bags, pulling out different clothes and awwing at them. 

Garou felt a foreboding sense of dread at the sea of clothes, even more so when Blizzard approached him with an armful of them and a large beaming smile.

Nobody couldn't say that he didn't put up a fight as he was changed into countless sets of clothes, Blizzard tossing them in a keep or return pile as each new outfit was worn; Garou did his best to refuse playing dress-up, but in the end he just accepted it, deciding that maybe it was better to have some clothes that did actually fit him and didn't belong to Blast.

As they reached the end of the clothes pile, Blizzard suddenly made a noise of excitement as she picked up some black cloth, darting over to Garou and helping him to dress in it. 

And once it was on, the woman covered her mouth and 'awwwed' in such a sickly sweet way that Garou was actually curious as to what he was wearing; luckily Blizzard had brought a mirror, so he turned to see and-

It was a black wolf onesie.

Garou felt embarrassment consume him at the sight of him in such a cutesy outfit. He didn't wear onesies! Much less bloody wolf ones, and this one had a damn tail! It only got worse as he saw that the hood of the outfit had little ears on it.

Sure, it was really damn comfy, but Garou couldn't believe that he was witnessing himself in such a thing.

 A black onesie with little dark brown gradients on the legs and fluffy chest, that had ears and a tail.

He wanted to fling himself off of the building. And Blizzards coos and adoring noises only made him feel worse, his face was red and Garou wanted to tear the whole place down; but instead, he was picked up and taken out of the room, the woman informing her underlings of which was the keep pile and which wasn't.

She then returned to the room where the S-classes seemed to be discussing recent events and Garou tried to escape the best he could. There was no way in hell that he was letting anyone see him like this! Least of all the damn heroes! 

Ahhh , fuck this woman and her quick hands that wouldn't let him escape!

Blizzard must enjoy his torment as she happily announced to the group that she had found 'the cutest outfit ever', which of course all the S-classes leaned in to enjoy Garou's misery; watching as he was brought to the head of the table by Blast and gently placed down on it in full view of all the other heroes.

To his horror, the reaction was immediate and the heroes all looked at him with wide eyes and sly smiles; Metal Bat spoke up, sounding thoroughly amused and looking just as much with a smirk on his face.

"Lookin' adorable there, Hero Hunter."

Garou sent the man a glare as his face burned with embarrassment, he used his Psychokinesis and launched a few pencils in the meathead's direction before growling at the others, ready to tear their heads off. 

A plate of cookies were placed in front of him by Blast and Garou lobbed one at the man, hitting him square in the eye and feeling slighted when the idiot’s glasses protected it.

Garou then held a clenched fist up to his face as he promised himself that he would absolutely get his revenge on all of the bastards here for this.

And then he did eat a cookie after that, albeit angrily.

Shitty heroes.

Chapter Text

Nothing good was on the tv, Blast was on the computer, and Garou was bored.

The hero clearly knew nothing about kids, (not that Garou was one), but after their breakfast, the asshole had just plopped him on the sofa, handed him a way too big remote, and had then just buggered off to scroll through the computer; and in all honesty, that quite offended Garou.

It's not like he wanted attention or anything, but he had never liked watching tv as it always had heroes on it; the bastards preening and puffing out their chests for doing their literal job only ever irritated him, so Garou was bored stiff seeing every channel have some hero on it. 

Were the next two days gonna be like this? That was a boring hell.

And what was worse was that the wolf onesie that Blizzard had gotten him had become Garou's main outfit at the request of everyone, so he was still wearing the damn thing! 

Admittedly, it was comfy as all hell, but he still felt like an idiot for wearing it; even if it looked like a pretty normal thing for a three year old to wear. But it's not as if he could do anything about it, so he let it lie.

And so what if it may or may not be secretly growing on him?

That was his secret, thank you very much.

Garou sighed, feeling his tummy rumble. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he had eaten breakfast so he was actually pretty hungry now that he thought about it.

Garou turned from where he was slouched on the sofa and called out to Blast, asking for the man's attention and frowning when he didn't get it.

The hero was completely zoned in on what he was reading, still in his pyjamas; the blue jog bottoms and grey t-shirt from yesterday. 

Garou sighed, glancing towards the remote in defeat; wondering if it might be worth it to just sleep. But then a thought hit him, a big remote could knock someone out of a daydream, right? 

He grinned, grabbing the object and aiming it at Blast's head before launching it with the most strength his three year old body could give him.

He grinned even wider when the remote hit its target, a dull 'thunk' sound emanating from the back of the man's head as the object made contact; Blast instantly turned around, rubbing his head and looking annoyed.

"Shit kid, you're gonna give me a concussion!"

Garou shrugged, completely unbothered.

"I doubt there's anything in there to concuss."

He got a glare and a sigh, the hero throwing a hand in the air with exasperation.

"What did you want?"

Garou crossed his arms.

"Food, old man. I'm hungry."

Blast sighed and turned back to the computer, presumably checking the time and Garou saw the man's eyes widen as he saw that it was the afternoon and neither of them had eaten since that morning; the hero looked back at him, expression now apologetic.

"Ah, right. Sorry, I'll go make you something."

Garou nodded, giving the man a dismissive gesture before returning to his slouched position; pretending to watch the tv, but in reality watching as the hero went into the kitchen and began searching through the cupboards. 

Garou observed the man open about ten cupboards before searching through the fridge; Blast's expression was one of awkward concern, the man clearly not finding any food at all.

Tch , as expected, heroes couldn't even look after themselves, what a surprise.

He watched with a raised eyebrow as Blast approached him with half a cucumber, the man crouching down and presenting the pathetic offering with an awkward smile. 

Garou narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms, and turned his head away in a petulant manner, refusing to eat such a sad meal. 

Sure, he had eaten monsters at one point, but that was out of desperation and for energy, not having any other option; but the man in front of him was the number one hero, so Garou wouldn't be taking the idiot’s scraps.

"C'mon kid, it's healthy!"

Garou gave the man the dirtiest look he could muster, side-eyeing the hero with disgust as he spoke.

"It's mouldy is what it is."

He looked away once more, head still turned in ire. There was the sound of the hero sighing heavily, and Garou fully turned to face Blast, seeing the man looking at the ground in defeat.

A few seconds passed before the hero tossed the depressing cucumber over his shoulder and got up, cracking his back and letting out one more sigh before speaking.

"Alright, I'll admit it looks like a shopping trip is needed."

Garou nodded, now actually interested.

"Yeah, and you can get me what you promised you would because I behaved yesterday."

The hero sent him an uncertain look as he sighed.

"Well, I wouldn't say behaved ; but yeah, I'll get you the lemon cake."

Blast then ruffled a hand through Garou's hair before he walked off into the hallways; Garou soon hearing the sound of the shower running.

He perked up, hearing as the bathroom door closed, leaving him alone in the room. 

Garou gave it a second or two before turning around and sliding down the sofa, having to grip onto the cushions with his tiny hands as he slid down, eventually feeling his feet hit the floor and allowing him to safely let go.

Once down, he listened again for any sign of Blast approaching, and when he heard none, Garou waddled over to the door, his baby legs feeling awkward to him.

The door handle was just as unreachable as before, but Garou had his Psychokinesis this time so the height shouldn't be an issue. 

And with that in mind, Garou focused his Psychokinesis on pulling the handle down, feeling smug when the metal bar slid down with no problems; but then the door didn't open and he was confused, finally realising that the door required a key. 

Garou grit his teeth in irritation, no wonder Blast had been so comfortable leaving him here alone!

He looked around, deciding to search for the key, even if he already knew that the hero almost definitely had brought the item into the bathroom with him. 

Garou went over to Blast's desk, climbing up on the chair with some difficulties and then standing on it, looking across the table with a searching gaze; seeing papers, pens, a phone and some weird memorabilia. 

The computer was on, showing a browser that had searches related to odd images found on rocks; but Garou didn't question it as they weren’t the key.

He let out a sigh of frustration before considering his options. Clearly this was a dead end, but if they were going shopping then he would probably have a chance there; Blast seemed pretty observant, but Garou prided himself on being stealthy, he was sure that he could find a chance to slip away.

Garou heard the shower come to a stop, making him freeze. 

He knew that there was no way in hell that he would be able to leave everything as it had been and be able to climb up onto the sofa in the short amount of time.

So he did the next best thing and opened another tab on the computer, searching for the first thing that came into his mind and pretending to be invested in it; clicking through different images of wolves.

The sound of the bathroom door opening was heard and Garou listened as footsteps approached, soon feeling Blast's presence next to him and turning to see the man, pretending to be caught off guard.

The hero sent him a raised eyebrow before staring at the screen and chuckling, once again ruffling a hand through Garou's hair as the man spoke, sounding as amused as he looked.

"Now I'm not gonna believe you when you say you don't like the onesie."

Garou's cheeks tinted red in embarrassment and he batted the hand away, returning his gaze to the computer and ignoring the man; though it didn't phase Blast as the hero just chuckled again, walking off into his bedroom to get changed. 

Garou kept his focus trained on the computer, letting out a small sigh of relief at having gotten away with it; now deciding to actually search for something he was interested in while he waited.

It was around ten minutes later when Blast finished dressing; Garou looked away from his searches for cool bugs to see that the hero was wearing normal clothes instead of his usual tacky armour. 

Blast wore blue jeans and a casual white t-shirt with a red flannel jacket over it, also having black boots that looked pretty new; to be honest, the guy kinda looked like some kind of lumberjack. 

Garou was soon picked up, having to hold onto Blast's shirt for support as the man turned the computer off.

Once the man had grabbed both his phone and wallet, he also checked for what looked like car keys; and once found, Blast then unlocked the door with his house keys, (that had been in his pocket), and brought them out into the grey hallways of the Hero Associations' lodging. 

There were no people in the hallways, and Garou assumed that this must be an 'S-class only' area; off-limits to anyone with a lower rank. 

That was good to know, it meant that he would have a higher chance of getting out unnoticed.

As much as he didn't want to be carried, Garou accepted his fate and let Blast do all the work, at the very least it would allow for him to observe and memorise the different hallways as they walked, so it wasn't all bad. 

Garou kept his tiny hands scrunched in the flannel of the hero's outfit, untrusting that the idiot wouldn't drop him.  

All of the corridors and stairs were a bit confusing, but Garou was managing, right up until they opened a doorway into a hallway full of people; all looking to be heroes, and all looking to be having conversations as they leant against the walls and railings of the apartments. 

So these must be the apartment blocks of the lower ranked heroes. Most were in costume, looking extremely stupid and some even looking like perverts, who the hell dressed up as a butterfly anyway?!

Garou recognized some of the heroes as ones he had 'hunted', back when he still had the form of his eighteen-year old self; but thankfully nobody had spotted them yet, so he pulled up the hood of his onesie, huddling closer into Blast's chest so the heroes couldn't see either his hair or face. 

Heroes were stupid, but word might have spread and Garou's white hair and yellow eyes would be a dead giveaway as to who he was, so he didn't want to risk anything.

He heard Blast give a huff of amusement, but the man said nothing, quietly bringing them through the semi-crowded hallway, quickly greeting those who recognized him and just as quickly leaving any attempted conversations. 

A few people questioned as to who Garou was, but Blast simply misdirected them, explaining that he needed to get to the shops so he couldn't stay and chat; and once again, heroes were proved to be idiots as they all just let the man go without question.

Garou peeked over Blast's shoulder once they reached the end of the hallway, seeing some of the heroes looking at Blast's back with awed stares. 

He narrowed his eyes, how pathetic of them to look up to someone that was barely ever even on earth; really, it was so stupid. Garou went back to resting on the man's chest, feeling bored as he went back to observing the surrounding area, making his plans of escape.

Hm , considering the heroes seemed to swarm the apartment blocks during the day, Garou would need to escape during the night and make sure to avoid the cameras placed around the walls. 

It was all bothersome, but he would make do.

He had no other choice.

Getting through all the heroes was quite the pain, and seeing how Garou had quietened and hidden away in his arms made Blast feel slightly sorry for the kid; it couldn't be good to feel so powerless against people you had no doubt beaten down in your adult form. 

So he imagined that the kid was just as relieved to finally reach the parking lot as he was; seeing the car leant to him and making a beeline towards the silver vehicle, opening the doors and plopping Garou down in the passenger seat.

It was only when he got into the driver's side that he noticed a problem.

Garou didn't exactly fit in the seat.

Blast watched on awkwardly as the seat belt covered the kid's face, Garou not being anywhere near tall enough to fit the seats height requirements. 

He added 'baby seat' to his mental shopping list as he tried to help Garou have the seatbelts somewhat safe and not uncomfortable. 

And if he was honest, Blast still didn't feel comfortable with driving, but when he looked in the rear mirror and saw an agent approaching in the distance, he decided that they would just have to work with it for this trip.

Placing the car in reverse, Blast pretended he hadn't seen the agent at all as he drove off into the now barren lands of what used to be A-city; seeing all the rocks and monster remains as they passed. 

It had been a long while since he had driven a car, so getting back into the motions took an extra minute but he soon worked it all out, smoothly driving the hours’ journey into civilisation.

Of course, Garou was less than happy with the trip, the kid complaining every minute or so, but Blast kind of understood; the seat must be pretty uncomfortable to a three year old, not to mention Garou's spine probably wasn’t too pleased with the hard car seat. 

But at least the kid wasn't attacking him so that was good; Blast could cope with complaints, but being smacked in the head by baby hands did become somewhat tiring.

Eventually they arrived in S-city, and Blast drove around for a little longer, scanning the area for shops before eventually spotting a large one and pulling into the parking lot, hearing Garou give an uncomfortable sigh as the kid tried to find a somewhat comfortable position on the chair. 

Blast parked and shut the engine off, giving a sigh of his own before exiting, walking around the car to unbuckle Garou, and then locking the car; beginning the walk into the shop.

The kid gave a small stretch in his arms, looking rather adorable as he did so; wide yellow eyes closed and tiny body doing its best to stretch out all the now untrained muscles. 

To anyone else, Garou looked like a cute baby who wouldn't hurt a fly, but Blast knew better, he was well aware of the demon in his arms.

Just before they entered the shop, Blast turned to Garou, getting the kid's attention and speaking to him in a firm tone; making sure his expression was one of seriousness.

"I want you on your best behaviour, and do not use your Psychokinesis, or I'll have to get a new collar."

Garou glared at him but nodded, looking rather irritated but willing to obey; Blast would just have to take what he got, but then another thought struck him and he brought up a different point, but this was more of a request this time.

"Also, try to act like a three year old. I don't want some granny having a heart attack at your awful language."

This time the kid smirked, but still looked irritated, Garou crossing his arms and huffing; but giving an affirmative anyway.

"Alright, old man. Just hurry up or the place is gonna be closed by the time you're done."

Blast sighed, he wasn't old. 

Maybe to the three year old he was, but he was still in tip top shape; and anyway, thirty-five wasn't old! 

He grumbled a bit as he continued the journey into the shops, grabbing a basket and being greeted by the sight of all the food products that were stocked to the brim; it was honestly sort of daunting after being away from earth for so long, but Blast soldiered on, knowing that Garou would get cranky if he wasn't fed.

He walked into the different isles, scanning the shop for anything that would be simple to make but not unpleasant tasting or unhealthy; he grabbed pasta, a pack of rice and some other stuff which he was sure that he could figure out. Cooking was never his strong suit, but surely he could work it all out.

Garou was getting fidgety, and Blast had to continuously adjust the kid so that he wasn't in danger of falling out of his hands.

Something that Blast had noticed was that some of the other customers around him seemed to take interest in the two of them, some women giggling amongst themselves and some men nodding their heads to him with a smile; for a good few minutes it confused him as he hadn't been on earth in a while so how could any civilians be recognizing him? 

But then it all clicked, and he realised that these people thought that Garou was his kid; and that he was a father out shopping with his son.

And such a thought was proved only minutes later when a blonde woman approached him with a smile, looking between him and Garou with a kind stare.

"Such a cute baby! Is he yours?"

Whether it was out of panic, or out of suddenly being put on the spot, Blast nodded.

"Yep."

He wasn't blind to the subtle side eye he got from Garou, but he had now dug this hole so he would need to lie in it; and quite honestly, he felt like he was being buried when the woman clasped her hands together with a wide smile, now sounding extremely enthusiastic.

"How sweet!"

Her brown eyes crinkled in joy at the confirmation, and she continued, now seemingly on a mission.

"Where's his mother?"

Blast could only freeze up at the question. Shit, he had forgotten that mothers existed and that he would have needed to actually have one for Garou to have been born; but it's not as if he had ever actually had such a woman. 

With his sudden panic, Blast blurted out the first thing he thought of, hearing his voice come out as strained.

"She's uh...she's dead."

Once again, he got a side eye from Garou; the kid looking subtly horrified at the shit lie. But by the blessings of fate, the woman seemed to believe it, covering her mouth and looking both regretful and sad; sounding as much when she replied.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring such a topic up."

Blast felt even worse for lying now, why couldn't he have just said the kid was adopted or something? The woman suddenly reached into her purse, searching for something as she spoke, still sounding regretful and apologetic.

"Well if you ever need help, there's a club for struggling or single parents; here I'll give you the details."

She passed him a card and Blast took it stiffly, wishing he never went outside at all, much less lied to this woman. 

He nodded in thanks and the woman quickly gave a wave before departing, heading back over to a small group of women and men that were all looking at him with both curious and borderline interested gazes. Blast quickly left the isle, heading into the closest one that would bring him out of sight of the group.

Garou didn't remain quiet for long, a small hand grabbing Blast's cheek and pulling on the skin hard; the kid quietly hissing in his face.

"What the hell was that?! Are you stupid?!"

Blast felt like it was kinda deserved, so he replied honestly; whispering just as quietly.

"I panicked!"

The kid growled and Blast pulled the tiny hand from his cheek, doing his best to calm the situation.

"It's not like we're gonna go to that thing, and it's not like we'll ever see them again, so don't worry."

Garou groaned, clearly becoming more irritated and frustrated.

"I don't care! You shouldn't have said I was your kid!"

A few people entered the end of the isle and Blast turned away from them, trying to quieten Garou down.

"And I'm sorry, I couldn't say you weren't mine, they'd think I'd kidnapped you! Just quieten down a little okay?"

The kid was clearly extremely close to throwing a tantrum, face in a scowl that could rival King's and tiny body doing its best to wiggle away from him or hit him in the face; Blast knew that it was only a matter of time until Garou bit him, so he quickly tried the only option he could think of. 

Bribery.

"I'll get you something from here as an apology, okay? You can pick anything."

That caught Garou's attention, the kid pausing his impending meltdown to raise an eyebrow.

"Anything?"

Blast latched on to the proverbial olive branch and nodded borderline frantically.

"Anything."

There were a few seconds where he thought the kid was going to go back to rebelling, but thankfully Garou just let out an aggravated sigh and settled down; still looking miffed, but not trying to cause damage or throw a fit any longer. 

Blast let out a small sigh of his own before continuing on, feeling drained and somewhat exhausted. He walked through the different isles once more, looking at cans of beans and soup with a tired stare.

He wanted to sleep.

"Oi, old man, let me downnnnn; I don't wanna be carried any moreee."

Garou rolled around in Blast's arms, feeling bored as all hell and still annoyed from earlier; how dare this idiot lie like that? 

It made him rather horrified to be honest, but really, he had been promised an item of his choice so he wouldn't keep on about it. He could be merciful if he wanted, especially if bribes were involved; but what he wasn't was entertained right now. 

Garou was sick of being carted around everywhere, and it's not like he didn't have legs. He pulled at the man's beard hairs and let out a frustrated huff, wanting to be put down.

Blast looked dead inside and Garou felt somewhat joyful about that.

He continued to be a nuisance, crawling on the man's shoulder and pulling at the hero's grey hair, demanding to be released. Garou knew he had succeeded when the man let out a heavy sigh and a small groan, looking at him with a defeated expression.

"Alright, alright...just...behave, and don't you dare leave my side."

Garou nodded and was lowered onto the floor, feeling smug and victorious. 

He stretched, feeling his small bones crack slightly and let out a sigh, happy to finally be on his own two feet; he looked up, seeing Blast had returned to looking at the lettuces on display. Garou walked around the man a bit, only a metre or two as he looked at the onions and carrots, feeling hungry as he did so. 

Tch , he wanted food but the idiot was staring into the lettuce as if it held the world's secrets in it.

This was his guardian? Garou felt like throwing something.

He remained by the man's legs for the next few minutes as they walked, trying to portray an act of obedience for a little bit to get Blast to lower his guard. 

Though when they finally reached the bakery section, Garou made a beeline for it, scanning all the pastries and sweets with a semi-watering mouth; Blast already owed him a lemon tart, so Garou grabbed three, bringing them over to the man with effort. His baby strength barely keeping hold of the treasured items.

Blast knelt down to see his bounty and gave a tired smile before relieving Garou of two of the tarts, leaving him standing there with the last one; he raised the third one in his hands with an expectant look, but received a huff of amusement.

"I owe you two things, that's three."

Garou frowned, raising the tart higher in an unspoken ask that the man comply with his want; but the hero just shook his head.

"No, two's enough."

In response, Garou pouted, sticking his bottom lip out slightly and watching as Blast's eyes widened, the man falling for his upset act; but the hero still tried to deny the request, this time sounding a bit exasperated.

"You can't have three lemon tarts, it's unhealthy."

When Garou's face didn't change, Blast sighed, running a hand down his face in defeat.

"We'll take these two, and you can pick one more thing that isn't a tart."

Garou thought for a second before nodding, it was probably the best that he was gonna get so he would go along with it. 

He put the third tart back before scanning the aisle once more, looking for a suitable replacement for his beloved treat; Garou scurried around the place, looking at all the tasty looking items and even seeing Blast subtly add a packet of doughnuts when the man thought he wasn't looking.

There were so many possibilities and Garou felt rather stumped, but then he saw a batch of colourful looking cookies and knew that those were what he wanted; Garou made a beeline towards the colourful items, grabbing a bag full of them and returning to Blast's side with a sunny disposition, happy at the bounty he had acquired. 

The hero chuckled at his enthusiasm but accepted the cookies, adding them to the basket before ruffling Garou's hair and continuing down the next aisle.

It was only after walking for another few minutes that a thought struck him and Garou felt like a complete idiot.

He was supposed to be escaping, not shopping!

It was all well and good trailing after Blast and getting his rewards, but his main goal had been to ditch the hero and escape; they were in S-city, meaning that his hideout would be somewhere around here and he would have a place to go to. Even if it was kinda destroyed.

But... Blast had his food.

Garou shook his head, his idiot child body was reverting him back to how his three year old self would think; that he needed to stay with the food, lest he go hungry again. 

In reality, he needed to get away and soon, before he lost any brain cells from being around all those heroes. 

Garou looked up at Blast, seeing that the man was invested in what type of bread he wanted; the chance to slip away was right in front of him, so Garou took it.

He pretended to wander off and look at the different bread rolls and crackers, trying to appear absorbed in his actions; so far, Blast seemed completely unaware of the escape attempt, still looking to be invested in the bread. 

Garou reached the end of the aisle, feeling somewhat accomplished; but when he went to leave the aisle, his body completely refused to go, and a wave of hesitancy flooded through him, causing him to stop and clutch his hands together in worry.

It was the inbuilt instincts of his past self telling him to not wander from his guardian, that they would get mad and he would be punished for it. 

He stood there like a scared child, hands unnervingly clutched together as he hesitated to exit the aisle; Garou shook his head, he was a damn adult, not some baby who was afraid of being disobedient.

So why wasn't his body moving?

His child instinct fought with his adult one, and Garou's head began to hurt. This shouldn't be so difficult, he should just be able to waltz on out of here, but his body wasn't letting him.

Garou teetred forwards, doing his best to ignore his instincts screaming at him to return to the adult;  instead pushing forwards and leaving the aisle, looking at all the other customers and sneaking past them, doing his best to be unnoticed.

Garou made it towards the entrance without being disturbed once, a few people gave him odd stares but all of them were too invested in their own lives to care about some wayward baby; which was irresponsible, but worked in his favour so he didn't care too much. 

He wandered over to the open doors of the shopping centre, seeing the freedom beyond it and speeding up; only to then feel as his body was suddenly swept up from the floor in one smooth motion, bringing him against a now familiar chest.

He looked up to see the face of Blast, the man staring at him with an unimpressed expression; clearly disappointed in him. 

Garou felt rather sheepish, seeing how the sudden action had garnered the attention of some of the other customers; Blast apparently noticed too as the man began to walk off in the direction of the checkouts, semi-loudly chastising Garou in an attempt to look like a concerned parent.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't run off."

The act worked, and the surrounding people all went back to what they were doing, some with sympathetic stares towards the hero. Garou remained silent, deciding to rest in Blast's arms without putting up a fight, sensing that he was in enough trouble as it was.

They passed through the checkouts and paid without any issues, Blast carrying Garou in one hand and all of the shopping in the other one; gaining some interested looks from some of the women around him. 

Soon after they arrived back at the car, and the hero placed the bags in the boot and Garou in the passenger seat; he was soon joined by Blast, the hero settling down and not turning on the car. Instead he turned to face Garou with a disappointed look.

"I thought we had an agreement."

Garou played with his fingers, feeling almost sulky.

"I did what you asked, you just never said to not run away."

Blast gave a frustrated sigh.

"It's an unspoken rule and you damn well know that."

The key was inserted into the car as the man continued.

"Do you want to go back to the facility? Because the only thing preventing that is me, so what do you think's going to happen if you leave?"

Garou narrowed his eyes at the man, angry now.

"I could make it out, I'm not incapable!"

He got a dark chuckle at his response, Blast grabbing the seatbelt and buckling him in somewhat harshly as the man gave his reply.

"You can't even reach a door."

Frustration welled up in Garou and he went silent, crossing his arms and stewing in his aggravation; Blast was right, he had hit the nail straight on the head, diminishing Garou to what he was now, just a child. 

He wanted to swear and hit the man, but instead just gave Blast the silent treatment, refusing to acknowledge the man's presence; it was bad enough being a child, but now he couldn't really defend himself properly or start a real fight like he usually would.

He didn't want to go back to the facility, but he didn't want to be with the heroes; there was no winning and he felt so frustrated at it all. 

As much as he would like to attack Blast, he knew that the man could easily subdue him and he didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of it all. 

The hero then started up the car, not bothering to speak anymore as they drove out of the parking lot; the man still looking more than annoyed as he took them through the city, seemingly searching for something.

Garou didn't care, he just remained as he was; scowling and pissed off. 

Blast turned up the radio and the two stewed in the agitated air as shitty music played, both refusing to break the tension and both determined to just get the trip over with.

It was another few minutes before the man pulled into a shop that looked like one that held things for children and Garou found himself confused; what the hell were they doing here? 

Blast unbuckled them both and grabbed him, and as much as Garou wanted to claw at or bite the man, he was more determined to just completely ignore the guy; acting as if a swift wind had picked him up instead.

Blast took them into the shop and immediately sought out what looked to be car seats for babies, and Garou eyed them with distaste, knowing that he was going to be forced to sit in one; though perhaps it was for the best as his back was constantly aching in the seat he currently had to sit in, which was designed for an adult body.

They were approached by a store clerk, the man looking slightly meek compared to Blast's tall and built form; the newcomer was pleasant enough as he spoke.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

Blast gestured to Garou.

"I need a baby seat, one that'll fit him."

The worker nodded, gesturing for the man to follow him; Blast did so, trailing after the man over to where a few, admittedly comfy looking, baby seats. 

Garou eyed them with disdain, feeling disgusted that he would need to sit in one of those, but he didn't have too much of a choice so there wasn't much he could do other than listen as the clerk discussed which one would be best for him with the hero.

In honesty, Garou had completely zoned out at one point, not interested at all in the schematics of some stupid seat; but that meant that he was caught completely off guard when he was suddenly lowered into one of them, instinctively grabbing at the closest object so he wouldn't fall. 

Said object turned out to be the cuff of Blast's flannel shirt, so Garou instantly let go the second he realised what had all just happened.

Both the hero and the store clerk looked at him in the chair, and it was definitely awkward for Garou to have that vision towering over him, but the chair was pretty comfortable, if not a bit firm in the back. 

He squirmed about a bit, but it was still quite uncomfortable on his spine, so he pulled an unhappy face and tried to wiggle out of the chair, clearly signifying that he did not like this one; and thankfully, Blast seemed to get the message, pulling him up from the chair and placing him into a different one.

Admittedly, Garou was pretty miffed to have just been placed in another chair instead of taken back into the more comfy arms of the hero; especially as this new chair seemed just as uncomfortable as the last one, but this time it was on his lower back, the hard plastic being too firm on his tailbone. 

So, once again, he started squirming about, just as unhappy as before and this time making a small whining sound.

He didn't outwardly speak as a small attempt to gain some sort of goodwill from Blast, and to not horrify the clerk; even though it would be extremely hilarious. 

The hero once again picked him up out of the chair and Garou was somewhat thankful for it, even if he'd rather just be on the floor. The worker seemed to consider Garou's reaction for a second before bringing them both over to a different set of chairs, gesturing to them before explaining.

"These ones are a bit more expensive, but they are far more cushioned and comfortable; which is better for your child as he seems rather fragile."

Garou wanted to slam the worker's head into the seats and ask why the bastard's skull was so fragile, but he refrained, instead levelling a subtle glare at the man; which went unnoticed thanks to the idiot's eyes being on the hero. 

Blast nodded, then placing Garou into one of the seats and letting him be the judge of if it was good or not; after all he was the only one who was gonna be in it anyway.

And a sad, sad part of Garou found the seat insanely comfortable.

Is this what babies usually felt like? It was as if he was lying on a damn soft and fluffy pillow. 

Don't get him wrong, he despised that he liked it, but damn, this was the comfiest he had been in literal years. 

He wiggled a bit to get the full experience, but found that everywhere was just as soft, almost like a cloud.

Garou remained in the chair without so much as a peep, content to remain in the comfort of the seat, as sad and pride damaging as that thought was to admit. But really, if he had been turned into a three year old, he may as well enjoy whatever comforts that came with it; even if it was just a nice chair. 

And at his acceptance and approval, the clerk smiled and Blast picked Garou back up, taking the chair in his other hand and walking over to the other side of the shop.

For a second it was confusing as to why the man had brought them there, but then Garou saw the multitude of bed frames and realised that the man was looking for a bed for him. 

The worker accompanied them, pointing out some beds and even some cribs despite Garou being three so he would need a small bed instead; but the guy's reasoning was that Garou was smaller than a normal three year old.

A reason that made him want to beat the worker within an inch of their life, but Blast declined before Garou could enact his wishes and picked a plain black bed along with a comfy looking mattress. And soon after, the three of them walked over to the till so Blast could pay for everything.

The worker rang them up and informed Blast that the man could just leave Garou in the seat as he walked back around; so the hero did, placing him back in the chair and buckling him up, which was embarrassing but at least he wasn't being carried everywhere in the man's arms now. 

And quite honestly it was almost fun to be carried around in the chair, like one of those fun park rides he sometimes saw on fliers.

They left the shop and went over to the car, Blast sending the boxed bed frame and mattress through a portal before placing Garou in the car and fiddling about with the seat until he was secured and wouldn't fly out of the window whenever the car put on its brakes. 

Garou didn't complain, both because he actually found it a thousand times better than when he didn't have the seat, and because he was determined to keep ignoring Blast.

He was dreading returning to the hero association, he despised that building so much; but it's where they stayed and he was doomed to return at some point today considering his failed escape attempt. 

And as Blast started driving again, Garou recognized it to be in the direction of the association; however there was one thing that they hadn't done, and that was eat, so when Garou's stomach let out a loud growl, he wasn't all too surprised.

Both of them heard it and Garou felt no shame, the sound essentially signified that Blast was doing a shit job. The vindictive side of him enjoyed that; subtly looking to see that the hero did surprisingly look pretty guilty. 

The man changed course and pulled into a drive thru, ordering some food for the two of them and appearing somewhat regretful at having to indulge in the unhealthy stuff; but Garou was excited for it, his fast metabolism would consume this with ease.

Plus, Bang had never let him eat junk food at the dojo, so it was always a treat.

When they parked, Garou ate his nuggets with joy, feeling at peace for the first time today. Blast appeared to be the same, the man eating his burger with a grateful expression, chewing the food with reverence; a small part of Garou found it funny, but he just focused on his nuggets, eating them with gusto.

"...Still angry?"

Garou didn't bother to look at the hero; still saying nothing, and still determined to ignore the man; Blast sighed at receiving no response, leaning back in his chair with a huff.

"Could we make some sort of deal?"

The thought was intriguing, and while Garou didn't speak to the man, he did look over with a somewhat interested gaze.

"You behave and don't try to run, and at the end of each month, you get to pick something that we have to do; or even a reward or something."

Garou sent the man an unimpressed look, feeling irritated and annoyed; tone sounding as much when he finally gave a response.

"That's not something in my favour."

Blast sighed.

"It's generous considering what you've done, or have you forgotten about the near destruction of the planet?"

Well, that was a fair point. Garou sighed, feeling slightly defeated; he didn't want to be with the heroes, he wanted to be alone, to be an adult. But he had gone against the earth and this was his punishment.

And if he thought about it, Garou could just lie and agree to the terms, it might even lower Blast's guard once again if he did so. Give a false sense of security as he escaped, and hopefully manage to ditch the man this time. 

Garou looked at Blast with a sigh, nodding his head.

"Fine, I agree, whatever."

The man nodded with a somewhat happier look before finishing his food and starting the car up once more, taking them back in the direction of the Hero Association; back in the direction of Garou's least favourite place.

But he had a plan now. It would be a long game, but if he acted right and played his cards correctly then hopefully he could escape and go off on his own. 

Garou would probably head off into the mountains that Bang had once shown him, with rushing waterfalls and raised mountains, a place perfect for him.

Yeah, that would be his new home; but for now he needed to play this game, however long it may be.

At least he had snacks.

It was a few more minutes until Blast started the car again, the hero taking them back to the Association's building; and while Garou wasn't happy about it, at least he had some comfy seating this time.

They arrived back without any issues and Blast did his usual thing before coming to get Garou out of his chair, the man unbuckling him; much to his displeasure. 

Blast picked him up and retrieved the shopping, sending the bags through a portal before joining them, skipping the entire walk through the hallways and stairs, instead landing them straight in the man's apartment. 

Garou looked at the hero with an irritated expression.

"Why couldn't you have done that before?"

Blast smiled.

"It would be lazy, some walking is good, you know?"

Garou rolled his eyes and huffed, once again looking forward to when the man wouldn't be taking care of him; he was losing brain cells by just being near the idiot and that was even more irritating. 

He placed a hand on the hero's cheek, pulling the skin there as he complained.

"Gimme my sweets."

Blast placed the shopping on the kitchen side, plucking Garou's tiny hand from his face and sighing; then walked over to the sofa and plopping Garou down on it, before pointing a disciplinary finger at him.

"Only good kids get treats, and you tried to run, so none for you."

Garou scowled, scooting forward and smacking the man in the forehead with his small hand, then grabbing a fistful of the hero's hair in his hand with determination; pulling the tufts with all the vigour and strength of a three year old. 

Blast tried to pull his hand away but Garou just added his other one, two baby hands doing their best to attack; and then he got an idea, he wiggled himself upwards and climbed on Blast's head, grabbing at the man's face to hold on.

The hero immediately tried to pry him off, but kept failing due to Garou's stubborn grip on his hair and face, like a violent hat that tried to behead its owner.

He clung on with all of his baby strength, hearing Blast struggle underneath him. But apparently the both of them were stubborn as the man still didn't reverse his previous statement, instead soldiering on and returning to the kitchen, packing the shopping whilst Garou remained strapped to his head.

Quite honestly, Garou was almost impressed at the man's resilience, but that didn't stop him from pulling at the hero's mouth and eyelids, determined to get his food; and as the lemon tarts were unpacked, Garou used his Psychokinesis to pick one up and bring it towards him. 

But Blast saw the floating pastry box and grabbed it, so he began sparring with the man as they both fought over the tart; Garou trying to pull it with his Psychokinesis and Blast trying to pull it with his hands.

Garou was still on the man's head like a feral hat, pulling at Blast's face and trying to get his food from the man; meanwhile the hero had one hand on the pastry box and the other trying to pull Garou away by the back of his clothes. Both of them in a battle for the tart and both of them unwilling to lose the battle.

Blast groaned, fighting against all the forces currently opposing him.

"Drop it, you little demon!"

Garou purposefully pulled at the man's eyebrow, making sure the skin stretched as he growled a response back, doubling the effort on his Psychokinesis.

"No, gimme the food, you old geezer!"

The hero also doubled his efforts.

"Thirty-five isn't old!"

Both of them warred on a little longer, but they stopped slightly when there was a knock at the door; however Garou seized the distraction to try and sneak the tart to him, but Blast caught on immediately, the hero once again resuming the fight as he stumbled over to the door. Then opening it to reveal one of the Hero Association workers that Garou actually vaguely recognized, and Blast seemed to also know the man too.

"Ah, hello Sitch."

The hero's words were slightly muffled as Garou's foot pushed against his cheek, using it as a foothold to get closer to the food. 

The newcomer, apparently Sitch, looked both shocked and worried as he took in the visuals of Garou on the hero's head, pulling at both the man's face and hair while Blast tried to pull him away; both of them still trying to get the runaway tart.

"H- hello, Blast. I'm here to p- place that tracking bracelet on Garou?"

At this, Garou's attention was finally caught and he scowled at the man, seeing a small box in Sitch's hands and using his Psychokinesis to bat it away; catching the man off guard and hearing Blast sigh as he welcomed the man in. 

Sitch picked up the box before following after them, having to tighten his hold on it as Garou began using his Psychokinesis on the box in an attempt to be rid of it.

Blast then released the tart, and Garou had a second to feel victorious before the hero grabbed him with both hands and tore him from the man's head, struggling for a second before finally prying Garou off and holding him an arms length away.

