Hero

by Asterisked

In twin freak accidents, Tetsuhiro and Souichi acquire superpowers. Without telling each other, they prowl the night separately as heroes-one with the power of speed and fire, one with strength and ice. What happens when the 'strangers' meet?

(and here's the last of my old Tyrant fics! : and the longest as well. enjoy!)

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The Bowler: See now, this is why mad scientists are generally less desirable than your common or garden variety scientist.

-Mystery Men

Chapter 1

"Sempai, is teriyaki all right for supper tonight?"

"Yeah, sure."

Tetsuhiro hummed to himself as he gathered the ingredients for their dinner. Chicken, soya sauce, brown sugar…. Each part of their supper appeared on the kitchen counter in a matter of seconds, Tetsuhiro's skilful hands knowing exactly where to find each item in the room. He was very much used to the apartment he shared with his Sempai, a fact he was extremely happy to relive in his mind nearly every second of the day. I'm finally here, with him, together… Tetsuhiro couldn't help but let out a girlish giggle at the never-tiring thought as he marinated the chicken pieces.

After placing the marinating meat into the fridge and turning on the rice cooker, Tetsuhiro leaned against the counter and began to ogle his sempai, hunched over his laptop in the living room.

Souichi. He thought with satisfaction. While he only called his sempai by his first name during intimate situations, Tetsuhiro took immense pleasure in knowing that he could do so at all. Even though it's already been about a month since we officially got together, I still can't believe it's happening at all. He loves me, after five years, he loves me.

Tetsuhiro let his eyes roam over the stiff-backed figure of the man he loved, absorbing all of the usual details: the tray of cigarette butts beside him; his ever-present cup of coffee; his long hair, oddly static in the past few weeks; his handsome, frowning face as he took in something on the laptop screen. Every part of Sempai was beautiful, and completely Tetsuhiro's to relish. Letting out a content sigh, Tetsuhiro glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and discovered he had spent a half hour simply staring at his sempai. Perfect!

He retrieved the chicken from the fridge and grabbed the wok. He rapidly chopped some vegetables and then, with a quick glance to make sure his sempai was absorbed in his work, placed his hand under the wok. Tetsuhiro pushed the heat from his fingers into the metal, and in a matter of seconds, the pan was hot enough to cook with. He placed the wok onto the stove and turned on the burner, keeping up with appearances. Five minutes later, the rice was done, as well as the chicken and vegetables.

"Sempai, supper's done!" Tetsuhiro called, and was rewarded with a look of bewildered amazement on his sempai's face.

"How are you cooking so fast lately?" He grumbled as he got up from his seat on the floor.

Tetsuhiro switched off the burner, which had just gotten to temperature, and handed Sempai a bowl. "I don't know," he said evasively as he ladled rice into the man's bowl. Sempai shrugged in his usual non-committal way and took the rest of his food to the kitchen table, leaving Tetsuhiro staring after him, a grin on his face.

As they sat eating a few minutes later, Tetsuhiro found himself pondering his strange new abilities. He was able to create and conduct fire at will, something that had come in handy while cooking. He was also able to move incredibly fast; he could run across a football field in only a handful of seconds. At first these abilities had freaked Tetsuhiro out—when green flames suddenly spewed from his fingers in a moment of rage, he thought he was going insane. It had been a doubly traumatizing experience, as Tetsuhiro had tried to run away from the flames—unaware the he had been the thing generating them- only to find himself running faster than humanly possible. But when he discovered that he could control the immense heat by will alone, and that his ability to move at insane speeds was also easy to manage, Tetsuhiro grew quite fond of these powers.

The process in which he had acquired these strengths was a bit of a mystery to Tetsuhiro. It had happened a few weeks before, during a school trip to the SHPT Laboratories a few minutes from the university. Tetsuhiro's group had been split off into two teams; half of the students went with the one tour guide, the rest with the other. Unfortunately Sempai had gone on the other team, leaving Tetsuhiro feeling rather bummed as they were shown around the laboratory. He recalled asking the guide if he could use the bathroom…

"Excuse me, where are your washrooms?"

"Oh, you're in luck, we just passed them. Go back the way we came, turn at your first left, left again, and the washrooms should be right at the end of that hall."

Tetsuhiro went back, turned left, but couldn't remember which way to turn after that. He had stood for a full five minutes, debating whether or not to just try a hallway on his own to find out, or to go back and ask for directions again. He had a feeling that non-personnel were not allowed to just wander around, but not wanting to look foolish, Tetsuhiro decided to just try a hallway on his own. He turned right.

The door at the end of that hallway looked pretty non-assuming; there was nothing on it, no warning labels or even a bathroom sign, but getting rather desperate for the toilet, tried it anyway. What he hadn't expected was to find a large, empty white room. Curious, he had stepped inside, only to find the door slam shut behind him and lock.

That's where things got a little fuzzy. He remembered feeling an insane pressure in his head and passing out, only to wake up naked on a gurney with a dozen or so people in white coats peering anxiously down at him. After taking a couple of minutes to sober up, the men explained that he had walked into one of their testing chambers, and had been subjected to the radiation they had leaked into the room shortly afterward. They were trying to create a fire-resistant mould; what Tetsuhiro had thought was an empty room had actually been full of fungal spores, floating in the air.

"So wait, how am I alive then? Why don't I feel sick or anything at all?"

"At this point, we can only assume it was because we used a very small amount of radiation, and a very non-lethal fungal spore…but, Tetsuhiro-kun, should you feel sick any time at all within the next few days, please don't hesitate to go to the hospital."

The team of scientists had then given each other uneasy glances, and when Tetsuhiro raised an eyebrow, one man in white leaned forward and said, very quietly:

"Of course, if you feel absolutely fine, please refrain from telling anyone about this. If the government finds out a student got involved this way in one of our experiments, we could lose all funding. We're so close to having a breakthrough, Morinaga-kun…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I understand."

And so when he returned to the university group a few minutes later, fully clothed and totally unharmed, all he got were a lot of snide remarks for taking so long in the bathroom. His entire ordeal had only happened in a space of twenty minutes.

And Tetsuhiro had felt totally fine since then, other than feeling a little warm on occasion when he ought not to. And then, a few days later, when he dropped his carefully cultivated specimen onto the floor of the university lab, the glass of the petri dish shattering all over the tile, he got extremely mad. The fire had flowed from his fingers, and confused, he had run out of the lab and into the nearest bathroom—several hallways away- in the space of five seconds in a mad search for water.

It had all been ridiculously lucky that Sempai had gone to the cafeteria for coffee, and there had been no one in the hallways during this time. Tetsuhiro wasn't sure how he would have tried to explain what was going on with him—he hadn't the faintest idea what was going on until he recalled his mistake at the SHPT Labs a few days before. It was the only thing he could attribute to the cause of his peculiarities.

Tetsuhiro was very pleased with how everything had turned out now; he used his powers in a way that both thrilled him and scared him on a daily basis.

"Morinaga, why are you sitting there like a lump? You're not even eating."

Tetsuhiro snapped out of his revere and realized he had just been sitting staring at his teriyaki for several minutes. Smiling, he met the wary eyes of his ignorant sempai and picked up his chopsticks.

"Sorry, Sempai, I was just thinking about Specimen B." Tetsuhiro figured anything school-related would fly with Sempai, and sure enough:

"Oh, well, as good as that is, you should eat up." Sempai lectured, and continued to tuck into his own bowl of food vigorously. Tetsuhiro dipped the chopsticks into his rice and then brought them to his mouth, savouring the flavour of his cooking.

It's true. I'll need all the strength I can get…and Sempai…make sure to sleep soundly tonight.

Chapter 2

Mr. Furious: Looks like tonight the lone wolf rides... alone.

-Mystery Men

Souichi kneeled on the roof of a pet shop in Nagoya and stared out into the dimly lit street before him, fiddling with a loose thread on his shirt. His contacts were bugging him. The wind was too cold. The scarf around his face was making his skin itchy.

"Dammit, what am I doing?" he asked, his murmured question floating away uselessly on the light breeze. Souichi knew he was being fidgety and irritable, but he really did not feel like masquerading out that night. Only his second week night on the job, but he was definitely feeling the repercussions of his evening entertainment. He was fucking tired.

Heaving a sigh, he stood and stretched, then surveyed his surroundings. Dark buildings of varying heights stood to his left and right; a yellow, abandoned street loomed below him. While neither option was particularly inviting, Souichi chose the buildings. He slowly backed up a few meters, and then took off running at a very brisk pace towards the edge of the pet shop roof. As he reached the edge he bent his knees ever so slightly and, feeling the strength rolling in his muscles and bones, pushed away from the concrete, his feet leaving the security of the rooftop and entering the empty night air. Souichi soared upward for several meters at a forty-five degree angle until he landed heavily onto the nearest rooftop, his sneakered feet welcoming the rough metal grating. He took off running again, repeating the process from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes scaling upward over twenty feet, other times leaping downward and landing as gracefully as a cat, no matter the height jumped from. His newfound supernatural strength was something that Souichi greatly loved; it allowed him to leap impossible distances, to punch through concrete walls, to crunch metal in his hand like it was made of paper.

Of course the downside to all of this was that he had to maintain a wary disposition—if anyone found out about him, things could get ugly.

Speaking of ugly…what's this? Souichi came to a shuddering halt on a rooftop some twenty buildings later at the sound of a voice in pain. He peered over the edge of the roof into the dark alleyway below and locked eyes on a pair of heavyset men kicking the life out of some smaller guy, who was huddled in a pathetic ball.

"Think you can run out on Cap'n Souji, do ya? There's no runnin' from this club, dumbass!" The taller of the attackers delivered a smug kick to the man in the fetal position on the ground, and the hurt man cried out in agony.

Hearing more than enough to jump into action, Souichi stepped off of the roof and dropped through the air, wind whistling in his ears, and landed onto the damp alley floor, his feet smacking loudly onto the wet dirt of the ground. At his noisy arrival, the two assailants spun around and regarded Souichi with surprise.

"'the fuck are you?" one barked as the other looked Souichi up and down, inspecting his outfit.

"What's with the duds? Are you suppos't to be some kinda ninja?" He laughed, and at his comment his comrade guffawed and punched his friend lightly on the shoulder.

Ignoring their words entirely, Souichi stalked forward until he stood a few feet away from the ruffians and then stopped, crossing his arms. "What did that guy do to deserve getting beaten up?" He asked, his voice muffled by his scarf.

The two men looked at each other and let out simultaneous chuckles. The man who had made the ninja comment regarding Souichi's clothes leaned forward and breathed into Souichi's face, his rotten breath permeating through the scarf:

"What's it to ya, little man?"

At this Souichi snapped. Taking a deep breath, clenching his fingers into two angry fists, he reeled back and punched both men in the face. Even though he held back, the two assholes were blown away—they landed in an awkward heap a few feet away, the black eyes given to them by Souichi already beginning to swell on their unconscious faces. After checking their pulses to make sure he didn't actually kill them—he didn't—Souichi made his way over to the man curled in a whimpering ball on the ground.

"Hey, you all right?" Souichi asked, kneeling down and placing a hesitant hand on the man's shaking shoulder. After a few seconds of sobbing, Souichi took that as a 'no'. He sighed.

"Look, I'm going to pick you up and take you to a hospital, that okay?" Another pause, a hitching breath, and then:

"You're…not one of them?"

Souichi huffed out an irritated breath. "If I were one of them, I wouldn't have just saved your ass. Now I'm going to take you to a hospital, and you can either climb onto my back, or I carry you princess-style."

Apparently the wounded man still retained a small amount of pride, because he uncurled himself from his ball and feebly lifted his arms to be carried on Souichi's back.

Souichi hoisted him up, and found himself immediately thankful for his unnatural strength. The guy was taller and clearly weighed more than Souichi did. Souichi bent his knees and pushed himself upward, landing on the top of the building opposite of the one he had jumped down from. The man on his back gasped in alarm. As they sped from rooftop to rooftop, he mumbled something into Souichi's ear.

"What?" Souichi barked, and the man jumped slightly.

"Are…are you the Emerald Flame everyone's been talking about?" He said a little louder, and Souichi felt a flicker of annoyance.

