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Beginning of Chapter
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Far above the clouds of the Atlantic Ocean, a private plane carved a smooth path through the early morning sky, the steady hum of its engines the only sound breaking the quiet.
In one of the leather seats sat a young man with jet-black hair, slightly unruly strands falling over his forehead. His eyes, dark, tired, and far too accustomed to sleepless nights, stared ahead with quiet detachment.
Slim and lean, he wore a white high-collared jacket paired with simple black pants, an understated contrast to the flamboyant hero costumes the world was used to.
Resting beside him was a katana in its sheath. Its presence alone erased any doubt about his identity.
Yuta Okkotsu, Switzerland's Special-Grade Hero.
Across from him sat a tall, long-legged woman with blonde hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Her sharp blue eyes followed the passing clouds with a calm, almost playful confidence.
Noticeably taller than Yuta and built like a seasoned athlete, she wore a white sleeveless shirt, dark pants, and a long jacket tied casually around her waist. Her appearance was relaxed but bold, a stark reflection of her personality.
Yuki Tsukumo, the Special-Grade Hero of Germany.
Special-Grade heroes existed on a plane far removed from the rest of hero society.
Where Grade 1 heroes like Endeavor pushed their quirks to the razor edge of human potential, the Special Grades class went beyond potential entirely.
They did not simply excel. They bent the rules, reshaped them, and in some cases, seemed to stand outside the system of quirks altogether.
Their abilities brushed against the impossible, slipping past the boundaries of science, logic, and conventional quirk theory.
They were not merely powerful; they were forces of nature given human form. In their presence, even the greatest heroes could do little but observe, aware that the gap between them was not one of training or talent…
…but of existence itself.
Yuki and Yuta regarded one another with unreadable expressions, neither willing to look away first. The silence between them had grown so dense it felt like a physical weight pressing into the cabin walls.
For two full hours they had sat like this, two Special Grade heroes sharing the same jet, sharing the same mission, yet refusing to share even a single word.
They had been summoned to the Americas at the request of the American government, an effort they gave to strengthen ties between nations that possessed the new individuals of the Special Grade class, more importantly, to allow these rare beings to meet face-to-face.
Monsters of power were easier to understand when seen up close.
China's representative, Suguru Geto, had declined. His response had been brief and unapologetic. He was far too busy stabilizing and safeguarding his country to attend.
Yuta had been scheduled to travel to America regardless. The official invitation he received, which was signed directly by the President, simply gave the mission a cleaner justification, a political veil to cover what was already inevitable.
Yuki, on the other hand, had initially refused. She disliked formal gatherings, political obligations, and anything that resembled bureaucracy. Yet at the last possible moment, she reversed her decision.
Her reason was blunt and honest. She wanted to see the others of her class with her own eyes, and determine for herself who among them deserved the title of the strongest Special-Grade hero.
And now, Yuki sat across from Yuta in the narrow cabin, the two locked in silence that had lasted since the moment the plane had collected him at the Swiss airfield.
Not a single word had passed between them.
Yuta's partner, known as the Cursed Servitor Spirit: Rika, remained tucked away in the cargo bay below. Whether she was asleep or simply waiting in that tense, half-dormant state of hers or ready to tear through the steel of the plane if Yuta so much as whispered her name, was anyone's guess.
Eventually, Yuki exhaled, dropping her shoulders as she lifted both hands in exaggerated surrender.
"Alright, you win," she said with a small laugh. "Staring contest's all yours. I'm done with all this silence. Mind if I start an actual conversation?"
Yuta regarded her with the same tired, unreadable expression he always carried.
After a moment, he closed his eyes, letting the morning sunlight wash over the horizon outside the window. When he finally looked back at Yuki, he let out a quiet, resigned sigh.
"…Fine. Go ahead," he said, his voice low, almost reluctant.
Yuki leaned in slightly, her sharp blue eyes glinting with mischief. "Oho, alright then. First question—" She paused, letting the moment stretch, and Yuta instinctively leaned back in his seat. "—what's your type of woman?"
Yuta's eyes flickered, and a faint pink dusted his cheeks. He cleared his throat nervously. "I—I… um… that's… that's a… weird question to ask, don't you think?"
Yuki threw her head back and laughed, the sound bright and teasing, filling the quiet cabin. "My, my, Yuta Okkotsu," she said between chuckles. "And here I thought the media made you out to be some emotionless, brooding hero monster."
