So, your name is Gure, no last name. Hm… no ID either. I'm going to call you Gure then. Don't let the lawmen catch you loitering around brat or you're going to be in a lot of trouble.

An annoyed expression marred my face, which was hidden by my mask, as I remembered the talk I had with the old man later the same night he decided to crash down on the shelter.

The drug we're searching for is called Trigger. You and that vigilante friend of yours know some of the side effects of the drug already, so I won't bore you with the details. We gotta do something about it.

My foot came down with impressive speed and generated an explosion of air, pushing me upwards. Wind flowed around me as I jumped through the night sky while I looked down on the district of Naruhata. I decided to exchange places with one of my clones as soon as the old man went for a bathroom break at noon and extended my original patrol to calm my nerves. So far I've stopped two robberies and one quirk rampage. No black tongue this time.

Villains can pop out anywhere with this drug, so the cops and heroes are always playing catch-up. That's where we come in!

We? As in you and me?

Damn straight! We're gonna go out next thing tomorrow morning and stop any suspicious looking characters and check their tongues!

Don't lump me into your delusions, you crazy old fart!

'I swear to god, it's like having another Salt in the shelter,' I thought as I soared through the sky, double checking every corner of the city. It was getting close to midnight, which means I would have to call it a night soon, unless I get an unexpected message from Jin, Kon or the remaining clones. 'Don't feel like training either. Another hour of patrol would do and I’ll try to meditate this time.'

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. For the first time in a while I felt a great amount of restlessness. I couldn't relax now that I had more information on the drug, but searching blindly wouldn't do me good either. It was better to relay information and leave it to the clones for a while. I didn't want to take any chances with the old man in the vicinity and a certain someone still lurking and watching my civilian ‘persona’ from the rooftops.

PopStep.

Unsurprisingly, the nice-looking amateur idol was stalking me from afar, keeping her distance but not losing sight of me.

My guess was that she was trying to find the perfect opportunity to jump in and make her pitch again. She can try as many times as she desires, the outcome would always be the same.

Even though… I would reconsider the offer through the night.

…

'Ugh, why did she have to dress like that?' I thought with exasperation, trying- no, hoping the images that immediately flooded my mind would just go away.

My feet touched the edge of a tall building. I decided to stop for a moment, just to ‘catch my breath’. Not that I needed it or anything, I could practically fly around cities all day if I so desired.

Now that I think about it…

It's been a while since the last time I felt physically tired.

Each day I would sleep less and less. Minute by minute. It almost felt like my body needed less time resting as my life went on.

I didn't know how to properly explain it.

But something was going on with my body.

And I didn't know what.

My eyes admired the tight gloves I wore on my left hand, made by the skillful hands of Ena and how it showcased every line of my hardened appendages and every calluses created through intense training. My hand slowly closed and tightened into a fist.

Was this a response to the drug cartel? Or was it the lack of training I did on a daily basis? Was this a natural response? Or by an external source?

Hm. So many questions.

I breathed in… and then I let it out.

My hot breath slowly dissipated in the cold wind from the edges of my plastic mask.

It was almost natural… breathing that is. The breathing pattern I developed long ago, inspired by the memories of an anime I used to watch, became easier by the day. There were times it would get disrupted whenever I lost concentration, but my body was adapting to do it unconsciously.

'What was the next step again?' My thoughts lingered as I tried to remember the following steps to increase the capacity of my lungs. 'I've been able to maintain it while patrolling and capturing bad guys. But I think I'm missing something.'

Something related to gourds…

My gaze dropped to the ground below me as my ears caught the sound of cutting wind immediately followed by a sudden impact against asphalt. I could see two individuals, fighting. One had a katana on its hands, evading the other one who was throwing punches recklessly.

'Should I intervene?' I asked myself, while staring impassively. It was hard to tell who of them was the instigator of the confrontation. I shook my head in surprise. 'What am I thinking? I never hesitated like this before.'

I flexed my muscles as my foot inched forward, ready to intervene. But the faint scent of blood in the air stopped me right on my tracks.

Not important. I’ll deal with it later.

My feet blurred.

---

My vision sharpened as my lungs expanded with air. First step was to disarm the only armed person in the conflict, then ask questions.

Just as the masked man dressed in black and red gear holding a blade was about to deliver a lethal strike, I positioned myself between them, my hand blurring at high speeds.

“Water Flow,” my gloved fingers met the cold steel of a katana and with one swift motion I parried it away from me and the big guy behind me. The eyes of the masked man slowly widened before stepping away from me straight away.

My gaze shifted from the guy with the blade to the man I saved, just in time to witness him raise a fist that was slowly increasing in size to squash me like a bug. My eyes zero-in on the black tongue that was hanging out from the corner of the guy’s mouth.

In that instant, I knew who the enemy was.

Air began to flow through my lungs rapidly.

The asphalt below my feet cracked as I kicked the ground thirty times in less than a second.

“Razor, Iron Smash,” before the big guy under the influence of the drug could initiate his attack, my hardened fist met his stomach. Blood and spit flew from his mouth, splattering the walls and a third of my mask.

The man staggered back a few steps, before falling down with a groan. Unconscious.

I breathe out, feeling the tension of my calves leave.

A loud click grabbed my attention. Two meters behind me. I gave the remaining man a side glance as I slowly took the rope I had hidden beforehand in one of my pockets and began the process of restraining another victim of Trigger.

I couldn’t see his expression. But I could hear him evening his breathing pattern and regain a steady heartbeat. As well as any small movement he did to recover his composure.

I didn’t need to see his face to know that his eyes were directly fixed on my back as I went on with my job. Once done I had to put the big guy on my shoulder and made my way to the exit of the alleyway.

“Smiley,” I heard the man say while adjusting the glove of his left hand as I was about to pass him. Then he crossed his arms and relaxed his stance. “It’s a pleasure to see you in action again, but I had everything under control.”

Stopping on my tracks, I directed my gaze to my fellow masked man who had sheathed his own weapon.

I blinked.