"No, I'm not. Who the fuck is this guy, anyway?" Souichi snapped, and the man he carried fell into a fearful silence. Souichi pondered the man's question as he leapt and ran; news of this 'Emerald Flame'—a costume-clad superhero or some shit—had been floating around town for a few weeks now. For some reason, each time he heard about the guy Souichi got extremely irritated. Not that he was one for praise, but this guy made it look like what Souichi did was absolutely nothing. As if he wasn't saving people each night from muggers, rapists, and assholes like the ones he had just knocked out.

Shaking the annoying image of a man clad in green tights from his mind, Souichi returned his attentions to the man he had slung on his back.

"Hey, so why the hell where those guys kicking the crap out of you, anyway?"

"Oh…uhm..well, see, I was in this kind of gang, and I tried to run away. They were doing some stuff I didn't really agree with…and they found me."

"So the usual gang scenario then. Why do you people join these things anyway? Stupid bastard, what did you expect?"

The man went into another shaking silence, and Souichi felt a little guilty. I should probably ease up a little on the people I save. But I can't help it, most of them are idiots.

Eventually Souichi managed to find a suitable hospital, and after dropping the man off at the front desk, Souichi bolted out of the building and swiftly jumped onto its roof. He sat down on a wooden bench that was up there, letting himself relax for a few moments before returning to the prowl. Souichi glanced down at his hands, clad in black weight-lifting gloves, and thought for the hundredth time about how he had gained his weird-ass powers.

All he knew was that it had happened during a field trip a few weeks before at the Something-Labs; after the student group had gotten split into two smaller clumps, Souichi had discovered that he had to use the bathroom.

"Oy, where's the toilet?"

"Oh, you just need to go back the way we came, turn right, and then right again. It should be the door at the end of the hall."

And then Souichi had forgotten which direction to turn after he had gone the first right. Deciding that he didn't need to go ask for directions again, he went down the hallway on the left.

A funky smelling room and a wicked headache later, Souichi awoke to find himself glaring into a bright light, surrounded by people in white coats.

"What the fuck…? Who the hell are all of you?"

"Oh, good, Tatsumi-kun, you've woken up…how are you feeling?"

"What do you mean, 'how am I feeling'? I feel like shit, how about that? What's going on?"

After a very odd explanation involving fungus and radiation, Souichi felt himself getting angry.

"So now what? Do I just walk away from this like it never happened?"

"Yes, Tatsumi-kun, if you could do that, we would very much appreciate it. If word got out…it would be disastrous."

"Fuck disastrous! How the hell was I supposed to know this was a testing room? There was no label on the door! I should sue this place!"

The scientists began to sweat a little, both in fear of the man and in the potential scandal waiting to happen. Then one of the female lab technicians spoke up, her nervous voice quavering in its delivery:

"Please, Tatsumi-san. Think of the research…you're a scientist, you must understand! This is such valuable data...we're so close to a breakthrough! If we can just beat out the other team on the south side of the lab…if we can generate an ice-resistant fungus…we'd get so many bursaries and maybe even win the Nobel…!"

And that was all it took to win over Souichi. He couldn't ruin all of their research, could he?

"F-fine. I better not die after all of this, or I'll fucking haunt you in your sleep from the afterlife."

True to their word, Souichi had not died. But a few days after his incident, he noticed some things about himself. After discovering his soup at lunch was too hot for his liking, he blew on the liquid in his spoon, only to discover the entire spoon and the soup on it had frozen. He sat staring at the cold utensil in disbelief until it had thawed out, his eyes wide. Then, as if someone else had taken over his body and thrown away his common sense, he found himself trying to make the spoon frozen again. And just like that, frost covered the metal and the soup turned to ice. Souichi watched as the cold melted away once again, but this time, he ate his soup as it reached room temperature. He was oddly calm during the discovery of his powers, as though he expected something to have happened to his body after his ordeal at the labs. Even after he crushed the sidewalk the next day when attempting to squish a bug under his foot, he was relatively composed.

At least I'm not dead. He had thought sarcastically as he hurriedly walked away from the demolished sidewalk square. So what's a few freaky powers on the side?

Now, as he sat on the damp wooden bench atop a hospital somewhere in Nagoya, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he should be a little more worried about it all. Being able to freeze things on contact and being as strong as Superman aren't exactly human characteristics.

"At least I've been able to help people this way." Souichi spoke out loud, the scarf muffling the words, distorting them enough to render his voice unrecognizable. At this thought, his mind turned towards the rumoured Emerald Flame, and he felt the usual pang of irritation associated with the man.

He felt himself standing, and although his mind was telling him they were only rumours, his body clearly had different ideas about the whole thing.

"So I'm going to find him, am I?" Souichi asked himself. He moved towards the roof edge, as though giving himself a wordless reply. As he leapt, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Fine. I'll give him a piece of my mind for being such a show-off. And then we'll see. Souichi told himself that he was just annoyed, but in actuality, there was something else that drew him to the Emerald Flame that night. Souichi would never admit it, but curiosity was what moved his feet in the dark; curiosity, and an equally hidden amount of hope that there could be someone out there like him.

Chapter 3

The Sphinx: You must be like wolf pack, not six-pack.

-Mystery Men

Tetsuhiro was running down an empty street in the dead of night, searching for those in need of his help, when he heard the strangest thing. It was a nagging voice, calling out what sounded like a name, over and over again. Tetsuhiro came to a shuddering halt and cocked his head towards the source of the voice, and after a second he determined that whoever was speaking was getting closer to him. Tetsuhiro stood and crossed his arms, curious as to who this person was calling for. He got his answer a moment later.

"….ame. Oy, Emerald Flame guy, hellllo! Shit, why am I calling out for this guy? It's not like he'll answer…"

Tetsuhiro felt his stomach drop. Someone was looking for him? Oh my gosh, this is the first time this had happened since I've started doing this superhero business! Do they need my help?

Still unsure of where the person was, Tetsuhiro decided to help them find him. "I am the Emerald Flame, who calls me?" He shouted the words into the night, hoping that he didn't wake anyone in the apartments that made up the majority of the buildings on the street. That's assuming the guy calling for me hasn't done so already.

Tetsuhiro then heard a peculiar sequence of noises: a rapid tapping of he was assumed were feet, then a swish, then a small gap of silence followed by a slightly louder thumping noise, then the tapping again. Puzzled, Tetsuhiro tried to make sense of the pattern of sound, but was quickly relieved of the effort when a satisfied "AHA!" sounded from above him. Tetsuhiro glanced up to see a figure shaded in black standing atop of a deli that was a few feet down the street from him, the man's details obscured by the darkness of the night.

"Who are you?" Tetsuhiro called in his deeper-than-normal Emerald Flame voice, one he had carefully constructed to hide his identity the night he began his masquerading.

A disbelieving snort came from the figure, followed by words laced with sarcasm: "You're this Emerald Flame guy? Well, I guess I should have known. Anyone who calls himself 'the Emerald Flame' has to look like you do."

Tetsuhiro felt a small stab to his ego, and couldn't help the wounded words that slid from his mouth in reply: "If you're just going to make fun of me, then I guess my help is not needed. Goodbye."

"Wait!" The man in the darkness shouted, and Tetsuhiro reluctantly obliged. He watched as the figure stepped off of the deli roof into thin air and landed gracefully onto the sidewalk before him, legs not as broken as Tetsuhiro's brain told him they should have been.

"How did you…" He muttered, and the man before him waved his hand impatiently.

"Nevermind that. So you're the Emerald Flame, right? What can you do?"

"What?" Tetsuhiro asked, bewildered. In his weeks of rescuing and receiving gratitude and awe from those he saved, he had never come across an individual like this man. He stood, hands on his slim hips, impatiently waiting for Tetsuhiro's answer, clearly unimpressed with Tetsuhiro as Tetsuhiro was bemused by him. The man was completely covered in black clothing: sneakers, tight jeans, a thin turtleneck, weight-lifting gloves, a scarf covering his face except for his eyes and an oddly shaped toque made up his outfit, and to Tetsuhiro this screamed subtle. The man did not want to be recognized, or remembered. He actually more or less looked like a robber, and suddenly Tetsuhiro wasn't sure he wanted to converse with the guy. What if he's actually a criminal? I might get tainted by association if someone sees me with him!

"I asked what you can do. Word is that you've been going around like some kind of vigilante, saving people at night and shit. You must have some kind of method for doing this, right? I mean, are you just some regular dope with a stupid sense of justice in a dorky costume, or are you more?"

Tetsuhiro felt a flicker of irritation. Honestly, what's it to this guy? Is he here to exact revenge on me or something?

"Why does it matter? Who are you to be asking me these questions?" Tetsuhiro retorted, sounding much calmer then he felt.

The man in black let out a guilty sounding sigh. "Yeah, I guess that was a bit rude of me. I'm….uh…someone who…helps people. Like you." His eyes locked onto Tetsuhiro's in the dimly lit street, and although Tetsuhiro couldn't even tell what shape or colour those eyes were in the faint light, he felt a strange familiarity in their gaze. Lowering his guard a little, he too let out a sigh, and walked forward.

"You help people, how so?" He asked, and stopped walking when he stood a meter away from the slim man in black, his eyes roaming up and down the stranger's body without his permission. Well, whoever he is, he's got a lovely figure.

Tetsuhiro heard the man visibly swallow in his awkwardness, and Tetsuhiro could almost picture this guy in real life. Rash, loud, and anti-social—but underneath of his insecurities lived a caring individual. From only the few sentences exchanged with the man, Tetsuhiro felt a sort of warming towards him. He reminded Tetsuhiro very much of his Sempai, and with that in mind, he decided to handle the man as he would his lover during his own awkward moments.

Souichi didn't know what the hell was wrong with him. Everything had gone pretty well until only a few moments ago; he had located the Emerald Flame, made sure it was him, but as soon as the idiot had shown some spine, Souichi had lost all assertiveness and control over the situation. He turned into a fumbling mess in a matter of seconds. It really didn't make any sense; the man looked as non-threatening as possible, so why should Souichi completely clam up? The Emerald Flame wore knee-high brown leather boots, dark grey jeans, a green jacket and a brown hoodie that perfectly matched the colour of his boots. The hood of the sweater was pulled up over his head, shading his face, but Souichi could see that the man was wearing what appeared to be a deep green sleeping mask with holes cut out for his eyes. Black hair from his forehead fell onto the mask. The whole outfit was so gay Souichi was trying his best not to start laughing, despite how wussy he was feeling about talking to the man. This guy has to be a homo, he thought in exasperation. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so nervous? While Souichi had flat-out admitted to Morinaga that he did love him, Souichi was not quite cured of his general dislike for the homosexual percentage of the population. Just because he happened to like his kouhai (and even that still freaked him out once in a while), it didn't mean he was gay himself. And therefore, he had difficultly conversing with those that were gay.

When the Emerald Gay cleared his throat, Souichi snapped back to the situation at hand, his face flushing. Shit, he asked me a question, right?

"Uh…" He tried, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. His head was feeling too warm—a bead of sweat trickled down from his forehead and was absorbed into his scarf. While the hat was a necessary precaution to hide all of his easily-recognizable straw-coloured hair, he was cursing its excessive heat at that moment. The same went for the stuffy scarf that was wrapped around his face and neck. His palms were also disconcertingly damp in their gloves.

All of a sudden Souichi had enough. Why the fuck am I so flustered? Fuck this guy! I won't let this get to me, even if I don't understand what's going on with him.

He cleared his throat. "I've got powers, and I save people with them, okay? So there. What I wanted to know is if you're in a similar boat." He swallowed again, feeling a bit pleased with himself for spitting it all out.

The man in front of him stood with his mouth hanging open. "Are you serious? What kind of powers?"

Souichi waved off that question like he did the first time the Emerald Flame had tried to ask him something, feeling his lead on the conversation coming back. He didn't want to give this guy any info about himself without gaining some about the Flame first.

"So, do you have powers or not?" He snapped.

The guy leaned back on his heels and regarded Souichi thoughtfully. "Yes, I guess I do. I can move at fast speeds as well as create and control fire. Does that fall under the category of 'powers'? "

Whoa. "Prove it." Souichi demanded, and the Emerald Flame did just that. Suddenly the man was standing behind Souichi instead of in front of him, his face dangerously close to Souichi's exposed ear.