Garou couldn't help but let out a childish giggle at seeing the tufts of grey hair he had pulled out along the way, seeing the dark grey hair in his little hand and the small look of defeat on Blast's face as the man looked at the removed hair as well.

The expression made Garou giggle even more, waving the tufts slightly in the hero's face as he did so; the child sounding laughter filling the kitchen. 

It was odd to hear a more high pitched and babyish sounding voice come out, but Garou was a bit too entertained by the situation to care. For a good second or two he even forgot about the tart, but soon remembered and dropped the hair to reach out for his prize; seeing it float towards him invitingly.

However, Blast held him away from the dessert, bringing him over to the sofa before sitting on it and placing Garou on his knee; the man then telling Sitch to put the bracelet on. 

Garou struggled against the grip, but the hero tightened his hold, grabbing Garou's arm and holding it out so the Association idiot could attach a black, metal bracelet. Though Garou was having none of it, squirming and using his Psychokinesis to throw any objects around them at the approaching man.

He had placed the food back on the counter as he did so, not wanting to waste a good tart. But chairs, papers, pens and even the damn table was game, Garou flinging everything he could lift at Sitch with his Psychokinesis, determined to not wear that shitty bracelet.

If that thing was placed on him then he would have no chance of escape!

Blast kept teleporting the thrown items away from the worker, meaning that anything Garou threw never hit the man; and with Blast's adult strength overpowering him, Garou was unable to wiggle away as the bracelet was locked onto his tiny wrist, fitting snugly and in a way that wouldn't come of easily, if at all. 

Once the bracelet was on, Blast finally released him, still having to deflect furniture around the room as Garou was very much still determined to hit one of them.

He growled at Sitch, the man making a noise of fear and taking a few steps backwards, looking rather afraid. But the furniture soon stopped its wayward movement as Garou began to feel drained; the continuous use of Psychokinesis made his body lose its energy a lot faster, eventually coming to a full stop as Garou grew too exhausted to do much more. 

He slumped backwards with a tired huff, resting on Blast's stomach with a tired rage; hearing as Sitch nervously spoke.

"T- this is one of Metal Knight's, it uh- it will track his location at any time and a- anywhere."

Garou hissed, wanting to break the man's arms, but being too tired to do as such. He could only listen as Blast gave a reply, sounding both friendly and tired.

"Thanks, Sitch. It'll be more than useful."

The long events of the day and the usage of his Psychokinesis made Garou's eyes droop, his head subtly falling as he tried to fight the sleepiness.

Damn this shitty body, it couldn't go a few hours of activity or a minute of Psychokinesis before making him want to sleep? Shit, that was so unfair! Is this what all three-year olds were like?

As he head dropped forwards again and his eyelids became increasingly hard to lift, Garou heard Blast speak again, the man sounding full of relief.

"You tired him out, shit, that's brilliant. Thanks again!"

Garou wanted to slap the man so hard that he got reversed too, but he was unable to fight off the sleepiness; his last thoughts being of his precious dessert and the shitty tracker that he would need to find a way to get off of his wrist.  

He was so gonna get Blast for this.

Chapter Text

Garou sat on the sofa with a plate in his hand and a slice of lemon tart, eating the pastry with contentment.

It was early morning, and just as it had been for the past two days, Blast had gone and given him a slice of his beloved treat in order to keep him silent and calm.

Garou would have gotten more of the treat by himself, but the man had bought some locks when they had been shopping and he had locked up the snack cupboard, preventing Garou's Psychokinesis from opening the doors and bringing him all the sweet treats that were locked away in there.

Maybe if his Psychokinesis were a bit stronger, then he could have simply crushed the metal, but as of now rocks and spoons were his limit.

He watched the tv with boredom, occasionally glancing to the side as Blast packed a bag or two that contained some of Garou's clothes and necessities. 

Blast's time to look after him was up, so Garou was being passed onto the next person who needed to care for him for a day or two; Garou didn't know who it was, but they would be a hero regardless so he wasn't looking forward to it too much.

Quite honestly, he would rather just be on his own, but of course that wasn't exactly an option so he decided not to put up a pointless argument; instead just watching as Blast finished packing the bags up, just in time for the door to be flung open with a bang, revealing the green-haired esper behind it, looking as irritated as ever. 

She was accompanied by her sister, Blizzard; the taller woman looked a lot happier than Tornado.

Garou had a bite of lemon tart in his mouth, still unchewed from where he had stopped at the surprise visit; for a split second he wondered why they were here, but then he realised and felt something akin to dread. 

He swallowed the food, digging his fork in the tart for another bit while he watched the adults speak; Blast sounding more than tired as he greeted the sisters.

"Right on time. But could you not break my door?"

The question made the green-haired esper scowl at him, crossing her arms.

"You look like shit."

Garou watched as Blast sighed, the man indeed looking haggard.

"Looking after a baby isn't an easy task."

That was an irking sentence, Garou scowled as he chewed on his food. He wasn't a handful in any way! 

Sure he couldn't sleep all the way through some nights and went to bother Blast for a bit until the man took him back to bed, and sometimes he complained a lot, but Garou figured he was allowed that. 

At least he could use the toilet all by himself, imagining the shame of if he hadn't been able to haunted him some nights.

He refrained from speaking though, too invested in eating to really be bothered to smack the man. But despite such silence, Blast's mention of him had garnered the sister's attention, both women looking over to Garou; one with a look of irritation and one with a smile. 

The taller of the two approached him, a smile on her face as she knelt down by him; Blizzard then spotting the tart and raising an eyebrow before looking over to Blast.

"You're giving him sweets this early in the morning?"

The man gave a sheepish shrug.

"Keeps him calm, and I needed to pack."

Blizzard shook her head and Tornado scowled even more; the sisters both unimpressed, especially the taller of the two, Blizzard standing up once more to check through the bags that had just been packed. 

Garou quickly ate the rest of the food, practically devouring the rest of it in a few seconds as he had a feeling that the women might take it from him, seeing how the green one had been eyeing the food with disdain.

Once he had finished, Blast walked over and took the plate, soon returning with a wet wipe to clean Garou's mouth and hands; the man telling both women of the routines needed as he did so, informing them that there was a list in one of the pockets of the bags that contained information on what Garou would and wouldn't eat or drink.

"Don't feed him at any point after eight pm as he'll be up for the rest of the night, and make sure he naps at some point or it'll be the same."

Garou made a fuss as his face was cleaned, not liking the wetness of the wipe, and doubly not liking that Blast didn't just let him clean himself up; in retaliation he tried to bite the man, but Blast saw it coming and had retracted his arm just in time to avoid the small teeth. 

Immediately after, Garou tried to crawl away, filled with energy from the sugary food and raring to run around for a bit; but Blast soon grabbed him, knowing of the sugar rush that was inbound.

He squirmed in the man's hands as he was placed against Blast's chest, the man then walking over to the women and asking if they had any questions; Garou tried to crawl over Blast's shoulder or onto the man's head, but was continuously pulled back down each time as the adults spoke, Blizzard sounding inquisitive and somewhat serious.

"Is he allergic to anything?"

Blast shook his head.

"No, I asked Bang and he said the kid's fine."

Garou stuck his hand in his mouth, biting down on it slightly in the effort to do something with his boredom and energy.

"He's got a tracker, correct?"

Blast nodded, unblinking as a saliva-coated baby hand slapped onto his cheek.

"Yep, it'll notify you if he strays too far."

Both women looked at the man with concerned expressions, even Tornado appeared to be uneasy, the two espers watching as Garou pulled at Blast's hair, giggling as he did so; the man looked tired, not even bothering to stop Garou's intruding hands as they pulled at his grey hair. 

Blizzard appeared to take sympathy on the man and reached out in a gesture for him to hand Garou over, and Blast did, after a quick word of warning.

"Be careful, he bites."

Blizzard took Garou in her arms with care, and he instantly tried to climb over her shoulder, feeling the need to do something with all his new energy; but alas, the woman's hands dragged him back, making it so he couldn't run rampant. 

There was a click of the tongue from Tornado before the women bid farewell to the man, the green-haired esper using her Psychokinesis to lift the packed bags as they all left; Garou peeked over Blizzard's shoulder, giving a small wave of goodbye to Blast as they left, and seeing the man return the wave with a tired smile.

Garou settled into Blizzard's arms, wondering what was going to happen for the next two days.

Fubuki finished cooking the rice and fish, plating the food into three bowls before walking into the lounge, seeing her sister and Garou at the table; or well, the child was on the table. 

Tatsumaki was showing the baby how to crush solid objects into different forms, both of them currently turning a spoon into a spiral shape.

Garou was doing rather well, managing to get three or four spoons into the set shape before beginning to struggle as he lost his energy; meanwhile, Tatsumaki had around fifteen or so spoons all hovering around her, looking both bored and smug. 

For as much as her sister complained about having to teach Garou, it was clear that Tatsumaki was having fun showing off her power. Plus, Fubuki had pleaded with her enough that her big sister had caved, albeit reluctantly.

"You're sloppy, brat."

Fubuki sighed slightly at her sister's words, listening as Garou replied.

"I'm not ancient like you, so I'm bound to be sloppy."

The two started bickering but halted as Fubuki placed the food on the table, both scowling faces giving her thanks before digging in; Garou having to use a spoon due to his tiny hands not being able to use chopsticks. 

The child was adorable, and it was becoming harder to believe that this was the one who nearly killed them all; who forged an apparent deal with 'God'. She hadn't been informed of it all, but Fubuki knew enough to understand what was going on.

She watched as Garou began to resemble a hamster with food in its cheeks; the child practically inhaling his food and watching the two of them with eyes full of distrust. 

Fubuki knew she should be wary of the Hero Hunter, but she couldn't bring herself to really be truly afraid or uncertain, not from a child.

Blast had appeared haggard when they had come to retrieve Garou, the man having looked as if he hadn't slept for days. Though perhaps he hadn't, babies were known to keep adults up after all; and Garou seemed the type of child to do such a thing, even as cute as he was.

Fubuki was honest enough with herself to know that she already found the Hero Hunter far too cute for words; and that she would be absolutely showering the little one with gifts, regardless of if Garou was a literal criminal. 

Those wide yellow eyes and cute white tufts of hair only made her want to spoil him, even if her sister wouldn't be impressed by her weakness. But with any luck, Tatsumaki would also hopefully grow somewhat of a soft spot for him too.

Her musing was cut short at the sound of Garou yawning, accompanied by the sight of his eyes drooping slightly.

Fubuki was reminded that Blast had instructed them to give the child a midday nap, lest they wanted to be awoken by the baby during the night. So she finished the last of her dish and picked Garou up, feeling as he tried to push away and escape, but tightening her hold slightly so such a thing couldn't happen; soon entering the spare room and placing Garou down in his little makeshift crib.

She knew that three-year olds weren't really supposed to be in a crib, but this one was as big as a normal child's bed so it wouldn't go against any childcare tips or rules; Fubuki had just wanted the guard rails so the little one wouldn't fall and injure himself if he was the type of baby to roll around as he slept.

It was the best type of bed on the market, Fubuki had made completely sure of that, wanting to spoil the cute little baby; though she would never tell Garou as much, knowing the child may take offence to such soft treatment.

Fubuki placed Garou down on the soft mattress, making sure to hold him at an angle that wouldn't place any strain on his neck; then tucking the child in and watching with a small, barely hidden smile as Garou rolled around in an attempt at rebellion for a few seconds before accepting the soft sheets and being unable to fight the sleepiness tugging at his body. 

Garou's breaths soon evened out, the previous tired scowl on his face turning into a relaxed one. She took a picture, sending it to Bang with a smile, knowing the hero would appreciate such a cute image of his adoptive son.

Bang had never referred to Garou with such a familial title, but it was obvious to her that that's what the older man considered Garou as.

To be honest it was obvious to anyone who looked at the pair for more than a few seconds; as much as the two themselves would probably never admit such a thing out loud. 

Fubuki raised the blankets a little higher before turning the lights off and closing the door to the room, heading back into the lounge where her sister was waiting; the woman looking unimpressed.  

"You're acting like some doting mother, it's disgusting."

Fubuki stood across from Tatsumaki, picking up the dirty dishes with an unbothered expression, not minding the harsh words; knowing that her sister was just looking out for her.

"I can't just leave him alone or beat him or starve him, that would be cruel."

Tatsumaki huffed in irritation, crossing her arms.

"The brat nearly killed us all, he isn't innocent."

Fubuki placed the dishes in the dishwasher, replying as she closed the machine's door.

"And he's been turned into a child and tortured by the facility, sis; Garou's paid his dues, at least enough to be given some care."

Her sister remained silent at that, the expression of irritation remaining on her face but this time with a near unnoticeable tinge of underlying softness to it this time; the papers Blast had given them to read through no doubt flooding through her mind, perhaps even reminding Tatsumaki of her own time as a child in the facility. 

Fubuki pulled out her ace in the hole and retrieved a candy apple from the fridge, bringing it over to her sister with a smile.

"Thank you for teaching him, if even only a little."

Tatsumaki took the offering with a huff, digging in without another word; the two of them watching the tv as they passed the time, and Fubuki soon pulling out her phone for an hour or so to check on the Blizzard group and to see what the online shops were offering in the way of clothes or jewellery. 

Though her browsing was soon halted as an alert sounded out, informing her of a monster that needed putting down by a rank B hero.

She stood up, donning her coat and sending out a message for someone to come pick her up; only for Tatsumaki to suddenly gain an interest in where she was going and what she was doing. And when Fubuki informed her sister of the alert, the reaction given was one she had expected.

"I'll go deal with it."

Fubuki sighed at the words.

"No, sis, you're supposed to be taking care of Garou."

She continued before Tatsumaki could blow off her response.

"And I need to do some work, or I could lose my rank."

Finally her sister gave an aggravated sigh before donning a serious expression.

"Be back within an hour or I'll come looking."

Fubuki nodded in agreement, knowing Tatsumaki would know the instant she got into any trouble and come zooming over to obliterate whatever monster it was. 

She left her apartment, praying to the gods that her sister wouldn't do anything to Garou while she was gone. Fubuki didn't think it was likely, but if the child woke up and said the wrong thing then it might cause her sister to do some damage.

Ah, she would just need to sort this monster out as fast as she could.

Tatsumaki floated in the middle of the lounge, counting each second that her sister wasn't safe in the apartment with her.

She fully planned to have some harsh words with Blast, the man having completely disrupted everyone's lives just for some stupid brat that had tried to kill them all. 

Of course, she did understand the man's reasonings to an extent, but why couldn't he have assigned someone else besides the S-classes to look after the brat? Or at least, anyone but her, and by extension, Fubuki.

It was disturbing enough to see her beloved sister look after the Hero Hunter, but seeing the way she fawned over him made Tatsumaki beyond irritated. If her sister had wanted to fawn over something then she should have gotten a damn dog or cat; hell, even a bird or some shit. Anything other than a literal criminal.

The damn brat hadn't even had the decency to stay as a teenager, he had gone and gotten transformed into a baby that couldn't do much for himself without Psychokinesis; god forbid what would have happened if the kid hadn't retained anything at all, just being a useless little thing that would walk around and bother her sister more with all the inconveniences a child had. 

And even worse, the only reason the brat even had any power was because he had copied hers!

And now Fubuki wanted her to teach him how to use her power even more, which was a slap to the face; but she had never really been able to deny her little sister anything, Fubuki meant everything to her so Tatsumaki would do as she asked, even if it annoyed her on a spiritual level.

Her musing was cut off by a noise from the spare room, causing her to look in it's direction, seeing nothing but hearing the noise of metal ever so slightly rattling.

She huffed, remembering that she was technically supposed to be caring for the brat, and began to fly over to the direction of the room; opening the door and turning on the light to see the tiny white-haired child attempting to defy the metal bars that kept him in the crib, struggling to climb over them and continuously dropping back down onto the soft mattress whenever he failed. 

The determination was something, but it was not enough and the metal bars kept winning.

Tatsumaki sighed, floating over to the crib and peering over at the child, seeing yellow eyes full of irritation staring back at her, still with the slight hint of tiredness to them.

They stared down at one another, both with irritation and the tiniest amount of underlying curiosity; out of the two of them, Tatsumaki was the first to speak, making sure to sound smug.

"Struggling there, brat?"

Garou narrowed his eyes.

"Not as much as you seem to be."

She raised an eyebrow, confused as to what the jab had meant; but didn't have to wait long as Garou stood up once more, grabbing the bars of his crib for stability as he continued.

"I never imagined such a self-proclaimed powerful hero would be waiting around like a sad little dog for her sister to return."

Tatsumaki scowled, replying with her own venom.

"And I didn't think the Hero Hunter would be incapable of climbing over such a tiny gate."

For her words she also got a scowl, the two sending some sharp glares to one another as Garou deemed to give a response.

"You act as if you wouldn't be just as useless without your Psychokinesis."

The words were sharp and struck a nerve somewhere deep within her, causing Tatsumaki's scowl to falter slightly, her air of superiority doing much the same, if only for the slightest of seconds. 

She returned the scowl to her face, but the yellow eyes had clearly caught the slip up, even if Garou didn't continue on with his point; perhaps knowing not to push anything to a point where he could potentially get damaged.

"And if I didn't have my power, where would that leave you?"

Her rebuttal caused the child's face to harbour a more relaxed expression, Garou's small form giving her a somewhat nonchalant shrug.

"It would leave me as a helpless child, simple as that."

They stared one another down for a few more seconds before Tatsumaki used her Psychokinesis to lift the brat out of his crib and onto the floor, then flying off back into the lounge to continue her counting; waiting for Fubuki to return safely. 

Her little sister had only around forty more minutes before she was due to return, so it shouldn't be too long now. 

However as Garou walked into the room, Tatsumaki had a feeling that these forty minutes would feel like a decade.

She watched as the child climbed up onto the sofa, soon beginning to watch the tv with an air of boredom, looking as unimpressed as anything; the two of them continuing to ignore one another's company for the next few minutes as they both stared at the tv screen with disinterest. 

Tatsumaki remained in the air and the brat on the sofa, both bored and unwilling to be in one another's presence; though that very same boredom soon started a conversation, beginning with Garou's snarky words.

"Do you always hover so you don't feel small? Or is it because you want to be above everyone else?"

Tatsumaki gave him a harsh glare, letting her power flow through the room just a bit more as she responded.

"I fly so that those around me know that I am capable of protecting what I want to, and killing those that get in my way."

Garou met her gaze once more, his yellow eyes seemingly unphased by the barely veiled threat; and his voice was just as unbothered as he responded.

"I suppose that's respectable, in an odd way."

The words had been unexpected, and Tatsumaki's curiosity peaked just a little bit.

"Those words don't seem like they would come from a Hero Hunter."

The brat sighed at her words, looking back to the tv in boredom once more.

"I may despise heroes, but I can understand wanting to protect those you care about, even if only a little bit."

He then looked down at his small hands, seemingly looking almost sad.

"And I'm not a Hero Hunter any more, just a child that can't even open doors without help."

The self awareness was almost shocking, and Tatsumaki actually found she could almost sympathise the tiniest amount; seeing how Garou looked defeated at the admittance of his weakness, tiny body sagging with the weight of all he had lost in the span of a single second. 

She still didn't like him, but to the smallest extent she did understand the feeling of being trapped and unable to save yourself with your own power.

Perhaps he was more human than he had ever liked to admit, but Tatsumaki wouldn't pretend to understand the brat, knowing it would be useless and rather out of her depth to do so. But perhaps she could offer them both a bit of distraction from their own, more weak, thoughts.

"Go get some spoons, brat. I'll show you how to make a needle."

Garou let the silver cutlery hover in the air, willing the metal to become sharper and more deadly, just as Tornado was doing.

It was difficult to do so, but slowly and surely he was doing it, the spoon becoming narrowed and more pointed; bending to his will and turning into something it had never once meant to be. 

The spoon soon turned into exactly what he had wanted it to look like, soon dropping into his hands so he could hold it up to the other esper for examination, seeing how she observed it for a few seconds before nodding and showing him her own.

"Try to make it thinner next time."

She then huffed.

"But good job, I suppose."

Garou smiled slightly, grabbing another spoon and setting about turning it into a needle, this time a thinner one.

He didn't like to admit it, but Tornado was actually somewhat pleasant to be around. She was an uptight and rude person, but she was also honest; and Garou liked that, it was a nice change to the heroes who chose to lie and hide things in order to climb up the ladder of labels and numbers. 

He would rather die than tell her that, but he could secretly think it; knowing her ego didn't need to be boosted any further.

It also helped that she treated him like an adult, beside the jabs at his form and height, she bickered with intelligence and acted as if he were just as grown as any other man. It was a nice change from her sister who babied him, or from Blast who tried to act the same as Tornado but ended up treating him like a child anyway. 

Regardless, Garou was at the very least happy to be learning how to control his powers from the very person he had copied it from, even if she was a strict teacher.

"Thanks for taking the collar off of me."

His words got Tornado to glance at him from where she was forming her spoon into a bunch of random shapes; the woman replying in a nonchalant tone.

"It's fine, you can owe me once you've gotten more control."

Garou nodded with a roll of his eyes, going back to forming the spoon as he spoke again; another question forming.

"Hey, why's your hair like seaweed?"

Tornado huffed.

"I don't have seaweed hair you little shit."

Garou side-eyed her, raising his eyebrow.

"I mean, it's green and wavy; that's seaweed in my book."

A huff was sent his way, Tornado becoming snarky.

"So by that logic, were your parents snowmen?"

Garou laughed, finding the comparison rather funny; if not a bit out there. 

The spoon was soon formed into a thinner version of the previous one and he showed it to the esper, seeing her intense gaze examining the thinner metal; soon looking back up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Better, now try making two at the same time."

He nodded, setting about doing the task with no complaints, actually finding that he was enjoying himself; even if his energy was going down slightly from the use of his Psychokinesis. Garou focused on the spoons, but still asked another question; albeit absentmindedly.

"Do you have any snacks?"

From the corner of his eyes, he could see as Tornado shrugged.

"Probably, but Blast and Fubuki have already spoiled you enough. Especially Blast letting you run loose in the kitchen."

Garou huffed.

"Blast's got locks on everything, he gave me snacks of his own free will; there’s no running loose with him."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Why not just crush the locks then?"

Garou sent her a deadpan look.

"I can barely shape spoons, nevermind crush big ass locks."

There was a sort of scheming look on the esper's face now, the woman looking as if she were planning something; soon rising from where she was sitting next to him on the sofa and gesturing for him to follow. 

And while Garou wouldn't ever take orders from a hero, he was curious enough to follow Tornado, seeing her bring them to a room and foraging through the cupboards until finding a few scratched up locks; a mischievous smile on her face as she tossed one to Garou.

"Here, I'll show you how."

Garou couldn't help the look of surprise that came to his face.

"Why?"

Tornado kept the same mischievous look on her face as she responded,

"Because I need to get back at Blast for him springing you on us."

That could be taken as an insult, but Garou just grinned back, deciding that he maybe might just like Tornado just a little bit. The two of them returning to the sofa with a newfound sense of vengeance, both finding it funny to mess with Blast's already cracking psyche. 

In an odd sense, Garou couldn't wait to get back with the man so he could bring even more torment upon him, it was a lot of fun after all; the most fun he could get out of the situation he had found himself in, doubly so as he still needed to return the favour for the tracking bracelet.

Tornado set about pointing at the weak points of the locks, informing him of the best spots to pinpoint and apply pressure to in order to crush or break the metal into pieces; demonstrating on a couple to get the full lesson across. 

And of course, Garou listened intently, paying full attention to what she was saying and doing; soon copying her and doing as she said, using his Psychokinesis to break open the lock.

And even if he did fail the first few times, he was determined to get his revenge.

To say that Fubuki was in a rush was an understatement.

She had been given an hour to take care of the monster and return, but she had lost track of time as the monster proved to be a little more difficult than first thought; meaning that she was ten minutes late, and that meant that Tatsumaki was going to be either furious, or on her way to then be furious at her.

Either way, it was nothing good.

She ran up the stairs to her apartment, being the most frazzled she had been since the whole Monster Association incident; dreading the lecture she was no doubt going to get from her big sister. 

The Blizzard group had not really understood her stress completely, they had all been concerned, but were still completely unaware of the child Fubuki had left sleeping in his cot with Tatsumaki; oh she really hoped that her sis hadn't done anything to Garou.

Fubuki reached her door, now eleven minutes late and practically kicking the door to her apartment down, bursting through it in a rush of energy and speeding down the short hallway; hearing some voices coming from the lounge, but not angry sounding ones, more ones that resembled a light conversational tone.

She slowed down slightly, confused as she heard Tatsumaki sounding calm.

"That point there, push down on it."

Then there was a slight metallic noise, followed by Garou's voice, tone sounding borderline excited.

"I broke it!"

She raised an eyebrow, entering the lounge to see the two surrounded by spoons and locks, Tatsumaki next to Garou; her sister smiling slightly at the broken lock that Garou was happily holding up to her, the child looking pleased with himself. 

Fubuki approached, trying to hide her exaggerated breaths from having run up a few flights of stairs; watching as the two turned to her with smug looks.

"What's happening here then?"

Her question was met with her sister's sly grin and crossed arms.

"I'm sending a gift back to Blast, for all the trouble he's given us."

Well, that was ominous.

Fubuki stood in front of the two, observing the crushed locks and mischievous smiles; feeling sorry for Blast. 

She sighed, at the very least feeling happy that her sister must have lost track of time too, meaning that Fubuki might just be off the hook.

She took the lock from Garou's hands, smiling in confused approval.

"Well done, are you hungry?"

The child nodded, causing her to take out her phone and hand it to him.

"Here, pick what restaurant you'd like to visit."

Garou's expression became one of surprise, but soon turned into one of excitement as he searched through the phone, scanning for any good looking places to eat. 

Fubuki smiled at the enthusiasm, seeing how her sister also looked at the phone and pointed at a few good options; the two bickering for a few minutes until finally deciding on a place and showing Fubuki, a nice restaurant that specialised in ramen.

She nodded in agreement, then booked a spot before picking Garou up and setting about preparing the child for the trip out; preparing some clothes while he showered and cleaned up, then helping him dress back into another onesie she had ordered him. 

It was exactly the same wolf one as before, she had just ordered a bunch of them so he could always have a clean one to wear; it was mainly because the child looked so adorable in it that she hadn't ordered any different ones.

The three of them were all soon dressed and ready for the restaurant, Garou in his cute little wolf onesie, and Fubuki and Tatsumaki in a pair of nice black dresses; of course Fubuki was still wearing her fur coat over her shoulders. 

Garou didn't even struggle as she held him; the child excited to go out and eat.

The car awaited them all as they left the building and Fubuki saw the shocked looks of the Blizzard group as they took in her holding the baby, reminding her that she would need to explain that she was just looking after him, and that he was not her son. 

But alas, she couldn't get a word out before one of them spoke up, pointing at Garou and looking as shocked as the rest of the group.

"Miss- Miss Fubuki, is that child...?"

She shook her head, giving Lily a calm expression as she replied.

"No, I'm simply looking after him for a short while."

Her subordinates all breathed a sigh of relief, not even attempting to be even the slightest bit subtle about it. Fubuki sighed and Tatsumaki scowled, her big sister opening the door with her Psychokinesis and ushering Fubuki in, the three of them settling down for the small car ride.

As the car set off,  Fubuki and Tatsumaki shared a conversation; meanwhile she could feel Garou's small hands playing around with her necklace, the baby being fascinated with the pearls, even occasionally biting at them. 

Fubuki found it more cute and amusing than anything, knowing that babies were prone to doing such things.

And even though Garou was technically eighteen, the papers from the facility had mentioned that Garou's brain was still retaining some of his more child-like tendencies to it. Meaning that while the child had the sentience of his eighteen-year old self, he still retained the type of thoughts and tendencies a child his age would have; such as needing naps, biting objects or even waking adults in the night. 

Time reversal was a funny thing though, so perhaps there was even more to it that they still didn't yet know.

Garou had apparently decided that his hands were of more interest than her necklace, the baby beginning to nibble at his fingers and finding great amusement at doing so. 

Fubuki smiled at the child on her lap, cradling him in a way that was comfortable for him; Blast had given them a car seat, but she found it more fun to hold the baby and watch as he was entertained by his own hands and her necklace.  

They reached the restaurant with little problems, all seating themselves and looking at the menus; eventually deciding on what they wanted and then settling down to wait for their orders. 

One waitress had brought over a colouring book for Garou, and at first he had rejected the idea of it but had then decided that it might be fun to do so, never having gotten to do such a thing the last time he had been three. 

Which was a weird sentence, but these were odd times he supposed.

The Witch sisters were chatting about the Monster Association and Psykos, apparently planning an abduction of sorts; but Garou wasn't overly interested in it, after all it's not as if any of it pertained to him. 

And if he was honest he had completely forgotten about Psykos, the weird fleshy pink thing having no importance to him any longer; though from what he was hearing, the pink blob was actually a woman underneath it all, so that was something.

Eventually their food arrived, and Garou dug into his ramen with abundant reverence, eating with as much grace as he could but still shovelling the food into his mouth before anyone could take it from him or try to eat it themselves. 

The ramen was nice, but this place was pretty high class so he supposed it was to be expected; it was great and he was content to just eat and listen as the sisters quietly discussed their plans.

And while they spoke of their plans, he decided to think of his own.

With these two, he couldn't escape; but perhaps with a different hero he could, maybe Metal Bat or Tank Top Master. However the main issue was the tracking bracelet, if he didn't get that off then any escape attempts would fail miserably anyways.

So first, remove the bracelet; and second, escape a lesser hero.

Easier said than done but whatever, he could do it.

Probably.

Garou finished his food, sighing with contentment and deciding to drink his milkshake as he listened to the sisters talk, eyes vigilant and ears curious as they spoke about the Hero Association's defences and the backlash of the hidden abduction plot. 

Though his obvious eavesdropping was soon picked up on and Tornado narrowed her eyes at him; then speaking in a threatening tone.

"Something interesting to you, brat?"

He took another sip of his milkshake before pointing at her face.

"Yeah, the sauce on your face."

Tornado scowled and Blizzard quickly set about washing the red sauce off of the woman's face, a small smile of amusement on the taller woman's face as she did so. 

Garou saw a few other patrons eyes on them, particularly the sisters as some people even whispered, he hoped none of them thought that either of the women were his mother or some shit; he had already gone through that with Blast, and once was enough.

"Well that's all in order. So what would you like to do tomorrow, Garou?"

Blizzard’s voice drew him out of his musing and he shrugged, not really caring too much.

"I dunno, maybe going for a walk or something."

The woman's expression lit up and she clapped her hands together in excitement, causing him some worry at the sudden enthusiasm.

"Yes, and we can all go shopping!"

Garou shook his head in a desperate attempt at refusal, but Blizzard seemed to be in her own world now, listing all her favourite spots and smiling as she did so, soon grabbing her phone to write out all the places to go.

And surprisingly Tornado didn't seem bothered in the slightest by the mention of a shopping trip, the woman instead looking as if she was used to such a thing. It made Garou concerned as he remembered all the bags that had shown up during the S-class meeting.

And as he looked at both women talking about the different spots to visit, he found himself dreading tomorrow.

It's not that he hated shopping, it just felt stupid to spend so much money on random clothes that probably wouldn’t survive a fight or two. Why were clothes even that expensive anyway? It was completely idiotic. 

He groaned, listening to Blizzard go on about the cute clothes she would get him. 

Garou didn’t find her as annoying as he thought he would, but whenever new clothes were mentioned he shivered.

Well...now he was just dreading tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

"Oh you're so cute in that!"

Garou wished to die.

First, he spends ages becoming a monster, dying multiple times to become that which would cause the world to come together in an effort to defeat him. 

Second, he gets nearly consumed by some sort of cosmic being and he can’t even remember it. 

Third, all his work was put straight to shit via one random punch. 

Fourth, he gets turned into a child. And now he was in a shop, with loads of people, wearing a fox onesie and being fawned over.

Had he not already suffered enough?

He supposed that, at the very least, he was beyond thankful that Tornado wasn't here; her hero duties or whatever apparently calling, though in his opinion he bets that she just didn't want to care for him. 

Hell, he couldn't blame her, and it's not like he wanted her to be here anyway; but at least she wouldn't have played dress-up with him.

Garou's face was red with embarrassment as he looked at himself in the mirror, seeing at just how far he had fallen.

Blizzard soon tossed the onesie into the 'keep pile’, but at this point it was becoming more of a mountain than a pile; and boy did it look daunting, Garou eying it with distaste.

"Here, what about this one?"

At the sound of the woman's voice, he looked over to where Blizzard was holding up a shirt with a picture of a cartoon bear holding up a peace sign; the design made him feel absolutely disgusted and Garou scowled at the clothing.

"If you try to put that on me, I'll bite your fingers off."

The woman looked between him and the shirt with a critical expression before nodding and throwing it towards the 'discard pile’.

"Mhm, the colours wouldn't match anyways."

Garou sighed once more, feeling a sense of relief at not having to wear such a monstrosity; but his relief was soon cut short when the esper pulled out her next pick, the clothes being a bunny onesie. 

It was white in colour and did admittedly look rather comfortable, but Garou bristled at the sight of it just as a cat would. He did his best attempt to struggle, but alas, Blizzard had more strength and soon wrestled him into it.

"Oh that's just the sweetest!~"

He felt like crying.

And what was worse? Blizzard's fawning had caused some other customers to stop what they were doing and start staring; a few of them even approaching to also fawn over Garou too, only spurring the hero on even more. 

Some even mistook Blizzard for his mother, but at least the woman had the decency to quickly correct them, unlike some other people that shall not be mentioned.

Garou pulled the hood of the onesie over his face in embarrassment as the fifteenth old lady came over to congratulate Blizzard for having 'such a cute son' . She of course corrected them, but the pain of it never left him, hurting on a damn near spiritual level. 

He needed to get out of the damn shop, but every time he had asked the woman had always said 'just one more outfit'.

That had been around twenty outfits ago.

He needed a strategy, but threats and irritation weren't working, the woman just being too enthusiastic about the next outfit for him to get through to her; so he had two options, run for it or be nicer. 

While he would love to run, the shop was full of people that all knew he was there and would raise the alarm; not to mention, Blizzard hadn't let him out of her sight once and he had a damn tracking bracelet on, so he was royally fucked on the escape route.

So being nice it was.

Or well, maybe not nice, but more pleading? Put on a good act or something and potentially get something out of it as he did so.

Garou mentally readied himself before gripping Blizzard's sleeve with a sort of desperation that couldn't be faked, then looking into the woman's curious gaze with a pleading expression, knowing that he wasn't really acting for that either. 

Huh, maybe he really was just begging at this point.

"Can we do something else, please?"

Perhaps it was his pleading expression or the onesie that was enhancing it, but Blizzard instantly picked him up and gave him a slight hug, even cooing slightly as she agreed to his request; soon lowering him so that he was being carried in the usual spot, then staring at him with what could only be described as kind eyes.

"Of course, what would you like to do?"

Garou thought for a second, deciding that anything would be better and picking the one thing he had not done in a while.

"Is there a library or book shop close by?"

Blizzard smiled, thinking for a second before nodding.

"Yes, about ten minutes away; I'll go pay for these and we'll go there."

She then used her Psychokinesis to pick up both her clothes pile and Garou's, bringing them over to the till and not minding all the stares she was receiving. 

Garou had noticed that she hadn't changed him out of the bunny onesie, but he had just finally escaped the clothing changes so he wasn't about to bring it up; simply choosing to stay quiet as the hero paid for everything, being positively horrified at the amount of money being spent.

He forgot how loaded heroes were, even having lived with one for years he hadn't really ever seen Bang spend any money as the old geezer was rather frugal. That, and Garou had never actually seen the man in a shop. 

Sometimes, Bang was really just a kind of mystical being that occasionally returned to the dojo with a bag full of food; one that Garou usually devoured within a day or two, his metabolism requiring him to consume a bunch of food, much to the rest of the dojo's disappointment.

Though he had a sneaking suspicion that the old man had only ever really brought the food for him, even if Garou had received a chop or two on his head when he had been caught eating at an, admittedly, late hour. 

It had never stopped him from his midnight snacking, but it did make him better at keeping an ear out for Bang's footsteps on the creaky wooden dojo floors; even if the old man was one sneaky bastard, so his attentiveness never mattered much anyway.

Blizzard soon took them out of the shop, her underlings taking all of the bags for her as she carried Garou back into her car; entering the vehicle with grace and settling down for the short trip to the book shop, her group bending to her every whim as she moved. 

He wondered if she ever got annoyed by them all following her and asking what she wanted or needed every other second; hell, Garou got annoyed by it and it had only been a couple hours.

He played with her necklace as they drove, finding the pearls to be extraordinarily entertaining for some reason, his childish mind feeling the need to bite down on the pearlescent items; and as he munched on the probably expensive jewellery, Garou had to admit that he was rather grateful to Blizzard for allowing him to do such a thing, the woman looking more amused than anything else.

For as much as Garou wanted to despise the woman, she had been nice to him despite all he had done, and that was odd to him; so much so that he actually found that he was starting to like the woman, enough for him to have sat through that whole dress-up situation anyway. 

Or at least the beginning of it, the rest had been rather against his will.  

He finished chewing on Blizzard's jewellery, instead pulling away and looking up at the woman with a curious stare, deciding to ask her a question he had been rather curious about earlier.

"Don't you get annoyed at your underlings constantly bothering you?"

Blizzard looked at him for a second or two before shaking her head with a smile.

"No, not really. They care for me and I care for them; all of the group mean a lot to me."

Garou hadn't really expected such an answer, finding himself to be rather stumped at having been given such a response. 

Sure, it was a sweet answer, but he wasn't fooled; in the end they probably only cared for one another to help stay high in the ranks, that was all that heroes cared for in the end.

After all, even Bang had picked the heroes over him.

Garou stopped talking, deciding he would rather be quiet and fiddle around with Blizzard's hand for the rest of the trip; finding entertainment in simply playing with her fingers. 

