At Midnight We Meet, and We Are Many

---

Junichi sat on his couch, staring at a letter held in both hands.

It was past midnight, and the room was dark, save for a single lamp shining a meager light into the blackness. It had just been delivered, left at his doorstep with just two sharp knocks on the door being the only thing heralding its arrival.

On its face was a simple sentence, followed by two singular characters on a separate line. The sentence read ‘We are many’. Cryptic enough, but blatantly obvious at the same time.

The remaining two characters, together, were ‘Takagi’. His own last name.

This was a summons. A Legion meeting had been called. It had been months since he’d had any contact with Legion. Honestly, he’d half-thought they’d abandoned him after he’d returned from Tokyo. But that was obviously not the case. Legion had just been staying low, letting things cool off, assessing new options.

Now? They weren’t staying low much longer. Apparently.

‘This is the worst.’ Junichi thought. He huffed, and re-aligned his traitorous thoughts. ‘Honestly, I should be looking for a new job.’

He continued to stare, trying to build up to opening the letter. This went on for minutes.

‘I could ignore it.’ He thought.

He let his eyes fall off the words. ‘But… why should I? Fuck, what’s wrong with me?’

Junichi grit his teeth, and flipped the letter, then tore it open by slipping his finger under the flap. He pulled out the paper inside, and brought it into the light so he could read.

It was a short letter, with a whole long list of implications. Another mission, here in Kyoto, this time. More action. More villainy.

Junichi read the letter over and over, ten times over. He committed the map to memory, gripping the paper tight enough he nearly tore it, but all the while, he thought back to the start of the year. How he’d felt. The events that drove him to join Legion. His excitement as he went to Tokyo. He thought back to the aftermath of Tokyo.

He’d be going through that all again.

---

The night of the Legion meeting came. The night was quiet, cool, and dark, and the streets felt empty. Further towards the core of the city, they would be bustling with night-goers and bar hoppers, but in this area, the darkness settled over everything like a dark blanket.

Junichi walked down the dingy streetway, hands shoved into his pockets. His eyes were locked forwards, a scowl plastered over his face, as it often was.

“Aw, I thought I’d finally get to see you smile properly.” A voice came from behind him, belonging, of course, to Inigo Myoga.

Unlike Junichi, who was dressed as he normally would be, with a simple dark t-shirt below one of his usual jackets, Inigo was geared up in proper costume, a dark suit of armour, mostly black with green accents. His helmet, which would normally obscure his face, was carried under his arm, upside down so Gigan could curl up inside of it.

“I don’t smile.” Junichi retorted.

“You do sometimes! Like when you beat me in Mecho Corez.”

Junichi frowned deeper at that. It was particularly satisfying.

“Or what about those couple of times we’ve fought together,” Inigo continued on, “and you got really into it?”

“I don’t ‘get into’ fighting. I do it for a cause, not for fun.”

Inigo sped up and spun around, so he could face Junichi while walking backwards in front of him. “You really believe that, bro?”

“I do.” Junichi affirmed, looking past Inigo.

“Well, you’re wrong. It’s a little scary, actually.”

“You were raised by Yakuza, and you think I’m scary?”

Inigo nodded. “Hell yeah man, when you get angry enough.”

Junichi finally shifted his gaze to glance at his companion, before suddenly turning, and making for an alleyway. “Down here.”

Inigo stopped backpedalling, instead following along down the alley.

The meeting place wasn’t too far from here, but it was slightly out of the way. The area they were in was run down, with abandoned houses and buildings every now and then, and these alleyways were far from well-kept.

Despite that, the two of them walked with a surprising lack of apprehension. Maybe it was their respective reckless and easy-going natures. More likely, it was the fact that they had each been through far worse than what a dark alleyway might threaten in all but the most dire of circumstances.

As they reached the end of the alley, Junichi stopped, and looked around. They were near the river, now. He cast his gaze around deliberately, contrasting with Inigo, who was looking around curiously and somewhat aimlessly with one hand shading his eyes from nothing in particular.

