The Man Who's Too Fast For His Own Good

SORRY, THIS IS SO LATE! I WAS HIT BY A REALLY BAD WRITER'S BLOCK AND DIDN'T LIKE WHAT I WAS WRITING! GOMEN'NASAI! GOMEN'NASAI! GOMEN'NASAI!

***

(Five hours later... Kyushu...)

Haru got off the train groaning as he rolled his stiff shoulders.

"Over one hundred years since their creation but bullet trains haven't advanced their speed by that much... I'm sure Hideo Shima would be proud."

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a solitary red feather floated next to him. He blinked at it blankly before following it. He finally entered an empty street a few blocks away before the feather disappeared."

"I know you're there," a paper kunai formed in Haru's hand as he spun around, "Why don't you come out and stop hiding!"

The air whistled as the weapon flew to the upper corner of a nearby building. It was caught between the pair of gloved fingers of a man with large red wings.

"Hey-o!" the winged man stepped off the building and slowly lowered himself to the ground, giving Haeru a laid-back grin, "So you're the kid I heard so much about! Quite a spitfire, aren't you?"

Haru relaxed, telekinetically pulling the kunai apart and pulling the sheets of paper back to his body, "Hawks. Nice to finally meet you."

The number three hero gave Haru a disarming smile, "It's nice to meet a fellow flyer! I heard you're pretty fast!"

Haru rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know if I'm that fast..." he paused, "Did the Hero Public Safety Commission order you to spy on me?"

"Surprisingly, no."

Haru looked a little surprised, "Wow... You're not lying."

Hawks spread his hands innocently, "Who knows? Maybe I'm a good liar?"

Haru smirked, "Try me."

"I'm afraid of heights."

Haru raised an eyebrow, "You're good, but not that good."

Hawks chuckled, "Can't blame a guy for trying!" the pro sobered a bit, "Look, I realize this agency wasn't your first choice, but trust me; It'll be fun!" the hero gave another smile.

Haru adjusted his backpack while shifted his briefcase from one hand to the other, "I'll take your word for it. Where am I staying?"

Hawks reached out, taking the briefcase, "You'll be staying as my agency with the other intern."

Haru tilted his head questioningly, "Other intern?"

***

(Hawk's Agency...)

"Tokoyami?"

The bird-headed student turned around at Haru's exclamation, "Class Rep. What a surprise," he said with a monotone voice.

Haru sweatdropped, "You don't sound surprised."

Tokoyami crossed his arms, "I assure you, I am. I look forward to interning here alongside you."

Dark Shadow flew out wrapping itself around Haru's shoulders.

"Dark Shadow, behave yourself!" Tokoyami barked out at the sentient Quirk.

Dark Shadow gave a mischievous giggle, "Fumi thinks you are a talented person and is excited to work with you."

Tokoyami frantically raised his voice, "Desist this behavior, Dark Shadow!"

Haru smiled, petting Dark Shadow's head, causing it to rumble happily before returning to its master.

Tokoyami cleared his throat, "Sorry, don't mind him."

Haru gave a laugh, "No worries! I'm excited to train with you as well."

The birdlike student nodded, "Yes, I believe our Quirks are actually capable of working well together."

Haru placed a hand to his chin, humming in realization, "Oh yeah. Combining my long-range attacks with your mid-range melee, we'd actually team up pretty well."

"An indestructible fortress."

Hawks strode in through the door, plopping Haru's briefcase back into the redhead's arms, "Okay kids. Get some rest. We'll be patrolling tomorrow."

Haru looked at his case and back up at Hawks, "Umm... Where do I find a locker room... or anything else for that matter?"

Hawks looked at Tokoyami, "Tokoyami, can you show him?"

The bird-headed teen nodded, "Yes, sir."

***

(The next morning...)

Haru and Tokoyami had been told to get ready and were present;y in the locker room, changing into their hero costumes.

Haru muttered as he opened his briefcase, "Let's see what she did this time."

