Opening the glass doors of the police station, Scarlett and Juno left the premises, welcoming the cold, late morning air. The youngest sister had been called to answer some further questions about what had occurred at the clock tower. And with Zero and Leya busy preparing the move to Musutafu, Juno offered to accompany her.

  However, judging how quick the process was, it seemed like it was more for formality’s sake than anything else. And with a few days passing since the incident, Scarlett had a much easier time keeping her story straight when she wasn’t fighting fatigue from over-exerting herself, allowing her to be out and about in no time.

  Grateful that it was over, and hoping they could put the entire situation behind them, the two continued on. They had made some last-minute plans to treat themselves to some baked goods at a local cafe, before beginning their journey to buy whatever they needed to celebrate the holidays in their new home. But as they entered the busy street and walked past a few pedestrians, Scarlett soon stopped in her tracks.

  A familiar individual, with an elongated muzzle and slanted ears, sat upon a stone bench nearby. He was wearing a black trench coat this time, with a grey scarf wrapped around his small frame. His dark beady eyes were trained on the small mobile device in his paws, while he buried his face a little into his scarf as a biting winter breeze passed by.

  “Principal Nezu?” Scarlett called out.

  The mouse-like individual perked up at the sound of his name. A smile returned to his face as he turned to her, before he stepped down from the stone bench.

  “Ah, Miss Scarlett, what a lovely surprise.” His eyes flickered to the tall, blonde woman by her side. “And you must be…?”

  “My sister, Juno,” answered Scarlett, while Juno gave a short wave; her smile widening in the presence of the small Hero. Scarlett raised a curious brow in her direction.

  “He’s so much cuter in real life!” she signed, continuing to beam. Scarlett repressed a giggle. Of course, she would find him cute.

  “I see,” replied Nezu. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Juno.” His gaze drifted towards the direction they had come from. “I’m guessing you were at the police station? Was this to do with what happened at the clock tower a few days ago?”

  Scarlett nodded. “Yeah, I was just answering some more questions, but I couldn’t tell them anything new.”

  Nezu shared a knowing smile, seeming to understand what Scarlett was implying, while Juno reached for her phone. She unlocked the device, opened the text-to-speech app and typed her words quickly.

  “I heard you were very helpful with what happened. Thank you for that.” An electronic female voice spoke out from her phone.

  Nezu’s expression softened. He placed a paw over his chest. “It was the least I could do. Your sister helped me tremendously that night. It was only right that I returned the favour.”

  Juno continued to smile as she typed. “I think you did more than that—I heard you even suggested that Scarlett should apply to your school after what happened.”

  Scarlett stiffened. Oh, please don’t make me have this conversation right now.

  Nezu let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, I did. We’re always looking for students, like Miss Scarlett, who are ready and willing to do the right thing. And she would be a wonderful addition to have at U.A.”

  Heat crept along Scarlett’s back, while her stomach almost churned at the thought of stepping into that world. It was like he knew how to twist the knife.

  While she kept her word to Nezu about speaking to her family about U.A., she had decided not to apply in the end. It was a choice that didn’t need much thought. But she couldn’t say that to him. It didn’t feel right. Not when he went out of his way to help her and she couldn’t be bothered with indulging his request to apply. No, it didn’t feel right at all.

  Scarlett lowered her gaze.

  “Well, that’s nice to know.” Juno beamed, delighted at the compliments directed to her younger sister, while Scarlett readjusted her scarf. She silently laughed at the gesture, before returning her gaze to Nezu. “I think we need to look at some more schools, before we can arrive at a decision, though.”

  “Of course, this is not a small decision to make after all,” affirmed Nezu. “But if you are still looking at schools, can I interest you with visiting U.A. at some point?”

  Juno raised an eyebrow. “You want us to visit your school?”

  “Yes.” Nezu chuckled. “I don’t want to assume, but in case you didn’t know, many schools across the country allow potential students to visit their campuses in the summer, and U.A. is no exception.

  “However, Miss Scarlett mentioned that you all moved here recently, so it’s understandable that you may have missed an opportunity like that.” Nezu smiled with a gleam that reached his eyes. “But I’m happy to arrange a visit for you to ensure that you have that same chance.”

  Scarlett tried her best not to frown. “Why?”

  “Why not?” he answered, before laughing. “But to answer your question, I understand that education can be very different across the globe, so things of this nature can easily be missed which can be frustrating at times. But I’m more than happy to help.”

  Juno’s smile remained, not alerting the individual in front of her. But Scarlett knew her sister. She could tell how her eyes were scanning the Pro Hero, searching for something, although Scarlett wasn’t sure what. But whatever she was thinking about, she kept to herself, as her expression reverted to one that was bright and cheery.

