Natsu's feet pounded against the pavement as he dashed through the side alleys and back streets of Musutafu, heart thudding fast. The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins, 'what an epic fight. But holy shit, the cops saw me directly. Shit shit shit. Did they see my face?''
He grabbed his phone as he turned a corner, fingers slightly trembling.
(5:48 PM) I'm fine. Go home. Don't wait
A second later, Glowl replied with a relieved emoji and a simple "Got it." Itsuki Shou just hit him with a "Dumbass… stay safe. I have your stuff."
Natsu cracked a small smile but didn't slow down.
By the time he got to his house, his chest was slightly heaving. He slipped in through the back entrance and crept up the stairs two at a time. He shut his bedroom door, locked it, then practically tore off his vigilante gear, and shoved it into a trash bag. It was already too damaged at this point.
His body was fine, no wounds, just some soot and a little soreness. But his thoughts were running wild.
He sat on the edge of his bed, then laid back. He was somewhat worried, but mostly excited. Then reality came crashing in once again.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." Natsu muttered under his breath.
He was sure no one really saw him, since he fled pretty fast. He checked his mask and somehow, thankfully, there were no holes in it.
He didn't think anyone would be able to guess without seeing his face directly.
His alias was perfect. Natsu calmed down. It was fine, everything was good.
The exhaustion of the day finally hit him. He rolled around on his bed and began dozing off.
–
An hour. Natsu awoke to the sound of soft knocking on his door.
"Yakuto?" came Fuyumi's gentle voice from the hallway. Natsu forgot she was visiting this week. "Are you asleep?"
He blinked, dazed, the clock on his nightstand reading 7:52 PM. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah?"
"You okay?" she asked, voice warm with concern. "You didn't come down for dinner."
"Ah… I just fell asleep," he mumbled, stretching his arms behind his head with a yawn. "Long day."
Fuyumi chuckled. "I figured. I saved you a bowl. Come down and eat, okay?"
"Thanks, sis," he said, cracking a smile.
—
Endeavor was on his way home. He had spent long hours in his house the last few days and was exhausted. He had already looked into the recent Yakuza attack and was reading over the rest of the reports from the police chief. He had information on all the members, and some of them were very powerful.
He was still reviewing the Yakuza incident when this suddenly happened.
Before he could read the next report, his phone rang.
Tsuragamae.
Endeavor answered. "What is it?"
"There has been another incident," Tsuragamae said. "Central Musutafu. A bank robbery."
"Then call the hero agency assigned to that district."
"We did. It was that new hero Kamui Wood's agency."
Endeavor's eyes narrowed. "Then why are you calling me?"
"The villain was already defeated when he arrived."
Endeavor went still. "Was it?"
Tsuragamae continued. "No. Witnesses described a masked individual in black. Fire-based quirk. Fast. Strong. They fled before police or heroes could stop them."
Endeavor leaned back in his chair. 'Fire? Not Ice?"
"What villain?"
"I think it was just some new villain. He had mutant quirk allowing him to be like a Rhino. We weren't able to see it in action but Kamui Woods estimates its strength at a high B rank.
That caught his attention.
This Rhino definitely wasn't weak.
"And a random fire user took him down?"
"That appears to be the case."
Endeavor's flames flickered around his shoulders.
"Any name?"
A short pause.
"The villain said he heard him call himself the Great Demon Lord Dragneel."
Endeavor stared at the phone.
"…What?"
"That is what he said."
Endeavor pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just send me the reports."
"It is already on its way."
The call ended.
A moment later, his phone chimed.
Endeavor opened the new file. The first image was blurry, showing only a black figure rushing out of the bank through smoke and dust.
He stared at it for a long moment.
One unknown ice user.
Now one unknown fire user.
Endeavor's frown deepened.
"Are they the same?" However, he quickly dismissed the thought. Shoto wouldn't have the strength or the time to do these things. He continued reviewing his work.
—-
Natsu padded into the kitchen,wearing a clean shirt and his scarf. His mother was cleaning up. "You're late today. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just exhausted."
"I didn't see you come in."
"I came in through the back." Natsu felt no need to say otherwise.
Rei nodded. She didn't think anything was suspicious. Her youngest always was a little eccentric. Sometimes, he would come in through the back or even a window.
