Location: Kiyashi Ward – Arisaka Consulting
Time: 08:00 PM
The office was quiet.
Click. Click.
Kaito stood by his desk, sliding the last few printed reports into his black briefcase. He was finally wrapping up his first day back from vacation. After countless walk-ins after Shishido came first.
He just wanted to head home to the Naruhata apartment.
He picked up his suit jacket from the back of his leather chair.
"Eve," Kaito called out to the room. "Update the main servers before we shut down for the night."
[Right away, Boss. What are the exact parameters?]
Eve's voice played smoothly from the ceiling speakers.
"Log Lion Shishido for the new three-month physical contract," Kaito instructed. "And unlock the application portal for the ten online consultation slots."
[Processing...]
A few seconds passed.
[The database is updated. The portal is live.]
Instantly, Kaito's dual monitors lit up.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The notification counter on the top right of the screen skyrocketed.
Ten became a hundred. A hundred became a thousand.
In less than a five minutes, thousands of highly detailed applications and emails flooded the server.
Hero agencies from all over the world wanted a single slot.
Kaito just nodded.
He was completely used to the massive demand by now.
"Same as always" Kaito told the AI.
RING. RING.
"Hmm?" His personal phone buzzed on the desk. Kaito picked it up. Pam Carter's name flashed on the screen.
He swiped to answer.
"Good evening, Pam," Kaito greeted warmly.
[I am formally filing a complaint!] Pam complained playfully through the speaker. [I literally patrol Kiyashi Ward! I live just blocks away from your building! How did another pro beat me to your front door?]
Kaito laughed, slipping his free arm into his suit jacket.
"He had his sidekicks camp out on the sidewalk," Kaito explained. "They called him the second they saw me walking up the street. He sprinted across the city."
[That is basically cheating,] Pam sighed. [I saw him running past my patrol route earlier today. I should have tripped him.]
"Hehe... You can try that next time," Kaito joked. "By the way, I saw Cathleen while I was in Los Angeles last week."
[You did?] Pam asked, her tone shifting to genuine interest.
"Yeah, we had dinner with her family," Kaito said. "She said hello. She was asking how you were doing over here in Japan."
[Really? Star and Stripe asked about me?] Pam sounded happy. [Tell her I am doing great next time you see her. I am working hard here to climb the billboard charts over there.]
"I will pass it along," Kaito smiled.
SPLASH.
A distinct sound of echoing water came through the phone.
Kaito paused. His ears easily picked up the acoustics of a tiled room.
"Pam," Kaito asked casually. "Are you taking a bath right now?"
"..."
The line went dead silent.
[What?] Pam stammered, trying to cover it up. [No! I am washing the dishes!]
SPLASH.
Another wave of water echoed clearly through the speaker.
"Those are some very loud dishes," Kaito teased her. "Do you usually wash plates by jumping on them?"
[Ugh!"] Pam groaned loudly.
[Shut up, Arisaka,] Pam grumbled with a mix of sass and embarrassment. [Stop analyzing my background noise. Just let me relax. I worked the whole day. I needed some ice baths.]
"You called me," Kaito reminded her, laughing lightly.
[I called to secure my spot,] Pam shot back. [The absolute second Shishido's three-month contract is over, I want the next one. Don't let another pros steal you from me.]
"We will see how the schedule looks in three months," Kaito answered easily, grabbing his briefcase. "If you really want the slot, you might want to buy a sleeping bag and start camping on my sidewalk."
[You are terrible,] Pam laughed. [Have a good night, Manager.]
"Good night, Pam. Enjoy washing the dishes."
CLICK.
She hung up the phone. Kaito chuckled, shoved the phone into his pocket, and walked out of the office to head home.
*-*-*
Location: Tokyo – Shishido's Agency
Time: Next Day | 09:00 AM
BASS.
BASS.
Heavy metal music blasted through the large corner speakers.
Kaito walked through the front glass doors of the agency.
The place did not look like a normal hero office. It looked exactly like a hardcore, underground powerlifting gym.
Massive steel dumbbells and thick iron weight plates were scattered across the rubber mats.
Several huge, muscular sidekicks were hitting heavy punching bags.
SMASH.
