Chapter 16: Superhero (Hida)

Clouds swirled over head as we walked into the heart of the main city. A twenty story building with a golden fist logo stood tall and proud. The hunter association, or as we like to call them... heroes. Sweet walked me in through the front gate as. The marble floor squeaked with each step I took. Officers rushed out of the side door probably heading to some sort of crime. The room smelled amazing, a pine and cinnamon danced elegantly on my nostrils. We walked to the front desk as a young man sat tipping away. He was quite skinny and had mascara on his eyes with a pink line of hair contrasting the black. He pulled it off nicely to be honest. 

 "Tammy, I'm taking my little sister on a tour is that cool?"

 "Sure, no worries. Just make sure to help the new recruits in the new combat arena, they'll be here in about thirty minutes."

 "Damn that was today. Alright no problem. You gonna help out?"

 "Nah, don't feel like it."

 "Come on Tammy, you know you're one of our best, plus your miso ability will work well in a combat demonstration."

 "Fine fine, I'll show." He chuckled.

 "Awesome." He said as they high fived.

We then walked down the hall to an elevator and clicked on the twelfth floor.

 "If he's such a good fighter, why does he do secretary work?" I asked.

 "Well they actually cover security here, their job is to protect this building and everyone in it. They also handle records for all of the crime we investigated and handle patrol placement."

 "Oh I see." 

The elevator stopped and as the door opened a brawny, tall blond man walked by. "Ah, Sweet my boy, you're not on patrol?"

 "I asked one of the guys to take my shift. Giving my little sister a tour around the facility."

 "Wish you had informed me first but alright, never hurts to inspire younger generations." He walked to me and rubbed my hair, his hands were rough, like those of a blacksmith. He looked me in the eye as it began to glow turquoise and suddenly I felt an immense amount of pressure. My knees buckled and my muscles tightened. It was like I was carrying the building on my shoulders and that's we it hit me....

💀

I could feel it, choking me, crushing me, burning my very soul. This man wanted to kill...erase me, down to the last atom. I can't take it anymore, I'd rather....I'd rather... I'd....die....no. I snapped out of it putting my hand in my satchel attached to my waist behind me. I heard the click (it's on) I pulled my hand out revealing an electric gauntlet with knuckle busters attached to them. With all the power I could muster I swung a fist towards his face but just as I was about to land a bunch he leaned back causing. (Damn it, I swung too hard. I'm gonna fall.) Suddenly I felt a hand grab my wrist and then was pulled upright. 

 "Hahahaha, hell of a punch there kid. You have the makings of a good Huntress. I look forward to working with you." He walked off through a door leading to the stair case and disappeared. My body was still shaking from that experience, my limbs felt like jelly and I was sweating like crazy.

 "Ya sorry about him. I was actually trying to avoid the guy, he does that to everyone he meets but he's a good man and a better leader. Come on, let's head out to my office." He helped me up and we walked down the hall to a small room with the name Bullseye on the door. (What a stupid call sign, I know he liked the toy horse but gosh it's just a movie, it wasn't even about him anyway. The space ranger was far more entertaining)

After unlocking it we walked in and across all the walls I saw countless investigation boards. One detailing a battle between the Peacekeepers and the Ruff Riders, apparently it was a deal gone bad when one of the members tried selling diamonds. Then another detailed a battle between the Head Hunters and two unknown assailants not too far from the coast. The ship sank and there were no survivors. The last was...The Phantom?

 "The hell is that, you're investigating Liam?"

 "Of course I am, I'm a cop. Just be glad that I haven't revealed his identity yet."

 "Sweet you have to stop this." I said concernedly.

 "Did you know that him and Itsuki are friends?"

 "What no, you saw them at the tournament, they hate each others guts." He handed me a picture of Itsuki walking into Liam's house. Liam had a bandage on his hand so it was clearly not too long after the tournament.

 "so what, Itsuki visited." He handed me another picture of Liam and Itsuki in a park together at night talking, Liam still hand his bandage. He was handing Itsuki a document.