"People don't normally start a conversation like that," Yuta said, his tone flat, a faint edge of annoyance in his voice as he folded his arms over his chest and fixed her with a tired stare.
'So he's not just some emotionless soldier for the higher-ups… or maybe he is, and he's just playing along', Yuki thought, her mind quietly analysing him.
"Well, in any case," she said, leaning back slightly, her tone casual but probing, "my fellow Special Grade, tell me a bit more about yourself. I've heard plenty from others, but I'd rather hear it from you."
Her words carried a subtle weight, an indirect nudge to see past the surface, to learn what Yuta was really like, and perhaps, what brought him on this mission.
"…Where to start… Special-Grade, as you know," Yuta began, his voice calm, almost detached. "Just finished my final year at the Helvetia Hero Institute. Like my country, I tend to take a neutral stance on most things.
And, well… a swordsman, as you can see—" He gestured toward the sheathed katana resting at his side. Yuki's sharp eyes followed the movement, noting how the black bag cradled the blade, the tip just barely visible.
"—I know it's unusual for a hero to carry a weapon," he continued, "but it's… useful. In combat, it makes a difference. What else… well, to be honest, I'm introverted."
Yuki chuckled softly, the sound cutting through the quiet hum of the plane. "Then you must be the most photogenic introvert I've ever seen," she said, leaning back in her seat, eyes glinting with amusement.
"Even in pictures and videos, you somehow look like a tired nine-to-five worker… yet somehow, still like a walking nuke."
Yuta gave a faint, almost embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his neck. The hint of warmth in his expression was fleeting, quickly replaced by the calm, unreadable mask he normally wore.
"So… that Rika," Yuki began casually, leaning back in her seat. "How close are you two? I mean… looking at her, she barely even looks human. And yet, you two share this… undeniable bond. I'm just saying, if that's your type, I don't know what to tell you."
Her words lingered in the air, playful on the surface, but the sharpness of her gaze betrayed her curiosity.
Yuta's timid, almost hesitant expression vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
His eyes, tired yet piercing, locked onto hers with an intensity that made her shift slightly in her seat. The quiet strength behind that gaze was palpable, and for a moment, it felt as if he was seeing right through her.
"…And what exactly do you mean by that, Yuki Tsukumo?" His voice had changed. Now low, controlled, serious. Not raised, not threatening, but heavy in a way that made her casual words feel suddenly insignificant.
"Aw, did I upset you?" Yuki teased, tilting her head slightly. "Look, I'm just saying… sure, mutation quirks can offer a… variety of, uh, advantages. But damn, the way she looks… I honestly didn't think she was human. More monster than anything."
She caught the shift in him immediately. The subtle tightening of his jaw, the narrowing of his eyes. 'So far, he's clearly upset… I can almost taste how pissed he is.' Yuki allowed herself a small, sly smile. 'They must be close. I wonder just how far I can push him.'
But, to her surprise, Yuta exhaled slowly and turned his gaze back to the window.
His posture relaxed slightly, though the weight in his eyes remained, the same tired, unreadable expression he carried like armour.
He looked out at the clouds, serene yet distant, as if nothing she said could pierce that quiet calm.
"Aw, you hate me? Giving me the silent treatment now?" Yuki teased, sticking her tongue out before winking at him, still testing the edges of his patience.
To her surprise, Yuta actually responded. He exhaled softly, a tired, resigned sound, but when he spoke, his words were so precise they cut straight through her confidence as if they were a hot knife slicing through butter.
"Why would I hate someone who's obviously weaker than me?"
Yuki froze. For a split second, her smile fractured. She cleared her throat, forcing her expression back into something composed as she pieced together the remnants of her pride.
The air between them thickened instantly. Even the pilots watching through the cabin cameras felt the tension coil around their lungs, making it harder to breathe despite not being in the same room.
"Weaker than you?" she echoed, folding her arms across her chest as if bracing against the blow. "Please. I could make your heart weigh ten tonnes and watch it fall straight through your body with a smile."
"What makes you think I can't do the same to your brain?" Yuta replied calmly, turning his gaze back to her. "The moment I copy your Quirk, I can activate it just as easily as you can… assuming I haven't already. And if I have, I'm likely faster."
He shifted slightly, his tone still maddeningly composed.