One of the guys punched a bag so hard it ripped wide open. Sand poured out onto the gym floor.
The guys from the sidewalk stakeout yesterday looked toward the entrance. They went completely crazy.
"He is here!" one of the sidekicks yelled loudly.
Someone ran over and killed the music.
All the muscle-bound sidekicks dropped their weights and crowded around Kaito. They looked incredibly excited.
"Welcome to the den, Arisaka!"
"Thanks for picking us!"
Kaito smiled and shook their massive hands. "Good to meet you guys."
"Alright, give him some space!"
Lion Shishido walked out of his private office.
He wore a tight black tank top and his usual heavy boots. He grinned widely, showing off his sharp teeth.
"Arisaka, glad you made it," Shishido laughed, clapping Kaito on the shoulder. "Let me show you the floor."
Shishido proudly walked Kaito through the gym.
He pointed out the sparring rings and the heavy lifting stations.
Kaito nodded along, keeping the atmosphere friendly and relaxed.
Then, Kaito looked past the training equipment.
In the far back corner of the room, a small group of normal-looking people sat crammed behind computer desks.
They were the logistics and accounting staff. They all had deep, dark bags under their eyes.
They looked completely miserable, buried under tall stacks of printed paperwork.
Kaito stepped away from Shishido and walked straight over to the computer desks.
The head accountant looked up nervously.
"I'm Kaito Arisaka," Kaito said, extending his hand. "You guys handle the repair bills and the city insurance claims, right?"
The accountant slowly shook his hand. "Uh, yes. We do."
"You have the hardest job in this entire building," Kaito told him genuinely. "Keeping a high pressure agency funded and legally cleared takes a massive amount of work. You guys are good for holding it together."
"..."
Hearing the Golden Manager openly respect their behind-the-scenes work made a few of them look like they were about to cry from pure relief.
Shishido crossed his arms and laughed.
"Hehe.. Alright, enough hand-holding. Let's get to business. Ken, bring the data."
Ken, the lead sidekick, waved for them to follow.
They walked into a large conference room. Kaito sat at the head of a long metal table.
Shishido sat right next to him. Ken and seven other massive squad leaders squeezed into the remaining chairs.
Ken handed Kaito a sleek digital tablet.
"That holds five years of our patrol routes, budgets, and daily capture rates," Ken explained.
Kaito took the tablet. He started scrolling through the screens.
The room went completely quiet.
For the next few minutes, nobody said a single word.
The sidekicks nervously whispered to each other, wondering what Kaito was thinking.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
Shishido impatiently tapped his heavy boot against the floor. His lion tail flicked back and forth behind his chair.
Finally, Kaito locked the tablet screen and set it down on the metal table.
"Your capture rates are fantastic," Kaito started, looking around the room. "When you find a villain, you take them down fast. Your combat stats are great."
The sidekicks smiled proudly.
"But your collateral damage is terrible," Kaito said flatly. "You are ranking near the top of the national charts for destroying city property during arrests."
The smiles vanished. The sidekicks looked at each other, totally confused.
A guy with a rhino horn raised his thick hand.
"What does collateral mean?" the rhino sidekick asked slowly.
Kaito leaned forward. "It means you break things that don't belong to the villain. Cars, streetlights, buildings."
"It means you smash too many convenience stores, you idiot!" Shishido barked at his own sidekick, translating it into muscle-speak. "You are bankrupting the accounting department!"
Through the glass wall of the conference room, the head accountant aggressively nodded his head up and down.
"Oh," the rhino sidekick rubbed the back of his neck. "But the villains hide inside the buildings. We have to punch through the walls to get them."
"That brings up the second massive problem," Kaito pointed out. "You only have physical quirks sidekicks. You have zero support type quirks or tech support. What happens when a villain locks a reinforced steel door, or hacks the local security cameras?"
The sidekicks went quiet.
"We... usually just punch the door until it breaks," Ken admitted honestly. "Or we just stand around and wait for the police to bring a hacker."
"That's it," Kaito nodded. "You are bleeding time. The younger heroes like Hawks are beating you in the rankings because they solve the puzzle in seconds."
The sidekicks looked down at the table. They were starting to realize exactly why they were stuck at rank thirteen.
