Location: Kashiya Ward – Arisaka Consulting Building
Time: Thursday | 8:00 AM
TAP. TAP.
Kaito sat behind his sleek black desk, scrolling through his laptop. The morning sun shined brightly through the massive glass windows.
"Eve," Kaito called out, leaning back in his chair. "Give me the final count on the online consultation slots."
[All ten global slots are officially filled, Boss.]
The artificial intelligence spoke clearly through the hidden ceiling speakers.
[The servers finished receiving the required documents from the selected pro heroes. I sorted the files by region for you.]
"Put them on the main screen," Kaito instructed.
BEEP.
The large digital monitor on the wall turned on. Ten different hero profiles popped up.
Kaito grabbed his digital tablet and started reading through the heavy data files.
He approved a file from a pro hero in Mexico asking for border patrol funding advice and others.
He checked a profile from Ghana regarding sidekick rosters, and another from Saudi Arabia.
Tap.
Kaito tapped on the fourth file.
The location read Otheon.
Kaito recognized the name instantly.
It was Claire Voyance. He remembered meeting her a long time ago during a vacation with Makoto.
They wore disguises back then, and Claire had also eaten the same food stall with them.
He opened her agency data.
[Pro Hero Profile: Claire Voyance | Agency: Otheon Urban Patrol]
[Financial Audit 2025-2026: Budget allocated to sidekick roster expansion...]
[...]
[Rescue Statistics: 89% Success Rate in Urban Environments...]
[...]
Kaito scrolled past the massive walls of financial and logistical numbers.
He went straight to the very bottom of the document to read her personal note.
[Additional Comments: Mr. Arisaka, I wanted to append a personal note regarding our agency. A strange, well-funded organization is operating in the shadows of Otheon. The local authorities are highly suspicious. They push a radical anti-quirk ideology and have massive hidden funding. We need help planning our logistics to track their movements.]
"Hmm..." Kaito locked his tablet screen.
He set the Otheon file aside and spent the next hour finishing the rest of the global applications.
By half-past nine, he opened his office doors for the local walk-in clients.
The morning rush was steady.
A young hero walked in complaining about his heavy costume slowing him down. Kaito took one look at his gear and told him to swap the solid steel shoulder plates for carbon fiber mesh.
Thirty minutes later, a female hero came in totally stressed out about her sidekicks constantly missing crimes during shift changes.
Kaito drew up a staggered schedule on the whiteboard, overlapping their patrol hours so the streets were never empty.
They paid their fees at the front desk and left completely satisfied.
Time passed quickly.
At 12:15 PM, heavy footsteps approached the office.
BAM. BAM.
Someone knocked loudly on the door.
"Come in," Kaito said, setting his pen down.
CREAK.
Crust walked inside.
The Shield Hero wore his casual street clothes today. A dark blue jacket and jeans replaced his usual heavy gladiator armor.
"Good day Mr. Arisaka." His lead sidekick walked in right behind him.
RUSTLE. RUSTLE.
Crust carried two large brown paper bags in his hands. The greasy, familiar smell of fried food immediately filled the office.
"I brought lunch!" Crust announced loudly, grinning from ear to ear.
"It is barely noon, Crust," Kaito pointed out, checking his watch.
"It is never too early for Golden Bites," Crust laughed. He walked over to the leather couches and set the bags down on the glass coffee table. "I bought the double cheeseburgers and a massive order of the spicy chicken wings."
Kaito stood up from his desk and walked over. He found the situation highly amusing.
Crust had absolutely no idea that Kaito was the actual founder and owner of the Golden Bites fast-food chain.
"Have a seat," Kaito offered, sitting down on the opposite couch.
Crust dropped onto the cushions and started unpacking the food. He handed a wrapped burger to his sidekick and tossed one over to Kaito.
The sidekick caught his food.
Nom. Nom. Nom. Nom.
"This is your fourth visit here," Kaito mentioned casually, taking a bite of the food.
"I am just checking in," Crust said. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin. "I want to make sure my name stays fresh in your mind. I am still highly interested in that three-month physical contract."
Kaito grabbed a chicken wing from the pile.
The kitchen staff down the street were doing a great job following his seasoning ratio.
"Look at the top rankings," Crust pointed out openly. "Mirko, Hawks, Selkie and Gang Orca. Almost every single top hero in Japan has the Golden Manager mark on their career. I want my agency to reach that absolute peak too. I want to learn."
Kaito finished his burger and wiped his hands.
He really respected the veteran's straightforward attitude.
Crust didn't make any heavy, dramatic speeches. He just showed up, stated his goals, and bought lunch.
"I will definitely keep you in mind for future projects, Crust," Kaito said honestly. "You have a really solid foundation. We just need to figure out the right time to pull the trigger on a physical overhaul for you."
Crust smiled widely. He was completely satisfied with that answer.
