The Story Starts Now

Night Seventy Six

Age 1991

Hero walked forward outside of the Enforcers Main Building as Kitsune followed after him closely behind. The two of them looked around as Hero let out a small sigh and his eye twitched.

"I still can't believe you just let Irene just walk off by herself while she was going through an emotional moment..." Hero said shooting the fox teen a dirty look. Kitsune let out an innocent whistle as he turned his head away not meeting Devil Arm's gaze... "I hope she's okay... I'd hate to think it is my fault she did this..."

"I mean..." Kitsune began slowly. "I'm not really sure why it matters so much? I mean we were all annoyed we lost the mission. I have no idea why she's being so weird."

"It isn't that." Hero shook his head and clenched his fist for a moment. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with the mission... It's that other thing... What did you call it? The Fallen One? That thing I almost did before she stopped me and brought me back to my senses with her words. I'm not exactly sure why but ever since she saw that she began behaving weird and acting differently. I think something she saw messed her up or something... I would hate to learn that I am the cause of it..."

"Hey speaking of Irene... What do you think of her?" Kitsune questioned casually?

Hero nearly tripped over his own feet for a moment before he caught himself and turned to look at the weeby fox Noble. "What..." He asked flatly.

"What?" Kitsune gave a shrug not knowing why Hero was acting so weird suddenly.

"Did you just ask me what I think of Irene?"

"Yeah... Why?"

"Why?"

Kitsune gave an uncomfortable shrug. "I... I don't know? I mean she has some cool powers, ice pun intended, and I guess she's kind of cute I was just wondering if there was anything going on between you two or... Like... What's going on there?"

"Are you trying to ask me if Irene and I are-"

"No!" Kitsune said crossing his arms. "Look! Let's just drop it and find Irene... Forget I said anything..."

The two boys turned back to the job at hand as they continued searching the outside yard, looking for their lost friend. They walked towards the large Golden gates that covered the Enforcers base giving a wave when they saw the large Gate Keeper.

"Yo! Mr. Gate keeper," Hero said giving a small wave when he saw the man. "We're looking for our Squad mate Irene. Seen her around."

"I mean... Yeah. I have. Why?"

"We're looking for him," Kitsune said giving a small shrug. "She ran off in a hurry and we need to find her. You can just tell me which way she went and Hero can stay here and talk to you-"

"What?" Hero asked turning to the fox.

"Ahh nothing." Kitsune said quickly. "So you know where she went Mr. Gate keeper?"

"Afraid she's gonna do something stupid."

"No. Irene's the smartest recruit on our Squad." Hero said casually as he threw his arms behind his head. "I've just been a bit worried about her. I think she may be trying to avoid me for some reason?"

"That's fair." The Gate Keeper gave a heavy sigh as he raised his arms up and pointed in a direction. "Last I saw of the crazy nut job, she ran off that way. She seemed to be deep in thought and was muttering to herself like crazy... She's definitely one of the weirder recruits we got this Age... Still if she is even half the power of her twin brother North, than she'll be a great use to the Enforcers..."

"Okay. Thanks for the help." Kitsune stated giving a small bow like the weeb he was.

"Yeah thanks sir." Hero gave a nod of his head for a moment as the gate keeper let out a grunt. The two of them quickly left as they continued to walk down the path. "Irene... She really is something, isn't she. She's not the strongest member of our team, but she's got raw endurance on her side. And those abs... She just keeps coming taking more and more damage." Hero said in a respectful tone as he nodded his head up and down. "Kind of jealous. She's got the perfect body for a superhero. I bet she could totally pull off the superhero landing... Maybe I should ask her to be my sidekick..."

"Is that all you care about... Also talking about a girls body like that kind of makes you sound like a pervert-"

"I'm not a pervert! All I'm saying... Is she would look really good in a flashy costume." Kitsune gave the boy a deadpanned look. "Hey it's not my fault. I think Piero was the one who made me like superheroes okay!"

"You think?"

"Well..." Hero trailed off a bit as he ran his hand through his snow white hair. "I kind of don't know anymore. I keep getting memories of things that never happened and flashes of timelines that don't make sense... It's like seeing someone strangers mind that I feel like I should know or something... Max said I was a Second Generation... He thinks I was the former First Captain... I know that I'm not a second generation though." Hero stared down at both of his hands eyeing the white marble that rested in his right hand. "I don't know how I know, but I just do... That being said I think there is something weird with me..."

