NOVEL NEXT Issue #8: A Pop Greeting
I let go of my breath as the back of my hand parried the sudden fist coming straight at my face.
That was all the evidence I needed. This drunkass attacked first. He knew something, and there was the possibility of previous involvement too. I can't ignore this opportunity.
Air filled my lungs as I moved my head out of the way, evading a blow from a whiskey bottle. Drunk or not, the old man had an almost instinctual fighting response. Like he was used to street fighting from a young age.
There was also the fact that he hadn't used his Quirk yet.
Does he have one? Is it battle oriented?
Parrying another blow, I saw an opening and struck his chest with an open palm, pushing him away. The man coughed loudly, the strike dangerously close to the lungs. Clone training had so many benefits, starting with identifying places that could incapacitate a human. Makes me wish I could read Japanese so I could identify strike zones on the fly instead of blindly practicing them until I got them right.
“cough- n-now you've done it… ” I heard him murmur.
Adopting a modified posture I saw from a retired martial artist who tried to rob a bank before I stopped him, I readied my body to intercept the blows of the man in front of me. He stopped coughing and is now slowly making his way towards me with a sneer on his face.
“So… you do know,” I said, trying not to grind my teeth in anger. For the first time in a long time I feel my skin crawl with unadulterated rage. My lungs expand with air, causing my blood to rapidly flow and my muscles to tense in anticipation. “We have so much to talk about.”
The muscles of my arms relaxed and tensed in quick succession as I moved them in fluid motions to parry and redirect the multiple blows coming my way at high speed. After months of grinding and intensive training, I could say with sincerity that the 'Water Flow' technique is getting really close to what I envisioned when I first started to dedicate time towards developing it. Though there was a part of me that still had doubts about the possibility of reaching a 'good enough' state for the technique I reverse engineered.
If I had to put a level to it, I'd say the technique was on a moderate level. Good enough to work, but it still left a sensation of heat and soreness in the muscles after extended use. I wasn’t worried. A few more years of intense training will be enough to level it up.
I feel a fist graze my left cheek as I parry away another fist.
“Slippery bastard… h-hold still,” the man stuttered as he increased the speed of his blows.
Time to retaliate.
I concentrated my breathing, causing my vision to sharpen. Hands blur in fluid motions, parrying blows until I create an opening.
“Water Flow, Stream,” I said slowly, redirecting both of the old man's hands on opposite sides before using his momentum to strike him on the chin, arm, chest and shoulder.
The man grunted and staggered backwards, spit flying from his mouth.
I close in. My eye catches a small twitch of his right arm and the adjustment of his legs. I breathe out and then I breathe in again in an instant.
My perception of time slowed to a crawl as a right fist made its way to my unprotected face. Relaxing all my upper muscles, I evaded the sneak attack while redirecting it to the opposite direction with my right hand. The drunk man's eyes slowly widened at my reaction, but I didn't give him time to counterattack.
“Water Flow, Smash,” with the same hand that parried his last ditch effort to knock me out, I struck his chin, using his momentum against him.
Blood splattered on my clothes and floor. The sound of a tooth clattering on the floor reached my ears before the sound of the old man hitting the floor followed suit.
I let out a tired sigh.
“Man, I shouldn't have hit him that hard,” I lamented while looking at my stained clothes. Blood was really hard to clean. “Oh well… I feel much better now”
Taking out some handy rope I had just in case of a sudden encounter with rampaging quirk users during shopping hours, I tied the old man and plopped him on my shoulder with the intention of taking him with me for further questioning.
Making my way to my groceries, I started to hum a soft melody.
I felt so refreshed.
It felt like I just came out from the shower and changed into a new pair of underwear.
“His breathing pattern changed. He's up,” a voice suddenly said.
If he wasn't awake before, he was now. The people that kidnapped him were loud as hell. It didn't help that his head was still spinning from the blow he received combined with the booze he downed before going out.
“You're not fooling anyone old man, open your eyes,” a different but similar voice said from another direction.
He groggily moved his head to the side and began to open his eyes only for them to be assaulted by a blinding white light.
'What the hell?' He thought, trying to bring his hands to cover his eyes, but found himself unable to. They tied up his arms and legs to… a chair. A slight movement of his legs created a small groan coming from the chair, probably made from low quality wood.
Great. He was kidnapped by amateurs.
If it wasn't for the stinging sensation in his lower jaw where a tooth should be, he would be delighted by the opportunity to be captured by morons.
Letting his vision adjust to the lighting, his gaze was filled with what appeared to be the interior of an abandoned warehouse, but a well taken care of one from the looks of it. The only illumination came from a flashlight pointed directly at his face.
Four, no, five people in the room.
Two unmasked youngsters in the back, probably on lookout. One of them was the one who easily took him out, much to his chagrin. Then three adults, all masked.
A red demon mask made of resin, a yellow smiley mask made of hard plastic, and a grey mask made of cloth.
A smiley mask?
Isn't that the same mask of that vigilante from the news?
Did he get captured by a fanboy, or the real deal?
Or perhaps an impersonator?