 "So what."

 "Okay let me spell it out for you. He's planning on taking down his grandfather. And is going to use you guys to do it."

 "Oh my gosh" 

 "Exactly, pretty soon you guys will have the means to do so. But he won't think twice about victimising you."

 "Sweet, I know. We already talk about it?"

 "YOU WHAT?"

 "Ya, we talked about it recently."

 "You idiot. Never mind, look." He handed me some more paperwork and images. "That move he did to Ahiga, giving him a half empty bag. It destabilised the Ruff Riders territory, now it's ripe for the taking. Then he fought Itsuki with Itsuki letting him win. That means that now he has access to useful contacts from the outside world, his parents have access to some of the most profitable business on the island and lastly it gives him power amongst the Kara-no-gokis and their workers. Now he just needs something to level the playing field again and I'm willing to bet you know what it is."

 "So what if I do?"

 "Hida, Liam and his family are murderers. Do you know the name Verdas Sasaki?"

 "The zero to hero guy right, he was some homeless father but managed to land himself a large share of some Kara-no-goki business. He disappeared, it was a pretty big deal."

 "Well, Liam killed him."

 "What?"

 "Apparently there was some sort of dispute between Sasaki and Aikos father. Aikos father was later murdered by some mugger and Liam blamed him. Liam beat him to an inch of his life then shot him."

 "How do you know all this?"

 "My boss was hired by Lord Aamon to hide the body. He said it was a "show of strength" to make the police hide the body."

 "Wait, this was eight years ago so Liam would have had to be-"

 "Ten, he was ten when he did this. Worst of all Sasakis kids. The two youngest died and the older sister disappeared. Something tells me Aamon has something to do with it."

 "I'm sure there's a good explanation." I said as tears flush a stinging pain in my eyes.

 "Now for my final reason. Come with me."

We left the room and took an elevator to the next floor. It was a large room, big enough rival a soccer field. Inside I saw hundreds of Hunters young and old training like their lives depended on it.

 "Since when were there this many hunters?"

 "This is all new, we moved to this building about six months ago and most of the new members are from Japan, India, American, Germany. Countless hunters have come in all to set this island straight. That is what you'll be up against. Right now we are three thousand strong and have about seven hundred new recruits fresh out of the academy ready for battle. Speaking of." He walked to a large arena where thirty young adults sat taking turns fighting. He greeted them all as they shook hands, all of them acted like they just saw a celebrity. Guess my brother is more popular than I thought. 

 "Alright, first lesson of the day is miso containment. Unlike the bad guys we are liable for property damage so we must all be careful how we manifest out power in order to avoid destroying things unnecessarily. For this example I'll be getting assistance from my partner Tammy." Tammy walked in and waved to the recruits as they and Sweet walked together to the main arena. It was a large circular ring filled with sand and a bleachers enclosing it. The recruits and I all took out seats and watched as Sweet and Tammy walked into the arena. The shook hands and walked to their starting points.

A TV at the end of the arena popped up and in a robotic voice said "Enter Tammy, Call sign Jack rabbit, Rank Alpha, miso Jet burst" the it whirled and buzzed "Enter Sweet, call sign Bullseye, Rank Beta, miso Bullseye. Match one of one, begin."

Sweet quickly rushed Tammy to land a heavy right but Tammy jumped into the air. I looked at their feet and saw that their shoes were burnt off and what was left was a pink fire. They shot back down quickly and narrowly missed kicking sweets head off as he jumped backwards. He did a backflip digging his hands into sand and tossing it all into the air blocking Tammy's view. That's brothers miso at work. His eyes are super sharp. Doesn't matter what the target is, as long as he has the capability to reach it he will land his mark. He could catch a fly with tweezers from a thousand yards away if he had the strength to throw them that far. So tossing up each grain of sand to perfectly cover Tammy's view without blocking his own is child's play. He probably knows where each grain is right now. Tammy just smiled and burst their feet into flames kicking the air instantly turning the sand into glass. As sweet landed he rushed under the glass trying to throw a punch towards Tammy's chin but the first was caught and he nearly got kicked in the chest but dodged just in time. 

