Vigilantes in Naruhata

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***

Another two years passed, I continued to quietly do vigilante work. I mostly disarmed bandits, and occasionally helped with fires or something like that. I was filmed a couple of times, and my ego couldn't help but pose for a newspaper article, and I got on the internet because of it. They gave me a funny nickname 'Tengu' because I appear suddenly and disappear just as suddenly, and when I fly in the sky, because of my cloak, I look like some kind of paranormal. Tengu in Japanese mythology, it is ekai-woron, appears in the form of a man of huge height with a red face, long nose, sometimes with wings. Tengu are credited with extraordinary physical abilities and cold weapon skills...and they are also considered to be rather nasty creatures with a terrible temper and the same sense of humour, although there are some decent enough creatures among them to protect temples and pious people. Funny, but somehow I fit the description of this Tengu. My strength is there, as are my sword skills, and a sense of humour that only I can understand myself is also in place. On the internet, I quickly gained popularity, well, it's mainly because heroes and villains with great strength is enough in the world, but there are very few strong vigilantes, just usually vigilantes are some brainless schoolchildren with an exaggerated CE...such as me. It got to the point that I even have fans, not that many, but lynching is still not welcome in a normal society...although, how can you call a society normal, where everyone has superpowers?

- Grandson, tell me, what do you plan to do in the future? - Once, after one training session, my grandfather asked me.

- I don't know,' I said, sitting on my knees with my sword in my hands. - Actually, I was planning to go to university, probably even Tokyo University. - I answered, though in fact studying there would be for appearance, as several institute programmes on microbiology, cell and molecular biology, I have already studied, and this, not counting my already existing knowledge of physics and engineering.

- Studying is good, of course. - The old man nodded his head. - But honestly, Akira, I'd like you to inherit my dojo.

- Grandfather, I'm flattered, but it's too early to talk about it, and don't write yourself off. - I said and stood up. - Besides, I'm going to study at Yuei in three years.

- Yuei? - Grandpa asked me again, his eyebrows furrowed. - Didn't you say that you have nothing to do in school since you've learnt the whole curriculum?

- Well, yes, but Yueyi has a hero department, where you're bound to find strong opponents that you can count your ribs against. - I replied with a slightly bloodthirsty smile. Still, my grandfather's upbringing affected my character a little, but at least I didn't become an aggressive gopnik, and that's already good.

- And maybe there will be some beautiful chicks in a tight suit...ahem, yes, in general it would be fun, but besides training, - and night walks in a suit. - I don't do much of anything, so at least I'll have something to do with my free time.

- What about the dojo?

- Oh, okay. I'll take over the dojo when I reach the age of majority, that is, when I finish my studies, and you manage it for me, okay? - That's what I suggested, although it's more of an excuse.

- Okay, I'm in. Still, it's a pity your grandmother is long gone, she was better at parenting than I was.

- You're not bad at parenting, Grandpa, I'm just defective...I mean brainy. Let's just keep practising. - I drew my sword from its sheath and attacked my grandfather with lightning speed.

With the reason for entering Yuei, I really didn't lie...almost. I get stronger when I fight strong opponents, and I'm sure there will be some, and I might find some interesting quirks among the future superheroes. By the way, what is Yuei? It's a dash academy, a heroic high school. Yuei Academy is world-famous, ranking first among high schools for heroes and considered the best hero academy in the world. The best heroes have graduated from this school, such as Almighty, for example. Naturally, many people want to enter it, including me, but not for normal reasons, for which an adequate person would not enter the school. Even the name of the academy is kanji, which is an anagram of the word 'hero'.

Pro heroes have their own Internet service, called 'Hero Network'. There is all reliable information on heroes of the whole country and their activities, well as the Hero Network is used for communication and coordination with other heroes. It also has information on known villains and their quirks. But for the network to be used you need a hero licence, officially entered into the database... but I've managed it. To access the hero network, superheroes use special mobile phones, and the thing is, a couple of weeks ago, I clipped a mobile phone from one of the horses...I mean heroes, yeah. I uploaded a homemade Trojan-like virus into the phone, which I had already successfully tested on the police station's database before, and then discreetly returned the phone to the loser as if nothing had happened. Now I had the information I was interested in, which, by the way, had recently come in handy.

