"The rising hero, Hawks, was spotted today at the scene of the accident in Tokyo's Adowaga district. With great skill and poise, he rescued fifteen civilians who were in the area when the Ishikaga Building collapsed following an attack by a villain. It is believed that thanks to his swift intervention, there are no fatalities at this ti, with only three people sustaining minor injuries who were taken to the hospital in—"
Reiji turned down the TV volu before the report ended. Not because he wasn't interested. But because he'd seen enough.
The images continued to play in silence. Red feathers moving with precision amid the chaos, catching falling concrete fragnts, deflecting trajectories, pulling civilians from impact zones in a matter of seconds.
But not perfect.
"What happened to holding back?"
The question ca out without him needing to raise his voice. Behind him, leaning against one of the panels in the training room, Hawks let out a light sigh before answering.
"I can't project such a perfect image yet," he said casually, crossing his arms as he watched the screen. "It's only been a few months since my debut. If I start doing everything right from the beginning, I'll raise more suspicion and expectations than I want."
Reiji set the remote control down on the table without a sound.
"Hawks the Perfect…" he muttered, resting his elbow on the surface while tilting his head slightly. "It almost sounds like sothing out of a bad joke show."
This ti, Hawks let out a brief laugh.
"If I'm going to sell an image, at least let it be entertaining."
Reiji didn't respond. He stood up from his chair and walked a few steps toward the central table, where multiple sheets of paper, photographs, and partially marked maps were spread out.
That day's session hadn't been physical.
It was worse.
Analysis.
On the table was a simulated case. Photographs of an urban scene, security cara footage, incomplete reports, contradictory statents. All designed to evaluate sothing specific.
Perception.
Reiji rested both hands on the table, reviewing the whole thing once more. He didn't need to reread everything. He'd already done that.
"The killer wasn't the shooter on the rooftop," he said bluntly, then pointed to the photo of a bullet. "When the bullet was fired, the man was already dead. It wasn't the cause of death."
Hawks didn't interrupt.
"The impact ca later. His body showed abnormal levels in his blood that wouldn't have been caused by a bullet. Besides, the hero present didn't activate his Quirk in ti, either, as he had done before."
Reiji continued, his tone unchanged. He reviewed all the images, docunts, and evidence.
"The actual attack happened earlier. The shooter just staged the scene to divert attention elsewhere."
He turned the page with a slight movent.
"The culprit… Soone with a Quirk involving shrinking or similar infiltration. He approached undetected, it was a quick attack, and he escaped instantly."
He closed the folder, leaving two images outside it.
"The shot was to cover his retreat, but you can see in this cara footage the man's transformation a few blocks away."
He showed both photos; they were from the sa cara, taken just a second apart. In the first, there was nothing revealing, but in the second, in the reflection of a window facing the alley, a man had appeared out of nowhere, tossing a pair of gloves into a trash can.
Hawks watched him for a few more seconds.
Then he nodded.
"Correct."
He leaned against the table, crossing his arms.
"If you stick to the obvious, you miss everything else," Hawks added, tilting his head slightly toward the folder. "A normal hero would have chased the shooter."
"And would have lost the real culprit," Reiji finished.
"Exactly."
Reiji rested both hands on the table, staring at the closed folder without touching it.
Hawks walked toward the exit, leaning against the doorfra.
"Co on, I'll walk you upstairs. We're done for today."
"So soon?" There was still about an hour left, but the truth was he was all for leaving early.
"We don't have any other cases, and I thought you wanted to go out with Himiko today," Hawks ntioned casually. Reiji just raised an eyebrow but decided not to pry.
"Alright, then let's get out of here…"
***
"Walk, walk!"
Himiko's voice rang out enthusiastically right next to his ear, accompanied by the constant movent of her legs, which gently tapped Reiji's sides as if she were actually riding a horse. Reiji didn't respond imdiately. He just tightened his grip under her thighs a little more and kept moving forward at a steady pace.
"Can you remind why I agreed to do this?" he asked after a few seconds, in a flat tone that barely concealed his accumulated fatigue.
It wasn't because of the weight.
Himiko didn't require any real effort on his part.
It was because of the stares.
Every person who passed by seed to pause half a second longer than usual, so with a smile, others with obvious bewildernt. A boy carrying a girl older than him, who, on top of that, was acting as if she were in a constant ga…
It wasn't sothing that bothered him entirely. But it bothered him enough to question it.
"Because you're my little brother!" Himiko replied without hesitation, leaning forward until her chin rested on his head. "And besides, you owed a favor after covering for you the other day with our parents."
Reiji barely turned his head, just enough to glance at her out of the corner of his eye.
"That doesn't count as a favor."
"Of course it does," Himiko insisted, tightening her legs slightly around him. "I lied for you. That's worth sothing."
Reiji didn't respond imdiately. He kept walking, maintaining a steady pace as they turned a corner toward ho.
Or so he thought.
"Stop, stop!" the girl said suddenly, gently tugging on his shoulder to make him stop.
Reiji slowed down.
"What?"
Himiko turned her face, pointing with her chin toward a side street.
