Stimulation

Yuusei stifled a yawn, reaching for his keys.

"Rough night?" Kalianne asked from behind. What a sorry state he was in that even she could sneak up on him.

He stared at her flatly, then refocused on opening their agency's doors. It was early morning, and no one was in the street except them. She was in her hero costume, and he was still in casual clothing.

Yuusei had... 3 hours of sleep. Not his roughest night ever since becoming a hero, but certainly his worst in recent times.

All thanks to the girl behind him.

Yesterday, he gained a sidekick. They flew together, fought some villains, found another in a maid cafe, and captured more. A productive, somewhat promising day.

Then, he had the bright idea of agreeing to celebrate their first patrol at her house.

'It's a good chance to catch up with her,' he'd told himself. 'It builds comradery.'

So, of course, they stayed up until unholy hours of the morning, marathoning movies. There had been a lot of eating and drinking too, but not enough of the latter to leave him hungover.

"Aw, don't give me the cold shoulder. It's not like I was holding you hostage." she kept going as they walked through the doors.

Yes, he could have left any time he wanted. But he got too invested in the plot. Kalianne had stopped putting on movies at some point and swapped to a series she liked, and they watched it to completion. He could barely remember half of it now, but at the time, it seemed riveting.

He was not giving her the cold shoulder. It'd been fun. He was simply too tired to trade quips with her right now.

Putting his keys back in his pocket, Yuusei recalled something important.

He turned around, and she bumped face-first into his chest, not reacting in time. He was not the only one sleep-deprived here, after all.

"I almost forgot. Here are your keys to the place."

She grabbed the key ring from his hand with a bemused expression, jingling them. "Huh. Thanks... Which one is which?"

"This is for the front door, this one is for your locker room, that one is for the storage room..."

After he went through each one, she pulled on the part of her bodysuit that covered her neck and put the key ring between the clothing and her skin. It left an odd outline on her costume, but her hoodie helped cover it up.

This was getting unreasonable. Yuusei really needed to get her a new gauntlet today so she'd stop torturing him with her lack of pockets.

They reached his office, and Kalianne dragged a seat from his desk front to be by his side.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" she questioned as he scanned the agency's mail, leaning closer to him to see the screen.

"I sent the Tabikawa case to some of my family's associates yesterday. Her prospects are... not terrible," he concluded, reading the responses. "So I'll be visiting her cell in West Capital Ward to talk to her and introduce the possibility of an appeal."

Beyond those emails from lawyers, there was nothing else in his inbox. No team-up invitations, sidekick or internship requests, or sponsorship deals. Which was more than adequate for him as an underground hero. He only checked because he was the conscientious type.

"After that, I'll come back here, and we can patrol for the rest of the morning."

She poked his cheek. "What am I supposed to do while you're out playing advocate? Fair warning, if you say any variation of 'hold down the fort,' I will punch you."

She wouldn't put it past him to make her play secretary after making her play maid.

"Do you want to come with me?"

She bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows, debating with herself.

"... Nah, I don't think I'd be much help there."

"In that case... I don't have anything for you to do right now. We'll meet with a support developer to replace your equipment, but that's in the afternoon, so you can act on your own until I'm back."

"Sounds good," she agreed, nodding. "By the way... I notice you're saying support developer instead of company. Who is it?"

"Rika Eichi."

"Eh, never heard of her."

"Unsurprising. She's a difficult person to get a hold of, but her work speaks for itself."

He learned about her in his first year in Shiketsu—after the entrance exam. The practical portion for recommended students employed robots to act as villains in hostage situations, with gadgets implemented into their frames to emulate a variety of quirks and behaviors generated by artificial intelligence. They worked alongside hired actors that played the hostages, providing an unexpectedly stressful experience for the students.

Those robots were far more life-like and sophisticated than the ones used in U.A.'s exam, so he became curious about how Karaburan acquired them, which led to him discovering Rika. He was not the kind of hero who used gadgets, but he made a point to remember her name if he needed her services.

She shrugged. "I'll take your word for it."

They quickly sorted out the rest of the day's schedule and began to move. Kalianne visited the coffee machine in the break room while Yuusei went away to put on his costume. When he returned, he spotted her doing some light stretches.

"Good luck on your end," he said, patting her head and walking past her.

She stopped touching her toes and caught up with him, smacking his lower back. "Hold up! I was about to leave too."

"... I don't know how you're so peppy after yesterday, but it's admirable," he confessed, seeing her smile widen in response.

"I'm naturally energetic!" she bragged, then added, "... caffeine helps too."

She clasped her hands behind her back and bent over, stretching her biceps. "Plus, I can't be slacking off on my second day on the job~!"

Yuusei watched her hold that pose, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that I'll start slacking off once I've been here long enough!" She amended, pouting. "Geez, you have no faith in me."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it."

"That your phrasing was weird, not that you're a slacker."

She stopped stretching and put her hands on her hips. "You, of all people, don't get to call me out for weird phrasing."

He blinked, then rolled his eyes once he remembered what she referenced.

He left through the window, and she followed, flying with him. Sadly, her top speed was faster than his, so he could not escape this conversation.

"That wasn't weird phrasing. That was your mind in the gutter," Yuusei couldn't help but grumble.

Kalianne looked like she was struggling between smirking and scowling, resulting in an uncharacteristic sneer. "You told me yesterday, and I quote: Stop pulling on my horns when you're riding me."

"I stand by that statement." The horns that appeared when he used his quirk weren't sensitive since they were made of bone. However, they were still attached to his head. Kalianne sometimes treated them like the handlebars for her motorcycle, which was irritating.

"And you don't think it's weird at all." she deadpanned.

"No? How else was I supposed to say it? Don't pull them when you're mounting me? When you're on top of me? When—"

"When we're flying together?"

"... We don't always fly together like that."

"It's still enough context."

She approached him and stopped using her quirk, sitting on his shoulders like she'd done many times yesterday.

"Enough semantics. It's all about the setting. I wouldn't bat an eye if you said it while we were like this."

"You would." Who was she trying to fool?

"—But when we're at my house about to watch a movie, and you blurt it out..."

"You didn't seem bothered by it."

She had laughed right after he said it. She was smiling even now thinking about it.

"It was kinda funny," she defended herself, nodding.

He sighed. "Why are we talking about this again?"

"Just because it was funny doesn't mean it stops being weird! Quit being stubborn and admit it."

"Hmm..." Maybe he could have mustered a better argument if he wasn't exhausted. Well, it didn't matter now. Their bickering had gone on for so long that they were about to reach his destination.

"Sorry, I'll have to cut this fascinating conversation short."

Kalianne gasped as Yuusei grabbed her hips and lifted her, wiggling in the air until his tail wrapped around her waist to steady her.

"I hope you can do better than this when talking with Tabikawa," she commented as they landed, glaring weakly at him.

The hard part wasn't convincing Miyu. It was convincing the judge. Awful as it was, her options were either trying for an appeal or spending several months in a max-security prison. While he did make a terrible first impression on her, he didn't think it was enough to make her refuse his offer.

"I'll be fine," he said, meeting her gaze unworriedly.

"Atsushi-kun!"

The two heroes broke eye contact to look in the voice's direction. It belonged to a man in a black three-piece suit, who was carrying a briefcase and walking at them. His head was a Rubik's cube with faces showing different emotions. Right now, the front one was smiling at them.

"Ise," Yuusei nodded, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm not late, am I?" the suited man asked, the pivots in his head rapidly shifting to make an anxious expression, then a surprised one once he saw Kalianne.

"Oh my, where are my manners?! I'm Satoshi Ise," he introduced, reaching a hand to her. "I work for Hanashobu Law Offices."

"Kalianne Sato, Hero Name Honoken. I work for this guy!" she claimed, shaking his hand with her right one and pulling Yuusei into a half-hug with the other.

"Eh?! Atsushi-kun, when did you start hiring sidekicks?" Completely forgetting his previous worries, Satoshi rattled off questions, his head spinning into various visages. "Are you leaving the underground scene? Does your family know about her?"

"Yesterday, no, and not yet," Yuusei calmly replied, eyes on the girl smiling by his side. He had not expected her to say she was working for him instead of with him, although it was probably for the best since that's how they were on paper.

Satoshi chuckled. "Concise as always. Well, I don't wanna keep a future client waiting..."

The attorney stepped closer to the prison, and Yuusei mirrored his movement. But the former paused once he saw one hero remaining. "Are you coming, Honoken-san?"

"Ah, not really..." she answered with a deer-in-the-headlights look. She just wanted to rib Yuusei for a bit before starting her patrol, but his stubborn self refused to see the truth, so she'd ended up riding him all the way here.

She drew closer to Yuusei with a raised fist. "See you in a few," she said softly. He nodded, bumping his fist with hers.

Seiryu fell in step with Satoshi, and Honoken flew away.