“This way.” Junichi said, jerking his head upwards to gesture with his chin.

Inigo followed along, falling into step to his left. “You never told me where we were going, anyways.”

“I know where we’re going, so you don’t need to.”

“Yeah, but you’re usually way more straightforward.”

Junichi growled, “We’ve only known each other for a few months.”

“I’m a good judge of character!” Inigo grinned back.

“You’re my friend, so I doubt that.”

Junichi sped up, and pointed at a building nestled between two other buildings, one a cheap love hotel, and the other a shady-looking set of garages. The building in question was of a fair size, and set back from the street, with a closed metal gate out front.

Inigo blinked for a moment, pausing at the street. “You’re not that bad!”

The yakuza dragon heir broke into a light jog to catch up, reaching the other teen just as he arrived at the metal fence. Junichi lowered his stance, and then jumped up, grabbing at the top of the barrier in his way, and pulled himself over with practiced grace, even as the metal groaned and protested beneath him. Inigo chose the smarter option, and simply willed Gigan into a set of stairs, allowing him easy access over the fence. He sat on top for a moment to pull on his helmet, and allow Gigan to wrap around his neck in the form of a particularly green scarf, then swung his legs over one by one, and dropped down.

“Who the hell are these two brats?” a voice called out from the darkness, welcoming them into what appeared to be a small parking lot outside the building. Along the face of the wall, there was a rusted metal roller door, old enough and obviously out of maintenance that it probably didn’t work well, if at all. Next to that roller door were two men, at least in their thirties; one leaning on the wall, the other crouched down.

“Heh, I wouldn’t say that if I were you. That’s Marrow, there. I was the one who brought him to the last rally in Tokyo. He could rip you in two.” the crouching one said, his eyes glimmering in the darkness.

“Hey fuck you, I was there too!” the leaning man pushed off the wall angrily.

“Yeah but he could rip you in two.”

Junichi glanced back at Inigo, his expression unreadable. Whether it was concern for Inigo, to check his reaction, or something else, only he knew. After a moment, he turned back to the two men and sauntered towards them.

“I’m not ripping anybody in two.” he stated flatly, then nodded in greeting at the still-crouched man, “Hornet-ossan. Been good?”

The man called Hornet finally stood up, with an annoyed grin on his face. “I told you last time, call me aniki. I’m not that old. Same old job as ever. Feels good to be back on track!”

“Mm.” Junichi nodded in agreement, but his tone was still flat and awkwardly matched with the enthusiasm Hornet showed.

“This is Murderous Hornet.” He turned to Inigo and explained, “you might’ve heard of him?”

“Hey! Hang on! It’s just Hornet these days. I’m not a chuuni punk like you any more.” Hornet quickly protested.

“Uh-huh.”

Inigo threw up a two-fingered salute, his expression unreadable behind that visored helmet of his, but Junichi could tell he was amused. “Yo!”

“So, you a new recruit?” Hornet asked, his hand reaching up to scratch at his stubbled chin.

“Me?” Inigo asked in surprise, “No, I’m-”

A loud scoff from the other man on the scene interrupted. “Does it fucking matter? Just go inside already. We’re nearly ready to start.”

Junichi slowly untensed from his preparations to step in and deflect Hornet away from Inigo, glancing between the unknown man and Hornet.

Hornet, too, glanced at the other man. “Sure, whatever. Guess we don’t want to make the boss mad.”

Junichi glared for a moment at the other guy, who was moving towards the corner of the building.

“Who is that guy anyways?” he asked Hornet, though he kept his gaze on the man in question.

“Him? He goes by the name Psycho Slash.” Hornet replied with a shrug, “He joined up a little while before you did.”

Junichi thought for a few moments, silently, until Hornet prompted him.

“Might wanna head on in, kid.”

Junichi nodded with a short huff of a sigh. “Yeah. Let’s go in.”

