Returning Debts

Finding himself on top of a tall building, Mikumo finally viewed Esuha City in its entirety. The unfamiliar landmarks, clustered establishments, and bustling crowds in the streets below him felt so strange, making him finally realize that he really was no longer in Musutafu. There was an uncomfortable, stuffy feeling in his chest.

Mikumo shook his head. He refused to let unnecessary thoughts cloud his mind.

Right now is business hours.

Taking a deep breath, the shadow beneath Mikumo's feet visibly expanded, until it covered nearly half of the rooftop he was standing on.

Emerging from the inky blackness of his shadow, hundreds of owls took off to the sky, flapping their wings silently as they spread out into the city.

This was the first time he had used his quirk in a widescale manner. Hopefully, it would turn out well.

Now, in another part of the city, a certain scarfaced man was leaning on a deserted alley, smoking a cigarette. To the people he was escaping from, they knew him as Sewer, a smalltime gangster who sold information about Himitsuno Yume to the police.

After being captured by the organization's hounds and taken to a secluded prison at the outskirts of the city, he used his quirk, Rat, to dig a tunnel through the ground and escaped.

As of now, he was hiding from his pursuers, making use of the city's confusing back alleys to make his getaway.

"Damn it!"

Sewer violently threw his half used cigarette to the dirty ground and stomped on it repeatedly. He should've known it wasn't that easy to betray the organization and get away with it.

And now, he lost all his possessions and even the money that the government promised him was nowhere to be seen.

All he could do now was resign himself to running away in fear like a rat. The irony.

"Hoo."

Unnoticed, a lone owl stared at the man, tilting its head inquisitively when the man took out a new stick of cigarette from his pocket.

"Found him."

Inside a small convenient store, Mikumo grinned jubilantly. His first manhunt had succeeded far easier than he had expected.

"That would be 650 yen. Would you like to separate the items into two bags?"

"Oh." Mikumo was pulled out from his thoughts, seeing the cashier giving him a strange look.

"Two bags, please."

'What a strange customer.' The cashier thought to herself.

...

Sitting by a desk in the darkness, viewing a dark alley below the window, Giran smiled lazily as he compared the scarred man in the alley to the photo in his hand.

Today was a good day for him. Having just come down to Esuha City to pay a visit to an important client, he was pleasantly surprised to have coincidentally run into a possible

escapee with a bounty on his head.

"I didn't expect to be making extra cash today, but-" Giran chuckled, nudging up the round tinted glasses which had been slipping off his nose. "When money fall on your lap, you can't really refuse."

"I guess I'll be getting acquainted with Himitsuno Yume far earlier than I anticipated." But, when he was raising his phone to send the location of the wanted man, a new development occurred.

At the entrance of the alleyway, a boy had dropped from the rooftops with an owl landing straight to his shoulder as soon as he appeared.

Then, something happened which caught him by surprise.

Clack.

He was so taken aback that even the sound of his phone dropping to the floor didn't manage to catch his attention.

There, just below him, a crimson oriental dragon emerged from the boy's shadow and ate the man from the neck down, leaving only a head with an eternal fearful expression to roll lifelessly on the ground.

Even until the boy had long since left, he was still staring at the now deserted alley in awe.

Then he started laughing- no, cackling.

"Ahahahahahahaha!!!" Taking off his glasses and throwing them roughly on the desk, he clutched his stomach as he bent over. "Damn! This day is much better than I thought! Who the hell was that kid! That was priceless!"

Obvious to see, the man didn't seem to mind losing the money he could have gotten from catching the wanted man. Instead, he seemed more than happy to discover the existence of a possible future villain.

"Guess I'll be staying in Esuha for a bit longer then."

...

"I've already notified all of our informants to spread the news about the bounty on Sewer, boss, but, since we are still clueless about his real identity, it might take a while." An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind the door.

Mikumo was speechless. Why did he always end up overhearing conversations he wanted no part of? He wasn't even doing it purposely. It just sort of happened.

"We can't rule out the possibility that he's taking shelter from the government too." The same unfamiliar voice continued.

"No. Sewer has multiple records so he wouldn't risk getting too close to them. It's more likely that he's running away on his own." This time, it was Dreamcloud who spoke.

Mikumo debated whether to knock now or wait a little more but, remembering that he still had to go clothes and essentials shopping before returning to Akatsuki, he made up his mind to knock.

Somehow, the buzzing feeling in his head from last night was back, having grown louder since he used his quirk. This must be one of its side effects.

Almost instantly, all conversations in the room halted.

Then the door was promptly opened by a large individual with a bear head who visibly sighed in relief upon seeing that it was just Mikumo. "Oh, it's just a kid."

"A kid?" From behind the stranger, Mikumo heard Dreamcloud mutter.

"Excuse me." With a blank expression, Mikumo pushed the man aside and entered the room, strutting up to a confused Dreamcloud and dropping a heavy plastic bag on the table.

"Now I don't owe you anything." Mikumo said seriously as turned around, exiting the room, but just before he left, he turned back to face Dreamcloud one last time.

"Also, you might want to hire some guards. I've already accidentally eavesdropped twice and that isn't good."

Silently, the two men were left wide eyed in surprise and contemplation.

"..." Dreamcloud wordlessly turned to his companion. "Kumadie, you set up the alarm, right?"

"Yes, boss." The bear headed man nodded. "Blocked the stairs heading to the basement too."

"Then, how-" Dreamcloud trailed off.

"Ah, boss! The bag!" Kumadie exclaimed upon noticing a strange, red substance leaking from the plastic bag and onto the table.

"This?!"

With great apprehension, Dreamcloud opened the bag.

Only to find a familiar face staring back at him with eyes wide open in fear.

Well, it seems that the traitor was the least of their concerns now.

...

Upon arriving back at Akatsuki with several extra grocery bags carried on his arms, he found himself being greeted by a creepily enthusiastic Shisei.

"So, how was the trip! Did you have fun triggering alarms?" Shisei circled around Mikumo with a grin.

"What alarm?" Mikumo furrowed his brows in confusion as he set down his bags in his room.

"You know, the alarm that non members of Himitsuno Yume trigger whenever they try heading to the basement through the stairs." Shisei said, nearly bouncing on his feet in excitement.

"Oh. The stairway was locked so I went through the vents. Didn't trigger any alarms." Mikumo said indifferently and shut the door in Shisei's face.

Speechless, Shisei stood in front of the closed door in shock.

"...The vents?"