Location: Naruhata Apartment – Kaito's Landlord Room
Time: Next Day | 12:30 PM
TAP.
TAP. TAP.
Kaito sat at his desk inside his room.
The glow of his laptop screen reflected in his eyes.
He scrolled through the massive data file for his tenth and final online consultation.
The agency paid him four million dollars for this slot. He had to deliver perfection.
He opened the combat footage attached to the profile.
[Target: Rank 28 Pro Hero in Ecuador.
Hero Name: Solaria.
Quirk: Solar Recharge.]
Kaito watched the short video clip.
Solaria stood completely still in an open field, baking in the direct afternoon sun. She stood there for a full four hours.
Then, she launched into the air, flew around a building, landed, and shot a beam of red light from her eyes at a wooden target.
The wood didn't catch fire. It just got slightly warm.
"Twenty minutes of flight," Kaito muttered, reading her base stats. "And the heat vision just gives people mild sunburns. The scaling on this is ridiculous."
He shook his head, actually laughing a bit. She had a Superman-style power set, but it was severely downgraded.
She was basically useless in a fast-paced street fight.
Still, they paid the fee. Kaito shifted into his professional mindset, opened a blank document, and started typing his exact commands.
[Solaria, you rely on passive absorption. You need to forcefully pull the UV radiation into your cells. Start by...]
He typed out five specific training regimens to expand her energy capacity. Next, he opened a drafting program and designed a specialized support-item loadout.
[Have your support company build this kinetic-solar weave suit. It actively stores energy from friction and ambient light while you move. This completely removes your need to stand still and charge. Wear this visor. The lenses will compress your weak heat vision into a pinpoint, steel-cutting laser....]
Kaito moved on to the agency's roster. He found a sidekick who was completely underutilized.
[Your 'Glass-Maker' sidekick is currently useless in a fistfight. Repurpose them. Have them create reflective glass shields in tight alleyways to bounce your thermal laser around corners...]
Finally, he reviewed their financial logistics.
[You are losing on nighttime patrols where you have zero power. Sell your agency's night-patrol territory rights to nocturnal heroes. This revenue clears your debt in three months...]
Kaito reviewed the hundred-page file. He made sure the blueprints and financial charts were crystal clear.
Click.
He hit send. The three-month backlog was officially finished.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Come in," Kaito called out, closing his laptop.
The door swung open.
Kazuho walked in holding a plastic bag full of takeout containers. She had a huge smile on her face.
"I brought food," Kazuho said.
She set the containers on the small coffee table and started pulling out boxes of fried rice and dumplings.
"And I have actual good news," Kazuho grinned. "I finally got my graduation schedule from Seiai Academy."
Kaito stood up, stretching his stiff back, and walked over to the couch.
"The all-girls academy?" Kaito asked, sitting down across from her. "You are finally graduating?"
"Yeah," she laughed, breaking apart her wooden chopsticks. "I am completely done. No more written exams, no more boring hero history classes. I am free."
"So, what is the next move?" Kaito asked. He took a bite of rice. "You want to hit a university? Maybe study public relations or hero economics? I could pull some strings in Tokyo if you want to get into the management side."
Kazuho shook her head before he even finished talking.
"Nope," she said firmly. "I want to be out there on the streets. I want to jump straight in as a full-time sidekick for O'Clock. I am totally sick of sitting in a classroom. I want to do the real work."
Kaito smiled warmly. He completely supported her drive.
"You are sure?" Kaito asked. "Once you start the daily patrols, it gets really busy."
"I am positive," she insisted, pointing her chopsticks at him. "Hey, you promised me that graduation vacation. You said I could pick anywhere on the map."
"I did," Kaito nodded. "My contract on Okuto Island is done. Pick a country."
Kazuho got incredibly excited. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling.
"Okay, so I was looking at flight prices," Kazuho mumbled, tapping her screen. "If we take a plane to Brazil, it is a twenty-hour trip. But France is a little closer. We just have to deal with the layovers."
Kaito raised an eyebrow.
"Kazuho," Kaito interrupted casually. "Why are we looking at airplanes?"
Kazuho blinked and looked up from her phone.
"You forgot?" Kaito reminded her.
"....."
Kazuho stared at him for three seconds. Her face turned bright red.
"Oh my god," Kazuho slapped her own forehead and burst out laughing. "I totally forgot! I am so used to you just being my landlord, I forgot you are literally Hero X!"