"How's that?" he whispered, and Souichi jumped away from him, face abruptly warm again.

"…O-okay, how about the fire?" Souichi stuttered in shock, and the man in green responded in kind by igniting small balls of flame in his palms with seemingly no fire source. There was no oil, no matches, or lighter anywhere that Souichi could see.

"Wow…" He breathed. The Emerald Flame gave a satisfied smile, and Souichi felt a strange, warm feeling pool into his heart. So there was someone else like him in the world, and he happened to be in the very city that Souichi lived in. Someone else with unusual strengths and that possessed the urge to help those in need. Souichi didn't like the guy, but at least there was someone.

"Right," Tetsuhiro heard the man in black say in what he assumed was breathless awe, "well, uh, that solves that."

Tetsuhiro chuckled to himself as he extinguished the flames in his palms. "I've shown you what I can do. What exactly did you want from me, anyway?"

The man was clearly unprepared for the question because a stunned silence followed his question. Tetsuhiro waited for a few moments for the man to gather his thoughts, and sure enough, eventually he scraped together a response, the words sounding oddly vulnerable:

"I was curious to see if…if there was anyone else out there like me…"

"And am I like you?" Tetsuhiro asked, his voice tenderer than he had wanted it to be.

The man suddenly bent to his knees in a crouch, his masked face almost touching the sidewalk, then sprang into an impossibly high jump, soaring through the air and landing back onto the roof of the deli before them. Tetsuhiro felt his mouth pop open in surprise. Just as silent, the man in black bent to his knees once again on the roof and removed the glove on his left hand. He reached over the edge of the roof and grasped one of the neon tubes of the deli sign, and Tetsuhiro watched as a white frost crept from his hand along the tubes and through the entire illuminated word until the light sputtered and went out. The sign was now covered in ice. Tetsuhiro remained standing with his mouth hanging open, amazement clear on his face.

"Meet me right here, tomorrow night at eleven." The dark man said from the roof, and without even waiting for Tetsuhiro's reply, took off into the night. Tetsuhiro stood and listened to the sound of him leaping from roof to roof until the noises reached his ears no longer, and it was then that Tetsuhiro realized he was dead tired. Tomorrow night, then. He decided to turn in for the night, and let his feet carry him home, his mind swimming with thoughts of his new comrade.

Chapter 4

Mr. Furious: Someone must have ripped the "Q" section out of my dictionary, 'cause I don't know the meaning of the word "quit".

-Mystery Men

When Tetsuhiro reached the apartment, the horizon had changed from being midnight blue to a warning cerulean, and he regretted staying out later than usual to talk to the man in black. Tetsuhiro slunk to the right side of the building and glanced up to where a thin rope dangled from his window, just low enough for him to reach. He pulled himself up, slid open the window, and rolled inside his room. Tetsuhiro reeled in the rope and threw it onto his desk, then closed the window. He unzipped his boots and, not really caring about the rest of his clothes, collapsed on his bed. A quick glance at his alarm clock told him it was five in the morning. Oh, God. I have to get up in two hours… Tetsuhiro was asleep seconds later.

XxxX

Souichi took longer to reach the apartment then his speedy friend had; while jumping rooftops made it easier to navigate and cross distances than going through the streets would have been, he could only move as fast as a regular man could. By the time he reached home, the horizon was a disconcerting blend of pink and orange, and Souichi was dreading discovering the time. He walked up the outer stairs of the building until he reached his and Morinaga's apartment, then dug inside his pocket for the key to unlock the door. Souichi took off his shoes once he was inside, hung his key on the hook beside the door, then staggered to his room, remembering at the last second to close and relock the door quietly with the room key in his other pants pocket. He looked at the clock above his bed and restrained himself from cursing aloud. It was six o'clock. Souichi had only half an hour to sleep. Grumbling to himself, he ripped off the scarf still covering his face and the hat concealing his hair, and flung himself onto the bed. He was gone not a minute later.

XxxX

Tetsuhiro emerged from his room at 7:10 feeling like the walking dead. He stumbled into the shower, the hot water doing miracles on his body, but nothing for his tired brain. He then towelled off, stepped into fresh clothes, and made his way to the kitchen. What Tetsuhiro saw there made him want to turn straight back around and hide under the security of his blankets once more.

A demon…there's a demon in the kitchen…he thought with horror as he took in the evil aura emanating from the man that sat at the kitchen table. Behind his glasses, Sempai's eyes were entirely bloodshot, and Tetsuhiro could have sworn that the pupils were glowing red. When he opened his mouth to speak, Tetsuhiro had to resist the wild impulse to duck in cover, for he was sure flames were going to spew from there.

A bleak "Mornin'…" was what Tetsuhiro got instead, and gulping to himself, the man running on only two hours of sleep sat on the opposite end of the table from his Sempai.

"What's wrong, Sempai? You look kind of…" Tetsuhiro began, and trailed off when he discovered he had no words to properly describe the state of the man in front of him.

Sempai simply stared at Tetsuhiro in response, his half-closed eyes uncomfortably peering into Tetsuhiro's own sleepy eyes as though giving a desperate plea. Did he not sleep at all last night or something?

"Unnhh…what?" Sempai slurred, and Tetsuhiro found himself suddenly so much less scared of the man then he was moments before. At that moment all Tetsuhiro found himself feeling was concerned. He made his way over to Sempai's side of the table, and kneeled down before the man slouched in the chair. Tetsuhiro raised his hand and cupped his sempai's cheek, and had to smile as the other man leaned in to his touch.

"Did you not sleep last night, Sempai?" Tetsuhiro asked, dropping his voice into an easy murmur. Sempai's eyes slid shut entirely as he gave a pathetic nod. Seeing his chance for some extra sleep himself, Tetsuhiro placed an arm under Sempai's shoulders and helped the semi-conscious man to his feet. Together they limped into Sempai's room, and despite the state he was in, Tetsuhiro couldn't help but feel a little pleased as Sempai wrapped his arms around Tetsuhiro's waist as soon as they were both under the covers of the older man's bed. Sempai snuggled close into Tetsuhiro's warm body, and the two settled into a comfortable nap.

Unfortunately the nap lasted longer than either man had anticipated. At 12:30 Sempai woke up, and upon seeing where he was and who was latched onto him, grew extremely angry. Tetsuhiro was awakened by his pissed-off lover slamming a fury-infused pillow into his face. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Wuzzuhmatter?" He slurred, confused as to why Sempai would want to ruin their lovely moment.

"It's fucking lunchtime, you moron!" Sempai snapped, launching himself from his bed and stalking out the room. Tetsuhiro remained in the warmth of the bed for a moment longer, feeling both annoyed and relieved to see Sempai back to normal after getting a few hours of sleep.

I know why I was so tired, he mused as he left the room and watched as Sempai hurriedly put on his shoes, but why was Sempai so exhausted? He went to bed around the same time as usual…

By the time the two reached the university, it was just past one in the afternoon, and Sempai was a whirlwind of anger and barking commands.

"Morinaga, get into your lab coat already! What's taking so long? And why the fuck did you just let me go back to bed? And besides that, why were you there with me?!"

Tetsuhiro ignored most of this shrieking as he checked his colonies in the laboratory refrigerator. They seemed all right, despite the fact that he missed his morning check-up on them. Heaving a sigh, he turned back to Sempai and watched as the man tried desperately to make the situation worse than it really was upon discovering his own cultures were just fine.

"That could have been terrible, you mindless idiot! Don't let me go back to sleep ever again, no matter how tired I look!" Sempai snapped, striding over to where Tetsuhiro stood, hands on his hips.

"Sempai, you looked like the walking dead. I don't understand why, but you needed the rest. Besides, we never get to sleep together even though…" Tetsuhiro trailed off, knowing this turn of conversation would effectively distract the other man from his anger. He was correct.

XxxX

Ugh, he would bring that up! "S-so what! I like my privacy!" Souichi said, feeling his face heat up considerably warmer than it had been before, during his pointless rambling. Even though Souichi had admitted his feelings for his kouhai, he still slept in his own room, away from the other man and his lecherous intentions. Souichi knew he didn't dislike how Morinaga made him feel in that regard, but Souichi also knew that Morinaga had no self-restraint and would probably initiate sex every night if he could if they slept in the same bed. So while Souichi no longer put up much of a fuss whenever Morinaga came on to him, he had drawn the line firmly at keeping his bed to himself. An unforeseen bonus had been that since Souichi had gotten his powers, his room remained empty whenever he went out at night, which saved Souichi from making excuses if the other man had been sharing his bed.

"Privacy is nice, I agree, but…" Morinaga closed the distance between them, standing entirely too close for Souichi's tastes while at school. At least that's what he told himself—his body was, naturally, betraying him with the increased pounding of his heart. Morinaga slid his hands along the length of Souichi's waist, his long fingers sending shivers through Souichi's body despite the thick lab coat he wore. "…don't you miss this?" Morinaga whispered as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Souichi's.

The older man tried his best to think of something else, to distract himself as easily as Morinaga was capable of doing, but he failed miserably. Souichi found himself moving his lips with Morinaga's in a sudden fevered flush of desire; his hands reached up and knotted themselves in Morinaga's soft hair just as the other man's hands also found Souichi's long tresses. Souichi realized, as he subconsciously pressed himself along Morinaga's body, that due to his strict one-man-per-bed policy, and partially because of his midnight masquerading, that his body was completely starved for attention. It had seen very little love during the past few weeks. But, it's not like Morinaga has been pushing me for it either…Souichi thought as he flicked his tongue languidly with his kouhai's. It was true; while Souichi had not exactly been annoyed by this, Morinaga had seemed rather preoccupied lately and had not been pushing Souichi for sex as often as he had when they first got together. Souichi found it necessary to point this out.

"You…haven't been as pushy lately." Souichi breathed as Morinaga kissed down his neck. The younger man pulled away, looking at Souichi in disbelief.

"Are you saying I haven't been trying as hard? Is that it?" Morinaga resumed kissing down Souichi's skin, causing the older man to shudder in his arms. "I'm sorry, did you want me to be more forceful…?"

"Ah-!" Souichi gasped, both aroused and annoyed at the same time. That's not what I meant at all!

Souichi felt his lower back bump into a table, and he was abruptly brought back to reality. He pushed Morinaga away, ignoring the pathetic whine that his kouhai made when deprived of his embrace. Souichi struggled to regain his breath and put all of his willpower into making his growing erection disappear.

"…Not here. Not at school." He said while trying to impress upon Morinaga how serious he was by looking the man in the eye.

"Fine. When we get home." Morinaga said, in an equally determined voice, and Souichi couldn't help but feel the slightest shiver at Morinaga's forceful words.

The rest of the day proceeded agonizingly slowly, but after all of their work at school was finished, and after they spend a long train ride bumping into each other, they found themselves entangled on the floor of their entryway, too desperate to even make it to a bed.

They eventually made it into Morinaga's room and into his bed after Souichi complained that his back was hurting from being squished against a pair of boots. They spent a few dizzying, blisteringly hot hours there, and if someone had asked Souichi all that had transpired he would simply have flushed and been unable to answer.

It wasn't until the two were getting ready for their third round that Souichi spoke up.

"Wait… time is it? Where's your clock…" His sweat-soaked hair whipped through the air as he turned his head and looked for Morinaga's alarm clock, and upon locating it on the headboard, he gasped audibly. Ten o'clock?! Fuck! I have to meet that guy in an hour! It'll take me at least an hour to get there, not to mention everything else…like convincing this guy to go to bed!

Pulling himself away from his warm kouhai, Souichi let out a dramatic sigh and lowered his eyelids. "Well, ah, I'm pretty tired…I think I'll go to bed." He said, cursing himself for his lack of subtlety.

Confused, Morinaga looked over to the clock to see if that was what triggered Souichi's sudden 'fatigue'. His eyes widened, and suddenly he was all agreement. "Uh, yeah! I'm kind of bushed. I'll shower and then go to bed…so…" He leapt from the bed and, rather quickly Souichi noted, walked out of the room. Souichi heard the bathroom door slam shut and the shower turn on, and he took this as his chance. He ran into his room and quickly changed into his masquerading clothes, hurriedly stuffing his still-damp hair under the black toque and wrapping the scarf around his face. He left his room, locking the door behind him, and as fast and as quietly as he could manage, grabbed his apartment key from the rack and sped out the front door. I might actually make it…thank God Morinaga seemed tired enough to go to bed so quickly.

