1.32 – Recruits

“So. The app is done. Have you gone to some of the shopkeepers? You haven’t told me or Aiko anything, at least.” Alicia prodded it as they walked out of the house.

“No, I haven’t actually. This is the next plan, but I can’t come to them with an offer of an app that’s supposed to protect their assets without… you know.”

“No heroes in the app to show off with?” Alicia gave him an understanding smile. “Yeah, makes sense. That’s like offering to sell a house to someone and not having any bricks at the warehouse. I get it. So, your plan is?”

“I plan to talk to Yukiko and hope that I can get her on the app. And that she can point me in the direction of some of the others that could be interested.”

“From what we talked with her, I don’t feel like she knows that many people.”

“She probably doesn’t know them personally, is my guess, but I feel like she knows her stuff. And like, what do we have to lose, right?”

“Fair point. Oh wait, I’m gonna grab the car keys; I forgot.”

Nathan waited for a moment before she returned, and then they were off driving through the streets. It was really god damn convenient having someone as his own personal chauffeur.

Soon they arrived at Ako Academy, and the gates were closed. A few people hovered in the air around the perimeter, and the black-suited men were at the gates and at each corner surrounding the school as well. So many… But Nathan knew it made sense, especially if they wanted to protect their students.

He seriously couldn’t even begin to imagine the administrative nightmare that became of the events from two weeks ago. Or was it three now? It was easy to lose track of time when there was so much going on.

Alicia was silent the whole way through the city. If she was anything like Nathan, she was thinking about what had happened back at the couch in their house. Nathan didn’t hallucinate that part, right?

There was something there, in between them. Nathan was pretty sure of it.

And apparently, just like Alicia, he was unsure what to think about it, what to do about it. It seemed that both of their solutions were to remain silent and not to mention it at any cost, which of course made for a very tense atmosphere, suffocating their words before they could be said.

Getting out of the air of the car felt almost like a relief.

The few guards near the gate took notice of them, but they didn’t move to walk towards them. They simply watched. For now, at least.

“Hello, sirs, may we go into the academy? We need to talk to someone,” Nathan began.

One of the men nodded in a greeting. “I recognize you. You were one of the people who went here three times this week. Mr. Brody, if I’m correct.”

That shocked him. “Yes, my name is Nathan Brody. I study here at this university, and so does she.” He thumped his head in the direction of Alicia, who stood two feet beside him.

“I’m afraid that the students don’t have access to the academy during the weekend. We are not allowed to let you in, not unless you’re supervised.”

“Well, that’s convenient. We actually came to see Vermillion Strike.”

“Hmm, the hero teacher.” The man nodded, giving him a wan smile. “Well, I can call her and see if she is willing to see you today. She should be here unless duties called for her.”

“Thank you a lot,” Nathan said and gave the man some distance.

“I hope we didn’t go here for nothing,” Alicia muttered, unamused. “She could be literally anywhere. If superhero duty is called away, then we might have to wait for the entire day, if not more.”

“Let’s try to stay optimistic, okay? It’s nigh time for Tokyo to be a little bit calmer after all we’ve been through.”

“Nathan… think about what has been happening for the last two decades. Crime won’t simply stop because you need it to.”

“You’re the epitome of optimism today, Alicia.”

“Oh, shut up. It’s called being realistic, you big doofus.” She laughed.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

One of the security guards walked closer, speaking to his earbud. “Okay, she will be here any moment now. You can stay here next to the gate with us and we’ll open it up. Now listen. The rules say you cannot distance yourself from your supervisor unless absolutely necessary, or she allows you to. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Nathan nodded. The man was honestly nicer than he looked. His sunglasses and bald head just kind of gave Nathan a certain “what to expect” feeling, but now it was gone completely. Hell, even his voice was nicer than Nathan thought it would be.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind and a small shadow on the ground. Nathan glanced up. Vermillion Strike was indeed in the air, but she wasn’t wearing her costume, not this time around. She was wearing flowy jeans that hugged her waist and upper thighs but became looser around her ankles, and a light-blue, long-sleeved shirt that hugged her biceps and triceps, along with black high heels. The strangest of all, she actually wore glasses.

Hell, Nathan always laughed about how Superman suddenly became Clark Kent when he put on some glasses, but now that he realized there might have been some truth to it.

Some different makeup, and boom, there was a completely different woman. Yukiko usually didn’t fight with much makeup on, or at least not the type that Nathan could recognize at first glance. He never considered it, but the moment he did, he realized that it must be really inconvenient to fly through the air and have everything smeared away. Now she had eyeliner that went along the upper line of her eye.