Narukami's POV
"The Villain Redemption Project," Madam Yui revealed as she continued, "It's the only way to redeem yourselves. Basically, Sora just has to help Kagura with his work and that's it but... Kagura, you have to do a lot of stuff. I am sorry. But as I said, it's the only way to redeem yourself."
"But how am I a villain? All of that was just a honest mistake!" I protested.
"Oh, God. You aren't the villain in the mention. It's one of the supervillain prisoner's that will be randomly selected, according to various standards. You have to basically aid them in becoming better people; help them use their second chance morally. Okay now, you can go back to your homes and come back tomorrow morning for the meeting. Your timing is 7 a.m."
"Okay then, bye," I bid her farewell as I let out a sigh of mixed feelings: gladness for having my pessimistic expectations shattered and annoyance for having the privileges of a lazy Sunday nap taken away.
"Bye, Sora."
"Bye, Naru. See you tomorrow."
***
"Am I late, Madam Shizuka?"
"Yes, by twenty-six seconds. Anyways, please take a seat Kagura-kun. Right next to mine," a blue-eyed woman, a shade darker than mine with voluminous, short silver hair spoke. She radiated an elegant and dominant aura.
"I am sorry, it won't happen again," I sincerely apologized. Yesterday had been a really wearisome day and I couldn't sleep due to various nightmares visiting my head like kids dressed up in spooky clothes for a trick or treat.
"It better be," she spoke in an eerie tone.
Sora was sitting besides a violet-haired girl, who was the leader of group #48, diagonally opposite to the future President Shizuka. Her name was Violetta.
There were four other people other than me and Sora.
"Okay, then. Now that our dear latecomer has arrived, we can initiate the meeting." She stood up and switched on the PowerPoint presentation.
"So, before we begin, let me tell you some basic rules, you have to follow throughout the meeting. Firstly, for questions, raise you right hand and for objections and amends, your left. Secondly, this project is compulsory for everyone present here. If you don't want to do it, you can consider not wanting your job as well. Thirdly, I want all of you to pay your utmost attention to everything I am gonna say."
"Everyone deserves a second chance. So why should villains be an exception to this law? They are just broken heroes, after all. Under normal circumstances, a supervillain has to serve their entire life in jail due to the government's order for the safety of ordinary citizens."
"Isn't that right, Madam? Unlike other criminals, these supervillains are extremely perilous and giving them a second chance is basically handing an invite card to Lady Death. So, I think the government is quite justified," Violetta objected. Her father was a government official who worked under the 'Management of Extraordinary Individuals' department.
"Well, I know you have a deep inbred prejudice against supervillains and I think that it's normal for you to feel so. Basically, we're only going to give those villains a second chance, whose crimes aren't that serious." She clarified as Violetta responded with an, "Okay, then I am in."
"I trust you that this project is going to be extremely successful, provided you do as I say. You, me and the villain everyone's gonna benefit from this."
"Ma'am can you tell us how?" Aether, who was wearing orange rectangular glasses that complimented their carrot-hued hair as they adjusted them, while their green eyes glistened with an expression of distrust. They were the second member of Violetta's team.
"Wait, I will come to the benefits later. Let me tell you some basic information about the project. This is just a trial for now. The time period can vary from one month to one year at maximum. The period ends once we are satisfied with your work."
"You have to basically babysit these villains and let them grow once again as humans; understand their ideals, beliefs and motives and remove their misconceptions; educate them about morality, humanity and compassion and lastly learn from them. We aren't perfect in any manner and we can constantly learn from others, even villains. Are you all okay with this?"
"Hmm. It seems like a good idea. But what are we gonna gain by doing this? It feels like a waste of time," Aether commented, having mixed feelings about the project. I mentally thanked them for speaking out the stuff that I had in my mind, to the future boss. "I can see how the villain and the management can benefit but what about us?"
"You're gonna gain the ability to be unjust and impartial; and to see the situation from both sides. The inbuilt prejudices are gonna shatter and your horizon will widen. Other than psychological benefits, you are gonna have monetary privileges as well!"
"Monetary privileges??" Fumiko bounced from her seat to hear the boss's response with better clarity. Everyone could clearly see the yen sign popping out of her beige eyes.
"Yes. Tripled salary plus all privileges available to the level S heroes. Plus promotion to higher ranks. Now, would you consider this idea?" she persisted, tempting us with all kinds of luxuries. She then passed on a paper to Haruto, as she continued, "Now, participants please sign on this paper with a Y for yes and an N for no."
I carved out the most beautiful N which coincidentally was my initial letter as well. "Thank you to whoever who decided to name me with an N," I thought as I hoped that the one who named me wasn't my dad, and also for the cancellation of the project.
"So, 3 N and 3Y, it's a tie. Wait it isn't," she smirked while smearing a big Y on the paper. "I participated in the meeting as well."
