Miles Cooper rolled up his sleeves and lounged in the cafe. Or rather, outside of it. The evening sun was as warm as usual, but he had picked that spot himself despite the empty interior of the restaurant.
Air pollution aside, the man always enjoyed sipping a nice cup of Earl Grey out in the open. It was probably good for his health in some manner, anyway. He had been spending so many days in his office that he should be calling himself Miles Cooped-up instead.
“Do you wake up every day with the urge to be a pain in my ass?”
Miles looked up at the familiar voice and groaned inwardly. Of all the people to bump into, Yamato Gouma just had to be the one. What a rotten coincidence.
Or was it?
“What brought that on, Senator Friendly?” Miles feigned ignorance, casually taking another sip of his tea.
Yamato pulled out a chair and sat across from him. “You won’t find what you want, Cooper. You’ve been trying for so many years, and you’ve achieved nothing. Isn’t it about time you give up?”
Miles hid his surprise. He wasn’t expecting that cunning fiend to be so straightforward today.
“Well, a hero is just someone who knows how to hang on one minute longer,” he replied with a languid smile. “So why have you come to talk? Feeling threatened? I’m close to nailing your crimes, aren’t I?”
“I’m here to give you one final warning. I’ve been going easy on you, Cooper. Interfere in my business again, and I won’t hold back anymore. Back off, or you won’t live to regret this.”
Miles scoffed out loud. Either Yamato had lost touch with his negotiation skills, or he was already at his wits’ end to be threatening him so openly. He couldn’t decide which was better news.
“And if I don’t?” he smirked. “I won’t let go of you, Gouma. This isn’t just personal; it’s for the good of this entire country. I may have retired from the hero world, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let criminals like you run wild. Go ahead, attack me in public. I’d give the heroes ten seconds to get here, tops. And then you’re done for.”
Yamato’s eyes sharpened with considerable anger.
“You have been warned, Miles. Don’t blame me for the consequences of your actions.” The villain clicked on his car keys, and a sleek white sports car pulled up by the pavement. “I’m not the one who needs to watch his back. That partner of yours is involved in some pretty dangerous stuff. Be careful. He might get hurt.”
“Huh?” Miles stood up in shock as Yamato stepped into the car and drove off quickly. “What do you mean by that? What does that mean?!”
He chased the car for a few steps before he broke into a cold sweat. Could it be? Oh no… No, dammit! I can’t let him get there first!
“Hiro, hang in there…” Miles muttered to himself, sprinting off in the direction of his own car.
I’m coming to help you.
~ ~ ~
Hiro’s suit had just finished rebooting when there was an urgent knocking on his door. Hiro ignored it, commanding the suit to go on his body first. It probably wasn’t Yamato, considering that the man had just left his house. But he didn’t want to risk it.
He flicked his head, retracting the helmet as he opened the door slightly. The last thing he wanted was for some random door salesman to find out his identity.
“Hiro, Hiro! Oh, thank god I made it!”
Hiro stepped away from the man at his door, eyeing him suspiciously as Yamato’s words rang in his head again. Miles, on the other hand, stepped into the house and closed the door behind him urgently.
“What’s wrong?” Hiro asked.
Miles was breathing heavily for some reason, as though worried about something. Hiro’s suspicion deepened.
“I just… I thought you were going to be in trouble— Are you going on patrol now?” the man asked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Maybe just stay home and lay low today?”
“Why? Are you hiding something?”
“Am I— What?” Miles tilted his head in confusion. “What’s this all of a sudden?”
Hiro marched up to the man. Might as well save himself any further overthinking and confront his partner now.
“You just can’t stop yourself from lying, can you?” he snarled. “What is the real reason you’re sending me to the bases?”
“I thought we’d already been through this—”
“But it was all a lie, wasn’t it?” Hiro snatched the documents from his table and thrust them in front of the man. “You were the one who broke Kiko out of Tartarus, not Yamato Gouma. I even have video evidence here. All you’ve been doing is using me to cover your crimes!”
