Chapter 6: A Time To Prepare
A Time To Prepare
After a long day of Hero training, Kaine went home that night feeling much better about himself. I did rather well today, all things considered. he thought with a smile as he made his long trek home. Kaine saw a couple of busses pass by him and he saw some of the kids in the windows doing kid things and waving at him. He couldn't help but snort at their antics as he kept walking.
Kaine's stomach grumbled and he groaned, "Hunger has been increasing lately...maybe I should try to buy some protein today." Reaching into his pocket Kaine pulled out cash that he said he left at home today, but in reality was saving it in case he really needed it. But he was so hungry at the moment that he began to regret not grabbing lunch. "Let's see...2, 5, ¥600?" he counted the change and nodded, "Maybe I'll get lucky and find a sale." he juggled the coins in his hand and nodded, "Yeah, okay."
Kaine made a detour from his typical route back home to head to a small market that he occasionally went to that was usually on the cheaper side. He walked through the doors and saw the slightly dirty floors as well as the flickering lights. Nothing is changed, glad this place has consistency. He walked to the back of the small market to the meat, already he could see what was fresh and what was...too far gone. Kaine shooed away the flys as best he could as he tried to find meat that was more in-between the two extremes. Finally, he was able to find single piece of steak for ¥580, heavily discounted, likely to go bad in a few days. It wasn't much, but it was perfect for him. Oh, thank Christ.
Kaine walked up to the counter to ring himself up and the clerk scanned the steak. However, when it was scanned the till read '¥2.000' on the small screen. "C'mon man," Kaine sighed, "There's a sticker right there. It's gonna go bad in like an hour."
"Sorry man, nothing I can do. Probably a mistake." the clerk shrugged.
Kaine sighed and looked behind him and saw a few people lining up behind him. Kaine gulped and leaned towards the cashier, "Please." he said with a quiet voice, "I am so damn hungry. I don't have any more cash on me. Can't you cut me some slack?" The cashier only shrugged. Kaine slammed his head against the counter and groaned, "Okay..." Kaine grabbed the meat and put it back.
"Kaine?" Kaine looked up and saw a short tan lady approaching him. A local prostitute named Yuki, "Oh my god, it is you!" she walked up to him in her too tall pump heels and gave him a hug. It was really weird because even in heels her head only went up to his chest, but it was also weird because she was one of the many...baby sitters he had after his mom past. "It's not every day I see you, and look how much you've grown!" she smiled, "What's going on, getting some food?"
"Um...no." Kaine rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little uncomfortable. It was one thing when he was younger, he didn't know better what a prostitute was, but now he's well aware and it made him a little self-conscious. "I don't have enough money. I guess the sale is a mistake. I'm just gonna walk home and eat a Cup Noodles." Kaine suddenly felt a slap at the top of his head.
"Kaine Aaron Yoshida." Yuki scolded. I have a middle name? And it's Aaron? Kaine shook his head and Yuki continued, "You are a growing young boy, you need to eat ACTUAL food. You can't get by on just instant noodle, look at you!" she grabbed his arm and squeezed, "I can see your veins on top of your muscle, that isn't healthy. Come on! I'll buy your food. In return you need to walk me home, kay?" she gave a wink to Kaine as she grabbed the steak and walked to the front.
"But-" Kaine tried to protest, but it was already too late, "Dammit."
"See Kaine, isn't nice to be walking such a cute lady home, it's like a date." Yuki said with a smile, "Now, you need to remember to actually eat real food okay. Living off instant ramen forever will make you go sick. Rice is, like, super cheap, so buy some of that next time." I don't know how to cook rice. Kaine thought. "And if you ever, and I mean EVER need help with groceries you need to come talk to your big sisters over at Brothel Solon, okay?"
Kaine shrugged, "That seems kinda...well it's a little...look, I just don't want to be a bother to anyone. I mean, you gals earned that money yourself. It wouldn't be right." Yuki rolled her eyes, "Oh, but I'll pay you back, someday. I promise. If you ever need help with something just ask me okay."
Yuki smiled while she wrapped her arms around one of Kaine's and dug her face into his shoulder, "Awe, you're so sweet! Always wanting to help others. You're just like your mother."
"You knew my mother?"
Yuki laughed, "Oh hell yeah! She was one hell of a fighter, a real tough lady. Always going around and helping people, patching them up. Heheh, the gals used to call her The Night Nurse." she sighed happily, thinking of the old days, "Yeah. I owe your mother my life. She patched me up on more than one occasion after a client got a little...rough."
"Oh god, that's awful." Kaine replied with a frown, "It...it must be tough being in sex work."
"Oh sure, but all jobs have there ups and downs." Yuki replied, "I think the reality is that people know where they land in society. Everyone has their place. In The Sinkhole, everyone is stuck with the jobs seen as undesirable to the rest of society. Sex work, drug dealing, chop shop, all of us are bundled together."
"So my place is trying to fix a building that keeps falling into disrepair? For the rest of my life?" Kaine asked.
"NO!" Yuki laughed as she gave Kaine a light shove, "I don't know if anyone's told you this, but you are special. You made it into the Heroes Program and showed everyone that you could do it. You beat out thousands for that position." she smirked, "You're meant for greatness Kaine, it's in your blood. You're willingness to help people is too great. Some day every hero will look to you for inspiration, mark my words."
The two walked until they reached the brothel. Yuki let go of Kaine's arm and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the escort, sweety. Come and see me in two years, kay?" and with that Yuki went inside the building beaming a smile the whole time.
Kaine just stood with the steak in his hand a slight chuckled coming from his mouth, "I don't think she can legally say that."
In Kaine's apartment, he began thinking about earlier that day. He did well for only his third outing, but he knew something was off. "I'm too stiff." Kaine said to himself as he took a bite of his steak. He began flipping through various comics of heroes, a lot of them being Spider-Man comics. "I need to be more acrobatic, light on my feet. Like just look at this! He dodges gunfire, flips in-between and over the mooks and uses his webbing all at the same time!" Kaine reached for his glass of water and accidentally knocked it over, "Whoops." Moving quickly, Kaine moved his foot and caught the glass...but all the water hit his leg, "Mmmm...that's annoying, now my socks are wet."