"I can't help you I'm afraid." Kitsune sighed. "After all when we first met you had already been with the Master for a while at that point. Still if I had to take some kind of guess the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that maybe it has something to do with you almost turning into a Fallen One? But that doesn't make any sense as I've never heard of someone losing memories, or having memories altered, when they became a Fallen One... I do know that becoming a Fallen One can snap a person mental health and make them go mad but that's it... And you never became a Fallen One, you just began to become one... Has anything like that ever happened in the past?"

"Well... I can think of two other times..." Hero said staring down at his hands for a moment. "The first was when I was still in my village before I even met the Master. I had just learned of Okami Otoko's death and the power snapped in me... Luckily Light managed to knock me out before I fully turned."

"Light? What?"

"Oh no the kid Light." Hero shook his head. "I remember a bit more now. Light used to be a grown man on Squad One. I think he must be one of those Second Generation things Max told me about. When I was a kid I used to call him Big Brother so I guess whenever he died somehow his power was placed on someone else and he became the current Blind Light we have. Although only 45% of him is left so that's why he calls me big brother as he likely remembers that but is confused since he's younger than me now... As for the second time I used that power was with you and the Master. That was when the Master had to split my Equation in half and placed part of it in the Wolfs-Bane I guess..."

"I always wondered how he did that..." Kitsune hummed as he nodded his head for a moment. "I mean Equations are already decided what their Type is before you bond with them or mess with them. So an Equip Type can't be placed in a limb to turn it into a Transformation Type, and a Transformation Type can't be placed in a weapon to turn it into an Equip Type... And yet the Master still did that somehow? Also it should be impossible to even split an Equation at all... Makes me wonder how Irene has one that's been split so much... And how the hell she is as strong as she is? I mean she only has a tiny fraction of what her true power is. She's no joke. Think about her strength if she had the full Equation. She'd be the strongest on our Squad for sure!"

Hero let out a small nod as he raised his right hand up. "Yeah... All of us... We all need to get strong. A lot stronger. If I'm going to be a hero of justice that can save everyone in front of him, then I'm going to need a lot more power than this..."

"Well, how long do you think until it'll finish?" The two boys turned seeing Irene up ahead. She had a small stern look on her face as she placed her hands on her hips staring at both boys. "The stronger you are Hero, the less I'll have to worry about you."

"There you are!" Both boys yelled running towards her.

"Sorry for making you two come look for me." Irene said letting out a small hiss as she turned her head away. "I must have made you all worry right? Well don't worry about it anymore. I'm better now and I know what I have to do now for sure."

Kitsune gave a smirk. "Your expression... It's gone back to that stern annoyed look you always give us all. You're back to normal now right?"

"Well. As normal as I can get with the power I have." Irene said giving a shrug. "I was worried about fighting. Because I didn't want to walk down a path because I was afraid of losing someone. But now I see that if I really care about that person than I should just walk down that path for their sake so I can help them."

"Glad to have you back Irene." Kitsune said nodding his head. "I hope you can make up with Ken to and you two can stop those cat fights."

"We'll see... I don't hate the shorty but she is annoying." Irene let out a small snort as she folded her arms. "Though I do kind of wish I had her mind style. She's so young and innocent. She doesn't even begin to know how much it sucks to be an adult..."

Hero gave a small smile as he nodded his head to Irene. "Well Irene. I hope you can keep up with me because I'm not gonna hold back. I'm going to get a lot stronger. Strong enough to follow my dreams and save everyone I see. Because I'm Hero Law-"

Hero was suddenly silenced when Irene grabbed the back of his head and forced his face down into her shoulder making him go silent. "You do that." She said giving the smallest hint of a smile. 'That look...' She thought. 'That innocent look on his face. It's the same my siblings, and father had. The same as mother, and the same as North. And the same I used to have... Alright... I'm certain of it now. I'm going to protect that smile. And when the day does come for me to talk down that path I'm going to use that as my motivation to keep on going.'

'Lucky bastard...' Kitsune thought with a frown as he watched Irene hug Hero. 'There goes my chances with Irene... First Ken and now this... I'm never gonna start a Harem...'

"Uh Irene?" Hero asked in a slightly embarrassed tone as she began to rung her hand through his hair. "I was trying to act cool and you ruined." His face was slightly red as he stood there awkwardly. For a moment he wondered how long had it been since he was last hugged by someone.

"Trust me Hero." Irene said letting go of his head. "You're not cool."