I didn’t notice it when I first arrived, but not only does this guy carry a katana around, but he also had multiple knives strapped to his chest. It reminded me of those weirdos I used to watch on youtube who would sharpen their weapons to try them on water bottles.

Shifting the weight of the big guy comfortably laid on my shoulder I responded.

“Heh. You say that,” I said while noticing that a side of his mask was being lit by one of the dim lights from the entrance of the alleyway, slightly illuminating his face. Regardless I didn’t actually care about the identity of the person in front of me. I barely even knew who he was. “But that katana looks awfully sharp, and those knives strapped to you don’t appear to be family friendly. Were you perhaps trying to kill this man?”

“Those who walk the path of villainy, will eventually be put down by the might of justice,” the man said, instead of actually answering my question. “I, Stendhal, am but a tool for that purpose.”

‘What the hell is this guy talking about? That’s not what I asked,’ I thought, while I tried to suppress the need to scratch my head in confusion. ‘Who is this guy?’

“A tool of justice you say?” It took me a while to fall back into the Smiley persona, the way he phrased the word justice rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. “Is there a tool with less pointy ends in that workbench? A wrench maybe? Heh-Heh.”

I felt a small gust of air leaving his nose. Meaning…

He snorted.

He found my lame joke hilarious.

Heh.

“As amusing as your quips are, Smiley. I request for you to stand aside. The man in your possession is a criminal who lacks focus and most important of all, holds no conviction,” the masked man said while partially unsheathing his blade. “The time for his reckoning has arrived. Because he’s going to face judgment.”

My expression hardened as well as every muscle in my body, but I relaxed them immediately.

After all, word of the drug isn’t public knowledge, yet. Even if I shared what I knew with a few heroes here and there, like Eraserhead, I don’t think they would spread the knowledge between themselves or the masses.

So, any hero operating alone in the streets, no matter their ideals, would think every victim to be a villain no matter what.

“I’m afraid I cannot entertain such a request” I replied smoothly. My eyes caught the slow movement of his barely illuminated face muscles contort into an unreadable expression. Probably contempt or anger. I didn’t know what. “Because you see… the person you were trying to turn into a ‘Grade-A Steak’ is a victim of a bigger problem.”

The man in front of me sheathed his blade again and nodded once, prodding me to keep going.

“Have you heard about Trigger? It seems to be a real problem lately in the area. Naruhata appears to be the epicenter of most cases,” I said, recalling that time I had a similar conversation with Eraserhead. I wondered if he ever shared the information I provided to his colleagues from the ‘Hero Guide’. “I won’t bore you with the details, but what we are dealing with is a drug, and not one of the funny ones I'm afraid.”

I really tried to stay serious, even if the set ups for jokes kept coming out of nowhere.

“Anyone that is supplied with the drug gets a quirk boost and an increment in strength, but at the cost of their common sense,” I continued while adjusting the still dazed big guy on my shoulder. “But the keyword here is ‘anyone’. Anyone could be supplied with Trigger, a villain, a member of the yakuza, a small-time robber… or what about a homeless person? Maybe a child playing with their friends? Or maybe any person minding their own business on the street.”

“Hmph… as expected of someone of your high caliber. Very well then, I’ll trust you,” Stendhal said after another period of time that felt like an eternity. “I’ll let you know if I find any clues. The roof of this alley should pose as a meeting-point.”

I nodded, glad that the small stand-off was over without an ounce of violence. But there was one last piece I had to get out of my chest before I had to let the man in front of me go.

“Oh yeah, before I forget. Stendhal, was it?” I said before the man could begin his exit.

It appears I caught him off guard, considering he was just contracting his muscles to make his escape. I could clearly see his next movement by the way his muscles began to contract. It felt like a silhouette that was moving before the body could even take a step.

Weird.

But not important.

“A word of advice. Try to keep the pointy end of that stick of yours only to the most despicable villains,” I said, not fully endorsing or opposing his way of enforcing justice in the streets. But nevertheless I tried to be careful without fully antagonizing him. Even their type could become useful in gathering intelligence. “Heroes are meant to keep their hands clean, less they become what they’re trying to stop.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Farewell, Smiley” without another word, Stendhal tensed his muscles, jumped from building to another, then to a street sign and ran away from roof through roof, disappearing into the night sky.

Huh. For a second I could swear I saw all his movements before he could make them.

I wonder what was that all about?

“Well, who cares?” I said to myself. That encounter just reminded me of why I took the job of a hero. I can’t just give up just because I got frustrated with the drug thing. “Let’s get you all wrapped up. Whadda you say big guy?”

“Ugh…”

“That’s what I wanted to hear! Heh-Heh!”

---

‘Hm… it seems business is dying down for the night. Better hurry up to the store and buy the missing groceries the guys were asking for.’ I thought, my mask laid on one of my hands while the other wiped the grime and blood off with one of the handkerchief Jin gave me.

I ended up ditching the big guy next to a heroine with a weird fixation with cats, at least that’s what I got from looking at her costume. The way she looked at me when we exchanged stares as I flew by unnerved me. It felt like she could dissect me with only a look.

The feeling went away immediately. It only lasted a second.

But it was enough to put me on edge. Enough so, that I decided to extend my patrol for a while so I could shake that feeling off, encountering two more black tongues in the process and leaving them with a reluctant Eraserhead, who was in the area.

Once on the rooftop I left my backpack with civilian clothes, I began to undress while checking with the walkie talkie from time to time, sending clicks and receiving two back every time. Meaning the old man won’t leave anyone alone in the shelter for me to call back.

What a pain in the ass.

I dropped down from the rooftop, angling myself so I could approach and kick the next building to another to ease my fall. I made the mistake of using the abilities of ‘Smiley’ in front of a civilian once. After that incident I’d rather avoid repeating the same mistake again.

My feet touched the asphalt, creating a splash from a small puddle of… liquid.

…

I better not think about it.

