Eyes In The Dark

On the fringe of Kyoto, amidst a sea of shops and residences, stood the Yamashina Railway Station. It was a central transport hub for Kyoto’s Eastern District. It was also the nearest station to Shiketsu and a certain hero intern’s apartment. The proud station was nearly empty. It was not the time of night, nor the day being Sunday that made the station deserted. At all hours Yamashina should be packed to the gills. No, only fear could render the station so barren. Fear of another villain attack.

Just yesterday, a villain named Nox had trapped a passenger train in darkness for hours. The stories that came out of that train were harrowing even for the hardened citizens of Kyoto. The fact that no one died and that nothing was stolen only heightened the citizens’ anxiety. To the average person, it seemed like Nox had held hundreds of people in the terror and cold of her darkness for the fuck of it. That sort of random cruelty was more frightening than any murder. If you kept your head down you wouldn’t be killed, so the common wisdom went, but this attack? Anyone could’ve been riding that train.

Life would return to normal tomorrow. Even those who worked enviable jobs at companies that granted their employees a weekend would have to go to work. By the simple law of averages, nothing would happen on the trains tomorrow. The citizens’ confidence would rebuild and in a week, they’d not remember the terror of the past 24 hours. But now, so close to the attack, only a few braved the trains tonight.

The few people who sat in Yamashina station were there because of necessity. Some commuted from a job that didn’t care if the day was called Sunday or if the hour was 2200. Others were too young to fully comprehend the possibility of a villain terrorizing them out of boredom. Still others… were there at the request of the Kyoto Transportation Service. They were here to act as scarecrows, to assure the people that even if a villain decided to change their lives forever, someone was here to stop them. They were heroes. Or, at least, they were supposed to be. There were too many stations and trains to cover in Kyoto, even at this late hour. As such, this low activity residential area was de-prioritized and given to a small hero agency that didn’t have any active sidekicks. However, the agency did have an embarrassment of interns. Two of those interns were assigned to this shift. They were watching a train leave the station.

The first was a white-haired young woman, identifiable as Capture Cloth from Shiketsu. Her expression was a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment by proxy. The other, a familiar blond boy, was making a scene.

---

Inigo waved heartily as the Osaka 2200 pulled out of the station. He couldn’t see her, but he was SURE Hoge was watching him through the window. The bells of his clown hero costume jingled merrily as he hopped from one foot to the other. “I’ll be waiting!” He called with all the affection he could bear. Gigan turned into a green handkerchief and waved on his own.

Inigo’s performance drew spectators. A salary woman on the wrong side of 30, single despite her beauty, twitched at the naked display of young love before her. A middle-aged man looked on with rosy cheeks, remembering his wife waiting at home. A pair of teenage girls filmed the scene on their phone tittering at each other in barely comprehensible slang. Finally, sitting behind the pair of Shiketsu students on a weatherworn bench, was an old man with a long white beard who didn’t bother looking up from his newspaper.

Yui rolled her eyes at Inigo’s antics. “Dude, stop, she’ll be back in two hours tops.”

Inigo and Gigan stopped waving. Inigo’s face transitioned from tearful farewell to abject horror. “THAT LONG?!” Such a time apart was unfathomable. Gigan slammed into the earth. The poor little green dragon was no longer able to muster the will to even maintain his form. He melted into a green puddle.

Inigo hit his knees. He put a hand on Gigan’s puddle. “Stay strong.” He whispered. Whether he spoke to Gigan or himself, he didn’t know. His world was gone, ferried away by a hissing metal monument to humanity’s hubris.

The world is cruel.

“Stop recording assholes!” Yui snarled, just noticing the pair of high school girls with their phones out. Inigo didn’t care. Why should he? Let them look. Let them see the agony of a broken heart!

“Inigo,” Yui’s voice was suddenly urgent. “get up!”

“What’s the point?” Inigo grossed. He could feel the eyes upon him. He didn’t care!

“Teacher!”

Before the last syllable left Yui’s mouth, Inigo, driven by the honed instincts of a habitual delinquent, was standing and ready to bow. Gigan alighted on his shoulder. The little dragon dressed in a school uniform, glasses, and a tiny pocket protector.

Inigo raised an eyebrow. He didn’t see a teacher. He looked around. He didn’t see anyone. He glanced at Yui, did she lie so he’d stop making a scene? Yui pointed up. He looked up.

