Takehara South Japan 1:32 AM

  Ronin slammed his sheathed blade down on the head of another mugger, the impact overpowering his opponents talent limit and causing him to pass out next to the other two.

  The victim, a man in his thirties maybe early forties by his look, he also had large circles of discolored skin all over his body. Most likely his own Talent as none of the muggers attacked with a talent, but rather used makeshift clubs form planks of wood, and a old rusty box cutter. The victims lip was busted, and had a bruise along his face. Bending down he checked for a pulse. He was still alive, which saved the three villains from an extra few decades in prison.

  He was still breathing and there was no other signs of severe injury so Ronin concluded that while knocked out it was most likely caused by his limit breaking and not severer head trauma. He'll be fine in a few days.

  Motioning to his ear piece he switched it to the police hotline. Which was unusually full of chatter this night. Ronin heard words of "The Directors daughter" and "Vigilante."

  Cutting the chatter like a knife through cloth Ronin began to report his actions.

  "Dispatch this is Ronin, I need a police car to pick up three criminals under arrest for mugging, and assaulting with a deadly weapon. I'll also need an ambulance here for the victim." Ronin's clear and conscious tone put a stop to the gossip and both operators responded the same "Y-yes sorry Sir. Cars are on there way. Please stand by for their arrival."

  Ronin gave an approving grunt. But before he could cut the line one of the operators spoke out.

  "R-ronin! Its good that you called, Kraiger called a little bit ago asking for you, but said not to disturb you as your trackers heart rate monitor suggested you were in a fight. He said he needed your 'expertise' with a recent situation out in Kishiwada."

  "Kishiwada? What's the situation going on there"

  "Oh well apparently, um someone tried to kidnap Director Itos daughter from a bar. But was stopped by a supposed Vigilante that fled the scene."

  Your expertise.

  Ronin bit back the urge to mutter a certain unprofessional word over comms.

  Honestly what's with everyone and always calling him for this stuff. There are hundreds of hero's and they all sat through the HPAs three hour lecture training on vigilantes a few years ago when the Vigilante to Hero program was introduced.

  Sure he was the one that suggested the program to the HPA, but it was supposed to get the other Hero's involved in the effort to keep vigilantes off the streets until they received trainings. However the outcome seemed to remained the same.

  With last nights vigilante and now this one that's up to four new Vigilantes in one month! Honestly what was the hero world coming to, with people taking law into their own hands. Were the people really loosing trust in the HPAs ability to protect them? Or was something else going on that he wasn't aware of.

  The thought unsettled him, more vigilantes on the street would just lead to more pain. There was a reasons things were done by the books, why couldn't people just use their brains for a moment and think of that before running off to be self made hero's.

  The nearest police department had sent a car to drive Ronin to Kishiwada. He maintained a stony expression the entire hour-long ride—furrowed brows, jaw clenched, gaze locked on the horizon. Thankfully, the driver picked up on his mood and didn't attempt conversation.

  When he finally arrived at the scene, Ronin was surprised by the lack of activity. Only two police cars sat parked, their lights no longer flashing. Kraiger occupied the passenger seat of one, his face illuminated by the glow of his portable laptop. He was too focused on his screen to notice Ronin's arrival, which was fine. It gave Ronin time to assess the scene before Kraiger could start bombarding him with theories.

  Down the street, two officers were speaking with what appeared to be a bar employee. The establishment itself was dark, its parking lot empty save for a single car—likely the waiter’s.

  Ronin scanned the area. Nothing stood out. No damage to the buildings, no overturned trash cans, no sign of struggle. Dispatch had made the situation sound urgent—a kidnapping attempt. He had expected chaos. But the street looked untouched.

  Walking up to the police car, Ronin tapped on Kraiger’s window with the hilt of his sheathed blade. The lanky handler reluctantly peeled his eyes away from his screen, his sharp gaze processing far more details than Ronin’s ever could.

  Finishing up what looked like an absurdly long police report, Kraiger closed his laptop and stepped out of the car.

  “Ronin! Glad you could make it. What took so long?”

  “I was in Takehara,” Ronin replied dryly. “Covering for Banchy’s route.”

  “Ohhh, I see. Well, then I guess you’re right on time.” Kraiger clapped his hands together. “Come on, I’ve got something I need to show you.”

  He strode toward the sidewalk and spun around, arms outstretched in a dramatic flourish.

  “Notice anything?” he asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

  Ronin exhaled a slow, measured sigh, scanning the area once more. Still nothing. He gave a slight shrug.

  “No, not really,” he replied, irritation creeping into his tone.

  “Precisely!” Kraiger clapped his hands together again.

  “No damage. No casualties. No injuries—well, aside from a single nosebleed. Ronin, we’re looking at what the HPA would classify as a perfect takedown of a villain.”