"So, I read Tabikawa's case and your account of the jailbreak, and there's one thing I didn't get..." Satoshi began.

---

[Stimulation]

---

"Why the maid cafe?"

Miyu tried to rub the back of her head, then realized she was still cuffed in a quirk-restraining device. "Ah..."

The visiting room was surprisingly low-tech for a maximum security prison. A square cell split in two by a glass wall in the middle, separating inmate from visitor. Speakers and microphones on both sides to allow for communication, and cameras everywhere for surveillance. On the visitor's side, a metal desk and chairs. The inmate was forced to stand.

"I can clear you of the contraband charges, but the things you've done after escaping prison can and will be used against you," Satoshi continued. "So it's important to hear your thought process on this."

"I wasn't really thinking when I went to Nyanshikyo. I mean, I was, but not that deeply..." She took a deep breath to compose herself. "I... I knew the first place anyone would look for me was my apartment, so I couldn't stay there. The second option would be my parents' place, but we weren't on good terms after I got arrested... and I didn't want to wander around the city. Didn't wanna feel like a criminal on the run."

Miyu shrugged. "I guess that's it. Working on my part-time job made me feel like my life wasn't falling apart. After my shift ended, I didn't know where to go from there."

She frowned as Satoshi jotted down her answer. "Umm... the other workers won't get in trouble for me hiding there, right? They didn't know about all this..."

"I doubt they'll be part of the trial, but yes, they will be fine."

The attorney tapped his pen on the desk. "According to Atsushi-kun's report, you didn't collaborate with the villains who broke you out of jail, nor Tasogare, so that won't be a problem either. But there's one thing that won't be cleared from your record... illegal quirk usage. Even if you didn't know about the drugs, you still did courier work without a license."

Miyu nodded, grimacing. "I was working on getting one, but between college, my part-time work, and the deliveries... it was going pretty slow. I know I should have waited until I got the license... I needed the money, though."

He hummed. "It's alright. Even if it stays in your record, it would be a misdemeanor. I can turn the penalty into a fine instead of something more serious."

"Err... Ise-san... I just said I got into this mess because I needed money... I-I'm not sure I can pay a fine..." she stammered. "H-How much is it?"

The top of his head rotated, making an eyebrow-furrowing expression. "Between sixty thousand and six hundred thousand yen... depends on the judge."

Miyu gulped, and Satoshi waved his hands, caught off guard by her nervousness. "Ah, don't worry! Atsushi-kun will cover it," he claimed, patting Seiryu's shoulder.

"Correct," the hero sitting to Satoshi's left spoke. It would be illogical of him to pay someone to represent her in court but not help her with a fine.

"Oh."

"Anyway, I have enough to submit the appeal today, but when the court decides to review it... that's another matter. I'll visit you whenever I can to keep you updated."

Satoshi put his notes back in his briefcase and set it on his lap. "Do you have any questions, Tabikawa-san?"

'What am I supposed to do when I get out?'

That's what she wanted to ask. Would her college still accept her? Could she fix things with her mom and dad?

But those things weren't up to her lawyer... She would have to find out by herself.

"What about the people who came to break me out? Should I be worried about them?"

"No. Almost every part of the drug operation you were part of has been arrested. Only the head managed to escape, but you're not on his radar," Seiryu explained, holding his chin. "The four who bust you out of jail were most likely going to coerce you into being part of Greenfinger's next scheme. You had nowhere to go, so they'd offer protection in exchange for your role as an accomplice."

"I see..." Miyu became disappointed with herself as she realized that probably would have worked on her. "... No more questions," she added, seeing they were waiting for more.

"Then we'll be taking our leave," Satoshi concluded, rising from his chair and bowing to her.

"You'll be a free woman soon, Tabikawa," Seiryu assured, also leaving his seat.

It was hard to feel anything positive after spending last night crying herself to sleep in her cell. But even as emotionally spent as she was, that statement brought a tiny smile to her lips.

"Thanks, Ise-san, Yuusei-san—err, Atsushi-san—I-I mean, Seiryu-san—"

Apparently, she still wasn't numb enough to keep herself from fumbling like this.

"Yuusei is fine, but if you call me by my hero name, just say Seiryu," he asked while Satoshi chuckled quietly.

"T-Thanks, Yuusei-san. I don't know why you decided to be so nice to someone like me, but... I'm glad."

"... It was the least I could do."

He moved to the door but stopped at the last moment. The attorney went ahead of him, leaving the room.

Seiryu wanted to say more to her. To give her hope and make the wait for her acquittal less painful. But no words would rise to the front of his mind.

Miyu caught the chagrin in his expression and gave him a shaky thumbs-up, even as the prison's guards entered her side of the room.

A lot of unexpected things happened to her during the last few days. She got tricked into a life of crime by someone she'd thought was a close friend. Unable to prove her innocence, then broken out of prison by people she didn't know. And most surprisingly, the same hero who captured her yesterday came with a promise to free her.

The young hero walked through the doors after waving goodbye. He left no parting words, but that was okay. By believing in her innocence, he'd already given her hope.

Seiryu sped up his pace to move alongside Satoshi.

"Community service isn't so bad once in a while, right, Atsushi-kun?"

"I'd rather have a legal system where she wasn't found guilty in the first place, but sure."

"Haha! Then I wouldn't have a job!"

"I'm certain you'd find another branch of the law to work with."

The two returned their visitor passes and left the prison.

"Ise."

"... ?"

Satoshi's head didn't turn. One of the faces in the cube blinked into life while the one facing forward became flat.

"Tell me whenever you plan to visit her. I'll probably be working when you do it, but I'd like to be there if I have free time."

"There's no need for that. I can take it from here, have some trust in me," Satoshi asked, pointing at himself.

"If I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be here," he stated plainly. "I'll stay until her life goes back to normal. Anything else would feel unpleasant."

The attorney laughed. "You're such a softie, Atsushi-kun. Fine, I'll do as you say." He was the one paying, anyway.

Seiryu frowned. "I'm just being thorough."

He had already learned his lesson about leaving when things seemed safe after the Feral incident.

BZZT BZZT

The young hero's phone blared. There was an alarm sounded by a store not far from their location, signaling a villain's appearance.

"Duty calls?" Satoshi asked as he summoned his wings, floating off the ground a moment later.

"Yeah. See you soon, Ise."

"Bye—"

The hero was already soaring away, wondering if the warning was accurate. In broad daylight? Close to a max security prison? What kind of idiot would try...

"Hey, where are you going? Fluegel is a paying customer!"

Ah.

"Miki Genrei," he called, landing in front of her, snatching two people covered in wings under his arms. The FamilyMart's automatic doors opened wider in response to his arrival, letting the villain cross through.

"Hero-kun! Thanks for grabbing those two. They were about to run before I could pay for my stuff!" she explained, shaking her shopping basket. She was a freckled young woman with monochrome hair split between purely black and white strands on each side. She wore an open jacket with a bikini top below, along with fishnet stockings and leather short-shorts. On her left hand, a massive black and gold gauntlet dragged across the pavement.

Seiryu's tail plucked off the wings growing from the clerks' clothes before he let them down.

"Flee."

"T-Thank you!" one of them said, running behind him and dragging the other away.

"Why'd you do that?" Fluegel whined.

"I'm here to capture you, not help you with shopping."

"But Fluegel isn't doing villain stuff now. I'm getting snacks." And she probably would have gotten away with it if her oversized gauntlet wasn't dripping with blood.

"..." Did he really have to explain the concept of permanence to this girl...?

Seiryu resisted the urge to shake his head, stepping forward to meet her.

"Surrender."

"Fluegel won't give you her snacks!" she exclaimed, pulling the shopping basket behind her and pouting. "Get your own!"

He was too tired for this. Where were the other heroes? Why did he have to be the fastest one this time?

Fluegel blinked, her expression becoming angrier. "Wait a minute... you don't want snacks, do you? You want to put Flue-flue in jail!"

She punched the ground, cracking it. "Fluegel can't go there! My wings would get stuffy!"

Diplomacy had failed... if it was ever an option in the first place.

Seiryu steeled himself for the imminent battle—and then his eyes caught something behind the winged girl. Another villain was taking advantage of the mess created by Fluegel and sneaking into the store to raid the cash register.

This arrival was like a jolt of electricity turning on the machine that was his body. His fatigue vanished, and multiple strategies burst inside his head.

He'd wanted to keep the battle in the streets to avoid damage to this place, but that would be impossible against these two and their quirks. Plus, the villain inside already knew she'd been discovered. Her quirk gave her superb sensory skills.

He stepped to the left, dodging a gauntlet aimed at his chin and shifting his right hand into a claw. Seiryu grabbed Fluegel by the throat and flung her inside the mart, missing the other villain by an inch.

The automatic doors closed behind him.