XxxX

Thankfully, it only took Tetsuhiro about fifteen minutes to run to where he had met with the dark hero the night before, so he took his time in the shower washing away the evidence of his pleasurable deeds with his Sempai. Once he was good and clean, he walked out of the hall -noting Sempai's door was shut and firmly locked—and got into the Emerald Flame's clothes he had stashed in the closet of his room. Feeling especially pleased with himself, he silently opened his window and set up his rope configuration, then lowered himself to the cool ground outside. Sleep well, Sempai, and wish me luck tonight! Tetsuhiro sped off into the night, looking forward immensely to meeting the man in black once again.

Chapter 5

The Shoveller: We struck down evil with the mighty sword of teamwork and the hammer of not bickering.

-Mystery Men

Tetsuhiro arrived first outside the closed deli, his quick feet allowing him a speed his dark friend lacked. Although the man had told Tetsuhiro to meet him at eleven, Tetsuhiro had not predicted the amount of people that would still be awake and prowling the streets. He felt a little silly in his superhero clothes, leaning against the deli wall, arms crossed and not meeting the eyes of those who walked by him. Cheeks burning, he kept his eyes trained on the grimy sidewalk below his feet. Couldn't he have picked a later time to meet? It's true that seeing him yesterday at that late time made me so ridiculously tired today, but…

Fortunately Tetsuhiro didn't need to wait very long. A few minutes after he arrived in the semi-busy street he heard a strange hissing above him. Tetsuhiro looked up and saw a familiar black shadow leaning over the deli roof, jerking his shrouded head away from the street. Assuming the man wanted to get away from the crowd, Tetsuhiro uncrossed his arms and walked into the alley behind the deli. Sure enough, when he was safely away from the hubbub of the street, the man from the night before dropped down to Tetsuhiro's level. Straightening, his assumed a similar pose that Tetsuhiro had just been wearing and crossed his arms.

"So." The man said, his exposed eyes peering suspiciously into Tetsuhiro's slightly masked ones. Tetsuhiro found himself wishing foolishly that it wasn't so dark at night so that he could make out the colour of the man's eyes.

"So," Tetsuhiro responded in his deeper voice. He shifted uncomfortably, adjusting his weight on one leg and then the other. "What did you want, exactly? This is the second time you've sought me out…"

Tetshiro heard the man give a small sigh. "I was thinking we could…work together, maybe." The words, while muffled by the scarf, still sounded forced and Tetsuhiro was once again reminded of his sempai. It was clear that Tetsuhiro would have to be the major contributor in the conversations they might share.

That being said, he had no idea what to do with this man. Tetsuhiro was doing pretty well on his own; he always won in fights and hardly ever came home bruised or hurting. But there was something oddly intriguing about the dark man that stood before him, and despite his logic telling him not to, he nodded.

"Sure. This could be fun." Tetsuhiro said, and held out his hand. As soon as he extended it he knew the man in black wouldn't accept and shake back. He was surprised when the man's slim hand reluctantly fit itself inside his own, and Tetshiro couldn't help but let out a pleased grin. At the expression on his face, the man in black quickly retracted his hand, distaste obvious in the movement.

"Let's get going, then." He snapped, turning around and marching down the alley.

"Wait!" Tetsuhiro said, and in an instant he was next to the man in black, walking just as fast. The guy jumped and muttered curses under his breath, and Tetsuhiro chuckled. "Sorry."

"I'll just have to get used to it." The man said as he continued to march determinedly down the dark alley, avoiding empty pop cans and boxes of garbage as he went. Tetsuhiro watched him with mild amusement, and as they paced, he thought of something that had been bugging him.

"What do I call you, anyway?"

The man shrugged. "I don't care. I don't have name. I don't…needone." Tetsuhiro could almost feel what the man had wanted to say, but had held himself back. He was about to make fun of me, wasn't he? Despite this, Tetsuhiro continued pushing.

"Well I have to call you something. If you don't give me a name, I'm just going to call you whatever I want." He said, enjoying how stiff-backed the man got at his threat.

"Whatever!" The man in black exclaimed, refusing to give in. He is so stubborn, and for no reason! Tetsuhiro thought in amazement as they emerged from the alleyway onto an empty street. They quickly crossed the road and ducked into the next alleyway, listening and watching for anything suspicious. As they walked along, Tetsuhiro couldn't help but feel like he was some little kid on parole.

For some reason, now that I'm doing this with someone else, it feels a little silly. Plus, I'd be covering so much more area if I were allowed to run on my own. As amusing as he is, this man in black is very slow.

The two approached a section where the alley split between four buildings. As they walked into intersection, Tetsuhiro made to turn left, just as the man in black made to turn right. They smacked directly into each other, Tetsuhiro's chin bumping into the man in black's forehead painfully, and the two jerked away from each other.

"What the fuck was that for?!" The dark man snapped, holding a hand up to his forehead. Tetsuhiro glimpsed something light as the man hurriedly adjusted his hat, shifted during their bump.

"It was an accident." Tetsuhiro said, his voice coming out rougher than he had intended for it to. In the split second the two men were touching, Tetsuhiro had smelled something both strange and extraordinary emanating from the man—it had smelled like a weird mixture of sex and sweat. It was an aroma that Tetsuhiro was rather familiar with on a man's skin, and it had sent a shiver up his spine.

"Fine. Let's keep going." The man said, and proceeded to start marching down the alley on their left. Tetsuhiro found himself staring after the man's jean-clad ass, and shook his head guiltily. You have Souichi, he reminded himself firmly.

XxxX

Souichi marched away from the creeper in green and brown, his skin crawling in the way it only did around homos. Oh, man, I hope he didn't notice. I didn't get a chance to shower after Morinaga and I… His mind wandered a bit as he walked, and once he realized where he was heading with those thoughts, he snapped back to reality. He was in an alley. With some random colour-blind homo. Get a grip.

"Are you coming, or what?" Souichi barked at the Flame, and the man was suddenly by his side once more . Souichi jumped again, and resisted the urge to punch the lights out of the man walking jovially next to him.

"I'm here, Deepest Night!" The man said cheerfully, and Souichi stopped in his tracks.

"What did you just call me?"

The Flame's lips dropped into a strangely childish pout. "Nothing, Loveliest Shadow."

Souichi hadn't gotten so angry, so fast, in a long time. Not since he and Morinaga got together. At that moment he wanted to punch that Emerald Gay right in his stupid face, and he couldn't find a single reason not to.

Souichi raised his fist, his knuckles covered in a frost he was suddenly unable to control, and just as he was about to slam his fist into the Flame's face the sound of a siren reached his ears.

"Is that…?" The Flame asked quietly, and Souichi found his anger quickly evaporating. The siren grew louder and louder as it neared them, and Souichi turned to look into the Flame's eyes. He nodded, and the two ran out of the alley, shoulder to shoulder.

They followed the sound of the siren through the streets until it stopped moving. They located the source—an ambulance—as it waited outside a duplex lit up in flames. A fire truck stood off to the side and was hosing the building down as best as it could, but the fire persevered and all but swallowed the jet of water being used to stop it.

The two men skid to a halt a few meters from the burning building, their faces equally horrified.

"Ready?" Souichi asked The Emerald Flame, a small amount of sarcasm leaking through his panic for the people inside. The masked man next to him nodded determinedly, and Souichi ran forward, bent at the knees, and pushed upward. He soared and landed on the upstairs balcony of the left half of the duplex, then ducked and rolled through the open window. Souichi had someone found one of the only rooms in the house not yet affected by the fire, because the bedroom his stood in was free of both flames and smoke. Sure that the Emerald Flame would be fine on his own, Souichi strode through the room and grasped the doorknob of the door leading out. He remembered at the last second to push ice through his skin, in case the metal was hot. Steam hissed from where his cold skin touched the knob, and Souichi felt a grim satisfaction for not yet getting burned. His smugness was quickly extinguished once he entered the hallway outside the bedroom. Fire ran unashamed along the floors and was burning away the tacky wallpapers that covered the walls, essentially making it impossible for Souichi to go anywhere at all. Smoke floated irritatingly above the flames, making Souichi's eyes sting.

"Shit! Is anyone in h-" He tried, but burst into a fit of coughing as the smoke permeated his scarf and entered his lungs. Eyes watering, he looked around the spreading flames, searching for any opening for him to move from the bedroom doorway. He saw none.

"Fuck!" He shrieked, collapsing into another coughing fit. Maybe if I go back out the window and tried a different entrance..!

He was about to turn around when the flames blocking his way wilted and died, as though they had been extinguished by a giant gust of air. Feeling no such dramatic wind, Souichi looked around, confused, and discovered the Emerald Flame on the stairwell, a grin on his face. Souichi watched as the man walked up the stairwell, holding his bare hands ahead of him, the sleeves of his green coat frayed and burnt. The Flame walked past where Souichi stood flabbergasted, and made his way to the rest of the fire that burned in the upstairs rooms. Souichi followed and watched as the man walked into another bedroom, flames licking his arms and then extinguishing as easily as candles under his fingers. The fire just seemed to stop; it wilted and shrank to nothing in only second.

That's the freakiest thing I've ever seen. Ever. When the Flame turned around with a smug grin on his face, Souichi realized he had already gotten rid of all the fire in the building. The upstairs had been the last, and all of this had happened while Souichi had stood useless in the bedroom doorway, fretting and coughing.

"Well-"he coughed. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Well, is there anyone inside?"

The Flame shook his shrouded head. "No, I guess the firemen had already gotten everyone out by the time we got here because there was no one in any of the rooms. I was just putting the building out."

"Oh." Souichi let out a small cough, and looked at the slightly steaming floorboards under his feet. "That was…really something." He said, his cheeks turning as hot as that doorknob had been.

"Thanks." The Flame said, astounded. Souichi was about to suggest they get the hell out of there when he heard a creak under his feet. Wooden floorboards…fire…oh shit.

He looked up in time to see the Flame's eyes widen under his mask, and then the floor gave way. The battered and burned wood buckled under them, and they fell several feet down to the first floor, landing painfully on the cracked tile of the kitchen. Large chunks of wood and metal plating fell on top of them, and Souichi had to bite his lip as a particularly sharp section of wood grazed his shoulder. As the dust settled, Souichi groaned and pushed a wooden board roughly off of his body, his excessive strength causing the wood to crack loudly as it hit the kitchen wall.

"Hey, you all right?" Souichi called to the Flame, buried under debris. After a moment, he heard a moan, and then a green-clad arm pushed itself out from under a piece of burned wood.

"Ahhn…I'm stuck." The Flame's surprised voice called to Souichi, and he clambered over the rubble to see for himself. The Flame was stuck under a foot deep piece of wood and metal floor, a section that had just stayed in one large piece as the floor around his had given way. Feeling his smugness return, Souichi leaned over and grasped the warm wood with his strong fingers. He pulled the weight off the trapped man like it was a feather, and once it was set down, Souichi leaned down and grasped the Flame's warm hand. Souichi pulled him up and watched as the Flame put his weight into his left leg.

"You hurt your leg?" Souichi asked, and the Flame grunted in conformation as he limped away from the kitchen wreckage.

"We should get out of here before the firemen come in here and wonder why the house they were trying to put out stopped being on fire." The Flame said through gritted teeth, and Souichi nodded curtly in agreement.

They left cautiously but as hastily as possibly through the back entrance of the duplex, Souichi keeping his eyes trained on the building as they left to make sure they weren't followed. Despite something being wrong with his leg, the Flame moved very quickly, and Souichi had to jog to keep up with him. They stopped in an alley a few blocks away from the duplex, Souichi's shoulder nagging him to pay attention to it, and to give the Flame a break from walking with his wrecked leg. After checking his shoulder only to find it was a shallow graze across the skin, nothing to be especially concerned about, Souichi asked after the Flame's leg.

"Oh, thanks, its fine. I think I just bruised the muscle when I fell. It should be okay in a few days." The Flame sighed, sounding oddly content. "That was kind of awesome."

