Tokyo. December 7th, 2118.
The D-day, at noon.
Mitsuki had said it wasn't a formal event, so he dressed a little casually. Beneath his suit, he wore a black turtleneck tucked into his long pants, paired with matte black leather shoes. He usually never did his hair, but this time, he combed it neatly back.
Once finished, he headed to his private elevator, which went straight down to the lobby.
Brrrr! Brrrr!
Unlocking his phone, he read the encrypted message, and his brows furrowed.
'An emergency at this time? Motherfucker.'
He had already informed his boss this day would be his holiday. But after reading the mission details, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. He understood why he couldn't miss it. He tried calling Mitsuki, but she didn't pick up, so he just left a message letting her know he'd be late.
He made his way to the location where a white van was waiting for him. The passenger door slid open.
Inside was a muscular yet curvy woman in a black sleeveless turtleneck beneath a bulletproof vest, long military-grade pants, and white boots. Her two-tone purple and pink hair flowed down to her upper thighs. When on duty, she preferred it in a high ponytail.
Yuji also noticed two other women in suits—one in the driver's seat, and the other in the front left, working on a laptop.
As Yuji stepped into the van with a nonchalant gait, the woman raised her brow as the vehicle started moving.
"The hell are you wearing, Senpai?" she asked, side-eyeing him like a scanner locking onto a barcode.
Yuji sat down in the captain's seat beside her and let out a slow exhale.
"Mind your own business, Nagant."
He said it in a dry, colleague-to-colleague tone, calling her by her hero name.
Lady Nagant—currently ranked number 11 in the Hero Rankings.
She hadn't chosen the name herself; the public had given it to her. She knew her lovely appearance didn't match her line of work, so she chose to show off her trained arms, and her quirk required her to dress like a soldier anyway.
Nagant hummed thoughtfully, then paused. A sweet scent brushed past her nose. She turned to Yuji again, eyes widening slightly in surprise.
"Oh my," she said, the corner of her lips curling up. "Don't tell me... you have a date?"
The two suited women in the front seemed to flinch at the question.
It had been ten years since Yuji first met Nagant. The Public Safety Commission had recruited her when she was just fifteen, and they'd assigned him to train her. Back then, she was a sweet girl. But that version of her was long gone—except for her habit of poking into his personal life. These days, she was mischievous and teasing.
Yuji didn't respond.
'It's definitely a date.' 3x.
Nagant sighed inwardly. 'A date?' She idly twirled a lock of her hair, her gaze drifting. 'Am I not good enough?' Not that she wanted to admit she cared. Then she remembered the woman she'd seen in his apartment.
"As much as I hate disrupting your vacation, Senpai... we need you on this mission." She handed him a thin glass tablet.
"Alright—"
Crash!
The right side of the van was torn apart. A massive hand pierced through the ceiling, ripping off half the right door.
"What lovely women we have here!" a voice boomed.
Nagant twisted her right arm. The shoulder joint popped open to reveal a hollow barrel—part of her body. She could extend the barrel, but with the enemy this close, there was no time.
In one swift motion, she pointed her index finger at her bangs, twisted, and ripped off a strand.
The hair hardened, forming a bullet.
"Kekeke!"
The four-armed villain licked his lips, eyes locked on her armpit.
'Disgusting.'
Her face went cold.
Nagant loaded the hair-bullet into her arm with a calm precision.
"Let's dig—"
Pshoo!
Something struck the villain between the eyes. In an instant, his massive body turned white—then crumbled into dust.
"Hah... that was freaky..."
Nagant exhaled and straightened her right arm, reverting her rifle back into flesh. She glanced over at Yuji.
Calmly, he slipped his silenced gun back into the shoulder holster beneath his suit.
Yuji noticed the agents and Nagant staring at him.
"Please move on," he said flatly.
The woman in the driver's seat flinched.
"Y-yes, but with this kind of damage, I'm afraid—"
"I'll handle it."
He placed his left palm against the van's window. In an instant, his eyes glazed over slightly as he accessed the data of the vehicle—limited to the past 24 hours. It took him exactly 0.088 seconds to scan and process everything.
[Regrowth]
This quirk allowed him to restore objects—or living beings—by copying their exact state within the past 24 hours.
Faster than a blink, in just 0.12 seconds, the van was completely restored—as if nothing had ever happened.
The two agents gulped, staring at the now-pristine interior as the van slowly began to move again.
"Make sure to delete any footage from that area."
"Ye-yes, sir."
The agent in the front was already typing rapidly, fingers dancing over her keyboard.
'No hesitation... He killed—no, he erased that man from existence.'
