It started with footsteps.
Not heavy. Not rushed. But loud enough to be intentional.
Satoru glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough—three blocks behind, same as the night before—there she was.
Kana Fujimura. Hands in her pockets. Chin raised. A smirk playing on her lips like she knew something he didn't.
> "You stalking me now?" he called back.
> "Please," she scoffed. "Like I'd waste my time following a loser on a bike."
> "You're doing it anyway."
> "Yeah, well, the streets are boring. Watching you crash into mailboxes is at least mildly entertaining."
He grinned beneath his helmet.
> "Glad to provide a public service."
> "You think you're a service? You're barely a distraction."
She sped up to walk beside him.
> "Let me guess—you think I'm here because I care?"
> "No," he said easily. "I think you're here because deep down, you're curious."
> "I'm here because I'm bored."
> "Sure."
> "And maybe I want to see how fast a quirkless freak gets flattened next time he picks a fight he can't win."
Satoru didn't flinch. She watched for it. But he just kept pedaling slowly, eyes on the road.
> "Why do you even do this?" she asked suddenly. "Nobody cares. No one remembers the guy who gets beat up trying to play hero. You're not inspiring. You're pathetic."
> "Maybe."
> "You know you'll never be one of them, right? The real heroes. They'll never let someone like you in."
He stopped at a crossing and looked at her.
> "Then I'll just have to be something else."
She stared back, waiting for a punchline. None came.
> "You're seriously broken."
> "Yeah. Maybe that's why I'm out here."
---
They turned a corner into a quieter street. A stray dog barked from behind a fence. Satoru waved at it; it wagged its tail.
Kana didn't say anything for a bit.
> "You're still an idiot."
> "Takes one to know one."
> "Tch. Don't flatter yourself."
She kicked a soda can into the gutter.
> "I could fry half this city if I wanted to."
> "But you don't."
> "Maybe I just haven't decided who deserves it yet."
> "Then I hope you keep walking with me until you do."
She shot him a sideways look.
> "I'm not your sidekick, helmet freak."
> "Didn't say you were."
> "You better not die out here."
> "I'll do my best."
She clicked her tongue and walked a little faster.
---
That night, Satoru's notebook read:
> "Companion: Kana. Continued presence. Verbal aggression: increased. Concern level: masked by mockery.
> Observation: She doesn't believe in heroes.
> Hypothesis: But she's still following one."