‘The guys in the shelter were talking about dish soap and cleaning supplies. How well are we stocked in noodles and rice for the upcoming weeks?’ I thought, making sure everything was in place as I made my way towards the exit of the alleyway. I could see the faint lights of the lamps and one or two stores that looked like they were about to close. ‘I bought the coffee Ena asked for already, so that means I gotta find a place selling on a bargain. Meaning, no sweets this time.’

Not like anyone in the training program is gonna need them for the foreseeable future.

‘I could swear I saw a 30% sign a few streets back, if I go at a normal pace I think I can arrive before they clo-’ my train of thought was interrupted by a trio of dudes who crashed into me, distracted by talking between themselves while drinking beer without a care in the world. I was so into my own thoughts that my body reacted on instinct, tensing all my muscles into ‘Iron Body’ and crashing into the trio, who all immediately fell onto the floor, as if they crashed against a wall, dropping their drinks and smokes in the process.

“Guh!” “Graah!” “What the hell?”

I remained standing there, blinking almost owlishly, not only was I slightly wet with beer as the dudes on the floor, but I almost felt ashamed for not paying attention and ending in this situation, if any of the guys at the shelter heard about this they would’ve laughed their asses off.

I breathed in and then out through my nose.

This time, it was my fault. There’s no reason to be angry about this.

Apologize and be done with it.

I gave them a side glance as I prepared to begin my apology. Three young adults that looked like the typical hooligans that would drink beer and loiter around on the less busy parts of the streets. I could go as far and said that they looked like they ran from home recently. The group consisted of a normal looking young adult with spiky aqua green hair and sharp teeth, a small person who possessed a lizard/reptilian type of quirk, and a large man who had a dark and stony appearance, no pupils and a small flame on top of his head.

“Ah, uh… Sorry about that,” I immediately said, once I realized I was staring for too long. I tried to ease my stoic expression into something more apologetic, but it only ended up looking condescending. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, I’ll try to be more careful next ti-”

“Huuuh!? What the hell was that for, asshole!?” said the green haired dude, who appeared to be the leader of the group. They stood up and towered over me, the man addressing me in the front while the others positioned themselves at his sides..

“Yeah! I didn’t even get to drink mine!” was the response of the reptilian man, quickly followed by the reply from the largest of the group. “And now we’re all wet, you think this is funny?”

My head moved to the side to evade a slowly moving swipe from a fist with spikes growing from it.

‘Huh, this ability reminds me of that dude from the comics, which was his name again?’ I thought while evading more slow swipes. I noticed from the corner of my eyes as the two others began to corner me with the intention of attacking me from all sides. But my mind was still distracted with who this person reminded me off, so I just ignored the attempts on my life. ‘Magnesio? No, no, that’s not it. Byclops? No, that was the person with the red eyes. Agh, this is going to bother me all night.’

It was by the 8th swipe that I grew tired of the charade. The stores were closing and I didn’t have time to waste trying to act like a civilian in front of these three, especially with people around us doing their best to ignore us.

That type of attitude pisses me off

“I’m sorry for everything, but I have places to be, bye now.” I muttered, uncaring if they heard me or not. Air began to fill my lungs as I prepared to deliver a quick strike to take down those three at once.

“You’re not getting away with a beating, you asshole! I’m going to mess you up rea-”

“Water Flow: Current…” my hand flew at high speeds in the form of a wave, hitting the chin of every single member of the group who were all about to rush me, to take me down so the leader could have his ‘way with me’. The end result was instantaneous, their movements diminished in strength and began to fall to the ground, unconscious..

I breathed out, grunting at the smell of piss and putrid trash that people threw on the alleyway. My gaze took notice that there were less people on the street than before and fewer stores were open by now.

Disgruntled, I hide the unconscious bodies of the hooligans I crashed into and hide them on the alleyway next to a few trash bags.

This day can’t get any worse

I began my trek back to the 30% store I saw a few streets back, hoping it was still open. While trying to recall what I was thinking before being rudely interrupted.

Something about gourds?

I knew it had some significance to a training method but I barely remember what. It wasn’t a simple strengthening technique method of carrying heavy gourds, because I’d carry rock slabs and tree logs on a daily basis.

Hm I need to get my hands on a few to experiment.

As if god himself was listening to my thoughts, my gaze landed on a small old lady with a butterfly hairpin struggling to close her store due to her small frame. Around her store I could visualize gourds and japanese decoratives for tourists.

I blinked.

What a coincidence. I was just thinking about this.

I made my way to the store and greeted the old woman with a small wave.

“Excuse me lady, I know it’s a little late, but how much for the gourds? And do you need help closing the store?”

---

“You know… I'm the last person to speak about politeness, but I feel it's really impolite for you to act like we know each other just because we use the same route for jogging,” I calmly said to the person who was right next to me, as I ran through the deserted streets of Naruhata.

“Nonsense!” ‘eyebrows’ replied while sporting a big and punchable smile. “We shared names already, that makes us buddies. Jogging buddies haha!”

'Actually, you only shared yours. I never told you mine,' I thought, exasperated but still maintaining the ‘calm’ and ‘collected’ look I’ve been giving this guy ever since we met a few streets ago. Normally I would find it weird that our encounters had steadily increased ever since our first ‘meeting’ a few weeks ago.

But recently I’ve noticed new presences snooping around the shelter and the food stand.

Besides the old man and that little idol minx.

I had an enlightening conversation with one of them too. A young and terrible actor, but paid generously for the food I served him, so I didn’t see a need to pressure him further with my questioning during our talk.

Not that it mattered. I managed to catch a glimpse of his ID and Idaten business card when the guy ‘forgot’ his wallet on his stool. Took him 30 minutes to realize he lost his wallet and came rushing back on all fours asking for it. But by that time I already read the contents, and by read I meant I asked Jin to read them for me. I also took a few bills, just in case.

It wasn’t until my shift was over that I realized that Idaten was the name of the agency the guy running next to me owned. The agency of the ‘Turbo’ hero, Ingenium to be more precise.

Meaning, he’s been keeping tabs on me.