He turned, gesturing with one hand at Inigo, and followed Psycho Slash’s path around the corner.

There were a few steps leading up to a door, which Psycho Slash was impatiently standing by, occasionally glancing around. As Junichi and Inigo approached the steps, Psycho Slash opened the door. His jaw was clenched, and his gaze was sharp and almost hostile. He said nothing as the two passed by him to enter the building, but his gaze was worth more than any words could be.

The inside of the building was mostly empty, save for a few crates dotted around and the other people, numbering up to twenty or thirty. The main feature of this obviously-abandoned small warehouse was the stage constructed at the far side of the open area. A simple raised platform, with a single step up to bridge the thigh-high distance.

“Jeez, I hope that guy isn’t going to stare at us the whole time.” Inigo muttered as they found a place next to a crate along the wall opposite the stage.

“He won’t start trouble.” Junichi murmured back.

As he settled into a lean against the crate to his left, crossing his arms before his chest, he let his eyes scan across the room, looking for familiar features. Many of the other villains here had costumes of some sort to obscure their identities, but some, like him, seemed not to care.

‘They wouldn’t approve of me calling them villains.’ Junichi idly thought, even as he spotted some recognizable individuals. He shrugged to himself. In the end, there were only a few. Most of the people attending were unknown to him, here.

“You look a bit tense, bro. You okay?” Inigo suddenly asked, leaning in close enough that the sudden low voice caused him to startle.

“I’m fine. Just not many people I recognize. I think most of these guys are probably a bit higher up than I was last time, like Hornet-ossan.”

“Wouldn’t everyone be ‘a bit higher up’ than you are?” Inigo joked.

“Yes. I’m good but I can only work so fast.”

Inigo placed a hand on his chest in mock surprise, “Such humility!”

“Shut the fuck up.” Junichi growled back at him.

A couple more people filtered in, settling into the dim warehouse as time ticked monotonously onwards. Midnight was approaching, and soon, the Boss would appear.

Sure enough, Hornet and Psycho Slash entered moments later, taking their place at either side of the door. Junichi could feel the tension build, as the assembled revolutionaries slowly stopped their quiet muttering, until everything was silent.

The only sounds that broke this silence? Footsteps.

Through another door, on the far side of the room, near the stage, two figures emerged. The first was the one who captivated most eyes immediately, her presence almost physical as she leapt to the stage, almost gliding through the air as she skipped the step up. Her hair was long, and pure white, and her eyes swept the room, assessing everyone within the gaze of her fiery red left eye. The boss, one of the three figureheads of Legion. Nebulous Storm.

The other one was shorter, and wore a fox mask hiding their face. A girl, or a really feminine boy? Junichi had never seen them before, but for some reason they felt familiar. Maybe someone higher up from Tokyo?

He let his gaze linger for a moment, noting the sword at the person’s hip, then focused back on Nebulous Storm.

“Comrades! Brothers- and Sisters-in-arms, welcome. It’s been some time since we met like this. After the last raid, we needed to lay low, regroup, and recover. But that time is behind us now.”

Nebulous Storm spoke with a resolute confidence, but not with the power or projection one would expect of a traditional speaker on a stage such as this. No, her voice was almost soft, having a certain melodic, gentle quality to it, at complete odds to her persona in combat.

‘I remember how I almost left when I attended my first meeting…’ Junichi mused as the speech continued.

“We are poised to strike once more. Those at the top of this country have been continuing their subversive, tyrannical activities! They do not rest. They can’t afford to rest, because we are strong and we only grow stronger. We won’t let them rule this world, clutched in their corrupt fist, any longer!” The intensity of her gaze grew as she spoke, her passion and emotion showing clearly in her expression. She paced and gestured, small bits of red flame occasionally flickering off her body or movements.

“No. They have resisted us, trying to hold on to their control in Tokyo for a long time. But we’ve grown, and now we strike here in this very city. Together, we will make a difference. Kyoto is one of the most important Hero cities in the country, if not the world. Together, we’ll free it from this rot.”