"Yeah." Souichi found himself agreeing, even though he had done basically nothing in terms of stopping the fire. It had been a bit thrilling to work as a team, to feel someone else sitting next to him in triumph after a good deed.

"But uh…I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Yesterday was a bit late for me, so I was already tired when I came…plus this whole affair…" The Flame said wearily.

"Uh, yeah, I should be getting back too. I..." Souichi said feebly, trying to think of something more impressive to say than "I'm tired because of that too". Coming up with nothing, he stood and awkwardly asked, "You okay getting home?"

The Flame's night-darkened eyes met his, and Souichi felt an odd shiver run over his skin. What…the hell is this?

"I'll be fine," The Flamed grunted as he stood up, maintaining eye contact with Souichi as he moved.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Souichi turned and jumped to the roof of the building they had been sitting against. Before he leapt away, he looked back down at the figure now too dark to see, and barked hoarsely:

"Tomorrow, same place. Twelve this time."

As he jumped he could have sworn he heard the Emerald Flame say something in response, and it sounded suspiciously like "Of course, my Dark Knight."

Chapter 6

Mr. Furious: That's because Lance Hunt is Captain Amazing.

The Shoveller: Don't start that again. Lance Hunt wears glasses. Captain Amazing doesn't wear glasses.

Mr. Furious: He takes them off when he transforms.

The Shoveller: That doesn't make any sense, he wouldn't be able to see.

-Mystery Men

And so Tetsuhiro and the man in black met every night from that day onward at exactly twelve o'clock. Together they caught thieves, stopped beatings and potential murders, halted gang fights and prevented rape. The longer they worked together, the more in sync they became and the more respect they showed each other. Tetsurhiro found himself thinking about his Black Avenger all day at school, and it was only the promise of another adventure with him at night that kept Tetsuhiro from slipping during his lab work. There was something intriguing about the man in black and Tetsuhiro was finding himself unable to stop thinking about it. The man was mouthy, rash, and didn't hesitate to hurt Tetsuhiro's feelings. By all accounts, Tetsuhiro should really hate the man—but all Tetsuhiro found was an increasing curiosity as to the identity of his Shady Saviour. He had tried to pry some personal details out of the man, but only got iron-clad refusals in response, often followed by a fist (which Tetsuhiro easily dodged).

All of this was okay by Tetsuhiro: he was very glad to have a partner to stalk the night with. And he was moderately amused that this partner was so similar to his Sempai. It actually amazed him sometimes because the man reacted to situations exactly as his lover would; dodging uncomfortable questions or responding with fists and harsh words. Tetsuhiro had thought that maybe the man was Souichi; but then Souichi would always go to bed so early at night that Tetsuhiro found it impossible to consider the man running around until the early hours of the morning if he always needed so much sleep. Plus, Souichi having powers? How would that be possible?

Maybe Tetsuhiro just wished that Souichi was his Midnight Hero, because then his attraction to the black-clothed man would be justified. For Tetsuhiro lusted after that man just as much as he did for his Sempai, and this worried him. He met with the dark man each night, and as the nights stacked on and time passed, Tetsuhiro found himself even more attracted to the mysterious man than before. It was shameful, it was wrong, and it was very right. What was even worse about the situation was that Tetsuhiro was almost sure that the man in black had similar feelings for him. While the man tried to hit him and verbally abused him on a regular basis, there had been a few awkward moments between the two. A few brushes of the skin that had made Tetsuhiro's flesh crawl and a warmth pool into his stomach, and with a glance at the other man, it appeared as though he was experiencing a similar feeling. The man's eyes would not meet Tetsuhiro's, and the skin showing between his weight-lifting gloves and his black shirt would be covered in gooseflesh. Tetsuhiro was sure that this was not the aversion to him and gay people that the man in black claimed it was.

But Tetsuhiro refused to take it any farther. He refused to let his desires win and hurt his Sempai, who had finally admitted he loved Tetsuhiro. Tetsuhiro would never hurt his love—so he kept his lust locked away as best as he could, and only let it surface when he and Souichi were together. What seemed odd to Tetsuhiro was that Souichi seemed strangely distracted whenever they were together; during supper or at the lab, Tetsuhiro would catch Souichi staring off into space, and would have to timidly ask the older man to pay attention. Souichi would always then flush and snap something unnecessary back at Tetsuhiro, and then things would be back to normal for a few hours. However this bugged Tetsuhiro, Souichi's unnamed distraction proved to be useful a few days after Tetsuhiro and his Smoky Vigilante had put out that duplex fire. Tetsuhiro had bruised a muscle in his leg and had a slight limp for a few days—somehow Souichi had failed to notice this.

It was some kind of miracle. Tetsuhiro mused as he sped down the street one night several weeks after the fire. He was on his way to the man in black, and as always, he was feeling a strange bubble of excitement building in his chest.

"I wonder what we'll do tonight!" He exclaimed as he skid to a halt in the damp alleyway beside the usual grimy deli. Glancing up and noticing that his partner had not arrived yet, Tetushiro breathed out a sigh and self-consciously adjusted his mask.

I don't know why I always get so nervous right before seeing him. Nothing ever happens that should make me nervous…

He swallowed and gave another uneasy glance skyward. But honestly, the way I've been feeling lately almost makes these meetings like….dates.

He coughed out a small laugh, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard above him: "What's so funny?"

Tetsuhiro smiled as the man in black dropped in front of him, the man's feet making slapping noises against the damp concrete as he landed.

"It's nothing…hi." Tetsuhiro said softly, and watched as the man before him quickly looked away, a faint pink flush brushing across the skin over his scarf.

"Yeah, hey." He said.

There was a moment of stilted silence, where the two simply stood and avoided each other's gazes, until Tetsuhiro broke the silence.

"So, uh, shall we go?"

"Yes." The man in black abruptly spun around and took off down the alley, away from the street. Tetsuhiro strode forward and caught up to him in a second, and the two began their night.

"So, one of these days you're going to give me a name to call you besides the brilliant that ones I come up with, right?" Tetsuhiro teased as they ran, hoping to rid them of this awkward mood.

"Nice try, but no, I won't." The man responded as they turned a corner.

"Then you really don't mind me calling you Silken Nightmare?"

Tetsuhiro could almost feel the man twitch next to him as they ran, and he had to suppress a grin. "Yes I do fucking mind, can't you call me something less…embarrassing?"

"Ha! No, that would ruin the purpose. Unless you want to give me your name…? Even just your first name, a nickname, something."

"I'm telling you, it's not going to hap-" His annoyed response was cut short as he eyed a situation in the next alley. About a dozen jacketed men stood in a menacing circle, several of them the cracking their knuckles and rolling their shoulders in anticipation. Tetsuhiro and the man in black crept closer, and tried to hear what was going on before leaping in.

"….think that you woulda got away with that, Jerr?" One rough voice sounded from somewhere in the circle.

"Yeah! You really think Cap'n Souji wouldn't notice you're little, er, treachery?" Another asked, and the distinct sound of a blade being unsheathed echoed down the alley.

It was then that Tetsuhiro noticed that at the centre of the circle of henchmen stood a single, shaking man, sweat gleaming on his forehead.

"N-no, guys, I didn't betray the Cap'n, I swear!" He shrieked, casting his pleading eyes on the unsympathetic men surrounding him.

Gangs again? Tetsuhiro thought in irritation. He and his Ebony Knight had stopped quite a few gang fights in the past few weeks, and nearly all of them had been related to this "Cap'n Souji" character.

"Who is this guy?" Tetsuhiro heard his partner hiss past his scarf. Tetsuhiro gave an angry shrug, and gestured that they should get moving. The man by his side nodded, and the two ran forward.

"HEY!" The man in black shouted, and the crowd of henchmen spun around. They locked eyes on the two heroes, and immediately started laughing.

"Aahhaaa, I knew it! I knew they'd come!" A particularly beefy one exclaimed, staring at Tetsuhiro and The man in black with glee.

"Yeah! Cap'n Souji ain't ever wrong!" Another shouted, and this was followed by another string of laughter from the men.

Tetsuhiro watched in confusion as one of the men tossed the would-be victim a short knife. Finger the blade, the man leered up at Tetsuhiro and barked: "What, you thought theys was gonna gut me? I'm one of them, fuckface!"

"It was a trap," The man in black said next to Tetsuhiro, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why'd you do this? What do you want with us?" Tetsuhiro's partner roared at the group of advancing men.

"What do we want? We's gonna off you guys! Cap'n's orders! You guyses have been interfering with the Cap'n's business lately, and he ain't so happy about it." The beefcake neared Tetsuhiro slurred, and Tetsuhiro found himself stepping backward. His back bumped into the man in black's, and they stood that way as the group of men surrounded them.

"So he sent you guys to get rid of us, huh?" Tetsuhiro asked, verifying before he and the man in black began.

"Yeah! Say bye bye, little heroes!"

Tetsuhiro hoped that was enough for the man in black to begin, because it was more than enough for him. Speeding forward, Tetsuhiro slammed his fist into the face of man that had spat that final sentence at him. And then the brawl began. Trusting the man in black to fend for himself, Tetsuhiro left stayed away from his side and struck at anything that struck at him.

His fist found many stomachs, jaws, and kneecaps in his speed, and the henchmen were unable to follow his movements enough to stop him. Somehow in his punching, Tetsuhiro had been careless and managed to get a few shallow cuts from a knife, but other than that he remained relatively unscathed as he took down man after man. As he began to knock out a particularly thick-headed man, another henchman grabbed Tetsuhiro's from behind. Surprised, he fell to his feet, and within seconds he was pinned down by three men.

"Hey, get off m-!" A swift punch to his gut forced the air out of his lungs, and he coughed in pain. Ugh, I can't believe I forgot to watch my back…!"

He was held down by two of the henchmen as the third delivered painful blows to his stomach and face, and Tetshiro was forced to use his last resort. Wincing, he summoned the heat into his limbs and forced it through his skin.

"AARGH!" The men cried as their hands and knees were burned wherever they'd been holding Tetsuhiro, and they quickly jumped away from the costumed youth. Tetsuhiro shakily got to his feet, feeling every single one of those punches. Summoning as much strength as he could wounded, he sped up to the burned men and sent them sprawling to the ground. Sighing in relief, Tetsuhiro sank to the ground, his knees abruptly weak.

He glanced up to see how his partner was faring, and felt a steel fist clench his heart in fear. The man in black was slumped against the alley wall, clearly unconscious. Three men stood before him, and the one in the centre held a long knife. He raised it above his head, grinning.

"NO!" Tetshiro roared, and finding a new strength in his tired legs, propelled himself forward and tackled the man before he could hurt his partner any more. Tetsuhiro pushed the fire out of his fingers and clamped his hand down on the assailant's face, hearing the man shriek in pain with a grim satisfaction. Tetsuhiro leapt off of the bladed man, and turned menacingly towards the last two henchmen. They glanced at each other quickly, and then took off down the alley, away from the messy scene they had taken part of. Tetsuhiro let them run, concern for his masked partner now overriding his fury.

Ignoring the cries of the man he had scalded in the face, Tetsuhiro turned back to where the man in black sat against the alley wall. His chin was tucked against his chest, and his head raised and fell with every long breath. Tetsuhiro breathed another sigh of relief that his partner wasn't dead, and was merely unconscious. It wasn't until Tetsuhiro had been staring at the man in relief for a few seconds that he realized that his partner was very much unconscious. So unconscious, in fact that…

If I were to, let's say, pull down his scarf…he wouldn't know. I could just take a peek…I'd put it back before he woke up.

Heart thumping in his chest, Tetsuhiro knelt down and surveyed the man before him. Several strands of long, light-coloured hair were falling onto his chest from under his lopsided toque. Tetsuhiro swallowed, and reached forward. He cupped his hand under the man's concealed chin, raising his head. Tetsuhiro brushed the strands of hair away from the man's face, a strange tenderness enveloping Tetsuhiro's heart. He ran his thumb over the lashes of the man's eyes, and then caressed the eyelids. I'm stalling. He thought, knowing he was feeling guilty. But I have to know.

And with that he tugged down the man in black's dark scarf, letting the fabric slide down around his clothed collarbones.

Tetsuhiro stopped breathing. It was that face. That long, beautiful face that Tetsuhiro had watched sleeping so many times after making love. The face that shouted at him daily, that blushed at the smallest things that Tetsuhiro said. The face that belonged to the one he loved.