He didn't know why, but it was fun to him, perhaps it was his more childlike brain shining through? Either way it kept him entertained for the short trip so that was what really mattered in the end.

They left the car and entered the library, ready to go search for some good books. Or at least, Garou was, it had been a long while since had been given the option to just chill and read some nice novels or informatic books; he had been hero hunting for more than a year so settling down in a library or shop hadn't really been an option during that time, but that meant that he was really looking forward to it.

Blizzard took them in, the woman directing them to the middle of the library before asking Garou which section he wanted to visit; of which he didn't yet know, so he looked around for a minute or two, eventually spotting some nature books and deciding that he would start there.

"Over there."

He got a smile and a nod from the woman before she took them over there, then placing Garou down so he could search for whatever book he wanted; Blizzard sat down on one of the close-by seats, going on her phone as he looked around.

Garou didn't find too many that were interesting, there were plant ones and ones about space but none that he actually found interesting; until of course he did eventually find one that contained information on bugs, one that reminded him of his childhood a little bit. 

Even though that wasn't exactly a good thing in of itself, he did find interest in it, seeing the different types of butterflies and moths on the cover made him want to at least check out the inside a little.

He opened it, scanning through the contents with interest, seeing the different images and species all on the different parts of the paper; the colours and information being of great entertainment to him. 

He remembers that he used to read these when he was last a child, but had lost interest in favour of learning from Bang instead, the old man's abilities causing Garou to have a change in where he wanted his attention to go.

Highly worth it in his opinion, even if he could have probably still made time for his other activities had he been willing enough to; but no, Garou had been obsessed with fine-tuning himself into a weapon to use against heroes.

An hour or two passed and he became lost in the many books, creating a small stack of ones he found interesting and sitting by Blizzard to read; the woman seemingly happy enough to scroll through her phone instead. 

They were both silent, lost in their own worlds of information, the rest of the library was just as quiet and it allowed for more focus; both unneeding to start any sort of conversation, though Garou felt the woman's eyes on him occasionally.

Though their peace couldn't last forever, and Garou suddenly heard a loud chirping noise coming from Blizzard's phone, the woman gaining a serious expression on her face as she quickly bent down and picked him up off the floor causing him to drop the book in his hand.

"Oi, the hell are you doing?"

His words of irritation got him a small smile from the woman and she gently patted his head, seemingly trying to console him.

"There's a monster close by, so I'll have to go deal with it."

She then got outside to where her subordinates had apparently been waiting for them this whole time; which was almost creepy if you asked him, but they were there and he was suddenly passed off to them by Blizzard, the woman ordering for them to keep him safe whilst she worked.

They all bowed, and the hero took the car to quickly get to her destination, meanwhile Garou was left with her goons, having to cringe as he listened to them all gush about how brilliant the hero was. Though Garou did still try to escape as he wriggled in the arms of the person who held him, determined to get free and biting the hand that tried to stop him from doing so.

His actions earned him a swift imprisonment in the second car that they had brought, the sound of the lock clicking along with some irritated tongues of the goons around him, blocking him off from the outside world as he remained trapped in the damn vehicle.

Garou banged his tiny hands against the windows, hurling curses and glares at the people outside, seeing them eye both him and one another wearily as he did so; but they didn't deem to free him or even tell him to be quiet, in fact they just kinda ignored his existence

completely, right up until something apparently caught their eye and they all ran off together, seemingly agitated.

A fact that caused Garou to only call louder as he tried to break free, not wanting to be stuck in a stupid car all alone.

Wasn't it bad to leave children alone in a car?!

Well, he wasn't a child of course, but the facts remained the same; keeping anyone in a car was probably bad, right? 

Garou stopped his angry yelling for a second as he held his chin in thought. Even though he had never really taken public transport or cars in his life, he was pretty sure that keeping people in them was a bad thing, at least against their will; which is currently what was definitely happening.

But then, what else did he expect from heroes?

Garou sighed, slumping down in his seat as he accepted the fact that he wasn't going to be able to escape, at least not as of right now. Instead it might just be better to wait for Blizzard to return and yell at her when she did, despite how irritated it made him to admit such a defeat, he kind of had to as his baby strength wasn't getting him anywhere.

So he waited, and waited, and waited, the time appearing to span for hours, though he knew it was probably just a few minutes; his boredom spanning the time even slower, causing him to roll around the car, crawling over the seats and eventually coming to a stop as he lay face down in the backseat, bored out of his mind; saying as much as he let out his words into the car seat, hearing them come out as muffled.  

"I'm bored..."

He sighed, but then raised his eyebrow as the car shook slightly, wondering if Blizzard had returned, only to suddenly hear surrounding screams and running footsteps; causing him to look up to see what was going on, only to see that there was a large monster right outside the car, looking like some overgrown lizard. 

The sight caused Garou to freeze for a second before he rolled into the foothold, out of sight of the thing that was there.

Well shit, this was decidedly not good. Where in the fuck was Blizzard?! Wasn't she the one who was supposed to be dealing with such things?

Garou curled up, making himself as small as possible as he felt the floor vibrate from the monster’s footsteps outside, praying that it wouldn't think to check out the car; hating himself for even having to hide in the first place.

How far he'd fallen, huh?

Garou sighed, deciding it might be better to be self-deprecating once there wasn't a monster right outside that could potentially kill him, one that seemed rather close for comfort; its loud breathing sounding like rasps, far too close to where Garou was hiding.

And then there was a scraping sound and the car rocked slightly, causing Garou to silently curse, feeling more annoyed than anything that the monster had chosen to investigate the car rather than the many buildings and screaming people around them. He sighed again, what was his luck?!

The car rocked again, and there was a loud scratching noise as the door to the car was suddenly torn off, revealing Garou to the monster that had seemingly sniffed him out and causing him to make a squeaking noise out of shock; only to cover his mouth as embarrassment overwhelmed him from making such a noise, cursing his child body once more for even allowing him to create it, especially as it seemed to make the monster oddly happy.

It tilted its head at him, a wide toothy smile and reptilian eyes locking on to where he was staring at the thing in shock. Though the tiny standoff only lasted a second before the monster spoke, sounding both raspy and pleased.

"A child, alone? Perfect!"

Despite it being a rather tense moment, Garou pulled a face of disgust, pointing at the massive lizard and calling out, making sure his revulsion was known.

"Ew, you some kind of pervert?"

The monster's eyes widened and it seemed to gasp, sounding offended as it replied.

"N-No, I just meant you'll be easy prey!"

Garou stood up and crossed his arms, keeping his face of disgust.

"That's even worse, you're totally some weirdo!"

Once again the lizard sounded offended, pointing back as it seemed to slightly panic at the accusation.

"NO! I'm a lizard that was thrown away by ungrateful children, and I spent years growing in the sewers to finally get my revenge and show the world that lizards-"

Garou let out a loud booing sound, beginning to repeatedly point his finger and yell out, cutting off the lizard everytime the thing tried to get a word in.

"I didn't ask for your life story, pervert!"

The two of them continued like that for another minute or two, Garou accusing the monster, and the monster trying to defend his honour, simultaneously trying to get his life story out as he hissed and began to growl at being treated like a heathen; suddenly snapping and yelling at Garou, practically screaming at the top of his lungs as he pointed back, looking seriously pissed.

"I'M NOT A PERVERT!"

Silence brewed between them, only filled by the monster's heavy breathing as he tried to catch his breath from all the arguing; meanwhile Garou took the moment to glance around, trying to see if any damn heroes were here yet as he couldn't stall the monster for much longer as even the lowest iq would catch on eventually to what he was doing. 

But unfortunately the place was empty aside from him and the monster, causing Garou to pale somewhat as the monster spoke again.

"I'm gonna tear you to shreds, brat!"

A clawed hand shot towards him, and Garou winced as it came close, grabbing him tightly and pulling him from the car; causing him to panic slightly as he was held above the lizard's head; left dangling as the monster opened it's jaws, no doubt intending on eating him here and now.

Garou looked at the sharp teeth, distantly wondering if this was really how he was going to go out; silently cursing the fates at the fact that he couldn't just be eaten by a cool dragon or something, beginning to feel some kind of genuine fear as he looked into the sharp mouth of the monster, wondering if it was going to hurt.

And then, the monster's head was suddenly snapped to the side; it's blood spilling like a river as it collapsed to the floor, leaving a rather bewildered Garou hovering in the air, though not by his own means.

Footsteps were heard and he looked over to see a flash of dark green before he was randomly held within Blizzard's arms, the woman having appeared out of nowhere to rescue him. A thought that made Garou almost regret not being eaten by the monster.

It was tough to say what he hated more, being rescued by a hero or being eaten by some weirdo monster.

"Garou! Are you okay?! Did it hurt you?!"

Blizzard's worried voice disturbed his musing, and soft hands were felt poking his cheek as the woman checked him over for injuries; green eyes full of concern as they scanned him for even a slight scratch. The sight being one that made Garou recoil slightly as he batted the hero's hand away, scowling as he replied.

"I'm fine, mostly anyway."

He would die before he ever admitted being even the tiniest bit scared, happily prefering to dwell in both silence and lies as he kept his unhappy glare upon the woman before him, seeing how worried she looked; the sight being a really odd one to him as he wasn't exactly used to people being worried for his well being.

Sure, Bang had his moments of care, but the old geezer had also slammed Garou's head into the ground hard enough for it to crack more than enough times for it to overshadow the rare moments where the old man seemed to show some form of concern. 

So it was safe to say that Garou wasn't exactly open to Blizzard's concern, batting away her hand at any given turn as she tried to check up on him, their silent fight lasting for a few minutes before the woman's goons showed up; out of breath and rather pathetic looking.

"Miss Fubuki!"

Garou recognized one or two of them to be the ones that had run off when they had supposed to be watching him, feeling some slight resentment as he scowled at them; though then feeling surprised as Blizzard turned around and laid into them with the force of a pissed off lion, practically yelling as she admonished them for having left Garou behind, clearly having effect as the lesser heroes knelt down as they begged for forgiveness.

The sight was hilarious, but Garou couldn't find it within him to laugh as he didn't want to draw the woman's attention. Not because he was worried about being scolded too or anything, definitely not that, but because he didn't want her to continue trying to coddle him yet again.

It had nothing to do with how the air around them had grown heavy and cold, and how Blizzard was really living up to her name in this moment.

Though soon enough her attention was drawn back on him once more, the woman having promised to punish her subordinates enough times that she seemed content enough to bother Garou once more; sighing heavily as a car pulled up and getting into it with a huff, clearly still unhappy and vexed at the entire situation. 

Even as she buckled Garou up in his car seat, Blizzard looked irritated and upset.  

The car moved, silent and weirdly dull as they went, the city around them passing in a slow blur as they moved; though Garou couldn't help but occasionally glance over to see a seemingly hurt expression on Blizzard's face, the woman seeming to be going through some sort of inner battle as she slumped in her chair, looking pretty damn miserable for someone who was happy only a short while ago.

It made Garou feel uncomfortable to see the hero so defeated looking, having become slightly used to seeing her all puffed up and prideful. Though he didn't care of course, more just off put by having to sit in a car with someone who looked so damn miserable; the entire thing making him shake his head as he snuggled deeper into his comfy chair, aiming to have a nice nap after the eventful day.

However, his attempts to slip off into a well deserved nap were occasionally cut off by the sound of Blizzard sighing every so often, each new exhale causing Garou's eyes to twitch as he opened them to glare at the woman; the whole thing reaching a breaking point when the hero stared down at her hands and sighed for the fiftieth time, causing Garou to finally snap as he spoke to her, tone irritated.

"You could power a windmill with the amount of sighing you're doing."

Blizzard looked over to him, sounding somewhat sheepish as she replied.

"Sorry."

Garou scowled, but let it go, simply returning to letting his eyes slowly droop as he returned to nestling in for a nap, feeling the comfort surrounding him as he adopted his favourite sleeping position; hands balled up and at his chest with his legs close to the same, though more at his stomach than his chest.

It was undeniably comfortable, enough that Garou almost grinned as he felt himself dropping off to sleep; more than willing to leave the realm of consciousness for a while.

Then there was a sigh, and Garou let out a groan of irritation that was loud enough to fill the car's space for a good couple seconds as he flung his arms in the air and glared at the hero in front of him, seeing the shock on the woman's face as he yelled at her; his higher pitched voice not being as intimidating as he would like it to be.

"What the hell do you keep sighing for?! You're disturbing my nap!"

Blizzard looked both shocked and sheepish as she held her hands up in an apologetic way, a worried expression on her face as she replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll be quiet."

Garou scowled at the woman, pointing at her with his angered baby hand.

"No, you tell me right now why you keep sighing! I can't take another minute of this!"

The hero fell silent, slumping over slightly and gaining an expression of hesitancy as she fiddled with her hands; almost sounding depressed when she finally deemed to give him a response.

"I just... You could have died."

She looked really upset now as she continued, sounding just the same.

"What kind of hero am I if I let you get hurt in my care?"

Oh lord, they were in an emotional territory. Garou was shit with emotions, his near destruction of the entire world being a prime example; and that was his own emotions, never mind someone else's. 

All of it was an unknown territory to him as his usual response was to either bottle it up or to go and find a hero to obliterate; but he doubted Blizzard would want to do that, so he might need a different approach.

This was all so he could nap, there was no other reason for him trying to lift the hero's mood; definitely not. 

Besides, she had really gone and been all nice and motherly to him so he may as well say something nice in return. Or as close to it as he could get as comforting people was not his forte; the words he spoke sounding strained as he glared at the woman, feeling gross for even trying to help her.

"It's not like I expected anything from a hero, so this wasn't surprising."

Of course the hero looked surprised at his words, but she still didn't appear convinced or happier at which really pissed him off; especially as he had gone out of his way to be nice. The whole thing making him speak again, more irritated.

"Stop being so self deprecating and just get stronger. Moping about won't do anything."

He then decided to be the tiniest bit nice to her, looking away as he played with his fingers.

"Besides...it was kinda cool how you killed that thing."

The car was silent, but when Garou looked over to Blizzard, he saw that she looked a lot happier than before; smiling slightly and seeming to have regained some kind of light in her eyes, even sitting straighter than before, her shrimp posture having been cured. 

The whole sight was added onto as the woman spoke, sounding far happier than before.

"Thank you."

Garou scowled at her, clicking his tongue as he looked away once more, irritation seeping into his tone once more.

"Whatever, just stop sighing now. I wanna nap."

He got a small laugh, but the woman remained silent after that, allowing for him to settle back down into his comfy position once again, happily closing his eyes and feeling at peace with himself, his child body demanding he rest and recuperate his lost energy. 

A demand that Garou soon gave into, drifting off into a peaceful sleep with both smugness and appreciation at having done his good deed for the year.

You wouldn't think that someone who had nearly destroyed earth could be so adorable, but there was the cute little sleeping position, and there was the soft white hair and adorable sleeping face of the hero hunter in front of her; all of it causing Fubuki to smile as she glanced over to see the tiny figure of Garou sleeping away, looking very content and cosy all snuggled into his chair.

Ah, she would need to put some more of those cute outfits later; maybe the penguin one? Or perhaps the cat one?

She smiled wide, that was definitely one she wanted to see again, especially as she remembered how adorable that cat one had been on him; doubly so as the little one's pout had looked so unbelievably adorable that she had decided to buy it on the spot.

Though despite his adorableness, Fubuki had a horrible feeling that the child really shouldn't be so small for his age; the three year old having fit into clothes for two year olds. A fact that reminded her that she would need to tell Blast that, not to mention she would need to book either a hospital appointment or a trip to whatever doctor Blast recommended; though the man was probably just enjoying his peace and quiet right about now.

Ah...she would need to tell him about the monster and what had happened, right? She couldn't just not tell him, especially as it was bound to come out sooner or later.

Oh she was going to be looked down on much more now, especially by Tatsumaki. Though Fubuki supposed she was just used to that by now, doubly so as the rest of the S-classes were going to frown upon her at the very least; and she probably wouldn't be entrusted to watch over Garou anymore, the thought being an upsetting one as she was already rather fond of the hero hunter despite their tense first meeting.

There was just something about the wide yellow eyes and almost angelic features of the child that made Fubuki fawn all over him, excited to shower him in gifts and see all the cute little expressions and actions he made; despite how odd it was for her to do so considering she usually wasn't one for children, having never been particularly good with them. 

But then, Garou wasn't a baby, at least not psychologically; so that was probably a good indicator.

Fubuki hoped that she would be able to keep spending time with him, but Blast might not be as forgiving as Garou was when it came to her slip up, the hero clearly having a strong hand when it came to Garou's safety as the man had literally gone against the entire Hero Association to get the child in the first place.

Would Blast admonish her for her carelessness and strip her of her rank?

Fubuki hoped not, though as the car pulled into her apartment's driveway she also decided that she would just stop stressing about it for now as Garou might sense her stress and wake up; that outcome being one that she would rather avoid as even she knew that babies tended to be very unhappy when woken up from their sleep. 

And she also had a suspicion that Garou would be ten times worse than any other baby due to his usual irritable nature.

All of these thoughts coalesced into Fubuki being extremely careful as she unbuckled Garou from his car seat, gently leaning in and scooping the baby against her chest, smiling slightly as the baby snuggled into the crook of her neck; letting out an especially sleepy breath before he returned to his rhythmic breathing, smacking his lips as he unconsciously clung on to Fubuki’s necklace for support.

The sight made her smile as she climbed the stairs, hearing some of the Blizzard group carrying her bags behind her, each one more regretful of their actions than the last; but still not enough that she wouldn't punish them.

She paid them no mind as she unlocked her apartment door and waltzed into the lounge; silently gesturing for the group to place the multitude of bags to the side and leave before she headed into their spare room, gently placing Garou down in the cot and tucking the baby in, watching with a smile as he curled into a ball.  

However, Fubuki didn't stay long as she didn't want to accidentally wake him, beginning to leave silently, closing the door with a quiet touch; though taking all of her self control to not shake as she sighed, seeing the empty lounge and getting her phone out with a solemn stare, clicking the icon for Blast's number and feeling dread well within her at the ringing tone, swallowing nervously as the man's tired voice answered.

"Everything good?"

Fubuki probably audibly gulped as she responded, feeling sheepish as she did so.

"No, something's happened."

Garou awoke to both darkness and comfort, yawning as he stretched, feeling the soft sheets move around him as he did so.

It had been a good nap, that was certain. Though he was slightly embarrassed at not having woken up when having apparently been carried into Blizzard's apartment, minorly irritated at himself for having let his guard down so much that he had been completely unawares of everything around him; though maybe that was just an effect of his now child body, both weaker and more unawares in every aspect.

Quite a depressing thought to say the least, but Garou decided not to dwell on it as he yawned once more; more focused on the fact that he was pretty damn hungry now, enough that his stomach was growling at him. 

The noises caused Garou to sigh as he sat up, reaching for the bars of his cot-bed-thing and looking out like a prisoner would do in their cell, irritated at having been left behind to starve in this room.

A dramatic rendition, sure, but he really was hungry and that made him irritated; so much so that he began to get to work on escaping his cage, doing his best to lift himself over the bars as he grunted from the effort he was putting in.

The bars rattled here and there, but Garou persevered, gritting his teeth as he did his best to haul himself over the barrier; feeling close to victorious as he finally managed to reach the top, balancing there for a few seconds before he began to lower himself to the opposite side, struggling to hold on as his arms were no longer built for such activities.

However as he was halfway through scaling down, the door to the room opened and Garou was caught red handed by a wide eyed Blizzard and a tired looking Blast, both adults appearing confused at what he was doing for a few seconds before Blast let out a sigh and approached, grabbing Garou before he had a chance to run and holding him firmly; it all being rather irritating in how quickly it had happened.

Garou huffed, annoyed at having been caught so quickly and at the fact that Blast was even here in the first place; though it did make sense considering what had happened, the man sadly being his primary caregiver.

"You okay, kid? I heard you ran into trouble."

Blast sounded tired, but Garou didn't care, instead responding in an exasperated tone.

"I'm fine, it was just some monster."

He then sighed, crossing his arms as he scowled at Blizzard.

"She took it harder than I did, so much so that it was annoying."

At that, the woman looked shameful once more, making Garou wonder if she had already been yelled at by Blast or something; though it wasn't really his probelm if she had been as she had fucked up, and he guessed that deserved some punishment. 

Though Blast only raised an eyebrow and walked off into the lounge, placing Garou on the sofa as he turned to face the woman once more, seeming to restart a conversation they had been having previously.

"I'm not going to take him back as you only have a few more hours with him anyway, but I want Tatsumaki with him whenever he's with you from now on."

Garou saw how Blizzard looked unhappy at that, but really it wasn't his concern, even if he wasn't the fondest of the green haired esper she was the one who treated him more like his actual age anyway; even if they both didn't get along, she was more bearable. 

Though he did have to admit that Blizzard was a lot kinder and more generous with gifts, enough that it was at least rewarding to spend time in her presence.

But regardless of all that, Garou was irritated at having been ignored for so long; doubly so as he was still hungry. The annoyance of it all causing him to groan as he sat on the sofa, tired of all the talking and apologising, wanting to be fed instead.

"Oi stop talking would you? I'm hungry!"

His words got Blast to finally stop talking, and the man held both hands up in defeat as he turned to Blizzard, looking at the woman with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll leave it to you,and I’ll find an appropriate doctor for the issue you mentioned."

Blizzard nodded and Blast made quick work of escaping as he speed walked over to the front door; bidding both Garou and Blizzard farewell as he left too fast for them to even say goodbye back, doing nothing to hide the fact that he didn't want to be around Garou when he was hungry as the man was well aware of the less than happy mood Garou tended to get in when deprived of sustenance, said mood being more of a violent one.

Though Blizzard of course didn't know that so the woman was more confused than anything, having a raised eyebrow and small frown as she waved goodbye to Blast. 

Garou could tell that she was just happy to have not been punished too badly, especially as Blast was her superior; a fact that Garou tended to forget as he just saw the man as an annoyance.

However, Garou was pleased when Blizzard set about making some food, seeming to cook with her remaining stress as she went; appearing frazzled at having had to come face to face with the number one S-class hero, a fact that Garou guessed he might be able to understand as coming face to face with an angry Bang had been harrowing when he had been living at the dojo.

Remembering the old man's punishments was enough to make Garou shiver, doubly so when he considered the fact that at some point during this whole babysitting thing he would end up in the old geezer's care; a thought that was unsettling to say the least.

"Here, Garou, come to the table."

At the sound of Blizzard's voice, Garou perked up, wandering over to the table and feeling embarrassment as the woman picked him up and sat him on one of the chairs, though he ignored it in favour of eating the nice looking food before him, revelling in its smell as he dug in. 

The carrots and potatoes were really nice, however Garou was kind of sad that there was no meat on the plate; suspecting that there was none because Blizzard thought he might choke.

A rather offensive idea, but he doubted he could convince her otherwise.

Instead he just sat and ate, practically inhaling his food as he watched Blizzard pick at hers, the woman being once again lost in her thoughts as she lamented how bad of a hero she was; which was a stupid thought as Garou had seen what qualified as a hero and he didn't exactly see it as a goal to reach for.

You could be strong without being a hero so what did it matter if you weren't one?

Some people rose to ideals that shouldn't exist in the first place, lost in the accolades and wishes to be loved that they forgot the whole reason for their purpose to be here in the first place; losing their desires to care for and protect others in favour of a meaningless rank or adoring words from so called fans that were more lies than truths.

Garou wouldn't ever be caught up in that corruption, not now and not ever.

He shook his head in disdain, continuing to eat as he watched Blizzard pick at her food; the sight being an irritating one as he hated seeing people leave their food untouched and wasted, the sight having always annoyed him as he knew what it was like to go without.

"Don't pick at it, just eat."

Blizzard looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but acquiesced to his demands anyway, beginning to eat as she looked at her phone; the sight making Garou nod to himself as he continued eating, happy that no food was being wasted. 

Then becoming even more pleased when he finished eating only for Blizzard to suddenly leave, only to return with his bug book he had been reading at the library; the sight of it making his face turn red as he muttered out his thanks, settling down with it on the sofa as the woman set about washing up.

However, after around an hour of reading there was a knock on the door and Garou grew confused; wondering if it was Tornado, but then remembering that the esper would have either broken in through the window or would have unlocked the door with her own key anyway. 

A fact that Blizzard also must have considered as she looked both cautious and confused as she went to go open the door, leaving his line of sight as she did so.

All Garou could hear were muffled voices before Blizzard returned, followed by the one that was called Atomic Samurai if Garou remembered correctly; the man looking slightly nervous and out of place as he entered the lounge with her, though it was clear that he was trying to look cool and composed.

"So Tornado isn't here?"

The man's question made Garou raise an eyebrow, but he remained quiet as Blizzard gave a smile accompanied by a response.

"Mhm, she's still on duty."

The woman then raised an eyebrow, sounding somewhat awkward as she continued.

"But, um, you're quite early; by a few hours at that."

Atomic scratched the back of his head, mimicking the woman's awkwardness with his own as he replied.

"Right I, uh, figured it might be better to come by earlier, but if you need me gone then..."

He trailed off, and Garou watched as the man awkwardly gestured to the door; though Blizzard quickly stuck her hands up in a gesture for him to not go anywhere, saying as much as she set about picking some bags off the floor that Garou knew contained clothes.

"No, no! I'll go get the bags packed, just wait here for a second please."

Atomic nodded and the woman quickly sped off in the direction of the spare room that Garou had been staying in, leaving both him and the S-class hero alone in the lounge; said hero awkwardly standing in the room with an uncomfortable expression, occasionally glancing over to Garou with both curious and unsure eyes. 

Garou just kept his eyes on his bug book, doing his best to ignore the man in the room; silently lamenting that his next caregiver was going to be this guy. However, after another few minutes of the awkward glances and uncomfortable atmosphere, Garou sighed and spoke to the man; narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"Stop staring at me, or are heroes above manners?"

To his credit, Atomic did look sheepish at the point, scratching the back of his head once more as he responded.

"Sorry, kid. Just not good with children."

Garou scowled.

"I'm not a child so you'll be fine."

The awkward air grew and Atomic looked away, crossing his arms uncomfortably.

"Ah, right."

Garou clicked his tongue but simply continued reading, waiting for Blizzard and sighing when she eventually came back into the lounge with a fully packed bag; looking rather frazzled as she handed it over to Atomic, beginning to explain everything he needed to know about what Garou liked or didn't like, that he wasn't allergic to anything and many other things that seemed to be making the man more and more lost.

However Atomic didn't get the chance to question any of it as Blizzard then picked Garou up and pretty much forced the S-class hero to hold him; giving the man a smile as she led the outside, oblivious to Atomic's stress and the fact that the man clearly didn't know how to hold children as Garou was hanging on for dear life. 

The woman was doubly oblivious as she waved them goodbye, poking Garou's cheek as she explained how she'd come visit him when she could and that she would miss him. 

And with that, she closed the door, leaving them alone in the hallway. Garou and Atomic looked at one another with confused eyes, neither knowing what to do next.

This was going to be awkward to say the least.

Chapter Text

He would never become a father, that was for sure.

He knew nothing about children and he wasn't even fond of them to begin with, so it was fair to say that he had wanted a long life without them.

And he thought he would get that, but no, life had other plans. Plans that involved Blast suddenly returning, the hero hunter suddenly shrinking, and the two factors coming together to create one massive pain for everyone else. 

Said pain being a certain demon child.  

A child that was currently causing Atomic great stress as he tried to fish, having to keep a constant eye on the infant as they crawled around the boat, occasionally leaning out and curiously dapping the water with his small hands; the action no doubt scaring all the fish below, making Atomic's patient waiting rather redundant. 

Though he supposed he would take this over having to toilet train the kid, having already been sharply reprimanded when he had asked about it.

It was difficult to believe that the baby next to him that was staring at the distant fishes in curiosity had been to one to nearly kill them all, but then life worked in odd ways and Atomic knew there were deeper meanings to all of this happening; though that didn't mean that he wasn't annoyed at having to babysit, having only agreed as it was Blast who had essentially ordered them all to.

Well, maybe not ordered, but realistically they hadn't had much of a choice.

Atomic sighed, keeping an eye on how far over the boat Garou was leaning, ready to catch the little one should he go too far over; distantly wondering what on earth he was supposed to be doing with this whole babysitting thing.

They had only just gotten back from Blizzard's place, the trip having been a difficult one due to his inability to actually hold a child, having continuously been insulted by the hero hunter for said inability; the child not shy in voicing his opinions, nor shy in pulling on Atomic's hair.

He hadn't known what to do upon returning to his more remote house, having nothing child friendly within his walls as his house was mainly covered in swords of every kind; and upon remembering that, Atomic had admittedly panicked and had brought them out onto the lake, his brain reverting back into doing the thing he always did when stressed.

He sighed again, closing his eyes and flicking the fishing rod slightly as he tried to lure in a bite; praying that the next day would arrive faster as maybe Iaian or Okamaitachi would know something about caring for children. 

However, he definitely was not asking Bushidrill for advice as the man didn't really seem like he would know anything about kids. Though even then, asking those guys for help meant he would need to explain the whole situation, right? Or could he just skirt around that issue and refuse to bring it up?

Iaian would catch on, but maybe not the other two. Not to mention, Atomic would be training them all anyway so hopefully they'd be too busy to really question him as to how he had acquired a child out of nowhere; though he was sure they would definitely be asking anyway, being the nosey students that they were.

Atomic absentmindedly scratched his beard, chewing on a thin splinter of wood and opening his eyes once more as he went to check on how the hero hunter was doing, only to see that the kid was leaning over the boat and making some of the lake's water hover in the air; yellow eyes watching as the clear liquid twirled and rose in front of the child’s hands. 

The sight admittedly startled Atomic until he remembered that the hero hunter was in fact somehow an esper.

It was surprisingly fascinating to watch, so much so that Atomic even spoke up in the quiet of the evening lake, breaking his rule of not acknowledging people he considered weaker than himself as he watched the hero hunter play with the water.

"Tornado teach you that?"

The kid turned to look at him with narrowed eyes, sounding irritated as he responded.

"No, she's a shitty teacher."

That admittedly made Atomic chuckle as he replied, once again flicking the fishing rod as he did so.

"Yeah, she doesn't seem like the type to give great advice."

The hero hunter scowled at him, going back to playing with the water as he replied.

"Shut it, old man. You wear socks with sandals."

The words were like a sword to the gut, and Atomic nearly choked as he yelled back, feeling more than offended at having been called old.

"Thirty seven isn't old! And this is a traditional outfit!"

He got a 'tsk' as the kid dropped the water back into the lake, going back to simply splashing his hands in the water as he then continued to ignore Atomic's outcry; a fact that made him even more upset, though he decided to stew in his emotions rather than fight with a three year old child, especially as said child was Bang's. 

Atomic had too much respect for the hero to even consider fighting his now three year old disciple. And now that he thought about it, it probably wasn't a good look to fight a baby anyway.

Atomic took a calming breath, settling back down and closing his eyes as he reminded himself that children tended to be rather brutal in their words. Or at least, he was pretty sure that they were; having heard as much from one or two old friends.

He was not cut out for this in the slightest, and he prayed that the rest of this day and the next would go fast.

At last some peaceful silence graced the lake, allowing for Atomic to relax a bit more as he fished, keeping his eyes closed and concentration focused as he waited patiently for a bite; though he did raise an eyebrow at the sudden silence emanating from the area, being swiftly reminded that there was a child in the boat meaning that realistically there should be some noise.

The concern was enough for him to open his eyes once more as he went to check on the hero hunter, feeling confusion well within him at the sight of a shit eating grin on the kid's face as the brat pointed upwards; Atomic only then looking up to see a massive ball of water being held above him with psychokinesis, only for it to crash down on him only a split second later, absolutely drenching him in the cold water of the lake.

He heard the brat's laughter as he sat there in defeat, his eye twitching as he watched the little shit cackle; having to resist the urge to throw the kid in the lake as he repeated the mantra that both Bang and Blast would be most likely astoundingly pissed at him for doing so. 

Plus, it was not a good look for a hero to be doing such things, especially as he wouldn't stoop as low as to snap at a child's joke.

Atomic let out an irritated sigh as he wound in his fishing rod, placing it in the boat as he began to row back to the shore, hearing the occasional giggles as water dripped from his hair onto his face; his clothes feeling uncomfortable as he rowed, deciding that he was definitely going to take a bath after this.

Thankfully they got back to the shore with no more issues, and Atomic may or may not have picked the kid up and held him tightly against his chest on purpose in order to get some sort of revenge as the brat squirmed in his hold; neither of them wanting this and neither of them getting along with each other in the slightest.

Of course, as they got into his home, Atomic released hero hunter, placing the brat on the nearby sofa before he went off to run a bath; only then realising that he couldn't just bathe and leave the kid loose in his house, especially as the little demon might break everything, psychokinesis somehow always being given to the wrong people.

First it was Tornado and Blizzard, now it was this menace; how many others needed to get psychokinesis before the world realised it was giving such a power to the wrong people? 

Either said espers were too weak or too arrogant, and the latter had the unfortunate strength to back that arrogance up; Tornado being in that category. Though Atomic had a sinking feeling that Bang's kid was going to become another equivalent.

He shivered at the thought, but then began to settle his mind on something he could do to keep the little demon entertained for a while as he bathed. Maybe food or something? Was the kid allowed to eat solid foods at this age? 

Ahhhh, he didn't know anything about kids, much less three year olds!

"Hey brat, you hungry?"

Atomic watched as he was once again glared at, the hero hunter looking at him like he was dirt as the kid replied.

"No, old geezer. And I have a name so use it."

They glared at one another, and Atomic narrowed his eyes as he spoke; refusing to be called old yet again.

"I'm not old! And I'll call you by your name when you call me by mine."

The child scowled, snapping back with venom unbefitting of such an angelic face.

"Alright, dumbass, I'm fine so go do your beauty care or whatever."

Atomic huffed, crouching in front of the kid as he tried to be the bigger person; remembering that he was in fact an adult and that meant he, unfortunately, had to explain why being nice was a good thing. Even if it was slightly hypocritical of him.

"Listen, we aren't gonna see eye to eye, but there's gotta be some level of respect here; okay?"

The child rolled his eyes, huffing as he glared.

"Give me something to respect and I will."

Atomic narrowed his eyes at the little shit's words, finding great offence within them but taking a deep breath to keep himself calm as he responded.

"How about we just keep to each other's names for now, okay?"

Silence reigned as the kid considered his annoyed proposition, yellow eyes suddenly becoming a lot happier as the hero hunter spoke, smiling almost sickeningly sweetly as he did so.

"Fine, I guess I can accept that."

Atomic raised an eyebrow, feeling both more confident as gained control of the situation, despite the sudden and complete change in the kid's behaviour; dismissively waving his hand as he responded, grinning in victory.

"Good, then let's do this again."

He then held his hand up in a sort of awkward motion as he continued.

"My name is Kamikaze, but you can call me Atomic; and I'll be looking after you for a short while."

The brat kept his near cheerful smile as he responded, and Atomic felt some sort of satisfaction as he finally got control of the little demon; seeing how the kid grinned as he responded, sounding both childlike and sweet as he did so.  

"I'm Garou, and I'll be on my best behaviour."

Atomic suddenly felt a lot more confident in this whole thing, having wrangled in the hero hunter with little to no difficulty; a fact he would be lording over all of the others when he next saw them. Though for now he would be taking a bath, explaining as much to the three year old before he began to stand, only stopping when his arm sleeve was tugged on by tiny hands; looking down to see bright eyes as the child spoke.

"Can I draw while you're gone?"

Despite his hesitancy to acquiesce to the request, it was best to reward good behaviour, right? At least that's the rule Atomic had always gone by so he may as well abide by it right now, especially as this was the first start to a no doubt interesting training segment. 

So Atomic nodded, quickly searching through the bag given to him by Blizzard, and thankfully finding some crayons and a nice drawing pad, handing them over to Garou with a bored expression.

He got a thank you as the child took the items, Atomic patting the kid's head before he left to go take a bath, more than looking forward to soaking in the water for a while; happy to just relax now that he had gotten the hero hunter under control, content to let the child draw as he chilled out.

Atomic entered the bathroom with a sigh, running the hot water as he stripped and sighing in sheer relief as he soaked in the water, feeling his muscles relax as he did so.

This babysitting thing would fly by, he was going to be fine. Garou had already given in after just a stern talking to so he was more than confident that this was going to be a lot easier from here on out, feeling admittedly cocky that the time would just fly by until the next hero came to pick the child up.

For now though, he would relax.

Garou snickered from where he was hiding, feeling so intensely amused that he could barely keep his giggles in.

That shitty, smug, unbearable bastard was going to be in for a world full of shock any minute now; doubly so as Garou had put very special care into his artwork, making it very clear that the hero was an utter fool for having ever believed Garou's act.

Really, how on earth had that idiot believed that Garou was willing to just give up after a few chastising words?

Well the guy was a hero so the bar wasn't that high, at least intelligence wise. 

It was like asking a dog an algebraic formulae, utterly impossible for the being of lesser intelligence from the very beginning; though heroes were more equivalent to a particularly pathetic bug rather than a dog.

Admittedly it had made him feel like throwing up to act so defeated and sweet, but boy was the payoff going to be worth it; Garou couldn't wait, the excitement killing him as he bided his time in his rather well picked hiding spot, feeling giddy as he heard the sliding door to the bathroom open. 

He waited in a tense silence for the next few seconds as he covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle his giggles, struggling ten times more when the reign of silence broke.

"GAROU!"

He shuffled further backwards into the hiding spot he was in, desperately trying to stifle his laughter as there was the sound of sloshing water and a hollow thud from the bucket he had placed on top of the hallway door, hearing the hero follow the bucket to the floor soon after as a loud thud accompanied by a groan sounded out; the man having been too distracted by the drawings now absolutely covering his walls, swords and everything else to see that there had been such a second surprise.