Kaito laughed along with her. "Travel time is zero. So, where are we actually going?"
Kazuho dropped her phone on the table. Her eyes went wide with the possibilities.
"Wait. If travel time is zero, we don't have to pick just one place," Kazuho gasped. "We can do a massive country-hopping trip! A massive girls' trip!"
"Girls' trip?" Kaito asked.
"Yeah! I am bringing Tamao," Kazuho declared happily. "We are the exact same age, and she is graduating too. We can take her along. Are you okay with him knowing you are Hero X?"
"I have no problem with that," Kaito agreed. "She is a daughter to Iwao. I trust her."
"Hehe. Don't worry, your secret is always safe with us. But this is going to be insane," Kazuho started pacing around the coffee table. "Okay, we do breakfast in Paris. Then you warp us to New York for some shopping. Then we hit Italy for dinner. We could literally hit fifteen countries in two days!"
Kaito leaned back on the couch, laughing out loud.
"Alright," Kaito smiled, watching her excitedly list off random cities. "I will be your personal tour guide and teleporter for the vacation. Start making a list with Tamao."
"We will have a meeting right now," Kazuho said, walked out the door with excitement.
*-*-*
Location: Underground Desert Base – Egypt
Time: Midnight
CLINK.
Flect Turn picked up a glass of water from his metal desk. He took a slow drink. He placed his bare hand against his own cheek. He felt the warmth of his own skin.
All For One kept his promise. The Reflect quirk was completely dormant.
Flect could touch objects. His power didn't violently push things away anymore. He awakened the quirk long ago when he consumed the God Serum. He finally had his physical freedom.
Still, the black Abyssal Mark burned slightly under his heavy robes. He knew the League owned him.
CLUNK.
He put the glass down and turned to face the bunker.
The underground base was massive. Clean, bright lab stations filled the center of the room. Thousands of zealots were moving through the lower levels.
The funding from terrified global elites stabilized their entire operation.
His fully assembled Vanguard stood waiting near the main terminal.
Beros adjusted the organic bow attached to her left arm.
Sidero cracked his knuckles, sharp iron nails growing slightly from his fingertips.
Leviathan stood in the back, a massive, hulking brute crossing his heavy arms.
Rogone stood silently in his thick metallic armor. The Serpenters, the fanatical twin swordsmen, shifted the segmented steel-like tentacles on their shoulders.
"Master Flect," Beros spoke clearly. "The dark money from the billionaires is flowing into our accounts perfectly. They are throwing money at us out of pure terror."
"Good," Flect nodded. "We are building an army while staying completely incognito.
*-*-*
Location: Chemical Research Facility
Time: Two Months Ago
BOOM.
The heavy reinforced lab doors blew wide open.
Leviathan ripped his rotating, drill-like red energy constructs out of the steel frame. He stepped aside.
Flect Turn walked into the destroyed lab. Sidero and the Serpenters followed closely behind him.
Two top-tier researchers backed away, hitting the far wall.
"Te.. terrorists."
Eddie Soul and Alan Kay looked completely terrified.
They recognized Flect immediately. The news broadcasted his face everywhere. He was a globally wanted terrorist and a high-ranking agent of the League of Villains.
"Stay back!" Alan yelled, his hands shaking violently.
Flect ignored him.
He walked straight toward Eddie Soul. He pulled a small device from his pocket and pressed a button.
A glowing holographic photo popped up. It showed a young boy walking home from school.
"Rody Soul," Flect said calmly. "Your son."
Eddie froze. He turned completely pale.
"What do you want?" Eddie asked, his voice cracking.
"You will design a specific, localized chemical weapon," Flect told him. "I want a different types of gas that overloads a Quirk Factor. If you refuse, or if you try to stall, my operatives will pay your son a visit."
Gulp.
Eddie stared at the hologram. He swallowed hard and slowly nodded his head.
Alan Kay slumped against the wall, knowing they had absolutely zero choice.
*-*-*
Time: Present Day
Flect walked up to the heavy, reinforced glass of the primary laboratory.
Inside the lab, Eddie Soul and Alan Kay were working over a chemical centrifuge.
Armed guards stood in the corners of the room. The scientists looked completely exhausted. Their faces were hollow and tired.
HISS.
A small mechanical arm pulled a sealed vial out of the machine. The liquid inside glowed a faint, sickly green.
"They did it," Sidero smirked, standing next to Flect. "The third stable batch."