About a fortnight later, as I was flying over the city at night, something unusual happened. Near Naruhata, a dormitory district, a three metre tall psychotic, purple-haired man with a black tongue and a cleaver in his hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a park, attacking the nearest passers-by.

Defeating him proved problematic...again. Something I often find uncomfortable opponents, but never mind. The problem with the purple bogeyman is the same as the hood freak, he has abnormal physical durability. Fortunately, after the hood freak incident, I seriously considered how to defeat the 'tank' opponent.

As practice has shown, it is useless to attack opponents with great strength with fists, some effect can be achieved with energy attacks, preferably compressed into a dense clot of plasma, some form, and you can also cause damage with slashing attacks. I combined the latter two methods. Through my sword, I let a large amount of energy, and then swung it sharply to the side, creating a kind of energy slash. The main problem is that the sword itself does not accumulate light very well, so slashes should be launched immediately after powering the sword, otherwise the energy will quickly disperse, and also high-temperature plasma can not be launched, but this is because the sword itself can not withstand such thermal loads and turn into ashes.

The purple boogeyman had enough two light slashes, strength is strength, but his regeneration is not very good, so he was quickly deflated from the damage.

It turned out that this man was not actually a villain, but an ordinary owner of a butcher's shop, who broke the law by driving through a red traffic light. Well, at least we know where he got the cleaver. He had a syringe of a strange viscous liquid stuck in his back, which I identified as Trigger, that quirk-enhancing drug.

There's not much information about Trigger on the Heroes Network, except that America produces a much better and longer-acting drug than Asia, and that those who have taken Trigger have a black tongue, like a butcher. There is information on the web about similar cases of drug addicts going berserk, and for some reason most of the events happen in Naruhat.

So I decided to check out what the hell was going on.

And what was going on was this. In the city, someone suddenly began to supply drugs, and who exactly is the dealer, neither the police nor the heroes do not know. But I hacked into the surveillance cameras in Naruhata and found a dozen suspects...and a couple of cameras showed a strange old man in a bandage, beating infected people with a trigger and a couple of suspected dealers, who reminded me of someone vaguely familiar...but never mind.

What's also weird is that when vigilantes like the old man started appearing in Naruhata, for some reason, at the same time, villain killings were on the rise in Tokyo. Hmmm, some kind of outlaw justice enforcer must be connected to that too...oh, now I see why the police don't like vigilantes, they have to clean up their shit.

In addition to this information, the Heroes Network had several other dossiers on Naruhata vigilantes, including this strange old man who reminded me of someone, who gave himself the nickname 'Kastet'. The hero with the iron fists. Well, even a fool would realise that he invented that name because he had brass knuckles on his hands. And other than his nickname, there's nothing else in the file.

There's also a file on some rubbish collector called 'The Gentleman,' a kid in a hoodie who looks like an Almighty merchant. He's not much of a scavenger, he cleans the streets, gives directions to passersby and helps them find lost items. His quirk allows him to create gravitational light circles on his arms and legs, which makes him faster, somewhere on a level with a not very fast car, but to use his quirk he has to lean on the ground with three or four limbs, which makes him look like some kind of insect, like a cockroach, but it's not a quirk, but rather a twist of his psyche. I can also do something similar, but I don't see much sense in it, as I can move at a great speed both on the ground and in the air. This gentleman, in principle, could also fly, but it seems that he has not developed his quirk, so he will not be able to fly for a long time.

The police don't care much about him, as he doesn't do anything wrong. Of course, he is using the quirk without a licence, but the gentleman has not killed, maimed or damaged anyone's property, so the maximum he will get is a fine. Well, the police don't care about him and neither do I.