'Hurm… so many questions' he thought before he felt two fingers being placed directly on his neck, his carotid to be more specific, by the man wearing the demon mask. 'Shit, not good. The shitty chair is intentional, they want to lower my guard. Are they… affiliated with him?'
“Normally you would've been taken into police custody by now. But you said something really interesting to one of my friends today,” the smiley masked individual said in a monotonous yet calm voice. It almost sounded like the voice a young adult makes to sound older. “Care to elaborate on what you know about the black tongues?”
A young adult… Smiley mask… works with the police…
There's a 40% chance he's the real deal.
Lucky him.
“Hn… Figures I'd cross paths with vigilantes the same day I decided to investigate on my own after a few drinks,” Iwao said, a half smile/half sneer plastered on his face. The possibility of it being Smiley interrogating him was growing by the minute. “So you know about the drug, how did you find out?”
“There was a small increment before the first question, but now it's back to normal,” said the demon vigilante.
“Heh, you didn't answer my question. But you confirmed my suspicions,” the man with a smiley mask said with mirth. He let out a chuckle as he began to leisurely walk back and forth, looking at the ceiling before sighing. “I was always perplexed by how every single person I stopped had this peculiar smell on them. A drug causing all this trouble makes so much sense now. How didn't I think about it before?”
Smell?
'What is this guy talking about?' thought Iwao Oguro, perplexed. Now he was 99,9% sure he was dealing with the vigilante 'Smiley'. But his mind was elsewhere. Specifically what he just said. 'Smell? How can he tell? The drugs are odorless.'
“I'm so ashamed of myself. I should've known better. Of course it was a fucking drug,” his interrogator sneered, emotions so strong that they almost made him flinch. “Now. The question of your involvement is still in the air, old man. What do you know?”
'Hn… a tough cookie, but still a rookie,' he thought with some amusement as he slowly pulled his thumb and shifted his hand to get out of his bindings. 'First rule of interrogation, never let the person you're interrogating know you lack knowledge, and always keep the information you know to yourself.'
His earlier assessment of being kidnapped by amateurs had been proved right.
Still… the odds of escaping were quite low.
Rookies or not, they have proven to be pretty capable as far as he could tell. Especially the young boy/teen at the far back who was able to take him out almost effortlessly.
Smiley wass another issue altogether, with impressive feats under his belt, even if the news seemed to downplay his deeds. And then there were the three other people in the room.
Are they in the same league as Smiley?
Is he strong enough to take them all at once?
He could beat the kid in the back now that he was sobered up and knew his moves, but what about the rest?
Could he even take Smiley out?
What abo-
“Hey.”
A chill ran down through his spine as he felt an incredible pressure close to his neck. Looking down he saw the vigilante with a devil mask looking directly at him. A thumb now pressed directly into his left clavicle.
“I asked you a question.”
'Shit,' he thought, a beat of sweat traveled through his brow to his chin. 'Is it wise to tell them? Can I bullshit through this if I mix some truth into my words?'
“I-”
“Quirks are an impressive thing aren't they?” the masked vigilante currently interrogating him suddenly said, interrupting Oguro and breaking him away from his line of thought. “You never know what they’re going to be whenever you encounter them on the job.”
'The hell is this guy trying to say?'
“Did I ever introduce you to my friends? Heh-Heh How rude of me,” Smiley continued, slowly walking until he was behind the man with the devil mask, who still had his thumb pressed against his clavicle. “This is a close friend of mine, his name is… 'Red Dragon'. And he has a very special quirk. Do you know what it is?”
“It lets me perceive the human body. I can see the human structure of anyone I touch… bones, muscles, arteries, all of it,” the devil masked calmly replied. He had the voice of a young adult, maybe a teen. “Let's say someone had an injury, an old one perhaps. It could become a point of interest for a possible strike. Don't you think so?”
'Crap. Since when does Smiley work with other vigilantes? What a pain in the ass,' Iwao Oguro thought with a wince. The place the vigilante was touching didn’t have an old wound, but by now they must know the one in his brain and shoulder.
“Did you know wounds from our childhood could potentially become fatal if we don't take it easy? This particular place for example is really interesting,” he said while tapping Iwao’s clavicle. “If I dislodge it nothing out of the ordinary would happen besides some minor pain, but If someone were to strike here from this angle with blunt object such a bat, a steel ball or perhaps a fist… ”
The man tied to the chair swallowed nervously.
“Bone fragments will get into your bloodstream, you will enter cardiac arrest and the left side of your body will begin to shut down.”
'Holy crap,' Iwao thought, taken aback by the whole explanation. 'That doesn't sound right… but I can't rule out the possibility of it actually happening with these weirdos.'
Letting out a sigh of resignation, Oguro decided to spill the beans.
“A… a family member… was hospitalized because of the drug,” he finally confessed, slightly flinching after feeling two fingers return to his jugular. “I recently learned the tells of the drug and I-”
“Wait a moment boss!!” A loud voice interrupted his confession, making every head turn to the gray masked individual who had his hand in the air and was looking at Smiley, furious. “Since when do you have a quirk?! And why didn't you tell me?!”