Natsu grabbed his soda. He went to the table to take the covered bowl Fuyumi left on the counter, still warm, and headed into the living room.
Gray was stretched across the chair, drinking his juice, remote in hand, flipping through channels with zero interest. He barely looked up when Natsu dropped into the armchair nearby.
"Sup flame brain. Feels like it's been a while since we've seen you." Gray said casually, eyes still on the screen.
Natsu smirked as he dug into the food. "I've been busy."
Gray glanced over, noticing the faint soot smudges still clinging to his bare feet. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything.
"Sure," he muttered, returning to the TV.
Natsu just kept eating, not realizing anything.
The room was calm.
Natsu had just finished half his bowl, lounging low in the armchair, when Endeavor entered the living room, he immediately grabbed the remote from Gray's hand. He looked exhausted. Looks like he spent some long hours at the agency.
"Hey!" Gray started.
Endeavor ignored him and flipped the TV to the evening news channel. "This is more important."
Gray just snorted. But he was too lazy at the moment to care.
"In today's headlines," she began smoothly, "a bank robbery in central Musutafu was unexpectedly thwarted by an unidentified hero earlier this afternoon. According to eyewitnesses, the individual was dressed entirely in damaged black clothing and appeared to have a fire-based Quirk. They fled the scene before law enforcement or heroes could arrive.
Natsu froze, chopsticks mid-air. His stomach twisted.
Shoto, sitting cross-legged on the rug, blinked and glanced up at Endeavor. "Is it someone from your agency?" He knew Endeavor recruited a lot of sidekicks and interns with fire based quirks. Their city probably had the most fire based quirk users in the country.
Endeavor narrowed his eyes slightly, arms crossed. "No. None of my interns or sidekicks were in that district today. And none of them have reported defeating these villains…Those are a bit away from here." He stared at the screen a moment longer, voice low with curiosity. "The Rhino villain was estimated to be a high B tier. Whoever this was… they were strong."
Natsu's heart pounded in his ears. His eyes were locked on the screen, but he forced a lazy look, stuffing more food in his mouth and pretending he was only half-listening.
The footage played: blurry and shaky, a flicker of a figure in black tearing through the building's entrance. Dust, rubble, then a black blur darting into the alley. The camera caught only his silhouette and the chaos in his wake.
Then it cut to a brief shot of Kamui Woods on the scene.
Natsu heaved a sigh of relief. You couldn't even tell who it was on TV. His phone buzzed and he saw the exploding texts from his friends.
[Itsuki Shou] [7:15 PM] Watch the news!!!
[Itsuki Shou] [7:15 PM] Now!!!
Natsu replied back.
[7:16 PM] I am watching. Shhh!![
"The vigilante, according to a report from Pro Hero Kamui Woods, was referred to by the villain as 'the Great Demon Lord Dragneel,'" the anchor added, face filled with intrigue.
[Itsuki Shou] [7:17 PM] Shit shit shit, they KNOW!!!!!!!!
[Glowl] [7:17 PM]: No they don't. Yakuto, don't say anything alright!!
[Itsuki Shou] [7:17 PM]: I am going to prison.
[Glowl] [7:17 PM] You're not going to prison. We can just blame Yakuto.
[7:18 PM] Shut up damn, no one knows anything.
Clink.
Gray choked on his water, doing a full spit take.
He coughed, wiping his chin, and stared at Natsu, wide-eyed.
"Dragneel?" he croaked, voice cracking slightly.
Shoto looked at Gray. "Are you alright?"
Natsu froze, then very slowly turned his head to shoot Gray a flat, warning glare. Don't say anything!!
Gray blinked, still stunned, but answered. "Just went down the wrong pipe."
[7:19 PM] Okay, maybe Haise knows...But he won't say anything, don't worry.
[Itsuki Shou] [7:19 PM] We're screwed….
[Glowl] [7:19 PM] It's fine. Haise won't say anything we're good.
Endeavor didn't even notice. His arms were still crossed as he studied the screen, muttering something.
Shoto raised an eyebrow, sensing something strange in the room but not quite placing it.
Natsu just kept eating. Calm. trying to look unbothered. But Gray kept shooting him a look every few seconds.
Natsu just pretended not to notice. The rest of the news segment was about other hero activities. After a few minutes, Endeavor received a call and left the room.