"Oh, it's you!" Karma greeted him, waving at him with her tail. She had dodged the living projectile thrown at her, but he'd never expected it to hit. He knew Karma would use Fluegel as a decoy to run away, so he'd keep them close together to attack both.

"Oww..." Fluegel moaned, rubbing the back of her head. She snapped into alertness as Seiryu charged at her, flooding nearby store racks with spores and sending the winged objects at him. His own draconic wings came forward like a shield, blocking them, then flaring out, creating a strong gust that blew away the spores fluttering near her.

Karma leapt to the side, letting the shop counter get smashed by his tail. Three pairs of wings fluttered behind Fluegel's jacket, lifting her body up and away from his first swing... but not the second. Seiryu's palm caught her right side, hurling her at the chameleon villain again, who did an air somersault into a handspring to evade her.

His wings flapped, scattering more spores and boosting his second charge. Using Fluegel as ammo for a second time, he'd temporarily cut off Karma's route to the doors. It was enough time to get there and block her path himself.

"You're so cold," the villain complained, ducking under a swipe of his claw. "At least give me a hello before—" she cut herself off to dodge another strike.

He did not reply, blocking a giant gauntlet with his arm while striding closer to Karma. His tail wrapped around the other villain's ankle as she flew around him, halting her.

Karma jumped and clung to the ceiling, escaping the screaming Fluegel-Flail. Seiryu caught the acrobatic villain's wrist, stopping her knife inches from his throat. He stepped to the side and tugged her down—

"Stop throwing Fluegel around!"

The sound of wings flapping drowned out everything around them. All the spores Seiryu had spread to prevent her quirk from affecting him had instead given her control over most of the store's products.

Dozens of winged items were set upon him. He pushed his quirk more in response, growing in size. With his hand on Karma's wrist and his tail looping around Fluegel's shin, he twisted, using their bodies to deflect the coming barrage.

Karma kicked the flying items, Fluegel commanded them to weave past her, and Seiryu painlessly handled the rest with his scales.

The chameleon villain dropped her knife from her hand and caught it with her tail, thrusting at his arm to make him let go. His free hand swatted it down and held it there, but she made the tip flick her weapon back in the air at the last second.

Her tongue darted out of her mouth, catching her knife's handle for a third attempt at stabbing him. Fluegel's claw swung down to skewer his tail. At the same time, another wave of chaos approached. The objects affected by Fluegel's power were bombarding him again after being blocked.

His tail pulled away from Fluegel, rising to slap Karma's face and meddle with her tongue's trajectory. Karma put an arm on his tail's way, and he was forced to release her wrist, getting away with a small gash to his costume.

The winged villain's claw tips pierced the floor as they broke apart, one juggling a blade between her hands and extra appendages, the other backhanding a flying rack into pieces.

"This is the second time we meet like this, huh?" Karma mused, eyes checking their battle site. "It wasn't this messy before, though."

"Such is the price of fighting outnumbered," he commented as Fluegel rose to her feet. "I wanted to lead her away from the store, but then you had to be you."

"He speaks!" Karma smiled, cocking her head. "Maybe you shouldn't have taken the 2v1 and let one of us go? Preferably me, of course."

Seiryu scoffed. If he didn't think he could take both of them and come out on top, he would have tried something other than a direct assault.

"Hey, you never know. It's been so long that I almost thought you'd given up on catching me."

Karma had acted surprised when he entered the store, but it was all premeditated by her. She saw him flying nearby and decided to mess with him. Even made a point of going through the register without camouflage to see how he would react, too.

"Seven days," he said.

Huh.

She hadn't known the exact time, but for some reason, it felt like it was longer.

"Which is a lot for a stalker like you. Why, I even heard you were giving Tasogare-chan the chase-down yesterday. What was I supposed to think?"

"That you're next. Both... of... you..." the young hero trailed off after hearing a crunching sound.

Fluegel ate another chip, looking at them with a dopey smile. "This is fun. Flue-flue never gets to hang out with heroes and villains like this."

It was usually all a giant blur of fighting, screaming, and blood that left her feeling sleepy.

"It's like watching a TV show!"

"Would you look at that... she stopped fighting to give us time to talk. You could learn a thing or two about manners from her, grumpy dragon," she dissed, pointing her knife at him.

Fluegel took the compliment well. "Thanks, lizard auntie!"

The smirk on Karma's face twitched.

A faint sound of police sirens echoed from outside. Seiryu and Karma only heard it due to the enhanced senses granted by their quirks.

She blinked, then threw him a pouty glare. "I thought we were catching up, but you were just playing for time, huh? See, this is why we can't get along."

"Can you truly call it 'catching up' when we already knew each other's last moves? How did you even learn about Tasogare?"

"Not telling~" she said predictably, sticking out her tongue and using it to wield her knife.

Seiryu parried with his claws and swung his tail at Fluegel, who dropped her bag of chips to make a hurried dodge. The food grew wings before falling to the ground, fluttering around her like the store's furniture.

The tides of battle had not shifted towards either side. Although Karma poured most of her speed into escaping rather than fighting, her opponent used the wild card known as Fluegel to keep her within his range.

Although Fluegel had realized Karma wasn't fighting against her, it wasn't like she particularly cared for the thief's well-being. If Karma happened to get struck with projectiles meant for the dragon hero, then that was that. By making her navigate the storm of winged objects alongside him as they fought, he slowed her down enough to prevent her escape.

Keeping Fluegel at bay was easier. Her most notable escape tool was the ability to create wings for herself. But inside a tight space, its effectiveness was drastically decreased, not to mention that he had wings himself to match her movements.

However, he was not making any progress in defeating Karma. Splitting his focus between the two villainesses meant the chameleon girl had more windows of opportunity throughout their hand-to-hand interactions.

While Karma was bothered by this stalemate, Seiryu was satisfied with it... because the police and pros were approaching. He was trying his best to win here and now, but even if he couldn't, the appearance of another hero would give him the opening he wanted to pursue Karma with no obstacles in his way.

She vaulted over him to avoid a punch, using a flying platform to jump again and strike with an overhead kick. Fluegel hovered to his right, thrusting that massive gauntlet like a spear aimed at his chest. He blocked the former with a raised arm and deflected the latter with claw and tail, making Fluegel overextend and striking with his knee to her back. His wings flared out to bat away a myriad of improvised winged missiles. Karma pulled Fluegel by the arm before he could attack further, steadying her.

The villain considered her options. Seiryu had turned her plan to use Fluegel as bait against her. What was supposed to be a quick joke at his expense was spiraling into a long fight for some snacks, which was far from ideal.

But if his plan was to come out on top by abusing their lack of cooperation...

"Hey, Flue-flue!"

"Huh?"

"Let's escape together!"

Then it was time to double-team him. Heroes weren't the only ones who could do sudden team-ups!

Before Fluegel could respond, the two villains had to leap away from each other as Seiryu pounced on them. Karma was quick enough to completely evade him, and Fluegel put up a hasty guard to block his backhand. However, she didn't spot his tail wrapping around her wings from behind. Seiryu swung her at the other villain while kicking her backside.

Karma caught her tentative ally with her tail, attempting to fix her stance, but Seiryu's tail was still yanking on her to keep her in range.

"Why are you guys so mean to me?!" Fluegel squawked, head swaying back and forth as the two began a tug-of-war. He was quickly winning it, simultaneously approaching the chameleon villain.

Karma tilted her head, delaying Seiryu with her tongue. "I'm trying to help?" Her voice came out slightly warbled due to that.

"Try harder!"

Fluegel unleashed her quirk in all directions, but any spores nearing the dragon hero got blown away thanks to his broad wingspan.

Then, the back of Karma's costume grew wings of her own. Or rather, ones controlled by Fluegel.

The chameleon girl floated back.

A stupid decision. Taking away Karma's footing merely led to both girls getting flung across the store with a whip of his tail. The lithe villain loosened her hold, flipped mid-air, and landed crouching, letting Fluegel crash on the crushed store counter.

"Wha... what's the plan, lizard auntie?" She panted, sprouting wings on her head and arms to hoist herself.

A gloved finger rose in the air. "First step: stop calling me that."

Another joined it. "Second step—dodge left!"

'Garyou Tensei!'

Fluegel did not react in time. It was because of her quirk. Overusing it led to her becoming tired or even falling asleep, and she'd been employing it constantly in this entire battle, trying to exploit the myriad of objects inside this tight space to her advantage.

Seiryu's fist connected with her face, driving her through the shop counter's remains, then a store rack, stopping once her head hit a wall. Her eyes rolled back, losing focus as she muttered something about meanie dragon heroes.

The hero in question pulled his hand away, turning off his quirk before reaching out with two fingers to shut her eyes. Still holding them up, he looked at Karma, cocked his head, and lifted another finger.

"What's the third step?"

"Tch," she mumbled, ripping off the wings given to her. "Getting the hell out of here, apparently."