It had gone just as planned, and Garou struggled to not giggle as distraught sounds emanated from the hero at the sight of his lounge being covered head to toe in crayon drawings. 

Garou had even been so kind as to draw on the ceiling too, using his psychokinesis to reach any area he couldn't get to; admittedly having to silently thank Tornado for her teachings as they had come in handy during his work.

He peeked out from where he hid under a tiny gap under the man's bookshelf, having to somewhat appreciate his tiny form as it allowed him to squeeze into places as small as this with no issues; the ability being useful as he watched Atomic begin to search for him with an angry expression on his face, very clearly unhappy with Garou's joke.

Garou shuffled back once more as the man got close to where he was hiding, using the shadow of the evening lit room to help hide himself as he watched the hero search, grinning widely as he watched the man run throughout the house in an attempt to find him, calling Garou's name as he went, getting progressively more panicked and angry with each yell; the whole thing being extremely amusing to him as he watched from his hiding spot.

That bastard should just be happy that Garou had never come across him when he had still been fully grown as the hero would have had a lot more to worry about than some crayon drawings, though it seemed that Atomic was getting more frantic each second as the man threw pillowcases and other assorted items everywhere in an attempt to find Garou; the sight being amusing as Garou watched the man struggle, having to stifle a yawn as he did so, the strenuous use of his psychokinesis starting to show as his eyelids drooped.

It really had been a long day, and his hiding spot was quite comfy so he couldn't see a reason to not nap for a while.

Garou yawned slightly, curling up as he prepared to take a well deserved nap, only to then squeak in surprise as the back of his onesie was grabbed and he was dragged out of his hiding spot; soon being face to face with an angry looking Atomic, the sight of the wild-haired and haggard looking man causing him to gulp slightly as he was levelled with an irritated grin that promised retribution for this act of vandalism.

"Found you."

The words sounded pissed, and Garou admittedly felt some sort of regret as he was held in the air like some sort of misbehaving kitten; the situation making him try and weakly smile as he shrugged, his own tone a conversational one.

"So...how was the bath?"

Atomic's eyes narrowed, but then gained a glint to them that Garou didn't like; the man smiling as he grit out his words.

"It was great. Here, you should have one too."

Garou's eyes widened and he panicked as he began to struggle in the hero's arms, not wanting any form of a bath; feeling dread well within him as Atomic placed him on the bathroom floor, soon locking the door to the room as water began to flood into the close by bath.

The sight of the water made Garou panic as he pressed himself into the corner of the room, batting away Atomic's hands and using his psychokinesis to throw towels and other toiletries around the room, mainly aiming at Atomic's head as the man tried to grab him; eventually succeeding in doing so with a grunt as some toothpaste smacked the man in his head.

However, the impact did nothing and Garou practically screamed as he was dunked into the water, feeling panic as he scrambled to get out, feeling as the water seeped into his clothes and sloshed around him; finding himself trapped as Atomic kept him in, the man preventing Garou's many attempts to get out by pushing him back in the water, seemingly thriving off of Garou's distress.

"Let me out, you bastard!"

The hero scowled at Garou's yelling, pointing at him with a chastising finger as the man responded.

"Hell no, you brat! You deserve this shit after what you did! Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take to clean everything?!"

Garou knew he had been an ass with what he had done, but that admittance didn't stop all of the panic filling him as the water touched his skin and as the yelling hurt his ears; causing all of his emotions to reverse themselves into how he would have usually reacted as a child, the whole thing making him lose any semblance of himself as tears sprung to his eyes and his bottom lip jutted out, wobbling slightly.

He remained sitting in the bath, looking at the hero pathetically, distantly wishing that he was back with Blast for some reason; knowing the man wouldn't have put him in a bath or yelled at him, even if Garou had been mean.

"Ah, wait- wait don't cry!"

Atomic's voice now held a confused panic within it as Garou remained unresponsive, just sitting in the bath on the verge of tears as he let out all of his distress; reversing back into what an actual child would do when too scared or overwhelmed, simply sitting and waiting for someone to help him, despite how pathetic he felt doing so.

Just as Garou began to feel his tears get to the point of spilling, Atomic seemed to be overrun by panic as the man quickly snatched him up from the bath and tried to comfort him in a really panicked way that surely would only distress a small child even more; especially as he was holding Garou at a distance.

"H-hey it's okay, don't cry! I guess it won't be too difficult to clean..."

Garou sniffed, hating how soaking wet he now was, and how uncomfortable he was in the hold Atomic had him in, overall unhappy with the entire situation; enough that he sniffed once more, feeling his lip wobble as his tears still threatened to spill, watching through blurry vision as Atomic gained a frazzled appearance; the man suddenly running around with Garou in his arms, miraculously conjuring a towel as he went, laying Garou on the sofa on his back.

Atomic wrapped him in it, clearly not having the common sense to know that you shouldn't wrap a towel around wet clothing as it wouldn't do anything to dry the person within. But Garou was suddenly more interested in watching the hero struggle to figure out what to do next, finding an odd fascination in watching the man who seemed to be so confident a few minutes ago, now appear frazzled as he hovered his hands over Garou, clearly not knowing what to do with an upset child.

It could be considered funny how they both stared at each other in confusion, both as clueless as the other in what to do next. The situation had perplexed him enough that Garou's tears had nearly completely disappeared, and he sniffed as he looked at Atomic, finding that his bewilderment made him lose his focus on his previous state of distress; doubly finding that Atomic's distressed state was intensely more interesting, or more accurately, distracting.

After another few minutes, Atomic apparently decided that his next best plan was to remove the towel and actively make an effort at removing the now soaked onesie that Garou had been wearing; the man lifting him with clumsy hands as he worked on unbuttoning the back of the outfit, causing Garou to simply sit in bewilderment as he stared ahead of him, raising his eyebrow in sheer confusion at the whole thing.

But when he finally realised what on earth was happening, Garou tried to squirm away from the hero's clumsy hands, managing to succeed as he slipped away from the sofa, making a quick run for it as Atomic called out from behind him; the sound of heavy footsteps following him as he went, the two playing a sudden game of cat and mouse, both leaving trails of wet footsteps as they went.

If anyone looked through the windows at this moment, they would see a deranged looking and soaked S-class hero in only a towel chasing a three year old who was similarly drenched in water and wearing a half undone onesie; both admittedly looking like a weird duo as they ran through the hero's newly crayon covered house.

Garou suddenly heard a loud thud, causing him to turn around and bark out a laugh as he watched Atomic eat shit, the hero face planting the kitchen floor with as much grace as a drowning bug. 

Though he didn't laugh for too much longer as he too then slipped, thankfully landing on his butt as he slid a little bit further on the kitchen's tiled floors, feeling a pain shoot through his spine as he did so.

It made his laughter turn into a sharp cry of surprise, and he let out a groan as he stood up, rubbing his tailbone with his left hand as he used his right to aid in his continued escape. 

However Garou was stopped by a hand grabbing his leg, looking back to see a practically deranged Atomic dragging him backwards, the hero scowling as he pulled a swearing Garou towards him; both now fighting as Garou attempted to escape once more from the hero's grip.

Though this time, unlike their whole running fiasco, they were interrupted by the apparently unlocked door opening and a set of footsteps walking in; both Garou and Atomic looking up to be greeted with some people that Garou thought he recognized from somewhere, only realising who exactly they were when the lead one in armour spoke up, looking borderline disturbed at the scene before him.

"M- Master Atomic?"

The man in question held his free hand up, apparently trying to appear innocent and sane as he spoke.

"He's not my kid!"

Garou almost laughed at how the trio's expressions of disturbance and confusion all turned into sheer disgust, each staring at the hero as if he were a particularly gross bug. Though Atomic seemed to just be defeated as he scooped Garou up like a side bag and gestured for the three to follow him, leading them all into the crayon covered lounge and sitting back down on the sofa; placing Garou next to him as he sighed before he spoke, sounding tired.

"Alright, let me explain."

Once he had managed to get across to his students that he wasn't a creepy pervert and the little brat was just being a menace, Atomic could see that he had regained his more dignified status within his pupil's eyes, being thankful that they were willing to listen at all considering how the admittedly odd way the three had found them in.

He was doubly grateful that they had eagerly offered to help him clean his lounge as he changed clothes, and Okamaitachi had even offered to help deal with the kid whilst he himself was getting a bit more fit and dressed to be viewed as a respectable man instead of some weirdo in a towel.

Atomic had no clue what to do with the brat, especially as it seemed that when he tried to punish the kid, they came close to crying. 

Call him weak, but that brat's near crying face had felt like a heavy punch to the gut, doubly so as he was pretty sure that Blast might murder him for making the hero hunter cry. 

And sure, Blast might not, but Atomic didn't want to test that theory out at all; plus if Silver fang ever found out then that would be an even worse problem as the older hero very obviously cared for the little demon quite a bit so there was no telling what Bang may do.

He sighed, tugging on his dressing gown over his pyjamas as he returned to the lounge, feeling an overwhelming bout of relief and gratefulness for his students as he saw that the crayon was all gone from everywhere, looking spotless. 

A really surprising sight and something he would need to ask about considering he had only been gone ten minutes. Hell, Okamaitachi had even managed to help change the hero hunter into a different onesie, this time a tiger one, and the two were now drawing together in a colouring book that had apparently materialised out of nowhere.

Atomic would have to take them all out for a big dinner.

No, three big dinners.

In this moment he had never been so happy to have taken in disciples of his own, silently thanking Silverfang for the older man's encouraging words of wisdom on how students changed everything; though sadly in the older hero's case, he seemed to have been given a problem child as a disciple. 

A problem child that had become stronger than any of them at one point, and now was just a child; such an irony not being lost on him.

Atomic sat on the sofa, thanking each and every one of his students as he got to relax for the first time in that day, wearily eyeing where the kid was sat on the floor, drawing without a care in the world; acting as if he hadn't been a bigger menace than a dragon level threat just a few minutes ago.

It's a good thing he had already decided to never have kids, because if this is what awaited him then it wasn't worth it in the slightest.

And not even those adorable yellow eyes could convince him otherwise.

No way.

He sighed again, getting up and deciding to make some food for them all as they had helped him out more than they could ever know. Though as he turned the stove on, he turned to them all with a raised eyebrow, a question that he should have asked in the beginning spilling from his mouth.

"Why are you all here anyway?"

It was Iaian who responded before the others could, looking as serious and respectful as he ever did; the whole situation from before having instantly been put aside now that it had been explained, a personality trait that Atomic was becoming more grateful for with each new day.

"We came to see if you would be willing to give us any extra training before tomorrow."

Then Bushidrill spoke, watching the hero hunter draw what appeared to be a flower with weary eyes.

"And it seems that it was a good thing we did."

Atomic let out a slightly amused huff as he poured rice into the pot of water, replying in a light tone despite the embarrassing reminder of his earlier predicament.

"Yeah I'll admit, I'm not a good babysitter."

He placed the lid on the pot and got to cutting the vegetables, finishing them perfectly and evenly within seconds, hearing a gasp to his right and turning to see Iaian watching his every move with intensity, always doing everything he could to learn at any given moment; a fact that had helped the man rise within the ranks so quickly, and of course due to Atomic's guidance too if he did say so himself.

As he cooked, night set in and the lounge gained a nice homely vibe to it, one of comfort and safety as his student's held different conversations in the lounge, all being some noise alongside the quiet backdrop of the clinking noises from his cooking.

He liked the calm atmosphere, almost revelling in it as he plated the food, thanking Bushidrill when the man came over to help him hand out said food, everyone thanking him profusely for the meal given; each politely beginning to eat as Atomic went to grab the small bowl for the hero hunter, placing it in front of the kid and deciding to try and make conversation as he did so in an attempt to gain some sort of goodwill between them.

"What are you drawing there?"

The kid turned to him, eyeing the food with barely hidden interest before showing Atomic his masterpiece; one that clearly depicted Atomic lying on the floor, covered in water and just in a towel, defeated as Garou stood on top of his fallen body in victory, a multitude of levitating crayons surrounding the kid as he did so.

Atomic gave Garou a slightly strained smile as he patted the child's fluffy white hair, speaking in a tone that bordered on concerned.

"It's very...detailed. Well done."

He noticed that Garou seemed somewhat taken aback by his reply, but the kid hid it well by grabbing at the offered food and digging in without a second's notice, clearly more interested in Atomic's cooking than the man himself; which, was a little insulting, but as Atomic wasn't getting a bucket of water dumped on him, he would take it.

Instead he just settled down with the others, discussing tomorrows plans and filling in the exact details of what had happened that day and of how long he would be keeping the hero hunter for; which was thankfully not long as the next person would be coming the day after the next, meaning Atomic wouldn't have to put up with the hunter for long. 

But hey, he was an S-class hero so he was more than capable of looking after a kid for a bit. Or well, he thought he was capable, but that theory had crashed and burned the second he had met the brat.

Atomic dug into his food, deciding not to dwell on the fact as he did so, choosing to just deal with it at a later date; said date being tomorrow as he would need to teach his students while simultaneously looking after Garou.

...Garou, around sharp objects...

Christ.

He looked over to where the kid was eating, noticing how the brat seemed to be borderline inhaling the food he had been given, causing Atomic to wonder if his food had been a hit with the kid that seemed to despise absolutely everything else about him. Maybe if the kid liked this then he would warm up to Atomic just a little?

Ahhh why did he even care?

Since when had he bothered to worry about the brat's opinion of him anyway?

Atomic huffed, taking another bite as he watched Iaian observe the hero hunter with curious eyes, the man clearly interested in what had been Silverfang's most promising student and nearly the downfall of all of them; if not for that phantom punch that Genos had claimed to come from his master, but hadn't really had the proof to back it up. 

Zombieman had seemed to believe that claim somewhat, at least enough that Atomic knew the undead man wanted some time to question Garou alone.

None of it was really Atomic's business though, and if Zombieman wanted to do something then the guy could do it when his turn came around, but as of right now, Atomic was stuck with the kid. And sure, it wasn't so bad now that Garou had eaten, but still, he knew that young children tended to be difficult; especially at night, much to his concern.

He glanced back at the three year old, seeing that Garou had already eaten everything in his bowl and had gone back to drawing, though now the kid had a few floating crayons around him which answered the question of how there had been drawings on the ceiling earlier that day. 

However, he himself had forgotten to update his students on the child being an esper, and for that, the three of them were watching the floating crayons with wide eyes.

Atomic cleared his throat as he addressed his pupils, trying to sound nonchalant as he did so.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say; the kid's an esper."

The looks the three gave him was enough to cut stone, but Atomic remained stoic as he finished off the last of his food, taking both his and Garou's bowl as he fled to the safety of his kitchen, away from the annoyed stares; noticing that the kid hadn't bothered to say 'thank you' but choosing not to comment on it in favour of making himself scarce.

Ah well, it wasn't his job to teach children their manners.

"Master Atomic, will he be there at training tomorrow?"

Bushidrill's question made Atomic wince as he washed the dishes, replying in an admittedly strained tone.

"Yeah he will be, I can't exactly leave the kid alone."

His students all sighed simultaneously, and Atomic was about to console them until a small voice sounded out before he could, Garou speaking up in an irritated tone; though the child's babyish voice rather dampened the effect of the words he spoke.

"You act as if I wanna be here, which I don't."

Atomic called back before his students could speak, feeling the need to get some sort of jab in.

"Uh huh, the feeling’s mutual, brat."

Garou barely wasted a second before replying, the kid's voice full of disdain as he did so.

"Shut it, Sandals."

There was a loud snort and Atomic whipped his head around to glare at whoever had laughed at the hero hunter's comment, but all of them remained stone faced, at least enough that he couldn't full tell which one had snorted; though if he were to guess, he would say that it was Okamaitachi, that woman never having had the same seriousness of Iaian and Bushidrill. 

But then again, the other two could be secret traitors to Atomic's clothing choice.

He chose not to dwell on it too much as Garou soon made another noise, huffing in annoyance as he muttered words under his breath that Atomic couldn't hear all too well; it being about Blast or something, though even then he could have just misheard it.

He sighed, continuing to clean as he did his best to ignore the chatter from the lounge, wondering if he had been an awful person in a previous life to have deserved this in his current one. Really, why on earth had Blast even freed the brat?

Well...sure, the whole torture thing was fucked up and even Atomic wouldn't stand for that shit, but why did Blast have to let them look after the kid too? Wasn't the man supposed to be the only carer, considering he had been the one to retrieve said child?

Atomic felt as if the weight of the world had been placed upon his shoulders; though it was really not too bad now that he thought about it, considering most parents on this earth had to put up with children too. 

But then...well, at least Garou had the redeeming quality of being admittedly adorable. With wide yellow eyes and fluffy white hair, Atomic would need to worry about freaks trying to kidnap the three year old, that was for sure.

It's not like he was going to let anything happen, regardless of how much the brat got on his nerves.

No, he was still a hero and still had some level of morals so there would be no kidnappings under his watch, even if it would prevent the rise of the crayon redecorating his house when his back was next turned.

He sighed heavily once more, resting his elbows on the edge of the sink as the thoughts ran through his mind, only being disturbed by a sudden voice next to him; Iaian having somehow snuck up on him during said thoughts.

"You look troubled, Master."

Atomic waved his hand near dismissively, doing his best to sound unbothered as he responded.

"Just thinking about how I'm better at swordsmanship than child care, especially for a kid that despises me."

He watched as his student glanced at the child in question, the man's sharp eyes narrowing as he responded, still staring at the hero hunter as he did so.

"You could show him your skills, Master, I'm sure if the hero hunter learns to admire your abilities then he will become far more respectful."

Atomic paused for a second, considering the idea. Sure, he was skilled more than anyone else in using swords and the kid might appreciate that as he was Bang's disciple, but Atomic didn't think that Garou would change his attitude at all unless he sliced in half a damn planet or something; and though it did sound like a fun challenge, Blast may kill him if he tried and the brat may still end up unimpressed anyway.

However, this had all raised the second option that might bear some sort of crayon-less household. What if he could just find a way to get along with the kid?

He turned to Iaian, a pensive expression on his face as he spoke.

"What do children like? Kids his age, I mean."

Iaian raised an eyebrow, looking confused as he replied.

"Well...Most children like heroes but I don't think that will apply to this one."

Atomic nodded, that sounded pretty accurate considering what the kid had been known as; you wouldn't expect a hero hunter to get along with heroes. That would be like an anteater amongst ants, but then maybe that wouldn't be the best comparison as he would be calling heroes ants and Atomic was not that.

No- wait- He needed to get back on topic. Forget the ants! What on earth did children like? Or more accurately children that had a tendency for inflicting destruction and violence on both people and property.

"They like drawing, playing and um...eating, I suppose?"

Bless Iaian for the continued support he supplied at it was rather indispensable, plus the hero's presence was somewhat comforting as the man seemed to equally not know what to do about this situation. 

However, one of the hero's suggestions had caught his interest more than the others as it could hold some weight with the energetic kid. He turned back to his pupil and clicked his fingers as an idea came to him.

He didn't miss the raised eyebrow sent his way, but the plan had already been formed and Atomic grinned as he stared at where the kid was drawing; crossing his arms as he spoke once more, sounding confident as he did so.

"I've got a plan."

Was this supposed to be an insult or something?

Garou scowled at the playground before him, angered that he had even been brought here in the first place. The sight of all the kids running around and using all the different toys made him feel borderline sick, being reminded of certain childhood memories that he would really rather not revisit; though when he turned to glare at Atomic, he grew even more irritated at the smug look upon the hero's face.

Did this guy really think he was slick, forcing Garou into some gross playground with other brats just so the bastard could slack off?

"Don't go glaring again. Look, it's a playground, children love those!"

Atomic's happy voice only angered him more, and Garou scowled as he replied, making sure his tone held pure disdain in it.

"I'm not a child, you idiot!"

The hero crouched down next to him, placing a placating hand on Garou's back as he tried to convince him that this had been a brilliant idea.

"C'mon, don't be so stubborn, you'll like it."

Garou slapped the man's hand away, scowling deeply.

"Hell no! I'm not going in there!"

Atomic sighed, the man scratching the back of his neck as he debated his next move, but Garou wasn't going to wait around for the idiot to do something so he looked at the man's disciples behind him, gesturing to the hero with an angered hand; sounding just as pissed as he looked when he spoke to them, seeing surprise paint their faces as he did so.

"Tell him! One of you grow a spine and tell him he's an idiot!"

The three looked a mixture of uncomfortable and irritated, all not having a single vertebrae between them, nevermind a spine to share; so of course, Garou was on his own, and that meant when Atomic sighed and grabbed him, he was pretty much helpless to stop himself from being taken right into the damn middle of the playground, though he did curse, spit and swear the entire time during the transportation.

He knew that Atomic was uncomfortable, anyone would be when carrying a practically screaming child into a playground filled with parents that were not so subtly sending death glares at the hero; all of it most likely putting a dent in the samurai's reputation.

Garou came close to biting Atomic's hand as the man placed him in the playground, but unfortunately the man managed to dodge his teeth as he pulled away, leaving Garou smack bang in the middle of the playground; surrounded by other children and glaring parents, all the loud yelling and chattering being extremely grating on Garou's ears. 

Atomic just got up and began to leave, essentially abandoning Garou as the man went back over to his students, leaving him with a final sentence that really seemed like the man was trying to be cool or something.

"I'll be back soon, let me just go set them up on their training for the day."

Ah, so all of them were going to practise somewhere within the massive park, leaving Garou in the gated playground, surrounded by strangers and bratty children who seemed to mostly be older than him, even if only by a year or so. 

He tried to follow Atomic out as the man worked on abandoning him, but a few kids and an exasperated parent got in his way and blocked him off, making him lose sight of the hero as they finally moved out of the way.

So now he was stranded amidst screaming and yelling children and uncaring adults, in one of the worst places he could have imagined himself in; besides being in a bath or that facility of course. 

At this point he might even prefer heading over to Bang's dojo considering he knew all of the best hiding spots there so the old man wouldn't be able to bother him, unless of course Bang somehow found him, which was inconceivable.

Garou clasped his hands together in worry, unable to stop his scowl from slipping into an slightly uncomfortable expression as he took in how disadvantaged he was in his surroundings, the whole thing being more than concerning to him as he knew first hand that he could be outnumbered and beaten should the kids around him choose to do so. 

Even when he was seven or eight he had been picked on, so as a three year old his chances weren't above the one percent margin.

Something within his child mind snapped at him, telling him that he wasn't safe at all and that he should hide away, safe where no adults or enemies would be able to hurt him. It was his old habits kicking in again, protecting him from the world around himself when no one else would; the whole thing forcing Garou to identify the closest hiding spot and dive into it, entering a tunnel off to the side that was out of sight and being unused by any of the other kids surrounding him.

Garou curled up and pulled his hood over his head, hearing the cheering and laugher from outside reverberate within the tunnel he was in, the sound causing him to tighten his hold around himself, doing the best he could to find any comfort within the situation he was in; though it was difficult, and Garou sighed heavily as he lamented his entire life up till the current point he was in.

Why couldn't that punch have just killed him?

He looked at the slim bracelet on his arm, remembering Blast's words as the man had informed him of a certain special feature it had.

'See the little button there? Press that and I'll come get you, wherever you are.'

Really, there was no way he was even considering just asking Blast to pick him up, no way in hell. Even though he really didn't want to be here and he definitely preferred Blast to Atomic, Garou wasn't so weak as to just beg the hero to come and get him. 

No, he was stronger than that, way stronger; he was the damn hero hunter, not some fucking weakling that called upon those he hated for help when he felt a little unsettled.

But...did he really still despise heroes like he used to?

After everything that had happened, he had failed his goal, so what was left for him to do now? 

Of course he wanted to escape the hold of Blast and the Hero Association, but after that...was he really just going to be able to flee into the woods and live a free life? Especially in this damn form he was in.

Doubt clouded his mind, and he found that he wasn't able to uncloud it, too lost in his declining thoughts to really even be as confident in his whole plan any longer as what child could realistically stay in a damn forest alone and free for more than three days without dying?

He was an esper now, but he wasn't even on Blizzards' level, much less Tornadoes', so there really wasn't much hope in his powers to help him there. Not to mention the wild animals and monsters that might be out there...

Okay, maybe the forest wasn't the greatest of ideas after all.

"Hey there! Where are your parents, sweetheart?"

Garou's head snapped in the direction of the voice, seeing a face at the tunnel entrance, his eyes widening somewhat at the shock of being addressed by a random stranger out of nowhere. This stranger seemed far too friendly for his comfort, the woman having a face that he thought he had seen somewhere else, her blonde hair shining in the sun as she tried to speak to him.

Apparently she somehow knew him, at least if the sudden look of recognition crossing her face was of any indication; only being backed up by her voice as she spoke, sounding surprised.

"Oh it's you!"

Garou remained silent, backing away slightly as the woman reached out a hand towards him, speaking once more as she noticed his distrust.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! Do you remember me from the shop a few days ago?"

Once again, Garou remained silent, as untrusting of adults as he had ever been; especially ones he didn't know. 

Just because he had met this lady once in a shop, it didn't mean that he was willing to trust any part of her, much less talk to her.

"It's okay, sweetie, are you lost? Would you like me to help find your dad?"

He wasn't able to crawl away in time as the woman reached out for him, grabbing him and pulling him out of the tunnel with gentle hands, much to his displeasure; though for some ungodly reason he couldn't bring himself to speak, much less swear at her as he was held out in front of her, the woman checking him over before she brought him close and held him against her chest.

"Here, we'll go find him together, alright? You just relax."

Garou simply let himself be carried as he tried to get over the weirdness of the whole situation, pure bewilderment halting any of his other actions as the woman searched for a man that wasn't even there; Blast currently somewhere unknown, though most likely being asleep in his apartment as per usual, the lazy shit he was. 

However, Garou couldn't find the words to explain to the lady that his 'dad' wasn't there right now.

But perhaps he wouldn't have to as after a few minutes of wandering around the lively playground an angry voice sounded out from behind them and both of them were greeted by a pissed off looking Atomic; though he also had a hint of faint relief in his face as he saw Garou.

"Oi, the hell are you doing with the kid?"

Garou tilted his head, listening as the woman replied, sounding defensive as she did so.

"And who are you? I'm trying to find this little one's father."

Atomic's eyes narrowed, but Garou suddenly had a beautiful idea, one that made him have to fight a cruel grin as he enacted his revenge upon the man for leaving him alone in the park; and he made doubly sure that both adults were watching him as he suddenly reached out towards Atomic, putting on the act of a three year old as he did so, doing extremely well as he spoke in the most childish voice he could muster, making his eyes as wide and innocent as he could.

"Da!"

It took the strength of a literal god for Garou to not burst into laughter as he watched Atomic's eyes widen almost comically, the man clearly coming close to choking as he stared at Garou with complete bewilderment; though the woman seemed to take this in a completely different way as she fell right into Garou's trap, unknowingly aiding him in his revenge as she suddenly laughed and spoke, sounding far friendlier than before, though also sounding as if she had just solved the world's greatest mystery.

"O- Oh, I see! Oh I'm so sorry, you must be his other dad!"

Atomic looked like the pinnacle of a shocked man as he practically wheezed out his response, looking no less bewildered as before.

"What...?"

The woman sent the hero a wide smile as she breezed right on by his response, continuing from where she left off with just as polite of a tone.

"Yes, I met his other dad in the shop a few days ago, and he told me that he had lost his wife; but of course, he never told me he had a husband!"

Garou grinned deeply within as he added to the torture by calling out again, keeping his childish tone and innocent eyed look as he reached out for Atomic once more.

"Da!"

At his noise, the woman suddenly made a sound of realisation as she passed him over to the still stunned Atomic, and Garou added to his act as he clung onto the hero as if the man were really someone he cared about, like a child his age would do when near a loved one. 

But this wasn't love, this was revenge, and Garou felt sweet retribution as the woman only added onto the man's suffering by speaking once more.

"Aw, you're such a cute family! Though you really shouldn't leave your baby alone in the park."

Atomic seemed to snap out of his shock as he responded, sounding hoarse as he finally replied.

"N- No, wait- he isn't-"

Garou cut the man off by tugging at his hair with force, smiling slightly as the woman just laughed as she bid them both goodbye, looking at them sweetly as she perceived them to be a happy family of sorts. 

Though the second she left, Garou dropped the innocent act and relaxed within Atomic's arms, feeling smug and satisfied as he watched the man scramble despite his rebuttals being of no use.

Alas, it was too late and the woman was long gone, so Garou could only grin as the hero levelled a glare at him, looking and sounding simultaneously angered and tired as he spoke.

"You little shit."

Garou grinned like a cheshire cat, tone being a smug one when he replied.

"It's what you get for leaving me alone, Sandals."

Atomic's face turned red, and the man angrily whispered as he wildly gestured with his free hand to where the woman had just left.

"She thinks I'm married to Blast now!"

Garou let out a self satisfied sigh as he pat the man on his shoulder in the most condescending way he could manage, sounding as much as he replied.

"Congrats on the marriage, it's the only relationship you'll ever have, I'm sure."

The hero spluttered in response, sounding a mixture of many emotions that Garou couldn't pinpoint.

"No, this can't-  If we just- how could you?! Oh...forget it..."

It was almost impressive at how quickly the hero went through the five stages of grief in such a short time, going from denying it to accepting it within around ten seconds; probably being some sort of new record. 

Garou watched with mirth as Atomic slumped slightly, having accepted his fate, knowing that some random woman on this earth genuinely thought that he was married to another man somewhere.

Personally, Garou couldn't wait to tell Blast; but he did pat Atomic's shoulder once again as he made a fake attempt to comfort the man.

"It's okay, it could be worse. After all, Blast really got the worse end of this marriage."

The look of sheer murderous intent within Atomic's eyes could kill a lesser person, but Garou was far too vindictive to lay down and die, especially as he needed to see this revenge through and update Blast on the happenings of the day, especially as he had really gotten revenge on both men by doing this whole thing so he needed to see it through to the end.

"I'm going to dunk you into the bath like a damn sponge when we get home."

Garou sent the man a look of warning, having prepared for this.

"You do that and I'll do much worse than this."

The two of them glared at one another, but Atomic only kept up his glare for a minute before he sighed and nearly completely slumped over, walking over to a nearby bench and placing Garou on it before the man slumped down on it too and held his head in his hands.

The hero released a tired groan that sounded more exhausted than ever, the tone of the conversation suddenly dipping into something serious as the man spoke.

"Why can't we just...get along?"

Garou remained silent as he sat next to the man, watching Atomic with disinterest as the hero sighed once more, turning to face Garou with tired eyes as the man continued.  

"I know you don't like heroes, but c'mon, gimme a break... I just want to get this over with."

The defeat was contagious, and Garou sighed, resting his arms on his legs, voice dull as he replied.

"Nobody wants me, old man, so I may as well have fun whilst I'm out in the world."

Atomic raised an eyebrow, responding in a pointed tone.

"You ever think that you being a dick correlates with people not wanting you around?"

Garou didn't look at the man as he replied, keeping his dull tone as he watched the happy faces of all the children in the park; silently and distantly wishing for a world where he could have had that instead of having to live with the cards he had been dealt.

"Be a dick and you can't be hurt or used, it's a good way to go about life."

He looked at his hands as he quietly continued, feeling oddly open in the moment.

"When you have nobody around you, then nobody can hurt you for simply existing."

There was a brief silence as they sat together, the laughing and cheers of the children being a sharp contrast to their conversation and mood; Atomic turning to face him completely as the hero questioned him in something akin to a quiet but near gentle tone, one that had so far been previously unheard.  

"And who hurt you?"

Garou sighed once more, looking at the ground as he responded.

"...Someone who was supposed to protect me."

The tension from before seemed to dissipate in that moment and Garou heard Atomic's voice sound out near quietly once more, the man resting his chin on his hands as he did so.

"Sorry then, didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Garou nodded, but then realised that he had been far too open, and as such he needed to close himself off once more; doing so near instantly as he sat up and rolled his shoulders, eyeing Atomic with a sly look as he built his barriers back up and took the piss out of the man once more.

"S' all good, besides you're gonna have far worse memories once Blast finds out about this marriage of yours."

He wished he had a camera in that moment, just so he could record as Atomic's face dropped back into his hands and as the man let out a muffled groan, the action conveying every last one of the hero's emotion's without the man even needing to say anything. 

It was fascinating, and Garou found that he was grinning once more at the suffering he was causing.

But all good things came to an end and this was no different, his fun being more than ruined as the hero's students suddenly appeared, looking concerned as they approached; the one in armour being the one to speak first.

"Master, are you okay?"

Garou let out a cheeky giggle, replying before Atomic could.

"Yeah he's good, marriage is just stressful, y'know?"

The trio gained simultaneous expressions of confusion at his words, but Atomic soon hissed at him to keep him from saying anything else before speaking, the man's tone being rather irritated as he addressed the group.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be training."

It was the woman of the group that responded this time, smiling as she did so.

"We finished! Plus there was a cute guy here so..."

Now the bearded one sighed, crossing his arms as he spoke.

"We tried to stop her but had no luck, plus, we're hungry."

Garou raised his eyebrow, shaking his head as he nudged Atomic's arm.

"You have weird students."

Atomic nodded, looking defeated as he did so.

"Yeah, and apparently so does Silverfang."

The jab made Garou narrow his eyes, but he decided to be merciful to the hero as Atomic looked to be contemplating all the choices of his life up until that point; the man being a rather relatable in that sentiment, though Garou would never in ten thousand years ever admit that he was feeling a little sorry for the guy. 

Instead he just sighed, glancing around as he did so, pausing as his eye caught the sight of two parents helping their child to feed some ducks.

It was such a familial scene that he found he couldn't look away from, not paying attention to the heroes as they all spoke with one another; just watching as the kid near the pond smiled happily as he held his empty hands up to show his parents that he had fed the ducks all of the peas they had given him, both parents quickly putting on a show of applauding the child with smiles of their own, full of love for their creation.

That must be nice, to be cared for like that.

He hadn't even noticed that he had been staring, only realising when a finger poked his shoulder and he turned to see Atomic and his students, the main hero looking at him with a raised eyebrow as the man spoke.

"You good, kid?"

Garou quickly shook off his prior weakness as he batted the hero's hand away, sighing with irritation as he responded.

"I'm fine, just couldn't be bothered to listen to you idiots talking."

Atomic gave him a look that conveyed just how much he wasn't buying the answer, and as some kind of retribution of Garou's earlier actions, the man chose to be a dick and push the whole thing; his eyes flicking to the family that were now walking away from the pond as he spoke.

"You wanna go feed the ducks?"

Garou knew he had turned bright red, tightly clasping his hands together as he near instantly responded.

"N- No!"

The hero once again gave him that same look, but wasn't able to respond before the woman of the group did, the red patches on her face rising with her smile as he spoke.

"They were selling food for the ducks over there, so let's go do that!"

Garou refused again but went unheard and ignored as he was scooped up by Atomic, the man subtly grinning as he followed his students out of the playground and over to the pond, bantering with his disciples as he did so, leaving Garou to die of embarrassment as he was held, wishing that a hole in the ground would just swallow him up.

But alas, no such hole appeared and a small bag of peas was soon bought, Atomic handing Garou and his students some of the food as they rested near the edge of the pond, all the heroes looking somewhat giddy as the ducks approached them. 

Now all of them looked stupid, but Garou had the peas in his small hands and was already there so he may as well feed the approaching birds; beginning to do so as he threw the food into the water, watching as the ducks gobbled up the peas.

Admittedly, it was fun, and it was something he had never gotten to do before so it was a brand new experience. Plus the hero's idle chatter and happy chuckles as they threw their own peas made for a somewhat nice backdrop of noise, so much so that Garou wasn't even annoyed as Atomic came over to him. 

The man crouched down, leaning close and eyeing the peas in Garou’s hand as the hero spoke; sounding both amused and relaxed. 

"Having fun?"

Garou could tell his cheeks were red as he replied, trying to sound irritated as he did so; doing his utmost to not sound like he was having fun at all.

"Tch, I guess. The ducks are the best company I've had in a while."

Surprisingly, Atomic gave a huff of amusement before he replied.

"I'm sure they are."

The two of them quietly relaxed in silence, hearing the man's students banter with one another off to the side whilst they enjoyed feeding the quacking ducks. 

Garou threw the last of his food, watching as a few small ducklings ate the peas before chirping at their mother; the sight causing Garou to feel the tiniest bit forlorn for a few seconds before he shook himself out of it, instead turning to Atomic with a red face as he showed the man his empty hands.

Atomic raised an eyebrow before grinning, ruffling a hand through Garou’s hair as he spoke.

"Well done."

For the rest of this life and the next, Garou would deny having ever felt accomplished at the praise.

Doubly so at any notion that he had ever gained a small smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Garou had just finished his masterpiece when the doorbell rang. 

He quickly made himself scarce, running off to the lounge and settling down as quickly as he could, watching with a devilish grin as Atomic groggily answered the door, looking beyond tired.

Now if he was honest, Garou had not expected to see Zombieman of all people walk into the lounge, but he kept his signature scowl as he studied the man; sizing him up for any weaknesses that could be either utilised or exploited. 

Really, the shock had been so large that Garou barely had time to find amusement at the undead man's reaction to Atomic's freshly scrawled-on face; as in, Garou's masterpiece.

"Rough night?"

The bored tone made Garou come close to grinning, amused by the relaxed reaction to Atomic's new look. Though the real treat would be when said sleep deprived hero finally noticed himself as Atomic took Zombieman's words to be an insult rather than an observation.

"Shut it, babies are hard work."

At that, Zombieman's eyes met Garou's, narrowing slightly but not enough to signal any hostility. Rather, the hero didn't seem too intent on bothering Garou right now, far more interested in throwing an actual insult towards Atomic; his monotonous voice sounding out once more as he replied with crossed arms.

"Do not have children."

Garou grinned as Atomic huffed in annoyance before sending a muttered insult back, soon randomly deciding to begin brewing a coffee as he rambled on about everything he had been told about when it came to looking after Garou; which is essentially what he could remember from what Blizzard had said.

