The next morning at Aldera Junior High was… tense.
Not for me, though.
I was peacefully napping at my desk, recovering from last night's disaster.
You know — accidentally robbing a store, escaping heroes, becoming a wanted fugitive.
The usual.
"Oi, Akira, wake up."
I cracked one eye open to see Shun grinning like a maniac, waving a newspaper.
"Guess what made the news?"
My stomach sank.
The front page headline read:
'Mystery Villain Group Strikes! Phoenix-Quirked Leader Appears!'
And right there was a blurry photo of me mid-flight, blue flames and all.
"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THEY TOOK A PICTURE!?"
"Relax, Boss. It's good publicity."
"I TOLD YOU TO KEEP IT LOW-PROFILE!"
Shun shrugged, unbothered. "You looked cool, though."
I groaned and let my head slam onto the desk.
"Besides," he added, lowering his voice, "word's spread fast. Half the underworld's already heard about the 'Blue Phoenix.'"
"I don't want to be known in the underworld!"
"Too late."
Wonderful.
I reincarnated into this world, got phoenix powers from a god's screw-up, and now I was a crime boss without trying.
And to make it worse, some idiot stuck a badly drawn wanted poster on the classroom bulletin board.
'WANTED: THE BLUE PHOENIX — REWARD: A WHOLE BENTO BOX.'
I ripped it down.
**
At lunch, it got worse.
Kuroha, as usual, appeared beside me like a ghost, dropping a letter onto my tray.
"What's this?"
"Challenge letter. From another villain group."
I nearly choked on my rice ball.
"ANOTHER GROUP!?"
"Apparently they wanna fight for territory."
"WE DON'T HAVE TERRITORY!"
Too late.
It was happening.
A bunch of second-years calling themselves 'The Iron Talons' wanted to meet under the old bridge tonight.
Apparently, they heard about my 'legendary crime spree' and wanted to settle who ruled Musutafu's backstreets.
"But I don't even want this job!"
Shun patted my shoulder, eyes shimmering.
"Boss, you can't back down. It's about respect."
"Respect for what!?"
"For the criminal underworld."
"WE'RE NOT CRIMINALS!"
…Except for the part where we accidentally robbed a store last night.
**
That evening, against my better judgment (and under threat of Rikiya's puppy-dog eyes), I showed up at the bridge.
It was dark, quiet.
A bunch of rough-looking kids stood waiting on the other side.
Their leader was a tall, mean-looking guy with metal studs on his jacket.
His quirk made his arms turn into steel blades.
"Tch. So you're the so-called Blue Phoenix."
"I swear, this is a misunderstanding—"
He pointed a blade-finger at me. "Only one gang runs these streets. Hand over your turf or we'll take it by force."
I sighed. "Look, we don't have turf. I don't even wanna be here. Let's just—"
Too late again.
A light breeze knocked over a loose paper lantern, sending it rolling past us.
My dumb phoenix instincts kicked in.
I tried to stop it with my foot — accidentally ignited my blue flames, setting the thing ablaze.
It shot through the air like a fireball, straight into their snack pile.
BOOOOM
Explosions.
Smoke.
Screaming.
Shun and the others lost their minds, charging in with improvised weapons.
"FOR THE BLUE PHOENIX!"
"WE'LL PROTECT OUR BOSS!"
"NO I'M NOT YOUR—oh, forget it."
In under five minutes, it was chaos.
My flames spread, Shun whacked a guy with a mop, Kuroha knocked out three with sleep darts, and Rikiya suplexed a vending machine.
I tried to put out fires, only for my phoenix powers to accidentally heal injured kids and make me look even more godly.
By the time the smoke cleared, the Iron Talons were begging for mercy.
"Boss Phoenix," their leader whimpered. "We surrender."
"I didn't even do anything!!"
But somehow, by sheer dumb luck and misunderstanding, we won.
And now, apparently, the Blue Phoenix controlled Musutafu's back alleys.
I slumped down onto a crate as Shun grinned.
"Boss, we're unstoppable."
"No… we're idiots."
Kuroha sat down beside me, holding up a second challenge letter.
"Another gang wants a meeting tomorrow."
I stared at the sky.
Why.
Why did this keep happening.
I didn't sign up for this.
…But, I'll be honest.
The melon soda tasted better after a win.