"How… how could this happen?"
Kaminari, Kyoka, and Midnight stared in shock at the grotesque remains of the man who had once been the "Stone Man," now reduced to scattered, blackened chunks of molten rock on the cement highway.
"He was alive not even half an hour ago… and now this?"
The sight was hard to process. What was left of the man barely resembled anything human anymore, just steaming fragments of stone and ash littering the ground.
"But why? Why would someone attack him?" Kaminari muttered, struggling to make sense of it all. "He was just a homeless man! Even if someone hated him enough to kill him, why would they go this far?"
Kyoka stood quietly beside him, her expression heavy with sadness. "It's so cruel," she murmured. "For both him and his daughter… it's like fate never gave them a chance."
"Any leads?"
Midnight, her face uncharacteristically grim, turned to question a police officer standing nearby.
"None so far," the officer replied in frustration, shaking his head. "We checked the dashcam from the trailing car, but all we could see was some kind of invisible shockwave. It wiped out the police car in an instant. Then, the vehicle exploded."
"Show me the footage," Midnight demanded immediately.
"Understood."
The officer gave a quick nod and signaled to a subordinate, who brought over a laptop. Midnight leaned in to review the video.
"…That kind of power…"
Her pupils narrowed as she watched the scene unfold. Even without seeing the perpetrator, the sheer destructive force of the shockwave was undeniable. As a veteran Pro Hero, she could estimate just how devastating that level of attack was.
"A villain capable of this… and they're in Saitama City?"
Her heart sank. This wasn't a case of petty crime or random violence. This was the work of someone or something far more dangerous.
"We need to escalate this," she said sharply, turning back to the officer. "Send this footage to the Hero Public Safety Commission immediately. This is above our pay grade."
Then, she turned to Kaminari and Kyoka, who had been silently watching from behind. Midnight's expression softened slightly, though her tone remained firm.
"Your part in this is over," she said. "Go home. And don't forget you're expected to be at school tomorrow, business as usual."
Kaminari and Kyoka exchanged glances. Midnight wasn't just being stern; she was worried about them. And given the scale of what they'd just seen, her concern was understandable.
"All right," Kaminari said, nodding.
"Got it," Kyoka added.
Though Kaminari felt an ache of regret over the Stone Man's tragic death and Tomomi's disappearance, he knew there was nothing more he could do right now. He wasn't about to recklessly chase after villains, especially ones capable of wiping out police cars with a single attack.
Even so, the frustration lingered. He'd done everything he could, but the helplessness of the situation gnawed at him.
---
Twenty minutes later, Kaminari and Kyoka stood at the entrance to the subway station closest to the highway.
This time, perhaps because of the events weighing on his mind, Kaminari didn't hesitate to follow Kyoka into the station. He stayed until her Shinkansen arrived, watching as she boarded and waved goodbye through the window.
Once her train disappeared into the distance, Kaminari turned and left, walking back toward his apartment.
---
As he made his way home, the day's events replayed in Kaminari's mind, a tangled mess of unanswered questions.
"The whole thing… it's too strange," he thought. "None of it makes sense. Could it be that the Stone Man and Tomomi weren't just some random homeless man and orphan?"
His brow furrowed.
"And the timing… The attack on the police car and Tomomi's abduction happened almost simultaneously. That means this wasn't the work of just one villain, but a whole group. A team strong enough to pull off both crimes without leaving any obvious traces."
He considered the level of skill involved.
"Whoever attacked the police car must've had overwhelming power. And the one who kidnapped Tomomi… They managed to slip past hospital cameras and patrol Heroes without a trace. Could they have some kind of teleportation Quirk?"
His thoughts drifted back to the USJ incident. Two villains with teleportation abilities had appeared back then. Could this be connected?
"The League of Villains…" Kaminari murmured, stopping in his tracks.
---
He had arrived outside his apartment building. Looking up, he saw the soft glow of the lights in his window.
"It's not just a coincidence," he thought grimly. "If I keep moving forward, I'll inevitably cross paths with these people again."
Clenching his fists, Kaminari made a silent vow.
"I need to get stronger. Stronger in every possible way. Only then can I protect myself and the people I care about."
---
The Speculations of both Nezu and All For One are correct.
As someone from another world, Kaminari had no innate respect for the rules and norms of this one. Hero society, its systems, and its ideals none of it truly resonated with him.
But what kept him grounded was the life he had built here. His parents, his home these were the things he cherished.
It was because he valued his family that he hoped for a stable, peaceful society. And it was because he had that hope that he dreamed of becoming someone great.
Nezu and All For One had speculated about whether Kaminari would eventually stray from the Hero's path. But they were missing the point.
The path he walked didn't matter. What mattered was the bridge itself, the support that kept him moving forward.
If that support were ever taken from him, if the "bridge" beneath him were to collapse… he wouldn't simply fall. He would plunge into the abyss without hesitation.
Because without that bridge, he would have nothing left to hold onto.
"Wonderful," he'd once said, describing the kind of life he wanted to live. But there were many ways to define "wonderful."
As long as his family was safe, he would seek the kind of "wonderful" life that came with peace and stability. But if that was ever taken away… A life of chaos, vengeance, and destruction might feel just as "wonderful" to him.
Right now, his family was his single-plank bridge. And for their sake, he would continue walking forward.
Kaminari took a deep breath, forcing himself to shake off the gloom clouding his thoughts.
"No point in dragging all this negativity inside," he muttered.
By the time he reached the elevator, a familiar smile had returned to his face a little forced, perhaps, but still undeniably Kaminari.
He rode the elevator up to the sixteenth floor, stopping in front of door 1604. Placing his finger on the electronic lock, he heard the cheerful sound effect he'd chosen for it.
"Pika-pika-Chuuu!"
That welcoming Pikachu cry had been his latest addition.
"I'm back," he called as he opened the door, stepping into the warm light of his home.
***
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