Kaine then smacked his head as a thought came to his head, "Wait a minute! That's it!" Kaine moved his plate to the side and began grabbing as many comics as he could, "I can't believe I didn't think of this before. All I have to do is look at how the older heroes did it. There's ton of reference material in here! Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Black Panther, god damned GAMBIT!" he slapped the comics onto the table, "All heroes who use acrobatics as well as strength. All basically street heroes. This is what I should be studying up on! I need to...holy crap, I need to be a massive westaboo and eat, live, and breath comics." Kaine punched his fist into his palm and nodded, "Right, I need to be great-no...I need to be even greater than the heroes that came before me. I'll shoot myself to the top and I'll be Number 1!"
The next day, school seemed fairly calm...except for the multitude of reporters waiting at the gates! Kaine looked at the see of reporters and frowned, Really? What happened? Scandal at the school? Rats found in the lunch? Midnight deemed too inappropriate to be a teacher? Kaine stopped and blinked a few times, Actually that last one could be possible.
Kaine tried to force his way through the sea of reporters and found there was no way he was getting through unscathed. He huffed in annoyance and fired a webline at the gate entryway so he could pull himself over the reporters and land just in front of the gate. "Sir, sir!" one of the female reporters yelled out as she gripped Kaine by his shoulder. She was a fairly tall woman with light brown hair tied off in a ponytai. She wore a black blazer over an off white blouse. She also wore black slacks and slippers. "Are you one of All Might's students? What can you tell us about him?"
Oh Christ. Kaine rolled his eyes in annoyance. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Kaine's head and he gave a devious smile. He cleared his throat and began to speak, "I personally have no interest in this conversation, but if you really want to know what All Might is like, I suggest you look at his fan page. Because much like the third wheel of the popular friend, the only way to you'll get any information is through the internet's sloppy seconds." Kaine replied in English with a smile.
The reporter blinked her eyes a few times, clearly confused as to what Kaine said, "Oh...I didn't know there were foreigners attending classes here."
Kaine smiled and waved as he walked through the gate, "Good bye!" he laughed as he passed through the gate, covering his mouth with his hand to try and hide it.
"That wasn't very nice." Kendo said as she approached Kaine, "They are just curious. You didn't have to speak English."
"No, no. It was funny." Kaine chuckled, "I feel like I'm wearing a mask when people can't understand me. Maybe I should use my English speaking skills more often."
"Ah yes, taunt in a different language. The real life equivalency of an internet troll." Kendo replied with a slight smirk and a roll of her eyes. "How'd you sleep last night? You looked a little sore after class. Did you eat well?"
"Yes, I'll have you know I had steak." Kaine said with a thumbs up, "But thanks for looking out for me, sis."
"Uh-huh. And lunch money, you remembered this time?" Kendo's tone sounded really serious, like she would skin Kaine alive if he answered wrong. Kaine quickly showed his cash and Kendo smiled, "Good." with that she went on her way.
"Man...Kendo is really scary when she wants to be." Kaine gulped.
The rest of the school day went as normal...except for the part at lunch where the school had a scare thanks to press and paparazzi trying to break into the school. But aside from that, everything was normal. Kaine wasn't really focused on school today anyways, he was more focused on starting his extra training. He'd have to become more flexible in his fighting and, truthfully, he'd have to learn to use his webs more.
When Kaine got back to The Sinkhole, he immediately began collecting trash and setting it up on a rooftop. He used a broom and bucket to act as a dummy and used an old plastic chair to keep it held up. He set up other dummies that consisted of old potato sacks on chairs as well as a bunch of old cans and glass bottles. Okay. Kaine thought as he took a deep breath, I have to learn to control my webs better. Like Spider-Man, I have to become a web slinger. They'll be a day where getting close to my opponent will be next to impossible. Kaine held up his right arm and closed his left eye before shooting a webline at a glass bottle. Kaine yanked the bottle towards him and smiled before setting it down beside him.
Okay...aim is solid. But sometimes I won't have time to aim so... Kaine twisted his body to the right and stretched his left arm across, firing from his hip at one of the mock dummies he put up. He then twisted his body to the left and fired another web ball. Next, he bent his body backward and fired web balls from both his hands at once. Finally, he flipped to his right and fired one more web ball at one of the fake dummies he set up. When everything was said and done he looked at what he had accomplished and realized...his accuracy is god awful. "Geez, it looks as if I have a thirty percent accuracy." Kaine scratched his chin and hummed in thought, "I guess I need to keep practicing it looks like. Maybe I should practice 'hip firing' from a regular position before I get fancy."
Kaine walked over to the dummies and set them up again so he could get ready to get back into his training. He continued his training for several hours until he felt he had perfected the art of the hip fire. By the end of it he felt like an old western folk hero...he also felt strangely exhausted. Before Kaine knew it, he passed out on the rooftop after training for so long.
Kaine eventually woke up from the sound of ringing. He groaned and wiped his face before reaching into his pocket to see a number he didn't recognize. "Hello?" he answered groggily, just barely realizing how dark it had gotten.
"Yoshida, 'bout time you answered." it was Kan on the other side of the line, making Kaine perk up slightly, "Just what the hell were you doing?"
"Uhhh...training and then...some napping." Kaine chuckled, "What happened, did I forget homework or something?"
"No, I was calling to let you know there was an incident today. We tried to keep it under wraps so we didn't cause a panic at the school." Kaine's body straightened up and he seemed awake, "See, Class A was attacked today by a group of villains when they went for training. We're going to be closing the school down for a few days. Check the security, make sure it's fully functioning again. We also are going to discuss a couple of important things regarding events coming up." Kan paused, "You said you were training?"
Kaine nodded then smacked his head when he realized what he did, "Yes, sir."
"Keep it up. But don't overdo it. See you on Monday, kid." and with that Kan hung up.
"Wow." Kaine was still in shock, villains attacking the school directly? He never would have thought of the possibility. Had it happened before? Will it happen again? He just didn't know. Kaine, still a little tired, decided to call it a day and head back to his apartment.
When he arrived, Kaine was surprised to find a foil tray at the foot of his doorstep. Picking it up he saw a note that read: "Be sure to eat real food from time to time. xoxo, Yuki." and a red lipstick mark from a kiss was next to it. Kaine looked into the tray and saw what looked to be fettuccine alfredo with chicken. He smiled and hugged the tray lightly and kissed it, quietly thanking Yuki.
He entered his apartment and the first thing he did was put the food in the fridge then turn on the tv and sure enough the news was already talking about the incident that happened hours ago, even showing B-roll footage of Class A. Man, must have been rough in there, one of those poor girls was missing practically the whole front of her top. Damn villains, just leave kids alone. Kaine shook his head before he lied down on his futon, too tired to do anything else.
Elsewhere...
