….
"Now, what to do...?" Jin-Ho thought aloud, scratching his chin.
The only reason he could think of was for Lady Nagant being sent to assassinate Toya's connection with Endeavor.
"But... would he really do something like that?"
He had no answer.
It wasn't wrong to think otherwise and believe that Endeavor wouldn't stoop to such lengths.
"Or... maybe the HPSC is acting on its own trying to cover up their second best Hero's mistake?"
"Yeah, that definitely makes more sense." The anger in his voice was palpable.
Whatever the case, he decided he wasn't letting Lady Nagant off the hook, but not in the way one might expect.
Walking toward her, he finally got a clear look at her for the first time, having been too busy dodging bullets earlier.
She was the same as he remembered from his knowledge, a beautiful, tall woman with a curvy figure. Her long indigo hair, streaked with scattered pink highlights, was tied into a ponytail secured by a hair clip.
Over her right eye, she wore a long scouter shaped like a lightning bolt.
"Sorry for the inconvenience..." He apologised, scooping Lady Nagant up in a princess carry.
Of course, he didn't leave through the door like a normal person. Instead, he walked back through the same hole he had jumped through earlier.
….
(Same Time)
Back at the restaurant, Toya, Keigo, and Tom were left 'alone' as the others chased after Jin-Ho.
Toya sat casually on a chair, legs propped up on the table, eyes closed in a relaxed posture while keeping his ears tuned to the news report playing on the TV mounted on the wall.
["According to officials, this might be a terrorist attack occurring..."] The news anchor's voice droned on as the camera focused on a towering building with smoke billowing from its upper floors, the sound of gunfire echoing in the background.
"These news reporters are making a big deal out of nothing again." Toya muttered, frustration evident, though he kept his eyes closed.
Keigo remained silent, also watching the news unfold.
Just then, Jin-Ho jumped back in through the same window he had broken earlier. As soon as he landed, he looked at the state his new cafe was in.
Almost all the windows were shattered and a huge hole in one wall too.
The floor tiles were all broken in a spiderweb pattern, radiating from the center where he had stood moments ago. And there was no need to mention the tables and chairs to sadden his mood further.
Jin-Ho's heart ached.
With sudden burning passion in his eyes, he made a vow: he would definitely make the person responsible for this mess pay.
Completely forgetting, or overlooking, the fact that he was the one who had done most of the damage.
"Boss... you are back." Keigo was the first to greet him.
Toya stood up, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of the woman Jin-Ho was carrying.
"What the—Where did you get her from?" he asked, momentarily awestruck as he recognized her.
It was a fanboy moment, but reality quickly set in as he connected the dots. He looked at Jin-Ho's face for confirmation.
Upon finding his answer, there wasn't much change in his expression.
"Don't tell me you kidnapped her." Toya said with a petrified look.
Jin-Ho just shrugged, a casual confirmation. "Yeah, I did."
He wasn't lying. In a way, he really had kidnapped her, and he had no intention of letting her go either.
So all things considered, it was a kidnapping.
"Shit. Is it some kind of love at first sight?" Toya questioned with an intrigued expression.
This time Jin-Ho was truly clueless whether Toya was acting or being serious.
"Stop playing around. Where are Giran and the others?" Jin-Ho said with an annoyed tone.
Toya explained that the others had gone out following him just moments ago.
"They shouldn't have gone far. Call them back." Jin-Ho instructed as he finally decided to place the woman he had been holding onto a table, which, by God's grace, hadn't been destroyed like the others and was still in usable condition.
With that, Jin-Ho's cafe, the Fairy Cafe, was shut down before it even opened.
"Hey, take care of her. I have a small errand to run. I will be back in an hour." Jin-Ho was already running toward the same broken window again.
As soon as he was outside, he used a high-grade concealment talisman on himself and took flight through the air at astonishing speed.
Currently, he is in Musutafu, near Shizuoka. And now, his destination?
Yes, he was going to drop by a very important place: the Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters.
