A few hours later, they touched down in Mexico. No rabid fans in sight—luck was on their side.
"So... this is the freedom nation[1]. Though I only know the information from online, do we need to be wary of normal civilians carrying guns?"
Hawks nearly spilt his coffee.
"...A bit of caution won't hurt."
---
A cab ride later, they reached the hotel.
Due to the time difference, it was currently afternoon. The party was tonight.
"I am going to sleep like a log. Wake me up when the time comes." With that, Shigure went to his room.
"Mhm. I will also take a nap." Hawks put an alarm before resting.
---
"You ready?" Keigo adjusted his collar.
"Why do I look like your butler, and you get to stroll in casual?"Shigure huffed. He was wearing a fully formal wear—suit, black shoes, such that he was dressed fully in black.
"It's my hero outfit. You are accompanying me, so the standard outfit."
They entered the lift. "What if a hero costume is just boxers?"
Keigo frowned, "Then they will come like that." He looked at Shigure's indifferent face with narrowed eyes.
"What?" Shigure asked.
"...Nothing." Keigo took out his phone and opened the notes app.
{Reminder to not let Shigure choose his hero outfit.}
He kept his phone back just as they reached the ground floor.
The venue was walking distance—booked entirely by the host.
"Now that is grand," Shigure said, looking at a floor filled with heroes.
"Yeah. There are more than 100 people on this floor alone. Not to forget, we are only on the top floor." Keigo could tell the number just with a glance.
Experience.
"One bomb here would rewrite history," Shigure commented.
"Nah. This place has pretty good security. Moreover, not many people will be injured even if they do use a bomb. Though things would be different if it were nuclear." Hawks shrugged.
That was the first thought he had when he saw the invitation.
"Is that so?" Shigure looked around.
Somebody approached Hawks and started a conversation with him.
Shigure started walking around. He wasn't the only civilian in the room. He could see people present, even kids, making him think that they were probably families of the heroes.
'Well, that's interesting...' He saw a man approaching him.
He was wearing a deep moss-green armour. Vines and leaves organically weave across his torso, sprouting and disappearing in real time. A crown-shaped vine helm adorned his head.
His right glove holds a seed cannon, which screams danger. Like many heroes, he was wearing a cape.
Shigure nudged his glasses with two fingers.
"It's my pleasure to meet you." Shigure fluently spoke in English.
English was his mother tongue in his previous life, and his proficiency in it surpasses that of his Japanese.
"You know who I am?" Surprise flickered across his face.
'No clue. Doesn't matter.'
[Green Hope: Verdante. Quirk: Jungle Sync. Country: Brazil. Hero rank nationally: 15. He is...]
Shigure heard Ki's voice, receiving all the necessary information through his earpiece in his right ear.
The glasses he was wearing were equipped with cameras that would send information to Ki. This was not as useful as his visor, but it was the next best thing.
"Indeed. You are quite popular overseas, Mr Verdante... Or should I say Green Hope?"
"Just Verdante." He said, glancing at Shigure's right ear with an amused look.
'He caught that?'
"What's with your ear?" Verdante asked, pointing at his right ear.
'He ain't going to take an excuse like listening to music or something. Need a distraction.'
A sorrowful look appeared on Shigure's face, replaced by his indifferent look the next second. Though if one looked closely, they would realise he was trying to hide it.
"... A few years ago... A villain with a strong sound quirk attacked my neighbourhood."
Verdante stiffened. That wasn't the answer he expected.
"My p—parents shielded me…" Shigure's indifferent look broke for a split second. "Luckily, I only lost my hearing in one ear. I still could be a hero." A determined look appeared on Shigure's face.
"Indeed. You can be a hero. In fact, I think you would make a good hero." Verdante patted Shigure's left shoulder.
"You think so?"
"Yes. You must be Hawks's apprentice. He must have seen potential in you."
Shigure nodded at that. 'Successfully deflected. Should I play with this guy? Keigo didn't say anything about being on my best behaviour. Irritating him a bit should be fine...right?'
"Can I get your autograph?" Shigure asked, taking out a marker and premium paper.
"Sure." Verdant agreed.
'I am going to auction it. I hope it sells for a high price.'
"Can I ask some questions? I always wanted to interview with you. Just 3 questions, promise."
