Vigilantism.
It was just another issue that they had to moderate and keep in check to ensure that everything ran as it should.
Keep the trust in heroes high, minimize harm to the everyday civilian, and nip problems in the bud wherever possible.
Vigilantes were one of those problems.
Contrary to what a startling portion of the general public seemed to think, being labeled a vigilante required more than one isolated event.
Happening upon something like an assault and helping.
Being unfortunate enough to get caught in the collateral damage of a battle and using your help to protect yourself and those around you.
Typical self defense.
Possible consequences varied depending on circumstance and results but typically speaking, rare situations like that where most people outside of high risk communities would have to be extraordinarily unlucky to find themselves in repeatedly would never result in anyone being labeled a vigilante.
Typically speaking.
Rubbing the inner corners of his eyes, Mera lowered his hand, a yawn suppressed as he watched the footage play out in front of him.
A trench coat.
A fedora.
A revolver.
A man appeared out of thin air, firing pinpoint shots that not only hit their target without so much as grazing fleeing civilians, but avoiding anything vital.
Had it not been for rapid response, that desperate criminal would’ve bled out, but not nearly as quickly as one would’ve expected someone with six different bullet wounds to.
And then the shooter vanished.
Even if this was the first sighting and report, the mere fact that the suited man was armed with such a weapon, and as far as they could tell, possessing a quirk that facilitated some kind of teleportation, elevated him straight to the levels of repeat offenders who ignored all warnings and consequences.
While he would be just another taking all their usual measures to look into the man and his so far undiscovered background, Mera ended up replaying the footage a hand full of times, focused not on the vigilante that saved the day but the two kids who were saved.
Specifically, the dark haired boy.
In a show of quick thinking very few untrained civilians would be capable of, he activated his quirk and threw himself in front of his friend, managing to fend off the initial grab.
A show of skill that unfortunately resulted in an aggressive response.
Just like with the quick use of his quirk, despite the close distance, the boy’s reaction had been impressive, he already beginning the motions to jump out of the way.
Only to remember the girl and drop self preservation to a secondary concern, rooting himself in place to protect her.
It was the reports from the hospital that came after that were of greater interest.
A quirk with regenerative capabilities, even if it reserved for the user alone, was a rarity.
Mera yawned again, finally closing the video and gathering up the paperwork across his desk.
He wouldn’t be directly involved with much of any of it, busy with his own work, but he was sure Madam President would have people paying attention to potential like that.
XOXO
A pair of cold canned sodas and a plate of multicolored mochi all on a simple wooden tray.
The perfect snack for students in the middle of a study session.
Humming to herself, Nozomi picked up the tray, rounding the kitchen counters, passing by the dining table and heading down the narrow hall leading to the rest of the apartment.
She stopped in front of Katsu’s door, shifting the tray to one hand and raising her curled hand.
“Come on, just a little longer.”
“We’re supposed to be studying.”
“We are.
This just makes it more interesting.”
Nozomi debated whether or not she should step away and just keep the prepared snacks for herself before knocking.
It was nice that he finally had a friend but there were just certain things she couldn’t let Katsu do.
Not without a conversation and being sure he was being smart about things.
As she opened the door, she was surprised to find the two over at his desk, books laid out in front of them.
That in of itself wasn’t strange but there was no signs of either of them doing anything she expected.
“I thought I’d bring the two of you something to eat.” She said, Katsu standing to come grab the tray.
She couldn’t take her eyes off of Himiko who, rather than sporting her dark blonde hair, now had jet black hair, intently looking down at the ground rather than at her.
“I know I’m not getting so old that I’d forget but did her hair color change?”
“Yeah.” Katsu said, casually nodding as he took the tray.
“Her quirk is kind of like mine.
She can mimic the looks of people after drinking their blood.”
Himiko peaked up, her now red eyes meeting hers, Nozomi giving her a smile.
“Well, I do think you pull off the look well.”
A smile, small but just wide enough to show another surprising similarity to Katsu, formed.
Extraordinarily sharp canine teeth.
“Thank you, miss Nozomi.”
After not so subtly hinting at the two not to get up to anything explicit and brief check into how their studying was going, she left the room, a smile crossing her face as she closed the door behind her.
She always been concerned but maybe she didn’t need to worry about him so much anymore.
Over the past two months he’d been stepping out of his shell and returning to being more like the eager boy, ready to give his all to whatever caught his interest, that she remembered.
Actually heading out to skate, hanging out with Himiko and her friends, and his holding dedication to preparing for U.A.
of all places.
To think all it took was meeting the right girl.
She’d never been one to believe in fate or much of anything all that much but between how they’d apparently met, an amusing story she got out of Himiko and their apparently similar quirks, it was hard not to think there might’ve been some kind of unseen force at work.
Either way, she hoped things went well for the two of them, and if not, Katsu at least retained this energy he’d gotten back.
If only Chizome was here.
He’d been hit by one thing after another, she understood that, their parents’ deaths especially hard on him so soon after losing Katsu’s mother but what was that idiot thinking just up and disappearing without any explanation?
At this point, the few calls she’d received over the years a thing of the past, she was beginning to think he’d went and done something horribly stupid, no one, not even law enforcement, able to find any trace of him.
Troubling as it was to even entertain the idea, she was less worried about facing that eventuality herself.
Sooner or later Katsu was going to ask about his father.
What was she supposed to tell him?
XOXO
(A/N: We’re getting to that time skip/next arc but before that there are some things I want to set up for the future but also background stuff/characters I want to shine a bit more attention on.
AKA, the perfect time for an intermission chapter.
Or rather intermission chapters.
The next one will also be an around the same length intermission chapter focused on another character and their perspective before we’re back to Katsu.