"That works for me," Crust said happily, grabbing another handful of fries. "Now eat up. These wings are incredible."
The lead sidekick finally relaxed and took a bite of his own meal.
The three of them sat around the glass table, finishing their lunch and talking about regular hero news.
*-*-*
Location: Europe – Unknown Underground Headquarters
The underground base was quiet. Heavy stone walls lined the long hallways. Armed guards stood near the main doors.
Inside the master office, Anna Scervino sat behind a large mahogany desk.
A stack of shipping manifests and small, insulated medical boxes rested in front of her.
She was organizing stolen blood samples. She had her people quietly tracking down civilians and low-tier heroes with space and time quirks.
All For One demanded massive amounts of DNA, and she was forcing the European black markets to supply them.
Next to the medical boxes sat several digital hard drives.
They contained stolen academic research on advanced physics and robotics.
CREAK.
The heavy double doors opened.
Two of her highest-ranking lieutenants walked into the room.
Vito wore a dark grey suit, and Elena wore a black leather jacket. They were new blood.
They took over the open spots after the Gollini family was wiped out.
They had absolutely no idea about Anna's real name or her aristocratic past. They just knew her as the undisputed boss.
"Boss," Vito spoke up. He held a digital tablet in his hand. "We have a problem at the shipping port."
Anna set her pen down.
"Show me."
Vito walked forward and placed the tablet on the desk.
Elena stepped up and pressed her finger against the screen.
Her quirk, Audio Filter, activated instantly. She stripped away the loud static and the sound of heavy rain from the recording, leaving the voices and impacts perfectly clear.
Vito hit the play button.
The screen showed security footage from a warehouse dock. The camera pointed down at the concrete floor.
Anna watched the screen closely.
She saw Giulio. The Scervino family butler wore his dark trench coat. He was facing a young man with pinkish hair.
Anna immediately recognized the pink-haired kid. It was Sidero, a member of the Humarise organization.
On the video, Sidero flicked his wrist.
WHOOSH.
A heavy iron ball shot forward.
Giulio used his cybernetic legs to dodge. He pulled a handgun from his coat and fired twice.
CLANG. CLANG.
The bullets bounced off Sidero's iron balls. The pink-haired kid generated five more heavy spheres in the air and launched them all at once.
Giulio slid across the wet concrete. He was clearly losing the ranged battle. Sidero threw another massive iron ball directly at Giulio's chest.
Giulio twisted his body. The iron ball grazed his left shoulder, tearing through his coat and drawing blood.
The heavy impact spun Giulio around. He stumbled.
Anna felt her chest tighten. She kept her face completely blank. She refused to show any emotion to her lieutenants.
On the screen, Giulio got backed against a wall. Sidero floated five more iron balls, getting ready for a lethal strike.
Giulio rushed straight forward. He ignored the flying projectiles, took another grazing hit to his side, and slapped his bare hand directly against Sidero's arm.
His Neutralization quirk activated.
Sidero's iron balls instantly lost all their momentum. They dropped heavily to the concrete floor.
THUD. THUD.
Sidero looked completely shocked. His quirk just shut down.
Giulio didn't hesitate. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small metal canister, and threw it hard against the ground.
FLASH.
A blinding white light washed out the entire camera feed.
The screen slowly adjusted back to normal a few seconds later. Sidero was coughing and rubbing his eyes.
Giulio was completely gone. He escaped into the rain.
Vito paused the video.
"That eyepatch guy got away again," Vito complained, sounding highly annoyed. "He has been raiding our supply lines for months. He is ruining our financial deals with Humarise. We need to hunt him down."
Elena nodded in agreement.
"Give us the order, Boss," Elena said. She rested her hand on the pistol holstered at her hip. "We will track him through the city. We can eliminate him tonight."
Anna leaned back in her expensive leather chair.
She felt a massive wave of relief. Giulio survived and escape.
She reached up slowly and rubbed her shoulder.
She pressed her fingers right over the dark League of Villains covenant mark hidden beneath her shirt.
"No," Anna said coldly. "Stand down."
Vito frowned. He looked confused.
"Boss? He is disrupting our business."
"Think about the bigger picture, Vito," Anna instructed. She kept her voice completely flat and authoritative. "That man is a high-level cybernetic operative. He is directly connected to a rich family in Italy."
Vito and Elena listened closely.
"If you shoot him dead, the government will get involved," Anna explained. "They will send top-tier investigators. Do you want someone like Star and Stripe flying back into Europe? Don't forget the lessons of the past. Gollini family was captured by Star and Stripes."
Gulp.
Vito swallowed hard. He shook his head.
"Exactly," Anna said. She tapped her finger on the desk. "We are hiding a massive quirk-smuggling operation. We are moving highly sensitive physics data. We cannot risk drawing the spotlight."
Elena crossed her arms.
"So we just let him keep raiding our warehouses?" Elena asked.