"Sure. Go Ahead." Verdante didn't think much and agreed. He failed to notice a calculating gleam in Shigure's eyes.
'Well, I don't know how much impact I would make with 3 questions, but let's see.'
"If a forest fire would save a village but destroy 100 years of rare plant life… would you light the match?"
Shigure asked this question to the man who had spent most of his life in the jungle. One of the closest people to nature on the planet.
Verdante narrowed his eyes.
"Sacrifices are sometimes necessary." It sounded... rehearsed.
Shigure nodded, eyes flicking to his phone.
"This might sound a bit rude, but how many villains have you captured just to pose for the environmentalist cameras?"
He laughs—too forcefully. "You think I do this for optics?"
Shigure didn't reply—just stared.
Two of them stared at each other. Tension was increasing with each passing second.
"Well, I have seen Hawks's do that kind of stuff. So..."
"I don't do this with publicity as the main purpose. I have lived most of my life in the wild." Verdante regained his cool. At least on the outside. Inside, he wanted to end this quickly.
"I see." Shigure nodded again.
'I came for a party, not a fucking interview. Just one more question.' He told himself.
Shigure had said 3 questions in the beginning for this reason.
He had predicted Verdante to back off in the second question, but now that only one question was left, he would feel hesitancy to do that.
Hesitancy, which Shigure targeted.
"Let's say your best friend is infected by a spore that will spread and kill thousands. Could you bury them alive… like a tree does its rot?"
Unintentionally, Verdante imagined that scenario.
Silence.
His poker face cracked. He looked away. "That's not funny."
He walked away without saying anything. His poker face was back on.
Shigure looked at his back, going farther apart.
'Aww, you didn't have to leave the floor entirely. Do you know what that would make me feel?'
Shigure covered the lower half of his face with his right hand, hiding his grin.
'That was a bit too easy. Almost disappointingly. I guess he was caught off guard. Still, maybe he doesn't have much social experience. He did say that he spent most of the time in a jungle.'
After having his fair share of fun with the Brazilian hero, Shigure decided to find his next target.
After glancing at multiple heroes, his gaze paused on one.
A lady with tan coloured skin.
Her bodysuit shimmers slightly every once in a while. Flowing from her hips and arms are translucent silk panels patterned with solar runes.
In the centre of her golden chest plate lies an eye—Eye of Ra. Similar in design to the eye on her forehead protector.
IMG. [2]
Her gaze met his.
Golden eyes met Blue.
She smiled. He wore a practised smile.
'I am lucky that puberty hasn't started yet.'
[Solaris Veiln Quirk: Solar Mirage. Country: Egypt. Hero rank nationally: 31. She is...]
Shigure heard carefully as he made her way towards her.
"It's my pleasure to meet the legendary Solaris Veil here." Shigure shook his hands with her.
"You flatter me. I didn't expect to be known in Japan." Shigure blinked, caught off guard by her Japanese.
'Right. Ki did say that she could speak 6 languages.'
She leaned in closer, dropping her head such that they were on the same eye level.
"Boy, what is your name?" Shigure could smell a unique scent, reminding him of the desert.
Suddenly, Keigo's wise words echoed in his mind.
"Beware of Shota-cons. Though chances are less, you should be on guard as we are in the 'Freedom Nation'." He had said that when he saw Shigure doing some makeup to hide his eye bags.
The transformation was quite noticeable. His eyes were just too remarkable.
There's a reason Keigo said that Shigure reminds him of Gojo.
"Shigure. Hatsune Shigure."
'Hmph. Did he think I would get tempted by some pretty lady? She ain't even as pretty as my anime waifus.'
Shigure took out a marker and paper to get the autograph.
"Oh. Who are you with?" She wordlessly gave him her autograph.
"That guy with red wings." Shigure pointed at Keigo. He wasn't the only Japanese hero present at the gathering.
"Hawks? You seem pretty familiar with him. Apprentice?" "Something like that." Shigure stored the autograph back in his bag.
He looked at the lady, who was now standing straight.
She put her right hand on his shoulder.
"Say, why don't you tell me about Hawks? He seems like a promising guy."
***
A/n- I only created those images on a whim. As stated in the synopsis, I will focus mainly on Cannon characters. Next chapter, there would be some hawkish development.
☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆
***
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[1] "..."
[2] Image on Discord.