There’s multiple reasons why he would do something like that. An unsupervised teen who runs through the streets at high speeds at dawn would be considered extremely suspicious.

Or maybe he’s onto my secret identity, but that’s quite unlikely, because the clones have been taking shifts as Smiley while I train and serve food.

Or maybe, he wants to inspect the shelter and close it.

If that were the case, his career as a hero would be over as fast as his special ‘power’.

“Now that I think about it… I forgot your name, buddy. Can you remind me? Haha!” the guy said after a few minutes of silence in which he ‘acted’ as if he tried to recall my name.

Nice save there.

He knew my name, that’s a given. But he remembered I never shared it with him during our ‘runs’. He probably got them from the guy that floats on the ground on all fours.

“It’s Gure, no last name.” I replied, already drained from social interactions for the day. I wanted to split up already from this guy and go supervise the training the kids and teens were going through.

“Ah yes! Of course, how could I forget! Hahaha!” the hero replied, small beds of sweat began to appear on his forehead as we increased our speed again. “As a hero, one gets to meet a lot of people and tends to forget a few names, I’m sorry about that Gure!”

Can this guy shut up already? What is he trying to accomplish here?

‘I just wanted to run in one of the quietest parts of the town without bothering anybody and now I have to deal with this person and his goons!’ I thought, letting out a grunt of anger, which of course, was taken out of context.

“Oh? Are you starting to get tired?” the person with the most ridiculous eyebrows I’ve met, asked.

“N-” I tried to reply but I was interrupted.

“Because the next vending machine is a minute away, half if we increase the speed. I know we can go faster! Haha!”

I grunted again, holding back a sneer

‘Weren’t you telling me that I shouldn’t speed through the streets or he will have to catch me in the future?’ I thought as we started to shift to the left, then right as we moved along the streets towards ‘our destination’

Tsk, whatever.

Next chance I get, I’m taking his wallet again.

After a small talk over the vending machine, the hero in his civilian persona invited me to eat at a ramen stand that I used to visit before I had to open my own stand to feed people with money to feed themselves. The smell of the broth brought back memories as we ate in silence, exchanging a few words from time to time.

“It’s been a while since the last time we’ve relaxed like this hasn’t it?” my gaze turned towards the nicely dressed eyebrow man. The noodles in my mouth hung teere for a few seconds before I slurped them all. “How have you been? Are your relatives alright?”

My right eyelid began to twitch at the mention of relatives. This guy knew about me, why do so much if he already knew the answer.

Was he making fun of me?

“I have no parents. I live in a shelter,” I replied, taking a few calming breaths with the intention of keeping my cool and not lash out. “Sometimes I cook dinner there.”

“Ah! My apologies! Let me invite you to another bowl” the hero said, sporting an apologetic look. This time I ignored him completely. After all, free food is free food.

We ate in silence for a few minutes. The taste of pork, noodles, green onions, and broth made me almost forget all the things I had to do today. I haven’t relaxed like this in… forever. I don’t remember even taking some time off to eat like this ever since I fought that bronze dude.

Finishing the last bit of my bowl I decided right then and there that I would take a day off from time to time to relax. Can’t be training 24/7, right?

One can dream.

“I’m sorry I have to ask, but as a hero I need to make sure…” The easy going feeling in my gut instantly evaporated as those words left Tensei’s mouth. “Are they ok with letting you run around so early in the morning without a proper guardian to look after you?”

My expression hardened. So did my entire body.

I gripped the chopsticks with so much strength that they broke on my own hands like they were toothpicks, an action that took the hero by surprise.

“Why do you ask?” I asked, tense. I couldn’t understand how a person can be so tame but make me mad so easily. Without even looking at him I continued “So you can get a statement, report the shelter, close it down and put all of us in the street again?”

“I… wh-” eyebrows tried to retort but I interrupted him in the same way he does with me.

“It took a while, but that’s our home, no hero or policemen have helped us,” I kept up, almost hitting the counter in anger, remembering all those times heroes would tell us they would search for help only to call the cops on us. “We did it all on our own.”

“I-I’m just trying to help,” Tensei said, a sad expression marred his face as he tried to reach for me to comfort me. “You know it’s not like that Gure…”

“Yeah well, we don’t need your help.” I replied, slapping his hand away, restraining my strength as much as possible.

I dropped down from my seat and began making my way towards my next destination. I didn’t look back.

---

“Woah there old man! Have you gone insane!?” I screamed, holding firmly onto his left arm with one of my own. “When you told me you wanted to check people’s tongues I thought you had a better way than beating them up!”

“Hrmph! Like you’re innocent yourself kid,” the crazy old man in a costume grunted, trying still to get away from my grasp. “Now let go! Hey!! You!! Show me your tongue!!”

“Those other guys had guns!” I replied back.

I saw the hooligans, that the old man to my side tried to pummel to the ground, ran off while giving us the finger but still showing us their tongues, probably in mockery.

‘Not even ten minutes on the job of taking care of the old fart, and I want to end myself. The life of a clone is tough,’ I thought, letting out a sigh as I adjusted my mask. There was no freaking way that I’d just follow this guy without a costume. I didn’t want people at the store I normally frequent to recognize me. ‘Guh… I wish I was born a snail.’

There’s… not much change in my appearance besides sporting a black facemask and old clothes that were patched up by Jin himself, an old hoodie, black pants and worn out shoes. I wasn't really going with a motif there, I was just a regular citizen in ragged clothes trying to stop a lunatic old person from punching civilians, that’s all.

My nose perked up as the fragrance of perfume became more prominent from a few meters behind us. Adding to that the bouncy sound of steps every two or three seconds slowly getting louder until…

*Pom*

“Huh? What is the fuss all about?” my stare immediately went up just to see PopStep standing on top of a lamppost above me. She was perfectly placed to allow me to see under her mini skirt and admire her crotch.

I take it back, being a clone is awesome.