"The Anti-Quirk Factor Trigger Gas," Flect said, watching the vial. "A highly concentrated, invisible poison. It is specifically engineered to overload Hero X's massive power. It should be possible that his own power will tear his body apart from the inside."
The Serpenters tilted their heads at the exact same time.
"The elites will pay anything for it," the second twin finished.
Flect turned away from the glass window. He walked back to the main terminal and pulled up a digital map of Europe.
"Egypt is our financial hub," Flect explained to his Vanguard. "We need a secure production and distribution center in Europe."
He typed on the keyboard.
The map zoomed in on the Carpathian Mountain range. He highlighted the borders of Poland and the sovereign state of Otheon.
"The mountains have deep, undetectable underground networks," Flect told them. "The local governments there are very easy to corrupt with our new funding."
Flect looked at the group.
"Leviathan, Rogone," Flect ordered. "You two will remain here. Guard the scientists. Keep the Egyptian base secure."
The massive brute and the armored man nodded silently.
"Beros, Sidero, and the Serpenters," Flect continued. "You take the vanguard. Move to Otheon and Poland. Establish the new stronghold in the mountains. We are expanding. And also, if you need something or someone... Reach out to Miss Anna Scervino. She controls the mafia in Europe."
Beros raised her bow slightly and bowed her head.
*-*-*
Location: Aldera Junior High – Classroom 3-A
Time: Two Days After | 9:00 AM
SLAP.
The homeroom teacher dropped a thick stack of printed career forms onto his wooden desk.
"You are all reaching the end of your second year," the teacher announced loudly to get the class to quiet down. "Starting in April, you will officially be third-years. It is time to seriously lock in your high school applications. Though, I don't know why I even bother handing these out. You all want to go to the hero track anyway."
"YEAAAH!"
"LET'S GOOO!"
"HAHAHAHA"
The classroom immediately got loud. Students started cheering and showing off their minor quirks.
A guy in the front stretched his fingers out across the desk, while a girl in the back made her hands glow with a faint yellow light.
"I'm applying to Ketsubutsu Academy!" a kid yelled from the middle row.
"Me too!" another girl shouted.
"Ketsubutsu is the best school right now!"
Almost every single student in the room yelled out the exact same name.
Ketsubutsu Academy was wildly popular. Ever since the school secured a one hundred percent passing rate in the Provisional Hero License Exams, their prestige skyrocketed across the country.
Any middle school student who felt they couldn't survive the brutal entrance exams for U.A. High immediately aimed for Ketsubutsu.
"Quiet down," the teacher sighed, looking down at his clipboard. "Yes, almost all of you are aiming for Ketsubutsu. However, I see two students here who are aiming for the absolute top. Bakugo and Midoriya are both applying to U.A. High."
"...."
The entire room went dead silent for two seconds.
Then, everyone burst out laughing.
"Hahaha."
"Midoriya? U.A.?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"You don't even have a quirk, Izuku!" a kid laughed, pointing at the back of the room. "They don't let quirkless people into the hero department!"
Izuku sat at his desk. He didn't look up. He just stared out the window, keeping his face completely blank.
He paid absolutely no mind to the jokes. He had fought street thugs, taken down minor villains, and bled in dark alleyways for the past three years.
Izuku really didn't care what a bunch of loud classmates thought about him.
BOOM.
A massive explosion shattered the wooden desk near the front of the room.
Smoke filled the air. The laughter stopped instantly.
Katsuki Bakugo stood up. His red eyes were furious.
Crackle-crickle.
Small, crackling sparks popped across his palms.
"Shut your mouths, you worthless trash!" Bakugo roared at the class.
The students flinched, shrinking back in their seats.
Bakugo wasn't defending Izuku out of friendship.
It was pure, aggressive pride. Izuku had fought him. He had actually beaten him in their secret fight.
If these weak, minor-quirk losers thought Izuku was a joke, that meant they were indirectly laughing at Bakugo.
He hated it.
"You think you extras even stand a chance at Ketsubutsu?" Bakugo sneered, glaring around the room. "You're all losers! None of you have the guts to do the actual work! Stop running your mouths before I blast you all through the wall! Heh... You might even be just sidekicks on an unknown D-listers in the future."
"....."
"....."
"....."
Then.
"What do you say Bakugo?!"
"Do you want to fight?!"
"You think you're better than us Katsuki?"
The classroom went rowdy. Everybody talk back to him.