"That's not fair," Violetta protested.
"Yup it isn't," Aether supported their captain and childhood friend.
"Anyways, I wasn't even going to consider the voting results in the first place," she taunted as she compressed the sheet into a ball and tossed it into the bin next to her.
An intimidating frown replaced her playful smirk as she went on, "You know, you're obliged to take part in this project as a punishment? Didn't your managers inform you? Instead of getting a detention or reduction in salary, you are gonna get extra money and privileges as punishment. And, you still aren't satisfied? Seems like I should suspend you all. All your memories related to this place and your job will be erased. Do y'all want that?"
"No please don't," I beseeched. "I am okay with this." The thought of losing my daily source of income, my dreams of becoming a my unforgettable memories connected to this place, my beloved Kiyoko, my bro Sora, and all kinds of things we went through together compelled me to fall prey to her manipulative words.
"Bro, you literally don't have to worry about this project. You can literally take the villainess's hand in yours and hold it against your cheek and whisper these words, 'do it for me, my princess' and she will fall heads over heels for you. I am so envious, you can get your project done within an hour and you might even end up with a successful love life," Haruto complained while fantasizing the most peculiar things, while the boss made the weirdest faces in response. "I wish I had the power to become handsome."
"Dude, I don't think becoming handsome would make you popular, you would need a charismatic personality as well, which is unavailable for purchase on Amazon, sadly. You can take lessons from Naru though," Sora intervened.
"I volunteer to be the villainess," Violetta raised her hand.
Aether sighed before speaking out their mind. They were agender and thought that gender wasn't such a grave topic as everyone made it out to be. "Please don't refer to me as a man or a woman. I would appreciate if you used they/them while referring to my pronouns. Please respect my preferences." That was what they spoke when we first met. They hated the fact that people still stuck with the binary terms when it came to gender.
"How are you so sure that the person would be a girl?"
"Girl or boy, I don't care. I don't desire for a love life," I protested. Kiyoko was the only one who I loved and I didn't care about dating anyone else.
Also the fact that the third person who voted for Y, Sora was intriguing. He was a really lazy person who hated spending energy and he would easily turn down a million yen for a siesta. The other two, Fumiko and Haruto would literally marry Money if it were a person.
"Okay, so before we wind up, I hand out these sheets. Fumiko, Narukami and Violetta, you all are going to do whatever that's written on this. Haruto, Sora and Aether, you have to just assist them as your mistakes weren't that grave. Now, you all can exit. Bye, I have to attend another meeting. Your mission will begin on the coming Sunday. Till then, you can enjoy your lives."
I let out a sigh of relief, which was probably gonna be my last one of relief.
I walked upto Sora as I asked him, his reasons for agreeing with the project without arguments. He smiled as he explained, "Do you perhaps remember that kid who protested against that petty scorpion? He was like the children and the teachers in the bus died because of his rebellious spirit. But can you guess who was the real killer?"
"Mr. Petty of course."
"You're a smartass, but you're wrong. It was me."
We stood speechless for a while as I finally broke the coagulating ice. "Bro, are you crazy? What are you even saying? You aren't responsible for anything."
"No, but don't you think that those 36 people could have been saved if I had given more priority to a noble work like saving others? You can call this guilt but no it's not that. It's my personal revenge. It's a revenge against my selfish self. I'm sorry, I ranted out a bit, haha."
It's a revenge against my selfish self. Those words hit me like a train. I had been far worse than a villain. I had literally abandoned a victim because of my personal feelings. No matter the fact whether he was my arch nemesis or not, he was still a person who needed my help.
"We are in this together." I patted Sora's shoulder, consoling him and myself. "It's the chance granted to us to redeem the villain in ourselves!"
"Yes, that's the spirit!"
A phone call interrupted our talk as we walked out of the meeting room.
"It's Kenta." I answered the call. My previous smart phone had fallen off my pocket when I leaped off the building, the previous time. Hence, I had to carry a flip phone. I concealed the it within my hair to negate the chances of getting called a geezer.
My family wasn't in a good financial situation ever since our stupid old man divorced my mother and my sister who was a fashion designer wasn't that successful either. Hence, my job as a superhero was our household's main source of income.
"Hello, Tadashi what happened?"
"Someone who was hired by my father freed me from the safety-prison and I think my uncle is gonna launch an attack on the HQ."
"What? What are you saying? You know this isn't a place where anyone can enter unless they're a member!"
"Watch out, Naru," Sora pushed me towards the left as he spread out his wings to shield me from the incoming bullet as the phone slipped off my hand.
I traced my eyes to find out the source as my eyes locked with those of the attacker and 26 other people dressed in tungsten armour and holding assault rifles within their arms.
"Narukami, did you hear me? My uncle is planning an Attack on the HQ!"
