'I know I don't have a sixth sense, but my gut is telling me something doesn't feel right.' Kirishima hummed in thought, sitting in the lobby area of the worker's building.
Today marked the third day of his internship and a day since he spotted that suspicious person.
He recalled when Mark came back from his scouting. He returned, seemingly upset.
"It seems like the guy was just a normal citizen. He got laid off from work and was having a tough time finding a job. It turns out he just wanted to go out for fresh air."
Gang Orca took it well and flagged it as a false alarm.
Since then, the day has gone on as usual. After his shift, he went to train with Gang Orca in hellish conditions and returned to the island to recover.
And that marked the second day; the third day went on as expected. Only a few things got Kirishima to feel something was off.
'Where's Mark?' Kirishima was waiting for Mark to debrief him on today; it wasn't necessary, but they had agreed to do it to give him the full experience.
"Maybe I should call him?" Just as he said, the doors to the building opened.
"Sorry, I'm late, Kirishima," Mark stepped in with a huff, "Just slept in," chuckling as he went to shake hands with him.
"No problem," Kirishima said. 'He called me Kirishima instead of "kid"?'
Mark quickly went and gave the usual debriefing, motioning his arms to emphasise some facts.
'Why are we debriefing in here?'
Usually, they'd go through this process on the way to the private resorts.
"Remember your way to the resorts, Kirishima?" Mark asked.
Kirishima nodded with a grin. "Of course, I'm all good!" he said with a faux attitude.
"Great!" Mark patted him on the back. "Sorry, but I'm a bit swamped right now. I'll catch you later. See you."
Kirishima waved back, watching him leave. Once he was sure the man was out of sight, he broke out in sweat, leaning against a table.
"Something's wrong." He sat down.
Having sat down and properly recalled everything, he could now say for certain, "His mannerisms were different, or am I just being overly critical?"
He shook his head, thinking he was going over the top, 'but Gang Orca said he'd be in charge of me; that isn't meant to change.'
'He also seemed a bit shorter...' Kirishima shook his head and left. He planned to continue the day as usual.
'If something is wrong, if something happens, then I can't act out of place. The only chance I'll get is with Gang Orca.'
As Kirishima left the building, a shiver ran down his spine. Not expecting it, he visibly shook, but thankfully the mass of hair covering his back shielded him.
Sixth sense or not, it was a warning. He was being watched.
...
Mark was walking down to the pier, observing his surroundings. He made sure no one was around and walked into one of the small shacks.
Slowly closing the door behind him, a voice called out to him, "So how'd it go?" rough and masculine.
Mark turned around and saw the shark mutant sitting on a pile of fishing nets. Mark's face scrunched and contorted, skin twisting and bones snapping, before Mark was no more and instead the orange-haired man from before.
"I think I got away with it, but fucking hell, this guy's memories were jumbled like hell; he knew who we were. And in the last moments, he went through a bunch of mind-beating shit before he died, so I couldn't eat him, right?"
"You still did, didn't you?" The boss asked.
The man nodded. "But seriously, if you kill them before they notice you, it makes it so much easier for me."
The boss shrugged, spitting a bone onto the floor.
"I like to see the light die out slowly. And in case anyone is suspicious, I've got Taro monitoring the people you've talked to.
It won't matter anyway with that fucking Orca going to train the kid like you said we'll move tonight. Get on with the plan."
"Sure thing, boss," the man nodded as his body shifted back into Mark's appearance.
...
'I'm no longer being watched,' Kirishima breathed out.
The day was almost over, which meant he'd soon get his chance with Gang Orca. As the thought crossed his mind, he frowned.
"Please let me be wrong about this."
Kirishima calmed himself and was about to go on with the day until his phone buzzed. It was a message from Mina.
A soft smile rose as he opened it.
She just wanted to check up on him. Smiling more, he replied that everything was fine and was a bit occupied, promising to tell her everything when the day was over.
"Mommy! It's him!" A young voice spoke out.
Kirishima lifted his head, seeing the young child whose balloon he caught dragging his mother towards him.
"Hello!" The child smiled, holding an Orca plushie in one hand.
Kirishima, bending down, greeted him back.
"I'm sorry," the mother said. "I hope we're not bothering you."
"No, it's alright." Kirishima smiled. 'their VIP? Neat.'
"What can I do for the two of you today?" Kirishima asked.
"I'm Jason; what's your name?" He spoke in English, surprising Kirishima.
"Oh sweety I don't think he knows English."
Smiling, Kirishima answered back, "Nice to meet you, Jason. I'm Kirishima. But my hero's name is Red Riot."
At those words, the boy's eyes lit up, looking at his mom with a smile, who returned it after her surprise.
Getting a better look The mother and child pair have brown hair and dark eyes.
"Can we play?" he asked.