The crowd roared in approval, a cheer rising up to the roof and beyond, before they went silent with an authoritative flick of a sheathed sword from Nebulous Storm.

“To do this, we have several objectives. We need to keep the so-called ‘Heroes’ of this city on their feet. We will lead several harrying strikes and skirmishes on choice agencies to keep them busy and on the back foot. Additionally, we have a few other targets. The Enforcers have a large presence here, and we will need to deal with them. Not only are they going to be attempting to disrupt our actions and kill or capture all of us, they’re bringing one of our important allies to Kyoto to imprison them where they think we cannot reach. So, to begin with, Hornet…”

Junichi zoned out, letting his attention move away from Nebulous Storm. This was the part where he didn’t need to pay attention. The big boss would dish out the imperatives, the important and strongest members would be assigned activities, then they’d in turn take their pick from the mooks to accompany him - this is where he’d come in. As he figured, he’d get recruited by Hornet to join up with a harassment team, just like last time.

He glanced sideways at his friend, Inigo, but found him not paying attention at all. Typical. He followed Inigo’s gaze, and found it locked onto the figure who’d accompanied Nebulous Storm when she made her entrance. The masked figure glanced their way for a moment, before glancing away again, shifting slightly on their feet.

Junichi raised an eyebrow, before it clicked. ‘Oh. They’re a woman after all.’

“Idiot. At least pretend to pay attention; Nebulous Storm is hot as hell, and barely dressed, and you don’t even notice?” He quietly hissed at Inigo.

“Huh?” Inigo snapped his head around to look at Nebulous Storm, then to Junichi. “What?”

“You’re staring at- nevermind. Thanks for coming. After what happened with… yknow… I thought you might be able to pay me back by watching my back. We don’t really infight so much as… well, when the boss ain’t around, things get rowdier. Last time Hornet bailed me out, but that’s a bad look, you feel?”

Inigo threw a thumbs up, and Junichi could almost feel his shiny smile. “No worries bro! I was kinda curious what these meetings were like, anyways. It’s definitely got a different vibe.”

“Yeah, I could imagine, what with the whole ‘heir of the dragons’ thing your family has going-”

Suddenly, like a bucket of cold water dumped right on his head, Junichi was cut off by a soft, near-melodic voice calling out his name, causing him to freeze up, like a child being called out by a teacher or parent.

“... Marrow. After his efforts earlier in the year, and given his particular skills, it’s been decided that he is the best candidate to lead the rescue mission. A small team with appropriate skills holds the best chance of success at freeing Council.”

‘Huh? Wait, what?!’ Junichi thought, panicked. He rewound his thoughts to try and pick out the context from his peripheral memories. ‘I was just nominated as a mission lead?’

Before he could recover from his stunned state, another voice, deeper, gruff, picked up.

“I don’t agree. He’s a kid. He wouldn’t know how to properly lead a mission, let alone hold his own in a fight against a real opponent.”

Junichi looked over, his neck wooden, motions slow. That voice belonged to one of the higher members of Legion that he knew of. Deathless.

“I’ve made my decision. Unless Marrow wants to decline his assignment?” Nebulous Storm turned her head, and stared at Junichi. Her fiery red eye burned through him, even as her regular eye calmly watched for his response. Soon after, he felt more eyes looking in his direction, until what felt like the entire warehouse was staring at him.

Hell, maybe they were.

“Fuck no.” He said, defiance burning through the icy cold in his chest. His first thought was naturally to accept that out, but being outright questioned like that? By him, nonetheless?

Junichi stepped forward, away from the wall and into the center of the gathering. “I’ll do it.”

He glared at Deathless, who stared back, looking down his nose, his heavy brow shadowing his eyes.

“Then it’s settled. Choose your teams well. Good luck.”