There, floating down from the burnt orange night sky common to a metropolis were a pair of figures. One was the scantily clad red-haired heroine known as Rosethorn. Her red coat billowed in the wind in such a way that Inigo felt the need to apologize to Hoge. The other was Inigo’s perpetually cloaked classmate, Sora aka Orbit. Orbit’s billowing black cloak somehow obscured his body even as Inigo stared up at him.

Inigo’s spectators fully switched their attention to Rosethorn. The salaried woman mentally compared her body to the heroine’s. The middle-aged man averted his eyes, her outfit was a little too stimulating for a man his age. The high schoolers started taking selfies. The old man with a long white beard focused on his newspaper.

“Team Popsy.” Rosethorn intoned as she passed the plain metal roof and landed before her students. Orbit hung in the air beside her.

“That’s us!” Inigo answered.

“Yo.” Yui echoed with something like nonchalance.

“Anything to report?” Rosethorn began hesitantly. She looked around. Inigo raised an eyebrow. There wasn’t anything to report, but she’d know that. They’d just radioed an ‘all clear’ five minutes ago.

“Nope!”

“We’re just on scarecrow duty right?” Yui asked. “You expecting something?”

“… no.” Rosethorn insisted. She returned her gaze to her students. “Your shift ends at 2400 right? Call me if Popsy’s even a second late. I don’t want you out here past then.”

“Sure thing Mom,” Yui replied sarcastically. Rosethorn’s lips tightened but she said nothing to the provocation.

“…” Inigo studied Rosethorn. She was tense. Her shoulders were set like she was ready to throw a punch. Something was wrong.

Rosethorn noticed Inigo’s expression. She smiled tightly. “Inigo, a word?”

“Okay.” Rosethorn ushered Inigo towards a deserted part of the platform. Inigo felt anxious as the people’s eyes followed him. It felt like he was being sent to the faculty offices for a lecture, but he hadn’t done anything wrong! Well… nothing Rosethorn would know about anyway.

---

“…” Yui watched the two walk away. What on earth would Rosethorn want with Inigo? Hoge hadn’t let the kid out of her sight, he shouldn’t’ve been able to get in trouble. She sighed, it was no use worrying about it. She looked at Sora, a boy she’d never said more than 4 words to. He floated there ominously, somehow falling and rising at the same time. It turned Yui’s stomach to watch him, but she managed to meet his eye. “How’s it hanging?”

“Precipitously.”

“Cool.”

---

Inigo followed Rosethorn closely. The tittering high school girls with phones at the ready attempted to do the same, but a quick glare from Yui dashed their hopes. Inigo frowned. He felt his skin crawl like someone was still staring at him. Shouldn’t they be looking at the top 10 heroine and not him? Gigan was on his shoulder looking around in confusion.

Rosethorn abruptly turned on her heel. Her face was a storm of unreadable emotions. Inigo stopped short. Gigan, startled, dove behind Inigo.

“Have you heard from Cain?” Rosethorn asked point blank.

Inigo blinked. “Chris?” He asked dumbly.

“Yes.”

Inigo frowned. There was something urgent in her voice. “Yeah, I talked to him yesterday, after his fight with--” Desolator. A cold chill ran up his spine. “Is he missing?!”

“No!” Rosethorn answered quickly. “He’s… home,” she added like she’d already checked, “but did he say anything yesterday? Did he sound distressed?”

“No?” Inigo answered uncertainly. Chris had been upbeat. Why not? He’d saved the day. They’d had to end the call because Faith was blowing Chris’s phone up. “He seemed pretty happy yesterday.”

Rosethorn tried to fake a sigh of relief, but it was too forced. Whatever she’d been looking for in this conversation, she hadn’t gotten it. “That’s good.”

“Sensei what’s going on?” Inigo begged. She was scaring him.

“I’m just trying to confirm he’s not going after the Five again.” Rosethorn smiled. The tension melted away from her voice a little too smoothly. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was lying.

“Okay.” Inigo didn’t call her on it. She wasn’t worried about Chris doing something stupid, that much was plain by the fact she didn’t ask him to babysit again. She thought Chris was already in danger. The question was… from whom? The Five? Desolator didn’t go after kids did he? Well… Chris had been making his life miserable. Maybe he’d make an exception?

Inigo felt bile crawl up his stomach and into his throat. He needed to call Maddox, get a hold of Desolator. He needed to make sure the villain wasn’t after Chris. He could make another deal. He--

“I’m sorry if I worried you, Inigo.” Rosethorn put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m just trying to stay ahead of things. I have to if I want to protect my students.”