All traces of the old inner costume were gone. Now, Haru was wearing a skin-fitting, sleeveless, black shirt that instead of ending at the neck extended into a mask that covered his lower face. His pants were similar in color but were slightly more loose-fitting. To protect his bare arms, he had been provided with arm warmers slash fingerless gloves made of the same material as his shirt. As he put them on, Haru felt the difference between this version and his original in an instant. The cloth quality and breathability were much better than before and wouldn't restrict his movements or chafe his skin.

He reached into the case and found that his footwear had been updated again to a pair of black tabi* boots made from some material Haru couldn't identify. For the final touch, he slid his mother's white ring on his right middle finger, strapped his weapon's pouch to his leg, and tied his forehead protector around his head.

The door opened and Hawks leaned in, "I'm heading out you two. If you aren't ready, I'll leave you behind!"

Tokoyami shut his assigned locker, his dark cloak swirling from the movement, "I'm ready."

Haru pulled out one final item from his case, before doing the same, "Coming!"

He draped the newly made cloak around his shoulders, sliding his arms into the sleeves. 'She really outdid herself. This costume is amazing!'

He zipped up the cloud patterned robe and put on his sugegasa style hat, "Let's do this."

***

*Jika-Tabi are boots with a separation between the big toe and the rest of the toes.

***

The two interns followed Hawks outside. Two of the hero's sidekicks were waiting for them.

"We'll be using our code names while on patrol," Hawks explained, "You two are already familiar with ours already, so you should tell us yours."

"Tsukuyomi," Tokoyami said shortly.

"Akatsuki," Haru stated.

Hawks grinned, "Alright, let's get started. Try to keep up!"

He took off, stirring up dust as he went. Everyone squinted and shielded their faces with their arms. When they looked up, Hawks was airborne.

One of the sidekicks took off running after the winged hero, "Come on! We need to follow him!"

And thus a wild hawk chase began.

A thief gave a low laugh as he ran down the alleyway, lugging a briefcase, "Natural diamonds! Not that synthetic stuff! I can easily get three hundred million for thi–huh?"

The thief grunted in surprise as the case was snatched from his hand before he himself was lifted into the air by several red feathers.

"Thank's I'll take these," Hawks said in a bored tone, tapping a boot against the post he was standing on.

The thief began to struggle halfheartedly, "Ah crap! Hawks!" he flailed his arm when he realized how far from the ground he was.

Hawks floated the thief and the stolen goods to the ground without even paying attention as his sidekicks ran up.

"C'mon team! Why are you so slow?" he turned away, "There's a fight at a bar and cantina so I'm flying there next. You head back. Deal with all the paperwork! Yeah?"

Haru and Tokoyami ran to the scene, the former breathing light, while the latter was out of breath. Hawks didn't wait as he flew off.

The two interns were about to take off after him when one of the sidekicks called to them.

"Tsukuyomi! Akatsuki! Let's take this guy in. It's our job as sidekicks."

"Only because Hawks is too fast," the other added.

"You got to admit though, it is an efficient system," the first pointed out.

Tokoyami glared after the departing hero before running after him, "I'll help!"

The first sidekick looked surprised, "What?"

The second shook his head, "That kid's an eager one."

Haru turned to face them, "Are we allowed to use our Quirks to move faster?"

The second sidekick thought for a moment, "You're the kid with the Origami Quirk, right? As long as you don't cause damage."

The first nodded, "It's good you asked for permission. Go ahead."

Haru's body disappeared in a flurry of paper butterflies.

"Well, that's useful."

"Yeah."

***

Within a minute, Haru had caught up to Tokoyami. He reformed his body, hitting the ground running.

"Tsukuyomi, jump on!" he focused his chakra, raising his voice, "Ryuk!"

The origami harpy eagle appeared in a flurry of paper with a drawn-out shriek as he took to the air. Tokoyami summoned Dark Shadow to grab on and haul himself on the avian's back.

"Much obliged, Akatsuki," he nodded thanks as he knelt, carefully gripping Ryuk's feathers.

Haru nodded back, remaining standing his eyes searching for a certain red-winged hero.