The objects controlled by「Wing Growth」were now dropping all around them. By defeating Fluegel, Seiryu had given her the opening she needed to leave this spur-of-the-moment arena.

"Bye-bye, Fluegel-chan."

"... pocky..." the sleeping girl mourned for the snacks she couldn't obtain, not hearing her fellow villain's farewell.

The last woman standing hopped back, flipping and landing near the automatic doors. She raised an eyebrow when the young hero didn't keep chasing. Instead, he picked up Fluegel and rose to his feet, one arm under her knees and the other around her back.

He checked the back of her head to see if she would need medical attention, but it was an unnecessary worry. Despite her slim build, Fluegel's body possessed extraordinary strength. That was why he'd been comfortable striking her with his super-move in the first place.

"So now you're settling for only catching one?"

He turned to his remaining opponent.

"Don't get it twisted. The last time I left an unconscious villain for the police, it didn't end well. I'll make sure she's arrested before coming for you."

"You can't really compare her to Hitomi-chan, though. Her whole quirk is built for second winds."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "First my battle with Tasogare, now Feral. Was calling me a stalker projection on your part?"

"You wish," Karma scoffed, looking away from him. "We're friends. I'm her big sister whenever she has to go out without causing chainsaw-related incidents."

"Fascinating," he deadpanned.

"Don't you wanna know what she had to say about you?"

"No."

Spoilsport. "Well, I'll tell you anyway. Hitomi-chan said you—" she cut herself off, narrowing her eyes. "Stop doing that."

"...?" He threw her a questioning gaze.

"You're playing for time," she remarked, crossing her arms and leaning on a wall next to the door. "Again."

"My disinterest was quite genuine. You're just chatty."

"Nah, you were totally pulling some reverse psychology on me."

"You also have a problem with wanting to get the last word in," he noted.

She opened her mouth, realized she'd stopped to talk yet again, then stuck her tongue out petulantly and walked out of the store.

"I'll be halfway across the city when you cross the door."

Of course, she didn't leave without getting the last word.

He followed her direction in time to see the police cars stopping nearby. The villain was already out of sight. A testament to her uninhibited speed.

Seiryu helped the officers remove Fluegel's gauntlet and stuck around until she was restrained in the back of a fortified vehicle.

Finally, he took to the skies, renewing the hunt for Karma.

First: evaluate her escape routes.

To the north and northwest, a set of Buddhist temples and Shinto sanctuaries lead to the Biwa River. West and southwest, the trail to Mount Ushio. Every other direction would bring him closer to the center of Kyoto and its concrete jungle.

Second: ascertain the path she took.

The toughest step. To say that Seiryu knew more about Karma than most was an understatement. But even he couldn't always predict her next move with 100% accuracy. His choice would either bring him closer or lead to a fruitless chase for who knows how long.

'Despite her lead, she's not far from here.'

That's what he decided. A theory based more on egoism than criminology.

He hadn't thought about Karma's appearance in that store
beyond feeling energized once he saw her. Now that the first round had come and gone, he realized she could have camouflaged herself while he attempted to make Fluegel submit. She put herself in a suboptimal spot to provoke him because she was confident she'd come out unscathed even then.

Which is why he hypothesized she was doing the same right now.

Instead of putting distance between them, she hid right under his nose. If he darted in one direction to catch up, she'd gain the satisfaction of fooling him while barely moving from her spot. If he saw through her intent, she'd get to spend more time taunting him, this time in her preferred scenario. A battle of stealth and speed rather than a physical confrontation.

It took around 10 seconds for him to finish the first two steps and glide to the top of an apartment complex near the wrecked FamilyMart.

Third: close the gap.

Staying in the air transformed would make him too noticeable to her, and staying on the ground would restrict his field of view too much to make any progress on finding her. He needed to utilize his flight when the moment was right.

He took off his mask, transforming the inside of his mouth. All his senses were heightened when he became a dragon, vision and olfaction chief among them. His knowledge of Karma's scent would help him figure out how near she was relative to him.

... Or so it would be if something wasn't overpowering his sense of smell.

Seiryu frowned at the perfumery on the other side of the street, then shook his head. His wings flapped again as he sought higher ground, relying more on his vision.

'Knowing that she's nearby won't be enough,' he realized. Beyond her general location, he also needed to deduce her course of action.

He returned to the second step.

---

[Stimulation]

---

Meanwhile, 50 meters away and below the dragon hero's perch, Karma watched, snickering to herself.

Still, good on him for figuring out her bluff. All that stalking had to be worth something.

But it meant nothing if he couldn't pin down her exact location.

She finished laughing at his frustrated expression and began wandering around like she'd been doing before all this started. Having already fulfilled a mission given to her by Midas a few hours ago, she was free to do whatever the rest of the day.

And right now, 'whatever' was a gripping game of cat and mouse, err, dragon and lizard.

Her movements were careful as she positioned herself into a blind spot from his point of view, climbing the wall of a nursery home, crossing a street, and camouflaging herself once she reached a flea market. Blending with the crowd was possible but risky since she was still wearing her costume.

She crouched near a vendor stall, looking at the solution for that.

The stall's owner. Other customers. Any clothing that she liked. And, of course, Seiryu—

He wasn't there anymore.

Karma blinked. She had been checking his position ever since leaving his blind spot. Although her quirk let her see in multiple directions at once, it didn't quite grant her 360-degree vision, so she cycled through sets of important targets, not ignoring one too long. The last time she saw him was less than a second ago. Somehow, he had moved during that brief gap in her surveillance.

When did he become aware... wait. Did he even catch on? Or was it sheer luck that he decided to change spots then and there?

Was it a scare tactic? Did he fly off randomly to startle her into running and giving herself away?

No, he should know better than that by now.

There was no reason to panic. Karma knew how fast the hero could move and was already guesstimating how long it'd take him to bridge the gap between them.

It was enough to take her time picking up a new outfit. A loose navy blue sweater that let her hide her tail inside it, and a beige a-line skirt that Tatarimokke would probably try to purge with fire if he saw. As for footwear, she'd keep using the boots from her costume.

She slipped between the customers with the change of clothes under her arms, then took a purse from another stall, crossing the flea market scot-free. Going behind a perfumery, she entered the backstreets, strolled for a few seconds before returning to the main streets, and turned left, stepping into... a clothing store.

She could have taken her outfit from here. Places like these always had overpriced garments for people with mutations, who were forced to buy them because regular clothing wouldn't fit. It was the perfect spot to borrow something that didn't bother her tail. But dealing with the security tags while dodging cameras would slow her down too much. So she would use this place to change into the clothes she stole elsewhere and nothing more.

Inside the fitting room, halfway through changing, Karma heard it.

"Excuse me..."

It was hard to make out due to the chatter of the other clients, but it was definitely there.

"... possibility... danger... your establishment..."

A familiar voice.

She sped up her movements, stuffing her costume in the stolen purse and reaching for the door—

Footsteps. Shadows from below the curtain.

The familiar voice was no longer present. But its source couldn't be out there, waiting. A question had been asked to one of the store's workers. The asker would have had to run off here before getting their answer.

One shadow entered the fitting room to her right. The other turned around and left.

Karma vacated the fitting room, sneaking behind a mirror and scanning the place for her pursuer.

... He wasn't here.

Come to think of it, the person she heard didn't sound similar to Seiryu. Why did she make that connection?

Ah. It didn't sound like Seiryu. It sounded like Yuusei Atsushi. He had a different tone when he wasn't wearing the mask and a gentler demeanor when he wasn't talking to a villain.

She winced slightly, feeling self-conscious. It's not like she was studying his speech patterns or anything. They had come into conflict so much that she couldn't help but learn these details, so it was his fault that she could tell the difference.

Karma moved to the backroom, clinging to the ceiling in camouflage and leaving through a different door than the one she entered.

She climbed the neighboring building, holding onto the roof ledge and looking out for any dragons.

... He wasn't around.

Thump

Karma leapt to another wall at the noise, but it was just someone bumping into a window inside the building.

Did Seiryu lose track of her, or was he trying to lull her into a false sense of security?

Footsteps. A couple of girls walked out of the clothing store, chatting with each other. They passed by without noticing the villain a few meters away. A car did the same from the other side of the street.

Despite the ordinary events happening, an invisible tension seemed to surround her with each passing second.

Now, where would she go? She could hitch a ride on the metro rail a few meters ahead. But it wouldn't feel right after taking this detour for clothes.

Karma turned around, hopped off the wall—

And finally spotted him flying full-throttle toward her.

Damn. In the apartment complex to the clothing store's left, hiding at the underground parking lot's entrance.

Her tail reached for the clothing store's blade sign. She'd use it to swing away, altering her jump arc—

No good. Seiryu dodged her tongue. He'd reach her before she could reposition.

He caught her front kick and raised her leg over his shoulder, tackling her mid-air and pushing her further off balance. The wind screamed as they flew and fought together, making a sharp turn around the street and crashing under a metro railway.