Inigo nodded. The bile receded. That part, at least, wasn’t a lie.

“Now, let’s get back before…” Rosethorn looked over Inigo’s shoulder. She sighed. “Yui and Sora have a conversation.” Inigo’s gaze followed Rosethorn. Yui and Sora stood across from each other. Their arms crossed. Neither said a word. Inigo laughed.

It wasn’t a real laugh. Inigo was scared. He was worried about Chris, but worse…. Gigan scanned the darkness around the platform. The dragon back arched like a bow.

Everyone on the platform was looking at Rosethorn as she approached Orbit. Even the old man spared her a glance. As the pair lifted into the night sky, the civilians’ eyes followed them. Yet… Inigo felt the same way he had since Hoge’d left. The same tickle in his skin. The same tingle along his spine. The feeling of eyes on him.

Someone was watching him.

---

Inigo checked his LINE for the third time in as many seconds. There was no response. Inigo clenched his teeth.

“He’s prolly asleep,” Yui commented.

“Yeah.” Inigo didn’t look up from his phone.

“If you’re that worried you can go check on him.” Yui offered. “I can be a scarecrow all on my own.”

Inigo looked up. Yui looked worried about him, but she did her best not to let it show. He looked around. No one was paying attention to them, the only person still on this platform was that old man with a long white beard. He was STILL reading his newspaper.

Inigo considered her offer for a second. “No.” He answered. He was worried about Chris sure, but there was something else.

Gigan fluttered out of the darkness and settled on Inigo’s shoulder again. He shrugged. The dragon hadn’t found anything. Inigo’s skin prickled as some unseen observer’s eyes crawled over his skin again.

Someone was out there. He knew it.

“… dude seriously, what’s wrong? You okay?”

“I—” Inigo didn’t know how to answer immediately. Yui would respect his instincts. What’s more, she had good instincts too. If someone was watching her, she’d feel it. She also had a shit poker face. Even if she were trying to hide that she felt someone watching her, Inigo’d see through it. Whoever was out there didn’t seem interested in Yui. Should he tell her? Should he drag her into whatever this was? Was there even a thing to be dragged into? What if he was just paranoid? What if it was Luccione? What if… his stomach went cold. What if it was Sato? Fuck.

“I’m fine,” Inigo answered with his trademark winning smile.

“Sure.” Yui was appropriately unconvinced. She sighed. “Listen, I know I ain’t Chris, or Hoge or whoever, but I think we’re friends.”

“We are!”

“Then what the fuck is eating you?”

“…”

Yui seemed to wind up for a tirade about how he needed to trust her, and then she seemed to remember something. She looked like she remembered a time she’d actually gotten someone to admit what was really bothering him. A time she heard more than she bargained for. She deflated. “All right, fine, you can’t tell me. I get it.”

“It’s not because--”

“It’s fine.” Yui huffed. She looked down the concrete island, where a vending machine she liked was hidden next to the bathroom. “I’m gonna get some juice, you want some?”

“… yeah.”

“What kind?”

“Ultra lemon supreme.”

“Eugh.” Yui fake gagged. She walked off just the same towards the bathroom. “I’ll be back.”

“Thanks!” Inigo called. His voice didn’t crack. He was proud of that. He could feel Yui roll her eyes as she walked off.

Inigo shuddered as Yui went out of earshot. He scanned the darkness again. The featureless facades of closed shops some 20 meters beyond the rails greeted him. No lights. No signs of life. Just the tickle on his skin of someone watching. It was starting to seriously freak him out.

“Up to taking another look buddy?” Inigo whispered to Gigan. Gigan started to nod--

“And what exactly are you looking for Myoga?” Inigo froze as a familiar voice cut through him. Gigan hissed. He looked over, the old man with the long white beard was staring at him. His familiar blue eyes bored into Inigo.

“Sam!” Inigo exclaimed. So it’d just been Desolator watching him! What a relief! … said absolutely no one in history before. But that’s okay! Inigo didn’t mind being the first.

Almost bouncing with relief, Inigo made his way over to Desolator’s bench and took a seat uninvited. Desolator sighed. He folded his newspaper. “Please have a seat.”

“Glad to!” Inigo answered, already seated. “So, what brings you out here?”

“Well… I’m either here to offer my congratulations or a warning. It depends.”

“On?” Inigo felt Gigan tense, he brushed the dragon lightly. Sam wasn’t giving off the vibe that this could turn ugly.

“On why a red light has been issued on Cain.”