“Ah, PopStep. Still following me around?” I said while letting go of the old man who huffed and began to fetch for a cig and slowly walk away from me, with the intention to go and relax at the park. I followed and felt PopStep jumping down and landing a few steps behind me. She walked slightly faster so both of us could walk side by side. “Aren’t you supposed to be in one of your concerts? One of my friends was interested in going.”

We ended up walking up to the old man, whose hero name I refuse to remember, was calmly smoking on a bench. He threw me a drink, which I caught without even looking.

I ended up spilling some of the beans regarding my situation as a guardian for this dude so he doesn’t get in trouble while occasionally taking sips of my drink. I didn’t really want to be here but at the same time I was interested in the result of his “investigation”. So in a way I was reluctantly following him around.

“Ah… I almost forgot. Thank you for saving me the other day. That was very brave of you,” the pink haired idol said, her cheeks beginning to color with a faint blush. She then put her hands on her hips and sent me a wink. “The offer still stands, handsome.”

“My answer is n-”

“And another thing!” she exclaimed before I could refuse.

Little minx won’t hear a no for an answer.

“You guys are doing all of this wrong! Going around smacking people around is not going to work!” I winced internally, because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for years at this point. She then fetched a phone from… somewhere, not like I was looking or something. “Whenever a Villain shows up, someone is going to take a picture or a video. Let’s search for Villains or Instant Villains…”

Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of thos-

*Sniff* *Sniff*

My expression immediately turned serious as the faint smell of the drug got caught in my range, from two separated directions too.

“H-Hey what are you smelling all of the sudden!?” PopStep exclaimed once she noticed me trying to pinpoint the location of the smell of the drug.

Silently I moved one of my fingers towards my lips and directed my gaze towards the idol then to the old guy in costume. Both of the scents were approaching our direction.

“Old man, two-”

“Hey you there! Stick out your tongue!!” interrupted again I felt like trying to pluck my hairs out, if it wasn’t for the fact that I would immediately die from any physical attack I’d do it in an instant. The old man directed his attention to what appeared to be a salaryman holding onto a briefcase.

“Were you even listening, gramps!?” PopStep exclaimed. Then directed her gaze towards me straight away with a sneer “And why were you smelling me, pervert!?”

Sigh… What a drag.

‘One of them is here already, but why does he look so… normal?’ I thought, narrowing my eyes, trying to pinpoint the location of the smell. ‘It’s all over him, it’s faint, but it’s there. What should I do? I don’t really want to cause a scene in these clothes, but I can’t leave these two alone either.’

Old man knuckles grabbed the salary man by the collar and shook him a little, making him drop his briefcase, which was filled with what appeared to be action dolls of heroes. I could even distinguish one made to look like Smiley in between them.

“See? Who carries dolls to work? Only a weirdo does that” I heard the old man speak as I took one of the dolls from the floor. I ignored PopStep screaming at Knuckles about tons of people owning them. “So, cooperate or things are going to get ugly.”

“Don’t rough him up, old man” I said, expression hardened as I took another whiff from up close. I could smell it… not only the salary man was on the drug, but he also carried it as well. I could also feel another scent that was approaching us at high speed, at least high in human terms. The scent was of grease, coffee and cheap food, mixed with the sterile ones of plastic and paper.

Of all people he had to be here

I had to suppress the instinct of moving my head to the side to evade the usual special gray scarf that passed by my left side and connected and wrapped itself around the arm of the old man.

“Acts of violence in public. You must be one of the instant villains I've been hearing about” Eraserhead, the lame ass hero who made the mission to capture me.

The real me…

Uh Smiley.

Yeah, that’s it.

It didn’t even surprise me that the old man knew who this guy was. From what I gathered, people barely know who he is. Maybe because his only power was controlling a scarf? I only knew him because I stole his wallet that one time. Dude had so little cash that I felt sorry for him.

Once again I ignored my surroundings as the old man and eraser dude traded blows between each other and the pink haired idol screamed about not being involved with us. I noticed the salaryman get extremely anxious by the presence of eraserhead and my stare and immediately began to pick up his dolls and began to make a run for it.

“Wait… that guy, I think I’ve seen it before” PopStep muttered to herself.

I wanted to listen to her, I really did, but I really didn’t want to lose the guy just because I wanted to hide my powers. So I got down and my fingers stabbed the ground with the intention of getting a good sized chunk. I positioned it between my thumb and my index finger. I aimed and…

My projectile flew at high speeds and landed just as the man was about to get another step in and the idol finished her explanation which I barely paid attention to. The salaryman fell down, dropping his briefcase once again.

PopStep and I began to make our way towards the dude I just sniped, but I suddenly had to evade a swipe from a reptilian wing, then a tail. The Idol just kept jumping, leaving me behind.

I grunted in displeasure as the smell of the drug got closer. No wonder the other scent never got too close, they were watching and waiting from above. I directed my gaze just in time to see a human sized drake, a large hulk-like fire-rock dude and that dude that tried to stab me the other night.

“Yo! Remember me?” the green haired man said, sporting a dark expression on his face. I could smell the drug on both of his companions, but I could only smell the drug on his right hand for some reason. I immediately directed my gaze, just to see a tube like pen in his hand.

“Gyaha-haha! Was that your girlfriend? How about we have some fun with her once we’re done with you?” the drake person asked. I noticed how his long tongue was blackened too.

I could stop them. I really could.

It would be so easy for me to destroy the tube before he used it. But I wanted to see it in action. I wanted to learn how the process worked. Is it just one, or do you need more than one? Is it instantaneous or does it take time? How much time then? Do they have an extra for us to investigate? Is it the same as the one I'm holding onto?

And most important of all…

What would happen if I used it on myself?

“Heh, I’m sick of people looking down on me,” the effect of the drug is instantaneous was my first thought as I saw the leader of the group stab himself in the arm and start to grow spines all over his body until he looked like an ugly porcupine. “And now… Time for payback!!”

‘Yeah, I’m not dealing with this one. Not with Eraser dude in close proximity,’ I thought, before making a run for it in the direction PopStep was jumping towards ‘They’re four times faster than before, so that means that they’re four times stronger than before or that only applies to speed?’

