The room was almost pitch-black, with only the flickering light of that night's full moon filtering in.
Reiji was awake, lying on the bed with one leg hanging off the mattress and his arms crossed behind his head. He had been staring at the ceiling for over an hour, not moving a single muscle except for the occasional blink. He wasn't even trying to sleep.
The memories that haunted him in his dreams wouldn't allow him that luxury; besides, it wasn't as if his body needed sleep as much as other people's. Unlike before, he now had a room to himself.
That was only natural, considering Himiko was already going through puberty and he would soon be next.
The phone on his desk suddenly began vibrating.
Reiji sat up slowly. His movements were sluggish as he wondered who it could be at this hour of the night. He walked barefoot across the creaking floorboards and picked up the phone.
As he swiped his finger across the screen, there was no greeting. Just the distorted voice on the other end.
"Agent in training number 087. Mission assigned. Intervention level: zero. Risk level: moderate. Objective: surveillance of a criminal organization with possible ties to a professional hero. Deployment required at 9:00 PM in the Kōtō district, location ###. Estimated duration: six hours. Remote supervision"
Reiji listened intently, he sharpened his senses immediately, realizing how serious the mission sounded of the matter.
"Received." That was his only response, his voice barely a whisper.
The call ended immediately, as if it had never existed. Reiji set the phone on the desk and stared at it for a few seconds. Then, he slowly turned his gaze toward the window.
Tomorrow was a school day; it wouldn't be easy to slip away, but he might be able to do something.
He walked back to the bed, but didn't lie down. He crouched next to a ledge and pried up a panel on the floor with his fingernail. Beneath it, a hidden compartment held a small notebook bearing the Commission's embossed emblem. He opened it carefully, flipping through the pages until he stopped at a blank sheet. He wrote a line in pencil:
"Mission 003: Hero-criminal pattern contact. Confirm link. Evaluate patterns. Observe without intervening"
He stared at those words. He jotted down each of the missions he had to carry out, simply to keep track of his life. He closed the notebook and returned it to its hiding place.
When he looked at the clock again, it read 1:18 a.m.
The sound of a door creaking made him tense up. He turned his head toward the hallway.
He crept up to his bedroom door and cracked it open. The house was in semi-darkness, but a small shadow was moving at the end of the hallway: Himiko, walking sleepily toward the bathroom, wrapped in a blanket.
Reiji backed away silently and closed the door slowly. He just flopped back onto his bed and tried to fall asleep again, though it would most likely be futile.
***
The night air was thick, almost sticky, as if the residual heat of the day had mixed with the urban stench of the industrial zone. Reiji was crouched on a fifth-floor ledge, his hands encased in gloves and his body hidden beneath a black cloak that absorbed the light.
In front of him, a complex of dilapidated buildings served as a front for a group that, according to the Commission, trafficked in more than just illegal goods. In internal documents, they were known as Kuraoku, and were linked to the distribution of modified technology, extortion, and alleged ties to one or more corrupt professional heroes.
In simple terms, illegal trafficking of unauthorized technologies.
The earpiece in his ear was barely buzzing with static when a neutral, methodical female voice broke the silence.
"Contact confirmed. Man in gray trench coat entering through side entrance. Hero mark visible inside the coat." Pause.
"Observation mode, kid. No interference."
"Roger," he whispered, barely moving his lips.
He didn't know who the voice belonged to. For weeks now, various anonymous supervisors had been guiding him, depending on the operation. Only Hawks had a direct line to him, but in the field, he wouldn't always have his mentor.
So far, the missions had been purely observational; with the Commission's technology, their backing, and his stealth skills, it was extremely easy to carry out the tasks from a safe distance.
Through his long-range thermal-view binoculars, Reiji spotted a tall, upright figure moving with confidence. His face was hidden in the shadow of a hood, but the metallic reflection on his chest left no doubt: he was a registered hero.
"Who the hell are you?"
The hero shook hands with one of the group members. They spoke briefly. Then, the trafficker pulled out a tablet and showed it to him. It appeared to be blueprints, but with the thermal vision, Reiji couldn't be sure.
"They're building something new, but I can't tell what it is," Reiji muttered instinctively.
"Noted," replied the voice in the earpiece. And nothing more.
An hour later, when the contact left and the rest of the group returned inside the building, Reiji packed up his gear and slipped away, like a shadow sliding through cracks.
He hadn't been given permission to intervene. Just to watch.
'My mission is over. I couldn't really confirm anything, but it's obvious they're up to something. I guess it'll be someone else's job to infiltrate and verify everything,'
He thought, just a pitiful internal monologue with no answer.