Inigo blinked. “A red light?” In the underworld, a red light meant ‘do NOT touch.’ A person with a red light on him was publicly under the aegis of whoever issued the red light. Violating a red light would mean declaring war on the issuer. It was rarely issued as it drew attention to someone important to your operation. It was usually only ever used for critical personnel at risk from another organization.

The Dai Ichi had only issued a Red Light once in Inigo’s memory. That was when one of their accountants was caught sleeping with the Yamashino head’s daughter. It’d gotten ugly enough that Inigo’s grandfather had had to briefly come out of retirement.

“Who issued it?”

“The Shie Hassaikai.” Desolator answered. Inigo’s eyebrow raised. That was Eri’s clan. They were certainly strong enough that their red light meant something, but why the fuck would Chris have an in with the Hassaikai?

“Did you talk to the Old Man?” Desolator asked. Did he mean Eri’s grandfather?

Inigo shook his head. He’d never even mentioned Chris to Eri. It’d never occurred to Inigo that he could talk another family into protecting his friends… he wished it would’ve but whatever reason they were watching Chris’s back, he was glad they were. A red light was a good thing, right?

Desolator sighed. He didn’t think so. “Then it’s a warning.”

“Ominous.” Inigo joked. “Do you want me to get the flashlight so you can menacing--”

Desolator’s stare shut Inigo’s mouth. “… I’m here to warn you of three things.” Desolator declared. “First, Sato will not be pleased. He’ll think you did this.”

“Eh~ that’s okay, not the first time I ever got on my bro’s bad side.”

Desolator frowned. He felt a certain way about the Dai Ichi’s ‘discipline.’ “If it gets too bad…”

“I got Maddie’s number.” Inigo smiled. Desolator nodded.

A train came around the corner and began to rumble into the station. Desolator stood, clearly intending to board the train. Inigo glanced behind him, to see Yui begin to make her way back, two cans of juice in hand.

“Second…” Desolator whispered so low that Inigo could barely hear him over the screech of the train’s brakes. He shoved his newspaper into Inigo’s hands. Inigo accepted the paper without thinking. The villain stood. “Your friend Cain, avoid him if you can. Whatever he’s gotten himself into, you want no part of it.”

“… what? Why?”

“The Shie Hassaikai have no reason to protect Cain and wouldn’t willingly risk a war with your brother.” Desolator began to walk away. The hiss of the train engine nearly drowned out his voice. “Which means they were either persuaded or coerced. Ask yourself, what kind of monster the Shie Hassaikai might obey.”

Inigo felt his heart stop. The Shie Hassaikai weren’t the issuers were they? It made… sense. They had no reason to protect Chris. It had to be someone else. Someone who made them issue a red light on his behalf. Someone… Inigo connected the dots to his earlier conversation with Rosethorn and this one. ...someone that even Rosethorn feared. “Who--”

“And third!” Desolator interrupted. Yui was almost in earshot. Time was short. “Read the paper.” The train doors opened and Desolator boarded.

“You know the old guy?” Yui asked as she reached Inigo holding out his sweet drink. Inigo shook his head as he accepted her drink. “Friend of my grandpa’s.” That wasn't a lie.

“Ah.” Yui glanced at him. “You look like you feel… better?”

“Thanks.” Inigo didn’t feel quite so anxious right now, just thoroughly confused. Who the Hell was Desolator talking about? AND WHY THE FUCK WAS HIS SKIN STILL CRAWLING NOW THAT DESOLATOR WAS GONE?!

Inigo took a sip of his juice. As the sugary sweet liquid hit his throat, he remembered Desolator’s last warning.

‘Read the paper.’

Inigo looked at the folded newspaper in his hands. There, scribbled in English were the words. ‘Third building from your right. Roof.’ Inigo froze. His skin was still crawling. Someone was still watching.

He found the building Desolator described. There, crouched low against the building’s roof, was a shape, a black shape. She was visible against the night sky only because she was darker than the surrounding night, like wool against ivory. When Inigo’s eyes met hers, she flew away. The distinct shape of a dragon’s wings fluttered against the burnt orange sky as she made her way north, toward Chris’s apartment.

Gigan squawked in annoyance. He recognized the shape and so did Inigo.

“… Black Dragon sis?”

Inigo contemplated launching after Hitomi just long enough that he didn’t see a middle-aged widower get off the train Desolator had just boarded. The man saw Inigo, but Inigo didn’t see him. Inigo was working and the man didn’t want to be a bother. So, the conscientious man made his way home without a word to his son’s friend.