"Oh and don't let him near crayons, he likes to draw on walls."

Once again, Zombieman's eyes slid over to where Garou was sitting, narrowing slightly for a second before returning to how they had been before; though Garou simply scowled in response, unwilling and unwanting to be judged by the hero. 

He did find some irritation at the fact that Zombieman didn't look bothered at all by his reaction, but he didn't let it show on his face as he didn't want to give the man any sort of indication that he was trying something.

"Noted."

The hero continued in the same bored tone, clearly uninterested in what Atomic had been saying.

"I'll take the kid now."

At that statement, both Garou and Atomic simultaneously did a double take from what they had been doing, probably equally as surprised as the other at Zombieman's apparent eagerness to babysit Garou; with Atomic audibly remarking on the situation.

"Really? Now? You sure you want to be with him so soon?"

Garou was tempted to scowl at that, but if he was honest he really hadn't expected this outcome either, doubly so as Zombieman did not look like someone who looked after kids; hell, he didn't look like someone who wanted to be around anyone at all, nevermind kids. Not that Garou was a child, but still.

"You look like you need a break, and it's my turn. So yes, I plan to get this over with."

That made more sense, but Garou found that he was suddenly not looking forward to this at all, even if it did mean escaping Atomic's idiocy. So he spoke up, putting on an air of grumpiness as he did so.

"Before I go anywhere, I want breakfast."

Both men spared him a glance, but only Atomic replied, sounding beyond tired.

"Zombieman can get you some, you'll be fine for an hour."

Garou scowled, reiterating his want with more anger to his tone.

"I'm hungry now."

Atomic groaned before replying, clearly not wanting to argue so soon in the morning.

"C'mon kid, I'm sure you'll get some food in no time. It’s not like you’ll starve."

In response, Garou used his Psychokinesis to throw a nearby book at the man, his hunger making him far more irritable than usual.

"I said I'm hungry now!"

Once again, Atomic groaned, rubbing his arm from where the book had hit it; though before the hero could do anything, it was Zombieman who moved, the man walking over with apparent purpose towards Garou with a unimpressed look on his face, admittedly making Garou feel a bit nervous at the menacing sight.

The red eyed man crouched in front of him, looking very intimidating as he did so, but Garou kept his (now a bit hesitant) scowl as he watched every move intently; only becoming even more nervous at the uncertain expression that Atomic had, even if it was marred a bit by the scrawls of pen drawn all over his face. 

However, Garou was more intent on watching every move that Zombieman made, feeling like a rabbit that was facing down a wolf; even if he would never admit such a thing out loud.

He came close to fleeing as the hero reached into his pocket, but remained still, watching in sheer confusion as a small breakfast bar was held out in front of him; accompanied by some surprisingly lightly spoken words from the man.

"Here, you can eat this for now."

After a second or two, Garou hesitantly reached out, grabbing the bar that looked far too big in his hands and taking it, too surprised by the whole thing to even be angry with Atomic anymore; rather he simply gave Zombieman a suspicious look before going to open the bar, only to stop as the man's hand prevented him from doing so, with red eyes narrowing slightly as Zombieman spoke.

"What do you say?"

Garou frowned, but couldn't bring himself to insult the man out of what was some apparent fear; instead quietly mumbling his gratitude.

"...Thank you."

The hands around his let go, allowing for him to continue with his mission to eat, albeit with some embarrassment at having been intimidated so easily; but he would be blaming that on the childish part of his mind rather than focusing too much on it. 

As the hero stood up and walked back over to pour himself a cup of the now brewed coffee, Atomic's voice sounded out in sheer bafflement as he spoke to the undead man.

"H-How'd you do that? And why did you do it so creepily?!"

In response, Zombieman took a sip of his drink, replying in a confused yet unbothered tone.

"I wasn't creepy."

Atomic groaned but ignored the words, instead reiterating his prior question.

"Whatever, but how'd you even do that?"

The hero in question raised an eyebrow, replying with disinterest.

"Do what?"

Atomic spluttered before pointing to where Garou was eating the breakfast bar with vigour, the man's erratic actions causing his point to become enhanced in its intensity.

"You got him to stop being a demon! How?!"

Zombieman shrugged.

"I fed him. Children get antsy when they're hungry, everyone knows this."

He then gave Atomic a pointed stare before continuing, not even attempting to hide his snideness.

"Well, everyone with a brain."

At that, the two delved into a small argument consisting of Atomic saying he wasn't stupid and Zombieman acting as if he hadn't said anything to rile up the man in the first place; meanwhile, Garou kept his attention firmly fixed on his food, finding great enjoyment that there were chocolate chips in it. 

Of course he kept some attention on the two as he didn't want to be caught off guard by anything, but he was admittedly far more interested in the food.

He had gotten about halfway through the bar when he noticed Atomic leave the room, but Garou really didn't care too much about it, instead using his Psychokinesis to levitate the wrapping of the bar around in order to entertain himself as he ate; which worked very well as he found enjoyment from his attempts to shape the wrapped into different shapes, all the while nibbling on his food as he did so.

Quite honestly he didn't think that Zombieman was the type of guy to enjoy sweeter things, or the type of guy to eat anything at all considering he was undead so he probably didn't need to anymore; but he guessed everyone had their own surprises up their sleeves, even if it was something as simple as eating.

Either way he liked the small meal, finishing the last of it as Atomic came in with a bag or two that Garou recognized as his from Blast, accompanied by the second one that was from Blizzard, full of clothes that he promised himself he wouldn't ever wear. His wolf onesie was enough, he didn't need more humiliation.

Garou scrambled to dive away as Atomic made a move to grab him, but unfortunately the hero was just a bit faster than he was and managed to catch him at the last second, much to Garou's irritation. 

The man scooped him up along with the bags before unceremoniously dumping them all into Zombieman's waiting hands, the undead man somehow catching both Garou and the bags with grace, much to Atomic's obvious disappointment.

However the man must have had some sort of goodwill towards his fellow hero as he did lighten his tone ever so slightly as he spoke, eyeing Garou wearily as he did so.

"Good luck."

Zombieman simply nodded in response before beginning to walk away, calling back once they had gotten past the front door.

"Go wash your face."

All that followed was silence, right up until they reached what was apparently Zombieman's car, which was when a loud call of anger sounded out from Atomic's house; to which Zombieman quickly got them away from, driving away with swiftness.

Garou just grinned, waving goodbye to Atomic as the man ran out of the house looking deranged.

A good send off, if he did say so himself.

The best way to learn about something was to study it.

You had to learn everything there was to know if you wanted thorough knowledge of who or what you were up against, that is the rule that Zombieman always went by. 

So that's the way he went into this whole babysitting gig, especially as the child he was sitting was the hero hunter, which meant he needed to take every precaution imaginable; aside from outright execution, of course.

From the start he had gone into Atomic's house on full guard, watching each and every move the hero hunter made with intensity, not that the child had seemed to care much. 

Zombieman wasn't entirely sure if Garou was aware of his actions or not, but if the child had then he had made no mention of it; rather, Garou had seemed entirely uninterested in him, which was admittedly surprising as while Zombieman hadn't been expecting much at his appearance, he had at least expected...something.

All he had gotten was a scowl, at least until the child had thrown a tantrum, then he had gotten something akin to hesitance and suspicion. 

Of course he had been purposely intimidating to some degree in order to study the reaction to it, but he had been surprised to see a tiny hint of fear in the kid as he had spoken; honestly not having meant to frighten Garou; even if the child had covered the emotion very well.

However, not much had come since. The only thing he had learnt so far was that Garou liked to torment his sitters, perhaps in an attempt to show strength or simply to have some fun at what he saw as his enemies' expense. Either way, more observation was needed.

Zombieman cast a look to where Garou was subtly eyeing his home with clear weariness, the place being rather large but admittedly not child friendly nor homely in the slightest, having rubbish on the ground along with some bloodied and torn clothes next to it, with knifes and guns lined on the walls alongside some other weapons that he would need to keep the child away from; not willing to take any chances with Garou's safety, especially as Blast and Bang would reprimand him heavily and he didn't need to sit through that whole lecture.

"You live like this?"

Garou's voice drew him from his thoughts and Zombieman cast a blank look at the child, seeing judgemental yellow eyes staring right back. He replied with a shrug, setting the bags on the floor, not really bothered in the slightest if his home was messy.

"Yes."

The kid huffed, but gave no other response, clearly as unbothered with Zombieman as he was with any other hero. A point which could either be taken as an insult or a compliment, though Zombieman didn't care to think on what he thought about it; as odd as that sounded to say.

He set the kid down on one of the less bloodied parts of his sofa, watching from the corner of his eye as Garou took in the parts of the lounge he could see, most of which were also mostly covered in blood from the times Zombiman had brought unwilling guests over, or had come home soaked in his own blood and had forgotten that he shouldn't lean on every wall in the varying states of decay he had been in.

It was admittedly not a great place for a baby to be in, but Zombieman would take the kid out soon as he needed to patrol his usual haunts; plus Garou would no doubt need feeding again, and whatever else children required, like a walk.

For now though, Zombieman put on the tv as a distraction for the kid, seeing how Garou scowled at the sight of heroes on the screen; which admittedly interested Zombieman, so he swapped to a different channel that was a cooking channel, the chefs cooking something that looked like spaghetti. 

At this change, Garou's scowl shifted to a bored expression, clearly not caring one bit about the different herbs being added.

Zombieman noted the drop in interest before yet again changing the channel, this one being a nature documentary. However, this time he instantly noticed how Garou's interest had finally been caught, the child's eyes focusing wholeheartedly onto the image of a panda rolling through some grass, with his expression becoming a curious one.

Once again, Zombieman noted the reaction, taking in the information that the kid liked animals in hope that it could come in handy in the future; though it also made it easier to know what interested or displeased Garou in the first place as it could reflect on the child's current mental status. 

They had all been informed that Garou's mental state had turned more towards his body's age, leaving remnants of what his three year old self would think, rather than his full mentality of an eighteen year old.

It was interesting, and so Zombieman paid attention to the slight shifts in expression, noting anything and everything.

Garou seemed to not care that he was there, or perhaps the child hadn't even noticed in the first place now that he was focused on the screen in front of him; but that only made things easier for Zombieman as he prepared his weapons for his patrol, laying down his axe and gun before gathering the rest of his supplies, plus ones he would no doubt need for his added company.

However, as he placed a pack of bullets on the table, he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was being watched; slyly glancing over to see yellow eyes curiously watching what his hands were doing, clearly very interested in what he was doing with the weapons. 

Zombieman pretended he hadn't noticed the kid, continuing with his usual routine as he occasionally looked back to see that Garou was still watching intently.

It didn't come as a surprise that the child found interest in the weapons as most children were curious about them, but what did come as a surprise was the fact that Zombieman knew for a fact that Garou was studying him too. 

Of course the kid could simply be curious about his new babysitter, but Zombieman had a feeling that he was being scanned for weaknesses; those yellow eyes far too intent for it to simply be curiosity.

Garou had been a teenager possessing great strength and intelligence, so even if the strength had been lost, the intelligence clearly remained, though it would seem that the kid was trying to keep that fact under lock and key, most likely so he could get those around him to underestimate him; however, that was something that Zombieman hadn't planned on doing from the very start.

He knew who he was dealing with, and he wouldn't let the childlike appearance lull him into a false sense of security.

It only took an hour or so to get everything ready and prepared, during which Garou apparently lost interest in him, the child having turned back to the documentary after a few minutes of studying every move Zombieman made. 

With hope, Garou would realise that he would get nowhere trying to play Zombieman, meaning an uneventful day for them all; but Zombieman had a feeling that the kid would try something sooner or later.

Apparently Garou had been rather well behaved with the witch sisters, but that was probably only because anyone with sense realised that Tornado was not someone you wanted to make an enemy out of; so Garou's goodwill would probably not extend to him, but that was to be expected, hence the more intimidating route he had used earlier that morning in order to keep such antics at bay.

And keeping with that note, Zombieman made the decision to spend the last twenty minutes with Garou on the sofa, watching the documentary with little interest.

The reaction to him sitting down was immediate, with Garou's more relaxed disposition becoming tense and his curious expression turning into a scowl; clearly unhappy with the added company. It was nothing that Zombieman hadn't expected though, and so he acted as if nothing was wrong at all whilst subtly taking in the kid's uncomfortable stance; watching the child act like a rabbit ready to run at the slightest movement.

Out of curiosity, Zombieman spoke, deciding to see the reaction he would get.

"You hungry?"

Garou sent him a look of suspicion before replying, keeping his tone at a distrusting mumble.

"No."

An expected response, but Zombieman wasn't done just yet.

"I have some sweets if you want them."

He knew the child adored anything sweet, and a step to bonding in some way would be to extend such an olive branch, showing that Zombieman wasn't out to hurt Garou. However, rather curiously, the child huddled up a bit more, scowling now as he replied; tone more aggravated than before.

"I said I'm fine."

Ah, so Zombieman's earlier display of intimidation had caused the kid to be far more weary of him, meaning it would now be more difficult to get close in order to see the different shifts in Garou's temperament. 

It was interesting to see just how quickly Garou had pinned him as a threat, simply because he had a more offensive approach before; while the other heroes had all said that Garou had instantly been more outwardly challenging towards them.

However, Zombieman had a slight suspicion that this defensiveness wasn't just from what had happened that morning, rather there was something else too; though that could simply just be him being a hero. Time would tell, but for now Zombieman would get started on his patrol.

It took only a few minutes to grab his prepared items along with Garou, quickly scooping the kid up and resting them on his hip as he moved, finding minor surprise at how the child actually started to struggle against him for a minute or two before giving up; meaning Garou wasn't as fearful as he had led Zombieman to believe. Or perhaps the kid was finally comfortable enough to start acting up?

Either way, Zombieman continued with what he had been doing, not overly bothered by the kid's actions as he had heard the horror stories from the others.

He couldn't take his motorbike as it sadly wasn't designed to hold a child, so he opted for his more battered car; after all it still worked despite how shitty it looked. Though as he sat Garou in the seat, he realised he had forgotten to take the kid's car seat in the midst of escaping Atomic's house, seeing how Garou looked far too small in the car's base seat.

As penance for his actions, Zombieman received a death glare from Garou that could probably have killed a lesser man; but as he couldn't be killed Zombieman was left to settle into the driver's seat, no doubt looking admittedly apologetic for the discomfort he had caused, however unintentional it was.

He drove a little slower than he usually was due to not wanting to see the kid being launched through the windshield, and halfway through the trip he decided to turn on the radio and listen to his usual rock music, feeling a little more relaxed as he did so; though when he began to consider that Garou might not like such music, he glanced down to ask if the kid wanted him to change over, only to see that Garou was actually bobbing his head in tune with the music, clearly enjoying it.

Well, at least the child had taste, though Zombieman figured it was a secret one considering that Silverfang didn't seem like the type of man to play such tunes. Either way, he chose to not comment on it as it would no doubt spark some hostility if he did.

Zombieman knew he was already in the kid's bad books, so keeping to himself would prevent dropping further into it.

He didn't know how to get Garou to like him, and he wasn't even sure why he was considering doing so in the first place as he was only looking after the kid until the next day. 

Maybe it was an innate need to get along with the other person in his car so it could be less awkward, but he didn't know and he sure as hell wasn't going to keep thinking on it; his head needed to be clear for his patrol, not filled with ideas on how to win over a kid that despised heroes from the get go.

They just had to get along until Blast came to pick up the kid tonight. That wouldn't be too difficult, right?

Joining a hero on patrol was something that Garou thought he would never do, but here he was, walking along with the man as they scoured the city for any evil-doers.

It was almost funny that only a few months ago Garou would have been said evil-doer, but it was far less funny considering how he had paid for it. 

Namely, having to keep up as Zombieman walked ahead of him, but still kept a vigilant enough eye on him that he couldn't escape; along with all the adoring looks he got from those that came up to get autographs from Zombieman's fans, Which by the way, was gross.

Who on earth looked at a hero and felt adoration? Idiots, that's who.

Heroes were just annoying fools who wore weird ass outfits, alongside an unhealthy amount of narcissism; and yet everyone wanted to chat or admire them wherever they went, only fueling the latter attribute to an even higher degree.

But... Well, Garou had to admit that Zombieman was growing in him with each autograph he turned down, even more so when the man actively scowled at the more tenacious fans that screamed or begged for him to take pictures with them. 

Hell the man had even gotten snappy when one fan came close to booting Garou out the way, even if it was an accident as he wasn't exactly noticeable from the height he was at, as much as that sucked to say.

However, Garou was still pissed that he had to practically run to keep up with Zombieman's quick pace, the man apparently not caring if Garou was working overtime to just keep up. He was trying to hide the fact that he was about to fall on his face, working to stifle his panting as he ran, only to collide into the back of Zombieman's leg when the man came to a sudden halt, only fueling Garou's dislike of the man.

He rubbed his nose, sending the hero a glare before glancing over to where the man had been staring, only to see a really suspicious looking guy; the dude looking like he was doing his absolute best to come of as humanly suspect as possible, whilst doing the exact opposite of what he was attempting.

It could be called an artform, if said form was of a drunk man falling into some bins.

Garou watched as the guy glanced over to them both before he suddenly turned and disappeared into a crowd of people, finding enough interest at the sight to become miffed as Zombieman made no attempts to follow the guy. 

Really, what kinda hero just lets someone like that out of their sight? A stupid one.

He huffed, beginning to walk again, only to make a noise of surprise as he was suddenly hoisted up away from the ground and under Zombieman's arm like some small bag, finding immense surprise from where he was now being held, unable to stop the words from spilling out of his mouth at the move.

"The fuck?"

Zombieman remained as unbothered as ever at his response, only replying with a shrug and some words of his own.

"Beats walking, or in your case, running."

Garou scowled, barking back with anger in his tone; irritated that the man knew he had been struggling the entire time.

"I'd rather run! I'm not some bag you jackass!"

The hero didn't even spare him a glance, simply continuing on as if he didn't have an incensed three year old held under his arm; which was causing more than a few people to do a double take as they continued down the semi-populated street, which only furthered Garou's intense humiliation.

It only continued for an hour or so before Zombieman took a break from walking and settled down on a random wall that jutted out, finally placing Garou down and away from the tight hold he had been in; allowing him some reprise from his torment. 

He was pissed enough that when Zombieman offered him some food he turned it down with a near growl in his voice, ignoring the fact that he was actually pretty hungry.

He would starve if it meant not taking food from assholes he now very much disliked.

Garou hadn't thought he would miss Blast, but he did now. At least the man had never held him like some bag or left him behind as he walked like the damn wind, even if Garou still didn't like the hero, he would rather be with one that treated him decently; unlike the undead prick he was currently stuck with.

He sighed, once again wishing for death, or to be returned to his adult body. Being stuck like this was awful, and it only got worse with each new sitter that irritated him with their presence, especially sitters that clearly made very little effort to actually look after him.

Garou set about watching the people around them, finding interest in seeing the different appearances and demanours of those that passed them; from a woman dressed in business attire, to a man who looked like he had come off of a movie set, one where he was a self absorbed character that wore sunglasses indoors.

It was only when Garou had followed a particularly greasy looking guy with his eyes that he saw the same suspicious guy from earlier resting against a wall, doing his best to look inconspicuous but once again failing miserably. 

Garou pretended not to see him, but looked back every so often each time he saw the man turn to where they were sitting, only to turn back each time Garou looked at him.

To be honest it was kind of interesting, if not a bit creepy, but Garou figured it might be best to point it out to the hero beside him, only to then hear said hero's voice as the man fiddled with the wrapper of his food.

"Wanna play a game?"

At that, Garou turned to face the man, admittedly curious.

"What kinda game?"

Zombieman looked focused as he replied, subtly checking the gun on his side.

"The one where you wait here while I get a drink."

Garou frowned, becoming just a little bit sulky at that.

"You aren't a very good carer."

He watched as Zombieman shrugged, looking at him with a bored expression.

"No, I'm not."

Garou scowled deeply, becoming more fed up with each new second, fiddling with the hem of his sleeve as he replied; making no effort to conceal his anger at the whole thing, even if it would give him some time alone.

"Blast will be mad if you leave me, you know."

Once again, the hero shrugged, sounding unbothered as he replied.

"I'll be gone for a couple minutes, you'll survive."

Garou huffed but made no more of a fuss, deciding that this might be his best chance to slip away.

"Fine."

Zombieman nodded for a second before slipping off the wall and turning to face him, though this time with an air of relaxation.

"You want anything?"

Garou shook his head, deciding to act as unbothered as possible to undo any suspicion that he might escape; with rolling eyes and all, fully entering the role now that he had finally been given this one in a lifetime chance.

He watched as Zombieman walked over to the other side of the street and over to a coffee stand and began to order, looking as bored as Garou felt, though looking far more tired too. However, the second Garou began to start shifting away from the wall, he could see the suspicious guy walking over to him with clear intent.

For his part, Garou kept vigilant and on guard as he watched the man approach him, subtly glancing over to Zombieman as he debated on calling out that this weird man was coming over; though he soon found himself trying not to wince at the bad odour of said man when he got close enough. It was like the guy had spent his whole life battling against deodorant, and he was winning.

He had clearly also won his battles with any toothbrushes he had come across, as when the man spoke, Garou saw that whatever teeth he had left were yellowing pretty badly.  

"Hey there, kid, that's a nice rock you got there."

Garou sent him an unimpressed look at that, finding the opening line to be rather shit as first creepy meetings go. However, he simply did what any child would do near a stranger and scootched away, not liking anything about this at all, especially as Zombieman was too busy talking to the vendor to care; the man not even bothering to turn as Gaou watched the creepy guy raise his hand in a calming way.

"Where are your parents? I'll help you find em if you want?"

Once again, ew. Garou fought his scowl as he slowly backed away once more, now doing his best to get away as he realised he was very much on his own with a creep; only to feel as his mouth was covered by a grimy hand and as he was tightly grabbed, the creep speeding away the second he had gotten Garou in his hands.

Garou admittedly panicked as he tried to push away, feeling more than irritated as his baby strength did nothing against the man's tight hold; a hand still clamped over Garou's mouth. He only panicked further as the man spoke up, sounding gross as he muttered out his words, sounding as if he had eaten cigarettes for years.

"It's okay kid, I got some people that'll love ya."

Garou wanted to bite him, but he couldn't due to the hand covering his mouth; and though he tried to struggle, he couldn't even budge in the tight grip.

It took around ten minutes of walking before the man ducked into a small entryway in a odd smelling alleyway, bringing Garou through some graffiti covered hallways lined with a few homeless people before stopping in a dimly lit room which held quite a few men that looked like they were part of some gang; one of them even sounding the part as he addressed the guy holding Garou.

"Ah fuck, what you want old geezer? I told you if you can't pay then to fuck off."

The creepy guy replied with an excited tint to his voice, placing Garou on the table before the men like some kind of offering.

"But I can pay! Look at this one, he'll sell for quite a bit, right?"

All the men's eyes were suddenly on him, and Garou had the realisation that this was just a little bit bigger than what he had thought it would be. One of the men replied with curiosity lacing his tone, clearly interested at the proposition, although his words were a juxtaposition to said tone.

"The fuck? Who the fuck did you steal the kid from?"

The creepy dude replied with a smile, not bothered in the slightest.

"Someone who ain't any good at paying attention to their kid, I followed em and they were none the wiser!"

At that, the first man who had spoken, spoke up once more, sounding angry.

"And you just fucking took him? What if they saw you?!"

The man was waved off, clearly not being taken seriously by the creepy dude.

"Relax, nobody saw shit, the dumbass was too busy getting himself a drink."

Garou had to admit that the guy was right, Zombieman had been incredibly shit at his job; though his disdainful thoughts wouldn't help him here, so he tried to look around for any sort of escape route, only to see he was essentially surrounded. Garou only got more unsettled as the surrounding men began to appraise him as if he were some prize dog.

"Well shit, gotta admit you've brought us a unique one."

One of them made an effort to catch Garou's attention by fluttering another piece of paper in front of him, to which Garou huffed, not interested in the slightest at the movements; even though realistically any other child would probably be distracted by such a thing. But to be fair to these guys, they had no clue that he was technically eighteen.

"Yeah he'll sell well. Go get Jane, she'll give the final verdict."

Garou watched as one of the bigger men went into a separate room before returning with a woman that looked like the definition of mean; even acting like it as she shoved one of them aside to start checking Garou over like he had a wire on him or something, eventually nodding before speaking, picking Garou up as she did so.

"Got a buyer who'll love this one, give the idiot his money."

It was only in the moment when the woman moved to signal her approval that everything turned into chaos, with the power going out, a gunshot ringing out and blood splattering the table that Garou had just been sitting on, along with the creepy guy falling flat on his face, leaving the other men to scramble for cover as a fast figure entered the room; quick and precise in every movement they made.

Garou saw an axe become lodged in one of the men's torso before the woman finally moved from where she had been stood in shock, running into the room she had been in before but this time with Garou in tow; locking the door behind her before swearing as she grabbed a nearby gun and held it in the direction of the door, keeping Garou firmly on her hip, waiting for any type of move to be made.

Cries of pain and gunshots rang out from behind the door, and Garou saw the woman's hand shake as she tried to keep her gun steady, the only light in the room coming from a window behind them; the power still not having returned from where it had presumably been shut off.

Despite the fact that this was a very dangerous situation, Garou was pretty entertained by it all; apart from the whole fact that these people apparently sold children, that was fucked. 

It was like being in some action movie, and while Garou himself had been in far more of a battle before, he had to admit that this was pretty damn interesting, even if it was also very dangerous.

The sounds of fighting and pained sounds had now died down, leaving only silence in their wake, causing both Garou and the woman to hold their breath in anticipation. The tense air of the room increasing with every second that passed, only to go into a full crescendo as a shadow fell across the room before the window shattered as a man barrelled in through it, sending glass flying as he did so.

A gun was levelled to the woman's face before she could even turn, Zombieman being quick and precise in his actions, sounding insanely intimidating as he spoke; looking just the same.

"Drop the gun and hand over the kid."

The woman sounded pissed as she responded, doing none of the things she had just been ordered to do.

"What the fuck? That bastard took a S-classes's kid?!"

Garou made a slight noise of pain from where the woman tightened her hold enough that it bruised, finding great discomfort from the action; though he kept quiet as Zombieman replied, sounding just as intimidating as before.

"I said drop the gun."

Once again his words went unheeded as the woman took a step back, aiming her gun even more precisely at the man, clearly very nervous. 

Zombieman noted her actions and narrowed his eyes, flicking them down for a split second to seemingly check on Garou from where he was being constricted by her arm, no doubt having a pained expression on his face; the man then speaking once more as he lowered his voice in warning.  

"You sure this is the way you wanna do this?"

Garou's eyes widened as the tip of the woman's gun found itself placed against his temple, her voice sounding panicked as she replied.

"Right back at you! Do you wanna see the kid's blood spill?"

The air increased in intensity, and Garou winced as the gun dug into the side of his face, finding he was far less entertained than before. However, he also found that Zombieman still looked in control of the situation, which provided some form of hope that Garou wasn't going to be shot in the head.

He then realised something important, wanting to slap himself for not having realised earlier that he could just use his Psychokinesis to toss the gun away, or at least in a direction that wasn't his face. 

However, right as he went to attempt such a thing, the woman turned her gun back to Zombieman and shot three times, hitting her target dead on, the hero's blood spilling instantly.

Garou made a noise of surprise before realising that Zombieman was still standing, looking incredibly unphased as he returned fire, landing a solid hit on the woman's shoulder, causing her to both let out a cry of pain and drop her gun; allowing for the hero to close the distance and land a solid kick to her stomach, ripping Garou from her tight grip as she was launched into the wall behind her.

She groaned and reached out for her dropped gun, but was unable to grab it before it was kicked out of her reach, soon finding that Zombieman's gun was once again levelled directly at her; the man's tone cool and collected as he spoke.

"I'm gonna need a list of all your contacts, then you can die."

The police sirens were loud as they took the surviving gang members away, and Zombieman watched them go from where he was standing off to the side of the decrepit building, with Garou perched against his chest in no doubt a far more comfortable hold than before; the child clearly listening as Zombieman finished up his conversation with the police officer before him that was seemingly both new and nervous, fidgeting as Zombieman finished his sentence.

"Contact me once you check the list, it should provide you with some good leads."

He watched the officer nod before glancing at the blood covering him, clearly off put by the amount there.

"Will do, and uh- do you need any medical care?"

Zombieman gave the man a blank look, causing the officer to nervously laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"O- Oh right, undead and all that, sorry."

Just as Zombieman went to turn away, he had to stop as another officer approached, older looking and addressing Zombieman with a friendly tone; the two already knowing one another from other situations mostly like this one or from the other times they had come to help clean up a case Zombieman had called in.

"Hey, who's the kid? Never took you for a family man."

Zombieman knew he sounded unbothered as he responded, just wanting to leave.

"He's not mine, I'm babysitting."

The older officer leant down slightly, raising a playful hand as he smiled at Garou, very much unaware that Garou was not technically a child.

"Well, aren't you cute? Are you having fun with your uncle?"

Garou was clearly withholding the urge to send the man a disdainful look, being far nicer than Zombieman thought the kid was capable of being; but Garou did still send the man a frown as he replied, making no effort to appear childish whatsoever.

"I got kidnapped, so not really."

Zombieman coughed at the interaction, but the older officer just laughed, resting his hands on his hips as he addressed the hero.

"Well isn't he a smart one?"

The man then sniffed, levelling an almost reprimanding look at Zombieman as he continued.

"But the kid does have a point, I didn't think you of all people would be one to lose track of a child so carelessly."

Zombieman shrugged, slightly uncomfortable.

"I made a mistake, it happens."

Garou scoffed but stayed quiet as he made a hasty escape from the area that was now crawling with police, all of them greeting him as he weaved through them and down the street, each also knowing him from prior cases. 

To be fair, Garou also seemed ready to get away too, most likely getting annoyed with all the people around them as it was very clear that the kid was decidedly not a social person.

Zombieman stayed quiet until they were both sat in the car, with him going to light a cigarette out of habit before stopping as he glanced over to Garou, realising that it was definitely not good to smoke around a child; so he sighed as he replaced his reward with a cold coffee that had probably been there since that morning.

Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Zombieman spoke, sounding as calm as he could.

"You okay?"

Garou shrugged, huffing as he tried to sit comfortably.

"Yeah."

The silence continued for a couple more minutes before Garou spoke again, looking directly at Zombieman as he raised an eyebrow.

"You let him take me, didn't you? You knew he was following us from the start."

Zombieman winced, sipping his coffee as he nodded, admittedly feeling guilty at having used the kid as bait.

"I did."

He watched as Garou sighed again, being far sharper than Zombieman had given him credit for. He tried to lighten his tone as he turned fully to face the kid, seeing how Garou was watching him intently.

"I was there the entire time, he would've been dead on the floor had he tried anything."

The kid gave him an unimpressed look, sounding just the same as he spoke.

"He tried to sell me, dude."

Zombieman sighed, slouching in his seat as he played with the lid of his coffee cup, seeing that it was very much out of date.

"I know. I didn't mean to let it get that far, especially not so far as to have a gun aimed at you."

At that, Garou was silent, the kid looking away as he crossed his arms, causing Zombieman to feel both awkward and remorseful, truly not having meant to put the kid in that much danger. Garou was just meant to be bait, not a hostage. 

He rested his hands on his cup for a minute longer before speaking, looking out of the window as he did so.

"How angry are you at me?"

He glanced over to the kid, seeing Garou do the same, looking near expressionless as he replied, childish voice surprisingly not diminishing his words.

"Not very."

Zombieman raised an eyebrow, genuinely taken aback by the reply.

"Really?"

Garou shrugged, apparently unbothered.

"Yeah, it's the most fun I've had in ages."

The kid then grinned, sitting up in his seat a little bit as he continued, sounding almost excited.

"Can we do it again? But this time I get to know what's going on."

Zombieman couldn't hold the chuckle that slipped out of him, admittedly confused by the reaction.

"You call being held hostage fun?"

Garou nodded, keeping his excitement.

"Hell yeah, especially when you came through that window!"

He then almost became conspiratorial as he continued, looking like the most entertained three year old Zombieman had ever seen.

"I won't tell Blast if you don't."

Once again Zombieman chuckled, amused by the kid's antics, finally beginning to see the hero hunter part of the kid coming back into action. Though the more responsible part of his brain was telling him to put a stop to this before it spiralled out of control and ended up with them forming some weird team, especially as if Blast did find out then he would be in a whole world of trouble.

He shook his head, keeping a slight grin as he responded.

"It's way too dangerous for a kid."

Garou scoffed, waving a dismissive hand as he spoke, sounding completely unbothered.

"Oh please, I used to hunt you guys for fun! Hell I nearly took all of you out, so this'll be a piece of cake."

At the sight of those yellow eyes widened in excitement and the kid's entire being being more excited than ever, Zombieman admittedly cracked, finding he couldn't bring himself to say no to such an enthused child; especially when it would make his job a lot easier if he took along a trouble magnet with him.

"Alright, fine."

Garou smiled wide, looking like the picture of happiness as Zombieman agreed, clearly more than excited to begin their night of patrol. And to be honest, Zombieman found that he was more than amused by the idea of having a three year old helping him fight crime, the picture being a rather entertaining one.

Maybe this babysitting gig would be more fun than he had thought it would be.

After busting another four gangs, fighting seven monsters, and chasing down three runaway robbers, their night of patrolling had come to a close; with both Garou and Zombieman covered head to toe in blood.

They were walking back to the hero's car after having taken out a weird slime monster that had reminded Garou of a prior one he had fought, both looking like something out of a horror movie as Zombieman lit up a cigarette in the open night air, looking calm and composed as he laughed at the memory of one of the prior robbers getting hit in the head by an incensed old woman with her purse.

Garou laughed with him, finding that he was actually enjoying his time with the hero. Hell, as he looked at the bloodied man smoking, axe in hand, he honestly felt a little admiration for the man; finding that he had to admit that Zombieman was... Well, he was pretty fucking cool.  

It hurt his pride to admit, but Garou genuinely thought that the hero next to him was one of the coolest people he had ever met; what with the breaking through windows, cool composure and taking care of villains and monsters in a violent way. It was like hanging out with a murderous and more deranged batman.

"Nice work with that last perp by the way, that Psychokinesis of yours comes in handy."

Garou would never admit that his cheeks had reddened at the praise, but they had and he couldn't contain his laugh as he replied.

"He never saw that brick coming!"

They both chuckled at the memory, and Garou grinned widely as he got into the man's car, seeing Zombieman put out his cigarette before joining him and starting up the car after rolling down the windows; doing his best to make sure none of the smell of the cigarette stayed in the more enclosed area that they were now settled in.

The street lights ran over the car as they drove, illuminating the insides as they went, though Garou could only feel tired at the calm drive of the vehicle, his child body struggling to stay awake after a whole day of exercise. Not that long ago, Garou could have fought another hundred things after this, but right now, after having become a literal child, his body couldn't keep up and was calling for him to sleep.

Garou felt his eyes drooping, but he tried to fight his sleepiness, unable to fully keep them open but managing to stay awake as they drove, finding the heavy metal playing to be of great help as he bopped to the tune, helping him use up the last of his energy as he fought his sleep demons.

It sucked to be this way, but spending the day with Zombieman had really helped to make him feel a bit less useless than he had before, even if it was mainly thanks to his Psychokinesis that he had been of use. 

Well, at least he had been useful at all, that was the main point here.

Zombieman hummed along to the tune of the song, and Garou was silently begging the man to not do that as it was becoming a sort of odd lullaby to him, causing his eyes to droop even more. 

The man was cool as all hell, and Garou found that he was actually liking the guy, even if the hero clearly had no clue how to look after a child; what mattered was that Garou was being treated more like an adult than any of the others had done during his time with them.

It was oddly fulfilling, even if annoying at times, such as each time he had to run to catch up with the man or was held like a bag. But those could be overlooked in the face of holding onto the man's back as they charged towards a monster, or each time Garou got to watch an axe become lodged in one of their enemies.

The car came to a halt, and Garou was surprised to see that they were back at Zombieman's house, with the hero already getting out of the car and opening Garou's door, allowing for him to step out into the night air. 

He breathed in deep, looking at the moonlit house, and though it was a little run down, he could now see that it was both large and well built; the building apparently being in the middle of nowhere.

Garou raised an eyebrow as he took in the woods surrounding them, not having noticed the completely unpopulated area during the other short trips they had taken; being too busy scowling at Zombieman to take in where he was.

He couldn't help but comment on the place, turning to face the hero as he did so.

"Do you even get mail here?"

Zombieman stared at his house as he spoke, somehow looking both unbothered and serious at the same time.

"Nobody knows where I live, it's off the grid and I plan to keep it that way."

Garou shuffled slightly, sounding a little awkward as he responded.

"Well...I have a tracker on me so, um, Blast knows now."

The hero sighed, beginning to walk as he replied.

"I know, but that guy won't bother me, he understands my need for privacy."

He continued, sounding unbothered as he did so.

"Plus this is only one of my safehouses, so it's not a concern."

Garou followed, shrugging despite the fact that he knew Zombieman couldn't see him.

"Oh, well that's good then."

The house was just as bloody and, admittedly, horrifying as they walked into it, but Garou honestly thought it was kind of cool; his old shed he had used as a base had been covered in quite a bit of his blood too, even if that place was now completely shot to hell.

In an odd way he missed that place, it had housed him for nearly his entire time as the hero hunter, but this was his life now and he doubted he would ever see that place again; as oddly sad as that made him.

Garou sighed as he pulled himself up onto the bloodied sofa, resting in the cleanest spot there was, seeing Zombieman turn on the tv before settling down next to him, the man watching the news for a few minutes before speaking up, gaining Garou's attention as he did so.

"We should probably clean up if we don't want Blast to know about our escapade."