A sidekick with four extra arms suddenly leaned over the table.
"Umm Manager... So, when do we get the Quirk upgrades?" the extra-arms guy asked, his eyes shining with pure excitement. "We heard you give out special Quirk development paths! We want to get stronger! Gang Orca has a sonic attack, so when do we learn stuff like that?"
BANG.
Shishido slammed his massive fist down hard on the metal table.
"..."
The loud noise made everyone jump in their seats.
"Shut up!" Shishido roared. He glared furiously at his team. "Are you guys deaf? We have a bad foundation!"
Shishido pointed a thick finger right at the sidekick.
"We are not doing any Quirk development paths right now," Shishido stated firmly. "Arisaka is here to fix the agency first. We stop destroying the things and we fix our response times. Once the foundation is solid, then we talk about getting stronger!"
Kaito smiled slightly. He respected Shishido's leadership.
The guy was like another Bakugo, but he knew exactly what actually mattered.
"He is right," Kaito agreed, backing the boss up completely. "I have all the context I need from this tablet and this conversation."
Slid.
Kaito stood up from his chair and pushed the tablet back to Ken.
"Get some rest today," Kaito told the room. "I will be back tomorrow morning with a complete, step-by-step plan for the entire agency."
*-*-*
Location: Hosu City – Iida Estate
Time: 07:00 PM
The dining room inside the Iida family mansion was massive. Classic hero memorabilia hung on the walls.
Tensei Iida sat at the table eating roasted duck.
The pro hero Ingenium wore a plain, casual white shirt.
Across from him, his younger brother Tenya sat perfectly straight.
Tenya wore his neat Soumei Junior High uniform. He chewed his food with strict, military-like precision.
Their parents, Tenzou and Tomoko, sat at the ends of the long table. They smiled warmly at their two sons.
"The new Billboard charts came out, Tensei," Tenzou smiled proudly. "Rank eleven. You are holding your spot."
"I am trying," Tensei laughed humbly, taking a drink of water. "Hawks and Mirko are pushing really hard right now. The other heroes are incredibly fast. It is a tough race."
"You are plenty fast," Tomoko praised him.
"I owe a lot of it to Kaito," Tensei admitted openly. "The Golden Manager. His advice a few years ago completely fixed my engine stalling issues. I wouldn't be rank eleven without him."
Tomoko smiled and picked up her napkin.
"I saw the news articles about him this week," Tomoko said. "He is back in Japan taking clients."
Tenzou set his fork down. He looked very interested.
"The rumors are spreading around the elite hero families right now," Tenzou added. "Word is that Endeavor just paid millions of yen for a custom training document for his youngest son, Shoto."
"I heard the same thing," Tensei nodded. "Endeavor doesn't spend that kind of money unless he knows it works."
Tenzou looked over at Tenya.
"Tenya is applying for U.A. High School soon," Tenzou pointed out. "Tensei, do you think we could commission Arisaka-san? We could ask him to build a Quirk development plan for Tenya for the entrance exams and for his future."
Tenya swallowed his food instantly.
His eyes went wide behind his square glasses.
SWISH.
SWISH.
Tenya started aggressively chopping the air with his flat hands.
"Absolutely not!" Tenya announced loudly, his voice echoing in the dining room. "I respectfully forbid it! Our family will not spend millions of yen on me!"
Tensei chuckled at his little brother's rigid reaction.
"I can just watch your moves!" Tenya argued, chopping his hands toward Tensei. "We have similar Quirks! I will simply study your patrol footage and copy your engine techniques. We can save the money!"
Tensei leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He gave Tenya a warm, relaxed smirk.
"Stop worrying about my wallet, Tenya," Tensei laughed out loud. "I am rank eleven. I am rich."
Tenya kept chopping the air. "But brother—"
"Listen," Tensei interrupted him smoothly, dropping the jokes. "If a guy like Endeavor is willing to drop millions to support his son, I am definitely going to do the exact same thing for my little brother."
"..."
Tenya froze.
"Besides," Tensei continued seriously. "If you just copy my moves, you will just be a clone of rank eleven. Your leg engines are better than my arm engines, Tenya. You are going to surpass me completely. You are going to be rank one someday."