“Twice-” Smiley pitifully tried to say but was immediately interrupted.
“I thought we were friends!! Like hell we are you bastard!! I hate you!!”
'What the hell is going on,' the retired hero thought while watching the scene devolve into a complete mess, the tense atmosphere forgotten already as the two masked people began to argue in the sidelines, revealing that the whole interrogation was a charade. 'Were they screwing with me the whole time?'
Once the arguing died down they immediately tried to turn back to the previous mood from before but it was clear that everyone knew the gig was up. Especially the 'Red Dragon' vigilante who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
“So-”
“You don't really have a quirk, do ya?” at his dejected shake of head Iwao let out an exasperated huff. They were bullshitting the whole 'paralize his left side' thing and he couldn’t believe that he bought it. Directing his tired gaze towards the 'smiling' vigilante, he spoke. “Alright, can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?”
“I knew this wasn't going to work,” the black haired kid in the back commented, making the white haired kid at his side cover his face in embarrassment and let out a really loud sigh.
“Sorry about that, old man,” I said with a wince after returning the missing tooth I took during our scuffle early this night. The now sober old man grumbled to himself as he pocketed the tooth in his front pocket and proceeded to wait for his taxi in silence. Once his ride arrived, he got in and went on his merry way, though not without sending me one last look.
Guh, what a mess.
And I thought I was being so clever by asking everybody for help to interrogate the guy. My emotions played against me this time. If I had taken a more relaxed approach, investigated and asked questions instead of acting blindly, I would've known that this man was a victim too.
Once my clone managed to calm Jin down it was too late, the gig was up. The old man didn't figure out that 'Red Dragon' and 'Smiley' were clones, but he did figure out that we were all bullshiting him and demanded answers right after.
In the end, we couldn't maintain the intimidation mask and we had to share information back and forth once we freed the guy. He didn't tell us everything, but he didn't need to. I filled in the blanks from what the old man decided to share with us.
I beat up and tried to interrogate a person who was grieving the death of a family member who wanted answers in the matter.
On one hand I'm ashamed of myself for jumping to conclusions like that, it doesn't help that Salt and probably Kon are going to remind me of this blunder every time they can.
That shitty old fart.
I let out a tired sigh as I saw the taxi disappear in one turn, leaving me alone on the almost deserted street. My clones are now gone to do their job in the streets, Jin and Kon decided to go back to the shelter to bring up the news of our findings.
I didn't know how long I stayed under the lamp of this street reflecting on my actions and the information I now have on my hands.
A drug…
A fucking drug is causing all this trouble.
Does that mean that everyone I've been fighting were victims of this drug too?
Are the kidnappings related to this drug problem then?
Is…
Is someone kidnapping people from the streets to forcefully drug them?
As in experiments?
A sneer appeared on my face and my teeth started to grind against each other. Countless thoughts and possibilities fill my brain. Rage began to bubble in my heart at the people or person responsible for this. Shame that it took me this long to take notice. Sadness at the thought of all those people I wasn't able to save.
Until.
I let it go for a moment. Just a moment.
Breathe in…
Breathe out…
Letting out a long breath, I closed my eyes and began my trek back to the shelter. This wasn’t the time to get angry. Getting angry and losing my cool has proven to only cause me trouble. I’d find out eventually what was going on, and when I did I'd release this anger towards the people causing all this pain.
But before that, I needed to remain calm. It had been a long night.
Breathe in…
Breathe out…
Maybe another visit to the woods for more physical training will calm my nerves.
*click*
She couldn't believe how easy it was to hack the security cameras of the city, there weren't any protections to begin with. It was almost laughable how easy it was to get in. So easy in fact that she could potentially livestream the feed of the cameras if she so desired.
*click*
But why would she do that? Was there a reason why she would entertain that thought?
*click*
Manami Aiba sighs dreamily as she takes another screenshot and saves it immediately.
When she first thought of investing part of her free time into hacking the cameras of the streets to get another glimpse at the hidden identity of the vigilante that saved her life, she felt a little silly.
At first she thought that there was no way she could find him in a sea of pedestrians.
Even if she dedicated every single hour of the day to searching, there was no way she could discern him. She only saw him once.
*click*
A giggle burst out from her lips.
She did remember the clothes he was wearing that day.
She felt so silly back then. Trying to pinpoint her hero by his clothes alone, but as she zoomed in and took another screenshot of Smiley still wearing the same civilian clothes while talking to a street vendor, her smile widened. It only took one day for her to find him again, and this time she made sure to take as many pictures as she could so she wouldn't forget his face.
His cute face.
It helped that Smiley seemed to use the same clothes in his civilian persona every day of the week. Her theory was that he used them when he trained, which appeared to be almost daily, with a few days in between.
Today it seemed as if he went out for an early run, ten minutes off the regular schedule.
Not that she would fault him for that of course. Last Monday she missed his early routine because she woke up late and had to go to school.
So much footage, lost!
