When they finally left the U.A. campus, Shinso and Reiji parted ways quite naturally. They both lived in different parts of Musutafu, and given the size of the city, even the modes of transportation they used were completely different. Shinso was still occasionally playing with the high-tech Frisbee as he walked down the street, clearly too engrossed in the little gadget to hide it very well.
And with that, each went their separate ways.
The sun was beginning to sink slowly between the tall buildings of the comrcial district, tinging the windows with orange hues as the city continued to function with the artificial normality typical of a society accustod to living daily alongside heroes, villains, and minor disasters. Office workers were leaving their jobs, students filled the sidewalks, and a few heroes patrolled casually through the streets as part of the everyday urban landscape.
Reiji walked with his hands in his jacket pockets, moving along without much haste as he ntally reviewed everything that had happened during the day. Part of his mind was still thinking about i Hatsu and the absurd potential that girl possessed, while another, much more practical part inevitably returned to the docunt he'd caught a glimpse of under Aizawa's arm.
The Quirk evolution drug was still active sowhere in Musutafu, and if Aizawa was directly involved in analyzing the case, then the matter had likely already escalated much higher up the police priority list.
Which was both good and dangerous at the sa ti; the more coverage the case got, the harder it would be to intervene in it, but as long as the culprit was found, then Reiji didn't care too much.
Truly, the idea that soone might be experinting on people made Reiji sick; with his mind lost in his thoughts, a faint sll slightly caught his attention.
Smoke.
Not too far away.
A dark gray column rose several blocks ahead, visible even between the district's buildings. It didn't look like a massive fire yet, but it was big enough to disrupt the normal flow of people around it. Several heads began turning in the sa direction, and so civilians were already pulling out their phones to record.
In a world with superpowers, what might be happening there was more of a spectacle than a tragedy.
Reiji paused for just a mont. And then he naturally changed his direction toward it.
After the last few months, he had learned to be quite wary of any incident involving out-of-control Quirks. There was always a chance it was the drug he was looking for.
As he made his way through the streets, the smoke began to grow thicker and the noise clearer. Screams, distant sirens, and the constant sound of sothing occasionally exploding against tal structures.
When he finally reached the main area, he imdiately understood the situation.
A man was completely out of control in the middle of a pedestrian avenue.
Flas were bursting directly from his skin as if his entire body were functioning as living fuel. Every movent sent fire flying in all directions without any real pattern, setting parked vehicles, comrcial signs, and parts of nearby structures ablaze.
Several windows had already exploded due to the heat, and a few minor heroes were trying to keep civilians evacuated while they waited for more specialized reinforcents.
But that wasn't what made Reiji frown.
The man's veins were swollen beneath his skin, marked with a strange dark hue resembling small cracks spreading from his neck to part of his face. His muscles seed artificially swollen, and the fire erupted too erratically—almost violently, even for soone in a state of panic. And then there were his eyes…
'…Again'
He had finally stumbled upon another drug incident; since that ti, he hadn't managed to be on the scene until now.
Reiji imdiately began scanning the crowd as he moved slowly around the periter. The first ti, he had let the dealer escape to save the small family, but this ti there were already heroes on the scene who could handle that.
If there really was soone dealing that drug, then he'd probably be mingling with the crowd before leaving just like last ti—if he hadn't already left.
His gaze swept quickly over frightened civilians, onlookers recording the scene, and heroes trying to contain the flas until sothing caught his attention amid the chaos.
White hair.
A man was standing several ters back, watching the fire with unnerving calm.
Reiji reacted almost automatically, weaving through the crowd while keeping his eyes fixed on him. The man turned and began walking down the street just as a new burst of fire caused several people to scream behind him.
'He reacted too quickly.'
Reiji barely quickened his pace. The man turned a corner, disappearing from Reiji's view. He was practically right on his heels.
And when he finally turned and managed to catch up to him…
"..."
An ordinary office worker looked at him completely confused as he adjusted his glasses.
"Is sothing wrong?"
Reiji paused for just a mont.
White hair. Gray suit. Briefcase.
No sign of Giran.
Just a completely normal civilian who probably didn't even understand what had just happened.
"...Nothing," Reiji replied imdiately before continuing on.
'Shit.'