Nebulous Storm turned around, her hair flaring out behind her, and left, dropping off the stage and walking to her companion. She stopped there, briefly, and it looked like she started up a conversation along with the rest of the people in the building. With one last glance at the assembled revolutionaries, she patted the masked swordswoman on the shoulder, and the two of them left through the same door they entered.

Junichi let out the sigh he didn’t realise he was holding, allowing his shoulders to slowly untense.

“What she’s thinking, I can’t tell.” Deathless loudly stated. While he was grouped with a small number of others, mostly his underlings, it was obviously directed at the whole warehouse.

‘This fucker…!’ Junichi grit his teeth, but before he could say or do anything more, Hornet strode towards Deathless.

“Why are you questioning one of Legion’s pillars? Nebulous Storm has her reasons for whatever she does, that’s why she’s one of the leaders of this organization.”

“I’m voicing my opinion. Our goal is freedom, that should apply to words, no?” Deathless replied in his rumbling voice, walking forward to meet Hornet in the middle as the people in the crowd started backing away.

“It should. But what you’ve done is just a blatant power-play. It’s this kind of squabbling and control we’re trying to destroy.”

The two men faced each other down, Deathless towering over Hornet’s more compact form. Such clashes were surprisingly common. In an organization like Legion, strength mattered the most, ironically. Moments passed, tension mounting.

“Fine,” Deathless finally said with a sigh, “I’ll just prove my point instead of making a ‘power-play’ like you accused.”

He gestured casually with a hand, “Get him.”

Exactly on cue, three of Deathless’ underlings burst into motion. Hornet, eyes wide in shock, quickly tried to intervene, but Deathless was ready for him, and blockaded his path.

Junichi quickly dropped into a ready stance, but he wasn’t expecting to be attacked, still reeling from his nomination to an important mission.

But tonight, he wasn’t alone.

“Bro, watch out!”

Inigo threw out his hand, and Gigan responded, snaking out from around his neck and lengthening into a whip-like construct, striking out like a cobra to wrap around one of the henchmen trying to attack Junichi from behind.

Junichi dodged backwards into the space earned for him by Inigo, but only after a few steps, he realised he couldn’t go any further back without bumping into someone from the crowd or a stack of crates. He glanced sideways, seeing Inigo yank the third opponent off his feet.

‘Nothing to do but fight, then.’

Often, in a hero vs villain scenario, fights could drag on, as each side assessed the other and their capabilities with their skills and quirks. But sometimes, violence was just quick and brutal.

Junichi stopped his backwards momentum, and charged, picking one opponent. Because they had fanned out, he had just a single moment to take care of this one before the other could engage. He took the simple option; intimidation.

He thrust his left hand forward, and activated his quirk as he met the charge of his chosen opponent, aiming for the face as a spike of bone explosively shot forward. The underling’s eyes immediately widened, and he flinched backwards, hard. Bending almost ninety degrees backwards, he started to fall, scrambling to retain his balance, but Junichi was already turning to the other opponent, shifting his feet and hips as he transitioned into a side-kick, catching the second underling square in the stomach.

All he needed was one more moment, and he got it. Bringing his foot back down to the ground, he continued with his momentum, and swung his arm towards the guy who’d fallen, even as a scythe- or pick-like blade formed out of the side of the bone spike. He slammed it into the ground next to the fallen underling’s head.

Deathless merely watched impassively.

“Is this level of strength really sufficient?” he asked, seemingly to thin air, but the question hung. He let it sit there, for a moment, before shrugging. “My boys lost. I certainly hope they don’t get assigned anything important before I can train them to be stronger.”

Junichi watched as Deathless turned and strode to the exit. He felt his breathing quicken with anger, wanting to shout out, call that old bastard back, demand he fuck off and die, or-

But he couldn’t. Not here, not now.

Inigo, standing over the third underling, holding him down with a giant hand-form Gigan, looked around, unsure. “So do I let him up, or…?”

Junichi grit his teeth, then reached down with his hand to snap the bone spike off from his wrist at its weak connection. It had partially snapped off from the impact already, so it wasn’t too hard to do.