The Sinkhole is nefarious, the streets are dirty, people get away with almost anything, buildings are in disrepair. Overall, it's a district so terrible and so unkempt that not even villains would dare hide out there because it just seems too obvious. However, there are a select few who are not scared of hiding here, some who have figured out the game. In the abandoned building that was ready to be torn down by La Grande Construction, there was a basement. Inside this basement a fairly large group of men standing around a table. These men all wore suits of some kind, some looked better than others and one only wore a button down shirt and black tie.
"Gentleman," one of the older men greeted with a bow. He had jet black hair that was parted to the left. He wore silver, square-framed glasses, and had a young looking face. "Thank you all for showing up on short notice. I first would like to apologize on behalf of my employer who regretfully couldn't attend the meeting today. After all, he has other matters to attend to." he cleared his throat, "Some of you are new, I see. To clarify I am Tatsu, my employer's right hand man. So if I tell you something, assume it comes from the top...because it usually does." some of the men bowed and nodded.
"As you know," Tatsu began as he started to pace around the table, "My employer has become quite intrigued with the land here in this shithole-Sorry, Sinkhole, as of late. There is some property here that he believes can be high end real estate."
"Cut the crap!" one of the many men yelled out. He was an older man, easily in his sixties or seventies. "We all know that there is nothing of value here. So what's the real reason he's buying all these shitty buildings."
"Yeah," another man spoke up, "why are we sticking our necks out for slapper and stick dens?" 'Slappers' and 'sticks' is slang for current designer drugs.
Tatsu clicked his tongue and gave a slight chuckle, "Ah, yes. No fooling the 'Tokyo U' grads like yourself." he said with a mocking tone, "My employer has decided to purchase all the land in this district, effectively spear heading the revitalization project the city has been sitting on their ass for years now. With all the buildings under his ownership he will be the de facto realtor and leader for making this district more...presentable for the modern day. Now don't worry, money is of no issue right now, you'll all get paid well now and will have a hefty bonus once the job is done."
"So why are we all here?" the older man asked, "Just to talk about the plan?"
Tatsu smirked, "If only it were that easy." he clicked his tongue, "No. You are here today because we need a group of low-lifes at your command to help with something. The next building we are after is currently owned by a group prostitutes, a brothel." he explained, "They refuse to buy, so we resort to necessary measures." he paused to see if anyone had any questions, "You'll 'convince' these fine ladies to sell by having the building burned down. No witnesses, so burn the building and leave fast. To assist your men, my employer has hired some muscle."
Tatsu moved to his right to let a shadowy figure walk from the shadows and step into the light. It was a woman, a fairly tall woman at that. She had mocha colored skin and had golden lipstick. She wore long fake lashes and had red colored eyes. Her hair was dyed blonde, medium length and were dreadlocks. She wore a white cloak that had some sort of pendant on it, under it she wore a black dress vest that was on top of a white button down with a red tie, making her look very professional. She also wore tight black slacks that accentuated her backside, but were bell-bottomed at the legs. She also wore what looked to be black heals with the heels being metal of some sort instead of the glossy plastic look the rest of the shoe had. Finally, on her hip was a sword of some sort, but not much could be gleaned from it. "This here is the muscle, a specialized assassin who will help lead your boys to make sure the job is done right."
"Who is she?" one of the men asked, "Some sort of hitman?"
"Precisely." Tatsu nodded, "She is the assassin one calls to kill other assassins. She ends regimes, guerilla uprisings, she makes it so that billionaires who don't know their place in society are. Cut. Out."
"So does she have a name? Or am I gonna have to resort to 'Dollface'." the old man grinned.
The woman blew out a large pink bubble from her mouth before it popped showing it to be some sort of bubble gum. "I've gone through many names." the woman began, "Hitman, Widow, Bitch..." she smirked, "Master Blaster, I quite liked that one. But I am known to my clients as The Assassin. Real name doesn't matter anymore. No attachment, and makes it easier in case someone tries to rat me out. However," she quickly unsheathed her sword, revealing it to be a stiletto, and just barely pressed it against the old man's neck, blood just trickling to the blade. The other men pulled out their guns or got their quirks ready and aimed at her. Some had fire, some had electricity, others seemed to have some sort of telekinesis or...magnatism(?) it was difficult to tell because all the items lifted had metal on them. "I absolutely refuse to be called 'Dollface'." Assassin flicked what little blood was on her blade and re-sheathed it.
"You-you damn crazy broad!" the old man coughed out as he held his throat, "Just who the hell do you think you are?"
Assassin's eyes began to glow and she frowned, "He told you already. I'm the assassin that kills assassins. You see this pendant?" she grabbed the button that held the cloak together around her neck and lifted it slight. It was blue and had a gold design on the inside looking like a 'T'. "I stole this cloak. I took it off the body of one of my targets. I'm the one who killed the last Taskmaster." the men seemed to get quite as they were all well aware of the lineage of mercenaries that seemed damn near invincible.
"So," Assassin continued, a smirk now present on her face, "I plan on getting paid tonight. Round up your boys. We're doing a little light arsony."
The Assassin and a small group of ten two-bit thugs arrived at Brothel Solon. Assassin took a zippo lighter out from her pocket and used it to light a cigarette. "Well. Get to it." she said in an irritated tone. The men that went with her piled out of a van carrying jerry cans full of gasoline. They walked over to the building and began pouring gass all over. One of them went and poured gasoline in the old A/C unit that was outside.
As the men did their job Assassin heard something land on the ground like glass. Looking behind her she saw a short tan woman with a man holding onto her arm as she lead him to the brothel. The woman's eyes widened as she saw what was going on, "P-Please...don't do this. The Brothel is all we have." Assassin let out a long deep groan. She pulled out a small pistol from behind her and shot the man several times in the chest, causing the woman to scream in fear. Assassin then pointed the gun at the woman and fired three times in her chest.
"God dammit. I chose this time because they'd be working. I didn't think there'd be any stragglers. It's a Brothel! Men come here you don't bring them here." Assassin wiped her face and groaned, "Let's go, boys!" she called out as she lit the zippo lighter and through it at the gasoline, causing the entire building to start going up in flames. The gasoline that was dumped in the A/C unit allowed for the fire to spread into the building quicker, especially with the fan blowing it in.
The men began to pile into the van, but The Assassin quickly grabbed one of them and out them in a headlock before shooting him once in the temple. She then put the gun in his hand and left him on the ground by the prostitute and her client. She then got into the van and shut the back doors before it went driving off into the night, the fire raging in it's mirrors, and the screams of fear echoing into the night. "Could have gone smoother. But the tracks are covered. The boss will be happy."