"We can control the board," Anna told them calmly. "Set up three fake black-market safehouses near the border of Spain. Stock them with cheap weapons and forge some documents pointing toward Germany."
Anna picked up her pen again.
"Leak the locations to the street informants," Anna ordered. "He will hear the rumors. And just raid the empty safehouses and follow the fake paper trail out of our territory. Let him waste his time chasing ghosts."
Vito nodded. He fully accepted the logical business strategy.
"Understood, Boss," Vito said respectfully. "I will set up the fake safehouses right now."
The two lieutenants turned around and walked out of the office.
THUD.
The heavy doors closed.
Anna sat alone in the quiet room. She looked down at the paused video on the tablet. She stared at the blurry image of Giulio's face.
SIGH.
She closed her eyes and let out a long, quiet breath.
*-*-*
Location: Kashiya Ward – Arisaka Consulting Building
Time: Monday | 08:39 AM (A few days later)
Kaito sat in his office. He had a stack of physical contract applications resting on his desk.
He picked up the top folder. It belonged to Pam Carter, the Cow Lady.
He made his final decision.
There were a lot of pro heroes asking for his time, but choosing Cow Lady because he was near him definitely wasn't the reason.
She was an American pro hero running a temporary branch agency in Japan.
"Eve," Kaito called out. "Update the public website. Announce that the physical three-month contract slot is officially closed. List the Cow Lady Agency as the selected client."
[Right away, Boss. The website is updating now.]
Kaito picked up his cell phone and dialed Pam's direct agency number.
The line rang twice.
CLICK.
[Hello?!] Pam answered loudly. She sounded completely out of breath.
"Good morning, Pam," Kaito greeted her smoothly.
[I just saw the website!] Pam yelled through the speaker. Kaito could hear cheering in the background. [You actually picked me! We got the contract!]
Kaito smiled.
Kaito said simply. "I am holding you to that. Get your staff together and print out all your current operational data. I am walking over to your building right now."
[We will be ready!] Pam promised excitedly.
CLICK.
Kaito hung up the phone. He stood up, grabbed his leather briefcase from the floor, and headed for the elevator.
He walked out of his building and took a short stroll down the busy commercial street. The afternoon weather was great.
People walked past him, carrying shopping bags and talking.
He reached a tall, modern glass building. A large sign above the front doors read: Cow Lady Agency – Japan Branch.
SLID.
Kaito walked through the sliding glass doors.
Pam was already waiting for him in the main lobby.
She wore her full hero costume and a massive grin.
"Welcome to the agency, Kaito," Pam said, walking up to shake his hand.
"Thanks for having me," Kaito replied, shaking her hand firmly. "You have a nice setup here."
"I brought my core team over from the States," Pam explained, gesturing toward three people standing near the reception desk. "They handle all the logistics so I can focus purely on hero work. I want you to meet them."
Kaito walked over to the group.
"This is Mark," Pam introduced the man wearing a dress shirt and holding a clipboard. "He is my Head of Analytics. He tracks local crime patterns and builds my patrol routes."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Arisaka," Mark said, offering a polite nod.
"Call me Kaito," Kaito smiled, shaking his hand. "Tracking crime patterns in a foreign country is a tough job. I am looking forward to seeing your data."
Pam pointed to a young woman wearing a stylish red blazer.
"This is Sarah," Pam continued. "She is my PR Manager. Her quirk is called Mood Lighting. She can manipulate the ambient light in a room to make sure every single press photo makes me look heroic and approachable."
"It is all about controlling the shadows," Sarah grinned confidently. "I make sure she never looks intimidating to kids."
"Public image is half the battle," Kaito agreed, giving her an approving nod. "That is a highly useful quirk for media relations."
Pam stepped aside, revealing a man wearing a grease-stained apron over his clothes. He had a pair of thick goggles resting around his neck.
"And this is Dave," Pam finished. "He handles my support gear. His quirk is Blueprint Memory. If he looks at a schematic once, he perfectly memorizes every single measurement and material forever."
"That is incredible," Kaito said, genuinely impressed. "You never have to waste time looking up replacement parts."
"Hehe..." Dave laughed, tapping the side of his head. "It is all locked up right here."
Pam clapped her hands together.
"Alright, team," Pam announced loudly. "Let's get to work."
She led the group down a wide hallway. They walked past several small offices and entered a large, modern boardroom.
A long glass table sat in the center of the room.
Thick stacks of paper, digital tablets, and patrol maps covered the surface.
The American logistics team had clearly scrambled to get everything ready for the meeting.
Kaito walked over to the head of the table.
He set his leather briefcase down on the glass surface.
CLICK. CLICK.
He popped the metal latches open.
Kaito unbuttoned his dark blue suit jacket and looked around the room, making eye contact with Pam, Mark, Sarah, and Dave.
"Shall we start?"
...
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