I evaded one punch, one swipe and rocks falling from the sky as the leader jumped and dropped into the asphalt with the intention of crushing me. My body jumped and catched three fist sized chunks, maneuvered my body in the air and threw two at the feet of the giant one who began to fall, just in time for the old man to appear and knock him out with a brick.

The last of my projectile I threw it to the face of the porcupine who put his hand to protect himself. The rock exploded on contact, approving my early theory of improving the overall strength.

“You’re not getting away!!” I heard him scream, but I didn’t really care as I kept on moving at the same speed without looking at him or his companion who flew high and passed me with the intention of cutting me off. Before I could get my hands on more projectiles to deal with them the porcupine dropped down to the asphalt, unmobile. “What the?”

‘Well, that takes care of two of my problems,’ I thought as I began to speed up towards Pop and the drake who abandoned the plan of getting me and was fast approaching the idol with the intention of taking her away. ‘Two more to go.’

“Where’s the girl?” I heard the old man ask a few meters behind me as I kept a steady speed but began to increase slightly in small intervals.

“She went ahead after the salaryman!” I replied back. As we drew nearer I noticed the smell grew stronger and familiar once the dolls dropped and one of them broke down on the floor..

Wait…

“PopStep, get away from there!!” I screamed, forgetting to hold back and increasing my speed twofold just to get there in time, only to meet a fast growing purple shadow of four arms who quickly took the idol with one of his hands and the drake quirk user with the other.

“Kyaaahhh!!”

“Gahhh!!”

*RUMBLE*

“Oh no!” “Ah Giant Super Villain!” “It’s Huge!” “RUN!!” “Oh damn, better take a pic.” “YOU IDIOT, CALL A HERO!!”

Old man knuckles didn’t hesitate to use his grappling hook and position himself to follow and land a blow. I could smell the scent of Eraserhead a few streets away, but not coming here, probably calling reinforcements.

I winced as I felt my stupidity leading me to leaving my walkie talkie with Jin.

Without stopping to think I began to take different sizes of chunks of asphalt and began speed through towards the giant as I threw them with the hopes of making him fall down. But that only made him pause, and turn towards me.

In any other situation I wouldn’t be nervous. After all, I could easily take this guy. But with so many people watching my every move, I couldn’t showcase too much strength or too much weakness, lest I ‘die’ here.

Thankfully,the old man was waiting for an opening and threw himself from a building using momentum and his grappling hook, hitting the giant right in the face. The action itself caused the giant quirk user to let go of PopStep, who began to fall down. Same as the old man.

This time, my body began to move on its own. A path formed in front of me as I ran towards a building, surprising people who were still around.

I didn’t calculate it or plan it.

I just moved.

My feet touched the building wall, then the one in front of it. My hand held onto the coat of the old man and then threw him towards the trash bags next to an open alleyway. I jumped again towards the next building and opened my hands to catch PopStep, who was watching me with an expression of fear and surprise.

As soon as I was in close proximity though, she jumped off me and landed on the next building.

My expression of dissatisfaction didn’t leave my face as I jumped again until I landed in the same building as her.

‘If my momentum was any slower I would’ve missed the building and fallen to my death,’ I thought sourly as PopStep began to apologize profusely, while using my real name too.

Before me or Knuckles could do anything else we heard the familiar laugh of myself approaching.

The head of the giant was violently pushed from the back, like someone just gave a little kid a smack without restraint on the back of the head. Then the head and body fell down at a huge speed towards the ground. The only thing that was still in place was the well dressed hero with the leg extended in the same direction towards the fallen giant, who began to shrink in size.

It wasn’t even a contest.

“It’s that Smiley?” “Oh thank goodness!” “Smiley is here!” “Woah! Better take another picture then.” “I was expecting All Might.”

The masked and well dressed hero dropped down from the sky and began to wrap the dude we were chasing, only to jump away from a scarf and banter with Eraserhead.

“H-Hey um… thanks for saving me again, Gure,” the idol said, while sporting a small blush, then looked away from me. “B-But I won’t forget that you were acting all weird before.”

I blinked.

“Ah,” I began, completely lost. “Don’t mention it.”

I saw myself, another clone or probably the original, fly away after dealing with Eraserhead, while laughing. Probably having the time of his life. My expression soured, why do I have to be stuck here while the original does the fun stuff?

My hand went back to my frontal pockets and found one of the dolls I took from the salaryman. PopStep looked interested in it as well.

I guess this wasn’t entirely pointless.

I got another lead.

---

The soles of her feet met the torso of another bulky villain who tried to get a hold of her from behind. Holding back a bit of her strength, she sent him to his compatriots, crashing into them and sending them all to the floor.

Her smile widened as her ears caught the praises that were thrown her way. She noticed from the corner of her eye the authorities approaching to arrest the idiots who thought they had a chance against her.

'What a bunch of weaklings,' she thought, observing the cops do their jobs at a slow pace. An irritated frown marred her features as she saw one of the downed villains move, but she relaxed as the guy began to loudly cough before he was cuffed.

It's been a few days since she accepted the job of capturing the elusive smiling vigilante on a whim. Not that she regretted her decision she made on an angry fit. After all, any vigilante is two steps away from becoming a villain in her eyes.

Both of the names begin with the letter 'V', that's just common sense.

Once every villain she defeated was in cuffs, the media and a few of her fans approached her. Fists nested on her hips she began to answer questions and retold the events leading to the encounter. She tried to keep her emotions in check when one of the reporters requested her opinion on vigilantism, she ignored the question in favor of giving her measurements to a perverted interviewer while sporting a forced smile. That was enough to sidetrack the ‘interview’ into gossip, which annoyed her to no end.

This constant interest in that asshole vigilante is getting on her nerv-

Her ears twitched.

Her rabbit-like sharp senses caught the sounds of a fast approaching individual from the south west. As it got closer she heard a very peculiar sound following right behind.