"Really creative, kid!" Hawks appeared from their blindspot, flying backward as he gave them a cheeky grin.

The two interns glowered at him a little.

Hawks spread his hands helplessly, "Can't wait for things to get worse while waiting for you two. Speed is important in this business," he sped off, leaving them to follow.

Tokoyami's expression dropped slightly, "He's got a point."

Haru sighed, kneeling to ruffle Ryuk's feathers, "Let's get moving."

***

Hawks had dealt with the fight at the bar no problem. There hadn't been any need for any arrests or violence. As soon as he walked in the door, the fight had stopped almost instantly. This was followed by the usual fan service which he skillfully dealt with within five minutes.

By the time he exited the bar, he was confronted by his interns waiting impatiently for him.

"Why are you two...?" he trailed off, seeing the age restriction sign, "Ohhhhhhhhhh~"

Haru raised an eyebrow, which went unnoticed under his hat, "What?"

Hawks let out a loud laugh, clapping both boys on the back, "Sorry about that. I'm used to working with people my age."

"If my memory serves me correctly, you've only been of age to enter a bar as of a couple of years ago," Haru snarked.

"With age comes special privliges," Tokoyami mused.

Hawks rubbed the back of his head, sweatdropping, "C'mon guys! Cut me some slack!"

His head snapped up as did Haru's and the two of them looked in the same direction.

"You felt that?"

Haru's amber eyes hardened, "Yes."

***

(A short distance away...)

Two police officers had found themselves confronted by a group of four villains in the middle of the street.

"What? No heroes today?" a woman with coppery hair that appeared to be composed of feathers called out mockingly.

At this point, several people realized what was going on and wisely began to move away. Others were not so wise. Several people actually crowded closer to watch while a few began filming with their phones.

Another one of the villains, a slim man with teal green hair glared at his companion in annoyance, "Really, Stymph? You had to blow our cover?"

Stymph, who appeared to be the leader, licked her lips eagerly, "I couldn't help myself. Seeing two helpless policemen is just too much for me to leave alone."

Two of the other villains, a large bald man with spider mandibles for a mouth and a woman with ink-black hair shared a similar bloodthirsty look like their leader.

The police knew they were in trouble. At a glance, they could tell these weren't your everyday thugs. The question was why were there this many out, attracting so much attention in broad daylight?

Stymph's features changes as bronze feathers covered her arms and her head became more birdlike, "Looks like our guests have arrived."

Several red feathers flew down at blinding speed. Symph jumped away, her body shifting into a bronze feathered bird. The man with the teal hair disappeared from view and reappeared on top of a nearby building. The dark-haired woman's body turned into a black, oily substance that caused the feather to pass through her. The only one among the four caught was the spider-like man.

Hawks flapped his wings as he hovered in place, "Sorry to rain on your party, but I must ask you to stop what your doing," his tone was cheerful but held a clear note of warning.

Haru's body flickered into view on top of a lampost while Tokoyami ran up, his breathing even since the distance this time hadn't been too far.

Stymph's eyes glittered greedily, "A fight with the number three hero. This ought to be fun! Blink! Let's take him!"

The teal-haired man sighed, rubbing his neck, "Whatever, boss. Arson, Arachnid, we'll leave the other two to you."

Arson the black-haired woman eyed Haru with a mocking look, "I want the mysterious one."

The mandible-faced man rolled his shoulders, sprouting four spider-like legs from his back, "I'll take the bird."

Hawks frowned, not liking the matchup. His sidekicks weren't anywhere nearby and it would take time for more heroes to arrive. He may be the number three hero, but fighting off four villains while protecting the civilians would still be difficult. He wasn't a power type like All Might.

On the other hand, he did have two interns to level the playing field. They were both survivors of the USJ Incident so they had experience with villains and top placers during the UA sports festival. He wasn't a teacher, but he was a good judge of character. These two could handle the situation. Actually, this was a good opportunity to see their skills in a real battle.

"Akatsuki, Tsukuyomi, protect the citizens! Use your Quirks!"