The news anchor moved on to the final segment, the screen flashing a different scene behind her. "In other news, the Musutafu Police Department has successfully cracked down on the infamous Yakuza group named the Juuichi Ryukai just yesterday. The gang's hideout was raided, however when authorities arrived, they only found some members unconscious… and the rest had passed away. The policy suspect that the attacker was single person with an ice quirk.
The footage showed frozen crates, bodies wrapped in frost, and police hauling gang members into vans.
"Most surprisingly, their A-rank leader, the villain known as Mistblade, was also defeated before police could arrive. Officers found the scene covered in ice. According to one captured gang member, "They claim the attacker had a freakish black leather mask."
Shoto narrowed his eyes.
Natsu blinked. "No way…" 'Ice quirk, Black leather mask.' It was a stupid mask he found and gave Gray as a gift.
"And so," the anchor continued, "it appears Musutafu now has two vigilantes. Or is it the same person?
The camera panned out to a wide shot of the icy warehouse crime scene.
Natsu slowly turned to his side. Shoto did the same.
Gray, seated on the far end of the couch, was quietly fidgeting. His fingers tapped nervously on his water glass. His gaze stayed fixed on the TV, a little too intently.
Natsu burst into laughter. " That's you!!"
Gray's face turned beet red. "I-it wasn't me!!"
Shoto raised a brow, unimpressed. "You literally have an ice quirk."
Natsu nearly choked on his food, "And I gave you that mask as a gift."
Gray quickly moved his hand to cover Natsu's mouth. "Oi… Stop yelling!"
"At least when I did, it didn't cause that much damage," Natsu said, a little too loudly. He tried to cover his mouth, but it was too late.
Shoto suddenly looked at him with shock. "What did you just say?"
Gray just slapped his forehead. He knew Natsu was keeping it a secret but the idiot just admitted it.
Natsu went silent.
Shoto immediately dragged Natsu to his room, Gray just followed.
The air in Natsu's room was unusually heavy.
"You did what!!!" Shoto said.
"It was just… you know, to get stronger." Natsu realized it sounded much better in his head. 'Shit.'
Shoto stood in front of him, arms crossed, face brimming with fury. "You have to stop this, Natsu," he said sharply. "You're lucky no one's recognized you yet. But if you keep going out there like this… you'll get caught. You'll ruin your chances of becoming a hero before you even get into a school."
Natsu sat on the edge of his bed, hunched forward, elbows on his knees. He didn't look up.
"I get it," he said flatly. "You're right."
Shoto blinked. "...Wait, really?"
Natsu slowly raised his head. A smirk crept onto his face. "Yeah. I'll just be more careful next time."
Shoto's eye twitched. "That's not what I..." He turned and stormed out, muttering, "Just… promise you won't actively go after villains." Shoto looked serious. Natsu saw the worry as well. He nodded.
"Alright, fine. I won't actively go after the villains. Please don't tell anyone."
"Of course I won't. Just don't do anything stupid. Please. You too Haise. I expected it from Yakuto, but you too?"
The door clicked shut behind him.
[7:25 PM] Okay… Shoto knows too.
[Itsuki Shou] [7:25 PM] ….
[Glowl] [7:25 PM] So are we screwed?
[7:26 PM] It's fiiine… Grumpy dad doesn't know.
He set his phone aside.
A brief silence passed before Gray, sprawled on Natsu's bean bag chair, exhaled through his nose. "You're an idiot."
Natsu tossed a pillow at him. "Quiet, Pervert."
Gray caught it with one hand "Still. It's dumb."
Another beat of silence.
Then Gray raised a brow. "So… how many did you fight?"
Natsu shifted, pulling the pillow into his lap. "What?"
"There's no way it was just one." Gray said.
Natsu laid back down. "Yep."
Gray pretended to cough "So? How many?"
"Hmm. I am sorry, what was that??" Natsu pretended not to hear, but he was smirking. He knew what Gray wanted to know.
Gray resigned. "How many villains have you fought already?"
Natsu laughed. "I knew you wanted to secretly know. But it's only 4.
"How were the fights?"
Natsu flashed a grin. "Fun."
Gray just exited, but Natsu swore he heard mumbling something that sounded like . "I fought more people at once. I win."