"Souichi…" Tetsuhiro whispered, his chest feeling both heavy and as light as air. Sempai had been the Man in Black the entire time. Sempai had been with him all these nights, during their rescuing and their crime fighting. Sempai was the one with the opposite powers to Tetsuhiro. Sempai had been the man Tetsuhiro had been wanting this whole time…

The younger man lowered his arms down to his lover's torso and brought the man to his chest, pressing him tightly to himself. Tetsuhiro felt the hot sting of tears leak out from under his mask and he crushed Souichi to his body.

Several minutes of one-sided hugging later, Tetsuhiro realized that Souichi was going to wake up at some point, and that he should be ready for that. His face when he sees it was me the whole time! He thought eagerly.

But then again… Tetsuhiro tilted his head as a new thought crept into his mind. …then again I could not tell him it's me… and continue on this sexually charged path we had been digging, except this time, I'd seduce him completely.

"That's a terrible idea." He said aloud, feeling both repulsed and intrigued by the concept. I can't do that! I can't…I shouldn't…but I'm going to, aren't I?

Tetsuhiro released Souichi from his arms, letting the man lean back against the alley wall once again. He replaced Souichi's scarf and tucked the blonde-brown strands of his hair under the toque. Huh, I guess that explains why his hair has been so staticy lately…

With that done, Tetsuhiro sat down next to his love, and waited for the man to awaken.

This is possibly the worst idea I've ever had.

Chapter 7

Dr. Heller: That's a high-temperature fabric adhesive liquid projector, based on simple dry-cleaning technology. You aim that at a guy, and I'll tell you something: his clothes get so tight he can't even breathe.

-Mystery Men

"Uuuuunngh.."

There was a throbbing ache at the back of Souichi's skull, as though some dumbass had whacked him in the head with a baseball bat. This might have been the case as Souichi had been knocking out some thugs before his vision had burst into stars and he slumped against the alley wall. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring down at the grimy alley floor between his spread-eagled legs, and thanked whatever god existed that he at least wasn't dead. His next thought was about his scarf, but when he felt his face, he discovered the cloth was still securely concealing his identity. Heaving a sigh of relief, he gingerly felt the back of his head. It was a bit tender, but nothing that wouldn't be healed within a few days of taking it easy.

It was then that his brain rushed back to reality, and he remembered with more clarity that he had been in a fight. Oh, shit! What happened to the rest of the thugs, and the Emerald Gay?

Souichi glanced around, wincing a little when the movement sent a nasty throb through his brain. To Souichi's left and down a few meters in the alley sat a pile of unconscious bodies. Squinting, Souichi could make out the dark jackets of the gang that had ambushed him and the Emerald Flame. Did he knock the rest of them out?

Souichi looked the opposite direction, but saw only the dimly lit street at the end of the alley. His companion was nowhere in sight.

"Did he ditch me?" Souichi heard himself hiss as he gripped the damp wall and staggered to his feet. The world spun in nasty waves as he raised his head and stood at his full height. Keeping a steady hold on the wall, Souichi slowly stepped down the alley, trying to remember how far the apartment was from there.

Fuck, I'm actually pretty sure it's not at all close by…it takes me an hour to get to the deli, and we ran at least ten minutes away from there before coming here…

"Hey, you shouldn't be moving so much!"

Spinning around, Souichi locked eyes on his surprised comrade before the world spun just a bit too much and he collapsed to the alley floor again. Souichi fought the urge to throw up as he blinked up at the Emerald Flame from the ground, helpless and furious.

The man dropped to his knees, and Souichi saw that he held a Zip-lock baggie of ice cubes in his hand. Souichi groaned and scraped himself upward into a sitting position against the alley wall, his head sending waves of nausea into his stomach. He managed to focus his gaze onto the man kneeling before him, and saw that the man was chuckling.

"What…is so damn funny?" Souichi said through gritted teeth.

The Emerald Flame shook his hooded head. "Just that you would wake up and try to leave in the five minutes I was gone to get this ice for you…it's so typical."

"Typical of what?"

"Nothing….anyway, here, this ice is for your head." The Flame held out the bag, and Souichi looked at him like he was a complete moron. Which he was.

"I can make ice, you dope." He said, raising his hand and making frost appear on his fingertips, proving his point. Souichi put his cold hand on the back of his head, and sighed as the freezing temperature of his skin soothed the relentless pounding of his brain.

The Flame stared down at his bag of ice, shoulders slumping. "Oh yeah…" He tossed the bag aside, and tugged something out of his jacket pocket. It was a small medical kit, identical to the one Souichi kept in the bathroom pantry at the apartment.

"Where'd you get this stuff?" Souichi asked suspiciously. "Did you steal it?"

"No! I ran home and grabbed them!"

Souichi blinked. "You mean you left me here, unconscious?"

"I was only gone a few minutes, max! Besides, you seem to be all right…although you might have a concussion. Maybe we should go to the hospital." There was a weird, teasing tone in the Flame's voice that Souichi did not appreciate.

No! "Hell no. I'm fine, I just need to get home and rest or something!"

"Okaaay, my Midnight Mystery, if you say so…"

That asshole. He can't be serious with this right now. "Don't CALL me by those stupid names!"

"Or what?" The Flame tilted his head curiously, and Souichi would have decked him if he had the strength.

Instead, he very maturely decided to ignore the Flame's bait and glared at the man's sparkling eyes behind his mask. Dark hair fell over the green sleeping mask, and Souichi felt the wild impulse to brush the strands away from the man's eyes.

A faint blush on his cheeks, Souichi looked away and decided to ask the Flame something he should have asked as soon as the man had appeared out of nowhere. "Did you look under my scarf?" He swallowed nervously. What if he has? What if he recognized me or something?

The man in the dorky green and brown costume chuckled. "Nooo…did you want me to?"

Souichi felt the flush on his cheeks deepen. "No!"

"Well, I didn't, so rest assured your super-secret identity is safe."

Souichi rolled his eyes, but felt relieved. I wouldn't know what to do if he found out…punch him until he swore to secrecy, I guess.

The Emerald Flame stood up. Souichi looked at him curiously, removing the hand from the back of his head. The ice from his hand had helped soothe the awkward throbbing, but he still didn't feel right enough to walk around. But I need to get home. Fuck, what do I do…

As though sensing Souichi's dilemma, the Flame bent over slightly and extended a hand. "Need some help?"

"Yeah…thanks." Souichi said, grateful. He reached up and grabbed the Flame's hand in his gloved one, and the man pulled Souichi up off the ground. Whoa! Too fast! The world resumed its discomforting spinning, and Souichi felt a foot give out before he was even standing. Crap!

But as he fell, a strong pair of arms snaked under his armpits and wrapped around his back, hoisting him up. The Flame's hands warm on his back, Souichi was yanked upward into the other man's chest, pulled into a strangely intimate embrace. Souichi felt the Flame's warmth all along his body, and entirely flustered, could only sputter and gasp a few strangled words as the taller man's face floated dangerously close to his own.

"Whoops…sorry." The Flame breathed in Souichi's ear, the words sending shivers down his spine.

"B-bullshit! You did this on purpose!" And I'm too fucking weak to make him let go of me! The creeping feeling of deja-vu reminded Souichi of a similar situation with his kouhai, and he was not pleased. That…no. That can't and won't happen again. Especially not now…I have Morinaga. I won't be taken against my will.

The Emerald Flame chuckled, and Souichi felt the vibration along his chest. His cheeks on fire, his skin tingling, and his body entirely too warm, Souichi had had enough. Swallowing, he placed his hands on the Flame's chest, and pushed.

Somehow, even extremely weak, Souichi was quite strong when pushing with all his might. He managed to make the Flame stumble back a few feet, effectively making the man drop his hold on Souichi. Of course, that meant that Souichi had no support, and he staggered back until he bumped into the wall. Desperate to at least stay on his feet, he braced himself against the wall, and watched as the Flame walked forward, his mouth twisted into a rueful smile.

"I was just trying to help," He began, and Souichi silenced him with a vicious glare, stopping him in his tracks.

"I knew you were a homo! Honestly, what is with all you gays always glomping onto me? What am I doing?" He snapped. Of course I'm not going to tell him about Morinaga...he doesn't need to know about that situation…

The Flame shrugged noncommittally. "Beats me…anyways, I'm sorry that was awkward for you. I was just trying to help you up, honestly…" He looked deep into Souichi's angry eyes, and Souichi could almost swear the other man meant it. But then again, his kouhai had an uncanny ability to lie and look like he meant it as well. I shouldn't fall for that!

"Whatever. Look, can you just go away? I want to go home, and you're distracting me."

"You're not going to be able to go on your own. That's why I'm still here…I was thinking, I could just carry you home…"

"Not a chance, you pervert."

"No, seriously. I could get you there in seconds, possibly, depending on where you live…And you wouldn't even have to move. Save you the headache."

"No…" But even Souichi could see the benefit of being carried home by someone as fast as the Flame was. In fact, despite the raging "NO" that he wanted to continue barking at the man, the plusses in the situation far outstripped the negatives, and Souichi realized he would have to give in if he were to get home that night.

But that means he's going to know where I live…and it doesn't take much to get a name out of an address.

Souichi let out a heavy sigh, knowing his decision could make or break his privacy. But when his knees trembled in protest of standing so long, he found himself letting go of the wall and stretching his arms out for the masked man before him.

The Flame smiled, and this was a smile of recognition and of long-association. It was a smile that told Souichi that this man cared for him, understood him, and Souichi wasn't sure what to make of it. Cheeks once again warm, he hoisted himself onto the Flame's back when the man turned around. Souichi wrapped his arms around the man's chest, just as the Flame crooked his arms under Souichi's knees.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you." Souichi breathed as his world tipped from the effort of moving. He tucked his face into the Flame's shoulder to calm the sea in his brain, and he felt the other man stiffen slightly at his movement.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. Now, directions?"

Souichi begrudgingly told him where to go, and they set off. His face still pressed into the Flame's shoulder, all Souichi felt was the cool night air whipping against them as they moved. Souichi was thoroughly embarrassed, and didn't speak a word as they travelled. It was a mortifying experience in three terrible ways: one, because Souichi had to be carried like a wounded child, two, because Souichi had to tell the Emerald Gay where he lived, and three, because being in such close proximity to the man was doing treacherous things to his body. Souichi could feel the taller man's muscles move in his back and legs as he ran, and this was giving Souichi some very inappropriate feelings. Shivers ran up and down his body, akin to the kind that he would get during intimate moments with his kouhai. And still, he pressed his face into the man's shoulder all the more, instead of pulling away. This isn't happening…I don't feel this way. It's not right…

Souichi could only pray that they would reach his apartment quickly. Thankfully, it was as though someone had answered his desperate prayer, because they reached the complex in a matter of minutes.

"See, I told you it wouldn't take long." The Flame said, sounding a little smug.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Souichi mumbled, finally looking up and noticing they had stopped outside his building.

"Nice place…" The Flame stated, clearly not sure what to say about Souichi's home. He shifted Souichi up on his back a bit, and the shorter man flushed as the movement rubbed against a certain area he preferred to ignore in that situation.

"Y-yeah. Look, can you just drop me off at my place? It's just up those stairs…"

"Sure."

The Flame did as directed and set Souichi down at his door. Souichi grabbed the doorknob for support, and blinked up at the Flame as the man just stood there, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"Well, I'm home. You can go now." Souichi snapped, desperate to get inside and into his own, Emerald Gay-less bed.

"Right. See you tomorrow then…" And he took off down the stairs, out of Souichi's sight in seconds. Souichi shook his head in relief, and unlocked the door.

XxxxX

Souichi was abruptly woken the next morning by the sound of pounding on his bedroom door.

"What? What is it?" He barked. His head felt much better after a good night's rest, but Souichi could tell it would take another day or so of doing nothing productive until it was completely better.

"Sempai…are you coming to school?" Morinaga's irritatingly cheerful voice came past the wood of the door, and Souichi winced.

"No..I, uh, don't really feel well." Souichi called back, hoping that his kouhai would just drop it.

The doorknob turned, and Morinaga peeked in the room, concern in his eyes. Oh, shit, I forgot to lock the damn door…

"Sempai?" Morinaga walked in, and knelt at Souichi's beside. "What's wrong?"