With Kaine...
Kaine woke up early in the morning in a cold sweat, his body jerking him awake. He hyperventilated a few times, feeling as if he had a migraine. Kaine turned on the tv and they seemed to be in the middle of some arsonist story. He wasn't too interested, he felt bad, but he didn't care. So, he went to get a glass of water to rehydrate himself and pray the headache goes away. "And unfortunately there were two confirmed deaths from the suspected arsonist, as well as a suicide. The deaths were of twenty-five year old Yusuke Tanaka and thirty-one year old Yuki Hasegawa." Kaine spit the water out and looked to the screen to see a picture of Yuki on the screen. His heart sank, he couldn't believe that someone he had just ran into after so long could be heartlessly gunned down in the street, even in The Sinkhole these type of stories are both surprising and just as gut wrenching.
Kaine immediately grabbed a coat and ran our his door to Brothel Solon. He jumped over the railing and shot a webline out, connecting it to the next building and letting him swing his way through the district.
When Kaine got to Brothel Solon, all he could see was rubble, smoke, emergency vehicles as well as many women and other citizens that came to see what happened. Kaine clutched his fists and gritted his teeth as he saw the still fairly fresh blood on the asphalt. Looking around Kaine found the ladies that owned and operated the brothel. He walked up to the Big Mama of the brothel, a foreigner named Anna. "Ms. Anna." Kaine called out.
"Oh Kaine," Anna replied. She was a fairly tall German woman with light skin, blue eyes and red hair. She also had light freckles sprinkled across her face. She was one of the older members and she was nominated the Big Mama after getting the girls together in the first place. "Sweety, it's so good to see you." she sniffed as she used her shirt to wipe the tears from her eyes, "Though I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Ms. Anna, where are all of you going to go? What are you going to do?" Kaine asked.
"I don't know." she cried, "We don't have anything. Not nearly enough money to rebuild, probably not enough to find another building. The only thing I can do is try and contact that realty firm and see if they'll give us something...anything for just the land." Realty firm? Kaine thought. He turned back to the rubble and scratched the back of his head, still trying to comprehend what was going on. Whatever motivation Kaine had for training before, he no longer had. He just wanted to go home and...think about things.
The days came and went and eventually Kaine was back in school. He was still thinking about what had happened, so he wasn't exactly in the right head space for the day. He just wanted to go through the day and not bother with anything school related. "YO, KAINE!" the silence was broken by Tetsutetsu who immediately jumped the spider teen and wrapped his arm around Kaine's neck, "Super crazy what happened right? Class A getting attacked I mean. It's like, unheard of isn't it?"
"Yeah, can't say I've heard of that before." Kaine replied, "So...what's on the docket? Training as normal?"
"Nah, I heard they are gonna let us out early." Tetsutetsu replied, "Apparently we're still doing the Sports Festival, so we may be let out early so we can go and train."
The two walked into class and sat down. Like them, the rest of the class was talking and speculating whether or not they were going to have the sports festival or not. Kan eventually walked in and the class got quiet. Kan himself didn't even address the class. He seemed quiet, rather calm. "Okay, here's the situation." Kan began, "After the incident recently with Class A, us faculty had a long discussion about the upcoming Sports Festival." he paused, "And...we have decided that we will continue as planned. As I'm sure all of you know, the UA Sports Festival is one of the most anticipated and highly viewed events every year, even moreso than the Olympics. You only get this chance three times during your school tenure, to show off and get noticed by pro heroes."
"Yeah, it's a big event. Every pro in the country will probably be watching." Shoda said with a nod.
"Right, on top of that, the police presence and hero presence will be increased. We are confident in our security detail that the Festival will be as smooth as it has been in the past. This is a huge chance for all of you, it is possible for any one of you to move up if you perform well...as well as move down if you perform poorly. So give it your all, and stick with your training."
Suddenly, the sound of a chair scraping across the ground echoed in the classroom as Monoma suddenly got up from his seat, a frown on his face. "Where are you going?" Kendo asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Monoma replied with his frown still present, "Class A has experience against villains already. That means they already have heroes looking at them, they are ahead of the game."
"And you want to check them out." Kaine finished with a nod, "Yeah, okay. I'm going too." Kaine stood up and began to follow Monoma along with Tetsutetsu, Tsuburaba and Kamakiri. Soon all the other 1-B students followed, walking through the halls to see who would be their closest rivals.
Chapter 7: Nightly Training
Nightly Training
Kaine and the other members of 1-B followed Monoma to the entrance of Class A, only to be surprised by the sheer number of other students showing up with the same plan of scoping the competition. Multiple students from C, D and E were all present to get a look at the now famous (or infamous depending on who you asked) Class A. "There's so many people here, guess Class A really became public enemy number one amongst the student body, huh?" Tetsutetsu pointed out.
"Everyone here is wanting to check out the competition, Tetsutetsu." Kaine explained, "They only care about what they have to deal with, if the rumor is true and these guys really did fend off villains or if they just hid in a corner until the teachers arrived." Kaine shrugged, "Or maybe they're here because they heard 1-A had some cute girls."
"Damn right!" Tsuburaba said with a fist pump, "I've heard only good things about 1-A girls, apparently they are all top-tier babes!"
"Just move out of the way you god damn side characters!" the group looked ahead to see a hotheaded blonde boy try to walk out of the class, whom Kaine recognized as Bakugou. Damn, he actually made it? I was hoping he would have failed. Kaine thought with a sigh.
The 1-B students watched as the crowd began moving slightly as a student from the General Studies classes went to confront the hot headeded blonde. "I had come to see what you kids are made of, true, but I didn't think you'd be so arrogant." The student who stepped forward, a boy, had messy, indigo-colored hair that flares out in large tufts around his head and notably straight teeth. His eyes are purple with white pupils, and are thin and somewhat triangular in shape, pointing downward, with no visible eyelashes, and he looked really tired as he had very dark eye bags underneath them. "Are all the students enrolled in the hero department like this?" he gave an uninterested frown as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Guess I'm just a bit disillusioned, huh? You know, a lot of kids end up in the General Ed. department because they failed the hero program. And based on the results of the sports festival...people can even be moved up into the Hero Course after a review." he let out a slight smirk, so slight it was a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment. "The reverse can also happen. So while scoping out the competition, a General Ed. student like me is thinking, 'Hey, why don't I try pulling the rug out from under those heroics kids while they are on their high horses'. So I guess...consider this a declaration of war."