"Let's go.. I'll take you all on!"
Izuku just kept looking out the window, quietly waiting for the final bell to ring.
*-*-*
Location: Midoriya Apartment
Izuku opened the front door and took off his red shoes.
"I'm home," Izuku called out.
"Welcome back, Izuku!" Inko said, walking out of the kitchen.
She smiled warmly and handed him a small plate covered in plastic wrap. Two large rice balls sat on the plate.
"I made these for a snack," Inko told him. "Did you have a good day at school?"
"It was fine, Mom," Izuku smiled, taking the plate. "Nothing crazy happened. I'm just going to eat this and get some exercise in my room."
Inko looked at her son. She noticed how broad his shoulders were getting. He stood completely straight now.
He didn't hunch over, and he didn't look down at his feet when he talked.
She remembered how much she used to cry in her room over her son being quirkless. Seeing him so confident and strong made her deeply happy.
She had no idea he was secretly fighting criminals at night.
"Don't push yourself too hard," she warned gently, rubbing his arm.
"I won't," Izuku promised.
Izuku walked into his bedroom and shut the door.
He set the plate on his desk, took off his school uniform, and threw on a plain grey t-shirt and loose gym shorts.
He dropped to the floor and started his routine.
Huff. Puff.
Push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and intense squats.
He moved fast, his breath coming in short, controlled bursts.
He needed his body to be a perfect weapon for his night patrols as Greenhood.
He couldn't rely on a flashy superpower, so his muscles had to do all the fighting.
Kuro the phantom cat was lounging lazily on the bed.
"MEOW."
Kuro rolled onto his back. He reached out a small, furry paw and tapped the TV remote sitting on the nightstand.
Click. Click.
Kuro tapped the button a few times, casually flipping through the channels until a nature documentary about birds popped up on the screen.
Kuro purred happily, tucked his paws in, and watched the television.
Izuku kept sweating on the floor, totally ignoring his cat's television habits.
Twitch.
Kuro's ears suddenly snapped back. The cat flipped over on the bed and stared directly at the bedroom door.
"Meow."
It was a low, serious warning sound.
Izuku stopped his push-ups. He trusted Kuro's instincts completely.
He stood up, grabbed a towel from his desk chair, and wiped the sweat off his face.
He heard a voice coming from the living room. It was a deep, polite male voice talking to his mother.
Izuku figured it was just the landlord or maybe a neighbor asking for a favor.
Izuku opened his bedroom door and walked down the short hallway.
He stepped into the living room and froze completely.
Sitting on their small, floral patterned couch was Sir Nighteye.
All Might's famous former sidekick wore a perfectly tailored grey suit and a bright yellow tie. He held a small teacup in his hand, smiling politely at Inko.
Nighteye took a sip of tea and set the cup down on the saucer.
Inko turned around and saw Izuku standing in the hallway. She was absolutely beaming with pride.
"Izuku! You're out of your room," Inko said happily. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Izuku asked. His heart hammered violently against his ribs.
"About the special hero-track scholarship program!" Inko smiled, gesturing to the man on the couch. "This nice gentleman came all the way here to talk about your application!"
Nighteye looked directly at Izuku. He reached up and adjusted his glasses with two fingers.
Beneath the polite smile, his eyes were cold and completely knowing. Nighteye had used his agency's massive satellite network. He finally tracked the vigilante Greenhood all the way to Musutafu.
Izuku stared back at him, realizing in one terrifying second that he was completely busted.
'Shi--'
*-*-*
Location: Grandma Saki's House – Shizuoka
Time: Evening
SIZZLE.
Kaito stood at the stove, carefully flipping a thick cut of salmon in the frying pan. Grandma
Saki stood right next to him at the kitchen counter, chopping green onions with a small knife.
CHOP. CHOP.
"You're flipping that too fast, Kaito," Saki teased, nudging his elbow. "Let the skin crisp up on the bottom."
"The skin is perfectly crisp, Grandma," Kaito laughed, tapping the edge of the pan with his spatula. "I've been cooking for myself for years."
"You own a burger chain now," Saki smiled, scooping the chopped onions into a small bowl. "You're a businessman. But I am glad you still know how to feed yourself properly."
"I have to eat well," Kaito said, turning off the gas burner. "My schedule gets crazy. If I don't cook, I end up eating takeout every single night."
They plated the food and carried their bowls into the living room. They sat down on the floor cushions around the low wooden table.