“Yeah. Let him up.”

Gigan shrunk and deflated like a balloon, slinking back around Inigo’s neck. The three underlings got up, glaring, but quickly followed their boss; the third one even slapping away Inigo’s offered hand as he pulled himself to his feet.

Slowly, low conversation returned to the warehouse. Hornet approached, a conciliatory but wan smile on his face.

“You handled that well. I expected a bit more bloodshed, truth be told.” the older man admitted.

“I’m not- it’s not always-” Junichi stuttered back, making a slightly pained expression, “I thought I should hold back. Nebulous Storm never goes too far with discipline, right?”

Hornet patted Junichi on the shoulder twice. “I have some recommendations for you to bring along. You have some time to plan things, too, from what the boss-lady said.”

Junichi nodded, and glanced back at Inigo. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to say. He settled with a quiet, mumbled ‘thanks’.

---

The two of them spent some time in the warehouse, Junichi talking with Hornet, and Inigo occasionally piping in with a quip or a joke, but otherwise staying out of the conversation. Hornet, for what it was worth, didn’t inquire about Inigo again. After that, Junichi went around to a few of the revolutionary soldiers recommended by Hornet, and some he’d chosen himself. In the end, he decided on four others with quirks or skills he thought might be useful in intercepting a convoy and recovering a prisoner from it. As he and Inigo left, Psycho Slash, leaning next to the door, made sure to glare at them, but otherwise said nothing.

“Not the most agreeable.” Junichi muttered, his usually foul mouth awfully reserved.

Inigo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, no kidding.”

They walked down the steps, side-by-side, headed towards the closed rusty gate that would serve as their exit. However, they were stopped just past the corner of the building by a sheathed odachi barring their path, its tip resting on the concrete at their feet.

“Takagi.” Nebulous Storm said from where she was leaning against the wall, almost a question or an acknowledgement, but not quite either. Despite her tone of voice and way of speaking, it sounded like a command.

“... Nebulous Storm. Is something wrong?” Junichi asked, inhaling slowly and deliberately.

“No. Nothing of the sort. I was just curious to see you’d brought a friend.”

“I could say the same to you-” Junichi froze for a second, glancing past her to the masked swordswoman as his brain caught up with the back-talk that had just left his mouth, “uh, Nebulous Storm-sama.”

She chuckled lightly, either completely oblivious to Junichi’s tension, or deliberately ignoring it. “You can just call me Momo. We’re both fighting for the same cause, aren’t we?”

“Yes, Momo…-sama.”

She raised an eyebrow at that.

“Sorry.”

She shrugged her left shoulder. “I make a habit of meeting recruits. It’s good to gauge someone before entrusting them with anything.”

“He’s not a recruit.” Junichi stated, then quickly followed up upon seeing Nebulous Storm’s expression begin to change. “He’s an ally! An ally! He’s with… uh, our intermediaries here in Kyoto. The ones who delivered that box to me that you sent?”

“Yeah, no need to worry about me! Secret’s safe, promise!” Inigo piped in, the cheery sincerity audible in his voice, even past his helmet.

Nebulous Storm’s expression began to soften again, before curiosity caught in her eyes. “Box?”

“Yeah, that box that I lo- uh. Nevermind.” Junichi rubbed at the back of his neck, appearing the perfect image of a sheepish child for just a moment. “If you don’t know about it, it wasn’t that important I guess.”

Nebulous Storm hummed in thought for a moment. “Well. I wanted to tell you more directly that I’ve taken notice. You’re a natural in a fight, and your talents will take you far. I wanted to give you a chance to prove yourself. Maybe you could even spar with me once in a while? I might be able to teach you some tricks. My friend here could do with some other sparring partners occasionally, too. You could learn a lot from her.”

Junichi glanced at the other girl, questioningly, before looking back to Nebulous Storm apprehensively. Inigo beside him raised his hand to his helmeted mouth, elbow resting on his other hand, as if thinking about something.