The two interns nodded, "Yes, sir!"

And a clash between heroes and villains began.

***

Hawks dodged as several bronze feathers were shot at him. Using his superior speed, he closed the distance between him and the stymphalian woman. Pulling out his two largest feathers he slashed at her with them. The feather swords screeched across the villain's metal plumage, showing only slight scratches.

Even so, Stymph screamed as she lost her balance, faltering midflight

A sudden sound near him, made the hero bank, avoiding a punch from Blink. He sent a few feathers after him, but the villain's body faded out upon contact.

At that moment, over a dozen copies of Blink appeared to be jumping at him from all directions. Hawks moved in a blur, striking through each of them.

The hero came to a pause, "Illusion's huh? Pretty useful."

He raised an arm, blocking a kick as another copy appeared near him. Blink smirked, "My Quirk is a lot more dangerous than just illusions."

Hawks sent another feather through him, causing him to disappear.

Another barrage of bronze feathers shot from below as Stymph came back for another attack. Hawk used his feathers to deflect them as he weaved around in the sky, avoiding Blink's nonstop attacks. Without either of the villains noticing, the hero was quietly diverting a number of his feather to pull nearby civilians out of the way to safety.

"If we keep to the air, I'll play this one time," he mocked, "I want to see how capable my interns are. If things go bad, then, I'll step in."

***

On the ground, Arachnid made the first move as he lunged towards Tokoyami, his hands changing to spear-like claws while his extra limbs struck towards the young hero in training.

"Dark Shadow!"

The villain was met fully in the face by the sentient shadow slamming him backward.

"You shouldn't be so careless against an unknown opponent," Tokoyami chided sternly.

Arson let out a dark giggle, "Oh really?"

There was a crash as Arachnid stood up and charged forward again. Dark Shadow moved to strike him again but was shot in the face with a stream of oil shot from Arson's fingers. Blinded, the Quirk was struck heavily into the ground before Arachnid ran at Tokoyami.

The bird teen's eye widened as he saw the clawlike hand aiming at his chest and tensed to jump away.

There was a thud as Haru's figure appeared in between them, sweeping a high kick that deflected the punch. Moving in a blur, he sent many stabbing palm strikes to the large villain's torso before slamming both palms to his chest.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

The blast of air, sent Arachnid staggering back, his balance lost.

Arson shot another stream of oil at the young heroes, but this time, Tokoyami had Dark Shadow deflect it before it struck. Haru gripped the edge of his sugegasa and spun it at the female villain as its edges serrated into sharp paper blades.

Arson merely stood still as the hat passed through her, "My, my... such fierce young ones," she grimaced, "I hate it that your faces are hard to read," she complained referring to Tokoyami's appearance and Haru's mask, "I want to see the fear when you realize you are going to lose."

Haru and Tokoyami got into fighting positions, their expressions stern.

Haru tried to call the sugegasa back but frowned as he realized the paper attached to his headgear was now coated with oil. If there one thing that was worse than water for Haru's origami, it was oil. Someone with an Oil Quirk was definitely not the most ideal opponent especially since this individual could turn her own body into a liquid, making her supposedly invulnerable to physical attacks.

Then there was Arachnid. The man seemed to carry the physical attributes of a spider giving him tough skin, four extra limbs from his back, and who knows what else. Judging from the man's mandibles it would be best to avoid getting bitten too.

Tokoyami glared at the male villain carefully, "I can take this one. Dark Shadow and I are strong enough to deal with him."

"Okay," Haru agreed, acknowledging that his classmate wouldn't do as well against an opponent he couldn't hit, "I'll take care of the woman and keep her from distracting you again."

A paper katana formed in the redhead's hand. Let's see what her weakness is.

Moving in a blur, Haru swept past his opponent, causing black oil to spray through the air as he sliced her body in half.

Arson's body collapsed into a puddle before several oil bullets blasted from her now flattened form. Haru took a step back paper peeling off his body as a paper clone remained in front of him.