Karma grunted as her back hit the ground. The purse with her costume bounced comically on the pavement, and she would have done the same if it wasn't for the dragon above her pinning her down.

Her right leg was still over his shoulder. The left one got trapped by his knee. Her tail was being wrestled down by his own.

"Halfway across the city, huh?" Seiryu muttered, pinning one of her wrists to the ground and catching a punch aimed at his throat. But that attack was only meant to occupy him while she used her tongue to retrieve the knife hidden in her right boot.

She winked at him as she drew her blade, then widened her eyes when he lunged at her tongue with his head, teeth sharpening.

The dragon crunched on her knife like it was made of cheap plastic. Karma pulled her tongue away from the handle and whipped his face, but the edge was already bent into uselessness when it fell from his mouth.

Her tongue retreated inside her own mouth, avoiding his fangs.

"I know we're in the middle of something," she began, struggling to move her left hand away from his grip. "But I'm wondering... when did you start following me?"

"I'll tell you on the way to prison," he said, putting her hands above her head. Not only was he slowly taking away her options to grapple him with, but he also implied something ridiculously cocky when he should know better.

"Aww, but I wanna know now!" she whined before curling her leg around his neck, dragging his upper body closer to hers. He frowned, squeezing her thigh with one claw and using the other to bind her wrists together.

Her tongue slipped between their torsos, stopping him from pushing back her leg. Seiryu leaned down further against his will before he stopped resisting and moved with her, seeking to headbutt her in a burst of speed.

Exactly what she wanted. Karma pulled her tongue away and bared her teeth as he got close.

"...!"

He tried to pull away, but people couldn't go from 100 to 0 like that. Although he avoided getting bitten in the face by twisting his torso aside, her teeth still reached his left shoulder, piercing through his costume and gnawing at his scales.

Damn. Karma had hoped he would be forced to let go of one of her limbs. She could feel his muscles tensing and blood dripping down her jaw, but while her bite was strong enough to puncture his quirk's defenses, her teeth weren't long enough compared to his transformed size, so the damage was only superficial. And if it was a matter of pain, this stubborn guy wouldn't break.

Even so, she bit harder, trying to keep him close. She could still reach his neck if he didn't pull away in time.

His arm pushed against her chest, freeing her leg to tug down his head.

Karma opened her mouth and tilted her head, coming closer to his jugular.

"It was after you left that flea market," he whispered near her ear.

"Hm?" Her voice came muffled due to the rampage she was wrecking near his neck.

Karma blinked, feeling a weight in her tail disappear. Seiryu escaped her second bite by pushing her neck with his arm and holding back her leg with his tail. However, now her own tail was free.

Tail to arm, tongue to throat, claw to thigh, knee to face, scaly limbs sneaked past each other's guards, neither giving an inch in the effort to be on top. But a pattern kept repeating itself. He didn't have enough limbs to cover all her options, always fighting a zero-sum game.

After what felt like ages, she managed to break out of his hold, kicking him away by the stomach and rolling into a crouch.

Seiryu got up, brushing dust off his costume's shoulder, keeping his eyes on her as she wiped his blood from her lips. Some of it still went down her throat, which was unpleasant but better than getting arrested. Or worse.

He could have won. When their fangs were near each other's throats. Even if Karma was faster than him, even if he bit her after she bit him, his scales would have guaranteed she would be the first to lose that contest.

But he was one of those people who had the job of a hero. Winning by putting his life on the line was okay, but he wouldn't put her life on the line if he could find another way. So she placed him in that situation, tilting the battle in her favor.

It was trust, in a roundabout way. She wouldn't leave any heroes with a sharp object near her throat, but this dork was an exception.

A small correction, then. Seiryu could have won in her eyes, but it wouldn't be a victory for him.

"So, after the flea market? What happened to telling me while you took me to jail? Was it your way of admitting defeat?"

He inspected his bleeding shoulder before replying, "I wanted to distract you long enough to stop your leg."

This guy...

She threw her head back, groaning.

"Hahh... why can't you talk normally? Why's it always a ploy to stall for time or distract?"

"I dislike chatting during battle. Adding a purpose to my words alleviates that."

"And what's the purpose of telling me that?" She probed, springing to her feet.

His lips twitched. For a moment, Karma thought she had caught him, but no. He had held back a smile just now.

"Find out by yourself."

He stepped forward after making a nonchalant challenge, activating his quirk on his arms.

Too bad for him. The chameleon girl had no intention of wasting time fighting him hand-to-hand. He had his chance when he pinned her down.

Seiryu charged, but it wasn't aimed at her. He was targeting her fallen purse, which held her costume and the cash register money from the mart.

Of course, he also knew that she wouldn't fight head-on.

"Aren't I supposed to be the thief?" She asked, diving for her belongings. She was faster, but they were closer to him. He won the struggle for possession by a tail's breadth.

"... Yes. I'm holding the evidence right now."

She dived below a punch, reaching for her purse with her tongue and sweeping at his legs with her tail.

He casually flew out of her range and stomped on her shoulder, but she moved with the blow to prevent another, leaping to one of the railway's pillars.

"Okay, the money and purse may be stolen, but that costume's the fruit of honest labor!"

"Your honest labor?"

She laughed. "Well, I didn't sew it myself, but—"

Karma paused to avoid a fly-by attack, then watched in disbelief as he continued on his path without turning back on her. What an asshole. Didn't even let her finish before he started dangling her stuff like a carrot on a stick.

What's worse is that she was actually tempted to follow him. Even though she could get a replacement, that costume had some sentimental value to her.

Ah, screw it.

"Get back here, thief!" she shouted at him, relishing in the glare he gave in response.

Carrot on a stick, indeed. Seiryu knew she would pull away if things seemed hopeless, so he didn't end things by flying completely out of reach.

Intentionally putting himself in a bad spot so they could continue this game of theirs... was this what it was like from the other side? She didn't know why he was so cranky when he chased her. This was fun.

Dragon and lizard soared and jumped around the streets, clashing in the air multiple times.

Karma flipped back and swung her tail at his claw, wrapping it around his arm and using him as a mid-air jump-pad to land safely. She hopped at him a moment later, and he flapped his wings in response, blasting wind at her. It wasn't enough to blow her back, but it killed most of her momentum, making her vulnerable to the barrage of fly-by attacks he delivered.

Seiryu would usually dominate her in an aerial battle, but two factors made this less skewed. First, his wounded left shoulder, a weak spot she viciously abused. Second, the arm connected to that shoulder was busy holding her purse and preventing it from being stolen, leaving him with one less limb to match her arms, legs, tail, and tongue.

He met her again in the air, and she thrust her tail below his arm, aiming at the purse's strap. He cut off his charge with a flap of his wings, stopping right before her attack could reach and grabbing her tail by its tip.

He tossed her higher in the air, away from any structures she could use to shift herself. Then, he threw her purse at a distant rooftop, freeing his left arm before flinging himself at her plummeting body.

Karma read his first feint correctly, dodging the follow-up punch by an inch, but he darted away before she could do any more. She was not so successful with the next few strikes. Seiryu battered her body from every angle, finishing by kicking her stomach, diving past her, and catching her back before it could hit the ground.

"Shit..." she groaned as he dropped her. Her body rolled away by instinct, the sound of a stomp registering near her stomach after.

When she recovered, she saw Seiryu already on top of a building, looking down at her.

... Alright, maybe it was still a bit skewed to his favor.

The purse was in his right hand this time. During that last onslaught, he'd used his hurt left side to block any attempts at counterattacking, sacrificing his left arm to maximize his offensive effectiveness.

She stepped back, winced in pain, and realized it was time to dip. She was all about taking risks, but not when the reward wasn't worth it.

"... Alright, keep the costume. But don't do anything creepy with it, you hear me?" Karma warned, wagging a finger at him.

"This isn't over," he declared, crouching on the ledge for a jumping dive.

The chameleon girl moved at the same time he did, bounding across the streets, albeit slower this time. The hits he gave her left their mark. The regeneration factor granted by her quirk was working, but not fast enough. At this rate, she wouldn't shake him off before he got into close range again.

Unless...

Karma saw it on the railway where their second round had occurred.

Lucky! The metro was coming.

Karma climbed a railway pillar and jumped with perfect timing, hitching a ride on top of the train and letting out a sigh of relief as the dragon became a dot on the horizon.

She left the train after three minutes, then strolled until she found a place to wind down.

Following the cobblestone path between the trees and grass patches, Cammy sat on a park bench, slouching.

Judging by how the sun hit the trees ahead, she guessed it was barely past midday, which explained the lack of people around her.

On the baseball field behind her, some kids played. A few meters to her left, a middle-aged man was in the middle of a call. And coming from her left... an ice cream cart.

Before she knew it, she was already approaching the guy carrying it. He had purple skin and a considerably-sized head with two horns above his ears. His skull seemed to be struggling to contain the size of his brain.