Miles opened and closed his mouth a few times as if choking on his words. He stared at the documents in seeming disbelief before turning his attention to the fuzzy camera footage.
“W— What? What the hell is this?” he exclaimed. “How did you… Who gave you this?”
“What’s the matter?” Hiro folded his arms triumphantly. “Cat’s out of the bag now, isn’t it?”
“This is bollocks!” Miles flung the documents away as though they had caught fire. “These are obviously fake! Surely you aren’t that much of a simpleton to be fooled by such flimsy evidence? I’ve never done anything of that sort!”
“Bullshit. What about the quirk destroyer?” Hiro retorted. “You obtained it through my parents, didn’t you? You said we’d make a good team because we shared ideals, but it’s really because you were the reason behind my parents’ downfall!”
Miles faltered.
“Don’t even bother trying to lie your way out of this one; I overheard everything last night,” Hiro hissed. “You’ve only been using me to help your own cause.”
“I…” Miles clenched his fists. “Yes, it was my fault that your parents got discharged. Yes, everything I’ve been doing all this time has been about atoning for my mistakes. But that doesn’t mean we don’t share the same ideals. I didn’t lie about that, son. There just wasn’t a good time to tell you about—”
“Don’t call me son,” Hiro dropped his voice dangerously.
Miles shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my shameful past earlier. But I did not turn your friend into an assassin. Think about it. I was still building my business in London; I hadn’t shifted my headquarters to Japan yet. The timing doesn’t even match up! You need to trust me, son. That’s what makes us a team. Or we’re no different than a bunch of guys running around fighting people.”
“Don’t call me son,” Hiro warned again. “And it wasn’t my idea to team up, nor am I the one who hid secrets.”
“I didn’t tell you because it would affect our partnership,” Miles retorted. “Peace isn’t fostered by the light; it’s kept by those in the dark. Besides, this is no time for petty squabbles. The election will be held soon; we need to expose Yamato quickly. It’s down to us, son—”
“I’m not your fucking son!”
Hiro’s scream reverberated all around as the two men stared at each other in dangerous, tense silence.
“My parents abandoned me,” he breathed heavily. “But they never hid their disdain for me. If our partnership is founded on your self-righteous pity for them, then I’d rather not have it. Yes. Like you’ve been saying behind my back, I am a quirkless cripple. But I still have my dignity, and I have had enough lies from you to last a lifetime.”
Miles’ lips quivered for a second before pressing themselves into a thin line. “Tell me, Kazuma. Are you going to trust me?”
“No, I did. But I see now that it was a mistake,” Hiro answered coldly. “You don’t get to decide what I should or shouldn’t know, Miles. I’m done. Take your suit back. I’m going back to my own life.”
Miles closed his eyes painfully. “Fine. If there’s no trust in this partnership, then it shouldn’t exist. You’re a damn fool for throwing this away, Hiro. Let no one say I didn’t try to help you. Keep that suit. I’ll consider it charity.”
The man left Hiro’s house.
~ ~ ~
“Keep that suit. I’ll consider it charity.”
A small smile crept along Yamato Gouma’s face as he switched off his earpiece. Like always, everything went just as well as it should have. After all, his calculations were always perfect. Kazuma being gullible enough to doubt his partner; Cooper being guilty enough to rush to Kazuma’s place… It was all too easy.
All it took was some doctored documents and an altered video to convince Kazuma that his partner was the bad guy instead. That vigilante chump was so distracted that he didn’t even find the audio bug planted in his computer through Yamato’s thumb drive.
Cooper, on the other hand, had an obvious weakness for the boy. Scaring him into meeting his young partner immediately was something even a simpleton could manage. And after that, their falling out would be inevitable.
What was annoying, though, was how he manufactured Kazuma’s suit specifically to counter Yamato’s powers. Unfortunately, his design was based on outdated knowledge— Yamato had taken the chance to test it when he forced Hiro to summon the suit. Magnetic or not, Yamato was already proficient enough in his electromagnetism to harness the power of zero-point energy at will, essentially simulating telekinesis.