“If you think that would be appropriate… it would be, uh, an honour?” Junichi stammered out, his words stilted and slowly becoming more polite by the moment.

“You need to learn to talk to women, Takagi.” Nebulous Storm said with a sigh as she flexed her shoulders to push herself off the wall.

“That’s what I tell him all the time!” Inigo burst out, lowering his hand from his face, and just exuding a smug aura.

Nebulous Storm laughed softly again, turning to walk away, but still looking back over her shoulder. “I’ll be in touch, Takagi!”

As she left, Junichi noticed the masked swordswoman staring at him from his peripheral vision.

“Do you have a problem- er, did I do something wrong?” He asked, a subtle tinge of confusion, annoyance and despair in his voice.

“No. I don’t think so?” She plainly stated, still maintaining eye contact.

Junichi blinked three times. ‘That’s it? Ugh, I give up.’

He turned and threw up his hands in hopelessness and frustration. Behind him, Inigo and the masked swordswoman met the other’s gaze with a mutual spark of recognition.

“Still love the mask!” Inigo whispered with a conspiratorial thumbs up.

“Thank you.” the swordswoman responded. After a hesitant pause, she continued. “If I was never here, I couldn’t see you here either?”

Inigo shot her dual finger-guns, even as Gigan emit a quiet mewl of disappointment from around his neck. “Works for me! Catch ya round!”

He spun and picked up his pace to catch up to Junichi.

---

Now that they were back across the fence, and outside of the parking lot of that warehouse, Junichi relaxed, but only slightly. It didn’t take long for Inigo to catch up to him, and for a minute, they walked in silence.

Since Junichi showed no sign of breaking it, that left Inigo.

“So, bro, big responsibility huh? I didn’t think it was like you to get this mellow over something like this, though. I imagined you’d be raring to go, y’know? Get your engine real revved and everything.”

Junichi continued to walk, hands shoved into his pockets as they passed through an alleyway.

“C'mon man, what’s up with you?” Inigo pressed.

“We shouldn’t be friends after this, right?” Junichi responded, eyes cast downwards.

Inigo blinked in confusion. He pulled his helmet off, his expression pure confusion.

“Why not? You can’t be tired of me yet. I have a winning personality!”

“No, it’s not that. You, you’re at a hero school. You shouldn’t be caught up with someone like me, especially with the mission I was just given-”

Junichi felt a sharp pain upside the head as Inigo cuffed him, causing him to yelp in surprise, both his hands flying up to hold the place he was just hit, stopping in his tracks.

“What the hell?!”

“Oh, I was just rattling your brain. You must’ve gotten hit a bit too hard recently.”

“Huh?!” Junichi exclaimed, his expression now the one showing confusion.

“I’ve got secrets too, idiot. Didja forget who my family are? Or that I kinda work with the bloody Five sometimes? I mean, seriously man, we’ve gamed with some of them multiple times. I dunno how you couldn’t remember.” Inigo crossed his arms exaggeratedly, his nose turned up slightly, his expression… hurt?

“I didn’t forget, I just- y’know, I mean…” Junichi stumbled over his words, unsure of what exactly to say.

Inigo held his expression and posture for a moment, before a grin slowly cracked through his facade. He grabbed around Junichi’s shoulders and pulled him into a headlock.

“Hey- wha-!”

“Just shut up and accept the hug! Get angry! Tell me about how you’re gonna fuck up whatever hero gets in your way on this mission!” Inigo said, playfully ruffling Junichi’s hair even as he tried to resist.

“Idiot!” Junichi managed to stammer out. Inigo laughed at him, a good natured, friendly laugh, as he finally let him go.

“There we go! That’s more like it.”

“Fuck you! When the hell did you get tall enough to do that to me so casually?”

Inigo held a finger up to his lips playfully. “Secret.”

Then he started walking again. Junichi stared after the taller boy for a moment, before he realised he was getting left behind, and started after him in a jog.