"What can I getcha, miss?"

She blinked, realizing she had no money to pay for it.

"Ah. I forgot my purse..." Cammy said, withdrawing with an awkward smile. The urge to stab Seiryu was there, and it only grew when she remembered he had also wrecked her knife, making her fantasies impossible.

The ice cream seller looked at her weirdly and shrugged, walking away with his goods. She retreated to her bench, forced to watch him sell the sweet, icy treat to the kids who had stopped playing baseball. Taking ice cream from middle schoolers was too much even for her, so she stuck to pouting in envy.

...

She played around too much, and this was the price. Couldn't get the cash register money, lost her knife, lost her costume, and got a few cracked bones.

But there was no way she'd let this slide. She just needed some time to plan her payback on Seiryu—

WOOSH

"No fucking way..." she muttered, following the dragon's landing.

How did he even find her this time?

Crimson eyes scanned the park, but she had already camouflaged herself and hidden behind a tree by the time they reached her direction.

Although he no longer carried the stolen purse, her costume was still held in his claw.

He even had time to return the stolen money and purse? What the hell? Cammy checked herself for any tracking gadgets, but there weren't any. She wasn't inattentive like that.

This guy's stalking was getting obnoxiously good. This would be what, their fourth round? Stupid, stubborn Seiryu. Why did she even go out of her way to taunt him back at that mart?

Oh, yeah. Because bullying Seiryu was fun. It only got annoying when he turned the tables on her.

The dragon took a step forward, and she prepared herself for another round of their game.

"In the morning... on the beach there..."

He froze, looking at the phone ringing in his pocket like he didn't know it had been there.

"People gather... to meet the sunshine~... With—"

The hero picked up.

"Kalianne?"

{"... ...?!"}

Cammy couldn't hear what the other side was saying, but the voice sounded feminine. And angry.

"Ah. Something came up after I left the prison. Where are you now?"

{"... ..., ..."}

"Right. I think—"

He paused, gaze flicking in Cammy's direction.

She had tried to move away, thinking he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings.

{"...?"}

Seiryu walked through the cobblestone path, moving closer to her position. There were about 30 meters between them.

{"...?!"}

"... I think I'll do the same," he finished, still observing the park.

He didn't know she was here. He just suspected. This likely wasn't the first place he came to. He gambled not only on her general location but also on her staying here for an extended period... and almost succeeded.

Spooky. Or at least that's what Cammy would think if he didn't come up one step short. As things were, she could easily evade him until he flew to another possible hiding spot.

However, as he spoke with the unfamiliar voice and she continued to eavesdrop, it became clear that she wouldn't have to do much. Apparently, he was gonna have lunch at this Kalianne girl's place?

Somewhat anti-climatic, but she'd take it.

Ending the call, the dragon hero pocketed his phone and walked to the tree closest to him.

Then, he... hung her costume on a branch.

Wow. Cammy might have joked about him keeping it, but she thought he would give it to the police or rip it to shreds... not ditch it here. But it wasn't like having her costume would help him catch her now that it had outlived its usefulness as bait.

... was he leaving it here on the off-chance she would come across it? Or was he unheroically littering?

Either way, another win for her!

...

...

... This felt too good to be true.

What if he was trying to lure her in again? Watching from a distance to see if she would grab her costume?

Feeling like she had already messed around enough for today, Cammy decided to wait, keeping herself hidden for a few more minutes. Thankfully, the tree Seiryu chose was fairly isolated from the park's other visitors.

Finally, the chameleon girl grabbed her attire and left the park, feeling a bit more pleased with her day.

---

[Stimulation]

---

Kalianne hummed a tranquil tune to herself, mixing mashed potatoes in a pot until she heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming!"

She opened the door.

"Hey."

Predictably, it was Yuusei, out of his costume. He wore a burgundy turtleneck shirt with a strange pattern on its left shoulder, along with skinny jeans.

"Hey! What's with that mopey look?" she replied, waving him inside and walking back to her kitchen. "Did it not go well with Tabikawa?"

Contrasting his conservative casual look, Kalianne only had a loose, low-cut red shirt, white waistband shorts, and a frilled apron so they wouldn't get stained.

"No, that went without a hitch. I'm upset about what happened after that."

Kalianne finished the mashed potatoes, poured some olive oil into a pan, and added onions and garlic.

"Oh yeah, you said something came up after leaving the prison." Minced meat joined the mix, followed by salt, white pepper, and other spices. "Something so time-consuming you couldn't come back and patrol together. What was that all about?"

"... It all started with a notification from the Hero Network app—do you want any help?" he cut himself off as she began to stir the pan.

"Nah, it's fine."

He sat on the side of the couch closest to the kitchen, looking at her work.

"So, a villain attack close to the max security prison? Weird."

He nodded. "I thought so too. Anyway, Karma showed herself while I was dealing with the original villain, so that's why I couldn't make it to our morning patrol."

"..."

"..."

The sound of meat sizzling took over the pause in their conversation.

Kalianne sighed, turning her head to him. "Yuusei."

"Hm?"

"I think you skipped a few steps—A-Are you bleeding?" she asked, looking at his shoulder. She had thought the mark on his shirt was a pattern, but it had expanded since she last saw it.

He followed her gaze, then glared at the growing bloodstain like it was a fly on his shoulder instead of a hemorrhage.

"Ah. Karma wounded me during our fight."

"And you didn't take care of it?"

He shrugged with his unhurt shoulder. "I cleaned it and bandaged it. The wraps might be a bit loose because I had to tie them with one hand and my tail..."

"I meant getting a healer. Or even going to a hospital instead of doing it yourself."

"It's not that serious," he assured, patting his shoulder. "I would have gone to a hospital if Karma had used one of her venoms on me... but she didn't.

He reached for his collar and pulled it aside, trying to shift his bandages back into place. "I also didn't want to be late for our lunch."

Kalianne shook her head, smiling. "Eager to see me again or to mooch off of me?"

"Neither. I just hate being late for anything."

She sprinkled parsley on the meat. "You're supposed to say it's the former."

"I also hate dishonesty."

She would have teased him to no end if he so much as implied the former, considering they were only apart for under two hours.

"By the way, did anything happen on your end?"

Kalianne turned off the heat.

"Nope," she said, popping the letter. "It was pretty dull while you were away."

She spent most of her time switching between making the rounds near the agency and lounging there.

"But that's good, right? Signs of a peaceful society and all that jazz."

He nodded, and she started assembling the meal on a tray. One layer of mashed potatoes, followed by shredded pepper jack cheese, then the minced meat. Lastly, another layer of mashed potatoes, topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Kalianne slipped on oven mitts and put the shepherd's pie in the oven.

"Alright, we have 40 minutes until it's ready," she began, removing her gloves and hanging her apron on a kitchen chair. Finally, she took off her hair tie, undoing her ponytail and letting her hair fall around her shoulders. Yuusei's eyes followed her as she crossed the kitchen and stopped in front of him, hands on her hips.

"Take off your shirt," she ordered.

He obliged, raising his left arm and reaching the other behind him to tug the cloth. It was a slow affair since the shirt was a bit tight, and his wounded arm was still stiff.

Kalianne watched him fight against his clothing for all of two seconds before losing her patience, leaning forward to help him undress.

Once the shirt was unceremoniously thrown on the couch, she got closer, examining his body.

"Is that..."

She pulled on the bandages, uncovering the injury.

Her eyebrows rose.

"... Is that a fucking bite mark?"

"Yes."

"Karma did this to you."

"Mh-hm," was his noncommitted reply as she lifted his arm from the couch. Outside the tooth holes in the shoulder, the entire limb was covered in bruises.

"See, this is what I was trying to tell you earlier. You skipped too many steps in your story!"

She carefully let his arm down and counted the gaps in his account.

"Like, who was the other villain you found? What were they doing? What was Karma doing? Did both of them escape? How did it lead to you getting bitten?"

"She was—"

"Wait! Lemme grab the first aid kit! Then you can talk."

Kalianne sprinted to the bathroom and returned with the white box. Yuusei shuffled to the other side so she could sit by his left and replace his bandages.

"Okay, spill the deets."

"The first villain was the Devil Armed With Wings," he began, causing immediate regret to well in her.

"Yuusei, who the hell is that?"

---

[Stimulation]

---

"I took down Fluegel with Garyou Tensei, but Karma ran away."

"Garyou Tensei? Why, Yuusei, that sounds suspiciously like a super move name."

"It is. And before you say anything, I came up with it back in our first year."

"Fine, fine, kill my fun, don't you."

"I waited until the police took Fluegel and chased Karma to a clothing store. Taisei Clothing, I believe."

His lips thinned.

"I had theorized she would try to disguise herself, so I thought she went there to steal something. But she had already gotten a change of clothes at a flea market. She went to Taisei Clothing to use the fitting room."