Garou nodded, slipping from the sofa once more before following the hero upstairs and into a faintly bloodied bathroom with a pile of red clothes in the corner which no doubt was not the colour they had come in; not that Garou really cared.  

He got out of his onesie and sat in the tub as Zombieman helped him get the blood off of his body, running warm water over him as he wiped his face with a surprisingly clean cloth; seeing the water run red as he did so. 

Once he was clean, Garou was wrapped in a towel and placed off to the side as Zombieman set about cleaning himself, doing the same as Garou had as he cleaned himself up.

Garou went downstairs to dig through his clothes bag, eventually finding the wolf onesie that was identical to the blood covered one in the bathroom that he liked, dressing in it quickly before he got cold; hearing a voice behind him once he had completed his task, turning to see Zombieman in some black, comfy looking pyjamas as the hero dried his hair off with a towel.

"You hungry?"

At the question, Garou nodded, finding that he was actually pretty damn hungry after expending all of his energy. He followed along as Zombieman stood up, both heading to the kitchen as they perused the rather pathetic amount of food the man had; from a can of baked beans to a sad little lettuce that had been abandoned in the fridge some time ago. 

Garou sent the hero a slightly concerned look, seeing the man send him an almost sheepish one in return as he spoke.

"Sorry kid, I usually eat out."

Garou grew slightly curious, tilting his head as he replied.

"Do you even need to eat?"

Zombieman shrugged.

"No, but I still like to."

Garou grew even more curious.

"Because it makes you feel human, or because you just like to?"

The hero gave his question some consideration for a few seconds before replying, sounding unbothered at the admittedly intrusive line of conversation.

"Both."

He continued, settling down on the tiled floor as he did so.

"Not everything's about being human, but sometimes it's nice to sit somewhere and eat like I won't outlive everyone there."

Garou considered the words for a second before replying, fiddling with his fingers as he did so.

"I guess I never thought about it like that."

Zombieman grinned, but his tone was humourless as he spoke.

"A lot of people neglect to think about how immortality isn't just surviving every attack sent your way. You lose your humanity and outlive everyone around you, all while you can't do anything about it."

Garou nodded, understanding the man. He wasn't immortal himself, but he could understand how that kind of life could be immensely damaging to anyone's psyche, living so long while everyone you knew died must be pretty awful. 

At that thought, Garou realised something, and he looked at the man with hesitancy as he spoke.

"And...I assume you've tried to do something about it?"

He was unprepared for the solemn look that crossed the hero's face, seeing thoughts racing across the man's face as he sighed, replying almost quietly.

"I have. Though to no avail, as you can see."

Garou sat with the man, resting on the cold tiles as he replied, oddly finding himself trying to be comforting; being someone who could truly understand what it was like to just want to die; to give everything up in the face of something your psyche couldn’t handle.

"I'd say it's healthier to keep your distance from everyone around to lessen any chance of emotional upset, but I know it won't help."

He continued, seeing he had the hero's attention.

"So instead, don't you think it would be better to stay in the moment while you still have those people you like with you? After all, everyone's lost someone, you won't be alone in that."

Zombieman huffed in amusement, raising his eyebrow as he replied.

"Never thought you of all people would be comforting me."

Garou looked away in slight embarrassment, fiddling with his fingers and mumbling as he did so.

"I don't like heroes, but..."

He felt his face turning red as he managed to spit out his words, knowing he would hate himself later for it.

"W- Well you're better than the rest, even if it isn't a high bar, so I don't mind giving you a shitty pep talk."

Zombieman chuckled, leaning forward slightly as he hesitantly ruffled Garou's hair, replying with a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, kid, that's sweet of you."

Garou batted the man's hand away before hastily changing the subject, feeling his stomach grumble at him as he did so.

"Y- Yeah whatever, dude. Now can we eat something now? I'm starving."

The hero grinned, complying with Garou's demands as he got back to searching for food, opening many cupboards to find nothing, only to open the freezer to find a slightly off date packet of chicken nuggets; to which they both stared at each other with slightly hesitant looks, only to both shrug as it was really the only thing that was even remotely edible in the house.

They both went back to watching the tv as they waited for the food to cook, with Zombieman laying fully on the sofa, leaving Garou with enough leftover room to sit on, before putting on a horror movie that they both started to call out the plot holes in; each picking out different inconsistencies in the murderer's killing methods and the victims' plans of fighting back, which all inevitably ended with them dying, other than the final survivor that would appear, of course.

Garou rolled his eyes as the murderer broke through a door, only to trip on a loose dresser, failing miserably as he tried to stab the fleeing woman. Though he then heard the oven ding as the nuggets were done, watching as Zombieman got up and plated the food that may end up giving them food poisoning; or at least, give Garou food poisoning. 

He didn't care though, he was far too hungry to think about the consequences to his actions.

The hero returned with two plates laden with nuggets, laying back down on the sofa and handing Garou his plate of food, to which he eagerly took his as he began to munch on the delicious and vaguely ominous food, finding that they were well cooked and even tastier due to his hunger.

Zombieman ate with less reverence, taking it slowly as he watched the rest of the movie play out, though when he saw that Garou had inhaled his food, the man gave him his remaining nuggets; even chuckling as Garou thanked him with a mouth full of food, no doubt looking like a squirrel.

He finished the rest with ease, finding himself fully stuffed as he sighed in contentment, watching the final scene of the movie as he felt his eyes drooping once more; though this time he didn't try to fight it, he was fully fed and tired to the extreme.

Garou snuggled up into the bloodstained sofa, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, feeling weirdly content despite the situation he was in.

However, try as he might, he found that the sofa just wasn't comfortable enough to sleep in; as blood covered and stiff as it was, not to mention the cold air that kept attacking him from where Zombieman had opened up a window to get the smell of tobacco out of the house. 

It took a while of fidgeting before he gave up and slid from the sofa, being half asleep and drowsy as he blindly navigated towards the comfiest spot in the room, his body navigating towards the warmest point there.

As he climbed up onto it, he instantly felt a massive improvement in his comfort, snuggling into the comfy spot as he finally felt himself drift off to sleep; tired and content.

This was nice.

He had been in weirder situations, that was sure. But this... this was definitely up there.

The movie had finished about half an hour ago, with the final survivor living of course, but Zombieman couldn't move an inch, unable to even sneeze out of the fear that he would wake the sleeping child on his chest.

To say he had been surprised when a drowsy hero hunter had crawled up onto his chest was an understatement, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to move at all since then, the only thing he had done was breathe, and even then he felt unsure as he did it.

It was oddly sweet in a way, with the kid's little baby hands bunched up in Zombieman's pyjama shirt, and his head resting against the upper part of Zombieman's chest; looking admittedly cute as he did so, breathing softly and occasionally smacking his lips as he bunched up even more.

Zombieman had never once pictured this in his life, but experiencing this was unlike anything else he had ever been through before. It was very weird, but also oddly nice, especially as Garou despised heroes with a passion that was honestly impressive; even though the kid had stated that Zombieman was one of the better heroes, which he admittedly didn't know how to feel about considering how he dealt with his targets, but he would take it.

Garou grumbled a little in his sleep, bunching his hands tighter in Zombieman's top as his babyish voice faintly sounded out.

"...no...idiot..."

Zombieman grinned, finding amusement at the kid's tenacity even when asleep; truly being a fighter even when unconscious.

"...die..."

He was unable to contain his huff of laughter at that, finding it increasingly difficult to not move as the kid's sleep threats continued; though thankfully Garou soon settled back down again, going back to looking exactly as a three year old would, only a little bit cuter.

Zombieman never thought he would think such things, least of all about the hero hunter of all people, but he was and he didn't know what to think about that.

His heart rate spiked as the doorbell rang, causing him to glance in worry at Garou, feeling slight relief when he saw that the kid hadn't even stirred at the noise; still looking deep in his sleep and at peace, bunched up and content.

However, Zombieman knew that he had to do something before the doorbell rang again, silently cursing that the doorbell of all things was the one thing in his house to still work as he reached for his phone, not wanting any more noises to sound out and wake Garou up; but thankfully he knew that there could only be one person at his door right now, and that he had left his phone close to him, allowing for Zombieman to call Blast before the other hero could ring the bell again.

He heard the phone ringing for a second or two before Blast picked up, the man sounding confused as he spoke.

"You good?"

Zombieman replied as quietly as he could, voice barely louder than a whisper as he replied.

"There's a key behind a loose brick to the left. Be quiet when you come in."

He then hung up, trusting that the other hero was smart enough to follow the instructions, being proved right only a few seconds later as he heard his front door open, watching as Blast appeared in the lounge; looking oddly similar to a lumberjack, a very confused one at that.

Zombieman saw the man raise an eyebrow in a silent question at the sight before him, to which Zombieman quietly replied, still not wanting to wake the sleeping three year old.

"It appears that he found me to be a comfier alternative to the sofa."

Blast nodded, eyeing the rest of his bloodied house with a concerned look, replying just as quietly.

"That's fair, considering..."

The man trailed off, but Zombieman just sighed, inwardly appreciating that Garou had never once looked even mildly concerned at the blood coating the place; which should really be concerning in of itself, but he would take what he could get. 

He replied with a pointed look, still remaining quiet.

"I know. Anyway, try not to wake him, I doubt you want a grouchy hero hunter."

He watched as Blast pulled a face, expression one that Zombieman really couldn't pin; though he could hear the resignation within the man's tone.

"He's always grouchy."

Garou stirred slightly, causing them both to freeze in place, though they soon relaxed once more as the child settled back down again, scrunching himself up into a sideways ball; the fetal position, if Zombieman remembered correctly.

After a second, Blast quietly and calmly approached, slowly reaching for Garou, to which Zombieman helped by gently raising the kid up; both men acting as if they were disarming some kind of bomb.

However, he saw the faint smile on Blast's face as Garou sleepily clung to Zombieman's shirt, unconsciously wanting to stay in the comforting warmth of the place he had chosen to sleep in; even making Zombieman smile the tiniest smile he had ever made.

Thankfully Garou stayed fast asleep as he was held against Blast, sleepily nestling into the man's chest as he latched his tiny hands into the hero's shirt; allowing for Zombieman to sit up now that the transaction had been completed, rolling his neck as he did so.

He stood quietly, grabbing the kid's bags as he followed Blast out to the front door, the man not having brought a car due to literally being able to go wherever he wanted with his portals; much to Zombieman's jealousy.

The man turned to face him, expression light as he took the offered bags.

"Nice job with him, he's never this tired."

Zombieman shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning on the doorframe as he replied.

"No problem, to be honest he was pretty fun to have around."

Blast raised an eyebrow, causing Zombieman to shift somewhat.

"You're the first person to say that, well besides Fubuki, she enjoyed it too; for some reason."

Zombieman shrugged again, playing it cool.

"He was fine, a bit volatile, but fine."

Blast smiled, glancing down to where Garou was resting, the child looking ever so tired as he shifted a little bit, letting out a tiny noise as he snuggled into Blast's warm chest even further; said man replying with his smile still fully intact.

"That's good, gives me a good night's sleep at the very least."

The hero then turned, summoning a portal as he gave his parting words.

"Thanks, August, see you soon."

Zombieman sighed as he waved the man away, only minutely bothered at the man using his actual name, slightly regretting that he had ever told Blast in the first place. 

As the man disappeared through his portal, Zombieman leant off of the doorway and went back into his house, debating between sleeping or cleaning a little. And though he wanted to sleep, as he looked at the house he knew which one he would be doing.

Garou was going to be staying with him again, so Zombieman may as well clean it up a little bit, especially now that he found that he was actually a little fond of the kid, much to his surprise.

And it was only then when he realised that he hadn't studied the kid at all; he had been too busy having fun.

Damn, life really was getting odd.

Chapter Text

Garou wasn't weak, nor was he a coward.

He had fought everything from a wolf level threat to the literal entire hero association, breaking both his bones and his body's limits in doing so, intent on chasing every strength he could in order to improve himself; so to put it simply, he was not someone that could be classified as weak.

But...faced with the idea of seeing his teacher again, he was admittedly a little bit nervous.

Garou hadn't spoken with Bang since he had first become a three year old, not really having had the chance to during all of the commotion of his change, what with the blackmailing the higher ups and organising the whole babysitting calendar, there really hadn't just been a chance; not that Garou would have taken the chance anyway, he hadn't been in any sort of state to even begin the hell that was Bang.

It's not that Garou was scared or anything, he was just...not entirely ready to face his teacher after all he had done.

That's why he found himself hiding deep in one of the cupboards of Blast's apartment, obscured from anyone's view by a pile of old looking blankets that he really hoped were clean. Not because he was scared, but because he just really liked the cupboard that he was in.

The thought of seeing that old geezer again made Garou huddle even deeper into the blankets, knowing that Blast wouldn't find him for a while longer as the man had already wasted an hour in doing so; the sounds of furniture being shifted outside made it clear that he was still in the clear for now, especially as Blast had already checked this cupboard twice, not seeing Garou huddled under the blankets in his haste.

There were sounds of pleading coming from outside as Blast tried to get Garou to come out, the man at his wits end due to them already being an hour late to the dojo; no doubt irritated at not being able to find Garou with his precious tracker as the shitty thing could only pinpoint where he was in general, such as a building, but not the exact location of where he was when it came to hiding somewhere.

It was his goal to just hide in here till the next person in line came to look after him, not that he knew who it was, but anything would be a better alternative to spending time with Bang. 

Garou had only managed to find out the geezer was looking after him due to Blast letting it slip that morning, the man too tired to realise the consequences of his actions; though to be fair, the hero didn't know of Garou's aversion to Bang.

All Garou knew was that he had to spend two days with Bang, and that was one day too many for him. Call him dramatic, but he was not ready for the painful experience that had been headed his way, so if he could avoid it by spending the next two days in this cupboard, then he would.

However, Garou instinctually jumped a little bit when the sound of Blast's doorbell rang out, being loud enough for him to hear even when he was buried under the blankets encasing him.

It was probably one of the association's suits or something, Blast most likely having called someone over so he could get some help in pinpointing Garou's location, the fool that he was. 

Well, Garou wasn't gonna be caught out, not on this day and not on any other day.

He heard muffled voices as Blast no doubt begged for help due to his own incompetence, but he wasn't worried as the hero association wasn't exactly smart, so there was very little chance of being found just yet.

However, he froze when he heard the sound of the door to his hidey hole being opened, sending a small flood of light into where he was currently doing his absolute best to not move; having even stopped breathing in order to limit the possibility of being seen. Though as he felt the blankets around him being moved, he knew that he had been caught as there was nowhere to run to, even if he was admittedly very small now.

Garou made an effort to scootch back as far as he could, but it wasn't enough and he soon felt himself being grabbed by the scruff of his neck, unable to bite the hand as it dragged him backwards due to not being able to turn his head completely around without snapping his neck.

It didn't stop him from struggling as he tried to break free of the grip, however futile it was. He hissed and spat, but was still taken out of his hiding spot anyway, being treated with surprising swiftness as it happened.

Once he had fully been taken out, Garou struggled a little more from where he was still being held in the air, scowling at Blast when the man appeared in his view, looking both dishevelled and exhausted, no doubt having worn himself out during his search. 

The hero turned to whoever was holding Garou and thanked them, his tone more than appreciative, if not a bit confused.

"Thanks, but how'd you know he'd be there? I checked twice."

Garou turned to look at his captor, only to go slightly pale as he saw he was being held up by Bang, the old man looking a bit amused by the situation; replying in a knowing tone that Garou had become far too used to.

"When he was a child, he always used to find the smallest place to hide in to escape from his punishments."

The old geezer then huffed, glancing down at Garou with an expression he couldn't pin.

"He also tried to do that as an adult, but he was far easier to find as he simply tended to go on the roof in hopes I wouldn't think to check up there."

Blast huffed in amusement at the information, grinning at Garou with humour as he replied, completely ignoring how Garou was actively trying to kill the man with his glare.

"Good to see not much has changed."

The hero's amused expression dropped into a sheepish one, now sounding awkward as he continued.

"Sorry you had to come over, I really didn't intend on being so late."

Bang shook his head in a kind manner, raising his hand to placate Blast as he replied, sage in nearly everything he did; clearly ignoring how much it irritated Garou to still be held up in the air during all of this.

"No worries, I had a feeling that something like this would happen, that's why I came in the first place."

Garou wiggled from where he was being held, trying to escape despite knowing it was essentially impossible at this point. However the only thing he could see that he had succeeded in was getting the attention of the two men before him, which was not ideal as he didn't want to be the centre of attention at that very moment.

He acted on instinct, hissing slightly as he stared between the two men, scowling deeply. In truth, he felt like a feral cat, one that was very pissed and very much unable to do anything about the current situation.

In response, Blast gave him an uncertain look, while Bang simply placed him on the ground, freeing Garou of his constraints. However, Garou still couldn't make a run for it as he was surrounded by two men that could very easily catch him, even if it hurt his soul to say. 

He glared at the two as he sat on the floor, inwardly admitting defeat as he did so, knowing he was doomed to his fate now that he had been caught.

Blast looked at him for a few seconds before speaking, sounding the tiniest bit amused as he ruffled Garou's hair.

"Well kid, you've been caught."

Garou made an effort to bite the man, scowling in disdain as the hero pulled his hand away too fast, not allowing for his teeth to latch on. The sound of Bang's voice gained their attention soon after, the man sounding calm and composed.

"I assume all is packed and ready to go?"

Blast nodded, gesturing to a bag off to the side.

"Yep, he's got everything he'll need in there. I won't give you the rundown of allergies or anything as you no doubt already know more than I do."

Garou huffed, not looking forward to any of this. Doubly so as when Bang rose to grab the bag, he declined Blast's offer of a portal back to the dojo, meaning Garou would be walking back and he would have to climb up all of those stairs; which while it was easy in his adult form, it had the very real potential to end him in his current one.

Blast picked Garou up with a small smile, ignoring Garou's attempts to claw his eyes out as he followed Bang to the front door, clearly ready to be rid of him now that he had gone through another day of Garou's presence.

Once they reached the front door, Blast made a portal and took them through it, landing them all right on the outskirts of city Z so that they didn't have to walk all the way through the barren wasteland that it now was; the man then placed Garou on the floor before saying his farewells, crouching down as he did so.

"I'll see you in two days okay? Try to behave."

Garou scowled at the man, replying with a mumble.

"Whatever."

With that he turned away and began the trek to leave, feeling hesitant as he walked alongside Bang, not knowing where this would all lead to after his stunt with trying to end the entire hero association. 

He assumed that there was going to be both punishment and a lecture, so that already wouldn't be fun, but the thought of what he didn't know was far more harrowing. After all, he had pretty much grown up with Bang so he knew the old man wasn't going to take it easy on him just because he was now technically a child.

At the very least, Garou was somewhat appreciative that the old man seemed to be taking it slower when walking so Garou didn't have to run to keep up; unlike some people; so he could simply take in the barren wasteland that used to be city Z as they walked away from it and into a far more populated city that Garou had gone through many times in his hero hunting days.

He saw all the people mulling around, the many buildings with multitudes of signs and colours, the rubbish that littered the floor, and the alleyways where he had caught himself a couple of blockheaded heroes that saw him as an easy target when he had attacked. 

If Garou wasn't mistaken, he swore they had passed an alleyway with a dent in one of its walls from where he had smashed one of said hero's heads into it.

Ahhh , good memories.

Surprisingly, Bang left the main street and went into a more brightly lit side road, soon picking out a small shop and entering, the smell of food hitting Garou near instantly, causing him to perk up slightly.

They settled down in a corner of the small shop, allowing for Garou to hear the sizzling sounds of food along with a knife chopping up ingredients for something that would probably taste good if the smell was anything to go by.  

As soon as they had both sat down, a waitress came over to greet them, with Bang ordering for them both, smiling kindly as the woman left with their order all written down. 

However, even though the atmosphere was nice and the smells were delectable, Garou was fully on guard, knowing that Bang very rarely took them out to eat somewhere; the last time had been years ago now, when Garou had finally managed to deflect one of Bang's attacks when training.

It had been nice back then, but things were different now and Garou was beyond suspicious as he had only destroyed things recently; which was decidedly not something to be rewarded, as much as he would like it to be.

Bang raised an eyebrow at him, resting his hands together on the table as he spoke, sounding rather calm.

"Is there any reason you're squinting at me?"

Garou grew slightly embarrassed at having had his feelings on his face so obviously. This damn childish body, it couldn't keep anything secret!

He replied as nonchalantly as he could, shifting his expression into a scowl as he did so.

"Because we're eating out, you never do that."

The old man sighed, staring pointedly as he replied.

"Things are different now, Garou."

Garou scoffed, glaring at the table as he spoke, knowing full well that this was all bullshit.

"The only thing that's changed is that I have this body now, you're still full of it."

Silence passed for a minute or two before Bang sighed, looking a bit more wizened than before at Garou's lack of belief in him and the situation they were in; sounding slightly light as he responded, as if trying to get Garou to understand something obvious.

"The hero association has lost the faith of many, the heroes themselves are split apart and many of them are seeing the mark that you made."

The man then glanced away for a second before continuing, looking at Garou with the softest look he had ever sent him in his life.

"Not to mention, I myself have retired from being a hero."

Garou frowned, taking the information in and considering it for a minute. In honesty, he wasn't aware of anything that had happened among the heroes as he hadn't ever cared about what they were doing after his fall, plus nobody told him shit anyway; but to hear that he had made enough impact to split them up was quite nice, even if unexpected.

Though the most unexpected thing was Bang's retirement. Of course, Garou remembers that during their last fight he had heard such a promise being said, but he had been admittedly more deranged to think of too much back then; especially as when he had snapped out of it, his first instinct had been to save his teacher from the ugly ass monster that had been attempting to kill the old man in revenge for something.

It was surprising to hear, but at the same time he just didn't know what to think of it. He spent nearly over half his life fighting for what he knew was right, only to be cast aside by the man before him when he had thought he had meant something; only to become fueled by that and start realising everything that was wrong with heroes. And now Bang was just expecting something for not being one of them anymore?

Garou crossed his arms and scowled slightly, levelling the old man with a glare as he replied.

"Good for you, doesn't change much though."

Bang sighed, looking disappointed.

"I understand I wasn't there for you when you needed me, and you have a right to be angry for that, but-"

Garou cut him off, not wanting to hear it.

"Exactly, you weren't there, so you can't expect that everything's gonna be okay now that you've left those assholes."

He continued, keeping his anger securely with him as he did so.

"Just because you left them and I'm a child now, doesn't mean you get to be forgiven. I still remember it all so don't try to act as if we can start from the beginning again."

If he was being completely and truly honest with himself, he would like to start again; but the constant fear that Bang would cast him aside once more would always overshadow anything and everything that they did, and he didn't know if he would be able to manage with that hanging over him. 

Garou said as much, making his thoughts known as his anger lessened slightly, becoming slightly quieter as he did so.

"You'd probably just find a way to ditch me again anyway."

Bang looked slightly dejected at that, appearing to become slightly upset as he replied.

"I would not."

The man leant forward slightly, causing Garou to sharpen his glare.

"I never meant to hurt you, Garou, that is the truth. But I know I did and I understand it won't be an easy task to get you to believe that. Words can only take you so far."

Garou clicked his tongue but said nothing in response, simply mulling over the words as the world around them bustled with life. Their waitress returned with their order soon enough, and Garou set about eating his noodles with gratitude, enjoying the small parts of the food he could actually taste more than he had ever enjoyed anything Blast had cooked; though it wasn't a high bar.

He was so intent on shovelling the food in his mouth that he barely even noticed when Bang spoke, just barely hearing the man's words over his need to eat fast.

"I won't take your food, eat slowly or you'll choke."

A small wave of nostalgia hit Garou with those words and he found himself staring at the old man for just a bit too long, caught up in the memories of when he had first started living in the dojo and of the many times Bang had sat him down and reassured him that his food would not be taken for as long as it was there.

Out of habit or out of reassurance, Garou found that just like back then he had slowed down as asked, still glancing with suspicion but eating at a more normal pace that allowed for him to actually taste the food he had been given; finding that the noodles were actually very nice. 

He still didn't know why Bang had taken them here, but he was pretty taken in by the food provided, enjoying the taste far more than he thought he would, given the circumstances.

However, he only grew more suspicious when Bang ordered them both a dessert, but he accepted it nonetheless, content to eat a sweet treat from a restaurant that had proved that it could cook. Though it was when Bang asked him if he wanted another slice of cake that Garou finally spoke up, knowing he looked full of suspicion as he did so.

"Okay, what's all this about? You never did this before."

Bang gave him an unphased look, replying calmly.

"As I said, things are different now."

Garou squinted, not buying it.

"So you've, what, just done a complete one-eighty? I can eat whatever I want now?"

The old man leant back in his seat, still looking as unbothered as before.

"No, but I don't see anything wrong with giving you a nice meal after all that's happened."

Garou scowled.

"You're creeping me out."

Bang raised an eyebrow, now sounding confused.

"Was I such a harsh teacher that you now see a meal out as a threat?"

Garou sent the old man a deadpan stare, replying with a very pointed tone.

"You once made me do a thousand push-ups because you saw me eat some cake, so excuse me for being weirded out by this new attitude."

He watched as the old man had the decency to appear slightly ashamed, his eyes glancing around for a second or two before he replied, tone being a rarely heard apologetic one.

"That was when I was so taken in by my hero duties that all I needed you to be was strong so I didn't need to worry about protecting you. But I don't need that now, and I don't plan to punish you for eating something nice."

Garou scoffed.

"So it's an apology cake?"

Bang sighed, looking uncomfortable.

"It's something close to it."

They remained in a stiff silence, both not looking at one another in the slight awkwardness of the situation, neither knowing what to say. 

It was simply good luck that the waitress returned to take their payment at this point, the woman looking slightly confused but full of smiles as she thanked them for eating there, even giving Garou a small sweet as they left the restaurant; too taken in by his cute appearance to notice that he was glaring at her.

He hated when people treated him like a child, and while he understood that it was something they couldn't help as they didn't know his situation, it was still very grating to him; it's why he didn't mind Zombieman as much, the hero treated him like an actual adult most of the time.

Garou walked through the rest of the city with Bang, simply strolling along as they passed by veritable tons of people, each with a place to be. 

He thought about his conversation with Bang as they trekked through the city, wondering just what on earth the old man was trying to accomplish with this new attitude of his; finding that any answer he came up with was stumped by ten more questions.

It was difficult to think of a world where Bang was a teacher who truly wanted to spend time with him and treat him to food, Garou had gone so long without it that he really found it an foreign concept to him once it had actually begun to happen.

He found that he just couldn't understand the old geezer's plan, was this all an apology or had the man actually changed? It stumped him.

On the one hand, he truly wanted to believe that they could start again, but on the other hand he couldn't bring himself to believe that they would be okay if they did so. Too much had happened and Garou had already been abandoned once by the man, he didn't want to go through that a second time.

Garou followed Bang through the streets in silence, not wanting to make idle conversation as he had always been adverse to doing so; especially with the old man of all people. 

It was awkward, but it was almost nice to just walk through the bustling cities full of life, seeing all the different people swarming around them along with the scent of food in the air. It was something Garou hadn't experienced for a while now, and it was close to refreshing to see it all again.

He wished that he could've experienced all this again in his adult body, but such a thing wouldn't be happening any time soon, so he just tried to take in what he could as he was currently; ignoring his more depressing thoughts as he did so.

In honesty, he didn't even realise that they had left the city until they were on the very outskirts of it, and a wave of both hesitation and nostalgia hit him full force as he saw the many stairs leading upwards in the distance.

They all looked way bigger than he remembered, and he admittedly felt a bit hesitant to begin climbing as he would probably die halfway up. The youngest he had ever been going up those stairs was ten, so even then he had been given some sort of advantage; not that young him knew it; meaning that Garou was probably doomed.

The sound of Bang's voice drew his attention away from the stairs, and he looked up at the old man with a raised eyebrow as he listened; finding immediate suspicion at seeing slight amusement on Bang's face.

"Do you want me to carry you up?"

Garou's face lit up with an embarrassed blush, and he practically yelled at the man in response, pushing past as he began the climb; spite now fueling him.

"NO!"

He heard Bang chuckle before following him up, ascending with far more ease due to his longer legs and near limitless stamina; all of which Garou had lost thanks to that shitty punch. But it didn't stop him as he climbed, determined to make it on his own as he really didn't want to be so weak that he needed help climbing some stairs; even if it was hundreds of them.

Garou would defeat this challenge, there was no way he was going to give up.

Bang had gotten halfway up the stairway to his dojo when he suddenly noticed the lack of groaning and heavy breathing coming from behind him, causing him to turn and descend once more until he saw his now tiny student laying flat on the stairs, clearly exhausted.

Garou looked tantamount to truly defeated, panting heavily and struggling to push himself up onto the next step; though Bang held some respect for the child at seeing how he was still trying to climb up despite already being out of strength, always being the tenacious one.

He huffed in slight amusement at the sight of his sluggish student, nostalgia washing over him as he remembered the ten year old that had turned up exhausted on his doorstep all those years ago; appearing so determined and tired that Bang had been ready to accept him from the get go, even before seeing how intelligent the child was, truly being a prodigy in every sense of the word.

Fondness consumed him at the sight, and Bang was unable to help himself as he crouched down and gently poked the panting lump, hearing a groan in response to the action; soon followed by a tired voice, the child remaining face down on the stairs as he spoke.

"...go...away...m' fine..."

Bang huffed in amusement once more, smiling softly as he watched Garou attempt to pull himself up, only to stop halfway and take in a deep breath as his strength failed him once more. Though while it was amusing, Bang was not about to leave his student alone on the sunny staircase to slowly drag himself up until the moon had risen, instead choosing to pick Garou up and manoeuvre him so that Bang was now giving the child a ride on his back.

He heard Garou let out a confused grunt before squirming around slightly, only to stop as he resigned to his defeat, most likely not even having enough energy to wiggle away. 

The action caused Bang to chuckle as he continued to climb the stairs, finding amusement from his student's resolute stubbornness, not having changed at all in that aspect, even with his body's decline into infancy.

"Rest, you'll only injure yourself if you strain your body like that."

It was the same advice he had given Garou so many times before, having gotten far too concerned at constantly walking into the dojo to see that his student had either already collapsed from pushing himself too far, or had been very close to collapsing; covered in sweat and blood from how hard he had had been pushing himself. 

Not once had Bang ever been pleased at the sight, finding great worry in how stubborn his student was in breaking his own body.

A part of him was disgruntled at seeing that Garou was still intent on doing the same thing now with his weaker form, but he put the thought aside for now, simply enjoying his climb as the small weight of his student rested on his back, feeling almost comfortable for some reason. 

Perhaps it was simply the relief that Garou was simply alive fueling such emotion, Bang could only assume so.

The entire war against the monster association had been more than stressful and difficult, but it had become far worse when Bang had no clue if Garou was alive during half of it, only to see his student turn into a monster, crazed and animalistic. 

The memory of seeing Garou that way haunted him, but the memory of believing that Garou had died at the end had come close to making Bang into a man that he was certain wouldn't have ever found happiness again.

Seeing a tiny version of his student had been shocking, but it was far better than the alternative; even if Garou clearly didn't share such sentiment.

Of course, Bang saw this as an opportunity to start everything from the beginning again as he truly saw the error of his ways, but he also understood that Garou wasn't going to go along with his hopes so easily, especially as Bang had abandoned him in every which way; as unintentional as it had been. 

Hero work called for him to near constantly be away, and during that he truly hadn't realised just how little attention he had given Garou during his time away from the dojo.

But he planned to change this, even if it was simple small things like a nice meal or small conversations with no true meaning to them. And though it wasn't a certain thing, he truly hoped that they would be able to return to something akin to when they had been just a master and student; even if it took time, Bang was more than ready to wait if it meant he would get his student back.

He cared for Garou, more than he would ever admit out loud. The child was akin to a son for him, and Bang had neglected this duties as a father for far too long, creating a monster that had nearly overthrown the entire world itself; only having been stopped thanks to that phantom punch, which Bang suspected had something to do with Saitama, doubly so after all Genos had said on the matter.

Garou sighed from where he was resting, having completely given up on attempting escape from his ride to the dojo, no doubt embarrassed at having to be carried the rest of the way up; though Bang would not bring up the matter as he was well aware that this would be a sore subject for his student to ever think about again.

In an attempt to fill the silence only broken by the occasional sounds of nature, Bang began to hum quietly, keeping himself occupied as he climbed up the last stretch of the stairs, feeling as Garou stilled a little bit more from where he was resting; clearly listening to the tune but not wanting Bang to know that, such a move nearly causing Bang to crack a smile.

He only stopped humming once they had reached the top, feeling content at seeing his dojo still standing strong as it waited for them both, no doubt containing an irritable Charanko; though Bang hoped that his student wouldn't bother Garou too much; as when the man saw Garou, he would no doubt try and feel superior about it in some way. 

A trait that Bang had yet to knock out of the man, though not for lack of trying.

Garou began to shift once more, and Bang put the child down without a word, knowing it was this or risk his student getting angry.

He had only known Garou since the child had been around ten years of age, so to see his student even younger was a treat, especially as his student was quite the angelic looking child despite the attitude that went along with such an appearance. 

It would be interesting to see how Garou was different from his priorly known younger self as Blast had informed them all that Garou was currently in possession of a brain that held his childish part as well as his adult one.

In an odd way it was sort of a blessing as Bang could truly get to know his student from even younger than before, thus hopefully helping them establish a more secure bond with time; though Bang would not be holding his breath for such an outcome as Garou was the most stubborn person he had ever met, besides Tatsumaki and himself of course.

He watched as Garou stared at the dojo for a few seconds, looking hesitant as he did so.

It was to be expected, the last time the child had been here he had been escaping from Bang after having taken out the whole dojo and after having read the scrolls containing the forbidden techniques that Bang had tried his hardest to prevent the child from ever seeing; knowing full well that Garou was more than intelligent enough to learn such arts with a good enough look, though Bang had underestimated his student as a glance had been all Garou had needed.

Truly impressive, and yet truly worrying. It was no wonder Garou had ascended to the being he had become, even if such a being had only made Bang want to fight for his student more, having known that, in those seconds of seeing that cosmic form, it hadn't truly been all Garou in there.

Those markings on the child's back along with Blast's warnings only fueled his thoughts, and Bang swore to himself that he would not let Garou be taken in by such a force again; he would protect the child from this unknown force even if it cost him his own life.

After all, what teacher wouldn't protect their student?

Okay so he had been carried up the last half, but he had still gotten halfway by himself and that was a damn accomplishment as most full grown men couldn't make it up all of those stairs.

He would know, he used to walk past them and gloat.

Karma had indeed got his ass on that front, and he was sure those men slept more peacefully now even without knowing why; meanwhile Garou slept in a small bed with the constant need to wake up at night to either go to the bathroom or annoy Blast until the man put him back to bed, though the second one was often more fun than not.

However, looking at the dojo before him, Garou couldn't help but be hesitant as he began to vividly remember all the shit he had done in that place; from treating the people there like a small workout, to breaking into Bang's study and reading scrolls that he knew he was forbidden to. Not to mention everything else.

He had been chaos incarnate, and he was sure as hell not going to be allowed to forget it by both his memories and Bang; the old geezer no doubt already thinking of different ways to bring up all the shit Garou had done during his time there, not that Garou would be too fazed as he honestly was proud of most of it, aside from the whole scroll reading and mass extinction of anyone who wanted to learn at Bang's dojo.

It took a few more seconds of staring before he began to walk forward, beginning the short trek to what could only be described as his old home.

Everything looked the same, it smelt the same too, hell even the irritating voice of a particular student was there too as Charanko burst out of the door, followed by Sour face, calling to Bang with the old man with his usual grating voice; not even noticing Garou until he was in front of them, panting and looking as pathetic as ever, like a particularly sad caterpillar that would never become a butterfly.

"Master Bang! You're back!"

The man then looked at Garou before doing a double take, eyes nearly bulging out of his head as he yelled.

"G- GAROU?!"

Both Bang and Garou watched as the man collapsed on the floor in front of them, the shock having taken out his tiny brain, causing him to faint.

Garou turned to Bang, raising an eyebrow as he spoke with a voice full of sarcasm; walking over to kick Charako's shoulder as he did so.

" Wooow , what a great student, you must be so proud."

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly as he scolded Garou, clearly still having some sort of hope for the ugly caterpillar on the floor before them.

"Enough, Garou. Most would be surprised at this, nevermind someone you tended to torment."

Garou grinned, coming close to mimicking the cheshire cat as he did so.

"You're speaking like I'm not gonna do that anymore."

Bang raised an unamused eyebrow, sounding just as he looked when he replied, though with an added tint of warning this time.

"Garou..."

The tone was heeded, but Garou still rolled his eyes as he waved the old man off, clearly showing that he was just going to do his best to torment Charanko at every given opportunity. However, Bang just let it go, casting his eyes to Sour face approaching with a heavily confused expression, staring at Garou like he was trying to solve the worlds hardest equation.

And apparently the man was absolutely awful at math due to the answer he landed on being a rather strange one.

"Garou had a kid? I thought he didn't like anyone but himself."

Both Bang and Garou sent the man a blank look before the old man replied, sounding tired.

"No, this is Garou. Quite simply put, he is a child now."

At that, Garou raised his hand in a wave, knowing his expression was a snide one as he spoke up.

"What's up, shit face?"

Sour face did a double take before stuttering a few times, looking between Bang and Garou with sheer bewilderment as he spoke, his tiny brain clearly struggling to comprehend what was happening.

"T- That's really him?"

Bang nodded before changing the subject, clearly just wanting to get inside his dojo and rest for a bit.

"Yes, now I have matters to attend to so if you could take Charanko inside, that would be ideal."

The man nodded, giving Garou one last bewildered stare before picking up the idiot on the floor, grunting a little bit at the weight of the mop-haired man. Garou simply followed Bang inside as the idiots pulled themselves together, as useless as they ever were.