  “We appreciate the gesture, but knowing how prestigious U.A. is, this is a little above and beyond what we were expecting.” Juno shared a glance at Scarlett, who held a look of reservation. “Is there a particular reason for this?”

  Nezu’s smile faltered, before he lowered his gaze to the ground. “To be honest, Miss Scarlett may have mentioned this already, but it was my fault that she got caught up with what happened at the clock tower. I felt so bad that she was involved when she didn’t have to be.” He bowed his head. “I just want to make it up to her and apologise for causing so much trouble and allowing this to happen in the first place.”

  Scarlett blinked, unsure how to proceed, while Juno’s eyes remained trained on him; a look Scarlett did recognise this time as Juno carefully examined him in search of true sincerity. Her eyes softened when she found her answer.

  “That’s alright,” the electronic voice said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, so please don’t beat yourself up. It’s this one that should say sorry—” Juno gently nudged Scarlett, causing her to look flustered, “—I doubt she’s even thanked you for all that you’ve done for her.”

  “Ah—uh…y-yes. Thank you so much for your help,” Scarlett said, racking her brain to find the memory of her thanking him, but coming up embarrassingly empty.

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  “And you know what?” continued Juno. “Once we’re done settling into our new house, we would love to take your offer and see the school.”

  Scarlett almost did a double-take, before stopping herself. She stared at Juno, trying to ascertain what she was thinking. But the older sister was too hard to read.

  “That’s wonderful,” said Nezu, elated, before prompting the two of them to exchange contact details, while an uneasy weight settled in Scarlett’s stomach as she couldn’t stop them.

  “Well, I look forward to hearing from you and arranging a date to see the school,” Nezu said as he was about to put his phone away. However, the device started to ring as someone called him. The Pro Hero politely excused himself, before exchanging goodbyes with the two sisters and leaving them to complete his errand as he made his way to where Juno and Scarlett had come from.

  As the two were left alone, Juno began to head towards the cafe they had spoken about. But Scarlett’s feet remained planted. Her eyes never left Nezu’s back as he became smaller and smaller in the distance.

  “Why…did you agree?” Scarlett finally mustered. “Why did you agree to see the school?”

  With a curious look on her face, Juno stopped in her tracks and turned back. “What do you mean?” she signed.

  “I told you I didn’t want to go to a Hero School, never mind U.A., so why did you arrange a meeting with him?” She wasn’t upset. But it bothered her more than she thought it would.

  “Oh, Lettie,” expressed Juno, noting the subtle frown lines on her younger sister’s face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She stepped towards Scarlett and wrapped an arm around her, before letting go to sign once again. “I just thought how helpful it would be to see the top facilities of a great school. Like, if you knew what the best was offering, it would help define what you want in a school.”

  Scarlett couldn’t find any fault with that argument, which made the heat pressing down on her worse. How could she make her understand that avoiding U.A. would be for the best? And how can she say it in a way that wouldn’t worry her?

  Scarlett averted her gaze, before turning to leave. “We should see that cafe and finish shopping before worrying about that.”

  She walked off, leaving Juno to follow her. If the older sister had anything else to say, she chose not to. Instead, she made light conversation as the two continued on to the cafe.

  “Well, in that case, you’re in luck—even though we’ve charged him, we had to delay his transfer to the detention centre until tomorrow morning. But if you drop by today, I can’t see a problem with you questioning him here at the station.

  “Although, I should warn you, he’s barely said a word since his arrest, so you might not get much out of him.”

  Principal Nezu followed a plain-looking officer further into the police station, as he recounted the detective’s words from the phone call earlier today. It was illogical to believe in luck, but he couldn’t deny the timing of his request.

  With the transfer date set, who knew when the next opportunity to ask questions would present itself once the individual was on remand. The situation could escalate before he could be granted permission to conduct an interview at the detention centre, rendering the information he could gather redundant.

  No, he had to take preventative measures and get some answers today.

  And considering he had already lost one lead, he couldn’t risk losing another.

  Nezu suppressed a sigh, wishing he had a cup of warm tea to alleviate the tension pressing on his temples. But he dismissed the urge. There was no need to exhaust himself over matters beyond his control, not when there was still a chance he could further his investigation.

  Continuing their walk, Nezu internally rehearsed the information in the file he held, ensuring he had committed its contents to memory one last time. He also visualised asking questions he had prepared beforehand, and was able to cycle through everything once, before the officer stopped in his tracks, explaining they had arrived.