He felt Kalianne finish bandaging his shoulder and clasped his hands together.

"I still asked the manager to pull up the camera feeds; to be sure nothing was taken. After that, I waited until she left and ambushed her outside the store."

"You waited for her to change?" she asked, struggling not to laugh. "That's adorable."

"Hm? Oh no. I would've taken her inside the fitting room if I had the chance. But she knew I was there."

He could tell by the hurried noises she made when he started talking.

"I wanted to avoid wrecking another store, so I decided to take the battle to the streets... why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing," she waved off, chuckling at his reluctant expression. "Go on."

He moved to grab his shirt, and she stopped him, grabbing his wrist. "Wait. Don't put it on yet."

She reached for the first aid kit. "I'll spread some lotion on your bruises to keep them from swelling."

"... thanks, but I can do it myself—"

She had already poured it on her palm.

Yuusei stared at her flatly.

"... You're getting a kick out of this, huh?"

She rubbed her hands with a shameless grin. "Can you blame me? It's rare I get to flex the first aid extracurricular I took in Shiketsu."

She shifted closer to him on the couch, bumping their knees together. "C'mon, give me your arm."

He wasn't prideful enough to argue with someone trying to help him, so he did as she asked.

Kalianne gently rubbed the lotion on his body, spreading a cool, soothing sensation on his sore muscles.

"Where was I...?" he pondered, somewhat dazed by the process.

"The ambush," she reminded him with a smug glint in her eyes.

"... It was impeccable. I hid from Karma's most powerful senses—"

Vision and audition.

"Struck when she was mid-air—"

Right as she jumped, when her defenses were lowered.

"And pinned her down so she couldn't use her arms and legs properly. Perfectly planned and executed. Or so I thought..."

"Until she bit you."

"Yeah."

---

[Stimulation]

---

"... Eventually, she gave up on recovering her costume and ran away again. I gave chase, but she got lucky and caught the Tokaido Shinkansen as it passed by."

"Then you gave up, heard my ringtone, and now we're here," Kalianne concluded, crossing her arms.

"Not quite," Yuusei replied, poking his arm with a finger. The skin was still a little sticky. He had to wait until it absorbed the lotion, then he could put his shirt back on.

"I returned the stolen goods and then guessed her next location again. Higashino Park. That's where I was when you contacted me."

He leaned back on the couch. "I would have kept looking for Karma until my quirk was near its limit if it weren't for your call."

Kalianne reached for her phone on the side table and relaxed on her side of the couch, putting her legs on his lap.

"Hmm..."

Just a few more minutes until the pie was ready.

She turned her sights back to her friend, who had a blank expression as he stared at her legs.

"Yuusei."

He looked into her eyes.

"You returned the stolen items, but where'd you put Karma's costume?"

He had considered keeping it until their next encounter. However...

"I left it at the park."

His final decision was a test: for his tracking skills and Karma's luck.

"If my guess was good, and she was there at the right time and place, it will find itself in her hands."

"And if it doesn't?"

The ruby orbs burned with a zeal unfamiliar to Kalianne, sending small shivers down her spine.

"Then I need to get better at hunting her."

"..."

In the blink of an eye, that strange intensity faded.

"Well, that and she has to secure a new costume," Yuusei finished, pursing his lips and looking at his shoulder. "I won't feel sorry for her."

She tried to disguise herself to blend in with the crowd instead of sticking to the shadows with camouflage, and he capitalized on it.

Kalianne's finger prodded his cheek. "You should stop hating that girl so much. It's unhealthy."

He laughed at that, catching her off-guard.

"It used to be a lot worse."

"Really?" she asked, skeptical.

"Really. After I got my license, I didn't even do patrols. I just looked for Karma day after day."

He'd wanted to settle his grudge as soon as possible. When it became clear that wouldn't happen, he directed his efforts more productively. Focusing on studying Karma's crimes and using them as a base to predict her next moves instead of going on wild chases that led to nothing. This method took time to refine and execute, which meant their encounters became less frequent, but more neck-and-neck.

The strategy ended up bleeding over into his general approach as a hero. Karma was the villain he knew the most about, but he had information on plenty of others.

"It's a frustrating yet healthy part of my life that will fix itself once I capture her."

"Good for you, I guess, but..." Kalianne floundered as he poked his arm again, deeming it dry enough.

She shifted her legs to the side as he put his shirt back on.

"If you're worried about my grudge affecting you, don't. I won't ask you to participate in my Karma-related endeavors... unless you want to."

"I'm worried about you. She almost bit your jugular today."

"You got stabbed in the gut yesterday. It's part of the job."

"Touché," she conceded, shrugging.

"... The food should be ready by now," she said after a pause, rising from the couch. Yuusei followed her to the kitchen and helped her set the table.

With a quick thanks for their food, the two dug in.

"How is it?" she asked, watching him slowly taste the shepherd's pie.

The creamy and smooth texture of the mashed potatoes gave way to the bold flavors of the minced meat and spicy pepper jack cheese. It was a dish in which the ingredients in each layer complemented each other while making the adjacent layer stand out.

"Flawless," he judged, taking another bite.

"Really...?" Kalianne breathed out, feeling a harsh heat spread from her tongue to the rest of her body. "I think I made it too spicy. But it was worth it since you liked it."

He frowned at her. "You shouldn't have made something you're struggling to eat just because I prefer spicy food, Kalianne."

"Whaat~? It's only two kinds of pepper; I can handle it," she insisted before sticking out her tongue and waving a hand near it. "I'd rather make and eat a spicy pie than watch you pour disgusting amounts of hot sauce into a non-spicy one."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Whatever happened to hating dishonesty?" she asked, pointing her fork at him. "I've seen you do it. Scarred me for life, honestly."

"I may sometimes use condiments to enhance the food's flavor—"

"More like drown out all the flavor."

"—But I wouldn't need to in this case. Because it's your cooking."

She looked down at her plate and took a small bite of the pie, suddenly embarrassed.

"... I'll keep that in mind for next time."

---

[Stimulation]

---

"Oi, Yuusei, is this really the right place?"

"For the fifth time, yes."

A few hours after lunch, both were back in their hero costumes and entering a rundown apartment complex in Kyoto's very own South Ward.

"I know I said I'd take your word for this Rika person, but..."

A piece of drywall fell off by her left. Kalianne gave it a heavy gaze, then did the same to her fellow hero.

"It ain't looking good."

"It's not quite what I expected from an inventor of her caliber," he agreed. "But appearances can be deceiving."

He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "If she can't perform, we simply look for another support developer."

"Fine..."

The two walked through the first floor, stopping in Room Seven. Honoken rang the doorbell.

"..."

"..."

No one answered for half a minute, so she pressed the button by the door again.

"..."

"..."

Since it was still two minutes until the agreed time, she waited. Then, she rang it again.

"..."

"..."

This time, she waited only ten seconds before pressing it twice. A light scowl was slowly growing on her face.

"..."

"..."

Another press.

"..."

"..."

Seiryu counted to five on his head, then grabbed her wrist as she tried to press it again, earning a glare and pout from her.

He pulled her hand away from the door, turning her towards him. "You'll bother the neighbors."

She rolled her eyes at him as he released her hand.

"Welp, guess we'll never know if she can perform because she's not. Even. Here."

"Then we look for someone else. As I said."

"I'm still—"

"Are you looking for Eichi-san?"

The two heroes turned around, looking at a teenager that had exited the opposite room. He had short red hair, eyes of the same color, and wore a white tracksuit with a black collar.

"Yes," The dragon hero confirmed. "You are?

"Makoto Renze. I live here," he introduced himself, showing his keychain. "Is she in trouble?"

"No. We're here for her services."

"Do you know where she is?" Honoken interjected.

"She left about two hours ago... knowing her, she's probably at PRB," Makoto mused, locking his door. "Ah, that's a bar near here," he explained when their expressions turned confused.

"I... see..." the heroine replied with a twitching grin, struggling not to say what she truly thought about Rika's whereabouts. "Thanks for the help, Renze-chan."

"No problem. It's pretty weird she didn't come back to meet you two, though. She's desperate for cash these days."

With that, the young man walked away.

Honoken sighed. "Let's go, Yuusei."

Seeing him pull out his phone, she reached for his shoulder, remembered it was hurt, then linked her arm with his, trying to drag him.

"C'mon, you can look for a replacement later."

He didn't budge.

"I'm not looking for another developer; I'm looking for this 'PRB' on the map."

"You cannot be serious."

"I don't joke about these things."

He put his phone away, unliked their arms, and walked away from Rika's apartment.

"I have a feeling there's more to this than meets the eye."

"Look, Yuusei: I can tell you're upset after singing her praises and getting snubbed, but going after her in a bar isn't the way. You shouldn't give a chance to people like that."

"This isn't about your gadget anymore. I'm concerned for Eichi."