The man turned around and faced the city’s skyline as the glass elevator continued taking him to the top floor.
Japan was going to be his, no matter what. Those two idiots were nothing but pebbles in his path. Still, going out of your way to continue kicking a pebble was fairly normal behaviour. Besides, they weren’t the only ones opposing him.
Being in the spotlight was bound to make him enemies, and the only way to crush all opposition was to unite them under his own flag. Either that, or get them to kill each other. And there was only one thing left to do to finish off these annoying insects.
The lift dinged gently, opening its doors to a professional-looking office.
In the room’s centre sat a blonde-haired man with red wings. Files were stacked neatly on the side of the ebony desk in front of the man, while the monitor on the other side was clearly switched off. Yamato certainly had this man’s full attention.
“Mister Keigo Takami, a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” Yamato sauntered to the man and shook his hand firmly, effecting a smile.
“The pleasure is mine, Senator Yamato Gouma. And please, call me Hawks. I’m more used to that name.” Hawks returned the gesture with an equally fake smile. “You made an appointment regarding some rather important news. Well, let’s hear it. I do hope it’s not a policy to dissolve the Hero Public Safety Commission, though.”
The Senator chuckled loudly. “Oh, I’ve always admired how you can make a joke out of anything. I suppose that’s what made you famous as a hero back then. But no. Of course, it’s not. My speeches are nothing but a show. Heroes are essential to maintain order in my country, after all. I hope you didn’t take my words on TV too personally.”
Hawks kept his silence as his smile faded away gradually.
“Anyway, I have news about a rather dangerous person causing trouble on our streets.” Yamato took out a file from his coat and passed it to him. “Here are the reports of injuries from multiple heroes who have been hurt by the vigilante known as ‘Zero Hero’. His real identity is ‘Takehiro Kazuma’. You’re welcome. I hope the HPSC will do something about it.”
Hawks creased his eyebrows slightly and flipped through the thick file. “So many heroes injured… Why have I never heard of this at all? They should have reported this to me directly instead, not collating a hundred reports for a Senator.”
“Perhaps you have been too busy, Takami. As a potential leader of Japan, I care deeply about our streets. It is no surprise that these heroes have warmed up to me.” Yamato folded his arms. “I’m sure you’re aware from the news about how several politicians have gone missing these few months. For all we know, this vigilante killed them in cold blood for getting too close to his business. Zero Hero is a threat Japan can no longer tolerate. What are you waiting for, Chief?”
“Shimizu isn’t here—” Hawks slammed the file shut as his eyes sharpened. “This warrants a proper investigation. Whether Zero Hero is truly causing trouble or if he’s being framed by someone else, I’ll make sure to get to the bottom of this. I appreciate your tip, Senator. But it is still an unofficial one, and you have no hard evidence for your accusations. I’ll take it from here—”
“With all due respect, chief.” Yamato leaned forward threateningly. “How many more people are going to pay the price before you do something? The heroes in Japan have only begun to regain the public’s trust after almost losing the war with the supervillains. Now is the time to show them that you are not all useless.”
Hawks’ nostrils flared as he breathed heavily. Yamato kept his piercing glare on the man. Public hero or not, the chief of the HPSC still needed to buckle under the pressure of bureaucracy. The office desk had long clipped the hero’s wings.
“Pardon me, but this is truly all too sudden. For all we know, it could be orchestrated by a villain trying to get rid of his enemies.” Hawks stood his ground. “I will launch that investigation; I know many of these heroes personally. So believe me, Gouma. I will find out if they are telling the truth or if they are being coerced into providing false reports.”
“What of the public, then? Will you continue to let them live in fear that this masked vigilante might kill them on the streets?”
The HPSC Chief thinned his lips and closed his eyes for a moment. “Fine, I’ll call on the heroes I trust to capture him alive for questioning.”
Yamato grinned victoriously. It didn’t matter what Takami did as long as he had that pesky vigilante on the run. There are always other ways of dealing with a loose end.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Hawks."226Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIwfhI96tB
and then Add to home screen.