It sounded like… small explosions.

She directed her gaze upwards just in time to see a masked man dressed on black and white ‘flying’ through the air at high speed. A smile slowly began to form on her lips. Her expression twitched at the impressed crowd, who also directed their attention to the vigilante which passed by them.

A few reporters tried to gain her attention to comment on what they just saw, but her mind was elsewhere. Without saying another word, she identified the best route and vantage point to follow her prey, flexed her powerful rabbit-like legs, and jumped away.

A few rooftops later she managed to catch up to the target. Her bloodthirsty grin only widened as she saw the vigilante stop a few streets in the middle of the air overseeing the street below, his leg moving at high speed every so often to keep himself in the air.

Somehow.

She 'stealthily' approached the man who had a big and fat reward over his head. As she got closer to the building next to him her ears twitched again. This time her rabbit ears caught the murmurs of the vigilante, as well as the commotion currently happening below them.

“... a gang war,” she heard her target say under his breath as his leg swiftly moved constantly, creating more air explosions, keeping him in the air. “Hm… it seems everyone has a quirk. Better watch out before jumping in.”

'So that's how he flies…' she thought while looking at his legs moving at high speed. She began to scratch her chin deep in thought until she realized. 'No! Wait, he said something about a gang war.'

A gang war means villains.

And that means…

The Smiley prick is going to one-up her again, isn't he?

'Hmph! Like hell I'm going to let you do as you please,' she thought as she positioned herself so she could quickly descend on him, take him out and have enough time to go down on those baddies below them. 'I can't let you keep all the attention to yourself can I?'

Without hesitation she flexed her lower muscles in preparation and shot herself at high speeds straight to her prey. Her body spun in place and delivered a kick directly to his face.

That's what would've happened if it wasn't for Smiley to slightly move his head towards her and laugh.

“I'm sorry but I don't have time for fans today! Heh!” Smiley said offhandedly, while moving his hand at high speed to redirect her kick away from him. Her body was effortlessly parried towards a building at his other side, which was currently in construction.

She landed on a steel beam and hopped to another to stop her momentum. A sneer replaced her usual heroic smile.

“Maybe you should try to stop thinking out loud next time. I could hear you from here, dummy! And put some pants on! That outfit is quite distracting! Heh-Heh!” Smiley laughed, irritating her to no end. The vigilante immediately redirected his gaze below them, just in time for the sounds of screams, shouts, and explosions to increase. “I'm sorry, it appears our greet and meet is gonna have to wait. Bye-Bye!”

Without further ado, his leg stopped moving and he began rapidly descending while waving at her.

“Oh no you don't!” she screamed, following right after him. Her legs propulsed her body towards the next building and she angled herself downward. Her feet impacted the skull of the largest guy of the group fighting among themselves, nailing it to the asphalt “You're not upstaging me again asshole!”

“...good instincts, but always aim for the quiet one from the back,” she heard the vigilante say as he kicked a yakuza looking dude in the air, followed by hitting two guys in the chin that tried to get him from behind. “Size alteration, heat manipulation… hm, behind you.”

Her senses perked at the same time she heard him speak and she threw a strong kick to the whistling sound coming from behind. Her foot impacted the chest of a villain holding onto a katana, sending him flying and crashing against another villain from the back.

“Hum, that's wind manipulation and… fire breathing,” the illegal hero murmured before jumping over a villain that was trying to aim a gun made out of his own flesh. Before the villain could even change his target the vigilante immediately knocked him out by a quick blow to the back of the head. “Uh… some weird gun guy or something. Actually I had a really good pun for this one but I forgot already. To your rig-”

“I don’t need your shitty help, idiot!” Mirko was already moving before the vigilante could even utter another word. Her leg blurred at top speed sending another criminal crashing into his partners or subordinates or whatever. “Why don’t you take your stupid puns and shove them up your-”

“Oh! Oh! It's not the same pun but I think I have the next best thing! Heh!” It was at that moment that Smiley decided to open his mouth again, wiping the smile that was starting to form on her face. “What do you tell a decent arms-dealer? That the world doesn-”

Bzzh!

Kshh… Kon here. We just got a tip about a situation from Hosu.

Smiley just grunted at the sudden sound coming from his frontal pocket. Without stopping his momentum he jumped over her while fishing for what appeared to be a walkie-talkie and immediately delivered three targeted kicks to three similar looking villains that turned out to be clones of the same man hiding between them.

“Heh! I'm in the middle of something here,” the vigilante spoke to the device in an almost exasperated tone as he jumped around hitting and kicking people up at the same speed as her. “Don't we have a smiling friend doing rounds nearby?”

He's busy in Chiba, so wrap it up. Another giant, sporting what appears to be a black tongue. Hurry up. Kshh…

Smiley let out a long and loud sigh. He jumped in the air and began to rapidly kick the air, 'floating' in place.

“Sorry folks! But it seems something just came up!” said the smiling vigilante, loud enough for everyone to hear, meaning that all this time he was murmuring with the intention of speaking directly with her. “I forgot the joke I came up with, so let's wrap up this party real quick Heh-Heh!”

Mirko's ears twitched by the loud sound of air rushing through the mouth of the vigilante followed by the explosive sound his leg made every time it 'kicked' the air. This was the first time she heard someone breathe this loud before.

Just as the responses from the crowd began to be known she heard the vigilante murmur a few words.

“Water Flow: Shaving Whirlpool,” attacks rained upon the vigilante, but before they could land, Smiley's body disappeared.

'His speed!' she thought alarmed as her eyes managed to get a glimpse of a black and white trail moving at blinding speeds through everyone on the street in a circular motion. 'I can barely follow his moves! What the hell?! Was he holding back this entire time?!'

Her eyes widened, and she clearly saw him deliver not one, but multiple strikes to every single villain in the vicinity while moving in a circular motion towards the center of the conflict.

The rabbit hero didn't even have time to deliver a comeback or retaliate, because by the time her eyes adapted to the vigilante's speed, every single one of the villains in the street were already falling to the ground.