The small heater in the corner hummed quietly, keeping the winter chill out of the house.
Kaito grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
[LIVE FROM SAITAMA SUPER ARENA!]
Present Mic's loud voice echoed through the TV speakers.
The screen showed a massive, brightly lit stage surrounded by thousands of screaming fans. It was the very first episode of the Japan's Got Quirk Quarter-Finals.
[Are you ready for our next act?!]
Kaito took a bite of his fish. "They really didn't hold back the production budget for this stage."
[A teenager walked onto the stage. Three massive, heavy steel safes sat in the middle of the floor. He tapped them with his hands, using a minor 'Frictionless' Quirk. He kicked the heavy safes up into the air and juggled them effortlessly. They glided across his arms and shoulders like they weighed absolutely nothing.]
The stadium crowd on the TV went wild.
[Next, a young woman stepped up. She took a deep breath and blew out a massive cloud of glowing, multi-colored smoke. She used her 'Neon Breath' Quirk to paint a huge, floating mural of a dragon right above the judges' heads.]
[Next, a man with an 'Acoustic Hair' Quirk plucked the long strands on his own head. Every pluck sounded like a perfect violin string, echoing a classical symphony through the entire arena.]
Saki chewed her rice slowly, watching the screen.
Saki noted. "But I really enjoy it. It is nice seeing regular people get cheered on for once. Usually, they only clap for the top heroes on the news."
"Speaking of heroes," Saki said, setting her chopsticks down on her plate. She looked at Kaito. "You are twenty-five years old. You own a massive apartment building in Naruhata. You just opened a fast-food chain. You charge foreign heroes millions of dollars just to give them advice online. You could probably buy this entire town right now."
"I'm doing okay," Kaito smiled modestly.
"You are incredibly rich, Kaito," Saki laughed gently. "With all that money and all your power... do you ever regret it?"
Kaito paused. "Regret what?"
"Not becoming a registered Pro Hero," she clarified. "Not putting on a cape and fighting villains on TV like All Might or Endeavor."
Kaito shook his head. He gave her a totally honest answer.
"Never," Kaito said firmly. "Licensed heroes are stuck. The government and the Hero Commission control their schedules, their borders, and their methods. They have to wait for a villain to attack before they can do anything. I like having absolute freedom. I can fix the root of the problem, anywhere in the world, and I don't have to ask anyone for permission."
Saki nodded, understanding exactly what he meant.
Kaito picked up his glass of water.
"Anyway," Kaito shifted the topic. "My contract on Okuto Island is completely finished. I have some free time before the next big project starts. Do you want to go on a trip? Anywhere you want."
Saki picked up her teacup.
"No, I don't think so," Saki politely declined. "We went to camping trip and then I went to your birthday party, and we just had the New Year's dinner here. I have traveled enough for right now. I like the quiet comfort of my own house."
"You're completely sure?" Kaito asked. "No beaches? No sightseeing?"
"I am sure," Saki smiled warmly.
She set her teacup down and looked at her own hands.
She opened and closed her fingers, staring at her skin and her knuckles.
"I feel very healthy, Kaito," Saki said quietly. "I wake up in the morning, and my joints do not hurt at all. I can walk to the market without getting tired. I honestly feel like I am thirty years old again."
Kaito kept his face calm.
"That's good," Kaito said smoothly, hiding the real science. "You're taking good care of yourself."
Saki looked directly at him. She didn't know the exact science, but she wasn't stupid.
She knew he had done a miracle on her body. She knew she was going to live a very, very long time.
A slow, teasing smirk spread across Saki's face.
"Since I am clearly going to be around for a long time," Saki said, leaning slightly forward across the table. "I need to know your plans."
"My business plans?" Kaito asked, taking a sip of his water.
"No," Saki said bluntly. "When are you going to settle down and give me a great-grandson or a great-granddaughter?"
GULP.
Kaito swallowed the water exactly as she asked the question.
"COUGH! COUGH!"
Kaito violently choked. He slammed the glass down on the table, hacking and coughing loudly.
He grabbed a paper napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Grandma!" Kaito wheezed, trying to catch his breath.
He assumed she was just pulling his leg. He was only twenty-five, after all.
"Hahaha."
He started to laugh it off, still coughing into the napkin.
"Hehehe."
Saki laughed along with him, but she didn't look away.
She gave him a warm, steady look that made it very clear she was absolutely serious.
"...." Kaito.
...
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