The paper clone slammed its hands into a ram sign, "Shikigami Dance!"

A pair of wings spread from its back, shielding its original from the widespread oil barrage. The oil hit it dead on, soaking the paper construct and causing it to stick together, rendering it useless.

Arson's body rose up from the ground a smirk showing from behind her hair, "How unfortunate that your Quirk is so badly matched up against mine, boy."

Haru narrowed his eyes as he skidded around his clone, "Shinra! Kai!"

With a roar, the two leopards burst from the ground, catching at the villain woman by surprise. Arson dodged the unleash claws and fangs of the two animals trying to spray oil on them with little success. The two cats were fast and well-coordinated. If she tried to focus on one, the other would jump in and forced her to move.

Haru raised his hand in a seal of confrontation, "Filo! Evacuate!"

There was a hum as hundreds of hummingbirds flew from his robes, following by a series of angry cheeps as the tiny bird herded the watching civilians a safer distance away or in some cases bodily moving the occasional obstinate person.

Arson saw what he was doing and noticed Hawks feathers doing the same thing. A wicked grin appeared on her face. Crouching low she spun in a full cirl spewing a large stream of oil around her. Haru flicked his hand, dispersing both his leopard creations as he moved to directly fight the villain.

Arson's eyes gleamed crazily, "Do you want to know why I'm called Arson?" she taunted, pulling out a lighter.

A paper kunai flew overhead, the attached tag catching her eye. There was an explosion and the female villain was sent flying back, her face stiff with disbelief.

Haru eyed her coldly, "If you depend on dirty tricks, you aren't worth my time," he stretched out a hand twirling a small origami crane between his fingers, "Innocent child's toy... or instrument of mass destruction?" he swung his arm, sending a small barrage of the helpless looking creations, "You be the judge."

The ground shook as the cranes exploded, filling the air with smoke. Haru smirked under his mask as he moved forward through the cover he had created. 'Look's like those new paper bombs work really well. They create less of a spark while still using the right amount of force. Power Loader is quite amazing. If I can keep the oil from being sparked everything will stay under control.'

Arson hit the ground, her body bruised from the bombs. Her eyes frantically searched the smoke, trying to find her opponent. A moment too late, she saw Haru appear from the smoke, brandishing a katana. With an upward sweep, the blade raked across her body. A spurt of black liquid, sprayed from the cut, revealing that the villain had again turned her body into oil.

Due to her liquified state, Arson was visually impaired for a moment as she used her fluid form to move away. As she took a solid form she was confronted by Haru's foot flying into her face, forcing her to liquefy her head again.

Haru twisted to avoid getting coated in the oil and used his grounded foot to jump back. An instant later, a long oil robe shot out and wrapped around his waist, trying to reel him in.

Haru quickly wove some hand signs, "Raiton!"

There was a hiss of electricity as the oil holding him burst. Unfortunately, the lightning did little else since oil did not conduct electricity.

Arson repaired again, her expression ugly, "You're an annoying little child, I'll give you that," her face twisted into a maniac expression, "But you really can't win against us!"

Haru noticed her drop the lighter too late, "EVERYONE BACK!"

The lighter hit the ground, igniting the oil-soaked area with a woosh. Haru's body disappeared just before fire burst to life right where he had been standing a moment ago.

Dark Shadow screeched in agony at the light pulling away from a nearly beaten Arachnid back to his master.

Using the Body Flicker, Haru appeared next to Tokoyami, grabbed him, and pulled him to safety as the fire quickly spread along the oil-soaked street.

Arson stood in the middle of the flames, cackling as cries of fear rang out from the spectators.

"YOU SEE! I SHALL DESTROY ALL! CONSUME ALL! I WILL REMOVE ANYTHING THAT GETS IN MY WAY!"

A badly beat-up Arachnid screamed in pain as his body was caught in the fire and he frantically rolled around, trying to put out the flames licking at his body.

Haru's glare faded as he realized the deranged woman was at risk of burning herself and her partner. Swiftly, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll as he ran into the center of the inferno.