  The policeman pointed to one of the two adjacent doors, detailing that the individual was in that room, while he would be keeping watch next door. He also reminded Nezu to call for him if he needed anything.

  Nezu expressed his thanks, before the policeman left to enter his room, leaving the small Hero all alone in the hallway. He glanced at the file once again. No matter how many times he had done this, there had always been a part of him that would worry if he had prepared enough.

  But just like he had told many students in the past, preparation may be key, but adaptability is what separates the good from the great. And Nezu was a great Pro Hero. He just hoped he wasn’t out of practice now that he often spent most of his time as a school principal rather than someone carrying out their heroic duties.

  He filed the thought away for now. The negative talk was not going to help him get the job done. And he wasn’t in a position to delay things either. He had to do this now.

  Taking a deep breath, Nezu entered the room.

  Like many in the building, the room was well-lit, simple and small, with plain blue carpet and white walls. Although, one wall had a mirror affixed to it, bordering the current room and the room the officer had stepped into. The only other furniture was a table sandwiched between two chairs, as well as a clock on the wall.

  Sitting in one of those seats was a man in dark clothes, with both arms bound in slings. His head hung low. His gaze was distant. And his burlap mask was gone, revealing the layers and layers of bandages wrapped around his face, almost obscuring his visage completely. Only his orange eyes and his mouth were visible.

  Nezu approached, sitting in the chair opposite him and placing the file on the table. He waited a moment for the Villain to look in his direction, or a sign that he acknowledged his presence. But there was no response.

  “Hello, Tabahara Usaburou,” he said, undeterred, “my name is Nezu—we met at the Memorial Clock Tower a few days ago.”

  The man’s orange eyes remained glazed over, his expression impassive to Nezu’s voice. That wasn’t a good sign. But it was expected. The detective had already warned him, and Nezu had read the police reports as part of his preparation. But reading about the Villain's injuries beforehand was not enough to stop the pangs of sympathy emerging in his chest as he laid eyes on him.

  Nezu lowered his gaze. “I’m actually not here to talk about what happened at the clock tower,” he said. “I’m here because I need your help with something.”

  He opened the file and slid papers across the table, delicately laying specific pictures in the Villain’s line of sight. They were two mugshots. One was of a large, older man, wearing a turquoise bandana and a dirty tank top. His messy silver hair and stubble highlighted his unkempt appearance, while his grin was too sharp and too pointy for his face.

  The other mugshot was a spitting image of the older man, only with less wrinkles, dirty blonde hair and no bandana. Anyone could have assumed that they were the same person, with their photo taken at different points in time. But the date on the placard revealed they were taken on the same day.

  Their names, Kibayama Ginjirou and Kibayama Kinji.

  Brothers.

  And the leads Nezu had been trying to locate as part of his investigation, before he found that they had succumbed to their injuries in the fires set by Tabahara Usaburou. He had targeted them specifically after he was brutally attacked by the two brothers.

  “Do you recognise these two?” asked Nezu as he glanced up to the Villain; his eyes scanning for a flicker of anger, or perhaps some remorse in Tabahara’s eyes. But there was nothing.

  Nezu wasn’t disappointed though. Despite hoping the images would elicit a reaction to help guide the conversation, Tabahara must have been shown their pictures several times since he had been in custody. Perhaps he was numb to it by now. Or maybe his injuries were too severe for him to respond.

  But either way, approaching him through this method was not working.

  Nezu refused to frown. Instead, he grabbed a document from the file and traced his digit across the page. “According to police reports, these men were your former bosses. Is that true?”

  No reaction.

  “Can you tell me what line of work you were all in?”

  Nothing.

  Nezu maintained steady eye contact. But it was clear he was following the same old dance as the police officers in this building; a dance that Tabahara was familiar with. If he wanted something new, he needed to change things up.

  Nezu softened his demeanour, placing his arms on the table and leaning in close. “I’m not here to bring up difficult memories. I know how they both mistreated you. But I need your help. Do you know this man?”

  He shuffled through the file once again, before placing another image on the table. It was a candid shot of a man outside of a building with a sign that read St Coleman’s Hospital. A cigarette hung loosely from his lips, while he ran a hand through his warm-brown, windswept hair. His periwinkle shirt and dark slacks were well-tailored, highlighting that he wasn’t a patient. Perhaps he was a staff member, or even a doctor, on a smoke break, but there wasn’t enough information to confirm.

  Nezu’s senses sharpened as he laid the paper down in front of Tabahara.

  A glint of recognition. A slight widening of the eyes. It was subtle and easily missed, but it was all Nezu needed. If it was illogical to believe in luck, it didn’t matter anymore. He got his attention. And Nezu could work with that.