'Ah! He's so manly,' she thought while changing the feed from camera four to camera seven, just to watch Smiley run past pedestrians while holding a brown bag filled with meat buns.
Manami gasped as Smiley started to swiftly evade through a mass of civilians with a flexibility she hadn't seen before. Quickly moving to camera ten, she zoomed in just as Smiley passed another person with his left eye closed and a confident smirk on his face.
*click*
She captured it!
'So cute!' she smiled in delight.
Oh how she wished she could muster the courage to talk to him. She would be so happy to have just a small conversation between the two of them. They could only talk about the weather and she'd be the happiest person at that very moment.
The thought of hearing his voice once again made the hair on the back of her neck stand up and her heart to beat rapidly.
That would be so cool.
If he even showed any interest in someone like her.
What could they talk about? Did Smiley have any interests besides fighting crime? What were his likes? Dislikes? Hopes? Dreams?
Does… does Smiley have any use for her?
He's an active vigilante with a pretty decent following. There wasn’t much she could do for him besides filming his endeavors from a distance and helping get the word out. But there are so many doing the same thing…
She wants to help him, but she doesn't know how.
Maybe she could invite him to get something to eat? He always seemed to buy street food to enjoy at the moment or, in this case, bought in bulk for his… family? She doesn't know, she had never seen him with anyone in the feeds of the cameras she had hacked so far. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t ever seen him move past camera forty. Past that point it seems like he takes a detour and disappears
Ah.
Smiley was no longer in the picture.
Moving to camera fourteen and then to sixteen, she caught the glimpse of the fast moving vigilante making his way towards what appeared to be another lame copycat… dressed in only a light brown trench coat and a Smiley mask.
“Ew! He's naked!” she exclaimed, enraged, while quickly switching to camera seventeen to get a better angle of Smiley and the naked faker. “And that's not the original color of Smiley's coat from his first appearance! If you're going to be a copy at least do your homework! Dummy! Stupid!!”
“Kick his ass Smiley!” Manami cried out while pumping her tiny fist in the air and kicking her feet in excitement.
She was going to be late for school again, but she didn't care.
Smiley has taken the stage!
Go Smiley!
That old man tailing me is getting on my nerves.
It was cute at first, but my patience was wearing thin. It was easy to catch his attention while I went out to train and while Jin clones would take shifts as 'Smiley' in the streets. But now his constant snooping around was starting to piss me off. The fact that he also tried to tail Jin, Kon, 'Smiley' and my new, less flashy, hero persona 'Red Dragon' posed a huge problem.
My secret identity could be at risk if I'm not careful.
Hopefully Jin's clones would do the job and keep my involvement separated.
I breathed in and then out as I ran through the streets of Naruhata, moving and evading people while relaxing my muscles as an extra step in training my body to properly use 'Paper Arts'. The next step would be doing it in the woods at high speeds with my eyes closed.
My nose caught the scent of cigarettes, cheap beer, deep fried food and an extremely bad breath coming from a few meters away from me.
'Seriously dude, wash your mouth.' I thought with a deadpan as I moved between the space created by two schoolgirls walking towards the next station. They let out a gasp of surprise as I passed them.
I knew that he knew that I was Smiley's apprentice, or at least that I was related to 'him' somehow. I wasn't subtle at the use of my abilities that night and 'Smiley' always ended his patrols in or close to the same area of the shelter. But what is he trying to accomplish with all the hassle of following me? What is he trying to prove?
Smiley is in another city right at this very moment, stopping crime. Why not follow him instead?
Is he still mad at me for the tooth?
I told him I was sorry.
I think.
“HE HE HE,” a voice rang out, loud enough to be heard from a block away. My gaze was filled with people running away from what appeared to be a man wearing only a light brown trench coat and a mask. A 'Smiley' mask to be precise. “DON'T BE SCARED OF THE SHACKLES OF SOCIETY PUT ON US! FEAR NOT! BECAUSE THE NAKED SMILE IS HER-”
*CRACK*
The palm of my hand met the mask of the semi-naked copycat, shattering it and slapping him away while leaving a small trail of spit, sweat and blood in his wake.
There were a few moments of total silence as I stared down with satisfaction at the now naked and unmasked individual knocked out on the floor. Then I felt the gaze of multiple people on me.
Shit… I need to say something quick.
“Ah… uh, I thought I saw a bug on your mask, mister smile. My mistake,” I lamely said with a blank face, trying to control my emotions so I didn’t publicly sneer. “Sorry.”
Aw man.
The old man tailing me definitely saw that.
Without much fanfare I ran away from the 'scene' like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Hearing police sirens getting close I increased my speed and resumed my training of 'moving through civilians', gaining a few looks and gasps from pedestrians watching my exchange with the downed dumbass who was trying to pose as me.
Once I put as much distance as I could from the police and the guy following me around I took a detour through an alley and went back to the shelter at the usual fast paced speed; taking turns every so often just in case the old man is still following me around. But knowing his usual pattern he was probably going to arrive at the shelter before me and watch me from a distance.