His finger broke the fastening thread and he flung out his arm, unfurling the scroll's multiple seals, "Unsealing Technique: Paper Snowstorm!"

Arson's laughter was silenced as she saw a tsunami of paper rolling towards her, smothering out the flames in its wake. Even if some of the paper burned, more was there to snuff the fire out.

"No... MY DESTRUCTION SHALL NOT BE STOPPED!" she screamed as she shot jets of oil from her mouth and hands.

Burst through the wall of paper his hand raised in the seal on confrontation, "Tsukuyomi!"

Dark Shadow sailed over the paper mass and snatched up the injured Arachnid, pulling the unresisting villain into the air and back to Tokoyami's side.

With only Arson left, Haru launched himself at her as her clothes and hair set on fire. The burning villain's face was twisted with rage and pain as Haru dropkicked her to the face. The force of the blow knocked her clear of the conflagration, causing her body to roll and slam into the ground violently.

Haru landed in a kneeling position as paper began encasing Arson's body, putting out the licking tongue of fire spreading across her body.

The villain became desperate, "It can't... end... I won't..."

She staggered to her feet, trying to turn her body into oil and soak the paper, but Haru Raised his hand into a seal of confrontation, "Coordinated Light Formation!

A sealing formula appeared beneath them. Forcefully it froze Arson's movements and immobilized her Quirk.

"Fire Style: Calidos Brachium..." Haru's clenched fist burst into flame, "You like burning people so much," he slammed his fist into Arson's stomach, "THEN GET A TASTE OF YOUR OWN FETISH!"

Arson coughed out spittle from the force of the punch. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out.

Haru let out a sigh, a feeling of minor tiredness hitting him after the amount of chakra he had used for his last move. There was a click of footsteps and he turned to see Tokoyami carrying an unconscious Arachnid.

"Quite impressive, Akatsuki. You managed the fire very well."

Haru glanced around, telekinetically gathering the paper covering the area, "I was careless and let my guard down. The fire shouldn't have happened in the first place."

There was a thud as Blink slammed beside them, his eyes covered by several of Hawks feathers. There was a crash as Stymph landed a short distance away her boy shifting back into her original form.

Hawk's landed lightly a moment later.

"Good job, you two!" he drawled cheerfully, "You managed to finish your fights before I finished mine!" he tilted his head at Arson and Arachnid's restrained forms, "We'll let the police take care of them. Akatsuki, if you please?"

Haru nodded, using his origami to restrain Stymph and Blink, making sure to cover the latter's eyes. As it turned out, Blink's Quirk allowed him to created projections which he could teleport into, requiring he could see them.

Tokoyami gave a satisfied nod, "That seems to be all of them."

Dark Shadow came out and nuzzled Haru's shoulder.

Haru gave it a small pet, absently singing to himself, "Hello, darkness my old friend~"

Hawks tilted his head, "How does the rest of that song go?"

Haru shrugged, "No idea."

Tokoyami gave a suspicious cough.

'He knows the words...' The other two shared the same thought.

There was the sound of cheering from the spectators as the two police officers who they had helped approached them.

"Thank you, Hawks. You really helped us out of a pinch."

Hawks sent them a victory sign, "No problem! Glad to help!"

The officer turned to Haru and Tokoyami, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are, but thank you!"

Haru felt a little bashful but gave them a wave and a smile they couldn't see. However, due to his chakra's reflective nature, his aura was still able to convey warm feelings.

Tokoyami simply nodded, "It was our pleasure."

Hawks placed his arms behind his head, tapped his boot against the ground, "Welp! I think that's it! You two did a good job, I'll treat you to some dinner."

Haru turned, his mouth open to say something when he was suddenly struck in the chest by a powerful force. His body jerked from the impact as the sound of a sniper echoed across the city. As he began to fall, his sugegasa fell from his face, revealing his widened eyes.

章 36: The Man Who's Too Fast For His Own Good

クリエイターの想い
Kamikage

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章 36: The Man Who's Too Fast For His Own Good

クリエイターの想い Kamikage

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