With that as his aim, he kept moving, and soon he was there.
With his concealment talisman active, no one noticed him.
He wasn't invisible, people could still see his movements, and CCTV footage would capture his face.
It was more like camouflage.
It was just hard to notice him unless someone tried really hard. Though people with sensory quirks could identify him, as could those with exceptionally sharp senses.
On the way, he didn't stop. He went straight into the office of the person running this place.
The Chairman of the Hero Public Safety Commission.
It wasn't Madam President yet, she would take over that role after this person's death or assassination by Lady Nagant in the original timeline.
But according to what Jin-Ho knew, the Hero Public Safety Commission was supposedly run by a collective, at least in name, or in theory.
….
Jin-Ho had been silent and sneaky all this time, moving through the building like a ghost.
But now, standing before the Chairman's office door, he abandoned all pretense.
BANG–!
He blasted through the door with a single kick.
Inside sat a figure wearing a black suit. He looked to be in his late fifties, with graying hair slicked back and sharp, calculating eyes behind thin-framed glasses.
His expression showed only momentary surprise at Jin-Ho's dramatic entrance before returning to calculated composure.
"Jin-Ho." the Chairman said, his voice measured. "I was wondering when you would make your appearance."
Jin-Ho strode into the room, his presence filling the space with barely contained fury.
"Let me make one thing very clear." His voice was cold and hard as steel. "Do not touch my people."
The Chairman leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. "I am afraid I don't know what you're—"
"Cut the bullshit." Jin-Ho slammed a folder onto the desk, photographs and documents spilling out. "I know about the operations, assassinations and the cover-ups. All of it."
The Chairman's eyes flickered to the documents, then back to Jin-Ho. His expression remained neutral, but there was a new wariness in his gaze.
This wasn't Jin-Ho's first visit to this place, though no one knew that.
He had dropped by several times before, always under concealment, always collecting evidence.
During those visits, he had gathered documentation of the HPSC's dirty work: unauthorized eliminations, falsified reports, manipulated hero rankings, blackmail operations.
Jin-Ho had been preparing for this moment, building insurance for when he would eventually leave this world.
He couldn't let these bastards do whatever they wanted when he wasn't around. But it seemed he had needed to use this leverage much sooner than he had initially thought.
"What do you want?" the Chairman finally asked, his voice carefully neutral.
"I want you to understand something," Jin-Ho said, leaning forward, his eyes boring into the other man's. "Lady Nagant is under my protection now. Toya Todoroki is under my protection. Anyone I consider mine is off-limits.
"If you send another assassin, if you even think about targeting them, these documents-" he tapped the folder. "Go public, every news outlet and hero agency. The whole world will know what the HPSC really is."
"You are making a mistake." the Chairman said, though his voice lacked conviction. "The Commission maintains order. Without us—"
"Without you, heroes might actually remember what they are supposed to stand for." Jin-Ho interrupted. "I am not asking for your permission. I am telling you how things are going to be."
The Chairman's jaw tightened. "And if we refuse?"
Jin-Ho smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "Then I will do what you do best - remove obstacles. Starting with you."
The threat hung in the air, heavy and undeniable.
Before the Chairman could respond, the door burst open. Several security personnel rushed in, quirks activated, ready to apprehend the intruder.
Jin-Ho didn't even look at them. With a casual wave of his hand, telekinesis sent them flying backward, crashing into the walls and slumping unconscious.
"I am leaving now." Jin-Ho said, straightening. "Think carefully about your next move. Because if you come after mine again, there won't be a third warning."
He turned and walked toward the window, opening it calmly.
"Oh, and one more thing." Jin-Ho said, glancing back. "Lady Nagant won't be returning to your service. Consider this her resignation."
With that, he jumped out the window, the concealment talisman activating once more as he disappeared into the city.
The Chairman sat in his destroyed office, staring at the documents scattered across his desk, his hands trembling slightly.
For the first time in years, he felt genuine fear.
….
.
[To be continued…]
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