Tensei smiled warmly.
"I want the Golden Manager to give you your own unique path."
Tenya stopped chopping the air. He lowered his hands to his lap.
He was deeply moved by his brother's total belief in him.
"..."
His face turned a little red. He bowed his head slightly over his plate.
"Thank you, brother." Tenya said quietly.
"Don't mention it," Tensei smiled, picking his fork back up.
*-*-*
Location: Shishido's Agency – Private Office
Time: Friday | 10:00 AM
CLICK.
The heavy office door shut quietly.
Kaito sat down in the leather chair across from Lion Shishido's large wooden desk. Shishido sat on the other side, looking totally focused.
THUD.
Kaito dropped a thick, blue folder right in the middle of the desk.
"I finished the review," Kaito said calmly. "I wrote down five major structural proposals to fix the daily operations. You are the boss of this agency, Shishido. You have the final say on what we implement and what we throw out."
Shishido appreciated the direct respect. He leaned forward and opened the folder.
"Plan one," Kaito started, holding up a finger. "You need a dedicated tech and communications division. Keep your physical-type Quirks on the frontline, but put smart sidekicks on the radios. They track the villains through the cameras and unlock the security doors. Your frontliners just listen and follow the directions."
Shishido read the notes on the page. His lion ears twitched slightly.
"I like the idea," Shishido nodded. "But adding an entire intel division costs money. Do we have the budget to pay extra salaries right now?"
"You will, once we implement the second plan," Kaito answered smoothly. "We are changing your combat protocols today. When your sidekicks engage a villain, they have to stop fighting inside convenience stores or tight places. They will use their numbers to push the target into an empty park or a cleared street."
Kaito tapped the folder.
"You eliminate the property damage bills, and the money you save pays for the new tech division," Kaito explained.
"Done," Shishido agreed instantly. "My combat sidekicks just want to hit something. They won't care where they do it."
"Plan three," Kaito continued. "You and your heavy-hitters look terrifying. I want you to hire a few sidekicks with calming or healing Quirks. When your frontline secures an area, the Rescue Squad steps in to comfort the victims and talk to the news reporters."
"Hmm." Shishido rubbed his furry chin.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Shishido admitted honestly. "Kids usually start crying when my guys try to carry them to the ambulances. Approved."
"Plan four," Kaito said. "We need to stop the high quit rates. You're agency have hyper-physical agency. So the pressure inside is very high. You are going to create a three-tier rank system. Cub, Hunter, and Lion. Rookies start as Cubs. They only handle purse snatchers and traffic stops. They get time to adapt to your loud environment before they fight real villains."
"HAHAHA!"
Slap. Slap.
Shishido laughed loudly. He slapped his hand on the desk.
"I love the names," Shishido grinned. "That will definitely keep the new heroes from quitting on day one."
"And finally, plan five," Kaito pointed to the bottom of the page. "Your signature roar is powerful, but it spreads out too wide. You shatter every glass window on the block when you use it. We are ordering a custom face-guard from Detnerat-Shield. It will act as a funnel to narrow your sound wave into a focused beam."
Shishido stopped reading.
He stared at the five points printed in the folder. He realized exactly how these changes would patch every single hole in his operation.
They would save money, retain their rookies, and catch villains twice as fast.
He got completely hyped.
BAM.
Shishido slammed his hands down on the desk and stood up abruptly.
"This fixes everything!" Shishido cheered, throwing his massive arms in the air. "Gang Orca and those young rookies won't even see me coming on the next Billboard charts! I am going to crush the rankings! HAHA!"
Kaito smiled and leaned back in his leather chair.
"Just keep one thing in mind, Shishido," Kaito said casually. "I also contacted them in the past. The agency and quirk development plans for Gang Orca, Hawks, and the others were using my blueprints to get stronger every single day."
"..."
Shishido froze completely.
His massive grin vanished. He slowly lowered his arms.
THUD.
He sat heavily back down in his chair. He looked at Kaito with a flat, annoyed expression.
"You just completely ruined my good mood, Manager," Shishido complained loudly, crossing his massive arms.
"Haha..." Kaito just laughed, watching the giant lion hero sulk behind his desk.
...
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(9 Advanced Chapters)