"That's it, that blonde one's stupid face is pissing me off." Tetsutetsu said suddenly as he began pushing through the crowd himself, "Hey! I'm from Class B! I had heard you guys fought some villains or something and I wanted to hear it from your mouths. But you're kinda pissing me off, I'd much rather not have to hear you, you snot-nosed-punk!"
Bakugou blinked a few times with a disinterested look, "We have a Class B?"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Tetsutetsu preceeded to get into a heated argument, eventually moving to some red headed kid in Class A. Kaine only sighed.
Kaine then cut through the crowd himself and grabbed Tetsutetsu so he could pull him away from 1-As red head. "C'mon, Tetsutetsu, let's just leave them alone."
"But-"
"No 'buts,' man. If you wanna shut them up, do it during the festival." Kaine reminded as he pulled Tetsutetsu's collar and moved him along with the rest of the students who began to disperse. "That dude's gonna get me in trouble one of these days." Kaine sighed, "I don't want to cast stones in a glass house, you guys have gone through a bit already and I doubt you want others harassing you." Kaine turned to Midoriya and smiled, "But don't think we won't be willing to demolish the house when the festival comes. Laters, Midoriya!" Kaine gave a thumbs up and left with the rest of the students.
"Hey, he was kinda tall, huh?" the 1-A students said in unison.
True to his word, Kan let out the students early so that they can focus on training. He seemed to give Kaine a nod before he left which told the teen that Kan was expecting him to focus the most of the group. Right, Kaine thought as he walked back home, Of course he would want me to focus on training. He probably is thinking I'm one of the ones in trouble of getting sent to Gen. Ed. if I don't perform well. Kaine sighed, I just...I have a lot on my mind right now. Ms. Anna told me they were planning on a small funeral, so I should probably-
"Hey, did you hear about the brothel burning down?" Kaine's ears perked up and he stopped in the street. He looked up to see he was at the building that was supposed to be torn down. He likely was hearing some of the workers on the other side of the fence who were probably on a smoke break or something.
"Yeah, heard the boss ended up giving them less than what he initially offered." the other worker replied, "Bunch of dumb whores. Should have taken the money when it was offered. Maybe then things wouldn't have escalated to the point they did." Kaine's eyes widened and he held his breath. "But what about that Assassin chick? Was she really necessary? I mean she kinda left a mess with that whore and the client." Kaine's eye began to twitch, it was like he was starting to see red, but he kept listening...he felt he had to.
"Yeah, but without her it probably could have been traced back to our boys. This way it looks like it was some psycho. You know, she even changed his records to make it seem like he was some massive puritan evangelical type? The police were none the wiser, open and shut case."
"Another building down. How much closer do you think he is?"
"Not close enough. But maybe now these losers will learn to take the money."
That was it, Kaine had heard enough. He had his suspicions before when he heard a realty firm approached Ms. Anna. But this was too much. Something was going on with this 'Yoshii Realty' and he planned on figuring it out himself. He began running home now, his frustration boiling inside of him. Yuki's death, the ladies being forced to move. It was THEIR fault. That realty firm, and likely the construction company too. Kaine needed answers, and he planned on getting them...one way or another.
Kaine burst into his apartment and threw his bag on the ground. He was hyperventilating, frustrated, angry. The people that he thought was a force for good for The Sinkhole, the people he thought were going to start cleaning up the district were really just in it for their own selfish reasons. And not only that...Kaine slammed his fist against the wall and broke the drywall, They killed Yuki. She didn't have to die, but they decided she wasn't worth anything. I can't let them get away with this!
Kaine opened a drawer and pulled out a dark blue t-shirt and black sweatpants and changed into them. He then put on a old black zip-up hoodie and found an old black beanie. He cut holes into the beanie and placed it over his face. The beanie covered the top half of his face and stopped just below his nose. "I'm breaking a lot of laws right now. But results need action. And action won't come from the police." Kaine gulped, "I just...hope I don't end up regretting this."
Kaine waited until it was dark out, roughly around nine o'clock, and he left his apartment by sneaking out the small window in his kitchen. He attached himself to the wall before shooting a webline so he could swing through the city.
He swung his way to the condemned building and stopped on a lamppost. Looking down he didn't see a lot of activity, however, he was lucky enough to see someone walk out the front door. He looked like some sort of security guard based on the way he was dressed. It was a long shot, but he may have some information. Kaine shrugged his shoulders and webbed himself over to the two story building next door so he could get a better angle and be out of the guard's line of site.
Kaine aimed his right hand forward and took a deep breath and firing a web ball at the guard's eyes. His shot landed and he quickly shot two weblines at the guard's chest while he was blinded and yanked the man up to him. The guard let out a surprised yell as he was pulled, forcing Kaine to cover his mouth before throwing him down onto the surface of the rooftop. "Listen to me, you're going to shut your mouth and you are going to answer every question I have for you, do I make myself clear?"
Kaine removed his hand and immediately the guard began yelling and Kaine covered his mouth again. "Shut up," Kaine said with a frustrated tone, "Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Kaine slammed his fist into the ground next to the guard's head and he took a deep breath. "Now, you couldn't see that, but I just slammed my fist through a brick wall," he lied, "I will not hesitate to hurt you if you don't start cooperating with me. So...let's try that again. Shut. Up. Answer my questions, and you don't get hurt."
Kaine removed his hand once more, "What the hell do you want?" the guard groaned.
"Your employer, who is it?" Kaine asked.
"I-It's La Grande construction, man."
Kaine lifted the man slightly before slamming his head against the ground, "You're lying!" Kaine growled, "I know that La Grande is in leagues with Yoshii Realty. So don't screw with me! Your employer, the guy who runs Yoshii Realty, who is he?"
"I don't know who he is, I've never met the guy!" the guard pleaded, "I swear, we just get contracted out, we have nothing to do with them." Kaine growled in annoyance and looked behind him and looked at the edge of the roof. Kaine lifted the man up by his collar and held him over the ledge, "W-What are you doing? Are you letting me go?" the man asked, squirming his body as he couldn't feel the ground, only the wind blowing against his face.
"Something like that." Kaine replied with a slight smirk. "This building is four stories high," he lied, "One story drop, you'll be fine, two story you may break a bone, three you may break several or have serious trauma, but four? At four you're high up enough you will probably die, be it from blunt force trauma or internal bleeding." For whatever reason it was Kaine couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "Have a nice flight." Kaine dropped the guard and heard him scream as he fell. Kaine then shot two weblines and caught the man by his feet after he fell only one story. Kaine pulled the man up and threw him on the surface of the roof again. "So, now that we're clear that I'm not afraid to drop you, I'd like you to stop thinking I'm a dumbass."