Oh well…
'Daisuke has been bothering me to get him more meat buns, got that one already and Cream wants me to cook Ramen again,' I thought while changing directions to a convenience store to get the right materials for my cooking. 'I only need to get miso paste and pork I believe. Everything else is in the fridge.'
I passed a small stand filled with knock-off merch of heroes. There were a few kids flocking the stand, trying to buy pins and charms of their favorite heroes. The seller tried to gain my attention but I just kept on walking.
A sigh left my lips as I noticed similar masks to the one I used as 'Smiley'. I've noticed the small increase in my hero persona merch, at least from street vendors. Worst part is that I'm not making a penny out of this.
What a pain.
'Uh… where was I? Right, Kon wants to go for a run at the park with some weights on after lunch and Jin wants to come with for once' I thought once the gates of the store opened for me. Looking through the pantry and adding the elements I need to my shopping cart, I make my way to the check out. 'What is Ena going to ask me in return this time if I request a proper costume for 'Red Dragon'?'
As I made my way to the shelter my thoughts dwelt on the people I had started to care about.
It was a bizarre feeling, living a great part of your life alone and then suddenly being surrounded by people you cherish. Sometimes I forgot how lonely I was before I met them all.
It was almost nostalgic. I used to cry until I fell asleep in the woods only to wake up an hour later after hearing a branch snap. Always on my toes, always fighting for my life. Now I slept in a relatively clean bed close to friends.
Friends. I have friends now.
Mom would feel so proud of me.
Mom…
I barely remember who my parents were anymore. I could recall their faces, but as my life kept moving on, my memories of them seemed to grow fainter with each day. It made me fear the day I would completely forget them.
Will I still be me when that day happens?
I still didn’t have an answer to that question by the time I got close to the shelter, and I worried I never will.
Air filled my lungs as I calmly ran through the deserted streets. Kon decided against jumping at the opportunity of following me today for my early runs. He had been slipping out in the middle of the night to do extra training and often slept past the time I usually came by the shelter.
He thought I was completely clueless about it.
But I just had to notice how his speed dropped in our early exercises and all the pieces fell into place.
It also helped that Emiko ratted him out for a piece of candy. Kon wasn't as quiet as he thought he was when he tried to sneak away.
Heh.
I exhale through my mouth.
It felt so refreshing to run through the city so early in the morning, especially since that weirdo following me around decided to follow 'Smiley' this time. Barely anyone was walking by and all the shops were closed. There was hardly any light when I started and now I could see rays of sunshine starting to bathe the city with their colors. The buildings, while stale, shined with the rays of the sun. It almost felt like a shot from a movie.
Or an anime.
I slowly blinked as I spotted the silhouette of a man running in the opposite direction as me. There weren’t any peculiar smells besides the ones of wet cement and the occasional air freshener of a closed store. A young man was dressed in white and dark blue and was sporting a pair of sunglasses. Just another average dude who jogged at the same hour as me.
I nod as I pass him and keep 'jogging' away.
Humming, I watched as the buildings and stores blurred around me, impressed that my running speed has been increasing so much with each training session I've done. I felt faster than the first time I learned 'Shave' as a kid.
'Heh, I could barely do 5 kicks back then, it was more of a swift run than anything else,' I thought with a nostalgic smile.
My smile dropped as my ears picked the sound of shoes screeching against the pavement, then silence, then steps headed in my direction, slowly increasing in speed.
Peeking over my shoulder, my eyes caught the same dude I just passed, keeping up with my speed with a frown on his face.
“Uh… can I help you?” I asked him, not slowing at all.
“It's dangerous to use your quirk so recklessly! Try to slow down!” he shouted.
I blinked owlishly.
Smoke is coming from his arms. Is he okay?
“Sure” I said, stopping my momentum by kicking the ground in the opposite direction. The guy following me passed me, doing a sharp turn with his weird arm propulsion thingies and stopping his momentum too.
This world is so weird.
“Sorry for my earlier outburst,” I heard the guy say animatedly as he removed his sunglasses. “One must be careful while speeding through the street like that. Accidents happen all the time!”
Huh…
This guy has arrows for eyebrows.
Why do they look like that?
'Oh man, I want to laugh so bad.' Looking at him closely, I realized that he looked familiar. Blue eyes and hair, athletic build, the peculiar smell of burnt asphalt, and the same brand of kids shampoo I buy in bulk for the shelter.
“Is there something wrong? Does your quirk have some sort of cooldown?” he asked, already noticing my strained face. How can anyone keep a straight face while talking to this guy, come on.
“Um no, sir. That was just running for me,” I finally let out, breathing in and out and dropping my gaze away from his comical eyebrows. I saw his eyes widen in surprise.
Is that statement that hard to believe?
Oh yeah…
I kept forgetting people from this world relied too much on their quirks, so they rarely go beyond their limits. So, the only reason All Might is so strong is because he had a strength quirk? Come on man.
“Wha- r-running?! That was just running for you?” he exclaimed in amazement. His eyes roamed my appearance for a while and he put his hand on his chin. “Impressive, very impressive.”
“Excuse my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself,” he happily continued, extending a hand to my face. “I'm Tensei Ida! Have you ever heard of the 'turbo hero' Ingenium?”