And lastly, and most interestingly, about a high school girl with a quirk that allows her to jump high, she calls herself Popstep. She's not a hero per se, but rather a street singer, Popstep does concerts on the streets...yada yada yada, and her outfit looks like cosplay...nah, more like a sex shop costume. But now I can see why she became so popular so quickly, I even have a desire to meet this 'Butt'.

To be honest, these Naruhat vigilantes didn't impress me. Seriously, a sexy schoolgirl is still okay, but an old man and a creeping cockroach are no good, neither power-wise nor outwardly, as a sexy ass Popstep. I'm being a little picky, of course, because many people become vigilantes simply because they couldn't get into or graduate from the hero department, because of their weakness or stupidity, and instead of becoming wussy heroes with a licence, they became wussy outlaws...Sounds harsh, but it gets the point across. A quirk is a lottery ticket, and a lucky ticket may fall to only one in a thousand. You could say that luck plays a significant role here, but for me, who has already died twice, luck doesn't even think about smiling. If someone else had been born instead of me, he would have been able to glow for a couple of minutes at most, so my strength and brains are primarily the result of persistence and hard work, not luck. Umbra did some tinkering in my genome, of course, it's clear, but he didn't give me the power itself, I developed it myself.

By the way, there's a dossier on me in the heroes' network, about Tengu to be exact. What can I say, the police know almost nothing about me, and all because I try to wipe my tracks, erase the footage from surveillance cameras and mobile devices of passers-by who filmed me...well, except for those moments when I posed for the newspapers' photos a couple of times. What is very strange is that the police are specifically looking for me, not the Tokyo Lynch Murderer, even the police have tried to catch me a couple of times, unsuccessfully of course. Nah, I get it, but don't they have any other job than catching a harmless kid...shooting plasma and wielding a katana.

But seriously, I think I've really messed with the Heroes Public Safety Commission's nerves. What's that? Well, it's a law enforcement agency responsible for managing interactions between the heroes and the community at large, and for investigating the most dangerous cases of crime. In fact, it's the commission that runs all the hero agencies and the heroes themselves, which is to say, it's the superhero bosses...and they don't like me very much, which is not a good thing, because I've also hacked into the commission's archives and I know that those who don't obey them are quick to stick their flippers together, kill them, and disguise them as accidents. As it seems, this is also against the law, but people with power, as a rule, do not write the law, especially the government in any case will turn a blind eye to the actions of the commission, as long as they do not have to deal with it themselves...lazy arseholes.

In any case, there is a big chance that for my head, the commission will send a suitable specialist, but frankly speaking, it does not really scare me. I'm not afraid of death as such, because I know that after death there is an afterlife, and reincarnation, plus they are unlikely to find a thug, with a speed comparable to mine, so I do not worry.

All the suspected dealers of Trigger, a ran through the network, that is, their names, where they work and live, and one by one found them in Naruhata, but so far, those I came across, were ordinary office clerks, but okay, sooner or later, the dealer I will still find.

On one of my evening runs through the bedroom district of Tokyo, which is Naruhata, when I was catching a thief of women's handbags and already going back to the robbed lady, having previously beaten the thief and confiscated the bag, my eyes noticed a couple of previously interested me.

- Oh, it's that cockroach, and with her is a sexy schoolgirl. - I stopped when I saw the Gentleman and Popstep talking.

The Gentleman was now unmasked, so I quickly ran him through, Tucks, his name is Koichi Haimawari, about nineteen years old, works as a clerk at a convenience store a couple of steps away. Blah, blah, blah, blah, nothing interesting except his name. The gist of their conversation was that Pop was calling Koichi a sucker and a cockroach, which was true, but that was my personal opinion...and Pop's too, hehehe.