"Or I could simply negate your trick altogether by returning my heart to its normal weight. You're not the only one who can manipulate the variables here."
His eyes narrowed just enough for the threat to fully land.
"Even if you managed to kill me, you'd be killing a national asset of Switzerland. That kind of incident tends to start wars, wouldn't you say? Germany may be strong… but the results of your last war speak for themselves."
Yuki stared at him, jaw tight. As much as she wanted to spit back a retort, ignore the jab, the threat, the political slap to her homeland, she couldn't deny it.
The odds were stacked entirely in his favour. 'Mimicry… One of the strongest Quirks in the world… and it belongs to someone barely twenty, already treated like a monster... He truly is unnervingly calm and a monster like I was told...'
She sighed, lifting her hand toward the stewardess call button on the armrest.
"Alright, you win," she muttered. "Still cocky as hell for saying something like that."
"Cocky?" Yuta murmured, his gaze drifting to the clouds outside, bathed in the warm golden light of the morning sun. "If I can back up my words, I wouldn't call it cockiness."
Yuki leaned back slightly, her voice casual yet deliberate as she tried to stir the conversation to a more casual one. "You want anything? Personally, I could use some alcohol."
Yuta paused for a moment, as if weighing the simplicity of the request. "Cup of coffee. Black," he said quietly.
Yuki raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Black coffee? How do you people even enjoy something so… depressing?"
For a few moments, silence settled over them, broken only by the low hum of the engines. Yuta pulled a book from his bag, fingers brushing the cover with practiced calm, while Yuki adjusted in her seat, waiting for the stewardess to arrive and take their orders.
The cabin felt small despite its luxury, the tension between them lingering like static in the air, unspoken but undeniable.
The young stewardess returned a few minutes later, placing a steaming cup of black coffee in front of Yuta and a glass filled half of amber liquid with ice cubes for Yuki.
She offered a polite smile before retreating, leaving the two alone once more in the quiet hum of the jet.
Yuki took a sip of her drink, letting the warmth slide down her throat before fixing her gaze on Yuta. "... Tell me something, Yuta Okkotsu," she said, her tone deceptively casual.
Yuta hummed in acknowledgment, tilting his head slightly to signal she should continue.
She leaned back, studying him as if trying to measure his weight and speed with nothing but her eyes. "If you were to face Star and Stripe… how much of a chance do you think you'd have?"
The question made Yuta pause. He lifted his gaze from the book in his hands, coffee still untouched, and regarded her with a raised eyebrow.
For a moment, his mind seemed elsewhere, calculating, weighing possibilities.
"It depends on whose mental processing is faster," he said finally, voice even and calm. "It wouldn't be easy… but I'd like to think I could draw her."
Yuki's lips curved into a small, approving smile. She shook her head slightly, almost in disbelief. "Draw her… Of course you'd say that. And of course, your reasoning makes sense."
'To outthink her, focusing on her as the only variable… he must know more about her than even he lets on, enough to make everything else irrelevant,' Yuki thought, her mind racing.
She tilted her head slightly, a wry grin playing across her lips. "Well, in that case… I do hope you can back up those words," she said, her tone light but edged with challenge. "I have a feeling we might all end up having a little spar together."
Yuta's gaze didn't waver. He took a measured sip of his coffee, then simply nodded, his calm acknowledgment speaking louder than any words could.
The silence that followed was comfortable yet electric, the kind that hummed with unspoken possibilities, both of them aware that in a battle of skill, wit, and quirks, neither could underestimate the other.
Yuki leaned back in her seat, swirling the amber liquid in her glass idly, the morning sunlight catching it just so. "I'm glad I decided to come," she said, a playful gleam in her sharp blue eyes. "Three Special Grades in one room… this is going to be a fun vacation."
Yuta arched a brow, genuine confusion crossing his face. "Wait… a vacation? You actually changed your mind just for this?"
Yuki's grin widened, almost proud. "Hey, work's been hectic. Thought I'd make some new friends, see the Americas… and, honestly? It's been a dream of mine to meet Star and Stripe."
Yuta blinked, flabbergasted, before letting out a quiet sigh and returning to his book. "I guess some of us are really putting the 'special' in Special Grade," he muttered.
'You're a decade older than me... Maybe I should've flown in my own jet.' He thought to himself with a hint of dry humour as Yuki was throwing back insults at him for the jab at her.
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End of Chapter
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