"I…just feel kind of sick…so I'm going to stay home today, okay?"

Morinaga tilted his head. "Let me take your temperature."

"NO!" Souichi yelled, a little too loudly. Morinaga looked at him suspiciously, and yet Souichi could have sworn he saw a bit of amusement in his kouhai's expression.

"All right." Morinaga said, taking Souichi by surprise. He's giving up? Already?

Morinaga then leaned forward and swept Souichi into a soft, warm hug, pressing himself against his sempai tenderly. Souichi flushed, and clumsily returned the embrace, looking anywhere but at his kouhai. Morinaga pulled back, and drew Soucihi's lips to his, kissing him softly before standing and walking to the door.

"Okay. Feel better, Sempai, and see you when I get home." Morinaga smiled, his cheeks a bit pink, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Souichi groaned and sank down into his covers, letting the guilt he had been suppressing since being woken up sink in. Before Morinaga had knocked on his door, Souichi had been having a very vivid dream about a certain masked comrade of his…except the dream had be far too explicit in nature for Souichi to think about without feeling heat wash over his skin.

What is going on with me? He thought miserably, bringing his knees up to his chest under the covers. Why am I feeling this way about that freak? Why, when I have Morinaga…and I still feel the same way about him…?

Unfortunately, Souichi's situation did not improve over the next few days. After a few more hours of sleep, his head had proved to be just fine again, and that night Souichi had set out to meet the Emerald Flame as he always did. Despite it being somewhat awkward between the two, they had set out and managed to save an elderly woman from a mugging. During the struggle, Souichi had accidentally been pushed into the Flame, which knocked them both off their feet. Bodies aligned, hearts pounding, the two had looked each other in the eyes and then quickly shoved away, resuming the rescue as though nothing had happened between them. But that was a lie. For several days, Souichi would meet with the Flame and every accidental brush of their bodies or skin sent his heart into guilty, frenzied palpitations, only to have him return home and dream about the things his body wanted him to do.

Morinaga was absolutely no help, either. It seemed like every opportunity he could, he would grab Souichi and kiss him, his tongue playing with Souichi's, his fingers touching the older man under his clothes, but never taking it farther than that. Morinaga would break away, smiling, leaving Souichi aroused, confused, and angry. Souichi would never be able to just grab his kouhai and ask for sex, but he was quickly reaching a boiling point, and he needed some kind of release.

It was a whole week of sexual frustration, guilt, and cravings, before Souichi realized he was about to lose it. I…I can't take this anymore…when I get home, Morinaga is GOING to have to take responsibility…He thought one evening as he and the Flame ran down an empty street, the other man's hand occasionally brushing against Souichi's as they moved.

They hadn't spoken more than their initial greetings to each other the entire night, and for this Souichi was grateful. He had the feeling he might actually decapitate his vigilante comrade should the man try to initiate a conversation. Half of this was his fault, after all.

It was a rainy night, much to Souichi's displeasure. The water fell from the sky in occasional bursts of rain, saturating his thin sweater and jeans and making his scarf uncomfortable slick against his face. A glance at the Flame told Souichi that he seemed perfectly at ease in the rain, his jacket and boots preventing him from getting soaked to the bone. As if I need another reason to be pissed off at him…

Gritting his teeth, he continued to run and almost sighed in relief when he spotted two young men wrestling in the muddy dirt of an approaching alley. A glint of metal told the two heroes that at least one of the men had a knife. The Flame sped up and got there first, and Souichi heard him demand in his 'hero' voice for them to break it up.

"Fuck off!" One of the boys yelled, his body indistinguishable from the other boy's as they rolled, punching and kicking each other in the mud. Souichi arrived, bent down, and easily pried the boys apart as though they were clingy pages of a book.

Caught off guard, the two blinked up at Souichi from the ground. "Who the hell are you guys?" The one on Souichi's left asked, taking in their strange clothes.

The Flame stepped forward. "We're just here to help. Now, will you give me the knife…?" He extended his hand.

The boy on Souichi's right narrowed his eyes. "No! Why would I do that? I wasn't going to use it…we were just having a fight, that's all. He called my girlfriend a cow, so I punched him."

The boy on the left looked astonished. "Dude, you had a knife? That's scary shit."

"I just said I wasn't going to use it! Fuck! Plus, it's your fault for calling my girl a cow."

"Well, she IS a cow."

"Fuck off."

Souichi rolled his eyes. "So basically you guys are just friends who were duking it out."

The Flame sighed, clearly feeling disappointed. "Let's go…"

The two heroes turned around and made to walk out of the alley, but were stopped when one of the boy's jeered at them: "So what are you two supposed to be? Gay lover superheroes?" His friend laughed, and they smacked their muddy fists together.

"N-no! What the fuck?" Souichi growled, a flush growing on his face. The Flame stood silently.

"Yeah, right! You're totally embarrassed!" One of the boys called.

"Shut the hell up, kid, I am NOT gay, and NOT his lover!" Souichi barked, and like a child throwing a tantrum, turned heel and stalked out of the alley.

The Flame caught up to him in an instant. "You didn't have to sound so…insulted."

"Well I fucking was! I'm no homo, especially not with you." Souichi said, increasing his walking pace as they turned a corner into another dark, deserted alleyway. I'm not, I'm not, I have Morinaga. Think about Morinaga.

As soon as Souichi stepped into the new alley, the Flame left his side and dashed in front of him, cutting him off.

"Hey!" Souichi said, irritated. He was about to chew the Flame out for being an asshole, when the man stepped forward. He's too close… Heart pounding, Souichi stepped back, only to bump against the wall. The Flame stepped forward again, his damp body just millimetres away from Souichi's.

"W-what are you doing?" Souichi asked, his pulse jumping in his throat.

The Flame leaned forward, bringing his face whisper close to Souichi's scarf-covered cheek. "So you don't like me…"

"Fuck no!" I could easily get away from this. Push him down. Freeze him to the ground. Hell, knee him in the balls.

"…Really now?" The Flame asked, his breath warm against Souichi's cold ear. Souichi felt the man's hand creep along the waist of his jeans, fingers brushing under the hem of his shirt. Souichi shuddered, biting his lip. I need to get away! NOW! Before…

The Flame's slickly warm hand slid under Souichi's shirt, the man's fingers dragging up Souichi's taunt stomach and caressing his chest. Unable to stop himself, Souichi leaned into the touch, reaching out and grabbing the damp fabric of the Flame's jacket. This movement caused the front of their jeans to brush together, and the Flame let out a small moan, his fingers dancing around Souichi's nipples. Impatient, the taller man stepped forward once again and pressed himself to Souichi entirely, slipping a leg between the Souichi's and rubbing it against his crotch. Souichi gasped and ground his teeth together as the Flame moved his thigh against his pants front, trying desperately not to cry out, and wishing for once that he didn't have to wear his scarf around the Flame, the fabric clinging to his mouth and nose. Souichi reached up as the Flame continued to grind against him, and pushed back the man's hood, sinking his fingers into the wet, black hair under it. The Flame's breathing heavy against his ear, Souichi felt the man's lips under his earlobe, and Souichi knew he was close.

Suddenly, the picture of his smiling, loving kouhai flashed before his eyes. Tetsuhiro! What the fuck am I doing?!

Souichi released his grip on the Flame's hair, and summoning all the strength he could muster in his despite his body telling him not to, placed his hands on the man's chest and shoved. The Flame was sent sprawling onto the puddle-soaked alley floor, his back slapping against the dirt.

Souichi stood, chest heaving, as the reality of what he had just done sank in. Oh, God, Tetsuhiro..I..

Ignoring both the man lying in the mud, and the desperate crying of his still aroused body, Souichi took off running. He ran away, as fast as he could, the impossibly heavy feelings of shame and guilt throbbing in his chest.

Chapter 8

The Sphinx: We are number one. All others are number two, or lower.

-Mystery Men

"Sempai, I'm going to go to bed now, all right?"

"…Sure."

Tetsuhiro cast an anxious glance over his shoulder at his sempai as he went to his room, his chest feeling tight. Since their encounter the night before, Sempai had been acting distant, and every time Tetsuhiro met his eyes the older man's face would fall into the most heart wrenching expression of guilt. What made it worse was that Tetsuhiro knew the reason why this was, and was too much of a coward to explain. He hadn't realized how much of a strain he was putting on Sempai as the Emerald Flame until the man had run away from him the night before, panic obvious in his flashing eyes. As soon as Tetsuhiro saw the fear and guilt in the face of his lover, he knew that what he had done was terrible. Now all that remained was to tell Sempai the truth, and suffer the consequences.

"I can't believe how stupid I was!" Tetsuhiro sighed after closing his bedroom door. "I can't believe I would jeopardize my relationship with Sempai after finally getting him…I'm such an idiot…" He sank down to the hardwood floor, his back resting against the door.

What can I do? How can I...explain this to him without losing him? Tetsuhiro knew that Sempai might very well leave after learning about Tetsuhiro's alter ego. But Tetsuhiro couldn't handle seeing his love's face every time they locked eyes, knowing that it was entirely his fault that Sempai was feeling so terrible. He would rather Sempai leave him than for Tetsuhiro to let him continue feeling this way.

He knew what he had to do.

XxxX

Of course, Sempai had to show up for Tetsuhiro's confession to take place. Tetsuhiro pulled back the sleeve of his jacket and glanced at his watch. 12:30 am. It was another rainy night, and Tetsuhiro was reminded acutely of the night before.

"He's an hour and a half late." Tetsuhiro said, letting his gaze fall to his boot-clad feet in dismay. I honestly wouldn't blame him for not coming. It's just, I wanted him to see that it was me, in these clothes…

The sound of a throat clearing caused Tetsuhiro's head to snap upward, and he locked eyes with Sempai, clad in black as usual, standing several meters away farther in the alley. Tetsuhiro broke away from the deli wall he had been leaning on and started towards man.

"No…wait." Sempai said, holding up a gloved hand. Tetsuhiro obeyed, making sure to keep his demeanour as gentle and polite as possible.

Sempai seemed to take a deep breath. "I think we should stop meeting."

Tetsuhiro blinked, surprised. "Wh-"Sempai held up his hand again, silencing him.

"Yesterday was a massive mistake. I'm…in a relationship. And I really don't…I don't want to hurt…look, this can't happen again. Just…" Sempai's eyes met Tetsuhiro's, and the younger man felt a spasm of heavy guilt run through his body.

"So uh, bye." Sempai said roughly, and turned to leave.

"Wait! Wait, Sou-!"

An exploding pain at the back of his head, and Tetsuhiro was on the ground. His skull feeling like it was about to burst, Tetsuhiro shakily raised his head from the muck covered ground and watched, dazzed, as Sempai called his name in surprise and anger. Tetsuhiro opened his mouth to warn Sempai about the man behind him, but with another blunt explosion of pain, Tetsuhiro was in the black.

XxxX

SPLASH

"WH-Whauuhh?" Tetsuhiro groaned as he was forced back into consciousness. Blinking rapidly, he glanced up and saw a burly man in a tan jacket holding a now empty bucket, and realized that the contents had been splashed into Tetsuhiro's face, effectively waking him up. His head throbbed, and when he leaned it back it hit something else equally hard.

"Ow, ugh." Came his sempai's voice, and with a glance downward, Tetsuhiro saw that he was tied back-to-back with his love, their wrists bound together. They sat on the grimy, wet floor of what appeared to be a massive warehouse, and as Tetsuhiro looked around, he couldn't help but feel a small shiver of panic at the sheer number of henchmen that filled it. There had to have been at least thirty men in jackets, all standing and glaring down at him and his sempai as though they were vermin. A few meters away, directly facing Tetsuhiro, sat a man that Tetsuhiro guessed was the group's leader; he wore a grey jacket, thick grey glasses and had grey hair styled into a rather silly looking bowl-cut.

"Are you awake, heroes?" The man asked, the lights of the warehouse lighting his glasses in an ominous way.

"Who are you?" Sempai asked from behind Tetsuhiro, and the younger man was startled to hear that the words were unmuffled. Did they pull down his scarf? Tetsuhiro then realized he was also missing his mask. Oh, shit.