The inside of the building was just as Garou remembered it, with many hallways padded with tatami mats and its old walls containing various images of different martial arts or paintings; along with some pictures of old groups of students that Bang had taught, standing on top of different tables throughout the rooms. 

It was like nothing had changed, though he supposed that was to be expected as Bang was not a man who liked to change things constantly.

They walked through the old halls in silence, hearing the sounds of Sour face dumping Charanko on the floor in one of the rooms behind them, causing Garou to smirk slightly as he pictured the sight of Charanko groaning in pain. 

Call him cruel, but Garou had always disliked that idiot more than most of the others in the dojo, finding great irritation from even being close to the man.

It was like the idiot had an aura of unlikability around him that warded people away, and Garou was one of those people; though he took great amusement from seeing the man fall flat on his face at every turn, from his attempts to charm women to his attempts to learn martial arts. 

Though to be fair, Garou couldn't blame the women for running as he would also run if he saw a pathetic looking man worming its way towards him; like a gross, sad little bug that oozed a horrible smell.

Garou still had no clue why Bang kept the man around, but he supposed everyone wanted a challenge in their lives.

They settled in the old man's study, both remaining in silence as they sat across from one another on the small table for a few seconds before the old man coughed, beginning to talk with a rather pointed tone.

"Now, during your stay here I ask that you treat this dojo, and those within it, with respect."

Garou let out a loud sigh, rolling his eyes as he replied.

"No promises."

Bang's eyes narrowed and the man's tone hardened slightly, becoming one of warning.

"Garou, I do not want to punish you, but I will if you disregard my request."

The man leant forward slightly, continuing with the same tone.

"You have done enough here, there is no need to repeat your mistakes."

Something in Garou grew angered at the sound of those words, and he stood up from where he had been sitting, fueled by both resentment and rage; spitting out his words with

aggravation coating his voice, knowing he didn't look as scary as he wanted to be, but still trying to show just how upset he was.

"Don't you dare say that to me! You don't get to act like all of this was my fault!"

Bang raised a hand in a gesture for him to calm down, replying with an even tone.

"You have made it well known that you are not fully ready to be treated like an adult, or a normal person; look at all you've done, do you really think I am in the wrong to be cautious?"

At Garou's silence, the man continued, sounding more imploring now.

"I am simply asking for you to respect the rules of this place. We have an opportunity to start anew and I would like to-"

Garou cut the old man off, seething with anger.

"And I'm asking you to shove it, you damn asshole! Fuck you and your new start, nothing's changed!"

He stormed off, leaving Bang in the study as he made his way through the dojo, fuming as he navigated through the empty hallways and out into the training grounds, not even needing to think about which way was which as he knew the layout of the building like the back of his hand.

Garou couldn't believe that they were only five seconds into this whole thing and the man was already bringing up how Garou had made mistakes. 

Everyone on this fucking planet had fucked up! And yeah, they hadn't tried to overthrow the world, but it wasn't as if he had gone into life wanting to do that from day one. Many things had led to that point and Bang was a major catalyst in said things.

He couldn't believe that Bang had been preaching about wanting things to start again, only to immediately start acting as if nothing had changed at all; and that Garou was going to fly off the rails at any given second. Which... was something he didn't want to give any thought to right now.

Garou huffed as he made his way out to one of his old favourite spots, sitting on the outskirts of the training ground under an old tree, surrounded by grass and the quiet sounds of nature. 

It was a place he had always come to when he needed to clear his head; and towards the end of his stay at the dojo he had been there quite often, just trying to make sense of everything, doing his best to pick a route he would try not to regret.

In the end, Garou hadn't ever come up with an option that he wouldn't have regretted.

He sighed, nestling down in his spot as he tried to calm himself, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere if he stayed angry; though it was difficult as the image of Bang's expression of warning flashed in his mind along with the man's words.

"You have done enough here, there is no need to repeat your mistakes."

Nothing had changed, Garou was still a monster to the man.

But...was Bang really wrong? Garou had changed somewhat, both in form and mentality, but he still hated heroes and he still found disdain for everyone even resembling them. Even spending time with the S-classes hadn't changed his mindset, they sucked. Or they mostly did anyway, Garou had to admit that a couple of them had been more bearable than the others, though who those few were would forever remain only known to him.

In truth, he hadn't changed much, but he had gone through enough to know that he no longer wanted to be a monster. He just wanted to be someone who was strong enough to protect the weak, but this time in a way that didn't include overthrowing the entire world.

However, it was more than clear to him that he would not be able to do much as he was, even if his only goal now had been to go and pick flowers in a field for the rest of his life; as he would no doubt need help actually getting into said field, what with this damn stupid baby body of his.

Garou sighed again, feeling even worse than before, his anger being replaced by self-loathing and sadness.

 Why couldn't he have just died?

He hiccuped, curling into himself, finding that there were some tears brimming in his eyes; the child part of his psyche reacting to his emotions despite his adult side not wanting to let a single thing slip. Though as he tried to wipe away the tears before they could fall, he found that he was already too far gone to prevent them from doing so, his stupid child part expressing itself in the only way it could at this point during his life back when he had actually been three.

Stupid body, stupid Bang, stupid fucking life-

Garou viciously wiped his eyes, not wanting to even let the birds outside with him see him crying; it was a pathetic thing to do and he wished he could just get rid of the damn emotions in his head, not for the first time wanting to just lay down and give up.

Shit, he didn't even know why he was reacting this way; it wasn't the first time he had been treated like this by Bang, or anyone else for that matter. 

Everyone thought he was the same, none having even considered what his ultimate plan had been in the end; just having wanted to put an end to everything by bringing people together against one enemy, so that even the smallest of people could rise up and help.

Garou sniffed, feeling annoyed at both himself and everyone around him for a multitude of reasons.

It was all so stupid, all he had done was ruin his life. After all, what on earth had changed besides his damn body? The hero association getting a bit frayed? That was going to happen one way or the other anyway, those idiots wouldn't have been able to keep themselves going forever, he could have just watched it happen from the sidelines.

Garou soon heard the bird's calls to one another become disrupted by the tell tale sounds of footsteps approaching him, causing him to tense up as he kept his scowl; acting as if he hadn't just been crying over something so pathetically stupid that it annoyed him. 

He wiped away the last of his tears as he pulled himself together again, finding that scowling at the dirt was his next best plan as being angry tended to relax him as it was his most well visited emotion.

He didn't even bother to look up as Bang's voice sounded out, the man's tone being slightly softer than before.

"I thought you would be here."

Garou was sarcastic as he responded, still hostile towards the man next to him.

"Oh yeah, because you know everything. You'll have to excuse me, I forget that sometimes."

He listened as Bang settled down next to him, sighing once fully seated, replying in the same calm tone.

"If I knew everything then you wouldn't be how you are now."

Garou kept his scowl, not giving the man a response, finding that the birds had begun to sing once more now that the two of them had returned to silence. Though after a few quiet minutes, Bang spoke again, still with a soft voice; but this time having an air of regret that underlied it.

"I am sorry, Garou."

When the man got no reply, he continued, resting his hands on his knees as he did so.

"I tried to show you that I care, but I chose the wrong words."

Garou clicked his tongue, replying with some venom in his tone.

"Yeah, fucking great way of showing me care, you should go be a therapist or something."

Bang sighed, seemingly trying to get Garou to reply in a way that wasn't full of hostility.

"I understand that this will take time, and I know I'm not going about it in the right way, but I need to hear your perspective before I can do that."

Finally Garou turned to the man, levelling him with a heated glare as he replied, still angry.

"Maybe don't treat me like some deranged lunatic that needs to be on watch, that's a start."

Bang was silent for a few seconds before replying, sounding oddly as if he were attempting to be funny and yet serious at the same time, nodding as he spoke.

"To be fair, you are technically a convicted criminal. But I'm willing to acquiesce to that request, if it makes you feel more welcome."

Garou huffed, crossing his arms as he replied, mumbling in annoyance as he turned back to the view of the distant city before him, his anger having died down a bit.

"Now's when you wanna be funny? Just great."

The old man remained silent, simply watching the view with Garou as nature sang its songs around them, creating a peaceful environment in the otherwise tense atmosphere that had been there only a few minutes ago. 

It was enough that Garou found himself unwillingly relaxing, the thoughts in his head simmering down in the truly odd atmosphere he was in; never having expected for Bang of all people to be sitting down with him under one of his favourite spots.

It was not as uncomfortable as he thought it would be, but it was still odd to him. Bang wasn't an overly caring man by any means, or at least he didn't show it, so to see the old geezer sitting with him here was something he never thought he would ever experience; but here they were, sitting as if Garou hadn't just exploded in anger only a few minutes ago.

He hoped Bang hadn't seen him crying, or seen the traces of tears on his face when he had turned to speak to the man; it would only haunt him for the rest of his life if Bang knew he had lost to his emotions so easily.

However, in the relative silence of the warm afternoon, Garou found himself speaking; quiet in the ambience of the space around them.

"Why'd you even come look for me anyway? S' not like the trackers off me or anything."

Bang let out a small sigh before replying, keeping his gaze in the distance as he did so.

"For all your intelligence, you can't understand why I followed you?"

Garou scowled, glancing over to the man only to be met with a soft expression, Bang continuing without waiting for an answer.

"You are my student, and I upset you, so I came to apologise."

Garou kept his scowl as he replied, finding more irritation than anything at the answer.

"You barely ever did that before, so don't go acting like you were some kind of saint."

The silence became more tense, and Garou stood up, dusting himself off as he dismissed both the man and the conversation.

"I'm going inside. I assume my old room's still there, unless you trashed it while I was gone?"

Bang remained seated as he replied, looking oddly melancholy; sounding much the same as he spoke.  

"Nothing was touched in your absence."

Garou nodded before walking past the man and through the training grounds once more, escaping the situation before it got too tense once more as he didn't want to completely lose his shit again; especially not right in front of the man.

It was a relatively short trip to his room, and when he opened the door he found that Bang had been truthful, everything was intact and untouched; to the point that there was some dust on the small abouts of furniture he had in there, with his table still having the wayward papers he had written on left completely unbothered. 

He found that his bed covers were still messily tossed aside as he always left them when he woke up, ready to begin a new day of training.

It had been a year or so since he had left this place, so to see it left completely alone was a small surprise as he had fully expected for Bang to at the very least trash it in favour of a storage room or something. But no, here it was, untouched and dusty.

Garou climbed up onto his old bed and settled on it, laying down and staring at the ceiling as he unwillingly remembered all the other times he had done the same thing throughout his life at the dojo. From being happy to have finally found a place to live, to feeling rage at having been cast aside in favour of the heroes.

All of it continuously ran through his mind, haunting him as the old memories of rage came back into his mind; remembering all the times he had wanted to tear his room to shreds out of sheer anger. But now all he thought about was how shitty his life had become after his grand plan had come crashing down around him.

He was just so tired now, full of venom that just simmered beneath his skin, waiting to strike once someone said the wrong thing.

Garou didn't know what he would do now. He didn't want to be passed around by the heroes until they grew tired of him, but currently there was very little chance of escaping that fate due to the tracker on him; and while he would tear off his arm to get rid of it, his child body definitely wouldn't be able to handle it as much as his adult one would. 

Plus, he kinda didn't want to cut his arm off as a general thing so there was that too.

He honestly found no solution to any of his problems and that only made him feel worse, so he just stared at the ceiling until his mind went numb, feeling tired.

At one point he rolled onto his side and pulled up the blankets surrounding him, burying himself under the dusty fabric as he sighed, still not wanting to face the reality of his new life despite having already lived in it for months now.

He hated all of this.

The old halls of the dojo were silent as Bang walked through them, with an evening air coming through the windows now that the sun was setting; leaving the dojo in a nearly empty atmosphere as he made his way to the main training room, feeling an emotion close to sorrow as he entered it, casting his eyes across the empty room that had once contained a room full of tired but happy students fresh out of their training for the day.

He sighed, knowing that if he had simply shown more care then he would still have what he used to, and the world wouldn't have been shaken to its core by a single teenager full of wrath.

But despite knowing that and wanting to change things, he had still said rather upsetting things to Garou; even causing his student to cry out by the training grounds where he always used to go when he was upset, even though Garou never knew that Bang was well aware of why he was there each and every time. 

Even today he had gone over, only to to see Garou wiping tears from his face, clearly trying his best to hide his emotions from those around him.

Of course, Bang would never reveal that he knew these things as he wanted that space to remain a safe one for his student; but he also knew that Garou was not going to see this dojo as home for a long while yet, especially as Bang hadn't even gone a few minutes in it without upsetting the child again.

While his words had been correct in their message, Bang had been too harsh when speaking them, having gone back to treating his student like a troublemaker and nothing more. He had felt something akin to ashamed when Garou had left the study, angered and very clearly hurt, escaping the situation just as he always tended to do in their more personal confrontations.

Even now, Garou was holed up in his room, most likely either sleeping or drawing to keep his mind occupied as he had always done before; though that was mainly because the child could not break every training dummy or slate block Bang owned due to his now completely diminished strength.

He wanted to be like they were before, as a master and student, but that was getting further and further out of reach with each new interaction that happened between them. Truly, this could simply end like it had once before, with Garou resenting him and becoming something that Bang could not save his student from, though he would try nonetheless; even if it took his life this time around.

Truly, he had failed as a master, but he had been given this opportunity to change how things were and now he would do his best in this new start.

Bang had already upset Garou, but perhaps there was still time to remedy the hurt he had caused his student.

"Master Bang? Are you okay?"

He turned to face a freshly awake Charanko, with Sour face standing behind the man with... well, a sour expression. Bang nodded, responding with a light air so as not to worry his students.

"I am well. Good to see you're awake once more, I hope the shock wasn't too much."

Charanko looked nervous where he stood, though his tone came off as slightly annoyed.

"Well, you never mentioned Garou had...shrunk, so it would have, um, maybe been nice for you to do so."

Bang sighed, looking between the two of them with a tired expression, knowing that they did deserve some form of explanation.

"You have my apologies for that, but I neglected to tell you due to the fact that I knew you would both find immense stress from this."

Sour face was the one to respond this time, cutting off Charanko before the man even had a chance to speak.

"I feel it would have been better for you to still tell us, especially as it would have been shocking either way."

Bang nodded once more, replying with a sage tone.

"I understand, and I apologise."

He continued, sighing as he did so.

"Due to circumstances I cannot inform you of, Garou has become a child, he is also under my care for the next two days, so I ask you to treat him with civility."

The two men both groaned, clearly not wanting to do such a thing, but Bang simply narrowed his eyes, seeing his students instantly straighten up and bow, both apologising and agreeing to his request; clearly still having respect for Bang despite his decision to not inform them of Garou's arrival or appearance. 

Though Bang soon heard Charanko speak up, still looking nervous as he did so, fiddling with his fingers hesitantly.

"U- Um, we tried to make dinner, but there was no food left so..."

Bang had to withhold a sigh, suddenly being reminded that he had in fact not gone food shopping in a good week or two, having forgotten to in the hectic panic of Garou's transformation mixed with the hero association splitting apart piece by piece. 

Truly, he couldn't even blame himself for forgetting as there had been far too much going on to pay attention to the contents of his kitchen; after all, Garou was far more important to him than some food.

He then got a slight idea, remembering that one way to cheer Garou up had always been to give him some food, and perhaps Bang could kill two birds with one stone by inviting everyone in the dojo to a small meal; so Garou could eat and both Sour face and Charanko could finally meet the child face to face in his new form, the three might even get along if the food put Garou in a good enough mood.

Bang spoke, staring between the two men with a sparkle in his eye.

"Charanko, Sour face, there is a nice takeaway place nearby, could you go get us all a meal?"

Both men's eyes widened, and Charanko visibly brightened up, looking pumped as he spoke, clearly happy.

"We get to share a meal with you?! Of course, we'll go get some food right away!"

Bang passed some money to the men before they left, seeing how they both looked excited and ready for the upcoming meal; seemingly fueled by the idea of Bang finally recognizing them, which was a foolish idea as Bang had already acknowledged them a long time ago, even Sour face, the man having come back a month or two back, the ideas of starting a new dojo having apparently been taken from his head.

Of course, seeing the man grovel before him, begging to be taken back had instantly made Bang accept him back into the dojo; seeing how truly remorseful Sour face had been was enough for him, plus he had wanted to bring back people into his dojo after Garou's rampage.

Bang sighed at the memories, beginning to drag out the large table as he set up cushions on the floor to sit on before grabbing the cutlery, dishes and plates from the kitchen before setting those up too; lining them up neatly in each spot, making the area look as nice as he could, more than eager to make this night a good one.

The doors to the dojo opened and his two students came into the room with hands full of plastic bags; a delicious smell wafting out of them as they approached. Bang was surprised that he had taken so much time to set up the table, but he supposed it all worked out rather perfectly in the end; especially as they could now get ready to eat whenever they pleased. 

However, before Bang could allow them to eat, he needed to go and get Garou; though that was already seeming like a challenge in itself.

He asked his students to set up the food for the table before he departed, making a beeline for Garou's room as he knew that's where the child would be.

Bang hesitated as he reached the door, finding that he was suddenly far more nervous about this then he had assumed he would be; but he persevered and knocked twice before sliding the door open, seeing darkness in the untouched room accompanied by a very small lump in the bed clearly showing where Garou was hiding away in his blankets.

The room was silent, and Bang entered quietly, gently sitting on the bed next to Garou as he leaned over, gently moving the top of the blankets lower so he could see his student; finding a bit of surprise as he saw that Garou was softly sleeping, completely unaware that Bang was next to him.

It had been years since Bang had managed to get so close without waking Garou up as the child had always had some sort of sixth sense for when anyone was close to him, even in his sleep. 

Bang stayed silent, watching as his student slept softly, feeling close to sad as he did so, knowing that Garou wouldn't ever allow him this close if he was awake; the happenings of their past most likely making up for the rest of their future.

He raised a hand, going to gently wake his student before Garou's sixth sense woke him up; and he knew the child wouldn't be happy if he awoke to see Bang staring at him with a sad expression.

He needed to play this safe, this dinner was a start.

Garou awoke to a soft shake going through his body, feeling groggily confused for a few seconds before he realised that he was being shaken awake.

The information made him instantly feel wide awake, and his adrenaline went through the roof as he sat up, springing away and wildly glancing around the room in search of whoever it was disturbing him; only to see Bang sitting on the bed next to him, looking faintly concerned at the reaction Garou had given. Though Garou cast aside the meaning of the expression as he hissed at the man, insanely confused as to why the old geezer was even here.

"The hell do you want, old man?"

Bang sighed tiredly before replying, leaning away as he did so.

"Dinner is here, I assumed you would like to eat with us all."

Garou's eyes narrowed and he cocked his head as he replied, voice coated in suspicion.

"Us?"

The old geezer glanced to the side for a second before he replied, appearing to at least have the decency to look uncomfortable.

"Yes, Charanko and Sour face will be joining us, they are also students of this dojo."

Garou bristled, no doubt looking similar to a cat that was trying to appear bigger.

"You act like I'm a damn student here still, and you also act like I'm going to go out there and get insulted."

Bang gestured for him to calm down, relying with a tired tone.

"Garou, please, I have asked them to be civil with you and they have agreed; now we are simply going to share a meal together."

It was obvious that the old man was trying to relive his old days, where they were all just students and he was their proud teacher; or at least, Garou hoped that the man had been proud in some way. 

He didn't know why he hoped that, but he did for some odd ass reason that he wasn't gonna ever try to think about.

However, despite Garou's hatred for get togethers and the people in them, he was actually pretty hungry, enough that he could smell the chinese takeout wafting through the halls and into his room; causing his stomach to growl slightly, prompting him to sigh as he replied, deciding that he would just eat his fill and then leave. He could put up with those two dumbasses for ten minutes, that would be easy.

"Fine, old man, but don't go expecting us to all get along."

Bang stood up as he replied, sounding lighter than before.

"Civility is all I ask."

Garou rolled his eyes as he pushed past the man, eager to get to the food that he could smell in the air, hearing Bang trail along behind him as they entered the main inside training room, seeing both Charanko and Sour face sitting at a freshly laid table in the middle of said room; causing Garou to scoff at the sight of the idiots looking stupidly happy at getting to have some food with Bang, as if it was some kind of high honour or something.

He approached with confidence in his step, sizing the two men up as he sat opposite them, scowling as they both stared at him with unabashed curiosity and bewilderment. Though it wasn't until Bang sat at the head of the table did anyone speak, with Garou making sure to sound as aggravated as possible as he addressed the two fools in front of him.

"You got something to say?"

Charanko flinched at the sheer venom in Garou's tone, meanwhile Sour face looked away, clearly sheepish at having been as obvious as possible; though Charanko didn't seem to share the man's shame as he pulled himself together and replied with a snide tone, now leaning forward and puffing himself up, seemingly thinking himself stronger now that Garou had become a child.

"Yeah, I do actually!"

Garou scowled as menacingly as he could before using his Psychokinesis to launch a knife at the man, feeling satisfaction at how it sliced through some of the idiot's hair before slamming into the wall behind him; missing Charanko's head by a single inch, causing the man to let out a terrified whimper as his body practically deflated, now sounding close to hoarse as he replied, having instantly lost any of the confidence he had gained.

"...no...I don't."

It was Bang who then coughed, catching all of their attention as the man chastised Garou; levelling him with a look of warning as he spoke.

"Enough, Garou, no throwing knives and Charanko please show some form of respect."

Garou rolled his eyes but nodded, beginning to reach for the food and pick ones he liked before settling down to eat; now fully ignoring anything concerning Charanko and his idiotic ways. However, he did listen in as Sour face piped up, seeming to be acting civil as he spoke; fully obeying Bang's request.

"So, um, you didn't touch that knife when you threw it..."

Bang coughed uncomfortably, but Garou just levelled the man with a bored stare, replying in a tone that conveyed irritation as he poked at the food on his plate.

"Yeah, I have Psychokinesis."

Both men once again stared at him in bewilderment, but it was Charanko who let out a dramatic sigh as he began to speak; tone one of pure annoyance as he did so, the man leaning on the table as he began to lament.

"What? You've gotta be kidding me! Why does life keep handing you every good card in the book?!"

Garou scowled, placing his elbow on the table as he propped his head up on his hand, replying in a disdainful tone.

"If I had been handed every good card then I wouldn't be hearing your shitty voice right now."

Charanko glared at him, leaning forward once more as he pointed a finger at Garou, sounding angry as he yelled.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Garou hissed back, angry at having to constantly be within the disgusting man’s presence.

"It means that, if I was so lucky, then a meteor would’ve hit you by now!"

They both instantly quieted down as Bang slammed a hand on the table, sounding objectively scary as he spoke up, clearly doing his best to not yell as it would no doubt only worsen the situation.

"Enough! Both of you just eat!"

Garou scowled but acquiesced, beginning to eat his food in the awkward silence of the room as everyone else did the same; at least until Bang spoke again, now sounding far calmer than just a few seconds ago, if not a bit strained too.

"Now, how's your training going? Have you two made any progress yet?"

It took immense self control to not scoff at the thought of these two dumbasses ever improving, but Garou managed, if only so he could savour his food without a pissed off taste to it; though it became a challenge to not say anything as Sour face and Charanko responded with tones laced with a clear want to be praised like good little dogs.

"Yes, I think we have."

"Oh totally, master!"

Garou rolled his eyes as Bang nodded, the old man seeming happy with the confident responses given. However, Bang then centred a question on Garou, essentially forcing him to join in with the tables' conversation.

"So, Garou, how have the others been with you? I hope Atomic was...normal."

The question caused Garou to sigh, and he ate the last of his food with a grumpy expression, not wanting to contribute to anything.

"They were bearable."

Bang sighed, but still tried to prod for more information, clearly trying to start some sort of table conversation.

"Would you like to tell us about some of them?"

Garou kept his voice deadpan as he replied, grabbing some noodles as he did so.

"No."

At his refusal, Charanko then decided to speak up, gracing Garou with his stupid voice once more as he did so.

"Hey, show some respect!"

Garou flipped the man off, scowling heavily.

"Shove it."

Sour face chimed in, trying to placate them both.

"Easy, easy, just calm down. C'mon Charanko, you know Garou's never been one for story telling."

Perhaps the clown to clown communication was stronger than Garou had first assumed as Charanko actually settled down at the warning, going back to eating his food with gusto as Sour face launched into his experience at being at the martial artists tournament; though Garou couldn't care less as he had been in one and was sufficiently unimpressed to say the least. 

That tournament was for idiots to participate in, and for even bigger idiots to watch.

He did grow slightly curious as Sour face mentioned the final fight being rather insane, with the floor being obliterated and 'Charanko' being kicked around, only to find out that it was Saitama all along; though when Sour face mentioned that man, a shiver ran up Garou's spine, remembering how he had been unable to even bruise the guy. Though the rest of the story was soon cut off as Charanko yelled out, looking exasperated.

" What ?! He went as me and you didn't even notice?!"

Sour face shrugged, looking unbothered.

"He was very convincing."

Garou grinned slightly, gaining amusement from the discourse, not even slightly surprised at the fact that Sour face had been completely fooled by such an idiotic disguise; the man was an idiot after all.

Bang seemed just as amused by the two's antics, a tiny smile on his face as he watched them argue, casually eating his food as he watched the drama unfold. Though Garou sneakily stole all the chicken from the table as the men created a distraction, allowing for him to take what he wanted without getting scolded for it; even if he did have a slight suspicion that Bang knew exactly what he was doing, despite the lack of mention from the old geezer.

It could almost be considered a fun atmosphere if it wasn't for the fact that Garou didn't actually want to be there. 

He would much rather be in his adult body, hidden deep in some random forest or something; where nobody could find him and he could run free without ever seeing a hero ever again. Or he would rather just be at Blast's as the man was at least somewhat respectful of his privacy.

In essence, he'd rather be anywhere but here. Especially as now that Charanko and Sour face's conversation had died down, the room was silent once more, creating an awkward situation once more now that the only sound in the room was their cutlery hitting their plates occasionally.

Garou ate the last bit of chicken on his plate before laying down his cutlery, feeling full enough to escape the situation. Though just as he was about to scoot away and depart, Sour face spoke, asking him a question with a mildly awkward expression.

"So, Garou, are you stuck like that or...?"

Garou instantly frowned, but responded in a civil tone, albeit in a slight mumble.

"I don't know, but obviously I hope not."

The table quieted before Bang added to the topic, clearly trying to keep Garou at the table; knowing full well that he had been just about to leave.

"Blast is looking into it, and with hope he may find something to help."

Charanko grinned wide, pointing a chopstick at Garou as he chimed in, clearly thriving off of his situation.

"So you're back to being a brat, huh? Sucks for you."

Garou scowled, becoming tense as he replied; though he still tried to keep civil for Bang as he knew the man wanted this dinner to go well.

"I'd say I'm at your level now, but I don't think it's possible for me to sink that low."

Charanko's amused expression became an irritated one, the man lowering his chopsticks as he snapped back.

"Oh yeah? Well you got your ass handed to you and now you're a baby, so you've sunk low enough."

The table grew tense once more, but Garou replied with an angered tone before Bang could stop him.

"You'd know all about having your ass being handed to you, wouldn't you? Or am I wrong in assuming you've never won a single fight in your life?"

He then paused for dramatic effect before continuing, leaning close as he hissed out his words.

"I bet you couldn't even beat a damn worm you loser!"

The table burst into a loud argument as they started yelling at one another, causing the room to explode with tension and noise, both Garou and Charanko cutting each other off as they yelled; wanting to be the one to insult the other in a worse way than the last, though Garou knew he was winning as Charanko simply didn't have the brain cells to keep up. 

However, just as Garou was about to win, Sour face joined in, offended that Garou had compared both him and Charanko to weak slugs that could lose to salt.

All three of them yelled at one another, letting out snide insults and cruel jabs, each one more intent on offending one another than the last.

It was only when their argument reached its boiling point that Bang suddenly yelled out, sounding far louder than all of them combined as he slammed his hands on the tables; rattling all the plates and glasses on it as he did so.

"ENOUGH!"

All of them fell silent, the two men looking at the old man with mostly sheepish faces while Garou simply glared, listening along as Bang continued, taking a deep breath before he did so.

"This dinner is for us to get together and share a meal as students of this dojo, not for you to argue amongst yourselves!"

Garou scoffed, hearing as Charanko spoke up, sounding bothered.

"Well Garou isn't a student here anymore! Plus we would have way more people here if he hadn't beaten them all to shit!"

Bang replied in a firm tone, rubbing a hand over his face as he did so; looking tired.

"That is behind us now."

Sour face scoffed, glancing at Garou with disdain as he muttered under his breath.

"There you go, playing favourites again."

Garou bristled, snapping back with his own terse comment.

"Fuck you! What favouritism?! That asshole nearly killed me because I gave that fucking mop head a bruise!"

Charanko scowled, replying with anger coating his tone.

"You nearly killed me!"

The atmosphere got even tenser now, but Garou responded just the same, angrily hissing out his reply.

"Maybe if you bothered to be good at fighting, you would have been fine!"

Bang sighed again, glaring at them all as he raised his voice once more; clearly trying to shut them all up.

"I said enough! Can we not just have one meal together without an argument?"

Garou felt his anger bubbling over once more, irritated and frustrated at the entire situation; finding that he couldn't stop himself as he spoke up, sick of being sat at the table of idiots.

"No, we can't, and you need to stop thinking that any of us want to be here."

His words earned him a hurt look from Bang and two sharp glares from Sour face and Charanko, the latter man angrily replying once more.

"Hey, we want to be here, it's you who feels the need to ruin everything with your presence."

Garou stood up sharply, slamming his hands on the table as he spoke, furious and wanting to leave this entire situation; wishing that he was anywhere but this shitty dojo with these shitty fucking idiots.

"Well allow me to leave then! It's not like I wanted to be here anyway!"

He did as he said he would and left, storming away from them as he heard Bang call out for him from the table, sounding upset. Garou didn't even bother to glance back, wanting to be out of the room and far away from everyone in it, to the point that he was tempted to press the emergency button on his tracker to get Blast here just so he could leave; but he wouldn't as he didn't want to admit defeat, or to look weak at one stupid argument.

Garou slammed the door to his room as he entered it, wasting no time in climbing into his bed and burying himself in the sheets, fully ready to spend the next two days there until Blast came to pick him up.

He didn't care if he was acting like some unhappy baby, because he had every right to act that way considering that's what he was now, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was a child; he had been turned into some pathetic, stupid child that couldn't deal with much of anything by himself. 

He couldn't even control his damn emotions, as if he could, then he wouldn't be fucking fighting off his tears again.

Garou sniffed, feeling disgusted at himself as he fought his stupid battle, wanting to just die so that he didn't have to deal with all of these idiotic emotions his child half was forcing upon him. 

Why did he care about what some idiots said? Why did he have to feel things now? He knew he deserved hatred for what he had done, but to be pushed away by two fucking idiots who couldn't even take out a fly was frustrating to the highest extent.

He buried himself deeper into his blankets, doing his best to stifle his tears, irritated that they were even trying to come out; his stupid child brain feeling more than he ever wanted to. 

Though his situation only got worse as he heard two knocks on his door, letting him know that Bang was outside as the man always used two knocks before coming in; always saying the first one was to let you know he was entering and the second one was to give you a chance to put some clothes on if you chose to sleep without them.

The sound of the door sliding open made Garou dig deeper into blankets, wishing a hole could swallow him up so he didn't have to deal with any of these idiots any more; but no hole came and he was left in his blankets as Bang walked further into the room, a dip at the end of the bed announcing that the old man had sat down on it, soon followed by Bang's voice in the quiet of the room.

"I am sorry things went this way."

Garou huffed, replying with irritation covering his tone, hearing it come out as muffled due to the blankets.

"Just get out, I don't wanna deal with you right now."

There was a brief moment of silence before Bang replied, sighing before he did so.

"I believe we need to talk, Garou."

When Garou gave no response, the old man continued.

"This isn't easy for you, I understand that, but I need you to at least attempt to try being civil."

This time Garou did respond, anger coating his tone as he sat up, letting the blankets reveal him to the man.

"I did try, and I know you're old but I'm sure you remember what just happened."

Bang gave him an unimpressed look before he replied, clearly getting frustrated.

"Yes, I saw. And now I'm asking for you to apologise when they return-"

Garou cut the man off, venom fueling him at the words.

"Apologise?! I didn't even fucking start it!"

He watched as Bang sighed again, resting his head in his hands as he replied, clearly getting more frustrated with each passing second.

"They will apologise to you as well, this can all be resolved if you just listen!"

Garou scowled, leaving his bed in a huff, replying with sheer anger coating his entire being.

"Go fuck yourself."

Bang stiffened, lowering his hands and staring at Garou with a face full of stony anger; the expression being one that Garou had seen many times during his life, especially towards the end of his stay in the dojo. It was a look that promised an argument, one that would not end well.

The old man's tone was cold as he spoke, gaining the air of a stern teacher as he did so.

"I will ask you one last time to show some respect to both me and your fellow students."

Garou scowled, biting back with just as cold of a tone.

"Give me something to respect then."

They glared at one another before Garou stormed out of the room, hearing a now angrier call from Bang as the man followed him through the dojo and out into the outside training grounds; the moon coating the space in its light. 

It made for a scenic spot as Bang's calls finally got Garou to turn around and face the man, both standing in the middle of the grounds as they stared at one another; the scene honestly hurting Garou as he tried to not think back on how their last fight ended.

It looked like this was turning out to end much the same, for as much as neither of them wanted such an outcome, it may just be happening. And despite the fact that Garou knew that Bang wouldn't physically harm him in this form, there were worse things to happen than a solid punch to the face.

Bang spoke in the stillness of the night, sounding stern.

"Do you really wish for things to repeat? Have you learnt nothing?"

Garou scowled, replying as he kept his cold tone.

"Don't act so high and mighty, you're not exactly a changed man either."

The old man's eyes narrowed, and he spoke with slight anger painting his voice.

"All day I have tried to include you and make you feel cared for, but you keep spitting it all back in my face."

Garou scoffed, failing to contain it as he snapped back; unable to believe the words he was hearing.

"It's almost like I don't want to be here!"

A small gust of wind ran between them, rustling the leaves of the trees around them as they glared at each other, both tense and both getting angrier with each second. Bang soon speaking with a tone that conveyed that he was trying to calm himself, though it was clearly not working very well.

"We are a family here and you are a part of it, all I want is for you to act like it."

Garou let a disbelieving laugh slip out, feeling his anger fully bubble over at the words, completely unable to believe what the man had just said.

" Family ? You want to talk about family?!"

He continued, feeling the wind whip around them further.

"Okay then where were my fucking family when I needed them? Where the fuck were you?!"

Bang scowled, looking just as angry, the man replying as he took a step forwards, tone stern and upset.

"I know I wasn't here sometimes, but I was here enough for you to be able to talk to me!"

The branches of the trees creaked as the wind's strength increased, sending leaves scattering around as their argument picked up, with Garou sounding just as disbelieving as before as he yelled at the man; feeling his anger well out of him as he did so.

"I did try! I tried so many fucking times!"

He continued, getting louder with each word.

"Do you even know how many times you said we'd talk later, only for you to never show up?!"

Bang's stern expression dropped slightly, the man looking slightly less angry as he took in Garou's words; eyes not so subtly flicking to where one of the tree's branches had snapped off due to the excessive wind now surrounding them. But Garou didn't care, he could only focus on yelling at the man, feeling too frustrated to even bother lowering his voice even slightly as he did so.

"You have the nerve to lord yourself as some caring hero, and the audacity to say that we're a family, but you were NEVER THERE!"

A loud crack sounded out as some of the concrete slates of the training ground snapped and twisted, becoming broken as Garou finally realised that his Psychokinesis was now running rampant as his anger went into overdrive; having been the cause of the wind from the start, snapping and twisting as it ran in tune with his emotions. 

However Garou couldn't stop any of it, too caught up in yelling, though soon Bang called out in response, sounding concerned.

"Calm down, Garou!"

Garou did the opposite, only getting angrier as he yelled back, hearing more of the training grounds crack as he did so.

"NO!"

He saw as Bang began to walk towards him, the sight being far too reminiscent of old times, causing Garou to tense up even further; feeling his head become fuzzy as he practically screamed out his words.

"GO AWAY!"

With his words came a strong bout of energy that forced Bang back from where the man had been trying to reach Garou, the shock on Bang's face being clear as the man was blown back; though Garou couldn't truly focus on every detail as his head got fuzzier and his eyes got a little blurry, the feeling of blood running down his nose causing him to feel some concern for himself as he realised he had been way overusing his Psychokinesis without even realising.

The furious wind began to die down somewhat as Garou's legs got to weak to hold him up, and his body burned unnaturally as a scorching heat ran up his back, causing him to have to stifle a cry as the pain wracked throughout his body, causing his head to only become fuzzier from where it was hurting.

It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong, and Garou grew slightly shaken as his body began to feel like it had after that punch; concerned that his body would be thrown into another loop once more, perhaps even turning him into a newborn this time. 

It didn't help that his consciousness seemed to be slipping away, being replaced with something that wasn't unconsciousness, but the other half of his brain.

He tried to fight it, but something in his body cracked and his consciousness was short-circuited; the last thing he saw before darkness was Bang's concerned face.

The second the alert went off on his phone, Blast sprung out of his chair, creating a portal to Bang's dojo before he even thought to grab anything.

During the time when Garou had been asleep, Sitch had explained that Garou's tracker was designed to alert Blast if the child ran off, but it was also designed to alert him if anything abnormal happened to the kid, such as an overuse of his Psychokinesis or anything concerning the entity that called itself 'god', and the alert Blast had just gotten had not said anything about Garou being in an unknown location, meaning it was one of the latter points.

Blast sprang through his portal with vigour, placing it so that it was right next to where Garou's tracker said he was, doing his best to not land on the child. However, the second he went through it, he could already see that the training grounds surrounding them had been damaged to a very noticable amount; with broken tiles and shredded trees littered all over the space.