He'd reacted too quickly. He'd jumped to conclusions and hadn't even taken the ti to look the man in the face. The incident had put him on edge, and he'd started looking for patterns where none existed yet. He cursed inwardly as he turned his gaze back toward the smoke in the distance.
The man was causing even more chaos, forcing so people to move further away from the periter due to the intense heat that was spreading.
And then he saw him.
Much further back.
Far from the main chaos.
Leaning casually against an almost empty vending machine at the entrance to a side alley.
Giran.
Unkempt white hair. Round glasses. A relaxed face with a small, negotiator's smile. The usual wrinkled suit. And a lit cigarette between his fingers as he watched the disaster as if he were watching a diocre movie.
Reiji felt his body tense the mont he finally recognized him.
There was no doubt this ti.
It was him.
Reiji imdiately looked away before the man could notice too much interest from his position.
He'd been careless once; he wouldn't be twice.
He lowered his head slightly, adjusted his hood, and used his blood to conceal his most distinctive features, using it like a mask stuck to his skin, and continued walking through the crowd without breaking stride, taking advantage of the chaos of civilians moving around him to partially hide among them.
He was still using his normal appearance.
No fake glasses. No dyed hair. No visible modifications.
That made everything a whole lot more dangerous.
Because if Giran managed to rember his face for any reason… Things could get complicated pretty fast.
That's why he kept his distance.
Moving among groups of people while pretending to watch the fire just like everyone else.
In the distance, heroes specialized in fire containnt were finally beginning to arrive as sirens filled the avenue completely.
And just as everyone's eyes finally seed to focus on the main chaos… Giran took one last calm drag on his cigarette.
Then he simply turned and began walking into the alley.
Reiji kept his distance from the very beginning.
The sirens continued to echo throughout the avenue, and now he could even hear the heavier sound of ergency vehicles approaching from nearby streets. The fire kept growing behind everyone's backs, accompanied by occasional explosions and columns of fire that lit up the surrounding buildings.
Giran didn't even look back.
He walked with absolute calm.
One hand in his pants pocket, the still-lit cigarette between his fingers, and that relaxed posture. He didn't seem nervous. He didn't seem rushed. And that was precisely what bothered Reiji the most.
Because it ant he didn't feel like he was being chased, or in danger. Or simply didn't have to.
The dealer slowly turned onto a much narrower side street, moving away from the main noise of the avenue. Reiji waited a few seconds before following him, using the reflections from nearby storefronts and windows to keep him in sight without exposing himself too much.
Reiji narrowed his eyes slightly.
Sothing was wrong. Not because he'd figured it out.
But because Giran seed too relaxed, even for soone as cautious as him. He hadn't really tried to hide, or take complicated routes, or lose him in the crowd.
It almost seed… as if he were simply heading sowhere.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Giran finally turned into a narrow alley between two old buildings.
Reiji imdiately slowed his pace.
This ti he did get a little closer, moving close to the wall while trying to minimize any unnecessary noise. The alley was barely lit by a faulty light hanging above a rusty tal door at the end.
A broken mirror was all he needed to see exactly what was happening inside.
Giran stood still for a mont, when suddenly, a black mass appeared in front of him as if the very air had been suddenly ripped away, expanding in dense spirals resembling liquid smoke. The dark mist swirled around itself, forming a sort of unstable portal that absorbed the light around it while several shadows seed to move within it.
Reiji's eyes opened slightly.
And just before disappearing completely into that darkness, Giran turned his face back slightly.
Not enough to look directly at him.
But enough to show he knew perfectly well he was being watched.
Then he took one last step.
And vanished into the black mist.
The dark mass contracted imdiately afterward until it completely disintegrated into thin air, leaving the alley empty once more.
Reiji stood still for several seconds, staring at the exact spot where it had happened, as multiple pieces finally fell into place in his mind.
That Quirk.
That fog.
That thod of transportation.
He knew it perfectly well.
Although at this point in ti, he shouldn't be appearing so openly yet.
'...Kurogiri'
He felt a chill slowly run down his spine as he took a single step back.
Because if Kurogiri was involved…
then there was only one real possibility behind all of this.
The drug.
The experints.
The artificial evolution of Quirks.
Everything.
'So the one responsible for this drug is…'
His gaze remained fixed on the empty alley.
'All For One?'
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