"What do you want, man?" the guard asked, practically in tears, his legs shaking as he was still recovering of the shock of being thrown off a building.
"You work for Yoshii Realty, I know you do. I overheard some of the workers earlier today talking about the brothel fire. They talked about the girl who was gunned down and how it was made to look like a murder-suicide." Kaine leaned close so he could whisper to the man, "How would they know that if they weren't working for Yoshii?"
"Okay...Okay..." the guard gulped, "I don't know the boss. Never met the guy, none of us have! The guy is a borderline enigma. The company has like six people listed as owners, we don't know who he is or if 'he' isn't just the collective. We go through his right hand, a guy named Tatsu." the guard explained, "But I don't know where you'd find him, he comes to us. Really likes to keep his feet clean, you know?"
"Then who set the fire? I heard a 'she,' some sort of assassin?" Kaine asked.
"Barely know. Tatsu had just brought her along to oversee everything. Again, he likes to make sure his feet are clean."
"Who was with them?"
"Who wasn't!" the guard replied, "The boss got help from all over, in case they got caught. Boys affiliated with different gangs from different districts. He picked them out specifically."
"So you gonna start naming names? Surely you have one?" Kaine asked.
"I don't have names." the guard replied with a shake of his head, "Honest, I didn't see who went."
"Then how about these different gangs the boys were affiliated with?" Kaine asked, "Wanna give a name there? Maybe one that this Tatsu would have had to talk to directly."
"I wouldn't know, I didn't see."
Kain stared at the man for a solid minute, nothing but dead silence between the two. He then grabbed the guard's thumb and snapped it backwards, causing the man to scream in pain. "I told you not to act like I'm a dumbass. So why don't you give me a name before I throw you off the building for real this time." Kaine threatened. The guard didn't say anything and Kaine decided to make do on his promise and lifted him up by his collar again, walking to the edge of the building.
"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!" the guard yelled, his breath becoming incredibly shaky, "'Big Kahuna!' Kisame Kawakami! 'The Big Kahuna,' the 'Land Shark'!"
"The villain?" Kaine asked.
"Yes, he runs a small gang in the lower east side. Goes to a bar in the red district called Purgatory. Tatsu got some of his men, hell, I think they've worked together for a while now."
"That so?"
"YES, I SWEAR!"
Kaine nodded. "Thank you. You've done well." the guard let out a sigh of relief, "But that doesn't mean I won't drop you." Kaine threw the man off the two story building and watched him fall until he landed on the roof of a car, caving it in slightly and breaking the glass. The guard lied in the caved in roof and groaned in pain as Kaine watched from the rooftop. Kaine turned his head to the left and squinted his eyes, "Red district. Got it."
At the bar called Purgatory, in the red district, there sat a fairly tall man, a villain named Kisame Kawakami, also known as 'Land Shark'. However, among his crew he is known as 'Big Kahuna' a name he gained for being an American born Japanese man in Hawaii. He started his villain career in the states, but Hawaii didn't give him much chance to grow, so he moved back to his family's home country. He had dyed blonde hair, narrow eyes that had large blacked out irises. He had sharp, shark-like teeth, and some form of gills on his neck which allow him to breath underwater. He wore a black tank top and red sweat shorts. He also had a tribal tattoo on his left shoulder from his friend back in Hawaii. He was a fairly tall man, about 200 centimeters in height, and he was around 150 kilograms in weight.
When he was in Hawaii, Kisame became fond of mixed drinks, mostly the sweeter ones due to the tropical flavors they put in them. So despite his very masculine exterior, some may think he looks rather silly drinking what some may call 'chick drinks.' He took a drink of his current drink before he got aggressively shook from his shoulder, "What? What? You made me spill my drink you hūpō." Kisame complained as he shoved the member that shook his shoulder.
"Boss, it's important!" Kisame's subordinate said with a fearful tone, "This guys is crazy, he slammed Taka into a windshield!" The member jumped in surprise as one of the larger members was thrown through the window. The music in the bar stopped and everyone looked up to see what was going on. The door opened slowly and Kaine walked into the bar, the makeshift mask still on his face and his hood up.
"Kinda late for a turf war, don't you think?" Kisame asked as he stood up from the bar, "I mean, you wait until," he quickly checked his phone, "One in the morning. You show up, unannounced, you have no entourage. So what? What is your play here, braddah?"
"Not a turf war." Kaine answered lowly, "Just answers from you." he said as he pointed at Kisame.
Kisame chuckled at the situation before continuing with his drink, "You're a little new at this aren't you? You don't just waltz in here, cock flopping about, and expect to get answers. You want answers you need respect. And if you want respect...well," he shrugged as his lackeys began to form in front of him and got their quirks ready. Kaine let out a deep sigh and punched his fists together before getting into a boxing stance.
"I don't need respect from people like you." Kaine replied, "If I did, I'd be running for office."
Kisame let out a loud laugh, "I like this kid already. Now skin him. Keep the bones, I need a new tooth pick."
One of the first mooks to approach Kaine had some strange morphing quirk. His fingers merged together and extended out to make a blade. Alright, guess I'm getting some extended training. The mook swung his hand and Kaine quickly dodged to his right to avoid getting sliced. Kaine then quickly sent a right straight at the mook's chin. The mook swung wildly and Kaine leaned back in time to only get a slight cut on his chest. Kaine backed up to gain distance and he suddenly felt something wrap around his body. Looking back he saw a new mook who was rather large in size.
"I got you now!" the mook's arms suddenly exponentially in size and began crushing Kaine. "You like that, punk? My quirk is called Anchor Arms! I can grow my arms and increase my arm strength tenfold!"
"Tenfold? That's it?" Kaine groaned. He used his weight to flip forward and make the mook land on his back, with Kaine on top of him. Kaine then flicked his head back and broke the mook's nose, making the mook let go of him. Kaine then got o his feet and grabbed one of the arms before spinning the man around and throwing him into a group of mooks.
The blade hand guy came back and slashed Kaine across his back, making him yell out in pain. Kaine quickly turned around and coated the man's hand in webbing, making it blunt instead of sharp. The man tried swinging at Kaine, but the teen caught the attack before twisting the arm and flipping the man forcefully, causing him to break the man's shoulder. "I don't have time for this." Kaine growled, "Just tell me about Yoshii Realty and your connections with them!"