"Was it what that girl said about her coming back by now? Eichi probably had one too many drinks and forgot about our meeting."

"This is how missing person cases start. A young woman goes out for happy hour by herself a few hours before her next shift, then doesn't come back. Maybe she forgot about our meeting. Or maybe she passed out in the bar with no one to take her home."

He glanced at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Also, I'm fairly sure Makoto was a guy."

"For real? He looked pretty androgynous, then."

She shook her head and pointed at him. "Wait, how are you so convinced Eichi went out alone?"

"Instinct."

"... If it wasn't for your shoulder, I would have punched you by now. Actually—"

She stepped behind him and struck from his right side, but he caught her punch before it could connect with his healthy shoulder. As they left the building, Yuusei used his grip on her fist to pull her, spin her around, and push her back against the entrance wall.

"Look, Honoken: you don't have to come with me if you disapprove. I understand Instinct isn't a good explanation, and I'd never want to waste your time."

"I know, you gave me that speech already..." she complained, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "I'm trying to convince you to come to the agency with me instead of wasting your time."

He stepped back, smiling ruefully under his mask. "You should also know how that goes."

"Yeah, you're stubborn, I get it," she said as he turned around and sprouted wings.

He flew to Eichi's last known location, hearing the sound of flames from behind him a few seconds later.

"..." He stared at her wordlessly with an air of exasperation around him.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! I learned my lesson after the thing with Tabikawa. I'd rather waste time with you than fly around the agency by myself."

So she knew she wouldn't convince him and had no problems coming along?

"Do you just enjoy arguing with me or something?"

"I'm chipping away at your denseness. Totally different from arguing."

"That's not how it works. No matter how much you knock on the door to someone's heart... I have eyes on Eichi," Seiryu ended the impromptu moral lesson, looking at the support developer below.

---

[Stimulation]

---

"Why... why the heck... is it called PRB?" the blonde woman by Rika's side asked as they left the bar.

'Peace, Rock, and Booze?'

'Why would they combine Peace with Rock?'

'Bad marketing?'

'It should be Party, Rock, Booze.'

'Party would be even worse marketing considering the atmosphere there.'

'Why are you all so stuck on R being for Rock?'

'Because it's the only kind of music they play there.'

"No idea," Rika responded, ignoring the voices.

"Oh snap, it's a bird guy...!" Akagi called, pointing at the sky, then squinted. "No, wait... It's a dragon guy...!"

It was, indeed, a dragon guy. A client Rika would have been seeing right now if she wasn't busy trying to drag this drunkard home after she had too many.

"Eichi," he greeted once his feet hit the ground.

"Hey, Atsushi... who's that?" she asked as a girl in a ponytail landed after him.

"My sidekick, Honoken."

"Yo."

"The schematics I sent you were for her gadget," he continued.

"I've got a sidekick, too," Akagi said out of nowhere, giggling. "His name's Dr. Buzz~!" A can with her sidekick's name appeared on her hand as she toasted. "Ain't that right, Ryusei?"

"... It's Seiryu," he corrected, somewhat confused about how she knew his hero name enough to butcher it. Did he know this short, blonde woman from somewhere?

"Not you. I'm talkin' to Ryusei."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the drunken woman as she looked around for someone.

"Oh dang, he's not here."

The can she summoned disappeared.

"Where are you, Ryusei...? I miss ya, buddy..." she muttered, wobbling.

"He didn't come to the bar today," Rika told her.

"... really...?" she yawned. "I must be pretty out of it..."

"You think so?" her drinking buddy asked sarcastically, then turned to the two heroes. "Listen, sorry for being a no-show, but as you can see, I'm kind of busy dealing with this clown."

"Oi, I resent being called a clown in such a demoratory... degoralizing... mean way..."

"And I resent paying for your first ten beers, Sanpatchi."

"Do you want help?" The dragon hero asked, trying not to stare at Rika's friend. Sanpatchi, Sanpatchi... where did he hear that name before?

"Are ya gonna fly me to my apartment, dragon boy? Fair warning—" she hiccuped, "I'm not responsible for any puking I do—" Another hiccup, "In japanese airspace~..."

Akagi slumped down, falling unconscious.

Rika and Seiryu reached to grab her before her head hit the pavement, but the former was too slow, and the latter was too far away. However, the passed-out woman's head bounced off the ground like she hit a trampoline, leaving her standing and swaying from side to side, eyes closed as she snored loudly.

"I'll take that offer for her," the inventor spoke as he grabbed Akagi's shoulder, stopping her.

Honoken crept up behind him.

"Amazing instincts right there, Yuusei," she whispered. "I'm jealous of your intuition, really."

"Shut up," he mumbled back before turning to Rika. "Where to?"

---

[Stimulation]

---

"Wake up, Sanpatchi."

Akagi mumbled something unintelligible as Rika flicked her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open.

"... wha...?"

Beyond the ringing in her head, Akagi realized she and Rika were inside her apartment block, nearing her flat. There were also two other people with them, both in hero costumes.

She struggled to remember the events that led to this. Did she mess up in the middle of a mission?

... No, she wasn't in costume like them. It was even worse then. Her coworkers had to bring her drunk self home.

She moaned in despair, reaching for her keys.

"S-Sorry about the mess," she murmured in shame as they entered, turning on the lights and almost slipping on a stray beer can's contents before the ridiculously tall blue-haired guy steadied her.

"It's no issue," he assured.

"It really is... a hero should be doing better..."

"Stuff like this is also part of the job," the girl with him commented. But Akagi wasn't talking about them going out of their way to carry her. She was admonishing herself.

They didn't even recognize she was a hero like them... and she couldn't bring herself to get angry about it. She did not look very heroic right now. Just a random middle-aged drunk they were helping.

... It was so over for her.

She moaned in despair again, jumping on her couch for comfort. Her voice came out muffled as she pressed her face against its arm.

"... you guys can go... I'll lock up after you close the door... thanks for the help..."

"See ya, Sanpatchi."

"Bye-bye."

"... Get well soon, Popsy-senpai."

All three gave their farewells—wait, what was that last one?

Akagi's eyes moved from the couch to see the last person leaving her flat.

"Let's team up some time," Seiryu suggested, slowly pulling on the door handle.

"Uh... sure..." she replied, not feeling sure at all.

The door closed, leaving her alone with her thoughts, which was pretty awful. But judging by how her vision was swimming, it would stop soon.

Akagi groaned, turning on her back and putting an arm over her eyes to block out the light above.

Being written off as a random drunk was one thing, but having another hero see her for who she was in this state felt even worse. At least he didn't make fun of her? But he'd probably start ridiculing her if she took his offer.

A team-up mission. Akagi couldn't even remember the last time she had one of those. She would likely look stupid in any operation, rusty and pseudo-quirkless as she was.

Ah, no matter... she'd forget all about this after sleeping.

"Hahh..." she groaned again, remembering she still had to lock the doors.

Meanwhile, three people moved away from the apartment of God's drunkest, silliest soldier.

"Popsy?" Honoken asked, eyes wide. "That was Popsy?"

"Yes," Yuusei replied. He had finally recalled where the name Sanpatchi came from.

"Yep," Rika nodded.

"I think I'm having an existential crisis," the heroine murmured, clutching her head with both hands.

"So, about the gadget I wanted you to make..." the dragon hero began.

"Oh, that? I could build it in my sleep and deliver it by today. The structure is so simple I even made a few revisions from the schematics you sent me. I'll show the possible upgrades to you when we get to my studio."

"Sounds good."

"Aren't you two the least bit disturbed about her state?" Honoken accused, glaring at the two as they talked business.

Rika shrugged. "I only know Sanpatchi as my drinking buddy, so it's hard to think of her as some big-shot hero."

Seiryu scratched his hair. "I'd like to help, but it's hard to insert yourself into someone's life like that when you don't have a personal connection. Proposing a joint mission was the best I could think of."

"She's probably going to forget about it the morning after, Atsushi," Rika pointed out.

"Can you remind her the next time you see her then?"

"Sure."

"Also, tell her it has to be next week," he added, and she nodded.

"But why?" Honoken asked. "We don't have any missions for the next few days."

"I'll use this last week of the month to look for Karma before the next one starts."

"Again, why?"

"I have an idea of where she will attack next," he answered, not looking at her.

While that was true, it wasn't his only reason. His quirk would also become bothersome during the next few months, and Karma would cause an even bigger headache because of her own quirk. Nothing he couldn't handle, but still, he wanted to get as many battles with her as possible until then.

"Beyond that gauntlet, would you like some tools for yourself?" Rika offered as they reached her apartment, taking him away from his pondering. Somehow, her place was as messy as Akagi's.

"I have a few ideas for gadgets that would suit you. You only need to provide the funding."

"I'll look through them out of curiosity, but... I think I'll be fine as I am," he decided, feeling his worries about the future settle down. He would just handle it as he always did. Nothing would happen.