“Never heard of him,” I replied immediately, feigning ignorance and making the guy blink a few times. I’d rather act like I didn’t know him at all than try to act like I'm a fan or something. That would be such a pain in the ass.
Of course I knew of the hero Ingenium. I made Salt and the kids read me the 'Hero Guide' a bunch of times so I wouldn't forget certain names. At least the top ranked heroes and the ones that bother me constantly, like this guy, janice and the eraser dude.
“Am I in trouble, sir?”
“Nonsense!” the hero replied straight away. I guess he's used to not being known as a top ranked hero quite often. “Just make sure to take it easy on the streets, there are speed limits for people too you know! You don't want me to chase you around in the future! Haha.”
'Oh you have no idea,
' I thought with amusement, watching the guy laugh. The man in front of me was nothing like the hero, Ingenium, that I met a year ago. Back then he reminded me of a cop when he tried to stop me; stiff and too serious. It felt rehearsed, and he was working with an organized team to boot. Not that they could hope to catch me, I outran them all.“I must say, what a splendid speed. Makes me wonder though, how does your quirk work to let you achieve it? Is it a muscle related one or perhaps wind propulsion?” he asked, still rubbing his chin with a child-like twinkle in his eyes. “Or is it all natural? If so then I'm impressed.”
'What a weird guy, now I'm preferring the serious hero persona from before,' I thought, wiping away my sweat with the back of my hand.
“I'm quirkless,” I revealed. “I've been training ever since I remember, so you could say it's all natural.”
“Oh wow!” he shouted with sparks in his eyes. This guy is too much. “To think someone without a quirk could achieve so much by training alone… and you mastered a way to stop your momentum in an instant too. That's amazing!”
“Thank you so much sir,” this guy was getting on my nerves. Why was he treating me like something special? Are quirkless people treated like they're disabled or something? Not wanting to stay here and find out, I decided to use one of my 'escape plans'; which is just to give an excuse and run away. “Well, I'm burning daylight, I should keep up my training. I want to be a hero after all! Hehe.”
As I took a few steps away I noticed that the guy was trotting along with me, making me sigh.
“A hero huh? Do you admire heroes?” I hear him say as we maintain a relatively 'normal' speed as we keep moving along. I nod in response, not really caring about the conversation, but since I can't shake him without making a scandal I decided to just pay half attention to whatever he says. “Any one in particular? I used to admire the high-speed hero, O'clock, he retired a few years ago last time I heard.”
I… really don't care.
But I couldn’t leave the guy hanging after sharing something like that. Resuming my breathing pattern I gave him a response.
“Hm, I haven't given it much thought before.” People started to appear sporadically in the previously deserted street I was using to run around, ending my original plan to run at top speed on this street once I ran away from this guy. “I guess I admire the types of heroes that are there for you whenever you need it. Like All Might or… ”
“Or Smiley?” the guy with arrows for eyebrows asked with a smile on his face.
“I… I guess?” I answered, trying not to bite my own tongue in the process. I was trying to remember the names from the guide and he goes and throws Smiley's name out of nowhere. Guh, time to make shit up. “Now that you mention it. Ever since Smiley started to patrol where I live, crime went down, so I guess I owe him one.”
“You don't say,” Ten-something said jovially as we both kept speeding up little by little. We stayed in silence as we basically ran through the street, until finally. “Hey, I know this is quite sudden, but what do you think being a hero is all about? You told me you want to be a hero, right?”
What's with these questions? What does he want with me? Is this the older brother of the protagonist of this world? And why is he asking ME of all people?
“Eh? What's with all these questions?” I asked back while sporting a forced smile, “Should I call for my lawyer? Hehe.”
“Hah! That's a good one!”
I appreciate the silence but the fact he's been looking at me for a while is making me feel uncomfortable. Ugh, might as well.
“Saving people, not just from disasters or um… villain attacks. But to truly save them, from hunger, from poverty… f-from depression maybe?” I finally responded to his question, still trying to find the proper words to express my beliefs. “I wish… no. I want to be a hero who could one day end poverty in Japan. That way my friends in the shelter won't have to starve again.”
I don't know why I admitted it like that, but it felt nice to do so. In a way, it feels incredible to finally decide on a goal for me to follow, even though I don't know how I'm going to accomplish it.
“I… ” the man keeping up with me at my side tried to say, but words didn't come up. Then his eyes regained a bit of his previous child like shine to them. “Wow! So much passion! And what an astounding goal! I'm rooting for you kid!”
Now I regret even speaking to this guy.
“Man, I'm so pumped! Hey, let's have a race to the next vending machine! Drinks are on me, what do you say?” he asked me while he started to use his propulsions from his elbows to speed up as we started to move faster and faster, no longer caring about the speed limit.
“Ah, n-no thank you! I wanna keep training. And later I have a dentist appoi-” I tried to say but was cut off immediately.
“Nonsense! I insist!” he replied with a big goofy smile, slapping my back to drive me forward, “Let me buy you a drink! Hahaha!”