Kisame held up his hand slightly, "Hold on." he called out, stopping more of his mooks from advancing, "Yoshii Realty? What do you know about them?"
"I know they are actually a scummy company with criminal connections like yourself." Kaine started, "I know they are buying out all the condemned buildings in The Sinkhole, I know that they burned down that brothel, and I know they made it seem like it was some lunatic's rampage." Kaine smirked, "I also know that you were involved in some way, which means you're a lead. And I plan on squeezing out as much information as I can."
Kisame snorted, "What more do you need to know? Sounds to me like you have all the information you need."
"No...I need to know everyone who's involved!" Kaine yelled out, "I'll bring them to justice, even if it means stopping them myself!"
"Fine, looks like I'm gonna be picking your flesh out of my teeth for the next few weeks." Kisame waved his hand away and his mooks backed off, "Be careful what you wish for kid, I'm still a feared villain, even today!" he gave a big toothy grin, accentuating his sharp teeth before charging forward and sending a punch at Kaine. Kaine ducked left, but was immediately met with a knee to his face. Kaine popped up and held his face in pain. Kisame then palmed the back of Kaine's head before slamming the teen into the bar counter. And then he did it again, and again until the bar counter cracked. Kaine spit a glob of blood, tears welling up in his eyes from pain.
"What's the matter, hero? This your first gig or something?" Kisame taunted before throwing Kaine across the bar and have him slam into the wall. Kaine slowly got his feet and grabbed the stand of one of the tables and swung the table at Kisame who blocked the attack and made the table top shatter. Kaine, still with the table stand in hand, swung the metal stand at Kisame's head who caught it with his teeth. Kisame chomped down on the metal pole of a stand, biting it in half. He began to chew on the metal before spitting it out. "C'mon kid. Just give it a rest. Best to just die here and leave the rest alone."
"Don't think so," Kaine said as he spit out more blood, "I have to put a stop to this. If I don't, then others could get hurt. Others will be driven from their homes. I can't let that happen!" Kaine tried throwing a punch, but Kisame caught his wrist and smirked.
"Honestly, the tenacity is almost commendable." Kisame chuckled, "But young heroes need to learn to not stir up waters. This is something you don't want any part in. Don't worry though, I'll make sure you understand EXACTLY what will happen if you mess with me again." Kisame began pulling Kaine's hand towards his mouth and he opened wide. Kaine, thinking quick, used his free hand to web Kisame's mouth shut and pulled him in for a massive headbutt. The force of the headbutt made Kisame let go and gave Kaine the chance to follow up by bull rushing the Land Shark into the bar counter.
Kaine sent a right hook across Kisame's face, and then another before gripping his shoulders and sending a headbutt to the Land Shark's nose. Kaine then grabbed the back of Kisame's head and restrained his arm, he spun Kisame around before lifting him up and slamming him into the bar, making it break. "Ha!" Kisame let out a light laugh as he rose from the shattered wood that was the bar counter, "HAHAHAHA! You're pretty decent, kid. I wasn't expecting much, but you know how to throw a punch!" he turned around and was immediately met with a punch to the face. "Okay. We had our laughs. Now let's stop-" he was interrupted when Kaine punched directly on his mouth, making him spit out some teeth. "Okay...you're really starting to piss me off."
"Are you gonna...tell me about Yoshii Realty?" Kaine asked.
Kisame spit some blood in his hand and used the blood to slick his hair back. He gave a bloody toothed smile before answering, "Still on about that, huh? Sorry kid, not happening. I told you, you need respect to get answers outta me."
Kaine squinted his eyes in frustration before popping his neck, "Then I guess we're going until I get that respect, huh?" he said with a light growl to his voice. Kaine started by shooting a webline to a glass bottle and yanking it into Kisame's head. Kisame hunched over in pain as some glass stuck into his head. Kaine than shot a webline and yanked himself over to Kisame, sending a Superman punch to his face. Kisame caught the punch and countered with a forceful gut punch that Kaine could feel cracked some of his ribs. Kisame then headbutted Kaine himself and threw him out the door and onto the dark streets.
Kisame popped his neck and groaned, "Irrahz." he groaned. Kisame walked out the doors. He looked around for Kaine, but to his surprise he didn't see him. "Did he run off?" he asked, "He couldn't have gotten far." Suddenly, Kisame felt something attach to his back. Before he knew it, he was being yanked up into the sky before he was slammed down onto the roof of the bar. "Holy...shit..." he coughed out due to having the wind knocked out of him.
"You're not gonna get rid of me that easily." Kaine spat before he rushed and kicked Kisame across the face like he was going for a corner kick. Kisame got to his feet and smirked as the two began to circle each other, "You want me dead right!?" Kaine yelled out, "I already know too much right?! Well, come on! LET'S ROCK, BABY!"
"Hahahaha, you're one crazy bastard. I like that." Kisame growled before launching himself forward towards Kaine. Both combatants closed in, Kisame was first to throw a punch, this time blocked by Kaine and countered with with a jab. Kaine went to follow up with a straight kick, but Kisame grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground, then he lifted him up and slammed him in the ground again. While Kaine was down, Kisame went to curb stomp his head, but Kaine rolled away at the last second.
Kaine got into a crouched position, his hand on the ground with his fingertips supporting him, his right leg stretched to his side, his left knee up and his left hand balled into a fist by his face. Kaine quickly lifted his hands up and shot two web balls out that blinded Kisame. Kaine then dashed forward and jumped high into the air, cocking his left fist back, he then used his right hand to shoot a webline to the ground and yanked himself down so he could deliver a ferocious punch. Kisame blindly swung his arms trying to land a hit, but Kaine ducked the attack, webbed behind Kisame, and pulled himself so he could slide between his legs.
When Kaine was at the flank he jumped up and sent a sloppy spin kick to the back of Kisame's head. As the villain stumbled forward, Kaine shot a webline forward and connected it to his back and yanked him back where Kaine wrapped his arms around his waist and followed with a German suplex.
Kisame groaned in pain as he tried to get to his feet. He finally ripped the webbing off his eyes and took a swing at Kaine as the teen approached him again. Kaine was caught off guard as he was punched just above his gut and had the wind knocked out of him. "All you heroes..." Kisame started, "are the same!" he shouted as he kicked Kaine in the gut while he collapsed to the ground. "You think you can change the world! You think you're better than the rest! You don't know what you are even dealing with!" he continued to kick Kaine as he laughed, giving his spiel, "Just be like every other hero, and LEAVE. IT. BE!"