“I'm not done yet, Heh!” Mirko heard him say as he began to move again counterwise. This time he was tying everyone up while they were still falling or in the air. “I didn't bring enough rope for everybody. So, some of you will have to share!”

Cold sweat began to form on the back of her neck just as he passed by her position. She found herself unable to move.

She felt outclassed.

This wasn't her first time either.

So, why did it bother her so much?

Was it because he was her target and he showcased speeds far beyond her expectations?

She blinked. It took her less than a second but her eyes finally caught up to the rope that was connecting every single villain that Smiley tied. Which meant…

That asshole!

Mirko's legs flexed and immediately jumped away from her position. Just in time for every single tied criminal to be brought to the center into a big pile of bodies and rope. Meaning that if she stayed put, she would be in the pile as well.

“Water Flow: Shaving Capture!” the asshole vigilante said while holding onto the end of the rope. She caught the sound of air slowly escaping his mouth, it reminded her of the sound of an old american kettle she used to own.

Immediately, civilians began to flock the streets, shouting praises and thanking them for defeating the villains, some of them even calling them a team considering they both worked together side by side.

Like hell they did!

Her frown deepened. Regardless her lower muscles flexed as she prepared to jump in and deliver another kick to that smiling asshole.

“Heh-Heh! Thank you! Thank you! But I’m sorry, I must part ways soon,” Smiley said before jumping in the air and started to ‘levitate’ while giving them a lame salute. “But worry not! I’m leaving the details to my amazing sidekick, take it away! Heh-Heh!”

Without further ado the vigilante raced across the skies until he was no longer visible.

It took her only two seconds for her brain to catch up and connect the dots, which was a second too late, because the people were already flocking her from all sides with questions and screams of disbelief.

“HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SIDEKICK, YOU ASSHOLE?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

But the vigilante didn’t hear her.

---

*CRASH*

My hand met the back of the head of a beefy quirk user covered in moss and drove it to the ground, creating a small crater. I didn’t have any intention of killing him, just knocking him out.

I was feeling restless again.

Another homeless person from the area went missing. He was one of the few that refused any help, and paid for his food whenever he visited the stand. He liked his privacy, maybe because he enjoyed the night activities or because of shame I really didn’t know. Salt simply told me to forget it and let him be.

I grunted as I moved the big guy away from the asphalt and started to wrap him up against a lamppost. The cases of quirk users who were unable to control their quirks have steadily grown day by day. Some days I’ve even found more than four on the same street.

Some of them were ‘Villains’ some others were Innocent people. Going by the word of Standhal or whatever his name was, even a few yakuza members are on the drug, mostly small fries trying to close the gap during conflict or fights.

What a mess.

‘No new leads… and the old man just wants to fight strong people.’ I thought while sporting a sneer. The fact that he barely cared for the lives of people on the street just rubbed me in the wrong way. ’Makes me want to give him a piece of my mind.’

Once done wrapping up the present I began to leave with another hilarious remark to the only few people on the street late in the night, but I stopped before I could open my mouth, as a slowly approaching ‘smell’ began to make its way to my position. A buzzing sound appeared to accompany the smell.

In any given situation I would ignore it and just continue as if nothing is happening.

The thing was…

I knew that smell.

Without thinking my hand immediately blurred and between my fingers, I caught a small… something. It exploded as soon as It made contact with my fingers. Maybe I used too much strength on this one.

An insect maybe?

My nose flared as the insides of the bug I just squashed released the smell of the drug I’ve been searching for.

But…

How?

Why?

It felt stronger even. Normally I would catch the smell from a few meters away, and whenever I would get closer it would only get stronger, but that was it. This time, it took me until it got close to me for my nose to catch it, not counting that once It exploded, the fluid and innards of this insect was overwhelming my sense of smell. I winced in discomfort.

I looked around, trying to find the source of the bug. It could be a Villain weaponizing its quirk, or a natural animal of this anime world. But I could only see the people clapping, enjoying ‘Smiley’ kick ass once again.

I blinked. Completely lost.

What the hell is going on…

---

A/N: Rumi content for those who were asking about it. Initially the Mirko scene was going to be pushed for the next chapter, but then I felt it worked on this chapter rather than the next one. After a few words with my friend and beta Shifty, I decided to move the other complementary scene to the next chapter, you’ll understand when you get there

Writing this one as soon as the last chapter was posted. Decided to start writing the author notes first because I felt the progress was quite slow and needed something to unwind and let the words flow more easily (is it working? (It didn’t work)).

It feels so surreal that I've been doing this for a year… well, almost a year. Unless of course this gets posted in April, then is going to be a year for me. (Um… Yeah :/ )

Being completely sincere with you guys, I never thought I would get this far. I always felt I was going to write up to chapter 4 and then stop. My old fics never went that far ahead, so I felt this one wasn't going to be any different. But here we are, still writing this one. Slower than how I began, but I've been told it's normal for someone who doesn't quite grasp the English language so it no longer bothers me as much as before (I do wish I could write faster though).

To this day I still have to research synonyms and words so I don't repeat myself. To be quite frank I hate fics that do the “He said, she said, he said, she said” constantly without rest. Feels like a shore to read. Hope my fic doesn't become that by chapter 20-something (fingers crossed so I can eventually arrive at chap 20 lol).

A lot of the scenes of this chapter were planned since the first issue. Some others were rewritten so many times that they don't even resemble the original planning. I knew I wanted Stendhal and Gure to interact. Maybe work together, considering the positive influence of Gure's actions in the world. But after revisiting Stendhal chapters in Vigilantes I realized he barely used non lethal attacks while dealing with 'Villains'. So a few words from Smiley, even if he respects him, won't do much to change his view on the world. He saw himself as a tool of justice, but was he really?

Smiley actions gave confidence to people who didn't particularly have it before, such as Gentle, who is a small-time vigilante now and assists in rescues. But to someone like Stendhal, someone who sees criminals and villains as the scum of society, he only saw the approval of his actions.