"This way!" she said, leaning her body to the right as if she were guiding a real horse.
Reiji didn't move.
"Let's go ho."
"No," she replied, completely matter-of-factly. "Let's go downtown."
Reiji frowned slightly.
"Why?"
"Because I want ice cream."
Silence.
"That's not a good reason."
"It is."
"It isn't."
Himiko let out a little laugh, leaning even further onto him, practically resting her whole weight on him.
"Co on… It's hot, I'm hungry, and besides, I had to wait for you at the exit. This fixes everything."
Reiji exhaled through his nose.
Wasn't being her ride for the day paynt enough?
Without further argunt, he turned in the direction she indicated.
Himiko smiled imdiately, satisfied, resting her cheek against his shoulder as if victory were a given.
"I knew you'd say yes."
The scenery changed. The streets began to fill up more as they approached downtown. More people, more noise, more activity. Himiko didn't stop talking the whole way, pointing things out, comnting on irrelevant details, laughing to herself at situations only she found funny.
Reiji listened. Responding occasionally to Himiko's questions.
When they arrived at the shop, there were already several people in line. It was well-known. Not for being particularly refined, but for the variety of options and the size of the portions.
"Stop!" Himiko said, pulling Reiji to a halt so she could finally get off his back.
Reiji adjusted his backpack, feeling a slight relief in his shoulders.
"I'm never doing that again."
"Yes, you are."
"No."
"Yes."
"…"
Himiko moved to the front of the line without waiting for an answer, turning to look at him with a broad smile.
"What do you want?"
"Whatever."
"That doesn't help."
"Then you choose."
Himiko nodded with satisfaction, and with a quick gesture grabbed Reiji by the arm to drag him into the line. He offered no resistance. He let himself be led, settling in behind a couple of students arguing about flavors with a seriousness disproportionate to the context.
Himiko didn't stand still.
She moved away from her brother, leaning over the counter with both hands resting on the glass, running her eyes over each option with genuine interest. It wasn't the first ti she'd been here. Nor was it the second. Even so, she took the ti to examine each flavor as if it were a new experience.
Reiji watched her out of the corner of his eye.
The line moved slowly. A few minutes passed before it was their turn, and Himiko ordered two vanilla ice creams with berries, and just as she expected, Reiji paid for both ice creams with his own money.
Himiko left the ice cream shop with her ice cream in hand, taking the first bite without waiting. Reiji followed a step behind, eating his with less interest, more attentive to his surroundings than to anything else.
The street kept its rhythm.
People walking, conversations crossing paths, the distant sound of traffic.
"Did you like the flavor I chose?" Himiko asked, looking at Reiji, who took another bite of his ice cream.
Before he could answer, a sharp crash echoed through the street, followed by the sound of glass shattering from the shop next door.
Reiji reacted instantly.
His hand grabbed Himiko's shoulder and gently pushed her back, positioning her behind him without any roughness.
"Stay behind ."
Himiko didn't object and simply obeyed. Reiji began to survey the situation to understand what was happening.
The second impact ca from inside a jewelry store. A figure burst out, holding a bag and breathing heavily. Behind him, another man pushed the door open with more force than necessary, looking around nervously.
They weren't organized. But that didn't make them any less dangerous.
One of them turned in their direction.
Reiji adjusted his position without thinking, taking half a step forward to completely block the line between them and Himiko. His gaze remained fixed, without provocation, without defiance… but without backing down.
The guy hesitated for a second. But upon hearing the sirens behind him, he tried to clear his path.
"Move!" he snapped, raising his arm as if to push him aside.
Reiji didn't respond.
The second thug ca up behind him, pushing him lightly to make him move forward. They weren't thinking of confronting him. They wanted to get out.
That gave him room to maneuver.
Reiji took Himiko by the arm and moved her to the side, pulling her out of the direct line of fire without losing sight of the two n.
The first one brushed past him. The second didn't even look at him.
They kept going.
Quickly.
Disheveled.
Disappearing among the crowd that was beginning to disperse more clearly now that they understood what was happening.
Seeing that the situation had cald down, Reiji turned imdiately to check on Himiko.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded, still a bit nervous. Reiji simply scanned her body and made sure she didn't have a single scratch.
People were starting to move again, now in a hurry; so were calling the police or nearby agencies, others were staring at the jewelry store with obvious morbid curiosity.
Reiji, for his part, took the ice cream cup that Himiko was holding too tightly and repositioned it in her hand, making sure she wouldn't drop it.
"Let's go ho."
Himiko hesitated for a mont. Then she nodded.
Reiji positioned himself slightly ahead of her as they began to walk, slowing his pace enough to keep her within his imdiate field of vision at all tis. He didn't look back.
He didn't intervene; it would have been illegal to do so.
But if any of them had taken a different step…
If just one had tried to touch her…
'But it didn't happen.'
Reiji pushed the thought aside and tried to cheer Himiko up again; for better or worse, an average person in this world could experience multiple situations like this throughout their life.
Fortunately for Himiko, in each and every one of them, she had had Reiji by her side to look after her. And the youngest of the Togas genuinely hoped things would stay that way.
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