"The mission failed spectacularly..."
Reiji barely raised an eyebrow at the comnt, more because of the tone than the content. Hawks was leaning against one of the tal supports in the training room, phone in hand, with a barely contained smile that made it clear he wasn't taking it as seriously as his words suggested.
The screen showed a recap of the raid from a few days ago: smoke, sirens, caras capturing the controlled chaos… And, of course, the dominant figure of Endeavor leading the operation, with fire engulfing part of the damaged structure.
Reiji looked away from the phone and went back to his workout without saying a word, slowly lowering his body until it almost touched the floor before pushing back up again. The training vest compressed his torso with its extra forty kilos, forcing each repetition to be more controlled than the last.
Due to his regeneration, his strength was enormous for his age. But, were it not for his regeneration, he'd barely manage eight push-ups with that weight—or fewer.
"It's strange we had no intel on what was going to happen, especially considering a hero like Endeavor was going to intervene," Hawks continued, swiping through the video with his thumb, as if reviewing sothing trivial. "An operation with no civilian casualties, the network dismantled, children rescued. Quite efficient—too bad it's a mistake for you."
Reiji finished his hundredth rep and let his body fall backward, his back hitting the floor with a thud as the weight of the vest suddenly made itself felt. His chest rose and fell more heavily now, though his gaze remained just as clear.
"Although the leader escaped," Hawks added, setting the phone down on a nearby table with a soft thud. "The police are on his trail, but they'll hardly find him. We have to know his whereabouts at all costs."
Reiji closed his eyes for a second, feeling his muscles begin to recover almost instantly. He slowly sat up, resting his forearms on his knees.
"What do I have to do now?" he asked bluntly, finally turning his gaze toward Hawks. It was clear the hero had brought up the subject because he had sothing else to say.
Hawks smiled sidelong, crossing his arms as he tilted his head slightly.
"Well… technically, you didn't fail," he replied casually. "Your partner's report was quite favorable. In fact, too favorable," he added, picking up the phone again and reviewing a docunt with apparent interest. "Could she be a fetishist?"
Reiji stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds.
"What are you suggesting?" he finally replied, his tone flat. "I remind you that I'm twelve years old."
Hawks let out a short laugh, making no effort to hide it.
"I'm not suggesting anything; I'm just saying I understand the effect you can have. You're a little less handso than I am, of course, but you're still in a dangerous range."
Reiji exhaled through his nose, resting a hand on the floor to rise calmly. His body was already responding normally, as if he hadn't been carrying any weight at all.
"What's the point?"
Hawks set the phone aside this ti, pushing off the wall to take a couple of steps closer, observing him more closely.
"That the report didn't just save you from being branded a failure… It also opened up an opportunity," he said, briefly nodding toward him. "You ntioned your sister wanted to go to U.A. And coincidentally, we have an operational gap at Musutafu since what happened on that mission."
Reiji frowned slightly, without interrupting.
"So I proposed you to fill that gap," Hawks continued casually, as if comnting on a minor change. "An off-the-radar agent, with no visible record, possessing on-the-ground analytical skills. You fit the bill too perfectly not to give it a shot."
Silence hung in the air for a second.
Reiji looked at him with a mix of restrained surprise and calculation.
"Really?"
Hawks shrugged.
"Agent 024's report did most of the work. I just… confird you weren't a complete disaster," he added with a crooked smile. "You could see it as your first real promotion."
Reiji let out a brief, dry laugh, more at the situation than at the comnt. For days he'd been mulling over the mission's failure, expecting a direct consequence.
Not a promotion.
"When?"
"Next week," Hawks replied without hesitation. "Your parents have already accepted a job transfer. Pretty convenient, don't you think?"
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"Couldn't you have told sooner?"
Hawks looked at him with feigned surprise.
"A hero's life is busy. I can't keep you updated on everything that happens all the ti," he replied in a nonchalant tone. "Be grateful I'm telling you this and you won't find out when you get ho and see the packed boxes."
Reiji watched him in silence.
There wasn't much to say to that.
Hawks leaned back against the tal structure, crossing his arms as he sized him up again.
"Musutafu isn't a quiet place," he added, this ti with a slightly more serious tone, though he didn't entirely lose his usual lightheartedness. "They have a good number of heroes, and the area is smaller. If you're going to be moving around there… you're going to have to stop making basic mistakes."
Reiji didn't look away.
"I won't make mistakes."
Hawks smiled.
"I hope so."
***
Boxes were still piled all over the living room, forming small cardboard towers that seed to have been placed without any order.
So were half-open, others half-sealed with tape, and a few already showed clear signs of having been opened and resealed haphazardly.
