Words: 1028

No chapter tomorrow I'm afraid. In the process of writing the really big fight scene on patre0n and I want it to feel complete and good, so I need another day

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When Akira arrived back at the hotel, he was exhausted. Akira was jetlagged, put through the wringer by Cathleen, and spent hours at the hero awards. His eyes hurt from all the bright stimuli at the award show, and his head pounded in pain.

He really enjoyed Cathleen's speech. It was much different from the rest, but Akira could still tell she held back most of what she wanted to say. She saved her true thoughts for herself, and sometimes to Akira when she spoke aloud.

"Fuck…" His brain pounded even more. It hurt to think. He flopped onto the bed, too tired to take off his suit, and he felt like he could fall asleep instantly, but he didn't.

Through the pounding of his head and the beating of his heart in his chest, Akira felt a strange feeling. It was a feeling one got when someone was watching you, and you sorta just knew.

"I can sense other people." He whispered to himself in the quietest voice possible. As soon as his powers took effect, his eyes widened and he rolled out of the way. The sword that would have sliced Akira's head clean off instead cut clean through his pillow

Akira scrambled off his bed, his body alert and forgetting about all of its previous problems. Adrenaline pumped through him, Akira took a heavy breath as he looked at the figure who was so close to killing him.

The assassin had a lean build, and was dressed in all black armour. He held a sword with a black pommel at his side, and the blade itself looked like it could cut through anything. The assassin looked at Akira with an impassive look, and then charged at him.

'Fast,' Akira noted, 'But not as fast as Cathleen.'

The blade swerved over him, slicing the air and a few strands of Akira hair. He slashed again and again, his swings erratic yet focused, but Akira had no problems dodging with the super speed <Order> he placed beforehand.

It was clear the assassin was outclassed, but he still held hope and changed his approach. He twisted his body, and instead of slashing, thrusted his sword towards Akira's stomach.

*CRACK*

As the sword was still in motion, cracks began to show on it. These cracks slowly spread and spread until piece by piece the blade started falling apart. Akira unclenched his fist, stopping his manipulation of the blade and cancelled his <Order>, putting on super strength instead.

To his credit, even without his sword, the assassin tried to fight back, but stood no chance against Akira's quirk and his superior hand to hand combat. He punched him, sending him crashing into the wall. Akira hoisted the figure in black up by his neck, "Who sent you!?" He demanded.

Seeing no answer, Akira punched them again and took their mask off, "Who sent you!?"

The man, Akira noted, only smiled in response. He flashed his bloody red teeth, grinning as foam was slowly released out of his mouth and his eyes lost all light in them.

"Fuck!" Akira threw the body to the side, cursing himself. He should have knocked the assassin unconscious instead of trying to take things into his own hands. He could have easily interrogated him later on with his quirk.

He shuffled over to his desk, grabbing his phone and dialling a number he had recently received. After a short few seconds of ringing, the phone answered, "Cathleen, it's me Akira. I need your help."

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Cathleen sighed, running her hands through her hair, "What was it your other teacher called you? Problem child? I can certainly see why you were given that name."

"Hey! This isn't my fault, I didn't ask for this assassin to sneak into my room and try to kill me!" Akira rebutted, throwing his hands everywhere. Bags of stress and tiredness had begun to form under his eyes and it was clear he was quite annoyed.

"You do have a point, but your name makes sense. Problems seem to follow you wherever you go," She tilted her head, "Since someone is obviously after your life, staying here or in any public residence is suicide. From now on, you'll be staying with me. Pack up and we will move in an hour."

12 hours later, Akira woke up in a comfy bed, fully rested and without any of the problems he had the day before. He took a shower, wiping off all the sweat, blood and dirt he had worked up the day before and made his way downstairs, fully refreshed.

He had to admit, Cathleen had a massive apartment. It was mostly white in colour, and had a total of 8 rooms, 5 bathrooms, 3 kitchens and 2 living rooms. Plus it was also located in the middle of nowhere, with top of the art protection facilities that made it safe to live in.

He took a seat at the kitchen table, where Cathleen sat opposite him with a plate full of chicken, rice, potatoes, bacon and sausages, all American style. She took a large swig of her protein shake, finally registering Akira's presence, "Eat, you'll need it for the rest of the day," She pointed towards the assortment of plates wrapped tight in tinfoil, "You can't fight crime on an empty stomach. Sometimes days are so busy that you will have no time to eat, so fill your belly up as much as you can."

Akira nodded, taking out a few of everything and putting it on his plate, "Speaking of today, what's the plan? More sparring?"

"Near the end of the day, yes," Cathleen gulped, swallowing the massive amounts of food she had in her mouth, "But during the day, it's mostly just normal hero work. I mostly stay around Washington DC, near the Pentagon, but sometimes I have to venture out across the country to deal with other problems, today is one of them. There is a group of Neo-Nazi's popping up somewhere in Georgia, and the number 21 hero, Gunslinger, can't handle it alone, so it's up to us to help him with it."

"Huh? They still exist?" Akira was shocked.

"Well we're in America." Cathleen shook her head.