The rain in the cold night was surely unleashing a monster outside, I could hear the raindrops pounding onto the ground as loud as heavy as drumbeats. The roof was enduring the raindrops as I could hear the loud taps outside attempting to break inside the bar. The bar was always the one place I could chill, kinda felt like home you know? Well at least that's what I thought it was.

People here weren't exactly the friendliest, one bad look at them and who knows what'll happen to you. Considering we live in a superhuman society, it's no wonder people constantly live in fear, from the shadows lurking in the world. 80% of our population are gifted with unique abilities known as quirks. However, what happened to that 20% of people who weren't gifted with quirks? There was chaos among society, calling those who had quirks mutants or monsters who have the power to eradicate humanity. Astonishingly our society managed to survive the crisis and it gave birth to a new profession known as heroes to prevent any form of injustice.

"Here you go Daito, the usual." The bartender, Keiji said as he passed me the iced tea

"Thanks." I replied back

"Daito, you should really try these new alcoholic beverages we've just got in stock. It's pretty pricey but since it's you, I'd be happy to offer you a discount." Keiji offered.

"It's alright, iced tea has kinda grown on me you know?"

Keiji replied back with a disappointed expression "You're not a kid anymore Daito, sometimes you have to appreciate what life has to offer you."

I looked from my iced tea to Keiji's unimpressed face as he looked down on me, and I replied back, feeling a bit of guilt.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll come back, then I'll try out what you've got in stock."

The bartender, Keiji was a tall and confident man with a slender but muscular built who has always been at this bar for at least a decade. He always looked like those type of guys who are always nonchalant and calm in any type of situation.

As I drank the refreshing iced tea, the man next to me suddenly jolted up and started shouting aloud as if he was the allure in the room. The man wore torn up and dark clothing. He wasn't really fit either. He had 3 mugs on his table but I wasn't really too sure if he was drunk or if it was his obnoxious personality. Keiji noticed and approached him cautiously as he knew this was going to be a troublesome man.

"Enjoying the newest beverage we've got in stock?" Keiji asked, smiling.

"Mate, I don't know what to tell you but this stuff is legit!" The man replied with an optimistic shout.

"Well I'm glad you like it, but remember that this isn't the cheapest thing we've got." Keiji said concerned, in which the man replied back.

"Sorry bro, nothing in these pockets!" the man

"You can't be serious, you mean that don't you have anything?" Keiji said, annoyed.

"Well I can give you something, but you gotta give me another round okay boss?" The man said laughing.

Keiji was disgusted with the man's unwilling behaviour and backed off with his hands on his face as he was revolted of the situation he was stuck in. I kinda felt sorry for Keiji in moments like these, but unfortunately things like this always happened in the bar. Keiji then walked back to the drunken man with his face wiped blank.

"May I ask you a question, what kind of quirk do you have?" Keiji asked, curiously.

"What? That's just out of nowhere." The man said confused.

"Hey, you're the one that owes me, you've gotta at least give me something back." Keiji replied back annoyed.

The man angrily glared at Keiji and replied back, "Well it's a quirk better than yours! My quirk lets me see things as tiny as crumbs, like the crumbs next to my mugs! What quirk do you have, huh? Bet it can't top mine!"

"Regarding your quirk, what if I said that I could forget about the yens you owe me if you could do me small favour with your quirk?" Keiji asked.

"Oh, so that's where you're getting at, huh, you're certainly a man who knows how to do business." The man said grinning.

Keiji guided the man to the back room and left the bar empty. I knew Keiji for a long time, and this was the first time he just let someone go unpaid. He always worked hard, not for himself, but for his wife Masami who he treasured the most. He would always talk about her kind and compassionate personality and how she loved and even sang her favourite songs.

She was born quirkless but that never stopped Keiji from loving her. Whenever they had arguments, Keiji would ask me for some advice, unfortunately for him I wasn't really good with women. I was feeling a bit confused about him, Masami would definitely be disturbed if he started to miscarry out his business. So I decided to sneak out through the back door to see what he was up to.

Keiji and the man were outside the bar in a dark creepy alleyway, the man seemed oblivious to what was really happening around him. Keiji suddenly raised his leg and kicked the man's kneecaps. The man fell down on the ground, then becoming aware of the situation he started to scream. I felt like I was struck by lightning as I saw Keiji acting merciless for the first time in my life. What the hell is he doing?!

"W-what the hell are you doing?! What kind of sick favour are you asking me?!" The man screamed as he was starting to flail in pain.

"Men like you, don't deserve the privileges by living in complete comfort when you can't even look out for yourself!" Keiji said in a sinister and dark tone.

"Here's how this is gonna work pal, I got a couple of colleagues I'm meeting tomorrow, and I need you to come along quietly into our business, if you refuse, you can just say goodbye to your miserable life." Keiji whispered into his ear as he pulled out his gun, pointing to his neck.