In one corner, his mother was standing on tiptoes, trying to hang a curtain that clearly didn't want to cooperate.
"If soone would just hand that chair instead of just watching, this would go much faster…" she muttered with a frown, adjusting the fabric with patience that was already starting to wear thin.
From the hallway, her father replied without fully appearing, holding a box that clearly wasn't the one he was looking for.
"Has anyone seen the box with the router cables?" her father asked, shaking the box with more resignation than hope.
"It must be under the one labeled 'dishes,'" his mother replied without turning around. "And please, don't open it like last ti… I'm still finding pieces of a cup in the bags."
A brief silence followed, accompanied by the not-so-subtle sound of tape being ripped off.
Reiji watched the scene from the doorway, leaning slightly against the doorfra. He was wearing his jacket, his backpack slung over one shoulder, and an expression that made it quite clear he'd already done enough for today.
"Are you heading out now?" his mother asked, finally noticing his presence, still struggling with the curtain.
"I'm going for a walk," Reiji replied calmly. "I want to get my bearings a bit. I've already got my room ready… Just like Himiko's, the bathrooms, and I've unloaded everything from the car."
He paused briefly before adding, with barely concealed nonchalance:
"I think I got more done than the rest of you."
His father let out a low chuckle from the hallway, though he didn't appear.
"That sounds more like an excuse than a reason."
"It works just the sa."
His mother sighed, finally managing to secure one end of the curtain, which remained slightly crooked.
"Don't go too far. We don't know the area well yet."
"Okay."
The answer was automatic.
Before Reiji could take another step, a voice called out to him.
"Reiji"
Himiko's voice was firm enough to stop him before he crossed the threshold. She was leaning against the dining room doorfra, arms crossed and her brow slightly furrowed.
Reiji turned his head slightly.
"Yes?"
She took a step forward, without looking away.
"I'm coming with you."
It wasn't a suggestion.
Nor was it a request.
Reiji looked at her for a second. Then he shook his head slightly.
"No."
Himiko narrowed her eyes, trying to intimidate Reiji in so way.
"What do you an, no?"
"I an no," Reiji repeated in the sa tone. "You were going to stay and study, weren't you? U.A. is just around the corner."
She clicked her tongue, annoyed.
"I said that because it's noisy, not because I want to stay cooped up."
Reiji adjusted his backpack on his shoulder.
"Then you have two reasons to stay. Studying and helping with the move."
He nodded vaguely toward the living room.
"The house isn't going to clean itself."
Himiko looked at him silently for a mont, as if deciding whether or not to argue.
"I already helped."
"You moved one box."
"There were two!"
"One and a half," Reiji corrected without changing his expression. "I did the rest."
Himiko's gaze hardened slightly, not out of actual anger, but because of the clear sense that her brother wasn't indulging her as he usually did.
"Then let go out with you now that you've done everything."
Reiji shook his head again.
"I got your room ready," he said, keeping his cool. "The least you can do is use it for what you said you were going to do."
She pressed her lips together. It was unusual for Reiji not to indulge her whim, and even more unusual for her to be unable to find a way to make him give in.
From the back of the room, her mother intervened without stopping her work on the curtain, though she was clearly listening to everything.
"Himiko, your brother is right. You're not allowed to go out," her mother insisted, sowhat annoyed by her eldest daughter's lack of help. "If you want to go to U.A., you can't just study whenever it suits you."
Himiko barely turned her head toward her, uncomfortable.
"But it's not like I can't go out for a little while…"
"And it's not like the house is going to clean itself," her father added from the hallway, finally appearing with the router cable still tangled in his hand. "I'm struggling with this, your mother with the curtains… And you want to go out for a walk."
Himiko looked away, clicking her tongue again.
"They always let Reiji go."
Reiji didn't answer. Her mother let out a soft sigh, this ti actually turning toward her.
"It's not the sa," she said more gently. "Reiji has already finished what he had to do. He even cleaned your room, even though I told him not to. You haven't helped yet, and you haven't studied either. When you do at least one of those things, you can go with him."
Himiko remained silent; she knew that insisting further wouldn't change the outco.
Reiji took advantage of that mont.
"I'll be back in a bit."
Himiko barely looked up, following him with her eyes as Reiji opened the door.
The door closed softly. The silence lasted barely a second. Then, her father unplugged the cable, along with the internet.
"Well… Since you're not leaving, do you want to try figuring this out?"
Himiko looked at him.
Then she looked at the boxes.
And finally, she let her arms drop with a sigh.
"…just because Reiji isn't here."
Her mother smiled slightly.
***
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