"I'm not a hero..." Kaine coughed out, "I'm technically a vigilante. And you're right, heroes don't do anything in The Sinkhole. But it's my neighborhood, and I won't let some corporate dickhead kill people for some stupid land rights!" Kaine sent an uppercut and (by accident mind you) landed a punch against the villain's groin.
"Ah..." Kisame was at a loss for words as he instantly collapsed from the attack. Now it was Kaine who was standing over him, trying to catch his breath.
"God damn, I need to start off with the dick punch from now on. That's like the third time in a row it's been a battle ender." Kaine said to himself in English. Kaine webbed Kisame's hands to his body, which were still gripping his aching testicles. "Now listen here: I know you had some form of involvement with the burning of Brothel Solon. An innocent man and woman were killed and dozens of prostitutes were forced to find a new place to live, which is next to impossible with how little money you're employer gave them!"
"My employer?" Kisame scoffed, "That Tatsu guy and his boss weren't my employer. It was more like...a business deal." he explained, "Me and a bunch of gangs and families were asked to assist on a joint business venture. It was a way for us to make big bucks."
"'Big Bucks'?" Kaine repeated, "The hell are you talking about, there's no money to be made in The Sinkhole. The district is too bad. Property value would be dirt cheap still."
Kisame let out a sinister chuckle, "You really have no idea do you? It isn't about buying a couple buildings. It's about buying ALL the buildings." he explained, "Buy out the buildings, spearhead the development on the long awaited 'Revitalization Project'. City doesn't care that criminals are involved. They'll do anything to get rid of the 'undesirables,' even if it means using people like us. Who cares, heroes will stop us afterward, right? That's likely their plan." he chuckled, "Best part, we all get a piece of the pie."
Kaine gritted his teeth and turned around to think. He snapped his fingers as an idea came to mind and he hit record on his phone. "You said others, what others were there? The 'Fanilies' you were talking about, you meant yakuza familes right? Who was involved?"
"Yeah, like I'll tell you." Kisame chuckled.
Kaine leaned down and slammed Kisame's head against the ground, "I just beat your ass on your own turf, Land Shark." he smiled, "You said: 'You want answers you need respect.' I think I've earned that respect."
Kisame snorted and gave a nod, "The Abarai family. They were some key players. They help with a large chunk of funding. They may be your best bet for stopping those Yoshii guys. You can find them in the upper west side. You won't miss 'em, trust me, they are in a large mansion." Kaine just looked at Kisame, not saying anything, "What? I don't care about the whole thing. So I don't get as much territory, that's fine. I still have my current turf. You do you."
"Ha." Kaine let our a light laugh, "Hahahahaha! Yeah, you can have your turf. But I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait about ten to fifteen years!" As Kaine said that, both hear the sounds if police sirens and Kisame couldn't help but laugh along.
"Not bad, kid. You're pretty good."
Down below, the police began to raid the building, arresting everyone they knew was involved with Kisame and his gang, as well as those that tried to run away. "Do we have everyone?" one of the detectives that was heading the raid asked, "Where's Land Shark?" as he asked that, Kisame fell from the roof and landed in the trash bin just outside the bar. "Nevermind."
"Uh, detective?" one if the officers called out, "Did you hear about heroes on scene?"
The detective and other officers looked up to the roof only to see the shadowy figure of Kaine looking over them before he quickly fled. The detective let out a long and deep sigh, "No...I'm pretty sure that was a vigilante."
Kaine arrived back in his apartment at around three a.m. He immediately collapsed into his futon, didn't even bother to eat or change out of his clothes. He just wanted to rest his body forever.
...
His wish, however, would not be fulfilled as three hours later his alarm clock went off, waking him up for the day. Kaine slapped the clock and turned it off as he groggily awoke from his not so fulfilling slumber. He groaned and moaned in pain as he felt his ribs. I should go see Recovery Girl today. I'll need a lie...training, duh. He shrugged. Kaine took off the clothes he wore that night and stuck his hand through the hole one of Kisame's men left him when he got cut on his back. Kaine looked at his back in the mirror and was surprised to see only a slight cut, Huh...thought it was deeper. he thought. While looking in the mirror he also saw the heavy bruises where his cracked ribs were, as well as the bruises on his face, cut lip, and dried blood on his nose. Despite what he looked like, how he felt, he still looked at himself in the mirror and gave a big toothy smile. The legality of the situation didn't matter to him, what he did the night before felt good. REALLY good. And if it felt this good the whole time then his vengeance for Yuki would feel that much sweeter.
Kaine took a fast shower and walked into his kitchen where he pulled out the food Yuki had made him before she died. Kaine placed the food on his counter and clasped his hands together, thanking the gods, and Yuki, for providing him his meal. Afterwards, he devoured the entire tray of food in record time.
Afterwards, he quickly brushed his teeth and got dressed before heading for school.
After getting a quick check up with Recovery Girl, Kaine made his way straight for class and sat at his desk, leaning as far back as he was able and closing his eyes trying to get some rest. "OH MY GOD!" Kaine jumped in surprise at the sound of Kendo yelling out, "Kaine what happened? Are you alright?"
Kaine rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, "I'm fine. A little tired, but I'm feeling fine."
"'Feeling fine?'" Kendo repeated in disbelief.
"You look like you got your ass kicked, dude." Setsuna mentioned as she walked past him to her desk.
"DUDE, KAINE! YOU LOOK LIKE AN OLD BANANA!" Tetsutetsu yelled out.
Kaine blinked a few times before shaking his head and smiling, "Weird analogy aside, you should see the other guy."
"Oh, geez. What did you do?" Kendo asked with a sigh.
Pony gasped, "Kaine you got into a fight?"
"Yeah-ha!" Setsuna cheered as she floated her hand to Kaine and he gave it a high five, "You beat his ass bad?"
"Was it one of those Class A punks?" Monoma asked with a strangely hopeful expression.
Kaine shook his head, "Nah, just some punk causing trouble in my neighborhood." he smiled, "I dealt with him though. I think he got the message. Poor ladies will feel a little safer at least."
"Everyone sit down!" Kan announced as he walked into the class, "I knew you'd all-Jesus, Kaine. What happened to you?"
The rest of the class, if they hadn't already seen Kaine got a good look at him now and were just as shocked as the other students when they first saw him. Kaine just leaned back in his seat and smiled, "Mostly training. I do box you know."
Kan nodded, "Keep up the good work. Don't strain yourself too hard."
"Me? Never." Kaine chuckled.