Nagant felt a cold chill creep up her spine, despite being used to working with him.
'[Regrowth] can repair anything... and Senpai's [Decomposition: Mist Dispersion] completely erases matter from this world. There's no pain. It's too fast…'
The thought unsettled her. She stole a glance at Yuji. He looked like he might be sleeping—eyes closed, expression unreadable. But she couldn't tell for sure.
On impulse, she opened the Hero Billboard Ranking on her tablet.
Hero Name: Lady Nagant
Quirk: Rifle
Hero Rank: 11th out of 81,974 heroes
Agency: Freelance
She sighed inwardly. Being ranked 11th was more of a burden than a blessing. It drew too much attention, even though much of her work had to be done behind the scenes.
Not that heroes couldn't kill. By law, heroes were forbidden to kill. Under special conditions, the police could authorize lethal force.
Unless they were under the Public Safety Commission.
Heroes like her, especially him—had the license to kill. And they were trained to do it cleanly, quietly. Like assassins.
But Lockdown... he was something else.
'11th place doesn't even come close to what he's really capable of. And Senpai... he just killed Amai Mask too.'
Even though most of his kills were done from long range, facing Lockdown in a head-on fight was unthinkable.
---
FWOOOSH!
A semi-cargo aircraft sped through the sky at Mach 1, cruising 35,000 feet above the West Pacific Ocean.
"Lockdown killed the 8th hero."
"That's sick. Does he even have limits?"
"Of course he doesn't. I'm 46 this year, and he's been with Public Safety for over thirty years—and he's only 35."
"What? I've never heard that. So he started at... two years old?"
A young boy with long orange hair and yellow glasses looked on, his mind spinning with awe.
He had only joined Public Safety last year—at the age of 8.
'Incredible...' he thought.
Others around him took notice of the kid with wings and walked over, their interest piqued.
"You must be the new guy? Jesus... They recruited Nagant before, and now this? Don't worry. Our Captain started younger than you."
"Yeah…"
"Then, as your seniors, let us give you some advice."
"Advice?" Hawk tilted his head, curious.
"Whatever the Public Safety told you about Pro Heroes—throw it out. That's all bullshit. If they're 'Pro,' then what does that make him?"
Hawk blinked. 'Is he talking about our mission captain...?'
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed through the cargo bay. A figure emerged—one familiar to all except Hawk—accompanied by a woman trailing slightly behind.
Dressed in all-black tactical gear, the man lowered his head to study the boy with wings.
"You're the rookie?"
His voice was unnaturally deep, the kind that sent a chill down Hawk's spine. He straightened up, nervous but trying to stay composed.
"Y-yes, sir! My name is Takami Keigo. I go by Hawk, sir! The Madam said I'll be your side kid from now on."
Yuji—known on the field as Lockdown—let out a quiet sigh. Beneath the mask, his expression hardened with disappointment. That witch had no humanity at all, sending a child to follow the same brutal path as himself... and the woman beside him too.
"How old are you?" Nagant visibly shivered. Judging by his height, he couldn't be more than five.
"I'm seven, Lady," Hawk replied respectfully.
Nagant frowned and turned to Lockdown, her eyes asking the question she didn't say aloud—Why is there a child on this mission?
Lockdown didn't answer. Instead, he gave a brief nod.
"Alright. Don't make a move unless I give the order. Nagant—explain the mission again."
A soft hum filled the room as a 3D projector materialized in the air between them. Nagant rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed, but relented with a sigh and brought up the visuals.
"A cruise ship owned by Tokyo Merchant departed from Yokohama five hours ago," she began, gesturing at the floating hologram. "Officially, it's headed to New Zealand for maintenance. In reality, it's stopping at Guam first."
The display zoomed in on the route.
"We've confirmed that several Pro Heroes are working with the company as 'guaranteed security' to help the ship pass through Guam's maritime inspection. Onboard, there are illegal sex workers... and it's also a mobile narcotics lab."
She paused, looking up at the team.
"That's why they hired Pro Heroes—to act as a shield."
Lockdown's eyes narrowed. After killing Amai Mask, he had recovered vital data that confirmed All For One's involvement in industries like this—used to boost his funding.
Nagant continued, her voice steady but sharp.
"We may face complications. They're likely to use the sex workers as hostages if cornered."
"Where are they being held?" Lockdown asked.
"Most likely on level five—the lowest part of the ship."
She pointed at the ship's schematic.
"Also, this vessel is equipped with long-range detection systems. We'll need to raise the plane's altitude to avoid detection. What's your move?"
Lockdown took a moment, then spoke calmly, decisively.