  Ronin raised an eyebrow. A subtle tell, but one Kraiger knew meant he had his interest.

  “What villain?” Ronin asked. He hadn’t seen one in either squad car.

  Kraiger grinned and flipped his laptop around. “Have a look.”

  Ronin stepped closer. The screen displayed a photograph of a well-dressed man lying unconscious on the ground, a thin red trail of blood dripping from his nose. His eyes—were rotate 90 degrees—and closed.

  “We found him like this,” Kraiger explained, clicking through a few more images. The next showed the same man handcuffed.

  Ronin glanced at the thick black blindfold wrapped tightly around the man’s head. That told him everything he needed to know.

  “A hypnotist?”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “Excellent deduction, my dear Ronin!” Kraiger beamed, clearly proud.

  “Indeed. Mr. Orbal here attempted to use his talent to abduct Director Ito’s daughter tonight. But as you can see—he was stopped. No punches, no kicks. And if my theory is correct… they didn’t even have to use a talent.”

  Ronin frowned. “How? What did this ‘vigilante’ do to him?”

  Kraiger’s grin widened as he launched into an explanation.

  “Well, after using my talent to analyze the intricacies of Orbal’s ability, I noticed a fatal flaw—his talent doesn’t differentiate between his own mind and others. Meaning, if someone managed to reflect his hypnosis back at him, it could create a feedback loop, forcing his Talent Limit to break naturally to protect his brain from overloading.”

  Ronin stroked his thin beard, considering the implications.

  That was… impressive. Most people—heroes included—wouldn’t think to use a hypnosis ability against its own user. Fighting a mind controller wasn’t easy. Third-year hero trainees were specifically taught how to recognize and counter such abilities—identifying triggers, resisting control, finding potential loopholes.

  And yet, someone had managed to do just that.

  “This vigilante,” Ronin said, voice steady. “Where is he now? What did he look like?”

  Kraiger flipped through his files. “Miss Ito gave a description, though it’s not much to go on.” He paused, then recited, “Young. Tan hair. Covered in dirt. No costume.”

  No costume. That was rare. Most vigilantes tried to conceal their identities—only a few went without one. It was risky. Either this kid was reckless… or—

  “He wasn’t planning to be a vigilante tonight,” Ronin muttered.

  Covered in dirt. That detail nagged at him.

  “And that’s not all,” Kraiger added. “Miss Ito also said he refused to take credit for saving her. Insisted, quite sternly, that he had nothing to do with it. But according to her testimony, no one else was around.”

  Kraiger’s tone shifted, becoming more intrigued. “And when she used her talent on him, it revealed a curious mixture of truth and lies. But one in particular stood out to me.”

  Ronin didn’t take the bait. He simply gave a small nod, signaling for Kraiger to continue.

  “The phrase: I could never be a hero. He believed that.”

  Kraiger let the words hang in the air before adding, “But when he denied involvement and ran off, Miss Ito's talent showed her that was a lie.”

  Ronin remained silent, digesting the information.

  Kraiger’s eyes gleamed. “That tells me two things. One, our mystery vigilante is aware of anti-vigilantism laws and didn’t want to be caught. And two…” He paused for dramatic effect.

  “He’s either in the hesitation stage, trying to decided if he's really going to go through the process of becoming a vigilante…” Kraiger smirked.

  “…or he used to be one.”

  A heavy silence settled between them.

  Kraiger folded his arms. “Which begs the question, Ronin—why did he step in? A normal person would have just called the Hero Hotline. And yet they didn't! They choose to not just standd by and do nothing.”

  Ronin didn’t answer.

  But the thought lingered.

  Another person had lost faith in them as heros to proetct others.

  Kishiwada South Japan - The next day.

  Perran started the day by sending a quick text to Brick Forge apologizing profusely that he can't come into work today because he was feeling sick. Which was kind of the truth. He wasn't ill per say, but felt horrible. His stomach was all tied up in nots, his mouth was dry and he had a pounding headache. All probably caused by the one giant shot of alcohol he had taken the night before. Again not the brightest of moments for him.

  Actually that whole night was just one stupid mistake after the other. He should have never let Kazuki drag him along, he shouldn't have drank, and most defiantly he should not have interfered with that villain last night. He knew he would just get in the way and make things worse. The only reason it didn't go bad was he got lucky with his gamble. Nothing more.

  A hero or police officer probably would have shown up and apprehended the person. They had trainings for that. He knew he was ill prepared and the wrong person to be able to help.

  So why did he?

  That was a question that kept Perran up most of last night. He didn't have to get involved, that's what the police and hero's are for. Perran was just a warehouse worker with a bad hip.

  Was it for attention? Or some sort of ego boost? An excuse to get away from his coworkers? No, none of these felt right.

  When he was a little kid he wanted to be a hero like his father and help people. But is that reason enough to get evolved, of course not. It was thinking like that that lead to his injury in the first place, and many other things that happened because of him. No he couldn't be a hero.