I quickly ran off, returned the bag to the girl, and went back to the vigilantes. Why? Well, I don't really care about Koichi, but Popstep really interested me...with her booty. But when I got back, I was confronted with a very unpleasant sight. Three gopis were clamping Popstep in the corner, and Koichi was standing there, not doing a damn thing but staring at one of the gopis with an ugly face.

- Well, it looks like fate wants me to save a pretty girl in trouble. - I jumped down, and for effect, gave acceleration with my forces, from which at the contact of the ground with my body, raised a pile of dust.

- What the... - said the lizard-like gopnik, as I launched a dense energy wave at him, which knocked him off his feet and knocked his head against the wall.

The remaining two gopniks, as well as Popstep and Koichi, were now staring at my displeased face in surprise.

- Get your hands off the girl before I cut them off. - I drew my sword from behind my back to illustrate my words.

- Scum, you think you're better than me now that you've put on a suit and a mask?! - Another thug, whose knuckles had spikes on them, grinned.

- Yeah, I am. - I answered him and hit him in the head with the side of my katana, which instantly sent him into the realm of morpheus. - Now, there's one last one to deal with. - I gave the chubby goon a mean look.

- Eeeee! - he shrieked like a frightened girl and tried to run away. The key word is tried. I immediately caught his skank, and lifting the squealing carcass above my head, threw him into the carcass of the lizard gopnik. Anyway, he's out, too.

- These gopniks don't impress me at all, a schoolgirl would be more trouble. - I said and approached Popstep. - Are you all right? - I gave her a hand, because she was now sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.

- Y-yes, thank you. - She answered with a hesitation, taking my hand and standing up, by the way, her face was a little crying...I think it's clear why.

- I don't think tears are appropriate for a beauty like you. - I took off my glove and wiped her tears, making her blush a little.

- Wow, you're Tengu! - Koichi, who'd been standing there all this time, recognised me.

- Are you still here? I thought you'd run away by now. - She went after the guy, and she had every right to.

- Stop calling me that... and I wasn't going to run away, I wanted to help. - Koichi finished uncertainly.

- I hadn't noticed that, but whatever.

- Are you really a Tengu? - Pop asked, scrutinising me from every angle. - And you're cool...much cooler than some cockroaches. - She looked at Koichi, who gave her a disgruntled look in return. - But you don't look the way you're pictured on the internet, or the way I've been pictured.

- Oh, and how am I pictured? - I smiled, coming close to the beauty in the pseudo-bathing suit.

- I-I-' Pop blushed again. - ...I don't know, strong, n- probably and beautiful... - she interrupted when I made 'cabedon', that is when a man forcibly presses a girl against the wall, blocking her escape routes, and when you hit your palm against the wall you get the sound of 'don', hence the name.

- Oh, I'm not pretty? - I made a sad face.

- N-no, you are handsome...very handsome. - I stuttered and continued to blush as I brought my face as close to hers as possible.

- Really, thank you, it's nice to hear compliments from such a pretty girl. - I stepped back and heard a slightly disappointed sigh from Pop. I didn't continue flirting with the girl for a few reasons, because I'd only known her for a couple of minutes, and secondly, there was that Roach staring at us, and it would be weird to continue the romantic scene in front of him.

Koichi was about to say something, but something weird happened. An old man fell from the roof, a la a sack of potatoes, right into the rubbish bin.

- I'm here! - The old man climbed out of the bin and shouted. By the way, it was that Kastet, the crazy old man with the mask and the knuckles. - Did I miss it? - He looked round and saw the goons lying in the hole. Is it just me, or have I seen this somewhere before?

- What kind of day is it today? - asked the gentleman a question, hitting the spot.

- In general, I expected to save the beauty and go off into the sunset as a tough guy, but one, in addition to the beauty, there is an old man and a cockroach, and two, it already looks like a meeting of vigilantes, and I'm not interested in such things, come on. - I said and turned to Pop. - I hope we'll meet again Pop-step and get to know each other more deeply... very deeply. - with a noticeable subtext I agreed and flew away.

- Me too...would like to get to know each other deeper.