"Ascend to 45,000 feet. That'll keep us off their radar. I'll drop in first, clear the deck, and disable the engine. The rest of you—secure the hostages."
His eyes turned to the boy.
"Hawk. You'll stay airborne. Observe the deck and report anything suspicious."
"Yes, sir!" Hawk replied quickly, wings twitching with anticipation.
It's been thirty minutes since then. On the sideline, Nagant was watching Lockdown from a distance. He was just there, alone, checking his gear the whole time without bothering to talk to his new sidekick.
Then she remembered the woman she met at his apartment two months ago.
"Kid, give us some space," she said to Hawk, who stiffly nodded and walked off somewhere."I thought I was the youngest when the Public Safety recruited me. How about you, senpai?"
In this field, no one dared to talk casually like this—except Kaina, aka Lady Nagant.
"I was two years old back then."
Kaina smiled awkwardly at that.
"That's... wow. I mean, you're built different. Still, that's all in the past, right?"
"Yeah."
Nagant sighed inwardly. It was really hard to maintain a conversation with him. Lockdown never tried to bond with his coworkers either. She was just lucky because she had once been his sidekick.
"So, who was that lucky woman, senpai?"
He finished checking his gear.
"Don't cross the line, Nagant."
Approaching target in 15 seconds.
The pilot then announced through the speaker. At the back, around ten people were preparing their equipment. The man with hazel eyes narrowed his gaze at his glove as he equipped his gear.
'Let's finish this quick.'
He then hit a button. The cargo door opened wide, revealing the dark sky.
Nagant didn't want to be annoying, but she had to say it.
"It's not good for her—or for you. People like us aren't meant for that kind of life."
Lockdown ignored her and walked over before jumping from the aircraft. Nagant bit her thumbnail, watching her senior keep shutting her out.
"Lady."
Nagant turned. "Oh, what is it, Hawk?"
Hawk looked toward the place where Lockdown had jumped.
"Is it—was he wearing a parachute?" he asked, bewildered.
"Uh..." Nagant's eyes shifted as she recalled. "He wasn't."
Silence fell between Nagant and Hawk.
Hawk, who had been assigned as Lockdown's sidekick, felt a pang of guilt. He should've prepared the parachute but was too nervous. He quickly grabbed one and flew out of the cargo hold.
Mid-air, Lockdown dove rapidly through the sky. He spotted a small light dot in the middle of the sea. He threw a small steel marble containing a drop of his blood. As it free-fell faster than him, it hit the ocean not far from the cruise ship. Upon contact with seawater, he activated Decomposition to breaking the water down into its basic elements.
The cruise ship sailed under a tranquil night sky. Suddenly, a gust of wind and thick mist appeared without warning.
The system in Lockdown's helmet kept warning him of his decreasing altitude. Below, the cruise ship was now cloaked in the high-pressure mist he had just created.
Hawk pushed his speed to the limit. He had to save him, no matter what. But then he halted mid-air, stunned by the sight. Lockdown's body had suddenly turned into a black mist. Even in that form, he continued falling. But once the black mist met the high-pressure mist surrounding the ship, it slowed.
"What is that...?"
Hawk remembered his training.
Lockdown could decompose any kind of object into its base elements. And Regrowth—that allowed him to reconstruct anything within a time limit.
He realized, 'He just turned seawater into that mist... but—did he decompose his own body and use his other quirk to stay alive in that form?'
Hawk wondered how much pain one man could take.
"First time, kid?" Nagant was looking at him with concern.
He turned. His senior had parachuted down.
"I'm fine, senior," Hawk replied.
"Don't blame me later."
As the mist began to clear slightly, the ship's deck was already empty compared to before. A man in a captain's uniform crawled backward, begging for his life, while the figure in a black helmet calmly slid his gun back into place.
Hawk flew closer and witnessed the man pleading, claiming he had a family waiting at home. A daughter waiting to be fed.
Lockdown shot the man before he could say more. Before death fully took him, his body turned into a white mist.
Hawk wasn't sure if the man's story about his family was true. But he couldn't hold back the nausea. He flew lower toward the sea and vomited.
The rescue mission was done.
The plane moved closer to the ship and opened its back door.
"Hey, I noticed your mist turned darker than before. Was that on purpose?"
Nagant had noticed it too. Maybe it was for night missions? She wasn't sure—it had been a while since they'd had a mission together.
"There's still one thing I couldn't decomposed from the living."
"Which is?"
His helmet turned slightly before looking back.
"A soul."
Nagant watched as Lockdown jumped onto the carrier plane they had arrived in. She thought maybe what he meant was that it was the color of his soul.
She watched the plane lift off, blasting through the night sky, heading back to Tokyo.