  His phone vibrated from a recent message. Grabbing at it clumsily he flicked the screen on to see the notification from his boss.

  "Perran we need you in today. If you don't show up because you can't handle this line of work I'll have no choice but to let you go." -Brick Forge (Boss)

  Perran buried his face in his pillow and let out a long breathe.

  If they need me, then they need me in.

  Rolling out of bed he began his prework routine, but a little slower than usual.

  Putting on his boots he dusted some metal shavings off his well worn jeans slung work pack over his shoulder and he headed for the front door. He had his hand on the handle when a door opening behind him made him stop for a moment.

  Jacob in his Power pajamas and dreary eyes shuffled out of his room. A fuzzy cloud followed behind him.

  Sometimes after waking up Jacobs talent would show little snippets of his dream that his subconscious was still thinking about.

  This time his cloud showed what looked to be a group of adventures fighting a large Obsidian dragon, It wasn't as big as say a silver dragon, but its entire body was sharp with black glass, that it used offensively. Perran made a mental note to prepare to fight one in the next session.

  *YAAAAWN* "Perran? You're up late, where were you last night? Mom and Dad were worried." Rubbing his eyes he moved into the kitchen to prepare his morning cereal.

  "Sorry to have worried them, Some work colleagues invited me drinking last night, and I just lost track of time." It was technically true, he was just leaving out the parts that Jacob would tell Mr. and Mrs. Hikari. He knew Jacob wouldn't want to get him in trouble. He's just very kind hearted, and would be doing it for what he believed was Perran's safety.

  He'll make a good Hero.

  Perran turned back to the door but before leaving he had a question for Jacob.

  "Jacob. Why do you want to be a hero?"

  "Hmm?" He already had a mouth full of Crunch MIGHT! Cereal. His face got a bit red as he hurriedly chewed.

  "Oh... ummm it ah seems like a good career to see the world... You know get to umm.." Jacob fidgeted in his seat, flustered by the question.

  "You don't' have to answer it if you don't want to Jacob. I was just curious." Perran really didn't mean to make Jacob uncomfortable from his question.

  "Oh.. No its fine Perran. Its just that... hah.. Kasai said my reasoning was... stupid." Jacobs eyes darted down to his bowl.

  He seemed to take a few moments to gather his thoughts before continuing.

  "I... I just like seeing people happy... And I see hero's making a lot of people happy." Jacob shoulders hunched in with his back, his face got even redder. And his cloud that floated close by showed a much younger version of Jacob shrinking in on himself.

  "That's a great reason." Perran said matter of factly.

  "You think so?..." Jacobs head raised up a bit.

  "Of course I do, wanting to help people by making them feel better is one of the best reasons to be a hero. Don't worry about what anyone else says. As long as your goal is to help others than what other people think about your motivation doesn't matter, especially if its Kasai."

  Jacob seemed to like what Perran had said.

  His big smile returned and he sat up straighter.

  "Thanks Perran, I really appreciate it. I feel a little bit more motivated for the tryouts in four weeks."

  Perran own mood improved with Jacobs.

  "You'll do great Jacob, don't give up, you can do it."

  Jacobs cloud swirled a bit and showed a rather funny interpretation of Perran as a cape wearing hero striking some power pose.

  Jacob upon noticing the cloud swatted it away.

  "Ahem.. sorry about that still working on that."

  Perran wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, sometimes talents just behaved in weird ways. Besides Jacobs cloud was so used to showing fantasy characters its no wonder it showed Perran as an actual Hero.

  "The HPA will help with that, I'm certain they have some courses dedicated to concentration based talent use."

  Jacob perked up at that "Oh there is! Its taught by the retired hero mecho mind! He has the power to manipulate mechatronics. He's like a human control board! Apparently it takes a lot of concentration for him to just move one motor. And yet he's able to control his 16 mechanical arms he built himself... Sorry I'm rambling you have to get to work now. Have a good day Perran."

  "Thanks you too Jacob." Waving goodbye Perran set out for work.

  The walk wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. That morning conversation with Jacob really did lift his spirits a bit. He was looking forward to watching Jacob and Kasai at the entry exam that coming Saturday. He truly was confident that both of them would get in.

  But he'll have to have another talk with Kasai. The both of them haven't really gotten along since Perran's arrival seven years ago, unlike Jacob and Nakama, Kasai always felt, no pun intended, Icey to him. But Perran couldn't really blame him for that. When he arrived at the Hikaris he wasn't very talkative either. But eventually he opened up a bit more with the Hikari family.

  But it seemed Kasai never truely did, he like Perran didn't change his last name to Hikaris like Jacob and Nakama had.

  Perran always tried to give him space but include him when he could. But now thinking about perhaps he pushed too hard?