***
The sound of the coffee machine in the background, the whispers of customers, and the soft ambient music were the last things Reiji expected after a mission. But there he was, sitting in front of a cup of coffee he'd barely touched, watching Hawks devour a fruit cake with childlike enthusiasm.
"Did you really ask me to meet you at a café for this?" Reiji asked, stirring his spoon in a still-steaming cup.
Hawks shrugged, his mouth full. "You know, relaxed atmosphere. We have to take care of the stress of the hero-in-training."
Reiji rested his chin in his hand, gazing out the window.
'How strange all this is. I spend my days in underground facilities watching criminals, and now they're taking me out for cake as if it were a school field trip.'
"So? How did I do?" he asked after a long sip.
Hawks set down his fork and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin. His expression shifted slightly, becoming more serious. "Not bad. "Considering the expectations they have of you, you performed as expected, but the truth is, you did better than you should have."
"But—"
"But you still lack the experience to interpret what you see." He leaned back in his chair. "I reviewed the recordings from your suit a bit; there were some details you missed, but that's something you'll pick up over time."
Reiji frowned. He didn't like the fact that his suit had a camera, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"So what's the next step?"
"Exactly what you did. Observe. Keep taking notes. Wait for the right moment." Hawks lowered his voice. "One wrong move and the whole system breaks down. Sometimes you have to let the pigs wallow a little longer in the mud before catching them"
Reiji looked at his coffee more closely. He slumped into the chair in front of him without saying a word
Hawks set down his fork and interlaced his fingers on the table. His relaxed smile vanished.
"Now, seriously… You're going to start receiving more missions."
Reiji raised an eyebrow. "So soon?"
"Yes, as I said, they have high expectations for you. Besides, I also have to attend to my duties as a professional hero. The agency, the press, events… And I won't always be able to keep an eye on you like before." He lowered his voice slightly. "You're going to be on your own more in this."
"Was that a formal farewell?" Reiji said, tilting his head with feigned indifference.
"More like a new chapter." Hawks leaned forward. "And that's why I want you to be careful. You have to find a way to keep your family from suspecting anything. Not your sister, not your parents. They can't know what you're doing."
Reiji looked down at his cup, still full.
'Mom and Dad have already distanced themselves without me doing anything… What would happen if they found out I'm part of this? What would they think if they knew I'm being trained to kill?'
"I understand. I'm supposed to be at a friend's house today. I'll be fine." That was all he said, in a low but firm voice.
Hawks watched him for a few seconds. Then he leaned back in his seat again, crossing his arms behind his head, as if nothing had happened.
"By the way…" he said in a livelier tone, as if trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
"Someone interesting came to my agency today. An intern. They say she's rising fast in popularity. Her name is Mt. Lady."
Reiji raised an eyebrow. "Mt. Lady?"
"Uh-huh. Tall, blonde, self-centered like a commercial model. Though she has potential. They assigned her to me for supervision. You know… Public relations, damage control. She's got talent, but she's a walking disaster."
Reiji fell silent for a few seconds. His brow furrowed slightly. The name was more than familiar to him, of course. In his past life, Mt. Lady was one of the first heroines to go viral. She appeared in the early chapters, at the height of her fame.
But...
Her with Hawks?
That didn't quite fit.
'This is real life after all; I can't expect everything to go exactly as scripted.' He decided to ignore it for now and continue their conversation.
"Yeah, sure. They send you to keep an eye on an influencer with ego issues and call it strategic work." Reiji let out a chuckle as he picked up his cup. "And did she ask for an autograph? Or a photo together for her social media?"
"She doesn't even act like she's your superior; most of the time she's just worried about herself. But when a camera's in front of her, she really does seem like a different person," Hawks laughed casually, and Reiji snorted derisively.
"I guess you'll miss me quite a bit," the boy teased, noticing the change between him and Mt. Lady.
"Miss you? I'm sure that intern will cost me less than you and your appetite," he remarked, noticing how Reiji kept eating and eating nonstop, without a care for how much Hawks might spend.
"You earn enough to live the life of your dreams, and you're barely an adult—making a small dent in your finances wouldn't be a big deal. Or would you rather spend all this on your new intern?
"Hey?!"
"Just kidding..."
They both laughed and kept talking, while Reiji kept devouring his food as if he'd been up all night and his body needed to replenish its energy.
***
Today I'm posting a double chapter! I've received comments, reviews, and power stones, so I was motivated to upload two for one. Thank you for your support, and let's keep collecting those stones!
Anyway, thanks for reading and supporting. And if you leave some good stones, I would appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.