That's it, I'm taking his wallet.
“Hm? Did I lose my wallet somewhere?” Tensei Ida murmured once his hand reached his back pocket and found nothing there. Searching his other pockets he managed to find his keys, cellphone and his handsfree earphone, but no wallet. “Must've dropped it next to the vending machine.”
Before he could make his way back to search for it, his cellphone began to vibrate, indicating an incoming phone call. Quickly putting on his earphone, Tensei answered.
*click*
Good day Mr. Ida, sir. How was your morning run?
“It was good! I had a meeting with a really inspiring person,” he replied with a smile as he put his sunglasses back on and decided to forget about his fetch quest. Once he was at a relatively far distance from his previous spot he spoke again. “It's safe to talk.”
Did the target match the description we provided?
“Hrm… yeah, he really looks like the forum post described,” he said while calmly walking through the street back to the van owned by his company Idaten. “But… ”
Unkempt white hair, yellow eyes, face covered in scars. Spotted several times by city cameras all over Naruhata, the same city the vigilante 'Smiley' has been speculated to end his nightly patrols. Age… er… seems to be between fifteen and eighteen. Did the target match those parameters, sir? It's quite a stretch, but…
“It does match with Eraserhead's findings about Smiley's whereabouts,” he responded with a wince. Still painfully aware how he was attentive to the reports from his colleague but quickly dismissed the 'threat' of the vigilante until his popularity started to grow. It didn't help that he was one of the few heroes who had a more positive view towards vigilantism. “But I don't think that's him.”
Sir?
“How should I put this… ” the hero said as he took another turn, his van already in sight.
This wasn't the first time someone brought up the forum post. It was some sort of inside joke between a few of his colleagues, 'Wouldn't it be funny if this kid actually found out Smiley's identity and posted it in a forum that is under constant surveillance from the hero commission for all to see?'
It didn't help that Eraserhead took it seriously. It could've been a cosplayer for all they knew. But lo and behold, less than a week later he managed to find someone with the same characteristics. Normally everyone would just roll their eyes at the paranoid attitude their hero colleague was displaying, but he brought up 'evidence' this time.
Video feed from city cameras, viral videos and previously shown feed of the vigilante for comparison.
What a tense atmosphere that was. Everybody in the room was on edge, even the members more prone to joke around were silent. The person in the feed looked young, very young. He couldn't be older than 18. That meant…
They were trying to catch a teen all these years.
Sir?
“Hahaha, sorry. I was lost in thought,” he said after a while. The claims were bold, nobody wanted to accept it and everyone had something to say that day. Especially because the date of the feeds indicated that Smiley was stopping a robbery a few cities away at the same time. It was a complete mess.
But Eraserhead wasn't one to back away from unpopular claims. There was a reason why he was known as an underground hero. Multiple quirks, a help from outside sources, a double…
But at the end of the day, the fact of the matter was that nobody wanted to initiate a search on a teen. At least, not officially. Eraserhead was keeping his distance while trying to get enough evidence, some dropped the matter entirely and decided to put more force into capturing Smiley by their own means, and him…
There was a lead and he decided to use his day off to see if he could have a little chat with the kid from the feed. Nothing else, nothing more.
“It's… just a kid. Not older than fifteen. If the date of Smiley's debut is to be believed, then the kid would've been eight years old when he started,” Tensei finally let out, getting a gasp of surprise in return. “He also claims to be quirkless and training to be a hero like Smiley. I don't think that's him, he sounds like a fan though!”
Oh…
The line was silent for a while until finally the member of Idaten from the other side spoke again.
Could the teen perhaps be a relative of the vigilante? The feed provided by Eraserhead shows similarities to the style of fighting Smiley uses, even if it's just a glimpse… I'm sorry, that was out of the line-
“Oho! That would be really interesting! In that case let's keep an eye on him!” he jovially replied. Good thing the card he gave the kid had a tracker in it, just in case. He sounded like a nice kid too, maybe they should eat something together.
O-on it sir, I'll let the team know!
Once inside the van, Tensei smiled at the person waiting for him in the driver's seat.
“Thanks for the wait Koichi!” he whispered after removing the earpiece for a moment. “Sorry for taking you away from your daily patrol.”
“No problem sir, no problem at all, hehe,” his intern, soon to be an official member of Idaten, responded while rubbing the back of his neck. “This was the perfect opportunity to use my driver's license!”
“Hahaha! Let me drive you around the next time then!” Tensei laughed as they started to move away from the neighborhood into the Idaten headquarters a few districts away.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said once he attached the earpiece back to his ear.
Not a problem at all. Anything else sir?
“Oh! I almost forgot! Can you get in contact with the banks and tell them to freeze my cards? I think I lost my wallet again!”
Right away sir!
“Hiii~ everyone! Thank you so much for coming again!” said the energetic voice of a pink haired teenager dressed in what appeared to be a skimpy black costume with small devil wings attached to the back. “Let's Step right in with the show!!”
“POP!” “POP!” “POP!” “POP!”