I ran and reached in for Keiji's gun and snatched it from his hands and with no hesitation, I pointed the gun at Keiji as I saw his face going into shock from my sudden appearance.

"Keiji, this isn't you! What the hell has gotten into you? What would Masami think about this?" I screamed at him from the bottom of my lungs as all these questions and adrenaline were racing through my head.

"Daito, how did you even get here? Dammit, you used your quirk didn't you? You know how I feel whenever you used it!" Keiji said as his anger overwhelmed him.

He really didn't want me to be in this situation, but I didn't have a choice.

DAITO'S QUIRK: PERCEPTION: DAITO'S QUIRK ALLOWS HIM TO BECOME HARD TO NOTICE TO ANY OF THE 5 SENSES OF THE HUMAN BODY EG: IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT HIM WITH HIS QUIRK ACTIVATED, IT WOULD BE HARD TO NOTICE HE'S EVEN THERE. IT'S LIKE TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE IN A CROWD OF PEOPLE. IF HE WERE TO MAKE A SOUND, IT WOULD BE AS HARD TO NOTICE A SINGULAR VOICE IN A CROWD OF PEOPLE. THE SAME RULE APPLIES TO ALL THE OTHER SENSES.

I shouted as I felt betrayed by Keiji's actions, "Don't dodge the question! Otherwise I'd like to see if you can dodge bullets! Keiji, I knew you for such a long time, I may have not been your colleague, but I certainly was your friend! Now tell me what the hell you're doing!"

I saw his face becoming pale as he saw into my unpleasant glare.

"You don't understand Daito, I'm not the bad guy here!"

"Then why were you pointing a gun at him? You were about to take his life!" I cried out.

"I wasn't gonna take his life, I just needed him to get Masami back!" Keiji answered.

"She was kidnapped? Why couldn't you just call for heroes who have suitable quirks for situations like these?! All Might could've probably helped us!" I shouted out.

Keiji then exclaimed back "It's not that simple you know! If they saw any hero try to stop them, they won't delay a second to shoot her! Why else would I be committing this heinous crime?!"

"Then tell me, who are these people, I can help you and save her from these people with my quirk!" I said boldly.

Keiji refused my help and cried out, "I can't let you be involved in this! This is something I have to deal with myself, please just stay out of it!"

I always hated situations like these, when people tell you to stay out and do nothing but know that people suffering while I know that I could do something about it. I couldn't accept that, so I demanded to help him.

"Just tell me where they are Keiji!, my quirk is the best for situations like these!" I insisted

"I can't! In the worst case, you and Masami could both end up dying!" Keiji grievingly said

Keiji was always a nonchalant and wise man, but to see him breaking apart was unbearable to watch. Keiji pulled out his hand to reach in for my gun and bent it using his quirk.

KEIJI'S QUIRK: MATTER ABSORPTION: HE IS ABLE TO ABSORB AND SYNTHESISE THE MASS, DENSITY AND MATERIAL PROPERTY INTO HIS FLESH DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE OBJECT TO MAKE A CERTAIN AREA OF HIS BODY COPY THAT PROPERTY

Keiji absorbed the property of the gun as he grabbed it, making his hand metallic to bend it.

"Please don't get involved in this Daito! I don't want to subject you into this!"

Keiji raised his fist and aimed it at my guts. I activated my quirk and avoided his punch, I then kicked his legs to make him lose his stance. He fell over but before he reached the ground, he swung a massive kick and managed to push me against the wall. The drunken man saw our fight and was terrified by the situation he was dragged into. The freezing raindrops were still pounding on the ground as we were confronting each other.

I got back from the wall but his kick surprisingly wasn't as painful as I thought. I can tell he was holding back because despite how aggravated he was when I appeared, he never wanted to hurt me. Keiji was on the ground and I saw him as he was drowned in humiliation, knowing that his wife is going through overwhelming fear and uncertainty and I was now involved in it. I felt really bad for him. I approached him.

"Keiji, who are these people, please just tell me." I said.

I can tell Keiji felt defeated, he then decided to tell me, "Daito, these people… they're human traffickers. Out of nowhere I was heading back home yesterday, then I noticed that my window was broken and when I rushed inside, Masami was missing. There was a note, on the wall in her room saying that if I wanted to get her back, I have to get two or more people with no or useless quirks to this location, where I'm guessing that's where I'll meet them. The location was an abandoned warehouse with a time limit for tomorrow saying that if any heroes got involved or if I was too late or if I could not fulfil my deal, then Masami would die."

"What is their organisation called?" I asked.

They call themselves, the Akuma."

I paused for a moment as I heard their name, dumbfounded, then I glared back at Keiji and said.

"Keiji, Let me deal with these people, cause you're not the only one who has a grudge against these them."

"What do you mean, they did something to you too?" Keiji asked as he looked at me.

I responded, "Worse…"

TO BE CONTINUED