 "Woooooow." They all said watching them fight.

 "I think that'll do for now." Said sweet as he dusted off the sparks on his t-shirt. "Now, noticed how powerful Tammy's fire is, they easily turned the sand into glass but notice something interesting. Seventeen thousand degrees Celsius and non of you felt that heat. I felt it but I don't have any burn marks. They pin pointed the heat to only do what they intended, to turn the sand into glass. They could easily burn this entire arena but see how even the sand they stand on is still sand. Thank you Tammy." They bowed and walked off. "All of you are currently only omegas, but once you reach Beta class you'll be leading your own squads and heading investigations of your own. Make sure to work hard, this island is dangerous and run by filth. We'll need all the able bodies we can muster so go beyond..."

 "Push past your limits!" They all said in unison.

They all shook hands and walked off with renewed vigor in their hearts. 

 "Now do you see, a war is coming Hida. And I don't want you in the cross fire. Oh.." he looked to the balcony as his boss called him over, "looks like there's something else. He walked me to the balcony as the gym filled with thousands of Hunters all ready for battle. "ATTEEEEEEENTIIIIION. Good to see you all in high spirits. We've almost gathered enough resources to launch a full throttle attack on the Kara-no-goki family. With all the evidence we have we can arrest them all, and wipe out the other gang leaders in one fell swoop. Thanks to the efforts of the Phantom lord the Ruff Riders are vulnerable and thanks to the Kara-no-gokis the Head Hunters are scrambled. We only need to worry about the Kara-no-gokis and the Peacekeepers but mark my words we will win. FIRST OUR OPPRESSORS WILL FALL AND SOON THE WORLD WILL KNOW THAT WE STOOD AGAINST EVIL AND SHOUTED NO MORE!"

 "WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR!" they all shouted in unison stomping the group sending shockwave after shockwave. Hearing sweet talk about their plan was one thing but seeing it myself was a horror on it own. The Captain turned to me and smiled as if he knew what this all meant for me. My heart clenched like it was in a hydraulic press.

 "I'll do what I must." Said Hisashi as he turned to me. "And keep you out of it." 

The realisation dawned on me sending an electric shock of panic down my spine, I took a few steps back and rushed out the front door to the elevator. (I have to warn them, I have to tell them.) I took out my phone and tried calling Hisashi but he wouldn't pick up. I frantically typed a message to Hisashi telling him what was happening then called Liam, (maybe he can help) as I walked out of the building he answered. 

 "Hey what's up?" He answered.

 "Liam it's Hida, my brother is planning on arresting you and the others. Please we have to stop him."

 "He what, DAMN IT. We can't let him do that. He must be stopped no matter what."

 "No...no matter what." 

 "Ya, I had a feeling something like this would happen so I had something in the works. Just give me a sec, seems I'll need a favour from grandfather." He cut the call, (did, did I make the correct choice here. Should... should I even trust him.)

 I reached the bottom floor and walked home, once I reached home I walked to the scrap yard an sat there listening to the wind and sobbing. Pretty soon I heard footsteps and saw Sweet sit next to me. "My boss doesn't know the identity of The Phantom lord, but he knows of your involvement. He's helping me keep you out but I can only do that if you stop now. Please sister, they won't survive."

 "Can't you give them immunity?"

 "Only Vesta, you and Yato. But not Liam and Hisashi."

 "Why Hisashi. Apparently-" an explosion went off behind us. As two women walked through our destroyed gate one sleep walking. A young lady in pijamas and another in a massive RGB hoodie. She looked up at us sitting on the junk pile and smiled. "You Sweet Shitarin? Cute name for a ragged man." She gave us a brace filled smile as she removed her hoodie revealing rainbow coloured hair. And Auburn eyes. "Please, die for me."