The man in the glasses and grey chuckled, and the henchmen around them let out simultaneous guffaws in response to their leader. "Who am I? I'm Souji Seta. I'm the biggest crime boss in Nagoya. Haven't you heard my name on the lips of the men you've been repeatedly knocking out lately?"

Tetsuhiro pondered that for a moment. It was true that he had heard a lot of a certain "Cap'n Souji" in the gangs that he and Sempai had been frequently coming across in the past few weeks.

"Oh." He said, wishing he could come up with something a bit cleverer, as a superhero ought to say.

Seta rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Yeah, 'oh'. You guys have been seriously interfering with my business, and I'm getting a little tired of it. So I had my boys here come and send you an invite to my headquarters."

"Yeah, ain't nobody declines an invite from the Cap'n!" A voice in the crowd called, and Tetsuhiro forced himself not to copy Seta and roll his eyes.

"And what business is that?" Sempai asked, turning his head in an attempt to see Seta. He was facing the opposite direction, and being tied to Tetsuhiro as he was, he was unable to see anything other than the henchmen in front of him.

Seta smiled a wicked grin. "I smuggle nasty stuff. There's this lab that I guess is doing a lot of radiation testing recently…and there's a lot of toxic waste that they dump. My boys here take this waste and I sell it to the highest bidder in foreign countries. See, what the scientists here might not find all that valuable, scientists elsewhere think is gold. How does that saying go? 'One man's trash is another man's treasure?' Something like that."

Tetsuhiro blinked. "And how are we interfering with this?"

"Well, I can't have my men trying to leave or betray me, see? For some reason, each time I send my guys to teach a little weasel a lesson, you two show up and just tear my men apart. And when I have unconscious guys, I have no smugglers. I gotta wait for them to wake up, and by that point I might have missed a shipping deadline. Or a pickup date. So you see, you two are getting in my way." Seta reached into his jacket and pulled out a short knife. He admired his reflection in the smooth steel of the blade.

"Okay, asshole. Fine. But why are you telling us all this? You could have just killed us when you had your dipshits knock us out." Sempai snapped, and Tetsuhiro felt an odd tug from where his wrists were secured to his sempai's.

"I heard from the men you battered around that you two gentlemen possess some, let's say, interesting abilities. You, in the gay outfit, can apparently burn things by touching them and you can also run really fast. Pretty cool. And you, with the stupid long hair, can apparently freeze things by touching them and are very strong. Now, see, I could have a lot of use for talent like that." Seta stood from his perch and walked forward until he stood a meter away from where Tetsuhiro sat glowering at him. "I kept you alive in order to make a proposition."

"What kind of proposition?" Tetsuhiro asked warily, looking up into the man's—surprise surprise—grey eyes.

Seta placed the knife back into his jacket and crossed his arms. "You work for me, and I don't tell the cops about you guys. I don't tell them about these two faggots with these craaaazy powers, or their names."

"Names?" Sempai asked darkly. Tetsuhiro felt his stomach drop.

Raising his eyebrows, Seta reached into his jacket once again and pulled out two wallets. One was black with green stitching, the other a flat brown. Oh no.

Opening the brown wallet and tilting it to the side, Seta peered at the card housed there. "Looks like this wallet belongs to a certain….Tatsumi Souichi! Well, how about that." Tetsuhiro felt Sempai breathing more quickly in panic, the tugging at their wrists increasing.

Seta closed the wallet and moved onto Tetsuhiro's. "And in this one…a much happier looking guy, have to say…Morinaga Tetsuhiro!"

Here it comes. This is not how I wanted Sempai to know, but…

Sempai stiffened, his breathing coming to a halt. "WHAT?"

Tetsuhiro squirmed uncomfortably, not sure what to say. Seta sighed and re-read the name, raising an eyebrow.

"….It..better not be…" Sempai said through gritted teeth, and Tetsuhiro felt like crawling into a hole somewhere and dying. Sempai was the only man in Tetsuhiro's life that could make him instantly afraid of living in a split second.

"Um..yeah, Sempai. It's me." Tetsuhiro said in his normal voice, waiting for the man tied to him to somehow break through their wrist restraints and murder him.

Surprisingly, Sempai didn't say anything in response, although his breathing hitched and Tetsuhiro felt the pressure at his wrists increase once again.

"So anyways, now that we're all buddies, what do you think? 'What about my generous proposal?'" Seta said, making his voice sound gritty as he quoted something in English. *

A final tug followed by a small snap at his wrists was the answer Tetsuhiro knew that Sempai was about to give before he said it.

"Fuck no. We'll just take you all out!" Sempai said triumphantly, then pushed off Tetsuhiro and stood to his feet on the wet, puddle-riddled floor of the warehouse. Seta frowned as Tetsuhiro stood as well, looking down at the twisted bits of metal that had been their handcuffs.

Sempai, now free of the restraints preventing him from looking around, cast his gaze up at Seta, then at Tetsuhiro. Tetsuhiro tried not to cringe as Sempai's eyes met his, the older man's tawny irises probing into Tetsuhiro's soul. After a moment Sempai nodded, and Tetsuhiro understood. Go. Now.

XxxX

Seta huffed in disappointment as the two vigilantes began attacking the henchmen around them, Morinaga speeding behind each man before cracking the back of their heads or punching them in the stomach, Souichi…just attacking whatever came at him. He was strong enough to win every struggle, now that he made sure to check his flank for possible knocks to the head. He didn't exactly want to re-live that experience. Souichi had no time to think about how his kouhai had been the Emerald Gay—that would come later. For now, he needed to focus. Grimy water splashed everywhere from both Souichi's and Morinaga's dancing feet, as well as from each henchman that fell defeated to the wet, concrete floor. The gang was just no match to the advantages that Souichi and Morinaga carried, and for this Souichi was grateful.

After several minutes of brawling, Souichi and his kouhai stood gasping amidst a pile of unconscious men. Souji Seta sat calmly in his chair, legs crossed, appraising the two men from behind his glasses.

Morinaga glanced towards Souichi, his expression hard. Souichi nodded, and jerked his head towards Seta expressively. After we call the cops, maybe I can go home and have a good bath.

Seta stood as the two men faced him, his mouth set into a grin. "Well done boys. You've successfully knocked out my entire gang."

"And I'm about to do the same to you!" Morinaga snapped. He took off running towards Seta, arm pulled back to crack a punch across the man's smug face, when suddenly Morinaga was thrown backwards. As though an invisible hook had snared itself into his jacket and yanked backward, Morinaga was thrown off of his feet, landing painfully on his back a few meters away.

Souichi didn't understand. What the fuck just happened?

Seta stood smiling as Souichi rushed to Morinaga's side. Souichi got down on his knees as Morinaga sat up, wincing. "W-what happened?" He asked, sounding winded.

"That's what I would like to know." Souichi said, and having made sure that Morinaga wasn't dead or seriously injured other than being winded, stood and walked a bit closer to Seta. Souichi crossed his arms and glared at the man in grey.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't tell you the rest of the story. See, I got made leader of this group of smugglers when I was pushed into a barrel of the radioactive waste by a couple of the members as a joke. When I came out, I was a bit different. I could do this."

Seta raised a foot and stomped on the ground. From where his boot met the concrete came an invisible shockwave that rippled through the floor, picking up Souichi and Morinaga and tossing them like ragdolls. They flew through the air and slammed into the warehouse wall, breath getting knocked out of them, stars appearing in their eyes, and fell painfully to the floor. Souichi groaned, his breathing hitched. He hurt. Everywhere was bruised; his back, chest, neck…everywhere. Souichi looked over at his kouhai, and discovered the man was barely conscious. That was his second time getting thrown.

The two men lay groaning in a murky puddle as Seta walked over, his teeth showing in a malicious grin. "See, they were a bit scared of me. Fear is truly the best way to get people to follow you."

Souichi opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Seta's boot splashing water into his face as the men stepped within inches of Souichi's head. Furious, so furious, Souichi tried to raise his head and look up at the man as he crouched down, but Souichi's body didn't cooperate. Gasping for air, Souichi tried to fight off the panic that was now enveloping his body in a cold wave as chilly as the water he lay in. He could kill us. He could do it. He's going to do it. I can't even try to attack him or he'll just send another shockwave and KILL us. His feet, I have to stop his feet…but what can I do? I have to save us! I have to save Tetsuhiro!

Seta peered into Souichi's desperate eyes. "Re-thinking my offer are you? Well, I don't blame you. I'd be happy to let you into my nice little family."

Souichi tried to find something he could do, something he could say, anything to save them. It was up to him. But all he could find himself doing was staring at Seta's stupid leather boot in the puddle.

In the puddle.

The realization hit Souichi like a sledgehammer to the head. That's IT! Souichi's hand was already wrist deep in the dirty water of the puddle, so all he had to do was freeze the bastard's feet to the floor. Souichi forced the cold out from his fingers and palm, and watched with satisfaction as the ice spread enough to enter his field of vision. It quickly enveloped Seta's boots and feet, freezing them and the water around them solid.

"Wh-What the fuck?!" Seta screeched as he lost his balance and fell over, his feet firmly stuck in the puddle.

"Dumbass." Souichi coughed, a grim smile on his face. Freeing himself from the ice around his face(it didn't affect him at all, naturally), Souichi summoned enough strength to drag himself to his feet. His body protesting to the maximum, Souichi inched over to where Seta sat flailing on the ground, his frozen feet keeping him from going anywhere.

"Don't, Tatsumi! Don't do this, seriously, you can run this gang now if you want! Just don't kill me!"

"You are such a fucking weasel. I'm not going to kill you." Souichi spat.

"Really?" Seta said, confusion on his face.

"Yeah. But I will do this." Souichi said, raising an arm and punching the man directly in the nose. He held back, but not much. Seta was knocked unconscious, his nose a shattered mess on his face. Blood everywhere. Souichi couldn't help but grin.

Epilogue

"Sempai, are you ever going to talk to me again?"

"No."

Tetsuhiro sighed. It had been three weeks since the warehouse incident, and Sempai still wasn't talking to him. At least not anything other than stuff like what he wanted for supper, or school-related things. Tetsuhiro knew he should be grateful that Sempai hadn't totally left him after discovering it was him under the Emerald Flame's mask, but still. Ignoring him was actually pretty painful.

"I said I was sorry. And I really, really mean it Sempai…."

"…"

Sempai continued reading his lab report like Tetsuhiro hadn't just spoken, and Tetsuhiro took the hint. He went into the kitchen to make supper. While cooking the rice, he thought about what happened at the warehouse, and he couldn't help but smile. When he had regained consciousness in the puddle, Tetsuhiro had gingerly sat up and saw that Sempai was propping Seta against a wall, making sure to keep his head up so that Seta wouldn't drown in his own blood. After anonymously calling the police and giving the address of the warehouse (with a detailed log of the groups' activities), Sempai and Tetsuhiro had limped out of the building and had flagged a taxi, not caring that they were maskless and still in costume. Having retrieved their wallets from Seta, Tetsuhiro paid the man behind the wheel to take them home. Once there, Tetsuhiro and Sempai had collapsed into their beds and had stayed there for an entire week, letting their bodies rest. They returned to school and life afterward, neither of them mentioning what Tetsuhiro had done. About a week and a half after the warehouse, Tetsuhiro had broken down and had collapsed, sobbing, at Souichi's feet, begging for forgiveness. Souichi's response had been a swift kick to the front of Tetsuhiro's pants, but nothing verbal.

Tetsuhiro assumed that Sempai had forgiven him, but he wasn't making it easy on his kouhai, because it was true that Tetsuhiro didn't really deserve forgiveness so easily. Getting ignored was something that Tetsuhiro found hard to handle. But he understood.

Carrying his and Sempai's suppers into the living room where Sempai sat scowling at his report, Tetsuhiro couldn't help but feel extremely lucky that he had that man.

"So," Tetsuhiro said as he placed the plates of food onto the table, knowing full well that Sempai might not answer him, "are we finished being heroes?"

To his surprise, Sempai glanced up and met his eyes for the first time in weeks. "Only if you ditch that gay costume." He said, returning his gaze to the sheets of paper in his hands.

Tetsuhiro felt his heard thud happily in his chest. He smiled, eager for the nights of prowling the streets with his sempai to come.

The End