Though Blast ignored all that in favour of scanning the area for Garou, quickly locating his target on the floor with Bang next to him, the older man looking insanely concerned as he checked on Garou; though it seemed that the child was inconsolable, crying loudly as he wiped at his eyes, allowing Blast to see that there was some blood on the child's face.

With that image, Blast instantly walked over and kneeled down next to the two of them, casting a concerned look at Garou before he spoke; keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the child even further.

"Garou, you okay kid?"

At the sound of his voice, Garou stopped wiping his eyes and looked up at Blast causing a wave of immense concern to run through him as he realised that something was very wrong. The child had a flowing nosebleed and looked to be in sheer distress, but the most worrying thing was the fact that Garou didn't appear to be fully himself; the usual hint of intelligence in the kid's eyes wasn't there, instead Garou looked...like an actual child.

The kid looked lost, crying freely as he suddenly reached for Blast in a way that an actual baby his age would, clearly wanting to be picked up; acting in a way that the Garou that Blast knew would never act, meaning something was very, very wrong.

Blast gently picked up the child, ignoring Bang for a minute as he checked Garou over, speaking once more as the child clung to him.

"Kid? You gotta talk to me, okay?"

Garou only sniffed in response, generating more tears as he stared at Blast, clearly not understanding or caring to listen to what Blast was saying. Though he had a horrible suspicion that this was not Garou being his usual disobedient self; rather, he wasn't looking at the actual, adult side of Garou right now.

Bang moved from where he had been silently observing their interaction, and Garou's reaction was immediate, the child digging his face into the crook of Blast's neck as he did his best to move away from the older man; crying even harder as he did so.

The interaction pieced one of the parts of the puzzle together, and Blast leant away from Bang to help Garou calm down before addressing the man, doing his utmost to not sound accusatory as he spoke; trying to keep everything as calm as he could.

"What happened?"

Bang looked close to ashamed as he replied, looking down at Garou with worry.

"I- We got into an argument and he-"

The man sighed, now appearing as if he were also trying to piece the puzzle of the situation together.  

"He grew angry and used his esper ability, then he collapsed and...well, you can see."

Garou sniffed, bunching his hands tighter into Blast's top, causing Blast to shift so that the child was in a more secure hold. He then replied to Bang, keeping his voice level as he did so.

"Anything else happen?"

Bang thought for a second before shaking his head, truly looking lost; the action only concerning Blast more as he didn't have much to go on, Garou always got angry, that was a given to nearly any interaction with the kid, but he had never gotten angry to this extent. 

However, what concerned Blast more was when he saw the older man's eyes slip to where Garou was huddled up on Blast's chest, only to widen as he noticed something, pointing it out to Blast with a stiff hand.

"Blast, his back."

Blast glanced down, seeing that some of Garou's back had been exposed due to his clothing being strangely baggier than before, showing that the diamond shaped mark of the entity had now grown to cover half of the child's back, containing a small cosmos within it.

The sight was extremely concerning, and Blast stiffened in response, feeling as if someone had splashed some cold water on him.  

It was enough to make Blast stand as he held Garou, feeling the child nestle in closer as he did so, clearly wanting comfort. 

Blast gave it, ruffling a hand through the kid's hair as he mumbled soothing words, pretending to ignore the sad look he could see on Bang's face so as not to upset the man further. Instead he spoke quietly, trying not to notice Bang's expression as he did so.

"I'm gonna take him back, sorry Bang but I don't think he should stay; and I'll need to get him to one of the association's doctors as soon as possible."

The older man nodded solemnly, most likely having already known that this would be the outcome the second Blast showed up.

"I understand."

Blast nodded before turning away and summoning a portal once more, intent on getting Garou checked up on right now so he could get to know exactly what happened. Though before he could go through his portal, Blast heard Bang call out from behind him, and he turned to see the man looking simultaneously ashamed and concerned, sounding quieter as he spoke once more.

"Please could you let me know what the doctor says?"

Blast nodded, giving what he hoped showed as a reassuring look before he went through his portal, instantly being greeted with the brightly lit area of the hero associations medical suite; along with a few of the doctors that he had personally assigned to Garou's case for the checkups they regularly took. 

Each of the doctors were ready and waiting for Blast's orders, to which he quickly gave, gaining a more secure air to himself as he ordered them to check over Garou.

And as they scrambled to complete those orders, settling an upset Garou on the hospital bed, Blast truly hoped that things would just turn out normal.

When Garou woke up, he half expected to see his old room at the dojo, but instead he was in his room at Blast's apartment, tucked into the blankets and feeling tired.

The memories of his argument with Bang ran through his head, causing him to groan as he remembered letting loose with his Psychokinesis; though he then also remembered how his body had been filled with pain and his head had felt like he had been hit by that shitty punch all over again.

He rolled over onto his side from where he had been lying on his back, still feeling both exhausted and slightly dizzy, though it didn't stop him from beginning to crawl out of his bed as he gained a new mission in his head to go and find Blast to ask what the hell happened as he knew the idiot would have brought him to those nosey doctors.

However, just as he made it to the edge of the bed, he heard footsteps approaching followed by a rather worried exclamation.

"Woah, woah, woah! No kid, you gotta stay still okay?"

The tone of the man's voice made Garou feel slightly confused as it sounded soft, as if he were actually speaking to a child. So Garou sent the hero a confused look as Blast gently tried to push him back into the bed, replying with a tired voice.

"Blast? The hell are you talking like that for?"

He only got even more confused as Blast suddenly looked extremely relieved, letting out a loud sigh as he replied, looking as if some sort of massive weight had been removed from his shoulders.

"Oh thank god, you're back!"

Garou raised his eyebrow, feeling even more confused.

"You...what?"

Blast nodded, knowing that Garou was fully expecting for him to explain; to which he finally did, sitting on the bed next to Garou as he spoke, sounding more serious now.

"You, um, you lost it kid. Overused your Psychokinesis and lost control."

Garou did remember doing something like that, but had it really been that bad? He gestured for Blast to continue, not entirely liking the more hesitant demeanour the man was now showing as he continued.

"I took you to the doctors and they... well, they said the markings on you have spread; and your body’s shrunk with it."

It was like a harsh slap to the face, and Garou stiffened, feeling disbelief well within him as he replied, knowing his voice was slightly shaky.

"What? How? Y- You're joking, right?"

Blast shook his head, looking at Garou with some level of pity as he replied.

"I wish I was, kid."

The man continued, watching Garou for any reaction as he did so.

"I don't know exactly, but the markings on you grew and you shrunk with it; you're now a good few months younger than you were."

Garou thought for a second before replying, not wanting to comprehend any of it but knowing he needed to.

"...How many months?"

Blast hesitated before replying; clearly expecting Garou to fly off the handle once again, which would be considered offensive if the man didn't have every right to think that, considering literally everything that had just happened.  

"Well, you've lost a few months, nearly half a year’s worth."

Garou felt himself turn pale as the words hit him, raising his hands in front of his face to see that the onesie he was wearing looked far baggier than before, along with his hands looking smaller. But it only got worse as he looked at Blast, seeing that the man had finished speaking but was obviously still hiding something from him; causing Garou to unwillingly give the man a lost look as he replied, sounding quieter than he meant to.

"What else? Why did you act like I'd left or something?"

The hero looked hesitant, but at Garou's hand grabbing onto his sleeve and tugging, he spoke, clearly still hesitant.

"When you lost it, your child half took over for a while, and you were gone."

Blast continued, fully turning to face Garou as he placed a hand on Garou's head, clearly trying to soften the blow.

"You've been gone mentally since yesterday, and it's already the afternoon today."

Garou felt lost, no doubt appearing just the same as he tried to take all of the information in, not wanting to believe it but knowing it was all true. For once in his life he actually didn't bat Blast's hand away, instead almost leaning into the touch as he pieced all of his emotions and feelings together; knowing he sounded unnaturally small as he spoke, looking at Blast with concern.

"So...what do I do?"

Blast looked pitying, though he tried to sound comforting as he replied.

"We can't reverse this just yet, kid, but we can try to prevent it from getting any further."

The hero continued, keeping his tone as he ruffled Garou's hair.

"You just gotta keep yourself calm and you gotta not overuse your Psychokinesis again, that's all we can do for now."

Garou nodded, still not batting the man away, silently appreciating that the man was there as a comforting presence; though he would never actually admit that for the rest of his life, to himself or anyone else.

They sat in silence for a while as Blast removed his hand, simply being another presence there as Garou tried to work through his emotions.

He was younger now, he had lost half a year. If he lost it again would he get even younger? Would he just turn into a newborn at some point or something? What if next time he stayed as a child mentally? Blast said the markings grew, did that mean that entity from before would come back and do something again?

There were too many questions, and Garou began to get overwhelmed by stress again, feeling upset as he went over everything again and again in his mind. Was he going to die if he lost control again? Would he mentally cease to exist the next time? What if-

Garou's thoughts were cut off as Blast settled a hand on his head once more before speaking, clearly trying to be as reassuring as he could.

"It's okay, you'll be fine, nothing'll happen to you for as long as I'm here, I promise."

Garou scanned the hero for any signs of deception, though when he found none he nodded, just wanting to believe that everything would be okay; even if he still had doubts deep down. 

For now though, he would try to think more positively despite the fact that he was still filled with worry, not wanting to think about what would happen if he lost it once more; the thought of becoming even younger scared him, for as much as he didn't want to admit it.

He remained silent for a second before replying, sounding quiet as he did so.

"...Thank you."

Blast gave him a warm smile, nodding in response before standing, resting his hands on his hips as he spoke, obviously attempting to occupy Garou's mind with something else.

"Alright, you haven't eaten in a while so let's go get you some food."

Garou raised an eyebrow, playing along for his own mental health if nothing else.

"You went shopping again?"

Blast suddenly looked sheepish, replying in a mixed tone.

"Well...no, but we can go on a trip again?"

Garou huffed, secretly amused.

"Lemme take a shower and then we can go."

Blast grinned, walking with Garou as they left the room, replying with a more lighthearted tone.

"Yeah that's a plan, you stink pretty bad."

They both sent jabs at one another as Blast ran the shower, smiling wide as he did so, clearly trying to help in making Garou feel better; and to be honest, it was working, Garou felt better than he had, even though it wasn't exactly a high bar. 

He got into the warm shower with his emotions a bit calmer than they had been, feeling slightly better than before.

He couldn't do much about his situation except prevent it from happening again, but he knew it would always be in the back of his mind; however he would do his best to squash it down just as he had with all of his other trauma. Which, come to think of it, was probably why he was so mentally healthy all the time; that, and his cripplingly awful habit of being the most emotionally stunted person on earth, besides Bang.

Garou stilled from where he had been putting conditioner in his hair, feeling unhappy at the memory of having argued with his teacher. 

That old bastard could be so stubborn, to the point where Garou swore the man couldn't hear half the shit he said out of choice, being so dense that it became far too frustrating; as referenced by Garou now having been de-aged nearly a whole damn half a year.

It hurt, but it honestly wasn't unexpected. Garou was well aware that Bang just wasn't someone who listened, nor was he someone that could change. But to be honest, Garou wasn't certain if he himself was someone that could do those things either, especially now that his head was too messed up after this whole age reversal thing.

But just as before, he would lock such thoughts away, deep in the back of his mind so that he never had to ever think about it again.

...yeah, he was mentally healthy alright.

Garou sighed, finishing up wish shower with far less gusto than he ever had, not feeling in the mood to try and make himself happy. He would just rely on Blast to make himself feel a bit better, the man's idiocy was amusing after all; even if it got a little bit annoying at times. Or most of the time.

As he got out of the bathroom, Blast walked past him to take a shower of his own; though as the hero passed, he called out to Garou, sounding absentminded as he did so.

"Oh I got your stuff back from Bang's, it's in your room so go pick out something to wear."

Garou called back an affirmative, wandering back into his room as he began to dig through said bag, pulling out the same tiger onesie he had worn back at Atomic's, intently ignoring the horrifying rabbit one that was in there next to it; though as he looked aside to ignore it, he saw a bit of paper sticking out, just begging to be read. 

Admittedly, Garou grew curious, taking the paper out as he opened it, reading the words that were in there; seeing the familiar handwriting right away.

'Hello, Garou.

I know you won't want to hear from me, but I'm writing to say that I am sorry for the distress I caused you; and if you wish to not see me again, I understand.

In hopes of becoming how we once were, I ignored your current feelings, and that was cruel of me. I should have listened, and I'm immensely sorry that I didn't, even when you gave me every opportunity to let me listen to and understand your thoughts.

With time, I hope you can forgive me, but if you choose not to then I understand. I will be working to better myself, and I will do my utmost to make it so that you don't have to see me without wanting to; though I hope that one day you can see me and we can share a meal without arguing, even if it's near unreachable hope.

Alas, this letter is already getting too long, so I will bid you goodbye.

I hope your path to healing goes well.

Sincerely, Bang.'

Garou wanted to roll his eyes at the formality of the letter, or the fact that Blast had already spilled what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to; seeing that Bang had been completely genuine with his words.

Perhaps with time, they really could go back to how they had first been, but for now he knew it wasn't a possibility; not until the man learned to listen, or at the very least understand what Garou had been through. 

And of course, Garou would try his best to heal as well, but it was going to be a long road ahead.

He placed the letter back in the bag, hiding it under the clothes before he changed into the one he had picked; feeling as it was baggier than before, his smaller frame not supporting it as well as it used to, but it was still fitting him enough that he didn't need to get more clothes, especially as it would mean another trip with Blizzard.

Garou shuddered at the thought, but soon cast it aside as he went into the lounge, seeing that Blast was drying his hair, waiting for Garou to show up; the hero turning to face him with a smile as he spoke up, appearing chipper.

"Hey kid! Ready to go?"

Garou shrugged, doing his best to appear unbothered as he did so.

"Yep, let's go get some food."

The hero picked him up, and Garou didn't bother to complain, knowing it wouldn't get him anywhere anyway.

He was feeling better, but he was also feeling sort of empty inside, like he should have done something else.

It wasn't fun, but he knew that with time things could always change, and just maybe one day he would get to train with Bang just like he always used to; even if it was while spitting insults at each other, just like old times.

Garou leant in closer to Blast, oddly feeling secure with the man after all that had happened so far; despite having never once thought that such a thing could happen, especially as Blast was the highest ranked hero.

He relaxed, enjoying the sort of soothing rocking as the man walked.

Things could always change.

Chapter Text

Badd crossed his arms, scowling at the child before him, seeing that he was receiving the same treatment; with a pair of yellow eyes narrowed in a sharp glare.

Neither of them were happy about this, but with Blast standing right next to them, it was bound to happen. Badd couldn't exactly tell the number one hero to shove this babysitting gig where the sun doesn't shine, so he was stuck, silently wishing he was watching one of Zenko's piano performances instead.

At least it seemed that Garou wasn't entertained by this situation either, simply scowling at everyone and everything as Blast finished up the list of things that Garou would need; such as napping and other boring shit like that.

"Oh, and don't feed him anything after eight."

Badd waved the man off, replying nonchalantly despite how annoyed this whole situation made him.

"Yeah I know, I've got a sister so I'm used ta this."

Blast nodded, smiling as he handed Badd a backpack before going to scoop Garou up, only to retract his hand swiftly as the kid tried to bite him; the entire scene looking like this happened quite often, especially with how quickly the hero had been to avoid the attack.

In essence, it was like a warning from the universe that this was not gonna go well; especially as he and the hero hunter had never been friendly in the first place. 

Sure, they fought alongside one another towards the end of that massive fight with the monster association, but that was more of a spontaneous thing, plus Garou had tried to kill them all right afterwards, so whatever little alliance they had, died the second that had happened.

Badd sighed, placing the backpack on his back as he stood from his seat, watching in amusement as Garou struggled in Blast's grip from where the man had caught him, taking this small solace in the midst of everything in his life going wrong. Or well, not wrong, but nothing currently was going to plan.

Zenko was mad at him for escaping the hospital, the hero association was splitting apart, and now he had to look after one of the most irritating people in the world. Not to mention, he couldn't even complain because he knew that Blast wasn't exactly going to let him leave this without taking his turn babysitting.

The other hero turned to him with a smile, seemingly used to Garou's violent antics.

"It's only for the day, I'll come pick him up tonight so you shouldn't be too troubled."

Badd raised a disbelieving eyebrow, knowing he looked thoroughly unconvinced.  

"Yeah...sure."

Blast went to reply, only to grunt in pain as Garou finally succeeded in latching his teeth into the man's hand, choosing the opportunity as Blast accidentally moved his free one into the child's line of sight; too busy trying to reassure Badd to notice that he had been bitten until it was far too late. And even though the sight of the man trying to pry Garou's teeth from his hand was funny, Badd could only feel a sense of foreboding as he knew he would be next.

It was only when Blast eventually got Garou to let go did the man hold the kid out like some sort of offering, smiling wide as if his hand wasn't bleeding.

Badd frowned before glancing down at Garou, about to refuse and say that the kid could walk, only to hear Garou speak up, sounding angry.

"You asshole! I can walk!"

Blast sighed before placing Garou back against his chest, soon conjuring a portal for him and Badd to step through; which they did, finding themselves in the middle of a park, away from all the onlookers, but close enough to hear them all talking and laughing, with the sounds of other children all playing together echoing throughout the open space.

Garou looked extremely unhappy, but brightened up a tiny smidge as Blast placed him on the floor, stretching slightly as he was released; though he soon turned to kick at Blast's shin, scowling as he muttered things under his breath that Badd couldn't really hear from where he was, but he knew that it wasn't anything nice.

He watched with a raised eyebrow as Blast crouched down and ruffled Garou's hair, seemingly undeterred by the practically demonic scowl he was receiving in return; though Badd did find it curious that the kid made no attempts to bat the man's hand away, instead listening as the hero gave his farewells.

"I'll see you tonight, okay? Be good."

Garou huffed but nodded, glowering as he replied.

"No promises."

Surprisingly Blast just smiled lightly at the more ominous statement, the man returning to standing before he clapped Badd on the shoulder, sending him a goodbye before heading through a portal; looking chipper, and completely unlike how Badd would have ever thought the man would act after having heard all those limited stories about him whenever someone ever deemed to mention the guy.

It was odd, to say the least, but Badd just shrugged it off, becoming distracted by the harsh glare being sent his way by the tiny child before him; Garou's yellow eyes being narrowed and full of venom, annoyance and something else that looked akin to anger. And while Badd could have been the adult here and not have mentioned anything, he chose the low path and scowled back, speaking up with irritation coating his tone.

"What'cha glarin' at me for, brat?"

Garou scoffed, replying with a childish voice that Badd couldn't help but compare to the brat's older form; the deeper one that had made snide remarks at him for pretty much every one of their interactions.

"Cuz I'm stuck with you now, and I'd rather be strangled than have this happen."

Badd narrowed his eyes, shifting slightly where he stood.

"I can make that wish come true yanno."

The child looked unphased at his veiled threat, insead gaining confidence and narrowing his eyes as he replied, mimicking Badd’s prior movements.

"You wouldn't."

They stared one another down with their glares for another minute before Badd sighed heavily, already tired from this job.

"Ye, I wouldn't. Ain't no pride in killin' a kid."

Garou huffed, and Badd took slight amusement in seeing how his comment had caused the brat to throw a small fit; seemingly losing his venomous edge as his eyes widened, stuttering slightly as he replied.

"I- I'm not a kid, you asshole!"

Badd grinned slightly but just shrugged, not wanting to have an argument in front of the group of parents that were approaching them, each one happily talking with one another as their children ran in front of them, all equally as jovial. 

However, Badd did raise an eyebrow as Garou took a step closer to him, seemingly trying to not be spotted by the oncoming entourage; and as Badd wasn't completely heartless, he didn't point it out, instead remaining quiet as the loud group passed, nodding to one of the parents that spotted him and smiled politely.

Once they passed, Garou stepped away once more, crossing his arms as he sighed, going back to how he had just been; that namely being a glaring bundle of anger. 

Badd decided that it would be best to just pick Zenko up from school and go home so he could rest, even if he didn't want Garou to know where he lived, lest he wake up to see a child Garou trying to stab him in his sleep in an attempt to get some revenge or something.

But he didn't really have a choice so he started the walk, occasionally glancing to see that Garou was still with him, finding some small sense of relief every time he saw tufts of white hair in the corner of his vision; accompanied by an annoyed huff every so often. 

It kind of reminded him of Zenko a little bit, when she was that age Badd was as vigilant as he had ever been, constantly checking to see if she was okay; hell, he even did it now, much to her annoyance.

Badd sped up slightly, wanting to get to his sister sooner so he would know she was okay, his usual protective nature shining through once more at the mere thought of her being in any kind of trouble. Maybe it was a problem, but to him it was a good problem; who wouldn't be protective of their beloved sibling?

He of course kept glancing to see if Garou was still there, but he froze when he once again glanced down, only to see no signs of white hair anywhere. Badd turned around in a panic, scanning the area for any signs of the brat, only to see a park full of children and parents, but no tiny hero hunter.

Shit, how could he have not noticed?!

Badd took a second to calm himself, scanning the area for any signs of the kid, knowing Garou's tiny legs really wouldn't be able to take him far. He thought about where he would go if he was Garou right now, knowing he would want to get to cover as soon as he could, meaning...

He pinpointed the closest bush close to them, instantly closing in before he could even think further, practically diving into the hedge as he was one of the branches move; though he only felt confusion when he looked at his hand to see a very confused bird, rather than a yellow-eyed child. 

However, as he stood up in a panic once more, he heard a very familiar voice calling out from somewhere deeper in the small woods, causing him to charge in the direction without a second thought.

"Let go!"

Badd's ears pricked up as he heard that, and he sped up as his hand instinctually went down to his bat, sprinting out of the woods with murder very clearly on his mind. However, he halted immediately as he saw Garou struggling in a woman's grip, noticing pretty quickly who it was and removing his hand from his bat, knowing that if he even breathed on her in the wrong way then he would be sent into the sun by her sister.

Both women turned to face him at his admittedly ungraceful appearance, with Tornado scowling heavily and her sister looking mildly confused; not even minding that Garou was trying to push away from her with all the strength he had.

It was Blizzard who spoke up first, sounding polite but confused as she did so.

"Oh, hello?"

Badd gave a small wave, replying in just the same way.

"Uh, hi."

The awkward silence continued before he coughed, pointing at Garou before continuing, doing his best to not piss off Tornado in any way as he knew it wouldn't end well for him; for as much as he liked to think that he would be able to take her, he knew it wouldn't happen as he was currently.

"That's, uh, m' supposed ta be lookin' after im'."

Garou looked at him with a scowl before turning to the woman, speaking to her in a deadpan voice as he pointed at Badd.

"I've never met this man in my life."

Blizzard frowned and Tornado scowled even deeper, but Badd just made an angered noise, absolutely taken aback by the brat's accusation. He was unable to help himself as he glared at Garou, pointing back as his voice rose.

"Don't lie!"

He continued, now looking between Blizzard and Tornado as he continued.

"C'mon, we're literally heroes, ya know who I am!"

Tornado scoffed before speaking, glancing at her fingernails as she snidely responded.

"We might be, but I don't pay attention to anyone weaker than me so I wouldn't know."

Once again, Badd made a disbelieving noise, getting pissed at how he was being treated like some bug. Though Blizzard then spoke up before he could reply, sounding lighter as she gained a polite smile on her face.

"Oh, I do know you! You're Metal Bat, right?"

Badd sighed in relief, nodding as he took a step forward; not missing how Tornado's eyes narrowed at his movement.

"Yeah, that's me. Now can I have the brat back? I've got somewhere I gotta be."

Garou scowled at him, speaking up once more.

"He left me! He's an awful carer!"

Badd felt a vein pop out on his forehead. This little fucking trickster was trying to paint him as a bad guy! He scowled, replying angrily.

"Ya ran away ya little shit!"

Garou acted offended, even placing a hand on his chest as he acted completely innocent.

"How dare you, I would never do such a thing."

The brat then turned to Blizzard doubling his innocent act as he continued; causing Badd to nearly reach for his bat as the little shit even pouted to accentuate his innocence, acting like he had never done one bad thing in his entire life.  

"He's already left me once, what if he does it again and you're not there?"

Blizzard frowned as she shifted slightly, very clearly being swayed by the act.

"Oh, well...he is a little young to be looking after you."

Badd nearly broke his teeth from how hard he was clenching them, and he knew he was getting hostile as he spoke up, sounding even more pissed.

"I ain't young! An' I've been lookin' after my sis longer than you've been a hero!"

Blizzard looked torn, if not a little offended, at his statement; though the woman soon sighed and turned to her sister, a questioning look on her face as she spoke.

"What do you think, sis?"

Tornado rolled her eyes, clearly not giving a single shit.

"Give the brat over or don't, I don't care either way."

Garou spoke up once more, choosing to bring a shovel and choosing to bury Badd rather than help dig him out of the situation. And Badd nearly felt the vein in his head pop as he spoke, feigning innocence once more as he clung onto Blizzard, doing his best to act like he hadn't been trying to escape from her a minute ago.

"He's just gonna get me kidnapped!"

Badd took in a calming breath as he channelled every last drop of patience he had into himself, becoming deathly calm as he spoke to Blizzard, doing his best to appear as friendly as humanly possible.

"Listen, I can call Blast, but I'm sure we don't wanna annoy him with this; so just gimme the kid an' we can part ways."

He then tried to reach the woman's empathy as he continued, taking another step forward.

"I gotta get my sis from school an' I don't wanna be late so, please?"

Blizzard looked torn for another few seconds before her expression lightened and she sent him a small smile, holding out Garou in an offering as she replied.

"Oh alright then, I understand."

Garou immediately tried to squirm away, but Badd grabbed him in a firm grip before the brat even got the chance to, hearing Garou's calls to the woman as he still tried to struggle despite how futile it was.

"H- Hey! You're serious?!"

Blizzard sent the brat a smile, gently ruffling his hair as she replied, looking very sweetly at Garou; clearly having been taken in by the trickster's act.

"It's okay, we'll be looking after you again soon!"

Badd knew that the only reason Garou didn't try to tear the woman's hand off was because Tornado was right there and would definitely try to send him into orbit if he did so. Instead the kid just hissed like some wild cat, becoming close to feral as both women continued their stroll through the park, leaving Badd and him alone again; though Badd's anger soon came back two-fold as he practically growled at Garou.

"The fuck was that ya little shit?!"

Garou scowled back as much as he could from where he was being held out, replying in the same angered tone as before.

"I know you're dumb, but you can figure it out!"

Badd could swear his tooth now actually cracked with how hard he was clenching his teeth, but he still responded despite his suspected dental damage.

"Ya have a tracker on ya dumbass! How far did ya think ya were gonna get?!"

He watched as Garou rolled his eyes, replying with that same damn snide tone that Badd was so used to hearing.

"You sure you have a brain in there? Or is it so empty that you've got moths?"

Badd took a deep breath, working on controlling his anger so he didn't punt the brat across the entire park, knowing Blast would kill him and the media would eat him alive; and if either of those things happened then he couldn't provide for Zenko as he would either be dead or he would have lost his job, meaning no money.

Don't throw him, don't throw him, don't throw him-

He let out a long breath, working to calm himself as he closed his eyes, placing Garou on the floor and remaining crouched down as he massaged his temples; knowing full well that if he didn't control his anger issues right now, then he would be in prison. Though he had to double down as he felt two knocks being placed on his head as Garou spoke up, treating Badd's forehead like some kind of door.

"Hellooo? Anyone in there? I guess I was rig-"

In a split second, Badd firmly and roughly covered Garou's mouth with his hand, practically grabbing the brat's jaw as he replied, sounding quiet but more menacing than he had ever been; knowing he looked the same.

"Shut it."

Badd watched as Garou's eyes widened in shock, the kid genuinely freezing for a second before beginning to pry Badd's hand from his mouth, though of course to no avail. Badd kept up his menacing expression as he dragged Garou a little closer, seeing that underneath the anger in the kid's eyes, there was some actual hesitance there too; the sight only spurring Badd on to continue, keeping his energy as he did so.

"I swear, if ya try anythin' like this again, I'll make ya regret it. Understood?"

Garou gained the smallest bit of fear in his eyes as he tried to pull away, but must have realised how futile it was as after a few more seconds he stopped and nodded as best he could in his position; causing Badd to breathe deeply once more before he finally let the kid go, seeing that his intimidation must have worked as Garou didn't even speak as he stood up, the kid remaining quiet as he then followed Badd along, this time keeping quiet and close as they walked.

Admittedly, Badd did feel a little bit bad at having been so rough, but Garou deserved it, the little shit tried to frame him as someone who just up and left; in front of the fucking witch sisters no less! It may as well have been a damn murder attempt.

But despite that, it was still odd to hear Garou be so quiet; doubly so as the child followed Badd along without even glancing in a direction to run, seemingly having lost his fight after Badd's actions, causing him to feel even worse even though he really had no reason to.

The nagging feeling that he should say something wouldn't stop, so he reluctantly sighed as he spoke, glancing around the bright neighbourhood as he did so; seeing that they were deep into the heart of it and getting closer to Zenko's school with each new second.

"...Ya ever go ta school?"

It was the first thing he could think of to ask, and though he inwardly cringed at his chosen topic, he soon raised an eyebrow curiously as he looked down at Garou to see that he was just given a quiet shrug in response; the kid not saying a thing.

Badd frowned but just assumed that Garou didn't want to talk to him after the earlier display, which was pretty understandable, if not a little dramatic.

He sighed again as they continued, joining Garou in staying silent as they walked, basically ignoring one another until they finally turned a corner to see Zenko's school; the sight causing Badd to pick up his pace as he saw all the other parents waiting for their children, the echoing sound of the bell ringing out causing him to sigh in relief as they made it on time, meaning Zenko wouldn't be mad at him.

All the other parents paid him no mind as he turned up, each of them used to him coming here now that they had gotten over the shock of an S-class hero coming over to the school regularly; though a few did shoot Garou a questioning look, wondering why Badd had some random child with him that did not look even remotely related to him. 

What with Badd's black hair and brown eyes compared to Garou's white hair and yellow eyes; they couldn't look any more unrelated if they tried.

Badd didn't really care what they thought, but he was concerned that Garou would act up when the children came out the school; namely the brat might try to escape amidst the crowd that always showed up. Though if he was thinking about it honestly, the most that would happen would be that Garou would step closer to him again to hide, or he would just try and attack any other child that got closer.

Surprisingly though, when the children came barrelling out of the school, Garou didn't step closer to Badd like he had done back in the park; instead he just stood there looking uncomfortable as the area grew populated, crossing his arms and looking at the scene with narrowed eyes, even scowling at a child when they got too close to him, causing the other kid to gain a fearful expression as they huddled closer to their mother.

Badd didn't mention anything about it, instead he perked up as he saw Zenko leave the school grounds and look around for him, smiling as she finally spotted him before approaching cheerfully; meaning she must have had a good day, which must mean that she had her music class today.

This was good, but as her eyes lowered to the tiny figure by Badd's legs, Badd realised that he had completely forgotten to tell her that Garou would be staying with them for a while. 

He gained an awkward expression as his sister stopped before him, making no effort to not look like she wasn't staring dead at Garou, being honestly a bit rude as her expressionless face made Badd stiffen for the incoming anger that was bound to happen.

He winced as Zenko spoke, though her words were not directed at him.

"You're the guy that beat up my brother, right?"

Garou stared at her, arms crossed and unphased as he replied.

"Yeah."

Zenko raised an eyebrow, replying curiously now.

"You're a baby now?"

Badd got ready to launch Garou into the sky before the brat started cursing at his beloved sister, but found himself confused as Garou's expression didn't change, remaining as unphased as before as he replied.

"Yeah."

There was a slight silence before Zenko nodded sagely, crouching down as she replied.

"Are you gonna hurt my brother again?"

Garou remained silent for a second before speaking, still keeping that damn unphased air around him as he did so.

"No, probably not."

Badd was immensely confused at their conversation, but he made no comment as Zenko gave another sage nod, acting as if she were some ancient, wise master as she stood once more, smiling this time as she patted Garou's head.

"Good, then we can be friends."

Garou raised an eyebrow but just sighed, shrugging as he replied; making no effort to bat away Zenko's hand or even bite at it like he did with everyone else.

"Sure."

Badd became even more confused, but he stayed quiet as his sister then finally addressed him, looking happy and sounding the same; excitedly talking about her day as they all began to walk off, confirming that music class had happened and that she had gotten a compliment from her teacher, causing Badd to swell with pride. Though about halfway home, she suddenly lobbed a random question at him, abandoning her topic of best pen nibs for this new one.  

"So, what's for dinner?"

Badd huffed in amusement as he replied.

"I dunno, noodles?"

Zenko gave him a deadpan look.

"Babies can't eat noodles."

Badd shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, right. Maybe...sushi?"

Once again, he got a deadpan look.

"Babies can't have sushi either."

Badd struggled to find his thoughts as he walked, scrambling for a reply as he blurted one out.

"Uhhh, pizza?"

He didn't even need to hear Zenko's response, her deadpan look was more than enough of a reply. So Badd did the next best thing he could think of and spoke to the two kids directly, passing the choice to them if it meant he would no longer be on the spot.

"I dunno, you pick then. Oi, Garou, whaddya want?"

Zenko instantly put on her thinking expression while Garou pretty much just straight up ignored him, giving the tiniest of shrugs as he continued walking ahead, clearly giving Badd the silent treatment, or simply just not feeling like talking for once in his life; though thankfully Zenko spoke up before it got too awkward, putting her fist in her palm as she finally decided on an option.

"Oh, what about curry?"

Now it was Badd's turn to give the deadpan stare as he looked at his sister, raising his eyebrow as he caught on immediately.

"You just want curry tonight, don't you?"

Zenko turned a shade of pink but kept her voice level as she replied, coughing slightly before she did so.

"No, It's just the best option."

Badd gave her a sceptical look but agreed nonetheless, knowing he had all the ingredients at home to make what his sister wanted anyway; though he did speak up once more to ask Garou what he thought about it, as it would be pretty shitty if the kid couldn't handle spice, even if the image and revenge would be amazing.

"Hey, Garou, how are you with spice?"

Garou didn't even bother to look at him, just once again shrugging in response, meaning that the brat was almost definitely just giving Badd the silent treatment; unless he just really wasn't bothered to talk right now. But hey, if the shithead wanted to die of spice intake, then who was Badd to stop him? He had very generously given the kid an out, so none of what happened would be on him any more.

Zenko kept the conversation going, though this time about cats, as they finished the last stretch home; soon arriving and kicking off their shoes in the hallway before entering the lounge, with Badd feeling some relief at finally being in his tiny little home. Quaint but cosy, at least in his opinion.

He relaxed for all of a second before he heard Zenko speaking, though this time it wasn't to him; that realisation making him look over as he saw his sister crouching in front of Garou and happily speaking to him, causing Badd to stiffen as he readied himself for any attack the hero hunter might make.

"Do you like cats? We have a cat, her name's Tama! Do you wanna see her?"

Badd watched like a hawk as Garou shrugged, replying in an unbothered tone.

"Sure."

Ah, so Garou really had been giving him the silent treatment back then. Good to know.

Zenko lit up with a smile as she took Garou's hand and led him through the rooms of the house, searching for the aforementioned cat that Badd had randomly found and kept one day, much to his sister's happiness. Though it was a shock to see that Garou didn't even look slightly irritated as he was dragged around the house in search of the feline, rather the kid just looked plain emotionless; which, oddly enough, only made Badd even more on guard.

It was fine, he just had to get through the day and then it would be over, he could manage this.

After searching the entire household, the elusive cat was eventually found in a box in the small hallway off to the side; the little calico poking her head up as her name was called, signalling an end to Garou being dragged around every last corner of the house, much to his happiness.

He watched as Metal bat's sister crouched down and smiled, reaching out and petting the cat as she spoke.

"This is Tama, she's shy so don't be sad if she doesn't like you at first."

Garou nodded, not really caring if the cat liked him. He was too irritated at having the back of his head practically having a hole burnt into it as Metal bat watched literally every single move he made, clearly having as much trust for him as he had for a rabid animal. Which was fair, but annoying nonetheless.

"You wanna pet her?"

Metal bat's sister turned to face him with a smile on her face as she gestured to Tama, causing Garou to hold in a sigh as he shrugged, reaching his hand out as he let the cat sniff him; knowing that animal's liked to do that before letting people touch them, which Garou could understand as he sometimes did the same thing.

Quite honestly, he was immensely surprised that the cat didn't try to claw at him, instead keeping her purr as she pushed up into his hand, looking admittedly cute as Garou simply stared at her in surprise; slowly and gently petting her as she purred away, not even slightly put off by him, which was odd as Garou swore that animals were supposed to have a sixth sense about which people were bad and good.

Maybe this cat's compass was broken or something.

Metal bat's sister clapped her hands together, looking happy as she spoke.

"Oh, she likes you! That's good!"

Garou raised an eyebrow as he responded, still feeling odd at now being way younger than the girl then the last time she had seen him.

"I guess so."

In contrast to his words, he shuffled closer as Tama leapt out from her box and started stretching, though she soon came back to Garou in order to ask for pets, to which he gave, having always had a soft spot for animals; though that was something he planned to never tell anyone for the rest of his life. 

It was bad enough that he couldn't bring himself to harm children, but animals too? Was he even a monster?

Oh...wait... he wasn't anymore.

He almost forgot about that.

Garou sighed, sitting down as he gave in to the cat's demands, coming close to smiling as Tama instantly nestled herself into his lap, purring happily as she received attention from both him and Metal bat's sister. It was Zen... something, right?

He didn't mind the kid, so he decided to make an effort to learn her name; but as for her brother? Well, everything Garou knew about the man so far was against his will, so he couldn't give less of a shit about what went on with that asshole, especially after that whole park fiasco.

Lord, he tries to escape once and runs into two heroes, only to then be passed back into Metal bat's care once more; only to then get smothered and threatened. So to say that Garou was not a fan of the meathead was a complete and utter understatement.