Kirishima looked at the mother, who partly smiled as if asking if it was alright with him.
"Sure thing! What do you want to play?"
Jason, giving his mother the plushie, lifted his arms and said, "I want you to jump me!"
Kirishima froze for a moment. "I'm sorry?"
The mother snorted as Jason repeated the same words. Specifically "jump! Jump me!" "Jump me!"
Getting an inkling, Kirishima asked, "You want me to jump up while holding you?"
"Yeah! That's what I said, duh, as high as you went when you caught my balloon. Higher if you can!"
'Weird kid,' Kirishima stood up to ask the mother.
"If it's alright with you, his father was a hero; they used to do this a lot." She said the last part with an empty look.
"I am so sorry, mam. I can't imagine what it was like to fear he'd be dropped on accident." Kirishima felt sorry.
"I got used to it." She said, now seeming like an empty shell, "And today's our last day of vacation. We're leaving tonight."
Kirishima nodded, grabbed Jason tightly, and placed him in his hair; that way he wouldn't slip and fall out. He had to explain this to Jason's mother, which prompted the following:
"Your quirk is like mine!" Jason smiled with glee, rolling his arm and holding his breath. Dark metallic spots appeared before spreading, covering his whole arm.
"We call it black metal," the mother informed, "it's a dark metallic alloy that covers his body."
Kirishima turned to Jason, "that amazing little buddy."
Jason pouted, "I'm not little; I'm seven. Now can we jump, please?"
"Huh, alright then," not expecting the sass from the child, Kirishima stepped back, 'this'll be a good way to see how high I can jump too.'
Hardening his leg muscles slightly, Kirishima bent down and shot straight up! The wind rushed past them as Jason giggled.
Reaching well above the building heights, he clicked his boots together as compressed hair shot out, keeping them at the peak height for a few moments longer before descending.
"Again!"
Kirishima nodded. "Yes, sir!" He hardened his muscles slightly more and leapt higher. This went on for a while.
It even drew a small crowd at the sheer height Kirishima was leaping, with Jason's gleeful laughs attracting many to see.
Sadly, all things must come to an end. "But I don't want to go!" Jason frowned, grabbing his mother's hand.
"I'm sorry, sweety, but we have to. Daddy's waiting for us at home. I'm sure you can play with him when we get there, alright?"
"Mn, okay. Bye, Red Riot!" Jason smiled, waving.
Kirishima waved goodbye, looking around. The sun was close to setting, and he still had time to patrol.
Quickly pulling out his phone, he checked the highest height he reached.
"One hundred and fifty metres—that's half the size of the Eiffel Tower, right? That's for now, that is."
Feeling satisfied, he went on with the rest of the day as usual, not forgetting what he had to confirm later on.
The night was soon rising, the sun setting on the horizon, painting the skies a majestic hue of purple and orange as some stars shone through, adding more layers of majesty.
It was time.
Kirishima followed Gang Orca to the boat. As they both got on the machine, she came alive and began to drive them away from the island.
Nothing was said, only silence. Kirishima was puzzled; he was expecting Gang Orca to say something, but besides the fact that it was time to train, he said nothing else.
Instead, the Pro Hero was looking back at the island as they moved further away from it.
"We were being watched." He suddenly said
"We were?" Kirishima hadn't felt any pair of eyes on him; he had assumed the person watching him had left.
But worse, Gang Orca's words confirmed his suspicions.
"But you seem already aware of the situation." Gang Orca looked down at Kirishima, leaning forward. "What do you know".
Seeing no better time, Kirishima dove into everything. "I think something is wrong with Mark; I don't know what, but he acted strange. He didn't call me Kind; he called me Kirishima, and he ran late today and said he was busy."
"He shouldn't be." Gang Orca cut in, "Hm, this might be a problem. Mind control, maybe? Some form of persuasion, perhaps."
"I thought the same thing while trying to act as if the day was fine; someone was watching me halfway through my shift," Kirishima added.
"Then this has been planned because we were being watched the moment we stepped onto the boat; most likely they want us away from the island."
Gang Orca stood and turned the speed boat off, "but was still far away. And the night has fallen."
*Beep!* *Beep!*
Gang Orca looked at his wrist and blared!
"What is that?"
Gang Orca stood silent before Kirishima before a wave of killing intent sprung out of him, forcing Kirishima to step back, gulping.
"We need to go now!" Gang Orca handed Kirishima the breathing mask. "Put it on!"
Not wanting to waste a moment, Kirishima followed his orders.
Gang Orca He stretched his hand, and Kirishima grabbed it. "Won't the boat get us there in time?"
With calm fury, Gang Orca answered, "No."
A large splash followed as they dove into the water, Kirishima being dragged along by Gang Orca's insane swimming speed.
Tftc 🍱