“This street again, huh?” I mutter after swallowing a mouthful of the takoyaki I bought from around the corner. Perched at the top of a building in my suit while eating lunch, I watched with mild interest as the pink haired street idol began to jump high in the air and sing into her wireless microphone to a standard street audience. “3rd time this week. And her singing improved too.”
“Pop! Shine! Step!”
Dropping another ball of dough to my mouth, I kept watching the show developing in front of me. At this point this show became part of my routine whenever I'm actually patrolling the streets. It reminded me of when I had lunch in my room and put on Youtube videos to keep me entertained.
It made me wonder if my clones ever did the same thing whenever they patrolled for me. They sweat and feel hunger like me, but because they live on borrowed time I doubt they would stop to grab a bite. I know I wouldn't if I knew I was a clone. Maximize the time I have to conduct justice, be a hero and take care of my people.
Yeah, I guess my clones wouldn't stop for entertainment.
“Hop! Step! All the way!” the girl sang, adopting a sexy pose in the air and flashing me her panties in the process.
“Man, that sure is a risky costume. I'm glad I have proper control over my body or this could be a really awkward situation,” I said, before checking downstairs just in case.
Yep, all good.
'Jin has been talking my ear off about idols the last couple of days after I asked about his latest interest. Maybe I should ask if he wants to come to one of her shows one of these days,' I lazily thought while mushing the last of the few deep fried balls of dough covered in teriyaki sauce and green onions.
I hummed at the lack of sound from my walkie talkie. Guess the clones had it all under control.
“One more Step! Shine and Hop until you Pop!” the small-time idol sang.
'She really loves referencing her own idol name. It kinda reminds me of my puns, Heh.' Once I was done with my lunch I began cleaning the sides of my mouth with a napkin and putting everything in a paper bag. I'd search for the recycle bins once I started moving to the next district. So far, Naruhata seemed to be pretty chill today.
My eyes met with PopStep as one of her jumps took her into my direct line of sight. One of her legs was high in the air, pointed at the sky, while the other was bent downwards, giving me a full view of her barely covered crotch.
She didn't even stop her singing or anything. She kept on going and then…
Did…
Did she just wink at me?
A small pressure in my lower regions doused my mood with cold water and filled me with dread. Directing my gaze downwards confirmed my worst fears.
I have a boner.
'I thought I was over this. It's been what? Years since the last time I had one of these?' I thought before directing my gaze towards the still singing idol who continued winking and flashing me every time her jumps reached the same height as me. It was more humiliating considering I was doing fine until we exchanged looks.
'Man, that's a… really distracting costume.' My eyes drifted towards her crotch again before I quickly shook my head. Letting out an annoyed huff I checked my right hand just to discover the crumpled paper bag who suffered because of my lapse of concentration.
I guess I'm going to have to patrol another city… after the show of course.
My ears perk at the sounds of sirens and gunshots at the distance.
“Talk about convenient,” I heard myself say while crumpling the paper bag again and pocketing it in the frontal pocket of my blaze.
Air filled my lungs as I got on my feet and tried to 'move' the blood away from my lower muscle with 'Life Return'. If I wasn't in so much of a hurry I would give a snide remark about the use of the 'Six Powers' for something so mundane and stupid as a boner.
Taking one step forward from the building, I began to fall. In less than a second I kick the air more than twenty times with both of my feet, generating enough force to send me in the general direction of the sirens. As I ran away from the show I heard the pink-haired minx stop in the middle of her song to send me a 'cute' message for watching her show, quickly followed by claps from her audience.
'She was doing it on purpose,' I thought while increasing the speed of each kick as the familiar sounds of sirens and gunshots drew closer.
I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding as soon as I felt my hard-on go down, just in time for a speedy chase across the town. Bank robbers again.
Life kept moving as usual, now with returning developments I thought I left behind.
Stupid hormones.
A/N: Writing this one almost at the end of September. This chapter is the proper start of the events of the Vigilantes Arc. So if you are unfamiliar with it I recommend you to read it, cuz it's really good. It also introduces the characters that are going to form part of Gurē's daily life from now on.
No gonna lie, I really thought a lot of people were going to get mad at Manami Aiba (La Brava) for outing Gurē in the previous chapter, especially considering her actions are going to have everlasting consequences. I was so ready to explain her actions in detail in one of these author notes, but I guess I don't have to do that anymore lol (simp).
Man, the interrogation scene was kicking my ass so hard. This happens when you want to write a cool fight scene but don't think of the consequences and aftermath of it. I had to rewrite a few scenes I did beforehand and restructure the chapter because surprise surprise, the interrogation scene influenced the whole chapter and the future of the fic. I hope I did all the canon characters in this fic, justice. I never know If I'm actually doing it right or not.
Moving on, the original idea for the end of this chapter was for Gurē to stop another rampaging person who was going to interrupt PopStep's street concert. But I thought the premise was getting repetitive, so I decided against the idea. Yeah Gurē stops 'Villains' every day of the week, but I felt that the beginning of the Vigilantes arc starting off with Gurē going through puberty to be an extremely funny concept so I ran with it.